Prepare the Way! (Decoded)

9 December 2012

            “My relationship with the Lord has grown cold” she said. “I have to work on that.”

            She wasn’t talking to me. I just couldn’t help but overhear the conversation in the booth directly behind me, no matter how hard I tried not to hear it. I mean, you can’t put your fingers in your ears and hum at Perkins. Not unless you are small enough to order off the children’s menu. That sort of behavior is unbecoming in an adult. Likewise, turning around and joining a conversation with strangers is generally not an option. But if it were, this is what I would like to have said: “How is your relationship with your people? Do you have a warm relationship with the people you see every day? Because we relate to God through other people.”

            I was just reading Malachi (the last book in the Old Testament). In Malachi’s day, people were complaining that God did not seem to care about their troubles. People thought that if they went to the temple and offered the usual sacrifice, if they observed the ritual and the rules, that they out to get something out of it. People were starting to complain. Why are we going to all this trouble if God does not show?

Malachi said to them, if you want God to be faithful to you, then you all should be faithful to your wives. If you want God to be fair, you better treat other people fairly. If you want God to be generous, then be generous to people who are in need. Simple really. Simple to understand; it’s the doing that’s difficult.

            This is the Sunday—the second Sunday in Advent-- when we sing about preparing a way in the wilderness. In the metaphorical language of the church, during Advent we prepare a way for Jesus to enter into our hearts. That is poetic language; it’s beautiful. It is also meaningless, unless by “Jesus” we mean people. We open our hearts to other people by getting to know them, so that their joys become our joys, and their cares become our cares.

But that too is meaningless, unless by “opening our hearts” we mean not just being mindful of the miseries of others, but doing whatever we can to relieve the miseries of others, working as hard to relieve their miseries as we work to relieve our own. If faith is just a feeling, what earthly good is that? What difference in the world does it make for us to feel all warm and Jesus-y in our hearts?

            The prophets speak of a change of heart but they don’t stop there. Words of glad tidings are empty if they are not followed by deeds. This is how the Prince of Peace comes into the world, to save the world: First the Godly one is born into our hearts, then our minds, then our bodies. This is how we become drenched in Godliness, this is how the holy works through us. Feel it. Think it. And go and do. This is the good news. Thanks be to God. Amen.

The Tree in Winter

2 December 2012

In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David;

 and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. --Jeremiah 33:15

            To me, there is nothing sadder than the sight of bare naked trees in winter. Trees that have dropped all their leaves—they look so cold, and so vulnerable. In a deciduous forest in winter you cannot tell the living from the dead. All the trees look lifeless, unless you know what to look for, unless you know how to read the signs. If you look closely, you can see the buds, even in midwinter. The buds signify life. The buds are the difference between dormancy and death. The tree is only sleeping.

            This is Advent: it is a walk in a winter wood, looking for signs of life.

            As I mentioned in our weekly newsletter, I was talking with a group of colleagues a week or two ago about the perceived “problem” of Advent. Many ministers feel pressured to skip Advent and go straight to Christmas. I remember a pastor of my childhood reporting a conversation with the “Altar Guild” (a fancy name for the women who took charge of polishing the brass candlesticks and arranging for floral deliveries). One of the ladies complained that the purple candles on the Advent wreath clashed with the red and green. Reverend Ullman patiently explained that purple was the color of the season of Advent. Red and green have no liturgical significance. Purple is the imperial color, the color of kings. Purple is passionate, and so the church has designated purple as the appropriate color for Advent. So don’t blame the purple for clashing with the red and green, blame the red and green for clashing with the purple. And that’s the story of how Rev. Ullman stood up to the Altar Guild. He didn’t stay long after that.

I suppose it is tempting to accommodate the commercial calendar. They are playing carols at the mall, so why not sing them at church? Isn't all this Advent drama just a pretense anyway? We know what's coming on December 24-- Christmas Eve, the birth of Jesus, Angels and shepherds and wise men and fa-la-la-la-la. Why pretend to wait for what we have already received?

Actually, I think the church plays it false when we pretend that Christmas is complete, in and of itself, that the baby king is the Kingdom, that God's salvation has arrived and all is resolved. The truth is, we abide in Advent. Advent is where we live-- somewhere between the announcement and the arrival of the peace of Christ, the realm of God.

Advent is a season of waiting. Waiting in darkness for the lights to come on. Waiting in hunger for breakfast to be served. Waiting in prison for release to be announced. Waiting in debt for forgiveness. Waiting on the battlefield for peace and return.

What are you waiting for? Does it make a difference, hearing that you do not wait alone? How does it feel to know that all the earth is waiting? Why would anyone want to cheat Advent? Advent is as real as life gets.

Even if you can think of nothing for which you are waiting, I invite you to abide in advent. Linger a while. Keep company with those who are waiting for salvation, forgiveness, peace. Our salvation is near. The bare trees, representative of dormant dreams, these trees are budding. Cut a branch, and put it in water. You will see your hope spring forth.

This is the Joyful Feast

November 4, 2012

All Saints Day/Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead

Isaiah 25:6-9

            What is your comfort food? Every culture has comfort food, soul food. It’s the food that reminds us of good times and good people, food that smells like love. Maybe your trigger is the smell of chicken fat sizzling in a pan, or the lovely mouth-feel of banana pudding. Mac and cheese. Peanut butter on toast. Popcorn. Certain meals evoke memories of people and places and times gone by. Certain food has the power to remind us who we are, where we came from, and where we should be going.

            We are a faith founded on a meal of bread and wine, which is the ultimate comfort food. Of course we do not worship food itself, but the bread and wine reminds us who we are, where we came from, and where we should be going. This meal holds the meaning, it is so much more than bread and wine. It holds sacred memory. The container looks small, but it’s bigger on the inside. It goes deep down, far back into our sacred memory of bread from heaven, bread in the wilderness. It goes back to feast days and fast days, memories of scarcity and abundance.

If we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us, every day, then we are reminded every day that our daily bread is given by God. God feeds us.

The image of the God who feeds us is one of my favorite images of God, and another is the image of the God who tenderly wipes away every tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:3-4). Death shall be no more. Mourning and crying and pain will be no more. John of Patmos who received the Revelation was remembering the prophet Isaiah's promise to the people in exile. Isaiah was imagining God calling the people home to Jerusalem, to Mount Zion, where a feast was prepared for them-- "a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear." On the holy mountain of the Lord, God will swallow up death forever. "Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces."

One day in Jerusalem, Jesus shared the feast of Passover with his disciples. The feast was already a reminder of God’s power to save. What is the meaning of Passover? This feast is to make us feel as if we personally had come out of Egypt, as if we personally had been rescued from death and redeemed from slavery. The unleavened bread, the bread of people in a hurry. The cup of salvation, the cup that anticipates God’s return, to restore God’s reign of justice and righteousness. The meal already had meaning. Jesus added another layer of meaning when he said, this is my body, broken for you. This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood.

After Jesus died, the disciples scattered. They forgot the promises of God. They forgot that Jesus had told them that he was going to suffer and die, and rise again. They forgot, until they sat down at table with a stranger, who took bread and blessed it and broke it, and then they remembered. Their eyes were opened and they realized-- this feast means that death is swallowed up forever.

This feast is the Passover, this feast is the return from exile. This is the joyful feast of the people of God.

This Holy Communion is the Feast of Paradise. We share this feast with the dead as well as the living. The great cloud of witnesses gathers around the table, and the shroud is lifted-- that which separates the living from the dead is lifted. Death is swallowed up forever. We all feast in paradise together. Come and join the feast!

Treasured Service

21 October 2012

Mark 10:35-45

            The front page of Thursday’s Brainerd Dispatch announced that Gary Walters is Brainerd's Outstanding Citizen of the Year. If you don't know the name, you probably know the stunts: this is the guy who camped out at the top of the old landmark water tower to raise money (and mentors) for Kinship Partners. Every year he picks a new outrageous adventure to draw attention to Kinship partners, like swimming across Lake Mille Lacs, walking the length of Minnesota, or cycling the Mississippi River Road to New Orleans. But his response to the award: "Walters said he gets so much more out of life by doing the adventures for Kinship Partners. He said youths and Kinship are not the only ones who benefit."

            Doesn’t the Citizen of the Year, the Volunteer of the Month, or the Human Rights Award honoree always say something like that? That is what service teaches us.

            Jesus said, "Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be a slave of all." (Mark 10:43-44) He said this to all his disciples, according to the story, and of course, that includes us.

            Jesus had just told his disciples, for the third time, what was going to happen when they reached their destination. They were on the road to Jerusalem. We know what’s coming, we have heard the rest of the story, we know what will happen to Jesus in Jerusalem. Those who were following Jesus had some idea, he had told them twice before what awaits him in Jerusalem.

See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.

But you know how it is when you hear bad news, especially about someone you love. Surely not. No, couldn’t be. There will be a reprieve, surely, some miracle. James and John seem to have focused on only the last part of the message, the part about rising. And they asked Jesus if they could be right there with him when that rising part happens, when Jesus comes into his glory. And the other disciples heard about what James and John had done they were angry, perhaps because they didn’t think of it first. They were angry, maybe because they were afraid there wouldn’t be enough glory to go around. But God always provides more than enough glory to go around, and always enough serving to do. "Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be a slave of all."

            We have been thinking, all this month, about how we treasure our church. Often times we think of what we treasure in terms of what we get: fabulous pot luck suppers, the overwhelming support of the congregation in times of crisis, the awe-inspiring beauty of candlelight on Christmas Eve.

But  Brainerd’s Citizen of the Year reminds us that the most valuable treasures are the opportunities to serve others. Because we really to get more than we give. We give time and effort, but we get to be servants, like Jesus. We get to be like Jesus when we serve.

We have this treasure in our church. It is the treasured opportunity to serve meals at the Sharing Bread Soup Kitchen. It is the treasured opportunity to make life a little bit better for a stranger. It is the opportunity to read stories to a very young guest when we host the Interfaith Hospitality Network in our Rainbow Center and Fellowship Hall. It is the opportunity to drive to Pine Ridge, to insulate a home against the cold winds of a Northern Plains winter and the scorching heat of a South Dakota summer.

As you continue to think about this treasure we have, think about our treasured opportunities for service.

Too Much Baggage for the Journey

14 October 2012

Mark 10:17-31

            Who is wealthy? There is so much talk today-- all seams aimed at dividing us-- the 99%, the 1%, the 47%. My friend, Bryan Sirchio, a UCC minister & musician goes to Haiti regularly, to do what he can to help the poor, and gain some perspective. He tells a story of how “the poor” helped him. He was working with the Sisters of Charity in Port-au-Prince, doing whatever needed to be done, which was on this particular day, cutting hair. Bryan was no barber but he had been to one and knew that part of the job is the chatter. He got to talking with this man from Port-au-Prince, about the rich and the poor, and Bryan asked the man, “Do you think I’m rich?”

The man said, “I don’t know. How many times a week do you eat?”

Bryan was sure he had heard wrong. Sensing his confusion the man continued, “I mean, to you eat food every day? If you eat food every day, you are rich.”

            So I invite you to approach this text not as one of the 99%, but as one who eats food every day and therefore, is rich. Because it is too easy to approach this text in a judgmental way, if we think it is not about us. It is about us.

            Having placed ourselves firmly in the story as the rich young person, I want us all to consider this important detail: Jesus loved that rich young man. Not because he was rich, not because he was “good” (No one is good but God alone). Jesus just loved that rich young man. And Jesus loves you. All.

            The rich young man came and knelt at Jesus feet to ask “What must I do?” And Jesus responded by reminding him of the commandments:

            You shall not murder;

You shall not commit adultery;

You shall not steal;

You shall not bear false witness;

You shall not defraud;

Honor your father and mother.

These are six of the Ten Commandments. These make up the second tablet of the law, which Jesus, elsewhere, summed up in one: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Perhaps Jesus was about to list the four remaining commandments, when the man interrupted him and said, “I have kept all these since my youth!”

Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said: “You lack one thing: sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

You lack one thing. Even if we have managed to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, keeping the whole second tablet of the law, there is also the first tablet, the first four of Ten Commandments:

You shall have no other gods.

You shall make no graven image

You shall not take God’s name in vain.

Honor the Sabbath.

Elsewhere in the gospel, Jesus summarized this tablet also: Love God, with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.

Our relationship with wealth is one of the greatest threats to our relationship with God, because it is the idol most likely to replace God as the object of our love, the desire of our hearts, the preoccupation of our mind, for which we spend our strength. The pursuit of wealth threatens our souls.

So it is with love that Jesus challenged the man to let go of his idol, and trust in God alone.

This is the season of the year when the stewardship committee invites us all to make a commitment to give to the church. We often think that we need to give because we owe the church our support. As if it is an exchange for services rendered. That is one way to look at it, I appreciate that, I sincerely do. But it doesn’t work for me. I give for a different reason. I give because giving away the idol that most tempts me is a way to profane that idol. I give away money to renounce the money’s claim on my life.

The truth is, we all need to give, because giving away that which threatens to displace God is itself and act of faith, a spiritual discipline. We need to give just as much as we need to pray, and study the scriptures, and worship and sing together. The act of giving is itself a prayer and a song, an act of devotion.

Jesus calls to us all: come to me, you weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Wealth might be one of those burdens.

            The journey is long, and the way is hard. It is best to leave the baggage behind. Our relationship with wealth is hefty baggage. The rich young man knew that much-- or at least, he knew something wasn’t right. That’s why he knelt at Jesus feet, taking the posture of one who begs for healing. Wealth was burden, Jesus said he needed to lay it down.

May we to have the wisdom to kneel down and allow Jesus to lift every burden, that we might take up the cross and follow him on the journey.

Wisdom-Watching

23 September 2012

Proverbs 31:10-31; James 3:13-4:3; Mark 9:30-37

            We have known it was coming for quite some time. We can feel it, like a steady change in altitude that we can feel in our ears. I find, that like Pavlov’s dogs salivating at the sound of the bell, I have been conditioned to dread the approach of November elections. It is the season of bitter squabbles on television and radio, billboards and web sidebars. I reflexively start my engine and tune into NPR, and suddenly I feel like I’m trapped in the car with quarrelsome children… except they are not children, they are petulant adults, each one trying to convince me that the other is stupid. Not just stupid, but dangerously stupid enough to be thrown out of the car.

            The democratic ideal is that the people rule. We the people, if we are to rule, we must be engaged in a process of discernment, make reasoned decisions, and cast responsible votes. Who among us is wise? Which candidates have the wisdom to lead us?

            It is a tremendous responsibility, which I believe most people take seriously. Some of us take it so seriously we become sick with anxiety. How do we prove ourselves faithful citizens without going mad, in this season of madness?

            Sometimes I think the best thing to do is turn off the radio. Turn off the TV. Stop reading the blogs, columns, or letters that we know will just whip us into a frothy anger. That anger, that anxiety, that stress is not helping us make reasoned decisions.

            Instead, we should use that time to meditate. I am serious! Try this. It is a prescription for your spiritual health from your spirit-doctor: take 10 minutes that you would ordinarily spend watching the morning news program, and meditate on this final chapter of Proverbs. Do the same at night. Ten minutes in the morning, ten minutes before you sleep. From now until election day, give it at least that. Because this passage tells us what wisdom looks like, it may just help us to discern who among us is wise.

            Wisdom opens her hands to the poor, and reaches out to the needy.

            Wisdom prepares employment for her servants, but also labors alongside them. Wisdom is not too proud to take on the task of the servant.

            Wisdom is a house-holder, which in Greek is the same word for economist. Wisdom is an economist who provides food, clothing, and shelter for all her household, not just herself, not just her husband, not just her children. Wisdom provides for everyone, the whole economy.

            The capable woman is the personification of wisdom. Imagine a world run by capable women. Some of them might even be men. In most of the Scriptures, we women, we have imagine ourselves as generic men. All that “mankind,” man this and man that, him, his. Well fellas, the table is turned in this one scripture, and you get to imagine yourselves as generic women. Now do you understand all the fuss about inclusive language? Do you get it? Imagine the world run by capable women, generically speaking--- a world run by people who are the embodiment of wisdom.

            If proverbs doesn’t provide enough material for your meditation, turn to James. We know all too well that every candidate claims to be wise. But oftentimes they are simply clever. Knowing. Shrewd. Confounding. Manipulative. That is not what James would call “wisdom from above.” Look to see who is gentle. Merciful. Willing to yield. Who is a peacemaker.

            Finally, look to the gospel. The simplest test of all: The one who would be first of all must be a servant of all. Jesus placed a child in the midst of them. See this picture on the bulletin cover of this beautiful child? That is a child who has just come out of the tub! No dirt, no scabs, no nose ickies— any of us intimately familiar with parenthood know that this picture is not an entirely honest depiction of this child. Your typical child looks like that for about 5 minutes after bath time. Then he or she is back to their normally runny-nosed self. The child Jesus picked up probably looked like any child who spent the day outdoors without adult supervision. The one who welcomes that child-- the orphaned, naked, street urchin--  that is the one who is worthy to be our first among all.

            May God bless these days of discernment. May God grant us wisdom, and courage, and may God grant us peace. Amen.

Consider the Cat

30 September 2012

On the occasion of “Bless the Beasts” Sunday

Outdoor Worship in Gregory Park 

            Today we take a break from the routine of worship in our church sanctuary to come outside to God’s sanctuary, of which every church sanctuary is an incomplete copy. Today the sky is our ceiling and the pines are our pillars and the maples our stained glass. Thank God!

            Remember that we used to live a lot closer to the earth. Not you and me personally of course, but our ancestors, many generations removed, rested each night on the bosom of the earth itself. We used to live much closer to our fellow creatures of the earth as well, keeping our domesticated animals close to us and keeping the predators as far away as possible.

            Living so close together, cheek by jowl, perhaps it was clearer to us then that we are dependent on one another. Our dogs kept  us warm and alerted us to danger, and we kept them warm and shared our food with them. With the help of our dogs we watched our cattle and kept them safe, led them to pasture and water, and they in turn fed us and clothed us. It was clear to us that we were dependent on one another, that our welfare and the animals’ welfare were intertwined.

            Today we remember and give thanks to God for our co-creatures. We remember that we were made for each other. We remember that our welfare and our fate is intertwined. May we always be mindful that God has made a covenant not just with us, but with every living thing.

            There is yet more light and truth to break forth from the earth and all that dwell therein. Jesus gives us a clue: the abundant life on this earth is not just for food and clothing, but for beauty and delight. Our relationship with each other is not strictly utilitarian. All living things have something to offer, even the lilies of the field, even the cat.

            The cat is one creature you won’t see mentioned in the Bible, but we can learn from them nevertheless. If you want to know peace, contemplate your domestic cat. Look at her, lounging in the pool of sunlight. She know how to appreciate the moment. Or find her in your closet, sleeping on your softest sweater, or in the linen cupboard, graciously furring up the towels for you. That cat knows when and where to get some alone time.

Note how the feline head is the perfect size and shape, a match for the human hand; and how she fits in the hollow of your lap. What other reason could God have for creating the cat, than to be our comfort and blessing?

Thank God and give praise for all creatures great and small! Amen.

Link to more photos here.