How Long, O Lord? A Sermon in a Rural County Following the Election

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Tim Graves — Leave a comment

Isaiah 6

We must hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. –Karl Barth

Election numbers

County 2/3
State 40%
National slightly less than 50%

Protests across cities

Fringe Trump supporters overtly threatening

We are a deeply divided people

Our hope that we would somehow magically come back together after Tuesday was naive.

***

Result of election of one who was openly

Racist
Misogynistic
Blamed immigrants and Muslims

Stories from circle re fear

Text: ”Half of this country just threw my life under the bus”

Election served as a trigger for sexual assault victims

Hateful “go home” notes left in people’s work mailboxes

Synagogues hiring security

Screamed at on way to work: “Trump! N****r!”

I spent much of Wednesday counseling, listening

***

Others celebrate shock to polarized system

Needs have been ignored

Voting for him doesn’t mean you did so because racist

Some of you voted for him despite these things

***

View the world through the Bible, faith, love

love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength…The second is this, You will love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 CEB

As followers of Jesus we are obliged to stand with those the powerful have attacked.

I sat down to write the scripture email late Wednesday. I came up with something not quite reflection.

I share some of that with you now:

***

“How long, O Lord?” asks Isaiah. “How long, O Lord?” must I fruitlessly prophesy to your people.

And God tells him that he must prophesy until the cities lay in ruins and the land lay devastated.

And, still, Isaiah goes where God sends him.

This is a discouraging story.

The descriptions of the people turning away from living in accordance with God’s requirements,

their obstinate refusal to listen to the prophet warning of the pitfalls of their chosen path,

and, still the voice of Isaiah calling to them, is reminiscent of an apocalyptic movie. Love of neighbor be damned!

I have seen some horrible things as an educator and as a pastor.

I’ve been privy to some of the worst of what humanity has to offer.

I’ve often felt like following God’s requirements “to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8 CEB) is futile.

Too often I’ve felt beaten down by shortsighted bureaucrats or politicians more concerned with bombing and killing others than feeding our own children!

My words of “you are God’s beloved” seem too little when the church — THE CHURCH! — spews hatred and rejects children of God.

In the face of an incoming president who has made fun of a disabled reporter, bragged about sexual assault, who has a racist history,

and who blames and threatens to discriminate against all Muslims — our sibling Abrahamic religion — all while claiming the Christian faith, I am discouraged.

Does our faith even matter? On the morning following the election I was counseling multiple people who are terrified that their rights are at stake now.

One young woman said to me, “I am scared for my personal safety!”

An individual one step removed from me was the victim of someone yelling, “Trump! N****r!” as he journeyed to work.

I imagine Isaiah saw some of the same underbelly of humanity happening all around him.

God does not seek prophets when humanity is loving neighbor and caring for the least of these (Matthew 25:44-45).

God saw the state of the world all too clearly in the time around King Uzziah’s death, in Isaiah’s time.

Then I heard the Lord’s voice saying, “Whom should I send, and who will go for us?” I said, “I’m here; send me.” Isaiah 6:8 CEB

Isaiah volunteered to take God’s message to the people!

His response reminded me of a little girl who, as Hitler was spreading through Europe, wrote in her diary:

“It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart” (Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank).

Just as Isaiah responded to God’s call to a seemingly fruitless task, we must not give up on God’s call to be the realm of God in the world.

If we are to call ourselves Christians, we must stand on the margins of society as Jesus did.

We must strive to manifest the extravagant love of Christ.

We must protect the vulnerable even when others empower hatred.

[Isaiah] said, “How long, Lord?” And God said, “Until cities lie ruined with no one living in them, until there are houses without people and the land is left devastated.” (Isaiah 6:11 CEB)

And I suppose there is the Good News:

Even when we don’t deserve it, even when the only thing that remains is a holy seed, God does not give up.

Amen.

Tagged with: Donald Trump, God, grace, politics, racism, violence
Posted in Elections, Isaiah, Isaiah 6, Sermon, Special Times

Open Your Eyes

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Tim Graves — Leave a comment

*Call to Worship

Open your eyes to,
the shadows and substance.

Open yourselves to,
the hope and promise.

Open our eyes to the wonder and mystery that is God.

___

Suggested opening hymns

Open My Eyes, That I May See
Shadow and Substance

Posted in Call to Worship, Old Testament, Psalm 119, Psalm 119:18, Psalms, Uncategorized

And we run.

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Tim Graves — Leave a comment

*Prayer of Confession responsive

You call, God.
And we run.

You point, God.
And we go the other way.

We hide from you, God.
And you seek us out.

We get angry at you, God.
And you wait patiently.

We pout & grumble at you, God.
And you listen.

We judge you when you fail to
be like our image of you, God.
And you love us anyway.

And when we are ready, you touch us with a sliver of your wisdom.
And we relax into your ways.

Amen.

Tagged with: Jonah & the Big Fish, Jonah & the Whale, narrative lectionary
Posted in Confession of Sin & Assurance, Jonah, Jonah 3:10-4:11, Old Testament, Uncategorized

Run! Run as Fast As You Can!

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Tim Graves — Leave a comment

“Run! Run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the gingerbread man!” When I was a kid that was the taunt we’d use while playing tag. I thought about that while reading Jonah this week. God asks him to do one thing. One thing! And he taunts God,

“Run! Run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the Jonah-man!”

How’d that work out for him?

***

To contemporary ears, Jonah’s “occupation” as a prophet is not clear. The structure of the verbiage in Hebrew would have been familiar to the original audience. His name also may have been familiar.

The Jewish Study Bible notes,

“The name of the prophet is identical with that of a prophet mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25 …It seems possible and even likely that the text here serves to encourage readers to identify the two, or at least to fill the mentioned gap with their knowledge about the prophet in Kings. (1)

So, God was only asking a plumber to plumb or a rancher to harvest when he called on Jonah to prophesy to the people of Nineveh.Still his reply was, “Run! Run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the Jonah-man!”

***

So what’s wrong with Nineveh and its people? What’d they do to tick off God?

“Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their evil has come to my attention.” Jonah 1:2 CEB

God wants Jonah to give the people of Nineveh a warning that God is angry with them. Later in the story when Jonah finally relents to do as God calls him to do, the message will be more specific.

We will later learn that God has a timeline for the destruction of Nineveh. Several scholars noted that this is not unlike God’s decision to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. That is, the people had turned away from God and God’s expectations for them. In the case of Sodom we have clues from other books of the Bible and within the text itself that indicate Sodom’s sin. They failed to welcome the stranger and care for the poor and needy according to Ezekiel. (see Ezekiel 16:49-50)

The prophet Isaiah emphasizes their brazenness and arrogance about not doing God’s will,

The look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom, they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves. Isaiah 3:9 NRSV

We know what Sodom did. They failed to care for the poor, welcome the immigrant, and they were proud of it.

“Run! Run fast as you can, you can’t catch us we’re Sodom & Gomorrah.”

How’d that work out for them?

[pause]

But what did Nineveh and its people do wrong? We don’t know except that they turned away from God. Some scholars argue that Nineveh’s future actions are the reason for their threatened destruction. You know like “pre-crime” in the old movie Minority Report. Nineveh is named as the capital city of Assyria in other parts of the elder testament. Assyria is a brutal enemy of Israel.

Still, in the book of Jonah, Assyria is never mentioned. Like most scholars, I was unconvinced by the argument that God plans to destroy a large city for future sins. This is particularly true when you consider God’s reaction to Jonah’s eventual prophesy to the people of Nineveh,

When word of it reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, stripped himself of his robe, covered himself with mourning clothes, and sat in ashes.

7Then he announced, “In Nineveh, by decree of the king and his officials: Neither human nor animal, cattle nor flock, will taste anything! No grazing and no drinking water! 8 Let humans and animals alike put on mourning clothes, and let them call upon God forcefully! And let all persons stop their evil behavior and the violence that’s under their control!”

9 He thought, Who knows? God may see this and turn from his wrath, so that we might not perish. Jonah 3:4, 6-9 CEB

Unlike the people of Sodom, the people and the animals are repentant and remorseful. They are sorry for what they have done.

No running. No arrogance.

How’d that work out for them?

***

So, what about Jonah? What the heck is his problem? I think Jonah is like us. Sometimes he just doesn’t wanna even when he’s perfectly capable of doing so. We know Jonah was a prophet. Presumably he had done some work for God before but what was his response?

“Run! Run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the Jonah-man!”

Maybe he was tired. Maybe he was afraid of the reaction he would get from the people of Nineveh. Careers as prophets often OFTEN end early and with death. Folks don’t like it when you call them out for their misdeeds and misbehaviors.

When was the last time you emotionally welcomed someone who said to you, “I need to tell you about the mistake you made” or “God is angry at you for what you did!” Did you even believe that the person had your best interests at heart?

Maybe when Jonah ran in the opposite direction of God, he was just confused. Maybe he wanted to retire.

[pause]

But that’s the thing. We cannot retire from being Christians. We cannot retire from following God’s call for our lives. Our calls change and evolve but God always ALWAYS has expectations for us. God has general expectations for all of our lives:

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 NRSV

Jonah was not terribly humble. The folks of Sodom and Gomorrah blew it on all three counts. Interestingly in this story it is the men on the ship and the people of Nineveh who are humble.

Hmm. The outsiders of the faith — not the insiders — are most faithful.

[pause]

God also has individual expectations for us. The Apostle Paul talks about this at length in his first letter to the church at Corinth.

There are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; and there are different ministries and the same Lord; and there are different activities but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good. 8 A word of wisdom is given by the Spirit to one person, a word of knowledge to another according to the same Spirit, faith to still another by the same Spirit, gifts of healing to another in the one Spirit, 10 performance of miracles to another, prophecy to another, the ability to tell spirits apart to another, different kinds of tongues to another, and the interpretation of the tongues to another. All these things are produced by the one and same Spirit who gives what he wants to each person. 1 Corinthians 12:4-10 CEB

[pause]

How do you discern God’s call on your life? How do you know if something is a spiritual gift?

First, it is something you can do. Jonah was capable of prophesying to the people of Nineveh but he chose to run.

Second, it is often something that makes you come alive. That is, it is something that usually gives you energy rather than sapping your energy even if it is hard work.

Third, it is something that others notice as one of your gifts. It is something that you are often successful at, though not always. Jonah’s short and to-the-point message to the Ninevites was well-received.

Finally, it is something that nags at you. God doesn’t give up on us when God wants us to answer our call. Our gifts, our calls can and often are things we don’t want to do or we can’t picture ourselves doing.

God is funny like that. It is also true that we get tired. We get overwhelmed and burnt out if we do not allow ourselves Sabbath time even — AND MAYBE ESPECIALLY — from our spiritual gifts.

[slight pause]

Personal story: I hate the amount of time Maggie and I must be apart. That is not too strong a word. We endured this when I was in seminary, when she was in seminary. We’ve been coping with it for over 3-1/2 years since you called me as your pastor.More than once I’ve been tempted to run in the opposite direction just as Jonah ran in the opposite direction.

But let me tell you something that I know to be true.

I am where God has called me to be. I love this town. I love you. I love all of you, even those with whom I disagree at times. Maggie — my beloved wife of 37-years — is a phenomenal hospital chaplain. (No, I’m not biased.)

We are both where God calls us to be.

At other times in our lives when we’ve run from our calls we found ourselves snug in the belly of a big fish. It didn’t work out well for us. Sometime, ask Maggie about Tower Grove House.

Our God is a persistent God. God is persistent in God’s extravagant love for us and God is persistent in insistence that we respond affirmatively to God’s call.

Run! Run as fast as you can but God will catch you. You’re not the Gingerbread Man.

***

Anybody know why the big fish swallowed Jonah?

[pause for an answer]

It wasn’t a punishment. No, the big fish SAVED Jonah from drowning. God saved Jonah, whom he love so that he could fulfill his call and use his spiritual gifts.

Did the men on the ship want to throw Jonah overboard?

No. They did not. They were contrite and prayed to a god who was not their god begging forgiveness before they threw Jonah overboard.

The men rowed to reach dry land, but they couldn’t manage it because the sea continued to rage against them. 14 So they called on the LORD, saying,

“Please, LORD, don’t let us perish on account of this man’s life, and don’t blame us for innocent blood! You are the LORD: whatever you want, you can do.”

Then they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased its raging. 16 The men worshipped the LORD with a profound reverence; they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made solemn promises. Jonah 1:13-16 CEB

They did as God called them to do, even when it made no sense to them.

Like the people of Nineveh after Jonah chastised them, they were contrite and changed their behaviors.

***

[pause]

Even after Jonah gives in and does what God calls him to do, he’s not happy about it. Actually, he was angry at God. He complains to God about saving the people:

But Jonah thought this was utterly wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD,

“Come on, LORD! Wasn’t this precisely my point when I was back in my own land?

This is why I fled to Tarshish earlier! I know that you are a merciful and compassionate God, very patient, full of faithful love, and willing not to destroy. At this point, LORD, you may as well take my life from me, because it would be better for me to die than to live.” Jonah 4:1-3 CEB

Sigh.

Here’s the thing: We don’t have to like what God calls us to do. God loves us anyway but God is persistent. God will remain in relationship with us.

Like Jonah, sometimes we just don’t wanna. We run. We try to hide. We get angry. We are unhappy with God. That’s ok. In the words of the Rev. Dr. James Forbes, “God can work with that.”

If God is willing to act like a twenty-first century counselor to Jonah:

The LORD responded, “Is your anger a good thing? Jonah 4:4 CEB

Then God will patiently help us understand our anger if that’s what it takes.

God will encourage a big fish to swallow us if that is what will save us.

…The LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Jonah 1:17 CEB

That my friends is the Good News for today. God loves us. God will do what it takes to help us become the people we were created to be.

Run! Run as fast as you can, God will still love you. God will never stop gnawing at you to affirm your gifts.

Amen.

___

Tagged with: Jonah & the Big Fish, Jonah & the Whale, narrative lectionary, whale
Posted in 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 12:4-10, Jonah, Old Testament, Uncategorized

As the Cherith Dries Up

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Tim Graves — Leave a comment

*Call to Worship & Confession of Sin

We come together even as the Cherith Brook dries up.
God calls us to worship in the easy times and the hard times.

Though we sometimes fail, we strive to offer grace to others.
God calls us to love and offer grace to all peoples.

When all seems lost, we are called to share our last bit of oil and flour.
God calls us to sacrificial giving.

Let us confess together,
When times are tough, when it is just too hard, we too often fail to love, share, and be your presence in the world. Forgive us God; move us to grace-filled living.

Let us worship the One who forgives us . Challenge and move us to live in such a way that people exclaim:
Now I know, you are people of God. Amen.

Tagged with: Elijah and the Widow, people of God, resurrection
Posted in 1 Kings, 1 Kings 17, 1 Kings 17:1-24, Call to Worship, Confession of Sin & Assurance, Old Testament, Uncategorized

Before the Ballots: A Liturgy

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Tim Graves — Leave a comment

Prayer & Meditation for Wholeness

Statement of Purpose

We gather as a people beleaguered by too much shouting, discord between neighbors, and an earth in need of healing grace. The noise makes it hard to find the divine path. It distracts and builds up anxiety. We gather for insight, for wisdom, and for direction as we complete our ballots in the coming weeks. © Tim Graves

Opening Prayer
Ojibwa Tradition

Grandfather, look at our brokenness.
We know that in all creation
Only the human family
Has strayed from the Sacred way.

We know that we are the ones
Who are divided And we are the ones
Who must come back together
To walk in the Sacred Way.

Grandfather, Sacred One,
Teach us Love, compassion and honor
That we may heal the earth
And heal each other.

*A large image of the earth cut into a jigsaw puzzle, will be reassembled with each movement of the liturgy. Move two of those puzzle pieces of the earth back together before ringing of the bell.

Ringing of the bell.
Time of silence.

Lament

“… an impression of inescapable noise or acute disorder, a rush of adrenalin, sensations of alarm, a sense of unbalance or chaos, residual feeling of nausea and anxiety. These are the forms of bodily distress that occur when one’s ingrained, taken-for-granted sense of how certain things are – and thus presumably will be and in some sense should be – is suddenly or insistently confronted by something very much at odds with it.”

Barbara Herrnstein Smith

Judeo-Christian Lament
Psalm 88: 1-5

1 Lord, my God, by day I call for help, by night I cry aloud in your presence. 2 Let my prayer come before you, hear my loud entreaty; 3 for I have had my fill of woes, which have brought me to the brink of Sheol. 4 I am numbered with those who go down to the abyss; I have become like a man beyond help, 5 abandoned among the dead, like the slain lying in the grave whom you hold in mind no more, who are cut off from your care.

Add another puzzle piece of the earth to those already reassembled before ringing of the bell.

Ringing of the bell.
Time of silence.

Disunity

Sufi Mysticism
Attar: Rabi’a 34, 35

Rabi’a saw a man with a bandage round his head. She asked him: “Why do you have a bandage round your head?” He replied: “My head aches.” She asked: “How old are you?” “Thirty,” he replied. She asked: “In these thirty years, have you mainly been healthy or such?” “Healthy,” he replied. She said: “In these thirty years you have never tied the bandage of gratitude round your head. Now, because you have a headache, you tie a bandage of complaint.”

Rabi’a asked someone to buy a blanket for her, given the person four coins. The person asked: “Do you want a black blanket, or a whit one?” Rabi’a took back the coins, threw them in the Tigris rive, and exclaimed: “Must we divide even blankets into distinct groups?”

Add another puzzle piece of the earth to those already reassembled before ringing of the bell.

Ringing of the bell.
Time of silence.

Healing

“Life roars at us when it wants or needs us to change. Ultimately, change means trans formation, a shifting from one form to another that involves the magic of creation. The trouble with entrenched oppositions is that each side becomes increasingly one-sided and single minded and unable to grow or meaningfully change. In the blindness of fear and the willfulness of abstract beliefs, people forget or reject the unseen yet essential unity that underlies all the oppositions in life.”

Teachings of the Buddha
Maha Parinibbana Sutta 1.11

There are six condition that must be fulfilled, if the monks are to live in harmony. The monks should be kind to one another in action, speech and thought, both in public and in private. They should share all things, even including the food they receive in their begging bowls. They should practice all virtues, since every virtue contributes to the salvation of the soul; it is for this reason that virtues are praised by the wise.

The monks should do nothing that, if it were known, would tarnish the public reputation of the Community. They should value one another’s spiritual insights, since every insider may contribute to the salvation of the soul. And they should strive for the cessation of suffering, in themselves and in others. If these conditions are fulfilled, you may expect the Community not to decline, but to prosper.

Add another puzzle piece of the earth to those already reassembled before ringing of the bell.

Ringing of the bell.
Time of silence.

Cleansing

Smudging Ritual
Native American tradition

Add another puzzle piece of the earth to those already reassembled before ringing of the bell.

Ringing of the bell.
Time of silence.

Unification

Hindu Tradition
Rig Veda 1:164.46, 51-52

People refer to God by many different names. God is like a bird who flies everywhere. The wise know that God is one, yet appears in many forms. So they know that all the names have the same meaning.

Water is evaporated by the flaming sun, and rises up in the sky; water returns as rain to enliven the earth. the same water appears day by day in different forms.

The great bird with wonderful wings, the beautiful embryos of all living things, the water that causes all things to grow — they are God, and I call to God for help.

Christian Tradition
1 Corinthians 12: 13-26

We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greek, or slave or free, and we all were given one Spirit to drink. 14 Certainly the body isn’t one part but many. 15 If the foot says, “I’m not part of the body because I’m not a hand,” does that mean it’s not part of the body?

16 If the ear says, “I’m not part of the body because I’m not an eye,” does that mean it’s not part of the body?

17 If the whole body were an eye, what would happen to the hearing? And if the whole body were an ear, what would happen to the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God has placed each one of the parts in the body just like he wanted. 19 If all were one and the same body part, what would happen to the body?

20 But as it is, there are many parts but one body. 21 So the eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you,” or in turn, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

24b But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the part with less honor 25 so that there won’t be division in the body and so the parts might have mutual concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part gets the glory, all the parts celebrate with it.

Confucianism
7.4,5

Meng Tzu said: “Seek the Way, and you will find it. Abandon the Way, and you will lose it. “There is no greater joy than to know that you are true to yourself. If you know yourself, and treat others as you would wish them to treat you, then you are following the Way.”

Add another puzzle piece of the earth to those already reassembled before ringing of the bell.

Ringing of the bell.
Time of silence.

Hindu Blessing Rig Veda I
May the wind blow sweetness,
the rivers flow sweetness,
the herbs grow sweetness,
for the People of Truth!

Sweet be the night,
sweet the dawn,
sweet be earth’s fragrance,
sweet be our Heaven!

May the tree afford us sweetness,
the sun shine sweetness,
our cows yield sweetness—
milk in plenty!

Sharing One Loaf Ha-Motzi

Barukh atah adonai ’elohenu melekh ha‘olam hamotzi’ lechem min ha’aretz.
Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”

Tagged with: Elections, filling out ballots, guidance, Interfaith, politics, Prayers
Posted in 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 12:13-26, Elections, Interfaith, Liturgy, New Testament, Special Times

Maybe, It’s Not Our Job

Posted on October 18, 2016 by Tim Graves — Leave a comment

David has reached the pinnacle of his career. Jerusalem has been restored to the Israelites.

You’ll recall that Jerusalem is sacred ground for the Jewish people. Outside of Shiloh, God has been traveling around in a box: the ark.

That ark is kept behind curtains, hence the reference to a tent.

God gave very specific instructions on how to build the ark in Exodus 25: 9-22 —

Have them make an acacia-wood chest. It should be forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. Cover it with pure gold, inside and out, and make a gold molding all around it (Exodus 25: 10-11 CEB)

All the same, it does somehow seem incongruent that the most high sits in a box and David has a cedar house in Jerusalem.

And, so, it is natural that David would want to build a Temple for God.

Even God’s prophet Nathan, thinks it’s a good idea:

Nathan said to the king,

“Go ahead and do whatever you are thinking, because the LORD is with you.” (2 Samuel 7:3 CEB)

Except the LORD isn’t. Nathan is wrong. God does not expect nor want David to build a temple.

That night God comes to Nathan and says,

Go to my servant David and tell him: This is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build the temple for me to live in. (2 Samuel 7:5 CEB)

God is saving the task of building the temple in Jerusalem for David’s son, Solomon.

Not everyone gets to do the glamorous jobs.

There’s an old saying that behind every successful man is a good woman.

The truth in this adage is that not everyone who contributes to the good of the world is famous or ever known.

Most are not.

The good in the world comes from the nameless, everyday people who make loving kindness and civility their modus operandi.

Leaders come and go while the rest lead ordinary lives of kindness and faith.

Jesus recognized the power among those who are unknown and powerless in his Sermon on the Mount:

blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5 NRSV)

Jesus teaches us that though we have limited control over rulers, our small actions matter.

In his travels and teachings Jesus’ emphasis on widow and tax collector, leper, Samaritan, women, and children revealed a profound respect for those society dismisses as unimportant and worthless.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said:

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well. No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” (Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)

Look into the eyes of the man who mops the floors or cleans the public toilets we all appreciate when we travel. Do you see God in his eyes?

His work is important. He is doing God’s work.

Not everyone gets to do the glamorous jobs. The sacred can and often does permeate the ordinary tasks of life.

Though David wanted to build a temple worthy of God, it was not his calling.

***

I am reading a small book published by the UCC on what it calls legacy churches.

Legacy churches are those that seem to be at the end of their lifespan. Not all legacy churches are the same.

Listen to this description of one type of legacy church:

These churches are small and their leaders have often grown to the age when they need to hand off weekly responsibilities to those who can now shoulder those roles. The service of leadership weighs folks down at the very times in their lives when they most need to be served.” (Church Legacy & Closure Resource, p. 4)

Like David, many of us want to build a temple. We want to be a part of the glamour and glory of building the church of the twenty-first century for our worthy God.

We want to see what God dreams for Condon and we want to be a part of it.

Not everyone gets to do the glamorous jobs. Somebody has to till the soil and plant the seed.

Maybe, it’s not our job to create the new church that will grow in this place.

Maybe it’s our job to leave this field fallow for awhile. Maybe it’s our job to prepare the soil in which others will plant the seeds.

Maybe, like David, we’re not called to build a new temple.

If so, the question we must ask ourselves is this: When we are no more, what kind of legacy are we going to leave to the Condon community?

Amen.

***

Discussion Questions:

What do we do well that you think God brags about?
What needs are going unmet in the Condon community?
What resources do we have that can be used by others to build up the kingdom of God?

Tagged with: David, legacy church, MLK, Nathan
Posted in 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel 7, 2 Samuel 7:1-17, Exodus, Exodus 25, Exodus 25:9-22, Exodus 9, Matthew 5, Matthew 5:5, New Testament, Old Testament, Sermon

Becoming Sacred Soil for the Next Generation

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Tim Graves — Leave a comment

*Call to Worship

The Creator is worthy!
God is worthy indeed!

The cool breezes, grey and damp days, and blowing leaves remind us of the divinity that undergirds the world.
The Creating One is worthy!

In each generation a particular purpose and particular tasks become a sacred duty.
The Beckoning One calls us to fulfill our purpose!

We look backwards and see the sacred responsibilities of previous generations fulfilled admirably.
They were saints of the church!

We look ahead and see the need to bring God out of a mere tent. We look ahead and yearn to build a temple worthy of God.
David wants to build a worthy temple for the worthy God!

What if building a new temple is not our purpose? What if our role is to leave a legacy from which the next generation can rebuild a church worthy of God?
What if?

If leaving a legacy of rich, dark soil is God’s desire, it is a sacred duty for us to fulfill.
In this hour, God, help us to perceive you. Grant us the foresight to trust your dream for us. As we leave, help us to strive for your kingdom. Amen.

Tagged with: church transformation, David, declining church, God, legacy, narrative lectionary, Nathan, sacred soil, Temple, tent
Posted in 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel 7, 2 Samuel 7:1-17, Call to Worship, Old Testament

Golden Calves, Distractions, & the Realm of God

Posted on October 7, 2016 by Tim Graves — Leave a comment

*Call to Worship

Out of the world of hardships, pains, hatred, and distractions…Come and worship!
We come together at the base of the mountain awaiting a word of hope from God.

But even here together we can get distracted by our fragmented world, our focus misdirected.
We fail to see the signs of God’s unfolding realm that abound.

Looking at our TVs, social media, and the internet we grow impatient for the promised land.
We look for other gods, sometimes even creating our own golden calves.

Strive first for the realm of God, says Jesus. Be a part of the extravagant love until it is commonplace.
Renew us, o God! May we be your presence in the world until love and justice blow across the face of the waters and dry lands of the whole earth. Amen.

Tagged with: distraction, golden calf, impatience, narrative lectionary
Posted in Call to Worship, Exodus, Exodus 32, Exodus 32:1-14, Old Testament, Uncategorized

Offering: Promises & Signs

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Tim Graves — Leave a comment

Invitation

There are many signs we claim for our faith but ultimately it is our active love that reveals who we worship. As the plate comes around commit to give of your whole selves. Give of your talents and material possessions to the Church with the expectation that they be used to further God’s dream for our world. Please commit yourself and give as you’re able. TG

Dedication

Divine One:

We promise to use these gifts for good. We promise to use these gifts in furthering God ’s realm.
We commit to using these gifts in love and mercy for others.
Amen.