"Real Commitment" - August 31, 2014

The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Saint Matthew 16:21–28
“Real Commitment”

Everlasting God, we believe that the power of Christ is still at work in our world and that it is shown every time we love our neighbor, every time we bring compassion to another human being, every time we offer forgiveness and hope to a fellow traveler. May Christ become more than a person of the past. May he become our living reality--ever-fresh, ever-real, ever-shining in your world. Amen. Prayer - The Rev’d Dr. R. Scott Colglazier

I became intrigued and amused this week by the latest social media sensation – the idea of pouring a bucket of ice water over your head for charity. Here, just in case you have been away from television or the internet for awhile, is how it works.

 A friend challenges you to either pour an bucket of ice water over your head or make a contribution to the ALS foundation to benefit research into this terrible disease. If you are willing to get frozen and soaked (and by the way, you are still expected to make a financial contribution to the cause) you get to “call out” two or three of your friends (or soon-to-be former friends) and they have either the option of trying to drown themselves or write a check.

I have given some serious thought to calling out Mr. Park for the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” however, I am sure that he would do what a wise woman in our congregation did when she advised all her on-line friends that she was more than willing to contribute cash to the cause but there was no way she was soaking herself for all to see in a YouTube video. So, she told them, they could call her out until the cows came home but she was staying dry.

However, more than a few famous and not so famous people have taken up the challenge. At the top of the list may be former President George W. Bush, who challenged former President Clinton, former presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who was doused by his running mate, Paul Ryan. Politicians, television and movie stars, baseball players and broadcasters, and just plane folks like you and me maybe, are all getting wet for a good cause.

There can be no doubt as to effectiveness of the fund-raising effort. According to The New York Times: “Donations to the A.L.S. Association, have surged since the challenge started trending in late July. The group said Thursday morning that it had received $41.8 million in donations from July 29 until Aug. 21. More than 739,000 new donors have given money to the association. That’s more than double the $19.4 million in total contributions the association received during [all of] 2013.”

But, as one recently diagnosed ALS patient, 26 year old Anthony Carbajal said through in his video, he is scared to death of the disease. The video then shows him carefully lifting his completely dependent mother in and out of bed; preparing the solution for her feeding tube, and finally placing her carefully in a chair and, in so doing, he tells us in a very graphic way, that ALS is about more than a getting soaked. For him and his family it is a way of life. It’s one thing to dump a bucket of water on your head, have a friend hand you a towel, write a check, and have a hot toddy to warm you up. It is quite another to make a real commitment to the cause daily.

That my brothers and sisters is exactly what Jesus is asking of us.

It would have been a whole lot easier for Peter and the rest of us if Jesus had just let everything rest with the great confession of Saint Peter – “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Peter is feeling good about himself. And Jesus has to be feeling good too. People are placing him right alongside the most famous of the Jewish prophets. He is really making a name for himself. Jesus is really going places. And it looks like, if we follow him, we’ll really be going places too.

But then reality sets in. It hits the disciples and all of us like a cold bucket of unexpected ice water in the face. For it is then, that Jesus makes it clear to his disciples that it “was now necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, submit to an ordeal of suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and then on the third day be raised up alive.”

Peter does what all of us would do in hearing such news from a friend. He says, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” Don’t be too hard on Peter here for all of us will and have said the same thing. From losing a job, to losing a love, to a diagnosis of ALS, our response is “God forbid.” Jesus meant everything to Peter and losing him to an early death, much less the terrible death on the cross, is too much for him to bear. It is too painful to get his mind around.

So Peter tries to throw cold water on Jesus’ notion. And I think Jesus has to put Peter in his place because the idea is pretty tempting. Just remember, that the option was always there for Jesus – to put aside his ministry and go home. He could have gone back to Nazareth, re-opened his father’s carpenter shop, settled down, found a partner, had children and lived a good long life.

He could have done that but to do so would have meant turning his back on God’s plan for your redemption and mine. It was all at stake.

Was Jesus going to be tempted by Peter or was he going to follow God? And Jesus decides to follow God.

He tells Peter to get behind him. He tells Peter to stop trying to lead Jesus but to follow him wherever God would lead.
So they went on to Jerusalem and on to the cross.

Then, if things weren’t bad enough, Jesus tells us, that those of us who want to save our lives at all costs will lose them, and those who are willing to lose our lives will save them. In other words, we are to cross-bearers too. As Dr. Thomas G. Long, explains:

Cross bearers forfeit the game of power before the first inning; they are never selected as “Most Likely to Succeed.” Cross bearers are dropouts in the school of self-promotion. They do not pick up their crosses as a means for personal fulfillment, career advancement, or self-expression; rather they “deny themselves” and pick up their crosses because of the needs of other people.

In the midst of all the videos of ice covered people showing their support for ALS there were two other videos this week.

The first was the horrific – and I do mean horrific – video of the murder of James Foley by the godless forces of the Islamic State of Iran and Syria. But here is what the media missed.

  Foley was a Christian. He graduated from Marquette University and, after some volunteer trips to South Dakota and Mississippi, he wrote that he “learned I was a sheltered kid and that the world had real problems.” In coming to know “young people who wanted to give their hearts for others” he decided to be an inner-city teacher.

Then, in graduate school at Northwestern, he was moved to capture the suffering of others by becoming a photo-journalist who found himself imprisoned twice – first by the Lybians and then by the Syrians. After his first captivity he wrote about the power of prayer.

“I began to pray the rosary. It was what my mother and grandmother would have prayed. It took a long time [but] it helped to keep my mind focused. If nothing else, prayer was the glue that enabled my freedom, an inner freedom. It didn’t make sense but faith did.

Foley died in the faith.

And the other man, is Dr. Kent Brantly. You may not know his name but you do know the name of the disease he contacted, Ebola. Under-reported however was the part of the story that said the Brantly was a missionary for “Samaratian’s Purse” a Christian Ministry lead by Dr. William Franklin Graham, son of Evangelist Billy, whose motto is: "No matter where we go or what we do, we offer more than help. We offer hope."

And you almost certainly missed this part of the statement he wrote while in isolation at Emory University hospital.

“My wife Amber and I, along with our two children, did not move to Liberia for the specific purpose of fighting Ebola. We went to Liberia because we believe God called us to serve Him at ELWA Hospital."

He went because he thought it was something God called him to do.

Both men were willing to loose their lives for what they believed in and, living or dying, it was their faith that sustained them.

Christ may never call any of us to go as far as these two men – to risk our lives or even our health.

Still we are called, in whatever way God leads us, to take up Christ’s cross.

Choosing to be a part of Christ’s cause can be an agonizing process. It can lead us to tasks that are overwhelming. But, eventually we will discover that there is no choice anymore. The only decision is to follow knowing that this path is never lived outside of God’s power, and care, and will.

Throwing a bucket of ice water on our head for a good cause is a good thing. Throwing ourselves into the cause of Christ is even better because it places our trust solely and completely in God. And no matter what our lot in life, be it life or in death, that is a very good place to be.

"The Need to Remember" -- 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

On the clear afternoon of May 25, 1979 at exactly 3:02 P.M. American Airlines flight 191 began its take-off from O’Hare Airport on runway 32R headed for Los Angeles. Just at the DC-10 reached rotation speed – the moment when the front wheel lifts off the ground – the number 1 engine and the pylon that connected it to the wing separated from the aircraft. Because the maintenance procedures practiced by American were contrary to what the manufacture specified (they used a short cut that saved 200 man hours per plane) the engine didn’t separate as it should have, falling down and away from the airplane and landing safely away from the craft on the runway. Had that happened the DC-10 could have returned to O’Hare or even flown on to Los Angeles with just two engines.

Instead the poor reinstallation caused the engine to tear away and somersault over the left wing leaving behind a three foot gash in the leading edge. At that second the plane was no longer airworthy and all 271 passengers and crew members aboard were doomed. The plane made it no more than 3,600 feet from the end of the runway before crashing in a ball of fire that could be seen from as far away as downtown. [“American Airlines Flight 191" from Wikipedia.]

Kim Jockle’s parents were among those who perished. Ms. Jockle is currently the vice-principle at the Decatur Classical School in West Rogers Park and when her sixth grade students heard her story two years ago they decided to build a memorial to the victims of American Airlines flight 191 at Lake Park in Des Plaines, the sight of the crash. In one of many reasons why I will never fly American Airlines when the students proposed their idea to the company they “received a curt reply from American Airlines, which, in the opinion of student Ayo Odowu, told them to ‘let it go.’ ‘That letter from American Airlines really motivated us and got us up,’ she said.” [Bob Roberts, “Memorial To American Flight 191 Victims To Be Dedicated Saturday.” Report original aired on WBBM Newsradio78 on October 12, 2011]

In their snippy reply and their desire not to revisit the subject that their eagerness to save a buck in man hours lead directly to the deadliest non-terrorist related airliner disaster on American soil American Airlines forgot one important interpersonal fact – we need to remember.

Dr. Thomas G. Long, in his new book Accompany Them With Singing, says that what we do know is that “the flowers, the beads, the rings and other artifacts [that we find buried with the dead from almost the beginning of recorded history] bear witness to the fact that from earliest times human beings have cared tenderly for their dead and approached death with awe. ]”Thomas G. Long, Accompany Them With Singing:The Christian Funeral. (Louisville:Westminister John Knox Press, 2009), p. 3.

Losing someone we love is perhaps the most difficult thing any one of us has to face. Saint Paul understood this when he took pen in hand and wrote to the Thessalonians about death, and grief, and the need to remember.

It’s not anywhere in the rest of the letter and Saint Paul was never the master of a good transition sentence but I have to wonder if some of those new Christians who had experienced the death of someone close to them weren’t asking themselves the question: “Why does loss hurt as much now as it did before I knew God?” That is not a theoretical question it is an existential question for every one of us in this room. The greatest grief of all comes when you have place someone you love in the arms of God and what Saint Paul doesn’t say is as important as what he does. What he doesn’t say is: don’t grieve.

When someone you love dies grieving is the most natural thing in the world. To remember them with sadness in your heart says nothing about your faith or lack thereof but it speaks volumes about your love for that person. You don’t shed tears over every single obituary in the newspaper – you would never make it through the day. But stumble upon the name of a friend or someone else who shaped your life and you may find the tears flowing. You’re grieving another loss, another reminder that you too are growing older, another example of how, as the hymn writer puts it, “time like an every rolling stream will bear us all away.” And Saint Paul no less says go ahead let the tears flow. Let there be sobs of sorrow if need be. But then he says, don’t let your grief take away your hope. Don’t let yourself believe for a single second that because you are grieving now there will never be anything to look forward to again. Don’t grieve as if the grave will have the last word because it doesn’t.

Here is what I know and it was underscored for me in my recent visit to New York and The World Trade Center Memorial.

It is a powerful place in which two enormous waterfalls and reflecting pools are set within the original footprints of the Twin Towers. Around these unintentional reminders for Christians of our baptism are bronze plaques with the names of all 2,983 men, women and children who died on that day. It was like being surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses none of whom I had ever met in this life but who now, in some way, I felt connected too.

There were a few I did know from the news – Todd Beamer, the 32 year old husband and father, who on Flight 93 called a GTE Airfone operator to report a highjacking. He told her he knew he was going to die and, after they recited the Lord’s Prayer together, said “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll.” And by putting that plane down in a Pennsylvania field saved countless lives. Or Father Mychael F. Judge, Fire Department Chaplain of New York, killed praying in the lobby of the North Tower when the South Tower collapsed. Those were the two names I knew but the others were striking because of their mix of nationalities. There was a clearly Jewish name next to an Oriental, next to a Pole, next to an Irish, next to a Scandinavian, next to a Muslim.

It might have caused me to lose hope except for two things. It was a windy day and the breeze was blowing the water so perfectly that a rainbow was formed by the water falling into those giant baptismal pools. A rainbow, God’s promise of new life. And then the noise.

The World Trade Center Memorial is in the midst of a gigantic construction site. There are large cranes, and cement trucks, and jackhammers pounding, and guys yelling and the constant beep-beep-beep that you hear when a truck is backing up. Life is going on, people are rebuilding, getting on with the business of living.

You and I don’t have to grieve as others do who have given up hope because we believe something. “We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” When we remember we remember in the firm conviction that death doesn’t have the final word God does. When we let people go we let them go to God.

That is what the children at the Decatur Middle School in West Rogers Park understood better than the adults in the PR and legal Department of American Airlines who would rather keep their mistake and the deaths tied directly to it hushed up. That’s why people build and visit memorials. That is why we light candles, and read names, and toll bells on this day. To be reminded of our parents and teachers, uncles and aunts, lovers and spouses, who saw in us what we could not and inspired us to reach deep down inside of ourselves to be the people we are today.

But even more than that, to celebrate a greater idea, the reality that somehow, in the great love of God they live on, and that their love, their inspiration, continues to be a presence in our lives.

For the most part they were ordinary people – like the people on Flight 191 and in the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and on Flight 93 that was downed in a field in Pennsylvania – but people whose lives and witness continue to inspire.

We remember them because we can never let them go. But in our remembrance we know that God now holds them closer than we ever could. And that our loved ones now live on in the great love of God is something always worth remembering. Amen.

"For Show or For Real" -- Saint Matthew 23:1–12

By happy coincidence, many years ago, the College of Preachers was held at the National Cathedral and the National Conference of Managed Care Physicians was held in Washington, D.C. during the week after Easter. This meant that my buddy Scott and I could not enjoy the cherry blossoms that were blooming, the site-seeing in Washington, but also because he is a guy with great faith and his conference had great speakers – mostly from the world of politics, attend sessions of each others conferences. He would come up to Mount Saint Alban’s if we had a great speaker and I would travel down to the Hilton if they had somebody I wanted to hear.

One day, while waiting for him, I needed something from the desk clerk and when we had finished our transaction, I said “thank you.” And he said, “Your welcome, sir. Ooops, I mean Doctor.” Since his was the host hotel, clearly he had been told by management to call everybody Doctor. “Please, I said to him. That title plus a buck-and-and-a-half will get me on the Metro.”

But, I knew where he was coming from because when I was in seminary and the trustees were on campus, the President of the School, Dr. Northfelt, who in private we called Merlyn not only because that was his name but because he was a magic man in raising money, told all of his students that if we were unsure of a trustees title were should always call them “Doctor” because “they just eat that kind of thing up.”

All of you know people who insist on being called by their title. Some of you are socially ingrained to call me pastor, and that is fine. But you also know pastors who will look at you as if you committed a mortal sin if you call them by their first name. Or physicians who make you call them doctor while they unctuously call you by your first name. This happens to me at wedding receptions when people ask: “What should I call you? Father? Doctor? Reverend? Pastor?” To which I always say, gin and tonic in hand, “How about Dave?”

Jesus warning in today’s gospel goes deeper than titles. Titles are just a symbol of a more infectious disease to which all of us can fall prey. You don’t need a title to start to believe that you are the center of the universe.

You can do that when you treat people as your servants expecting things of them that you would never in a million years think of doing yourself. I love the way the new paraphrase of scripture called The Message puts this:

They talk a good line, but they don't live it. They don't take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It's all spit-and-polish veneer.

[They load] you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think of lifting a finger to help.

I know most of you may find this hard to believe but there are perfectly healthy, perfectly strong, perfectly capable people, who come to church to be served. They want the church to be there for them and be beautiful, clean, warm and wonderful for them but Sunday after Sunday they just plunk themselves down in the pew, wait it out for an hour, slug down some coffee cake, and go home. If they contribute anything it is framed in the context of: “Pastor, you know what you should do...”

And then Jesus says, there are those who come to church to be noticed. Here is what The Message has Jesus saying about them:

Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery...

Now Jesus is not talking about those of you who dress nicely for church. He is talking about those who think that dressing nicely for church is all that counts. Or, those who come to church and have to be the center of attention. There are those, you know, who come only when they can sing a solo, or are a lector, or can somehow draw attention to themselves but when there is a Sunday when they are not part of the show they are nowhere to be found.

Oh yes, and by the way, don’t think I am just pointing a finger here at you. If you are ever in a group of clergy who are full of themselves, wearing nicely pressed suits, and fitted clergy shirts, ask them if and where they worship when they go on vacation. You’ll be surprised at the answer because many of them don’t. If they ain’t starring in the show there is no way they are going to be a bit player in the chorus.

Jesus would say:

"Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.”

Think of our friend Linda Campbell. She sang in the choir and did solos. She served our council and gave of generously of “herself, her time and her possessions” but there was no fan-fare, there was no “Hey! Look at Me.” It was done quietly and under the radar. She was herself and her life counted for plenty.

What you do in life should never point to yourself but should point other people to Jesus. He is the one who life is all about, all of scripture leads us to him, all of scripture directs us to him, he is our model for how we should live our lives. And his life was a life of service as he went about healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, strength to the week, and in the end, giving his life for us.

I‘ve talked a lot this morning about all the things you shouldn’t do. All those things that make your faith just for show. And you may be asking yourself, “Okay, then what should I do? Don’t leave me hanging here. Give me some guidelines.” I won’t because most of the time I’m the biggest failure of all in squaring what I say and what I do but Scripture does:

First James, the brother of our Lord, gives us the only definition of true religion in the bible when he writes:

Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

Or, as the prophet Micah put it long before James:”the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.”

That’s is all God wants us to remember. God says: “Keep those words before you and your faith will not be just be for show but will be for real.” Amen.

“The View From Mount Nebo” -- Deuteronomy 34:1–22 & Saint Matthew 22:34–46

I firmly believe that I was destined to become a theologian at a very early age because of the church of my childhood. The place were the faith embraced me was full of warm, wonderful people all of whom, if they had an ounce of energy in them, were willing to devote it to the cause. A retired coat-hanger salesman banged out gospel hymns by ear on the piano, while a postal worker whose children were so past Sunday School age that they were teachers, led the singing. And it was all headed up by an unmarried woman (a spinster, in the PC-incorrect parlance of those days) name Martha a middle school teacher, who like here biblical namesake was a workhorse even though she weighed little more than a Clydesdale’s hoof.

The most obvious problem with the place was its name. Most of you grew up in churches with understandable names. Messiah, Bethesda, Ebenezer, Saint John, Saint Mark, Saint Mark or Saint Luke – clearly names right out of the bible. Or, place names like Park View that told you in what neighborhood the church was located. Or, the numbering system of the Presbyterians and Methodists -- First, Fourth – and the like. And then there were the faithful Swedes who gathered at Menard and Dakin at the turn of the last century and named their church Nebo. From that day until the church closed it doors generation upon generation had to answer the question, “What’s a Nebo?” You had to have an instant recall of biblically obscure places to come up with the answer, “It was the mountain on which Moses died.”

(I am forever grateful that the founders of the church did not name it Mount Nebo. That would have been the ultimate oxymoron because Portage Park, like this area, is as flat as the plains of Moab.)

Or, maybe the church was aptly named because we can never really get to the promised land in this life – we can only get an occasion glimpse of it. The rest of our time it may feel like we are wandering around in the wilderness.

The Children of Israel, we are told, wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Listen to me now because I am about to tell you something stunning. While I don’t know just what the boundaries of Egypt and the Promised land were then I do know that the distance between downtown Cairo, Egypt and downtown Jerusalem is 264 miles. That is the distance between Detroit and Chicago.

History tells us that the Mormon wagon trains headed westward averaged 11¼ miles per day so simple math would tell us that the trip from Egypt to the promised land should have taken no more than 23½ days. Less than a month! Instead it took them forty years! What was once just an accepted fact now becomes a puzzle: What took them so long?

Scripture tells us that they “wandered” in the wilderness. And I’m telling you that they wandered because they spent most of their time fighting. Pick any part of the wilderness journey at random and you will find the people complaining and bickering and fighting. Not three days into their journey they were complaining about their meager provisions and longing for Egypt so God gives them manna and before long they complain about that so God sends them quail, a little something to go with the manna. Before long they complain about that. Moses goes up to the mountain for the ten commandments and they build an altar to Baal which gets God so angry with the people that Moses has to fight with God for their continued existence. And the point to us is simply: If you want to spend all your time fighting it’s going to take you a whole lot longer to get where you want to go than it would any other way.

Suddenly the view from Mount Nebo is clearer. You might even be able to see yourself their on the plains of Moab. If your inclination is to fight rather than move forward you can forget about making any progress. You’re just going to wander in the wilderness until the day God calls you home or wherever it is God calls you to. If there is one word in the clouds that you can see from your view from Mount Nebo and the word is – focus.

Recently I saw the Book of Mormon on Broadway. It’s coming to Chicago next year and, let me warn you right now, it is not for those who are easily offended. But with that disclaimer out of the way it is story of the triumph of faith.

Elder Kevin Price is a gooder than gold young Mormon whose greatest desire for his missionary trip is to be sent to Orlando, Florida. He butters up everybody for this plum assignment but instead is sent to Uganda where the outpost has not had a single convert in years. Nothing works and even after Price arrives with his many skills and his sizable ego there is still nothing. After witnessing the brutality of a local war Lord he begins to lose faith in his religion and desides that he is going to ask be reassigned to Orlando.

Remember this is a musical and these are Mormons and I’m not going to take forty years to make my point. Price is in his own personal wilderness. He is lost, he is complaining, and he is longing for home. But instead of abandoning his church Elder Price decides to reaffirm everything his church believes as he sings, “I am a Mormon and I believe.” It’s a powerful number that even while reciting their somewhat strange history and doctrines also reminds Price and his audience that “God has a plan for all of us” and that “God always has your back.” In the middle of song he has gained enough courage to march himself into the camp of the war lord, grab the guy by the hand, and by the conclusion , has the war lord sort of swaying along too. Sort of.

Sometimes we wander but sometimes faith can cause us to do brave things.

Thus the envelope I gave you this morning. Each one has five magnets in them. One of those magnets you can place on your own refrigerator door but the rest you are to share with friends. Yes, I am asking you to do your own personal missionary journey and share your faith. I’m not shipping you off to Uganda and there is no trip to Orlando involved. All I am asking you to do is give four magnets away to people who you think might benefit from an exposure to Christianity. And here is what makes the part so much easier than a trip to Africa – the magnets say “St’s” or “Park View in Your PJ’s.” All you have to tell people is “Our pastor [modestly spoken] had this brilliant idea an put our church on the web. You can watch at home late at night, early in the morning, whenever you want dressed however you want. And if it interests you, come join us.”

I read an article recently about how the Roman Catholic Church in Southern India concerned, like their American counterparts, about dwindling numbers are encouraging their members to have more children. Believe me when I tell you, this method is infinitely cheaper!

God is not calling you to lead people into the promised land. God didn’t ask that of Moses and he doesn’t ask that of you. All he is asking you to do is give them a glimpse of what it is like. As Elder Price found out in the play, you can’t bring people to faith by just winning words and promises. As Moses found out you can’t drag people kicking and screaming into the promised land. But you can invite them to come up to the top of the mountain and take a look at the life God offers them, discover the difference God can make, and experience the love of a community of faith that is firmly rooted in Jesus Christ.

Share your magnets! Tell others that you’re a Christian and that you believe! Let them experience what you’ve experienced – paraphrasing Elder Price, “Dang it, the view from the top of Mount Nebo is pretty good.” Amen.

16 October 2011

"Whose Dime Is It Anyway?" --Saint Matthew 22:15-22

I always hated it when Pastors returned from their vacation and then told stories about what happened to them in their sermons but here I go this Sunday not only being the chief sinner but sinning boldly.

This week I was in New York with a friend to see some Broadway shows that when they arrive in Chicago will almost certainly not have the same casts:“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” with Daniel Radcliffe and John Larrocette and “The Book of Mormon.” More about that play in another sermon. Sorry.

Also going on in New York while we were there was something called the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrations. As someone who came of age during the sixties and grew up watching sit-ins and demonstrations that closed down large portions of cities and universities for days I was looking forward to seeing a major news making event first hand. I was disappointed.

First, because if the demonstrators were going to try and take back Wall Street they missed their target by at least a-half-a-mile. That is where my friend Les and I originally looked. We went to Wall Street but there we found business as usual. However, walking over to Trinity Church to attend the Noon Eucharist (And yes, I do practice what I preach and attend church when I am on vacation even when it is a Wednesday!) we walked past this park full of people. Liberty Park is small, probably no bigger than Independence Park and from across the street we couldn’t tell what was going on but upon closer examination we discovered that we had stumbled upon the rally of rally’s and found it to be a dud.

After church, as we walked through the park trying to find out just what it was the demonstrators wanted we were less jostled than we were just walking down the average New York sidewalk – where walking is considered to be a full contact sport – and it seemed that they didn’t know what they wanted. Many of their ideas were great: “End greed.” Sounds good to me except, of course when I want more than I have. “End Government Waste!” A conservative could hold that sign. “Wipe out Hunger!” Couldn’t agree more. “Cure HIV/AIDS! Malaria! Parkinson’s! Cancer!” All great signs. All worthy causes. And I am sure that the people holding the signs and the people immediately around them were deeply committed while others in the park were content to use those upside-down paint buckets for drums, like they do outside of the ball park, and listen to a pretty good band, but there were no speeches, no outrage, no “to the barricades.” What the rally was really about was money. Who gets it? Who has it? And what are they doing with it? In that sense the demonstration would have been far more powerful if so many people were not taking pictures of each other with the i-Phones and listening to music on their i-pods.

Money has a tendency to get people to fighting. In families, in churches, in communities, the distribution of funds can cause a major disturbance. It also can get people who really are on the same side to fighting among each other.

The religious leaders try to entrap Jesus using a Roman coin. This is irony in the first degree because if there was one thing that Jesus and the religious leaders could have agreed upon was how the Roman government was the oppressor. Sure it built roads, kept the peace, and made sure things were nice and quiet but it did so with a very heavy hand. It bled you dry in taxes and made sure every thing was peaceful by severely punishing anybody who stepped out of line. While a Roman Soldier would keep you safe from a predator there was nothing or no one who could keep you safe if you fell prey to a Roman Soldier. Jesus would soon find that out more than any of those who were trying to trick him.

What you have to remember most when you read of this encounter is that nobody in this story enjoyed the protection of the First Amendment that we cherish so dearly. Freedom of speech was not seen as a right. So, the question is designed to get Jesus in trouble with the government. If he says taxes are not lawful and word gets back to the authorities he could be charged with sedition.

But Jesus is not fooled. He looks at the coin and inquires about the image. “Whose is it?” he asks. “Caesar’s” they reply. And then he gives them the best advice they ever received: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

We stand and smile at the wisdom of Jesus and how he put down his challengers but what does this say to us? Jesus is not passing out free tax advice. He is not even trying to teach us how to stay out of hot water with the law. He is saying something to the Wall Street Broker and the protestors banging on their drum in the park. He is talking to the “Tea Party” member and the most liberal member of congress. He is talking to every one of us.

And the key to understanding what he is saying lies in the face and the inscription on that coin. Marcus Borg tells us that the image was “of course, an image of Caesar (presumably of Tiberius, the current Caesar). Moreover, its inscription heralded Tiberius as "son of the divine Augustus" (that is, son of a divine being).” The guy on the coin thought he was god. He was not and anybody who put their faith in him or his money was doomed. Because neither the emperor nor the money he coined or in our case the government prints, is god.

What Jesus goes on to remind us is that everything belongs to God. That coin, that emperor, the state, the religious leaders, all of it, all of us, belong to God. If we rendered to God the things that are God’s it would be everything that we have and are.

What if the largest hedge fund manager in the world looked at his computer screen and said, “All this doesn’t belong to me or even the investors, it belongs to God?” What if the most powerful people in government stopped for one second and said, “all this doesn’t belong to me – or even the American people we so confidently claim to speak for – it belongs to God?” What if you and I every time we summoned up our Quicken® on our computer or for those of you who like to do things the old fashioned way, opened up our checkbooks said, “all this” or “this little bit belongs to God.” Somehow I think this little change would have more impact on life than the occupation of a small city park in the middle of New York.

Later that same day I looked up at a ticker on one of the numerous billboards in Times Square and read that Apple® founder Steve Jobs had died. It was not unexpected. He had pancreatic cancer, the most virulent form imaginable, and had survived with it for longer than most. Steve Jobs was rich, incredibly rich, but he had made a lot of other people rich too. You probably own some Apple® stock in your retirement accounts, too and they are more secure because of it.

In 2005, long after his diagnoses, Jobs addressed the Stanford graduating class and said:

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me... Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful... that's what matters to me.

Something wonderful, something meaningful, something important can only be done if we remember that we, and all things belong to God. Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and give all that you have, all that you are, all that you’ve got, all that you will ever have to God and at the end of your day, at the end of your life, you’ll have done something wonderful. Just like Jesus promised. Amen.

©The Rev’d Dr. David C. Nelson
9 October 2011

"Whose Dime Is It Anyway?

"Does Scripture Really Say..." Exodus 32:1-14 and Saint Matthew 22:1-14

Some stories are almost too good to be true. When I tell one myself I always borrow the line from Dave Berry: “I’m not making this up.” Some stuff you can’t make up. So you have to believe the story J.C. Austin, Associate Pastor of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York, told about a visitor who attended worship pretty regularly but always showed up at events where free food was involved.

(The man was the living, breathing, proof of my axiom: “If you feed them they will come.” And you know what I mean. There are some people who only attend church events when there is food is being served otherwise they are nowhere to be seen.)

Austin’s guy at Madison Avenue showed every time there was a church supper and ate like there was no tomorrow. Some of the members worried that the guy was underemployed and couldn’t afford a good meal on his own but, with some checking, found that he had a job, his own apartment, and clearly wasn’t someone having trouble meeting his basic needs. He just liked to chow down.

And for a hot minute Austin thought they had reached the guy because he showed up for Inquirers Classes where there was, naturally, a free lunch. When they got to the end of the course Austin’s dreams for the faith of the man were dashed. Here is the magic moment in J.C.’s own words:

When we got to the end of the course, I explained the five responsibilities of membership as defined by MAPC's Session: centering your faith in regular worship attendance, deepening it through education, putting it into action through one form of service, making it tangible through a financial pledge that is generous according to your resources, and sharing it by inviting two others to MAPC. I asked if there were any questions. Putting down the chicken salad wrap he was working on, he wiped his mouth and raised his hand. "What's the point?" he asked. I said I wasn't sure what he meant. "I mean, what do you get out of it?" he continued. "You don't kick people out of stuff because they're not members, do you?" Of course not, I said. "Then what difference does it make? Why would anyone bother to join?" he asked. I responded that joining the church wasn't about things that you had to do for the church in order to reap the benefits; membership itself is the benefit, because if you follow those practices you will be led into a deeper and richer relationship with God as you follow Jesus Christ, and you will have the whole church to both give you support and give you opportunities to support others. He snorted: "Well, I can't see any reason why anyone would do that, and I'm not going to."

One would have thought that would have been that but no...

Here's the kicker: six weeks later he showed up at the next Inquirers Seminar! I greeted him and told him that he didn't need to come through the course again, that if he had changed his mind about membership, he could simply proceed with joining the church. "Oh, I haven't changed my mind," he said, smiling. Puzzled, I asked if there was something about theology or history he wanted to dig into more deeply the second time around. "No," he said; "I'm just here to listen and eat lunch." At that, I took him aside [and] simply said, "Any time you want to inquire about something related to faith or membership, I'll be happy to meet with you personally. And if you're facing any kind of personal trouble, I'll be glad to talk about it and see if there's any way we can help. But you can't take this class again just to eat lunch." He glowered at me. "And I thought this was a church," he growled, and stormed off. (J.C. Austin, "Come As You Are...But You Can't Stay That Way." Sermon Preached at The Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church of New York, 12 October 2008)

It should come as no surprise to you that as far as God is concerned a lot of people are “on the take.” They want God to provide for them and care for them but they absolutely do not want to have anything to do with God when God asks something of them. This is not new, in fact it goes back to the beginning of Scripture and continues through-out whole of the book. The two stories before us this day make that point crystal clear.

Placing the Exodus story in it’s proper context is important. This is Moses second visit to Mount Sinai and on his first he had returned with the Ten Commandments. So the Children of Israel already know about the “you shall have no other God’s” part and they know that what they are doing is wrong. But Moses is taking a long time up there and they are getting antsy so they talk his brother Aaron in to giving them something tangible to worship. For some reason Aaron does, and when he is done melting down all their stuff and making it into a tacky rendition of a calf he actually proclaims it not only to be a god but says: “‘Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD.’” They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well- being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.” Aaron calls the statue LORD, Elohim, in the Hebrew one of the cherished names for the LORD, God Almighty and then they had a buffet supper.

The Hebrews were not just trying to control God, they were trying to replace God with one who was more manageable, delivering religious benefits whenever they wanted them but without the pesky problem of being a living God who requires something of them. The real Lord, God Almighty will hear none of this and finally grows tired of the people’s rebellious nature deciding to reduce them to rubble.

It’s today’s Gospel writ large. Those invited to the great feast of the King snubbed him. It’s not that they were unwilling to attend they just plain didn’t want to attend. One goes to his field another to his business, these are personal, trivial concerns that they think are more important than the king’s invitation to this celebration for his son. To put it directly, they did not care about what God had to offer.

But this King, like God, is not wasteful. If some people don’t want what God has to offer there are others that do. And so the King sends his servants out and issues a general invitation to anybody to come to the feast. There is only one condition, and it seems like a simple one compared to sitting through two new members classes to get a chicken wrap sandwich. You had to go home, wash up a bit and change into your best wedding garment.

Sometimes we have had to do that too. You get an invitation that reads “Black Tie and Evening Wear” and no matter how you feel about it you rent or dust-off your tux if you are a guy and, if you are a woman, find, borrow or buy a nice dress so you can go. You do it because to do anything less is to dishonor the occasion. To show up in torn jeans, a dirty T-shirt and gym shoes would show not only contempt not just for the occasion but for the people who invited you.

The guy who gets the gate in Jesus’ parable is probably the easiest to understand in all of scriptures. He’s like the guy chowing down at the new members class but wanting nothing to do with the responsibilities of membership. He’s a rebellious teenager who has reached middle age. We understand his getting the boot. He is the personification of the children of Israel with whom God is so angry with that God could boot them into oblivion.

Yet, it was Moses who interceded with God on behalf of a people who had driven him crazy too. He says, in effect, “You can’t kill them. It would only prove the Egyptian’s point that they were so worthless that even the God they worshiped could find no good in them and so wiped them out. You can’t do this. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Remember how they did listen to you when you lead them out of slavery. One more chance. Come on. One more chance.”

And Scripture says plainly: “And the Lord changed his mind.”

This sermon would have been a whole lot more fun to preach if I could have let the people who come to church just to eat, or follow God just when they want to, or show their disrespect for God in countless different ways more dreadful than the dinner guest’s apparel, have it. But they are not here. They are in their torn pajamas blasting through a fast food drive-thru getting breakfast only to go home and do exactly what they want to do on Sunday morning, just like they do on any other.

But you are here and I think I know you well enough to know why. You got all dolled up and dropped by this morning because you know that God changed God’s mind about you. You went through your rebellious stage and found it wanting. You built your gold calves and found that what they offered was never enough. You turned your back on God more than once in your life and discovered that while you may have given God more than enough reason to drop you in the nearest dumpster, God never turned God’s back on you. That is why you’re here. That is why I’m here. Because God has always been faithful to us. You know it and I know it.
So, let’s celebrate God’s faithfulness, honor God’s invitation, and come to the feast. This is not just any old church pot-luck supper it is the supper of our Lord. It is a feast prepared for us by no less than Jesus Christ, he’s the one who has issued the invitation, and this is one thing about which he will not change his mind. Amen.
©The Rev’d Dr. David C. Nelson
2 October 2011