Matthew 1 – “Reconciliation and Enjoyment” – December 23, 2018

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The Gospels of Matthew and Luke are the only ones that tell the story of Jesus’ conception and birth. Mark begins with Jesus as an adult. John begins with the beginning of time and then skips ahead to Jesus as an adult. In the Gospel of Luke we get lots of stories including a story about the miraculous conception of John the Baptist, the story of the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary and announcing the conception of Jesus, Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth (and John the Baptist’s mom) where John leaps in his mother’s womb at the sound of Mary’s voice. We get the Song of Mary beginning, “My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,  for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant, Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed” Which by the way is where we get the words to The Canticle of the Turning, “My soul cries out with a joyful shout that the God of my heart is great, and my spirit sings of the wondrous things that you bring to the ones who wait.” Then after Mary sings we are told of the birth of John the Baptist, and we get a song from his dad. Then finally in Luke, Jesus is born complete with the manger, the swaddling cloth, the shepherds keeping watch over their flock, and the heavenly host. That is all in Luke.

Matthew handles things more expediently.

Esther 4 – “Examine and Purpose” – December 9, 2018

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Just a quick recap of the story of Esther: Esther is the young Queen of Persia. The King has recently married her and does not know she is Jewish. Haman is an advisor to the King who convinces the king to order the slaughter of all the Jewish people in the Empire. Mordecai is Esther uncle and challenges her to stand up for her people and use her new influence as Queen to save them. Yet, Esther knows that even as Queen she will be risking her life to confront the King. In his appeal to Esther, Mordecai utters these somewhat famous words, “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape the slaughter. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

In the midterm elections this year, more than ever we had women running for office.

2 Kings 5 – “Simple, Mundane, Repetitive Practices for Wholeness” – November 4, 2018

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With Communion and All Saints Day Observance I want to keep the sermon very short and to the point today. Fortunately, the story of Naaman has at least one pretty straight forward message. That message is our healing and our wholeness often come through very simple, boring, repetitive practices.

Exodus 20 – Ten Commandments as Explained by the Animals – October 7, 2018

Greetings humans. On behalf of the rest of the animals on earth, thank you for taking the time to listen. You all seem to be having trouble with some basic ethical principles, so I have been asked to deliver this message explaining them to you one by one.

 

• I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.

 

“In other words, God is God. You are not. In fact, no animal is God.  Humans are just animals. If you want to imitate God then help liberate the oppressed, because that is what God did for the Hebrew people. But, even if you manage to do some liberating, don’t get too cocky. You are not God. No animal is God.”

2. Do not make an idol for yourself.

“This means, don’t pretend you know what God looks like. God probably doesn’t look like you. God probably does not look like any animal on earth. When you pretend you know what God looks like and you worship that self made image of God you are basically worshipping yourself. Don’t do that. It will not end well for any of us.”

3. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain

“Yeah, just stop talking so much. Just because you have language doesn’t mean you should never shut up. And just because you can talk doesn’t mean you know what you’re talking about. It certainly doesn’t mean you know anything about God. One thing for sure when it comes to God: if you can say it with words, it is completely insufficient.

4. Remember the sabbath and keep it holy.

“Right. Chill out. Please. Stop working so much. Take a break. For one thing, when humans work a lot they get hungry. When humans get hungry they start looking at the rest of us animals in a way that makes us uncomfortable. So please, stop being so busy, and rest. And while you are at it, give us a break too. We are not here to be your slaves. If you want the field plowed, plow it yourself. If you want protein in your diet, eat soybeans. For more on slavery and freedom refer back to Commandment #1 about liberation.”

5. Honor your father and mother.

“And not just your father and mother. Honor the wisdom of those who have been on earth longer than you. There is nothing new under the sun. So, those who have been here longer have seen it all before and can probably keep you from making stupid mistakes. And by the way, a lot of us animals (and plants too) have been around a lot longer than you. You might ask our opinions before you go ahead with your cockemame plans, like drilling for oil in the ocean floor, cutting down rainforest, blowing up shale to remove natural gas, or removing mountain tops to take out the coal. Seriously just stop all that.”

6. Do not murder.

“Let’s take it a step farther. Don’t kill. That’s right. Don’t kill. That means don’t kill animals either. We know you like to think this one says “Don’t murder” and maybe that is different than killing. But, this commandment is pretty important and if you don’t kill anything, you won’t murder either. So, stop trying to be smarter than you are. Just don’t kill. Anything. Period.

7. Do not commit adultery.

“This one is kind of special for you humans and it means more than you probably think. It means, if you make a promise, keep it.  We know you think this about something else, but if you keep your promises most of those other things will get sorted out. The rest of us animals don’t make promises. We just do what we do. But, you humans like to make promises and then you break them. Maybe you should stop making so many promises. But, if you do make a promise, keep it.”

8. Do not steal

“Don’t take stuff that doesn’t belong to you. But, this one is a little complicated. Because actually, nothing belongs to you. That makes it hard because we all need to eat, so we have to take some things some times like apples or bananas or broccoli. So how about this: don’t take stuff that belongs to future generations. Don’t consume so much that future animals (humans included) will have less than we all have today. And remember, animals don’t belong to you either. So don’t steal us. We want to be free. Please refer back to Commandment #1 about liberation.”

9. Do not bear false witness.

“Tell the truth. Another problem that comes with language. So refer back to # 3 about not talking so much. If you don’t talk, you won’t lie. But, when you do talk speak what is in your heart. Birds sing. Dogs bark. Cats meow. What does the fox say? Actually most of us make some kind of noise. We just take what’s within us and proclaim it to the universe. Maybe humans should try that more often. Maybe you don’t just talk too much, you also think too much.”

10. Do not covet

“Just what it says, “Don’t covet”. This one will help you stick with the one about not stealing. Nothing belongs to you. But, also everything belongs to you in the way that everything belongs to all of us. We all live on this earth together. Let’s live so we can all enjoy it together. If you try to keep some part of it just for yourself then someone else will not be able to enjoy it. But, when it doubt remember, nothing belongs to you.”

So let’s circle back around and summarize: God is God. Humans are not. No animal is God. You can’t imagine God. The best you can do is liberate the oppressed. Or if that seems too hard then just trying loving. Love the earth, and love the whole universe for that matter. Just love. With all your heart, soul and strength.

When in doubt. Love.

When you forget what to do. Love.

When you feel like making an image of God. Love instead.

When you feel like talking too much. Love instead.

When you feel like working too much. Love instead.

When you feel like doing something without asking those who came before you. Try loving.

When you feel like killing something. Love it instead.

When you feel like breaking a promise. Love the one with whom you made the promise.

When you feel like taking something that doesn’t belong to you. Love.

When you feel like speaking anything beside the truth in your heart. Find the love you have within and speak about that instead.

And when you start to think that something belongs to you and only to you and you want it really bad. Remember love and let it go.

With all your heart, soul and strength. Love.

Ruth 2-3, “Ruth Shows Us How To Work Out God’s Plan”, June 24, 2018

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Genesis 2:1-3 – “Observing the Sabbath” – September 3, 2017

Do you have a strong sense of God’s presence in your life?
Do you have a sense of purpose throughout the week?
Did you get enough sleep this week?
Do you feel grateful most of the time?
Do you feel a sense of abundance in your life from which you can share with others?

If you answered no to any of these question, you may need to consider or reconsider a more disciplined Sabbath practice. Sabbath keeping is one of the most important spiritual practices and one of the most neglected. 

Genesis 1:26-30 – “Faith and Veganism” – August 27, 2017

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Genesis 1:20-23 – “Diving Deep and Flying High” – August 20, 2017

We are invited by God to dive deep like the creatures of the sea. We are invited by God to soar high like the creatures of the air. I know that is quite an interpretive and metaphorical leap to take with this passage. But, there isn’t much else to do with it. “On Day 5 God made birds and fish.

We could talk about the structural organization of the 7 days of creation and how the creative activities on Days 1, 2 and 3 line up perfectly with the creative activities on Days 4, 5 and 6. That is very interesting, but what kind of application does that have for us today?

We could also talk about the abundance of animals described in Day 5. The great flocks of birds to fill the sky and the swarms of fish in the sea. We could use that as a reminder of the original abundance of creation, and how we are called to preserve and even restore that abundance. That’s a really good message, but I’ve talked a few times already in this sermon series about the importance of creation care and I will touch on it some more next week.

So, today I’m going to metaphorically dive in, or interpretively take off, and say that Day 5 of creation invites us to dive deep like the creatures of the sea–diving below the surface of our normal consciousness–and to fly high through faith like the birds of the air.

Exodus 12:1-3 – “Black Lives Matter and Communion” – October 2, 2016

There is a vigorous debate happening in American society right now between people who say that “black lives matter” and people who say that “all lives matter.” I think most of you know the reasoning behind both statements. “All lives matter” is actually a response to “black lives matter.” People who want to say “all lives matter” point out that in fact all life is important. It doesn’t matter what color you are, your life is important. Your life matters.

Black Lives Matter advocates actually agree with this, but point out that in reality black lives in our country are valued less than white lives. Black lives are clearly valued less by the criminal justice system at every step of the process, from being stopped by the police, to use of lethal and non-lethal force by the police, to conviction and incarceration rates. Black lives are valued less in the education system when schools with mostly black children have fewer resources than schools with mostly white children. Black lives are valued less in the workplace when people with black sounding names can’t even get an interview. Black Lives Matter advocates say that it is true that all lives should matter the same, but in American society all lives don’t matter same. Black lives are devalued so it must be said that “black lives matter”.

Mark 1:21-28 – Demons in this Modern World – February 1, 2015

Last weekend there was a great story on the radio program This American Life. The story was about a man named Paul Ford who is a computer programer who developed a website called Anxiety Box. In his own life Paul Ford dealt with all kinds of painful and debilitating anxiety. So he created a website in which he could input the kind of anxiety he struggled with, such as anxiety over work or family or a particular project. And then the website would automatically send him e-mails 10 or more times a day from his anxiety. The e-mails would say all kinds of terrible, mean abusive things to him. This might seem counter productive, but what it allowed him to do was see in black and white how utterly ridiculous his anxieties really were. The e-mails took the voices out of his head and put them in his inbox. Messages like “You are worthless, you’re wasting your life. Nobody likes you,” constantly throughout the day. By combining the messages that he usually said to himself in his head with the volume of e-mails he would receive he was able to realize that the voices were totally unconnected to reality. He was able to treat them the way he treated any spam in his e-mail inbox. They were crazy and he didn’t have to listen to them. By externalizing them in the form of an e-mail they lost their power.

I think this story offers us a helpful way in our rational, scientific world to think about demons. There really isn’t a place for demons in the modern world view. Instead, we read Bible passages like the one this morning about Jesus’ first exorcism in the Gospel of Mark and think that that person was not really possessed by a demon. They might have called it a demon back then but today we would say he was mentally ill. In fact, we would probably have the same reaction to all the stories of demon possession in the Gospels. What people in ancient time called demons, today we would have medical or psychological explanations.

And yet those explanations don’t always help us cope with or even overcome our problems. Mental illness is still very difficult to effectively treat. Addictions are still very difficult to overcome. There are still people who live everyday with diagnosed, disabling chronic pain. Despite all the scientific progress, many people still suffer from seemingly unsolvable problems. And then there are all kinds of social problems that we may understand rationally and we may be able to explain but we certainly can’t seem to overcome: racism, sexism, economic inequality just to name three.

Now I’m not about to say that if we just think about all these things as demonic, then we will be able to overcome them. However, I think we can say that stories of demon possession and exorcism like the one we read today may offer us guidance as we face some of our most chronic and difficult personal and social problems.

What do this morning’s story and other stories of demon possession tell us? Well for one thing they remind us that the person struggling with the demon is just as much a victim as anybody else. Demons afflict people. Never in the gospels do we find an account of demon possession where the possessed person is blamed for the possession. It never says the person has a demon because they are too lazy to do anything about it or they have a demon because they are morally deficient, or they have a demon because they did something to invite the demon. The person with the demon is always considered a victim of the demon.

In the same way we can remember that people who suffer from addictions are victims of those addictions. People who are racist are victims of that racism. We still have a tendency today to think that if someone is having a problem it must be something they are doing wrong. If they change something they are doing then the problem will just go away. Thinking in terms of demonic possession should help us separate the person from the problem. It should remind us that people are good and with the right help and support and motivation people can overcome the evils that confronts them. Whether that evil is a mental illness or chronic pain or addiction or racism or greed, the evils with which we struggle do not define us.

However, it is also important to remember when thinking in this way that we are still called to overcome the demon. We are still called to cast the demon out. If we don’t remember that then the demon can become an excuse for not overcoming. “There is nothing I can do. It’s demonic. I’m powerless.” We can look to the gospel and see that Jesus never met a demon he did not cast out. Jesus never met a person struggling with a great evil and said, “That’s too bad. I wish I could help, but demons are just scary. I don’t help with demons”

Another advantage to thinking about our problems as demonic is it can provide a simple way to deal with something that may be extraordinarily complex and scary. If we personify it we can get a handle on it. We can talk to it. We can argue with it. And most importantly, we can claim authority over it. Like Paul Ford the computer programmer discovered when he started getting 10 e-mails a day from his anxiety, when we externalize and personify our problems we may find a new kind of power over them.

Finally, when we think about our problems whether they are psychological or cultural or global as demonic we can also go back to these stories in the New Testament that remind us that Christ has the ultimate power and authority over them. Now let me be very clear, when I say that I am not saying that all we have to do is say “In the name of Jesus I cast you out” and all our troubles will be gone. What I am saying is that everyone of us has the power and ability within us through Christ to overcome any problem we have. It may not be easy. It may be very hard. But the power is there within us. It is the power of Christ within each person. We may access that power through prayer or meditation, through silence or through singing, through service or through sacrifice, but it is there and we can overcome our demons. That is what the passage means when it talks about Jesus having a new teaching with authority. We have the authority to overcome our demons through Christ.

I only say all this today to suggest that in our rational, scientific world we may want to open our minds to additional ways of thinking about our problems. This is not a sermon that says we should all start thinking about every problem we have in term of demon possession. I still first and foremost advocate for rational solutions to the problems we face in our personal lives and in our world. However there is also value at times when we face some of greatest, more insolvable problems to say to ourselves, “Wow. This is demonic. And still, through Christ, I can overcome it.” Amen.