Author: lakewooducc

Holy Week is a time to reflect on the best and the worst of human character. In our stories of this week, we see incredible loyalty, beauty, commitment, and trust. We also see betrayal, desertion, greed, violence, and fear. We are reminded of the challenges of living with faith within the complexities of this life.

In the sermon that my father, Francis X. Pirazzini, preached in 1965, he reminded us:

When we read, study, and exposit Holy Scripture within the walls of church or home, to hear God speak through the sacred page, it is well to remember that those inspired men of old spoke and wrote with two feet planted in the world. The drama of the Bible is the story of God dealing with men in the midst of war, slavery, paganism, immortality, collapsing social orders in short, in the midst of all that is disturbing, disillusioning and dirty. And we are not about to hear the voice of God speak to us through the sacred page or from anywhere else, for that matter, unless we too are standing in the stream of life where beauty and bestiality, virtue and vice abide side by side.

That is certainly what we see in the stories of Holy Week. And what we see around us when the church is engaged in the world as it should be. The church is not a place for those who are sanitized of the taint of the world. It is for those who are engaged in transforming the world. And to be a part of God’s activity loving the world, we have to be in the thick of it. That tests us, and sometimes we don’t offer our best to the world. It can be a dirty business, but that is the role of the church, the body of Christ. Jesus was in the world, getting dirty, with those who were least and lost.

The gospel is needed precisely because the world is a messy place. That is why the message of love, of hope, of joy, of peace, and of compassion is needed. That is what the world needs. And that is what we have to offer.

Do not be afraid of the drama of Holy Week. This same drama is being played out day after day in the world giving us countless opportunities to hone our courage, loyalty, and faith. Fear not! Engage! And you will hear God speaking still.

Prayer: This week we are reminded of the best and the worst of the human spirit. May we not be afraid to see the worst and offer the best. May we be forgiving with ourselves and with others when we are less than we should be. May we be honest enough with ourselves to learn and grow in faith never shirking the challenges of this awesome and awful world. Amen.

“Now, in plain and practical terms, what does involvement in the world mean for us in local congregations?” This question is posed by my father, Francis X. Pirazzini, in his sermon to the Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ in 1965. He goes on to propose several answers. Here is one:

For one thing, it means squarely and honestly facing the race problem, which is the Number One problem of the day, and which is everyone’s immediate problem. If there are no colored people where you live, you had best start asking yourself and your neighbors why your community is colorless. If your congregation has made no contribution toward the United Church of Christ’s efforts for Racial Justice Now, you had best start asking why.

While the language is dated, the concepts are still relevant. Racism is still a problem in America today. Just witness the conversations on race or the lack thereof. Many believe people are equal under the law, so what more is needed? “Special rights”? While things definitely have improved since 1965, prejudice and bigotry are still a problem in American society. These issues pertain not only to Euro-Americans and African-Americans, but also to immigrants, Latin Americans in the US, Asians, gay people, women, and other groups and categories. There is still not equal access and opportunity for all. And what is the church doing about this? The church is still very much racially and ethnically separated. Women still aren’t fully included in leadership in the church universal. Neither are gay people. Or poor people for that matter, whatever their color or ethnicity. Think about it: When a new church is started, one of the most important factors to consider is parking. Parking, not whether or not the location is on a bus line with a bus that runs on Sundays.

March 21 is International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination proclaimed in 1966 by the United Nations. There are events in our area to celebrate this day on Saturday March 23. Have you heard about them? Probably not, because we think we are ahead of the curve on racism and don’t need to give much attention to ending racism. We’re past that. Well, I can tell you that I have had people tell me of encounters with racism three times just within the past few days. So, racism is still alive and what is the church consciously, directly, intentionally doing to end this scourge which is an offense to God, to the ministry of Jesus, and to the human family?

Getting to know people who are different is the best way to end discrimination and racism. We got to do just that Tuesday night at the St. Petersburg Interfaith Association’s interfaith dialogue. There are many other opportunities to be involved in combatting prejudice by getting to know about others who are different than you are.

As a church, to be involved in the world means to intentionally act to end racism, prejudice, stereotyping, and bigotry. What is the church doing about this?

Prayer: All people are created in the image of God. In the ministry of Jesus, we see what it means to relate to others without prejudice. May we honor our humanity and honor God by consciously working for a world where there is no discrimination and everyone is truly loved. Amen.

“The Church is a ‘called’ people with a mission. This is a needed reminder for these days in which local congregations have become introverted and self-centered; concerned with buildings, busyness and big memberships. Too many of us judge a local church to be successful or unsuccessful by the same standards used to judge a business. The fact that a so-called ‘successful’ church has presented no real opposition to the community’s social problems. . . is conveniently overlooked. How to turn congregations away from this preoccupation with building up local clubs to the task of serving the world, in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, is the question with which concerned Christians the world over are wrestling.”

This quote comes from a sermon. Can you take a stab at when it was delivered? What decade? Do you think it sounds current?

In going through some old papers recently, I found a sermon that my father preached at the first Annual Meeting of the Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ in June of 1965. By vote of the delegates, the sermon was printed and distributed to those present and to the churches of the Conference. In the next few devotions, I will share some of the insights from that sermon because I believe they are still relevant today.

The church has always been called to serve the world. And there is always the conflict between perpetuating the institution and meeting the needs of the world. We all know of churches that are self-absorbed. The focus is on those who are members and those they want to be members and how to meet the needs of those people and keep them happy. As for the needs of the wider world, that’s barely considered in many churches.

But the church, the body of Christ, is called to always be focussed outward: To be looking at the world and the needs of the world and addressing those needs. How often we cite the verse, “God so loved the world.” The church is to express God’s love for the world, the whole world, all the people of the world, and the creation itself.

It is interesting to note this challenge to the church to serve the world. At Lakewood UCC last fall we had conversations about the topic, “What does the world need from the church?” We surfaced many ideas and suggestions that are guiding what we do as a church. This is exactly what my dad was referring to in this sermon from 1965 though I had not yet found it and read it. But this is not surprising because the mission of the church never changes. The context changes. The issues of the moment change. But churches of every age should be asking that same question: What does the world need from the church.

The “magic” of the Christian way is that when we are serving the world, when we are seeking to meet the needs of the world, we find that we, ourselves, are fulfilled, made whole, and we experience joy. When we concern ourselves predominantly with the needs of ourselves, our group, our particular congregation, we never find the joy and satisfaction that comes from serving the world in the name of Christ. I invite you to think about the ways your church is serving the needs of the world. I hope the list is very long!

Prayer: The church exists to express the love of God to the world. May the church be ever true to its calling. This involves paying attention to the world. Sometimes that can be painful. May we have courage and risk what we must to truly embody divine love in the world. Amen.

What to do about Williams Park? This has been a topic on the front burner in St. Petersburg recently. The park is in the heart of downtown and has become a gathering point for homeless people, drug use, and other less than savory activities.

A church in the vicinity mentioned paying $30,000 a year for security because of the risks posed by those who are currently using the park. In a letter to the editor published in the Tampa Bay Times, Bruce Fournier of St. Petersburg responds: “I thought the work of churches was to minister to the needy. I feel badly for the state of organized religion when it has to pay to keep the riffraff out of their churches by hiring security instead of helping these lost human beings. . . It’s a sad commentary when a Christ-driven organization is so un-Christlike in how it handles the less fortunate.” [Feb. 25, 2013]

Well, organized religion got a lift from Pope Francis yesterday at his inauguration. He called upon government leaders as well as the church to “protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important. “ [Tampa Bay Times 3/20/13, “Pope Shares vision of caring, hope,” p. 3A] This is something for the whole church to hear, not just the Catholic Church. The church exists to serve the poor. That’s what Jesus did and that is what we are to do.

This is what I feel our church was doing in our involvement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as well as our support of Operation Attack, the mission trip to the Dominican Republic, as well as the youth mission trip to California. These are just a few of the ways we are ministering to the poor.

We also want to take to heart the words of the pope encouraging us to treat the poor, the weak, and the least important “with tender affection.” In our personal encounters with people, may we always treat everyone with respect, dignity, and, yes, tender affection.

Prayer: The church has always been called to carry out the ministry of Jesus. May we never loose sight of our calling, as a community and as individuals. There is no one beneath the love of God. May we seek out the needs around us and not avoid the ministry which is needed from us. Amen.