Eat, Pray and Build

April 20,2008 The Fifth Sunday of Easter Sermon: Eat, Pray and Build Texts: I Peter 2: 2-10, John 14: 1-7 Today is a wonderful day for celebrating life with the baptism of Samuel Paul and all that is involved in the rhythms of life. We are aware that our Jewish friends celebrated the first night of Passover last night and for them it was a celebration of life and never forgetting that this blessing was gift from God, just as Samuel is a gift from God. Listen to this wonderful poem that begins to tell us what that might be about: A rabbi scattered hope like seeds beneath a desert sky; He knew in every waking plant a sacred force would rise to break the ground, to reach for life, to search with leaf and root, and draw the strength of earth and sky to bear the promised fruit. The rabbi saw the desert bloom, the Eden of his prayer: a garden ripe with hope and life and also ripe for care. "So come," he says, "my friends, with me to tend, to sing, to plod: the Earth cries out to celebrate the greening love of God." (by Michael Hudson, Episcopal Priest, Alive Now, Sept/Oct 2002, p 64) Greening is about process, rhythm, patience, fortitude, what else? It is about hope. If there is anything we learn from the letters of Peter, it is hope. If there is any message from the gospel reading, John 14, that resonates with all of the letters from the early church faith, it the hope and promise of Jesus to be with us and never leave us. The poem reminds us that a garden is blooming ripe with hope and life and the poem invites us to tend, to sing, to plod. It is invitation to be attentive to the rhythm of life; eat, pray and build around God's greening in your life. We are grateful for these encouraging letters from teachers of the early church and we ask what message is there for us in these letters. Let's start by remembering that the letters, Peter, James, John and Jude, are tractlike messages written to fellow Christians in their time. Today we have letters written from leaders in our churches that are similar. These letters, different from the letters Paul wrote that were more specifically addressed to individual churches are persons, were general and could have a message to all Christians. So, we find that the letter of James may address works, the letters of John address love, the letters of Jude address pure faith and the letters of Peter address hope. They all address our need to belong to Christ, for the church to be a spiritual temple, for the church to be God's people in word and deed. Aren't we glad we had people who wrote letters so long ago and some copies survived so we could learn about what the early church was like and the problems they had to cope with in their faith communities. Recently, I was going through some letters and files, getting them ready for my ongoing scrapbook projects, and I found a letter my Dad had written to my young son Paul when he was about five year old. We lived far away in Bangkok, Thailand, so we had to depend on written correspondence for most of our communication. No email for us at that time although we did lots of audio taping and sent tapes back and forth. The reason for this letter was that my mom and dad had just been to visit us in Thailand and my dad wanted to report to Paul that he had stopped smoking. He said, "Now I have stopped smoking Paul and remember our agreement. If I stopped smoking you would stop throwing temper tantrums." This letter brought back lots of emotions for me; I had forgotten my son threw temper tantrums and forgotten when my dad stopped smoking. Letters have a wonderful way of helping us to remember what has shaped us and made us the people we are. I've got to remember to share that letter with my 28 year old son n.....he'd really appreciate it knowing that his grandfather took time to write and give him words of wisdom. These words of I Peter can help us remember what shapes us and helps us to be the best Christian community we can be. Letters are treasures; they cross the boundaries of time and place like nothing else. The great Swiss Reformed Protestant theologian Karl Barth wrote letters to French Protestants during the Nazi occupation in France. They were messages of comfort, assurance, exhortation and sympathy that crossed battle lines and gave all Christians a sense of unity in their faith, hope, love and good works. (p 86, "I Peter" Interpreter's Bible Commentary) So, friends, if there is any message you take for your reading these general letters from Peter, take the word "hope." In our rhythm of life, our eating, praying, building, Christ is our hope. The greening of God within us means we are making something, working toward something, becoming something special. Whatever it is that keeps you away from God and God's church, let it go. Remember that if you are to grow, you must be fed. Yes, grace is a free gift of God, but as Peter tells us, it is also something we develop and grow. "Like newborn babies, long for pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation." Paul said it in a different way: Philippians 3:14, "Press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Here in the poem I read earlier is the reminder of the "sacred force that rises to break the ground and reach for life." "A rabbi scattered hope like seeds beneath a desert sky; He knew in every waking plant a sacred force would rise to break the ground, to reach for life, to search with leaf and root, and draw the strength of earth and sky to bear the promised fruit." We know that our responsibility to each other is just this...planting seeds of hope. Why do we have programming, worship, opportunities at our church for all ages, not just for children? Because we want to provide the spiritual nurture and care that we all need to grow in Christ. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (for goodness, for the kindness of our Lord) for they shall be filled. Our families nurture this desire to taste the kindness of God. Parents pledge to bring their children into the life of the church. Why? To develop a rhythm, a routine, a commitment to growth in God's Spirit of being together and talking about things of the Spirit. They allow other Christians to teach their children and live with their children in the pathways of Christ. It is a great gift for parents to fulfill the pledges to their children they have made at baptism. It is not just about the ritual, the morals, the system of philosophy or the obligation, it is about coming to know the living God. That bring us to the second part of the teaching from our reading from I Peter. It is the teaching about the role of the church. Certainly, we know that the church is to be a genuine community of living disciples of Christ. Christianity comes to us through the Christian community. There is no disembodied Christianity. It is a social faith for it embodies itself in a unique and organic community of fellow believers. That's why it is important to be connected to the church if you are a Christian. As Peter describes, Christ is the living cornerstone and we are the living stones that build our lives around the person of Christ. Our covenant with God through Christ is the same as it was in Peter's day. Christians are not perfect but they people who strive to possess the qualities of the Christian life. We believe our spiritual house will be what God wants if we remember to focus on our faith in Christ, not just each other or the world in which we live. That means we constantly put emphasis on these things: Attitude, Prayers, Joy and Witness. That's another sermon but suffice it to say that when we claim "we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people," we mean that we are serious about the function of the church. We are serious about our growth and the greening of God within. From 1903-1908, German lyric poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote a series of remarkable responses to a young, would-be poet on poetry and on surviving as a sensitive observer in a harsh world. We still read them today because they reflect what we feel we want for ourselves in our own relationship to the world, to the church, to God. In the first letter he says, "I want to advise you to keep growing quietly and seriously throughout your whole development; you cannot disturb it more rudely than by looking outward and expecting from outside replies to questions that only your inmost feeling in your most hushed hour can perhaps answer." (p 18, Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet) Surely, Christianity comes to us through the nurture of the Christian church that teaches us how to be the people of God. As we are reminded today, it starts with our parents, our sponsors, our family, the church, the people of God. Once a young student of Karl Barth asked him to sum up what was most important about his life's work and theology in just a few words. The question was posed with gasps from the audience. Is this possible, they were thinking? Barth just thought for a moment and then smiled, "Yes, in the words of a song my mother used to sing me, 'Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.'" The hope we share in our life together in Christian community is hope for the greening of God, for eating, praying, building a community rich in the Spirit of God to nurture each other. "The rabbi saw the desert bloom, the Eden of his prayer: a garden ripe with hope and life and also ripe for care. "So come," he says, "my friends, with me to tend, to sing, to plod: the Earth cries out to celebrate the greening love of God." May it be so, Amen.

Letting Our Light Shine

January 13, 2008 First Sunday After Epiphany The Baptism of Christ Sermon: Letting Our Light Shine Texts: Isaiah 42: 1-9, Matthew 3: 13-17 A few years ago, I read a story of a pastor from an urban area taking her 11 year old son on a trip into the Grand Canyon. It is a grand story, an Epiphany story, a story that helps us prepare our hearts for the significance of Jesus' baptism and his invitation for discipleship. First Pastor Heidi (Transfiguration Lutheran Church, New York) talked about the documents she had to sign before they could even begin the descent into the Grand Canyon with her 20 year old mule, Blackjack At the orientation, warnings were repeated that were in the documents. "If you are afraid of heights, have recently had open heart surgery or are prone to whining-get out now and get your money back. If you are not willing to hit the thick-skinned mule with your crop in order to keep him within a yard of the next mule-get out now and get your money back. "If you are not willing to drink your water on command and get hosed down halfway through to prevent heat exhaustion and dehydration-get out now and get your money back. If the switchback turns, where you will find yourself hanging over a 6,000-foot drop, will make you dizzy or upset-get out now and get your money back." (Christian Century 12-12-01, p4 The mule ride that Pastor Heidi took gave her opportunity to speak about what it was like to ride a mule down into the Canyon. She was, of course, thinking of Mary riding to Bethlehem when she wrote her article. But, as I read it again, and pondered its meaning, I felt drawn to the parallels of the journey we begin with baptism in the Christian life. Do you think we really understand what is involved when we say "yes" to baptism and begin the journey of the Christian life? Do we understand the depth of our commitment when we are confirmed and become adult members of the church? Matthew's account of Jesus' baptism leads us to recognize the importance of the event of baptism in the life Jesus. When Jesus came to John at the Jordan it was not a spur of the moment impulse; he came in order to be baptized. It was his intention; it was planned; it was public. It was thought through because Jesus embraced the righteousness of God and believed it was God's purpose for all people. I believe that Jesus remembered the words of Isaiah and took seriously the scriptural role for Israel, the chosen people. The text said they were to be a light to the nations and the means through which God will redeem the world. For Jesus, being baptized was an act of faithfulness to the vision God had given through God's people. He took the words and promise of God to lead and do something new in his life seriously. It is our belief in the Christian tradition that baptism with water is a sign and symbol of God's grace and is a call to us to find an identity as God's beloved children. The moment of the naming in baptism, whether as an infant or an adult, is a holy moment. The moment is holy because we have made a commitment to be faithful to the will of God and act accordingly. This holy moment reminds us that, in a sense, none of us has a name, an identity until the church tells us who we are. In baptism, the church says, "you are someone to whom a name has been given-you belong to Christ." You are called to a higher righteousness, to God's goodness, to God's justice and to God's mercy and compassion. Sometimes I wonder if the Christian life is like Pastor Heidi's experience of riding the mule into the Grand Canyon. Do we wish we had stopped and studied the admonitions a little closer before embarking on this difficult, treacherous journey with numerous risks? We have high expectations for those who carry the name "Christian," don't we? This conversation makes me remember stories of those expectations. One of the stories is the account of the clergyman who reported, just after September 11, of a New Yorker who noticed his clerical collar and stopped and asked him on the street these questions, "Where is God in the death and devastation that struck on 9-11? Where is the church in these events?" Or, I remember visiting in a nursing home back in the Boston area a few years ago and being approached by an estranged church member who demanded an answer as to why God would punish the patients who were suffering from numerous physical and psychological conditions. "Where is God, where is the church in this suffering?" she asked. When these tough questions come to us, do we flee from the questions and join those who have lost sight of the mission of the church? Do we stand firm and try to respond the best we are able with the little "lights" we carry? I hope we are able to say that the church is where it has always been, witnessing to Jesus' message that God is love, feeding the hungry, giving sanctuary to the weary, tending to the sick, and comforting those who mourn. As those who have said "yes" to the journey to walk the Christian life, we say, as tough as this journey is through life, we witness to a crucified God who suffers with us all to the very end of our darkest, most desperate moments. The old spiritual says it all: "You Can't be a Beacon if Your Life Don't Shine." Christianity, perhaps more than any other religion, depends on the testimony of the people. Ours is a faith that relies on witnesses to tell speak the feelings deep in the heart that have arisen from the passion of the Spirit. For Martin Luther King, for Rosa Parks, for all those we can name today who have led the way for our communities to be transformed by the power of the non-violent gospel, it was about feeling God in the heart and knowing it's passion in life. We remember those who were active in the civil rights movement around this time of celebrating the birth of Martin Luther King because many took a treacherous journey. It is good to recall Dr. King's life and stories he told in his own words to give us an account of the risks. Out of school and pastoring the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, Martin Luther King, Jr., we learn that he was given a "crash course" in following the radical Jesus. It was a tired, 42 year old African-American seamstress named Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat on the bus that hurled him right into the middle of what became the Montgomery bus boycott. The boycott had been in progress for more than a year and King, chosen to be its leader and principal spokesperson, was fearful, tired and frustrated. He knew he was called, he felt right about where he was and what he was doing but, oh, how his faith was being tried. One night while trying to sleep he received a telephone call which threatened his life and the lives of his family. Not wanting to wake or alarm his wife, Dr. King went to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, thinking it would calm his nerves. When the coffee didn't ease the overwhelming feeling of helplessness, King fell down on his knees and prayed, "Lord, I am here taking a stand for what I believe is right. But now I am afraid. The people are looking to me for leadership, and.....I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I've come to the point where I can't face it alone." (Strength to Love, pg 113) It was at that moment of loneliness, despair and hopelessness that Martin felt a response come back. He said he heard a voice on the inside say, "Martin, stand up for righteousness, stand up for truth. God will be at your side forever." (ibid.) We are called to be counted among the righteous who will not shy away from the mandate to do justice and to discuss the nature of justice. We are not to fear dialogue on important issues around homosexuality, stem cell research, or peaceful resolutions to difficult conflict in international affairs. And while on this treacherous, risky journey of Christian discipleship, we are to remember the promise of the guide. Jesus speaks to us, "I know this path. I have gone before you. Just listen to me. You'll make it." It's the words of the Psalmist (46), "God is our shelter and our strength, ever ready to help in time of trouble." (Jerusalem Bible) When Pastor Heidi concluded her Grand Canyon journey, she gave us these words of hope: "Midway on the journey we came to a plateau. Spring flowers studded the desert plain spread before us. There were yellow starbursts inside white primroses, magenta blooms of beavertail cactus, pale orange petals on the mariposa lilies fluttering in the wind, and ruddy stalks of Indian paintbrush---each one magnifying the Lord and echoing around the canyon walls." Our journey as disciples of Christ will take us to the desert plateau's that will help us remember that God's hope is in the lives we lead and the ways we carry the Christ light into the world. May our lives magnify the Lord, may they echo words of hope and light around the canyon walls. Amen.