Sermon for 5-30-10 "Speak the Truth, Even if Your Voice Shakes"

Sermon for 5/30/10: Favorite Passages Summer Worship Series

Luke 6:17-36 (NRSV)
"Speak the Truth, Even if Your Voice Shakes."

As part of Craig's Sabbatical, two weeks ago we attended the Festival of Homiletics in Nashville, Tennessee for 5 days.  I'm sure many of you have questions--starting with "What is a Festival of Huh?"  Homiletics is the art of preaching, and this was 5 PACKED days of worship, preaching, lectures, and concerts with preaching at the core.  It was a chance to spend a week with 1500+ preachers from varying denominations around the world.  The best way I can describe it was like Camp at Laurel Ridge with 1500 of your closest strangers-turned-friends.  It was exhausting and exhilarating, all at the same time.  It was a chance for us to hear people speak that we read, and to study, laugh, and celebrate "This Odd and Wondrous Calling", as Rev. Lillian Daniels calls it, that is Preaching.[1]  She was one of many I enjoyed hearing!

On our first evening, we experienced opening worship and a sermon by Bishop Vashti McKenzie, the first female bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.  Between worship and her sermon, I have told many that the conference was worth attending just for Monday night, and everything else was icing on the cake.  I was inspired, uplifted, exhilarated, and kicked-in-the hind-quarters, so to speak.  And as I've thought about it, isn't that what worship is supposed to be about--Giving God our praise and glory, while being inspired for mission and ministry, and allowing God to slap us upside the head when we need it. That's not the fun part for sure, but I know I need it every once in a while for God to get my attention and help me to see the way I am living and understanding God's call is not QUITE the way God intends.

During Bishop McKenzie's sermon, an image was projected on the screen behind her of a house, looking run down with white vinyl siding, and on it was spray-painted the words, "Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes." [2] It reminded me of the images of the homes after Katrina that had messages on the sides of them, either from the residents trying to get help, or the search crews confirming the house had been checked.  "Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes."  That image has stuck with me because I believe it drills down into a part of us as humans that rings tough but true.  Speak the truth, our truth, God's truth, and don't let a little crack or waver or shake in our voice stop us... Moses and the prophets lived this. John the Baptizer lived this. 

And we see this morning in our Gospel lesson from Luke that Jesus lived this too.  This well-known and favorite passage from Luke is often referred to as the Sermon on the Plain.  Jesus goes down off the mountain and stood on level ground to preach to the disciples as the crowd that gathered around listened on.  It's more famous counterpart, the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew, with the longer list of Beatitudes we will look at next week. But for this week, someone requested this passage, so let's take a look, even if our voice shakes.

This sermon occurs soon after Jesus calls the first disciples and begins his ministry.  The themes laid out in this sermon continue throughout the Gospel and serve as a summary for much of the teaching Jesus does through parables and stories that will come later in Luke.  He is sharing with his new disciples what the Kingdom of God looks like to help empower them for the mission and ministry to which he has just called them.  Perhaps we are overhearing Jesus' Discipleship Boot Camp, if you will.

Sometimes I find it helpful to take a passage that is so familiar that I don't often read it with the same power that it once had because of the familiarity.  Let's take a moment to listen to another translation, from The Message, and see what we hear.  Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.

Luke 6:27-36 [3]"To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

 "Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that's charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.

 "I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You'll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind."

Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.

I hear these words and imagine the disciples gathered around their teacher on this meadow on the outskirts of town.  Maybe the wind is blowing and the grass of the field gently sways as they listen.  Maybe the crowd has been following them from down the mountain, or maybe they trickle in as they get word the great teacher is in the area.  Sick, lame, scaly, bleeding, mentally ill, poor, homeless--the text tells us the crowd came seeking healing from whatever ailed them. (vs. 18-19)  It was probably a large gathering of the folks no one wanted to be around, which is why they came in the first place--seeking healing from their brokenness to be restored to their communities.

Perhaps then it happens...the disciples are listening intently, and Jesus' voice shakes -- maybe from the strain of a less than adequate sound system for such a large space -- or maybe from the difficulty of the words he is speaking.  But his voice quivers just a bit, and the next thing they hear is, "Love your enemies."  No, maybe we heard him wrong.  Surely he wouldn't ask us to do that.  We have given up everything to follow him and already have made some enemies by following this teacher.  Surely he wouldn't ask us to LOVE them.  So, they keep listening. "Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you."  We've gotten abuse already, and we've only been disciples for a few weeks.  Ignore our abuse, maybe.  But pray for them.  Come on' Jesus.  Get real.  And then, and "Oh. There it is again..." Love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return." 

I imagine one disciple leans over to the next and whispers, "Do you think he really means that "love your enemies, pray for those who abuse you stuff"?  He's said it twice now.  The first time I though it couldn't be true, but then he said it again.  Could God really want us to be kind and merciful--even to those who can't stand us and who we can't stand either?"

As I've thought about these commands from Jesus' this week, I've wondered... is it easier for us to love our enemies, or as we hear later in Luke in the parable of the Good Samaritan, to love our neighbors? And, is it easier for us to identify our enemies or neighbors? Our society—our world-- is so polarized these days... pick any topic, any issue, any side of any debate--and the enemy stands out clearly--perhaps too easily--but our neighbors can be harder to identify.    The lawyer that questions Jesus in Luke 10 asks, "And who is my neighbor?" for which Jesus then tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan, which was an oxymoron in that culture--Samaritans could never be good--they were the enemy, the despised, the polar opposites in that culture.  We see in Luke's Gospel Jesus was reminding us to love both our enemies and neighbors, because perhaps they are one and the same.

 I saw a powerful, must-see movie this week about the power of love and speaking the truth, even if your voice shake, and it reminded me of Jesus' message here to his disciples-in-training.  It was about a person for whom most of us are familiar, but it was a story I was not aware of prior to the movie.  Nelson Mandela was released from Prison in South Africa on Feb. 11, 1990 after being held nearly 27 years for his work to end apartheid.[3] He took office as South Africa's first democratic president in May 1994, a few days after apartheid officially ended and free elections were held.

The movie “Invictus” describes Mandela's first year in office as he worked to bring together the white Dutch Afrikaans and black native South Africans together into one country, which he called the Rainbow Nation.  As Mandela begins attempts at unification, reconciliation, and forgiveness, he sought out help from the captain of the Springboks National Rugby team, François Pineaar.  The 1995 Rugby World Cup was to be held the following year with South Africa playing host to the world, and he made a "human calculation" that Rugby, the sport of the white Afrikaans, the sport the blacks hated, would be something that could unite a nation.  The movie shows this progression.  In one scene, the team visits Robben Prison.  Afterward, the captain remarks, "I was thinking about how you spend 30 years [sic] in a tiny cell and come out ready to forgive the people who put you there." [5]

In my opinion the most powerful scene comes when Mandela intervenes in a National Sports Council Meeting, just after the black council voted to eliminate the Springboks entirely including team colors green and gold, because of the people's hatred of their enemy--the Afrikaans.  Mandela says, "Our enemy is no longer the Afrikaans... they are our fellow South Africans.  Our partners in democracy... and they treasure Springbok rugby.  If we take that away, we loose them.  We ARE what they feared we would be.  We HAVE TO be better than that.  We have to SURPRISE them with compassion, with restrain, and generosity... I know, all the things they denied us.  But this is no time to celebrate petty revenge.  This is the time to build our nation using every single brick available to us, even if that brick comes wrapped in green and gold.  You elected me your leader.  Now let me lead you.  Who is with me?" [6]

Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.

Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:31)

Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.

"To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst." (Luke 6:27, Msg)

Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.

"Love your enemies and you have NO enemies." [7]

Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.

Amen.

[1] Lillian Daniels and Martin Copenhaver, This Odd and Wondrous Calling (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 2009).
[2]mulattodiaries.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/1803/  [See post from Monday, Feb. 17th for Opening Worship and the Bishop's sermon on Exodus and Moses entitled "Speaking Truth to Power."

[3] Luke 6:27-36, The Message translation by Eugene Peterson

[4] http://www.nelsonmandela.org/index.php/memory/views/biography/

[5] Invictus, Matt Damon as François Pineaar. Produced and Directed by Clint Eastwood, 2009. Video Clip: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi300483609/

[6] Invictus.  Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. Produced and Directed by Clint Eastwood, 2009. Video Clip: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi300483609/

[7] Sea Raven, “On the Plain Part 2: Enemies” posted 2/3/2010 at http://www.gaiarising.org/2010/02/on-plain-part-2-enemies.html. Emphasis mine.

Festival of Homiletics: Wednesday Afternoon: Lauren Winner's Sermon

Lauren Winner's Sermon, 5/19/10 

1 Corinthians 13:1-13, "Corinthian Cross-Stitch"

Top 5 List: (my comments and processing of Lauren's Sermon...)

1. We see this passage from First Corinthians everywhere--on bags, pens, notepads, cross-stitch patterns, etc.  We have domesticated it to the point it is meaningless.  Yet, if we undomesticate it and reread it again with new eyes, we will find one of the most powerful passages in all of Scripture.

2. Paul spends the beginning of First Corinthians leading up to this passage trying to explain that it doesn't mater which teacher you follow to get in on the Gospel, but what is important is that Love patterned after Jesus' Love is the key to entering the Gospel.

3. One way to enter into the power of this passage and undomesticate it is to read it in other places besides weddings.  Read it in Court Rooms, Jails, among the Homeless or Mentally Ill.  She heard it read last on Maundy Thursday this year as some protesters gathered outside a Immigration Detainee Deportation Office in Cary, NC.  Jesus' love looks very different, and much more like the Gospels and Paul's writing, when it is read as our neighbors are being deported to a "home" they do not know or understand.

4.  Paul is trying to help people experience transformation to be people who are capable of Love like Jesus' taught.

5. Take a moment to reread 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 and replace the word love every time it appears with the name Jesus.  It's amazing how well it works and also how powerful it becomes.

Christmas 1C-"Celebrate Love" 12/27/09

"The Power Of The Word" "Celebrate Love"

Christmas 1C, 12/27/09

John 1:1-14

            Before I begin, I must make a note to the bulletin.  Due to having to run the bulletins early this week, I came up with a title for my yet-unwritten sermon.  After writing it, I realized it needed a different title.  This sermon is entitled, "Celebrate Love."  After all, the power of the Word is love, and it is that Love of God we celebrate today!

Yesterday I walked into a CVS, and watched as the lady was taking down the Christmas Cards from the display, and was replacing them with Valentine's Day cards.  The signage she put up said, "Celebrate Love."  It struck me as bothersome that Valentine's Day, according to the card company, is only when we are to celebrate love.  Everything in me wanted to yell out, "What about Christmas?"  I felt like Charlie in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" when he says, "Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?"[1]  But where was Linus when I needed him?  The music on the radio has already changed back to the regular stations, and Christmas music, like the decorations in the store, has been packed away for another year.  I was struck standing there thinking, "If all of this has changed back to 'normal' so quickly, then what difference does Christmas make after all?  Why do we celebrate it and what does it mean?"  Maybe I'm somewhat cynical, or my tiredness from Christmas Eve was still clouding my mind.  But it did make me really stop and think--Isn't Christmas about Celebrating Love?--Celebrating the love of God found in a baby and that love found in the world all these years later--Celebrating a love that physically came down from the heavens and was there for everyone to see.

         Christmas Eve, in the Church's understanding, is the beginning of the celebration, not the culmination of the festivities.[2] Christmas lasts 12 days, and ends on January 6th when we mark the Epiphany.  We gather in celebration of the birth that starts the story --our story--over again.  Advent is preparation for the big event, and then it's here and the Christmas Eve Lovefeasts start the Birthday Party for our King--complete with food, drink, and candles!  I came across this quote that I thought was so fitting for this season.  The author said, "Remember also that for Christians, this is the birthday party of all birthday parties, one that should spin us into a different place, not simply into exhaustion: 'Christmas is a time for enormous celebration, but also a time for pondering, for reverence, for awe at our sheer good fortune that God sent his only child into our midst.'”^[3]

         If we look at Scripture, we get 4 different views of Christmas.  Luke, the one most commonly read for Christmas, presents Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem with nowhere to stay and thus they end up in a barn with the animal's manger for a crib for the new baby.  Shepherds and Angels appear and sing God's praise over the birth of this special child. We see how God's love came in the unlikely places and was presented to the poor, meek, and lowly. If we look at Matthew, we see no manger, no shepherds, no chorus of angels.  Instead we hear of an undocumented number of wise men and three gifts brought to a home where the holy family is now living.  God's love in Matthew is for everyone, even those from distant lands.  Mark, on the other hand, skips the event entirely, and instead rushing ahead to tell of the adult Jesus.  God's love is powerful and immediate.  And then we have today's reading from John that uses metaphors and philosophy to describe the incarnation of God.  God's love in the logos, the Word, has been present since the beginning.  Often we hear the story of Christmas with all of these stories lumped together into an indistinguishable tangle of shepherds and wise men arriving together at the manger.  In many ways there isn't real harm in combining the stories, as they do help us see a fuller picture of Jesus' birth from various viewpoints.  But I do find it interesting to look at them individually.  Today's Scripture reading let's us focus on John's version of Christmas, though it noticeably leaves out the birth all together.  John focuses more on the incarnation and how God has come into the world to bring love through life and light.  For John, it's ultimately about God's love for the world as we hear later in Chapter 3. "16For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:16-17, NRSV) The Gospel of John calls us to look for the love of God in the world and to celebrate that love whenever and wherever we see it.

         Though love is the focus of Christmas, it's sometimes hard to focus on that love.  I ran across a list the other day about the Top 10 Things WRONG with Christmas.  With all of the craziness associated with the holiday and my frustration at CVS about the holiday already having come and gone, I could resonate with many of these. I have also heard many of you naming these things.  Here's the list.  Do any of these things sound familiar?
TOP 10 THINGS WRONG WITH CHRISTMAS [4]

10. A loss of the sense of the miraculous

9. Not enough peace and joy

8. Feeling like you have to give something or you’re a bad person

7. Credit card bills through next Christmas

6. Insane travel schedules

5. Conflicts with the family

4. Feeling alone or alienated

3. Having to decorate to keep up with the neighbors

2. Hours spent searching for the present for kids or grandkids (etc.)

1. Feeling disappointed—again—by the season

         During the Congregational Lovefeast last Sunday evening, I told a story about a man who, though tired from Christmas Eve's craziness, went to feed his neighbor's sheep.  He paused for a moment, during his actions, when he realized that he was in the manger where it all started. He was standing by the manger on Christmas Eve.  I invited everyone to pause sometime during the holiday to reflect on the meaning of Christmas.  So on Christmas day, I took a few minutes to pause and reflecte.  With nods to David Letterman and Rogers and Hammerstein, I've written my own "Top 10 Favorite Things About Christmas" to help me name where I celebrate love during Christmas.  Before I read my own, I invite you to pause for a minute, take out a pencil or pen, and jot down a few of your own Favorite Things where you Celebrate love this Christmas.  [I invite you to include your list in the comments section of this blog.  See "Comments" below!]
         There are no right or wrong answers here.  Each of our lists will look different.  Having said that, here's my own list.

My Top 10 Favorite Things About Christmas

10. Receiving Christmas Cards and photos from family and friends

9. Phone Calls to hear "Merry Christmas" from a distance, especially when you can't be together on Christmas Day

8. Hearing "Morning Star" and remembering back 20 years to when I was the soloist up front.

7. Spending time with loved ones laughing around the dinner table.

6. Watching the Dieners and Choirs' faces as the lovefeast is served

5. The sight of spam, squirty cheese, beef jerky, and other treats inside my Lovefeast bun.

4. Eating together as a church family during the Workers Potluck.

3. The smiles on the faces of the children when it was FINALLY time to put Baby Jesus in the Manger.

2. The smells of beeswax and coffee and the sight of the candles raised in the air at the end of Lovefeast.

1. The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. (John 1:14) [This is how The Message translates the verse, and it's my favorite translation.] 

         At Christmas we celebrate the Love of God that has now taken on human form in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Because God loves us, we can love one another.  And I believe that the more we look for examples of God's love, we find them, even in the unexpected places.  By now many of you know about the ongoing gift that the dieners bestow on the pastors in their Christmas Eve Lovefeast Buns.  If you haven't seen the pictures, I've posted them on my blog and they are worth checking out.[5]  This year at the 7:30pm Lovefeast, our Bun came complete with icing that said, "Love You" in the form of a heart and the letter "U".  Thought it was meant as a good-hearted joke, I laughed and then took it much more symbolically.  God loves me, and sent his son for me.  God sent Jesus for each and every person that was celebrating lovefeast that evening together.  God sent Jesus for each of us.  This bun spoke volumes to me about how God's love spread out from that first Christmas to share that love with each other.  God moved into our neighborhood here on Ridge Road, and we saw it tangibly in the celebration of love that took place.  As the candles spread the light and none were diminished by the sharing, so is God's love spread by the sharing and is not diminished.  It began tangibly in Christ's birth through the incarnation, and continues to spread.  May we continue to Celebrate Love throughout these 12 days of Christmas, and proclaim through buns and candles, through cards and hugs, through all the ways God can speak through us, that God's love has moved into the neighborhood.  Amen.

---

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZw06AbW6Vw

[2] Michael Bennett, "Pastoral Perspective of John 1:1-14" in Feasting on the Word, Volume 2, Number 1 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009) 140.

[3] [Bill McKibben, Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case for a More Joyful Christmas (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998) 68-69] quoted in Greg Garrett, Reclaiming Christmas: Seeking an Alternative from (www.thethoughtfulchristian.org, 2007) 2.

[4] Greg Garrett, Reclaiming Christmas: Seeking an Alternative from (www.thethoughtfulchristian.org, 2007) 2.

[5] livingonemmausave.blogspot.com (Post for "RMC Christmas 2009: Part 2" dated 12/26/09.)

"What Then Should We Do?" (Advent 3C, December 13, 2009)

Advent 3C: "What Then Should We Do?"

December 13, 2009

Sermon for Mountain Laurel Moravian Fellowship, Laurel Springs, NC

Luke 3:7-18; Isaiah 12:2-6

         Welcome to the 3rd Sunday in Advent.  Advent is the time of preparation and waiting that proceeds Christmas. It's true, this is a beautiful time of year, and preparations are important.  We are getting ready for God to become flesh and blood in a little baby. But is that all there is to prepare for?  Advent is also a time to be aware of the already-not yet living that we find ourselves in.  Christ has come once as a baby, and left us with the promise to return again. He's already come, and has not yet arrived.  So we wait...

         Advent is a time when many of us want to focus on the good that is among us: lovely lights, gifts galore, decorations, caroling, and cocoa by the fireside.    And then we come to worship today and hear John the Baptizer's words to us.  Ouch.  Probably not the comforting, ohhing and cooing, "a beautiful newborn baby is almost here" message of good news we were expecting to hear.  This is a section of Luke's Gospel that recounts John's preaching just before Jesus is baptized and enters the scene.  It's not a passage that we likely think of when we think about Advent.  But John's words are instructions for living for the coming of the Messiah onto the scene.  They help us to know what life is to look like as we prepare, so these words are part of our Lectionary readings for Advent.   John was sent to prepare the way for Jesus.  John doesn't mince words.  He gets straight to the point and makes sure that everyone hears it--Brood of Vipers and all.  It's a tough passage to hear and a tough passage to preach, but the Lectionary includes it, so in our Advent waiting, we tackle John's words today.

         John's words come as a warning and at the same time a proclamation of Good News, as it says in the last verse of today's section. "So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people." (verse 18).  It so clearly says it's good news, but who finds this to be good?   How could calling folks a "Brood of Vipers" (verse 7) constitute good news?  One commentator I read compared the phrase Brood of Vipers to calling someone in your own family a name--you can do it because you love them.[1]  John loved the people he was baptizing, so he was able to preach words of tough love to them.  He was filled with God's love and the good news is that everyone can be apart of that love too.

         As I read through the passage, one question stuck out to me because it is repeated.  If three different groups asked the same question, it must be important.  The question is, "What then should we do?"  First the crowd asks, then the tax collectors, and third the soldiers.  They hear John's words calling for repentance and actions that demonstrate belief, and they want to know how they should respond. Repentance for John is a 180-degree turn from old ways to new life that puts God first in their life and refocuses their lives on love.  Each time John answers the question in a way that relates to their lives and gives them actions that are to be undertaken. “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”  “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.”  “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.” (verses 11, 13, 14  NRSV)  John is not just interested in beliefs that should be professed.  John is teaching ethical living as a sign of the change in their lives that is associated with repentance and baptism. At the most basic level, I believe John is telling the folks gathered around him to love each other.  This love is a love that doesn't end with baptism, and doesn't end once Christmas day passes by.  This is a practical, ethical love that lasts throughout the year.  It's a love that repairs homes, feeds the hungry, and visits the lonely.  It's a love that passes out clothing and helps support a camp for children who are ill.

         "What then should we do?"  As I've thought about this question all week, I have been reminded over and over of what is being done in this community.  This faith community is a testament to work that is happening in Ashe and Alleghany counties because the Moravian Church loves people here.  We are willing to put our hands and feet to work and live the ethical, loving life that John calls us to.  I noticed in your bulletin that Mountain Laurel collects food to distribute in the area.  I have heard about the work you all are doing with Camp New Hope for sick children, not to mention all the relationships that are being fostered through Laurel Ridge and Mission Camp.  There are so many examples!  We are all part of God's love that is being manifest in this community.  God loves us all, and we are living out God's call to share that love. 

         I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes that fits well with what John is preaching in the passage.  Mother Teresa said, "We can do no great things, just small things with great love.  It is not how much you do,

but how much love you put into doing it."[2]  The things John is preaching may seem radical, but really they are just every-day actions that make a lasting impact on those who are involved.  Sometimes it means just being open to where we can lend a hand.  Last Sunday I went with the youth from Raleigh Moravian to visit the Men's Homeless Shelter in downtown Raleigh.  We go most First Sundays of the Month to deliver clothing, sing with the residents, and share God's love through our presence.  In December the tradition is to take lovefeast buns and hot cider to have an informal lovefeast with the men gathered there.  After they received the gifts of clothing, the youth passed out the lovefeast.  Once we were heading home, we walked outside and one gentleman who hadn't been inside stopped and asked me a question.  He said, "Do you have a Christmas present for me?"  I don't know why he wasn't in the receiving line for clothing, but he hadn't gotten anything from our group and we had passed out everything we had. All I had were the extra buns, so I handed him a bun.  It wasn't a full meal; it wasn't a warm blanket; it was a small, leftover bun.  But afterward as I've thought about the love that went into it, it was a small thing done with great love.  What then should we do?  Pass out Christmas presents of love to everyone we meet, and thus share God's Good News of love.

         What then should we do?  Share God's love. John makes it plain and simple.  The Good News of God's love is shown through the simple gifts of coats and food.  Sharing what we have, not taking more than we need, being content and thankful with the gifts God has provided. This is truly Good News that all of us can hear--not just during Advent, but throughout the year.  The Advent preparations we make are for Christmas for sure, but they also help us throughout the year to life lives prepared to share God's love and Good News with everyone we encounter.   May the preparations we make this Advent season help us to share God's love this Christmas and throughout the year!

 
Benediction: May the God of HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in LOVE this day and always.  In the Name of the Triune God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

---

[1] Frederick Buechner, "Love" in Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABC, rev. and expanded (NY: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993) 65.

[2] Various sources

"Mankind Is No Island" Video

This video was created with a cell phone camera and $56. It ended up winning the Tropfest award and prize money of $20,000. Pretty impressive return on investment. BUT even more powerfully, the message needs to be shared... hope you take the 3 and a half minutes necessary to watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrDxe9gK8Gk

"Being Holy" (10/26/08, Proper 25A)

"Being Holy"
Proper 25A/24th Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon from October 26, 2008
Leviticus 19:1-3, 15-18; Matthew 22:34-46


What word or phrase do you think of when you hear the word Holy? Holy, hummmm... as I thought about that word this week, many different phrases or ideas came to mind. For me, holy might involve having a heavenly choir singing backup to my singing, wearing a halo and angel wings, or remind me of the Holy Grail from Monty Python or Indiana Jones fame.

Or maybe the:
Holy Roman Empire;
a Holy Alliance from 19th century Europe;
the Holy War Crusades.

What about:
Holy Communion or Last Supper;
the Holy Family from Christmas;
the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit;
the Holy Father or Holy See--aka the Pope;
the Holy Trinity-Father, Son and HOLY Spirit.

How about:
the Holy of Holies in the temple in Jerusalem;
Holy Water to be sprinkled on folks;
Holy Week-the week between Palm Sunday and Easter;
or Holy Saturday, the day before Easter.

Then there is our culture's use of Holy:
Holy Cow;
Holy Hell;
Holy Terror;
Holy Mackerel;
Holy Smokes;
and being Holier-than-thou. Just to name a few...

We hear this word a lot. But what in the world does it mean? And how do we apply it to ourselves? Or can we?

Our Scripture reading this morning from Leviticus 19 provides much guidance for us along the ideas of what it means to be holy. The writer of Leviticus recorded the command from God to the gathered community to "Be holy, for I the Lord you God am holy." That is NO SMALL TASK. When we go to the dictionary, or dictionary.com in today's world, and look up the word HOLY, we get lots of different meanings. "To be specially recognized as or declared sacred by religious use or authority; consecrated; as in holy ground." Another definition said: "living according to a strict or highly moral religious or spiritual system; saintly; a holy person." I think this is often what we think of, but I would like to challenge that idea this morning. I think of it in more simple terms--holy means being "set apart", "different", or "not like the rest".

Our Gospel lesson this morning from Matthew 22 is probably a very familiar passage for many of us. The lawyers are asking questions AGAIN, and Jesus answers them, but His answer is probably not how the lawyers and Pharisees expect. Growing up, I remember hearing these words and thinking to myself, "Wow, Jesus was this great thinker who just came up with these thoughtful and tough answers out of thin air all the time." Well, Jesus was a great thinker and did have great answers, but what I've come to realize is that Jesus was often reminding the Pharisees and his other listeners about things that were already written in Scripture. He was able to reinterpret the sayings and laws that were recorded in the Scrolls of the Torah--the law--to make them easier for us to understand and follow. He was able to basically summarize the teachings of the whole Torah--Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy-- into two commands: "Love God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength" and "love your neighbor in the same way you love yourself."

The first commandment is Jesus' restatement of Deuteronomy 6, and we spent some time a few weeks back looking at this passage. [See "What's on your Doorpost? Sermon from 9/14/08 posted below.] The second commandment is from the passage we heard this morning from the 19th chapter of Leviticus. The Jews and followers of Jesus during His day would have heard these commandments from Jesus and automatically associated them with these two passages in the Torah. They often had the Torah memorized. They knew the Scriptures inside and out. All it would take is a reminder of these phrases or chapters for the followers of Jesus to associate the two commands with the greater ideas they encapsulate. These two commands served as Memory Triggers for the hearers. Hearing a snip-it of Leviticus 19 would remind them of the whole 19th chapter. Hearing Leviticus 19 would remind them of all of the Torah. A Rabbi who lived a few years before Jesus was challenged to teach the whole Torah while standing on one foot. He quickly responded: "What is hateful to you do not do to others. The rest is commentary. Go learn." Sounds vaguely familiar--like The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you…Love your neighbor as yourself and thus live a holy life.

If Jesus was using the “Love your neighbor as yourself” part of verse 18 from Leviticus 19 to help us remember the whole chapter, and thus the whole Torah law, then maybe Jesus was reminding us to "Be Holy because God is Holy." One big part of being holy is loving our neighbors as ourselves. I believe these two ideas “being holy” and “loving our neighbor as ourselves” are integrally related and apply to today as much as they did in Jesus' time. Being holy--being set apart--being different than the world around us. As Christians we are called to be set apart. We are to live in the world but not of the world as we sometimes hear. We are to be kind and generous to those around us. We are to show compassion, treat each other fairly, vote wisely, and act justly. We are to play fair on the soccer or football field, drive without road-rage, and share our lunches in the school cafeteria with those who don’t have enough to eat. Jesus commands us to love our neighbors and also love ourselves, while we ultimately love God with our hearts, minds and spirits. That is the small yet big idea of being holy.

There has been a lot in the news lately about plumbers. I must say I missed that debate, but all I hear on TV involves plumbers. Plumbers, especially Plumber Joe, have received a lot of publicity. So I will not pick on plumbers and use an electrician instead, but this can apply to most any daily situation. Say you have a light switch that is not working properly and need to call Joe's Electrical Services to come work on the switch in your house. Joe arrives, finds the short circuit, and fixes the problem. You then go to pay Joe for his hard work and give him a fair wage for his time and service. You're grateful that someone has the know-how to fix the problem and thank Joe for his work. Was that a holy moment?

Jewish thinking for this situation, as I understand it, would say this was a holy moment. Jesus, I believe, would say this was a holy moment. Thus we can also say this was a holy moment, whether we were aware of it at the time or not. The person receiving the services of the electrician paid fair wages for fair work. Joe was treated as the person would like to have been treated. If much grumbling about the price took place, or Joe charged a huge, unfair price, then the situation would have been very different, but that wasn't the case. Being holy, according to Leviticus 19, doesn't have to involve heavenly angels singing in the background or feeling extremely spiritual. It means being set apart and unlike the rest of society--treating others as you would like to be treated--loving your neighbor as yourself. And as we pay attention to our lives and actions more, we will likely begin to see even more regular moments in our lives in holy and set-apart ways.

So where does it leave us? How do we live out these ideas of being a good neighbor to those around us? How might we understand Jesus' words today and find them helpful in our 21st century world?

We spent time this morning in the Inquirer's Class discussing two documents from our Moravian tradition that help articulate what we believe and how we are called to live in the world. As I've thought more about the “Ground of the Unity,” which describes what we believe very succinctly, and the “Moravian Covenant for Christian Living,” which helps us see how we can live in this world, it struck me how closely the Covenant for Christian Living reflects this whole idea of how to be holy and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Both Leviticus 19 and The Covenant for Christian Living were written for a community to help the members to both live together and live in the world. I am even willing to go as far as saying we could rename the "Covenant for Christian Living" to be the "Covenant for how to live Holy, set-apart lives in community", but I guess that doesn't have as nice of a ring to it.

As I've re-read the Covenant again, one paragraph stuck out to me in light of Leviticus 19's command to “be holy” and “love our neighbor as ourselves.” Paragraph 29 reads: "We will not hate, despise, slander, or otherwise injure anyone. We will ever strive to manifest love towards all people, to treat them in a kind and friendly manner, and in our dealings with them to approve ourselves upright, honest, and conscientious, as becomes children o God. Together with the universal Christian Church, we have a concern for this world, opening our heart and hand to our neighbors with the message of the love of God, and being ever ready to minister of our substance to their necessities."

If you haven't read the whole Moravian Covenant for Christian Living, or haven't read it lately, there are copies available here up front for you to take home today. Spend some time this week looking over the Covenant for Christian Living and Leviticus 19. I hope sometime in the near future we can continue conversations about how we can encourage one another to live holy lives in this community and world, as I believe we can always be challenged to keep growing and learning as Children of God. And next time you need to call a plumber, shop in a store, or go vote, think about where those holy moments are in your daily life. You just might be surprised where you find opportunities and experiences to be holy-set apart as followers of Jesus. "Love God with all you have" and "love your neighbor as yourself." Words to live by... Words to encourage us to “be holy because The Lord our God is holy.”

Please pray with me:
Holy God,
We ask you today to help us be aware of the holy moments in our lives. We strive to do you work in our world and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Give us the strength and courage to live lives that are set apart and holy. Help us to help each other see the holy moments, name them, and use them as encouragement to keep being holy, set-apart followers of Jesus Christ. In Christ’s name, Amen.