Keep Playing, May 4, 2008

May 4, 2008 May 4, 2008 Seventh Sunday of Easter Sermon: Keep Playing Texts: Acts 1: 6-14; John 17: 1-11 This morning our scriptures focus on what it means to be a community of believers, something like a family. The people who followed Jesus and believed his teaching, long after his death, remembered his words and experienced his presence when they were together. They tried to give voice to the mystery of Christ's real presence with them as people bound together like a family. What were they saying? Think about their daily lives. Throughout scripture we read of people, people living daily life in relationships and finding meaning in the day to day routines they share. As we anticipate next Sunday being Mother's day, we know there is a reason for recognizing those who have given much to help us through life; sometimes people are biological mothers, they are mothers who have adopted us as children and given us their full love and devotion, or they are mothers who have "spiritual" children because they have been our teachers, mentors, sponsors, guides. We celebrate people who are like our family, especially in the church. Immanuel is one of those churches where you'll meet lots of people related to one another; you can be witnesses to me about what that means from generation to generation. I know a little of what that is like because my parents tell me I'm related to everybody in Covington County, Mississippi, where they and their ancestors settled. But, I know my daughter, active in the Westwood Hills UCC Church in Westwood, CA, rarely meets people in her church related to one another except by church membership. Whoever is in our churches we like to understand ourselves as a sort of "family." But, family life and responsibility has its demands. You know some of the challenges from your own stories in family life. A pastor from North Baltimore, Ohio, said that the quickest way for a mother to get her children's attention was to sit down and look comfortable. (Holy Humor) Another bit of humor comes from The Family Circus cartoon depicting the older brother listening to his younger brother saying his evening prayers. The older brother responds upon listening, "I'm tellin' Mommy. You're goin' over her head." We, as sisters and brothers in the family of God, celebrate our call to be God's people and to find God through the wonders of family living! We are glad we can pray and go over Mommy's head. The popular disco song of the famous Sisters Sledge says, "We Are Family." We are those related by marriage or remarriage, blood or adoption. We are single persons, persons living alone, people living with those outside their kinship families. In celebrating families, we celebrate God's love and the way we know God's love through the human family. Jesus' prayer for us was a prayer for oneness "Holy Father, protect them in your name so that they may be one, as we are one." John 17:11 The prayer of Jesus is not just a sweet piece of liturgy for our emblem of our United Church of Christ; it is a radical prayer and asks for some radical thinking about how we become "family" across rigid lines that can potentially divide us. That's why we keep in front of us that image of Christ praying and we keep this prayer on our symbol of our denomination. Often in our church buildings we have that picture of Jesus kneeling to pray, many times his posture of prayer is of one looking up toward the heavens. Jesus is praying to God, his Father. Sometimes, we even say God, his mother. The image here is God as a loving mother or father; it is God as a loving parent. Maybe you did not grow up with a loving parent but I imagine that you know what a parent's love should be by God's standard, don't you? These are human terms to help us understand that the nature of God is love. The nature of life in the church should also be built around a relationship of mutual love and trust. Luke 15 is one of the most beautiful chapters in the Bible because the story of the lost son illustrates an image of God as a loving parent. Scripture presents images that are masculine and feminine to help us feel the closeness of God's love...like a parent God reaches out to embrace us; in the same way, God's divine Spirit is above, beyond, never bound to mere mortal language. That means, dear followers of the Christ here at Immanuel, we pay attention to the spiritual life and the opportunities we have to grow as God's family. Much in the news lately has been the criticism of a certain Christian layperson's relationship to his pastor. Some of you have asked me my thoughts on such matters. I think the place to begin in response to this question is from the point of view of those who are church family and how we view the dynamics of congregational life. Recently, Martin Marty, writing in his "M.E.M.O." Column in the May 6, 2008 issue of the Christian Century Magazine helps me express my view. He writes referring to some recent church controversy at Trinity UCC, Chicago, regarding retired pastor, Rev. Wright....... "the experts on the subject have been as far as I can tell, media personnel who never go to church, do not know what sermons are for, and have not experienced lively congregational participation; people who value fidelity very little and church hopping and sermon shopping very highly; those who have political stakes in their judgment; and people who pay no attention to the contexts of messages." The scripture from the Sermon on the Mount is pretty clear for me (Matthew 7: 1-5) "Do not judge, so that you may not be judged." The passage is about looking at ourselves honestly and openly before pointing to others who have problems. The reason we become members of the church, the family of God, is to help us with the nitty, gritty day to day needs that arise in our individual and collective spiritual lives and the needs of those who are crying out around us, near and far, for someone to care. We've had good counsel from our scripture from I Peter these last two Sundays on ways we can be a faith community that stays well and strong. Peter tells those who were part of his church family to be firm in their faith and depend upon God. He says, "Be sober, be watchful and God will restore, establish and strengthen you." In other words, Jesus may be saying to us, "draw closer and be my family, even with all your flaws!" God is the parent who encourages and prays we will not lose heart, whatever it is that comes our way. We will turn to God and to each other for help. We must remember, too, that people of the early centuries of the formation of the church lived in difficult times. These promises were for people who needed a word of hope for their struggling congregations just as we need a word of hope for ours. These promises were for people encountering oppression and facing little hope for survival in their interpretation of a radical call to love and accept, equally, all families. In first century, as today, the stereotypes and accepted cultural definitions of family could be oppressive and exclusive. The threats, the limits, the stress on people who wanted to express the Spirit's teaching were subject to constant ridicule. Christian communities were to be different according to Paul and other early Christian leaders. The gathering of Christians signifies a naming and claiming of the many forms of God's grace in daily life. (See In Search of Paul, Crossan and Reed) We think about this call to be one, Jesus' prayer, and ask how we are doing with our oneness. Does that song "we are family" apply to all of us? Is Jesus prayer for all people or just a few? It is important in the church, I believe, that we stay aware of the efforts being made on many fronts to address issues that we know our Lord would care about deeply for all of us to be a church family and a human family, addressing practical needs around health care, food production, education, access to clean water, and essential infrastructure to support impoverished towns and villages. We are still on the way through the 15 year United Nations Millennium Project aimed at cutting global poverty by 50 percent that started at the turn of the century, the year 2000. What will we look like in the year 2015? Unfortunately, the news is still not very good. Right here in Sheboygan County, just a few months ago, we were getting the news that the food pantries were in dire need of help. We know of the food shortages near and far away; we hear about them on news every day. What is going on? We must be attentive to what our efforts are to be the "human family" by caring about ways we can combat poverty, hunger, lack of education, high child and maternal mortality rates and HIV/AIDS? The insert in the bulletin (Global Ministries Mission Moment) helps us remember our own UCC /Disciples partners through Global Ministries as we read about the message of Nomvula Shale. I did not meet Nomvula when I visited South Africa as a Global Mission Volunteer in 2005, but I did meet others, pastors and church members, in Johannesburg churches tell me exactly what is printed in that story. We want to support our brothers and sisters who are communicating a very important message about HIV/AIDS in the need to be vocal and stay with the community for support and healing. Sub-Saharan Africa remains by far the worst affected region in our world. By being local family in the church here, we are helping our church family there. I have met these pastors and church members of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa. I know their pleas and so I pass it on to you. I have visited orphanages where most of the infants waiting for adoption, if they survive, are HIV positive in neighboring Lesotho. The call of Christ, the word of Christ, is a call for oneness. Last week, on May 1, our church calendars had us remember Ascension Day. The doctrine of the Ascension of Christ is about oneness. Traditionally we think of ascension in literal terms; Jesus lifted vertically into the clouds. It has been visualized in really great paintings and a fine casting of prayers and incense in services of worship. But what does the passage we read for Ascension Day, Ephesians 1:15-23, really mean? "God has put all things under his feet and has made him (Christ) the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." (Verses 22-23) What is the family of faith's understanding of the power of the risen Christ? Yes, Ascension Day, is to remind us to stop and become the people God wants us to be. The message from the reading about Ascension in Acts has a similar thrust. You will receive power, you will be my witnesses, and you will be one, like a family when you come together. We come this morning giving thanks for families and being aware of the challenges of our own personal connection to families and connection to the needs of our world family. The church is a place where we can come from a variety of backgrounds and know that there are human networks, there are church networks that support and sustain us and our desire to follow the teaching of the early church, "be sober, be watchful and God will restore, establish and strengthen you." The church is a place where our hearts, minds, dollars, and prayers are working! Thank you for all you do to be a family of faith in this place; thank you for your time, talents and treasure to support who we are and who we want to be. Thank you for your covenant to be a UCC family through your contributions to our wider church through our Our Church's Wider Mission. Thank you for the attitudes, desire and wonderful intentions I have experienced here to work together and never be ashamed of having this wonderful experience of being one, an answer to Jesus' prayer. I close with an illustration that is, for me, a way to express the dependence on God for whatever small efforts we make to be good Christians, good mothers and fathers, good examples for our youth and children, good friends to one another and a good family of faith....not always dependent on our own abilities but on what God can do with what we have. The great Polish concert pianist, Paderewski, was performing and a mother decided to take her young son to hear him play. Perhaps this would encourage him in his beginning efforts to learn the piano. After they had arrived in the great concert hall and had taken their seats, the mother spotted a friend and went over to say hello. Before long, the young boy was out of his seat exploring the fascinating environment of the concert hall. He eventually found his way to and through a door marked, "No Admittance." When the houselights dimmed, the mother made her way back to her seat only to discover that her son was nowhere to be found. As she frantically began her search, the hall went dark, the stage curtains parted and spotlights highlighted the elegant Steinway piano at center stage. And there, to her relief and horror, sat her son on the piano's bench, seemingly oblivious to his situation, completely absorbed in his effort to pick his way through "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Then, the great piano master made his grand entrance onto the stage. Instead of a burst of applause, there was the collective gasp and then silence...and the sound of a child plucking his way through "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." There was an awkward moment as he took in the scene. Then, without hesitation, he moved to the piano and took his seat beside the boy, who was still plucking away. Paderewski whispered to the boy, "Keep playing." The audience sat in stunned silence as Paderewski reached his left arm around behind the boy, reached out to his right and began playing behind and alongside, creating a masterpiece out of child's play. (Biblical Preaching Journal, May 8, 2005, p.20) Picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is sometimes all we can do in witness to what it means to be God's family. We fumble and do our best. But play we must. And play we will when we remember that we are not alone. There is One who has promised to come alongside us and who will never leave us. There is One who keeps playing and praying that we will be one. Thanks be to God for restoration, strength and the assurance of God's mercy. Jesus said, "I will be with you always, to the end of the age." Amen