Trees Planted by Water 2/17/19 Epiphany 6C

Rev. Dr. Rebecca L. Kiser

Trees Planted by Water

2/17/2019         Epiphany 6C          Luke 6:17-26, Jeremiah 17:5-10

            I remember my first time traveling out to the Presbyterian conference center, Ghost Ranch, north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Its called Ghost Ranch because that’s what it was called before it was donated to the church, not because of the Holy Ghost.)  God painted the countryside there with a totally different color palette from our east coast - browns, yellows, soft reds and sandy shades; and the green things are few and far between, little green dots on the large expanse of brownish hills. It could be another planet. Sometimes I did see larger green things, trees, although not as tall as here in the east.  And they seemed to be in wavy lines, not like a forest.  I realized they were following the river - the taller green things could only grow by a water source.  It was real obvious where the water was out there.   

            That’s the picture that comes to me when we read in Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17 about the trees planted by streams of water, whose roots can go down to find water, and whose leaves can therefore withstand heat and droughts.  Those who trust God, and who live according to what God tells us is good - these scriptures say that we are like those trees who can stand fast and grow tall. Our roots go down into the Spirit, and draw wetness and true life from it. The Spirit is the underground river, or the deep well, where life can be found even in dry seasons.  We talk about the water table, how the rains this year have replenished it - perhaps we can think of God’s Spirit as an everlasting water table that never runs dry. 

            The opposite, those who scoff at Godly things and depend on their own resources and power, are then compared to the tumbling tumbleweeds, those sagebrush plants that spring up and die, break off from inadequate roots, and get blown all over until they fall apart.  Back in my elementary days, when my family did the big camping trip cross-country, Daddy stopped the car and grabbed one of the tumbleweeds in the desert, thinking we’d take it home to look at as he played his recording of the song about Tumbling Tumbleweeds. But of course it was dry and fragile, and everytime we unloaded the station wagon to camp, more pieces of it broke off, until by the time we got home it was just a few larger sticks.  That’s a pretty clear picture, too. A tall green tree versus a breakable tumbleweed.  Its a pretty stark contrast, drawn in clear lines.  Trust God? Blessed. Don’t trust God? Cursed.

            Luke’s version of the Beatitudes kinda does that, too - Blessings to these here, Woes to them there.  They fall into parallels:

            Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kindom of heaven

                        Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

            Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.

                        “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.

            Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh

                        Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man...that’s what they did to the prophets.

Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

These are strange things to say about Christ-followers.  I mean, who doesn’t want to have money, be full, laugh and be well thought of?  Jesus says WOE to those of us who have those things!  Why, we think its a good person who works hard for money and stability, who can put food on the table, who are secure enough not to know want, and who are looked up to in the community.  That’s pretty much a definition of having ‘made it.’  Why would Jesus say WOE to those who have this status?

And why in the world would Jesus say that the poor, the hungry, the weeping and the folks reviled because of his name, are the blessed? 

Friends, the gospel of Jesus is actually heard more as good news by folks who are not the successes of the world. Its because those of us who are born on third base, think its we ourselves that have hit the triple - we think we got here by our own efforts, our own industry, our own good plans and our own smart decisions.  We don’t realize, in the way that others do, that we are all dependent on God, and that all we are comes from the Spirit.  Its because Jesus sees all people as worthy, even the ones we disregard - maybe even especially the ones we disregard.  Jesus proclaimed that the order that the world has established is NOT God’s realm, and, as Mary proclaimed at her pregnancy, the rich are set away empty.  Jesus’ gospel is bad news to those of us who seemingly have it made.  Those who aren’t making it in the world hear that they will be lifted up and comforted.  Those of us who have made it in the world economy are hearing that we aren’t any more special than anyone else in God’s realm.  Its harder for a rich person to get into the kindom of God than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.  Hmmm - its even hard for me to put my embroidery thread through the eye of a needle without a magnifying glass these days.

Our Scriptures today are some of those who separate the sheep from the goats in a black and white way - maybe exaggerated for emphasis, or to catch our attention and bring us back to the spiritual reality that God loves us all, no exceptions.  My worth to God is the same as the worth of the poorest kid in the projects. My life and salvation is as important to God as the life and salvation of any of those refugee families trying to make a way here from South America, or anybody else that makes us uncomfortable.  I am not a more deserving person than anyone else. We can see in our border conflict going on right now that its easier for people from a starving and torn country to look for hope here than it is for those of here to want to share it.  Classic illustration of what Jesus is saying.  Yes, we want to take care of our own family- but Jesus says they are all our own family.  We are all God’s own.  

Its more difficult for those of us who live in comfort because we think we earned it, and to deserve to keep what we have safe.  Its difficult for us to hear because refugees will change the balance that has served us well; because perhaps we will have to learn to live with less, so that they can merely subsist. Its the grown-up version of being the one asked to share, and resenting it. 

I’m certainly not in the 1% of the wealthy and powerful in our country’ I’m not even near the top of the 99%. HOWEVER, in the eyes of the global population, we here in the USA have a pretty good thing going. No wonder other people want to come here!  But just because we can look and see folks above us on the income scale, doesn’t let us off the hook.  Most of us were brought up in good families; maybe the first ones starting the farms were poor, but this generation is doing okay.  We had schools to go to, and colleges, and jobs, and land.  Our grocery stores are full of about anything we could want, and usually in several varieties.  We have healthcare available in our towns, and bigger hospital centers in a decent driving distance. 

And we are just as much in need of Jesus’ forgiveness as anyone else; we are just as deserving or undeserving as anyone else.  And our salvation hangs on the work of Jesus just like anyone else’s.  Our congregation here depends on the Holy Spirit just like every other congregation, whether its outside, under trees, in a home, in a storefront, in a new building or in an older one like ours.  That we have a great history, and endowments, and educated people makes not one bit of difference to our dependence on the Spirit for life and ministry. 

I struggle to trust this is true, because the world has dangled its definition of success and goodness in front of me all my life, as it has each of us.  Even in the ranks of ministers, there is envy and jealousy and competition for the large congregations and the better pay.  Even clergy think of success in our profession as measured by how many new people you can add, how big your budget is and how many new programs you can start.  I struggle with that myself, even knowing the Scripture as I do. I can preach it, but the internal struggle is real, too.  Lord I believe; help my unbelief.  I like to win contests; I’d like my sermons to go viral and have people flock to hear me, like the story Barbara Brown Taylor tells of her first church outside Atlanta. But the reality of it is that it has nothing to do with my worth and the love God has for me - my faithfulness, my generosity, my compassion, my trust in God  - this is a success in the spiritual life.  Back in Virginia, folks were excited that one of congregations in a growing area called a clergywoman whose last church grew by 300% in her tenure.  They offered her a great salary to be sure she chose them, hoping it was she who made the difference they longed for, for themselves.  Instead, soon after she arrived, the church was the victim of arson, and had to go through the great test of grief and rebuilding, a totally different scenario from what they anticipated.  Her ministry was to a totally different situation; andyet the roots that go down to the living water was bringing life in both settings..  I can feel envy rise up - why not me? Why are they so golden?  Did I do something wrong?  Why hasn’t God rewarded me like that?  That is just wrong thinking. 

I’ve had a very different life as a pastor than I anticipated.  I admit that I had my eyes on larger congregations and more salary, like my peers.  And sometimes I feel jealous that many of those that went to seminary with me (and got worse grades) will  have better retirement incomes than I will.  Once again, I’m comparing  outer success with God’s favor, which is just plain wrong.   What matters, friends, in our own lives and in our church’s life, is that our roots go down to that Living water of the Spirit, who gives life and abundance in our souls. 

As we think about our church here, God challenges us to let go of those outer success measures - and look to our spiritual connections with God’s Spirit.  Are we more like the green trees in our relationship to God, or more like the tumbleweed? How can we be MORE like the green trees with roots deep into the water?  How can we move from identifying with those to whom Jesus says WOE, to identifying with those whom Jesus calls blessed? 

I am interested in hearing how our week of praying for our congregation went, and what was stirred up in us.  I want to take some time to hear, if there are some who’d like to share.  How difficult was it to remember to do it daily? 

Metaphors of Boats and Fishing 2/10/19 Epiphany 5C

Rev. Dr. Rebecca L. Kiser

Metaphors of Boats and Fishing

2/10/2019     Epiphany 5C

The texts chosen for Epiphany are texts that show Jesus having powers that no one usually has - they show, him to be the Light of the world, the One sent from God.  Most of the gospel texts have Jesus shown doing miracles, where he illustrates his power of, and control of, material things - as the Creator of all that is, he can change it and direct it.  Jesus is revealed as Lord of all.  Again in this story today, Jesus can have the material world do his will - or else he knows things about the material world that are not evident to the rest of us.       

To get the full flavor of today’s text, let’s enter this story with our imaginations, and perhaps putting ourselves in to the scene as onlookers by the lake of Gennesaret.  You folks who like to go fishing, maybe you can tell us about the feel of the morning air, the smells by the lake as the heavy nets are hauled up on shore to be cleaned after a night of fishing.  You might also be able to tell us how it feels to have been out fishing for hours with no luck and no fish!  Now, we might fish more for sport, or for a great fish fry that noon.  These guys, though, fished for a living, and their nets could bring in a great haul to be sold, eaten right away, dried - fishing was their livelihood and the way they fed their families.

Anyway, these guys Jesus knows are tired after a night of throwing those heavy nets and hauling them in, even when they’re empty.  Now they are cleaning up their equipment and getting ready to either sleep or go on with their day.  And here is Jesus, with crowds of local folks pressing on him, wanting to hear what he says or, hopefully, see him do something special.  In order to speak to the group, Jesus asks Peter if he can take him out from shore a little bit, and he’ll speak from the boat.  And it will give him some breathing room, perhaps. 

So Peter is a good sport, and takes Jesus out from the shore a bit, so folks can see him and hear him better…..maybe we join them sitting on the shore to listen better.  So Jesus sits in the boat and talks to us all for a while.  At some point, then, Jesus tells Peter to take the boat out further to the deep water, and do his thing with the nets again.  I can imagine Peter shaking his head and rolling his tired shoulders a bit, they’ve already had a bad night fishing, cleaned the nets up, and Jesus wants them to do it again!  Sheesh!  Oh well, since you say so, master, we will. 

Now I don’t know if Jesus made the fish come to the boat by his divine power, or if by his divine insight he knew somehow that the fish were there, - but what happened is that those nets were so full that Peter yelled for help from a second boat, and the net were straining, and both boats were almost swamped by the catch. 

The men were shocked and impressed - how did Jesus do it?  This isn't normal.  I like what Peter says - “Go away from me Lord, for I am a man of unclean lips.”  Peter is scared to even be in Jesus’ presence; he is totally awed by the revelation of Jesus’ miraculous ability. What does Jesus say ?  He says, “Fear not.”  Hey Peter, its me, Jesus.

Can we imagine Peter and Jesus looking at each other on that boat, after this happens?  Jesus is just a guy like Peter - a man, a human, who eats and talks and walks and does other things humans do.  But then he does things like this, too.  We might all kinda look at him funny, and wonder who in the world he is and what in the world is going on here.

And of course Jesus makes a metaphor out of it, and tells Peter & the others that he is now going to make them fish for people...ie, help Jesus bring people into the new life of the realm of God.  Which is what he tells them again in what we call the Great Commission - go and make disciples, and teach them what I’ve taught you.  Fascinating story.

Boats are a long-used symbol of the church of Jesus Christ, going way back to also use the Ark as a symbol of deliverance and salvation.  The sea can be a dangerous place, and fishing is not a spectator sport - the workers in the boat have to work together in order to not sink, and to get a catch.  The church was seen as that boat that transported souls across the dangers of the world to finally reach the safe port of heaven. Making our pilgrimage through life, the soul’s journey - all of these were pictured in the sailboat. The masts, too, form a kind of cross.  The boat with a sail was used on signet rings of church leaders, stylized in stained glass windows and religious paintings.  There’s a style of church architecture where the inside ceiling looks a boat, too - the chapel at my seminary is that style, and the windows behind the cross are watercolors, blues and greens.    

A recent General Assembly Moderator, the Rev. Joan Gray, uses the illustration of boats to talk about our identity as churches. She proposes the rowboat style church, over against the sailboat type church. In the rowboat church, folks think the church is moved by their hard work - Jesus has given us the call and the abilities, and now its all up to us and our hard work. These folks row hard, put their backs into it, working all kinds of programs and things, harder and harder, and wonder why few come and join. Its like those fishermen working all night and not catching anything.  These folks read the books about church growth and seek to be realistic about what they can do with their donations and their limits. Their fishing is by the book, following all the best advice.  

Countering this is the sailboat church, whose people also can work hard; the difference is the wind of the Holy Spirit that fills the sail and moves them where God wants the church to go.  These folks bathe their seeking for directions and purposes in prayer, and know that it is God who brings the fish to the nets, or directs them to throw their nets where God knows the fish are. Their trust is in the call of God, and their relationship with God, and not limited by what they can see and touch right now in terms of material goods and finances.  After all, the church is Christ’s, and the work of the church is ultimately God’s work, and God will provide.

 In a similar picture of the church we read in 1 Corinthians a couple weeks ago, the church is a body working together; we are the hands and feet and arms and shoulders and knees and toes and so on, and Christ is the head.  Together, the head (Christ) directs us what to do and where to go, and we do it.  In another illustration Jesus used, we are the branches growing out of the main vine stem - we have to be connected; its the sap that comes from the vine that goes out to the branches to bear fruit.  These are images of connection and working together; and in all the images, Christ is the vine, Christ is the head, Christ is the source, Christ is the sustenance.  It is in being related to Christ, embedded in Christ, fed by Christ, enlivened by Christ, that we complete Christ’s work, bear fruit, or catch fish.  We don’t go off on our own, we don’t make up our own agenda, we don’t decide to bear fruit all by ourselves.

Peter’s attitude needs to be our attitude:  Well, I’m not at all sure about this, Jesus, but since you said it, we’ll do it.  And then, like Peter, we follow Christ’s directives and are amazed. 

There seem to be a couple main parts to this: we have to be connected to Christ, and we have to listen to what Christ says, trust it & do it.  Last Sunday we spoke about our own relationships with God, and how this is primary for being the church.  Its kind of a “duh” thing - how can we be Christ’s church without being joined to Christ?  So we examine our own lives and ask,  ‘What shape is my own faith life in?’  I know we are all concerned about the future of our church and the whole church.  Are we wrestling with our longings for the church in our prayers?  Are we pinning our hopes on calling the right pastor who will have all the answers (which, by the way, is not true)?  Are we immersed in Scriptures for forming our own actions?  Does the Spirit of God challenge us and nudge us deeper and deeper into faith?  Faith isn’t just being able to win at Bible Trivia night, knowing the names and details - rather it is the living Spirit that reaches out to us through these stories of faith, and calls us further in.

 

A big question that might arise is, How do we hear what Christ is saying, so we can follow it?  How do we know the voice of God? How does that work? Peter sat next to the physical Jesus on a boat and heard actual words and directions. I don’t know about you all, but that has not been my usual experience.  So I sat and pondered what my usual experience was, trying to find words for what has been, for me, a more experiential, intuitive thing and not so defined. I realized that, again, that it starts in my prayer. 

My usual style of prayer is deliberately talking things over with God - laying out what I’m feeling or wanting or worried about, in God’s presence. The way God talks back is in making me question myself - well, that’s not very noble, Becky, is it? Who are you protecting with that?  Why do you need more visible proof?  I talk to God about anything - for my kids, for direction in my life, for company and a relationship, what God wants me to say in my sermons, taking care of my bodily health - - anything.

Let’s take, for example, praying for the church here.  I think God helps me refine and hone just what my hopes and longings really are.  I’d love for the church to have more people - I mean more worshippers, I mean more believers, I mean more people seeking to live for Christ.  I mean genuinely seeking, not just bodies and not just wallets.  See how that became more specific as I went along?  I’d love for the church to reach more beyond the walls here and find mission to do in the community. We do some, sure.  And we are a loving community to each other- don’;t want to lose that.  But I do think we’re so worried about the future that we’ve kinda pulled in to ourselves.  And we’ll have to get to know our community and its needs.  Obviously Williamsburg County has needy people - we have poverty, we have children, our school system has problems, we have elderly - the community is changing, shrinking?  I don’t know.  But people need the joy of God, and despite the number of churches, there are lots of folks who haven’t found meaning in it.  Where do we start?  Its almost overwhelming, God…I pray that you lay things on our hearts and directs us where the fish are.  I pray we listen and respond.  I pray for people who are brave enough to speak up and say what’s on their hearts.  I pray we leaders listen and say yes. 

Do you hear how that evolves as I pray? To me, that’s the Spirit of God challenging me,

leading me in certain directions, and nudging my consciousness. In talking over what I think I am longing for -which I think comes to my heart from the spirit in the first place, - God kind of helps me distill what it is that my longing is actually for.  Its not a quickie prayer, God bless our church, AMEN.  This takes some intention and some time.

And then, in  my awareness of things from prayer, I seem to be more aware of ideas that spark from conversations, or my eyes see a possibility that I missed before, or someone tells me about something that relates, or something seems to connect with my remembrance of my prayers. Sometimes it excites me and sometimes it scares me.  It seems to me that my job then is to pursue what comes to me, because my praying has been just for that!  Some doors shut, some open further.  If I’m looking at what happens through the eyes of God leading and guiding me, I’m listening to God and seeing what comes.

I remember when Billy was still in high school and wanted to get a job, I advised him to gather his info and go fill out applications in all sorts of places.  He got called back here and there but he wasn’t excited by them, and I think he went to interviews with that bottom lip out, and not showing his sparkling self….so he didn’t get any offers.  Then one day a friend told him that the theater was hiring folks to check coats and sell stuff at intermission, and he got the job.  Billy came to me and said, See Mom, I didn’t have to do all that application stuff after all! God got me a job. I said, Doing all that application stuff made your ears open to possibilities that might have gone past your ears otherwise.  You were ready for God then.

Its doing all that prayer stuff, all that talking with God stuff, that makes our eyes and ears open when God speaks.  Prayer sensitizes our awareness so that when someone mentions an idea, there is soil in which it can take root.  I think that’s the best way I can explain it.  When a nudge comes, when a possibility opens, I am ready.  

So the feeling has been growing in me that we need to pray more deeply and pointedly about our church’s future.  The invitation is for each of us to spend time daily before God this coming week, letting God hone our intentions and distill out true longings. Before we do more talking together, we need to bring our hopes and fears before God by ourselves. This is serious stuff, this listening for Christ’s leading.  Church is changing - God is the One who knows what is coming, and who directs it.  Perhaps what God needs is for us believers to get on our knees and ask direction. Trusting to the wind of the Spirit to guide us does make us give up a bit of control. Its not by our smarts, but by God’s leading that we go forward.  We’re going to take several minutes and pass out little cards about making our intention concrete. I don’t need your name - if you are moved to do this, put one card in the offering, and put the another in your wallet for a reminder. At Session this afternoon, we will give thanks for the results.  AMEN.

Love Is Not Just For Weddings 2/4/19 Epiphany 4C

Rev. Dr. Rebecca L. Kiser

Love Is Not Just for Weddings

2/4/2019     Epiphany 4C    1 Cor 13:1-13

I’m sure these are very familiar words from 1 Corinthians.  Probably you’ve heard them at weddings, too.  There’s something moving about them, uplifting, inspiring, when we think about love.  Here it is February, with Valentine’s Day coming up and all the decorations and candy in the stores.  I actually wore my Valentine’s day socks on Friday, to mark the month.  (Actually, my blue socks were in the wash…) 

I’m sorry I have to break the dream with reality….however, far from being about falling in love or married love, this passage is actually written to a Christian community to describe what THEIR CONGREGATIONAL LIFE should be like and could be like.  It is about the kind of love WE BELIEVERS ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE for everybody, the kind of love we live in daily and hourly.  Everyday love, not special love; everyday love of those who now live in the realm of Christ.  The way we act all the time, in other words; the way we treat all those we encounter. 

We might notice that this kind of love isn’t necessarily a feeling, either - its more a description of actions.  Its isn’t the light-headed, balmy feeling that everything’s right with everybody and everything is beautiful.  Its how we act., what we do, how we are.

Here are the words of Scripture:         Patient                         Kind

                                                            Not envious                 Not boastful

                                                            Not arrogant                Not rude

                                                            Not irritable                 Not resentful

                                                            Rejoices in the truth    Doesn’t rejoice in wrongs

                                                            Bears all things           Believes all things

                                                            Hopes all things          Endures all things

                                                            Never ends….

Since we are walking in the realm of God here on earth, as those who trust in  Christ for forgiveness, for new life, ….these words are to describe how we are with one another - and, with this mindset, we also approach all others.  These are our descriptive adjectives. 

Of course, most of us have trouble acting this way towards our own love and our own family….And we usually cut ourselves some slack with our attitudes and behaviors towards the rest of the people we know or meet, especially the mean ones, or the ones who are rude to us first, or the ones who wrong us.  Most of us fall short of having our attitudes so totally transformed by the Spirit of Christ. 

But we shouldn’t stop praying or trying. 

I once did a program on the desert mothers and fathers,  Abbas and Ammas, who interested me already.  These were believers starting in the 3rd century whose spirituality and spiritual seeking drove them singly into the deserts in Egypt, where they could pray and seek God, fight with their inner thoughts and emotions, and live a simple life of prayer.  I guess I was interested because it attracted me - yet even with no people to irritate them or interrupt their prayer, there were still enough inner things to overcome in their search for relationship with Christ.  Eventually this kind of religious life became the source of the monastic life yet in a cloister together.  New seekers who came to this life were encouraged to apprentice themselves to a more experienced hermit.  Usually the older religious person would not make the apprentice the servant, but would, say, draw water for them, cook for them, do the basic care things for them.  In that way, they taught the younger seeker how to be - not with demands, but with care.  When the younger person would say, ‘no, I need to serve you’, that was a turning point. 

That fascinated me - the one more mature in the faith taught the less mature one through the example of service and love, rather than demanding obedience or service for themselves.  Its the same model as Jesus kneeling to wash the feet of his followers.  Its the same model as God coming among us to show us the way, and instead of blowing us up in anger at the treatment we gave him,  taking the path of sacrifice and death at our hands.  For which love, the Scripture says, God raised him up in new life and made Christ over all.   

I read something this past week that that intrigued me - this writer that I admire made a contrast between worshipping Jesus and following Jesus.  I had to stop and think about it, because I thought worshipping God and Jesus was the point, you know...we do call these meetings a worship service, after all.  Gradually I realized his point: worshipping Jesus can make us see Jesus as unapproachable, set apart, not like us, too different - ‘of course he could do all those things because he was God’, unlike us, we might muse.  ‘We’ll never be like that - how could God expect us to be like that?  But we’ll praise Jesus for sure.’  Not that that attitude is totally wrong…..BUT, BUT, Jesus actually asked us to follow him, imitate him, be one with him, be transformed by the Spirit into the same ways as Jesus lived.  Early believers were called Followers of the WAY  - the Way of Christ.  Christ is to be our teacher and our pattern - the call is to be LIKE Jesus, not just to say, “Oh, Jesus is so great.”

These words in 1 Corinthians 13 describe the love we will have as followers of the way of Christ.  You might have noticed that I often use the words “Christ-followers” in place of “Christian.”  To me, “Christ-followers” describes more who we are, ie disciples, followers, learners from Christ’s teaching and model.  “Christian” somehow sounds to me more like just belief of some kind of doctrine or behavior; an empty belief  and not necessarily the acts of living it.  It also helps me differentiate myself from the people calling themselves Christians who do un-Christly things like make the news for their hate or weirdnesses - and not their love.  Which may not be so loving of me, but its tricky - I feel ashamed to hear the word “Christian” used in those ways.  I don’t want the folks outside the church to think we’re all like that, and Christianity is meant to be like that. I am leery of being identified with them.

            Part of being the “Church” is demonstrating the life of the realm of God, illustrating just how Christ has transformed us, and showing others the kind of relationships our spirituality of following Christ has led us to. “See how they love one another,” people said about the early believers, the followers of the Way.  Accepting of the way of Christ transformed them in visible, observable  ways. 

            Has it done that for us?  Are we different than we were, as we follow Christ?  Is our quick temper being transformed? Not magically, of course; not without effort and prayer, and concern for our tempers and striking out.  Is our envy of the good things our sisters and brothers might receive being transformed?  Again, its not a magical disappearance - in my experience, these changes come when we realize that we ARE envious, and we take steps to not act on it, then we pray about it and wrestle in prayer with God about what’s going on inside us that we get envious in the first place.  Usually there are tears, and realizations, and a gradual healing that happens deep inside.  And one day we find that the envy quiets down, and loses its grip on us.  Sometimes our KINDNESS might be how we were raised, or it may be that we begin to listen to our own thoughts and words, and ask ourself if that was kind; we begin to become aware of the possibility of kindness.  Maybe our appreciation of what someone is feeling, because we have felt how difficult that is ourselves, makes us more kind to their situation.  Maybe at first we say the words without feeling it, and gradually Christ’s love transforms us into actually feeling that kindness.

            Without reflection on the words and attributes, we may not realize how arrogant we seem to others; we may not realize how we have inner permission to hit somebody back who hits us.  Without reflection, we may not realize how we take our place in a hierarchy for granted - or even that there IS a hierarchy, a place of privilege. 

            February is also Black History Month in our country, helping us to raise the accomplishments of people of color that were overlooked in history, because, well, they weren’t white.  This is good for people of color, to raise self-esteem in a needed way.  Its also good for us white folk, who have mainly just overlooked people of color, either on purpose or unconsciously. 

We have a difficult history with people of color in our country - not necessarily more in the south than the north, either.  I’ve found a lot of ignorance and avoidance in the north, too.  Mainly, it seems to me that white people who take seriously the value of all people, have worked to educate themselves and sensitize themselves to the issues of race in our country, who are the ones who are making a difference.  Those who take the trouble to listen, whose ears are open to hear another person’s experience, who make the effort to understand, these are the ones who are taking the WAY of Jesus deeply into themselves. 

            I want to say a quick word about how these words about ‘bears all things’ and ‘believes all things’ and ‘love never ends’ have been used by abusive people, and even pastors, to tell women, or men as the case may be, that God wants them to stay in abusive relationships and believe their abusers’ promises to never do it again.  These attributes are not meant to turn us into doormats or whipping posts.  Much damage is done to a person who experiences abuse, emotional as well as physical. I would never interpret these verses to mean that an a person should stay in an abusive situation. 

Its as we heal from our own hurts and recover damaged parts of ourselves that we are better able to learn the ways to Christ.  While we can learn the outer actions even while still healing, I’ve found that the more whole I am, the more well I am, the more I have the ability to love, to be kind, to not envy, to not want revenge and the other words.  We have to be somewhat conscious of ourselves to be able to even admit faults and accept that we need to be transformed.  In a way, its God’s healing of us that brings us to the point of our hearts being softened and our life transformed.  It takes a big person to be able to live according to the words of 1 Corinthians 13.

This is the call to us as Christ-followers, and a church - that our relationship with God, with Christ, with the Spirit, be a primary focus;  the urge to heal, to be whole, to be forgiven and restored br a driving force in our lives.  The good news first has to be good news to us, before we can share that good news, and show it in our transformed living.  Kindness and turning the other cheek aren’t the behaviors we learn as we grow up.  God’s love is something we have to experience first hand before we can tell others about it. 

This morning, we are all urged by God, to look at ourselves through the lens of  these words, and listen for where the Spirit is telling us that transformation is still needed.  This morning, we ask ourselves just what our own relationship with God is, how this good news invites us further into our own healing and transformation.  Nurturing our relationship to God is the  primary thing, the priority of our life.  Only from this encounter with God can the church be the church, can the church exhibit the life and love God means for all people, and invite others in to this forgiven and restored living.  AMEN.

TODAY the Scripture is Fulfilled 1/27/19 Epiphany 3C

Rev. Dr. Rebecca L. Kiser

TODAY the Scripture is Fulfilled

1/27/19       Epiphany 3C       Luke 4:14-21

All the neighbors have been gossiping about Jesus over morning coffee, and talking over what happened at his baptism as they gather at the local deli for sandwiches.  “You hear about that thing Jesus did?”  “Yeah, Joseph and Mary’s boy.” “I hear from Sadie that at his bar mitzvah,  he got lost talking with the Rabbis and made them have to turn around to get him - A whole 2 more days that trip took!”  “Wasn’t there some story about a wedding where suddenly there was a lot more wine?”  “He’s visiting his mother right now, that boy.  Home from traveling, they say, with a bunch of friends.”  “Maybe he’ll settle down and give them some grandchildren now.”  “I don’t know, he’s always been kinda different…” “I don’t know, he did go see that weird guy John who was baptizing people out in the desert.”  “They’re cousins, right? Maybe there’s  some ‘crazy’ in his genes, too.” 

Anyway, since Jesus is home, he’s asked to help out at church, and read the Scriptures.  Maybe he’ll take his place among the men now, maybe he hasn’t forgotten his training in reading the old Hebrew.  So Jesus takes up the scroll and finds Isaiah, and reads the words of the prophecy:

 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

He rerolls it, gives it back, then sits and begins to teach - - and makes for more gossip and talk, because he says, “TODAY this scripture has been  fulfilled in your hearing.”

What??  Is he saying that he, of all people, little Jesus all grown up now, is fulfilling the words of the great Isaiah????  Is he claiming to be a greater prophet than Isaiah, that he fulfills the prophecy????  But he’s just Mary and Joseph’s boy! Our sons ran foot races with him, played ball with him.  Remember that time he skinned his knee?  Why, he’s just like us, one of us!  And he’s still young - how can he say these things like he knows more than our rabbi, who’s been here 20 years? 

Its hard for them to let go the way they’ve looked at Jesus as the boy next door, or the boy down the street.  The carpenter’s kinda odd boy.  The other gospel writers say that he wasn’t able to do many miracles in his hometown - too difficult for people there to look at him with faith.  You know what makes an expert, right?  A stranger with a briefcase. Jesus is too familiar, and that’s confusing.

Let’s look again at what Jesus says that he fulfills:   he says that the Spirit of the Lord is on him, that he has been anointed, or set apart by God to do certain signs of the age to come - he is to bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to captives, free the oppressed, and just generally proclaim this a special time of God’s favor.  In him, in other words, the lion lays down with the lamb and all other signs of God’s realm are showing that they are fulfilled.  And these folks of the village here are seeing it with their own eyes. 

The language this is written in has some peculiar verb tenses that English doesn’t have, and some words that carry deep meanings - its difficult to translate word for word, as our language doesn’t have the total equivalent.  The verb “has been fulfilled” is one of those weird tenses.  Y’know, we have past, present, future, and some others.  The verb used here doesn’t mean that this fulfillment happened once in the past or the present, and that’s all.  Its a verb tense that means its happening now, and will continue to happen into the future.  TODAY the words of prophecy are being fulfilled.  When TOMORROW becomes today, the words of the prophecy are also being fulfilled. And every today after that, the prophecies are being fulfilled.  It is a new era, an ongoing era... - an era of God’s favor, an era of healing and making right, an era of prisoners released, oppressed ceasing to be oppressed, and the poor hearing good news instead of always hearing hard things and more bad news.  It is an era of God’s favor all around. 

Jesus chose these words from the prophet Isaiah to describe his call, his anointing, the reason why the Spirit of God came upon him.  And the word he chose to say is a word that is still true in our TODAY - we are still in that era, we who make up the current body of Christ are still the called and anointed to be sharing the good news that this is a time of God’s favor. As the body of Christ, the church, this is our call just as it is Jesus’. 

I’ve been doing a good bit of thinking about the purpose of church, the reason for church, and the expected work of the church.  Actually, for most of my ministry I’ve held a view of church that I’ve tried to preach, but never felt that I communicated it well - or at least it never seemed to change much of anything, even when the folks liked my sermons. Even when I’ve been able to work with Sessions and congregations for 4-5 years in a row, I’ve never felt that I moved their understanding much from the way “church” has been done for several generations; that is, more like a non-profit do-good organization where institutional requirements are met, and the preacher is responsible to see that people join and the budget keeps up and programs that have always been done are maintained.  People “enjoy” worship services more for the sense of continuity with their childhoods than with a sense of the greatness of God; more for the sense of the familiarity of the order and the songs than for a deep feeling of praise to the God who makes all things new; more for good performances by the choir and the preacher, for affirming perhaps the moral codes it endorses and makes them feel like good people, than a hunger for a deepened spirituality and maturity in faith.  People like seeing each other and finding out who’s been sick, and organizing nice events. Just keeping this nice thing going the way its always been.   Sermons are nice religious talks that are informative and kinda motivating;judge the preacher by their speaking voice and their delivery style.  Everyone does their duty rather than using the gift the Spirit has given them. Find more people like us to join and fill the pews, rather than proclaiming the gospel of forgiveness and grace that people so desperately need to hear and heed.  Being able to quote more verses and name the chapter and verse, rather than wrestling with the difficult task of learning to walk the walk of Christ.    

Friends, if that’s all there is to church, no wonder more and more folks are finding it rather meaningless to their lives, a rote performance of a social duty that doesn’t really call to them anymore.  It doesn’t change their life, it doesn’t support their seeking and trying out of their personality and development, it doesn’t affect much in the community or make much difference in their life. Its a waste of a Sunday morning. 

Of course there IS an aspect of church as a community, a people who know each other, love each other and care for each other.  In a community like this, people are accepted, foibles and all.  Strengths and weaknesses are known and accepted.  God knows this is important for people’s lives...I don’t think we are meant to be isolated and alone.  HOWEVER, a community has to be aware of what we read last week - that people are different, and have differing gifts that the community needs...even people who seem the most different.  A close community that squashes difference or looks askance at those who question or challenge the norms, is an excluding community rather than a beloved community.   It can become an ingrown community that has forgotten that God is a God of surprise, of new life, of creation and recreation. And the winds of the Spirit can blow in unexpected and unanticipated ways. 

I mean, who could have predicted that God would choose to live among us as one of us? Who could have predicted that Joseph and Mary’s boy would speak such a new word, and with the authority of the Spirit? Or not a totally new word, rather a word from old prophecy that had been neglected or not understood?

Because Jesus also speaks a word from within the tradition - a word spoken hundreds of years before within the same faith; yet still a disconcerting word of freedom that will shake the way that patterns had fallen into.  And as Christ’s body, the church, there are more aspects of church than community - there is also the aspect of the prophetic word, the social justice word, the wholeness and wellness word, the political word even - that the poor are not forgotten by God, which can really challenge those who are well-off in the system; that those oppressed will be set free, which can be bad news to the oppressors and controllers; that captives will be released, which is bad news to those who profited as the jailers; that the blind will see again, which is bad news to those who are comfortable with the fiction that everything’s okay, simply because its okay for them.  The prophetic words that Jesus chooses to read and apply to himself is a discomfiting word to some, while a word of liberation to others.  In the realm of God, EVERYONE needs to be well, free, seeing and unchained - or else the whole system is judged wrong.  Invisible people need to be seen and cared for; hurting people need to be seen and cared for; those on the underside of the system need to be brought into the light and healed. 

Jesus is proclaiming some social upheaval - the good news of God’s favor for those who have been invisible.  Those who have been in power may at first hear it as bad news, but actually their salvation also needs this upheaval - it is not God’s realm when there are those who do well and those who don’t - in God’s realm, everyone has enough and everyone is whole. 

If we are to be Christ’s body, which is how the church is described in Scripture, this kind of healing and restoration is our call, too.  And you see where it got Jesus - this isn’t always an easy message to preach to the ruling classes, or dominant population, or those who do well in the system of the world. For everyone to have enough, some of us may have to learn to do with less. While some will feel like they’re walking into the sunlight, others may feel that they are losing power.  Yet its for the good of all, eventually, because in God’s realm, everyone is important, everyone deserves honor, and everyone is healed.  This is where the Spirit of God will take us, because it IS the spirit of GOD, after all.  And this is our call, as it is Christ’s. 

Yes, we support one another in love.  And yes, we gather in fellowship, as those who work together for God.  But that’s not the only reason for the church - the main reason is to join Christ in proclaiming the year of God’s favor, to witness to God’s grace towards humanity in offering restoration and wholeness through faith, to join Christ in offering this gift of Gd to the world.  We might admire Jesus for giving his all in sounding this message; the real call, however, is to follow Christ’s example, and follow Christ’s footsteps, and follow Christ in proclaiming good news.  AMEN.

We Have What We Need 1/20/2019 Epiphany 2-C

Rev. Dr. Rebecca L. Kiser

We Have What We Need

1/20/19                    John 2:1-11, 1 Cor 12:1-11              Epiphany 2C

I can only remember one pot luck where we ran out of food, or were at least scraping down the last dishes that had some food in them.  Everybody got enough, that was no worry...but that was because the first people, sizing up the situation, took only modest portions. Nobody said anything, but the next time, everybody brought dishes that held more servings.  Then there’s a wedding I remember, where the family decided to serve only hor dourves - which was okay, except the wedding was at 4:30 pm and the reception then about 6-ish. And they didn’t consider hungry young adults just out of college.  By the time I arrived, all the hor dourves had been scarfed down. Nobody said anything, and we had fun anyway; but we all knew that they had tried to not spend too much on it, and it went wrong.

No host or hostess wants to run short on food or drink at a party.  And what I’ve read about middle-eastern wedding celebrations is that they went over several days.  According to what this story in John tells, folks back then saved money by serving the best wines first, when people were sober and noticing more - then as the evening progressed, they served the lesser plonk, as folks would  notice less.

When I read this story about the wedding at Cana, I always wonder who was getting married and why it concerned Jesus’ mother that the hosts were running out of wine early.  Maybe it was the wedding of one of Jesus’ siblings? Maybe a relative? And why did she ask Jesus, of all people? What did she think he could do about it? He hasn’t been doing miracles yet, at least as recorded in the gospels - this turns out to be his first.  Its a strange first miracle, too - not life-threatening or anything ….just a social embarrassment of a host family… although these kinds of things live in communal memory, and family honor is a big deal.

But Jesus takes care of it,  miraculously changing the large casks of water into wine - and not a poor wine, but a great one. The guests probably don't even  know - just the servants, maybe some of the host family, Jesus and Mary. Of course the word will spread! I guess my prejudice shows when I wonder why ensuring a family has enough wine for their celebration is Jesus’ first miracle.  It’s not like curing lepers, or blind folks, or children with epilepsy, or a wild man’s madness. Perhaps it goes along with the miracles of feeding - multiplying the offered food somehow to take care of the crowd’s hunger. Perhaps there’s a connection to the Last Supper, and the elements of bread and wine that become our sacred meal of spiritual nourishment and God’s presence. Perhaps it says that Jesus cares for people’s needs, whatever they are.  The need for family honor here, the need for lunch for people who came out to hear him there, the healing needs from illness both physical and mental. Perhaps it says to us that Jesus cares that there is enough for all - and even abundance. For sure it assures us that Jesus wasn’t an ascetic - he goes to parties and cares about the wine! Perhaps it speaks of God’s generosity to us all. Jesus does seem to be able to mess with matter, and make it do what he wants, which is pretty breath-taking.  

God is certainly a God of abundance, especially if we look at God’s self-expression in creation.  When I started gardening, I quickly realized that I knew very few plant names - even their common names; much less their scientific names.  There are way too many plants for me to know - and new varieties are being made or discovered all the time. There aren’t just one or two nice flowers for nice occasions, or even a dozen nice flowers for variety’s sake - there are zillions of flowers!  And they don’t even have to be planted by us - zillions more grow wild in abandoned lots, or on mountainsides, or in forests. Small, large, shy, flagrant, smelly in a good or bad sense, shade and sun, good soil and poor soil, wet and dry conditions…. There are flowers for them all.  I worked to know names, so I didn’t have to say, “You know, that blue thing that grows in the ditches.” I worked on knowing vegetables, too. And now I’m feeling that way about birds. God’s abundance and variety is amazing. God has set much joy and celebration into creation and life. Jesus certainly has a zest for life, a gift for words and stories, and strong views!  Of course he’d like good wine.

It’s a similar thing when we come to the gifts and talents God has blessed humanity with, or, as 1 Corinthians talks of, spiritual gifts.  We humans have infinite variety within the parameters of physical and mental differences, personalities, talents, abilities, or how our brains work.  Paul reminds the community at Corinth that this diversity is for the common good.   Not for boasting, not for showing off, not for comparing.  We’re not all preachers, thank God. I attend conferences where most folks attending are pastors,...Whew!  Lots of opinionated people who like the sound and authority of their own voice. I often look for conferences that have non-clergy, and even non-churched folks, too.  

There’s a preacher joke - how are preachers like manure?  Answer - all in a pile, they stink, but spread thinly around, they can do good.

Somebody in church needs to be attentive to details, especially in recording about the money.  Somebody needs to be a good planner, another needs to be extroverted and love hospitality, another more introverted person may excel in visiting the sick.  Some teach, some do music, some like research into the details of Bible exposition, some like building and repairing things. Some might be politically to either side of center in order to keep us thinking and praying and pondering.  Some may have a desire for a feeding ministry, another might want to address homelessness, and yet another want to celebrate the beauty of creation through art. Somebody has to know about the boiler, hopefully, and somebody else keeping church records.  Some may have a strong and unquenchable faith during the hard times; someone else may be a problem-solver; someone may be a healer or care about healthcare available to folks. Some may be good speakers while others hate to be up front, but love to cook, or take care of children. Those are just a few examples.

Whatever our gifts, or the interests that grab us, they are given by God, and given for the common good.  God gives the church what it needs and who it needs - and different churches, with different people, develop the ministries unique to their members.  Maybe large churches can have programs for a wide variety of people; other churches develop an identity based on the gifts available.

Churches have some common core needs:  growing in faith, worship, caring, outreach, and fellowship. How a specific church does this can be unique. A pastor can’t come in and tell a church what they “should be” doing, except in that overall view.  A church’s mission and ministry really grows out of its own vision, interests and gifts.

When Indiantown Pres, for example, looks to expand its mission and ministry, what we have to look at, what we have to examine, is what gifts God’s Spirit has given to we who are members here. What passions and visions God has graced us with, we who are the people called here already.  And how they match with community needs, for example. This kind of spiritual discernment takes a lot of prayer, a lot of inner listening, and an open mind - because the Spirit doesn’t say the same ol’ same ol’ to each congregation.

Ocean View Pres, for example, was about this size, and severasl members had a passion for a food pantry.  That passion grew the biggest food pantry in the region, devoting unused Sunday School rooms to large refrigerators which they purchased with grant monies.  Another member there was developing her her skills as an artist, and she started an Art Fair on the church grounds. I remember we considered using our facility as a wedding venue, but the lack of parking nixed that.  The West Plains church joined into community events, having a float at the Christmas Parade and serving hot chocolate; then having a booth at the Old Time Ozark Festival, offering cool water.  That church was 175 years old, and decided to have a Sesquicentennial event of poetry and music for the community. The youth adopted a road that ran by our church to do regular pick-ups of trash along the road.  We also had a bed at the community garden, and devoted the food to a local food pantry.

A church in Norfolk that was largely progressive in their outlook, became known locally as the church that welcomed LGBTQ persons - tthey opened their doors to let parent groups and LGBTQ folks meet there.  Another church in Norfolk had some musicians interested in the contemplative worship and music of Taize, and did a twice-monthly evening service which drew quite a crowd from the community.

I don’t know how many members these churches added because of the outreach programs, but they were still doing mission, giving themselves away in mission to the community.  I do know that the people involved developed their own spirituality and walk with Christ, and the churches had a positive reputation.

I think we have a wrong view of church mission, if we just do it so people will join. And we have a wrong appreciation of church size, if we don’t think there’s anything we can do because we’re small.  Sometimes people join, sometimes they don’t. I don’t know of any church that offers a preschool ministry for the community, for example, that gets more than maybe one family to join, if that. We do ministry and mission because that’s what the Spirit of God pushes us towards in our hearts.  We do it because, as Christians, that’s who we are - compassionate people, helping the suffering, seeking to meet human needs, whether its healing, as in hospitals and healthcare her and around the world; or whether its literacy, as in adult education, English as a second language classes, book groups or art fairs. Jesus, we saw this morning in the wine story, also cared about people’s honor and celebrating as well as feeding and other miracles of meeting people’s needs.  

I’m working on a plan for us to ponder and rethink about what church is according to the Bible, and brainstorm and dream and listen for the Spirit of God moving in our own passions and interests.  I’ll challenge us to increase our prayer life, faith life, and examine our own gifts and nudges towards mission. I plan to start with the Session, and then bring everyone else in. We need to get out of our walls to the community, and open our facility to the community.  Friends, mission, that is, bringing Christ’s love to needy people in whatever ways we can, is foundational to being Christ’s followers. God has work for us to do. We need to pray for it, seek it, and listen for the wind of the Spirit. I can’t promise that folks will come out of the woodwork and flock t us - however, we will be spending ourselves for Christ, and that’s what we do.   AMEN