You Are a Treat Matthew 10:40-42

In Mathew today we are hearing a call into service.  Jesus is explaining to the disciples how the whole ministry thing works.  That whoever welcomes one they are welcoming Christ and through Christ welcoming Abba God.  Wow that’s a lot.  Jesus is saying through you one meets Christ, through Christ one meets God…therefore through you one meets God.

That may be a bit much to wrap ones head around but simply put through our actions and reactions and non –action others will see God.  You see this is some of what JJ was addressing last week.  It is through our actions that the Gospel is preached and that Christ is made manifest in this world.

Now one reaction to that may be; “Not me!, you can’t place such a burden on me.  There is no way that I am or ever will be the face of Christ in this world!  I am too flawed, broken, I am mean sometimes, or just had not enough coffee to be the face of anything this morning.”  Those are very legitimate reactions But Christ put a caveat on this face of God thing….

It is when you simply offer hospitality, a gift of cool water to the smallest of these little ones. This could say offer a smile to a stranger on the street.  That smile or a “Good day” may be all it takes or it may be worth nothing.  But here is an interesting thing in these verses it also speaks of the receiver.

It says those that receive a prophet for being a prophet shall be rewarded those that welcome holy people for just being holy people will be rewarded.  You see the reception of the face of Christ, thus the reception of God through you is the other parties reward.

It is through our presence as the Christian it is through our action as Christians that we are promised rewards.  If through that practice we have happened to welcome a prophet, if through that action we have happened to welcome a Holy person…great, all the more reward in Heaven and I should point out, we will not know who we have welcomed until then. Also there is no talk about right living brings rewards right now. Life is what we make of it and good and bad things happen to everyone.

But we know when we have given a glass of water; we know when we have been welcoming.  It is the joy of being Christian that allows us, sometimes without intention, to be the face of Christ in this world.

A lot of this sounds like simple hospitality.  The united church of Christ has a saying No matter who you are or where you are on life’s Journey you are welcome here.

That reminded me to just look at some of things we proclaim as the body of Christ covenanted to each other and to the church in Christian living.  Here is what the united Church of Christ says about our beliefs; (This is taken directly from the website. http://www.ucc.org/about-us/what-is-the-united-church-of.html)

“What we believe

We can tell you more about the United Church of Christ with the help of seven phrases from Scripture and Tradition which express our commitments.

 That they may all be one. [John 17:21] This motto of the United Church of Christ reflects the spirit of unity on which it is based and points toward future efforts to heal the divisions in the body of Christ. We are a uniting church as well as a united church.

       In essentials unity, in non-essentials diversity, in all things charity. The unity that we seek requires neither an uncritical acceptance of any point of view, nor rigid formulation of doctrine. It does require mutual understanding and agreement as to which aspects of the Christian faith and life are essential.

 The unity of the church is not of its own making. It is a gift of God. But expressions of that unity are as diverse as there are individuals. The common thread that runs through all is love.

 Testimonies of faith rather than tests of faith. Because faith can be expressed in many different ways, the United Church of Christ has no formula that is a test of faith. Down through the centuries, however, Christians have shared their faith with one another through creeds, confessions, catechisms and other statements of faith. Historic statements such as the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Evangelical Catechism, the Augsburg Confession, the Cambridge Platform and the Kansas City Statement of Faith are valued in our church as authentic testimonies of faith. [See Beliefs for the complete texts of some of these testimonies.] In 1959, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ adopted a Statement of Faith prepared especially for congregations of the United Church. Many of us use this statement as a common affirmation of faith in worship and as a basis for study.

 There is yet more light and truth to break forth from God's holy word. This affirmation by one of the founders of the Congregational tradition assumes the primacy of the Bible as a source for understanding the Good News and as a foundation for all statements of faith. It recognizes that the Bible, though written in specific historical times and places, still speaks to us in our present condition. It declares that the study of the scriptures is not limited by past interpretations, but it is pursued with the expectation of new insights and God's help for living today.

 The Priesthood of All Believers. All members of the United Church of Christ are called to minister to others and to participate as equals in the common worship of God, each with direct access to the mercies of God through personal prayer and devotion.

Recognition is given to those among us who have received special training in pastoral, priestly, educational and administrative functions, but these persons are regarded as servants—rather than as persons in authority. Their task is to guide, to instruct, to enable the ministry of all Christians rather than to do the work of ministry for us.”[1]

A priesthood of all believers, that is a huge each and every one of us is called to be a priest of Christ, a follower and an enactor of Christ on this earth.  We are not just reminded of the possibilities of the rewards for being welcoming, offering simple hospitality we are called to even more than that.

The “what we believe” section goes on to explain; “But we recognize our calling both as individuals and as the church to live in the world:

 To proclaim in word and action the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
 To work for reconciliation and the unity of the broken Body of Christ.
 To seek justice and liberation for all.

This is the challenge of the United Church of Christ.”[2]

This is the challenge put to us today on this gospel reading what are we to do to be hospitable in an inhospitable world?  What does that mean for us as individuals, what does that mean for us as a community?

Let me say this now before we go any further…we are doing it.  We are you are each and every one of you are Christ’s face in this world.  Each and every one of you is a minister, a priest in this world.  How you ask?

Through your gift of time and offerings we are surrounded by beautiful gardens.  Through your gifts of concern and love many have made it through difficult times.  Some, of whom, were in this church and some outside of it.  If you offered and ear, a shoulder a kind word you performed ministry.  Some are called to go to a job everyday and you do the best you can and it sometimes it seems as if it is never enough.  Yet, as long as you are living to your fullest and doing the best you can that is your ministry.I also have some really good news for you when you try and failed.  When you reached out and were turned away.  When you rethink things and wonder if you could have done it differently.  You then too are a member of the priesthood.  For you see there is discernment and learning always to be done.  God did not make us perfect and Christ did not make this Christian thing easy.  If it was easy everyone would be trying it and the world would be...Well … literally heaven.

You know this struggle of being human, seeking God, and trying to be that face of Christ isn’t always easy.  Yet it is what we have been called to, drawn to, want to know more about, and understand better each and every day.  I truly believe that and I think you do as well otherwise, why are you here?

St. Irenaeus back in the early 150’s or so wrote;

CAPABLE FLESH

The tender flesh itself

Will be found one day

-quite surprisingly-

To be capable of receiving,

And yes, full

Capable of embracing

The searing energies of God.

Go figure, Fear not.

For even at its beginning

The humble clay received

God’s Art, whereby

One part became the eye,

Another the ear, and yet

Another this impetuous hand.

Therefore the flesh

Is not to be excluded

From the wisdom and the power

That now and ever animates

All things. His life-Giving

Agency is made perfect,

We are told, in weakness—

Made perfect in flesh.[3]

We gather as a community in the love of Christ as people have done since the first meal he shared with followers and family more than 2000 years ago. But why, why do we come together Just to hear a preacher ramble on and on?  Well we know that isn’t true for some days the preacher is on fire and inspired and other days he misses the mark and that’s okay cause what may not have fed you in the sermon may have fed someone else and another person may be fed today because you sat with them and shared presence, prayer, and community. Another is fed by the music while still another is fed in the sacred time of Eucharist and every Sunday that all changes about.

But we are here to be affirmed in who we are. We are here as the body of Christ those who come weekly or monthly the Guest and the one who has been dragged here by friends. We are here to be refreshed, renewed and to be loved so that as we leave this place we will have the energy, the where withal to be the one who offers a cool glass of water.

Not everyone can get the analogy of a cool glass of water.  We know where Jesus lived was hot and dry and water though needed to survive was rarely cool less it was freshly drawn from the well.  You have heard the stories and seen images of that time one often went out early in the morn and took water from the well to fill clay jars.  By the time the water got back to the dwelling place it was already raising in temperature. A cool glass of water is not just refreshing but it is a treat.

So we each one of us is called to be a priest of Christ.  Each one of us is called to be the face of Christ.  We know if we are welcoming we will be rewarded and yet that is not of concern for the reward is in the afterlife so we know we need not be concerned with our reward but our action.

As we have prayed many times so I will repeat the prayer of

Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.[4]

You are the refreshing cool glass of water.  Your are the face of Christ, you are a treat to encounter every day, you are a royal priesthood so as St. Francis said and as this verse we reflected upon today really says Preach the Gospel often, use words if you have too! Amen!

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[1] United Church of Christ, What we believe, . http://www.ucc.org/about-us/what-is-the-united-church-of.html) (accessed June 23, 2014).

[2] United Church of Christ, What we believe, . http://www.ucc.org/about-us/what-is-the-united-church-of.html) (accessed June 23, 2014).

[3] Scott Cairns, Love's Immensity: Mystics on the Endless Life (Brewster, Mass: Paraclete Press, 2007).

[4] Daniel B. Clendenin, The Journey with Jesus poems and prayers, www.journey with jesus.net/poemsandprayers/Teresa_Of_Avila_Christ_Has_No_Body.shtml (accessed June 23, 2014).

Ascension Sunday "A Call to Broaden Our Vision!" Luke 24:44-53

This is a sermon for what many traditions call ascension Sunday.  Tradition holds that this day celebrates the day Jesus goes up to heaven to remain with the creator until the second coming.  I was trying to think of title and well with some help we came up with a list.  One person suggests “Beam me up daddy”, how about “up up and away” or to quote Cartman “Screw you guys I’m going Home!”, or that’s it “I’m outta here.” and finally from the apostles point of view.  “Well, I never saw that coming”.

Pastor Bob Brink captures the emotion behind this story; “When you were in school, did you ever have one of those subjects that you just didn’t get? When I went to seminary, it was the Ascension. Christmas makes sense. God bridges the gap between heaven and earth. Easter makes sense. God breaks the power of death. Pentecost makes sense. God sends the Spirit to teach and empower us, but the ascension? How does Jesus going away make anything better? I can totally empathize with the disciples, staring up at the sky.

Imagine their emotional roller coaster. Palm Sunday and the crowds love you; Good Friday and they want to kill you. Holy Saturday, you weep; Easter Sunday, you rejoice. The risen Jesus spends 40 days with you, eating and talking and explaining, but what’s 40 days? It’s the blink of an eye.” [1]

It is interesting to note that biblically speaking only two others have had this account of being taken into heaven, Enoch and Elijah.  In genesis Adams descendants are listed one by one till Noah and each one had a son and lived so long and died, except one, Enoch.  Of Enoch Genesis 5:24 states “Enoch Walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.”  It is fascinating, at least to me, that all the other descendants listed lived and died but Enoch walked with God and was taken.

Pastor rink goes on to explain about Elijah; “Which brings us to Elijah. I won’t make you turn there, because it’s a long story. Let’s sum up. Elijah is commonly recognized as the greatest of all the prophets of Israel. The Bible records 14 miracles in his lifetime, a great Hebrew number. 7 days of creation mean that 7 is the number of completion or perfection. Double sevens, means Elijah was the ultimate prophet. He walked with God, and just like Enoch, God took him.

But before he left, his student, Elisha made a bold request. He asked for a double portion of his master’s spirit. And the request is granted. When Elijah goes up, his mantle falls to the ground. A mantle is an outer cloak, worn for warmth, but a nice one can be a symbol of power, like a well-tailored suit speaks of influence today. By putting on Elijah’s mantle, Elisha is sending a message to everyone who sees it, that he is continuing the work of his master. And he does. The Bible records 28 miracles for Elisha, exactly double the number of his master.

Therefore, when Jesus leaves us, it is not as orphans. He goes up so that his Spirit might come down, so that we can take up his mantle and continue the work he began. Perhaps this is what he meant when he told his disciples that they would do even greater things than he.”[2]

The scripture says Jesus then opens their minds to the understanding of scripture.  He gave the twelve a way of seeing and understanding.  An understanding of the ancient being fulfilled in the present.  This is an understanding of the work of God continuing from before history, through Christ, unto the 12 and beyond.  This is a time of broadening their vision; you see they can no longer directly look to Christ for everything.

This is the final commissioning of the Disciples as Christ states; “In the messiah’s name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached to all nations beginning at Jerusalem.  You are witnesses to this.”  Actually the followers of Christ, especially those who had received a miracle, had already been witnessing to this.  Many times you heard how after a miracle they went to the temple and made their offering and proclaimed thanksgiving for the healing.  Then the story of the women at the well where in John It states “Many Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus on the strength of the women’s testimony” (John 4:39) what Christ started was continually happening around the disciples, or maybe, in spite of them.

Here Jesus clears their minds so that they can finally put everything together.  Their rooted faith comes alive and they can be seen worshipping in the temple.  That is brave considering what was done to Jesus and knowing the fear and anxiety they had been experiencing just 40 days before.  They are not mourning a loss for it is the living Christ that goes to heaven with a promise of more to come and an empowerment that is their own.

Christ says wait in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.  This recalls Elijah being taken up to heaven and his “Mantle”  Falls to the ground  and  By putting on Elijah’s mantle, Elisha is sending a message to everyone who sees it, that he is continuing the work of his master.  Christ is sending his mantle, the Holy Spirit, which will birth the Church and move it beyond the walls of Jerusalem. 

Now what does this all mean for us today?  What does Christ opening the mind of the disciples and commissioning them have to do with us today?  A Lot, as a matter of fact, everything, everything it meant then.  Christ is calling us, through the Holy Spirit to understand his ministry then, which was accompanied by the ancient text, which predicted his coming and had shaped his society, and in reality made him relevant. This is a call to broaden our vision and see the relevance of Christ for today.

Today we are gifted with opportunities to seek out the Old Testament, listen to scholars and teachers, and learn for ourselves what they meant to Christ in Christ’s time and what they mean for us today.  In the exact same way that the mind of Christ followers were opened so they could understand and address their contemporary audience.  We are challenged, often times directly, to do the same.  I say arm yourself with scripture, understand what was written for whom and what it meant then and what, if anything, it may mean today.

For centuries the bible has been misused as a weapon to continue the oppression of people.  Reverend Patrick Rogers at UCC down in Pensacola on may 25th was a part of a counter protest against some radical fundamentalists...he wrote in face book “The part of last night's fundamentalist protest and assault on our LGBT community (and allies of which there were many) that saddens me the most was their approach to reading scripture (the Word of God). Prior to reading the sacred text, they would chant together "READY, AIM, FIRE!!!" thus declaring their intention of using the Bible as a weapon against others.”[3]

The Bible has been used to Justify some of the most horrendous historical atrocities of humankind, from slavery, to suppression of women.  “There was a time when most Christians believed slavery was the will of God. There was a time when most Christians believed women should not be allowed to vote. There was a time when most Christians believed that interracial marriage was wrong. Each position was elaborately supported with biblical arguments -- and each position, we can now clearly see, was dead wrong.”[4]

And "[Slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God... it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation... it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts."[5] --Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America.

The inquisition, which is hardly mentioned any more, justified, estimated as lows as 32,000 to as high as 135,000. For crimes such as teaching anything other than Catholicism (heresy), witchcraft, blasphemy, Bigamy, Sodomy (most cases of older gentleman and adolescent as opposed to consenting adults), and freemasonry.

The Bible and women, I am sorry ladies but in the instance that a father sells his daughter to another man who is not pleased with her, she must be redeemed. Regardless of the amount of satisfaction that the girl provides for the man, God’s rules still allow him to acquire another wife. If he so chooses, the first wife is not allowed to leave unless her master refuses her food, clothing, or other marriage duties (Exodus 21:7-11).

If a man decides he no longer wants to be married to his wife, he can attempt to have her killed by claiming that she lost her virginity prior to their marriage. Following this accusation, the woman must then provide sufficient physical evidence, such as a bloodstain, to demonstrate that his accusations are fraudulent. In the event that she fails to prove her innocence of this “crime,” she is to be stoned to death because of this utmost act of disgrace. Guilty until proven innocent is the law within God’s court. Any woman who accidentally tears her hymen due to an injury or other non-sexual act is simply out of luck because she could never prove her virginity. Thus, she would be at the mercy of her husband throughout her entire life. If evidence is produced to exonerate the woman in question, the accuser is fined a couple pounds of silver and forced to stay married until death (Deuteronomy 22:13-21)

According to the rules of Moses, the deceased father’s inheritance goes entirely to his sons. If he has no son, it goes to the daughters. After that, the inheritance should go to the closest male relatives (Numbers 27:8-11). Not only do the boys of the household have priority over the girls, the wife is also noticeably absent from the will. Instead, God’s law forces her to marry her husband’s brother, provided she doesn’t already have a son with her former husband. However, the brother-in-law has the right to refuse the marriage; the woman does not (Deuteronomy 25:5-9).

Even in the New Testament Timothy says that females shouldn’t wear decoration or try to usurp authority over their husbands. Instead, women should remain silent and fully submissive to them. As he also declares that Adam was not the one who was deceived in the Garden of Eden, Eve is clearly the party implicated as being responsible for the downfall of man (1 Timothy 2:9-15).

On our own website my Rev. Dr. Husband, Bob points out  “There are seven texts used or rather misused as texts of terror, as weapons against translesbigay people: Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, Genesis 19 and Judges 19, 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10; and Romans 1:26-27. These texts, misused by some, reflect a model of ancient sexuality and gender codes different from those in our postmodern world. The issue behind these biblical texts traditionally applied to homosexuality does not concern same-sex behaviors but deals with phallic violence and gender transgressions.”[6]

If you have not read Practicing Safe Text on our webpage, for your own education, I encourage you to do so.  Bob goes on to point out “Many contemporary Christians object to Paul's views on women and his support of slavery in the Greco-Roman world. They have rejected his opinions on women and slavery as the word of God, realizing that these are his opinions, holding little weight in our contemporary Christian practices. Why many still cling to Paul's cultural opinions expressed in Romans 1:26-27 and ignore sound biblical interpretations of scholars has less to do with theological or biblical reasons and more to do with prejudicial motivations best left to the psychologist or therapist to explain.”[7]

Now allow me to repeat what I said earlier… Today we are gifted with opportunities to seek out the Old Testament, listen to scholars and teachers, and learn for ourselves what they meant to Christ in Christ’s time and what they mean for us today.  In the exact same way that the mind of Christ followers were opened so they could understand and address their contemporary audience.  We are challenged, often times directly, to do the same.  I say arm yourself with scripture, understand what was written for whom and what it meant then and what, if anything, it may mean today.

There are opportunities for study and research. Christ has gifted us with the capability for understanding the scriptures what they meant then and how, through the Holy Spirit they are still relevant today and that in no way can be taken literally for through the Holy spirit the scripture is revealed as new, as very current and as sacred.

With prayer and contemplation accompanied by research and reflection one can discover what the bible might say to them directly.  This is the gift of the ascension.  You see the ascension with its final blessing and gift allows the focus to move from the man of Jesus Christ and waiting for his next revelation to the practice of seeking to understand his revelation and the living Christ as it is manifested in the word, in the spirit and in the world today.

Finally the last thing Jesus does it take the disciples out to Bethany and, while blessing them, he is carried up to heaven.  While he has just told them to see, learn, understand and preach his final act is one of example in giving a blessing he asking the disciples to be that blessing.  To live and act as Christ has asked is to be a blessing in the world.  So one more time, I ask you to pray, study and preach…each of you be Christ’s blessing in this world. Amen.

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[1] Bob Brink, God must laugh, http://(http://revsmilez.com/2010/05/17/sermon-for-ascension-sunday/) (accessed May 26, 2014).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Patrick Rodgers, our counter protest, http://https://www.facebook.com/revpatrickrogers?fref=ts (accessed May 20, 2014).

[4] Life Journey Church, Would Jesus Discriminate, http://(http://www.wouldjesusdiscriminate.org/biblical_evidence/history_lessons.html) (accessed May 26, 2014).

[5] the confederate partisan, every qoute you'll ever need, http://www.csapartisan.com/jefferson_davis_qoutes.html (accessed May 26, 2014).

[6] Rev, Practicing Safe Text, http://(http://www.mccinthevalley.com/safetexts_en.html) (accessed May 26, 2014).

[7] the confederate partisan, Every Qoute You'll Ever Need.

I Have come to abolish the Binary Code - John 4:5-42

There is an advantage to preaching about once a month, one really gets to walk with a Gospel reading.  I have the luxury of sleeping on it, relating it to current events and asking questions, more than I will ever answer.

The first question that came to my mind is why there is this separation between the Jews and Samaritans.  We hear the disdain in the parable of the Good Samaritan and we here it again this time from the woman at the well.  The Samaritans are perceived as an impure group.  They were remnants “of the native Israelites who were not deported at the fall of the northern Kingdom on 722 B.C.”[1] who married foreign colonists and refused to worship at Jerusalem. The Samaritans also hold a belief that they maintain true Judaism from before the time of exile as they remained in the land during that time. So one can see where contempt may come from.

Then Samaritan woman were looked upon with suspect as well.  They were considered ritually impure. Interesting note, at least for me, is that Herod’s mother was a Samaritan woman. 

There seems to be a reconciling between the followers of Christ and the Samaritans. Jesus first tells the disciples not to be concerned with the Samaritan city in Mathew 10 and in Luke a Samaritan village rejects a request for Christ to pass through. (Luke 9)  Then of course is the parable of the Good Samaritan and the healing of the ten lepers and only the Samaritan comes back to praise God.  By Acts Samaritans are being preached to and baptized in the spirit.

I titled this sermon “I have come to abolish the Binary Code”.  Who here knows what Binary code is? A binary code represents text or computer processor instructions using the binary number system's two binary digits, 0 and 1.”[2] It is a dualistic system that breaks everything down to one or zero.  Who remembers the movie Tron and the character Bit?  All that it can say is “yes” or “no”. Many of us still live in that world.

We live in a world which is either this or that, us or them, me or you.  There is no room for shades of grey, there is no room for fluidity and there is definitely no room for compromise. Richard Rohr in a recent daily meditation speaks on what he refers to as dualistic thinking;

Dualistic thinking, or the egoic operating system, as Cynthia Bourgeault calls it, is our way of reading reality from the position of my private ego. “What’s in it for me?” “How will I look if I do this?” This is our preferred way of seeing reality. It has become the “hardware” of almost all Western people, even those who think of themselves as Christians, because the language of institutional religion is largely dualistic itself. It is a way of teaching that has totally taken over in the last five hundred years. It has confused information with enlightenment, mind with soul, and thinking with experiencing. But they are two very different paths.

The dualistic mind is essentially binary. It is either/or thinking. It knows by comparison, by opposition, by differentiation. It uses descriptive words like good/evil, pretty/ugly, intelligent/stupid, not realizing there may be 55 or 155 degrees between the two ends of each spectrum. It works well for the sake of simplification and conversation, but not for the sake of truth or even honest experience.

Actually, you need your dualistic mind to function in everyday life: to do your job as a teacher, a doctor, or an engineer. It is great stuff as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go far enough. The dualistic mind cannot process things like infinity, mystery, God, grace, suffering, death, or love. When it comes to unconditional love, the dualistic mind can’t even begin to understand it. It pulls everything down into some kind of tit-for-tat system of worthiness and achievement, which is largely what “fast food religion”, teaches, usually without even knowing it.[3]

Listen to that, the dualistic mind, the Binary code is necessary as part of our existence as humans to function in the everyday world and yet it doesn’t allow us to seek the mystery, grace and Love of God.  It will not allow us to go beyond ourselves and “pulls everything down into some kind of tit-for-tat.”[4]  We, each and every one of us are guilty of this.  We hear it today from the woman at the well.  Jesus addresses her and her first reaction is one of them versus us response; “you’re a Jew. How can you ask me, a Samaritan for a drink?” (John 4:9)

How many times have we ourselves been victims of this kind of thinking?  How many times do we still hear stories of the Binary?  You know our world is changing right before our eyes.  Daily there is some news of a victory in the movement towards equality.  Yet every day there is some news of a backwards bill or threats to safety of people. Just this month two young women were murdered they had been dating for a few months. Then there is a story of Marcel Neergaard.

Marcel started as a regular blogger on the Huffington Post at the age of 11. He started the petition against the “don’t say gay bill” in Tennessee.  He left school and went to be home schooled just to save his own life. Here is an introduction to this fine young man. Marcel NeeGaard. That was from June 1^st of last year. He has since written 5 articles with comments like; “In July, I witnessed a room of LGBTQ activist campers become a room of anti-hate activists. I realized that we should not be fighting for rights for different groups, but we should be fighting for rights as one community. All of us should be equal.”[5] Do you hear that move away from dualistic thinking?

Marcel has since returned to school with hope that the dualistic/binary thinking would have ceased.  This was unfortunately not the reality.  He writes of how difficult it is returning to school as the new kid.  “When the school year started, it was not all rainbows and pink smiley faces. I had trouble with sleep, schedules and people. Maybe I expected the stars to whisper the answers to tests in my ear, or perhaps I thought the summer sun had expanded my brain capacity.”[6]  Such wisdom from such a young man seems so rare these days I had to share his story.

Marcel goes on to address some of the ignorant remarks he must tolerate. “People have a tendency to forget the filter between their brain and their mouth. I told a friend I went to the rival school in fifth grade, and the first word out of his mouth was "traitor." But it's the comments about being gay that hurt most. The everyday "fag" and "That's so gay!" almost go by unnoticed because they are so common.”[7] This reminds me of something that is at the bottom of every agenda at a sisters meeting before you speak think…T= is it true? H=is it helpful I=is it inspiring N= is it necessary and K= is it kind

Marcel goes on to explain one of the hardest things, especially if you consider the work he did against that don’t say gay bill.

The protection of the classroom doesn't seem to extend to me. One day I was talking with my friends about Zachary Quinto being gay. An otherwise supportive teacher stopped me and told me "talking about being gay in the classroom is illegal in Tennessee." I wanted to scream, "NO IT'S NOT!" I went home intending to double-check my facts before confronting that specific teacher, but my parents told me they would talk to the principal instead. I have found teachers are quite confused because of Ragan's bill (the Don't Say Gay Bill). They're too busy teaching to know if it passed, so they just try to be safe. Meanwhile, I am not allowed to talk about myself with my friends.[8]

He continues to speak about how kids ask him “who he turned gay for” or “how can you be gay if you have never been on a gay date?” or as he says, the brilliant remark “your gay cause you act gay!”  This is that Binary code in full swing it is still us and them.  It’s still straight or gay.  Yet Marcel’s fight isn’t just for the LGBTQI community.  You see he has gone beyond that Binary code.  He states; “It is important to say students cannot be harassed, intimidated or bullied because they are gay or perceived to be gay. The Dignity for All Students Act specifies many other groups, like kids who are bullied because of their religion, race, gender, gender identity or gender expression. It even helps the kids who are brave enough to be friends with students who are ‘different.’”[9]  His view seems to be one much wider, broader, beyond the one and zero.

You see this kind of broader thinking of looking beyond one’s self but seeing with the eyes of the heart is what Jesus is telling the woman at the well.  When Jesus speaks of the water of the well he says you will be thirsty again.  You will have to come back for more.  Your thoughts, if I may make a big leap, will remain the same.  The water of life, the water that Jesus offers is moving, it is not stagnant it does not allow for us to continue in the same way day in and day out it challenges us to move beyond the simple dualistic thought.  Jesus explains that the water he offers will becomes springs within us springing up.  There is an internal movement from us to God then from God to us. Richard Rohr comments;

Look at the unbelievably sad and even hateful divide between liberals and conservatives in our church and in our country, and at both extremes I find totally dualistic thinking. You can be dualistic as a liberal, and you can be dualistic as a conservative. They are simply two different methods to be in control, two different ways to be right and two different ways to look down on other people.

1 Dualistic or divided people live in a split and fragmented world. Usually, they cannot accept or forgive certain parts of their own destiny and experience. They cannot accept that God could objectively dwell within them, as John’s Gospel and Paul’s letters say over and over again. This lack of “forgiveness-of-reality-for-being-what-it-is” takes the form of a tortured mind, a closed heart, or an inability to live calmly and proudly inside one’s own body.

The fragmented mind and the egoic mind see in parts, and usually antagonistic parts, but never in wholes, and then predictably create antagonism, reaction, fear, and resistance—“push-back”—from other people. 2 It is a double whammy of despair, and the saddest effect of all is that people living from this divided mind continue to do what makes them so unhappy. Sin and addiction have many of the same characteristics.[10]

So here is a question if each one of us, children of God, have an opportunity to seek God’s grace and living water, if each one of us can experience that movement towards God and God’s movement back to us, why, why is humanity so broken?  How can it be as Christians some of us rally towards a world where love, equality and peace reigns and yet others don’t really even seem to want to try.  How do we who have a radically new view of a Christian world make the world welcoming for those who have been taught differently for so long and now are seeing their world change?

Ironically what has led me to this question was a posting on Facebook.  Fred Phelps The founder and former head of the Westboro Baptist Church was excommunicated back in August and placed in a home and has since passed.  The question posted on Facebook was how would you respond or reach out to Fred Phelps.  This is where that line is drawn.  Listen to your initial reactions. I know there is a part that is thinking, because I thought it as well, someday soon he will know where he went wrong.  He will know the pain he caused.

This kind of thinking is still in that dualistic mind and it causes harm to our own spirit to think this way.  Richard Rohr explains;

You cannot sincerely love another or forgive another’s offenses inside dualistic consciousness.  Try it, and you’ll see it can’t be done. We have done the people of God a great disservice by preaching the Gospel to them but not giving them the tools whereby they can obey that Gospel. As Jesus put it, Cut off from the vine, and you can do nothing’ (John 15:5). The ‘Vine and the branches’ are one of the greatest Christian Mystical images of the nonduality between God and the soul. In and with God, I can love everything and everyone – even my enemies. Alone and by myself, will power and intellect will seldom be able to love in difficult situations over time.[11]

We need to seek out the source that is that living water within each one of us in order to respond to the other in a loving way.  We need to practice stillness and centering so we can learn to find that God self that is in each of us.  When we do that we can move beyond our self and respond with Gods’ love in a way that is only possible through God.

“The disciples, returning at this point, were shocked to find Jesus having a private conversation with a woman. But no one dared to ask” (John 4:27).  The disciples are caught off guard as Jesus has gone beyond boundaries.  Jesus has reached out not only to a Samaritan but to a woman but what is more important is what has happened since Jesus decided to go beyond that which the “Law” may have forbid.  The woman ran off to tell her whole village.

I find it interesting that the woman ran off to tell her village but it says “She left her water jar behind. This is “Johns way of emphasizing that such a jar would be useless for this type of living water that Jesus has interested her in”[12] In the same way once we even get a glimpse of how God can work in us we seek more.  Once we find that living water which cannot be contained, we have an actual need to move away from our daily Binary thinking to move to a place that can encompass more.

In February we had a guest preacher, the Rev. Elder Douglas Graves from the Community of Christ. Now I want you to understand that for him to bear this title just became a reality in his denomination back in April.  So recently he was relaying a story of how he was invited to preach at a church where he was not part of the congregation, as a guest preacher, same as he was invited here. The difference was not all in this congregation were, shall we say, of the same mind. He telols the story of how he is all proud of the passage of rules that made his reality possible and yet, as he approached the pulpit and looked out upon the congregation he realized, just as his world had changed for the better, for others, they were mourning the loss of a world they knew, a world that had been a constant.  He realized, then and there, that there needs to be care for those people as well.  There needs to be care for the ones who see today’s reality as a reality they never expected therefore never needed to try to understand.

How many times have we said, when speaking of marriage equality, heck when speaking of being able to come out that “I never thought I’d see this day?” Or “twenty years ago we could not even dare to imagine this.”  Well once we get beyond the; us vs. them thinking, the black and white thinking, the dualistic/binary ego centered thinking, we realize we need to care for the other.  You see for every victory we celebrate and embrace someone is mourning the loss of a world they once knew.

The woman at the well knew one world, new one kind of water and yet at the end went running back to tell her whole village of what Christ had taught her and brought the village to Christ. She went on to become a Saint in the orthodox tradition and sometimes considered the first to preach the Gospel.  Again going beyond ancient teachings and traditions and ways of thinking, a woman of Samaria preaching the Gospel of Christ and tradition has it all the way to Rome and Nero himself.

Once we move with living water there is no more room for us vs. them it is world where victory and failure are one in the same but, our eyes are wider, our hearts are bigger, and we move, not in our own direction but where we are lead by spirit, by truth, by love, by compassion this is at the center of the living water that is Jesus Christ. Amen.

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[1]. Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John, The Anchor Bible 29-29A (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1966-70), 170.

[2]. Wikipedia, Binary Code, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_code (accessed March 17, 2014).

[3]. Richard Rohr, e-mail message to revjshoregoss@gmail.com, Monday, March 17, 2014.

[4]. Ibid.

[5]. Marcel Neegaard, A Night of a Thousand Candles, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcel-neergaard/george-zimmerman-verdict_b_3831764.html (accessed March 17, 2014).

[6]. Marcel Neegaard, Different, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcel-neergaard/lgbtq-teen-story_b_4934806.html (accessed March 17, 2014).

[7]. Ibid.

[8]. Ibid.

[9]. Ibid.

[10]. Richar Rohr, e-mail message to Joseph Shore-Goss, 3/17/2014.

[11]. Richard Rohr, The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See (New York: Crossroad Pub., 2009), 127.

[12]. Brown, The Gospel According to John, 173. 

Drop Your Nets! Matthew 4:12-23

I am sorry, I keep thinking of poor Zebedee, you know the father of James and John the Guy who owned the business Zebedee and sons; fresh fish market Price!  So here it is a nice sunny day you have been out fishing with your boys all day and you’re just sitting in your boat mending your nets.  Suddenly this man comes along with Simon Peter and Andrew in tow and your kids drop everything and followed along.

I first imagine Zebedee to be a bit dumbfounded  as he watched in amazement while his sons walked away from everything they had established. It wasn’t until he got home that the anger started to set in.  How could they do this?  How could they just leave all we had worked for, to follow some Carpenter’s son; the cousin of the madman in the desert?  I mean really “God’s kingdom is at hand,” what kind of message is that anyway and just because Peter and Andrew are following that should be the first clue that there is going to be trouble!

The Rev. Roger Allen Nelson has his own reflection on the boys which I found quite interesting. Of peter he says;

“Peter had hustled the fish down to the market. Early and fresh they would bring a nice price.

But, he was always late. There was something so impulsive about Peter.

He would stop to see his wife,
stop to help another boat,
stop to pick a fight,
stop at the bakery for warm bread,
stop to listen to a rabbi.

Peter always led with his heart. Strong head, strong back, strong heart. He never ceased to make Andrew smile. And they wouldn’t do as well as they did without Peter’s bull strength, but sometimes Peter just didn’t see the big picture. He lived in the moment.”[1]

Here we see Peter as one who had a love of life and adventure and wherever he was he was right there, bold in that moment.  I think the kind of a guy I would probably hang around if he didn’t smell like fish all the time!

As for his brother Andrew he was more of the worrier, always looking towards tomorrow to see what may be coming.  He was always focused on the prospective and what the trend of the day may be at the market as to best profit from the shoppers.

Yet, on this day, Peter seemed unusually distracted and Andrew himself felt there was a shift in the air.  Something was coming and yet he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.  He and Peter had recently heard John the Baptist speak.  His message of forgiveness and redemption seemed to make sense.  It was moving and now the disturbing news of his untimely death maybe that was weighing on Peter’s heart.

Reverend Roger goes on and tells us that: 

“Andrew could hear Zebedee and his boys coming ashore. They were a bigger outfit with a few hired hands, and they certainly made a bigger ruckus, but they were good guys and hard workers. They were just loud.

Just then with a big loaf of bread, and a bigger grin, and before Andrew could say a thing, Peter showed up and piped up,

Come on, let’s put in a little ways and see what we can pull out before the day gets too hot. Maybe we can get one more good load! And, if we don’t we can eat this bread and relax and talk and we’ll tend to the nets later!

Andrew, shrugged his shoulders, chuckled, and turned toward the water.

It was good work with a brother; he could live in that moment!

An hour later they were pulling up empty nets and empty conversation.”[2]

So here it was an uneventful day the two families and others had been out fishing.  Just working their daily lives and yet…Yet there was something, an electricity like an unseen storm just on the horizon.

Then slowly coming from the distance was Jesus.  At first one couldn’t tell who he was as the heat of the day had placed a shimmer in the air.  But as he stepped closer and they could make him out they knew who it was.  They had heard that John had made some comments about him to his followers

.“And then Jesus walked by.
Jesus walked by,
in the middle of a work day,
on the shores of a distant lake,
nowhere near the temple,
in the flow of life,
with an indifferent sun in the sky.
Jesus walked by and called out to
two average guys
two blue collar brothers,
two working stiffs trying to make a wage,
two guys who weren’t the brightest or the bravest,
two guys who weren’t looking for him.
Jesus walked by and called out to follow.
Andrew and Peter followed, and James and John followed.
They left Zebedee in Zebulun and they followed Jesus.
And down the shore journeyed a carpenter’s son and four fishermen.”[3]

An interesting note In rabbinical and Greek literature "to catch men" usually has an evil sense, as in Jer. 16:16: “I’m going to send hordes of fishermen to catch them, declares the LORD. Afterward I will send a party of hunters to hunt them down on every mountain, hill, and cave.” Jesus turns the idea around; his disciples become fishers of men in order to save them. 

Zebedee knew there was something different here.  Zebedee could feel the shift in the air as Jesus approached.  Zebedee’s heart Jumped and stirred as Jesus called out to his boys.  How he wish he could go as well.  He even considered dropping everything himself and yet, at that very moment Jesus gave him a look that just melted his heart and he knew he had to stay.  He knew he had to support his family and he knew he would be supporting his boys as well.
You see not everyone is called to follow Jesus in the same way. Some people even question what is a vocation?  What is a calling?  What am I to do to be the best follower of Christ and the best me I can be?

 John Neafsey in his book  A sacred voice is Calling, reminds me our sense of calling;
         
   “Our sense of vocation is intimately linked to the people and things that move us to passion and compassion.  We cannot answer the authenticity question, ‘Who am I?’ without also answering the passion question, ‘What do I really want?’  We discover who we are only by becoming conscious of the most authentic desires, loves, and longings of our hearts. ‘Who am I?’ is also closely related to another question, ‘Whose am I?’  We come to know ourselves by recognizing those to who we belong.”[4]
            
By this statement the Fishermen were men of God.  They belonged to God and they were seeking God.  Maybe not consciously, yet there was something stirring.  So that when approached by Christ their hearts were open and moved.  They were able to respond immediately and passionately to Gods call.
            
In my case, I always had a calling from God to go into ministry and service.  I know this.  I mean really know.  Sometimes I heard it more clearly than others and sometimes I choose to outright ignore it.  The answering of my call was not easy.  I struggled and prayed.  I tried to be practical.  I told myself I would go so deep in debt I would never see the light of day.  I asked myself did I really need to leave a comfortable, simple life in a community I loved to allow myself to fully answer a call.  In the end the answer came back as a simple yes.  This is true but only after months of struggle, prayer, and deal making.
           
Often people think that the call from Christ; “Drop your nets and follow me and I will make you fishers of humankind,” Comes just as clearly and easily as it happened in this gospel reading.  The chosen dropped their nets, leaving family behind and went where Jesus went.   The Gospel is a bit dramatic in this way there is no back story, we do not have a narrator telling us what is going on inside the head of the apostles.  They just up and leave everything behind.
           
 Actually there is no evidence that this is true or false.  The area that Jesus covered is small in territory.  It would be easy for a disciple to leave for a day or two or even a week take care of business and head back out again.  We know that Zebedee stayed behind to tend to the family business.  We don’t know if he had hired hands or other family, which is very likely, to help out.  We know that Jesus went back to heal Peter’s Mother-in-law so there is evidence that the disciples kept contact with family and friends.           

Actually this call and follow business is odd for Jewish tradition.  It was considered bad form for a Rabbi to seek out students it was the other way around.  If you were a good Rabbi, a good teacher it was the student to sought out the teacher.  Yet here this is a story of Jesus seeking out his followers, calling them individually.

God is seeking out Humanity.  God is calling and looking for us if we choose to listen.  The Bible is proof of this over and over again.
“Over and over in Scripture God seeks after us.
God goes looking for Adam and Eve.
God calls Abraham.
God tracks down Jacob.
God picks Moses.
God interrupts Jeremiah.
God chooses David.
God intrudes on Mary.
God shows up as a baby.
God gathers a band of disciples.
God goes to the cross.
God busts through death.
God calls you and me.

Or think of Jesus.

He told stories of a shepherd who beats the bushes to find one lost sheep, a women who turns her house upside down to find one lost coin, and a father who runs down the road to welcome his one lost son,

Or think of Jesus.

He picks Zacchaeus out of a tree,
He saddles up to two men walking on a road to Emmaus,
He enters a closed room of a bunch of uneasy and uncertain disciples.
He shows up on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and calls fishermen to follow”.[5]

It is that simple.  It doesn't matter if we are rich or poor.  It makes no difference if you are straight or Gay or transgender.  It doesn't matter if you’re a lawyer or a farmer.  God is seeking you out.  God is calling you to be the best human you can be from where you are now.
Reverend Rodger goes on to say;

“I don’t know how God shows up in our lives. I know that sometimes I am too dense, self-absorbed, busy, or cynical to notice. Maybe there is something that gets in the way for you as well. But, I do know that the record of Scripture, played with a reformed hermeneutic (interpretation), has a boldly struck chord. God comes after us!

In creation,
in covenant,
in Christ,
in cross,
in church,
in sacrament,
God comes after us!
Someday when you’re cleaning nets,
or looking for your brother,
or waiting for your lover,
or doing your best to make ends meet,
or burying the dead,
or buying the bread,
Jesus will show up and call you to follow.”[6]

Isn’t this why we do Sundays?  Isn’t this why we pause to pray?  This is all so that in those sacred moments, when Jesus calls us, we can see it, recognize it and hear it. Then drop our nets  drop our nets that need mending, drop our nets; those daily things in life that annoy us, drop our nets; the things that must get done,  Drop our nets and just  follow.
May we all have the Ears to hear, Eyes to see and heart to follow.
Amen!

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[1] Rev, Leaving Zebedee in Zebulun, http://www.crcna.org/resources/church-resources/reading-sermons/leaving-zebedee-zebulun

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] John Neafsey, A Sacred Voice Is Calling: Personal Vocation and Social Conscience (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2006), 71.

[5] Rev, Leaving Zebedee in Zebulun.

[6] Ibid.