Dangerous Poetry

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
December 21st 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
"Dangerous Poetry"
Fourth Sunday in Advent
Luke 1:26-38, 47-55
It has become cliché this time of year for people to comment about the “loss of Christ in Christmas.” Some have even claimed that there is a “War on Christmas.” I must admit that I am not all that worried about a perceived or even a real “War on Christmas.” I can say this because I believe in a God who is big enough to withstand any threat; real or imagined. Instead, I think a more fruitful use of our time is to focus our energy on one of the actors in the Christmas nativity who understood the power of God. Her witness, while often lost in the Protestant tradition, is a powerful and import one.
What does the scripture, from Luke, tell us about Mary? Who was she? Where did she come from? (Or with deference to my teachers: From whence did she come?) The truth is that in this Gospel, we know little. What we do know is that she is unmarried but betrothed, promised in marriage. Which places her about age twelve or thirteen. She is the cousin of Elizabeth. And, she is a woman, which in the ancient work meant she had no standing in society. In other words, Mary is not the sort of person whom the world would consider “favored by God.”
By our standards, to be “favored by God would mean having some standing in society. She would have had to come from the proper family. We would need an accounting of her royal or at least religious pedigree. But God breaks expectations and chooses someone who has none of the criteria. In fact, there is no criterion at all. The text tells us only that the angel says: “You have found favor with God.” No reason is given.

Some have argued that Mary is a person of no consequence and as such we should pay her no attention. This could not be further from the truth. The choice of Mary reminds us that God has always chosen people of no consequence to change the world. Christmas is a story that reminds us that God acts through people living on the margins of society.

So, Gabriel speaks to Mary and tells her that the world she knows is about to change. From the outset, it appears that Mary really does not have a choice. But that is not the end of the story. Mary’s first response is to simply ask how this is possible. Gabriel tells Mary of the miraculous things that God has done for her cousin Elizabeth. And adds that; ‘nothing is impossible for God.’ Mary’s final words to Gabriel is not an acquiescence too inevitability but instead and affirmation that she is on board. “Let it be!” Mary has had an encounter with the messenger of God and despite not having a clue as to the consequences, or the details, she says yes.

Mary is the first witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. The mother of God gets clued in before the rest of the world. After pondering these things in her heart, and visiting with her cousin Elizabeth, she finally gives a public witness. But her first words of the good news do not come in the form of a sermon. Instead she presents beautiful, powerful and revolution poetry as her witness to Gods action.

In Carl Sagan’s book Contact, made into a movie starring Jody Foster, a scientist, Foster, is sent on in a specially designed space vessel to make contact with life forms in another galaxy. When this scientist first makes contact and visits this unexplored galaxy her first glimpse leaves her speechless. Unable to convey the beauty of what she has seen in merely descriptive words, the comment is made that they should have sent a poet instead. Poetry has the power to convey what simple description cannot. It has the power to help us imagine and describe things which go beyond mere explanation. But, poetry also has the power to alter the world because poetry has the power to help us imagine that another world is possible. And when that happens the established order is in trouble.

This is the power of the words of Mary. She did not live in a world where the powerful had been brought down from their thrones. Mary did not live in a world where the prideful were scattered or where the rich were sent away empty. Mary’s world the world of an occupied province of a great empire is not one in which this poetic vision would have been birthed. But Mary is able to see it anyway. Mary imagines that another world is possible. She imagines this other world not simply because she has encountered Gabriel but because she knows the larger story of the faith. While she lives under military occupation she knows her primary identity is child of God. And, the God who has claimed her and calls her favored is a God who is bigger than any world power, past present or future.

This is what Mary knows. She knows the stories of the faith. Mary knows that God has done these things in the past. God has brought down the prideful at the tower of Babel. God has lifted up Abraham and Sarah and made them parents of all the generations. Our faith is built upon the faithful action of God and our belief in the power of being a witness. And because of this Mary can with confidence say: ‘the child I carry will upend this world.’ Her song is a song of hope for all those who feast on dust; it is a song of Good News! Amen.

It's All about Comfort, Right?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
December 7th 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“It’s All about Comfort, Right?”
Second Sunday of Advent
Communion Sunday
Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8

It was a cold day, a bit too cold to enjoy the garden, but it was the day after thanksgiving, so it was good to be out and about. As I went walking through the Olbrich botanical garden in Madison Wisconsin, I marveled at the silent beauty. The silence was only broken when Emma said: “I bet this is really pretty in the summer.” A bit taken back I replied: “I think it is really pretty right now you just have to work harder to see it.” She looked at me as if to check on whether I was serious or not. Realizing that I was not, “Ok daddy,” is all she said.
I am sure that she is right. The spring and summer versions of that garden are probably quite amazing. However, after two winters working on a tree farm I came to appreciate the beauty provided in the winter landscape. The truth is that when a garden is in full bloom or in its fall glory, we do not have to do much but open our eyes and enjoy, even if that means braving our allergies. But, despite the cold, I believe the barrenness of winter is beautiful and has much to teach if we will just work a little harder to see it.
You do not have to be a fan of gardens to understand what I am saying. We are, after all, a people of the wilderness story. The story of our faith is all about encountering God in the barren places. It took forty years of wandering in the barren wilderness to be prepared for the Promised Land. Moses is spoken to by God in the wilderness; God speaks to the prophets in the wilderness. The messengers of God always find themselves in the wilderness. The wilderness is a barren place where clarity of purpose is often found. John goes into the wilderness to proclaim the good news, and Jesus will go into the wilderness in preparation for his earthly ministry. The wildernesses, the deserts, the barren places of life are really our places.
That may not sound much like good news. It may seem even more difficult when we consider that our calling is to share this story. Just imagine the marketing campaign: “Come to our church it’s a barren, wilderness… a real wasteland!” Not particularly appealing. And add to this that we are a people of the wilderness story in a culture well practiced at avoiding wilderness. It is not that we do not offer a word of comfort but the comfort we are offered is not what most might expect.
The comfort from the words of the prophet is directed to those who have suffered. Comfort is promised in the form of a vision where the inequality of the world comes to an end. Those at the top are going to be brought down and those at the bottom will be brought up. God’s great leveling of the world may not be perceived as comfort if you stand at the top. But at the heart of this passage is that this vision of comfort has more to say about wilderness than about comfort.
Wilderness is never a place where one wants to go, at least if we have a choice. Have you ever encountered a wilderness place, a place of solitude, a place of pain and discomfort? A place where hiding or distraction was no longer an option? The wilderness places of our lives can be as different as each one of us. In fact, no one can name the wilderness places in your life for you. However, if we enter into our wilderness story of faith long enough I am sure it can speak to those places where everything seemed, or seems, barren.
The good news found in the invitation of John the Baptist is that the wilderness is no longer a place for the select few. God invites all people to see the wilderness places, the desert places, and the barren places of our lives for what they have the potential to be: A place of divine encounter. In this second Sunday of advent we are being called to look a little longer, and work a little harder to see the place of beauty in the barren places of our lives. This is not a message where we run out and tell people who are suffering to look for God in their barren places. Instead, and this is critically important, we are called to give witness to where we have seen God working, and speaking in the barren places of our own lives. Advent is an invitation into the wilderness places, but it is also a reminder that the wilderness is not the end of the story. During those long solitary days working on the tree farm in the dead of winter I found that spring never looked as beautiful as when it followed the long cold winter where I longed for even a hint of the hope of spring. Amen.

Hoping for a Tear

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
November 30th 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Hoping for a Tear”
First Sunday of Advent Meditation
Isaiah 64:1-9; Mark 13: 24-37

There is a bit of hope in the air these days. But, there is also a good bit of anxiety. What is going to happen? We wait, and watch for the signs. Every year we do the same routine. We wait and watch for this signs. Will this ‘black Friday’ save the economy for another year? I know that sounds funny but the truth is that Advent and the Holiday shopping season are both times of waiting. In our consumer culture the season of advent, the season of waiting, can get lost with all the shopping hype. Fortunately, both texts from this morning provide us with a good way to deal with this tension.
“In those days” and “In the days to come” are words of longing, desperation, and hope. In Isaiah the longing is rooted in the exile, a living hell, where God seems all but absent. For the readers of Mark’s gospel, they are living at a time when the Roman occupation had become particularly difficult. The revolutionary fervor was high because the Roman surge was at unprecedented historic levels. Suffering, pain, and uncertainty were the order of the day. It is out of this trouble that our advent texts were birthed.
At the heart of these passages is a longing for change in the current arrangements. Because the people speaking these words are not the ones in power they must use symbolic language. So when we read about the powers of heaven, or the sun, moon, and stars, know that this is a way to talk about a change in the current arrangements without risking charges of sedition. ‘Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down…’ is a charge which could be labeled seditious by those wedded to the status quo. So the prayer goes up to God hoping that the sky will open and the ‘mighty mountains’ of this world will learn that they are not god.
Advent is a strange season for those who are the ‘mighty mountains’ and others who benefit from the current arrangements. This is probably why many Christians in North American have difficulty relating to Advent. If we dig deep enough Advent is a time when those pleased with the status quo are asked to imagine that things should be different. ‘Tear open the heavens and end the current arrangements,’ is not a prayer in most of our prayer books. It is much easier to focus on the cute baby in the manger. It is at times like this that I did wish we did not always follow the lectionary calendar. So, at this time of year when we come face to face with the hard reality of Advent what are we going to do?
The truth is that Advent is the time of year when we can finally get honest about things. It is the time when we are allowed to name that which is just not right. We can say that trampling a store clerk to get a cheap price on the season’s latest gadget is a societal sickness. It is when we can say that killing in God’s name is wrong and that people matter more than profit. It is a time when we can say that illness and suffering is never God’s will. We can and must say that God is not pleased.
This is a strange practice for most of us. That is why it is a good thing that we have a great cloud of witnesses who have come before us. They have showed us how to survive in a world that needs to be torn apart. It is that time of year again. And so for the duration of advent, what I am calling the ‘Waiting Wall’ will be placed here in the sanctuary. On that board I have placed some headlines from different newspapers in the last week. During advent you are invited to place your own headline, or concern, that you want to lift up to God. It will become our own prayer to God of what needs to be ended in our time. So let us reach back and take the banner from those who have gone before us. Let us prepare our hearts to cry out: “Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down… and consider that we all are your people.” Amen? Amen!

If we had only know...

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
November 23rd 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“If we had only known…”
Union Council Joint Thanksgiving/ Accessibility Project Dedication
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20 Matthew 25:31-46

In preparation for today I went back through the history of Westminster. Travelling through the pages of our official history, back even before the churches official founding, I was struck by the points of history which were deemed worthy of remembering. I believe what we choose to remember and what we choose to forget can be rather instructive. What are the stories we like to tell about ourselves? For our three churches, we focus on things like; the date of founding, the roles we have played in denominational politics, the good old days when pews and nurseries were packed, and the date when we finally decided that God was serious about welcoming all people into the church.
While this is the way we write about our history, the official way to tell people about our church is to review the last ten years of the annual statistical reports, at least that is how Presbyterians do it. (In case you were unaware the word Presbyterian is Greek for keeper of records.) Now while this might seem like a uniquely Presbyterian disease, consider how we most often describe our churches. We will talk about the good work we are doing but it does not take long before we focus on money, membership, and worship attendance. For Presbyterians, the annual statistical report is rather detailed, but the three items which most people use to determine the health and vitality of a congregation are these: 1) Annual Giving – money 2) Membership, and 3) Worship attendance. So in practice these become the default marks for the true church.
While it is not intended this way these reports become a tool for separating the sheep and the goats. Or at least showing where the spirit of God is assumed to be at work. Now, the hard truth is that according to those numbers, none of our churches are at the top of our respective denominations. But then again, if we follow these markers our denominations are no longer leading those categories. This is not an easy truth to hear but I know it is not news to anyone. So why on earth, on this Thanksgiving Day, this day of dedication, would I try to bring us down with what we already know? Well, I want to reach back into the history of Westminster and suggest we cause some trouble with the keepers of records.
From 1880 until 1914 Westminster worshiped at the sight of the current Fox Theatre. In 1910 the leaders of the church went to the denominational leadership for permission to move to this location. The response was a clear and resounding: “No!” And the denominational leaders were never, never, swayed that Westminster should move to this site. So in 1912 the church voted to move anyway and by 1914 here we were. No matter the motivation I like to believe that this is a story where the followers of Jesus decided that to be faithful they had to break some rules. It is because of their open defiance of their denomination that we are here on this day, dedicating our commitment to be a place for all people.
I like that story and believe it can be an inspiration for continued faithfulness. It is time, not just for Westminster, but for the Union Council churches to make a stand and say that the old rules will no longer apply. Let us stand up and refuse, from this day forward, to measure our faithfulness through the lens of money and members. And when folks demand and accounting for these markers of faithfulness all we need to do is hide behind this scripture from Matthew 25. It might be that simple. Since we are going to hide behind it let us take a closer look.
It is not often that we like to focus on the judgment passages. And this passage is particularly odd. It is odd because the judgment, the separation of sheep and goats, is not based on nationality or race, or gender, or sexuality, or even your denomination. On the surface, this passage seems rather simple, but it is not. What looks like Jesus’ litmus test for who gets into heaven and hell, actually ends up being much more.
The beauty of this text is the reminder that much of where we spend our energy is of little consequence. While the passage is complex, the calling for the follower of Jesus is really simple, if not always easy: Food for the hungry, drinks for the thirsty, welcome for the strangers, clothing for the naked, care for the sick and visiting people in prison. When the sheep are welcomed it is not with these words: You are the righteous because you topped the list of givers, had the largest denominations and worship attendance. Try as I might, I could not find that in this passage. Instead, success, no faithfulness is measured in service.
So, what would happen if when we were asked by our denominational offices or anyone for that matter about the size of our church, and budget, we answered with a litany of how we had provided: Food for the hungry, drinks for the thirsty, welcome for the strangers, clothing for the naked, and care for the sick and visiting people in prison? What if we used this as the litmus test for all that we did in our churches and as part of Union Council? Imagine that today we could decide to start a movement in our denominations that change all the rules about church statistics?
Now there is always a danger in starting a movement. That danger is to become deceived into thinking we are the righteous and everyone else is the dammed. So as we begin our movement today I would like your help in avoiding that pitfall. Can I count on your help? Alright, if you have ever done one of the following things please stand as you are able, or raise your bulletin in the air if you are unable. If you have ever: Fed someone who was hungry, gave a drink to someone who was thirsty, welcomed a stranger, gave clothing to people who needed them, cared for someone who was sick, or visited someone in prison, please stand up. Please remain standing. Alright, now if there was ever a time when you had the opportunity to: Fed someone who was hungry, gave a drink to someone who was thirsty, welcomed a stranger, gave clothing to people who needed them, cared for someone who was sick, or visited someone in prison, and did not do it, please sit down. Thank you for your indulgence. This little exercise is a reminder that the sheep in this passage did not have a clue that they were doing the will of God.
It is an important reminder for those who seek to turn things on their head that just when we think we have it figured out we had better look out. Faithfulness, in this passage, is gauged upon the care of the least of these. Yet, no one was aware that this was the way of faithfulness. It even appears that if the goats would have only known they would have gladly complied. Likewise the sheep seem uninterested in complying with anything. For them it was simply the sort of thing they just did. But we are not the seep or the goats because we have heard this story we know the way of faithfulness and as such we are called to live differently because of this knowledge.
Today, it is a great gift that we can be here dedicating this building at a joint service of worship. Having this many witnesses will make us much more likely that we remain committed to using our facilities to do ministry for the least of these. But it is also my hope that when the next history of our church, and all of our churches, are written that the guiding principles and the lead stories will not be money and membership. But instead it is my hope that we will be held accountable, that our faithfulness will be gauged on: Food for the hungry, drinks for the thirsty, welcome for the strangers, clothing for the naked, and care for the sick and visiting people in prison. And who knows, maybe the next generation will look back upon us and say: “They started a movement.” But let us not just hope. The next time someone asks about your church and they want to know about the money, the membership, or the worship attendance, refuse to participate. Instead, point to the work we are doing with the least of these. Then, gently remind them, and us, that Jesus seemed more interested in these things. Are we ready to start a movement? Amen!

Anticipation Posture

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
November 23rd 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Anticipation Posture”
Stewardship Season: Reordering Our Lives
I Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30

I. Introduction
Finally, a parable about the protestant work ethic! Now we know for sure that old adage is true: “That God helps those who help themselves.” Even if that is not really in the bible, this parable comes awfully close to saying just that. If there ever was a parable for our times, one that is relevant for us, this morning’s reading from Matthew is the one. It is a story which helps to reinforce our cultural beliefs regarding; property, talents and money.
The master, Jesus, gathers his slaves, disciples, and gives them talents according to their ability. So that we grasp the reality and scale of what is happening, one talent is equal to about six thousand denarii. And one denarius is equal to one day’s wage. One talent then, is equal to six thousand days of work, or roughly sixteen and a half years. So we are talking about some serious money. By the time we reach the end of the parable things turn out as we might expect: The slave who creates the most wealth receives not only the highest praise but also the talent of the frightened slave who refused to participate in the marketplace. In the final crescendo, Jesus makes the lesson quite clear: “For all those how have, more will be given, and they will an abundance; but those who have nothing even what they have will be taken away.”
By all accounts it appears that God rewards those who pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. And, if you are poor the message is also clear; it is your own fault and God offers you nothing but a curse. The unsettling truth is that this interpretation is easily made. When we simply scratch the surface and take Jesus at face value, our face value, this interpretation becomes gospel. Fortunately, the nature of parables, the evidence in the scripture, and the person of Jesus all challenge this simplistic, yet popular, interpretation.

II. Nature of Parables
Parables are always strange stories which have a way of leaving us changed, if we have ears to hear. The problem and gift of parables is that they are not stories about common sense. Instead, parables are insider speech meant for the community of faith. New Testament scholar Warren Carter says that: “Most of the situations (in parables) come from everyday, familiar peasant life, with a twist or surprise that forces the audience to reconsider some aspect of the status quo in light of God’s empire.” In other words, if these parables were meant to address peasant life by twisting what we assume we know, then we can never take parables at face value. We must dig deeper to understand where the twist is located.

III. The evidence in the scripture
So where is the twist in this parable? The twist is found in a number of places but I will focus on three. The first is the hyperbole, or exaggeration of the talents. The amount of money given to the slaves is so far beyond what any peasant could comprehend. It would have been meant as a clue to the hearers that everything is not what it might seem. The second clue was that the slave was punished because he dug a hole in the ground and hid the equivalent of sixteen years labor. It was common practice for the peasants to protect money in this way, particularly such a large sum. Alone, these clues could be dismissed but add the final and most important clue, and it is clear that Jesus was up to something just below the surface of the parable.
The final clue was Jesus’ use of the term wicked. In the gospel of Matthew the term wicked, also translated evil-one, is reserved for only a select few. The honor roll of the wicked includes: The devil, the religious leadership, and “this generation.” Each instance the term wicked/evil one is used to indicate those who do not follow God’s will. Jesus’ use of this term in this parable is the final clue that the meaning is not found on the surface of this parable.
As if this wasn’t enough, Jesus’ final crescendo of the parable is really not what it appears. “For all those how have, more will be given, and they will an abundance; but those who have nothing even what they have will be taken away.” The obvious question to this statement is: “If you do not have anything, how can anything more be taken away?” Rather than becoming a battle cry for the status quo, this passage is instead a veiled, yet direct challenge to anyone who is not following God’s will.
While on the surface this passage seems to affirm those who have gained power and wealth through the exploitation of the widow, orphan, and alien, it is not. In fact, what they have acquired is of no ultimate consequence and will be taken away. The wicked slave in this parable is not the poor, the widow or the orphan, but the religious and political leadership who have buried their talents out of self interest.

IV. The person of Jesus
If there was any remaining doubt as to the validity of this interpretation we need only to move to the person of Jesus. For us to cling to the belief that Jesus can be compared to the master of this story is a sin of willful ignorance. Let me explain. The master in this story is a man who is absent, gives unequally, rewards the accumulation of wealth built at the expense of others, and acts tyrannically towards the poor and those of lesser ability. This is simply not the way of Jesus who is revealed to us in the Gospel of Matthew.
The Jesus made known to us in the gospel of Matthew acted in very different ways. Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” 5:3. And later in the gospel, when asked by a rich man how to inherit eternal life, Jesus says:
“If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” And; “…it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. “19:21, 23-24.
Given that Jesus is so often clear about the perils of wealth it is inconceivable that this parable was anything other than world altering, for those who have ears to hear. So, if we now know what this passage is not about, what is it about? Or, what could it be inviting us to consider?

V. Conclusion
On the surface this passage is about wealth. But laying just below the surface, for those with ears to hear, there is a message which calls all of us to consider our calling. We have been given gifts beyond imagination – just not as the world might measure. And the question becomes, for the community of faith, the followers of Jesus is, ‘What shall we do?’ Will we risk our very lives to increase our talents for God’s glory? Will we use our talents for God, or will we circle the wagons, and hide behind our cathedral walls hoping that someone might find the gift we have buried in the ground?
Faithful following involves moving into the marketplace of life, extending ourselves, extending our followership, even risking our pet projects and our favorite way of doing things. We cannot bury our talents deciding we will attend to our concerns first. Faithful communities never exist for themselves – they exist for risk – to spread the good news – to announce release to the captives, and welcome for all.
Let me try and make it plain. The role of our church should always be the building up and nurturing of new disciples not ensuring that our wishes are fulfilled. When we seek our comfort first, it is in essence burying the talents God has given. As we come to the conclusion of our stewardship season we must now face the tough questions. Where have we been spending our time, resources, and energy? How will that change next year? Are we seeking to build up God’s kingdom or nurturing ourselves alone? Are we here for the service of other people, the hungry, thirsty, and those who need the unique talents God has given us?
Now is the time. Now is the time for us to stand ready, anticipating that Jesus will return. This is where the rubber meets the road, where things might just get a bit uncomfortable. I am going to end with a long period of silence. But before I do I want you to reach out and grab the pledge cards and the time and talent forms and decide now, during the time of silence, how you will use your talents for the ministries of this community and God’s world. When Tim starts playing we are all invited to come forward and give to God the talents of our lives. Amen.

Knowledge is Only the Beginning

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
November 9th 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Knowledge is Only the Beginning”
Stewardship Season: Reordering Our Lives

“Well mother don't you stop prayin' Father keep right on prayin' Don't you stop prayin' for this old world is almost done. Keep your lamps trimmed and burning, Keep your lamps trimmed and burning, Keep your lamps trimmed and burning, For this old world is almost done”
These words from the spiritual are the words of Jesus parable. In plain and no uncertain terms the followers of Jesus learn to: “Stay Awake.” And Christians can, ‘stay awake,’ or keep your lamps trimmed and burning, because we know that this old world is almost done. We know that the ways of this world do not have the last word. As a result, we can have hope, and work for justice, and we can give witness to the saving Word of God.
But ‘staying awake,’ as the bridesmaids show us, is not easy. After all, it has been two-thousand years and the journey can wear us down. Empires still abound. The powerful still take advantage and scapegoat the widows, the orphans, and the aliens. Worse yet, the religious leaders continue to be bought for a mess of pottage. Know I may be too young to think this way but when I see our children in failing and falling schools in the shadow of world-class institutions of education, or when people die from curable diseases in the shadows of top-notch medical facilities, I can feel despair knocking at my door. It can leave us saying, ‘yes Lord we believe, but we are a tired people.’ It can really put what we think we know to the test. And I know I am just a young man I have not seen enough to think this way… but I do.
But this I also know. Every once in a while there is a moment, a time, when we are reminded that the waiting, the active waiting and working for a new day is not in vain. I also know that when these moments make themselves known that one voice is never enough. We need to listen to the stories of others. In our tradition there is a little practice known as giving a witness. In thinking about the historic nature of the events of this week I came to one conclusion: “My voice would not be the only one to give witness.” So, I invited three folks to come forward and share, give a testimony in light of the election of the first black man to the highest office in the nation. So I want to invite Mary Spencer, Herman Noah, and Janice Tharp to come forward and share a word, a thought, a witness in light of the events of this week.
As I bring a word of conclusion or word of something, let me say this. I give thanks for these words of witness and will not provide any commentary for witness never needs commentary. Instead, let me offer a word of caution and a word of challenge. First the word of caution: Eight years ago our, predominantly white evangelical brothers and sisters believed that God had ordained the newly elected president. In doing so, in tying their cart to that horse, they were unable to provide a prophetic word when it was necessary. A number of these leaders have admitted that they regret and repent they allowed themselves to be silenced. We cannot afford to make the same mistake. We must seek to remain faithful, and awake enough to speak the prophetic word when the time demands.
And now, the promised word of challenge. We have come a long way and it is hard to truly grasp its reality. But messiah has not come and there is still work to be done. However, take this event as a glimpse that a better day is possible. Our work and struggle is never in vain even when we cannot see the fruits of our struggle, because someone will. However, every once in a while, we are given a glimpse that our efforts, our prayers, our trimming of lamps and staying awake is worth the struggle. So let us give thanks for the glimpses of hope along the way.
I am convinced that there are times in our lives when a powerful word needs to be spoken. Today is one of those days. But instead of crafting those words myself I believe today demands the skill of a poet. And the poet’s words best suited for today come from the Irish poet Seamus Haney. Today we give him the last word. In The Cure at Troy he wrote the following words:
Human beings suffer,they torture one another,they get hurt and get hard.No poem or play or songcan fully right a wronginflicted or endured.

The innocent in jailsbeat on their bars together.A hunger-striker's fatherstands in the graveyard dumb.The police widow in veilsfaints at the funeral home.

History says, Don't hopeon this side of the grave.But then, once in a lifetimethe longed for tidal waveof justice can rise up,and hope and history rhyme.

So hope for a great sea-changeon the far side of revenge.Believe that a further shoreis reachable from here.Believe in miraclesand cures and healing wells.

Call the miracle self-healing:The utter self-revealingdouble-take of feeling.If there's fire on the mountainOr lightning and stormAnd a god speaks from the sky

That means someone is hearingthe outcry and the birth-cryof new life at its term.

~ Seamus Heaney ~

Amen.

God and Taxes

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 19th 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“God and Taxes”
Stewardship Season: Reordering Our Lives
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22

For the next six weeks we are going to talk about the last sacred cow for Christians in North America. That topic is money. When preachers and I included myself, usually talk about money we do it a setting that has something to do with the churches operating budget – our annual campaign. I believe this is a grievous injustice because it does not truly help us to grasp the radical nature of stewardship. When we connect stewardship with funding our operating budget we are at risk to faulty thinking. The first problem is that we begin to believe stewardship is about giving our money to keep the church running. Connected to this is the belief that Westminster doesn’t really need the money because we have an endowment. As a result one of the basic spiritual disciplines of Christianity is neglected.
The spiritual practice of giving is really under assault in our consumer culture. In a consumer culture we expect something in return for our generosity, or for our dollar. In a consumer culture when we give we expect that our wants will be cared for appropriately. When this does not happen in the marketplace we will demand that management make it right. If we do not get what we order we have the right to demand restitution. There is nothing wrong with this in the marketplace but you might be able to see how this could cause problems in a community of faith. In this consumer culture we need to spend far more time reordering our understanding to become imitators of Christ.
When writing to the church at Thessalonica Paul is speaking about the basics of faith which are founding on practice of imitation. It is an imitation which begins with Jesus and continues throughout the community of faith. Paul praises this community and reminds them of the importance of continuing with the basics. The faith we share in Christ is founded on gratitude which is nurtured through prayer, bible study, worship and serving others. In other words, it begins with the knowledge that all we have and all we are is a gift from God. It is a radically different message than what we are nurtured in our consumer culture. The praise that Paul offers for the community goes beyond their faithfulness and extends to their faithfulness witness. By their imitation of Paul, others can see how their lives have been transformed. Nowhere is this more evident than in Jesus encounter with the Pharisees.
“Is it lawful to pay taxes?” It is a trap that is set up for Jesus. It is like asking: “When did you stop beating your children?” There is no way to answer the question which does not get you into trouble. If Jesus says “yes” then the crowd will consider him just another sell out to the empire. If Jesus says “no” then he will become an enemy of the state and subject to death. It is not an easy place to be. But it is the sort of question which divided those in positions of power and the majority of the people. So instead of answering the question Jesus changes the conversation. He challenges those entrenched on both sides of the issue to imagine that the world is not so fixed.
“Give me a denarius.” And Jesus begins the lesson, like any skilled educator, with a question. ‘Whose head and whose title is on this coin?’ His testers do not catch the trick in his question because they answer as if it is simply one question. The face on the coin is indeed Caesars but the title says that Caesar is God, sovereign. And it is on this point that everything changes. The religious leadership have become so tied to the power structures that they no longer notice the money they use is blasphemy. The title given to this political figure is to be reserved for God alone. And Jesus reveals this with his simple words: “give to God what is God’s and Caesar what is Caesars.”
Jesus words are so astounding that his detractors leaves speechless and impressed. Unfortunately his words do not really resolve the issue of whether or not we should pay taxes. For that matter he does not give a clear answer for how to sort out what belongs to the emperor and what belongs to God. What Jesus does do is to put the question back upon the crowd, and back upon us to decide where the boundaries of each realm.
To venture an understanding of all of this we have to begin with the simple truth that Jesus does not answer many questions for those of us living in a democratic state. The best of our tradition has helped us navigate these waters by beginning with the knowledge that human beings bear the image and likeness of God and as such we belong to God. As such our ultimate loyalty is always reserved for God. Nothing can come before God, not even the emperor. That is why Christians must always be wary of politicians of any stripe, they want our ultimate loyalty and as God’s children we cannot give it. So while Jesus does not answer the question about taxes he does answer the issue of ultimate authority and ultimate loyalty.
We no longer have an emperor but we do have people and entities that compete for our ultimate loyalty. The economy- money – consumerism – all have begun to trample on the image of God in each person by turning us into commodities to be bought and sold. And as good consumers we act and react through a lens that sees our money, our life, our decisions as just that; ours. We earned it, or inherited it, and as a result we are the ultimate arbiter of how it will be used and spent. Autonomous consumers whose only restraint is the amount of money and credit we can obtain. But as Christians we must reject this sort of thinking which divides us into autonomous individuals who bear no responsibility for one another.
The God we know in Jesus Christ welcomes all people to come and follow. But this invitation is not without responsibility. As followers of Jesus the way we live and the decisions we make about money is always a spiritual issue. If we are able to put a little away for ourselves and give a little for Gods work it will mean we will be less able to participate in the consumptive madness of our age. But more importantly it will help us to change our focus and relationship with money. Even in tight times – the symbolism of saying I will save this little bit and give this little bit for God’s work – is a sign of defiance to the powers that want us to continue, thoughtlessly, to be consumers of the next thing.
And since there is a bit of talk these days about taxes, if I did not say something about it I suppose it would be irresponsible. I am not maker of policy and as a minister, preacher, I do not have a suggestion on the right way to deal with taxes. However, I do have something to say. As followers of Jesus we need to enter that conversation from a different angle. Our support or rejection of tax policy cannot be based on primarily how it affects us. As Christians we cannot enter this conversation from a selfish perspective. Instead we must always begin with how this affects the widows, orphans, aliens; the most vulnerable in society. As we seek to be good stewards and reorder our lives we must be ever vigilant for the struggle being waged for our loyalty. God has created us to be more than consumers, we are children of God and as such it is my prayer that we will be transformed each day as we struggle against the powers that keep us from living faithfully in our whole lives, especially with money. Amen? Amen!

Keep at IT

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 12th 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Keep at IT!”
Psalm 99 Philippians 4:1-9 Matthew 22:1-14

Paul’s words– taken out of context can sound like a simple ethical exhortation – a plan for personal piety – timeless words which need no historical setting. On one level that is true however, Paul lived so much more. Paul was not simply providing an ethical framework on how to be nice in church and in the world. Instead – Paul was making a call for unity from the depths of a very grave situation. Paul, along with many others, had given up much to follow Jesus. They had faced ridicule, loss of jobs, family, imprisonment and even death. To early Christians, Paul’s words were not the sort which could be sanitized and reprinted on a disposable cup from Starbucks. Instead, these were words necessary for survival and faithfulness in a hostile world not excited about the message.
This is our last week with this letter to the Philippians. Over the last few weeks we have heard what is considered to be Paul’s most personal letter where he calls for unity and communion from the depths of a grave situation. As he writes these words, in the midst of a world changing crisis, Paul speaks more of joy than anything else. Despite not knowing what tomorrow will bring, Paul is teaching his sisters and brothers the means of survival by reminding them about their identity. And while history is a strong corrective to sentimentalizing the words of Paul the parable of Jesus may be the best corrective of all.
Jesus begins teaching: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king…” With these words our minds begin to imagine that Jesus is talking about God. In other words the king in the story is about God and about the great banquet where many will join together in honor of the son of the King. The traditional interpretation is this: The King is God who sends his slaves, prophets, to the people of Israel who refuse to obey and come. The king sends more slaves, prophets, to do the job. This time the slaves are made fun of and some are even abused and others killed. God gets so angry that he sends the great army of Babylon to destroy the nation and send them into exile.
At this point, the interpretation goes, Israel has lost God’s blessing. As a result God opens up the invitation to all people. In fact, everyone is brought in, good and bad. Everyone is welcome to the feast now, except the people of Israel. Finally at the feast the king notices that one person does not have on the right clothes. The king is not happy and asked how he got into the banquet without the right clothing. The man was speechless and the King demands that the silent one, the intruder to the banquet, be bound hand and foot and thrown out into the place of death and the place of suffering. Finally, the interpretation goes, this man is rebellious and unworthy of God’s welcome. From this we are to understand that we must all be careful that we accept God’s welcome and come to the feast in the right clothing. So that interpretation goes. And I no longer believe this interpretation is adequate.
Every parable of Jesus is intended to take our understanding of the world and feed it back to us with just enough of a twist so we go away thinking, and perhaps changed. This parable is no different. There are two pieces we need to keep in mind. The first is that the banquet metaphor is often about Jesus as the host who invites all on behalf of God. In this story which is supposedly a metaphor for the history of God with Israel it does not even include Jesus. Nowhere does the King send his own son to go and compel people to come to the banquet. While this could be explained away what holds most sway for me is that the uninvited guest remains silent in the face of the king accusations.
Only three times in the Gospel of Matthew is someone silent in the face of authority or a king. When Jesus is taken under the cover of night and brought before the high priest, bound hand and foot, Jesus was silent. He was silent when charged with wrongdoing, for being the outsider with the wrong clothing. In front of Pilate, Jesus is questioned by him and gives no answer to any of the charges. In fact, Jesus is the one, the one who remains silent in the face of arbitrary and capricious authority. Jesus is the one who is called the outsider, the one who does not belong in the religious community. Jesus is the one with the wrong clothing. As a result, Jesus is the one who is bound hand and foot and taken to the place of outer darkness, Golgotha, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. So instead of this being an allegory for the kingdom of God I believed it is meant as a contrasting comparison to the kingdom of God.
After all, as we look at Jesus’ life, the revelation of God, it is safe to say that God does not act this way. God does not wipe out a population because he is angry. God does not kill women and children for refusing an invitation. Unlike the welcome table of God, this earthly king has set up a banquet to satisfy his desire for glory and recognition. And, at God’s welcome table, the slaves will be the ones with the place of honor. For those who cannot afford the fancy wedding cloths, at God’s banquet feast, they will be welcome anyway. And because of this we can know that the king in this story is not the God who we know in Jesus Christ. And that is good news.
As an otherworldly, after we die image, this parable speaks little to us now other than this: “Good luck to you since God acts like this. After you die, you might be in, you might be out, and you might end up thrown out for not having the right clothing.” This is not the good news of Jesus Christ. This is not the way God works. And that is the good news. But this good news is hidden just below the surface of this parable if we have ears to hear.
In fact, considering this interpretation of this passage alongside the words of Paul make Paul’s word more relevant our own place in time. Paul’s words and Jesus’ parable give us a way of understanding the world we know well through the lens of faith. The world of the parable is our world.
Consider this: We live in the murder capital of the United States. The death is right outside our door, and it includes people we know. Children, who have been labeled expendable by the wider society, are killing or are at risk of being killed for food, or survival or because they are simply on the wrong street. These children are our children. These children have been bound hand and feet – with apartheid like education systems, our children have been bound hand and feet with inadequate healthcare, our children have been bound hand and feet by the continued indifference of society. Our children have come to the party with all those strikes against them. If they finally make it into the party they face questions like: How did you get in here with your pants hanging low? So we pass more laws which will bind them hand and foot and throw them back into the city where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth right now.
As people who follow the one, the son of God, who was bound hand and feet and thrown into the places of death, we have an obligation to proclaim these things as no longer acceptable. But it is a hard thing to bear once we know. So when we are faced with this world of death and despair remember that Paul faced the same world of death and despair. And Paul says: “stand firm in the Lord… help these co-workers… Rejoice again I will say, Rejoice… Let your gentleness be known to everyone… The Lord is near… Do not worry about anything… pray… God, will guard your hearts and your minds…” When Paul says these things they are not simply words to live by but the very thing which enables us to face the struggle all around us. So let us never forget that as we bear the good news that God’s own son was unwelcome in the places of power and went anyway. We have a simple charge from Paul which enables us to remain faithful when things get tough. “Finally, whatever is true, whatever is honorable; whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, think about these things… and most of all: Keep at it.” Amen.

Living Ego-Overdrive

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 28th 2008

“Living Ego-Overdrive”
Ps 78:1-4, 12-16; Phil 2:1-13
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller

Since we have been told by the powers-that-be, that we stand on the precipice of economic Apocalypse you might assume that I would toss out my plan for this weeks’ sermon. I considered looking for scriptures that would speak directly to this crisis and come up with a new sermon all together. I considered that for about five minutes and decided against it. My decision was based on two reasons: 1) The passages read this morning are relevant and 2) the current crisis, while real, is nothing new. Folks in the middle and the bottom of the economic spectrum have been in crisis for years. Health care has become a privilege, housing is precarious, education is savagely unequal, and one out of every ninety-nine people in this country is in prison, but politicians and the nightly news only seem to notice when folks who have over 100,000 dollars in one bank start to feel the trouble. So, I hope you can understand why I chose not to follow their lead since we have been talking about this crisis for a long time. So let us go back to our ancient, yet relevant scriptures so we can place this current crisis in proper perspective.
“Listen, up!” The teacher begins a lesson directed to parents, grandparents, and all adult figures in the community. That lesson is clear: If you don’t teach the coming generation, if you do not make sure the coming generation learns the stories how will they know? How will they survive? Do not hide the story that was passed along to you. Do whatever you need to do to make God’s work and Word known.’ How can we, as a people of faith share hope in the midst of these difficult times? The psalmist makes it clear. Remember. Remember what God did in Egypt. In Egypt, God made some things clear: Empire, particularly those built on the backs of slaves will not stand. The great army of Egypt found itself in a Red Sea quagmire destroyed because their leaders’ heart was hardened. The psalmist need not mention the details but only mention Egypt and the divided waters and everyone remembers that whatever we face in the future, God is with us.
The psalmist continues to recount God’s action. Nothing ends at the Red Sea, except the Egyptian chariots. God not only held back the waters to save the ancestors, but God brought water in the desert places. This is the story that we know, this is the story sustains us; this is the story which the next generation must know. We cannot continue to keep it a secret. This teaching, this instruction, is an antidote to despair. Because we know that when the powers-that-be claim that the world is neatly ordered and there is no other way, we know it is simply not true. We know the world is not fixed because we remember that water can come from a rock and the world’s greatest military is not invincible. The psalm opens up these places that are closed and enable us to get up and continue when faced with the next crisis in our lives.
But the story we have to share, that we must share does not end there. When faced with a community facing struggles, or dare I say; crisis, Paul employs the same strategy as the psalmist. “If there is any encouragement… any consolation,” follow the example of Jesus. Remember! Remember that all we do and all we are, is based in him. The community at Philippi was faced with changing times. The privileges they once received being part of the Roman Empire were being eroded as they followed the way of Jesus. So for the first time, in many of their lives they faced a loss of privilege and began to share in suffering faced by others, including Paul.
With a community facing struggles the natural tendency was to turn inward and cannibalize themselves. This is why Paul must appeal to the followers of Jesus in this way:
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus
For Paul to speak in this way, we know that the Philippians’ community faced challenges and that they were at risk of not being of the same mind. Ambition, conceit, and selfishness were the orders of the day. And at its root, this type of splintering in communities is a sign that humility has been lost. Instead of focusing on the good of the community folks begin to, overtly or more often covertly, work to remake the community in their own image. (This is probably one of the greatest sins of most clergy. I mention that so you know I am not exempting myself.)
Humility is a spiritual discipline that is often neglected. There are others which are neglected but truly humble people are rare. Most of us, and I am including myself, feign humility even if we really attempt it. That is the hard part about humility, when we attempt to become humble we have already started off on the wrong foot. It is not possible to sit down with our daily to-do list and say: “Ok, today I will master humility.” Instead humility is actually a byproduct of a holistic approach to our faith. In other words, the focus of our faith is directed in the service of others, in this community and the outside world.
Now I am not saying we shouldn’t seek humility but what we should do is approach it from a different angle. Instead of trying to check humility off our spirituality check list we need to instead measure our life, and accomplishments through the life of Jesus. This is a big task and can leave us feeling overwhelmed but the good news is that the work is not solely our responsibility. It is a helpful reminder to know that God invites us, to not only leave our egos at the door, but to make sure we don’t pick them up on the way out. Whenever we forget, who we are and whose we are, humility is the first thing to suffer.
This is why Paul reminds the fellowship at Philippi to remember the whole enterprise is centered on Jesus. While Jesus was equal with God, he did not exploit it. So, if we are to maintain our faithfulness in the midst of changing times and in the midst of crisis we have to begin by remembering. We remember that it did not begin with us. God has been at work long before we got here and God will continue to be at work long after we are gone. And all along the way God has never left us alone. God is as work in us and through us. So as we face the next crisis, as we wait to see what Monday brings, let us remember and keep it in a larger perspective. Amen? Amen.