Better Door than a Window...

 

Better Door Than a Window…

 

2 Corinthians 6:1-13
6:1 As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.

6:2 For he says, "At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you." See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!

6:3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,

6:4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,

6:5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;

6:6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love,

6:7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;

6:8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;

6:9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see--we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed;

6:10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

6:11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you.

6:12 There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours.

6:13 In return--I speak as to children--open wide your hearts also.

 

When I was a kid, and playing on the floor of our family room, it was usually in front of the TV, since this was the largest “free” space in the room. The TV may or may not have been on, but we would spread out our Legos, the Lincoln Logs, or a board game to play in that “expanse” before the TV. (The TV was always one of those large console models that was basically a piece of furniture with a TV tube and circuits built into it. It was always fairly large, but since we were one of the first families in Oil City to get a COLOR TV, that made the TV even a larger, more prominent item in the room.) However, in the evenings, when my dad was home for the night, he would sit in his easy chair in front of the TV to read the evening newspaper and watch something on the tube. My brother and I would again land on the floor in front of the TV for additional playtime, but every once in a while, one of us would unconsciously stand up, not paying attention that we were now between dad and the TV. This prompted my dad to utter an expression I’m sure he got from his parents, at some point: “You make a better DOOR than a WINDOW!” We go used to this being his way of saying, “Please sit down so I can see the TV.” This is exactly what Paul is saying in this passage from II Corinthians:

 

We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry…

 

A key in ministry, whether that of clergy or laity, is “don’t be an obstacle,” keeping anyone from seeing Jesus in us, or in what we are doing on his behalf. It happens far too often.

 

Just this week, another “popular” Christian leader has stepped away from ministry because of some “moral failure” that has come to light. Doesn’t Luke tell us in his gospel, “Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.” We all make mistakes, for sure, but Paul tries to set a standard in the earliest days of the Christian church, that we who are leaders should do our best to NOT become a “stumbling block,” or a DOOR, when God wants to install a window. Mistakes are one thing, but “secret sin” that has the power and magnitude to derail one’s ministry WILL come to light, at some point. At least that’s what Luke says in chapter 12 of his gospel. 

 

Not all “doors” or obstacles are sins. Sometimes they are things like racism or bigotry. When these are either manifested by church leaders, or even “excused” by them, they become a huge stumbling block to the church becoming a functional community, let alone helping it reach its goal of being a “beloved community.” Clergy who short-change being “life long learners” can become stumbling blocks, too. One of my disappointments in leading our Conference’s Board of Ordained Ministry for four years was seeing how resistant so many of my colleagues were at attending to their continuing education requirements, and most certainly to being “accountable” for doing so. A blue-ribbon committee we called together formulated a rigorous, yet reasonable four-year plan of continuing education based on Conference goals and vision. It included annual meetings with the Staff-Parish Committee to both report on the clergy’s progress AND to write a report for the District Superintendent. Both clergy AND lay church leaders resisted being this accountable, and the whole system was eventually discarded, giving way to a lack of accountability and watered-down standards. Much like doing away with mandatory driver training for teens has resulted in highways full of careless drivers today, so reducing or deleting required continuing education for pastors will—and already has—resulted in less competency in church leadership. “Stale” pastors certainly become more of a “door,” in this case, when God calls us to be enlightened, and enlightening windows through which our people may see Jesus. Either “stuckness” or ignorance in church leaders can block the view our folk need to see, if we are to be true servants of the Risen Lord.

 

As Paul often does, he champions how the “afflictions” he and his team faced as they engaged their itinerant ministry were formative, developing in them “great endurance.” They were, for Paul, a “badge” of dedication and a certificate of experience. He never let them become an obstacle. In this text, he lists some of the important values our people should be able to see in their leaders: purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, and truthful speech, all of which demonstrate and even “bear” the power of God to the church. When we examine these values, it is plain to see how easily they can be obscured by negative behaviors, excessive griping and complaining, or most certainly habitual moral failure. It’s hard to see “genuine love” modeled by a pastor or leader who harbors a critical spirit, who is always complaining about something, or who holds on, white-knuckled, to doctrines or theological perspectives that suppress or harm the people whom God loves. 

 

I have been deeply saddened by clergy colleagues who have given in to what psychologists label “counter transference,” to the degree that it damages or even destroys a marriage. All seminary-trained clergy have courses in pastoral counseling and/or counseling therapy wherein we learn of “transference.” An overly simplistic definition of transference is that it is what happens when a parishioner or counselee, who is being comforted and helped by the clergy through conversation, listening sessions, and other supportive ministries, begins to have “feelings” for the clergy—a version of “falling in love with the doctor” syndrome. If and when this happens, and is expressed either directly or hinted at by the “patient” (parishioner), it is incumbent on the pastoral counselor to explain what it is, so it may be disarmed. “Counter-transference” happens when the pastor (therapist) responds to the indicated transference by reciprocating on these affectionate “feelings.” Clearly, the resulting “smoke” in these situations may quickly become a fire that can destroy one, if not two, marriages. And in a great many situations I have witnessed, it has. Talk about an obstacle that obscures “genuine” love! Obviously, ignorance of the transference/counter-transference cycle may give way to relationship disasters, but so can the clergy who allows her/his own self-esteem to become so low or battered that they are ripe for failure in this arena. Maybe this is why Paul cites, over and over again, how he regularly EXAMINES his experiences that might typically erode his self-image and chafe his emotions. By doing so, he purposely turns them into “positives” that build character, rather than threatens it. This is good counsel for pastors and other church leaders.

 

These truths are what Paul fully lays out in this text from Second Corinthians. Why? Because he had a unique challenge in Corinth, and the young church there was always on the edge of imploding, due to its “diversity” of potential threats handed it by its sitz im leben. The church today faces these issues afresh, due to OUR rapidly changing culture and the challenge the “nones” (those who choose not to have anything to do with the church) put before us. Speaking a word of grace, love, and acceptance to an apathetic audience is never easy, and most certainly requires making our message as well as ourselves as the “medium” is as transparent as possible. Like Paul, we must do all we can to assure that our integrity is impeccable, or no one will hear us.

 

I fear that we spend too much time “defending” the church, our rules, and our doctrines, and by doing so, are indirectly bashing the people we are trying to reach. What good does it do to put so much energy laying out our “requirements and rules” to people who, frankly, are not interested in the church, to begin with? Most of us believe God is doing some amazing things in the church today, and if we develop a missional attitude and issue invitations, we have the hope of being windows for salvation and grace, rather than doors that shut in the face of potential members. For the remnant United Methodist congregations (post-disaffiliation), we must flesh out our message to be far more than “We did away with the anti-LGBTQ language, so Y’all come now!” Transitioning to a welcoming church will take time and intentional strategy, or we run the risk of missing the wave.

 

When we were kids, often all we needed to do to “be a better WINDOW than a DOOR,” in my dad’s words, was to sit back down. This, too, is a strategy that should not be ignored. As clergy, we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be made the center of attention. In fact, we are at our gospel best when we are encouragers, supporters, and prompters of vision, such that our people “catch it” for themselves and run with it. Like John the Baptist, “we must decrease that Jesus may increase.” Some of us are old enough to remember a popular campaign in United Methodism that said, “Catch the Spirit!” When more of our people “catch the Spirit,” we clergy may fall back into our encouraging, teaching role, and let the people lead. Windows, not doors, friends. Windows, not doors! Amen!

Alive and Kicking...

 

Alive and Kicking…

 

Psalm 20
20:1 The LORD answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you!

20:2 May the Lord send you help from the sanctuary, and give you support from Zion.

20:3 May the Lord remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices. Selah

20:4 May the Lord grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your plans.

20:5 May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners. May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.

20:6 Now I know that the LORD will help the anointed; the Lord will answer them from God’s holy heaven with mighty victories by God’s right hand.

20:7 Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the LORD our God.

20:8 They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright.

20:9 Give victory to the king, O LORD; answer us when we call.

 

 

Have you noticed that people keep trying to kill off the church? Despite the statement of Jesus that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,” the church IS somewhat an endangered species today, but mostly from within. Sure, the apathy of so many in our society who were not “raised” in the life of the church does not bode well for it, but there ARE still a lot of folk who did grow up around the church, who may populate its ministries for the future. There are myriad churches that seem bent on their own demise by refusing to be inclusive, staying anchored in 1962, and/or who insist on enforcing doctrines and “orthodoxy” over preaching, modeling, and manifesting the love of God. And the fault is not solely on the clergy and religious leaders; there are just as many “pew-sitting Christians” who are quite comfortable preserving their church as a “private club” that caters to THEIR views and needs. Honestly, I have heard for myself with my own ears actual church members say that their main goal is to see that “their church” survives until it hosts their funeral, and then they don’t care what happens to it. Didn’t someone write, “Without a VISION, the people perish”? As a contemporary author once pointed out, you can swap out “perish” for “parish,” and this indictment still holds true. Then, there are the schisms that have occurred in the Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopal, and now the United Methodist denominations over inclusion of persons in the LGBTQ community; these, too, have added fodder to the prediction that the church is “on its way out.” But, here we are, and the gates of hell are still nowhere in sight.

 

One of the reasons the church is still alive is due to the dedicated, committed Christ followers who refuse to bow to the threats, or be derailed by change. They are “adapters” who understand that meeting needs, loving God’s people, and designing new ministries that address what is happening in the community around them, is what the church has done since instituted by Jesus. Maybe even earlier! Take a look at this Psalm.

 

This Psalm couches God’s “work” among God’s people WITHIN the language of the worshiping community! “May the Lord send you help from the sanctuary…” is a timeless reminder that God DOES move from the temple (or church), outward. “May the Lord remember your offerings…” is a reminder that God meets us in worship, encouraging us, comforting us, pardoning us, and “recharging” us, both for what we may face in life in the coming week, AND for empowering us for what God may call us to tackle in the way of ministry in the days ahead, as well. A word about offerings, here: God is “pleased” when we give offerings, but probably not because God is needing them, be they monetary gifts or “sacrifices” designed to appease the Almighty. In the Hebrew experience, God called the people to offer “meat” sacrifices on the altar, and in the Christian church, we are told “God loves a cheerful giver,” in terms of what we plot into the plate. Might it be true that God is ”blessed” by these offerings, not because of God’s—or the church’s—need, but by our willingness to GIVE them? Being willing to part with things that are considered highly valuable to us (animals in the Hebrew Bible and money in the New Testament) on God’s behalf might be the thing that God gets off on. God “counts” in our psyche when we are willing to give generously from a grateful heart, not just because the church “pesters” us to make a pledge so they can pay their pastors and their light bill. I know I’ve told this story a few times in past sermons, but when I would preach my “stewardship” sermons in the churches I served, I would emphasize that God doesn’t need our money any more than God needs our ideas about how to run the universe. However, WE need to give of our time, talent, and treasures, both to keep us from hoarding them, selfishly, thereby allowing them to become excessively controlling influences in our lives, AND to support and empower our Community of Faith to collectively conduct ministries that serve others and offer opportunities to share the Good News with their potential constituency. In my earlier parishes, I would say something like this about this “need” on our part to give: “Even if tomorrow someone would give this church several million dollars, such that by investing it, the return could pay our ENTIRE budget for the years ahead, WE would still need to give, because GIVING is an essential part of our discipleship.” This was a new concept for so many of the folk I served, and they told me so. I backed it up with scripture, which is not hard. It was the perspective of Jesus, and is greatly amplified and heralded by the Apostle Paul in his writings. 

 

Then, God played a little “trick” on me—God sent me to a church that HAD been gifted with millions of dollars by past benefactors, and COULD have paid their entire budget from the return, if they so chose. But, thanks to a long history of good pastoral leadership, strong lay leaders, and a healthy understanding of the spiritual nature of financial stewardship, the people of that church were some of the most generous givers of ANY of the churches I served! They didn’t give to the NEED, because it had been met, but they give because of THEIR need to give, as a response to God for what God had done for them. This meant that that church could generously give hundreds of thousands of dollars to support a wide variety of global and local needs and ministries. They paid the annual salary of a family counselor for the county Family Services agency; they paid the wages of a cook who made meals for the “soup kitchen” ministering to the unhoused residents of the community (which was a ministry of a local PRESBYTERIAN church!); they heavily supported a local Christian “Coffee House” that was just getting off the ground to reach youth; and they supported many other kinds of missions. Those folk NEVER gave begrudgingly, and were proud of what their generosity had wrought. I say all of this to illustrate how important “the offerings” are to this Psalm’s assertions about how God works in us, and in the world. God DOES “remember” our offerings, and God is somehow “motivated” by them, especially when they are given out of our gratitude, and “cheerfully.” 

 

Even though the “current” of Psalm 20 flows toward the individual, it is clear that the community is the larger beneficiary, and that the Community of Faith is central to the workings of God. From the earliest days of the Hebrew Bible to the end of the Revelation in the New Testament, God desires to work IN and THROUGH the Community of Faith. Regardless of the fact that many today eschew the church (we now call them the “nones,” by the way), GOD does not. 

 

It's important to point out a modern reality about the church. While there was a time when weekend worship was the “fulcrum” or the backbone of the church, that time may have passed. Worship is still an important element of the church, for it is typically the largest “ingathering” of God’s people on any regular basis, but my experience is that the church is now made up of MANY different bodies of people with different needs and gifts. Some engage through small-group ministries, study groups, youth and children’s programing, community ministries, feeding programs, or Volunteers in Mission opportunities. We may not see many of these folk in Sunday worship, partly because of societal changes, especially in myriad jobs that now may only afford workers one day off in seven, and that is often Sunday, unless you’re in retail or the food business. The time has come to NOT “persecute” those whose connection with the church is through its teaching or ministering/serving programs. One of the most pejorative things we can say to a church member is, “Hey, I haven’t seen you in CHURCH for a while”—basically accusing them of delinquency in their duties as a member, when they may be VERY “plugged in” via some other vital avenue. Instead, we would do well to expand the ways someone may find community in our church without trying to “funnel” everyone into a worship service. 

 

Two additional themes I pick up from this Psalm about what it means to be a believer, and to live our lives as growing disciples: 

 

-There are “burnt offerings” encountered along the way; of course the Psalm is referencing the altar practices of the Jewish temple in that day, but one could stretch the meaning a bit to talk about what psychologists now call “burn out” that happens when persons stretch themselves almost to beyond the breaking point in their jobs—or in ministry. When someone is “burned out,” they lose not just energy, but creativity, and their ability to analyze a situation and apply logic to solve problems may even take a serious hit. Burned out individuals require a respite, and possibly clinical therapies to recover. When I was on our Conference Board of Ordained Ministry, I was often saddened by how many of our pastors experienced “burnout,” and how limited our resources were to help them. On top of this, they were often “shelved” by those in authority because of their temporarily limited ability to function. This Psalm is promising that God—THROUGH the faith community—will “be our strength” and healer. When the faith community doesn’t prioritize “helping our own” who are struggling, are we not disobeying God’s command, here? Someone has said that Christians are the only ones who “kill their own wounded.” I have seen that happen when church leaders shun rather than treat victims of burnout. 

 

-The “some trust in chariots” section is there to remind us that war and violence is a last resort, and should only be resorted to as a last line of defense, not a “strategy.” We are called upon to trust the living God, and we do this by eschewing our “Lone Ranger-ness” and banding together as the People of God—in our case, the CHURCH. God’s goal, as we stated last week, is to build a Beloved Community on earth, a place of peace and respect for all people. The church is to orient itself to be the “model” of what this might look like in the wider society. Right now, our model is incomplete at best, broken at worst. Our “chariots and horsemen” with which we are fighting are the doctrines and dogmas we bash each other with, and defend even to the schisms we have wrought. What we need to see is that in beating each other up, we are telling whole groups of persons—God’s people—outside the church that THEY don’t matter, even that God CAN’T love them, because of who they are. As a United Methodist pastor, I must take responsibility for moving on from the schism that has rocked my denomination, turn the swords we rattled against each other into plowshares, and get planting the seeds of reconciliation. And no, I’m not talking about reconciling with those who have abandoned United Methodism (that may happen someday?), but those who have been cast aside by the church because they had officially been deemed “persona non grata” by the written rules of our church. Reconciling with these folk will take time, as they have little reason to trust us, especially the ones who had not yet even tried to enter the enclave we had turned the church into.

 

The GOOD NEWS is, as this Psalm says, God will grant our heart’s desire, raise us up, and fulfill our plans! We look forward to the day when this prophetic verse of Psalm 20 is fulfilled: “May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners.” Now, these banners may include the Rainbow of Welcome for all people! The “So What” of this Psalm is that we will give the “victory” to whom it belongs—the Lord God—and will stand ready to “answer when God calls.” Are you ready? Believe me, friends, the church IS alive and kicking! And the renewing United Methodist Church is ready to enter the loving, hopeful fray! Come join us! Amen.

 

If You Know What's Good for You...

If You Know What’s Good For You…

 

1 Samuel 8:4-20, 11:14-15
8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah,

8:5 and said to him, "You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations."

8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to govern us." Samuel prayed to the LORD,

8:7 and the LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

8:8 Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you.

8:9 Now then, listen to their voice; only--you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them."

8:10 So Samuel reported all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king.

8:11 He said, "These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots;

8:12 and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.

8:13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.

8:14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers.

8:15 He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers.

8:16 He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work.

8:17 He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.

8:18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the LORD will not answer you in that day."

8:19 But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said "No! but we are determined to have a king over us,

8:20 so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles."

11:14 Samuel said to the people, "Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship."

11:15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal. There they sacrificed offerings of well-being before the LORD, and there Saul and all the Israelites rejoiced greatly.

 

 

What might Israel have looked like without a king, except their allegiance to the Lord their God? I guess we’ll never know, because due to their stubbornness, they got their king. How might it have gone, though?

 

God’s plan seemed to be that God would give the people a few rules to guide their behavior and keep them from infringing too much on the lives and properties of their neighbors. It doesn’t take a Bible scholar to know we’re talking about the Ten Commandments, the “laws” God gave Moses on Mt. Sinai. Later, as another ministerial colleague of mine recently detailed in her sermon, God gave Israel the “Schema” as a simplified reminder of the intent of these ten rules: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God; the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your means.” A text in Leviticus says that Israel was to “love their neighbors as themselves,” which Jesus later attached to the Shema prayer in his teaching. These simple commandments summarize the decalogue—“Love God” is the subject of the first four; “Love neighbor” the remaining six. Had the people of Israel chosen to live by these rules, God would have “reigned” as a kind of loving, “King from on high,” they would have prospered as a people, and the “love your neighbor as yourself” part might have led them to make peace with other peoples, instead of fighting them as enemies. These simple rules could have been the basis for a harmonious society, complete with mutual respect, and brought together by a common love and devotion for a benevolent God. But that wasn’t enough. 

 

The first thing the people of Israel did was turn around the direction of the commandments. The ones meant to keep them focusing on a common, caring Creator, which was key to sustaining a unified community, metamorphized into warnings that God would judge and punish them if they “disobeyed the rules.” The commandments meant to be rules guarding the rights and property of others—the “neighbor”—were turned around to be protections and rights of Israel, “shielding” them from the dangerous stranger—the “neighbor.” Then, the religious leaders began to add to these simple rules, “discerning” lists of hundreds of laws they believed would “bless God” and keep the people in line. The resulting society, which couldn’t possibly keep all of these complicated rules, grew more and more selfish and lawless. A “strong-arm” leader was needed, they felt, to restore order—a king. Samuel tried to warn them it was a bad idea. We could summarize his counsel to them with the contemporary phrase, “If you know what’s good for you…”

 

Why a king? Because other peoples had a king. Israel’s wanting a king may well have been more a case of “keeping up with the Joneses” than a desire to have a tough leader and a policing government. Samuel tried to warn them, even telling them what he “heard from God” as a result of the prayer he said on their behalf. Even God knew they were a stubborn people, and ultimately told Samuel to listen to the cries of the people. This is an interesting element—rather than getting “angry” with Israel because they were rejecting God’s reign by wanting an earthly king, God seems more concerned that Samuel not ruin the rapport he had with the people by going postal on them over the king thing. Talk about a pastoral heart!

 

God told Samuel to warn the people of the problem with kings—they are high maintenance. They will demand compensation that makes a modern CEO look like a panhandler, and will even enslave your friends and family—if not you—to add to their entourage. The crown they will adorn themselves with is just the cherry on the top of the decadent “Sundae” they will have you whip up for them. AND, on  top of all of this narcissism, they may ruin your people with their incompetence. Their ego may even cause them to threaten neighboring people—if not ordering your army to attack them outright—and get you into all kinds of trouble. Why in the WORLD would they want a leader like that?

 

I dunno. Ask Americans after November of 2016. Saul had nothing over the guy Americans elected, and may be on the verge of electing again. Was Samuel not right, in each case? The warnings of this passage and the words of God through Samuel were WAY understatement of the travesties that resulted from desiring an authoritarian leader. Governments ARE important, as they guard the rights of the citizenry, and they pass laws to protect the poor, innocent, and vulnerable from both the psychological narcissists AND the “wealthy” who have let capitalism and money-grubbing drive their ambition. However, authoritarians usually have a “nice” blend of both of these major flaws, and wind up persecuting the very people they are to serve. Of course, in the history of Israel, there was King David, who is heralded as a “great king” in their history. Was he?

 

We all know the “David and Goliath” story that catapulted David into the “king succession.” Saul was a disaster; David might be their salvation. But as we also know, David was no prize. Defeating Goliath was good, but having Uriah sent to the front so “the King” could steal his wife, whom he had lusted after (of course this kind of sordid thing NEVER happens to modern “kings,” does it?). My wife, who is actually a much better student of the Bible than I, reminds me that what made David special was that he was a “man after God’s own heart.” But what does this mean? In reality, it means that David had a grain of integrity in that he never fully bought into his own press. He KNEW he had many flaws and weaknesses, and when things came raining down on him, he SOUGHT God and God’s forgiveness. He also loved his out-of-control son, Absalom, so much so, that even though Absalom tried to kill his father, David fell into deep, deep grief when Absalom met his demise. If being a person “after God’s own heart” means realizing that without forgiveness and honest repentance we are truly LOST, then I can buy it. And we believe in not only a God of forgiveness, but second and third and fourth chances, when we genuinely lay our sins before God. If this “normal” human admission of failure and seeking God’s redemption makes a good national leader, than more power to you, but needing much more than this, as a people, is probably one reason why God told Samuel that a “king” was a bad idea.

 

Let me make something clear: people need governing authorities to maintain the wider peace, and to protect the vulnerable. Good governments are empowered BY the people, respected by the people, and are REMOVED by the people when they fail to live up to their constitutional job description. When this system fails, and the “kings and narcissists” are put in authority, bad things happen. It was usually bad for Israel, and we are learning, unfortunately, that it is still bad for us in the 21^st century. Of course, if we were smart, we’d learn a lesson from the wider scope of human history—incompetent, narcissistic, and authoritarian leaders have both failed and victimized civilizations for centuries. 

 

DO we know what’s “good for us”? Can we reclaim our true faith in a loving God who visited us in Jesus Christ, who was literally willing to “put it all on the line” on the cross of Calvary to display just how much God loved us? Can we put enough trust in the Almighty that we “risk” voting in competent leaders who have the interests of ALL citizens in mind, not just the greedy and well-healed ones? Can we trust enough in the “Prince of Peace” that we resist electing warmongers and advocates of the military/industrial crowd as “kings” of the realm? And what would happen if we elected and empowered leaders at all levels of society who took the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, the Prophets of the Hebrew Bible, or the benevolent teachings of the Koran seriously and formed policies around their ethical standards? We might just live happily ever after…if we know what’s good for us. Amen.

 

A Better Potter

 

A Better Potter

 

2 Corinthians 4:5-12
4:5 For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. 

4:6 For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 

4:7 But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 

4:8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 

4:9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 

4:10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. 

4:11 For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. 

4:12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.

 

 

II Corinthians 4:7 is one of my favorite scriptures in the whole Bible: “But we have this treasure in clay jars…” The treasure is the gift of God’s forgiveness, redemption, and grace as delivered to us by Jesus Christ, during his time “camping” among us. WE are the clay jars—clay, because we are both malleable AND fragile, but also because we can be “shaped by the master potter. The problem is, we WILL be shaped, one way, or another, and the resulting “pot” may not be something we—or God—would be proud to display in public.

 

Making pottery is not an easy process, believe me. Discounting commercial operations that use computerized machinery to mold them, glaze them, fire them, and package them for mass distribution, making pottery is more of an art in our day, than something we do because we need a pot to hold something. Most of us buy pottery to display, and those who make it, are artists. My first effort at making pottery was in public school, where, as one who enjoyed art, I took several art classes. The first thing I learned was that I wasn’t very good at drawing things, especially living things. Then came “pot week.” My instructor was one of our public school art teachers who had a major side business selling incredible, hand-make pottery. Not only was he a master at creative use of the potter’s wheel, but he had a great eye for innovative shapes and eye-catching decorating, including mixing some of his own slips and glazes. The good news for his students was that he liked to teach others how to throw a pot, and he was good at that, too. A number of my peers were soon rather expertly wedging clay, throwing simple pots or vases, and preparing them for firing in the large, “community” kiln that was filled each day for firing at night when electrical rates were lowest. I never got much beyond the wedging.

 

Wedging clay is basically what bakers do when they knead dough. It smooths the clay, giving it a consistent, soft texture, and helps identify and extract any dried/hard impurities. It also exorcises any air bubbles, which are murder when encountered on the wheel, and may burst and destroy all in the community kiln, when they survive to that stage in the wall of a pot. I could expertly wedge clay. Beyond that, the potter’s wheel won each and every time. After wedging the clay, the budding potter slams an appropriately-sized slug of it onto the center of the wheel. The wheel is turned on and begins to spin. The potter starts applying a little water (actually a very thin slip of clay and water) to the lump of clay with a small sponge. Then, in a kind of clay-oriented Karate move, arms and hands are braced against the body and applied to the spinning clay in a move called “centering.” The goal is to gently nudge the clay into the very center of the wheel, and flatten it into a perfectly round, flat mound of clay ready to be “opened” by the thumbs of the potter. This step was my Achilles’ heel. No matter what I did, I could never successfully center the clay. “Success” in clay centering was marked by the “hump” of clay being so perfectly centered that, as it is spinning, it literally looks like it’s stationary, with no wavering at all. I could never make it do that. My teacher tried everything to help me learn this step, but to no avail. He gently encouraged me, while counseling that I was “fighting the clay.” There was a three-way battle going on, actually, between me, the clay, and centrifugal force, and apparently I was never able to balance these forces. The clay lump always wound up with a slight waver in its rotation, and believe me, even the slightest waver will ruin the amateur’s effort to open and “bring up” the walls of clay to form a pot. I should state that an experienced potter can throw a pot even with a warpy clay slug, as they have learned the art of “centering as they go.” This requires a REALLY gentle touch, and almost building an “empathy” with the clay. Expert potters also “feel” the texture and moistness (or lack of) in the clay, adjusting their touch and technique to compensate. The rank amateur, working with a decently-centered lump of clay, is often successful at bringing up a simple pot or vase, usually only running into trouble when they try to get too fancy or ambitious, early on, or applies too much moistening slip to the pot as they go. Me? Not getting the darn thing centered in the first place is a dealbreaker. It was even worse than that, though. Feeling pity for me, my instructor would center a lump of clay for me, leaving me with the “raw materials” to throw a pot. I could sometimes succeed at “opening” the clay, using my thumbs to turn the lump into a centered “ring” of clay, which could then be “brought up” using the fingers of the left hand inside the ring, and the right hand fingers on the exterior. Nope, not me. Each and every time, I was again diagnosed as “fighting the clay,” and a half-formed pot would begin to waver when about half-formed, and would eventually fall back down onto the spinning wheel. Because my art experiences in school were relatively short-term, we had to move on, and Yours Truly never—NEVER—successfully executed a pot on the potter’s wheel (or maybe I should say I did “execute” quite a few, as this term is used in capital punishment?). 

 

Don’t cry for me, Argentina. My creativity emerged when we were to draw “thumbnail” sketches of pot designs, or later, jewelry pieces. Turns out, I’m a pretty “out of the box” thinker when it comes to designing at this level, and my teacher gave me an “A” for the pieces of jewelry I designed and made (I’m not bad with tools). He also picked a couple of my pot designs he fancied, and showed me how to “hand build” them using the coil and scorew method, avoiding the potter’s wheel, altogether. I got a good grade for a couple of these hand-built jobs, and carried one around as a pencil and pen holder for decades, until it was broken in one of our clergy moves. Many years later, while in college, my daughter had the same luck I did with throwing pots, and my “wall-seum” is home to an incredible hand-built pots she made that looks like it was excavated in some ancient Mayan digs.

 

This extended story illustrates why I like II Corinthians 4:7 so much! Pottery is hard stuff! When the hymn echoes this text with the words, “Thou art the potter, I am the clay,” it totally gets the story right! I already know what happens if I try to form my “own clay” of my life: I’m OK with “wedging” the air out of it; however, I’m lousy—let’s say unsuccessful—at getting it centered, and will throw it out of kilter, even if I let GOD do the centering; and my personal efforts to “bring up” the clay [my life] to look anything like God’s plan will fail. God is the better potter for all of these metaphorical processes. And God has the “right touch” for the consistency (or lack of it) and texture for the “clay” of my life. 

 

The text says much more to us “clay jars.” Here are a few of the key “treasures”:

 

*We are proclaimers of the Good News of Jesus Christ

 

*We are the recipients and vessels of the “light of God” as revealed in Christ Jesus

 

*Like an old Timex watch, we can “take a licking and keep on ticking,” thanks to our commitment to a higher power and a higher purpose.

 

*Through our experience as “ambassadors for Christ,” we learn the difference between being “perplexed” and despairing. Despair leads us to sadness, depression, even grief. Being “perplexed,” when responded to properly, leads to curiosity, learning, and self-discovery. THIS is truly a treasure in the “clay jar” of our life!

 

*We know we carry around “death” in our earthly bodies, for it is the natural order, but as ones who have yielded to the redeeming and transforming grace of God in Jesus Christ, we ALSO carry around the seeds of resurrection!

 

The fragile, clay jar of our existence may never be “brought up” to something that holds water unless we offer our “raw materials” to the Better Potter. My experience of attempting to throw a pot on the potter’s wheel is a great metaphor for the senselessness of “picking oneself up by the bootstraps,” a practice WAY too many wielding “horse sense” say is the remedy for human suffering. Grace, forgiveness, opening oneself to the illumination of the light of Christ, and offering God some well “wedged” clay, truly IS a healing balm. Yielding to the Better Potter will not just raise OUR “pot,” but will also “bring up” other pots, as well. Christ didn’t come just to save your SOUL, but to restore and reconcile all of humanity! This is also why we need the Better Potter to mold the clay—with superior knowledge of its texture, empathy for its “feel,” and the creativity to form something outstanding! So, we are being called by this text to “Wedge, yield, rise, and shine” by putting ourselves in the hands of the Better Potter. Amen! 

The Sending...

 

The Sending…

 

Isaiah 6:1-8
6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple.

6:2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.

6:3 And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory."

6:4 The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.

6:5 And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

6:6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.

6:7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out."

6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!"

 

 

Isaiah Six begins with one of the Bible’s most famous call stories—that of the prophet, himself. What are call stories? At their broadest definition, they are our personal recollections as to how we wound up doing much of what we “do” in life. They may be stories about how we wound up in the career we are in, to how we “discovered” our partner in life. From a religious perspective, call stories are about how persons discerned a call to “do something” in service to God. This may range from going on a mission trip to entering the ordained ministry. We all have call stories; we just may not think of them in this way.

 

I have a number of personal call stories in my life. The first one that really shook things up happened during my first month at college. I had sailed through high school as a decent student. I could have had a much stronger academic career, but SO enjoyed the other activities such as the various bands I was in, the school plays and shows I was involved in, and even a brief foray into high school sports. Then, along came dating and hanging out with good friends, especially as my high school time was winding down. In the midst of it all, I had decided I would become a journalist, since English and writing were my academic strengths, along with the sciences, and mathematics brought up the rear. Since physics and space science were extreme areas of interest, and my math skills were so pedestrian, I figured I’d be able to “cover” them as a science writer/reporter. I chose a college based on this goal. I distinctly remember getting “oriented” into college life at Point Park College, which was a really good journalism school back in 1972, and settling into my bunk one night, quite pleased with myself and my choices. As I began to say my evening prayers, which I did as a matter of being a “church-raised kid” and the habits I developed from this experience, something quite unusual happened. As I began to say my “rote” prayers to God, I suddenly got an answer back in a “voice” that was so real, I thought it was my roommate speaking. When it became clear that he was fast asleep, I started asking “the voice” questions, and a “conversation” ensued that lasted for the better part of half an hour. During this dialogue, I never doubted that I was “talking” with God, nor did I ever think I had lost my mind. The content of the “rap,” as we might have called it back then, had a few key points:

 

*I had made some important decisions about my life without much consultation with God.

 

*God may have a different plan for my life than I had begun to carve out.

 

*I should start taking my “walk with Christ” much more seriously.

 

*I should stay tuned for further guidance, down the road.

 

Considering this “encounter” had the potential for really charting a different course for my life, I remember thinking I might NEVER get to sleep that night…and then I fell asleep. Waking up the next morning, I felt that some kind of weird “transformation” had occurred in me, and had a compulsion to read the Bible. While I didn’t pack a Bible to bring with me to college, I opened my footlocker and there was a “Good News for Modern Man” New Testament, which I found out later had been packed by my Mom. I was alone in the room, as my roommate had gone off to an early class. The sun shone brightly into the room, as it was a beautiful day outside. I sat down on the edge of the bed, popped open the “Good News,” and began to read where it opened, which just happened to be the Gospel of John. As I started to read, the little hairs on the back of my neck began to stand at attention. The “voice” I was reading—about Jesus, and even OF Jesus—was the very same one I had heard “interrupting” my evening prayer the night before! I will never forget that feeling, and frankly, I STILL hear that voice every time I read the Bible. “The voice” has never gone away, since that encounter. 

 

So, what was my reaction to this first “call story” in my life? 

 

*I began reading my Bible every day, as I had a new hunger to learn about Jesus.

 

*I thought maybe this was some kind of “call” into the ministry, and away from my goal of becoming a journalist.

 

*The transformation that had began with “the voice” continued, and continues to this day.

 

*I hopped a bus for home that next weekend, both to share with my parents what I “thought” was going on, AND to speak with my home pastor, the Rev. Dr. Hugh D. Crocker, who was serving Grace UMC in Oil City, at that time. 

 

My parents were thrilled that I might be called into the Christian ministry, as being good church folk who were raising us “in the church,” this was certainly considered a noble profession. However, after a long session with Rev. Crocker, during which he affirmed that this “could” be a call—and he also affirmed that he felt I would be GOOD at being a pastor—he CAUTIONED me about jumping to this conclusion, given “the voice” had said I should await further instructions. Dr. Crocker explained that a call to the ordained ministry must be affirmed at many levels, and was NOT to be taken lightly. I remember him saying, “If God calls you into the ministry, you DON’T want to ignore it, but until you are SURE, you don’t want to pursue it.” He also said something like, “There are two kinds of miserable people in life: those who GET called into the ministry and who choose to ignore it; and those who GO into the ministry WITHOUT a clear calling.” 

 

This is a really long “call story,” so I’ll cut to the chase: I continued my pursuit of my revitalized faith, began a career in communications, and later got the VERY clear call from “the voice” to pursue seminary education and eventually, ordination. I now write this “retirement sermon” as a retired pastor, having served for 36 years as an itinerant minister in The United Methodist Church. And just a few weeks ago, another “voice” get my attention, but this time it was a District Superintendent over the phone, who asked me to consider being re-deployed—part-time—into parish ministry again. SO, I’m back in the pulpit, come July 14. I should add one additional “take” on this call story. Some have suggested that my “voice” experience that night at Point Park was a “conversion” story, too, but I disagree. I had made a commitment to Jesus Christ as a young person growing up in a gospel-teaching church, and had sincerely reaffirmed this commitment numerous times, at mission festivals at our church. I would have gladly stated that I was “a Christian,” if someone had asked, and understood that my “commitment” was genuine. However, the “fire in my bones” that this college experience lit has never waned. When, years later, I read of John Wesley’s “Aldersgate experience,” I deduced that he and I had shared a similar kind of “fire-starting” encounter with “the voice” that “super-charged” our faith, and changed the direction our lives were headed. 

 

Our friend, Isaiah, is relating exactly the same kind of “meeting up” with “the voice” here in this text. His calling to be a prophet of God launched a whole new “career” for the young man, and the “coal to the lips” via the seraph not only “sealed” the call story, but “ordained” him as a mouthpiece for the Almighty. We preachers all hope our lips are similarly “touched,” especially when we write and deliver a sermon each week. What this meant for Isaiah was that what he had to “speak forth” would not be HIS words, but would be a message from God to God’s people. As a preacher, this is what I have wanted my messages to be, as well. In order to do my part to make sure this would be the case, here are the steps I take each week, before I write a sermon:

 

*I choose a scripture VERY early, on which to preach. As a lectionary preacher, I consult this tool, to do so. When serving a church, I would plan my preaching six months at a time, choosing the scriptures and writing a simple paragraph as to where I saw that week’s sermon “going.” I was always open to changing any message (or scripture), if the Spirit so led, but rarely did that happen, as the Holy Spirit is GREAT at “running on ahead” and helping light a path long before it is “needed.”

 

*I open a file on the computer a few weeks before the message is to be preached, and begin studying each text in advance. This allowed me to “add” items to each sermon, depending on what I was reading, and/or what was “happening” in the world, the culture, or the church. 

 

*I keep each message in prayer, going forward, as well as my “study steps” in forming the message. God is generally a better author than I, so such “consulting” with an expert is most helpful in attempting to write a pertinent message that might both catch the attention of my audience AND meet their spiritual needs!

 

*I always leave “wiggle room” for last minute “updates” by the Holy Spirit. This is why I compile preaching notes from my messages and present them loosely from these notes, keeping me from being locked into a specific text. This method also affords me excellent “eye contact” with my audience.

 

*I never preach “from the barrel.” Every message is new, never repeated. Oh, some illustrations or stories may certainly be used more than once, but it has always been my conviction that each message is an “event” for that time and place. This my personal practice, however, I do realize that the Holy Spirit may use a well-crafted, biblical message more than once, so for those of you who DO repeat your “greatest hits,” that’s not problem! DO what God calls YOU to do!

 

Since I’m going to be back in the pulpit at Faith Community UMC in Rochester, PA, I have been working on my preaching plan, which is now finished through the end of 2024. My practice of planning so far in advance has resulted into a long career of exciting experiences in preaching! I was so often amazed by how a message planned MONTHS before it was to be preached wound up being the PERFECT message at JUST THE RIGHT TIME, when it was time to present it! Again, all the credit and glory goes to God and the Holy Spirit for this, as I obviously would have no idea what might be “going down” in advance. Unlike Isaiah, I am NOT a prophet!

 

I’ll bet that as I recall my “call” experiences, you are revisiting your own—this the “magic” of call stories! And I KNOW that you all have some wonderful ones, as I have heard a great number of them from colleagues, friends, and parishioners, over the years. Call stories are so powerful that I could easily turn this sermon into a veritable “tome” by recounting some that I have heard from yinz! Unfortunately, I also heard a few who, when it came to respond like Isaiah, “Here I am—send me!”, turned and walked away. Their stories were often very hard to hear, and their degree of personal regret was worn like a millstone around the neck. Thankfully, even most of these “I didn’t go” stories have a happier ending, as the Holy Spirit is ALWAYS “running on ahead” to illuminate an alternate path to both service and blessing! Many of the folk who responded in the negative to the initial calling, later were led to wonderful ways to live out a calling in compassion for others and in service to God. Isn’t God GOOD, in this way?

 

“The Sending” can be the hard part of responding to God’s call. A calling to serve God would be so much easier if it could be carried out without leaving places, people, or “stuff” with which we have grown either dependent upon or comfortable with. While some HAVE been able to carry out their “calling” in an existing venue, most of the time God asks us to “be sent” in some way. Why? Partly, I suppose, because the work of God is everywhere God’s people are, and the gifts we possess may be needed elsewhere, or even in numerous locations, over time. When I answered the call to ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church, I knew that this meant vowing to be a part of an “itinerant” ministry. Over the course of 36 years, we served five churches, each in different parts of our Conference. It meant physically moving my family, which always meant my wife losing her job and our children, changing school districts. All this to say that answering God’s call OFTEN involves personal sacrifice and dependence UPON God for God’s provision. I remember hearing “missionary stories” during those mission festivals I mentioned earlier whereby some were called to make the “ultimate sacrifice” in answering God’s call.

 

This coming Monday we Americans are celebrating Memorial Day, when we remember those who were “sent” in service to their country, and who, in many cases, made the ultimate sacrifice. We remember them for their patriotism, citizenship, and service to preserve our freedoms. We are all thankful for their service. 

 

Friends, may we always be listening for “the voice” to rejuvenate our faith, call our gifts into service, and be willing to be “sent” in service to God and others! May we echo the great prophet, Isaiah, with the simple, yet profound words: “Here I am; SEND ME!” Amen!

Father, Son, and Bruno

 Father, Son, and Bruno

 

Acts 2:1-21
2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

2:2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

2:3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.

2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

2:5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.

2:6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.

2:7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?

2:8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?

2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,

2:11 Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power."

2:12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"

2:13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."

2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.

2:15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning.

2:16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

2:17 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.

2:18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.

2:19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.

2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.

2:21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

 

 

A couple of years ago, we were visiting with our daughter’s family and the grandchildren wanted to take in a movie that was just debuting that weekend. Called “Encanto,” the film wound up winning an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film. Musical numbers for “Encanto” were written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the genius who took a slice of American history and turned it into the mega-hit, “Hamilton.” The story features a magical Colombian family called the Madrigals, and their daughter, Mirabel, the only member of the family not given a magical gift, or so she thought. When the family is in danger of losing their magical gifts, Mirabel stumbles across her uncle, BRUNO, who had put himself into exile, because the family saw his gift as “too dangerous.” His gift was that of precognition, or seeing things that might happen in the future, including the crisis that Mirabel is now trying to help evade. One of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s best songs is, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” One of its lyrics goes:

 

We don’t talk about Bruno, no, no, no!

We don’t talk about Bruno!

 

Grew to live in fear of Bruno stuttering or stumbling,

I could always hear him sort of muttering and mumbling,

I associate him with the sound of falling sand.

It’s a heavy lift, with a gift so humbling.

Always left Abuela and the family fumbling

Grappling with prophecies they couldn’t understand.

Do YOU understand?

 

No, we don’t talk about Bruno…

 

Today, as we yet again come to Pentecost in the church year, a time when we “celebrate” the Holy Spirit, we are kind of faced with the BRUNO of the Godhead. We talk a lot about “God the Father,” or “Creator God, and as Christians, we blabber on and on about Jesus, even praying in his name, just like he said we could. But where does the Holy Spirit fit into all of this? As “trinitarians,” we believe in the great “Three-in-one, One-in-Three” understanding of God. I have often referred to the Trinity as “God the Community,” as this theology postulates a deity that is WITHIN Godself, a community—a “family,” if you will, just like Mirabel’s, full of love, and magic, and empowerment. But somehow, BRUNO just doesn’t fit.

 

Think about how we “imagine” God. Thanks to Michelangelo and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, we have a “picture” of God the Creator, don’t we? And thanks to a wide variety of artists, from classical to abstract, ancient to modern, and a narrative or two from questionable ancient sources, we have myriad “images” of Jesus, not the least of which is Sallman’s “Head of Christ,” which is probably the one burned into our brains. Tell me, what do you “imagine” when the Holy Spirit is mentioned?

 

The Bible isn’t much help here. In the Hebrew Bible, the Spirit is described as a “wind” or “breath” (ruach), both of which are a kind of force or action. In the New Testament, the word is pneuma, which likewise has to do with moving air. Neither of these give us much of an image of a “person” of the Godhead, do they? The New Testament gives us two symbols for the Holy Spirit—the “tongues of flames” that danced over the heads of the followers of Jesus at Pentecost, and the descending dove at Jesus’ baptism, often depicted in art and stained-glass looking more like a Peregrine Falcon diving on its prey. The “Cross and Flame” logo of The United Methodist Church has the flames symbolizing the Holy Spirit, as well as the two denominations that came together in 1968 to form the UMC. I guess now, after the disaffiliation, we need to keep the two flames, don’t we? Or turn it into a single “tongue of flame.” At least our pilot light is still lit…

 

Some of you who have sat under—or slept under—my preaching previously, know that I always tried to pitch the Holy Spirit as the “feminine” person of the Trinity, given that we are all made in God’s image, and our depictions of the other two people of the Trinity are traditionally male. Of course, with an enlightened understanding of human sexuality as something on a “spectrum” or continuum, maybe we should go with different pronouns for the Holy Spirit—They and Them. It really makes good theological sense, don’t you think? If God in Godself is a community, and we humans are made in this “image,” why NOT include all of us on the human “spectrum”? I always liked Rev. Chad Bogdewic’s benedictions: “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Mother of us all…” 

 

Need an image of the Holy Spirit as a person? Imagine the Spirit as the woman who has had the greatest influence in your life—or still does!

 

Are you beginning to see why we don’t talk about Bruno? The popularity of the King James Bible version among many Christian believers may be partly responsible for our “fear” or misunderstanding of the Holy Spirit, given that it dubs the Spirit as the “Holy Ghost.” I don’t know about you, but beyond Casper, ghosts were not my friends, especially when I was a kid. 

 

 It gets even more interesting. Jesus promised that when he “went to the Father,” he would send the Holy Spirit, who would “lead us into all truth.” He also said:

 

“The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

 

Jesus also said the Holy Spirit would be a “comforter.” These SOUND like “person things,” and are nurturing, caring things, at that. Then along comes Paul, with his lists of gifts the Holy Spirit would dole out to the followers of Christ, thus “empowering” the church to carry out our responsibilities as the “Body of Christ.” This all makes sense until we read a little further into Paul’s letters and see the chaos often resulting from infighting over the “gifts of the Spirit”--who gets what gift, and which ones are the most important. Infighting over gifts—not THAT starts to sound like a family! The gifts of “speaking in tongues” and “interpretation of tongues” is a divisive thing, even into the present time. We don’t talk about BRUNO, just like Mirabel’s family, possibly because we: a. don’t understand; and b. we are afraid of the gifts. 

 

So, today, as we “celebrate” Pentecost, or the “birth” of the Holy Spirit fully into the world, the church, and our souls, how can we “visualize” and/or reclaim the Holy Spirit as more than a “function” sent forth by God, and as a “relatable” person of the Holy Trinity? This is the challenge, isn’t it?

 

Today’s text is the classic description from the Book of Acts about how the Holy Spirit descended upon those first Christ followers waiting in the upper room in Jerusalem. The three prevalent signs of the Holy Spirit’s arrival were the “violent” wind, the “divided tongues of fire” resting on the believers, and the “speaking in tongues,” which here means they were witnessing to the gospel in the native languages of those who were eavesdropping on the occasion. (This “gift of tongues,” while a miraculous event, clearly was also a practical one, initiating the first “evangelism crusade” of the newborn church, unlike the “gift of tongues” typically practiced by Pentecostal and/or charismatic Christian assemblies. This latter “glossolalia” is an ecstatic “gift” that is touted to be a kind of private “prayer language” between the person and God.) But I suppose the REAL evidence of the arrival of the Holy Spirit was how she prepared the hearts of the gathered “audience” to hear Peter’s simple sermon and respond to it in droves. For me, this latter happening is still the big miracle—that in a day of multi-media, the Internet, smartphones, streaming, and social media surrounding us like an artificial skin, people still LISTENT TO and RESPOND to the Christian sermon given from the ancient “soap boxes” we know as the pulpit. If that isn’t the working of the Holy Spirit, I don’t know what is!

 

So, let’s talk about BRUNO. In the movie, Bruno not only becomes a key to healing all that ails the Madrigal family and little Mirabel, but he is re-woven into his family. May it be so with the Holy Spirit in the church on this Pentecost Day! So as we seek to go a little more mainstream with the Spirit, let me share a few things to help us see her “practical” side.

 

I spent some time re-reading “The Spirit of Life” by a great theologian of the Christian Church, Jurgen Moltmann. In this volume, Moltmann did something that not many top-flight theologians and scholars have ever tackled—explain and elucidate on the Holy Spirit! Moltmann reminds us that the Holy Spirit IS the third PERSON of the Trinity, and that as such, shares ALL of the attributes of God the Father (Creator) and God the Son (Jesus/Redeemer). It is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that “feeds” and sustains the church, and even the individual believer such as you and me. And while the Day of Pentecost saw lots of special effects, the work of God the Holy Spirit is often quiet, even unnoticed, yet essential AND practical. 

 

The Holy Spirit lavishes God’s grace upon humanity.

 

The Holy Spirit provides the wisdom EVERY believer needs to grow and serve in faith.

 

The Holy Spirit comes alongside us when we’re troubled or grieving.

 

The Holy Spirit inoculates us against hate and is a carrier of God’s steadfast love.

 

The Holy Spirit empowers the church to be a witness, even when it is floundering and humanly ineffective, such as The United Methodist Church, leading up to and in the wake of the disaffiliation movement.

 

In all of this, though, we must remind ourselves that she is the very PRESENCE of the Living God, in our midst, in our institutions, and in our hearts. Like Peter, our message doesn’t have to be profound to touch the human heart—THAT will be the Spirit’s doing. 

 

Jurgen Moltmann suggests that Reformed theology got so caught up in the intellectual rubric of understanding “The Word of God” and just how Christ redeems people that they pretty much ignored the Holy Spirit, or in some cases led to the generally shared “sin” of viewing the Spirit as a TOOL or “accessory” of God, rather than as God, Godself. 

 

Moltmann also urged us to understand that it is the practical task of the Holy Spirit to BE GOD IN OUR MIDST, including living among us just like Jesus himself did. Moltmann stresses in his book the “experiential” nature of numinous experiences—the Holy Spirit is available to EVERYONE, is capable of using ANYONE to carry out the work of God in the world, and yet can be as personal as our own heartbeat. He questions why we rarely—if ever—address the Holy Spirit directly in our prayers. We often “pray to God,” and follow Jesus’ unction to “pray in my name”—in fact, how many of our prayers begin, “Dear Jesus”? But when was the last time you directly prayed to the Holy Spirit? We ask GOD to “send your Spirit,” or to “empower us by your Spirit,” but why not directly address her sometimes when we pray? I never really thought about it in this way, but my first thought when Moltmann mentioned “experience” was about John Wesley’s focus on it as a basic element of Christian action and discernment. After all, is not the Holy Spirit God’s “direct interface” with humanity in the here and now?

 

On this Pentecost weekend when we again remind ourselves of the “decent” of the Holy Spirit upon the church and humanity, let me share four things about the Holy Spirit from Moltmann’s book that I thought brilliant:

 

The Holy Spirit is UNIVERSAL—no one is shut out from being transformed by the “Spirit of Life.” In fact, the aim of the Holy Spirit is to bring every BRUNO back into the family! AND the Holy Spirit is working in “other” faiths, in people who don’t yet have ANY faith, and in ways we may never understand until we are “on the other side,” so to speak. 

 

The Holy Spirit is TOTAL—everything we need about God and from God is available and present in the indwelling, surrounding, all-embracing Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit IS God, not a “tool” of God, a force FROM God, or an “accessory” to our faith in Christ Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit we could HAVE no faith in either God OR Jesus Christ.

 

The Holy Spirit is ENDURING—the Holy Spirit, as a person of the Trinity, and as God with us NOW—will ALWAYS be with humanity. Since her descending upon Planet Earth, the presence, power, and pardon of God are forever with us!

 

The Holy Spirit is DIRECT—no “mediator” is needed between the Holy Spirit and any of God’s children. Remember, the Celtic symbol of the Holy Spirit is the Wild Goose, not the “gentle” dove. Why? Because like a Wild Goose, the Spirit will DO what the Spirit will DO. She cannot be tamed, and she goes where she will. While the Holy Spirit CAN be gentle when comforting us, she is a powerhouse, and quite capable of being all the God we need for now and forever. It is through her agency that we fulfill Jesus’ promise of “greater things you shall do because I go to the Father.” And we have!

 

I learned in seminary of the perichoresis or the “divine dance” as to how the three persons of the Holy Trinity share the fullness of God with us and each other. I really like this idea of the “divine dance.” Like all good musicals, the film “Encanto” ends with a “happily ever after” and a good song and dance. IMAGINE the Holy Spirit saying to YOU and the CHURCH, today in these lyrics:

 

Look at this home, we need a new foundation,

It may seem hopeless, but we’ll get by just fine.

Look at this family, a glowing constellation,

So full of stars, everybody wants to shine.

 

But the stars don’t shine, they burn,

And the constellations shift,

I think it’s time you learn.

You’re more than just your gift.

 

The miracle is not some magic that you’ve got.

The miracle is YOU, not some gift, just YOU!

The miracle is YOU—ALL of you!

 

Okay, so we gonna talk about Bruno?

 

    Amen!