Waiting for the First Day!
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 11/27/2011
Based on Isaiah 64:1-9 & Mark 13:23-37
First Sunday of Advent
Today is the first day of the new church year. It happens every year on the Sunday following Thanksgiving; we call this season, Advent. Though, you might not recognize it, for you cannot look around without seeing decorations telling you that it’s Christmas. You drive down any main street and can see Christmas lights lining the avenues, the stores are decorated for the season, there is the white noise of musak playing Christmas music in the background. Many churches start singing Christmas songs with the beginning of Advent. Yet Christmas doesn’t start until the birth of Christ, which we typically celebrate on Christmas Eve and the twelve days after.
We are in the season of Advent not the season of Christmas. Advent is a four week period where we contemplate the “coming” of Christ. It is a time of preparation, not a time of celebration. We take this time to work toward the stable that is found in the little hamlet of Bethlehem, so that when we greet the Christ child, we will be able within our hearts to play that drum, or sing songs that Herald Christ’s birth, and bring our gifts to this person who is restoring the world into God’s image.
Each week we light our advent candles. The first is called the "Candle of Hope." It symbolizes faith in God keeping his promises to humanity. The second is called the "Candle of Preparation," reminding Christians to "get ready" to receive God. The third candle, the "Candle of Love," reminds Christians that God loves them enough to send his only Son to Earth. The fourth candle is the "Candle of Joy." It recalls the angels joyfully singing about the birth of Christ. The "Christ Candle," the white candle in the center, stands for Jesus Christ himself.
In general, I enjoy this period of “advent” as well as the season of “lent” for these make me take time to think about the “why’s” in my life, more so than the rest of the church year. Yet, I always seem to have issues with the scriptures that are presented for the first Sunday of Advent, each year. The first Sunday of advent generally focuses on scripture which deals with the second coming of Christ. This gives most ministers the opportunity to talk about the end times, the retribution that God will give to those who do not believe, of Christ riding up on a white horse with hoards of angels at his side, cutting down all the bad people. Historically, I dislike these particular texts because it is in conflict with how I view Christ’s role in healing a broken world, as well as poor theology about who gets into God’s Kindom and who is left out. These texts have somehow become messages of the end. Yet, if the first candle of Advent is the candle of “Hope”, how does that represent the idea of the “end?”
Our text for today does present the reality that all of us experience at various times in our lives, the question of “why me?” There are people sitting here this morning hurting because of broken relationships, of abuse, of the feelings of isolation, or feeling inadequate because of a job loss. There are times in our lives where we just want the world to stop so we can get off, or that God will come and punish all those bad people who make life so unbearable. Like our ancestors in faith, we and all of humankind stand before God in “helplessness and need.” “Not only are we vulnerable to those forces that may destroy our happiness – indeed, our very existence – but there is little or, nothing we, when left to ourselves, are capable of doing about our precarious state.” Quote from James Newsome, Sermon Seeds, UCC 11/27/2011
Earlier this past week, I was reading the continuing saga of my youngest daughter’s blog which I think exemplifies the Advent message of today. She writes: I am trying to stay upbeat, despite the fact that Thanksgiving is around the corner and I know my new boys won't be home to celebrate with us. I honestly never thought this would happen. Last September when we started this process, I had no doubts the boys would be home by now.
My sister had her new baby (#5) on Wednesday morning. Bless her heart, labor started Saturday, but she now has a beautiful boy to show for it! I am excited, sad, and jealous all at the same time. My brother and his wife also had a little girl placed in their home (hopefully to adopt) as well as giving birth to another baby, and I am still waiting. I was officially 'expecting' before either of them. Don't get me wrong, I am so excited for two new nieces, and a new nephew! I am SO excited! I love my family and all my nieces and nephews (there are a bunch!), but I want my boys.
I broke down Sunday at church. I just couldn't take it. Friends of ours have friends who started their adoption (from another country) after us, and are bringing their 4 kids home today. Another friend is pregnant, there are like 6 new babies in our church - 5 of which are families in our Sunday school class. I am so excited for each and every family and each baby. I am happy for them, truly joyful, but that doesn't mean at the same time, I don't struggle. I am human, I am jealous, sad, angry, frustrated, happy, excited, all at the same time. We were talking to friends on Sunday and equated this adoption to a roller coaster. I LOVE roller coasters, but we have now been on this one so long, that I am nauseas. I am about to lose my lunch! All I want is to get off!!! It can't come soon enough. And, just when I think we are about to be done and get off, there is another drop or loop
I am confident in my God. I am confident He has a plan and His will is being lived out through this adoption. That is the comfort I hold on to. We are being given the opportunity to witness to others. To be a Christian example. We have already seen this. We have been asked about adoption by a few people in our church who are sincere, which is exciting. Because of the delays, more people in the church are becoming aware of our situation, and are now praying for us. Our prayer support has doubled, at least. It is exciting and a challenge to see others watching us. What an opportunity we have been given to live out the gospel! I hold on to the Father, and He is holding us! Therefore, we have joy!
The title of today’s reflection is “Waiting for the First Day.” Where my daughter Tara is concerned, she is waiting for the end of the adoption process. An end that means she will be able to physically have her two new sons at home with her. Yet, what is truly going to happen when this “roller coaster” ride ends, all of her waiting will have been for the first day of a new life. This is what we are doing at present with our faith. We are on a roller coaster that we call life, waiting for God to enter once again and repair what’s wrong with the world, shaping a new creation where grace, justice, and joy will be the norm.
Within this week’s reading in the Gospel of Mark, we are reminded of the paradoxes within the Gospels. The paradox that God has already entered into the world through the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, but also the “not yet” reality of God’s kindom here on earth is not completed. We are in a waiting period. We are living in the present kindom of God, yet working toward the completion of that kindom, that “first day” that God has planned. This waiting period is a time of preparation for us, where we can actively work to help usher in the completeness that God wishes for all of creation. Amen
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
"A Great Thanksgiving", First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY, by Rev Steven R Mitchell
A Great Thanksgiving!
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 11/20/2011
Based on Ephesians 1:15-23
Each Monday Father Bob Spencer of the Episcopal Church, Rev Martha Atkins of the Mount of Olives Lutheran Church and me gather to do a Lectionary Bible Study. We spend several hours reading and discussing what the text is saying to each of us. Because of our seminary experience we use a variety of ways of looking at the text such as: the literary style, a cultural meaning, a historical context, and the use of language to name just a few. We also bring in personal understanding through our life experiences and explore the implications for our particular congregations as to how can the text relate.
Father Bob and I became mentors to Rev Martha while she was in seminary; to say the very least, we have been a challenge to some of Martha’s seminary training in how one explores scripture and approaches ministry. This week's reading in Ephesians seemed to capture all three of our hearts and imagination, however, Fr. Bob and I seemed to have difficulty with parts of our translations and the way they were reading. We felt that the translations we had before us, just didn’t communicate the meaning as effectively as it could, so we started altering words within the text, in an attempt to express our understanding of what the Apostle Paul was trying to say.
You should have seen Martha’s look of horror as we reworked words such as “Lord” to “Brother” and changing phrases like, “the Father of glory ” to “ the Creator of All.” I think Martha is wondering if she is studying with a couple of heretics. Yet, later in the day, I found in Eugene Peterson’s translation “The Message” a version that best expresses what Fr. Bob and I think Paul would say to the twenty-first century ear. So, maybe Fr. Bob and I are not so far off base after all.
This coming week we will be celebrating “Thanksgiving Day”, a day where as a nation, we have set aside to contemplate the many gifts that we have enjoyed throughout this past year. On the Wednesday evening before, we will have the opportunity to gather with others at The Holy Communion Episcopal Church to remember the gifts that we receive, celebrating through a number of faiths represented by: the Baha’i faith, The Mormons, the Jewish faith, The Muslim Faith, and various Christian Churches, all who are a part of the larger family of Rock Springs, WY. We are able to do this because it is a Holiday that is not attached with anyone religious connection. It is truly a servie,where all faiths that look to God can gather together and celebrate. It allows us to be larger than what we are and gain a glimpse of the immenseness of God.
Paul writes of his joy to the Ephesians by saying: 15-19That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. When you pray, I hope that this church family comes to your mind and that like Paul you are able to pray for this family of faith, thanking God for everyone, I mean everyone, in this congregation and for what is accomplished by our coming together. Giving prayers of support to each other when we are in need. Of thanking God for the physical help that we provide when people are in need and helped through the concern of our faith community, and of the social support we provide to anyone who wishes.
Paul continues saying: But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing Christ personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, and grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!
This is my daily prayer for this community of faith, that God continue to provide ways of helping us grow intellectually and with discernment of knowing the love that God has for all of creation and to grasp the immensity of this glorious way of living, of the utter extravagance of God’s work in each of us! I cannot think of a greater prayer of “thanksgiving” than when we pray for one another and uphold each other’s journey of faith, where we continue to grow and become “awed” in the extravagance of God’s work that is in each one of us.
This Fall, there has been a group coming together weekly in the evenings studying the writings of Rev Rob Bell as presented in the book Love Wins, which speaks to what Paul is saying to the Ephesians and to us this morning. I would like to share some of these thoughts as a way of strengthening our resolve to continually recognize the extravagance of God’s work. Rev Bell writes: There is a mystery, something hidden in God, something that has existed and is true and is present with, and in, God since before time, and that mystery is a someone…Christ Jesus. As obvious as it is, then, Jesus is bigger than any one religion.
He didn’t come to start a new religion, and he continually disrupted whatever conventions or systems or establishments that existed in his day. He will always transcend whatever cages and labels that are created to contain and name him, especially the one called “Christianity.”
Within this proper, larger understanding of just what the Jesus story even is, we see that Jesus himself, again and again, demonstrates how seriously he takes his role in saving and rescuing and redeeming not just everything, but everybody. He says in John 12, “and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He is sure, confident, and set on this. All people, to himself. Jesus takes this very personally. He is willing to die for this, “for the life of the world.” Jesus is supracultural. He is present within all cultures, and yet outside of all cultures. He is for all people, and yet he refuses to be co-opted or owned by any one culture.
That includes any Christian culture. Any denomination. Any church. Any theological system. We can point to him, name him, follow him, discuss him, honor him, and believe in him – but we cannot claim him to be ours any more than he’s anyone else’s. Rob Bell, Love Wins, pg 150-152
I cannot think of anything greater to give thanks for this coming Thanksgiving, than the gift that God has given to us through the love and death that came through Jesus Christ, of God’s love for all of creation and for all of humanity.
As we gather on Thursday, November 24th, let each of us take some time out and thank God for not only the blessings that we have received throughout this year, but also thank God for the love that is shown through Jesus Christ, and that we commit ourselves to continue to teach, to act out, and to grow in this mystery that God has given to us, and for the utter extravagance of his work in us! Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 11/20/2011
Based on Ephesians 1:15-23
Each Monday Father Bob Spencer of the Episcopal Church, Rev Martha Atkins of the Mount of Olives Lutheran Church and me gather to do a Lectionary Bible Study. We spend several hours reading and discussing what the text is saying to each of us. Because of our seminary experience we use a variety of ways of looking at the text such as: the literary style, a cultural meaning, a historical context, and the use of language to name just a few. We also bring in personal understanding through our life experiences and explore the implications for our particular congregations as to how can the text relate.
Father Bob and I became mentors to Rev Martha while she was in seminary; to say the very least, we have been a challenge to some of Martha’s seminary training in how one explores scripture and approaches ministry. This week's reading in Ephesians seemed to capture all three of our hearts and imagination, however, Fr. Bob and I seemed to have difficulty with parts of our translations and the way they were reading. We felt that the translations we had before us, just didn’t communicate the meaning as effectively as it could, so we started altering words within the text, in an attempt to express our understanding of what the Apostle Paul was trying to say.
You should have seen Martha’s look of horror as we reworked words such as “Lord” to “Brother” and changing phrases like, “the Father of glory ” to “ the Creator of All.” I think Martha is wondering if she is studying with a couple of heretics. Yet, later in the day, I found in Eugene Peterson’s translation “The Message” a version that best expresses what Fr. Bob and I think Paul would say to the twenty-first century ear. So, maybe Fr. Bob and I are not so far off base after all.
This coming week we will be celebrating “Thanksgiving Day”, a day where as a nation, we have set aside to contemplate the many gifts that we have enjoyed throughout this past year. On the Wednesday evening before, we will have the opportunity to gather with others at The Holy Communion Episcopal Church to remember the gifts that we receive, celebrating through a number of faiths represented by: the Baha’i faith, The Mormons, the Jewish faith, The Muslim Faith, and various Christian Churches, all who are a part of the larger family of Rock Springs, WY. We are able to do this because it is a Holiday that is not attached with anyone religious connection. It is truly a servie,where all faiths that look to God can gather together and celebrate. It allows us to be larger than what we are and gain a glimpse of the immenseness of God.
Paul writes of his joy to the Ephesians by saying: 15-19That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. When you pray, I hope that this church family comes to your mind and that like Paul you are able to pray for this family of faith, thanking God for everyone, I mean everyone, in this congregation and for what is accomplished by our coming together. Giving prayers of support to each other when we are in need. Of thanking God for the physical help that we provide when people are in need and helped through the concern of our faith community, and of the social support we provide to anyone who wishes.
Paul continues saying: But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing Christ personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, and grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!
This is my daily prayer for this community of faith, that God continue to provide ways of helping us grow intellectually and with discernment of knowing the love that God has for all of creation and to grasp the immensity of this glorious way of living, of the utter extravagance of God’s work in each of us! I cannot think of a greater prayer of “thanksgiving” than when we pray for one another and uphold each other’s journey of faith, where we continue to grow and become “awed” in the extravagance of God’s work that is in each one of us.
This Fall, there has been a group coming together weekly in the evenings studying the writings of Rev Rob Bell as presented in the book Love Wins, which speaks to what Paul is saying to the Ephesians and to us this morning. I would like to share some of these thoughts as a way of strengthening our resolve to continually recognize the extravagance of God’s work. Rev Bell writes: There is a mystery, something hidden in God, something that has existed and is true and is present with, and in, God since before time, and that mystery is a someone…Christ Jesus. As obvious as it is, then, Jesus is bigger than any one religion.
He didn’t come to start a new religion, and he continually disrupted whatever conventions or systems or establishments that existed in his day. He will always transcend whatever cages and labels that are created to contain and name him, especially the one called “Christianity.”
Within this proper, larger understanding of just what the Jesus story even is, we see that Jesus himself, again and again, demonstrates how seriously he takes his role in saving and rescuing and redeeming not just everything, but everybody. He says in John 12, “and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He is sure, confident, and set on this. All people, to himself. Jesus takes this very personally. He is willing to die for this, “for the life of the world.” Jesus is supracultural. He is present within all cultures, and yet outside of all cultures. He is for all people, and yet he refuses to be co-opted or owned by any one culture.
That includes any Christian culture. Any denomination. Any church. Any theological system. We can point to him, name him, follow him, discuss him, honor him, and believe in him – but we cannot claim him to be ours any more than he’s anyone else’s. Rob Bell, Love Wins, pg 150-152
I cannot think of anything greater to give thanks for this coming Thanksgiving, than the gift that God has given to us through the love and death that came through Jesus Christ, of God’s love for all of creation and for all of humanity.
As we gather on Thursday, November 24th, let each of us take some time out and thank God for not only the blessings that we have received throughout this year, but also thank God for the love that is shown through Jesus Christ, and that we commit ourselves to continue to teach, to act out, and to grow in this mystery that God has given to us, and for the utter extravagance of his work in us! Amen
Monday, November 14, 2011
Life's Greatest Risk, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY by Rev Steven R Mitchell
Life’s Greatest Risk…
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 11/13/2011
Based on Matthew 25:14-30
We are in the second of three parables being told by Jesus in private to his Disciples. Jesus has already made his grand entry into Jerusalem, creating a major disturbance in the temple by turning over the tables of the money changers, and created a number of enemies with the religious community and knows he is nearing the end of his life. It is only two days before the celebration of Passover and Jesus’ mind is thinking about the possibility of being killed.
The first parable in this trilogy was about ten bridesmaids, five of who are called wise, for they brought extra oil to burn, and five are called foolish because they did not prepare beyond the immediate need. The bridesmaids who had extra oil did not share and once the doors to the house were closed, those who had left to go get more oil upon returning were not allowed entrance. To add insult to injury, the Bridegroom turns them away saying, “He doesn’t know who they are.”
Matthew is writing to a church that is dealing in the reality that Jesus has not returned in the way in which they were expecting him to return. Much time has passed, since Jesus’ death and resurrection, yet much like the expectations of how the coming of the Messiah was to look, compared to what the religious community sees in the person of Jesus, the churches understanding of how Jesus’ return would look like, has also been misunderstood; and the church is still anxiously awaiting Christ’s return, as can be seen in movies and books such as the “Left Behind” series, or of this year’s prediction of the “end times” this past June and then recalculated for this past October. Some are uneasy with the idea of the Mayan Calendar ending in December of 2012 as possibly predicting the end of the age.
For those of you who are interested in what I had to say about last week’s parable of the ten bridesmaids, you can find copies of the sermon on the table out in the Narthex. The focus on that parable by my understanding deals with preparing for the “delay of Christ’s return?” In other words,”what is the churches job during the interim period before Christ returns?”
As we continue with this week’s parable, we read about a master who decides to leave on a long trip, but before leaving entrusts varying amounts of his wealth to his three servants, each according to their abilities. I think it important to note that the master, in giving this money to these servants, did so without giving any instruction as to what he is expecting in results from them.
The lesson in this story isn’t really found in the two servants who multiplied what they had been entrusted with, rather, the meat of our lesson is found in the actions or lack thereof, of the servant that was given only one talent. What would you do if your employer came to you and said, “I going away for awhile, and while I’m gone I want you to hold this money for me. The amount is going to be equal to fifteen years of your salary.” That is what one talent in Jesus’ time would be equal to. What would you do with fifteen years of your salary just handed over to you, above what you would normally be earning for your normal work? Would you take it and use it for yourself? Would you invest it in a bank and earn interest on it? Or would you take it and play the stock market. Or would you be more conservative and buy mutual’s which spread the risk over a wider portion of stocks and bonds?
Statistics have shown that when people win millions of dollars through the state lotteries, it isn’t long before the majority have run through their winnings and find themselves in the same financial situation they were in prior to winning. It might have been beneficial if these folks would have gone to an Actuary for advice on what to do with their new found fortunes.
This parable is often used to speak about stewardship, since the example that Jesus is using is that of money. Yet why would Jesus be so concerned about the stewardship of money with his believing that his ministry was coming to an end in just a few days? Also, this conversation is between Jesus and his disciples and was not being discussed in large group gatherings. This leads me to believe that there is another concern that is on Jesus’ mind that goes far deeper than that of finances. The use of the example of money is ideal, for scripture tells us, “where lays our money, there lays our heart.”
So the question arises, why did the third servant not invest what was entrusted to him as did the other two servants? I think the key to that question is found in verse 25, “… I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground.” The servant didn’t embezzle or squander his master’s money, he simply buried it. This person was immobilized by his fear of what he perceives his master would do to him should he fail and lose the talent entrusted to him.
For Jesus, I think His concern for the disciples was, “once he is gone, how would they live their lives?” This would be consistent with the previous parable of the ten Bridesmaids as well with next week’s parable of the “sheep and goats”. Think about the potential that comes in a new born child. As this child grows and develops, how will this child use its potential? Will this child take what has been given to them and work toward developing their abilities, by taking risks, which will most certainly include failing at some things, or will they play it safe and not take those risks, which ultimately does not tap that potentiality, thus is wasting what is available?
Churches today have to face this same situation. Do we, as a church invest our potential, or do we want to play it safe? One example is Mount of Olives Lutheran. They were in a financial situation that would only allow them to hire a part-time minister at best. They could have played it safe and done just that, but instead they invested their hopes into a member of their congregation who they saw potential as a minister, putting her through seminary, training her for a lifelong work in ministry, knowing that they will someday say “good-bye” as she moves on in her ministry. Through this step in faith they are seeing growth with young families and the probability of the churches ability for “sustainable ministry”. In the Harry Potter series, the muggles are constantly being referred to as people who are living below their potential, much like the third servant was accused of.
What Jesus is trying to say in this parable, is to not let our fears rule how we live. He risked everything to speak about God’s hopes for the creation that God has made. The churches one reason for existence is to take that risk as well. We are living in a world that judge’s success in terms of money. God judges success by what we do with our potential. What is our potential? What have we been given to use to grow as a person? What is the potential of First Congregational? Are we willing to act on our potential and “risk” or are we going to be like the servant that buried his potential, afraid of failing, and this fear ultimately become self-fulfilling? Life’s greatest risk isn’t in doing something, it is in doing nothing. Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 11/13/2011
Based on Matthew 25:14-30
We are in the second of three parables being told by Jesus in private to his Disciples. Jesus has already made his grand entry into Jerusalem, creating a major disturbance in the temple by turning over the tables of the money changers, and created a number of enemies with the religious community and knows he is nearing the end of his life. It is only two days before the celebration of Passover and Jesus’ mind is thinking about the possibility of being killed.
The first parable in this trilogy was about ten bridesmaids, five of who are called wise, for they brought extra oil to burn, and five are called foolish because they did not prepare beyond the immediate need. The bridesmaids who had extra oil did not share and once the doors to the house were closed, those who had left to go get more oil upon returning were not allowed entrance. To add insult to injury, the Bridegroom turns them away saying, “He doesn’t know who they are.”
Matthew is writing to a church that is dealing in the reality that Jesus has not returned in the way in which they were expecting him to return. Much time has passed, since Jesus’ death and resurrection, yet much like the expectations of how the coming of the Messiah was to look, compared to what the religious community sees in the person of Jesus, the churches understanding of how Jesus’ return would look like, has also been misunderstood; and the church is still anxiously awaiting Christ’s return, as can be seen in movies and books such as the “Left Behind” series, or of this year’s prediction of the “end times” this past June and then recalculated for this past October. Some are uneasy with the idea of the Mayan Calendar ending in December of 2012 as possibly predicting the end of the age.
For those of you who are interested in what I had to say about last week’s parable of the ten bridesmaids, you can find copies of the sermon on the table out in the Narthex. The focus on that parable by my understanding deals with preparing for the “delay of Christ’s return?” In other words,”what is the churches job during the interim period before Christ returns?”
As we continue with this week’s parable, we read about a master who decides to leave on a long trip, but before leaving entrusts varying amounts of his wealth to his three servants, each according to their abilities. I think it important to note that the master, in giving this money to these servants, did so without giving any instruction as to what he is expecting in results from them.
The lesson in this story isn’t really found in the two servants who multiplied what they had been entrusted with, rather, the meat of our lesson is found in the actions or lack thereof, of the servant that was given only one talent. What would you do if your employer came to you and said, “I going away for awhile, and while I’m gone I want you to hold this money for me. The amount is going to be equal to fifteen years of your salary.” That is what one talent in Jesus’ time would be equal to. What would you do with fifteen years of your salary just handed over to you, above what you would normally be earning for your normal work? Would you take it and use it for yourself? Would you invest it in a bank and earn interest on it? Or would you take it and play the stock market. Or would you be more conservative and buy mutual’s which spread the risk over a wider portion of stocks and bonds?
Statistics have shown that when people win millions of dollars through the state lotteries, it isn’t long before the majority have run through their winnings and find themselves in the same financial situation they were in prior to winning. It might have been beneficial if these folks would have gone to an Actuary for advice on what to do with their new found fortunes.
This parable is often used to speak about stewardship, since the example that Jesus is using is that of money. Yet why would Jesus be so concerned about the stewardship of money with his believing that his ministry was coming to an end in just a few days? Also, this conversation is between Jesus and his disciples and was not being discussed in large group gatherings. This leads me to believe that there is another concern that is on Jesus’ mind that goes far deeper than that of finances. The use of the example of money is ideal, for scripture tells us, “where lays our money, there lays our heart.”
So the question arises, why did the third servant not invest what was entrusted to him as did the other two servants? I think the key to that question is found in verse 25, “… I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground.” The servant didn’t embezzle or squander his master’s money, he simply buried it. This person was immobilized by his fear of what he perceives his master would do to him should he fail and lose the talent entrusted to him.
For Jesus, I think His concern for the disciples was, “once he is gone, how would they live their lives?” This would be consistent with the previous parable of the ten Bridesmaids as well with next week’s parable of the “sheep and goats”. Think about the potential that comes in a new born child. As this child grows and develops, how will this child use its potential? Will this child take what has been given to them and work toward developing their abilities, by taking risks, which will most certainly include failing at some things, or will they play it safe and not take those risks, which ultimately does not tap that potentiality, thus is wasting what is available?
Churches today have to face this same situation. Do we, as a church invest our potential, or do we want to play it safe? One example is Mount of Olives Lutheran. They were in a financial situation that would only allow them to hire a part-time minister at best. They could have played it safe and done just that, but instead they invested their hopes into a member of their congregation who they saw potential as a minister, putting her through seminary, training her for a lifelong work in ministry, knowing that they will someday say “good-bye” as she moves on in her ministry. Through this step in faith they are seeing growth with young families and the probability of the churches ability for “sustainable ministry”. In the Harry Potter series, the muggles are constantly being referred to as people who are living below their potential, much like the third servant was accused of.
What Jesus is trying to say in this parable, is to not let our fears rule how we live. He risked everything to speak about God’s hopes for the creation that God has made. The churches one reason for existence is to take that risk as well. We are living in a world that judge’s success in terms of money. God judges success by what we do with our potential. What is our potential? What have we been given to use to grow as a person? What is the potential of First Congregational? Are we willing to act on our potential and “risk” or are we going to be like the servant that buried his potential, afraid of failing, and this fear ultimately become self-fulfilling? Life’s greatest risk isn’t in doing something, it is in doing nothing. Amen
Friday, November 4, 2011
He'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain, for St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Aurora, CO, by Rev Steven R Mitchell
He’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
Guest Speaker at St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Aurora, CO
Based on Matthew 25:1-13 & Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16
One of the first songs that I can recall learning in grade school was a song about some woman coming around a mountain, driving a bunch of horses, then when she arrives someone is going to cook up a pot of chicken and noodles. Growing up on the Plaines of Kansas, at the age of six, I had no concept of what a mountain was, I saw horses as huge animals that snort at you and potentially dangerous should they step on me, and why did that rooster have to be killed? In short, I had no clue as to what the song meant other than “she” would be coming and in pink pajamas no less, yet it had a catchy tune and I enjoyed singing it. Only years later did I learn that the woman was an actual person, Mary Harris Jones, a union organizer going to promote formation of labor unions in the Appalachian coal mining camps.
The tune of this song was taken from a Negro Spiritual titled: When the Chariot Comes. This song refers to the second coming of Christ and subsequent rapture. The “she” refers to the chariot that Christ would be arriving in. The words to this song are:
O, who will drive the chariot, when she comes?
King Jesus, he'll be driver when she comes, when she comes…
She'll be loaded with bright Angels, when she comes…
She will take us to the portals, when she comes!
In this morning’s Gospel, Matthew is sharing with us a part of a discussion that Jesus is having with his Disciples. Jesus has already made his grand entry into Jerusalem, creating a major disturbance in the temple by turning over the tables of the money changers, and created a number of enemies with the religious community and knows he is nearing the end of his life. It is only two days before the celebration of Passover and Jesus’ mind is thinking about the possibility of being killed.
Jesus began his ministry speaking to a large crowd with what we now call, The Sermon on the Mount, speaking of how blessed are those who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and so on. Now at the end of his ministry he is having a private dialogue with his disciples about the end times, starting in chapter 24 talking about such things as:“signs of the close of the age”, of the “destruction of Jerusalem” and of the “coming of the son of man.” Then at the beginning of chapter 25 we read, “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this, ‘the bridegroom was delayed’.”
This parable is one of those that seem to go against what we who would like to be a part of the “blessed for we hunger and thirst to do social justice and help those in need”. How can justice, and mercy for that matter, coincide with Jesus using an example of some of the bridesmaids who have extra oil not sharing it with those bridesmaids who are running low? Even more perplexing at the end, the doors are shut, not allowing the five bridesmaids entrance upon their return and the bridegroom (which represents Christ) turning them away, saying he doesn’t know them? The main battle cry within the United Church of Christ states without hesitation: “Jesus never turned anyone away and neither do we.”
I really didn’t want to deal with this parable, because on the surface this story goes against my sensibility as to how I understand what the ministry of Jesus was about. How do I reconcile the unwillingness to share what I have with those in need? How can I turn away people who are standing outside of my door? What was Jesus thinking when he told this story? Why did Matthew include a story that seems so opposite to Christ like behavior?
I have to remember that the purpose of a parable is not to give a factual account of a story, but rather is a story designed to make me think, and has multiple layers. The story is very bold in stating the concept of “being prepared”, but being prepared for what? This Gospel was written many years after Jesus had been crucified and the early church had been anticipating Christ’s return. Matthew then was writing to a church that had to come to grips with the reality that Jesus had not yet returned as they had envisioned and that their mission was to wait expectantly and in the meantime live faithfully, courageously, and in hopefulness. It has been two thousand years and the church is still awaiting Christ’s return. We have lived this year alone through two predictions of the end of the world and are awaiting another date of doom in December 2012 as the Mayan calendar ends. Yet Jesus states that no one will know the time or place.
The parable appears to speak about being prepared for Christ's coming, but what the parable speaks to being prepared for Christ’s delay? Would this not possibly change our behavior, change how we prepare? During Jesus’ ministry, he constantly told us that the “kingdom of God is among us, here and now”. But how can God’s kingdom be among us with so much suffering, neediness, loneliness, hatred, and dispare?
Rev Rob Bell, in his newest book, “Love Wins”, proposes that part of the confusion with our concept of ‘heaven’ as used in scripture comes with our not understanding that the writers substituted the word ‘God’ with the word ‘heaven’ because to use the word ‘God’ was forbidden. Rev Bell further states: sometimes when Jesus spoke of heaven, he was referring to the future coming together of heaven and earth in what he and his contemporaries called life in the age to come. Jesus also talked about heaven, as our present eternal, intense, real experiences of joy, peace, and love in this life. For Jesus, eternal life is less about a kind of time that starts when we die, and more about a quality and vitality of life lived now in connection to God. Love Wins, pg 58-59
A second issue that I have with this story is why didn’t the five bridesmaids with extra oil not share with the other’s who didn’t? If we think of the oil as the metaphor for virtues such as faith, good works, practices and spiritual reserves, these are personal attributes that cannot be given away to someone else. I as a person can present to you advice on a topic but I cannot physically transfer my experience to you. You have to create that actual experience for yourself. How I experience God is something that I cannot give to anyone, I can however, share how I have experienced God with you, but you will not experience God, except through your own actions.
Finally, comes the “closing of the door” part of the text. How do I, who doesn’t want to see anyone excluded understand this? The reality is, there is a time when opportunity closes its door. When we chose to put off today for tomorrow, we can run the risk of not having the opportunity to do what we put off.
As I grew into my teenage years, the relationship between my father and me deteriorated to a point that as a young man with a family I had stopped communicating with my dad. His behavior toward me had been extremely abusive, which came from his disease of alcoholism. I therefore shut the door to that abuse by not communicating with him, always praying that some day he would sober up and come and make amends with me. Over time, he did go through treatment and achieved sobriety, but he never came to make amends. I realized that he did not have the tools that he needed in order to start the rebuilding of our broken relationship. Through my educational journey, I had developed those needed skills and decided to be the one to approach the repairing of our relationship. We had only two years of working on this, as my father suddenly died, due to years of abuse to his body by alcohol.
I use this story to tie together, my understanding of this parable with the message to the church. We should expect Christ to be delayed. He hasn’t come in the past two thousand years, and the odds are, he won’t come back anytime soon. This parable asks us to live in hope for what has been promised and what will be but hasn't yet happened. It reminds us that knowledge, faith, and love are tools for living in this time, before eternity comes. The temptation for ‘waiting’ for Christ’s eminent return is to not be actively living Jesus’ teachings, ministering to a world that has forgotten the love and promise of hope that God gives us all. “He’ll be coming around the mountain”, there’s no question about that. The question will be, “how will we be waiting? Are we preparing for Christ’s return or for his delay? Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
Guest Speaker at St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Aurora, CO
Based on Matthew 25:1-13 & Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16
One of the first songs that I can recall learning in grade school was a song about some woman coming around a mountain, driving a bunch of horses, then when she arrives someone is going to cook up a pot of chicken and noodles. Growing up on the Plaines of Kansas, at the age of six, I had no concept of what a mountain was, I saw horses as huge animals that snort at you and potentially dangerous should they step on me, and why did that rooster have to be killed? In short, I had no clue as to what the song meant other than “she” would be coming and in pink pajamas no less, yet it had a catchy tune and I enjoyed singing it. Only years later did I learn that the woman was an actual person, Mary Harris Jones, a union organizer going to promote formation of labor unions in the Appalachian coal mining camps.
The tune of this song was taken from a Negro Spiritual titled: When the Chariot Comes. This song refers to the second coming of Christ and subsequent rapture. The “she” refers to the chariot that Christ would be arriving in. The words to this song are:
O, who will drive the chariot, when she comes?
King Jesus, he'll be driver when she comes, when she comes…
She'll be loaded with bright Angels, when she comes…
She will take us to the portals, when she comes!
In this morning’s Gospel, Matthew is sharing with us a part of a discussion that Jesus is having with his Disciples. Jesus has already made his grand entry into Jerusalem, creating a major disturbance in the temple by turning over the tables of the money changers, and created a number of enemies with the religious community and knows he is nearing the end of his life. It is only two days before the celebration of Passover and Jesus’ mind is thinking about the possibility of being killed.
Jesus began his ministry speaking to a large crowd with what we now call, The Sermon on the Mount, speaking of how blessed are those who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and so on. Now at the end of his ministry he is having a private dialogue with his disciples about the end times, starting in chapter 24 talking about such things as:“signs of the close of the age”, of the “destruction of Jerusalem” and of the “coming of the son of man.” Then at the beginning of chapter 25 we read, “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this, ‘the bridegroom was delayed’.”
This parable is one of those that seem to go against what we who would like to be a part of the “blessed for we hunger and thirst to do social justice and help those in need”. How can justice, and mercy for that matter, coincide with Jesus using an example of some of the bridesmaids who have extra oil not sharing it with those bridesmaids who are running low? Even more perplexing at the end, the doors are shut, not allowing the five bridesmaids entrance upon their return and the bridegroom (which represents Christ) turning them away, saying he doesn’t know them? The main battle cry within the United Church of Christ states without hesitation: “Jesus never turned anyone away and neither do we.”
I really didn’t want to deal with this parable, because on the surface this story goes against my sensibility as to how I understand what the ministry of Jesus was about. How do I reconcile the unwillingness to share what I have with those in need? How can I turn away people who are standing outside of my door? What was Jesus thinking when he told this story? Why did Matthew include a story that seems so opposite to Christ like behavior?
I have to remember that the purpose of a parable is not to give a factual account of a story, but rather is a story designed to make me think, and has multiple layers. The story is very bold in stating the concept of “being prepared”, but being prepared for what? This Gospel was written many years after Jesus had been crucified and the early church had been anticipating Christ’s return. Matthew then was writing to a church that had to come to grips with the reality that Jesus had not yet returned as they had envisioned and that their mission was to wait expectantly and in the meantime live faithfully, courageously, and in hopefulness. It has been two thousand years and the church is still awaiting Christ’s return. We have lived this year alone through two predictions of the end of the world and are awaiting another date of doom in December 2012 as the Mayan calendar ends. Yet Jesus states that no one will know the time or place.
The parable appears to speak about being prepared for Christ's coming, but what the parable speaks to being prepared for Christ’s delay? Would this not possibly change our behavior, change how we prepare? During Jesus’ ministry, he constantly told us that the “kingdom of God is among us, here and now”. But how can God’s kingdom be among us with so much suffering, neediness, loneliness, hatred, and dispare?
Rev Rob Bell, in his newest book, “Love Wins”, proposes that part of the confusion with our concept of ‘heaven’ as used in scripture comes with our not understanding that the writers substituted the word ‘God’ with the word ‘heaven’ because to use the word ‘God’ was forbidden. Rev Bell further states: sometimes when Jesus spoke of heaven, he was referring to the future coming together of heaven and earth in what he and his contemporaries called life in the age to come. Jesus also talked about heaven, as our present eternal, intense, real experiences of joy, peace, and love in this life. For Jesus, eternal life is less about a kind of time that starts when we die, and more about a quality and vitality of life lived now in connection to God. Love Wins, pg 58-59
A second issue that I have with this story is why didn’t the five bridesmaids with extra oil not share with the other’s who didn’t? If we think of the oil as the metaphor for virtues such as faith, good works, practices and spiritual reserves, these are personal attributes that cannot be given away to someone else. I as a person can present to you advice on a topic but I cannot physically transfer my experience to you. You have to create that actual experience for yourself. How I experience God is something that I cannot give to anyone, I can however, share how I have experienced God with you, but you will not experience God, except through your own actions.
Finally, comes the “closing of the door” part of the text. How do I, who doesn’t want to see anyone excluded understand this? The reality is, there is a time when opportunity closes its door. When we chose to put off today for tomorrow, we can run the risk of not having the opportunity to do what we put off.
As I grew into my teenage years, the relationship between my father and me deteriorated to a point that as a young man with a family I had stopped communicating with my dad. His behavior toward me had been extremely abusive, which came from his disease of alcoholism. I therefore shut the door to that abuse by not communicating with him, always praying that some day he would sober up and come and make amends with me. Over time, he did go through treatment and achieved sobriety, but he never came to make amends. I realized that he did not have the tools that he needed in order to start the rebuilding of our broken relationship. Through my educational journey, I had developed those needed skills and decided to be the one to approach the repairing of our relationship. We had only two years of working on this, as my father suddenly died, due to years of abuse to his body by alcohol.
I use this story to tie together, my understanding of this parable with the message to the church. We should expect Christ to be delayed. He hasn’t come in the past two thousand years, and the odds are, he won’t come back anytime soon. This parable asks us to live in hope for what has been promised and what will be but hasn't yet happened. It reminds us that knowledge, faith, and love are tools for living in this time, before eternity comes. The temptation for ‘waiting’ for Christ’s eminent return is to not be actively living Jesus’ teachings, ministering to a world that has forgotten the love and promise of hope that God gives us all. “He’ll be coming around the mountain”, there’s no question about that. The question will be, “how will we be waiting? Are we preparing for Christ’s return or for his delay? Amen
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Remember Who You Are!, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY, by Rev Steven R Mitchell, 10-30-2011
Remember Who You Are!
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 10/30/2011
Based on I Thessalonians 2:9-13 & Joshua 3:7-17
As I was working earlier this week on narrowing what the focus of this Sunday’s reflection would be, I realized that there seemed to be a major theme being woven with respect to my scheduled commitments. Also it became crystal clear that my scheduled activities also seemed to coincide with this week’s lectionary readings. This seems to happen a good deal with me and I began to wonder, if my higher power does coordinate the lectionary and my life, or if through studying the scripture suggestions for the week tends to make me more sensitive to the events in my life? Much of my schedule is made from one to twelve months in advance and I generally don’t read that far ahead in the lectionary, so I would conclude that what might be thought of as a cohesiveness of activities and lectionary lessons, is more on the line of how I understanding “blessings” or “miracles” within my life. I believe that “blessings” and “miracles” are continuously happening, but I only recognize them when I am sensitive to their existence. Meaning, when I am looking for a blessing or a miracle in my life, I usually recognize it. It is called, “being present” in the moment.
This past week, I’ve been burning up I-80 between here and Salt Lake City. On Wednesday I participated in a dialog billed as, “The Mountain West Summit”, which was a dialog on Immigration issues. I was asked to sit on a panel discussion focusing on the religious and moral implications of immigration. Then yesterday, Sharon Pribyl and I attended the dedication of the new church building of the New Jerusalem Samoan Church in Midvale, UT. This is a new congregation of only 8 yrs old and the first real home for this congregation.
The theme of the week that became apparent to me was that of “who are we?” “Where do we come from?” These are very important questions, for unless we know “who we are” and “where we come from” we can find it difficult to live our “present.” One of the prominent memories that I have from my childhood was the reciting of family history at any gathering. I didn’t realize that is was not the norm of most families. As an adult, I am amazed of how many of my friends know very little about their families beyond their grandparents and some of my friends don’t even know much about their grandparents.
What can happen with such limited understanding of where one comes from, is we can feel isolated, or have a sense of not being connected to anything beyond our self. This can open us up to searching for a sense of belonging and of acting and reacting to choices in an effort to feel grounded that might become unhealthy for us.
This is true with the family of God. As followers of Christ, we need information about what Jesus thought, taught, his practices for finding his centeredness, and how he viewed and understood his relationship with God, so that as followers of Jesus, we have some idea of why we do things. If we don’t have any idea about who and what Christ was about, we can end up with developing some very interesting theological understandings, that might not follow what Christ was truly intending for his church.
This is Reformation Sunday, which is the day that the church remembers where it comes from, of its history, so that, as we live in the present we are able to lay courses for the future that are consistent not only with our past but more importantly are consistent with the teachings of Christ. In the Epistle reading this morning, Paul say’s, “Surely you remember…” and concludes with, “…when you received the word of God, which you heard from us…” This is talking about a history, a reminder to the church in Thessalonica that it is a part of a larger church, a greater faith than what is just spoken about and practiced within its own circle. In the Hebrew Scripture reading of the book of Joshua it starts today’s reading with, “And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.” This is coming after the death of Moses and Israel was looking for a new leader, one who would have as close a relationship as Moses had with their God. It was giving a sense of connectedness and more importantly the ability to continue to move forward.
I want to share with you a short film clip from Tyler Perry’s movie: Madea’s Family Reunion. (Show clip)
As this clip shows, “At times we need to be reminded of who we are. Perhaps that's one of the reasons we belong in community: the reminding of who we are, and of who we are called to be, and of how we are to live. Perhaps that's the deepest call beneath much of what we "do" in church and as the church: in the teaching of both adults and children, in the preaching of the gospel, in the singing of hymns, in the breaking of bread and the sharing of cup. We need to be reminded that God's hand has not only shaped us but guides us still and is in fact still at work in the world, through us. It goes much deeper than our friendships and community within our churches. It goes much deeper than the esteem in which we hold our greatest teachers and the respect we give our pastors. It is indeed, who we are.” Sermon seeds by Kathy Huey, UCC Oct 30,2011
We recognize that God works through the world and that God can be found in many places, in many organizations that we would not specifically call “church.” Yet what makes “the church” distinct? And how can we respond when people say, “I don’t need church, because I can find God in other places?” What they are really doing is asking you the question, “what makes church distinct?” “What would I receive that I can’t get anywhere else?” Unless we know who we are, where we come from, we will never be able to adequately answer their question.
In one of the prayers that was lifted up yesterday at the dedication of the new building of the New Jerusalem Samoan Church, I think we can begin to know “what is distinct about a church”.
“Today we dedicate to your lasting service this house of prayer, which reflects the mystery of your church: A temple built of living stones, founded on the apostles and prophets, your Son Jesus Christ its Chief Corner Stone; a city set upon a hill, bright with the glory of your presence and echoing the prayers of your saints. Lord, send your Spirit from heaven to sanctify this place that it may be a sign of your presence among us. Here may the Gospel be proclaimed with boldness. Here may the waters of baptism cleanse and renew us. Here may your people celebrate the memorial of Christ’s risen presence. Here may prayer resound through heaven and earth, as a plea for the world’s reconciliation. Here may the poor find justice, the victims of oppression, true freedom. Here may the sick find healing, and those in darkness and despair find light. From here may your whole creation, clothed in the liberty of the children of God, enter with gladness your city of peace.” Dedication prayer of Jerusalem Samoan UCC, Midvale, UT 10-30-2011
Let us remember throughout this coming week, who we are, so that we may bravely carry forward the proud heritage of our past! So that we will be able to boldly say, “God loves you and so do I!” Let us stand and turn to the person next to you, give them a huge and say, “God loves you and I am here to support you in that love.” Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 10/30/2011
Based on I Thessalonians 2:9-13 & Joshua 3:7-17
As I was working earlier this week on narrowing what the focus of this Sunday’s reflection would be, I realized that there seemed to be a major theme being woven with respect to my scheduled commitments. Also it became crystal clear that my scheduled activities also seemed to coincide with this week’s lectionary readings. This seems to happen a good deal with me and I began to wonder, if my higher power does coordinate the lectionary and my life, or if through studying the scripture suggestions for the week tends to make me more sensitive to the events in my life? Much of my schedule is made from one to twelve months in advance and I generally don’t read that far ahead in the lectionary, so I would conclude that what might be thought of as a cohesiveness of activities and lectionary lessons, is more on the line of how I understanding “blessings” or “miracles” within my life. I believe that “blessings” and “miracles” are continuously happening, but I only recognize them when I am sensitive to their existence. Meaning, when I am looking for a blessing or a miracle in my life, I usually recognize it. It is called, “being present” in the moment.
This past week, I’ve been burning up I-80 between here and Salt Lake City. On Wednesday I participated in a dialog billed as, “The Mountain West Summit”, which was a dialog on Immigration issues. I was asked to sit on a panel discussion focusing on the religious and moral implications of immigration. Then yesterday, Sharon Pribyl and I attended the dedication of the new church building of the New Jerusalem Samoan Church in Midvale, UT. This is a new congregation of only 8 yrs old and the first real home for this congregation.
The theme of the week that became apparent to me was that of “who are we?” “Where do we come from?” These are very important questions, for unless we know “who we are” and “where we come from” we can find it difficult to live our “present.” One of the prominent memories that I have from my childhood was the reciting of family history at any gathering. I didn’t realize that is was not the norm of most families. As an adult, I am amazed of how many of my friends know very little about their families beyond their grandparents and some of my friends don’t even know much about their grandparents.
What can happen with such limited understanding of where one comes from, is we can feel isolated, or have a sense of not being connected to anything beyond our self. This can open us up to searching for a sense of belonging and of acting and reacting to choices in an effort to feel grounded that might become unhealthy for us.
This is true with the family of God. As followers of Christ, we need information about what Jesus thought, taught, his practices for finding his centeredness, and how he viewed and understood his relationship with God, so that as followers of Jesus, we have some idea of why we do things. If we don’t have any idea about who and what Christ was about, we can end up with developing some very interesting theological understandings, that might not follow what Christ was truly intending for his church.
This is Reformation Sunday, which is the day that the church remembers where it comes from, of its history, so that, as we live in the present we are able to lay courses for the future that are consistent not only with our past but more importantly are consistent with the teachings of Christ. In the Epistle reading this morning, Paul say’s, “Surely you remember…” and concludes with, “…when you received the word of God, which you heard from us…” This is talking about a history, a reminder to the church in Thessalonica that it is a part of a larger church, a greater faith than what is just spoken about and practiced within its own circle. In the Hebrew Scripture reading of the book of Joshua it starts today’s reading with, “And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.” This is coming after the death of Moses and Israel was looking for a new leader, one who would have as close a relationship as Moses had with their God. It was giving a sense of connectedness and more importantly the ability to continue to move forward.
I want to share with you a short film clip from Tyler Perry’s movie: Madea’s Family Reunion. (Show clip)
As this clip shows, “At times we need to be reminded of who we are. Perhaps that's one of the reasons we belong in community: the reminding of who we are, and of who we are called to be, and of how we are to live. Perhaps that's the deepest call beneath much of what we "do" in church and as the church: in the teaching of both adults and children, in the preaching of the gospel, in the singing of hymns, in the breaking of bread and the sharing of cup. We need to be reminded that God's hand has not only shaped us but guides us still and is in fact still at work in the world, through us. It goes much deeper than our friendships and community within our churches. It goes much deeper than the esteem in which we hold our greatest teachers and the respect we give our pastors. It is indeed, who we are.” Sermon seeds by Kathy Huey, UCC Oct 30,2011
We recognize that God works through the world and that God can be found in many places, in many organizations that we would not specifically call “church.” Yet what makes “the church” distinct? And how can we respond when people say, “I don’t need church, because I can find God in other places?” What they are really doing is asking you the question, “what makes church distinct?” “What would I receive that I can’t get anywhere else?” Unless we know who we are, where we come from, we will never be able to adequately answer their question.
In one of the prayers that was lifted up yesterday at the dedication of the new building of the New Jerusalem Samoan Church, I think we can begin to know “what is distinct about a church”.
“Today we dedicate to your lasting service this house of prayer, which reflects the mystery of your church: A temple built of living stones, founded on the apostles and prophets, your Son Jesus Christ its Chief Corner Stone; a city set upon a hill, bright with the glory of your presence and echoing the prayers of your saints. Lord, send your Spirit from heaven to sanctify this place that it may be a sign of your presence among us. Here may the Gospel be proclaimed with boldness. Here may the waters of baptism cleanse and renew us. Here may your people celebrate the memorial of Christ’s risen presence. Here may prayer resound through heaven and earth, as a plea for the world’s reconciliation. Here may the poor find justice, the victims of oppression, true freedom. Here may the sick find healing, and those in darkness and despair find light. From here may your whole creation, clothed in the liberty of the children of God, enter with gladness your city of peace.” Dedication prayer of Jerusalem Samoan UCC, Midvale, UT 10-30-2011
Let us remember throughout this coming week, who we are, so that we may bravely carry forward the proud heritage of our past! So that we will be able to boldly say, “God loves you and so do I!” Let us stand and turn to the person next to you, give them a huge and say, “God loves you and I am here to support you in that love.” Amen
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Commandment or Commitment, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY, 11-23-2011, Rev Steven R Mitchell
Commandment or Commitment?
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 10/23/2011
Based on Matthew 22: 34-46
This past week I took a Holiday in what people universally call “the windy city”, Chicago! In my opinion, those who call Chicago the “windy city” have never spent any time in SW Wyoming. While I was there, I went to the city of Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, and toured the early home of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Mr. Wright, at the age of twenty-two built his first home, where he and his family lived for about twenty years. This house which later included his working studio is nestled in a beautiful neighborhood of Victorian homes. Mr. Wright built this home around 1890. It was a dramatic break from the stately looking Victorians.
For those of you who are not familiar with Frank Lloyd Wright, he is one of the pioneers of what we would call “the green movement”. He helped reshape the concept that a building should blend in with its environment, not shape its surroundings. He is the father of the style of architecture called “prairie style” homes. After lengthy interviews with you, learning about you as an individual, he would design a home that reflected who you were. Yet his homes of the 1890’s through the 1920’s became what we now call the “norm” in building.
As I was taking a walking tour around the neighborhood, it was very obvious which homes had been either designed or redesigned by Mr. Wright. Next to very handsome Victorian homes, which might have been only five years old, you could see these modernistic, linear style homes designed by Mr. Wright. During my walk, I began to wonder what the established neighbors were saying about this young upstart, building these radically different looking houses in their well groomed traditional looking neighborhood.
Down the street I found two very fine looking traditional looking churches; one was the Methodist Church and the other was a Congregational Church. Then next door to the Congregational Church was the Unity Church, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It didn’t have the majestically upward spiraling look that the other two churches had, rather, the Unity church was low, almost hidden in the landscape with horizontal lines.
On my walking tour, I had a little cassette player that was giving me information about the specific homes that Mr. Wright designed or did additions to. The tour guide also called attention to some of the Victorian and Queen Anne houses that had significant architectural styles of their period which influenced Mr. Wright in his designs, bridging the older concepts with his newer visions.
In many respects, the way that Frank Lloyd Wright looked at architecture and how it was to blend with one’s life and that of nature, is very much how Jesus was with his understanding of how the “laws”, those ten commandments were to be lived out. When confronted by an expert in the law, of which was the most important, Jesus gives them an answer that not only stops his questioning but also reshapes how to look at it. “Instead of reducing the importance of the laws, he paints a picture of them as a coherent whole that “hangs together.” Jesus sees the law very differently than the experts did and his response “undermines the whole notion of the law as rules and regulations. What Jesus claims is that the whole law is about love, not rules, about really loving God and one’s neighbor, not about figuring out how to avoid stepping on cracks in the legal sidewalk.” UCC sermon seeds, Thomas Long.
As we read the story’s of Jesus and how he seems to come up with these outstanding teachings and responses, we tend to think that what he is saying is all original to him, yet much of what Jesus says comes from what is written in the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus’ response to “which of the commandments is most important” comes from Deuteronomy 6:“4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.[a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
We are coming up to that uncomfortable season of “stewardship”. That time when we talk about money and what to give to the church. Scripture tells us that we are to give 10% of back to God. When we think about what we are pledging to the church, we too often look at it as a “bill”, and the concept of “tithing” (which means 10%) like one of the commandments. “God says, you are to give a tenth of what you earn back to God!” “Now how do I tweak this law, so that I give 10% but don’t have to give actual dollars in that amount? Oh I know, I’ll give my time and do things around the church and for charity and things like that, then I will count that as part of my 10% as “in kind.” This is how the Pharisees would take this commandment and massage it to meet their legal obligations along their desire to spend their money on themselves.
Jesus shared stories to get his listeners to think about what was written in scripture. In this same way, the Rev Kathy Huey, staff person with the national offices of the UCC, shares her story about this question of “greatest commandment”: several years ago, inspired by the witness of two older women, longtime and faithful members of the church who told me their stories of tithing, I decided to take the step of increasing my own giving to the church I loved. Increasing to a tithe (10%) was a challenge but it surprised me that my feelings followed after the action, or after the commitment, if you will. I found that I loved my church more when I gave more to it, much as we love our children more after giving of ourselves to them over many years. So it seems that when we decide to set our hearts in a direction, toward something or someone, and when we do the things that fulfill that commitment, our feelings often follow afterward. The laws of giving and Sabbath and loving, I believe, are God's way of getting us to do what we need to do, what's good for us; these laws give us the direction for setting our hearts. Again, it's a thing of mystery. Ucc sermon seeds, Kate Huey Oct 23,2011 What Kathryn found out is that when she stopped looking at the idea of “tithing” as a commandment, and realized the wholeness of scripture as one of “love”, she then was able to live out her financial giving as a commitment rather than a commandment.
The definition of a commandment is: To direct with authority; give orders to. 2. To have control or authority over. When we read in Deuteronomy 6, “love God with all our heart and soul and strength, and have it on our heart”, the question arises, “How can we be commanded to “love” something or somebody?” A part of our problem with the understanding of the word “love” comes from how abused this word is in our culture. From a biblical sense, the understanding of love, “is not affection but commitment. Warm feelings of gratitude may fill our consciousness as we consider all that God has done for us, but it is not warm feelings that Deut. 6:5 demands of us but rather stubborn, unwavering commitment". And commitment can be seen as a setting of the heart, something we choose to do, a way we freely choose to live our lives. Commitment is that mysterious mingling of feeling and action, a beautiful dance between the two. UCC Sermon Seeds, Douglas Hare, Oct 23, 2011 You see, Jesus turns the question of “which is more important” into a commitment instead of a commandment; of a lifestyle not something to wiggle around.
What does it mean to you to “love God with all of your heart, mind, and soul? And then your neighbor as yourself?” Is it a commandment or is it a commitment? Each will determine how we look at what we do with not only our money, but with how we look at social justice, of stewardship of our world, and of how we treat the Sabbath! Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 10/23/2011
Based on Matthew 22: 34-46
This past week I took a Holiday in what people universally call “the windy city”, Chicago! In my opinion, those who call Chicago the “windy city” have never spent any time in SW Wyoming. While I was there, I went to the city of Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, and toured the early home of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Mr. Wright, at the age of twenty-two built his first home, where he and his family lived for about twenty years. This house which later included his working studio is nestled in a beautiful neighborhood of Victorian homes. Mr. Wright built this home around 1890. It was a dramatic break from the stately looking Victorians.
For those of you who are not familiar with Frank Lloyd Wright, he is one of the pioneers of what we would call “the green movement”. He helped reshape the concept that a building should blend in with its environment, not shape its surroundings. He is the father of the style of architecture called “prairie style” homes. After lengthy interviews with you, learning about you as an individual, he would design a home that reflected who you were. Yet his homes of the 1890’s through the 1920’s became what we now call the “norm” in building.
As I was taking a walking tour around the neighborhood, it was very obvious which homes had been either designed or redesigned by Mr. Wright. Next to very handsome Victorian homes, which might have been only five years old, you could see these modernistic, linear style homes designed by Mr. Wright. During my walk, I began to wonder what the established neighbors were saying about this young upstart, building these radically different looking houses in their well groomed traditional looking neighborhood.
Down the street I found two very fine looking traditional looking churches; one was the Methodist Church and the other was a Congregational Church. Then next door to the Congregational Church was the Unity Church, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It didn’t have the majestically upward spiraling look that the other two churches had, rather, the Unity church was low, almost hidden in the landscape with horizontal lines.
On my walking tour, I had a little cassette player that was giving me information about the specific homes that Mr. Wright designed or did additions to. The tour guide also called attention to some of the Victorian and Queen Anne houses that had significant architectural styles of their period which influenced Mr. Wright in his designs, bridging the older concepts with his newer visions.
In many respects, the way that Frank Lloyd Wright looked at architecture and how it was to blend with one’s life and that of nature, is very much how Jesus was with his understanding of how the “laws”, those ten commandments were to be lived out. When confronted by an expert in the law, of which was the most important, Jesus gives them an answer that not only stops his questioning but also reshapes how to look at it. “Instead of reducing the importance of the laws, he paints a picture of them as a coherent whole that “hangs together.” Jesus sees the law very differently than the experts did and his response “undermines the whole notion of the law as rules and regulations. What Jesus claims is that the whole law is about love, not rules, about really loving God and one’s neighbor, not about figuring out how to avoid stepping on cracks in the legal sidewalk.” UCC sermon seeds, Thomas Long.
As we read the story’s of Jesus and how he seems to come up with these outstanding teachings and responses, we tend to think that what he is saying is all original to him, yet much of what Jesus says comes from what is written in the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus’ response to “which of the commandments is most important” comes from Deuteronomy 6:“4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.[a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
We are coming up to that uncomfortable season of “stewardship”. That time when we talk about money and what to give to the church. Scripture tells us that we are to give 10% of back to God. When we think about what we are pledging to the church, we too often look at it as a “bill”, and the concept of “tithing” (which means 10%) like one of the commandments. “God says, you are to give a tenth of what you earn back to God!” “Now how do I tweak this law, so that I give 10% but don’t have to give actual dollars in that amount? Oh I know, I’ll give my time and do things around the church and for charity and things like that, then I will count that as part of my 10% as “in kind.” This is how the Pharisees would take this commandment and massage it to meet their legal obligations along their desire to spend their money on themselves.
Jesus shared stories to get his listeners to think about what was written in scripture. In this same way, the Rev Kathy Huey, staff person with the national offices of the UCC, shares her story about this question of “greatest commandment”: several years ago, inspired by the witness of two older women, longtime and faithful members of the church who told me their stories of tithing, I decided to take the step of increasing my own giving to the church I loved. Increasing to a tithe (10%) was a challenge but it surprised me that my feelings followed after the action, or after the commitment, if you will. I found that I loved my church more when I gave more to it, much as we love our children more after giving of ourselves to them over many years. So it seems that when we decide to set our hearts in a direction, toward something or someone, and when we do the things that fulfill that commitment, our feelings often follow afterward. The laws of giving and Sabbath and loving, I believe, are God's way of getting us to do what we need to do, what's good for us; these laws give us the direction for setting our hearts. Again, it's a thing of mystery. Ucc sermon seeds, Kate Huey Oct 23,2011 What Kathryn found out is that when she stopped looking at the idea of “tithing” as a commandment, and realized the wholeness of scripture as one of “love”, she then was able to live out her financial giving as a commitment rather than a commandment.
The definition of a commandment is: To direct with authority; give orders to. 2. To have control or authority over. When we read in Deuteronomy 6, “love God with all our heart and soul and strength, and have it on our heart”, the question arises, “How can we be commanded to “love” something or somebody?” A part of our problem with the understanding of the word “love” comes from how abused this word is in our culture. From a biblical sense, the understanding of love, “is not affection but commitment. Warm feelings of gratitude may fill our consciousness as we consider all that God has done for us, but it is not warm feelings that Deut. 6:5 demands of us but rather stubborn, unwavering commitment". And commitment can be seen as a setting of the heart, something we choose to do, a way we freely choose to live our lives. Commitment is that mysterious mingling of feeling and action, a beautiful dance between the two. UCC Sermon Seeds, Douglas Hare, Oct 23, 2011 You see, Jesus turns the question of “which is more important” into a commitment instead of a commandment; of a lifestyle not something to wiggle around.
What does it mean to you to “love God with all of your heart, mind, and soul? And then your neighbor as yourself?” Is it a commandment or is it a commitment? Each will determine how we look at what we do with not only our money, but with how we look at social justice, of stewardship of our world, and of how we treat the Sabbath! Amen
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Only Ten?, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY, by Rev Steven R Mitchell, 10/2/2011
Only Ten?
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 10/2/2011
Based on Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
It is not often that we review the collection of laws that we call the Ten Commandments, but this is the focus of this morning’s reflection. Rev Kathryn Huey writes in this week’s Sermon Seeds, “Every once in a while, the Ten Commandments provoke a measure of controversy in our public life: not about whether we actually obey them and keep them at the heart of our life together, or how they might change the way we live if we observed them. That would be an excellent controversy. No, our national argument tends to be about their display, engraved (ironically) in stone and practically worshipped not for their content but for the message they are assumed to convey, that we are a nation under God, specifically, in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The prominent display of these commandments serves to remind people in other faiths, and atheists as well, about who "we" are, whenever "they" walk into public buildings, regardless of the separation of church and state that protects all of us, however futilely, from religious wars of one kind or another. And yet, we are apparently the ones who need to be reminded of who we are and what it means to live faithfully, for "in recent polls of the American public," Gene Tucker observes, "although the majority affirmed that the Bible is in some way the word of God, only a small percentage could name as many as four of the Ten Commandments" (Preaching through the Christian Year A). If we don't even know what they are, how can we obey them?” So, prior to reading this morning’s scripture, I am going to give you a quiz and have us as a group try to name all Ten Commandments.
In the progression of the story of the Hebrew people, we can recall how they are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was Joseph, the son of Jacob, the one sold off into slavery by his brothers who actually was able to provide a place of refuge and safety for his family as a great famine occurred. So, the descendants of Abraham, found themselves in the land of Egypt, living in security. Then a few generations down the road, they became enslaved by the Egyptians.
Through a man named Moses, God rescued these slaves and guided them through unknown territory, providing protection and food. Eventually they found themselves at the foot of Mt Sinai. It was there that Moses went up to meet with God and received these Ten Commandments. It must have been something to behold for scripture says, “When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance....”
We as a society really dislike the idea of having rules and regulations. We often look to rules, contracts, and covenants as being restrictive, rather than being a freeing agent. When we talk about the concept of “discipline”, we generally think in terms of punitive actions for stepping outside of a set boundary. Yet discipline is needed in order to active a given objective. If we wish to be able to read for example, we have to become disciplined in the alphabet and learning of words in order to be able to read. The same goes with writing or with mathematics or any other activity.
God in many ways is like a parent. We are made in God’s image; therefore, God knows that we operate best with boundaries. In order for us to live life to its best, we need to understand what is best for us. I believe that is what the Ten Commandments are intended to active. We are lucky, Moses only brought down ten from Mount Sinai, by the time Jesus was ministering, there were 613 laws to live by; after the destruction of the Temple there are only 271 laws that can be followed and acted upon as a Jew.
I suspect that most of us feel that we follow the Ten Commandments or rather that we probably don’t really directly violate them. This might be true or it might be that we don’t examine our heart or our actions very closely, thereby think we don’t violate these specific laws that God gave to us.
For example: the first commandment tells us who God is. It is God who brought us up out of Egypt. “What do you mean brought me up out of Egypt? I’ve never stepped foot out of this country, let alone visited Egypt.” Egypt is a metaphor meaning “enslaved”. For folks who have gone through any kind of 12 step program, they will tell you what being a slave to alcohol, sexual abuse, or drug is all about and how their “higher power” has helped bring them out of that slavery, up out of Egypt.
The next commandment is to have no idols. In our affluence as a nation, we are confronted daily with idols. Walter Brueggemann writes powerfully of these temptations: “We have always lived in a world of options, alterative choices, and gods who make powerful, competing appeals. It does us no good to pretend that there are no other offers of well-being, joy, and security. In pursuit of joy, we may choose philosophy, in pursuit of security, we may choose military might; in pursuit of genuine love, we may choose sex. It is clear that these choices are not Yahweh that these are not gods who have ever brought an Exodus or offered a covenant.” UCC Sermon Seeds, Oct 2, 2011
We are told to remember the Sabbath day. This is a word that has become lost in our culture. How many of you tell friends, “I go to church on Sundays?” How many of you say to friends, “On Sundays, I go to worship” instead of using the word “church”? When was the last time you kept the Sabbath? Or maybe more accurately, “what does keeping the Sabbath mean?”
Traditionally it goes back to God working hard for six days and then resting on the seventh day, reflection on all that was created. The Hebrew’s were delivered out of slavery which was a seven day work week and God was asking them to take one day out of the week and keep it holy, so that they could reflect on their relationship to the one who was not only their God, but the one who freed them from their oppression! The word Sabbath means something different than “doing church.”
Now we come to an easy one – don’t commit murder! Yet what happens if you are in the military and we go to war does the killing of the enemy mean murder? Mae West during a confrontation with the HAE’S commission on the topic of “immorality” specifically about her innuendo’s spoke a great truth when she told them, “Sending our boys off to kill one another is immorality!” Yet there are many ways to kill a person without physically killing them. We can kill a child’s spirit by demeaning them on a daily basis; we can kill someone’s character with slander or malicious intent, or even with idol gossip.
Jesus when questioned on which commandment was the greatest, his response was twofold: “Love your God with all your heart, mind, and soul; the other is to love your neighbor as you would love yourself.” That sounds pretty straight forward. Jesus has taken these Ten Commandments and brought them into two basic groups. But what happens if we don’t know how to treat ourselves with respect, or kindness, or with honor, but rather treat ourselves in negative ways that brings harm to ourselves. Are we supposed to treat other people the same way? The truth is we will treat people exactly the way in which we treat ourselves.
What the goal of these commandments is about is to help us focus on life outside of ourselves. It provides disciplines for “best living.” We are to remember, recognize, and then give over ourselves to a power that is greater than ourselves. Once we have done that, we are then able to relate to others in a healthier manor and look at the world through the lens of how God sees each of us. If we can get these Ten Commandments under our belt, I don’t think we would have need of those 613 laws that the Hebrews came up with after the fact! My challenge to you this week is to reread these Ten Commandments and take time to think about how we too often offend them simply because we haven’t taken the time to examine them. Amen.
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 10/2/2011
Based on Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
It is not often that we review the collection of laws that we call the Ten Commandments, but this is the focus of this morning’s reflection. Rev Kathryn Huey writes in this week’s Sermon Seeds, “Every once in a while, the Ten Commandments provoke a measure of controversy in our public life: not about whether we actually obey them and keep them at the heart of our life together, or how they might change the way we live if we observed them. That would be an excellent controversy. No, our national argument tends to be about their display, engraved (ironically) in stone and practically worshipped not for their content but for the message they are assumed to convey, that we are a nation under God, specifically, in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The prominent display of these commandments serves to remind people in other faiths, and atheists as well, about who "we" are, whenever "they" walk into public buildings, regardless of the separation of church and state that protects all of us, however futilely, from religious wars of one kind or another. And yet, we are apparently the ones who need to be reminded of who we are and what it means to live faithfully, for "in recent polls of the American public," Gene Tucker observes, "although the majority affirmed that the Bible is in some way the word of God, only a small percentage could name as many as four of the Ten Commandments" (Preaching through the Christian Year A). If we don't even know what they are, how can we obey them?” So, prior to reading this morning’s scripture, I am going to give you a quiz and have us as a group try to name all Ten Commandments.
In the progression of the story of the Hebrew people, we can recall how they are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was Joseph, the son of Jacob, the one sold off into slavery by his brothers who actually was able to provide a place of refuge and safety for his family as a great famine occurred. So, the descendants of Abraham, found themselves in the land of Egypt, living in security. Then a few generations down the road, they became enslaved by the Egyptians.
Through a man named Moses, God rescued these slaves and guided them through unknown territory, providing protection and food. Eventually they found themselves at the foot of Mt Sinai. It was there that Moses went up to meet with God and received these Ten Commandments. It must have been something to behold for scripture says, “When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance....”
We as a society really dislike the idea of having rules and regulations. We often look to rules, contracts, and covenants as being restrictive, rather than being a freeing agent. When we talk about the concept of “discipline”, we generally think in terms of punitive actions for stepping outside of a set boundary. Yet discipline is needed in order to active a given objective. If we wish to be able to read for example, we have to become disciplined in the alphabet and learning of words in order to be able to read. The same goes with writing or with mathematics or any other activity.
God in many ways is like a parent. We are made in God’s image; therefore, God knows that we operate best with boundaries. In order for us to live life to its best, we need to understand what is best for us. I believe that is what the Ten Commandments are intended to active. We are lucky, Moses only brought down ten from Mount Sinai, by the time Jesus was ministering, there were 613 laws to live by; after the destruction of the Temple there are only 271 laws that can be followed and acted upon as a Jew.
I suspect that most of us feel that we follow the Ten Commandments or rather that we probably don’t really directly violate them. This might be true or it might be that we don’t examine our heart or our actions very closely, thereby think we don’t violate these specific laws that God gave to us.
For example: the first commandment tells us who God is. It is God who brought us up out of Egypt. “What do you mean brought me up out of Egypt? I’ve never stepped foot out of this country, let alone visited Egypt.” Egypt is a metaphor meaning “enslaved”. For folks who have gone through any kind of 12 step program, they will tell you what being a slave to alcohol, sexual abuse, or drug is all about and how their “higher power” has helped bring them out of that slavery, up out of Egypt.
The next commandment is to have no idols. In our affluence as a nation, we are confronted daily with idols. Walter Brueggemann writes powerfully of these temptations: “We have always lived in a world of options, alterative choices, and gods who make powerful, competing appeals. It does us no good to pretend that there are no other offers of well-being, joy, and security. In pursuit of joy, we may choose philosophy, in pursuit of security, we may choose military might; in pursuit of genuine love, we may choose sex. It is clear that these choices are not Yahweh that these are not gods who have ever brought an Exodus or offered a covenant.” UCC Sermon Seeds, Oct 2, 2011
We are told to remember the Sabbath day. This is a word that has become lost in our culture. How many of you tell friends, “I go to church on Sundays?” How many of you say to friends, “On Sundays, I go to worship” instead of using the word “church”? When was the last time you kept the Sabbath? Or maybe more accurately, “what does keeping the Sabbath mean?”
Traditionally it goes back to God working hard for six days and then resting on the seventh day, reflection on all that was created. The Hebrew’s were delivered out of slavery which was a seven day work week and God was asking them to take one day out of the week and keep it holy, so that they could reflect on their relationship to the one who was not only their God, but the one who freed them from their oppression! The word Sabbath means something different than “doing church.”
Now we come to an easy one – don’t commit murder! Yet what happens if you are in the military and we go to war does the killing of the enemy mean murder? Mae West during a confrontation with the HAE’S commission on the topic of “immorality” specifically about her innuendo’s spoke a great truth when she told them, “Sending our boys off to kill one another is immorality!” Yet there are many ways to kill a person without physically killing them. We can kill a child’s spirit by demeaning them on a daily basis; we can kill someone’s character with slander or malicious intent, or even with idol gossip.
Jesus when questioned on which commandment was the greatest, his response was twofold: “Love your God with all your heart, mind, and soul; the other is to love your neighbor as you would love yourself.” That sounds pretty straight forward. Jesus has taken these Ten Commandments and brought them into two basic groups. But what happens if we don’t know how to treat ourselves with respect, or kindness, or with honor, but rather treat ourselves in negative ways that brings harm to ourselves. Are we supposed to treat other people the same way? The truth is we will treat people exactly the way in which we treat ourselves.
What the goal of these commandments is about is to help us focus on life outside of ourselves. It provides disciplines for “best living.” We are to remember, recognize, and then give over ourselves to a power that is greater than ourselves. Once we have done that, we are then able to relate to others in a healthier manor and look at the world through the lens of how God sees each of us. If we can get these Ten Commandments under our belt, I don’t think we would have need of those 613 laws that the Hebrews came up with after the fact! My challenge to you this week is to reread these Ten Commandments and take time to think about how we too often offend them simply because we haven’t taken the time to examine them. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)