the full-on Gospel

(Note: If you've read this blog before or if you read on, you will find that I used the exact same illustration in a sermon several weeks ago. That sermon was preached to a different congregation than I'm preaching to today. But, more importantly I'm so intrigued by the power of Gene Kelly's dance, and what that image has to say about our discipleship.)

Picture this: It's a dark and stormy night.

The rain is pouring down in buckets.

A man dons a full-length trenchcoat, a gentlemen's hat, and an umbrella. And then he heads out into the cold, wet night.

At first he hides behind the umbrella and the collar of his coat. But then, something happens. . . something about the raindrops hitting his black umbrella - something about the cuffs of his trousers getting wet - something about the rhythm about it all. . .

That something, is delight. He becomes delighted by it all. Delighted about being soaked in the wetness of God's grand creation. Delighted about being soggy. Delighted about how the rain glistens on the pavement in the soft glow of the streetlights.

He becomes so delighted that he drops his umbrella and lets the rain pelt his face, and run down his neck. His delightfulness grows and grows until he starts to hear the beat, and move to the beat - the rhythm behind the raindrops. The da-da-da da-da-da-da - and then overcome by delight he breaks out in song: "I'm singing in the rain, I'm singing in the rain!"

Can you see it now? Of course you can! It's Gene Kelly singing and dancing in the rain!

My favorite part is when he hikes up his jacket and starts splashing around in the deep puddles - and lost in delight he fails to see the policeman who's staring him down, sure as can be that he's drunk as can be!

Delight. Wonder. Being lost in it all.

At first glance, our Gospel lesson doesn't seem to be too full of delight and wonder: Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father,and a daughter against her mother,and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;and one's foes will be members of one's own household.

Yikes.

Yesterday all the mutual ministry folks from Allegany and Garrett counties got together for a training on preaching. We talked about how preaching is proclaiming the Good News, and how we should find the Good News of God in the Sunday lessons and then proclaim that Good News in our sermons.

Again, at first glance, it's almost impossible to find Good News here. Families torn apart? Family members set against each other? So much for Jesus and 'family values!'

But, here's what's going on: In Jesus' day, and in the few decades after his death and resurrection families were torn apart and set against each other. Some family members were overcome by what God had done in Jesus that they came to believe in him as Lord and Messiah. Other family members didn't come to this conclusion, and therein came the conflict. Many Christians had to make a conscious choice: believe in Christ, or stay in the family.

Currently we're in the middle of a Bible Study on the Book of Revelation. Revelation was written by a man named John as a letter to seven different churches which are in modern day Turkey. It is clear in John's letter to them that there were people in those Christian churches who were being turned over to the police for detention, torture, and execution by members of Jewish synagogues and pagan temples. It's probably the case that the people who were turning the Christians in (for practicing an illegal religion) were old friends and familiy members. They had heard that their old friends and relatives had joined this new religion, and in their anger, hurt, and betrayal they turned them in.

In that context: I came not to bring peace, but the sword makes sense.

What Jesus is asking of us is total commitment. He wants us to revel in God's Presence, and be overcome with delight and wonder in the resurrection in the same way that Gene Kelly was overcome. He wants us to dance with our joy, kick up our heels, and splash around in our baptismal waters.

Jesus wants - demands to be #1 in our lives. He doesn't want to be #3 or a close second. He asks that we make him the most important part of our life - even more important than the preservation of our own life. He wants to be above our job, our recreation, our favorite NFL team or NASCAR driver. He demands to be more important than our parents, our spouse, and even our children.

This doesn't mean that we're to abandon our families or foresake our employment. This doesn't mean a collapse of 'family values.'

For we will not be the best spouse we can be without God. We will not be able to parent our children without him. And we'll be better employers and employees if we belong to Jesus.

It's an easy thing to say: "Sure, yeah, Jesus is important to me," but it's much more important , and much, much harder to actually live it.

The easiest way to judge whether or not Jesus is #1 in our lives is to ask ourselves, where's our time and our money going. For where those two are, there will our hearts be also.

Does Jesus have our time? Do we take seriously the need to pray. Study. Serve our neighbor with love? Does Jesus have our money? Do we give to God the most minimal amount to assuage our own guilt, or do we give sacrificially?

God wants all of us. And he wants all of us joyfully, not reluctantly. He wants us to be overcome by his love for us, that we are overcome by our love for him. He wants us to be overcome in that love so much that we revel in his grace, and lift our face to heaven so that we let that grace run down own face and necks and dance around like a fool.

You want Good News today? There it is.

secrets no more

"For nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known." Matt 10:26

There's a pretty well known story (who knows if it's true!?), about a fellow who wanted to play a joke on a few of his friends. They were big shots, had important jobs, and probably ran their own companies. The jokester decided one day to send out telegrams to five of his friends with the message: "All is figured out, leave immediately." I suppose the fellow expected his friends to launch into a panic, wondering what in the world had been figured out. I suppose he thought this was going to be pretty funny. I suppose he was not expecting four of his five friends to close their bank accounts and leave the country overnight.

I suppose he wasn't expecting that his friends had anything to be 'figured out.'

I suppose he was wrong.

The point of the story is that we all have things that we'd rather not have figured out, known, talked about, or discovered. Since there aren't any halo's floating about our heads, we've all sinned, we've all disappointed ourselves, and we've all blown it.

Many of us probably know the sting of someone finding out something about our past or present that we'd rather not have broadcast. All you need to do is think of Presidents: Nixon, Clinton. Michael Jackson was found innocent of the charges against him, but a lot of things were found out that I'm sure he would probably not have wanted to be the main topic of conversation on Larry King Live.

I worked in a urban church for a summer in Atlanta, which was pretty close to the Atlanta City Jail. The congregation decided to begin a ministry to the jail, offering friendship, fellowship, and worship services to the inmates. One old, wise, black woman - who was no nonsense - and who I half expected to be against the idea of going into the jail - said one day: "Hey, if the truth were told, we'd all be in jail. If the truth were really told."

Every Sunday we gather in our churches, and begin our worship with the prayer: Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid. . . It's a prayer that was written almost 1,000 years ago, to be prayed by the priest as he got ready for the service to begin. It reminded the priest that as he came before God and his congregation to lead worship, his heart was open, his deepest desires were known, and no secret was secret enough. God knew all. in other words: all is figured out.

And today, God still knows all.

And I mean, God knows it ALL.

There's no fooling him, there's no pulling one over on him, and there's no use in trying to hide anything. He knows the whole story.

There's something overwhelming about that - I mean yikes.

But, there's also something incredible about it all. God knows everything about us, he knows everything we've done, everything we haven't done, and every thought that's gone through our minds. All is figured out.

And still, he loves us. And still, he offers mercy and grace. And still, he forgives.

In today's Gospel lesson, Jesus was speaking to his twelve apostles. Twelve of the sorriest bunch you've ever seen. Illiterate fishermen. A kaniving tax collector. An armed revolutionary (we might call him a terrorist today). All is figured out.

And Jesus looks them in the eye, knowing everything about them and says: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

God values us, counts us worthy, and tells us to not be afraid - not to worry - because we're being held in his hands. The good, the bad, and the ugly - we're all his and he loves us each regardless.

There's something amazingly freeing about that. We don't have to hang our heads low, we don't have to try and avoid God (as if we really could), and we don't have to walk around with guilty, unworthy feelings about ourselves. Everything is known, and still it's all ok. In fact, it more than ok.

And if that's not enough for you, not only does he reassure us and free us in these verses, but he gives us a job to do. He sends us - even though he knows it all - to do his work. Behold, I send you out as sheep into the midst of wolves. He counts us as sheep, and rates us higher than the sparrow, and he wants every precious hair of our heads to be busy working for the Kingdom.

And so today, rest in knowlege that the God who knows you better than you know yourself loves you dearly, finds you worthy, and is counting on you. No matter what, no matter what.

All is figured out. Thanks be to God.

Being Joyful, Dancing and Singing

Picture this: It's a dark and stormy night. The rain is pouring down in buckets. A man dons a full-length trenchcoat, a gentlemen's hat, and an umbrella. And then he heads out into the cold, wet night.

At first he hides behind the umbrella and the collar of his coat.

But then, something happens. . . something about the raindrops hitting his black umbrella - something about the cuffs of his trousers getting wet - something about the rhythm about it all. . .

That something, is delight. He becomes delighted by it all. Delighted about being soaked in the wetness of God's grand creation. Delighted about being soggy. Delighted about how the rain glistens on the pavement in the soft glow of the streetlights.

He becomes so delighted that he drops his umbrella and lets the rain pelt his face, and run down his neck. His delightfulness grows and grows until he starts to hear the beat, and move to the beat - the rhythm behind the raindrops. The da-da-da da-da-da-da - and then overcome by delight he breaks out in song: "I'm singing in the rain, I'm singing in the rain!"

Can you see it now? Of course you can! It's Gene Kelly singing and dancing in the rain!

My favorite part is when he hikes up his jacket and starts splashing around in the deep puddles - and lost in delight he fails to see the policeman who's staring him down, sure as can be that he's drunk as can be!

Delight. Wonder. Being lost in it all.

This weekend's Psalm is the 100th. "Be Joyful in the Lord all you lands, serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with a song."

Be Joyful. Only in the Church can a scowl and a sour face pass for joy! Only in the Church can the droning recitation of Elizabethan English prayers and the durge-like singing of a hymn pass for joy!

Be joyful in the Lord all you lands!

When God asks that of us, I think he really means it. I think he really wants us to be joyful.

Any 'why' you may ask: because "The LORD himself is God; he himself has made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. . . For the LORD is good;his mercy is everlasting; and his faithfulness endures from age to age."

We're to be joyful - we're to delight in the presence of God because he made us. Because he knit every fiber of our being together, and because he knows every hair on our heads. Because he woke us up this morning, breathing breathe into our lungs and coursing blood through our veins. Because he sent us His son. And because His Son bore the cross for us. Because we're the sheep of his pasture.

If that's not cause for joy, I don't know what is! How can we sit still? How can we not help but sing, dance and shout, filled with delight and joy, lost in wonder love and praise. How can we not hike up our trenchcoats and jump around like school children in overflowing puddles.

In Matthew 9, Jesus looks upon his followers, realizes that his followers are like sheep without a shepherd, and "he had compassion for them." The Greek word for compassion there, doesn't just mean "compassion," it means "moved in his bowels." Jesus looks at us, his people, and he is deeply moved, from the very core of his being. When we cry, he cries. When we delight, he delights. When we dance in the rain, he swings from a light pole.

What we need in our Christian walk, in our Christian worship, and in our Christian faith is to open ourselves up to joy, to delight, to wonder in the presence of God.

This past Easter, at St. Peter's, I gave the invitation to communion, and a blonde boy with curly hair, who was newly baptized and full of Resurrection-wonder, came running up the aisle and jumped onto the altar rail. He turned around and looked at the congregation behind him, as if to say: "Come on, guys! What's the hold up!"

Jesus was there, and was beckoning him. He had been created by him, redeemed by him, sanctified by him, and washed in the waters of baptism by him - and filled with delight he ran to the altar rail. If there was a light pole he would have swung from it. If there had been a puddle he would have jumped right through it.

Be joyful in the Lord - Be filled with delight - be lost in wonder love and praise. And don't worry about getting your shoes wet.

Raising Lazarus

The building committee gathered on Thursday night to discuss the progress of the new building, and how we're going to proceed from here. The defining moment was when Lillian stopped us all to remind us that we're not about numbers and figures, but rather we're supposed to be about prayer and reliance on the Holy Spirit.

How true.

As we continue to raise our building, may we do so by raising our trust in God. May we do so by raising our faith in God. May we do so by raising our prayers and hands to heaven. For, from the maker of heaven and earth cometh our help. (Psalm 121)

Merciful notes

Seven-hundred and some years before Jesus walked this earth there was a preacher-man who was widely known. He wasn't known for his fancy-shiny suits, his wild hair-do's, or his televangelism empire. He was known for his uncompromising stance against paganism, and in particular it's sexual practices. Common among pagan temples were bands of temple prostitutes, to help aid it's worshippers in thier quest for divine exstacy. This prophet would rail againt the temple prositutes and sexual deviancy. This prophet would go on and on and on about the sexual sins of blaspheming people. This prophet's name was Hosea.

And he was doing just fine, thank you very much, until one day God spoke him and told him to marry - a prostitute. Can you see the faces of Hosea's congregation now? Can you hear what they said about him? The righteous sexual-sin-denouncing preacher-man marrying - a prostitute?!

But, in the face of all the laughs and jeers, God told him to marry her, and so he did. They had three children together in their early years, but, the family life wasn't what his wife, Gomer, was used to. And so, one day she went back to exactly what she was used to. She went back to the temple. Back to her boyfriends. Back to her clientelle.

Hosea could have turned his back on her forever. Who would have held that against him? Who would have tried to talk him out of it. The story of his ex-wife could have been the prelude to every sermon he ever preached for the rest of his life.

But, he didn't. He took her back. He brought her back into their home, their family, and their marriage.

If you put some distance between yourself and this story, it reads like a bad soap opera. It sounds like a cheap Sunday afternoon made-for-TV movie.

If you open yourself up though - if you put flesh and bones on these characters, this story becomes a story of pain, agony, shame, and humiliation. Set Hosea and Gomer down beside you, and you drown in the abyss of their lives.

First of all, the root of all prostitution is exploitation. Like today's young girls forced onto the street, Gomer was probably put there by an uncaring and heartless father (or other power hungry and greedy male) who was promised money for the sale of her. She was probably victimized at a very young age, and the wounds that were inflicted were so deep the healing balm needed was only that of heaven.

Hosea, was tossed around. His heart torn, and his fidelity challenged. Oh, the humiliation. Oh, the shame. But, the deepest heart breaking moment must have been when he realized that Gomer was just a mirror-reflection of himself. He may have been a preacher. He may have been a prophet. But, he was a sinner in need of the mercy of God too.

I imagine that's what drove him to take her back. Who was he to judge? Who was he to withhold mercy?

This story, is our story. Maybe ours is less remarkable and newsworthy. Maybe not. But, the story of Hosea and Gomer reminds us that the honest truth is that we're all Gomer - even Hosea. We're all sinners. We're all far short of where we want to be, and where God would like us to be.

This story is a story of mercy and grace. Grace being that which God gives us even when we don't deserve it. And mercy bring that which God doesn't give us when we do deserve it.

Hosea and Gomer remind us that God is the source of all mercy and grace.

Hosea and Gomer remind us that, because we're all Gomers, we're in desperate need of the mercy and grace He gives.

And Hosea reminds us that in turn we need to act with the same mercy and grace towards all humanity. For who are we, the recipiants of the gracious mercy of a gracious God, to withold mercy from another?

First blog

I had lunch with Don Goldbloom, the Senior Warden for Saint John's, yesterday. We talked, laughed, and even shed a few tears as we expressed how we see the Holy Spirit moving at Saint John's, and ow we're moving with Him. This blog is just another way for us to try and reach out into the world, which the Spirit is calling us to do, and let the world reach back out to us.