Combined Choir Anthem today at St. Marks
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
The Presence of God
I have always been fascinated by monasteries. One of the great blessings I have living where I do is access to two amazing monasteries as well as the grounds of a Conventual Franciscan Motherhouse. I have made visiting Saint Meinrad Archabbey at least an annual trek. I find that no matter how wound UP I am when I arrive, I find myself immediately winding down. It is a quiet place and a very peaceful place. There is something good here; there is, very much, the presence of God here.
Despite the fact that I am a minister, the presence of God is often elusive to me. It comes, I suspect from my failings, my own sin, my own busy-ness, my own preoccupation with doing ministry without recharging myself. It often comes from being over analytical and forgetting to feel God’s love and just intellectualizing God. It is easy to rationalize away so many things and often one of those ‘many things’ is spending time with God.
One think I admire about the monks is that they do spend time with God every day. They are in the chapel at 5:30AM every day for an extended period of time and then they are back mid-day, evening, and at night. Well, their ‘night’ is 7pm, but if you have to be ‘up and at em’ at 5:30AM, I guess bed time is on the early side!
But they spend time with God every day and they pray and chant the psalms slowly and methodically. There is no rush.
The grounds of the monastery remind us that they have been prayed over mightily over the years. This monastery was founded in 1854 and the Benedictine monks have been around since the mid point of the 6th century. Their rhythm and style has never been quick but it has always been constant.
I do admire the monks. I am not called ever to be one and I have never been. They do, however, remind us of the importance of stopping to pray and being slow and methodical before God. There is something holy about that.
Despite the fact that I am a minister, the presence of God is often elusive to me. It comes, I suspect from my failings, my own sin, my own busy-ness, my own preoccupation with doing ministry without recharging myself. It often comes from being over analytical and forgetting to feel God’s love and just intellectualizing God. It is easy to rationalize away so many things and often one of those ‘many things’ is spending time with God.
One think I admire about the monks is that they do spend time with God every day. They are in the chapel at 5:30AM every day for an extended period of time and then they are back mid-day, evening, and at night. Well, their ‘night’ is 7pm, but if you have to be ‘up and at em’ at 5:30AM, I guess bed time is on the early side!
But they spend time with God every day and they pray and chant the psalms slowly and methodically. There is no rush.
The grounds of the monastery remind us that they have been prayed over mightily over the years. This monastery was founded in 1854 and the Benedictine monks have been around since the mid point of the 6th century. Their rhythm and style has never been quick but it has always been constant.
I do admire the monks. I am not called ever to be one and I have never been. They do, however, remind us of the importance of stopping to pray and being slow and methodical before God. There is something holy about that.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Sunday, April 08, 2012
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Grotesque Hypocrisy
I have been reading columns written by a man who would currently be my Bishop had I remained Roman Catholic. He is a person I knew well. He was a professor in the seminary I attended in the 1970’s and was and is a Biblical scholar. From an academic perspective, he knew his subject well and was a good teacher of the material. At the time I very much respected him for his knowledge, but found him greatly lacking in compassion as a human being.
One thing very disturbing about him was that he was a proud misogynist. He would often quiz is (open book) on passages from Wisdom Literature over chapters we were assigned to read. We practically had, committed to memory, all the misogynist passages in those books of the Bible as he was often inclined to ask about those. It brought him great delight to watch many of the women in class, nuns, squirmed as these passages were read aloud. He made it abundantly clear these women were not really very welcome in his class, but he was ‘forced’ to accept them in his classroom. He would often lament as to how unfair it was that women were in our classrooms as, in his day, a seminary classroom was only for men. He felt, and he was very vocal about this, victimized by this openness.
He is no longer a theology professor. He is now a Roman Catholic Bishop and he is still a victim. These days he is being victimized by the Federal government for the oppression they are laying on him. In recent columns he very eloquently uses a great many tidbits of historical facts to validate his position which, not unlike his laments of his oppression while teaching in the seminary, is a steaming pile of nonsense.
Ironically, this poor, oppressed Bishop, who lives in a nice house, drives a nice car, and writes whatever he wants with impunity, isn’t always very concerned about the oppression of others. In fact, he contributes to it.
He is currently one of the leading Roman Catholic Bishops who is aggressively seeking out Roman Catholic theologians who may vary, at least in his opinion, from Roman Catholic teaching. He seems to take a certain pleasure in silencing female theologians within the Roman Catholic tradition. While writing how terrible it is when people criticize folks like him for misogyny, he gleefully practices it.
So, while this man who whines that he is a victim because of governmental oppression denying him free speech (which is bogus), he gleefully attempts to silence theologians he does not approve of. The grotesque hypocrisy of this ought not be lost. The fact that I am not mentioning his name is very intentional. I choose not to give this man any kind of forum. He, tragically, already has one and has the capacity to mislead and to silence others.
I thank God every day I am no longer Roman Catholic or in that region or will ever see him again. Within the United Church of Christ I have never met anyone even remotely like him and I doubt I ever well. Being a misogynist is not something we celebrate in the United Church of Christ. Silencing people we disagree with is not something we celebrate within the United Church of Christ. As for him, and the current oppression he is experiencing, I will pray for him. Hopefully, one day, he will grow a heart and recognize that oppressors have no right to condemn others for oppression. Most especially, when one’s claim of the oppression is bogus. The grotesque hypocrisy of this man is distasteful grotesque. The people of his diocese deserve much, much better.
One thing very disturbing about him was that he was a proud misogynist. He would often quiz is (open book) on passages from Wisdom Literature over chapters we were assigned to read. We practically had, committed to memory, all the misogynist passages in those books of the Bible as he was often inclined to ask about those. It brought him great delight to watch many of the women in class, nuns, squirmed as these passages were read aloud. He made it abundantly clear these women were not really very welcome in his class, but he was ‘forced’ to accept them in his classroom. He would often lament as to how unfair it was that women were in our classrooms as, in his day, a seminary classroom was only for men. He felt, and he was very vocal about this, victimized by this openness.
He is no longer a theology professor. He is now a Roman Catholic Bishop and he is still a victim. These days he is being victimized by the Federal government for the oppression they are laying on him. In recent columns he very eloquently uses a great many tidbits of historical facts to validate his position which, not unlike his laments of his oppression while teaching in the seminary, is a steaming pile of nonsense.
Ironically, this poor, oppressed Bishop, who lives in a nice house, drives a nice car, and writes whatever he wants with impunity, isn’t always very concerned about the oppression of others. In fact, he contributes to it.
He is currently one of the leading Roman Catholic Bishops who is aggressively seeking out Roman Catholic theologians who may vary, at least in his opinion, from Roman Catholic teaching. He seems to take a certain pleasure in silencing female theologians within the Roman Catholic tradition. While writing how terrible it is when people criticize folks like him for misogyny, he gleefully practices it.
So, while this man who whines that he is a victim because of governmental oppression denying him free speech (which is bogus), he gleefully attempts to silence theologians he does not approve of. The grotesque hypocrisy of this ought not be lost. The fact that I am not mentioning his name is very intentional. I choose not to give this man any kind of forum. He, tragically, already has one and has the capacity to mislead and to silence others.
I thank God every day I am no longer Roman Catholic or in that region or will ever see him again. Within the United Church of Christ I have never met anyone even remotely like him and I doubt I ever well. Being a misogynist is not something we celebrate in the United Church of Christ. Silencing people we disagree with is not something we celebrate within the United Church of Christ. As for him, and the current oppression he is experiencing, I will pray for him. Hopefully, one day, he will grow a heart and recognize that oppressors have no right to condemn others for oppression. Most especially, when one’s claim of the oppression is bogus. The grotesque hypocrisy of this man is distasteful grotesque. The people of his diocese deserve much, much better.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
A Good Thing
George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin. That much is a clear fact. He admits to doing so and so there is no question as to who killed Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman claimed self defense and was not arrested. Under Florida law, self-defense is very admissible even on a public street and so the local sheriff chose not to arrest Zimmerman.
The State of Florida and the United States Justice Department are now stepping in and evidence seems to be rather damning to Zimmerman. In the 911 call Zimmerman made to police, he stated that he was following Martin----and was told not to do so. In a phone conversation recently made public by Martin’s girlfriend, she claimed that Martin was getting scared because Zimmerman was coming toward him. Martin, who was armed only with Skittles, felt he was in mortal danger----and he was.
I’ve had several thoughts, the first being that self-defense, while a potentially valid defense, in a questionable scenario, which this seems to be, should be determined in court. If the sheriff arrested Zimmerman there was a chance for the truth to come out and justice to prevail. The sheriff, however, simply determined to not make the arrest. I do not understand this.
More significantly, however, has been the role of social media and the potential benefits and potential dangers.
The potential danger, of course, is this kind of free speech allows information and misinformation to flow freely. There is a lot of really excellent information passed along on the Internet; there is also a great deal of truly bad information passed along on the Internet. Additionally, there can be loud cries for things simply not true and authorities cannot make their decisions totally on what people on Facebook want them to do.
However, the potential benefits are very much present. In the case of Trayvon Martin no arrest was made and George Zimmerman had nothing to fear-----except social media has kept a potential injustice alive and has made people in authority take another look.
When one hears the cries of Trayvon Martin in the last seconds of his life, that can only be a good thing.
The State of Florida and the United States Justice Department are now stepping in and evidence seems to be rather damning to Zimmerman. In the 911 call Zimmerman made to police, he stated that he was following Martin----and was told not to do so. In a phone conversation recently made public by Martin’s girlfriend, she claimed that Martin was getting scared because Zimmerman was coming toward him. Martin, who was armed only with Skittles, felt he was in mortal danger----and he was.
I’ve had several thoughts, the first being that self-defense, while a potentially valid defense, in a questionable scenario, which this seems to be, should be determined in court. If the sheriff arrested Zimmerman there was a chance for the truth to come out and justice to prevail. The sheriff, however, simply determined to not make the arrest. I do not understand this.
More significantly, however, has been the role of social media and the potential benefits and potential dangers.
The potential danger, of course, is this kind of free speech allows information and misinformation to flow freely. There is a lot of really excellent information passed along on the Internet; there is also a great deal of truly bad information passed along on the Internet. Additionally, there can be loud cries for things simply not true and authorities cannot make their decisions totally on what people on Facebook want them to do.
However, the potential benefits are very much present. In the case of Trayvon Martin no arrest was made and George Zimmerman had nothing to fear-----except social media has kept a potential injustice alive and has made people in authority take another look.
When one hears the cries of Trayvon Martin in the last seconds of his life, that can only be a good thing.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Random Saturday Thoughts
It feels very weird to have it be still winter on the calendar and have the air conditioning on in the house because it's very warm and humid outside. I'm wondering if we'll have a snow storm for Mother's Day?
We, as a nation, are out of Iraq. Thanks heavens. I really believe we need to get out of Afghanistan as soon as possible and not get into a war with Syria or Iran. I never agreed with the war in Iraq and we accomplished our immediate mission in Afghanistan very quickly but never withdrew.
Recent arguments about the offensive comments of Limbaugh and Maher are troubling. People defend both of them and I really do not understand how or why anyone can defend either of them. They are both very crass individuals and neither is worthy of defense. Of course, they are both incredible wealthy being crass so they have nothing to lose.
Peyton Manning is one of if not the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. I have no idea what his future holds and if he'll be healthy enough to play. However, having said this, it is difficult to imagine him playing for a team other than the Colts. I hate the fact that he'll probably retire as a member of some other team. It just seems so wrong on so many levels.
I wish I liked basketball. People who like basketball have so much fun in March. It's just not very interesting to me.
Is it just me or are most of the 'issues' being debated right now in the Presidential debates, not really issues. I was listening to a former speech writer for Condi Rice speaking about this. She is a young woman, a life long Republican, and she's bewildered by the people running for office and feels she has no one she can really vote for with any sense of confidence. She sounded like her choice would be to either not vote or vote for an independent person from neither party.
Our two political parties seem to forget that elections are won or lost based on 20% of the population who tend to be independent, centrist, pragmatists.
Melissa Harris-Perry, a professor, has one of the best talk shows on the weekend. She's on MSNBC at 10AM. Cool and intellectual conversations take place. There is no yelling and no name calling and a great deal of respect given to everyone at the table. I hope this catches on.
One thing is for sure. Having college basketball play off rounds in Louisville really generates excitement in the downtown!
Lastly, Jeremy Sapp and JR Stuart are in "Tuesdays with Morrie" at St. Marks. Wow. Brilliant play with two brilliant performances by two very, very fine actors.
We, as a nation, are out of Iraq. Thanks heavens. I really believe we need to get out of Afghanistan as soon as possible and not get into a war with Syria or Iran. I never agreed with the war in Iraq and we accomplished our immediate mission in Afghanistan very quickly but never withdrew.
Recent arguments about the offensive comments of Limbaugh and Maher are troubling. People defend both of them and I really do not understand how or why anyone can defend either of them. They are both very crass individuals and neither is worthy of defense. Of course, they are both incredible wealthy being crass so they have nothing to lose.
Peyton Manning is one of if not the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. I have no idea what his future holds and if he'll be healthy enough to play. However, having said this, it is difficult to imagine him playing for a team other than the Colts. I hate the fact that he'll probably retire as a member of some other team. It just seems so wrong on so many levels.
I wish I liked basketball. People who like basketball have so much fun in March. It's just not very interesting to me.
Is it just me or are most of the 'issues' being debated right now in the Presidential debates, not really issues. I was listening to a former speech writer for Condi Rice speaking about this. She is a young woman, a life long Republican, and she's bewildered by the people running for office and feels she has no one she can really vote for with any sense of confidence. She sounded like her choice would be to either not vote or vote for an independent person from neither party.
Our two political parties seem to forget that elections are won or lost based on 20% of the population who tend to be independent, centrist, pragmatists.
Melissa Harris-Perry, a professor, has one of the best talk shows on the weekend. She's on MSNBC at 10AM. Cool and intellectual conversations take place. There is no yelling and no name calling and a great deal of respect given to everyone at the table. I hope this catches on.
One thing is for sure. Having college basketball play off rounds in Louisville really generates excitement in the downtown!
Lastly, Jeremy Sapp and JR Stuart are in "Tuesdays with Morrie" at St. Marks. Wow. Brilliant play with two brilliant performances by two very, very fine actors.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
A Remarkable Covenant I: Being God’s People
A Remarkable Covenant I: Being God’s People
Text: Genesis 17:10-16
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
March 11, 2012
Within the Bible there is the concept of covenant that occurs time and time again. There are minor covenants and three very major covenants.
Covenants are things we make and use all the time without necessarily calling them covenants. A covenant is an agreement between two parties.
If you go out for pizza and you pay for the pizza you are making a covenant that if you give the person money, that person will give you the pizza.
When we purchase a car or a house, we sign a contract that is, in essence, a covenant. If we get married or committed to someone, that is a covenant. When we join churches, it is a covenant. And God has made covenants with us; and we make covenants back, to God.
The Bible has minor covenants that were made with God and people such as Noah and David. There are also agreements, covenants, made between people. There are, however, three over-arching covenants in the Bible. This week I will examine the first of the three, between God and Abraham.
To do this, however, first we need to ponder God and how we view God.
First, we need to see how people viewed God back in Abraham’s day.
In the time of Abraham people perceived the concept of God very differently than we do now. For most people in that era, gods were considered to be regional and functional. There were gods for the sun, the moon, the sea, the sky, the moon, the earth, for war, for love, etc. Cultures saw gods as being tied to distinct geographic areas and were limited to certain powers.
Suddenly, into this mix enters God making a covenant with Abraham. The revelation of God was that there was only one God and the God of Israel was the one God, and God was making a covenant to Abraham and his descendants. God was going to be their God and they were going to be God’s people.
This first major covenant between God and God’s people had one amazing thing taking place. God was, in essence, announcing to the world that God was bigger than they had ever conceived.
The amazing thing about all of this, however, was that people still struggled with how they perceived God. As a result, in Hebrew, there were a multitude of names for God with often different meanings.
These included:
Elohim - strong One, divine
Adonai - Lord, indicating a Master-to-servant
El Elyon - Most High, the strongest One
El Roi - the strong One who sees
El Shaddai – literally, God of the Mountain,Almighty God .
El Olam - Everlasting God
Yahweh - LORD “I Am,” meaning the eternal self-existent God.
People took the concept of multiple gods and gave all those qualities to the one God of Israel. God became one God with many names most of which came from the attributes people saw in God.
In contemporary times we don’t always have a vast array of names for God, but people maintain a vast array of theological opinions about God.
For some, God is a cosmic judge looking to condemn people for every and anything they perceive to be wrong. This past week a minister in Minnesota preached a sermon about the tornadoes in Indiana and said that this was a lesson to everyone about repenting from their sins. God is perceived as an angry and cosmic judge.
Others see God as a something of a cosmic puppet-master controlling each and every aspect of our lives with detailed plans laid out for us each and every day of our lives. We’ve probably all heard sermons or people speaking about God having an explicit plan for their lives from who will be in their family, where they will live, and what kind of career they will have.
For some God is a cosmic Santa Claus waiting for our prayers, and seeking, diligently to provide for our every want or need. Much of what we read and hear about with the prosperity Gospel is based on this. If we pray hard and have faith, then all our dreams will come true.
Others see God as a cosmic observer who sits back and simply watches the universe do its thing with no intervention. God listens to prayers, but does not act until, perhaps the end of life or the end of time. God is something of a removed observer.
Some see God as one who creates, observes, gently guides, and allows life to take place. God is a combination of passive and active, but generally allows life to take place without a great deal of intervention.
All of this, of course, has the addition of the character and personality of God. Some see God as angry and vengeful; others as loving and kind; others as a being with an amazing sense of humor who finds our efforts to be, if nothing else, amusing and entertaining.
Now that I have laid a whole host of things about God, we are left with the fact that God made a covenant with Abraham, and upon this covenant much has been built. It also forces us to ponder what it is we believe about God and what attributes we believe are important about God.
I have three. The first is that God is transcendent.
The word transcendent implies that God is ‘out there,’ great and almighty. God is one who is beyond perception, independent of the universe, and “other” when compared to us. In fact, the word ‘holy’ is, at its core, ‘other.’
It means, in essence, that God is magnificent beyond our perception, comprehension, and understanding. No matter how hard we try, we cannot truly understand God.
In the movie O God there is a wonderful scene between God and Jerry, with God being played by George Burns and Jerry being played by John Denver. Jerry and God are standing in Jerry’s bathroom and God is standing there and they are chatting. Jerry asks, “Is this how you really are?” and God’s response is, “No, if I came as I really am, you couldn’t have gotten it.” This is statement of a transcendent God. God is so beyond our compression we could not stand in God’s presence and fathom what we are experiencing.
On the other hand, God is also immanent. An immanent God, is one which exists within — within us, within the universe, etc. — and, hence, very much a part of our existence. God as immanent is God looking like George Burns in Jerry’s bathroom. When we sing hymns like “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” that is a reference to an immanent God, one who is our friend. When we attend a funeral and sing “In the Garden,” pondering images of God walking and talking with us, that is a vision of an immanent God.
These are the first two but you may be thinking, “Hey, wait a minute. A view of God as transcendent and a view of God as immanent are opposites.” Yes, they are, and that is part of what makes God, God. God is both greater than we can imagine, and here in our midst. The fact that we can’t perceive it is part of the magnificence of God.
The last attribute of God that really moves me is that God is Eternal. I usually begin prayers with the phrase, “Eternal God,’ because it’s an image I love.
Many scientists say that the first dinosaurs walked the planet 542 million years ago. To give you a point of reference, Jesus lived 2000 years ago and Abraham lived around 4000 years ago.
This means, if we repeated the 2000 years between the time of Jesus and us, here and now, we’d have to repeat it 271,000 times with Abraham’s time needing to be repeated 135,500 times! Geologists tell us that the earth began to take its shape 4.5 billion years ago which means that the era between Jesus’ time and our time would be repeated 2.2 million times and change. The average 80 year old person would live their life over again better than 56 million times.
I’m throwing all these numbers out because I think it gives some perspective on what the word “Eternal” really means. God as Eternal means that God is God in every age and every era. Philosophers tell us that God’s eternity is not linear, year to year, like ours, but one moment. The formation and destruction of the earth is one moment, to God. The dinosaurs and the year 2525, from the song, are one moment. Our sins and Jesus dying on the cross for sin are simultaneous.
Going back to the covenant between God and Abraham, there is something amazing and mind-blowing to acknowledge. This God, this one God, this God who is so magnificently ‘out there,’ this God who is so lovingly ‘in our midst,’ and this God who is God for all eternity, chooses to make a covenant to people, literally and profoundly simply, being our God. It is, “I will be your God and you will be my people.” It is magnificent and it is beautiful.
I am reminded of one of my all-time heroes in Christianity, Thomas Aquinas. He was a Dominican Friar in the 13th century, very much a Pre-Reformation Reformer who spent half his time being charged with heresy. He was for theology and philosophy what Galileo was for astronomy, Newton was for science, and Einstein was for math----brilliant beyond brilliant. He was an amazingly prolific and profound writer. Yet, later in his life he had a profoundly intimate experience of God and he stopped writing stating that, compared to God, everything he had ever written, was little more than straw.
This God, this God of all eternity, this God of distance and closeness, this God who can render geniuses silent, is the God of the covenant with Abraham and now with us.
Text: Genesis 17:10-16
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
March 11, 2012
Within the Bible there is the concept of covenant that occurs time and time again. There are minor covenants and three very major covenants.
Covenants are things we make and use all the time without necessarily calling them covenants. A covenant is an agreement between two parties.
If you go out for pizza and you pay for the pizza you are making a covenant that if you give the person money, that person will give you the pizza.
When we purchase a car or a house, we sign a contract that is, in essence, a covenant. If we get married or committed to someone, that is a covenant. When we join churches, it is a covenant. And God has made covenants with us; and we make covenants back, to God.
The Bible has minor covenants that were made with God and people such as Noah and David. There are also agreements, covenants, made between people. There are, however, three over-arching covenants in the Bible. This week I will examine the first of the three, between God and Abraham.
To do this, however, first we need to ponder God and how we view God.
First, we need to see how people viewed God back in Abraham’s day.
In the time of Abraham people perceived the concept of God very differently than we do now. For most people in that era, gods were considered to be regional and functional. There were gods for the sun, the moon, the sea, the sky, the moon, the earth, for war, for love, etc. Cultures saw gods as being tied to distinct geographic areas and were limited to certain powers.
Suddenly, into this mix enters God making a covenant with Abraham. The revelation of God was that there was only one God and the God of Israel was the one God, and God was making a covenant to Abraham and his descendants. God was going to be their God and they were going to be God’s people.
This first major covenant between God and God’s people had one amazing thing taking place. God was, in essence, announcing to the world that God was bigger than they had ever conceived.
The amazing thing about all of this, however, was that people still struggled with how they perceived God. As a result, in Hebrew, there were a multitude of names for God with often different meanings.
These included:
Elohim - strong One, divine
Adonai - Lord, indicating a Master-to-servant
El Elyon - Most High, the strongest One
El Roi - the strong One who sees
El Shaddai – literally, God of the Mountain,Almighty God .
El Olam - Everlasting God
Yahweh - LORD “I Am,” meaning the eternal self-existent God.
People took the concept of multiple gods and gave all those qualities to the one God of Israel. God became one God with many names most of which came from the attributes people saw in God.
In contemporary times we don’t always have a vast array of names for God, but people maintain a vast array of theological opinions about God.
For some, God is a cosmic judge looking to condemn people for every and anything they perceive to be wrong. This past week a minister in Minnesota preached a sermon about the tornadoes in Indiana and said that this was a lesson to everyone about repenting from their sins. God is perceived as an angry and cosmic judge.
Others see God as a something of a cosmic puppet-master controlling each and every aspect of our lives with detailed plans laid out for us each and every day of our lives. We’ve probably all heard sermons or people speaking about God having an explicit plan for their lives from who will be in their family, where they will live, and what kind of career they will have.
For some God is a cosmic Santa Claus waiting for our prayers, and seeking, diligently to provide for our every want or need. Much of what we read and hear about with the prosperity Gospel is based on this. If we pray hard and have faith, then all our dreams will come true.
Others see God as a cosmic observer who sits back and simply watches the universe do its thing with no intervention. God listens to prayers, but does not act until, perhaps the end of life or the end of time. God is something of a removed observer.
Some see God as one who creates, observes, gently guides, and allows life to take place. God is a combination of passive and active, but generally allows life to take place without a great deal of intervention.
All of this, of course, has the addition of the character and personality of God. Some see God as angry and vengeful; others as loving and kind; others as a being with an amazing sense of humor who finds our efforts to be, if nothing else, amusing and entertaining.
Now that I have laid a whole host of things about God, we are left with the fact that God made a covenant with Abraham, and upon this covenant much has been built. It also forces us to ponder what it is we believe about God and what attributes we believe are important about God.
I have three. The first is that God is transcendent.
The word transcendent implies that God is ‘out there,’ great and almighty. God is one who is beyond perception, independent of the universe, and “other” when compared to us. In fact, the word ‘holy’ is, at its core, ‘other.’
It means, in essence, that God is magnificent beyond our perception, comprehension, and understanding. No matter how hard we try, we cannot truly understand God.
In the movie O God there is a wonderful scene between God and Jerry, with God being played by George Burns and Jerry being played by John Denver. Jerry and God are standing in Jerry’s bathroom and God is standing there and they are chatting. Jerry asks, “Is this how you really are?” and God’s response is, “No, if I came as I really am, you couldn’t have gotten it.” This is statement of a transcendent God. God is so beyond our compression we could not stand in God’s presence and fathom what we are experiencing.
On the other hand, God is also immanent. An immanent God, is one which exists within — within us, within the universe, etc. — and, hence, very much a part of our existence. God as immanent is God looking like George Burns in Jerry’s bathroom. When we sing hymns like “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” that is a reference to an immanent God, one who is our friend. When we attend a funeral and sing “In the Garden,” pondering images of God walking and talking with us, that is a vision of an immanent God.
These are the first two but you may be thinking, “Hey, wait a minute. A view of God as transcendent and a view of God as immanent are opposites.” Yes, they are, and that is part of what makes God, God. God is both greater than we can imagine, and here in our midst. The fact that we can’t perceive it is part of the magnificence of God.
The last attribute of God that really moves me is that God is Eternal. I usually begin prayers with the phrase, “Eternal God,’ because it’s an image I love.
Many scientists say that the first dinosaurs walked the planet 542 million years ago. To give you a point of reference, Jesus lived 2000 years ago and Abraham lived around 4000 years ago.
This means, if we repeated the 2000 years between the time of Jesus and us, here and now, we’d have to repeat it 271,000 times with Abraham’s time needing to be repeated 135,500 times! Geologists tell us that the earth began to take its shape 4.5 billion years ago which means that the era between Jesus’ time and our time would be repeated 2.2 million times and change. The average 80 year old person would live their life over again better than 56 million times.
I’m throwing all these numbers out because I think it gives some perspective on what the word “Eternal” really means. God as Eternal means that God is God in every age and every era. Philosophers tell us that God’s eternity is not linear, year to year, like ours, but one moment. The formation and destruction of the earth is one moment, to God. The dinosaurs and the year 2525, from the song, are one moment. Our sins and Jesus dying on the cross for sin are simultaneous.
Going back to the covenant between God and Abraham, there is something amazing and mind-blowing to acknowledge. This God, this one God, this God who is so magnificently ‘out there,’ this God who is so lovingly ‘in our midst,’ and this God who is God for all eternity, chooses to make a covenant to people, literally and profoundly simply, being our God. It is, “I will be your God and you will be my people.” It is magnificent and it is beautiful.
I am reminded of one of my all-time heroes in Christianity, Thomas Aquinas. He was a Dominican Friar in the 13th century, very much a Pre-Reformation Reformer who spent half his time being charged with heresy. He was for theology and philosophy what Galileo was for astronomy, Newton was for science, and Einstein was for math----brilliant beyond brilliant. He was an amazingly prolific and profound writer. Yet, later in his life he had a profoundly intimate experience of God and he stopped writing stating that, compared to God, everything he had ever written, was little more than straw.
This God, this God of all eternity, this God of distance and closeness, this God who can render geniuses silent, is the God of the covenant with Abraham and now with us.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
What I Learned in a Decade
What I Learned in a Decade
Text: Isaiah 55:10-12
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
February 26, 2012
Today, after Worship, we are having lunch and a party next door. If I say that I learned ‘nothing’ in the last decade, we could end Worship early and go have fun. That would be a bad idea, on one hand, because when people come to Worship, they expect to actually have a Worship Service, but additionally, it would be very untrue. I have learned a good deal in the last decade, some of which I’d like to share with you this morning.
In many ways the most critical role a pastor plays is as a preacher. Preaching is a 15 minute event on Sunday mornings to the average person. For those of us who are ministers, and who take preaching seriously, preaching is the most time consuming thing we do each week. It requires reading, praying, thinking, feeling, and writing. A professor at Lancaster Theological Seminary, in a sermon, once said that theologians think about everything all the time. That is acutely accurate and pretty much summarized preaching. Life is one long sermon illustration.
In today’s scripture, from Second Isaiah, the prophet is speaking about preaching from God’s perspective. God sends rain and snow down from Heaven to water the earth. That water does not return until the earth has been nourished and brings forth plants which generate the energy that puts moisture back in the air. Today’s choir anthem is based on this text and it is my favorite anthem of all. It is a powerful statement about preaching. Preaching means something.
Eugene Peterson in his book, The Pastor: A Memoir tells a wonderful story about his son, Leif.
Leif said to him one day: Novelists only write one book. They find their voice, their book, and write it over and over. William Faulkner wrote one book. Charles Dickens wrote one book. Anne Tyler wrote one book. Ernest Hemingway wrote one book. Willa Cather wrote one book.” I wasn’t quite sure I agreed, but he obviously knew more about the subject than I did, so I didn’t say much. A few days later, he said, “Remember what I said about novelists only writing one book? You only preach one sermon.” I protested. “I don’t repeat myself in the pulpit. I work hard on these sermons. Every week is new, the world changes, the lives of these people are changing constantly. And each sermon is new, these scriptures personalized into their language and circumstances. I live with these scriptures; I live with these people. My sermon is a way for them to hear their stories integrated into God’s story, or God’s story integrated into their stories. Either way it’s a story in the making—new details every week, new in the telling, new in the making.”.
Not long after that, after Worship, they were having lunch and Leif said:
“Well, Dad, that was your sermon. I’ve been listening to that sermon all my life. Your one sermon, your signature sermon.”
When they were taking their son back to the airport his son said he was changing churches as he was tired of the church he was attending. About three months later they asked him if he had found a new church and his response was, ““No. I tried a bunch of them but I’m back at First Church. None of those other pastors had found their sermon.” After his son told him this, Peterson got it, he understood.
The art of preaching, I think, for most of us, is finding that sermon. Not all that long ago I was thinking that there are things I say a lot, themes that run through many of my sermons. I was not able to articulate what that was until someone shared what Peterson had said, and until I read this section in Peterson’s book. One of the things I’ve learned in the last decade about preaching was this. I found my sermon.
The second thing I have learned is the spiritual gift of hospitality.
In traditions shaped by the Bible, hospitality is a moral imperative. There is an expectation that God’s people are people who will welcome strangers and treat them justly and well runs throughout the entire Bible. This theme begins in Genesis and runs through every book of the Bible in a variety of ways. Calling ourselves a people of God demands that we offer hospitality.
St. Marks has taught me about the gift of hospitality in ways that I never saw before.
In my first church, a congregation where I received 10 years experience in 19 months, there was a festival called Hartslog Day that took place every year. My church was on the main road in a downtown with only two roads. Right next door to our church was a United Methodist Church. There was a debate in the Church Council about having our doors open so people could use the rest room. There was one over-riding question in the room: What were the Methodists doing? If they were keeping their doors open, we’d have to so as not to look too bad. If they were staying locked, we could. The goal of the group was to keep the building closed.
I was furious and argued that it didn’t matter what any other church in town was doing. We had to do the right thing because it was the right thing. They argued back that all their visitors would run up the water bill and may steal the bathroom tissue.
It turned out the church next door was more hospitable than our church was so the doors were kept open. Several years ago when withdrew from the United Church of Christ because they felt the denomination was too welcoming. Hospitality was something that church struggled with. Actually, gaining 10 years experience in 19 months demonstrates there were other struggles as well.
St. Marks, on the other hand, demonstrates incredible hospitality. When we made a concerted effort to assure everyone was welcome, people left. That was difficult on everyone, but people hung together. Hospitality is a spiritual discipline we do not take lightly, even if it means we have had bathroom tissue stolen and higher water bills.
Yesterday was the Neighborhood Health Fair. Hundreds of people came and were treated with dignity and respect and were served in a variety of ways. It was hard to do, but Hospitality is a spiritual discipline we do not take lightly.
Our Clothes Closet is now up the road as our renovation is taking place. With the help of Central Christian Church, we are able to keep this ministry going. Hospitality is a spiritual discipline we do not take lightly.
The Soup Kitchen is moving across the street next week as our renovations keep going forward. We cannot stop feeding the hungry as Hospitality is a spiritual discipline we do not take lightly.
While I have always understood the importance of hospitality, St. Marks has made me realize who crucial it is as a spiritual discipline.
Hospitality is often confused as being about rules as to how to do things. Do we shake hands well? Offer coffee? Greet people nicely? All of these things are important, but they are not the core of hospitality. Hospitality is a spiritual discipline that is a way of being.
One of the core things in Judaism is the Law, but often people don’t realize that the concept of Jewish Law was not so much about the rules, but about a way of being. The Hebrew word for law is Halakhah which is translated as either a way of being of a path that one walks. It is not translated as RULES, but attitude.
I believe this has been something we have learned together. Keeping one’s rest rooms open or welcoming people comes from a way of being, a path a church is on more than a set of rules for hospitality.
In the recent newspaper article by Dale Moss about our Clothes Closet he said that we were a smaller church with the heart of a mega-church and that is because of the heart of hospitality that drives us. It is something we have grown into together.
So these are two things I have learned in a decade. It is about finding my sermon and growing together in a spirit of hospitality.
If you’ve been here a long time you’ll know that there is usually always a third thing. But this time, in this sermon, the third point is going to be left blank. It will be for all that we have to learn from one another in the future.
.
Text: Isaiah 55:10-12
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
February 26, 2012
Today, after Worship, we are having lunch and a party next door. If I say that I learned ‘nothing’ in the last decade, we could end Worship early and go have fun. That would be a bad idea, on one hand, because when people come to Worship, they expect to actually have a Worship Service, but additionally, it would be very untrue. I have learned a good deal in the last decade, some of which I’d like to share with you this morning.
In many ways the most critical role a pastor plays is as a preacher. Preaching is a 15 minute event on Sunday mornings to the average person. For those of us who are ministers, and who take preaching seriously, preaching is the most time consuming thing we do each week. It requires reading, praying, thinking, feeling, and writing. A professor at Lancaster Theological Seminary, in a sermon, once said that theologians think about everything all the time. That is acutely accurate and pretty much summarized preaching. Life is one long sermon illustration.
In today’s scripture, from Second Isaiah, the prophet is speaking about preaching from God’s perspective. God sends rain and snow down from Heaven to water the earth. That water does not return until the earth has been nourished and brings forth plants which generate the energy that puts moisture back in the air. Today’s choir anthem is based on this text and it is my favorite anthem of all. It is a powerful statement about preaching. Preaching means something.
Eugene Peterson in his book, The Pastor: A Memoir tells a wonderful story about his son, Leif.
Leif said to him one day: Novelists only write one book. They find their voice, their book, and write it over and over. William Faulkner wrote one book. Charles Dickens wrote one book. Anne Tyler wrote one book. Ernest Hemingway wrote one book. Willa Cather wrote one book.” I wasn’t quite sure I agreed, but he obviously knew more about the subject than I did, so I didn’t say much. A few days later, he said, “Remember what I said about novelists only writing one book? You only preach one sermon.” I protested. “I don’t repeat myself in the pulpit. I work hard on these sermons. Every week is new, the world changes, the lives of these people are changing constantly. And each sermon is new, these scriptures personalized into their language and circumstances. I live with these scriptures; I live with these people. My sermon is a way for them to hear their stories integrated into God’s story, or God’s story integrated into their stories. Either way it’s a story in the making—new details every week, new in the telling, new in the making.”.
Not long after that, after Worship, they were having lunch and Leif said:
“Well, Dad, that was your sermon. I’ve been listening to that sermon all my life. Your one sermon, your signature sermon.”
When they were taking their son back to the airport his son said he was changing churches as he was tired of the church he was attending. About three months later they asked him if he had found a new church and his response was, ““No. I tried a bunch of them but I’m back at First Church. None of those other pastors had found their sermon.” After his son told him this, Peterson got it, he understood.
The art of preaching, I think, for most of us, is finding that sermon. Not all that long ago I was thinking that there are things I say a lot, themes that run through many of my sermons. I was not able to articulate what that was until someone shared what Peterson had said, and until I read this section in Peterson’s book. One of the things I’ve learned in the last decade about preaching was this. I found my sermon.
The second thing I have learned is the spiritual gift of hospitality.
In traditions shaped by the Bible, hospitality is a moral imperative. There is an expectation that God’s people are people who will welcome strangers and treat them justly and well runs throughout the entire Bible. This theme begins in Genesis and runs through every book of the Bible in a variety of ways. Calling ourselves a people of God demands that we offer hospitality.
St. Marks has taught me about the gift of hospitality in ways that I never saw before.
In my first church, a congregation where I received 10 years experience in 19 months, there was a festival called Hartslog Day that took place every year. My church was on the main road in a downtown with only two roads. Right next door to our church was a United Methodist Church. There was a debate in the Church Council about having our doors open so people could use the rest room. There was one over-riding question in the room: What were the Methodists doing? If they were keeping their doors open, we’d have to so as not to look too bad. If they were staying locked, we could. The goal of the group was to keep the building closed.
I was furious and argued that it didn’t matter what any other church in town was doing. We had to do the right thing because it was the right thing. They argued back that all their visitors would run up the water bill and may steal the bathroom tissue.
It turned out the church next door was more hospitable than our church was so the doors were kept open. Several years ago when withdrew from the United Church of Christ because they felt the denomination was too welcoming. Hospitality was something that church struggled with. Actually, gaining 10 years experience in 19 months demonstrates there were other struggles as well.
St. Marks, on the other hand, demonstrates incredible hospitality. When we made a concerted effort to assure everyone was welcome, people left. That was difficult on everyone, but people hung together. Hospitality is a spiritual discipline we do not take lightly, even if it means we have had bathroom tissue stolen and higher water bills.
Yesterday was the Neighborhood Health Fair. Hundreds of people came and were treated with dignity and respect and were served in a variety of ways. It was hard to do, but Hospitality is a spiritual discipline we do not take lightly.
Our Clothes Closet is now up the road as our renovation is taking place. With the help of Central Christian Church, we are able to keep this ministry going. Hospitality is a spiritual discipline we do not take lightly.
The Soup Kitchen is moving across the street next week as our renovations keep going forward. We cannot stop feeding the hungry as Hospitality is a spiritual discipline we do not take lightly.
While I have always understood the importance of hospitality, St. Marks has made me realize who crucial it is as a spiritual discipline.
Hospitality is often confused as being about rules as to how to do things. Do we shake hands well? Offer coffee? Greet people nicely? All of these things are important, but they are not the core of hospitality. Hospitality is a spiritual discipline that is a way of being.
One of the core things in Judaism is the Law, but often people don’t realize that the concept of Jewish Law was not so much about the rules, but about a way of being. The Hebrew word for law is Halakhah which is translated as either a way of being of a path that one walks. It is not translated as RULES, but attitude.
I believe this has been something we have learned together. Keeping one’s rest rooms open or welcoming people comes from a way of being, a path a church is on more than a set of rules for hospitality.
In the recent newspaper article by Dale Moss about our Clothes Closet he said that we were a smaller church with the heart of a mega-church and that is because of the heart of hospitality that drives us. It is something we have grown into together.
So these are two things I have learned in a decade. It is about finding my sermon and growing together in a spirit of hospitality.
If you’ve been here a long time you’ll know that there is usually always a third thing. But this time, in this sermon, the third point is going to be left blank. It will be for all that we have to learn from one another in the future.
.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Love and Disclaimers
Ever notice how we LOVE to use disclaimers to give ourselves breaks from really loving others.
I’ve often thought about this and how easy it is to become disrespectful of others. I’ve done it, and I’m sure most everyone has done it.
I love the use of disclaimers, like using disclaimers make things okay.
Sometimes we’ll say something like, “With all due respect,” and then show a complete lack of respect for a person; presuming of course, by saying, ‘with all due respect,” made it okay.
Or, “I don’t mean to offend you, but,” and then they offend you.
Or, “I really shouldn’t be saying this, but,” and then they say it.
My favorite, of course, is when people say, “I say this in all Christian love,” and then they eviscerate whoever they were speaking to.
The premise of course is this. If you say a disclaimer, you can be as disrespectful as you want to be. This is, of course, completely bogus. Love is patient and kind. Patience and kindness demands we be respectful of others. It doesn’t matter if they are a spouse or partner, child, friend, relative, classmate, church-mate, stranger on the street. Paul’s words yell out to us to be patient and kind. It means that whoever we meet in life, whoever we interact with, is a person we must treat with respect. That is what the mandate of love means.
Maybe we need to be cautious about how we use the word, 'but.'
Okay, that's all. I didn't mean for this post to be so personal, but....
I’ve often thought about this and how easy it is to become disrespectful of others. I’ve done it, and I’m sure most everyone has done it.
I love the use of disclaimers, like using disclaimers make things okay.
Sometimes we’ll say something like, “With all due respect,” and then show a complete lack of respect for a person; presuming of course, by saying, ‘with all due respect,” made it okay.
Or, “I don’t mean to offend you, but,” and then they offend you.
Or, “I really shouldn’t be saying this, but,” and then they say it.
My favorite, of course, is when people say, “I say this in all Christian love,” and then they eviscerate whoever they were speaking to.
The premise of course is this. If you say a disclaimer, you can be as disrespectful as you want to be. This is, of course, completely bogus. Love is patient and kind. Patience and kindness demands we be respectful of others. It doesn’t matter if they are a spouse or partner, child, friend, relative, classmate, church-mate, stranger on the street. Paul’s words yell out to us to be patient and kind. It means that whoever we meet in life, whoever we interact with, is a person we must treat with respect. That is what the mandate of love means.
Maybe we need to be cautious about how we use the word, 'but.'
Okay, that's all. I didn't mean for this post to be so personal, but....
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Ash Wednesday Meditation
Every year this day, Ash Wednesday, rolls around and we begin the season of Lent. This is a season of 40 days plus Sundays that we remember Jesus’ 40 days in the desert preparing for his ministry to the world.
The number 40 in the Bible is a very symbolic number about testing.
When it rained and Noah took to the ark, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights.
When Moses went to the mountain to receive the 10 Commandments he stayed there for 40 days.
The Israelites wandered through the desert for 40 years.
And Jesus went into the desert for 40 days to prepare for his ministry. In each and every time, the number 40 was a time of testing and, in so many ways, a time of preparation for a new life on the other end.
Lent is ultimately about three things.
It is a time of repentance.
In verse 3 of Psalm 51 it says:
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Most of us are aware that we sin. In our heart of hearts we all know what we do well and where we fall short. Lent is a time to really reflect on this and try and grow away from sin. Often we look to turn away from sin, but often it’s easy to turn back. Growing away from sin often seems to a better way to approach it. It’s taking one step at a time toward a new life. Lent is a season of repentance.
Lent is also a season for renewal and renewal is a part of living a life of ongoing conversion. How can we make ourselves better?
Maybe it’s reading more or praying more or taking up a new hobby. Or exercising more. I heard something recently that was sort of a unique way of looking at things. We have become a society well versed in energy conservation----but that energy conservation is not what you are thinking. We conserve our OWN energy. We rarely ever have to run and even don’t have to walk very much any longer. Maybe one step we can make is to begin to use more of our energy and make ourselves move more. I know it’s something I’m planning on doing.
Lastly, Lent is a time of community. It is a time to get together, pray and study and spend time with your family of faith. It is a time to love deeply and grow together.
I watched a video on the Internet about Ash Wednesday and it had a clever little thing in it. It said that the classic American hero is the Lone Ranger. He is alone. He is self-made, and he is independent. The classic biblical hero, however, is Tonto. Tonto is part of a tribe, community minded, and dependent.
We often like to think we are clever, self-made, and independent, but when we do so we leave God out of the picture.
There’s a wonderful story set in the future when a group of scientists approach God and tell God that God is no longer needed. They scientists have figured out how to make human beings from the dirt, just like God did.
So God said, “Okay, make a person for me out of dirt.”
The scientists said, “Well, we need some dirt.”
To which God replied, “Create your own.”
This is the season we are beginning. It is a season of repentance, renewal, and community. It is also a season of dirt. The dirt, the ashes remind us that we are dust, and fully reliant on God.
The number 40 in the Bible is a very symbolic number about testing.
When it rained and Noah took to the ark, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights.
When Moses went to the mountain to receive the 10 Commandments he stayed there for 40 days.
The Israelites wandered through the desert for 40 years.
And Jesus went into the desert for 40 days to prepare for his ministry. In each and every time, the number 40 was a time of testing and, in so many ways, a time of preparation for a new life on the other end.
Lent is ultimately about three things.
It is a time of repentance.
In verse 3 of Psalm 51 it says:
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Most of us are aware that we sin. In our heart of hearts we all know what we do well and where we fall short. Lent is a time to really reflect on this and try and grow away from sin. Often we look to turn away from sin, but often it’s easy to turn back. Growing away from sin often seems to a better way to approach it. It’s taking one step at a time toward a new life. Lent is a season of repentance.
Lent is also a season for renewal and renewal is a part of living a life of ongoing conversion. How can we make ourselves better?
Maybe it’s reading more or praying more or taking up a new hobby. Or exercising more. I heard something recently that was sort of a unique way of looking at things. We have become a society well versed in energy conservation----but that energy conservation is not what you are thinking. We conserve our OWN energy. We rarely ever have to run and even don’t have to walk very much any longer. Maybe one step we can make is to begin to use more of our energy and make ourselves move more. I know it’s something I’m planning on doing.
Lastly, Lent is a time of community. It is a time to get together, pray and study and spend time with your family of faith. It is a time to love deeply and grow together.
I watched a video on the Internet about Ash Wednesday and it had a clever little thing in it. It said that the classic American hero is the Lone Ranger. He is alone. He is self-made, and he is independent. The classic biblical hero, however, is Tonto. Tonto is part of a tribe, community minded, and dependent.
We often like to think we are clever, self-made, and independent, but when we do so we leave God out of the picture.
There’s a wonderful story set in the future when a group of scientists approach God and tell God that God is no longer needed. They scientists have figured out how to make human beings from the dirt, just like God did.
So God said, “Okay, make a person for me out of dirt.”
The scientists said, “Well, we need some dirt.”
To which God replied, “Create your own.”
This is the season we are beginning. It is a season of repentance, renewal, and community. It is also a season of dirt. The dirt, the ashes remind us that we are dust, and fully reliant on God.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
The Power of Negative Thinking
Years ago one of the most popular books was written by Norman Vincent Peale, and it was entitled, The Power of Positive Thinking. Years later, another minister, Robert Schuler wrote about possibility thinking which was, in essence, an updated version of Peale’s positive thinking. The most current offshoot of this in religion has been instances of the prosperity Gospel which gives a sense that if you have faith and are positive, you will be successful. Positive thinking is, if nothing else, a popular concept.
It’s difficult to say, however, that positive thinking has much power. In fact, it often seems like it’s quite the opposite. Negative thinking, getting people to be negative appears to be the path of power.
Some years ago, when Bill Clinton was the American President his administration was watching events in Russia with a sense of horror. Boris Yeltsin, the non-Communist President was behind in the polling to his opponent who was an avowed Communist. The fear was that if Yeltsin lost the election Russia would become a Communist country again----and no one wanted that. A decision was made.
Clinton sent a group of political advisors to Russia to run Yeltsin’s campaign. They essentially kept Yeltsin from view and ran a brutally negative campaign against his opponent. Yeltsin began to rise in the polls-----so much so that he began to make speeches again only to see his poll numbers collapse. They kept him from view and ran their negativity against Yeltsin’s opponent. When the election was over, Boris Yeltsin who, by any stretch of the imagination was not a good President, was re-elected. It had nothing to do with his skill or talent, but only the skill and talent of those who tore his opponent down. It was an example of the power of negative thinking.
There is great power in negative thinking. Negativity wins elections. Often the secret of winning elections is not so much promoting how good your own candidate is, but how bad the opponent is. There is no need for honesty either. Most people, when given negative information, tend to believe it and are willing to overlook little things like facts.
Being fair, let’s look at the two previous Presidents. President George W. Bush was given the label of being less than intelligent. He was mocked for this and often taken lightly. Truthfully, he didn’t speak well, but there are well spoken fools and mumbling geniuses, so that doesn’t tell us much. There is something, however, that may give an indication of his intelligence. He graduated from Yale University and then received a graduate degree from Harvard University.
Yale and Harvard are two of the most academically challenging universities in the nation and he graduated from both of them. Pass this information on to people and they will make a comment that either Yale and Harvard are bad schools or Bush was ‘passed’ because of his Dad. Despite the fact that he went to these two universities and graduated, his intelligence is still challenged because of negativity pointed in his direction.
Then there is President Barack Obama. A significant number of people believe that he was born in Africa. The so-called ‘birther’ movement became a real and significant movement of which there are still a large number of people. He provided a document of live birth, typically given from Hawaii and produced newspaper birth announcements. Not good enough. He finally produced a long form sent to him specially from Hawaii and it showed, TA DA, that he was born in Hawaii. Despite proving it he is still considered to be a foreign born President by many.
It is widely thought that he is Muslim. His father was a non-practicing Muslim but there is no evidence Obama ever was. There is evidence, however, that he was Baptized and married at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago by Jeremiah Wright. Whether one approves of Wright or not, Wright is a United Church of Christ minister and, if one takes the time to read some of his book and listen to most of his sermons, a very committed Christian. Obama is a Christian but popular opinion often seems to be otherwise. Like Bush, this is still challenged because of negativity point in his direction.
Sadly, within Christianity this kind of negativity is also rampant. It is breathtakingly easy to bash people who are not like us. It is easy for people who are not Roman Catholic to bash Catholics for what they perceive Roman Catholics to believe, as opposed to what they really believe. It is easy for people who are Mainline Protestant to bash people who are unlike them and very easy for Evangelical Protestants to bash other Protestants. There was a recent debate on whether members of The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints were Christians or not. Many Mormon theologians were shouted down by people who did not really want to hear what was being said about Mormonism. Facts have no relevance in the face of negativity.
Negativity has power that even facts cannot overcome. Negativity is ecumenical and bipartisan. No matter what one’s religious background or lack thereof, or no matter what one’s politics happen to be, trashing ‘other’ is acceptable and popular and has great power.
But power can be fleeting. Power is having the ability to coerce people to do what you want them to do. If you coerce people to love tenderly it’s a positive thing; if you coerce people to hate with a passion, it’s a negative thing. But all power is external. Power is given over to people or to ideas by others. By us. If people respond to negative thinking and are willing to be negative, no matter what the facts may indicate, they give in to power that is hurtful and often destructive. The only way to make negative thinking powerless is to cease giving in to it.
The change begins by listening and listening some more, and doing research beyond what we normally presume. The change begins by not maintaining our thoughts contrary to evidence. The change begins within our own hearts and minds. It is a challenge for everyone. In all honesty, it is a challenge for me, too. But it’s a challenge worth taking on.
It’s difficult to say, however, that positive thinking has much power. In fact, it often seems like it’s quite the opposite. Negative thinking, getting people to be negative appears to be the path of power.
Some years ago, when Bill Clinton was the American President his administration was watching events in Russia with a sense of horror. Boris Yeltsin, the non-Communist President was behind in the polling to his opponent who was an avowed Communist. The fear was that if Yeltsin lost the election Russia would become a Communist country again----and no one wanted that. A decision was made.
Clinton sent a group of political advisors to Russia to run Yeltsin’s campaign. They essentially kept Yeltsin from view and ran a brutally negative campaign against his opponent. Yeltsin began to rise in the polls-----so much so that he began to make speeches again only to see his poll numbers collapse. They kept him from view and ran their negativity against Yeltsin’s opponent. When the election was over, Boris Yeltsin who, by any stretch of the imagination was not a good President, was re-elected. It had nothing to do with his skill or talent, but only the skill and talent of those who tore his opponent down. It was an example of the power of negative thinking.
There is great power in negative thinking. Negativity wins elections. Often the secret of winning elections is not so much promoting how good your own candidate is, but how bad the opponent is. There is no need for honesty either. Most people, when given negative information, tend to believe it and are willing to overlook little things like facts.
Being fair, let’s look at the two previous Presidents. President George W. Bush was given the label of being less than intelligent. He was mocked for this and often taken lightly. Truthfully, he didn’t speak well, but there are well spoken fools and mumbling geniuses, so that doesn’t tell us much. There is something, however, that may give an indication of his intelligence. He graduated from Yale University and then received a graduate degree from Harvard University.
Yale and Harvard are two of the most academically challenging universities in the nation and he graduated from both of them. Pass this information on to people and they will make a comment that either Yale and Harvard are bad schools or Bush was ‘passed’ because of his Dad. Despite the fact that he went to these two universities and graduated, his intelligence is still challenged because of negativity pointed in his direction.
Then there is President Barack Obama. A significant number of people believe that he was born in Africa. The so-called ‘birther’ movement became a real and significant movement of which there are still a large number of people. He provided a document of live birth, typically given from Hawaii and produced newspaper birth announcements. Not good enough. He finally produced a long form sent to him specially from Hawaii and it showed, TA DA, that he was born in Hawaii. Despite proving it he is still considered to be a foreign born President by many.
It is widely thought that he is Muslim. His father was a non-practicing Muslim but there is no evidence Obama ever was. There is evidence, however, that he was Baptized and married at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago by Jeremiah Wright. Whether one approves of Wright or not, Wright is a United Church of Christ minister and, if one takes the time to read some of his book and listen to most of his sermons, a very committed Christian. Obama is a Christian but popular opinion often seems to be otherwise. Like Bush, this is still challenged because of negativity point in his direction.
Sadly, within Christianity this kind of negativity is also rampant. It is breathtakingly easy to bash people who are not like us. It is easy for people who are not Roman Catholic to bash Catholics for what they perceive Roman Catholics to believe, as opposed to what they really believe. It is easy for people who are Mainline Protestant to bash people who are unlike them and very easy for Evangelical Protestants to bash other Protestants. There was a recent debate on whether members of The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints were Christians or not. Many Mormon theologians were shouted down by people who did not really want to hear what was being said about Mormonism. Facts have no relevance in the face of negativity.
Negativity has power that even facts cannot overcome. Negativity is ecumenical and bipartisan. No matter what one’s religious background or lack thereof, or no matter what one’s politics happen to be, trashing ‘other’ is acceptable and popular and has great power.
But power can be fleeting. Power is having the ability to coerce people to do what you want them to do. If you coerce people to love tenderly it’s a positive thing; if you coerce people to hate with a passion, it’s a negative thing. But all power is external. Power is given over to people or to ideas by others. By us. If people respond to negative thinking and are willing to be negative, no matter what the facts may indicate, they give in to power that is hurtful and often destructive. The only way to make negative thinking powerless is to cease giving in to it.
The change begins by listening and listening some more, and doing research beyond what we normally presume. The change begins by not maintaining our thoughts contrary to evidence. The change begins within our own hearts and minds. It is a challenge for everyone. In all honesty, it is a challenge for me, too. But it’s a challenge worth taking on.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Being Definitive About God (or lack thereof) is a Risky Business
This past week has put God in the news.
Magician, comedian, and entertainer, Penn Jillette wrote a column in which he firm states, ‘there is no God.’ His premise, of course, is that belief in God is irrational and because of all the evil done in God’s name, it places the responsibility of evil on God without blaming on a non-existent entity. He states that such things as forgiveness come to us because of human charity or forgetfulness and that when people suffer we do not need outside explanations as to why things like this happen. Needless to say, if one has faith in God, Mr. Jillette’s statements can be seen as a personal affront.
Former Pennsylvania Senator, Rick Santorum, who is a current Presidential candidate first bashed Mainline Protestantism and then stated that President Obama’s theology is a phony theology. Considering that when President Obama has spoken of faith his theology has sounded very much Mainline Protestant and very United Church of Christ, which makes sense since his church background was in the United Church of Christ. Needless to say, if one is a Mainline Protestant and, more specifically, a member of the United Church of Christ, Mr. Santorum’s statement can be seen as a personal affront.
Having said this, I cannot say that I am going to lose any sleep over the fact that neither Mr. Jillette nor Mr. Santorum agree with my theological worldview. Mr. Jillette sees me as believing in little more than a fairy tale and Mr. Santorum seems me as having a phony theology. They are both entitled to their opinions as I am entitled to my opinion. I will also not attack either of their theological worldviews for the same reason I don’t believe they had any right presuming mine is a fairy tale of phony. Religious faith, it seems, has some rationality with a great sense of irrationality. And irrationality is not always a bad thing.
In Carl Jung’s personality type functions judgment is either seen as Thinking or Feeling. Thinking is often seen as objective, totally rational, and fact based. Feeling is often seen as subjective, personal more than rational, and on values. While theology is a rational subject it often uses faith, which is actually more irrational, as its starting point. Theology often attempts to articulate what faith cannot.
In stating this, I am not stating that only crazy irrational people have faith. Many people of faith are highly educated and can articulate, theologically, very serious issues concerning faith. The thing about faith is, however, is that it ultimately boils down to personal values. It always does. At some point, all people of faith come to that spot in the third Indiana Jones movie when all he can do is to step out in faith. That ‘leap of faith’ is a reality.
Which brings me to my point----No one can be definitive about God. We cannot even be definitive about a lack of God. Jillette says that you cannot prove a negative which is true; but with God you cannot prove a positive either. If one believes in God, and I do believe in God, that last step always needs to be a step out in faith. We can reason our way to a limited understanding of God, but we cannot definitely prove that God exists and we cannot prove God’s definitive will or worldview on anything. There is no one of any particular religion or denomination of any particular religion who can speak definitively about God. Christians claim that the only one who could ever do that was Jesus Christ as God’s Son, who was, according to our faith, God Incarnate. Anyone who believes they totally understand the totality of Jesus by reading the Gospels is missing the key point of the Gospels. Much of Jesus is beyond our comprehension.
To me, as a Christian Minister, this is good news. I like and appreciate a God who is beyond human understanding. To me, a God who I can totally understand is not worth having as a God. God is bigger and wiser, and better than any of our projections. That is, in my mind, a good thing.
For Mr. Jillette my faith in God is only a fairy tale and he is entitled to his opinion. Mr. Santorum believes my faith to be phone and he is entitled to his opinion. People who disagree with them, however, are also entitled to their opinions without ridicule as being fools or phonies.
Magician, comedian, and entertainer, Penn Jillette wrote a column in which he firm states, ‘there is no God.’ His premise, of course, is that belief in God is irrational and because of all the evil done in God’s name, it places the responsibility of evil on God without blaming on a non-existent entity. He states that such things as forgiveness come to us because of human charity or forgetfulness and that when people suffer we do not need outside explanations as to why things like this happen. Needless to say, if one has faith in God, Mr. Jillette’s statements can be seen as a personal affront.
Former Pennsylvania Senator, Rick Santorum, who is a current Presidential candidate first bashed Mainline Protestantism and then stated that President Obama’s theology is a phony theology. Considering that when President Obama has spoken of faith his theology has sounded very much Mainline Protestant and very United Church of Christ, which makes sense since his church background was in the United Church of Christ. Needless to say, if one is a Mainline Protestant and, more specifically, a member of the United Church of Christ, Mr. Santorum’s statement can be seen as a personal affront.
Having said this, I cannot say that I am going to lose any sleep over the fact that neither Mr. Jillette nor Mr. Santorum agree with my theological worldview. Mr. Jillette sees me as believing in little more than a fairy tale and Mr. Santorum seems me as having a phony theology. They are both entitled to their opinions as I am entitled to my opinion. I will also not attack either of their theological worldviews for the same reason I don’t believe they had any right presuming mine is a fairy tale of phony. Religious faith, it seems, has some rationality with a great sense of irrationality. And irrationality is not always a bad thing.
In Carl Jung’s personality type functions judgment is either seen as Thinking or Feeling. Thinking is often seen as objective, totally rational, and fact based. Feeling is often seen as subjective, personal more than rational, and on values. While theology is a rational subject it often uses faith, which is actually more irrational, as its starting point. Theology often attempts to articulate what faith cannot.
In stating this, I am not stating that only crazy irrational people have faith. Many people of faith are highly educated and can articulate, theologically, very serious issues concerning faith. The thing about faith is, however, is that it ultimately boils down to personal values. It always does. At some point, all people of faith come to that spot in the third Indiana Jones movie when all he can do is to step out in faith. That ‘leap of faith’ is a reality.
Which brings me to my point----No one can be definitive about God. We cannot even be definitive about a lack of God. Jillette says that you cannot prove a negative which is true; but with God you cannot prove a positive either. If one believes in God, and I do believe in God, that last step always needs to be a step out in faith. We can reason our way to a limited understanding of God, but we cannot definitely prove that God exists and we cannot prove God’s definitive will or worldview on anything. There is no one of any particular religion or denomination of any particular religion who can speak definitively about God. Christians claim that the only one who could ever do that was Jesus Christ as God’s Son, who was, according to our faith, God Incarnate. Anyone who believes they totally understand the totality of Jesus by reading the Gospels is missing the key point of the Gospels. Much of Jesus is beyond our comprehension.
To me, as a Christian Minister, this is good news. I like and appreciate a God who is beyond human understanding. To me, a God who I can totally understand is not worth having as a God. God is bigger and wiser, and better than any of our projections. That is, in my mind, a good thing.
For Mr. Jillette my faith in God is only a fairy tale and he is entitled to his opinion. Mr. Santorum believes my faith to be phone and he is entitled to his opinion. People who disagree with them, however, are also entitled to their opinions without ridicule as being fools or phonies.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Radical Hospitality
I haven't been blogging enough and think I need to get back to doing so. Bear with me.
I have been working on a sabbatical grant proposal through Lilly. The process has been really good for me. I determined I wanted to develop a them of hospitality and spirituality. My goal is to visit several Benedictine monasteries and spend time there learning about their hospitality and spirituality. St. Benedict saw a great spiritual benefit in hospitality and the monasteries all extend hospitality to visitors----and have done so since their inception.
Churches ought to be places of hospitality. Sometimes we do so by providing nice places to sit, some places offer coffee or snacks, the temperature is comfortable, and the bulletins are readable. All good things. Oh, and someone shakes your hand and says, "Hi! Welcome!"
But do we really welcome people? I have been told that my church is RADIAL and that I belong to a RADICAL denomination and that RADICAL label is usually always about one thing. We welcome everyone. Period. Slam dunk. And some of the 'everyone's' happen to be gay. This makes us radical and unusual because we accept everyone as they are and don't feel a need to 'fix' people who really don't have any desire or reason to be fixed. We accept people as they are and extend radical hospitality to everyone.
This is what makes us radical or odd or unusual. I wonder why, however, we are so unusual. I have been lectured, over the years, by people angry that we, I, am promoting sinful behavior. Of course, all the lecturers were, like me, sinful people also. I never felt and do not feel we promote sinful behavior. We simply promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ which embraces and loves everyone. We extend radical hospitality even though it's really not all that radical. We are simply doing what Jesus asked us to do.
I have been working on a sabbatical grant proposal through Lilly. The process has been really good for me. I determined I wanted to develop a them of hospitality and spirituality. My goal is to visit several Benedictine monasteries and spend time there learning about their hospitality and spirituality. St. Benedict saw a great spiritual benefit in hospitality and the monasteries all extend hospitality to visitors----and have done so since their inception.
Churches ought to be places of hospitality. Sometimes we do so by providing nice places to sit, some places offer coffee or snacks, the temperature is comfortable, and the bulletins are readable. All good things. Oh, and someone shakes your hand and says, "Hi! Welcome!"
But do we really welcome people? I have been told that my church is RADIAL and that I belong to a RADICAL denomination and that RADICAL label is usually always about one thing. We welcome everyone. Period. Slam dunk. And some of the 'everyone's' happen to be gay. This makes us radical and unusual because we accept everyone as they are and don't feel a need to 'fix' people who really don't have any desire or reason to be fixed. We accept people as they are and extend radical hospitality to everyone.
This is what makes us radical or odd or unusual. I wonder why, however, we are so unusual. I have been lectured, over the years, by people angry that we, I, am promoting sinful behavior. Of course, all the lecturers were, like me, sinful people also. I never felt and do not feel we promote sinful behavior. We simply promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ which embraces and loves everyone. We extend radical hospitality even though it's really not all that radical. We are simply doing what Jesus asked us to do.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Too Wonderful to Be Silent---Sunday's Sermon
Too Wonderful to Be Silent
Text: Mark 1:40-45
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
February 12, 2012
It was 1873, and Dr. Armauer Hansen of Norway had astounding news for the world: leprosy was caused by a bacterium (Mycobacterium leprae). Until then, the disease was thought to be from a curse or sinful ways. The disease was renamed and called Hansen’s disease and is now readily treated----but it rarely afflicts people.
Modern medicine knows that leprosy is spread when an untreated infected person coughs or sneezes (but not by sexual contact or pregnancy). However, leprosy is not very contagious; approximately 95% of people have natural immunity to the disease. People with leprosy who are treated with medication do not need to be isolated from society. (Historically, people with leprosy were sent to "lepers' colonies" on remote islands or in special hospitals.)
In Jesus’ day, however, leprosy was a cursed disease.
People were isolated and shunned by society.
People suffered greatly because their nerve endings died and they couldn’t feel anything, making them prey to all sorts of parasites, etc.
They were also condemned by society because leprosy was seen as a curse which was a punishment for sin, dreadful sin. A person afflicted with leprosy was perceived as a horrible sinner----at least to the people around them. There was never any thought that it was a random affliction and had nothing to do with the moral conduct of a person.
So it is that a leper comes to Jesus begging to be healed. Jesus is moved with compassion and heals the man and tells him to go give thanks to God according to the prescriptions of Moses. But Jesus also has a warning----don’t tell anyone who healed you.
Two things were at stake because a healing like this was going to cause a huge response.
For one, any chance of Jesus going anywhere quietly was going to end. People would swarm him, asking for help.
Secondly, there were going to be questions. Lepers were sinners. Lepers were recipients of God’s harshest judgment. No compassion was in order towards lepers. They were outcasts to society----they were the people no one loved----they were God’s most hated people. Who did Jesus think he was to offer compassion?
But...
The man who is healed cannot hold it in. He announces to the world that Jesus had healed him. When the news is too wonderful to be silent he can’t do anything except share it with the world.
There are all sorts of lessons in this story of Jesus healing the leper.
The first lesson is about the overwhelming generosity and compassion of Jesus. Jesus loved people first and foremost. On occasion, sometimes we get it.
Here's a story about Fiorello LaGuardia who was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of W.W.II. He was adored by many New Yorkers who took to calling him the "Little Flower," because he was so short and always wore a carnation in his lapel.
He was a colorful character -- he rode the New York City fire trucks, raided city "speak easies" with the police department, took entire orphanages to baseball games, and when the New York newspapers went on strike, he got on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids.
One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving.
But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor," the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson."
LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said, "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions. Ten dollars or ten days in jail."
The fine, by today’s standards, would have been in the neighborhood of $165.00 which, for a person with no money, is an impossible amount.
But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous hat, saying, "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents, eight dollars in today’s money, for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr.Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."
The following day, New York City newspapers reported that $47.50, a bit more than $775.00 in today’s money, was turned over to a bewildered woman who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren. Fifty cents of that amount was contributed by the grocery store owner himself, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.
Someone beautifully said:
"Sympathy sees and says, 'I'm sorry.'
Compassion sees and says, 'I'll help.'
When we learn the difference, we can make a difference. When we learn the difference, we begin to understand Jesus.
Jesus reached out with great compassion, a compassion filled with justice, but always a justice based on love.
A second lesson is about the leper. He has to share the good news with people. He is so filled with gratitude for what Jesus had done for him, that he began to proclaim it to anyone and everyone who would hear him.
I think, at times, our approach to the issue of faith and gratitude to God is an attitude that response to God is good, response to God is appropriate, but we shouldn’t get carried away.
Think about this for a second. Who have you shared your faith with of late?
If you like it here at St. Marks, have you invited someone to come with you----or is that getting carried away?
If you saw someone you didn’t know sitting in the pews around you, did you talk to them, and get to know them as a brother or sister in Christ, or is that getting carried away?
If you like St. Marks, and so many people tell me they love their church, who have you invited lately, or shared with friends and family about how much you love your church?
Ponder something for a moment. If you eat at a good restaurant do you tell people about it? Do you invite friends and say, “Hey let’s go to dinner there?” Of course!
Or, if you see a great movie, do you tell everyone? Of course.
Or if you love football, do you tell everyone that you love football and that you love your favorite team? I know I do. I drive people crazy talking about the Giants, but you already know that. Of course, sports’ fans always love to talk about their teams.
My point is, of course, that we share excitedly about so many things in our lives but often we don’t share much about church.
Here, however, in the Gospel of Mark is an opposite example. Jesus does not want this man he healed to share this news. For Jesus there were all sorts of reasons for not wanting the leper to share often reasons beyond our comprehension.
But for this man who was healed by Jesus this was too wonderful to be silent. He HAD to share the good news.
The lessons of this story are two-fold.
One is about the goodness and love of God; the other is the fact that the news is too wonderful to keep silent. Let us rejoice in God’s goodness; and share that Good News with others.
Text: Mark 1:40-45
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
February 12, 2012
It was 1873, and Dr. Armauer Hansen of Norway had astounding news for the world: leprosy was caused by a bacterium (Mycobacterium leprae). Until then, the disease was thought to be from a curse or sinful ways. The disease was renamed and called Hansen’s disease and is now readily treated----but it rarely afflicts people.
Modern medicine knows that leprosy is spread when an untreated infected person coughs or sneezes (but not by sexual contact or pregnancy). However, leprosy is not very contagious; approximately 95% of people have natural immunity to the disease. People with leprosy who are treated with medication do not need to be isolated from society. (Historically, people with leprosy were sent to "lepers' colonies" on remote islands or in special hospitals.)
In Jesus’ day, however, leprosy was a cursed disease.
People were isolated and shunned by society.
People suffered greatly because their nerve endings died and they couldn’t feel anything, making them prey to all sorts of parasites, etc.
They were also condemned by society because leprosy was seen as a curse which was a punishment for sin, dreadful sin. A person afflicted with leprosy was perceived as a horrible sinner----at least to the people around them. There was never any thought that it was a random affliction and had nothing to do with the moral conduct of a person.
So it is that a leper comes to Jesus begging to be healed. Jesus is moved with compassion and heals the man and tells him to go give thanks to God according to the prescriptions of Moses. But Jesus also has a warning----don’t tell anyone who healed you.
Two things were at stake because a healing like this was going to cause a huge response.
For one, any chance of Jesus going anywhere quietly was going to end. People would swarm him, asking for help.
Secondly, there were going to be questions. Lepers were sinners. Lepers were recipients of God’s harshest judgment. No compassion was in order towards lepers. They were outcasts to society----they were the people no one loved----they were God’s most hated people. Who did Jesus think he was to offer compassion?
But...
The man who is healed cannot hold it in. He announces to the world that Jesus had healed him. When the news is too wonderful to be silent he can’t do anything except share it with the world.
There are all sorts of lessons in this story of Jesus healing the leper.
The first lesson is about the overwhelming generosity and compassion of Jesus. Jesus loved people first and foremost. On occasion, sometimes we get it.
Here's a story about Fiorello LaGuardia who was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of W.W.II. He was adored by many New Yorkers who took to calling him the "Little Flower," because he was so short and always wore a carnation in his lapel.
He was a colorful character -- he rode the New York City fire trucks, raided city "speak easies" with the police department, took entire orphanages to baseball games, and when the New York newspapers went on strike, he got on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids.
One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving.
But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor," the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson."
LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said, "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions. Ten dollars or ten days in jail."
The fine, by today’s standards, would have been in the neighborhood of $165.00 which, for a person with no money, is an impossible amount.
But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous hat, saying, "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents, eight dollars in today’s money, for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr.Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."
The following day, New York City newspapers reported that $47.50, a bit more than $775.00 in today’s money, was turned over to a bewildered woman who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren. Fifty cents of that amount was contributed by the grocery store owner himself, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.
Someone beautifully said:
"Sympathy sees and says, 'I'm sorry.'
Compassion sees and says, 'I'll help.'
When we learn the difference, we can make a difference. When we learn the difference, we begin to understand Jesus.
Jesus reached out with great compassion, a compassion filled with justice, but always a justice based on love.
A second lesson is about the leper. He has to share the good news with people. He is so filled with gratitude for what Jesus had done for him, that he began to proclaim it to anyone and everyone who would hear him.
I think, at times, our approach to the issue of faith and gratitude to God is an attitude that response to God is good, response to God is appropriate, but we shouldn’t get carried away.
Think about this for a second. Who have you shared your faith with of late?
If you like it here at St. Marks, have you invited someone to come with you----or is that getting carried away?
If you saw someone you didn’t know sitting in the pews around you, did you talk to them, and get to know them as a brother or sister in Christ, or is that getting carried away?
If you like St. Marks, and so many people tell me they love their church, who have you invited lately, or shared with friends and family about how much you love your church?
Ponder something for a moment. If you eat at a good restaurant do you tell people about it? Do you invite friends and say, “Hey let’s go to dinner there?” Of course!
Or, if you see a great movie, do you tell everyone? Of course.
Or if you love football, do you tell everyone that you love football and that you love your favorite team? I know I do. I drive people crazy talking about the Giants, but you already know that. Of course, sports’ fans always love to talk about their teams.
My point is, of course, that we share excitedly about so many things in our lives but often we don’t share much about church.
Here, however, in the Gospel of Mark is an opposite example. Jesus does not want this man he healed to share this news. For Jesus there were all sorts of reasons for not wanting the leper to share often reasons beyond our comprehension.
But for this man who was healed by Jesus this was too wonderful to be silent. He HAD to share the good news.
The lessons of this story are two-fold.
One is about the goodness and love of God; the other is the fact that the news is too wonderful to keep silent. Let us rejoice in God’s goodness; and share that Good News with others.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
It Takes a Church (Sermon Sunday January 29, 2012
It Takes a Church
Text: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
January 29, 2012
You may have come to Worship this morning and listened to the scripture reading about consuming the meat sacrificed to idols and were bewildered. You have never been confronted with worrying about eating food sacrificed to Zeus, Apollo, or Baal. It doesn’t really seem to apply to us very much.
Underlying all of this was a complex issue.
In Corinth there were many temples to idols and people made animal sacrifices to those idols. The temples would then sell the meat to people to consume in a meal or something like that. For followers of the idols the meat was sacred; for others it was merely good meat. People often sacrificed their finest to the idols and so the meat sacrificed to the idols was merely a delicious commodity. So there was the question. Was eating this food a sin?
Many of the Christians in Corinth availed themselves of this. Many things in life change, but people’s love of a good steak hasn’t changed all that much over the centuries.
The problem was, for some within the Christian community, this had become a problem. They saw Christians eating this fine meat and they thought that the people were somehow sinning by worshiping multiple gods. So Paul was presented the problem. Is it a sin to eat this meat that was sacrificed to the idols?
His answer is a brilliant one. Since people had the knowledge that these idols were false idols and since people weren’t worshiping those idols, theoretically they were doing nothing wrong. They were merely enjoying a fine cut of meat. However....
If the people in the community were scandalized by this, if people in the church family didn’t have the knowledge or understanding of this, and if it threatened people’s faith, Paul goes on to say, don’t eat the meat that had been sacrificed to the idols. It was, he states, the responsibility of the strong to support the weak. The church was a family and everyone was responsible for the well being of one another.
There are several lessons in all of this. The first lesson is this. It takes a church to raise a Christian.
There is an old African proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child. This imagery became somewhat controversial because Hillary Clinton used this proverb as a title for her book and the concept became politicized. I will leave that issue up to everyone to discuss among yourselves or debate over lunch.
However, whatever your opinion is about children and villages, please note that it takes a church to raise a Christian. In 2000 years of Christianity, this hasn’t changed very much.
St. Paul wrote this letter to the people in the city of Corinth around 55 AD. The Christian Church of that era bore very little resemblance to the Christian Church of now.
Any organization of the Christian Church would not come until the beginning for the 4th century, almost 250 years later. Early Christianity did not have much of a structure, no real hierarchy, or organization. There was no set way to Worship, there were no hymnals and the New Testament didn’t exist. In fact, the Gospel of Mark, the first Gospel to be written, was actually not even written yet when St. Paul wrote these words. Whenever Christians of our era compare themselves to Christianity of that era, we need to do so recognizing the world and the Christian Church was vastly different.
But there was a constant and it was the need for a community, a family of believers. People needed to take care of one another then, and they need to take care of one another now. The people who are strong in faith are responsible for the people who are weak in faith. That is Paul’s point. We may be people strong in faith, but we are responsible for the well-being of those who are weaker than we are.
It is one of the reasons we raise children in church. It’s interesting to note something.
Several years ago someone wrote to an advice column written by Billy Graham. They said that their 18 year old daughter was going away to college. The parents confessed that they had not paid much attention to their daughter and had not done a really good job raising her. What, they asked, could they do now to assure that their daughter would do well and conduct herself well, when she was out of the nest.
Billy Graham’s answer was really pretty jolting. He said, “Nothing.” They had missed their opportunity to do this. It was now too late and their only hope was to pray that their daughter had learned good values along the way.
One of the reasons we raise children in church is because it is a place where values are taught and lived out. It takes a church to raise a Christian. If we want to live out our Baptismal promises, however, and if we want children to grow up with the values we can teach in church, then it’s important that we see the value of it taking a church to raise a Christian.
And, of course, Paul’s point is this. We are responsible for one another, in church, and responsible for not doing things that negatively impact the faith of others. Which goes back to the food sacrificed to idols.
If the people in the community were scandalized by this, if people in the church family didn’t have the knowledge or understanding of this, and if it threatened people’s faith, Paul goes on to say, don’t eat the meat that had been sacrificed to the idols. It was, he states, the responsibility of the strong to support the weak. The church was a family and everyone was responsible for the well-being of one another.
The second aspect of this is a lesson from St. Paul to know what we are about as a church.
The Christian Church exists and has always existed for one reason. We exist to bring people to Christ. Our Mission Statement about reaching up, out, beyond, and within is built on the premise of bringing people to Christ. Every church in the world, if it’s remotely faithful, exists to bring people to Christ. When we forget this, we forget who and what we are. The world of commerce has taught us huge lessons.
Eastman Kodak, a historic blue-chip American company, recently filed for bankruptcy. The problem is that the company failed because it didn’t adapt to the digital age. Ironically, it was Kodak who developed digital photography but they failed to capitalize on it because they forgot who and what they were.
The problem with Kodak is that they were the leading manufacturer of film. Eastman Kodak thought they were in the yellow film box business. In truth, they were in the picture business and people stopped buying film because most of the cameras on the market were digital. Kodak fell so far behind in making digital cameras that they got crushed. The forgot who and what they were.
They weren’t the first to make this mistake. In the late 1800s, no business matched the financial and political dominance of the railroad.
Then a new discovery came along — the car — and incredibly, the leaders of the railroad industry did not take advantage of their unique position to participate in this transportation development. The automotive revolution was happening all around them, and they did not use their industry dominance to take hold of the opportunity. They couldn’t figure out why people would ride in a car when they could ride on a train instead. They forgot their real purpose----transportation.
In the 1980’s one company in the United States was primed to be the largest manufacturer of computers and software. If I told you that you had to guess, there would be three probably answers over and over again. They would be Microsoft, Apple, and IBM. Microsoft and Apple benefited from the mistake of this company and IBM completely missed the boat.
The company that was primed, however, was Xerox. They had developed the graphic interface system that became the underpinning for the Windows operating system and the Mac operating system. They developed a Word Processing software with a design that was ‘what you see is what you get,’ along with the machines to run it.
They, however, got rid of it because they saw themselves just as a copy machine company instead of a document producing company.
Which brings me back to a point of this lesson.
Paul was making a point that, as a people of Jesus Christ, our priority is to win disciples for Christ. It is not about pushing the envelope of our lives, but living our faith as an example for others. When we cause scandal for others, just so we can have fun, we are missing the point.
This passage is not about Zeus, Apollo, or Baal or even just the people in Corinth. It is not just a lesson for a people in a church vastly different from our’s, but a lesson for all generations, reminding us the joy of being together, but also, more importantly, the responsibility of being a family of faith who never loses sight of who and what we are about.
Text: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
January 29, 2012
You may have come to Worship this morning and listened to the scripture reading about consuming the meat sacrificed to idols and were bewildered. You have never been confronted with worrying about eating food sacrificed to Zeus, Apollo, or Baal. It doesn’t really seem to apply to us very much.
Underlying all of this was a complex issue.
In Corinth there were many temples to idols and people made animal sacrifices to those idols. The temples would then sell the meat to people to consume in a meal or something like that. For followers of the idols the meat was sacred; for others it was merely good meat. People often sacrificed their finest to the idols and so the meat sacrificed to the idols was merely a delicious commodity. So there was the question. Was eating this food a sin?
Many of the Christians in Corinth availed themselves of this. Many things in life change, but people’s love of a good steak hasn’t changed all that much over the centuries.
The problem was, for some within the Christian community, this had become a problem. They saw Christians eating this fine meat and they thought that the people were somehow sinning by worshiping multiple gods. So Paul was presented the problem. Is it a sin to eat this meat that was sacrificed to the idols?
His answer is a brilliant one. Since people had the knowledge that these idols were false idols and since people weren’t worshiping those idols, theoretically they were doing nothing wrong. They were merely enjoying a fine cut of meat. However....
If the people in the community were scandalized by this, if people in the church family didn’t have the knowledge or understanding of this, and if it threatened people’s faith, Paul goes on to say, don’t eat the meat that had been sacrificed to the idols. It was, he states, the responsibility of the strong to support the weak. The church was a family and everyone was responsible for the well being of one another.
There are several lessons in all of this. The first lesson is this. It takes a church to raise a Christian.
There is an old African proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child. This imagery became somewhat controversial because Hillary Clinton used this proverb as a title for her book and the concept became politicized. I will leave that issue up to everyone to discuss among yourselves or debate over lunch.
However, whatever your opinion is about children and villages, please note that it takes a church to raise a Christian. In 2000 years of Christianity, this hasn’t changed very much.
St. Paul wrote this letter to the people in the city of Corinth around 55 AD. The Christian Church of that era bore very little resemblance to the Christian Church of now.
Any organization of the Christian Church would not come until the beginning for the 4th century, almost 250 years later. Early Christianity did not have much of a structure, no real hierarchy, or organization. There was no set way to Worship, there were no hymnals and the New Testament didn’t exist. In fact, the Gospel of Mark, the first Gospel to be written, was actually not even written yet when St. Paul wrote these words. Whenever Christians of our era compare themselves to Christianity of that era, we need to do so recognizing the world and the Christian Church was vastly different.
But there was a constant and it was the need for a community, a family of believers. People needed to take care of one another then, and they need to take care of one another now. The people who are strong in faith are responsible for the people who are weak in faith. That is Paul’s point. We may be people strong in faith, but we are responsible for the well-being of those who are weaker than we are.
It is one of the reasons we raise children in church. It’s interesting to note something.
Several years ago someone wrote to an advice column written by Billy Graham. They said that their 18 year old daughter was going away to college. The parents confessed that they had not paid much attention to their daughter and had not done a really good job raising her. What, they asked, could they do now to assure that their daughter would do well and conduct herself well, when she was out of the nest.
Billy Graham’s answer was really pretty jolting. He said, “Nothing.” They had missed their opportunity to do this. It was now too late and their only hope was to pray that their daughter had learned good values along the way.
One of the reasons we raise children in church is because it is a place where values are taught and lived out. It takes a church to raise a Christian. If we want to live out our Baptismal promises, however, and if we want children to grow up with the values we can teach in church, then it’s important that we see the value of it taking a church to raise a Christian.
And, of course, Paul’s point is this. We are responsible for one another, in church, and responsible for not doing things that negatively impact the faith of others. Which goes back to the food sacrificed to idols.
If the people in the community were scandalized by this, if people in the church family didn’t have the knowledge or understanding of this, and if it threatened people’s faith, Paul goes on to say, don’t eat the meat that had been sacrificed to the idols. It was, he states, the responsibility of the strong to support the weak. The church was a family and everyone was responsible for the well-being of one another.
The second aspect of this is a lesson from St. Paul to know what we are about as a church.
The Christian Church exists and has always existed for one reason. We exist to bring people to Christ. Our Mission Statement about reaching up, out, beyond, and within is built on the premise of bringing people to Christ. Every church in the world, if it’s remotely faithful, exists to bring people to Christ. When we forget this, we forget who and what we are. The world of commerce has taught us huge lessons.
Eastman Kodak, a historic blue-chip American company, recently filed for bankruptcy. The problem is that the company failed because it didn’t adapt to the digital age. Ironically, it was Kodak who developed digital photography but they failed to capitalize on it because they forgot who and what they were.
The problem with Kodak is that they were the leading manufacturer of film. Eastman Kodak thought they were in the yellow film box business. In truth, they were in the picture business and people stopped buying film because most of the cameras on the market were digital. Kodak fell so far behind in making digital cameras that they got crushed. The forgot who and what they were.
They weren’t the first to make this mistake. In the late 1800s, no business matched the financial and political dominance of the railroad.
Then a new discovery came along — the car — and incredibly, the leaders of the railroad industry did not take advantage of their unique position to participate in this transportation development. The automotive revolution was happening all around them, and they did not use their industry dominance to take hold of the opportunity. They couldn’t figure out why people would ride in a car when they could ride on a train instead. They forgot their real purpose----transportation.
In the 1980’s one company in the United States was primed to be the largest manufacturer of computers and software. If I told you that you had to guess, there would be three probably answers over and over again. They would be Microsoft, Apple, and IBM. Microsoft and Apple benefited from the mistake of this company and IBM completely missed the boat.
The company that was primed, however, was Xerox. They had developed the graphic interface system that became the underpinning for the Windows operating system and the Mac operating system. They developed a Word Processing software with a design that was ‘what you see is what you get,’ along with the machines to run it.
They, however, got rid of it because they saw themselves just as a copy machine company instead of a document producing company.
Which brings me back to a point of this lesson.
Paul was making a point that, as a people of Jesus Christ, our priority is to win disciples for Christ. It is not about pushing the envelope of our lives, but living our faith as an example for others. When we cause scandal for others, just so we can have fun, we are missing the point.
This passage is not about Zeus, Apollo, or Baal or even just the people in Corinth. It is not just a lesson for a people in a church vastly different from our’s, but a lesson for all generations, reminding us the joy of being together, but also, more importantly, the responsibility of being a family of faith who never loses sight of who and what we are about.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Honor and Shame and A Poor Choice
There is a video which has surfaced with is alleged to have several Marine urinating on the bodies of killed Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. It is unconfirmed, at this time, that these were, in fact, Marines. Most people are hoping this is not the case, but that may just be hopeful thinking at this time.
Our military does, for the most part, an amazing job. Many of them suffer grievously for being placed in harm's way and even after they come home they often suffer trauma. They deserve our utmost respect and gratitude. The vast majority of those who serve our country in uniform do so in a way that makes and keeps us proud.
The Marine Corps has had a long and incredibly proud history. I have had the privilege of knowing many people who served in the Marines. No branch of the military seems to inspire more loyalty than the Marines. The are the proud and the few..deservedly so.
And then this video showed up.
Combat and war inspire hate. Engaging in mortal combat is not a dispassionate event. Combat is personal with people aiming and shooting at one another. The combination of fear and violence and mortal combat inspires hatred in most human beings. That hatred often continues when white flags of surrender are waved or even upon the death of one's enemy. We have cringed seeing the bodies of our troops desecrated and now we cringe again. It appears like American soldiers are desecrating the remains of their enemy.
It's bad and I wish the Marines, if if turns out they were Marines, had thought about their brothers and sisters in arms. They have raised the temperature of battle and inflamed people against them and against their colleagues.
In the Middle East, among those we are fighting, there is a world view of honor and shame. We can be humiliated and often overlook it, but their culture does not. It is a culture rooted with an ancient concept of honor and shame. Their is nothing worse than being dishonored and being shamed. Nothing. By bringing shame to the bodies of their enemy, these soldiers have brought shame to the people they fight. It was a bad decision and a bad move.
We can only pray for peace to prevail and for God's grace to remind us to never demean others. Even our enemies.
Our military does, for the most part, an amazing job. Many of them suffer grievously for being placed in harm's way and even after they come home they often suffer trauma. They deserve our utmost respect and gratitude. The vast majority of those who serve our country in uniform do so in a way that makes and keeps us proud.
The Marine Corps has had a long and incredibly proud history. I have had the privilege of knowing many people who served in the Marines. No branch of the military seems to inspire more loyalty than the Marines. The are the proud and the few..deservedly so.
And then this video showed up.
Combat and war inspire hate. Engaging in mortal combat is not a dispassionate event. Combat is personal with people aiming and shooting at one another. The combination of fear and violence and mortal combat inspires hatred in most human beings. That hatred often continues when white flags of surrender are waved or even upon the death of one's enemy. We have cringed seeing the bodies of our troops desecrated and now we cringe again. It appears like American soldiers are desecrating the remains of their enemy.
It's bad and I wish the Marines, if if turns out they were Marines, had thought about their brothers and sisters in arms. They have raised the temperature of battle and inflamed people against them and against their colleagues.
In the Middle East, among those we are fighting, there is a world view of honor and shame. We can be humiliated and often overlook it, but their culture does not. It is a culture rooted with an ancient concept of honor and shame. Their is nothing worse than being dishonored and being shamed. Nothing. By bringing shame to the bodies of their enemy, these soldiers have brought shame to the people they fight. It was a bad decision and a bad move.
We can only pray for peace to prevail and for God's grace to remind us to never demean others. Even our enemies.
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Taking the Plunge: Baptism (Sermon for 1/8/12
Taking the Plunge: Baptism
Text: Mark 1:4-11
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
January 8, 2012
Several years ago I was at an ecumenical clergy meeting and one of the ministers in the group announced that he had never been Baptized.
The group was, needless to say, quite surprised. Here, after all, was an ordained minister, a man who had Baptized many people, who presided at weddings and at funerals, a man who was a leader within the Christian community.
And he had never been Baptized. His parents were not church goers and he had never gone to any kind of church until he was in college. He joined a church and became involved and no one ever asked him if he had been Baptized. As time went on he decided he wanted to attend seminary and was interviewed extensively and asked 1001 questions, but was never asked if he had been Baptized. He went to seminary and was ordained three years later, again, without anyone ever discussing Baptism with him. And, in every church he ever served, lots of questions asked, but never asking him if he had been Baptized.
So here he was, years later, the pastor of a church, and he had never been Baptized. And he shared this information with a group of clergy.
The group all decided that we had to Baptize him.
Some of us wanted to sprinkle some water on him and say the words--after all, that was a part of our tradition. The Roman Catholic priest in the group wanted to pour water, as was the Roman Catholic tradition.
There were a couple of ministers from the Church of the Brethren. They wanted to immerse him, facing forward. Two Baptist ministers in the group wanted to immerse him falling backwards, as was their tradition.
We laughed a lot and remarked on how we all had different baptismal traditions--some we somehow missed something.
Our colleague left the meeting and was not Baptized. We were too busy debating on how Baptisms should be done, that we never got around to Baptizing our colleague. I look back on this, some 27 years later and think about how we had failed our colleague and friend so badly.
Sadly, that is what Baptism is often about. Several years ago I was called by a member of the clergy in another state where a person who grew up at St. Marks was now attending. The pastor of this church wanted to know the exact wording of the Baptism performed by Rev. Trnka in 1980 would have been because if Rev. Trnka had not used the precise wording, the Baptism didn’t count and the person would have to be Baptized----correctly this time.
My thought was, really? This is all Baptism means? We have to get the method and the words exactly right in order for it to count?
We debate on how to do it and when to do it, to the point that we miss exactly what Baptism actually is all about. Let’s look at what some of these things really are about.
The first is about submission to God.
Now I say this, take a breath and a pause, because we in the United Church of Christ are not noted for being great submitters. We generally answer theological questions by starting, “Well, in my opinion….” Submission does not come easily for us but when we look at this passage, we note something that is incredibly profound. Jesus submitted to John the Baptist in order to be Baptized. It is an action of God submitting to a person. Jesus did it again when he washed the disciples’ feet. God submitted to people in order to serve people.
And God invites us to submit to His will. This, of course, requires time, patience, prayer, and study. A lot of what passes for God’s will is our own wills that we give God the credit or the blame for. Not everything that we say or anyone says is God’s will is really God’s will.
I’ve used examples like this before, but it’s worth repeating.
When we lived in Ohio there was a bakery in town with wonderful jelly doughnuts. I’d often say to myself, if it’s God’s will for me to have a couple of jelly doughnuts today, there will be a parking space open in front of the bakery. In every case I wanted jelly doughnuts there was a space open. It often took three or four trips around the block for God’s will to show forth, but it always did.
And that is often how we deal with God’s will. WE want something, WE desire something, and WE do everything we can to make it happen. And then we give God the credit….or the blame. God’s will is something we all grapple with a great deal and we need to learn to submit to it when it requires us to change and grow. Sometimes God’s will is not consistent with our own desire or our own will. Submission is something we need to learn and grow into.
The second aspect of Baptism is about cleansing. It is a time of cleansing us of our sins and our short-comings.
There’s a great story about a church, a Roman Catholic Church, where the pastor, Father Jones, was celebrating his 10 Anniversary as the pastor of the church. They planned a nice dinner and one of the speakers at the dinner was one of the state’s two Senators who was a member of the church and was flying home from Washington to help honor the pastor.
There were several people scheduled to speak with the Senator being first. However, his flight was delayed so he had not yet arrived when people began to speak. After a while, the pastor spoke. He said:
“When I arrived here one of the first things I did was listen to confessions from people. The first person who came into the confessional told me that he had cheated on his wife repeatedly during their marriage; he had embezzled money from two businesses, and double-crossed his partners in another business. I was wondering what kind of place I had come to. It turns out, whoever that first person was, turned out to be an exception and that the church was filled with wonderful people.”
Everyone applauded and it was all fine. After a little while, the Senator finally got there and was invited to speak. He stood up and said:
“I have always had a special place in my heart for Father Jones. He doesn’t know it, but he and I have always had a special bond. I was the very first person to go to confession to him although I’m sure he’s long since forgotten.”
Reality is, most of us aren’t as bad as this Senator, but we all struggle with issues, short-comings, and sins and the reality of life is that we all want and all need to be forgiven of sin.
There have been parts of church history where people waited until the end of their lives for the cleansing action of Baptism. Their aspiration was to have their sins forgiven without having to make any changes in their lives. They wanted the forgiveness aspect of Baptism without the submission-----whereas both are significant.
Baptism is a reminder that this cleansing God gives to us is not a one-time thing, but something we ought to seek over and over again. We don’t need to come to the water for forgiveness, but come to God praying for forgiveness. We don’t need to confess to any person, but we need, on occasion, simply to come before God’s presence and unburden ourselves. Baptism is an ongoing reminder that God offers us cleansing and we need to avail ourselves of this. No one is perfect and God’s grace offers us forgiveness every day.
The last thing is this. Baptism gives us a gift that most people seem to miss or ignore. Baptism gives us a family; a group of people who claim us as one of their own.
I have noticed something about myself over the years I have lived. Whenever something good happened to me, I had to talk to my family and whenever something painful or difficult took place, I had to talk to my family. Families gather for celebrations such as weddings, and heartaches such as funerals. We need people who love us around us in joyful and difficult times of life.
When we are Baptized we are Baptized into a family of faith. And it’s not just the family of faith where we are Baptized; it is a family of faith that stretches to all the ends of the earth. Baptism is a reminder that we are part of something far bigger and far greater than ourselves.
We are part of a family that has lived in this house for many years. The DNA of the people of faith, who have founded this church and whose memory and spirit live with us, is something we are bound too. It is a family that stretches into every church in every nation, both far and close by. It is a bonding to a family of faith that goes back to the apostles, and to Jesus standing in the river, submitting to John the Baptist. St. Paul says it so beautifully in Galatians when he says:
27As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.”
Baptism reminds us we are not alone. We have family and nothing is more beautiful than that.
Baptism is a rare and special gift to us from God. Let’s move beyond petty debates, and celebrate it is a chance to submit to a magnificent God, be cleansed from the times we fail, and delight in being part of God’s family.
Text: Mark 1:4-11
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
January 8, 2012
Several years ago I was at an ecumenical clergy meeting and one of the ministers in the group announced that he had never been Baptized.
The group was, needless to say, quite surprised. Here, after all, was an ordained minister, a man who had Baptized many people, who presided at weddings and at funerals, a man who was a leader within the Christian community.
And he had never been Baptized. His parents were not church goers and he had never gone to any kind of church until he was in college. He joined a church and became involved and no one ever asked him if he had been Baptized. As time went on he decided he wanted to attend seminary and was interviewed extensively and asked 1001 questions, but was never asked if he had been Baptized. He went to seminary and was ordained three years later, again, without anyone ever discussing Baptism with him. And, in every church he ever served, lots of questions asked, but never asking him if he had been Baptized.
So here he was, years later, the pastor of a church, and he had never been Baptized. And he shared this information with a group of clergy.
The group all decided that we had to Baptize him.
Some of us wanted to sprinkle some water on him and say the words--after all, that was a part of our tradition. The Roman Catholic priest in the group wanted to pour water, as was the Roman Catholic tradition.
There were a couple of ministers from the Church of the Brethren. They wanted to immerse him, facing forward. Two Baptist ministers in the group wanted to immerse him falling backwards, as was their tradition.
We laughed a lot and remarked on how we all had different baptismal traditions--some we somehow missed something.
Our colleague left the meeting and was not Baptized. We were too busy debating on how Baptisms should be done, that we never got around to Baptizing our colleague. I look back on this, some 27 years later and think about how we had failed our colleague and friend so badly.
Sadly, that is what Baptism is often about. Several years ago I was called by a member of the clergy in another state where a person who grew up at St. Marks was now attending. The pastor of this church wanted to know the exact wording of the Baptism performed by Rev. Trnka in 1980 would have been because if Rev. Trnka had not used the precise wording, the Baptism didn’t count and the person would have to be Baptized----correctly this time.
My thought was, really? This is all Baptism means? We have to get the method and the words exactly right in order for it to count?
We debate on how to do it and when to do it, to the point that we miss exactly what Baptism actually is all about. Let’s look at what some of these things really are about.
The first is about submission to God.
Now I say this, take a breath and a pause, because we in the United Church of Christ are not noted for being great submitters. We generally answer theological questions by starting, “Well, in my opinion….” Submission does not come easily for us but when we look at this passage, we note something that is incredibly profound. Jesus submitted to John the Baptist in order to be Baptized. It is an action of God submitting to a person. Jesus did it again when he washed the disciples’ feet. God submitted to people in order to serve people.
And God invites us to submit to His will. This, of course, requires time, patience, prayer, and study. A lot of what passes for God’s will is our own wills that we give God the credit or the blame for. Not everything that we say or anyone says is God’s will is really God’s will.
I’ve used examples like this before, but it’s worth repeating.
When we lived in Ohio there was a bakery in town with wonderful jelly doughnuts. I’d often say to myself, if it’s God’s will for me to have a couple of jelly doughnuts today, there will be a parking space open in front of the bakery. In every case I wanted jelly doughnuts there was a space open. It often took three or four trips around the block for God’s will to show forth, but it always did.
And that is often how we deal with God’s will. WE want something, WE desire something, and WE do everything we can to make it happen. And then we give God the credit….or the blame. God’s will is something we all grapple with a great deal and we need to learn to submit to it when it requires us to change and grow. Sometimes God’s will is not consistent with our own desire or our own will. Submission is something we need to learn and grow into.
The second aspect of Baptism is about cleansing. It is a time of cleansing us of our sins and our short-comings.
There’s a great story about a church, a Roman Catholic Church, where the pastor, Father Jones, was celebrating his 10 Anniversary as the pastor of the church. They planned a nice dinner and one of the speakers at the dinner was one of the state’s two Senators who was a member of the church and was flying home from Washington to help honor the pastor.
There were several people scheduled to speak with the Senator being first. However, his flight was delayed so he had not yet arrived when people began to speak. After a while, the pastor spoke. He said:
“When I arrived here one of the first things I did was listen to confessions from people. The first person who came into the confessional told me that he had cheated on his wife repeatedly during their marriage; he had embezzled money from two businesses, and double-crossed his partners in another business. I was wondering what kind of place I had come to. It turns out, whoever that first person was, turned out to be an exception and that the church was filled with wonderful people.”
Everyone applauded and it was all fine. After a little while, the Senator finally got there and was invited to speak. He stood up and said:
“I have always had a special place in my heart for Father Jones. He doesn’t know it, but he and I have always had a special bond. I was the very first person to go to confession to him although I’m sure he’s long since forgotten.”
Reality is, most of us aren’t as bad as this Senator, but we all struggle with issues, short-comings, and sins and the reality of life is that we all want and all need to be forgiven of sin.
There have been parts of church history where people waited until the end of their lives for the cleansing action of Baptism. Their aspiration was to have their sins forgiven without having to make any changes in their lives. They wanted the forgiveness aspect of Baptism without the submission-----whereas both are significant.
Baptism is a reminder that this cleansing God gives to us is not a one-time thing, but something we ought to seek over and over again. We don’t need to come to the water for forgiveness, but come to God praying for forgiveness. We don’t need to confess to any person, but we need, on occasion, simply to come before God’s presence and unburden ourselves. Baptism is an ongoing reminder that God offers us cleansing and we need to avail ourselves of this. No one is perfect and God’s grace offers us forgiveness every day.
The last thing is this. Baptism gives us a gift that most people seem to miss or ignore. Baptism gives us a family; a group of people who claim us as one of their own.
I have noticed something about myself over the years I have lived. Whenever something good happened to me, I had to talk to my family and whenever something painful or difficult took place, I had to talk to my family. Families gather for celebrations such as weddings, and heartaches such as funerals. We need people who love us around us in joyful and difficult times of life.
When we are Baptized we are Baptized into a family of faith. And it’s not just the family of faith where we are Baptized; it is a family of faith that stretches to all the ends of the earth. Baptism is a reminder that we are part of something far bigger and far greater than ourselves.
We are part of a family that has lived in this house for many years. The DNA of the people of faith, who have founded this church and whose memory and spirit live with us, is something we are bound too. It is a family that stretches into every church in every nation, both far and close by. It is a bonding to a family of faith that goes back to the apostles, and to Jesus standing in the river, submitting to John the Baptist. St. Paul says it so beautifully in Galatians when he says:
27As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.”
Baptism reminds us we are not alone. We have family and nothing is more beautiful than that.
Baptism is a rare and special gift to us from God. Let’s move beyond petty debates, and celebrate it is a chance to submit to a magnificent God, be cleansed from the times we fail, and delight in being part of God’s family.
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