Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost - November 15, 2009
The Rev. John A. Buerk

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WAR AND CHRISTIANITY

This week we celebrated Veterans' Day – a day when we honor our service men and women who have given their lives in defense of our country. And, last week Pastor Olsen highlighted the role of our fallen soldiers when he preached about the tragedy at Fort Hood. Today we remember those service men and women who are related to our congregation.

As we all know religion and war have always been closely related – from the Crusades to the Thirty Years War following the Reformation. Our country provides chaplains for our armed services and an article in last Sunday's newspaper had a provocative discussion about that practice. Lutheran chaplains, however, have played an important spiritually supportive role for our military men and women.

But, we also know that war is a terrible thing. And it doesn't go away. In today's gospel Jesus is quoted as saying, You will hear of wars and rumors of wars…( Mark 13:7) And so it was - and is - and so it will be.

We often forget the horrible numbers when it comes to war causalities. If you go to a list of the highest number of casualties in war in all recorded history – the top two occurred in the 20 th century. The first was WW II with a death toll of 55 million. Number two was a war in China led by Mao – 40 million people died - albeit most of them from famine. And lest we forget – 20 million Native Americans were killed during our country's early history.

The Thirty Years War in the 16 th century in which 7 million people died was especially tragic. That war was a major part of Lutheran history. It was fought soon after the Reformation – it took place mostly in Germany – it was devastating – 7 million deaths represented about a quarter of the German population. Ostensibly it was the Protestants against the Catholics – but as is the case in most “religious” conflicts - it had more to do with power and property and money than with religion. Religion too often becomes the medium for the massacres of war.

One wonders about Christianity and war if one reads the gospels. One can wonder about fighting in a war if one is a Christian. The gospels have Jesus saying many things about the way his followers should behave, and war was not an option. Although war and killing are part and parcel of Jesus' religious tradition in the Old Testament. Even the Ten Commandments get skewed because they translate the fifth commandment as “Thou shalt not kill” - when in fact the Hebrew says, “Thou shalt not murder.”

The Hebrew scriptures have a lot of killing in them from Sampson killing ten thousand Philistine with the jaw bone of an ass – to David killing Goliath with a sling shot – to Jacob's sons killing all the males of Shechem's tribe under very dubious circumstances, because he had violated Jacob's sister Dinah.

Still, “peace and martyrdom” was the mantra of early Christianity.

Although, Jesus did not condemn those who were soldiers. Remember the centurion who came to Jesus to see if he could heal his daughter? Jesus didn't say – quit the army – and I'll see what I can do. He told the man to go home and he would find that his daughter was well.

But, on the whole, Jesus preached pacifism – he was non violent. He told his followers that if someone hit you on one cheek you should also offer the other cheek. If a soldier asked you to carry his pack a mile, you should carry it two. It was the rule of the Empire that any soldier could ask a civilian to carry his pack – but not for more that a mile from the man's home. Jesus told those who followed him to “ go the second mile.”

Remember when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and one of his followers – presumably a disciple – pulled out a sword and cut off a soldier's ear? Jesus called him on it – he restored the ear and said , “He who lives by the sword will die by the sword.”

On the whole, Christianity preached pacifism. And, that worked as long as the faith was a minority group. And pacifism is still the rule in some denominations such as the Quakers. The Quakers are highly respected, and although they are pacifists, they are willing to service in our armed forces and risk life and limb in caring for our wounded soldiers on the front lines.

Our government respects that religious tradition, but it appropriately has a lot of trouble with those who decide to be “pacifists” whenever a war breaks out.

But when did this shift take place – when did Christianity side with the state when killing was called for? It happened, ostensibly, when Christianity stopped being an oppressed religion, and became the religion of the state under the reign of Constantine. Constantine's mother was a Christian, and the story is that her son had a vision in which he saw a cross in the sky and heard the words, “In this sign conquer.” And conquer he did!

He ended up declaring that Christianity was to be the official religion of the Roman Empire. Not that there might not have been some political motives behind his piety – if you can imagine that!!! Making Christianity the state religion provided a cause celebre for him to bring all the diverse religious traditions in the Empire into line with his agenda. Again, it is not an uncommon thing to have religion and the state linked. Even the United States did – albeit not quite the way Newt Gingrich envisioned it. If you want a lot of information about our country's ties to religion in its formative years read Dan Brown's new book, “The Lost Symbol”.

As you can imagine, when Constantine made Christianity the state religion, the role the faith played in the Western world changed. It was no longer a faith that could stand on the sidelines and let the state do all the policing and warring. All of a sudden, Christians were in charge of running the state, and to run a state you have to exercise the power of the sword – because if you don't - someone else will.

Luther tried to balance things out by identifying the state as an entity along side the church – he called them the two kingdoms. Both, he said, were “ordained” by God, and each had its function. They were both part of God's scheme to manage the world and civilization. But don't forget this was a time when a prince could be a bishop, and the Pope had an army, and kings ruled by divine right.

Today, however, we have a serous separation between church and state in this country. And yet we still have chaplains, and the United States is the most “religious” country in the world. And the president can say with out impunity what President Oboma said at the memorial service at Fort Hood this past week. No faith justifies these murderous and craven acts. No just and loving God looks upon them with favor.

It is sometimes difficult to deal with religion and the state when it comes to war. During the Second World War, German soldiers had the words, “Gott mit uns” – “God is with us” on their belt buckles. Japanese pilots participated in religious ceremonies before they took off on suicide bombing missions. And remember Abraham Lincoln's famous response to William Seward when Seward told Lincoln that God was on his side? Lincoln said , I am more concerned that we are on God's side, than I am that he is on ours.

We live in a remarkable country – a country with the Statue of Liberty on one coast and the Golden Gate Bridge on the other – both symbols of welcome for those who are seeking freedom. We don't always get it right, but we try. We sometimes make mistakes – big ones – from slavery to the genocide of Native Americans. And we struggle - not knowing if we are doing the right thing. And sometimes the answers must wait till the next life.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran Pastor who was hanged by the Nazis just a few weeks before the end of the Second WW because of his effort to assassinate Hitler. On his way to the gallows Bonhoeffer was escorted by a Roman Catholic priest to whom he said, “Father, in five minutes, I will know more than you!”

Life has many struggles and challenges and questions. We use our minds and our judgment the best we can. We use our faith as a guide to what is the just and loving thing to do. But in the end, Bonhoeffer was right! As Jesus said in our gospel lesson: Beware that no one leads you astray…the end is still to come.

And in the end there will be justice and peace because all will be ruled by our Lord, the Prince of Peace.

Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost - November 8, 2009
The Rev. Eric O. Olsen

Click here for the Audio of the Gospel and Sermon

All Saints Sunday - November 1, 2009
The Necrology
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

My maternal grandfather died on March 22, 1967. It was a Wednesday. We lived with my grandparents in a two family house in Deer Park, on New York's Long Island. I was in high school. My grandmother came upstairs to tell us that she discovered my grandfather sitting motionless in his chair. Though she never uttered the words, the tone in her voice betrayed the fact that knew he had died. He had put in a full day's work as a house painter, washed up, enjoyed his dinner and then after dinner, retired to his favorite chair to smoke his pipe and read the paper. His name was Gustav. Gustav Adolf Kollem. I called him Opa.

For all intents and purposes that was a lifetime ago, but I remember the day as if it was yesterday. I'm sure those who knew and loved Vicki Cafferelli, Hazel Fisher, El Searles, Ibrahim Ayad, Ann Gross, Bud Yuhl, David Lehde, Dotty Harmon, Stacy Micoli and all we name on this All Saints' Day will forever remember the day their loved one joined all the saints in light.

A couple of days afterward, my grandmother, who was one of the most superstitious people I've ever known and who had a saying or a remedy or a legend or some piece of folklore to accompany any aspect of life or death, gave the instruction that we should open a window so as to let his spirit go from the house.

It wasn't so much that she was ready to let him go as it was the acknowledgement that he really had died, that it wasn't just some bad dream from which she hoped to awaken. He was dead and she was ready to let God have him back.

32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35Jesus began to weep. 36So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" 38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." 40Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

“Unbind him,” Jesus said, “and let him go.” Unbind him from the strips of cloth that were meant to hold his broken, diseased body together. Unbind him from the trappings of death, the cloth that was lovingly wrapped around his body by those who loved him before they laid him in his tomb for the rest of time. Unbind him from death, free him from his fate, for up to this point, from the moment he was born, he was bound to die, a slave to a master who only lends us the tools of our time and our days, only to ask for them back once our work is done. “Unbind him,” Jesus commanded, at least for the time being, because as you know, Lazarus does die, we're not told when, but he does. So he was not resurrected, but merely resuscitated, brought back to life, but only to die again.

That's when it dawned on me what my grandmother was doing, 42 years ago now. Hers was the same command. “Unbind him,” she commanded, open the window, and unbind him not from death, but from life, unbind him from his work, his toil, his disappointments. Free him from his temporary master, the one who merely lends us time, to the true Master, who rules it, who from the very beginning created him and in whose hands all of it rests, and rests eternally. Unbind him from this life, so that he may have the life God intended him to have for all eternity.

We celebrate All Saints' Sunday today and if we could attach a non-liturgical gesture to the day, we would open the window. Today we pause to read the names of those who died since last All Saint's Sunday. We recall their names to the gathered community to remember them, to remember how Ann and Dotty and Stacy and Maureen sang so beautifully with our choirs for all those years, how Linda Brackett loved this church and always had a kind word no matter what her circumstance, how Vicki always loved to see you, how Bud giggled, how gentle and kind Ibrahim was, how Elwood cherished his friends, how Tim and Ellen lived for others, and how Cliff was always deliberate and conscientious, how Hazel loved her Lord, how David and Pat and Stacy fought their illness with courage and grace, how Eric and Marge and Anna and Ruth lived for their families, and how Don loved sports with a passion I'll never understand.

And while we'll remember them in our minds and through our tears, the day is not about bringing them back, but letting them go, to live the life God promised them on the day they were baptized. On that day, they were given the promise they inherited this past year, the promise that Isaiah and St. John spoke of when they wrote down their visions. Isaiah, using the language that held the most weight among a nomadic and oppressed people, speaks of a banquet held in God's presence, with a menu that you would reserve for only the best of days, and John speaks of that New Land, where pain and suffering do not exist, and God himself will be the one to walk into your room at night after you've had the worst of days, and will sit by your side and dry your tears and tell you stories of grace and comfort until, reassured by his touch and his words, you fall quietly to sleep.

Let us pray…As the leaves fall and the grasses cease to grow, as the wind grows cold and the scent in the air is no longer that of summer, so the earth prepares to sleep holding the promise of a new life to emerge on the other side or winter. The earth abides and holds tight to the promise that in the seed the whole plant exists, in the stem and root and bud, the leaf and flower reside and will return to bloom and feel the sun and create beauty and create the next harvest. May such faith be ours in this time of waiting, O Lord. Until we open our eyes in your eternal Kingdom, O God, and share the same promise that those whom we love have already redeemed, grant us a quiet and strong faith to rest securely in the knowledge that until that day, we reside in your kingdom and rest securely in the palm of your hand.

Amen.

The Feast of the Reformation - October, 25. 2009
The Rev. John A. Buerk

Click here for the Audio of the Gospel and Sermon

Click here for the 28 Articles of the Augsburg Confession

OUR LUTHERAN LEGACY

For many Lutherans Reformation Sunday is a big deal. Even non-Lutherans – including some Roman Catholics – get on the bandwagon and sing. A Mighty Fortress is our God. We celebrate with red paraments, and special music, and special sermons, and today we are even going to tap a keg of beer!

However the things said in sermons on Reformation Sunday are a lot different these days from generations past. Some of us “old-timers” remember when the Reformation Day sermon would be about all the things we thought were wrong with the Roman Catholic Church and the things we thought were right about the Lutheran Church. Needless-to-say, the issues were always over-simplified and often exaggerated, but back then there seemed to be a battle to be fought and a war to be won.

But this isn't the case any more - the world we live in is different from the one we lived in fifty years ago. In fact things have changed so much that ten years ago, on Oct. 31, the most significant document in Christendom since the Reformation was signed in Augsburg, Germany. After thirty years of dialogue and negotiation, the Lutherans and Roman Catholics signed the, JOINT DECLARATION ON THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION, in which they agreed to rescind all the nasty things they had said about each other in the 16 th century, and they affirmed the Reformation principle that salvation comes through God's grace and not through our good works.

The document was signed in Augsburg because it was there that the Lutherans presented to King Charles V, the Augsburg Confession that contained 28 articles stating the position of the Lutheran Reformation leaders. Actually, a number of these articles became part of the Roman Church after Vatican II, when John XXIII was Pope. For instance, the Lutherans said that the Mass should be said in the vernacular – the language of the people – and the Mass is now said in the language of the country where it is celebrated. Another article called for Holy Communion to be administered in both species. - that is, the laity should receive the bread and the wine, and that is done in a number of Catholic parishes. The practice of the laity receiving only the bread was part of the separation between laity and clergy that had evolved over the centuries.

The great plague also had something to do with withholding the cup from the people – and it looks like with the new swine flue threat, that concern is being revisited in some congregations – including our Western New York Catholic Diocese.

The Augsburg Confession called for the Bible to be made available to the people, and most Catholic parishes now encourage Bible study.

Of course, there were a few items in the Augsburg Confession that the Roman Church has resisted and a prominent one is the right of the religious – priests and nuns - to marry. Luther's position was that the discipline of celibacy was in order, but that it should not be compulsory for ordination.

Unfortunately, it seems that the old men continue to insist that young men should stay single – how quickly they forget.

Interestingly, celibacy wasn't officially incorporated into church dogma until the eleventh century. Several Roman Catholic scholars have pointed out that celibacy seems to have had less to do with piety and discipline, than with owning property. In the Middle Ages the Western Church owned nearly two thirds of Europe! By not allowing the clergy to marry, the church prevented the offspring of clergy from having any legal claim to the Church's property by subsequent generations.

An interesting anomaly here is that the Polish National Catholic Church is in Communion with the Roman Church, but their priests can marry. The same is true with the Orthodox Churches, although if a priest's wife dies he cannot remarry, and their Bishops must be celibate. Also, some clergy – especially Episcopalians and Lutherans can convert even if they are married, and they are reordained by the Roman Church. The last I heard there were about fifty such priests in the United States.

The current fuss this week about the Holy See agreeing to accept Anglicans – including their married clergy – has gotten a lot of attention. Some have speculated that it is Rome's way of allowing for married clergy to come in through the back door.

Sometimes, we forget that the Reformation was a very complicated event. It was not a bumper sticker movement. It took place in the midst of unprecedented change.

For instance, it took place during the enlightenment. Luther was born in 1483 and died in 1546. In the century and a half that surrounded Luther's life, the world gave birth to Copernicus, Columbus, Galileo, Bacon, Hobbs, Descartes, Locke, Newton, Leibnitz and Pascal – all names you recognize as being people who changed the Western world's way of thinking and acting.

Second, a lot of things were happening in that 16 th Century. Cities were emerging along with all the commerce that relates to urbanization and Capitalism was on the rise.

Nationalism was coming to the fore – the Germans didn't like sending their German sausage to France and Italy.

The Holy Roman Empire was coming apart at the seams, and many European countries were developing their own identities and fostering their own languages.

There was a communication explosion – Guttenberg designed movable type and built a printing press to use it.

And then there was the exploration of space – Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 – confirming that the world was not flat. Luther, however, was not convinced. He thought that all this talk about a round earth was foolishness.

All these phenomena effected the Reformation, and many were affected by it. And perhaps the most significant issue was the threat of the Muslim Turks who had conquered North Africa and Spain and who had laid siege to Vienna. Charles V was so consumed by this threat that he was afraid to send troops to Wittenberg to wipe out this troublesome group of religious reformers. If he had, there probably would not have been a Lutheran Reformation.

But, Luther survived, and his forceful mind drew him into the world around him. He responded in the problems of his day. He was upset with the incompetence in bureaucracy, and he was acutely aware of the need to have an educated citizenry. Luther was especially concerned about the education of children and he did what he could to provide schooling. Listen to what Luther said about educating children . Schools should be fun. Today schools are not what they once were – a hell and purgatory in which we were tormented with cases and tenses and yet learned less than nothing despite all this flogging, trembling, anguish and misery. For my part…I would have children study not only languages and history, but also singing and music together with the whole of mathematics.

Luther was also concerned about providing for educated leaders: he wrote:

In ancient Rome boys were so taught that by the time they reached their fifteenth, eighteenth or twentieth year they were well versed in Latin, Greek and all the liberal arts, and then immediately entered upon a political or military career . Their system produced intelligent, wise and competent men, so skilled in every art that if all the bishops, priests and monks in the whole of German today were rolled into one, you would not have the equal of one Roman soldier. As a result their country prospered; they had capable and trained men for every position.

But here we are today – we spend a fortune on education at all levels, but nearly three quarters of our college graduates are illiterate – they cannot write a paragraph without a spelling or grammatical error. No other country would let their students graduate from high school without mastering the skills of their own language. We need an educational reformation.

In Luther's day, commerce kept kids from getting an education. Today, it is commerce that demands education. If you have any doubts read Thomas Friedman's book, THE WORLD IS FLAT.

You know the phrase – The more things change, the more they stay the same. Those things that were happening in Luther's day – an information explosion, exploration of space, the increase in urban populations, the expansion of capitalism – these are the very things that surround us today. And they all need our due diligence.

Lutherans come from a remarkable historical tradition of making the faithful responsible and caring and loving, and the Church relevant. And that is the goal of the Roman Church as well.

I hope and pray that we can remain faithful to that tradition.

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost - October 18, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Click here for the Audio of the Gospel and Sermon

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

I'm sure I've told you over the years that when I went to college, I was a philosophy major. This decision struck my parents as odd, as I was always interested in the sciences and in mathematics. Why would a child who excelled in those areas, chose philosophy as his college major?

Good question. And then, as if that wasn't enough of a mystery, halfway through my college career, I added a religion major to my academic portfolio because I had exhausted most of the philosophy curriculum and wound up taking so many religion department courses that I thought I might as well add it to my major concentration. My parents were still wondering what I was doing. I then went off to study German literature in Vienna and had enough German credits to my name to add German as a declared minor. After paying three years of tuition and room and board, my mom asked what I would do with a degree in religion, philosophy and German. I didn't understand then what I understand now, as I also wondered what our first born would do with a degree in Policy Analysis or our last born with a degree in Geophysics?

The answer to that question then and my question now remains the same, “What do you do?” You go to graduate school, what else?

I see many of you nodding your heads, either because you have lived or are living the same scenario with your children, or else you perpetrated the same crime on your parents.

I did eventually get a job that had something to do with what I studied, but not before 9 years of lifeguarding, giving swim lessons, running water aerobics for overweight middle-aged women, cleaning filter equipment and the bathrooms after the club closed, and one day in a lamp factory, sorting chain, nuts and bolts, and cutting wire for the canopy where chandeliers meet the ceiling.

There were many days out in the hot sun when I questioned how valuable or essential Aristotle, Plato, Kant, Kierkegaard and Schleiermacher were to my well being and my potential future career as scholar or professor.

Thinking back on it all now, not all of those lengthy and convoluted conversations on ethics and morals and the nature of evil were wasted…Deb and I did raise two children, and the skills I learned in ethical debate came in handy when dealing with Katie.

And, truth be told, a good bit of the dialogues from the ancients, and the proofs of the existence of God and the nature of man and good and evil, have proved helpful over the years and I'm thankful to my teachers and professors for what they gave to me and to my mom for her patience and understanding. If there is one thing I could say to those who are about to go to college or graduate school, I would advise you somewhere along the way, to take a course in household plumbing or electrical wiring, because I have found those skills to be just as useful as a semester spent on Nicomachean ethics, perhaps even more from time to time.

A word to the wise should be sufficient.

Thinking back on those college days in philosophy class, one of the recurring themes in many of the great thinkers, was the business about humanity's basic goodness and inherent penchant for being not so good – to put it simply. The debate still rages, are we intrinsically good or inherently evil? Is that goodness or that propensity for evil in our DNA? Take an innocent child, and watch what happens to it as it grows and as it is subjected to the rest of us. Or take that innocent child, shield it from the influence of the rest us of, and see if by the time it reaches three, if it still says, “Mine.”

The conversations of the great thinkers were more sophisticated than that, but the point remains the same. Is our propensity for getting into trouble genetic or environmental? Is our inclination to sin learned or inherited?

The other recurring question of theme among history's great thinkers has to do with the question of whether humanity is improving or not? If our basic nature is somehow flawed, and that is how we explain away the things we continually do wrong or mess up, do we do what we do because we don't know better? If you watch enough TV law shows, sooner or later you'll hear about the defense for the accused under-aged child offender, that he or she can't be indicted for a crime because he or she isn't old enough to know the difference between right or wrong, or not old enough to know that the crime he or she committed was wrong.

Applying this rationale to the whole of humanity, is our proclivity for sin a matter of inadequate knowledge? In other words, if we knew better, or better, if we knew more, would we be different people, would we be better people, would we be kinder, or gentler, or more honest, or more caring, or more civil, or more loving?

And finally, to round out the philosophical debate, is the age old question of, are we getting better? As humanity becomes older and wiser and more well educated, as the world shrinks, as we come to know our global neighbors, as we amass knowledge, as we grow from our mistakes, as a species, are we getting better and better, so that eventually, we will become what God would have us be? Now I threw in the last part about God, because the great thinkers of history almost all agreed that when you throw God into the equation, things get murky.

Which is the primary reason why I left philosophy and started my religious studies, because philosophy without God didn't make much sense, because at some point in time, you come to the conclusion that without God, humanity doesn't make much sense, least of all the way we work, the things we think, the way we behave, the things we do to each other, the heartache we endure, the suffering we experience and finally, the death that befalls us all.

Without God, without that tie to that which is eternal and eternally good and eternally forgiving, I could never find much hope for us, for myself.

Let me give you one short example to suffice for today. Study the history of salvation, by that I mean, take a short look at the whole of God's dealings with God's people. What do you find? Well, it's not a pretty sight. From the moment of defiance in the Garden of Eden to yesterday's car bombings in Afghanistan., we're not getting better, we're certainly not getting smarter. If anything, we're just becoming more calloused. And as the world gets smaller, we just get better at insulating ourselves from what we know is out there and from what is out there happening to the rest of us.

In today's gospel reading, we hear about James and John, in Aramaic, boangeres, the Sons of Thunder, the two sons of Zebedee who became disciples of Jesus. By this time in the three year long period of time the disciples were with Jesus before his death, or according to some scholars, it was only one year, whatever the time period, it was certainly long enough for them to tune into his message, to appropriate the sense of what he was trying to preach. He talked about love, about mercy, about service, about sacrifice. He told stories and gave them examples in his parables about the new order he was trying to inaugurate, at least among his followers, where all were equal, where putting others first was the new paradigm, he talked about the law and how it was meant to serve God and not the other way around, he gathered outcasts and sinners into innermost circle, he abandoned wealth and status and asked others to do the same, he said if you had two coats you ought to give one away, he said the kingdom of God was the priceless pearl of great worth that demanded allegiance and obedience, and that if gold and silver and power and prestige or even family asked you to put them first, you had to choose.

He came to teach by example, caring more for the person than for the position, he came to heal, caring more for the life than for the fame, or money. To woo the learned he spoke Greek and Hebrew, to woo the religious he quoted Scripture with a familiarity before unknown. To woo the outcast he scorned the status quo and sat instead at the leper's table, to the rich he preached charity and to the poor he preached contentment.

When he talked to his disciples, he talked about service, and what it meant to be a servant. He talked about emptying yourself for the sake of another, he talked about the good shepherd, he talked about laying your life down for your friends, he talked about giving your life as a ransom for all.

So here, near the end of the gospel account, just before Jesus leaves for Jerusalem and all that Jerusalem means to his ministry, and his suffering and death, he overhears James and John, two of his closest disciples, come to him, perhaps sensing the enormity of the moment and the moments to come, to ask him to “set-them” up, to give his places in his Cabinet, to move them up from campaign groupies to inside men, “grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left when you come into your glory.”

Astonished that they were asking what they were asking, perhaps even overwhelmed at how far away they still were from what he had been preaching and teaching all along, he asks them, “Are you sure?” And with a bravado borne of both ignorance and self-righteousness they answer, “Yes, I am, yes, we are.”

I can hear the ancients saying, “See, nothing has changed, humanity isn't getting better, it certainly isn't getting any smarter and if given half a chance, we'll still think first about number one, and what's in it for us, each time and every time. Our greed, our self centeredness, our selfishness, is both genetic and environmental, in our DNA and learned from one another.

Which is why I left philosophy behind and went looking for God, because without God, without the goodness I learned that resides in the source and which, from the beginning, was imparted to us and to all of creation, I'd have to come to the conclusion that there is no hope for us. Without the gift of Christ, without his teaching, without his sacrifice, without his redemption, without the promise his resurrection gives to us who are perishing, without the hope that at my end there awaits a good and gracious, forgiving and welcoming God, my fate seems dismal and hopeless. Because I can't do it on my own, because I have my weaknesses, because I can't seem to be the person I would want to be, because I disappoint and am disappointing and get disappointed, I need the God who says, “Come to me you who tired and heavy burdened and I will give you rest.” I need the Father who comes to me when I've left home and squandered my gifts and became that which I wanted least to become and says, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

When I turn in on myself and begin to think only of my needs, I need to hear the words , 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'

And when I come to the end of my days, if for only a moment I could claim a mustard seed sized amount of faithfulness, I hope to hear my God say, “Well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful in a few things, enter into the joy of your Lord and Master.”

That promise is something philosophy could not give me, only God could. I hear about this promise all the time, in many places, and I hope in some way I have communicated it from time to time, to you, if not again, this very morning.

Amen.

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost - October 11, 2009
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

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In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

There were certain streetwise behaviors that I picked up as a young teen growing up in NYC. Probably the most important unwritten rule was: Do not make eye contact with anyone outside of your circle of friends, classmates and family. If you did, you ran the very real risk of hearing those fighting words, “What do you think you're looking at!” This was, of course, an unanswerable question. If you said, “Nothing,” the reply would be - “You calling me nothing!” If you claimed to be looking at something other than the person questioning you, you would probably be called a liar and would be asked repeatedly to provide an answer until you stuttered out some kind of apology - or you would find yourself in the middle of a fight. There were times that I rode the 1 & 9 subway or the Richmond Terrace/Bay Street bus when my eyes didn't sore past the shoeline, there were other times that I found myself in a desperate debate, and there were times when words were followed by fists. Mostly I became good at avoidance. Are there any evasive moves that you developed over the years? What do you do when the fellowship chairperson is walking in your direction with the coffee hour list? Or when the chair of the nominating committee starts walking in your direction when there is an open council seat? Or when someone from the stewardship committee says they are going to start talking to members about their giving and you notice they are standing about twenty feet in front of you looking for someone to engage in dialogue? I think we all have some evasive techniques that we employ from time to time…

If the living Christ were to walk before us, would we turn our head as to pretend not to have noticed? Would we look in the other direction? Are we ready to encounter the Messiah, the anointed holy one of God? Could we be so bold as to approach Jesus as the rich man did? Could we throw ourselves at Jesus' feet? If we could, what would we say and what would we ask? Is our faith as hungry and driven?

Often when we hear the biblical narrative we seek to insert ourselves into the story. We associate with specific characters as we try to appropriate meaning, comfort and strength from the sacred text. We hear this story about the rich man, and it is easy to dismiss him as not being serious enough about his faith. We judge him as half-hearted and quickly look for another hero, whom we find in Peter in the later part of the story. Jesus even acknowledges Peter as one who has truly sacrificed and who will be rewarded in this life and the next. If we had to pick a character to associate ourselves with, it would probably be Peter; after all we gave up a lot to come to church today, especially since it is a holiday weekend and the Bills are playing! We could have slept in or gone to an early brunch. As far as sacrifices go, soon in our liturgy it will be time to give our offering, and we brought our envelope today, but in these desperate economic times, we could use the money - right! We might even take it further by noting that most of the people we know don't go to church anymore so we who do are like the little band of disciples traipsing along with our Lord. So it shouldn't be surprising that we, like Peter in today's text are eager to hear about our reward for our sacrifice - but are we really like Peter? Did we leave our house and job and family to follow Jesus wherever he went? And while there was that denial thing before the rooster crowed, which we might want to claim as our own to excuse our many foibles, according to the second centruy Christian apologist Tertullian , and the early Christian scholar Origen , Peter's life ended in martyrdom. In Eusebius, Church History II.1. Origen states: "Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downwards, as he himself had desired to suffer". You see…Peter asked to be crucified upside down, because he did not feel worthy to be crucified in the same manner as the Good Lord.

Ok, maybe we are not just like Peter…. Maybe we are a far cry from being that faithful, and while we don't know how our life will end, I think it's fair to say that our sacrifices pale in comparrison to this Galillean fisherman. So that leaves us again with the affluent seeker from the beginning of the gospel as perhaps our closest relative in the gospel narrative. How similar are we?

Are we rich? According to the calculator on Globalrichlist.com, a creation of the London based Poke Corporation who's mission is “…to challenge people's perceptions of their personal wealth.” If your salary is $150,000 per year, you are the world's 20 millionth richest person, in the top 1/3 of 1% of the world's population. If your salary is $50,000 per year, you are the 59 millionth richest person in the world - in the top 1% of the world's population. If your salary is $20,000 per year, you are the 670 millionth richest person - in the top 11% of the world's population. The site also reminds us that three billion people live on less than $2 per day while 1.3 billion get by on less than $1 per day. No matter how we slice it, we are rich, even if we feel like we are poor. It is all about perspective and that is what the Christ brings… a new perspective.

In the gospel, this man of means seeks out the Good Lord Jesus. He asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus' rattles off the commandments, and the man says that he has lived by them. (Perhaps this is how we are different from the man!) Then the text says that “Jesus, looking at him, loved him…” In the second reading from Hebrews, we read, “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow…” The word of God slices us open and lays us bare for inspection. Jesus, the living word of God, looks into the man and sees all. Jesus hones in on a big problem in this man's life, there is a wedge coming between himself and God. This wedge was his wealth. In the sixth chapter of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can not serve both God and Mammon.” Jesus exposes the sin, but he does not condem the rich man, and that is where the love comes in. When you love someone, you give it to them straight even if it may be abrasive. If Jesus didn't care, if he didn't love the man, he may have just let him be, let him continue on his warped trajectory leading to death.

John Wesley, the Anglican Priest, who with his brother Charles founded the Methodist Church said, “When I have any money I get rid of it as quickly as possible, lest it find a way into my heart.” The rich man's problem was not that he had wealth, but that the wealth had him, and that he was its slave. Just as God provided for the people of Israel to be free from Pharos's bondage, Jesus does not leave the man without a pathway to freedom from his slavery. Like a caring physician, Jesus writes a detailed perscription for his beloved. “…Sell what you own, give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” The text said that Jesus' words of love and hope caused the man to grieve and go away, for he had many posessions.

Today we come into this sacred space, and we are transported by the liturgy and the music. But just as the prophet Amos reminds the people of the northern kingdom that worship is deeper and more encompassing than an hour in the temple, we are to remember that our liturgy or public work never ends and that we were created to be creatures of worship, seven days a week and three hundred and sixty-five days a year. The rich man was called not only to liquidate, but to alleivate and elevate. He was to use his tools, in this case his wealth, to remove suffering and raise those who were downtrodden to a place of equality. Notice there was no instruction by Jesus as to which particular poor person should be a recipient - all were considered worthy.

Only after the man lightened his load was he invited to come and follow Jesus. All of Jesus' disciples are called to travel light. We are called to travel light. Over the last 2000 years, there are many stories of people who heeded Christ's call of complete submission, some are famous such as St. Francis, who gave up great wealth for the life of a beggar, who wed lady poverty and who helped refocus the church on Christ's teachings. Others' may not be as famous, but God has and is working those same kinds of miracles through them.

Oh that we would listen to Jesus' call and give our wedges away!

Oh that we would not turn our gaze from Our Lord's loving eyes, that we would not avoid the prescription for freedom and life.

I have journeyed with many people in their last days of life and never have I heard anyone say that they gave too much to the poor, that they gave too much to the Church of Christ, or that they gave too much to God. I can tell you however, that through bitter tears, I have held the hands of many who prayed prayers of repentance, who regretted being so self centered and wished they had another chance to live more faithfully and give more generously.

Whatever happened to the rich man that walked away from Jesus grieving? We don't know. We might want to slap a happy ending on this tale, but we can't. It is sad and so is our reluctance to heed Jesus' call and take submission to the gospel seriously. It is sad, because we remain in a prison of which we have the key, yet we choose not to use it. Our potential is not reached, and we help less and less of God's hurting and needy children.

As a faith commuity we are hamstrung, and limited when we collectively choose a strategy of wealth management over complete submission to God's mission. The current climate of anxiety that exsists in our congregation in response to our eroded endowment funds can be easily dissipated if more members heeded the words of the gospel and gave sacrificially instead of superficially. The fact that we are devoting so much of our time and energy as a congregation on matters of finace suggest that there is a wedge that needs to be removed. I say this because I love this church. I say this because it is true and it is our perscription for living. This is the perspective that the Christ wants us to embrace yet this is the perspective that caused the rich man to go away grieving. Do we need to go away grieving? Do we remain enslaved?

Today we need not leave with a feeling of hopelessness - on the contrary! Today the Living Word of God, Jesus, does have the last word and it is a word of grace. While we might see our inability to follow, our paralysis and our grief as impossible to overcome… Jesus says, “For God all things are possible.” God is looking at us, and God loves us - as we are and where we are. God wants to free us and will free us on the last day, but embracing the perspective that Christ offers us enables us to taste and feel some of that freedom now. That is the freedom we are immersed in through baptism and which we ingest in Holy Communion; it is generous, sacrificial and liberating.

So let us raise our gaze above the shoeline, and look at that love striaght in the face, there is nothing to fear and everything to gain.

In our Good Lord's name! Amen.

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost - October 4, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The recent issue taken up at the National assembly of our church regarding the ordination and service of pastors who are gay or lesbian has had much print and conversation devoted to it, both before the vote and subsequently thereafter. It remains a hot button issue. There are congregations having discussions about whether or not they will remain in the ELCA as a result of the decision the national took this past summer. I suspe3ct there are some among you who have strong opinions one way or the other, and while I would appreciate being given the opportunity to talk with you personally about it, this sermon is not about that issue, but it is related in many ways to it.

I'm old enough to remember similar conversations about the eligibility of service from 40 years ago that centered on the issue of divorce. Could a man, it was only men back then, whose marriage ended in divorce, continue to serve in the ordained ministry? When I was in seminary, back in the Middle Ages, the issue was could a person who was divorced, even seek ordination. My best friend in seminary, Eric Reinhard, was previously divorced and remained unmarried throughout his seminary career, but when it came time for the senior class to be reviewed for eligibility, Eric was “put through his paces” on that issue, so much so , that he questioned the church's true motivation with regards to this issue in his life. Divorce was not new in the mid 70's. As a matter of fact, if you trace its roots in Hebrew Scripture at least as far back as Moses, you're talking at least 5 millennia.

You'd have thought that the church, which was only 2 millennia old, would have come up with a policy by 1970. I just heard this past week, that one of my colleagues here in Western New York, has announced he‘s leaving his parish because he and his wife are getting divorced. I don't know the circumstances surrounding the situation, but whatever they may be, suffice it to say, the issue of divorce and the pastoral ministry is still alive and well.

Regarding divorce, the church is quite clear. From the section of its constitution that deals with the role and expectation of clergy, it reads, “ out of deep concern for effective extension of the gospel, this church remains alert to the high calling of discipleship in Jesus Christ. The ordained ministers of this church, as persons charged with special responsibility for the proclamation of the gospel, are to seek to reflect the new life in Christ, avoiding that which would make them stumbling blocks to others. To that end, this church recognizes that there is behavior that is deemed to be incompatible with ordained ministry, and that calls for disciplinary action. This church is committed to the sanctity of marriage and the enhancement of family life. Ordained ministers of this church, whether married or single, are expected to uphold Christian ideals of marriage in their public ministry as well as in private life. Spouse and children, if any, are to be regarded with love, respect and commitment. Any departure from this normative behavior may be considered conduct incompatible with the character of the ministerial office.”

So it is now, so it was then, divorce was controversial and anyone who wished to debate it knew that the ground around the issue was a slippery slope. In today's gospel, we read about those tricky Pharisees, trying, as always to get Jesus to put his foot in his mouth. They bring up the topic of divorce, knowing that no matter how he answers the questions asked about it, he's going to risk offending someone. Divorce is also a tinder box and quicksand issue. Say you're agin' it and you contradict the law of Moses where it says a man can divorce his wife. Say you're for it, and the evidence of Scripture, in particular the passage you just heard read this morning, will come up and bite you.

So, instead of saying, “Yea,” or “Nay,” he talks instead about the sanctity of marriage and how God is invested in every relationship. He goes on to say that in the world of perfect relationships, divorce would be non-existent, relationships would never end, never deteriorate, never be broken apart by any circumstance. In a perfect world, there would never be any selfishness, any temptation, any abuse, any unfaithfulness. He goes on to say that the whole business of divorce came about, in the first place, because “of your hardness of heart.” Better read, because of sin, better read, because of life as we know it.

I performed a marriage ceremony here yesterday. It was a beautiful day, the groom was handsome and nervous, the bride glowing and beautiful. As they stood before me and recited their vows, I know for a fact that there was no doubt in their minds that this was the right if not ht best thing they could ever do in their lives, and the fact that their marriage could come under assault and experience rocky times was the furthest thing from their minds.

Just so, no one enters into marriage looking for divorce, at least in my 500 plus weddings I've never seen it. But the reality of our lives is that sometimes it does happen. No one wants it, but sometimes it comes. Oftentimes it's self inflicted, but sometimes it's circumstantial, and those are the hardest ones to call. To quote a saying I have used often, when relationships disintegrate, if I could speak for God, and that's a dangerous things to do, it's not what God wants. If God could have God's way, every relationship would be healthy and whole, no circumstance would ever drive couples apart, no serious illness, no tragedy, no other person, no misspoken or hurtful word.

If sin, by definition, is that which separates us from God, then any sinful act on our part separates us from having things the way God would have them.

Does that mean that God is angry? When a couple's love is gone and their happiness or at least their hope for happiness goes with it, does it mean that we've ticked God off too?

Again, if I could speak for God, I don't think God is angry as much as God is sad. Because I think more than a perfect world, God wants a joyful one. I think more than anything else, what God wants for God's children is that they be happy and fulfilled and productive and healthy. That doesn't mean instead of working to keep a relationship going, or working to heal a broken heart, you run after every ice cream truck that comes down the street. What it does mean is that given the reality of the world in which we live, a world that has sin in it and hardship and pain and faithlessness and temptation, you do the best with what you have and look for happiness on the other side.

I think that's why after he spoke of divorce and adultery and hardness of heart he added the illustration about children. Children have the remarkable ability to look for a rainbow at the end of a storm, to find joy in an empty box and to rely on love their whole lives. In a tinderbox they relish the warmth, in quicksand, they build a castle.

To such belongs the kingdom of God.

Jesus said the law was clear, and the law exists because of sin. If there were no transgression there would be no need for the law. Law points to the reality of sin. What then, how then, do we live within this reality? That's when he lifted up the child. The child lives by a different law, the child lives by the law of love, and Jesus was quick to point out, so does God.

Amen.

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost - September 27, 2009
The Rev. John A Buerk

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THE MIND AND MORALS

There were many exceptional speakers at Chautauqua Institution this summer. They included Supreme Court Justice Kennedy and Ken Burns.

David McCullough shared his latest work on the French-American connection – and he pointed out the importance of seeing the past as relevant to the present. He also emphasized that the past – in a sense – is the present.

He said that Jefferson and Washington didn't walk around Virginia saying, “Isn't it fun living here in the past!”

Eli Wiesel, the famous Holocaust survivor who wrote the poignant book, NIGHT , spoke. He shared some remarkable insights about morality and life. He made reference to the story of Cane and Abel, and noted that the essence of this story of one brother killing another is that when you kill anyone, you kill your brother.

The theme of one week was, “What Makes Us Moral?” And a corollary question was, “Where do humans see themselves in the grand scheme of creation?”

For much of recorded history, humans saw themselves as being at the center of the universe. The sun, the stars the moon and the planets revolved around the earth and humans were the focal point of it all. And this worked pretty well until 500 years ago when Copernicus came along and challenged that assumption. And what a shock that was for the human race. All of a sudden the universe didn't revolve around us – humans were only a small part of the universe, and the earth wasn't the center of the universe, the sun was.

But humans are resilient and they conceded the point. They still reasoned that even if we weren't the center of the universe we were still the essence of all creation. After all, didn't God make man first? Humans were still at the top of the “food chain”. And then 200 years ago Darwin came along and pointed out that it doesn't look like we came first. We have lots of evidence that life in some form has been around a very long time – about a million years - and Homo sapiens are relatively late in coming. In fact, we are even late in the primate scheme of evolution.

What a blow – but again – humans are resilient. O.K. – so we aren't the first of all creation, but at least we can think for ourselves. At least we are the captains' of our own souls!

And then – a hundred years ago - came Sigmund Freud. He pointed out that humans are very complex creatures and our minds are subject to a lot of influences. In fact, about eighty percent of our decisions and behavior are not rational, but subconscious. You may have convinced yourself that you are neat because you thought it through and realized that neat is better than messy – you can find things easier and you feel better about yourself if your life is organized – and your mother can come over to visit whenever she wants to and you don't need to panic. But, Freud pointed out, that the real reason you are neat is because you were toilet trained too early.

So here we are – human beings – a little unsure of where we stand in the universe – discovering that a lot of animals can do things better than we can – realizing that animals don't go around wantonly killing each other like humans do and then realizing that we humans aren't in as much control of our lives and our values as we thought we were.

And, of course, this brings to the fore the question of our morality because who we are determines what our value system is. Where does it come from?

Many immediately turn to the Ten Commandments for proper behavioral norms. And the Commandments work to a certain extent because they are basic rules for civilization. The Commandments are also pretty close to the Code of Hummerabi that was the moral basis for the Babylonians with whom the Hebrews lived for many years. But the Ten Commandments don't cover everything. They don't address the problem of drinking too much, or air pollution, or the proliferation of atomic bombs.

Unfortunately, however, many naively think that if you put the Commandments up in enough places people will behave differently. But, in case you haven't noticed, that doesn't work.

People don't behave because they are told to – they usually behave because it is in their best interest to do so – sometimes in the short run, and sometimes in the long run. In the short run you might obey the speed limit because you have noticed that there was a radar trap on the road you're on. But on a four-lane highway you let loose a little – or maybe a lot depending - on you age and your car and who is riding with you.

But again, different times produce different criteria for responsible behavior.

For instance, when it comes to moral behavior there used to be a limerick that describes the limits of intimacy - it went:

There was a young woman named Mild,

who kept herself undefiled,

by thinking of Jesus, and social disease,

and the fear of having a child.

That advice, however, is dated - today, many social diseases can be treated, and birth control is available, and I have a feeling that when vigorous young people with an early onset of hormones get revved up, they don't think about Moses or Jesus, and certainly they are not thinking about the Virgin Mary.

I've been told that in times past there were honorable men in business who were conscientious about their responsibilities to take care of other people's trust funds. If you were an investment counselor, you could be trusted. You did your homework. And then came Madoff, and company.

So, the rules don't seem to work – and they certainly don't if they are not enforced. And add to this the whole issue of the laws themselves because being “law-abiding” does not make a person moral. The laws you obey must be moral! This point was paramount in the Nuremberg trails. Too many people who did horrific things said that they were only obeying orders – the law of the land.

So what is the bottom line for behavior and morality? Well, it seems to me that it is the survival of the community. If you steal another man's food, his family goes hungry. If you commit adultery, you steal another man's family. If you murder, you rob someone of a person they love.

The community needs to have limits in order for it to survive. But one of the big problems today is that communities are hard to come by. To talk about a global community almost means that anything goes.

And so we are left with too much individual behavior. And that can be self-deceptive. There is a story about a lawyer going through a stop sign. He soon finds a police car in back of him with lights flashing. He thinks to himself that he should be able to talk his way out of this – after all he is well educated and really smart.

The officer approaches his car and says, “Sir, you didn't stop for that stop sign back there”. The lawyer explains that he did slow down and wasn't the purpose of the sign to help the flow of traffic and no one was coming – so did it really matter if he stopped or just slowed down?

The officer asked him to get out of the car, and he started to hit him with his club and asking him if he wanted him to slow down or stop?

Some years ago I brought together several faculty members at U/B to meet with my former philosophy teacher from Union College who was a guest lecturer at Canisius College. In the course of the conversation the subject of morality came up. One faculty member – a very good man who was also our resident atheist – said there were no fixed moral principles – everything was relative. But another member of the philosophy department who was a survivor of the holocaust said that his colleague was wrong – there were some basic principles that were universal and one of them was that you should not harm children.

And in that light we should remember that we are all God's children. The bottom line for morals is that we are all God's children – and we are responsible to see that no harm comes to the children of God.

And don't forget that Jesus said, if we loved him we would keep his commandments, and he said that all the commandments were represented in these two –

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul and all your mind.

And the second was to love your neighbor as yourself.

And that is where morality begins and ends.

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost - September 20, 2009
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

About six years ago I was officiating at a Wedding outside of the church in a rather noisy outdoor banquet facility. During the middle of the sermon, I knew that the bride and the groom were being distracted by extraneous noises and I remember asking God to help me help them to hear the good news in the midst of the racket. I asked the bride and groom to close their eyes and to keep them shut as I motioned to the congregation to stand. I reminded the couple that God brought them together and gave them gifts to share with each other and that all those assembled before them loved them and would walk with them in times of joy and trial. I told them that in my hospice training I learned that our auditory sense was extremely powerful and that it was the last to leave us when we die. I commented that there would be tough times in their life together where they may feel like they are dying or that their relationship was dying. I said when you feel that way, I want you to grasp each other's hands and close your eyes and listen to the loud cheers of your family and friends and remember this moment. Then I said, “People let's give it up for this great couple!” The place erupted with thunderous applause and all other sounds were silenced. It has since become a signature in nearly all of the weddings I have presided over since and each time, tears flow down my cheeks. It is transformative to hear how much love there is for you.

So what if I motioned to the congregation to rise and said, “Let's give it up for our God?”

Certainly God would hear us, but doesn't God always hear us? Would even our loudest cheers feel like an embarrassingly small public display of appreciation for God? Shouldn't we give up a little more for The One and Only Almighty and Merciful God? If so, what should that be?

It is hard to give up status and privilege. It is hard to step down to serve.

There is an old joke that goes like this:

A bishop walks into the large gothic cathedral and falls down on his knees before the altar and says, “Forgive me God for I am a worthless sinner.” Soon thereafter a priest does the same, falling to his knees before the altar and says, “God forgive me, for I am a worthless sinner.” A few moments later an unkempt and disheveled man with a foul odor and bloody knuckles walked up to the altar and fell to his knees and said, “Forgive me God for I am a worthless sinner.” Outraged, the priest leans over toward the bishop and says, “Who the heck does this guy thinks he is!”

The humor is rather dry and stinging I admit. The truth revealed however is that even the church can be a place where service becomes a show and sacrifice is ritualized. Worse yet it can become a place where people seek to glorify themselves through defaming others.

Animal Planet's block buster hit series, Jockeys , reveals the real life cut throat competition that exists between equestrian pilots. Some of the jockeys will do just about anything to ride in the Kentucky Derby, the holy grail of horse racing, even if it means undercutting and denigrating a colleague. One thing that today's lectionary readings stress is that we need not jockey for positions in God's kingdom.

Jeremiah, the Old Testament prophet that we heard from today certainly wasn't winning any popularity contests from the people he was engaging. If you recall, Jeremiah was conscripted and commissioned by God to bring a message of God's judgment upon the people of Judah, Jerusalem and the nations. This is because they had turned their back on God and literally, gave God up. The people's behavior became selfish and self serving and detestable. They allowed their wants to be their gods.

In Jeremiah 6: 13-15 we read,

  “For from the least to the greatest of them,
         everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
     and from prophet to priest,
         everyone deals falsely.
  14   They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,
         saying, "Peace, peace,"
         when there is no peace.
  15   They acted shamefully, they committed abomination;
         yet they were not ashamed,
         they did not know how to blush.
     Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
         at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the LORD.”

As a result of his faithfulness to God and for serving as a true prophet, Jeremiah is attacked by his own brothers, beaten and put into the stocks by a priest and a false prophet, jailed by the king, threatened with death, thrown into a well, and is discredited and ridiculed by another false prophet. It gets so bad that Jeremiah in his honest lament to God, fears that his own life will shortly be taken from him. Yet he continues to serve faithfully and he does not plan to fight back violently. He will not play by the destructive rules which rob life and hope and he will not give up. Instead he appeals to God for justice and struggles honestly in prayer while continuing his mission. While none of us might willingly switch positions with Jeremiah, we must confess that he is an amazing role model for us.

But like that old saying, when the going get's tough, the tough go to Florida, we need more than role models of people with steadfastness of faith in times of persecution to inspire us to a life of service. We need some music to dance to.

When Leonard Bernstein was once asked what the most difficult instrument was he answered, “2nd fiddle. Plenty of people want to play 1st violin but to get someone to play second violin or second flute, etc...That's a problem. Yet, without them there is no harmony.”

Both today's epistle lesson from James and the Gospel urge the disciples of Jesus to give up discord and the desire for hierarchical stratification among each other. Earlier in the book of James we discovered that there was a definite tension between wealthy and poor believers. In the gospel we discover that the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest disciple and before that the disciples were arguing with another person that was casting out demons in Jesus' name, but who was not a member in the prestigious “Club of Twelve”. Even though Jesus just finished giving his second of three predictions of his death and resurrection, their ears are still full of wax. Jesus tells them they must be deacons if they want to be great, they have to care for the poor, neglected, vulnerable and the sick. Being great is about submission to God's mission. Being great means being part of a work that is bigger than you. It is about being part of God's work, but can our egos handle being a servant fulltime? Can we serve joyfully and make a difference in God's world? To challenge the disciples Jesus takes a child that was already in their midst and probably overlooked as unimportant or as a nuisance and places the child in front of them. He tells them if they honor the child, they honor him and if they honor him they honor God.

Certified Speaking Professional, Barbara Glanz has been recruited as a motivational speaker for thousands of corporations and organizations. On one such occasion she was addressing the employees of a large Supermarket. She told them if the Supermarket was to thrive, they would all have to use their unique gifts in serving their customers. In someway they would have to give from their heart and leave their signature on the hearts of their patrons. The presentation went well and then a few weeks later Barbara got a letter from a young man named Johnny who has Down syndrome and who worked as a bagger on the check out line. He said that he listened to the presentation and thought very hard about how he could give from his heart and then he had an idea. Every day after work he would look for a thought of the day or write one if he could not find one and he would ask his father to help him print it out on his computer. Then he would cut them in strips and give them to the customers he bagged for. Barbara was moved by Johnny's enthusiasm to give from his heart to make someone else's day brighter. About three weeks later the general manager of the store called Barbara to say that last week while walking through the store he approached the front end and saw a register completely backed up with a long line that ended all the way back near the frozen food cases. Immediately he called more check out personnel to the front to try and open additional registers thinking that only one was open. Then he tried to redirect people at the end of the line to other open lanes, but no one would budge. You see everyone in line wanted to receive one of Johnny's thoughts of the day!

Just like Jeremiah, who God said he knew before he was formed and whom he consecrated for service before he was born, God also knows us and has consecrated us for service. Jeremiah's name literally means Yahweh exalts and when we serve God as we were intended to do, when we live into the power of our baptism, God lifts us and uses us to lift others. Just like the disciples who have a problem hearing the good news when it doesn't fit neatly into their plans, we too struggle to hear God's call for us, but the good news is that God does not give up. Our God gave it all up so that we could understand our mission and have the power to fulfill it.

One night at his dinner table in June of 1540, Luther said, “Christ fights with the devil in a curious way - the devil with great numbers, cleverness and steadfastness - Christ with few people with weakness, simplicity and contempt and yet Christ wins. So he wished us to be sheep and our adversaries wolves… It is a remarkable war and a strange fight in which the sheep are killed and the wolves stay alive – But they will all go to ruin as a result, because God alone performs miracles. He'll preserve his sheep in the midst of the wolves and he'll crush the jaws of the wolves forever.”

We are called to be faithful, not to necessarily win the battles against violence, greed, hatred, envy and injustice, but to fight them. We do not fight fire with fire, but we use kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and love. When we engage in service we become God's good thoughts for the day.

Ultimately, however, it is God's work that makes our actions possible. We are beloved in God's eyes and all are precious not because of what we give up for God, but because of what God has given up for us. It is God who gave up Jesus, his only son, who gave up his own life on the cross to show us the divine heart. In raising Jesus, God declares that the ultimate victory is secured and gives us the sacred heart of Christ as our heart.

So the question remains…. Can we give it up for our Almighty Merciful God?

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost - September 13, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Not much of the book of James has made it into our three year lectionary cycle. In all three years, there are only 6 readings from James, one occurring in the season of Advent and 5 times in this year B of the three year cycle. Compared to the book of Romans or Corinthians, James has a poor showing. Perhaps that has to do with the fact that our founder, Martin Luther, didn't like the book. Luther didn't like the book, calling it an epistle of straw. He thought it contradicted his ideas about justification, not to mention the fact that Jesus is never mentioned in it.

Be that as it may, we have the book before us today and oddly enough, on the very Sunday when we are installing our church council and our Sunday school coordinators. The passage for today begins with, “Not many of you should become teachers….”

Thank you for that, it's not as if recruiting teachers wasn't hard enough, we have the word from Scripture today saying that not many should aspire to the job. At first glance, it seems odd advice, except when you think about what James is saying, which is, as a small rudder can steer a great ship, and as a small piece of metal can make as large a creature as a horse obey the slightest tension applied by its rider, so teachers have the ability to guide lives, if not destinies, by the words their tongues speak. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire.

Words are important, and they have great power. Recall the first time you said, “I love you,” to someone outside your parents or your immediate family. Recall the first time you heard them back, or how you felt, when they weren't returned. Words have power.

In the gospel reading for today, we have Jesus asking his disciples two questions. He begins by asking them, “Who do people say that I am?” He asks them to tell him what they have heard about him in the towns and villages they've visited.

I was reading one of those catalogs that come in the mail every other day, it was from one of those companies that make cool, expensive stuff that no one needs, and that few can afford but it was fun reading about the stuff anyway. There was a mirror in there that they advertised, that was a mirror that had some kind of special optics in it that reflected your image back to you, but not the way a regular mirror does, instead, it reflected the image back to you so that you would see yourself as others see you. So, for instance, if I looked in the mirror, the mole that is on the left hand side of my face, that I have always seen as being on the right hand side of my face as I looked in the mirror, in this mirror would appear in its regular place, as it does when you look at me. I thought that was strange. The catalog said that looking at yourself the way others see you is a revelatory experience that would change your life. I'm not so sure, I think the only revelation I would glean would be that my wallet was suddenly $1495 lighter. And if I did that, when Debby found out, my life would be changed indeed.

Anyway, Jesus wanted to know how others saw him, what others thought of him, what they were saying about who they thought he was. Perhaps he wanted to know if the message he was trying to portray was the message they were appropriating, he wanted to take their temperature, he wanted to look in the mirror and see himself as they saw him.

So they answered him, “Some say Elijah, others, John the Baptist, others say one of the other great prophets.” Fair enough. Those who saw him, who heard what he had to say, likened him to one of the great prophets from their history.

But then he goes one and asks, “But who do YOU say that I am?”

It's one thing to ask someone what they've heard about you. It's another thing to put it in first person. So, when I drive home from church today, I'll turn to Debby and ask her, “So, did you hear anyone say anything about my sermon today?” “No, not particularly,” she'll say, or she'll say, “It seemed like they were listening. The place was quiet, I didn't hear a lot of coughing and no one around was fidgeting too much.”

But then, to turn to her and say, “But what did YOU think?”

You know there are all sorts of ways you can dodge a question, aren't there? So I ask you what you thought of the Chicken Wing Festival last week and even though the wings were outrageously priced and usually cold and greasy and some young child spilled Kool-Aid all over your new dress, you answer, “There was a nice crowd there wasn't there? Or, it was a good thing it didn't rain or I saw Byron Brown there.

So Jesus turns to the disciples and says, “But…who do YOU say that I am?”

And Peter speaks up first. “You are the Messiah.”

It's one thing to say, “This is what I've heard,” or “Some are calling you a prophet, some say they liken you to John the Baptist, perhaps even Elijah,” but it's an entirely different thing to say, “But for me, you're not just a prophet, for me, you're not even a great prophet, for me, you are the one Israel has been waiting for, for me, you are the one the prophets foretold, for me, you are the promised Son of David who has come to rescue your people.” It's not just what I heard, it's what I believe.

It's not just what I've heard, it's what I believe. And belief is what drives us, belief is what makes it all real for us, belief is what makes the difference between a whole hearted effort and a half------baked one, belief is what makes one succeed where others fail, belief is what holds a plan or a vision together when everything else tries to break it apart and tear it asunder.

I believe you are the Messiah and that said, my life is forever changed, because if you are the Messiah, then my life is no longer my own, it is yours….if you are the Messiah, then I have to live my life in a different way… if you are the Messiah, then the goal of my life is to participate in bringing about the kingdom you proclaim.

Words have power and Peter's words changed everything, which is why, when just a few sentences later, when Jesus speaks of his suffering and death Peter blurts out, “God forbid,” because he just aligned himself, his whole being, his whole existence on who Jesus is for him, and to hear Jesus talk about dying, well, that didn't fit into Peter's vision for what the Messiah came to do, that didn't fit Peter's vision for the kingdom. Which is why Jesus replied, ‘Get behind me, Satan.” Because your vision for the kingdom is not where we're going to go. Satan, by definition,` is the one who “throws obstacles in our way,” hoping to get us to go down any path other than the one God sets before us, and Peter's vision of who Jesus was, put him on a different path than the one God had in store for His Son. That path led to Jerusalem, to the cross, and to death. It was the path of obedience to the plan God had in store for all of us, which includes the resurrection. What it means to be the Messiah, is to be the one who saves, where salvation consists in that radical mix of life and death, of joy and sorrow, of holding on and letting go, of letting go of that which seems most precious in order to receive an even greater and more precious gift.

The only example I can think of that even comes close to explaining this is when a pregnant woman comes to that point in her pregnancy when the child comes to be born. All she has, all she is, all she has done to hold and nurture and provide and sustain this new life, which has grown in her and which has come from deep inside her and is a part of her like nothing else in the world is, all this has to end and the mother has to release the child in order for it to have life and have it in its abundance. This letting go is accompanied by great pain, which precedes a great joy.

It was a lesson Peter had to learn, and come to accept about Jesus too. What would it profit the mother to hold on to the child and lose the life? And Jesus said to Peter, “What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”

Jesus had a larger viewer of what that life entailed, a view that wasn't bound by time and space, by what we see and know, what we can feel and sense.

I was moved again this past week by the remembrances of September 11 th and I come to the conclusion, again, yet again, that the only way, the only way, any of us, especially those who lost loved ones in those great tragedies, could ever hope to find any peace at all, is if we come to accept that larger view of life that Jesus' death and resurrection opened up to us, it's what sustains me in my living and which will comfort me and you, in our dying.

Amen.

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost - September 6, 2009
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

After arguing a brilliant case and receiving a favorable verdict the attorney leaned over to his client, the defendant and said, “Now that you have been acquitted of all charges, tell me truly, Are you guilty?” The client looked at his lawyer and said, “I thought I was- no, I'm sure I was, but after hearing your amazing argument in court this morning, I am beginning to think that I am innocent after all!”

While arguments may be compelling at times, it often takes a lot to really change our minds on an issue or belief. We often believe our opinion or viewpoint to be ultimate truth (or at least the best version of the truth in circulation). We humans also tend to gravitate toward black and white thinking when a new concept or idea conflicts with something that we held as fact. Our idea is right and the new idea if rejected as wrong outright, is at least to be held in suspicion. It is only when we humbly acknowledge that our knowledge is finite however that we can begin to know anything at all. And while in the political arena changing one's mind might be regarded as flip- flopping and could cost a candidate an election, it is actually a sign of intellectual maturity, wisdom and the mark of a great leader. Edward de Bono the Maltese Psychologist and Writer , and a leading authority in field of creative thinking once said, “If you never change your mind, why have one.”

Today's readings from Holy Scripture pushes us to expand our minds, suspend our opinions and to be radically open to learning something new just as it pushed those who first encountered these words as a part of the oral tradition before it was recorded for our benefit. In Isaiah we hear words of hope which may not be easily embraced. In James, we are pushed to understand faith as a verb and in the Gospel we see teachers becoming students and social outcasts playing the role of sage. Before we jump into the lessons, I want to open our minds a little more by sharing an old story that has helped me do the same.

Once upon a time there was a farmer that had a small farm in a quiet country village. While the farm wasn't very big, he was able to plant enough crops to feed himself and his family and sell some of the surplus to take care of other necessities. He had a loyal old mule that pulled the plow and enabled him to till plant and harvest his crops. His mule also pulled his cart full of produce into town and took his family to the country church on Sunday. One labor day, the small village decided to have a celebration in the village square with a pig roast, and music and in the evening, fireworks. Well no one told the old mule about the fireworks and when they began he was dosing in the field next to barn. He awoke and was quite convinced that the world was ending as he saw the sky light up and heard the thundering booms. He knew it wasn't thunder and lightening because the sky was otherwise clear and all of the stars and the moon were visible. So the old mule did what anyone would do, he started to run as fast as he could in a panic. Because it was dark in the field the old mule did not see the old well and he plunged down the hole. The water had dried up, years ago, and amazingly the mule was unhurt in the fall. The next day the farmer searched high and low for the old mule and heard a faint braying coming from the well. He called together two of his friends from the village after he decided he could not rescue the animal alone. One friend said, “Hopeless” the other said, “Impossible”, so the three of them decided to put the mule out of its misery quickly by burying it. As they heaved the contents of their shovels down the hole, the old mule felt what he imagined to be a light shower of dirt and he shook his back and the dirt gathered around his hooves. He then stomped a bit on the dirt and he noticed he was about an inch higher than he was before. As the dirt keep coming, he kept shaking and inch by inch, you get the picture a hopeless situation is overcome. The impossible became possible and hope replaced hopelessness. (Burns, George W, 101 Healing Stories… John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken , NJ , 2005 pg 56)

This past week in the news we heard the disturbing story of Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was abducted from a bus stop in 1991 when she was 11 years old and held captive for 18 years in a backyard shack, by her captors, Nancy and Phillip Garrido. She and the two children are now free, but she most likely did not escape earlier due to a condition known as Stockholm Syndrome a psychological phenomenon named after a kidnapping event that occurred on August 24, 1973 at the Sveriges Kreditbank, one of the largest banks in Stockholm , Sweden , where four abductees developed a bond with their captors. The bond begins with a sense of gratitude toward the captor for not being killed and then progresses to a trust and the belief that the captors actually have the victim's best interest in mind. A resistance of being rescued develops along with a distrust of would be rescuers. Finally the victim usually begins to adopt the captor's perspective and eventually there is no desire for escape.

Sometimes we also develop unhealthy bonds with repressive cultural and societal forces and ideologies. We befriend demonic behaviors, exploitative policies and violent and destructive practices. We get comfortable or we believe that we are powerless to change anything or worse yet we start to adopt these unwanted perspectives as our own. How do we achieve liberation when we can become so entrenched in sin?

In the first lesson, we encounter a portion of Isaiah called Deutero- Isaiah, which was probably penned at the end of the exilic period. If you recall the Southern kingdom of Judah was conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon in 586 BCE shortly thereafter Jews were taken captive to Babylon . There they were taunted and encouraged to give up their culture, traditions and even their God. It was as if they too were in the bottom of a dry well for nearly fifty years. Then something unexpected happened, the Persian Empire , conquered Babylon and in 538 BCE the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great gave Jews permission to return to their homeland and more than 40,000 Jews started walking home.

Today's text addresses these weak and scared just released captives and tells them to be strong and not to fear. Easier said than done! That is like telling someone that just experienced a gut wrenching loss that they will get over it! Then the text goes on to say that the desert is going to bloom, and the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dumb will sing and the lame will leap…. The reason Isaiah gives for all of these blessings to be possible is because God will be right along side God's people and when God is with you justice happens, healing happens, forgiveness happens, love happens, and hope happens. It must have been hard to hear this good news and accept it. After a couple of generations it must have been hard for many to leave what they considered to be their home in Babylon . To make matters worse, when they did arrive home they had a lot of work to do because the place was a wreck.

How do we react when we hear good news about our freedom in Christ? Don't we too struggle hard to believe it at times? Do we feel as if we are still in the throes of oppression? Have we grown too accustomed to being held captive that we reject freedom?

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is an action figure. He is constantly on the go and wherever he goes he challenges perceptions and invites those around Him to experience true freedom. Jesus used his entire self and every situation to teach. Earlier in Mark, Jesus challenges the Jewish purity laws pertaining to food and eating, and now he challenges the notion of who is “in” and who is “out.” The text says that Jesus went into Tyre , not a place known for its Jewish population. There a Syrophonecian women came and begged at his feet for healing for her daughter. Already we have a scandalous encounter before we even get to the controversial dialogue. A gentile woman approaches a Jewish man. Cultural restraints on both sides would make that a no-no for gender and religious reasons. Jesus seems to hold up that rejection and basically refers to her as a puppy, a little dog and says I have come to nourish the children of God not the doggies. Her response is clever and humble, but she points out that even the lowly dogs get the scraps from the table. Some say this is a learning moment for Jesus since he seems to change his mind. I am not so sure if he actually changes his mind based on the rest of Mark's gospel, but I know he got everyone around him thinking. The event functions like a cerebral can opener. Notice Jesus begins to respond to her original request traditionally, as any Jewish Rabbi of his day might. If he was to accept her right away, it may have offended his disciples and they may have run off or closed their minds and hearts to what was happening. The mark of a good teacher however is to model for the students what is acceptable and right. Jesus shows his disciples, he shows us, that we can change our preconceived notions, especially when it comes to God's grace and who it is designed for. Jesus starts with a rejection, but then embraces her and her request. This gentile is not an outsider to God, but an insider to whom and with whom God is present and when God is with you justice happens, healing happens, forgiveness happens, love happens, and hope happens. God was also with another Gentile noted earlier, Cyrus the Great whom God used to bring hope in releasing the Jews.

So what about us? If James is a straw epistle as Luther once noted well this passage is the needle in that hay stack. James really sticks it to us and says if we believe God's liberation for us then we are to live it not only for ourselves, but for every one of God's children. We can't leave anyone in a well and say, “Impossible!” “Hopeless!” If we are not being held captive and we have enough food to eat and adequate medical care, we can't rest from our labor until our neighbor is also free, nourished and healthy for if we do our faith is dead. If we judge someone as unworthy of our effort, we judge ourselves. James defines faith as a verb and we are being called into action now. But how can we love and accept, liberate and even celebrate those who differ most from us? How can we accept people of differing ethnicity, people of differing political views, from different socioeconomic backgrounds, of a different gender, of a different sexual orientation, or even those with a different religion?

We can because God is with us and when God is with God's people justice happens, healing happens, forgiveness happens, love happens, and hope happens.

If there is an issue that you are struggling with today, or a well that you seem to be in, or if you know a neighbor, a sister, a brother or any other child of God that is hope starved, take a page out of the Syrophonesian woman's play book and seek Jesus' help. Let us get on our knees a little more often and ask for healing, strength and the power to change the fate of others and to let God continually transform our minds and hearts. Then let us rise in the sure and certain hope of our baptismal promise, the promise that God walks with us, and in the strength of the Spirit and let us remember that while we are not innocent, we have been acquitted and forgiven.

Brothers and Sisters we are free to love and serve the Lord and all of God's children because God is indeed with us and when God is with us justice happens, healing happens, forgiveness happens, love happens, and hope happens. Amen.

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost - August 30, 2009
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

Our God is close…Oh so close…So close to comfort. Can you feel that comfort?

In today's Gospel lesson, Jesus talks about the purpose of the law and how God's children are to relate to the law. In the verses that make up our lesson and also the ones that the crafters of the lectionary decided to circumvent, Jesus states that the stuff we ingest goes into our stomach and then into the sewer. That which we eat can not contaminate our holy state of being. The stuff that we generate internally, which seeps from our mouths in the form of words, or emerge from us in the form of actions or things that we fail to produce in the form of non-actions can subtract from our sacred state and make us unclean, common, unhallowed, and defiled.

Jesus' is on the defensive, but he is being quite offensive. We might hear this story and think that Jesus is giving a royal flush to the observance of the Law or Torah with which the Pharisees were obsessed. Our grace dominant theology might even lead us to shout a little… “You tell them Jesus! Tell them what they can to do with their law.” But do we really understand Jesus' words and Jesus' challenge to us today?

This week a blurb surfaced in the news about the appendix. Darwin believed it to be a vestige, a rudimentary organ which outlived its purpose after humans stopped eating raw leaves. Scientists have now determined that its function was more immunological and less digestive. This small sack that hangs off of our intestines would aid our immune system by helping to repopulate our gut with good bacteria after a terrible case of diarrhea. Sort of like an emergency container of Activia . Perhaps if Jamie Lee Curtis did a couple of television commercials for the appendix it would help raise its image among organs- ya think?

Today our immune system is not challenged as much and the appendix is not called upon to work. Our appendix therefore doesn't maintain a good physique, it gets fat and lazy and sometimes even infected. Scientists hope that by finding ways to challenge our immune system regularly, we may decrease the almost pandemic prevalence of auto-immune diseases and help prevent appendicitis and other serious conditions that develop from inaction.

We can apply this correlation between lethargy and health to our physical being in general. We don't hunt and gather as our ancestors had and the closest we might get to that is to watch a National Geographic special or an episode of Survivor Man . We drive to the store, wheel a cart down the isle, and the most exercise we get from that activity is putting away our stuff when we get home. The result is that we are generally overweight and we have mobility problems because of our weight. We need new knees and hips and our cholesterol climbs as does our blood pressure.

Mentally we also tend to problem solve less and instead ingest a steady stream of gossip and sensationalized news on television and radio. We accept the advice of self proclaimed experts and suspend critical thinking. We become swollen with information, and addicted to the speed and volume by which we can receive it. We forget about the natural link between information and action and instead become media zombies.

Spiritually, dare I say we also run the risk of a having an acute “spiriticitis” or “faithicitis.” We hear the Good news of the gospel and smile. We think to ourselves, “… that Jesus , what a guy!” We say, “You know, one day I'm going to do such and such for the Lord”, and the day never comes. We pick churches like fast food restaurants. We want it our way. We shy away from being challenged and our faith grows cold and lethargic. We stop making leaps of faith and due to spiritual atrophy we can barely manage a baby step.

Does any of this resonate with you? It resonates with me.

So what was so wrong with the way that the Pharisees were living? They weren't being lazy. Can both action and inaction be wrong? Is Jesus putting us in a double bind?

The Pharisees were devoted to following the letter of the law. According to our first lesson this should be a good thing. There is a very close connection between God and the law and in following the law the Pharisees believed they would get closer to God. They seemed to have slid down the slippery slope of observance and to the hard ground of idolatry. They lost sight of the intention of the law. Jesus gets in their faces, too close for their comfort, to get them to acknowledge their spiritual nearsightedness so that he can do some corrective vision surgery in their hearts.

The intention of the entire law of God was the same back then as is today. It is to keep us safe and to remind us of the, “Giver of every perfect gift” to paraphrase the opening line of our epistle for today in the first chapter of James. The law is a gift from God. In Deuteronomy the people are reminded that their God is unlike the gods of their neighbors because their God is close by whenever they call. Following the law gives life. The few verses that are omitted from our lesson today remind the hearers that those who abandon the law abandon God and find death.

It is perhaps also important to note that Deuteronomy was written after the priestly law, near the end of the time of the exile to Babylon . Here the law is recounted and reinterpreted to address contemporary life in modern language. It deals with the problem of the Diaspora and their return to a broken land. In trying to make sense of how and why they were defeated and dragged away they most likely remembered the call of the prophets to repent and believed their divine protection lapsed because of their unfaithfulness. So the message that is pounded home is that faith is measured through allegiance to the law.

If we fast forward again to Jesus' interaction with the Pharisees, we see that the purity laws they were debating with Jesus were more closely associated with the priestly writer who penned Leviticus and not the covenant law given by God directly to the people by Moses. These cultic laws were crafted to help the people of Israel to remain healthy (who can debate the health benefits of frequent hand washing) and to grow their population. It is not then surprising that among the hundreds of priestly laws, many which we do not follow, such as prohibiting the wearing a garment made of two kinds of fabrics, we find a statement that renounces homosexuality.

So we are again reminded that committing ourselves to the study of the context and purpose of scripture is crucial for all people of faith. We should not apply the law arbitrarily and apply scripture in a way that disregards the original context and the current context. This is precisely what Jesus is trying to teach today.

So how can we going about receiving the life that comes through adherence to the law as we hear in Deuteronomy without becoming Pharisaical nearsighted hypocrites? And what kind of protection do we receive when we follow the law? After all it sounds like a big undertaking, so we need to know what is in it for us… Right?

Perhaps that is how the Pharisees felt too. They needed to know how they would benefit from changing the way they were living. How would God reward them? Remember their goal of following the letter of the law was to feel the closeness of God. How ironic is it that in their tunnel vision they reject and chastise the living Messiah of God. They wanted to be close to God, all they had to do was reach out and touch Him, but instead they cast an eye of judgment, crossed their arms in an arrogant pose and pushed Jesus away.

Early Monday morning Lt. Charles McCarthy and FF Jonathan Croom of the Buffalo Fire Department responded to a report of a person trapped in a burning building on the corner of Bailey and Genesee . They entered the fully involved building and plunged through the floor to a dark place of fire and ash- a place without air to breath, a place of death- an image that FF Croom's mothers said she will awake to every day of her life.

I had the sacred privilege of attending and participating in both of the funeral services on Friday. The passage that Father Joe Bain, the Chief Chaplain of the Buffalo Fire Department, read at Lt. McCarthy's funeral was from Matthew 25. Here is a section of that passage.

“…Come, my Father has given you his blessing. Receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made. 35 I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. 36 I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me…I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me…”

Chaplain Kenny Williams also of the Buffalo Fire Department spoke about FF Croom's unique way of greeting someone. He would grab your hand and pull you in real close. When Chip and Jon heard that there was a report of someone trapped they responded in like manner- to pull that person from isolation and danger into safety. They entered the building to save that persons life. In doing so they acted as agents of God, as images of Christ. Their faith was activated and God walked with them and God even plunged with them. And just as Moses reminded God's people that God was near to them every time they called… God was near Lt. Chip McCarthy and FF Jonathan Croom in their cries and they were delivered, and God will respond to the cries of those who are overcome with grief.

This is how the Lord responds to us also when we cry for help.

To be sure, God loves all of us equally. Those firefighters did not earn any special favor by the way they died. We all earned a special favor by the way our Lord died to get close to us and to draw us near on the cross. But so often we push God away. We become legalistic and isolate or banish another child of God or a group of God's children away from us. We pick and choose laws we wish to follow and use them as weapons against others. We ignore the fact that Christ died for all.

The beautiful witness that Lt. Chip and FF Jon provide for us is that of understanding. They “Got it.” They understood that they were, as James puts it, “first fruits”. Traditionally, the first produce harvested was dedicated and offered up to God. They offered themselves and all that they had been given back to God. When we respond to the cries of others, we honor Christ's sacrifice and actually become for others an image of Christ, just as Chip and Jon did.

At the beginning of Senator Edward Kennedy's funeral Mass, Father Monan said that in this sacred space on this day the private life of faith and prayer and the public life of compassion and service come together and we see that it was indeed one life.

When God heard the cries of God's people and responded by sending his son, who came to teach about love and the proper use of the law which is to bring about a deep love for the giver of the law. Jesus was killed because he explained the missing link between worship and practical living; between orthodoxy and orthopraxy. If you love the Lord, you will live your life to help others know the love of God through you. Never will you seek to harm another with your words or actions, but instead you will be near to them when they call even if it kills you figuratively or literally.

Jesus was killed in teaching us, but He Is Risen Indeed! Alleluia! -And although we may die many small deaths one true physical death….. We too will rise, because God can't stand being apart from us. That is how much love God has for you and me. God will pull us close.

And rest assured like the phoenix rising from the ashes, but even more brilliant than that, Lt. McCarthy and FF. Croom are living into the promise of the resurrection as we speak.

Our God is close, oh so close, so close to comfort. Can you feel that comfort?

Twelveth Sunday after Pentecost - August 23, 2009
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14) Amen.

There are times when we are called to trust and to let go of preconceived notions of right and wrong, good and evil, of what is beautiful and what is ugly, and even of what is benevolent and what is wicked. For instance, all of you are most likely familiar with the classic film, The Wizard of OZ . If you watched that film at least once, you probably would feel confident that you could make a few value judgments. Let's see if I am right about this. Please call out the first word that comes to mind when I say the following:

The Witch of the West (wicked)

Glinda (Good)

The Wizard (benevolent/ helpful)

Flying Monkey's (bad/ scary)

According to the movie your interpretation would be correct, but things are not always what they appear to be. At least that is the premise behind the Broadway Hit, Wicked , that I, along with two dozen other members from Holy Trinity were privileged to experience during our youth trip to New York City this past July. Wicked makes you rethink everything we know about OZ . The plot goes something like this: We meet Elphaba, the green skinned older daughter of the mayor of Munchkin Land who is caring for her sickly younger sister Nessarose. She is invited to study magic at Shiz University and has a rather tough time of it between worrying about her sister and being ridiculed for…well…being green. Her princess of a roommate, the very blonde Glinda comes across as arrogant, superficial and later proves to be a cunning opportunist. Early on in the play, Elphaba learns that there is an Animal Suppression Policy at the school and throughout OZ. Up until recently animals coexisted peacefully with humans and had the ability to speak and enjoyed complete freedom. Now animals were disappearing and they were restricted and even caged. Elphaba's concern for equality and justice for all animals is as clear as her concern for her ill sister. She is further shocked and horrified upon discovering that The Wizard is responsible for the policy and that he even imprisoned Doctor Dillamond, a goat, and the last animal left on the faculty. (It is also interesting to note that Dr. Dillamond wore preaching tabs on his shirt indicating that he was a member to the clergy- although that was never explicitly acknowledged!) Due to his caged imprisonment, Dr. Dillamond even lost his ability to speak, a byproduct of oppression. Elphaba vows to reverse the injustice, but is demonized by the Wizard who was also in control of the official press and news media. She is then labeled with the name “ The Wicked Witch of the West.” Meanwhile, Glinda seems less morally bound than her roommate Elphaba and in all of the commotion sees the possibility for her own career advancement and seizes it. She does however make some kind overtures toward Elphaba, acknowledging her as a friend, a role that takes a while for her to grow into and embrace . But perhaps befriending someone we perceive to be so different from us is a slow process. So to quickly summarize, The Wicked Witch of the West, is actually the kind, caring Elphaba. Glinda the good witch is really an opportunist who is just getting around to doing some good here and there. The Wizard is not only a sham; he is Wicked. In my research I came across a bit of irony that I am not even sure the directors were aware of. The entomological root for the word wicked comes from the Old English word Wicca which means wizard! So I guess you could say wizards are wicked by definition. Oh yea, and flying monkeys are just flying monkeys.

Jesus seemed to always challenge his followers to trust him and to see new truths and new realities, beyond their preconceived notions. By now in the sixth chapter of John, the disciples think they know Jesus' mode of operation. He is powerful; multiplying loaves and fish, healing the sick, and mysteriously crossing stormy seas. He will be, they believe, their meal ticket and their protection. Then Jesus starts this crazy talk about eating his flesh and drinking his blood and he is insistent about it! This is out of their realm of expectation and they are bothered by his cannibalistic words.

Jesus asks the question, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” In effect telling them that they haven't seen anything yet- wait till the cross! The word that is translated as offend is skandalizo in the Greek from which we get the word scandalize. Literally it means to cause someone to stumble and to distrust someone they ought to trust; to be annoyed, displeased and indignant. The word that we know as scandal meaning malicious gossip is a reborrowing from the 1600's from what it means to be literally a dis-grace.

What are some of the things that we find offensive? What do we feel threatened by? What do we find scandalous? Do these things cause us to stumble in faith? What issues make us distrust someone or something that we ought to trust in? What annoys us and displeases us causing us to be indignant? Senseless killing? War? Poverty? Premature death of a loved one? Suffering? Inequality? Injustice? Someone wearing plaid and pinstripes together? (just making sure all are awake!)

The way that we view sexuality is the product of many factors such as what we were taught by our parents and teachers; information gleaned through reading, studying and the media; and of course though our own personal experiences and relationships. Do any of us understand the complex subject of sexuality in its entirety? I believe, as Saint Paul writes in the 13 th chapter of 1 Corinthians, that “We see through a glass dimly…” and that all of our answers are incomplete. With that said however, often our moral opinions on matters of intimacy are strong opinions which are not easily negotiated. Last week I informed the congregation that during the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 's Church Wide Assembly, our church would be considering a social statement for adoption as a teaching document for the church. In a letter addressed to all ordained and rostered leaders of the ELCA which I received yesterday, our Presiding Bishop, Mark Hanson had the following to say,

“…The assembly adopted 676-338 -- precisely two-thirds of those voting -- “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust,” the ELCA's 10th social statement, with minor editorial amendments. It also adopted a series of implementing resolutions with amendments. This theological and teaching document builds on the key Lutheran principles of justification by grace and Christian freedom to serve the neighbor. It emphasizes that central to our vocation, in relation to human sexuality, is the building and protection of trust in relationships. It therefore affirms that we are called to be trustworthy in our human sexuality and to build social institutions and practices where trust and trustworthy relationships can thrive. The social statement addresses marriage, same-gender relationships, families, protecting children, friendships, commitment, social responsibility and moral discernment. Regarding same-gender committed relationships, the social statement says that this church is not in agreement and recognizes the different perspectives which are present among us.

Our assembly also adopted resolutions proposed by the Church Council based on those contained in a “Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies.” The actions direct that changes be made to churchwide policy documents to make it possible for those in committed same-gender relationships to serve as rostered leaders in the ELCA…

I invite you into important, thoughtful, prayerful conversation about what all of this means for our life in mission together. What is absolutely important for me is that we have this conversation together …”

Undoubtedly some will say, as the many followers of Jesus said in our gospel lesson, “This is a difficult teaching.” Some may even abandon the conversation and leave the ELCA. Being faithful is never easy. But perhaps even those who lament this decision now can with God's help continue to trust in the Body of Christ and the expression of that Body known as the ELCA. In the first lesson for today we recalled that Joshua asks the tribes of Israel to make a decision about who they will serve. Since many of their ancestors worshiped other gods, it may have been difficult to choose against family tradition or values. But when the time for the decision came, the people of Israel announced, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed… Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.”

For those who celebrate the social statement and subsequent resolutions adopted by our Church Wide Assembly, these actions are viewed as a liberating action benefiting God's people. For those who disagree, perhaps recalling how God has liberated you and loved you through this church can help you to trust during this difficult time. Like Peter, we have all heard Jesus' words of eternal life here in this place- here in this church… So how could we go away from here? Where could we go?

While at his dinning room table in January of 1538 Luther stated that the Church is in the form of a Servant “…the philosophers are offended by the form of the church, which is subject to scandals and sects, because they think of the church as pure, holy, unspotted, and the dove of God. It's true that the church has this appearance in God's sight, but in the eyes of the world the church is like its bridegroom Christ: hacked to pieces, marked with scratches, despised, crucified, mocked.”

Our Lord underwent tremendous suffering and death for speaking out against inequality, injustice, hypocrisy, oppression and for extending a loving and healing touch to those beloved children of God that society deemed to be unworthy. We are all guilty of hypocrisy and promoting injustice, inequality and rejecting and judging others- the same offenses that Jesus gave himself over to correct; we are all in need of the forgiveness of Christ. We need Christ to touch us for we are all unworthy servants. We did not earn our baptism, our right to feast on the precious body and blood of our Lord, the privilege to serve as leaders in Christ's Church. It is especially true that none of us can earn the right to serve as a minister of word and sacrament! Yet Christ makes us who are unworthy, worthy to receive and to serve. Now is a time when we must humbly serve each other and our God. If we are happy about the recent decisions of the church, we must reach out in love to those who are struggling. If we are lamenting, we need to fight against the urge of cutting off and allow ourselves to continue to be in relationship with others with whom we differ.

Bishop Hansen concluded his pastoral letter the following way…

“We meet one another finally -- not in our agreements or our disagreements -- but at the foot of the cross, where God is faithful, where Christ is present with us, and where, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are one in Christ.”

Brother's and sister's in Christ, there are times when we are called to trust and to let go of preconceived notions of right and wrong, good and evil, of what is beautiful and what is ugly, and even of what is benevolent and what is wicked. This is one of those times.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:7)

Amen.

Friday, August 21, 2009 - Chautauqua Institution - So Many To Choose From!
Scripture: Mark 12:28-34
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Maybe it was because he came from nowhere. Maybe it was because his parents were simple, hardworking but hardly known. Maybe it was because the company he kept was questionable if not a little

Better still, maybe it was because the message he brought was a new message and it didn't pay homage to the status quo or to the party in power or to the religious elite of the day.

Whatever the underlying reason may be, it seemed as if he was always being tested, his words perpetually challenged, his worldview, cosmology and soteriology always questioned.

In this case, on this particular day they asked him a seemingly harmless question, harmless save for the fact that it was difficult if nigh impossible to answer without offending someone or some group or some ideology.

You need to remember, the religious elite in Jesus' day occupied many a Sabbath afternoon debating the finer points of religious law. They had few distractions, no hockey tournaments to drive the kids to, no Meet the Press to watch, no Sunday Times or Starbucks or Barnes and Noble with which to while away the day, and so they gathered to debate and discuss the finer points of religious law.

They had worked out an elaborate system, much like the demerit system of our military, where every point of law had a certain level or degree of importance and along with it, a corresponding punishment associated with its transgression. Historians and archeologists have discovered lists dating back to this period which included upwards to 650 different laws as well corresponding lists of consequences attached to their transgressions.

Therefore when the scribe put the question to Jesus, “which is the greatest commandment in the law?” it would have been difficult and potentially dangerous to answer it off the cuff and without a thorough analysis of the audience gathered there that day.

So, Jesus begins his answer, with what would be a safe answer. He quotes from the Book of Deuteronomy, the 6 th chapter and reads words there that every faithful Jew knows by heart. They are spoken as the first words that fall from your lips in the morning and the last words you speak before you go to bed. They are written on tiny scrolls and placed in ornamental boxes and affixed to the doorposts and/ or lintels of the entryway to every faithful Jew's home, and every time you enter your home and every time you leave it, you touch the mezuzah and recite or at least call to mind these words:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” The passage continues, “And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Pretty good answer and a pretty safe bet! But then, he goes on, “And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There are times when I wish he hadn't said that, because adding that piece changes everything.

Because you know I can convince myself that I'm doing a pretty good job loving God. I'm faithful in my prayer life, I tithe, I worship regularly and faithfully, I have the best of intentions when it comes to listening to the preacher, but that coin has two sides on it, sometimes the preacher doesn't do such a good job of keeping up his end of the bargain, so let's call that one a wash.

I'm a member of the worship committee, I come to work days when the property committee calls one and I've even been on the stewardship committee and if that's not loving the Lord with all your heart and soul and might, you try it. I mean, even when the Pastor wouldn't call on old mean, tight fisted, still has the first dollar she ever earned Mrs. Magillicutty, I went to her house to talk to her about her pledge.

I know the liturgy by heart, don't even need the book, I've got my 25 year usher badge and all my Sunday School medallions from way back. When I pass Jared Jacobson in Bestor plaza, he knows who I am and calls me by name and well, that's like being on a first name basis with Jesus.

God and me, you see, we're like that.

Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” I think I've got that down.

Jesus said, love the Lord with all your intellect, and with all your emotion, and as if everything in your life depends upon that love, which it does. And then he added, “and your neighbor as yourself.”

Aye, there's the rub. Because while I sit in my beautiful church, with its marble floors and stained glass windows, while I sit in the Amphitheater, located on the pristine grounds of this magnificent place, and I listen to a magnificent organ, made even more so by an enormous and faith-filled gentleman at the keyboard, and I get to be moved closer to God each day by a 50 voice choir, and get to offer God's word to you here with a wonderful support staff all around me making sure the microphones pick up my voice and the lights illumine my texts, and that there's always a glass of cool water waiting right here, with a staff of devoted lay people, with Ed by my side and you coming faithfully each day, it's easy for me to love God, then and here.

But then I'm asked to take the good word of the gospel and apply it to those I meet on the way, when I leave Camelot and return home, when you hand in yoru gate pass for the last day, when I go back to work, when I return to school, when I'm having a bad day, when I don't feel well, when I'm tired, when I'm confronted with anything that bursts my bubble or upsets my apple cart, and then the words, love your neighbor as yourself, suddenly become more of a challenge and less of a comfort.

Love your neighbor as yourself means you have to set him before yourself, it means that the neighbor's needs are considered before my own, that my highest priority is not how I feel, or that I'm tired, or that I had a bad day, but how does my neighbor feel, does he need to rest, is she hungry?

Our government may have been at its worst, but our nation was at its best when it came time to respond to the tragedies in New Orleans and 9/11. Historically, as a nation we've been a little behind the curve when it comes to recognizing the seriousness of the plight of our brothers and sisters around the world when tragedy strikes them, but given the opportunity and told the truth, the people in this nation are a loving and compassionate people, a generous and selfless community.

But there is a tendency toward narcissism fueled by ignorance that has plagued us from time to time and we need therefore to take the challenge of the gospel more seriously every day, lest in contemplating our own navels, we neglect to acknowledge and appreciate the incredible gift of the “other” that is presented to us in those with whom we share this planet.

This has been the most incredible week for Debby and me. I had no idea what to expect from this week at Chautauqua, but I have been delighted, and taught and transformed, not by the voluminous amount of material, facts and statistics that have come my way, but by the interaction I have been blessed to experience with those who have come from Cuba as they have shared their faith, their culture, their heritage, their joys and their sorrows with us this week.

What does it take to fully engage another person? What does it take to clearly hear what another person has to say? What does it take before you are able to see with someone else's eyes and feel what they feel in their hearts? Jesus had it right, you need to lose yourself and the selfishness that comes from sin, that tendency we have to curve in on ourselves, as Luther said. You see it all the time, I see it in myself, my world becomes so small, that even the slightest disruption sets me off. My own wants and needs take on a life of their own, to the exclusion of everything and everyone else. And its takes Jesus to smack me upside the head with his word that I am not the center of the universe, God is, and that while I am an integral part of Creation and creation would be incomplete without me, it is incomplete without you too, and without you in my life, my life is diminished.

Several years ago now, My wife Debby told me that we had to take a vacation. She told me that I was cranky, that my “jerk” quotient \had gotten out of hand and that I was impatient, intolerant, snapping at our children, short tempered and in general not a whole lot of fun to be around. SO she planned this great trip for us to the US Virgin Islands, a place I had never been before. But she knew I lliked the ocean and swimming and snorkeling and that a week in the sun and looking at fish would be curative.

So we went, and it was everything I hoped it would be and Debby said that I slowly emerged from my curmudeonness and some of the Charlie she knew and loved was coming back to life. We snorkeled every day, and on ourlast day, she noticed that I kept diving down and resurfacing and kept calling her over to see what I just saw, saying, Debby, come here, dive down, you have to see this! She indulged me for a time, but then finally said, “Charlie, I don't have to dive down I can see it from here.” That's when it dawned on her, that the reason I kept diving down and the reason I kept inviting her to do the same, was because I didn't have my glasses on, and without them, the magnificent kingdom that was just beneath me, remained a dull blur. It was only when I dove down and got close that I could see it in all its magnificence and splendor.

We've been swimming around without our glasses on for much too long, and we've missed the magnificent kingdom that lies just a short swim away. We haven't been along to dive down there and so I thank my new friends from Cuba, for bringing it up close so that I could see it. You have changed my life, your graciousness, your spirit, your faith, your considerable talents, have charmed me and overwhelmed me so much so that for a short time, you have enabled me, indeed all of us, to set ourselves aside and love our neighbors as ourselves, and you have my eternally gratitude.

As do all of you for welcoming me into your lives this week, it has been my privilege to be among you, to share your faith and place, if only for a week, You are my Brigadoon and the day is fast drawing to a close. Until God brings us together again, may He keep you in the palm of His hand. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Amen.

Thursday, August 20, 2009 - Chautauqua Institution - We Have Never Seen Anything Like This!
Scripture: Mark 2:1-12
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

A thousand times would most likely be an exaggeration, but I've probably read it hundreds of times, and yet, when I read it this time, I saw something I'd never seen before.

You just heard it read, but I wonder if you picked up on it.

Let me read it to you again, from Mark's gospel, “When Jesus returned from Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door.”

Did you catch it? Mark tells us that Jesus was home. No other time in all of Scripture is there a reference to Jesus being at home, all the other passages make reference to him going home, or returning home, that is to Nazareth. But this time he said he was at home. Now perhaps I'm making more of this than I should and that I let my imagination run wild, but to me there's something special about thinking about Jesus at home. What was his home like? What would have been important to him in his own home? Yes, it is true, a la Marcus Borg, Dominic Crossan and the like that we have come too far down the road of defining the Jesus of faith that the Jesus of history is forever lost to us, but in the small quiet places in my own mind, I still find value in imagining Jesus as he sits before me in a chair just as much as I imagine him sitting at the right hand of the Father.

So, the fact that this was HIS home, and HIS roof that these four men dug through, makes the point hit home even more. It wasn't just any house that these guys ripped into, it was Jesus' house. Mark tells us that due to the many healings that Jesus was doing in those days, the crowds around him everywhere he went, had grown to such large proportion that it was hard to get even a glimpse of him, no less get close enough to get his attention or to be healed by him, and so these friends had to resort to something radical, something “out of the box” as we say these days. And to drive the point home, so that you get a feel for what this act of boldness meant, this afternoon, I would like to suggest that we gather at the Bell Tower down on the waterfront, because it's close to where I would like to take you. From there we'll head over head over to President and Mrs. Becker's cottage, a lovely place, to talk with him about some of the issues of the day, and should we happen to find the door closed, or the porch filled with others, I'm going to ask you to bring your pick axes and wire cutters, so that should we need to get in, we'll have the tools available. From there, we head over to the Hall of Missions, to discuss a few matters of religion with Joan Brown Campbell, the roof is fairly high there, so just bring your glass cutters and crow bars.

So, having given you some new perspective on this story, you can see that what these four men do is really quite unbelievable, isn't it? It starts with carrying their friend, from wherever it was that he lived, all to way to Jesus' house, then carrying him UP onto the roof, and then, because the roof was most likely made up of sun baked clay and thatch, start digging it up. You can almost imagine Jesus, standing in the center of room, looking up and suddenly seeing the sunshine, and thinking, “What is this?”

Mark doesn't give us all the details, but he does tell us that this poor man's friends were successful, at least successful enough to get there friend into Jesus' presence.

They were ingenious, crafty, bold, persistent, perhaps even rude, but that was not what got their friend healed. They possessed an even more powerful and effective agent to secure the salvation of their friend. They loved him. Those who love you possess something that strength, courage, and persistence do not have. Because, as St. Paul says in one of the most read passages in all of Scripture, love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Those who love you are willing to do whatever they have to do on your behalf. The old Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell Motown hit spoke an eternal truth, no mountain is too high, no river too wide, no obstacle too great for those who are motivated by love. We have heard witness after witness this week from our new friends from Cuba about this power that love has, and our own lives witness to the same power.

Never underestimate the power of love or how valuable the gift of friends is.

Notice therefore, that the paralytic in the story does nothing…he doesn't even have a name. In a very real way, he doesn't have to, because the story is not about him, it's about the power of love.

The story goes on….When Jesus saw their faith…read love…love for their friend and love for God evidenced by their certainty that if they only could get their friend into Jesus' presence, he would heal him…so, when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the crippled man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone? Jesus, sensing their discomfort, asks, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up and take your mat and walk'?

Either way the man is healed. Either way the man who has been strapped to a pallet his entire life, who has seen his dignity and his pride and his sense of self deteriorate day after day, having to rely on the generosity if not the pity of others to bring him food, to clean his soiled clothes, to wash his body, to bandage his sores. The crippled man probably has had a few conversations with God over the years, why me, why this, what did I do to deserve this?

In ancient times, in Jesus' day, people thought there was a direct connection between the sinfulness of a person and their disease. Recall the other gospel story about the man born blind and how not only his sinfulness was questioned but that of his parents. I'm sure the man had had words with God. “Your sins are forgiven,” Jesus says. The love of God surpasses anything you think might have been tallied up on your permanent record. At this point whether the man was even healed or not, wouldn't matter. His sins were forgiven, His relationship with God was restored, walking was icing on the cake. Better to have your heart right with God and a body falling apart, than to have a body with everything working and a soul with no home.

And yet, even in the midst of the miracle, some always question the motivation, some always revert to the rule book. “I don't care about the man, you're not allowed to do that!” “You don't have the authority,” read, we didn't give you permission. Jesus says, “It's not about the rules, and all things considered, it's not about you, it is about the man, and that's all that really matters.” Some can't see the new way because the old way and the old rules are blocking their view.

I've been moved this whole week by the stories I have heard and the facts I have learned about Cuba. I always fancied myself a student of history, but history doesn't tell the whole story, as Pastor Ortega Suarez said so powerfully yesterday. We have heard for three days now, and there's more to come, that the story of Cuba and its people is so much more than what the details of history have told us about colonialism, isolationism, communism, trade embargoes travel restrictions and the like. The story of Cuba, the true story of Cuba lies in the hearts of its people, in the love they have for one another, for their culture, for their heritage, for the place they see themselves occupying not just in the global economy, but in the whole of God's creation and perhaps even more importantly, their place and role in the whole history of salvation.

We stand on the edge of what is or could be a new age, on the mountaintop overlooking on the one side what has been and on the other a new future on a road as yet untrod. In a certain sense, as we face this uncertain path, we are both cripples, one crippled by circumstance the other by fear. We need our friends to love us and bring us to that place of healing and only love can do it.

•  It's what drove a 73 year old woman to drive from house to house in the rural Cuban countryside in hopes of getting elected to a job that will pay her no salary, give her no reimbursement for her job related expenses, offer her no tax deduction, really offer her nothing save for the privilege of working for her people...

•  It's what droves a desperate family to put their child on a plane and say goodbye, perhaps forever, so that that child might have a better life…

•  It's what keept an architect working to preserve the country he loves, to stay in that country and endure being separated from his family for 30 years.

•  It's what made another man dedicate his life to serving God in the face of an atheistic government, to continue to be a minister of the gospel even though you aren't allowed to pray in public, or have a church picnic in the town square, even though the church you chose to save has no hope of supporting you or your family, doing what you feel called to do and trusting only in God alone.

•  It makes digging through a roof seem like an easy task.

Amen.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - Chautauqua Institution - Oh No, Not Again!
Scripture: Luke 11:5-12
The Rev Dr. Charles D. Bang

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The passage you just heard read is perhaps the most difficult passage we will encounter this week. As do all of our readings this week, this one speaks of the neighbor, in Luke's version, he has Jesus call him a friend. He says, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for another friend of mine has arrived and I have nothing to set before him.”

I immediately think of my neighbors, with whom we have great relationships.

We love them and they us, they have stood by us through thick and thin, but would I knock on their door at midnight because one of you stopped by to see Debby and me and I had no wheat thins left to serve with the wine and cheese? I don't know if I would.

Suppose then, that we did not live in turn of the century Buffalo Victorian homes but instead, were a typical middle eastern family in Jesus' day who lived in a one room house and after the evening meal and the story telling and scripture reading and prayers for the day were over, the whole family spread out their Aero beds in the main room, side by side, and all crawled under the covers together to get warm and promptly fell asleep until the needy neighbor came by an hour after Jay Leno had already gone off the air.

Jesus says that in this instance, the father would speak to his friend through the door, and tell them they've all gone to bed and if he rose and rummaged through the house for your crackers he would succeed in waking everyone up, including the baby, so, sorry, go away.

But my need is great and so is my faith in my neighbor, so I ring the bell again, and again and again, and finally, not so much because he loves me but rather so that he can finally get some sleep, he opens the door and gives me what I need.

Before we go any further, we need to recognize first, that ancient Palestine is not Chautauqua and Jesus' day is not our day, and the culture of ancient Palestine, indeed the culture of the Middle East, then and now, is not our culture. So we have to be careful. What we need to understand first, is that in the Middle Eastern culture of Jesus day, hospitality was not a matter of etiquette, it was instead, a way of life. When a person came to your house, or your tent, or your camp, in a very real way, their life was in your hands. It comes from a nomadic background. If you are out in the inhospitable landscape of ancient Palestine, indeed as much of the Middle East is, if after wandering in the desert, you came upon someone's tent or town or home, your survival very much depended on their hospitality. Water was scarce, so also shelter and food. And so when someone came to YOUR door, you would hope that they would be equally as hospitable to you.

I come from Buffalo, and though different in almost every way from ancient Palestine, in one way it is the same. In the winter, it's cold, sometimes deadly cold. And should someone not have shelter, or be unable to find a warm place to get out of the cold, their lives would be in danger just the same. Buffalo is known as the city of good neighbors, and some of that comes from the climate we endure, in a very real way, we have to be good neighbors, because we need each other.

This is an important understanding to keep in mind when reading passages like this one, as well as others, for instance, like the story of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah, when the visitors come to ask him about his “guests.” His actions toward them and his tenacious defense of his guests, even to the point where he offers his daughters has more to do with the ancient behavioral codes regarding hospitality than they do with the issues of promiscuity or even homosexuality. But that's for another day and another sermon.

When the friend in today's story is bold enough to ask his neighbor in the middle of the night for help, it's not only his persistence that wins out, but also the Middle Eastern way of giving what hospitality demands.

And after telling this story Jesus adds this well known saying, “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds.

but then this: “ Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

Standing alone and out of context with the rest of the chapter, if not the book, the phrase is a strange one. There are times when my children drive me nuts, but never to the point that if they ask for an egg I'd hand them a scorpion. It makes no sense, except if you read it within the full context of the chapter.

But what you don't have before you and what we didn't read to you just a little while ago, was the section that immediately precedes this interchange and that is the disciples come to Jesus in all earnestness and out of appreciation for his relationship with God, and they ask him to teach them how to pray, and he responds with what we have come to call, the Lord's Prayer.

He starts it off with these words, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” And you know the rest, but what you might not have been told is that when he starts the prayer with these words, he does something quite radical, he calls God, in Hebrew, Abba. Now, if you know religious tradition at all, you know that the Jews are quite adamant about the fact that God is not called by name. His holiness, his greatness, his transcendence, his all powerful, all mighty, all knowing presence is simply referred without giving God a name, because to name something is to claim power over it, and that, without starting another sermon, is called idolatry.

So Jesus doesn't call him with a name, as in a proper name, or with adjectives and descriptors, much as we do, Almighty and Merciful Lord, Eternal and gracious creator, he calls him “Daddy”, which is how we would translate Abba.

He calls him Daddy. Now read the passage that follows, if you, an earthly father with all your faults and shortcomings, frailties and failings can give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father, not the distant, formal, all knowing, all powerful omniscient, omnipresent God the Father of your prayers, but rather like the father you know, the father who loves you and whom you call, “Daddy!”

Few of you know me personally, but when I was 6 years old, my parents divorced. We lived with my mom. My father, a career army man, retired from the active military and went to work as the Director of Logistics and Procurement for the United States Department of State, USAID, and was deployed to Indochina for the duration of the war in Vietnam. After that he was working in the Middle East and in South America. Between 1964 and the time of his death in 1989, I had seen my father only 10 times. On those rare occasions when my brother and I were in my father's house, (he had subsequently remarried and had another family with his second wife) on those rare occasions when we were in his house, I never felt like it was my home, never felt comfortable enough in my own father's home, to open the refrigerator and get something to drink or grab a snack late in the evening. It was a strange feeling. I loved my father and respected him and his chosen career, but he was always somehow distant to me.

Years later, when Debby and I had our own children I made a silent pact with God, myself and my children, that I would be a different kind of father to my children, and would we have a different kind of relationship than the one I had with my Dad.

That I would be so much more present and accessible to them, that they would never feel like they couldn't ask for something, that even when they moved out of the house, that the time would never come when they wouldn't feel comfortable walking into the kitchen and acting like they owned the place. So far so good.

So this ongoing conflict in my own life, sets the stage for what I want to tell you this morning, that the kind of God Jesus told us we had, was this kind of God, the kind of God and Father who loves His children beyond measure and who wants on ongoing, intimate and personal relationship with them and who will always feel at home and safe and loved beyond measure.

He told his disciples that THIS kind of heavenly father, is the kind of Father we have, and THIS kind of Father, will give His children what they need. If the neighbor who is not the father, if this same neighbor will respond to the need of the nightly visitor and do so not out of love, but obligation, and perhaps even friendship, what then can we expect from God? What can we expect from our Daddy who loves us?

It was a radical thought, it was to some a scandalous thought, a breach of every known etiquette for prayer and worship, not the way you would approach your King, your Lord, your Master.

Which is why it is such a powerful and beautiful way to think of God, and was so transformative in the way his followers, then and now, approach this God, not as a God to be appeased or feared or one from whom one keeps their innermost thoughts and desires, but instead as the One who knows who I am and what I need, who knows how I act and how I think, who knows what I need before I even form the request in the heart no less the words in my mouth.

“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” Words of comfort and advice from the one who knew his Father best.

For a good bit of time now, I've struggled with how I was going to connect this text to this week. Truth be told, I chose all the texts for thus week based on the theme of neighbor, ones that I thought I could work up and stealing ideas and bit and pieces of other's knowledge and wisdom, in hopes of coming up with a coherent and meaningful message. But this one, out of all the others, was the one that gave me fits.

Until Monday, when I arrived and heard Drs. Sweig and Brown Campbell and Becker talk about what's next, about what to do with our relationship to Cuba and its people, with regard to our government and its relationship to this great neighbor nation. They confessed that they didn't know what was next, or how far they dared push the envelope. But to the one they also said, that they had hoped that this was the beginning of something, that it was the first knock on the door at midnight, the first request of many to come, that they would hope that eventually, this good piece of work would bear fruit and perhaps bear fruit abundantly.

It already has, if only among those gathered on this sacred plain. Keep in mind, therefore, that the whole business started with a man with a vision, twelve of his friends and the promise of a God who loved them. Believe me and trust in God that more and better things will come for your good work here this week.

“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds.: A good motto for Chautauqua.

Amen.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 - Chautauqua Institution - And Who Is My Neighbor?
Scripture: Luke 10:25-36
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

I have been the pastor at Holy Trinity Church in downtown Buffalo for over 25 years. Prior to coming to Buffalo, I served a suburban parish in Liverpool, New York, a first ring suburb to Syracuse. Prior to that I served at Ebenezer Church in San Francisco at the corner of Tower and Market Streets, which meant that half the parish was made up of died-in-the-wool Swedes and the other half gays and lesbians from the center city. Before that I served a town gown parish in Amherst, Massachusetts which had a stable congregation as well as an ever changing group of students from Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, Hampshire College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. My seminary field parish was another suburban parish in Walnut Creek, California, an upscale neighborhood just through the Caldecott tunnel on the other side of Berkeley.

So with that background, one of the things that attracted me to Holy Trinity was that it was a well established congregation tracing its roots back in Buffalo to 1879. Having served congregations in places where people moved in and out of the community in relatively short periods of time, I looked forward to being in one place where I could watch children grow up, get to know generations of families, and on the selfish side, spend more time as a pastor and less time as a recruiter. Well, some of that has come true, I am now performing marriages for children I had baptized and I feel a great sense of groundedness, and I feel I'm a part of the history of a congregation, rather than a visitor. But one needs to be careful for what one wishes, because the down side of course, is that everybody knows my tricks and it's hard to pull any rabbit out of my hat that they haven't seen before. But we have a history and there's a great joy in that.

Since 1879 I am only the fifth senior pastor to serve this great congregation, and I am moving up the longevity list, having just passed numbers 5 and 4. I feel a little like Tiger Woods trying to catch Ben Hogan though, because the next man on the list is Ralph Loew, former pastor and Director of Religion here at Chautauqua, who served the parish for 32 years, and topping the list is Fred Kahler who served for 43 years. If I serve that long I'd be retiring at near 80 in 2026. Neither my wife nor my cardiologist recommends it.

Contrast this record of tenure with the parish I last served. The first five pastors there only lasted a total of 20 years, and the interim pastor who was called in to serve after every vacancy, was the pastor with the longest tenure out of all of them. Thankfully, things have leveled out there and the current pastor has been there for almost 20 years now. I remember when I came there, that same interim pastor said that doing ministry at that church was like ministering to a procession.

Ministering to a procession. It's a great phrase and sums up in its entirety the ministry of that place at that time.

But even though in the parish I serve now there is a great sense of stability and generational continuity, in some ways, the ministry is still ministry to a procession, it's just that the procession moves a little slower. Lord knows that's what describes the ministry here at Chautauqua.

And then there are other church I have known where the procession consists solely in baptisms and funerals, with few people entering or exiting in between. But, make no mistakem it is a procession nonetheless, and like it or not, we're all walking in one. I'd like to think that I'm closer to the back of the procession than to those exiting in the front, but lately I've been noticing that there seems to be a lot more young people around. I mean our president isn't even fifty yet, and my doctor graduated from medical school the same year my daughter entered college. I keep telling him when I was his age, I was skinny too! He nods politely and simply writes another script for Lipitor, the young snot.

But I digress…where was I, oh yeah, ministry to a procession.

Ministry to a procession is not an easy thing to do, because in reality, no matter where you serve, the crowd to whom you are ministering on any given day is different from the crowd you ministered to the day before. Whether you're in a stable congregation or one with a fairly transient membership, whether you're ministering to the same people or different people, the truth is, at any given moment, we are still different people today from the people we were yesterday. Sometimes the circumstances that bring about the change are happy ones, sometimes tragic ones; ask any new parent, any newlywed, any recently widowed, or handicapped, or diagnosed. Life changes and we with it, all day every day.

Ministry to a procession is hard, because you never really know with whom or with what you're going to be faced. And all things considered, it would be a heck a of a lot easier if people stayed the same, not as much fun but certainly easier.

It would be infinitely easier to be pastor to a congregation of all 30 -40 years olds, of all whom own their own home, have 2 children of junior high school age and incomes of 50,000 or more, all equally healthy, who watch the same TV shows, read the same books, have jobs with similar expectations and hours; as opposed to trying to relate to, or preach to, or meet the expectations set by, as diverse a congregation as this one here this morning.

Quite frankly it would be a lot easier to write a sermon for you here at Chautauqua if you didn't come from all over the country, if you all had the same political persuasion, or if you were all Lutheran (which, by the way wouldn't be all that bad. I put brochures up at the gazebo and there are new coffee mugs at the Antheneum that say “Luther was right!” I tried to slip some in at the Presbyterian House yesterday at coffee hour, but they were watching those mugs so closely I couldn't get away with it. You think they were made of gold. Well, you know, everything in good order and everything in its place….

Doctors would love to be able to cure every illness with the same prescription;

Surgeons repair bodies with the same procedure and have it work every time and not have a stitch pop, or a vessel wall break of a heart quit or a kidney stop;

Lawyers service clients whose circumstances and needs are universal;

Teachers teach children with the same skills and abilities, with the same high levels of motivation and parental support;

Parents would love child rearing to be consistent among first born, middle children and last born, wouldn't it be great if the child rearing skills you acquired with the first one had ANYTHING to with or were in any way compatible and successful with the second child, or subsequent children? Lord knows it didn't work for us. We didn't get any better at it at all! The skill set we acquired with number one was totally useless with number two, save for the pacifier thing. We didn't want our first child to suck her thumb, thought it would be bad for her teeth and for braces later on in life. But after three years of hearing every night, all night, “I dropped my Nukkie,” and having to trudge down the hallway to plug the kid back in so she would finally go to sleep, when number two discovered her fingers, we said, “Great, here's your hand, you can't drop it, enjoy…”

Pet the dog, crawl around on the floor all day, great, the germs will make you stronger, here's your hand, enjoy.

That we learned, but everything else, was different.

With regards to sociology and ethics, the same holds true.

If one possessed an objective and not subjective yardstick for all human behavior with all the rules very closely defined, it would be possible even easy for anyone to become a paradigm of virtue. Tell me what it is I am supposed to do and allow me to chose how much and to whom, and all will be well. But whatever you do, don't simply tell me to go and love my neighbor without telling me who my neighbor is, because if the field isn't defined for me, well, that's leaves everybody, and surely you can't mean everybody. Because if you don't whittle down the sample, or what's included in that word neighbor, then that would include, Samaritans, and anyone whose skin tone or first language, or chosen religion doesn't match mine, not to mention the rich and the poor. Neighbor could then include not only the Doctors at the General Hospital but also the poor unfortunates that wind up in the Emergency room with frostbite from wandering the Buffalo streets at night in the wintertime. It would include not only those who own houses on the grounds, but the out house and off campus people too, not to mention those questionable types from Mayville and Bemus, Buffalo or worse, Cleveland or San Diego (Sorry Joan and Jared!)

He said, “Love your neighbor”, but it would have been infinitely easier if he had added just a few descriptive sentences. Love your neighbor, you know, the one who lives next door, that kind of neighbor, who owns a home in the same price range and who cuts the lawn and only puts out the garbage the evening before and always in the proper container and never slips motor oil in the trash or a half full can of old paint, love that kind of neighbor. “Love your neighbor,” he said, you know, the kind of neighbor who knows the difference between free market capitalism and socialism, the kind of neighbor who sees no disconnect between listening to and agreeing with the radio talk show host rail against the stimulus package as he drives his 10 year old gas guzzling, rusted hull of a SUV down to Billy Fucillo to take advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program.

If he would only have defined the neighbor for me, then the odds that I could comply with his request to be loving and helpful and accepting would be a whole lot easier.

But he didn't, and so the lawyer with whom he was speaking asked, “Well ,who is my neighbor?” Jesus said, “The faithful person is called to love the entire procession and anyone who stops in front of him.” You may not define the neighbor, because if you can define the neighbor, where will you draw the line and what characteristics will that neighbor have? If you are allowed to define the neighbor, then once defined some neighbors can be eliminated from the sample.

And if you can define who, you can define when and where and how often and how much, and if at all.

Part of the problem we have, if not most of the problem we have, is that when we read or hear the story of the Good Samaritan, we identify ourselves with either the lawyer who asked the question or with the Priest or the Levite who walked by, or if we are genuinely, good Christian people, we mi8ght even identify with the Samaritan. But to have the parable have the most power, to make the most sense, to carry the larger challenge, we need to put ourselves in the position of the man who was going down the road, and who was stopped and beaten and robbed, and left for dead.

•  If we put ourselves in the position of the family still living in a trailer in New Orleans, or in any one of the hundreds of shantytowns that millions of refugees live in after fleeing a murderous regime, or genocide, or drought or famine....

•  If we trade places with the orphans of AIDS stricken Africa, or the peaceful inhabitants in a war torn country…

•  If we put ourselves in the position of the woman in the country who has no civil rights, or perhaps even in the position of a country whose goods and services, national hospitality or cultural heritage are no longer welcomed or respected by the people who live next door…

If we put ourselves in these shoes, in these circumstances, it becomes abundantly clear, crystal clear, eye opening clear, whom we would want included in that category of neighbor, wouldn't it?

I think it might.

Amen.

Monday, August 17, 2009 - Chautauqua Institution - Am I my brother's keeper?
Scripture: Genesis 4:1-9
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

It was a busy week back in the Lake Wobegon of Buffalo this past week. In the parish I serve, we had two weddings and a funeral, the first run at our 2010 budget, one triple bypass, two people starting chemotherapy, two new breast cancer diagnoses, one leukemia diagnosis, one attempted suicide, we had our parish hall floor refinished, the exterminator came in to take care of three hornets nests, and it was very hot. I passed a kidney stone, my neighbor's daughter left for college, another neighbor's daughter left for a new teaching job in Brooklyn, my wife is the art teacher at Canisius High school and they are building a new building in which her studio will be housed, and of course, it's not finished yet, to my eye it looks a LONG way off, but they say it will be finished in time for school…..I've had contractors in my home and church and if they can finish that building in time for school, well, I guess I'll have to go back to seminary to have my faith quotient refilled. Suffice it to say, my wife, Debby and I, are glad to be here at Chautauqua with you, among the flowers and trees to be refreshed and renewed. I thank you for your kind invitation to be among you again.

The woman in our parish who died this past week was 93 years young. She lived in Canada, as do a good number of our members. She was an avid gardener, she was small and appeared frail, but most certainly was not, a widow of some thirty years who lived independently until she moved into an assisted living complex just 6 months ago at 92. She lived her life with that great combination of grace and determination, raised two incredibly faithful, able, strong, intelligent and strong willed daughters, both of whom, along with their families, have become the foundation stones of our ministry and program at Holy Trinity.

The day after she died I visited with the family to talk about her memorial service. When I arrived at the house, the whole family was there, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren even. They came bearing platters of food, drinks of every description, along with pictures and scrapbooks, a box of her favorite scarves, and of course, stories galore. We sat on the back porch and talked about Vicki for three hours. We talked about how she met her husband, how she joined the Canadian army because she liked the way the uniforms looked. We talked about the war, and about how she loved nature, how she had a thing about clouds, how she never had anything in her refrigerator but how she always had enough food around that you would never go hungry. The grandchildren talked about how cereal always tasted better at grandmas, and then were told, that afternoon, that that was because she served it with heavy cream instead of milk. We sat in the cool of the evening and talked about and how she loved her family and about how much they loved her.

When you read the book of Genesis, that's how you need to read it. Sit down on the back porch in the cool of the evening and read the stories your ancestors told about how much God loved them and how they showed their love for God.

In recent decades, in recent elections, in recent news, there has been much controversy over the bible and Genesis in particular: debate over creationism, evolution, first cause, and all the rest. The book wasn't intended to be read that way and for that purpose. It was intended to tell the story about a family, God's family.

I've taught many bibles studies over the years and many on the book of Genesis. And it never fails that when I begin each study by telling my hearers that the book is not an eye witness account, some people look at me with that “What you talking about Willis” kind of look. I go on to tell them that in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the earth…no one was there taking notes.

Now I know that the congregation here at Chautauqua is made up of a fairly sophisticated, well educated, well read and, as a result of the increasing taxes and fees here in Camelot, well heeled sample of humanity, but I suspect there were two or many even three of you who had never heard someone say that Genesis was not an eye witness account, because so much of the contemporary faith versus science versus politics versus common sense debate makes you think that these debaters are talking about an historical document. Well, it's not, no one was there watching Adam and Eve eat the apple, no one was there to see Cain and Abel struggle in the field, no one was there to hear the serpent seduce our naïve first ancestors.

The book is not, was not, should not be looked at the same way you look at the New York Times, or the Evening News with Brian Williams or Katie Couric. Rather, the book should be looked at, respected for, admired for, turned to and seen as the family's remembrance. It reminds us where we came from, who the major players were, tells us of their successes and mistakes, their achievements and their losses. It reminds us that their DNA is our DNA, and of the many turns and twists humanity has negotiated and endured to get to where we stand today.

Those who wrote the book saw their God intimately connected to all of it, in some way or another, and recorded their life story so that their children and their children's children might come to acknowledge that that same God is connected, and interested in, and committed to what happens to them, to you, to ME; that I am not alone, that my life does matter, and that when all is said and done, the one who gave me life, and gave me the freedom to live MY life, will eventually retrieve me into my creator's loving presence when I'm done doing whatever damage or good I could.

That's the purpose of the story. It has little to do with whether or not there was a tadpole in my family tree. With regard to the evolutionary scandal, what matters to me is not how but who, and not how long but when. The first four words of the book of Genesis answer the questions I need to have answered. They are, “In the beginning, God.” That answers the questions that are important to me:

When? In the beginning

Who? God

Everything else, whatever that “everything else” might be doesn't really matter to me with regard to what I believe is important about the telling of the story. On the back porch, in the cool of the evening, when I gather my family to tell them about MY history and how I have seen My God active through the ages, these are the only things that matter. When: In the beginning, Who: God.

The rest of the book then, becomes part of that back porch remembrance. So when I look at the story of Adam and Eve, I don't see an evolutionary conundrum, what I see is the unwrapping of a story that reveals to me, that with regard to how we do business with the world and with our God, nothing has changed. We still know better. We still tend to act like know it alls, in spite of the information, rules, proscriptions and advice about the potential consequences of our actions, we still do what we think is best, we still believe ourselves to be the masters of our own fate, the serpent still speaks in our minds and gets us to believe that what we heard is not true, or at least, not worth listening to and so the apple gets eaten, again and again. We still think we know the grass is greener on the other side of Paradise and that if given the chance to explore, to learn to grow to experience, we will. And God knows that, and God celebrates it. Just like every parent rejoices when their child takes that first step, we know that much anguish, heartache and worry will follow: from the evitable crashes that will soon follow, to putting up gates on all the stairs, to handing them the keys to the car with much fear and trepidation, to driving away from the dorm that first day of freshman year with choked back tears and heartache. But we wouldn't have it any other way, because we want our children to grow and learn and become who they are and can be to their fullest potential. So does God.

That's what the book is about. So, let's talk about today's reading in this light. The first four chapters of Genesis take up us to the point where our rebellious great great great great grandparents leave the Garden of Eden. From that point, its take only 8 verses for the first homicide to occur. It occurs out of envy, jealousy, disappoint , fear and anger. The whole of the human condition is laid bare right there as well as the consequences thereof. I read it to you again, in case you forgot it already, which is also part of our problem, right?

“Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have produced a man with the help of the LORD." 2Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. 3In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? 7If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it." 8Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out to the field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him….eight verses.

Verse 9: Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"

And there it is. And nothing has changed. If the question, in all its absurdity could be asked when there were only four people on earth, how much easier has it become for us to hide behind its absurdity with the global population approaching 7 billion?

The answer to the question remains the same. Am I my brother's keeper? Yes I am and these days more than ever. If it is indeed true that the fluttering of a butterfly's wings in remote Africa can eventually affect the weather in Miami Beach, then how much more true is it that what happens to my brother in whatever part of God's vast kingdom he resides, affects my life, right here, right now. We most certainly have seen this to be true in the global economy, in the most recent Great Recession, we've known it to be true for centuries in the distribution of food and water, it will be driven home for us in the northern hemisphere once the flu season resumes and the swine come to roost, and each of us knows it to be true in our own homes because the saying is sure, “If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.”

“Am I my brother's keeper?” is still the question for the day, and the question for this week, as it applies to what happens outside this sacred enclave, in the world and for the emphasis for week 8 here at Chautauqua, with regard to our nearest non border sharing nation.

This week, the rest of my meditations will revolve around the theme of neighbor as we look at the stories of the Good Samaritan, the Great Shema, the Greatest Commandment and a great story of a group of friends whose love was so strong for one in their band, that they were willing to dig through the roof of someone else's house, to get their friend the help he needed.

As we unwrap these stories and more, and hopefully apply them to our nearest island neighbor, we'll talk more about how we might dig through some other roofs for the sake of our brothers and sisters.

Once again, I thank you for your kind invitation and I look forward to our weeklong journey and our time together on this porch and perhaps even on the one in the back in a few minutes.

Amen

.

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost - August 16, 2009
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

On August 6 th , while taking a walk in NYC on a trip to visit family, screen writer and director John Hughes suffered a heart attack and died. His films dominated and helped define the 80s. Many were offbeat comedies that dealt with the complex search for meaning, identity and belonging. One of his most famous works, The Breakfast Club, is about five high school students from different social cliques that are required to come together for a Saturday morning detention. At the beginning of the movie they are suspicious of one another and judge one another according to common stereotypes, but as the movie progresses they begin to share their lives with each other through allowing themselves to be vulnerable. The trust they extend leads to a respect for one another and each person is recognized as “somebody.” The principal, Mr. Vernon, considers pretty much all of them to be “nobodies” with no future and no hope of becoming anybody. He tells them to write an essay explaining - who they think they are? Two letters are drafted by the group and left in response to this assignment. The first is read at the beginning of the movie and the second at the end.

The beginning letter is as follows:

Saturday, March 24, 1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois. 60062.

Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was that we did wrong. What we did was wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us... in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at seven o'clock this morning. We were brainwashed.

The second letter is as follows:

Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong, but we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain......and an athlete......and a basket case......a princess......and a criminal... Does that answer your question?...

Sincerely yours,

The Breakfast Club.

While the question of identity becomes an intense preoccupation as we reach adolescence and begin to separate from our family of origin and foster complex social networks with peers - who we are and who we believe ourselves to be are questions for a life time.

Like the breakfast club, our definitions are often based on our real or perceived assessments of our intellect, body image, psychology, social status and morality. Right? Who are you? “Well I'm a graduate of such and such; I am so tall or short, skinny or fat. I like/hate the way I look - I love the way I look. I am insightful; I have an anger problem, a health problem, or no problem. I live in this desirable part of town or not, I am married to him or her. I am single. I am ________'s son/daughter. These important people are my friends. I have no friends. I care about the environment, do good deeds, go to church every Sunday… I pollute and sleep in.”

But can a list like this truly define who we are? Do we even know the value of such things or do we borrow values from our culture without even questioning them? Most of these values are arrived at through comparisons with other people who have more or less than we do or who dominant voices in society deem to be better or worse than we are.

If we want to build ourselves up, we will put our list up against those who have less “points” than us. “I am smarter than, thinner than, sexier than, more put together than, have more kids than, have been divorced less than, am richer than, have more face book friends than, am more holy than….” And we all do it don't we? This is what our culture urges us to do; this is how advertising works… (The following is spoken in the voice of a sales pitchman…) Be better than____. Be “Somebody” by buying this identity marker and we will keep running ads to tell others who you really are and therefore reinforce that value.

Yes there is the other side of course. We allow others, or we define ourselves, by how few points we have in relation to others. We believe we are losers and are of little importance or value because of what we have failed to achieve. We don't look the right way. We don't have the right job. Our family is not a kind that society values. Our relationships are broken. We are not wealthy enough. We are confused, frustrated, depressed and tired. We feel like a Nobody!

The truth is probably that we feel and experience both. Both scenarios however are folly, wastes of time, and produce false and incomplete truths. Both are distractions from the reality that Jesus calls us to and therefore are sinful, self centered, narcissistic diversions. The first degrades other people and tries to turn them into “nobodies.” In the second scenario, we degrade ourselves and deny our inherent value.

Our texts appointed for this day seek to impart some ancient, but authentic wisdom upon us. In Proverbs we see that wisdom is calling the simple, the humble, to eat a feast of bread and wine that leads to life. Later in the chapter we see that folly is also competing for the same followers, but the meal that is offered leads to death. Eddie Izzard, the English comic once did a skit about decisions. He asked the question - “Which will you choose, cake or death?” Remarkable… almost everyone chooses cake! For the author of proverbs the choice is also as clear… choose wisdom not folly. To be wise is to have and use knowledge. In the first chapter of Proverbs we hear that fear or reverence or dependence on the Lord is the beginning of such knowledge. We take instruction from those upon whom we are dependent, and therefore listening to what God has to say to us is of the utmost importance for our life and well being.

The writer of Ephesians adds the charge that we must make the most of our time as wise people, because the days are evil. In other words the longer we procrastinate, the more likely we will reject the cake and choose death, or fall back into the culture's broken and substandard method for defining humankind and assigning value. All of this discussion points us to our Gospel lesson.

This passage is the fourth evangelist's meditation on the Eucharist. When Jesus walked among his followers, he affirmed their intrinsic and inherent value as children of God. He called his followers friends and brothers and sisters. He spoke of God's love for each and every person. He reached out to the rich and to the poor, to the sick and the well, and to everyone in between and he treated them with dignity and kindness, love and forgiveness even when he was rejected and mistreated. At the end of the first century, when this, the latest of the gospels in our cannon was written, the people of God were a generation or more removed from the historic Christ event. And while the fourth gospel begins with the affirmation that the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” there were few earthly dwellers left who brushed elbows with the historical Jesus. So where were they to experience Christ? They would encounter the Christ in the sacred, holy meal, the Eucharist! Feasting on Jesus, is feasting upon wisdom. While eating, Jesus is equated with believing in Jesus, the description in this passage uses an onomatopoetic word in the Greek language that reflects a noisy slurping and gulping, that a famished person might express when breaking a fast .

When the gathered community celebrated the Eucharist, they were given the chance to re-center themselves from the inside out. In the bread and wine they would meet Jesus, just as we do today. In meeting Jesus, all of popular society's false value judgments and identifying tags that elevate some on the backs of others are rent in two. This unique break-fast club that we are a part of remembers who we are in relation to God and one another. We remember that we are important because God says we are. We are loved because God loves us and proves his love for us, by giving us the gift of life and relationships, but most profoundly by giving us His most precious Son, Jesus, who lived, died and rose for you and me. We are children of God, and God gives us that identity. We are precious because Jesus' blood is precious and it was shed on our behalf and now it abides within us. This is a shared value. All of God's children are welcomed by Christ's invitation to embrace this identity and enjoy this noble esteem. The one who was diminished in order for us to be exalted was none other than our Lord and Savior who was raised by God and given the name that is above every other name - Jesus.

Starting tomorrow 1,045 voting members from 65 synods and 10,448 congregations serving on behalf of the 4,709,203 baptized members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will gather together at the Minneapolis Convention Center , under the theme, “God's work, our hands.” Two significant issues will be considered at the assembly. One is “Confessing Our Faith Together: A Proposal for Full Communion between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The United Methodist Church.” The ELCA already has full-communion agreements with five churches: the Episcopal Church, the Moravian Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Reformed Church in America and the United Church of Christ. By God's grace, Lutherans understand that the Eucharist beckons us toward developing or modifying ecclesial structures and agreements in order to more truly reflect the real unity we enjoy in The Lord's Supper. The proposed resolution reads,

“The sacrament is a meal in which God provides for us what we need to be healthy and whole. As we eat Christ's body and blood, we become the Body of Christ for the sake of the world. This meal unites us with God and with one another; the more time we spend at the Lord's Table, the more we come to love one another and appreciate the Giver of every good and perfect gift.”

For all of the reasons I mentioned above, it is most likely that this resolution will be adopted and there will be great rejoicing throughout the Lutheran and Methodist churches. Also being considered is a social statement by the ELCA "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.” This statement addresses key Lutheran principles about living faithfully in a complex world, amid complex social structures. It deals with the issues of trust in relationships, cohabitation, sexual exploitation, abuses of the ministerial office and healthy workplaces. If adopted, the ministry policies recommendation would make it possible for Lutherans who are in "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gendered relationships" to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, deaconesses, diaconal ministers and ordained ministers.

While there continues to be vigorous debate and disagreement within the church on some of these matters, let us commit ourselves to pray that the unity, identity and the noble value of every child of God is respected and celebrated.

Together we are much more than a collection of “nobodies.” We are “Some Body”; we are Christ's Body, broken and given away for the world to feast upon so that more and more of God's children may be added to this beautiful Break- Fast club of God's.

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost - August 9, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

If you want good roads, you have to pay taxes to fix them. If you're not willing to pay taxes to keep them, then you have to accept toll roads. If you want to have government run things, and how much government should run is certainly the question of our day, then you have to find a way to pay the people and agencies that run them. Should government be in the auto business? Should government be in the health care business? Should government or the free market be the regulating force in an open economy? These are questions whose answers are yet to be determined and much lively debate awaits us in the months and years ahead.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your outlook, the role of government in the days of Elijah was not questioned as ours is today in the modern republic. In Elijah's day, the reigning monarch said, “jump” and the citizenry said, “How high?” When King David ruled the United Monarchy of Israel, he had his own standing army, who were loyal only to him, and so, unless and until another man with a greater army confronted and challenged him, his word was law. In his lifetime, no one did.

So great and well loved, or feared, was David, that when it came time to find his successor, the only clear choice was Solomon, David's son by Bathsheba. Well, to be truthful, the choice wasn't nearly as clear until Solomon had David's other son, Adonijah killed, along with all of his supporters. After that happened, it became QUITE clear, who was to succeed the great, and feared, King David.

Solomon, therefore, was not only wise, but shrewd and ruthless as well. But that's fodder for another sermon. Suffice it to say, Solomon's accord didn't fall far from his father's tree.

Legend records Solomon's great wisdom, but history records his penchant for nation building, extensive trade treaties, building, and women. During his long reign of 40 years, he expanded the size of his kingdom at least fourfold, established significant trade agreements with Africa, Asia, Arabia and Asia Minor. He amassed a large naval and trading fleet, and collected over seven hundred wives, many as a result of the aforementioned trade agreements.

His affection for and ability to oversee large construction projects, not the least of which included the elaborate palaces and the Great Temple, were also legendary as well as historical.

All this came at a price however, as he crafted a more cosmopolitan Israel, outside influences, traditions and religious beliefs infiltrated the strict monotheism of the Israelite community. But perhaps even more divisive that these, was the tax structure he imposed on his kingdom to support his lavish lifestyle, his significant army and his elaborate and extensive building projects. Chief among his kingdom's complaints was the temple tax he levied on all of Israel, north and south, to fund the Great Temple in Jerusalem. The seeds for dissension were sown.

At his death, Solomon's son, Rehoboam, was unable to retain the support of the northern kingdom of Israel and so the kingdom split. Rehoboam retained the kingship of the southern kingdom, named Judah, with Jeroboam becoming the kingdom of the northern kingdom of Israel. History recalls this period as the Divided Monarchy. During this time, until the fall of Israel to the Assyrians and the fall of Judah to the Babylonians, the northern kingdom had 18 ruling kings and the southern, 12.

The next 60 years, saw relative stability in the southern kingdom, with only 3 kings ruling from 933 until 870, but the northern kingdom saw 6 different kings in 45 years. Imagine what terrible things could happen if every 4 – 8 years you needed to elect new leadership?

Anyway….by the time we get to 885, the northern kingdom of Israel had seen much turmoil and much intrigue. Finally, under the reign of King Omri, Israel found some stability and prosperity, so much so, that Assyrian historical annals record Omri as a force to be reckoned with and a great king. Many compared him to King David.

When Omri died in 874, he was succeeded by his son, Ahab, who, by all historical accounts, was a good and powerful king, following in his father's footsteps. He was the first of the Israelite kings to bump heads with the growing Assyrian empire, modern day Iraq. But we know most of what we know about Ahab, comes from his encounters with the prophet Elijah. Elijah had a problem with Ahab that centered around his wife. Ahab married the daughter of the king of Sidon, whose named was Jezebel. Now we all know that when you marry, there's an adjustment period you go through. Among the many decisions that have to be made include, who sleeps on what side of the bed, does the toilet paper come over the top or does it feed from the bottom, do we need two different kinds of toothpaste and shampoo, who controls the remote, if we're both busy and the phone rings, who gets up to answer it? Important things like that. And if husband and wife come from a different religious tradition, how do we handle that, does one change, or do we go to one church one week and another the next, or as is the case in some home, we don't go at all. Well, Ahab was a faithful Jew, Jezebel was not. She was a follower of the cult religion of the Canaanite god, Baal. Now Baal, was the god of weather, a nature god, he brought the rain, thunder and lightning were his weapons and some historians connected him with Zeus. Because he controlled the weather, he also controlled agriculture. He was responsible for the fertility of the soil and so it wasn't a far stretch to add fertility of all things as part of his portfolio. And so fertility rituals including erotic imagery and sexual encounters evolved within the cult, and which presented serious ethical and moral consequences for the more traditional Israelites.

The veneration of Baal in ancient Israel and Palestine was pervasive and the Jewish priests and prophets all condemned the worship of Baal. So, Ahab had a problem, his wife, was a Baalite, as were many of the non Jewish population at the time. Ahab, though a great military strategist, was not successful in converting his wife and so, the worship of Baal was allowed in the royal courts and, eventually, spread to the populace as well. Jezebel wanted Baal worshipped and not the Israelite God, Yahweh.

Enter the prophet Elijah.

Today's reading from the book of Kings, picks up the story of Elijah after his first major encounter with King Ahab, Jezebel and the prophets of Baal. AS a way of drawing attention to the consequences of abandoning Yahweh for Baal, Elijah predicts a great drought and summons the prophets of Baal and their chief adherent, Jezebel, to a kind of prophets' duel. Whose god could bring about a change in nature? In a marvelous narrative, Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to bring fire down upon the sacrifice they had set up as a test. After a day of praying and wailing crying and pleading, after rituals of self mutilation and more, the prophets of Baal were unable o bring fire down from heaven. Elijah, then, with great showmanship, drenching the altar, sacrifice and surrounding area with buckets and buckets of water, calls upon Yahweh to bring fire from heaven to light the sacrificial pyre. Yahweh does, and Elijah convinces the crowd that Yahweh is the God to be feared and followed and orders the demise of all the prophets of Baal.

Well, as you can imagine, Jezebel is angry and vows to avenge these deaths with the death of Elijah.

This is where we pick up this morning's narrative from the book of Kings. Elijah is afraid for his life, and wanders a day's journey into the wilderness and lies down under a solitary broom tree and asks God that he might be allowed to die. “It is enough,” Elijah cries, take away my life, Lord, for I am no better than my ancestors.”

And while wallowing in the midst of his own self pity and doubt, scripture tells us than an angel, angelos in Greek, literally a messenger comes to him and tells him to get up, eat and drink the provisions God had prepared for him. So he does, but then, after having eaten, lies down again to lament that his faithfulness did not bring him the fame, or luck, or good fortune, or blessing, or good health, or nicer chariot, or affectionate spouse, or house in the suburbs with a nice lawn that he had hoped would be his reward for his faithfulness. Faithfulness is its own reward, in other words, the reward for faithfulness is faithfulness.

The messenger appears again, touches him, which was probably more like a shove, and repeats, “Get up, eat and drink, for the journey ahead demands it.”

Perhaps it was the food, or the shove or the repeating of the message that got Elijah to break out of his reverie of despair, but he does rise and goes to Mt. Horeb, and there receives his charge to anoint Jehu, Hazeal and Elisha to carry on the fight against the Baalite apostasy.

The reward of faithfulness is the promise that one can remain faithful in the future, which is contrary to way so many other things work in our day to day lives. We live a Pavlovian existence of action and reward. From the M and M's at potty training to the promotion at work, from the smile our first words elicited from Mom or Dad to the baubles we receive as mementos of our success, whether it be the Lincoln or the Lexus, the grand foyer or the beach house, we've been paper trained by reward since an early age, which is why trying to see an action as its own reward is such a foreign thing to most of us.

God, through God's messenger to Elijah said as much. Faithfulness is its own reward, so get back to the business of being faithful and stop looking for the treat.

In much the same way, this is what Jesus was talking about when he referred to himself as the bread of life. When he did that, everyone began to think immediately of the bread you eat and when he said the one who eats of THIS bread will never be hungry, everyone looked at him bewildered because this flies in the face of everything we know. We eat only to eat again, the satisfaction of eating, of chewing and tasting, of feeling full comes as a reward for the bread we eat. But Jesus said you misunderstand, the bread of life, which IS Jesus, is not to be consumed as the bread your ancestors ate, and they died, this bread is to be appropriated by faith, to be ingested in the heart and mind, as a gift from God because of God's love for us, and not as a reward for our asking. Acknowledging Jesus as the bread of life, real life, true life, eternal life, is the goal of faith, and it is its own reward.

Amen.

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost - August 2, 2009
The Rev. John A. Buerk

Marcion was an early Christian who wanted to eliminate the Old Testament. He said that since we had the New Testament that was all Christianity needed. His suggestion was dismissed readily by the Church Fathers, and he was declared “non-kosher”. The early church realized that Christianity was nothing without its roots.

We have a good example of this in today's gospel lesson because it relates directly to our first Scripture lesson from Exodus. It is the story of some of the five thousand men whom Jesus had just fed, who continued to follow him because they had many question. They wanted to know what sign he was going to give them so that they might believe in him they said that their ancestors were given a sign - they were fed with manna in the wilderness.

They are referring to the story in which the Hebrews are getting angry with Moses because he led them into the desert after they escaped from Egypt - and they had no food. They claim that they are worse off now than when they were slaves. They are complaining because when they were in Egypt – where they had been for four hundred years – they ate well even if they were the captives of the Egyptians.

Actually many of the Hebrews had been assimilated into the Egyptian culture over those four centuries. Remember that Joseph even rose to the level of Prime Minister in Pharaoh's court. Archeologists have found Hebrew names on bank buildings in ancient Egypt.

So here they are – presumably freed from their captors, but finding that freedom had a price tag on it. Being set free doesn't necessarily mean that you are free.

I had a conversation with the Lutheran Pastor of St. Nicholi in Leipzig soon after the wall came down. His Lutheran congregation hosted the East Germans when they were meeting to see what they could do about their Communist oppression. Their efforts – always peaceful – were instrumental in bringing down the wall.

The Pastor said that the East Germans were having difficulty adjusting to their new freedom. He said that they were like a bird that had been let out of its cage, and it didn't know what to do.

The Hebrews who escaped from the Egyptians were also confused. They complained that Moses led them to freedom, but now he was trying to “kill them with hunger.” Moses is getting really nervous about this rebellion and asks God for help. God says – not to worry - he will provide meat and bread. In the morning the camp is filled with quail, and the ground is covered with “a fine flaky substance”. They don't know what it is until they are told that it is bread from heaven. Some have speculated that it was like ambrosia – the food of the gods. Although, to me it sounds a lot like tofu.

As in many biblical stories, what appears to be supernatural often has a factual origin. That is the case here. There actually is a tree in the Middle East that secretes an edible substance like the biblical manna. It is not produced in the quantities that are described in the Exodus story, but there is such a food and, as you know, people who tell stories are licensed to exaggerate.

The bread from heaven is explained by the natural secretions from trees, but what about the quail? Well, quail migrate, and the place where the Hebrews were would be about the place the birds landed after an extensive flight. They would have been exhausted, and easily caught.

The Hebrews are told to gather only food for the day. Not surprisingly, some didn't have the confidence that God would provide this daily bread, so they took extra. But they found that if they kept it over night maggots grew in it and it stank.

There are still questions you might ask about this story - the Jews certainly did, and there are volumes written about it in Jewish commentaries. But it is important to point out that when we come up with these possible explanations for the miracle food in Exodus, we do not negate the point of the story.

The point of the story is God's caring for his people. The point of the story is the constant awe we have in the presence of God the creator. Just as we can explain many things scientifically today – from the marvelous systems we call our bodies – to the unfathomable vastness of the universe - those explanations do not challenge true faith.

For instance, one can describe the complexity of the human organism, but holding a baby confirms the miracle of creation. You can be captivated and intrigued by an anatomy and neurological lesson, but you still stand in awe of life. In fact – the complexity of nature adds to its wonderment.

When you teach science in school there is no need to add God to the equation. If one isn't in awe of what one finds out about the world in a lab, telling them about God won't help – in fact it might confuse the issue!

As I noted, the rabbis often reflected on the meaning of these Bible stories. In probing this story from Exodus for its meaning, they noted:

God interrupts the natural order to establish once more the ideal relationship between himself and man – the original and pure relationship between master and servant, in which the former takes total care of the latter. ( The master) feeds…his people as God fed Adam and Eve, and (God) continues to do so…

But now we pick up the gospel lesson. Jesus tells his listeners, Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. (I am) the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. (John 6:48-51)

It is no wonder that the primary ritual of the Christian faith is the Lord's Supper.

Food is often a part of religious celebrations – it is part of virtually every religious tradition. But in most traditions, the people make sacrifices to god – and the Hebrews did so as well. If you visit the Hindu Cultural Center, you will often see food placed in front of the stature of the god.

But Christianity turns that whole concept around. It is God who makes the sacrifice, and it is the people who are fed.

In our country where the major disease seems to be obesity and the dominant sin seems to be gluttony, our tradition of Holy Communion takes on added meaning.

Because, the Sacrament reminds us of our dependence on God and we are reminded of the folly of always looking for more - thinking that more will make us happier. It reminds us that being filled is different from being satisfied.

John's gospel reminds us that Jesus is the bread of life, and whoever comes to him will never be hungry again.

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost - July 26, 2009
The Rev. John A. Buerk

When you hear this first lesson from II Kings about Elisha and his feeding the multitude with only a little food, you might say,” Haven't I heard this song before?” Well you have - only you heard it after the fact. Elisha lived a long time before Jesus, but we have heard the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand ever since we started going to church.

So what is going on here? Well, obviously, since Elisha came before Jesus, the story wasn't borrowed from the New Testament. But, what about the other way around? Did the writers of the gospels “borrow” a story from the Hebrew Scriptures and use it to make Jesus look convincing? Or, did Jesus, knowing this story of Elisha, use it as a model for establishing himself as coming from God? Or, did Jesus' disciples and those who told the story and wrote the text remember the story and bring it up to date so that Jesus would be seen in the prophetic tradition?

I used to ask my confirmation classes what was different about Jesus? And the answers came quickly. They usually started out with the virgin birth that we read about in Matt. and Luke. They then talk about his being really smart and impressing the elders with his knowledge. There were always suggestions that his miracles set him apart –especially the feeding of the five thousand. And of course, there is Jesus being raised from the dead.

Once we got all these things on the table we looked at them to see how well they held up. Concerning Jesus' unusual birth - we have gone over the birth stories many times in sermons noting that Mark doesn't include the story of Jesus' birth, and St. Paul doesn't seem to even be aware of the story. Furthermore, there are a few characters in history who are credited with miraculous births – some with special stars yet. And, of course, Jesus was smart. But what about Solomon – the wisest of all the Old Testament characters?

Jesus fed five thousand with a few loaves and fishes. But we have Elisha doing almost the same thing in today's first lesson.

And then there is the story of Elijah miraculously providing food so that the widow and her son, with whom he is staying, can keep eating in spite of the famine that surrounds them. There is the story of Jesus miraculously providing wine at the marriage feast at Cana. But if you read the story carefully he does so only after his Jewish mother tells him to, ”Do something!”

But Gautama, the Buddha, went to a wedding, where they ran out of wine and food, and he miraculously provided both food and wine for the guests. Buddha lived five hundred years before Jesus.

Jesus was resurrected from the dead. But Elisha brought the widow's son back to life. Elijah, himself, was taken, bodily, to heaven in a fiery chariot.

And, Jesus brought his friend, Lazarus, back from the grave.

Well – where does all this leave us? It could leave us cynical, but it doesn't. It could leave us doubting, but it doesn't. It could leave us wondering - and that's o.k. because wonder always implies amazement.

The fact is Jesus and the relationship he had with his followers transcended any of the particulars of his life. We find ourselves at the foot of the cross, not questioning our Lord, but thanking him. Because the question isn't, “Did this or that happen?” – or, “What happened first?” The question is whether or not Jesus is present in your life as he said he would be through the Holy Spirit.

If you think about it, those who wish to make Jesus God's son because he did miracles won't be very satisfied in the end. Why – because Jesus said so. Remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus? The rich man faired sumptuously every day, while poor Lazarus sat at his gate and the dogs licked his sores. They both died, and Lazarus ended up in the bosom of Abraham, while the rich man lay in a fiery torment. The rich man asked Abraham if Lazarus could bring him a sip of water, but Abraham said he couldn't because the rich man had had his feast while on earth and had ignored this poor suffering beggar at his gate. So the Rich man asked Abraham if he could please go back and warn his brothers what was in store for them if they didn't show more mercy and kindness to those in need. And Abraham again said, “No.” – that they had Moses and the prophets and if they didn't believe them they wouldn't believe even if someone rose from the dead.

Jesus didn't do miracles to get people to believe in him. He fed people so that they would realize that life was more than food. He fed them so that they would realize he was the bread of heaven.

Jesus didn't come to earth to be the greatest magician ever. He came out of a rich Jewish messianic tradition. He was part of God's chosen people. He came to bring us into God's family. He came to join us with that family so that we too could be redeemed.

He came to offer himself as a sacrifice – not for the few – but for all. He didn't come into the world to condemn it, but to save it.

The Church became that community of the faithful who, knowing that Jesus is in their midst, celebrates the new life we experience in him.

Our second lesson from Ephesians sums it up magnificently. St. Paul wrote:

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.

I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.

I pray that you may have the power to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with the fullness of God.

Now to him who by the power at work with us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen (3:14-21)

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost - July 19, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The first house we lived in here in Buffalo was located on West Utica Street, just a few houses in from Elwood Avenue. It was a grand old home, built in 1897. We knew that because when refinishing the floors early on in our tenure there, I pulled the shoe molding away from the dining room floor, we found, newspapers telling stories about how they were preparing for the upcoming Pan American Exposition.

The house had an interesting history. We bought it from Frank and his sister LouLou Tauriello. For many years, they operated Tauriello's Tea Room out of that house and the sign was still in the basement when we bought the house. When I came to Holy Trinity in October of 1983, Lou had not completely moved out of the house yet and our lawyer, being the fine Christian man that he was, was too kind and never told her to get a move on (the lawyer was Tom Barney by the way) and so for my first three months here, waiting for Lou to empty out the house, I lived at Trinity Tower, in a studio apartment on the 8 th floor.

In that apartment, I had a pull out studio day bed, a TV tray table, a television, some plates I took from the kitchen here, one frying pan and a pot to boil pasta in, it was fairly Spartan. I loved the commute though, and every night when I got home, thanks to some of our members who lived here, I would find little treats left at my door stoop, bags of homemade cookies, a piece of homemade pie, a Tupperware container with pot roast or meatloaf, or some other delectable. I also got to know the residents that lived there at the time, great people, some of whom you may remember: Eleanor Richards, May Swanekamp, the Eichelbergers, Vera Knorr, Madelaine Knapp, Maybelle Kamerer. One person who sticks out was Amanda Becker. She was a tough cookie. One weekend when Debby came to visit, she decided to do some of my laundry. Now, until we bought our first house in Liverpool, we did all of our laundry in Laundromats or in the apartment complex's laundry room, and so we were no strangers to proper laundry etiquette. But apparently, we had miscalculated the length of the wash cycle at Trinity Tower, and so when Debby came downstairs, 30 seconds after the cycle had ended, there was Amanda Becker, ripping our clothes out of the washer. She also ripped Debby a new one when she arrived.

Anyway, over the three months, we got to know the folks there fairly well. It was a good introduction to Buffalo as all of the residents had great stories to tell about our new town.

Because I didn't have much of an apartment to come back to, I spent the first three months here, getting to know a lot of the folks in the parish, and many of you were quick to welcome me into your homes and lives.

Living in Trinity Tower as I did, I didn't have all the comforts of home there, which included a decent stereo. All I had with me was a small portable cassette deck and a set of earphones. But I do recall the number one album at the time, it was Michael Jackson's Thriller. I was a fan and listened to that album on many occasions. But as much as I was a fan of most of his music, I have to confess, these past three weeks have left me saying to myself, “C'mon now, enough is enough.” The man was a talented musician and when he emerged on the scene with his brothers, they did break down many racial barriers that existed in the industry at the time, and I give him credit for much of the innovation he brought to music video and concert theatrics. And yes, he was a generous philanthropist, and did much good with his farm aid concerts and AIDS benefits, but when most of Europe was underwater and all of Austria's rivers were at flood stage the same week he died, that never made the news. Congress held a moment of silence in the chamber for him, and yet, they don't do it for each of the soldiers who die while on duty. So a little perspective is needed here, I mean, do we really need to see the clips of his hair on fire 30 or 40 times the course of one 24 hour day? For that matter, do we really need to know what we were told about the Octo-mom, or Anna Nicole Smith, or Paris Hilton or Madonna, or Jon and Kate, or any of the other thousand entertainers, sports figures and billionaires that are splashed across the tabloids, the television media and the internet?

I don't think we do, but on the other hand, to a certain extent, we get what we ask for because if no one was watching that drivel, I suspect something else might be broadcast. But it would be a fairly safe wager if I bet that People Magazine sells more copy than the Smithsonian, and that the National Enquirer sells more copy than the Atlantic Monthly.

It isn't the first time that the masses dictate the agenda of the media, fashion, music, and print.

To a certain extent, what we heard read from Mark's gospel this morning illustrates the same point. Jesus did not see himself as a miracle worker, or a faith healer, and yet, we read over and over again, how the masses kept coming to him to be healed. Jesus had one agenda, the crowds, another. The gospel of Mark lifts up this tension for us throughout the whole book. On more than one occasion, the crowds, the religious elite, even his own disciples misread his mission. And on more than one occasion we read of Jesus attempting to flee the scene in order to reprioritize his mission and to set the disciples straight on why he came and what he hoped to accomplish. And on more than one occasion, especially in Mark, we read that it didn't work.

Today's text contains a classic example of that. Jesus' reputation was spreading far and wide and it got to the point that he couldn't get away from the crowds who would come, not to hear him preach, but to be healed, to be exorcized, to be cured.

But as much as he did heal all those who came to him, that was not his mission. His mission was to reveal the will of his Father, to get people to see beyond who they were, and their own life situation, and their own needs and wants, to what was the larger picture of life and creation and purpose. To get us, each of us, to grasp where we fit in the whole of it all, how we're all connected, through God, to one another, to the rest of creation and to the Creator. He talked of love and of neighbor and of peace and of an eternity beyond our small imaginations.

But as is now, so was then, our world view, our sense of the whole, is diminished by our own needs and wants. The world of “I don't feel well, cure me,” may indeed be urgent, it may even be important, but it is not eternal. To be cured for the moment, only to die eventually, brings this point to the fore. Jesus' mission was to bring to light an understanding of that which is beyond our everyday needs and wants, to open a window to expose a world view that takes me beyond the house I occupy day in and day out, to show me that there is, as St. Paul once said, “a better country,” not to live in but to strive for.

This is the message Jesus lived for and most importantly died for. Jesus did not die so that I might be cured of my illnesses, that I go through life allergy free, injury free, pain free, or tragedy free. Jesus did not live and die and God did not raise him from the dead, so that I might have a lucky charm or talisman to call on in his name to save me from whatever today might bring my way, but rather, that with whatever does come my way, I would be able to see beyond it, to endure it, to accept it, knowing that I have an advocate in the One who created me and that that same Creator will eventually draw me to Himself.

Jesus didn't want to be a miracle worker, so that everyone would point to him and say, “There, here, is the one who cured me.” Instead, he wanted to be the one who people pointed to and said, “There, here, is the one who pointed me to the Father.”

May that be said of each of us.

Amen.

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost - July 12, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

If you can picture the Mediterranean Sea as an oblong clock, Israel would appear at the bottom of the curve of the eastern edge at about 4:30-5:00 o'clock. The river Jordan forms Israel's eastern border with modern day Jordan, with both countries sharing the rights to the Dead Sea. In ancient times, this area of Israel was the land of the Moabites, and the Ammonites. On the western side of the Dead Sea, was the land of Edom, in ancient times called Idumea. For those of you who know contemporary politics, the western edge of Idumea contains that infamous strip of land bordering the Mediterranean known as Gaza. 50 years before Jesus, when Pompey the Great conquered Judea in the name of the Roman Republic, Antipater II, known then as Antipater the Idumean, worked by his side and became well respected as a soldier and able tactitian. When Julius Caesar subsequently defeated Pompey, Antipater aided him in his campaign in Alexandria and as a reward was made chief minister of Judea and given the right to govern and collect taxes. He appointed his two sons, Phaseal to be governor of Jerusalem and Herod, to be governor of all of Galilee. Although already married once, Herod wanted to gain some points for marrying a good Jewish girl and so married his teen aged niece Mariamne, daughter of the last great Hasmonean ruler. He would marry again and often.

After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Antipater was accused of supporting those who murdered Caesar and was poisoned. As retribution for his father's assassination, Herod then killed all those involved in that plot and convinced Mark Antony and Emperor Octavian that his father was forced into aiding those who killed Caesar and worked his way back into the graces of the ruling elite. As a reward for his new found faithfulness, Herod was elevated to ruler and King of the entire region.

His life from this point on reads like a bad soap opera. Intrigue, murder, infidelity, were the least of his offenses, but he was politically shrewd and good at making alliances that profited him. He ruled for 34 years, all things considered a VERY long time in ancient Rome. For his longevity and political acumen, history records this Herod as Herod the Great. Chief among his accomplishments was the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, sometimes called Herod's Temple. He spared no cost, and recent excavations proved that he employed thousands of slaves to quarry and build it. The bible tells of its magnificence and splendor.

But this Herod is not the Herod you heard spoken of in the gospel reading this morning. That would be his son, Herod Antipas, the same Herod we read of in the trial and execution of Jesus.

When his father Herod the Great died in 4 BC, his territory was divided among his sons and young Herod was given Galilee and Perea. Young Herod Antipas, inherited his father's passion for building and during his long reign of over 40 years, built fortresses and stadiums, multiple palaces and of great significance, the royal capital city of Tiberius, named, of course after the Emperor, after all, you don't build a city for the people, you build it to accumulate points and favor. Herod invented lobbying and the concept of campaign contributions.

His life, too, reads like a bad soap opera. Early in his reign as tetrarch, he thought it would be a good idea to secure his southern border and so married the daughter of King Aretas, King of Nabatea, the kingdom to the immediate south of Idumea and Galilee. But while visiting Rome, at the home of his half brother, Herod Phillip II (who was the son of Herod and his first wife, Mariamne,) he fell in love with more than his brother's wife's cooking, if you know what I mean. They agreed to divorce their spouses and marry each other. When Herodius's father heard of it, he kidnapped her and brought her to his fortress to protect her. As you can imagine, relations soured and Herod and Aretas went to war. Herod won and won Herodius.

And so Herod Antipas, married Herodius, the wife of his half brother on his father, Herod the Great's side who was also daughter of the other son of Herod the Great Aristobulus IV, whose mother was Herod the Great's first wife Mariamne, whom he married after he dumped his first wife Doris and her son into exile. Which, by the way, was the same fate he and Herodius eventually suffered at the end of their reign, when the new Emporer Caligula, banished him to Lyon after hearing from Herodius' brother, Herod Agrippa, that he was in cahoots with the Parthians, that area to the north of Galilee known today as northeastern Iran. Caligula, banished only Herod, and allowed Herodius to return to her brother's home, but, to her credit, said she loved Herod and would join him in exile. Presumably, they died shortly thereafter. Tune in next week for the next episode of As the Middle East Turns.

The fact that Herod Antipas was marrying his father's granddaughter from his first marriage, who was also his half brother's wife, was the reason John the Baptist condemned him publicly when he arrived on the scene somewhere around 30 AD. It was the reason he was sitting in the prison nearby on the night of Herod's birthday party.

The gospel account you just heard, tells the story. Herod had a party, and during the party, his daughter was asked to dance. Tradition has her named Salome, who was Herodius's daughter from her first marriage (and so Herod's step daughter) which is why tradition also has him admiring her dance with less than fatherly affection, if you know what I mean.

Back to the story…

She dances and Herod, perhaps as the result of more than a little alcohol having been consumed at his birthday party, turns to her after her exhibition and says, “ask me for anything and it's yours…..”

Now, we have no idea how old Salome was, or what her intentions were, but the gospeller tells us that she didn't ask for anything for herself, but instead, turns to her mother, Herodias, to ask her what she thinks would be a good reward. Now, I've already painted a clear picture of both Herod and Herodias for you and so it should come to you as no surprise that when Herodias tells her daughter to ask for something you shouldn't think for a moment, that it would be a new bike or a Barbie dream house. She tells her daughter instead, to ask for the head of John the Baptist. Now she does this not because John was preaching a radical gospel, one that would eventually lead us to Jesus and his challenge to the status quo and to Rome and her husband's power. No, she makes her request because John brought her infidelity and incest, and conniving and less than admirable lifestyle of both she and her husband to light. So, as long as her daughter could ask for anything, why not the head of John the Baptist, the largest thorn in her side?

Now, before you excuse the daughter's behavior based on her mother's re quest alone, note that the little girl adds her own macabre detail by saying, yes, give me the head of John the Baptist, but adds her own, “on a platter.” I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree after all.

So Herod, not wanting to lose face in the sight of his stepdaughter or his guests, grants her her wish, and John is killed.

It's not the first time, nor will it be the last, when the innocent are made guilty for someone else's indiscretion.

It's not first time nor will it be the last when one bad decision follows another.

It's not the first time nor will it be the last when alcohol rules the day and one rues the day it does.

It's not the first time nor will it be the last that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

John the Baptist played a significant and critical role in the history of salvation by setting the stage for the arrival of the message that Jesus brought. John was the bad cop to Jesus' good cop. John brought to light the need for repentance and Jesus offered an alternative to the way the world had always worked. John challenged the status quo and Jesus offered the new vision. Because it's not enough just to say what's wrong, without proposing what you think is right. I think back to the number of times I yelled at the television or the radio in past elections because I never once heard what the candidate would do to fix the mess, only what the other guy did to get us into it. I'm not a fool, I know what the problem is, can you help me find a solution?

Which is why John's death is such a true tragedy. Because he wasn't killed because he was a prophet, he wasn't killed because of his message, he wasn't killed because he challenged the status quo, he was killed because of vanity and pride, with a touch of alcohol and a healthy dose of bad DNA thrown in for good measure.

We have a short three letter word to describe that, it's called sin. And Jesus came to free us from its power.

Amen.

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost - July 5, 2009
The Rev. John A. Buerk

It is hard for us to realize that the early days of Christianity were filled with controversy over who Jesus really was. The controversy was highlighted this past week at Chautauqua by Elaine Pegels in her lectures on the “Gnostic Gospels”. These were gospels found in Egypt about 40 years ago. Scholars have known about them because references had been made to them in church literature, but it was assumed that they had all been destroyed. They were controversial because of their content, and were outlawed by the early church Fathers and the emperor Constantine.

However, they do provide insight into the varying points of view in the early church as it tried to discern who Jesus really was. Some of the questions surrounding Jesus were: Was he the Messiah or not? Was he fully human, or was he a god? Was he a rebel or was he a pacifist? Was his mother always a virgin? What really happened at the crucifixion?

Over the centuries there have been arguments back and forth on most of these questions. Church Councils made certain decisions and declared that they were definitive for the faith. Popes have made pronouncements about them, but there are those who get really upset over the idea that the Pope can speak for God.

There is a lot of misinformation about when the pope speaks for God which is known as “papal infallibility”. The Pope only “speaks” for God when he does so “ex cathedra” which literally means, “from the throne” – the throne being Peter's chair.

The doctrine has only been in existence since the late 1800's – and it has only been used three times. Once to establish it. Once to declare the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception that most people also get confused about.

The Immaculate Conception was not that Jesus was born of a virgin, but that his mother, Mary, was born without sin. The reasoning was that if Jesus was to be pure, he could not have been born with the stigma of original sin, so his mother had to be pure.

The third proclamation was the Assumption - which was the doctrine that Mary rose bodily into heaven. This was a logical step to take because the cause of death is original sin, and if Mary was born without original sin, she couldn't die. The tradition was that when she was taken into heaven to become “the Queen of Heaven” they found a rose in her place. So in art, a rose becomes a symbol for Mary.

However, the doctrine of the virgin birth became controversial when the question was raised about her remaining a virgin. The definitive work on the subject is, THE BIRTH OF THE MESSIAH, by the Roman Catholic scholar, Raymond Brown. He clearly reasons that such a doctrine doesn't hold up especially when you read passages such as the one we have in today's gospel where Mark mentions Jesus' brothers James, and Joses and Judas and Simon, and says the neighbors ask, “Are not his sisters here with us?”

Those who like the idea of Mary being a perpetual virgin claim that his “brothers” were either Jesus' cousins, or that they were Joseph's children from an earlier marriage. Although, Joseph could have had more than one wife – but that's going a little too far for piety to prevail.

For the record, Luther was quite devoted to Mary and he liked the idea of her perpetual virginity.

These questions concerning Jesus' birth link up with the issue of his divinity. Having Jesus being born of a virgin makes it easy to classify Jesus as divine. But, in reality, these issues of Jesus' divinity being connected to his birth are a stretch. They are a stretch because Jesus is affirmed as having messianic qualities by virtue of an unusual birth in only two of the gospels – Matthew and Luke. And these vary a lot. In Luke we have the angel talking to Mary and Jesus is born in a manger. In Matthew the angel only talks to Joseph, and he takes Mary home to have the baby.

Mark's gospel starts out with Jesus being baptized, and it is at this point that Jesus is proclaimed as God's son by a voice from heaven.

John doesn't mention an unusual birth either; he puts Jesus' divine nature in the context of the cosmos – before time. Remember how John's gospel begins, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God – all things were made through him – and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

And then there is Paul's letter to the Romans, which was written years before any of the gospels. In it Paul says that Jesus was born of the seed of David, and he was proclaimed the Son of God at the resurrection.

And then there is the role Jesus was to play in politics. Was he a pacifist or a rebel? Interestingly, the Bible overall has about as many references to the sword as to it does to love! But it seems evident that Jesus comes down hard on the side of love, not the sword. And yet, Christianity has this long history of claiming the sword as its weapon of choice instead of love. Still, there is little question about where Jesus stood, and what he taught.

And then there is the role of Jesus as a teacher. It appears, as we read in today's gospel lesson, that Jesus' wisdom was one of the main claims to his authority coming from God. He astonished those who heard him.

And, of course, Jesus healed. We read in the lesson that Jesus could do no deed of power in his hometown, except to heal a few sick people.

And, remember, Jesus realizes that “prophets are not without honor except in their own house.” This is a little like the observation that “behind every successful man there is a surprised woman.” Those who are close to us see us in a different light from those on the outside. And Jesus realized that he was no exception.

So here we have some of the issues that have surfaced in the faith and which are still around. And how do they affect our faith?

Well, that really depends on where your faith is coming from. If it comes from dogma, you are going to have a few problems if you are a thinking person.

And this isn't to say that dogma doesn't have its place. Dogma reflects the struggle the faith has had over the centuries in defining itself and setting boundaries. Remember the creeds didn't come first – the faith did. The creeds became necessary when the community found that people were pushing the envelope a little too far.

For instance, the phrase in the creed that Jesus was “born of the virgin Mary” wasn't put in there to affirm Jesus' divinity, but his humanity. There was a heresy that claimed Jesus was wholly divine with no human dimension. The heresy even claimed that the crucifixion involving Jesus' suffering didn't really happen – that it was an illusion. Thinking like this h. Jesus was fully human and fully divine.

No, your faith doesn't come from the dogmatic formulations of history. It comes from your experiencing the presence of God in your life, and from the support you get from the community of faith, and in the breaking of the bread, and in the healing power of love.

And the real test of your faith is not in what you say you believe, but in how that belief affects your behavior. Remember John saying that he who says he loves God but hates his brother is a liar, for how can a person love God whom he has not seen but hate his brother whom he has seen.

And again, “By this will all men know that you are my disciples – if you have love for one another.”

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost - June 28, 2009
The Rev. John A. Buerk

I like coffee – it's in the genes. My German great grandmother drank seven cups a day – and she lived to be 98. I've had delicious French coffee – the best German coffee – I've had coffee in Istanbul, and Damascus, and Cairo. And I know all the nuances related to coffee brewing – from the beans, to the quality of the water, to how you store the beans, to whether or not you should grind just before you brew the coffee – to what kind of a coffee maker you use, to how hot you should keep it once it's made – not to mention how long it will stay fresh.

Well, I want to tell you that when all is said and done, there are only two things that really make a difference in a cup of coffee – one is how much you pay for the coffee and the other is how much coffee you use relative to the number of cups you are brewing – bearing in mind the exceptional insight of that great Swede Carl Sandberg who noted that, “there is no such thing as strong coffee, there are only weak men.”

And over the years I've observed that coffee and religion have a lot in common. First, there is the main ingredient – the coffee. And in the case of religion – there is theology. Second, you have to consider how the coffee is served – hot – cold – or luke warm – not unlike religion. Third there is the amount of water you use relative to the cups of coffee you want to brew. And in religion you have the issue of how substantive your message is – is it to the point and is it focused – does it have depth?

Then there is the question of how you brew the coffee. In religion, is it presented in big buildings or small buildings? Stately buildings or contemporary sanctuaries with all that one expects from a modern auditorium – things like comfortable seats and air-conditioning.

And then there is the question of what you serve the coffee in – is it a mug, or fine china. And so it is with religion – is it served en mass with pop music or in a more sophisticated way with some Gregorian chant thrown in?

Now this doesn't mean that things are inflexible – or that everyone has the same taste. You know that there are varieties in taste. And a lot of taste depends on what you grew up with. If you were served weak coffee at home, you won't like a strong brew. Are you used to your coffee being served in a mug or in a cup with a saucer.

But don't be fooled – wanting a cup and saucer may not be because you are refined. My Irish grandfather wanted a saucer so that he could pour his coffee into to cool it off, and then he drank the coffee from the saucer.

Well I want to tell you that when all is said and done there are really only two things that count in religion just as there are only two things that really matter when you make coffee. One is theology and the other is how much water you use in brewing the dogmas of the faith.

And again, if you go for inexpensive coffee – it will not have much body. Just as if you don't have questioning as part of your religion, you will have a shallow faith. You will find that issues and perspectives are presented in a simplistic way. Things are black or white – you are in or you are out – you believe what you are told or you won't make it through the pearly gates.

You are so opposed to abortion that you bomb clinics and murder doctors.

You are so uncomfortable with sexual issues that you box yourself in not realizing that sexual values reflect cultural patterns which change depending on circumstances. For instance the Bible accepts concubines. When King David was near the end of his days and they had trouble keeping him warm, they put some virgins in bed with him to see if it would help.

People are selective in saying that homosexuality is wrong because the Bible says so, but skip over the negative things Jesus said about divorce.

Faith must be alive and relevant and it must be substantive. If you don't have substance to your faith, you think that God is on your side no matter what the issue is. And, you forget Lincoln saying that he was more worried about his country being on God's side than God being on its side.

By way of contrast, a rich brew of theology provides you with all the flavor you want in your faith. And good religious thinking does the same. Krister Stendahl – the former Dean of Harvard Divinity School and Bishop of Stockholm noted that when you find a truth in another religious tradition, it doesn't mean you have to subtract one from your own.

And so it goes – taste varies - if you grew up in a big church, you might find a small congregation lacking. If you grew up in a large congregation a small one might be lacking. But there are exceptions to this generalization – sometimes people from small churches gravitate to the big churches – the mega-churches – if you will – because they feel secure when they are surrounded by so many people who think like they do. Throw in a coffee shop and you can really draw a crowd.

There are other things to consider in religion as well – just as there are in brewing coffee. What do the clergy wear – how long is the sermon – does the sermon have substance? Can you sing the hymns – does the choir hit the right notes? Do the pews have cushions? Can you hear what is being said?

On and on it goes, and when it comes to Jesus, he didn't even know what coffee or tea were – they weren't part of this culinary milieu - no, Jesus drank wine.

And so do we - only it gets changed and because it is changed – so are we. And that change makes us realize that we only live when our lives are livable - and our lives are livable only when we learn to love one another as Jesus taught us.

Third Sunday after Pentecost - FATHERS' DAY - June 21, 2009
The Rev. John A. Buerk

Fathers' Day is a pretty special day for most fathers. I say “most”, because we do have to make allowances for those fathers with teen-agers.

Fathers' Day began about a hundred years ago, but things did not go well at first. Newspapers ridiculed the idea of a “Fathers' Day”.

By way of contrast, “Mothers” Day” was greeted with open arms. It wasn't until the manufacturers of men's clothing realized the potential in such a day that it got financial backing.

Although I remember reading some advice from a columnist who said, “Do not ever buy your father something you see in “Gentlemen's Quarterly” for Fathers' Day”.

Maybe the resistance to Fathers' Day being added to the calendar stems from the fact that men have always had the upper hand. The three religions of the Book – Judaism. Christianity and Islam - are all patriarch-oriented faiths. They all start out with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God is thought of as a man in these religious circles – any doubts – just look at the creation scene on the ceiling of Sistine Chapel and there he is – God - beard and all!

Although, there is one exception in the Bible to God being seen as male.

When we recall the creation stories in Genesis, usually the first story that comes to mind - the one you often hear at weddings – is the one where God creates Adam first – then all the other creatures – and finally God fashions Eve from one of Adam's ribs. It is ironic, and disturbing, that in several surveys, the majority of people in America still think that a man has one less rib than a woman. They have even found first year medical students who think so.

But, by way of contrast, in the first chapter of Genesis – in the other story of creation -Adam and Eve are created at the same time. The text reads , Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in his own image…male and female he created them. (1:26,27). This creation story implies that the godhead contains the essence of both the male and the female.

However, this passage from scripture is the exception. Everywhere else in the Bible, God is a male, and the religious traditions are fully vested in male dominance. Men have the wealth. Men have the wives. Men have the children. In fact, if a woman was barren she was not considered a complete woman. That is why Sara was so despondent when she got old and still didn't have a child.

But one shouldn't give up hope – remember when Sara was ninety she bore Isaac and -not only that - but the Bible says that her husband was so old that he was “as good as dead”.

Again, men controlled these religions for centuries. It is only in the past forty years that women have been ordained as Protestant and Jewish clergy. They still aren't in Orthodox Judaism and in Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christianity. Not to mention the severe restrictions on women in Islam. “NO WOMEN ALLOWED”, is writ big over these institutions.

Even our secular institutions are seriously male dominated – from our Supreme Court - to our Congress - to our presidency.

So with all this power why wasn't Fathers' Day a shoe-in like Mothers' Day? Well – I think that deep in our hearts we realize that our mothers really carry the day – and the night - when we were growing up. For the most part, they were the source of food – especially desserts – and stories – and getting us to everything we had to get to.

And, even though men dominated the church, a whole significant tradition grew up around Mary, Jesus' mother. Biblically, she doesn't come off too well except for the Magnificat – which for the most part is a quotation from the song of Hannah in I Samuel. Jesus dismisses Mary and his brothers when they come to see him. In the first three gospels, all the women and the disciples desert Jesus – they stand at a distance from the crucifixion because they were afraid of the mob.

But, in the Middle Ages, the church came to celebrate Mary and to lift her up in the traditions of the church. In part, this was to counter the negative role of women as a temptress – thinking that comes from Eve's role in tempting Adam to eat the apple. It could also be that Mary rose in prominence because the religions of the Bible are the only religions in the world that do not have a female component in the godhead – and so it made sense to add a feminine element.

So – the church got a woman – Mary - to break the glass ceiling of the church. And, America got sentimental about fathers. And that's o.k., because men need to loosen up a bit. When Tony Soprano started to see a psychologist, the number of men going for therapy doubled. Men need all the help they can get, but they sometimes think it isn't the “man” thing to do.

But, in our faith tradition, it's all right. It's OK to cry – and it's OK to say you need help. And it is OK to confess your sins and to say, “I'm sorry God – please forgive me.”

You know, it isn't easy to be a good father these days. There aren't too many good role models for men. Athletes covered with tattoos and plagued by arrest records don't cut the mustard. Congressmen with a roving eye and a penchant for payoffs create a negative model. Businessmen who used to be models of hard work and discipline are now models of moneymaking schemes that have left millions without pensions. Not to mention the church in Ireland and its scandals. No, it isn't easy to be a father these days because there are only a few good models out there.

Still fathers try. They try to be the best parents possible – but don't forget our fathers' fathers weren't perfect either – and it all goes back to Adam and Eve and the apple.

But, Jesus knew that fathers did their best. Remember the forgiving father of the prodigal son? Remember Jesus saying,

“ What man, if his son asks for a loaf of bread will give him a stone?” And so Jesus reminds us that our heavenly Father cares for us all.

I know that mothers do what they have to do, but fathers do what they can do.

In our faith fathers are celebrated not as patriarchs and gods – but as creatures of God with all the grandeur and weaknesses found in all created things. And it is appropriate to stop once a year and say “Thanks Dad!”

Second Sunday after Pentecost - June 14, 2009
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen.

Lately I have been walking a little hunched over because my back has been acting up. I attribute the pain and to an old college Rugby injury. I played Rugby because I thought it was the toughest of sports and I thought it fit my self image. When I was in Japan, however, I found a sport that was even tougher - Australian Rules football. The beauty of Australian Rules is that there are virtually no rules! It is probably a good thing that I never had the opportunity to play, or who knows what other injuries I would be nursing!

Sometimes we view the world, as being devoid of rules. We have only to turn on the news and hear the angry chants of protestors following the compromised elections in Iran. North Korea blatantly disregards international treaties and conducts another nuclear test… We witness a doctor (George Tiller) being murdered in (reformation Lutheran) Church while serving as an usher, by a person who professes to be a guardian of human life… We see teenagers in Lockport murdering their counselor, 24 year old Renee Greco for $160. We are horrified as another human being murders a fellow human being (Stephen Johns) for his vocation of guarding a memorial to victims of genocide. (The National Holocaust Memorial) And we have to ask…. Are there any rules? Or perhaps, who rules?

In the Gospel lesson we see Jesus referring to the Kingdom of God… while we usually understand the word basileia to mean kingdom and think of a far off land, like the Magic Kingdom where Mickey presides in sunny Florida, basileia can also be understood as power or rule . So the question we need to consider today is, “Who and what is under God's rule?”

In the gospel lesson we find Mark's final two examples of the basileia of God (God's reign or power). Both are concerned with growth. It is God's power that grows the seed and makes the small seed great. It reminds us ultimately that God's power is the primary power or the effective cause in creation, something that we often loose sight of. If we do well in life, we usually are quick to attribute what we have done to our hard work, our knowledge, our honed skill set, our insight, our wonderfulness ….

But would anything at all be possible without God's power? …Without the gift of life, the gift of breath, the gift of intellect, the gift of …….. You name it.

Luther once commented on primary verse the secondary cause and said that if the Vine grower (God) didn't allow the sap to flow through the vine (Christ) to a branch (us) it would wither and die.

In a day and age where many things have been ripped out of our hands…. Our illusion of security after 9/11, our economic security, during this recent recession, our health security, with pandemic diseases such as HIV and Aids and now the swine flu…. We are well poised to relate well and welcome the words of the prophet Ezekiel. As you recall, his words are spoken at a time when the people of Israel had everything ripped away. In fact, many of the people themselves were ripped away from the land and brought into exile in Babylon. The prophet reminds us that God's children are not forgotten by the Almighty. God will act and will provide the security that is desperately needed. This is an end time reference about what will happen on the “Day of the Lord”. What is this twig that is planted that becomes the mighty cedar that provides refuge for all of the nomadic animals of the air and gives them rest? It is none other than the cross of Christ. It is the place where we will also find safety and assurance on judgment day. It is the place that brings us power to live and hope to survive and even thrive today. It is where God rules with mercy! The cross redefines the correct use of power for us. God rules with ultimate power in overcoming evil with good. On the cross, Christ embraces violence and hatred with open loving arms. God even swallows up death, to free us from our fear of annihilation by insisting that Jesus rise after he took in all the broken deadly shards. In the shadow of the cross we see and experience the dawn of Easter morning.

Embracing the power of God is accepting the gracious will of God.

On July 17, 1538 Luther was suffering greatly. He was aware of the irregularity of his pulse and was consoled by the physician. He [Luther] responded, “I'm subject to the will of God. I've given myself up to him altogether. He'll take care of everything. I'm sure that he won't die because he is himself life and resurrection. Whoever lives and believes in him shall not die; though he die, yet shall he live [John 11:25]. Therefore I submit to his will.” 1

Mark's gospel does not have any resurrection appearances per se, but the faith community that gathered to recall Jesus' teaching would see the power of the resurrection being explained by Jesus in these parables.

Do you feel this power today, can you perceive it. Do you welcome it? Like Christ and Paul and all who accepted and embraced the reign of God in their lives, the more we assent to this power, the more we submit to insisting on living and breathing the Gospel of love, reconciliation, equality, forgiveness and peace the more we will be at odds with the powers of the world that lie (literally) in opposition to God. We will struggle, we will be rejected, and we will be scared and ridiculed. But we will be in good company and judgment day will be like every other day living under the shadow of the cross, in the early morning light of Easter. Our judge will call us friend and brother or sister. Our wounds will be healed, our pains vanquished, our struggles conquered, our fears relieved and our tears wiped away.

____________________________

Luther, M. (1999, c1967). Vol. 54 : Luther's works, vol. 54 : Table Talk (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (Vol. 54, Page 294). Philadelphia : Fortress Press.

With nothing to fear and with the power of God accessible to us, let us embrace God's efforts to grow us into the kind of Christian witnesses that the world so desperately needs. Let us allow our priorities to shift away from self rule to God rule. Let us live to please God instead of just pleasing ourselves. Let the plight of the suffering be our concern. Let us not hoard our talents, our treasures and time, but let us employ them to the greatest extent that we can in order to further the kingdom of God. Let us be the symbols of hope that the world needs.

The honest truth is that our church and we, as individuals, are not living up to our potential.

Michelangelo, when asked how he could make such beautiful sculpture replied that the beautiful sculptures were already there, he just removed the excess. The Danish theologian and Pastor Soren Kierkegaard, said, “The truth already lies within the student.”

The power of the spirit given to us in baptism and the calling that we receive in baptism has limitless potential.

There is so much more that we can be “in Christ”. We can help transform this neighborhood, this city, this county, this nation, this world in God's service. We can easily solve our budget crisis, we have the money to balance our church budget for ministry, but we need to take it from our pocket and offer it up for use in the kingdom. We have the brain power and the compassion to work tirelessly to comfort the lonely, be they in nursing homes, on the street or living next door. We have the courage to confront violence and teach love. We can help feed the many hungry and work to help house the homeless. We can use our political and business connections to help further more than just our agenda, we can help further God's agenda.

Mother Theresa of Calcutta, the winner of the Nobel prize for peace, was a small woman, humble before God but a brave and tenacious fighter for the Lord. She did not bow to earthly power easily. She looked with her eyes in her immediate surroundings on the slum streets and saw a need. There were children starving on the street without parents or caregivers. They were dying. She went to her superiors with a vision for an orphanage and said, “I have three pennies and a dream from God to build an orphanage.” – Resources as small as a mustard seed. Her superiors chided gently, “You can't build an orphanage with three pennies… with three pennies you can't do anything.” “I know”, she said smiling, “but with God and three pennies I can do anything.”

Let those with ears to hear, listen.

Amen.

Holy Trinity Sunday - June 7, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Click here for the Audio of this Sermon

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

We call it our namesake day, Holy Trinity Sunday. For those of you who might not know, or might not remember, the name of this church is not Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, that's merely our AKA, also known as. No the proper name of this congregation is, The English Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity. That name is a much better name as it says so much more about our congregation than our shorter name does.

Our longer name says many things. The first thing it says is that we have a long a distinguished history. It does this with the word, English. In 1879, when this congregation was founded, every Lutheran Church in Buffalo used German as their primary language of worship. Atonement, Resurrection, St. John's, Christ, all worshipped in German, following the sentiment of the day that said, English is for making money, German is for praying.

But our church ancestors said, “If this is where God has led us and this is where we call home, and English is the language, then we will earn our money AND pray in English.” So this group of like minded and progressive thinking Americans , started a small worship group and asked a small French Eugonot congregation that met in a small church on the corner of Ellicott and Tupper Streets here in the city, the current site of the City Mission, if they could hold their worship services AFTER the worship services that congregation held. They said, “Yes.”

Within a relatively short period of time, this radical group of Lutherans, soon grew to a size where they were significantly bigger than the French Protestant Church and so the small existing congregation agreed to merge with Holy Trinity and they worshipped together. Within twenty years, they outgrew not only that building, but the three other buildings they bought to house the Sunday School, the Men's Group, the Ladies Auxillary and the myriad other groups that the congregation formed. They bought an apple orchard on the outskirts of town, and in 1904 dedicated this edifice to the glory of god with somewhere in the vicinity of 2500 members. History tells that story that their decision to follow the times and think outside the box as it were, was a good decision. That's what the word, English, in our name means.

The next word, evangelical, also tells us something about who we are. Unfortunately, the word evangelical today has been hijacked by the conservative right, the Moral Majority, Pat Robertson, James Dobson and the rest. To the average person on the street, it says, “Conservative right, pro-life, anti-gay, and a host of other nuances. That's a shame, because the word does not mean those things, rather, it simply means that we are the ones who have a story to tell, namely the story of Jesus Christ, his life, death, resurrection and ascension. To be an evangelical, is to be an evangelist, where evangel, as translated from its original language, means messenger. We are messengers of the gospel. Now that gospel presumably has something to say about how we live our lives, how we deal with issues such as abortion, gay and civil rights, marriage equality, capital punishment, torture, war, conservation, and so much more. And to a certain extent, how we deal with these issues must take into account, “What Would Jesus Do,” and if we do, then we have to look at what Jesus actually did, and I think when you do that, the radical Christian Right would quickly discover that they are much more exclusive a club then Jesus would have had, or joined, or approved of.

The next word, “Lutheran,” speaks to the obvious. We are Lutheran, we follow the teachings and inclinations of our founder, Martin Luther. That says that we are the oldest group of those who trace their history back to the Protest Movement of the Reformation in the early 16 th century. We were the first to break away from the Roman tradition of that day, but on the other hand, we are also the closest to that tradition. Those in the congregation today who are former Roman Catholics, you know better than we cradle Lutherans, that that which separates us from the Roman tradition pales in comparison to what we have in common, not the least of which is our liturgy, our scripture, and our spirituality.

The history of the whole Church is our history and we celebrate it and hold fast to it, for it is a precious gift from God.

But that word “Lutheran” also tells us that we are unique in the world of religious communities. We hold fast to the principles that set us apart in the first place and which today, still present a convincing argument for how a religious fellowship should do business. We believe that God is in charge, that we are his children and servants of his kingdom. God offers us the gift of His grace, which when appropriated by faith, assure us of our salvation, which is nothing less than the guarantee that God's love will never be far from us or abandon us, even in death. As witness to that fact, we have the example of Jesus and the gospel of his life, death and resurrection.

The word Church is in our name. In our title, in our formal corporate name, in the name registered with the State of New York as a non profit 501C corporation, it is spelled with a capital “C” not a lower case “c.” If it were spelled with a lower case “c” it would mean that this a church, as in church building, as in it looks like a church, as in it has stained glass windows, an organ, pews facing one direction, a lectern or pulpit up front from which a boring lecture is offered. But ours is spelled with a capital “C” which means it is an abbreviation. The Big C Church means, the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church that confesses him as Lord of our life, as Son of Man, Son of God, Saviour and Redeemer. If we added all of that, it wouldn't fit on the check. But make no mistake, that's who we are, we're not just a building that looks like a church, we are part of His Church, Big C.

And finally, of the Holy Trinity. As I said in the beginning, today is our namesake day, Holy Trinity Sunday. Originally set as an official day in the Church year by Pope John 22 nd in 1334, the day finds its origins much before that as the church is known to have celebrated the day as a feast day 300 years earlier. The Church struggled with the concept of the Trinity from its earliest days, and our Creeds, the Nicene, the Apostles, and the Athanasian Creed all speak to the concept of the Trinity. The Apostles and Nicene merely give a nod to it, while the Athanasian Creed, focuses almost entirely, if not obnoxiously redundantly on it, which it why it remains Pastor Buerk's least favorite. He lobbies so hard against it, that they took it out of the hymnal this time around, and without even looking at him this morning, I can see that he's smiling.

We are the English Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jesus Christ that celebrates God not only as Father and therefore Creator and Sustainer, but also as Son, Redeemer, Saviour, Teacher, Prophet, and as Holy Spirit, as Advocate, Counselor, Motivator, Revelation, Interpreter, and as that mysterious entity that somehow draws us to God. This, perhaps more than anything else, is what this place is all about. Everything we do, everything we say, everything we support, in its best intention, is done to draw you to God. If it doesn't, then we need to come full circle once again to the first word in our name. Those who founded this Church, wanted to make sure that nothing got in the way of bringing people closer to God. They thought, and history has shown rightly so, that by not speaking the language of the day and of the country in which they were living, that people would not be drawn to this place and to the God that we encounter herein, so if follows that we should always be on the watch to see if anything we are doing or are not doing is keeping people from being drawn to the God we lift up as all those things that we have come to know as God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We are the English Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, and we have just recently celebrated the 130 th anniversary of our founding. For this and so much more we say, thanks be to God, to whom be the glory now and forever. Amen.

Amen.

The Day of Pentecost - Confirmation Sunday - May 31, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Click on Highlighted text to hear the audio of this sermon
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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

I know I have told you that each time I walk a newly baptized child around the church; I wind up taking them up to the altar to have a little “chat.” In that brief time we have together, I tell the child two things. First, I remind them that God loves them and that God intended for them to be a part of His creation and that without them, creation would be incomplete. I know that this concept is hard for the infant to grasp, but I tell them nonetheless. When our two girls were in utero , I would talk to them through Debby's stomach each night and I would say the same two things to them each time. I would say, “Wash the car,” and “Do your homework.” All I can say is, “so far so good.”

So when I talk with each newly baptized child, and remind them that they are an integral part of God's whole creation, I hope that it will stick as did the advice I gave my children. The other thing I tell each child is to take care of their mom and dad, to love them and respect them and to grow in the image of God that came from them. If they have siblings, I simply tell them to do the best they can given the circumstances.

This morning at 8:30 when I baptized Alexander Todd Giovanazzo, grandson of Marje and the late Tom Barney, that's what I told him. So far so good, it's only two hours later.

I had this conversation long ago with Jimmy Kryszczuk, and Abigail Hunt. Amanda Wright, Brian Roberts and Lydia Webb were either older or not baptized by me but I know that though they didn't hear it from me, it still applies. Each of you is a unique gift from God, and each of you has a unique place in God's creation and God has plans for you. And being that integral part of creation makes you indispensable, indispensable in that everything that has happened in the world from the moment you were born until now has included you and believe it or not, you have had an impact on everything that has happened. That's an awesome thought, you know, and it makes each of us, something without which the world cannot exist.

That thought isn't meant to give us a swelled head or a greater sense of self than we deserve, but it is there to make us take ownership of the responsibility each of us has from God, to make a difference in the world and to the rest of creation.

We are presented with this challenge every day of our lives. When we wake up each morning, we have a choice to make with regards to how the day is going to go for us. Now, if it is true that each of us affects the rest of creation, then it follows that the rest of creation can and will make certain impacts and demands on us with each new day. Much of what happens to us is what happens to us, but we should never fall into the trap that fatalism holds for us by thinking that we have NO say in what happens to us, because we do. You choose to make of the day what the day presents to you, and each day holds infinite possibility. To say otherwise is the worst kind of idolatry, where idolatry is when we try to put God in a box, so that we can manipulate and direct God's power. To say we can't do something, or that something isn't possible for us to accomplish is to say that God can do that with us or through us, and that's just not so.

On that first Pentecost, when all the faithful gathered and were breathed upon and infused with God's Holy Spirit, it was reported that the impossible happened, that even though there were gathered in that room people and folk of every description and origin, with multiple languages and traditions represented there, when they spoke the language God gave them to speak, everyone understood, and each mind comprehended. And there were some there, as there are now and everywhere in every age and time, who refused to acknowledge that God can do what God wills to do with and through us, and who said, “this is not possible, this gibberish is just alcohol talking.” But Scripture records that Peter stood up at that very moment and said, “No, it is not as you suppose, something very different is happening here than what your life's experience has told you can happen, what's happening here is God making possible that which we previously thought impossible.”

The first lesson you just heard read from Ezekiel, tells the same story in a different time. The prophet speaks of his vision of a valley of dry bones. And we all know where bones come from. We've eaten enough chicken wings across the street to know that once the bones are laid on the table, the meat is gone, and so is the possibility of raising to life once again, the chicken from which they came. Once the bones are laid bare, the creature is dead. But in this vision, God told Ezekiel to speak to the bones and to tell them that they shall live again. And so Ezekiel, faithful to the Lord, spoke the Word of the Lord to the bones, and in one of the best passages of Scripture ever written, the prophet tells the story of how God brought the lifeless bones back to life. And when, in the vision the great multitude, stood before him once again, alive and breathing and standing tall, God said to Ezekiel, “Don't ever let me hear you say again,

•  that you can't do something,

•  or that the people of Israel have lost their hope,

•  that death is all that is left, that life is not worth living,

•  that my problems are too big to face,

•  that my child to too far gone, that you can't kick that habit,

•  that you can't find love again,

•  that you'll never find a job,

•  that the economy will never recover,

•  that peace will never come to the middle east,

•  that public education is beyond repair,

•  that I'll never get into college, I'll never finish that degree, I'll never feel well again, or whole again, or free again, or happy again.”

God reminds us, again and again, that that need not be so, because with God all things are possible. If the resurrection of Christ tells us anything at all, it tells us this, just when you thought the impossible could never happen, God surprises us, one more time.

God is with us, always, rooting for us, cheering us on, hoping we take that next step with courage, confident in the knowledge that God means us well, and that we will do well. And that if perchance some days you don't, if by chance the step you take finds you stepping into a deep hole, or that puddle had more water in it than you thought it would, or that you had to adjust your plans because someone else did something that changed the look of and the bend in the road upon which you were traveling, know that God is there still, sorry with you that you got wet, or sick, hurt, or discouraged.

If you take anything at all from your confirmation day, my dear friends, take this thought with you today. That you and God make an unbeatable team, from the day you were born, you were part of God's plan for His creation, that YOU were the one upon whom He would rely to make great things happen.

I told that to many of you long ago. It still holds true, for all of us.

Amen.

Seventh Sunday of Easter - May 24, 2009
The 50th Anniversary of the Ordination of John A. Buerk
Sermon: The Rev. John A. Buerk

FIFTY YEARS 

Fifty years is a long time to have the same job. And lots of things have changed during that half-century.

Back then things were very different. No one was walking on the moon. No one saw beyond the stars to billions of years into space. There were still prop planes flying to Europe and my first trip abroad took 16 hours on Icelandic Airlines.

The things we did from day to day were different - I grew up next to a farm – in Colonie – near Albany. I did farm chores after school and during the summer I mowed hay and brought it into the barn– sometimes with horses. When I was fourteen, I was driving a truck – or better - it was driving me!

It wasn't until I was in high school that television became available – for a select few. There was only one family in the neighborhood that had a TV and they had four kids, so we were all invited over to see Milton Burrell on Tuesday nights – it was the highlight of the week!

The mainline churches were very much alive back then. And my home congregation was a busy place. It wasn't a big congregation but it was well supported. We had a great Boy Scout Troop, and a very active youth group. In fact, half the kids in our Luther League – as our youth groups were called back then - married someone from the congregation.

And society was different in many ways as well. In a Sociology course I took at Union College in 1953, the professor noted that 80% of the people in the United States married someone who lived within ten blocks of them. This meant that those who married had a lot in common – the same ethnicity – similar economic status – same religion – an extended family and the same expectations from marriage.

And now hardly anyone marries someone with whom they grew up. And, of course, that means people often marry someone different – couples often have different ethnicity, different religious back grounds, and they often come from different economic circumstances

Again, these different expectations about marriage sometimes make things difficult and when issues come up in marriage these days there are no family members within crying distance – so to speak – and you are on your own and that makes it even more difficult.

As you can see, these changes mean that there is a lot to contend with in our current society.

There are a lot of things to contend with in religion as well. In many neighborhoods the old congregations are gone or at least they are diminished. For Lutherans in Buffalo this has meant the disappearance of three-quarters of our churches. We have only five congregations left in the city, and two of them are marginal.

One problem, or course, is the loss of population in the city, and another is the fact that people don't go to church as much as they used to. There are reasons for this. In times past you went to church because your parents did and so did your grandparents as well as your uncles and aunts and cousins. The congregation was the social hub for families. Church kitchens were busy all week long.

And the congregation's youth group was often the best place to meet girls. Twenty-five years ago, our daughter, Linda, joined our youth group at Parkside. She was - and still is - very pretty, and when she joined we tripled the number of boys who came, and as you can guess, that meant more girls came because that was where the boys were!

Again – fifty years ago many young people married someone from their congregation. But today – virtually every teenager in our youth group will go away to college or to find work. And when they go away they will be meeting interesting people who are different– like nice Catholic kids, and nice Jewish kids, and even some Southern Baptists – but not at dances or beer parties.

Societal structures are so different that many of the things that gave our society stability and focus are now kaput – they are broken. And that has effected our congregations and our communities and the values connected to them. Today, values are not so much community values as they are sensual and seductive.

The fact is that values are determined by what keeps the community going – not the other way around. If certain limits aren't set on communal behavior, the community can't survive.

You see that in the Bible – the rules were determined by the conditions needed for the community to survive. For instance, there were severe rules against stealing because things were scarce. So a person caught stealing had his hand cut off which meant he couldn't eat from the common food bowl. The rules for marriage were different back then as well. When the earth needed people, the Bible says men could have several wives and concubines. This need to populate the earth also explains the prohibition against any behavior that inhibited procreation such as homosexuality. Parents had to be respected in order for order to be kept. If you had a really bad kid he was taken to the gate and stoned.

But over the centuries as social circumstances changed, and the industrial revolution provided goods and food and services beyond anyone's imagination, the rules were relaxed. Now you can get away with a lot of stealing – it appears you can get away with stealing billions – at least you can for a long time. But stealing the small stuff doesn't cause many ripples. Most of us have had a car along the way that we prayed someone would steal.

Today we don't have too few people, we have too many people – so the norm of one wife per husband is the rule – at least one at a time – with a few exceptions in Utah, of course. Again, as circumstances change, the rules change.

There used to be a limerick that summed up past virtue pretty well.

There was a young woman named mild
who kept herself undefiled,
By thinking of Jesus and social diseases
and the fear of having a child.

For better or worse these are not things too many young women worry about these days.

Again, values seek the level of tolerance. If the consequences of actions do not seriously harm the community, you can get away with a lot.

And yet there are some things that become normative, and they are expressed well by Dag Hammerskald the former head of the United Nations in his book, MARKINGS.

You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal – play with falsehood without forfeiting your right to the truth – play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity of mind. He who wishes to keep his garden tidy, does not sat aside a plot for weeds.
(p. 15)

Now what does all this have to do with being ordained fifty years? Well in a sense nothing, and in another sense everything. It doesn't mean much if you aren't interested in values. It means everything if you are religious, because it is the religious community that sustains our values and our perspective. It is the religious community that sustained me when I was a teenager, and it is that community of faith that sustains us when times are difficult, as Jill and I have experienced in your love and caring for us.

It is this community of faith - that Jesus established - that feeds us and nourishes us in spirit. It is this community of faith that has established the norm for our living – and it is expressed best in I John:

Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God; for God is love… No one has ever seen God. If we love one another God abides in us and his love is perfected in us… If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
(4:7, 8, 18, 20)

Fifty years is a long time, but not long enough to do all that has to be done, and to adequately thank all those who made it all possible.

Still – “Thank you!” - with all my heart.

Sixth Sunday of Easter - May 17, 2009
The Rev. Eric O. Olsen

Click on the Highlighted text for the audio of this sermon

Ha en god Syttende Mai! Or Happy 17th of May! Unless you are of Norwegian extraction, the date probably means little to you, but if your name is Eric Olaf Olsen, that is another matter. This day marks the ratification of Norway's Constitution and declaration of independence from Sweden in 1814. In the church that I grew up in, on the Sunday closest to May 17 th , the Torrisens, Larsens, Knudsens, Pedersens, Tellefsens, Lorentsens, Svensens, Hansens, Olsens, and all the other “sens”, sent their children to church wearing traditional Norwegian costumes. Following church everyone went to Bay Ridge Brooklyn for the 17 th of May Parade where members of my church marched and children rode on the church float. After the parade, all the families would usually return to The Sons of Norway lodge for food and fellowship. Most Norwegian foods require a refined pallet, such as Lutefisk, (Cod fish soaked in lye, which will turn real silver black in an instant), but the desserts are out of this world. There is no better treat than a Norwegian waffle topped with Norwegian fruit jelly. Delish!

The talk of fruit directs us to Jesus' words in the gospel. Jesus said, “You did not chose me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last…” When a fruit tree puts forth its fruit and it becomes ripe, you must pick it without delay. If you procrastinate the fruit will rot, insects will infest, and it will drop to the ground. Growing up, we had a pear tree in our yard. When I was around my son Luke's age, I was excited to pick the pears and we had a great harvest. As I got a little older, I had other priorities. I knew that the fruit was ripe but, didn't pick it on time, so the harvest was meager and mushy.

The speed with which we respond to a task, event, challenge or need can mean the difference between, feast and famine, prosperity and poverty, calm and crisis and life and death.

Our recent economic woes have been blamed on complicated financial derivatives and how distrust and suspicion directly affected the velocity of money, the speed in which money is spent after it is earned. This decreased velocity caused global economic panic and credit to freeze up. The huge economic stimulus package's goal and the speed in which it was proposed and implemented were designed to greatly increase the velocity of money in the economy and reverse the crisis.

In matters of faith, what is the speed that we are spending ourselves in service to God and the rest of God's children? While we do not earn grace, but receive it as a gift, how quickly have we returned or passed on the love that we were gifted by Christ? What is the speed that we comfort others in relation to the comfort that we have received by God through someone that God has sent? How fast have we extended the hope that sustains us to someone who is despairing?

Three months after the tragic crash of flight 3407, it appears that the cause of the crash was the result of insufficient airspeed which initiated a wing stall warning to the pilot who, instead of increasing the speed of the aircraft by dipping the aircraft down, pulled back on the stick, further decreasing airspeed, which resulted in a stall. Without sufficient speed, sufficient lift could not be maintained.

Today we all reaffirmed our baptism. Are we responding to our baptismal calling with a sense of urgency? Are we ministering with the right attitude at the right altitude? While piloting through time and space are we doing everything we can to listen for God's voice and instruction? Do we follow God's commandments, especially the loving of one another as Jesus has loved us? What is our reaction time? Are we putting in those training hours to be the best witness to Christ we can be?

In reading The Acts of the Apostles we also encounter speed and urgency in the early church. In our first lesson, Peter is at Cornelius' house, having been summoned there from Simon the tanner's sea side villa. The house was full of folks waiting for the words that Peter was going to bring them. You see Cornelius had a vision while fasting, whereby a man in brilliant raiment told him to summon Peter to hear what he had to say. Immediately Cornelius sent an envoy to summon Peter. By divine instance, Peter was also very hungry and praying on the tanner's roof and had a vision of a sheet with animals and creatures that Jewish purity law deemed unclean, but along with the vision was a command to get up, kill and eat. Peter said no, because he had never eaten anything unclean, but the response was basically, “What I made clean you have no right to call unclean.” This happened three times. After the vision, while he was trying to understand what had happened, suddenly there was a knock at the door, and three men sent by Cornelius called for him. The Spirit told Peter to go with the gentiles, and go he did without delay. When he arrived, he asked what they wanted. Cornelius, in the presence of his friends and family gathered, told Peter of his vision and said they were waiting to hear what Peter had to say. Peter did not tell them that he had to “ get back” to them; he didn't sit and write out his sermon, he did not use fancy language or cleaver stories- no . Without hesitation , he told it straight, and as he was still speaking, God validated the encounter by instantly sending the Holy Spirit. God blessed Peter's proclamation making it effective. God blessed Cornelius and his family and friends by giving them the Good news that they hungered for. This was all validated by the Holy Spirit which came upon the gentiles. They began to speak in dialects other than their own and were praising God and they were baptized!

Today we open our hearts to our forty-two new members! The Holy Spirit is validating the work of the Spirit through this congregation. Members and friends, both new and old, come here for the same reason that Cornelius' friends and family gathered at his house. We come to hear the word of God proclaimed through the reading of scripture, the hearing and singing of sacred songs, and through the preaching of the Gospel. The Spirit has and is validating this encounter! The Church of God on Main Street, called Holy Trinity is a place where God is feeding and nourishing now! It is a place where our fruit grows and ripens.

While the Holy Spirit brought you here, that same Spirit will also send you out from here after you eat and drink from the fruit which is Christ. You will be sent to other Cornelius' of the world. You will be their Peter. You will tell the Old, Old Story with a new sense of urgency. You may even lead some others back here and they may even join our faith family in a future class. You can do this, you can be the fruit that the world needs……….but not alone.

The Norwegian playwright and poet, Henrik Ibsen, wrote an epic tale about a harbor pilot named Terje Vigen who hailed from the southern port region of Grimstad, the same area my family is from. During the Napoleonic wars Denmark- Norway sided with France. England and Sweden set up a blockade designed to starve the Norwegians beginning in 1812. Terje Vigen was a sailor who after some time of adventure, settled down with a wife and they had a little baby girl that Terje lived for. As rations dropped critically low, Terje took matters into his own hands and decided to take a small pram and row under the cover of darkness through reef and shoal in heavily patrolled waters to get some desperately needed food. There was no time to waste; it was a matter of life and death for his family. He made it to Denmark and traded for three casks of barley and made his way back again through shoal and reef, but just as he was approaching his home shores, an English patrol boat spotted Terje and sent a pursuit craft after him. Even though Terje rowed till his fingers bled, he was captured and found himself on the deck before the 18 year old commander of the ship. Terje pleaded on behalf of his wife and daughter, but the young commander saw to it that he went directly to England to prison. After that first 17 th of May, Terje was released and returned home to find strangers in his place and two tombstones in the churchyard for his wife and child. With his spirit shackled in grief, he looked to the sea, and continued the work as a harbor pilot. One day, years later a yacht with torn sails was in danger of being wrecked on the shoals. Without haste, Terje Vigen quickly boarded the vessel. On the ship he encountered a small family, husband wife and young daughter. With an expert hand Terje quickly grabbed the rudder and took the ship safely away from danger until he saw the husband in the phosphorus light and heard his voice. Then he let go of the rudder and let the ship run aground. As the water poured in Terje ordered them in to the life boat as he lead them to what he schemed to be their demise, you see the husband he saw on the deck in the phosphorus light, was no other than the young captain that denied him mercy and sent him to jail while his family died of starvation. Just as revenge was in his grasp, when the captain was begging on his knees, Terje looked at the captain's young girl, and calm came over him. In that instance His Savior came to him with the speed of an angel, in the person of that little girl. Instantly, in the nick of time, forgiveness and love prevailed and Terje Vigen brought that family to safety… and Terje was finally free from the prison of revenge.

No matter how we try to maintain the right speed of faith, no matter how generous we desire to be with the fruit that we have been entrusted with, the reality is that we are too slow, and excuse oriented. We are professional procrastinators and we lack courage and zeal. On our own, we can not love as Christ loved us. The speed of Jesus' ministry is dizzying if you think of how much he taught, healed, forgave, fed and loved- in only three years! But like the captain's daughter through whom Christ came to save Terje Vigen, so too Christ can and will act through us. Our fruit can and will remain, because we can and will remain connected to the vine which is Christ. It is none other than the fruit of Christ's passion that we feast upon and share, but we don't dine alone, nor do we feed alone.

As a church, we are an expression of the body of Christ and are part of Christ's larger Church in the world. We need each other and Christ as our head and we are diminished and less complete when there are still children of God who do not know of the grace and love of God in Christ, children who have not tasted the sweetness of Jesus. Our joy is that we get the privilege to share such awesome news. Instead of celebrating a constitution one day a year, we celebrate forgiveness, reconciliation and love every day, hour, minute and second, but time is of the essence! Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Fifth Sunday of Easter - May 10, 2009 - Mothers Day
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

I know for a fact that I have told you before, but the occasion comes up every year to offer a teaching moment. That time has arrived again.

I know that you know that the readings we read every week are on a three year cycle. I know that you know that currently we are in the second year of that cycle, and that our church leaders gathered together to come up with an extremely creative name for the second year of the three year cycle and they came up with, “Year B.”

I also know that you know that there are four readings assigned to every Sunday in the church year and that if you wanted to you could open your hymnals to page 14 and find out what the lessons are for any appointed Sunday of the three year cycle.

If you have nothing to do and want to study the ebb and flow of the lessons, as you get to the Sundays after Easter, a curious thing happens. For all the Sundays following Easter, there are no readings appointed from the Old Testament. “That's odd,” I hear you thinking, and “why is that,” you ask?

Well, the answer is quite simple and straightforward. In our tradition, as in most mainline Christian denominations, the primary reading for any Sunday is the gospel reading. If possible, all the rest of the appointed readings, take their lead from the gospel. The first reading, most of the year, is taken from the Old Testament, the second from one of the epistles, or letters of Paul. If possible, the Old Testament reading is selected for how it supports or illuminates the gospel reading, or how it sheds light on the whole history of salvation and how God has acted similarly in the past.

Well, when you get to Easter, the history of salvation is what happened AFTER the resurrection and so, instead of readings from the Old Testament, we find readings from St. Luke's book of the Acts of the Apostles, which is our best history book of what happened in the early years after that first Easter morning.

This morning, we hear a selection from St. Luke's book of Acts that speaks to us of the situation in that period of time when the church was expanding exponentially. Because the needs of the church quickly outgrew the ability of the 12 original disciples to meet them, the church appointed seven elders to meet the growing need. Stephen and Philip were two Grecian men who were dispatched to meet the needs of the Greek Jews, specifically, the widows and orphans of the movement. Stephen and Philip were so effective in their ministry that they caught the attention of the Jewish opposition in Cyrene and Alexandria and eventually, Stephen was brought before the Sanhedrin, accused of blasphemy and stoned to death. The scriptural witness records a young man named Saul as being there at his stoning. Saul, you will recall, becomes the Paul we all know so well.

A great persecution of Christians followed this period and many of the faithful were force to flee Jerusalem and its environs. Philip went to Samaria, that no man's land between northern Israel and southern Judah. It is here where he receives his vision, his angelic instruction to go to Gaza. Now Gaza then is as Gaza now, a trouble spot. From earliest biblical times and continuing to this day, Gaza, that small strip of land on the southeastern border between Israel, Palestine and Egypt, from of time of Philistines to modern day headlines, has been a hot bed of controversy and violence.

Philip is told in his vision to go there. Nobody wants to go there, now or then. But Philip is faithful and Luke tells us that he got up and went. Luke goes on, “Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Sort of reminds me of the guy who went into the back of his Winnebago to have breakfast and when his wife asked him who was driving he said, “Oh, I left it on cruise.” You laugh, but did you know that he sued the company for not listing clearly in the RV's manual that cruise control requires that the driver stay in the driver's seat to pilot the vehicle. He won several million dollars AND a brand new Winnebago to replace the one that piloted itself into a ditch that morning.

Anyway…back to the story of Philip and the Ethiopian. Legend has it that Ethiopia was founded by the great grandson of Noah. Over the biblical record, it has been called many things, Ethiopia, Abyssinia, Kush and Axum. Axum, A-X-U-M or A-K-S-U-M, was a strong and powerful city and kingdom, ruling northern Africa from 400 BC up until the late 10 th century. It evolved into a Christian maritime stronghold until Islamic factions started cutting off it primary trade routes. It declined in prominence and population, leaving only its name behind, Ethiopia, which, as you know, became the official name of the nation that we know. It remains a Christian stronghold with about 63% of the population claiming orthodox roots.

The purpose of Luke including the story here is to relate to his readers, how the message of the gospel spread to Africa. It all began because Philip listened to the message that God sent to him. Now, we moderns have a hard time reconciling the enormity of Africa with the consequence of a chance encounter on a country road. But that truth of the matter is, it had to start somewhere and it had to start with someone. Back in the day, Philip's day, you couldn't simply Google Christ and start reading about the movement. No pamphlets appeared in your junk mail and Wolf Blitzer was nowhere to be found. So if the gospel was going to go anywhere, it had to be transmitted by someone who held the faith.

Believe it or not, the same is true today. No one becomes a Christian by surfing the internet. Sure, someone may come to church because they read our web page, or our ad in the Buffalo News, or heard that Jimmy Bigham was playing the mighty Wendt organ today, but they won't come again, if someone here doesn't greet them and in some way embody the gospel for them.

Think back for just a moment, about how you got here. What brought you here, who brought you here, and how was the gospel made real for you here? Some of you say you had no choice, your mother and father brought you here. Precisely…your mother and father brought you here. They were the embodiment of the gospel that made you come. You saw in them, the presence and reality of Christ and they wanted to make it real for you.

It's Mother's Day and so I think it only appropriate that I talk about my Mom. Even though my mom worked weekends and was dead tired on Sunday mornings, she saw to it that we got to Sunday school and church. I think she's been to church more in the past four years since she's lived here with us, than she was the first 80 years of her life, but she knew that faith was important and that if her sons were to grow up to be the kind of people she wanted them to be, that we had to be introduced to the gospel. She lived it in who she was as a person, that was our first introduction to the way God works, but she also knew that there was more to it than what she knew. And so she introduced us to God and to Christ.

That's all Philip did too. That's all we need to do. The power of the story and the witness to God's love contained therein will do the rest. Ultimately, God will draw all of us to Himself, but pen ultimately, it's our responsibility as His baptized children, to chase down the chariots going down the roads past where we are walking.

How can we do that you ask? Well, how about this:

If you go out for brunch today, bow your heads in prayer before you eat, first, and most importantly to thank God, for your food and for your mother, and second, that those around you will see someone who acknowledges the goodness of God. It's a subtle witness but a witness nonetheless.

Bring someone to church with you next week.

Call your children or when you see your children, and ask them if they went to church today, or if they brought their children to church today.

If they didn't, tell them how important it is.

We're going to invoke the three minute rule today. When church ends today, for the first three minutes, introduce yourself to someone you don't know. Yes, I know it's Mother's Day and you have to get home or out for brunch, but 3 minutes is all God is asking you for today. Be that presence of Christ for someone you don't know, it might, it will, make all the difference.

Come to the 9:30 coffee hour next week and meet our new members, they want to meet you.

And last, but certainly not least, thank your Mom, thank you, Mom, for being God's representative for me here on earth and in my life. Thank your wife, for being God's representative for your children; thank your children for being the kind of parents God hoped they would be for their kids.

And thank you, for being here today. Amen.

Third Sunday of Easter - May 3, 2009
The Rev. John A. Buerk

SHEPHERDS AND COWBOYS

The shepherd is a frequent image in the Bible – from the 23 rd Psalm to Jesus being called “the good Shepherd”. And even though that image is a product of an agrarian society it still rings true for us. I often wonder why.

How many of you have ever seen a real shepherd? Fortunately, I have been in the right place at the right time to have seen one, and I should report that they don't wear long dresses and sandals– they wear blue jeans and sneakers.

Still, even though we live in an urban society – in which a shepherd is more foreign than an ox-drawn plow – the image rings true and it gives us a cozy warm feeling.

I suppose that if we did want to bring the image of Jesus up to speed, we could refer to Jesus as the good cowboy. After all, cowboys are still out there rounding up stray calves, and moving the herd in the right direction – although with the demise of cigarette advertising we don't see them posted on billboards anymore. And cowboys have to protect their herds just as the shepherds did. The shepherds carried crooks, and probably cowboys carry guns in case a mountain lion or a wolf comes along.

So we know what a cowboy looks like – we may not know what he smells like – but we have all seen enough cowboy movies to have their image in our memory bank. But, for some reason or other, the cowboy just doesn't cut the mustard as far as being a surrogate for the shepherd. Maybe Miss Kitty has something to do with it – I don't know.

However, Jesus is still seen as the good shepherd and we all know what we mean when we say that.

But when it comes to some of the popular images of Jesus, they don't seem to stay the course. Too often it isn't the human side of Jesus that gets emphasized, it's the God side. I've noted before that the church has had to deal with more heresy related to people trying to make Jesus too divine than too human.

As Robert Capon noted in his excellent little book, “Hunting the Divine Fox”:

Almost nobody can resist the temptation to jazz up the humanity of Christ. Often, people like to see Jesus in the role of Superman. Remember how Superman used to be described on the radio, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. It's superman! Strange visitor from another planet, who came to earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter who fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way. Jesus is seen as meek and mild but with secret souped-up, more-than-human insides. He bumbles around for thirty-three years, nearly gets himself done if for good by the Kryptonite Kross, but at the last minute, struggles into the phone booth of the Empty tomb, changes into his Easter suit and, with a single bound, leaps back to the planet heaven. (P.90)

Capon then points out the human race was, is and probably always will be deeply unwilling to accept a human messiah.

We don't want to be saved in our humanity; we want to be fished out of it . We crucified Jesus, not because he was God, but because he blasphemed: he claimed to be God and then failed to come up to our standards for assessing the claim. It's not that we weren't looking for the Messiah; it's just that he wasn't what we were looking for.

Our Kind of Messiah would come down from a cross. He wouldn't do a stupid thing like rising from the dead. He would do a smart thing like never dying.

And you know how this worked itself out historically – Christianity just couldn't let Jesus alone – he had to become the conquering hero. Remember how the Roman Emperor, Constantine, made Christianity the state religion and then used the image of the cross to conquer the world. And then there were the Crusades – and the killing of tens of thousands in the name of Jesus. And now some people kill in the name of Allah.

But, Jesus did not come to bring a sword – he came to bring peace. And that is what makes Jesus so hard to accept. He is so out of keeping with the role of gods. There is no end to the number of gods who can do powerful things. There are gods of war, and gods of thunder and lightning. There are gods of the sea. There are fertility gods.

It's easy to find a god to defend your cause, and if you can't find one, you twist and turn your god so that he can do your bidding.

There is a passage in I Cor. Where Paul says that Jesus crucified is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness for the Greeks. (1:23) As far as the Jews were concerned, the Messiah was not supposed to die. As far as the Greeks were concerned, a god who suffered was a contradiction in terms – gods don't suffer – they're in charge!

So here we are with this Jesus – a Jesus who doesn't fit the mold. At least he doesn't for many. And so many try to make Jesus into something else – they want him to be the great fixer. But when you do that and you meet up with problems that can't get fixed, you're in trouble.

But there is one strain of Christianity that seems to have gotten the message about Jesus better than most, and that is the African –American community.

And the “Spirituals” have captured who Jesus was in songs like, Nobody knows the trouble I've seen – nobody knows but Jesus. And, Sometime I feel like a motherless child.

Jesus was not only the Son of God; he was also the Lamb of God. And when he was on the cross, Matthew and Mark tell us that Jesus cried out, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

But Jesus wasn't forsaken– and we know that - and that is why we know that we aren't either because he knows what it's like.

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen – nobody knows but Jesus.\

Easter Day - April 12, 2009
Click Here to Listen to Sunday's Sermon

Click Here to Listen to the Children's Sermon
Roger Griffiths, Youth Ministry

Click Here to Listen to the Easter Day Festival Service of Holy Communion

Click here to Read in PDF format
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Each of the four gospels has a different ending.

Matthew's gospel ends with the women going to the tomb early that first Easter morning to anoint the dead body of Jesus only to be greeted by an earthquake, which succeeded in rolling the stone away from the entrance to the tomb, and an angel, who told them that Jesus had been raised and that they should go to Galilee where Jesus would meet them.

They go and on the way, Jesus meets them and they grab hold of him and worship him. Matthew also tells of the guards who shared the story of the empty tomb with the temple authorities and how, together they decided to tell the Pilate that someone must have come and stole the body, so that he wouldn't go ballistic. Matthew also tells us that some bribe was involved in this collusion. The disciples then meet in Galilee, on the mountain, where Jesus meets them again and the gospel ends with the familiar words from Christ, And Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Luke's gospel ends with the women going to the tomb, only to be greeted by two men who tell them of Jesus' resurrection. They in turn go back to the disciples to tell them the story and Luke records, “But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.”

Luke goes on then to tell of the post resurrection appearances of Jesus: on the road to Emmaus, and afterwards, when he sat down with them to eat and then opened the Scriptures to them and blessed them, saying, “You are witnesses to these things and behold I send the promise of my Father upon you. The gospel ends with the disciples returning home with Jesus, and very eyes.

John's gospel has Mary Magdalene returning to the tomb alone, and when she sees that the stone was rolled away, she runs and finds Peter and the other disciples, who then run to the tomb to see for themselves. Excited to go back home and tell the story to everyone, the disciples leave, but Mary remains, crying. As she does, Jesus comes to her, only, at first, she mistakes him for the cemetery caretaker, until he speaks her name, Mary. John also includes the story about doubting Thomas as well as two other post resurrection accounts, one on the shore of the lake where he prepared breakfast for them and the account wherein Jesus asks Peter three times, “do you love me?” An exchange almost universally regarding as Jesus forgiving Peter for his three denials. The gospel ends with these words…”But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

This year, the second year of the three year lectionary cycle, known as year B, has the Easter reading from Mark's gospel. It ends with these words:

So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them and they nothing to anyone for they were afraid.

Over the centuries, later editions of Mark's gospel have an additional sentence or paragraph or two, but most scholars agree that these additions were merely later attempts to bring Mark's gospel into accord with the other three. Ancient manuscripts have the gospel ending where we heard it end today.

I'm inclined to believe that that WAS the original ending, because it makes sense. The story of the good news of Jesus Christ, ends with the empty tomb. In many ways, you don't need anything else. Sure, it's nice that we have stories of Thomas, being able to put his hands into Jesus wounds, yes it's kind of quaint that Jesus hosted the first coffee hour on the beach for the emerging church that was the apostolic band, which makes Lutherans closest to God because next to God's Word we hold the offering of food next in line to true godliness. But the true power behind the story is the Risen Christ, not the reappearing one. While I respect my brothers and sisters from other faith traditions, I really don't need to have Christ reappear again, whether it's in a locked room the following afternoon, the lakeshore the following morning, or in Upstate New York 1800 years later.

For the real power of Easter lies in that empty tomb which represents the reality of the promise that Jesus revealed to us when he said, “let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

The life begun in God, ends in God. The power of the resurrection and of this day, lies not in how well we present the case for the missing body of Christ, but how well the body of Christ has found what's missing in us and restored it to life again, and…and… how willing we are to do that for others.

The other telling part of this gospel account lies in the fact that the women left the tomb and said nothing to anyone. Well…..sooner or later, they must have said something to someone, else you and I wouldn't be here this morning. But their initial inaction begs the question, “After hearing the witness of the resurrection this morning, what will we do?” What will you do? After having heard the story, having peered into the empty tomb yourself, having been told that God keeps God's promises, what kind of a witness will you be? Will you share the good news of Christ, somehow? Will you witness in any way to the power of God made manifest in the victory of life over death, or will you simply pick up your lily, throw your bulletin in the recycle bin on your way out, and go home to a nice dinner of smoked ham and scalloped potatoes?

We are called to be witnesses to Jesus Christ and to the power of his resurrection. Imagine if this afternoon, soon after services are over, Irene Ayad, who lost her husband a month ago, or Ruth and Larry DeAeth who lost their daughter this past week, or Elaine Fuhlbruck who lost her 17 year old nephew, or Lyn Searles who lost her beloved Elwood two weeks ago, or June and David Hehr who lost husband and father last month, imagine if each of them received 5 or ten phone calls from those of us in church this morning telling them that while we were in church this morning we thought of Ibrahim and Pat, of Aaron and El and Cliff and how we found comfort in the promise that Easter brings, and told them that we hope they find renewed hope in that message and in our caring. Imagine if we did the same for Bud Yuhl's family, and Jim Jagow, and Elizabeth Turner, and Melissa Haller, and Charlotte Vogelsang, or anyone who has suffered the loss of one they loved this past year?

Karen Koehler still misses Bob, Joyce Hofmar still misses Don, I still miss my Dad, who's been gone 20 years and my Debby her mom gone 25 years now, you still miss your grandfather and God still makes the same promise,

•  The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea and the Lord shall reign forever and ever.

•  Lo I am with you even to the end of the age

•  You are witnesses to these things and behold I send the promise of my Father upon you.

•  And were every word and action of God that brings hope and comfort recorded, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. For that we say thanks be to God. He is Risen. He is risen indeed.

Amen.

Palm Sunday - April 5, 2009
Click Here to Listen to Sunday's Sermon
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

Fifth Sunday in Lent - March 29, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Fourth Sunday in Lent - March 22, 2009
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

Third Sunday in Lent – March 15, 2009
The Rev. John A. Buerk

Second Sunday in Lent - March 8, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

First Sunday of Lent - March 1, 2009
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany – February 15, 2009
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany - February 15, 2009
The Rev. John A. Buerk - Sermon for Parkside Lutheran Church

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany - February 8, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang - Sermon for Parkside Lutheran Church

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany - Religion and Science Sunday - February 8, 2009
The Rev. John A. Buerk

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany - February 1, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Third Sunday after Epiphany - January 25, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

The Feast of St. John - 2nd Sunday after Epiphany - January 18, 2009
The Rev. John A. Buerk

The Baptism of Our Lord – 3rd Sunday after Christmas - January 11, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

The Feast of the Epiphany - 2nd Sunday after Christmas - January 4, 2009
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

The First Sunday after Christmas - December 28, 2008
The Rev. John A. Buerk

Christmas Eve - December 24, 2008
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Fourth Sunday of Advent - December 21, 2008
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

Third Sunday of Advent - December 14, 2008
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Second Sunday of Advent - December 7, 2008
Pastor John A. Buerk

First Sunday of Advent - November 30, 2008
The Rev. Eric Olaf Olsen

Christ the King Sunday - November 23, 2008
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

All Saints' Sunday - November 2, 2008
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

20th Sunday after Pentecost - September 28, 2008
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang

Come back often for more Sermons!