Competing Billboards...For This Week's Sermon

For This Coming Sunday (December 5, 2010)

Two items to be used for this week's sermon, for your viewing and meditation...or something like that...

First, Edward Hick's painting THE PEACEABLE KINGDOM...

And secondly, an excerpt from Handel's Messiah, the famous Hallelujah Chorus...



Edward Hick's painting THE PEACEABLE KINGDOM

Arising From Today's Tuesday Circle

The Tuesday Circle is doing its study of Eric Weiner's THE GEOGRAPHY OF BLISS, and I don't know we got to this topic and this story, but I shared a story I had used in a sermon from 2008 that remains a favorite of mine, a story that embodies the heart of the Gospel, the true inclusiveness of God.

Below is the last paragraph of a sermon I preached in April of 2008, where I shared my experience of being raised by a Muslim servant in Indonesia. Amat ("mother" in Indonesian) was an important figure in my life, and the lens with which I viewed John 14:1-14 ("I am the way, the truth, and the life..."). The story I reference above is below, though I don't want their to be a misunderstanding here: Amat or persons of other faiths are not "Judases." The story simply points out how deep God's love is for all of us...

Focusing on our own dwelling place, our own relationship with God, is something we probably need to center our selves on—we Christians have done more damage to our witness by focusing on other people’s dwelling places, other people’s relationship with God, rather than our own. One of great things about what Jesus says here in this passage, and in the other I AM saying found peppered through the Gospel of John is that he reminds that HE is the way, he the truth and the life, and not me, and he is the bread of life, and not me, and he is the good shepherd, and not me, and he is the light of the world, and not me. That means I can let go of my worry about my beloved Amat, who was of another faith, or my friends who do not and cannot believe Christianity or any other religion, or even my father, whose faith was blown apart by his experience in Vietnam. Their dwelling place, their relationship with God, is God’s business and not mine, but because I trust and believe in the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I think God will lead all people home, into a dwelling place with the divine, with the Christ spirit, or whatever way you want to name it, one way or another. In our study on forgiveness, one of the writers tells of an old medieval legend about the disciples assembling “together in heaven in order to re-celebrate the Last Supper. There was one vacant place at the table until through the door Judas came in and Christ rose and kissed him and said, “We have waited for thee.” (Wiesenthal, The Sunflower, 180). And even though it is only a legend, I suspect it is a true legend, and if so, then surely, surely, Amat and others have a place at the table as well. Amen.

Good Things Happen To Good People - Compassion

I'll be speaking about Karen Armstrong's CHARTER FOR COMPASSION this Sunday as we continue our sermon series on WHY GOOD THING HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE. Below is her talk to TED, which is a gathering of people who come together to listen to "big ideas"...



Click on this link for more information on THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION

Good Things Happen To Good People - Humor

This week I'll be sharing the latest scientific research on humor, while also looking at the notorious story of Sarah laughing at the impossibility of her becoming pregnant at her age (Genesis 18:1-15). Humor is so often connected to the absurd and and the ironic in our lives.

I couldn't pass up the chance to post some funny, church related humor, to tide us over until Sunday...

Ten Signs You're In For a Long Sermon

10. There's a case of bottled water beside the pulpit in a cooler.
9. The pews have camper hookups.

8. You overhear the pastor telling the sound man to have a few (dozen!) extra tapes on hand to record today's sermon.

7. The preacher has brought a snack to the pulpit.

6. The preacher breaks for an intermission.

5. The bulletins have pizza delivery menus.

4. When the preacher asks the deacon to bring in his notes, he rolls in a filing cabinet.

3. The choir loft is furnished with La-Z-Boys.

2. Instead of taking off his watch and laying it on the pulpit, the preacher turns up a four-foot hour-glass.

And The Number One Sign You Are In For A Long Sermon

1. The minister says, "You'll be out in time to watch the Super Bowl" but it's only September!

And, of course, the bloopers so often found in church bulletins..

Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.

The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals. The sermon this morning: “Jesus Walks on the Water.” The sermon tonight: “Searching for Jesus.”

Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands.

The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.

Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say “Hell” to someone who doesn’t care much about you.

Miss Charlene Mason sang, “I will not pass this way again,” giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.


Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.

Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack’s sermons.

The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing: “Break Forth Into Joy.”

Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.

Good Things Happen To Good People - Courage

This week I'll be looking at the power of human courage, and how good people both possess courage, and "en-courage" their friends and family during the difficult times.

Related to that topic, as it will be used in the sermon, is the tragic suicides of gay youths that have been showing up in the news lately, though it is nothing "new," sadly enough.

Check out these tragic stories:

Tyler Clementi

Seth Walsh

Asher Brown

May God rest their souls, and may God have mercy on us for not speaking up for others when we could have...

Good Things Happen To Good People - Forgiveness

This coming Sunday we'll be exploring the way of forgiveness as an attribute of good people, and how that manifests positively in our lives. The sermon will be based on Matthew 18:21-35, the story of the servant who was forgiven by his master, but was unwilling to forgive others.

Below are nine steps from Dr. Frederic Luskin at his website to help facilitate the hard work of forgiveness...

1.Know exactly how you feel about what happened and be able to articulate what about the situation is not OK. Then, tell a trusted couple of people about your experience.

2.Make a commitment to yourself to do what you have to do to feel better. Forgiveness is for you and not for anyone else.

3.Forgiveness does not necessarily mean reconciliation with the person that hurt you, or condoning of their action. What you are after is to find peace. Forgiveness can be defined as the “peace and understanding that come from blaming that which has hurt you less, taking the life experience less personally, and changing your grievance story.”

4.Get the right perspective on what is happening. Recognize that your primary distress is coming from the hurt feelings, thoughts and physical upset you are suffering now, not what offended you or hurt you two minutes – or ten years – ago. Forgiveness helps to heal those hurt feelings.

5.At the moment you feel upset practice a simple stress management technique to soothe your body’s flight or fight response.

6.Give up expecting things from other people, or your life, that they do not choose to give you. Recognize the “unenforceable rules” you have for your health or how you or other people must behave. Remind yourself that you can hope for health, love, peace and prosperity and work hard to get them.

7.Put your energy into looking for another way to get your positive goals met than through the experience that has hurt you. Instead of mentally replaying your hurt seek out new ways to get what you want.

8.Remember that a life well lived is your best revenge. Instead of focusing on your wounded feelings, and thereby giving the person who caused you pain power over you, learn to look for the love, beauty and kindness around you. Forgiveness is about personal power.

9.Amend your grievance story to remind you of the heroic choice to forgive.

Also, don't forget the good work of Michigan's own Fetzer Institute in and their "Campaign For Love And Forgiveness," of which more information can be found here

Centering Words For Worship On July 11, 2010

In the margins of his print of a Rembrandt etching
Van Gogh scribbled in truffle black ink,
In media noctic vim suam lex exerit.
“In the middle of the night light spreads its power.”
He wrote to his brother Theo
that mediating on the print gave
him the courage to live on broth and coffee
and work all night by gaslight,
the heart to make the darkness tangible,
the spirit to create a cavalcade
of color the world had never seen before.

The old master taught him how
To harness infinity, as if God were starting
The universe all over with a clean palette.

But the painter who moved him most
was the blue-souled, angel-winged Giotto,
who was always full of kindness and enthusiasm
and painted despite being always in pain.

What I would give to have that faith
That living and working in the margins
Will heal even your fiercest wounds.
--Phil Cousineau, “Marginalia”

Touching Story of ELCA Seminarian's Death In Haiti

ELCA NEWS SERVICE
January 18, 2010

He Spent His Last Breath Singing: Wife, Cousin Remember ELCA's Ben Larson
10-019-JB


CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The past week for Renee Splichal Larson and Jonathan Larson has been filled with danger, uncertainty, heartache and deep pain as they mourn the apparent loss of Renee's husband and Jonathan's cousin, Ben Larson, 25, in the earthquake in Haiti. The two Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) seminary students, in Port-au-Prince at the time of the disaster, returned to the United States Jan. 15. They spoke to the ELCA News Service Jan. 18.
Renee and Jonathan told of their escape from the collapsed St. Joseph Home for Boys and their unsuccessful attempts to rescue Ben. They also talked about the suffering of the people of Haiti, their strong feelings of gratitude for the ELCA and the positive influences it had on Ben throughout this life.
"All he wanted was to be a pastor in this church," Renee said.
The three senior students at Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa -- one of eight ELCA seminaries -- went to Haiti to teach Lutheran theology to members and pastors of the Lutheran church during the seminary's January term. Renee, who grew up in Garrison, N.D., was also doing interviews with local people for a master's thesis about the emerging Lutheran church in Haiti.
That all changed on Jan. 12, when a severe earthquake struck Haiti. At the time of the quake all three were together in the St. Joseph Home for Boys.
"We were all together on the same floor," when the building began to shake, Renee said. "We all kind of panicked and started running. Jonathan and I were together. (Ben) was hugging a pillar in the middle of the floor. I turned and I saw him, and I saw concrete starting to fall on him. I called for him and started running toward him."
At that moment the two floors above collapsed on them. Jonathan and Renee were trapped for a short time, but managed to squeeze out onto the roof of the building and called for Ben, she said. The collapsed building continued to shift as the aftershocks continued, Renee said.
The two went back to the place where they had crawled out and called again for Ben. Renee said she heard Ben's voice. He was singing, not unusual for Ben who loved music. "I told him I loved him, and that Jon and I were okay, and to keep singing," Renee said. But the singing stopped after he sang the words "God's peace to us we pray," she said.
"If he was alive, he would have been calling for help desperately," Renee said. "Ben spent his last breath singing."
In the chaos of that night, Renee and Jonathan stayed nearby with local residents displaced by the quake. One of the people they were with was Bill Nathan, director of the St. Joseph Home for Boys, who injured his spine after jumping from the roof of the building to the ground. ABC News featured Nathan's story on Nightline.
The next day Renee and Jonathan went back to the building, managed to get their passports, and did what they could to locate Ben, but could not find him. "Getting off of that roof was the most difficult thing I've ever had to do," she said.
The two were advised to go to the U.S. Embassy, which they managed to accomplish with local residents' help, and seek assistance to rescue Ben, but there was no team to rescue Ben. They met up with a Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville (N.J.), medical team at the embassy, who cared for Renee and Jonathan. The students managed to get text messages to their families, asking for advice about what to do. Their families advised them to return home to the United States.
"It was so sad to go. It took all of our strength to get back to our families," Renee said.
Meanwhile, the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director, ELCA Global Mission, and a friend of the Larson family, had contacted the Lutheran World Federation and a member of Congress, trying to arrange for a team in Haiti to get to Ben. Those attempts continue.
The Red Cross has estimated that as many as 200,000 people may have died as a result of the earthquake. In addition, questions are being asked about the slowness of the response. "People are so desperate," Renee said, adding that the devastation "breaks my heart. To know that the people of Haiti still have nothing is very difficult."
She added that she cannot think about Ben "apart from the thousands of Haitians who died in the earthquake, the poorest of the poor in this hemisphere