Monthly Archives: March 2009

Signs (2000)

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This is the message that I presented at Walker Valley UMC for the 3rd Sunday in Lent, 26 March 2000.  The Scriptures for this Sunday are Exodus 20: 1 – 17, 1 Corinthians 1: 18 – 25, and John 2: 13 – 22.

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One of the joys of long-distance driving before the days of the interstate was the chance to see what was called barn art. Barn art, as I call it, was simply the painting of advertisements on the sides of barns and while it may not have been common in New York, it was very common through the Midwest and South. In fact, in some parts of Missouri today, you see the remnants of barns with advertisements to see Meramec Carverns, a park just outside St. Louis on Interstate 44, the old route 66.

Another such sign common throughout the South was one advertising Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee. One of the points, besides its being the focal point for a major battle during the civil war, is that you can see six states from its summit. One summer back in the 60’s, as we were returning from North Carolina and visit with my mother’s folks, my brother Terry (who was about 8 at the time) kept pestering my mother to take him to Lookout Mountain. Finally, she relented and we stopped to visit this place.

But, after we got to the top of the mountain and looked at the six states, Terry was greatly disappointed. Yes, you can see parts of six states from the top of Lookout Mountain (Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia) but he had assumed that there would be signs saying “This is Virginia, this is Tennessee, etc.” sticking up on the horizon pointing out the states. Of course, such signs could not exist and the only way you knew what you were looking at was to know what direction you were facing and referring to maps posted.

The thing that the Gospel points out is that the signs we see are often not the ones we are looking for and the signs we are looking for are often never found. The people of Jesus’ time were looking for a Messiah but what they wanted was not what Jesus was offering. In verse 18, the authorities wanted a sign from Jesus that He was the Messiah but His answer, referring to Him and the coming resurrection, was not an answer they could understand.

The same is true today. How should we respond to the signs around us? We must, first of all, obey the command of Christ to read the signs of the times. But we are also required to head the warning in several of His parables to be open for the surprising claims of God pressing in upon us through our neighbors. All of the parables in Matthew 25 point this out.

“But when I, the Messiah, shall come in my glory, and all the angels with me, then I shall sit upon my throne of glory. And all the nations shall be gathered before me. And I will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and place the sheep at my right hand, and the goats at my left.”

“Then I, the King, shall say to those at my right, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, into the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world. For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me water; I was a stranger and you invited me into your homes; naked and you clothed me; sick and in prison, and you visited me.'”

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Sir, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you anything to drink? Or a stranger, and help you? Or naked, and clothe you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?”

“And I, the King, will tell them, ‘When you did it to these my brothers you were doing it to me!’ Then I will turn to those on my left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry and you wouldn’t feed me; thirsty, and you wouldn’t give me anything to drink; a stranger, and you refused me hospitality; naked, and you wouldn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.'”

“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ And I will answer, ‘When you refused to help the least of these my brothers, you were refusing help to me.'”

“And they shall go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous into everlasting life.” (Matthew 25: 31 – 46)

There is a inveterate tendency to believe that our ‘way of life’ is the best way to health for all. Throughout the ages, this has been the case. We think of John Wesley as the first social reformer but in many of the sermons of that time, there was real concern for the lower classes. But it was assumed that if the working classes were to be save and enter into Christ’s purpose for them then they must take on the culture of their betters who stood as a living sign to these outcast of what happens to our raw, untamed, animal nature with all its sins (i.e., the working class life) when the grace of God tames it and begins to fulfill it (i.e., the life of the better classes). In other words, it was assumed that the will of God was to make ‘them’ like ‘us’. It was probably because Wesley went to these people, not to make them like their betters, but to enable them to find the way of Christ for themselves in their own world, that he was so bitterly attacked. His missionary presence with the lower classes was a judgement upon the ideological assumption of the privileged and so threatened the security of their prejudices that they assumed to be the will of God.

Our first question must be one of how we can be witnesses to the crucified servant Lord. Our task is to be with him in the midst of the world’s needs, by his grace seeking to be the signs of his ultimate fulfillment, not the bringers of that fulfillment.

This means that we see our missionary task under the sign of the cross, as Paul wrote the Corinthians about in today’s reading from the Epistle. We see that the way of mission is the servant way in which we are freed from conformity to the world’s assertive ways and transformed to the way Christ assumed in his ministry for us. Wesley sought a church which cared for society and which would make the world a better place. After all, as I read from the Scripture, Jesus told us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, or take care of the needy, not the government. Jesus also warned us what the penalties would be should we ignore the needy:

“‘There was a certain rich man,’ Jesus said, ‘who was splendidly clothed and lived each day in mirth and luxury. One day Lazarus, a diseased beggar, was laid at his door. As he lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. Finally the beggar died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham in the place of the righteous dead. The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went into hell. There, in torment, he saw Lazarus in the far distance with Abraham.'”

“‘Father Abraham,’ he shouted, ‘have some pity! Send Lazarus over here if only to dip the tip of finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in these flames.”

“But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted and you are anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us, and anyone wanting to come to you from here is stopped at its edge; and no one over there can cross to us.'”

“Then the rich man said, ‘O Father Abraham, then please send him to my father’s home — for I have five brothers — to warn them about this place of torment lest they come here when they die.'”

But Abraham said, ‘The Scriptures have warned them again and again. Your brothers can read them any time they want to.'”

“The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham, they won’t bother to read them. But if someone is sent to them from the dead, they will turn from their sins.'”

But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even though someone rises from the dead.'” (Luke 16:19 – 31)

Finally, we must seek the signs of Christ’s presence as well as signs of resistance to his presence in the key struggles that are taking place in the events of our time. The battle today for man’s concern for freedom, his concern for others, his longing to be free from despair can all be seen in the light of Christ’s ministry and his presence in the world today. The danger that we have to be aware of is that we impose our values rather than those suggested by the vision of the goal of history as given to us by Christ. Our mission, as it regards the values of the world today, is to make it possible for others to see them or rediscover them in the light of God. It is for us the responsibility to bear witness within the values the modern world contains, and to live by them while at the same time transcending them but to also witness to the values that the modern world has forgotten.

In seeking to express our understanding of the forms of Christian presence required of us today, we need to know our world by all the skills of knowledge that it provides. We must be open to it; know its heartthrobs. If we do not know what the world is like, if we seek to make the world in our own image, it will be difficult for us to be successful.

When God made his covenant with Moses and gave the people of Israel the Ten Commandments, it was more that just the presentation of ten earthly laws. A covenant is a two-part agreement. Each party to the agreement agrees to certain actions. In the covenant of the Ten Commandments, God promises to be the guardian of the people of Israel. In return, the Israelites will follow the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are more that simple the basis for common law in this country; they are the basis for our lives and our moral codes. They are the way we are to live each day.

The challenge for us is very simple. How shall we let others know of Christ’s presence in the world. As Peter wrote

“God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God’s many kinds of blessings. Are you called to preach? Then preach as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies, so that God will be glorified through Jesus Christ – to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.” (I Peter 4:10 – 11)

When I first read the scriptures for this Sunday and the comments by the people to Jesus about seeing more signs, I thought about a song from the 70’s entitled “Signs” by the Five-Man Electric Band. The opening lines talk about “signs, signs, signs, everywhere there are signs.” But what is important for today is the closing verse of that song. For at the end of the singer’s journey, he came to a sign outside a church that said “Everyone welcome. Come in, kneel down and pray.”

We have a sign outside the church that is blank. What are we to do with that sign? And, though it is still March, our thoughts have slowly begun to think about the year 2000 Church Conference. One item that will be brought before the people of this church at that time is the preparation of a mission statement, a sign of what this church believes in. Each member of this congregation is a member of the Church Conference and, as such, has input into what that statement should state. As this year progresses, I want us to be thinking about what that statement should be. Your input is needed if this is to be a viable sign in the life of this church. You can give your thoughts to members of the Evangelism Committee or myself and as the statement takes form, we will keep you posted.

There was one other sign that stood on the side of the road when you went driving in the 50’s and early 60’s. It was the collection of poetry that always had the same last sign. For those who can recall, I am talking about the Burma-Shave signs. A poem was written on four of the signs and the last one read “Burma-Shave.”

There is a similar sign at the end of our lives. Our journeys are different and the scenery we see is different. What we do on those journeys will always be different from others but in each, others begin to see Christ’s presence in our lives. The sign at the end is the empty tomb, a symbol of Christ’s power over death and sin. There are signs all around us. Which one do you see?

 

At What Point?

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These are my thoughts for the 2nd Sunday in Lent, 8 March 2009.  The Scriptures for this Sunday were Genesis 17: 1- 7 , 15 – 16, Romans 4: 13 – 25, and Mark 8: 31 – 38.

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Two questions have come up that lead me to see the Scriptures for this Sunday in perhaps a different light. First, as I watch my new grandchildren grow, I have to wonder at what point do we begin to develop a conscious and when do we begin to develop an explanation for what goes on in this world.

First, at what point do we begin thinking about God or some other superior being in our lives? Second, as I look at what is happening in this country right now and ask “at what point will we understand that what used to work probably doesn’t work anymore?” I think these questions are related simply because when we lock ourselves in a particular way of thinking, we find ourselves trapped by that thinking.

When Paul is writing to the Romans about the law, he is, I believe, speaking of that type of thinking. As Paul notes, if strict adherence to the law was the sole determinant in salvation, then there would have been no reason for Abraham to even think of the covenant that God made with him. But the law is, by nature, designed to restrict, not create. There have been attempts to create solutions through the law but, in the end, they often are more restrictive than creative.

If we are not willing to think beyond the limits of the law, if we are not willing to think, as it were, “outside the box”, we will never be able to find solutions to the problems that vex and perplex us. It is interesting to note that we are not always so willing to look beyond our normal boundaries for the solutions to our problems and we ridicule and criticize those who might offer solutions.

On October 13, 1920, in the “Topics of the Times”, the editorial board of The New York Times wrote,

…After the rocket quits our air and really starts on its longer journey [to the moon], its flight would be neither accelerated nor maintained by the [proposed by Goddard solid rocket based on] explosion of the charges …. To claim that it would be is to deny a fundamental law of dynamics, and only Dr. Einstein and his chosen dozen, so few and fit, are licensed to do that.

… That Professor Goddard with his “chair” in Clark College and the countenancing of the Smithsonian Institution does not know that relation of action and reaction, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to reach — to say that would be absurd. Of course he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.

… As it happens, Jules Verne, who also knew a thing or two in assorted sciences … deliberately seemed to make the same mistake that Professor Goddard seems to make. For the Frenchman, having get his travelers to or toward the moon into the desperate fix of riding a tiny satellite of the satellite, saved them from circling it forever by means of explosion, rocket fashion, where an explosion would not have had in the slightest degree the effect of releasing them from their dreadful slavery. That was one of Verne’s few scientific slips, or else it was a deliberate step aside from scientific accuracy, pardonable enough in him as a romancer, but its like is not so easily explained when made by a savant who isn’t writing a novel of adventure. (Editorial comments, The New York Times, 13 January 1920)

It should be noted that the Times did print a retraction of their comments on 17 July 1969, two days before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first walked on the moon,

A Correction

On Jan. 13, 1920, “Topics of the Times,” and editorial-page feature of The New York Times, dismissed the notion that a rocket could function in vacuum and commented on the ideas of Robert H. Goddard, the rocket pioneer, as follows: 

“That Professor Goddard, with his ‘chair’ in Clark College and the countenancing of the Smithsonian Institution, does not know the relation of action to reaction, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react – to say that would be absurd. Of course he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.”

Further investigation and experimentation have confirmed the findings of Isaac Newton in the 17th Century and it is now definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum as well as in an atmosphere. The Times regrets the error.

It can be said that faith is the belief in what we cannot see and reason is the belief in what we can see. And it is necessary to have both if one is to have a complete and full life. I have written on this point several times in the past (see “Faith and Reason in the 21st Century”, “The Crisis between Faith and Reason”, and “Just a Thought”). In that last reference, I wrote

If you lead a life based solely on empiricism and have no faith, you will lead a life without vision. You may be successful in what you do but you will not know where you are going or if you are ever going to get there.

If you lead a life based solely on faith but ignore the world around you, you will have a vision of what you want to be and where you want to go but you will not have the means to fulfill your vision.

Life is both faith and reason – the day-to-day activities of life hand-in-hand with one’s vision of the future. 

But we seem to live lives that are either solely faith-based or reason-based and I don’t believe that we can extend our reach if we limit our lives that way.

I know there are those out there who absolutely, positively refuse to acknowledge the existence of some sort of superior being but they have to believe in something. I recall reading a while back that many of those who proclaim themselves to be atheists are really not such because, to truly be an atheist, you cannot believe in anything and that is a very difficult task. And if you have no belief in abstract things, how do you explain good and evil? How do you explain the violence and greed in this world without evoking some esoteric, abstract thought?

Now, if good and evil are inherent in each one of us and are genetic markers in our DNA, then we are treading into some very difficult areas of discussion; areas that I am not prepared to delve into right now. So, for the sake of argument, let us suppose that good and evil are abstract concepts determined in part by some nebulous form that we shall call the soul. Now, if we have a soul, then there must be something that formed that soul and which provides the basis for deciding what is good and evil. For me, that is God; others may argue for some other supreme being but every time that I look at their explanations, I cannot help but think that I am seeing in God in some other form.

Now, it is clear that Abram had some knowledge of God; otherwise he would not have responded to the call to move from his homeland to another land far away. And it must also be realized that this move was based on the vague promise that Abram, soon to be called Abraham, would become the father of many nations. If Abram was any type of pragmatist, he would have calmly pointed out that he was too old and Sarai, his wife, was way beyond child-bearing years. But it was his faith in God that allowed him to make the move, a move from the comfort of his life and family.

We find ourselves too often trapped within that comfort zone, unwilling to try new things, unwilling to venture into new areas, unwilling to cast off our old view of life and try to see life in new ways. Peter, upon hearing Jesus describe his coming death on the cross, tells Jesus that it will not happen. But Jesus is quick to point out how Peter is trapped in the framework of present thinking and not able to move beyond the boundaries of such thinking. What Christ offers us is a change to see the world in a different way; to see people in a different light.

There are some who dismiss one’s belief in Christ as the Savior as hopeless superstition but I have yet to seem them offer an alternative that works. The problem is that the Christianity that everyone criticizes today is not the Christianity that changed the world 2000 years ago and the sooner we realize that, the sooner we will move beyond the law and its restrictions and into the creativity that is mankind.

It is a change that must begin now. It is not something that we can put off nor is it something that we should ridicule and criticize. It has been said that when Army engineers obtained the V-2 rockets that Germany was using to blast away at England, they were surprised to find out that the technology that developed the rockets came from America. We had ignored the very creation of the technology that now so dominates our lives. We closed our minds to the future and did not open them up until weapons of mass destruction came raining down from above.

When will we begin looking to the future for the answers instead of relying on what happened in the past? When will we begin using the skills and talents that we have to build instead of destroying? This country and this globe are in the midst of the worst economic troubles since the 1930’s; the old ways don’t work and new ways are needed. We cannot find the solution in the past nor can we say that new ideas don’t work.

We need a new starting point, a new common reference. No longer should we spend our time worrying about ourselves and trying to insure that we have everything we need. Let us begin by thinking about the other person, the person who does not anything and try to figure out how we can make sure that they have everything they need as well. Let us not try to put names on this; let us find the solution. When Jesus came to the Galilee and began his mission, he offered promise and hope, not to those who were in power and whose only interest was in staying in power, but to those who were forgotten and cast aside, those who society would just as soon live without.

We have turned our society into a virtual mirror image of that society of two thousand years ago. We only care for the rich and powerful and we seek ways to become rich and powerful. Those who are rich and powerful only seek more riches and more power. It has become a contest to see who has the most and it is a contest that no one can win. Our society is awash with individuals whose sole purpose in life seems to be to make sure that anyone who disagrees with their perverted and selfish ideas is criticized and ridiculed. These fools are more interested in the days long past instead of the days to come.

At what point shall we say that enough is enough? At what point shall we be like Jesus and say to Peter, “get thee behind me, Satan! Your days are over” At what point shall we look to the future and begin to dream again, dream of ways of moving beyond the present.

To move beyond the present is a very scary thing to even think about, let alone take the first steps that would make it possible. But Abram heard the promise and he took the steps that would lead to this day. As we walk this journey, let us look to the point ahead, not the points behind.

Promises Made, Promises Kept

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This is the message that I presented on the 2nd Sunday in Lent, March 16, 2003, at Tompkins Corners UMC.  The Scriptures for this Sunday were Genesis 17: 1- 7 , 15 – 16, Romans 4: 13 – 25, and Mark 8: 31 – 38.

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Last week we heard of the covenant that God made with Noah and were reminded of the covenant that God made with Adam. This week, the Old Testament reading focuses on the covenant God made with Abraham. Our history is marked by the covenants that God has made with mankind. So perhaps we should understand what a covenant is.

God’s covenants with Noah and initially with Abraham were considered unconditional covenants. Such covenants were made to a loyal servant for faithful or exceptional service. They were normally perpetual and unconditional but the servant’s heirs benefited from the covenant only if they continued the loyalty and service.

Since Abraham had been a loyal and faithful servant, God promises to make him the father of many nations and that God would give them the land of Canaan. Now, the covenant that God made with Abraham in the reading for today was both an unconditional and a conditional one. On the one hand, it was unconditional because God said that he would do it. But it was also a conditional one because it depended on Abraham and Sarah holding to their faith. For the second covenant to be fulfilled Abraham and his descendants must remain faithful to God and obedient to his commands; one of which was that he, Abraham, move from his homeland to the Promised Land.

I think it is hard for us to understand what this second covenant involves, especially from our viewpoint. But, as Paul points out, Abraham’s rewards came through his faith, not through his obedience to the law. Paul also points out that simply obedience to the law, the means by which we live, is not the same as living by faith. And living only through the law will not insure or guarantee salvation by grace, which can only come by faith. It was Abraham’s faith and not obedience to the law that allowed him to believe that God would hold to his promise, his part of the covenant.

Peter also had problems with the differentiation between faith and the law. Though he clearly understood what Jesus was saying about his death, he could not or would not accept it; hence, his rebuke of Jesus. Though well intended, Peter’s thoughts were born of fear and concern and did not take into consideration God’s eternal purposes and plans. Satan was not a part of Peter at this time but was certainly suggesting his thoughts. If Peter had his way, then Jesus’ mission would not have been accomplished.

If we feel that the law is what will save us, then we are going to be sadly deceived later on. The gain we realize from following the law will be short and without reward. Only through our faith in Christ will our efforts be realized.

It is one of those interesting paradoxes that it is through our faith and our faith alone that we are saved. We have to believe in Christ for the gates of heaven to be opened for us. And if we do not believe, then salvation can never be ours.

But we fail to realize that the covenant that was made between God and Abraham and Abraham’s descendants (which include us, as Paul points out) require loyalty and faithfulness on our parts. And that is the part of the covenant put forth by Jesus in today’s Gospel reading that is the most difficult. For we are not always willing to carry the cross that Jesus carried; we are not always willing to lose our life so that we can gain. We have trouble seeing how gaining everything insures nothing; yet losing all will insure final victory.

We try to make our side of the covenant conditional, by detailing what it is that we will do. One of his earlier disciples came to Jesus and said that he would follow him after he had buried his father. Jesus told him, “Follow me now. Let those who are spiritually dead care for their own dead.” (Matthew 8: 21 – 22)  Another came but left when Jesus told him to give up everything he owned. It was something that he was not willing to do. But the nature of the covenant does not allow us to dictate the conditions of the covenant.

Jesus came to make a new covenant with us. It was a covenant of the present and not based on the past. It was one that would close the doors of the past and set a new order to life. Just as life changed for Abram, who became Abraham, Sarai, who became Sarah, and Saul, who would become Paul, so to does this new covenant changed our lives and our relationship with God.

In Isaiah 48: 6 – 7, God tells a stubborn people, “Now I am revealing new things to you — things hidden and unknown to you, created just now, this very moment . . . of these things you have heard nothing until now, so that you cannot say, ‘Oh yes, I knew all this.’ ” In Jeremiah 31: 31 – 33, God says, “I am making a new covenant with you — not like the covenant I made with your fathers. No — this one is with you.”

Jesus made a covenant in the present because he knew that is where the true power resides — in the perfect moment of the here and now. God is I AM, not I USED TO BE, or I’M GOING TO BE. We are now here with everything waiting for us right now. When Jesus constantly declared, “In the past it was written . . . BUT I SAY . . .”he was declaring his covenant with the present, and thus with a new future, built upon a new relationship with God.

God made a promise to Noah and then with Abraham. God has kept the promises He made. As each day brings us closer to Easter and the Resurrection we are asked to reflect on the promises that we have made, to be faithful to God, to be his servant and to work to make His presence known more clearly in this world. The season of Lent is meant to remind us that the promises God made through his covenants with us, He has kept. This is a time to remember and to think about how we have kept our part of the covenant.