Posts Tagged with conflict

Thanks!

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Text: Isaiah 12:1-6, Philippians 4:4-9

Holy God, speak into our midst this morning.  Fill us with hope, grace, and peace.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts and minds honor You this morning. May they be worthy of your calling and accomplish your faithful work in our midst.  Amen.

I thank God for you.

I do.  I really do.

I thank God for you, the people of Immanuel United Methodist Church.

I thank God for how the love you all have for each other and the world is increasing.

Robert Dunham wrote that “common struggle often forges an uncommon unity and love for one another.  Like the peace that holds the community fast in turmoil, love for one another and congregational unity are best received and celebrated as gifts.”

And as we gather today, I cannot help but reflect upon some of the common struggles that we have shared over these last nine years of ministry together. 

Some of them were challenges that we set before ourselves: raising money through a concert for DMARC, a gigantic garage sale for Joppa, or purchasing five brand new books for every student at Hillis Elementary.

But we have also been held together through turmoil. 

Some of them are simply the realities of human life:  

the illnesses, the injuries, the loss of treasured members of our community. 

We have prayed and grieved and supported one another – offering God’s strength and peace.

And then there were the realities that we didn’t see coming. 

Truly adaptive challenges we faced as the world changed… and is changing… and we’ve had to figure out how to reach new people in new ways.

We have gone through a pandemic… learning how to move worship online and connect with one another in new ways.

We have navigated conflict and conversation about human sexuality and racism and how to welcome immigrants and what kind of church we want to be for the future.

A changing economy impacts not just our church finances, but also demands more of us as we reach out to care for the hungry and the homeless on our doorstep. 

When I think about our scripture from Isaiah today, I remember that much of this text was written in a time of great difficulty. 

The first half tells of the judgment of the people, who weren’t following God’s will.

And the second half is full of hope and promise… but written from exile, having lived through destruction and removal. 

And yet, in all of it, Isaiah keeps an eye on what God has done.

On the grace and mercy of God.

Joy and praise and thanksgiving ring out…

not because everything is hunky dory… but because it is not. 

And in our own situations… we didn’t always know what we were doing, or how to do it, but by the grace of God, we’ve found ways to love, serve, and pray together. 

Not because we had the answers… or because the work was easy…

but because we knew that God was with us and would help us through.

It is the challenge of Paul and Timothy as they write to the people of Philippi.  This is from the Message translation:

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your                worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of         God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down.            It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”

Although you have every reason to be anxious… and you have needs and requests to share with God… there is also reason to give thanks. 

Or… as Anne Lamott so honestly puts it in her book about the three essential prayers:  Help, Thanks, and WOW! :

“…at some point, we cast our eyes to the beautiful skies, above all the crap we’re

wallowing in, and we whisper, ‘Thank you.’

Thank you, God.

And in so many of those kinds of situations, there were moments when we got a little grumpy with one another. 

We are human after all, and we are still learning and growing and figuring these things out…

but we are doing it together…

And we’ve taken the time to share when things weren’t working out and have reached out when feelings were hurt and have tried to find a way forward.

Anne Lamott describes the prayer of thanks as a tool to move from “rashy and clenched to grateful.” 

I just love that imagery… and I can actually sense it in my body.

There are those moments when we are frustrated or in conflict and we truly are clenched. 

It is a posture of being on high alert, always ready to fight or flee or even freeze. 

In a world that is so divisive, we see that all around us.

But I think that God has used us and shaped us through gratitude, love, and grace to be God’s people and demonstrate a different path. 

We have tried to live out the advice from Paul and Timothy to be gentle with one another and to seek the peace of God.

We’ve stayed in conversation.  We’ve taken the time to listen.

And we have found ways to give thanks and celebrate the people who have come into our lives…

All of which takes that posture of abrasive and clenched living and turns it into a posture of openness and grace.   

The love we have for one another is a gift…

the bonds formed in the midst of common struggle are a blessing…

and they should be celebrated as such. 

Thank you, God.

Anne Lamott writes that “Gratitude begins in our hearts and then dovetails into behavior. It almost always makes you willing to be of service, which is where the joy resides.”

 And friends, as we have been grateful for the love of God… we have also let those prayers of thanksgiving turn into joyful service. 

[the numbers represent images of ministry projected during the worship service]

[1] Thank you God for the deeper relationships we formed with our neighborhood elementary school, Hillis, as we brought books for so many children and we have more and more people taking just an hour a week to read with those who need some extra help.  

[2] And thank you for helping us to continue efforts like Donuts for Dudes and Muffins for Moms where we can be present in our neighborhood and share God’s love with breakfast.

 [3] Thank you God for the ways that young people and their mentors here at the church bonded through hard work, study, and recreation at things like confirmation.

 [4] Thank you God for the impact you had on children in our church and community as we worked to help them learn more about your powerful and never-ending love.

 [5] Thank you God, for calling us to have hard conversations about your calling for our church in this world.

 [6] Thank you God, for bringing us together in fellowship and for new relationships formed over barbeque and basketball.

 [7] Thank you for challenging us to stretch beyond our own teams and ministries to build new partnerships with others, like the Interfaith Green Team Coalition.

 [8] Thank you God, for those who give so faithfully of their time and energy behind the scenes to make ministry here possible.

[9] Thank you God for the faithfulness of our predecessors like Mrs. Simser and the bibles we give our children and the faithfulness of third grade bible partners and teachers.

 [10] Thank you God for a seven year partnership and relationship with Imani church…

[11] … and for our new relationship with Immanuel Gospel Fellowship. 

 [12] Thank you God for the opportunity to go into the world to serve you through Volunteers in Mission, in our neighborhood, but also as far away as Omaha and Memphis.

[13] and thank you for challenging us to do hard things to raise funds and give time for ministries like Joppa and DMARC. 

[14] and for the deep connections that are created when we labor together for a common good.

[15] Thank you God for those who not only prepare meals for us every week, but who care for and minister to one another in good times and in bad.

 [16] Thank you God for those who knit and crochet blankets, for folks who feed and care and support, so that we can extend the love of Immanuel to those who need it the most.

[17] Thank you God for our staff and their faithfulness and willingness to serve. 

 [18] Thank you for the youth and volunteers and chaperones who go out and represent us so well in the community.

 [19] Thank you, God. 

Thank you. 

You know, I started out just trying to find a few highlights of the amazing work God has been doing here among us and the list just kept going on and on and on. 

As Paul writes to the church at Philippi, there really is so much to brag about. 

He praises their generosity, their support for his ministry.

He encourages them for the work that is still to come. 

But really… that’s the outline of all of Paul’s letters. 

And I can’t help but borrow Paul’s words… or rather, Eugene Peterson’s translation of Paul’s words.

“My dear, dear friends!  I love you so much. I do want the very best for you.  You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don’t waver. Stay on track, steady in God.”  (Philippians 4:1, MSG)

Over these past nine years, you’ve made some tough decisions and have stretched in new ways.

I thank God for how you’ve been willing to answer God’s call. 

And as you continue to implement some of these changes…

And live out a new kind of welcome…

There will be bumps in the road.

It won’t all be easy. 

But in the midst of the muck and the hard stuff, keep your heart full of gratitude and your eyes on Jesus. 

As people of faith, God is continually calling us to do hard things. 

God is calling us to leave our comfort zones go and be in ministry with the least and the last and the lost.

God is calling us to welcome the little ones and the stranger and whomever else shows up.

God is calling us to give up our preferences for the sake of the mission. 

And maybe the hardest of them all…

God is calling us to be honest and real about our own vulnerabilities, our own brokenness, struggle, and pain, so that this community can walk with us, can love us, can remind us over and over again about the love of God in Jesus Christ that can transform even our broken souls. 

That’s what church is all about.  

Growing in love for each other and in love for God.

Giving thanks in every circumstance. 

Singing and shouting to the Lord for the excellent things God has done among us. 

May you continue to do hard things. 

May you continue to hear and be faithful to God’s call.

May you continue to be formed in love born of our common struggle to truly be disciples of Jesus Christ in this world. 

And through it all… may you continue to give thanks… keeping that attitude of gratitude that keeps your eyes above the muck on the one who gives us strength. Amen. 

Under the Date Palm

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Text: Judges 4-5

One of the things that we discover in many of our Hebrew Scripture readings is a land filled with chaos. 

The boundaries and borders are constantly changing. 

City-states and nations were constantly battling one another for land, power, and dominance. 

Just two weeks ago, we followed the story of the Daughters of Zelophehad as they crossed the Jordan River with other second generation survivors of the great exodus from Egypt.

The land was being divided up according to the tribes… and yet, this was not undiscovered, uninhabited land.

It was filled with thriving cultures and peoples who all worshipped their own gods and had their own rules for living. 

Much of the Book of Joshua tells the story of how the people of Israel tried to take that land… often describing slaughter and warfare along the way.

And yet, by the time we get to Joshua’s death with the Book of Judges, we hear about how all the people of the land… the Jubusites, the Canaanites, the Amorites, and more… they were all still present.

And for generations, these cultures, these peoples, continued to struggle for power and land and dominance. 

City-states would rise and grow in power and overtake their neighbors and then fail… and the cycle would repeat.

Chaos.

The Book of Judges reminds us that while human warriors can’t defeat the forces that would destroy peace and create turmoil… God can.

The Israelites don’t need a professional army or a king… God reigns over them.

And God will fight for them.

They don’t need to be afraid of those things that might destroy them.

They just need to trust and obey.

And at times, they do.

But that trust in God doesn’t ever last for long.   

They are constantly turning to the other gods they discover in the land, adopting other customs, following their own path, forgetting about the laws that formed them into a people focused on abundant life for all. 

It was into this context of chaos that God called the judges. 

Israel at this time, you might remember, is not formally organized as a political power.

There is no king that holds all twelve tribes together. 

And the Book of Judges records how God lifted these unlikely leaders to help the people find stability and security during this ebb and flow of turmoil and chaos. 

As Wilda Gafney notes in her commentary, “judges were military leaders and civil administrators: they governed, settled disputes, interpreted and applied the Law, and when necessary, took up arms in defense of the nation.” (The CEB Women’s Bible, p. 285)

In most cases, one of these judges would rise up as Israel fought back against one of their neighbors.

They would often bring about victory in a way that was surprising… reminding the people that it was God who fought for them, rather than the success of any one person or army. 

And then this judge would help the people to focus on God, trust in God, and there would be a season of stability. 

What is interesting in the case of our Face of Faith for today, Deborah, is that she finds herself in this role… but she has not yet experienced any kind of battle that we know of.

We don’t know how or why she was called or appointed for this task, but as the story opens in Judges 4, she is sitting under the “palm of Deborah” settling disputes among the people. 

The Canaanites are in control of the land under the rule of their king, Jabin, and his general, Sisera. 

And just like the people of Israel cried out in Egypt under the oppression of Pharoah, the people cry out once again in the time of Deborah, and God hears their cries. 

We don’t know a lot of details about her, but there are some titles that give us a picture of what her ministry was about. 

Tikva Frymer-Kensky notes that she is identified as ’êšeṯ lappîḏōṯ (Judges 4:4) which could mean a number of things. 

  • A woman of the town of Lappidoth
  • The wife of someone named Lappidoth
  • Or, a woman of torches – which is a direct translation of the word… in other words, a fiery woman (ArtScroll’s The Prophets, Rubin Edition)

She is also identified not simply as someone who judges, but also as a prophetess.  Her role would have been to make known God’s will and call people to obedience.  But she also would have encouraged the people through song… something that Miriam did before her. 

In the next chapter of Judges, we find a song that summarizes her ministry and story and there she is also identified as a mother in Israel (5:7)… an actual mother? Perhaps… a spiritual mother of the people… for sure. 

When I put all of those pieces together, what I find is a portrait of a woman who maybe is actually not all that different from the women that you know in this world.

She’s got a spark in her, a fierceness and a passion for her work.

She cares about the well-being of her people. 

She exists in the middle of a world filled with chaos and upheaval. 

A world that is not in her control.  A world that she very much would love to change. 

Today, we are blessing our students and teachers and school workers as they prepare to head back to school.

Deborah makes me think of all of the parents and teachers who are dedicated and committed to their work, who give their all, and who also have to do their work in the midst of so much tension and division.

Everything is politicized.

We are still recovering from and discovering how we’ve changed from Covid-19.

There are issues of hunger and racism and violence that we still haven’t resolved.

We exist in a world that is not under our control and a world that we very much would like to change. 

So, what can we learn from a woman like Deborah? 

I think one of the first things I notice is that even in the midst of the turmoil all around her and the oppression of the Canaanites, she carves out both time and a place to be in the presence of God and to seek God’s will. 

Those who sought her wisdom and a word from the Lord would find her under the “Palm of Deborah” (4:5).

One of the things we learned in our “Taste and See” study earlier this summer is that whenever we find a palm tree in the Bible, we should remember that it is referring to a date palm tree.

And as Margaret Feinberg taught us, “the fruit of these trees symbolizes victory over death.” (Taste and See, p. 55)

She intentionally went to a place that symbolized victory over death in a season of chaos and oppression.

You see, she chose to start from a place of trusting and believing that God could bring hope and life out of the situation they found themselves in. 

Lauren Wright Pittman, “In Tune” , @Sanctified Art

Lauren Wright Pittman, the artist of this piece titled, In Tune, “In the chaos of war she finds stillness under a palm tree and tunes herself to God’s voice… [she] shows us that, in stillness, practicing attending to God with fierce trust, we can sift through the chaos of this world and align ourselves with the movement of God… The chariots of war loom in the distance, but the chariots are empty because… this prophetess can see God’s victory before it even takes place.” (Faces of Our Faith Study Journal, p. 16)

Pittman notes that we all face times of uncertainty and chaos in our lives. 

And often, we struggle to start from a place of trust in God’s ability to bring peace.

Instead, we worry.

We stress out.

We plan for worst case scenarios.

We get overwhelmed and give up.

We try to carry it all on our own shoulders.

What would it look like instead if we intentionally created spaces to get in tune with God?

Where is the Palm of Deborah in your life? 

Maybe it is time with a cup of coffee on your back porch.

Or right here in this sanctuary.

Or a path that you walk in the evening.

A pause in the car with your family before you leave the driveway for school drop off.

Or a bench that you can sit on for five minutes in the middle of your work day.

Where is a place that you can clear the chaos and the clutter from your life to listen for what God is doing? 

First, we create space.

Then we need to learn how to listen.

We need to practice “attending to God with fierce trust.” 

And that means paying attention to the nudges and tugs that God makes on your heart.

It means lifting up and letting go of the worries that fill our minds and looking for what God is already doing out there in the world.

And it can often mean leaving our comfort zones and sharing what we are hearing and experiencing with others. 

Deborah knew that God had heard the cries of the people and that it was time for God to bring them victory.

She called upon a man named Barak to lead to people into battle against Sisera and his army of chariots.

When he hesitated, she agreed to go with him… to place herself in harm’s way and to provide encouragement for the people… because she knew ultimately this wasn’t about Barak’s victory, or her victory, but God’s victory. 

As her song recounts in chapter 5, God was with them.

Ten thousand soldiers went into battle, vastly outnumbered and outarmed, but we hear no tales of their fights.

Instead, we hear about how:

“the stars fought from the sky;

From their orbits they fought against Sisera.

The Kishon River swept them away;

The advancing river, the Kishon River.” (Judges 5:20-21)

We get echoes of how God fought the Egyptian army, by allowing the safe passage of the Israelites and then releasing the waters to overtake Pharoah and his chariots.

Sisera’s army panics, is overwhelmed, defeated, and washed away.

Only Sisera escapes and when he believes he has found refuge in the tent of an ally, he instead discovers that he has been led to his death. 

He is greeted by a woman, Jael, who offers him a place of rest and warm milk and tucks him in to sleep… and then executes him with a tent peg.

Deborah could see God’s victory and a future of peace, even though she was swimming in chaos and oppression.

And she knew that the victory was not about her… and not about Barak… and not even about Jael… but about whether each of them would be willing to let go of their own comfort and control in order for God to work through them. 

Scripture tells us that with Sisera gone, the Canaanite King lost his grip of power and the years of oppression ended. 

For forty years, peace prevailed upon the land. 

You know, we often talk about the opposite of peace being war, but maybe it is better understood as chaos.

The question for us is… can we let go of our comfort and control? 

Can we find the space to listen for where God is moving in our lives?

Are we willing to our hearts get “in tune” with God? 

If we do, I think that we, too, will find peace.

The peace that comes from relationships restored.

The peace that comes from learning to trust in God more than our pocketbooks.

The peace that comes when our priorities are realigned and our family comes before our work.

The peace that comes when we remember that this moment of struggle might be difficult, but in the end, God is in control and these forces of chaos will not have the final say. 

May it be so.

Amen.

No Additional Burdens

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Text: Acts 15:1-2, 4-6, 12-13, 19-21

This week at VBS, we learned a lot of awesome stories about how Jesus power is with us.

And every single night we had a totally true, awesome story from the Book of Acts.

We talked about how Jesus helps us do hard things with the story of Ananias who went to help Saul.

We talked about how Jesus’ power gives us hope with the story of Paul’s shipwreck.

We talked about Jesus power helps us be bold with the story of Peter and John healing a man. 

And we learned about how Jesus’ power helps us live forever as we let our light shine and share God’s story like so many disciples did.

Last but not least, we remembered that Jesus’ power helps us be good friends and learned about how that community in Jerusalem were connected.

But as we have talked about over these last couple of months, it isn’t easy for a church to get along. 

There is going to be conflict as we have different ideas about how to lead and what to do and who is welcomed. 

So today we have another totally true story from the book of Acts…. About the first official church council meeting. 

In the history books and in the headings of our bibles, we know this as the Council of Jerusalem.  It was the first time the leaders gathered to make an important decision about what the rules of the church should be.

As the Holy Spirit moved through this early church argument, we can learn about how we, too, in the 21st century can learn to get past our disagreements.  

First – when you see a problem… address it!

The issue here is whether or not Gentiles had to be circumcised before they could be part of the church.

Another way to put it – did you have to fully convert to the Jewish faith before you could accept Christ as your Lord and Savior.

We’ve heard about the missionary work of Paul and Barnabas and how Gentiles were accepting Jesus right and left. 

All along, they taught that Jesus was the way and the truth and the life.  No prerequisites.  No admission exams. Christ and Christ alone was the source of salvation. 

But then group of folks comes along teaching something different. 

Paul and Barnabas could have ignored them and kept doing what they were doing… But that only delays the debate until a time when people are more entrenched in one position or another.

They could have bullied the newcomers and ran them out of town… after all, that is what often happened to them. 

Instead, they addressed the conflict directly. 

They confronted the teachers in debate.  They spoke their piece.  They defended their position. 

Of course, the other side made their arguments as well.  A healthy conflict allows room for disagreement and conversation.  It allows for people to stand in one place or another.  They talked and argued… but there were no winners or losers.

And they all realized that this wasn’t something that could be settled once and for all in Antioch.

Which leads me to the second point… some arguments and debates are bigger than us as individuals.

Sometimes you reach a stalemate in a fight.  And you need someone else to come in and help.

Paul and Barnabas are sent from Antioch to Jerusalem to get an official ruling on the issue. 

In the world of business, this might mean calling in a mediator.

When you are fighting with your brother, this might be when your mom steps in.

In a church, this is the point when you call the district superintendent. 

Someone who can help us think bigger and solve our problems.

And… sometimes we need to move the conversation up the chain of command because the impact of our decisions involve more than simply us. 

The church in Antioch realized this debate was going to repeat time and time again across the world.

It was not just a conflict they needed to solve, this was a question for the whole Body of Christ. 

And how the Body of Christ decided to live, one way or the other, would define the church.

They could either be a church who welcomed Gentiles as they were or a church who demanded circumcision, but they couldn’t be both. 

So they sent their questions to Jerusalem and the apostles. 

That is not to say that all arguments require calling in the head honcho.  If a church can’t agree about what color of carpet to install, you don’t need to call the Bishop. 

But there are some disagreements that are more fundamental – questions about our identity and our witness in the world – about who we are as a people… and sometimes we discover they are bigger than just one congregation.    

In these cases, we have the opportunity to participate and share our experience and voices, but also, we are asked to listen to the experience and voices of others who are impacted by what we do. 

This, is a lesson the partisan politicking in our world today desperately needs to remember.

The third thing that we can learn from this passage is how to engage.

As Acts 15 describes this debate, it plays out much like a courtroom scene.  Parties stand and argue their case.  People listen and wait their turn.  The gathering is respectful and honest.

Oh, how I wish this were true in our local, state, national… or even denominational politics.

One of the more powerful realities of this testimony of scripture is that names are not tossed back and forth.  No party made out to be the bad guy.  There is no negative campaigning or slander. 

Each group simply speaks the truth about who they are, what they have experienced, and what they believe.

Those who believed that all must be circumcised stood and made their case from the perspective of tradition and then others began to speak as well. 

Peter talked about the conversion of Cornelius and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Barnabas and Paul shared about their ministry with the gentiles and the signs and wonders they saw. 

And in each case, the people were allowed to tell their whole story without questions or cross-examination.

The others listened completely… not with the intent of finding flaws in their argument or how to beat them… but openly.   

When one party was done speaking, the body was silent until the next voice was ready to speak. 

There is this air of respect and love… it was holy space. 

The final lesson comes in the answer to this debate – we should respect and honor each another and God. 

When there was no more to say, James stood up to speak. 

Having listened to what each party valued, James went back to scripture.  He noted the precedent for ministry among Gentiles and the continued value of the teachings of Moses. 

And then he made a declaration that was affirmed by everybody. 

They didn’t have to vote with winners and losers.  They all just agreed.

Gentiles would be welcomed, as they were… no additional burden would be placed upon them.

In many ways, James helped to build a bridge between these opposing groups.  He helped them to find their common ground of respect.  Each position would be respected and affirmed in its own way… by declaring what was essential and what wasn’t and requiring that all parties treat one another with respect.

John Wesley was often fond of saying: In essentials, unity; in unessentials, liberty; in all things – charity (that is to say, love). 

God had moved among the Gentiles and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit showed that a practice like circumcision must not be an essential component of what it meant to be saved in Christ Jesus.

However, this didn’t mean that anything goes. N.T. Wright describes this compromise as “the double principle of no needful circumcision on the one hand and no needless offense on the other.”  The Gentile Christians were to honor the scriptures by refusing pagan worship, refraining from sexual immorality, and respecting the dietary laws of their Jewish kin.

The early church would continue to argue about the essentials of who we should be as the people of God and what would be required of us. 

New questions would arise as the church continued to expand into new places and new cultures.

But this Council of Jerusalem set a new standard for how we should have these conversations… with grace and love and respect. 

Their actions were not focused on creating winners and losers, but on discerning what God was doing.

They returned to scripture and allowed it to speak anew into the present moment. 

The questions were important… but even more so was how they chose to answer them.

We have a lot of things we disagree about today. 

And the peacemaker in me always hopes that we can find a solution that can bring us all together… a compromise that would unify us, like this moment in Acts 15.

But then I read just a few more verses…  and Barnabas and Paul have a disagreement. 

They decide that for the sake of the mission they need to part ways. 

What is the most important thing that we discover in this chapter is that how we talk to each other… how we listen… and how we show respect to God… and how we protect the most vulnerable is what is really important.

Sometimes that means we can work together.

And sometimes that means we need some time apart. 

I don’t know where the church or country or world will be in a few years. 

I pray constantly for the healing of our relationships. 

And I keep remembering the lessons of the Jerusalem Council. 

We need to directly face our conflicts and bring in folks to help us when necessary.

We need to share our stories fully… and listen with hearts wide open…

But above all… rather than our own agenda, we should seek answers that help us to best love and honor and respect one another and our God.  

Follow The Star: Invitation

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Text: John 1:43-51

This year has begun with chaos, violence, grief, and pain.
And I have to admit that when I sat down to write this sermon, the words just wouldn’t come.
Or rather, I would write and then my anger and frustration would kick in and I’d have to delete what I had typed.
And then I’d sit in sadness for a while.
What, honestly, do we say in times like these.
Can we go on as if everything is normal?

But the more I sat, the more I felt God nudging me to stay in that moment.
To not try to soothe or explain anything with words, but to simply be.
God could see where I was… and God still loved me.
God didn’t need anything else from me.

So today, rather than telling you what this text is all about, I invite you into a space to simply be with God.
To let where you are today, in this moment, to be revealed.
God is inviting you to come into the presence of Christ just as you are.
And ironically? Providentially? God had already given us a text to use.

So, find a comfortable place to sit…
Close your eyes.
Place your feet on the ground or your hands by your side…
Feel the substance, the strength, of the ground or surface beneath them.
Notice the places where your body is connected to whatever is supporting you.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.

In our lesson today, Jesus is calling disciples.
“Follow me,” he says.
He issues an invitation not to everyone, but to individuals.
People with gifts and talents and baggage and stories.
Think about the people you might encounter on a regular basis.
Who among them do you think Jesus would pick out and personally invite to follow him?
What is it about their life that makes them worthy of the invitation?
Is there any among those people you imagine Jesus would not invite?
Notice what that question does in your heart.
There might be people we would exclude… But is there anyone Jesus would exclude?

If Jesus turned to you and said, “Follow me,” how would you respond?
What would you do first?

Our scripture tells us that Philip receives an invitation.
And the first thing he does is to go and find his friend.
He goes to share the good news.
“We’ve found him!” Philip says. “The One we’ve been waiting for!”
Waiting for a long time.
Since the time Moses… and Isaiah…
Centuries of waiting.
And in light of this invitation to respond and participate, Philip’s response to Jesus is outgoing and exuberant.
Without any kind of judgment, think about your own response to God’s invitation.
Do the words outgoing or exuberant describe you?
If not, think about someone who embodies those qualities.
What is a gift that someone like Philip brings to the ministry of Christ in the world?

Nathanael also received an invitation to follow Jesus.
Not personally, but through his friend.
And his first response is to ask a question.
“What good can come out of Nazareth?”
After centuries of waiting, he is hopefully, but weary.
Maybe a little jaded or cynical.
Or maybe Nathanael just wants to know more.
Or he is troubled by the certainty that his friend has.
Without any kind of judgment, think about your response to God’s invitation.
Do the words weary or questioning describe you?
If not, think about someone who embodies those qualities.
What is a gift that someone like Nathanael could bring to the ministry of Christ in the world?

Sometimes in our relationships with others, we find ourselves at odds with someone.
They don’t share our joy… or frustration. They ask hard questions. Or push back.
In a world of division, this might feel more common than ever.
What do you do when others react this way?
Are you hurt? Do you give them space? Do you turn away from them? Are you persistent? Do you try to argue your point?
Think about how Philip replies to his friend.
He isn’t put off by the skepticism, he doesn’t push back.
He simply offers another invitation.
“Come and see.”
Think about someone in your life you disagree with. About politics, about covid, about Jesus…
How might you ask them to “come and see”?
To invite them in rather than push them away.

Our scripture today concludes with Nathanael meeting Jesus.
A Jesus who sees him.
A Jesus who knows him.
Inside and out.
Before they ever spoke, Jesus knew his questions and his honesty.
What some people might name as a fault, Jesus sees as a gift.
And when he realizes God knows him so intimately…
That God loves him…
And welcomes him…
And accepts him…
As he is…
He cries out his profession of faith.
This same Jesus that saw Nathanael sees you.
Knows you.
Whether you are exuberant like Philip…
Or questioning like Nathanael…
Or quiet…
Or angry…
Or grieving…
Or weary…
Whatever you are today, know this.
You are known by God.
You are invited and welcomed by God.
You are a gift of God to this world.
Amen.

An Altogether Peace

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Text: Ephesians 4: 1-4, 21-32

Often when I’m writing a sermon there is an audience in mind.
I ask God what it is that we, as the people of Immanuel, need to hear.
Sometimes the sermon is only for a portion of our community…
meaning sometimes it’s a teaching sermon meant to challenge those who want to go deeper.
Sometimes it is a creative sermon for those left-brain thinkers.
Sometimes I’m focused on a more basic concept for those who are newer to faith.

Today, I’m going to confess, is a sermon for me.
To be honest, it probably applies to many of you, too.
But it’s the sermon I need to hear.

I was reading through the chapter on “An Altogether Peace” in preparation for this week and felt like it was like an x-ray of my soul.

“Think about the lack of peace within your own heart,” Magrey DeVega writes. “About the unsettledness you feel about your future, the conflict you have against your own inner demons of guilt and shame, and the inability you have to tame the wild horses of anger, fear, and powerlessness… Oh, we do our best to project an ‘almost peace’… We cover up our insecurities, we put on a good face amid the chaos to convince others – and even ourselves – that things are better than they are. But on the inside, deep down inside, we are far from peaceful. We might even be afraid.” (p.15)

There is so much unsettledness in my life right now.
Unsettledness about the United Methodist Church…
Unsettledness in some personal relationships…
Feelings of anger and powerlessness as I try to imagine ways forward…
Guilt and shame for not doing more…
One of you came up to me after the Town Hall gathering last Monday night and mentioned how poised I was answering the questions that were asked… and I realized in the aftermath… I can talk about all of these things that are happening clearly and I can project that “almost” peace… but if I were to really dive into how I’m feeling about it – I would probably just altogether fall apart.

Tomorrow night at our Administrative Council meeting, one of the things we will be voting on is the recommendation already approved by our Staff Parish Relations Committee that I take a renewal leave from mid January through mid February.

According to our Book of Discipline and the strong encouragement of our Bishop, clergy are supposed to take at least four weeks of renewal leave every four years. My last leave was in the summer of 2015, so it is time… maybe past time… for another one of these times of rest and renewal.

On the one hand, I need time to connect once again to that “hidden source of calm repose,” as Charles Wesley so eloquently described God.
Just as we are looking at John Wesley’s sermon, we’ve been exploring some of Charles’ hymns.

As verses three and four of his hymn, we are reminded:
God is our rest in toil, our ease in pain, the healing of our broken hearts….
In war, God is our peace.
In loss, God is our gain.
God is the one who allows us to smile even in the face of the tyrant’s frown.
In God, we find glory and a crown where we had only before been filled with shame.
Plenty in our need, power in our weakness, freedom for our bondage, light in our darkness, joy in our grief…

When everything felt like it might be falling apart for the disciples – Christ gave them his peace.
As DeVega reminds us, It wasn’t like the Roman peace – the pax romana – which came by brute force and conformity and oppression for all who opposed their power.
No, the peace of Christ is different. “[it] would not be sustained by fear or oppression. It would not be born of anger or revenge. This peace would not be through the accumulation of power. It would be born of love.” (p. 24)

So, this Advent, when everything feels like it might be falling apart, my troubled and unsettled heart is waiting…
Waiting for Christ to breathe his spirit of peace upon me like he did those disciples.
Waiting for the altogether peace of Christ to be born once again into my heart.

But the other reason I need that time of renewal is that peace is not only an inward sentiment.
It is also an outward and communal and public demand of our faith.
And I need to connect with that “source of calm repose” if I’m going to help lead our church and our community through the coming year.

You see, just like the first-century Christians Paul was writing to in Ephesians, we find ourselves in a world that is fractured by power and tribalism.
If we were not in the midst of a debate about the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in our church, something else would be creating turmoil.
We lack peace not only in the church – but also in our families, our state, our nation, because we have stopped seeing one another as people who are worthy of forgiveness, mercy, and justice.

I once believed that the opposite of peace was war.
I believed that we would finally have peace in our lives when we laid down our weapons and stopped fighting.
But I’m not sure that is true anymore.
Even if all the swords and guns in the world were destroyed does not mean that peace will come.
Peace, you see, must be bigger than a lack of conflict.
Peace must encompass more than the fights we find ourselves in.

The peace that we seek is like the peace of Isaiah in chapter 65….

I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.
20 “Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
21 They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
23 They will not toil in vain
or bear children doomed to misfortune;
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox…

In the Hebrew Scriptures THIS VISION, lifted up by the prophets, is Shalom.
Shalom is a Hebrew word that means peace, not only in terms of fighting and conflict – but it describes the wholeness of life.
This isn’t just a world in which there isn’t conflict, but there is life!
As one commentator put it, “everything fits together, the relationships work like they were designed to, and things just work right.” (http://listeningtoscripture.com/Textual_Studies/Isaiah/12isaiahspeace.html)
Paul Hanson says that shalom is “the realm where chaos is not allowed to enter, and where life can be fostered free from the fear of all which diminishes and destroys.”

Doesn’t that sound amazing?
A life free from the fear of all that could destroy us?
A life of fullness of health and prosperity for not only yourself, but others too?
We keep talking in the church about schism and conflict and fighting…
What would it look like if we let shalom guide the decisions we make in the next year together.
What would it look like if let go of our fears of all that might destroy us and instead focused on creating a church of health and prosperity for all?
What if we sought the unity of the Spirit and remembered we were called together into one body by the one Lord and God and Father of all?
What if that image of peace we shared with the children included progressives and traditionalists, blacks and whites, straight folks and LGBT folks gathered together, breaking bread, sharing ministry?

How do we get there?
Well, in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul has some advice about what it means to allow the breath of God, shalom, peace, to unite us together by the Spirit.
Magrey DeVega summarizes them into seven points in our “Almost Christmas” study, but if I were to whittle them down even farther, I’d put Paul’s lessons this way:
Seeking peace means that we have to be willing to put another person at the same level as ourselves.

We have to hold them in high enough esteem and worth that we are willing to speak the truth to them without manipulating or distorting or demeaning.
And we have to value them enough that we don’t let our anger pour over into diminishing them as a person through our words or actions.
We have to believe that they are worthy of the same love, forgiveness, compassion and respect that we ourselves have received from Christ.

It’s easy to say those things…
It’s far harder to live them.
There is a person in my life that makes my blood boil. When they enter the room, I can feel my heart rate go faster.
Maybe you know someone like this?
Maybe that co-worker who is just incredibly annoying…
Or your inappropriate uncle who you are upset with before they even open their mouth…
That person who just pushes all of your buttons just by existing…
Well, I was in a situation where I was around this particular person recently and I could feel it in my body…
My blood pressure was rising and I was anxious and not at all at peace.
In fact, I wanted to punch them in their face.

But I didn’t.
Seeking peace isn’t punching someone in the face.
It is being willing to see them as myself.
And so I started to pray…
John is a child of God.
John is a child of God.
John is a child of God.
And you know what…
My blood pressure went down.
I could breathe deeper.
I couldn’t do that on my own… but with God’s spirit of peace…

I have to admit, I still have work to do with this person.
I’m not yet at a place where I truly see them with enough value and worth that I can really speak the truth to them in love without letting my anger spill out all over first.
But I’m working on it.
I’m praying about it.
With God’s help…

What if those things applied here at Immanuel… ?
In our families…?
In our politics…?
How might the peace offered to us by Christ transform this world?

Jesus calls us to be peacemakers and to be a shining city on a hill, an example to all.
And Paul tells us the only way to do that is to let the Spirit of God to enter our lives and transform them.

If we were to try to do this all on our own, we’d probably go around punching people in their faces.

But what if we really did let the Spirit of Peace be born once again in our hearts.

What if we let it transform us.
To set us right inside.
To set us right with one another.
To set us right as a people.

Maybe then when the chaos and unsettledness and guilt and shame are able to melt away from our hearts… and then our community… and then our church… maybe then people will look at us with wonder and say – what is it that they have figured out?
And when they do, we can point to the One who brought us an altogether peace.
Amen.

Sing! Play! Summer! – The Old Rugged Cross

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Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-29

A young rabbi found a serious problem in his new congregation.
During the Friday service, half the congregation stood for the prayers and half remained seated, and each side insisted that theirs was the true tradition.
Nothing the rabbi said or did moved toward solving the impasse.
Finally, in desperation, the young rabbi sought out the synagogue’s 99-year-old founder. He met the old rabbi in the nursing home and poured out his troubles.
“So tell me,” he pleaded, “was it the tradition for the congregation to stand during the prayers?”
“No,” answered the old rabbi.
”Ah,” responded the younger man, “then it was the tradition to sit during the prayers?”
“No,” answered the old rabbi.
“Well,” the young rabbi responded, “what we have is complete chaos! Half the people stand and shout, and the other half sit and scream.”
“Ah,” said the old man, “that was the tradition.”

Like that Jewish congregation of sitters and standers, one of the things that I appreciate about the people of Immanuel is that no matter what differences you have, you still come together to worship and serve.
There have been winners and losers and conflict in our history.
There have been folks who got their way and those that didn’t,
people who stayed and people who left.
Sometimes conflict appeared over silly little things.
And sometimes conflict brought to the center of our attention real problems that needed to be addressed by our whole community.

One of the things I love about turning back to these letters from Paul to the first Christian communities is that they help us remember the struggles we face today are problems people of faith have been facing for thousands of years.
There may not be much comfort in that… but at least we have good company!

Paul begins his letter to the church in Corinth by praising God for all of the potential of this amazing congregation.
But then he reminds them of the one thing that is keeping them from realizing God’s will in their midst.
“In the name of Jesus,” Paul writes, “you must get along with each other! You must learn to be considerate of one another and cultivate a life in common.” (message paraphrase)
Paul looks at this church and sees people who are wrestling for the spotlight.
He sees people who think they are right and everyone else is wrong.
He sees people who really do want to be faithful, but are going about it the wrong way.
They think to be faithful, they have to be on the “right team.”
So they pick sides.
They follow Apollos or Cephas.
They throw their lot in with Paul.
Some of them even go around saying, “to heck with all this division… I’m just going to follow Jesus!” And in doing so, they only stoke the fires of competition even more… because, isn’t everyone trying to follow Jesus? Who among us gets to claim that name more than any other?

In the worldly realm of politics, we see this all the time.
There are winners and losers on every issue.
There is competition for money and time and we don’t care who gets run over in the process.
We don’t care who our words hurt or what we do to our nation in the process.

I think about the crisis happening on our nation’s southern border.
Global Ministries and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) have declared today a Sunday of Solidarity with the Suffering of our Children.
They call us to pay attention, to pray, and to respond out of the love of Christ.
We need to become more aware of the devastating conditions in Latin American countries that lead families to pick up everything and risk their lives for a better opportunity.
I think about how complicated our asylum process is and how misunderstood it is by U.S. citizens.
We wrestle with the tension between security and compassion, safety and welcome and long for a solution that isn’t an either/or.
The reality is, this isn’t an issue between Democrats and Republicans, because policies of family separation began under the Obama administration and have simply been continued and enforced under Trump.
This past week, when a government lawyer argued against providing toothbrushes to children, the reality is, she was in court because of a violation of the Flores Agreement under the previous president.
We get so caught up in slinging words at one another and picking sides, that we have closed our eyes to an immoral response to this humanitarian crisis for years.
We become trapped in a cycle of blame.
We are unwilling to examine the problems in our own corner of the political spectrum.
Every side thinks it has the answer and is unwilling to listen to those who are most impacted by the decisions being enacted.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he was aware that this continuous practice of win/lose partisan behavior ends up exacting a high cost.
It is not the politicians or the intellectuals or even the biblical scholars who will save us.
We won’t find our solutions by picking a side and tearing the other down.
The only answer that will really and truly bring life is found in the way of the cross.
It is sacrifice.
It is humility.
It is weakness.
It is utter foolishness.
It is everything.

George Bennard was born in Ohio, but grew up in Iowa as the son of a tavern owner and coal miner.
He came to faith as a part of a Salvation Army ministry in his early twenties and became a Methodist evangelist, traveling throughout the Midwest.
One of his journeys took him to Michigan in 1912-13 to help lead a revival and he found himself heckled and ridiculed by some young people in attendance.
Bennard felt low, shamed, let the words of those young people start to get to him…
The world doesn’t always understand the way of the cross.
But he kept his eyes on Christ and began to study and write about his experience.
The words began to flow and before long, he sat with his guitar and finished the song.

The Old Rugged Cross is an emblem of suffering and shame.
It is despised by the world.
It is full of shame and reproach.
And yet… to that very cross we are called to cling.

Paul tells that Corinthian church trapped in their conflict between who is right and wrong that they are called to become fools.
They are called to be the laughing-stocks of their community.
They are called to lay down their weapons of division and look out instead to where God is showing up in the world:
In the weak.
In the lowly.
In those who are considered nothing.
The good news that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer foolishness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation… it makes perfect sense. (paraphrase of the Message).
The cross is what unifies us.
The cross is our standard.
The cross of Christ, his life, death and resurrection, should be the focus of all our decisions.

Faced with any conflict, we should cling to that Old Rugged Cross.
We are called to love as Christ did… sacrificially.
We are called to go to the margins, to the outcast, to the forgotten.
We are called to die to self, to leave behind security and safety in order to be in radical solidarity with others.

I think about Scott Warren, a teacher from Arizona who was arrested for leaving water and sheltering migrants from Central America in 2017.
He broke the laws of our country and found himself in prison because he took seriously the call of Christ to clothe the naked and give drink to the thirsty.
In the midst of a nation pointing fingers and arguing about laws, we are called to find a way through the chaos of difference… and the only path is through the cross.
And sometimes that makes us look like fools by worldly standards.

When we cling to the Old Rugged Cross, we allow Christ to transform us.
We become the crucified and risen body of Christ in the world…
We go to those who suffer and suffer with them.
We enter the lives of the broken and the lost to bring healing and hope.
We share our love and compassion and mercy and in doing so, we share the good news of the salvation with the world.

It is in the weak and the lowly and those the world declares are nothing that we find Christ.
So let us join our hearts in prayer…

(adapted from a prayer offered by UMCOR)
God of All Children Everywhere,
Our hearts are bruised when we see children suffering alone.
Our hearts are torn when we are unable to help.
Our hearts are broken when we have some complicity in the matter.
For all the times we were too busy and shooed a curious child away, forgive us, oh God.
For all the times we failed to get down on their level and look eye to eye with a child, forgive us, oh God.
For all the times we did not share when we saw a hungry child somewhere in the world, forgive us, oh God.
For all the times we thought about calling elected officials to demand change, but did not, forgive us, oh God.
For all the times we thought that caring for the children of this world was someone else’s responsibility, forgive us, oh God.
With Your grace, heal our hearts.
With Your grace, unite us in action.
With Your grace, repair our government and communities.
With Your grace, help us to find a way to welcome all children everywhere,
That they may know that Jesus loves them, Not just because “the Bible tells them so,”
But because we have shown them Your love in real and tangible ways,
And they know that nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate them from Your love.
May the cross of suffering and shame bring beauty and light and love and light to those who are the most in need of love.
And in loving them, in becoming fools for them, in denying ourselves and taking up Your cross, may we find life, too.
Amen.

A Way Forward? To Each Their Own Convictions

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Text: Romans 14:4-12

 

“How do we know we are following the way of Christ?… How do we navigate the culture around us?  What happens when Christians disagree profoundly with each other?”

There are just a few of the questions that Rev. Christine Chakoian believes Paul is trying to answer in his letter to the Romans. (CEB Women’s Study Bible Introduction)

And they are questions that we are wrestling with today.

What should we do when United Methodists, faithful followers of Jesus Christ profoundly disagree?  How do we find our way forward?

 

In Paul’s time, the conflict he saw in the Roman community was a clash between Jews and Gentiles – people who followed the laws of the Old Testament and those who had never lived under that law but who were accepting Jesus Christ.

At this point in time, Christianity was not really a separate thing from the Jewish faith…  It was a movement that had begun within the Jewish community, but it was also quickly taking root in Gentile communities who had no knowledge of or cultural connection with the Jewish faith

This created all sorts of problems:

Should someone be circumcised into the Jewish faith before being able to follow Jesus?

Did the Jewish dietary laws have to be followed?

What are the holy days that must be honored?

When you got to a cosmopolitan, diverse place like Rome, you had folks in the same community who held vastly different opinions about how the faith should be practiced.

People who ate meat and people who didn’t.

People who were circumcised and those who weren’t.

“One group, “Jeanette Good writes, “believes that the ‘right way’ is to rely solely on texts of old interpreted literally, and the other group is adamant that the ‘right way’ is to believe that God is being revealed in new ways to each generation.  Both groups are ‘in their camps’ and are sure their positions are the right ones.”  [1]

 

Sound familiar?

 

It would be impossible for us to talk about what comes next and how the various proposals to lead us forward might play out without getting a sense of the current landscape of the United Methodist Church today and the camps that people have fallen into.

We have them represented here by these four vessels of water.

The way I describe these camps is going to use terminology initially coined by Tom Lambrecht, the vice-president of Good News, a more conservative coalition within the UMC and then adopted by Tom Berlin.  Tom Berlin not only wrote the stewardship book that we shared together this summer, but he serves a theologically diverse church on the outskirts of Washington, D.C.   Both were members of the Commission on a Way Forward and both are noted as authors of two very different plans that have been proposed that we will discuss next week.

 

If you were here last week, we talked about six scriptures that have historically been understood to condemn homosexuality within the bible.  If you missed this message or the one from the week before, you can pick up a copy on the back table.

We also discussed how our task as people of faith is to think theologically:  to ask and reflect upon how God is working in the world today.   We begin with scriptures like these and we interpret and translate and make sense of them in light of other scripture, the tradition that has been passed down to us, and our own human reason and experience.

These four sources, what we call the Wesleyan quadrilateral, helps the church translate the gospel to the world, but also helps the church make sense of the world around us. Last week, I asked some theological questions that we are called to wrestle with as a result of reading these passages:

  • Does the description of people in this passage reflect our experience of LGBT+ persons today?
  • What do scripture, tradition, reason, and experience lead us to claim are taboo sexual acts today, framed by our understanding of Christian community?
  • What is natural for LGBT persons? What are the fruits we see in the lives of LGBT persons?
  • How do we talk about sex, sexuality, and identity that rejects the way people use and abuse one another and helps all people to honor their bodies?

 

Those who would find themselves in the progressive camp read these six scriptures, faithfully interpret them, reflect theologically, and believe that they do not condemn LGBT+ persons.

They believe that some these passages refer to culturally bound understandings of holiness that no longer apply in Christian community.

These passages are not talking about loving, mutual, relationships between two persons, but instead about exploitive violent actions and abuse or cultic sexual practices.

Members of this camp would also point to scriptures that they believe affirm LGBT+ persons within the scriptures.

For example, King David and Saul’s son Jonathan had a close relationship.  After Jonathan’s death, David laments:  “I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan!  You were so dear to me!  Your love was more amazing to me than the love of women.” (2 Samuel 1:26)

They might also point to the time when Jesus healed the servant of a Roman centurian in Matthew 8 and Luke 7.  Here, the Greek word for servant or slave – doulos – is not used, but instead, the word, pais, is used to describe the unwell person.   A pais in this time was either a child – a son,  or a close personal attendant, or was sometimes used to refer to a younger male lover.  Progressives see this as a possible example of Jesus encountering an LGBT+ person and not hesitating to heal… in fact, even affirming the strength of this person’s faith.
Progressives would call us to look for the fruit in the lives of all persons who claim the Christian faith – do they love God and their neighbor?  And for those who have experienced the call of God in their lives to serve, it wouldn’t matter if they were gay or straight.  Progressives believe that the same standards for holiness should apply to all relationships, whether gay or straight.  Is anyone being harmed through this sexual act?  Does this relationship demonstrate mutual love and respect?  How are chastity and fidelity expressed through this person’s life?

Progressives also would point to the marginalization of LGBT+ persons, not only in history but all around us today as well.  They see current prohibitions in church law as harmful not only to our witness, but to the actual lives of LGBT+ persons.  They would point towards statistics that show that LGBT youth are at a much higher risk for both homelessness and suicide than their peers and that LGBT youth for whom faith is important to them had a 5x higher rate of suicidal thoughts than their straight peers. [2]

As Jesus calls us to reach out to the sick, the oppressed, the hungry in order to offer life and life abundant, progressive United Methodists believe that a church that is not actively in ministry with LGBT+ persons and fully inclusive is being unfaithful to the gospel.

Those who would find them in the traditionalist camp read these six scriptures, faithfully interpret them, reflect theologically, and believe that scripture is clear about the prohibition of homosexual acts.

While justice might be a key word to describe progressives, covenant might be a key term for traditionalists.

They believe that these passages, along with others, describe what personal holiness looks like within the Christian community and that if we interpret the meaning away from these scriptures, than all of our understandings of personal holiness might be compromised.  God has created us in a particular way, man and woman were designed for one another, and only within the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman are sexual acts pleasing to God.

When we choose to follow Christ, traditionalists would argue, we reject the ways of this world and allow ourselves to be conformed instead to Christ.  That is the covenant under which we now live.

Traditionalists believe are called, in community, to hold one another accountable to this covenant.  That means there must be a clear, shared understandings of what is right and what is not.  To be faithful to the gospel, one must call out sin and invite repentance and transformation.  If we fail to do so, then we are allowing that person to remain on a path that might permanently separate them from God’s love.

 

So these are the camps in which we find ourselves today.  Progressives and Traditionalists, who each love the church, love Jesus, and love scripture.

 

When we turn back to the Apostle Paul and his description of conflict within the early Christian community in Rome, he appears to have solid advice for us to rely upon today.

“One person considers some days to be more sacred than others, while another person considers all days to the be same.  Each person must have their own convictions.  Someone who thinks that a day is sacred, thinks that way for the Lord.  Those who eat, eat for the Lord, because they thank God.  And those who don’t eat, don’t eat for the Lord, and they thank the Lord too.”

To each their own, Paul appears to be saying.

These practices, these convictions, they are not essential to what it means to follow Jesus.

If you are celebrating particular holy days in the Lord’s name – great!

If you choose to refrain from participating in the Lord’s name – great!

Because you are doing it all in the name of Jesus.

Whether or not you keep kosher laws or are circumcised or whether you prefer pew chairs or pews – as long as you are focused on your Lord – that’s all that really matters.

Paul goes on to say that we should not judge one another for our various convictions.  Each person will stand before the Lord in their own time.  We are not to force our own convictions about practices upon one another, nor are we to be a stumbling block to another person’s faith by allowing our practices to interfere with those of others.

 

Within these progressive and traditionalist camps in the United Methodist Church today are those who take Paul’s words to heart.  Tom Berlin uses sugar packets instead of vessels of water to demonstrate these various positions.

As you can see there are progressives and traditionalists represented here who have their own deeply held convictions about how we should relate to LGBT+ persons – justice and full inclusion or covenant faithfulness.

But there are those within each of these camps that understand people who have been wrestling with these questions arrive in different places.  These folks also don’t believe that the answer to this particular question is essential to our faith.

Lambrecht and Berlin would refer to these folks as compatibilists.

Compatibilists are willing to remain in community with those who disagree with them.  They know and understand that our very church is full of a diversity of perspectives on this topic, but that what unifies us as United Methodists – what IS essential is our understanding of grace, our focus on personal and social holiness, and the connection that allows us to be in ministry across this globe.

Compatibilists might best be described as those who firmly hold their own particular theological convictions, but also respect the theological convictions of others.  As we live together within the church, what is important is that there is freedom of conviction and no one is forced to act against their own beliefs.

As long as you love God and love your neighbor and seek to live and die for the Lord, the non-essentials of our faith should not divide us.
There are those within each of the progressive and traditionalist camps, however, who would reject the idea that this is a non-essential of our faith.

They would argue that Paul is talking here are about practices like what we eat and wear – truly non-essential things.  But values like justice and covenant are not something you can compromise.

Traditional non-compatibilists believe that our call to covenantal holiness requires us to maintain these standards across the church. They want the church to be faithful to what they believe are obvious prohibitions within scripture.  We are not called to be blown to and fro by the winds of culture, but must hold firm to the tradition that has been passed down to us.

Progressive non-compatibilists believe that our call to justice for all people requires us to see anew who Jesus is standing with in the margins.  They want the church to be faithful to what they believe are the obvious cries for inclusion within scripture.  We are not called to a legalistic faith, but must allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and recognize the presence of God in LGBT+ persons.

 

Within the United Methodist Church today, this division has created our current conflict.

Progressives are dissatisfied with the current language within our Book of Discipline and by and believes that it harms our witness for Jesus Christ in the world today.  They believe that they are being faithful to the gospel by disobeying the Book of Discipline in order to celebrate same-gender weddings and welcome LGBT+ folks into ministry of the church.

Those who are Traditional Non-Compatibilists see these actions and feel like the covenant we have made with one another has been broken.  They feel personally harmed by this betrayal and some are leaving these churches as a result.

Traditionalists who are frustrated that the covenant has not been honored are seeking to maintain the discipline of the church by naming and formalizing consequences of these actions.  We have a process for accountability within our Book of Discipline that begins with the filing of a complaint, and you may have heard in the past few years of such complaints being filed here in Iowa against pastors who have officiated same-gender weddings or who have publicly come out as queer.

Those who are Progressives see these actions and feel like it not only personally harms people who are LGBT+ but has also harmed their congregations as people have left their churches because we are not fully inclusive.

Within the United States, there are regional differences that are apparent.  The Western Jurisdiction is more progressive than other areas and in 2016 consecrated Karen Oliveto as a bishop, a woman who is married to another woman.

Annual conferences across the North Central and Northeastern Jurisdictions have committed to ordaining clergy based on their fruit, not their sexual orientation.
Southern Jurisdictions and Annual Conferences throughout the connection are advocating for a church that maintains its faithfulness to scripture and traditional understandings of marriage.

And there are global factors.

The conversation we have had today is largely U.S. based, but the United Methodist Church is a global denomination.  While assumptions should not be made about any particular area of the global church, it is thought that the majority of our African and Filipino brothers and sisters would describe themselves as traditionalists.  In many of their own cultural realities, homosexuality is rejected and in some places even an illegal practice.  Others, in parts of our connection like Western Europe, would align more with the progressives.  The goal of the Commission on a Way Forward was this:  To design a way for being church that maximizes the presence of a United Methodist witness in as many places in the world as possible, that allows for as much contextual differentiation as possible, and that balances an approach to different theological understandings of human sexuality with a desire for as much unity as possible.

 

Is the question of human sexuality an essential of our faith?  Will our response divide the church?

Or is it a non-essential?  Is it a place where we can respectfully disagree and create space for one another?

The plans that we will explore together next week will answer those questions differently.  The impact of these plans on our particular congregation can only be known if we have a sense of where this church itself stands.

For that reason, I want to invite you each to take and fill out one of these yellow surveys.  We will compile these anonymous responses in order to have a sense of the impact any of these plans might have on this church.

I’m going to give you a few minutes to do so right now.  There are four simple questions to answer.

First, based on what we have described today, where would you place yourself on this spectrum of progressive/traditional and compatible/non-compatible?

Next, three questions about how you personally might respond if there were or were not changes to our Book of Discipline.

As a reminder, here is a general description of the Book of Discipline’s current language:

The Book of Discipline affirms that we should be in ministry with all persons and reject homophobia.  It also states that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.  Marriage is defined as between one man and one woman.  Self-avowed practicing homosexuals may not be ordained as clergy.

 

What I want to leave us with today is a phrase that John Wesley clung to in his own ministry – a phrase that exemplifies the spirit of our passage in Romans today:

 

In essentials, unity.

In non-essentials, liberty.

In all things love.

 

May God continue to lead us as hold fast to the essentials of our faith, respect differences in non-essentials, and may love been the source of all that we do.

Let’s stand together as we are able and affirm some of those essentials that form the core of our faith.

[1] Jeanette Good.  Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 4, p 65

[2] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/queer-youth-religion-suicide-study_us_5ad4f7b3e4b077c89ceb9774

Love Is All You Need

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As Coptic Christians gathered in Egypt this morning to celebrate Palm Sunday, bombs rocked their sanctuaries.  Thirty-six people were killed in the blasts.

This week has seen horrific chemical attacks upon the Syrian people, but what is more horrific is that these kinds of atrocities are happening all the time, but only occasionally make it to our headlines.

In the Des Moines area, this week has seen a slew of gun violence, with five people shot last Sunday morning and three deaths in Bondurant this week.

 

When we gather in this sanctuary and wave our palms in the air, we cry out Hosanna!

 

And that very word has a double meaning that is meaningful in our world context.

We typically think of the Hosanna as a call of praise and glory, welcoming the coming King.

 

But Hosanna also is a cry for salvation. “Save us!” the people call out.

“Save us” we cry out.

Save us from our striving for power.

Save us from unending violence.

Save us from the walls that threaten to divide.

Save us from social forces that stomp on the sick, the poor, and the outcast.

Save us.

 

In the Jewish tradition, the laws were given to the people as a guide for how to live as a saved people.  The Israelites had been rescued from the Pharoah’s grip and in the wilderness they were formed as a people.  And the laws were given as a means to help them live in community and to prevent the kinds of personal and social evils that could destroy them.
613 different commandments are given in the Torah to try to accomplish this purpose.

And when Jesus was asked about which was the most important, he referred to only two.

 

The Shema from Deuteronomy 6: Love the Lord

And

Leviticis 19 – love others.

 

When Jesus summarized all of the law and the prophets, he basically took the ten commandments and boiled them down to five words:

Love God. Love your neighbor.

That’s it.

These laws are all about the relationships we have been talking about these past few weeks.

Love is the fence that guards us from harmful activity. Love is the standard for how we are to behave. Love defines who we are.

 

Throughout this series, we have been touching on the surface of some of the conflict that threatens to divide us as a church.  We are not all the same.  Across this great wide world we worship in different languages and sing different types of songs. We live in various political and social and economic realities.

And I believe that is a good and a holy thing.  But it is also a really difficult reality to live in the midst of.

All of our differences, all of our separate gifts and hopes and desires, all of the nonessentials that can tear us apart, they can only be put into perspective if we take the time to truly be in relationship with one another.

This body only works if at the core of who we are and how we live is love.

When the Apostle Paul hears about the mess that the Corinthians have made of their church by squabbling over non-essentials, he writes to them.  He wants to encourage them to be their best selves.   And if you remember from last week, he tells them that they are the body of Christ and that each of them has an important role to play in the church. He tells them that each of them is gifted and that they should pay attention to and rely upon the gifts of others. He tells them they need to give and accept help and to treat all members with respect.

And then he launches into a beautiful part of his letter that is very familiar to us.

 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing

All of this stuff that you think is so important – Paul writes – all of this stuff that you are arguing about, it means absolutely diddly squat if there isn’t love in the midst of your community.

You could have the most money or be the most talented or live in the most beautiful house, or even have the most elegant prayers or know the scripture backwards and forwards…. But all of it is for nothing if there is not love in your life.

Paul’s not just talking about the romantic love between two people. He’s talking about deep, sustaining love. He’s talking about the love that knits people and communities together. He’s talking about the love that only comes from God.

Love that is patient and kind.

That that is not envious or boastful.

Love that doesn’t seek its own advantage and doesn’t keep a record of complaints.

Love that isn’t satisfied with injustice.

Love that endures all things.

 

As the people of God and followers of Jesus Christ, and as the people called United Methodist, we are all have the same calling: to love.

The primary thing that unites us is the love of Jesus Christ.

The love of Christ reminds us we are all sinners in need of God’s grace.

The love of Christ shows us what grace and mercy are all about.

The love of Christ is sacrificial and bends down in service to others.

The love of Christ gives life to others.

Love seeks the good of others, no matter who they are, even if it is at our own expense.
Love is not a feeling… love is a verb.

It is a daily decision to choose to love and be in relationship with others.

 

In our prayer of confession this morning, we asked that God might turn us, cleanse us, and forgive us our transgressions.

We asked that God might set us again into the procession of love that makes all things new.

 

When we leave this place today, we are going into a world that praises all of the wrong things and that desperately needs to experience the saving power of God.

We are going into a world where children are hungry and parents are frustrated.  Where the mentally ill don’t have access to care and where innocent people are trapped in the midst of countries at war.  If we took the time to list all of the problems and concerns of our nation and world we might never leave this sanctuary.

And yet, God has called us to be his hands and feet in the world.

God has called us to be the Body of Christ.

And that means that God wants us to be the answer to the world’s cries for salvation and healing.  God wants us to carry these palms into the world as a procession, a parade of love and healing and salvation.

God wants us to bind up the brokenhearted and feed the hungry.

God wants us to welcome the refugees and the strangers.

God wants us to seek peace and pursue it.

God wants us to visit the sick and imprisoned.

And through it all, God wants us to love.

 

You know, we are ending this series with the call to love, but in reality, this is only the beginning of the life that we are called to.  As Bishop Bickerton writes, love is “the source of our being, the fuel for the journey, and the goal for which we live.”

Love God.

Love your neighbors.

Amen.

Copyright © 2024 Rev. Katie Z. Dawson. All rights reserved.