And God Said it was Good!
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 6/19/2011
Based on Genesis 1:1-2:3
When my son, Steven was in the Third grade, he was having a crisis in faith. I was pastor in a small community church in Washington State and the Sunday school teacher that he had was a well meaning individual who just happened to read scripture literally. Steven was deeply interested in dinosaurs and his learning in the public school system told him that dinosaurs lived millions of years before human kind. This conflicted with what his Sunday school teacher was trying to teach him. She believed in a literal version of creation, while Steven was being taught in the public school system about life evolving.
Moving back just a few years before living in Washington State, while in seminary my wife and I were foster care parents for several sixteen year olds. One of these boys named Hia, as very much into evolution as a process for the development of life and informed me one day that based on his studies in evolution, “There was no God.” I then proceeded to ask him a number of questions to determine why he came to such a conclusion, and we eventually got to the “Big Bang” theory. He was in utter shock when I told him that I could buy into that theory. Then I asked him the question of, “where did the mass come from that exploded?” After a few seconds of him stuttering and stammering around, he replied with, “quite messing with my head”, and our conversation ended.
I bring up these two examples because these issues came about because of a particular way the reading of scripture was employed. When my son came to me seeking a reasonable answer do to a conflict in teaching between the public school system and his Sunday school teacher, I asked him, “if it seemed logical for the Bible, to start out with a couple of chapters that deals with ‘hard science’ and then devote the rest of its books to theology, meaning the relationship between God and humanity?” After he answered, “no it didn’t make sense”, I then explained how when we read scripture through the lens of humanity trying to understand its relationship with God, we could open up a multitude of ways to understand all the stories that we read within the bible.
Relating a story is an ever changing reality in our culture. Currently, we hear stories in what we call “sound bites”, a few years ago, it was by “headlines and maybe the first paragraph” of a story. Even the way that we structure sentences has changed a good deal. I find that I most enjoy reading stories that were written between the mid-nineteenth and very early twentieth century, mostly because there is an elegant flow to those stories that no longer exists in modern writing.
We have the same issue of how the early Hebrews spoke and wrote their stories compared to later writings of Hebrew story telling. And if we in the modern world do not recognize these differences, we then stumble on what was meant in that telling and will most likely come up with a poor interpretation at the very least.
With a great number of writers over the past hundred or so years, the book of Genesis, especially these first couple of chapters has lead to much misunderstanding and creating what we now label as “creationism” doctrine. There are even some Christians who are scientists, who try to reconcile the age of our world and the development of life, as occurring only within a few thousand years, based on a literal reading of these first two chapters in Genesis. This is achieved by the use of counting backward the various generations listed in Genesis, again using only those names listed. What the originating professor of this genealogy, didn’t understand is that those names listed in the “who begat who”, listed only key persons and left out many generations of names.
How we read and interpret scripture in today’s society can mean the difference in being able to engage into heart filled conversations about God or being dismissed as people who live in a dream world, refusing to recognize what “hard science” is telling us. People are spiritually hungry, but if we as the church universal, present a message that is based from a literal understanding of scripture, then we will be perceived as non-thinking people who live in a world filled with superstition.
I would like to present another option to how we can read the creation story that allows for the opportunity to enter into meaningful dialog with people who are not familiar with the Christian story or experience. (Discuss the re-reading of the 7 days of creation into three segments, i.e.: day one and day four, day two and day five, and day three and day six. This will show three stages of creation, which then allows for evolution type of movement.) This is how I approached discussing my son’s questions about creation and the scriptures.
A part of the confirmation process that our eight confirmand’s dealt with, was about expanding their concepts of God, as we asked questions like: What does God look like? If God is the creator of this world and the universe, what does this mean to us? What does it mean when we are told in Genesis to subdue the world?
The language is very subtle in scripture especially, among varying translations. Most of the translations read: In the beginning God created. But in some translations it reads: In the beginning when God was creating. The difference here talks about when “time” began. Did time begin at the same time as God? Or did time begin when God created the heavens and the earth?
This is something that can be argued through eternity and has been for eons, but when we spend our energies on questions like this, we are missing the most obvious point that the story teller wants us to understand. When we read about this very first day, we learn what the story teller deems most important. It may seem obvious to most of us, but the implications are most profound. Scripture begins not with the choosing of Abraham or the election of Israel, but rather it begins with creation.
This means that we have to get rid of any idea’s that lead to any ethnic superiority, that one culture is more favored than another, meaning Israel of any of its surrounding cultures. Scripture says, “In the beginning God created the world”, it doesn’t read, “In the beginning God created Israel.” In creating the heavens and the worlds, God is inclusive. Who are we, to then tell God, that we are better than someone else? Who are we to believe that we alone have the truth over another religion? The subtle difference comes in the difference between “entitlement” verses “grace.”
As we read this creation story we can come to new understanding as to the reason for God creating. Quoting from Rev Dave Bland, Professor of Homiletics at Harding University Graduate School of Religion, in Memphis, Tennessee: God’s specialty is loving and caring for creation. God demonstrates this love in the collaborative way in which the world operates. In recounting the six days of creation, nothing is made for itself alone. Everything contributes to the whole of creation. God provides for the needs of all God’s creatures because God’s specialty is love. Humans are given dominion, not domination; we are caregivers, not exploiters. We are called to do unto creation as God has done unto us; we express love and care toward the world. Feasting on the Word commentary.
This afternoon, at 1 p.m., there is going to be a gathering at three point picnic areas, south of town as a conclusion to the Red Desert Preservation awareness. I hope some of you will attend, as this weekend’s rendezvous, which has been focusing on the environmental concerns of this piece of God’s creation. As people of God, we are called to look after the well being of what God has put us in charge of. We are not independent of the world that we live in and we must relearn how each part of God’s creation works with one another in order to continue to bless what God has said is “Good.” Amen
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
"Many Voices of the Holy Spirit", First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 6/12/2011
Many Voices of the Holy Spirit
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 6/12/2011
Based on 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13, John 7:34-39, and Acts 2:1-21
Before moving to Rock Springs, I spent the last twenty years of my life, living in Seattle, WA. It is called the “Evergreen” state for good reason, not just for the vast forests of evergreens that grow there, but more importantly because the grass stays green throughout the winter months!
For most of us, spring is generally signaled by the first blooms of the crocus, but in Seattle, in the first part of January the Camilla bushes open up with their bright red flowers; these blooms stay on the bushes for almost two months. Then in March, as the blossoms of the Camilla begin to fade, up out of the ground appear the welcomed bloom of the crocus. Followed by the appearance of tulips in April and soon after that, the Oriental poppies, Iris, and by mid May, peonies.
I love tulips, and I love seeing them in vast quantities, so every couple of years, in April, I would make a short trip north of Seattle to the tulip farms in the Skagit valley, where acre after acre of tulips are seen from almost any road that you travel on. The bonus of this drive comes in parking your car and walking out into these fields, where you can immerse yourself with colors of the rainbow, able to kneel down and cup these glories blossoms with your hands, and those are just the fields. Many of the farms have elaborate displays of spring flowers in their front yards or around their temporary store fronts, where you can place your order for bulbs to arrive at your house that coming Fall.
This past Fall, Paul and I spent a good amount of energy planting tulip bulbs, not knowing if we would be here this Spring to see the fruit of our labors. I think it was toward the end of April, that we started seeing the shoots of those tulips start to sprout up out of the ground. Now, I don’t know if it was because it seemed like Winter hung on later this year or if it’s just because there is no hint of Spring color until the tulips bloom, but I don’t think that I have ever appreciated the beauty of this flower more than I have this season. In each of our flower beds, there are tulips that are red, pink, and yellow in color; single petal, parroted, and multi-petaled. There is such a variety of color, style, shape, height, and time of blooming, but all are a tulip, providing a single message, that Spring is here and that the Winter is pretty much behind us now.
All of this morning’s readings deal with variety and diversity, yet there is a uniform message. This message comes to us through differing sources: we read about Moses who has gathered the leaders of Israel and is anointing them with a portion of the Holy Spirit that he himself has, and yet two who were not there, also received it; In the story of Acts, the Apostles received the Holy Spirit directly from God, with each speaking a differing language; The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian Christians and speaks about their gifts which were given through the Holy Spirit; And Jesus himself cried out, asking for people who want to have ‘living water’ to believe and through believing would have, “a heart that flows rivers of living water”, which meant the receiving of the Holy Spirit. The message was and is about the “love God has for us all” and of work toward “reconciling creation back to love’s original state.”
Today is the day that we celebrate Pentecost, the churches birthday! I can tell who read their e-mail from me earlier this week, because you are the one’s wearing red this morning. This color symbolizes the fire that scripture describes settling upon each of the Apostles and other believers head the day the Holy Spirit descended down from Heaven. A spirit that gave each who received it the ability to speak the message of God in a variety of established languages; languages from all over the world, to those Jews who were there celebrating the Feast of Tabernacle.
The Feast of Tabernacle was the “celebration of harvest”, similar to our Thanksgiving celebration. One of the rituals that occurred during this feast was the pouring of water gathered daily from the pool of Sloam and mixed with wine, poured from the altar into a conduit which carried this mixture to the Brook of Kidron located across from the eastern wall. This ritual symbolized the prayer for the Fall rains upon which Israel depended. Secondly, it pictured the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom in which the Holy Spirit would be poured on Israel and believers of all nations. So when Jesus stood at the last day of this festival and cried, “if any one thirsts, let them come unto me, and drink. You who believe in me as the scripture has said, “out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water”, was in fact, offering the coming of the Holy Spirit to anyone who wished to have it. Jesus had promised this companion to us prior to his death and ascension back to God.
Should we this morning expect the same type of outcome as did the first apostles and believers, with the coming of the Holy Spirit? If we are not able to speak in a language other than what we grew up learning, does this mean that we have not received the blessing, this fire of the Holy Spirit into our lives? The Apostle Paul has given us a very sound response to this question.
He equates the gift of the Spirit to that of our anatomy. Paul starts off saying that, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” So if you are able to say that Jesus is Lord, chances are, you already possess the Holy Spirit. Paul goes on to say, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.”
You might not have noticed a subtle addition to the top of the Worship bulletin. It was made last week. Does anyone know what it is?? It is up at the top, where we give information about who is participating in the worship. Let me give you a hint by asking how many ministers does this church have? The change is in stating how many ministers we have here in this congregation. It says, “Ministers”, The Congregation! The reason for this is that as followers of Christ, we are all Priests for God, and are given the gift of the Holy Spirit in order to convey God’s message to a world that has forgotten. As Paul tells us, we all have been given very special gifts: some who can teach, some who can preach, some who can sing, some to administration. These gifts are given to us, but not for us! This is an important thing to remember, and because we can sometimes think that we are more special than someone else, because of a particular gift that we have been given, is the reason why Paul was writing to the church in Corinth and to us as well.
The purpose of any gift from God, is not for our own benefit, but is given solely to benefit and glorify God. If we keep that in mind, not only will we have less jealousy and self pride creating problems within our faith community, but we will find ourselves more inclined to use our gifts and feel less tired and experience less burn-out, as we will be fueled by a higher power, one that gives us not only the energy to perform, but the desire and direction in which to best use our gifts.
There are many voices that are spoken by the Holy Spirit. It might be in language, it might be through our gifts, it might come through support and encouragement of our friends and family, it might come through dreams or visions, or through children; it might even come through our pets or through nature. Like the tulips in my garden, the voices, the sounds of the Holy Spirit are many, but the message is always the same: God loves you! God desires to have a one on one relationship with you! God is active in our world, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Let us today, work at creating the space within us that will allow the Holy Spirit of God to become even more effective for tomorrow! Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 6/12/2011
Based on 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13, John 7:34-39, and Acts 2:1-21
Before moving to Rock Springs, I spent the last twenty years of my life, living in Seattle, WA. It is called the “Evergreen” state for good reason, not just for the vast forests of evergreens that grow there, but more importantly because the grass stays green throughout the winter months!
For most of us, spring is generally signaled by the first blooms of the crocus, but in Seattle, in the first part of January the Camilla bushes open up with their bright red flowers; these blooms stay on the bushes for almost two months. Then in March, as the blossoms of the Camilla begin to fade, up out of the ground appear the welcomed bloom of the crocus. Followed by the appearance of tulips in April and soon after that, the Oriental poppies, Iris, and by mid May, peonies.
I love tulips, and I love seeing them in vast quantities, so every couple of years, in April, I would make a short trip north of Seattle to the tulip farms in the Skagit valley, where acre after acre of tulips are seen from almost any road that you travel on. The bonus of this drive comes in parking your car and walking out into these fields, where you can immerse yourself with colors of the rainbow, able to kneel down and cup these glories blossoms with your hands, and those are just the fields. Many of the farms have elaborate displays of spring flowers in their front yards or around their temporary store fronts, where you can place your order for bulbs to arrive at your house that coming Fall.
This past Fall, Paul and I spent a good amount of energy planting tulip bulbs, not knowing if we would be here this Spring to see the fruit of our labors. I think it was toward the end of April, that we started seeing the shoots of those tulips start to sprout up out of the ground. Now, I don’t know if it was because it seemed like Winter hung on later this year or if it’s just because there is no hint of Spring color until the tulips bloom, but I don’t think that I have ever appreciated the beauty of this flower more than I have this season. In each of our flower beds, there are tulips that are red, pink, and yellow in color; single petal, parroted, and multi-petaled. There is such a variety of color, style, shape, height, and time of blooming, but all are a tulip, providing a single message, that Spring is here and that the Winter is pretty much behind us now.
All of this morning’s readings deal with variety and diversity, yet there is a uniform message. This message comes to us through differing sources: we read about Moses who has gathered the leaders of Israel and is anointing them with a portion of the Holy Spirit that he himself has, and yet two who were not there, also received it; In the story of Acts, the Apostles received the Holy Spirit directly from God, with each speaking a differing language; The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian Christians and speaks about their gifts which were given through the Holy Spirit; And Jesus himself cried out, asking for people who want to have ‘living water’ to believe and through believing would have, “a heart that flows rivers of living water”, which meant the receiving of the Holy Spirit. The message was and is about the “love God has for us all” and of work toward “reconciling creation back to love’s original state.”
Today is the day that we celebrate Pentecost, the churches birthday! I can tell who read their e-mail from me earlier this week, because you are the one’s wearing red this morning. This color symbolizes the fire that scripture describes settling upon each of the Apostles and other believers head the day the Holy Spirit descended down from Heaven. A spirit that gave each who received it the ability to speak the message of God in a variety of established languages; languages from all over the world, to those Jews who were there celebrating the Feast of Tabernacle.
The Feast of Tabernacle was the “celebration of harvest”, similar to our Thanksgiving celebration. One of the rituals that occurred during this feast was the pouring of water gathered daily from the pool of Sloam and mixed with wine, poured from the altar into a conduit which carried this mixture to the Brook of Kidron located across from the eastern wall. This ritual symbolized the prayer for the Fall rains upon which Israel depended. Secondly, it pictured the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom in which the Holy Spirit would be poured on Israel and believers of all nations. So when Jesus stood at the last day of this festival and cried, “if any one thirsts, let them come unto me, and drink. You who believe in me as the scripture has said, “out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water”, was in fact, offering the coming of the Holy Spirit to anyone who wished to have it. Jesus had promised this companion to us prior to his death and ascension back to God.
Should we this morning expect the same type of outcome as did the first apostles and believers, with the coming of the Holy Spirit? If we are not able to speak in a language other than what we grew up learning, does this mean that we have not received the blessing, this fire of the Holy Spirit into our lives? The Apostle Paul has given us a very sound response to this question.
He equates the gift of the Spirit to that of our anatomy. Paul starts off saying that, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” So if you are able to say that Jesus is Lord, chances are, you already possess the Holy Spirit. Paul goes on to say, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.”
You might not have noticed a subtle addition to the top of the Worship bulletin. It was made last week. Does anyone know what it is?? It is up at the top, where we give information about who is participating in the worship. Let me give you a hint by asking how many ministers does this church have? The change is in stating how many ministers we have here in this congregation. It says, “Ministers”, The Congregation! The reason for this is that as followers of Christ, we are all Priests for God, and are given the gift of the Holy Spirit in order to convey God’s message to a world that has forgotten. As Paul tells us, we all have been given very special gifts: some who can teach, some who can preach, some who can sing, some to administration. These gifts are given to us, but not for us! This is an important thing to remember, and because we can sometimes think that we are more special than someone else, because of a particular gift that we have been given, is the reason why Paul was writing to the church in Corinth and to us as well.
The purpose of any gift from God, is not for our own benefit, but is given solely to benefit and glorify God. If we keep that in mind, not only will we have less jealousy and self pride creating problems within our faith community, but we will find ourselves more inclined to use our gifts and feel less tired and experience less burn-out, as we will be fueled by a higher power, one that gives us not only the energy to perform, but the desire and direction in which to best use our gifts.
There are many voices that are spoken by the Holy Spirit. It might be in language, it might be through our gifts, it might come through support and encouragement of our friends and family, it might come through dreams or visions, or through children; it might even come through our pets or through nature. Like the tulips in my garden, the voices, the sounds of the Holy Spirit are many, but the message is always the same: God loves you! God desires to have a one on one relationship with you! God is active in our world, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Let us today, work at creating the space within us that will allow the Holy Spirit of God to become even more effective for tomorrow! Amen
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Live As a Living Stone, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 5/22/2011
Live As a Living Stone
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 5/22/2011
Based on 1 Peter 2:1-10
When driving into the parking lot of the church, one of the very first features of this build that catches your eye, is the use of stone. One each corner of the exterior walls of the sanctuary there are massive stone buttresses, which gives the sense that this building being solidly anchored to the ground. Inside, at the center of this sanctuary, stands the alter or communion table; it is built on stone that is cemented into the floor. Again, this table is permanent because of the stone foundation that it rests upon. Stone is an amazing material. It is no accident that the architect of this facility used stone in strategic areas. He didn’t use stone as an accent material, but rather, he made subtle statements based on scriptural understandings. Stone is not only beautiful, but it has great strength and can support a mighty structure. Stone gives both a feeling of security and permanency, as well, as shelter.
Remember the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf! The first pig built his house out of straw, the second pig built his house out of sticks, and the third little pig built his home out of stone. Enters in this tranquil scene is the Big Bad Wolf, who is hungry for a pork sandwich. He comes up to the first pig and his house of straw; the wolf huffs and puffs and blows the house of straw down. Then he comes across the second pig’s house and still being hungry, he again huffs and he puffs and he blows down the house built of sticks. The wolf still hungry and looking for dessert, pig flambeau, goes to the third pig’s house. He again huffs and he puffs, but the house stays standing. Perplexed by this, the wolf huffs and puffs himself into despair and eventually leaves, and the third pig is safe and sound in his home that was built of stone.
Scripture uses a number of stories that deal with stones in them to help relate the idea’s of the steadfastness of God to those who recognize Him within their lives. Stones were used by the early patriarchs to signify their devotion and remembrance to the God who carried them through difficulties. King David, as a shepherd boy, used a stone to bring down the giant Goliath, thus ending the battle and bringing victory to the army of the Israelites. When Jesus made his entry into Jerusalem, the week before Passover, and the Pharisees were telling Jesus to quiet the crowd, Jesus responded with: “even if the crowd was silent, these stones would sing out in Praise of Gods work.” While at the temple, Jesus compared himself to the stones of the temple, saying once destroyed, in three days, they would be rebuilt, meaning his death and resurrection.
Here in 1 Peter, we read this beautiful metaphor about a relationship between God and his people. There is this play on words of “living stone”, where Jesus is not only the corner stone, that piece which anchor of any structure, but is also as a resurrected savior is “the living stone.”
This past Monday was the memorial service of Donna Morad, in which some of you attended. I chose for the text of her memorial this reading from 1 Peter specifically because of the powerful imagery that is found within these ten verses. I am struck by two ideas in particular, which are the phrases, "though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight" and "Like living stones."
Jesus and his teachings, his message, were rejected by the religious authorities of his day; those who were the establishment and held the power. These idea’ were rejected because those in power thought they would lose not only their control and position, but that Israel itself would fall if Jesus’ teachings were accepted. We talk a lot today about the “liberal” and “fundamentalist” Christian points of view. This is so wrong. There is no such thing as a “liberal Christian” and there is no such thing as a “fundamentalist Christian”. If we are true in our following of Christ, then as Disciples of Christ we all should be seen as “Radical Christians”. The founder of the Christian movement was a “radical”. We are called into a “radical lifestyle”.
A part of this radical lifestyle is stated in the very first verse of this morning’s text. Eugene Peterson says it this way: So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. This is radical because it goes against human tendencies to back bite, hold grudges, put on false airs, and to get even when we’ve been wronged. But Peter is telling us that, when we have had a taste of God, like infants at the breast, we are to drink deep of God's pure kindness. Then we'll grow up mature and whole in God.
The other part of this morning’s text that captures my imagination is that of “Living Stones”. The idea of "living stones" brings images such as solidness; stones are used in building structures that weather through time. The things that we do throughout our life are the stones that we lay for future generations. None of us lives in a vacuum. Each generation that is born comes with the good and the bad of the previous generation; some might say we come into this life with our parent’s baggage. When I think about all that I enjoy today, it comes from the sacrifices, the teachings, even from the mistakes of those who have come before me.
In the same respect, my theology, my understanding of God originates with what I was taught by my parents and grandparents. It came through watching their actions and how they related to others. I learned respect for people of all races because my parents and grandparents taught me that the color of some ones skin did not make them either better or worse than any other person. My concepts of a loving God, or of a judgmental God, or of an accepting or rejecting God, came from Sunday School teachers and from what was said from the pulpit. These are the living stones that I grew up with.
But once I started to personally read the bible, once I started to personally study and contemplate what I was reading, once I started to formulate my prayer life beyond the prayers that I learned as a child, once I started to read writings of great theologians, I then became more hungry for a deeper relationship with God. All these idea’s that I was reading were from God’s living stones that had been laid before my birth, and through these living stones, I have had the opportunity to learn, be shaped into what I am today. And the reality is, that I too am a living stone that is being placed into this marvelous building that God is creating for those who come after me. You too are living stones, and are also being placed into this marvelous building that God is building, so future generations may continue to build and shape their own lives.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Can you image, the immigrant who leaves their home country and comes to live here. There is a time period where they are not a part of this country, but after a lot of hard work, of learning a new culture, they take and pass a test, then they are sworn in as new citizens of this country. We as children of God are very much like the immigrant. We leave our old ways behind, and we work hard and study hard the teachings of Christ, to learn what this new world of God’s is all about, not just the rules, but more importantly we learn about its potential, then we become active citizens of Gods kingdom, the one here on earth. Once we were not a people, but now we are the people of God.
We are no ordinary people, but rather, we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession. We are not only the product of earlier generations, but we are the living stones that are laying the foundations for future generations, whether we like it or not. So let us live up to being the people that we truly are, God’s chosen people, who are not ordinary, but are of royal descent, and work toward creating a holy nation, God’s kingdom here on earth, for we are Gods’ Living Stones! Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 5/22/2011
Based on 1 Peter 2:1-10
When driving into the parking lot of the church, one of the very first features of this build that catches your eye, is the use of stone. One each corner of the exterior walls of the sanctuary there are massive stone buttresses, which gives the sense that this building being solidly anchored to the ground. Inside, at the center of this sanctuary, stands the alter or communion table; it is built on stone that is cemented into the floor. Again, this table is permanent because of the stone foundation that it rests upon. Stone is an amazing material. It is no accident that the architect of this facility used stone in strategic areas. He didn’t use stone as an accent material, but rather, he made subtle statements based on scriptural understandings. Stone is not only beautiful, but it has great strength and can support a mighty structure. Stone gives both a feeling of security and permanency, as well, as shelter.
Remember the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf! The first pig built his house out of straw, the second pig built his house out of sticks, and the third little pig built his home out of stone. Enters in this tranquil scene is the Big Bad Wolf, who is hungry for a pork sandwich. He comes up to the first pig and his house of straw; the wolf huffs and puffs and blows the house of straw down. Then he comes across the second pig’s house and still being hungry, he again huffs and he puffs and he blows down the house built of sticks. The wolf still hungry and looking for dessert, pig flambeau, goes to the third pig’s house. He again huffs and he puffs, but the house stays standing. Perplexed by this, the wolf huffs and puffs himself into despair and eventually leaves, and the third pig is safe and sound in his home that was built of stone.
Scripture uses a number of stories that deal with stones in them to help relate the idea’s of the steadfastness of God to those who recognize Him within their lives. Stones were used by the early patriarchs to signify their devotion and remembrance to the God who carried them through difficulties. King David, as a shepherd boy, used a stone to bring down the giant Goliath, thus ending the battle and bringing victory to the army of the Israelites. When Jesus made his entry into Jerusalem, the week before Passover, and the Pharisees were telling Jesus to quiet the crowd, Jesus responded with: “even if the crowd was silent, these stones would sing out in Praise of Gods work.” While at the temple, Jesus compared himself to the stones of the temple, saying once destroyed, in three days, they would be rebuilt, meaning his death and resurrection.
Here in 1 Peter, we read this beautiful metaphor about a relationship between God and his people. There is this play on words of “living stone”, where Jesus is not only the corner stone, that piece which anchor of any structure, but is also as a resurrected savior is “the living stone.”
This past Monday was the memorial service of Donna Morad, in which some of you attended. I chose for the text of her memorial this reading from 1 Peter specifically because of the powerful imagery that is found within these ten verses. I am struck by two ideas in particular, which are the phrases, "though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight" and "Like living stones."
Jesus and his teachings, his message, were rejected by the religious authorities of his day; those who were the establishment and held the power. These idea’ were rejected because those in power thought they would lose not only their control and position, but that Israel itself would fall if Jesus’ teachings were accepted. We talk a lot today about the “liberal” and “fundamentalist” Christian points of view. This is so wrong. There is no such thing as a “liberal Christian” and there is no such thing as a “fundamentalist Christian”. If we are true in our following of Christ, then as Disciples of Christ we all should be seen as “Radical Christians”. The founder of the Christian movement was a “radical”. We are called into a “radical lifestyle”.
A part of this radical lifestyle is stated in the very first verse of this morning’s text. Eugene Peterson says it this way: So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. This is radical because it goes against human tendencies to back bite, hold grudges, put on false airs, and to get even when we’ve been wronged. But Peter is telling us that, when we have had a taste of God, like infants at the breast, we are to drink deep of God's pure kindness. Then we'll grow up mature and whole in God.
The other part of this morning’s text that captures my imagination is that of “Living Stones”. The idea of "living stones" brings images such as solidness; stones are used in building structures that weather through time. The things that we do throughout our life are the stones that we lay for future generations. None of us lives in a vacuum. Each generation that is born comes with the good and the bad of the previous generation; some might say we come into this life with our parent’s baggage. When I think about all that I enjoy today, it comes from the sacrifices, the teachings, even from the mistakes of those who have come before me.
In the same respect, my theology, my understanding of God originates with what I was taught by my parents and grandparents. It came through watching their actions and how they related to others. I learned respect for people of all races because my parents and grandparents taught me that the color of some ones skin did not make them either better or worse than any other person. My concepts of a loving God, or of a judgmental God, or of an accepting or rejecting God, came from Sunday School teachers and from what was said from the pulpit. These are the living stones that I grew up with.
But once I started to personally read the bible, once I started to personally study and contemplate what I was reading, once I started to formulate my prayer life beyond the prayers that I learned as a child, once I started to read writings of great theologians, I then became more hungry for a deeper relationship with God. All these idea’s that I was reading were from God’s living stones that had been laid before my birth, and through these living stones, I have had the opportunity to learn, be shaped into what I am today. And the reality is, that I too am a living stone that is being placed into this marvelous building that God is creating for those who come after me. You too are living stones, and are also being placed into this marvelous building that God is building, so future generations may continue to build and shape their own lives.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Can you image, the immigrant who leaves their home country and comes to live here. There is a time period where they are not a part of this country, but after a lot of hard work, of learning a new culture, they take and pass a test, then they are sworn in as new citizens of this country. We as children of God are very much like the immigrant. We leave our old ways behind, and we work hard and study hard the teachings of Christ, to learn what this new world of God’s is all about, not just the rules, but more importantly we learn about its potential, then we become active citizens of Gods kingdom, the one here on earth. Once we were not a people, but now we are the people of God.
We are no ordinary people, but rather, we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession. We are not only the product of earlier generations, but we are the living stones that are laying the foundations for future generations, whether we like it or not. So let us live up to being the people that we truly are, God’s chosen people, who are not ordinary, but are of royal descent, and work toward creating a holy nation, God’s kingdom here on earth, for we are Gods’ Living Stones! Amen
Monday, May 16, 2011
Living In Awe, Frist Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 5/15/2011
Living In Awe!
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 5/15/2011
Based on Acts 2:42-47
Have you ever listened to someone talk about what they have been doing since the last time that you had spoken with them and found yourself thinking, “Gee I wish I had their life?” Not too many years ago you could watch shows like, “The Rich and Famous”, where we were given insight into the world that only those with excess money could live. One of the news items this week was about Prince William and Kate’s Million Dollar Honeymoon. It is easy for us to be in “Awe” of how some people live what a capitalistic society would define as a successful and fulfilling lifestyle. Back in the 1960’s, the term “Jet-setter” was coined, to define people who had large amounts of discretionary funds in which to lavish themselves with the finest material things life has to offer.
One day, a number of years ago while talking to my mother on the phone; I wasn’t hearing much about what was happening in her life. When I asked her why she wasn’t telling me what was going on, she replied with, “Steven, your life sounds so much more exciting, I don’t feel like I’ve been doing anything.” The lesson that I learned that day with my mother’s comment was, even though the activities that I was involved in, which to me were rather ordinary, run of the mill type of things (the things that I did on a regular basis), were to her, “Awe” inspiring. They were things that she saw as living a lifestyle of the “rich and famous”, thus making her life seem less fulfilling than what it was. You see, the things that we do normally, which may seem mundane to us, might very well be seen as exciting, breathtaking expressions of living the “good life” to someone else.
As members of any faith body, we can look at what other churches are doing and start to feel just like my mother was feeling, “Gee, they are doing exciting things in their churches and we are not doing anything out of the ordinary in ours.” Image how the traditional Jewish practitioners must have been thinking, when they were looking at what was going on within this new sect called “The Way.? Verse 43 states, “Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.”
I found myself feeling a little envious the other day while chatting with Martha Atchins, pastor of the Mt of Olives church, as we were discussing the growth that I have seen in her congregation. Martha started serving that congregation a little over three years ago. In the past year, she has experienced almost 50% growth. This is great! We too have had a substantial increase in attendance this past year as well. Last year it was an overall increase of 10% (this might not sound like much, but many congregations would kill for that type of growth.) Out of Curiosity, I ran the numbers for the past eighteen weeks and discovered that we are at a 1% increase in attendance over the same period last year. I was deflated a bit to say the very least, because it feels like we have had a stronger increase than what the numbers say.
Now I have to keep things in perspective. Over the last twenty months, we have experienced a huge increase in attendance and more exciting is that there are many new faces prior to my coming to serve you! The attitude within this family of believers is 180* from where you were when I first arrived. We now have this anticipation that there is a future through this ministry. We are doing well, but is there room for “more?” Yes, I think so. This then leads into the question as to how can we continue to move in the direction like the church we read in this morning’s scripture of Acts?
Starting this last Fall, there has been a group studying the lessons learned through the research of Diane Butler Bass, as to what growing main-line denominational churches have in common, as reported in the book, From Nomads to Pilgrims. One of the questions asked of me early on was, “Pastor, what can we do to help our church grow?” I hope that through this study, we have learned that there are no set programs that work in “growing” a church, but rather there are some common characteristics of growing churches.
We find in Acts, chapter 2 some of the very basic characteristics of a growing church. They are as follows: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. How would we restate them in today’s understanding: being intentional about reading and studying scripture and listening to one another’s understanding of what they are studying; of coming together, such as in Worship, to gather with one another outside of the church setting, like in our homes for fellowship. This could be like going camping together, or bowling or playing sports in what we call church leagues, or going out to lunch together or the movies, as examples. Then we break bread together, which is what we call communion or more importantly remembering Christ as we come together in community. The fourth is to devote time to prayer. This is both in private times as well as corporate times. There is such power as we open ourselves up to one another and to God with what is on our hearts as concerns and joys, as well as praying for the welfare of those beyond our immediate concerns.
These are what I would call, the four basics for any person in their faith development. Depending on how much time and effort you put into all four of these areas will determine not only how much you grow, but how the larger faith family grows. It is so very simple. We read in Acts 2, that as these people invested themselves into these four activities that they grew not only in numbers, but more importantly they were living in awe at what they were seeing happening around them. Are we “living in awe” within this congregation? Or, do we feel that if devoting ourselves to these four basic activities is placing more “burden” upon our lives and creating more stress?
The Jesuit paleontologist, Teilhard de Chardin, states: we are primarily spiritual beings having a human experience, not human beings having a spiritual experience. If this is true, then tending to our spiritual health is of primary importance.
Church growth is of primary concern for all churches. Many church profiles, speak to looking for pastors who will “save” them, by growing their churches. They tend to think in terms of numerical growth and not about spiritual growth. I address this situation within my profile with these words: … many churches are looking at their ‘ministries” through the eyes of survivalism. It is my opinion that one should look to church growth not in terms of “How do we grow” but rather looking to answer in earnest “How can I deepen my relationship with God.” In other words, not how can we grow our church but rather, ‘how can I grow myself?’ It is with the personal growth in our spiritual lives that is the basis for any significant growth of a congregation and thus deepening of the congregation’s ministry.
Are you like millions of Americans who sit back and watch in “awe” programs that show others achieving more within their lives than you? Are you like my mother, who feels that she has nothing going on in her life after listening to what other people do in their normal daily activities? Are you living your life in the style of the Christians we read in Acts, chapter 2 or do you view your life as receiving less than they, spiritually?
The secret is to commit yourself to be actively working the basic program that is set before us by the early church. In AA, it is called “walking the talk”. If you really want to be “Living in Awe”, then you have to work at nurturing your spiritual life. If you want to have this church “living in awe” then it is up to you, as an individual to commit yourself to constant study of the scriptures, fellowship frequently, break bread with one another and pray constantly. If you don’t believe me, I challenge you to commit to doing all these things for just two months in order to test what I am telling you, I can guarantee you that will be finding “many wonders and signs” in your daily life that you have been previously been missing, and you will be living in awe, daily! I would be so bold to say, if just one third of this congregation did this on an individual basis, in less than a year, we wouldn’t be able to fit into this space for worship at one time. Are you willing to take this challenge of “living in awe”? Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 5/15/2011
Based on Acts 2:42-47
Have you ever listened to someone talk about what they have been doing since the last time that you had spoken with them and found yourself thinking, “Gee I wish I had their life?” Not too many years ago you could watch shows like, “The Rich and Famous”, where we were given insight into the world that only those with excess money could live. One of the news items this week was about Prince William and Kate’s Million Dollar Honeymoon. It is easy for us to be in “Awe” of how some people live what a capitalistic society would define as a successful and fulfilling lifestyle. Back in the 1960’s, the term “Jet-setter” was coined, to define people who had large amounts of discretionary funds in which to lavish themselves with the finest material things life has to offer.
One day, a number of years ago while talking to my mother on the phone; I wasn’t hearing much about what was happening in her life. When I asked her why she wasn’t telling me what was going on, she replied with, “Steven, your life sounds so much more exciting, I don’t feel like I’ve been doing anything.” The lesson that I learned that day with my mother’s comment was, even though the activities that I was involved in, which to me were rather ordinary, run of the mill type of things (the things that I did on a regular basis), were to her, “Awe” inspiring. They were things that she saw as living a lifestyle of the “rich and famous”, thus making her life seem less fulfilling than what it was. You see, the things that we do normally, which may seem mundane to us, might very well be seen as exciting, breathtaking expressions of living the “good life” to someone else.
As members of any faith body, we can look at what other churches are doing and start to feel just like my mother was feeling, “Gee, they are doing exciting things in their churches and we are not doing anything out of the ordinary in ours.” Image how the traditional Jewish practitioners must have been thinking, when they were looking at what was going on within this new sect called “The Way.? Verse 43 states, “Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.”
I found myself feeling a little envious the other day while chatting with Martha Atchins, pastor of the Mt of Olives church, as we were discussing the growth that I have seen in her congregation. Martha started serving that congregation a little over three years ago. In the past year, she has experienced almost 50% growth. This is great! We too have had a substantial increase in attendance this past year as well. Last year it was an overall increase of 10% (this might not sound like much, but many congregations would kill for that type of growth.) Out of Curiosity, I ran the numbers for the past eighteen weeks and discovered that we are at a 1% increase in attendance over the same period last year. I was deflated a bit to say the very least, because it feels like we have had a stronger increase than what the numbers say.
Now I have to keep things in perspective. Over the last twenty months, we have experienced a huge increase in attendance and more exciting is that there are many new faces prior to my coming to serve you! The attitude within this family of believers is 180* from where you were when I first arrived. We now have this anticipation that there is a future through this ministry. We are doing well, but is there room for “more?” Yes, I think so. This then leads into the question as to how can we continue to move in the direction like the church we read in this morning’s scripture of Acts?
Starting this last Fall, there has been a group studying the lessons learned through the research of Diane Butler Bass, as to what growing main-line denominational churches have in common, as reported in the book, From Nomads to Pilgrims. One of the questions asked of me early on was, “Pastor, what can we do to help our church grow?” I hope that through this study, we have learned that there are no set programs that work in “growing” a church, but rather there are some common characteristics of growing churches.
We find in Acts, chapter 2 some of the very basic characteristics of a growing church. They are as follows: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. How would we restate them in today’s understanding: being intentional about reading and studying scripture and listening to one another’s understanding of what they are studying; of coming together, such as in Worship, to gather with one another outside of the church setting, like in our homes for fellowship. This could be like going camping together, or bowling or playing sports in what we call church leagues, or going out to lunch together or the movies, as examples. Then we break bread together, which is what we call communion or more importantly remembering Christ as we come together in community. The fourth is to devote time to prayer. This is both in private times as well as corporate times. There is such power as we open ourselves up to one another and to God with what is on our hearts as concerns and joys, as well as praying for the welfare of those beyond our immediate concerns.
These are what I would call, the four basics for any person in their faith development. Depending on how much time and effort you put into all four of these areas will determine not only how much you grow, but how the larger faith family grows. It is so very simple. We read in Acts 2, that as these people invested themselves into these four activities that they grew not only in numbers, but more importantly they were living in awe at what they were seeing happening around them. Are we “living in awe” within this congregation? Or, do we feel that if devoting ourselves to these four basic activities is placing more “burden” upon our lives and creating more stress?
The Jesuit paleontologist, Teilhard de Chardin, states: we are primarily spiritual beings having a human experience, not human beings having a spiritual experience. If this is true, then tending to our spiritual health is of primary importance.
Church growth is of primary concern for all churches. Many church profiles, speak to looking for pastors who will “save” them, by growing their churches. They tend to think in terms of numerical growth and not about spiritual growth. I address this situation within my profile with these words: … many churches are looking at their ‘ministries” through the eyes of survivalism. It is my opinion that one should look to church growth not in terms of “How do we grow” but rather looking to answer in earnest “How can I deepen my relationship with God.” In other words, not how can we grow our church but rather, ‘how can I grow myself?’ It is with the personal growth in our spiritual lives that is the basis for any significant growth of a congregation and thus deepening of the congregation’s ministry.
Are you like millions of Americans who sit back and watch in “awe” programs that show others achieving more within their lives than you? Are you like my mother, who feels that she has nothing going on in her life after listening to what other people do in their normal daily activities? Are you living your life in the style of the Christians we read in Acts, chapter 2 or do you view your life as receiving less than they, spiritually?
The secret is to commit yourself to be actively working the basic program that is set before us by the early church. In AA, it is called “walking the talk”. If you really want to be “Living in Awe”, then you have to work at nurturing your spiritual life. If you want to have this church “living in awe” then it is up to you, as an individual to commit yourself to constant study of the scriptures, fellowship frequently, break bread with one another and pray constantly. If you don’t believe me, I challenge you to commit to doing all these things for just two months in order to test what I am telling you, I can guarantee you that will be finding “many wonders and signs” in your daily life that you have been previously been missing, and you will be living in awe, daily! I would be so bold to say, if just one third of this congregation did this on an individual basis, in less than a year, we wouldn’t be able to fit into this space for worship at one time. Are you willing to take this challenge of “living in awe”? Amen
Monday, May 2, 2011
Just Let Go, Rock Springs, WY May 1,2011
Just Let Go!
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY May 1, 2011
Based on John 20:19-31
One of the members of this congregation shared a little piece of information with me a few weeks concerning the nature of this body of believers. I was informed that the church membership doesn’t deal well with change, for the sake of change, but given solid reasons and enough time to digest, eventually do make changes. First off, this isn’t unique to First Congregational, almost all bodies of faith resist change for the sake of change, and when needing to change, move slowly in doing so. We both ended in laughing about the irony of the only thing that is constant is change itself!
Our last two worship services, which were Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, were conducted very differently than what we do a lot of Sundays. We were worshipping in forms that were not “the way we usually” worship. On Palm Sunday, there were lots of video on the screen, coffee cups were in the chancel area, and the pulpit had been removed. We left in silence two weeks ago, leaving our Palms and on Easter Sunday entered a dark Sanctuary. The lilies were not up front, we were not greeted by bright lights and up-beat music as usual on Easter Sunday. The pastor had really messed with Palm Sunday and Easter this year!
Yet these changes were not for the sake of doing something different, but were made to emphasize the messages of what we were celebrating. Both Sundays were celebration Sundays and less of what I think of as Sundays for Worship. Very much like the Passover Meal is about a celebration, rather than about worship. The first message that I wanted to present for Palm Sunday was that what Jesus was doing, “the triumphal entry” wasn’t just 2,000 year old history that we recite each year. I wanted us to experience it in a twenty-first setting. I also wanted us to be able to understand (at least have a sense) the thrill of Easter morning by going through the death of Christ, and how dark the disciples must have been feeling up to the point of discovering the empty tomb.
I should have asked the deacons to guard the doors this morning and checking everyone’s I.D. before letting you into the sanctuary this morning as a continuation of our Easter story, still having the lights down low, to help create that sense of “fear” that our story is describing. Almost like having bouncers at the doors of a speak-easy, helping protect those of us inside from the cops who were looking for gatherings of folks who enjoyed having a good time outside the boundaries of the law.
The reality of our situation is that as Christians we have only experienced Easter on this side of this marvelous event, not being able to understand all the fear, confusion, and pain of the these followers of Jesus who lived through the experience of the other side. Not only do we have the disadvantage of living 2,000 years after the fact, but we also live in a country where we do not truly understand fear from violent and intolerant governments or religious leaders as did those folks, or do people today in certain countries in Asia, Middle East, Africa, and parts of South America.
So for us to truly understand the impact of the assurance that Jesus was giving these people hiding behind locked doors, living in fear of what might happen next, with a greeting like “Peace be with you”, is near to impossible. I think the closest point in my life that I can relate to being fearful because of national events, was with the bombing of the twin towers in NYC. I recall after realizing that we had been attacked by terrorists, the need to be in contact with my three children, two of them lived 1,400 miles away from me and the third was not too far out of Washington D.C...
None of my children had by my standards any lessons on how to be cautious when in public spaces. Things like, while walking down a street of keeping a conscious view of the way people are acting; when entering into a building, of taking a quick look for where the exits are located; when in large crowds, looking for suspicious behavior. These are all things that a gay person quickly learns when going out in public. I was fearful that the shopping malls in particular were going to be the next target for terrorists and that they might find themselves at a possible location of danger.
As a country, we had the opportunity to do some self-examination as to why these types of actions were being directed at us, time to examine our life styles of excessive desires of self-indulging society that could possibly have triggered this type of hurtful retribution, a time to honestly look at our last 50 yrs of foreign policies and see what harm we might have created in other cultures in order to make our lifestyles more affluent. Instead we were encouraged to go shopping. We had an administration that took full advantage of our fear in order to justify more violence, plunging us into two wars and setting the stage for economic mayhem and anyone who questioned their motives, were verbally assassinated as being “unpatriotic!”
Fear is an ugly thing, and most destructive. Fear paralyzes, cripples, and brings general inability to reason clearly. It was imperative for Jesus to appear to his disciples not only to let them know that he had risen, but to give them assurance that they would be able to move ahead. “Peace I give to you” not just once but a second time, “Peace I give to you”.
Then, Jesus immediately gives them a directive of going out to do the same work that He had been sent to do, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”, and gives them the Holy Spirit in order to help them in their mission. Then a very curious thing is said by Jesus, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Eugene Peterson says it in this way, “If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?"
One of the hardest things for us to do is to “forgive”. We so love to hold on to every little and big hurt that has ever been done to us! My grandmother had a memory like a steal trap and she never hesitated to remind you of some wrong doing that you did thirty, forty, even fifty years ago.
Now does “forgiving” mean that we also forget? Usually not, and in some cases, we never want to forget, if only to never repeat the mistake, such as the murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazi party, or of a whole population turning it’s head the other way, because of “fearing” their own Government.
Why are people or political systems that feed on fear so destructive? It’s because, it stops “goodness”, “kindness”, “civility”, “gentleness”, “sharing” and the ability to “love.” William Sloane Coffin, a great prophet of the United Church of Christ who died several years ago, fittingly, during Holy Week, once said: "As I see it, the primary religious task these days is to try to think straight...You can't think straight with a heart full of fear, for fear seeks safety, not truth. If your heart's a stone, you can't have decent thoughts – either about personal relations or about international ones. A heart full of love, on the other hand, has a limbering effect on the mind."UCC Sermon Seeds
The goal for any church should be to work toward “Truth”, and the only way that can happen is to rid itself of the “fear”, which holds it back. A basic component to “Fear” is the inability to “forgive.” By forgiving, we “let go” of the wrong. Once we let go of the wrong, we no longer have the need to hold onto “fear”. Jesus tells us to, “Fear not, for I am with you.” If we chose to live in fear, then we are disrespecting Jesus and not allowing him to be fully alive within us.
Every congregation could do with a dose of “forgiving”. When you hear comments like, “I don’t like this pastor or I didn’t like that pastor, or Pastor so and so made me mad, so I don’t come to church”, or “So and so did this to me, I will never forgive them for that”, these are obvious signs of an unforgiving heart. Jesus asked, “If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?” This is a good question, “Why do we want to hold on to things that immobilize us, keep us from clear thinking, things that prevent us from moving ahead?” We don’t do “alter calls” in the UCC, but I wonder if we might not become healthier people if we were to do “alter calls” or even confessional booths, once in awhile.
A part of the resurrection Sunday is receiving the “Peace of Christ” and out of this “peace” comes the ability to “forgive”. It’s up to us, we can either hold on to fear and an unforgiving heart and whither on the vine, or we can prune ourselves by letting go of fear and the hurts that stunt us and become a bush that will abundantly produce. The chose is ours. Jesus tells us to, “Just let go!” Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY May 1, 2011
Based on John 20:19-31
One of the members of this congregation shared a little piece of information with me a few weeks concerning the nature of this body of believers. I was informed that the church membership doesn’t deal well with change, for the sake of change, but given solid reasons and enough time to digest, eventually do make changes. First off, this isn’t unique to First Congregational, almost all bodies of faith resist change for the sake of change, and when needing to change, move slowly in doing so. We both ended in laughing about the irony of the only thing that is constant is change itself!
Our last two worship services, which were Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, were conducted very differently than what we do a lot of Sundays. We were worshipping in forms that were not “the way we usually” worship. On Palm Sunday, there were lots of video on the screen, coffee cups were in the chancel area, and the pulpit had been removed. We left in silence two weeks ago, leaving our Palms and on Easter Sunday entered a dark Sanctuary. The lilies were not up front, we were not greeted by bright lights and up-beat music as usual on Easter Sunday. The pastor had really messed with Palm Sunday and Easter this year!
Yet these changes were not for the sake of doing something different, but were made to emphasize the messages of what we were celebrating. Both Sundays were celebration Sundays and less of what I think of as Sundays for Worship. Very much like the Passover Meal is about a celebration, rather than about worship. The first message that I wanted to present for Palm Sunday was that what Jesus was doing, “the triumphal entry” wasn’t just 2,000 year old history that we recite each year. I wanted us to experience it in a twenty-first setting. I also wanted us to be able to understand (at least have a sense) the thrill of Easter morning by going through the death of Christ, and how dark the disciples must have been feeling up to the point of discovering the empty tomb.
I should have asked the deacons to guard the doors this morning and checking everyone’s I.D. before letting you into the sanctuary this morning as a continuation of our Easter story, still having the lights down low, to help create that sense of “fear” that our story is describing. Almost like having bouncers at the doors of a speak-easy, helping protect those of us inside from the cops who were looking for gatherings of folks who enjoyed having a good time outside the boundaries of the law.
The reality of our situation is that as Christians we have only experienced Easter on this side of this marvelous event, not being able to understand all the fear, confusion, and pain of the these followers of Jesus who lived through the experience of the other side. Not only do we have the disadvantage of living 2,000 years after the fact, but we also live in a country where we do not truly understand fear from violent and intolerant governments or religious leaders as did those folks, or do people today in certain countries in Asia, Middle East, Africa, and parts of South America.
So for us to truly understand the impact of the assurance that Jesus was giving these people hiding behind locked doors, living in fear of what might happen next, with a greeting like “Peace be with you”, is near to impossible. I think the closest point in my life that I can relate to being fearful because of national events, was with the bombing of the twin towers in NYC. I recall after realizing that we had been attacked by terrorists, the need to be in contact with my three children, two of them lived 1,400 miles away from me and the third was not too far out of Washington D.C...
None of my children had by my standards any lessons on how to be cautious when in public spaces. Things like, while walking down a street of keeping a conscious view of the way people are acting; when entering into a building, of taking a quick look for where the exits are located; when in large crowds, looking for suspicious behavior. These are all things that a gay person quickly learns when going out in public. I was fearful that the shopping malls in particular were going to be the next target for terrorists and that they might find themselves at a possible location of danger.
As a country, we had the opportunity to do some self-examination as to why these types of actions were being directed at us, time to examine our life styles of excessive desires of self-indulging society that could possibly have triggered this type of hurtful retribution, a time to honestly look at our last 50 yrs of foreign policies and see what harm we might have created in other cultures in order to make our lifestyles more affluent. Instead we were encouraged to go shopping. We had an administration that took full advantage of our fear in order to justify more violence, plunging us into two wars and setting the stage for economic mayhem and anyone who questioned their motives, were verbally assassinated as being “unpatriotic!”
Fear is an ugly thing, and most destructive. Fear paralyzes, cripples, and brings general inability to reason clearly. It was imperative for Jesus to appear to his disciples not only to let them know that he had risen, but to give them assurance that they would be able to move ahead. “Peace I give to you” not just once but a second time, “Peace I give to you”.
Then, Jesus immediately gives them a directive of going out to do the same work that He had been sent to do, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”, and gives them the Holy Spirit in order to help them in their mission. Then a very curious thing is said by Jesus, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Eugene Peterson says it in this way, “If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?"
One of the hardest things for us to do is to “forgive”. We so love to hold on to every little and big hurt that has ever been done to us! My grandmother had a memory like a steal trap and she never hesitated to remind you of some wrong doing that you did thirty, forty, even fifty years ago.
Now does “forgiving” mean that we also forget? Usually not, and in some cases, we never want to forget, if only to never repeat the mistake, such as the murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazi party, or of a whole population turning it’s head the other way, because of “fearing” their own Government.
Why are people or political systems that feed on fear so destructive? It’s because, it stops “goodness”, “kindness”, “civility”, “gentleness”, “sharing” and the ability to “love.” William Sloane Coffin, a great prophet of the United Church of Christ who died several years ago, fittingly, during Holy Week, once said: "As I see it, the primary religious task these days is to try to think straight...You can't think straight with a heart full of fear, for fear seeks safety, not truth. If your heart's a stone, you can't have decent thoughts – either about personal relations or about international ones. A heart full of love, on the other hand, has a limbering effect on the mind."UCC Sermon Seeds
The goal for any church should be to work toward “Truth”, and the only way that can happen is to rid itself of the “fear”, which holds it back. A basic component to “Fear” is the inability to “forgive.” By forgiving, we “let go” of the wrong. Once we let go of the wrong, we no longer have the need to hold onto “fear”. Jesus tells us to, “Fear not, for I am with you.” If we chose to live in fear, then we are disrespecting Jesus and not allowing him to be fully alive within us.
Every congregation could do with a dose of “forgiving”. When you hear comments like, “I don’t like this pastor or I didn’t like that pastor, or Pastor so and so made me mad, so I don’t come to church”, or “So and so did this to me, I will never forgive them for that”, these are obvious signs of an unforgiving heart. Jesus asked, “If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?” This is a good question, “Why do we want to hold on to things that immobilize us, keep us from clear thinking, things that prevent us from moving ahead?” We don’t do “alter calls” in the UCC, but I wonder if we might not become healthier people if we were to do “alter calls” or even confessional booths, once in awhile.
A part of the resurrection Sunday is receiving the “Peace of Christ” and out of this “peace” comes the ability to “forgive”. It’s up to us, we can either hold on to fear and an unforgiving heart and whither on the vine, or we can prune ourselves by letting go of fear and the hurts that stunt us and become a bush that will abundantly produce. The chose is ours. Jesus tells us to, “Just let go!” Amen
For Whom Are You Looking?, Rock Springs, WY Easter Sunday, April 24,2011
“For whom are you looking?”
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 4/24/2011
Based on John 20:1-18 and Acts 10:34-43
In the movie “Torch Song Trilogy”, Arnold the son of a grieving mother who had just lost her husband, was asking his mother what she thought she would do now that “dad” was dead? Her response was, “I guess I’ll move to Florida.” “Florida? What for ma, you don’t have anyone down there, Phil (the other son) and I live here in New York. Why would you want to move down there?” “When your great-grandfather died, your great-grandmother mother moved to Florida, when my father died, my mother moved down to Florida, now that your father is dead, I’ll move to Florida. That’s what we do, we move to Florida!” Arnold responded with, “But mom, what do you want to do?” She quickly responded by saying, “I want to die, but until then, I’ll move to Florida.”
That scene was dealing with rituals. And rituals are great things, they help us get through periods of our lives, that otherwise would be so difficult that we would not be able to navigate through. The most dramatic being, when we suffer a sever loss in our life. When we lose someone very dear to us to death, we go into a period of shock, as a defense so as to not load our feelings with more grief than we can bare. It’s as if we have an internal breaker box, that when too much pain comes, the breaker trips, shutting down our emotions. But it isn’t only our emotions that shut down. Our ability to reason, to make decisions, even to recall simple events that are only an hour old, we can also become paralyzed; our whole system seems to shut down, to where only the bare minimal in activity seems to be allowed to function.
I am sure as we think about this morning’s reading, many of us here can put ourselves in-part, into the shoes of Mary and the disciples. For they were having to cope with this terrible lose, with the execution of the man they had looked to as their “rabbouni”, their “teacher”, the one that Peter had declared as “Messiah”! They surely were operating under a great deal of shock, as they start to deal with the death of their beloved, Jesus. They not only were dealing with his death, but also must have been concerned about their own safety, wondering if they too would be picked up by the authorities.
We have this amazingly beautiful story of Mary going to the place where they had laid Jesus, temporarily during the Sabbath, and finding that the tomb had been opened and Jesus’ body wasn’t where they had left him. But amid all of the fear, doubt, and confusion, we see where Jesus appears to her and speaks with her. The story doesn’t go into the technical details of “how” Jesus” was raised, but rather the story focuses on how Mary experienced “Jesus’ resurrection!”
The resurrection story is an amazing story on many different levels. First off and most importantly, the story talks about an event that goes beyond all logical and physical reasoning. When a person dies, the body doesn’t come back to life, at least not normally. This event, is telling us that something supernatural has occurred, and that this event has ongoing implications for the world.
Another very important part of this story, deals with who Jesus is appearing to, who He is having conversation with, and who has been entrusted in sharing with the world, this most important news! In a world where men where the shakers and movers, here we see God once more picking the lowly, in this case a woman named Mary, to become the new bearer of the “Good News” that God has not died but yet still lives!
This particular account of the resurrection story has an intriguing question being posed to Mary, thus being posed to us by Jesus when he asked Mary, “For whom are you looking?” Or it could be said in another way, “What are you looking for, Mary?” “What are you doing here? What do you expect to find?”
When we come to church; when we come to worship, be it on Easter Sunday morning, or Christmas Eve, or any Sunday of the month for that matter, what is it that we are looking for? Whom do we seek? What are we hoping to find? Do we come to worship out of tradition? Do we move to Florida, because that’s what others before us have done? Or, this is what we do on Easter Sunday, we come to church. Or our families have always come to church on Sunday and that’s what we do, because, it is programmed into our DNA, to come to church on Sunday? But when you get here, what do you expect to happen? Do you expect to find God here? Are you suppose to feel better for coming to church? Are you shocked when you come and do not find Jesus here? Or do you see only an empty tomb?
Do you ask yourself, “Am I the empty tomb?” Do I ever think that God has died within my own life, and I’m hoping beyond all hope that God is truly alive, living in a church, and that possibly by coming before The Cross, I will find God? Will I experience a “resurrection” within this empty tomb? You see, it isn’t a matter of whether Jesus raised from the grave as the scriptures describe, but rather, how we personally encounter Jesus.
Is Jesus alive within us, this morning? Have we this personal encounter with Jesus, as Mary had a personal encounter with Jesus there at the tomb? Jesus didn’t appear to Peter or John when they came running and found that the body of Jesus wasn’t where they had left him. Jesus didn’t speak to them at the empty tomb; they left, not having this experience that Mary ended up having, at least not at that point, for as we continue to read on, we know that Jesus did come to the other disciples later on.
Why did Jesus appear to Mary and not to the two disciples who had come to investigate the report from Mary about the empty tomb? Possibly it was because when John saw the wrappings of the burial cloths neatly placed in the tomb; he remembered what Jesus had been telling them about his death and would arise from death into eternal life. Maybe it was because Mary was needing personal comforting to ease her anxieties and soften her grief that Jesus appeared to her. For when Jesus first appeared to her, she didn’t recognize that it was He. For me, the lesson that I see in this part of the narrative, is that we encounter Jesus in many different ways, and often, we do not immediately recognize Jesus being with us, but that it can come over time.
This morning as we come to Christ’s table, we celebrate the “empty tomb”! We celebrate the story of “resurrection”. We do experience resurrection daily in our lives, but like Mary, we might not recognize it immediately, but in time, as we are able to comprehend the story, begin to understand it. God’s love for us is so great, that life renews itself, even during times when we cannot see it! I ask the question that Jesus asked, “For whom are you looking?” I think we are here today, looking to understand that death has no victory over us, but rather, life is eternal. This is the message of the “empty tomb”, God loves his creation so much that death has no lasting sting, but through “resurrection”, life has victory! Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 4/24/2011
Based on John 20:1-18 and Acts 10:34-43
In the movie “Torch Song Trilogy”, Arnold the son of a grieving mother who had just lost her husband, was asking his mother what she thought she would do now that “dad” was dead? Her response was, “I guess I’ll move to Florida.” “Florida? What for ma, you don’t have anyone down there, Phil (the other son) and I live here in New York. Why would you want to move down there?” “When your great-grandfather died, your great-grandmother mother moved to Florida, when my father died, my mother moved down to Florida, now that your father is dead, I’ll move to Florida. That’s what we do, we move to Florida!” Arnold responded with, “But mom, what do you want to do?” She quickly responded by saying, “I want to die, but until then, I’ll move to Florida.”
That scene was dealing with rituals. And rituals are great things, they help us get through periods of our lives, that otherwise would be so difficult that we would not be able to navigate through. The most dramatic being, when we suffer a sever loss in our life. When we lose someone very dear to us to death, we go into a period of shock, as a defense so as to not load our feelings with more grief than we can bare. It’s as if we have an internal breaker box, that when too much pain comes, the breaker trips, shutting down our emotions. But it isn’t only our emotions that shut down. Our ability to reason, to make decisions, even to recall simple events that are only an hour old, we can also become paralyzed; our whole system seems to shut down, to where only the bare minimal in activity seems to be allowed to function.
I am sure as we think about this morning’s reading, many of us here can put ourselves in-part, into the shoes of Mary and the disciples. For they were having to cope with this terrible lose, with the execution of the man they had looked to as their “rabbouni”, their “teacher”, the one that Peter had declared as “Messiah”! They surely were operating under a great deal of shock, as they start to deal with the death of their beloved, Jesus. They not only were dealing with his death, but also must have been concerned about their own safety, wondering if they too would be picked up by the authorities.
We have this amazingly beautiful story of Mary going to the place where they had laid Jesus, temporarily during the Sabbath, and finding that the tomb had been opened and Jesus’ body wasn’t where they had left him. But amid all of the fear, doubt, and confusion, we see where Jesus appears to her and speaks with her. The story doesn’t go into the technical details of “how” Jesus” was raised, but rather the story focuses on how Mary experienced “Jesus’ resurrection!”
The resurrection story is an amazing story on many different levels. First off and most importantly, the story talks about an event that goes beyond all logical and physical reasoning. When a person dies, the body doesn’t come back to life, at least not normally. This event, is telling us that something supernatural has occurred, and that this event has ongoing implications for the world.
Another very important part of this story, deals with who Jesus is appearing to, who He is having conversation with, and who has been entrusted in sharing with the world, this most important news! In a world where men where the shakers and movers, here we see God once more picking the lowly, in this case a woman named Mary, to become the new bearer of the “Good News” that God has not died but yet still lives!
This particular account of the resurrection story has an intriguing question being posed to Mary, thus being posed to us by Jesus when he asked Mary, “For whom are you looking?” Or it could be said in another way, “What are you looking for, Mary?” “What are you doing here? What do you expect to find?”
When we come to church; when we come to worship, be it on Easter Sunday morning, or Christmas Eve, or any Sunday of the month for that matter, what is it that we are looking for? Whom do we seek? What are we hoping to find? Do we come to worship out of tradition? Do we move to Florida, because that’s what others before us have done? Or, this is what we do on Easter Sunday, we come to church. Or our families have always come to church on Sunday and that’s what we do, because, it is programmed into our DNA, to come to church on Sunday? But when you get here, what do you expect to happen? Do you expect to find God here? Are you suppose to feel better for coming to church? Are you shocked when you come and do not find Jesus here? Or do you see only an empty tomb?
Do you ask yourself, “Am I the empty tomb?” Do I ever think that God has died within my own life, and I’m hoping beyond all hope that God is truly alive, living in a church, and that possibly by coming before The Cross, I will find God? Will I experience a “resurrection” within this empty tomb? You see, it isn’t a matter of whether Jesus raised from the grave as the scriptures describe, but rather, how we personally encounter Jesus.
Is Jesus alive within us, this morning? Have we this personal encounter with Jesus, as Mary had a personal encounter with Jesus there at the tomb? Jesus didn’t appear to Peter or John when they came running and found that the body of Jesus wasn’t where they had left him. Jesus didn’t speak to them at the empty tomb; they left, not having this experience that Mary ended up having, at least not at that point, for as we continue to read on, we know that Jesus did come to the other disciples later on.
Why did Jesus appear to Mary and not to the two disciples who had come to investigate the report from Mary about the empty tomb? Possibly it was because when John saw the wrappings of the burial cloths neatly placed in the tomb; he remembered what Jesus had been telling them about his death and would arise from death into eternal life. Maybe it was because Mary was needing personal comforting to ease her anxieties and soften her grief that Jesus appeared to her. For when Jesus first appeared to her, she didn’t recognize that it was He. For me, the lesson that I see in this part of the narrative, is that we encounter Jesus in many different ways, and often, we do not immediately recognize Jesus being with us, but that it can come over time.
This morning as we come to Christ’s table, we celebrate the “empty tomb”! We celebrate the story of “resurrection”. We do experience resurrection daily in our lives, but like Mary, we might not recognize it immediately, but in time, as we are able to comprehend the story, begin to understand it. God’s love for us is so great, that life renews itself, even during times when we cannot see it! I ask the question that Jesus asked, “For whom are you looking?” I think we are here today, looking to understand that death has no victory over us, but rather, life is eternal. This is the message of the “empty tomb”, God loves his creation so much that death has no lasting sting, but through “resurrection”, life has victory! Amen
Palm Sunday Worship "Jerusalem Today, 'Religious Rebellion'"
This particular Palm Sunday was conducted as if you were sitting at home watching a morning news broadcast, much like Reggis and Kathy type program. Where I and Sharon Pribyl (member of church) co-hosted a morning religious program that dealt with current news and intermingaled with scriptures and singing. I am only presenting the actual "news cast" portion of this service where Sharon and I were suppose to be reporting on the current challenges to Jewish religous practises and teachings by the rabbi Jesus of Nazareth, but have interruptions with events on the street, such as Jesus' triumphal entry and a report between Jesus and Herod. The service was concluded with recognizing that Jesus had been tried and killed, with the veiling of the cross and the congregation laying their palms at the foot of the cross and exiting quietly to the song, "Where You There."
Palm Sunday Celebration Worship, "Jerusalem Today, 'Religious Rebellion'"
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY April 17, 2011
Dramatic Reading: Jerusalem Today!
With Anchors: Sharon Isaac and Steven Jacobs
Giving you the straight talk about, “what is going on in Jerusalem today!”
Sharon: Hello, I’m Sharon Isaac
Steven: And I’m Steven Jacobs
Unison: Reporting to you today from our downtown studio Mount of Olives Towers, located in the heart of Jerusalem.
Sharon: Today we continue our topic on Religious Rebellion! Steven, you are well aware of so much unrest among the citizens in Jerusalem and outlying areas with so many reported “self proclaimed prophets”, of late. Some are even being referred to as “Messiah’s”.
Steven: That is so right, Sharon and one of these “Isaiah come lately” is a man from up North in the province of Nazareth!
Sharon: Truly a Nazarene? Honestly, “can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Steven: That is a good question Sharon. Only time will be able to answer that one! This brings us to this morning’s focus on Religious Rebellion. Today’s discussion will be about the latest self-proclaimed Messiah, the man called Jesus of Nazareth! As I understand from one of our underground sources, this self-proclaimed prophet, will be making an appearance at the City Center Temple later today.
Sharon: That should create some excitement, for sure, Steven. Do we know yet how he plans to get into Jerusalem? I understand that all of the gates are under heavy guard, checking papers of everyone who is coming and going from the city. At last report, there is an “immediate” arrest warrant, issued by the High Priest, Caiaphas himself, stating that Jesus of Nazareth is to be picked up on site.
Steven: Speculations on how Jesus plans to get into the city range anywhere from having Jesus parachute in from a plane to being dressed as a peasant riding on the back of a donkey. However I have never heard of a “King” making his entrance in such a non-descript fashion.
You remember when Roman sent our latest Governor, Pontius Pilot. He road into town on a beautiful white horse that stood about 20 hands high with a procession of guards, that was 5 abreast and a mile long. Now that is how a “king” generally makes his entrance into his city!
Sharon: Well Steven, it’s been over a year or so, since Jesus was last in town, and I understand that he was holding open meetings in the Temple in that visit, teaching things that seemed to anger the majority of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Steven: Sharon, hold that thought! We need to break away to our man on the street Joseph Aria cloth, with breaking news about Jesus coming into the city. (Report of the Triumphal Entry – A Dramatization,youtube)[time 4.31]
Steven: Well Sharon, if anyone has ever had any doubts up to now about how Jesus of Nazareth, or his followers for that matter, see himself, it is now clear that Jesus is claiming to be the awaited Messiah, as based on the vision of the late Prophet Zechariah, found in his writings chapter 9:9. Yes, here it is, I now have the reference in front of me and it says: Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
So, here you have it, Jesus has come into Jerusalem, riding a donkey!
Sharon: What a difference between how the Governor came into Jerusalem and this Jesus! Did you hear the sounds of the crowd, Steven? It sounds like they are having a regular parade. I don’t recall people yelling for joy like that when Pilot came riding into town! I wonder how that is going to affect Jesus’ standing with the authorities in the Temple. Do you suspect that this will mean that Caiaphas will be forced to drop the arrest warrant on Jesus?
Steven: That is truly a good question Sharon. If you remember a year or so ago, Herod had a very famous Prophet beheaded, even though this man had thousands of fans.
Sharon: You are referring to the prophet who lived out by the river Jordan, and wore camel clothing and lived off of locus and honey, John the baptizer. He was the man who was instituting the new practice of salvation by pushing people under those dirty waters of the Jordan. (Yuk) He was saying something about repenting of your sins so that you might enter into the kingdom of God. Now tell me Steven, how do you get your soul cleaned when you’re using such filthy water? It just doesn’t make any sense to me.
Steven: John the Baptizer wasn’t arrested and killed because of his instituting some new religious action, Sharon, but rather for his public accusations of the illicit marriage of Herod Antipas and his wife Herodias; who actually had been the wife of Antipas’ brother Herod Philip! Antipas was fearful of the truth turning the population against him.
Sharon: Well Steven, we don’t want to go there. You know how touchy the Herod’s can be. Isn’t it true that Jesus was baptized by John?
Steven: Yes he was Sharon. Did you know that they were cousins!
Sharon: Well, looks to me like religion must be a family business and maybe less of being a “Messiah”.
Steven: You might be correct there Sharon. Our sources have reported a number of interesting activities that this man Jesus has been involved in. There was this business of turning water into wine, at a wedding he and his mother and some of his disciples attended in Canaan. There have been multiple reports about him healing people who have been blind their entire life? As well as feeding huge crowds who went out into the wilderness to hear him speak, with only a couple of fish and some bread.
Sharon: Our sources have also reported some very unusual activities, such as Jesus is supposedly able to walk on water, even calming wild seas. But, the most amazing is a report that we received just this past week. While he was in Bethany, a sleepy little town just a couple of miles outside of Jerusalem, he is reported to have brought back to life a man known as Lazarus! Can you believe that! The reports just seem to get wilder by the day. I heard while I was getting my hair done, the beauticians talking, and saying that this Jesus guy says he is able to rebuild the temple in only three days!
Steven: I wonder how he thinks he will be able to do that, Sharon. Oh, Oh, hold on, we are just receiving a report that Jesus has been arrested by the Pharisees and is now having a hearing as we speak. In fact, we have just received some film footage of a portion of the trial with Herod. (play film clip of Herod and Jesus from 2000 Jesus Christ Superstar, youtube)
Steven: Sharon, we will come back to our program after this brief break for our Sponsors.
[Coming back to program]
Steven: This has to be one of the most amazing events that I have ever witnessed, Sharon. To have a trial directly after being captured is almost unheard of, especially with the backlog in the court system. Jesus of Nazareth is most certainly being treated as a serious threat to our National security!
Sharon: I just received a report during our break saying, that a well known Zealot, Barabbas, has been released by Governor Pilot, at the request of a crowd that has been standing outside the palace steps. Evidently there has been a large negative reaction to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and a number of citizens are demanding that Jesus be executed for not only his religious teachings, but for his consistently breaking the Sabbath law.
Steven: Yes Sharon, it is a well known fact that many of Jesus’ miracles seemed to happen on Sabbath. The last straw seemed to come when Jesus raised that Lazarus guy from the dead. Apparently the Pharisees had had enough with Jesus breaking the Sabbath Law and at that point put out a reward for his capture. Do we have any idea how Jesus was found?
Sharon: Again Steven, reports are sketchy and according to one of my sources in the Council of Pharisees, it was one of Jesus’ own disciples who turned him in. A man by the name of Judas Iscariot seems to have signed a claim voucher for 30 pieces of silver and lead authorities to a small garden just outside of Jerusalem. Seems he identified Jesus by giving him a kiss on the cheek.
Steven: Some friend he turned out to be. It would appear to me that Jesus isn’t a very good judge of character, when it comes to picking out friends and supporters.
This is unbelievable!
Sharon: I know what you mean Steven. I was just telling one of my friends during the commercial break....
Steven: No Sharon. I mean, I have just received another report indicating that Jesus has been sentenced to be executed at the hill outside of the city, known as Golgotha! I just can’t believe that a man who has been preaching about love and forgiveness is being murdered at the request of our Religious leaders. There has to be more to this man than what meets the eye.
Our camera crew is on their way out to Golgotha right now, but in the mean time, we have a written transcript from a man named Matthew with what is transpiring. Let me share it with you: (Matt 27: 45-54) 45-46From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"
47-49Some bystanders who heard him said, "He's calling for Elijah." One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, "Don't be in such a hurry. Let's see if Elijah comes and saves him."
50But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.
51-53At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What's more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus' resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)
54The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, "This has to be the Son of God!"
Even though time has run out for today, please stay tuned to this station for continuing reports of today’s most miraculous event! The capture and crucifixion of what will surely turn out to be one of Judah’s greatest Prophets, Jesus of Nazareth.
Sharon: Even the Romans are calling this man the “Son of God!” Steven what have we done in killing this man if he truly is the “Son of God?”
Steven: I don’t know Sharon. We will just have to keep watch as this story continues to unfold.
Thank you folks for watching us today, this is Steven Jacobs
Sharon: And this is Sharon Isaac, saying “Shalom for now”. Please join us next week on [both] JERUSALEM TODAY!
Palm Sunday Celebration Worship, "Jerusalem Today, 'Religious Rebellion'"
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY April 17, 2011
Dramatic Reading: Jerusalem Today!
With Anchors: Sharon Isaac and Steven Jacobs
Giving you the straight talk about, “what is going on in Jerusalem today!”
Sharon: Hello, I’m Sharon Isaac
Steven: And I’m Steven Jacobs
Unison: Reporting to you today from our downtown studio Mount of Olives Towers, located in the heart of Jerusalem.
Sharon: Today we continue our topic on Religious Rebellion! Steven, you are well aware of so much unrest among the citizens in Jerusalem and outlying areas with so many reported “self proclaimed prophets”, of late. Some are even being referred to as “Messiah’s”.
Steven: That is so right, Sharon and one of these “Isaiah come lately” is a man from up North in the province of Nazareth!
Sharon: Truly a Nazarene? Honestly, “can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Steven: That is a good question Sharon. Only time will be able to answer that one! This brings us to this morning’s focus on Religious Rebellion. Today’s discussion will be about the latest self-proclaimed Messiah, the man called Jesus of Nazareth! As I understand from one of our underground sources, this self-proclaimed prophet, will be making an appearance at the City Center Temple later today.
Sharon: That should create some excitement, for sure, Steven. Do we know yet how he plans to get into Jerusalem? I understand that all of the gates are under heavy guard, checking papers of everyone who is coming and going from the city. At last report, there is an “immediate” arrest warrant, issued by the High Priest, Caiaphas himself, stating that Jesus of Nazareth is to be picked up on site.
Steven: Speculations on how Jesus plans to get into the city range anywhere from having Jesus parachute in from a plane to being dressed as a peasant riding on the back of a donkey. However I have never heard of a “King” making his entrance in such a non-descript fashion.
You remember when Roman sent our latest Governor, Pontius Pilot. He road into town on a beautiful white horse that stood about 20 hands high with a procession of guards, that was 5 abreast and a mile long. Now that is how a “king” generally makes his entrance into his city!
Sharon: Well Steven, it’s been over a year or so, since Jesus was last in town, and I understand that he was holding open meetings in the Temple in that visit, teaching things that seemed to anger the majority of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Steven: Sharon, hold that thought! We need to break away to our man on the street Joseph Aria cloth, with breaking news about Jesus coming into the city. (Report of the Triumphal Entry – A Dramatization,youtube)[time 4.31]
Steven: Well Sharon, if anyone has ever had any doubts up to now about how Jesus of Nazareth, or his followers for that matter, see himself, it is now clear that Jesus is claiming to be the awaited Messiah, as based on the vision of the late Prophet Zechariah, found in his writings chapter 9:9. Yes, here it is, I now have the reference in front of me and it says: Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
So, here you have it, Jesus has come into Jerusalem, riding a donkey!
Sharon: What a difference between how the Governor came into Jerusalem and this Jesus! Did you hear the sounds of the crowd, Steven? It sounds like they are having a regular parade. I don’t recall people yelling for joy like that when Pilot came riding into town! I wonder how that is going to affect Jesus’ standing with the authorities in the Temple. Do you suspect that this will mean that Caiaphas will be forced to drop the arrest warrant on Jesus?
Steven: That is truly a good question Sharon. If you remember a year or so ago, Herod had a very famous Prophet beheaded, even though this man had thousands of fans.
Sharon: You are referring to the prophet who lived out by the river Jordan, and wore camel clothing and lived off of locus and honey, John the baptizer. He was the man who was instituting the new practice of salvation by pushing people under those dirty waters of the Jordan. (Yuk) He was saying something about repenting of your sins so that you might enter into the kingdom of God. Now tell me Steven, how do you get your soul cleaned when you’re using such filthy water? It just doesn’t make any sense to me.
Steven: John the Baptizer wasn’t arrested and killed because of his instituting some new religious action, Sharon, but rather for his public accusations of the illicit marriage of Herod Antipas and his wife Herodias; who actually had been the wife of Antipas’ brother Herod Philip! Antipas was fearful of the truth turning the population against him.
Sharon: Well Steven, we don’t want to go there. You know how touchy the Herod’s can be. Isn’t it true that Jesus was baptized by John?
Steven: Yes he was Sharon. Did you know that they were cousins!
Sharon: Well, looks to me like religion must be a family business and maybe less of being a “Messiah”.
Steven: You might be correct there Sharon. Our sources have reported a number of interesting activities that this man Jesus has been involved in. There was this business of turning water into wine, at a wedding he and his mother and some of his disciples attended in Canaan. There have been multiple reports about him healing people who have been blind their entire life? As well as feeding huge crowds who went out into the wilderness to hear him speak, with only a couple of fish and some bread.
Sharon: Our sources have also reported some very unusual activities, such as Jesus is supposedly able to walk on water, even calming wild seas. But, the most amazing is a report that we received just this past week. While he was in Bethany, a sleepy little town just a couple of miles outside of Jerusalem, he is reported to have brought back to life a man known as Lazarus! Can you believe that! The reports just seem to get wilder by the day. I heard while I was getting my hair done, the beauticians talking, and saying that this Jesus guy says he is able to rebuild the temple in only three days!
Steven: I wonder how he thinks he will be able to do that, Sharon. Oh, Oh, hold on, we are just receiving a report that Jesus has been arrested by the Pharisees and is now having a hearing as we speak. In fact, we have just received some film footage of a portion of the trial with Herod. (play film clip of Herod and Jesus from 2000 Jesus Christ Superstar, youtube)
Steven: Sharon, we will come back to our program after this brief break for our Sponsors.
[Coming back to program]
Steven: This has to be one of the most amazing events that I have ever witnessed, Sharon. To have a trial directly after being captured is almost unheard of, especially with the backlog in the court system. Jesus of Nazareth is most certainly being treated as a serious threat to our National security!
Sharon: I just received a report during our break saying, that a well known Zealot, Barabbas, has been released by Governor Pilot, at the request of a crowd that has been standing outside the palace steps. Evidently there has been a large negative reaction to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and a number of citizens are demanding that Jesus be executed for not only his religious teachings, but for his consistently breaking the Sabbath law.
Steven: Yes Sharon, it is a well known fact that many of Jesus’ miracles seemed to happen on Sabbath. The last straw seemed to come when Jesus raised that Lazarus guy from the dead. Apparently the Pharisees had had enough with Jesus breaking the Sabbath Law and at that point put out a reward for his capture. Do we have any idea how Jesus was found?
Sharon: Again Steven, reports are sketchy and according to one of my sources in the Council of Pharisees, it was one of Jesus’ own disciples who turned him in. A man by the name of Judas Iscariot seems to have signed a claim voucher for 30 pieces of silver and lead authorities to a small garden just outside of Jerusalem. Seems he identified Jesus by giving him a kiss on the cheek.
Steven: Some friend he turned out to be. It would appear to me that Jesus isn’t a very good judge of character, when it comes to picking out friends and supporters.
This is unbelievable!
Sharon: I know what you mean Steven. I was just telling one of my friends during the commercial break....
Steven: No Sharon. I mean, I have just received another report indicating that Jesus has been sentenced to be executed at the hill outside of the city, known as Golgotha! I just can’t believe that a man who has been preaching about love and forgiveness is being murdered at the request of our Religious leaders. There has to be more to this man than what meets the eye.
Our camera crew is on their way out to Golgotha right now, but in the mean time, we have a written transcript from a man named Matthew with what is transpiring. Let me share it with you: (Matt 27: 45-54) 45-46From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"
47-49Some bystanders who heard him said, "He's calling for Elijah." One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, "Don't be in such a hurry. Let's see if Elijah comes and saves him."
50But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.
51-53At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What's more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus' resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)
54The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, "This has to be the Son of God!"
Even though time has run out for today, please stay tuned to this station for continuing reports of today’s most miraculous event! The capture and crucifixion of what will surely turn out to be one of Judah’s greatest Prophets, Jesus of Nazareth.
Sharon: Even the Romans are calling this man the “Son of God!” Steven what have we done in killing this man if he truly is the “Son of God?”
Steven: I don’t know Sharon. We will just have to keep watch as this story continues to unfold.
Thank you folks for watching us today, this is Steven Jacobs
Sharon: And this is Sharon Isaac, saying “Shalom for now”. Please join us next week on [both] JERUSALEM TODAY!
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