MEMO for Those Who Preach: April 17

My mother was a member of the Dorcus Circle of the Women’s Society.  She probably was not up on her Greek but she knew that to be a member of a Circle bearing that name had something to do with Easter and the raising of the dead.  Mostly the Dorcus Circle served at funeral dinners and raised money for the work of women through the Conference.

By the time that the Acts of the Apostles was written, there were expressions and signs of the resurrection everywhere.  Indeed the killing of Jesus was a bit like striking the head of a milkweed pod.  Seeds simply fly into the wind and go everywhere. My mother would not have liked for me to indicate that her humble work in the church was raising the dead. She simply was a good neighbor. But I believe that what she did in the practice of neighborliness was resurrectional stuff.

I need to say that better. Jan and I, while on vacation, visited the Alamo and the River Walk in San Antonio, TX. We didn’t know that spring break was on, and the kids were everywhere.  We were hungry and needed to sit for a spell, so we fought our way into an open-air restaurant and managed to find two places slap dab in the middle of youth. (I might add that bikinis have gotten smaller!)  It was crowded but the kids were polite to these two aging pilgrims. The music was good and Jan likes to sing and clap along. The food and drink were great and we old folks were having a blast among the kids. I suppose we did stand out a bit. When it was time to pay, the waitress said, “Yours is taken care of.”  We ask who paid it, and the waitress said, “I am not to tell you—but she did,” pointing to a nearby table.  Jan went over to thank the gang of several young women, and one woman said, “You looked like you were having fun and we wished to honor you.” (I told Jan that it might have happened because with my need for a hair cut I was beginning to have that Bernie Sanders look.) They also told Jan that they liked to “pay it forward.”

Later when we stopped for gas, Jan went into the store to buy a few items.  After a while she came out and said, “You would never guess what happened.” A young woman needed money to pay for her purchase and was a bit short (her credit card was declined).  So Jan simply said, “Please let me pay.”  She did, and the woman gave her a grateful hug.  I don’t always know what resurrection faith looks like, but neighborliness is close to the meaning.  I would guess that those young women had not read of Peter who raised Dorcus from the dead.  But the spirit of resurrection is always already with us. Jesus as the Risen One has revealed by his life and death and resurrection new ways to be human. Indeed by the power of the Holy Spirit, neighborliness is let loose in our world as a new way to be, to live, to celebrate.  Happy Easter and try paying it forward. You will be amazed!

 

Prayer

God, your ways are not our ways but we are trying to make a match.  Thank you for making the Resurrection of Jesus a continuous movement of the spirit.  We need new life,

new ways to greet the stranger in our midst.  Amen

MEMO for Those Who Preach: April 10

One of John’s Easter Stories finds the disciples hiding behind closed and barred doors and Jesus comes and stands among them.  He simply will break down every barrier to faith.

On Palm Sunday, Jan and I found ourselves in the French Quarter in New Orleans looking for a United Methodist Church.  Online we discovered the historic St. Mark’s United Methodist Church not so far from Bourbon Street.  This congregation made a bit of history in 1973 when a fire in a gay bar in the French Quarter ended the lives of twenty-five persons.  No church in the area would do a memorial service.  St. Mark’s pastor and people stepped up and conducted the service.

This wonderful old church has had its ups and downs. In recent years the church almost died, but the current pastor, Rev. Anita Dinwiddie, has brought it back, from 18 members in 2005 to well over 100.

On Palm Sunday the church was full, and a child was baptized!  As we sang at the beginning of the service “Hosanna Loud Hosanna,” we felt like we were experiencing the risen power of Christ.  Persons from all walks and conditions of life welcomed each other and us. I found myself thinking, “This old Church of ours still has a future, regardless of what ‘The Powers’ say.”

Jan and I saw Christ raised from the dead near Bourbon Street through the work and ministry of a non-assuming local pastor and her growing flock. Rev. Dinwiddie is a graduate of the Course of Study and will soon retire as a full-time local pastor. This bright youthful woman, old enough to be a great -grandma, brings her wit and witness to the people.

Following the service as we left, a large line of the homeless and the poor was forming outside to come in and partake of  a free meal, served every Sunday.

I don’t think the noise of our solemn assembly  later this spring will be able to hinder this ministry and others like it, if the folks at the grass roots level just “keep on keeping on.” The risen Christ just keeps on walking through those closed doors—perhaps even General Conference.  St. Mark’s welcome statement leaves no person out, and they really mean it:  A church fellowship which recognizes and seeks to embody the truth that all people are the children of God regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender identity, life history, education, place of birth, age…God’s love is not only for all but God’s spirit seeks to create us into a community filled with genuine care and love for one another.    

 

 Christ is Risen Indeed– near Bourbon Street!

 

Prayer: God, we make it difficult for you to come and be among us. We speak of open doors but guard the threshold.  But we grow tired and weary of those who would be selective regarding the company we must keep.  Come Lord Jesus, welcome stranger that you are, open our eyes that we might see. Amen

MEMO for Those Who Preach: April 3

“How foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter glory? ”Lk 24:19

 

 “God has placed within each of us a God-shaped emptiness that only God can fill.”   Pascal

 

I have been reading David and Liz, Dancing Through Love, a personal reflection on the long marriage and story of the Kruidenier family of Des Moines, as told to their biographer Beverly Rivera Davis.  Their story is a glimpse inside the life of the very, very rich.  David and Liz had a long marriage with all of the ups and downs, and they made it work. They were not religious. After the death of a young brother, Liz chose to disbelieve in God.  Best one can tell this never changed, but in her daily life she worked for love and justice every day.  She was the energy behind Planned Parenthood of Iowa, and a tireless worker for the civil rights of minorities at a time when there was little interest in the cause.  David, the publisher of The Des Moines Register, saw that paper become a great voice for truth, fairness, and justice.  And as he grew old and blind, he and Liz used their money for much that has given the city of Des Moines its beauty and modern appearance.  This included building the Evelyn Davis Library and Park in honor of Ms. Davis, the great leader within the African American Community.  But they never speak of a spiritual dimension.

There seems to be a witness of unbelief. Part of it comes from not wishing to be part of a church whose members talk a good fight, but worry more about personal salvation than building a good and just world for everyone.  And some are simply stubborn and will not allow themselves to see beyond what reason cannot prove.

All of this came to mind as I read again the account of the two persons walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus.  They are in great pain because the one who they had put their hope in was crucified.  All they knew to do was to go home, their hopes and dreams crushed, the new promise of life destroyed. For them that’s just the way life was. Life is about being let down, disappointed.

But along the way there is this encounter with a stranger. He tells them of all that God has done in the past.  The stranger is so convincing and his words create a hunger for more.  So they invite the stranger to stay for supper—and while they are breaking bread, he makes himself known.  We don’t know if it was a vision, a dream, or what—only that faith was re-kindled and these persons decide to return to Jerusalem and spread the word, “We have seen the risen Christ!”

I think that we always live in two worlds at the same time, but here and there, now and then, clues are offered.  There is what some have called soft spots, moments when light shines through the walls we build to keep the light out–now you see it, now you don’t.  But something moves us to find our better selves. There is nothing one can explain or needs to explain. One day you simply know there is in the hidden-ness of life — new possibilities, opportunities, in a word hope. I suspect that Liz and David were moved at times because their very lives revealed a kind of love and caring that is really not possible without the movement of the spirit. Could it be that just at the place where we decide there is nothing more, spirit bumps into us?

Regardless, after reading David and Liz and all they were able to accomplish for good, I decided that God can use the strange witness of unbelief –and that is a great help to me when I find myself full of doubt and questions.  We keep asking,  “Was Christ really raised from the dead?” But the real question is not the historical question.  Rather, it is, “Is anything happening to us?  Are we being raised from the dead—now?”

Christ is Risen, Indeed!

 

Prayer:  God, why not make faith easier for all of us?  Some of us have spent our lives talking about what you can do. Others among us gave up on the subject, but still in their unbelief outdo many of us.   Lord God, help us to throw away the measuring stick and simply give thanks when we see acts of unconditional love happening. Your ways are not our ways, and we thank you for that!

  Amen

The View from East Peru: X

The View from East Peru Spring- AD 2016

 

This morning we discovered that while we were sleeping the green grass has sprouted, tiny blades are struggling to point toward the sky.   The Robins are back, sitting in the crabapple tree, feathers a bit puffed up to block the sharp March wind, just a warning that one ought not to rush the season too much.    The seed catalog is here and we are anxious to get the potatoes in the ground,  onions too.  Garlic is pushing through the mulch cover and the pesky weed will not be far behind.

We like to layer old copies of the newspaper and old magazines as a weed screen. This year we have  copies of The Register and I like to think that we are putting the likes of old Trump and others where they belong down among the compost.

When we open the compost bin it will give off quite a smell not unlike what the politicians have subjected us to this year.

Friends tell me not to worry about old Trump, the people will see the light and not vote for him.  But I think he is like the noxious weed that just keeps coming back—to ignore  those weeds is to lose your garden.  Oh well. Enough of that—Happy spring from East Peru—In the Year of our Lord March 20, 2016

MEMO for Those Who Preach: Easter Sunday

The culture of the old Greek/Roman world was ruled by unbelief. The Cynics, the Stoics, and especially the Skeptics of that age simply were trapped in a world with no future.  The image of Sisyphus pushing that boulder up a slick and greasy hill only to have it win by tumbling back to the bottom was the image of the day.  Within Judaism we find a people trapped within a system of law that gave about as much freedom as a straitjacket.  Israel had lost contact with the God of History and the Roman Empire simply had no concept of hope.

Into this world came Jesus.  And for one brief and shining moment, some, not many, caught a glimpse of another world right square dab in the middle of the hopeless old world.  This new message, good news, Gospel spoken by a most unlikely voice, was quickly silenced by crucifixion. The powers of that day and today knew how to handle new creation—you snub it out—bury it and fix a millstone in place. (Note I visited Gordon Tomb outside the city wall in Jerusalem and measured one of those millstones- they do not roll away easily!)  But the rumor, the gossip, the good news, just the chattering of some women, spoke of the stone rolled away.  Who knows what happened, only that a new story was let loose in the world—here and there, now and then—like a fire that just keeps on burning –hope was born.  A new language replaced Caesar, Christ is Risen indeed!  Go and tell it everywhere –there is Good News! The stone of our stumbling has become the sure foundation of faith.

Some will say the above is too theological.  And to some extent, the preacher is caught in a terrible bind.  We can say, but can we really tell?  Easter faith will always be more than we are able to say.  What follows is some verse that I put together for the skeptics among us.

More Than

 

Easter is more than

The miracle of spring and nature’s new gift

But that is part of it.

More than

Proof of an afterlife,

Although it points to that real possibility.

More than

Psychological feelings set in a hopeful direction.

Although those feelings are there.

More than

The word that love is stronger than death,

Although this is true.

More than

The thought that God will do in death

What cannot be done in life, and God surely will.

Resurrection

Is to know where we cannot prove,

That God is on our side as giver of life right now,

As we draw our next breath.

Right this minute, eternal life is ours,

If we choose it.

Resurrection is God’s revolt against death.

The proof of the resurrection is a changed world.*

 

Prayer

God, you confound the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the skepticism of this present age.  In your loving care, we live and move and have our being.  Deliver us from

the fear of death, overcome us with the delight of life. Thank you for life, for love, for peace and joy—we pray in the name of Jesus, who died and rose again and now lives within our hearts. Amen

 

*If one is inclined to use the verse, kindly credit  A Madison County Journal  by Bill Cotton, p.19, published by IOWAN BOOKS, 2011.

MEMO for Those Who Preach: March 20

Some believe that we should read the entire passion narrative on Palm Sunday.  That was once the tradition and, sorry to say, early on I did that very thing– just read an acre of scripture. By the time we were through, folks had glazed eyes and some kids had sent out for pizza. I learned not to do that again—we can’t force feed the Gospel.

So why not find a text and preach — put your best foot forward? On Palm Sunday people are receptive –looking and hoping and searching.

Some years ago I went to Bethlehem.  I was surprised to see all of the stones. Grey stones everywhere, one could hardly walk for stumbling. It was a bit depressing to see nothing green. Later in Old Jerusalem, I found myself walking on the ancient streets, stone worn smooth, where so many feet had trod.  And I remembered as the crowds welcomed Jesus into the city, some would hush the cries of beggars, but Jesus reminds that if the cries are hushed, even the stones cry out.

Somehow stones reminded me of desolation, the desert, Death Valley, absence of hope and life.

Do you remember the Death Valley Days commercial when actor Ronald Reagan was selling Twenty Mule Team Borax?  That desert simply never bloomed. Yet recently, because of changing weather patterns that caused flooding in that desert that seldom receives water, there was a magnificent array of blooming plants! Ah yes, as Isaiah reminds us, the desert shall bloom, and if there were trees left, they no doubt were clapping their hands. Flowers do not bloom in Death Valley—perhaps the stones do cry out.

My friend David tells of his four-year-old daughter out in the flower bed planting rocks and watering them. To her amazement, tulips started to bloom right there.  She was so excited. David tried to explain bulbs, but it was no use. In the eyes of a four-year-old, it was a miracle of rocks that bloom.  Later when David went to pick her up for some trip, she ran to him with a big smile and presented him with a stone she had found and said, “Now we can plant more flowers”—she had washed the stones.  David said, “Suddenly I heard this stone crying out to me – ‘Pay attention to this moment, a gift from your child.  Don’t pass by these moments so quickly.’”  There are miracles in life– not the flashy moments, but the daily ones in relationships.   David said, “You better believe we will plant the stones and a few seeds too.” Jesus was right to not ignore the ordinary–even the stones cry out!

This Jesus, ordinary appearing, entering the city riding on a borrowed ass, soon to be humiliated and destroyed, not impressive at all — yet if the story is ignored,  even the stones will cry out—people will come, join the crowd, hoping against hope for some sign that life is good. What a great opportunity to preach.

 

Prayer

God, we preachers sometimes get ourselves in the way of your word. In our eagerness to tell, we miss the opportunity to show.  Bless our efforts and grant to each of your servants the wisdom needed to faithfully preach the Word.

Amen 

MEMO for Those Who Preach: March 13

The Gospel of John is known by some as a “Johnnie-come-lately” writing.  John is dated much later than the three Gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke.   John, bathed in the light of Easter, will present Jesus in radically different ways.  The text for today is a good example.  Jesus has come to Bethany.  In the three Gospels he will stay at the home of Simon the Pharisee.  Well that is not quite right.  One Gospel, Luke, reports that he is at the home of Simon the Leper.  And there is more confusion. Mark and Matthew will tell of a woman who comes bringing costly ointment to anoint Jesus’ head—as if one is anointing a king.  Luke reveals this same woman, a  sinner,  and  she will anoint Jesus’ feet.  Now the real confusion. Jesus will bless the actions of this woman by saying that whenever the Gospel is preached, her name will be remembered for the beautiful thing that she has done.  But, she is given no name!

John’s telling  the story, and decides that the meeting in Bethany happened when Jesus visited in the home of Mary and Martha, sisters of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead.  At his time Mary will anoint Jesus’ feet, and when Judas, who is also there, objects that the ointment is costly and should be sold, with proceeds given to the poor—Jesus will object and speak of the beautiful thing that Mary has done.

Now the woman with no name is given a name.

Some have wondered why John fixed the story this way.  Others have wondered why the nameless woman has no name.  And always in the shadows there is another woman named Mary who is with the mother of Jesus at the foot of the cross, and the first witness to the risen Christ on Easter morning.  So I leave the preacher with

this mystery to solve.

One thing for sure, the woman has done a beautiful thing.  And her story is worth repeating in each Lenten season.  Whether she is crowning Jesus as Lord of Life,

or simply bathing the feet of one who must soon walk through the valley of death,

the beauty of the story cannot be denied.

In one of his writings the Russian scholar Solzhenitsyn, who spent years in a Russian  prison, once proclaimed that “beauty will save the world.” Beauty can replace the ugly, the darkside, the evil thoughts that we fight to overcome.   On this fifth Sunday in Lent just before we go to dark Gethsemane, a woman has done a beautiful thing for Jesus and for us.  Perhaps we should put the puzzle aside and figure out what simple acts worthy of beauty should be our gift to each other in this holy time.

 

Prayer

God, keep us from projecting our fears onto your story. Let the light that is coming in to the world through the words and deeds of Jesus bathe us with hope and joy.  Amen

MEMO for Those Who Preach: March 6

Preaching the Parables is a tricky business.  For me, the First Rule and one that I once ignored, is to discover to whom Jesus is speaking, and what prompted the telling of the parable. I was taught that we should set the boundary of the text, meaning letting the listener in on why this parable. Usually the parable is told in response to a question. In this text the tax collectors are grumbling, “Why does he allow his followers to eat with foreigners and sinners?”

And Jesus replies by telling them three parables.  Jesus is doing an Abe Lincoln.  You know, when people are angry and out to get you, sometimes telling a story settles folks down a bit and enables them to hear. That day Jesus tells them three parables — a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost boy.  Let’s look at the lost boy.

A Second Rule, as Kierkegaard would say, the purpose of the parable is to slip up on the behind side of the listener. The problem to overcome in this text is the familiarity of the story.  Everyone thinks they know the prodigal son parable and fail to see that it is one of the most revolutionary texts in the Bible.

 

A man has two sons, an elder son and a young kid brother. The young boy says to Old Dad, “You know that money that you said I could have one day? How about giving it to me now?”  The boy wishes to be unencumbered and to be on his own. Of course, you can’t be a Jew if you leave your community.  But old dad gives him the inheritance, and the boy sets out for the far country.  We are not told where –but for this boy it looks like freedom. He goes and apparently has a really good time– riotous living!  But one morning his check bounces, the credit card is maxed out, and he has an eviction notice.  It is time to find a job.  But, because the world has never understood adolescent behavior, there is little mercy.  The only job he could find was working for a pig farmer, a forbidden profession for Jews.  What follows are tough days and no one gave him anything, so he must eat what the pigs eat.

Out of this experience he learns three things:

1) Pigs are not gracious–they do not share–life for the pig is root, hog, or die.

2) He is not a pig–important knowledge! The text actually says that “he came to himself.”

3) He remembers that he has a father, and a community.  In a word, he can go home. (Perhaps Baptism and Confirmation work after all)

The boy heads for home, practicing his speech all the way home–“Father, I am not worthy, I have sinned, treat me as one of the help.”  Meanwhile, Old Dad has been waiting–that’s just what parents do–we wait–and wonder if the kid will ever grow up.

Have you waited for the kid to come home? It is after midnight — and finally the welcome sound of a car door

slamming gives a moment of relief.  Old Dad has been waiting for this day. Each morning he goes out on the hill waiting, watching. So that morning, just at sunrise, he sees the boy at a distance. He would know that gait anywhere.       Old dad turns and says to his servant, “Bring my whip–we must teach this boy a lesson.”  But, “No, he cries out,

our boy who was lost is found; he who was dead is alive. Quick, bring a robe and a ring and sandals!” That day the boy doesn’t get to give the speech that he had worked on all the way home. No punishment — “Let’s have a party!”

 

   Rule Three--Sometimes it is helpful to take the side of the villain in the story. As the story unfolds, we can see the authorities frowning.  Something is wrong with this picture.

The boy severed his ties with the community and no punishment.  We have rules about such things.

The story continues as the older brother comes home after a hard day’s work. He hears the music, and the smell of roasting calf is in the air.  Learning the circumstances, he refuses to go in: “Father, I have worked for you all of my life and you never once gave me a kid goat for a party.   This no-good comes home and you kill the prize calf. This is just not right!”

Well, I have some sympathy for the older brother. I am an older brother, the good kid!  Why I went into the ministry. What is this, Jesus? Sounds like cheap grace, or sloppy agape . (When we take the side of the villain in these parables, we discover what sin really looks like — our own self righteousness).

 

Rule Four — Don’t fix the story too much. Let the parable do its own work with the congregation. Old Dad reasons with his older son,  “I love you both, but your brother was lost and is found, was dead and is alive.” The boy isn’t buying it and refuses to go in. The parable ends and we don’t know what happened. Did the brothers duke it out the next day? Or did the older son come around and the  family does a little circle dance of rejoicing? We don’t know.

That is both the problem and the gift of parable–

The answer if found will be within each of us as we struggle with what to do. So I leave it right here–have fun!

 

Prayer:  God, thank you for your amazing unconditional love. We prodigals are confounded by your grace, your mercy never ends, and those of us who know of the far country gain comfort and hope — a chance to get it right next time. And those of us who have children who drive us crazy, we now know the power of simply asking, “Lord Have Mercy.” Amen

MEMO for Those Who Preach: Feb. 28

Isaiah 55:7 – “Let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

55:8 – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.”

55:9 – “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

 

In times of trouble I go to this text.  Through the years it has been one place where I find release from the terrible things that we do to ourselves and to each other.  Isaiah is speaking of true grace, unearned merit, offered by God who will abundantly pardon.

I would settle for most any kind of pardon, but no! This Grace is extravagant, abundantly given—like buying wine and bread without the need for money.

I remember so well. The woman came storming into my study. She carried a large Bible and she had been searching for the words that we spoke at her husband’s funeral the day before. Her husband had committed suicide and I in desperation have found those words in Isaiah 55 that spoke of a God who will abundantly pardon. (As you know, all words fail in moments like that) But together we found those words that day and more– as Brother Isaiah spoke of the beautiful release from shame and guilt—

 

“For you shall go out in joy

And be led back in peace,

The mountains and hills shall burst into song

And all the trees shall clap their hands—

-A memorial,

An everlasting sign that we shall not be cut off…”

 

I believe that when someone takes her/his own life, that is not a good time for theological speculation, judgment, blame, or a teachable moment.  So I simply let Isaiah do the talking, and if I can get my opinions and myself out of the way, perhaps a moment of grace will strike. Days later this woman came back to church and while it was a hard road to travel, she gradually found peace.

All of this is to say that preaching can be an instrument of healing, if we do not allow our opinions and judgments to block out the healing power of the Word. Don’t you just love the way old Isaiah tells us to come buy the bread of life without money—I don’t have a clue as to what that means, but I know it’s true. Grace is sufficient!

 

Prayer:  God, you give us the gift of life and sometimes it is too much for us to handle.  In those moments, “take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace.” * Amen

* Hymn “Dear Lord and Father(sic) of Humankind” p 358, Hymnal

MEMO for Those Who Preach: Feb. 21

Luke, sometimes called The Great Physician, has at least 26 healing stories in

his Gospel.  Jesus is portrayed as the enemy of all things broken.  In this text

the Pharisees warn Jesus that Herod is planning to murder him.  Usually we see the Pharisees as the enemy, but actually they are simply trying to do their job.  When one is the assigned protector of hundreds of laws, “do’s and don’ts,” and Jesus comes along and seems to wreck havoc by allowing some discretion, he allows the disciples to gather food on the Sabbath, tells a crippled man who is healed on the Sabbath to take his bed and go home (taking that bed would be work and forbidden), this created great conflict.  Jesus implies that the Sabbath was meant for human refreshment, and was never meant to be a burden.  Sabbath rest, and our ability to do so, implies that we are not slaves to our work.

We get ourselves in trouble whenever the law becomes a straight jacket that allows no discretion.  In our court system today, hundreds of young people are spending years in prison simply because the laws are written so as to tie the judges’ hands– mandatory sentencing/no discretion.  (In this Land of the Free, we now have more people in prison than any country on earth.)  Lord have Mercy…! It would seem that we pick our judges in order that justice might be served, but then tie their hands.  And to challenge this system is to be told that one is soft on crime.

Jesus comes into a broken world, where the law has become a burden to the people.  He would set the captive free.  I wonder why the church is so silent on this issue?  Do we still believe that part of our calling is to heal a broken and sick world, to cast out demons, and to resist the evil powers of this present age?

The Gospel for this day foreshadows things to come, as Jesus will soon set his face toward Jerusalem—to challenge the evil system.  Who will come and go with him?

 

Prayer

 

God, sometimes I sing that old hymn, “Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone,” and deep in my heart, I know the answer must somehow include me. Lord, I believe—help Thou my unbelief. Amen