Author: Rev. Wells

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2601 54th Avenue South  St. Petersburg, FL  33712
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga
727-867-7961
lakewooducc.org
lakewooducc@gmail.com

Date: Sept. 17, 2023  Charter Sunday celebrating the founding of the church
Scripture Lesson:  Mark 4:1-9
Sermon:  An Astounding Yield
Pastor:  Rev. Kim P. Wells

A year ago at this time, we were walking the Camino de Santiago Del Norte across the northern coast of Spain.  It was one glorious day of walking after another surrounded by stunning scenery.  I had with me a little book called How To Walk by Thich Nhat Hanh.  This book was recommended by Yoko Nogami, a former member of this church.  She read it each day when she was walking the Appalachian Trail.  So each day on the Camino I would read a page from How to Walk.  Inside the covers of the book, I made a list of each date we would be walking and beside each date was a name of someone from our Lakewood Church family.  So each day, I would hold that person or family in my thoughts as I walked.  On Sept. 17, today’s date, the name was Barbara Donohue.  Barbara is not here today because she wanted to go to Trinity Church one more time as they come to the end of their Sundays worshipping at their church on 49th Street before coming here to join with us. 

Each day on the Camino I would think about someone from our church family.  And I was in awe, day after day, thinking about the amazing people that make up this church.  You are an incredible group of people!  The stories, the spirit, the generosity, the concern for others, the activities and interests of folks – it’s really quite remarkable. 

This led me to think about how our church attracts such a beautiful mix of people.  What draws them?  How does it happen that we’re all here?  I contemplated this for some time on the Camino and beyond.  There are some things that could be said about this, but really nothing has come to mind that provides a satisfactory explanation for me.

Then I started to see this situation from another angle.  Maybe it is through being part of this faith community that people become so amazing.  Maybe it is being part of this congregation that moves us toward our highest good.  Maybe here we feel safe to share and be who we are in our fullness.  Maybe in this context we are being formed and shaped into our better selves. 

I know that has happened with me.  It is this community that has formed and shaped who I am as a pastor and as a person.  Here’s an example.  When I first started serving here in 1991, the church faced the decision about whether to continue to have a child care center here at the church.  The Fellowship Hall building housed a day care for about 60 children from the neighborhood.  There were issues with the program and we had to discern whether the church had the wherewithal to sustain the program.  It needed a major overhaul or to be closed.  Just to say – I would not have wanted my children to attend preschool here the way it was at that time. 

Closing a childcare center is a major decision.  It has a variety of implications for the congregation.  It is a decision that would have a huge impact on about 50 families from the community.  And, this decision would be a major public relations bust.  Oh, that’s the church that closed the day care.  The church that left all those families high and dry.  Not to mention the staff.

So here was this huge decision to be made by people who had just been through months of conflict and contention over the former minister.  How was this going to go? 

Well, the lay leadership of the church council decided this decision needed to be made by consensus among the council and then presented to the congregation as unanimously agreed upon by the leaders.  And these church leaders had a plan for how these discussions would go.  They consulted certain Quaker methods of consensus decision making.  They researched mediation techniques.  And the church council met, pretty much weekly, and sat in a circle here in this sanctuary, and had conversations week after week after week about all of the perspectives, implications, and facets of this decision.  And it was decided that we would keep meeting, weekly, until we had reached consensus. 

And – it worked!  The leaders did reach consensus.  Finally.  To close the childcare center.  And the congregation overwhelmingly agreed. 

Well, I can tell you this.  This was all new territory for me.  I had never seen a church go about anything this way.  Nothing like this was ever covered in my seminary training.  I had never seen this level of commitment – a weekly meeting to hash over the minutiae of this day care decision.  The techniques for managing the conversation.  I had never experienced anything like this – in or out of church.

And I could see the wisdom in it.  They did not want another divisive situation, with the congregation embroiled in another conflict.  And they had learned some things from their previous experiences.  And we have used some of those techniques subsequently when we have faced other contentious situations.

So, I didn’t come into this as the ‘expert’ with a bag of tricks.  I have learned from the congregation, from this community, about how to go about decision making in ways that are not divisive.

Another situation like this involved creating a new structure for the church which resulted in the system we have now with a group of advisors overseeing the operational matters of the church and leaving all other initiatives and events and ministries to the will of the congregation at any given time.  The task force that worked on this new structure intentionally sought to create a structure that was non patriarchal and non hierarchical.  They came up with those criteria.  And, of course, I agreed.  But I was learning from these church leaders about how we could more fully embody the beloved community as a functioning institutional church.  And I must say, after over 20 years, the system we have works very well for us.

I could tell you story after story like this – about how I am continually learning, growing, and deepening in faith because of this community. 

My brother is a UCC pastor of a large church in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  As he put it, “Your church is always moving you further to the left.”  Yes, it is.  Thankfully!  I could never serve in a situation like his where he is always trying to nudge his church just a smidgen to the left. 

What I have come to realize is that this church doesn’t just attract amazing people like a flower attracts a bee. This church is forming and shaping us into an amazing, incredible community of people.  It is just as it says in the story of the sower.  The seed has been scattered.  We have all received it.  And this church, this faith community, is our fertile soil.  This is where we take root and those roots grow deep.  This is where we are watered and fed.  This is where we are sustained.  This is where we are pruned when we need it.  This is where we are provided with all that we need to thrive and grow and bear fruit. 

So I am done worrying about how to attract amazing people to our church.  Instead, I am thinking about how we can support each other in manifesting our highest good, in healing from the battering life too often brings, and in taking care of ourselves, one another, and this precious, fragile, beautiful world.  How can we continue to be fertile soil?

In this blessed congregation, may we all find what we need to live, grow, thrive, and bear the fruits of love.  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.

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2601 54th Avenue South  St. Petersburg, FL  33712
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga
727-867-7961
lakewooducc.org
lakewooducc@gmail.com


Date:  Oct. 1, 2023  World Communion Sunday
Scripture Lesson:  Psalm 104
Sermon:  Common Ground
Pastor:  Rev. Kim P. Wells

This week an extremely rare gift dropped to Earth in the Utah desert.  A capsule with about 250 grams of rock and soil that traveled 1.2 billion miles from the astroid Bennu was delivered by the robotic spacecraft OSIRIS-Rex.  UPS, Fed Ex, and Amazon, look out!    The sample was collected 3 years ago from the small astroid which is only 500 meters across.  This soil and rock will offer clues about the origins and development of rock planets like Earth.  The sample is being shared among 200 scientists in 60 labs worldwide for investigation and study.  What a marvelous story of humanity coming together to delight in the wonders of Creation.

And we know that that is as it should be.  The Cosmos is intended to evoke our awe and wonder.  This weekend the Florida Orchestra performed the symphony The Planets by Gustav Holst.  Maybe some of you heard it last night.  It is a beautiful evocation of the eight planets that were known to be in the solar system with Earth when the symphony was written between 1914 and 1917.   We can only imagine what Holst would create in response to the images from the Webb telescope!  The Cosmos is a mysterious, fathomless functioning whole, and when you think of Bennu, the astroid, created 4.5 billion years ago, we see that humanity is really only a blip in a much bigger picture! 

Here we are on Earth, as humans – for about 200,000 years, or for one year, or for four score and seven years, and each and every moment of this life a miracle.   Here we are to glory in the beauty and wonder of life.  And to take our place, play our part, in the unfolding drama of Creation. 

As we try to conceive of the scope and span of the Cosmos, beyond our human knowing, we realize that we are connected to it all, we’re part of it.  And religion is one of the ways that the human species expresses our connection to this much larger reality.  Our many different religious expressions and practices help us to engage with Creation in all of its holiness and wonder.   Religious observances help us to honor the sacredness of all life.  And when we think of the vast scope of the Cosmos and the incredible diversity of humanity, it only makes sense that there would be many different expressions of  religion and spirituality.  We try to conceive of a soil sample from Bennu.  Created 4.5 million years ago coming 1.2 billion miles to Earth.  It’s beyond our full comprehension.  So the idea that there would be just one religion, one spiritual path, seems utterly absurd given the incomprehensible nature of the Cosmos.

So, we are a species of many different religious expressions as we should be.  We are part of a worldwide human family that includes Jews, Muslims, Hindus, BaHai’s, Buddhists, Sikhs, animists, agnostics, atheists, and many, many more!  Different people, different habitats, different cultures, different life experiences, different needs, different understandings, all of these things lead to a multiplicity of religious expressions.   Even within our own religion, Christianity, we see that there are many different streams of expression of our Christian faith.  And that is as it should be.  Trinity UCC has lived experience with the diversity within Christianity in the years that the church served as a worship center for four very different Christian faith communities.  How beautiful!

World Communion Sunday is holy day on which  Christians around the world with all of our different beliefs and expressions celebrate our unity through the sacrament of holy communion.  We come to a table to eat a bit of food reminding us of the life-giving love of Jesus Christ.  We come to celebrate how we are constantly being fed physically and spiritually through the wonders of Creation.  We come to experience a sense of belonging and our place in the larger reality of Divine Love.  We come to this table to feed the Christ, the potential for love and goodness, within us, which compels us to be in communion with people of all faiths and no faith because reality is one and God is love.  We come to give thanks for all that is being given to us.  All of this and so much more than we can ask or imagine.  At this table.

And today, at this service, at this table, we celebrate another communion.  We mark the beginning of a formal cooperative ministry relationship between Trinity United Church of Christ and Lakewood United Church of Christ.  Trinity was founded in 1952 as an Evangelical and Reformed congregation which later became part of the United Church of Christ when it was established in 1957.  The E and R church had German roots.  Lakewood was originally founded as All Saints Lutheran Church; the Lutheran church also having German roots.  Lakewood came into the UCC in 1967 joining  Trinity, Pilgrim, and First Congregational as the 4 UCC churches of St. Petersburg.  Through the years, our churches have worked together in various ways.  Our stories intertwine.  The founding pastor of Trinity, Bob Frey, and spouse Beth, were beloved members of Lakewood when they moved back to St. Petersburg in their retirement.  Bob served as an interim minister at Lakewood during several times of transition.  So the two churches have shared ministerial leadership. 

When Lakewood joined the UCC in 1967, Trinity supported and encouraged Lakewood.  In a letter honoring the 10th anniversary of Lakewood in 1977, then Trinity pastor Don Hafner, spouse of current Trinity member Colleen Hafner, wrote:  “We at Trinity Church are proud to have had a share in your beginning through our sponsorship and support of the Lakewood project.”  So, it appears Trinity actively supported Lakewood becoming established as a viable congregation and joining the United Church of Christ.  Lakewood is here in part because of the support of Trinity Church in those early years.

The Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu says, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”  In terms of the journey of Trinity and Lakewood cooperating in ministry, it seems that single step took place over 56 years ago.  What we can see is that Trinity and Lakewood have already been in ministry together for a very long time.

In recent weeks, when I have mentioned to people this cooperative ministry undertaking, I have been a little surprised by the reactions I have gotten.  They are mostly on the order of:  “That must be hard.”  “That’s a real challenge.”  “You have your work cut out for you.”   “That must be a very difficult situation to manage.”  You get the idea.  Frankly, the responses have all been of concern and worry. 

Honestly, these are two churches, from the same denomination, in the same city, with similar interests and commitments, that have been involved with each other in varying ways for 56 years.  There is so much common ground.  And we see that we can be so much more together than we can be separately.

For people who believe in peace on earth and loving your enemy, why is two like-minded churches coming together seen as such a challenge?  I don’t get it. 

At a meeting we had with the governing boards of the two churches, one of the things we discussed was what we love about our churches.  There was so much common ground.  Frankly, it was one of the most moving, intense, exciting meetings I have ever been part of.  It really felt like we were being gathered up by the Holy Spirit and I’m not usually one to say things in that way. 

We are beginning this formal cooperative ministry to strengthen our witness to the unconditional love of the God of the Cosmos as we see it made manifest in the particular human life and ministry of Jesus.  It is about so much more than us.  And we start with so much common ground.
If a capsule with a little over half a pound of ground from an astroid 52,886,850 miles away can be delivered to Earth and examined by 200 scientists in 60 different labs around the globe, surely our two churches can come together in communion for the sake of this God-so-loved world.  Amen. 


The information about the soil sample from Bennu came from: 
“NASA asteroid sample parachutes safely onto Utah desert” by Steve Gorman, Maria Caspani posted on September 25, 2023 8:56 AM UTC.  The link is:  https://www.reuters.com/science/nasas-first-asteroid-sample-parachutes-into-utah-desert-2023-09-24/

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

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2601 54th Avenue South  St. Petersburg, FL  33712
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga
727-867-7961
lakewooducc.org
lakewooducc@gmail.com

Date: August 6, 2023
Scripture Lesson: Genesis 2:15-3:28
Sermon: Origins
Pastor:  Rev. Kim P. Wells

School starts this week.  I don’t know about the students and teachers, but I know many parents are happy about this!  This church has always had several teachers among the members and this is helpful for giving insight into what is going on in schools and the education process.  And one thing a teacher will tell you is that if you let a student know that you think that they are not capable, that they are slower, that they are not competent, that they are dumb, it’s very likely that the student will fulfill those low expectations.  If a teacher expects a student to behave badly, or to do badly on their assignments, they probably will.  Teachers have a lot of power over student achievement through how they message their expectations.

Expect people, in general, to act badly and they are more likely to do just that. 

And it turns out, that is kind of how it works out with the doctrine of original sin.  This concept, largely based on the story we heard this morning from Genesis, posits that people were born to perfection in Eden.  But the serpent enticing Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and to give it to Adam ended all that.  And now humanity lives in a state of original sin, sin that is part and parcel of our inescapable human identity.  This doctrine holds that original sin defines us.  We are essentially disobedient to the will and way of God.  And our only way to redemption, salvation, to reconciliation with God, is through the death of Jesus on the cross.  He paid for our sins so that we may receive the grace and forgiveness of God. 

This doctrine expects the worst from humans.  And establishes a transactional framework for the relationship between humanity and God with Jesus paying the debt for humanity.  The doctrine of original sin posits a fundamentally depraved humanity and a score-keeping God.  And as a teacher can tell you, you are probably going to get what you expect from people. 
Expect people, in general, to act badly and they are more likely to do just that. 

Original sin basically expects people to be bad.  It creates a victim mentality.  And that leads to acting out – through violence, greed, abuse on an individual level as well as on a societal level from the Crusades to the Holocaust and beyond. 

And with this doctrine rooted in the story of Adam and Eve and the serpent, we see the ravages that it has wrought in terms of sexism, patriarchy, the denigration of women.  If people are miserable worms, fallen, fundamentally sinful by nature, then until they are ennobled through the blood of Jesus, they can be treated in a demeaning and degrading manner, especially women since it was Eve, a woman, who brought this whole mess upon us.   

The whole system of original sin sets up hierarchies and power dynamics that invite, not surprisingly, abuse and domination.  And when it happens, it is justified by the doctrine of original sin.  What can you expect?  Humanity is fallen, after all. 

Some years ago, I went on a spiritual pilgrimage to Scotland with Sue Sherwood, a retired UCC pastor and a member of this congregation, currently serving Trinity UCC here in St. Petersburg.  While we were in Edinburgh, we went to visit Philip and Ali Newell, well known theologians of the Celtic tradition.  Some of you may have read some of Newell’s books.  Sue knew the Newells from attending a retreat that they had led at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.  In the course of the conversation with the Newells, Philip, an ordained pastor in the Church of Scotland, who has been the executive director of the Iona Community, told us that he would not take his son to a church were right up front in the beginning of the service they started by telling him he was, to put it more delicately, a pile of defecation.  This was Newell’s take on having a prayer of confession at the beginning of worship every Sunday.  Maybe you’ve noticed, we don’t do that here at Lakewood Church.

So how did the church come to embrace this damaging doctrine which continues to pervade Christianity? The concept originated not with Genesis but is associated with St. Augustine of Hippo, a bishop of Africa who lived from 345-430 CE. This doctrine was appealing to church leaders and political/governmental leaders because it created a path for control, punishment, domination, and dependence on the church.  The message:  You are essentially bad.  You need the church, mediating the grace of God through Jesus Christ, to save you from suffering for eternity in hell.  This gave power to the church.

We want to be aware that the story of Adam and Eve and the apple was part of Jewish scripture for centuries before the emergence of the Jesus movement.  And this was not the way it was used or interpreted.  There is no doctrine of original sin in Judaism.  In good Jewish fashion, the story was expected to have multiple meanings and it did.  It was seen as a myth, a formation story, that helps to explain why things are as they are for humanity in general, and for the Jewish people in particular in a specific historical context.  And in the Jewish tradition, in ancient times as well as today, this story is not used to project a doctrine like the Christian concept of original sin.  For Jews the story is used to explain free will, choice, curiosity, our proclivity for testing limits, and then in the aftermath of the story, it is used to explain social roles and the human condition. 

There have been theologians and mystics throughout the Christian tradition who have also found many messages in this story of Adam and Eve and the serpent and the tree beyond the doctrine of original sin.  Among other things, it can be seen as a coming of age story helping humans to understand their free will and its implications.

In his book, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality, Catholic theologian and teacher Matthew Fox makes a case for the fundamental goodness of creation and the human species.  He draws on the Bible and theologians throughout church history that have kept alive the essential message that creation and people are good.  Yes, people have the capacity for sin.  For hurting ourselves.  Others.  And creation.  Absolutely.  But the whole enterprise of creation and life is essentially an expression of goodness and love.  He posits that a faith rooted in the goodness of people encourages self acceptance, care for others and the earth, creativity, and mutuality.  Yes, there is sin.  People are not perfect, but they are good.  And Fox makes the case that this kind of foundational theology creates a path to beloved community. 

At one point in this seminal theological book of the 20th century, Fox tells a story about his dog which helps to shine light on the problems with the doctrine of original sin and the positives of the concept of original blessing.  Here’s the story:

“Thomas Aquinas [a 13th century Catholic theologian and philosopher] also taught that people are changed more by pleasure than by anything else.  I have often found this to be the case.  Take my spiritual director, who is my dog, for example.  If he wants to chase a squirrel in the backyard and I don’t want him to, what are my options?  Well, there is, because I live in America, the military option:  I can shoot him, or the squirrel, or both.  I could lock him in a closet; I could reason with him, though I would be sure to lose.  My best option is to know him well enough to know a pleasure (blessing) greater to him than chasing a squirrel in the backyard.  It happens that I do.  To be invited out the front door for a walk is a greater pleasure.  The result?  He forgets the squirrel in the backyard.  Yes, pleasure and blessing will indeed change people and structures.  I believe that one price the West has paid for ignoring blessing theology is that Christianity has very few tactics for social change. . .” [Original Blessing:  A Primer in Creation Spirituality, Matthew Fox, p. 55.]

I believe the task of the church is to help us understand that we are fundamentally good and that we are eternally loved.  Yes, we are imperfect.  Yes, we screw things up.  Yes, we make mistakes.  Individually and as a society.  And as a culture.  And as a species.  We have the capacity for incredible harm and evil.  But we are inherently good.  And we are created in the image of God, a God that is forgiving, loving, and imaginative.  And the church needs to be cultivating that kind of image of humanity.  Expecting goodness, compassion, and creativity.  And creating a world that encourages that.  A reliance on the doctrine of original sin seems to have made a mess of things.  Like Matthew Fox, I believe that the church can help to bring the world to health and wholeness through an emphasis on original blessing and not original sin. 

We close with inspiring words from the cellist Pablo Casals:

“When will we teach our children in school what they are?  We should say to each of them:  Do you know what you are?  You are a marvel.  You are unique.  In all of the world there is no other child exactly like you.  In the millions of years that have passed there has never been another child like you.  And look at your body — what a wonder it is! Your legs, your arms, your stunning fingers, the way you move!  You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven.  You have the capacity for anything.  Yes, you are a marvel.  And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel?”

May we teach that not only to students in school but to adults in church.  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.

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2601 54th Avenue South  St. Petersburg, FL  33712
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga
727-867-7961
lakewooducc.org
lakewooducc@gmail.com

Date: August 27, 2023
Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 43:18-19 and Mark 12:1-12, 38-44
Sermon: Talkin’ ‘Bout Evolution
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

In 1859 Charles Darwin published, On the Origin of Species.  He had worked on his theories for many years following up on the work of Alexander von Humboldt among others.  And thus we have the theory of evolution, an explanation of what is readily observable in the natural world.  And it is so beautiful to think that Creation has built in adaptability eternally perpetuating life.  The power of the life force and the genius of nature are astounding and the theory of evolution helps us to see and appreciate that. 

But the theory of evolution has also been controversial, in some measure among scientists but more often in the realm of religion.  Just after On the Origin of Species was published, there was a debate in Oxford between the prestigious biologist Thomas Huxley and Bishop Samuel Wilberforce of the Church of England.  Apparently, Wilberforce provocatively asked Huxley if he was related to an ape on his grandmother’s side or his grandfather’s side.  Huxley replied that he would rather be descended from an ape than a bishop. 

The theory of evolution was radical and hotly debated.  But the theory of evolution is not in conflict with the Bible or Christian teachings.  In fact, it reinforces much of our Christian belief system – the eternal love of God constantly being made manifest in new ways, a constantly renewing and regenerating web of life.  An echo of the words from the prophet Isaiah, “Look, I am doing something new.”  Beautiful!

Someone recently emailed me and included in the email, as an aside, was the question:  “Why can’t Christianity evolve faster?”  I found the use of the word ‘evolve’ interesting.  Surely religion is always adapting and adjusting to new circumstances.  Evolving. 

But the person who sent the email admitted to not believing most of what is said in church even though she is a regular attender and she thinks most people in the pew with her share her views. 

So, we give some thought to what keeps Christianity entrenched in beliefs, creeds, dogma, tenets, language, and practices that many people don’t really adhere to, even many who go to church. 

Let’s start with the scripture lesson from Mark that we heard today.  Here is Jesus, teaching and manifesting the core values and teachings of Judaism, and the religious leaders and authorities are out to get him.  The church, like any institution or organization, has a power structure.  And that power structure is maintained by perpetuating certain beliefs and practices which benefit the leaders of the religion, as well as, hopefully, the people.  And the leaders are trained to maintain that structure and to keep benefitting from it.  So, part of why Christianity does not evolve faster is because there are people, educational institutions, buildings, gorgeous buildings, property, money, schools, books, traditions, language, music, and so much more dedicated to indoctrinating people in a certain belief system.  Christianity, the church, has a huge investment in the way things are and have been.  Like those religious authorities in Jesus day, the power structure of the church, in its many forms, does not want the boat rocked. 

And that is emphasized in the story of the poor widow.  Jesus challenges the assumptions of his day around money and worth.  He cites the widow as a model and casts dispersions on the gifts of the wealthy people.  Well, you can’t run a temple like that – alienating your biggest donors, scraping by on pennies.  How will they pay for the sacrifices (from which they eat) and for their fancy robes and vestments, and the golden candlesticks, and all the rest?  As Matthew Fox, Creation theologian puts is, “A particular work of transformation that Jesus undertook was the task of transforming religion itself.  He was not pleased with the way things were going in the religion of his time.  He did not approve of the privileges of its leaders and the insensitivity to the poor that certain religious leaders and structures exhibited.” [Original Blessing:  A Primer in Creation Spirituality, Matthew Fox, p. 304.]  We see that in the reading we heard from the gospel of Mark, and this confrontation with the religious authorities of his day is what lead to Jesus’ death. 

So one reason that Christianity doesn’t evolve faster is because of the leadership, power, and resources invested in the way things are.

Another reason that Christianity does not evolve faster is that many things are changing.  There is more change in our lives than ever before in the history of humanity.  The pace of the increase of new knowledge is exponential.  There are constantly new things to deal with and adapt to.  In this whirlwind of change, people can become desperate for something to hold on to that is not changing.  Like the church.  You can go to church and they are doing things the way they have always done them.  OK some churches added drums, screens, and chairs instead of pews, a facelift, but the essential message is the same.  And that gives people comfort in the face of the battering pace of change.

In 1993 our church led a delegation of local UCC folks to St. Petersburg, Russia to visit our sister church.  We brought donations of medical supplies and other things.  We did a lot of sightseeing and visiting churches.  We went to many services of the Russian Orthodox church where the people stand for the service, except when they kneel or lay down prostrating themselves on the floor of the church.  One special festival service we attended involved standing for 3 hours, in a very crowded, hot sanctuary.  I started to feel light-headed and had to go outside and sit down.  When we had an opportunity, we asked a priest why the churches did not have seats.  It is tradition.  Not theology.  Just tradition.  And he told us that there were a lot of changes happening in the society at that time and that the church had to stay the same to give people a sense of comfort and stability in the face of all the change. 

I believe that is part of what is holding back the evolution of the church today.  People like to have something familiar and comfortable that they can count on in the face of exponential change.

A third reason that I believe the church in America does not change is that here we have a particularly individualistic expression of Christianity.  Believing that Jesus died for my sins, and Jesus will get me into heaven, is very popular here.  We like our individualism.  So we like a Christianity where Jesus saves  –  me.  People are holding on to that.  While things around us go askew, people can feel like they are going to be ok because Jesus is taking care of it for us.  And as far as eternal salvation is concerned, I only have to worry about myself.  So the individualistic version of Christianity that is popular in America is another reason why I think Christianity is so slow to evolve here.  It’s me and Jesus.  We like a religion that is anthropocentric – focussed on humanity – with humanity taking priority over other life forms and Creation itself.  It’s about me.  And we like a religion that is anthropomorphic with a God that is like a super hero, who comes to save us.  This all feeds into our cultural assumptions and makes the version of Christianity that is prevalent in the US comfortable and familiar.  It ties into our cultural sensibilities.  This I think is another part of what is slowing the evolution of Christianity in our context.

And here is a fourth thing that I think is slowing the evolution of Christianity.  We’re too darned busy trying to keep our lives together.  This was mentioned by a preacher at the UCC General Synod that I attended in June in Indianapolis.  The preacher was the head of Council for Health and Human Service Ministries of the United Church of Christ, Jamar Doyle.   The theme for the event, was ‘Making All Things New,’  an echo of the verses we heard today from Isaiah.  Here is one of the ideas shared in the sermon: Tradition is listening to the instruction of dead people.  And why do we do this?  Because we are so overwhelmed with every day life that we just go on auto pilot with church.  We go through the motions.  We’ve always done it this way.  Doyle labeled this being ‘cruise control Christians.’  Exactly.  We’re too overwhelmed and busy and battered by life to discern, examine, and reflect.  We just go on auto pilot. 

So these are four responses to the question, Why doesn’t the church evolve faster?  There are many more things that could be said, but this is a good beginning.

Having said all of this, let’s remind ourselves of a couple of things.  Our faith tradition is set up to be always evolving and changing. 

The beauty of the Bible, of our faith tradition, is that it tells the stories of how people in many different times and places have experienced Divine Love, the presence and power of God.  We have inherited many different stories and many different teachings, with many layers, that are intended to show how truth has been made manifest in all ages and all times.  And it is up to each generation to adapt religious beliefs and practices so that the way of Divine Love speaks to that time and to the needs of that age and to those circumstances.  That’s how it works with a living God.  Religion should be constantly changing and adapting to be always freshly meeting the needs of the current population.  That is how evolution is built into our sacred texts and our tradition.

And the church, the faith community, has always had a variety of expressions, many different streams, and it has been constantly changing, as it should.

At the General Synod, the newly elected General Minister and President, Karen Georgia Thompson, who was a member of this church when she lived in St. Petersburg, challenged the church to change.  She told us that what we are doing on Sunday morning is fine for those of us who are in church.  But we are living among a population of people who are seeking spiritual sustenance, meaning, practice, and guidance, who are never going to find their way into a service on Sunday morning.  So, what will we do to reach out to these people?

To me, that is the crux of the evolution of the church today.  We have this desperately needed message of love, justice, hope, community, purpose, and meaning.   We have a spiritual message about the goodness and sacredness of life, and about caring for one another and Earth as one community.  We have the Gospel,  Good News, that we have received from the tradition and teachings of Jesus.  And it is a message desperately needed in our context today.

And a lot of the traditional messaging of the church is hampering Christianity from evolving and meeting the needs of people today.  In fact, there is a mass exodus from church.  And for good reason.  A lot of what the church focusses on is not meeting the spiritual needs of people in today’s world.  It is not conveying the transforming power of universal, unconditional Divine Love. 

I met someone this week who told me that he used to go to church.  But he noticed that the people in the church would gossip, were petty, were selfish, and actually mean.  They sang all the songs and said all the prayers and felt there was a place waiting for them in heaven.  But this new friend felt that the church was hypocritical.  All that talk of love, etc. but the people weren’t all that loving.  He also mentioned all the harm that the church has done, excluding people, etc.  So, he made the decision to leave the church.  And this, by the way, was a Presbyterian church.

In response, first I told him that I could spend hours telling him about all the harm the church has done and what’s wrong with the church.  I get it. 

But then I told him, in our church, we try to be Jesus followers.  Believe what you will, but we try to follow the teachings of Jesus about how to live, how to treat other people, and how to work for justice and good in the world.  Love your neighbor.  Love your enemy. 

To me, beliefs about heaven, Jesus’ bodily resurrection, the miracles in the New Testament, Jesus being God, all of that, that’s up to the individual to sort out in a way that makes sense for them, but embracing the sacred and living out love for ourselves, for others, for Creation, and working for peace, like Jesus did, that’s what we try to focus on.  My new friend who has left the church gave me a hug.  It was sweet. 

The church has so much to offer the world, the people of our community, in terms of helping us ground ourselves in love, and offering support in keeping our spirits centered while we are buffeted by the gales of greed, violence, and self centeredness that assault us.  The church helps us to find a sense of purpose and hope that give life meaning and help to get us through difficult times.  The church offers community in which to share joy and pain.  The church has so much that people today are looking for.  But offering those gifts to the wider world is being hampered in part by the traditional language and tenets and practices that the church is holding on to.

Here’s what I know.  Evolution is real.  I’ve got apes on my grandmother’s side and my grandfather’s side.  Things change and adapt to perpetuate life.  Humanity needs to adapt to a more loving and just and peaceful way of inhabiting this Earth to stay alive as a species.  And humanity is going to evolve in this direction to perpetuate life, human and other than human.  The stories of the Bible tell of a God that foments life, that supports life, that perpetuates life, that renews life.  As we heard from Isaiah, “Forget the events of the past, ignore the things of long ago!  Look, I am doing something new!  Now it springs forth — can’t you see it?  I’m making a road in the desert and setting rivers to flow in the wasteland.”  So, I believe that the message of love and compassion that is at the heart of way of Jesus, is going to evolve to promote the thriving and flourishing of life.  This may or may not happen through Christianity and the church as we know it. 

At Lakewood Church we are trying to be part of this evolution, trying to promote it, trying to fan the flames of transition to a new version of Christianity.  And we are excited about having the congregation of Trinity UCC as partners in this ministry. 

Evolution is happening.  All around us.  All the time.  In nature, and in our nature.  And Love will prevail.  Life will flourish and thrive.  That is the essence of our faith.  It’s the message of the resurrection whether or not Jesus’ body came out of a tomb.  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.

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2601 54th Avenue South  St. Petersburg, FL  33712
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga
727-867-7961
lakewooducc.org
lakewooducc@gmail.com

Date: September 3, 2023
Scripture Lessons: Ecclesiastes 9:1b-4 & Zechariah 9:12
Sermon: Prisoners of Hope
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

I would like to share a recent obituary with you: 

“Agnes Abuom, the influential ecumenical leader and peacemaker, died May 31 after a short illness.  She was 73.

“An Anglican layperson born in northwest Kenya in 1949, Abuom’s ecumenical roots ran deep.  She had Anglican, Catholic, and Pentecostal family members.  Her political engagement also emerged early, during her student days at the University of Nairobi.

“In 1976, Abuom’s political involvement forced her to flee Kenya for Sweden.  She returned to Kenya in 1989 and was imprisoned for her opposition to President Daniel arap Moi.  In 1997, she launched her own agency, TAABCO Research and Development Consultants, which coordinated social action programs in the Horn of Africa.

“Abuom was president of the World Council of Churches from 1999-2006.  In 2013, she became the first woman and the first African to serve as moderator of the World Council of Churches’ Central Committee.  Abuom was also closely associated with the All Africa  Conference of Churches, the National Council of Churches of Kenya, and Religions for Peace.

“Abuom’s wholehearted commitment to justice was infectious.  ‘When Dr. Agnes Abuom is done talking to you,’ wrote an interviewer in 2021, ‘you want to do either of two things; punch the air and scream, ‘We shall rise!’ Or sit in a quiet corner and ask yourself, ‘What’s my contribution to humanity?’’” [The Christian Century, August 2023, p. 22.]
As long as we are a live dog and not a dead lion, as Ecclesiastes puts it, we have power, and what are we going to do with that power?  To me, just from this obituary, Abuom seems to be using her power to spread hope.  As long as we are alive, we have the power to make a difference, and she wanted everyone to know that. 

The message of the gospel of Jesus, the core of our faith tradition, is that the realm of God is within us and among us.  Right here.  Right now.  And we are to bear witness to that.  That is how we know that things should be better than they are – for humanity, for other than human life, for the planet and for Creation. We get a glimpse, an inkling, or like Abuom, an IMAX vision, of the reality of God, within us and among us.  And that gives us hope that things can be better for all of us. 

Who was most impacted by the hurricane this past week?  Those who are made poor, who are sidelined, and marginalized.  Who don’t have the money to go to a hotel or a shelter.  Or to afford insurance for their home.  I talked with a friend of the church who is houseless, and it was a severe strain for him that the buses were not operating on Wednesday.  He told me that he had to walk all day to take care of his affairs.  And he wore his best shoes.  But they were worn out by all the walking.  And how will he get another pair of good shoes? 

There are many around us, among us, who struggle – in so many ways.  Trying, trying, trying and never feeling like they are in a stable situation let alone getting ahead.   It can be hard to remain hopeful that things will get better. 
But that is part of how our society is set up:  There are leaders and people in positions of power who want the population to be in a constant condition of struggle and despair.  Who want people to be afraid and anxious.  Who promote dualistic thinking – us and them.  Because then people are easier to control.   Divide and conquer.  Keep people distracted with fighting amongst themselves.  Keep people focussed on the perceived threat from their neighbors, so they don’t figure out what the people on the tippy top are doing to take advantage of those underneath.  It’s an age old story. 

So, for these summer sermons, we were given the prompt: ‘I would like to hear a sermon about.’  There was this response:  “How to remain hopeful when nothing is going your way, when it seems the tables are turned against you.” 

Here is my response:  Come to church.  I know it sounds simplistic.  But come to church to be reminded that the realm of God is within you and among us.  Come to hear that you are precious and sacred.  Your life matters.  Come to be reminded that you are alive and powerful.  Come here to hear the truth:  That there are those who are actually turning the tables against you.  And that, in spite of that, we have the power to make this world a better place for all.  Love is more powerful than greed or hate.

Here in church we celebrate stories of people who have overcome.  And those stories are powerful and subversive.  The Bible is filled with those stories.  From the slaves of Egypt to the followers of Jesus.  And here in church we continue to bear witness to stories of liberation and transformation.  From the slaves of African descent, to the farmworkers, to the houseless people of the neighborhood, to the every day people of our congregation who have overcome so many challenges and struggles like lack of access to healthcare, and tragic grief, and demeaning discrimination.  Here in church, we are empowered by those stories.

Some years ago, the LUCC congregation made the decision to open the facilities of the church as a shelter to those who were houseless for 3 months.  We had 20-30 people stay here on the church premises.  And, yes, we heard their stories.  What they were dealing with.  But in the midst of that experience, several people from the church family, from the congregation, shared that they had been houseless.  They had experienced being shelterless.  While we had known those people for years, this had never come up.  Now we heard something new about them.  How they had overcome.  And those stories inspired compassion and hope for our houseless guests. 

Church is a place to celebrate hope.  If you want to stay in a state of despair and apathy and resignation, don’t come to church.   Because here at church we tell the truth about who we are and how things are and how we’ve overcome.   We celebrate the presence of the sacred within us and among us.  We infect one another with hope.  It’s contagious here.  When your hope is running low, there is someone here who will give you some of their hope to help you persist.  We rekindle hope in those whose hope is fading.  Here we rejoice that ‘We shall rise!’  And we ask ourselves what we can be doing to make things better.  There is power in church!

We’ll close with a story from India about a dog. 

“There was once a perfectly normal little dog  — neither fierce nor timid.  One day, this little dog wandered off to a nearby fairground, and found itself inside the hall of mirrors.

“The little dog took one look around, and saw hundreds of dogs staring back at it.  Terrified at being so surrounded, it began to bark and to bare its teeth.  To its horror, every one of the hundreds of other dogs did the same.  Suddenly the ordinary little dog was in the midst of a hostile army of strange and fearsome looking animals.  Its barking grew even more frantic and its growl more vicious.  It tried to bite the other dogs, but as soon as it got near to them, they too growled and tried to bite. 

“This might have gone on all night, but the little dog’s owner came looking for it.  As soon as the little dog caught sight of its owner and heard the familiar call, it began to wag its tail and jump up and down for joy.

“And yes, all the other dogs did the same.  And the little dog went home thinking that perhaps the big, wide world wasn’t quite as terrifying as it had first thought.”  [“The Ferocious Dog,” retelling of a traditional Indian story in One Hundred Wisdom Stories from Around the World by Margaret Silf, p. 108.]

At church, we see someone like Agnes Alboum in the mirror, or the person sitting next to you, or across the sanctuary, showing us the capacity for hope that is within us.  And the big, wide world isn’t quite as terrifying.  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.