Month: January 2011

Date: January 23, 2011
Scripture Lesson: Matthew 4:12-25
Sermon: Motivation Matters
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

In a letter to the editor this past Friday, a woman addresses the health care reform bill. In the letter, we are told of the woman’s earnest desire to make sure that she has access to healthcare for herself and her young family. Apparently, she contacted Rep. Bill Young’s office to discuss the issue. Debra Sheldon tells us, “After listening to my nearly desperate plea to fix, not repeal, this law, Rep. C.W. Bill Young’s office then referred to the legislation as “Obamacare.” Personalizing this issue in such a way at that very moment made me realize that we have reached a point where our disdain and contempt for Democrats runs far deeper than our passion for family and respect for human dignity.” [Letter to the editor, from Debra Sheldon, Dunedin, St. Petersburg Times 1/21/11]

Here, we are faced with the matter of motivation. Ms. Sheldon points out her concern that the motivation for opposing health care reform is not a positive one because you’re going toward something good, but a negative one. She points up two alternatives. One negative, contempt and disdain, and one positive, related to values. Is the goal to be vindictive or is the goal to support families and people? She sees the motivation for the opposition to health care reform as negative, not positive. It is not moving toward something positive out of commitment to certain values. Sheldon reminds us that motivation matters.

Motivation matters are also prominent when it comes to the gospel Jesus Christ. We see a contrast in motivation between Jesus and John the Baptist. John the Baptist is crying out to people to repent for the realm of heaven has come near. People confess their sins and repent as John preaches about condemnation and wrath. The ax at the root of the tree and unquenchable fire. John preaches repentance. The motivation is fear. Repent so that you are not punished by God.

Jesus, too, begins his ministry preaching, “Repent, the realm of God has come near.” But there is no fear. No threat. No punishment. No proverbial fire and brimstone. Jesus is not calling people to repent so that they can avoid burning in hell. So what motivation does Jesus use? He calls people to repent, but why should they repent? Why should they turn their lives in a new direction?

In the lesson we heard this morning, we hear of the Peter and Andrew, James and John, leaving their fishing business and following Jesus. They literally repent. They turn their lives in a new direction. From all that we know, they leave a good life, family, a successful business, and they follow Jesus. What is their motivation? Why do they follow Jesus and turn their lives in a new direction?

I see their motivation revealed in the verses that follow. We are told that after the disciples leave their fishing and follow Jesus, they go throughout Galilee with Jesus teaching, proclaiming good news, curing people of every disease and sickness including those with afflicted with demons, epilepsy, and paralysis. All are healed and given new life. And their are no requirements for this healing. The people do not have to make a confession of faith. There are no conditions involved that we are told of. The call is to repent. The action that accompanies the call is healing for all.

For me, the account of the healings following the call tells us that Jesus was inviting people to repent, to turn their lives in a new direction, to be part of this wonderful life of healing and wholeness and community and justice. Jesus’ call to repentance was a call to a life lived in the reality of God’s dreams and intentions for humanity. Jesus’ invitation to repent is a call to a life of healing and hope and goodness. The motivation to respond to Jesus’ call to repent is positive. Turn and head your life toward this glorious vision of wellbeing for all people and all of creation. Jesus’ invitation to repent was not a call to avoid punishment. It was not based on fear. It was a call to turn your life toward something wonderful, and positive, and good. The focus was not on condemnation or judgment or threat. There was to be an intended contrast between Jesus and John the Baptist. Jesus was supposed to be the “new thing” God was doing. He was to inaugurate a new era of God’s love revealed. And we see this from the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry as we heard this morning. It is about turning toward something new and beautiful and good for yourself and for the whole world. It was a different motivation.

As we look at Christianity today, we see these the continuing traditions of both negative and positive motivation for the Christian life. Christianity is well known for calling people away from a life of sin. A life of moral degradation. Drinking. Smoking. Stealing. Whoring. And all the other morally objectionable behaviors that can be elaborated upon. Leave all that evil that leads to hell behind and take up the Christian faith. Get ready for the glories of heaven and the streets paved with gold for all eternity. Avoid eternal damnation in the fires of hell. Turn to Jesus. This is more of a negative motivation for responding to the call to repent. It is based on judgment and fear. Something is wrong with you and you need to be fixed and if you repent, God will fix it for you and you can avoid rotting in hell. This can lead to a Christianity that is extremely judgmental and condemning. That tradition of Christianity can be quite vocal as we often see in the media.

We also see the positive motivation for repenting and following the Christian way lived out in the church today. We see people invited to find new life and hope by becoming part of a community of healing and wholeness for the world. We see communities inviting others to turn their lives in a new direction of service and giving and other-centered living. Not because they are bad or immoral, but because there’s a beautiful life in store as part of a community of people focussed on God’s realm of healing and grace. Christianity can be a transforming journey that is based on going in a positive direction toward being part of creating God’s realm in the world.

When Robin Rogers and George Overholser called off their wedding, they could not get the $3,500 deposit back that they had put down for the reception. So, were they just out this $3,500? They decided to convert the reception into a $100 per person fund raiser for the the Greenpoint Reformed Church’s soup kitchen in New York City and they raised $10,000 for the hungry. The Greenpoint pastor reflected, “This is a great example of someone turning mourning into dancing.” [The Christian Century, 1/11/11, p. 8]

This couple could have been overwhelmed by judgment and a sense of failure and disappointment. Instead they chose to move ahead toward something positive and good that they both believed in. They were motivated by the good they could do. What a beautiful testimony to being part of God’s realm, here and now. “Repent for the realm of God is at hand.”

Positive motivation for repentance is open to everyone who is captivated by the dream of God’s realm of wellbeing and peace for all. The invitation to be part of a community seeking meaning and justice through service has an appeal for all.

This past week someone from our church was telling me about the ministry of a pastor in Minneapolis who feels called to invite people who are young and rich and successful to consider a new direction for their lives. It is a call to repentance, to turn in a new direction. This pastor recruits a small group of wealthy young adults and takes them on a three week intensive trip to the poorest parts of Africa. The travelers are to have no contact with family or the outside world during the trip. Each day involves Bible study and devotions. The loved ones at home are to pray each day for their traveler. The intent is not to condemn the rich people for their success. It is not to malign them for getting rich at the expense of others. It is not to instill guilt. The journey is intended as an invitation to repent. To turn in a new direction. To consider what they can do for others given their know how and resources. It is a call to turn their lives toward making God’s goodness and abundance and generosity real in the lives of people who have great need. And the pastor has seen numerous cases of people who have come back from this trip and then invested themselves in significant ways for the betterment of people who are suffering. To me, this is a positive call to repentance. It is a call to be part of something beautiful and wonderful and life changing for self and for others.

There are many people in our community, in our lives, and in our world today who are waiting to be called. They are ripe for repentance. Looking for a new life, whether they know it or not. There are many hungering to be part of a life changing, world changing community. Aching to be part of something that has passion and heart. Ready to move toward something good and inviting and exciting. But they may not have heard the positive call of Christ. They may have only heard the judgment and condemnation, the fear and punishment, the threat of damnation and hell, as motivation for repentance. They may not have heard the call to healing and hope. They may not have heard the positive message of being part of something beautiful and transforming. They are waiting to hear the call to repent – from us! Amen.

A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.

Date: January 9, 2011
Scripture Lesson: Matthew 3:13-17
Sermon: Water of Life
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

In July of 2008, NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander definitively identified water in a soil sample taken from the planet Mars. About two inches beneath the surface, the Phoenix exposed what looked like white sand, but after being heated, it was definitively identified as water. This confirms previous indications and observations pointing to the presence of water on Mars. And just why does this discovery have scientists and others so excited? Without evidence of water, scientists did not expect to find any signs of life. But now that water has been conclusively identified on Mars, the search continues for chemicals containing carbon and other raw materials which could lead to the discovery of life on Mars. Since there is water, there may be life. [“NASA Spacecraft Confirms Martian Water, Mission Extended,” 07.31.08, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080731.html%5D

We know the importance of water to sustain life. Areas without water are uninhabitable. Lack of water imperils life. In his book Collapse, Jared Diamond identifies environmental factors that lead to the decline of civilizations and cultures. One of the significant factors that can influence the decline of a civilization is drought. Lack of water affects the ability to produce and procure food to perpetuate life.

Because water is critical to life, it is not surprising that water has a significant place in various religions. It is honored and worshiped in ritual and rite. Cleansing and immersing in water are important in many religions. It symbolizes life and unity with the sacred. In ancient practices, water was considered a representation of the semen of a god, or the water of the womb of a goddess. So immersion was symbolic of being reborn and receiving new life. [Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Supplement, “Baptism,” p. 85] Water rituals represented transition from one state to another. Rituals with water also symbolized consecration, taking up a high calling, like an ordination or inauguration, though we saw no rituals with water amidst the pomp and circumstance of the inaugurations of this past week.

While secular society may have abandoned rituals with water, they are still prominent in religion. Orthodox Jews practice ritual washings. Muslims wash in certain ways, including ears and nostrils. In India, millions of pilgrims flock to the Ganges River to immerse themselves in what is considered its holy water. Hindus believe that life is incomplete without bathing in the Ganges at least once in a lifetime. The city of Varanase is scattered with steps leading into the water for people to engage in ritual immersion in the sacred water of the Ganges.

And, of course, for Christians water is important because it is necessary for baptism, the sacramental entrance into the Christian life. And people flock to the Jordan River today to be baptized in the very river in which Jesus is said to have been baptized by John as we heard this morning. Being baptized in the Jordan is big business, though the condition of the river is threatening this tradition.

Last summer, an environmental organization called Friends of the Earth Middle East issued a statement calling “on regional authorities to halt baptism in the lower Jordan River until water quality standards for tourism activities there are met.” The statement continues identifying issues that compromise water quality: “Sadly, the lower Jordan River has long suffered from severe mismanagement with the diversion of 98 percent of its fresh water by Israel, Syria and Jordan and the discharge of untreated sewage, agricultural run-off, saline water and fish pond effluent in its place.” [“Jordan River Too Polluted for Baptisms,” http://news.discovery.com/earth/jordan-river-baptism-pollution.html%5D

In Jesus’ day, evidently the water in the Jordan was flowing strong and clear. And baptism was practiced by Jews as a ritual of purification and self dedication to God. It had connotations of moral purification with ethical obligations as well. New converts were initiated through the cleansing ritual of baptism. The emerging Christian community continued the practice of baptism from the Pentecost story of the first century on.

Christian Baptism is linked with the holy spirit and the consciousness of relationship with the Divine. It represents reception into the faith community, the church, the body of Christ. Once part of that body, barriers that divide people are no longer of significance. For Christians, baptism is symbolic of hearing and receiving and responding to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the life giving word, the bread of life, living water. Baptism involves the commitment to love God, self, neighbor and enemy. Baptism marks a transition to a new life and a new identity with high ethical and moral standards.

Taking on this new life means emulating the life of Jesus. It is centered on the commitment to love and serve. It involves generosity and material simplicity. It is marked by devotion to spiritual disciplines and religious observance. The new life initiated at baptism involves investment in reconciliation and forgiveness, never retribution, vengeance or retaliation. New life in Christ involves commitment to non- violence. In fact, as we have been exploring through the Advent season, it a commitment to anti-violence and peace making. To live in Christ, is to live in a way that does not take advantage of others in any way, that does not create victims, that does not oppress – those in your family, community, in the fields, or in a sweat shop oceans away. Baptism is a transition to a completely new life and a new identity.

This week, there was an article in the Neighborhood Times [St. Petersburg Times, 1/5/11] about a woman who was ordained as a Buddhist nun. This lovely article discussed the commitment that entails, including taking a new name. Reading the article I noted how similar this transition is to Christian baptism, including some of the same commitments and values. When we are baptized into the body of Christ, we make a transition into a new life, with new commitments that involve a new lifestyle, and we are given our name for life as God’s beloved.

Of course, any transition to a new life comes with its challenges and Christian baptism is no exception. This new life of devotion to God and others is a significant departure from the values of the world around us. It is an alternative to being consumed with greed, success in worldly terms, power grabbing, attention seeking, self absorption, addiction, material wealth, etc., all of which never fully satisfy the soul and leave people unsated, ever hungry for that which does not fulfill, but only drains and depletes. Baptism is a big life alteration.

Now there was a backslider in a certain congregation, and every time the church had a revival, this man would get religion. Then, it was down to the river to be baptized – again. After being baptized for the sixth time, the preacher put the man under the water three times, raised him up, and said, “You’ve been baptized so much that the fish know you by your first name!”

Because baptism involves such a drastic conversion, the new life in Christ initiated at baptism requires nurture and support. That is why we are baptized into the faith community; to be our support. Baptism is not a solitary matter. It is not about the individual alone. It is about entrance into a community, a community that is needed so that the full joys and blessings and relationships of this new life can be realized and appreciated. The faith community, the church, is needed to help us go deeper into our life in Christ, to grow in discipleship and to reap the harvest of comfort and joy that comes with the Christian life. The community is needed to help us maintain our commitment as temptations and challenges confront us.

Twelve step programs are noted for their success because of the community of support, the relationships, and the connections made that help people to pursue the life of sobriety. The people who founded Alcoholics Anonymous were Christian, and modeled AA on Christianity with its built in community of support to help people transition and live into a new way of life. The weekly meetings. The fellowship. AA was a way to emulate the role of the church as a community of support for the Christian, but for the alcoholic pursing a new life of sobriety.

Christian baptism marks the beginning of a new life, whether we are baptized as infants, children, adolescents, or adults. Baptism begins a new adventure. A total makeover. It is a moment of definition. Of transition. This is who you are. This is your primary identity. You are a manifestation of divine love for the world. And in that life, there is salvation, from selfishness, tyranny, bondage, oppression, greed, abuse, fear of death, and from all that diminishes and destroys life.

Given the magnitude and significance of Christian baptism, it is ironic that our tradition of the sacrament has evolved into a solemn ceremony with a mere sprinkling of water done with dignity and decorum. Unless, of course, the child has the impulse to cry and scream. Which brings us much closer to the image of John the Baptizer, crying out in the wilderness. Loud. Bold. Uncompromising. Full of power and passion. Far more fitting for the drastic nature of the commitment involved.

Baptism is a whole life commitment. A total transformation. It’s not about dipping your toe in, it’s about diving in, being doused head to toe. And not caring about clothes that are ‘dry clean only’ or about the chill or about the hairdo or about being seen in a wet T shirt. We belong to God. We are sacred. We are holy. We are love. That is life! Amen.

A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.

Date: January 2, 2011
Scripture Lesson: Isaiah 60:1-6
Sermon: Redeeming the Gift
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

How many of you have unused gift cards languishing in a drawer at home? From this past Christmas? Last Christmas? The Christmas before that? Your birthday? Several websites have emerged to help with this problem. Unused gift cards can be sold for partial value at websites such as PlasticJungle.com, Cardpool.com, GiftCards.com, and GiftCardGranny.com. [“Gift cards going to waste? Sites let you sell them for cash, pay bills,” by Cameron Huddleston Saturday, January 1, 2011; 5:38 PM,http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2011/01/01/AR2011010102105.html%5D Or you can donate your unused/unwanted gift card at GiftCardGiver.com, a non-profit gift card website that will make sure your unused gift card goes to someone in need. [What to Do with Unused Gift Cards, http://www.suite101.com/content/what-to-do-with-unused-gift-cards-a308753%5D Experts estimate that in 2009, $5 billion worth of gift cards went unused. [Published by Joel, http://www.creditcardchaser.com/gift-card-inactivity-fees-will-soon-be-a-thing-of-the-past-kind-of/%5D All of these gift cards wasted, worthless because they were unused.

The Christmas season is the season of gift giving in celebration of the gift that has been given to us in Jesus Christ. As Isaiah prophesied, Our light has come. And the glory of God has been revealed. [Refer to Isaiah 60:1-6] We celebrate Jesus’ birth because we believe he is that light. We celebrate Jesus’ birth because of the life he lived, modeling for us uncompromising, unconditional love. We celebrate Jesus’ birth because of his ministry grounded in justice and peace. We celebrate the birth of Jesus because of his witness to full life and joy found in service. We celebrate Jesus’ birth in gratitude that he was willing to lay down his life for his friends. We celebrate the birth of Jesus because of the lifestyle of other centered living that Jesus has given to us. We celebrate Jesus’ birth because real life is not self-centered but God-centered, love-centered, peace and justice-centered. We celebrate the birth of Jesus because he shows us that life is found in giving, in generosity, in engagement with people who are oppressed, poor, forgotten, unfairly treated, suffering, or considered “less than.” We celebrate the birth of Jesus because of his teachings of love for your neighbor, love for yourself, love for your enemy, love for God. In Christ Jesus, we have been given the path to life in all its fullness and joy. We have been given the gift of real life. Of hope . Of possibility. Of meaning. Of new beginnings. Of fresh starts. A way of grace and mercy that satisfies and does not disappoint. The gifts we give each other at Christmas pale in comparison with the gift we have been given in Christ Jesus. The gifts we give are but faint reverberations of what has been given to humanity in the life, ministry and death of Jesus. A gift for all people, for all time. An embodiment of the love that all human beings are capable of incarnating, whatever their culture or religion. A blessing to all peoples, all nations, and all generations. And those who follow Jesus are meant to keep giving that gift to the world, generation after generation. The light has come. The darkness has not overcome it. The light of Christ still shines.

So each Christmas, we celebrate the amazing, precious, unfathomable gift that has been given to us in Christ Jesus. We worship and honor the babe born in Bethlehem. We sing and pray and praise his coming. But what happens after Christmas? We put away the decorations, the displays, the lights. Back in the boxes until next year. What do we do with the gift? Do we put it away? Unused? Perhaps even forgotten after the tinsel and pine needles are all cleaned up? Does the gift languish, like those unused gift cards, migrating to the back of a darkened drawer as the days go by?

The gift of Christ Jesus is something we should be using each and every day. It is something that should be with us and within us at all times. We should never leave home without it! We should be redeeming the gift of Christ day in and day out. A gift that does not loose value. That does not run out. That does not go bankrupt or fail. And that has no expiration date

A question for us to consider as the Christmas season draws to a close and the New Year begins is what are we going to do with the gift we have been given at Christmas? What are we going to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ that has been given to us? Are we going to redeem it? Use it? Put it into service? Activate it? Or will it go unused like those $5 billion dollars worth of unused gift cards?

To help us think about this, I would like to share the story of Karen, who surely used the gift of the gospel of Jesus Christ in all of its fullness.

In 1989 Karen Ridd and four other international volunteers were working with a group called Peace Brigades International (PBI) in El Salvador. They were suddenly arrested by the Salvadoran military. Three of the five were Spanish nationals and were deported, leaving Karen, who was Canadian, and her friend Marcela Rodriguez, who was from Columbia. Karen had time to alert another PBI volunteer and the Canadian consul about what had happened. She knew that they would mobilize worldwide networks of support to secure their release. But how long would that take? What would happen in the meantime? Would they be killed?

Marcela heard the soldiers describing them as “terrorists from the Episcopal Church.” They were loaded on a truck with other detainees and taken to an army barracks, where they were blindfolded and interrogated for 5 hours about their connection to a guerilla group. During the questioning, sounds of torture and sobbing victims came from nearby rooms.

The immediate international outcry motivated the Canadian embassy to mobilize to secure Karen’s release. Canada brought pressure to bear on the Salvadoran government and within a few hours, Karen was walking across the barracks grounds toward a waiting embassy official, a free woman. As she was leaving, the soldiers removed her blindfold and she caught sight of Marcela, face to the wall, looking like “a perfect image of dehumanization.” While Karen was glad to be alive and relieved to have been freed, she felt terrible leaving her friend, Marcela, behind. She couldn’t do it. She made some excuse to the exasperated Canadian embassy official who had come all the way from San Salvador to retrieve her. Then she turned around and walked back into the barracks. She did not know what would happen to her, but she knew it could not be worse than deserting her friend.

The soldiers, too, were shocked and exasperated. They did not know what to do with Karen. They handcuffed her again. In the next room, a soldier banged Marcela’s head into the wall shouting that some “white bitch” [expletive deleted] was stupid enough to walk back in there, and, “Now you’re going to see the treatment a terrorist deserves!” But Karen’s return was having a strange effect on the soldiers. They talked with her, despite themselves, and she tried to explain why she had returned. “You know what it’s like to be separated from a companero.” That got to them. They released Karen and Marcela and the two women walked out together under the stars, hand in hand. [“The Story of Karen Ridd,” Engage: Exploring Nonviolent Living, A Study Program for learning, practicing, and experimenting with the power of creative nonviolence to transform our lives and our world, by Laura Slattery, Ken Butigan, Veronica Peiliaric, and Ken Preston-Pile, pp.71-72]

I guarantee it, we will have countless opportunities each and every day to use the gift we have been given by God through Christ. In our jobs, families, volunteer work, civic involvement, homes, church, and in all realms of our lives and experience, we can put the gift of the gospel to work. It is the gift that keeps on giving. Open it. Explore it. Put it to use. Enjoy it. Learn from it. Take delight in it. It is the most exciting and valuable gift you will ever be given at Christmas time or any time. Make sure you redeem this gift in 2011. Happy New Year! Amen.

A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.