Showing posts with label Moravian. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Sermon for 7/4/10: "Risking It All" (Ruth 1:1-19-Favorite Things Summer Worship Series)

"Risking It All"

Sermon for 7/4/10

Favorite Things Summer Worship Series

John Hus Communion

Ruth 1:1-19a; Mark 8:34-38

Let us prepare our hearts and pause in prayer from a hymn from Hus's time:

The Word of God, which ne're shall cease,

Proclaims free pardon, grace and peace,

Salvation shows in Christ alone,

The perfect will of God makes known.[1]

Life is full of choices, and many of our choices involve risks. Big risks, small risks--risk comes in different shapes and sizes. As I spent time this week thinking about the book of Ruth, the Independence day celebrations, and the celebration of John Hus, I was struck by the connections around risk. They differ on many parts of the stories, but the connections are certainly there. All three stories from our history have taken on a fairy tale or mythic quality, and these stories live on as we look at them again and again through the years.

The book of Ruth, like Jonah we touched on a few weeks ago, is short and deserves to be viewed as a whole story. Due to space constraints and copyright laws, I couldn't print the whole thing in the bulletin today, but I invite you to re-read it sometime soon to relive the tale of widows trying to survive in a patriarchal society. A story of food and family, gleaning and goodness from others and from God. Naomi and her husband had left Bethlehem years before in search of food--ironic since Bethlehem means "House of Bread," and they ended up in Moab. Ruth and Orpah married Naomi's sons, and all three men died. The famine was over, and so Naomi is heading back home. Ruth and Orpah reached a fork in the road and had to make a choice. Go home to their families, or follow their Mother-in-law and take a risk. Orpah followed directions. Ruth took a risk.

Journeying as women without men around in that culture was unheard of, and for Ruth to leave behind her culture, her family, and her old life to follow Naomi back to Bethlehem was a huge risk. She likely had to learn a new language, new customs, new traditions, new holidays, new foods, new everything. She was willing to take the risk and set out on the journey with Naomi. We can't overlook or belittle Orpah as we praise Ruth for journeying with Naomi. After all, most of us probably can relate to Orpah more closely. We choose to stay where things are easy, or at least where things make sense. The culture isn't foreign, we don't have to learn a new language, and our family is in the area. It looks like Orpah made the right decision, or at least the easy decision. Scripture doesn't tell us what happened to Orpah.

For Ruth and Naomi, the risk worked out well for them. Ruth decides to follow not only Naomi, but believe in Naomi's God--Yahweh--The Lord Almighty. For Ruth and Naomi, we do know details about their story. Spoiler Alert--Ruth ended up meeting Boaz, having a child, and becoming Great-Grandmother to King David and thus a distant relative of Jesus. In fact, Ruth is one of only 4 women named in Matthew's Gospel in Jesus' lineage-a high honor indeed. A stranger in a strange land ended up being in a royal family and relative to the Messiah. For Ruth, the risk paid off.

With today being July 4th, I can't help but think of another group whose risk paid off. The 4th of July now days is about food, fireworks, and fun. The writers of the Declaration of Independence took a huge risk in trying to break away from England. These renegade colonies were not seen favorably, and England was willing to fight for what they felt was their rightful land. The men who signed the Declaration of Independence were committing treason, and were not making friends with the government at the time. I heard folks talking on the radio the other day about the early signers and the risk they took. I don't often stop and think about that risk, because we know how the ending works out. But they could not benefit from our 20/20 Hindsight, so they were risking their lives, their careers, and their families to stand up for what they thought was right. They had to follow their conscience, and the risk paid off.

For John Hus, or Jan Hus as he is also known, he took a risk as well, but whether it paid off for him comes with your perspective. Hus grew up in what is today the Czech Republic, and though he was from a peasant family, was able to attend Charles University in Prague. He ended up becoming a lecturer at the University, and later Rector. He developed an interest in theology and was ordained to the Priesthood. The church was fraught with controversy in the early 1400s, and Hus spoke out against the problems like the selling of indulgences. He also preached in Czech, the language of the people, instead of Latin, the language of the church. He believed that all church members should be allowed to receive both the cup and the bread during Communion instead of the cup only for the priests--a practice that was common at that time. He felt that he could help bring reforms to the church and was willing to stand up for what he believed was what God wanted.

Hus preached and spoke out against the church and leadership, and the church got more and more upset with him. In 1415 he was invited to the Council of Constance, and was promised safe passage and return for his journey. He took the risk and journeyed to Constance, where he was thrown in jail, convicted of heresy, and burned at the stake on July 6th, 1415 after he refused to recant on his beliefs. Hus became a martyr for his beliefs, and his followers founded the Unity of the Brethren church in 1457, from which we trace our history as Moravians. July 6th is a major holiday in the Czech Republic today. It is a date Moravians remember by celebrating Communion--partaking both the bread and cup all these 500+ years later. Hus' risk resulted in his untimely death, but it also resulted in a denomination that has spread throughout the world and he helped bring about reforms in the Catholic church as well. Was his risk worth it? I believe so. But here again, our 20/20 Hindsight provides a viewpoint he didn't have.

As we prepare to receive Communion today, we think back to all the saints--these spiritual forefathers and foremothers who came before us, paving the way and forging the paths for us to follow today. They took risks to stand up for what they believed in, and we have what we have today thanks to their choices. We also ultimately give thanks to Christ for the risks he took. We hear his call to follow in the path he set forward through his life, death, and resurrection. We hear his call to step out in faith and be his disciples, even when the road we travel calls us to take up our cross and follow-to take the risk. We think of Ruth who risked learning a new language and culture to follow the God that she had come to know and love. We think of the early patriots who risked livelihood and family to live where they could practice their faith and life as they felt led to do. We think of John Hus who choose death over recanting his beliefs, and his followers, the early Unity of the Brethren, who hid in forests and risked death to receive the cup and bread, and share their faith in their own language.

We think about our own lives where God is calling us to follow as disciples, to risk the tough choices, and to stand up for what we believe is right. We don't know where our journey will lead, but we know God goes before us and with us, and sustains us along the path. Our Lord risked it all, and invites us to do the same. May we all be willing to stand up for what we believe is right and follow wherever God leads. Will you take the risk? Amen.

[1] Allen W. Schattschneider and Albert H. Frank, Through Five Hundred Years and Beyond: A Popular History of the Moravian Church (Bethlehem, PA: IBOC, 2009) 13. This hymn was a rebel song from the 15th Century.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

"The Journey Ahead" Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday/Last Sunday in Epiphany Year C-2/14/10

Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday (Last Sunday in Epiphany-Year C)

Exodus 34:28-35; Luke 9:28-43

"The Journey Ahead"
2/14/2010

I went walking the other day. It was one of our recent deceptively beautiful days--sunny and gorgeous, and bitter cold with the wind chill. The sun drew me out, but the cold reminded me that winter is still here for the moment. Since I didn't have my ipod with me, I walked in the quiet. It allowed me to notice all that was going on around me despite the stillness. As I thought and looked and noticed, I decided this is probably one of my favorite times of the year... if you know me, cold is not something I'm a big fan of. But as I looked beyond the cold, I saw it. Hope. Transformation.

(Photo from http://neighborhoodnature.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/)

Right there in the dirt. Flower bulbs poised to show their glory. Green stalks poking out of the dirt making their first appearances in the sun. Right there on the tree branches. Tree branches shedding their winter death and peaking out ever so slightly with new growth. Right there in the birds and squirrels out scavenging for food because new little ones are on the way soon. The earth is just poised on the brink of new life. There is hope of spring--I don't care what the groundhog says. Winter doesn't get the last word--THANKFULLY!!

It isn't coincidence that Transfiguration Sunday and the verge of Spring coincide. They both give us a picture of change that is happening all around us--transformation is in the air. Luke's account of the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain details how Jesus was changed before the disciples' very eyes. He looked different, and a voice from heaven claimed Jesus and invited those present and those hearing the story to listen to him. (Luke 9:35). From this point in the story, Jesus heads to Jerusalem and Holy Week--the Garden of Gethsemane, arrest, the cross, and death. We are about to enter this time in our church year when these events are the focus. But even as we enter Lent this coming week on Ash Wednesday, we do so with the knowledge that death doesn't get the final word. After Lent comes Easter. The cross leads to the tomb, and then the tomb is found empty. There is life after death. We are all in the process of transformation that proclaims Resurrection--Life after death--Hope. It's quite a journey, and it all starts again on Wednesday!

The traditional readings for Transfiguration Sunday include both the Luke reading and the Exodus reading that we heard today. This passage from Exodus would have come to mind immediately when the followers of Jesus heard the story of the Transfiguration. There are many parallels to the passage that I won't go into here, but I imagine you noticed many of them as you heard the two read together this morning.

How do we imagine this scene where Moses is on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments? This scene has been portrayed in a number of ways. A simple Google search will show how some have imagined it. If you have ever seen images of the Michelangelo sculpture of Moses[1], the horns on his forehead come from this passage. Some older translations describe Moses' glow as him having horns.[2] More contemporary translations match today's reading of his face being aglow. I love the image of Moses coming down with his face aglow from his time with God. What would it be like to spend such intense time with God and be in God's presence such that your face glowed when others saw you afterward?

As I explored the Exodus passage of scripture this week, I found something I thought was very interesting, especially given that we are facing the season of Lent. Did you notice the opening line in the Exodus story today? This line is not considered a part of the lectionary passage for today. One of the things we were taught in school, though, is that a passage isn't written alone. It is part of a larger narrative, so we can consider what comes before and after the text we are exploring. So as I looked at Exodus, I notice that Moses spends forty days and nights with God. Verse 28 reads, "He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments" (Exodus 34:28, NRSV). In fact, Moses spends 40 days and nights with God two different times in Exodus (Exodus 24:18, NRSV). He understood the importance of spending quality time in God's presence.

Forty days is a long time—it’s almost a 10^th of the year. Forty is a number in Judaism that means a long time and also means fullness. It's the "amount of time it takes to accomplish a specific purpose." [3]Forty days allows for new habits to form--to take root and grow changing our ways and patterns. For Moses, forty days and nights where what it took to hear God's commandments, record them, and be ready to return to the Israelites to relay the message. It's a significant number in Scripture and draws our minds to other instances where we find the number forty. Remember Noah and the ark and their 40 days of rain. The Israelites wandered in the desert 40 years. Kings Saul, David, and Solomon ruled 40 years. Eli was a judge for 40 years. Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days wile he was tempted. After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples for 40 days.

For the early church, the tradition continued. The 40 days before Easter were a time of preparation for baptisms that would then happen on Easter. This was an important part of the preparation for new believers to get to know what it meant to live as Christians. They used the time to transform their old ways into new ways of being believers. By 1191 the Pope declared the 40 days of Lent to be an official season of the church year, and marked Ash Wednesday as the beginning point. Just as I saw flower bulbs starting to show through the dirt on my walk the other day, the word Lent meant spring and originally comes from the word meaning long because the days are getting longer as spring approaches.[4] The plants are beginning to live new lives, and we have the same opportunity.

Lent, for us today, is a 40-day season that serves as a time for reflection and repentance before the Resurrection. We often associate it with somber, minor keys. One way to look at this is that for reflection and repentance we must look inside ourselves and examine who we are. Ash Wednesday offers us this opportunity as we acknowledge our own mortality through the dust. This reflection is difficult for many and uncomfortable for most. But that is also where transformation and change can take place. Transformation is often difficult, but it is worth it in the end. Transformation, after all, is what God is all about in our world--transforming death into new life.

When Steve and I visited Monticello in Charlottesville, VA this past October, we witnessed transformation in process. Underneath a cellar overhang there were Monarch butterflies transforming. The chrysalis' were hanging there, and we could see one that was almost ready to hatch. The wings were visible through the clear covering.

And many monarchs, having just finished their own transformations, filled the gardens. It was so beautiful to see these butterflies going through the difficult process of transformation, but we know in the end it is worth their efforts to change from caterpillar to butterfly. This is the reason butterflies are representative of the resurrection. Lent is like the time the caterpillar spends inside the chrysalis--internal change is happening, but the transformation of Easter is worth all the work that Lent brings. New life is the result, and what a beautiful transformation it is.

The journey ahead brings us Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy Week, and ultimately Easter. It also brings us an invitation. An invitation to journey with the story of our faith. An invitation to live into the rhythm of the church year. An invitation for transformation through intentional time with God. An invitation for a journey with God to see where God is working in and around us. It has been said that Moravians are Easter People. We don’t let Easter sneak up on us because we live into these practices that prepare us for the Big Event—Easter morning! Through the years we have done the hard work of Lent well, have lived into Holy Week through worship and our Holy Week readings of the Gospel texts. We appreciate Easter more, because we have prepared our hearts and minds ahead of time. May we continue this tradition and live into Lent. Through this time, I wonder how our faces might glow if we embrace these next 40 days with intentionality. I wonder how we might see those around us glow when they have spent time with God over these next 40 days.

Many times people choose to give up something, often a favorite food, during Lent to remind us of our hungering after God. This is good and can be an effective teacher during these 40 days. But what if we instead choose a new habit to undertake during the next 40 days--something that will encourage us in the journey ahead. Or maybe giving up one thing and adding something else works well for some of us. Through both, God can work to help transform our living with God. Maybe we are led to focus on gratitude during Lent, and spend time daily writing a thank you note to someone who has touched our lives or start a list of all the things we're grateful for. Maybe we are led to focus on prayer, and spend time in conversation with God and Moravians from around the world by praying the Daily Text during Lent. Maybe we are led to focus on music, and read a hymn a day and use the words as our prayer. Maybe we are led to visit neighbors or strangers we have yet to get to know. The possibilities are endless. How is God leading you to transform your life during Lent?

Moses was led to a mountain for 40 days and Jesus spent 40 days living in a desert. Maybe that is our calling for this time, but maybe it is not. We are busy and living goes on. But maybe, on this journey ahead, we can find time to seek the holy in the ordinary. We can open our eyes and see where God is, and spend time with God in the places of our daily lives. Poet Ann Weems talks about this in her collection of poetry for Lent and Easter entitled, "Kneeling in Jerusalem." I offer her prayer, "Holy in the Ordinary" as a closing prayer this morning. May we all find God's invitation for us during these next 40 days, and may we all share the glow of being in God's presence.

"Holy is the time and holy is this place,
and there are holy things that must be said.

"Let us say to one another what our soul whispers...
O Holy One, cast your tents among us;
come into our ordinary lives and bless the living!"[5]
Amen.

[1] http://www.lib-art.com/artgallery/13974-moses-michelangelo-buonarroti.html

[2] Wallace Eugene March, "Exegetical Perspective on Exodus 34:29-35" for Transfiguration Sunday in Feasting On The Word, Year C Volume 1 (Advent Through Transfiguration) edited by David L. Bartlett and Diana Butler Bass (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009) 439.

[3] Delia Halverson, Children's Activities for the Christian Year (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2004) 47.

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent

[5] Ann Weems, "The Holy In The Ordinary" in Kneeling In Jerusalem (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992)13.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Watchword for 2010

The Moravian Church has a long-standing tradition of picking Watchwords on New Years (or the Sunday closest to New Years). This past Sunday Raleigh Moravian picked Watchwords. The church's Watchword for 2010 is:

"Be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God.” Joel 2:23

I drew this Watchword for myself for 2010:

"Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life." John 8:12

The process of Watchwords (Losungen in German) began with Count Zinzendorf in 1727. He drew verses for each day and delivered them to homes to give them a verse of Scripture to guide their thoughts and provide a verse to meditate on and pray with. The town grew and Moravians began missions in various parts of the world. Therefore they ended up drawing a year's verses at a time and publishing them into a book. We call this the Daily Text, and this practice still continues today. It's published now in 50+ languages and is used around the world. The Moravian Church's website (http://www.moravian.org/daily_texts/) says,

"First published in 1731 in Saxony, this little book grew out of a spiritual renewal of the Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum) that dates back to August 13, 1727. In those days, Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf handed out a Losung, or "watchword," for the next day to each member of the Moravian congregation at Herrnhut, Saxony (now Germany). Thereafter one or more persons in the congregation went daily to each of the thirty-two houses in Herrnhut to bring them the watchword for the day."

At RMC, a volunteer cuts up old Daily Texts, pastes the verses on index cards and pass them out in baskets to the congregation during worship. Everyone is invited to draw a card to serve as their Watchword for the year. These are not fortunes or predictive, but are instead available to help guide our prayers and meditations throughout the year.

If you're interested in receiving the Daily Text via email, check out the website link above for the Daily Texts, and you can sign up there to get them in your inbox each morning. Happy 2010!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009