12th in Ordinary Time (June 24)

12^TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

June 24

• 1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49 and Psalm 9:9-20 or 1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 18:10-16 and Psalm 133  •  Job 38:1-11 and Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32  •  2 Corinthians 6:1-13  • Mark 4:35-41

 

CALL TO WORSHIP   

O Lord, the poor can run to you because you are a fortress in times of trouble.

Everyone who honors your name can trust you, because you are faithful to all who depend on you.

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart, and tell about the wonders you have worked.

God Most High, I will rejoice; I will celebrate and sing because of you.

          (from Psalm 9)

OPENING PRAYER   

Almighty God, we gather here as people who have come to trust your goodness and your power. You gave David power over Goliath; and you give us power to face any situation. We draw upon your strength to live as brave and compassionate people. You teach us not to be afraid. As we worship this morning, may your presence be felt and celebrated. For we pray in the name of Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

CALL TO CONFESSION

We never come here confessing perfection or self-righteousness. We know our need of God. And we know that God is forgiving.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION    

Merciful God, we confess that our faith is weak. We want to trust you fully, but we do not always have strong faith. Sometimes life gets us down. We face situations that seem overwhelming, and we are tempted to give up or run away. Help us, O God, to look to you, and to place our lives in your strong hands. Forgive our fragile faith. We ask this in the name of Jesus your Son, who calms the storms and lifts the fallen. Amen.

          (third sentence alludes to Goliath story; last sentence refers to the gospel reading)

SILENT CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF GRACE   

The sinfulness of humanity is like an undefeatable giant. But God’s slingshot of mercy has dealt the mortal blow to sin and death. The weakness of the cross is stronger than the power of evil.

Friends, believe the good news of the Gospel.

In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!  Amen.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Holy Spirit, enlighten our minds to understand the Scriptures today. May the story of David and Goliath become our story. Amen.

SERMON IDEAS

(1) What ‘giant’ are you facing right now? (2) As David could not use Saul’s armor, we too must be ourselves and not try to be someone else. (3) David had a sling shot he knew how to use. We also have resource available to us, e.g., friends, church, counselors, imagination, scripture, prayer, government agencies, etc. (4) David moved toward the giant. Are we running away from some problem? What first step could you take toward solving your problem? (5) David trusted God. The battle was the Lord’s. We have to balance two things: our trust in God, and taking responsibility for ourselves. David took responsibility, but he also trusted God. Are you out of balance?

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11th Sunday of Ordinary Time - June 17

11^th SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME 

(June 17)

• 1 Samuel 15:34 - 16:13 and Psalm 20  •  Ezekiel 17:22-24 and Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15  • 
• 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17  •  Mark 4:26-34

CALL TO WORSHIP   

The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

We who are part of the Jesus Movement do not base our lives on what is visible, but on the invisible reality at the heart of everything. We walk by faith, not by sight.

(quote of 1 Sam. 16.7 and reference to 2 Cor. 5.7)

OPENING PRAYER   

Eternal Light, you have shown forth in the life of Jesus so that we may not be in the dark. As we have gathered here to sing songs of faith, to hear the stories of our tradition, and to express our gratitude for all the blessings of life, shine on us once again. Make bright the path of happiness. Show us how to walk with integrity. Strengthen our faith in the goodness of life. We pray these things in the name of Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

(theme of ‘light’ alludes to references in readings to ‘appearances, seeing’)

CALL TO CONFESSION

God not only hears our words, but knows our hearts. Let us confess our sins with honesty and boldness.

(reference to 1 Sam. 16.7)

PRAYER OF CONFESSION    

O Jesus, we acknowledge that we have failed at being human. We have tried to be more than human, which is pride. We have failed to be human enough, which is sloth. But you, O Jesus, were perfectly human. May we accept our vocation to be fully human as a joyous adventure lived by grace. Help us to be fully alive. Amen.

SILENT CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF GRACE   

Since being united to Christ in baptism and faith, our old way of seeing things has passed away. Now we see everything in a new light.

(referencing 2 Cor. 5.17)

Friends, believe the good news of the Gospel.

In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!  Amen.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

O God, clear our minds of preconceived ideas so that we may hear what you want us to hear from the sacred texts today. Amen.

SERMON IDEAS

Barbara Brown Taylor, in her book Leaving Church, writes about the difference in believing and beholding. (see pp. 109-111) Second Corinthians 5.17 contains that little word ‘see’ (or ‘behold’). Beholding is not normal ‘sight’ (v.7), but the seeing of ‘faith’ (v. 7). 1^st Samuel 16.7 refers to God’s way of seeing the heart, not outward appearances. The new creation has to be ‘seen’ or ‘beheld’ by faith. Where and how do we ‘see’ this new creation?

In the book 1Q84 – the cab driver tells the woman she will look at everything differently; but there is only one reality (toward the beginning of the book).

See Mary Oliver’s poem ‘When Death Comes.’ Notice the lines: ‘And therefore I look upon everything  /  as a brotherhood and a sisterhood…’ And, ‘When it’s all over I want to say: all my life  /  I was a bride married to amazement.’

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Emily and Me

I've been reading Emily Dickinson's poetry the last few weeks. I also finished a biographical novel about her. I'm now reading a book about the faith of Dickinson. Ever since high school I have liked her brief, staccato verses. I didn't realize then how sophisticated and complicated they are.

I feel an affinity with Emily in some ways. We are both obsessed with death. I think about death a lot. She writes about it frequently. We both like cemeteries. In my pastoral career I have stood in cemeteries so many times with the feeling of peace. 

Emily lived and wrote at a time of transition. Traditional authorities were losing ground. Our nation went through the Civil War while she wrote rhymes. Her language drew from the King James Bible, but her thought was resonating with the new Transcendentalist Movement. Emerson was a great influence. Right now this country is seeing the 'coming out' of atheists. Traditional religion is losing ground. My personal transition has been from fundamentalism to liberalism; and from the Christian Tradition to a broader Wisdom Tradition (still seen through the lens of the Christian faith).

Both Emily and I struggle with faith and prayer. We both have a Jacobean faith--we wrestle with God or Reality or whatever. She found the divine in nature. I have more and more experienced God in the ordinary, everyday things. The 19th century Romanticism appeals to me. The very Pulse of life keeps me believing in some kind of purpose in our existence. The power of metaphor functions for me as an open door to something more. 

Emily's brevity appeals to me. Like those brief stories of Jesus. Like bursts of energy; like lightning that illumines the darkness. I'm an introvert. I don't say much. Brevity is honesty. Let your yes be yes and your no be no.

Emily's poetry has a sad tone about it. And my life has an under tone of sadness. Thank God I also experience joy. It's always a struggle. When I read Emily's poems I feel her desire to believe. But she has to be true to herself. She has integrity. And that's what matters.

 

10th Ordinary, June 10

10^TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

• 1 Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15)  •  Psalm 138  •  2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1  •  Mark 3.20-35

CALL TO WORSHIP   

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart.

I give thanks for your steadfast love and your faithfulness.

The Lord will fulfill the divine purpose for us.

Your love, O Lord, endures forever.

(From Psalm 138)

OPENING PRAYER  

O God, we can count on you, for you always keep your promises. You never renege or break your vows. Our human leaders let us down; they are fallible. But your infallible love reaches out to us in our fragility and supports us in times of need. Great is your glory. We praise you. Amen.

(ideas from Ps. 138)

CALL TO CONFESSION

Jesus cast out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit. The HOLY Spirit cleans up the unholy. As we confess our sins, let us allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse us of all wrongdoing.

(drawing from Mark 3)

PRAYER OF CONFESSION   

Holy Parent, we want to be like everyone else. We do not want to stand out or be looked upon as odd. Our desire is to fit in. Yet we know that you call us at times to be peculiar. We confess our uneasiness with our peculiar calling. Forgive us for seeking conformity. Help us to be bold—and to rub people the wrong way if necessary. Strengthen us to be counter-cultural. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(ideas from 1 Sam. 8)

SILENT CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF GRACE   

All of us are sinners. But we are forgivable sinners. We give thanks for the grace of God.

          (allusion to the ‘unforgivable sin’)

Friends, believe the good news of the Gospel.

In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!  Amen.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

If our minds were like houses, we might ask the Holy Spirit to come in and clean house to make room to welcome the Word of God. So we pray, ‘Come, Holy Spirit, make space in our minds for your Word in the reading of Scripture. Amen.’

(alluding to Mark 3)

SERMON IDEAS

There may be an unforgivable sin. But there are no unforgivable people.

**

Jesus broadens the concept of ‘family’ by ignoring his biological family and embracing all who do the will of God.

The Sunset Limited

Last night I watched a mesmerizing movie. Well, "movie" in quotation marks. It was originally written as a play by Cormac McCarthy. HBO presents it as a film starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel Jackson. They are the only two characters. The whole 90 minute film takes place in one room. It's titled The Sunset Limited.

The black guy (Jackson) has just saved the white guy (Jones) from committing suicide by jumping in front of a subway train. They are back at the black guy's apartment in a New York ghetto discussing why this attempted suicide took place. The whole film is a discussion/debate about the meaning of life, or lack thereof.

As you would expect from McCarthy, there is a foreboding, dark underlying theme. The black guy argues for the existence of God and happiness that comes from serving him. The white guy takes the other point of view, saying, "The shadow of the axe hangs over every joy."

I found it hard to accept Tommy Lee Jones in his part. Too much film history behind him for him to come off as a quiet, despairing person. His voice brings up too many other characters that seem out of place. There were some flashes of authenticity by his character in the later parts of the film. But I would gone with someone else in that part.

It's difficult for any two actors to pull off an hour and a half of straight dialogue and not become boring. I felt at points that it was too much. The moving around in the one room for dramatic effect seemed a little artificial to me at points. But the heart of the film is the dialogue around existential themes.

No doubt it's a good 'discussion movie.' Watch it with someone else, and you will be talking about it for awhile. Each side gets in some good punches. The conversation is honest and challenges the black-and-white view of life (by two characters who have no names and are just scripted as Black and White). As usual, McCarthy weighs in on the side of nihilism, but leaves an opening for the possibility of hope. The later part of the argument gives us White making a bold case for darkness. "There's only the hope of nothingness," he says. His starkly realistic pronouncements about history and every day emptiness seem to win the day. Black (the hopeful guy) even begins to doubt.

Black's big theme throughout the debate is that we are our brother's keeper. In other words, there is some categorical imperative in life that is instinctual and finds its roots in a divine reality. White doesn't understand Black's compassion for him and tries to find ulterior motives. (When you're cynical you can't believe in good motives.)
For some strange reason I 'enjoyed' The Road and No Country for Old Men. For me they were bracing looks at life from a non-sentimental point of view. Maybe some kinship with the parables of Jesus that pull the rug out from underneath you. But The Sunset Limited left me a little sad. Maybe it's because I've been having this same conversation with myself lately and I wanted a better argument for life.

But my provisional conclusion is this: The Black character counters the hopelessness of White with these words: "The light is all around you, but you don't see nothing but shadow. And you're causing it. It's you. You're the shadow." The White character has turned the gospel on its head. The prologue of John's gospel says that "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." The White character's message is, "The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has overcome it."

This film sets up the choice that each of us has to make. Do we believe that the light overcomes the darkness, or vice versa? Is life being lived in the twilight or the pre-dawn? Whatever we believe about that question will color everything else. Some choose light; some choose darkness. Why one choice is made over the other is a mystery. Ultimately life is a gamble. We have to place our bets. Neither White nor Black can prove their side of the argument. They can bring forth evidence and use logic, but in the end there is no proof. Only a choice.

The movie's title, The Sunset Limited, cannot be an accident. Is it sunrise or sunset? Is the sunset limited? Or is it absolute? I write this blog on the day before Easter--the day the Church affirms that the sunset is limited. The Church celebrates the sunrise--the dawning of hope. The Church walks in the light, and denies that the darkness can ever overcome it. I guess that's why I'm still part of the Church despite all its blemishes and wrong turns. Indeed, part of the Church still walks in the shadows of racism and sexism and homophobia. But the part of  the Church that come out of the shadows is being true to its source.

The Sunset Limited was difficult to watch in one sitting. I felt drug down by its pessimism. But McCarthy makes you assert your faith if you have any. I'm glad I was challenged to discover once again my roots in a tradition of light and hope.

birdsong

i've been wondering...

do birds compose their music,

or is it all rote?

do they sing to one another,

or just for joy of it?

do they have a language of their own

with bird words?

and why do poets so often

write about birdsong,

especially the lark?

maybe its the way  their melodies

illuminate the dark.

The Woman in Black

The church service had already begun.

An attractive woman dressed in black

seated herself in the back pew.

As we walked out of church

someone said, Who was that woman?

No one knew.

She was gone.

So many people come and go

      in our lives.

So much blackness

     appears and disappears.

So much beauty sits in our midst,

    and we are unacquainted.

wooden bridge

Oh, get over it!

[photo taken at Chautauqua Institute]

catching the light

(made at the Chautauqua Institute)

I've been lucky

As I was driving today I was listening to an NPR program about people who have been unemployed and looking for work. Some of them have found part time jobs, some full time, but without benefits. There were sad stories of frustration as people tried their best to find employment--sending out hundreds of resumes and going for dozens of interviews.


I began to thank God that I have been so fortunate. Since I began my first full time pastorate in 1974 I have not been out of work. There was a two year period when I served a 3/4 time pastorate (which paid as much as my previous full time stint). And I was very lucky to never have a gap without work during the ten years of interim pastor service.


I got a college degree, then a seminary degree. I was 'in the system.' At that time it was the Southern Baptist system. Then I transferred into the Presbyterian system. I worked hard, accepted calls to smaller churches; I played by the rules--was a team player. I did a good job--most of my pastorates had slow, small growth. In my later years when I thought I couldn't hang on any longer, I grit my teeth and kept going. I reached the Promised Land of early retirement, willing to take less money. And here I am at the end of a career. 

We have down-sized and stream-lined our lives. We live in a small house, but one we got to design. We live frugally, but we are near our family. 


I'm a lucky dog. My parents gave me a stable home and good values to live by. They supported me as I entered the realm of higher education. Because of my religious upbringing I slid naturally into a stable system of employment--denominational religion. Pat had a similar experience. She got a degree in Elementary Education; then in Library Science; and we both enjoyed regular employment. 


I say it again: I am lucky. I feel sorry for the millions of people out of work. I'm glad that part of my taxes goes to support the unemployed. 


So much of life is luck. Randomness. Where on earth we are born, who are parents are, what genes we inherit, what period of history we show up in, who the people are who influence us--there are so many random factors that come together to form our destinies. It should humble all of us. If we are one of the lucky ones, we should see what we can do to help the unlucky ones. 


I'm not discounting a person's individual responsibility or creativity. Each of us plays our own role in our personal development. But some people start the race with a head start; and some begin the race with heavy weights bound to their legs.



You'll note that I haven't mentioned God's providence or anything like that. The problem I have with that approach is this: If I claim God's providence for my good life, what do I say about God in regard to all of those who have tragic lives? I don't believe there is a God who plays favorites. 

The duck

Sometimes you just have 

to stand up and

make waves.

(i took this photo in Ohio)

When God Was a Rabbit

It was the title that caught me: WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT. I had never heard of the author, Sarah Winman. I read on the cover that she is a British actor, and this is her first novel. I checked it out. As soon as began reading I experienced lively language, compelling characters, and sparkling humor.

The voice is that of a little girl, Elly. She and her brother are tight. Her dad is filled with guilt. Sexuality is a constant theme is this novel, but it's dealt with non-judgmentally, and simply as part of life.

This is a character driven book. And I found myself rooting for them. Surprises are around every corner. The story begins as Elly is around six years old and ends when she is a young adult. There are lost-and-found relationships; people deal with sadness and self-doubt. Winman's narrative celebrates life. Elly is so open to whatever happens. She and her family welcome all kinds of people into their circle. The feeling of the story is one of openness. Love wins out over judgment.

I think this book shares the emphasis of the Jesus tradition in that it refuses to traffic in moralisms, and instead emphasizes the fact that genuine relationships are what matter most.

Now, I haven't mentioned the rabbit. Well, there is a real rabbit in this story. It has a supporting role. I'll say no more. 

(There is a lot of profanity in this book; and a lot of sex [homo and hetero]. If that's unacceptable to you, then don't read it. But if big, bad sinners like King David and Moses don't bother you, you might be blessed by Sarah Winman's first novel.)

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