Category: Sermon Texts

Date: May 13, 2012
Scripture Lesson: Acts 10: 44-48 and John 15: 9-17
Sermon: Not Servants but Friends
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

In many churches, Mother’s Day is honored as Rachel’s Sabbath, a time to remember women’s health. The Religious Institute: Faithful Voices on Sexuality and Religion reminds us that, “No woman should die giving birth to the next generation. Yet more than 350,000 women and girls die every year as a result of preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth, most of them in developing countries. Improving maternal health and universal access to family planning could prevent up to one third of these deaths.” [www.religiousinstitute.org/] Mother’s Day is a time to be aware of the many issues surrounding women’s reproductive health, and the lack of access to needed services.

Yet when we think about it, there are many decisions relating to women’s health that are made by the government, by insurance companies, and by religious leaders. And, to be perfectly honest, most of the individuals involved in making decisions about women’s health are male. Would men tolerate decisions about prostate treatment and viagra being made by women? Of course not. They would never stand for that. Decisions around women’s health are just one example of how our society is governed by a patriarchal, patronizing hierarchy that is not reflective of genuine mutuality and respect. We have people making decisions about other people who have no real awareness of their circumstances. The people who would be directly involved in the results of the decisions are not consulted or included in the decision-making process.

And this situation in our society is mirrored by the church. In fact, when it comes to women’s reproductive health, it may be driven by the church. While I normally try to refrain from commenting on other Christian communions especially in a negative light, I feel that a word needs to be said here relating to the Catholic church because the Catholic Church has a prominent voice on issues related to women’s health and reproduction. Overall, the church in general is a male-dominated institution, including the Protestant Church and the United Church of Christ, but the Catholic church leads the way with a rigid, authoritarian hierarchy headed by a man and with exclusively male clergy who are unmarried and supposedly committed to celibacy. So, with eternal salvation and damnation in the balance, how is it that a church dominated by men, has so much to say about women’s reproductive health? Again, we wonder where is the mutuality, where is the respect for women in this heavy-handed system prone to abuse of power?

In the beautiful teaching that we heard this morning from the Gospel of John, we hear of another vision of community, of church, of faith. Jesus wants to make sure that his followers really get this before he dies. This is about creating a community of equality, mutuality, and love. I call you friends, not servants. And I lay down my life for you because that’s what friends do for each other, and that’s what you are to do for one another. There is no hierarchy, no patriarchy, no dominance, no subservience in this vision of the faith community.

To be part of the community of Jesus is not membership in a privileged club. There is no elitism. No competition. To be part of this community is not to sit on some corporate board and get rich at the expense of others. It is not to lord it over others in any way. To be part of the community envisioned by Jesus is a call to service, to loyalty, to solidarity, and to sacrifice, even laying down one’s life if necessary.

Jesus envisions a new community without a pecking order where believers take on a new identity as friends committed to manifesting God’s love in their lives as Jesus did. Friends. People who respect each other, listen to each other, enjoy each other, support each other and help each other. Here we revisit that image of the vine. When you look at a thriving vine, you can’t tell where one branch ends and another begins. The branches all intertwine and are indistinguishable from one another. This is an image befitting the community that Jesus tells us about. Everyone together, in solidarity and loyalty, blending in mutuality and love. There is no privilege, status, or rank. The bond is the commitment to love as Jesus loves.

Jesus offers this radical alternative vision of egalitarian community. He doesn’t set himself up as a high and mighty guru. The church did that after his death. Jesus recruits followers. He shares power. He mentors his disciples to do all that he does and more. He extols equality and mutuality. He eschews hierarchy and patriarchy. He treats people whatever their circumstances with compassion and understanding and respect. He doesn’t just go around like a fairy god mother bestowing cures and miracles. He engages people. He gets to know their situation. He invites them into this alternative community as a context for transformation, healing, and wholeness. He shares power and authority. There is nothing about the gospel that is top down, despite what the church has done with it through the years.

In addressing the annual meeting of the Florida Conference last week, Brian McLaren, contemporary theologian, writer, and speaker, mentioned talking with someone who told him, “I can’t find a church that doesn’t make me want to throw up.” This is how many feel about the church. And part of the problem is that the church has left servanthood, mutuality and equality behind, in favor of authoritarian pontificating on morality while we see case after case of abuse of this very power.

The church needs to reclaim Jesus’ teachings about community, friendship, and power. Jesus redefines relationships and this radical alternative is what is truly transforming about the gospel. But we miss it, we unplug the power, we turn out the lights, when we ignore this and lapse into the familiar comfort of systems of rank and privilege. When we look at the problems facing us in our lives and in the world, we see that we are suffering the grave consequences of systems, institutions, and culture based on privilege, patronage, and domination. So many times, a small cadre of the power elite, mostly male, makes decisions insinuating that it knows what is best for everyone. This is hierarchy and patriarchy at its worst. And religion has always had a weakness for corruptibility in this area. It could be seen in Jesus’ day and that is why the Gospel of John included this teaching. It is to challenge and undermine the proclivity of religion and society to embrace stratification with power staying on the top of the pyramid which inevitably leads to the abuse of the people on the bottom.

There could be positive change in the world if the church embraced and embodied the kind of community envisioned by Jesus. As a diverse community committed to servanthood and love, the church can make a witness for mutual respect and loyalty. The church can challenge the degrading, demeaning, patronizing systems of society by including all in decision-making, by showing respect and dignity to all who are part of the faith community, and by welcoming the gifts of all leaders regardless of economics, gender, or sexual identity. That’s the kind of community Jesus was talking about when we hear love as I have loved you. Lay down your lives for one another. I do not call you servants but friends. If we were to see this kind of mutuality and equality in the church, then church positions on things like reproductive health would be determined in large measure by women of childbearing age. Wouldn’t they know best what is moral, right, and supportive of women’s health? This kind of model could inspire the world to address problems of concern to us all in new, alternative ways that engage those who are stakeholders in ways that can lead to powerful outcomes.

Think about a situation involving the issue of homelessness and having most of the people at the table actually be homeless people. Think about situations of conflict and having the people at the table be the people that live in the communities involved instead of leaders from other countries who jet in and jet out. Think about having the stakeholders involved and included with respect and dignity as valued parts of the solutions to the problems which are affecting their lives.

This week, President Obama’s support for same gender marriage made a splash in the news. It was mentioned that his views were evolving and that he was influenced by his experience with his daughters who had friends with parents who were same gender couples. And he was influenced by his spouse. To his credit, he let these relationships and these experiences influence him. He was not so ideologically authoritative on this issue that he wasn’t willing to grow and be shaped by life’s lessons. I spoke with one young, gay person this week about Obama’s endorsement. She didn’t see why he was getting so much credit for basically being a decent person. And I agree with her. But what I think what impressed me about his statement this week is that it showed his openness to evolving views. He doesn’t presume to have all the answers and be right about everything moral as well as factual. It shows his willingness to be influenced by his relationships with family, and with friends. It shows respect and mutuality. This is the kind of transformation that happens in the kinds of communities that Jesus was creating and that he invites us to be part of.

There are many, many other issues we could address. Issues that relate to children, to older adults, to people who are unemployed, to those who are homeless, to peace, to fair labor practices, to the environment, and on and on. And all of these things could be powerfully impacted by a church of Jesus Christ that modeled the kind of community that we heard about this morning, where all are friends, on equal footing, in solidarity with one another, and serving one another, even unto death. This could help create the kind of world that all mothers and fathers want for their children and for all children. This kind of witness has the power to be transformative, not only in our individual lives, but in the wider life of the world. That’s the power of the gospel.

On this Mother’s Day, we want to remember that our concept of a good mother has much to teach the church and society about the community that Jesus calls us to create. Mothers know about serving others, and about loyalty, and about putting the needs of the group first over the desires of any one individual. Mothers know how to mobilize the family and include everyone. Mothers are sensitive to the needs of others. Mothers know about being fair and treating people equally and not privileging one over another. Mothers know about mutual support. They know how to be in solidarity and back each other up. Of course, no mother does all these things all the time, but these images that we associate with motherhood resonate with the teachings of Jesus about community, friendship, and sacrifice.

Now there were three sons who were very, very successful who were discussing the gifts they gave their elderly mother on Mother’s Day. The first said, “I built a big house for our mother.”

The second said, “I sent her a Mercedes.”


The third said, “I’ve got you, both beat. You know how Mom enjoys the Bible, and you know she can’t see very well. I sent her a parrot that can recite the entire Bible. It took 20 monks in a monastery 12 years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute $100,000.00 a year for 10 years, but it was worth it. Mom just has to name the chapter and verse, and the parrot will recite it.”

Soon thereafter, Mom mailed her letters of thanks to her sons:
She wrote the first son, “Michael, the house you built is too large. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house.” She wrote the second son, “Marvin, I’m nearly blind so I can’t drive. I stay home all the time, so I never use that Mercedes.” “Dearest Melvin,” she wrote to her third son, “You were the only son to have the good sense to know what your mother likes. That chicken was delicious!”

So, what is that perfect gift for Mother’s Day? Wouldn’t we honor mothers by investing ourselves in the kind of community envisioned by Jesus? A community of solidarity, servanthood, and love? How about creating a world welcoming of all children? Wouldn’t that honor mothers? How about expecting women to take responsibility for their own reproductive health and having access to the resources needed? How to honor mother? How about simply loving our mothers, all mothers, and all who are born of a mother, as Jesus loved? Happy Mother’s Day! Amen.

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

Lakewood United Church of Christ
St. Petersburg, FL
Date: April 15, 2012
Scripture Lessons: John 20: 19-31 and Acts 4:32-35
Sermon: Resurrection Reprise
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

It’s April 15, a day to remember that the only things we can be sure of in this life are death and taxes! This insight comes to us from the sage, Benjamin Franklin, who borrowed the image from Daniel Defoe when he commented in a letter to a colleague:

Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

Death and taxes may be certain, but what about after you die? The familiar tradition of the Christian church maintains that for those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he rose from the dead, there is life after death in heaven with God and with our departed loved ones. The church teaches that this is a certainty which can be counted on. This tradition is based on the New Testament stories of the empty tomb and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

I grew up in the church with the understanding that the resurrection was a one time special event that happened only to Jesus. It was what made Christianity unique. We had the biggest, most impressive magical miracle in our tradition and that’s what made our religion pre-eminent. That was my impression growing up in
the church.

Today, this is still a strong belief stream within Christianity. It is the resurrection that defines Christianity. And the reason to be a Christian is so that you can count on spending eternity in heaven with God. And, by implication, not languishing in the fires of hell. The promise of heaven and the fear of hell drew people into the church and that belief system still brings some people into the church today.

Given the power and influence of the resurrection story in the history of Christianity, let’s take a look at the background of the resurrection tradition. First of all, in the culture of the middle east in the first century, resurrection was a commonly assumed concept. It was part of many religious traditions. Resurrection of the dead was a common theme in Judaism. Some Jewish factions believed in resurrection and some did not, but that was a difference that was accepted within the Jewish tradition. Other religions had figures who had come back to life from the dead and were resurrected. As Steve Patterson tells us in the book, Beyond the Passion, “Ancients, for the most part, had no trouble believing in resurrection per se. It was a common element of most ancient religions, and a fate thought to have been shared by many prophets, martyrs, and heroes.” [p. 104] It was common to attribute a miraculous birth, death, resurrection and ascension to prominent figures. In that context, the stories of the resurrection of Jesus would not have been unique or particularly “magical.” They would have blended into the cultural/religious milieu of the day.

We also want to remember that Jesus’ followers had given up much to follow him. They left home and family and livelihood. As animosity grew against Jesus among the leaders of the day, the followers of Jesus also were threatened. After Jesus’ death, they were afraid for their lives, which was a valid fear, given that many were hunted down, persecuted, imprisoned, and killed for their devotion to Jesus. These early followers were facing death for their commitment to the values of Jesus and to his teachings. They wanted to know that they had not misplaced their devotion; that their sacrifice was not in vain, that they had bet on the right guy. The story of the resurrection shows that the way of Jesus goes on in spite of the efforts of the Romans and the Jewish leaders to put a stop to it. It conveys that the killing of Jesus did not end him, his teachings, and the power of his witness. This continues on after his death among his followers. The resurrection is a way of saying that the witness of Jesus did not die with his body. His way triumphs. His followers are vindicated.

There are also other historical considerations that come into play when thinking about the Biblical tradition of the resurrection of Jesus. The followers of Jesus were Jews, but a variety of forces were dividing the Jews who followed Jesus from those who did not. When the gospels were written, traditional Judaism and the “Jesus” strain of Judaism were in the midst of an acrimonious parting. For the Jesus Jews, the story of the resurrection was a way of saying, “We are right. Our way is right. We have the truth.” In a context of conflict, you’re going to hammer that nail hard and that was what was happening in the latter part of the first century. The resurrection stories were intended to give validity and authority to the Jesus strain of Judaism over against the mainstream of Judaism.

In addition, as the Jesus movement came into its own as a separate religion, there was the need to establish power and authority in this newly emerging organization. The resurrection stories helped to set up a certain pecking order in this newly emerging faith. Who got to the tomb? Who saw what when? Who was there first? These things helped to establish the authority of the leaders in the new church. So the resurrection stories had a political function within the new religion of Christianity.

Then, as we think about the resurrection stories, we want to take into consideration how after someone dies, we may still experience their presence. And we may experience that presence in very real ways. Think of someone close to you who has died. Have you felt their presence in some way that was very compelling? In the movie, “The Way,” Martin Sheen plays a character whose son has died. In the course of the movie, in various scenes, Sheen “sees” his son in situations where the son would have been present. He is experiencing the compelling presence of his departed loved one. This is a common human experience. Put that together with the cultural and historical context we have discussed and it is easy to see how the resurrection stories emerged.

The resurrection stories developed in a context that was receptive to that concept, but they emerged because of the experience that the followers of Jesus had in his presence when he was alive. Because his life was special, he is attributed with a special death. People were not originally attracted to the way Jesus because he was raised from the dead because he hadn’t died yet. People followed Jesus because of the power of his teaching and his way that drew them in and led them to leave home and family to follow him. They were drawn to the alternative reality that he created.

We want to make sure that we have a basic understanding of the world that Jesus and his followers were part of so that we can really appreciate how the way of Jesus was a radical departure from the contemporary reality. Jesus and his friends lived under Roman occupation. They were controlled by the Romans and were heavily taxed by the Romans. The Romans chose the high priests of the Jewish Temple. It was essentially economic, social, political, and religious strangulation. The Roman system of power and authority was held in place through patronage; the people on the lower levels doing favors for those above them so that those above them would throw them a bone. So the people at the very bottom – women, children, widows, those who were sick, orphans, people who were landless – they were always vulnerable. The whole thing was then held in place through the system of sacrificing to the gods. The sacrifice system produced food, specifically meat, in a context where many people scrounged for their daily bread. Meat was scarce. The sacrifice system fed those on top first, and it was up to them what to pass on down the line, then up to the next level to decide what would go to those below them. For those on the bottom, there may very well be nothing. The society was based on hierarchy and patriarchy. You had to have land or some way to win the favor of those above you to make sure something came your way, and many people had no way to access that system. So those with nothing potentially got nothing, except at the good graces of those above them. It was very precarious.

Though not as severe as the sacrifice system of the Romans, the Jewish Temple also had a sacrificial system that was similar in maintaining hierarchy and patriarchy. It was a system designed to keep everyone in their place, and it defined the boundary between those who were clean and unclean in terms of ritual access to God.

Think of the stories of the gospels. Who does Jesus befriend and hang out with? Those on the bottom of this socio/economic pyramid. He was undermining the whole economic, social, and religious system of his day by seeking out and attending to the nobodies who were at the bottom of the pile. There was no patronage in his way. No sacrifice to be shared down the line according to a pecking order. The one who would be greatest is the one who serves others. Food is provided for everyone and all are equally welcome at the table. This was radical and subversive. The way of Jesus was a way of egalitarian community with people of all walks of life welcomed and coming together to share the abundance that God has provided for all. And the people of the day found this witness so compelling they were drawn to Jesus and the communities that formed among those following his way.

We see the counter cultural way of Jesus manifested in the scripture lesson from Acts that we heard this morning:

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
[Acts 4:32-35, New Revised Standard Version]

This shows the power of Jesus‘ teaching and witness. This is the kind of community that was created by his way and his life. This kind of radical, counterculture movement was the result of his life and ministry. This is what Jesus lived for. This is what people were devoted to. This is what drew people into the fold of his followers. Embracing this alternative reality was NEW LIFE in the name of Jesus. The teaching and ministry of Jesus, the compelling power of this new way of living was so strong, so vital, so transforming that it continued to be life-giving even after he was killed. The truth of what he embodied lived on. The people still felt the empowerment and the love as they continued to live his way. Because this witness continued with such strength, the tradition of Jesus being resurrected developed as a way to convey the experience of his followers as they continued to do and be what they were with him, and the sense of divine purpose was still present. How to tell of that? In that context, in that tradition, at that historical moment, the concept that fit for them was the concept, already well established and familiar, of resurrection.

People could believe and have life in Jesus’ name by participating in this new radical, counter culture reality that he showed to others. You could follow Jesus without subscribing to the literal molecular reappearance of his body after his death. The resurrection tradition developed because of the life that Jesus lived.

Now, why does this matter today? The fastest growing religious population in the US is the “nones.” These are people who claim no religious affiliation. Forty percent of these nones say they believe in God, pray, and are “still hoping eventually to find the right religious home,” according to the March 12 issue of TIME Magazine. [TIME, March 12, 2012, p. 68] One of the things that I believe is keeping the nones out of church is the impression that being part of the church will require you to set aside your rational mind, ignore the physical laws of the universe, and subscribe to beliefs such as Jesus was born of a virgin and was physically bodily resurrected from the dead. At one time, belief in the literal physical resurrection may have brought people into the church, and it still may bring some in today. But I would like to suggest that it is also keeping many people out of the church. Thus they do not have access to being part of the community that celebrates the way of Jesus and they do not have full access to new life in his name. They are essentially shut out of the community of Jesus. The common understanding of Christianity today that you have to believe Jesus literally rose from the dead in the body and that if you believe you will go to heaven is, I believe, keeping many of the nones out of church.

But let’s remember what drew people to Jesus in the first place. Life in the name of Jesus is about following and trusting his countercultural, subversive, alternative life style that undermines patriarchy, hierarchy, and economic, religious, and social oppression. To be part of a community that was held together by the new principles and values that Jesus lived, that was new life. To be part of communities of mutual care where there was no power abuse and all were equal, that was new life. To be welcomed and experience the unconditional love of God, that was new life. To live outside of the imposition of empire through violence, that was new life. To be out from under religious strictures that kept people down and separate, that was new life. To be part of a community of generosity and compassion and healing, that was new life. That was transformation. That was powerful and compelling. That’s what the way of Jesus was about and Christianity still has all of that to offer to us, and the nones who are without a church home.

The church does not need to rise and fall on belief in the literal resurrection. In first century Judaism, there were differing beliefs about the resurrection. Some thought there would be a resurrection from the dead, others did not believe that and they still held together as one faith. The church of today can also embrace that kind of diversity in terms of beliefs about the resurrection of Jesus and what happens after you die. Some can believe Jesus was actually raised and we will live on in some kind of heaven with our loved ones after we die. That’s fine. Others who see resurrection as a metaphor for the way of Jesus, and don’t know what happens after we die, can also be part of the church. What needs to define church and Christianity is the way of Jesus, the lifestyle and values of Jesus, the strength and power of life that people experienced in his presence and continued to experience in the communities that followed him; that compelling experience of God that came with commitment to love others and serve others across lines of race, class, social, economic, and all other divisions. That’s what defined Jesus’ way in the first century. That’s what Jesus lived for. That’s what he was willing to die for. That’s what attracted his followers and led them to keep his story alive. Jesus’ way was life giving in a way that went on even after his death. That’s why we have the stories of the resurrection. Because of his life, not his death. In today’s world, the church’s insistence on belief in the resurrection and the focus on the afterlife is keeping people out of church and preventing the life-giving message of Jesus from having its full impact in the world.

I believe the church needs to be resurrected as a community committed to the way of Jesus: an alternative to patriarchy, violence, domination, and empire. I believe God is seeking to breath new life into the church as the body of Christ, living the way of love in the world. If resurrection of the body and the promise of heaven is important to you, believe it. But that should not keep anyone out of church. In the church, our common ground should be that we all embrace the WAY of Jesus. What he lived for. That’s what brings people new life. That’s what the nones are searching for. That’s what the church has to offer to the world.

Death? Inescapable. Taxes? Inevitable. Physical resurrection? For some. New life in the way of Jesus? For all! 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: November 27, 2011
Scripture Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Sermon: Testing. Testing.
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

Testing. Testing. We use this phrase to see if audio equipment is functioning properly. Is everything connected and working as it should? Are the sound levels balanced. Testing. Testing.

Twenty years ago, on the first Sunday of Advent in1991, I began my tenure as pastor of Lakewood United Church of Christ. And the arrangement was set up as a test of sorts. Typically, when a pastor leaves a church, the church calls an interim pastor to serve while the church evaluates its situation and goes through the rather lengthy process of seeking and calling a new pastor. The interim pastor provides transitional leadership and is not eligible for the permanent position. A new, settled pastor is called who serves until further notice. After the brief, rather tumultuous pastorate of the my predecessor, Lakewood, in consultation with the Florida Conference, decided not to hire an interim, but instead to hire someone to serve as pastor on a contractual basis for two years. The arrangement provided for a review after 18 months to ascertain if the pastor and church wanted to continue the arrangement indefinitely, or if the church would appoint a search committee at that time to seek a new permanent pastor. Testing. Testing. Are things working in this relationship? How is the balance? The mix? Is it a good fit?

By pursuing the contractual arrangement, Lakewood was departing from the norm. And there were good reasons to do so at the time. This shows an openness to the Spirit. As for my circumstances, our family had moved to St. Petersburg in November of 1990, and after almost a year as a stay at home mom, I was ready to resume my career as a pastor. So, I informed the Florida Conference that I was interested in seeking a position right about the time that Lakewood had decided to hire someone for two years on contract. Having come from northeast Ohio, where there were roughly 100 UCC churches within an hour of our home, to Florida, where there were about 100 churches in the whole state, I figured I would just have to take what I could get. This little church coming out of several years of severe conflict, well, beggars can’t be choosers! I hasten to add that the church may have had a similar outlook. Down on its luck and finances, who could they expect to attract to the position of pastor? I was here and available. So, for two years, we’d give it a go. Testing. Testing. Was it working?

When the 18 month point came, we met, and decided by mutual agreement to continue our relationship indefinitely. I was officially called as pastor. There was a beautiful installation service and I have served as pastor ever since. When I was installed, numerous colleagues commented to me that if they had had to withstand an eighteen month trial period, they would never have gotten a call! They were impressed that I had passed the test. Hmmm. Testing. Testing.

The initial eighteen month period that I served as pastor was a time of testing. But as I look back on it, I do not think we were testing each other as much as we were testing the authenticity of this faith community. I think we were doing what Paul suggests in the verses we heard today from the letter to the Thessalonians. To this new faith community that is being persecuted, Paul advises: “Don’t stifle the Spirit. But test everything and accept only what is good. Avoid any semblance of evil.” In another translation, we’re told, “Don’t quench the Spirit.” The testing, the assessing, the evaluating, and scrutinizing is done with the expectation that the Spirit is moving in the faith community. Expect it. Don’t miss it! Be on the look out. Testing. Testing. We were testing our ministry, our mission, our life together according to the values of the Gospel to be sure that we were open to the Spirit. In our first eighteen months as pastor and people, and ever since, we have continually been testing our community, our faithfulness, our social action, and our

worship, not in judgment. Not in a spirit of condemnation. Not trying to promote

exclusivism. But trying to sort out what is good? What is needed? What is faithful? What is consistent with our concept of God? We are testing, testing to keep ourselves open to the Spirit.

When we do not question, or do not test, do not examine, do not assess, we are in danger of quenching the Spirit. Times change. We have a concept of a living God equipping us for new circumstances and challenges. When we cling to dogmatism, tradition, literalism, and fixed theological tenets, we may not be holding fast to our faith, we may be quenching the Spirit. What has always impressed me about this church is its openness. The willingness to test things according to Gospel values and see what it truly good and what is not. And then, to take action accordingly. This applies to our worship life, to our mission projects, to our hospitality, and to our life as a community. We have chosen over the years to evolve into a democratic, bottom up, community of equals because we expect the Spirit to bubble up through everyone in the congregation. We are learning and sharing and growing and testing together. Our openness shows in our receptivity to the Spirit. It also is a testimony to our faith. We are anticipating the spirit to move in our midst and to lead us in new directions and on new paths of faithfulness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As one of our UCC slogans puts it, “Our faith is 2000 years old, our thinking is not.” We are open to testing things. Seeing what is right for today, for these circumstances, for this setting. What is needed of us? Testing. Testing. What is working? What is not? What needs to be changed?

This first Sunday of Advent begins what can be seen as a time of great testing. The Holidays. It can be a time that tests our patience. Our pocketbook. Our endurance. Our good will. Our family bonds. Our ability to multi task. Shopping can seem like a test, seeking the best deal, the lowest price, the right timing. Scheduling can be like a jig saw puzzle trying to fit everything in. This lead up to Christmas can be a season that tests us!

We want to remember the testing encouraged in Thessalonians. “Test everything

and accept only what is good. Avoid any semblance of evil.” This is a time to test the authenticity and the integrity of our holiday celebrations. Is it really in keeping with the birth of the King of Peace to purchase war toys, guns, and games perpetuating violence? Is it in consistent with the story of the birth of Jesus, who was poor, to give more to those who already have too much? Is it compatible with Christian values to over indulge in the drunken revelry at the office party that’s held every year? Are we really keeping Christmas by consuming and creating garbage that is compromising the existence of the planet? This season, we are encouraged to test our traditions and observances according to the values of Jesus and the story of his birth. We are told of his humble, really homeless, beginnings. Of his family in a strange place dependent on the generosity and hospitality of others. We are told of old people whose wisdom reveals the ways of God. We are told of love that transcends human boundaries and separations. We are told of heaven and earth coming together. Testing. Testing. What are we doing to reflect that spirit in our celebrations today? What is working? What needs to be changed?

This is a time for testing. A time to be open to the Spirit. To expect something new to happen in our lives. To wait on God to birth new hopes and new dreams in us and for us. It is a time for expectation, wonder, and awe. We don’t necessarily know what the Spirit will do – for it is ever unpredictable and uncontrollable. But we must be open, so that it can work on us, lest we

stifle or quench the Spirit.

Rigidity and legalism, that quenches the Spirit. Fixed thinking that cannot receive new information, or appreciate the validity of differing views, or assess new perspectives, that quenches the spirit. It is like depriving a flame of oxygen. It goes out. But openness, questioning, seeking, and testing invites the Spirit. Engages the Spirit. Expects the Spirit. Like open air that feeds a flame. I believe it is this attitude of openness and testing and looking for the Spirit to be present among us doing new things, that has kept us together and flourishing as pastor and people for the past 20 years. We have not been testing each other, but testing our experience, testing the challenges and opportunities that we face, to see what is of God, and what is expected of us. What is true to the Gospel? This testing has kept us learning and growing together in the Spirit. It is exciting and engaging. It is not dull or boring. It is not about stagnation. It continues to be new and fresh because we are open and expectant.

Testing. Testing. Paul tells the Thessalonians, “Don’t stifle the Spirit.

Test everything and accept only what is good. Avoid any semblance of evil.” This constant assessing is not about dividing the world up into naughty and nice. It is not about judging and branding people. Those that are going to heaven and those that are not. Those who are saved and those who aren’t. Testing life according to the values of Jesus is about creating alternative communities of hope, joy, justice and peace that spread the transforming power of love in the world. Testing. Testing. It’s about, as Three Dog Night put it, bringing, “Joy to the world, all the boys and girls, joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy to you and to me!”

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: October 9, 2011
Scripture Lesson: Exodus 32:1-14
Sermon: Occupation
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

They were fed up. How long were they supposed to wait? Really! It was time to take matters into their own hands. And so they did: With their leader a willing accomplice. Feeling deserted and abandoned by Moses, who was back up on the mountain to pray, the Israelites want a tangible deity to worship, not this remote, mysterious, mountaintop God. And they have no trouble getting Aaron to respond to their desires. Glorying in his new power with Moses gone and eager to be popular, he gives them what they clamor for – a golden calf. After all, you can do anything with enough gold, right?

God has given the Israelites everything! Creation, liberation from Egypt, libation, the water from the rock. God has given them food; manna and quail. God has given them values to live by that ensure the well being of the community. God has given them an alternative to oppression and empire which they have escaped from in Egypt . God has given them a social system in which everyone is taken care of and no one is exploited: A system of equitable justice. God has been faithful responding to the needs and desires of the Israelites. God has guided the people with the cloud and firey pillar and guided the leaders, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. They have a promising future, thanks to God. And God, even when angry, is loyal and devoted. God cannot be unfaithful.

Still, in the face of all of this, the golden calf! How does it happen? How do the people turn away from God who has done nothing but good for them and then put their trust in a lump of metal? People are weak. They are impatient. They feel insecure. People want immediate gratification. People like control. Leaders can be opportunists, seeking popularity, favor, re-election. And so, the golden calf.

We know this story. We live it: We are given God’s way for our highest good. We see it in the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus. Care for the earth. Care for widows, orphans, the most vulnerable, the least of these. A conception of economic justice – no exploitation, no greed, no usury, no slavery. Social values of dignity and respect for all even those we find despicable or call enemy. The dictate to do no harm. Forgive. Be at peace. Avoid violence. Serve and help one another. Be kind. We know all of this. As Imam Sadiki reminded us on September 11, these values are part of most world religions. Religion should be about helping us be who we are meant to be.

God gives us the values, the morals, the principles; we are to work out the details. We are not given a specific economic system. God doesn’t promote capitalism, or communism, or free enterprise, or monopoly, or state controlled economics. God promotes fairness, everyone having enough, devotion to the group well-being, generosity, honesty. What system we use is our human side of implementing the vision and values of God.

The same is true for governance. We aren’t told to fashion a democracy, a monarchy, a representational government, a dictatorship. We are called to have our societal life be peaceful, fair, everyone cared for, no one exploited, with leaders who are devoted to the well-being of society not self. Leaders who are loyal to this vision and these values, over re-election or party affiliation.

Our religious tradition teaches not about the rightness of one certain religion or culture or political system. It’s about creating a caring, just society, and religion that promotes the values that contribute to God’s dreams for the human community.

Yet we still get diverted, distracted, wooed, and drawn in by the golden calf. What lures us away from the divine will? Status, wealth, romance, greed, a quick fix, self interest, success, control, laziness, apathy, beauty, youth perfectionism, drugs or alcohol. We may get lured away by a particular cause, candidate, or party. Even religion can become an idol when it is about promoting a theological agenda over God’s goodness, compassion, and mystery. Idols beckon. Just a small disappointment, a bump in the road, a glance away, and we, too, may find ourselves bowing down to a golden calf, an idol of our own making. How do we find our way back?

For several weeks, I have been getting regular reports on the Occupy Wall Street movement from our son, Sterling, who lives in New York. He has two friends who have been part of the occupation and he has attended several events. Sterling’s first call after attending the occupation surprised me. He’s usually cynical, morose, negative, and brooding about any prospects for positive change – personal or social. Yet when he called after visiting the Wall Street occupation, he was energized, excited, and impressed with what he had experienced. People, predominantly young, were challenging the status quo and working for a new consensus of communitarian, just values, and calling for institutions to reflect those values.

So, when the occupation movement emerged in Tampa this past week, I wanted to go and see what it was like. On Thursday, I joined Dwight Lawton, of our congregation, for the demonstration against the war in Afghanistan. The Occupy Tampa people were coming to be part of the anti-war protest. And, eventually, they came around the corner, with home made signs, chanting, “We are the 99%.” People of varying age, ethnicity, and station in life. A rare and beautiful bouquet of diversity. One wave of people, then another, and another, and another. With signs saying:

War is not healthy for children and other living things

Corporations are not people
Don’t let them run our government

War creates enemies

America wake up

Power to the peaceful

To consider your neighbor an enemy is foolish

RIP Steve Jobs
RIP American jobs
They’ve both changed our lives

People over Profits

Land of the fees
Home of the slaves

Surge them home
You’ve stopped the economy, now stop the war

High times on Wall Street
Hard times on Main Street

Hard work is for those who can’t exploit the less fortunate

Trillions for war
Cutbacks for kids

I can’t afford a lobbyist

And from our own Dwight Lawton: How is the war economy working for you?

One Occupy Tampa participant started a wish list; a long piece of canvas on which people had expressed their hopes and dreams with rainbow colored magic markers. The list covered both sides of the canvas. I was invited to add my wish. I read the list, all of it, the expressions of at least 40 people. And I could think of nothing to add. Everything I care about, everything that really matters to me, was already there.

My experience at the demonstration filled me. At one point, I was on the verge of tears. I asked myself why I felt to moved? What was so compelling? Why did this touch my heart so? While the protest involved some government bashing and some politicking, for the most part, it was a kaleidoscope of visions and values that I feel are consistent with God’s vision for the human community that we spoke of earlier: A society that is just and fair, that cares for the weak and vulnerable, an alternative to exploitation, oppression, greed, and power abuse. These are the vision and values that form the ideal in the Hebrew Bible and are re-imagined by Jesus as the commonwealth of God. This is what I experienced in the anti-war/Occupy Tampa demonstration. I was moved by this theophany, this disclosure, of the Divine, this burning bush.

However, at the demonstration, I noted there were no outward, visible signs of church participation or religious support. Here was this beautiful manifestation of the Divine dream, but where were the faith communities? Maybe some of the people there go to church, or synagogue, or mosque. But, sadly, there was no clear expression of that. The church of Jesus Christ SHOULD care about these things.

America is a national Catholic weekly magazine published in the US that includes articles like, “Biography of Artist Stanislaw Wyspianski,” “Save the Altar Girls,” and “Just Parenting.” A recent editorial cautioned Catholics not to buy into “American conceits” such as, “the primacy of the individual, and the free market and the inherent inefficiency of government.” The editorial then offered a strong statement of the commitment of the church:

Counter to mainstream American culture, the church teaches that a society should be judged by how well it addresses the needs of its poor and vulnerable members. It demands a preferential option for the poor, not the Pentagon, when moral documents like the federal budget are prepared.” [Quoted from The Christian Century, 8/23/11, p. 9]

That’s a clear statement of Christian values. The things Jesus cared about. Yet where was the church at the demonstration in Tampa? It’s no wonder many people consider Christianity irrelevant and hypocritical. As I circulated among the people at the demonstration, I introduced myself and mentioned that I was pastor from St. Petersburg. I asked people if I could take pictures of their signs to post on our church website. I tried to let people know that there was one church, at least, that shared their passion, their vision, and their values.

The golden calves we create can be so dazzling, so consuming, so deceptive, so insidious. We may simply be blinded by their light to the reality around us, to the dreams of God, to our complicity, to their seduction. It’s no wonder God becomes angry in the story of the golden calf. After all God has done, the people still turn away, to their own peril, for such human idols and institutions will not ultimately be in their own best interest. Those who are supposed to be faithful, a light to the nations, run away. But God cannot abandon them or us. God is loyal and trustworthy.

The vision I saw in Tampa this past week was dazzling, bright, and glorious. It was a confirmation of God’s faithfulness. It restored my trust in God’s promises. With or without the church and the religious community, the Divine dream will come true. 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.

the Reverend Dr. Robert Coughenour
guest preacher
United Church of Christ
Saint Petersburg, Fl.
August 7, 2011

Scripture: Psalm 66: 1-5,16; John 14:15-21

Come and Hear What God Has Done

Thesis: Our memories are essential components of our individual and corporate identities. This message treats of the biblical data of memory and some theological aspects of memory. The sermon wants to help us to consider the biblical, theological, and practical aspects of memories and aids to memory as they relate to your congregation. Perhaps we shall see once more that memories are for both healing and hope.

Recently I read a piece titled “The Stories We Tell Ourselves” written by Jon Meachem, former editor of Newsweek magazine and now executive VP of Random House Publishing Co. He wrote, “We are the sum of the stories we tell ourselves, and those stories are necessarily rooted in our experience, and by how we interpret the experiences of others.” He calls rehearsing these stories of our individual lives, family and nation, “the mechanics of memory.” “What we choose to remember is critical,” he wrote, “since the narratives that play in our heads shape everything.” What an interesting notion when we apply it to our individual lives, and even to a congregation.

Come with me now as we have a look at the scriptures and what they tell us of a kind of remembering that should lead us to be moved in spirit and to be grateful. You will understand what I mean.

Memory is an essential component of who we are as individuals, and who we are as the body of Christ, the church. Where would we be without memory and aids to remembering? Memories are reservoirs of meaning. All those keepsakes we have in our homes prove it, and some of them are very precious indeed. The Bible has a lot to say about memory. It is a really important theme. No fewer than five different Hebrew words in the Old Testament are used for memory or remembering, and at least three words in the Greek New Testament. Literally hundreds of texts call God’s people to remember. Let’s have a quick look at what the Bible has to say.

First of all, the Bible tells us that God remembers. Seventy-three times it is said that God remembers. And God’s remembering always implies God’s movement toward the object of God’s memory. In most all the passages God’s memory includes both the great deeds of the past as well as God’s continued concern for God’s people in the future. What God remembers is especially important. God remembers the covenant made with the people, “to be their God and they would be God’s people.” God’s promises become the foundation of the people’s faith for themselves and for their children. To say that God remembers God’s people means that God is always moving out toward God’s people, to embrace, to love, to hold, to keep, to cherish, to correct, to save. Most important for us is what God does not remember. God says, “I will remember your sins no more.”

Secondly, the Bible tells us that Israel remembers. Ninety-four times in separate texts memory plays a significant role. Israel, God’s people remember God, remember God’s commandments, remember one’s own sins; remember special days such as the days of Exodus from Egypt, and the freedom from tyranny. Memory plays a central role in making Israel constantly aware of God’s benevolent action as well as aware of her own covenant pledge to be faithful to God. What memory does is to reconstitute the acts of God, as if they were happening all over again.

And that brings us to recognize that we also remember. Come to think of it, the entire Church Year is organized to emphasize our participation in the Lord’s saving acts. This view of the Bible and of history sees an historical event of the past as a happening. And the sense and significance of that event can be ours as well. I do not know how you read the Bible (if and when you do), but when I read these texts about God and God’s people, it is not simply reading words, not just some mental exercise, but a visceral one. I guess you could call it “entering into the text.” I feel it in my bones when I’m standing with the crowd when Moses comes down the mountain, or when I’m in the boat with the disciples and a huge storm comes up. I’m at the edge of the crowd when Jesus is teaching his beatitudes. I’m disheartened and horrified and frightened and feeling like a coward when I hang back at the edge of the people when they nail Jesus to the cross. I’m shocked along with May and Mary Magdalene when we run to the tomb and find it empty.

You are surely aware that the everyday life of any people is informed, shaped, directed by past events ; and future hopes are based on the interpreted past. That is what makes memory and aids to memory significant. In reading the Bible, learning biblical history, participating week by week in Christian worship something happens to us. All the biblical forms of communication are aids to memory; to narrate a story; recite a poem; pass along a law; to quote a proverb; to propound a riddle; all these recall again, and again, and again, with clarity, who God is, who we are. They shape our identity and they give us direction toward who we shall be. They give us a place to stand in the present. They give us an ethical and religious stance with our feet planted in the world we live in. We come, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, to have an identity.

As I watched Alzheimer’s disease progressively rob my mother of her mind, of her identity, her sensitivity, her compassion, her essential being, the links between memory and human consciousness, between memory and identity and lived reality became all too clear to me. And those who cared for her had to struggle to find ways to keep her remembering. It was a losing battle.

From the standpoint of a local congregation, we have to adopt some tangible method of rehearsing the corporate past of God’s people of whom we are a part. We must continue to read the bible intelligently, to worship meaningfully, to find ways to teach our children and ourselves; to tell others of our story of whose we are and whom we serve. We have to do this if we are to have a future and too be freed to act responsibly in the present.

Cultivating our memory is not simply a nice thing to do; I believe it is an essential discipline because the biblical message, the Good News of Jesus Christ, is aimed at reclaiming human life for God. It comes as no surprise to your congregation that the Gospel program includes the political, social and economic dimensions of life. Yours is a congregation that keeps remembering who you are and why you’re here.

I want to get very personal here; I trust you’ll hear the heart-felt encouragement in my words. I read very recently a book by a friend who summed up for me in a very sharp way my own past in the church. He wrote “The evangelical sub-culture in which I was raised was infiltrated by pernicious racism, captured by right-wing nationalism, absorbed with rampant materialism, and defended by haughty self-righteousness. But, it taught me to ask the right question. What about Jesus?” Well, I like your language as I found it on your web-site, and you do speak my language; acceptance, belonging, compassion, courage, creativity, diversity, joy, justice, peace. I like that you keep remembering that you have “found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus.” I like that you uphold a progressive Christianity, that you are a just peace congregation, that you are an open and affirming Church. And it’s not so much that I like it, but I believe yours is the way God through our Lord Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit has been saying all along!!

So my Christian friends I encourage you, each and every one, keep on keeping on, keep remembering, keeping bringing to mind what God has done in coming to this broken old world to make it right again. Keep on saying over and over to all you meet, these words of the Psalmist, “Come and hear, and I will tell you what God has done for me.”