Category: Sermon Texts

Date: July 7, 2019 

Scripture Lesson:Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon: “Truly, Our God is in this place”

Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

When we think of the image of a ladder, the first thing that may come to mind is the corporate ladder.  This is a common concept. Climbing the corporate ladder. Making your way up, rung by rung, from a lowly job at the bottom to a more prestigious job up the ladder.  Going up the corporate ladder involves working hard, it involves increasing responsibility, it involves increasing prestige and respect, and, perhaps most importantly to some, it involves making more money.  Many people devote their lives to climbing this kind of ladder in their work life.

This common image of the corporate ladder is usually thought of as a one way climb – up.  People don’t try to go down the corporate ladder, seeking an easier, lower paying, less important job.  The corporate ladder is about going up, up, and away. 

But of course, you can go up and DOWN a real ladder.  Both directions, up and down, are very important to Ed Viesturs, one of the premier mountain climbers alive today.  Viesturs embarked on a goal which he labeled Endeavor 8000. His goal was to climb all of the mountains in the world that are over 8000 meters high.  There are 14 of them with Mount Everest being the highest. It took Viesturs 18 years achieve his goal. He is the only American to have done so. And he is one of only 5 people to summit all of the 8,000ers without using supplemental oxygen.   Viesturs has made 30 expeditions to the high peaks and summited 21 times. He has summited Everest 7 times.   

Viesturs’ success at mountaineering is based on getting up AND down the mountain.  This is his cardinal rule in the big mountains: “Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.”  [Ed Viesturs with David Roberts, No Shortcuts to the Top:  Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Peaks, p. 168]  Many times he has seen people so fixated on getting to the top that they don’t give adequate consideration to the descent which can easily result in death as it did for 8 people descending Mount Everest in May 1996.  Viesturs stays focussed on getting up AND down the mountain. Both directions. Not just getting to the top. He keeps the whole picture in mind.  

This morning we listened to a part of the story of Jacob.  In the verses we heard, Jacob is running away from home after cheating his brother out of his birthright by deceiving their father.  And he has done this with the help of their mother. So, Jacob is in trouble. He is fleeing the scene. He is spending the night outside, alone, under the stars, with a rock for a pillow.  Pretty dismal. And we’re told that he has a dream that involves a ladder. The implication is that this ladder goes from earth up to heaven. And what is happening on this ladder? Is Jacob or someone else going up the ladder?  Is there traffic going down the ladder? Interesting, we are told: “. . . there was a ladder, standing on the ground with its top reaching to heaven; and messengers of God were going up and coming down the ladder.” [Gen. 28:12]  That is all that we are told about the ladder. There is a vision of a ladder and divine messengers are going up and down. I think the up AND down is significant. It’s interesting that this ladder is bi-directional. It is not just about going up to heaven.  And it is not just about God’s messengers coming down to communicate with the earthly realm. We are told that the divine messengers are going both ways. The ladder forms a link bringing together the earthly and the heavenly realms. There is ongoing connection and traffic between the two areas.  Heaven and earth are interconnected with back and forth communication and involvement. In this vision heaven, or the realm of God, is not some distant, isolated place. It’s not a destination to which you can only get a one way ticket after you die. The ladder gives us an image of ongoing connection.  

It’s easy to see why several beautiful outdoor hikes have sections referred to as Jacob’s Ladder.  These areas often involve going up high, sometimes on a steep staircase, and enjoying beautiful views of the surrounding landscape.  Heaven on earth in nature. And, of course, we know from hiking, when you go up, you must also go down!

But we are given only that one little line about the ladder.  There is no involvement  between Jacob and the messengers on the ladder.  Jacob does not mount the ladder.  The messengers from the ladder do not speak or sing or offer any message in this story.  It’s almost like it’s a comment about the background, the setting, the reality. But this one little verse with this simple image has gotten a lot of attention through the ages.  There are movies, horror flicks, titled Jacob’s Ladder.  There are songs and music about Jacob’s ladder.  We’ll sing one today. There is a quilt pattern and a crochet stitch called Jacob’s ladder.  There is a piece of exercise equipment referred to as Jacob’s ladder. There is a plant called Jacob’s ladder.  Jacob’s ladder is used to refer to rays of the sun beaming down through a cloud formation. There are many artistic portrayals of Jacob’s ladder – some with figures going up and down, some with figures only going up, and some with no figures at all.  There’s a cat’s cradle string formation called Jacob’s ladder. And there is toy called Jacob’s ladder.  [Take out the toy and pass it around.]  

But for all of the attention given to the image of Jacob’s ladder, what we notice in the story is that the important part really has nothing to do with the ladder.  The core of the story is the appearance of God speaking directly to Jacob in the dream. No messengers involved. God directly talks to Jacob. And God has a very important message.  God has made promises to Jacob’s ancestors that they would become a great people. And God confirms these promises to Jacob. Jacob will be part of fulfilling these intentions. Even though Jacob has done something very bad, God’s intentions to create a great people and give them a land are going forward and Jacob will be part of making that happen.  

Basically God is saying, I am keeping my promises and there is nothing you can do about it.  Jacob cheating his brother and deceiving his father is not going to get in the way of God’s plans.  So even though Jacob is a low life, God is going to do great things through him.  

And what Jacob recognizes is that God is in this place.  He can’t get away from God. He can’t escape God’s plans for him.  His bad behavior will not separate him from God’s presence. God is.  And God is God. And God is ever present. And God is love. And God is good.  And God is steadfast. God has life at heart. And we can’t change that. God is here for us whether we see it or not.  

In this story, we see that there is no climbing the ladder to be good enough, to get high enough, to experience God’s presence.  There is no climbing the ladder to prove we are worthy of God’s attentions.  There is nothing here about our having to be moral and upstanding and selfless to be part of God’s reality.  This story tells us about the connection between the divine and human, heaven and earth. There is this connection no matter who we are or what we have or have not done.  We are still incorporated into God’s reality.  

We see this perspective in the life and ministry of Jesus.  There are stories of Jesus encountering all kinds of people from every sector of life.  He doesn’t come just to help one group, or people who are good, or people who have the right religious beliefs.  There is no test involved for those engaged with Jesus. No ladder to climb to be worthy of Jesus’ attention. Jesus is known for telling people, the realm of God is here, among you, within you.  Jesus is showing people that God is everywhere, present, right here, right now, always. Inside us. Among us. And certainly in nature. We don’t have to go anywhere to find God. And we certainly don’t have to climb some kind of ladder of goodness to prove ourselves to God.  God is always present. And in God, we are accepted as we are. Period.  

God, in the many ways we may conceive of God, is connecting us to each other, to the natural world, to eternity, to Divinity.  The transcendent and the earthly are linked. Heaven and earth woven together. The spiritual and the material blended. Life is a spiritual journey and Divine Love is our companion on that journey.  There is no where we can go to separate ourselves from that Love.  

In the story we heard today, Jacob takes the stone that he used for a pillow and sets it in the ground as a monument marking the place and calling it Beth-El which means the ‘house of God.’  This then became an important place of worship. But the story reminds us that every place is sacred and holy. God is everywhere. There are open borders between the human and the Divine. And religion, with its sanctuaries, its rituals, its holy writings, and spiritual practices is about reminding us continually that we live within Love, and all of life and Creation is sacred, including each one of us.  That is what is real and to be remembered. This is the house of God. We are the house of God. The cosmos is the house of God. Truly God is in this place and every place. 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: June 30, 2019 

Scripture Lesson: Leviticus 16:1-34

Sermon:  Declaring Independence

Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

This week we will celebrate Independence Day.  It is a time to mark the desire for independence experienced by the colonists who did not feel they were being treated fairly by the British Empire and wanted more say-so in their affairs.  So, they declared independence and fought a war to secure that independence.  

Just telling that bit of the story we are reminded of how the United States has imposed its will on other countries without their having much of a say-so and taken advantage of land, natural resources, and people/labor.  Rather ironic. Hopefully the spirit of the original independence day will become stronger once again on these shores.  

As a country, at this point, we are not really that great at taking responsibility for our behavior.  We ARE very good at making justifications. And obfuscations. That means hiding things. I have been amazed as an adult at all the things I have learned about American history that were never taught to me in school.  In school we were given a very different impression of many things. And we weren’t given the impression that there can be various interpretations of history depending on who is telling the story. Maybe history is being taught differently today.  I hope so. In my history classes, I also found that we are good at blaming others – it’s their fault. . . They gave us no choice. . . We had to because they. . . 

And this often also applies to how individual people conduct their personal affairs.  They have reasons, excuses, and justifications for why something happened, or what was done, and it doesn’t include taking responsibility and admitting a mistake or poor judgment and trying to correct a valid wrong.  You know what this is like. We deal with it all the time – in family life, with co-workers, with people in clubs and organizations. In the community. Certainly in politics. And, yes, even in the church.  

Many years ago I was on a response team for a sexual misconduct case involving a clergy person.  Our team was to individually interview the people involved, including the pastor. I remember at one point he said something like, Well, when you go to visit a parishioner and she greets you at the door with a see through negligee on, what are you supposed to do?  It’s not my fault. I didn’t do anything wrong. She is responsible. Boy, do we know that story!

Or how about when a drunk driver kills someone and blames the bartender for serving the drinks, or the boss who fired him that afternoon which led to his going to the bar. . .

In the political debates this past week, one of the candidates assured people tho have lost their jobs that it is not because of the immigrants coming into this country.  This is debunking the scapegoating of immigrants as the cause of so much unemployment and underemployment.  

It happens in school.  A kid does something bad.  When the teacher confronts the class, the person who did it blames someone else.  Then it’s one persons word against another. And likely the kid who was blamed gets punished, not the kid who actually did the misbehaving.  

This happens in many situations.  And we call the person who gets blamed the scapegoat.  Instead of taking responsibility and putting it where it is due, someone becomes the scapegoat.  They are blamed. The problem is laid at their feet. And they pay the price and someone else’s reputation and position is saved and protected.   A coworker, a spouse, someone else is blamed. And that’s who takes the rap. This happens all the time in politics. Someone gets blamed and looses their job when they were just carrying out the will of someone else who stays above it all and does not get blamed or suffer any negative consequences.  

But this really is not true to the original concept of the scapegoat.  As we heard this morning, the scapegoat was a part of the system of atonement, of making things right.   It was part of the system of repentance and appeasing God for the wrongs that people and the society had done.  

This was to be done each year, in the seventh month on the tenth day of the month.  So in the scene from Leviticus, the priest washes and wears clean linen clothing – tunic, undergarments, a sash, and turban.  Then the priest places his hands upon the head of the goat and confesses all the wrongs of the people of Israel, personal and communal:  For the household, the congregation, and the country. Then the goat is taken away into the wilderness to a barren region and set free.  In this way, the wrongs are named. The people take responsibility. They don’t blame someone else and make excuses and cause suffering for someone else to avoid it themselves.  This is an honest cleansing.

The people were directed to have this ritual each year where the priests not only made sacrifices but laid all the sins and wrongs of the people upon a goat and then released the goat into the wilds taking away the bad, the regrettable, and leaving the people to start anew with the new year.  The use of the scapegoat was not to avoid responsibility or ignore the wrongs that had been done or give the blame to someone else. It was about naming the wrongs, taking responsibility, and the conviction to start anew and try again. And since humans are imperfect, there will be wrongs in the next year, so the process will have to be repeated.  This shows an awareness of human imperfection and our imperfectability as a human species.  

In this way, the people started afresh.  Anew. It was a way taking responsibility for their past wrongs so that those wrongs no longer controlled them.  They were freed from guilt and shame. It was like declaring independence from wrong doing and its control and impact and creating a clean slate.  Free and clear. Independent.  

Today this ritual atonement is commemorated by Jews around the world as Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.  The directive from Leviticus is continued to this day, though I don’t think a live goat is still involved.  

In the Christian tradition this kind of confession and repentance is seen as an ongoing process. We aren’t limited to doing this once a year.  In fact, each and every day, we can take responsibility for who we are and what we do. And in the Protestant tradition, no priest is necessary.  Every person can be responsible for seeking right relationship when there are problems. We can admit our wrongdoing. We can seek to make things right.  We can tell the truth. We do not need to get tangled up in lies, in blaming, in seeing heads roll, other than our own, to protect ourselves. We are most independent and secure when we are honest and vulnerable instead of defensive and hostile.   

So, I am wondering about the idea of offering our regrets, wrongs, sins, to a goat and releasing ourselves from guilt and shame.  Telling the truth. Taking responsibility as a step toward seeking reconciliation with God, with ourselves, with family, with others, and with other peoples – of the past and present – as well as with other countries.  How would you like to see the truth told? How would you like our society to repent of sins of the past? How would you like to be unburdened? In this honest repentance, there is freedom and release. It’s a way of declaring independence.  It is also a way of declaring independence from the illusion that we must always be right, that we can do no wrong, that we don’t make mistakes. To name our sins and release them is to embrace our full humanity with all of its imperfections, which is what make us truly human.  

So, we have a goat here.  [A stuffed toy goat.] Those who would like to are invited to come up, hold the goat, and make your confession – outloud, with the congregation as witness, or privately, with the assurance that your intention is sincere.  In this way, we may make our honest testimony, freeing us from the control of fear and blame.

Here, several people from the congregation came forward, held the goat, and spoke their truth.  

Let us pray –

Today we declare our independence from the wrongs that have held us captive.  We declare independence from the cultural practice of scapegoating which involves blaming others and doing harm to others to protect ourselves.  We declare independence from hiding behind lies and half truths. We lay claim to our responsibility for our behavior and choices. We embrace our full humanity and will seek to live in right relationship with ourselves, with our neighbors, with strangers, near and far, with Creation, and with God, however we may understand or define God.  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.

Scripture: Luke 24:45-53

Pastor:  Rev. Kim P. Wells

Startled.  Terrified.  Frightened.  Doubtful.  Panicked.  Disturbed.  Grieving.  That is what we are told about the condition of the disciples as this story begins.  That is the shape they are in.  It’s not a very good place to be, is it?  It’s hard to be grieving and heartbroken and afraid and all that goes along with that.  These disciples are distraught.  Yet in the story, just a short time later, they are filled with joy and praising God.  How did that happen?

In the story we are told of Jesus appearing to the group of disciples and showing them his hands and feet, and then eating.  He is trying to show that he is not a ghost.  That he is real.  He then tells them about the fulfillment of the scriptures.  Again, he is showing them that this is real like the other things that God has done in the past.  Like the promises God has made and fulfilled in the past.  It is happening again.  And it is real.  They are not imagining something or hallucinating.  Those references to the hands and feet, eating, and scripture are ways of validating the reality of the disciples.  

In the story, Jesus is extending the intentions of God to the present moment and beyond.  Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.  There is more to come and it will start right there, with them.  And God will provide the energy and inspiration.  All they have to do is wait for it and be obedient.  Again, this fits in with their conception of reality as a continuation of what God has done and, they now see, has been doing.  They will be part of the unfolding of a new chapter in the fulfilling of the promises of God.  

Then in the story, Jesus is taken up into heaven.  While this sounds like sci-fi to us, there were several Hebrew Bible figures who were taken up into heaven like Elijah.  This concept of being taken up was also part of Greco-Roman literature.  The ascent of heroes and immortals was a well-known device.  In one example, the nobles exhort the people to revere Romulus, “since he had been caught up into heaven, and was to be a benevolent god for them instead of a good king.”  [Plutarch, quoted in the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, vol. 8, p. 417]   So, in Luke’s story, Jesus was taken up.  People had associations with this.  This would not have seemed unbelievable.  It would have put Jesus in league with other important figures.  So being taken up again verified his importance and the reality of the experience.  

As the gospel concludes, the disciples are in the Temple in Jerusalem.  That is where the gospel began, with Zechariah, Anna, and Simeon, validating the identity of Jesus.  And now the disciples are in the Temple again without Jesus.  He has left them.  Again.  He died.  Came back.  And left again.  A cruel joke?  Are the disciples distraught and scared?  No.  We are told that the disciples were filled with great joy.  Yes, joy.  They were at the Temple night and day filled with joy and praising God.  They were continually in the Temple blessing God.

It’s interesting.  They still don’t have Jesus.  He has been crucified.  They have still left home and family.  They still may be pursued by Temple authorities or Roman authorities as friends of Jesus.  The way the story is told, the outward circumstances of the disciples has not greatly improved.  And yet they are overcome with great joy.  

Here we see the nature of joy.  Jesus promised the disciples joy.  And here, they have it.  But joy is not based on outward circumstances.  Joy is not dependent on being in a comfortable, safe situation.  Joy is not defined as the absence of sorrow or pain or heartbreak.  Joy can be present, can thrive, can overwhelm, even in difficult circumstances, even through grief and loss.  

In the story of the ascension, we see that joy is rooted in deeply held trust in the on-going goodness, steadfast love, and purposes of God.  The disciples see a story with intention.  They see the arc of redemption.  They see that all things are working together in the plan of God.  And so they are filled with joy.  Their deep conviction is in the larger prevailing dreams of God.  Joy is confidence that those dreams will come to fruition and that all of Creation is part of that.  

In today’s world, in the church, we may not ascribe to such a traditional view of God.  Many no longer think of God as a spirit, some thing some where, making personal interventions in human history.  While we may have different conceptions of God, the basics about joy hold fast.  Joy is a deep seated trust in the unfolding of Creation and history in a way that is good.  Joy encompasses the ability be struck by wonder whatever the circumstances.  Joy invites us to be amazed and awed whatever our outward condition.  Joy includes a fundamentally hopeful orientation toward the future whatever it may hold.  While some may not feel comfortable with the terminology, “God has a plan,” and I am among you, joy invites us to be taken in with wonder and amazement and delighted by the inexplicable, the holy, the sacred, every day; continually to use the word from Luke.  

To choose joy as the orientation for our lives does not mean that we will be happy all of the time.  It does not mean that we will be materially prosperous.  It does not mean that disaster will not befall us or our loved ones.  It does not spare us grief.  Joy gives us a grounding in something that is greater than ourselves, that is beyond us, yet within us, something that is good and hopeful.  It involves a capacity for seeing the love, the connection, the blessing, wherever it may be and then rejoicing, feeling and expressing joy.  

This is part of what we do in church each week.  We try to tune ourselves in to the greater reality of love and forgiveness and blessing so that we see this in our lives and the world.  Here we cultivate the trust that life is fundamentally good, a miracle, really.  Here we remind ourselves to be struck by awe and wonder, wherever it may appear.  And it will appear.  Here we claim and validate our reality in goodness and love.  We choose joy!

Sometimes I think that the greed in our culture obstructs the orientation toward joy.  We see ads and commercials that tell us life is good when you have a certain cold beer in your hand on a hot day.  And that driving a certain kind of car will make it all fine.  And that to be beautiful is to be bejeweled.  But joy depends on none of those things.  It is not dependent on material possessions or wealth.  That makes joy countercultural, subversive.  It is not something you can buy.  But it has great value.  

You can be poor and hungry and still have feelings of blessedness and joy.  You can be sick and tired and still experience joy.  You can be buffeted by grief and still know joy.  You can be unemployed and homeless and still find joy in life.  And no one can take it away from you.  Joy is about spiritual conviction and can’t be controlled by economic conditions or other circumstances.  To choose joy is to choose liberation.  

An orientation of joy leads to a life of deep contentment and fulfillment.  That is what Jesus wants for his disciples, for his followers, for us, and for all people.  Joy.  Delight in the marvels of life, nature, relationships.  Engagement with others in the work of healing and justice and reconciliation.  This is the way of joy.  And it is open to us all.  It is our birthright.  And it exceeds explanation or comprehension.  

Bill Clarke shares this story from the L’Arche community which includes developmentally disabled adults:  

“Claude has the most illogical mind that I have ever encountered so this may be the first and last time that he is ever quoted in a book.  He may ask such questions as ‘What time is orange?’ or ‘How was tomorrow?’  But still he does have a wisdom all his own. . . Well, one day Claude was at the beach with Jean-Pierre and several others of the community.  The ocean was at low tide so there was an immense stretch of flat, sandy beach.  They began making designs in the sand.  Claude drew a big circle with a couple of marks inside that could have been facial features.  ‘What’s that?’ asked Jean-Pierre.  With a big smile Claude replied:  ‘It’s Madame Sun.’ ‘That’s good’ Jean-Pierre said, ‘Now let’s see you draw joy.’  Claude took a look around him at the wide beach that stretched out in both directions as far as the eye could see, then turned to Jean-Pierre and said with a huge smile in all seriousness:  ‘There’s not enough room!’”  Amen!

[Bill Clarke, Enough Room for Joy:  Jean Vanier’s L’Arch, A Message for Our Time, quoted in Resources for Preaching and Worship Year C: Quotations, Meditations, Poetry, and Prayers, compiled by Hannah Ward and Jennifer Wild, p. 158]

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

Luke 24:45-53                                                                                                                                   Rev. Kim P. Wells

Startled.  Terrified.  Frightened.  Doubtful.  Panicked.  Disturbed.  Grieving.  That is what we are told about the condition of the disciples as this story begins.  That is the shape they are in.  It’s not a very good place to be, is it?  It’s hard to be grieving and heartbroken and afraid and all that goes along with that.  These disciples are distraught.  Yet in the story, just a short time later, they are filled with joy and praising God.  How did that happen?

In the story we are told of Jesus appearing to the group of disciples and showing them his hands and feet, and then eating.  He is trying to show that he is not a ghost.  That he is real.  He then tells them about the fulfillment of the scriptures.  Again, he is showing them that this is real like the other things that God has done in the past.  Like the promises God has made and fulfilled in the past.  It is happening again.  And it is real.  They are not imagining something or hallucinating.  Those references to the hands and feet, eating, and scripture are ways of validating the reality of the disciples.  

In the story, Jesus is extending the intentions of God to the present moment and beyond.  Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.  There is more to come and it will start right there, with them.  And God will provide the energy and inspiration.  All they have to do is wait for it and be obedient.  Again, this fits in with their conception of reality as a continuation of what God has done and, they now see, has been doing.  They will be part of the unfolding of a new chapter in the fulfilling of the promises of God.  

Then in the story, Jesus is taken up into heaven.  While this sounds like sci-fi to us, there were several Hebrew Bible figures who were taken up into heaven like Elijah.  This concept of being taken up was also part of Greco-Roman literature.  The ascent of heroes and immortals was a well-known device.  In one example, the nobles exhort the people to revere Romulus, “since he had been caught up into heaven, and was to be a benevolent god for them instead of a good king.”  [Plutarch, quoted in the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, vol. 8, p. 417]   So, in Luke’s story, Jesus was taken up.  People had associations with this.  This would not have seemed unbelievable.  It would have put Jesus in league with other important figures.  So being taken up again verified his importance and the reality of the experience.  

As the gospel concludes, the disciples are in the Temple in Jerusalem.  That is where the gospel began, with Zechariah, Anna, and Simeon, validating the identity of Jesus.  And now the disciples are in the Temple again without Jesus.  He has left them.  Again.  He died.  Came back.  And left again.  A cruel joke?  Are the disciples distraught and scared?  No.  We are told that the disciples were filled with great joy.  Yes, joy.  They were at the Temple night and day filled with joy and praising God.  They were continually in the Temple blessing God.

It’s interesting.  They still don’t have Jesus.  He has been crucified.  They have still left home and family.  They still may be pursued by Temple authorities or Roman authorities as friends of Jesus.  The way the story is told, the outward circumstances of the disciples has not greatly improved.  And yet they are overcome with great joy.  

Here we see the nature of joy.  Jesus promised the disciples joy.  And here, they have it.  But joy is not based on outward circumstances.  Joy is not dependent on being in a comfortable, safe situation.  Joy is not defined as the absence of sorrow or pain or heartbreak.  Joy can be present, can thrive, can overwhelm, even in difficult circumstances, even through grief and loss.  

In the story of the ascension, we see that joy is rooted in deeply held trust in the on-going goodness, steadfast love, and purposes of God.  The disciples see a story with intention.  They see the arc of redemption.  They see that all things are working together in the plan of God.  And so they are filled with joy.  Their deep conviction is in the larger prevailing dreams of God.  Joy is confidence that those dreams will come to fruition and that all of Creation is part of that.  

In today’s world, in the church, we may not ascribe to such a traditional view of God.  Many no longer think of God as a spirit, some thing some where, making personal interventions in human history.  While we may have different conceptions of God, the basics about joy hold fast.  Joy is a deep seated trust in the unfolding of Creation and history in a way that is good.  Joy encompasses the ability be struck by wonder whatever the circumstances.  Joy invites us to be amazed and awed whatever our outward condition.  Joy includes a fundamentally hopeful orientation toward the future whatever it may hold.  While some may not feel comfortable with the terminology, “God has a plan,” and I am among you, joy invites us to be taken in with wonder and amazement and delighted by the inexplicable, the holy, the sacred, every day; continually to use the word from Luke.  

To choose joy as the orientation for our lives does not mean that we will be happy all of the time.  It does not mean that we will be materially prosperous.  It does not mean that disaster will not befall us or our loved ones.  It does not spare us grief.  Joy gives us a grounding in something that is greater than ourselves, that is beyond us, yet within us, something that is good and hopeful.  It involves a capacity for seeing the love, the connection, the blessing, wherever it may be and then rejoicing, feeling and expressing joy.  

This is part of what we do in church each week.  We try to tune ourselves in to the greater reality of love and forgiveness and blessing so that we see this in our lives and the world.  Here we cultivate the trust that life is fundamentally good, a miracle, really.  Here we remind ourselves to be struck by awe and wonder, wherever it may appear.  And it will appear.  Here we claim and validate our reality in goodness and love.  We choose joy!

Sometimes I think that the greed in our culture obstructs the orientation toward joy.  We see ads and commercials that tell us life is good when you have a certain cold beer in your hand on a hot day.  And that driving a certain kind of car will make it all fine.  And that to be beautiful is to be bejeweled.  But joy depends on none of those things.  It is not dependent on material possessions or wealth.  That makes joy countercultural, subversive.  It is not something you can buy.  But it has great value.  

You can be poor and hungry and still have feelings of blessedness and joy.  You can be sick and tired and still experience joy.  You can be buffeted by grief and still know joy.  You can be unemployed and homeless and still find joy in life.  And no one can take it away from you.  Joy is about spiritual conviction and can’t be controlled by economic conditions or other circumstances.  To choose joy is to choose liberation.  

An orientation of joy leads to a life of deep contentment and fulfillment.  That is what Jesus wants for his disciples, for his followers, for us, and for all people.  Joy.  Delight in the marvels of life, nature, relationships.  Engagement with others in the work of healing and justice and reconciliation.  This is the way of joy.  And it is open to us all.  It is our birthright.  And it exceeds explanation or comprehension.  

Bill Clarke shares this story from the L’Arche community which includes developmentally disabled adults:  

“Claude has the most illogical mind that I have ever encountered so this may be the first and last time that he is ever quoted in a book.  He may ask such questions as ‘What time is orange?’ or ‘How was tomorrow?’  But still he does have a wisdom all his own. . . Well, one day Claude was at the beach with Jean-Pierre and several others of the community.  The ocean was at low tide so there was an immense stretch of flat, sandy beach.  They began making designs in the sand.  Claude drew a big circle with a couple of marks inside that could have been facial features.  ‘What’s that?’ asked Jean-Pierre.  With a big smile Claude replied:  ‘It’s Madame Sun.’ ‘That’s good’ Jean-Pierre said, ‘Now let’s see you draw joy.’  Claude took a look around him at the wide beach that stretched out in both directions as far as the eye could see, then turned to Jean-Pierre and said with a huge smile in all seriousness:  ‘There’s not enough room!’”  Amen!

[Bill Clarke, Enough Room for Joy:  Jean Vanier’s L’Arch, A Message for Our Time, quoted in Resources for Preaching and Worship Year C: Quotations, Meditations, Poetry, and Prayers, compiled by Hannah Ward and Jennifer Wild, p. 158]

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

Scripture Lesson:  Acts 16:9-15

Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

In her book, A Big-Enough God: Artful Theology, Sara Maitland, known mostly as a fantasy fiction writer, has this to say:  “So, it turns out, we do not have a little tame domestic God, thank God, but we do have a huge, wild, dangerous God – dangerous of course only if we think that God ought to be manageable and safe; a God of almost manic creativity, ingenuity and enthusiasm; a Big-Enough God, who is also a supremely generous and patient God; a God of beauty and chance and solidarity.” [Resources for Preaching and Worship Year C: Quotations, Meditations, Poetry, and Prayers, eds. Hannah Ward and Jennifer Wild, p. 159-160, quoting Sara Maitland, p. 150]

We see this God portrayed by Maitland in the story that we heard this morning from Acts; the story of Paul and Silas going to Macedonia and finding Lydia and others praying by the river.  There are so many things in this story that are unexpected, wild, and generous. There is beauty and chance and surprising solidarity.  [Maitland]

First we start with Paul and Silas who were busy going around what was Asia Minor meeting with people in synagogues and telling them about Jesus as Messiah.  They were heading to Asia to do this work for God.   But this plan is immediately scratched when Paul is given a vision of a man telling him to go to Macedonia, today this is Greece.  Europe.  Not Asia.  So we see Paul and Silas dealing with a wild God that is giving unexpected direction. 

In the vision a man tells Paul he is needed in Macedonia.  The man is pleading, begging.  The need is urgent, dire.  And Paul gets to Macedonia, to the city of Philippi and finds not an eager synagogue of people hungry to hear of Jesus Christ, but a group of women, outside of town, praying together by a river, headed by a rich Gentile woman.   OK.  This is all wrong.  

Paul is a rabbi figure who was used to sitting down to teach men not women.  And this Lydia woman?  First we note that Lydia is not Jewish.  She is not coming to the way of Jesus through Judaism as many others have.  She is a God -fearer, someone attracted to Judaism and its one God, but not born a Jew; not ethnically Jewish.   She is a Gentile woman.  Then we notice that she is not in any way identified by her status relative to a man – wife, mother, daughter.  No.  She is portrayed as an independent, self-sufficient, successful business woman who is in charge of her household.  That is not a “thing” in the ancient world.  And her business, this dealing in purple cloth, means that she is directly involved with important, powerful, wealthy people because that’s who was allowed to wear purple cloth and who could afford purple cloth.  Purple cloth was dyed with coloring from a snail that was found in Thyatira where there was a town named Lydia.  Was that this woman’s name or just where she was from?  We don’t know.  But purple cloth was sold to a very limited very wealthy market.  So Lydia was used to dealing with those who were rich and powerful.  Thus she herself had power and influence.   This is completely unexpected in that context.  

So, here are these unlikely characters in this story, Paul, his associate, Silas, and Lydia and her household and friends.  Paul shares the good news of Jesus Christ in this unlikely setting (where is the man he saw in his vision?), and Lydia responds by having herself and her household baptized.  Remember, she is the head of household, bizarre as it is, so she has the authority to make this decision for those for whom she is responsible.  All are baptized, and then, as if to provide evidence of the validity of this baptism, Lydia asks Paul and Silas to stay at her house, she offers them hospitality.  She is offering a test, proof that the baptism is authentic, that she is sincere about living a new life emulating Christlike behavior.  In this gesture we see the mutuality of life in Jesus and we see the validity of the baptism.  Paul has preached and baptized and Lydia immediately responds with the Christian virtue of welcome and hospitality even to those vastly different from herself – men, from a lower socio economic class, and from another country/region.  She is welcoming the stranger.  So both Lydia and Paul respond to the directives of the wild God of the unexpected.                                         

The first convert to Christianity on European soil is not a man of influence, or a man that is downtrodden.  It is not even a man.  It is a woman of wealth, power, and influence.  This is ironic when you consider that the church in Europe was dominated by men of wealth and means who intentionally prevented the leadership of women.  This story is rich in irony and surprise.  Isn’t that the way with the wild, unmanageable, almost manic, supremely generous and patient God?  The God of beauty and chance and solidarity?  [Maitland]

Paul and Silas put themselves at the disposal of God thinking they had some idea of what would be expected of them.  Even they were surprised by what God had in mind for them in this story.  Did Paul ever think he would be in Europe, Macedonia, the home of Socrates, Plato, Alexander the Great, Homer, sitting on the ground by a river talking to a group of women that he would then baptize in that very river?  He could never have anticipated this even though he was in the Lord’s service, a slave to Christ Jesus.  

And Lydia.  She probably came to pray with these women every week.  They were sincere in their devotion.  Clearly she knew there was more to life than making money and amassing power and influence.  It was not enough to be the head of the household.  She knew that she had hunger for more than food.  We are not told anything about the heartbreak or suffering she may have been living with.  But do we know that she, like all people, had spiritual needs that could not be satisfied by material comforts.  She was looking for meaning and a sense of being part of something beyond herself.  She was looking for a larger reality;  something beyond the borders of her cultural setting and her daily life.  Perhaps she was looking to tap into a universal source of grace and love for herself and others.  And in Paul’s message she hears of a God of all reality.  A God of love for all people, rich, poor, and in-between.  Healthy, sick, and in every condition.  Liberal, conservative, and all the rest.  Asian, European, male, female, and every other sort of person.  She hears of that God in what Paul had to say about Jesus and his ministry, his vision of the realm of God here and now.  Evidently, it was all Lydia could have hoped for and more.  And so it was into the river for her and her household and rising up to this new life that she had yearned for.

Whatever state we are in, physically, spiritually, emotionally, financially, whatever our needs, even though we may not know what they are, God is here, seeking us out, offering us grace and love.  And it may be hard for us to recognize because it is coming to us in the most unexpected fashion, involving the least likely people we can imagine.  And when we say yes, and yes again, and yes again, this trust puts us in situations we may find extremely unexpected and transforming.

On this Memorial Day weekend, we remember those who have been killed in the armed services.  It is a poignant day.  A day of grief.  It’s not easy to willingly recognize the horrible toll of war and armed conflict.  And war is not only perilous for soldiers.  Families, elders, and children are killed in war as well.  Refugees forced to flee war torn areas die or are killed.  People who need healthcare and food die because the resources are diverted to armaments.  Memorial Day is a time to remember the terrible toll of war.  And if we are open to it, if our spirits are pliable, this remembering can open a space for the God of love to offer forgiveness, healing, and a way to peace.  Many avid peace activists have lost someone in war or have personally served in armed military conflict.  They know the price of war firsthand and are willing to pay the price of peace whatever it may be.  Memorial Day for us can be like Lydia going to the river.  Going with her needs and desires and opening herself to being surprised by God.  Then saying yes to the wildness of God.  Under God, in whom we trust, may our annual Memorial Day observance move us ever closer to peace through non-violent resolution of conflict.   

The story of the encounter between Paul and Silas and Lydia and her household reminds us that we can’t control God, the unmanageable, huge, and wild God of almost manic creativity, ingenuity, and enthusiasm. [Maitland]  But we can position ourselves to be open, to be receptive, to be willing to welcome that God into our lives.  Lydia went to the river each sabbath to pray.  We can prepare ourselves by practicing our faith – coming to church, praying, serving others.  We can make ourselves more receptive by reading the Bible and other writings that inspire and illuminate life and who we are.  We can learn and seek and trust and engage.  Then to the God present in our lives, we will say yes, we will go on the journey, we will take the plunge – whatever it may be.  

This story shows us that God, the wild, unpredictable dangerous God [Maitland] is not only a God for people who are poor and suffering and downtrodden.  This is a God for everyone and all forms of life and all that sustains life.  Christianity is not limited to serving those who are materially disadvantaged, those who are abused and forgotten.  Christianity is a spiritual path that is welcoming to everyone – in all states of growth as well as all lifestyles, experiences, and income levels.  It is open even to those who are causing, knowingly or unknowingly, abuse and injustice.  This is not a religion that assumes that material wealth is a sign of spiritual well-being.  In fact, many people with lots of money seem to be more despairing, more lost, more awash, more in need morally and spiritually.   So many people with material security are unsatisfied and lost. The country with the highest Gross Domestic Product, United Arab Emirates, ranks 20th in the World Happiness Report.  In case you are wondering, the US ranks 18th.  [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report]  Money doesn’t necessarily mean happiness.  This story of Lydia shows us a God concerned with the well-being of everyone, those who are well off in some ways, those who are disadvantaged;  all who suffering and broken hearted as well as those seeking a deeper experience of human life.  

There was a survey done of Presbyterians in the 1990’s about their experience of God.  Half the church members said they had had a vision from God.  Yes, half.  And an even greater percentage of clergy admitted to having had a vision from God.   [Cited by Rev. Kathryn M. Matthews at Sermon Seeds 5.26.19,  https://www.ucc.org/worship_samuel_sermon_seeds_may_26_2019]  Some thought the results of the Presbyterian survey were surprising.  The numbers very high.  

I must say, the statistics for the congregants surprised me but not for the clergy.  When you consider the stressful, demanding, challenging nature of the profession of ministry, even given the rewards that satisfy beyond measure, it is still surprising to me that people go into this field, including myself.  I had in mind becoming a lawyer and working for those who don’t get justice in the court system – people of color, people of low income.  But one Sunday morning, walking back to my dorm after the service at the Wellesley Congregational United Church of Christ, I had a vision that if I made one person feel the way I felt that Sunday morning after church, I would have served my purpose.  That is what I was supposed to do with my life.  I was to enter the ministry.  The message was strong and clear.  No ambiguity.  After that there was no turning back.  And I have not regretted it, well, at least not very often.    

In the Presbyterian survey, half of the lay people also reported having had a vision from God.  Why is that surprising?  Isn’t that what we come here for each week?  Isn’t that why we are part of the church?  We are trying to open ourselves to God.  Cultivate a willing spirit. Trying to make ourselves more receptive to grace and love.  Looking for a word of healing, forgiveness, comfort, and hope.  We want to be part of the Divine reality that we see in the ministry of Jesus.  We want to be part of the vision of the God of love and new life.  

So, whoever we are, rich, poor, broken, solid, happy, regretful, God is seeking us.  And in God our deepest hungers and desires will be fulfilled.  But this may very well all happen in ways we least expect and involve people we never thought we would meet and couldn’t have imagined in our lives!                                          

May we open ourselves to taking our part in God’s visions and dreams.  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.