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.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
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!
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!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Bad Influence
WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
August 15th 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 12:49-56
“Bad Influence”
I do not know about you but the words of Jesus seem pretty inflammatory and not really in character. They are exactly the sort of words that those will ill intentions could use to prove that Christianity is a religion of war and violence. “I came to bring fire to the earth,” and “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” How do we explain that away? What are we supposed to do when the person we call; “The Prince of Peace,” claims his mission was NOT to bring peace on earth?
The truth is that the whole concept of division makes no sense at face value. We love to believe that Jesus is welcoming and bringing people together. But this notion of division cannot be easily dismissed. Division can come in many forms. Out of this passage we can justify the belief that only “we” are the chosen ones of God. But this interpretation, while tempting to some, is not the Jesus we come to know in the Gospels. But what then are we to do with division?
A clue to what might be going on is to look at the framing of the parings. Jesus is not saying that he came to bring division among people of different faith or nation. Jesus did not say he came to bring division between neighbors or communities. The division that Jesus brings is in families and more specifically among generations. Look closely at the divisions and it comes in a family. Mothers and daughters, Fathers and Sons, mother-in-law, and daughter-in-law, each one of these pairings provide a specific familial and generation struggle.
Frankly, this does not provide us any better ground on which to stand. At the heart of the passage is still this issue of division and division between generations. However, it is a story we actually know well. Today there is a great deal of struggle between the generations and the church needs to study these carefully. There are seismic changes afoot, from the political, economic, religious, and cultural landscape. If you look at the generational attitudes on race, politics, gender, sexuality and economics, it is clear that our world is not going to look the same in a few short years. Most of the arguments that dominate the headlines under the topic of the “cultural war,” do not matter to those under forty-five. In other words, the culture war is over but those most vocally fighting just do not know it yet.
These changes, as changes often do, have led to a backlash of fear and anger. This is true inside as well as outside the church. So what does that mean for us? How should we respond? The first thing to remember is that this sort of seismic shift is not new and it will not be the last. That does not mean we can put our heads in the sand and believe the church has always and will always be around. While that is true, the church as we know it, is an endanger specie and will not last.
On a more accessible scale, right here at Westminster, it means that we need not just to recognize our differences in all its forms, but to investigate what they mean. Everyone is not the same nor do they have them same experiences, understandings, tastes, desires, and hopes. When we worship, some of us believe worship is a solitary quiet experience that is well ordered so that speech is to happen at “proper” times. Others feel the movement of the spirit and are moved to respond in speech or with clapping. There has to be a place for all these expressions of faith. Each comes from a deep spiritual well that needs to be acknowledged, and welcomed so that each can exist in side-by-side. In doing so we can move beyond the surprised look that gets interpreted as condescension of lack of welcome. We have to listen and share with one another.
However, with all the talk of change, the good news is that many things have, and will, stay the same. At the heart of our faith is the sharing of meals, study of scripture, serving others, being generous with our resources, and worshipping God. While the shape and form has been in flux for two-thousand years, the content has remained the same. As we face these new seismic shifts we need to make this our central focus. Being disciples is our sole responsibility and our calling. And when Jesus talks about bring division; I believe it has everything to do with the flexibility of shape and the constancy of content. He knows that divisions will arise and we need to figure out what is essential and what is worth our energy and passion. Jesus says, look out… every generation is going to come along and stir things up. Our job is to make sure they get the content. Worship, shared meals, scripture, generosity and service. Change is coming… let us make sure we have a hand in passing along the most enduring parts of our faith and not another example of generational strife. That is the best of what Westminster really is all about. And for that, I give thanks and say: Amen.
August 15th 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 12:49-56
“Bad Influence”
I do not know about you but the words of Jesus seem pretty inflammatory and not really in character. They are exactly the sort of words that those will ill intentions could use to prove that Christianity is a religion of war and violence. “I came to bring fire to the earth,” and “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” How do we explain that away? What are we supposed to do when the person we call; “The Prince of Peace,” claims his mission was NOT to bring peace on earth?
The truth is that the whole concept of division makes no sense at face value. We love to believe that Jesus is welcoming and bringing people together. But this notion of division cannot be easily dismissed. Division can come in many forms. Out of this passage we can justify the belief that only “we” are the chosen ones of God. But this interpretation, while tempting to some, is not the Jesus we come to know in the Gospels. But what then are we to do with division?
A clue to what might be going on is to look at the framing of the parings. Jesus is not saying that he came to bring division among people of different faith or nation. Jesus did not say he came to bring division between neighbors or communities. The division that Jesus brings is in families and more specifically among generations. Look closely at the divisions and it comes in a family. Mothers and daughters, Fathers and Sons, mother-in-law, and daughter-in-law, each one of these pairings provide a specific familial and generation struggle.
Frankly, this does not provide us any better ground on which to stand. At the heart of the passage is still this issue of division and division between generations. However, it is a story we actually know well. Today there is a great deal of struggle between the generations and the church needs to study these carefully. There are seismic changes afoot, from the political, economic, religious, and cultural landscape. If you look at the generational attitudes on race, politics, gender, sexuality and economics, it is clear that our world is not going to look the same in a few short years. Most of the arguments that dominate the headlines under the topic of the “cultural war,” do not matter to those under forty-five. In other words, the culture war is over but those most vocally fighting just do not know it yet.
These changes, as changes often do, have led to a backlash of fear and anger. This is true inside as well as outside the church. So what does that mean for us? How should we respond? The first thing to remember is that this sort of seismic shift is not new and it will not be the last. That does not mean we can put our heads in the sand and believe the church has always and will always be around. While that is true, the church as we know it, is an endanger specie and will not last.
On a more accessible scale, right here at Westminster, it means that we need not just to recognize our differences in all its forms, but to investigate what they mean. Everyone is not the same nor do they have them same experiences, understandings, tastes, desires, and hopes. When we worship, some of us believe worship is a solitary quiet experience that is well ordered so that speech is to happen at “proper” times. Others feel the movement of the spirit and are moved to respond in speech or with clapping. There has to be a place for all these expressions of faith. Each comes from a deep spiritual well that needs to be acknowledged, and welcomed so that each can exist in side-by-side. In doing so we can move beyond the surprised look that gets interpreted as condescension of lack of welcome. We have to listen and share with one another.
However, with all the talk of change, the good news is that many things have, and will, stay the same. At the heart of our faith is the sharing of meals, study of scripture, serving others, being generous with our resources, and worshipping God. While the shape and form has been in flux for two-thousand years, the content has remained the same. As we face these new seismic shifts we need to make this our central focus. Being disciples is our sole responsibility and our calling. And when Jesus talks about bring division; I believe it has everything to do with the flexibility of shape and the constancy of content. He knows that divisions will arise and we need to figure out what is essential and what is worth our energy and passion. Jesus says, look out… every generation is going to come along and stir things up. Our job is to make sure they get the content. Worship, shared meals, scripture, generosity and service. Change is coming… let us make sure we have a hand in passing along the most enduring parts of our faith and not another example of generational strife. That is the best of what Westminster really is all about. And for that, I give thanks and say: Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)