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Date: July 3, 2016
Scripture: Job Chapter 12
Sermon: Learning from the Bison
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells
For over 12,000 years, tens of millions of bison roamed the entire North American continent from Alaska to Mexico. The largest mammal of North America could be found in every state of the union. In describing the prolific bison, Colonel Richard Irving Dodge recalled in 1871, that the animals moved in herds “as irresistible as an avalanche.” [“Bison Bison Bison” by Elif Batuman, “The New Yorker,” May 13, 2016, http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/bison-bison-bison-americas-new-national-mammal%5D
This one species supported the lifestyle of the native peoples of this continent providing food, tools made from the bones and sinews, clothing, hides and skins for dwellings. Even the dried manure was used for fuel. The bison was the foundation that supported the lives of indigenous people of North America for some 12,000 years. Life depended on the bison. John McDougall, a missionary to the Stoney Indians, observed in 1865, “Without the buffalo they would be helpless.” [Bison Bison Bison, “The New Yorker”]
That was life in North America into the 19th century. And then, within 100 years, the bison was almost driven to extinction. The introduction of horses, improved weaponry, and the railroad contributed to the decline of the bison from tens of millions to far fewer than a thousand. We’ve all seen the pictures of people shooting bison from trains for sport.
But all this killing of the buffalo, another name for the same species as bison, was not just done in sport. The elimination of the bison was a policy pursued by the government to ensure the elimination of the Native American Indians. Government officials knew that Indians were dependent upon the bison, and getting rid of the bison would mean getting rid of Indian culture. It would make it easier for the government to coerce the Indians into doing what they wanted them to.
In 1873, Columbus Delano, who was the US Secretary of the Interior, wrote: “I would not seriously regret the total disappearance of the buffalo from our western plains, in its effect upon the Indians.” [“It’s official: America’s first national mammal is the bison,” Elahe Izadi, May 9, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/04/27/how-the-bison-once-nearing-extinction-lived-to-become-americas-national-mammal/%5D And this strategy worked. As the bison disappeared, the Indian cultures were weakened and inducing capitulation was all the easier.
Decimating the bison population did not just have the unintended consequence of bringing the Indians to their knees. The bison population was intentionally pushed to collapse to push the Indian population to collapse. Nature was used as a weapon against an enemy; as a tool of extermination.
The demise of the bison was furthered by industrial development in the US in the late 19th century. The hides were used to make elastic leather drive belts for textile mills. The bones were used in pigments, fertilizer, and sugar refining. In one year, the Michigan Carbon Works in Detroit processed 8 million pounds of bison bone ash, and 10 million pounds of black bone – all delivered via railroad. [Bison Bison Bison, “The New Yorker”]
While there were many factors that contributed to the decimation of the bison population, the survival of the species can be attributed to the efforts of just a few men. In The New Yorker article, “Bison Bison Bison,” Elif Batuman tells of the movement to save the species:
Luckily for the species, it had friends in high places. In 1905, the American Bison Society (A.B.S.) was founded by a group of wealthy New York-based zoologists and philanthropists, including William Hornaday, Andrew Carnegie, and Teddy Roosevelt, an avid buffalo hunter who felt, according to the author Steven Rinella, that ‘the total annihilation of the buffalo would do irreparable damage to the manly mystique of the West.’ In 1907, the A.B.S. set out to reinvigorate the bison . . . population by sending fifteen bison from the Bronx Zoo, by train, to the Wichita Reserve Bison Refuge. As Rinella observes in his book American Buffalo, ‘One of America’s great ironies is that not only did New York’s aristocrats help save the West’s buffalo from extinction, but they used New York’s buffalo to do it.’
Batuman goes on to tell us that, “A group of Comanche came up to the train once it reached Oklahoma; the adults remembered what bison looked like, but the children didn’t.”
Thanks to the American Bison Society and the efforts of Hornaday who was director of the Bronx Zoo, the species has survived. Once numbering in the tens of millions, the population sank to a few dozen. Today, there are about half a million bison in North America and most of them are in captivity. Apparently the biggest herd belongs to media mogul Ted Turner. They are served in his 45 Montana Grill restaurants which offer bison nachos, bison chili, bison pot roast, bison short ribs, bison meatloaf, bison steak, and bison burgers. [Bison Bison Bison, “The New Yorker”]
There is also a herd of nearly 5,000 bison roaming free in Yellowstone National Park.
While the bison is no longer in danger of extinction, the thundering herds no longer survive. What remains is a shadow of the massive presence that dominated North America for 12,000 years. Yet, the species remains and just recently received due recognition when it was named the official mammal of the United States. This recognition came as a result of an unlikely coalition of ranchers, conservationists, and tribal groups. In response to the efforts of this coalition, Congress actually banded together and took bipartisan action making the bison the official mammal of our country.
In the reading we heard from the story of Job, Job is getting lots of advice and counsel from his friends which he feels is basically useless and misguided. He thinks they are way off target in their understanding of his situation and God’s role in it. So in the speech we heard, Job responds to his friends, saying, “But ask the animals and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.” [12:7-8] So on this 4th of July Sunday, we will see what we can learn from the newly designated official mammal of the United States, the bison.
Some would say that the church in the US in our time is being decimated and is in danger of becoming extinct. Church membership is down. The percentage of the population self-identifying as Christian is diminishing. The influence of the church in the culture is decreasing.
While the demise of the bison and its salvation were due to outside intervention from humans, from what I have observed, the situation with the church is due not so much to an outside threat, but is more a result of internal issues. Some Christians like to blame secularists, the government which they believe is hostile to the church, and the increase in immigrants that are not Christian as some of the causes of the decline of the church. I myself think that the church has mainly itself to blame for its decline.
The church is to be the body of Christ, a witness to the love and healing that we see in Jesus, freely offered to all people for the good of the world. But this is not what the church is known for, really. What is the church known for? There could be many answers to that question. I’ll give you a few of mine. I think the church is known for worrying about getting people into heaven after they die. And along with this, less of a concern for the quality of life while people, all people, are here on earth. I think the church is known for its big fancy buildings and comfortable clergy even in the face of glaring poverty and need. I think the church is known for unequal treatment of blacks and women and sexual minorities. That hardly speaks to Jesus’ healing love freely bestowed upon all people. I think the church is known for promoting hell and the fear of hell to motivate obedience. I think the church is known for demeaning and criticizing other religions and promoting Christianity as the only true religious path. This is seen as insulting and disrespectful to people of other religions.
I also think the church is seen as irrelevant. What are the big issues facing the world? Environmental collapse. Violence: from handgun violence to nuclear war. Economic injustice which is continually decreasing people’s access to the needed economic resources. As my son told me recently, “Mom, there are no jobs.” Then I heard it again from someone on NPR this week: “There are no jobs.” Jobs that pay a living wage. Then there is still the issue of equality: equality for women and people of color, and similar pressing concerns. But the church is not known for being outspoken about this unless it is for being anti-gay.
While the church as a whole may not be known for a high level of concern about these issues, there does seem to be one ray of light, in an international sense, and that is Pope Francis. He actually is addressing himself to these issues, even if the Catholic Church is not stampeding in support of his positions. He seems more concerned with being faithful to the gospel of Jesus than pleasing his subjects.
In terms of the decline of the church, another contributing factor as I see it is the archaic, magical, superstitious thinking that is associated with the church. It’s one thing to appreciate ancient rituals and the symbolism of archaic language. It is quite another to expect people to accept religious tradition as factual truth and to follow the Bible literally. For the post modern, educated mind, much of what is associated with the church simply cannot be accepted with integrity and authenticity because it conflicts with reason and science. So the church, in my opinion, largely makes itself obsolete and irrelevant.
For the most part, I see the declining trend in the size and power of the church as the result of the internal life of the church, not as coming from external threats. And this is due, in my view, to the church straying from the core teachings, message, and witness of Jesus. The New Testament shows us a church that is an all-embracing community of compassion characterized by radical diversity, acceptance, and love. Church was not something you did on Sunday morning. It wasn’t an extracurricular activity, a hobby, or a club. It was a person’s core identity, utterly defining their self concept. It was the air they breathed, the skin that covered their bodies, the blood rushing through their veins. The church was filled with Jesus-followers who were fearless and had radically departed from the society around them. They were imbued with the sacred and they knew it. They found God in every person and took delight in the relationships they formed. They were awed by life and the world around them infused with the Divine. That is the church in its glory, like the bison in their glory thundering in endless herds across the plains.
The bison have survived and can now be designated the national mammal because a core of people believed in their grandeur, their magnificence, and their symbolic importance. It was believed by some who went to great extremes that the bison was worth saving. And so, I believe it is with the church. While the church overall in the US may be in decline, I believe there are core groups that believe in the kind of radical, all-embracing community imbued with divinity that we see in the stories of Jesus. There are those who are committed to the survival of the message of compassion and justice that we have from Jesus. I believe there are still true Jesus-followers who are keeping the gospel alive in the world today. And this is not about self preservation. It is not for personal pleasure. It is not to hold on to power. It’s not to get into heaven. It is not a quaint obsession with antiquity, like Civil War re-enactors. There can be only one valid reason for perpetuating the way of Jesus, for being his follower, for living by the gospel, for committing to universal love, justice, and forgiveness, and that reason is the good of the world. The church exists for the world, to serve the world, to heal the world, to help the world survive. This precious world that is the self-disclosure of God. I’m not so sure it is a bad thing if a church that exists for the self-interest of its members diminishes, declines, and dies.
The story of the survival of the bison shows us that even a small core of the church can be responsible for perpetuating the desperately needed gospel of Jesus Christ as a blessing to the world. My prayer is that we, who have the freedom to do so in our land of the free and home of the brave, may be part of protecting and saving the gospel for the good of the world. Amen.
Note: After the sermon, the congregation joined in singing 3 verses of “Home on the Range.”
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: Sunday June 26, 2016 United Church of Christ Anniversary Sunday
Scripture: 2 Kings 2:1-15
Sermon: Fifty-Nine and Counting
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells
Fifty-nine years ago this week, two predominantly white mainline denominations in the US merged to form a new church. The whole process was dominated by white men, mostly clergy. The Evangelical and Reformed Church had many congregants of German heritage. The Congregational Christian Church was strong in New England and the South. Both groups were the result of two previous denominations coming together. So this merger was seen as continuing a trend. The two churches had great differences in how they operated but were similar in their beliefs. They felt that their differences could be complementary. And so they came together to form a new organization of churches called the United Church of Christ.
They believed that their combined strengths would be even more effective in sharing the love of God and that this new union would be a spark to greater cooperation among churches. It doesn’t seem so earth shaking by today’s standards but at that time, it was an event that was rich in hope and possibility. It was bold and courageous.
It was a time in society of coming together. After World War II, the United Nations was formed. NATO was established. The World Council of Churches was created. And the National Council of Churches was formed. All of these efforts and more were aimed at bringing people together to work of the betterment of the world. Maybe after the divisions of World War II and the terrible destruction and loss of life, people wanted to try to cooperate instead of killing each other.
The formation of the United Church of Christ was full of expectation and potential. One of the primary dreams for this new church was that it would be the start of the merging of many churches and that the church, which had become very fragmented, would start to come back together. The formation of the UCC was to get the ball rolling and they were hoping for a snowball effect – expecting that the Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, and others would eventually join in. The idea was that these two relatively smaller denominations would get things started and the bigger ones would join in. It was thought that together, the church united could have a bigger impact on the condition of the world and the future of humanity. This was a big, beautiful dream!
Anticipating this evolving unity was important to the thinking of those who worked on the forming of the UCC. This is why the verse from the Gospel of John, “That they may all be one,” was selected for the motto of the new church. This hope for continued growing cooperation was also part of why the new UCC was formed with adaptability and flexibility in mind. If other communions were going to be joining, they would need to be accommodated to feel at home. This would be easier if the church was created with an openness to change and adaptation.
The new United Church of Christ adopted a Statement of Faith that we will recite later in the service. This was a statement of common belief without being a creed, something that had to be attested to. So churches could continue to use the creeds they held dear while adding this new Statement of Faith that was part of the new church. Indeed there are still UCC churches today that regularly recite the Nicene Creed and the Apostle’s Creed, and also use the Statement of Faith.
The new UCC also incorporated congregational polity. This means that each individual congregation is responsible for its own affairs and can function as it chooses. The national church does not tell the local church what to do or how to organize itself. A church can have deacons, or a consistory, or a board of directors, of trustees, or a council, or advisors, or whatever the church thinks will work best. And the individual churches are responsible for what they do with their money, how they worship, and what they do for mission. It was felt that this would work best in terms of being flexible and adaptable to accommodating churches of greater variety. It also was important to recognize that each church was responsible for knowing what ministry was needed and fulfilling that need.
This flexibility and openness that was incorporated into the new church was very much in keeping with the teachings of the Bible. Jesus shows us how this works in his circumstances. We see how his ministry met the hungers of the people of his context both literally and spiritually. He looked at what was needed and responded. And he did not insist on fixed beliefs or dogma or proper theology from his followers. Jesus looked to God and kept that connection strong so that he would know what was needed of him. He was not constrained by the religious ideas of his day. He trusted the love of God and he adapted himself to that. The UCC was formed with that kind of intention. Religion was not to constrain us but to free us to live and serve in the spirit of divine love. There is a flexibility and adaptability to that. We never know what the need will be and we want to stay open and ready to respond.
The kind of openness that we see in the ministry of Jesus is also evident in the tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures that tell stories of faith before the time of Jesus. We see this wisdom in the story of Elijah and Elisha that we heard this morning. Elijah has been a prophet of great renown and his ministry is coming to an end. His companion Elisha has been with him and is positioned to continue Elijah’s work. What will that involve? What will he be called upon to do? What will the circumstances demand? We don’t know. So, what does Elisha ask for to carry on? Money? A contacts list? Secret knowledge? A set of laws or principles? Five simple steps to eradicating other gods? Does Elisha ask for a piece of land? A book or scroll? No. Elisha asks for a double share of Elijah’s spirit. He wants that whole heart, that pure intention, that undivided loyalty to God. Elisha has no idea what the future will bring. He has no way of knowing what will be needed of him. But he knows that he needs to be flexible and adaptable, willing and ready, for whatever God may need of him. So Elisha asks for that spirit of openness and willingness and boldness going into the future. That is all he needs. That is all he will count on. Everything else will fall into place.
The church is to carry on that bold witness. We are to assess the hungers and needs of our day. And to bring the eternal, universal love of God to bear on the circumstances of our time. This requires constant change and flexibility and adaptability. And the faster society changes, the more prepared the church needs to be to tailor is mission and message to the times. We must be nimble and agile and creative. And the bigger the issues, the bolder the witness that is needed.
When we think about our individual life journey, we can see how we are changing and growing. We learn though experience and intellectual knowledge. Our ideas about God, ourselves, faith, the world, the Bible, change and evolve. We grow in wisdom and maturity. Changing times invite new awareness and understanding. To hold on to fixed beliefs and behaviors can stunt our personal growth. We remain immature. This causes conflict within ourselves, with others, and with the world. To be healthy human beings, we are expected to change and adapt in our consciousness.
We also see this constant change and evolution in nature. Tectonic plates are continually shifting. Land forms erode and amass. The beaches change. Animal and plant life adapt and change. Nature and creation are constantly in a state of change and adaptation.
So, of course, it makes sense that the church, as the body of Christ, would always be growing and changing and adapting to be an effective witness to the eternal universal love of God. A church with beliefs and actions that are not changing and adapting is dying, or worse yet, having a negative impact on society and the world.
Many in the church look to the past and want to reclaim the past. They want to go back. Or use the strategies, ideas, and theology of the past and apply them to today’s circumstances. That can be detrimental and destructive. Any church that preaches that homosexuality is a sin is contributing to a culture of intolerance and violence. Did Jesus promote intolerance? Hardly. In fact, he is known for just the opposite. Did Jesus promote violence? No, just the opposite. So the thinking of the past cannot be employed today without serious considerations of the consequences. And when those consequences are at odds with the way of Jesus, then the thinking and the message needs to be changed. The church exists to look at the world, to focus on the needs of the world today and tomorrow, and to bring divine love to bear in the world. This requires discernment, adaptation, and change.
The UCC has sought to be a church that is open and willing to be a witness to the God of love in the circumstances of today and tomorrow. As times change, as challenges emerge, the UCC responds. While we appreciate traditions, theologies, and wisdom of the past, we are not locked into that heritage. We learn from it and gain wisdom, but we are not tied to perpetuating the past. That is visibly demonstrated in the ministry of Jesus. He draws from the past but he extends it to meet the new circumstances and is not afraid to break new ground. “You’ve heard it said, but I say. . .” In the Hebrew prophets and in Revelation, we are told that God is doing a new thing. So our religion is devoted to a God that does new things, that changes, that expects humanity to evolve and grow in understanding and knowledge. As we say in UCC, we believe that “God is still speaking.”
Well, despite the grand hopes of the founders of the UCC, Christians have not joined together in this country to form one great church. There may even be more division among churches now. Many churches do not want to work with the UCC because we are considered too liberal. Too bold. Too unconventional. They prefer to be more tightly defined and controlled. Well, so be it.
But the openness and flexibility that the founders embraced has borne fruit in other ways. The UCC is able to make a bold witness and is not tied to perpetuating an institution but to living out a mission of universal love and community.
The founders of the UCC would never have expected the church they were establishing would bring a case to the Supreme Court of the United States to make marriage between people of the same gender legal. They could never have anticipated such a thing. When the UCC was founded, interracial marriage was illegal and gay marriage was not even on the back burner. It was unthinkable. And yet look what has happened in just 59 years. And yet maybe they would not be surprised because they were intent on forming a church that would be faithful and responsive to changing times. They wanted to be open to the spirit of God doing new things. They were hoping to embrace a theological openness and an organizational openness that would let God in and let love out – fully and freely without constraint.
Now in the UCC, we are expanding our understanding of our motto, “That they may all be one,” to the human family as a whole, and we are engaged in interfaith dialogue and working with other religions not just with other Christians. We are not staying tied to Christian exclusivity and superiority. We are welcoming God, still speaking, doing a new thing.
Like Elisha and like Jesus, the United Church of Christ is committed to the realm of God, one beautiful, diverse, human community living in harmony with creation. May we as a congregation be always willing, open and ready. Amen.
Father’s Day
Sermon Title: Orlando
Scripture: Luke 9:57-62
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells
Last Sunday in church, the unfolding situation in Orlando was mentioned and we prayed, but we did not know the full extent of the horror, and some people have told me since that they had no idea why we were praying for Orlando. They had heard nothing about it – yet. Now, we have heard maybe too much about it. I was glued to my laptop all afternoon last Sunday reading posts and watching video of the horrible scene. I finally had to make myself shut the laptop. Several times during this week, I have had to turn off the radio.
In the direct aftermath of the shooting mainly what I was feeling was anger. And it was coming from a self-centered place. I was thinking, we’ve been working for gay rights for decades and made many strides and still something like this happens? I thought, we have been working on interfaith relations for decades trying to cultivate bonds of mutual respect with people of other religions. And this is going to fuel more Islamaphobia. We have been working on celebrating diversity and acceptance of people of differing cultures and backgrounds, and this flies in the face of all of that. All those lovely gay, Latino people shot by a Middle Eastern Muslim claiming affiliation with ISIS. And we have been working on anti-violence, gun control, and peace for decades. And this violent episode just shows what has not been accomplished. My first feeling was anger that this one person was undermining all that we have been working for as a church for decades. One person. One place. One night. One heinous violent rage against gays and Latinos by a self-declared Islamic terrorist. That’s all it took to undermine our years of working for good. I was mad. Maybe you were, too.
For some this horror has brought on mostly sadness and fear: Much thought about the devastation to the families of those who are dead. The sense of loss of so many young, beautiful lives. And there is compassion for the first responders and all those involved in helping the victims and the families. And, of course, there is great suffering, unimaginable suffering, really, for those who have been directly involved in this terrible tragedy.
But I suspect that the level of anger one feels may be related to the level of involvement one has had in working for a just and peaceful world. It may be related to one’s devotion to a God of universal love. Maybe the more you have been involved in God’s work of justice the more angry you feel.
On Thursday evening I attended the Hospice event “Talking About Tragedy: A Community Conversation for Hope and Healing.” It was wonderful gathering and clearly needed by the community. The conversations dealt with issues around grieving and talking with children about death. That is what Hospice does beautifully and it is a wonderful service to the community. In the course of the event, the names of the patrons of Pulse who were killed were read, with the age, and a bell was tolled. You couldn’t help but cry for all those precious, promising lives ended. But it was clear this was Hospice, a secular organization, despite the responsive reading, the bell, and the ritual because there was one name that was not read. One name of a person killed that night that was not mentioned. One name of a person whom we believe, though he was clearly a tortured soul wracked by evil, was still a child of God, a human being, a vessel of the sacred. That name is Omar Mateen. As a church, we are followers of Jesus, who directs us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, to turn the other cheek, to forgive. And so we, as Christians, must acknowledge and remember the life of Omar Mateen which also ended that night. And we must pray for healing for his family and loved ones not because we want to but because we must if we are to honor the sacredness of God and our own humanity.
Up on the window is the list that was posted at the Hospice event and because this is a Christian church, we will add the name of Omar Mateen, 29, to the list of those to be remembered. (I wrote the name and age on the list with the other names on the banner from the Hospice event.)
As the week went on and I was thinking about my anger, the lectionary scripture that we heard this morning spoke to me. Jesus is inviting people to follow him. They have excuses. They have reasons to postpone responding. They have other obligations and distractions which are also worthy. But from Jesus we get the message that this is so important, so urgent, it cannot be put off. Response is necessary immediately. The world is waiting. The field needs plowing – now. Yes, it does.
As we look at the horrible occurrence in Orlando we see issues around Islamphobia. We see issues around relations with Latinos; the discrimination and immigration problems. We see the surfacing of the ugly visage of homophobia. And we see yet another horrific display of gun violence. These glaring problems are all on full view.
And when you think about it, we, as a church, have been working on all of these things for years. We have been working to effect change in these areas. We have been actively involving ourselves in significant ways to address all of these issues. We have been on the job. With our hands to the plow. Not looking back. We have been doing what a church should be doing. We have been following Jesus. We have been addressing ourselves to the fundamental problems and issues of our society. We have been sharing the good news that another world is possible. In the story we heard today, Jesus tells one of his would-be followers: “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the realm of God.” We have been working to create the realm of God here on earth, as a church of Jesus Christ, because that’s what Jesus calls us to do. We have been working in just the areas where the church should be working in the world today. Orlando shows us glaring needs and we have been on it, addressing those needs, for years. We have been right on target.
While other expressions of Christianity may be obsessing over getting people on board with the band, or trying to protect the right to wear a cross at work, or arguing over what color to paint the bathroom, or – worse yet – declaring homosexuality a sin, working to protect the second amendment, and decrying Islam as the work of the devil, we have been behind the plow, not looking back: Working for full inclusion of people who are sexual minorities, working for acceptance of the legitimacy of other faith traditions and cultures, and working against violence in all its forms, including gun violence and war.
This church became a Just Peace Church in 1988. The church declared itself an Open and Affirming Church in 1998. And it was the Sunday after 9/11 that the tradition was begun of starting every Sunday service by renewing our commitment to peace using readings from many sources including the many different religious traditions of the world. We have been working on the problems that need addressing for years. We have been doing what we are supposed to be doing as a church of Jesus Christ. Orlando shows us that we are on the right track and that there is more for us to do.
This Father’s Day, the sermon was going to be about fathers and parents passing on more than DNA, money, and maybe sports team loyalty to their children. It was going to be about the need to pass on wisdom from generation to generation. A deep knowing about the world, yourself, humanity, and creation. We are part of a big, living whole, and we need to know our place and respect the whole enterprise. Wisdom, regardless of our religious roots or lack there of, regardless of our political inclinations, regardless of our economic status or cultural background, wisdom teaches mutual respect and compassion.
I mentioned earlier that in the direct aftermath of Orlando, I felt angry. This one shooter was undoing all the good that I/we had been working on for years. Maybe even for a life time. Then I thought of my parents. They, too, worked to end war and gun violence. They worked for equality for all people. They worked against racism and sexism and homophobia, advocating for ordination of gay people in the UCC back in the 1960’s. They were working on all these things for much of their life time.
And their parents? My father’s father died in 1927 when my dad was 5, so he never really knew his father. And his mother was overcome with struggling to raise two small children on her own. But when my dad was in seminary, for his thesis he wrote a biography of his father. He looked into the few documents that the family had and into other historical records. He discovered that his father was a very prominent man, both in Italy, his home country, and in the US, his chosen home. He came here as a young man under the auspices of the YMCA. It was an intercultural exchange with an educational component. Here, he studied for the ministry and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. He founded the Church of the Ascension on 125th St. in Harlem. He was very active in providing help and services to immigrants who were coming in droves to New York in the early 20th century. He helped set up programs for the newcomers to learn English, to get jobs, and to adjust to life in this country so that they could be productive citizens. And these services were not only offered to Italian immigrants, they were offered to all immigrants from every country. He was also the editor of a daily Italian language newspaper and a speech writer for Fiorello LaGuardia. So, here my father, as a young seminarian, discovered that his father had been a pastor with a heart for what we would today call social action or social justice. His father was committed to the church being engaged in the world as an agent of transformation, working for justice and equality. I think that finding this out about his father spurred my father to a similar commitment which was then passed on to my brother and me. And we, with our spouses, have tried to impart this wisdom to our children.
The brightest spot for me around the Orlando event was the reaction of our 20 year old son, Malcolm. He was livid. Furious that anyone would do this to gay people. Furious that Latinos were targeted. Furious that it would fuel more Islamaphobia. Furious at religion for fostering these hateful ideas. Furious that it would generate support for Donald Trump. And, then he said, “And I am most upset about the violence, Mom. I just cannot tolerate violence in any form.” His grandfathers and his father are smiling.
So, while we are awash with anger, grief, fear, or even numbness, take heart. As a church, as an expression of Christianity, as followers of Jesus, we are addressing ourselves to the needs of the world. We are spreading the good news of universal love, no exceptions. We are sharing the vision of a world where all have a sense of acceptance, worth, belonging, and purpose. We have our hand to the plow, the row ahead is long, and we are not looking back. Amen.
Scripture Lesson: Luke 7:36-8:3
Sermon: To Life!
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells
Cynthia Moss lived among the elephants of Kenya’s Amboseli National Park for 20 years. In the book, Elephant Memories, she tells of the lives of her closest elephant companions. While Moss was following the elephants, there was a very bad drought. With no rain, most of the plant life died and the elephants had very little food to eat. This led to the death of many of the great animals. Moss tells of one group of elephants and their search for food just after the rains began which ended the drought:
The four families, with their matriarchs Torn Ear, Tania, Slit Ear, and Teresia, stood bunched together forming a single tight-knit group. With them were several independent, but young, males. In all they made up a group of 30 animals. Earlier in the evening they had moved out of the swamp up into the long tough grass just to the north of the swamp. Now they waited in the security of the tall ‘elephant grass’ for darkness. It had rained for several days in a row and there were strong smells of damp earth and new grass on the wind. The elephants did not rest; they milled about, clearly stimulated and on edge. They were as thin as ever from the long drought but their whole demeanor had changed. Instead of being slow and plodding, their gestures were now energetic and lively. There were frequent rumbles from various individuals and a reaching of trunks toward one another. The younger animals in particular seemed eager to get going, but the big females remained stationary.
Finally, when the sky was lit by only the new moon and a few emerging stars, Torn Ear made the soft ‘let’s go’ rumble while slapping and sliding her ears against her neck and shoulders, and set off toward the ridges above the basin to the north. They moved away from the protection of the long grass out onto short grass plains, which had been reduced to nearly bare ground by the long drought. . . The elephants were nervous and did not vocalize as they traveled. . . They soon reached the red-soil ridge. . . Although small bushes here had recently flushed green, there was no new grass yet and the elephants did not stop to feed. . . They walked fast, rapidly covering ground, and they eventually came to an area at the base of the hills that had received more and earlier rain than the places they had come through. Here, fresh bright-green grass was growing.
The elephants began to feed immediately, wrapping their trunks around the stalks, breaking off as big a bunch as possible, and stuffing it into their mouths. It was the first sweet, nutritious grass that they had had for many months and they ate as if they were never going to see any again. [From Elephant Memories: Thirteen Years in the Life of An Elephant Family by Cynthia Moss, pp. 65-66, adapted slightly]
These elephants leave their familiar home territory, weak and vulnerable, seeking life. They know that they must migrate, they must move, if they are to live. So they go. They follow their instincts and they follow the leader, Torn Ear, and they are not disappointed.
We, too, have the instinct for life. But unlike other animals, our journey is more complicated. We have competing paths to choose from. There are different leaders we can follow. We have to choose between right and wrong. We construct our reality. Elephants don’t have to worry about all of that. They just know what to do. And yet, like the elephants, our drive for life is very strong.
In the scripture lesson this morning, we heard a story about people who are seeking life. And they have chosen to follow Jesus to lead them to life. In his teaching, in their experience with him, they have found a new way of looking at themselves and the world that is refreshing and life-giving. With Jesus, they taste nourishing, new life that is like the fresh bright-green grass that revives the elephants.
In the story we heard today, we are told about a woman with expensive oil who follows Jesus to Simon the Pharisee’s house. We heard mention of the 12 disciples who have left home, family, and livelihood to follow Jesus. And we were told of women, among them, Mary, Susanna, and Joanna, who follow Jesus helping and giving of their money to support the ministry of Jesus and his followers. All of these and more are following Jesus. They have chosen this path that leads to life.
The way it is presented in the gospel of Luke, these people have heard Jesus’ teachings, things like ‘love your enemy,’ ‘do good to those who hate you,’ ‘turn the other cheek.’ And they see that Jesus is showing them a whole new way of relating to each other and the world. They see how Jesus is turning things upside down. And they feel the power of new life in his message. So they follow. Like the elephants in search of food, they follow because they trust that he is leading them to life. He is showing them the way to joy and peace.
We are here because we also want to follow the way of Jesus to life that is exciting and satisfying and purposeful. We have heard a rumble stirring us to follow. We look around and we see much of death and suffering. And we recognize that we have been called to take another path. To choose another way of seeing ourselves and the world. And we believe that this way, the way that we are shown by Jesus, is a way that is life-giving not life-taking.
Let’s look at how this new life offered by Jesus works for the people in the story we listened to this morning. The woman who comes to Simon the Pharisee’s house with the oil that she puts on Jesus’ feet is known to be a sinner. Apparently she has a reputation as a bad person. Simon is not happy that this bad person is at his house. But Jesus is not upset by this. He sees what she is doing as a response to being forgiven. Whatever she has done that makes others think she is a bad person, she feels she has been forgiven. The regret and shame that she felt over what she had done has been taken away. She feels she has been given another chance at life. She is a person of worth and value again. She feels that by accepting forgiveness, she has been given a new life. She is so grateful that she lavishes her gratitude and love upon Jesus.
From this nameless woman, we are reminded that forgiveness can renew our lives. And Jesus taught a lot about forgiveness. He told people that there was nothing we can do that is so bad that God cannot forgive us. Jesus showed us that God wants to forgive us. God is eager for us to be freed of the bad feelings and regrets we have when we do something that hurts ourselves or someone else. Jesus shows us how forgiveness is like that fresh grass that brought the elephants back to life.
Jesus also shows us that we experience new life when we forgive others. Offering forgiveness to others can remove the bad feelings that result when we do things that hurt others. When we forgive, we help to heal those feelings. Our relationships can be mended. We can make a new start.
Forgiveness is very important for the healing of relationships whether between individuals, in families, at school, or at work. It is also important between groups of people in society. When people come together and resolve their differences there is new life.
Unfortunately, today in our world, we see a growing fear of those who seem to be different. Who are “other.” Maybe foreign or Mexican or Muslim. This fear can lead to anger, hatred, and even violence. This is not the way of Jesus. It is not life giving. The way of life that Jesus shows us involves all different kinds of people working together and cooperating for the common good.
In the gospel of Luke, Jesus tells people to love their enemies. That is followed by a story about Jesus healing the servant of a Roman soldier. The Romans were enemies, so Jesus is showing love for his enemy. The way of life that Jesus shows us involves actually doing good for those whom we don’t like. This kind of action can lead to forgiveness and new life.
It was so wonderful this week to see people of many perspectives and religions and cultures honoring the life of Muhammad Ali. He lived as a citizen of the world, a member of the human race. He tried to overcome the differences that separate and divide people. This is the way of Jesus; a way of full and abundant life for all people.
In the scripture lesson we heard today, we are also told about women that follow Jesus, including Mary, Susanna, and Joanna. This is one of the few references to women as followers of Jesus. We are told that these women help the other disciples and give their money to support the ministry of Jesus. They are doing this because they have found new life in the way of Jesus and they want to follow him.
At that time, women were not at all equal to men in the eyes of the society. They had few rights and they were considered to be possessions of men – their fathers or husbands. If they were not under the protection of a man, they did not fit in and did not have a way to earn money and live. Jesus showed women that they were valued in the sight of God; that God loves and cares for women and men equally. This message was life-giving for the women who felt degraded and demeaned in that culture. Regardless of what society says about the worth of women, both women and men find the way to full and abundant life in the way of Jesus. Even though the Jesus movement and the church are not free of patriarchy and sexism, the foundational message of Jesus that leads to life is that all people are of equal value in God.
This message is still very important for people to hear today. The recent story of the assault case at Stanford University helps us to see in glaring terms that the worth of women is still an issue in our culture. While we may celebrate that there is a woman running for president of the United States, that does not mean that things are equal for women in this country. If you have not yet read it, I encourage you to read the statement by the woman who was assaulted at Stanford. It is easy to find on the internet and will be read out loud in Congress this week. It directly speaks to the discounting of the woman and the privileging of the man in the case. That is not the way of Jesus; it is not the way of life. It is not the way to healing, wholeness, and reconciliation for the human family. Jesus shows us the way to life where everyone is equally valued and gender, color, age, background, money, and intelligence have nothing to do with a person’s fundamental worth.
In the story we heard this morning, we are also told of the 12 disciples that follow Jesus. They have left their homes, families, and jobs to be part of what Jesus is doing and to spread his message of love and new life for all. The new life Jesus gives is so compelling that they follow, even though it may have been hard to leave their old lives behind. They leave what was comfortable and familiar and venture into something new because they want to be part of this new world Jesus is showing to them. These disciples reorient their whole lives to follow Jesus to new life.
Mary, Susanna, Joanna, the 12 disciples, and the others who follow Jesus see where he is leading them. They see the destination. Life! So they follow. The Pharisee in the story doesn’t seem so sure. He is searching. I think he wants to see this new life Jesus is offering but for him it is not yet clear. Maybe he can’t leave his old ways behind. Maybe he is afraid of the unknown. Maybe it feels like too much of a risk to him. Maybe it’s easier for those who are poor, who have less to lose, or for women, who are already in a diminished place in society, to accept this new path of life.
But make no mistake, the way of Jesus is a path of life for all. All are welcome. All belong. No one is turned away. No one left out or cast aside. The belonging and community are life-giving for all, not just some. It is a path that gives to each of us the forgiveness we need, whatever that may be. For hurting others. For hurting ourselves. For being part of systems that take advantage of others and the earth. For being too tied to material possessions and comforts while ignoring the needs of others. For denying our worth and that of others. For abusing the beautiful earth which feeds us, the elephants, and all the animals. For turning away from the way of Jesus even though we come to church. And the church itself needs forgiveness for turning its back on the way of Jesus. We can be forgiven our part in hurting others. We can forgive those who harm us. We can serve friend and foe, with dignity and generosity.
What Jesus shows us is a path of life. He leads us to a mindset, a value system, a reality, an identity that is life-giving, not life-denying. He shows us that forgiveness and love foster life. Cooperation rather than competition is the way of life. Overcoming harmful attitudes that separate and divide us are the path of life for all. Jesus shows us a way to life not a way to death, destruction, violence, and war. No. He is giving us a way of caring for each other with dignity and respect for ourselves and for all of life regardless of who we are. He is leading us to the place of refreshing peace, like that beautiful matriarch elephant, Torn Ear, leading her tribe away from the death of the drought to the fresh green grass of life.
Those elephants that made their way through the night did not go in a slow and plodding manner. They were eager, energetic, and lively, despite their weakness from lack of food. They were driven to stay alive, to pursue life, to survive.
Though we may be surrounded by difficulties and problems that wear us down, Jesus is leading us to life. He knows the way. He goes before us. May we follow Jesus. Trust his lead. No holding back. No fear. Pure 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.
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