Stoned

 

Stoned

 

Luke 19:28-40

Entrance into the final days 

 

19:28 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

 

19:29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples,

 

19:30 saying, "Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

 

19:31 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it.'"

 

19:32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them.

 

19:33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"

 

19:34 They said, "The Lord needs it."

 

19:35 Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.

 

19:36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.

 

19:37 Now as he was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen,

 

19:38 saying, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!"

 

19:39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, order your disciples to stop."

 

19:40 He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out."

 

I’ve been to this place on the Mount of Olives, where Jesus started his trek down the mountain, on the winding, cobblestone path, down through the cemetery into the Kidron Valley, and then up into the gate into the walled city of Jerusalem. This is where the “parade” occurred, and where Luke tells us the locals laid down their cloaks for Jesus to ride over, as he was upon a donkey. It is the Gospel of Matthew that says the crowd spread palm branches along with the cloaks, not Luke. Possibly both were employed? We have no eyewitnesses, other than the gospel writers. Matthew’s account has always cracked me up—he’s concerned that Jesus “fits” into the various Hebrew Bible prophecies that he either force-feeds the events to do so, or just turns the prophecies themselves into “alternative facts.” So much so that when Matthew reads in the Old Testament that the “king” (Messiah) will come into Jerusalem “riding on a colt, the foal of an ass,” the tax collector turned author thinks that these are two separate animals, not an appositional description of the same animal. Hence, Matthew says he rode BOTH animals, in a truly godly act rivaling Circ de Sole. 

 

On my only trip to the Holy Land, our guides walked us down this historic path in what was certainly a moving experience, realizing that Jesus had done this. We were walking, of course, although for a few shekels, one could rent a donkey from one of the local purveyors, and ride a few yards to mug for the cameras, but we walked. Part way down the mount, we detoured through the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed his famous “resignation” prayer, alongside the olive trees. I had heard that the ones here today are the same ones that would have been there when Jesus experienced his catharsis, but the locals said that, no, the ROOTS would have been the same, but that new branches had been grafted onto them, and had now grown into the current fruit-bearing trees. In the Kidron Valley, we passed through the above-ground tombs of the cemetery, just before we started up the valley toward the city. Visitors to each tomb had left stones on the crypts to signify their visit, and it was sad to see many stones on one grave, while others were nearly barren. Our “religious” crowd (this was, after all, an Educational Opportunities tour, so most of us where either pastors or dedicated church folk) couldn’t bear to see the slight, so we each left stones on the previously bare crypts. Next, we saw some of the garbage heaps just outside the city gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. These two juxtaposed scenes of cemetery and earthly discards explain the biblical phrase about being “thrown outside where there is weeping and gnashing of teach.” The weeping was happening by the grieving visitors to the cemetery for the recently departed; the gnashing of teeth were courtesy of the “junkyard dogs” who were going through the trash for scraps of food. Most interesting.

 

And the massive gates into the Old City certainly explained how the arrival of Jesus and his band of followers felt like “kings,” as they entered the city “triumphally.” The gates are grand, and entering the protected city was an impressive experience, even for us educational pilgrims bearing cameras and backpacks, rather than palm branches and sacrificial cloaks. The locals smiled at our American band as we entered, mirroring the crowd that cheered Jesus on, back in the day of the gospel telling. They, because they had hoped that Jesus would now proclaim himself the warrior king who would banish the oppressive Roman government and restore Jerusalem to Jewish rule, and our modern townies because we carried American dollars along with our cameras, and were not being stingy with them. If they had something or a service to sell, they were doing so, and we were buying. Imagine their disappointment when, rather than lead a revolt, Jesus simply submitted to a “trial,” a beating, and succumbed to capital punishment. Imagine our disappointment when the olive wood camel purchased had “Made in China” stamped on the belly. Either way, the joy turned to mourning, and there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

In our visit, the only real damper on the crowd were the Israeli guards marching around in abundant numbers, each carrying an Uzi submachine gun with extended barrels and stocks. But in Jesus’ day, the proverbial wet blanket was wielded by the Pharisees, who saw the adulation being heaped on Jesus by his follows as blasphemous. They “ordered” Jesus to tell them to stop. Jesus’ response was an interesting one: I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out. I think what Jesus was communicating was that THIS IS A BIG DEAL going on here! With a particular word of pungent profanity being left off, this is what then Vice President Joe Biden told President Barack Obama when he signed into law the Affordable Care Act, which has come to be called “Obamacare.” Biden recognized the magnitude of this affair that meant accessible healthcare to millions of uninsured Americans. And while it was just a beginning, current affairs in Washington are truly highlighting how BIG a deal it was, especially in light of it again being threatened with extinction.

 

Jesus and the unfolding affairs in Jerusalem were a BIG DEAL because God was introducing a whole new era in God’s relationship with the world. Forgiveness and redemption would now be an act of GRACE, or “God’s unmerited favor.” God was wrapping up God’s love for humanity and all of the creation in one great “Hail Mary” pass (interesting metaphor, isn’t it?) to redeem us all. God’s great YES to the world (a Karl Barth phrase) was about to be revealed, leaving humanity with a “get out of jail free” card that never expires. This WAS a BIG DEAL, and one worthy of creation’s praise!

 

I say creation’s praise, for Jesus told the Pharisees that if his followers stopped praising God for what was about to be gifted to them, the very CREATION—the rocks—would shout out. Now, while it may be a stretch to relate this next metaphor (camel “Made in China”?), it moved me, personally, so I’ll relate it. Many years ago, when I was tussling with God over a call to ministry, I made a trip to the fledgling 700 Club broadcasting ministry in Virginia Beach, Virginia, led by Pat Robertson, before he later lost his mind, ran for President, and became a right-wing loon. At that time in the early 1970s, Robertson was doing something new and innovative—preaching the gospel using a nightly TV interview show as the vehicle. Since I was working in media at that time in my life, I thought maybe God’s call was to media-related ministry, and what better place to visit than one of its most innovative and rapidly growing “mission fields.” After contacting the 700 Club people, I was invited to spend a week observing what they did, and touring their WYAH television facility (do you see the God reference here—WYAH for “Yahweh,” the Hebrew word for the Almighty?). They were most gracious to welcome me, and I spent several days with Ben Kinchlow and Henry Harrison, early on-air principals with Robertson, and Don Hawkinson, the nightly show’s producer. It was truly a wonderful experience, but one that ultimately sealed a NON-TV related calling into church ministry. That’s a story for another day; maybe I was already seeing the seeds of Robertson’s ego explosion?

 

Anyway, one of the technicians said something to me during my time there that impacted me deeply. He was just one of the behind-the-scenes engineers whose job it was to keep feeding the massive 2-inch wide video tape reels to two huge videotape machines (known in the industry a “quads,” due to the four video heads reading the tape, each machine costing many tens of thousands of dollars). These machines were essentially copying the 700 Club program onto tapes which were then sent out on what was called “the bicycle” to other TV stations to be played. This is how a program like the 700 Club was “syndicated” in the days before SATCOM and other geosynchronous satellites became available to send the program out “live” as it was being telecast. This technician, who was, like all Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) employees in those early days, a committed Christian, had an interesting answer to my question about how he handled the tedium of changing the tape reels for 10 hours a day. He said that he just kept recalling today’s text from Luke about how, if the Christ followers didn’t keep praising God, the ROCKS would cry out. He explained to me that, as the church was beginning to hit its early “crisis” phase when more and more people were skipping church for other activities on Sundays, the rocks WERE beginning to cry out, as video tape is made from MAGNATITE, a rock that is simply crushed up and bonded to a plastic backing. SO, he said, “How can I get bored when I’m fulfilling a prophecy of Jesus?” Even today, as I recall his moving testimony (which really grabbed a science & technology geek like me), I realize that the myriad of ways the Word of God and the testimonies of faith and praise are being shared through the Internet, podcasts, and MP3 files, the rocks are STILL crying out, as all of these devices and pathways rely on SILICON to exist! In effect, some of the best ways the gospel is transmitted today is that it is STONED! After all, YOU are reading this sermon via bits of silicon “doing their thing,” and for those of you who may enjoy worship and praise via STREAMING, guess what? More rocks crying out!

 

I confess to being a bit “saddened” by occupying a pulpit instead of a TV studio over the 36-plus years of my ministry, but what “goes around…” as they say. COVID saw Pastor Karen Slusser and me, sitting in front of the Communion table in the chancel of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, “interviewing” each other and leading worship over a little camera called a “Mevo” to hundreds of our folk over the Internet. I can’t imagine all of the “rocks” crying out to make that happen. I WAS back in a TV studio, and was praising God along with the stones! And even today, post-COVID, our humble little worship services at Faith Community UMC are being “streamed” over the silicon rocks to more people than inhabit the Jefferson Street sanctuary, on an average Sunday. Amazing. 

 

Friends, it’s time for us flesh-and-blood humans to take a lesson from the stones and start praising the Living God with our bodies, minds, and hearts! Who wants to be beat out by a few rocks? Let’s be what the author of I Peter called “living stones” for Christ Jesus, our Lord! HOSANNA! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!!! Amen.

Full-Court Press

 

Full Court Press

 

Philippians 3:4b-14

To know Christ and his resurrection 

 

3:4b If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more:

 

3:5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;

 

3:6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

 

3:7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.

 

3:8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

 

3:9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

 

3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,

 

3:11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

 

3:12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. 

 

3:13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

 

3:14 I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

 

Throughout most of my years in public school, I was a bookworm and a science geek. As I’ve stated before, I grew up in the generation of the space program and Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, but my interests in science went far beyond Neil Armstrong, into chemistry, astronomy, electronics, and the general study of physics. I was reading about Albert Einstein’s work when my classmates were reading Superman comics and collecting baseball cards. Even when I finally started noticing the opposite sex, I went for the smart ones, asking out the two highest ranked girls in my class. I loved to talk about life, the universe, and everything, and while this made me a safe date for the women I dated, and they offered great conversation about these esoteric subjects, it didn’t really engender lasting relationships, which was probably a good thing. My longest lasting relationship in high school actually started during my senior year, when I noticed a new sophomore girl in the clarinet section of the band, and we began dating. We shared the band experience, and while she was no Alberta Einstein, she had other “qualities,” shall we say, that caught my attention. After all, even we geeks have hormones. We did break up, though, just before I went off to college. I figured she should be cut loose to date others in her class, and I fully expected to resume my “smart girls” pursuit in an institution of higher learning. There is an epilogue to this “coming of age,” story: I wound up spending my life with the smartest of all of the girls I knew, and we DO like to talk about life, the universe, and everything! Wasn’t the only thing that caught my attention about her, though…

 

I tell this story to lead into another story: part of my “coming of age” also involved a sudden interest in sports, something I really had never had much of, other than growing up in a family of Pirate fans, and throwing a baseball around in the side yard with my brothers. I played in the “swing band,” as our jazz ensemble was known at Oil City High School, and this peppy team became the pep band at our school’s home basketball games. This led to an interest in the games, themselves, and Oil City put a pretty good team on the floor in those days, winning the section title every one of my three years, and the district title in at least one of them, as I recall. The basketball “Oilers” claim to fame was a really good and relentless “full-court press,” which is a basketball defense that pressures the other team when it has the ball, hoping to turn the ball over. Our coach, Bob Lynch, was an advocate for this defense, and we had quick, very athletic players who made it work very well. The full-court press enabled us to beat teams that were better shooters than we were, AND who had taller players. There was one game, when we played a weaker rival, that “the press” worked so well that the other team hardly scored—21 points, as I recall, to our 100 points—and the resulting turnovers were fed to our top scorer, who set a school record that night. Anyway, having to be there for all of those games not only got me enthused about basketball, but whetted my appetite for a wider variety of sports. I would later try actually playing baseball on a Colt League team, but found out that I couldn’t hit a baseball to save my life. I did become a distance runner, and lost 40 of my “bookworm” pounds the Summer after my senior year. I also became a decent tennis player. I guess you could say my continuing interest in certain sports I owe to the full-court press?

 

One of the Apostle Paul’s most celebrated phrases of all of his epistles occurs in today’s passage, and it is HIS “full-court press,” so to speak. It is in the last verse of this pericope: “I PRESS ON TOWARD THE GOAL…the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” I don’t know how many sermons or teachings I have heard about this challenge to “press on,” but it has been a lot. So many times when life deals a hard hand, I have urged friends, and parishioners, family members, and even myself in the mirror, to PRESS ON toward the goal. And every time I hear the phrase, I think of that high school basketball team and their full-court press, for “pressing on” is not just a defense, or a shield against the “attacks,” but it is a “turn the ball around” tactic that makes something positive out of a negative happening. “Pressing on” means not just “getting through” the muck of life, but also still focusing on the goal ahead and finding a way to use even the “muck” as fuel for moving forward. 

 

Paul’s text also reminds us that once we “steal the ball” from the opposing forces, we do best to feed the hot hand! Now, I’ll be honest—my sudden interest in basketball in high school DID lead to me learning to play the game a bit. Not having played it while growing up meant that I really never learned the art and coordination of “ball handling,” although through much practice on the neighbor’s driveway where they had a hoop set up DID help me become a decent shot. Of course this meant that when I tried to actually play the game, I tended to be a “chucker,” as they call it, meaning I liked to shoot, rather than to pass the ball off to someone who is closer to the basket. There is a lesson in this, and Paul’s text touches on it, for sure. 

 

You see, Jesus is the hotter hand, to use the basketball illustration. Paul makes a case for why it would be easy for him to become a “chucker”: he was a legitimate member of the Jewish community and upheld its beliefs and doctrines, even to the point of engaging in the persecution of Christians, because he believed them to be a threat to “legitimate” faith. He would later allude to his superior education under Gamaliel, an outstanding teacher of his day, to defend his “credentials.” However, he tells the Philippian Christians that he counts it all LITERALLY as “garbage,” compared to the life he has found in Jesus Christ. God’s acceptance of him means far more than any recognition he could earn with his book-learning and accomplishments. 

 

Jumping back into the sports metaphor for a moment, I must say that I have come to value more the players on any team who don’t make the game all about themselves—you know, the ones who are “unselfish” on the court, the field, or the ice—the ones who “feed the hot hand,” with the goal of winning the contest. This is EXACTLY what Paul is talking about here. And the “hot hand” is Jesus Christ AND the “team”—the BODY of CHRIST, or the gathering of Christ-followers we call “the church.” We have come to put Paul in our faith “Hall of Fame” precisely because he fed the church. Some would even say he was its architect. Paul didn’t make it about himself, but constantly played a “full-court press” for Jesus!

 

I guess my main point in this message is to suggest that “pressing on” is much more than just “gutting it out,” which is the usual rendering of what some think Paul meant. When we keep our eyes on the goal of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, we don’t just “make do” or persevere. With each passing of the ball, we are looking to turn things around and score one for the home team. Right now, as United Methodists, our “team” is undergoing a huge restructuring, due to the disaffiliation we have experienced. The church I serve—Faith Community UMC in Rochester, PA—lost its pastor, its partner church in the charge, AND its full-time pastor, not to mention a good portion of its own congregation. They were told by some that they wouldn’t last three months. Yet, here they are, over two years later, still alive, still engaged in meaningful community ministry, AND about to receive a full-time pastor again, in July! They are proud of what they have accomplished as a “team,” and have continued to “press on” against the opposing, or at least denigrating, forces. They have a gospel-oriented mission and a Christ-centered goal. As their pastor over the past year, I’ve done what I always did best—I played in the pep band for them. And while Dara and I must move on, we will continue to be their prayer partners and rooters (Dara was, after all, a cheerleader!). I know that with God’s help, and the tremendously sacrificial and capable leaders they have at Faith Community, they can “swing” it!

 

How about you? Are you resigned to just “hang on,” or will you take up Paul’s challenge to run a full-court press when the “competition” looks ominous? I remember our high school team going up against our chief rival back in the day—Meadville High School. As the game began against them, the Oilers laid back to see what Meadville’s game plan would be. Meadville always had a team of very fast players, and they moved the ball around extremely well. When it was evident that this would be their tact, Coach Lynch signaled to “begin the press,” and Meadville didn’t know how to handle Oil City’s quite effective full-court press that not only slowed the game down, but began to turn the ball over to Oil City’s scoring advantage. It’s a great metaphor for what Mr. Wesley called “organizing to beat the devil.” Don’t just “press on,” but make it a FULL-COURT press! I believe that if the United Methodist Church heeds Paul’s advice here in Philippians 3, it will also “turn the tide” and thrive as a church by realizing the goal of the gospel as set forth by Jesus, our “leading scorer.” I can still hear the cheer in my head: “Here we go, Oilers, HERE WE GO!” Amen.

Thinking Beyond Human

 

Thinking Beyond Human

 

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

The mystery and ministry of reconciliation 

 

5:16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we no longer know him in that way.

 

5:17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!

 

5:18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation;

 

5:19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.

 

5:20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God.

 

5:21 For our sake God made the one who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 

One of my dearest Lay Leaders—the late Robert Harper, Esq.—used to tease me after the Sunday sermon with “You have the most ‘favorite scripture passages’ of any pastor I’ve known.” I think about that comment often, and it makes me chuckle, especially as it causes me to remember Bob. He and I had an “unusual” relationship, in that I think I was an enigma to him, for many reasons. I was appointed to his church—the Coraopolis UMC—after my five-year stint as an associate pastor at St. Paul’s, alongside Ron Hoellein and Leah Bergstrom. It was my practice to study the history of a church and its community after being appointed there, so I could begin to build trust with the new congregation. Coraopolis UMC wise RIPE with great history, as the church was founded by the Rev. Josiah Dillon, who had a sweet thing for the daughter—Cora Watson--of the industrialist who basically founded what became Coraopolis, originally called Middletown. They soon married, and Dillon suggested changing the name TO “Coraopolis,” because there already was a “Middletown” in the region. Did he name it “Coraopolis” because of his love for Cora? Historians will tell you that, since Dillon was a Greek scholar, he chose “Cora-opolis,” as “cora” means young maiden, and “polis” obviously means “city.” Hence, “Coraopolis” means “City of the young maiden,” or just “maiden city.” Personally, having read more about Dillon, I would say the answer is BOTH. He was a clever and brilliant fellow, and the name “Maiden City” would be loved and accepted by the populus as honorable, AND it served to honor his young bride, as well. It CERTAINLY didn’t hurt that her dad—the wealthy industrialist—would love it as well. Bob Harper was absolutely thrilled that I knew all of this, and more, before my feet hit the pavement in Coraopolis. I was also an enigma to Harper because I was opinionated in ways that didn’t always jibe with his considerably educated opinions, and yet, I could hold my own in an intellectual discussion. Bob loved to do little cartoon drawings from his post in the choir behind the preacher. My “colorful” sermonizing style provided plenty of fodder for his penciled musings, many of which he would pass on to me on his way out. I’ve often wondered about the “editorial” cartoons he drew but never showed me…

 

I digress, (as usual). Again, one of Bob’s comments was about how almost every week I would pronounce that week’s lectionary passage as “one of my favorites.” Honestly, and without reservation, THIS passage from II Corinthians IS one of my favorites, if not the one at the top of the list, the least of which is that I know it is “Second Corinthians,” not “Two Corinthians.” This text is truly another “Gospel in miniature.” One of my favorite seminary professors, Dr. Robert Kelley, used to describe John 3:16, thusly, but I think this one gives it a run for its money, coming in second only because Paul wrote it, rather than it coming from the lips of Jesus. For me, the phrase: “…in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself…” in verse 19. That God sent the Son, Jesus Christ, to reconcile—fully accept and restore a relationship with—the WORLD, is huge. The WORLD object in this text says to me something that shoots down any idea that there is some magic prayer or “confession” that a person must say or make to become “saved.” People—of any tongue, nation, or even religion—are SAVED because of what God has done in Jesus Christ. THIS is God’s action, not ours, nor are we the gatekeepers of who may benefit from this eternal “gift.” AND it indicates that God CONTINUES to “save the world,” which is why we believe in a risen Christ, who, along with the Holy Spirit, is STILL WORKING for the goal that “none should perish.” AND we are not given to fully understand just how and in how many ways God is doing this reconciling work! Might the Christ be working wherever people are seeking God, however they understand God? Might the Christ be working his salvific miracle wherever people are being imperiled by war or hunger or hate? Might the Christ be the one opening doors, hearts, and minds to persons who have been historically marginalized by their sexual orientation or identity? Might the Christ be at work even in the hearts of those who think that what we have been “entrusted with” is not this reconciliation (as the passage says) but some kind of evangelical “gatekeeping,” making sure that only folk who “do it their way” get into the kingdom? The answer to all of these questions to Paul is a resounding YES! It was to the theologian Karl Barth, too, who wrote that Christ was God’s great YES to the world. He got this passage. The danger in wanting to layer dogmas and doctrines on top of “who gets in and who gets excluded” is that one doing this is “thinking from a human point of view.” 

 

Now, none of us can truly think from God’s point of view, but we do have some clues as to God’s mindset from the pages of holy writ:

 

*II Peter 3:9 says that God wishes that “none should perish.” “None” is pretty definitive.

 

*John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” That God “gave” or “sent” the Son into the world reminds us that it is the SON’S salvific work that has been unleashed, not ours.

 

*Paul said that we could tap the “mind of Christ” in Philippians 2:5

 

*Summarizing what Jesus taught and did: forgiving; saving; healing; and bringing about God’s Kingdom as a Beloved Community

 

It is the HUMAN mindset or point of view that gets us into trouble with the goals and mission of God in Christ Jesus. The human point of view goes something like this:

 

*The human point of view is territorial; it circles the wagons and defends

 

*The human point of view prioritizes VERY differently than the “mind of Christ,” often giving the highest priorities to the one doing the thinking, handicapping others

 

*The human point of view tends toward self-centeredness, which is ultimately the “original sin”

 

*The human point of view builds walls, while the “mind of Christ” builds bridges and tears DOWN walls

 

*The human point of view is tribal; the “mind of Christ” has one tribe

 

 

In our day, “A.I.,” or “Artificial Intelligence” is both all the rage, and is CAUSING rage. Some see it as the technological boon to humankind, while others view it as the roots of our undoing. What about A.I.?

 

Computers can’t actually “think” in the manner of the human brain, but as they have become faster and able to access the monumental about of data available via the Internet, they are able to compile thoughts with this data to "appear” to think, or at least mimic human thought. HOWEVER, as humans seem to be eschewing critical thinking and are just accepting the opinions of others rather readily, A.I. is looking smarter, by comparison. It ISN’T, so don’t be fooled. Instead, BOOST YOUR OWN THINKING! A serious problem with A.I. and what it generates is that we dull our own thinking and accept what it spews out. By doing so, the best offerings of both humanity and technology are greatly diminished. Like a good source for a writer, or a great proofreader, for that matter, so A.I. may be a useful tool, but it is just a tool. I’ve read a few sermons written by A.I. and their store-bought cookies at best. Do your own work, preachers. Do your own work.

 

If we are to successfully “think beyond human,” or at least beyond our human limits, we start by seeking the “mind of Christ,” which is available to us because our Christ lives, and speaks his truth through the Holy Spirit. For the pew Christian, this means chucking your prejudices and “accepted” views of the world, knowing God has higher aims than writing off people. God would rather save and include them, as is clear from the pages of scripture. For the preacher, this means use your best exegetical tools and do your own work, in terms of writing your weekly sermon, AND expect that the Holy Spirit will join you in the preparation of same. It is both our calling AND our joy to help our people “think beyond human,” especially about life’s most important challenges and opportunities. Paul and the other “filterers” of God’s Word gave it their best shot; now it’s our turn, and our time.

 

And remember, thinking beyond human means being in pursuit of God’s ultimate truth. Don’t believe the lies that are being pumped out even faster than content from Chat GPT! Put your trust in Christ and the Holy Spirit, and do your critical thinking homework, Dear Ones! In deference to Maltese psychologist and philosopher, Dr. Edward de Bono, it’s time to “put on your thinking caps!”

The Price is Right!

The Price Is Right!

 

Isaiah 55:1-9

Come to the water 

 

55:1 Hear, everyone who thirsts; come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

 

55:2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your earnings for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

 

55:3 Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

 

55:4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.

 

55:5 Now you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.

 

55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;

 

55:7 let the wicked forsake their way and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

 

55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.

 

55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 

When I was a kid, either before I was old enough to go to school (and since we moved into “the city” too late for me to go to Kindergarten, I didn’t attend until the first grade), or later, if I was home sick for a day or so, I loved to watch the game shows on TV. There were only a handful of them, and they were quite primitive by today’s standards, but a couple of them endured, to become part of the history of the genre. One of these was “The Price is Right,” back then hosted by Bill Cullen, a Pittsburgh native. Obviously, it is still around, having had several hosts since the Cullen days, including a long stint by Bob Barker, and then comedian/actor Drew Carey. Part of the schtick of the show was that the audience contestants had to guess the prices of stuff and the one who came the closest to the actual retail price without going over, won. Because I grew up in a family of shoppers and perpetual bargain hunters, I was never close in my price estimates, as my family would NEVER pay “full retail,” and the bargain brain I had would always guess a price WAY lower than what the show stated as the “full retail” price. I remember thinking, even as a little kid, “MY family would NEVER pay that much for [whatever the item was].” Had I been a guest on the show, I NEVER would have won, believe me! But no “bargain” price is better than FREE!

 

This text’s prophetic utterance from Trito-Isaiah (“Third” Isaiah) is encouraging the Jews returning from exile with a word that God’s best blessings may be theirs, provided they return to the practice of worshiping ONE God (Yahweh) and following God’s precepts, to the end of forming a supportive, collaborative and faithful community. “Buying” wine, milk, and food “without price”? Sounds like God’s best plan for God’s people is a society where the poor don’t go hungry. Chastise ancient Israel all you want for some of their primitive practices, but friends, here we are in 2025, in the most prosperous country on the planet, and WE haven’t yielded to building this kind of a KIND society! In fact, we have whole millions of people who say things like, “I don’t want MY tax dollars going to feed those LAZY people! I WORKED for everything I have, and they should, too!” There is an unbelievable anger and resentment to those of us who HAVE helping out those who DON’T, or who are in need of life’s most basic elements. This “attitude” has given way to TONS of misinformation about our society’s needy. “They are lazy and don’t want to work,” is one you will hear, and it just isn’t true. ALL of the statistics and studies show that these people WANT to help themselves, but may need even the basics to GET a job, let alone get the transportation they may need to keep it. In fact, social scientists have pointed out that when this particular niche of our society IS given a job and the elements they may need—in some cases this might even include coaching—to DO their job, they not only develop the pride that comes with self-sufficiency, but they often become some of the most generous people reaching out to help others find what THEY found! The fact is, there are VERY few “freeloaders” who just choose to be on the public dole. ALL humans, according to Methodist founder John Wesley, have a built in measure of dignity and moral responsibility, and he would know, having worked and built a movement among the poorest of the poor, the addicts, the incarcerated, and the elderly. 

 

Let us not forget that many needy persons are in this situation because they have disabilities that hamper their ability to be self-sustaining. Some are widowed elderly, while others are just children, either orphans, foster children, or being raised by an over-stressed single parent. Some have been suddenly plunged into poverty by a medical condition that drained what resources they DO have, or who can’t make enough money in an entry-level job to pay their exorbitant school loan payments. And an “advanced” society like the United States of America not only tolerates this but allows itself to become ANGRY over the need to give these people a leg up? And now, what of the tens of thousands of government workers who are being summarily cast aside because an unelected billionaire thinks it will save money. WHOSE money will it save? No one will deny that the powers that be are gearing up for another tax cut, and as with all tax cut legislation, the richer you are, the bigger your cash and carry!

 

This was NOT God’s plan for Israel, according to Trito-Isaiah, and I seriously doubt it is God’s plan for a prosperous nation like ours. How dare any of you who denigrate the needy among us should call yourselves “Christian,” as Jesus’ own life and ministry would show he would have nothing to do with you. The sad truth is that I know MANY well-meaning folk who have become convinced or “bought in” to this heinous misinformation about the needy people in our country, that they are “lazy,” or that they “expect us to pay for them.” If this is what you believe, you are being played, and the end result will be that the people you have voted for are working a reverse Robin Hood scheme. They will take from the “least of these,” AND from YOU, and will find innovative ways to transfer this wealth to themselves and their “base.” 

 

The prophet asks the poignant question in verse two: Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your earnings for that which does not satisfy? Put another way, why do you resent those who need a little help when you have more than you need—in many cases WAY more than you need.” God’s society will not look like that, and the prophet is writing to tell Israel that God’s version of the just society will be the one that will eventually prevail, with or WITHOUT their participation or cooperation. And if God moves forward to bring about this just society (Beloved Community) WITHOUT them, they will be the “odd man out,” not the needy. Friends, we need to hear this in 2025! Look, not all of us can write big checks to help the poor, but we CAN pay our taxes and rejoice when they help out needy fellow Americans rather than just build more cruise missiles. We also can offer moral support by not denigrating and berating those who have such needs. A little pity and empathy go a long way. Even less hostility and anger greatly damages our society and will get GOD angry. Friends, this is NOT a game show!

 

This passage has one of the most powerful reminders of the workings of God’s mind, one that most of us are at least somewhat familiar with: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. God is a forgiving God, and God may even be a patient God, giving American society time to “come around” to a more compassionate view of the “least of these,” but I seriously doubt that God will too long tolerate the naysayers and the name-callers putting their acerbic ideas up in the air and calling them “the will of God.” I’ve heard WAY too many people who see themselves as “righteous” or “religious” quoting the “verse,” “God helps those who help themselves.” Friends, this is not in God’s Word, it’s Groucho Marx, from one of his comedies. God precisely WANTS to help those who CAN’T help themselves at this point in their lives, and God wants US to partner with God to make it happen! THIS is what Israel and subsequent “audiences” are hearing in this passage from the prophet.

 

Verse three begins with three words that give us the key to the whole enchilada: “INCLINE YOUR EAR…” This means, “Listen up, people,” as God wants us to hear GOD’S plan for a just and righteous society, not take OUR OWN plan—one that benefits us most of all—and write it on the sky and call it “God’s plan.” The text is plain: For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. That phrase, “incline your ear” says it all: we are called to listen for GOD’S voice, not that of any President, podcaster, or pundit, and we may not initially LIKE what we hear. Run from it, if you like, but at your own peril. 

 

“Hear, everyone who thirsts; come to the waters!” EVERYONE, not just those of you who can afford it. In God’s kingdom, regardless of how poor you are, or what your politics are, or what your sexual orientation may be, the price is ALWAYS right! Amen.

Don't Go Belly Up!

Don’t Go Belly Up!

 

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Our citizenship is in heaven 

 

3:17 Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.

 

3:18 For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears.

 

3:19 Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.

 

3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

3:21 He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

 

4:1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

 

I have long been a fan of Elon Musk because of his brilliance in literally “creating” the electric car world, advancing the cause of solar power, and most especially, launching SpaceX as an independent and highly successful space transport system. His Falcon 9 boosters launch almost every other day with payloads for various governments and corporations, and as you have most likely seen, SpaceX keeps the costs low by returning those same boosters safely to earth, to be reused numerous times. (I follow launches through an app on my smart phone called “Next Space Flight,” which alerts me every time a launch is pending, anywhere in the world.)

 

In today’s text, Paul warns the Philippian Christians about allowing their “belly” (wealth, lust, literal hunger) to become their “god,” or the main, guiding force in their lives. This is exactly what appears to be happening with Elon Musk, my former “hero.” With his billions going to his head, along with the power they have bought him—right into the Oval Office, in fact—he has succumbed to this “belly god” thing, hasn’t he? A man who impressed me with both his brilliance AND his humility a few years ago has been transformed into an egotistical, race-bating, lying and slanderous man who has been put in charge of a willy-nilly slashing of the federal budget and work force, ranging from the social safety-net programs to the support of our military veterans. And to what end? More for his hungry “belly.” A billionaire and the world’s richest man, he is in charge of cutting government spending with the goal of freeing up funds for planned big tax cut. And if things stand true to past forms, this tax cut will benefit the wealthiest Americans most of all, even IF it provides some relief for those of us in the “great unwashed” ranks of society. (The belly-god people hold on to power by throwing the poor “dogs” a bone, from time to time.)

 

But there are consequences to selling out to one’s “belly hunger.” Musk’s Tesla is falling on hard times, with its vehicle sales and stock prices cratering. And speaking of falling, his SpaceX “Starship” venture has been exploding and raining flaming debris on a large section of the Caribbean! When is the last time you heard anything about his innovative solar roof tiles, his impressive battery technology to store solar power, or his truly fascinating “Neurolink”? Even for a genius, giving in to your “belly lust” for power, and coming to believe you are the ONLY ONE who can “fix” anything, extricates you from your own signature achievements, which may then fall into disrepair. 

 

We have certainly seen many of our favorite celebrities done in by this belly-lust, haven’t we? The rare Tom Hanks types, who have managed to keep both relationships and career stable and to some degree humble, become notable by their seeming ability to eschew the belly-lust for power. Neither do they seem to be swallowed up by the considerable wealth their success has brought them. Some famous figures like Warren Buffett have made commitments to donate sizeable portions of their largess to charity or noble causes like climate change or poverty. In their rare case, that their own bellies are “full enough” has enabled them to look beyond their own needs to see that they have been “empowered” to help the world in other ways. In the movie “Contact,” a wealthy multi-billionaire industrialist named S.R. Hadden bankrolls scientific ventures aimed at unlocking secrets of the universe. He confesses, though, that as his life is being eroded away by cancer, he has “taken much” from the world, and now wants to “give back” before his days are done. The fictional S.R. Hadden historically mirrors American industrialists—what have been dubbed “robber barons”—like Andrew Carnegie, who “gave away” much of their wealth before they died. In Carnegie’s case, much of it went to establish community libraries, while interestingly, some was used to install “state-of-the-art” pipe organs in churches throughout the Pittsburgh/Allegheny County area. This “guilt washing” is a very different type of philanthropy; in the scriptural metaphor, it is almost a kind of regurgitation of their ”belly-lust,” for it was their hunger for wealth and power that led them to “fill their bellies” in the first place, and their latter-day guilt over how they accomplished that that led to the “vomiting up” of some of their larder. 

 

Spiritual “giants” aren’t immune to this belly-lust, either. The Christian realm is overflowing with examples of evangelical “luminaries” who got greedy or power-hungry and destroyed their ministries. Billy Sunday, about whom some say was the model of Sinclair Lewis’s novel “Elmer Gantry,” comes to mind, as does Jim Bakker, the founder of the television ministry, “The PTL Club.” He and his weird wife, Tammy Faye Bakker, built an evangelical empire in Charlotte, North Carolina, only to lose it all to multiple bouts of belly-lust. As a pastor in my first church, I found that more than one of my parishioners had succumbed to the temptation to become a “life member” of Jim and Tammy Bakker’s giant Christian “Disneyland” in Charlotte, sending hundreds and hundreds of dollars their way, only to lose their ”membership privileges” when the Bakkers were prosecuted and their “Heritage USA” complex was sold to a Jewish businessman. Even beyond the initial scandal, the indigestion from belly-lust didn’t rest, as while Jim was in jail, Tammy Faye divorced him and ran off with the general contractor of “Heritage USA.” 

 

[I might add a personal side note here. In my prior career, working as the director of small, non-profit cable TV enterprise that produced local TV shows and aired them on local cable TV stations in Venango County, we aired Bakker’s “The PTL CLUB” program, which was sponsored by a local church. In the late 1970s, we received this show from PTL Ministries on expensive video tapes each week. After airing the Monday-Friday nightly program, we would package the tapes and send them along on the “bicycle,” meaning on to the next cable station that would air them. As Bakker’s PTL Ministries company continued to grow, at one point, we were not being told where to ship the tapes to next, and they began to pile up in our storage room. I called PTL and spoke with a supervisor named Jim Hightower, who asked me if we could erase and reuse these tapes in our TV production work. I told him we certainly could, as these were expensive items, and the tapes from PTL were “top of the line.” “Fine,” Hightower said, “we’re just rollin’ in it down here (meaning money!) and if you can use ‘em, KEEP em’!” It was then that I could see that PTL Ministries was heading for a bellyache of IMMENSE proportions!]

 

I get a weekly email from an organization called MinistryWatch that reports on various financial impropriety and scandal in Christian ministries. It is so sad to read their account of WAY too much belly-lust going on in “the church.” Embezzlement, marital infidelity, sexual misconduct with children and youth, are just a few of the things happening because people may so easily allow their “belly” to become their god. In 1887, British Lord Acton wrote to Bishop Creighton of the Anglican Church, warning him that both public and religious leaders should be held accountable because “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely!” He was perfectly describing the “discomfort” of belly-lust.

 

We may be living in a world today where belly-lust and the “Belly God” reign supreme. Not only do we indulge UNBELIEVABLE grabs of power and wealth by politicians and billionaire industrialists, shopping magnates, and “content creators,” but we “commoners” shell out HUNDREDS (even thousands?) of dollars for tickets to sporting events and concerts because the “entertainers” involved rake in piles of money for their often sub-standard output. Are we not “feeding” their belly-lust by doing so? I just got a notice from my cable TV company after the first of the year that my “annual” rate increase would again be almost 10%, meaning that I am currently paying more for my TV service than I paid for a car payment during the first 20 years of my marriage! I may be the next one to “cut the cable.” These prices are going UP because every single programmer needs to feed their growling belly, er bank account.

 

Paul is writing this stuff to his friends in the church at Philippi for good reason: the early church was not only not IMMUNE to this “god of the belly” phenomenon, but it was ripe for it. The budding Christian church, unlike the rather structured synagogues and temple of Judaism of the day, had little “official” structure and almost no accountability. It relied on the higher “ethics and morals” of the teachings of Jesus, but as they say, “When the cat’s away, the mice will play,” and until the early church built in some structure and accountability, belly-lust was awfully strong, and the newest converts were often weak against its hunger pangs. And, of course, the fledgling church was also ripe for those who wanted to prey upon it, and that is at least partly what Paul is speaking to in this passage. I know, as Christians with a conscience, we all may say, “How could they do that?” Well, look around. Have you heard of SCAMS over the phone, the Internet, or via texts going on today? And who are the victims? Often the most vulnerable among us, especially senior citizens and the less educated. It happens in the church, too, as many of these con artists KNOW that religious people are often too easy in doling out trust and too guilty if successfully scammed to report it to the authorities. This is a fertile field for scammers! In his day, Paul loved the folk at Philippi and didn’t want them to be either victimized or controlled by people with terminal belly-lust. We feel the same way today about our loved ones, but the only way to remain diligent is to be AWARE of its power and “reach,” and be willing to share information designed to protect each other and the church against such exploitation. This is why groups like Ministry Watch exist, as well as financial giving watchdogs like “Charity Navigator,” which is a great online tool to “check out” any organization you may wish to support. 

 

Friends, none of us is immune to making our own desires or personal lusts into a god at whose “feet” we worship. I’m amazed at how even a moderate amount of sudden financial gain or acquisition of power can change a person. Years ago, we had a member of our home church who was stricken with a disability due to an errant medication. She became paraplegic, and received a multi-million dollar settlement from the drug company. As our church was involved in a building campaign, the woman offered a generous gift to assure that all aspects of the new building would not only meet the current ADA guidelines, but would have various helpful “conveniences” included. However, once her settlement was “in the bank,” an attorney advising the woman STRONGLY urged her to renege on the gift, governed by his own “fear” of her running out of money. It was his belly-lust that quenched the Spirit, in this case. Likewise, one of my saddest stories from 36-plus years in ministry tells the tale of WAY too many families that were negatively affected by an inheritance, even very moderate ones. The belly-lust generated by a few tens of thousands of dollars, even, put brothers and sisters, or children and parents at loggerheads with each other, and/or seemed to turn generous, caring individuals into fearful, overly paranoid ones, or even into spendthrifts, buying things they had “lusted” after for years, or using their “found wealth” to move into larger quarters, none of which they could support when the inheritance ran out.

 

So, beyond the caution Paul gives us of the lure of belly-lust, what are we to learn from this passage of scripture? Paul suggests we develop a “hunger” for the Kingdom of God, of which he reminds us we are citizens. If we hunger after the teachings of Jesus, and after the contented, Christian life, our psychological “tummies” will be satiated with grace rather than “grease.” As many of you know, I went on a personal “crusade” to lose 50 pounds and make myself healthier. With counsel from my dietitian/wife, I used an app to keep close track of what I ate and to properly portion my intake to lose a pound a week. Now that I am at the weight I set as my goal, I have remained diligent, and STILL use the app daily to record what I’m eating, and have set it to “maintain.” This is a decent metaphor for how to keep our spiritual “tummies” happy—monitor what you are doing to “feed” them, worship with other believers and interact with them, as they are a much healthier “environment” for you! You won’t be tempted to give in to the belly-lust yearning so easily! In my healthier eating goals, it meant staying out of McDonalds, Taco Bell, or a the bakery section of our market, and learning to eat smaller portions. You can figure out your own spiritual parallels to these “eating” behaviors—I trust you. I had a dietitian to help me along the way in my weight management quest. WE have the living Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and a “cloud of witnesses” (our fellow Christian friends) to keep us on “our program.” Just remember: when your tummy “growls,” you can either fill it with good, nutritious “foods” and a reasonable amount of them at that, or give in to the belly-lust and order up a couple of Big Macs, fries, and a Coke. Spiritual interpretation? Stay away from Joel Osteen and start your morning with one of the Apostle Paul’s epistles with a side of Richard Rohr! Bon Appetit!

 

The Eagle Has Landed

The Eagle Has Landed

 

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Saved from Egypt 

 

26:1 "When you have come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess and you possess it and settle in it,

 

26:2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.

 

26:3 You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, 'Today I declare to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our ancestors to give us.'

 

26:4 When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the LORD your God,

 

26:5 you shall make this response before the LORD your God: 'A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.

 

26:6 When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us,

 

26:7 we cried to the LORD, the God of our ancestors; the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.

 

26:8 The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders;

 

26:9 and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

 

26:10 So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O LORD, have given me.' You shall set it down before the LORD your God and bow down before the LORD your God.

 

26:11 Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house.

 

A land flowing with milk and honey. Sure sounds inviting, doesn’t it? Many years ago, a friend and I went to Phoenix, Arizona, rented an apartment, got jobs, and “explored the country,” as they say. I had never been to Arizona, and with its daily sunshine (it rained ONCE during the months we lived there), almost non-existent humidity, and beautiful, desert landscapes, it first appeared as a paradise to this Western Pennsylvania “oil boy.” And don’t get me wrong, I truly enjoyed my time in Arizona, especially some of the female company I found there, but after the initial “luster” wore off, there were a few realities with which to deal. First of all, my early morning trek to my job on Indian School Road from our place in Scottsdale was a chilly one. It would often be in the high 40s at 6:30AM (I had to be at work by 7:00AM), so I would wear my leather-sleeved varsity coat, and with almost zero humidity, it felt FREEZING in the shadows. By the time I came home in the afternoon, it might be 105 degrees, so I would carry my varsity coat on a stick in front of me, so no part of it would touch my body. I went golfing one weekend with a friend, and on one hole, my ball sliced over a fence into the desert at the highly-irrigated course’s fringe. From the green fairway I could see my ball on the other side of the fence, but right next to it was a medium-sized Diamondback Rattle Snake. Needless to say, I took a Mulligan. One day, I noticed the exterminator spraying around the eaves of our one-story apartment building, and I asked him what he was spraying for. He said, “Here, come with me.” He took me to the still under construction apartment down the alley behind our place, and pointed up under the eaves there. “We haven’t started treating this place yet, since they are still building it, but do you see those guys?” “Those guys” were a bunch of Black Widow spiders! This land of “Milk and Honey” had some surprises. Another thing…we had arrived in Scottsdale during the Summer, and found great quarters in a fairly new apartment complex that had been built for the “snowbirds,” the folk who moved into the Arizona climate from the North, during the Winter months. Landlords were happy to rent these places to any decent human during the Summer and Fall months, but come the first of December, our rent would have gone up TEN fold! It didn’t matter, though, as all of the “snowbird” apartments were already spoken for. SO, our “milk and honey” land would force us home to Western PA, just after Thanksgiving. 

 

Israel and their promised land had similar “hidden” issues, though more of theirs were about the responsibilities that come from occupying a new land. While it might have been “flowing with milk and honey,” it would also mean a lot of work to keep it protected, productive, and to develop a lifestyle and ethic that would be honoring to the “landlord”—God. Furthermore, the Hebrew code of hospitality would require the residents of Israel to welcome “strangers and sojourners” (immigrants and drifters) into their land, care for them, and even treat them with all of the rights of citizenship. (Knowing what modern Israel has been doing with Palestinians and other residents of the West Bank, one must wonder what in the world happened to this code? I realize that this latest war was triggered by an attack from Hamas, but honestly, one must wonder if the REAL cause of the hostility was the marginalizing, and “land-grabbing” Israel has been foisting upon the West Bank residents. Having visited with some of these people while on an educational trip to the Holyland a few years back, I can certainly see why they do not feel “welcomed” by the state of Israel.) 

 

This week’s news included a story about an unmanned, robotic spacecraft that managed to soft-land on the Moon, after which it sent back some impressive photographs of its surroundings. The Moon is littered with similar spacecraft that did not finding landing such a soft proposition, so this “Blue Ghost,” as it’s called, made news. The story reminded me, an incurable “space geek,” of humanity’s first successful manned lunar landing by Apollo 11 in the Summer of 1969. Neil Armstrong’s historic report that “the Eagle has landed” kind of became a catch phrase for almost any successful arrival for travelers the world over. I’m sure Israel had some version of this pronouncement when they finally set foot in the promised land. While their world might have been flowing with milk and honey, these things were not on tap! It would take a lot of husbandry and work to tame even this world, AND, as I mentioned earlier, a strong allegiance with their heavenly landlord. When they skipped or scrimped on either of these responsibilities, things didn’t go well for them. 

 

So it was the with beautiful, yet hostile land Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin found at the Sea of Tranquility. Aldrin dubbed it “magnificent desolation,” so it was. These first lunar astronauts—and the 10 who would follow them on subsequent missions—had to bring along their own “friendly” environment and amazingly technical space suits in which to explore the unfriendly terrain. They “invented” a unique way of “bunny-hopping” as the best way to navigate in bulky space suits in the one-sixth gravity of the Moon, and while there was some levity around the many times those 12 men lost their balance and fell onto the lunar surface, any of those spills could have been tragic, had they cut open their suits on a sharp rock, of which there were many. There were a few other surprises that even “Houston” didn’t know about, too. First of all, the fact that there is no air, water, or wind on the Moon meant that the soil and the rocks suffered from no “smoothing” by erosion. The lunar “dust” was made up of tiny, very sharp particles that made it stick together almost like it WAS laden with honey, AND it stuck to everything it touched, such as the fabric of the space suits. This fact is why the suits got so very DIRTY, and stayed that way, and why so much of it got into the two spacecraft. It’s also why the whacky “deniers” questioned the veracity of the moon landing, as they argued that the “real” Moon had no water, and they believed the presence of moisture to be the only explanation for the “tackiness” of the lunar soil. Also, the astronauts were surprised and a bit “concerned” that, when they finished their Moon walk, repressurized the Lunar Module, and took off their space suits, they found the plentiful lunar soil had a quite pungent odor similar to gunpowder. (No one had ever smelled the Moon before.) This stuff fascinates me! The Eagle’s landing on what was certainly the “promised land” for NASA and President Kennedy’s goal turned out to be a place of “magnificent desolation,” indeed, much like what Israel found when THEY landed in their promised land.

 

So, where are we going with this sermon? Well, LENT is a time to resurvey the “promised land” and to square up with the landlord! We all want the experience the “milk and honey” aspect of such a place, but are we willing to take on the responsibilities of land stewardship, hospitality to the “sojourners” we may encounter, and are we prepared for the occasional “beastly” challenge that may come along even in a blessed land? Preparation is a key word for the Lenten season. Our United Methodist liturgy uses the phrase, “Invitation to the Lenten Discipline,” and this invitation uses words such as “devotion,” “spiritual preparation,” “reconciled by penitence and forgiveness,” “restored,” “renew our faith,” “examination,” and even “self-denial” in its challenge to us as to how we “prepare.” It is SO important to understand—even as this particular liturgy does—that “self-denial” is not about giving up something stupid like PIZZA for Lent, but is instead challenging us to put our own needs and concerns on the “back burner” while becoming more attentive to the needs of others around us, and most especially the wider needs of the faith community. Some fast during Lent, which is a serious spiritual discipline, but the role of fasting has more to do with this self-denial aspect than it does with “bribing God to act,” as some try to use fasting to do. Yes, Mahatma Ghandi went on a hunger strike to get his people to not use violence against the British authorities, but Lenten fasting is NOT the same thing as a politically motivated hunger strike. Again, Lent is again a time to take stock, reassess the current reality of our spiritual life, and recommit ourselves to serving God and others. Confession and repentance is certainly part of that, but they are just the “opener,” not the end result of our Lenten disciplines. 

 

Had the Eagle just landed on the Moon, and never got off of it, we would not be celebrating the historic accomplishments of Apollo 11 and her crew. I sometimes think this is what the church does—either celebrates too early or starts the hand-wringing over its difficulties LONG before the mission is over. Like Apollo 11’s Lunar Module, the church needs to GET UP and relaunch itself for its mission to go forward, let alone ever be completed. Had the Eagle only landed and never blasted back off the Moon, we would be holding an annual memorial service, remembering the lives of the two expired astronauts. Frankly, we have WAY too many churches that are just holding memorial services for their dying church, rather than looking for innovative ways to “relaunch” it into the mission. Lent IS a time for such relaunching, AND it is a time to innovate. If there ever was a time when the Christian church needed critical, creative thinkers, that time is now. And while Lent is also a time we can petition the “Landlord” for more improvements to our situation, we should take a fresh look at the “lease” (God’s Word) to see what is expected of us!

 

Friends, as this text says, we ALL want to “celebrate the bounty” of the promised land, and we should, but such “bounties” only come about because we plant and tend to the crop before the harvest can come. May we all find a renewed energy and interest in BECOMING the Beloved Community that beckons the sojourners and strangers to come! Amen!