sermon - Daniel: dreams

Prophetic Dreams

            When people think of the book of Daniel, most often, they think of Daniel in the Lion’s Den.  This book is one about a tragic time in the life of the Hebrew people.  Israel has been conquered by the Babylonians and the educated and skilled people have been taken captive, into exile back to Babylon.  As they enter life in the captive land, they are encouraged to assimilate into the culture and ways of the Babylonians including their religion.  This is a story of resistance, a story of people seeking to stay faithful to their God despite chaotic times, and it is a story of hope that even though the present is not very favorable, the people find hope that God will establish a better future.  And it is a story of dreams. 

            We started our sermon series on dreams with Jacob, who dreamed of a ladder connecting earth to heaven.  In this dream, Jacob was awoken to the sacred right there, in the very place where he slept.  It was also a sacred dream that reinforced Jacob’s call that he and his descendants would be God’s people.  Last week took us to Egypt where Joseph had a dream that he, the youngest brother, would rise to power over his older brothers.  In this story there were several other dreams including that of Pharaoh.  These dreams were prophetic, speaking to things in the future and Joseph was able to interpret these dreams so the Egyptians could prepare for a long season of famine. 

            Today, we continue with prophetic dreams, dreams held not by God’s people, but like Pharaoh, the oppressor of God’s people.  The first dream we heard was that of Nebuchadnezzar, but instead of sharing his dream with others he demands that others must tell him the dream and then interpret it for him.  Those in his court cannot tell him his dream, but Daniel has a true gift.  Here, in the land of exile, in a land where Daniel has taken great risks to stay faithful to his God, he has the opportunity now to not only interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream but also share what he dreamt.   “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, ²⁸ but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come

            So Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar his dream, his dream is of kingdoms, starting with the current kingdom moving far into the future.  As each kingdom comes after Babylon, they are slightly weaker and weaker.  Unlike the dream of Pharaoh and Joseph, this dream takes us long into the future and there seems to be no immediate action that can be taken.  There is no calling to stockpile food in order to prepare, it just is.  As Daniel gets to the end of the dream, listen to the language:  the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.  Does this sound like the texts we use at Advent?  Isaiah also speaks of a future kingdom, an eternal kingdom of King David, a Kingdom that we now speak of as that brought to us through Jesus Christ.  And as Daniel concludes his interpretation, giving credit to God in heaven, Nebuchadnezzar responds:  Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”  And just like Joseph, Daniel is given a position of authority within the Babylonian Court. 

            For a people in exile, to know that their God is present with them, is sending them a message of hope, even though it is through their oppressor, they find encouragement, they have a new anchor in which to place their faith, they have something to lift them up out of the chaos and stress of these trying times. 

            Over time, a new king came to rule over Babylon, king Belshazzar, and this time it is Daniel that has a dream.  Daniel’s dream parallels that of King Nebuchadnezzar, in that it is predicting future kingdoms.  As his dream concludes he has this vivid image of:  In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,^[a] coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.  Again, we have this prophetic vision of the Messiah. 

            Professor:  Juliana Claassens

Share this:  Daniel 7 assert that God is not just a far-away removed deity, but that God is present in the chaos of this world: moving, acting, and intervening in the real life struggles of the believers who are yearning for a Liberator God.  Sometimes when we switch on the morning news and read the newspapers over a cup of coffee, we may feel a bit like Daniel, frightened by devouring monsters in his night visions, when we seek to wrap our minds around everything that is happening in our country and around the world. However, the belief and hope in a Savior that enters exactly where the forces of chaos seem to be most rampant is what allows one to get up and face the day. 

            God, through these dreams, sent the people hope despite being in exile, despite being in captivity, despite being oppressed by outside forces.  We, continue to live as a part of that dream, on the other side of it, on the side where God has sent the son of man, the redeemer, the liberator and yet, we know there are still forces of oppression in this world, there are still vices that we need liberated of.  When we find ourselves struggling in hard times, what is our anchor?  What is our hope?  We have the eternal kingdom of God, the eternal reign of our loving Creator, we are a part of this on-going story, this on-going dream.  God is not done with the world yet.  The people of God have endured through amazing trials and tribulations and the promise of God’s presence in their lives has strengthened them. 

            The forces of oppression in our lives today are varied.  They can be disease, unemployment, under employment, addiction, poverty and homelessness.  They can be global structures where we just feel powerless.  And God’s people do not stay silent, there are various groups being a voice for the voiceless, being a witness to God’s goodness in the world, speaking out on behalf of the environment, dedicating their careers to mental illness treatment and care.  So many people seek to be a part of God’s dream, a part of the redemption of this world, a part of the liberation, witnesses of God’s presence in this world  Amen. 

summer series: Dreams

This summer, I thought it would be fun to do a summer sermon series on the various dreams found in our scriptures.  So, as we begin with this first dream, often referred to as Jacob’s ladder, I will share a bit of background on Jacob.  The story really begins with Abraham and Sarah, called by God to leave their land and follow God.  Eventually, Sarah and Abraham have a son named Isaac and now the next generation has been born.  Isaac marries Rebekah and has twin sons: Esau and Jacob.  During her pregnancy, Rebekah seeks the Lord and learns:  And the Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.”

Esau is born first which secures him the birthright of the eldest son.  Jacob was rather cunning and bought his brother’s birthright from him for a bowl of stew.  Then, with the help of his mother, Rebekah, he is able to trick his father, Isaac, into giving him the blessing instead of Esau.  Between taking his brother’s birthright and his father’s blessing, Esau and Jacob are no longer on speaking terms, in fact, Jacob flees with the fear that his brother just might kill him. 

            It is here that today’s passage begins, a younger brother, destined by God to break the cultural norm of birth order, fleeing for his life.  As night fell, Jacob found a place to rest and as he slept, he had a dream.  President of Princeton Seminary, Rev. Craig Barnes says this:  You see, when it comes to dreams, the only good ones come from God. And God insists on just giving them to us. The most important dreams are things like being loved, having a child, beholding beauty, discovering your purpose in life, finding joy in your work, or finding a friend who will stick with you through anything, even the truth. Those dreams, the things for which we yearn most in life, come only as blessings from God. And blessings can only be received.

            As Jacob falls asleep, he dreams of a ladder, a ladder connecting the earth to heaven and going up and down on this ladder are angels.  What I think is interesting is that God is not up at the top, God is not up in heaven sending his message down the ladder through the angels, but rather, we are told that the Lord stood beside Jacob.  And then Jacob was given a promise, if you compare this message from God to that given to Abraham it is almost the exact same.  God promises, that Jacob will have numerous descendants and this land will be his.  But more importantly, all the families of the earth shall be blessed^[d] in you and in your offspring. ¹⁵ Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. 

            Perhaps before this dream, Jacob knew that he was to inherit his father’s blessing, perhaps he knew that he was going to assume the role of the elder brother even though he was the younger, but it is not until this dream, that he truly understands that this is not a role of power but a blessing, a gift from God, a sacred calling. 

            How often in our lives, we seek to climb the ladders before us, if you are in the corporate world, we even call it the corporate ladder.  We want to climb up, we seek promotions, we seek job security because we then have financial security.  But how many awful stories have we heard of people climbing and climbing and climbing only to destroy their own lives? 

            Jacob has to learn to live into who he is, and that God is with him and God will journey with him where ever he goes.  As Jacob awakens from this dream, he proclaims:  Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”  As we seek to grow in our professions, or in our daily journey, God reminds us through this dream to do so with God alongside of us.  Jacob could have lived his life for his own gain, but God desires for his life to be one of blessing. 

            I’ve met a handful of people in my life that had rather prestigious careers and had some sort of divine intervention and changed their course in life in order to be more connected to serving others.  One couple I met gave up their dream of retirement and moved to a rural area in order to be full time volunteers for the mission program our church was involved with. 

            Now, I have had some rather vivid dreams, if they have any kind of religious meaning, most of the time they are of me showing up on Sunday morning without a sermon.  But imagine, waking up from a night of sleep, of having such a powerful dream, that you proclaim: Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”  What a wonderful dream, to awaken one’s self to the presence of God all around us.  And to awaken to a promise that in Abraham and in Jacob God has promised a blessing upon their descendants.  All the families of the earth shall be blessed.  What an amazing dream to live into.  Summer is a time for dreaming.  Some of us are trying to embrace the dream of being a part of God’s blessing, some of us are trying to embrace the dream of God’s blessing extending to all, some of us are somewhere in between.  But the dream of Jacob’s ladder continues into today’s world.  God is standing beside us, the angels are ascending and descending the ladder to heaven, and the promise of blessing is flowing for us to receive but also for us to give.  We know there is much pain, suffering, and struggling in this world, and together, as Christ’s disciples, we are called to be agents of blessing.  God had a new dream for humanity, and so God called Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be a great and mighty nation but also to be a people of blessing, bringing God’s love and peace and joy into this world.  We too are called by God, as a congregation to dream a new dream, to be a people that imagine a ladder to heaven with angels ascending and descending, with God standing next to us, reminding us that we are blessed to be a blessing, and encouraging us to remember:  Surely the Lord is in this place.

Sermon - Jesus silences the storm

In today’s world, we love to travel.  No longer do people tend to stay in their own neighborhood for their entire lives, or their own county or even their own state.  People travel, we have cars that can get us places quickly, but we also have trains and planes.  Just one generation back, people did not travel anywhere near like what we do today.  When my parents were in high school they might dream about foreign lands, but never would they think that they would go to Australia or Spain or England or France.  By the time I was in high school, my family had travel all over the United States as well as allowing me to travel to England to visit my best friend who had moved there and to Spain with my high school Spanish class.  These opportunities did not exist for my parents when they were the same age as me. 

            In the day and age of Jesus, people also traveled, mostly for trade.  They walked, or rode animals, or traveled by boat.  And traveling was dangerous.  There were bandits on the roads, Roman soldiers stationed throughout, storms would blow through, they didn’t have convenient stores to stop into if they were hungry or thirsty.  They didn’t have cell phones or GPS or AAA for roadside assistance. So, most people limited their travel. 

            One of the commentaries I read shared that this story is less about the storm at sea, but rather more about getting into the boat and traveling from one place to another.  For the most part, when we decide to go on a roadtrip, we know where we plan on going.  We set a destination and make arrangements for when we arrive, but it seems with Jesus, he gets his disciples into the boat and off they sail, intending to go to the other side, but not knowing anything about what awaits them when the arrive.  

            Do we ever hear Jesus calling:  Let us get in the boat and cross over to the other side?  Symbolically, asking us to move from a place of comfort to a place where we just might engage in a new ministry.  This summer, nine of us will be getting into the boat and traveling to Philadelphia for a week long mission trip.  To be honest, we have no idea what to expect once we get there other than we know we will be given shelter and food.  We don’t know how hot it will be, or which urban ministry project we will spend time with, but we do know Broad Street Ministry has been hosting church groups for years and that they know what they are doing.  For some people, the unknown can bring great anxiety while for others it is a thrill of adventure and brings great excitement in that anticipation of encountering the unknown.  Jesus must have had an adventurist heart, for he was constantly moving from place to place always with the trust that God was calling him in whatever direction he took. 

            Let us get in the boat and cross over to the other side – might speak to our young adults that have just graduated from high school and are heading off to the unknown of college.  Or to our college graduates that are heading off to the unknown of a new job.  Or to parents that are becoming empty nesters.  Or to a church that is seeking new ways to partner with the local community. 

            The thing is, nothing in life is smooth sailing.  There will always be ups and downs and storms will blow through, literally or symbolically.  Another writer shared this:  in the storm, we disciples cried out to Jesus to wake up.  How this speaks to us in todays world.  Don’t we want to shout, to cry out, to demand that God do something to stop these storms that we are in?  Our Presbytery is focusing on current events that we believe are breaking God’s heart.  We have already done one meeting on the Opiate addiction crisis and another on the #metoo.  In September we will be addressing the Immigration crisis and in November we will be sharing about gun violence.  We are in a storm, all around us, in so many different places and topics and issues and we cry out, God save us.  God, do something to stop this madness, stop children from killing children, stop people from overdosing on heroin, stop families from being separated one from another, stop the sexual discrimination and abuse that seems to be running rampant in our nation.  We, just like the disciples, want God to break in and perform a miracle and bring life to some sort of peaceful calm.  Jesus woke up, and he silenced the storm, but he also scolds his disciples asking them, why are you afraid have you still no faith?   

 Would that be God’s response to us today?  As we move across the waters from one place to another, as we wonder what is becoming of this world, would God say: why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?  Is God encouraging us to allow our faith to guide us through our fear?  Or can we travel through the storms not calling out to God to stop them, but rather knowing that God is in the boat with us, traveling with us, present with us, promising us God’s love and grace and mercy. 

And what if, what if God responded, stop the storm with me.  How would we respond?  Would we be willing to get involved in the things that make us angry about our world?  We are seeing more and more people involved in marches because in these storms people are waking up and wanting to be empowered to be a part of change.  There is an incredible desire within our society of people wanting to restore peace, of people wanting to stop the storms, of people understanding they can no longer sit quietly waiting for someone else to take care of the problem.  More and more boats are moving out into the lake, despite knowing there are storms at sea.  Over the centuries, it has been people of faith that have spoken out, despite the fear of others, to condemn slavery and segregation.  People have taken incredible risks to be in the middle of the storm, working with God to bring peace, peace not just for one group of people, but for the greater good, the whole of society.  At one church, we held monthly peace vigils, we chose a topic and then spent an hour, out on the front steps of the church with signs, and discussed with each other the issue at hand, and shared with those that passed by, and made ourselves a visible presence of peace to community. 

There is no denying we are in a storm, what is your anchor or where do you place your hope?  What brings you peace when torrential rains hit?  Is it knowing God is present, is it trust that God is faithful?  Is it through prayer or becoming involved in some sort of social justice movement?  Or maybe you are in a place where you have lost your mooring and feel tossed about and truly believe we are perishing just like the disciples did, cry out as they did, reach out to the source of peace, the source of creation, the source of love that has been present in your life.  The disciples knew Jesus was there, they knew he would come to them, they knew they could answers or help or calm in his presence.  And he me them in their need.  Some of us just need to find a place of calm, a place of peace, a place where we truly feel safe, and in this particular story, it does not happen on the beach or the safety of land, but in the midst of traveling from one place to another, in the midst of the storm, in the midst of not knowing where they were going next, they engaged the peace that only God can give. 

Whether we are in the boat or not, there is a storm, and God is not sleeping, but is calling those who will listen to participate in Biblical justice for all humanity.  Amen. 

Bible Sunday - sermon

A Light Unto our Feet

                Our lives are filled with stories.  Some stories are about us or our families, others are stories that we hear.  Our lives are immersed in stories, stories on TV, the movies, books, and songs.  There are stories that we tell and others we keep secret.  Some stories are worth billions of dollars and some stories are thousands of years old.  Authors, writers, story tellers all work on developing good stories, developing what will catch the attention and interest of others.  Some become classics, worth sharing from generation to generation while others get quickly forgotten.  Our lives are immersed in stories.  And most of us a one or two that we would call favorites. 

            How much time do we give to our stories?  Some people watch the same movie over and over again until they can repeat every line.  My children are suppose to read at least twenty minutes each day, sometimes that twenty minutes seems like an eternity while other times they don’t want to stop and continue reading longer.  It all depends on the story.  Each year, when my children go for their annual doctor visit, we are asked the same question, how much screen time does your child get each day?  The recommendation is no more than two hours.  There are days that I know they are watching more than two hours of shows, so what are they watching?  What are the stories that they are learning?  How is that two hours of screen time forming their own inner story of this world in which we live?  These are all questions we should be asking, no matter what our age.  How much time do we allow the voices of others, whether it be a movie, a show, the media, or a novel infiltrate our lives?  And what impact does it have upon us?  The Psalmist writes that the Word of God is like a light unto our feet.  The word of God is to guide us as we journey in these lives.  If we just live by the stories of the world, what will our true guide be?  What will be our true north? Our anchor?

            For the most part, it seems our stories are often filled with some sort of conflict, crisis, bad news, and the characters seek to resolve the problem and by the end of the show good has overcome bad.  I just finished re-reading a Wrinkle in Time, a favorite story of mine from my childhood.  A friend of mine shared how she loved these books, how the religious symbolism really spoke to her.  And I thought to myself, hmmm, I must have missed something when I was a child, I don’t remember anything religious about them at all, in fact, I felt like they were rather scientific rather than religious.  So, as I re-read this book all these years later, I realized that the religious symbolism was not hidden at all in the story but rather overt.  There is light – good;  and there is darkness – bad or rather evil.  And the more you learn about the light, you learn that the light is not just good, it is love. 

            Today, we give our second graders their Bibles.  We hope that this collection of stories is read, and re-read, and talked about.  We hope these Bibles become a light unto your feet.  I still have two Bibles that were given to me by my church, one as a child and the other as I went off to college.  Sometime during high school, I decided I would read the Bible from front to back, and so each night, before going to bed, I would read.  There was a lot I did not understand and even more that I did not absorb, but I read and eventually I made it through the entire Bible. 

What I did not know as a child or as a youth was that this book is not one book but many books.  And some of the books are collections of stories, some of the books are historical, some of the books are poems, and some of the books are letters.  There is such a variety.  Some of the stories are over two thousand years old and yet, we continue to tell them.  We continue to tell them, we continue to find meaning in them because they are stories of faith shared from one generation to the next in how people found themselves connected to the sacred in this world.  These are stories that shaped an entire nation of people and stories that continue to shape communities of faith in how we feel called to be a people of God. 

            Without these stories, without reading these accounts of faith from one generation to the next, we would have no anchor, we would be like a young sapling with no deep roots.  The more people immerse themselves in learning these stories, the more they understand and see how God is active in the world today and how God is continuing to call and guide us in the decisions that we make.  Our sacred stories help form our own inner story of this world in which we live.  By knowing our sacred story, we cry out when we hear stories of injustice, violence, hatred, and greed.  We celebrate when we hear stories of justice, mercy, and love.  Perhaps we even find ourselves with inner conflict when the stories of this world collide with our sacred story, not sure how to respond, asking if what is happening is ethical, moral, or for the better good. 

 As Jesus teaches about the word of God, the word of God known to us as the scriptures, he uses a pretty straight forward parable.  The farmer sows seeds, scattering them all about:  some fall in the weeds, some on the rocky ground, some fall on the hard path, some fall on the fertile soil.  Sometimes I feel that way with ministry ideas, let’s just brainstorm, throw out ideas and see which ones might actually take.  Not every idea is going to take off, but if we don’t try, we won’t ever know.  Some falls in the weeds and gets smothered, some falls on the hard path and never has a chance to grow, some grows quickly but does not take root and dries out quickly.  Good soil is no accident, it takes work, it takes nurture, it takes cultivating.  Today, we seek to cultivate the good soil, with the gift of these Bibles. 

            God never tires of spreading God’s word upon this world.  Just like in a Wrinkle in Time, the over arching message of this collection of sacred stories is that love overcomes evil, that God’s power overcomes sin, that life can be transformed for the good and that as a people of God, we have the responsibility to be agents of goodness, kindness, compassion, and love in this world. 

            Don’t let the size of this book overwhelm you.  Don’t let segments of this book push you away.  Begin with Genesis and Exodus, and the collection of Gospels.  Six books out of the whole, begin there and see what God has been up to in this world and how God continues to be a God of justice, Mercy, Peace and love. 

            We teach our children each and every day.  We teach them with Dr. Seuss and Walt Disney, we teach them about our values, we teach them that sports, dance, arts, and education are important.  Our story of faith encourages to teach our children and our children’s children about God.  About God’s love for us and for this world in which we live.  As we spend hour upon hour with screen time, or sports practice, or lessons and even homework, do we lift up our values as a people of God?  Just as we absorb all of the stories of the world around us, we are called to find time to absorb, to learn, to study, and to understand the stories of faith shared by the people that came before us and then in turn to share our stories with the next generation.  What I love to be able to do is take our modern stories and find the connections to our faith stories and compare and contrast them.  But I would not be able to do that if I didn’t know our story, if I didn’t understand the ways God is calling us to be harbingers of justice, mercy, and love.  Be a reader of our sacred stories. Be a story teller, be a messenger of God’s love in this world and allow the seeds of God’s word to fall in the fertile soil of your hearts so that you live into God’s hope that life can be transformed into God’s greater goodness.    

Confirmation Sunday

1 Samuel 3

            In today’s society, our young people have numerous opportunities before them.  They can play a variety of sports, they can participate in music, dance, or drama programs, they can do scouting, some gravitate towards art while others immerse themselves in reading.  As a parent, I want my children to try a variety of activities in order to see what they enjoy the most.  Is there one area that perhaps my child will excel and become passionate about? 

            Our young people that we confirmed today are involved in numerous activities: from hockey to Marital Arts, from Drama Club to Marching Band, from Robotics to dance, and from scouting to summer camp at Camp Johnsonburg.  There is a strong interest within them for cooking, and they are a group that is interested in making a positive difference in this world in which we live.   This group of young people have a variety of gifts, a variety of interests, a variety of ways in which to contribute to their schools, their teams, their clubs, and to their church. 

            We have had a handful of baptisms over the past month, and one of the things I share as I walk a child around the church is about seeds of faith within him or her and how, the church family promises to provide the nurture that will encourage those seeds of faith to grow, to mature, and to bear fruit.  This group of confirmands have spent time in the church, they have spent time listening to the word of God in a variety of ways, whether it is through Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Camp, worship, or through the actions of the church and its members in our ministry.  The word of God speaks to us in a multitude of ways, and it does not matter if we are young children, adolescents, young adults, or adulthood. 

            What I love about today’s story of Samuel is that Samuel is young and God is speaking to him.  Samuel is being raised by an elderly priest Eli, and the word of God was rare in those days. Things really were not great.  There seems to be an ongoing cycle through the scriptures of God’s people participating in the life of faith and falling away, of God’s people being inspired and participating in the life of faith and falling away.  Of God calling new leaders to inspire the people of God and new energy being born and then the people once again falling away.  Over and over again.  And over and over again, God reaches out and calls people to once again bring the people back into a life that is sacred and holy. 

            When we have these stories, these stories of God reaching out to people to be the ones that bring the flock, the fold back to God, we say they are: “Call Stories.”  Call Stories are scattered through the scripture: Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah, Samuel, even Mary in our Christmas story is called.   Samuel, as young as he is, hears the voice of God but Samuel does not know it is God.  He things that it is Eli that is calling him.  Three times Samuel is called and three times he gets up and goes to Eli saying:  Here I am, what is it?  Finally, it is the wisdom of Eli that realizes this must be God calling Samuel.  There is this beautiful mentoring moment as the elderly Eli is able to help interpret what is happening to young Samuel.  In order for Samuel to truly hear God, to truly know what is happening, he needs Eli, he needs the wisdom of his mentor to guide him. 

            God is calling Samuel to transform the future relationship of God and God’s people.  The people of God are soon to become a kingdom and as they do, God is calling spiritual leadership to participate alongside of the king.  These new spiritual leaders will be called prophets.  But if Eli had not listened to Samuel, if Eli had said you are just a child go back to bed, God’s plan would have been slowed down.  But Eli listened.  He not only listened to Samuel but he connected it back to the true source and listened to God. 

            How do we listen to God in our world today?  How do we listen to each other?  Are we good at listening to the thoughts and ideas and passions and interests of each other?  Because God is calling, God is speaking, God is at work but we have to listen, we have to listen to each other no matter how old or young we are, and we have to discern if this just might be a seed of faith that is starting to grow and mature into something that will bear fruit. 

            That is one of the things that I love about confirmation class.  I love to listen to our youth.  I love to listen to their music, their concerns, their interests and brainstorm with them how we can transform our worship in various ways to be more inclusive of them.  Confirmation class is not just about learning the basics and deciding if you want to officially join the church, but it is also about becoming leaders, about feeling that their voice is heard and respected.  They are now full members of the church, and two seeds that they would like to see grow not just within their own lives but within the life of the church are:  a functioning youth group and perhaps a cooking group of some sort.  This group also expressed interest in continuing to meet next year with our mission mornings.  This was something new I introduced since Confirmation class met on Sunday evenings.  Those Sundays that we met at night, instead of a formal Sunday School lesson, we did activities that connected to mission such as making signs for Souper Bowl of Caring and baking quick bread for Faith Kitchen.  So as we begin to plan and prepare for next fall, the CE committee will be looking for adults that would like to be like Eli and mentor our youth, listening to their voices, listening to the ways in which God is speaking to them, and guiding them in hands on mission projects as we continue the mission mornings. 

               

sermon - Baptism

            Our lives are marked with transitions.  It is graduation season, we mark the end of set period of time and requirements of study and honor the students with a ceremony of completion.  In a few weeks, my little Daisy troop will be bridging, moving from Daisies to Brownies.  Next Sunday, our youth will be confirmed, we will celebrate a time of study and transition our youth into adult members of the church.  Transitions are all around us:  from being able to vote for the first time and getting a driver’s license, to weddings and births, to retirement.  And most of the time, we mark these transitions with some sort of ceremony, certificate, or party. 

            Rituals, ceremony, help guide us through times of transition, people of all cultures participate in various rites of passage, often with those transitioning being marked in a specific way, such as a bride wearing a white dress, or a graduate wearing a gown. 

            Our Sunday worship reflects this as well.  We mark our sacred time together with the ringing of the church bell, we set aside this space as sacred space, and we, in a sense, exit the secular world in which we live, and enter into sacred time and space before being sent back out into the world.  We transition weekly, reminding ourselves of the sacred, of the need to be in intentional connection with our beloved creator, of connecting to the sacred story and sharing with one another in prayer. 

            It is this very topic of sacred transitions that we find in our story from the Gospel of John today.  There is a very well educated man, Nicodemus, that has heard about Jesus and heard about his teachings.  Nicodemus wants to know more, he has questions that he wants answered, but he seems somewhat concerned about being seen, about being associated with Jesus,.  For you see, he was a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews, the very people that were resisting Jesus and his teachings.  But he knew there was something more happening here, he knew Jesus was from God, but he takes a great risk to his own reputation and leadership to be seen with Jesus.  so the text tells us, that he comes to Jesus in the night. 

            In the Gospel of John, light and dark are symbolic themes throughout.  In the night, in the dark, can be interpreted symbolically as not yet fully knowing, not yet exposed to God’s light, not yet fully aware of the divine presence.  So, it is possible Nicodemus sneaks out in the night so no one will see him speaking with Jesus or it could be a metaphor for where he is spiritually, but either way, he wants to learn more. 

            And Jesus, in his own way, speaks symbolically of what it means to be in relationship of God.  He speaks of being born again, or being born from above.  The only way to see the kingdom of God, is to be born from above.  And Nicodemus seems to take this very literally and asks how can one be born a second time?  And Jesus responds proclaiming that one must be born of water and spirit to enter the Kingdom of God.  He then elaborates explaining the difference of being born of the flesh and being born of the spirit.  As people, as living creatures here on earth, we are all born of the flesh from our mothers.  But we all have the ability to also be born of the Spirit.  We transition into this world through birth, but we also transition as spiritual beings through water and the Spirit. 

            We, as Presbyterians, mark this transition, this celebration, this gift from God of being born of water and Spirit in baptism.  We have had several baptisms over the past few months and we will have another next month, and these children are all being marked by water blessed by the Holy Spirit and the parents, Godparents, and members of the church promise to raise the child in the faith.  Are these children born again?  Well, that term born again is a loaded expression depending on your faith tradition.  As Presbyterians, we believe that baptism is a transition, a transition of promised love, nurture, and care.  In this sacred time and sacred place, sacred vows are expressed that we desire a life of faith and discipleship for this child.  So, is this child born from above?  Absolutely, and throughout her life, seeds of faith will sprout and bear fruit and she may find a moment where she truly understands God’s love for her in her life.  We often talk about our faith journeys as on-going conversion experiences.  On-going moments of feeling seeds sprout and grow, on-going moments of being touched by God’s grace and love, on-going moments of the water and Spirit breaking into our lives connecting us to the Kingdom of God. 

            Although we believe in one baptism, that one baptism is sufficient for our entire lives, we also believe that the promised water of nurture is on-going.  So we may have moments when our baptism becomes real to us, where it becomes relevant or alive.  We hope that for our children that will be confirmed next week.  That the vows of baptism taken on their behalf twelve or so years ago are now alive in their own hearts, in their own faith journey, in their own understanding of who God is to them.  And so we mark this experience again, not as a second baptism, but as the time in which their baptism makes sense to them, where they can now take the vows of church membership on their own behalf.  It is the same transition and yet another transition, being born of the water and the spirit, it is on-going, ever calling us to grow in our faith no matter how old or young we are. 

            Rites of passage call us to be transformed, to live differently, to grow into a new phase of life.  Nicodemus cannot stay the same if he listens and deeply understands what Jesus is telling him.   Just like when you get your driver’s license, you get it to want to use it.  Along with a changed life of greater independence also comes great responsibility.  I didn’t get my driver’s license to have it sit on a shelf and admire what I had accomplished.  I got it, to use it. 

            Nicodemus is given a purpose behind what it means to be born of the water and spirit.  By being born from above we are given the ability to see the Kingdom of God.  We are marked by the water and the Spirit by God as a means to grow in our lives, we are called to use our baptisms, not just mark it as a specific day in our lives, but to see the Kingdom of God.  We are marked by the water and the Spirit, we are born from above, as an on-going gift from God, empowering us to be disciples, participants in God’s Kingdom, not just in the next life, but here, in this particular place in this particular time.  Let us this day, all remember our own baptisms, marked by the water and the Spirit, growing into God’s people, transforming the world around us through God’s amazing love.  Amen. 

Pentecost - sermon

                I feel like it was just Easter, but fifty days have past which brings us to this day, a call it the best kept secret of the church.  Christmas and Easter are the big days in the life of the church, but so should be Pentecost.  Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon God’s people.  God at work in the world, God’s breathe stirring life into God’s people.  Wind, breathe, Spirit, and a sacred connection.  In Easter, we celebrate life over death, we celebrate God’s yes in the face of the world’s no.  Pentecost continues the story, continues the message of the resurrection, continues the story of life returning to places that can speak of death. 

            I am going to put you all on the spot today.  How many of you want to make a difference in the world?  Raise your hand.  How many of you actually feel like in some way, either large or small, you are actually making a difference in the world today?  There is a movement in our greater society to seek ways to make a difference in our world.  We are constantly being asked to make a donation to this cause or that cause; sometimes it is at the grocery store – would you like to donate a dollar to the St Jude’s fund?  Or it might be in purchasing an item: for every item purchased, a dollar goes to bringing fresh drinking water to a thirsty child.  And even our pets are included in this, for every bag of dog food bought, twenty meals will be given to dogs in shelters.  Last year, I bought pink ribbon earrings and a percentage went to breast cancer research.  It goes on and on.  How do we see this?  Do we see this as marketing strategies to prey on peoples’ desires to do good in order to sell things?  Or do we see it as the Holy Spirit moving upon the waters of consumerism seeking to do the better good? 

            Pentecost is upon us, it is here, not just on one particular day, but each and every day, each and every moment of time.  The breath of God’s life is pouring out upon us if we are open to hear its call.   

            As I wrestled with our first text today, that of Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones, we could do a very in depth conversation group on this.  One of the resources I read, asks this question:  Has anything of great importance died in our own community?  Where are the places that are crying out for rebirth?  And I love this one:  Can our dreams dance again?  As I thought about places that have died, other than the war torn areas of our world, I thought more specifically to our own country and towns ridden by various addictions such as meth and heroin.  While living in Florida, there was the bad part of town, and as the police and drug enforcement agencies seized crack houses, the houses were turned over to the town for community resource centers.  I had the opportunity to teach ESL in two such houses, once used for drugs, now used to empower people through education:  Life out of death, hope out of despair.  Throughout our nation there are small towns that have literally become ghost towns, with a handful of people still living there, there is the city of Detroit, an entire city going bankrupt, the foreclosures and extreme poverty. 

            And so as I thought about rebirth, for the power of dreams dancing again, I thought about Waco Texas and Chip and Joanna Gaines and the work they are doing to restore homes throughout the city.  They have truly changed this town, they have brought hope into a town that had been struggling for so long.  They have put a positive name on a place that seem to only know bad press.  Ours is a God that continually offers life, offers life in what even might seem to be a dying world.  We can view the world through the negative lens that things are just bad, or we can view the world through the lens of faith, through the promise of God, through the hope of our scriptures that even in destructive times of history, God is restoring life. 

            Can our dreams dance again?  As the Holy Spirit continues to pour out upon this world, as the breathe of God continues to renew and restore creation, our dreams based in God’s love can come to life, can be a reality.  Pentecost is being lived out this week, as Ledgewood Baptist hosts families that are currently homeless.  Families, all across our nation, but also right here in our own community, without a consistent place to come home to.  I can’t even imagine it, but through God’s love, through the power of the Holy Spirit the agency Family Promise is at work to find permanent housing for these families as well as to provide them the resources they need for this transitional time in their lives. 

            Can our dreams dance again?  For three families, they will soon be receiving a home through Habitat with an upcoming Building blitz over in Mine Hill in June.  Why will 150 people give 9 days of their lives to build three houses?  Why are people so willing to help others?  Why do people take to the streets in order to voice their message of hope and justice and love for each other?  Because God is at work in this world, because there is incredible power in the Pentecost story, because God puts a message of hope in our hearts and a passion to make this world a better place.