Author: lakewooducc

Date: Sept. 12, 2010
Scripture Lessons: Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; Luke 15:1-10
Sermon: Flag Waving
Pastor: Rev. Kim Pirazzini Wells

This past week, the news has been dominated by Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center of Gainesville, and his plans for “International Burn a Koran Day.” This whole misguided initiative has been like waving a red cape in front of a bull. I don’t think Jones could have generated more publicity unless he had decided to promote “International Burn a Bible Day.” But then again, maybe not. He certainly managed to mobilize significant anti-American and anti-Christian sentiment across the globe not only from those who are Muslim but also from those who see Christianity and American domination as a scourge. Jones certainly incited hostility and hatred. Are these the hallmarks of the ministry of Jesus?

As far as his association with Christianity and the church, any reasonable person would say that Jones has lost his way. He has wandered off the path of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His behavior does not reflect the core teachings of Jesus: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, Love your neighbor, or Love your enemy.

When it comes to being on the path of Jesus, Jones has lost his way. And we can think of others who have lost their way from the central teachings of Christianity – Glenn Beck, some would say. Pat Robertson, others would cite. Many think that the pope has lost his way in light of the handling of the sex abuse scandals that are being revealed in the Roman Catholic Church. We also think of others who are lost – to addiction, to greed, to pursuit of wealth, or to cynicism or apathy. There are many we could cite as having lost their way from the Christian path, though they may not see it. And sometimes part of being lost is not realizing that you’re lost. Often those who are lost become more entrenched in their deluded reality. No flare or red flag sent up for help. They stay in denial and maintain that they are fine.

When we hear the story of the lost sheep and the lost coin from Luke, we often think about individuals who are lost, and how God never gives up on them. Even one is of such value to God, that God persists. This is an important message in this story.
And we gravitate to an individualistic understanding of this story because there is the tendency in American Christianity to view faith in individualistic terms and to focus on individual personal salvation. The individual getting into heaven. And the behavior of the individual related to that goal. In the American context, the Christian faith is looked at largely as a personal, individual matter.
But the reading from Jeremiah reminds us that faith is also about the community, and being lost isn’t something that happens only to individuals. It also happens to communities. The prophet Jeremiah is addressing the condition of the faith community, the community of the people of God, the chosen people. He points out how they have lost their way: They are foolish, they are stupid, they have no understanding, they are skilled in doing evil but do not know how to do good. [Jeremiah 4:22] Pretty scathing commentary on a faith community. But an important reminder that the faith community can loose its way. Can stray from God’s will for justice and peace and compassion. The faith community can be lost, and can insulate itself with mutually reinforced delusion and deception. In the verses from Jeremiah, God’s condemnation of the offending community is severe.

While our first inclination may be to see being lost as an individual matter, the combination of Luke and Jeremiah as the lectionary recommends, invites us to open ourselves to consider with honesty how the faith community of today may be lost. May have strayed.

Let’s consider the growing Islamaphobia in this country evidenced in increasing hate crimes against Muslims. If our country were populated predominantly by secular people, would we have this growing problem? Would secular humanists become so rabid about a religion? I don’t think so. Secular people tend to see religion as irrelevant or archaic. They tend to be tolerant and accepting.

As I see it, the growing Islamaphobia in this country is being fueled largely by some Christians and Christian churches who see Islam as a threat to Christianity. They see Islam as a threat to Christian domination in this country; suspending the constitutional enshrining of separation of church and state. They see Islam as a competitive religion. The work of the devil undermining the supremacy of Christ in this country. And they see the Sept. 11 attacks as a direct assault on Christianity by Islam. This all might seem far out to some of us who are more moderate Christians, but check out the messages of more conservative Christianity – on TV, on line, on the radio. Even in an area UCC church, the pastor prayed publicly for victory over the infidel Islam. I believe much of the foment and fuel for the anti-Islamic sentiment that is growing in the United States is coming from a vocal minority of the Christian church. Those who claim to be Christian are fanning the flames of intolerance and even vilification.

You know that it is bad when the Baptists are worried. The Baptist Center for Ethics has “warned of a widespread demonization of Islam that has taken root in some evangelical churches.” Robert Sellers, a missions professor at the Logsdon School of Theology in Abilene, Texas, states, “Defaming the Prophet Muhammad, speaking ill of Islam or portraying Muslims collectively as if they were all extremist or terrorist individuals is wrong, unloving and deceitful. I trust that none of us wishes to sin against our neighbors by spreading fear and stereotypes.” [“Baptists warned of Islamaphobia” in The Christian Century, 9/7/10, p. 14]

Vilifying Islam is not only wrong and unloving and deceitful, as Sellers states, it is also unChristian. Jesus talks about loving your enemies. Praying for those who persecute you. He never condemns another religion. He saves his most scathing condemnations for leaders of his own religion.

There are other examples of how the church has strayed. The obsession with sex is one: From heinous sex scandals, to incessant wrangling over gender, sexual identity, sexual orientation and behavior. The church has strayed from its foundation in anti-violence to blatant promotion of violence by supporting war and militarism. The church has lost its way from its beginnings as a gospel of peace and justice and communitarian values. The message of Jesus is not about waving flags at people to incite conflict. It is about waving them home to community, to transcendence, to grace, and peace, like the airport runway staff guiding a plane in. The community of Christ is to be about finding the lost and restoring fullness of joy and wholeness. Not about being incendiary and fanning flames of contention and violence. But in many ways, the church has gotten lost, either stirring up passion about the wrong things or nothing.

One pastor in the United Church of Christ, G. Jeffrey MacDonald, has written a book in which he comments: “. . . churchgoers increasingly want pastors to soothe and entertain them.” He says that the advisory committee in his small Massachusetts congregation told him to keep his sermons to ten minutes, tell funny stories, and help people feel good about themselves. The implicit message being: “give us the comforting, amusing fare we want or we’ll get our spiritual leadership from someone else.” [“Occupational Hazard II,” The Christian Century, 9/7/10, p. 8]

This summer when we were in Scotland, we visited a wonderful museum in Glasgow called the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, a major cultural institution akin to a Smithsonian museum. The art, the natural history specimens, and the building itself were spectacular. But what was even more impressive was the honesty of the exhibits. There was an exhibit about violence against women tracing the history back hundreds of years, as well as chronicling this problem today. One placard read: “Throughout history, women have often been kept silent and powerless. Today, for some women, this is still the case. Real women, real stories.” We were amazed at the forthrightness of this exhibit. Dealing so directly with a social problem, giving historical perspective and making it contemporary. It was so honest. And this exhibit was on the main floor of the museum in a prominent location.

In another part of the museum, the entrance to an exhibit about armor and armaments began with this introduction: “Conflict and Consequence – How we keep inventing new ways of killing people, and then wonder why.” At the exhibit about swords, the sign declares: “Swords are works of art and tools of death. They were often beautifully made and richly decorated. Designed to allow their users to kill quickly and easily, swords are powerful symbols of human violence.” The commentary was breathtakingly honest.

Near a sculpture from the 1800’s of a man, seated, holding his elementary age daughter, both figures clearly sorrowful, the sign tells that the mother/the wife, has died, and the sculptor wanted to capture the grief of the family. We are also told that while men are seldom portrayed nurturing or crying, these are both natural responses for men, not only for women. Again, poignantly honest.
Frankly, the commentary and exhibits in this museum stunned us for many reasons, not the least of which was the unabashed honesty. Shouldn’t we expect the same from the church? “The truth will set you free.” [John 8:32] And yet the church does so much to “put on a happy face.”

In this consumerist age, the church has become consumed with people pleasing and institutional maintenance. “Keep the customer satisfied.” Keep people united against a common enemy so they keep coming to church, feeling they are on the right side, consolidate power and control and to keep the budget funded for salaries, buildings, and programs. Notice in the story from Luke, the power establishment, the Pharisees, are grumbling about Jesus. He is not pleasing the right people. And then he tells these two parables about finding the lost, featuring a shepherd, of low rank in society, considered disreputable, shiftless, and thieving. A trespassing hireling. And the other story featuring a woman, at best a second class citizen. The two figures that reveal God’s character are marginal people. This is not pleasing to the power structure. The same issue continues to confront the church today. The church is expected to placate the powerful, those with money, those with influence, those deemed worthy. The church is to protect its power and exclusivity claims.

In a recent article, Douglas John Hall, professor emeritus of theology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, critiques the church and offers new direction. He writes: “The greatest dangers to human welfare in today’s global village are all of them products of, or backed by, religions driven by immodest claims to ultimacy.” He goes on to say, “Only a nontriumphalistic Christianity. . . can contribute to the healing of the nations. . .” Hall also suggests, “Instead of clinging to absurd and outmoded visions of grandeur, which were never Christ’s intention for his church, serious Christian communities ought now to relinquish triumphalisitic dreams of majority status and influence in high places an ask themselves about the possibilities of witnessing to God’s justice and love from the edges of empire – which is where prophetic religion has always lived.” Hall further recommends that “churches should take the initiative in their own disestablishment.” [“Cross and Context,” Douglas John Hall, The Christian Century, 9/7/10, p. 40]

The church has lost its way from its beginnings in the ministry of Jesus. And it is time for the church to wave a white flag of surrender, or better yet, to send up a flare, so that we can be found. So that we can be restored to our intended mission to help people connect with something beyond themselves, to embody universal love in the world, to work for justice, and to create community that is expansive not exclusive. Is there any reason to hope that the church can be redeemed? In the gloom and doom prophecy of Jeremiah that we heard this morning, there is a fragment of hope. After talking about laying waste to the people, turning the land into a barren desert, and wreaking desolation, through the prophet God says, “. . .yet I will not make a full end.” [Jeremiah 4:27] There is a glimmer of hope for the future.

And in the parables from Luke, the shepherd and the woman are relentless in seeking what is lost. They exhibit patience and persistence. They are proactive, risking whatever it takes to find what is lost. Their dogged dedication shows the value of what needs to be found. They will not give up.

I believe God is looking for the church. With patience and persistence. Proactively risking whatever it takes to reclaim and restore the church to its mission as the body of Christ. I believe God is seeking the church: To eradicate violence in our world. To eliminate poverty. To establish justice. To create true communities of honesty and meaning. To foster healing and wholeness. To transform emptiness and loneliness. To embody compassion. To demonstrate material generosity and grace. These are the things that Jesus was known for. These were hallmarks of the first Christian communities. God is seeking us to restore us to our roots. And God will not give up. Until the sheep is found. The coin reclaimed. The church restored.

Why bother, we may ask? What can a few people do? What difference can a small group make? Well, let’s go back to Terry Jones and the Dove World Outreach Center. Fifty people. That’s it. Fifty people in that congregation. It’s smaller than our church! And look at the fuss they made! They got the attention of multitudes around the world and of top US leaders, including the president. They managed to incite violence and inspire hatred. There is no doubt that the church has power. But how is that power being used? When the church is lost, power is abused and distorted. But when it is found, it is the power of life and hope.

In India, churches were urge to hoist black flags for a day to protest discrimination faced by Christian Dalits. Dalits are people from the low castes in India and they are treated as untouchables. There are protections for Dalits who are Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist. They receive free education and reserved government jobs. But Dalits who are Christian or Muslim, do not receive these rights. In an effort to call attention to this situation and to protest this injustice, churches flew black flags for a day. [“Flagging Injustice,” The Christian Century, 9/7/10, p. 9]

Here we see the church found, the church restored to its intention, the church home in the fold of the God of Jesus Christ, calling attention to the poor, creating community for the marginalized, and agitating for justice in the wider society. Waving their flags to get attention and give direction.

It is time for the Christian church in the United States to wave flags of surrender to the forces of consumerism and empire that have co-opted the church. It is time for the church to extricate itself from fanning the flames of injustice, intolerance, and violence. It is time to let God find the church once again and restore us to our rightful position, on the margins of society, waving our banners and leading the procession toward wholeness and peace. Amen.

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

Date: September 5, 2010
Scripture Lesson: Luke 24:28-35
Sermon: Taste and See
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

As part of her seminary experience, our daughter, Angela, works part time at a Lutheran Church in New York. One day, on the spur of the moment, she was asked to lead the first communion class. The pastor told her to tell the students about her understanding of communion.

Angela proceeded to tell the young people that the bread and juice were metaphors for the presence of Jesus. Yes, we know that Jesus is always with us, and the bread and juice are a concrete, material way of being reminded of that presence.

Apparently after the class, Angela and the pastor of the church had a follow up conversation about what had gone on. The pastor seemed surprised at Angela’s explanation of communion. When the pastor gave her explanation, Angela, too, was surprised. She called me and asked me if I knew about transubstantiation and consubstantiation? Yes, and you will, too, I told her, after you take Christopher Morses’ theology class. (Angela attends the same seminary I did, and some of the same professors are still teaching there.)

Transubstantiation and consubstantiation. These two fancy theological terms label the classic explanations of communion for the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Church, of which the United Church of Christ is a part. Transubstantiation teaches ‘that the substance of the elements of bread and wine is transformed by God’s power into the substance of the body and blood” of Christ when the priest consecrates them in the mass. [A Handbook of Theological Terms, Van A. Harvey, p. 243] As one theological dictionary describes what happens to the bread and wine, the “inner substantial reality underlying its appearances, has been transformed.” [Harvey, p. 244] This is the classic Catholic explanation of communion.

When Angela got her lesson about communion from the Lutheran pastor, she was told that Lutherans, and those of the reformed tradition, do not believe in transubstantiation, implying that it is “magical” thinking. Instead, Lutherans and others believe in consubstantiation. This means “that Christ is ‘bodily’ present ‘in, with, and under,’ the elements,” but the elements, the bread and wine, are not “substantially altered.” [Harvey, p. 58] To Angela, and she is not alone, this sounded like hair-splitting. She is staying with metaphor and symbol, thank you very much.

In the story we heard from Luke’s gospel, Jesus breaks bread with his friends and their eyes are opened. A physical act conveys spiritual meaning.
Communion is one of the two sacraments of the Protestant Church. The Catholic Church observes 7 sacraments. Sacraments are outward visible signs of the grace of God at work in our lives and our world. They are rituals laden with symbols that point us to meaning beyond the literal actions taking place. We see this implication in the scripture we heard this morning. Jesus broke the bread and their eyes were opened. A simple human action leads to meaning beyond the actual occurrence. That is the implication of a sacrament. In the Protestant church, we observe the sacraments of baptism and communion because these are the two things that Jesus directs his followers to do in the gospels. “Go and baptize,” and “Do this in remembrance of me.” So these are the two sacraments that we observe.

As a sacrament, the observance of communion has evolved over the centuries. Its roots are in the early Christian traditions of followers of Jesus gathering for food, prayer, and teaching. They generally met and ate in people’s homes. The cooking and serving was done by the women of the household. Everyone was included. From that humble beginning, breaking bread and their eyes were opened, communion as we know it has taken many forms.

Just as there are many different expressions of Christianity, so there are many ways that the sacrament of communion is carried out. Some churches use bread, some unleavened bread, some use wafers. Some use wine; some grape juice. Sometimes grapes are used. In some churches communion is served to the congregation seated. In some the people come forward, as individuals, or in groups. In some churches a common cup is passed and the people drink from one cup. In other churches, intinction, dipping the bread, is the method used. And some churches use the little cups of juice. Sometimes the congregants serve one another. In some churches the people are served by some kind of official authority figures. In some churches communion is presided over by lay people. In others only ordained clergy are involved. In some churches only men officiate at communion. In some churches the clergy are served first. In some they are served last. In some churches you have to confess your sins before you are served communion. In some churches the people go forward, one by one, and the men always go before the women. In some churches gay people are not served. In some churches only children who have gone through first communion, or have been confirmed, are allowed to participate. Some churches will not serve people who have not been baptized. Some churches only serve those of their particular branch of Christianity. In other churches everyone is welcome. These are just a few of the many variations that churches have of doing communion. There are many traditions, rituals, and rules associated with communion.

My eyes were opened about communion when I was in college, and my father accepted a call to be the pastor of a church in Pennsylvania. The first Sunday that they served communion, I was shocked. When it was time for communion, 12 men wearing black robes came forward and they passed the plates of bread and the trays with the little cups of juice. I had been going to church in the UCC my whole life and I had never seen anything like this. So somber. Funereal with the black robes. And all men. What was this? After church, my dad explained that this was their heritage and how they had always done it. You had to be an ordained elder in the church to serve communion and only men could be elders. Well, by the time my dad left that tradition had changed. Women were being ordained as elders and they were serving communion along with the men, and there were no more black robes.

While there are many practices, traditions, rules and rituals associated with communion, what remains the same is that what we do points beyond the literal actions and it is laden with meaning. Meaning that can be positive or negative. Healing or harmful, depending on what is done, how it is done, and who is involved. But the sacrament itself has great power because it is an experience that evokes feelings and images that have meaning beyond the bit of bread and a taste of grape.

If each of us was asked to describe what we do when we take communion, we may all give a similar explanation of the literal actions taking place: The pastor says some prayers and blessings, she and a lay person stand in a central location, one holds a plate with little pieces of bread on it, the other holds a cup with grape juice in it. We go forward and line up, and one by one, we take a piece of bread and dip it in the juice and eat it and return to our seats. While we do this, there is music being played. That’s the literal activity taking place.

But the communion experience may be so much more. It is intended to move us to a deeper experience than the literal activity taking place. While we may see what we actually do in communion in similar ways, if everyone in this room were to be interviewed individually and asked to explain what communion means, I think we would get as many different explanations as there are people here. And that’s how it should be. Bread is broken in a certain context and our eyes may be opened. We may experience our connection to God, however God may be known to us. We may experience our connection to the earth in the food that the earth provides. We may experience our connectedness to one another, to Christ, to the church universal, to the faith community within time and space and beyond time and space.

Some may associate communion with Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Some may think of it as penitential. Some may think of it as an assurance of God’s love and grace. Some may associate the bread and cup with food, sustenance, new life and growth. Some may think of the elements as the actual body and blood of Christ. Others may think more symbolically and metaphorically. Some may explain communion in terms of unity with the faith community and with God and Jesus. Some may associate communion with death and consider it to be somber. Others may think of it as a joyful feast. Some people make it a point to attend church on communion Sundays. Others make it a point to avoid those Sundays. Transubstantiation and consubstantiation do not cover all of the bases. There are all kinds of ways that we may think about and explain and experience communion in the Christian church.

While there are many differences in our experiencing of communion, there should also be some commonality. In some way, the experience of communion is to be an experience of community, of eating with others. Communion is never done by one person alone. It is always done with others. It is not solitary. Communion is intended to enact community. This is central to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His ministry was about creating community, overcoming division, and fostering reconciliation. Jesus was known for eating with everyone, including those who were unclean, dishonest, disreputable, sinners, women, prostitutes, you name it. We’re told in the gospels that Judas was at the last supper. Jesus really did eat even with his enemies. The followers of Jesus experienced belonging without exclusion as an embodiment of the expansive love of God. No one was left behind. So communion as a sacrament is about experiencing that sense of community.

Given this common vision, it is ironic that communion has become a source of division and exclusion in the church. Only certain people being involved in certain ways, etc. Of course, no one intentionally planned to distort the intention of communion, it has just evolved that way, little by little, one decision at a time, over the course of two thousand years. This reminds us that this significant sacrament, this ritual, can continue to evolve and change in ways that seem more reflective of the vision and values of Jesus for us today.

In addition to community, another common aspect of communion that we may agree to is that the meaning, the significance is more than the literal action taking place. Sharing bread and cup, however it is done, may evoke many varied emotions, experiences and responses beyond what is physically taking place. Some may say they experience transcendence. Some may say presence. Some may say grace. Some may say love. The explanations are and should be infinite. Because this is something beyond our control.

How this kind of rich experience may happen from eating a bit of bread and a sip of juice with a group of people remains a mystery. If you were telling someone, “I went to church today, we had communion. I ate a bit of bread and drank a small cup of juice, and I felt at one with the universe and the human family and felt that divine love was flowing through me and everyone there,” – I mean you would sound kind of crazy. The action doesn’t seem commensurate with the feelings. It sounds like a Coke commercial – Drink up and be happy. We have to acknowledge the unknown, the mystery in the sacramental communion experience. I don’t think we can fully explain the meaning of communion, and what may be experienced through this sacramental ritual. It is beyond logic and reason. There is power and mystery involved.

Years ago, it was traditional in the Untied Church of Christ and other Protestant denominations for young people to participate in communion only after they were confirmed as teenagers. The idea was that during the confirmation process they would be duly instructed about the meaning of communion and then they would be allowed to partake. About 20 years ago, the trend to involve children in communion began to emerge. One explanation given was that we don’t ask adults to understand and explain communion before they participate, why should we ask this of children? True enough. Another explanation offered was that if we have to have a full understanding of communion before we are permitted to partake, then would anyone ever participate? This was an acknowledgement of the mystery involved.

In the United Church of Christ, practices related to the sacraments are left up to the individual congregation. We have no outside authority telling us how we must observe communion, how often we must have communion, who must preside, who can and cannot participate and in what ways. These things are left up to the individual congregation. At Lakewood, we have sought to be guided by the ministry of Jesus in our observance of communion. We seek to let his witness open our eyes. Jesus ate with everyone. There was no litmus test for worthiness. He did not ask for credentials, or prerequisites or anything else. Neither do we. We take his “y’all come” approach. Far be it from us to circumscribe God’s invitation, God’s grace, and God’s love. All are welcome. We try to do communion in a way that all who want to can participate. And in a way that those who choose not to participate may also feel comfortable and accepted. We use grape juice so that those who do not drink alcohol may participate. We try to accommodate those with other dietary restrictions. Just as we do not exclude anyone from the table, we also are open about those who lead and serve communion. We have no rules about men only, clergy only, or black robes required! The gospel lesson mentioned that in the breaking of the bread, the disciples eyes were opened. We trust that through this sacrament, our eyes will continually be opened to the expansive, inclusive love of God and the ways that we are called to embody that love as Jesus did.

In the story we heard from Luke, Jesus and the disciples share bread and their eyes are opened. Somehow, I don’t think the discussion was framed around transubstantiation and consubstantiation. If someone were to ask me to explain the meaning of communion, I would say something about experiencing universal love, inclusive community, and mystery. What would you say? 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.