Angels? Really?!

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
December 12th 2010
Third Sunday in Advent
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 1:8-20; Luke 1:26-28; 2:8-19
“Angels? Really?!”

Talking about Prophets is easy. Sure, you have to work against the popular notion that they are just fortune tellers for God. Prophets bring a message from God. That message is rooted in the law and built upon justice for all people. Underlying all messages of prophets is that society’s problems are directly related to how well people care for the poor and how equitably resources are divided in society. While that is a message not all that welcome in our own society, there is still a bit of comfort in talking about a human being with a humane message. Angels are another story all together.
When Presbyterians face talk of angels the conversation can get awkwardly silent. What do we believe about angels? What do angels do? What do angels look like? Are they for real? Most of us can equate modern people with the prophets of the bible. But equating angels with modern day people is a bit more complex. To get at this each one of us will need to come to grips with what we think angels look like and what we believe their role. In order to do this we really ought to start simply with what the bible teaches. Fortunately, the bible is not silent on such things.
But before jumping into the biblical world, I want to share a story that I heard recently. It was a conversation that a parent had with their child. It went something like this. Parent: “What do you think about angels?” Child: “I only know the names of two angels, Hark and Harold. Angels don’t eat, but they drink milk from Holy Cows. Angels live in cloud houses made by God and his son, who’s a very good carpenter. My guardian angel helps me with math, but he’s not much good for science.”
The truth is that most of us may have had some notion of this definition in our own lives. And, at some point, we grew up and discarded this way of thinking. Unfortunately, our discomfort, if we have any, may come out of the baggage of such beliefs that are not tempered by the biblical reality. The bible says nothing about guardian angels that walk along with us and keep us out of trouble. The basis of this belief comes from outside our faith and has been co-opted by portions of the church. But, there is much that the bible has to say about angels particularly in the birth stories of Jesus and John.
Zechariah was in the temple. He was a priest and it was his job to enter the most holy place in the temple to offer sacrifices. No one would go in except the priest on his rotation. It was a high honor and as such Zechariah was someone who had spent many hours praying and in contact with God’s presence in the temple. If ever you were to expect to find or to hear a message from God the temple and the holy of holies is the place where one might expect it. As the one chosen to serve God in this way you would expect that Zechariah could be fearful but also filled with joy.
Zechariah is neither. He is paralyzed by fear and overcome with doubt. After all, he had lived a long time. He was well educated and he knew how the world worked. Sure there were folks who talked about such spiritual experiences. And, he knew all the stories of how God had met people and spoken to them through messengers and even dreams. But, Zechariah also knew that the real world worked a certain way. And if he had not seen or heard such things by now, there was no way he was going to believe the good news. The encounter is not shock but absolute doubt.
The angel comes with absolute joyful news. The prayers that Zechariah and Elizabeth have been praying are finally going to be answered in positive ways. They will have a child who will do great things for God. And Zechariah is so trapped by his own way of seeing the world and so trapped that he knows better that such news seems foolish. As a result Zechariah is rendered unable to speak. When he goes out to meet the congregation and cannot speak those who were gathered immediately knew he had seen a vision. They didn’t have to see to believe. They could see what the priest could not.
In the birth of Jesus angels show up all around, in dreams and face to face. The message from the angels is personal for some but also world changing. The message is that God is doing a new thing and those who have had their faces grinded in the dirt by the powerful will be lifted up. God is going to bring about the leveling of society. When this message comes to the shepherds in the field or to an unmarried young woman, the response is joy and wonder. Mary says yes and ponders things in her hearts. While she wants to know how God is going to do such things she does not doubt. The message of the angels most often comes to those outside the expected circles.
Today is the feast of the virgin of Guadalupe. It is a Mexican and catholic celebration. The story is powerful in the way it shows how those inside God’s church are often least receptive to the possibility of God’s actions and message. On December 9th 1531, the peasant Juan Diego saw a vision of a young girl fifteen or sixteen, surrounded my light, on the slope of the Hill of Tepyeyac. Speaking in the local language, the Lady asked that a church be built on this site in her honor. It was then that Juan Diego recognized this was the Virgin Mary. Juan Diego had doubts because he was just a peasant. He went to the bishop who doubted the words of this peasant and said he should go back and ask for a miracle to prove this was real. Juan Diego went back, saw the Virgin again and told him of his troubles. She told him to gather flowers from the top of the mountain. It was winter and no flowers were to be growing. He took them to the bishop who finally believed because he could see. The angel and vision came to those outside so that those inside might see.
For those who are relatively comfortable with the current arrangement, news that it will be coming to an end is not welcome. Even change that will be positive is resisted by those invested in the status quo. But for shepherds, and young girls, and peasants, the message of the Angels is good news of great joy. I cannot say I have seen angels and I would like to believe that I would believe if one met me here in the midst of the sanctuary. But like most of us, I am part of the establishment and would probably come out without a voice for a while. The good news is that God is not finished with those like Zechariah. We might find out that we are called to do a lot more listening than we are used to. It means we need to start listening to the very people we think we know more than to find out that the God we worship usually doesn’t come to folks like us. We are not excluded but instead are called to listen and to look for the way God is still speaking. And when we do, we are called to ponder these things in our heart. And if we don’t, the good news is we just might get to rest our voices for a while. Amen.

What Good are Prophets?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
December 5th 2010
Communion Meditation/ Second Sunday in Advent
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Isaiah 2:1-5; 11:2-10
“What Good are Prophets?”

These visions form Isaiah come as a part of a warning and challenge to the people of Israel. Israel had fallen prey to the notion that more chariots, spears and swords would bring ultimate security. They were trapped by the belief that imitating the world powers of Egypt and Assyria would bring security to the homeland. When a people or nations are trapped by this way of thinking, there is no argument or persuasive speech that can set them free. When people are caught in the continuing cycle of violence, only strange visions and imaginative poetry will do. That may sound strange but the message from God in the bible is exactly that.
The vision and poetry in Isaiah is often lost on the very people it is intended to engage. So what is happening? In the passage Libby read for us this morning, the message points to a future time. It is Gods’ intended future that carries a message for the present time. In the future, the knowledge of God is going to be in every place and nations. When that happens, people will cease to participate in the continuing cycle of violence. On that day, the pentagon will be home to the department of agriculture. Swords and spears will be turned into tools for feeding the hungry. God wants our war technology to be used to feed people.
It is a lovely vision. But it seems remote and mostly foolish and idealistic. How could Israel even consider such a vision while the great nations are still threatening war? While that question is clearly ignored by the prophet what is clear is that the people of God cannot act as if God’s intended future has no bearing on the present. The final words of the passage make that clear: “Let us walk in the Lords way.” It is a call for the people of God to take the lead in the meantime. But when faced with this choice the leaders of Israel trusted in spears and swords. The cycle of violence continued.
The second vision of Isaiah is even stranger. It is a word to the people who are hungry for a leader who will make things right, or bring about Gods promised vision. The king in this vision is a clear contrast to the current king who favors the rich and powerful. The king to come will be one who knows justice and righteousness. This new king will be filled with the spirit of God and will treat the poor fairly. The laws for the poor and meek will be the same for the powerful. Not only will they be the same laws, but they will be enforced equally.
If this seems unusual in our time it was even more so in ancient Israel. We live in a time where drugs laws unfairly target the poor and black men. Some will even notice something is wrong when there is plenty of money for banks but nothing for the middle class and poor. Hearing the words from Isaiah can be a welcome sound in our own day in age. But in ancient Israel, a king who cared for the poor and meek is one that they had never seen. As a result, it took a radically strange image to help the hearers of the prophetic oracle to help them grasp the message.
For a people who lived in or near the wilderness, the image in the second scripture makes sense. But in their world, wolves, leopards and lions were to be feared. They were the predators. So Isaiah shows what God intends. No longer will the calves, lambs and children have to fear the hunger of the lions. A boy king will lead a new world. Predators will no longer live off the blood of their neighbors. The prey will no longer play the victim. When the knowledge of God permeates the earth, the new reality will emerge.
But even this vision is strange. It is not that we cannot grasp that the wolves and lambs represent people and nations. It is more of an issue that our society is exactly the opposite. The powerful take what they want, often at the expense of those who less likely to fight back. The meet get run over in our world and are blamed for being week. And yet, here we sit, once again on this Sunday and proclaim peace. Are we crazy? Or, have we decided this vision is simply too radical for our world of lions?
This week I asked the participants in the youth bible study what they thought about this passage. My favorite answer was that we are all the lambs. And what we need to do is joining with other lambs to stand against the lions. And in doing so we can make sure the lions get what they deserve. While I relate to the impulse I mentioned that it was partially correct. The power of this vision is that it is about ending the continuing cycle of violence. I believe it is true that the lambs of this world need to join together.
When lambs joined together India gained its independence without continuing the cycle of violence. When lambs joined together the apartheid regime in South Africa was brought down without furthering the cycle of violence. And when lambs joined together the civil rights movement brought an end to legalized segregation without continuing the cycle of violence. In fact, this vision is not foolish at all; it is simply too often dismissed as such. When the knowledge of God was brought to light in each of these instances, we saw a glimpse of that promised day.
We are indeed lambs who worship the lamb on the throne. The prince of peace who will bring this new day is the one who we are preparing for during this season. As such, we can never give ourselves over to the continuing cycle of violence. This year, let us seek to be a witness in following God’s way. Let us be counted with those who took the first steps to bring light to the new day. Let us claim the mantle of lambs in our homes, in our neighbors, our city, not as victims but as those who have chosen to end the cycle of violence. And who knows what story will be told about the people who had a hand in changing the most violent city in the nation. Amen?

"Ready, Set."

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
November 28th 2010
First Sunday of Advent
Libby Feagans-King
Matthew 24:36-44
“Ready, Set.”

Everything that a runner trains for comes together when they step into the starting blocks, waiting for “ready, set” and the sound of the starter’s gun. John Bingham, a marathon runner, speaker and writer, said “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” It takes courage to begin a race because you do not know what life will throw at you during the race. For the runner, it could be a leg cramp, bad weather, faulty equipment or even a loss of focus that can impede or even stop their performance. All important is the strategy that a runner is going to use to get a good start. Sprinters often practice just coming out of the starting blocks. Marathon runners try to be at a certain place in the pack before the start – some like to start in front to set the pace and some prefer to be further back to save some energy and thread their way through as the pack thins out. The common denominator is all runners snap to focus when they hear the “ready, set” for they know the starting gun will sound seconds after these two commands.
But what if the starting gun didn’t sound? What if you were in a race, but you were not given a clue as to when the race would start? The rules would state that a runner must be at the starting line, ready to run, but there was no promise that the race would start that minute, that hour or even that day? How could you prepare for such a race? How would a coach’s strategy need to change in view of this type of race?
One strategy may be to hire people to watch the starter for signs of the start. Like, is he reaching for the starting gun, does the starter’s arm look tired or does the starter’s finger start to twitch? I know, it sounds funny, but this is what coaches from other sports do. They attempt to read or decipher each other signs. That’s why in football and basketball when the cameras pan to the coaches, they often have their scorecards up in front of their mouths – so their opponents cannot see what plays they are calling. Yes, there are lip readers out there, trying to gain an edge for their teams, trying to see each other’s signs. So perhaps our race starter is being watched to see if they will indicate when the race will start, maybe by whispering “let’s wait until the wind dies down a little” to the person next to them. Perhaps the watcher is looking for nods from the other race officials. Let’s not forget that the watcher then must have a sign to send to the runner if they see any clue that will give the runner an advantage.
If we can’t get any inside information on the start of the race, what is our next strategy? Let’s break it down in time increments. Minutes - For anyone who has ever been in starting blocks for a race, you know that maintaining that position for more than a couple minutes will actually hinder your performance. Your leg muscles will begin to cramp and your neck begins to get sore. The next strategy would be to find an appropriate position that the runner can maintain while remaining in a ready position. Hours – the coach must now make sure that the runner is hydrated and has a calorie intake that supports an energy level but does not hinder the runner’s performance. After a period of eight to ten hours the coach must consider how to rest their runner. This is when the coach could create a running team, so that there is always a well hydrated, energetic and well rested runner at the starting line. Days – As the days wear on, the needs of the running team expand. The coach will need to create a support team that can tend not only to the runners physical needs, but also to equipment and housing issues. One day sleeping on the ground and eating high energy foods may be plausible, but one cannot continue this way for days. The team will need a place to rest and actual meals prepared for them. Months – this is the hardest level yet. The coach needs to find a way to keep the runners mentally in the race. Although the runners are in limbo, waiting for the start of the race, life continues to go on. Other people are going to work, to school, out to eat and basically drifting away from the starting line that the runners stand at. Not only are the runners struggling with the decision of whether to continue to the race or to give up on it, their support team is battling with the same issues. Why am I here? This race will never start?
But this is absurd isn’t it? A race that waits months to start? Why am I even telling this story? My friends, this race is the Christian life. We are the runners waiting for the coming of Christ.
The starter in this race, the one without a start time, is God. The signs for the race are there – there is a starting line, there are runners and a path is marked. But God is not checking with anyone else regarding when the starting gun will sound. It would be more like a sonic boom. When I was growing up in Mattoon, we had jet planes that would break the sound barrier as they sped away creating a loud boom. You never knew when these would happen, because you couldn’t hear the jet, and it usually scared the wee jeebers out of me. Even if you did notice a jet overhead, that did not guarantee that a boom was going to happen. We have the signs that the race is going to happen, but these signs do not tell us when.
There have been many who have tried to nail down a date for the end of the world. The most recent is the Mayan date of 2012. But the signs are not given to us as a schedule. Jesus tells us that even he does not know the time. “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, or the Son, but only God.” (Matt 24:36) The signs are given to us so that we know there is a race! It will happen. Jesus will come again.
We are not very good at identifying God’s signs. When God told Noah to build the ark – we mostly see the ark as salvation – the ark was the vehicle in which God was going to save life from the flood. Yet the ark was also a sign. As this huge ark was being built is was a sign that an end was coming to the world as the people knew it. During the first days of the building, perhaps there were people considering the purpose of this structure, perhaps they helped in the building or supplying the materials. In the coming months as the ark took shape, we know that Noah did not get much help. Noah is the runner. Noah’s family was his support team. God was Noah’s coach. When the floods came, Noah was ready and Noah finished the race. No one else did. They were so busy with life that they missed out on life. Quite a paradox isn’t it?
So let’s break down this Christian race. Minutes – God gives us signs every minute to let us know that God is in the world and salvation through Jesus Christ is ours. You become the racer when you accept Jesus Christ into your life and you ready yourself for fulfillment of God’s promise. There are no qualification trials for this race, we are all made worthy of God.
Hours – As new Christian runners, we are fed by God’s Word. Through baptism we wash away the attachments of our old life and enter a new life with God as our focus. We prepare to live in a readiness mode for the second coming.
Months/Years/Decades/Centuries – This is where the going gets difficult. But God doesn’t forsake us. God builds a support team for us. God calls us to be musicians, healers, cooks, builders, teachers and many other positions so that we may support one another. God makes for us a place where we can come to worship, to recharge. Our biggest challenge…. is life goes one. The Christian life is a constant struggle of whether we are going to be ready for Jesus, or are we going to be drawn away from the starting line by life on earth. Are we doing the things that keep ourselves and each other ready for Jesus, or do we do things to be successful in this world? Honestly, it is all very confusing. We often count our material gains as blessings from God. I’m not saying that God doesn’t want us to have houses and cars and money, but are these things blessings from God or blessings from the world we live in? The question you have to answer is this. When Jesus comes, are you ready to walk away from your house, cars and money? Are you ready to walk away from the blessing of this world? Are you ready to leave one life for a life eternal? Because it is the willing heart that is ready for the race.
Michael Johnson said “Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best." It takes hard work to be ready to perform your best. We need to be mindful of our training for the race. Mindful of which race we are training for. God’s race or the rat race of this world. When we choose God’s race over the rat race, these are the sprints that that make us strong for God. When we come together as a community for worship and service, these are the sprints that make us strong for God. When we share God’s word and welcome new runners to the race, these are the sprints that make us strong for God. My friends we are at the starting line. We need to work together to stay strong for the race.
Matthew tells us to be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. What do you need to be ready? New shoes or the right path? Are your goals a bigger house, a better car or eternal life as a child of God’s promise? Are you a runner for the world or a runner for God? The struggle between this world and God is real. So many times we look around and realize that we have wander away from the starting line, that we are no longer ready for the race. The good news is God is gracious and invites us back into readiness.
God has fed you and clothed your for the race. May God be our coach as we prepare for this race, keeping us ready for life eternal. Get ready. Get set. Go in peace.

It Matters

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
November 14th 2010
Stewardship Dedication Sunday
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Isaiah 12; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
“It Matters!”

“If you don’t work, you don’t eat!” That is the heart of the scripture reading. And yet it is a passage that should cause us to pause and ask what is really being said. Some who hear this passage will say: “Of course, that is what is wrong with (fill in the gap with your favorite group.)” Others will say: “Of course I would work if anyone would hire me.” And still others might say: “I cannot work anymore does that mean I will starve?” Add to this our current culture climate of personal responsibility, rugged individualism, and political polarization and this passage becomes a mine field. On top of this, I chose this passage for stewardship commitment Sunday. I have to say that choice seemed wiser months ago.
The community which heard these words was in turmoil. This turmoil was external and internal. From the outside came persecution. The outside world just could not understand these strange followers of the crucified Jesus who shared so much in their common life. And from the inside the turmoil focused around community life. Too many people misinterpreted the teaching about the coming of the kingdom of God. If Jesus was coming back soon there was little reason to get married, or to work. As a result many folks had ceased to work. The growing ranks of the idle was draining resources and straining nerves.
On top of this, those who were not working moved into the ranks of Paul calls: “Busybodies.” It appears that people in the community became busybodies or meddlers because they had little else to worry about. Instead of using their gifts to support the struggling community they found ways to focus on the minutia of other peoples’ lives. These folks were stirring up trouble while at the same time they were not contributing to the up building of the community. All of the gifts they had been given by God were focused not on edification but on sharing their “wisdom” of how everyone else should be doing their work and living their lives. I wish I was exaggerating on this point but the Greek word really means people who meddle in the affairs of others. This particularly means the meddling in others affairs of which they are not directly related.
This teaching of Paul is not simply about getting people to mind their own business or even to put everyone to work. Instead, the goal was the health of the community. The idleness which leads to meddling has a toxic effect in any community. The resentment which is bread and grows in that sort of environment is something we have all experienced at some point in our lives. And if you have not yet, you will. As a result of this understanding, Paul demands that the complainers be put to work. He does so not simply because it is good for the idlers, but because it will determine the health and even faithfulness of the community as a whole. After all, if only a few people do all they work it will not be long before people get resentful.
If we are honest with one another, this communitarian ethic is strange and can even seem dangerous in a society built on the myth of the individual. Shared responsibility as an extension of shared benefits can quickly get labeled as socialism or communism. But, if the sharing of resources, the extension of benefits based on need and not ability to produce is socialism then the early church was exactly that. But it was more than that. The scripture says, those who do not work do not eat. The scripture does not say, those who cannot work do not eat. This distinction is important. Paul expects those who are able to work and be productive and active members of the community to do so. To act in any other way, he says, is an act of selfishness and faithlessness. But, Paul also expects the community to support those who are not able to work or to fend for themselves. This vision for community is at the heart of any strong healthy community and community of faith.
While it might seem strange or even heavy handed to say things like “those who do not work do not eat,” on a stewardship commitment Sunday I think it is the perfect message. For our community to grow more deeply in faith each one of us has a hand in making it happen. Each one of us in this community has something, gift or resource, that will make a difference to the vitality of this community. I have seen amazing generosity of time and money in the most surprising ways. I know people who may not be able to get out for worship, or others who have very little financial resources beyond making sure food gets on the table, but they offer the generosity of their prayers and their service. But I have also seen resentment when others those who could give more of themselves and do not.
In our community and on this Sunday I do not stand here to twist arms or to levy guilt. Instead I want to remind each one of us that we matter. Each one of us makes this community a better place. We need your gifts not just to pay the light bill. We need the gift of your presence, your wisdom, your involvement, and your skills. Learning to live in a community with others is a hard thing. But the gifts of relationship, transformation, struggle, and growth are just as much a part of life in this community as anything else. So let us make this the year where we focus on what we do have and who we are and give from the places of our abundance. Each one of us has something we can share. It will take all of us giving of ourselves from the gifts we have been given by God to continue on our journey to live out God’s vision for this community of reconciliation. Will you join me this year? Amen! Amen.

Now is the Time

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
November 7th 2010
Communion Sunday/ All Saints Sunday
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 18:9-14
“Now is The Time”

This poor Pharisee gets a bad rap. After all, he is understands the rules of the faith community. He knows the rules and plays by them. And along comes Jesus and tells us that he had got it all wrong. I know, this particular Pharisee is not a real person. But because it is a parable of Jesus it is one of those stories which can allow us to remain at a safe distance. We see the story of contrasts and cannot image this story has anything to do with us. Or, if you do try to imagine this story actually has something for us, you might be like me where I imagine that I fall somewhere in between the two characters. Even in my personal prayers I cannot imagine thanking God that I am not as bad as some other group of people. But, I also like to think that I am not really as bad as the tax collectors and sinners. As good Presbyterians we are destined for the middle group. In other words, we are not self-righteous or sinners, at least not too much.
While none of us like to believe we have self-righteous tendencies, it is clear that Jesus believes it is a sin worth getting worked up about. And, it is something for which we are all at risk of falling prey. Yes, I really just said that we all have the tendency of getting self-righteous. It is not that we start out intending to act the part of the Pharisee. Instead, it begins in simple and small ways. It begins with our interpretations of others actions. When we see the actions, and hear the words of others we interpret them through our own limited life experiences. If you are not sure what I am talking about, let me ask: “Have you ever thought to yourself, “Why does that person treat me that way?!” Or, “Why do they act like that?!” Or, “How can she think that?!” If you recognize those questions or ever harbored those thoughts then welcome to the world of the Pharisee. And what Jesus is seeking to challenge is the distance we put between ourselves and others that leads to feelings of superiority, among other things.
What would have happened if instead of standing at a distance, the Pharisee took the time to get to know this “sinner?” What would have the Pharisee come to know about this person who understood clearly his own faults and limitations in the eyes of God? That kind of engagement is difficult. It requires we risk sharing ourselves and possibly giving up our well worn grudges and prejudices. Instead of trying to get know the person it is far easier to call into question their thoughts, actions and beliefs. And while these actions seem harmless enough to laugh about, I believe self-righteousness is an often silent sin which threatens the very unity of the body of Christ.
Acting in this way does provide some personal benefit however. It allows us to exempt ourselves from a far harder task of self examination. What seems easier, looking closely at the way we interpret the world and examining our shortcomings, or comparing ourselves to those we know do not measure up to our interpretive lens. In other words, self-righteousness is really a weapon that can disguise our own insecurities. If we can pick apart or criticize others we never have to open ourselves up. We never use those same skills of criticism upon ourselves. And, in the end, we never have to get honest with ourselves.
This way of being in the world, of self-righteous living, is not a sin unique to the church. This is no more evident than in the public arena. Gone are the days of thoughtful political discourse. Instead, we stand on our certain foundations and question the very integrity and even humanity of those who do not use the same talking points. So instead of trying to understand, really understand where others are coming from and how they came to understand the world the way they do, we simply decide they must be wrong. Or worse, we decide they cannot really be human. And while the followers of Jesus should know better, we are too often at the forefront of this behavior.
When Jesus tells this story, he may be using unreal characters, but he is showing a deeper truth. By pointing out the flaws and foolishness of others we can ignore our own foolishness. Whenever we use things like, our education, expertise, or insider knowledge to exclude or to make ourselves feel more important it is a sign that there is some deeper insecurity we wish to cover over. But when Jesus comes along and says you are welcome here, you the Pharisee, you the uneducated, you the arrogant, you the outcast, you the CEO, and you the person without a home, it is a clear indication he is not looking for uniformity. Jesus knows that self-righteousness will be what divides the body of Christ, and divided we have become. Jesus understand that in any faith community we are going to drive one another a bit crazy and step on toes and leave scratching our heads some days. But Jesus knows that grace will abound when we truly know the stories of others and open ourselves up to the simple idea that we do not really know everything. And this is hard for well educated folks.
When Jesus gathered his disciples around the table and institutes the Lord’s Supper, it was a pretty diverse group. There was a tax collector and some zealots who were sworn enemies. And yet, they were there eating together because Jesus has welcomed them. Jesus did not want to exclude the self-righteous Pharisee but to help him, and those like him, recognize their own sinfulness and the full humanity of those they considered sinful. This sort of transformation was going to take a new way of looking at the world and a new engagement with others.
So, what does this look like in more concrete ways? Well, practically it means that in our church we are going to have to seek out members that we do not know well. Or it may require that you track down the person with whom you are angry or feel they are wrong about something. And when speaking with one another let us not do so without any other agenda except to get to know each other better. Ask them about themselves, or let them teach you something you already know. In the process we will find out far more about the rich diversity in this community, and it will lead to a deeper understanding and appreciation for the many gifted people who are part of our community. And, in practical ways it will help blunt the secret self-righteous tendencies we all carry. So let it begin again at this table, on this day. May this bread and cup nourish us again to show the world it is possible for diverse folks to come together, not just for show, but because we are committed to the friends we have in this place. Amen? Amen!

Invitations are Peculiar Things

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 31st 2010
Libby Feagans-King
Luke 16:19-31
“Invitations are Peculiar Things”

Invitations are peculiar things. On one hand we feel slighted if we don't get an invitation; on the other hand we conveniently dispose of invitations to events that we don't want to attend. There is actually a broad spectrum of invitations, with the invitations that we deem as being meaningful and important on one and in the ones that seem to only want to solicit our money and time on the other. And in the midst of all this is a complex set of cultural rules that help us to tell the difference. I know this because I used to work in the development office of a major hospital. This is the office that plans and coordinates all the fund raising activities for the hospital. And of course one of our major activities was to invite people to help in our mission. Now there were several ways that we would do this. One way was to send a letter, an invitation of sorts, to anyone who had been associated with the hospital. These "invitations" were your basic business letter sent out explaining our mission and asking for their gift to help us continue to help others. It was enclosed in a regular business envelope, personalized by the latest mail merge program, and had the reproduced signature of the hospital CEO. And from this letter we could expect approximately a 4% return. The invitation had all of the basic elements, it had a mission, it offered a solution and it was personal. You see that's where our culture comes in because it didn't matter that this invitation had those elements, it was how the elements were presented that mattered.
Now we had another fundraiser that was the series of parties given by very influential people in the city. This invitation came professionally printed in a large gold envelope that was addressed in a very different manner. You see the people who had attended these parties in previous years, received an envelope that was hand addressed and in that envelope was a letter written to them from the co-chairs of the fundraiser, which of course were always their peers. These letters, instead of just using Mr. or Mrs., or using the first name oftentimes used a familiar name. For example, my legal name is Frances and when I receive letters that say dear Frances I know immediately that this person does not know me, for if they knew me the letter would say dear Libby. The other thing about these letters was that they were hand signed by their co-chairs. The third difference was that even though this invitation was asking the invitee to give money, in return the invitee was able to attend an elaborate party. The rate of return on these invitations was closer to 80%.
The difference between these two invitations is not in them being personal for they were both personalized, but it was the degree to which they were personalized. The first invitation had a name and address, but it had no real personal relationship to the person receiving it. The second invitation however was not only personalized in name, it was also personalized by offering the person who was receiving it something in return for participation.
By now you're probably wondering just what any of this has to do with Lazarus and the rich man in Jesus’ story. Well, this story is all about invitations and being personal. Jesus’ ministry was all about liberation of the oppressed. Jesus was eating with the sinners, healing the sick and caring for the poor. And the Pharisees just didn't understand this. If Jesus was such a great teacher, why wasn't he lecturing in the elaborate Temples and eating with the elite. For if you are righteous then God will give you great blessings. And that is how the Pharisees would judge the righteous, by how many blessings God had given them in their lives. What made Jesus even the more of a paradox to the Pharisees was that Jesus himself was denying his status in the Jewish community and was eating and ministering to those who were beneath his status. So they are yelling things at Jesus like, “look at the man who is talking about riches in heaven when he can’t even take care of his riches here” or “you better hope you will have riches in heaven because you are sure throwing them away here”. So Jesus tells a story of a rich man who was very much aware of his status in life. This rich man had many blessings. He had a big house and plenty to eat. He had beautiful clothing and many friends. This was the type of man who could stand out in town square and exclaim "look at the many blessings that the Lord has given me," and many would believe in this man’s righteousness. And down by the gate was a man named Lazarus. The contrast here is huge. The rich man had a home and food and health. Lazarus had no home. Lazarus had no food and in fact was envious of the leftovers that the dog of the rich man ate. And when people saw Lazarus they would shake their heads saying "what horrible thing must he have done to be so punished by God?"
Then comes the day when the rich man and Lazarus dies. And here is kind of interesting paradox, because now that both of these men have died, one can really tell who was righteous by what blessings they receive. It wasn't the rich man who was blessed. It was the rich man now who suffered. And when he looked up into heaven he saw Lazarus. And you know at this point the rich man still does not get it. He doesn't see Lazarus as receiving reward. He sees Lazarus as the Abraham’s servant and he asked that the Abraham send Lazarus down to him if only to give a drop of water from his finger. And Abraham corrects the rich man and says "Lazarus could not come help you even if he wanted to, for Lazarus is receiving his reward. He has suffered on earth and he will suffer no more."
This is when the rich men begins to get it. He knows that he has missed out. And he's worried about his family. You see at this moment the rich man realizes that Lazarus was his invitation. Lazarus was business envelope invitation for the rich man to participate in God’s mission. Lazarus was a personal invitation to this man because he was at this man’s front gate day in and day out. So the rich man wants to send Lazarus back to his family to warn them to change their ways. We're having kind of a Charles Dickens moment here with ghosts coming to tell people to change their ways or else. The rich man wanted Abraham to dress up the invitation and send it again. He didn't say he put Lazarus back at the front gate so that my brothers have another chance to pick up the invitation. No, the rich man wanted Abraham to send Lazarus as he was now, healed and clean and all dressed up. You see in this way his brothers would receive the personal invitation, because they knew Lazarus, plus they would also understand the benefit that this invitation was for them. The rich man knew that his brothers would accept this invitation because they will be able to see the benefits.
And Abraham said "No, they have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them." Lazarus was not the only invitation. Abraham is telling the rich man that many invitations have been sent and still there's been no response. But the rich man tells Abraham "it wasn't made it personal enough, but if you send Lazarus then they will know that this is an invitation not to be ignored." You see the rich man wanted Lazarus to be the pretty invitation. And Lazarus was to go directly to his brothers, which would make this invitation hand addressed. Let's not forget this invitation was to include a warning. "Tell my brothers that I am in a place of torment and they need to change so that they do not come here.” He knew that his brothers would listen if Lazarus, someone they knew, came back from the dead, healed and dressed up with a message from their dead brother. His brothers would see that the poor will become the rich – so there really is value in helping the poor!
But Abraham says no. Abraham tells the rich man that if his brothers won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen to Lazarus. Abraham will not send this invitation.
So why won’t Abraham send this invitation? Let me tell you a little more about what I learned when I worked with the fundraising department at the hospital. This fancy invitation made us a lot of money one time of the year. We could not be guaranteed that come next year the same people will once again even attend one of the parties. Because it all has to do with who was giving the party. The people who responded to this invitation weren't really giving, they were buying. They were making sure that they would get a place at a party where they could be seen and people would know how important they are. Never once did we receive a letter that said "I remember what a good time I had at that party and what a good cause the party was for so I'm sending more money.”
So what about the 4% that answered the business like invitation? These were the people who continue to send gifts to the hospital all year round. Sometimes they were small gifts, many times they were substantial gifts. During my time working in this department, there were two gifts where people left their estates to the hospital. And when we looked them up in the database to see what programs they had been involved with, it was the simple invitation that they first answered. Now you may think only 4% is not enough to be the foundation of our program, but remember this 4% grew with every new invitation that we sent out. The 4% that I'm talking about were from people who had never given before, but believed in our mission and once they started to give, they continued to give.
The rich man wanted Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers to tell them that they are going to the wrong party. If they don’t change their ways, they are going to end up at the same party as the rich man is now at and the party that they want to be at is the one that Lazarus is at, the heavenly party. They will be good and caring if they know that it is to their advantage. But Abraham says “if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
This is how Jesus ends the story. Jesus actually did raise someone from the dead, in fact in Luke’s account, Jesus did it twice, once with the widow’s son and again with a young girl. The widow’s son was being carried to the burial grounds when Jesus had compassion on the widow and touched the son and the son sat up and began to speak. And remember when Jesus arrived at a young girl’s house and the parents told him, you are too late, she is dead. Jesus told them she is just sleeping and took her by the hand and her spirit returned. And yet the Pharisees ridiculed Jesus for his teachings. This brings me to the last difference between these two invitations. It is timing. The simple invitation has no time limit. You could respond to the invitation at any time. It was often the case that when a gift came in and we looked to see which letter the person had received, that letter could be over a year old. However, the fancy invitation had a definite time limit. No response ever came in late, because it would be too late to attend one of the parties. It was also very important not to send the invitations out too early – for if you did that, people would either forget or dismiss the invitation saying that’s just too far ahead to plan for.
God doesn’t send the fancy invitation because time will invariably run out. If, in the story, Lazarus had been sent to the brothers, they may have repented for awhile – but just like the Pharisees had forgotten the people that had been raised from the dead, so would the brothers have forgotten about Lazarus.
God doesn’t want us to think of heaven as the place to be or a party to be present at. God wants us to join in the mission. God wants us to live each day caring for one another. God doesn’t want us to present once a year, God was us to be in a continuing relationship. God’s invitation does not have a time limit. God’s invitation is open and waiting for us.

God Money

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 24th 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 16:1-13
“God Money”

He probably did not begin with the intent of stealing. Being a thief was not the goal. In fact, it probably started out rather small. It might have even begun as a simple accounting mistake. But then he realized that no one was noticing. A few cents here and there led to larger and larger sums of money and the next thing you know he is committing fraud. It is not what he would have called it but that strange twinge when he looked at himself in the eye each morning was a good indication that something was wrong. In fact, his fraud was so great that word finally came back to the owner of what was happening. By that time it was too late and now he was going to lose his job and only source of income he had ever known. It is in this moment of crisis everything changed.
When Jesus says that no one can serve two masters, that no one can serve God and money, most of us do not imagine he is talking to, or about us. After all, none of us get up on a Sunday morning and think, ‘Wow, I cannot wait to get to church and bow down before money.’ We do not rise up each day thinking we belong to Mammon, or God Money. Instead, it all begins with the fact that we live in a society that is obsessed with consuming and obsessed with money. We struggle each day to survive, to make enough money to pay the bills or to save for retirement or for college or to pay the loans we have taken in our search for the “American dream” or simply to put food on the table. In the process of living in such a culture the byproduct is a way of looking at the world that begins and ends with questions about money. Then one day we wake up and realize that questions about God, theology, faith, religion have become luxuries we deal with when and if the bills get paid.
When the manager finally comes face to face with who he has become his life is a mess. It is then that he must strip off the layers of self deception and get honest about who he is and what he must do. The crisis is acknowledged when he says: ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me?’ Once he faces the crisis he then does a very honest thing and names something about himself that I am sure before now he has been unwilling to acknowledge. ‘I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.’ Finally having admitted the problem and made and honest assessment of his situation the manager has a moment of clarity and realizes the only course of action. ‘I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ In this moment the manager comes to the realization that he cannot rely on money and will have to rely on the hospitality of others.
We live in a very different culture than the one inhabited by the manager. But we do live under some similar delusions. Until the moment when the money ran out, the manager believed that he did not need other people. We too live in a time when we believe that we do not need other people. The great myth today is that we do not need and should not care for others. If you are unable to stand on your own two feet then there is something wrong with you. It does not matter the circumstance, if you find yourself in need, our society believes you are flawed as a human being. That is why we struggle over tax policy and healthcare, social security, and other programs designed to share the burdens of everyday life. But, despite our best attempts at believing we can be totally self-sufficient, the truth is that we are designed, by God, to be in relationship with one another. We have been created to need and care for one another’s’ needs. We come into this world needing to be fed and clothed and if we live long enough the same will be true at the end of our lives. Unfortunately, until a crisis hits most of us live under the myth we can get by alone if we just try hard enough.
The manager orders that all the debtors come. It is not clear what goes through the minds of these debtors. Having heard that the manager is finally going to get what is coming to him they have no idea what they might face. Or worse, what if one of them was the one who told the owner what has been happening. So, when the debtors come to face the manager you can imagine they are dreading the encounter. Standing before the manager each is ordered to give an accounting for what they owe. It seems now the moment of truth is at hand. But, instead of dread these debtors are given release. Having their debt cancelled or cut in half is the greatest gift they could receive. And in that moment the debtor and the manager are tied together. The manager is no longer the man who takes from them but the one who helped to set them free. One at a time these people struggling under the burden of debt are set free. And, one at a time the manager moves from outsider to insider in the community.
At the end of the parable, we do not actually find out what happens. Does the owner actually fire the manager? Or did the owner cause the crisis to bring about his desired result. Did the owner, so impressed with the shrewdness of the manager decide to keep him around? The answers do not really matter. Whether the manager lost his job or kept his job he has been transformed, and so has the community. The manager is no longer seen as an agent for the absentee landlord. The manager is now part of the community. The manager has recognized his need for other people and the reality of their interconnectedness. The generosity, though birthed in selfishness, exhibited by the manager saved his life. The fabric of the community is restored and life will never be the same.
With a story that really defies most of our sense of what a religious story should convey, the praising of an unjust manager, Jesus shows that generosity is at the heart of our faith. Each year around this time, we start talking about money. We call it stewardship, but what we mean is that we have to raise money for our budget for the coming year. Sometimes we do it with great fanfare and other times we do it with a whimper. This year we are going to talk about it and indeed we need folks to be givers. But the reverse is also true. Each one of us needs to give in order to develop our generosity. When you give to the church you are not ‘helping out’ and being ‘benevolent.’ When you give and develop a spirit of generosity you are helping out yourself. You are standing up to the notion that we can stand on our own or that we do not need other people.
Let me ask a very honest question, ‘Where would you be if you did not have Westminster as part of your life?’ Think for a moment about the relationships, the friendships, yes the struggles and the joys as well. Remember the moments where you have had enlightenment and the moments where you have left scratching your head. Remember the funerals in this place, the baptisms at this font, the sharing of bread around this table, and the people you know here that you would have never have encountered outside of this place. Being generous with our resources enable this community to continue the ministry that has been meaningful to each one of us so that that others, who have not yet been here get to experience the same thing. And who knows, developing a spirit of generosity might just be the thing that gives us new life and helps us to recognize when we are bowing before money instead of God. So please begin praying now as to how you will develop that spirit of generosity for 2011. Amen? Amen!

Love your Enemies?!

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 17th 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 6:20-31
“Love Your Enemies?!”

Reading this scripture makes me think two things. 1) There are probably fifty-two sermons in this reading and 2) Does Jesus really expect us to follow this stuff? On the first point please know that I do not intend to cover everything or even touch on everything in this passage. It would either leave us here for a few hours or simply say so little about each thing that what I would say probably would insult your intelligence. And on the second point, this sermon is Jesus longest sermon so we cannot ignore it or explain it away.
My plan on answering this question is to focus on one part of what is called the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus comes down on a level place to be with the people and we receive the same message. The most troubling words in this passage to a people in the midst of its longest war in history, is to love your enemy. Love is a word that gets uses and abused by many folks. So what is Jesus talking about when he says love? Why would Jesus call people to love those who might not love us? Doesn’t he know that this might put our lives at risk?
As I child, I remember really hearing this passage for the first time. What I mean is that I realized that I was not supposed to hit back. Asking an adult I challenged this thinking when we are faced with bullies. That adult told me that Jesus did not mean we were called to be doormats so occasionally we need to stand up to bullies and punch them right in the face. There was something deeply troubling about that answer for me even then. But I did not like the idea of being the brunt of bullying myself. So I was left on my own to sort it out.
Jesus is not asking us to be doormats. In fact, Jesus is actually turning some things on it is head. First of all he was talking to people who had little hope of success of overthrowing the Roman Occupation. He was also talking to people who know what it was like to be repeatedly humiliated. So, just for example, when Jesus says turn the other cheek he is not suggesting we ask for another beating. Well, not really. (Show example of the cheek smack) Jesus is upping the ante on the bully. Without participating in the cycle of violence, his active challenge brought it to an end and gave the person in a subordinate position power.
This example is not simply about gaining power or turning the tables but creating a crisis moment so that transformation can occur. Jesus concern for the enemy is first our maintaining our own faithfulness and then the transformation of the other. So in participating in these actions requires a true love even for the enemy. It requires all our actions be guided by this principle of love. We are a people who are to engage one another in love even as we disagree with one another. It means that our way of interacting cannot be through lies, misdirection, and deceit. The church is not called to be a place where power politics are a refined art.
I believe it is not an overstatement to say that our mission, no matter what our institutional statement may be, is to be a community of love. But that requires us to ask what love is and what love looks like. Being a community whose mission is love, in action not simply words, and is probably the hardest thing I cannot imagine. Love is about letting someone be. But it does not mean to let them alone. It is a fine line between trying to fix someone and encouraging them to live their lives following Jesus. Letting someone be is not about making people become who we want them to be. To be a place that loves in this way means we would say to people: We are a people that know God has a plan for your life and wants you to use your gifts. We want to encourage you on that journey and are not interested in manipulating the outcome. In other words we are not trying to reeducated or argue, belittle, or manipulate someone into doing a particular service in the life of the church. To love in this way, to be a community whose mission is this is more difficult than anything I can imagine.
This is not the kind of mission most churches are interested in because of the difficulty. After all, it is easier to build a habitat house than to love your enemy. It is easier to give money than to give up well worn grudges. It is easier to have meetings and plan events than to engage the reality of strained relationships. It is easier to be busy than to be those who love. Jesus knows this and we know this to be true. The mission of the people of God is to do everything in our power to become the people God has created us to be. Mission is not something we do for other people or to people and it is not us doing something for others they cannot do for themselves. Serving others only loves if we provide those we serve to return the service and be open to being served ourselves.
So how do we become this community? How do we continue to encourage one another on our journey of faith? One way is through the acknowledgement and development of our gifts. This year we are providing Spiritual Gifts inventory. We want %100 participation. We believe that it will enable us to find out and refine the gifts we are currently using. But we are not setting you up for service. We believe that there is a place for all to serve in some capacity but we are not going to take your answers and assign you jobs to do. We are going to encourage you to do so but that will be on you. Our hope is that you will come to see that God indeed has a plan for your life and wants you to use your gifts and talents in loving ways. And the truth is that in order to get to the point where we can truly love our enemies we need to begin with ourselves and those closest to us before we can venture on that difficult road. May God encourage us in this journey as we seek to serve Christ in all our daily tasks. Amen? Amen!

Holy Grumbling Part 2

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 10, 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 19:1-10
“Holy Grumbling Part 2”


Jericho was not Jesus’ destination. Jericho is a city that is about a day’s walk from Jerusalem and as a result became a common place to stop rest and replenish for the next day’s journey. It was a place used to pilgrims and travelers. Despite it being common for people to travel through Jericho, news of Jesus arrival caused a stir. Everywhere Jesus went a crowd was sure to follow and Jericho was no exception.
Crowds and followers are funny things. Ask anyone who has been to the pinnacle of a very public career and they will tell you the adoring fans can become detractors rather quickly. As a result, those who are able to remain at the top for a long time, politicians, sports figures, celebrities and others know how to play to the crowd. Unfortunately, Jesus did not do this and was not interested in playing to the crowd. And his encounter with Zacchaeus in Jericho was a prime example.
Zacchaeus was not a well loved figure in the city. He was the chief tax collector. As a result he worked very closely with the Roman occupiers. Zacchaeus would take what little money people had and as a result he became very rich. Now it is important to note that traditionally people have assumed he became rich because he defrauded people. However, the scripture does not say that. He worked in a position that allowed him to become rather wealthy.
He was also someone who was not welcome in the faith community and in the community at large. It seems that he was a natural outcast. In a society where the average height for men was five foot five, Zacchaeus was considered too short to see in a crowd. We are talking about a very small man. So, I am guessing that he faced ridicule most of his life for his slight stature. Despite or maybe because of this he became very rich but also even more isolated. He may have had everything he wanted but he was alone. But despite this, despite being excluded his whole life, despite knowing the crowd would not want him around, Zacchaeus knew there was something about this rabbi he needed.
We know the story; Zacchaeus climbed the tree and waited. This is when Jesus goes to this man in the tree. Jesus calls him by name and invites himself to dinner. This is no small gesture. Jesus is not hungry and looking for a free meal at the rich man’s house. Beyond that, Jesus then stirs up the anger of the crowd. Faced with this familiar encounter we need to ask ourselves what does this all mean? Martyn Percy answers this very question when he says:
…in the midst of a crowd bestowing their adulation he refused to side with their base prejudices. Zacchaeus is affirmed for who he is. He does not repent, contrary to how the story is usually read: he has no need to. Rather, a person who is despised is allowed to flourish, and he is now seen as a person of generosity. Consistently, Jesus sides with the ostracized, the rejected, the unclean, the impure, the (alleged) sinner. He is no crowd pleaser, he is their confounder.
Jesus goes to the one, who the community decided was not worthy, and said this person is no sinner. He is a child of God and deserving of a place in the community as well.

I think it is important to go back to something I said last week about table manners.
The Pharisees did not eat with tax collectors and sinners for more than just exclusionary reasons. They do not eat with them because to do so means that they become equals instead of objects of mission to be served or sinners to be converted. If they do not eat with them they can maintain a distance. ‘Those people’ become objects of mission instead of a possible brother or sister in Christ. Our calling is to befriend people. Listen to them, learn from them. Go out and spend time in the fields in which they work. Do not tell people what you know they are seldom interested. Instead give them the time of day, get to know them ask them about themselves. In doing so you show the love of God in Christ because you let them know they matter because you listened. This is the mission of the church and it is our calling. We are called to risk our reputation for the kingdom of God. That is the calling of Jesus disciples.
Throughout his ministry Jesus calls us to the places where we might least expect. The traditional, the socially acceptable, the proper are not rejected in God’s kingdom but expected to move beyond their comfort and move beyond the walls. The church of Jesus Christ is called to move beyond itself. The mission of the church is not survival but transformation. We exist not for ourselves but for doing just what Jesus did. The love of God is for all people without restraint without limitation. This is the message of the Gospel and we need to hear it again and again. We are a people who have been called to go… Amen? Amen!

Holy Grumbling Part 1

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
World Communion and Peacemaking Sunday
October 2, 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 15:1-10
“Holy Grumbling Part 1”

A few weeks ago a handful of our high school students saw the new movie, Devil. I received many questions following that movie as to the nature of evil and the devil. As a result we spent the next two weeks of our Wednesday evening bible study looking at what the bible had to say. I looked up every reference to the words Satan, Demon, and Devil in the bible and all of them put together did not equal a whole page. I then took a very large concordance which has all the words used in the bible, Old and New Testament, and dropped it on the table. Next I took that sheet of paper and dropped it on the table. My point was that the amount of time the bible spends on the devil, demons, or Satan is far less than many movies would lead you to believe.
Unlike movies which show the followers of Jesus battling with the followers of Satan, the bible does not show such things. In other words, it is not as exciting as most movies and televisions specials might lead you to believe. Throughout his ministry Jesus does cast out demons and is tempted by the devil. However, the greatest struggles Jesus encounters are from the religious community. The greatest causes of Jesus frustration and even anger are reserved for the religiously observant and the disciples. In fact, a majority of the struggles Jesus faces are over who is welcome and who is pure enough to be part of the faith community.
When I hear the charges that Jesus is guilty of welcoming tax collectors and sinners my first reaction is to think how that the religious leadership is foolish and ignorant. After all, for those of us who know the stories, we expect Jesus to eat with the sinners instead of the saints. However, the religious community has a different set of standards. In the religious community we are supposed to first decide who are the sinners and then demand they repent before we are willing to eat with them and welcome them. The message from the faith community seems to be, “get right” with God as we think you should, and then we can talk. Get your life together, make yourself pure, do everything right, and then we will have a place for you in church. The church says, “Repent and then you are welcome here.” In contrast to this message we have Jesus who seeks out those who have been excluded ad goes and eats with them. Then and now this does not sit well with the faith community.
If there is one thing the faithful Pharisees know how to do is grumble. Hearing the grumbling of the ‘holy crowd,’ Jesus tells a story. Instead of arguing or preaching, Jesus tells a parable. The parables are well known to the church. However, this parable has a couple of twists. In fact, these parables make no logical sense, not then and certainly not now. When Jesus asks the question about who wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine sheep to find one lost lamb, the logical reasoned answer is that no one would. It is foolish and risky. To leave the ninety-nine sheep puts them all at risk. To do so is actually irresponsible. It is not good stewardship. But Jesus does not end there. He goes even further by commending the use of labor to find a coin which is not even valuable enough to cover the costs of the time spent looking. So when Jesus says, who would not do such things, the religious community must respond, we would not do those things it makes no sense. That is the offence of Jesus actions. Actions like this are foolish and a waste of time. And yet, Jesus says this is how God works.
Last week the Congress invited well known comedian Stephen Colbert to testify over the issue of immigration. For those of you who do not know Mr. Colbert, he is a comedian who plays a character that is modeled on the Fox News Commentator Bill O’Reilly. He was invited to testify because last summer Mr. Colbert took up the United Farm Workers challenge to work in the fields for a day. This invitation by the United Farm Workers union was intended to address the belief that migrant and immigrant labor are stealing jobs from Americans. It turns out that very few people were actually waiting to take those jobs, none in fact. While the investigation was little more than political theatre, Mr. Colbert’s answer to the final question asked of him left me speechless. Mr. Colbert was asked why he would bother with the issue of immigration. For the first time during the hearing it was clear that Mr. Colbert broke character and said, I like talking about people who don’t have any power. It seems like one of the least powerful people in the United States are Migrant workers who come and do our work but don’t have any rights as a result. And yet we still invite them to come here and at the same time ask them to leave and that’s an interesting contradiction to me. And you know “whatsoever you do to the least of these my brothers,” and they seem like the least of these, right now... They suffer and have no rights. He went on to say that there are many people who are the least of these, these days, but this is where he feels compelled to spend his energy. While his testimony and presence at the hearing was ridiculed by many people, his final words left most of his critics unable to respond. In that answer he was not trying to score political points or to settle scores. Mr. Colbert was giving a public witness to his faith and the foundation for his actions.
When Jesus shared the parables with the Pharisees it was not meant to chastise them or to score political points or to show them up. Instead, Jesus is calling them to change. He was inviting them to repent of their judgmental and exclusionary practices. It is a message that is as timely now for the faith community as it was then. I believe Mr. Colbert is right that migrant workers are without a voice and are in need of our voice. But there are more people who are considered the least, who are considered unclean and who need people of faith to go out, eat with, befriend, and to share the love of God with them. Gay teens are four times more likely to attempt suicide then heterosexual teens. In the last month alone four gay teens have committed suicide because of harassment and bullying. Tyler Clementi was a college student who jumped off a bridge after his roommate, without his knowledge, taped him having sex with a man and posted it on the internet. On September 23rd, 13-year-old Asher Brown, from Houston, Texas, shot himself in the head after being persistently harassed by other students who thought he was gay. Fifteen-year-old Billy Lucas, of Indiana, hanged himself because he had been bullied for years over his sexual orientation. 13-year-old, Seth Walsh from Minnesota, died in the hospital eight days after attempting to hang himself. He too is said to have endured taunts and abuse for being gay from other students.
Growing up as a boy I remember the fear of being thought you might be gay. If you talked, walked, or acted a certain way or if you participated in certain activities you risked begin considered gay. What I remember as a teenage boy was that there was no fate worse than being thought to be gay. So as long as there were some boys who were considered Gay, then you were safe and would just stay silent when the bullies would go after them because you were afraid they would come after you instead. If you spoke up, you might get a reputation of welcoming and eating with gay people. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn anything in church which would help me navigate those difficult adolescent waters.
If you want to talk about people who have been sinners, unclean, and unwelcome it is gay and lesbian folk. Unfortunately we have much in common with the Pharisees on this one. We will welcome and share God’s love with the tax collectors and sinners when you change. But Jesus invites us to a different way of living. Instead, we are called to go to any place and any people who are being excluded and labeled sinner and outcast and eat with them.
The ‘eating with’ is an important piece particularly in the ancient society. I have come to believe that the Pharisees did not eat with tax collectors and sinners for more than just exclusionary reasons. They do not eat with them because to do so means that they become equals instead of objects of mission to be served or sinners to be converted. If they do not eat with them they can maintain a distance. ‘Those people’ become objects of mission instead of a possible brother or sister in Christ. The simple truth is that the mission of the church is not to fix anyone or to convert anyone. The fixing, changing, conversion, transformation, and more importantly the healing are all in God’s hands. And, God has a tendency of doing all that in ways that are often surprising and often unwelcome by those of us in the church. Instead, our calling is to befriend people. Listen to them, learn from them. Go out and spend time in the fields in which they work. Do not tell people what you know they are seldom interested. Instead give them the time of day, get to know them ask them about themselves. In doing so you show the love of God in Christ because you let them know they matter because you listened. This is the mission of the church and it is our calling. We are called to risk our reputation for the kingdom of God. That is the calling of Jesus disciples. Amen? Amen.

Holy Grumbling Part 1

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
World Communion and Peacemaking Sunday
October 2, 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 15:1-10
“Holy Grumbling Part 1”

A few weeks ago a handful of our high school students saw the new movie, Devil. I received many questions following that movie as to the nature of evil and the devil. As a result we spent the next two weeks of our Wednesday evening bible study looking at what the bible had to say. I looked up every reference to the words Satan, Demon, and Devil in the bible and all of them put together did not equal a whole page. I then took a very large concordance which has all the words used in the bible, Old and New Testament, and dropped it on the table. Next I took that sheet of paper and dropped it on the table. My point was that the amount of time the bible spends on the devil, demons, or Satan is far less than many movies would lead you to believe.
Unlike movies which show the followers of Jesus battling with the followers of Satan, the bible does not show such things. In other words, it is not as exciting as most movies and televisions specials might lead you to believe. Throughout his ministry Jesus does cast out demons and is tempted by the devil. However, the greatest struggles Jesus encounters are from the religious community. The greatest causes of Jesus frustration and even anger are reserved for the religiously observant and the disciples. In fact, a majority of the struggles Jesus faces are over who is welcome and who is pure enough to be part of the faith community.
When I hear the charges that Jesus is guilty of welcoming tax collectors and sinners my first reaction is to think how that the religious leadership is foolish and ignorant. After all, for those of us who know the stories, we expect Jesus to eat with the sinners instead of the saints. However, the religious community has a different set of standards. In the religious community we are supposed to first decide who are the sinners and then demand they repent before we are willing to eat with them and welcome them. The message from the faith community seems to be, “get right” with God as we think you should, and then we can talk. Get your life together, make yourself pure, do everything right, and then we will have a place for you in church. The church says, “Repent and then you are welcome here.” In contrast to this message we have Jesus who seeks out those who have been excluded ad goes and eats with them. Then and now this does not sit well with the faith community.
If there is one thing the faithful Pharisees know how to do is grumble. Hearing the grumbling of the ‘holy crowd,’ Jesus tells a story. Instead of arguing or preaching, Jesus tells a parable. The parables are well known to the church. However, this parable has a couple of twists. In fact, these parables make no logical sense, not then and certainly not now. When Jesus asks the question about who wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine sheep to find one lost lamb, the logical reasoned answer is that no one would. It is foolish and risky. To leave the ninety-nine sheep puts them all at risk. To do so is actually irresponsible. It is not good stewardship. But Jesus does not end there. He goes even further by commending the use of labor to find a coin which is not even valuable enough to cover the costs of the time spent looking. So when Jesus says, who would not do such things, the religious community must respond, we would not do those things it makes no sense. That is the offence of Jesus actions. Actions like this are foolish and a waste of time. And yet, Jesus says this is how God works.
Last week the Congress invited well known comedian Stephen Colbert to testify over the issue of immigration. For those of you who do not know Mr. Colbert, he is a comedian who plays a character that is modeled on the Fox News Commentator Bill O’Reilly. He was invited to testify because last summer Mr. Colbert took up the United Farm Workers challenge to work in the fields for a day. This invitation by the United Farm Workers union was intended to address the belief that migrant and immigrant labor are stealing jobs from Americans. It turns out that very few people were actually waiting to take those jobs, none in fact. While the investigation was little more than political theatre, Mr. Colbert’s answer to the final question asked of him left me speechless. Mr. Colbert was asked why he would bother with the issue of immigration. For the first time during the hearing it was clear that Mr. Colbert broke character and said, I like talking about people who don’t have any power. It seems like one of the least powerful people in the United States are Migrant workers who come and do our work but don’t have any rights as a result. And yet we still invite them to come here and at the same time ask them to leave and that’s an interesting contradiction to me. And you know “whatsoever you do to the least of these my brothers,” and they seem like the least of these, right now... They suffer and have no rights. He went on to say that there are many people who are the least of these, these days, but this is where he feels compelled to spend his energy. While his testimony and presence at the hearing was ridiculed by many people, his final words left most of his critics unable to respond. In that answer he was not trying to score political points or to settle scores. Mr. Colbert was giving a public witness to his faith and the foundation for his actions.
When Jesus shared the parables with the Pharisees it was not meant to chastise them or to score political points or to show them up. Instead, Jesus is calling them to change. He was inviting them to repent of their judgmental and exclusionary practices. It is a message that is as timely now for the faith community as it was then. I believe Mr. Colbert is right that migrant workers are without a voice and are in need of our voice. But there are more people who are considered the least, who are considered unclean and who need people of faith to go out, eat with, befriend, and to share the love of God with them. Gay teens are four times more likely to attempt suicide then heterosexual teens. In the last month alone four gay teens have committed suicide because of harassment and bullying. Tyler Clementi was a college student who jumped off a bridge after his roommate, without his knowledge, taped him having sex with a man and posted it on the internet. On September 23rd, 13-year-old Asher Brown, from Houston, Texas, shot himself in the head after being persistently harassed by other students who thought he was gay. Fifteen-year-old Billy Lucas, of Indiana, hanged himself because he had been bullied for years over his sexual orientation. 13-year-old, Seth Walsh from Minnesota, died in the hospital eight days after attempting to hang himself. He too is said to have endured taunts and abuse for being gay from other students.
Growing up as a boy I remember the fear of being thought you might be gay. If you talked, walked, or acted a certain way or if you participated in certain activities you risked begin considered gay. What I remember as a teenage boy was that there was no fate worse than being thought to be gay. So as long as there were some boys who were considered Gay, then you were safe and would just stay silent when the bullies would go after them because you were afraid they would come after you instead. If you spoke up, you might get a reputation of welcoming and eating with gay people. Unofrtunately, I didn’t learn anything in church which would help me navigate those difficult adolescent waters.
If you want to talk about people who have been sinners, unclean, and unwelcome it is gay and lesbian folk. Unfortunately we have much in common with the Pharisees on this one. We will welcome and share God’s love with the tax collectors and sinners when you change. But Jesus invites us to a different way of living. Instead, we are called to go to any place and any people who are being excluded and labeled sinner and outcast and eat with them.
The ‘eating with’ is an important piece particularly in the ancient society. I have come to believe that the Pharisees did not eat with tax collectors and sinners for more than just exclusionary reasons. They do not eat with them because to do so means that they become equals instead of objects of mission to be served or sinners to be converted. If they do not eat with them they can maintain a distance. ‘Those people’ become objects of mission instead of a possible brother or sister in Christ. The simple truth is that the mission of the church is not to fix anyone or to convert anyone. The fixing, changing, conversion, transformation, and more importantly the healing are all in God’s hands. And, God has a tendency of doing all that in ways that are often surprising and often unwelcome by those of us in the church. Instead, our calling is to befriend people. Listen to them, learn from them. Go out and spend time in the fields in which they work. Do not tell people what you know they are seldom interested. Instead give them the time of day, get to know them ask them about themselves. In doing so you show the love of God in Christ because you let them know they matter because you listened. This is the mission of the church and it is our calling. We are called to risk our reputation for the kingdom of God. That is the calling of Jesus disciples. Amen? Amen.

What Do You Remember?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 12th 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
2 Timothy 2:8-15
“What Do You Remember?”

What does it mean to remember? Do you remember where you were 9 years ago? When you first saw the buildings and begin to grasp it was for real, what was your first instinct? If you were like most people your instinct was to find those closest to you, your loved ones, and reconnect with them. But it didn’t take long for the event to become a rallying cry for war. Then over the next few years, the answer to every question, every political problem, every social problem, became: 9/11. We quickly learned that the collective called-upon memory has a real power that goes way beyond nostalgia.
This is not a new phenomenon. Every war has a similar rallying cry. Vietnam had the Gulf of Tonkin to a much less successful degree, and WWII had Pearl Harbor. But who now, remembers the Lusitania?” The rallying cry which was used to garner the nations support for entrance into WWI? Or before that, there was, “Remember the Maine?” This was the rallying cry for entrance into the Spanish American War. And, of course, those from Texas are asked to, remember the Alamo, which became the rallying cry for the Mexican American War. The use and occasional abuse of tragic memories have real power. Their use can feel manipulative or they can lead to greater action.
When Paul speaks to Timothy in this letter, he is not working at manipulation but inspiration. Paul is getting to the essence of the gospel – The resurrection of Jesus Christ. Throughout the letter are a great number of practical issues which need attention. In this middle of all this teaching Timothy is encouraged to remember the heart of the faith. Out of the tragedy of the crucifixion, God brings healing and justice, not through more death, but through resurrection. Death is no longer the power it once was and we have no need to fear. Paul is calling Timothy to remember what is essential and to remember what is not. When the concerns of our day swirl around us it can be a powerful gift to clarify what is of ultimate importance.
There is a great deal of talk about institutional survival these days. Church seminars and speakers and the next great thing, we are told will solve whatever we worry about. Some make claims that rigid orthodoxy and “getting back to our roots” will take care of everything. If we can create the newest style of worship, or just have the best educational program, everything will be perfect. But I am convinced that not only does magic bullet not exist, but that all of these programs and concerns have a flawed foundation. Can the church, in the form we like best, survive does little to inspire or bring salvation in difficult times.
It is almost cliché now to say one is spiritual but not religious. While it might be a cover for some to say they do not need a faith community, I think it points us in the right direction. In other words, it actually gets at the heart of our faith. If taken seriously it will force us to ask questions about the current arrangements of things. Are we really being nurtured and fed by the things we do or do we hunger for something more? Have you ever stopped and thought if the resurrection is true, are we focused on the most important things? A faith community focused on the essential of the Gospel will ask themselves these questions out of a hunger for something more.
When I speak to friends of my outside of the church, people who do not attend church, the spiritual but not religious, I believe they could find kindred spirits in this church. When we ask ourselves the deeper questions, when we seek deeper truths instead of simply accepting or ignoring what we have learned, then we are on the path to greater faithfulness. The question for us is what do we remember? What was your first memory of the faith? I am sure it has nothing to do with meetings or old grudges or struggles. Whatever it is for you place that at the center of all you do. These are also the same questions which each faith community must ask. What is the essence of our faith? What is the point of being a Christian of being the church? The simple answer is that following Jesus is about being and making disciples.
Nurturing disciples is our essential task. But because there are so many important things with which we spend our energy it is worth our while to name those clearly. The three essential ingredients are education, generosity, and service. If you want to know how to nurture a disciple, it is this way. Throughout this fall we will be talking more about each and over the next three weeks we are going to focus on education, or rather seeking deeper truths.
If you have spent any time at all in this place you know that we do not demand a rigid orthodoxy. The truth is that we demand little at all. But to be more faithful and honest as followers of Jesus we must find a way of worshiping God with our heads. When is the last time you really studied something in the bible or grew in the knowledge of your faith in a group setting? I do hate to tell you that worship, while a setting for growth and understanding, cannot deeper our understanding alone. A challenge being laid before the congregation is to find some place where you will commit to a time of growth and study. If you look around at our offerings and think, nothing really excites me but I would like to, then talk to me. We will find a way for all of us to grow deeper in the faith.
Why is this so important? Well, if we are not seeking deeper truths on our own, we will be at the whim of anyone who might seek to use our memories for all sorts of ends. But if we are seeking deeper truths then our memories will not be up for grabs. Take up the challenge to grow deeper in the faith this fall. Commit to growing deeper in the faith and expand your knowledge and understanding. The essence of our faith is the resurrection of Jesus Christ but it does not end there. Take up the challenge to worship God with your head as well as your heart. Amen? Amen!

Compassion and Ideology

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
August 22nd 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 13:10-17
“Compassion and Ideology”

Westminster is a congregation with some very talented singers. Westminster is also a congregation with people who are afraid of singing. Yet singing is at the heart of our faith. “Sing a joyful noise to the Lord.” Yet somewhere along the line too many of us heard the voice of someone who told us to keep our voice to ourselves. But I believe each one of us has a song to sing. I believe God wants each one of us to share our song.
For eighteen years this woman was bent over. The weight of the world had pushed her over and kept her down. Why did she not come on the other days to be healed? She was probably afraid. Or she began to believe that this bent over and stunted life was all she was ever going to have. She had lost the belief that healing might come in the house of God. So day after day she walked, bent over believing this is all there was to her life.
Have you ever tried to sing bent over? Have you ever tried to sing when you are afraid? When we are full of fear and when we are bent over the sound of our song is pinched and shallow and weak. In the end our song becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Let me show you what I mean. When you bend over and pinch off your voice in fear the sound is actually held back. But when you stand up straight and breath deeply from your diaphragm and open your throat the sound is rather different. While bad posture can cause this to happen, more often than not fear will lead us to hold back the deep song inside us. Whether you are a singer or not, there is a song inside you waiting to be heard, waiting to break through the fear.
The leader of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus would heal on the Sabbath. How could he do such a thing? It is easy to heap criticism on the leaders. We can set them up as people unlike us or people we see as our opposition. But, that will not lead down fruitful paths. It will allow us to find ourselves as righteous and on the side of Jesus, as people who are naturally going to be the healers. If this story is to be about us, we must recognize and admit that we are both people in need of healing and people who are indignant at healing that is out of order. In this story, for true compassion, the love of God, to overcome any ideology that has become our idol, we have to see parts of ourselves in the voice of the leader and in the place of the bound woman.
One of the techniques for dealing with stress is to breath. Sounds overly simplistic, but when we are under stress our respiration drops. When we our bent over it is not only difficult to sing but even to breath. If the leaders of the synagogue had taken a moment to breathe and to realize what was going on, they might have joined the woman in her healing and praising God. While it is not possible for all people to physically stand strait up we can take an internal posture the moves us from being bent over.
When our song becomes pinched or even silenced we need to take a deep breath. We need to ask ourselves why? Are we being held back by some external force? Is what is happening to us because of our race, our gender, our sexuality, our speech, or disability? If that is case, we must also ask ourselves where have we taken those soul killing externals and taken them and made them our own. Saint Louis’ own author Debra Dickerson wrote a blog for a while called: The Last Plantation is the Mind. It was a poignant reminder of how we can internalize the systems of oppression around us.
The woman who had been bent over for eighteen years never thought she could find healing in God’s own house. It never occurred to the leaders of the synagogue that she didn’t come for healing on the other six days because they made it clear she wasn’t welcome. On that day the woman, the leaders, and all those gathered were invited to see freedom born of compassion. A deep cleansing breath was taken by all.
This passage of healing is one that does not allow us to walk away unchallenged. It forces us to ask the hard questions. Where has our song been silenced and where have we silenced our own song? We are all in need of life, healing, connection, love and purpose. But instead we put up with far less. Let us take a deep breath, relax our throats and let out our song so that true healing can come. Amen? Amen!