Monthly Archives: December 2008

My Top Posts for 2008

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This has been an interesting year in terms of what was posted and what people read.  The one nice thing about shifting to WordPress for my blog is that I have been able to track the number of visits to each of the blogs posted.  And being the statistically minded person that I am, I have been fascinated by the growth in my readership (as the following graph illustrates):

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The straight line shows the trend that my readership is increasing and I want to say thank you to everyone who has stopped by and visited for awhile.  I hope that you will continue to do so through 2009 and bring your friends.

The other thing that the statistical section of WordPress does is show me which posts get read the most

The top five posts for the past twelve months are:

  1. The Chemistry of Bowling: A Short History of Bowling Balls, Lanes, Coatings, and Conditioners
  2. The Lost Generation
  3. A Collection of Sayings
  4. Why Do We Celebrate Palm Sunday?
  5. Consider The Lilies of The Field And How They Grow

Now, the interesting thing about this is that the second post on the list (“The Lost Generation”) was actually written in 2007 but it still ranks as the second most visited piece during the past twelve months (it is the #1 piece with the “Chemistry of Bowling” being the #2 piece all- time).  I think that has something to do with students searching the Internet through Google for information about various American authors during the period between the two world wars.  If you take that piece out of the rankings, then the #5 piece was Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide!  The Invisible Killer.

“Consider the Lilies” ranks 7th all time with “Don’t Know Much History” and “Where Were You On April 4, 1968?” ranking 5th and 6th on the all-time list.

My “top” sermon of the year was also one that I original posted in 2007, “The Message Is Clear”; the top sermon given in 2008 was “Just What Is The Right Thing To Do?  Interestingly enough, both were presented at the Dover United Methodist Church where I go ever four weeks or so.

So there is a summary of my posts for the past twelve months. It is an interesting list and it will be interesting to see what transpires over the next twelve months.

Does Curiosity Kill The Cat?

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In answer to my own question, I really don’t know.  But I point out to my students that the most curious creature on the planet is a two-year old.  I bring this up because our soon to be two-year old grand-daughter has successfully taken apart the keyboard to her sister’s computer and was in the process of removing the ornaments within her reach from the Christmas tree.

But what happens to our children that their curiosity seems to disappear by the time they get through grade school, middle school or junior high, and high school? 

How Big is Our House?

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These are my thoughts for this Sunday, the 4th Sunday in Advent.  The Scriptures were 2 Samuel 7: 1 – 11, 16; Romans 16: 23 – 27; and Luke 1: 26 – 38.

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One of the things that you absolutely, positively must do when you set up your e-mail account is prepare a signature file. It is that signature that defines who you are to the recipients of your electronic missives.

In my signature file, I have three quotes. Whether they define who I am or not is probably open to debate; whether they influence how people see me is also open to debate. Those three quotes are

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. (Henry David Thoreau)

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8: 32)

Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind (John F. Kennedy)

I suppose that I have always been fascinated by the Thoreau quote for it speaks to how society sees individuals and how individuals see themselves. I do know that the validity of the quote is still true today in a society that proclaims its desire for individuality as longs such individuality fits within the context of what everyone else is doing. I cannot say why Thoreau said this but I am pretty sure that it was not in the context of Christianity or religion in general. But as a proclaimed evangelical Christian, it says that I have chosen to walk a different path, even if society has no clue as to what that path is or where that path leads.

But it is society’s misconception as to what evangelism truly is and what Christianity truly is that perhaps is the greatest problem that we have today. Someone sent me a rather detailed commentary on my use of these quotes and included in their commentary the suggestion that we cannot avoid war because it is part of God’s plan.

I have heard this before from others and it bothers me that there are people who, in the name of God, feel that war is inevitable or that there is nothing we can do about it. If war is inevitable, if the destruction of mankind is inevitable, then Advent is meaningless.

For if the destruction of mankind is inevitable, then there is no hope. And if there is no hope, then the birth of Christ is meaningless. We live in a time where there must be a source of hope. Whether or not Christ was born in December, whether or not his earthly parents were poor or not, whether or not he was born in one Bethlehem or another, the fact remains that Christ was born and in his birth we were given a new sign of hope.

The question we face today is whether we will allow that hope to grow and encompass everyone. There is much discussion these days about the “big tent” and whether or not we are all invited to come inside. What would the prophet Nathan say to us today if he saw the churches of today, massive monuments to a God who serves the people instead of buildings where people worship God? What would Nathan say today to the people in these massive monuments who go out of their way to exclude people from entering because of their race, their creed, their lifestyle, or economic status? How would we explain to Nathan the dichotomy that exists in today’s churches when social barriers were cast aside when Jesus was first born? Remember that the birth of Jesus was first proclaimed to the shepherds in the field. Shepherds in those days were among the lowest in social order; to announce the birth of a King to them was a reversal of the social order.

God demanded of David that he, David, build Him a house. It wasn’t to be the other way around; yes, God does build the House of David and David’s son Samuel will build the temple that David cannot build. And the House of David will be established and it will lead to the birth of Jesus. But the house that David was to build for God was to be built first. And we have failed just like David failed; the house that we have built is not for God but for our own glory and our own satisfaction. Isn’t it time that we build the house that God intended to be built?

How can we proclaim the glory of God as Mary did when our interests in the glory of Christmas are in the salvation of the American economy while people go starving and naked and cold? We proclaim ourselves to be the people of God, echoing our place in history as His chosen people; yet we ignore those who have little or nothing and reward those who have more than enough. Shall we proclaim Hosanna to the highest when the rich decide to give away everything they don’t need? We hear there is a war on Christmas but it is only a war in the minds of those who get upset because businesses don’t put up “Merry Christmas” over the materials they so desperately want us to buy. Such a proclamation is not about helping others but helping oneself in the name of God and Christ.

Mary was told of her special place in this process and she rejoiced in her role in this process. But we see God as our servant and we demand of God that He build our houses.

There will be those who see in Paul’s words to the Romans for today the proclamation of God’s Kingdom on earth. Paul speaks of all nations knowing the truth and being brought into obedient belief, carrying out the orders of God, who got all of this started (as translated from The Message).

Now, as I noted earlier, I use the quote from John 8: 32 that we should seek the truth and it will be the truth that sets us free. And we know that the truth found in God will set us free from slavery to sin and death. But obedience to God means following what Jesus taught us 2000 years ago and what has to be the single overriding message of the Bible, to care for others, not keep it for ourselves.

And those who proclaim that they and they alone know the true meaning of God’s words seek to enslave us just as those who worship the dollar seek to enslave us for their own benefit.

Jesus came to this word not to bring riches to the already rich; He did not come to bring health to the healthy; nor did He seek to repress the lower classes. NO, Jesus came to bring hope to those without hope and who are lost and forgotten in this world. He came to bring health to the sick and dying; He came to bring freedom to the oppressed. He came to this world to bring light into a world of darkness.

He came so that everyone could enter God’s House. And when He left, carrying the burden of the world on His shoulders, He empowered us to continue that work.

But that work cannot be done if our house is only big enough for ourselves. If we do not let Jesus into our hearts, we will find that our house will become very small. If we do not let Jesus into our hearts, we will find that we will not have much room in our house either. But if we let Jesus into our hearts, we will find out that our house is bigger than we could ever imagine.

So it is that this 4th Sunday of Advent, we are asked how big is our house and are we prepared to make it bigger.

What’s The Solution?

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A colleague of mine from RedBlueChristian (ChrisB) has posted some thoughts concerning the bailout (see “Bailout Blues”).  And his thoughts have prompted me to post thoughts of my own (in addition to the comments that I have posted to his post on his “other” blog (“My Three Cents”).

Now, one of the few things that we agree on is that the bailout of the various industries is probably not the best idea.  The problem with bailing out the financial firms is that the money was given without any guidance whatsoever.  That’s not very good financial management.

And while Republicans may want UAW workers to make more sacrifices in return for bailout funds to save the auto industry, I heard nothing about the CEOs of any of the industries that the present administration has “rescued” or promising to help giving back their salaries and/or bonuses.

But the problem isn’t that the CEOs earning salaries and bonuses that are out of step with the income of their workers. The problem isn’t about the fact that our housing industry is in a virtual shambles and that our health care is a joke.  Our schools are not doing what schools are supposed to be doing, that is educating our children to better them for the future.

Now the problem is that the solutions that we are offering are solutions from the past and will only led to more problems.

When George Allen became the coach of the Washington Redskins, he spoke of the “future being now.”  Well, if we are to even think of the future of this country, then we must begin thinking about the future now.

Since Congress seems dedicated to spending taxpayer dollars, let’s make the taxpayers the owners of the companies that are being bailed out.  Employee Stock Ownership Plans are not new ideas but they can be the basis for restructuring these companies.  It is clear that the present management has not done what it should have been doing and it is clear that many of the Boards of Directors, who have okayed large salaries and bonuses for management, has also failed to do what they should have done.  So why not let the workers own the company?  Can they do any worse?

Second, we seriously need to have new ideas about the direction of this country.  Yes, our roads really need some help and much of this country’s infrastructure is in sad shape.  But how much focus is given to making our schools better?  When we speak of our children being computer literate, are we speaking of them being able to use computers in new and creative ways or simply being able to download music to their music players or text messaging their friends?  Do all of the schools across this country have computers which are “state-of-the-art” with proper software?

Are we focusing  on the problems that we will encounter tomorrow or are focusing on the problems of yesterday?

The solution lies within us, not in government, and it lies within how we see tomorrow, not how much we want to hold on to yesterday.

Cross-posted to RedBlueChristian.

Whose House?

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This is the message I presented for the 4th Sunday in Advent (December 22, 2002) at Tompkins Corners UMC.  The Scriptures were 2 Samuel 7: 1 – 11, 16; Romans 16: 23 – 27; and Luke 1: 26 – 38.

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The first summer I was in college I got an interesting letter from my parents. In part it read, “Don’t come home this weekend. We’ve moved.” Now, as one who grew up in a military family, moving in and of itself was no big deal. But this was somewhat disconcerting because my parents neglected to tell me where they were moving.

This was not the first move the family had made in which I did not take an active part but it was the first time that I was not there when the move took place. And so it was that when the summer ended and I was to go home and return to the normal life of a high school student, I looked forward to seeing my new home.

In the Old Testament reading for today, the prophet Nathan comes to David with a request from God. God wanted a house that He could call His own. Since the days of the Exodus and Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai, God’s presence among the Israelites was in the Ark of the Covenant. Since life for the Israelites was very mobile and there was a necessity of having the Ark in front of the armies of Israel as they went into battle, the Ark must also be mobile. As noted in the reading, the Ark was housed in a tent.

But this reading starts off with David having finally established the Kingdom of Israel and there was now no need for such mobility. God wanted David to build a house in which the Ark of the Covenant could be placed. And as a reward for building this house for God, David’s house would also be established and the lineage of the House of David would pass down through the generations.

So it was that the time came to pass that Mary and Joseph would travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the City of David, for the census because Joseph was of the House of David. As we conclude our preparations and this season of Advent and we begin looking to Tuesday evening and the celebration of Christ’s birth on Wednesday, we are going to hear many variations of the story of the little family.

Some preachers will cast Mary as an unwed mother, others cast Mary and Joseph as a poor and homeless couple. But they were not homeless, just without a place to stay that night. If anything, they were the victims of a greedy innkeeper who saw the opportunity to gain a few extra denarii by renting out the space in his stable as if it were a regular room. There is some truth to that carol we sing that says “O little town of Bethlehem.” Bethlehem was a small town in those days and it surely must have been crowed beyond capacity with people coming to register for the census.

Neither was the family poor. Yes, Joseph was a carpenter but a carpenter in those days was more of an artisan and middle class than we imagine. We cast Joseph in the mold as we know carpenters today but that was not the case back then. The family was certainly not well off but neither were they poor.

And Mary was not an unwed mother, though the circumstances of her pregnancy certainly had the Nazareth busybodies working overtime. She was engaged to marry Joseph and an engagement in those days was tantamount to marriage. We are reminded that Joseph, after receiving his own visit by an angel, stayed with her and was the devoted earthly father to Jesus.

And we also hear very little about that fact that all around Jesus that night were his relatives, his aunts and uncles, and countless cousins. Jesus was born amidst his family and his ministry was first to his family, a family that expanded throughout his ministry.

So why was Jesus born in this manner? Shouldn’t have a King, especially the King of Kings, have been born in a palace? And why did the angels sing to the shepherds that night. Surely, the angels should have been singing to the royal court instead of to shepherds in the field. How can anyone bring Peace on Earth when they were born in a stable because the city was overcrowded with people?

But there was a reason why Jesus was born in the stable, in a crowded city with shepherds as his first visitors. The problem with Christmas is that we want Jesus in our image; we want His birth to conform to our ideas. So it helps us if we make His birth more tragic and less joyful. We sometimes are not willing to look at things different and to understand how God works.

It may have been confusing for Mary to be told that she was pregnant. She certainly was amazed, not only with what was happening for her but for her cousin Elizabeth who was also pregnant and about to give birth to John the Baptist. God’s work goes beyond description and the capabilities of anything we can imagine, as Mary declared in the New Testament reading for today.

Jesus came to change the world and the world could not be changed if he had been born in the expected manner of an earthly king. Charles Handy, the noted philosopher, noted Jesus changed the thinking of the time by teaching that the meek should inherit the earth, the poor would be blessed and the first would be last in the ultimate scheme of things. (Charles Handy, The Age of Unreason)

This change was evident from the very beginning. To have the shepherds hear the pronouncement of Jesus’ birth was a statement that things were changing. Because of their work, shepherds were considered unclean and could not enter the Temple, the House of God that David labored to build. By telling the shepherds that Jesus was born, the doors of the House of God were opened to all.

And Mary’s own words, the words we read as the Psalter this morning speak of the changes that would come about. “The mighty have been put down from their thrones and the lowly exalted; the hungry have been filled with good things and the rich sent away empty.” These are words of hope and promise, not to a select few but to all that hear them. That is the challenge given to us by Paul, to take the Word of God into the world for all to hear.

Jesus was born into the house of David, surrounded by cousins and aunts and uncles. His ministry began with his family and to those that needed him first. And each day, as his ministry grew, the doors to his house became to more and more individuals.

So it is that I ask you today, “in whose house will Christ be born this year?” Will he be born in your house, your soul? Will the celebration of his birth again this year enable you to meet the challenge of Paul and enable the words of the prophet to ring true?

The House That We Build

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This is the message I presented for the 4th Sunday in Advent (December 19, 1999) at Walker Valley UMC.  The Scriptures were 2 Samuel 7: 1 – 11, 16; Romans 16: 23 – 27; and Luke 1: 26 – 38.

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Several years ago, in another place, I was asked to speak about what a particular church meant to me (added in editing – the time and place that I was referring to was before I began regular lay speaking and before I began posting to this blog and its predecessor; I later posted that piece as “What Does Stewardship Mean To Me?”). At that time, I spoke of church homes and home churches. The purpose at that time was to speak on the goals and plans for that church over the coming year. And least any one think otherwise, I think that it is an important part of the church life to have a church building and to make sure that it is fixed and always open for people to come to.

But what I want to do is speak to each person’s heart and where Christ is. To me, a home church is one that you can point to and say, “That is my church; that this is the place where I grew up.” As the oldest son of an Air Force officer, I cannot make that statement.

Oh, I suppose that I could say that the Evangelical and Reformed Church in Lexington, NC, is my home church, for it was there in 1950 that I was baptized. But I was only there for the one occasion so it shouldn’t count as my home church.

Perhaps the 1st Evangelical United Brethren Church in Aurora, CO, qualifies. After all, it was there in 1965 that I completed my studies for the God and Country award and joined the church. But the 1st Church really doesn’t exist anymore, having become the 1st United Methodist Church of Aurora following the merger in 1968.

And I still have ties to the church in Minnesota where I began my lay speaking career and the church in Memphis where I was a member and where my mother still is a member. But those ties are more about what I became and what I was allowed to do, not where I grew up.

Quite honestly, and this is what I said those years ago when I spoke about church homes, it has turned out not to be that important that I have a home church. It has always been important that I have a church home and that Christ is a part of my life. And I would add that in each of the churches where I have belonged or preached, that is exactly how I felt.

Throughout all my travels, work, and journeys, I have seen a variety of churches. They range from the one in Springfield, MO, that more resembles an office building to the ones in eastern Kentucky, which if you did not know they were churches, you would swear that they were abandoned shacks. But they all that have that quality that God is present in them and that you are made to feel welcome.

But to find that church home, to find a place where you might discover Christ is not always an easy task. One book, or rather a series of books, which I like, is by Peter Jenkins. The books that he wrote describe his walk across America, starting from Alfred University here in New York going down the Appalachian Mountains, working odd jobs as he walked, and ending up in New Orleans, where he got married. From New Orleans, he along with his wife walked from New Orleans to Oregon. Perhaps the most important parts of the journey were the times he spent in rural western North Carolina and Mobile. While in North Carolina, he lived with a black family. While he expected to sleep in late on Sunday morning after working hard at the saw mill, he quickly found out that he was expected to go with the family with whom he stayed to their church. He admitted in the book that he was uncomfortable doing so, both from the standpoint of being a white boy in a black church but also because he had never had much church in his life. But he went and he found the experience to be a positive one.

Later on in his walk, as he found himself in Mobile, he received the Holy Spirit into his life and he began to understand just what it was about that time in North Carolina that was so comforting, yet initially so troubling. His experiences in Mobile showed him in part that what he was looking for as he was on this walk across America was the presence of Jesus in his own life. He understood what it was about the church home that he had found in North Carolina that made him welcome and comfortable.

A church really is more than just a collection of bricks and mortar, wood and shingles. I found a prayer that expresses much the same thought.

Why is that I think I must get somewhere, assume some position, be gathered together, or separated apart in the quiet of my study to pray?

Why is that I feel that I have to go somewhere or do some particular act to find you, reach you, and talk with you?

Your presence is here

In the city – on the busy bus, in the factory, in the cockpit of the airplane; in the hospital- in the patients’ rooms, in the intensive care unit, in the waiting room; in the home –at dinner, in the bedroom, in the family room, at my workbench; in the car –in the parking light, at the stoplight.

Lord, reveal your presence to me everywhere, and help me become aware of your presence each moment of the day.

May your presence fill the nonanswers, empty glances and lonely times of my life. Amen.  (From A Thirty-Day Experiment in Prayer by Robert Wood)

When John Wesley started the Methodist revival back in England some two hundred and fifty years ago, his success caused the Church of England to ban him and the other preachers who followed him from preaching in and using the Church of England properties. But that didn’t stop them from preaching; they simply found other meeting places or went into the open fields to preach.

When I first read the Old Testament reading for today, I thought in terms of the building God wanted David to build for him. But God says to David, in verses 6 and 7,

I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”

From this part of the Old Testament reading you can get a sense, as some of the commentaries do, that God wants a place to live but He also wants the ability to move freely among the people.

God is not real to most of us because of the condition of our consciousness. He is closer to our minds every moment than our own thoughts. He is nearer to our hearts than our own feelings. He is more intimate with our wills than our most vigorous decisions. If we are not aware of him, it is not because he is not with us. It is, in part, because our consciousness is so under the sway of other interests that it cannot turn to him with the loving attention which might soon discern him.

Did you ever encounter, on the street, a friend whose physical eyes looked at you without seeing you? You walked right into him before the alien look on his face changed into one of recognition. The he confessed that he had been so absorbed in thought about some other matters that he had not been aware of you, until your intentional collision with him. You were there, yet he did not see you. Though actually in your presence, he was nevertheless as unconscious of you as if you did not exist.

That is a persistent failure of the unempancipated consciousness. It can be so preoccupied by lesser realities that it does not sense the presence of the divine Realty surrounding and sustaining it. Something has to happen to end that absorption in other affairs, so that it can turn its attention to God.

Sometimes events will do it. One encounters God in a crisis that, as we say, “brings one to one’s senses.” Death, disaster, sickness, the collapse of friendship, are like the collision on the street. They shatter the tyranny of an idea or a dream, and release consciousness for the awareness of something greater than the idea or the dream –God himself.

It would be a very poor sort of life that was aware of people only when it collided with them, or was brought up standing by some decisive act of theirs. And it is a tragic life that becomes conscious of God only in those events that shatter its habitual thoughts and dreams and compel it to recognize his presence and activity.

What makes life splendid is the constant awareness of God. What transforms the spirit into his likeness is intimate fellowship with him. We are saved –from our pettiness and earthiness and selfishness and sin –by conscious communion with his greatness and love and holiness. (From Discipline and Discovery by Albert Edward Day.)

The birth of Jesus was so that God would be among us. The reason that this Old Testament passage is used today is because it is one of the prophecies that foretold the birth of Jesus. The house that is referred to throughout this passage and in verse 16,

Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

is as much about the line of David that will have Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem so that Mary can give birth to Jesus as it is about the building of the temple by Solomon, David’s son. The birth of Jesus was so that there would be a presence of God in our lives, not just a building. For buildings can be destroyed, whether by men or by time, but the presence of God will not go away, especially if we let Jesus into our hearts.

But to build a house, no matter what it would look like, requires people to do the work. That is why God asked David if he was to be the one that would build his house? As we conclude this season of Advent, as we begin preparing for the birth of Jesus, God is asking us the same question, “Are you the one who will build my house?”

When Gabriel first came to visit Mary, she did not understand what was going to happen. But after he explained all that would occur and the meaning for it all, Mary’s response was quick and to the point, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

It is nice to have a home church and I think I am somewhat secretly envious of those who have one. But I think you would agree that it is much more important that you be able to have a church home, a place where all are welcome and where the presence of Jesus is known and felt. That can only come about when the home is built in your heart. The invitation is made today for you to begin building that home.

We may feel that we cannot begin such a process, that we have too much to do; that we do not have the strength or abilities to do so. Just remember as Gabriel told Mary, “For nothing is impossible with God” and what Paul told the Romans in concluding his letter to them, “Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages.” It is God who gives us the strength to take on the tasks that have to be done.

As God asked David so many years ago, he asks each one of us today, “Are you the one to build my home?” Can we answer like Mary did, “Here I am?”

Finding the Hope

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Here are my thoughts for the 3rd Sunday in Advent.  The Scriptures for this Sunday are Isaiah 61: 1 – 4, 8 – 11; 1 Thessalonians 5: 15 – 24; and John 1: 6 – 8, 19 – 28.

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When I first looked at the readings for this Sunday (Isaiah 61: 1 – 4, 8 – 11; 1 Thessalonians 5: 15 – 24; and John 1: 6 – 8, 19 – 28) and especially at the passages from Isaiah, I saw words of despair and gloom. Perhaps that was because those have been the dominant words and thoughts in my life these past months. But in my second reading of the Scriptures (and we all know how important it is to read any passage at least twice) I found a different take on the words.

When you re-read Paul’s words to the Thessalonians, you perhaps get a sense that while there may have been gloom in their minds, there was also a faint glimmer of hope. And it is that faint glimmer of hope that one needs to focus on.

Now Isaiah says, in verses 5 – 7, which are not part of the Old Testament reading for today, that the people of Israel will hire outsiders to herd their flocks and bring in foreigners to work in the fields (verse 5). Isaiah also proclaims that the people of Israel will feast on the bounty of other nations (verse 6).

It is hard to hear Isaiah’s promise of hope contained in verses 1 – 4 and 8 – 11 when you look at verses 5 – 7. That’s because we have already outsourced many of our jobs and we quite willingly let foreign workers work in our fields. We have mostly definitely feasted on the bounty of other nations and on the bounty of this world, to the point that we have become fat, lazy, and self-centered.

Now, I am not arguing against abolishing the various free trade agreements that are so much a part of the global economy. Nor am I arguing for the banning of immigration into this country or a ban on the hiring of undocumented workers. We, as a society and a country, have allowed that to happen because we want the benefits of that cheap labor. We want cheap goods; we will go to any length to keep the costs of our goods low. We do not care about the quality of working conditions in factories in the third world nor do we care about the conditions immigrant workers (legal or otherwise) have to endure while working in some of the worst jobs in this country. All we care about is that we get our goods at the lowest possible price.

It is our unwillingness to demand quality and to pay the price for quality that underlies the economic crisis we are facing right now. We have grown used to cheap oil and we see the only solution in more oil, not other solutions. We have grown use to bountiful harvests, aided by countless pesticides and herbicides, and we care little about what this does to the food or the workers that handle the food.

We certainly do not echo Paul’s words of sharing and working together. Our present leaders will gladly give money to big business without regard for how it is spent; but let the discussion turn to the workers for those companies and they are either cast out into the street without proper remuneration or they are told that they need to sacrifice. We have endured eight years of the rich getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer and we are told by our leaders that we need to keep doing that. I didn’t hear our leaders in Congress or the present administration tell the CEO’s of the Big Three Auto makers to take a pay cut while telling the workers that they had to do so.

My friends, as William Shakespeare might have written, “The fault lies within us.” We are like the Pharisees who come to John the Baptizer seeking a messiah who would lead them out of the wilderness. But those who came to the Baptizer were seeking a messiah for the present time, a political leader who would let them keep their power and their glory. This encounter between the Baptizer and the Pharisees echoes our own blindness, our own willingness to see in many a messiah who will lift us out of our despair but keep the status quo. We seek someone who will lead us as we continue to walk the same paths that lead us into this wilderness of darkness and despair.

The leaders back then were hardly prepared for the Baptizer’s words and we know that later they would not want to hear Jesus’ words either. I am not sure, in light of what is going on, that we are prepared to hear the words of Jesus this year either. We are still a society focused on the now, the present; we are not prepared to deal with tomorrow. If you will, we stand on the shores of a river and want to cross the river at that point in the water. But the point in the water where we focus our efforts moves before we get to it and we are swept aside by the force of the river’s current. Our focus needs to be on the other side of the river and how to cross the river, not how to get through the river.

I have two resources that I turn to when I need to refresh my thoughts. One is Faith in a Secular Age by Colin Williams; it was given to me by Marvin Fortel, my pastor when I was a sophomore in college. I have the pages of this book clipped together because, of constant use over the past forty years, it has fallen apart. The other book is A Guide to Prayer by Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck; this was given to me by John Praetorius, my pastor when I began lay speaking. It hasn’t fallen apart but its pages are dog-eared and it shows the signs of use and age.

And from that second book I found this passage for the 3rd Sunday of Advent.

The contemplation of God is not effected by sight and hearing, nor is it comprehended by any of the customary perceptions of the mind. For no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, nor does it belong to those things which usually enter into the heart. One who would approach the knowledge of things sublime must first purify one’s manner of life from all sensual and irrational emotion. That person must wash from his or her understanding every opinion derived from some preconception and withdraw from customary intercourse with companions, that is, with sense perceptions, which are, as it were, wedded to our nature as its companion. When so purified, then one assaults the mountain.

The knowledge of God is a mountain steep indeed and difficult to climb — the majority of people scarcely reach its base. If one were a Moses, he would ascend higher and hear the sound of trumpets which, as the text of the history says, becomes louder as one advances. For the preaching of the divine nature is truly a trumpet blast, which strikes the hearing, being already loud at the beginning but becoming yet louder at the end. (From Gregory of Nyssa)

We cannot see God in the darkness if we are afraid of the darkness; we cannot see God in the world if we see the world as it is. Our despair grows out of our fear of the darkness. And we may feel abandoned by God because we let the darkness overcome and surround us. Those who preach or speak to our fears cannot lead us out of this darkness but only take us further into it. The Baptizer tells us that there is someone coming who will lead us out of the darkness but only if we are prepared to make the changes in our lives. And the change that must occur is a change in our own lives, in our own soul.

From A Guide to Prayer, we read

God is no longer the Friend I meet, the Father with whom I hold converse, the Lover in whom I delight, the King before whom I bow in reverence, the Divine Being I worship and adore. In my experience of prayer God ceases to be any of these things because he ceases to be anything at all. He is absent when I pray. I am there alone. There is no other.

If this experience persists — and is not the effect of the flu coming on or tiredness — it means that something of the greatest importance is happening. It means that God is inviting me to discover Him no longer as another alongside me but as my own deepest and truest self. He is calling me from the experience of meeting Him to the experience of finding my identity in Him. I cannot see Him because He is my eyes. I cannot hear Him because He is my ears. I cannot walk to Him because He is my feet. And if apparently I am alone and He is not there that is because He will not separate His presence from my own. If He is not anything at all, if He is nothing, that is because He is no longer another. I must find Him in what I am or not at all. (From Tensions by H. A. Williams)

The transforming moment of Advent is when we open our hearts to the coming of Christ, not as a moment in time on the calendar. In the darkness and despair of the present times, we will not find God, for God is not there. He has come and is coming into our lives through Christ. A little child will be born and with His birth will come the promise of a new tomorrow and the hope of a better day. It is the hope expressed by Isaiah in the rebuilding of the Israelite nation; it is the hope that Paul offers to the people of Thessalonica when there appears to be none. It is the hope that the Baptizer offered to the people by the banks of the River Jordan when it seemed that there was no hope.

It is the hope found in Christ. We are invited to see that hope in the darkness, to let that hope into our hearts and our souls, and to share that hope with others. We can find the hope we need if we but look to Christ.

Bowling Balls and Bowling Bags

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This is the message I presented for the 3rd Sunday in Advent (December 15, 2002) at Tompkins Corners UMC.  The Scriptures were Isaiah 61: 1 – 4, 8 – 11; 1 Thessalonians 5: 15 – 24; and John 1: 6 – 8, 19 – 28.

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I have a confession to make, “I am not a gracious loser.” I realize that I not competitive in every area where I compete but in those areas where I do compete and excel I do not take losses easily, especially when I can point to errors on my part that contributed to the loss. And John’s statement about not being able to wear the shoes of the one that is coming reminds me of a particularly galling loss some twenty-three years ago. For as I fumed over the loss and walked out of the bowling center, I turned to the person who beat me and just said that he shouldn’t gloat for he couldn’t even carry my bowling bag.

Now, this may not be particularly interesting to anyone but me but a few months later as we prepare to travel to another tournament, he came with a bowling bag on wheels. Not only could he not carry my bag, he couldn’t carry his own.

No matter how it is done, we need to be reminded about what John said that day in the desert outside Jerusalem. We are not worthy to walk in the shoes of Jesus and we shouldn’t even begin to think that we could.

The spring of my sophomore year in college, I went to the pastor at First United Methodist Church in Kirksville about taking communion before leaving for spring break. Reverend Fortel was taken back by this request for no other college student had ever made such a request. But he agreed to do so and we met in the chapel just before spring break. The ritual for communion spoke of not even being worthy of collecting the crumbs from under the table. Since this communion was not of a formal service, I asked Rev. Fortel why this was. “Didn’t Christ’s sacrifice and death on the cross give us the right to sit at God’s table?” I asked. Rev. Fortel pointed out that by ourselves we would never have that right and it is only by God’s grace and the salvation of Christ that we are able to come to the table.

There is another thing that you need to know about bowling and its roots to Protestant churches of Europe during the Reformation. Martin Luther was a great proponent of bowling, so much so that a bowling lane was placed in the center aisle of the sanctuary. Every Sunday, members of the congregation would stand at the end of the lane and roll a ball down the aisle towards the pins. A strike was an indication of one’s righteousness and the failure to strike was an indication of one’s unworthiness. It should be noted that the lane at that time was about 10 inches in width and unless you were particular adept at throwing a straight shot down the boards, getting a strike was down right near impossible. So it was that many people were obligated to practice and work on their righteousness each week.

Of course, this theological application does not seem to have been carried through the ages. But the concept of working on one’s righteousness should not have been lost in the passage of time. And, during this season of Advent, as we prepare for the coming of Christ, we are reminded of our responsibility to others so that they can prepare as well.

The passage from Isaiah is not only a reminder that God has not forgotten the people in exile in Babylon but a reminder that the people will be restored. We read that God will “bring good news to the oppressed, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives and release the prisoners.” And it is important to note that it is the people who will build up the ancient ruins, repair the ruined cities and take away the devastation of the previous generations.

“For I the Lord loves justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing” is what Isaiah told the people. And if the covenant between the people and God was to be reestablished, then so too must the people.

John Wesley knew that people could not live without the Gospel. There can never be hope in one’s life if the Gospel is not there. But he also knew that Gospel was meaningless if the people were hungry or cold or homeless. What good does it do to be of good cheer if one cannot feed one’s family? Our responsibility to bring the Gospel to the world means that we must also take care of those in need.

Our own preparation for the coming of the Lord is individual in nature. It is something that only we can do, though we may do it with others. But John’s call for repentance is a call for us to look into the bags that we carry, be they bowling bags or otherwise, rollaway or hand carried, and empty them out. Repentance requires that we start over, without the baggage of our past. We cannot prepare for the coming of the Lord if we hold to our old ways, if we keep looking back to the past.

Paul spoke of what we should be doing. Celebrate that God is present in our lives. Hear the words of the prophets and test them. Hold fast to that which is good but abstain from every form of evil. Isaiah spoke of the rewards that would come with the preparation. People would gain garlands instead of ashes, be anointed with oil instead of mourning and wear a mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

This time of year is one of darkness; it can be one of gloom. But as the lights on the Advent wreath increase each Sunday, so too does the hope for the future. Take some time this week and look at the bags that you carry. Take some time this week and consider whether your life can strike out against injustice and oppression. Give some time this week to put away the old ways and look to the future.

Isaiah’s words “as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations” ring true today. It is the Holy Spirit that has been given to us and through us shines in this time of darkness. With the presence of the Holy Spirit we are empowered to help others, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and free those oppressed by injustice and finally to hear the good news of the coming of the Christ child.

What’s In The Box?

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This is the message I presented for the 3rd Sunday in Advent (December 12, 1999) at Walker Valley UMC.  The Scriptures were Isaiah 61: 1 – 4, 8 – 11; 1 Thessalonians 5: 15 – 24; and John 1: 6 – 8, 19 – 28

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This is probably the time of Christmas season that I like the best. The tree is up (when I have the chance, I like to put on the lights myself), the favorite family ornaments have been carefully unpacked and placed on the tree, and all the decorations have been hung about the house. And the presents have begun to arrive.

Now, some may think that I don’t like Christmas presents. In truth, I like presents. Over the past few years, I have found some enjoyment in getting what I feel that my daughters, grandchild, brothers, sister, mother, wife, and selected others might enjoy. But I will also admit that I am not crazy about Christmas shopping. I don’t like venturing out into the wilderness and madness of the mall at this time of year and I certainly don’t like the hype of buying that comes at this time. Now, how then do I solve that particular problem? Well, if I can, I think about what it is that I am buying all year round and if the opportunity presents itself to get a present for anyone on my list; I get it then and put it away.

But I like it when the presents start appearing under the tree. Because then you get to think about and guess what might be in the box. If you are like me, you take every opportunity to sneak over and pick up a present or two and shake it to see if it rattles (hoping, of course, that is not a broken piece of crystal) and to see how much it might weigh. And when you were little, you might have even tried to stay up all night long, hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa bringing in the bicycle or train set that you had asked him for. Try as I might, I never could catch him though.

Rattling and shaking the box may be a good description of what the priests and Levites are trying to do in the Gospel reading for today.

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

The problem for them was that they did not know whom John the Baptist was. Could it be that he was the Messiah? Or was he just another prophet coming to stir up the people?

He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you?”

The priests, Levites, and the Pharisees who sent them out to interrogate John were uncomfortable with John’s message of repentance and his challenge directly to them that they repent of their sins and prepare for the coming of the Messiah. They had grown comfortable living in a world defined by the law, even when the law was sometimes contradictory, and this “wild man of the wilderness” was challenging everything that they stood for. They had grown comfortable living in a box.

We all do that at one point or another in our lives. We want our lives to be neat and arranged, knowing what to expect each day. And we get extremely uncomfortable when someone does something to shake up that arrangement. We find it very nice to live in a box.

Living in a box, while safe and sometimes comfortable, can also be very confining. The limits placed by the “walls” of the box define what it is that you can and cannot do and that makes it very difficult to be creative or to see what can be done. Often times, we do not see the possibilities of things that we can do because of the walls the box has put around us. Where would we be today if the disciples, simple fisherman, had not seen their task as becoming “fishers of men?”

The challenges of the world today require that we see beyond what we define ourselves to be. And the very thought of that scares a lot of people. But my friends, the reason for our celebration of Christmas is the coming of the Lord and what He means to our lives.

Jesus’ ministry went beyond what the people, not just the leaders, thought at that time. When you look at his ministry, you see him saying, “Let the children come to me” at a time when children were considered more than just a nuisance and ignored. He had a ministry that included women at a time when they were less than second class citizens. He had a ministry that went out to the poor, the sick, the brokenhearted, and those members of society who were forgotten. As Isaiah proclaimed,

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he as sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all those who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion – to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

The message that John brought was to say that the time had come to review all that one had done and to repent and begin anew. This very thought of beginning anew, of tearing down the walls that provide us with security, is a scaring one. And it is a difficult one to accept. That, I think, is why Paul wrote the Thessalonians,

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

Though John called for us to make straight the path, the journey of faith for us is neither straight nor does it always seem safe. It is those anxieties and fears that keep us in the box, in a life confined by rules and regulations that are often times contradictory. This was the world into which Christ came and which He sought to change.

God offers us not a refuge from life but the courage to live fully into self and life.

For I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Christ wants us to live outside the boundaries of the box that we place ourselves in. That is why the baptism by Christ was with the Spirit. Because in allowing the Holy Spirit to come into our lives, we gain that which we need to go beyond the walls of the box.

Today we celebrate Communion. It is a chance to bring Christ into your life. But it is also something else. Communion in the United Methodist Church is at an open table. We do not limit access to it to members of just this church or just this denomination. We do not prescreen those who seek to come forward. All we ask is that you come with an open heart, accepting in the Spirit.

So, I ask you today to give every thought you have to “what’s in the box you call your life?”

Is It The Water?

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Shock! Amazement! Wonderment!

Those were the words that seemed to resound through the “ether” when it was announced that the governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, had been indicted and arrested on corruption charges.

“How stupid can this guy have been?” was the question that my wife asked, in light of what Patrick Fitzgerald said at the news conference announcing the indictment.

Now, I will admit that I wasn’t all that surprised that this happened because Blagojevich had been under investigation for sometime and I was used to seeing the reports in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That he would try something so bold while knowing he was under investigation underscores the stupidity of his actions.

But, I figure that it has to be in the water. After all, something like four of the last seven governors have been indicted on a number of charges and the governor that Blagojevich replaced, George Ryan, is currently serving 6-½ sentence for corruption related offenses.

And while others will look at the connections between the Governor of Illinois and the President-elect, I want to look at ways that we can fix this problem. Political corruption is nothing new and this merely reinforces the notion of many people that politics is something evil. So let’s get rid of politics. But how shall we govern this nation?

There is a need for government, if for no other reason that without a government, anarchy in some form would result. We saw it in the time between the completion of the Revolution and the ratification of the Constitution when this country was simply a loose confederation of states. But each state was effectively its own country and the dealings with the other states/countries proved to be exceedingly difficult. Those who met in the Constitutional Convention saw the problems inherent to a confederation type of government and proposed a new form of constitutional government. But the one thing that was not in the planning for the new government was the nature of the human animal and our capacity to take power in any form to the excess.

So, perhaps we need a new form of government. There have been many arguments for some sort of Internet presence in the government. The last few political campaigns have shown the viability and necessity of establishing a presence on the Internet so why not somehow develop governing by electronic means.

But, if for no other reason that many people do not have immediate and constant access to the Internet, I don’t think it will work. There are many people in this country and throughout the world who do not even have a computer. And while we may proclaim the Internet as “the new democracy”, if there is one person who does not have a computer, then this “new democracy” is flawed. And it isn’t just having a computer; it is easy and sustainable access that is needed. We aren’t there yet and until we have this new infrastructure in place, using the Internet as a means of government will not work.

And even if we did have easy and sustainable access with everyone having computers, that is no guarantee that they will know what to do with that capability. I have heard so many times that the present generation of school kids are the most technologically savvy generation we have ever seen. If we limit that technology to downloading songs to their MP3 players or text messaging their friends, perhaps that is the case. But using the computer to prepare documents and gather information is another issue and until this generation, the next generation, or any generation can utilize the technology to consistently create new information, it will be a long time before the technology in use matches the technology of Star Trek.

It has been suggested that churches offer communion over the Internet but I don’t see how that can ever happen. Back in 2005, Christmas was on a Sunday and a number of churches announced that they would not be open that day (see “Open For Business?”). Instead, these churches would offer computer-based alternatives. But church and worship is a human endeavor. Politics is a human endeavor and you cannot do either without human contact. Those who see in the Internet the ultimate in contact are missing the point; without human contact, be it in the political arena, the sanctuary, or elsewhere, the essence of humanity disappears. We can quite easily make a war seem sterile and far away when we hid the bodies that come home (ask the mothers of the Russian soldiers killed in Afghanistan or ask the families of our own military personnel when the caskets arrive late at night and are hidden away from all to see). It is the human contact that makes communion what it is; it is the combination of the spirits that makes worship what it is (or what it should be; I have been to some pretty boring worship services). It is the human interaction that makes politics what it should be and what it can be.

So what do we do? It lies within each of us to do the things that will remove the corruption from the politics; but it is more than just corruption. It is the entire scheme. The attitude that many people show towards politics is because of the way politics shows itself to the people. It is not the interaction of ideas but the undercutting and degradation of people that has turned off so many people to the political process.

It isn’t just politics; it is the way we conduct our life. How is it that the Bank of America can receive money which is supposed to help people and then turn around and force a company to close without at least giving the company enough money to pay the workers severance pay?

One of the things that I was looking at in my weekly Sunday piece last week (“Preparing the Way”) was the lack of effort on our parts as individuals and churches to push for a proper understanding of ethics and values in this country.

Now some may say that the schools should teach ethics and values but that would be just another thing that parents and society require of schools. And, no matter how it is done, someone will object that what is being taught is contrary to their particular belief system. No matter what your belief system may be (Christian, Jewish, Islam, Buddhist, Hindu, or some other system including non-belief), there is an ethical part involved. And if you do not understand the ethical structure of your belief systems, then you are going to have a difficult time teaching your children and you are going to have a difficult time calling for reform of the political system. And you will continue to be upset when the political processes of the times focus more on mud-slinging and negative campaigning than on development of solutions for the problems.

I once asked the question if the churches of this society were the moral police of society or the moral conscience (“Some Questions to think about”). I have come to the conclusion that too many people see the church and associated belief systems as the moral police instead of the conscience. This is because we have no concept of what our faith is and what is meant to be. We used to understand this; we saw it in the Civil Rights protests of the 60’s and the protests against the Viet Nam war. But our outrage, the cry of our conscience, has disappeared so much so that there shock and amazement when another politician is arrested on corruption charges.

Perhaps it is the water. John Wooden, Basketball Coach Emeritus at UCLA, was given a list from his father that was the basis for his life. Among the points on that list was the statement was “drink deeply from the good books”. Drink from the water of spirit and knowledge and goodness shall grow.

Let us use what is before us to bring about a change that is good and a change that is lasting.

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