Happy Holy Days

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Happy Holy Days
Series: Happy Holy Days - Part 1
Sunday, November 27, 2022
John 1:1-5, 9-14; Romans 1:20; Psalm 19:1-4; 148:1-6

Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through the things God has made.

Romans 1:20 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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As the light dwindled in the sky and the days grew shorter, the ancients wondered what was happening to the sun. Their shamans and storytellers supplied the answers.  Gods and goddesses were fighting for the survival of all life, playing games in the sky or battling each other for supremacy. 

Ancient peoples worked to be in balance with the forces of nature as they understood them.  Many cultures carefully watched the sun so that they would know when to plant, when to harvest and when to batten down the hatches for winter.

What people do not know or understand, they make up stories to explain.

What the ancients feared, they named so that they could understand it in some way.

There are common patterns with Deities representing the sun or the light as the central theme.  At latitudes where the tilt of the earth causes the sun to dip very low, tales are told where the threat to the sun is mortal so the people must come forward in the sun's defense. Closer to the equator,  we will sometimes see the sun as simply losing interest or a diminishing of its capacity to perform its duty so the festivals and ceremonies are to remind of, or bind it to, its task

These days, most people think back on the mythical explanations that forces of nature were gods and goddesses as quaint legends…

...We have forgotten what it is to huddle in a fire-lit cave while thunder splits the night sky with sound and shakes the earth around us, so we no longer need know the names of the thunder gods to assure us there is some kind of order in the universe.

Excerpt from Shaughna B. (AKA The Solstice Lady)

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While we easily chalk up solstice celebrations to ancient myths and legends, we must not forget that the ancient peoples who wrote our own religious history relied heavily on these stories to make sense of their universe.  It is no accident that the God’s first word in Genesis 1 is “Let there be Light,” nor is it any wonder that John begins his gospel with a declaration that Jesus, the Christ, is the Light of the World which came into the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it. 

The details and characters of the solstice stories vary by culture and historical period, but we cannot take Christmas seriously without acknowledging this history.  Long before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Paul tells us that God’s invisible qualities were clearly seen through the things that God had made… especially the Sun, which was almost universally worshipped by ancient peoples.  As St. Patrick taught the ancient Celtic people, the sun points us to an even greater eternal light. 

In whatever form or place light shines in the darkness this holiday season, let us sing forth the glory of God.

Joy of Heaven To Earth, Come Down

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Joy of Heaven To Earth, Come Down
Dreaming God’s Dreams: Part 5
Sunday, November 20, 2022
Zephaniah 3:14-20; Malachi 3:1-6; Revelation 21:10

On that day, it will be said to Jerusalem:
Don’t fear, Zion.
Don’t let your hands fall.
The Lord your God is in your midst—a warrior bringing victory.
He will create calm with his love;
he will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:16-17

"Who can endure the day of his coming?  Who can withstand his appearance?  He is like the refiner’s fire or the cleaner’s soap.  He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver.  He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.  They will belong to the Lord presenting a righteous offering.  The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in ancient days and in former years..”

Malachi 3:2-4

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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Sleigh bells ring and carols sing as Thanksgiving quickly fades into our rear-view mirror and we move into Advent next Sunday.  In all honesty, today’s scripture from Malachi often shows up in the traditional Advent readings. It's difficult for us to hear the challenging words of the prophets in a time when all we want to think about is the cute little baby in the manger. 

Nevertheless, we must prepare for such a joyful season of celebration, and we have done so this year by learning to dream God's dreams for ourselves and for our world.  Advent is all about the anticipation and preparation for the coming of Christ.  As we celebrate his first appearance some 2,000 years ago, so we await his second coming when all the world shall be restored and the Kingdom of God will be fully manifest on earth as it is in heaven.

Who among us would try to decorate our homes without first vacuuming, dusting, and straightening?  What joy would there be in sitting down that first night under the lights of the Christmas tree with a mess all around?  How many of us would gather around a holiday meal with all of the trimmings simply piled on top of a month's worth of bills, children's homework, or junk mail still laying on the table?

That's why the prophets are so crucial to our "holiday" celebrations.  They remind us that this season is not merely a temporary distraction from the ordinary darkness we experience throughout the rest of the year.  We don't just hide all of our sin and darkness and mess under the wreaths and candlelight.  We have to clean up, or rather, allow God to clean us up.  The fire of the Holy Spirit is not only a light unto our path, she is a refiner of our souls.

This is God's dream for creation: that we are faithful, that we do justice, that we work for peace, that we extend mercy, and that all of this moves us closer and closer to the complete restoration of Eden, the New Jerusalem, the full in-breaking of the Kingdom of Heaven!

As we move into this Advent Season, let us live and work and worship together under an Open Heaven, here and now and for all eternity.

Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done... on Earth... as it is in Heaven!

Depth of Mercy

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Depth of Mercy
Dreaming God’s Dreams: Part 4
Sunday, November 13, 2022
Jonah 3:10-4:11; Matthew 9:13; Romans 5:8

God saw what they were doing—that they had ceased their evil behavior. So God stopped planning to destroy them, and he didn’t do it.

But Jonah thought this was utterly wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Come on, Lord! Wasn’t this precisely my point when I was back in my own land? This is why I fled to Tarshish earlier! I know that you are a merciful and compassionate God, very patient, full of faithful love, and willing not to destroy…

…"But the Lord said, “You ‘pitied’ the shrub, for which you didn’t work and which you didn’t raise; it grew in a night and perished in a night. Yet for my part, can’t I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred twenty thousand people who can’t tell their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

Jonah 3:10-4:2, 4:10-11

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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When I was a kid we used to play a game called "mercy."  I've also heard it called "uncle" and I'm sure it has gone by many other names in various places.  Basically two people interlock their hands and then try to twist each other's fingers until one person says "uncle" or "mercy", indicating that they can't take the pain any longer and they concede the match.  In some ways it's a simple test of strength like arm wrestling, except that it involves far more pain.

I haven't thought about that game in years, but as I consider the idea of mercy in our world, it speaks volumes.  Most often we are quick to want mercy for ourselves.  When life is tough, we pray the Lord might have mercy upon us, that he would put an end to our pain by whatever means necessary.  Sometimes we might even step in on behalf of a loved one who seems to have had more than his or her share of suffering and pray that they might find mercy.

"Blessed are the merciful," Jesus says, "for they will be shown mercy" (Matthew 5:7).

This idea is not dissimilar to the Lord's Prayer where we ask God to forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Show mercy upon us as we show mercy to others.

But that's where things get tricky.  What about those people who we feel don't deserve "mercy"?  What about the ones who brought suffering upon themselves?  What about the ones who are not merely innocent victims of circumstance?  What about the ones who would never show mercy to us if the roles were reversed?

This is where that whole, "Love your enemies" teaching comes into play.

But why?

It's not because they deserve it, because truth be told, we don't deserve mercy either.  Rather, we must extend mercy even to the least deserving because God created them in the Divine Image and God still loves them as God loves us.

The prophet Jonah never quite learns this lesson.  The people of Ninevah are evil. They are known for their brutality in war and they show no mercy to those they conquer.  They are the least deserving people in the world.  God should wipe them off the face of the earth without hesitation or warning.

Yet Jonah is sent to warn them.  He is certain they will not respond positively.  They are too far gone.

But to Jonah's surprise and dismay, the people of Ninevah do respond.  They repent of their evil ways and they cry out to God for mercy.

"Too late", Jonah thinks.  "Should have thought about that sooner."

But God's mercy is patient.  It's never our place to decide when it's too late.

And here is the great tragedy.  When we decide that someone else is undeserving of mercy, we become unable to receive God's mercy ourselves.  God has been as merciful to Jonah for his own rebellion as he was to the Ninevites, but  Jonah is never able to recognize it.  Instead he wallows in self-pity because somebody else got what he didn't think they deserved.

Perhaps this is one reason we are called to work for God's dream of extending mercy to all, for only in granting mercy to others can we receive mercy for ourselves.

When we don't get what we deserve
That's a real good thing, a real good thing
When we get what we don't deserve
That's a real good thing, a real good thing

- Newsboys, “Real Good Thing”, 1994

Swords Into Plowshares

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Swords Into Plowshares
Dreaming God’s Dreams: Part 3
Sunday, November 6, 2022
Micah 4:1-4; Romans 12:18-21

God will judge between the nations
and settle disputes of mighty nations,
which are far away.
They will beat their swords into iron plows
and their spears into pruning tools.
Nation will not take

Micah 4:3 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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Veteran's Day is coming up later this week and we rightly honor those who have served in military service for the protection of liberty and justice throughout our world.  There is much debate in our world, however, about the role and reach of our military.  Some are against war and any cost and others seem to thrive on war both at international and even local or personal levels.  We have a knack as human beings to create enemies even where there are none, just so that we can have something to fight against.  The drive to fight or to make war seems to be in our blood.

It's also amazing how unifying war can be.  People rally together far more quickly against a common enemy than they do to work toward a common good.  When that common enemy is defeated, we all go our separate ways and ultimately begin making enemies of each other over different issues.  The same person we may have fought with side by side in one battle easily becomes our enemy in another.  We might agree, for example, on issues around healthcare or education but disagree on immigration or refugees.  Are we friends or enemies?  It's amazing how quickly we turn the tables on each other depending on which issue we are talking about.  I have seen this turning on one another in recent years as groups of pro-life supporters rally not just against abortion, but also against the death penalty.  Other pro-life groups support the death penalty, and so on that issue, allies quickly become enemies.

The truth is that nobody can agree on every issue, not even in our own households, let alone on a national or international stage.  Some say war is the inevitable result, and even throughout the history of our own country, the pulpit has been used to defend both sides of almost every war we have fought.  Well meaning preachers, for example, declared God's will for both the North and the South to win the Civil War while demonizing the other side, but the truth is that there were people who loved God and loved their neighbor on both sides of the battle lines.  Even more true is the fact that in every battle, no matter how "evil" the enemy may be, that "enemy" was still created by God and is loved by a God who was willing to sacrifice his only son for them as much as for us.  Jesus' shed his blood just as much for Bin Laden as for Billy Graham, just as much for Joe Biden as for Donald Trump, and on and on we could go.  In the end, war at any level breaks the heart of God as much as siblings who cannot reconcile their differences break the heart of their parents. 

When we look at the scriptures on peace, people often say that it paints an idealistic picture of heaven, when nations will no longer fight and swords will be turned into farming tools.  But in the meantime, we must fight to protect others or even ourselves.  While it may be true that we will not see an absolute end to all war and fighting within our lifetime, this is a poor excuse for us to become complacent or worse, speak in ways that escalate the violence.

If I tell my daughter to start cleaning her room and I will come in an hour to help her finish it up, there is an understanding that it will not be perfectly clean by the time I get there.  On the other hand, it would not be acceptable for her to spend that hour destroying her room even more because in the end, daddy will help her clean it all up.

Yet this is too often what we do in our world.  Who cares if we blow up the earth ten times over.  In the end, God will get rid of the bad guys and clean up all of our mess.

This should not be the attitude of a follower of Christ.  We are called to work for peace at every level.  Even if we serve in the military or in other public service positions that may require violence, those actions should never be taken lightly.  A person can be called upon to use deadly force to save the life of an innocent, for example, but their hearts should not be filled with hate and vengeance when carrying our that duty.  There are no easy answers to the degree to which violence may or may not be necessary in bringing about God's Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, but it is clear that this is never God's primary means.

As a United Methodist Pastor, I will simply leave us with the official statement on war and military service from our Social Principles.  Regardless of our involvement or lack of involvement in the wars of our day, may we be unified in the prayer of the prophets, that all the world might forge our swords into plowshares and that we may not learn war anymore.

We deplore war and urge the peaceful settlement of all disputes among nations. From the beginning, the Christian conscience has struggled with the harsh realities of violence and war, for these evils clearly frustrate God’s loving purposes for humankind. We yearn for the day when there will be no more war and people will live together in peace and justice.

Some of us believe that war, and other acts of violence, are never acceptable to Christians. We also acknowledge that many Christians believe that, when peaceful alternatives have failed, the force of arms may regretfully be preferable to unchecked aggression, tyranny and genocide. We honor the witness of pacifists who will not allow us to become complacent about war and violence. We also respect those who support the use of force, but only in extreme situations and only when the need is clear beyond reasonable doubt, and through appropriate international organizations.

We urge the establishment of the rule of law in international affairs as a means of elimination of war, violence, and coercion in these affairs.

~ excerpt from the Social Principles of the United Methodist Book of Discipline - On the Military

Ten Thousand Charms

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Ten Thousand Charms
Dreaming God’s Dreams: Part 2
Sunday, October 30, 2022
Hosea 1:2, 2:14-23; James 4:4-10

Therefore, I will charm her, and bring her into the desert, and speak tenderly to her heart. From there I will give her vineyards, and make the Achor Valley a door of hope. There she will respond to me as in the days of her youth, like the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

Hosea 2:14-15 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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The movie "Fireproof" with Kirk Cameron tells the story of a couple whose marriage is falling apart. The divorce papers are on the table, but he is not willing to give up. The advice he follows comes from a journal called "The Love Dare", which is a valuable tool for strengthening marriages at any stage.

While I would recommend this movie and book to any couple, the image of Kirk Cameron's character working through the 40 daily challenges of the "Love Dare" call to mind the images of God's faithful covenant love.

In the book of Hosea, the prophet is called to marry a prostitute. God uses this sign act as a prophetic message to the people. They have prostituted themselves with other gods. In Hosea 2:8, God reminds us that she did not know that her husband had given her everything that she used for Baal. This is not to endorse the ancient marriage culture of male dominance and female subservience as normative. The point for us is not that she was exclusively dependent on her husband or that she should accept his dominance over her. Rather it is to show that unlike many earthly husbands, God does not merely shout or fight or even beat his lover into submission.

Yes, there are consequences in Gomer's life, and in the life of Israel. But even when she is unfaithful, God proves his faithfulness.

In 2:14, the Lord says he will bring her out into the desert, away from all of the allures of the world. If we’re not careful, we may interpret this as a form of abusive isolation. We don't take to kindly to a spouse telling us who we can or can't associate with or limiting our freedom to go where we choose. We must remember that God was not endorsing this culture but rather using the way things were to teach a much more important lesson.

Yes, he brought her out to the desert. Yes, he cut her off from the world of her lovers, as any husband in Old Testament times would have had the right to do. But the key difference is what God does during her exile. He does not abuse her. He does not shame her. He does not condemn her.

Instead, God courts her, as if they were a couple falling in love for the first time.

"I wills peak tenderly to her heart. From there I will give her vineyards and make the Achor Valley a door of hope. There she will respond to me as in the days of her youth, like the time when she came out of the land of Egypt."

I was talking recently with a recovering addict and she said that while the desire for the drug never really goes away, she has come to a place where her desire for God is greater.

That is the key to faithfulness.

The allure of the world is great. As Todd Agnew puts it, "If you wanted me to die to myself, why'd you make me fall so deeply in love with life?" (listen below)

It is said that the heart wants what the heart wants. God created us with the capacity for great passion, desire, and love, but often those gifts are misdirected.

Faithfulness isn't about rejecting all that is good and lovely in the world. It is about responding to God's unending passion, desire and love for us. It's about "seeking first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). It's about desiring God more than anything Egypt or Baal or anyone or anything else could ever offer.

As the hymn writer says

[Let us] arise and go to Jesus
He will embrace us in his arms
And in the arms of our dear savior
Oh, there are ten thousand charms... ten thousand charms

Spend some time in your Saviors arms as you worship with the songs below.

Let us remain faithful to the one who is always faithful to us.

“If you Wanted Me” - Todd Agnew

“Come Ye Sinners” - Todd Agnew

What Does the Lord Require?

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What Does the Lord Require?
Dreaming God’s Dreams
Sunday, October 23, 2022
Micah 6:1-8, Amos 5:14-24

He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8 (NRSV)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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We talk a lot about social justice these days, and indeed, we cannot truly call ourselves followers of Christ without working toward justice for all people.  The problem is that we tend to define justice in political terms rather than biblical terms.  What the "left" often calls "paying our fair share" so that everyone can have what they need, those on the "right" tend to say is stealing from their hard earned gains.  Just like the classic story of Robin Hood, justice becomes a matter of perspective.  Are Robin Hood and the poor people he is helping suffering from a systemic injustice fueled by the greed of the wealthy or are the rich being treated unjustly because Robin Hood is stealing what rightfully belongs to them?

So long as we talk about justice in such either-or terms, we may never agree on what kinds of policies will truly bring about "justice for all."

But what if justice is not our starting point, but the product or fruit of our life of faith?  Micah, Amos, Hosea, and countless other prophets, not to mention Jesus himself, emphasize that justice and righteousness are absolutely necessary in bringing about the Kingdom of God.  Micah specifically declares that God requires justice, faithful love, and humility, but what if these are not three separate characteristics of our lives?

What if instead, these characteristics actually represent the process of sanctification, or growing in grace, and perhaps even the process of our very salvation.

People can promote policies for social justice without embracing faithful love or demonstrating humility.  But the reverse cannot be true.  We cannot walk humbly with God without growing in faithful love and we cannot grow in love without that love manifesting itself through justice and righteousness.

Remember the classic children's book, Charlotte's Web?

Charlotte, the spider, is working to help save the life of a pig named Wilbur.  Fern, the farmer's daughter, thinks that slaughtering Wilbur just because he was the runt of the litter would be a horrendous act of injustice.

Charlotte proceeds to write descriptive words about Wilbur in her web to make the world take notice of just how special this pig is.  The last of those words was "humble."  Here is Charlotte's definition of humility.

Humble. Humble has two meanings: it means "not proud" and and it also means "near the ground." That's Wilbur all over.

Most of us don't view ourselves as proud, at least not in a negative or arrogant sense, but perhaps we should pay closer attention to the second meaning, "near to the ground."

For Wilbur, this was quite literal.  He is a pig, after all.

But what if God is calling us to live our lives "near to the ground" as well?  What if walking "humbly with our God" might require walking with the lowest of the low, or the "least of these" as Jesus says in Matthew 25?  What if it means taking notice of the little ordinary ways God is at work in our everyday lives and in the lives of others, even if we or they don't recognize it yet?  What if it means seeing everybody, even the "runts" of society, as people created in the image of a God who loves them as much as God loves us?

When we begin to live this way, our perspective shifts.  The Holy Spirit moves us with love and compassion for those who live on the margins of society.  It may not solve the problem of our political policies and social justice programs, but this perspective will motivate us to do justice for those individuals, families or groups God puts directly in our path.

We may not be able to end all poverty, but we might, for example, be able to help one person finish their education or find a job so that they can begin breaking the cycle of poverty in their family.

Walking humbly, or "near to the ground," is the first step.  It is only from this perspective that we can move past our stereotypes and notice people for who they are.

If humility is the seed, love is the tree and justice is the fruit we bear.

Let us  pray...

All those people goin' somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see 

(Brandon Heath, Give Me Your Eyes)

Pure Desire

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Pure Desire
A God Who Weeps - Part 7
Sunday, October 16, 2022
Jeremiah 31:27-34

They will no longer need to teach each other to say, “Know the Lord!” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord; for I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sins.

Jeremiah 31:34 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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“Last evening my dog saw a rabbit running for cover among the bushes of the desert and he began to chase the rabbit, barking loudly. Soon other dogs joined in the chase, and they were barking and running as well. They ran a great distance and alerted many other dogs. Soon the desert was echoing the sounds of their pursuit but the chase went on into the night.

 After a little while, many of the dogs grew tired and dropped out. A few chased the rabbit until the night was nearly spent. By morning, only my dog continued the hunt. “Do you understand,” the old man said, “what I have told you?”

 “No,” replied the young monk, “please tell me father.”

 “It is simple,” said the desert father, “my dog saw the rabbit.”

 —-Sayings of the desert

I can’t help but wonder if this little tale from the Desert Father’s reflects something not only of our own spiritual lives, but also of Israel’s history with God.  Just like the dog continued on because he had seen the rabbit, so Moses pressed on through the wilderness because he had “seen” God.  His face literally radiated the glory of God.  The people followed for awhile, having seen God’s miracles that set them free from Egypt and following the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.  But eventually their sight began to fade. 

By the time we get to Jeremiah and the exile, God sightings were practically relegated to the realm of myth and legend.  They knew the stories of their ancestors, but in their lifetime, watching their beloved Jerusalem burn and the temple crumble in the rearview mirror as they are dragged off into Babylon, it might have been hard for many to keep pursuing God with the same fervency they once had.  Did God abandon them?  Was God angry with them?  Was God even really there to begin with, or was it all just a bunch of folk stories from long ago? 

In this place of despair and exile, God speaks once again through the prophet, promising a day when the covenant and the law will no longer be written on stone tablets, but etched into the very hearts of the people.  Loving God and loving others would become second nature to them, as natural as a heartbeat or the breath in their lungs.  The day would come when they would truly “know God.” 

Has such a day come for us? 

Is God’s covenant written on our hearts? 

Is following the prompting of the Holy Spirit as natural as breathing? 

Are we  clinging to ancient stories of God’s work to sustain our spiritual lives, or do we have the passion of one who has “seen the rabbit?”

Blessing Your Enemies

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Blessing Your Enemies
A God Who Weeps - Part 6
Sunday, October 9, 2022
Jeremiah 29:1-7

Build houses and settle down; cultivate gardens and eat what they produce. Get married and have children; then help your sons find wives and your daughters find husbands in order that they too may have children. Increase in number there so that you don’t dwindle away. Promote the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because your future depends on its welfare.

Jeremiah 29:5-7 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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There are few verses in scripture more quoted than Jeremiah 29:11 - “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  It’s often used for big moments or transitions in our lives like graduations, retirements, etc. as a way of offering encouragement as we enter into new and unknown chapters in our lives.  The problem is that far too often, we view God’s plans like a set of puzzle pieces that we have to put together in a particular way.  The “plan” involves the getting the right job, marrying the right person, or any number of other “right” decisions that will keep us aligned with God’s “perfect will.”    

The more interesting verse for me in this chapter, however, is verse 7… “promote the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile.”  Yes, God has a plan to restore Israel to their rightful land, but not in the lifetime of most who are hearing this message.  For them, God’s plan is about how they live among strangers and enemies.  It’s about breaking them of their arrogance and self-reliance as God’s people, thinking they could get away with anything simply because they were God’s chosen and because God had a perfect plan for them.  Exile is a reminder that God’s “plan”, whatever that may look like, is not about a prosperous life, but about a faithful life in both prosperity and in desolation. 

Jeremiah 29 is far less about God making everything work out the way the people want and far more about how to live faithfully in exile, especially since they were unable to live faithfully in their God given homeland.  In exile, God is teaching them what it means to be a blessing to all the nations rather than elevating themselves above everyone else.  God’s message is perhaps one of the most radical things they could ever imagine… “I care about Babylon too.”  In other words, God loves  Israel’s enemies as much as God loves them, and in exile, they too must learn what it means to truly love their enemies. 

God’s people were not called to retaliate or seek escape from Babylon.  They were called to work toward the welfare or “Shalom” of this foreign land.  They were to bring God’s peace among their enemies.  This isn’t just a matter of biding their time and trying to live isolate lives, separate from the world around them.  It was a radical call to fully engage in Babylonian culture and work toward wholeness, prosperity and the overall wellbeing of everyone.

In a nation where the church is entrenched in one culture war after another with warring factions or “parties”, this message is as relevant today as in Babylon.  We do not glorify God by “converting Babylon to Christ” or “forcing Babylon to pass laws to make it easier or more comfortable for us to live out our faith.”  Rather, we glorify God by loving our neighbors, even if they are our enemies, and working together for the peace and well-being of all.

Learning to Lament

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Learning to Lament
A God Who Weeps - Part 5
Sunday, October 2, 2022
Lamentations 1:1-6

Why do you forget us continually; why do you abandon us for such a long time? 

Return us, Lord, to yourself. Please let us return!  Give us new days, like those long ago.          

Lamentations 5:20-21 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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As a culture we are not good at lamenting.  Of course everyone grieves, especially over a profound personal loss such as the death of a loved one, but even those around the grieving person are often quick to encourage them to move on.  We don’t like sitting with our grief long.  We prefer to be active, to stay busy, to distract our minds and hearts from the pain. 

In the case of larger scale tragedies or evil, such as the attacks of 9/11, the line between lament and revenge is significantly blurred.  Of course we mourn the loss of the victims, but before we can even process the magnitude of what happened, we turn immediately to blame and hatred. 

In the case of the over 1 million deaths in the US and over 6.5 million deaths worldwide over the recent COVID-19 pandemic,  blame was not always as easy to assign and so we took our revenge out on one another by politicizing every attempt at prevention, treatment and rebuilding.  It’s difficult to grieve when we are caught up in the passionate firestorm of accusations and rage from every side.

No matter the evil that befalls us, personally or as a nation or world, our first response is to seek and explanation or a scapegoat and then to fight.  The trouble with this cultural mindset is that it leaves no room for healing, and so we become wounded warriors, tearing ourselves apart mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, economically, and in every other way all because slowing down is not an option.  If we pause from the fight too long, the emotion will overwhelm us and the pain is too deep to process.  So we press on.

I tell the story in my upcoming book of a pastor who abruptly entered a hospice room shortly after the patient had died, offered a vibrant (and loud) prayer of celebration for this person’s eternal life, and disappeared as quickly as he came, leaving the family stunned and numb as their time of holy silence, mourning and sharing together had now come to an end far too soon.  Yes, as Christians there is joy in death because of our hope in the resurrection, but even Jesus, the resurrection and the life himself, wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus, with full knowledge that he was about to do the impossible by calling him forth from the tomb. 

Some things in life simply defy words and easy explanations.  Lament does not answer all of our questions or solve our problems, but there is nevertheless a deep need for humans to have the space to pour out the raw brokenness of our hearts before God, both for our own sake and for the healing of the larger community. 

As we receive the broken body and blood of Christ this week, may we enter into solidarity with all who suffer around the world.  For many, the joy of Sunday has not yet come.  Sunday does not erase the pain one feels on Friday and Saturday.  The scars remain. 

In order to heal, we must make space for honest lament.

Investing in Hope

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Investing in Hope
A God Who Weeps - Part 4
Sunday, September 25, 2022
Jeremiah 32:1-3, 6-15

“The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Take these documents—this sealed deed of purchase along with the unsealed one—and put them into a clay container so they will last a long time. The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”

Jeremiah 32:14-15 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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One of the biggest factors that separates those trapped in generations upon generations of poverty and those who seem to quickly climb to the top of the economic ladder is the difference in real-estate.  Real estate offers what economists call “generational wealth” because unlike cash, property generally maintains and most often increases in value from generation to generation.  Whether or not we personally have wealth invested  in property, it is easy to see the significant role real estate plays in our economy, especially among the richest and most elite. 

The three keys to good real estate investments, however, as any realtor will tell you, are “location, location, location.”  Purchasing land in an up and coming development on the outskirts of a booming city or town is a smart move.  Purchasing in a place with no prospect for growth, or even the strong possibility of decline or destruction, on the other hand, is not smart.  How many times have we seen bad locations where restaurant after restaurant moves into a building and nobody can make a go of it?  Some locations will simply never be successful without radical change in the larger community. 

Such is the case in a war torn land, especially when the war is still in progress and the property will soon be taken over by the occupying government .  This was the state in which Israel found herself in Jeremiah’s day, as the Babylonians continued moving in more and more troops and taking more and more Israelites into captivity and exile never to return. 

Let’s just say that such a place is not a sellers market.  Who wants to buy property that will be razed by an enemy army and evacuated within the year?  Well, apparently there is one person.  Jeremiah.  That’s exactly what he does when he buys the field in Anathoth from his cousin.  One wonders about the character of this cousin who appears to be trying to rip off Jeremiah and get out with as much as he can manage before Babylon moves in and ruins the neighborhood.  Talk about decimating property values.

Jeremiah knows he may never see this property again.  He may never build a home on it.  He may never plant a vineyard or even a garden.  His children and grandchildren may never even know the land existed.  Nevertheless, Jeremiah buys a field in his war torn homeland right before the end.  Why? 

Because God said his people would one day return.  This wasn’t just an investment in real estate.  It was an investment in hope.  It was a deed signed openly in public as a declaration that their exile would not last forever.  Even if nobody from his generation ever saw their beloved homeland again, God would bring God’s children back, and that was a future worth investing in.

How are you investing in hope?