The Reading—1 Peter 2: 1-5
Therefore, get rid of all ill will and all deceit, pretense, envy, and slander. Instead, like a newborn baby, desire the pure milk of the word. Nourished by it, you will grow into salvation, since you have tasted that the Lord is good. Now you are coming to Him as to a living stone. Even though this stone was rejected by humans, from God’s perspective it is chosen, valuable. You yourselves are being built like living stones into a spiritual temple. You are being made into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The Gospel Reading: Mark 8: 14-21
Jesus’ disciples had forgotten to bring any bread, so they had only one loaf with them in the boat. He gave them strict orders: “Watch out and be on your guard for the yeast of the Pharisees as well as the yeast of Herod.” The disciples discussed this among themselves. “He said this because we have no bread.” Jesus knew what they were discussing and said, “Why are you talking about the fact that you don’t have any bread? Don’t you grasp what has happened? Don’t you understand? Are your hearts so resistant to what God is doing? Don’t you have eyes? Why can’t you hear? Don’t you remember? When I broke five loaves of bread for those five thousand people, how many baskets full of leftovers did you gather?’ They answered, “twelve”. And when I broke seven loaves of bread for those four thousand people, how many baskets full of leftovers did you gather?” They answered, “Seven”. Jesus said to them, “and you still don’t understand?”
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God, bring us to a place where we come as your people, loving what you command and desiring what you promise. May we look beyond the challenges of this world and fix our hearts and minds on you. May my words and all our thoughts bring you glory. Amen
Our Gospel lesson today ends with very sad words—“and still you don’t understand”. How sad and frustrated it must have made Jesus that those walking and working closest to him had such difficulties understanding his teachings. How sad he must be today that many of those who claim a special relationship with him are unable to see beyond their own prejudices and preferences to what Jesus was and is up to in this world. But, wait, I get ahead of myself.
June is historically PRIDE month in the US. And right now, as we are gathering to worship, literally hundreds of thousands of LGBT folks and their parents, children, and friends are gathering to march in NYC Pride. One day this week I allowed myself to skim through the online version of the Pride Guide and remember all the NYC Prides that I attended. I imagine many of you share those memories. It’s an amazing place to be—completely and totally so enveloped in the culture and heritage of pride in who and what we are that it’s almost possible—for a brief period of time—to see what the world could be like if discrimination were finished and all Christians stood up for what is right. As I was looking at the Pride Guide, the full-color magazine that is produced for the event, I ran across an ad that evoked a strange mix of feelings. The New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church ran this advertisement in this year’s Pride Guide: “The NY Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church welcomes all people including LGBT people. We want members of the LGBT community to know that we do not share our denomination’s belief that ‘homosexuality is inconsistent with Christian teachings’ and we are deeply sorry for the harm that this belief has caused. We are working within the United Methodist Church to change its prejudiced policies.” It is signed by 12 United Methodist Churches in the NYC area. I’m proud of those 12 churches and I think Jesus is, too.
And on this Pride Sunday I choose to take hope in what those 12 churches have done rather than get mired down in the hopelessness that comes with the thought “things will never change”. These 12 churches have chosen to take what Jesus said seriously, and their courage can lead the way for other churches and whole denominations. Courage such as this is in line with our Gospel lesson. The disciples, foolishly thinking that Jesus is chiding them for forgetting the bread miss his whole point about the Pharisees and Herod. We must not miss that point, not today, not any day. When speaking of Herod’s “leaven”, Jesus speaks volumes and I leave it to you to make your own connections. But, Herod and his followers were a political party. They opposed Jesus and his teachings, because they, unlike the disciples, did grasp the social and political aspects of what Jesus was saying. His message of radical acceptance and love for the neighbor did not fit with their political ambitions. Jesus is warning of the danger of using religious power to gain political power. Often aligned with the Sadducees and Pharisees, they were invested in keeping the status quo intact. The “leaven” of the Pharisees is even more obvious as Jesus often spoke against religious hypocrisy, and the damage that it does to the Kingdom of God’s justice and peace.
Nevertheless, the disciples can’t see beyond the everyday nature of bread. This story of Jesus and his disciples in the boat tells us much about what is behind the everyday. For in Jesus’ parables and teaching, the everyday examples always pointed to something deeper, something more profound for those who could see beyond mere words. Jesus calls us to just a place where we can energize the everyday by realizing its greater significance. And on this celebration of Pride, we find hope and promise by doing just that.
The “bread” of which Jesus speaks is that teaching which brings us in line with living our everyday life in consonance with God’s Kingdom. When in consonance, we are in right relationship with God, with others, with self, and with all of creation. The “leaven” of Herod and the Pharisees represents anything that is in dissonance or dilutes the message of God’s reign of justice. Even though Jesus reminded them of the miraculous multiplication of bread just a day ago, the disciples forget and are confused again. So what to do? How should we then seek the energy behind and within the everyday?
It is obvious that this sermon is not just about celebrating Pride Sunday. In some ways it is about the opposite. For, if the teachings of Christ were allowed to change the world, the need to celebrate Pride might well cease to exist other than to celebrate our heritage of struggle and progress. But our advertisement from the United Methodists in New York reminds us that we are not there yet. What is so hard about what Jesus calls us to; and, how in the world do we get there? In Peter’s letter to the Christian churches, he has much to share on these questions. The writer of these letters is believed to be Simon Peter, the same Peter who was a church planter, par excellence. His call to spiritual formation and growth is a clear path to energizing our everyday experience of Christ by exploring all that we are called to be. This brief passage is full of energy and forward movement into relationship. It begins with people who are estranged from God and ends, in just a few short lines, with people whose relationship with God is so special that Peter calls them and calls us, a “holy priesthood”. This short little call to discipleship says it all and says it powerfully.
We come to this passage from our everyday lives—those same lives that are about to be transformed by our participation in our own salvation. We begin with where we are—with those things we are to leave behind. Peter says, “get rid of it”—ill will (our inability to put the desires of others above our own), deceit and pretense (our failure to take seriously the nature of transformation), envy (our inability to celebrate the success and prosperity of others when we do not feel successful or prosperous), and slander (our constant need to put others down or simply fail to lift them up in the eyes of others). Peter calls us to a fresh start—like a newborn baby—we desire only the “pure milk”, Peter says, of the Word of God. Interestingly, Peter promises us that we will be nourished by the Word, by the hearing and practicing the Word; and, that in that nourishment we will grow into salvation. Peter is not talking to beginners in the faith, although beginners can certainly learn from all that Peter says. Peter is talking to those who have already “tasted that the Lord is good.” Peter is talking to those Christians, like us, who want more of God—who want to understand the deeper things of God—who want to energize their everyday relationship with God. We are coming to Christ as to a “living stone”, at once alive and capable of growth, and at the same time, solid and worthy of foundation. And, now, Peter is clear about whom he is talking. This Living Stone was rejected by humankind, but from God’s perspective the Stone, Christ, is chosen and to be treasured. Peter tells us that we are similar to this Living Stone, because as we are nourished by the Word, through God’s presence, we are “being built like living stones into a spiritual temple”.
We are not just everyday people—we are being made into a holy priesthood—holy ones whose very lives become living spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. As we seek to find the deeper message, a message that is hidden from those who have no desire to change or to grow, our everyday lives in Christ become energized, new. We are becoming a spiritual temple, made up of living stones, transformed by Christ himself. And, all these living stones make up the temple, the house of God. We are called together to be the house of God whether we meet in room, or house, or barn, or field. And we are never full-grown—our everyday lives constantly changing and transforming as we taste anew each moment of the goodness of God in word and sacrament. Our relationship with God and others is intricately and wonderfully composed of living stones, both individual and, together we become corporate—we are community in right relationship. And, this, my friends, is the in-breaking of God’s reign of justice. This is what will make it possible for all people in all places, and at all times, to lay claim to the call to be God’s spiritual temple.
And so on this day, Pride Sunday, I may reminisce about Pride Sundays in years gone by, years when HIV/AIDS forced itself upon us, years when laws were passed and years when we simply found ourselves at Pride because that’s where you went on the last Sunday in June, the real challenge is to stay focused on today by allowing, no, welcoming, God into this spiritual temple and committing ourselves to being the best representation of God’s kingdom here on earth. In this way, we can invite all those who hunger to taste of God’s transforming and sustaining Word; to a place of transformation, a people of power, and everyday lives so energized by God’s Holy Spirit that the message of God’s unconditional love cannot be missed. Amen and amen.
Welcome!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Persevere in Prayer 6-17-12
The Reading: Romans 12: 9-21
Your love must be sincere. Hate what is evil and cling to what is good. Love one another with the affection of sisters and brothers. Try to outdo one another in showing respect. Don’t grow slack, but be fervent in spirit: The One you serve is Christ. Rejoice in hope; be patient under trial; persevere in prayer. Look on the needs of God’s holy people as your own; be generous in offering hospitality. Bless your persecutors—bless and don’t curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same attitude toward everyone. Don’t be condescending to those who aren’t as well off as you; don’t be conceited. Don’t repay evil with evil. Be concerned with the highest ideal in the eyes of all people. Do all you can to be at peace with everyone. Don’t take revenge; leave room, my friends, for God’s wrath. To quote scripture, “’Vengeance is mine, I will pay them back’, says our God. But there is more: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them drink. For in doing so, you will heap burning coals upon their heads.” Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by doing good.
The Gospel Reading: Mark 11: 22-25
In reply, Jesus said, “Put your trust in God. The truth is, if any of you say to this mountain, ‘Get up and throw yourself into the sea,’ and you don’t doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will happen, it will happen. That’s why I tell you that whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have already received it, and it will be done for you. And when you stand praying, forgive anyone against whom again you have a grievance, so that your loving God in heaven may in turn forgive you your faults.” (The Inclusive Bible © 2007)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Persevere in Prayer 6-17-12
God, we come humbly and gratefully into your presence today. You have given us the sweet gift of prayer. Inspire our hearts today to learn more of you in our study today. May the words of my mouth and the meditations and the prayers of all of us bring you honor and glory. Amen
Every time that I preach a sermon on prayer, lead a study on prayer practices, or read a book, I find my humility anew. The more I know of prayer, the more I realize how much I have to learn. So, I stand in front of you, because that is what I am supposed to do at this time every Sunday, but I stand honestly, a student just like you on this subject of prayer. I gain some satisfaction from knowing that I am never expected to know all there is to know of prayer, but I am challenged to allow more of the grace that comes with a life of constant prayer into my life.
An interesting thing happened this week—many of you know that I was struggling with ear infections last week. Well, they worsened and for at least two days, I could hear very little of the outside world unless I turned up the volume on the television to a level that scared even the dogs. So, as I almost always do, I asked God what message I should take from this experience. Expecting some comforting message about taking better care of myself, I was rocked to the core, when God finally said: “Your sacred listening is too scattered—spend more time with Me”. Now, I know that you realize that I’m not talking about God actually saying those words audibly—wouldn’t have mattered at that point—I couldn’t have heard them. Inside, in my deepest heart, I knew this insight to be true. So I argued for a while—tried telling God that it was my job to listen to many folks—that the congregation needed my attention—and God said, “Devote your sacred time, your holy time to Me alone and all the others will be heard as well”.
I sat for awhile after this revelation. Realizing that God was not calling me to a different kind of prayer life, I did not run to find one of my many books about prayer and see what direction that would take me. God was, instead, calling me to a different kind of prayer itself—a communication that is complete—me to God and God to me. And, though, I wanted to argue that I already do that, I made a decision to accept this challenge as true and learn from it. I was reminded of the time when as a mother, I decided I should quiz my then 19-year-old son about what he knew about cars since he drove one constantly. So, like any good mother/father would do, I asked him, “David, what do you do when your car is making a loud noise?” Without missing a beat, he replied, “Turn the volume on the radio up!” I realized that in many ways, I and probably many of us, have been turning the volume of the world up when God’s voice gets too loud for us to ignore.
So, I went to scripture first to see what I could learn. There is little recorded about actual words that Jesus used to pray all those long, lonely hours that He managed to slip away from the multitudes and even the disciples . That He did so is recorded many times in all the Gospels. Jesus travelled in what we would call an “entourage”. Once the 12 disciples were called we hear very little of any activity of theirs that was separate from Jesus. So, they were stuck to Jesus like glue and Jesus had to slip away in order to clearly hear the Word God was speaking to him. Think for a moment about what Jesus might have prayed about—did He ask for strength and courage, I would assume so. Did He ask for rest for His body and for the disciples—seems likely. Did He ask for guidance and for insight into what it meant to be God’s child—I imagine so. So far seems pretty much like a prayer any of us would make. But Jesus clearly added one more aspect to His prayers with His Holy Parent—surrender to God’s will for Him, for His ministry. Jesus knew where His power came from and not one time did He claim it to be His alone. This surrender is felt throughout His ministry. And surrender led to trust for Jesus just as it will lead to trust in all of those of us who practice adding the blessed surrender to our prayers. In surrender, we learn to listen and in listening, we learn to trust.
Jesus said this about prayer in the passage we heard read: “Trust God. If you want this mountain to be thrown into the sea, pray for it, believe in your prayer, and expect it to happen. Anything you ask for in prayer will be done for you if you believe.”. And here comes the kicker—you knew it couldn’t be that easy—“and when you pray, forgive first anyone that you think has wronged you. This way your loving God, may forgive you what you have done.”
Many pastors choose to emphasize the first half of the saying. It is, obviously, the most appealing—mountains being thrown into seas and what-not just because we believe it will happen. But this passage is also used as a passage used to beat up Christians who struggle in prayer, and for whom prayers never seem to be answered. But Jesus does not describe the how and when these things will happen. Let me repeat that—Jesus does not describe the how and when these prayed-for things will happen. We are expected to believe that once we ask, things are in God’s hands. It always frustrates—no, angers—me when anyone uses this passage in judgment against one whose prayers seem to go unanswered. God is still God, and we, ourselves sin when we question God’s answer to another’s prayer. I have often wondered why the order of this passage is as it is.
Nevertheless, we must not, cannot, take the first half away from the context of the second. Indeed, the second half of the brief statement is the part that calls us to forgiveness of all those whom we perceive to have wronged us. It is the second half that calls us back to an understanding of relationship—with God, with others and with ourselves. Then there is the “F” word—no, not that one—the other one—‘forgiveness’. Now, I don’t know about you, but forgiveness for me is hard. It requires surrender. It requires me to say—so it doesn’t matter that so-and-so will never apologize, doesn’t matter if that person refuses to acknowledge what they have done—I can’t do that in my own power—it comes down to surrender. Now we know that God’s will for us is that we live in right relationship with God and with each other. Right relationship will be absent until we surrender to the call of forgiveness. The call to forgiveness is at the heart of our prayer lives as individuals or communities. And it is certainly at the heart of right relationship.
Our passage from Romans almost reads like a laundry list of components of a right relationship. Two of these components stick out for me in today’s discussion of prayer and surrender.
• Our love for each other—and these include all the ‘each other’s’ that we have forgiven—must be sincere—in other words, our lack of forgiveness will slip out every time. Sincerity grows from honesty and honesty calls us back to surrender.
• The One we serve is Christ. Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome has much to teach us as we continue our journey towards all that God has called us to be as people and community. Indeed, it is in our service to Christ that we are continually and spiritually formed as God’s children.
What about my conversation with God? I kinda hoped you had forgotten or assigned it to an obvious side effect of the antihistamines. But, the most important thing I do, is share my journey with you—to share my own struggle with surrender and with forgiveness—to share both the heavy side and the light side of my relationship with God, with myself, and with you, my friends and family. When we are called by God to respond to God’s radical welcome, we do not fall fully-formed from the sky. Most of us are rolling along in our lives, doing the best we can to be happy, healthy, and productive. And, suddenly, we realize that our journey is changing, that we are not just accepted and loved by God, but called by God to be different and to make a difference in the lives of others. This may happen many times over as our spiritual lives deepen or when we slip away and we need a quiet tap on the shoulder.
In the call to forgiveness, God positions our own place of prayer on the path of right relationship. I pray that this is a church where people find and explore that very path—a place where we know that when we welcome God into our midst that we are welcoming a God who welcomes and loves us, a place where people are right with each other and it is obviously so, a place of welcome and generosity to the weary and broken in this world, and a place which inspires, calls, and leads each of us to be in right relationship with ourselves and our God. And so, as you stand to sing, we say together, amen and amen.
Your love must be sincere. Hate what is evil and cling to what is good. Love one another with the affection of sisters and brothers. Try to outdo one another in showing respect. Don’t grow slack, but be fervent in spirit: The One you serve is Christ. Rejoice in hope; be patient under trial; persevere in prayer. Look on the needs of God’s holy people as your own; be generous in offering hospitality. Bless your persecutors—bless and don’t curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same attitude toward everyone. Don’t be condescending to those who aren’t as well off as you; don’t be conceited. Don’t repay evil with evil. Be concerned with the highest ideal in the eyes of all people. Do all you can to be at peace with everyone. Don’t take revenge; leave room, my friends, for God’s wrath. To quote scripture, “’Vengeance is mine, I will pay them back’, says our God. But there is more: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them drink. For in doing so, you will heap burning coals upon their heads.” Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by doing good.
The Gospel Reading: Mark 11: 22-25
In reply, Jesus said, “Put your trust in God. The truth is, if any of you say to this mountain, ‘Get up and throw yourself into the sea,’ and you don’t doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will happen, it will happen. That’s why I tell you that whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have already received it, and it will be done for you. And when you stand praying, forgive anyone against whom again you have a grievance, so that your loving God in heaven may in turn forgive you your faults.” (The Inclusive Bible © 2007)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Persevere in Prayer 6-17-12
God, we come humbly and gratefully into your presence today. You have given us the sweet gift of prayer. Inspire our hearts today to learn more of you in our study today. May the words of my mouth and the meditations and the prayers of all of us bring you honor and glory. Amen
Every time that I preach a sermon on prayer, lead a study on prayer practices, or read a book, I find my humility anew. The more I know of prayer, the more I realize how much I have to learn. So, I stand in front of you, because that is what I am supposed to do at this time every Sunday, but I stand honestly, a student just like you on this subject of prayer. I gain some satisfaction from knowing that I am never expected to know all there is to know of prayer, but I am challenged to allow more of the grace that comes with a life of constant prayer into my life.
An interesting thing happened this week—many of you know that I was struggling with ear infections last week. Well, they worsened and for at least two days, I could hear very little of the outside world unless I turned up the volume on the television to a level that scared even the dogs. So, as I almost always do, I asked God what message I should take from this experience. Expecting some comforting message about taking better care of myself, I was rocked to the core, when God finally said: “Your sacred listening is too scattered—spend more time with Me”. Now, I know that you realize that I’m not talking about God actually saying those words audibly—wouldn’t have mattered at that point—I couldn’t have heard them. Inside, in my deepest heart, I knew this insight to be true. So I argued for a while—tried telling God that it was my job to listen to many folks—that the congregation needed my attention—and God said, “Devote your sacred time, your holy time to Me alone and all the others will be heard as well”.
I sat for awhile after this revelation. Realizing that God was not calling me to a different kind of prayer life, I did not run to find one of my many books about prayer and see what direction that would take me. God was, instead, calling me to a different kind of prayer itself—a communication that is complete—me to God and God to me. And, though, I wanted to argue that I already do that, I made a decision to accept this challenge as true and learn from it. I was reminded of the time when as a mother, I decided I should quiz my then 19-year-old son about what he knew about cars since he drove one constantly. So, like any good mother/father would do, I asked him, “David, what do you do when your car is making a loud noise?” Without missing a beat, he replied, “Turn the volume on the radio up!” I realized that in many ways, I and probably many of us, have been turning the volume of the world up when God’s voice gets too loud for us to ignore.
So, I went to scripture first to see what I could learn. There is little recorded about actual words that Jesus used to pray all those long, lonely hours that He managed to slip away from the multitudes and even the disciples . That He did so is recorded many times in all the Gospels. Jesus travelled in what we would call an “entourage”. Once the 12 disciples were called we hear very little of any activity of theirs that was separate from Jesus. So, they were stuck to Jesus like glue and Jesus had to slip away in order to clearly hear the Word God was speaking to him. Think for a moment about what Jesus might have prayed about—did He ask for strength and courage, I would assume so. Did He ask for rest for His body and for the disciples—seems likely. Did He ask for guidance and for insight into what it meant to be God’s child—I imagine so. So far seems pretty much like a prayer any of us would make. But Jesus clearly added one more aspect to His prayers with His Holy Parent—surrender to God’s will for Him, for His ministry. Jesus knew where His power came from and not one time did He claim it to be His alone. This surrender is felt throughout His ministry. And surrender led to trust for Jesus just as it will lead to trust in all of those of us who practice adding the blessed surrender to our prayers. In surrender, we learn to listen and in listening, we learn to trust.
Jesus said this about prayer in the passage we heard read: “Trust God. If you want this mountain to be thrown into the sea, pray for it, believe in your prayer, and expect it to happen. Anything you ask for in prayer will be done for you if you believe.”. And here comes the kicker—you knew it couldn’t be that easy—“and when you pray, forgive first anyone that you think has wronged you. This way your loving God, may forgive you what you have done.”
Many pastors choose to emphasize the first half of the saying. It is, obviously, the most appealing—mountains being thrown into seas and what-not just because we believe it will happen. But this passage is also used as a passage used to beat up Christians who struggle in prayer, and for whom prayers never seem to be answered. But Jesus does not describe the how and when these things will happen. Let me repeat that—Jesus does not describe the how and when these prayed-for things will happen. We are expected to believe that once we ask, things are in God’s hands. It always frustrates—no, angers—me when anyone uses this passage in judgment against one whose prayers seem to go unanswered. God is still God, and we, ourselves sin when we question God’s answer to another’s prayer. I have often wondered why the order of this passage is as it is.
Nevertheless, we must not, cannot, take the first half away from the context of the second. Indeed, the second half of the brief statement is the part that calls us to forgiveness of all those whom we perceive to have wronged us. It is the second half that calls us back to an understanding of relationship—with God, with others and with ourselves. Then there is the “F” word—no, not that one—the other one—‘forgiveness’. Now, I don’t know about you, but forgiveness for me is hard. It requires surrender. It requires me to say—so it doesn’t matter that so-and-so will never apologize, doesn’t matter if that person refuses to acknowledge what they have done—I can’t do that in my own power—it comes down to surrender. Now we know that God’s will for us is that we live in right relationship with God and with each other. Right relationship will be absent until we surrender to the call of forgiveness. The call to forgiveness is at the heart of our prayer lives as individuals or communities. And it is certainly at the heart of right relationship.
Our passage from Romans almost reads like a laundry list of components of a right relationship. Two of these components stick out for me in today’s discussion of prayer and surrender.
• Our love for each other—and these include all the ‘each other’s’ that we have forgiven—must be sincere—in other words, our lack of forgiveness will slip out every time. Sincerity grows from honesty and honesty calls us back to surrender.
• The One we serve is Christ. Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome has much to teach us as we continue our journey towards all that God has called us to be as people and community. Indeed, it is in our service to Christ that we are continually and spiritually formed as God’s children.
What about my conversation with God? I kinda hoped you had forgotten or assigned it to an obvious side effect of the antihistamines. But, the most important thing I do, is share my journey with you—to share my own struggle with surrender and with forgiveness—to share both the heavy side and the light side of my relationship with God, with myself, and with you, my friends and family. When we are called by God to respond to God’s radical welcome, we do not fall fully-formed from the sky. Most of us are rolling along in our lives, doing the best we can to be happy, healthy, and productive. And, suddenly, we realize that our journey is changing, that we are not just accepted and loved by God, but called by God to be different and to make a difference in the lives of others. This may happen many times over as our spiritual lives deepen or when we slip away and we need a quiet tap on the shoulder.
In the call to forgiveness, God positions our own place of prayer on the path of right relationship. I pray that this is a church where people find and explore that very path—a place where we know that when we welcome God into our midst that we are welcoming a God who welcomes and loves us, a place where people are right with each other and it is obviously so, a place of welcome and generosity to the weary and broken in this world, and a place which inspires, calls, and leads each of us to be in right relationship with ourselves and our God. And so, as you stand to sing, we say together, amen and amen.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Open To Opportunity 6-10-12
The Reading—Colossians 4: 2-6
Devote yourself to prayer and thanksgiving, but keep alert as well. Pray for us, too, that God will open a door for proclaiming the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison. Pray that I may proclaim it as clearly as I should. Be wise in your ways toward [those who have not heard and believed]. Make the most of every opportunity you have with them. Talk to them tactfully, seasoned with salt as it were, and know how to respond to the needs of each one.
The Gospel Reading: Mark 4: 22-25
He also said to the crowd, “would you bring in a lamp and put it under a bushel basket or hide it under the bed? Surely you’d put in on a lampstand! Things are hidden only to be revealed at a later time. They are made secret only to be brought out into the open. If you have ears to hear, then listen!” (The Inclusive Bible © 2007)
~~~~~~
Open To Opportunity 6-10-12
God, you lead us in your ways. Help us to stretch our minds to hear all that you have to say. Help us to stretch our hearts to welcome all of your children and all they bring into our midst. May these words bring some new ways of thinking and may that thinking always bring glory to you. Amen
After last week, I cannot stop thinking about what it means to be open. I wrestled with it for a while and then felt the call to preach a four-part sermon series on what it means for us to be OPEN. So this Sunday, we will talk about Open to Opportunity, next week we will study what it means to Persevere in Pray while we remain open. The third week we will talk about Energizing the Everday, and finally Navigating the New. I think that this will give us the opportunity to think together about what it means to be boldly open while we spread the good news of God’s freedom and acceptance. Even before we started having these conversations and certainly before I read any books on the subject, I believe that the Holy Spirit began working with the Strategic Planning Team to lead us in this direction. The last 5 words of our mission statement couldn’t be clearer—“ministry by all for all”. So it’s worth taking the time to study together what this might mean.
I read a lot of books, well, let’s be honest, I peruse a lot of books. Rarely does a book so grab ahold of me that I find the time to read it all. I’m reading one of those books right now and I want to share with you what I think that book has to offer us as we think about ways we want to grow as people, as a people, and as a church. It’s called “Open Source Church: Making Room for the Wisdom of All”. It’s written by Lando Whitsitt, who is the Pastor of a Presbyterian church in Missouri, and the Vice-Moderator of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA. Whitsitt’s premise is that the Church, universal and local, has a lot to learn about being an open source church and I couldn’t agree with him more. Some of you have been around computers in more recent years and you may complete understand ‘open source software’; most of us, simply do not. But we have used the most famous “open source” platform, any time we go to Wikipedia. You may not have taken the time to see that Wikipedia welcomes additions and modifications to all their articles. That means, simply, that no one “owns” the content of Wikipedia—so there, you do know something of Open Source Software.
So how does this relate to our church? “Open Source, when referring to software in particular, simply means that the basic instructions for a program are open for anyone to see and edit.” Closed software, on the other hand is software that is closed except to the privileged few. You may be beginning to get Whitsitt’s point—he states that “like software, churches can also be open or closed.” Now I’m just going to guess that most of us, at some time or another, have experienced a closed church. Only a few ‘select’ people really ran the church and while others’ input appeared to be solicited; in fact, the input is rarely utilized. Let’s be clear and honest, every church has a set of rules—even us—and most of them may well be unwritten. When churches put more emphasis on the rules (aka Doing what we are used to and feels comfortable), newcomers may feel little welcome to bring their whole selves to worship.
Whitsitt challenges us: “Being an open source church is about making sure people can do the things they think they need to do to make church work for them. Too often churches and their organizational structures are so firmly established that it is virtually impossible for someone to come to the church and begin contributing to its life in a meaningful way. The new people feel like they are stuck at every turn.” Surely you don’t mean Open Circle, some of you may be thinking. We’re so new, how could we have rules that turn newcomers off? Let’s look at that together as we value our commitment to acceptance and radical hospitality.
Open Source Software has some very clear protocols which came out of the early years of navigating through these completely uncharted waters. Believe it or not, these criteria work for us as a church committed to radical hospitality and to creating a sacred place of ministry by all for all. Here are some of them:
One: Free Re-distribution—at the center of Christianity is an opportunity. “To proclaim Jesus Christ is to proclaim freedom, and to proclaim freedom is to proclaim Jesus Christ.” We do not “own” that central statement of Christianity. And as we find ourselves in places in our lives where we can stop holding on so tight, we, as individuals and as churches, become radically free. We know that the freedom which Jesus proclaims goes against all that the “powers that be” believe and, ultimately, got him killed; but as we read the stories of healing and redemption, we see that Jesus passed it on regardless of the risk to himself. Our gospel lesson speaks of this as well: He also said to the crowd, “would you bring in a lamp and put it under a bushel basket or hide it under the bed? Surely you’d put in on a lampstand!”
A second criterion is “Access to the Source Code”. The source code in a software program is what is needed to make changes—if only a few in a church have the access to the hidden things that make a church function the way it does, the rest of the folk are seriously limited from making an impact on the church. So in an open source church, everyone from the charter member to the pastor to the first time visitor, has access to the source code which enables them to impact this church with their presence. Why else do we ask new members if they will bring all that they are and challenge us to be the best versions of ourselves and our church?
The third criterion is called derived works—this means that every person has the right and ability to make the software, or teachings of the church, the very Gospel, if you will work for them. Therefore, we are called to contextualize the Gospel in every instance where it is proclaimed. Whitsitts calls us to celebrate a place and time where all who enter can make the Gospel relevant to their lives without making it less relevant to others’ lives. He says, “Celebrating contextualization means that we give thanks to God for the many ways in which the people of God live into freedom, and there will be as many ways as there are people of God.” Paul calls us in the Epistle read earlier that we are to “Be wise in your ways toward [those who have not heard and believed]. Make the most of every opportunity you have with them. Talk to them tactfully, seasoned with salt as it were, and know how to respond to the needs of each one.” Though Paul would not have understood the concept of Open Source Software, he most certainly possessed an understanding of speaking to everyone in ways they could understand.
The fourth criterion addresses the fear that when someone changes a message to make it their own, that change may reflect poorly on the original author. I think I get this—when someone asks me a question and I answer it from my perspective and that person makes it their own, I may not like how my original answer has been changed. And, I may think that my original answer is the one everyone should believe. Open source thinking calls me to understand that we are never in sole possession of the Gospel of Christ and must “seek out and celebrate other understandings of Christ’s person and work”. Put simply, your beliefs are no more likely to contain the ‘absolute truth’ than mine are. If we celebrate the diversity that making the Gospel accessible to all will bring through our doors, we can know that God will give us the courage to face our grasping onto our personal understanding of the Gospel as all there is. There is first, fear, and then, great freedom to be found in saying, “it’s not about me—it’s about everyone having free access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ’s grace and acceptance.
The fifth and sixth criterion are two that those of us who call ourselves ‘Christian’ should be able to easily understand. There is to be no discrimination against persons or groups of persons and no discrimination against certain areas of work. If we really find the courage to truly buy in to this process, we will find ourselves in a wonderful place of freedom—not only in our minds and hearts, but also in our church. We take it slow, but not too slow. We invite all, and strive to leave none out. We preach the Gospel of Christ that freedom is neither defined or owned by any one or several groups of people. So we celebrate this freedom and welcome all that this freedom brings into our midst in ministry by all for all. Amen and Amen
Devote yourself to prayer and thanksgiving, but keep alert as well. Pray for us, too, that God will open a door for proclaiming the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison. Pray that I may proclaim it as clearly as I should. Be wise in your ways toward [those who have not heard and believed]. Make the most of every opportunity you have with them. Talk to them tactfully, seasoned with salt as it were, and know how to respond to the needs of each one.
The Gospel Reading: Mark 4: 22-25
He also said to the crowd, “would you bring in a lamp and put it under a bushel basket or hide it under the bed? Surely you’d put in on a lampstand! Things are hidden only to be revealed at a later time. They are made secret only to be brought out into the open. If you have ears to hear, then listen!” (The Inclusive Bible © 2007)
~~~~~~
Open To Opportunity 6-10-12
God, you lead us in your ways. Help us to stretch our minds to hear all that you have to say. Help us to stretch our hearts to welcome all of your children and all they bring into our midst. May these words bring some new ways of thinking and may that thinking always bring glory to you. Amen
After last week, I cannot stop thinking about what it means to be open. I wrestled with it for a while and then felt the call to preach a four-part sermon series on what it means for us to be OPEN. So this Sunday, we will talk about Open to Opportunity, next week we will study what it means to Persevere in Pray while we remain open. The third week we will talk about Energizing the Everday, and finally Navigating the New. I think that this will give us the opportunity to think together about what it means to be boldly open while we spread the good news of God’s freedom and acceptance. Even before we started having these conversations and certainly before I read any books on the subject, I believe that the Holy Spirit began working with the Strategic Planning Team to lead us in this direction. The last 5 words of our mission statement couldn’t be clearer—“ministry by all for all”. So it’s worth taking the time to study together what this might mean.
I read a lot of books, well, let’s be honest, I peruse a lot of books. Rarely does a book so grab ahold of me that I find the time to read it all. I’m reading one of those books right now and I want to share with you what I think that book has to offer us as we think about ways we want to grow as people, as a people, and as a church. It’s called “Open Source Church: Making Room for the Wisdom of All”. It’s written by Lando Whitsitt, who is the Pastor of a Presbyterian church in Missouri, and the Vice-Moderator of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA. Whitsitt’s premise is that the Church, universal and local, has a lot to learn about being an open source church and I couldn’t agree with him more. Some of you have been around computers in more recent years and you may complete understand ‘open source software’; most of us, simply do not. But we have used the most famous “open source” platform, any time we go to Wikipedia. You may not have taken the time to see that Wikipedia welcomes additions and modifications to all their articles. That means, simply, that no one “owns” the content of Wikipedia—so there, you do know something of Open Source Software.
So how does this relate to our church? “Open Source, when referring to software in particular, simply means that the basic instructions for a program are open for anyone to see and edit.” Closed software, on the other hand is software that is closed except to the privileged few. You may be beginning to get Whitsitt’s point—he states that “like software, churches can also be open or closed.” Now I’m just going to guess that most of us, at some time or another, have experienced a closed church. Only a few ‘select’ people really ran the church and while others’ input appeared to be solicited; in fact, the input is rarely utilized. Let’s be clear and honest, every church has a set of rules—even us—and most of them may well be unwritten. When churches put more emphasis on the rules (aka Doing what we are used to and feels comfortable), newcomers may feel little welcome to bring their whole selves to worship.
Whitsitt challenges us: “Being an open source church is about making sure people can do the things they think they need to do to make church work for them. Too often churches and their organizational structures are so firmly established that it is virtually impossible for someone to come to the church and begin contributing to its life in a meaningful way. The new people feel like they are stuck at every turn.” Surely you don’t mean Open Circle, some of you may be thinking. We’re so new, how could we have rules that turn newcomers off? Let’s look at that together as we value our commitment to acceptance and radical hospitality.
Open Source Software has some very clear protocols which came out of the early years of navigating through these completely uncharted waters. Believe it or not, these criteria work for us as a church committed to radical hospitality and to creating a sacred place of ministry by all for all. Here are some of them:
One: Free Re-distribution—at the center of Christianity is an opportunity. “To proclaim Jesus Christ is to proclaim freedom, and to proclaim freedom is to proclaim Jesus Christ.” We do not “own” that central statement of Christianity. And as we find ourselves in places in our lives where we can stop holding on so tight, we, as individuals and as churches, become radically free. We know that the freedom which Jesus proclaims goes against all that the “powers that be” believe and, ultimately, got him killed; but as we read the stories of healing and redemption, we see that Jesus passed it on regardless of the risk to himself. Our gospel lesson speaks of this as well: He also said to the crowd, “would you bring in a lamp and put it under a bushel basket or hide it under the bed? Surely you’d put in on a lampstand!”
A second criterion is “Access to the Source Code”. The source code in a software program is what is needed to make changes—if only a few in a church have the access to the hidden things that make a church function the way it does, the rest of the folk are seriously limited from making an impact on the church. So in an open source church, everyone from the charter member to the pastor to the first time visitor, has access to the source code which enables them to impact this church with their presence. Why else do we ask new members if they will bring all that they are and challenge us to be the best versions of ourselves and our church?
The third criterion is called derived works—this means that every person has the right and ability to make the software, or teachings of the church, the very Gospel, if you will work for them. Therefore, we are called to contextualize the Gospel in every instance where it is proclaimed. Whitsitts calls us to celebrate a place and time where all who enter can make the Gospel relevant to their lives without making it less relevant to others’ lives. He says, “Celebrating contextualization means that we give thanks to God for the many ways in which the people of God live into freedom, and there will be as many ways as there are people of God.” Paul calls us in the Epistle read earlier that we are to “Be wise in your ways toward [those who have not heard and believed]. Make the most of every opportunity you have with them. Talk to them tactfully, seasoned with salt as it were, and know how to respond to the needs of each one.” Though Paul would not have understood the concept of Open Source Software, he most certainly possessed an understanding of speaking to everyone in ways they could understand.
The fourth criterion addresses the fear that when someone changes a message to make it their own, that change may reflect poorly on the original author. I think I get this—when someone asks me a question and I answer it from my perspective and that person makes it their own, I may not like how my original answer has been changed. And, I may think that my original answer is the one everyone should believe. Open source thinking calls me to understand that we are never in sole possession of the Gospel of Christ and must “seek out and celebrate other understandings of Christ’s person and work”. Put simply, your beliefs are no more likely to contain the ‘absolute truth’ than mine are. If we celebrate the diversity that making the Gospel accessible to all will bring through our doors, we can know that God will give us the courage to face our grasping onto our personal understanding of the Gospel as all there is. There is first, fear, and then, great freedom to be found in saying, “it’s not about me—it’s about everyone having free access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ’s grace and acceptance.
The fifth and sixth criterion are two that those of us who call ourselves ‘Christian’ should be able to easily understand. There is to be no discrimination against persons or groups of persons and no discrimination against certain areas of work. If we really find the courage to truly buy in to this process, we will find ourselves in a wonderful place of freedom—not only in our minds and hearts, but also in our church. We take it slow, but not too slow. We invite all, and strive to leave none out. We preach the Gospel of Christ that freedom is neither defined or owned by any one or several groups of people. So we celebrate this freedom and welcome all that this freedom brings into our midst in ministry by all for all. Amen and Amen
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