Each week millions of believers in liturgical churches confess their faith by reciting the Nicene Creed.  The officiant stands, usually following the sermon and leads in the words;

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

This is the second Sunday in lent; a time for us to reflect on our own lives and see those places where we have room for improvement.  It is a time of repentance, not repentance like it is used by so many churches to bludgeon people into feeling guilty, but repentance in the sense that we return to our right mind or right thinking, according to the root meaning of the word for repentance metanoia.

Our Scripture lessons cause us to reflect on faith, and perhaps challenge us to get back into our right mind about faith.  The word faith is used many different ways.  When it is used in the recitation of a set of beliefs, like the Nicene Creed mentioned earlier, it creates a belief system.  That isn’t what the word faith truly means.  We can have a great deal of faith without believing what the church considers to be right doctrine.  While liturgical churches use the ancient creeds, other protestant churches may use a church covenant or statement of faith like that of the National Association of Evangelicals.  Often these covenants and statements agree with the Nicene Creed, except that they have added a deep belief in the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible into the mix.  Creeds and Statements of faith are used as a way to distinguish Christians from non-Christians.  Jesus gave a very different method.   He said that others would know his followers, “If you have love one for another.”

From our lesson in Genesis we learn that Abraham and Sarah would be the progenitors of many nations because of their faith.  Not only is this true physically, since many nations now trace their heritage to Abraham and Sarah, but those who are not physically the children of Abraham consider him to be the father of our faith.  It was Abraham who dared to believe God and set out in blind faith following Yahweh God.  Abraham did not have a creed that he subscribed to.  There was no church council to decide what all those who are truly of the faith must believe.  Instead Abraham simply had faith in God.

In our reading from Romans Paul explains that this faith of Abraham was counted to him as righteousness.  He didn’t earn his position with God.  He was not great because he did great things.  He was great because he dared to have faith.  It is faith that makes us righteous as well.  We are given God’s grace freely and completely because we of God’s wonderful love for us.  It isn’t because we have right doctrine that God gives us grace, It isn’t because we do all the right things that God has given us grace.  We cannot earn God’s favor.  We must simply accept God’s favor.

Faith comes from the root word for trust.  Faith is more of a verb than a noun.  Faith is where we place our trust.  I dare say that the majority of the people who recite the Nicene Creed every Sunday do not truly believe every word of its text.  Those who claim the Bible is without error must understand that it has been changed many times and the Bibles we have today are not at all like the original documents written thousands of years ago.  It is a risky thing to place our complete trust in words continually translated and interpreted over a couple thousand years; it is just as risky to put our trust in the decision of a church council in 325 AD presided over by a Roman Emperor for political compromise.

Where then can we put our faith?  Is there any security beyond this tangible world?  Can we be assured of anything?  Yes we can.  Our faith and trust must be placed in God.  It is through faith in God that we can accept the fact that God has freely given grace to the whole world.  It is truly without cost or obligation. 

How can we return to our right mind this season of Lent?  We can return to a simple trust in God and know that it is enough.  The extra things that have been added to this simple faith by the church can either be an extra blessing to help us find our way, or at times it can be a hindrance to keep some out.  We must remember that our trust must not be in the works of human beings, but in the wonderful grace of God.  The works of humanity are more condemning than accepting.  The works of men are not intended to include everyone, but they have been designed to keep separate Christianity from the rest of the world.  The work of God is for us to accept God’s wonderful grace and love by trusting, through faith,  that God’s love is enough.  This is the right way of thinking I believe we are called to return to this season of Lent.

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Psalm 22:22-30
Romans 4:13-25
Mark 8:31-38

I had a friend in high school who told me he was going to give up French fries for Lent.  Not being part of a church that practiced Lent, I had no idea what he was talking about.  He explained that for the forty days before Easter he would fast by giving up some kind of food he enjoyed, in his case it was French fries.  Since we were in high school hamburgers and French fries were considered some of the best food offered in the cafeteria.  I don’t know how long he was able to maintain his commitment to not eating French fries.

I have heard many arguments for many different kinds of fasts over the years.  Some people fast entire meals.  Some have no food at all, while others only refrain from certain foods.  One of the best rationales I have heard for fasting considers the fact that most people today have an emotional attachment to food.  Sometimes it is food in general, at other times it is specific kinds of food.  This emotional attachment causes us to eat far more than we should, or perhaps the wrong kind of food.  Fasting can be a way to remember that we should live our lives in moderation, without extremes.

This is the first Sunday of Lent.  For western liturgical churches lent began on Wednesday with Ash Wednesday.  It is a time that recalls the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting and praying.  It is actually 46 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter, but Sundays aren’t counted since they should be devoted to God anyway.  Christians have come to think of this time of year as a time of reflection, repentance, and often penance.  It is always good to reflect on one’s life and spend time in introspection.  It is also important to repent, not in the sense that fundamentalists use the word repent, but to repent based on the actual meaning of the word; to get back into our right minds.

It is easy to be distracted by the influences of those around us.  We can be driven by inappropriate desires and greed.  We can be misled by false preachers and teachers who spread a message of hatred rather than a message of love.  We can become clouded in our judgment because of the pressures of a sick economy and political processes.   We can be confused by our histories and allow bigotry or prejudice to influence our judgment.  For these and many other reasons, it is a good thing to take time and look inside ourselves and try to get back into our right mind, or correct way of thinking.

Our Old Testament lesson this week shares the story of Noah leaving the Ark after the flood.  You may recall that this is another time in Scripture where 40 days is mentioned.  God sent rain for forty days and forty nights and caused a great flood to destroy all life on the entire known world at the time.  Only eight human beings survived the flood because God had warned Noah and he built an ark, or boat, to preserve the life of his family as well as the various species of animal life.

Our lesson from Genesis chapter nine describes the time after the flood when Noah and his family came out of the Ark.  Following his religious tradition, Noah offered a sacrifice to God in gratitude for being spared from the destruction of the flood.   It is at this point that God makes an astounding proclamation.  God promises that God will never destroy the earth with a flood again.  God was moved by the devastation of the flood and pledges that it will never happen again. 

God was not only concerned with preserving human life, but included in the promise all of the animals, birds, and other life forms that had been destroyed.  In context God appears to be sorry that the flood took place.  Never again would such devastation occur.  There are some preachers who claim that God will never destroy the earth again with a flood, but that God is free to destroy the world in another way, like fire.  While that may be true according to the letter of what is written it is certainly not true in the spirit of what is written.  God appears genuinely remorseful about the situation.  The spirit of God’s promise is that all of nature will be preserved from total devastation in the future.

The sign of God’s pledge not to destroy the earth is the rainbow.  Rainbows have had various mystical connections over the years.  There is something special about the phenomenon in spite of the fact that it is a natural occurrence.   We know that rainbows are literally a spectrum of refracted light as the sun shines through tiny drops of moisture in the air.  Yet rainbows are something more, they are a reminder of God’s blessing and God’s promise to preserve all life.

On our tenth anniversary together my husband and I were legally married In Canada.  When we came back to the United States our church blessed our rings of commitment to one another.  Driving home from this wonderful blessing we drove through a storm and at its edge a beautiful rainbow filled the sky.  While we know the rainbow was a natural phenomenon, it still gave us a sense of God’s blessing as well.  Just as God pledged to preserve life in Noah’s time, we believe that God has pledged to preserve our life together as well. 

One way we can get back into our right mind this season of lent is to remember that the world is a diverse place.  There are countless kinds of life on this planet.  Within humanity there is great diversity of gender, color, sexual orientation, language, and ability.  God has pledged to preserve all life.  God loves all of the wonder of creation the same. Just as there is a broad spectrum of light in a rainbow, there is a broad spectrum of human beings in the world. One type of life is not more loved than another.

Often we forget and allow our prejudices to get in the way of our right mind.  We can remember the rainbow following Noah’s flood to remind ourselves that we are all accepted and loved by God through Christ.  God does not intend to destroy and hate.  God intends to preserve and love.

Genesis 9:8-17
Psalm 25:1-9
1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 1:9-15

This is the last Sunday in the season of Epiphany; the time we remember the revelation of deity to the world.  Christ revealed deity in multiple ways.  The stories from today’s readings are strange and peculiar.  They are challenging to the modern enlightened mind.  How can those of us who have such great understanding of the laws of physics accept the supernatural revelation of God?  It is a challenge to think beyond what can be proven and look at what is revealed.   Many people simply discard the miraculous portions of the Bible, or they refuse to believe in the Bible completely because it records supernatural events.

Our Old Testament lesson from the ancient book of 2^nd Kings tells us of the great prophet Elijah.   It is the story of how Elijah passed from this life into eternity.  Elijah was mentor to a younger prophet, Elisha, and they were walking together across the miraculously parted Jordan River.  Elijah discussed his passing and Elisha expressed a desire to be given a double portion of the spiritual strength of Elijah.  Suddenly a great chariot and horse that was bright as fire came between the two men.  While they were separated, Elijah was taken up into eternity in a whirlwind. 

The younger prophet, Elisha had sworn that he would not leave Elijah.  He wanted to cling to him and not allow him to die.  The bright fiery horse and chariot had to separate the two men so that Elijah could be miraculously taken away to eternity.  There are multiple references in the Old Testament to the glory of God being revealed as a bright light or pillar of fire.  

Our Gospel lesson is the story of the transfiguration.  Jesus took Peter, James, and John, the inner circle of disciples, with him up to a high mountain.  There Jesus began to shine brightly.  Even his clothes became dazzling white and illuminated.  Suddenly the two greatest leaders of the Old Testament appeared with Jesus; Moses and Elijah.   This supernatural event was to solidify the true nature of Christ to the disciples.  Jesus warned the three disciples, not to tell anyone about this event until after he died and rose again. 

Interestingly, tradition holds that both Moses and Elijah were spared from the normal suffering of death and were taken into eternity, but that would not be true of Jesus, he would indeed suffer and die.  However, Christ did not end with his physical death, but through the resurrection, the light of Christ is extended to the whole world.   

The glory of God is God’s love for the whole world.  God wants us to live full and happy lives peacefully together.  God’s love extends beyond human boundaries.  God’s love is not limited by political parties, national origin, the language one speaks, how wealthy one is, or anything else.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.   God’s love continues to shine brightly as a beacon to the world and a reminder to love one another.

While the Gospel of God’s wonderful love shines brightly, our reading from second Corinthians reminds us that God’s love is veiled at times.  It still exists as powerful as ever, but it becomes difficult for humanity to see God’s love because of what happens in the world.  The world’s structures and institutions can make it difficult to remember the Gospel and that God loves us.

Many people believe that the world referred to in the Bible as hiding God’s love only includes secular institutions, or perhaps other religions.  The Bible doesn’t really limit the definition of the word.  The “world” referred to in the Bible is the structures and institutions of society.  Unfortunately, one of those institutions is the church.  At times, the church becomes a veil of the love of God, hiding God’s love from others.  This happens far more than we realize.

Secular society can certainly veil the light of deity in our lives.  How often have we been misled by greed, vanity or false pride?  How often has cultural norms sunk to the depths of prejudice and hatred instead of the love that is proclaimed in the Gospel?   If given a choice, it appears that the majority of people would vote against basic human rights for those not like themselves; if Proposition 8 in California is any kind of guide on the matter.   Human rights cannot be left to a popular vote, or those who are in the minority will suffer every time.

There have been times when the church has cast people out when they need love and acceptance the most.  History is filled with examples of the church acting as if the Gospel doesn’t matter at all.  The Inquisition is a prime example of how ecclesiastical power can be used to harm others.   Bishop Martyn Mimms, of the newly formed, Anglican Church in North America, a group that split from the Episcopal Church over the issue of homosexuality, stated in a recent interview with Newsweek, that he is “more interested in people than in building institutions.”   Unfortunately, if that were true he would not be trying to build yet another institution, and he would be reaching out with love to all people, not just those who are heterosexual.

All too often the church has become a vehicle of hiding the Gospel.  The church has promoted worldly standards of prejudice and hatred by rejecting people simply because they fall in love with another of the same sex.  When Jesus was asked by an apparently homosexual man to heal his lover, Jesus did so.  He did not tell the man he had to stop being homosexual.  Instead, he boasted of the man’s great faith.

The Gospel of God’s love for everyone is contrary to the way that society functions.  Human beings like to pick and choose who they love.  The church, as an institution, has become no different from the world.  In fact, all too often it is the church that leads the way in promoting hatred and division rather than love.   Jesus however, is truly the light of the world.  Christ is the love that lights the way for each of us in our darkest hour.  Somehow, we must be capable of separating Christ from those who claim to be Christians in our minds.  We must recall that Christ loves us all unconditionally and wants to fill us with light and joy, in spite of the fact that most who claim to be followers of Christ react to those who are attracted to the same sex with anything but love.

2 Kings 2:1-12
Psalm 50:1-6
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Mark 9:2-9

I remember the last time someone told me that I was demon possessed.  Yes, it happened in modern America.  There are plenty of folks who believe in literal demonic spirits and believe that these spirits can possess other people.  This person believed that I was possessed because I had learned that human sexuality as not a simple choice that people make.  We don’t control who we are attracted to, it just happens.  Because of this belief, it was concluded that I was possessed. 

My response to the accusation was that in order to prove the possession, the person should cast the demon out of me.  If they could successfully do so, then I would reconsider my position.  They didn’t even try.  If they really believed me to be possessed, and had faith in the power of Christ then they should have been able to cast it out of me.

I can recall exorcisms of demons in the Pentecostal churches of my youth.  They were usually quite dramatic, and included a great deal of emotional catharsis.  Some people laughed, others cried.  Some prayed fervently.  One man grabbed his toddler son and ran from the church to make sure his son didn’t become possessed when the demon left the one being prayed for.  You have not truly seen drama until you have seen an exorcism in an old-fashioned Pentecostal church. 

Most folks today tend to stay away from the topic of demon possession.  Even Pentecostals have stopped focusing on the issue much.  I know of one television preacher who teaches that sickness is caused by demon possession.  Most of Christianity recognizes that the concept of demon possession is one that was part of first century culture, but not necessarily an essential doctrine of the Christian faith.

Our Gospel lesson for this Fourth Sunday after Epiphany shows that Christ was revealed through his teaching in the Synagogue.  The people were amazed because he didn’t speak the same as the scribes of the day.  Jesus spoke with authority.  When Jesus spoke, people listened because of his charismatic and powerful style.  He challenged them with new ideas and took responsibility for his own teaching.  He didn’t attribute what he said to one rabbi or another; instead he spoke as if he knew God and therefore knew what he was talking about.   He didn’t need to cite the latest scholar in order to validate what he had to say.  He spoke with his own authority.

While Jesus was in the synagogue he was interrupted by a man who called out to him.  He is described as having been possessed of demons.  He recognized the authority of Jesus and Jesus immediately ordered the demon out of the man.  It wasn’t a great dramatic moment.  The people were not worked up into frenzy by the worship leaders and didn’t have to repeat prayers over and over again.  Jesus simply told the demon to leave the man, and according to Mark, he was free from that time forward.

Jesus was one who had authority.  Not only did he talk the talk, but he walked the walk.  Jesus backed up what he claimed with actions; bringing healing and salvation to all.  He revealed a new message, one of hope and tolerance.  A message that, if it were to ever be truly be put into practice by a society, would radically reshape the way human beings interact with one another.  The world would be a far different place if most Christians truly put Christ’s teachings into practice by following Jesus.

Our epistle lesson for this week comes from the first letter to the Corinthians.  The believers at Corinth were well established in their faith.  They thought of themselves as mature Christians and exercised a large number of spiritual gifts.  But, there was an argument among them.  Some people believed that they shouldn’t eat food sacrificed to idols. The author began the discussion of this topic with the idea that knowledge may make someone proud, but love builds us up.  Knowledge may benefit the individual but love benefits everyone.

The epistle does not dictate a specific rule about whether meat that has been a part of pagan religious practices should be eaten or not.  On the one hand, according to the letter, we know that idols do not represent true gods.  On the other hand, if the freedom to eat the food offends another’s conscience, love requires that we not eat the meat.  This may seem like a strange debate for us today, but in the culture at Corinth this was a major issue.  It was hard to find meat in the city that had not been a part of some idolatrous practice since most of the labor guilds were connected to idolatry.  Christianity also presented itself as an exclusive religion and this could be construed by some people as a compromise with a false religion.

Not everyone understands Christian freedom.  Just because something may be allowed, doesn’t mean that we should do it.  It is perfectly OK to eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols, but we must be willing to give up eating meat if it will harm the conscience of someone else and cause division among Christians.    What really matters is not a list of what we can and cannot do.  In truth, we are free to do anything with only one limitation.  Our freedom is limited by love.  Sometimes we must give up some of our personal preferences in order to be tolerant of others through love.

We are free to be tolerant of others.  Jesus taught that what really matters is to love one another.  When we disagree we are to disagree in love and be tolerant of those who have different opinions.  Those who think they have great knowledge must accept those who have a different point of view.  It is the appreciation of differences and the ability to act lovingly, regardless of our differences, that makes one truly a follower of Jesus.  It is time for all believers to put aside our personal demons of bigotry and prejudice and follow Christ in appreciating one another’s differences through love.

Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Psalm 111
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Mark 1:21-28

I know a “Full Gospel” minister who believes that he is a prophet of God.  He doesn’t think of himself as one who predicts the future, but does think he hears directly from God and speaks for God at times.  Back in the 1970s he predicted over and over again that the Soviet Union was about to attack the United States with nuclear missiles as the judgment of God.  He believed that God would use the Soviet Union to punish the United States for our sins.  He believes in an angry God who is bringing judgment on what he believes to be our evil society.

During the last conversation I had with this man, who was my pastor as a teenager, he condemned me to hell because I am a sexual minority.  He said he could do no other, and he would not speak to me about anything else unless I would immediately repent and turn straight.  I know that he doesn’t meet the Old Testament standard of a prophet because the law, that he seems to love so much, demands that a prophet be put to death if his predictions don’t come true.  I’m sure has a multitude of reasons for his fundamentalism.

This week we celebrate the third Sunday after Epiphany; a time of reflecting on how God is revealed to us.  We often overlook the spiritual part of our lives.  Often spiritual needs take last place until something happens to remind us of our spiritual selves.  Millions of people only think of God and spirituality at times of change.   The priorities of our lives can dramatically change when we face the loss of a loved one, violence, oppression, or war.   It isn’t only negative changes that cause a reminder of spiritual needs, but things like the joining of our lives together in love, the birth of a child, and the passage into maturity can all be times when we remember God.

Our Old Testament lesson this week is from Jonah.  According to the story, the people of Nineveh discovered their spiritual needs when confronted by an angry prophet of God who warned them that God was about to destroy their city.  The people immediately began to pray and follow religious practices and they were spared.  Our epistle lesson tells of the people at Corinth.  For them epiphany came through the recognition of the potential for an apocalypse and the end of the world.  From our Gospel lesson we learn that the earliest disciples of Jesus gained their spiritual insight by the words of Christ who said, “Come and follow me.”  They were changed by being near the Savior and having a relationship with Christ.

I think believers miss a great number of opportunities to both receive revelation and share Christ with others.  The church often fails to be a source of revelation of God because of an unwillingness to adapt to the culture as a whole.  All too often the servants of the church have become angry prophets who have nothing to say except condemnation toward others.  I can easily see these same prophets becoming angry, like Jonah did, when God shows mercy rather than condemnation.  

Since the 1980s the church had a great opportunity to be a true vehicle of revelation and epiphany to gays and lesbian people; as millions died of AIDS, the church could have been a voice of love and mercy for those who suffered.   All too often, those who reached out for blessing from the church because of their pain received a curse instead.   The angry prophets were too scared to be ministers of God.  Instead they condemned and claimed that AIDS is a curse from God toward homosexuals.  God is not a God of curses, but is a God of blessing.

I’m reminded of all the television preachers and pundits who used the AIDS health crisis to raise millions of dollars in order to build their religious and political empires all the while preaching hate.  Rather than take advantage of an opportunity to be an agent of God’s love, much of the church has spread messages that bred hate, harassment and violence.  One priest I know pointedly raised the question, “With all the evil in the world, why does the church have time to worry about who other people are having sex with?”   

This decade has brought another opportunity for the church to be a witness of love to sexual minorities.  One of the most important rites of passage we enjoy as adults is marriage, when our loving relationship is recognized and affirmed by our community.  The church can help make same sex marriages legal and affirm same sex weddings in our spiritual communities.  So far only a handful of smaller denominations and the Metropolitan Community Church have decided to endorse gay marriage.  The only mainline denomination to do so is the United Church of Christ, but the resolution isn’t binding on local congregations.  Some will marry people of the same sex and some will not.  People think the Episcopal Church has endorsed gay marriage, but this is far from true.  The Episcopal Church continues to only allow “blessing” of same sex couples in some diocese.  The Episcopal Church continues to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

The greatest way any of us can have spiritual revelation is through relationship; relationship with one another and relationship with Christ.  Just like Jesus asked the brothers on the shores of Galilee to enter into relationship with Him, we can have quality relationships with those around us.  It is time for the church to come back to those she has cast aside.  Sexual minorities are some of the most spiritual and sensitive people on the planet.  The church now has an opportunity to rise to the standard of Jesus and welcome everyone back into the fold equally.

Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Psalm 62: 6-14
1 Corinthians 7: 29-31
Mark 1:14-20

An epiphany is a revelation of the divine.  It can also be an illuminating revelation or discovery leading to sense of elation, awe, or wonder.  Some years ago I was on an outing with a youth group and we climbed a mountain overlooking the Shenandoah River.  It was a great morning.  We climbed the damp mountain while there was still fog in the valley.  When we reached the top, and looked out from a rock over a bend of the river, the sun had melted away the fog; it was a moment of epiphany.  The kids expressed their wonder in various ways, and I stood there and began to thank God in my mind for the wonder of creation.  The natural beauty of the place was overwhelming for us.  We stayed there for quite a while and enjoyed the wonder and diversity of what God made. 

Different people experience illumination in different ways.  Nature has always been a tremendous way for me to appreciate the divine.  I’m impressed with the beauty, intricacy, and diversity of God’s design.  We can each experience the divine in our own way.  We are not limited to finding God in church or a grand cathedral.  I like the smells and bells of the liturgy as much as anyone, but nothing can compare to finding God in the freedom of nature. Often, I think we miss many great opportunities to experience God simply because we do not pay attention to what is around us.   We may fail to appreciate nature.  Perhaps we fail to appreciate God’s revelation through other human beings.  Often we fail to appreciate God’s revelation within ourselves. 

This is the season of Epiphany in Western Christian tradition.  Beginning with the feast of Epiphany which commemorates God’s first revelation of Christ to the gentiles through the visit of the wise men on January sixth, Epiphany continues over the next seven Sundays until the season of Lent, which starts in March this year.  That means that most of January and all of February should be a time when we are sensitive to God’s ability to reveal deity to us.  I believe that if we look for God we may find the divine in some unexpected places.

This week’s Old Testament lesson is the story of how God reached out to communicate to the prophet Samuel in a dream.  Samuel kept confusing the voice of God with the voice of his teacher.  He thought the voice calling to him at night was a human voice, when in reality it was God, who wanted to make sure Samuel was prepared for the great things God had in store for him.  Perhaps if we sought to discover the divine we might find that God has a plan for us as well.  God comes up with some unconventional plans.  Not everything and everyone has to be exactly the same.

A revelation of the divine does not have to be an explosive dramatic event.  We more often find God in some simple and otherwise mundane areas of life.  Our Gospel reading tells us of Philip bringing his brother Nathaniel to Jesus.  Nathaniel believed in Christ because Jesus told him that he had been sitting under a fig tree.  We can’t be sure what happened under that tree, but apparently Nathaniel had a revelation of God while resting under the tree and Jesus knew about it.  The fact that Jesus was aware of his divine experience convinced Nathaniel that Jesus was indeed the Christ.  Jesus promised many more marvelous revelations to come.

It is amazing how we can find divine revelation and wisdom in different ways.  While struggling with accepting myself as a homosexual, I attended counseling with a therapist who was also a Lutheran minister.  I had immense guilt and was worried that I would not be accepted by God or my family if I admit my true nature.  I lived in rural Virginia at the time.  The therapist told me to go to DuPont Circle in Washington DC and see if I could connect with another man there.  I drove into the city and amazingly was able to connect with another gay man.  My assignment from my minister/therapist was to pray to see if God was present following sex with another man.  It was a strange assignment but it was an epiphany for me.

Not only did I have a great deal of fun with the guy I met, but I was able to do so without the heavy weight of guilt that had plagued so many of my previous experiences with both men and women, as limited as they were.  God was indeed present with two men having sex.  That may sound like an amazing statement, but it shouldn’t be.  God created us the way we are.  God made us to derive pleasure from sex.  God is not so fiendishly evil to create us to enjoy sex, design us to enjoy sex with one of the same gender, and then punish us for doing what we are designed to do.  That is not the God of justice and love that we know from the Bible.  Who would want to worship a God who punished people for behaving the way they were designed to behave?

Some Christians have trouble thinking of God and sex together.  Interestingly, sex is probably one of the most spiritual things we can do.  It is a communion with another soul that is deeper than most anything human beings do.   The required vulnerability and intimacy makes sex a deeply emotional, physical, and spiritual activity.  Why would God not be present in sex?  Most of us have sex as a part of a loving relationship.  When that is true, nothing can be more rewarding and interpersonally powerful.

Millions of people provide pleasure for one another through sex each day.  They share the joy of intimacy.  They are willing to risk making themselves vulnerable with their partner.  Many believers pray and ask God to bless their sex lives.  Couples, whether homosexual or heterosexual, pray together each night and then go to bed and have sex.  What could possibly be more natural?  Perhaps it could even be an epiphany.

1 Samuel 3:1-10(11-20)
Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
John 1:43-51

It is often hard to know where to place our trust.  Even the most well-intentioned people can make mistakes, and not everyone is well intentioned.  Some people have very negative intentions toward those who are different than themselves.  We like to think that we can trust our leaders, but, much like the man who through his shoes at president Bush this week in Iraq, we often become frustrated with the choices others make. 

Our Old Testament lesson for this fourth Sunday of Advent provides an example of King David of Israel’s desire to build a temple for God in Jerusalem.  This was at the height of Israel’s power as an ancient nation and when the nation had the most territory and people.  David wanted worship in Israel to be like that of surrounding nations by building a Temple.  When David asked the prophet Nathan whether he should do so, Nathan told the King to go ahead with his plans.  However, later Nathan had a dream that warned that David should not build the Temple.  However, God promised to bring an even greater king through the lineage of David.  David’s son, Solomon would be a leader of peace and therefore he built the Temple in Jerusalem. 

The King may have been well-intentioned, but his plans were not the same as God’s plans for his life.  In the same way, the prophet was well intentioned, but God didn’t agree.  We receive instructions from leaders all of the time.  Sometimes laws are passed that are unjust.  Proposition 8 in California took away rights of citizens of the state who should be treated equally under the law.  Just because human beings make a decision, that doesn’t mean that is what God wants to happen.   Preachers have preached many things, but that doesn’t make them true.

This is advent, the time when we prepare for the coming of Christ in light of his first advent as a baby in Bethlehem.  This week’s Gospel lesson is the annunciation—the story of the Angel Gabriel telling Mary that she will become pregnant with a child who will be the savior of the world.  The birth of Christ didn’t happen the way people expected it to happen.  The Bible tells us that Mary was of the lineage of David the King, but it also says that she was a handmade which is a kinder of way of saying that she was a slave.

God chose a girl who had just gone through puberty, with dark colored skin and who was the lowest on the social strata of the day to bring the Christ into the world.  We expect God to do great things through people that we consider to be great; those of wealth and power.  But God often chooses plain and ordinary people to do great and extraordinary things.

The essence of the Gospel can be found in the word of the angel to Mary.  I am moved by the statement, “Do not be afraid.”  We can find many things to be afraid of.  War, poverty, disease, financial crisis are only the beginning of things we have to make us fear.  We can add to this list all of our personal phobias and concerns.  The world is often a hostile place and just getting through can be a challenge for many people, let alone the ideas of achievement, fulfillment, and self actualization.  Yet, the good news is we do not have to be afraid.

The angel’s first statement tells us the reason we can be free from fear.  Gabriel said, “God is with you.”  The whole story of Christmas is that God came down to be with humanity.  God is with us.  God didn’t go away when Jesus ascended, but instead remains with us always.  God is with us with through the presence of the Spirit until the end of time.

Gabriel had the right message for Mary.  When we hear leaders try to tell us to be afraid, or preachers trying to scare us into conformity, we must remember the truth of the good news found in the annunciation to Mary.  God is with us, we do not have to be afraid.  Just as Mary bore the love of God into the world by bearing Christ, we bear the love of God into the world by sharing our love for one another.  God can do awesome things through the most unlikely people.  That’s part of what makes God God.

The Holy Spirit came down upon the waters of creation and brought life forth from the seas.  The Holy Spirit came down upon Mary so that she would bring Christ into the world.  The Holy Spirit continues to give life to us today.  It is through the inspiration of the Spirit that we learn to appreciate all that God has to give us.  The Spirit gives us the strength not to be afraid in spite of the obstacles others place in our way.  The struggle for equality and recognition of our love moves forward as good people are moved by the Spirit to help society reach a new level of acceptance and love.   The work of Christ continues until the gospel of God’s loving presence is brought to all equally and without prejudice.  We can be messengers of God to bring about God’s desire for all to live peaceably and equally under heaven. 

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Canticle 3 or Canticle 15
or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26
Romans 16: 25-27
Luke 1: 26-38

When I go home from work this evening, I will see something different in the house than I did last week.  My husband put up the Christmas tree.  He can assemble and decorate a tree faster than anyone I know.  It is filled with brightly colored lights and various ornaments.  Some of the ornaments have sentimental value to one or both of us.  Others are simply there because they add color and variety to the tree.  This is only one of the ways we prepare for Christmas.  We have also spent more time than I like in stores.  It isn’t that I dislike giving gifts; it is more that I don’t enjoy stores much.

Anything of value is worth preparing for.   Advent is the season that we prepare for the coming of Christ.  We are faced with the awesome reality of facing God, with the perspective of the light and love of God that came to earth in Bethlehem.  Christ came as a babe incarnate; God becoming man.  Christ has promised to come again and bring human history to fulfillment.  Christ comes for each of us at death.  At the same time, Christ is always with us through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Our Gospel lesson for this third Sunday of Advent is from the first chapter of the Gospel of John.  This Gospel is different than the other three.  John’s Gospel has a deeply personal feel to it.  It is more philosophical, and I think spiritual, than Matthew, Mark and Luke.  John does not focus on long parables and teachings, but instead shows us great miracles and explains philosophical truths about life, love, and community.   This Gospel, more than any of the others, shows the contrast between Christ and the legalistic traditions of the day.  The term “Jews” is used quite frequently to refer to religious leaders and not average Jewish believers.  Although John has been misunderstood as anti-Semitic, it was religious legalism John condemned, not a race or religion.

Our lectionary reading leaves out some important nearby Scriptures.  It skips over the preamble of John, which provides the evangelist’s Christology, what the Gospel writer attempted to communicate about Jesus.  “In the beginning was the Word…and the word became flesh and lived among us.”  According to this Gospel Christ existed from the beginning of time, Christ was with God at creation, and without Christ nothing would have been created.  The Word of God became flesh and lived on earth.  The Creator became a part of creation to communicate that we are loved and accepted by the Creator.

John the Baptist preached and prepared the way for Christ.  The Baptist provided the prophetic voice that was called for by Isaiah. He was a forerunner who prepared the people by proclaiming repentance and baptism.  John confronted the religious leaders of the day and demanded that they repent.   Religion had gone astray.  They had become legalistic and had replaced relationship with God with rules and regulations to be followed by others in order to be accepted by God.  John called them to repent. 

We often don’t like the word repent, yet we are asked to repent in Scripture.  We think of repentance as condemnation and forcing ourselves to be different than we are.   Religious leaders today often demand that others conform by telling them they need to repent or they will go to Hell.  That really isn’t what repentance is all about.  You may have never heard of the Greek word that is translated into the word “repent” in the New Testament.   The word is ‘metanoia.”

The word is used differently in various contexts but metanoia literally means about mind.  Perhaps we can understand repentance better if we consider a contrasting word.  It is one you have probably heard – paranoia.  Paranoia literally means beside mind or out of mind.  When one is categorized as clinically paranoid, we might say they are out of their right mind.  Therefore, metanoia, or repentance, means right mind.  We repent when we get ourselves thinking right again; when we get back into our right mind.

Repentance means to get our minds and hearts back where they belong.  Carl Jung looked at metanoia as a way of getting back into one’s self.  Repentance then is not a condemnation or call for conformity.  Instead repentance means for us to think the way we were created to think.  Repentance is to not allow ourselves to get caught up in the religious legalism that demands that everyone think and act the same way.  True repentance is to be true to ourselves and express who we are as we were created to be. 

Millions of us have lived at least a part of our lives hiding who we truly are from others.  There is so much pressure to conform and be like everyone else, that we are capable of suppressing our true nature for years.  However, it is time to repent.  It is time to get back into our right minds.  It is time for humanity to realize that God has created a great diversity of human beings.  We are not all the same, we are each unique and individually made by our loving God.

We prepare for Christmas by putting up decorations, buying gifts, and making sure we have provisions to gather and celebrate with family and loved ones.   How do we prepare for the coming of Christ?  We do so by getting into our right minds, and living our lives as fully, completely, and openly as we possibly can.  There is no shame or guilt in being different.  In order to be devoted to Christ, the Word of God who became human for us, we must devote ourselves to living, loving and giving ourselves to others at every opportunity.  That is truly the gift of the incarnation at Christmas.

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Psalm 126 or Canticle 3 or Canticle 15
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28

This is the last Sunday in the Church’s liturgical year.  This week is the feast of Saint Andrew which begins the year and next Sunday we begin the season of Advent, when we look with hope, peace, love and joy to the coming of the Christ.  This twenty eighth or last Sunday after Pentecost and is the Sunday when the lectionary celebrates the feast of Christ the King.  It is a time for us to reflect on who is really in charge of the universe.

In the United States the news media is filled with information about the transition of power from President George Bush to President-elect Barack Obama.  The world seems to have great expectations of the Obama administration.  He has promised change.  He has inspired hope in millions pf people, not only in the United States, but also in the world.  The foreign press seems to be even more enamored with Mr. Obama than the American press.  I don’t know if all the excitement is coming from great hope about what the next administration can accomplish, or if it is coming from a since of sheer exasperation with the way the United States has been governed in the Bush Administration.

President-elect Obama enters the presidency at a time when our nation, if not the world, is far more challenged than at any other change of administrations in recent history.  We would have to go back to the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln to find a time when America was as troubled as it is today.  At that time the issues were slavery and the building civil war.  The new President will be faced with the result of devastating ongoing wars, internal struggles with equality for all Americans, financial and credit crises, the devaluing of homes, an ever-increasing unemployment rate, and global economic recession.  While there is much hope for the new administration, there is also greater responsibility than we can possibly imagine.

With all of this going on around us, the lectionary asks us today to remember that Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  God is still in charge, one way or another.  Psalm 95 reminds us:

The SOVEREIGN is a great God, and a great King above all gods…In God’s hand are the caverns of the earth, and the heights of the hills are God’s also. The sea is God’s, for God made it, and God’s hands have molded the dry land. Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, and kneel before the SOVEREIGN our Maker; for the SOVEREIGN is our God, and we are the people of God’s pasture and the sheep of God’s hand.

The ancient psalmist reminded the people of Israel that they belonged to a God who was powerful enough to be the creator of the universe and yet at the same time be intimate enough to be the personal leader of those God has created.

Our lesson from Ephesians reminds us of the power of our great God; that our hope is in one who can and will do more than we can imagine; one who will be there to help us when we struggle. We are the saints of God who are promised a glorious inheritance in Christ.  We are all made saints by the work of Christ.  Not because we have done great and noble things, as honorable as that may be, but because God loves us and sent Christ to us. Christ is enough to keep us in God’s care. Therefore, the Bible raises the name of Christ to a name that is above every other name.  It is a name that is to be revered more than any other leader, whether King or President.

Our Gospel lesson from Matthew 25:41-36 reminds us of the nature of Christ’s leadership as judge.  Human beings do not give out eternal judgment.  Institutions that claim to speak in the name of Jesus are not allowed to decide who is included or excluded from God’s domain and love.  Christ is the judge.  The same God who knows every intent of our heart; the one who has been tempted in every way like we have been tempted, the one who knows what it means to do the best you can with what you have and what you know, is the one who we answer to.  Trust me; Christ is more compassionate and understanding than human beings can possibly be.  For God is love.

Even Pope Benedict XVI has remarked that Christ's Kingship is not based on "human power" but on loving and serving others.”  The judgments of Christ are based on mercy and hope rather than fear and damnation.  We are challenged to put love into action by doing what we can to meet the needs of others, as we become aware of those needs.  Christ reigns through us as we act in a loving way toward those who may be the most outcast of society.

The most challenging lesson we may have from the lessons for the feast of Christ the King is the Old Testament lesson from Ezekiel.  It isn’t often that we study the prophets of the Old Testament.  Ezekiel proclaimed God’s word about 600 years before Jesus.  He said, “This is what the SOVEREIGN God says, ‘I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.”

Ezekiel wrote these words at a time of great distress.  His people had been conquered by an enemy army and were scattered to many other countries.  Many had been taken as slaves by the conquering emperor. He lived about the same time as Isaiah, but Isaiah stayed in Judah, the portion of Israel that had not been conquered, and Ezekiel went with those who had been taken captive.  His message was one that compared God to a great shepherd who actively sought out his sheep where they were.

God wants to meet us where we are.  God isn’t waiting to catch us in some sin so he can zap us with lightening or punish us with some disease or other problem.  That isn’t the true God of Christianity.  The God we know is one who is powerful and loving.  Our God is one who is a kind judge who understands all of the struggles we face and accepts us lovingly into God’s domain.  Our God is one who seeks us out, where ever we may wander.  There have been many times in life when I have questioned my faith in God.  Questioning doesn’t make one evil, it only makes one human. 

The exciting thing to remember is that every time we doubt or question God, God never stops loving and caring for us.  In spite of the struggles we face and the downturns of economic progress, or progress in the struggle for quality. The Spirit is still seeking us out.  God wants to be with us, right where we are.  God says, “I will rescue you.”

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Psalm 95:1-7a

Ephesians 1:15-23
Matthew 25:31-46

I attended a concert last week by the singing duo “Jason and deMarco.”  The two young men have a special message of hope.  They proclaim that it is OK to be gay and Christian.  They have struggled with the Christian music industry because so many people and organizations are biased against gay Christians that they could not support them.  Christian retail outlets have refused to distribute their music and Christian radio stations have refused to play their songs.  Showtime has aired a documentary of their story and it will air on the Movie Network later this month.   They have broadened the scope of their music to do more than Christian music these days, and have risen on the Billboard pop charts.

Jason and deMarco shared the story of how they struggled with the idea of being married.  The thing that made the decision final for them was that the Supreme Court of California ruled that the state cannot deny marriage to same sex couples last year.   The couple decided that since their state would recognize the union, they would go ahead and tie the knot.   During their concert last Saturday, deMarco commented that his emotions were “raw” since proposition 8 passed in California on November 4^th.  The proposition, if it isn’t overturned in court, will amend the state’s constitution to deny marriage to same sex couples, thus becoming the only state to have given a minority group rights, and then taking them away again.  Between 18,000 and 20,000 same sex couples were married in California while it was legal.  Two other states also passed constitutional amendments defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, and another state made it illegal for gay couples to adopt children.  California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that the amendment does not change the status of those same sex couples who were already married, like Jason and deMarco.

The struggle for equality for minorities has always been a difficult task.  Justice does not come easily.  It is a difficult task that takes perseverance and time.  Most people would not have thought, even ten years ago, that same sex marriage would even be up for discussion in the united States, let alone the fact that two states Massachusetts and Connecticut currently recognize same sex marriage and three or four other state legislatures may make them legal following the recent election.

While we have many things to be discouraged about, we also have much reason to hope.  Our epistle lesson from 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 reminds us to encourage one another and build up each other.  As people of the light, we are to constantly put on the garments of faith, love, and hope.  We would truly be lost except for the hope that we have in Christ that God loves us, and that justice will prevail.

Our Gospel lesson is the parable of the talents from Matthew 25:14-30. It is the story of a man who was going on a long journey so he entrusted his wealth to servants.  One he gave five talents, another two, and a third only one talent.  A talent was a measure of money.   One talent was approximately equal to the weight of a person in gold.  These were not small investments. 

You may have heard this story before, it is about how when the owner came back he found that the first two servants had invested the talent s of gold that had been entrusted to them and made even more money for their master.  They were rewarded as good and faithful servants because of their investments.  The third servant, who had only been given one talent, was afraid of losing the master’s money, so he dug a hole and buried the money in the field.  When the master returned, he could give him his gold back, but it had not been invested in order to grow.  That servant was thrown out of the household because he had not been faithful with his master’s money.

I think I can relate to the third servant.  If this story is really about investing money, it is hard not to become afraid and bury our wealth in light of the economic times in which we live.

I think this story is about more than investing money.  It is about being good and faithful servants with what God has entrusted to us.  All that we have and all that we are belong to God.  All we can do is the best we can with what we know.  Fortunately, God has promised to not throw anyone out of his household.  We may be able to disappoint our human masters, but nothing can separate us from the love of God.

I wonder sometimes if I haven’t been like that third frightened servant at various points in my life.  For many years I kept my true nature secret and buried from others.   While I was doing the best I could, I wasn’t putting on faith, hope and love.  Instead, I was denying my true identity to myself.  I didn’t let anyone know that I was different for fear of being rejected.  I thought no one would accept me if they knew the truth.  I later found that yes, some people rejected me, but overwhelmingly, the people who mattered the most fully accept me as I am.

Is marriage equality possible in the United States?  I think so.  I hope it happens in my lifetime.  One thing I know for sure.  The more people see that gay and lesbian people are not a threat or danger to anyone; the more likely it is that they will support equality.  It is hard to take away rights from people you know personally.  It is much easier to vote against an abstract group, if you don’t think you know anyone in the group. 

Not everyone is willing to pay the price that it takes to come out of the closet and let others know they are gay.  There is a cost and it should not be taken lightly.  There are still places in this world, not too far from me, where being out as a gay person could mean harassment, verbal abuse, and even violence.  The question is whether equality is worth it.  I don’t believe in trying to flaunt one’s sexuality in front of others in order to be sensational.  I do believe that the only way attitudes toward sexual minorities will change is by letting others know we are present and not being so afraid that we bury our identities where no one can find them.

We should be very careful how we do it, but through faith, love and hope we should do our best to make sure that those around us know that when they vote against equality for gay people they are voting against some child’s mom or dad.  When they vote against equality they vote against their neighbors, relatives, friends, and co-workers.   Contrary to what some preachers will tell you, the gay rights movement isn’t about recruiting other people to be homosexual.  It is about letting other people know we are here, so they know who they are voting against.

The Gospels are full of stories about weddings.  Apparently weddings are very important events.  Weddings are an opportunity for a community to celebrate the love a couple shares. One of the fun things about being human is that we tend to look for every opportunity to party that we can get.  One of the sad things about being human is that some people want to keep other people from sharing in the same joys in which they participate.

Our Gospel lesson for this twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost is Matthew 25:1-13.  It is the parable of the five wise and five foolish maidens.  They all wanted to be bride maids at the party.  The groom was late, and you can’t start a wedding without both people who want to get married, so they had to wait.  He was very late and it got dark.  Not having modern flashlights, they used small lamps with wicks of burning olive oil in order to have light after dark.

When the groom arrived, five of them had enough oil to light their way through the procession to the party, and five of them did not.  The five who had enough would not share what they had, since they were afraid they would run out of oil themselves.  The other five had to go buy more olive oil. This took so long that the door was locked and they couldn’t get into the party.  The groom would not allow them to come in, in spite of all the effort they had gone through to get there.

Many people like to think that this is a message about getting to heaven.  It isn’t.  It is a story about going to a wedding party.  It is a story about life.  Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is within you.”  The reign of God is something we live and experience now.  It isn’t something we earn our way into after death.

I have heard multiple interpretations about what this story means.  Many say that the coming of the bridegroom is the second coming of Christ.  Well, I don’t think the same Christ who said “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest” would be casting young maidens out into the darkness because they were late for a party.  Sorry the groom wasn’t Jesus, it was a guy getting married, who didn’t want to be bothered by more guests.

Another interpretation I have heard is that the oil represents the Holy Spirit and you can’t get into heaven without being full of the Spirit.  That’s a rather challenging idea, since the Holy Spirit isn’t something you can burn up and exhaust.  The Spirit is immeasurable and Omni-present.  It would also be a problem if one could go to the store and buy the Holy Spirit.  Contrary to what some religious people like to claim, the gifts of God are given freely and without cost.  We can’t buy or earn our way into God’s party.

This story isn’t about some people getting into heaven and others not getting into heaven.  It doesn’t work that way.  Jesus said that the good news of salvation is for all of creation.  The whole world is brought the message of salvation through Christ. 

Instead, this story is one about life, the reign of God that we live in right now.  It is a story about the fact that just because we are believers we should not assume that everything will be wonderful and cheerful all of the time.   Life has its disappointments.  I know Christians who think that the rules that apply to others don’t apply to them because they are following God, and God comes first.  Needless to say, that is the kind of thinking that leads to things like the sexual abuse scandals of the Roman Church.  There is a certain kind of arrogance about saying we do not have to answer to anyone but God.  In fact we are very much accountable to one another all of the time.  We are our brother’s keeper.

We should not assume that everything will always work out the way we expect it to.  Of course, we have hope that “all things work together for the good of those that love God”, yet we also must acknowledge that the ultimate goodness of life may not be the way we plan it to be. 

Most of my life I was convinced that I could not possibly be happy in a relationship with another man.  Although I knew that my romantic and sexual attractions were with men, I believed the lie that it could never possibly work out.  I had many voices telling me there was no hope.  I was told that two guys could never be happy together and that gay people lead truly miserable lives.  Most of these comments, of course, came from the church. 

I could not have possibly imagined that I could live in a stable relationship with a guy that loves me, and I him.   I thought God’s plan for “my good” was something else entirely, but ultimately God worked it all out.  That doesn’t mean that everything is rosy and there are no disappointments along the way.  It is the challenges that make us stronger.

This week I have some reasons to be disappointed. Among other things, two states, Florida and Arizona passed amendments to their constitution against marriage equality for all citizens.  Gays and lesbians are prevented by their constitutions from marrying one another.  Another state, California, has an amendment on the ballot to take away the right of marriage to sexual minorities in spite of eighteen thousand marriages already being performed.  As of this recording, the absentee ballots and provisional ballots will need to be counted because the count is too close to know what the decision is.  

One of the reasons I find this issue very difficult is because most of the opposition to equality comes from the church.  The very people who should be supportive of treating everyone equally and fairly are taking positions against it due to their fears.  The millions of dollars spent on fighting marriage equality by religious groups this year could have fed a huge number of widows and orphans.  The priorities of some Christians amaze me.   

Of course this isn’t the first time.  Many in the church have taken stands for such evils as slavery, interracial marriage and other issues in the past.  Yet, there is a remnant, a small group of Christians who go against the institutional church and have taken stands for equality.  They need to be applauded.

Life is full of both joys and disappointments.  Sometimes we will be invited to the party, at other times we will not.   There will be progress toward equality, and there will be bumps in the road.  We need to remember that the reign of God on earth is filled with fallible human beings who make mistakes, can be stubborn and more often than not fear the unknown and change more than anything else.  Our task is to keep the faith, hold on to hope, and live our lives before others in such a way that will see there is nothing for others to be afraid of.  

I have a job in the real world.  What I mean by that is my online work is purely voluntary and I have a job with a mental health agency that provides me with income.  This week I learned that the position I have held for the past eight years is being eliminated due to budget cuts and reorganization.  Fortunately, another department offered me an equal position immediately, so I am able to keep a job with a lateral move to a new position.

I have had the joy and challenge of being in leadership roles for much of my life.  While my role may have been relatively small compared with many leaders, I have had the responsibility of managing staff in churches, schools, and the mental health arena.  I’ve also had the responsibility of being a spiritual leader in pastoral roles for much of my life. 

In difficult economic times, many people are let go from positions through no fault of their own.  This kind of no-fault cut back is painful for everyone involved.  Some people may still blame the messenger, but the reality is that larger forces are at work and all we can do is take the next steps toward moving on with life and trust that God will see us through even the most difficult of challenges.

Our Gospel lesson for this twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost includes some ideas from Jesus about leadership. Jesus said, “The greatest among you will be your servant.”  Servant leadership has become a bit of a catch phrase in both spiritual as well as business arenas.  The business community has become familiar with the idea from the works of such people as, Robert Greenleaf, Steven Covey, Ken Blanchard and others.   Timothy Warneka has adopted the concepts of servant leadership for the Roman Catholic community.  Many denominational seminary programs have developed entire curricula devoted to the concept.

In his book, In the Name of Jesus, Henri Nouwen wrote, "The leadership about which Jesus speaks is of a radically different kind from the leadership offered by the world. It is a servant leadership…in which the leader is a vulnerable servant who needs the people as much as they need him or her. . . a leadership which is not modeled on the power games of the world, but on the servant-leader, Jesus, who came to give his life for the salvation of many."

Servant leadership is a piece of wisdom that has been around for centuries. Ancient writings from both China and India support the idea that leaders are not to promote themselves, but to promote the success of those they lead.  Larry Spears identified ten characteristics, which describe the essence of a servant leader. The characteristics are listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of others, and building community.

Jesus warned that those who lead as Christians are not to work toward their own selfish interests, but toward the interests of others.  This appears to be in direct conflict with many in the church today who choose to lead by condemning others or demanding that their way is the only way.  It appears that much of what passes for Christian religion today has more in common with the kind of leadership Jesus warned against rather than the humble servant leader described in our Gospel.

In this week’s epistle, Paul indicated that he could have come to the believers at Thessalonica and exerted authority over them as an Apostle.  He could have taken advantage of them and insisted they pay him a salary.   Instead, he worked, most likely as a tent-maker, and earned his money in order to not be a burden on the church.  Some of the world’s best preachers and missionaries have been those who are not paid to share the gospel, but freely share the message God has given them.

Whether we know it or not, all of us have some level of leadership.  Everyone has the ability to influence others.  We can choose to act humbly and serve the needs of those around us, or we can choose to exert our influence in a way that gives us personal gain.  Jesus challenges us to make the first choice.  Our task is to make sure we encourage and build up those around us without the expectation that we will receive gain as a result. 

The great dichotomy of God is that when we give to others we receive.  The acts of kindness and generosity we make will be reciprocated.   Kindness brings about kindness, generosity brings generosity.  God is our judge, and God will reward true humility infinitely more than we can possibly ask or imagine. 

Joshua 3:7-17
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13
Matthew 23:1-12

Years ago I attended a Pentecostal Church in Chicago called Keystone Avenue Church of God.  The pastor used a very unique phrase when he invited people to worship.  He would ask folks to come and “make love to Jesus”.  Pentecostal worship is quite emotive.  During these times, folks were encouraged to lift their hands in surrender to God and speak words of praise and thanks to God out loud.  This was usually accompanied by music and often reached a loud crescendo as people spoke to God, sang and danced.

Matthew provides us with the summary of the law of God in this week’s Gospel lesson for the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost.  At first glance it seems quite simple; we are to actively love God, ourselves and our neighbor.  The problem is that we tend to make things far more complicated than they need to be.  Whether it is the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, or the traditions of the modern church, we have added a great deal to what it means to follow God.

Love means many different things to different people.  Some people really do love chocolate, but let’s hope that love is not the same as the way they love God and other people.  Others might say they love a certain song, performer, or style of music.  I don’t think that’s the same as loving God and humanity.  People love money, power and property.  Is it possible to love those things and love God at the same time?

Some people confuse love and lust.  There is a big difference between making love and having sex.  The biological responses may be the same, but the emotional and spiritual quality of love making is an entirely different thing than mere sexual release.  Almost any mature person can have sex, but making love is an entirely different matter.

Most people today think of love as a strong emotion or feeling of affection for another.  It can be an intense personal attraction, more like lust; or it can be a deeply rooted commitment that reflects true devotion to another.  Love is a creative force that has been the source of inspiration for great literature, music, paintings, sculptures and even architectural works.  Without love the world would be a truly destitute place.

Love is a primary psychological need that motivates human beings to do great acts of both heroism as well as wicked atrocities.  It is a part of our human make-up to desire to be in a primary loving relationship with another, as well as feel that we are loved.  Children who grow up not feeling loved are often the most troubled and disturbed people as adults, if they even survive puberty.  Prisons are filled with people who do not feel they were loved as children and often find it difficult to accept love from others.  Love gives us the ability to feel connected or disconnected with society

Jesus refers to love as something that we do.  It isn’t merely a passive feeling, it is active and engaging.  What does it really mean to love another?  I think that loving someone else requires that we know, at least, something about them.  I happened to catch the end of a Christian television program years ago that concluded with the statement, “God loves you, and we do to.”  My first thought was you don’t love me, you don’t even know me.  A commercial for a company in Chicago called “Nelson Brothers” used to include a catchy jingle that said, “Nelson Brothers loves you.”  I often thought they really loved people to come in and buy furniture.

In order to love someone we have to know them enough to recognize that they have need.  The need can be anything from food and clothing to emotional and spiritual support or help.  It really doesn’t matter what the need is.  To love another means to see the need of another and do everything reasonable to meet that need in a legitimate way.  That is how we “do” love.  We can feel all kinds of things, but truly loving another means taking some kind of action that is purely for their benefit.  Of course, in order to meet another’s need, we have to first take care of ourselves.  That’s why when the oxygen mask drops out of the ceiling of an airplane we are instructed to put our own mask on first before trying to help someone else get their mask on.  To do otherwise, could mean two people passing out from lack of oxygen.

To truly make love to another sexually, is to see the sexual need within them and do everything we can to meet their need.  The best love-making in the world happens when people are focused on doing all they can to satisfy the other, rather than simply looking for self-gratification.  That’s the difference between love and lust.  I doubt many people make love the first time they have sexual intercourse.  They really don’t know what the other person needs are yet.  It takes getting to know someone to know how to fulfill another’s needs.

Some like to ask, who is our neighbor?  Jesus answered that question with the parable of the Good Samaritan in the other Gospels to show that our neighbor is anyone we come in contact with.  If we have knowledge of another person’s need, we love them by meeting that need to the best of our ability.  It doesn’t matter whether the person is someone we like or dislike.  It doesn’t matter what gender, race, color, or religion.  It doesn’t matter whether they practice our religion and have the same or similar beliefs.  It makes no difference is one is gay, heterosexual, or anything else.  The way we love God, is by getting to know others enough to see their needs, and then do everything we can to meet those needs, while taking care of ourselves at the same time.  I think you’ll find this is the most gratifying way to have sex, and the greatest possible way to live life.

Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46

This is a challenging political season in the United States.  There is a huge demand for change.  The country is involved in at least a three-fold war, one in Afghanistan, another in Iraq, and a third called “The War Against Terror”.  Economic times are hard.  People are losing their homes. People are losing their jobs.  People are watching their retirement savings and financial security for the future disappear in a matter of days. Some of the nation’s largest banks and financial institutions have failed.  Billions of dollars have been allocated to rescue the faltering economy.

This is a highly emotional political season.  No matter which candidate for President one supports it is possible to be accused of sexism, ageism, or racism.  There is plenty of prejudice and fear to go around.  It is a close election, so name calling and negative campaigning are on the rise.  Misrepresentations and falsehoods abound.  On top of all of this there is an undercurrent of crude bigoted populism that has entered the race.

Today’s Gospel lesson, for the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, provides us with a familiar phrase.  In response to a trick question about taxes, Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”.  The Gospel appears to make a clear distinction between civil responsibilities and duties and religious responsibilities and duties.  Thomas Jefferson called this a “wall of separation between church and state.”  That doesn’t mean that we don’t have obligations to the government and the church, it simply means that those two commitments are different.

Jesus lived during the reign of kings and emperors.  The Bible was written from a perspective that does not include democracy or elected representative government.  The perspective of Scripture at first glance seems to be that we are to obey the king and pay our taxes, period.  Yet, there is much more to be said about believer’s relationship to civil authority in Scripture. 

We are to be world-changers.  We are called to bring hope to the world and serve as the body of Christ, the means by which God brings about change on earth.  When God wants something done, God does it through human beings.  Things like mercy, justice, righteousness, and peace are not things that miraculously fall out of the sky.  They are principles to be sought and defended.

Those of us who are fortunate enough to live in a republic like the United States have a unique opportunity to influence the world around us.  Actually, it is both an opportunity and a responsibility.  We have the ability to vote for our leaders.  We are allowed to select the type of person we want to lead our nation, and the kind of representatives we want making our laws.  This isn’t an easy task, and it is not to be taken lightly.  It is particularly difficult in an election cycle like the one we are experiencing.  

Yet God has given us the gift of voting.  While the Bible wasn’t written from the perspective democracy, we can find some helpful concepts to guide our choices when we get to the polling place.  These concepts can provide us with help as we look at the record, plans and character of those who have been nominated for office.  It isn’t a perfect system, but it is the best we have.  Therefore, we can do the best we can.

One important task is to be mindful and prayerful about our choices.  We can seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to see through the hatred, mistruths, and bigotry that has been evident in this campaign.  I’m always amazed at how politicians can keep smiling while at the same time tearing their opponent down.  That doesn’t mean we don’t use our intellect, we must think through difficult issues, but we should also be open to the voice of the Spirit to guide us to make change.

The Scripture is full of references about violence.  God hates violence.  There are at least eleven Scriptures that warn leaders that violence must not be prevalent.  Yet, we have spent 691 billion dollars, an unfathomable amount of money, on the War on Terror.  In addition funding for the military at its base is another 481.4 billion dollars.  Do we have leaders who are seeking peace, or leaders who want to make war?  Of course we have to be kept as safe as possible, but the amount of resources given to violence in this nation is staggering.  When making our election choices, we must decide who would give us the best shot at peace and not allow violence to prevail.

Violence doesn’t only take place in the rest of the world.  People are mistreated by criminals in our society every day.  Murder and violent crimes must be fought.  People should not be afraid to walk down the street just because they love someone of the same gender.  Children who are gay or lesbian should not be allowed to be bullied and beaten up in school.  When we make our election choices, we must choose one who will defend all minorities, including sexual minorities by passing a law like the Matthew Sheppard Act that will help protect minorities from hate crimes.

The Scriptures are filled with reminders to take care of the poor.  How can a nation that spends hundreds of billions of dollars making war, have people who are homeless, hungry and without proper clothing?  How do we fight poverty?  One way is by providing jobs.  The idea that if we give rich people more money they will make more jobs for the poor has proven not to be completely true.  Economics is not quite that simple.   The people near the bottom of the economic ladder need far more than a trickle down approach to survival.  According to the Bible, when we make our election choices, we must consider who will take care of the poor rather than the rich.

Deuteronomy, all the way back in the Torah, reminds us that leaders must take care of the aliens who live among us.  We must be careful that those who are not citizens are treated fairly and equitably.  We must share our resources and care for immigrants.  The Bible doesn’t say anything about whether they are legal or illegal immigrants.   They are to be given opportunities to earn a just wage and have a safe place to live.  When we make our election choices, the Bible says we must choose the one who will treat immigrants fairly, not one who will build up walls to keep them out.

On or before November fourth citizens of the United States have a chance to follow Christ’s instruction to “give to Caesar and at the same time give to God.  We have the chance to cast our vote for those who will follow principles of mercy, justice, righteousness and peace.  We have a chance to perhaps have fewer people die in wars, fewer beat up and murdered on our streets, fewer taken advantage of financially, and fewer mistreated because they are not citizens.  We have a chance to make a difference as the body of Christ and bring our society closer to God’s vision of what it means to live together fully human.

Exodus 33:12-23

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22

This week the Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut ruled that it is unconstitutional for the state to deny marriage to same sex couples.  This makes Connecticut the third state in the United States to allow equality in marriage, following Massachusetts and California.  Canada is far ahead of the United States in allowing for marriage quality as is South Africa, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Norway.   Marriage equality is the latest battle for civil rights in the United States and I believe every Christian who believes in standing for justice and equality will recognize that civil marriage must be provided to everyone and not limited to heterosexual couples.

Often those who oppose same sex marriage do so out of fear of violating tradition.  However, marriage has never been a consistent institution in Western culture, let alone among the cultures of the world.  The Bible shows many examples of men having multiple wives, King Solomon marrying hundreds in order to form treaties with other nations, and both men and women being forced into marriage against their will.  The Roman Empire recognized marriage between two men until the fourth century when Christian Emperor Constantius passed a law against the unions. 

Marriage of same sex couples was something that was accepted to some degree up until the end of the middle ages.  There were same sex unions among the peasants, the aristocracy, kings, and bishops.  It wasn’t until after the crusades against Islam that the church officially declared homosexuality sin, and persecution of homosexuality became commonplace.  Minorities are easy to demonize and anathematize in order to keep control over the majority population.  For some reason, human nature tends to cause people to unite when they believe they are threatened by a common enemy, even if the threat has no merit what so ever.

Marriage feasts were important at the time of Christ.  This week’s Gospel lesson from Matthew 22 is the parable of a king who invited guests to come to the wedding banquet of his son.  However, when called to come to the feast, the invited guests made excuses and did not attend the banquet.  Therefore, the king  invited everyone into the feast, regardless of their social status.

In order to place this feast in context it is helpful to read the account of this parable in Luke, and perhaps the Gospel of Thomas, which is not included in our Bibles, as well as today’s reading.  Jesus had been invited as a guest at the home of a religious and community leader.  There he took notice of how banquets were used as a means of establishing social status.  In general, people invited guests to come to a feast who could in turn invite them back to their home for a feast at another time.  Therefore, people were invited, not in order to be hospitable, but in order to do social networking and build one’s status.

Jesus challenged this idea and said that people should be invited regardless of whether they would be able to reciprocate. The blind and physically challenged should be invited to the feast along with the poor, who could not possibly repay the host by providing a similar feast in the future.  It was in this context that Jesus told the parable of the King’s great wedding banquet.  Christ took an egalitarian view of society and challenged the leaders to be inclusive of everyone.

That is the way it is at God’s table.  The realm of God is filled with people who are cast out by society.  The wealthy are not to be valued more than the poor, the sighted any more than the blind, the physically fit any more than the physically challenged, nor the heterosexual any more than the homosexual.  Everyone sits at the same table and shares in the same spiritual blessings of the realm of God.  There is room at God’s bosom to nurture every single one of us; particularly those who are the mistreated and outcasts of society. 

Matthew adds some commentary at the end of this parable in verses 11 through 13.  He talks about the king being offended by someone in the wedding banquet not wearing a wedding robe.  Interestingly, this isn’t in the other versions of this parable and was probably Matthew’s own addition into the story.  It is awkward and doesn’t seem to fit with the theme of the complete acceptance of everyone.  However, Matthew is trying to add a theological point into the text.

Christianity was often thought of after the resurrection as taking off the clothes of an old way of life and putting on the clothes of new life in Christ.  The idea is promoted several places in the Pauline school of thought and is shown in Paul’s epistles.  A glimpse of this may be seen in today’s epistle reading as we take off our clothes or old way of thinking and put on the new clothes of thinking like a Christian.  “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”  This idea is also shown in that we take off the works of the flesh, or selfishness, and we put on the fruit of the spirit, which are peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, and self control. 

Marriage today is the union of two soul mates, who make enduring commitments of love and loyalty to one another.  One couples’ marriage does not threaten the marriage of another.   Each marriage is unique to the couple.  While society has certain expectations of what that marriage should look like, and there is a great deal of continuity, when it comes down to the relationship of the two people in the marriage every relationship is special, unique, and private.  What works for one couple may not work for another.  Marriage no longer means that one person is dominant and the other passive.  Marriage no longer means that one has ownership of the other.  

It is through broadening stereotypes that same sex marriages will enhance the concept of marriage in our society and make all marriages stronger.

Just as everyone is welcome to the wedding feast in God’s domain, so also is everyone welcome to be married in God’s domain.  Regardless of whether the church or the state recognizes the unions, God indeed recognizes every union that is formed of love. God celebrates the diversity of creation by enhancing our unions with the presence of the Holy Spirit to make our love stronger and giving us the freedom to be unique. 

Exodus 32:1-14

Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 22:1-14

What does it take to be considered a part of the people of God?  How do we measure a Christian? Our society tends to want to use religion in a divisive way, to keep some people on the outside; or, perhaps, to keep some people under the control of other people.  Religion has been used in this way throughout the ages.  This is why religion can so easily become toxic and dangerous.  Religion is far too often more about politics and measuring one another up than truly finding the path of God and discovering the wonder of God’s Grace.

This week’s Gospel lesson, for the twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, contains the parable of the wicked servants.  It is probably more of an analogy than a true parable.  Jesus told the story of how someone owned a vineyard that he rented out to others in exchange for a share of the fruit.  Those who rented the property did not give the owner what he was due. The owner sent one person after another to reason with the wicked servants and get them to give the owner his fair share, but they refused.  Finally, the owner sent his son to collect.  Rather than listen to the son, the servants decided to kill the son and take the vineyard for themselves.

As Jesus told this parable, he was fully aware that he was going to be killed by the religious and political authorities who opposed him.  This parable was a direct confrontation with religion.  While Christ came to bring the good news that God loves everyone, the message was not received by the religious and political people who were using their power to keep control over others.  They measured other people according to the law.  Jesus came with a different sense of the law, and talked about new ways to measure one’s relationship with God.

Christ concluded this analogy with the warning that, “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruit of the kingdom.”  Jesus said that the way others will know one is a disciple is if they have love for one another.  Since love does not include a means to control others, religious leaders didn’t want this idea to be accepted by others.  Christian love is shown through the fruit of the Spirit.  The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. 

Our Old Testament lesson is the giving of the Ten Commandments through Moses.  You shall have no other God’s before me, You shall not make for yourself an idol, You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy, Honor your father and your mother, You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

These are all very nice rules, but are they the measure of a Christian?  Many people have reverted to these laws today and say that we are still required to keep them.  However, it was legalism that Jesus was trying to correct.  It isn’t rules and laws that guide our lives as believers; it is the fruit we bear.  That fruit is to show love to God, our neighbor and ourselves. 

In the Jewish rabbinic tradition there are those who teach that the Ten Commandments are not universal laws for everyone, but that they are only for the Jews.  Instead the six laws given to Noah are universal laws.  The Old Testament contains some 613 commandments.  Different groups of believers pick and choose which ones they want o follow and which ones they believe no longer apply.  The idea that there is some kind of uniform Judeo-Christian ethic is a myth.  Everyone accepts the rules they like and discards the ones they don’t. 

Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law.  Galatians tells us that the law of Christ is to “Love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and to Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two things.” (6:2) technically then, the Ten Commandments and other laws are not applicable to Christians.

Our epistle lesson this week explains that if anyone could boast of keeping the rules and customs of the law, that would be Paul.  However, he wrote, “I consider them rubbish (speaking of the law) that I may gain Christ.”  According to this passage, relationship with Christ is far superior to any custom, rule, or law.  Relationship replaces religion. This often frightens religious leaders who want to maintain power and control.

Religion does not give up power easily.  Religion loves rules and laws.  It is through laws that some people can be kept outside, and those on the inside can maintain power.  Various minority groups throughout history have been harmed because religious rules have been used against them.  Today millions of people are marginalized and discriminated against because someone decides that a particular law applies to them, or can be construed as to apply to them.  Religion can easily become toxic and painful when people try to enforce some other set of laws other than the law of Christ, to love one another.

We still have people today who like think of themselves as the religious “elite.”  Like the Pharisees they want the love, adoration, and financial gain that comes from manipulating religious fears.  If someone can be convinced that they can help save a loved one from Hell, they will go to great lengths and give large contributions to make that happen.   This is the same attitude that led Jesus to the cross.  It is a toxic poisonous kind of religion that is a danger to all of humanity, not simply the group being marginalized.  The Pharisees wanted Jesus dead because they saw him as religious competition.

However, Jesus tells us that the reign of God will be taken away from the legalistic and toxic religious leadership and given to a people who will produce the fruit of discipleship.  The fruit of discipleship is love.  No one has the authority to condemn or judge someone else.  The only way to recognize the true followers of Christ is though love.  It doesn’t matter what type of rituals one follows, whether one’s “lifestyle” fits well with the majority population, or whether one obeys the 613 laws of the Old Testament.  How do we measure a Christian? The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Philippians 3:4b-14
Matthew 21:33-46