Preaching Sister

Monday, December 1, 2008

Mark 13:24-37

Preaching at Christmas is kind of odd because we always tell the same stories. I struggle because I like to say thing that are novel and interesting and it’s hard to do that when there’s only 4 or 5 stories and they’ve been told millions of times. There’s the annunciation—Gabriel telling Mary she will have a baby. The angel telling Joseph the same thing. Mary’s trip to see Elizabeth. The walk to Bethlehem for the census. The struggle to find a room at the inn, and the birth of Jesus.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re good stories, but you can only add so much that is new and different from last time. As a preacher it’s sort of daunting. You must have heard these stories 100s of times and I’m supposed to say something new? Every year I have this same struggle, and every year, I come back to the same answer—keep it simple, the story speaks for itself. I don’t need to say anything radically new, because God’s profound love for the world is still a radical idea. It may have been preaching a billion times, but there are still people who haven’t heard the story, or who don’t really understand it. The story simply needs to be told and retold and it will speak for itself.

I mean, when you think about it, there’s something special about a really good story that allows it to be told again and again, even if it’s nothing new. My dad went to Boot Camp for the National Guard under Nixon. He has lots of stories to tell and we beg him to share them again and again. He’s reluctant to keep repeating them because we’ve already heard them, but we love them and we insist. He has one about the day he arrived that is a particular favorite.

All the guys showed up to camp in big trucks. They got off and waited for their names to be called. The sergeant called their names and their assignment so they could group up. At one point, he called out, “Mungomerry Larry”. No one moved. “Mungomerry Larry.” Still nothing. So he moved on, “Smith, Christopher.” “Allen, Marvin,” on and on, and then again, “Mungomerry Larry”. Still no one. Finally, all the guys but one had been called and had their stuff. As my dad tells it, you did not want to be “the one guy” in any situation at boot camp. So, this poor guy was standing there probably mortified and the sergeant walked up to him and said, “What’s your name?” “Larry Montgomery, Sir.” “That’s what I’ve been saying, “Mungomerry, Larry.” I’m not sure why I love that story so much, but I do and I could hear my dad tell it 1000 times and it wouldn’t get old.

I think the Christmas stories are like that—we can hear them 1000 times and they don’t get old. There’s something incredible about God choosing a young teenage women, waiting to be married, to carry the Son of God in her womb. Not a queen. Not a duchess. Not someone rich and powerful, but someone meek, poor, and lowly. She was God’s choice. Something about God choosing such a woman, gives me hope, should give us all hope, that God can choose us to act, despite our flaws, despite our inexperience, despite our status. God can choose you. God could entrust you to care for, nurse, teach, and rear God’s own self. That’s a story worth retelling.

God came into the world out of love to save us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whomsoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” God didn’t come out of anger. God didn’t come to smite us. God didn’t come to castigate and punish us. God came to save us. God came because God loves us. And that’s a truth worth retelling.

For many of us we’ve heard the stories already. We know Jesus was born already. We’ve accepted Jesus and asked that we be born of the spirit already. We are familiar with Christmas and we know Jesus. We know that God has redeemed the world through Jesus already. He already died on the cross. He already rose again. He already offered us eternal life. All of this has happened already.

For many of us, we’ve begun a life with Christ already, but for some of us, it’s yet to happen. There are many who do not yet know Jesus or the hope he offers, or what it feels like to be from the shackles of guilt and shame, anger and revenge. There are those who are still waiting. There are many who struggle under the weight of darkness, who don’t yet know the light of Christ. For them, though Christmas time comes and goes each year, they haven’t yet experienced Christmas. They haven’t experienced the Incarnation—God in the flesh. For them, Christmas has not yet come. It’s not yet real. It may be imagined, but it hasn’t been lived.

There are those this season who live with expectancy for the return of hope, light, joy, and peace. Those who have lived it time and again and are anxious to relive the memories. And others who have only heard about it. They know about it—they have head knowledge, but they don’t really get it--they don’t have heart knowledge.

Today I want to offer an invitation to have heart knowledge. If you haven’t asked Jesus to live in your heart, to be Lord of your life, to forgive your sins, to free you from the guilt or shame of your past, I want you to have that opportunity today. There may be others of you who have experienced Christ’s love, but you feel distanced from it. I want you to have the opportunity to get close to the feet of Jesus and be reminded of what it feels like.

Now, I have to be honest, I don’t know how God does what God does. I don’t know how it is we feel freedom, joy, and peace because of Christ. But I do know that it’s possible. I can’t tell you how, but I can tell you I’ve experienced it—in the darkest moments of my life, God has shined light and has filled me with hope.

I may not be able to tell you how it happens, but I can tell you why—BECAUSE GOD LOVES YOU!!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whomsoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

God came to the world in the person of Jesus out of love---not out of anger, not out of frustration, not out of disgust for what we were doing, but out of love. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. God wants you to receive that love so you can have everlasting life. And not just everlasting life in the sense of some prize we get when we’re dead and we just have to suffer until we get there, but eternal life that offers eternal hope today, eternal life that allows us the chance to become someone better here, eternal life that has the power to reconcile and mend our broken relationship now, eternal life that heals our wounds—physically and emotionally in the present, so that we might fully know the love of God. That’s the life God wants you to have—one filled with hope.

If you want to experience that hope, if you want to really know and understand Christmas this year and God’s gift to you, if you want to experience Christmas as something more than credit card bills, house-cleaning, a matted mess of lights, and trying times with in-laws, then I invite you to come to the altar and pray with me now. If you want to know Christmas as a life-giving event that fills you with hope, frees you from past guilt and shame, and changes your life in ways that are equally inexplicable and amazing, then I invite you to come to the altar and pray with me now. If you’ve lost sight of Christmas and want to be re-focused on God and the hope we have through Jesus Christ, then I want you to come and pray with me at the altar now.

I may not be able to tell you how it happens, but I can tell you why—BECAUSE GOD LOVES YOU!!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whomsoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Sermon for ordination application

Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak and taught them saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

I’ve struggled with the beatitudes for a long time. I’ve never really liked them, actually, because I’ve always heard them in a negative light. They’ve sounded like an endorsement of suffering and for me that was illogical in light of who God is. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the hungry, the bereaved. Blessed? That doesn’t make sense. I wouldn’t consider those blessings. When I mourn or hunger or am in a spiritual desert, my first thought is not: “Boy! Look how God has blessed me!” Those are the times I pray God would bless me. I pray for something different, not for suffering.

To state it simply: the beatitudes aggravate me!

The beatitudes have always seemed to promote oppression and push for complacency about undesirable things. If the poor are blessed, then they should want to stay poor, and the rich should want to be poor. If the hungry are blessed, then we have no need to give them food. The beatitudes seem to subjugate the weak and free the strong from any responsibility in making a difference. I’m not ok with that. That’s not the Gospel I know. That’s not the freedom and equality I’ve heard Jesus preach.

So, as you can imagine, the thought of preaching them didn’t exactly thrill me. I’ve never heard this as a Gospel text of hope. But, as is often the case, as I dug into the passage—I was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong. As I studied and read, I realized the beatitudes don’t promote oppression

Now there’s a quirky thing about the Beatitudes. While I’ve learned they aren’t advocating oppression, as I’ve read into them, I’ve seen that those who live the beatitudes may be oppressed by society. To understand why, first we need a little background. Jesus’ culture was one of honor and shame. Everyone wanted honor and no one wanted shame. People fought for honor, and were cut off if they brought shame to their family. Your level of honor was an expression of worth. The more honor people showed you, the more important you were. Keeping honor was about maintaining, or improving status.

Honor/shame culture leads to a type of one for one. You hit me, I hit you back. Hitting back evens the score. An eye for an eye. Tooth for a tooth. “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” If you did not respond in kind, you lost honor and brought shame upon yourself and your family. For offenses greater than a slap in the face, there were harsher consequences. The thief lost his hand. The adulteress was stoned. These were the norms and rules of the culture. Promote honor and shun shame.

And then Jesus came along and taught something radically different. Jesus said, “You hit me, I turn the other cheek.” You throw the first stone only if you are without sin. You forgive as you are forgiven. All of these notions were new and unthinkable in Jesus’ day. The Gospel responses didn’t restore honor, in some cases they even brought about more shame.

We may have heard these phrases and teachings 1000 times, but they were novel in Jesus’ day. We may be tempted to think that hearing them 1000 times means we actually live them, but don’t be so sure! How many times have we heard “Don’t get mad, get even”? Or returned in kind when somebody upset us? You leave the dishes in the sink? Fine. I won’t do the laundry. You were late for dinner with the Smith’s last week? I’ll just doddle a bit before we head out to the baseball game. Or the notorious cries from fighting children…. “She hit me first!!” “He started it!” They claim innocence since they didn’t instigate the fight, they only responded in kind. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. After all, it was only fair.

So what does honor/shame culture have to do with the beatitudes? Well, the blessings in the beatitudes are not those that would have brought honor. These virtues and values Jesus blesses didn’t fit with what people expected. It’d be like a football coach rallying the team before the big game with phrases like “Don’t hit ‘em hard, we don’t want anyone to get hurt. If they call a penalty against the other team we’re not going to take it. Guys, just play a nice slow easy game today and I’ll be proud of you.” Every player in the room would be dumbstruck and confused. “Is he kidding?” “Is he okay?” “He’s not serious, right?” “We can’t win like that.”

In a culture that promotes courage, strength, honor and pride, Jesus’ words cause a similar type of confusion. “Wait…what’d he say? He’s kidding, right? Blessed are the merciful? The meek? The pure in heart? No one’s going to respect us for that?! They’re going to think we’re a bunch of pansies.” God may bless the peacemakers and the poor in spirit, but the rest of us aren’t so sure.

Do you remember looking at Psalm 1—the righteous are like trees planted by the river? The righteous were those with their hand on their heart, aware that they are needy and dependent on God. Does that ring a bell? Those are the poor in spirit—the ones who recognize they need God.[1] Poverty of spirit is about our human brokenness—and when we recognize how poor we are—we need to seek God—just like the righteous planted by the river. But for many of us we didn’t want to be needy and dependent. Right? We raised our hands of independence and self-reliance high. We’re proud of our accomplishments and self-sufficiency. We too struggle to understand why God blesses the needy ones, it was independence we were supposed to achieve, wasn’t it? Not in God’s book. Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”—blessed are the needy ones.

The merciful weren’t honored and beloved either. The merciful were “tenderhearted and loved all [people] as themselves”.[2] We may think that’s all well and good, but the people of the day didn’t want to love all people. They didn’t want to be associated with the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the sinners. Sound familiar? Jesus broke the box here too. He was criticized for loving those who weren’t “worthy”. And, like I said, we may think that’s all well and good, but we all fall victim to this. It’s fine to be inclusive and loving and warm, unless it’s to “those illegals”, or “that whore”, or “that pervert”. We steer clear of skateboarders and gang members. We still create in-groups and out-groups and we still criticize those who “don’t get it” –those who insist on bringing “them” near to us. We liked the idea of the merciful, but not when the practice imposes on us.

We also like the idea of the peacemakers. We want peace. In theory anyway. I know I sound a little cynical here, but you’ve heard of “the bleeding hearts,” right? Those crazy do-gooders who think we should help every bum, crook, and thief? They’re just the spineless liberals who take up every cause as their own…Yeah, blessed are the peacemakers—they don’t have any standards or require discipline and they’re left penniless because they give it all away to help others.

Do you see how the beatitudes weren’t so agreeable? They challenge us, and we often resist those who live them fully. It’s not that God dis-honors these kingdom followers. It’s that we do. We like the sound of God’s kingdom—lions and lambs, peace and justice, love and happiness. I mean, who doesn’t want that?! But practically, culture still has different values than the Gospel. Culture promotes achievement, status, courage, honor, and clear separation of the “good” from the “bad”, the right and the wrong. On the other hand, the Gospel begs for peace, compassion, forgiveness, humility and second chances. There’s regularly a rub between these two. Cultural notions of independence and self-reliance stand against biblical notions of dependence on God and others. There’s a tension here and, as Christians, we choose to live in it.

Living by Christ’s rules remains essential if we want to live in God’s kingdom—living compassion, mercy, humility, and peace is the way we see glimpses of the kingdom here and now. And you should know that while the blessings for a life that follows the Beatitudes are countless and priceless, such a life still stands in stark contrast to what’s expected and desired by others around us. There’s a reason the Beatitudes end with: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (verse 11).

Living the life that God has called us to is not always popular. Loving our enemies is no easy feat. Including those who are felons is uncomfortable. Sharing a meal with those who are loud and obnoxious is trying. Forgiving the unforgivable is almost impossible. Living the Gospel is tough. But, despite the rejection or the scorn of others, God blesses those who live for peace and thirst for holiness, those who empathize and love all persons regardless of their background, their language, their sexuality, their habits, or their vices, and those who risk living a life radically different from the culture around us. Living for the kingdom comes at a cost. It may cost us our reputation. It may cost us our pride. But the reward far outweighs the cost—the reward is God’s blessings. The reward of joy, love, and grace is far greater than the battle for honor, status, and notoriety. May we be so bold as to live God’s principles and risk the reputation of the spineless bleeding hearts who include even the strangest of characters and give time and again so that all may know the abundance of God’s kingdom. Amen.

[1] www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_beatitudesGA.htm

[2] www.ccel.org/ccel/wesley/notes.i.ii.vii.html#i.ii.vii-p0.2

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Wedding homily

Rob and Jeannie are an example of how opposites attract. Early on, Jeannie stereotyped Rob as a full-of-himself, conservative southerner and didn’t give it much of a second thought. And somehow, from that Rob got the idea that she didn’t really like him, and while normally confident in all things dating, Rob shied away from pursuing his attraction to Jeannie. But overtime, the stars collided, or rather, ethics class was scheduled, and they began learning about each other not for their stereotypes and reputations, but for who they actually were. As they spent more and more time together, momentum grew and they fell in love.

For me, Rob and Jeannie are also a great example of how love changes the shape of how we believe and who we are as we grow, make concessions, and submit. I have seen Rob and Jeannie change as they have grown in love together. I am grateful because it means they are truly listening to the other, conceding their point for the sake of their partnership, and are willing to live into the challenge of being more Christ-like in their love. I am inspired because their relationship has shown that we don't have to always be right, but that there is a give and take in their relationship that honors the “us” before it honors the individual.

Sometimes after years of marriage we hear, "you're not the man I married." or "you're not the woman I made my vows to." In entering the compact of marriage, you have to be aware that you are not entering in to be married to the same person with all the same beliefs, mannerisms, and habits as either has today. To make it to your 50th anniversary, you have to be marrying the person you love, who you believe God has named as your partner, and know that he/she will grow, and change throughout the years. You may think, "but I don't want her to change." and, in many ways, that's wonderful, because it means you love her wholly as she is, but, at the same time, if she didn't change, it would mean she wasn't willing to listen, wasn't willing to hear your side or perspective, wasn’t willing to submit for the sake of your covenant together. And likewise, if Rob is the same person in 50 years, then it wouldn't be love that the two of you share, because love changes us, love draws us in, makes us better, challenges us to be more passionate, more forgiving, more understanding, and if we don't become any of those things in a way that more resembles Christ in the years of marriage, then we have failed to truly love.

The words of Romans 12 help us to focus on what’s needed in a successful relationship. The words are so appropriate. Let love be genuine: be authentic in who you are and be drawn in by the authentic character of your partner. Hate what is evil—reject petty methods, don’t resort to name calling, undermining your partner, belittling the failures, or returning one wrong with another. Love one another with mutual affection: offer care and encouragement, take time out, especially in the busy high holy season, to affirm one another, spend time together, and to revel in each other’s happiness and love. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer: know that there will be tough and trying times in your years of marriage. There will be conflicts that seem intolerable, illnesses that are unbearable, financial ups and downs, conflict with other family members, and quirky habits that drive you nuts!

Do not give up. Do not walk away. Keep your faith focused on love and the hope God promises through God’s Son Jesus Christ. Be patient. Refuse to throw in the towel. And persevere in prayer: stay focused on God, listen for God’s word to you, and trust that things will get better.

Share with one another. This is a journey you have committed to take together. Rejoice when Jeannie rejoices, weep when Rob weeps, be present with each other. Be as intentional with your partner as you are with your parishioners. Listen well and attentively. Expect the best from one another and assume good intentions. Reflect on your own self before engaging in a gift, and always return the focus to God as the source of all things good and the author of humble, self-giving, life-changing, ever-present love. And return to the sage words of this passage as a reminder, a challenge, and a call to continue growing in love.

I hope that at your 50th wedding anniversary you look back at who you were today and see how much you have each grown in agape love—love that forgives the unforgiveable, offers hope for the hopeless, humility to the proud, strength to the weary, and joy to the sorrowful. As you grow in love, I pray that you continue to be changed and transformed by exposing your vulnerability, risking to overcome your fears, and drawing courage and strength from one another’s gifts. I pray that you are overwhelmed by the love of your partner and wrapped in peace and assurance by their love all the days of your life.

Amen.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view, even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is in Christ. God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteous of God.

This is such an amazing and empowering message to me. We are God’s ambassadors—God’s representatives to carry the message out into the world. I’ve heard thousands of times that we are to preach the good news, but somehow this passage strikes me differently. Somehow the notion of ambassador conveys a different tone than evangelist, and I’m eager to do it.

Being an ambassador is a responsibility. It involves understanding 2 cultures and being able to bridge the communication and ideological gap between them. It means being a representative through your actions—which may mean forfeiting some of your habits for the sake of the relationship. Practically for cultural ambassadors it may mean forsaking a fork for chop sticks, or covering your legs, arms or head so as not to insult another. It may mean kissing cheeks instead of shaking hands, or looking at the ground instead of directly into someone’s eyes. Being an ambassador means understanding customs and traditions and being able to adapt to them to fully engage the “other.”

These adaptations go both ways for us as Christians. We must be able to adapt to secular culture without forsaking our own values as well as educate about Christian ideals in a way that is relevant and sensible to secular culture. It’s our role to bridge the gap between religious and secular in a way that is clear and meaningful. Starting with monastic asceticism might not be the best way to reach today’s youth. We may do better to start with the global impact of Christian actions as today’s youth are already aware of concepts of global awareness and responsibility. But whatever our approach, we have to recognize that we can’t simply hold to all of our traditions and hope others will join in. Being an ambassador requires adaptability to assure the “other” that they can truly trust you and that you understand who they are and what they are about.

As an ambassador, we have to look for the points of contact and correlation between the 2 cultures and help both sides to make the connection and be drawn into appreciation. We must also remain rooted in the Christian message and its importance in defining who we are, making adaptations does not mean forsaking who we are. While living abroad I came to understand myself as an ambassador of sorts. I was a representative of America and Americans and that meant I needed to act in way that reflected well on me and on my country. It was my role to show the best hospitality, graciousness, and cultural awareness in my interactions with Spaniards, Moroccans, Cubans, Costa Ricans, Syrians, Palestinians, and others. And, when I returned, it was my role to share my learnings and experiences with other Americans. I helped explain the ways burkas can actually promote the role and status of women, or how communism has served to educate the people of Cuba, or how the siesta isn’t really about the nap, but about time with family in the middle of the day.

Being an ambassador meant I had to invest myself in learning about other cultures and traditions. I came to appreciate the richness of other countries, as well as gain a greater appreciation for the riches of my own traditions. I was the “go between” to help people get cultural values and customs.

Now, ambassador is just one of the key words in this passage. The other is reconciliation.

Reconciliation with God is about connecting with God. It involves healing the brokenness in our relationship, the ways we have neglected, denied, and ignored God. It involves drawing nearer to God to have a deeper and more meaningful relationship.

I don’t know how many of you know about your use Facebook.com but it’s a website that helps reconnect people with old friends and classmates and even helps forge new relationships for some folks. I’ve never gotten into it, but in the last two weeks I’ve had almost a dozen people urge me to sign up. On the surface, it seems like it will only take up more of my time and will become yet another profile I have to manage. Can you tell I’m real eager to jump on the bandwagon? Yet, I’ve heard of more and more people who are on it and know it’d be an easy way to stay in touch, but I continue to fear it will simply consume my time and energy and not be very fruitful.

In some odd way, that’s how I hear the response to God’s reconciliation. I see us, the ambassadors, as God’s Facebook promoters. We are encouraging people to get connected, to experience God’s reconciliation-God’s redemptive work in relationships and many respond to God’s plea for reconciliation like I respond to Facebook: “Oh I know it sounds cool and would help me be close to God again, but it’s gonna take too much time and energy for me to do. Having a relationship with God sounds nice, but I really have a lot going on and I’m pretty satisfied with life as it is. I don’t need another obligation. I don’t want another responsibility. I’ve got too much on my plate as it is.”

And they walk away. Reconnecting isn’t enough for a lot of people. It takes time, effort, and intentionality to restore a forgotten friendship and sometimes it just doesn’t seem worth it after years apart. I’m afraid that’s how some people see their relationship with God—it’s a nice bonus, if you have time for it. But it’ll take work and it may not be worth it after all these years apart. So, if you choose to walk away, you probably won’t miss too much.

That’s where the true test of our role begins. You see, if we’re truly convicted about the importance of reconnecting with God and the amazing blessings it will bring to someone’s life, then we don’t simply let them walk away. We don’t hog tie them and force them to reconnect either. But if reconciliation with God is something we merely promote on occasion or in passing or as something that “might be fun to do,” then we’re really not serving as effective ambassadors. As God’s agents, we have to work at making the connections and believe strongly in what we do.

I don’t know if you remember the affirmations we did two weeks ago, where we partnered up and told one another “You are important. You are worthy. You are precious. You are a child of God. You are beloved.” That exercise was meant not just to make you feel good, but to help convict you about the power of God’s affirmation in our lives. And it’s only when you really believe, when you’ve felt it in the depths of your soul that you become the most effective ambassador for Christ. Sure, you can preach the message and share the stories and some will be drawn into it, but just like with Facebook, many of us won’t sign up unless we are totally convinced, hook, line, and sinker, that it’s not going to be some other burden weighing us down, but will be a gift and a blessing in our lives. Convincing people about God’s love isn’t simply something they should do, it’s something that will change their lives. Forging a relationship with God is not just another responsibility to be checked off the list, or profile to be maintained, it’s a life changing event that transforms the way you see and live in the world.