Sermons

Rev. Dr. Melanie Miller

February 26, 2012

Contemporary Testimony:  I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended. – Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom

 Biblical Testimony:  Mark 1:9-15

⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” ¹²And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. ¹⁴Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

The Wilderness Journery: This morning we begin our Lenten journey the same way we do every year.  The Season of Lent always begins with Jesus sitting in the wilderness being tempted.

This year we begin our Lenten journey on the last Sunday of Black History month.  And so we have the words of Sojourner Truth ringing in our ears.  We have the light-shining story of Amistad stirring in our hearts and we bring those words and those stories to the Lenten wilderness with us today.

Maybe that’s why, when I read the words of Nelson Mandela, from our contemporary reading, I could imagine them being spoken by Sojourner Truth and Cinque and countless folks in countless ages.  Can’t you hear Sojourners saying and with brother Mandela, “Ain’t I a woman who’s walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way.”  Can’t you hear Cinque, after the long Amistad trial saying, “I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come.”  Can’t you hear Jesus saying, after emerging dusty, and hungry from the desert, “I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities.   Repent.”

How’s your wilderness Journey?

I had a terrible time writing today’s sermon.  Nothing I wrote rang true and I finally figured out why last night.  My wilderness wanderings, compared to those of Sojourner Truth and Cinque and Nelson Mandela, seem trite.

Every time I’ve entered a wilderness it wasn’t for freedom.  It wasn’t a matter of life and death.  It was for purely selfish reasons.  It was a matter of personal identity.   You know those treks.  You grab a backpack and a friend and head out on the Appalachian Trail to discover who you are and what ya got.

I decided to hike the Appalachian Trail through New York state.  I was turning 33 in 2002.  I thought there must be something significant in all those double numbers so I wanted to celebrate in a significant way.  When I learned that there were 88 miles (more double numbers) of AT running through New York I thought this wilderness journey was the perfect way to celebrate.  I thought, huh, I’ll learn a lot about myself.

Sojourner’s Truth’s wilderness journey wasn’t about getting in touch with herself.  She knew who she was and she knew who she wasn’t.  She knew who she wanted her children to be.  Her wilderness wasn’t about finding herself.  She knew she was a child of God, loved and cherished.  Her wilderness was about telling the world what it meant to live like a child of God.

My wilderness journey seems trivial next to that.  Every time I’ve entered a wilderness it was only for a few days.  My fears haven’t been about life and death, freedom or slavery.  My fears have been about camping in the dark.  When I started planning that 88 mile trek through New York I decided that it would just be me and my dog.  Until one day I was sitting in my hammock reading.  It was just a few days before I left.   I closed my, and imagined myself on the trail.  In my tent at night.  That squirrel, in the woods, snapping twigs – what would I imagine it to be?  The harmless thing it is or something much worse?  A bear?  A serial killer?  I called my friend Clare  five minutes later to see if she’d like to join me on my wilderness journey.

Cique’s wilderness journey wasn’t like that.  He wasn’t afraid of sleeping in the dark.  He was scared of real monsters who knew no mercy.  And he knew exactly who he was in the face of those monsters.  He was man with dignity and pride who would not bow down.  His wilderness was telling the world that the empire of slavery would not own him.    His wilderness was about telling the world what it meant to live in dignity and freedom.

Several years about Bill and I decided to visit Glacier National Park and do some wilderness hiking.  Leading up to our time there I was courted by fear again.  I became obsessed with how to survive bear attacks.  While looking online for this handy information I found the story of the Night of the Grizzly.  On August 13, 1967, two young women were separately attacked and killed in Glacier National Park, by different grizzly bears.  I memorized every detail of the story and cataloged every possible way I could call down special powers to save me from the same fate.

Nelson Mandela’s wilderness wasn’t filled with fear of bears.  It was filled with fears of another kind.  But he did not waste one single minute on calling down special powers to save to him from certain death.  Do you know what he did?  He focused on compassion, love and forgiveness.  Mandela said, “I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred; he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not truly free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.”

To live in the prison wilderness of hatred and emerge knowing that you are a child of God, love and cherished and wanting to show the world what that means, what that looks like is miraculous.

I had a terrible time writing this sermon.  My wilderness fears seem trivial in comparison.   But I have known fear and I have known temptation and I have found that I am a child of God.

Jesus already knew who he was when he entered his wilderness.  According to Mark the heavens had just been torn open, and that spirit descending like a dove told Jesus loud and clear who he was, You are my beloved child.”  Jesus knew he was.  He didn’t need a wilderness trek to find out.

My wilderness wandering may seem silly compared to Jesus’ but I have known fear.  I have known temptation.    I have felt the devil “nipping at your heels.”   And in some miraculous ways those wilderness journeys have helped me face my fears about who I am and what it means.  How about you?

If you have known fear and temptation, then you know something about the wilderness, and I bet one of the things you know is how much you can wonder where is God when you have been stranded there for awhile. Why doesn’t God send a rescue team, or at least send a raven with some bread? Why doesn’t God give you the power to rear up and roar so loud that fear and temptation runs away and never comes back? (Barbara Brown Taylor, Bread of Angels, pages 36-40)

Mark doesn’t tell us the details of the temptation conversation.  You remember the story, though, right.  You remember the devil’s temptations don’t you? First he tempted him to practice magic; command these stones to become loaves of bread.  Next he tempted Jesus to call on God for special protection; throw yourself down from the temple.  Finally he tempted him to take control of all the kingdoms of the world; all these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.

That last one was an empire temptation.  Why bother with the little people when you could have it all?   “Why should the son of God… be subject to Caesar when Caesar should be subject to him?”

This is the story in which we find out what being the son of God really means.  This is the story in which Jesus proves who he is not by seizing power, but by turning it down.  God’s Beloved will not practice magic.  He will not ask for special protection to seek political power.  As much as it may surprise everyone, including him, he will remain human, accepting all the usual risks.  It is, after all, the only way humans will ever learn what “son of God really means.  A son of God is not someone who is related to god by rising out of his humanity, but someone who is beloved by God for sinking into it, even when he is famished, even when he is taunted by fear and temptation.  It is someone who can listen to every good reason in the world for becoming God’s rival and remain God’s child instead. (Barbara Brown Taylor, Bread of Angels, pages 36-40)

This is a story about who Jesus is.  But this is also a story about who we are as beloved children of God.  Sojourner Truth knew the story.  Cinque knew the story.  Nelson Mandela knows the story.  Do you?   There are plenty of times when we too enter the Wilderness Journeys and are dogged by fear, tempted to forget our true identity and grab the things of empire.  “That devilish voice in our heads says thing like, ‘if you are a child of God, wouldn’t you have it all?’”  Freedom and revenge?  Freedom and wealth?

You know what to say back now, right?

I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities.  The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.

Rev. Dr. Melanie Miller

February 5, 2012

Contemporary Testimony: Excerpt from Maya Angelou’s Inaugural Poem, January 20, 1993
The River sings and sings on. There is a true yearning to respond to The singing River and the wise Rock.
So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew The African and Native American, the Sioux,
The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheikh, The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher, The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher. They hear. They all hear The speaking of the Tree.
Today, the first and last of every Tree Speaks to humankind. Come to me, here beside the River. Here, root yourselves beside me.
I am the Tree planted by the River, Which will not be moved. I, the Rock, I the River, I the Tree I am yours–your Passages have been paid.
Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need For this bright morning dawning for you.
History, despite its wrenching pain, Cannot be unlived, and if faced With courage, need not be lived again.
Lift up your eyes upon The day breaking for you. Give birth again To the dream. Women, children, men, Take it into the palms of your hands. Mold it into the shape of your most Private need. Sculpt it into The image of your most public self.
Lift up your hearts Each new hour holds new chances For new beginnings. Do not be wedded forever To fear, yoked eternally To brutishness.
The horizon leans forward, Offering you space to place new steps of change. Here, on the pulse of this fine day You may have the courage To look up and out upon me, the Rock, the River, the Tree, your country. No less to Midas than the mendicant.
No less to you now than the mastodon then.
Here on the pulse of this new day You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes, into Your brother’s face, your country And say simply Very simply With hope Good morning

Biblical Testimony: Isaiah 40:21-31
Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; who brings princes to naught,
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power,
not one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God’? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. God does not faint or grow weary; God’s understanding is unsearchable. God gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

New Steps: This morning’s biblical testimony is the continuation of a text we considered during our Advent Journey together. At that time I shared with you a little historical context. And I think it was that sermon that sealed my fate as the anti- Empire pastor.

You remember this text, the first part of Isaiah 40,
Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the LORD;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.

… when this poetic voice begins to ring in their ears, the children of Israel had been living in exile in Babylon for a life time. They had learned a new language. They had children, watched their children grow, watched them get married and have children of their own. And during that time they settled. They started businesses. Engaged in trade. Got to know their neighbors. They assimilated.
By the time Isaiah came on the scene many of them had forgotten the old country. The old customs. The second generation had forgotten their mother tongue. Some of them had forgotten Yahweh.

They were living in the midst of the Babylonian Empire. And then Isaiah shows up, saying, I know you’re tired, I know you’re weary, but don’t you remember who God is, you were told at the very beginning. So, what happened? Have you not heard that “The horizon leans forward, Offering you space to place new steps of change. New steps out of empire, away from bondage and slavery. Here on the pulse of this new day you may have the grace to look up and out and into your sister’s eyes, into your brother’s face, your country and say simply Very simply with hope Good morning.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? Have you not heard?

I overheard a conversation once. You’ve probably heard the same conversation. It was between a father and his young son who was maybe five years old. The father said in a frustrated tone, although he wore a sympathetic smile, “Son, are you listening?” The young boy replied, “What did you say, Dad?” The father’s smile widened as he said, “Yes, precisely! Perhaps we should get your ears checked.”

These words ring in my ears. I heard the conversation loud and clear, and it sounded familiar. You remember this conversation, don’t you? My dad had it with me. Your father had it with you. And you’ve had it with your children, your nieces, your nephews, your godchildren. “Are you listening? This is important!”

Why is it so hard to listen? We’ve all met people who don’t seem to hear us. It’s like they’re just waiting for you to stop talking, to take a breath, so that they can talk. You know they’re not listening to you; they’re too busy planning their next sentence or more likely, paragraph. I’ve done it.

Listening is not just about hearing the other person, the other voice. It’s bigger. It’s about respect for the other person, the other voice. It’s about awareness and understanding. It’s about sharing in a meaningful exchange, living life in community. Listening is huge.

So why don’t we listen? Why do have blockages? Well, it’s probably because of fear. Some of us have lived our whole lives being silenced. We fear that if we try one more time to be heard, if we open our mouths, we’ll be overpowered. We stop speaking and we stop listening to the oppressive, silencing voices. Some of us don’t listen for fear of what we may hear. After all, who wants to be told what to do? Who wants to be told that they’re wrong? Who wants to be corrected? Some of us don’t listen for fear that we may hear nothing at all. Our loved ones may have stopped talking. God may be silent. The goodness in the world may have been overpowered.

And then Maya Angelou shows up and reminds us that The River sings and sings on. There is a true yearning to respond to the singing River and the wise Rock. So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew so say, The African and Native American, the Sioux, The Catholic, so say the Muslim, the French, the Greek The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheikh, The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher, the privileged, the homeless, the Teacher.

Some of us don’t listen for fear of what they have to say. After all, who wants to hear that we have wronged them? Who wants to hear that our steps are the ones that must be changed?

And then Isaiah shows up. Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

Are you listening? And then the horizon leans forward, offering you stories of new steps of change.

One powerful story of new steps of change comes from the Associated Press, Washington desk. The story is told this way:
“Elwin Wilson was an unabashed racist, the sort who once hung a black doll from a noose outside his home. John Lewis was a young civil rights leader bent on changing laws, if not hearts and minds, even if it cost him his life. They faced each other at a South Carolina bus station during a protest in 1961. Wilson joined a white gang that jeered Lewis, attacked him and left him bloodied on the ground.

“Forty-eight years later, the men met again – this time so Wilson could apologize to Lewis and express regret for his hatred. Lewis, now a congressman from Atlanta, greeted his former tormentor at his Capitol Hill office. ‘I just told him that I was sorry,’ Wilson, 72, said in a telephone interview Wednesday as he traveled home to Rock Hill, S.C. For years, he said, he tried to block the incident out of his mind ‘and couldn’t do it.’

“Lewis said Wilson is the first person involved in the dozens of attacks against him during the civil rights era to step forward and apologize. When they met Tuesday, Lewis offered forgiveness without hesitation. ‘I was very moved,’ said Lewis. ‘He was very, very sincere, and I think it takes a lot of raw courage to be willing to come forward the way he did. … I think it will lead to a great deal of healing.’

“Wilson said he had felt an urge to voice his remorse for years. He talked about his past activities a few weeks ago with a friend, and the friend asked him where he thought he might go if he died. ‘I said probably hell,’ Wilson said. ‘He said, ‘Well, you don’t have to.’”

Perhaps Wilson’s imagined hell, the hell of racism and the hell of exile that the Hebrew people faced are one and the same. The exhaustion of fear, the exhaustion of history with its wrenching pain. And then the horizon leans forward, offering you space to place new steps of change. New steps out of exile toward home. But it doesn’t end with those steps toward home. Wilson might have taken the step. But Lewis, Lewis offered forgiveness without hesitation.

History, despite its wrenching pain, Cannot be unlived, and if faced with courage, need not be lived again. Lewis gave birth again to the dream. Lewis chose not be wedded forever to fear, yoked eternally to brutishness. The horizon leaned forward, offering him space to place new steps of change. And God lifted him on eagle’s wings, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint.

Rev. Dr. Melanie Miller

January 29, 2012

Contemporary Testimony: experts from The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
This first stage of the mythological journey – which we have designated the “call to adventure” – signifies the destiny has summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual center of gravity from within the pale of his society to a zone unknown. This fateful region of both treasure and danger may be variously represented; as a distant land, a forest, a kingdom underground, beneath the waves, or above the sky, a secret island, lofty mountaintop, or profound dream state; but it is always a place of strangely fluid and polymorphous beings, unimaginable torments, superhuman deeds, and impossible delight.
But whether small or great, and no matter what the stage or grade of life, the call rings up the curtain, always, on a mystery of transfiguration – a rite, or moment, of spiritual passage, which, when complete, amounts to a dying and a birth. The familiar life horizon has been outgrown; the old concepts, ideals, and emotional patterns no longer fit; the time for the passing of a threshold is at hand.

Ancient Testimony: Mark 1:21-28
21They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught.22They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.23Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit,24and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”26And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.27They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”28At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

Our Hero’s Journey: Our Ancient Testamony this morning makes me a little nervous. What do we do with unclean spirits like the one that Jesus casts out of the man in the synoagogue? Am I the only who finds this text puzzling. Is my modern mind the only one that fights to hear these gospel words?

Let’s consider the story for a moment in the context of Jesus larger ministry. This morning in our ancient testimony we find, Jesus, in Capernaum. He’s already accepted the call. He’s been baptized, initiated. He’s been tempted in the wilderness by Satan. Last Sunday we heard that he called Simon and Andrew, James and John. And now he heads into town with his new posse. He wows the crowd with his preaching and teaching and then he goes toe to toe with supernatural powers. Any of this sound familiar? And I’m not talking about the other gospel.

Joseph Campell called it the monomyth or the hero’s journey. He asserted that the same story patterns could be found around the world. Karl Jung said the patterns of the hero are part of the collective unconscious. This morning’s ancient testimony follows the patterns of all ancient hero stories. The “call rings up the curtain, always, on a mystery of transfiguration… The familiar life horizon has been outgrown; the old concepts, ideals, and emotional patterns no longer fit; the time for the passing of a threshold is at hand.” Jesus has accepted the “call to adventure” and has “transferred his spiritual center of gravity from within the pale of his society to a zone unknown… a place of strangely fluid and polymorphous beings.” He has crossed the threshold to and has entered the zone of challenges. Sound familiar. (The Hero With A Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell)

Jesus is on the same journey, the same adventure that called Odysseus and Luke Skywalker. And a wonderful journey it is.

My colleague Tim Ives, used to make the confirmation class watch the Music Man every year. You could argue that Harold Hill is a kind of hero. There is certainly evil or trouble rather in the narrative: “with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool”. Tim loved the redemption and faith, of both Marion and Harold, and the new life offered to Marion’s brother. BUT the confirmation class hated watching it. Hated watching it. It was like pulling teeth. Every year the same thing. How can Harold Hill compete with Saw? I mean come on. AND the movie is over 2 and half hours long! That’s a long time to listen to tortured 8th graders. So one year, I said Tim, “I can’t do it. As much as I love to sing along with Pick a Little, Talk a Little, I just can’t sit through the complaining and the whining. Can we please pick another movie?” Tim hemmed and hawed and finally said, if you can think of movie that has similar themes we’ll try it. Are you kidding me? Can I find a movie with similar themes? Of course I can! I didn’t think twice. I knew which movie I would show.

Now Bill would have picked Star Wars. He has a Star Wars kind of, “May the Force Be With You”, theology. It’s a magnificent monomyth. The hero, the Christ figure, is called to do something that no one else can. Luke Skywalker answers the call and goes forth from his comfortable world to a new world of supernatural powers and great evil. Yoda and Obi Wan are the mystical helpers who show up on the way to impart knowledge or special weapons. Leia and Han Solo are part of the posse that helps Luke along the way as he takes on the Empire. But I didn’t pick Star Wars, although I love George Lucas’s wonderful tale.

Now you might think that I would have picked Harry Potter. That’s a good guess. But all those kids had read the books and seen the movie and I wanted something they weren’t already familiar. Sometimes if we’ve seen something one way it’s hard to shift your view of it. It’s hard to see it with new eyes. Harry as the hero, yes. Harry answering the call and going forth from his tired one dimensional world to a new world of supernatural powers and great evil. Dumbeldore and Hagrid are the mystical helpers who show up on the way to impart knowledge or special weapons. Hermione and Ron are part of the posse that helps Harry along the way as he takes on He Who Will Not be Named. But I didn’t want to try to sell Harry as the Christ figure to a bunch of kids who already had Harry in their pocket.

What would you have picked? I am Legend, Cowboys and Aliens?

I picked …The Matrix! How many of you have seen this movie? It’s wonderful and full, FULL, of religious language and symbols. If you haven’t seen it I highly recommend you put it on your netflix queue today!

For those of you who haven’t seen it in a nut shell, Neo, the Christ figure and the narrative’s hero, comes to save the world from an empire of machines that use humans for fuel. Neo’s hero call is to free humanity from the illusion, the matrix, the false reality that surrounds them. Neo accepts the call to venture forth from his comfortable matrix into a hidden world of oppression and evil.

The movie was released on Easter weekend 1999. The story was full of Easter language.

Two of the main characters are Morpheus and Trinity, both part of Neo’s posse. Morpheus – metamorphesis is the character that first believes that Neo is the one who will rescue humanity. Trinity is the first to contact Neo and is filled with undying faith and devotion.

The Oracle is the wise goddess who guides liberated minds in the Matrix.
Graet stuff for a confirmation class!

Nebuchadnezzar is the space ship. I’ve always wondered if the name of the Babylonian emperor was used as the ship’s name to show that a machine, something that the empire used and control could be used for good. Isaiah, over and over again, tells of God using the things of Empire.

Zion is the last human city left on the earth. It is the Promised Land. This Holy City is place of hope for the chosen people. In the second movie, the council of Zion is gathered and Cornell West, a wonderful and colorful theologian, is part of the council of Zion!

C’mon. The Matrix or the Music Man? Is there even a contest?

But it doesn’t end there. “On the plaque of Morpheus’s Nebuchadnezzar, for example, as part of its identifying numbers, is the notation Mark III, No. 11.” You guessed it! It’s a reference to Mark chapter 3, verse 11: Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God. Hmmm… sound familiar.

One more? “Just before Agent Smith’s first appearance in The Matrix Reloaded, (agent Smith is the bad guy, he who should not be named) we see the license plate on the luxury car he drives, IS 5416.” Isaiah 54:16, which reads, “See, it is I who have created the smith who blows the fire of coals, and produces a weapon fit for its purpose; I have also created the ravager to destroy.” God is reminding the people of Israel that the Promised Land, Zion, will prevail. That even weapons created from the steel of Empire will not win.

Too much for a confirmation class to take in?

This is really all they need to know: The hero’s name is Neo, and it means the One. Neo, the Christ figure, is called to do something that no one else can. Neo answers the call and goes forth from his comfortable world to a new world of supernatural powers and great evil. The Oracle is the mystical helper who shows up on the way to impart knowledge or special weapons. Morpheus and Trinity are part of the posse that helps Neo along the way as he takes on the Empire.

It’s called the Hero’s journey. It’s always been the same journey. It always makes us a little nervous; the passion, the myth, the call. It always makes us nervous to be reminded that there is evil in the world. That we might be called on to participate in the naming of evil and the confrontation of it.

The hero’s name is Jesus. The Christ figure is called to do something that no one else can. Jesus answers the call and goes forth from his comfortable world to a new world of supernatural powers and empire. Simon, Andrew, James and John, are part of the posse that helps Jesus along the way as he takes on the Empire, as he takes on the scribes as he takes on unclean spirits, evil.

There is no denying that evil is real. And as nervous the unclean spirit in our ancient testimony makes me, he is there to remind me that no matter what time, no matter what empire, there is evil – both spiritual and material, both personal and corporate. And that we are called to be a part of the hero’s journey, part of the posse, that names, challenges and silences evil. It is part of the monomyth, it is part of the gospel, it is part of the story. The familiar life horizon has been outgrown; the old concepts, ideals, and emotional patterns no longer fit; the time for the passing of a threshold is at hand.

Rev. Dr. Melanie Miller

January 8, 2012

Contemporary Testimony: To Be of Use  by Marge Piercy

The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who stand in the line and haul in their places,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.

“To be of use” by Marge Piercy © 1973, 1982

Ancient Testimony: Mark 1:4-11

⁴John the baptizer appearedin the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.⁵And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.⁶Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.⁷He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.⁸I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’ 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.¹⁰And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.¹¹And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved;^* with you I am well pleased.’

Defining Moments:  If any of you were looking for the main characters  from our ancient testimony this week you should have come to my house.  Bill kept inviting Jesus  and John to dinner.  Almost every night over dinner, there they were.  It’s not that I don’t like them, I do.  But John’s dietary requirements are a challenge and, well, Jesus is a little intimidating.

So, early in the week Bill casually asked a question about the Christmas season, which turned into a convesration about Epiphany, which lead to today’s testimony.  As we began to talk about Jesus and John, Bill was shocked to hear that these two cousins were so close in age.  For some reason he thought John was much, much older than Jesus.  That John had been around for years and years preparing the way. When I explained that, no, in fact Mary and Elizabeth were pregnant the same time with Jesus and John, he made go get the Bible and prove it.  Over the next few night, over and over again, the cousins were invoked.  One night he exclaimed, “What else don’t know?!”   There was no way I was going to invite Job and Ezekiel to the table as well, so I simply smiled!

But, Bill got me to thinking.  John and Jesus growing up together.  Think about it.  They were cousins.  How often did they see each other?  When they did, what did they play?  How did they play? Did they ever fight over a toy?  John’s father was a priest.  Do you think they ever played church, enacting the sabbath rituals, just like some kids do today.  You’ve heard the funny stories of  little  Joey trying to baptize the cat.  Did they know, as children at play, that it would lead to the story we hear today?

Jesus and John at the river.  What an amazing moment.  Do you think John heard the voice from heaven?  Or just Jesus?  And if John did, how did it make him feel?  I’d like to think the voice was affirmation for them both.  John, that Jesus was the long awaited one.  That the long, long line of prophet, of which he was a part, had not preached and proclaimed in vain.

Barbara Lundblad says that , “There’s no indication that others saw the heavens open up. –only Jesus. He saw the heavens torn apart, not opened as in Matthew or Luke, but torn apart. The Greek word there is a form of the verb schitzo as in schism… It is not the same word as open. I open the door. I close the door. The door looks the same, but something torn apart is not easily closed again. The ragged edges never go back together as they were. Mark wasn’t careless in using that word: schitzo. He remembered Isaiah’s plea centuries before when the prophet cried out to God, “Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down to make your name known to your enemies and make the nations tremble at your presence.” (Lundblad, Torn Apart Forever, January 12, 2003)

This was an epiphany.  A defining moment. And John and Jesus were never the same.

These are the things that Bill and I talked about this week at the table.  Jesus and John sitting with us at table all week, but never telling us exactly what happened that day, or in their childhood.  But there, nonetheless.

I didn’t tell Bill that I invited Marge Peircy to the table this mornnig.  Things were complicated enough!   But, Ms. Piercy got me thinking.   She would have loved Jesus and John.  They were two people who jumped in head first.  They were both people who “swam off with sure strokes, native to the elements.” John submerged Jesus in the task.  After the baptismal moment, their lives “took a shape that satisfied, a shape that was clean and evident.”  Their pitchers were filled, overflowing.  (Piercy)

Marge Piercy and Bill got me thinking.  What about me?  What about us?  What about our baptism?  With Jesus and John at the river.  What an amazing moment.  Do you hear the voice from heaven?  How does it make you feel?  Does it make you feel affirmed.  Would that voice from heaven, that affirmation make you be of use?  Would it make you jump in head first.  “Swimming with sure strokes, a native to the elements.  A pitcher filled and overflowing.” (Piercy)

Some of you may have had one of these defining moments.  Maybe not as dramatic as the one  Jesus and John shared.  The heavens may not have opened up.  Or torn apart.  The ragged edges to never go back together as they were.  But maybe you did have a defining moment.  When things were crystal clear and you knew. You knew that you were where you needed to be at the right moment, doing the right thing.  That going forward you would be of use.

I love Marge Peircy’s words.  They are baptismal words.  Sacred, submerged, poured out, washed clean, caught up in the current words.

I think that’s what happended to Jesus and John that day.  It was a defining, sacred moment,  submerged, poured out, washed clean, caught up in the current.  “Reminiscent of Isaiah’s plea centuries before when the prophet cried out to God, “Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and be of use.” (Lundblad)  “To jump in head first.  To swim off with sure strokes, native to the elements.  To submerged  in the task.  To be  filled, overflowing.” (Piercy)  “To come down to make your name known to your enemies and make the nations tremble at your presence.” (Lundblad)

“You are my own Beloved Child.”

Even though John and Jesus were at my house for dinner almost every night last week my sky remained in tact.  I did not hear the voice they heard.  I did not feel my world changed.

Some of you are right there with me.  Waiting for one of these defining moments.  Maybe even wanting it desperately.  It doesn’t even have to be as dramatic and the one Jesus and John shared.  “The heavens may not have opened up.  Or torn apart.  The ragged edges to never go back together as they were.” (Lundblad)  Just some clarity,  just to know for sure.  To know for sure that you are where you need to be.

Even though John, Jesus and Marge failed to call God forth and crack open the sky above my dining room table, they reminded me that these baptismal moments happen.  These defining moments still happen.  But Just like John and Jesus we must step into the water.

If we jump in “head first and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight, native to the elements,”  God will use us.  If we submerge ourselves in the task.  In those  baptismal moment, our lives will be washed, our lives will take “a shape that satisfied, a shape that is clean and evident.  Our pitchers will be filled, overflowing.” (Piercy)

Our moments may not be as dramatic, but they still happen.  Maybe they are just moments at the table, when someone says, “why didn’t I know?!”  “What else don’t I know?!”

And then, just like that, we find ourselves in the water.  With Marge and with John and with Jesus.  Submerged.  Caught up in the current.  Baptized. Of  use.

What if we jumped head first into the social stream that separated rich from the poor swimming with sure stokes?  What if we strained in the mud and muck against  hardness of heart to move forth compassion?  What if we submerged in the taks of  breaking through rituals that had grown rigid or routine? What if our lives were washed with what it means to be God’s Beloved Child? (Lundblad)

Then our lives would take a shape that satisfied, a shape that is clean and evident.  Our sky may not open up, but I pray that we will all hear God in our baptismal moments, in our defining moments, saying “You are my Beloved Child.”

Rev. Dr. Melanie Miller

January 1, 2012

Contemporary Testimony: Excerpt from Let Your Life Speak: Listening  for the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer

“Seasons”  is a wise metaphor for the movement of life, I think. It suggests that life is neither a battlefield nor a game of chance but something infinitely richer, more promising, more real. The notion that our lives are like the eternal cycle of the seasons does not deny the struggle or the joy, the loss, or the gain, the darkness or the light, but encourages us to embrace it all – and to find in all of it opportunities for growth.

If we accept the notion that our lives are dependent on an inexorable cycle of seasons, on a play of powers that we can conspire with but never control, we run headlong into a culture that insists, against all evidence, that we can make whatever kind of life we want, whenever we want it. Deeper still we run headlong into our own egos, which want desperately to believe that we are always in charge.

Transformation is difficult, so it is good to know that there is comfort as well as challenge in the metaphor of life as a cycle of seasons. Illumined by that image, we see that we are not alone in the universe. We are participants in a vast communion of being, and if we open ourselves to its guidance, we can learn anew how to live in this great and gracious community of truth. We can, and we must — if we want our sciences to be humane, out institutions to be sustaining, our healings to be deep, our lives to be true.

 Ancient Testimony: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
² a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵ a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

9 What gain have the workers from their toil? ¹⁰I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. ¹¹He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. ¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; ¹³moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.

A Time to…:   “There is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.”  As we gather today our culture tells us it’s a season of new beginnings.  Our ancient testimony tells us that God has put a sense of past and future into our minds.  And so with every new year we mark the new season, the change.  We mark a new time.  New resolutions, new promises for our new year.  How many of you made resolutions?

The empire also knows we have this cylical, seasonal pull and so annually it hauls out a whole host of products to sell us:  exercise equiptment, gym memberships, diet drinks, etc…

As a people of faith we know that we are offered this sense of past and future, this season of of new beginnings every day, every moment we choose to accept God’s grace, pick ourselves us and move on is a moment of new beginnings.   We know that there is a time and season for every matter even without the empires products.  Even without Jenny Craig and Chuck Norris’s Total Gym.

“There is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.”  What time is it for you?

Birthing,  Dying, Planting, Harvesting, Ending, Healing, Breaking down, Building up, Weeping, Laughing, Mourning, Dancing, Throwing away, Gathering, Embracing,  Refraining, Seeking,  Losing, Keeping,  Throwing away, Keeping silence, Speaking out, Loving,  Hating, Waring, Peace making.

Season is a wise metaphor for life.  In all these season that our ancitent testimony mentions there is “comfort and there is challenge.  We participate in a vast communion of being, and if we open ourselves to its guidance, we can learn anew how to live in this great and gracious community of truth.” (Parker Palmer)  What time is it for you?

Just recently I was telling the advent journaling group about my seasonal longings.  Like clock work I long for home.  Every spring and every fall I long for the eternal cycle of earth, the  ancient, ancestral rythms of farming.  I spent my child hood with the earth.  Come spring I’d grab my barbies and my pillow and head out with dad to plow and plant.  Come fall I’d trade in my barbies for corn cob dolls straight from the combine.

Tractors don’t record  miles on their odometers.   A tractor’s odometer records time.  It displays hours;  thousands of  hours planting, cultivating and harvesting time recorded.  Farmers who lease machinery don’t have mileage limits but they do have hour limits.  My father sits in his combine 120 hours every fall.    A total of  380 hours from planting to harvest.   “For every thing there is a seaons and a time for every matter under heaven.”

No matter how far away I am living from the rythmes of earth, planting and harvest, the more I seem drawn to these seasons.   There was this intense pressure to get the corn picked before the first snow fall.  One was always racing the clock.   It was never just a matter of putting in the time, watching the hours  roll on the odometer.  There were always other considerations and complications.  Since most farmers can’t afford new machinery they are all master mechanics, too.  They know how to repair anything, with anything!  I’ve known farmers, in the black of night, who made repairs with bailing wire and crossed fingers just so they could put in a few more hours, a little more time in the ancient season of harvest.  Then the next morning they would race to the John Deere dealership, to be there the minute the doors open at eight to get the proper parts.

If you happen to see a farmer during harvest season they look haggard.  My dad always looks like an old man this time of year.  His furrowed brow, dirty face, determined grimace and clenched teeth had usually softened by Christmas time.

I remember one year the school had a family Halloween program.  Not one father attended.  They were all in the field.  The teacher was disgusted at the fathers.  We were all disgusted with her.  Who in their right mind has a party during harvest season?  We were all busy, no matter what age, running our hardest in the seasonal race against time.  “For everything there is a season.  A time and purpose for every matter under heaven.

I’ve noticed that racing the clock is not isolated to harvest time or farm life for that matter.  We live as if time is a commodity.  One of which we do not possess enough.  We all race the clock.  We race from one season to the next, not noticing that the time has changed, that the rhythm has slowed.  We race from

Birthing to Dying,  Healing to ending,  Laughing to weeping,  Dancing to mourning,  Seeking to Losing,  Loving to Hating.

When we race we forget the wisdom of Parker Palmer.  That “seaons is a wise metaphor for the movement of life.  Seasons suggests that life is neither a battlefield nor a game of chance but something infinitely richer, more promising, more real. The notion that our lives are like the eternal cycle of the seasons does not deny the struggle or the joy, the loss, or the gain, the darkness or the light, but encourages us to embrace it all – and to find in all of it opportunities for growth.” (Parker Palmer)

“There is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.”  What time is it for you?”

Birthing,  Dying, Planting, Harvesting, Ending, Healing, Breaking down, Building up, Weeping, Laughing, Mourning, Dancing, Throwing away, Gathering, Embracing,  Refraining, Seeking,  Losing, Keeping,  Throwing away, Keeping silence, Speaking out, Loving,  Hating, Waring,  Peace making.

This is a wonderful time of year!  A season of reflection.   A season that promises new beginnings, but as people of faith we know that we are offered this sense of past and future, this season of of new beginnings every day, every moment we choose to accept God’s grace, pick ourselves us and move on.    What time is it for you?

Rev. Barbara Brecht

November 14, 2010

Scripture: Luke 21: 5-19

In this passage from Luke that we heard this morning, Jesus is standing in the temple in Jerusalem, foretelling its destruction.   He predicts that some disciples will be given to the synagogues and prisons and be unjustly accused. Jesus, himself, will soon be turned over to the authorities and unjustly accused.  The criminal justice system probably has not changed that much in 2,000 years.  Those who threaten and want to disrupt the social or economic order are removed from the general population and hidden away in prison.  

Jesus talks about prisons at other times in his ministry, doesn’t he?  He tells his disciples that when you visit someone in prison, you are visiting Jesus.  Why does Jesus emphasize visiting people in prison? It’s easy to understand Jesus’s instructions about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and taking in the homeless.  But why visiting people in prison? It’s so difficult to visit someone in prison. May I tell you about some of the difficulties?

Prisons are traditionally built in remote places not served by public transportation or easy to get to.  It’s very difficult to make arrangements with someone you would like to visit.  To communicate with a person in prison, that person has to call you, the call has to be collect and the rates are much higher than normal rates, placing a very real economic burden on poor families who want to be in touch with loved ones.  In some states you have to be on a list of approved “call receivers” and who knows who is looking at that list. Additionally, there are few phones available in prisons.  When you plan a visit, you don’t know if the prison is going to be in “lock-down” and receive no visitors.  There are rules about what you can wear as a visitor—especially for women, these rules can be humiliating.  For example, at Attica prison in New York State, when our prison ministry went in to worship with the men, any woman with an underwire bra had to remove the bra before going in.  I guess because the metal could be used to make a weapon.  Of course, many more rules apply to what you can bring and how long you can stay. 

In New York State where I was involved in the system, I could not correspond or be on an approved call list with any incarcerated person in any prison in the state and still visit a prison with my church group for a worship service.  Why was this rule created?  Who knows?  One person involved in the admissions procedure told me that “little old church ladies” could be manipulated by men in prison to fall in love with them through letter writing. Then the men would take advantage of them when they were released from prison.  So to prevent this sad scene, “little old church ladies” could not write to any person in prison and still worship with their church group.

Another time our prison ministry group drove five hours to a prison, only to be told that there were no papers at the front desk giving us permission to hold a worship service.  Why bother at all?

 Very few people know these rules or are aware of what organization makes these rules about prison visitation.  The Department of Corrections is a system unto itself.  There is virtually no oversight from elected officials. People are appointed to the parole boards as well as positions of power in the correctional system.  There is a total lack of transparency and accountability. A few years ago, a woman came to us in tears.  After months of not hearing from her incarcerated son, this mother was finally told he had died months ago and his body was buried in a prison grave.  They could not tell her where, but if she wanted the body she would have to pay thousands of dollars to have it dug up and transported to another site.  The prison officials claimed that they had sent her several letters informing her of his death but the letters had been returned “addressee unknown.” The story has a bitter-sweet ending: our church was able to interest some New York City media in her story and the woman could prove that she had never changed her address.  The prison officials were made to be accountable—apologized and returned the body to her at no charge.  We held a lovely memorial service at the church.  But how many people have the will, fortitude, and resources to penetrate this system?  Sunlight is the best disinfectant but the walls are practically impenetrable.  And how many people really care?  Dr. King writes in his “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”  Any system that is clothed in secrecy and mystery and is not accountable to the people it serves is bound to become corrupt.  Of course Jesus wants us to visit people in prison.

What part does society play in the social justice system?  William Sloan Coffin writes that “Ninety-eight percent of people in prison in the United States lived in poverty most of their lives.”  Are poor people more likely to be criminals?  Dr. Coffin goes on:  “We say we’re tough on crime; we’re only tough on criminals.  Were we tough on crime we’d put the money up front, in prevention, in building communities, not more prisons.  Some of us are guilty but all of us are responsible.  We stress the guilty to exonerate the others also responsible for a soaring crime rate.”

Most of us have committed deeds we are not proud of.  Some of us go to prison for them.  A white boy’s prank (he’s just feeling his oats) is a black boy’s crime. I need not tell you that the population in prison is overwhelmingly comprised of racial and ethnic minorities.  Women in prison are often there because they have killed or attempted to kill their abusers.  A program in the maximum security prison in New York is geared for the women who are deaf—many more deaf women than in the normal population.  Why are they deaf?  Because they were knocked on the head so many times by violent people.  Of course Jesus wants us to visit those in prison.

During the last thirty years the prison population has sextupled.  Today one in one hundred adults in the country are behind bars.  By far the highest ratio of imprisoned people in any democracy. The population is disproportionately young, poor, and from ethnic and racial minorities. 

Prisons create profits for corporations and jobs for communities that have few jobs to offer otherwise.  Can you just imagine the profit for whichever company provides paper products for a state prison?  And who is giving out those contracts?  Few people know.  Of course in recent years the decision to turn the incarceration of people over to profit making corporations is mind-blowing.  Imagine having a daughter in a prison where her medical care is based on how little can be done for her so that stockholders can have a good return on their investment.  I know there is supposed to be strict oversight.  The New York Times uncovered horrendous medical care in facilities run by for-profit companies.

Jesus wants us to visit those in prison because of the inherent worth of humankind as created by God in God’s own image.  Our God is the God of everyone. We believe there is the possibility of repentance and salvation for each cherished individual.  Examples ranging from the prodigal son to the lost sheep abound in Jesus’s teachings. Each person is precious in God’s eyes.  Eddie Ellis, a former Black Panther and tireless advocate for those in prison, talks about the importance of language in referencing those in prison.  Never say prisoner, convict, inmate, ex-con or any generic word indicating a prison status.  These are people—people in prison.  Look at the prophets (different spelling) who have been in prison—Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, St. Paul, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Angela Davis.  All people who wanted to disturb the status quo.  Of course Jesus wants us to visit those in prison.

When Dietrich Bonhoeffer was imprisoned, his words were written on the other side of the note-pad on which the contents of food parcels had to be listed—in the first weeks of his imprisonment, the only writing material he had.  “Separation from people, from work, from the past, from the future, from marriage, from God, impatience, longing, boredom, sick—profoundly alone, suicide, not because of consciousness of guilt but because basically I am already dead.  Total. Overcoming in prayer.”  Of course Jesus wants us to visit those in prison.

By visiting those in prison, we can be present with people in their extreme alienation.  We can become the incarnate presence of God.  Our presence—particularly our listening to their stories–enables the giving and receiving of forgiveness.  We are able to walk some of the diverse paths humans take in their walk toward and with God.  Of course Jesus wants us to visit those in prison. 

In this passage from Luke that we heard this morning, Jesus is standing in the temple in Jerusalem, foretelling its destruction. He predicts that some disciples will be given to the synagogues and prisons and be unjustly accused. Jesus, himself, will soon be turned over to the authorities and unjustly accused. The criminal justice system probably has not changed that much in 2,000 years. Those who threaten and want to disrupt the social or economic order are removed from the general population and hidden away in prison.

Jesus talks about prisons at other times in his ministry, doesn’t he? He tells his disciples that when you visit someone in prison, you are visiting Jesus. Why does Jesus emphasize visiting people in prison? It’s easy to understand Jesus’s instructions about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and taking in the homeless. But why visiting people in prison? It’s so difficult to visit someone in prison. May I tell you about some of the difficulties.

Prisons are traditionally built in remote places not served by public transportation nor easy to get to. It’s very difficult to make arrangements with someone you would like to visit. To communicate with a person in prison, that person has to call you, the call has to be collect and the rates are much higher than normal rates, placing a very real economic burden on poor families who want to be in touch with loved ones. In some states you have to be on a list of approved “call receivers” and who knows who is looking at that list. Additionally, there are few phones available in prisons. When you plan a visit, you don’t know if the prison is going to be in “lock-down” and receive no visitors. There are rules about what you can wear as a visitor—especially for women, these rules can be humiliating. For example, at Attica prison in New York State, when our prison ministry went in to worship with the men, any woman with an underwired bra had to remove the bra before going in. I guess because the metal could be used to make a weapon. Of course, many more rules apply to what you can bring and how long you can stay.

In New York State where I was involved in the system, I could not correspond or be on an approved call list with any incarcerated person in any prison in the state and still visit a prison with my church group for a worship service. Why was this rule created? Who knows? One person involved in the admissions procedure told me that “little old church ladies” could be manipulated by men in prison to fall in love with them through letter writing. Then the men would take advantage of them when they were released from prison. So to prevent this sad scene, “little old church ladies” could not write to any person in prison and still worship with their church group.

Another time our prison ministry group drove five hours to a prison, only to be told that there were no papers at the front desk giving us permission to hold a worship service. Why bother at all?

Very few people know these rules or are aware of what organization makes these rules about prison visitation. The Department of Corrections is a system unto itself. There is virtually no oversight from elected officials. People are appointed to the parole boards as well as positions of power in the correctional system. There is a total lack of transparency and accountability. A few years ago, a woman came to us in tears. After months of not hearing from her incarcerated son, this mother was finally told he had died months ago and his body was buried in a prison grave. They could not tell her where, but if she wanted the body she would have to pay thousands of dollars to have it dug up and transported to another site. The prison officials claimed that they had sent her several letters informing her of his death but the letters had been returned “addressee unknown.” The story has a bitter-sweet ending: our church was able to interest some New York City media in her story and the woman could prove that she had never changed her address. The prison officials were made to be accountable—apologized and returned the body to her at no charge. We held a lovely memorial service at the church. But how many people have the will, fortitude, and resources to penetrate this system? Sunlight is the best disinfectant but the walls are practically impenetrable. And how many people really care? Dr. King writes in his “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.” Any system that is clothed in secrecy and mystery and is not accountable to the people it serves is bound to become corrupt. Of course Jesus wants us to visit people in prison.

What part does society play in the social justice system? William Sloan Coffin writes that “Ninety-eight percent of people in prison in the United States lived in poverty most of their lives.” Are poor people more likely to be criminals? Dr. Coffin goes on: “We say we’re tough on crime; we’re only tough on criminals. Were we tough on crime we’d put the money up front, in prevention, in building communities, not more prisons. Some of us are guilty but all of us are responsible. We stress the guilty to exonerate the others also responsible for a soaring crime rate.”

Most of us have committed deeds we are not proud of. Some of us go to prison for them. A white boy’s prank (he’s just feeling his oats) is a black boy’s crime. I need not tell you that the population in prison is overwhelmingly comprised of racial and ethnic minorities. Women in prison are often there because they have killed or attempted to kill their abusers. A program in the maximum security prison in New York is geared for the women who are deaf—many more deaf women than in the normal population. Why are they deaf? Because they were knocked on the head so many times by violent people. Of course Jesus wants us to visit those in prison.

During the last thirty years the prison population has sextupled. Today one in one hundred adults in the country are behind bars. By far the highest ratio of imprisoned people in any democracy. The population is disproportionately young, poor, and from ethnic and racial minorities.

Prisons create profits for corporations and jobs for communities that have few jobs to offer otherwise. Can you just imagine the profit for whichever company provides paper products for a state prison? And who is giving out those contracts? Few people know. Of course in recent years the decision to turn the incarceration of people over to profit making corporations is mind-blowing. Imagine having a daughter in a prison where her medical care is based on how little can be done for her so that stockholders can have a good return on their investment. I know there is supposed to be strict oversight. The NEW YORK TIMES uncovered horrendous medical care in facilities run by for-profit companies.

Jesus wants us to visit those in prison because of the inherent worth of humankind as created by God in God’s own image. Our God is the God of everyone. We believe there is the possibility of repentance and salvation for each cherished individual. Examples ranging from the prodigal son to the lost sheep abound in Jesus’s teachings. Each person is precious in God’s eyes. Eddie Ellis, a former Black Panther and tireless advocate for those in prison, talks about the importance of language in referencing those in prison. Never say prisoner, convict, inmate, ex-con or any generic word indicating a prison status. These are people—people in prison. Look at the prophets (different spelling) who have been in prison—Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, St. Paul, Deitrich Bonhoeffer, Angela Davis. All people who wanted to disturb the status quo. Of course Jesus wants us to visit those in prison.

When Dietrich Bonhoeffer was imprisoned, his words were written on the other side of the note-pad on which the contents of food parcels had to be listed—in the first weeks of his imprisonment, the only writing material he had. “Separation from people, from work, from the past, from the future, from marriage, from God, impatience, longing, boredom, sick—profoundly alone, suicide, not because of consciousness of guilt but because basically I am already dead. Total. Overcoming in prayer.” Of course Jesus wants us to visit those in prison.

By visiting those in prison, we can be present with people in their extreme alienation. We can become the incarnate presence of God. Our presence—particularly our listening to their stories–enables the giving and receiving of forgiveness. We are able to walk some of the diverse paths humans take in their walk toward and with God. Of course Jesus wants us to visit those in prison.

Susan Scofield

October 10, 2010

Twice recently I’ve had friends ask, “Don’t you hate it when you are in a chair and folks speak louder to you like you’re deaf? “ Huh? My disabilities clash at times. I want to be where you can see me, but I will try to stay where you can hear me, too . . .

Pat told me I couldn’t use this time to fuss about not having an elevator . . .

I was asked to attend a cultural diversity seminar two weeks ago at MHS to find more ways to be culturally inclusive in the classroom, and to help quell the ethnocentric pull on today’s American middle school minds. I do NOT feel I honor other cultures as I could, due to my ignorance of other religions and traditions. I showed up at the conference to find the room ‘terraced’ with sections of the floor 10 inches lower than the section before it. All the tables had been set up in the lower quadrants, so I glanced around the room, looking for a ramp to join the other participants. I saw a lift at the other entrance, and I started to move toward it when someone apologized that the lift wasn’t working. So this was to be a cultural diversity seminar that was not accessible—one more faux pas in a list too disappointing to count.

Of course my colleagues helped me out—they recognize my worth. They grabbed breakfast lunch and coffee for me, they lifted my chair up a step so I could access the bathrooms, and they moved their table up so we could be a working unit. But somehow, the seminar had lost its luster for me. There must have not been ANY thought as to who they might draw to this conference. They had not thought of me, therefore, I did not truly feel that I was wanted or valued. Do my Hispanic, Asian, and African American kids think the same thing when they are in my classroom? She doesn’t think about me—she doesn’t know about me, so she doesn’t care about me? I can’t make connections with what I don’t know to connect. The seminar as well as daily life reminds me again and again to take the time to find that connection. I think diversity is much like humility—if you think you have attained your goal, then you’ve missed the boat. You can always employ more diversity. How many gay teens killed themselves last week?

It’s important to talk about being okay with being different. Kim Peek, the inspiration for Rain Man, said, “You don’t have to be handicapped to be different. Everyone is different!”

Supporting uniqueness and respecting individualism is important for people to see demonstrated, not just spoken about. We are NOT the same. We should celebrate each person for who they are and where they are, with no judgments. Yes, this requires educating teachers, kids, and the general public. Folks—young and old—learn by watching what we do.

Diversity embraces so much more than culture: socio-economic status, physical abilities, mental abilities, sexuality, gender, neighborhoods, family units, and living arrangements. I start talking about only one type of diversity—and then end up on another note—trying to get people to open their minds and hearts to other diverse groups—those with physical limitations, GLBT folks, those currently unemployed, struggling readers, people with other cultures, other religions, folks of different sizes, roller derby girls—we are all human—we all carry a bit of God within us—we are all on this old earth for reasons we may not fully understand.

Disability awareness? I’m not sold on this term. I don’t think we should be focusing on the disability. I think we are already too aware of others’ shortcomings. I’d like to think we are focusing on the individual—on the intrinsic value of each of us as human beings—despite how much or how little we have been given—or even what we’ve done with what we’ve been given. I’d settle for an awareness and a mindfulness that none of us are exactly the same, and yet we are all Sojourners in the same lifetime, with the potential to profoundly impact each other for better or for worse. Perceptions are much more handicapping than any disability.

Helen Keller is my hero. She wrote:

The calamity of the blind is immense, irreparable. But it does not take away our share of the things that count–service, friendship, humor, imagination, wisdom. It is the secret inner will that controls one’s fate. We are capable of willing to be good, of loving and being loved, of thinking to the end that we may be wiser. We possess these spirit-born forces equally with all God’s children.

I think she battled people’s mindsets her entire life, and I’m fairly certain things are not any different for me now. We are not battling ourselves, or our limitations, but the limiting beliefs of others—the boxes that others put the disabled into. I chafe against the ignorance and insensitivity of folks every day, and Helen handled all of this with much more grace and wisdom than I ever could. My friends are so important to me. They act as a buffer from the carelessness of the world. They remind me that I am valuable. I matter. I am capable of all the meaningful things that set us apart as human beings. I have the will to do good, to love, and yes, to even think I’m the wiser one in the end.

Rev. David Gallup

July 10, 2011

Scripture: Isaiah 55:10-13 and Matthew 13:1-9.

Three titles for this sermon suggested themselves to me: “The Prodigal Sower,” “The Optimism of Jesus” and “A Kingdom Not Postponed.” They all relate to the Parable of the Sower as reported in Matthew’s gospel, as we may eventually see. But first, let me approach the subject tangentially.

Are we in America losing concern for “the common good”? This is the question raised in a recent article in the Christian Century by Gary Dorrian of Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University.¹ Can we judge the health of a society by how it deals with those of its members who are less well off?

Dorrian echoes the concerns of previous sociologists.² As many as two or three decades ago some were noticing an erosion of certain moral assumptions that had hitherto under-girded the audacious American republican experiment in self-government. (I hasten to say that the term, “republican,” is used here to mean a government by the people, without a monarch or autocratic leader.) Dorian claims that these underlying assumptions have come to us from Aristotle and biblical sources. It has been assumed that a free society, such as ours has attempted to be, could survive only if there were “an approximate equality of opportunity and condition among citizens.” Rampant American individualism has from the beginning also been a defining characteristic of our society. But biblical religion and civic republicanism has from the beginning worked somewhat to restrain that.

Now I know we are treading on treacherous ground. All sorts of movements, political and otherwise, like to cite our “Judeo-Christian roots” as the source of their ideologies. We know how badly the concept can be abused. But let us carry on.

What the sociologists were claiming was that young people “no longer knew or cared about the biblical sources of the American experiment, or the social gospel dream of a co-operative commonwealth.

Ironically, while this seemed to be happening in the United States, a counter-movement called “liberation theology” was developing in South America and was even enthusing young people in India (some of whom were our seminary students). In India it produced attempts to articulate something called “dalit theology,” that is, a theology addressing the condition of the traditionally oppressed out-castes.

What seems to be replacing the idea of the common good is an emphasis on an “individualistic pursuit of success or emotional satisfaction.” Character-shaping communities seem to be being replaced by a kind of personal self-centeredness in a world that has little meaning. Of course, when we talk about character-shaping communities we are not talking about ideological straitjacketing. Some communities have been shaped by some excellent characters. Some have not. Some communities have shaped reprehensible characters. However, in the context of this sermon, in this assembly, I would like, in a biased way, to think with you about a character-shaping Christian congregation. A congregation that is part of a large, historical, peculiarly sensitive community. A fellowship sharing particularly with its youths and young adults, the challenge of such prophets as Micah who lists the expectations of God that we will “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8). And further, a congregation reflecting the encouragement we have received through the Grace of Jesus. That is the kind of character-shaping community that I trust Sojourners UCC will always be.

Dare we think about the realm of God in relation to the ambiguous society in which we live? Dare we suppose that those assumptions, those ideals about the viability of a democratic republic should make us question how our society deals with its less fortunate members? Dare we claim that there are ways, imperfect, flawed, hampered by willfulness and ennui, that can, nevertheless, somehow, hint of the Kingdom of God, can, somehow, reflect the compelling grace of God, can, somehow, counter selfishness, cynicism, and ignorance? I think we can; in fact, I think we do; and that, at least in part, is why I think we are here.

This brings me to the scripture readings for today: Isaiah 55:10-13 and Matthew 13:1-9.

In Isaiah, we have heard part of a hymn of joy and promise. God’s WORD will not return empty, but shall accomplish what God purposes. It will succeed in that thing for which God sent it. For Isaiah, the assurance was that God would deliver Israel from exile and establish a new Jerusalem. God’s concern for Israel would be unwavering and everlasting.

In today’s verses from the gospel according to Matthew, we again encounter God’s WORD, this time very loaded with meaning, especially if you recall these words from the gospel according to John:

In the beginning was the Word (logo) and

the Word was with God, the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God. All things

came into being through him, and without him

not one thing came into being. What has come

into being in him was life,

and the life was the light of all people.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not overcome i t. . . .

And the Word became flesh and lived among us,

and we have seen the glory, the glory of a father’s only son,

full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-5, 14 NRSV

Now, in Matthew’s telling of the Parable of the Sower we are invited to hear the Word Incarnate telling a parable about the Word! (Are you still with me?)

Who is the sower? Is this not Incarnate Grace and Truth? Jesus himself?

What is being sowed? Is it not the promise of the Kingdom of God?

What is that promise? That the kingdom will prevail. The “seed” is prodigiously scattered. It is not measured out carefully. The sower knows there always will be enough, fall where it may. And when the seeds that do take root and grow, they will yield a wonderful harvest– some thirty fold, some sixty fold, some even one hundred fold! The Sower is generous, prodigal, nonjudgmental, and optimistic! Jesus is talking about that for which we pray, that God’s will be done, here and now and forever.

On those occasions when we pray, using the words of The Lord’s Prayer, do you mentally cross your fingers, or cynically recite the words, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”? Or, do you pray in gratitude for the signs of the Kingdom where folks have opened their hearts to it and acted upon it? And then do you add, “Dear Lord, help me to act upon it”? And do you, sometimes, here, in this loving character-building community, realize that your prayers are being answered?

I wonder if it would be all right to pray impatiently; acknowledging that there are signs of the Kingdom for which we are grateful, but wishing that there were more in all the violent, sad and troubled places in our world. The words of the hymn which were read as our call to worship this morning resonate with me:

Enter in the realm of God, It has come, and yet will be.

It is known, and yet unknown. Christ revealed its mystery.

In communities that serve, and among the saints who care,

There is justice for the poor,

and new freedom from despair.

Come again, O Christ to rule in that realm that has no end.

May your children everywhere hear your greeting:

“Welcome, friend!”

¹ Dorrien, Gary, “Moral Community = No Common Good?”

Christian Century, April 29, 2011, pp 22-25

² Bellah, Robert, et al, “Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life”, 1985

Sandel, Michael , “Liberalism and the Limits of Justice” 1982

Jeremy Andreatta

June 26, 2011

Scripture: Romans 15:5-7

First, welcome, welcome EVERYONE.

I’d like to start by addressing a couple of the items in my bio. in the bulletin. “Whoop” as it is written, is what Aggies say pretty much anytime we are excited about something which includes graduation, such as “I’m a proud member of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of 2009! WHOOP!” and, Inorganic Chemistry is not a term I made up to make myself feel better about spending 5 years in graduate school. There are books written about the topic and I have even published a scientific article in the journal named “Inorganic Chemistry.”

With that being said, I’m not really sure why I was asked to speak today, but here I am and here we go. I guess, as often happens, this is what one gets when you give a simple “yes” answer and agree to attend a committee meeting after service. But make no mistake, I am both honored and humbled that I have been asked to speak today on Pride Sunday.

The theme for today is acceptance. I must admit that this topic is somewhat of a challenge for me since it is a relatively abstract idea. I’m very much used to and comfortable discussing the nuances of chemical reactivity and conclusions supported by experimental evidence, but this topic has presented me with a new challenge and I only hope I don’t disappoint.

So, as my Texas A&M brethren would say, I got a story for ya Ags. Imagine a phone call home, “Hey Mom, how’s it goin’?” kicks the conversation. You exchange a few stories about various aspects of your week. Then you say, “Hey Mom, I want you to know that I’ve been dating someone for a little over a year now and that I’m really happy” …Silence…It seems as maybe you said it in your head only and didn’t actually verbalize it, because the conversation that follows seems to not have changed from what has happened that week. So you repeat it, making sure you actually verbalize it, “Mom, I want you to know that I’ve been dating someone for over a year and that I’m really happy.” Silence…and finally a response…”I wish I would have hung up on you after you said it the first time”… that is followed with “I just don’t think you know what you want. You never said anything about this (‘this’ meaning you being gay) until you lived with a gay roommate. I was raised Catholic and just don’t think I’ll ever be able to accept ‘IT.’ Heaven forbid anyone in town finds out!” The reply is relatively simple, “Mom, this started long before that. I’ve always known there was something different about me. I started to figure it out and question my sexuality years ago. Now, you might think this is the type of conversation a young college student had with his or her mother as a coming out or soon thereafter. But, I was 29 at the time this phone call occurred last summer and I had been out to my family for over 2 years.

Even to this day, my mom, along with other friends, can’t bring themselves to acknowledge, much less accept, that I am gay. This is an all too common occurrence in families, friendships, etc. across our community and our nation. Also, one might think that only the older generation is unaccepting of the LGBTQ and ally community, but that is also not true.

Growing up in a small Texas town where diversity meant Caucasian or Hispanic and heterosexual, ONLY, I always knew that I felt different. I knew what gay was, just never thought that I might have “caught it,” as some say. My family was considered outside the norm because we were Catholic and as far as I knew the only such family in Santo, Texas. Other races etc. were not welcomed with open arms in Santo. I, however, was very fortunate to be the son of parents that taught and demonstrated a love and respect for all of God’s children regardless of who they are and for that I am truly thankful.

I started to think that I might, just might, be bisexual when I was in college. I had convinced myself that the feelings/curiosities that I was having were just a phase and normal. Later in college I started to try to deal with some of the feelings I was having, but mainly just keep them hidden deep down inside. In graduate school these feelings grew and I even made a last ditch effort to be straight but, not surprisingly, it didn’t work out! I will report though, that the last woman I ever dated is now my best friend and I can’t imagine her not being a huge part of my life. There were some very dark hours during this time, as I’m sure many of you here today gay, straight, male, and female, etc. can relate to. I came out to my family, which didn’t go so well (mostly my fault). It is definitely true what they say about good intentions! However, this was the time in my life when my faith pulled me through. I finally realized that I was not a mistake and I but needed the courage to accept myself. With help from family, some amazing friends, a little bit of therapy, and a lot prayer, I stand here today.

Thinking back to about a year and a half ago, I can easily remember the warm welcome that I got when I first came to Sojourners. Pastor Jim sought me out, I’m pretty sure it was obvious that I was a first timer, and welcomed me and told me that there would be a time for me to introduce myself, if I felt comfortable. Well, I did feel comfortable, introduced myself, and am proud to be on this journey through life with all of you here. I still feel my heart jump and almost tear up every Sunday when I hear Pastor Pat recite the words “whoever you are, wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here” and to know that every member of this church believes in this statement. This simple statement means the world to me. Immediately, I felt accepted and even welcomed at Sojourners, not in spite of who I am, but because of who I am and I consider that truly special.

A simple definition says that acceptance is “the act of taking or receiving something offered or favorable reception; approval, favor.” Seems simple right? But, I think this is one of the most difficult actions that we can undertake. We accept things every day though for a variety of reasons. Barring some miracle, I accept that I am going to be this height or shorter the rest of my life based on genetics and science. As a Christian, I accept that Jesus suffered, died for my sins and ascended in to heaven on the 3rd day based on faith. This faith, what some may consider a blind faith, is what helped me through some of my darkest hours. It took me years to accept that God did not make a mistake when he made me who I am. That is probably one of the hardest battles I have fought in my life. It is sometimes hard for me to be sympathetic to and patient with those who cannot “accept” homosexuality, and I know that I’m not alone in feeling that way. It’s a choice, or the gay lifestyle, they will say. It’s hard for some people to realize that the LGBTQ community merely wants the same things as everyone else.

This statement reminds me of the moment that really helped my dad to truly understand and accept his youngest son as a Gay man. He, with several other members of my family, hase said on many occasions that, being gay is personal and it should stay that way, you don’t need to march in a parade or fly a flag. Just live your life and be happy. After a trip to visit me here in Virginia, my dad and I were talking on the phone as we do each and every week and he had repeated this statement to me. “It’s Personal,” he says, “It has no place outside of your home.” I reminded him that he and my mom, held hands and actually shared a kiss while we walked around our nation’s capital during their visit. I asked him how his partnership was different, was the fact that he was heterosexual not personal and; therefore, had no place in public. His response was, “We’ve been married for 40+ (42 now to be exact). I told him, that I, as a gay man, wanted nothing less than to be able to do exactly what he did with his partner. That I, and all LGBTQ couples, had to think before we acted like that in public regardless of how long we’d been together. Silence on the other end of the line and an “I’m sorry, I never thought of it that way.”

I think this serves as a really good example of the types of conversations that we, as a community, need to be having with those who do not accept us. It is not a lifestyle, it is not a choice, it is simply who we are and at its core, we are the same. Love is love!

In preparation for today and being a child of the computer age, I, of course, Googled Bible verses/references for acceptance. Being a scientist, I did as my training instructed and asked the advice of those with more knowledge of the subject area than I possessed. So I like to thank Pat for all her help and guidance in my preparation for today. I found several references to “acceptance’ and this was one that stuck out to me -(Romans 15:5-7)- I truly believe that all of us, regardless of our sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, are God’s children and should love and be loved as God has loved us. As we heard in the reading today, “God is not one to show partiality.” If we are to embrace and live the gospel, we must also not be partial in our love for others.

So, in scientific presentations, I always end on a slide with some conclusions and some future goals and/or challenges (usually people’s favorite because it signals the end of the talk), and I see no reason to change my style here. I want to congratulate those who founded Sojourners UCC and pledged to not only “accept” people “no matter who they are or where they are on life’s journey,” but to take it to the next level and embrace them. As I said before, I accept my height (or lack thereof), but I also embrace it. I cannot remember a time that I’ve had to duck to go through a doorway. Also, I stated earlier that I accepted that Jesus loved us so much that he willingly suffered and died for us, but I try to embrace it and carry it with me everywhere I go. It took years, but I finally was able to accept that I was gay, but the battle didn’t end there. I had to learn to embrace it and love myself not in spite of it, but because of it. Being gay is part of me, just like being a chemist is, both of which I am very proud of. I’ve been lucky that many of my family, friends, and coworkers have accepted their son, brother, friend, lab mate as an out, proud, openly gay man. I have drawn on my upbringing, and the courage of those around me.

So now for my challenge, my “future goals,” if you will. We must embrace that which makes us both different and the same. Embrace those within and outside of our community (both our faith and the LGBTQ and ally communities). I want everyone, myself included, to really think about whether you simply accept yourself and those around, or if we are brave enough to try to understand, accept, embrace them. Then maybe just maybe we can genuinely celebrate, as we are today!

Rev. Barbara Brecht

November 20, 2011

Scripture: 2Corinthians 9:10-15

When I first volunteered to lead the worship service this morning, back in August, I had no inkling of what a joyful Sunday this was going to be. I also did not know that it was “Pledge Sunday,” a Sunday on which many ministers do not look forward to preaching. (And many congregations do not look forward to hearing!) I think Allison has done wonderful presentations on the budget and our pledging. I would like to add my thoughts this morning to the subject of money.

What is it about money that makes us so uneasy about mentioning it? Do you think you have a healthy relationship with money? I don’t think many of us do. Part of the unease is our society’s judgment that our net worth financially is the same as our net worth… period. For most people I know, their money is a very well-kept secret. When people really know about our money situation, they know something very personal about us, don’t they? A good friend of mine is a tax accountant. She told me that over the years when a client came to her office with a tax return, often he or she would use my friend as a confessor. She would hear the most terribly intimate details of their lives because—why not—she already knows the secret of secrets—how much money they have.

I remember a story about the founding minister of The Riverside Church in New York City, Harry Emerson Fosdick. And by the way when Warren and I were members, the church had an endowment of around $175 million. Each year the chair of the pastoral relations committee met with Dr. Fosdick for his annual salary review and asked what kind of salary he was wanting for next year. Dr. Fosdick would write the number on a piece of paper, turn the paper over, and pass it over the surface of the desk to the chairman. Putting the paper in his pocket, the chairman did not even look at the figure. No word was spoken! Their lips and minds did not have to be dirtied with the sounds of dollars being discussed.

Our lifestyle choices are often ways to signify our attitudes about the money we have to our friends and neighbors. People in New England with “old money” often drive old cars and wear clothes which obviously have been in their closets for decades. They are very thrifty in all their habits and look with disdain on any open display of wealth. While wealthy people in Florida build enormous “McMansions” on the ocean or lakes with a swimming pool between their house and the body of water they are on. Go figure.

The Bible does not have much good to say about money. Often misquoted is Paul’s writing in First Timothy that “the love of money is the root of all evil,” not “money is the root of all evil.” I like Mark Twain’s misquote of this quote: “The lack of money is the root of all evil.” He probably was as close to the truth as Paul was. Paul expands on his statement by saying “and in their eagerness to be rich, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.”

It is painful to love money. Loving money increases fear and anger. We have many literary examples of this. Two which come to mind are the characters of Silas Marner and Ebenezer Scrooge. Both very unhappy men. We have present day examples of this fear and anger. The Tea Party diatribes are one example. Don’t tax the rich people: let them keep their money or else they won’t create any new companies and new jobs. Come to think of it, how much news would be in the papers or on TV newscasts if the topic of money was magically erased? Local, national, international debt crises—riots all over the world. World leaders flying here and there to try to come up with some solutions. The Super Committee getting nowhere with compromising. Everyone is furious about money. What would the remaining 10 per cent of news be concerned with? All that would be left is terrorism.

Is there a way we could lose our embarrassment about money? Could we ever envision money as a neutral commodity? After all, it’s really just a medium of exchange. Could we convince ourselves that God has blessed us abundantly? What if on our name tags we also put our annual pledge or how much we give weekly? After all, it’s just a number. Who would do it? Not me.

If there were a way to transform money from a fearfully-kept secret to a topic we are at ease with, we could live more peacefully and easily. Money gives the illusion of safety. And as many of us know who have lost loved ones or been given a life threatening prognosis, it is only an illusion. If we could lose our fear of being without money or of having our money revealed, we would have more space inside to grow spiritually. A lot of psychological energy is used up in keeping secrets. Can we design a way we can speak a little more openly about our money?

I can think of money as an addiction. How do we live more easily with our addictions? We have to recognize their power. And we often have to recognize our anger over that power. As peace-seeking people, we try to be compassionate to ourselves and others. We need to take our anger and figure out how to transform that anger into a positive motivator for ourselves.

One way to do this is with our contributions to our church. If we really value what our church is doing, we have to put Sojourners in the real world. And in the real world it costs money to do good works. People of spiritual callings are often thought not to be capitalists. However, they have to live in the real world, not a spiritual one. We should not think of Millie or Melanie or Shelli as needing or wanting less than the rest of us. They have to pay the same mortgages, rents, taxes, grocery bills, etc. etc. And we are talking about a lot of education invested in our staff here, and education is by no means free.

Instead of thinking of our pledge as “sacrificial giving” (I’ve always hated the word sacrifice.) we should think of our pledge as sowing. Our scripture reading indicated that we harvest in proportion to our planting, or to use a contemporary maxim, “We get as good as we give.” God, “[t]he one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food[,] will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your benevolence.” As the farmer casts his seed abundantly to reap a plentiful harvest, let us in this time of Thanksgiving also to sow to enrich our spiritual home. Remember, although it is the time of harvest in the contemporary world, for Sojourners it is the beginning of spring.