This is by no means professional... but done from a pew on Easter morning by my husband, Jim. And we all know..."kids can say the darndest things!" Enjoy!
This was delivered at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Fairport, New York.
Friday, November 11, 2016
Children's Message from Easter 2016
This is by no means professional... but done from a pew on Easter morning by my husband, Jim. And we all know..."kids can say the darndest things!" Enjoy!
This was delivered at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Fairport, New York.
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Everybody Prays
A meditation by the Rev. Tomi Jacobs-Ziobro shared on October 16, 2016 at First Church, United Church of Christ in Sandwich, Massachusetts.
Luke 18:1-8 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
According to theologian Frederick Buechner in his book "Wishful Thinking," everybody prays whether we think of it as praying or not
There is that odd silence we fall into when something very beautiful is happening or something very good or … even very bad
The ahhhhhhhhhh! that floats up out of you as out of a fourth July crowd when the sky rocket bursts over the water
That stammer of pain… or tears shed at someone else’s pain
The bubbling of personal or shared joy
Whatever the words or sounds may be that you use for sighing over your own life or life as a whole
These are all prayers in their own way
These are all spoken not just to yourself but to something even more than yourself
Formal prayer takes many forms and is practiced at many different times in our lives:
bedtime prayers, here in Sunday worship, there are the prayers we say when we are afraid or desperate, the “grace” we sometimes say before eating, are but a few.
Jesus prays many times in the Gospels, and even provides a model for us in the Lord’s Prayer. But there’s more.
Jesus speaks further not just of the prayers we might offer, or the frequency and persistence of our prayers,
but here he speaks of the nature of our God who hears the deepest longings of our hearts.
According to Jesus, by far the most important thing about praying… is to keep at it. Keep praying— and don’t lose heart.
The images Jesus uses to explain this are all rather comical
As though Jesus thought it rather comical that he should have to explain it to us at all
There is the story that says… God is like a friend you go to at midnight to borrow a loaf of bread
The friend says in essence “Drop dead” but you keep knocking anyway until your friend relents and gives you what you want so you will go away and he can go back to bed (Luke 11)
Or this parable today about a crooked judge who refuses to hear the case of a poor widow, presumably because there is nothing in it for him, no way for him to profit
But the widow persists, she does not lose heart— until the judge finally hears her case to just get her out of his hair
This parable is as much – or more – about the nature of God than it is a “nice” little instruction on prayer.
And yet, and yet.
What is at the heart of Jesus’ exhortation to “pray always and not to lose heart”?
Be importunate- persistent- unrelenting Jesus tells us
Not, one may assume, because you have to beat a path to God’s door before God will open the door
But rather because until you beat the path maybe there’s no way of getting to your door.
Maybe not so much that you get God’s attention
But rather so that you have your attention on God
God wants you to have the desires of your heart… but without taking the time how will you know what those desires are,
without believing God how will you believe you can have them to even ask or ponder them
Whatever else it may or may not be, prayer is self talk
And self talk in and of itself is not a bad idea
It is a good thing for you to Talk to yourself about your own life, about what you have done and what you have left undone
about who you are and who you wish you were
about those you love and also about those you don’t love
Talk to yourself about what matters to you most, because if you don’t you may just forget what matters most to you
Even if you don’t think anybody is listening, at least you will be listening
Believe Somebody is listening— God is listening
But there is more to prayer
Prayer will move us within and without
Is it not within our power at times to be the answer to the prayers of others?
Are we not called, as individuals and as the church, to be part of the response, in particular to the prayers and needs of the powerless, the marginalized, the outcastes of society at any given time?
If we are not part of that response, in what ways are we like the unjust judge?
One commentator suggests that “To those of us who have it in their power to relieve the distress of the widow, the orphan, and the stranger but do not,
the call to pray night and day is a command to let the priorities of God’s compassion reorder the priorities of our lives.” (paraphrased from The New Interpreters Bible, Luke, page 339).
It seems that people of faith, in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the New Testament, and down through the centuries of church history and in the very life of the church today, often are tempted to equate righteousness with their prayer life rather than with their passion for justice,
Do not think I am calling you to a pious prayer life that does not change how you act and behave in the world
The prayer I am calling you to, that Jesus calls us to will have an effect on our participation in bringing in the Reign of God, God’s beloved community
That reign of God is the shalom that is the fullness of peace, healing and wholeness not just for a few but for all,
including the widows and orphans, the stranger at the gate and the unwanted person knocking at the door, the poor.
Yes Prayer will move us beyond ourselves
And internal prayer will make us live and be our prayers
They will cease to be just something in our head but something that moves our hands and feet and mouths to work for justice
Many who read the Bible know this, for God has been clear about despising our religious festivals and burnt offerings – whatever form those take today –if we do not act with justice toward the widow, the orphan, the poor, the oppressed, those who are hated, marginalized, excluded from the goods of life that God so abundantly provides, and expects us to share.
As Jesus ends the “nice” little lesson on prayer – or so it seemed at the beginning – with a jarring and ominous question,
“And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
we too wonder about our faith, our mustard seed faith that has the potential to move mountains or uproot trees,
and ask if we have indeed heard the cry of the widow and responded?
In doing so, we will have heard the voice of God, calling us to prayer, to pray always
and the call to true religion and true righteousness. Amen
Luke 18:1-8 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
According to theologian Frederick Buechner in his book "Wishful Thinking," everybody prays whether we think of it as praying or not There is that odd silence we fall into when something very beautiful is happening or something very good or … even very bad
The ahhhhhhhhhh! that floats up out of you as out of a fourth July crowd when the sky rocket bursts over the water
That stammer of pain… or tears shed at someone else’s pain
The bubbling of personal or shared joy
Whatever the words or sounds may be that you use for sighing over your own life or life as a whole
These are all prayers in their own way
These are all spoken not just to yourself but to something even more than yourself
Formal prayer takes many forms and is practiced at many different times in our lives:
bedtime prayers, here in Sunday worship, there are the prayers we say when we are afraid or desperate, the “grace” we sometimes say before eating, are but a few.
Jesus prays many times in the Gospels, and even provides a model for us in the Lord’s Prayer. But there’s more.
Jesus speaks further not just of the prayers we might offer, or the frequency and persistence of our prayers,
but here he speaks of the nature of our God who hears the deepest longings of our hearts.
According to Jesus, by far the most important thing about praying… is to keep at it. Keep praying— and don’t lose heart.
The images Jesus uses to explain this are all rather comical
As though Jesus thought it rather comical that he should have to explain it to us at all
There is the story that says… God is like a friend you go to at midnight to borrow a loaf of bread
The friend says in essence “Drop dead” but you keep knocking anyway until your friend relents and gives you what you want so you will go away and he can go back to bed (Luke 11)
Or this parable today about a crooked judge who refuses to hear the case of a poor widow, presumably because there is nothing in it for him, no way for him to profit
But the widow persists, she does not lose heart— until the judge finally hears her case to just get her out of his hair
This parable is as much – or more – about the nature of God than it is a “nice” little instruction on prayer.
And yet, and yet.
What is at the heart of Jesus’ exhortation to “pray always and not to lose heart”?
Be importunate- persistent- unrelenting Jesus tells us
Not, one may assume, because you have to beat a path to God’s door before God will open the door
But rather because until you beat the path maybe there’s no way of getting to your door.
Maybe not so much that you get God’s attention
But rather so that you have your attention on God
God wants you to have the desires of your heart… but without taking the time how will you know what those desires are,
without believing God how will you believe you can have them to even ask or ponder them
Whatever else it may or may not be, prayer is self talk
And self talk in and of itself is not a bad idea
It is a good thing for you to Talk to yourself about your own life, about what you have done and what you have left undone
about who you are and who you wish you were
about those you love and also about those you don’t love
Talk to yourself about what matters to you most, because if you don’t you may just forget what matters most to you
Even if you don’t think anybody is listening, at least you will be listening
Believe Somebody is listening— God is listening
But there is more to prayer
Prayer will move us within and without
Is it not within our power at times to be the answer to the prayers of others?
Are we not called, as individuals and as the church, to be part of the response, in particular to the prayers and needs of the powerless, the marginalized, the outcastes of society at any given time?
If we are not part of that response, in what ways are we like the unjust judge?
One commentator suggests that “To those of us who have it in their power to relieve the distress of the widow, the orphan, and the stranger but do not,
the call to pray night and day is a command to let the priorities of God’s compassion reorder the priorities of our lives.” (paraphrased from The New Interpreters Bible, Luke, page 339).
It seems that people of faith, in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the New Testament, and down through the centuries of church history and in the very life of the church today, often are tempted to equate righteousness with their prayer life rather than with their passion for justice,
Do not think I am calling you to a pious prayer life that does not change how you act and behave in the world
The prayer I am calling you to, that Jesus calls us to will have an effect on our participation in bringing in the Reign of God, God’s beloved community
That reign of God is the shalom that is the fullness of peace, healing and wholeness not just for a few but for all,
including the widows and orphans, the stranger at the gate and the unwanted person knocking at the door, the poor.
Yes Prayer will move us beyond ourselves
And internal prayer will make us live and be our prayers
They will cease to be just something in our head but something that moves our hands and feet and mouths to work for justice
Many who read the Bible know this, for God has been clear about despising our religious festivals and burnt offerings – whatever form those take today –if we do not act with justice toward the widow, the orphan, the poor, the oppressed, those who are hated, marginalized, excluded from the goods of life that God so abundantly provides, and expects us to share.
As Jesus ends the “nice” little lesson on prayer – or so it seemed at the beginning – with a jarring and ominous question,
“And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
we too wonder about our faith, our mustard seed faith that has the potential to move mountains or uproot trees,
and ask if we have indeed heard the cry of the widow and responded?
In doing so, we will have heard the voice of God, calling us to prayer, to pray always
and the call to true religion and true righteousness. Amen
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Meditation of the Bent Over Woman in Luke 13:10-17
An audio recording of this meditation can be found on the website of the First Congregational UCC in Fairport New York or by following this link: http://fairportucc.org/page/service_august_21_2016
Luke 13:10-17
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had ailed her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
It's a simple enough story: on the way to Jerusalem, while Jesus is teaching in a synagogue, a "bent-over" woman passing by evokes Jesus' compassion.
Today I want to focus mostly on the subject of the story
On this woman who went to synagogue – who she was and what this encounter with Jesus meant to her
on what it means to be bent or challenged and straightened out
Feminist Biblical scholar Sharon Ringe describes the life of the bent-over woman very well,
Her condition could be translated as "a spirit of weakness."
She calls that weakness a kind of power that kept her bent-over and captive in "a world defined by the piece of ground around her own toes or looked at always on a slant".
Ironically, while this woman's line of vision has been severely affected by her ailment these many years, she has no problem seeing that help is on the way, standing right in front of her, in the person of Jesus.
She has no problem recognizing the source of her healing as God.
Does the woman ask for healing? No.
Does Jesus seem to care that it's the Sabbath, when healing non-life-threatening conditions is not permitted? No.
Without being asked, he calls her over to him, and sets her free from her longtime ailment by placing his hands on her, just as one would in blessing.
The woman is blessed and freed and has sense enough to recognize the source of the freedom she's been given at last, freedom from the little bit of square footage she's been limited to visually for almost twenty years.
Years ago when I was studying this passage I wrote a few poems that express some of my musings on being bent, those who are bent among us and the joy of being freed— living standing straight
Poetic Musing on
the Bent Over Woman
in Luke 13:10-17
I can see her
over there
that old, bent over woman
aching to stand straight
always looking down
needing to be lifted
to meet all eye to eye
cranky and embittered
from being ignored
dragging herself around
longing to be included
challenged by her mind
and her physical imperfection
daring to dream of what some call
wholeness
missing the gifts that her infirmity brings
will it be any better
when she can walk straight?
Each Sunday, all sorts of burdens are carried into our church.
Some, like the bent-over woman's condition, are more visible than others.
If we looked around the room today we might be able to see the weight of many years of suffering on one person's face, the crushing hurt of a new and painful reality in another's eyes: divorce; the loss of a loved one; financial worries; poor health; a child who is struggling with addiction.
Is it enough?
Is it enough?
I’ve read all your comments
I’ve studied the text
but still have questions
unanswered
What of the women still bent?
What of the men challenged by addiction,
children unable to walk straight?
Each week they come here to worship
and no healing of body is seen
we make room for their wheelchairs
or provide self help groups
They still live bound by Satan
some well
and some bitter
Is there hope here for them?
will the healing of their spirits
be enough?
God,
I don’t know.
Living Life as A Straightened Up Woman
(Luke 13: 10-17)
I have questions about questions
and unknowingness to spare
there are tears I long to share
I stand here ready to jump
ready to go after my dreams
yet to be dreamt
It’s all open
and I’m ready
yet I can’t believe it’s true
Someone pinch me
someone wake me
to this life that I am living
to this smile that I am giving
to myself
I am no longer burdened
by a spirit of heaviness
I am strengthened from within
by a touch from without
I see everything differently
I face life…straight on
We should not lump all of Jewish teaching on the reaction of the synagogue leader who rather than rejoicing in the healing of this woman, is irate.
Who by speaking for the theologically and liturgically orthodox, criticizes Jesus for going to work on the Sabbath.
Jesus responds that whenever someone is in great pain and suffering, we embody the meaning of the Sabbath when we become agents of healing.
The Sabbath is made for rest, and it is also made for showing God’s love through acts of care and hospitality.
The text tells us that those present (Jews at synagogue) rejoiced at the wonderful things they saw Jesus doing
We are fortunate in many ways in our culture, but we are burdened, too.
For example, many children in our society are as pressed down as the bent-over woman with schedules that leave them no time to play or to just "be" with their families, friends, and nature itself.
And there are many children within 20 miles of here who live with the burden of poverty which presses down on them
And there are the men and women of color across our country bent over with the fear of being stopped by the police — mother and
We as adults are often over scheduled, and our health and the well-being of our families, our churches, and our communities are affected.
If we are bent over by worries then we cannot be a force for God’s good in a world in desperate need of our care.
I want to invite you to begin with Sunday, just to begin with Sunday, as a time of peace and rest, but even more, as a time to immerse ourselves in the promises of God, the promises that sustain us each day, during "regular" time, too.
As the bent-over woman's gaze was "lifted up" to God in praise, perhaps our perspective, too, will be raised and will lead us to new and deeper faithfulness and praise.
To new acts of showing God’s love in care and hospitality.
To live lives that are straightened out. Amen
Resources:
http://www.ucc.org/worship_samuel_sermon_seeds_august_21_2016
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure/2016/08/the-adventurous-lectionary-pentecost-14-august-21-2016/
Luke 13:10-17
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had ailed her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
It's a simple enough story: on the way to Jerusalem, while Jesus is teaching in a synagogue, a "bent-over" woman passing by evokes Jesus' compassion.
Today I want to focus mostly on the subject of the story
On this woman who went to synagogue – who she was and what this encounter with Jesus meant to her
on what it means to be bent or challenged and straightened out
Feminist Biblical scholar Sharon Ringe describes the life of the bent-over woman very well,
Her condition could be translated as "a spirit of weakness."
She calls that weakness a kind of power that kept her bent-over and captive in "a world defined by the piece of ground around her own toes or looked at always on a slant".
Ironically, while this woman's line of vision has been severely affected by her ailment these many years, she has no problem seeing that help is on the way, standing right in front of her, in the person of Jesus.
She has no problem recognizing the source of her healing as God.
Does the woman ask for healing? No.
Does Jesus seem to care that it's the Sabbath, when healing non-life-threatening conditions is not permitted? No.
Without being asked, he calls her over to him, and sets her free from her longtime ailment by placing his hands on her, just as one would in blessing.
The woman is blessed and freed and has sense enough to recognize the source of the freedom she's been given at last, freedom from the little bit of square footage she's been limited to visually for almost twenty years.
Years ago when I was studying this passage I wrote a few poems that express some of my musings on being bent, those who are bent among us and the joy of being freed— living standing straight
Poetic Musing on
the Bent Over Woman
in Luke 13:10-17
I can see her
over there
that old, bent over woman
aching to stand straight
always looking down
needing to be lifted
to meet all eye to eye
cranky and embittered
from being ignored
dragging herself around
longing to be included
challenged by her mind
and her physical imperfection
daring to dream of what some call
wholeness
missing the gifts that her infirmity brings
will it be any better
when she can walk straight?
Each Sunday, all sorts of burdens are carried into our church.
Some, like the bent-over woman's condition, are more visible than others.
If we looked around the room today we might be able to see the weight of many years of suffering on one person's face, the crushing hurt of a new and painful reality in another's eyes: divorce; the loss of a loved one; financial worries; poor health; a child who is struggling with addiction.
Is it enough?
Is it enough?
I’ve read all your comments
I’ve studied the text
but still have questions
unanswered
What of the women still bent?
What of the men challenged by addiction,
children unable to walk straight?
Each week they come here to worship
and no healing of body is seen
we make room for their wheelchairs
or provide self help groups
They still live bound by Satan
some well
and some bitter
Is there hope here for them?
will the healing of their spirits
be enough?
God,
I don’t know.
Living Life as A Straightened Up Woman
(Luke 13: 10-17)
I have questions about questions
and unknowingness to spare
there are tears I long to share
I stand here ready to jump
ready to go after my dreams
yet to be dreamt
It’s all open
and I’m ready
yet I can’t believe it’s true
Someone pinch me
someone wake me
to this life that I am living
to this smile that I am giving
to myself
I am no longer burdened
by a spirit of heaviness
I am strengthened from within
by a touch from without
I see everything differently
I face life…straight on
We should not lump all of Jewish teaching on the reaction of the synagogue leader who rather than rejoicing in the healing of this woman, is irate.
Who by speaking for the theologically and liturgically orthodox, criticizes Jesus for going to work on the Sabbath.
Jesus responds that whenever someone is in great pain and suffering, we embody the meaning of the Sabbath when we become agents of healing.
The Sabbath is made for rest, and it is also made for showing God’s love through acts of care and hospitality.
The text tells us that those present (Jews at synagogue) rejoiced at the wonderful things they saw Jesus doing
We are fortunate in many ways in our culture, but we are burdened, too.
For example, many children in our society are as pressed down as the bent-over woman with schedules that leave them no time to play or to just "be" with their families, friends, and nature itself.
And there are many children within 20 miles of here who live with the burden of poverty which presses down on them
And there are the men and women of color across our country bent over with the fear of being stopped by the police — mother and
We as adults are often over scheduled, and our health and the well-being of our families, our churches, and our communities are affected.
If we are bent over by worries then we cannot be a force for God’s good in a world in desperate need of our care.
I want to invite you to begin with Sunday, just to begin with Sunday, as a time of peace and rest, but even more, as a time to immerse ourselves in the promises of God, the promises that sustain us each day, during "regular" time, too.
As the bent-over woman's gaze was "lifted up" to God in praise, perhaps our perspective, too, will be raised and will lead us to new and deeper faithfulness and praise.
To new acts of showing God’s love in care and hospitality.
To live lives that are straightened out. Amen
Resources:
http://www.ucc.org/worship_samuel_sermon_seeds_august_21_2016
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure/2016/08/the-adventurous-lectionary-pentecost-14-august-21-2016/
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Meditation for August 14, 2016 delivered in Fairport NY-- following the Baptism of twin boys.
Hebrews 11:29-12:2 (p. 274 NT)By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace. And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets - who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented - of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Meditation
Brothers and Sisters there is NO quick shortcut to raising children or to learning our Christian faith.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that real human change usually isn't fast, nor does it happen in a straight line.
Real transformation usually requires a slower, meandering path that is rocky and difficult at times
The path of faith, says the writer, requires patience and perseverance.
I have had church folks tell me they don’t like studying the OT— to which I remind them that 60% of our brief NT is a retelling of OT Stories—this rings true in our passage from Hebrews today.
Hebrews 11 is often called the "faith chapter" because the writer uses the history of Israel as an example of the kind of slow-moving progress that many followers of Jesus make in striving for Christlike holiness.
These “super heroes" of the faith have their flaws, to be sure, and their mistakes and missteps may be as familiar to us as their triumphs.
All of them were on the way to somewhere, but never fully reached their destination.
Take the people of Israel and their journey from Egypt, for example.
After the miracle at the Red Sea, it took 40 years of wandering in the desert before finally reaching the promised land (v. 29).
It was only "by faith" that they kept following God and Moses, and that faith was not immune to difficulty.
The journey came with storms of hardship and deprivation.
When they finally reached the land promised by God, they had to practice patience in marching around Jericho for seven days, waiting for God to act on their behalf (v. 30).
Even then, their intel came from Rahab, a lady of the evening, who had enough faith to trust a God she had never known, despite the risk to her own life (v. 31).
The list of those who took the long journey of faith reveals that the ride is never smooth.
There was Gideon, who had to trust that God wasn't setting him up when God told him to send home an army and, instead, defeat the enemy with 300 guys carrying some clay pots and torches.
Barak didn't move on a similar enemy without partnering with Deborah, a woman called by God.
Samson was a lunk-headed playboy who got in trouble over a haircut and yet trusted God to do the right thing through him in the end.
Jephthah made a unnecessary and rash vow that lead to the needless death of his daughter by his own hand.
David defeated Goliath with a sling and stone, but then blew it with Bathsheba.
Samuel was a good leader, except in his own household.
Despite all this dysfunction, fear and bad decision-making, God was able to use each of these flawed super heroes to preserve God’s people.
It was their faith and perseverance, and not their innate ability, that enabled them to be used by God.
It was "through faith" that they "conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight" (vv. 32-34).
The writer goes on to a long list of the hardships endured by people who took the journey of faith.
- They suffered death, torture and imprisonment.
- They suffered extreme poverty and persecution.
- They wandered through deserts and mountains, sleeping in caves and holes in the ground (vv. 36-38).
Their character and faith development was neither fast nor easy.
The end of the journey wasn't completely clear (v. 39), and yet God was setting them up for a destination even better than they could imagine (v. 40).
Given the faithful example of this "great cloud of witnesses," the writer of Hebrews urges us to let go of our desire for the quick fix and the weight of sin that tends to slow us down.
We are urged instead, to "run with perseverance the race that is set before us" (12:1).
The life of faith is a process of being nudged along by God, who walks with us every step of the way.
The ultimate example of this, says the writer, is Jesus.
Jesus is the spiritual leader who pioneers and perfects the way of faith, having tested it in his own life on earth as the fully human incarnation of the fully divine God (v. 2).
Jesus understood the destination of life to be a place of "joy" —
In Jesus, heaven and earth come closer to each other.
To bring that about, however, he endured the cross and its accompanying stigma of shame and failure.
But we know that while Jesus' journey toward Calvary was about as slow and painful as a journey gets, it actually led to our redemption and his enthronement at the right hand of God, from where he will come to unite heaven and earth once and for all (v. 2).
And so, the writer says, consider the difficulty of Jesus' journey of faith on our behalf, "so that you may not grow weary or lose heart" (v. 3).
Jesus endured the hostility of sinners, the pain of crucifixion, the hurt of betrayal, and the weight of the world's sin all the way to the cross.
If Jesus could do that for us, suggests the writer, then we, too, can endure faithful suffering on behalf of Christ.
In a world that always looks for the path of least resistance, the path of faith looks dangerous and difficult.
Jesus rids us of that notion, reminding us that following him requires the mindset of a marathon runner with all the accompanying pain and sweat, rather than that of a sprinter.
The Christian life is best sustained slowly and steadily through faith in the midst of challenges.
It's about patience and about the winding way of the cross rather than the straight line of desire for human progress.
Whatever you are going through today, know that you can endure it in faith because Jesus walks through it with you.
Christ is able to "sympathize with our weaknesses," so let us approach his throne of grace with boldness, "so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (4:15). Amen
Resources: http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93040980
Saturday, July 16, 2016
We are trampling the poor and needy
Amos 8:1-12 NRSV
This is what the Lord God showed me—a basket of summer fruit. He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by. The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” says the Lord God; “the dead bodies shall be many, cast out in every place. Be silent!”
Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who lives in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.
The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.
What Do We See?( a basket of summer fruit was displayed)
Amos was shown a basket overflowing with fruit.
It was, for him, and for me—most likely for you— a symbol of abundance and plenty.
Makes your mouth water… right?
When asked what he saw, Amos stated the obvious.
God then uses the basket of abundance as a symbol of deprivation.
"This abundance you see? It will disappear, God says.
You see a basket of fruit, but you do not see the needy and the poor."
The prophet is shown an ordinary object from everyday life whose significance is anything but ordinary.
Instead of the bounty, security and prosperity symbolized by a basket of fruit —— the object actually is a warning of neediness, violence and want— in other words, the end of all of its common associations.
The reason for these pending disasters of loss and mourning is the presence of social injustice.
I shared a version of this meditation with the Craigville Colloquy on The Bible, Faith & Economic Justice last Monday
I struggled with this passage… in the end I have more questions than answers—- pause
Now I know that many of you do not want to hear anything political on Sunday.
Most of you want worship to be joyful— you don’t want to hear about any divisions
But this is one of the lectionary passages for today.
As a congregation most of you feel the emphasis of the church should be on worship…
You are not alone…I am in the search process and for so many of our UCC congregations their emphasis is on worship
according to—Marcus Borg and JD Crossan In their book The Last Week—
“[t]here was an ancient prophetic tradition in which God insisted not just on justice and worship, but on justice over worship. God had repeatedly said, ‘I reject your worship because of your lack of justice,’ but never, ever, ever, ‘I reject your justice because of your lack of worship’”
And in the end of our passage from the prophet Amos we are told…
The word will be gone— there will be a famine of the Word of God
what will we do as believers?
There will be no worship as a result of neglecting justice
there will be no more comfort from God’s word
If an image other than a basket of fruit were shown to us today, what would it be?
A barbecue with a smoker, a two-car garage, a desk laden with technological gadgets, a spacious home, a chance to go to Cape Cod for the week?
Does God have something to say to us?
What do we see?
Are the poor and needy in our line of sight? Who do we see?
How can I help inspire you to pray for, to work for change? For justice?
It is overwhelming…
We are trampling the poor and needy as a country
Here in Rochester, NY, more than 51% of the children live in poverty— a large percentage of these children have brown and black skin…
the working poor are being crushed by low wages
I learned this week while the income of the 99% has stayed the same the income of the top 1% of the 1% has increased by unbelievable amounts
we know the gap between the wealthy and poor continues to widen
That too many have little to no access to healthcare—I recently learned there are 24 states without the Affordable Care Act
I wanted to ask some experts about how they feel we trample the poor today— in what way does the USA levi a poor tax on the needy
I asked 2 young women—about to turn 30
I wanted to hear their perspective from where they live and work
Shaina Brassard—Program Manager at Redesign- a private non-profit doing community development and policy advocacy — in Minneapolis MN
"I would say the war on drugs is a poor tax and trampling the needy.
Studies show that white, black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, yet brown communities are much more likely (in MN it is 8 times) to be arrested for possession, and face high levels of policing and police brutality as well as incarceration. In practice the laws don't apply the same to everyone.
The fact that guns are more accessible than healthcare and jobs in certain neighborhoods leaves people with very constrained choices and ongoing trauma."
Last week too many died from guns… in MN, LA, TX
that’s only the shootings that made the national news— you can tell the same stories from where you come from…
every day gun violence claims the lives of men and women in the greater Rochester area—
yet at this time, in our country, talk about guns is more divisive than any other subject—
the other expert I asked for input was— Lydia Brassard—(they are my daughters)
Lydia is completing a PhD in Anthropology from the City University of NY—- she is the Coordinator for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion and a visiting professor at Bennington College in Vermont—
"I wouldn't say that we are biased against the poor, so much as afraid of being poor. Those with political and economic power need alibis -- to explain and naturalize the existing global wealth gap, that emerged from the theft of land and the theft of labor, as inevitable. So as much as we are asking about our treatment of the downtrodden, what about our reverence and protection of the beneficiaries of maleness, whiteness, and the capitalist system?
In terms of daily poor taxes, many of them are based on location -- lead paint affecting all types of developmental processes; environmental racism that results in people drinking poisoned water -- in Flint Michigan (mostly low income black people affected) and in Hoosick Falls, NY/North Bennington, VT (mostly low income white people); no banks, just pay day loan lenders.
Any discussion about a daily poor tax, MUST include an accounting of our daily subsidies that come with wealth and whiteness both in this generation and across generations."
What do I do about my white privilege?
how can I talk about race— ?
How can I inspire you to pray for, to advocate for, to work for change? For justice?
When I coach couples— in marriage preparation or otherwise or I speak to my own children about their relationships I always say “remember you can’t change anyone other than yourself.”
That is where I have to begin…
I think at times I have been trying to change whoever I am talking to instead of changing myself… and then sharing my story of change
I spent a week learning about economic justice— and the lack of it, some of the causes…
In the coming months I want to engage with others in studying "White Privilege – Let's Talk," an adult education curriculum from the UCC designed to invite members to engage in safe, meaningful, substantive and bold conversations on race
Jim F has talked about doing a adult ed class here on Beyond Tolerance, using a series of Ted Talks… I plan to support that in any way I can.
The prophet is speaking to us… speaking to you and me
accusing us as it did Israel… we don't get a pass
the Rev Dr William Barber ll (a Disciples pastor in NC, the originator of Moral Mondays and the president of the NC NAACP) spoke at the NY Conference annual meeting last month— here in Rochester
And he reminded those in attendance that
our calling is to work for justice for the oppressed and the poor
we need a revival of prophetic inquiry
our work is not done
We are the richest nation and the poorest nation at the same time
this is not the time for the church to take a vacation
we can’t be quiet now
While I was on vacation I came across some hope and people making a difference from an unlikely source…. Edible Cape Cod —in between an ad for a surfing day camp and a farm to table Cape Cod wedding.. there is a story about Loving lunches—F4K— food for kids— feeds hunger and minds
a summer lunch program for children
I learned that 10,000 children from the Cape Cod canal to Provincetown are food insecure
Food for Kinds this is a federally funded program… that is underutilized on Cape Cod
These kinds of programs need people to make them happen— the funds are there
F4K are making a difference— but for only a small percentage of the children in need.
Initially sponsored by a church in Orleans, F4K brings together 170 volunteers from ages 5-90— to assist some of the poor and needy children on Cape Cod
they prepare and deliver healthy lunches to 650 children Monday-Friday in the summer months.
There are so many ways we can make a difference— ways we are making a difference… please share them with one another this week… share ideas
my closing words were inspired by commentary by Dr John C. Holbert
As Christians we may feel the worst that can befall us is no longer to hear a word from God.
We make our way to our churches to hear a word from God each week, right?
Some of us read the Bible and intone in chorus, "This is the Word of God" and "thanks be to God."
And the preacher then does their best to interpret, explain, and illuminate that word for the people.
This is the word of God, right?
Sisters and brothers…According to Amos, while the poor are trampled and rejected and forgotten, while the needy are shoved aside in favor of the rich, no amount of reading and preaching and singing and praying can ever lead us into the presence of God.
These claims should haunt us each week as we sing and pray and read and preach and turn our eyes away from those in need.
God help us to see the people God calls us to see.
God help us to not participate in, the famine of the Word! Amen.
Resources:
Borg, Marcus J. and John Dominic Crossan. The Last Week, New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2006, p. 44.
Turinng the tables—- Edith Rasell
http://www.patheos.com/Progressive-Christian/Famine-Word-John-Holbert-07-15-2013
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Antoinette Brown Blackwell-- Agent of Change
When many of you joined the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Fairport 25 or 30 or 40 or 50 or 60+ years ago it was a very different world
It was a very different church
things change— even if we don’t realize it
In our Gospel reading from John
The disciples find fish on the other side of the boat
there is something for us here
Life is about changing the way we do things—over and over
we can get used to casting our nets on this or that side of the boat
Jesus calls us out of our comfort zones— we need to listen and act in new ways…be open to new ways of doing things
When the disciples listened
when they went to the trouble of dragging in their nets and then tossing them on the other side— they caught so many fish they couldn’t bring them onto their boat
the nets didn't tear—- they held the catch— resistance can cause the nets to tear
there was a time not that long ago that women could not vote or own property— women could not preach
when slavery was a legal practice
Sometimes there are agents of change… like
Antoinette Louisa Brown who was born in Henrietta, New York on May 20, 1825, to Joseph and Abby Morse Brown.
Brown's parents were very religious and they were inspired by the many revivals in upstate New York during the Second Great Awakening.
One Sunday when Antoinette was eight, a visiting preacher challenged the church to give their lives to God.
The following week Antoinette told her Sunday School teacher that she wanted to be a minister.
The teacher firmly cautioned her that girls could not be ministers.
At sixteen, after completing her schooling at Monroe County Academy (1838-1840), Brown became a schoolteacher.
Nette was not content with teaching and soon set her sights on a college degree.
Four years later, she had saved enough for her tuition.
In 1846 Brown enrolled at Oberlin College in Ohio..
A year later she received a literary degree (the prescribed course for women students), and she requested to be admitted to the theology department to train for the ministry.
Oberlin supported education for women, but not theological training.
She was adamant and finally, they allowed her to attend lectures.
While she was at Oberlin, Brown became increasingly involved in the social justice issues of her day…women’s rights, temperance and the anti-slavery movement.
Despite resistance, in 1847 Brown delivered several speeches on temperance in Ohio, and lectured about women's rights in Henrietta.
During the three years she was studying theology she was constantly reminded by both faculty and fellow students that the Bible did not approve of women speaking in church.
She even had to get special permission to speak in class in order to present her essays.
In one of these essays Brown claimed that, in asking women to be silent in church, St. Paul meant only to warn against excesses in public worship.
Nette insisted that what Bible said about women was not applicable to those living in the 19th century.
She was an early feminist theologian.
In 1850, Antoinette Brown completed her theological studies but was not given a degree in theology or a license to preach.
She put her ministerial ambitions on hold, traveling to Worcester, Massachusetts (where I was yesterday for the bridal shower for my son’s fiancé), to attend the first National Women's Rights Convention,
Antoinette gave a well received speech
This began her career as an independent lecturer taking her to Pennsylvania, Ohio and New England —to speak on social reform issues, and preach on Sundays by invitation.
After several denied requests the Congregational church finally gave Brown a license to preach in 1852, but she was not ordained.
In the fall of 1852 Brown was invited to serve as minister for the Congregational Church in rural South Butler, New York.
She accepted the call.
Because the Congregational clergy wouldn't ordain a woman, on September 15, 1853 a 28 yo Brown was ordained by a Methodist minister — Luther Lee, a advocate for theological education and leadership for women.
This made her the first woman ordained by a regular Protestant denomination in the United States.
Antoinette Brown entered her ministry with enthusiasm.
she wrote "The pastoral labors at S. Butler suit me even better than I expected and my heart is full of hope."
Soon thereafter she officiated the first wedding performed by a woman minister-in Rochester.
Chosen by her church as a delegate to the 1853 World's Temperance Convention, Brown became the center of controversy, when fellow delegates received her credentials but shouted her off the platform, refusing to permit a woman to speak.
Brown was also unprepared for the openly critical attitudes of women in her parish.
Her friends in the women's rights movement - Lucy Stone, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony -thought she was wasting her time.
Brown had little support which led to an emotional faith crisis.
So after just ten months, she resigned from the South Butler church.
It would be ten years before another woman was ordained.
After some recuperation on the family's farm in Henrietta Susan B Anthony encouraged her to help with the campaign for women's right to own property in New York State.
She began lecturing again.
Brown continued to believe that women's active participation in religion could serve to further their status in society.
She met and married Samuel Charles Blackwell
Together they raised 5 daughters— who grew to be a minister, 2 doctors and an artist
She continued to write and speak out for an end to slavery, women’s rights Antoinette was one of the only women from that first Women’s Rights gathering who lived long enough to cast her vote in 1920
She died in 1921.
Antoinette was a leader for change… she looked for new directions
she cast her net on the other side of the boat and we have all benefited
I pray we can follow her lead here in Fairport as Jesus calls us to to feed his sheep, all of his sheep. Amen
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Pondering Passion in the Shadow of Brokenness
The following is the text of a sermon I preached in Fairport NY on February 28, 2016--an audio version can be found at http://fairportucc.org/page/sermons
PSALM 63:1-8
O God, you are my God,
I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
when I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
I have been pondering passion for many years
What do you think when you hear the word passion?
Desire? the passion of youth? something I want more of… ?
Do you recall the 2004 movie The Passion of Christ? directed by Mel Gibson
how is it that the death of Jesus became called Passion?
I have been passionate about being with my friends throughout my life.
We can be passionate about hearing an excellent speaker address a group or congregation, hanging on their every word.
Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr was a passionate speaker
When I visited Chile on behalf of the NY Conference of the UCC for the annual meeting of Pentecostal Church of Chile, the bishop, Obispo Munoz, gave a passionate sermon my last Sunday there. (Transcended language)
There is the passion we feel physically when we love/like or lust for someone, they give us a rush, increase our metabolism, turn us on.
I am very passionate about advocating for the rights women and lgbt
We can be passionate about causes.
My passion may not be your passion… in fact our passions can be opposing
So given all this I was surprised to realize that the Latin root of the word passion is “to suffer.”
I always thought of passion as a positive thing, something I desired to get lost in.
Many of us want more passion in our lives, right?
So, I wonder, what are we asking for?
When I went to the dictionary I was shocked at the definitions, especially their order.
passion (noun)
1: often capitalized: the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death,
2: strong feeling; also plural (passions) the emotions as distinguished from reason
3: Rage, anger
4: love; also: an object of affection or enthusiasm
5: sexual desire.
I was surprised the Passion of Christ is listed first.
And it is designated as between the last supper (Maundy Thursday) and his death
Passion of X is 1st And sexual desire was the last definition.
How did the anger and rage get in there?
And they are listed before love or sexual desire?
Is this indicative of how we view passion in our society? Or how we use passion?
emotions distinguished from reason???
Lots to ponder.
Is passion a good thing? I still want to think so.
Let me say what may seem obvious but still needs to be said, passion is not and need not always be of a sexual nature.
We often live within the shadow of brokenness- Striving for wholeness.
We can be passionate about working toward wholeness.
Passion is part of the journey.
Passion can be the seasoning, that which adds flavor and color to our lives and journey.
That is my hope.
Life without passion seems less than, incomplete, it lies in the shadows of brokenness.
The psalmist begins our reading today with words of passion to God.
O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
There is a deep longing for an encounter and closeness with God.
The imagery is vivid and intense.
God is the object of the writer’s desire and affection.
The same passionate words could be used between lovers.
The psalmist speaks from a place of longing and brokenness.
There is a degree of suffering expressed… thirsting and fainting in a dry and weary land.
This passionate longing does seem painful.
The more I pondered this, the more I realized that we are willing to suffer for that which we are passionate about.
What about the passion of God?
God is portrayed as a passionate God
Princeton Sem professor Rev Kenda Creasy Dean suggests that after Anselm, medieval scholars tended to condense divine passion into the suffering of Jesus from the garden to the cross— what Mel Gibson portrayed in his Passion of Christ.
It seems that there was another belief about divine passion that remained a part of the practice of the devout, which can be seen in the teachings of the Cappadocians in the East and in the pastoral writings of some of the reformers.
In this Cappadocian view the Christ event, Jesus coming as the Christ, as one of us, is the expression of God’s passion.
God’s passion was expressed in sending Jesus to walk among us, live as one of us.
To these pastoral leaders God’s willingness to be vulnerable and the self giving love of the incarnation is a divine attitude,
it culminates in the death of Jesus on the cross but for these writers and leaders it is not synonymous with only the suffering and crucifixion.
Love always involves suffering on behalf of the beloved; desire longs for what sometimes lies painfully out of reach.
We are broken. We live in the shadow of brokenness.
From this theological or doctrinal perspective passion makes love the reason for a willingness to be vulnerable, and specifically for God’s chosen vulnerability on the cross.
This thinking is inline with the tradition of atonement theory.
The sins of the world were atoned for in the death of Jesus.
The suffering love of the cross saved the world.
It is a passionate and sacrificial love.
I struggled with the brutal torture and death of Jesus in Gibson’s Passion X.
I am also disturbed by any suggestion that God requires a blood sacrifice.
Still ones willingness to die for a cause, that is passion.
There are crimes of passion.
A label for some of the most horrendous and brutal crimes.
And the passion of youth.
It is the passions of youth that are the ones that seem to be the ones that we worry about, that we desire to control.
It seems historically, passion, has been viewed as something that needed to be controlled.
Passion is a symptom of adolescence, but it is also a symptom of being human.
Perhaps it is the passions of young people that serve as a sign of the deeper human longing for love in us all.
Does passion always require suffering or sacrifice?
It is not the answer I would hope for but we are willing to suffer and/or make sacrifices for that which we are passionate about. I am.
While in seminary I explored the feminist naming of the power of the love of God best known and manifested in relationship as erotic power.
God’s presence in our relating one to the other in a mutually affirming and empowering way enables a creativity and passion that is erotic in the best sense of the word.
(not pornographic or negatively lustful or sinful)
This exploration, which I continue, is to affirm that which is passionate within me and others.
This affirmation of passion and the erotic love of God works to abolish the desire to control, edit or blot out passion.
It is in this encounter of passion that we can open up to others and to God, it is in this listening to our inner voices of passion that we can encounter that which is most truly us.
I wrote a poem while exploring this in seminary...
my poem – Tears falling by Tomi Jacobs
Tears falling
voices calling
lips kissing
cats hissing
bodies tumble
drums rubble
ocean spray
bright sun
warms the day
sand beneath my toes
the scent of a rose
water trickles
my tummy tickles
children laugh
hand in hand on a path
God is here
Love is near
And far and all about
makes me shout
draws me out
Eros jumps over the fences
and challenges all my senses
She tastes of oysters plump
I feel my heart jump
Spring rain
deep pain
freshly fallen, virgin snow
all dressed up with this place to go
abandoning fear
lending my ear
to the melody of angels voices
aching from the joy of so many choices
feeling the shape
healing from the rape
of my mind
the zest of an orange rind
daring to be kind
the warmth of a fire
flying higher
than I’ve ever been before
knowing I want more
the deep tenderness
of a warm caress
brilliant art
a fresh lemon tart
a smile and a wink
telling me what you think
a heart felt song
that lasts all night long
within my head
crying for the dead
ecstasy in dance
longing for the chance
to rise and leap
wanting just to keep
the ache within my soul
from turning into coal
hands stroking
fingers poking
touching skin
welcoming in
noting bumps
fondling lumps
oil on flesh
feeling fresh
and clean and whole and complete
tasting fully all that I eat
standing open and naked
knowing I can take it or make it
whatever befall
thanks to my All and All
daring to untie the tether
Come, let us witness God together.
Let me suggest that life as God intended at its fullest includes passion.
I have not dwelled too much on the negative sides of passion gone awry; it is a tricky balancing act to cultivate a positive and mutual expression of passion.
It brings us closer to each other, to God and moves us to work for justice.
And because we still live in the shadow of brokenness at times we suffer for or because of passion.
When all is said and done, I don’t think we would truly want it any other way. Amen
PSALM 63:1-8
O God, you are my God,
I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
when I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
I have been pondering passion for many years
What do you think when you hear the word passion?
Desire? the passion of youth? something I want more of… ?
Do you recall the 2004 movie The Passion of Christ? directed by Mel Gibson
how is it that the death of Jesus became called Passion?
I have been passionate about being with my friends throughout my life.
We can be passionate about hearing an excellent speaker address a group or congregation, hanging on their every word.
Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr was a passionate speaker
When I visited Chile on behalf of the NY Conference of the UCC for the annual meeting of Pentecostal Church of Chile, the bishop, Obispo Munoz, gave a passionate sermon my last Sunday there. (Transcended language)
There is the passion we feel physically when we love/like or lust for someone, they give us a rush, increase our metabolism, turn us on.
I am very passionate about advocating for the rights women and lgbt
We can be passionate about causes.
My passion may not be your passion… in fact our passions can be opposing
So given all this I was surprised to realize that the Latin root of the word passion is “to suffer.”
I always thought of passion as a positive thing, something I desired to get lost in.
Many of us want more passion in our lives, right?
So, I wonder, what are we asking for?
When I went to the dictionary I was shocked at the definitions, especially their order.
passion (noun)
1: often capitalized: the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death,
2: strong feeling; also plural (passions) the emotions as distinguished from reason
3: Rage, anger
4: love; also: an object of affection or enthusiasm
5: sexual desire.
I was surprised the Passion of Christ is listed first.
And it is designated as between the last supper (Maundy Thursday) and his death
Passion of X is 1st And sexual desire was the last definition.
How did the anger and rage get in there?
And they are listed before love or sexual desire?
Is this indicative of how we view passion in our society? Or how we use passion?
emotions distinguished from reason???
Lots to ponder.
Is passion a good thing? I still want to think so.
Let me say what may seem obvious but still needs to be said, passion is not and need not always be of a sexual nature.
We often live within the shadow of brokenness- Striving for wholeness.
We can be passionate about working toward wholeness.
Passion is part of the journey.
Passion can be the seasoning, that which adds flavor and color to our lives and journey.
That is my hope.
Life without passion seems less than, incomplete, it lies in the shadows of brokenness.
The psalmist begins our reading today with words of passion to God.
O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
There is a deep longing for an encounter and closeness with God.
The imagery is vivid and intense.
God is the object of the writer’s desire and affection.
The same passionate words could be used between lovers.
The psalmist speaks from a place of longing and brokenness.
There is a degree of suffering expressed… thirsting and fainting in a dry and weary land.
This passionate longing does seem painful.
The more I pondered this, the more I realized that we are willing to suffer for that which we are passionate about.
What about the passion of God?
God is portrayed as a passionate God
Princeton Sem professor Rev Kenda Creasy Dean suggests that after Anselm, medieval scholars tended to condense divine passion into the suffering of Jesus from the garden to the cross— what Mel Gibson portrayed in his Passion of Christ.
It seems that there was another belief about divine passion that remained a part of the practice of the devout, which can be seen in the teachings of the Cappadocians in the East and in the pastoral writings of some of the reformers.
In this Cappadocian view the Christ event, Jesus coming as the Christ, as one of us, is the expression of God’s passion.
God’s passion was expressed in sending Jesus to walk among us, live as one of us.
To these pastoral leaders God’s willingness to be vulnerable and the self giving love of the incarnation is a divine attitude,
it culminates in the death of Jesus on the cross but for these writers and leaders it is not synonymous with only the suffering and crucifixion.
Love always involves suffering on behalf of the beloved; desire longs for what sometimes lies painfully out of reach.
We are broken. We live in the shadow of brokenness.
From this theological or doctrinal perspective passion makes love the reason for a willingness to be vulnerable, and specifically for God’s chosen vulnerability on the cross.
This thinking is inline with the tradition of atonement theory.
The sins of the world were atoned for in the death of Jesus.
The suffering love of the cross saved the world.
It is a passionate and sacrificial love.
I struggled with the brutal torture and death of Jesus in Gibson’s Passion X.
I am also disturbed by any suggestion that God requires a blood sacrifice.
Still ones willingness to die for a cause, that is passion.
There are crimes of passion.
A label for some of the most horrendous and brutal crimes.
And the passion of youth.
It is the passions of youth that are the ones that seem to be the ones that we worry about, that we desire to control.
It seems historically, passion, has been viewed as something that needed to be controlled.
Passion is a symptom of adolescence, but it is also a symptom of being human.
Perhaps it is the passions of young people that serve as a sign of the deeper human longing for love in us all.
Does passion always require suffering or sacrifice?
It is not the answer I would hope for but we are willing to suffer and/or make sacrifices for that which we are passionate about. I am.
While in seminary I explored the feminist naming of the power of the love of God best known and manifested in relationship as erotic power.
God’s presence in our relating one to the other in a mutually affirming and empowering way enables a creativity and passion that is erotic in the best sense of the word.
(not pornographic or negatively lustful or sinful)
This exploration, which I continue, is to affirm that which is passionate within me and others.
This affirmation of passion and the erotic love of God works to abolish the desire to control, edit or blot out passion.
It is in this encounter of passion that we can open up to others and to God, it is in this listening to our inner voices of passion that we can encounter that which is most truly us.
I wrote a poem while exploring this in seminary...
my poem – Tears falling by Tomi Jacobs
Tears falling
voices calling
lips kissing
cats hissing
bodies tumble
drums rubble
ocean spray
bright sun
warms the day
sand beneath my toes
the scent of a rose
water trickles
my tummy tickles
children laugh
hand in hand on a path
God is here
Love is near
And far and all about
makes me shout
draws me out
Eros jumps over the fences
and challenges all my senses
She tastes of oysters plump
I feel my heart jump
Spring rain
deep pain
freshly fallen, virgin snow
all dressed up with this place to go
abandoning fear
lending my ear
to the melody of angels voices
aching from the joy of so many choices
feeling the shape
healing from the rape
of my mind
the zest of an orange rind
daring to be kind
the warmth of a fire
flying higher
than I’ve ever been before
knowing I want more
the deep tenderness
of a warm caress
brilliant art
a fresh lemon tart
a smile and a wink
telling me what you think
a heart felt song
that lasts all night long
within my head
crying for the dead
ecstasy in dance
longing for the chance
to rise and leap
wanting just to keep
the ache within my soul
from turning into coal
hands stroking
fingers poking
touching skin
welcoming in
noting bumps
fondling lumps
oil on flesh
feeling fresh
and clean and whole and complete
tasting fully all that I eat
standing open and naked
knowing I can take it or make it
whatever befall
thanks to my All and All
daring to untie the tether
Come, let us witness God together.
Let me suggest that life as God intended at its fullest includes passion.
I have not dwelled too much on the negative sides of passion gone awry; it is a tricky balancing act to cultivate a positive and mutual expression of passion.
It brings us closer to each other, to God and moves us to work for justice.
And because we still live in the shadow of brokenness at times we suffer for or because of passion.
When all is said and done, I don’t think we would truly want it any other way. Amen
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Resolutions
Working with Ecclesiastes 3:1-13* I asked the church in Fairport, New York, where I am
the Interim Minister, to write down a New Year resolution for their life as a child of God and/or as the church... asking what they might need to leave behind or embrace in the coming year? What changes do you need to make?*For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
What gain have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.
Church members were given index cards to write their resolutions on-- and then invited to bring them forward during communion to offer to God as they also lit a candle. I have been reading those resolutions and I admire how thoughtful most of those gathered were. Of course, there were a couple of sarcastic comments…for example “Lord, it’s hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way— But I will try. I will also try to be more spiritual and calmer. I’ll try to do more for the church.”
Most folks took it seriously and here are a few of the things they offered to God:
…to put God first in my life—
I resolve to stay positive in our church's transition and pray for our pulpit committee to bring us an inspiring new minister.
Resolved To not take for granted the blessings bestowed upon me and my family
…to continue to offer prayers for others
Resolution To think of the feelings of other before I speak.
Try to be open to new ideas and ways of doing things.
Eat less. Pray more. Love always. Give more than I take.
live with JOY so others may see the Light and Love of Jesus in my heart.
Change- myself (to be a better Christian)
Embrace- New ideas, simplicity
Let go of- Fear
To be less judgmental and more loving, giving and understanding.
Copied from Calvin and Hobbes “My resolution for 2016 is to wing it, like last year.”
to help with RAIHN’s work. (Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network—a division of Family Promise- helping homeless families)
This is a just a small sample of their resolutions. Church goers took a close look at themselves in relation to God and their faith community. It was good to take some time to reflect on what we can do better and what we might refrain from bringing forward into 2016.
I also shared with the faithful gathered that morning a Facebook post which was a reflection on the same passage from my colleague Maren Tirabassi.
New Year’s Eve (Ecclesiastes 3:1-13) A version for those of us chronologically advantaged
For everything there is a season,
but my joints creak a lot in the winter.
The time to be born is the distant past,
and it’s time I think about improving
what gets written in my obituary.
There’s a time to plant myself in front of the fire,
and a time to pluck up my behind from the recliner;
a time to kill the sharp response,
and a time to heal the family wounds;
a time to break down in public – who cares?
and a time to build up the confidence of some teenager.
There’s a time to weep, creep,
and unexpectedly sleep,
and a time to laugh at myself doing it;
a time to throw away … well, just about everything,
and a time to gather a little online savvy;
a time to embrace and embrace and embrace,
and a time to silently hope I will not soon
experience what it is
to refrain from embracing.
There’s a time to seek, to lose,
and to wonder why I came here in the first place;
a time to tear down any old walls that are still standing,
and a time to stitch up my lips;
lots of time to keep silence … in front of a sunrise,
a child’s smile, and several enthusiastic plans
that I know won’t work out,
and a time to speak kindly and with lots of love …
after that happens.
There are months and months and months for love,
and a couple hours to hate loneliness, cancer,
and Alzheimer’s Disease.
There is a time to really hate war, racism, intolerance,
and a time to work for peace,
no matter how old or tired or frustrated I feel.
What gain do workers or retirees have from their toil?
I have seen that many things fail or fade
or fritter away —
quite a few in the church I love —
but God has given a joy to being busy.
God has put past and future in our minds,
and sometimes they flip flop,
and my brain goes back to the beginning.
It’s OK. There is nothing better than to be happy,
spread happiness, but never be comfortable
while there is one unhappy story on the news —
one refugee, one heroin loss,
one broken police force
and remind everyone of God’s simple gifts –
food, drink and the pleasure of work well done. Amen
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