Discovering Spiritual Awareness (series pt 4), "Jesus Says, 'Love' Who?, by Rev Steven R Mitchell, based on Matthew 5:43-48

Discovering Spiritual Awareness (series pt 4)

“Jesus Says ‘Love’ Who?”

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United Church, Aurora, CO 7/19/2015

Based on Matthew 5:43-48

 

        When I was entering into my sophomore year in high school, my parents relocated to what seemed like the edge of the world, Western Kansas.  As the new kid in school, it is never easy making friends, especially when you are as introverted and shy as I was in those years.  As I went about trying to make friends, it was very apparent that I had attracted the attention of one of the schools bullies.   I had never really ever encounter being the focus of a school bully before and was unequipped to deal with this type of encounter.  My attempts to avoid him, seemed less than successful as a final show down occurred before class with a demand to meet him after school for a fight.  If I declined, he would have proved me to be a coward and thus establishing my lowliness in the “pecking order” of classmates.  If I accepted his challenge, I would be going against my personal belief that all situations could be negotiated to a satisfactory end by both disagreeing parties.  I had adopted this standard due to a poor choice to become involved in a fight in Fifth grade that landed me in bed for over two months with a blood clot at the base of my brain.  Fortunately the teacher of that class had come into the room over hearing the challenge.  She had a zero tolerance for “bullying” and with no uncertain terms put the bully in his place and ending future focus on me.  But life continually shows us that not all bullies and enemies are so easily dealt with.

        In this morning’s scripture, Jesus brings another understanding of what it means to be living in the “Image” that we are made.  Last week we looked at the importance of our “self-image” as we are commanded to “love our neighbor as ourselves.”  So what do you do when confronted with the school bully?  The advise that my older cousin gave me was stand up to the bully, which meant “fight the dude” otherwise he would be bothering me throughout high school.  But practical experience had showed me that fighting never ends well.  What do you do with bullies like Hitler?  Do you just step down and allow them to destroy world peace?  Or how about the situation with Iran?  How do we handle their threats against Israel as they want to continue their development of nuclear energy? 

President Teddy Roosevelt use to say, “Speak softly but carry a big stick.”  Is that the advice that Jesus is telling us in this morning’s text?  To be brutally honest most of us do not believe in what Jesus is saying in this passage.  We most generally brush this teaching off by rationalizing it as a “nice goal” or “objective” to work toward, but see it as not practical advice.  Think back to how we as a country reacted to the attack by terrorists on our shores on September 11, 2001; the majority of Evangelical Christians were crying to retaliate which has lead us into 14 years of war with Iraq and Afghanistan.   We see the results of “an eye for and eye” between the Israeli and Palestinian governments.  We see Russia, escalating its nuclear armament once again.  The National Defense budget makes up the largest percentage of our national budget.  Sensible gun laws are often being challenged as gun sales continue to be on the rise.

 The awareness of “enemies” is not just worldwide but also on the rise within our neighborhoods.  Surely it is impractical to follow what Jesus is saying in Matthew.   What would Jesus know about violence; after all he was a bleeding liberal, preaching “love” not “war”, totally out of touch with the reality of life.  “You have heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you, ‘Do not resist an evildoer.”  What’s wrong with this man, what does he mean don’t retaliate, or not seek the death penalty for retribution?  Yet Jesus lived what he said.  When he was arrested, he insisted on nonviolence when Peter picked up his sword.  Before the Pharisees he did not return evil accusation with hate.  He allowed himself to be flogged by Pilate and then went without resistance caring his own cross to Golgotha.  Why?  Jesus could have immobilized a physical rebellion but he chose to live by what he taught.  Even on the cross, he prayed for those who had persecuted him saying, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

There are five verses before this morning’s text where Jesus talked about various acts of aggression toward an individual and how not to resist, but even give more.  The general wisdom of Jesus’ day was, when someone did you wrong, you sought retribution with the same act toward the person who wronged you, this is where we understand the “eye for an eye.”  But Jesus realized that this type of behavior never really cures the ailment. 

This past week, a 94 year old former Nazi SS member, who was an accountant  at Auschwitz, was convicted as an “accessory” to the criminal acts of murder of over 300,000 Jews.  He was sentenced to 4years for his participation at the camp.  This now opens up future trials for others who would be classified as “accessories” to the deaths.  I have a lot of mixed emotions over this trial, struggling with questions of justice and mercy.  I recall what Auschwitz survivor Eva Moses Kor shared in her presentation at this year’s Governors 34^th Annual Holocaust Remembrance service.  Eva said that she was only a prisoner at Auschwitz for two years, but spent the next 45 years being a victim and prisoner of the Nazi’s because of the hate and fear that she held onto.  Then one day she realized that she no longer wished to live as a victim and freed herself of her enemies by releasing that anger, fear, and hate.  What she realized by holding onto all those negatives, she was playing into the hands of those who were her enemies.

I don’t think Jesus is advocating to subjugate to our enemies and just roll over and take it, so to speak, when he says, turn the other cheek, or not to resist ones enemies, or by going the extra mile, or giving up your cloak when you are being sued for your shirt.  What Jesus is speaking to is a path of change by not playing into the acts of violation but rather resistance by not resisting the opponent, but rather by resisting opposition itself.  Within Jesus’ words of, “Love your enemies and pray for them”, Jesus is giving us a clue as to how to resist our enemies, without physical resistance which only continues future violence toward ourselves and our adversaries.

       Professor of Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School, Rev Dr Matthew Boulton sums it up this way: In the face of the most extreme opponents (enemies) and acts of opposition (persecution), Jesus advises defiance – but not defiance directed against the enemies themselves, since this simply perpetuates and intensifies the adversarial relationship, but rather a deeper defiance directed against the vicious, endless cycle of enemy making.  Pg 385, Feasting on the Word, Yr A, Vol 1   

I think of it as how to react to a Charlie-horse or leg cramps.  I have had to learn to not resist the cramping of the muscle, as that only intensifies the restricting by the muscle, but rather to move into the pain of the constricting muscle, which then allows the muscle to start relaxing and the constricting leaves.  It is very painful and it goes against our nature, but it works. 

Jesus say the same thing about how to react to the unjust actions of our enemies, by not resisting them, but rather defuse the acts in ways that work toward resisting cycles that create enemy making.  The “Prayer Walks” that are occurring each Friday this month in the Park Hill neighborhood is one way a number of Christians are working toward ending violence in that neighborhood.  By walking the streets and stopping to pray at sites where people have been gunned downed and along the way passing out fliers that speak about how to positively interact with a person who is a member of a violent gang, they are resisting the cycle that create enemy making.  

When we recognize that within each of us is the “Image of God”, we will find it more difficult to cultivate the soil that creates enemy making.  Our spiritual journey is the work of cultivating this awareness.  To love our enemies and to pray for them can only happen when we see the “Image” in others, so that we might be able to resist the cycles of enemy building and become neighbor builders.  Amen

Discovering Spiritual Awareness (series pt 4), "The Soul of the Cosmos" based on Mark 12:28-34 & 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

Discovering Spiritual Awareness (series pt 3)

“The Soul of the Cosmos”

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United Church, Aurora, CO 7/12/2015

Based on Mark 12:28-34 & 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

 

        This past week, I received a call from a seminary buddy who lives over in Westminster, telling me that a former class mate from seminary was going to be in town that evening and wanted to know if we could all gather for dinner and some catch up conversation.  Ultimately there were 5 of us from seminary gathering for this impromptu dinner.  It had been 30 years since the five of us had been in the same room.

        The evening went too quickly, catching up on reader digest versions of what had been going on in our lives these past 30 years.  At one point, our conversations touched toward Spirituality, as one would expect in a gathering of theologians. 

There was a discussion of how things are changing in awareness of spirituality and of how science is playing a major role in this.  In the earlier human experience, events such as a volcano exploding or an earthquake, was understood as direct results in a society’s behavior.  As we grew in our understanding of science we started seeing natural events not as a warning or punishment of God, but as explainable events.

        Then as humanity developed into what we call the industrial era, science once again re-defined life in general.  In order for industrialization to develop, there was a need to start understanding how elements acted independently from one another.  A visualization would be to look at the alphabet.  With the development of industrialization we stopped looking at the alphabet as a whole, but started to look at each letter individually.  We would see less correlation between A and B, and started to see just what A was made of and what it could produce by itself.  This was necessary for the growth of industrialization. 

This perspective of finding solutions to new challenges began to color the way that we approached religious and spiritual questions.  The Western world started to separate and compartmentalize the understanding of relationship between creation, humanity, and God; seeing each as independent of one another.

Science is once again influencing how we perceive relationships.  Through quantum physics, we are becoming re-acquainted with the understanding of the interrelatedness between elements.  Quantum physics is at the cutting edge of Western science…. Through quantum physics original goal of seeking out the elemental building blocks of the Universe (separate elementary particles), science has discovered that the Universe appears to be an undivided Whole.

        Like Einstein's Theory of Relativity, Quantum Physics reveals the Universe to be a single gigantic field of energy in which matter is just a 'slowed down' form of energy. Further, Quantum Physics has discovered that matter/energy does not exist with any certainty in definite places, but rather shows 'tendencies' to exist. (i.e. the 'Uncertainty Principle') Even more intriguing is the notion that the existence of an observer is fundamental to the existence of the Universe - a concept known as 'The Observer Effect' - implying that the Universe is a product of consciousness. (i.e. the Mind of God)  Quantum Physics, by Alex Paterson It is in this new understanding of the relationships between the elements that we are starting to redefine our spiritual relationship with God and creation.  Growing up I was taught that we live in a 3 dimensional world and that the 4^th dimension was something beyond.  With Quantum Physics there is now a belief that there are as many as 12 dimensions that are all operating in conjunction with one another.

        As we think about our journey in spiritual awareness, Jesus when questioned by one of the scribes answered that the basic level of understanding our spirituality is to know that God is at the heart of it all.  Quantum Physics understand that at the heart of all matter is a “consciousness”, that the average person calls God.  It is out of this reality that Jesus says that we are to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  By doing this, we are conscious of the relationship of our “image” in the Divine. 

        But Jesus doesn’t leave it there, for this only requires an inward journey.  Jesus then says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Now Jesus is telling us that we have to look beyond ourselves.  I think the first part of Jesus’ answer is not too hard for most of us to buy into, as it seems pretty cut and dry.  It would seem pretty easy to love God, since God is the creator of all.  The idea of “agape” is implied as God through love, created all that exists, so it is pretty easy to say, since God loved us first, we should love God back, without conditions and something more pure than brotherly love, which always requires something in return.

         I don’t even think that the concept of loving our neighbor is too hard to understand, as it is in how we relate to those around us.  Yet, we see many evil things done to people in the name of God. Why?  Just a few decades ago, it was unlawful for a black person and a white person to marry one another.  A hundred and fifty years or so ago, we fought over ownership of human beings, both being justified by some through religious beliefs.   How can we has children of God, being made in the “image” of God, justify such behavior and believes? 

I must confess that I have always been uncomfortable with Jesus’ response of “love your neighbor as yourself.”  My stumbling block on this second commandment is in the phrase “as yourself.”  What does “loving yourself” mean?  If I love myself so much (narcissistic) then there is no room for loving another.  Or what happens if I think so little of myself that I truly don’t love myself?  This statement is based on an assumption that I have the self love that Jesus understands to be “pure love.”  The reality is that every person is damaged to some degree, so how does this “agape” understanding come into fruition? What is the yardstick that I can measure love by?

        In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul gives us some examples of what true love is like as a way to self-check our spiritual health.  ⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. ⁵ Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. ⁶ Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices over the truth. ⁷ Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always endures. ⁸ Love never ends.  Paul is speaking about this in the context of gifts, so I understand that “love” in this form is actually a spiritual gift.  In fact Paul speaks about three main gifts of Faith, Hope, and Love, but love is the greatest gift. 

I see in Corinthians Paul describing “agape”.  I would guess that this too is what Jesus was saying with “love yourself.”   To be able to love without jealously, or to love non-selfishly, of not keeping wrongs, and not to rejoice in others misfortunes all require our “giving up” or “letting go” of self.  There is a fear in giving up stuff that we hold onto internally.  Our most basic conflict as humans is found in “racism”, which is rooted in fear of loss of identity and power.  It finds its roots in tribalism, which is the most basic form of community. 

Ecumenicalism is a thought that found its life in understanding the inter-dependence and inter-relatedness of faith in God, as the one who creates all, as one who loves all, as one who cares for all.  It all works together, life, liberty, the right to pursue happiness.  The love of God, the love of neighbor – it all exits as an interacting force that comes from a consciousness that we in faith communities label as God.  Our spiritual journey of awareness is not static and its energy comes from our being made in the “image” of God.   To love yourself is to recognize and interact with your God image.  And the greatest of these is love.  Amen

 

 

Discovering Spiritual Awareness, pt 2, "Wonder and Mystery", by Rev Steven R Mitchell, based on John 1:1,4-5 and 1John 1:5-7

Discovering Spiritual Awareness (series, pt 2)

“Wonder and Mystery”

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United, Aurora, CO 7/5/2015

 

Based on John1:1,4-5 & 1John 1:5-7

 

        The beginning of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence states: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--  For two hundred and thirty-nine years, we as a people of these United States of America have been in constant struggle to live up to these ideas.  Sometimes we don’t do a very good job of living those words and at other times we seem to find our way into living that belief.  Since the Supreme Court rulings on the Affordable Health Care Act and the Right to Marry two weeks ago, this 4^th of July holds significant meaning to a good many American’s.  For some, it is a time of rejoicing with the affirmation of being able to pursue happiness.  For others it is a time of concern that their liberty is being overshadowed by the courts and legislators. 

In the past two weeks, we have seen Christians murdered while praying in their own church, the renewed discussions as to the appropriateness of displaying a flag that represented in its origins, a battle over liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and terrorist acts toward our black brothers and sisters with the arson of five black churches.  As a nation that calls itself a Christian Nation, it is evident that we do not have a common understanding of what it means to be created equal.

Last week we started a seven week series titled “Discovering Spiritual Awareness.”  We explored the question about being made in the image of God.  This week I would like to explore a bit more about the image of God, by thinking about what the gospel writer of the book of John might be saying when he opens this story about Jesus with the words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…In the Word was life; and the life was the light of humanity.  And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”

What does he mean when he says, “life was the Light?”  What does he mean when he says, “in Darkness?”  Is there any connection between these and our unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?  The writer of John in the very first lines of his story about Jesus declares his understanding, his experience that Jesus was with God and was God from the beginning.  He does this by summing up God and Jesus as being the “Word.”  Now “word” has several levels of meaning.  It means on the one hand: mind or rationality, and on the other, it means: speech or communication.  The reader’s digest version is this:  Mind conveys understanding or thoughts; Speech conveys action or realization.  Jesus as the incarnation of God is able to present to humanity the thoughts of God, through the actions of Jesus.  So when Jesus heals someone, he is showing us the compassion of God; when Jesus forgives someone of their sins, he is showing us the mercy of God; when Jesus went to the cross, he was showing us the love of God. 

In 1 John we learn more about what Light and Darkness mean.  “This is the message we have heard from him (Jesus) and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”  Throughout the book of 1 John, we learn that darkness consists of these actions: Hating our brothers and sisters; of loving the world (which means valuing possessions over people); the denial of Jesus’ values as representing the mind of God; and of not loving one another.  George W Stroup, professor of Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary states it this way: Truth, is not so much a doctrine as it is fellowship with the Father and his Son by the power of the Holy Spirit.  That fellowship is not based primarily on idea’s or philosophical principles but on a person who could be seen, and heard, and touched (meaning Jesus).  Pg 396, Feasting on the Word Vol. 2, Yr B   We understand Jesus as the incarnation of God, because those early followers, could see his works, hear his words, and physically touch Jesus.

One of the joyful events for me this past week was the opportunity to have lunch with a family from Rock Springs, Wyoming.  They were in town to pick up their daughter at the airport, who was returning from a high school music trip in parts of Europe.  Over lunch we discussed a little bit about the decision by the Supreme Court on marriage, a decision that upholds the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness principle as presented in the Declaration of Independence.  Yet there was sadness for a gay friend who is a teacher in the Rock Springs School District.  Even though this person now has protection to marry under the law, the prejudices against homosexuality within the school administration are so strong that this person, if they came out would become a target for hate and injustice.  Even if this person were to go to the Congregational church in Rock Springs, an ONA congregation and find support and affirmation, he still couldn’t come out because of its ties throughout the community and again this teacher would be putting himself in arms way.  The sad reality is, that much of this hatred is perpetuated by a number of churches in Rock Springs.

This teachers story touches on many levels what I believe the author of 1 John speaks about as living in darkness.  As I struggled with what to bring to you as an example of what the author means by “living in light”, I came across a podcast made about a year ago by a Southern Baptist Minister, speaking to his church in an after worship meeting as to why he had changed his mind on homosexuality.  I want to play you just about 4 minutes of this podcast, because I think this minister has summed up so eloquently the idea about what it means to be living in the light, of what it means when John says, “In the Word was life; and the life was the light of humanity.”  (pod cast is on You tube titled, “Why I Changed My Mind on Homosexuality”, 50:28 – 54:08 min)

I believe, when we think about what it means to live in the light, we need to realize that it isn’t found in reading books, it isn’t found in memorizing scripture and learning what we call doctrinal truths, it isn’t even found in coming to church on Sunday’s and worshiping, but as Rev Danny Cortez discovered, living in the light is “finding the Kingdom of God in the things that people deem worthless; and in the people that are the most broken.”

The fruit of the spirit is in mercy and love and in peace.  As we rejoice in living in a country where we can openly struggle with these values, let us remember that these values were based on the recognition that God as creator gives us the opportunity to practice both in word and action what gives life to humanity.  Amen

Discovering Spiritual Aw9areness (series), Shadow and Substance, by Rev Steven R Mitchell, based on Genesis 1:27-28 and Psalm 13

Discovering Spiritual Awareness (series)

“Shadow and Substance”

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United Church, Aurora, CO 6/28/2015

Based on Genesis 1:27-28 and Psalm 139:1, 13-20, 23-24

 

        Have you ever felt like the odd-person out in your family?  I was the religious freak in my extended family and when inviting family members to attend church with me, the battle cry in refusing my invitations was, “I don’t need church to be spiritual”, and they were correct.  You do not need church to recognize God and the reality that there is a higher being that seems to have woven the universe and life together.  Today I hear the same from non-church going folks, “I’m spiritual but not religious.”  

So what does being Spiritual really mean?  How do I recognize a spiritual journey?  How do I measure the relevance of spirituality within my life?  Or, in a world of Donald Trump’s what value is there to being “spiritual?”  These are questions that the modern church (religion) has not been very effective in answering, sometimes not even asking the questions.   Over the next few weeks I would like to focus on concepts around discovering spiritual awareness.  As we think about our relationship with God, how does that affect my relationship with Jesus, with a faith community, with other people, and how does my relationship with God affect my relationship with myself?  I believe it is in the recognition and the understanding of one’s spirituality that lays the foundations in which we build and live our daily lives.  For spirituality is the most foundational piece of our humanity. 

This past Friday there were two major events taking place, one at the national scene, the other in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood.  On Friday morning, the Supreme Court once again upheld the constitutional understanding that “all people are created equal”, and based on the protection of the 14^th Amendment that: all citizens of these United States shall not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.   In the battle of recognition of equality for all Americans to marry who they chose, the court cited the Plaintiffs request saying, “They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law; the Constitution grants them that right.”  The new law of the land now states: marriage is between two people.

The other event took place Friday evening as over two hundred people, Black, White, and Latino, took to the streets of the Park Hill district in Denver, on a prayer walk asking God to help bring peace back to that neighborhood and all of the Metro area.  As we walked, we would speak to neighbors about the request to God for peace against gang violence, drive by shooting, and other crimes against those living in that neighborhood.  I cannot tell you the feelings of connection when we would stop at locations where someone had been killed by gun violence and pray for forgiveness and restoration for those who died and their families.   

So what does the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage and the walk for peace in Park Hill have in common and more importantly to do with spirituality?  More than what we might think.  A part of our spirituality is becoming aware of who we are, of how we perceive ourselves and how we relate to other human beings.  Are we solely single individuals or are we a part of something that is larger than ourselves.

Some of the ministers who were leading in this prayer walk are former gang members.  These men who were once “gang” members were always “spiritual”, but somewhere in their lives, their awareness of being created in the image of God changed the whole direction of their lives.  In the very first book of the Hebrew Scriptures, we read:  So God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  As a human we exist as the image of God.  I can look around the room and quickly see that I do not look like anyone else, so I must also conclude that the image of God doesn’t mean the color of one’s skin, the sex of one’s body, or any other physical attribute that one exhibits.  The image of God must be something more intrinsic.  I propose it is what we call a soul.  That piece of us that we cannot physically identify, but yet is revealed in all aspects of our lives. 

        Our soul is at the heart of our “Image.”  Hear the words from the hymn, Shadow and Substance: We are your image, formed in community; sisters and brothers of Adam and Eve.  You gave us color, custom and history; teach us to honor what others receive.  For those who live in a society that demonizes homosexuality, there is a constant struggle to maintain a healthy and positive self-image; For those who live in a society that demeans people of color, there is a constant struggle to maintain a healthy and positive self-image; People who immigrate to this country, documented and non-documented alike, struggle with healthy self-image because of societal prejudices. 

Low self-image is most often a result of receiving negative reinforcement by outside sources. As an example, many young girls are inadvertently given information that the ideal woman should look like "Barbie".  Young boys are taught that men do not behave in certain ways, such as showing emotion that would be conceived as weak, such as crying.  Society tells each and every one of us, what is appropriate and what is desirable.  We call them norms.  Norms are what helps a society function with some order and hopefully providing less anxiety for individuals.  But what happens when these "norms" do not ring true with the individual?  What if society says "blue eyes" are better and you happen to have "brown eyes?"   Studies have shown that those who possess what the general norm is, tend to be less tolerant toward those who do not fit the accepted norm.  This intolerance provides the basis for negative reinforcement, which leads to lower self-image for those who are not meeting the expectations of those they live around.

Psalms 139, speaks about negative reinforcement as speaking against God.  The Psalmist says, "They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name."  So how does one commit evil against God - by misuse God's name.   How does this happen?  How does someone misuse God's name?  It has been my observation that many well meaning Christians and ministers often misuse God's name.  Pulpits all across this country Sunday after Sunday speak evil of God by misusing God's name and do not even recognize it.

We misuse God’s name whenever we speak against the “image” of God.  The Psalmist reminds us of our relationship to God: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written i your book before one of them came to be.  From the creation stories we learn that what God created, God pronounced "good."  The Psalmist see's that each of us is made by God, to God's specification, when we diminish a human being as "less than", we are in truth telling God that God has done wrong.  When we see ourselves as less that who we truly are, we are tell God that his work is not worthy.  This is not a good thing to do according to the Psalmist.  For who are we, as Job was reminded, to question the works and wisdom of God?  When well meaning Christians start to beat people up in the name of God, whether physically, socially, or verbally, then they are acting in evil against God.

We have much to learn in the Church about how we abuse God.  When we stand on traditions that have been handed down to us from generation to generation, without examining how these traditions affect humanity and the world in which we receive our daily bread, we might very well be acting as evil agents against God.  When our actions and words are used to deniger another human being and we use those words and actions in God's name, we are acting in evil toward humanity and toward God.  It is through these negative actions and words that we create and cultivate within any brother or sister low self-image. 

For God created each and every one of us, we are His children; we are brother and sister to one another.  Like the Psalmist we need to be in constant prayer asking, "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."  Does our need to demean another come from our own anxieties about who we are deep inside? Is our self-image consistent with the image of God? By allowing the “image of God” into our heart and mind, we will recognize the full beauty of each person that God has placed in our lives.  We will recognize the spirit of unity, who guides us to mystical union.  Amen

Thoughts inspired by Psalm 139

I would like to share a couple of thoughts or observations from the Psalm 139.  We usually focus the most on the passage that speaks about, "praising God because we are fearfully and wonderfully made."   Sometimes we read scripture for the sake of reading and looking to have something pop out at us with a new revelation of understanding.  There are times when we read a set of passages with an agenda in mind.  Not to proof text specifically, but rather recognizing the general message of a particular text and looking more deeply into it hoping and seeking further clarification of the agenda item.  My reading and reflection of this particular Psalm on this particular day was focusing on "self-esteem".  So, as I read through this Psalm, my mind is looking for phrases that might spur deeper contemplation of how the writer's relationship with God might help one deal with issues of low self-esteem.  Specifically from the perspective of someone who identifies with the LGBTQ community and growing up in an environment that does not understand human sexuality as being a non-moral issue. 

For those of us who have grown up in a society that demonizes homosexuality, there is a constant struggle to maintain a healthy and positive self-esteem.  Of course, many people struggle with issues of self-esteem where sexual orientation is not the issue.  It is what we often write off as part of the "human condition" or some Christians would say, "a part of the fallen state of humanity."  I feel uncomfortable when I hear this type of language for it can be a cop-out from taking responsibility at either a personal or societal level.  Low self-esteem is most often a result of receiving negative reinforcement by outside sources.  As an example, many young girls are inadvertently given information that the ideal woman should look like "Barbie".  Young boys are taught that men do not behave in  certain ways, such as showing emotion that would be concieved as weak, such as crying.  Society tells each and every one of us, what is appropriate and what is desireable.  We call them norms and that is what helps a society function with some order.  But what happens when these "norms" do not ring true with the individual?  What if society says "blue eyes" are better and you have "brown eyes?" Studies have shown that those with what the general belief is, tends to be less tolerant toward those who do not fit the accepted norm.  This intolerance provides the basis for negative reinforcement, which leads to lower self-esteem for those who are not meeting the expectations of those they live around.

Psalms 139, speaks to this situation in recognizing that there are people who speak against God.  The Psalmist says, "They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name."  So how do people commit evil against God - they misuse God's name.   How does this happen?  How does someone mis use God's name?  I has been my observation that many well meaning Christians and ministers often misuse God's name.  Pulpits all across this country, Sunday after Sunday speak evil of God by misusing God's name and do not even recognize it.

The answer to this observation comes from the Psalmist understanding of his relationship with God, as a creation of God.  Verse 13 states, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written i your book before one of them came to be."  From the creation stories we learn that what God created, God pronounced "good."  St Peter was chasticed about what was acceptable and unacceptable food from Jewish rituals in a vision of God presenting everything acceptable to be eaten.  The Psalmist see's that each of us is made by God, to God's specification, when we denimish a human being as "less than", we are in truth telling God that God has done wrong.  This is not a good thing to do according to the Psalmist.  For  who are we, as Job was reminded, to question the works and wisdom of God?  When well meaning Christians start to beat people up in the name of God, whether physically, socially, or verbally, then they are acting in evil.

We have much to learn in the Church about how we abuse God.  When we stand on traditions that have been handed down to us from generation to generation, without examining how these traditions affect humanity and the world in which we receive our daily bread from, we might very well be acting as evil agents against the Creator of all.  When our actions and words are used to deniger another human being and we use them in God's name, we are acting in evil toward humanity and toward God.  It is through these negative actions and words that we create and cultivate within any brother or sister low self-esteem. 

For God created each and everyone of us, we are His children, we are brother and sister to one another.  Like the Psalmist we need to be in constant prayer asking, "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."  Is our need to demean another coming from our own anxieties about who we are deep inside?  Let God in, so we might recognize the full beauty of each person that God has placed in our lives.  Amen

The Caveat in Forgiveness, by Rev Steven R Mitchell, based on Mark 3:20-35

The Caveat in Forgiveness

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United Church, Aurora, CO 6/07/2015

Based on Mark 3:20-35

 

        This past week I had the privilege of attending Dawn Skerritt’s graduation from Iliff.  Seminarian graduations affect me much like weddings do most married couples attending a wedding.  Although a wedding ceremony is a public declaration of commitment between two people, it also serves to remind those who are married of their continued commitment to one another.  While attending the graduation allowed me to wonder down memory lane of my own graduation, it more importantly reminded me of the immense responsibility that comes with professional ministry.  It reminded me once again of the privilege that as a minister I hold within the church community and within the larger community that I live.

        For many years I use to identify myself as more of a Moses type person, leading my people around the wilderness of faith living.  Yet, as a pastor of a congregation, one is more than a Moses, even though we dare not voice it.  The pastor in many ways carries on the position that we read Jesus holding.  Like Jesus, pastors find themselves surrounded with people in need, sometimes being so over whelmed with the needs of others, the pastor can’t find time for himself/herself, or as this morning’s text puts it, “unable to eat in peace.”   Pastors are always being criticized for the way they do things, from the sermon to not doing enough; for bringing visions to the congregation that the congregation does like to the way they dress.  The list goes on and on.

        If that isn’t enough, the pastor often is second guessing him/herself.  Am I a good leader?  Am I teaching sound doctrine?  Did I show enough empathy to the person I just encountered?  Or worse, like in the movie, “Left Behind” will my congregation and I be those “Christians” not taken up in the rapture, because I was teaching a wrong doctrine?  An interesting side note to the Billy Graham picture “The Prodigal”, the church used in that setting representing the liberal, ungodly, soft gospel message, was First Baptist Church of Seattle, where I was a member at one time.  So maybe I do have rightful reasons to question what comes out of my mouth as to sound doctrine or heretical and blasphemous teachings.

        This morning’s story once again shows how the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, were accusing him of blaspheme and of being of the devil.  So great were these accusations that Jesus’ own family came to take him away because they felt that he was putting himself in danger and I suspect jeopardizing their own standing within the community as well.  Jesus is obviously saying and doing things that are upsetting a lot of people.  One of the most blasphemous teachings that Jesus was teaching at that point in his ministry was that “all sins and blasphemies were forgiven.”  “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter;…”  This was scandalous news, for everyone knew that sins could only be forgiven by God and God was only found at the Temple in Jerusalem, and that there was a formula that had to be followed in order to receive this forgiveness.  There had to be a sacrifice offered at the altar of God and words spoken by the priest before you were forgiven.  Who is this man who says, “People will be forgiven their sins and even the blasphemies they speak?”

        This should be of great comfort for ministers, to know that what they speak of wrongly shall be in the end, forgiven.  But then comes the caveat to forgiveness.  Jesus continues to say, “but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness…”  Well, now I’m back in deep water, aren’t I?  One of the most often asked questions of me as a minister comes from this one utterance from Jesus about what is the “unforgivable sin.”  When most people are thinking about the “unforgivable sin”, they are not looking for a forgiveness that will bring inner peace, but rather are thinking in terms of exclusion from heaven.  This is a logical thought process if you think of Jesus’ teachings as a guide book to get into “heaven”, and if you understand “heaven” solely as a place after death.

But if you think of Jesus’ teachings not as a guide book to getting into “heaven”, but rather as a way of living life in the “now”, then what implications does this caveat to forgiveness have?  The state of un-forgiven does mean exclusion.  When you are in a state of un-forgiven with your spouse, ie: being in the dog house, you are out of relationship in some degree.  It is only by being forgiven that you are back in relationship and out of the dog house.  As an example, when I am in the state of being “un-forgiven” with a member of this faith community, there is nothing I can do to alter that state.  The forgiveness has to come from the one who is withholding forgiveness before I can be back into full relationship with that person. 

So, what does it mean to “blaspheme the Holy Spirit?”  There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding on that.  I have had people tell me that when they swear in God’s name, that they have blaspheme the Holy Spirit.  Others say, “you have blasphemed the Holy Spirit when you deny the divinity of Jesus.”  I think to help shed some light or confusion, depending on how you hear what I am about to say, I think we first need to understand how we “image” God.

Language is the best way we have to express our thoughts, but there are images and concepts that have no clear definition, so we use words as ways of creating images of those concepts.  As we try to describe the essence of God, we have developed what we call a “Trinitarian” language describing God.  We say God is “three persons in one”.  We have divided God up to be 1) Creator, 2) savior through the person of Jesus, and 3) the constant companion to the faithful, as the person of Holy Spirit. 

Out of this language to help us image God, we have inadvertently created images of separate beings.  What would happen if we thought less of God in a traditional Trinitarian language and thought of all three of these as being different characteristics of God?  What if God is not three separate beings, but that God’s nature is creating, is salvation (forgiving), and is a constant presence among and within us?

Marcus Borg suggests: the Hebrew word for ‘spirit’ (Ruach) means wind and breath.  Both are invisible yet manifestly real.  We cannot see the wind, though its presence and effects are felt; it moves without being seen.  When it blows, it is all around us.  Breath is like wind inside the body.  For the ancient Hebrews (as for us), it was associated with life.  Metaphorically, God as Spirit is both wind and breath, a nonmaterial reality outside of us and within us.  Our breath is God breathing in us, and God is as near to us as our own breath.  Speaking of God as Spirit, as both wind and breath, evokes both transcendence and nearness. The God We Never Knew, Marcus Borg, pg 72  

I understand Jesus to mean, when he says: non-forgiveness exists when one blasphemes the Holy Spirit, as denying the existence of God in our world.  This means denying God’s vision for God’s creation.  What is this denying of God’s vision?  Jesus spent his ministry battling the evil of scarcity that exists in the form of domination systems that humanity almost always operates under, and spoke of the possibilities of distributive justice on earth, where there is abundance for all creatures.  The blaspheme of the Holy Spirit comes with the perception that God is not in humanity or exists in nature, but that both are commodities to be exploited; as opposed to experiencing God in both nature and humanity and to be valued equally.  Blaspheme of the Holy Spirit is acted out in our attitudes toward how we use our mother earth; it is acted out in how we dishonor diversity of cultures; it is acted out through the aggression of war.  Blaspheme of the Holy Spirit is being out of relationship with God, of denying the possibilities that God has for his creation.  That possibility is called distributive justice and mercy, of living into the possibilities of wholeness (salvation) of heaven on earth in this life.

Our image of God is import as it forms our theology and philosophies of how we approach life.  If we image God as something distant and separate from creation and humanity, then we see ourselves as needing to live by rules to ensure “entrance” into that far off kingdom of God’s.  If we see God as something that breaths within us and within creation, then we will not see rules for entrance, but rather precepts that help in living the here and now.  In the image of God as being the breathe we breath, there existence the reality that all sins, and foolish thoughts and actions are forgiven.  Blaspheme of the Holy Spirit isn’t in using God’s name in vain or denying Jesus as Lord, but in the denial of God’s breath within and among us.  Amen.

Letting God In, by Rev Steven R Mitchell based on John 3:17

Letting God In

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United, Aurora, Co 5/31/2015

Based on John 3:1-17

 

 

            A few months ago, someone left a book on my desk titled, Ecumania, and I thought I would like to start this morning’s reflection by citing  a  couple of stories from its pages. 

1)   At an ecumenical conference, several ministers were talking informally during the morning coffee break.  During a brief lull in the conversation, one of the ministers introduced the hypothetical question: “If Jesus were to visit our town next Sunday, whose church would he attend?” 

A Catholic priest said: “Obviously, he would attend our church.  Its unbroken apostolic succession makes it his authentic church-therefore, the only one he would attend.

A Pentecostal minister said, “You’re mistaken, my friend.  He would attend our church because its spontaneous, enthusiastic expression of Christian faith would genuinely appeal to his warm heart and sincere spirit.”

A Baptist pastor concluded the interchange with the observation: “Of course, he would attend our church.  After all these years, why should he change?”

2)   During WWII, a Catholic priest and a protestant minister were asked to call on a wounded protestant soldier.  The Catholic priest was a rotund, jolly cleric, who was well liked by all.  When they visited the boy, he turned to the priest and said, “Father, I appreciate your visit, but I’m a Protestant.  I hope you won’t try to change my faith.”  The priest smiled at the boy and said, “Son, I don’t want you to change your faith.  I want your faith to change you.”

This last story is very poignant to today’s text of the Pharisee Nicodemus and Jesus’ incounter.  Nicodemus is like many of us who have been raised in the church, in that we have been taught how to look at scripture from a particular way, and yet find that those teachings somehow fall short in fulfilling a deep hunger within our souls.  Nicodemus, knew his bible, he knew all the verses that told him what he needed to do to be “saved”, yet he finds himself coming to Jesus in the night, looking for answers that might fill the hunger.

Nicodemus is a great role model for those of us who do not experience what the Evangelical church calls, “instantaneous conversions” or being “born again.”  Many a follower of Jesus has been raised in the arms of the church and have never had an experience that would qualify for the classification of “being born again”; like that hand popping on the side of the head commercial that says, “Gee, I could have had a V-8” type revelation.  For those of us who were born of church-going parents, many of us experienced infant baptism, then as young adults went through confirmation, and a life time of church schooling and of attending worship, listening to the pastor clarify the mysteries of the scriptures.  Intellectually we are God’s children, but we have not experienced the “emotional” side of being “in” Jesus or what the Pentecostal side of Christianity would say as “Being born of the Spirit.”

Yet in the Gospel of John we read about Nicodemus in three separate instances, each time showing Nicodemus in a deepening commitment to Jesus.  The first time was his visit to Jesus by night.  In the Gospel of John, this is significant, as darkness to John, symbolizes lack of truth [people walked in darkness; the darkness hid from the light].  Nicodemus, even as a religious leader in his community, seemed to not comprehend the truth that Jesus was trying to share with him [how can a grown man go back into his mother’s womb]. Then a second time, we see how Nicodemus’ belief in Jesus had changed so much that he was one of the few who stood by Jesus at the end; defending Jesus during the trial.  Finally, we are told in John 19:39 that Nicodemus helped Joseph of Arimathea with the burial of Jesus.  I would suggest that most of us tend to grow in our faith in the same way Nicodemus grew in his, over time, without fan fare or dramatic epiphanies.

Nicodemus, as a Pharisee, had a very developed understanding of the concept of God as defined by the Hebrew religious community, as well as how the coming Messiah would act. Most of us have a specific image of what God looks like when asked.  Confirmands are often asked as they enter their confirmation studies, “What is God to you?”  The reason for doing this is to get them to start thinking about God in differing ways as an ongoing practice in their Spiritual journeys.

When Jesus told Nicodemus that, “unless someone is born anew, it’s not possible to see God’s kingdom”, Jesus was trying to get Nicodemus out of his comfort zone, of his learned understanding about God, so he could become open enough to “who” Jesus truly was.  Many of us have grown up learning doctrine which tells us what is the right way and wrong way to believe, the right way and the wrong way to live. As we grow older, we start trusting in our old experiences and close the doors to new opportunities; opportunities that have the potential to make us feel alive again; sometimes out of fear of the unknown, sometimes because it just takes too much energy.

This morning’s lection reading has one of the most memorized and most grossly mis-understood and mis-used verses found in scripture, John 3:16-17, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”  One reason for the mis-use comes from a mis-understanding of the concepts of “eternal life” and what it means to be “saved” in the Jewish mindset.  Last week I shared that Salvation in most Christian circles has come to mean, Eternal life. Yet the root word of salvation is, salvus: meaning “whole,” “sound”, “healed,” “safe,” “well,” or “unharmed”. Modern Christianity has thus intermingled the understanding of Salvation with eternal life as meaning life after this present physical existence, sometimes identified as “heaven.”  In his book, Love Wins, Rev Rob Bell points out, “When Jesus used the word ‘heaven’; he was simply referring to God, using the word as a substitute for the name of God. Sometimes when Jesus talked about heaven, he was talking about our present eternal, intense, real experiences of joy, peace, and love in this life, this side of death and the age to come. Eternal life, as used in scripture, 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. Pg 58 Love Wins, by Rob Bell

   Bell continues to say: When the gospel is understood primarily in terms of entrance rather than joyous participation, it can actually serve to cut people off from the explosive, liberating experience of the God who is an endless giving circle of joy and creativity. Life has never been about just “getting in.” It’s about thriving in God’s good world. Pg 179, Love Wins, by Rob Bell

If we have grown to understand and to experience Jesus through what we were taught as children and are not having any new experiences, then we like Nicodemus need to be asking the question, “How can I be born anew?” as a way of opening the door and letting God in, so we too can live in the promise of what Christ gives to us; the promise of eternal life, of being sound, healed, whole within Gods Kin-dom – here and now.  “For God so loved the world, that through Jesus, none should exist as the living dead, like zombies, but have eternal life!”   Life filled with liberating experiences of the God who is an endless giving circle of joy, peace, and love.   Amen