The River and Vine

Religion and Politics: "Christian Values, Common Values"

2008-10-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

Religion and Politics Sermon #4
“Christian Values, Common Values”
Rev. Cynthia O’Brien
September 28, 2008
Smith Memorial Presbyterian Church

Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Biting and devouring. These days, that make me think of some of our political campaigns. Accusations about how much they paid for leather office furniture or collectible golf club. These mailers – “He doesn’t care about your safety.” “He’s misrepresenting me.” I don’t think anyone will easily recover from some of the negative campaigning we’ve seen around here in recent years. The Lord says, stop biting and devouring each other.

Likewise, we are not to bite and devour each other in the church. It happens all the time in some churches, and it happens some of the time in all churches. We have to keep reminding ourselves: Love your neighbor as yourself. So here, Paul explains how we will do that.

Galatians 5:16
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

Here is a list of sins to refresh our memory.

Galatians 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

If you break them down, you’ll see the first three and the last two are about sex and self-indulgent partying. (Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, drunkenness, orgies.) There are two about worshiping the wrong gods. (Idolatry and witchcraft.) Then there are eight sins that are offenses against the unity of the church. According to this list, one of the worst things you can do is sow discord in the body of Christ.

I knew a woman in a previous church who complained about everything. She attended the 8:30 service. She didn’t like the guitar music. She didn’t like the way we came forward for communion. I sat down with her and listened to he and tried to give her some options. Why not go to the 11:00 service? There are different musicians at the 11:00 service, and we use the trays to serv communion. She said, “No, I like to go at 8:30 so I can go out to breakfast at 9:30 with my friends from the Congregational Church.” Then she said, “They do everything just the way I like it at the Congregational Church. They do music right. They do communion right. All my friends go there.” And I discovered that when there had been a split in our church several years before, a group of married couples had left and joined the Congegational Church. The whole group left except this one lady and her husband, who had stayed at our church.

So I said, “It sounds like all your friends go to the congregational church and you prefer the way they worship, so have you thought of going to church there?”

She got this fiery look in her eyes and she said, “The church is the building, not the people, and no one’s going to run me out of my church!”

She was in a lot of pain. And as she held on to misguided values, she made herself and everyone else miserable.

Paul recommends living by the Spirit. What does it mean to live by the Spirit? Kind of an intangible term, it means living in a manner of which God would approve, asking God for wisdom, showing humility and deference to God.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

When we are evaluating candidates for public office, we can benefit by applying this list of character qualities, because these are not exclusive to Christians. They describe the best of what humanity was made to be. Is the candidate patient, or does he make rash decisions? Is he good, or is he corrupt? Is he faithful, or does he betray trust?

One of the reasons to be a Christian is finding the strength to live this way.

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other … Galatians 6:22 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

When I’m thinking about who to elect, here’s one question I ask: Will she help me to carry each other’s burdens? I think about one of Jesus’ most important values: caring for the poor, healing the sick and releasing the oppressed. How does the candidate think that we should treat the least among us, from the unborn child to the homeless family? What is the plan to provide for public safety and to help people not become addicted to meth? Can she bring us together to do for our community what no individual or business can do by itself?

This is where I have to apply both Christian values and common values. Sometimes Christians identify one or two issues and test every candidate on those issues. It’s our right to do that, but it might not produce the best result. Take the race for county commissioner, for example, which is one I understand well. The County Commissioners are in charge of allocating money for social services, managing our jail system, bridges and libraries. My choice of a candidate should focus on the skills needed for those responsibilities. I should choose the one who can make the best decisions for the county at large and also make sure that East County gets its needed share.

3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.

Here’s another value: personal responsibility, which is often held in contrast to public welfare. Let’s apply it to this question: How should we lift up the poor?

I’m painting with a broad brush now, to show you how two Biblical perspectives can be polarizing.

A conservative approach is typically individualistic. Here are some of the statements that would commonly come from a conservative.

Poverty is caused by individual failures or shortcomings.
If you are addicted to drugs, you should free yourself from it.
Transfom your heart, and don’t reoffend.
Marriages need strengthening, so spouses should be faithful to each other.
Parents should be more loving and responsible for their kids.

These solutions are largely an individualistic way of solving social problems. “Individuals can achieve if they get up and do it.”

A more liberal view might say that poverty is caused by unjust systems, and personal failings like alcoholism or teen pregnancy wouldn’t happen if it weren’t for the environment that people are living in. They would say, we need to fix the structures, address the injustices that force people to live in these conditions. They say, it takes a village, and we all need to be part of the solution Government helps us pool our resources and do more than we could do alone.

These two views have been polarizing. But the Bible, and Jesus in particular, advocates a mixture of both personal responsibility and community cooperation. Families, neighborhoods, schools, churches, city governments, state and national programs, all need to work together in a perfect balance, which is difficult to achieve but worth the effort.

Yesterday morning about 75 people from various churches showed up at the Gresham City Hall parking lot to help eradicate graffiti. We had about 10 from our church. There was a group from St. Henry with Father Charles, one from Columbia Life Center in Troutdale, a big group from a Hispanic church on 181st, and more. One person I know had invited a family member to come help, and this relative had said, “Why would I want to take my Saturday morning to do that?” Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.

Cathy Harrington is the city employee who is in charge of graffiti. When she got up to speak to the group and give us our assignments, she was really choked up with emotion at how many people had come from the churches to help. It was a beautiful thing.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Most everyone believes this: You reap what you sow. Do good in this life and it will generally come back to you in this life, and in the life to come.

9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

We have been promised eternal life, so Paul says “let’s keep doing good.” while we have opportunity. There is some time left – before we’re too sick to do anything, before we die, before Jesus returns. Let us do good to all people, especially to our family of believers.

Religion and Politics: How Should a Christian Vote?

2008-09-27T22:38:00.000-07:00

Religion and Politics # 3
“How Should a Christian Vote?”
Isaiah 55
Rev Cynthia O'Brien
Smith Memorial Presbyterian Church

ISA 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.

ISA 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

ISA 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

ISA 55:9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Romans 11-12

RO 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!

RO 11:34 "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?"

RO 11:35 "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?"

RO 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

RO 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Here’s a story from Ed Dionne Jr. of the Washington Post. It was Election Day, and Mrs. O’Reilly was being taken to the polls by her son. Mrs. O’Reilly always voted straight Democratic. Her son, a successfu member of the upper middle class had become an Independent and voted for many Republicans.

They had a routine every election day. He asked his mother ho she would vote. As always, she answered “Straight Democratic.” The son was exasperated. He said, “Mom, if Jesus came back to earth and ran as a Republican, you would vote against him.” She snapped back at him, “Aw, hush, why should He change his party after all these years?”

I promised I would not try to answer the question, “Who would Jesus vote for?” and that I wouldn’t endorse any specific candidates from the pulpit. In a way, I wish I could, because I know most of the local candidates, or at least I’ve met them. But my goal today is to answer the question, How Should a Christian Vote?

Which presupposes that we are actually involved, whether we vote in a booth or by mail, we make the effort to register to vote and we actually do it. In my younger days I sometimes let an election slide by because I didn’t think my vote mattered. Or I just didn’t know who to vote for. For a couple of years I simply voted no on everything that would cost money. In all those instances, I was wrong.

A Christian’s most important citizenship is in the kingdom of God, but we are also to follow Jesus’ call to love our neighbor. We don’t just honor the government, we get to help choose the government. That is an awesome and godly task.

How should a Christian vote?

Let’s consider these words from Scripture. In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah
said,

ISA 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

ISA 55:9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This is one of my favorite scriptures. It speaks of the mystery of God’s ways and reminds me that I do not have God all figured out. This is the God that Abraham Lincoln spoke of, when he said,

“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”

This is why it’s dangerous to say things like “The GOP is God’s own party” or “Jesus is a liberal.” It’s more important to say, with humility, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so God’s ways are higher than our ways.”

But we still have to make decisions, and God does give us guidance. So we take the rest of the Isaiah text to heart:

ISA 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.

How should a Christian decide? Here is the answer: Prayerfully and thoughtfully.

When I’m making decisions, whether it’s on candidates or issues or any personal decision, that’s a time to seek the Lord and ask God to guide me. You may have prayed for wisdom or guidance. Sometimes you don’t feel like you get an answer and you have to decide whether to wait, or make the best decision you can. One missionary I knew said that if she didn’t get an answer, she waited and didn’t even make the decision until she was sure she knew what was right. Others say, God has placed his Holy Spirit in you and because of that, you’ll make a good decision. What’s important is that we seek God and call on him and ask him to help us.

There’s a promise in the Bible about that. James 1:5 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. Another favorite verse is Jeremiah 33:3: 3 `Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' We can trust God to help us make choices.

CHILDREN come up for a story. I am giving each of you a one dollar Presidential coin. This coin has these words on it. In God we trust. During the Civil War, in 1861, people in the United States were fighting each other, the northern states verses the southern states. Many people turned to God, prayed to God for peace and asked God for help. And some said that it was important for the United States to show our faith in God by putting something about God on our money. So the Secretary of the Treasury arranged for these words to be on our coins: In God we trust.

When you look at your money, remember that we trust in God, and you can trust God to love you and help you.

If that weren’t already on our money, it would never be put there today. Times are changing. Our nation is a more pluralistic society than it was 100 years ago or even 50 years ago. But that doesn’t change our foundation as Christians. We are still citizens of the kingdom of God. We still have the freedom to make decisions informed by our faith. So we pray when we are making any kind of decision, and we ask God to guide us.

Then there’s another part of deciding. We decide prayerfully, but we also decide thoughtfully. We learn all we can before we make our decision.

There’s an old Middle Eastern saying: “Trust Allah, but tie up your camel.” The less colorful version of that saying, and less correct is “God helps those who help themselves.” But I prefer the one about the camel. You place your trust in God, and you also do the responsible thing. So let’s say you are hiring a new employee for your business. You might pray and ask God to help you select the best person. But you also read the resumes, check the references and interview people. When you come down to the decision, you’ll probably make a good decision, because you have done the research and you have asked God to guide you.

Many people want to educate themselves about the candidates, but they don’t know how to do it.

I was at the bank the other day and I told the teller about the sermon that I was working on. She said she’s having a really hard time with all those horrible TV commercials. I told her to turn off the TV. Because those ads are largely designed to give you a negative view of their opponent, rather than solid information you can use to make an informed decision. Campaigns use them because, unfortunately, they work.

I saw one of our elected officials on Friday who is running for re-election, and I said “Thank you for running a positive campaign rather than negative ads, even though your opponent attacked you.” And my friend was really upset and said, “Well, some of those statements were outright lies, so now we have to answer it.”

Outright lies? How can that BE? It’s on television, isn’t it? :-) We have a responsibility to test everything we read and everything we see on television to find out whether it’s true.

So when we vote, we vote prayerfully, trusting God to guide us, and thoughtfully.

RO 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
RO 11:34 "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?"
RO 11:35 "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?"
RO 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Next week I’ll preach on the values that are most important for our common life, and how we can live out our values in such a way that our community will be better because you and I live here.

Religion and Politics: "We Reject the False Doctrine"

2008-09-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

Religion and Politics Sermon #2
"We Reject the False Doctrine"
Rev. Cynthia O'Brien
Smith Memorial Presbyterian Church
September 14, 2008

1PE 2:4 As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame."
1PE 2:7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
"The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone, "
1PE 2:8 and,
"A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall."
They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for.
1PE 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1PE 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
1PE 2:13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

If you believed that the leader of your country were doing something horribly wrong, would you say something? Or would that be unpatriotic?

A few years ago, the Dixie Chicks were on tour in London. Thy had the No. 1 country single and their upcoming world tour was sold out. Lead singer Natalie Mines made an off the cuff remark in London. It was the night before the U.S. invasion of Iraq. She didn’t want her country to go to war and didn’t want people to die. She said she was ashamed that President Bush was from her home state of Texas.

There was a huge uproar. Country music fans boycotted their music right off the radio. Someone wrote a letter to Natalie saying she should just shut up and sing, or something bad would happen to her. The Dixie Chicks were pretty much in exile for about three years, and while they were off the radio they continued to write music and each of them had a couple of kids. Then two years ago they released an album which chronicled the the things that had happened to them. They sang about all the anger and hatred that came at them because they expressed their opinion.

Now imagine if it weren’t her country music fans unleashing all this hatred on her. Imagine if it were her church, saying she wasn’t patriotic and she wasn’t being a good Christian.

If you believed that your country were doing something horribly wrong, would you say something? And if you did, would you be considered unpatriotic? Or even unChristian?

I want to tell you the story behind the Barmen Declaration. This story is largely drawn from this book “Presbyterian Creeds” by Jack Rogers. You can read the declaration online or I have some copies of it in the narthex. It is one of the nine confessions that the Presbyterian Church has adopted over the years as statements of what we believe.

In the early 1930’s, Germany was politically unstable. Adolf Hitler and his socialist party were rising to power, and many Christian churches thought that he was going to bring renewal, including spiritual renewal. Hitler talked about history and traditions. One minister said that this was a gift from God. A movement of churches was formed called the “German Christians.” The German Christians adopted values that were similar to the national Socialist Party – anti-Marx, anti-Jew, for racial purity and “positive Chrisitanity.”

The German Christians had their first national convention in 1933. Their slogan was, “The State of Adolf Hitler appeals to the Church an the Church has to hear his call.” That year, a unified State church was established. Ludwig Müller, a member of the Nazi party, was elected to be the first Reich Bishop. The new church constitution placed two restrictions on the clergy: (1) A clergyman must be politically reliable and (2) a clergyman must accept the superiority of the Aryan race. Hundreds of clergy accepted these demands.

But there were many pastors who did not agree. One was Martin Niemoeller.

Martin Niemoeller had been a German U-boat commander in World War I. He was known as the Scourge of Malta. He was intensely patriotic. In the early years of the Nazi regime, he organized the Academic Defense Corps, which was an armed student nationalist organization. He studied theology and became a Lutheran pastor, and in 1931 he became pastor of an influential church in Berlin.

Niemoeller and some other church leaders believed that it was wrong for Hitler to bring all the churches together into one state church under his rules, so they formed the Pastors Emergency League to oppose the Unified National Church. Niemoeller wrote to all the German church leaders. He reminded them of the Scriptures and the confessions of faith. He said that the cult of Aryanism was a violation of Christian teaching. He relentlessly spoke out against Hitler.

Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer joined him. Barth wrote more letters and papers pointing out that the German Christians were wrong. Many pastors read the letters and were convinced to leave the state church and joined the Pastors Emergency League. This angered the Reich bishop. He worried that if pastors preached about the Nazi’s spiritual errors, they would soon question other Nazi policies. So the Reich bishop issued a decree: Clergy may not discuss any politics or matters of controversy in the pulpit.

On the same day, 320 elders and ministers met in Barmen. They said that faithful ministers could not refuse to preach in the realm of politics "when politics violated the deepest principles of faith." They continued to meet, and approved the Barmen Declaration, which Karl Barth had drafed. The declaration outlined the false doctrines of a Nazi controlled State Church.

The Barmen declaration has six statements from Scripture. After each scripture, there is a statement of belief, and then a false doctrine of the German Christians.

The statements are easier to read on paper than to listen to, so I’ll just give you one of them. Listen for the Scripture, the statement of belief, then the rejection of false doctrine:

First a Scripture.
8.16 - 3. "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body [is] joined and knit together." (Eph. 4:15,16.)

Here’s the statement of belief.

8.17 The Christian Church is the congregation of the brethren in which Jesus Christ acts presently as the Lord in Word and sacrament through the Holy Spirit. As the Church of pardoned sinners, it has to testify in the midst of a sinful world, with its faith as with its obedience, with its message as with its order, that it is solely his property, (in other words that the church belongs ONLY to Jesus Christ), and that it lives and wants to live solely from his comfort and from his direction in the expectation of his appearance. (in other words, until he comes again.)

Now, the rejection of the German Christians’ doctrine.

8.18 We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church were permitted to abandon the form of its message and order to its own pleasure or to changes in prevailing ideological and political convictions.

Barth mailed a copy to Hitler immediately.

The Nazis began to actively persecute the Confessing Church, while more Germans signed on with Hitler’s Aryan Nation swept over Germany. The Confessing Church stood pretty much alone against Third Reich. Niemoeller was seized by the Gestapo in 1937 and spent 7 years in concentration camps. Bonhoeffer was hanged. Barth managed to return to his native Switzerland.

Niemoeller was one of the first ones to speak out against the Nazis, but after the war, he shared in the guilt of the German people. He spoke about how they could have done more, and he is he one who wrote these words:

In Germany they came first for the communist, andI didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a jew. then they came for the trade unionists, and I ddn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they camefor the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

After he was released from Dachau in 1945 he preached before a gathering of German church leaders. He said, “We have no right to pass off all guilt on the evil Nazis… We the church failed.”

He went on to be a founder and president of the World Council of Churches. At age 89 he marched in Hamburg to protest the arms race. People continued to criticize him for his pacifism. But he always used to say, “Live according to the Gospel without fear, or fail.”

The Barmen Declaration: Evangelical Statements

2008-09-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

Theological Declaration of Barmen

The Theological Declaration of Barmen 1934 is a statement of the Confessing Church opposing the Nazi-supported "German-Christian" movement. The "German Christians" who were hostile to the Confessing Church combined extreme nationalism with anti-Semitism. The Barmen Declaration specifically rejects the subordination of the church to the state. Rather, the Declaration states that the church "is solely Christ's property, and that it lives and wants to live solely from his comfort and from his direction in the expectation of his appearance." The Declaration was mostly written by Reformed theologian Karl Barth, but was also crafted in part by other Confessing Church leaders, including Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Its ecumenical nature can be seen by its inclusion in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - Wikipedia

Part II. Theological Declaration Concerning the Present Situation of the German Evangelical Church

8.05 According to the opening words of its constitution of July 11, 1933, the German Evangelical Church is a federation of Confessional Churches that grew our of the Reformation and that enjoy equal rights. The theological basis for the unification of these Churches is laid down in Article 1 and Article 2(1) of the constitution of the German Evangelical Church that was recognized by the Reich Government on July 14, 1933:

Article 1. The inviolable foundation of the German Evangelical Church is the gospel of Jesus Christ as it is attested for us in Holy Scripture and brought to light again in the Confessions of the Reformation. The full powers that the Church needs for its mission are hereby determined and limited.
Article 2 (1). The German Evangelical Church is divided into member Churches (Landeskirchen).

8.06 We, the representatives of Lutheran, Reformed, and United Churches, of free synods, Church assemblies, and parish organizations united in the Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church, declare that we stand together on the ground of the German Evangelical Church as a federation of German Confessional Churches. We are bound together by the confession of the one Lord of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

8.07 We publicly declare before all evangelical Churches in Germany that what they hold in common in this Confession is grievously imperiled, and with it the unity of the German Evangelical Church. It is threatened by the teaching methods and actions of the ruling Church party of the "German Christians" and of the Church administration carried on by them. These have become more and more apparent during the first year of the existence of the German Evangelical Church. This threat consists in the fact that the theological basis, in which the German Evangelical Church is united, has been continually and systematically thwarted and rendered ineffective by alien principles, on the part of the leaders and spokesmen of the "German Christians" as well as on the part of the Church administration. When these principles are held to be valid, then, according to all the Confessions in force among us, the Church ceases to be the Church and the German Evangelical Church, as a federation of Confessional Churches, becomes intrinsically impossible.

8.08 As members of Lutheran, Reformed, and United Churches we may and must speak with one voice in this matter today. Precisely because we want to be and to remain faithful to our various Confessions, we may not keep silent, since we believe that we have been given a common message to utter in a time of common need and temptation. We commend to God what this may mean for the interrelations of the Confessional Churches.

8.09 In view of the errors of the "German Christians" of the present Reich Church government which are devastating the Church and also therefore breaking up the unity of the German Evangelical Church, we confess the following evangelical truths:

8.10 - 1. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me." (John 14.6). "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. . . . I am the door; if anyone enters by me, he will be saved." (John 10:1, 9.)
8.11 Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and in death.
8.12 We reject the false doctrine, as though the church could and would have to acknowledge as a source of its proclamation, apart from and besides this one Word of God, still other events and powers, figures and truths, as God's revelation.

8.13 - 2. "Christ Jesus, whom God has made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption." (1 Cor. 1:30.)
8.14 As Jesus Christ is God's assurance of the forgiveness of all our sins, so, in the same way and with the same seriousness he is also God's mighty claim upon our whole life. Through him befalls us a joyful deliverance from the godless fetters of this world for a free, grateful service to his creatures.
8.15 We reject the false doctrine, as though there were areas of our life in which we would not belong to Jesus Christ, but to other lords--areas in which we would not need justification and sanctification through him.

8.16 - 3. "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body [is] joined and knit together." (Eph. 4:15,16.)
8.17 The Christian Church is the congregation of the brethren in which Jesus Christ acts presently as the Lord in Word and sacrament through the Holy Spirit. As the Church of pardoned sinners, it has to testify in the midst of a sinful world, with its faith as with its obedience, with its message as with its order, that it is solely his property, and that it lives and wants to live solely from his comfort and from his direction in the expectation of his appearance.
8.18 We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church were permitted to abandon the form of its message and order to its own pleasure or to changes in prevailing ideological and political convictions.

8.19 - 4. "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant." (Matt. 20:25,26.)
8.20 The various offices in the Church do not establish a dominion of some over the others; on the contrary, they are for the exercise of the ministry entrusted to and enjoined upon the whole congregation.
8.21 We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church, apart from this ministry, could and were permitted to give itself, or allow to be given to it, special leaders vested with ruling powers.

8.22 - 5. "Fear God. Honor the emperor." (1 Peter 2:17.)
Scripture tells us that, in the as yet unredeemed world in which the Church also exists, the State has by divine appointment the task of providing for justice and peace. [It fulfills this task] by means of the threat and exercise of force, according to the measure of human judgment and human ability. The Church acknowledges the benefit of this divine appointment in gratitude and reverence before him. It calls to mind the Kingdom of God, God's commandment and righteousness, and thereby the responsibility both of rulers and of the ruled. It trusts and obeys the power of the Word by which God upholds all things.
8.23 We reject the false doctrine, as though the State, over and beyond its special commission, should and could become the single and totalitarian order of human life, thus fulfilling the Church's vocation as well.
8.24 We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church, over and beyond its special commission, should and could appropriate the characteristics, the tasks, and the dignity of the State, thus itself becoming an organ of the State.

8.25 - 6. "Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." (Matt. 28:20.) "The word of God is not fettered." (2 Tim. 2:9.)
8.26 The Church's commission, upon which its freedom is founded, consists in delivering the message of the free grace of God to all people in Christ's stead, and therefore in the ministry of his own Word and work through sermon and sacrament.
8.27 We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church in human arrogance could place the Word and work of the Lord in the service of any arbitrarily chosen desires, purposes, and plans.
8.28 The Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church declares that it sees in the acknowledgment of these truths and in the rejection of these errors the indispensable theological basis of the German Evangelical Church as a federation of Confessional Churches. It invites all who are able to accept its declaration to be mindful of these theological principles in their decisions in Church politics. It entreats all whom it concerns to return to the unity of faith, love, and hope.

Religion and Politics: An Invitation

2008-09-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

Religion and Politics Sermon #1 Introduction
“An Invitation to Talk”
Rev. Cynthia O’Brien
September 7, 2008
Smith Memorial Presbyterian Church

Psalm 9

For the director of music. To the tune of "The Death of the Son." A psalm of David.

PS 9:1 I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders.

PS 9:2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

PS 9:3 My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.

PS 9:4 For you have upheld my right and my cause;
you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.

PS 9:5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

PS 9:6 Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.

PS 9:7 The LORD reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.

PS 9:8 He will judge the world in righteousness;
he will govern the peoples with justice.

PS 9:9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.

PS 9:10 Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

PS 9:11 Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.

PS 9:12 For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

In polite company, never talk about religion or politics. Or sex or money.

Some of you were taught that, and for good reason. Company’s over for dinner, a hot topic comes up, and blam! You’re into a full-on argument. Better not to bring it up in the first place, right? Many people do avoid those kinds of conversations. At other dinner tables, there is lively discusion with strong opinions, and you can participate, but you’d better be sure you don’t disagree with the host.

Well, at church we already talk about religion, but what about politics? When Michael and I were young pastors, someone advised us never to preach about politics. But in seminary we learned about how the Bible is full of politics, from Moses challenging Pharoah to Jesus being accused of political sedition. Some of the books of the Bible have political titles – Judges. Kings. It’s all about politics.

Jesus preached about money, and the poor. Jesus was concerned about health care. So when these issues come up in public discourse, Christians should be part of that conversation. But how?

I saw a bumper sticker that said “Vote Christian.” You have to go to the polls as a person of faith, but what does your faith lead us to do? Does your faith lead you to the conservative right, or the progressive left? No one would say that God is a member of a particular political party, so where does that leave us?

This fall, I’ll be preaching about those topics that you’re not supposed to talk about in polite company: religion, politics, sex and money. The reason I’m doing it is that it’s Biblical, it’s timely, it’s interesting, and it affects our daily lives.

Bill Maher is the host of Politically Incorrect on HBO. I disagree with him on a lot of things, especially his attacks on religion. But he’s smart and funny, and sometimes he gets it right. Bill Maher says that the American public gets stupider and stupider every election cycle, and that they will believe whatever the television tells them.

He’s not completely wrong. There are a lot of people who remain uninformed about what’s happening in our country, who rely on TV ads or late night comedians for political information. There are people who don’t even bother to vote.

But if Presbyterians were a party, we would be the party of education and information. Presbyterians started the public education system in this country. We believe that we should understand our faith, learn about the world, and engage the civil authorities. With all this education, have all 2.3 Presbyterians come to the same political position? No. We’re a big tent denomination with different perspectives across our 11,000 churches. When we mark our ballot, we do not mark it the same.

Laurel watched the Republican convention with me. After the video about John McCain and his imprisonment in Hanoi, she said, “I would vote for John McCain.” I asked her why. She said, “I would vote for him because he’s been in jail a lot.”

I posted this online on Facebook, and Joanne, a pastor in South Carolina, wrote back, “In that case, has she checked out the mayor of Chicago? the former mayor of DC? Most of the recent Louisiana governers? She should just LOVE politics!”

The corruption and the compromises that happen in politics, the ugly campaigning we’ve seen – well, it just makes you want to put your fingers in your ears and say, “I’m not listening!” But we can’t really disengage. It’s going to be there – on the front page of your newspaper, on your television, on your radio. I believe the church is a safe place to talk about what’s happening in our world, and what God requires of us.

In the sermons, I’m going to speak very plainly to you about what I believe it means to be a Christian in today’s political climate. We’ll talk about the Bible. I’ll tell you about what’s happening in different Christian movements, like the Religious Right and the Progressive Left. We’ll bring up hot topics like sex and money and see what Jesus said about them.

But I won’t ever say, “This is who Jesus would vote for.” I won’t tell you you’re unchristian if you hold a different position than I do.

I started my political life as a Republican. But I’ve voted for candidates of any party depending on who I thought was best. This year I re-registered as a Democrat so that I could have a voice in the Democratic primary. I consider mysel a political moderate.

Being a moderate is not easy to articulate. If I were an arch conservative or a left-wing liberal, my position would be clear and compelling. It is much harder to try to define a middle way.

My goal is to give you God’s word through Scripture. Through my preaching I want you to become people of good character and wisdom, reading God’s word and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit. I want you to be well informed

So, about this series. I’m reading some great books and articles by people like Jim Wallis, Senator John Danforth, John Piper and Marian Wright Edelman. I’ll make some of those articles available to you. We’ll talk about the wedge issues that split us apart, and try to find common ground. We’ll talk about the great reformers and how religion played a part in making our country a better place.

I won’t ask for a show of hands of who’s voting for Obama/Biden and who’s voting for McCain/Palin. I won’t ask the Republicans to sit on one side of the aisle and the Democrats to sit on the other. Although personally I think that would be fun, especially watching you cross the aisle to pass the peace.

But here’s what I will do.

I’ll set up midweek discussion groups on various topics, and you can check the Sunday bulletin or our web site to find out when and where they are.

I’ll keep a blog of these sermons so that you can read them as well as listening to them on the web site or on CD.

I’ll give you an honest answer if you ask me my opinion on current issues or events, but if you ask me about candidates, I’ll just give you a general analysis without telling you who I’d vote for.

We will also meet a couple of politicians. I invite everyone I know to come to church here, including politicians and political candidates. Some of them are going to take me up on my invitation, and at first I was a little nervous about that because we are in the fall campaign season. But here’s how I look at it. If a candidate wants to come worship with us, he or she should be free to do so. And if they are here, I’d like to give them the opportunity to come up and say a few words of greeting. But their presence here does not imply an endorsement by the church.

So we’re going to do some exciting things this fall. I’m going out on a limb, and while I’m there I will need your support, your comments, your ideas. I want to open my e-mail Sunday night and have 25 messages, and when I come in to the church office Monday morning I want to read notes from you and listen to voice mail messages. Tell me what was helpful, what wasn’t helpful, give me articles to read and YouTube links and funny quotes from the campaign. Be a contributor to the process, so that when the election is over, we can say that we had a meaningful civil discourse, we learned something about God and something about ourselves, we honored our faith, we became stronger people, and we worked together for a common goal.

Love Lesson #1: Love is Patient

2008-04-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I began a new sermon series, "Lessons in Love." Listen online at www.smithmemorialpres.org or read it here. I welcome your comments.

Love Is Patient

Rev. Cynthia O’Brien

April 13, 2008

Smith Memorial Presbyterian Church

(listen online at www.smithmemorialpres.org/sermons)

Patience is the greatest of all virtues.

Cato the Elder (234 BC - 149 BC)

A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.

Dutch Proverb

I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.

Margaret Thatcher (1925 - ), in Observer April 4, 1989

Let’s start with impatience.

Let’s consider the impatient person and what he suffers by being impatient. Let’s make him a he, but it could just as well be a she, but let’s say it’s a he who is impatient.

Consider the suffering of not being patient, and this is part of a much longer list by James and Constance Messina, PhD’s, on their web site, coping.org.

He’s always dissatisfied, upset, and angry when things are moving too slowly.

He can easily lose your control and fire off outbursts of anger, temper, and blame those who are slow

He may become a member of the ``throw away'' generation, discarding relationships, people, jobs, and school whenever things are not working out as quickly as he wants them to.

He quits a potentially good situation because he’s not seeing an immediate return for his effort.

He’s in such a hurry that he neglects to count his blessings and see how much good is in his life

He thinks he can do better and faster than he does

He thinks people should understand him the first time so he doesn’t need to repeat himself.

He wants it done yesterday.

He can't stand such things as diets, counseling, physical therapy, allergy desensitization, and orthodontics; they all take too long before results are visible.

Reminds me of the man who was going to meet his wife downtown and spend some time shopping with her. He waited patiently for 15 minutes. Then he waited impatiently for 15 minutes more.

After that, he became angry. He spottd one of those photograph booths nearby (the kind that accepts coins into a slot and takes four shots while you pose on a small bench), he had an idea. He assumed the most ferocious expression he could manage, which wasn't difficult under the circumstances, and in a few moments he was holding four small prints that shocked even him!

He wrote his wife's name on the back of the photographs and handed them to a clerk behind the desk. He said, "If you see a small, dark lady with brown eyes and an apologetic expression, apparently looking for someone, would you please give her this?" He then returned to his office content that, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then four photos must be a full-blown lecture!

His wife saved those pictures. She carries them in her purse now. Shows them to anyone who asks if she is married..

Being impatient does not get you very far. But patience works for you.

We are three weeks into our Financial Peace University class on Monday nights, taught by Dave Ramsey. Over 50 people, about half from our church and half from the community, each paid a hundred dollars to come here for 13 Monday evenings and learn about money management. Here’s an example from Dave Ramsey. It’s about money, and there are numbers involved, so listen carefully for how patience can work for you.

Joe and Sue bought a $16,000 car. Their car payment is $300 a month. With compound interest they will pay a lot more than $16,000. When that car wears out, they will buy a new car and they will have car payments again. Dave Ramsey evaluated Joe and Sue’s situation and suggested that they should have waited for that $16,000 car. He said they should have bought a car for $5400 with payments of $100 a month, then put that other $200 a month in savings at 10 percent for 7 years. That would give them $24,000 at the end. By the seventh year, in either scenario, they are ready to give up the car, but suppose they bought the cheaper car and saved that $24,190. Then they buy a $16000 car for cash from that savings, leaving them $8,190. They now have a new car with no car payment and $8,000 in the bank.

Dave suggested that if Joe and Sue could be patient for seven years, and wait for that car they really wanted, if they would start with a lesser purchase up front and save the difference, and then continue the process, then for the rest of their lives they will be driving paid-for cars and have savings in the bank. Because they are patient for the first seven years, they get compound interest working for them instead of against them.

Patience could work for them. Healthy money management requires some patience in our want-it-now world.

There are probably things you regularly buy on an I-want-it-now basis. I used to wait a few days for photos to be developed. Now I want them in one hour at twice the price. It would take too long to prepare lettuce for my salad – I need it already prepared in a bag or boxed up at the drive through. I am reading a half dozen books right now and have a dozen more out of the library, because I want to learn it all now, and I want that next book within reach so I can read it as soon as possible.

But even though there are things I want now that I don’t want to wait for, in other situations, I can be extremely patient. Simple things, like waiting too long in line. Do you handle that pretty well? Most of the time, I make a conscious effort to stand politely with a calm expression, as if I had all the time in the world. Patience makes me feel in control of the situation.

It’s a small personal victory, being able to be calm while waiting in line. But I’ve been working on it more than 25 years, starting with when I used to drive in downtown Los Angeles traffic every day.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519) said: “Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will then be powerless to vex your mind.

Do you believe you are a patient person? Love is patient. You’ve gotta be patient if you are married to a human being. How many of you men are married to the perfect woman, and I’d better not see any hands go up, because you’d be lying. She isn’t perfect. He isn’t perfect. In fact, ladies, your husband has some particularly annoying deficiencies, and you, girlfriend, you’ve been putting up with it for 10, 30, 50 years. That makes you a saint. Except you’re not a saint because you have some serious deficiencies of your own. You can’t think of what they might be, but trust me, you do.

So love is patient. And patience will work for your relationship.

They ask couples who are celebrating their golden anniversary, what’s the secret of their long marriage. People say different things. One wife said, “We never said the word divorce. Murder, maybe, but never divorce.” Another husband said, “Whenever Eleanor got upset with me, I would go outside for a walk. The secret of our marriage is that I have lived a mostly outdoor life.” And then there’s the husband who said, “In our marriage, I always made all the big decisions, and she always made all the small decisions. So far, there haven’t been any big decisions.”

Patience. Patience works for you. We Christians have a fairly messed up view of patience, as if it is the equivalent of suffering. We warn each other, “Don’t ask the Lord to teach you patience, God knows what he’ll do to you to make you learn to be patient.”

But patience is not just a virtue associated with long suffering. Patience works for you.

How does it work for you? Here are a few thoughts. First of all, it identifies you as being in God’s grace. Patience identifies you as being in God’s grace. The Bible says patience is one of the fruit of the spirit. Paul wrote, “be patient with all, do not return evil for evil.” James says “Be patient, as the farmer waits for the fruit of the earth.” You are in line with what God wants you to do if you are being patient. That thing with taking photos of your ferocious expression, not so much.

Second, being patient is part of being wise. Listen to these quotes from Proverbs:

Proverbs says, "The patient man shows much good sense, but the quick-tempered man displays folly at its height." (Proverbs 14:29, NAB)

"An ill-tempered man stirs up strife, but a patient man allays discord." (Proverbs 15:18, NAB)

(The following quotes found on quotationspage.com)

There will be a time when loud-mouthed, incompetent people seem to be getting the best of you. When that happens, you only have to be patient and wait for them to self destruct. It never fails.

Richard Rybolt

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

Saint Augustine (354 AD - 430 AD)

Third, patience keeps you calm.

"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him." (Ps 37:7 NIV)

When you are waiting for something, you won’t be anxious. I talk to a lot of people who are waiting for results from a medical test, especially if a positive test will mean a fatal disease or a need for surgery. It’s hard waiting, but I have found that most people try to just shake off the anxiety and be patient, because they realize there’s nothing they can do at the moment.

Someone once said that worry is the interest you pay on a bad thing that hasn’t happened yet. You’re already paying for it if you are anxious and frustrated. Patience works for you by turning your focus to the goodness of God rather than what might happen.

Fourth, patience works for you by helping you have good relationships. You can be tolerant and understanding of others. When I see someone doing something that I believe is ill-advised, or just plain ridiculous, patience can work for me.

You can hang on to a relationship when there’s trouble. It may take time to resolve, but patience will work for you. You know the Bible says, do not let the sun go down on your anger, so you don’t use patience as an excuse for not dealing with the problem. In fact, comedian Phyllis Diller amplified that Bible verse. She said, “Don’t go to bed angry. Stay up and fight!”

Finally, patience works for you because it comes from God. The story of the whole Bible is about how God is patient with us.

There is an ancient story about Abraham that is in the tradition but not written in the Bible, I got it from Thomas Lindberg.

Abraham was sitting outside his tent one evening when he saw an old man, weary from age and journey, coming toward him. Abraham rushed out, greeted him, and then invited him into his tent. There he washed the old man's feet and gave him food and drink. The old man immediately began eating without saying any prayer or blessing. So Abraham asked him, "Don't you worship God?" The old traveler replied, "I worship fire only and reverence no other god." When he heard this, Abraham became incensed, grabbed the old man by the shoulders, and threw him out his his tent into the cold night.

When the old man had left, God called to his friend Abraham and asked where the stranger was. Abraham replied, "I forced him out because he did not worship you."

God answered, "I have suffered him these eighty years although he dishonors me. Could you not endure him one night?"

Love is patient. God’s love for you is patient. Be patient with yourself and with others.

Surviving the Holidays

2007-11-19T13:15:00.000-08:00

If anyone knows who wrote these, let me know. I heard something similar on the radio, found this online and lost the reference, but I think they are helpful.

Surviving the Holidays…

Be Aware of Family Dynamics

Family dynamics can become strained at holiday gatherings for a variety of reasons: adult children may slip into old roles while parents feel taken for granted. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you negotiate your familial relationships:

Don't Regress: You're not 8. You, your parents, your siblings and all of your assorted relatives are complicated adults. You all have your own lives, concerns and needs. Everyone wants to be loved, and everyone fears going unnoticed.
Be Sensitive: Families change through divorce, marriage, death, illness, birth and all the other unpredictable events that keep life interesting. Be sensitive to how these changes affect your family members especially during the holidays.
Go Easy on Mom: Psychologist William Doherty explains that one person is typically assigned to "take on the emotional and physical responsibility for the holiday" and "actualize the cultural belief that the family is one big harmonious group." That person is usually mom, but no matter who it is in your family, don't take this person's role for granted. Help in the kitchen, grease the wheels of dinner conversation and let this person know that they're loved.

Respect Your Differences

It's not always easy to make conversation with a family member who doesn't share your politics or worldview, but everyone deserves a fair shake. Here a few things to keep in mind when dealing with difference around the dinner table:

Be Empathetic: Take the time to understand where people are coming from, and you'll have a much easier time interacting with them in general.
Be Attentive: People are pretty interesting. They also like to talk about themselves. Ask your family members questions, and listen to their answers. Did they ever meet someone famous? Were they in a war? How did they meet their spouse? You never know what you'll discover.
Don't Discipline Anyone Else's Children: People have very particular ideas about child-rearing. Even if a child is throwing mushy peas at your head, do not discipline the child.
Don't Criticize: Don't ask your adult children if they're dating, when they're going to have children or whether or not they could stand to lose a little weight.
Differentiate Between Public and Private: While you may be amongst friends and family, wait for a quieter moment to come out to mom and dad or announce that you're dropping out of college. Don't force someone to perform his or her response in front of others.
Accommodate Special Dietary Needs: Make vegetarians and those with special dietary needs feel included by providing a couple of alternatives dishes, and don't feel insulted if they can't eat everything you've prepared.

Dealing with Difficult People

If you must invite an especially difficult person to dinner, you may need a few conflict management tricks up your sleeve to make it to dessert.

Choose Your Behavior: Remember you can't change someone else, but you can control your response. Favor logic rather than emotion when dealing with a difficult person.
Acknowledge Comments: Be honest when someone says something inappropriate or hurtful. Being too polite can result in a blow-up. Sometimes simply saying "I heard you" is enough.
Use Humor: Humor can diffuse even the most volatile situations, but be careful. Don't make a joke at anyone's expense but your own.
Team Up: Talk to a family member you get along with well before dinner. Come up with a couple of strategies to manage a difficult person.
Create a Refuge: If you're feeling overwhelmed, excuse yourself. Take refuge in another room.
Call a Friend: Sometimes contact with the "outside world" can help put things in perspective quickly.
Don't Drink Too Much: Having too much alcohol can make dealing with difficult people even more difficult. You need to keep your cool, and alcohol won't help.

The Christians and the Pagans

2007-11-15T15:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a holiday song that gave me the idea for my November 18 sermon.

Thanksgiving Prayers

2007-11-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

If you are asked to say a prayer at your Thanksgiving table, consider one of these, or write your own. Happy Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Prayers

Our Father in Heaven,
We give thanks for the pleasure
of gathering together for this occasion.
We give thanks for this food
prepared by loving hands.
We give thanks for life,
the freedom to enjoy it all
and all other blessings.
As we partake of this food,
we pray for health and strength
to carry on and try to live

as You would have us.
This we ask in the name of Christ.

Amen.
- Harry Jewell

O God, when I have food,

help me to remember the hungry;

When I have work,

help me to remember the jobless;

When I have a home,

help me to remember those who have no home;

When I am without pain,

help me to remember those who suffer,

And remembering,

help me to destroy my complacency;

bestir my compassion,

and be concerned enough to help

those who cry out for what we take for granted.

Amen.

-Samuel F. Pugh

Luther's Letter to the Archbishop

2007-10-23T15:28:00.002-07:00

Luther's Letter to the Archbishop of Mainz (1517)

To the Most Reverend Father in Christ and Most Illustrious Lord, Albrecht of Magdeburg and Mainz, Archbishop and Primate of the Church, Margrave of Brandenburg, etc., his own lord and pastor in Christ, worthy of reverence and fear, and most gracious JESUS

The grace of God be with you in all its fulness and power! Spare me, Most Reverend Father in Christ and Most Illustrious Prince, that I, the dregs of humanity, have so much boldness that I have dared to think of a letter to the height of your Sublimity. The Lord Jesus is my witness that, conscious of my smallness and baseness, I have long deferred what I am now shameless enough to do, -- moved thereto most of all by the duty of fidelity which I acknowledge that I owe to your most Reverend Fatherhood in Christ. Meanwhile, therefore, may your Highness deign to cast an eye upon one speck of dust, and for the sake of your pontifical clemency to heed my prayer. Papal indulgences for the building of St. Peter's are circulating under your most distinguished name, and as regards them, I do not bring accusation against the outcries of the preachers, which I have not heard, so much as I grieve over the wholly false impressions which the people have conceived from them; to wit, -- the unhappy souls believe that if they have purchased letters of indulgence they are sure of their salvation; again, that so soon as they cast their contributions into the money-box, souls fly out of purgatory; furthermore, that these graces [i.e., the graces conferred in the indulgences] are so great that there is no sin too great to be absolved, even, as they say -- though the thing is impossible -- if one had violated the Mother of God; again, that a man is free, through these indulgences, from all penalty and guilt.

O God, most good! Thus souls committed to your care, good Father, are taught to their death, and the strict account, which you must render for all such, grows and increases. For this reason I have no longer been able to keep quiet about this matter, for it is by no gift of a bishop that man becomes sure of salvation, since he gains this certainty not even by the "inpoured grace" of God, but the Apostle bids us always "work out our own salvation in fear and trembling," and Peter says, "the righteous scarcely shall be saved." Finally, so narrow is the way that leads to life, that the Lord, through the prophets Amos and Zechariah, calls those who shall be saved "brands plucked from the burning," and everywhere declares the difficulty of salvation. Why, then, do the preachers of pardons, by these false fables and promises, make the people careless and fearless? Whereas indulgences confer on us no good gift, either for salvation or for sanctity, but only take away the external penalty, which it was formerly the custom to impose according to the canons.

Finally, works of piety and love are infinitely better than indulgences, and yet these are not preached with such ceremony or such zeal; nay, for the sake of preaching the indulgences they are kept quiet, though it is the first and the sole duty of all bishops that the people should learn the Gospel and the love of Christ, for Christ never taught that indulgences should be preached. How great then is the horror, how great the peril of a bishop, if he permits the Gospel to be kept quiet, and nothing but the noise of indulgences to be spread among his people! Will not Christ say to them, "straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel"? In addition to this, Most Reverend Father in the Lord, it is said in the Instruction to the Commissaries which is issued under your name, Most Reverend Father (doubtless without your knowledge and consent), that one of the chief graces of indulgence is that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to God, and all the penalties of purgatory are destroyed. Again, it is said that contrition is not necessary in those who purchase souls [out of purgatory] or buy confessionalia.

But what can I do, good Primate and Most Illustrious Prince, except pray your Most Reverend Fatherhood by the Lord Jesus Christ that you would deign to look [on this matter] with the eye of fatherly care, and do away entirely with that treatise and impose upon the preachers of pardons another form of preaching; lest, perchance, one may some time arise, who will publish writings in which he will confute both them and that treatise, to the shame of your Most Illustrious Sublimity. I shrink very much from thinking that this will be done, and yet I fear that it will come to pass, unless there is some speedy remedy.

These faithful offices of my insignificance I beg that your Most Illustrious Grace may deign to accept in the spirit of a Prince and a Bishop, i.e., with the greatest clemency, as I offer them out of a faithful heart, altogether devoted to you, Most Reverend Father, since I too am a part of your flock.

May the Lord Jesus have your Most Reverend Fatherhood eternally in His keeping. Amen.

From Wittenberg on the Vigil of All Saints, MDXVII.

[Source: Adolph Spaeth, L.D. Reed, Henry Eyster Jacobs, et al, eds., The Works of Martin Luther vol. 1 (Philadelphia: A. J. Holman Company, 1915), pp. 25-28.]

Luther's 95 Theses

2007-10-23T15:28:00.001-07:00

The 95 Theses

by Martin Luther

posted October 31, 1517

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1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, "Repent" (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.

2. This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.

3. Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance; such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortification of the flesh.

4. The penalty of sin remains as long as the hatred of self (that is, true inner repentance), namely till our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

5. The pope neither desires nor is able to remit any penalties except those imposed by his own authority or that of the canons.

6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring and showing that it has been remitted by God; or, to be sure, by remitting guilt in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in these cases were disregarded, the guilt would certainly remain unforgiven.

7. God remits guilt to no one unless at the same time he humbles him in all things and makes him submissive to the vicar, the priest.

8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to the canons themselves, nothing should be imposed on the dying.

9. Therefore the Holy Spirit through the pope is kind to us insofar as the pope in his decrees always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.

10. Those priests act ignorantly and wickedly who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penalties for purgatory.

11. Those tares of changing the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory were evidently sown while the bishops slept (Mt 13:25).

12. In former times canonical penalties were imposed, not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.

13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties, are already dead as far as the canon laws are concerned, and have a right to be released from them.

14. Imperfect piety or love on the part of the dying person necessarily brings with it great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater the fear.

15. This fear or horror is sufficient in itself, to say nothing of other things, to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.

16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ the same as despair, fear, and assurance of salvation.

17. It seems as though for the souls in purgatory fear should necessarily decrease and love increase.

18. Furthermore, it does not seem proved, either by reason or by Scripture, that souls in purgatory are outside the state of merit, that is, unable to grow in love.

19. Nor does it seem proved that souls in purgatory, at least not all of them, are certain and assured of their own salvation, even if we ourselves may be entirely certain of it.

20. Therefore the pope, when he uses the words "plenary remission of all penalties," does not actually mean "all penalties," but only those imposed by himself.

21. Thus those indulgence preachers are in error who say that a man is absolved from every penalty and saved by papal indulgences.

22. As a matter of fact, the pope remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to canon law, they should have paid in this life.

23. If remission of all penalties whatsoever could be granted to anyone at all, certainly it would be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to very few.

24. For this reason most people are necessarily deceived by that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise of release from penalty.

25. That power which the pope has in general over purgatory corresponds to the power which any bishop or curate has in a particular way in his own diocese and parish.

26. The pope does very well when he grants remission to souls in purgatory, not by the power of the keys, which he does not have, but by way of intercession for them.

27. They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory.

28. It is certain that when money clinks in the money chest, greed and avarice can be increased; but when the church intercedes, the result is in the hands of God alone.

29. Who knows whether all souls in purgatory wish to be redeemed, since we have exceptions in St. Severinus and St. Paschal, as related in a legend.

30. No one is sure of the integrity of his own contrition, much less of having received plenary remission.

31. The man who actually buys indulgences is as rare as he who is really penitent; indeed, he is exceedingly rare.

32. Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.

33. Men must especially be on guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to him.

34. For the graces of indulgences are concerned only with the penalties of sacramental satisfaction established by man.

35. They who teach that contrition is not necessary on the part of those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessional privileges preach unchristian doctrine.

36. Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters.

37. Any true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the church; and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters.

38. Nevertheless, papal remission and blessing are by no means to be disregarded, for they are, as I have said (Thesis 6), the proclamation of the divine remission.

39. It is very difficult, even for the most learned theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the bounty of indulgences and the need of true contrition.

40. A Christian who is truly contrite seeks and loves to pay penalties for his sins; the bounty of indulgences, however, relaxes penalties and causes men to hate them -- at least it furnishes occasion for hating them.

41. Papal indulgences must be preached with caution, lest people erroneously think that they are preferable to other good works of love.

42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend that the buying of indulgences should in any way be compared with works of mercy.

43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences.

44. Because love grows by works of love, man thereby becomes better. Man does not, however, become better by means of indulgences but is merely freed from penalties.

45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy man and passes him by, yet gives his money for indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God's wrath.

46. Christians are to be taught that, unless they have more than they need, they must reserve enough for their family needs and by no means squander it on indulgences.

47. Christians are to be taught that they buying of indulgences is a matter of free choice, not commanded.

48 Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting indulgences, needs and thus desires their devout prayer more than their money.

49. Christians are to be taught that papal indulgences are useful only if they do not put their trust in them, but very harmful if they lose their fear of God because of them.

50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence preachers, he would rather that the basilica of St. Peter were burned to ashes than built up with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep.

51. Christians are to be taught that the pope would and should wish to give of his own money, even though he had to sell the basilica of St. Peter, to many of those from whom certain hawkers of indulgences cajole money.

52. It is vain to trust in salvation by indulgence letters, even though the indulgence commissary, or even the pope, were to offer his soul as security.

53. They are the enemies of Christ and the pope who forbid altogether the preaching of the Word of God in some churches in order that indulgences may be preached in others.

54. Injury is done to the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or larger amount of time is devoted to indulgences than to the Word.

55. It is certainly the pope's sentiment that if indulgences, which are a very insignificant thing, are celebrated with one bell, one procession, and one ceremony, then the gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.

56. The true treasures of the church, out of which the pope distributes indulgences, are not sufficiently discussed or known among the people of Christ.

57. That indulgences are not temporal treasures is certainly clear, for many indulgence sellers do not distribute them freely but only gather them.

58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the saints, for, even without the pope, the latter always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outer man.

59. St. Lawrence said that the poor of the church were the treasures of the church, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.

60. Without want of consideration we say that the keys of the church, given by the merits of Christ, are that treasure.

61. For it is clear that the pope's power is of itself sufficient for the remission of penalties and cases reserved by himself.

62. The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.

63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last (Mt. 20:16).

64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.

65. Therefore the treasures of the gospel are nets with which one formerly fished for men of wealth.

66. The treasures of indulgences are nets with which one now fishes for the wealth of men.

67. The indulgences which the demagogues acclaim as the greatest graces are actually understood to be such only insofar as they promote gain.

68. They are nevertheless in truth the most insignificant graces when compared with the grace of God and the piety of the cross.

69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of papal indulgences with all reverence.

70. But they are much more bound to strain their eyes and ears lest these men preach their own dreams instead of what the pope has commissioned.

71. Let him who speaks against the truth concerning papal indulgences be anathema and accursed.

72. But let him who guards against the lust and license of the indulgence preachers be blessed.

73. Just as the pope justly thunders against those who by any means whatever contrive harm to the sale of indulgences.

74. Much more does he intend to thunder against those who use indulgences as a pretext to contrive harm to holy love and truth.

75. To consider papal indulgences so great that they could absolve a man even if he had done the impossible and had violated the mother of God is madness.

76. We say on the contrary that papal indulgences cannot remove the very least of venial sins as far as guilt is concerned.

77. To say that even St. Peter if he were now pope, could not grant greater graces is blasphemy against St. Peter and the pope.

78. We say on the contrary that even the present pope, or any pope whatsoever, has greater graces at his disposal, that is, the gospel, spiritual powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written, 1 Co 12[:28].

79. To say that the cross emblazoned with the papal coat of arms, and set up by the indulgence preachers is equal in worth to the cross of Christ is blasphemy.

80. The bishops, curates, and theologians who permit such talk to be spread among the people will have to answer for this.

81. This unbridled preaching of indulgences makes it difficult even for learned men to rescue the reverence which is due the pope from slander or from the shrewd questions of the laity.

82. Such as: "Why does not the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and the dire need of the souls that are there if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a church? The former reason would be most just; the latter is most trivial.

83. Again, "Why are funeral and anniversary masses for the dead continued and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded for them, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"

84. Again, "What is this new piety of God and the pope that for a consideration of money they permit a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God and do not rather, because of the need of that pious and beloved soul, free it for pure love's sake?"

85. Again, "Why are the penitential canons, long since abrogated and dead in actual fact and through disuse, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences as though they were still alive and in force?"

86. Again, "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?"

87. Again, "What does the pope remit or grant to those who by perfect contrition already have a right to full remission and blessings?"

88. Again, "What greater blessing could come to the church than if the pope were to bestow these remissions and blessings on every believer a hundred times a day, as he now does but once?"

89. "Since the pope seeks the salvation of souls rather than money by his indulgences, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons previously granted when they have equal efficacy?"

90. To repress these very sharp arguments of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies and to make Christians unhappy.

91. If, therefore, indulgences were preached according to the spirit and intention of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved. Indeed, they would not exist.

92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace! (Jer 6:14)

93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!

94. Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, death and hell.

95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace (Acts 14:22).

Note: This document was originally made available to the Internet by Bob Van Cleef (revc@garg.campbell.ca.us)

Sabbatical Plans

2007-05-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

This summer is a time of rest and renewal.

I'll keep the myspace page, but my plan is to be mostly off line except to post pictures once in a while. Also my riverandvine e-mail will have a vacation message on it. So catch me this week if you need me before I go!

I will be resting, studying, thinking, praying, writing and playing. I have a stack "this high" of books I want to read. Here's where I'm going:

June is mostly time by myself. After the girls and I go to Mom and Me Camp, I'll go to the Trappist Abbey (www.trappistabbey.org) to pray and clear my head. I'll have a week at the Grunewald Guild (www.artfaith.com) to study art and spirituality with Bro. Mickey McGrath (www.beestill.com). His new book, At the Name of Jesus, will be the basis of my sermon series for December 2007 through Easter 2008.

July is mostly time with Michael. My brother Jonathan will take care of the girls while Michael and I go to Los Angeles to study at seminaries, visit churches and museums, and renew our marriage. Highlights will include studying the Gutenberg Bible and ancient manuscripts at the Huntington Library, Greek and Roman art at the Getty Museum, using the library at Fuller Seminary and visiting the church I pastored in Escondido. We will take a short cruise out of San Diego with my mom and Jonathan.

August is family time, reading and reflection. My dad and his wife will be with us here in Gresham the first week of August. I hope to catch the Mount Hood Jazz Festival and Mt Hood Repertory Theater when I'm here. We will go to Kauai August 6-16 with Michael's parents, siblings and their families, thanks to the generosity of Michael's parents. Then Michael and the girls and I will stay another week in Maui. I'll go back to the abbey for the last week of the month to pray and write before returning to church September 1.

Please don’t bother our house sitters while we’re out of town, but feel free to send us a card as we’ll be dropping into town frequently and will pick up our mail regularly. Have a great summer!

Sermon: Bringing Peace to Work, School

2007-05-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

Bringing Peace to Workplace and School

1 Sam 25, selections

Cynthia O’Brien

May 20, 2007

Kip Kinkel entered the cafeteria, firing randomly. Students screamed and hit the foor, seeking cover under tables. 17-year old Jake Ryker turned to face Kip and yelled. A bullet blasted through his chest, ripped through his lung, out his back and slammed into his girlfriend, Jennifer. He fell to the floor, bleeding.

Kip shot 17-year old Mike Nickolausen in the leg. Then he put the gun to the back of Mike’s head, shot and killed him. He turned to 14-year old Ryan Crawley, stuck the gun in his face and pulled the trigger. Click. Empty. Kip reached into his pack for another clip. Ryan reached up and started punching him in the throat and in the face.

Jake struggled to get up from the floor. His leg got tangled under a chair, and he stumbled. But he found the strength to get up and lunge for the shooter, who was now holding a pistol. Jake rammed his shoulder into Kip, knocking him to the floor. He grabbed the pistol’s muzzle and tried to pull it away. Kip fired, piercing Jake’s hand.

Other boys jumped on top of Kip to help hold him down, including Jake’s 14 year old brother Josh. It took six boys to subdue him and wrest the weapons out of his grip. A rifle, two pistols, a knife and ammunition.

People say the boys who stopped him are heroes. They don’t see it that way. Josh said,

“We just did what we thought was right. We stopped him. That’s how we were raised. I would have done it again and again and again if I had to keep people from getting shot.”

We all said, How could this happen? How could it happen right here in Oregon? What could have been done to prevent it? Are my children going to be safe at school?

And then the questions became more personal. What would I have done in that situation? Would I have lunged forward to stop him, or would I have tried to protect someone in some other way? Would I have turned and run, or hid under a table?

What if someone could have talked it out with Kip before he went on this rampage? What if a friend or a counselor could have helped him to deal with his anger, defuse him, make him see that he was about to cause an immense tragedy? Couldn’t he be stopped from hurting others and throwing his life away?

In the Bible, in 1 Samuel chapter 25, David had just strapped on his weapons, filled his pack with ammunition, and was headed to the place where the people who had offended him were gathered. He intended to kill. What was his problem?

Let’s read this story.

(1 Sam 25 NIV) Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Maon. {2} A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. {3} His name was Nabal and his wife's name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings. (The name “Nabal” means “fool” or “simpleton.” One nice person and one old grouch live here.)

{4} While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. (This is a time of great celebration and there’s always lots of food.) In the next few verses, David sends his men to greet Nabal politely. Nabal’s response should be to welcome them and give them food.

BUT {10} Nabal answered David's servants, "Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? (This was an insult – he knew who David was.) Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. (He accuses the servants of being runaway slaves.) {11} Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?" {12} David's men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. {13} David said to his men, "Put on your swords!" So they put on their swords, and David put on his. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

David says later that he planned to kill Nabal and all the men who worked for Nabal. Now, from verse 14 on, one of Nabal’s servants told Nabal’s wife Abigail what happened, that David’s servants were very polite, and they had even watched over Nabal’s property, and Nabal had insulted them. The servant had obviously tried to talk to Nabal directly in the past, but Nabal was so wicked he wouldn’t listen.

In verse 18, Abigail took things into her own hands. She took hundreds of loaves and cakes, grain, wine and sheep, and rode up the mountain ravine to meet David.

Abigail got off her donkey, bowed before David, fell at his feet and gave this beautiful speech to defuse his anger. From here through verse 31. She acknowledged the wrong her husband had done, asked for forgiveness, and praised David for being the chosen of the Lord. She told him he wouldn’t want to have this needless bloodshed on his conscience. Listen to the words she chose to talk him down.

{23} When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. {24} She fell at his feet and said: "My lord, let the blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. {25} May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name--his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my master sent. {26} "Now since the LORD has kept you, my master, from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, may your enemies and all who intend to harm my master be like Nabal. {27} And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my master, be given to the men who follow you. {28} Please forgive your servant's offense, for the LORD will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master, because he fights the Lord's battles. Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live. {29} Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my master will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the LORD your God. But the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. {30} When the LORD has done for my master every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him leader over Israel, {31} my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the LORD has brought my master success, remember your servant."

David accepted her words and her gifts and granted her request.

What can we learn from this story?

1. If your husband is a jerk, you may have to intervene to keep someone from killing him. Nobody could tell him anything, so Abigail had to do something.

2. Swift action can make a difference. Abigail did something as soon as she knew there was a problem.

3. Make a peace offering. Abigail brought food for David’s men, which Nabal should have offered in the first place. Her generosity showed that she was truly sincere in her request for forgiveness.

4. God can use anyone to stop evil. Abigail wasn’t a powerful person, but she used her smarts and she acted fast.

This morning I want you to put yourself in Abigail’s place. Could you defuse a tense situation? What skills do you have?

It’s been a long time since Michael’s taken martial arts, and yet a lot of those moves are still in his muscles. We were in swing dance class and the teacher taught us a cute little kick step. Michael hauled off with some kind of roundhouse taikwando kick. He remembers. As for me, I’ve forgotten everything I learned in a short jujitsu class. I don’t know how I would do in a situation like a school shooting. We watch a lot of action movies, but our bodies don’t have the muscle memory of actually stopping someone from doing evil.

So what do you have to offer?

Last Thursday night I completed a seven-week training with the City of Gresham Fire Department – it’s called CERT – Community Emergency Response Training. When the big event happens, whether it’s an earthquake or something else, those of us that are CERT trained have some skills and procedures to keep us calm and organized.

What skills would you contribute in an emergency situation? What skills do you use every day to bring peace to your workplace or your school or your neighborhood? Do you have the inner strength and the smarts like Abigail, if you were faced with a situation that required you to act? If not, how can you get it?

Our Presbyterian Statement of Faith tells us that this strength comes from the Holy Spirit:

In a broken and fearful world

the Spirit gives us courage

to pray without ceasing,

to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,

to unmask idolatries in church and culture,

to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,

and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.

We thank you, God, that you desire justice and peace among your children on earth, and that you call us to be peacemakers. Give us strength of character, courage and skill to fulfill our calling. We pray in the name of Jesus, who is our example, and by the Holy Spirit, who empowers us. Amen.

Sermon: How Jesus Handled Conflict

2007-05-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

Matthew 18:15-35

Rev. Cynthia O’Brien

“Jesus, CEO: How Jesus Handled Conflict”

May 6, 2007

^{MT 18:15} "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ¹⁶ But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that `every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

What is Conflict? Let’s agree on a definition: A competitive behavior between people or groups in which perceived or real goals and needs are divergent or incompatible.

Put another way, conflict occurs when I want A, and you want B and I think that if you get B, I can’t have A. Since I don’t think that we can both have what we want, I compete to get what I want.

No healthy person likes conflict, especially since we see so many cases where conflict is handled badly. Politicians fight and put partisanship above the interest of the country. Unions and employers fight over salaries and benefits and work grinds to a halt. Israelis and Palestinians fight over territory and won’t let go of past grievances. We know that conflicts can get out of hand and this colors our perception.

Most of us dislike conflict and will avoid it if possible, but is all conflict bad?

True or false? Conflict is always the result of people sinning – False.

Conflict goes away if ignored – False.

Conflict is always bad – False.

If we are going to handle conflict constructively, we need to rethink it. Here are some truths about conflict

Conflict is the result of a fallen world. In Romans 8, Paul wrote:

For the creation waits with eager longing -- creation was subjected to futility, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay -- The whole creation has been groaning under the weight of sin. Conflict is inevitable until the day when God redeems and restores the whole world.

But conflict is normal because people are needy. In Acts 6, people were upset because the widows were not getting the food they needed. There was a conflict about it which resulted in a better food distribution system.

Conflict in church is natural because what we do is of eternal significance. When we care about things deeply, we are likely to come into conflict with others.

Change is normative, therefore, conflict is normative as we try to adapt

By the way, if you don’t think that conflict is normal in the church, I’d encourage you to go back and read Paul’s letters. We have this odd notion that everything was pristine in the early churches. It wasn’t. In every church to which Paul writes, there is conflict.

It is important to understand that conflict is normal -- then we don’t over-react when it happens.

I have a list of the 10 most likely times for conflict in the church. It was prepared by the Alban Institute. Whenever ministers hear the name of the Alban Institute, we bow down and worship and buy whatever book they are selling, because these are very smart, very experienced church leaders and pastors who understand church dynamics. They have complied this list of the 10 most likely times for church conflict. As I read the list, think back to a church conflict and see if it fits into one of these 10 categories.

1. Easter. There is a lot of stress around Easter which brings conflict to the surface. The Alban Institute gets nearly 30 percent more calls than average right before Easter.

2. Stewardship Campaign and Budget Time. When money doesn’t come in as expected. When people use the opportunity to withhold money and air their complaints.

3. Addition of new staff - new staff change old dynamics. Donna, our secretary, is retiring after nearly 26 years. When we hire a new secretary, she could be as skilled and as nice as can be, but after a while you won’t like her, and you won’t know why. The reason is probably that, until now, every time you called the office you got a person who knows you well, knows your history, understands whatever you’re going through and cares deeply about you. In fact, sometimes when I pick up the phone, the person on the other end says, “Where’s Donna?” We can’t replace that depth of relationship. It won’t even happen in a couple of years. This is a great loss. But if we understand that what we’re losing can’t be replaced, hopefully it will help us manage our feelings and reduce future conflict.

4. Change in leadership style, especially when a new pastor’s leadership style is different from the predecessor. In a time of crisis, people depend on the pastor’s leadership to be the same as before.

5. The pastor’s vacation. Those who rely heavily on the pastor may panic when the pastor is gone. Additionally, it’s a good time to act up. I know a church where the pastor was gone for just a few days. During that time, the Worship Committee met without the pastor and voted to change the number of Sunday worship services and the time the services were held.

6. Changes in the Pastor’s family -- marriage, illness, the birth of children, divorce, death – these all affect the pastor’s relationship with the church and the people’s perception of the pastor’s devotion to them.

7. Young people joining the church. Different generations don’t always see eye to eye. Long time members ask, “What’s happened to my church? Who are these people?”

8. The completion of a new building. One of the most common times for a minister to be forced out is after the completion of a building. During construction, everyone is focused on a common task. Once it’s done, a new focus is needed. Without it, the church feels like it’s drifting and has no immediate goal. These feelings lead to conflict.

9. Loss of church membership. When membership decreases, people will look for a person or group to blame it on.

10. Increase in church size. As a church grows, its personality changes. Those who liked its personality before may have a hard time getting used to a new feel of the larger congregation.

Did any of your conflicts you thought of fit one of these categories?

If we are aware of why conflict happens and when it happens, we can redeem it and use it constructively. Instead of destroying the church, conflict can stimulate change, healing and growth.

But it is not enough to know why and when conflict occurs. We need to have the right attitude too. And that’s why we look to Jesus to see how he managed conflict.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and yet his life was constantly surrounded by conflict. Almost everything that Jesus did made the religious leaders unhappy or sparked some controversy and heated discussion. What made Jesus a peacemaker was not avoiding conflict but how handling it well.

Do you remember the story of the women caught in adultery in John chapter 8? It wonderfully illustrates how Jesus dealt with conflict.

While Jesus was teaching at the temple, a woman was brought before him. She had been caught in the act of adultery (I don’t know why they didn’t catch the man, too) and an angry mob assembled to stone her. The religious leaders asked Jesus if she should be put to death as the Law prescribed.

This was a trap that the religious leaders set for Jesus. They knew that Jesus was merciful and they were looking for a way to discredit him. They hoped that he would set the woman free so that they could accuse him of being soft on the Law. The religious leaders were out to get Jesus, and this poor women was simply the means.

Jesus defused the situation by saying “Let he who is without sin throw the first stone.” A few at a time, the mob disbanded. The crisis was over.

What I love about this story is that Jesus demonstrated what true peacemaking is all about.

1. Jesus was loving and patience with everyone even when being personally attacked. It is easy to see Jesus love for the women, but we might miss Jesus’ love for the religious leaders too. Jesus could have blasted them for being hypocrites. After all, they were not interested so much in upholding the Law as they are in trapping Jesus. He saw their hypocrisy and understood that he was being personally undermined. But rather than attack them, he looked for a way to show them mercy too. Can you be loving and patient with someone who is attacking you, and not hurt them back?

2. Jesus was not anxious even in the midst of an emotionally charged situation. While the religious leaders were open hostile, Jesus did not respond to the threat. In fact, while they were making accusations against the woman, Jesus doodled on the ground. He remained calm, focused and unaffected by they negativity around him. He wouldn’t allow himself to get sucked up into the frenzy. He would not get upset while being attacked. He remained calm.

This is something I’ve been able to do a lot in ministry. Michael and I attended Interim Pastor Training many years ago, an intense training for pastors who serve churches between permanent pastors. Oftentimes these churches are hurting or conflicted, so one of the things we learned was to be what they called “a non anxious presence.” So when something comes up here at church, and someone flies into my office in a flurry because there’s something terribly wrong, I try not to get upset about it. I try to stay calm and focused. You might misinterpret that as my not caring about it. That’s not true. I have been trained to be a non-anxious presence, to focus on finding a solution to the problem. Can you also be calm when faced with conflict?

3. Jesus reframed the question. This is a skill I’d like to develop more. Jesus had a way of seeing through the surface issues and getting to the heart of a matter. He challenged people’s assumptions and forced them to rethink their attitudes. Sometimes Jesus would do this by answering a question with a question. Next time someone is attacking you, try not to get defensive. Don’t try to give an answer right away. Try asking a question, and see whether you can get beyond the attack to see what that person really needs.

Jesus showed patience and mercy to all parties. He remained focused and non-anxious in the midst of an emotionally charge atmosphere. Jesus got to the heart of the matter.

That’s the kind of peacemaker I want to be. In the coming weeks, we’ll find out how to be peacemakers in all walks of life: at home, at work and at the church.

Sermon: Too Young, Too Old, Too Busy

2007-04-22T22:17:00.000-07:00

“Limited Time, Unlimited Possibilities”

Rev. Cynthia O’Brien

April 22, 2007

Luke 10:38-42; Mark 1:32-37

Quote to consider:

"If you're burning the candle at both ends, you're not as bright as you think you are."

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"

Mark 1:35-37

^{2CO 1:3} Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. ⁵ For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. ⁶ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷ And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

We are continuing in our church’s theme for 2007: The Year of Discovery, and this month’s theme, Discover the Power to Make a Difference.

As I’ve been reading and talking to people this week, it seems that a lot of people want to make a difference in their communities or help other people, but they don’t, pretty much for three reasons. They feel they are too young, too old, or too busy.

TOO YOUNG?

I hear a lot of teenagers saying, “I’m so bored” or “It doesn’t matter what I do.” They’re either out of touch with the needs of others, or think that since they’re too young to vote or drive or hold a job, that there’s nothing they can do about the problems of their communities.

But if you’ve been around this church for any length of time, you know that being young hasn’t stopped people from making a difference. The preschoolers have been collecting change for three years for the new building. Alex Brown, a middle schooler, is raising money for clean water in Africa, and he and his friends collected money on Halloween instead of trick-or-treating. A dozen of our high schoolers are headed to Florida this summer to do the hard work of hurricane relief and restoration.

We quoted this Scripture a few weeks ago from 1 Timothy: Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

Friday was the 8^th anniversary of the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Charlie Simmons, a member of the Columbine choir, was one of the survivors. About a week later, he was asked to help start a community youth center, a place where teenagers could go to hang out, everyone would be accepted, and you could share things that were on your mind with caring mentors. They called it SHOUTS, Students Helping Others Unite Together Socially, and it opened a month after the tragedy.

Charlie said: “Eric and Dylan had a secret and they told no one. Maybe nobody let them know they had somebody to talk to if they needed to. I think they were angry at the world. I think they had problems with themselves or their families or with others they just couldn’t work out. I think that someone wasn’t around to touch their lives.” [1]

I’ve found that people of all ages really start to make a difference when they find a cause that they can relate to. Unfortunately, sometimes this happens when they experience a problem or tragedy in their own life, but as they are overcoming it, they find they have enough strength to reach out to others.

(Story of Tessa Thompson from Teens With the Courage to Give -- about how she began to realize that her “perfect” boyfriend was also a classic abuser. She broke up with him nine times but he kept convincing her to stay, until she finally made the break, eventually spoke at student assembly, found herself, now helps teenagers in similar situations.)

The Apostle Paul wrote, God … comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

God has made us this way – when we experience a difficulty or a tragedy, it makes us compassionate towards others. We say, “I don’t want someone else to go through what I did.” That’s a powerful energizer towards getting the power to make a difference.

TOO OLD?

And being old hasn’t stopped people from making a difference. It was maybe 12 years ago that one of our members, Bob, about 70 years old at the time, was approached by a fellow member, Holly. Holly said, “Do you have a truck?” Bob said, “yes.” She said, “You need to go volunteer for Snow Cap.” So he did, and now, even in his 80’s, he’s picking up bread from the bakery and donations from the church and delivering it to the food bank in his truck. He and his friends moved the 400 pounds of baby food that we collected here last fall. I think it keeps him young.

There was a man in Berkeley named Joseph Charles who liked to work in his front yard and always smiled and waved to his neighbors and people walking by. One day a lady said, “You make me feel so good, you should go out to the street and wave to everyone.” He put on a pair of yellow gloves and started doing it. For 30 years, every morning from about 7:30 to 9:30, he waved to the passing motorists from in front of his house on the busy Martin Luther King Jr. Way. He would smile and call out, “Keep smiling!” and “Have a GOOD day!” People used to change their commuting route to go by him. The mayor of Berkeley said, “He brought a lot of joy to people.” Joseph Charles died a few years ago at the age of 91. He outlived his wife, two children and two physicians.

Still feel too old? Consider these things you can still do. Remember the church in your will. Whether you give 10 percent of your estate, or a modest amount, it is your legacy to your family and continues the ministry that you care so much about.

Love your family and friends. Let your grandchildren know how special they are to you.

And pray for your loved ones, the church and the world. The Bible says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

So there’s not too young, and not too old. How about the rest of us?

TOO BUSY?

A lot of us who are working and/or raising children just feel too busy with our own lives to get out and do something for someone else.

I am not going to stand here and tell you that you’re not too busy, because I know what some of your lives are like. You’re overloaded, either financially, emotionally, or with the amount of activities and responsibilities you have.

Let me share a picture you might relate to. The Chicago Bears used to do this thing called "Splashing.” The smaller defensive backs and the huge defensive linemen had a good natured battle of intimidation. First they would hurl verbal assaults at each other. Then the big guys would try to circle and isolate one of the defensive backs or as they called them, the "Brat Pack." Usually the smaller, faster defensive backs were able to strike and quickly escape; but, if captured, they paid a huge price.

This is how it happened when they “splashed” defensive back David Tate, who weighed 180 pounds. He was dropped to the ground and the 300 pound William "Refrigerator" Perry collapsed on top of him. Then 270 pound Richard Dent, 275 pound Dan Hampton, and 270 pound Steve McMichael jumped on top--1,115 pounds of pain.

David Tate said, "It hurts. I don't think they know how heavy they are. Once you've gotten 'splashed,' you avoid it at all costs--even if it means backing down."

Have you ever felt "splashed"?

Dr. Richard A. Swenson used this idea as a metaphor for people’s overloaded lives. In one form or another--whether emotionally, physically, or financially--it happens to a lot of us. Newsweek did a cover story on it – the title was simply, "Exhausted."

Swenson said:

"The spontaneous tendency of our culture is to inexorably add detail to our lives: one more option, one more problem, one more commitment, one more expectation, one more purchase, one more debt, one more change, one more job, one more decision. We must now deal with more 'things per person' than at any other time in history. Yet one can comfortably handle only so many details in his or her life. … Overloading occurs whenever the requirements upon us exceed that which we are able to bear.

This month we are exploring the idea, Discover the Power to Make a Difference. But if you are overloaded, if you have too much going on, you’re not going to feel like you can make a difference in other people’s lives.

But you realize God calls you to love your neighbor as yourself, and that as a Christian you are called to follow Jesus. So let’s see how Jesus pulled it off.

In Mark 1:32-34. It was early in Jesus’ ministry, and the crowd just loved him. They brought him ALL the sick and demon possessed, and he healed them.

The disciples must have been ready to pitch a tent, put up billboards, and advertise through television and newspaper that Jesus would be having an extended campaign in the area. They were ready to set the agenda for Jesus. (You may have heard this saying, "God loves you and everybody else has a plan for your life.")

Meanwhile, Jesus had his own agenda. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed, 'Everyone is looking for you!'" More and more people wanted Jesus to help them. So after he had set aside time to pray by himself, he went to the next village to preach.

Jesus did not heal everyone; he did not minister to everyone; he did not visit everyone; and he did not teach everyone. He did not work 24-hour days. He didn't run from place to place; he walked or shuffled as he talked with his companions. At the end of every day, he slept. Jesus lived in the context of limits. Yet at the end of his life he could say to his Father, "I accomplished the work you gave me to do."

Is it possible in our busy lives to do what we’ve been called to do, to love our neighbor as ourself, to help the poor, to take a public stand for truth, and to still get a full night’s sleep?

Many of Christ's followers today get caught up in a lot of activities that aren't closely related to the primary job God has given them to do. We can get worn out with too many good things.

I heard someone say recently, "If you are burning the candle at both ends, you're not as bright as you think you are." Jesus knew it. The leaders in the early church knew it as well. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants" (Eph. 5:15-17, TM).

If we don't establish effective priorities, overloading will continue to fill up our schedules and keep us captive. We may have to simplify our lives and get rid of excess. We may have to say "no" to the good that we may say "yes" to the best. Only then will we be able to find the power to make a difference.

This is the situation I find myself in. With a husband, two active children, a terrific church, my involvement in the community, and lots of personal interests, I have a life that’s packed with blessings and great ways to make a difference. “How’s it going, Cynthia” someone will ask. “It’s a chaos of joy,” I say. “An avalanche of blessings.”

But there’s not enough time to do it all. When I go on leave this summer, one of the things I will have to think through is how I can make a difference in my community and still keep a reasonable schedule. I’m going to study the life and ministry of Jesus and try to understand how he met people’s daily needs while also carrying out the Father’s long term vision. How did he preach such wisdom that brought fresh insight, and still had time to welcome the little children who came to him?

I invite you to make the same self-examination. Look over your calendar of activities, evaluate your television watching habits, evaluate the purchases in your checkbook and on your credit card statement. Become aware of where you’re spending time and money. Then consider where your true passion is, and what your gifts are. Talk to a trusted friend about it. And pray that God will give you the power to make a difference.

Next week is the last message in the Power to Make a Difference. I’ll be handing out some ideas for ways that you can change the world, one life at a time.

[1] Jackie Waldman, Teens With the Courage to Give, 2000, Conari Press

Sermon: Lighten Up, Light the World

2007-04-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

Lighten Up, Light the World

Rev. Cynthia O’Brien

April 15, 2007

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven…

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance …

Ecclesiastes 3

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰ and find out what pleases the Lord…

"Wake up, O sleeper,

rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you."

Ephesians 5

We are 28 percent of the way through 2007, the Year of Discovery, and this month’s topic is Discover the Power to Make a Difference. Last Sunday we focused on the source of our power, Jesus Christ raised from the dead, and we learned about how God works with ordinary people with extraordinary results, like that Presbyterian Disaster Assistance team in Louisiana I told you about.

Speaking of PDA, we received an offering last week for One Great Hour of Sharing, which goes to disaster assistance and programs that help people help themselves in the neediest parts of the world. Your gifts last Sunday totaled $1300. Thank you so much.

After the crucifixion of Jesus, the disciples were a scattered, frightened band of fugitives. But within a week, they began to change into the most remarkable collection of human beings the world has ever seen.

Luke 24:51-52 “Now it came to pass, while Jesus blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”

Sherwood Wirt says: “Joy was what changed them. .. Joy was the atmosphere in the early church. It was euphoria, hilarity, unspeakable gladness. The believers had become aware that the bars of nature had been broken through by Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.” [1]

In the early Greek Orthodox tradition, an Easter custom developed, in which on the day after Easter, clergy and laity gathered to tell jokes and stories. They even played jokes on each other. The theology behind this was that they were celebrating the greatest joke of all, the joke God had pulled on the devil – the Resurrection. Theologians called it Riscus paschalis, the Easter laugh.

We can so easily miss our Easter joy.

Once the comedian Groucho Marx was getting off an elevator and he happened to meet a clergyman. The clergyman came up to him, put out his hand and said, “I want to thank you for all the joy you’ve put into the world.” Groucho shook his hand and replied, “Thank you, Reverend. I want to thank you for all the joy you’ve taken out of it.” [2]

How often do we go around looking like Easter never happened?

In 390, Chrysostom preached a sermon against it. He said, “This world is not a theatre in which we can laugh, and we are not assembled together in order to burst into peals of laughter, but to weep for our sins… It is not God who gives us the chance to play, but the devil.” [3]

But more Christian theologians through the ages have had a joyful point of view. Martin Luther, a very serious professor and reformer, had a fun loving spirit and said that the Christian can and should be a joyful person.

Evangelist Paul Rader, pastor of Moody Church in Chicago in the 1920’s, said that laughter is from God. He said, “When God chooses a man, he puts laughter into his life. God is delighted to fill the hearts of men with laughter. The anointing oil that was poured upon the head of David put laughter into David’s life…. It is the oil of Jesus’ presence that makes holy laughter in life – not only in the disposition to laugh at a joke, but the ability to laugh at calamity, to laugh at death, to laugh at the victory which the devil thought he had won.” [4]

When our hearts are filled with laughter, we can face life squarely and approach the problems of our lives more creatively.

Bill died, leaving a will that provided $30,000 for an elaborate funeral. As the last of the visitors departed the services, his wife, Lynne, turned to her dearest friend, Sue, and said, "Well, I think Bill would be pleased."

"I'm sure you're right," replied Sue, who then lowered her voice and leaned in close. "How much did this really cost?"

"All of it," said Lynne. "All thirty thousand."

"No!" Sue exclaimed. "I mean, it was very nice, but $30,000?"

Lynne replied, "Yes. The funeral was $6,500; I donated $500 to the church, and the wake, food and drinks were another $500. The rest went for the Memorial Stone."

Sue computed quickly and asked, "$22,500 for a Memorial Stone? My goodness, how big is it?"

"Two and a half carats."

Perhaps when you have a sense of humor, you can face life more creatively!

Joseph Michelli, a psychologist at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, often usues humor to help patients with cancer or depression. He says “Kids laugh 400 times a day. Adults laugh 16 times a day. We lose 384 laughs a day in a process I call adulteration.”

Albert Schweitzer was a doctor who used humor to combat depression and to keep from falling into a state of helplessness. He found that it not only helped him deal with stress, but it also seemed to positively affect the people around him. The stress involved with illness not only affects the patient, but it extends to the doctors and nurses who take care of these patients as well. He saw humor as being a vital nourishment for the hospital community.

King Solomon, who wrote the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. Solomon said, “A merry heart is good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.” He also wrote the quote that heads up my page on MySpace: “A cheerful heart has a continuous feast.”

I heard a story about a man who worked for the IRS whose job it was to read all the letters that came into the department and decide who should receive them. He said, “Several times it was my pleasure to read letters from people who had just given their lives over to the Lord, and who wished to start their new lives with a clean slate by paying back money that they had cheated the government out of.”

He was commenting on this marvel of new life to one of his co-workers when they received an odd letter. The man who wrote it explained that he hadn’t been able to sleep well since 10 years ago when he had cheated on his income tax.

Enclosed with the letter were five one hundred dollar bills. The man concluded the letter by saying that if he didn’t sleep better now, he would send the rest.

Well, some people have to take baby steps to that place of joy. But others make a decision that they are going to lighten up, and it changes their lives.

You know George Forem an? Two time heavyweight boxing world champion, preacher, founder of youth centers and grill-master. George learned throughout his life to have a good attitude. But there was a particular day when he made a conscious effort to show it. It was when he returned to boxing at the age of 37. TV interviews were hard to get, and when you got on a sports show, they would only give you a few seconds. Athletes were unapproachable, and it seemed that Mik e Tyson wanted to kill everyone. George noticed when he watched TV that it was always the funny stuff that would make him stop flipping the remote. He writes, “I decided to meet everybody with a smile, so I would never have to put on an act. I was going to be the happiest man alive on TV.”

Even today, he says, “I tell my kids, ‘Keep your smile; it will be your health. There will be better students in college, but you can be the happiest about being there. Don’t let anyone beat you at this. Have it said when someone meets you, ‘I met the nicest person in the world,’ because you have a smile, joke, or time for the least of them.”

Jesus said, ^{MT 5:14} "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

And Paul continued the encouraging message when he wrote,

"Wake up, O sleeper,

rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you."

[1] Sherwood Eliot Wirt in More Holy Humor P. 175

[2] Joyful Noiseletter 4/2000, p. 7

[3] And God Created Laughter, p. 26

[4] Paul Rader, quoted by Sherwood Eliot Wirt, quoted by Cal Samra, More Holy Humor, page ix

Sermon: The Source of Our Power (Easter)

2007-04-09T15:14:00.000-07:00

Easter Sermon Acts 10:34-43

“The Source of Our Power”

Rev. Cynthia O’Brien

April 8, 2007

We are continuing our theme for 2007: The Year of Discovery. So far this year we have discovered the Bible, discovered our story, discovered our unique gifts, and this month we discover the power to make a difference. Last week we learned about the great sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf, when he died on the cross so that we could be reconciled to God. Today and in the following three weeks, we learn how we tap into that power, to make a difference in our world.

Let us pray.

God of power and might, as the Scripture is read and your Word is proclaimed, may your Holy Spirit bring understanding to our minds, and move us to follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

We are about to read a summary of a speech Peter gave in Caesarea, in the house of Cornelius. Cornelius was a respected centurion in the Italian Regiment. He was a man who prayed to God and gave to the poor, but he wasn’t Jewish and he didn’t know about Jesus. One day, Cornelius was praying and an angel appeared to him who said, “God has heard your prayers and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to the city of Joppa for Peter.” Meanwhile, God sent a message to Peter also, that this summons was coming and that he should go. Peter went, even though it was against Jewish law for a Jew such as Peter to associate with a non-Jew such as Cornelius. When he arrived, Cornelius said, “We are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us."

^{AC 10:34} Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵ but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. ³⁶ You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ³⁷ You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached-- ³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

^{AC 10:39} "We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, ⁴⁰ but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. ⁴¹ He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen--by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

What Peter just preached is the essential story of Jesus, who was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went around doing good and healing people, who had power over the devil, because God was with him, who was killed but was raised by God on the third day, who was seen by witnesses, who was not a ghost but flesh and blood who could even eat and drink, who told his witnesses to go out and tell his story to all the world. This is the story of Jesus, not a gentle, weak person, but God in the flesh, who lived the perfect human life and sealed his teaching with miracles. This is Jesus, whom God has made the judge of the living and the dead. This is the one with the power. If you want real power, you have to know Jesus.

The demon possessed man

Some of the best examples of how powerful Jesus was, are in the book of Mark in the Bible. Read the whole book of Mark; it doesn’t take long and it’s packed with action. There’s a great story in Mark about a demon-possessed man who lived in the tombs and would scream and cut himself. When Jesus saw him, Jesus commanded the evil spirit to come out of him. He started screaming at Jesus and identified Jesus as “the Son of the Most High God.”

Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"

The voice came from the man: "My name is Legion, for we are many." Jesus made them leave the man, and allowed the demons to go into a herd of two thousand pigs. The pigs then rushed into the nearby lake and drowned. People heard about this and rushed out to the lake to see what was going on. When they got there, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and this made everyone afraid. In fact, people were so afraid of Jesus they pleaded with him to leave the area.

As Jesus was getting into a boat, the man who had been demon possessed said “Let me go with you.” Jesus said, "No, go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." So the man went away and began to tell in the city how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Whatever demons are on your back, real or just the trials of your life, Jesus has the power to cast them out. Through Jesus, you can be saved. Is there anyone in this room that can say that Jesus has saved them? Raise your hand if there’s something that was wrong in your life and through Jesus, you were saved.

I know a lot of people who feel like their lives are going OK – up and down, but OK – and yet they feel like they’re just surviving. Feels like you’re working all the time, trying to make a life for your family, trying to overcome challenges of work or money or marriage or kids or all of the above, but you also feel drained.

Then you hear about truly serious needs – Children in Africa whose parents are dying of AIDS. Women and girls who are victims of human trafficking. Veterans unable to get proper medical care. Hurricane victims. Even other local families who don’t have a simple, decent place to live. And you think, I’ve got to do something to help them, too, but shoot, I’m just trying to keep my whole deal together.

John Mayer sings about it on his new album “Continuum.” At 29 years old, he has a song, “Waiting on the World to Change,” which seems to be an explanation for why his generation seems so apathetic:

It’s not that we don't care,
We just know that the fight ain't fair
So we keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change.

Rather than urging people to change the world, he seems to say, there's nothing we can do. I heard him interviewed on NPR last month. He said, "Look, demanding somebody do anything in this day and age is not going to fly. Kids don't even like being talked to like kids anymore, you know. 'Just give me the option and I'll think about it.'" He says, "All I want a song to do is just to kind of present an idea..."

So there’s an idea to consider. Now, how long do you want to be waiting on the world to change? If you’re ready to be part of the solution, that’s where Jesus comes in again. Because Jesus commanded us to share the love, spread the healing, and he also gave us the power. He said to his disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.” The power comes from Jesus.

If there’s someone near you who raised their hand earlier, they’d be glad to tell you after church about the power of God in their life. But let me tell you a simple story about someone who got the power to make a difference.

Suzan Robison – the power to become a nurse

When Suzan Robison graduated from high school, she knew exactly what she wanted to do. She wanted to become a nurse. As she looks back, she remembered that time in her life. She said: “The idea of helping people really appealed to me. On the other hand, studying four hours a day had no appeal.” Her grades showed it. At the age of 19, she failed her first year of nursing school. The next year, she failed again.

A teacher bluntly told her she didn’t have what it took to become a nurse, and that she should drop out. She was humiliated. She moved to another city, away from her family and friends, and took a position as a medical transcriptionist. It went well, but, she said, “I couldn’t get nursing out of my mind. It became clear that I wouldn’t be satisfied doing anything else. But my desire to become a nurse was threatened by an equally compelling fear of failure.”

Every year for 5 years, she planned to go back to school. And every year she was paralyzed by the fear of failing. She found endless excuses for not signing up. The years passed and she was no closer to what she really wanted. Finally, she realized she didn’t have the strength within her to do it alone.

“I asked God for help. I asked Him to grant me the ability to achieve my goal. I started reading the bible, and friends recommended several books. My faith grew, and with it, my courage. Over time, I believed that with God’s help, there was nothing I couldn’t do.”

The next time the nursing program enrollment opened, she applied. She was nervous, but confident God would see her through. Two years later, she graduated with honors in the top 5 percent of her class, and she has been happy being a nurse ever since. “It took me five years to discover my faith, to build my confidence, and to find the courage to try one more time.”

Suzan had a dream for who she wanted to be – a person who made a difference in other people’s lives. With God’s help, she is both personally fulfilled and an asset to her community.

I look around and I’m so pleased to see how so many people give of themselves to help others. This summer, 25 of our church adults and teenagers will be spending 10 days on the coast of Florida doing hurricane cleanup work. You would think that it would be like pulling teeth to get a person to spend his or her hard-earned vacation time doing hard labor, but people who come back from these work trips seem to have received as much as they gave.

New Orleans story

A pastor at the Presbyterian church in Corvallis, Linda Gebetsberger, went to New Orleans with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to help with hurricane relief. She also sent her youth group down there, and this summer she’s going again with a group from around the presbytery. She told me this story.

This time last year, in March of 2006, a work team from PDA, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, had an assignment to clean out a particular home in Louisiana. First thing in the morning, they went to their assigned home. They had a map, but many street signs had been blown down. House numbers were visible, so having finally found the home, the team went to the front door. An elderly man and his wife answered the door.

The team leader explained that they had come to help on behalf of Presbyterian

Disaster Assistance. The elderly man welcomed them in. All day as they worked, he watched them. At the end of the day, the team had accomplished quite a bit.

When they got ready to leave the elderly man again asked them where they were from and who had sent them. The team leader explained that they had been assigned to the home through PDA. The man shook his head and said , "I believe it was God that sent you." The team leader said, "Well, yes...but we were assigned by PDA."

The man shook his head and again said, "I believe that God sent you." He then went on to say that he and his wife had been living in their kitchen since the hurricane hit. No one had come to help them and that morning they had held hands, sat at the table after breakfast and agreed that today they would end their lives. And then ... the doorbell rang.

Each evening back at camp, the teams have a devotional and debriefing time together and share experiences. That night, this team was sharing their incredible experience and telling about the elderly couple, when the village manager got up and left the community tent. He returned shortly with a large binder. He had it opened and his face was an ashen color. Everyone became silent and looked at him. He told the team that they had gone to the wrong house. The homeowner names didn't match up. It was the right house number but the wrong street.

Do you want the power of Jesus to save you, to overcome the demons in your life? Do you want the power to make a difference in this world? It’s yours for the asking.

Let us pray.

Great God, we praise you that in Jesus, you demonstrated your love for us and your power to heal us, and in raising Jesus from the dead, you broke the power of sin and death. Yours is the glory, and the victory. Please give us the courage and the power to join you in bringing healing and salvation to all people. Help us in this church to be the place where every person can find the power to make a difference. Amen.

Sermon: A Sacrifice of Love (Palm Sunday)

2007-04-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

A Sacrifice of Love

Hebrews 9:11-14

First in the series “Discover the Power to Make a Difference”

Rev. Cynthia O'Brien

April 1, 2007

^{HEB 9:11} When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

In this year, 2007, the Year of Discovery, we have learned that each of us has a story of God’s love for us, and that each of us has unique gifts. This month’s theme is Discover the Power to Make a Difference.

“Making a difference” is what many young people today identify as their reason for coming to a church. They don’t just want to sit in the pew, they don’t just want to worship God on Sunday. They want to do something that helps other people’s lives be better. They want to see tangible results. Feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, keeping kids healthy, that’s what they are interested in.

A couple of weeks ago, Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis held a Community Safety Summit at City Hall. He brought together law enforcement like Chief Piluso, Sherriff Giuso, the head of the FBI, the head of Tri-Met, the District Attorney and about 200 interested people. The question on everyone’s mind was, How can we, the people in this room, keep our citizens safe? Gresham is about to reach a population of 100,000 people, and that will mean a natural jump in crime unless we can do something about it. The people at the Safety Summit were committed to combining their individual efforts to make a difference.

And “making a difference” is the clear call of every Christian. Jesus made it clear by his example, in his ministry of healing and forgiving people’s sins. He told us to go out into the world and make disciples.

Where do you want to make a difference? Maybe you want to be a person in your neighborhood who helps others in an emergency, and you want to join me in being trained for Community Emergency Response. Maybe you want to help your friend who’s in trouble, but you’re afraid of offending her. Maybe you want to start a new business or nonprofit that fills a real need, but you don’t know if you have the strength. Maybe you just want to raise your kids right in a challenging, confusing world. You want to make a difference, but how do you start?

This month, we’ll discover the Power to Make a Difference. On Thursday night I’ll talk about faithfulness and commitment. Next week, on Easter, we’ll envision a better life and hope for the future. On Bright Sunday, we’ll discover how a sense of humor and a good attitude will give you success. The following week, I’ll be talking to young couples and busy families about how they can make a difference even when they have limited time.

But before we can move forward, we need to be aware of something that has been done for us that makes it possible for us to have the life that we do, and to even think about making a difference in the world. We need to acknowledge something that has been given to us that we don’t often give much serious thought to.

Let’s go back to that day in Jerusalem, when Jesus came into the city. The people knew they needed to be saved, and they hailed Jesus as the one who would save them… from the Romans. But Jesus wasn’t a warrior king, riding a stallion, ready to overthrow the government. He came into Jerusalem riding a donkey, humble, with something else in mind. While the people wanted to get out from under the burden of Roman occupation, they really needed something much more important – to be forgiven of their sins.

Go back further, back to Genesis, to the Garden of Eden. When Eve and Adam disobeyed God and were cast out of Paradise, they became slaves to their sin. God, loving people, first tried to start over with Noah and his family. But there was no way for humanity to get away from sin. Sin is so serious that death is the only way to get rid of it. But God loved people and didn’t want us to die. So God made a promise with Abraham, and a promise with Moses, and set up a system by which the people could bring an animal to a priest, and the blood of the animal would cover the person’s sin.

“Cover” is actually a pretty good word to desribe it. It’s as if you got a stain on your carpet, a bad one, like red wine. By the way, did you know that many churches don’t allow red punch or red jello at church for that very reason? When my children were younger, I started putting up signs in the church kitchen: “Please do not serve red punch at coffee hour, and if you do, don’t give any to my children!” Anyway, imagine getting a terrible stain on your carpet, so you put an area rug over it. The stain is “covered” but it’s not clean.

When you brought an animal for a sacrifice, you realized at that moment how serious your sin was, and how merciful God was. Our weekly prayer of confession and assurance of pardon doesn’t begin to have the impact that the temple sacrifices must have had on people. Because when you realize that a sacrifice was made for you, then you know that a sacrifice will be required of you. You will have to live in a new way, obedient to God, out of your appreciation for how God has forgiven you. You’ll go and try to follow God’s laws and love your neighbor because you are thankful for the sacrifice that was made.

We can all grasp the idea of making a sacrifice to benefit someone else. Every parent makes sacrifices for their children’s benefit. There are things you’d like to buy, or places you’d like to go, that you give up for the love of your children. Every veteran knows what it means to make a sacrifice to serve his or her country with honor, to be prepared to make a sacrifice of personal well being. Many have paid the ultimate price, in the hope that their death would lead to the ultimate good.

So we can understand, in a way, the sacrifice of Jesus. That he, the Son of God, who had been tempted to become a great world leader, who had instead lived an itinerant life with a few close friends, who spoke wisely and showed compassion to the needy, who had been challenged and derided and humiliated by those who should have welcomed him, this extraordinary person became the ultimate sacrifice for us.

We know the famous verse from John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Now sin is not just “covered.” It is cleansed. It is completely erased. We can approach God knowing that he considers us righteous. And one thing that amazes me, is that even though the Bible says that “God gave his Son,” it also took Jesus’ willingness to give himself.

By this point in the life of Jesus, when he came to Jerusalem, he knew what was coming. He was extraordinary in his wisdom, and he knew that it was the Father’s will for him to die. He said things that made it seem like he knew everything would be all right after his death, like “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it.” And, “Where I am, you will be also, in my Father’s house are many rooms.” But I wonder how much Jesus could comprehend that he would be the sacrifice by whom all people would be saved. Through Jesus, all people in every time in history, could be saved. Even the people in the Old Testament, those who went through the sacrificial system, would ultimately be saved through the blood of Jesus. Could Jesus comprehend that? Did he have time to think about it, that last week in Jerusalem?

This week, I will have the church open every day from noon to 1 p.m. for prayer and reflection. There will be a prayer guide for you, and one of the suggestions will be to read the Scriptures of the last week of Jesus’ life. What he did, what he taught, and how he suffered. As you reflect on that, you draw closer to God and learn more about your own faith.

One man came to a time in his life where he was thinking about the passion of Jesus a great deal. His name was Johann Heerman. It was a difficult time in his life. There was a war going on, and there was a lot of tension and uncertainty. He was also experiencing suffering in his personal life. In any case, Heerman was reading a Christian devotional and was struck by an early Latin text, maybe of Augustine, that was in this book. Based on that text, he wrote a hymn called "Ah, Holy Jesus" and published it. The year was 1630.

In the lyrics, Heerman describes the afflictions of Jesus.

Ah, holy Jesus, how hast Thou offended,
That man to judge Thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by Thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.

Then he poses a question:

Who was the guilty- Who brought this upon Thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone Thee.
'Twas I, Lord, Jesus, I it was, denied Thee!
I crucified Thee.

He goes on to talk about what Jesus had done for him, for us: the incarnation, meaning God being born as a human child; the oblation, meaning that Jesus gave himself as an offering, and Jesus’ passion, meaning Jesus’ suffering between the night of the Last Supper and his death. Here’s how Heerman wrote it:

For me, kind Jesus, was Thine incarnation,
Thy mortal sorrow, and Thy life's oblation;
Thy death of anguish and Thy bitter passion,

For my salvation.

Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;
For our atonement, while he nothing heedeth,
God intercedeth.

In the last verse of his hymn, Heerman suggested what our response should be to the sacrifice of Jesus for us:

Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay Thee,
I do adore Thee, and will ever pray Thee,
Think on Thy pity and Thy love unswerving,
Not my deserving.

Let us pray.

Dear Jesus, kind Jesus, we cannot repay you for your love for us, and your sacrifice on our behalf. Forgive us for the sin which drove you to the cross. May we, in this Holy Week, draw near to you, adore you, pray to you, and think on your love, which we do not deserve. Accept our love and our prayers. And empower us, by your Spirit, to forward your love to others. Amen.

Ideas for Observing Lent

2007-02-22T13:59:00.000-08:00

OBSERVING LENT

DURING LENT MANY CHRISTIANS OBSERVE SOME FORM OF FASTING OR SELF-DENIAL. This is not only a way to strengthen our will, but also helps us to simplify our lives. When we eat less, we realize that we normally consume more than we need for health and well-being. This may lead us to consider simplifying our lives in other ways. Here are some possibilities, you can think of many more. Choose those that seem most meaningful and appropriate for you.

Give up something you value, to remind you of what Jesus gave up for you.
Try to live more simply in all areas of your life: watch less TV, walk instead of driving, observe a quiet period each day.
Go through your closets and give away clothes that are still in good condition, but that you could do without.
Clean your home and use spring cleaning to reflect on your spiritual renewal.
Cook and eat a dish that you always avoid, not necessarily because it repels you but because it is “foreign” and you tend to limit yourself to the familiar.
Listen to some music you normally can’t “get into.” Wonder if it resonates with something in you, and might not be so bad after all.
Treat yourself to a meal of rice and tea once a week as a physical sign of concern with the real majority, the hungry world.
Give up movies or forego some favorite sports events.
Choose simpler, more healthful meals: less meat, no dessert.
Do without between meal snacks.
Give up desserts.
Eliminate wasteful and expensive habits.
Drink only water with your meals for one week.
Eliminate snacking and junk food.
Give up an hour of TV each day for scripture reading, prayer and reflection.
Clean house and give unneeded items to charity.
Give up one big meal a week and donate the money saved to help feed the hungry.
Serve meat half as often as usual.
Once or twice a week serve a simple meal that consists of soup or salad, bread, and a beverage.

LENT IS A TIME FOR PRAYER AND REFLECTION. By setting aside special times for prayer and reflection during Lent we give ourselves the opportunity of learning more about ourselves and our relationship to God.

· Pray the Psalms or use a devotional guide to choose Lenten prayers.

· Think about attitudes and behavior patterns that you need to change. Pray for help in changing them.

· Make prayer a daily habit. Set aside a quiet time when interruptions are unlikely.

· Reflect on the importance of Jesus in your life.

· Accept difficulties patiently. Through reflection, try to understand them. Through prayer, try to accept them.

· Write a short Lenten prayer to add to grace at meals.

· Resolve to work on a virtue or correct a fault.

· Pray for those you know are suffering.

· Spend time alone today reflecting on your need for God’s grace.

· Pray for forgiveness for past judgments of others.

· Make a special effort to practice the Golden Rule.

· Make a special point to attend church services each Sunday during Lent.

· Pray especially that those who have abandoned their faith will experience a renewal of belief.

· Pray for the patience and the courage to develop your gifts.

· Make a cross-shaped collage of scenes of suffering and violence. Resolve to do something to join in Jesus’ work of healing. Save this cross to redecorate for Easter with scenes of life and love.

· Draw a picture of your face and write all the things you do to “save face.” Try a week or a day without any face-saving activities.

· Spend time today reflecting on how Jesus’ love and teachings affect your life.

· Each day for a week pray for a different neighbor or friend.

· Look through the newspaper or listen to the news to identify someone who may be suffering. Pray for that person.

· Plant seeds or bulbs indoors and as they grow think of how you grow in God’s love.

· Give thanks for a talent or skill that you have.

· Pray for world peace.

· Each day for a week pray for a different member of your family.

· Reflect on your faith and trust in God.

· Give thanks for God’s forgiveness and grace.

· Reflect on your baptism and what it means for your life.

· Take 15 minutes and think about a world problem – war, hunger, pollution, drug abuse – until you are ready to “give up.” Read T. S. Elliot’s poem The Hollow Men. Then in faith, pray slowly the Lord’s Prayer.

CHRISTIAN STUDY AND WORSHIP ARE BOTH IMPORTANT LENTEN ACTIVITIES. Christian study will help strengthen our faith and increase our understanding. Attending the special church activities and worship services offered during this season helps to renew our sense of community and deepen our faith.

· Keep a Lenten journal of struggles, successes, feelings and discoveries.

· Make Sunday a special day reserved for the Lord and your family.

· Read the Bible daily, especially the Gospels. Discuss your readings with family and friends.

· Participate in religious education or Bible study classes.

· Read a book that will contribute to your spiritual growth.

· Set aside some time to write each day, focusing on how Jesus’ love and teachings affect your thoughts, feelings and actions.

· Read your favorite story about Jesus and think about what it means for your life.

· Start a Lenten prayer and study group with a few friends. Set aside a special time each week to meet together to pray and read and discuss Bible passages.

· Read a book or article about a world problem that you tend to dismiss or that you blame on the media for enlarging beyond proportion.

· Attend the special Lenten church services: Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday communion, and Good Friday service.

· Read a book about Christian meditation.

· Write a statement of your beliefs and think about how these beliefs are reflected in your life.

· Make a Days of Lent Prayer Book – a book with just 40 pages on which you write, or draw, or copy something that has special meaning for you during this season.

· Read a book by an inspirational author such as Thomas Merton or Catherine Marshall.

· Make a special point of attending church services each Sunday during Lent.

· List ten top priorities in your life. Determine the amount of time, energy, money used for each. Can and should there be a shift?

· Plan how you will continue in the spirit of Lent after the season is over.

DURING LENT WE ARE CALLED TO DO WORKS OF CHARITY. What we do will depend on age, situation, and many other factors. But no matter what our circumstances, we can find ways of reaching out to others. Lent is a time to give of our goods and of ourselves. Either way, we are reaching out in charity. It is what Jesus did, and as followers of Christ we are called to do likewise.

Write a letter to a friend or relative who would enjoy hearing from you.
Make it a point to spend some time alone with someone who is feeling discouraged or rejected.
Give a bouquet of flowers to a friend.
Go out of your way to perform a generous act.
Join a worthy cause and commit yourself to giving time throughout the year.
Tithe during the six weeks of Lent and give the money to charity.
Contribute money or food to a needy family.
Forgive someone who has hurt you.
If you have been holding a grudge against anyone, go to that person and seek forgiveness and reconciliation.
Baby-sit free of charge for someone who doesn’t get out often.
Do something to make God’s world more beautiful.
Buy a bag of groceries for CCSA or the Crisis Center.
Prepare a meal for a person who is a shut-in.
Buy an Easter lily to decorate the sanctuary and then take it to someone who needs to know you care.
Give family and friends cards or letters that express your love.
Make a friendly gesture to an unfriendly neighbor.
Spend time with an elderly parent, a small child, an ill or lonely person.
Run an errand for a house-bound neighbor.
Spend an hour in conversation with someone you long ago decided you had little in common with.
Write a note to a friend, relative, or neighbor to let them know you remember and care about them.
Visit someone in a nursing home or convalescent center.
Invite someone to share a meal in your house.
Avoid gossiping or being critical of others.

Sermon: I Know What I Know

2007-02-11T20:58:00.000-08:00

John 9
“I Know What I Know”
Rev. Cynthia O'Brien
February 11, 2007

Discover Your Story.

Can you remember a time in your life when something changed for the better? Maybe it was your job or your family, or maybe it was you who changed. Perhaps you stopped yelling at bad drivers, or you stopped caving in to ethics violations at your work. People noticed the difference in you. When they ask you, “What’s different,” what do you say?

Brian had a younger brother who got himself addicted to meth. He had stolen from several family members and been in and out of trouble for years. Brian came to the realization that this was his only brother and he should reach out to him. He tracked him down and started getting together with him. The rest of the family challenged Brian, saying that the whole family should be unified in shunning his brother to show their disapproval of his lifestyle. What should Brian say to his family?

Ron was getting ready to graduate from law school and was considering a lucrative offer from a downtown firm. But an experience on a short term mission trip made him aware of poor people who needed legal assistance. As he prayed about it, he became strangely drawn to them. It broke his heart to see the problems they had simply because they were not getting good legal advice. He decided to work for a nonprofit organization for a fraction of the salary he would have made at the downtown law firm. This angered his wife, who had put him through law school. She demanded an explanation. What should he say?

Last week, we heard the story of how a Samaritan woman met Jesus by a well. In that one conversation, she had an encounter with God. She told other people what had happened to her. That’s called a testimony. The Bible says, “Because of her testimony, many other people like her, believed.”

In today’s story, Jesus heals a man born blind. Everyone sees the difference in the man, who can now see, and they want to know how it happened.

JN 9:1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

The disciples believed that a disability such as blindness was a punishment for sin, partly because of texts like Exodus 34:7

God was giving the 10 commandments, and he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."

While we can understand that God would punish wrongdoing, you can’t look at a disability and say for certain that someone’s wrongdoing was the cause. This is a dangerous line of logic, to say, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” Jesus clears it up right away.

JN 9:3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life….I am the light of the world."

There is a reason for this man’s suffering – so that God will be glorified, and so that the world would know through this story that Jesus was the light of the world. There’s no reason to think God struck the man, but more likely God let nature run its course so that this man would receive both miraculous physical vision as well as spiritual vision.

JN 9:6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes.

Based on Jesus’ other miracles, he didn’t need to make mud in order to heal. Why does he do it now? Maybe he was giving the man the opportunity to participate in the healing, to respond in faith – the man would have to go wash off the mud. Not only that, when Jesus kneaded the mud with his hands, that constituted working on the Sabbath, and that was designed to challenge the Pharisees who said that one should not heal on the Sabbath.

So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

There were various reactions to his healing. People wanted to know who healed him, and where the healer had gone. They brought him, this “seeing man,” to the Pharisees. Each time, the man just said what he knew or didn’t know.

He confirmed he had been blind.
He told them what happened.
Where is this healer? I don’t know.

They brought him to the Pharisees, which is like going to small claims court or going to see the school principal. The Pharisees were the super religious people who kept the law of God better than anyone else and and a lot of other laws, too. The people knew the Pharisees would be interested to know that Jesus was doing work on the sabbath. Again, the seeing man simply told what he knew.

How did I receive my sight? "He put mud on my eyes and I washed, and now I see."
"What do I think about this man? He is a prophet."

The Pharisees were not convinced. Maybe he hadn’t been blind after all. They checked it out with the parents. Then they cross-examined the man again.

“We know this Jesus is a sinner."

If you were that man who was now seeing for the first time, how would you answer that? Would you be capable of entering into a discussion of Jesus’ moral qualifications? Would you defend him?

If your coworker stood with you in the break room and said,
“What has made you so different? How are you getting through the hard things in your life? What made you change your mind on that issue?”
Are you capable of giving a theological or philosophical defense? You might be. Or you might not. We can all learn from the seeing man.

JN 9:25 He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"

Throughout the Bible, people who have had an encounter with God tell others about it, not in fancy words, not in theological treatises, not with a pamphlet. They simply say what they know. Here’s what my life was like before that moment. Now here’s what I am like since this has happened.

JN 9:26 Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"

The seeing man is not exactly polite in his response. JN 9:27 He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again?

and then gives them some old fashioned back talk.

Do you want to become his disciples, too?"

He knows that the Pharisees are not ready to accept Jesus as one who has disciples, and at this point you really can’t blame them. They don’t even know where he comes from.

JN 9:30 The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.

Now the seeing man is going to get theological, but it’s not complicated. Here is his argument. in v. 31
God doesn’t listen to sinners. God listens to people who do his will.
This is a miracle that can only be from God.
Therefore, Jesus must be from God.

In the beginning of the story, he had responded with the simplest of answers. “The man put mud on my eyes and now I see.” But as he has to tell the story again and again, and as people press him for an explanation, he begins to have more spiritual sight. He is processing what has happened to him, and he is gaining more understanding.

This did not go over with the religious people. They were unwilling to believe this man, who probably spent his whole life as a beggar at the city gate. What, now you’re a lecturer in theology? Of course they threw him out.

We’re all afraid to some extent that the person listening to our story might reject the story, or reject us. That’s why I love the last part of this text. For all the questioning and rejection that the seeing man has experienced, God rewarded him with a deeper spiritual sight.

Jesus went back to find the seeing man. Jesus heard that he had stood up to the Pharisees, that he had simply told what he knew, that he had plainly said what made sense to him. So Jesus found him, to let the man see God.

JN 9:35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
JN 9:36 "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him."
JN 9:37 Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you."
JN 9:38 Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.

In the story of the man born blind, what stands out is his telling the simple truth.

Last week we heard of a Samaritan woman who had an encounter with Jesus. She left her water jar, ran to town and told people to come and see the man who could be the Messiah. This act makes her an evangelist.

The seeing man in today’s story is not as clear in his own mind what’s going on, and he’s not as bold. He is not sure exactly who Jesus is, nor does he pretend to know. But that doesn’t stop him from telling what he does know. What he is does know for sure is that he is healed. It is in the process of having to tell his story and reflect on what has happened to him that the man begins to understand who Jesus was and how Jesus was acting in his life. That’s why later he can suggest that Jesus might be a prophet.

Perhaps to discover our story, we need to make the attempt to tell it to others. When I explain to someone else what is happening in my life, I come to see God working in my life. And over time, I recognize the hand of God in my life all along, even if at the time I missed the signs of God’s love.

When you sit down for lunch or dinner today, or when you talk to your adult son or daughter on the phone tonight, tell a story from your life. It could be something that happened this weekend or something long ago. And as you tell the story, as you processed what happened, see if you can discern how God was at work in your life, how God changed you, or comforted you, or led you in some way. You’ll be on your way to discovering your story.

State of the Congregation 2007

2007-01-31T22:28:00.000-08:00

State of the Congregation

2007

Luke 4:14-30

Rev. Cynthia O’Brien

^{LK 4:14} Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵ He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him

^{LK 4:16} He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷ The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

^{LK 4:18} "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

^{LK 4:19} to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

^{LK 4:20} Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹ and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

^{LK 4:22} All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.

^{LK 4:23} Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: `Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.' "

^{LK 4:24} "I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown. ²⁵ I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. ²⁶ Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. ²⁷ And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed--only Naaman the Syrian."

^{LK 4:28} All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. ³⁰ But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

I saw this ad a couple of weeks ago that I really liked in Wired magazine. It has a list of statements down the center: “It will never fly. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Don’t ruffle feathers. The climate isn’t right. You’ll never get the funding. This isn’t even your department. You’ll get laughed out of the room. That’s too risky. Don’t step on any toes.”

In the corner it says, “Johnnie Walker.”

There are directions here – fold over line A to line B so that you hide all those statements, and now you just see the Walking Man who has a clear path in front of him. The line here says, “Keep walking.”

I found out that it’s a message that Johnnie Walker has used in their advertising for 98 years. Persevere. Keep moving forward. Keep walking. What struck me about the message was not its primary goal – to sell blended Scotch whisky -- but that it was such a Christian message. Persevere. Keep moving forward.

Jesus kept walking. In the last verse we read:

All the people in the synagogue were furious … They …took him to the brow of the hill …in order to throw him down the cliff. ³⁰ But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

They were upset with what he said in church and they tried to kill him. But what did Jesus do? He kept walking, because he was not going to be stopped from the ministry that God had sent him to do.

I return to these words of Jesus at the beginning of every year, because they are, essentially, his mission statement, and if I’m a follower of Jesus, they are my mission statement, too.

^{LK 4:18} "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

^{LK 4:19} to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

If you are poor, imprisoned, blind or oppressed, this is easily good news to you. Jesus came to say that God cares about you, and will do something about your condition. It’s good news the way the Beatitudes are good news. God cares about the poor, and those who mourn, and the meek.

And God is using our church to help those people. We in the Presbyterian Church have made an 8-year commitment – not just a one-time offering, but an 8-year commitment -- to rebuilding in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is so well regarded that the rock band 3 Doors Down gave them $75,000 and is channeling most of their money through the church. Lead vocalist Brad Arnold said on ABC News they feel their money is most effective through the church because, “It’s a dollar in, a dollar out.” Our church also helps the needy in our own community by partnering with Snow-Cap and Loaves and Fishes.

That’s good news to the poor. Second, Freedom for the prisoners. God cares about those who are in prison. This is why our church continues to support the Angel Tree Christmas present program. We also send prisoners’ kids to summer camp and welcome the dads who have done their time to be an active part of the church and find a new life here. Jesus cares about you and so do we.

Why was this message such a threat? Why did the people in Jesus’ hometown get angry enough to kill him? Because he said that the good news was not just for the Jews. This is how Jesus explained it: There were lots of widows in Israel, but Elijah wasn’t sent to any of them -- he went to a widow in Zarephath. Zarephath was where the outsiders lived. It was a terrible place that you wouldn’t want to go. And there were many Israelites with leprosy in the time of Elisha, but the only one that was cleansed wasn’t an Israelite at all, but a Syrian. (Ewww.) This meant that the good news was not just for nice people like us. It was for everyone who was poor and oppressed, regardless of nationality, race or gender.

Do you wonder why Jesus’ friends and neighbors told him to get out of town? They didn’t like this very last thing that he said. They had interpreted the scriptures as promises of God’s exclusive covenant with them. They expected God to save them from the bad guys. They couldn’t believe that God loved the bad guys, too. They got angry and drove Jesus out of town. But he kept walking. Jesus loves breaking down cultural barriers.

That’s why our Session, our elders, are so excited about our involvement with the Hispanic group Cristo Por Su Mundo, and so proud of your welcome of them. Not everyone in our congregation has had positive experiences with Mexicans. Most of you don’t speak Spanish and probably don’t have a Latino person you call a friend. But this is shaping up to be a very nice relationship, and the people in our congregation have been so supportive. I also introduced Greg to Jorge Osorio, a local church planter and friend of mine from Pray East County. Now Greg is taking classes in Hispanic Church Leadership which Jorge teaches through Western Seminary. We are helping reach our Hispanic community through providing a place for a group whose stated purpose is to reach the world for Jesus Christ.

Our congregation keeps walking, overcoming our doubts and insecurities to try to follow more closely the principles Jesus outlined in his mission statement.

It’s not always easy to keep walking. A couple of our staff members are in very difficult times of their life, with a spouse or a parent in a foster care home and immense financial challenges. But they keep pressing on. It’s not easy for our Session to keep walking. We have faced challenges as we set the church budget. We’d like to keep things the same, but it’s hard. I heard Representative John Li m speaking the other day about wanting to keep education funding the same, but he gestured that it goes up year after year, just to stay the same, with cost of living increases. We face those increases, too. But we keep pressing forward.

We keep walking, keep following Christ in 2007 with the Year of Discovery. Why the Year of Discovery? For a couple of reasons.

First, we Presbyterians always like to learn new things. That’s why we are so big on education and constantly run at least four adult classes at a time, the high schoolers meet to study the Bible over coffee at 7 a.m. before school, and we hold the popular Alpha Course after Easter. We push ourselves to go deeper and understand more.

Second, 2007 will be different because it’s been over 10 years since you had more than a couple of weeks without your pastor here, but this summer I’ll be on leave for three months. A person might worry that, without “The Pastor” here, the church will go into a downward spiral and people will stop coming to church, stop giving money, and all enthusiasm will dry up. But frankly, I don’t have such a high opinion of myself that I believe that. And no one has said anything like that, because everyone knows we have a strong church with excellent leaders. On the contrary, an all-star lineup of preachers and the Year of Discovery will make for a very enjoyable and meaningful summer, and you and I will come back together in the fall renewed and energized for our ministry together. You’ll hear more about that at lunch today.

The Year of Discovery started with “Discover God’s Word,” as I presented some sermons that I “discovered” and shared with you, and as we continue to Discover God’s Word, Michael and his team are putting together a Bible 101 workshop in March.

When we thought of the February theme, “Discover New Friends,” we were primarily thinking of the new Dine-In program, which is a potluck-mixer that helps you meet other adults, both couples and singles, through potlucks at various homes. I hope you sign up for that because it will really be an adventure.

But we are also discovering new friends of a different culture and language. A young couple in Cristo Por Su Mundo, Yovita and Adrian, were married yesterday, and my family and I were invited to attend the wedding at the Gresham Community Center on Stark. We had never been to a Mexican wedding, but we had a lovely time.

In February and March, it’s Discover Your Story. Everyone has a story, and as you look back, can you identify how God has been active in your life? Can you explain why you are a Christian and what it means for your life? You would be surprised at how interesting your story can be to someone else, even if you don’t think it’s so exciting. We will hear some great stories from people in our congregation and also learn some new ways of sharing our faith with others.

In April, it’s Discover Your Passion. Building on your unique story, we’ll give you the resources to examine what it is that you really want to do to make a difference in your community. The church doesn’t want to gobble up all your free time propping up the church. We are here to empower you to follow Jesus into the world, and to be sure that you’re spending your time doing the things that God has truly gifted you and called you to do.

You get the idea about the Year of Discovery.

Your leaders, your elders and deacons, are in a year of discovery as well. We are discovering more about each other each time we meet, contributing our differing perspectives and sharing our common knowledge of God. We are discovering new ways to care for our members and new ways to get out of the church to take God’s love to the world. We read books, we pray, we discuss, because we care about God, we care about you and we care about our mission to make a difference in this community where God placed us 116 years ago.

It will be an exciting year. And of course, there will always be challenges. Can you keep walking, even if someone says you can’t do it? Can you keep following Jesus, despite the distractions? Will you keep our church moving forward for the great good we can do when we all pull together? I know I can do it, if you are walking with me.

2006-11-24T09:47:00.000-08:00

NBC Madonna Confessions Tour Concert Pt 4

A thoughtful multimedia presentation about human suffering.

Ideas: Anticipating Christmas

2006-11-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

Ideas for a meaningful Christmas season

Make this your best Christmas ever. Let me share some things we do in our family.

Don’t spend more money than you have.

I have heard that it takes four months for an average American household to pay off its Christmas credit card debt. Don’t let this happen to you.

Make the most of your Nativity Scene. Put the Baby Jesus in a small gift box addressed to “(Your family), Love, God.” Open the box on Christmas Eve, place the baby in the manger scene and read the story from Luke 2. Place the wise men at the other end of the house and move them through the house until they arrive at the manger Jan. 6 (Epiphany). Read the story of the wise men in Matthew 2.

Come back to church. God loves you and would like to see you, so come on back. Go back to the place of your roots. Maybe you’ve never had a good church experience. Take a chance. Stop in at one of the many friendly churches in East County.

Help people in need. Make it a practice to put a little something in the Salvation Army kettle every time you pass by. Surprise the bell-ringer with a $20 or $100 contribution. Bake an extra pie for an elderly neighbor.

Take in a concert or a play. The arts are good for your soul. Our favorite Christmas activity is The Grotto Festival of Lights. (www.thegrotto.org).

Party after Christmas. The 12 days of Christmas go from Dec. 25 to January 6. Invite friends, especially someone who is alone, to a potluck "After-glow Party." Everyone can bring leftover food items.

Observe Boxing Day. The day after Christmas, box up unwanted clothes, extra Christmas decorations and items for the needy, and take them to the Salvation Army or your favorite charity.

Choose a special cause to support in the coming year, such as delivering Meals on Wheels once a month. Make a commitment to become personally involved in making a difference.

Sermon: His Love Endures Forever

2006-11-19T21:51:00.000-08:00

Psalm 136

His Love Endures Forever

Rev. Cynthia O'Brien

November 17, 2006

Psalm 136

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.

His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of gods.

His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords:

His love endures forever.

to him who alone does great wonders,

His love endures forever.

who by his understanding made the heavens,

His love endures forever.

⁶ who spread out the earth upon the waters,

His love endures forever.

who made the great lights--

His love endures forever.

the sun to govern the day,

His love endures forever.

the moon and stars to govern the night;

His love endures forever.

to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt

His love endures forever.

and brought Israel out from among them

His love endures forever.

with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;

His love endures forever.

to him who divided the Red Sea asunder

His love endures forever.

and brought Israel through the midst of it,

His love endures forever.

but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;

His love endures forever.

to him who led his people through the desert,

His love endures forever.

who struck down great kings,

His love endures forever.

and killed mighty kings--

His love endures forever.

Sihon king of the Amorites

His love endures forever.

and Og king of Bashan--

His love endures forever.

and gave their land as an inheritance,

His love endures forever.

an inheritance to his servant Israel;

His love endures forever.

to the One who remembered us in our low estate

His love endures forever.

and freed us from our enemies,

His love endures forever.

and who gives food to every creature.

His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of heaven.

His love endures forever.

When was the last time you composed a prayer of thanks? Not just saying a spontaneous thanks to God, but actually thought it through and wrote it down?

We receive blessings easily; we are slower to give thanks. William Arthur Ward said, "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present

and not giving it." Today, we are giving thanks.

Here’s advanced notice: there will be homework today. I am going to invite each of you to compose a short prayer of thanks, not during the sermon because I want everyone to pay attention, but later when you go home. This morning I will give you the tools to write your own Psalm like Psalm 136. Once you see the format, you’ll realize it’s not hard to do. Then I want you to write one and show it to me. You can either e-mail it to me or bring me a copy at the concert tonight.

In today’s message I will also invite a few of you to tell something God has done for you, and if you raise your hand I’ll call on you. That will be later in the sermon.

First, let’s understand the psalm before us. It comes right after those Songs of Ascent that we read last week.

In the first three verses, we begin speaking about God, encouraging each other to give thanks, not once, but three times. Each time, there is a different way to address God, and these are arguably God’s three most important names: Jehovah, the creator of all; God of gods, who is the judge of all, and Lord of Lords, the ruler of all.

The most noticeable thing about Psalm 136 is the refrain: His love endures forever. If you have heard this psalm a lot, you might find this repetitious. But of all the phrases you could repeat, this may be the best. Teenagers, think about the music you listen to on the radio, and what some of the phrases are that are repeated over and over. I’m going to argue that “his love endures forever” is one of the most worthwhile.

And it’s deep, too. The word “love” here is the same word we encountered a few weeks ago, hesed, which means steadfast love. It is the word most used to describe God’s attitude towards humankind.

But it’s more than just God’s love for people. God has steadfast love towards the whole cosmos, including the earth and all its creatures. This is the most amazing good news.. that God’s attitude towards the world, and God’s motive for action can be summarized as “steadfast love.”

This is one of the biggest, widest, most all inclusive statements of God’s love in the Bible. Now look where the song goes. The history of God’s deliverance of the people. How he struck down the first born of Egypt, remember, because Pharoah would not obey God’s word, and that was the last plague which finally made Pharoah relent.

Then God led those thousands of people out of slavery, and with his outstretched arm, parted the Red Sea for them. When you stretch out your arm to do something, you are applying extra effort. The freeing of the people from Egypt, and the miracles, constitute an extraordinary effort on God’s part.

It’s important to note that this part about God’s freeing Israel is great news for Jews, but it’s scandalous for others who read the Bible. God obviously shows preferential treatment to Israel. Think of how a non-Jew would respond to these words. Is God only partial to one group of people? He delivered them from Pharoah and gave them someone else’s land. God killed other famous kings. For many people, this doesn’t seem particularly loving.

But this psalm is realistic. God’s love is not just sentimental. God has a plan, and people like Pharoah cannot stand in the way. God rules the whole world.

The last few verses talk about how God remembered us in our low estate and freed us from our enemies. The words “low estate” always remind me of Mary, the mother of Jesus, sang in her Magnificat, about how God looked upon her in her low estate, how God would take care of the poor. God loves an underdog. God cares about the disenfranchised. The old blues song says, “Nobody knows you when you’re down and out. When you get back on your feet again, everybody wants to be your long lost friend. But nobody knows you when you’re down and out.” That is, nobody but God. He is the one who remembered you when you were low. He is the one who gives us our daily bread.

Theologian Walter Bruggeman suggested that psalms like this, which tell the history of what God has done, should be read with “abiding astonishment.” Its focus isn’t really on the past. We read this story, and we don’t allow ourselves to simply skip over the words because they are so familiar. Rather, we let ourselves be astonished by the greatness of God. God has a claim on the world. It calls for us to respond.

This psalm has one command to us. It occurs in verses 1-3 and in the last verse. Give thanks to the Lord.

William Arthur Ward said, "God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say 'thank you'?"

I’ve been telling you quite a few stories from the Gresham Chamber of Commerce. I have to tell you what happened last Friday. Bess Willis was hosting us at her car dealership, and she asked everyone to say what they were thankful for. Out of about 90 people there, I lost count of the number of people who gave thanks to God, or thanks for their Lord Jesus Christ, or thanks for what God had given them or allowed them to do. Now I was one of the first ones to give thanks, and I tapped into an earlier joke about the USC / Oregon State game by giving thanks for my excellent undergraduate education at USC. But after me, I was surprised and pleased at how many of these business owners and community leaders gave thanks to God. From the carpet cleaner to the hairstylist to the realtor to the investment broker, God received a great deal of thanks that morning in the showroom of a car dealership.

Can we do any less? Do you have a time each day when you thank God for these wonders?

Many of us say grace before a meal. We do in our family. Most of the time we say or sing one of the prayers we know. In fact, if it would help you to have a written prayer for thanksgiving, I’ve printed some ideas in the insert in the bulletin.

But oftentimes one of us will lead out in a spontaneous prayer of thanks that covers things you wouldn’t normally say in a table grace. One of our girls will just spill out a whole list of things she is thankful for. They haven’t yet reached the age of self-editing for appropriateness. The thanks just tumble out.

Psalm 136 is the story of God’s people, starting with creation, going through their trials up through thanks for the meal they had that morning. I believe anyone could write a psalm like this. You could write one about your life and use it to praise God. Make a note to try writing one this afternoon. Here’s what I came up with. You do it with me, the part that says, “His love endures forever.”

Give thanks to the God of Gods (His love endures forever)

Who made the sun to shine continually over Southern California, (His love…)

Who placed me there in a home with parents and a little brother.

Who brought me to a church for Vacation Bible School

and made me first his child, then his minister

Who by the Spirit overcame Michael O’Brien’s reservations

So that he would consent to marry me

Who gave us two delightful daughers

And led us to Oregon to an exceptional church family

Who sustains us each day

Whose love is immeasurable

who does good to all who trust in him.

There are so many things our congregation has to be thankful for, both as a church family and as individuals. I know that…

Janet and Laszlo have two new baby granddaughters. Elizabeth has been accepted to Whitworth College. Tara was the head stage manager for Les Miserables and also played four different characters on stage.

I know people in our congregation who have overcome addictions to drugs or alcohol, who have repaired broken marriages, who have taken over the spiritual nurture of their grandchildren. I know a husband who is going to surprise his wife with an extravagant gift. I know a child who draws elaborate pictures for her parents reflecting how much she feels her parents’ love. I know a woman who is succeeding in her new job after the last job was a nightmare. I know a woman who had a close call in the emergency room last week and survived.

Why not write your own version of Psalm 136 for your Thanksgiving prayer? Make a note to do so this afternoon. Email it to me, or bring it to the concert tonight and show me. I’d love to see what you do with this.

God is the God of gods and the Lord of Lords. God’s love for you endures forever.

Sermon: Unless the Lord Builds the House

2006-11-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

Psalm 127

Unless the Lord Builds the House

Rev. Cynthia O’Brien

November 12, 2006

Before we read Psalm 127, let me give you some background.

Psalm 127 is a “song of ascent.” There are 15 consecutive psalms, from Psalm 120 to 134, that bear the title “A Song of Ascents.” So let me explain a little about them as a group. The word we translate “ascent” means “going up” as in going up to Jerusalem and going up the steps of the Temple and the steps to the city of David. This is the songbook for people on the road, making their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The well known Psalm 121 is a good example, seeing mountains in the distance “I lift up my eyes to the hills” and being concerned with safety and the need for protection.

All but one of them are relatively short and easy to memorize. They are very practical. They deal with matters of daily life, like where you live, routine activities, the importance of spouse and children, family and friends. They are ordinary songs for ordinary people going to worship God.

Psalms 120-126 are mostly about the people’s need in a hostile environment. This psalm reaffirms that it’s important to trust in God, but it introduces a new concept: the possibility of happiness, in verse 5. After this psalm, the rest of the psalms of ascent are more upbeat. It’s a turning point in the songbook of ascents. It is also the only one of the group attributed to Solomon.

With that in mind, try reading the Psalms of Ascent as a group this afternoon or this week.

A song of ascents. Of Solomon.

^{PS 127:1} Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.

Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.

^{PS 127:2} In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat--

for he grants sleep to those he loves.

^{PS 127:3} Sons are a heritage from the LORD,

children a reward from him.

^{PS 127:4} Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

are sons born in one's youth.

^{PS 127:5} Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Does anyone know the musical “Rent”? The opening song, “Seasons of Love” starts out like this:

525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes –

how do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.

In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.

How do you measure a year in the life?

The song goes on to ask, “How do you measure the life of a woman or man?

In the truths that you learned, or in times that you cried,

in bridges you burned, or the way that you died?”

How will people measure your life?

For a long time, Bible scholars viewed this psalm as two different wisdom sayings, the first about “unless the Lord builds the house” and the second about “children are a reward.” Let’s look at verses 3-5 first.

^{PS 127:3} Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.

^{PS 127:4} Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.

How do you measure the life of a woman or man?

One way is through the children you raise.

I babysat a 2-year old yesterday and I was worried that it would negatively impact today’s sermon. (It almost did!) “Children are a reward..” This is one of the messages of the Bible that I never heard as a teenager and young adult. That children were a reward. I knew about children. Children screamed in restaurants and cried during church. They were expensive. And there was that whole thing about diapers. Who would want to have children?

But those of you who have been down that road know what a blessing children can be. They make mud pies for you, give you sloppy kisses, let you pay their car insurance and college tuition, and if you’re really lucky, they give you grandchidren and choose a nice nursing home for you.

Couple of weeks ago, Michael and I were in Nordstrom Rack downtown, scoring a suit for Michael at 99% off the lowest marked price, and I struck up a conversation with the salesman who was helping us, Tom. He told me that he was almost 80 years old, never could retire, loves his work, and so forth. At one point he mentioned his last name was Hallman.

“Hallman,” I said. “Tom Hallman? Are you related to…”

He broke into a huge smile and said, “He’s my son.”

Tom Hallman Jr. is the writer for the Oregonian who does large feature stories, and when I see his byline in the paper I always set aside some time to read what he wrote. He did that piece a few years ago on Sam, the young man with the huge inoperable growth on his face who just wanted to live a normal life. I remember that Sunday when I read the first installment. I was so impressed with his description and analysis of Sam that I wrote Tom a letter. In fact, over 10,000 readers wrote letters to the Oregonian about that story. Tom won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for that series and the story was published as a book in 2003.

Tom Sr is so proud of his son that we stood there in the men’s dressing room for another 20 minutes as he talked about Tom Jr’s character, accomplishments, and family. He said, “People used to ask him, Are you Tom and Beverly’s son? Now people ask me if I’m Tom Hallman’s dad.”

Tom Sr may love his job, but his legacy is his son’s character and accomplishments.

^{PS 127:3} Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.

How do you measure the life of a woman or a man? When it comes to the end, one of the measures of your life is the kind of people you raised. The funerals I appreciate the most are those where the deceased loved his or her family and was loved in return, where the brothers and sisters all got along or were willing to set aside their differences. The worst funerals involve family members who are alienated or fighting. Now I know that the matriarch or patriarch can’t control what their children and grandchildren do, but it’s a fact of life that part of how your life is judged is by the kind of people you raise.

How do you measure the life of a woman or man? Another way is how you ordered your priorities while you were alive.

^{PS 127:1} Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.

Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.

^{PS 127:2} In vain you rise early and stay up late,

toiling for food to eat-- for he grants sleep to those he loves.

The psalm gives three activities that are described as “vain”:

in verse 1 building a house, standing guard, and in verse 2, working long hours

…“vain,” meaning ultimately worthless and without purpose, if God is not involved.

Building a house, or building a family, or working long hours are only successful if they are done according to righteous principles, and only if we acknowledge that all success comes from God.

How can you apply this scripture to your life? Here’s one idea. If you haven’t done so in a while, sit down and write down what’s most important to you for your life and your future. Make a simple list: Things that are most important in my life and for my future. Then check it against real life. Look at your typical weekly schedule of activities. Where are you putting your time? Look at your checkbook and your credit card statement. Where is your money going? If a person you respect were to evaluate your life based on what you spend your money on, what would they say?

The other day in the comic strip “Adam,” Adam’s wife said, “Money is tight this month, so can you limit yourself to one latte per day for a while?” And of course in the next frame you see him ordering an extra large, super vanilla caramel latte with extra shots and extra whip. It’s really hard to change. This is the push and pull we all experience between our available resources and our personal priorities.

I know my week is not going well when I wander through a store just because I want to buy something, or when I watch three hours of crime dramas in one night. I know my priorities are off when I look back on a day and I’m unhappy with how I spent my time. It helps me to remember that my daily work is only meaningful when I allow God to prioritize.

How do you measure the life of a woman or man? You can apply this more broadly to a congregation.

Look at our church’s schedule. What are our priorities? You will see an increase in neighborhood outreach over the last year, partly because the Session read an inspiring book together called “The Present Future” and we are catching a vision for being more outwardly focused. If you were to look at my daily calendar, you would a greater percentage of my time spent out in the community, making connections for our church with government officials and local businesses. I expect to see more of you spending more of your volunteer time outside the walls of this church, as we streamline the efforts needed to run the church and empower you to spend more time pursuing the mission of Jesus Christ in the world.

I heard a song years ago on KBVM, 88.3 by a country singer named Buddy Greene which has stuck with me. I’ve ordered a copy of it so we can play it for you sometime, but let me quote a few of the lyrics. It’s called, Jesus has left the building.

Jesus has left the building
He's back out on the street
He's busy dealing His mercy
To every hurting soul He meets.

He's out helping the homeless find shelter
He's out helping the jobless find work
He's donating His time to the feeble of mind
And for this some people think He's berserk
But He's just helping the helpless find justice
And mercy in a cold, cruel world
You see, His heart aches for all kinds of people
For every man, woman, boy, and girl

And that's why...
Jesus has left the building
He's back out on the street
He's busy dealing His mercy
To every hurting soul He meets.

Back inside some people just keep on waiting
And prayin' that He would come down
But Jesus has left the building
He's out spreading His love all around.

So, How will God measure your life?

One person suggested the kinds of questions God will and won’t ask you at the end of your life.

God won't ask what kind of car you drove.
He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.

God won't ask the square footage of your house.
He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet.
He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.

God won't ask what your highest salary was.
He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

God won't ask what your job title was.
He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

God won't ask how many friends you had.
He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?

How will people measure your life?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.

In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.

Let us pray.

Gracious God, we hear that our work is in vain unless you are involved, unless we have your priorities. That’s fine to hear but hard to follow. Give us wisdom to see how your words apply to each of our lives, and to the raising of our children and grandchildren. Amen.

Sermon: Legacy

2006-11-06T10:16:00.000-08:00

Psalm 104

“Legacy”

Rev. Cynthia O’Brien

Nov 5, 2006

104:24 How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number-- living things both large and small. 26 There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. 27 These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. 28 When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. 29 When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. 30 When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. 31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works--32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. 33 I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD. 35 But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Praise the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD.

We had a great time last Friday. Our church hosted the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting. It’s a lively group of business and community leaders who get together every Friday morning for coffee at one of the different businesses. Our church joined the chamber at the beginning of this year and last Friday was my day to host the breakfast. Thanks again to all our church members who came out early to help.

As people were coming in, there was such a spirit of comraderie, and giving, as people brought in baby food. You can see the pile of baby food and formula that they brought in the fellowship hall after church.

75 years ago, when the chamber was first organized, it was the early years of the Depression. The Methodist Church in Fairview, with whom our church was very close, they couldn’t stay open and they closed their doors. We probably would have closed too if it hadn’t been for our new minister who came in 1929, Rev Charles Fleming. He was optimistic

It is not a stretch of the imagination to think of the church as hopeful and optimistic, but how about our community?

It’s our calling to show our neighbors and our community leaders in whom they should trust, in whom they should hope, whom they should thank for the blessings they have received.

That’s how I see my call as a member of the chamber – to be a friend in the community and to invite each person to place their hope in God.

There are three guidelines I draw out of Psalm 104, and I’ll give you all three before I talk about them. They are:

To trust God for today,

To praise and thank God all my life,

And to hope in God for all eternity.

1. I WILL TRUST GOD FOR TODAY

v. 27 These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. The King James version sticks in my mind because it is a traditional mealtime prayer and it was set to music by the French composer Jean Berger: The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season.

Such confidence in God. God meets the tangible needs of every living thing, every day. From insects to animals to sea monsters, God can and does sustain all life on a daily basis.

We pray in the Lord’s prayer, Give us this day, our daily bread. The psalmist may never have prayed the Lord’s prayer, but he believes that God is intimately involved in providing for him and for creation.

There are lots of stories of people who trusted in God for their daily bread, and who miraculously received what they needed at just the right time. Ron Mehl, a pastor from Beaverton, used to scoff at the “miraculous provision” stories, until it happened to him. He and his new bride were marginally-paid youth pastors and had run out of money for the month. They hadn’t told anyone of their situation, but the refrigerator really was empty and they were down to one can of Spam for their last meal when a knock came at the door and a couple from the church brought in 15 bags of groceries. You can bet that they were more genuinely thankful for the Lord’s provision than they had been when their cupboards were full of food.

That’s one view of God’s provision. Here’s another way to look at it.

I met Dr. Bill Null through my grandpa Glen in Arkansas. Bill used to be the director of a church-sponsored Christian school back east. The school had been having some financial problems, but they had recommitted themselves to trust God and to follow God’s leading. At the end of the year, the school had received $70,000 more than they needed. The board of directors asked Bill, what shall we do with the money? Shall we bank it for next year?” Bill prayed about it, then told them, “Give it to the teachers. They need it.” So they distributed it among the teachers.

There would certainly be many godly, responsible ways to handle that budget surplus. But God had a plan to meet the daily needs of those teachers. I would have loved to hear the miraculous provision stories from the teachers. Whether we are down to our last can of Spam or figuring out how to spend our tax return, we can trust God to provide for us and even make us a blessing to others.

So we trust God to give us our meat in due season – to give us our daily bread.

2. I WIL PRAISE GOD ALL MY LIFE

v. 33 I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

God is the reason we have what we need for each day. So instead of being uncertain about our life, instead of being anxious for the future, we can praise God. Your job may be in jeopardy, your stocks may be losing value, but you knows that God holds your life… your whole life. God promised in Isaiah 46,

"Listen to me, … you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth.

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

This and many other scriptures give us confidence in God’s care, as long as we live, so we praise God. Praise is the response of a thankful heart. And it spills over into the rest of our life.

At our house, we try to do a lot of praising. We praise Laurel for being our best girl and Rachel for being our best friend. Michael and I praise each other in front of the girls, in our 1-on-1 conversations, and wherever else we can. As long as I live, I will speak well of my husband and tell him I love him.

But praising is more than just words. If I want this marriage to thrive, I have to back it up by the way I live. So it is with God. I intend to love God all my life, to sing to the Lord as long as I live. He sustains me, I praise him, seeking to follow him and honor him in all that I do.

When we trust God to meet our daily neds and praise him for what he has given, something very fine happens to us. We become people who hope in God for all eternity.

3. I WILL HOPE IN GOD FOR ALL ETERNITY

v. 31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever.

My husband and I are forward-looking people. I’m always looking forward, so much that sometimes I forget to enjoy the moment I’m in. When I’m dancing salsa with a partner who knows a lot more moves than I do, I’m thinking, “Am I going to remember all this next week?” when I should be enjoying the moment. When Michael and I go for a walk on the beach, we usually spend that precious time planning for the future.

The church plans for the future, too. We want things to go on. We carefully maintain our historic church building so that it is safe and useful. We have installed security measures at our doors and in our nursery. We are carefully moving forward for our necessary upgrades and expansion. We want our congregation to go on after we are gone, for many more years of fruitful ministry.

I’m working out a plan so that at the end of my life, Smith Memorial will receive part of my estate. I won’t tell you how much it will be because I don’t want anyone to get any ideas around budget time. But I have felt for a long time that if I serve a God whose faithfulness goes on from generation to generation, then it’s a privilege for me to leave a charitable legacy in addition to what I do for my children. I hope you have remembered the church in your will, and it would be helpful if you would let us know that you have done that. We can put you in touch with experts who can help you make the most of that gift. It can be your legacy in the church you loved so much while you were on earth.

An old woman was planting a fruit tree. A young person came along and said, “Old woman, why are you planting a fruit tree? You’re never going to eat that fruit.” And she replied, “No, but others will come after me who will be hungry, and they will be glad that I did.”

An old man was building a bridge across a river. A young person came along and said, “Old man, why are you building a bridge? You’ll never use it.” And he replied, “No, but others will come after me who will wish there was a bridge, and they will be glad that I did.”

Who doesn’t leave a legacy? People who have no hope don’t leave legacies. People who are too worried about today don’t leave legacies. People who only think about themselves and their friends, and not about those who will come after, don’t leave legacies.

But I want to be a person who leaves a legacy.

So I will trust God each day

I will Praise the Lord all of my life.

I will hope in God for all eternity. Amen.

Sermon: Great Riches

2006-10-31T15:49:00.000-08:00

Psalm 49

Great Riches

Rev. Cynthia O’Brien

October 29, 2006

Why should I fear when evil days come,

when wicked deceivers surround me—

those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? Psalm 49:5-6

Do not be overawed when a man grows rich

when the splendor of his house increases;

for he will take nothing with him when he dies,

his splendor will not descend with him. Psalm 49:16-17

A man who has riches without understanding

is like the beasts that perish. Psalm 49:20

Ever wondered if you were rich or poor? I mean, in the great scheme of things, did you ever wonder where you rank?

I remember as a little kid hearing the phrase “middle class families” and asking my mother if we were middle class. She said, “No, honey, we are better than that.” “So,” I said, “are we rich?” She said, “Not exactly. Maybe upper middle class.”

That changed when we became a single parent family. Then I had no idea where I stood.

I was taught that it was impolite to ask other people how much they earned and what they paid for things. I never understood why it was such a big secret. Maybe that’s why people are so interested in Parade Magazine’s annual story, “What People Earn.” Because we won’t find out any other way.

Where do you rank? Are you rich or poor?

We tend to admire people who are rich, celebrities, athletes, successful businesspeople. But in our culture we also seem to enjoy criticizing them. What is Paul Allen doing with the Blazers? What’s Paris Hilton doing with a $10,000 handbag?

In Psalm 49, the psalmist is playing his harp and reflecting on those who are wealthy. He cautions us against admiring the rich.

^{PS 49:16} Do not be overawed when a man grows rich when the splendor of his house increases;⁷ for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him.

Sometimes when I think about people who are richer than I am, I can become frustrated.

Especially when I think about my unfulfilled financial desires. So as I read this psalm, I try to put myself on the side of the person speaking, the person who is being oppressed by the rich. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that I am not the poor wise man in this psalm. I’m the rich. I am the one who should be challenged here.

We may not think we are living the high life, but in fact we are among the privileged few. Our standard of living is among the highest in the world. I have never been without food or clothing or shelter. I have never been oppressed or constantly threatened. The cost of health care may be going up, but all of us have access to the emergency room. We are very, very rich.

So if we are among the richest people in the world, and we want to receive Psalm 49 as God’s word to us, how can we interpret it?

A rich young man, a very devout religious man, once asked Jesus what more he should do to be saved. Jesus said, “You’re too attached to your riches. Give them to the poor, and follow me.” And the young man wouldn’t do it, because he was too attached to his riches.

The psalmist makes the same charge against the wealthy in his psalm. He called them

those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches and those who trust in themselves. Now we are starting to understand what the problem was. The wealthy were putting their trust in their wealth and in themselves, rather than acknowledging God from whom their riches came. And in the last verse of the psalm, verse 20, we see the problem:

^{PS 49:20} A man who has riches without understanding

is like the beasts that perish.

We must hold our riches with understanding. We must be the rich who care about the poor. Let me give you two examples of how this can be done, first about our local charities and then about Bangladesh.

Years ago, our church designated the first Sunday of the month as SnowCap Sunday, and everybody brought food for SnowCap on that day. We used to have a member whose name was Holly Fitzgerald. How many of you remember Holly? I never saw her do this, but I have heard that Holly used to stand out in the parking lot on SnowCap Sundays and as people came in, she would say, “Did you bring something for SnowCap?” One woman told me this week that she never came to a first Sunday without a grocery bag in hand, because she was afraid of what Holly would say.

No one would describe Holly as polite, but she was effective. Holly died last year, and now that she’s gone, it’s up to us to remember the needs of those in our very own neighborhood who are struggling to make ends meet. That’s why the Session has asked us to bring baby food this week and stack it here by the pulpit – to remind us of our responsibility for the poor.

But, you know, one small act of kindness can turn into something larger than you could imagine.

I was at a meeting of the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce when Becky Coleman, the director of My Sister’s House, told me that she was in a cash flow crisis. I mentioned it to the members, and a businessman said, “We need to pass the hat for Becky. I’m going to put $100 in this basket and pass it around.” About a thousand dollars was collected that day in about 20 minutes. Seeing that kind of generosity and community support was what gave me the courage to ask the Chamber to bring baby food for SnowCap to our meeting here this Friday. It starts small, and it grows.

Let me tell you about what happened in Bangladesh.

A young man named Muhammad Yunus studied economics in the United States and returned to Bangladesh to work at the university. Yunus would sit in his office, writing economic treatises, and look out at the poor village that was right next to the university. One day he realized that what he was writing would not help the poor women outside his window who could not make a living.

In 1974, when he was barely 30 years old, Yunus loaned out $27 from his own pocket to some women so that they could buy supplies to make things to sell. Two years later, he founded the Grameen Bank, (Grameen means “rural” in Bengali), which was designed to make low-interest loans to the poorest people in order to help them work their way out of poverty.

Two weeks ago, Yunus and his bank were awarded the 2 006Nobel Peace Prize for their pioneering use of microcredit -- tiny loans -- to spur development among the poor. Grameen Bank was the first lender to hand out microcredit, giving very small loans to poor Bangladeshis who did not qualify for loans from conventional banks. No collateral is needed and repayment is based on an honor system.

Anyone can qualify for a loan - the average is about $200 - but recipients are put in groups of five. Once two members of the group have borrowed money, the other three must wait for the funds to be repaid before they get a loan.

Yunus says the method encourages social responsibility. The results are hard to argue with - the bank says it has a 99 percent repayment rate. Today the Grameen bank serves more than six million poor families in 71,000 villages by making loans and providing other services. Over the last 30 years, the Grameen Bank has loaned out $ 5.72 billion. Out of this, 5.07 billion has been repaid.

Recently Yunus started a program for beggars, the people who are the very poorest of society who have to resort to begging. He makes no-interest loans so that a beggar can buy a quilt or a mosquito net, and they can pay it back at the equivalent of only 3 cents a month. He has 81,000 beggars registered for the program.

In choosing Mohammed Yunus for the Peace Prize, the Nobel Committee said, “"Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty. Microcredit is one such means. (It is) development from below." When they interviewed Yunus, he said, “I would hope that this award will make this message heard many times, and in a kind of forceful way, so that people start believing that we can create a poverty-free world.”

So whether you’re giving a jar of baby food to SnowCap or making a loan to a poor woman, who knows what may come of it. We don’t know how far our care goes. It would be easy to measure ourselves against Mohammad Yunus and say, “He’s running a 5 billion dollar bank and he won the Nobel prize, I’m nothing like that.” But he started just like us. He had no idea he would start something that would grow this big, he just thought it was a good thing to give away $27.

You and I are so rich. Will we hold our riches with understanding?

God's Trombones: Go Down Death

2006-08-31T16:29:00.000-07:00

Go Down Death
a funeral sermon
from "God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse"
by James Weldon Johnson
preached by Cynthia O'Brien August 28, 2006
at Smith Memorial Presbyterian Church

(This book is available from your favorite bookseller. Get an audio recording if you can.)

GO DOWN DEATH -- A FUNERAL SERMON

Weep not, weep not,

She is not dead;

She’s resting in the bosom of Jesus

Heart-broken husband – weep no more;

Grief-stricken son – weep no more;

Left-lonesome daughter – weep no more;

She’s only just gone home.

Day before yesterday morning,

God was looking down from his great, high heaven,

Looking down on all his children,

And his eye fell on Sister Caroline,

Tossing on her bed of pain.

And God’s big heart was touched with pity,

With the everlasting pity.

And God sat back on his throne,

And he commanded that tall, bright angel standing at

His right hand:

Call me Death!

And that tall, bright angel cried in a voice

That broke like a clap of thunder:

Call Death! – Call Death!

And the echo sounded down the streets of heaven

Till it reached away back to the shadowy place,

Where Death waits with his pale, white horses.

And Death heard the summons.

And he leaped on his fastest horse,

Pale as a sheet in the moonlight.

Up the golden street Death galloped,

And the hoofs of his horse struck fire from the gold,

But they didn’t make no sound.

Up Death rode to the Great White Throne,

And waited for God’s command.

And God said: Go down, Death, go down,

Go down to Savannah, Georgia,

Down in Yamacraw,

And find Sister Caroline.

She’s borne the burden and heat of the day,

She’s labored long in my vineyard,

And she’s tired –

She’s weary –

God down, Death, and bring her to me.

And Death didn’t say a word,

But he loosed the reins on his pale, white horse,

And he clamped the spurs to his bloodless sides,

And out and down he rode,

Through heaven’s pearly gates,

Past suns and moons and stars;

On Death rode,

And the foam from his horse was like a comet in the sky;

On Death rode,

Leaving the lightning’s flash behind;

Straight on down he came.

While we were watching round her bed,

She turned her eyes and looked away,

She saw what we couldn’t see;

She saw Old Death. She saw Old Death

Coming like a falling star.

But Death didn’t frighten Sister Caroline;

He looked to her like a welcome friend.

And she whispered to us: I’m going home,

And she smiled and closed her eyes.

And Death took her up like a baby,

And she lay in his icy arms,

But she didn’t feel no chill.

And Death began to ride again –

Up beyond the evening star,

Out beyond the morning star,

Into the glittering light of glory,

On to the Great White Throne.

And there he laid Sister Caroline

On the loving breast of Jesus.

And Jesus took his own hand and wiped away her tears,

Ane he smoothed the furrows from her face,

And the angels sang a little song,

And Jesus rocked her in his arms,

And kept a-saying: Take your rest,

Take your rest, take your rest.

Weep not – weep not,

She is not dead;

She’s resting in the bosom of Jesus.