Sermon - Covenant with Noah

Noah

“A New Creation”

            The story of Noah’s Ark is one that most people know, whether they attend Sunday School or not.  It is a story that has found its way into our childhood, whether through the cute ways in which we design a baby’s nursery, or the toys our toddlers play with.  Noah’s Ark is cute and fun because it is filled with animals and a rainbow and children love animals and rainbows.  But that might be the level of understanding we have for this story.  God instructed Noah to build an ark, he does.  God tells Noah to gather two of each animal, he does.  And it rains and rains and rains for forty days.  Noah and these animals are all safe from the flood waters until the water recedes and God sends a rainbow and promises never to flood the world again.  Cute story. 

            But there is so much more to this story.  This is a story of God’s grief, of God’s loss, of God wiping the slate clean and trying once again to create.  God creates the world, and sees that it is good, but over time, God sees less and less that is good.  People seem to be doing whatever they please and there is a loss of goodness, except for Noah and his family.  And so, instead of just wiping the world clean of all living things, this is a story of second chances.  Noah and his family and a boat full of animals are given a second chance to be what God intends them to be: good. 

            And so, just like in the first creation story, the world becomes a chaotic void of water until God is ready to separate the water from the land.  Water cleanses, water brings new life, water is used by God to mark the end of one way of living and bring God’s people into a new way of living.  In the Noah story, water wipes away a world that had forgotten God and had forgotten their purpose. 

            This is a story of what it means to be faithful to God.  What must it have been like for Noah?  For his family?  In their day to day living, not conforming to the influences of everyone else’s behavior?  What did Noah do differently that gained God’s attention?  That God realized that there still was a person of faith in the world?  In the book of Hebrews, the writer names Noah in the list of those that were faithful to God and states:  By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. 

            He condemned the world, Noah seemed to be able to see what was right and what was wrong and chose to live his life focused on righteousness. 

            Just in this much of the story there is so much we can learn and apply to our lives today.  Noah was part of a new creation, we too are a part of a new creation.  Our scriptures tell us that in Christ, we are a new creation, the old is gone.  We use water in baptism to represent the washing away of the old, and how the church is called to nurtures us in the new.  But do we live with the faith of Noah?  Are we able to see the rights and wrongs of this world and discern what faithful living is?  Or are we so blended into our culture that we have a hard time deciphering through the grey and where we should draw a line? 

            Noah was protected by God, was able to float through the chaos that consumed the rest of the world.  The ark was a protective shell that kept this family from harm.  Although I do not believe we should isolate ourselves from the world, we do, at times, need to enter into God’s protective ark and allow ourselves to be safely carried from one chaotic moment into God’s peace.  Do we have those places in our lives?  Places that allow us to leave the wrongs of the world behind and find a moment to embrace God’s presence in our lives?  Do we have those places that remind us that in Christ we are a new creation, that the old is gone? 

            God gives us the Sabbath as a weekly ark, as a weekly reminder that the chaos of the world does not have to overwhelm us but that we can be in a place of sacred presence and holy peace, and as a weekly reminder that in God there is a new creation, a weekly reminder that there is still good in the world despite the negative we hear.  \

            Noah was not just faithful in listening to God and building an ark, but God places the future of God’s creation in Noah.  Talk about a big responsibility.  The future of God’s creation rests in the life of Noah.  After the waters recede and Noah and his family are able to walk on solid ground once again, God makes a promise.  God gives a covenant.  First God blesses Noah and his family and tells them to be fruitful and multiply, an echo from the creation story.  Then God gives God’s covenant:  I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you ¹⁰ and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. ¹¹ I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”  And with the covenant comes a sign. 

Covenants and signs go hand and hand.  God’s covenant to Noah is marked with the sign of the rainbow.  And all these years later, a rainbow manages to stop the crowd.  Time after time, I have seen people busy doing whatever it is they are about just stop and look up into the sky at the beauty of a rainbow.  Covenants and signs.  When we see a rainbow God calls us to remember the covenant with Noah, the promise to never destroy the world again with a flood, but do we also remember that this is a covenant given to all creation?  This covenant involves the animals too.  Some view this covenant with Noah as a call to sacred stewardship in today’s world.  That we must find better ways to care for our world, for our planet, for all living things.  God did not just create us people to be a part of God’s plan, but God created all living things and we have a responsibility to ensure that all living things have a viable future. 

The covenant God establishes with Noah is an eternal covenant and is one sided.  Some covenants, as we will see over the summer, are agreements between two parties, but this one is from God, with no clause with how we humans can nullify it.  Because we hold it as an eternal covenant, we should spend time discerning what it means to us today, how we can be faithful like Noah and how, just possibly, the future of God’s creation rests in us.  

sermon - The Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12

“Community in a culture of Independence”

            I was once told that God has provided every congregation with the Spiritual gifts that it needs to serve its purpose for God.  God equips God’s people.  Paul is helping the early church understand this as well.  These early congregations are just learning what it means to nurture their children in the faith, or to go out and make sure others are fed.  They don’t have CE or mission committees, they don’t have curriculum to choose from, and there are no non-profit agencies for them to volunteer with.  But they know they are called to be a part of something.  So, as they struggle with how they are to be a part of this new thing which Paul calls the body of Christ, he uses a simple illustration to help explain it. 

            The Spirit gives us each gifts to be used for the common good: these gifts include:  wisdom, knowledge, healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, miraculous powers, and faith.  Now, these early Christians were not college educated, and most did not even have the equivalent of a high school education.  Many could not read.  And yet, and yet they gathered, created community, and sought how they could worship and serve God. 

            In today’s world, we have all kinds of books on Spiritual gifts and if you go on-line, you can find numerous Spiritual Gift inventories.  The last time I did a comprehensive study of these inventories, I was disappointed that the Presbyterians don’t have one, but the Evangelical Lutheran one is very good.  The list of Spiritual gifts has grown to include compassion, prayer, teaching, hospitality, generosity, to name a few.

            Each of us should spend time discerning what our gift or gifts are.  Am I called to teach or maybe I am called to sing in the choir.  Am I called to be on the prayer chain, or maybe to serve on the mission committee.  As you discern your gift or gifts, consider what your interests are, what your passions are, and how those might intersect with serving God.  Maybe you have used your gift for years and you are ready to do something different.  Perhaps it is a time to refuel yourself with a season of learning or faith conversation with others.  Our Bible Study groups are a perfect way to come together and ask faith questions, share prayer concerns, and seek to gain some insight through study. 

            Together, we are the body of Christ.  We are all part of the same body and yet each of us has a different gift that can be viewed as a different part of the body.  Some are hands, some are feet, some are eyes others ears, and some are the heart.  Together, we work for the common good. 

            Growing up, I was encouraged to play team sports.  I was told that in playing a team sport I would learn to work well with others and gain leadership skills.  Being a soccer player, each of us on the team had different skills and abilities.  I had speed but not endurance, others had endurance but not speed.  I had a strong kick and could clear the ball while others had precision and were skilled at scoring.  Together, our team worked together to make it to the State finals all four years of high school.  Now, although we worked amazingly well as a team, there were a few that stood out as the stars of the team.  It was hard not to be envious.  It was hard not to desire getting the same publicity and news coverage.  We were a team, we worked together, but yes, we had a star that put us up and beyond just the usual team. 

            Soccer, team sports, they are all a part of culture.  And we live in a culture that seeks out stars, that despite our best efforts to try and work together as a team, still lifts up the individual within.  In no other time in history has culture become so individualized as ours seems to be.  I was raised to be a strong and independent person, to learn to take care of myself and not depend on anyone else.  But the church is not to be confused with our culture.  Unfortunately, we bring our culture into church instead of bringing the church out into culture.  Within the church, we are not to seek out self-gain, we are to work for the common good.  We are to be a team, we are to work together for no one else but to serve God.  We need to leave the concept of impendence and individual strengths at the door, and share with one another our struggles, our concerns, our joys, and our dreams. 

            Yesterday, Habitat had their Hammer for Heroes event.  To me, this is a perfect example of coming together to be the body of Christ in the greater community.  All people were invited to come together and frame a house.  Young, old, experienced, and unexperienced, we were all welcomed and given a chance to help.  Do I know how to frame a house?  Absolutely not.  But to each is given a skill, and the experts had everything prepared, and showed us where to place the nails, and together, group by group, person by person, nail by nail, the framed walls of a house began to appear.  No one group built the house.  No one person framed a whole section, but those that took twenty hammer hits to get a nail in or those that took three hits, together, we built the frame for this house.  That’s the body of Christ.  That is how the church should work.  We should walk patiently alongside each other, encouraging and building community.  Yes, we do need leaders, but our first focus should be building community and sharing our Spiritual gifts for the common good.  In using our gifts, in building community as the body of Christ, we are participating in worship.  In using our gifts we are praising God, we are responding to what God has given to us, and we understand that it is to be used within the body of Christ. 

            Within our presbytery, we are seeking ways to partner our churches together.  We are a connectional church.  We often think of ourselves as individual churches, but in reality, we are one church with many locations.  I heard one person refer to our congregations as mission outposts for God.  Once again, our culture influences how we perceive ourselves.  We are not an individual congregation, congregation upon congregation are also a part of the body of Christ.  And each congregation is a part of that body. 

            Just as we would like people to live out their faith within the church, within a faith community, so too would the presbytery like our congregations to live out our calling within the greater community of the Presbytery.  Habitat could never have framed a whole house in one day if many individuals had not come together for the common good.  Imagine what we could do for God’s service if we brought numerous congregations together to serve God.  So many positive things happen in the world around when people work together for the common good, such as Souper Bowl of Caring, Faith Kitchen, Family Promise, and, next week, you will learn more about Heifer International through the voices of our children and youth. 

Sermon - Mother's Day

1. My mother taught me to APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."

2. My mother taught me about RELIGION.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

4. My mother taught me about LOGIC.
"Because I said so, that's why."

6. My mother taught me about IRONY.
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."

7. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

9. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

10. My mother taught me about the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

11. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
"Stop acting like your father!"

15. My mother taught me about MEDICAL SCIENCE.
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way."

17. My mother taught me about HUMOR.
"When that lawnmower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

19. My mother taught me about GENETICS.
"You're just like your father."

20. My mother taught me about WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand.

22. My mother taught me about FEAR.
"One day you'll have a child who'll do the same things to you."

            Happy Mother’s Day.  Today, we look at mothers in the Bible.  Our scriptures are filled with stories of people, of people learning what it means to trust God, to follow God, and to be God’s people.  We learn from these stories and are able to find ways to grow in our own faith through them.  These mothers that we are not biologically related to, these mothers that we will know really know, these mothers that sometimes don’t even have names, these mothers that had their own flaws such as jealousy, favoritism, distrust, and lack of faith.  And yet, and yet within their flaws God continued to work and bring forth God’s plan into the world.  And as we read these stories we can also see how even in disbelief and lack of trust, there are moments of strong faith, and an openness to being a part of God’s story. 

            I’ve always loved the story of the little boy Samuel, but before the little boy Samuel is born, his mother, Hannah, struggled with not being able to have children.  She prayed and prayed to God that she would be able to conceive.  Just as Hannah was barren, so were the people of Israel.  They were living in a time where people were not following the ways of God.  Even the priest Eli could not seem to raise God loving children.  Hannah came to the temple and prayed.  She brought her grief, her feelings of loss, her pain and prayed before God.  She brought her hopes and desires and prayed before God.  She models the ways in which we can be vulnerable before God, ways in which we can name both our human desires and our sacred hopes and she prays.  And then she makes a deal with God. If you give me a child, I will dedicate this child to you.  I will allow him to be raised for your purposes. 

People of faith do desire that their children will also grow up as people of faith, but to actually dedicate your child to God’s service seems a little extravagant.  But that is what Hannah does, after Samuel is born and is old enough, she brings him to Eli the priest to be raised in the temple for God’s service.  And Samuel becomes the first prophet that will serve alongside the first King of Israel.  Out of barrenness comes a new beginning, a new direction for the people of Israel.  They will finally have a king to unite them and to lead them and to form then into a nation and Samuel will be the prophet to keep the people holy, to remind them to worship the one true God and to leave the idols of the other cultures behind.  Out of Hannah’s faith, and her commitment to God, comes forth a spiritual leader that continues God’s work in the formation of God’s people. 

Can faith be passed down from generation to generation?  As a society that stresses independence and self-empowerment, we do seem to emphasize that we each come to faith on our own.  But, we don’t live in bubbles keeping our lives separate from each other, so as we engage relationships we learn from each other and our life choices are influenced by others.  As Paul begins his letter to Timothy, he lifts this up.  He names that the faith of Timothy has been influenced and nurtured through the faith of both his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice.  And so, Paul is celebrating that faith has come to Timothy through the faith of his family. 

And so as Timothy is struggling with his own faith, Paul is encouraging him to have strength, to reach back not within himself, but to reach back to the faith of his mother and grandmother.  Who are the people in our own lives that help to anchor us in our own faith?  It could be a grandmother, or mother, or Sunday school teacher, or good friend.  It could be a grandfather or father or a pastor.  But it seems we all need, at times, to lean into the faith of someone else.  I had a friend in seminary share with me – we are surrounded here in this place by absolutely brilliant people, and if they believe in God and have dedicated their lives to studying the Bible, that keeps me strong in times of doubt.  The priesthood of believers, the great cloud of saints, the body of Christ, we, just as Timothy did, can be nurtured and raised in the faith and made strong through the faith of others. 

I found this interpretation of the 2 Timothy passage:  “Fan into flame the gift of God that is in you,” wrote Saint Paul to his beloved co-worker, Timothy. In each of us God has placed a gift. But, like coals burning under the ashes, sometimes God’s gift remains hidden. The challenge is to reveal it.

By praying, we can begin to discern the gift God has placed in us. In the silence of our heart, we discover that all God asks us is to welcome the gift of his love.

But it is also true that others can awaken the gift of God in us. When we look at ourselves, it can happen that we only see what we lack. That leads to discouragement. When someone looks at us with trust, it can transform us. That is how Timothy discovered his vocation. He was young (1 Tim 4:12) and rather timid (2 Tim 1:8) when he began to work with Paul. In spite of that, because of Paul’s trust in him, Timothy was able to go further than he could imagine. He went so far that he became a real support for Paul when he was in prison (2 Tim 1:4-5).

God himself is the one who awakens God’s gift in us. God believes in our humanity. He trusts us for what we are. God himself has given us “a spirit of strength, love and self-control” (2 Tim 1:7). 

But each gift involves a call. Now Timothy is called to give his life for the Gospel. He will be able to do it if, together with those who went before him (cf. 2 Tim 1:5), he places his trust in God’s power (2 Tim 1:8). God’s power is the resurrection, which causes life to shine out in suffering and which gives us the inner strength to dare to give our life for others.  

Samuel was given a call, he was called by God to be a prophet.  Timothy has a call to be a disciple of the Good News.  We have a call, we have a call to be the Body of Christ here in our community, to be people that plant and nurture seeds of faith in others, we have a call to continue to share the story of God’s love and to name the ways in which God’s love is transforming this world, one life at a time.  Amen. 

            

Sermon - Trinity Sunday

Last week was the celebration of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Today, we continue in the season of Pentecost with Trinity Sunday.  The Trinity:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; one God made known to us in three persons.  As I close the service each Sunday with the benediction, I say:  And now may the grace and peace of God, the Father, the reconciliation of Jesus Christ, his son, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit be upon you each and every day.  God the Father is often thought of as God the Creator, the one that creates the world and establishes covenants with God’s people.  To Jesus we attribute the gift of forgiveness and the one that brings us into God’s grace.   The Holy Spirit is the one that sustains us each and every day, guides us through this life, gives us spiritual gifts in which we are to use in our service to God.  This Triune God has kept theologians in business for generations as people seek to explain how exactly God can be one God but manifests God’s self in various ways. 

            We like to use teaching tools to help our finite minds grasp God’s infinite being.  So, we try and explain the Triune God with images such as water.  Water is always water, and yet it exists in various forms.  Water can be a liquid, a solid, and a gas, yet it is always water.  I tried to explain to my children the other day that there is actually water in the air all around us.  We don’t usually feel it, but when we spill water on the table, in an hour or so, the water is gone.  Where did it go?  It evaporates into the air.  This is really hard for a young child to comprehend, and yet, they understand that the water is gone. 

            One way that I try and grasp this concept is how in our own lives we wear various hats.  Today, I have my pastor hat on, you all know me as pastor Carie.  While, at the same time, my children know me as mommy.  And my high school friends still remember me as a soccer player.  Same me, but known in various ways to various people.  Now, I have not always been soccer player, mother, and pastor but the potential for it has always been within me. 

            God has made God’s self known to people throughout the generations in various ways, and yet, we as Christian proclaim that God has never changed so God has always been three in one, God has always been Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The early church was very deliberate in making sure that people understood that Jesus was not a new creation of God, but had existed with God from all time and only entered the world in human form in what we now call the Christmas birth story.  The same is true of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of God is not created or born at Pentecost, but rather has existed with God as God from the beginning of time. 

            Tucked away in various places of our scriptures we have a variety of creation stories.  Genesis is not the only Creation story as God makes the world in seven days and creates Adam and Eve.  Today, we have the passage from Proverbs of how Wisdom is with God in the establishing of the foundations of the world.  In Hebrew, the word for wisdom is hokma, and is in our Christian theology the Holy Spirit.  In this passage in Proverbs, God creates wisdom before God creates anything else, and then with the act of Creation, Wisdom is right there with God delighting in the work of creation.   

            In the Gospel of John we also get a creation story of how through the word God creates the world and the word is Jesus.  So, as we learn the whole of scripture, we see how God the Creator is also God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

            So, as we wrestle with how God is three in one,  why does it matter in today’s world?  Can we just proclaim faith in God and not get caught up in the details of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?  Personally, I grew up with mostly God language.  I still remember the day in high school when the teaching the Jesus was not just God’s son, but God’s self sunk in.  I’m sure I had heard it over and over but never really paid attention.  But I finally heard it, and I started paying attention a little more to the teachings of Jesus and how they applied to my life.  This can also be true of the Holy Spirit.  Sure, we can say we have faith in God, and seek to live our lives as God’s people, but as we grow in how God the Spirit calls us to live, we may hear ways in which to deepen our faith. 

Joan Chittister says it like this:

Clearly, wisdom is not a gift; wisdom is a task; wisdom costs. Wisdom calls us, the Scripture says, to know ourselves, to squeeze out of every moment in life whatever lessons it holds for us, whatever responses it demands at that time.  It is wisdom that calls each of us to be everything we have the capacity to be.  It is wisdom that is the internal force that drives us to become the fullness of ourselves.  It goes without saying then that wisdom is not life lived at its most docile. It is, instead, life lived at its most demanding.  Let those who seek wisdom, in others words, beware. Scripture maintains that wisdom—which it defines in another place as “fear of the lord”—means holy astonishment, complete wonder and awe at what God does in my life and the life of everyone around me. Wisdom is the first thing God created, “The first of God’s acts long ago,” Scripture says. It is important beyond all telling, in other words. It is basic to life, fundamental to holiness, and full of unrelenting challenge…The real point of the reading lies in the fact that wisdom, if we seek it, is that which simply does not let us alone. Wisdom doesn’t settle down nor does it allow us to settle down. Wisdom leads us from one point to another in life until we learn what we’re supposed to learn, until we do what we’re supposed to do, until we each become what we’re supposed to become. With who and what we are Wisdom leads, prods, and will pursue us to our graves. Life—wisdom—is pursuing each of us, indeed sinking its teeth and nails into every one us, calling us to what the world calls madness, forcing us to mix the wines of our life…

            As the Gospel of Matthew closes, God’s people are called to go out into the world and make disciples, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Each part of God has something unique to teach us and as disciples has something unique to give us as we live our lives.  If we only focus on one aspect of the Trinity, we may unknowingly not be listening to the other voices of God speaking to us.  The more we grow in our understanding of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the more aware we will grow of God’s presence with us each and every day. 

            Where was God present with you this past week?  Can we name the ways in which God was present in Creation?  Or perhaps a moment of forgiveness?  Or perhaps through prayer?  Was joy shared this week or letter or phone call made to connect with someone you have been thinking about?  These are all connections to God’s spiritual presence within us and within the world if we begin to listen.  

Pentecost - Mary Poppins

The season of Pentecost is upon us.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  The outpouring of the Holy Spirit comes to them like the wind.  Wind, especially violent wind, is usually something that is seen as destructive.  All we have to do is turn on the news and see what horrible damage tornados are doing in various parts of our country.  And yet, on Pentecost, the violent wind that comes from heaven is not destructive but rather it is unifying. 

            There are a handful of movies that use wind to bring about positive change.  There is the destructive tornado of the Wizard of Oz – and the wind of Mary Poppins.  The wind has changed directions on Cherry Street lane.  The Banks family is in need of a new nanny and there are at least twenty applicants waiting outside their house for an interview.  The children are looking out the window and are rather disappointed in what they see.  None of these nannies fit the description that the children had put together.  The wind blows stronger and suddenly all the nannies begin blowing away.  Then, descending from the clouds, gently riding the wind, arrives Mary Poppins.  The symbolism is pretty strong as the wind brings this nanny into the broken lives of the Banks family. 

            As soon as Mary Poppins enters the Banks’ house, there is a reversal of roles.  She seems to be the one that does the interviewing.  Mr. Banks, who is used to being in charge, is caught off guard and is speechless as Mary Poppins takes control.  Before he knows it, she has given herself a one week trial and off she goes to see the children. 

            When God enters our lives through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, life changes.  The people gathered on that first Pentecost were not found to be speechless, but rather, they could hear each other, each in their own language.  The events of the day got their attention.  This was not how their usual gatherings happened.  Something new and different was brewing. 

            The Banks family had problems.  Dad was all work and no play.  Mom was involved in community events, and the children were left with the nanny.  They were not a family.  They were four people living together in a house doing their thing.  They need healing and wholeness brought to them.  They need to be a family.  They need to experience love, not just the children, but the whole family.  And so the adventure begins. 

            The prophet Joel proclaims:  I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your young men will see visions,
    your old men will dream dreams.

Mary Poppins begins her work of healing through the children.  They are open to creativity, and adventure and fun.  Imagination is brought to life as the children go on outings with their new nanny.  They definitely see visions and dream dreams.  Whether it is Mary Poppins carpet bag that holds items way too big to fit in the bag such as a hat stand, a potted plant, and a lamp; or jumping into a chalk painting.  There is a line in the movie where Bert, a friend of Mary’s states:  When you are with Mary Poppins, suddenly you are in places you never dreamed of.”  This is the power of the Holy Spirit.  When we are with God, and the love of God blows into our lives and we respond with an openness and sense of child-like imagination, we too can participate in things we never dreamed of.  Perhaps we will not jump into a chalk painting, but perhaps we be inspired to use our own creativity to produce artwork that we can then use as a spiritual practice of prayer.  Several churches that I know of are gathering during the week for coloring, prayer, and relaxation. 

            It takes a while, but eventually even the no-nonsense father Mr. Banks can’t help but soften and realize that he too can have fun.  The movie seems to be about the children, but really, the one that is need of major transformation is the father.  He needs to be less the business man and more a father.  Transformation, changing from one way of being into a new way of being.  Thinking a little less about work and a little more about family.   

            Mary Poppins knows her work is done when Mr. Banks comes home and the entire family go outside into the neighborhood and fly kites.  As the family is transformed into a family, they are no longer in isolation.  There are others outside flying kites and together, as a family, they join the greater community in this activity.  The wind of the Holy Spirit is not just in their own lives, but alive in the community around them and out of their house they go and join others in the fun of kite flying.  Even the other bankers from Mr. Banks’ work are out there flying kites. It’s as if the transformation of Mr. Banks is contagious. 

            Just as the work of Mary Poppins brings the family together and out into the community, so too is the Holy Spirit calling us in today’s world.  In missional church we are called to prayerfully discern where the Holy Spirit is at work in our own community and how we, as God’s people, can join together in God’s work.  So, as God’s people here in this place, on this Pentecost Sunday, let us see vision, and dream dreams and go out into the world and fly a kite.  Amen.  

Maundy Thursday -

I am not a big fan of having to eat and run, but I seem to do it a lot.  I have several clergy friends that I try and catch up with once in awhile for a meal together, but often times, these meals are just a quick hello, how are things? So good to see you, we should do this more often, before we run off to the next meeting we have on our schedules.   We even eat and run for special occasions, we want to make an appearance but we can’t really stay.  I remember we had people that came to our wedding reception and apologized for having to eat and run.  We want to fit it all in, we might try and squeeze in a friend’s birthday lunch before having to run off to work or another commitment.   

And then there is actually eating on the run.  At one point, I told myself, no more grabbing fast food and eating in the car.  But there are some days that I am just so hungry and I seem to have run out of time, and I tell myself no – but I stop anyway because I can.   I’m not sure I could even count the number of drive through fast food restaurants I pass between here and Parsippany, but it is a lot.  There are a lot of opportunities to eat on the run. 

Tonight is about taking our time in a eating on the run world.  Do we even know how to slow down anymore?  Jesus knew that life was just about to spin out of control but he slows everything down and takes time to eat with his friends. And not only does he take time to eat with his friends, he takes time to wash their feet, to give them yet one more lesson about their relationship with God, and to enjoy a meal that was prepared for that evening. 

We don’t know who labored behind the scenes preparing this Passover feast.  We don’t know who baked the bread or whether the wine was purchased or if someone within the group had made it and brought it to be shared.  We don’t know who set the table.  We just know that Jesus arrived and others had gone ahead and prepared everything for him.    Just like most of our holidays, time was taken to prepare the meal, and those invited came and gathered together and life slowed down for the time being. 

Can you imagine, if a telemarketer called right in the middle of the Last Supper?  Hold on Jesus, before you wash Peter’s feet, can you take this call?  Can you imagine, if James was sending John text messages about Simon’s choice of robes?  Can you imagine if they gathered together for a selfie and posted it on facebook?  Hold on Jesus, before you break the bread, let’s all get a picture together.  Well, instead of that selfie – we have Leonardo di Vinci’s portrayal of the Last Supper imprinted in our minds, or at least I do, my grandmother had it hanging on the wall for as long as I can remember.  Can you imagine, if Andrew and Philip were arguing over which sporting game to have on the TV?  Hey Jesus, can you perform another miracle for us and put both games on at the same time, something like a picture within a picture?  Can you imagine, Thomas shouting out, hey, this is my favorite song, crank it up, right as Jesus is about to tell them to love one another.  Are we not distracted?!  There is always so much going on all around us.  TV, Music, Computers, Phones, Pictures, texting: even when we put the phone on vibrate, we are listening, we are always aware that it is there, or we watch the time, we need to finish dinner by 8:00 so we can watch – insert your favorite show here.  Or even Thanksgiving, we might just plan our meal around the football game, so we can sit long enough to enjoy, but not so long that we miss the kick off. 

Jesus and his disciples did not have these kind of distractions, but they had distractions.  Judas was surely a ball of nervous energy sitting there, trying to make light hearted conversations with his friends, knowing that he was about to turn Jesus over to the authorities.  Peter was distracted by Jesus trying to wash his feet.  And then there is Jesus taking the bread and telling them that this his body, broken for them, I am pretty sure they became distracted.  Why was Jesus changing the story?  Why was he not proclaiming that the bread was the bread of affliction as was the custom of the Passover? 

There is so much going on – on this Holy evening, but Jesus takes the time to slow everything down.  This moment matters.  This meal matters.  These friends matter.  And so the time is taken, the time is taken to be together as a community of people, the time is taken for Jesus to show his humbleness and a to take one last opportunity to model for them what it means to serve others.  How long did it take him to wash each disciples feet?  And did they sit in awkward silence or did they chat amongst themselves about their day and about the Passover celebration?  They surely had no further plans for the evening, and so they were present in the moment, present with each other, and present with God.   

And we too are called to slow things down.  Slow down and remember.  Remember that as they gathered they were remembering a Holy meal, and in that time of remembering a new tradition was born, a new Holy meal was given.  That moment mattered, this moment matters.  That community mattered, and this community matters.  This night is Holy because Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment, one based purely on love.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  A calling for us to remember on a daily basis.  On that night, only one person ate and ran.  Only one person missed this last teaching, only one person missed hearing the words of how much Jesus loved them.  And that person’s heart was hardened and he cut himself off from his community and he moved forward in his own direction, a path of death and destruction. 

If only we could slow this world down.  If only the cycle of violence could be broken and people look at each other and say to each other – you matter.  This moment with you in my presence matters. 

sermon - Barren Fig Tree

Luke 13:6-9

“Feeding Your Soul”

            Today, we have the barren fig tree, a tree that is known for its abundant harvest.  For some reason or another, this particular tree is not producing figs.  When I read this passage, I can’t help but think of the azaleas we had in our front yard.  Year after year, the neighborhood would burst forth in color as everyone’s azaleas showed their colorful glory, but not ours.  What was wrong with our plants?  I went to the local nursery and asked for advice.  I took home the specific fertilizer they recommended, and followed their directions completely.  A year passed.  I anxiously waited as spring unfolded.  Once again, the neighborhood burst forth in these amazing, vibrant colors from the variety of azaleas, but not ours.  Nothing.  Well, let’s just say this, we no longer have azaleas in our yard.  We gave them a chance, we went to a specialist, we invested in their future, but to no avail. 

            I also think about those movies about schools that have high drop out rates, where the students don’t seem to have any hope, or any desire to succeed and a teacher or principal comes in and shakes things up and suddenly the students are interested and learning and graduating.  Barren places given a second chance and miraculous results occur. 

            Or non-profit groups that take gang members off the street and teach them how to make pizza and give them purpose and skills and a sense of identity that is different than that of the streets. 

            The barren fig tree.  For three years, the owner of a vineyard comes to receive fruit from his fig tree and finds it barren.  Three years it has not produced fruit.  He is ready to cut it down, for it is wasting space and soil.  But the gardener comes to the tree’s defense and asks that he be allowed to spend time tilling the soil and giving special care to the tree.  Just give it one more year, if it produces no fruit after this additional care, then go ahead and cut it down. 

            Barren fig trees and the season of Lent.  This passage calls us to look within our own lives and the life of the greater congregation and ask ourselves, are we bearing fruit for God?  I used the passage from the Gospel of John as our call to worship, since it too is about bearing fruit.  If we find ourselves barren, how then do we till our soil, how then do we find the nutrients that will allow us to produce fruit?  Jesus proclaims:  I am the vine, abide in me.  If you abide in me, and I in you, you will produce fruit  Lent is just that time, it is time for us to deepen our faith, deepen our connection to God, to find ways to feed our soul. 

            The Psalm today gives the image of being in the wilderness, being in a place where there is little water, of being parched and dried out.  O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you.  The seeds of faith are here, the psalmist knows he is dry and yet he wants more, he knows God is present in his life, but he has not found the spiritual spring, not yet.  And perhaps that is why the gardener insists that the fig tree be given one more year.  One more year to deepen its roots until it finds the waters of God’s love just waiting to be infused within the tree. 

            The barren fig tree is a metaphor for grace, an illustration of God not giving up on us, but allowing the gardener to do some work around us so that we will live into our true purpose. 

            So, who is the gardener, is it Jesus?  Is it the church?   Is it the scriptures?  Is it us?  Yes.  It can be all of the above.  As we think about the world around us, as we mature in our own faith, as we name how we are bearing fruit for God, perhaps we can see places either in our own lives or in the greater community that seem barren.  Where are the hurts?  Where might the soil of God’s love need to be tilled? 

            Within our presbytery, we can name a barrenness without our congregations.  No matter how much fruit we are producing for God, we still feel this loss within ourselves.  We say it to ourselves, where are the families and the younger generation?  How do we connect with them?  Why don’t they want to come to church?  We can either give up, or we can till the soil, find ways to connect, seek to change the nutrients of what we have been doing.  Give ourselves a year of newness, experiment with music, explore creative worship opportunities, lift up topics that the younger generation is concerned about, and explore how the scriptures, God and the church are relevant to today’s needs. 

            So, today we have a barren fig tree before us.  This particular tree is root bound, so first we will explore tilling the soil that the roots can expend.  And then as we continue to journey through Lent, we will name the ways we are bearing fruit for God and add fruit to our tree.  The barren fig tree is a story of God’s grace and love.  The tree is given another year, we are given another year, but there is work to be done.  Tilling the hard soil takes time, remembering to fertilize and provide the appropriate nutrients is time consuming.  We can’t just wish ourselves into a tree overflowing with figs, we must pray, study, build relationships, pray some more, and be willing to take some risks.  Amen.