Sunday, November 6, 2011

Managing Creation

Granite countertops or Feed the Children. Bathroom makeover or Habitat for Humanity. Sweet sixteen party at a country club or supporting the ASPCA. Family cruise or utilities for the church. Tooth whitening or groceries for Long Island Council of Churches Food Pantry. Salon services or Midnight Run. New television or youth mission trip.

What do you see when you look at your spending habits? Your bank register says a lot about your priorities. Sure, we all have bills to pay. Most people have rent or a mortgage, insurance, utility bills and students loans. There are certain relatively fixed costs that we can’t change that easily, but all of us have some sort of discretionary income over which we have significant control. Sure, we have to buy groceries, but we can choose to plan around what’s on sale to spend less on groceries so we can spend more on other things. We can choose a less costly vacation or buy clothes at the thrift store instead of the outlet mall. We can choose the good used car over the new luxury vehicle.

Doing so goes against the prevailing culture, of course. We live in a wealthy society with an ever-growing capacity to separate us from our paychecks by changing our perceptions. What used to be considered a luxury only for the rich is now a treat for the middle class. What was once reserved for special occasions is now commonplace. Where we used to have a modicum of restraint, we now go no-holds-barred. And we are proud to do so because we associate our own value with what advertisers have convinced us demonstrates our value to others. We strive to prove our value to others by ever increasingly expensive displays of wealth. All too often we aren’t even aware that we’re doing it. The saddest part of that is that none of it really brings us satisfaction.

What does actually bring a sense of satisfaction? Helping someone else. Giving to the poor, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, doing for someone else what we’d like someone to do for us if we were in a similar circumstance. Giving to others is what really seems to bring a sense of satisfaction. Think about how much easier it is to get your teenager to help rake leaves as a fundraiser for a mission trip than to get him to do so at home. Think about the joy in a mother’s eye at Christmas when her child gives her some lopsided craft project that more than makes up in love what it lacks in skill. Remember the feeling you had the last time you did something good to help someone else out.

There’s a reason we feel good when we help another, whether through monetary donations or direct face-to-face assistance. In these moments we feel the harmony between what we are doing and what we were created to do. Our Genesis passage this morning talks about God creating all the things on earth, including humans, and giving humans rule over the things He created. In other words, God made us and then made us managers over creation. Like managers of any business or organization, it’s not always easy to know what is best, so much of the time we struggle to make decisions. But when we help others, we get a sense of satisfaction because we know we are doing the job God gave us – we are fulfilling our purpose. God entrusted His creation to humanity, giving us dominion over everything we need to live, but also giving us responsibility to take care of everything created. In the moments in which we are helping someone or directly caring for creation it is as if we can hear those words we long to hear when we enter heaven, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Now we certainly don’t have time to go on mission trips every week. We cannot take off work to build houses for the homeless every month or spend every evening volunteering at a soup kitchen and still care for our families and even ourselves, and we, too are part of creation. We probably cannot truly sell everything we have and give it to the poor in order to follow Jesus. But even when we cannot live up to the Biblical ideal, we can still be focused on helping others. We can still be good and faithful servants, good managers of God’s creation.

One way to be a good manager, a good steward, is by caring for nature. Now I’m not a tree hugger or vegan environmental warrior by any stretch of the imagination. I occasionally use paper plates at home and I don’t separate all my recyclables and I drive too much – though not lately! But I do try to think about the impact of what I do to the extent that I don’t intentionally waste resources. I don’t throw trash out the window of my car and I fix what I can rather than just discarding it and buying new. I try not to be wasteful. I repurpose things when I can. Somewhere in the back of my head is always the voice of my grandmother reciting the old World War II adage, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” When you make reasonable, simple choices that favor a cleaner environment, that protect natural resources, you are caring for creation. You don’t have to be an extremist to be at least somewhat aware of your environmental impact.

Another way to be a good manager, stewards of creation is to provide direct help when we can. Christmas is just around the corner and Ruth has already brought in a couple of quilt and I think some Girl Scouts are working on one and I know I’m not the only one who has shopped early for gifts for needy kids. Direct help doesn’t have to be difficult or even inconvenient. Some of you are great at this kind of direct help – constantly volunteering for every missional effort here and elsewhere. Dave Ramirez has been running the things to the Food Pantry in John Heinrich’s absence. Valerie and other ladies have been knitting and crocheting hats for Midnight Run since the last time we did it. I know I will see a bunch of you volunteering at the Thanksgiving Dinner in Riverhead in just a couple of weeks. The Monday Bible study ladies spent a couple of hours sorting Christmas Eve candles last Monday. I dare say this congregation is one of the best at being involved in some way in direct mission. But there is always more that can be done – there are always people and animals in need, plants that need tending, trash that needs to be picked up and thrown in a proper container. All this direct care is part of stewardship, too.

A third way of caring for creation is by giving financial resources to support those who provide direct care for others and to fund the proclamation of the Gospel. We as a congregation have not been so great at this kind of stewardship. Oh, to be sure, there are those among us who give generously, but certainly not all of us do so. How many of us give sacrificially, how many of us give as faithfully as the widow in Mark’s Gospel today? She literally gave everything she had to live on. Now that was a different time and a different place and I’m not going to stand here and say that you should give every cent you make this year to the church or some charity, though I know someone from my jury who has that as a life goal – to donate his entire salary for one year to charity. I won’t tell you you must do as Jack hopes to do, but I am going to encourage you to give as faithfully as that widow. Give a little more than you think you are capable of giving. Force yourself to trust God just a little more. Give God the chance to surprise you by caring for you as you care for His creation.

Most of us here have some sort of income that arrives on a more or less regular basis. A typical giving pattern is to figure out what we need to pay our own bills and acquire the things we buy regularly and give to the church and charities out of what is leftover. Try reversing that pattern for this year. When you get paid, write a check to the church and whatever charities you support first then adjust your personal spending to fit what is left. Instead of giving out of your leftovers, give out of your firstfruits. Instead of just writing in the same thing you’ve been giving as a pledge for the past five years, instead of just picking a number that is comfortable, instead of just winging it and giving whatever happens to be in your pocket that day, be intentional and plan ahead. Make your pledge to the church as much a priority as the other things you save up for or make sacrifices for. Put financial support of the charities you give to at the beginning of your list of bills to pay. For every five things you put in your grocery car for yourself, put in one for the food pantry. Make a Christmas spending budget and set aside 20% of it for charitable giving, be it Giving Tree or Salvation Army kettles or food pantries or extra mile church offerings. When you do those things, you will be amazed at how generously God provides for you. And you will get the added bonus of satisfaction and perhaps even impressing Jesus like that widow did so long ago.

The thing that impressed Jesus so much with that widow was the she didn’t figure her own needs and then give what she could afford. She put what she had in the offering. All of what she had. And I have no doubt in my mind that God cared for that widow and blessed her with more than she could have gotten with those two copper coins.

We see in the very next section of Mark that Jesus was not impressed with worldly displays of wealth, with worldly goods. He had just pointed out what an amazing gift this widow had given in those two copper coins and then when his disciples marveled at the magnificent buildings of the Temple and surrounding area He said that every stone of the magnificent buildings would be taken apart, stones much more valuable in the eyes of the world than two copper coins. The things the world values will not last, but the good done by caring for God’s creation, by being good stewards will go on beyond this lifetime. Ten years from now, your teenager won’t be impressed with memories of this year’s latest electronic gadget (already obsolete by the time you get it home to wrap it), but he’ll still be talking about the mission trip he took to help poor people with work they couldn’t do – work for which he wasn’t paid. A month from now the extra jacket you haven’t worn in years can either hang at the back of your closet or be the difference between life and death for a homeless person on the streets of New York. Five Christmases in the future your daughter won’t even remember the bracelet you stuck in her stocking, but the girl who got the necklace you donated for the Giving Tree will still be treasuring it as a prize possession. In a few months you won’t even remember going out for dinner, but in a few months the money you gave to the church will have paid for a case of paper to create your bulletins, a week’s worth of Grace’s small salary so that there can be amazing music on Sundays, a portion of the heat or the plowing for one storm – things that will keep this church open and functioning and proclaiming the Gospel to the world.

In the end, managing creation is like managing anything else. You have to prioritize, to weigh your options, and ultimately put resources into the things that give the best return. But with stewardship, the return is about so much more than the bottom line. Amen.



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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia

Our two Scriptures this morning encompass all three part of the slogan of the Protestant Reformation. Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone – sola gratia – grace alone – and sola fide – faith alone. These three ideas continue to inform our understanding of religion and God and faith some 500 plus years after the Protestant Reformation. And with these ideas, taken from Scripture, the Reformers really did get it right.

Today is, of course, Reformation Sunday. It is a day when we are encouraged to look back at the beginnings of our religion in an effort not only to celebrate what brought us to this point but also to remember the foundations of our faith. The slogan that was the revolutionary cry so long ago is a good place to start.

“The Word of God endures forever.” Our faith is based first on Scripture – the Word of the Lord – and what it reveals about God and God’s will for us. Our passage from Isaiah speaks to the idea that all things that are of human origin are temporary, but how God’s Word is forever. The things of human origin include sometimes closely held beliefs about how to be the church. In the days of Luther and Calvin and Zwingli, the Church was the Catholic Church – capital C. There weren’t other Christian denominations in the Western World, and so everyone who professed to believe in Christ Jesus was Catholic. Reading was not common in those days and Bibles weren’t in the night stand of every hotel, so most people did not read the Bible themselves. Instead, they depended on interpretation from priests and church leaders. In fact, it was the law of the church for people to be dependent on the teachings of the church leaders – even most priests were forbidden from reading the Bible. While there is little doubt that the overwhelming majority of these leaders were very faithful men, there were a few bad apples in the bunch. And, not surprisingly, those few bad apples managed to spoil a whole bunch of stuff. They made rules and traditions that did not fit with the Scriptures, leading the people astray. People were not following the Word of God, but human traditions, human interpretations, human ideas. It was like the church had put a wall between God and God’s people, a wall that kept God’s Word and the power that it holds away from the ordinary believer.

Along came Luther and Zwingli and Calvin and the rest of the crowd. Subversives that they were, they ignored the edicts not to read the Bible for themselves and secretly not only read Scripture, but also translated it into language the masses of common people could understand. Though people still could not read, the preaching became more focused on God’s Word and worship became centered around the Word instead of focused almost solely on the Sacraments. As the people heard, read and studied, they came to believe that what was being taught was not right, that something needed to change. They became aware of the places where the teachings of the Church split off from the Scriptures and they set out to mend these breaches, to correct these errors, to do what they were able to make sure that what was passed down was not human wisdom that would fade like a flower or like grass, but the eternal Word of God that would go on forever.

The cry Sola Scriptura did not mean that we should throw out all traditions or ignore all human wisdom, but that our faith should be formed by what we learn from the Word of God when we study it together rather than blindly accepting what we are told. We are supposed to make sure we are going directly to the source, not allowing walls to be built between us and God, not allowing what is as temporary as grass to keep us from the eternal Word of God. Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone should be our foundation for faith, our guide to God’s self-revelation, and our handbook for living.

Our second Scripture passage talks about the relationship between faith and grace, encompassing both sola fide and sola gratia. Back at the time of the Reformation, it was widely taught that in order to gain entrance to heaven, people had to earn their way by doing good works, including paying the church for masses and indulgences and prayers. This is contradicted by what is found in Scripture, but it served the purposes of the growing church that wanted to build great Cathedrals and gain political power. Pressure to give money to the church was brought to bear upon those who the church should have been helping with daily bread. Little attention was paid to the words of Christ that said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”(John 11:25-26) Instead, attention was focused on making sure that the church was well appointed, lavishly decorated, and powerful, as if that were more important to God than the care of His children. People were taught that they must count up good works, that priests had the authority to tell them what they had to do to atone for their sins, that entry to heaven had to be earned.

But the coming of Christ was opposed to all of that. Jesus made the perfect sacrifice to atone for our sins because He was the only One who could. Once Jesus came and gave His life for our sins, our salvation was no longer about being able to follow the rules, but was about believing and living out our beliefs. Jesus decentralized the power, opposing the powerful religious leaders of His day and pointing out that doing what God’s Word said was more important than following human rules. Jesus, going against all the teachings, tradition, and history of the church said that people did not gain entry to heaven by following laws, but by believing in Him. Everything else He taught was about how we will live if we believe in Him and accept the gift of salvation. Jesus didn’t focus on teaching in beautiful synagogues, but out among the people. He didn’t remind people of their obligation to do as church leaders taught, but of the gift they had received and how that should influence their lives, issuing in good works.

We see the contrast between what the church was teaching at the time of the Reformation and what Jesus taught in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Paul points out that we were once like those who have never heard the name Jesus, those who had to earn their way to heaven by good works and following the law, and that we all fell short of the mark. “1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” But then Paul goes on to say, “4But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” We are no longer subject to salvation earned by good works and following the rules, but have been given a great gift – the gift of grace. And it is God’s grace alone – sola gratia – by which we are saved. We cannot do anything to earn God’s love, nor can we do anything to destroy God’s love for us. Instead, we must simply accept God’s grace in Jesus Christ and we are assured of salvation. Heaven’s entry is not guarded by those who would tally our good deeds; seats at the heavenly table do not require us to buy tickets with worldly money. Instead, we are welcomed by Christ and the heavenly realm when our time on earth is done. We haven’t and can’t do anything worthy of this reward; it is only by God’s grace that we receive it. That’s what sola gratia means. We are saved only by God’s own grace freely given. And Scripture proves that over and over.

But what of faith? If the third part of the slogan is faith alone, don’t we have to have faith in order to be saved? The short answer is yes, but…. Yes, we must have faith, but we do not gain it by works. Yes, we must have faith, but even that faith is a gift from God. Our very faith is not of our own doing. Paul says it, “8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9not by works, so that no one can boast.” We cannot be reasoned into faith. We cannot be tricked into it, purchased into it, or badgered into it. Faith is a gift we receive from the hand of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And this faith we claim is, in many ways, not even our own faith, but that of Christ. It is Christ’s faith that put him on the cross. It is Christ’s faith that allowed His resurrection from the dead. It is Christ’s faith, His belief in and love for us, that allowed Him to pay our way. If we claim faith as something we must do, must acquire, then we turn faith into a work. But if we accept that faith comes from God through Jesus as a gift freely given, then we come to see that all of salvation – Scripture, grace, and faith – are the work and gift of God.

So, if everything about our faith is from God, then does that mean we bear no responsibility for how we live in the world? That was one of the arguments used against the Reformers. But it is a false argument. Instead, knowing that we have received so great a gift makes us beholden to the Lord even more. We already owed our existence to His creating hand, but now we can see we owe also our salvation and even our faith itself to Him who gives so generously to us. The Reformers looked at the amazing gifts of God and could not imagine how a person could be anything less than overwhelmed with gratitude for the gifts received. They knew that the gratitude of believers would lead them to do good works, not out of obligation to earn, but out of salvation because these good works are what we were created for. It is backed up by Paul’s words, “10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The good works we do should be as natural as breathing – as much a part of our daily life as the sunrise. The good works we do are what we were created for.

God made us specifically to do good, thus increasing His Kingdom. God gifted us with faith by His own grace that we might live lives of gratitude, sharing with others the amazing grace we have found in the One who died for our sins, freely giving His very life for us. God made us to praise Him in word and in deed.

As we celebrate Reformation Sunday, I’d like us to focus on living out the slogan of the Reformers – to be guided by Scripture and to live as if we truly accept and understand that we owe everything, even our faith, to God who gave us such overwhelming grace as to save us from ourselves. I’d like us to be so overcome by gratitude that we feel compelled to thank Go every day in ways that make a difference for His Kingdom. I’d like us to be so grateful that we give not only what is left of the abundance God has blessed us with, but out of the need to show our appreciation for all that God has given us and done for us. I’d like to see us, every single one of us, doing good for others rather than focusing on accumulating wealth for ourselves. For all wealth is of human origin – it, too, is like grass that will wither and fade. But the good we do in the world when we give to others, and even to the church so that it may continue to be a place that God’s people gather and from which they go out into the world to spread God’s Word, this good helps the Word of God live on. Amen.

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Sunday, October 23, 2011

Tomorrow’s History


What we do in any moment changes the future. Even little things that we don’t think are all that significant may well be the catalyst for some great change. I was recently watching a program on the History Channel called, “100 Gadgets the Changed the World.” Perhaps some of you saw it as well, but it was amazing to think how some small irritation or need or idea triggered a spark of genius and something was created that changed the course of history.

Unfortunately for me, I did not get to see the whole program, so I do not know which items were most influential, but a couple of them really caught my attention. The transistor radio is credited with giving rise to Rock N Roll. According to the show, adults tightly controlled what was broadcast until the invention of the transistor radio because radios were expensive, there was generally one per household, and the adults had control over what was selected. With the invention of the transistor radio, young people could have their own sets and listen to other things, like the music that eventually became Rock N Roll. Now, for good or not, Rock N Roll became a juggernaut of power in terms of fashion, celebrity, selling power, and even politics. Sometimes the influence has been great, sometimes it has been evil, but the power and influence of the music industry cannot be denied and it all that power and influence is a result of the invention of the transistor radio. Pretty amazing to consider.

Another gadget that has changed the world is, of course, the cell phone. What in the world did we do without them? While I have several answers to that question, for instance, actually interacted with other people face to face, the cell phone is here to stay and continues to evolve into an ever more complicated and powerful device. They do great good in the world, helping find lost people, calling help in case of an accident, etc. But they also do some harm, influencing car accidents when people text or talk while driving, interrupting every occasion. Love them or hate them, cell phones have changed things.

But it doesn’t have to be a gadget or invention to change things. It can be how people treat each other. Have you seen the bank ads on television that promote being nice to people? They begin with someone doing some small nice thing, like holding a door or picking up something someone dropped or helping with a package. Then it goes backwards to show all the nice things that were done that led each successive person to do something nice. The concept is that doing nice things helps perpetuate other people doing nice things. Of course, they’re using that idea to promote their bank, implying that the way they treat their customers actually makes the world better. Who knows? Maybe it does.

Have you ever noticed how different your attitude is if something pleasant happens unexpectedly? A cashier tells you how great you look or someone lets you in in traffic or a great parking spot opens just as you arrive on a rainy day... You get a little lift, and somehow your mood seems brighter. You feel like being nice to people, even strangers, just because you’re a little happier.

Of course, the converse is true, too. If someone cuts you off in traffic, or the checkout line just doesn’t move, or your coworker snaps at you for no apparent reason, your day seems a little darker and your mood a little blacker. You don’t feel so much like being nice to others. You might become part of the problem, being short with the guy who pumps your gas, rudely throwing the coffee money at the convenience store cashier, driving aggressively. Then your actions upset others as you were upset, and they perpetuate the cycle. The world gets a little sadder, angrier, and bad things, like accidents, can be the eventual result.

As Christians, we are called to be part of making the world better by doing good to others, no matter what is done to us. That’s part of what today’s New Testament passage is about. It says we are to “be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.” When we live according to these words, the legacy we leave is one of good, not only earthly good that we would be proud of but also eternal good that brings glory to God. Even if it’s just for a moment in someone’s day, being sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble can make a lasting difference because it can change how that person acts after your encounter.

The converse is true, as well. That why we are told, “9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult.” When we do unto others as may well have been done to us instead of treating others as we’d like to be treated, we continue a cycle of harm. But we are called to break cycles of harm and hate. Our passage continues, “On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” We are blessed when we bless others, whether or not they respond in a way that shows us a blessing, because we help make the world a better place in general. Each moment in time leads to the next moment, each word we say or action we take precipitates other words and other actions. Each moment today becomes part of tomorrow’s history.

That’s true in the church, as well. By now you’ve likely read your newsletter (if not, please pick it up from the hallway!) and have read the letter from Kevin and April, the story of the new preacher on the bus, and also the articles from John and Jerry pointing out that we are in tough shape financially. But did you realize that our ability to continue to be the church we are is the result of the little decisions people in the past made? Those who went before us created a warm and welcoming church family that makes people feel good here. They gave sacrificially and created an endowment that has allowed us to be able to keep the doors open and the lights on even in the years like the last few when we haven’t been generous or faithful enough to balance the budget. They built a beautiful sanctuary on Church Rd. and then another and finally another here, so that they and those who came after them would have a place to worship God. They created traditions that we still enjoy. They made decisions and legacies that have become our history. Those who came before us understood that “3By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; 4through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.” They knew that the treasures were not only worldly treasures but also heavenly treasures. They knew that building a house of God was about an actual building, but also much, much more. They understood how to establish a church environment that makes people feel welcome and secure and like part of a family. All those things are the result of how previous church members lived out their faith. We enjoy the history they made.

What kind of history are we making? What kind of legacy are we leaving in the world? Are we making decisions that perpetuate good – keeping our tongues from evil and our lips from deceitful speech – or are we perpetuating something else by allowing our words to tear down rather than build up, to wound rather than to heal? What kind of history are we creating in this church? Are we choosing the things that bring pleasure for a moment over giving to the future of this congregation – to those nameless faceless people who might one day worship in this sanctuary – or are we making the small sacrifices needed to keep this lovely space in good shape, to plan for the future and to make sure we can put something aside for a rainy day? Are we teaching the faith to our children, studying God’s Word, and nurturing our relationship with our Creator? What kind of history are we perpetuating in our church culture? Are we making sure we continue the tradition of being welcoming by speaking to strangers at Fellowship Hour, making sure everyone has someone to sit with, talking to more than just our friends before we rush out the door?

We have inherited a rich history, but we cannot rest on our laurels and think that the good deeds of the past will carry the future for us. We are Christ’s church in this place at this time. We are the ones making tomorrow’s history. Not only inside these walls, but everywhere we go. If we want the future to be as good as the past, even better than today, then we must make sure that what we are doing is worthy of becoming history. We must seek creative and innovative solutions to problems and keep the future impact of our words and actions in mind. How we live our lives makes a difference. The “eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” If we want the Lord on our side, we’d best be on His, doing the things God would be proud to save in His scrapbook.

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Historical Faith


Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” That is true of many things in life, perhaps most especially of the great questions of faith. The questions are asked again and again, by each new generation. They may be asked in different ways, in different words, but so many of the questions remain the same. We hold the same basic faith, whether we sing it in modern praise songs or great old hymns, as Christians have held for generations.

Past generations have set down some of the basics of faith in the creeds. The Apostles’ Creed, which we say almost every week, sets down answers to some of the historic questions of faith. “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,” answers the question of creation, the question of how to understand the first person of the Trinity, the limits of His power and authority (of which there are none). As you read or think through the rest of the creed, you can imagine the kinds of questions that might have been swirling around at the inception of the creed and you might well realize that you have had to settle many of those questions in your own mind at some point. The answers in the creeds grow out of careful and serious study of Scripture, which holds all the answers we need to the questions of faith. And, in fact, Scripture tells us that we are to, “be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that [we] do not forget the things [our] eyes have seen or let them fade from [our] heart[s] as long as [we] live.” Scripture exists to answer our questions and to remind us what it is that we believe.

Take our New Testament passage for today. It answers the question of the humanity of Christ – He became flesh and dwelt among us. It answers the question of where Christ came from – “who came from the Father.” It answers the question of how many Messiahs there might be in the words, “the glory of the one and only Son.” It answers any lingering questions early Christians might have had about who John was, what his role was, and whether he was a ‘little messiah,’ a concept some believed in at the time. The passage answers the question of what we received from Jesus – grace - and how the grace we receive is related to the grace God had previously promised. And the passage answers the question of the relationship between Jesus and Moses. They are not one and the same nor do they bring the same things, nor does Jesus cancel out all that was taught by Moses and handed down through the ages. “The law as given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

But Scripture also tells us that there are questions that are to remain unanswered, even though we find that frustrating. One unanswerable question I hear frequently, especially from young people who are still brave enough to ask such questions, is, “What does God look like?” I was asked a version of that question recently, in fact, by one of our confirmands. I basically responded that we don’t know, that God is beyond gender, but that if it helps to think of God as an old man, then that’s okay, but to know that God is much more than we can wrap out little pea brains around.

People have been asking that question since the beginning of Christianity, at least. Today’s passage says, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[a] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” Those words demonstrate that people have been asking what God looks like since the Gospel writer was writing, and it has been asked at every stage of Christian history.

That question is the subject of an old sermon I’m going to share with you today, at least in part. A few months back I got a call from the librarian at Longwood Library. For once it had nothing to do with overdue books, but instead was an offer of a cd containing historical documents from this congregation. See, the pastor of the congregation that now resides in the building on the site of the original Middle Island Presbyterian Church had found some very old documents, including some sermons from more than 100 years ago. The librarian was calling to offer me a copy of the cd the pastor had made. One of the sermons on the cd was preached in October 1835, and it deals with exactly this historic question about what God looks like. I actually not only read the whole sermon, but transcribed it – if you want me to send you a copy by email, let me know. I believe it was written by the Reverend Frederick E. Allen, but since there’s no date on the article about that man which is included on the cd, I cannot be absolutely certain. My original thought was to share the whole thing with you, but the language is a bit archaic and it is rather long, so instead I will share a portion of that sermon with you and try to translate English to English along the way. The Rev. Allen wrote:

Organs formed from the dust are too gross and too powerless to furnish a glimpse of the glorious Jehovah. The Divine essence, to men in the flesh, is invisible. The invisibility of Jehovah is plainly declared by St. Paul to Timothy….

I believe he means that humans, being formed from mud in the beginning of time, are too pea-brained to be able to deal with seeing God. This is, of course, supported by the passage in Exodus 33 in which God tells Moses no man can see His face and live. There are passages that tell of people seeing God, but seeing God in things, like a burning bush, a pillar of cloud or fire, a dove descending, or even a bright light that symbolizes God is in their midst, but there is no passage that indicates humans could actually see God in all His glory outside the Garden of Eden. We are not capable of seeing what the Rev. Allen calls the Divine essence.

And yet there is on the part of man a trembling solicitude to see the Lord Jehovah. With common criminality and servile dread prevailing in the soul, men would flee from the presence of God, and like the first transgression conceal themselves from the light, and neither see their judge nor be seen of Him. But when the veil is lifted from the heart of man, when he is awaked from slumbers of spiritual death, his burden of guilt is removed and his conscience is purified and pacified by the great propitiatory sacrifice and he looks out upon the works of creation and sees in everything made indications of the Divinity, then it is that he feels a trembling solicitude to see God.

Even though we cannot see God, for reasons of our own good health and welfare in this lifetime, we don’t stop wanting to be able to see God. However, if we did see God, we wouldn’t be glad we did, we’d be terrified and run away like Adam and Eve did in the garden when they became aware of their sin. Even so, believers who accept that the perfect sacrifice has made us clean in God’s eyes can see the evidence of God in all of creation. We don’t see the face of God, but the works of His hand.

The Spirit of God is within him, and he pants for a view of the person. He is created anew and would see Him whose workmanship he is. He is born of God & he would come near to and see with his eyes his Heavenly Father. He has the strong and tender feelings of a child, a child home born and home bound, and he longs to approach and throw his arms around the feet of his divine parent and cry, “My Father, my Father.” This inward prevailing desire has often broken out in the decided and pathetic expressions of the lips…But notwithstanding this prevailing desire and the continued occasion of it, a holy and supernatural affinity with God, here stands the Bible doctrine unchanged and unchangeable the infinite God in the unity of His being is to mortal man invisible. “Dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen nor can see.”

We are not satisfied with being unable to see God, despite having the Spirit of God dwelling in us. We are made new by God, but that is not enough for us because we want to see the One who made us new. We want to praise and thank the One who created and recreated us, but since we cannot see God, humanity has, on occasion, tried to express this desire in words. Some Psalms show this desire to see God, but even through the millennia of God’s covenants with His children, the rule stays in place that humans are not allowed to actually see God in this lifetime. God remains invisible to us.

And is there no relief for the mind, no satisfaction for the restless desire? There is partial relief in the word of divine inspiration. It is not easy for us to entertain any distinct perceptions of an invisible Spirit or the attributes of an invisible Spirit, without some notion of a defined personality associated with such a Spirit…. And to aid our perceptions in relation to this fact, it is said, “His eyes behold and His eyelids try the children of men.” To encourage His people in prayer and in waiting upon Him for His help & blessing it is said, “that His ear is not heavy that is cannot hear nor His arm shortened that it cannot save.” In revealing the doctrine of His universal providence, and His attention to the wants of all living creatures, the inspired writer says, “All these wait upon God that He may give them their meat in due season. That which He giveth them, they gather. He openeth His hand, they are filled with good.”

By the mention of eye, ear, arm & hand we seem to be somewhat relieved, and assisted in forming our ideas about the invisible Spirit, and the manner in which He exercises His perfections, because our thoughts immediately fly to those organs and members, parts of the human body which are plain and familiar to us.

We get some relief of our frustration from Scripture when we read passages that make it seem that God has human features like eyes, ears, arms, and hands. We then begin to think we know what God looks like – like us – because the words are there that describe parts of our own bodies with which we are familiar. This is, however, an accommodation and encouragement from God, not a true description.

But those names to make the most of them are but an illusion. Carrying the human form in our mind as we read about God, we seem to see the incomprehensible Spirit. We entertain some notion about the mode in which He exists and acts. But the fact is we are altogether ignorant on this subject. If there is anything real in the universe, there is reality in the existence of the great first cause, but this existence as to external essence and the unity of the Divine nature is not like anything we that have ever seen or known or heard of….

When we get to thinking that God looks like us, we are mistaken. We really have no idea what God looks like, as if we have the capacity to even see the attributes of God. God is so far beyond our understanding that we could not even create words to describe God because God is like nothing we could possibly imagine.

The doctrine of the Trinity is a blessed doctrine. It is full of interest. It clusters with rich & soul satisfying and everlasting fruit. There is all that we need to enlighten, to sanctify and elevate our undying spirits. And here, too, is all that we need to command our views, to fix our attention, to satisfy desire, to bring us near to God and to honor and immortalize the whole man.

The Spirit for purity and the Son for vision. The Scriptures saith not in vain, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” The doctrine of a triune Deity provides for our seeing God in the truest, most satisfying and blessed manner.

Understanding God as Trinity is the only way we can see anything of God. We don’t have to understand how God can be three and yet one, but accepting the truth of a triune God is to be enough to shore up our lagging spirits and to draw us near to God. We have the Spirit to help us in purity and the Son to help us in vision of God and from God. And if we are pure in heart, we will one day get to heaven and see God fully, as Paul promises in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” We do get to see all of God, just not in this lifetime.

Since God is made manifest in the flesh, we faint not with unsatisfied desire. We are not heartsick with hope deferred. We look not in vain for the consolation of Israel. We look unto Jesus, and here the eye rests and the soul is satisfied….

In this lifetime, we must accept that Jesus, the fully human manifestation of God, God in the flesh, is the only way we can see God. So when we need to think of how God looks, it is best to think of how Jesus looks. Of course, the Rev. Allen doesn’t mention that there was no photography in Jesus’ time and that all the artwork depicting God is not only imagery, which is strictly forbidden by Scripture. He also doesn’t mention that Jesus, being a Jew from the Middle East, was far more likely to look Semitic than like the wavy-tressed, blue eyed, white-skinned guy we remember from Bible pictures and movies and Sunday School classroom walls. But the Rev. Allen does point out that what is most important about seeing God in the face of Jesus is not the body parts, but the declaration of God’s existence, love, grace, and mercy. Jesus shows us God, not in the color of His hair or shape of His face, but in his words and deeds, person and works.

The approach of that pastor was somewhat more theological than my answer to our confirmation class. But it doesn’t matter if it’s a first generation group of believers asking often enough that John included it in his Gospel, a congregation on Long Island in 1835, or a modern-day teenager in a confirmation class, often the great questions of faith remain the same. What does God look like? We don’t know and what’s more, we aren’t supposed to. However it helps you to connect with God, imagine Him – or Her – looking that way. It’s not about what God looks like, but about who God is, and what God has done, is doing, and will do.

The questions of faith really don’t change because ours is a historic faith. It is handed down to us from those who lived before and we are to hand it down to those who come after us, as it says of God’s commands in Deuteronomy, “Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” Teach the next generation what is important about who God is and what God has done. And encourage them to wrestle with the great questions of faith for it is in wrestling with these questions that we grow in faith and knowledge of God’s Word.

Faith is supposed to be mysterious and some answers are supposed to wait. History repeats, and so do questions. Some things never change – like the answers found in Scripture. There’s nothing new under the sun, but there is the historical comfort of the promises of God. The words and songs we use to praise Him may be different, but God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Praise God! Amen.

Posted by at 9:37 AM 0 comments

Zealous Faith in Christ’s Divinity


“At this time I have seen and put in study to look into all the Scriptures ...which our Lord opened to my understanding – I could sense His hand upon me – so that it became clear to me that it was feasible to navigate from here to the Indies, and He gave me the will to execute the idea ...I have already said that for the execution of the enterprise of the Indies, neither reason nor mathematics, nor world maps were profitable to me: rather the prophecy of Isaiah was completely fulfilled. And this is what I wish to report here for the consideration of your Highnesses (Book of Prophecies, Folos 4, 4 rvs., 5 rvs).”[1]

These are the words of Christopher Columbus in a letter he wrote to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, as recorded in Columbus’s Book of Prophecies. Columbus was a man of deep faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and we would do well to understand his real motives for his journeys so we honor his memory in terms of spirituality rather than simply an excuse to sleep in or go shopping. As I share this with you, I would be remiss if I did not publically thank Claire Jankowski, who managed to find far better information about Columbus than I did, and who was kind enough to share that information with me. Thank you, Claire!

When I was a child, I was taught, like so many of you, that in fourteen hundred and ninety two Columbus sailed the ocean blue when he ran into some islands and mistakenly thought he’d arrived. I was taught that this was the discovery of America and that Columbus had sailed in search of a shorter route to India to get spices for Europe so he could be rich and so he could help make the king and queen richer. I was taught that most people made fun of him because they all thought the world was flat and he insisted it was round. I never really questioned a lot of that till recently when I started looking into Columbus and his faith as well as hearing on the news about how one school district was not going to have the day off but instead would have a Muslim holiday off. There is greater irony in that last bit than is apparent at first.

“The Islamic conquest of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom in the 8th century (begun 711) extended over almost the entire [Iberian] peninsula. After 500 years, in the 13th century, the last remaining Moorish government was the Nasrid dynasty in the Kingdom of Granada in southern Iberia. With its defeat in 1492, the entire Iberian Peninsula was brought back under Christian rule, thus completing the Reconquista.”[2] Columbus had been living under exactly the kind of conditions described in the beginning of today’s passage from Matthew’s Gospel, which says, ““Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”” Columbus lived in a time and place where religious wars had gone on for centuries and where many had given up the Christian faith to become Muslim. The Muslims had taken over previously Christian lands and put rules in place to try to eradicate Christianity. Columbus set sail as a result of these ongoing wars, seeking a new trade route that did not lead through Muslim controlled lands, certainly, but more important to Columbus was the opportunity to spread the true faith to the New World. Whatever your personal beliefs about religious diversity in the schools, it is ironic that a school district would replace a day celebrating one whose faith had been oppressed with one celebrating the faith that had oppressed Christians in the time and place where Columbus lived. That district, by the way, changed its position and is closed on Monday; it will have a different day of classes later instead, but the irony remains.

Other sections of this morning’s passage are directly related to Columbus’s voyages, as well. He witnessed the signs mentioned in today’s Scripture passage: the wars and rumors of wars, the deception of false prophets and the lengthy oppression of Christianity persecution and oppression, death to believers, hatred of nations, increase in wickedness, and those who stand firm being saved. Christopher had studied Scripture and the writings of such religious leaders as St. Augustine.[3] He truly believed that the lifespan of the earth was a total of 7,000 years and that there were only about 150 years of that time left, giving him a great urgency to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth, prior to its end. He felt compelled to evangelize unreached people groups. Granted, his approach might be a bit harsh, one website referring to it as ”spiritual militancy,”[4] but his motives were honorable.

In order to undertake such a voyage, Columbus needed backers – people who would offer the funds to cover the costs of such a trip. The logical place to seek such funds might seem to be the church, but the church leaders had a problem with Columbus. It was not over the shape, of the earth, as we were taught, though. From a website called “Bede’s Library” we learn, “Columbus was wrong and his critics were right - not because the world is actually flat after all, but because at the time everyone knew it was a globe and were arguing about how big it was. The idea that the uncouth people of the Middle Ages thought the Earth was flat is an example of the myth that has been propagated since the nineteenth century to give us a quite unfair view of this vibrant and exciting period.”[5] The religious leaders did not disagree about the shape of the earth, but were incensed that Columbus “maintained the existence of inhabited lands on the other side of the earth. His presumption implied to them the presence of nations not descended from Adam, because it was impossible for those inhabitants to have crossed the ocean.”[6] Rather than lauding Christopher’s devotion to evangelism, they accused him of trying to discredit the Bible and its teachings on creation.

Columbus’s faith never waivered, however. That, too, is Scriptural. “12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Wickedness did abound at this time and the love of many for Christ had grown cold, so many having converted or simply given up the fight for Christianity, but Columbus stood firm in his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, when he arrived on land, he “knelt on the sand and kissed it. Tears of joy were streaming from Columbus’s eyes as he rendered thanks to Almighty God and christened the island San Salvador (“Holy Savior”).”[7] Even the failure of the religious leaders to back him did not make him jaded. It did, however, leave Columbus in need of funds from somewhere else.

So Columbus sought the help of the King and Queen, but that was not easy, either. Ferdinand and Isabella first referred him to committee, which refused since there was a big war going with the Turks, the Muslims who had conquered almost all of Africa and most of Europe. The normal trade routes opened by Marco Polo were not safe, so Columbus used the promise of spices and the associated riches to convince the king and queen of the necessity of his voyage. Spices did play a big role in Columbus’s first voyage, but more in the willingness of Spain to back the trip, rather than as Christopher’s primary motive.

Having procured the needed funds, Columbus made his plans to sail around the globe to India to spread the Gospel and return with riches for his backers. There was a problem with his plans, however, as Columbus believed the world to be much smaller than it is. This belief made for great discoveries, but, combined with some really bad weather delays, resulted in near mutiny and near death as the voyage took much longer than anticipated and rations ran low.[8] It got so bad that eventually Columbus had to beg to keep going for just three more days. He was granted that time and in those three days, Columbus’s prayers were answered and signs of land nearby came to the ships. It was not long before the sailors had their feet on dry ground. The year was 1492, but the journey was not as simple as sailing the ocean blue and Christopher was not the geographic visionary I was taught about as a child.

Still, Columbus was a visionary. He was a spiritual and religious visionary. He saw himself as “the messenger of the new heaven and new earth of which he spoke in the Apocalypse of St. John after having spoken of it through the mouth of Isaiah; and He showed me the spot where to find it.” These are words he penned about his discoveries in what came to be the New World, and that discovery was only the beginning. Columbus made three more trips before his health prevented him from further voyages. In that time he planted the first Christian church in the New World, and he also grew to admire and care for the people he met. Christopher had a keen sense of justice that was unusual for his day and time, and he wrote to the king and queen seeking equal rights for the people of the New World. These are his words, “Procure for the Indians, that are coming under our rule, the same rules and protections as those we have been speaking of [here in Spain]. These rules are to apply to those in power and those not in power equally. I want them to have the same protection I have as if they were my own flesh.”[9] Later he wrote, “I worry immensely about the future…. But we will discover new lands and we will negotiate in some of them according to the law of Castile and if this is not ruled by a strong hand then …. I am afraid we will be misunderstood. I tell you to do it this way because gold is not everything.”[10]

Christopher Columbus was not the man I learned about in elementary school – he was much, much more. He was a devout man whose zealous faith in Christ’s divinity influenced everything he did. He was a Biblical scholar and student of the early church fathers and tireless evangelist. He was a champion of social justice and equal rights before such concepts even had names. Christopher Columbus was a man of deep faith. He lived as if the words of our passage from Matthew’s Gospel today were immediately meant for him. He had a sense of urgency about sharing the faith. He knew the reality of false prophets who tried to convince people that Christ was not divine and the threat of persecution, yet he stood firm.

Christopher Columbus’s time was, in some ways, not unlike our own. We have had earthquakes and wars and rumors of wars. We have seen nation take up sword against nation. We have witnessed deception and false prophets and famines. We have seen the increase of wickedness and love growing cold. There are those who even today preach that the end of the world is near. Are we standing as firm as Christopher Columbus? Are we willing to risk everything for the spread of the Gospel? Do we have any sense of urgency about spreading the Word of the Lord to the ends of the earth? Are we willing to focus less on fame and fortune and more on social justice and equality? If so, how is that reflected in our lives?

I wouldn’t for a moment advocate spiritual militancy. Despite some similarities, the world we live in is not the same as at the time of Columbus, so our approach must be different. But our zealousness of faith in Christ’s divinity must be a strong as Columbus’s. Our desire to spread the good news must be as urgent. Our efforts on behalf of the poor and oppressed, our work for equal rights must be as bold and visionary as were his. Columbus was not a saint, but he was a devout man who lived out his faith in everything he did. And so should we.

There are still lands to be conquered for Christ, but conquered with the power of love rather than the power of dominion. There are still people who have not heard the good news of salvation. There are still false prophets who oppress and who seek to exploit others rather than treating them as equals. And these lands and people are not all on the other side of the world. Many of them are right here, not all that far with modern travel from where Columbus first kissed the ground and thanked the Lord for safe passage. As we remember Christopher Columbus, let us rejoice in the reality that his faith and sailing voyages were inextricably linked, and let us live our own lives integrating our faith and practices as well as he did.

Posted by at 9:36 AM 0 comments

His Hand Is On the Table


It is appropriate that on World Communion Sunday we focus on the first communion – the actual supper with the Lord that occurred so many years ago. It is appropriate that as we look at the history of Christianity that bring us to this celebration, we also look at the history of the Jewish people that brought the Lord to host that particular meal. For it is clear in the Scriptures that the Last Supper was a Passover meal.

We know well the story of the Passover – how Moses lead the people out of Egypt where they had been slaves. We know the story of the plagues and how the plague of death upon the firstborn was the catalyst for Pharaoh letting the people go. We know the story of how the blood of the lamb was painted on the lintels of those who were Israelites and how that was a sign to the Spirit that blew through with the plague of death to pass over those homes. But we don’t always recall the command to commemorate that event each year with the celebration of the Passover meal.

Today’s Old Testament passage tells of God’s command to continue to remember His grace and mercy in the celebration of the feast of unleavened bread. Remember is a synonym for the word commemorate. In this command, God is instructing the Israelites to remember, or, in words more familiar to us, to do this in remembrance of Him. God instituted a meal in which His children were instructed to remember Him. It was a special meal, a week of them, actually, that called for remembrance. It was a special type of food that was called for, a special type of preparation that was needed. It wasn’t just, “Hey, think about me when you eat and drink and remember to be grateful for what I’ve done for you.” It was a ritualized event with particular instructions. No yeast in the bread – easy enough. No yeast in the house – a little more challenging. It’s not like the people of Israel went to Stop N Shop an bought little foil packages of Fleishman’s or Red Star active dry yeast. It’s not like they could just put the bread machine in the garage or avoid the tubes of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for a while. They couldn’t just buy boxes of Matzoh (on sale, no less) and skip the Thomas’s muffins that week. No yeast meant none – and yeast was part of daily life. Yeast was in the dirt in the floors of their homes – dirt floors. To make sure all the yeast was gone from the home took serious preparation and to keep it out for a week required effort, as well. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a big deal. It would not and could not really be done regularly. But when the Passover meal took place, when that festival came around each year, the people remembered – and still do – literally as if the events of the Passover happened only yesterday. I’ve shared with you before that the Jewish people do not talk about the time when their ancestors were freed from slavery, but they speak of when “we” were slaves in Egypt. It is an infrequent event, but one that is filled with meaning and remembering.

Jesus was celebrating this Passover meal with His disciples at the Last Supper. It was the last time He would eat with them in before His death. They would have observed the ritual preparations, the ritual parts of the meal, the requisite foods of the feast. And it would have been a special occasion, especially in Jerusalem.

But Jesus didn’t leave it at that. Jesus took bread, in this case unleavened bread, and He broke it and gave it to the disciples saying it was His body, broken for them. He urged them to remember Him when they ate bread, a staple at every meal in those days. Then Jesus gave them wine, another staple at each meal. He told them the wine was the New Covenant in His own blood, and that they were to remember Him when they drank of it. He was not specifying that they remember Him only once a year with a special feast, but every time they ate bread or drank wine – things that everyone could afford, common elements of every meal. This meal was not only for those who were in good standing in their church or synagogue. It was for everyone, Jew and Gentile, who believed in Him and remembered Him. Jesus extended grace and mercy to all who participated in the New Covenant. His blood was shed for all sinners that they might be forgiven without complicated ritual, but simply by asking.

And if you’re in doubt about the extension of grace and mercy to all, remember that Judas was present and participating in the Last Supper. Scripture tells us Jesus said, “But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table.” Even the one who was to set in motion the end of Jesus’ earthly life was included in the mercy and grace of our Lord. Forget having yeast in the house, Judas betrayed our Lord, delivering Him into the hands of the authorities. Isn’t that a little worse than yeast in the house at Passover? Yet Jesus did not deny Judas the opportunity to sit at table with Him, to break bread and share in the feast of the New Covenant. Jesus even highlighted that Judas was there and was going to betray Him.

So what does that say to us today? When we come to this table, do we really believe everyone is as worthy of God’s love and forgiveness as we are? Or do we feel we have a right to judge others as unworthy, as if there were yeast in their homes for the Feast of Unleavened Bread and they should be cut off from the community of believers? Scripture is clear – the meal is for all. Judas had his hand on the same table as our Lord. He ate of the bread and drank of the cup. He was offered the same grace and mercy as we are.

That’s hard to really think about sometimes. We want to have justice our own way. Bad people should be punished and we think we know whether or not we’ll see certain folks in heaven. We don’t talk about it, but in our hearts don’t we think we know who we’ll see and who will be someplace far warmer than we hope to go? Don’t we think we have a right to this meal because we are good and come to church – well, most of the time, anyway. Don’t we think that those who are out there breaking laws and committing crimes don’t deserve to share in communion with us? We say the table is open to all who believe, but do we really welcome sinners?

As I serve on a jury of late, I think about these things. I realize that I have been tasked with the responsibility of judging the facts of the case, and that the outcome of the case is dependent upon the attorneys proving or disproving what the defendant has or has not done. I recognize that my job as a juror is to judge the evidence, not the person. And I take that seriously. But I also know that we are called upon to visit people in prison, even if they are in prison justifiably. We are still called upon to reach out to them, to share the faith with them, to pray for the salvation of their souls and even, as hard as it is for us to understand, to break bread in communion with them. Now that is different from accepting what they may have done. Jesus did not ever say that Judas’s betrayal was acceptable and he shouldn’t be punished, but neither did He bar Judas from sharing in communion, from not only eating with Him but having Judas’s hand on the very table at which He instituted the sacrament of communion. When you stop and think about it, it can be very unsettling. We might well be called to sit at table with those who have committed crimes against us.

This point was driven home to me in a tangible way last weekend at the Presbytery Visioning Retreat. (Yes, I know, I was on vacation, but I went anyway.) One of the workshops was lead by Kymberly Clemmons-Jones, the pastor of Valley Stream Presbyterian Church. She and her husband have two boys, teenagers. One day, on his way home from school, one of their boys was jumped. He was beaten badly with a brick and spent significant time in the hospital. The young man’s father reacted the way we might all feel like doing – he had a great desire to go out, find the five young men who had beaten his son, and teach them a lesson they’d not soon forget. It is a natural reaction to want to take justice into our own hands. But that brave father did not do that. He lived out his Christian beliefs and practiced self-control, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t easy, but he did it.

The boy’s mother went even further than self-control. As she prayed, she kept sensing the word “wanted.” She wasn’t sure what it amounted to at first, but in time she came to the conclusion that she was called to set up a program for young men called WANTED. She felt called by God to use this experience to make something positive happen in the lives of the local youth. She created a program in which young men would learn that they are worthy, accountable, named, thankful, empowered, and determined – wanted. Kym knew that too often the young men in her area are wanted by police, wanted by other authorities, but she knew that they needed to feel wanted in a different way. The first class was a resounding success, despite overwhelming odds against it in terms of finance and even culture. The program continues and she is hoping it will spread.

In creating this program, Kym had one very large personal hurdle to overcome. The boys who beat her son were never apprehended. There was and is a very real possibility that they might one day become part of this wanted program, and Kym would never know it because her family does not know who committed this crime. There is a very real possibility that she will one day be literally breaking bread with these young men, despite their connection with the beating that prompted the formation of the program. Kym and her husband both went into this with their eyes open. They knew the possibility existed and know it still exists. But they chose to serve a greater good. They chose, in Christlike fashion, to be open to the possibility that at some point the hand that once wielded a brick against their son would be on the same table as their own. And they trusted God to have His own justice met, His own grace and mercy extended.

It isn’t easy, but that is what we are all called to do. We are to accept justice, but also to accept that God’s grace and mercy are great enough for all, even those who offend us, hurt us, damage our property or commit crimes. We are not called to prevent justice from being done, but neither are we to condemn the people who are punished for their crimes. We are to remember that all of God’s children, those like us and those so different from us we barely recognize their humanity, are all deserving of being wanted - Worthy, Accountable, Named, Thankful, Empowered and Determined! All of God’s children have a place at the table if they are willing to come and share in His forgiveness and mercy. Any child of God may have his hand on the table and share in the meal, for Christ’s atoning sacrifice is sufficient to cover the sins of all who believe.

We all come as invited guests at the Lord’s own invitation. We have no more right than the most miserable sinner in prison, and no less right than the most righteous saint in heaven, for the invitation and the table and the meal and the covenant and the family all belong to God. And along with everyone else, His hand is on the table. And amen
Posted by at 9:34 AM 0 comments
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