When We Know Who We Really Are 11-2-14

God of strength and power, grant us the wisdom to know that you are the author and provider of the courage we need to follow you and make your call our priority.  Give us insight to know that you hold us in a precious place of peace.  Amen

           

            I’m down to my last four sermons in Open Circle.  I have anguished over the exact words that I want to leave you with.  One of our Sundays is devoted to Trees—really sort of perfect, given my love of trees.  For the other three Sunday, I have chosen to do a three-part series on what, to me, are the most important traits of being a follower of Jesus.  Those three traits are courage, compassion, and faithfulness.  Today, I want to start with courage because I don’t think the other two traits are possible without it. 

When I think of courage, I always think of the Lion in, you guessed it, the Wizard of Oz.  He wanted so badly to be brave—especially to think of himself as brave—to know in his heart of hearts that he had the courage to be the ferocious lion he believed that he was supposed to be.  He wanted this so badly that he was unable to see the many acts of bravery that he routinely performed.  When the Great Wizard was found out (by a tiny little dog, I might add), he, nevertheless, wants to give each of the characters what they came for.  When he reaches the so-called “Cowardly Lion”, author Frank Baum has the Wizard say this:  “You have plenty of courage, I am sure,"… "All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.”  And, so, the Cowardly Lion discovers that he is not cowardly at all; but, rather, brave over and over again. 

            Children’s tales, notwithstanding, we all can probably recount times when it seemed as if our courage failed us.  Some of those times may have been crucial and some of those times may have turned out not to matter at all; though it may have been years before we figured out which one was which.  In the recorded words of Jesus, we don’t hear him talking much about courage.  He certainly lived a life of courage, but his teachings don’t really give us much to go on.  When the word ‘courage’ does appear in the four gospels, it is always linked to the expression of fear by someone he encounters.  Take for example what is probably one of the most famous stories in the New Testament.  Feeding the thousands has just occurred.  Jesus sends the disciples on to the other side of the lake; this lake was a big lake, big enough to have waves and bad weather.  Jesus, after serving all those people dinner, goes off to pray.  In the story, he then meets up with the disciples in the middle of the lake.  There is a great storm and they are struggling mightily to keep the boat afloat.  So, here comes Jesus, walking on the water, and the disciples are scared out of their wits. 

I think most of us can identify.  So, here is Jesus, apparently intending to walk across the lake rather than ride in the boat like everyone else.  Suddenly, his disciples see him, are convinced he is a ghost or spirit of some kind and start screaming.  He speaks, “Courage! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”  He then gets in the boat, the winds and waves die down, and they can proceed without any more fear or danger.  Now, as beautiful as the hymns and poems about this story might be, it never made sense to me why it is here.  And, it really doesn’t unless you realize that the core of the story is in the phrase of Jesus’ response--“Courage! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”  “It’s me”, says Jesus.  Jesus knows who he is.  He is the incarnation of God.  He knows there is no reason to fear him.  The problem is that they—the disciples—don’t know who he is.  More importantly, they didn’t know who they were.  If they knew that they were followers of the earthly incarnation of God, they would have recognized Jesus for who he is and was and known that there was nothing to fear.  But, Mark says, “They were stunned, shaking their heads, wondering what was going on. They didn’t understand what he had done at the supper. None of this had yet penetrated their hearts.”  It would take much more time for any of this to even begin to penetrate their hearts as they followed the man they called, “Teacher”. 

It has always troubled me, even though I understand it, that it took so long for the disciples to understand who they were following and the impact of that on their lives.  I’ve told you before that I would like to think that I would have caught on much sooner, but I suspect that is far from likely.  And, so I wonder—what is it about who they were; and, hence, who we are that keeps any of us from grasping the miraculous or the extent to which God can live through us.  Even though the language may seem strange, when I started reading on courage, Julia Cameron’s words (our second reading) seemed most appropriate to think about what our Gospel lesson is telling us about courage and the connection to knowing who we are.  She suggests that we might not live into our destiny because we do not believe that we have one.  Further, she suggests that we allow others to determine how we experience ourselves rather than discover it for ourselves.  Jesus, I believe, calls us to be the best version of ourselves that we can be—not some watered down version, dependent upon what others think we ought to be, but a courageous version—a version made possible by knowing exactly who we are. 

And, just who are we?  My friends, we are children of God, created by God, loved by God, and called by God.  I agree with Cameron and others who have suggested that it is fear that keeps us from living into the fullness of all that we are created to be.  And, it isn’t that we must create something that isn’t there.  Our belonging to God has already happened; but, we must uncover for ourselves exactly what that means.  Do we not uncover what that means for each of us by exploring our own stories—looking seriously and honestly at how God has been at work in our lives? 

Every once in a while I change the saying that appears at the bottom of all my emails.  The one that is currently there has been there for a while.  I suppose I will leave it there until I “get it” in its fullest meaning.  It is a quote from Father John O’Donohue.  It says, “May I have the courage today to live the life that I would love, to postpone my dream no longer; but do at last what I came here for and waste my heart on fear no more.”  Initially, I had no idea that “living the life I would love” would entail leaving the church that I love.  It never occurred to me that to “do at last what I came here for” was different than being your pastor.  So, in my reflection and meditation, I got to thinking about how that came to be. 

If someone were to ask me what I think the bravest thing I have done in the last 5 years is; my answer would not be “leave a full-time job in Orlando and come here to plant this church”.  Although, I have to say, that was a pretty brave thing to do.  No, the bravest thing I have done is share my own spiritual journey with you, exactly as it unfolded along the way.   At some point, and I don’t remember exactly when, I gave myself permission to stop shaping what I believe or thought I believed around what I thought I was supposed to believe.  And, that was the bravest thing I have done.  I invited God to show me exactly who God is and who I am.  In the doing of that, I was gifted with the knowledge that, first and foremost, I am the child of a God who created me and loves me in fullness beyond fullness.  I came to understand that it was not necessary to understand everything that God was revealing; that it was enough to know that God is God and that things become clear to me, just as they did for the disciples, as life teaches me more and more about myself and about God.  I let go of the tether that was keeping me safely floating fairly close to the shore and drifted out into the deep water where the waves and storms of God’s truest lessons take place.  And, most of all, I started (emphasis on started) to believe that I was on the right track towards experiencing all that God wants for me. 

The second bravest thing I did was begin to share my journey with you.  Some of you were excited as God invited us to explore more and more about what freeing our hearts and minds from old dictates and dogma would look like, feel like, act like.  Some of you, not so much.  I guess that’s what made it brave.  I believe that God calls us, more than anything else to be true to ourselves and our journeys.  Many of you have been brave as well.  I invite us all to continue in a life of courage, a life where we, together or apart, continue to walk courageously the joyful path of self-discovery.  May we open our heart to what God longs for us to know—that, in God’s Spirit, we are powerful and brave beyond measure.  We are called, all of us, to “do at last what [we] came here for and waste [our lives] on fear no more”.  Amen and amen.  Namaste.

Live, Laugh and Let Your Light Shine!” 10-26-14

God, you gave us light, you filled us with light and now you send us into the world to be the bearers of that light to others.  Give us courage to strike the match and set our world aflame with your light.  Amen

            Every year I tell you that most of us preacher-types hate having to preach the annual Stewardship sermon.  For one thing, we all know it shouldn’t be ‘annual’ but rather ongoing.  The problem is that most, if not all if not all of you, dislike listening to it as much as we dislike preaching it.   This year, though, I am in an enviable position of being able to say everything that I want to say, without measuring my words or guarding against saying something that will come back to haunt me because I am leaving you before long.  I, unlike in past years, when I did not want to risk offending any of you, I can leave you with the very words that I would like to say regarding stewardship.

            First of all, let me acknowledge that no one wants to hear about money.  Many of us grew up in homes where money was added to the topics of politics, sex, and religion which should never be talked about in polite company.  Information about at least money and sex were never to leave the home.  If a family needed money, saying so in public was considered shameful--like airing one’s dirty laundry where the public could see it.  It just wasn’t done.  And, we never, never were to ask someone how much something costs.  Again, it just wasn’t done. 

            And, here we walk into church and expect people to feel comfortable talking about money.  Why, I don’t feel comfortable.  Why?  Because I was raised in the same era as most of you and taught all the same prohibitions as you.  But, I am your pastor and expected to push myself past all the same feelings you are having and talk about money.  And, don’t forget about the rest of the triangle—talent and time.  I fear that many church-goers suspect that we add in time and talent to the more touchy treasure just so you, the congregation can’t accuse us of only talking about treasure or money.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  As I was thinking about words on stewardship that I wanted to leave you with, six specific points seemed important. 

1.      It really does take money to run a church.  Bills are necessary and the perks once given to churches like lower rates and in-town discounts disappeared with small town good will.  Space whether rented or built costs 10 times what it did just a few decades ago.  Utilities go up at the same rate for the church as they do for your house and insurance is even more costly.

2.      Pastors can’t and shouldn’t work for free and most of the perks that used to be afforded to pastors have disappeared as well.  Pastors now have student loans.  MCC has no way to assist their pastors with seminary attendance which requires 3 years of full time schooling and many pastors, such as your current pastor, have an additional master’s degree as well.  Pastors are professionals and deserve to be compensated as such.  I know you know that it is a myth that pastors work one day a week; but, you may not realize that small church pastors often work parts of 7 days a week.  As you think about compensation for your next pastor, please keep all these things in mind.  Providing for that pastor is part of good stewardship as well.

3.      Programs and ministries cost.  They cost money, people, talents, skills, and time.  The price of resources has risen dramatically in the past few years. Even DVD series don’t teach themselves so they need skilled leaders and someone has to be committed to ensuring that the building is open, the room is ready, and then, locked up again.

4.      Church now have costs that the churches of 25 years ago do not have.  Website hosting, graphic design, printing, marketing and cell phone bills are just a few.  Technology is wonderful, but expensive.  Churches need security systems now—a thing unheard of in the past.                                                                 

NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS---

5.      Everyone yes everyone, has at least one talent they can dedicate to the church.  It is important for a church to help its congregants to identify those talents so they can help build the community.  Do some thinking yourself—you may be surprised at what you discover you can offer to God’s work.

6.      There is no formula for how many people per hundred members it takes to run a church.  Why?  Because it takes 100 people for every 100 members to run a church.  Each member must donate time, talent, and treasure if a church is to bear fruit.  Do you know that it has been documented over and over again that, in most churches, 20% of the people do all the work.  Think about that for a minute.  And I lovingly challenge you—if the only thing you do for your church right now is ‘show up’ on Sunday mornings, please rethink your commitment to this church.  If your church is a blessing to you, please be a blessing to it.

And, finally, 7.  We give because we have been given just as we love because we have been loved.  And, in loving and giving we are able to live, laugh and let our lights shine.  Our Old Testament Lesson reminds us that God’s people have always needed light.   The Israel people were on a journey following God.  But they needed to see God, because they didn’t always seem to know where God was going next.  So God stepped in and helped—appearing as a cloud of smoke during the day when the natural light was shining and as a pillar of fire at night when they would be unable to see.  Either way, whether it was day or night, they could see where God was heading.    God revealed the sacred presence as light so that they could follow.

            Now, contrast that to the New Testament where Jesus became the light in the world.  Jesus—pointing the way to God’s kingdom—God’s reign of justice.  Jesus, himself, was the light of and to and in the world.  But, we know that Jesus was here for more than just to be the light.  Jesus was here to teach, us, the followers of his way of being, to be the light in the world.  So another triangle is complete—God is light and reveals the light—God sends Jesus to be the light and to walk upon the earth—Jesus teaches us—his followers how to be light.  Jesus is firm in his beautiful words.  We are sent to show all the God-colors in the world—all by being the light as Jesus was the light.  Think about these stained glass windows that we so much admire.  Now it’s not that they are ugly when it’s night—why they are beautiful works of art and when lit from behind have a certain beauty.  But it is a beauty they keep all to themselves.  Now think about or look at the windows in the daylight.  Beautiful rainbow colors—all God-colors are reflected all over the room.  And they are all different—different shapes and sizes—just like we are.

            We will not all have the same thing to give—not the same time, the same talent, or the same treasure.  But looking at the lights, can you pick out one that is more beautiful than the other?  Even if you can, I doubt your neighbor would pick the same.  It all depends on how you look at it—all beautiful—all different.  Why is it is so hard for us to believe that we all have lights—lights that matter—lights that make the difference between the success and failure of this church.  Many of you have little treasure and more time—for some of you it is the opposite.  It doesn’t matter as long as you are giving something to all three points of the triangle.

            Some final thoughts.  In this church, it is not the responsibility of the Board or the Pastor to make this church successful—financially or spiritually.  If think that it is their responsibility or mostly their responsibility, then you are in the wrong kind of church.  You are in the kind of church where everyone accepts responsibility for the church—where we are all equal before God—where each voice matters.  You are in the kind of church where everyone has a light and a book of matches.  Notice how Kathy didn’t pass out candles to some and matches to others and candles and matches to others.  This is not how Open Circle works.  Take your metaphorical candle and matchbook and light the candle.  If you need help lighting your match, get someone to help you, but for the sake of the light of the world, don’t leave your matchbook tightly closed.  That is the very worst choice you could make. 

            And now I say to you in the grace of the one who showed us how to be light, Light your match, light your heart, light your church, and go light the world.  Amen and amen and Namaste!