The Problem with Paul

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 11th 2009

Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“The Problem with Paul”
Isaiah 61:1-5a; Acts 9:1-19

As a child I was always fascinated with people who had dramatic conversion stories. Those folks who were not Christian and had come back from the brink of death or situations my young mind could not even imagine seemed like superheroes of the faith. And in the back of my mind I secretly hoped that I would have a dramatic story to tell one day. But no matter what would happen in my life, I could never deny that I had grown up in the church. No matter where I might travel or where I might go, I knew and was shaped by the body of Christ.
But this was not Paul’s story. Paul was not shaped by the body of Christ. Paul had a dramatic "before and after" testimony of how Jesus Christ has made a difference in his life. In fact, Paul hated Jesus and his followers. Paul did everything in his power to persecute the followers of Jesus. But after Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus, everything changed.
But in truth, Paul was not changed until Ananias put his hands on Paul’s eyes. It was the laying on of hands, by this slightly reluctant follower of Jesus that opened a whole new world opened for Paul. For the first time, Paul could see a whole world of people who needed the gospel. Paul’s new faith in Jesus sent his life in a brand new direction. Instead of being an enemy of Jesus, he was an envoy for Jesus. He traveled the world telling crowds of people about the gospel. He wrote most of our New Testament. Paul was someone who had no problem explaining what a difference it made in his life to be a Christian.
For those of us who grew up in the church that may not be as clear. After all, asking us what difference being a Christian makes in our lives is like asking us what it means to breath air. It is just not something we give much thought. Christian faith is that natural to us. Trying to talk about it can be difficult especially without a definitive before and after. Most of us cannot remember the first time we knew that God loved us. We cannot recall the first time we heard about Jesus. We have always known about baby Jesus in the manger. It is hard to articulate what we've always been, what we've always known.
Not all of us, but many, who have grown up in church can feel somewhat inferior to people like Paul who have a dramatic testimony to tell. For some we might actually feel a bit superior; because after all that conversion stuff sounds a bit weird. But either way we still have a hard time sharing what our faith means to us. The problem with Paul is that those who have come after his dramatic conversion believe people like him are the only ones who have a “real” testimony. We think that testimony, or telling people about our faith must have something to do with: “I was lost, but now I’m found.” Since we don’t have a powerful before and after story, we act as if we do not have a faith story at all.
As a result, we say nothing about our faith. Pastors are not exempt. In Unbinding your Heart, Martha Grace Reese writes about a group of pastors she took on a retreat. She asked these pastors what difference being a Christian made to them. She says it was extremely, painfully quiet for a l-o-n-g time. Just silence for a very l-o-n-g time. Finally, one pastor said, hesitantly, "Because it makes me a better person ???" -Surely there’s more we can say than that! But putting words to our faith is hard for many of us.
I would like you use your imagination with me. Imagine that you do not go to church on Sundays, not even at Christmas and Easter. Imagine that you do not know any hymns or Christian songs. Imagine that you do not know any Scripture. You don’t know even the simplest Bible stories. Imagine that you are not sure if God hears you when you pray, or what words you should use to pray. Imagine that you do not know whom to call to pray for you. Imagine that you don't know how God feels towards you. What if you didn’t have a church family? What if you didn’t even know that God exists?
Imagine.
Now let me ask you, what does being a Christian mean to you? Lawrence Lewis agreed to tell you his answer to that question.
What a powerful story of how our lives are shaped, and saved through the faithful community of believers. We all need to step back and ask ourselves the question what difference Jesus makes in our lives. And we can give a witness that God is saving people, everyday, for a whole lot more than just life after death.
There are a lot of people living in various kinds of hell right here on earth. When Paul, who was known as Saul lost his eyesight he sat in total darkness for three days. He is so upset that he could not eat or drink. He had to be wondering what sort of punishment God had in store for him because he had rejected Jesus and his followers. At the very same time, Jesus was working on a guy a reluctant evangelist named Ananias. Ananias was right to be worried. Being sent to Saul was no easy task. After all, Saul had been a part of the killing of the first Christian martyr. Christians were running scared because "Saul was breathing threats against them." Saul was an unlikely candidate for evangelism.
So were the prostitutes that loitered on the corner of First Church in Florida. Most people in the congregation were upper-middle class, African-Americans who had been in church all their lives. They were not happy that the neighborhood was changing. They were really not happy about the prostitution that was creeping into their parking lot. They grumbled over the cigarette butts by the sanctuary steps. They worried about the "bad P.R." the church was getting. The last thing anyone was thinking about was that the women hanging out on the corners were candidates for evangelism. Candidates for jail, yes, but not candidates for evangelism! Not in their beloved church!
But one day, a faithful church member, a retired school teacher, left choir practice on a Wednesday. She saw one of the prostitutes, leaning against a lamppost singing. And of all things it was right by the member’s parked car. She felt pushed by the Spirit (she couldn’t find other words for it) to go talk to this woman in the pink leather hot pants. “Hi. My name is Mary. I was just singing with my choir in there. You have a beautiful voice.”
“Yeah, I love singin’,” the young woman mumbled. “I’m Sheena.” “Sheena, you ought to be singing for the Lord, you want to come to sing with me in my choir?” That sweet church member almost fainted as she heard the words come out of her mouth! But Sheena finally said yes.
She showed up on the corner the next Wednesday before choir practice. Mary took her in. Sheena did have a beautiful voice. With the encouragement of the church, with tutoring from Mary, her dear new, retired school teacher friend, Sheena got her GED. She went to college! She finished medical school. Now, that former prostitute runs a medical clinic. Out of her church.
What motivated Mary to talk to Sheena? What possessed her to go into that prostitute's personal hell and walk her out? Maybe it was what motivated Ananias to go talk to Saul. We know nothing about Ananias’ conversion to Christianity. It was likely that he had a pretty ordinary existence up to this point. Maybe, like us, he didn’t have a dramatic story to tell about his faith. At least, not until now! The Lord Jesus appears to Ananias in a vision and tells him to go visit Saul. This is a powerful moment of truth for Ananias. Will he go talk to Paul? You can almost hear him say: “Can’t you choose someone else?” Look at the ninth chapter of Acts, the 15th verse. Why does Ananias go talk to Paul about Jesus? First, Jesus told him to go. Obedience to Christ is a major motivation. Yet, I hate to admit it, I sometimes need more than that. Just because I know I should do something doesn’t mean I will. Look at the 15th verse again. Jesus gives Ananias another motivation. Something besides “because I said so.” Jesus says, "Saul is an instrument I have chosen." Jesus had plans for Saul. Jesus needed Saul for the ministry of God. And Jesus needed Ananias to reach Saul. Ananias gets to be a part of what God is doing in the world. He is a key player in God’s plan to get the gospel out.

He gets to be the domino that tips another person into God’s love. He gets to be the hands of God that heal someone’s pain. He gets to be the light that shines on Saul’s dim path. He gets to do something for God that only he can do. He gets to be a part of God’s redemption of the world. Now, that’s some motivation! Not guilt . . . Not, “because I should” . . . Not, “because it makes me a better person ???” Not some begrudging obedience . . . Just a sheer, passionate desire to be a part of what God wants to do in the world.
Ananias had the opportunity to make a difference in the world by going where God sent him. Verse 17 tells us, "So Ananias went." The Paul Problem has an Ananias Answer. No extraordinary story needed. All you need is an ordinary willingness to see what God can do through you. Who knows what lives you may touch and change? Who knows, your simple willingness to be a follower of Jesus may bring some small portion of hell on earth for another person to an end. The Saul’s in our lives await our response. Amen.

Include Everyone?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 27th 2009

Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Include Everyone?”
Psalm 124; Mark 9:38-50

Jesus teaches the disciples that faithfulness means moving beyond ourselves. He does this in very clear ways when he says that betrayal, suffering and resurrection is the way he himself will go. The disciples don’t or simply cannot imagine that Jesus is serious. After all they have seen his power and have participated in that power. So the only logical conclusion that the disciples can make is that Jesus does not really mean it. If that is the case the responsible thing to do is to figure out who is going to take over? The obvious choice to follow Jesus in leadership is the one who is most powerful and charismatic. So the preparation for the exchange of power begins. There is just one small problem. Jesus knows this is what they are thinking so he must try another way of teaching.
It is a simple message: “Greatness is achieved through service.” Everyone can be great because everyone can serve. It is from the previous passage of Jesus showing the disciples a child where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Drum Major speech finds is roots. Jesus says that anyone who welcomes one like the powerless child welcomes him. This is the mark of faithful discipleship. Being faithful means serving and welcoming the powerless. But this is a lesson that is too often lost on the disciples of all ages.
Jesus has just said that the way of faithfulness is the extension of hospitality to all people. Following that lesson we have John coming to Jesus with disturbing news in our passage this morning. It appears that some imposters causing trouble. “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” This is such a great interchange. John has found someone who has been touched by the ministry of Jesus. That person has been so moved that he too is healing and preaching the good news. But John, and the other disciples, have stopped him from sharing the gospel because he does not follow them. He does not do things the way they have always been done and in the church that cannot be faithful. This is at center of John’s concern. He did not care that the person was doing ministry John was mad that the man was not following him and his way.
John, and the other disciples are still caught up by the idea that they have been called to be leaders. They are looking for followers instead of focusing on the ministry of hospitality and welcome. Unfortunately, this is not a new pattern. Jesus says he will be leaving and the disciples look to dominate one another. Jesus says welcome the powerless and the disciples make sure that this ministry of reconciliation is properly ordered under their leadership. But before we spend too much time beating up on the disciples I think it is important to see their mistakes as natural pitfalls for anyone who seeks to follow Jesus.
At the heart of this passage is the central message of the gospel. Anyone who seeks to follow Jesus is called to welcome and serve others. Despite news to the contrary it is not right doctrine or dress or style of worship. It really is as simple as welcome and serve, all the rest appears to be details. But Jesus seems to know too well that the details will become our focus. That is why this passage serves as an important warning. When Jesus says I will be betrayed, killed and rise again, the followers of Jesus are busy comparing worship attendance and denominational prowess and access to political leaders. When Jesus says welcome all those who are hungry to follow me and serve in my name, the church in all ages gets tied in knots about whether or not it is natural for some people to serve in leadership roles. You can respond to God’s call, we say, as long as you follow us. This is not to say we cannot and should not set up expectations for leadership. However, when that criteria mimics the exclusionary impulses of the culture, the church should not be so quick to accept it as ordained by God. Instead we should be asking: Who are the powerless in our society? Who are those that receive no welcome or are invisible in society? These are precisely the people to who Christians are called to love and extend hospitality. And anyone involved in this ministry of welcome in Jesus name should never be forbidden from leadership. It really is that simple.
Ok, you say all this talk of inclusion does not seem to fit with the passages on hell. What gives? Shall we ignore them as a remnant of an unenlightened past? Well I do think you all know me better than that. We cannot ignore them but we also cannot take them at face value either. We must tread carefully. During Jesus earthly ministry and when the Gospel was finally penned there was revolutionary fervor in the air. Into these times Jesus speaks a message of inclusion and welcome. However, there was a need for faithfulness to the community as a matter of survival. So this is what is at the heart of the calls for bodily dismemberment.
In a revolutionary era when one member of the community could not or would not remain faithful the response was to kill them. So within these words from Jesus is a call to maintain the faithfulness of the community without finally killing them. We also know that when people were excluded from the worshiping community, they were not shunned. Instead, they become one who was deserving of ministry. In other words, it may become necessary to keep someone who embezzles funds away from the finance committee but we do not exclude them from the ministry of hospitality. This is what these apparent exclusionary passages are all about.
The need to define who we are is often based on the childlike framework of who we are not. This is not a bad impulse until we use those childlike behaviors to define the boundaries of God’s love. Whatever the reason, power, control, or simple bigotry, we cannot fall into this trap. Where do we find ourselves acting in ways that seek to grow our power, at work, here at church, or in our families? Where do we find ourselves seeking to control others in the same way? Where do we find ourselves trapped by the messages of our age that say white folks and black folks cannot live together? The message is not: If they agree with us, and follow us, and do what we say, they are for us. Instead, it is into these places that Jesus says: “Do not forbid them. Anyone who is not against us is for us!” Amen.

A Lesson in Humility

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 20th 2009

Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“A Lesson in Humility”
Psalm 1; Mark 9:30-37

It always happens while they are on the way. The best teaching moments seem to come while the disciples move with Jesus from place to place. And the best educators know to take advantage of every opportunity. Apparently, being on the road was not the best environment for the disciples to hear that Jesus was going to suffer, die, and rise again. I am not sure there is ever a good time to hear this sort of news. After all, the disciples do not grasp what Jesus is saying until after the resurrection. Unable to grasp Jesus’ teaching the disciples do what the followers of Jesus always do when they are anxious or do not understand something. They decide to start a fight about something completely unrelated to the issue at hand.
Jesus understands this inclination but since the road seems to be less than an ideal setting for teaching he waits till they are in a house. “What were you arguing about?” It was an argument about who was the greatest. It was a competition, which is something we know well. It is the life-blood of our society. Competition is how we know our value. And it is this inclination that Jesus seeks to challenge.
Knowing the answer to his question, Jesus uses a visual image. Notice that he does not say: “Friends, you are all gifted in your own special way. You should appreciate the diversity of gifts.” He does not turn to the disciples and say: “Andrew, you are good with one-on-one relationships, or Matthew, you are good with numbers and money, or to James and John, no one has more enthusiasm and zeal than you two, and Judas you, well Judas we should talk later.” Jesus seems less than interested in the particular gifts of each disciple, at least on this day.
“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” If the disciples wanted a blunt answer to the question of greatness they just got it. Being on the road with Jesus, seeing the miracles and catching a glimpse of the way God intended things has actually clouded their vision. Instead of grasping the role of serving the disciples had tasted power and privilege and wanted more. After all, if they even remotely understood that Jesus wouldn’t be around forever someone was going to have to take over. The trappings of privilege are strong, even on the road with Jesus.
Last February Emma came home and told us about the most amazing story. She wondered if we knew that in the old days that dark skinned people had to sit in the back of the bus. She went on to tell us about Rosa Parks and how light skinned people got to sit at the front of the bus. But what will always stick with me is what she shared about another student. After hearing this story another boy in her class said he thought that sounded like a good idea. When we asked Emma why she thought he would like it she said: “He only said that because he is a light skinned person and not thinking about other people.” Out of the mouth of kindergarteners came wisdom that basically boils things down to their essence. This very honest kindergarten “light-skinned” boy understood what privilege was all about. And focusing on the privilege he lost sight of what his privilege might mean for other people.
The lesson Jesus teaches about humility is not that we all ought to walk around being self-effacing. Unfortunately, for far too long, followers of Jesus take this as what it means to be humble. So, if Jesus is not teaching us to be doormats, what is he saying? First we have to recognize that he is speaking to the male disciples who are still captured by the belief that leadership is about establishing dominance. So Jesus says if you want to be great, serve others. And to bring this point home he takes a child and says they, not someone else, must welcome children.
It is important to know on this point that children were not seen in the same light as we do today. Childhood was not about innocence or trusting everything that is told to you. In fact, you really just need to spend time with toddlers to figure that one out. Instead, children in the ancient world had no real value. So the disciples are being taught to welcome and offer hospitality to those who society sees as having no value.
Christine Pohl in her book on hospitality called: Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, she gets at the essence of this passage. To offer hospitality means to give of our whole selves. She writes: “To give someone else our full attention means that we view the person as a human being rather than as an embodied need or interruption.” That is not something that comes easy for everyone. But it will never come as long as the disciples are busy trying to figure out who is in charge and who is the greatest. When we take the focus off of ourselves, the limitations or gifts and skills we might have, we can learn like the disciples in every age that following Jesus can be as simple as offering the gift of our presence and full attention to anyone who crosses our path. It really is that simple.
Standing on the platform waiting for the Marta train I could see interacting with various people. He was asking for spare change. He was hunched over and looked beat down by years on the street. Secretly I hoped that the train would arrive before he got to me. But the train did not come. However, when he came close I realized I had met this man before. Before I could call him by name he had already launched into his story of need. When I called him by name he looked at me, really looked at me and remembered my name as well. In that moment we both broke from the script where he I saw him as homeless guy asking for change and he saw me as a human atm. We caught up with each other and the time we had spent in the homeless ministry. And when the train came I did offer to give him the money I had in my pocket and he said no thanks, I’m good. And he walked away a little taller and I walked away realizing that while he did have real financial needs that being treated as a human being, a beloved child of God is something that we all need and are called to offer to all people. Amen? Amen.

Baptism Barrier

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 13th 2009

Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Baptism Barrier”

Have you ever thought of yourself as an evangelist? You know, an evangelist. Someone like Philip in today's Scripture reading. And evangelist is someone who shares the gospel with people who don’t know about Jesus. Have you thought of yourself as someone who tells others about Jesus?
I am guess that if I set out a sign-up sheet to recruit evangelist it would be a fairly short list. Very few of us even like the word evangelism. It seems to either make us feel guilty because we're not doing it, or turn us off because there's no way we would ever want to do it. A very large study has just been done on evangelism in churches like ours. The conclusive finding was that the vast majority of people would rather go get a root canal than talk about, much less DO, evangelism. For the last forty years, most churches have been in decline. It seems we’ve developed a real -threatening aversion to evangelism! Right now, at this very minute, you may want to put your fingers in your ears and sing “la, la, la.” Anything to drown out the “E” word!
Why do so many of us have such a visceral reaction to evangelism? There are all kinds of reasons why not much evangelism is happening in most congregations. I'll give you some of my own reasons. I don't want to be anything close to the stereotype that comes to my mind when I think of an "evangelist."
Nor do I want to offend people by pressuring them with rhetoric about where they'll spend eternity. Besides that, I wonder sometimes what business I have telling people what they ought to be doing or believing. I have enough trouble in my own life doing and believing what I should. I'd rather just do the best I can, being the best Christian I can be, and hope that is a good enough witness to others.
After all, St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” I do fine talking faith language with you here at church. But when I’m with people who aren’t churchgoers, words fail. I flounder. I hope words aren’t necessary.
But what happens when we meet someone who obviously needs to hear some words about God’s love? Someone like the Ethiopian eunuch. He is an African man with an important job that came at a high price. Most likely, he had been castrated at some point in his life so that he could serve the queen of Ethiopia. That why he's called a "eunuch." He was unable to be married or have children. Religious law kept him from participating in worship services. Yet, somehow, he had heard of God and wanted to know more about God. What do you do when you don't think of yourself as an evangelist but you come across someone like this man?
Someone who bears deep wounds inflicted by the world . . .
Someone who is not welcomed by traditional religion . . .
Someone who looks successful but feels empty . . .
Someone who is searching for God, searching for something besides what she has . . .
Someone who needs to hear about God’s love. Someone like Rick.
Rick was a successful businessman. He visited a church in the “Bible belt.” He came because he saw an ad they had placed on TV. The minister of the church had been opposed to putting ads for a church on television. "Only fundamentalist mega-churches do that," he'd said. "It costs too much anyway. We should be using that money for caring for the poor. Besides," he'd said, "What kind of people pick their church from ads on television?"
But the church did it anyway. They got dozens of visitors who had never before been to any church in their lives. One of them was Rick. Rick brought his 8-year-old son, Andy, to church one Sunday. The children's Sunday school happened to be studying Esther that day, and Andy was part of the class. Monday morning the minister got a call from Rick. "My son is so excited about this story he heard at church," he said. "He said the story is from the 'book of Esther.' Can you tell me where I can get a copy of that book? I want to read it to him at home. Can I buy it at Barnes and Noble or somewhere?'" Rick, a college graduate and successful businessman, had never owned a Bible. He had no idea that Esther is a book in the Bible.
I wonder if it surprised you that someone could grow up in this country and not know that Esther is a book in the Bible? This is increasingly true. In 1910 only 3% of Americans were growing up with no faith training, but in the 1980s 14.5% were growing up with no faith training. And the number of people coming to adulthood in the U.S. with no faith training at all continues to increase. In our own community many of our neighbors have no religious identity. They are not Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, or Christian. They are not connected religiously at all.
"What is to prevent me from being baptized?" the Ethiopian man asked. That’s a good question. For people like Rick, the obstacle to being baptized, to becoming a Christian, is simply that no one has ever told them about God. Let me say that again. No one has ever told them about God. Friends, I wonder if we are preventing people from hearing about God. Are we keeping people from hearing about God’s love? Are we constructing barriers between the gospel and the people who desperately need to hear it? Is our fear of being like a stereotype a barrier?
Is our lack of confidence in ourselves a barrier? Is our desire to give people their "space" about religion a barrier?
Could it be that for many people like Rick, we are actually preventing them from knowing more about God? Are we keeping people from becoming followers of Jesus? That may seem unfair but what I mean is that we have all been touched by the ministry of Westminster. We value the unique character, no not characters, of this community. Many of us have come to deeper faith because of this place. And the truth is that there are others who are deeply hungry for welcoming message that God welcomes all people which we proclaim.
If we knew that there was someone who was thirsty for a drink of water, none of us would walk by. We would each gladly share what we have to make things better for someone else. We would not keep it to ourselves if someone needed it! But this is exactly what the church does when we do not share the welcome we have found in Jesus with those in need. We sit with the waters of baptism in our hands. Meanwhile, neighbors around us are desperately thirsty to know that God loves them through Jesus Christ. This is what it is all about.
Maybe that is easier said than done. It certainly seems that Philip had it easier than we do. After all, the Spirit of God seemingly transported him to the Ethiopian man's side and compelled him to share the gospel! It seems like all Philip did was show up and God did the rest. If we were to be evangelists, what would that look like for us? To be truly authentic it would not be an invitation to become someone we are not or share a message of which we do not believe. How would the Spirit work with us? Where would the Spirit of God send us? Who would be on our pathway?
Friends, I invite you to come on a spiritual adventure with me. What would it look like for us to be authentic evangelists? This is what we'll be exploring together as a church for 6 weeks, starting October 11th . You are invited to pray, to study, to question, and to think about how God might be sending us out to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a church, we will be reading the short book, Unbinding Your Heart. It came out of the study I mentioned earlier. Today in your bulletin there are sign-up sheets for the small groups that are forming now. We will use these groups for prayer and discussion. You will be spiritually encouraged and intellectually stimulated in these groups. Together, we will be inviting God to show us what it would look like for us to become evangelists. What would it be like for us to share God’s love in our own unique way?
There is a story about a family who shared with a pastor about one of the most the memorable Christmases they ever had. It was the last Christmas they spent at their grandparents' house. The grandfather had Parkinson's disease. Soon, they would move to an assisted living center. It had been their family's tradition to gather around the Christmas tree and listen to the granddad read the Christmas story from Luke. This year, when Granddad tried to read, he could barely move his Parkinson’s-locked jaws. He just couldn’t manage to speak the words aloud. The family sat there and watched him struggle. No one seemed to know what to do. Should they say something? Would it hurt his pride if someone helped him? No one did anything for what seemed to be a very long time. But Emily, the 6-year-old granddaughter, had just learned to read. She knew exactly what to do. She quietly tiptoed over to his chair and plopped herself beside him. Then, taking his finger into her hand, she helped him point to each word, saying them out loud with him as they read along together:
“Unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
"Do you know what you're reading?" Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch. The man nearly begged, "How can I unless someone guides me?" So Phillip went and sat beside him. Who will God lead you to sit beside? Amen!