Reflection MLK

                                                                                                                                            

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday

Good morning. We gather this morning to reflect on God and to remember the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy of courage for our world today.

Let’s start by remembering our history.

Nearly one hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, Afri- can Americans, especially those in Southern states, still lived in an unequal world of segregation and various forms of oppression, including race-inspired violence. “Jim Crow” laws at the local and state levels barred African Americans from classrooms and bathrooms, from theaters and voting booths, from juries and legislatures.

Finally, in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the “separate but equal” laws that had allowed racial discrimination in schools with the decision of Brown vs. the Board of Education.

In the turbulent years that followed that important decision, civil rights activists used nonviolent protest and civil disobedience to bring about change, as seen in movies such as Selma, released in 2014. Through their action, the federal government finally enacted legislation such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

Many leaders from within the African American community and beyond rose to prominence during the civil rights era, including Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. In Kansas City many leaders such as Rev. Nelson “Fuzzy” Thompson, Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver II, and others risked—and sometimes lost—their lives in the name of freedom and equity. Today, we have a national holiday celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. because he gave his life for the freedom and equity of all humanity in America.

Let us take a moment, have a bit of fun, and quiz your civil rights history.

1.             The 1955–56 Montgomery bus boycott a protest against segregated public facilities in Alabama, was led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and lasted for how many days? 381 days

2.             Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. realized that the nonviolent tactics used by this Indian political and religious leader was one of the most potent weapons available to African Americans in their struggle for freedom. Who was this Indian political and religious leader? Mahatma Gandhi

3.             With the goal of redeeming “the soul of America” through nonviolent resistance, this organization was established in 1957, to coordinate the action of local protest groups throughout the South drawing on the power and independence of black churches to support its activities. What was this organization? Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

4.             During what event did Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his famous “I Have a Dream” speech?

(A)  the Selma campaign

(B)   the Birmingham campaign

(C)   the March on Washington—Correct

(D)   the Montgomery bus boycott

5.             What was a common motto of civil rights activists in the 1950s and 1960s?

(A)  “We Shall Overcome”—Correct

(B)   “Liberty and Justice for All”

(C)   “One Nation Under God”

(D)   “Live and Let Live”

Did anyone get all five correct? Good job!

Today we often take our freedoms for granted yet in light of our recent history we may be much more aware of underlying prejudices and fears that have been festering in the dark around us.[1]

I was born and raised in Detroit.  I have a vague memory of being in my basement with my parents watching TV as the riots went on:

 "The 1967 Detroit riot, also known as the 12th Street riot, was a violent public disorder that turned into a civil disturbance in Detroit, Michigan. It began in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 23, 1967. The precipitating event was a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar then known as a blind pig, just north of the corner of 12th Street (today Rosa Parks Boulevard) and Clairmount Avenue on the city's Near West Side. Police confrontations with patrons and observers on the street evolved into one of the deadliest and most destructive riots in the history of the United States, lasting five days and surpassing the violence and property destruction of Detroit's 1943 race riot.

To help end the disturbance, Governor George W. Romney ordered the Michigan Army National Guard into Detroit, and President Lyndon B. Johnson sent in both the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The result was 43 dead, 1,189 injured, over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed. The scale of the riot was surpassed in the United States only by the 1863 New York City draft riots during the U.S. Civil War,[1] and the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The riot was prominently featured in the news media, with live television coverage, extensive newspaper reporting, and extensive stories in Time and Life magazines. The staff of the Detroit Free Press won the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for general local reporting for its coverage.”[2]

        It was immediately after the riots that my parents decided to move to Livonia Michigan.  Though I cannot find proof of it, I believe that African American people were not legally allowed in Livonia. To this day, it is rates as one of the whitest cities in the United States.  Not much to be proud of.

     I do not recall my parents being blatantly racist then again they had no reason to display it.    They lived in the whitest city around. I did not see any people of color growing up except on TV until I entered high school.

In high school I became active in Focus Hope. “In 1968, Father William Cunningham (1930–1997) and Eleanor Josaitis (1931-2011) co-founded Focus: HOPE.  Together, they adopted the following mission:

Recognizing the dignity and beauty of every person, we pledge intelligent and practical action to overcome racism, poverty and injustice and to build a metropolitan community where all people may live in freedom, harmony, trust and affection. Black and white, yellow, brown and red from Detroit and its suburbs of every economic status, national origin and religious persuasion we join in this covenant.  —“[3]

This pledge is still mine today…There are many emotions surrounding this week, I believe things that were allowed to fester in the dark are now brought into the light. 

We can live to love those in pain, we can stand with those on the margins, and we can fight so that all may live equally in the love of God.  The all-loving God….all loving that means the language of us versus them needs to stop!

This means we can fight for what we believe in without vilifying another part of the America that is us, without vilifying another part of the world that is us for we…each and every one of us are beautiful children created in the image of God.  Moreover, I believe Dr. King’s vision can still come to be true.

Dr King did say; “In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” this is just as true today as it was then.  Yes, we can have fun with the late night comedians and the randy rainbows of the world but we must be cautious.

Do not, I mean we must not allow hatred, anger, and demeaning language to become our mantra.  We must not allow our dialogue to degenerate into hatred and name-calling.  If you are frustrated Honor Dr. Kings legacy by writing letters.  Attending local government meetings.  Work in the system.  Love your neighbor.  Your neighbor, by the way, is the one you do not understand and do not like what they are doing in government or what laws they are passing.

I want to say Happy Birthday Dr. King your legacy shall live on in me and I hope in each one of us.

 

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[1] lia McIntosh, The Abingdon Press Preaching Annual (tn: abdingdon press, 2016).

[2] wikipedia, 1967 Detroit Riot, December 18, 2016, accessed January 12, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Detroit_riot.

[3] focus hop inc, Focus: HOPE's Mission Inspires Everything We Do!, 2017, accessed January 12, 2017, http://www.focushope.edu/page.aspx?content_id=1&content_type=level1.

Anticipation 4th Sunday of Advent Matthew 1:18-25

DECEMBER 22. 201 6

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Matthew 1:18-25

A Pastor is in the sanctuary after Christmas services are all over.  He is just relaxing and tidying up a bit when he notices the baby Jesus is missing from the crèche.  He rushes outside just in time to see a boy with a bright red wagon walking down the sidewalk with Jesus in the bed.  The pastor approaches the boy and Comments: “Nice day for it.  Who is your passenger?””  Why it’s the baby Jesus” the boy replies rather matter of fact like.  The pastor   why would you take him?” the pastor asked and the boy explained…”I prayed to baby Jesus for a red wagon and I promised if he got me the red wagon for Christmas I would take him for a ride around the block!”

Advent teaches us to wait. Of course, during Advent, we wait for Christmas, and such waiting is a countercultural discipline in its own right. Especially now when everything seems to be so instantaneous. On a deeper level, Advent forms us to wait for the appearing of the Lord, and perhaps you have noticed that God doesn't always follow our calendar. That was Joseph's experience, and I suspect it’s yours as well. According to our church and family calendars, today we stand at the doorstep of Christmas. Only a few days remain, ready or not. In today’s Gospel, we also stand alongside Joseph, waiting to hear what God is about to do in and through Jesus the Messiah.

You may say, "I've heard it many times before," and perhaps you’re lulled by these familiar words: "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place” (v.18). So then, cue the shepherds, the magi, and the angel: with the Christmas pageant. Careful readers will see that there is only one angel and no shepherds in Matthew's narrative, but we'll leave that for another day. I'm not so worried about shepherds, but had I written Mathews Gospel, I might've said, "Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this strange and surprising way. Mary is pregnant. She and Joseph are not yet married, and this righteous man has a major dilemma. Then God spoke to Joseph, 'Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit" (NRSV). It's strange stuff. Religious people have blamed all manner of things on the Spirit.

 Then the narrator informs us that this development was the fulfillment of prophecy, and so he quotes Isaiah 7:14, amending it ever so slightly "Look! A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, /…Emmanuel" (v. 23) . Here we see the beginning of a pattern that Matthew follows throughout this Gospel. He describes events in the Life of Jesus, and then he connects them with texts from the Old Testament: “This fulfills what had been spoken through the prophet." What’s going on here? Its Mathew’s way of claiming that God’s work in and through Jesus stands in continuity with what God had done before. Our Biblical, covenantal faith is based on that continuity. We believe that the God who spoke through Moses on Mount Sinai spoke through Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, and the same God, speaks to us when we hear the scriptures today. We believe that the God who freed the slaves from bondage in Egypt still frees captives today. Al1 of our prayers rise from this dynamic.

So then, "Don't be afraid," right? But remember, this is God we’re talking about.

"Don't be afraid" doesn't mean that God's call won’t shake us to the very foundations, perhaps delighting us, perhaps rocking our world and changing everything. God spoke Joseph heard God, and he would never understand righteousness in the same way again; and just wait until Jesus begins speaking. Yes, God is doing what God has been doing. “Don’t be afraid, but watch out!”

I cannot go into this fourth Sunday of advent without thinking of those who are struggling and those that are suffering loss.  I think of my father who I lost just two years ago, or my mother who is still putting her best face forward though it is hard.  I think of our recent loss of Joe Armetta.  I am thinking of Gregor and His husband Robert who are struggling so bravely at this time. On the flip side of that I am also thinking of my friends Kelly and Dan who have just celebrated their daughter Emma’s first Birthday or Jennifer and Patrick owners of the Coffee shop here, and friend s of the congregation, who are expecting a son any day now.

So we have suffering- mixed with joy: birth, new, life and death. That’s Life! That’s the way of faith. That’s advent and Christmas. I wish I could say that believers somehow get to skip such difficulty, but we don’t and you know it' Along with Joseph, we are called to serve Christ, in the midst of complicated situations, and we don't know where it all leads.

 I will grant you some suffering is expected.  We know there will be loss.  We understand that no one lives forever.  But then we have unexpected fires, drought, famine and war.  Children continue to go hungry and people have lost jobs and houses. Some people have healthcare and some don’t.  People are suffering and grieved just as some of us here are suffering and grieve today, even in this shadow of Christmas.

Yet God appears, and God will appear even today.  Ray Tilton, a friend of mine shared this story on face book and I have to share it now.

  I was on my way to the city on Saturday morning. It was cold and rainy at the transit mall waiting on my bus. There was a homeless guy, sitting on the cold, wet metal bench playing his guitar. First he played some Fleetwood Mac which hearkens back to a simpler time in my life.

The music, as he strummed rang out clean and clear as if somehow the rain made the tones sweeter. Suddenly the rain became a torrential downpour and it got colder. He began playing Fly like an Eagle and I found myself remembering a more tumultuous time in my life.

Just as suddenly as it started the rain subsided and left it a bit warmer and he started playing Hotel California. This dirty homeless man with a care worn face and raggedy clothes will never know he played the music of my life’s memories.

My bus pulled up, I quickly and embarrassingly pushed my last $20 in his hand and boarded, not looking back and thankful that the rain hid the tears.

I would say God appeared.  God appeared in that moment through the action and face of the homeless man.  God appears every day if we just take the time to look. Yet knowing this does not make trouble or grief go away.   Listen to the Poet Debbie Thomas

WHY I STAY: A PRAYER!

Because A was for Adam, B for Bethlehem, and C for Cross, and my first classroom was a pew.  Because I played hide-and-seek in the font when the preacher wasn't looking, answered every altar call with a sprint down the aisle, and snuck the leftover Communion juice from the glasses the church ladies washed on Mondays.  I was hoping -- I understand this now -- to steal a drop more of You.

Because decades later, I'm still felled by stain glass; by musty old Bibles in empty, patient sanctuaries; by altar cloths, choir robes, and candlewax.  Because my breathing slows in Your house, my muscles unclench, and I remember how to sing loud and clear.  Because You are my rootedness, my air, my water.  The dark and frozen ground in which I wait to crack open, die, and sprout. You are the closest I ever come to flourishing. 

Because I love stories, and I cherish the ones I first learned in Your book.  Because I am Eve and the apple makes sense to me. I'm Rachel and I won't surrender my sacred objects.  I'm Leah and I long to be loved.  I'm Hagar, and I will name You in the desert.  I'm Miriam and I am ever watchful.  I'm the bleeding woman and I need the hem of Your robe.  I'm Mary Magdalene, and I must bear witness by Your tomb.  I'm Junia, and my story aches to be told.

Because childhood ends, but childhood hungers do not.  Because my first house, first Father, first Mother, first love, first hate, first heartbreak, first safety, first terror, was You.

Because the Psalmist got it right: I was cast on you from birth. 

Because Peter got it even better: Lord, if I left, to whom would I go?

Because I like questions, and it turns out that You ask good ones.  Because I answer when You ask, and my answers never shock You:

 "Why are you so afraid?"  (Are You kidding me?)

"Do you still not understand?"  (Nope, not even a little bit.)

"What do you want me to do for you?" (Um, how much time do we have?)

"Do you want to get well?" (Occasionally.)

"Do you love me?"  (I think so.  Or, I want to.  Or, not yet.  Or… silence.)

"How long shall I put up with you?"  (A little longer, please.)

Because sorrow came too many times this year, and there had better be an Afterward to explain it.  I stood at gravesides and raged, my body betrayed me to panic, and my children knew fear and pain.  Bodies failed, minds cracked, and we didn't live happily ever after like the fairy tales promised.  Because all in all there are far too many unfinished stories, and I'd like to believe You're neater than that.  Because I yearn for So Much More than I have.  Because my yearning comes from somewhere, and that somewhere must be You.  Because "on earth as it is in heaven" is all I've got, and if it's not enough, then I am lost.  Because "Death, where is thy sting?" is a mockery, but "Jesus wept" is not.

Because joy comes too, and it doesn't look anything like I think it should. Because You hound me, and I can't get rid of You.  Because our pursuit of each other is exquisite in both directions -- pleasure and pain.  Because rarely -- too rarely, but I'll take what I can get -- the veil parts, the ground gives way, the skies open, and my hunger for You intensifies to the breaking point of Communion.  The hunger itself becomes You.  Incarnate.  Shining.  Present.  I know You then in the liturgy, in the Word, in the broken bread and spilled wine.  I press my palms against ancient redwood trees, and You are there.  You awe me in the mountains and at the shifting edges of the ocean.  I hear You in the stillness of the forest, in the cacophony of birdsong.  I feel You in the solid embrace of the people I love -- their hands Your hands, their eyes Your eyes, their voices soft echoes of Yours.

And in those moments the possibility of You grows and grows until I am unhoused and undone, almost too alive for this world.  Because You are my Everlasting Almost -- almost here, almost certain, almost always, almost irrefutable.  You are the tenuous edge I will live and die on.  Because the Almost of You -- heartbreaking as it is -- is sweeter than any guarantee I can find in this world.

Because You're not who I thought You were, so I must wait for revelation.  Because the mystery of Your strangeness is a lure that calls my name.  Because I thought I needed to contain You, but a tiny deity won't bend my knee.

Because the path is winding, and You are a God worthy of perilous journeys.  Because I need to wrestle, and You meet me at the river.  Because this is no ordinary hunger, and Your manna alone will suffice.  Because You know the loneliness of the desert, and I do, too.  Because I will drown unless You part this water.  Because the world is dark, but it shimmers at its edges. 

Because I'm wild inside, and You are not a tame lion.  Because You suffered, and only a suffering God can help.  Because You spoke of joy and I need to learn how to laugh. 

Because I am wired to seek You, and I will not let You go.  Because my ache for You is the heart of my aliveness.

Because I am still Your stubborn child, and I insist on resurrection.[1]

We are all Children of God in anticipation of the Christ child to come.  We are the child; the child who made a deal with Jesus and in his joy takes him for a ride in a red wagon, We are the Child, the inner child who heard his life in song by a homeless man on a train platform, We are the Child, the woman child who  prays and stays.

The beautiful Christmas Lullaby asks:

 “What Child is this

Who laid to rest

On Mary's lap is sleeping?

Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet,

While shepherds watch are keeping?”

And I am not sure we know the answer to this yet, for we each arrive to the child from different experiences, different ways and different cultures but we are called to wait and seek and stand here in anticipation “look a virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son/ and they will call him Emanuel.

The Emmanuel of Advent-Christmas, the God who is with us, witnesses our social life from within the community, so that God is not far away but is actually among us as we become part of each other’s lives (and sometimes step on them), as we work together (and sometimes against each other), as we try to support each other (and yet abandon millions of people to the miseries of destitution).
There is no childish game of hide and seek with this God, who is present to witness our good deeds and our misdeeds.   “Let the Lord enter (Ps 24:7c).” We rejoice at the prospect of having God among us, and yet we should also reflect on the awesome responsibility of living in the presence of God.  “We who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ” (Rom 1:6) are called to imitate Mary, who, when faced with the reality of Emmanuel, “placed her life at the service of God”[2]

Believe it along with Joseph, even if it all doesn’t make sense right now.  Believe that God is with us, even today: with us in the breaking of the bread, with us in the sharing of fellowship, with us in words of encouragement, with us in the cancer ward and the maternity ward, with us in our hour of birth and the hour of death. Therefore, we wait, and wait and God is with us.[3] Amen

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[1] Debie Thomas, Why I Stay: A Prayer, December 11, 2016, accessed December 13, 2016, http://www.journeywithjesus.net/the-eighth-day/current-column?id=1210.

[2] Gerald Darring, God with us, accessed December 13, 2016, http://liturgy.slu.edu/4AdvA121816/reflections_justice.html.

[3] Rev, The Abingdon Preaching Annual (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013). 

Reflection 11/27/16 We are called to Love and Action (Matt. 24:36-44)

In other words Jesus is coming look Busy….That saying and this text always seemed odd to me.  I mean the whole dire warning be ever vigilant...be on watch, be on guard because God , the son of man, may just show up and poof one will be gone and one will be left standing alone on a hill. 

You know what? we are terrible at this…We are the opposite of that energizer bunny we are never ready.  Well almost never ready.  Maybe , a select few who can see the end is nigh prepare themselves and try to prepare their loved ones  otherwise the rest of us go about living our lives minute by minute hour by hour never looking back…never really looking ahead and definitely never looking side to side.

I mention side to side because this is the time of year most human kind looks to the side, to the margins.  It is almost as if Christmas has become a time of a giant guilt trip and we do all we can do to make up for lost time or at least a little something to ease our guilt.  That does not say much for us.  One of the great things about being human is our great potential for love and to figure things out.

What would happen if the world stopped trying to get more stuff, buy more stuff, and become president just in order to be able to say I am the winner?  What would happen if we stopped and instead of saying not in my back yard we said yes in my yard, yes how can we help, yes we can build a high-rise of no cost units that the city maintains and supports for those who cannot support themselves.

Yes I know it is a crazy idea.  Yes I know there are all sort of logistics that surround it but what would happen if a whole city, country, world decided that care of those in the margins should and has now become our highest priority. What would happen if we became a completely egalitarian society?  I know Pie in the sky or star trek but any way…

Our time on this planet is so short and we cannot possibly do everything but if we do just one thing it makes a difference.  Live your life for today.  Be aware of the here and now.  Pay attention to the world around you.  Around you; that is in front of you, behind you and whats on the left or right.  Who is left in the margins?

For some reason we think we have a whole lifetime even when there are constant reminders that things happen…there are constant reminders that no one and nothing is forever…there are always reminders that there is no next guy…you know what I mean…the whole concept that is somebody else’s problem. Someone else will do something about it…Well there is no next guy and there never has been! The next Guy is you/Us!

Jesus through the Gospel calls out to each and every one of us to be ready, to expect God’s call on our hearts, on our lives and in our daily day to day.  But not only to expect God, not only to pay attention to God in our life’s but to respond to it. Too truly stop and say how can I be your hands in the world today?  Better yet say yes I will be your hands and feet and ears and eyes in the world today.

You know national security and even our local LAPD have a thing “see something say something” How does that transliterate here?  I mean it truly does, doesn’t it?  God is saying be at the ready…If you see something, say something, DOOOOO Something.  For God sake do something!

Oh I hear your head and your heart having a fight now.  I should do something; there are things I can do says the heart but the head the stops things up.  It says no you need that extra dollar!  Oh no I need that extra minute.  My time is precious!  I work hard for my Money! I will get in trouble if I say something.  I pray for them that’s enough.

Praying is never enough.  Oh what did that preacher just say?  I said praying is never enough!  Praying is a first step! If you are called to pray for someone, for some action, for some tragedy, that is just a first step.  The next step is to get up and do something more.  Maybe you are moved by a tragedy in the news.  It may even be a global event or around the world.  Yes pray but then do something locally.

In this time in this place where human capacity for hatred seems to be growing…it’s not, it is just getting more coverage, respond with love and action.  Go through your cupboards and donate that can of peas you are never going to eat.  Make a donation to the AIDS Life cycle.  Go to a local rally and be there to offer comfort and prayer.

Go to the Global Ministries website of the UCC and see what you may be able to contribute too.  You do not have money to spare take the change out of your pocket every night and put it in a jar.  I bet by Easter you will have a few dollars to donate.  Be brave volunteer with the interfaith food pantry they have times and volunteer needs on their website.

As you know I had started the solar empowerment project in Tijuana.  I am happy to say they are near completion and starting a final stage.  I will have a campaign up and running in the next week to fund the final $8700 dollars needed for the project.  Now I do not have $8700 heck technically I have no money.  But I have time and energy and I can write and I can ask.  You can ask as well for this or any other project.

We are all given by God hands hearts eyes and brains or at least o few of these things.  It only takes one of these to make a small difference.  In this season of Advent let us become ready.  Let us keep our eyes on the worlds around us and see where we can bring Love, Hope and joy.  Do not let fear and anger be your guide but the love of God. If we allow the love of Christ in our lives to be our Guide then this will be a joyous Christmas season.  If you allow the practice of sharing your god given Gifts with the other then this will be a year of Gods reign, Gods Kindom here on earth.  And when the time comes, and it will, we can look into the light of all love and say I am ready for you Lord.

Sermon 11/6/2016 All are alive to God! (Luke 20:27-38)

November 10^th 1972 “The members of the Valley Study Group Presented their petition to the board of Home missions at the District Conference and were given Mission status by the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches” We are a long way form 1972.

That day in History we had “The hijacking of Southern Airways Flight 49 started on November 10, 1972 in Birmingham, Alabama, stretching over 30 hours and 4,000 miles (6,400 km), not ending until the next evening in Havana, Cuba.”[1]

The cover of life magazine Questions for a peace 543 POW’s what shape are they in?  1271 MIAs; how many are alive?  Where does it leave us? An Ohio town talks of the war. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip celebrated 25 years

The Dow would just clear 1000 that Monday of course today it is over 18000.  The dollar had the buying power of 5.75 today, the inflation rate was at 4.06%.

The median price for a new home in the USA was just 29100[2].  Yet in California it was 28,100 [3]we were actually lower than the national average.

 President Nixon was just reelected as President of the United States

The hottest day of 1972 in Los Angeles was October 6, with a high temperature of 93°F. For reference, on that day the average high temperature is 74°F and the high temperature exceeds 82°F only one day in ten. The hottest month of 1972 was August with an average daily high temperature of 78°F.[4]

Happy anniversary 44 years of growing together of seeing pastors come and go some of you have witnessed it all some of you all this is still very new.  We have been a strong congregation and at times we have been a burdened congregation. 

So that is just a little bit of our history there is much more on the altar behind us.  I left it up because technically this is all saints Sunday.

Today’s reading from Luke Jesus is questioned by the Sadducees who do not believe in the resurrection.  This story appears in Mathew and Mark’s Gospel

.  I am the God of the Living Jesus is referring to eh promise of the resurrection or the promise of Life after this one.  Whether or not you believe in a physical or a spiritual resurrection there is more to this life than. Well this life!  We just celebrated day of the dead, all souls, all saints.  We celebrate because we know deep down that though are loved ones may be lost to us in this world they are very much alive in the next.

“In almost every culture there is a belief that the dead should be honored, be it out of respect or a fear of ghostly retribution. In some cultures there are holidays set aside specifically to commemorate the dead, which vary from reserved veneration to a killer party.”[5] 

The Inuit people believe their ancestors would visit them and appear as the northern lights. The Lakota people hold the tradition that the dead ones spirit lingers for a year after passing and “a special place is set up for the spirit, who is fed every day.  Members of the family and community can come and visit, eat, and sit with the spirit and family.  After a year the spirit is released.”[6]

The Japanese celebrate the Obon festival, “the Japanese believe on the interconnection and interdependence of almost everything on earth from humans, nature, the elements and including the spirits. They give honor and express their gratitude not only to their immediate relatives who have recently passed away but also to their earliest human ancestors who lived decades, centuries and millenniums ago.

The Japanese believe that at the start of Obon, the spirits of their relatives and ancestors come back to the physical world and visit them. Aside from offering prayers and holding memorial services at Buddhist temples, individual houses and establishments hang lanterns believing that their lights will guide the spirits. And on the last night of Obon, people send off the spirits back to their world with the help of floating or paper lanterns, candles, bon fires, etc.”[7]

So we just celebrated all hallows eve, all souls day, all saints day there is obon in Japan, Chuseok in Korea, Gaijatra in Nepal, QingMing in China, Pitru Paksha in Hindu Tradition, [8] Just to name a few.  Many of these festivals include leaving out food for the visiting ancestor.  Okay I know it’s symbolic but you do not feed the dead.  Our God is the God of the Living!  From long before Christianity to faith traditions all around the world there is an inherent knowledge that there is life beyond this plane of existence.  There is a promise of something more and not just something more but a place where we are united with those who have gone before us, a communion of saints if you will.

So today as we celebrate the anniversary of this congregation we share in memories and lives of those who have gone before us.  Who built this road that we are on and allows not only to look at the past but look at where we have gone.

I came to this congregation not knowing anyone.  Bob and I were starting to date and we knew what ever and how ever our lives were to evolve it would involve our congregation.  We were married here, I was ordained here.  We have had quite a few couples married here.  You all have shared your lives with this community.

We built a garden, planted seeds for a going greener way of being with changing out the lights bulbs, reduced paper, put solar panels not only on this building but on Las Memorias Hospice and rehab center in Tijuana.

We have put on plays, made our space available for movie shoots, important films like sinners and Corpus Christi playing with redemption.  We have put on festivals and yard sales. We have fed our community.  But first and foremost we are a loving community who try to do our best to welcome all.  We are human and we have failed at time, we make amends and move on.

We have so much to be proud of and so much to look forward too as we grow and change.  The future is unknown and perhaps scary but we need to face it and be active in it. We have become a very active part of the united Church of Christ and they are very happy to have us.  WE are their first ECO Justice Church, we were just proclaimed and Accessible to all Church one of four in the nation according the United church of Christ Disabilities Ministries website.

We, as a congregation, have put scarves and hats and socks on the homeless. Brought toys to children affected by HIV.  Helped out a women’s shelter.  Provided underwear and socks to an orphanage in Africa one year.

We provide a safe place for outreach and support groups dealing with recovery form multiple abuses. We are a space for the over 50’s group of the LGBT Center of Los Angeles. We have a working relationship with our local police station in north Hollywood as well as the LAPD.  We are represented at Clergy and laity united for economic justice, united church of Christ AIDS Network and Claremont school of Theology.

For a small congregation you are powerful and should be proud. You prove that God is a God of the Living and this Congregation is very Much alive!

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[1] Wikipedia, Southern Airways Flight 49, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Airways_Flight_49.

[2] Census, median price of a home, http://www.census.gov/const/uspricemon.pdf.

[3] ABC real-estate, California Real Estate Median Prices of Existing Homes since 1968, December 15, 2005, http://www.realestateabc.com/graphs/calmedian.htm.

[4] weatehrspark.com, Historical Weather For 1972 in Los Angeles, California, USA, https://weatherspark.com/history/30699/1972/Los-Angeles-California-United-States.

[5] Carissa McDonald, 10 Festivals that Honor the Dead, Medium, accessed November 2, 2016, http://listverse.com/2013/01/19/10-festivals-that-honor-the-dead/.

[6] Jack Eidt, Life and Death; Lakota Spiritual Practice, Medium, accessed November 2, 2016, http://www.wilderutopia.com/traditions/life-death-lakota-spiritual-practice/.

[7] Nathan Glover, the Japanese festival of the dead: Obon, Medium, accessed November 2, 2016, http://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/buddhism/the-japanese-festival-of-the-dead-obon.

[8] McDonald, 10 Festivals That Honor the Dead.