Festival of Homiletics: Wednesday Morning: Craig Barnes' Sermon

Craig Barnes' Sermon, 5/19/10  

"Preaching To The Rabble"

Numbers 11:1-6

Top 5 6 List:

1. Moses had many folks journeying with him during the Exodus... Craig Barnes describes the Rabblers as "They are on the journey but they don't believe in the journey."  They complain about the food and accommodations.  They long for the good ol' days back in Egypt, where at least they had food and shelter. 

2. For Pastors, Rabblers are frustrating, but they serve an important part of the congregation because they help keep us listening to God and for God and keep us in constant contact with God through prayer. =)

3. "Manna means 'What is it?' in Hebrew.  For 40 years in the desert, God nurtured the people with a question."  God was teaching them to ask the tough questions of our faith that keep us attuned to where God is at work in our world... "O God, what is it that you are doing?"

4. This same question of manna, "What is it?" nurtures us today as well.  We are to ask it each morning just as the Isrealites harvested it each day.  What is it that God is up to today?

5. Often the Rabblers on the journey of faith ask, "If only?" questions.  Be careful with these questions because when God answers them, we have to then like the answer.

6. "If only?" Questions focus us on either the future or past.  "What is it?" focuses us on the present, which is where we are to live. Present-Tense-Ministry is our call as ministers, but also all people of faith.  We cannot get people to the promised land, because that is God and God alone's job, but we can witness to what God is doing along the journey and encourage people in the daily searching for "What is it God that we are to do today?"

Festival of Homiletics: Monday- Notes from Bishop McKenzie's Sermon

Festival of Homiletics, Nashville, TN 

Notes from Monday evening's worship gathering

5/17/10

[NOTE: These are my notes from the Monday evening sermon by Bishop McKenzie.  They are incomplete, not transcribed exactly except where I have attempted to quote her direct phrases as indicated by quote marks, and are things that jumped out at me.  I don't pretend that these will make complete sense out of context, but I wanted to capture them for me and share them with you.  Grammar, syntax, flow, connecting transitions--Trying to convert them back into written form is difficult at best.  My best advice is to take any opportunity you might possibly have to hear Bishop McKenzie preach!]

Bishop McKenzie's Sermon - "Speaking Truth to Power" (Exodus 4:10-17, specifically verse 12)

(Photo Slide on the Wall--"Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes." written in spray paint on the side of the wall of a house.)

Scripture from Exodus 4:

¹⁰But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” ¹¹Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹²Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.” ¹³But he said, “O my Lord, please send someone else.” ¹⁴Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “What of your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know that he can speak fluently; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad. ¹⁵You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. ¹⁶He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him. ¹⁷Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”(Exodus 4:10-17, NRSV)

Exodus teaches over and over that God hears and responds. The pattern runs throughout the book again and again.  But it just might not be in the ways we want or expect.

We are living in an "and" world.  A world of extremes that are held together by "and".  Poverty and excess.  Hunger and obesity.  Republican and Democrat. The New York Times and Fox News.  Our times are difficult ones.  Times that leave us with the need to hear a good word from the Lord.  And the need to share truth--God's Truth-- with the powers that be.

Moses was unsure of himself and he felt ill-equipped for what God was calling him to do through the burning bush.  He tries to discuss this with God, and God/ I am Who I Am/ I will be who I will be/ I have been who I have been.  But that doesn't get him off the hook.  God sends him on his way and "all he got was Aaron and a stick."  And he was supposed to speak to Pharaoh... and God even told him that Pharaoh wouldn't even listen.  What an assignment!

When are you called to speak truth to power?  When you are, you do not have the words... "These are God's words and God shapes our preaching agenda. " Society's status quo message equals comfort, where as the Truth that God calls us to speak is not the status quo and is not comfort for our society and culture. 

Therefore, "Maybe we ought to preach revolutionary sermons....  If you preach Jesus-kind of sermons, The New York Times is going to write editorials about you, the Washington Post will put you on the cover, and Fox News will cover you for a whole month."

Speaking truth to power means God will take you where you need to go, not where you want to Go!  It means we will need to face our fears of success or failure, because it is not about you; it's about God.  It means we will not be blessed (with creature comforts, nice cars, well-to-do homes, etc) but will be a blessing to all.  Being a blessing to others means demonstrating the love of God in the unloving places in our world. 

Truth in power preaching means holy ground/take off your shoes preaching.  When we are asked, "Is there a word from the Lord?  We should come running--Yes!  There is!

"The Outpouring of God's Spirit" Pentecost Sermon 5/31/09

Sermon 5/31/09 "The Outpouring of God's Spirit"
Pentecost, Year B
Acts 2:1-21; John 15:26-27

Have you ever been at a point in your life when you just wanted to hear a word from God? Maybe it was years ago or maybe it's today. Maybe you were looking for guidance to help make a difficult decision or maybe you were seeking comfort in the midst of pain, peace in the midst of strife, wholeness in the midst of dis-ease. Maybe it wasn't that it you wanted to hear from God, but that you NEEDED that word from God? A word, any word would set the mind at ease that God is speaking, that indeed God is present. God has not forgotten about us. When doubts creep in and the lack of audible words from God is overwhelming, many of us, I believe, long to hear God speak a word, any word to fill the void we are feeling and make God's presence known in our midst. Silence is not something that many of us are comfortable with these days--I'm guilty of it myself. I'll turn on the TV or radio just to have some background noise as I read or play a game or even clean the house. Silence can be deafening--especially silence from God.

When it comes to our longing to hear God speak, what may differ about that word for us is how we would like God to deliver it. We've been talking in our Velvet Elvis Conversation Group the past couple of weeks about that exact idea, as many of us have questions and thoughts related to what we want to hear God say and how we want to hear it spoken--be it booming thunder, a whisper in the wind, or maybe a word from a stranger. Some of us long for the burning bush along I-40 as we drive to work, so that we, like Moses, turn our heads, stop alongside the road, and take notice. Some of us would prefer the bright, flashing neon signs of Time Square, where God spells out the message on the marquee and makes it so bright we can't miss it even if we wanted to.

The more I've thought about hearing God speak and our desire for a word from the Lord this past week, I've come to wonder if it is actually our true desire to hear a word from God, or if it is more that we desire to just know God is present. It's likely that we can handle the silence, as long as we know God is there, because often silence could mean something is wrong or God is not listening. We want assurance that we are not forgotten or alone. We matter and are noticed by our great Creator, and we are loved. I remember a retreat I attended in high school where I had an experience of feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit so strongly that it was undeniable, though there was no word from God that came with it. It was a warm, peaceful, calm moment that I truly do not have words adequate to describe. To this day I hold that experience in the back of my head and heart because it offers me that assurance that I matter to God, and God is present in my life.

For those followers of Jesus who gathered 50 days after Jesus was resurrected from the dead, Pentecost was just that experience that some of us seek--where God's presence was undeniable as it flashed brightly across the Time Square-style marquee inside a room in Jerusalem. These disciples are the same ones who gathered together in fear just after the resurrection because they didn't understand what was happening. They wanted a word or sign that things were going to be ok--God was still with them. On Pentecost, God's presence in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was so bright and powerful that even those outside the room took notice, stopped what they were doing to go see, and were amazed! It was a theophany, an experience of the presence of God--not unlike Moses' burning bush or Jesus' baptism when the dove descended and the voice of God sounded through the thunder. God was clearly present and at work, and the world took notice.

There are a few significant details to this important passage in Acts. As we think about God's Spirit being poured out into the world, we notice that the tongues of fire land "on each of them" as it says in Acts 2:3 and "all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit" in verse 4. The Holy Spirit was given to everyone --the whole community was the beneficiary--and no one was excluded. Also as we think about hearing God speak, we notice that the event inside was such a big deal that those outside were even included and came to join in the festivities. They were called to the Holy Spirit's Welcome party by hearing their own native languages being spoken. If we were wandering the streets of Moscow or Beijing and heard English being spoken loudly inside a building we were passing by, we very well might take notice and stop what we're doing to listen to what's going on. The list of places that are noted in the passage is important as well. A glance at a map showing where these locations are will show how spread out the regions are. They cover all around the Mediterranean Sea, north into Europe, south into Africa, and most of the Middle East. It symbolically and literally represented the whole known world that was present to experience the outpouring of the Spirit. There is no mistaking that the Spirit came for everyone, not just those few who fit into the room that day.

The writer of Acts is careful to note this theophany of God because it was an important event. Some call Pentecost the birthday of the church. It certainly was the full fulfillment of God's coming into the world. Pentecost is not an isolated event, like we sometimes mistakenly think, but is part of the Lent and Easter journey. God began to fulfill the promise of coming into the world through a manger and a baby and later a cross and empty tomb. But as we think back to Christmas, the shepherds were local residents. The magi were from the east, but they were few in number, and we don't hear about what happened after they saw the baby and went home a different way. Jesus lived and taught in a relatively small area of the world, and though he had affected the whole world since his birth, his physical location during his life was limited. The empty tomb was discovered by only a few at most. Here at Pentecost, we receive indication that the message of Jesus is finally being broadcast to the whole world though the work of the Holy Spirit.

Peter's speech in the second half of our Scripture text this week takes the message of Pentecost one step further--just in case anyone is still feeling left out from the outpouring of the Spirit. Peter reminds the listeners that the Holy Spirit is fulfilling the prophet Joel's words from long ago. "God declares that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy." (Acts 2:17-18 NRSV) Men, women, young, old, slave, and free--everyone is included. The Spirit of the Lord is poured out for everyone, and God is present for everyone.

But what about those of us who maybe aren't in a place today to affirm that God is present, speaking, and at work around us? What about that deafening silence where we long to hear a word from the Lord? It is in times like these that proclaiming God's Spirit was poured out for the whole world on Pentecost can become so important. It gives us a Scriptural place to pause and rest for a moment while we wait for our word from the Lord. It also gives us the reassurance that God has been, is, and indeed will be faithful. The radical inclusiveness of Pentecost gives me hope that we will all feel God's presence and hear that much desired word from the Lord at some point--just maybe not in our own timing.

I had preacher Barbara Brown Taylor's book, When God is Silent recommended to me this past week, so I read it as I prepared for today's message. This small book left me with much to ponder, and at one point she references Fred Craddock, another well-known preacher. He said, "The voice of God in Jesus was not a shout. In him, the revelation of God comes to us as a whisper." She goes on to say, "In order to catch it, we must hush, lean forward, and trust that what we hear is the voice of God." [1] I believe this is where being part of a community of believers becomes so valuable. It is in the listening together and sharing with one another that we confirm and affirm where we collectively hear God whispering through the Spirit's interactions with our lives. We can use one another to test the messages we are discerning and barely hearing through the silence, and understand what God is saying.

I remember standing on the top of the mountain at Laurel Ridge one cold fall evening with a group of college friends after a night hike. It was so beautiful and clear that we felt we needed to stop and pause and notice the beauty of God's creation around us. We huddled in prayer because it just felt right to pray at that moment. As we said, "Amen" and looked up at the stars, we all saw the most beautiful, brightest shooting star that, to this day, I have ever seen. We all gasped as we got goose bumps. At that moment we all agreed that it was the exclamation point that God placed on our prayer and the assurance of God's presence with us on that mountain. Our small community discernment helped us to see God's presence through the silence.

Barbara Brown Taylor also offered an analogy that I found helpful, as I have pondered silence from God. She likened it to an eclipse of the sun. [2] During an eclipse, it is not the sun that moves, but instead is something that comes between the sun and us. God doesn't change, but sometimes there are things that get in the way that block out the rays of the sun, and prevent us from feeling the warmth on our faces. Being in community with believers is a place where we can seek out and remove the stuff that blocks the sun in order to help us feel the warmth on our faces and the words in our hearts.

Also, maybe the silence we hear from God is purposeful. Maybe the silence is there to draw us into the mystery that is God. It draws us into a place that we would never have journeyed had the noise surrounded us. Taylor suggests, "The possibility that silence is as much a sign of God's presence as of God's absence--that divine silence is not a vacuum to be filled but a mystery to be entered into, unarmed by words and undistracted by noise." [3] I believe it is in these times that community can be there for us to just sit in the silence and keep us company as we journey deeper into the mystery of God. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do for someone is to just be present where no words are required or needed.

So on this Pentecost Sunday, I invite us to join in the conversation that started all those years ago in Jerusalem. The outpoured Spirit of God is loose in this world and this energy cannot be contained! Let us continue to listen together, share together, sit in silence together, gather together, and see and proclaim the Spirit's work in this place and throughout the world. Will you join me as we live out our own Pentecost and listen for a word from the Lord together? I hope so! Amen.

[1] Barbara Brown Taylor, When God is Silent (Chicago, IL: Cowley Publications, 1997) 57.
[2] Barbara Brown Taylor, When God is Silent (Chicago, IL: Cowley Publications, 1997) 73. She was referencing Martin Bubel's The Eclipse of God.
[3] Barbara Brown Taylor, When God is Silent (Chicago, IL: Cowley Publications, 1997) 118.

'What's On Your Doorpost?" (9/14/08, [Proper 14A/Ordinary 24] Christian Education Sunday)

"What's on your doorpost?"
Christian Education Sunday
(Proper 14A/Ordinary +24)
Sermon from 9-14-08
Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (main text), Psalm 103:15-18, Matthew 2:34-40


"Shema yisrael Adonai eloheinu Adonai echad." "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone." This opening phrase of Deuteronomy 6:4 is one of the most sacred prayers in all of Judaism. It's called the "Shema" after the opening word of the phrase and means, "Hear" or "Listen" or "Act on" or "Obey". This passage from Deuteronomy that we read this morning is spoken each morning and evening as part of Jewish prayers and is at the center of their remembering who they are as people of God-the one God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--the God who led these slaves from Egypt and has brought them to just outside the Promised Land. The beginning of Deuteronomy finds Moses, on the cusp of entering the Promised Land. They've finally found their way out of the desert where they wandered for 40 years.

Speaking of wandering, I saw a comic a few years ago that asked, "Why did Moses wander in the desert for 40 years?" You probably guessed it… "Because he refused to stop and ask for directions." I wasn't there so I can't commit on the validity of that statement, but I would suggest he check the batteries on his Garmin GPS next time he heads out on another trip across the desert or across the street for that matter.

All joking aside, these Israelites are ready to enter the land of their ancestors. Moses sets out here in Deuteronomy to recount their history and help the younger generation remember WHO they are and WHOSE (W-H-O-S-E) they are. Knowing WHO and WHOSE they are will help them to re-member—re-orient—themselves in the Promised Land. Moses recounts the 10 Commandments again for them in Chapter 5 and then reminds them about God--their one God. As the Message translation recounts Moses' words, it reads: "Attention, Israel! God, our God! God the one and only! Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got! Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates."

When we hear this passage, I hope that we hear the actions associated with the command from Moses. This is not a passive faith where reciting these verses is all that is required. Instead, Moses is calling the Israelites to an active faith of re-membering their lives—re-orienting their lifestyle—claiming WHO and WHOSE they are—being marked as followers of God Almighty. And it was not just for those listening. It was for the generations to come. The adults are to get these commands inside of them first and then to pass them along to their children as they grow. They are to teach the children to remember WHO God is and re-member their lives to know WHOSE they are. This teaching and re-membering is to go on forever..."to infinity and beyond."

Speaking of "To Infinity and beyond", we were watching the movie Toy Story the other night. For many of you, it's probably a familiar story, but in case you've not seen it, it was Pixar Studio's 1995 first full-length animated movie about the toys that live in Andy's playroom. Andy, the boy in the story, has no idea what happens inside his room when the door closes and he leaves the room. That is when the toys come alive. Woody, the cowboy doll is the leader of the pack, which includes Mr. Potato Head, Bo Peep the shepardess, Rex the dinosaur, Hamm the piggy bank, and of course, Buzz Lightyear, the space ranger who is the newest addition to the pack. Woody is Andy's favorite toy until Buzz arrives, and this creates lots of problems in the story. When Woody and Buzz get separated from the rest of the toys and it seems like everything is lost, Buzz looks down at his shoe and sees "Andy" written on the bottom. It is at that moment that he suddenly remembers WHOSE he is, and this brings a turning point in the story. Woody and Buzz work to try and find their way back to Andy because Andy needs them--they are his favorites and they belong to him--they are marked—Andy’s name is on each one’s shoe. I won't spoil the movie in case you haven't seen it, but I do recommend watching it.

Marked with the name of the one WHOSE you are. Moses reminded the Israelites of WHOSE they were--they were God Almighty’s. They were marked by the covenant with God and where to show this by living their faith in their daily lives. The Israelites were being taught to pass along their faith in the mundane activities of daily life--not just remember God on the special days only.

Even today in orthodox Jewish communities, you will often see men marked with their faith by wearing small boxes on their foreheads--called phylacteries--which hold scrolls with the Shema verse from Deuteronomy 6 inside. Also many Jews today often have a small box called a Mezuzah attached to their front door, which also contains this same verse from Deuteronomy. When the Mezuzah is attached in a house blessing ceremony, they pray a prayer, “We affix the Mezuzah to the doorposts of this house with the hope that it will always remind us of our duties to God and to one another. May the divine spirit fill this house – the spirit of love and kindness and consideration for all people…Fortify our resolve to make it now and always, a Temple dedicated to You. Let it be filled with the beauty of holiness and the warmth of love. May the guest and the stranger find within it welcome and friendship….” This mark cannot be missed as one walks through the door of the house--whether bringing in the groceries or taking out the trash.

What is on our doorpost? How do we remember WHO we belong to--WHOSE we are? Do we have a cross on the door? Do we have Andy's name written on our foot? One of my friends in seminary grew up thinking that Andy was God's name. She learned it through a song they often sang in church... "Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me. Andy tells me I am his own." Maybe Andy really is God's name?! Buzz and Woody certainly were marked with Andy's name because they belonged to him.

So I ask again, literally and figuratively, what's on your doorpost? What is around your forehead or neck or wrist? What is displayed on the back of your car or on your office door? How are you marked to remind yourself, and those who see it, that you are God's? What has set us apart as Christians to know WHOSE we are as God's beloved children.

Today as we look at Christian Education, welcome our 2nd graders into "Big Church," and kick off another Sunday school year, it is good for us to look at WHOSE we are and how we know this in our daily lives? Deuteronomy tells the parents and adults to get these words inside of them first and then inside their children. We echo this in our Moravian beliefs that parents and the congregation are to raise up our children in faith in our Lord Jesus Christ as well. If we have been baptized, we are marked by God as part of God’s covenant promise.

Take out the hymnals and turn with me to page 165 in the Book of Worship. This liturgy for Baptism should be familiar to you. As Moravians, we call upon the parents to profess their own faith during our baptisms to be sure they have this belief inside them first, which follows Moses’ instructions in Deuteronomy 6. Many of you probably remember the baptisms of the 2nd graders sitting up here right now, and I'm sure their families remember them. At the bottom of page 165 we read, "As you present yourselves before God and this congregation, we call upon you to profess your faith. Do you believe in God as your Creator and loving heavenly father, in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, and in the Holy Spirit as your Comforter and Sustainer, according to the Holy Scriptures?”

Then turn to the next page, page 166. In the middle of page 166, we ask parents: "Do you intend to participate actively in Christ's church, serving God all the days of your life?" At the bottom of the page, the questions turn to the congregation, "Do you receive and affirm these children of God as members of this congregation and accept your obligation to love and nurture them in Christ?" We, the parents and congregation of Raleigh Moravian Church, have made these promises to raise these children and get this faith inside their hearts. Baptism marks US as God's--it is through Baptism that we know WHO we are and WHOSE we are. It's like taking a sharpie marker and putting "God" on our shoe to always remind us though every step we take along our life's journey, we belong to God.

As we see though both Deuteronomy and our Baptism liturgy, we are called to "Hear", "Listen," "Obey" and "Act"--SHEMA, O Congregation: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. As the adults, parents, grandparents, friends, leaders and role models, get them inside of you and then get them inside your children, for all the children here are your children to love and teach. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home in Sunday School or walking in the street, driving in a car or sitting in a coffee shop; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night, as you buy groceries and take out the recycling. Every moment is sacred and holy, and presents a teaching opportunity. God is present with you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. If you wear a cross, bracelet, or ring to show your faith, let it also remind you WHOSE you are; inscribe them on your shoes, the doorposts of your homes, and on your city gate. The way you live shows WHO you are. People should know WHOSE you are.

So I ask each of us this day, what’s on your doorpost? What is written on your shoe? What are you writing inside your heart and the hearts of those around you? Let us help one another to “Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!" To infinity and beyond, let us live it together. Amen, let it be so.