Images of Christ (series), Bread of Life, by Rev Steven R Mitchell

Images of Christ (series)

Bread of Life

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United, Aurora, CO 3-32013

Based on John 6:26-38

 

        This morning’s text picks up the day after Jesus taught and feed dinner to 5,000 people.  As the new day dawns, the crowd was looking for Jesus and discovered that he had gone to the other side of the lake.   “Hey Jesus, why did you go over there?  Why don’t you stay here and give us more?” asks the crowd.  Jesus responds with, “²⁶ you’ve come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs—and for free.” 

        How many of us are always on the lookout for a good bargain?  I know that I have shared with many of you that I rarely pay retail!  It’s a genetic thing with me.  I was raised to always look not for just a “bargain”, but for “value”.  I have been raised to be discriminating in what I purchase, looking at not only the price of a thing, but also place a “value” upon it.  This means that I have to look at what I’m thinking about purchasing from multiple perspectives.  “How useful is this item?” “Is this a onetime use purchase or will I get multiple usages out of it, and if multiple uses, how many times?” “Is the quality matching the asking price or does the asking price need to come down to match the quality of the product?” 

       

These questions are all subjectively based on one’s “system of value.”  I have friends who place a greater value on being the first on their block to possess something, there by willing to pay full retail.  I have other friends who place greater value on utility, and depending upon the need will wait until the product has been on the shelf awhile and then buy once it goes 20% or 30% off retail.  Sometimes the “need” of a product supersedes the basic criteria in determining when one will buy.  For example, you have a tire that blows out while on a road trip.  You need a new tire to continue on, so it doesn’t matter if there is a sale or not on the tire your car requires, you simple pay what you have to in order to continue on.

        I think we use the same approach in our personal lives, often times without realizing that we are basing our actions on a “system of values.”  Upon our first meeting of a person we use our system of values to make the “do we become friends” decision.  Value questions such as: “What can I gain from this friendship? Will this person ‘embarrass me around my other friends?  How much time will this friendship require?  What will this friendship cost me?”  I am not saying that our systems of value are right or wrong, they just are.  It’s a tool for us to function on a day to day basis.

        As Jesus is speaking to those who were looking for him, Jesus is questioning “why” are you following me?  “You are looking for me because you are looking to be feed, but you are looking for the wrong food.”  Jesus is telling them that their “system of value” as to why they are looking for him is not the best basis.  Jesus was saying to them, “you are looking for something that doesn’t last, but I can give you something that will always last, but you have to change your “system of value.”  There are repeated themes in scripture about this, such as Jesus requesting water of a Samaritan woman at a well.  He tells her that the water in this well will leave her thirsty after drinking it.  But if she sees Jesus as the “living water” and drinks of his word, she will never be thirsty again.  Jesus is asking her to change her “system of value.”

        Who or what do you rely on most in everyday life?  Where do you find your fulfillment each day?  Is it from your work?  If so, what is it about your work that sustains you daily?  Or is it the security of a home – a sanctuary from the world that you find at home?  Maybe it’s in the relationships with your family or friends?  These are the questions that Jesus is asking the crowd.  This is the question that Jesus is asking you!  Are these the things that will last for you?  What “system of value” do you live by and is it enough for you?

        Once a month we come to gather around this table that has bread and wine on it.  We call it communion.  We hear the story over and over, “I am the bread of Life”.  “This cup is the cup of life.”  What is Jesus saying to us when he likens himself to bread?  We can read in this story that the crowd has already seen Jesus do miraculous things, yet they are asking him to do another sign that will surely show them that Jesus is of God.  “Moses fed our ancestors with bread in the desert. It says so in the Scriptures: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”  In other words, this group understands Moses being able to sustain physical life while they traveled in the dessert.

        Jesus responds with, “The real significance of that Scripture is not that Moses gave you bread from heaven but that my Father is right now offering you bread from heaven, the real bread. The Bread of God came down out of heaven and is giving life to the world.” “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever.”  Bread is a symbol of the most basic food needed to sustain life.  Jesus is telling us that He is of God, that through the gift of God in Jesus, we can have what we need daily for the rest of our lives.  I think a more modern way of conceptualizing this is in the phrase that we tell every young person.  “You get an education, because whatever you gain in life can be taken away, except your education, your knowledge.”  

In essence, we understand Knowledge as a primary necessity, a thing that will help you get through life daily.  In understanding Jesus as the son of God, Jesus represents the ongoing gift that God gives us, which is love.  This love was demonstrated most graphically by Jesus dying for His message.  This is what this bread on the communion table says to us.  Jesus invites us to “buy into” him and receive and live by God’s “system of value.”   We are asked to adjust our “system of value” to align with the value of God.  Let us search our hearts this morning and re-alien our “system of values” to that of God’s as we come to this table of love.   Amen

Image of Christ (Series) Light of the World, by Rev Steven R Mitchell

Images of Christ (series)

Light of the World

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United Church, Aurora, CO 2-24-2013

Based on John 1-1-5 and John 8: 15-20 and Colossians 1:15

 

        How many of you can recall your first nightmare?  I am talking about that first time that you woke up, screaming in terror?  Or possibly walked into a darkened room and become overtaken with fear with no particular provocation?

        For me, the first time that I can recall being totally terrified by the darkness was at age 5yrs old.  It was in the Fall and the movie “Wizard of Oz” had its premiere on T.V.   My dad insisted that as a family we watch this classic movie from his childhood, assuring us that we would really enjoy it.  What was supposed to be an evening of family entertainment ended up becoming a night of terror for me! 

My mind was so stimulated with the image of the wicked old witch of the West and her flying monkeys, I found it hard to settle into the security of my bed and just fall asleep.  As I laid there in the darkness of my room, I suddenly realized that the wicked witch of the West was hiding in my bedroom closet.  As I screamed in terror mother came in, turning on the light and assured me that this mean old person was not hiding in my closet.  After being shown that indeed there was nothing in my closet other than my cloths, mom turned off the light and went back to bed. 

Within minutes, that crafty old witch was back in my closet, ready to do harm to me.  Once again I screamed out in terror, bringing mom back to my bedroom.  This happened several more times until my father’s patience had worn thin and I was told, “One more outburst, your father would come and do what was necessary to convince me that there was no witch in my closet.  [In reality, I would have rather had an encounter with that wicked old witch than with my dad.]  So once the light went back off and mom had left my room, I convinced myself that the witch no longer was there.  And you know what?  She wasn’t!  She had been replaced by a man waving a gun at me!  Instead of crying out in terror again, I decided it was better to just hide under my covers and hope for the best, because I didn’t want to have to deal with dad.

Darkness in a real sense has a quality about it that can heighten ones fears.  Darkness allows for real or perceived danger.  I recall one back-packing trip in the Cascade Mountains where a companion and I had set up camp.   There was a burn ban in place, so the only light that we had was a small lantern, which was turned off as we retired to our tents for the night.  About five minutes after turning off the lantern, there was a blood-curdling scream from somewhere around the lake.  After that scream, you could hear the sound of feet running alongside the hillside.  Our fear of being in the dark was so great that we broke the law and built a fire in front our tents providing light to ward off any animal predators as well as giving us the security that comes with light.

Those two examples talk about the physical realities between darkness and light.  In scripture we read not only about physical realities that come in darkness and light, but also about theological implications.  Darkness refers to evil or lack of knowledge, where as light speaks about knowledge, safety, goodness.  As we study the variety of “images” that are attributed to Jesus, the writer of the Gospel of John, shows Jesus as “light of the World”.  John begins his Gospel by tying God and Jesus together: John 1:” In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”

John then picks this theme up again in chapter 8 as he writes of Jesus saying, “I am the world’s Light.”  Then Jesus goes on to explain what this “light” means.  “No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.”   Jesus is saying that because of his relationship to God, Jesus is illuminating God.  God is the giver, the creator of all life, so by Jesus being with God prior to creation, Jesus then is a part of the “life” giving entity.  The implication is, Jesus understands God and thereby contains the knowledge of the Divine.

As I was searching through the scriptures dealing with Jesus as the light of the world, I found a very similar understanding from the author of Colossians in the first chapter, starting with verse 15, ^“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him…”  This letter to the church was written 20-30 years prior to the Gospel of John. 

Within these two books we then can see how the early church understood Jesus.  What I found intriguing with the Colossians writing was the very first verse: The Son is the image of the invisible God.  Jesus is understood as the image of God, this is the light that God gave to humankind, this physical reflection of our creator parent.  So, if the church is supposed to be the “image” of Christ, what does that look like for us?  So for me the question is “how does one ‘image’ the invisible?”  How are we to be “the light of the world?” 

We are in the midst of a new awakening, that started back in the 1960’s and then stalled in the 1980’s, but has once again emerged in the late 1990’s.  What do I mean by “an awakening”?  The definition of an awakening is the realization within a culture that what has been working no longer works and a shift is made at a cultural level.  There is a new way of thinking and then of action.  An awakening affects the three basic levels of society, the Political, the Financial, and the Religious.  All are institutions that run on agreed upon rules of behavior.  When these institutions no longer are effective, then the status quote is examined, there is exploration of new possibilities, and then integration of a new order.  We see this today as no confidence in our Government, the implosion of our financial system, and the shrinking numbers of Americans who attend church on a regular basis.

So again, how does one “image” the invisible?  Through Jesus’ ministry, we have a pretty good idea of what God is?  We can learn through the “light” that Jesus brought to his generation that to image the invisible is to care for the needy, to provide a voice for those who have no voice, and to see that every person has the basics needed to live. 

The church has been asking for forty plus years, “Where are the people?”  If we are in this new spiritual awakening, then shouldn’t our churches be filling up instead of becoming empty tombs?  Remember what happens in an awakening?  What isn’t working is dropped, exploration of new ways, and then integration of a new order.  The church over the past 40 years has ceased being the image of the invisible within our social structure.    People are “spiritual” and not “religious” because they have seen the institutional church not reflecting the essence of God. 

You might disagree with me, but how did the average religious institution react to the outbreak of A.I.D.S?  They condemned victims instead of standing by them.  Christians say “we” represent the “light of the world”, yet we are viewed by the general public as having a message of condemnation and hateful actions.  The church is seen as darkness. 

I had the opportunity this week to help a cousin of mine of whom I had not seen since he was about 4 yrs old.  At the request of his mother, I stepped up to the plate to help him.  When she was telling her son who I was and how we were related she shared that I was a minister.  His first response was, “Mom, you know I don’t like to be around ministers.  I don’t like to be preached at and made to feel that I am no good unless I go to church.”  This my friends is how the church is perceived by millions in our country.  To be the light of the world, we need to image the invisible. How does one “image” the invisible?  That is the question.  This is also the challenge, to image ourselves after Jesus, who is the image of the invisible.  “When I was hungry you fed me, when I was naked you clothed me, when I was a stranger you welcomed me…”   Amen

Images of Christ (series), The Branch, Mountain View United Church, Aurora, CO

Images of Christ (series)

The True Vine

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United, Aurora, CO 2-17-2013

Based on John 15:1-8

 

        I don’t know about you, but by the time mid-February arrives, I’m getting very weary of the winter.  I become weary of the brownness, of the cold, of the barren trees.   Although this has been a very dry winter with very little snow, and the temperatures are up and down, over all gardens are still dormant.   On those days when it is in the 20’s, you want to hide inside the house, when the temperatures rise into the 50’s and 60’s, I find that my fingers start to itch to dig into the soil and start preparing the flower beds for this Springs flowers.  I even find myself on these warm days, looking in the flower beds to see if any of the Spring bulbs are starting to break ground with their green shoots.  Then the temperatures once again drop to seasonal averages reminding me that Winter is still with us.

        That’s when attending an annual Home and Garden Show becomes inspiring.  In Seattle, it is just about this time of the year when the annual garden show opens.  I realize here in Denver the exhibitors combine both the home improvement industry with the horticultural industry, making for a smaller floral experience, but none the less, it does allow for those of us the opportunity to experience Spring early. 

I found myself taking a good amount of time sitting on a large stone at one of the exhibits surrounded by tulips, daffodils, Hyacinths, fox gloves, evergreen trees, ornamental cherry trees and many other varieties of flowers.  On two sides of me were pools of water designed as mountain streams with waterfalls.  It was rejuvenating to sit there for awhile, taking in this arrangement of nature, having my senses injected with the beauty that had been designed by a landscape artist.  It was an experience that I didn’t wish to leave.

        The display that I had the privilege to experience was provided by someone with a specific talent.  A person who is able to vision what various plants alongside other plants would look like, then taking a little rock, some water, and a water pump, fashioning it all into a small paradise, where those who stopped long enough to experience this creation would be blessed visually, audibly, and with fragrance.  In essence, the whole body was being fed by this one gardener’s vision and work.

        In this morning’s scripture, Jesus gives us an image of himself as the vine, the part of the plant that comes out of the ground.  It is through the vine that branches and through the branches, leaves appear, that important part of the plant that is needing in order to take the warmth and the light which comes from the sun and turn it into food that will produce the fruit that the vine is designed to give.  The leaves also are designed to take the air that has been polluted and spent of usable oxygen that we breathe and rejuvenates it into fresh, life giving oxygen. 

        The story that Jesus is telling us is a metaphor of how we (the branches) when attached to Jesus (the vine) will produce the fruit that the plant has been designed to produce.  Now, as any gardener knows, a plant left unto itself will grow and produce multiple branches.  This may sound like a good thing, but actually it isn’t.  When a plant has too many branches, the branches become counterproductive, using up needed nutrients needed to produce the best fruit possible.

        When Paul and I moved to our home this past year, we discovered a grapevine along the back fence.  It was obviously neglected with branches going everywhere, growing such that they were all twisted up into one large ball.  Had we left this vine continue to do “its own thing”, it would have continued to produce more branches and growing into a bigger ball, and what grapes that would have developed would not have had enough food from the vine to develop into the best grapes.  So after some studying about how to re-train over grown grape plants, Paul proceeded to prune back the healthy part of the plant and cut away the old dead growth.  By mid-August that once over grown grapevine produced two large bowls of the sweetest grapes that I had eaten in a long time.

        We have the same issue with the two apple trees in our back yard.  They have not been properly cared for and are well over thirty feet tall.  Yes they produced apples this year – a bumper crop actually, but I suspect if we cut back the tree to where it is only about twelve feet high or so, that the apples will actually be larger and easier to harvest.  For you see, we were not able to pick the apples that were in the upper part of the tree.  So much of what the trees were able to produce, went to waste.

        Jesus was telling us, that as the branches, we can only survive by being attached to him.  Yet he alone isn’t the only part of the equation.  He speaks of the gardener that is the one who shapes the vine into what his vision is.  Bearing of fruit also hinges on the work of the Gardener!  God is this gardener.  We are often trying to describe God as a trinity – a three – in – one concept.  I wonder if wouldn’t be better understand the trinity in terms as Jesus is explaining in this story.  God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches.  It takes all three of us to produce the fruit that the gardener is hoping to produce.

        This brings into question then: What is the fruit?  If we look to Matthew 25, Jesus tells us what the Kingdom of God is like, in other words the fruit of God.  In the story of the sheep and the goats, Jesus says, “When I was hungry you feed me, when I was naked you clothed me, while I was in prison you came and visited me, when I was a stranger you invited me in.  And they asked, “when did we see you hunger, as a stranger, in prison, or naked? “ Jesus said, “When you did this to the least of these, you did this to me.”  

        We all are over grown with self-pride, prejudices, short sightedness, greed, grieve, selfishness, just to name a few.  Not just toward others, but with ourselves as well.  Jesus says when we are in his word, we are already clean, but this doesn’t mean that we are not plagued with the pollutants that the world is filled with.  These are the things that God prunes out of our lives.  It is not easy for us, this pruning, but if we wish to grow and provide the fruit that God desires from us, it is a necessary process.

        Jesus says that if we wish to “abide” in him, then we must allow this pruning to take place.  Abide means to “live in”, as the leave lives in the vine, then we too must “live in” Jesus.  To “live in” Jesus, by my understanding means to take the actions and the knowledge of Jesus and store it deep within our hearts. 

        Like the gardener who had the vision to create the garden that I was able to enjoy at the Home and Garden Show, God too, has a vision for us.  For God’s vision to become all that God desires, it takes relationship.  It took a relationship between Jesus and God, it takes a relationship between Jesus and us, and it takes a relationship between God and us.  God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches.  Abide in Jesus and allow the Gardener to shape you!  Amen

Images of Christ (series) The Branch, by Rev Steven R Mitchell

Images of Christ (series)

The Branch

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United, Aurora, CO 2/03/2013

Based on Isaiah 11: 1-5, 10

 

        This past week I had the pleasure of hosting my sister, brother, and mother.  There was a family re-union of sorts, with my mother’s older sister, two of her daughters and a grand-nephew joining us for a dinner in honor of mom’s 80^th birthday.  It was a grand time, as it’s been a couple of years since mom and my aunt had seen one another and many years since mother had seen her two nieces and the grand-nephew.  When my family gathers there is lots of laughter, but when we gather around the dining table the intensity goes up as we regaled one another with family stories of the past.

        It has long been a custom on both sides of my family, that much of the table discussion wasn’t centered on current events but rather the reciting of family history.  Those stories that if not told would over time become forgotten, losing a vital connection between the present and the past.  It was through these stories that I have come to realize that the confidence I posses as I look toward the future comes because I know some of where I come from, through the lives of those who preceded me.

I know that by nature, I tend to have an adventurous spirit because of the examples of my ancestors who crossed the Atlantic Ocean, seeking to plant new roots in a foreign land.  Out of these roots, my ancestors moved to each new frontier as it opened up.  Through diaries of my ancestors I can renew my history, knowing of and in a sense have ongoing re-unions with those that I never had the opportunity to meet.   

Sometimes you may wonder why we as Christians give such value and weight to the Hebrew Scriptures, since we do not refer to ourselves as followers of Abraham, but rather followers of Jesus of Nazareth.  As we read in the Gospels of Mathew and Luke a genealogy of Jesus is given, making us aware of those family connections between Jesus and his ancestors.  Through the Gospel stories we have an understanding of the earliest relationships between a nomadic people and God and how those relationships formed Jesus’ understanding and relationship with God, which gives us some basis on how we struggle to forge our relationship with God work for us in our present lives.

“A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”  This was a description by Isaiah, speaking to the hope that the young Hezekiah who would become king after his father Ahaz might be the righteous Davidic ruler long hoped for.  This did not happen as in time the Hebrew people would be carried off into exile and viewed as a consequence for their lack of faith.  This branch from Jesse would rise to leadership with the blessing of God, as did King Saul and then King David, each being anointed by God. 

We see this anointing or blessing in the Christian Scriptures of Jesus with his baptism by John the Baptizer in the symbol of a dove descending down from Heaven, and then again at the top of a mountain after Jesus visited with Moses, and Elisha.  It is through these stories that the church has grown to understand Jesus as being the “anointed one”, the one that God will use in a covenant commitment, employing actions of righteousness and equity.  Those who will receive the benefit of this “anointed covenant” are the poor and vulnerable, those with no voice to plead their needs.

As followers of Christ, these stories from the Hebrew and Christian scriptures are the diaries of our faith family.  They are history that needs to be read over and over, as a way to ground us and help us understand the basic principles that we base our visions and ministries on.  As the Christian church we too are the “root of Jesse”.  As I am a branch of my ancestors, and you of your families of origin, Mountain View is a branch of three denominations.  Those three denominations are branches of earlier brands of Christians.  All have changed in their original make up with each generation.  Each of the changes has come from the shift in needs of each of those generations.  Each of these new branches takes on a new vision, working toward providing fresh voices of justice and equity. 

We speak about a “God who is still speaking” with the assurance that there is an ongoing relationship with God.  Yet when God speaks to us, often there is a feeling of unsettledness, confusion, and fear.  Confusion because we have to work through the process of discerning what God is saying to us, unsettledness because doing something different is hard, and fear because we don’t know what the outcome will look like.  Questions asked tend to focus on our own personal needs, making it hard to focus in on the greater needs of our community.

When I arrived here last February, wondering what Mountain View was all about, wondering what I could bring to you, and what possibilities we would achieve together, I received a phone call from the pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church in Denver, sharing how God’s spirit was moving within their congregation.  The question was put forward asking if Mountain View might be interested in exploring if there were some common interests that might enable our separate congregations to join in some shared ministries.  Although Calvary is going through a major discernment process as to what God has in store for them and what their ministry might look like in the future, we have been asked to help them in their discernment process. 

I see this as one of a number of ways that God is speaking to Mountain View.  This summer, I initiated a congregational retreat as a way of laying down foundations to start an intentional process of developing leadership within the congregation, preparing ourselves to start our own discernment process of examining how Mountain View understands God’s call.  After three years of the leadership holding the church together until a settled pastor arrived, it is now time for us to start intentional conversations to discern what we think God is asking of us as a congregation.  This means confusion, unsettledness, and fearfulness for a time.

We are, I believe being asked by God to grow a new branch out of the root of Mountain View.  What is this new branch?  Who will be a part of this new branch?  How will the new branch function?  I don’t know.  This is a group process, even though it might seem to be questions focusing on Calvary, it has nothing directly to do with Calvary, but with our own need to understand what we at Mountain View see as God’s calling for us.  Maybe our future might intersect with Calvary or another congregation, maybe it doesn’t, but what I know for sure is this: We must be willing to open our minds and hearts to listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit, if we are to continue to be a branch out of the root of Christ.  In Romans 11: 17-18 Paul says of the church, “and you have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root… Consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.”

We are not lone rangers, living as an island, but are a part of a larger story.  A history that goes back beyond our 40yrs as Mountain View, a history that goes beyond the origins of any of our three parent denominations, a history that goes back beyond Jesus’ ministry.  We are a part of God’s creation, intertwined to all that God created.  This is who we are!  It is a history that guides us in the present toward the future.  A future that we do not know what will look like.  But we can be assured that we will not look the same in the future as we currently are.  We don’t look like what we did last year, three years ago, or even twenty years ago.   If you don’t believe me, just look in the mirror and then look at an old photo of yourself.  We change even when we try not to.

It is scripture that gives us not only the knowledge of where we have come from, but it gives us the assurance that when we listen to the prodding of the Holy Spirit, that we will become a branch that God will honor.  We do not support the root, but the root supports us.  God is our root, we are the branch.  Let us be nourished by the food that comes from our root!  Amen

The Image of Christ (series), Lamb of God, preached at Mountain View United, Aurora, CO

Images of Christ (series)

Lamb of God

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United Church, Aurora 1/27/2013

Based on Isaiah 53:1-10 and Revelation 5:11-13

 

                The Christian church has come to interpreted Isaiah 53 to be a prophecy of the coming Messiah that we know as Jesus of Nazareth.  This morning’s passage gives attributes that we can see in Jesus such as: a person born into a family of little importance, who was arrested, beaten, and killed unjustly.  Jesus himself referred to himself as a shepherd, yet eventually being lead off as a lamb to be slaughtered.  Yet scholars tell us this passage in Isaiah was truly referring not to one specific man, but rather in general of a person who speaks out for the rights of others and against social injustices that are committed by those in positions of responsibilities, yet pervert their positions of trust for their own selfish gains.

        When we think of the overall person of Jesus, he actually was the personification of how the Hebrews viewed themselves as the instrument of God to the world.  As a people, they were considered the underdog, the less powerful.  They were born out of a man named Abram and his wife Sari, promised by God to become a great nation, if they put their faith and trust in this one God.  This new nation found themselves as slaves in the land of Egypt, escaping the powerful hand of Pharaoh through the leadership of a man known as Moses.  Under the leadership of a shepherd boy, David brought together the twelve tribes of the Hebrews, turning them into one nation.  Then once again, this nation found itself in exile and only temporarily enjoying peace before finally being defeated by the Roman Empire.  Even though this tribe of people is not known for its economic or political might in history as other countries are, it is known as the nation who gave us the concept of one Universal God, who is more powerful and more relational than any understanding of deities prior to them.  Our Christian religion is built upon the understandings of this small nomadic people.

        I am struck by the question Isaiah poses in the very first verse, “Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?”  I remember my very first week in Seminary were I first started to be confronted with this question, when introduced to a particular man attending classes.  What made this man fit the question, “Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?” was the fact that this man was in a wheel chair and his body was constricted by Cerebella palsy.  “Truly, how is this man going to be effective as a voice for God?” I thought to myself, “You could hardly understand a word he spoke.  No congregation was going to hire a man who couldn’t speak clearly.”   My thoughts were coming from a lack of understanding of how God can use anyone who is willing to follow the call of God.  This man was eventually going to use his degree, his credentials as a way of giving voice to people who needed his understanding of design for physically challenged people in a way that would prompt legislators to consider future building codes that would force housing to conform to the needs of handicapped people.

        Over the years, I have come to ponder more and more on this question of “Who would have thought God…. “especially from the perspective of the small church?  We most often think of the larger churches who provide the voice that will be heard by those who are entrusted through political positions.  Yet over and over again, what I have observed is that God uses those who seem to have no power, no political pull, no monetary means to persuade.  God uses the Rosa Parks of our society to say, “No, this is not right.” Or patrons from a gay bar in New York City known as Stonewall telling police that, “Enough is enough”, no more harassment would be tolerated.  Or a mother who started M.A.D.D. after the death of her child by a drunken driver.  Jesus was this type of voice, and for it he was arrested, given a trial and used as a scapegoat by the religious leaders of his day. 

        So I often wonder, what is the voice of Mountain View?  Are we satisfied with where we are at or do we want to become more?  Are we a body of faith that people in Aurora will say, “Who would have thought God could use them?”  Every morning I wake up and I ask God this question, “How can Mountain View be a voice for you?”  Yet I get paid to ask this question.  I ask God, “how can I be used to help Mountain View be what God wants us to be?”  If I challenged you to pray every morning asking the question, “Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?” what would our church look like in one year from now?  I wonder what we will have accomplished.

        I was asked to come service this body of faith with the understanding that I would shake things up.  The understanding being that there needs to be some new challenges put forth to help us move in a forward direction.  I have a vision for this body of faith and it is based on the founding principles of this church.  The basic principle that as a collective group of faith filled people, we will be the voice of God to Aurora. 

        What is the voice of God?  It is the simple understanding that all people are the children of God, that justice be equally applied to all people, and that reconciliation be made between humanity, which comes through the reconciling of individuals with God.  Jesus quoted his agenda, his message from Isaiah 61 when he read to the elders of his synagogue, “…the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  God has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a]2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, to comfort all who mourn.”  The injustices that we see today range from poverty issues, immigration issues, cultural differences, economic abuses, non-righted wrongs to Native Americans to name just a few.   We have not only the opportunities as a body of faith but the responsibility to be a voice for God.  I was hired as the person to help lead us to be this voice, but ultimately the responsibility for its effectiveness lies on each members shoulder.    I can lay out the road map, bring to light the issues and struggles, but it is the congregation as a whole who has to accomplish the work.

        In Revelations we read, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”   How do we give praise and honor and glory to God and to the Lamb of God?  King David, when asked by the priests why he didn’t worship God in the manor that was prescribed in the book of worship, David responded with, “If God wanted incense and sacrifice, I would do it, but what God desires of me is my heart!”  Jesus set the examples of challenging those who abuse power and bully those who are not seen as equals.  The best way for us to “worship” and give “praise” to God, is to become the “Who would have thought…” people of God.  I challenge you for one month, as you get up in the morning or as you go to bed at night to ask yourself this question with Mountain View in mind, “Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?” and see if you can start to envision what Mountain View will look like this time next year.  Amen

Images of Christ (series) pt 1, "The Good Shepherd" by Rev Steven R Mitchell, for Mountain View United, Aurora, CO

Images of Christ (series)

The Good Shepherd

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United, Aurora 1-20-2013

Based on John 10:11-18

 

        Today we are embarking on a journey that will look at some of the images of Christ found in scripture.  We often hear or read references to Christ as a care giver such as: good shepherd.  We have images of Christ as being submissive when we refer to him as: the lamb, or as the suffering servant.  Jesus is also compared as a plant when we say; Jesus is the branch, or true vine.  Jesus is a revealer of truth when he is said to be the light of the world.  We give Christ titles like: bridegroom, head of the church, or corner stone.  We honor Christ as life giver when we refer to him as bread of life.  It is my hope that as we learn more about how Christ is described throughout scripture, we will be better able to see the relationship between these descriptions of Christ and our own lives.  And by understanding our relationship with Jesus, be able to become more like these images ourselves.

        I have chosen to begin this series with the image of the Good Shepherd to correspond with the remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr King, in my opinion, is one of the best examples of the Twentieth Century’s good shepherds. 

This has been a week of revelations and of stimulation, both of the mind and more importantly of the heart, for me.  I was able to attend the annual board meeting of the Aurora Inter Church Task Force with Kathy Groth, our churches representative.  I also attended a breakfast, one of many functions going on this week in honor of Dr. King with Wayne Laws, where we heard two riveting speeches addressing disunity and brokenness as it is experienced through racism in this country.  I watched a PBS special that chronicled the Mormon Church’s teachings on sexuality and its involvement in California’s proposition 8, which repealed equal rights and protections given through marriage.  This weekend has provide stimulating conversations with Paul’s daughter and son-in-law as we spoke about the goals and visions of a new church in which they are members of and how changes toward being a religious institution in their former church were so dramatic,  prompting them to leave and join this new fellowship.

So how does Jesus saying, “I am the good shepherd.” relate to these experiences I just spoke of?  How does racism, bigotry, homophobia, and new church starts relate to the concept of “good shepherd?” 

Within this story, we hear how Jesus sees himself and his relationship to those who follow God’s teachings as well as his relationship to God.  We hear Jesus say, “I am the Good Shepherd”.  But what does Jesus mean when he says, “good”?  Is this the same as when we say, “Mary Jo is a good teacher”, or “Mark has good health”, or “I will give you a good amount of money.”  In our understanding of the word good, we most frequently think of “attribute”, “quality or quantity of”, even “morally just or righteous.”  We tend to think of “good” as opposite to “evil”.   Yet a more accurate way of understanding the word “good” as it was used in Jesus’ day would be more likened to our understanding of “Model”.  “I am the Model Shepherd” would be more of how the first century listener would understand. 

It may seem like it’s the same meaning and I am just playing around with semantics, yet there is a subtle difference from an “attribute” to that of “model.”  Jesus is speaking about the relationship and trust that exists between, in this case a shepherd and his flock, or between teacher/prophet, or even parent, student, congregation, or child.  When I was in seminary, my New Testament Professor was Dr Gam Shea.  Dr Shea was from Burma and he modeled for those of us in his classes what it means to be meek, another concept most severely misunderstood in our Western culture. 

Model then can be understood as a “way of life”, the way one reacts automatically.  Jesus says that a “model shepherd” is in such relationship to his flock that he would go so far as to die for them in order to have their life spared.  Jesus’ relationship to the people of God was a reflective model to his relationship with God.  Jesus’ relationship was so deep with God that he often referred to God as his parent.  We read about the intimacy Jesus had with God, by the amount of time he spent in prayer and in his references to God.  The authority in Jesus’ words reflected his relationship with God.

Not only did Jesus speak about his relationship as shepherd for the Hebrews, who saw themselves as God’s chosen people, but he tells them that there are other sheep that are outside of the flock (non-Hebrew) that he will bring in.  This was the offensive part of Jesus’ message. 

We don’t see its offensiveness when we read about it in the context of John, but how many times has the Christian church found it offensive when we have had “model prophets” such as the Dr Rev Martin Luther King, Jr tell us that those with dark skin are equal in the site of God?  It cost Dr King his life, preaching that message.  How welcomed is the message that we still do not look at the Native American with equality?  How offensive is it to many Christians in this country when there are voices that rise up and demand marriage for all people, or that those who are in the LGBTQ community are also fully accepted by God.  The Mormon Church funded proposition 8 with millions of dollars.  I hear Christians argue that basic medical care should not be a right to all people in this country.  And I could go one with multiple examples such as: the death penalty, immigration reform, and housing for the poor.

My question for us is, “Where do we as a community of faith draw boundaries?”  “How big is our pen?”  “What model of shepherd” do we as a congregation live by?  Is the word “political activism” or “social justice” one of our boundaries that we do not wish to cross over?  Yes, we call ourselves an “open and affirming/more light/reconciling” congregation, yet what is the prevailing color of this family?  We have 106 or so members, yet almost a third of those members do not attend any church sponsored function.  Is it because of some type of boundary we have placed before them?

Jesus says that there are wolves that attack the herd.  What are the wolves that attack us?  What are some of the wolves that attack the relationships and trust within our families and between our friendships?  What are some of the wolves that attack us spiritually and work at detouring our spiritual growth?  What are some of the wolves that eat away at the relationships in this church family?

If Jesus were with us this morning he would be asking us to think about our relationship with God.  How open are we to allowing the Holy Spirit space within our hearts, so that we might be more deeply nourished by love, assured that we are not alone, and the sense of peace that comes when we let God take the helm of our lives.

We are starting a series of monthly breakfasts to start educating ourselves on a variety of social issues, as a way of seeing where we as a congregation would most want to focus our energies.  We are in early conversations with another church that is looking for a new partner in ministry.  We have youth that need model adults for learning how to cope with life’s challenges as they grow up.  As a church, we need to seriously understand what Jesus is about, of what he means when he says, “He is the model shepherd”, so that we can work at continuing to be that “model shepherd” for those who we meet. 

I asked at the beginning of this morning’s reflection as to how does: racism, bigotry, homophobia, and new church starts relate to the concept of “good shepherd?  All of these are symptoms of what happens when wolves are attacking God’s people.  Just where are our boundaries and how do we need to widen the circle so that the “model shepherd” can include everyone?  Amen

Being Confronted with Jesus, for Mountain View United, Aurora, CO 1/06/2013

Being Confronted with Jesus

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United, Aurora, CO 1-6-13

 

        I come to you today with some sad news.  For those of you who have been holding out throughout the twelve days of Christmas to receive that one last present – I have to inform you that Christmas officially ended yesterday on January 5^th.   Meaning, if you haven’t received what you were wishing for this Christmas, you will have to wait until next Christmas.

        Since we last met, we have entered into a New Year!  I have been listening to radio and T.V. commentators speak with experts about the tradition of making “resolutions” for the New Year and that only about 42% of those resolutions succeed, as well as what types of behaviors help in keeping those resolutions.  I am curious as to what resolutions some of you have made for this New Year.  It seems the number one key to successfully keeping your resolution comes in having “support” of at least one other person.  The second important key in being successful in keeping that resolution is to take steps prior to the resolution that will help prepare you for achieving your goal.

        Maybe your resolution is in the area of finances and working toward building your savings account.  Or possibly your resolution might be in the area of downsizing and working toward living a more simple life with “less” stuff cluttering up your home or personal life.  One way of achieving these types of goals would be to take some workshops on learning to recognize “consumerism” philosophies as well as re-acquainting yourself to Biblical philosophies, such as the financial freedom classes that we tried to offer this past Fall and will be offered again later this Spring. 

Maybe your resolution is to become more involved in community affairs this year, or become more pro-active in social Gospel issues.  Again, we offer many avenues with a biblical understanding for working in these areas providing guidance, support, and commodore.  Our upcoming monthly pancake breakfast is one of those opportunities to help explore and provide input as to specific social gospel outreaches we as a congregation wish to focus on.  The council has been in discussions about creating a Social Justice Ministry position and asking Wayne Laws to officially join in the leadership as we work in becoming more intent in our Social Justice outreach.  There have been many building blocks being laid this past year in order for us, as a community of believers to start moving our vision of being an open and welcoming community of faith to the larger community of Aurora.

        Even though January 1, marks the beginning of our calendar year, the Christian Calendar year actually began this past Dec 2^nd, which we commonly recognize as the First Sunday of Advent.  So we are actually in the sixth week of the Christian New Year.  During Advent we worked at preparing ourselves for the birth of Jesus, so on the night of his birth, we like the shepherds can come and welcome Jesus into our lives. 

        Today is Epiphany, probably even more important to the world than is the day we celebrate Jesus’ birth.  It is in the story of the Wise men of the East coming to pay homage to this “new king” that we learn about the importance of what Jesus’ ministry is going to be.  As you can see on the communion table this morning, I have taken the baby Jesus out of the normal Nativity set along with the camel and the Wise men.   I have done this specifically as a focal point, allowing you to ponder what this scene means to you specifically. 

Note that these porcelain images are in front and behind them is a plate with bread and a cup with juice, for we cannot separate these two events.  The Eucharist is a symbol of Christ’s ongoing ministry in our world.  This is a symbol of welcome to all, an invitation to partake in the family of God.  It is the reminder that “truth”, “grace”, and “peace” are enemies of the selfish, egocentricism of humanity.  It is a reminder of what the “economy” of God is about and how this “economy” is in conflict with the economy of a separated humanity.

There are multiple subliminal messages found in this Epiphany story. When the angels of God spoke to those shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth, the news of God’s grace was being shared solely within the small community.  The Wise men from the East represent a message that “this king” is going to be seen by the world.  These men of the East were star gazers and gave great meaning to world events by what they observed in the night skies.  Herod represents the world and its interests.  Herod is not only the king, but he is living in Jerusalem which is the center of religion for the Hebrew people.  Jerusalem represents God giving direction to God’s people.

Yet Herod was totally unaware of what was happening outside of Jerusalem.  Even those who were the experts in the book of Torah and other religious writings were unaware of the movement of God, of what was taking place just outside the city.  This has a strong message to the church of today.  Is God moving through the church of the 21^st century or is God moving outside of the church? 

There is a trick that I learned very early in my teens as a young Christian, which is to replace the name of the subject in scripture with my own, thereby making it personal.  In doing this, I now am the one being involved in whatever story I’m studying.  We can do this as a faith community as well.  If we read this story and substitute non-churched people (instead of the Wise men) coming to Mountain View asking “where will they find the gift of God?” How would we react?  How would we react when we understand that these people are not coming to us with the anticipation of finding God here, but thinking that we should be the ones who would know where they could find God? 

You see, many churches could be substituted for both the implications of “Jerusalem” and/or “Herod”.  The “new born king” could easily be substituted for movements that are working for human rights and equal justice for all humans.  Where do we stand when we place ourselves in that light?  In the novel written by a Congregationalist minister over a century ago, this question was posed.  The book, In His Steps, a young pastor of a very affluent congregation asks his congregation to ask themselves this one question before making any decision – large or small, “What would Jesus do?” 

In the story, you follow four different people and how their lives changed because they took up that challenge.  As they continued to ask themselves this question, their hearts grew more into the economy of what Jesus was teaching.  One man who had taken up this challenge ended up losing his job because of his responding in the way he believed Jesus would have responded of exposing corruption and graft in the company he worded for. 

The point that is at hand in this morning’s Epiphany story is “How would we react when we are confronted with Jesus?”  Herod knew that if he welcomed Jesus, his entire world would be turned upside down and he wasn’t willing to give up what he thought was “the good life” for a life that he couldn’t understand Jesus would be offering.

The reality for us today, is that we either embrace the birth of Jesus into their lives, or we react like Herod, refusing to open our heart to the message of God.  We can see where God’s message is being embraced and lived.  We as mainline denominations see that in many cases, Jesus is not within our churches, yet we refuse to open ourselves up and to make the resolutions to adjust our behaviors that block our ability to bring Jesus into our congregational lives.  It’s not that we do not understand about the Jesus of scripture.  For many of us, it is the non-willingness to let go and let God!  The first step in the Big Book (AA) is to recognize that you are not in control and that you must turn your life over to a higher power.  For those of us in the church, God is that higher power.

As we continue in our journey on the road which leads us to the cross, may we be more like the shepherds who embraced the herald of change and like the wise men who want to come and pay homage to the one who truly has the power to change the world.  Amen