tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49727054192938464022024-03-12T11:49:21.358-07:00Reverend MamaWade in the Water, Children...Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.comBlogger186125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-19668383459061266562017-02-15T14:49:00.001-08:002017-02-15T14:49:59.538-08:00Behold! I'm Doing a New Thing... <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PaYbQ-fWVkU/WKTaqyh0hQI/AAAAAAAAokE/N1F3CvhnmLsVQmiizIwrTp5UBhn4TzQ4gCK4B/s1600/IMG_6314-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PaYbQ-fWVkU/WKTaqyh0hQI/AAAAAAAAokE/N1F3CvhnmLsVQmiizIwrTp5UBhn4TzQ4gCK4B/s400/IMG_6314-1.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">In 2007, I was appointed to serve Saint Mark United Methodist Church, and found myself in an environment where I felt the surprising and relentless tug of the creative spirit. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">I found that I loved writing: Facebook posts, sermons, newsletter articles. I couldn’t get enough. But, I needed a safe place to write about my children (rather than blathering on about them from the pulpit), as well as a way to keep a record of the professional things I wrote.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">Thus, <a href="http://revmamaflemming.blogspot.com/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">http://revmamaflemming.blogspot.com/</a> was born.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">When I created my blog in 2008, I named it Reverend Mama. These were and are the two aspects of my identity that I am most overwhelmed by and grateful for. They are the aspects of who I am that I wrestle with the most, and try my hardest to succeed at doing well. Being a pastor and mother are expressions of my being which I came to concurrently, and both <strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">totally</strong> rocked my world. They define me, shape me, and each dimension makes me better at the other. The dualism of my identity makes me fully aware of my humanness and more open to the divine in all things. My vocation, most certainly, is to both, without confusion or change. Reverend Mama is my hypostatic union.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">For the first few years, I was a prolific writer. I found an outlet for the things that had been rolling around in my head, and thanks to the gift of trustworthy childcare, I had time to get the words out into the world. It was an incredibly rewarding experience, and before long, I had a book mapped out about the stages of a mother’s development, psychologically and spiritually. I talked with friends, I organized the chapters and then…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: black;"><a href="http://revmamaflemming.blogspot.com/2009/11/little-stick.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">I got pregnant with Sloan</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">All of my creative energy was re-routed into the marvelous and overwhelming work of gestating a new person. The book idea vanished. The outlines I’d written might as well have been uncoded hieroglyphics. I tried blogging; but nothing came. All of my written work was channeled into the ordination process, which I was fiercely trying to complete that same year. For months, I felt guilty, as I sat and tried to generate new blog material to no avail. I apologized to my readers for the lack of inspiration.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">(In retrospect, I suppose it’s unfair to say I stopped writing. I wrote 100 pages of theological, homiletical and historical work for the Board of Ordained Ministry, but it certainly wasn’t material that would have been enjoyable for the general public to read. So, now that I think about it, apology retracted! In fact, dear readers, you’re very welcome.)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">Then, the creative work of making a baby got sucked into the exhausting work of mothering a new baby (and her two brothers). Writing was something I was only able to do in short, sweet bursts, typically during the weeks in which I was preaching. I went from averaging 65 posts a year to 4. My brain wasn’t forming complete thoughts, so no one was really missing out.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">In the past 6 years since Sloan was born, lots of things have changed in my life. I became aware that God was calling me to be a senior pastor, and we moved to California. I left my beloved Atlanta behind, and did my best to embrace a new life in Laguna Beach. More things changed, and I’m now in the position of solo pastoring and single mothering. It’s not as if I lack for good content. But somehow, I couldn’t generate the courage or the proper words to contain these experiences. I also had to collect all of my words and save the good stuff for the 48 sermons a year I now preach. (Somehow, I convinced myself that my language was finite and I coudln’t possibly write a blog <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">and</em> a sermon.)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">Then, one day, right before Christmas, I had a sudden burst of inspiration. I wrote about the past year, in tender and careful language. I started trying to organize my thoughts and feelings, and I slowly started to crawl out from the cave of silence in which I’d entombed myself.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">I’m starting to see the path ahead of me.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">The path is not going to look as I imagined. But, hardly anything ever does.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">I am open to the idea that it might even look <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">better</em>.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">So, today, I’m starting a new blog. With a new name. A new domain. A new direction. I need a place where I can be truthful, doting and prophetic. I need a place to write with honesty about what has happened and what’s to come.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">For those of you who read and followed and commented and encouraged throughout the years, thank you. (I’m looking at you, Cheryl.) I have been uplifted by your support, and your sweet reminders that writing is never about the author. Good writing, just like good preaching, names the truth of experience, and in the very act of reading, we all find ourselves a little less alone.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">So, here’s to this new thing, in this new place.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">Prayers for all of us as we wait and see what is to come…</span></div>
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<a href="https://revmamablog.wordpress.com/" style="background-color: #fff2cc;">https://revmamablog.wordpress.com/</a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-6563950031266750322016-06-18T17:31:00.000-07:002016-06-18T17:31:06.009-07:00Rationale for the Resolution on a Call for Non-Conformity With the Book of Discipline in the Cal-Pac Annual ConferenceToday, the California-Pacific Annual Conference voted overwhelmingly to approve <b><a href="http://www.calpacumc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/RES.16-11.ACallForNon-Conformity.pdf" target="_blank">A Call For Non-Conformity With the Book of Discipline</a>:</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>WHEREAS</b>, according to The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, "all persons
are of sacred worth" and "The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of
homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching" (161.F); and<br />
<br />
<b>WHEREAS</b>, United Methodist Church doctrine calls for inclusiveness in which “all persons are
open, welcoming, fully accepting, and supporting of all other persons, enabling them to
participate fully in the life of the Church, the community, and the world” (140); and<br />
<br />
<b>WHEREAS</b>, a candidate's sexual orientation and gender identity should not be considered as
criteria for fitness or effectiveness in ministry; and<br />
<br />
<b>WHEREAS</b>, the Book of Discipline encourages “a respectful dialogue with those with whom we
disagree, to explore the sources of our differences, to honor the sacred worth of all persons,”
and acknowledges that “we do not see the ‘Discipline’ as sacrosanct or infallible” (Episcopal
Greetings, p. v); and<br />
<br />
<b>WHEREAS</b>, ordained clergy seeking to navigate the inconsistencies within United Methodist
Church doctrine face extraordinary penalties by ministering fully to the LGBTQIA children of
God, and charges have been made and trials held against ordained clergy for conducting
marriage ceremonies; and<br />
<br />
<b>WHEREAS</b>, Bishops have publicly and privately opposed recommendations for such charges,
and spoken out against trials and penalties for ministers officiating at these marriages; and<br />
<br />
<b>WHEREAS</b>, by scripture, God’s covenant extends to all persons, as made living by the Christ
whose command was to love God and neighbor, teaching radical inclusion, and through our
Church mandate to gather all persons of faith into the community of the body of Christ;<br />
<br />
<b>THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED</b> the California-Pacific Annual Conference urges the Bishop
and Cabinet to state publicly they will not deny appointments based on sexual orientation or
gender identity; urges the Board of Ordained Ministry to declare its intention not to consider
sexual orientation and gender identity in making decisions in regard to commissioning and
ordination; urges trial boards not to convict for chargeable offenses pertaining to being "a self-avowed,
practicing homosexual," as well as for those clergy who officiate at weddings for
couples regardless of the gender of the partners, and that these matters would be addressed
through "Just Resolution."<br />
<br />
<b>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED</b> the California-Pacific Annual Conference and its members are
urged to not participate in or conduct judicial procedures related to The Book of Discipline's
prohibitions against LGBTQIA persons.<br />
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<b>**Because I was one of the authors of this piece of legislation, I was able to take the opportunity to speak in favor of it. Below is what I shared on the floor of Annual Conference: </b><br />
<br />
Bishop Carcaño, my name is Rev. Mandy Sloan McDow, clergy from the
North GA Annual Conference, appointed to serve the faithful congregation at Laguna Beach
United Methodist Church.<br />
<br />
This resolution borrows language from our sisters and
brothers in the <a href="http://www.neumc.org/newsdetail/conference-adopts-action-of-non-conformity-resolution-5074535" target="_blank">New England Annual Conference </a>who, yesterday, affirmed a
similar piece of legislation. It uses strong language – the language of non-compliance
– because this is the time in which all eyes are upon us, to see how this
Conference will respond as we wait and hope for the work of the Bishops’
Commission to begin.<br />
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As one who watched from afar for many years, I am keenly aware of the gift of this Annual Conference’s
continual work for justice and inclusion. But, I will tell you that people are hurting. In
the days following General Conference, I heard from my LGBTQIA congregants a
great wail of “How long, O Lord?” <o:p></o:p></div>
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I stand here as the pastor with a broken heart. I have loved
and cared for, ministered to and provided the sacraments for my LGBTQIA
siblings as best I can. But my best isn’t good enough, because I serve a
denomination that is so entrenched in bureaucracy that it cannot move forward
fast enough. So, I am left with the awful truth that my beloved congregants and
friends – my family in the body of Christ – may leave. I am heartbroken that I
have come to a time in which I cannot be the pastor to those whom I’ve been
serving, because they cannot stay in an abusive relationship with our denomination
any longer. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This title of this legislation is strongly worded, because
the actions needed to restore the trust of our LGBTQIA siblings in Christ are
strong. But, this piece of legislation doesn’t ask any more of this Annual
Conference than what you’ve already done, for you have stood on the right side
of history. Bishop Carcaño, you have demonstrated radical hospitality to those
who have been rejected based on their sexual orientation and gender identity,
and you have acted with grace to those clergy who have risked their credentials
to officiate the weddings of same-sex couples. You have always done what was
right. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This legislation is necessary because people are looking to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>us</u></b> to make a strong stand.
People are desperate for us to do more than wait. People are watching for us to
model grace, rather than judgment. It is our call, as the beloved children of
God, to embody Christ’s love in the most radical and life-giving ways we can,
and to put our faith, not in the law (which is not sacrosanct or infallible)
but in the Gospel. For it is our call, to continue the push, with grace,
compassion and mercy, for a church that errs not on the side of judgment, but
on the side of love, just as you have modeled for us, Bishop Carcaño.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This resolution speaks to Christ’s
life-giving love, and the desperate plea the world has uttered for the church
to live into its baptismal promise and to accept the freedom and power God
gives us to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they
present themselves (including the Book of Discipline). I humbly offer this
resolution as my prayer for this power to be used wisely and courageously, urging
this Annual Conference and the Board of Ordained Ministry to act with the same
prophetic witness you have always shown.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Respectfully,<br />
<br />Rev. Mandy Sloan McDow<br />
Senior Minister<br />
<a href="http://www.lbumc.org/" target="_blank">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a><br />
<br /></div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-14898467263245246732016-06-12T18:13:00.001-07:002016-06-12T18:13:15.531-07:00The Pulse: Massacre in the City Beautiful<div>Weeks ago, I planned a sermon series on the marginalized people in scripture. Today was the day I planned to preach on Jephthah's Daughter, one of the most notable "texts of terror." I've been dreading it. </div><div><br></div><div>Then we awoke to the news that the deadliest shooting in US history occurred at The Pulse, a popular gay bar in Orlando. </div><div><br></div><div>Today at Laguna Beach United Methodist Church, we rang 51 chimes for each of the deceased. We prayed for the victims, the shooter and their families. And, we listened to this dreadful text, which suddenly made sense in the wake of this terrible act. </div><div><br></div><div>Jephthah's Daughter was sacrificed on the altar of her father's insecurities and fear. Fear is what cripples us. Fear is the way we limit God. </div><div><br></div><div>No longer can the church be afraid to stand up for the rights of LGBTQIA people. We can no longer pretend that this community isn't the subject of great harm. We are no better than Jephthah if we continue to use our privilege to permit the destruction of the lives of others. </div><div><br></div><div>This was a targeted act of hate against the LGBTQ community. This isn't an issue of religion or even a matter of lax gun control laws. This is a matter of homophobia, and it's beyond time for the church to do more, shout more, advocate more. Love more. </div><div><br></div><div>We have work to do, because the Body of Christ is broken, and only love can heal it.</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-6176901628312509562016-03-27T23:38:00.003-07:002016-04-07T12:06:51.026-07:00Easter Sermon: Anything Less than Everything<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.lbumc.org/" target="_blank">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Anything Less than Everything<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Luke 24:1-12<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">24But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. <sup>2</sup>They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, <sup>3</sup>but when they went in, they did not find the body. <sup>4</sup>While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. <sup>5</sup>The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “<b>Why do you look for the living among the dead?</b> <b>He is not here, but has risen</b>.<sup>6</sup>Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, <sup>7</sup>that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” <sup>8</sup>Then they remembered his words, <sup>9</sup>and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. <sup>10</sup>Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. <sup>11</sup>But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. <sup>12</sup>But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u></u>Every preacher longs for this day, and dreads this day. Because it is the day we are to have the best words crafted together for the sake of all who have ears to hear them. And, t<u></u>his text, quite simply, is the beginning of our narrative as Christians. But, it’s not a recollection of Christianity’s first sermon. It’s the story about the people who preached it. Which means that what the women, Christianity’s first preachers, <i>said</i>… wasn’t what mattered. It’s not what they <i>said</i>, it’s what they <u>expressed</u>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">They expressed to the apostles something they believed to be “an idle tale,” and the apostles did not believe the women who preached it to them.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Except for Peter. Loving Peter. Peter, the rock. Simon Peter. The disciple, the denier, the saint. He didn’t preach a sermon about the resurrection. He went home, amazed, and told no one. Because sometimes that's all you can do with your amazement, is tuck it in your heart and let it sit for a while. <u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Because what Mary, Joanna, Mary-mother-of-James, and Mary Magdalene said maybe the truest sermon ever preached. Mary, in John’s Gospel, doesn’t say, “Christ is risen, he is risen indeed,” but “I have seen the Lord.” Upon these five words hang all of our theology. "Resurrection is not a third person confession but a first person testimony. We don’t want to hear that the resurrection is a creed of the church -- we need to hear that the resurrection is a truth we might witness and to which we might give witness on a daily basis.”<a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/2/#m_-6521627941657260400__ftn1" name="m_-6521627941657260400__ftnref1" style="color: #1155cc;" title=""><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></a><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The problem with that is that the resurrection isn’t something that can be easily explained or paralleled, or even witnessed. It’s not a myth or a metaphor. Resurrection is, as we say, the great mystery of our faith. This is why Paul writes to the Corinthians, “Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51) There is no explaining it. We must live into it. But how?<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I think we need to approach the story of the resurrection with a healthy dose of gumption and willingness to lean into our faith. Because, as Paul states, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” (I Corinthians 15:17) Perhaps it’s not the cross that’s salvific, but the resurrection. Maybe the cross was a means for God to enter into our suffering, but not what was necessary for salvation.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Maybe I’m a heretic.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But, what Paul is really asking, and what the women are telling the apostles is quite simply this: “What’s the point of anything less than everything?”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>This</i></b> is the reason for Christ’s resurrection.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It’s because, God knows, we crave a whole and complete relationship with our creator, with the one who loves us first and best.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is what God is trying to tell us, through the intention of the incarnation and through every sliver of revelation we receive.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">God is trying to tell us that God is in it – literally putting on flesh. "God has skin in the game because <b><i>we</i></b> have skin in the game."</span><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/2/#m_-6521627941657260400__ftnref1" name="m_-6521627941657260400__ftn1" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" title=""><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> And because God does, we can. We can look at death, which is going to do terrible, horrible things to our lives. Death will chase us, mock us, pursue us. Death will tell us we are unworthy or unlovable, but death will never EVER define us. “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” The angels said. This is the question for us all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That's because we are not people who worship a God of absence. When the stone is rolled away, and Mary proclaims, “he is not here, for he has risen,” she isn’t speaking about the absence or distance of a savior who was once so real that she held his bleeding head in her lap as she anointed him with oil and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, just as she’d done when he was a baby. Not in a manger, but now in a tomb. This is not a distant God who exists only in comfortable ways. This is a God of food troughs and caverns. A God of hunger and scarcity. A God of anger at injustice. A God of righteous indignation.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">THIS is the God of whom we speak when we say, “He is not here, he is risen!”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Christ has risen because <u>anything less than everything</u> wouldn’t be enough.</b><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Anything less than everything would be what <b>we</b> are capable of.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But, aren’t we capable of more?<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Aren’t we capable of more love, more grace, more forgiveness, more righteous indignation. And not always on our own behalf, but on behalf of others?<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After all, how do you take a lifetime of small victories and a lifetime worth of sorrows and pull them together into a space that makes sense? How can we take the joys that are fleeing and the griefs that are abiding and hold them in the tender care of who we are, as children of God? How do we make sense of the narrative that sometimes seems more like struggle than it does like comfort?<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We do it because this narrative is real and true. God didn’t defeat death by making us immortal; rather, God lived into the suffering. We worship a God who is unafraid to go hungry, who is not reluctant to get dirty, who is willing to get hurt.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My boys play baseball, and they have a teammate named Josh. He is eleven years old. The only brother of 3 sisters, a stellar athlete and a brilliant boy. He is good and kind, tenderhearted and compassionate. And, he was diagnosed 8 weeks ago with an inoperable tumor on his brain stem.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And his cancer is aggressively growing. <u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After reading one of the most recent updates, I sat and cried and shook my first at God with the demand to understand why this would happen to such a person. Why does a young child have to suffer like this? How can God ask me - us - *anyone* to preach faith in a good and loving God when the manifestation of evil that is Cancer is slowly and painfully robbing this boy of his life and this family of their wholeness. God may not have willed this but I want desperately for God to stop it. THAT is the great mystery of why I keep my faith.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But, this text reminds us: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here!” It’s because we expect something less than everything.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Two days after we got the most dire update about Josh, we received word that there was more news.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The MRI had been read incorrectly.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Josh’s tumor wasn’t growing aggressively. It was possibly shrinking. His cancer is still present, he is still fighting through the sedation, there is still a lot of wondering and hoping. But, his prognosis is much better than anticipated.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I want God to be a mighty force for good. I want the cancer gone. I want miracles of healing and hopefulness and to be right without a shadow of a doubt. I want Nothing Less than Everything from this God of all creation. I want the mystery to be about how his cancer disappeared without a trace.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But, sometimes what we get is a matchstick’s worth of light in the darkest of valleys. And, what we find is that it’s enough. It’s enough to give us all the light that we need to see what’s next. And, though we may want fireworks, God knows that we’d be overwhelmed. The soft glow of hope allows our eyes to adjust, to take it all in, and to focus as we see what’s next.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Anything less than everything” is what we anticipate, but we are loved by a God who will do nothing less than <b><i>every</i></b>thing to abide with us.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the name of the God who is with us, for us, and refuses to be God without us. Amen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/2/#m_-6521627941657260400__ftnref1" name="m_-6521627941657260400__ftn1" style="color: #1155cc;" title=""><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></a> <span style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=4571" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.workingpreacher.<wbr></wbr>org/craft.aspx?post=4571</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/2/#m_-6521627941657260400__ftnref1" name="m_-6521627941657260400__ftn1" style="color: #1155cc;" title="">[2]</a> Mihee Kim-Kort: <a href="http://rachelheldevans.com/blog/why-christian-conference-recap">http://rachelheldevans.com/blog/why-christian-conference-recap</a></span></span><br />
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Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-15306769985708763282016-03-25T10:19:00.003-07:002016-03-25T10:19:29.386-07:00Good Friday: Meditation in Word and Art<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7bvh9aOmng0/VvVcP3mi46I/AAAAAAAAnSc/Qq-0sXYvgZEhOAJYxPu0CXhQb2iY0Yxqw/s1600/10147453_10152390881559108_480331892_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #fff2cc; clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7bvh9aOmng0/VvVcP3mi46I/AAAAAAAAnSc/Qq-0sXYvgZEhOAJYxPu0CXhQb2iY0Yxqw/s320/10147453_10152390881559108_480331892_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">Table by Rev. Dr. Beth LaRocca-Pitts</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;">"The Crucifixion," James Weldon Johnson </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;">Jesus, my gentle Jesus,</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;">Walking in the dark of the Garden --</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;">The Garden of Gethsemane,</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;">Saying to the three disciples:</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;">Sorrow is in my soul --</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;">Even unto death;</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;">Tarry ye here a little while,</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20.592px;">And watch with me.</span></span><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12.87px; line-height: 20.592px;">
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">Jesus, my burdened Jesus,<br />Praying in the dark of the Garden --<br />The Garden of Gethsemane.<br />Saying: Father,<br />Oh, Father,<br />This bitter cup,<br />This bitter cup,<br />Let it pass from me.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IbXlXl7pIco/VvVvitxtYdI/AAAAAAAAnT4/7h0c3103OTg_1ROb4km0wo7IN4bKZHjlg/s1600/Picture%2B50.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #fff2cc; clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IbXlXl7pIco/VvVvitxtYdI/AAAAAAAAnT4/7h0c3103OTg_1ROb4km0wo7IN4bKZHjlg/s320/Picture%2B50.png" width="264" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 12.8px;">"Betrayed," Bobby Strickland</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><br /><br />Jesus, my sorrowing Jesus,<br />The sweat like drops of blood upon his brow,<br />Talking with his Father,<br />While the three disciples slept,<br />Saying: Father,<br />Oh, Father,<br />Not as I will,<br />Not as I will,<br />But let thy will be done.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qvxqchHZ46Y/VvVibhaDZ8I/AAAAAAAAnS0/8eUB98W_HGgSRkaN29xvP1EM2db6KP2Wg/s1600/10150579_10152391582369108_3964308751089054053_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #fff2cc; clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qvxqchHZ46Y/VvVibhaDZ8I/AAAAAAAAnS0/8eUB98W_HGgSRkaN29xvP1EM2db6KP2Wg/s320/10150579_10152391582369108_3964308751089054053_n.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #141823; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Salvador Dali, "Vision of Fatima," 1962</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">Oh, look at black-hearted Judas --<br />Sneaking through the dark of the Garden --<br />Leading his crucifying mob.<br />Oh, God!<br />Strike him down!<br />Why <i>don't</i> you strike him down,<br />Before he plants his traitor's kiss<br />Upon my Jesus' cheek?</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SQyWFg_rG2o/VvVki0oyX7I/AAAAAAAAnTA/G4bPDMpG6XIe2jPF8xN_mvqmMhAtpyPcw/s1600/1922354_10152391590664108_4207148269807655688_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #fff2cc; clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SQyWFg_rG2o/VvVki0oyX7I/AAAAAAAAnTA/G4bPDMpG6XIe2jPF8xN_mvqmMhAtpyPcw/s320/1922354_10152391590664108_4207148269807655688_n.jpg" width="249" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">"Jesus Before Pilate," Jan Richardson</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; line-height: 20.592px;">And they take my blameless Jesus,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">And they drag him to the Governor,<br />To the mighty Roman Governor.<br />Great Pilate seated in his hall,--<br />Great Pilate on his judgment seat,<br />Said: In this man I find no fault.<br />I find no fault in him.<br />And Pilate washed his hands.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">But they cried out, saying:<br />Crucify him!--<br />Crucify him!--<br />Crucify him!--<br />His blood be on our heads.<br /><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pSaOrcM-Xv0/VvVvipIhuEI/AAAAAAAAnUA/dO2h4Sb8SkQZolNvACpKiPGCg6TJ9elrQ/s1600/Picture%2B51.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #fff2cc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pSaOrcM-Xv0/VvVvipIhuEI/AAAAAAAAnUA/dO2h4Sb8SkQZolNvACpKiPGCg6TJ9elrQ/s320/Picture%2B51.png" width="264" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 12.8px;">"Via Dolorosa," Bobby Strickland</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">And they beat my loving Jesus,<br />They spit on my precious Jesus;<br />They dressed him up in a purple robe,<br />They put a crown of thorns upon his head,<br />And they pressed it down --<br />Oh, they pressed it down --</span><br /><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">And they mocked my sweet King Jesus.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9863MxMkuwc/VvVoTL9ICOI/AAAAAAAAnTM/Mz4tv-kv-YQIw9-kn-Rdx-sqT787Yr1uA/s1600/4283.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #fff2cc; clear: left; font-size: 12.87px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9863MxMkuwc/VvVoTL9ICOI/AAAAAAAAnTM/Mz4tv-kv-YQIw9-kn-Rdx-sqT787Yr1uA/s320/4283.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">Graffiti Art, London</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">"Simon of Cyrene," Bobby Strickland</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">Up Golgotha's rugged road<br />I see my Jesus go.<br />I see him sink beneath the load,<br />I see my drooping Jesus sink.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">And then they laid hold on Simon,<br />Black Simon, yes, black Simon;<br />They put the cross on Simon,</span><br /><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">And Simon bore the cross.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">"This I Do For Love," Bobby Strickland</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On Calvary, on Calvary,<br />They crucified my Jesus.<br />They nailed him to the cruel tree,<br />And the hammer!<br />The hammer!<br />The hammer!<br />Rang through Jerusalem's streets.<br />The hammer!<br />The hammer!<br />The hammer!</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rang through Jerusalem's streets.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">"Stripping of Garments," Bobby Strickland</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Jesus, my lamb-like Jesus,<br />Shivering as the nails go through his hands;<br />Jesus, my lamb-like Jesus,<br />Shivering as the nails go through his feet.<br />Jesus, my darling Jesus,<br />Groaning as the Roman spear plunged in his side;<br />Jesus, my darling Jesus,<br />Groaning as the blood came spurting from his wound.</span><br /><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh, look how they done my Jesus.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mary,<br />Weeping Mary,<br />Sees her poor little Jesus on the cross.<br />Mary,<br />Weeping Mary,<br />Sees her sweet, baby Jesus on the cruel cross,<br />Hanging between two thieves.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">"Heaven Weeps," Bobby Strickland</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And Jesus, my lonesome Jesus,<br />Called out once more to his Father,<br />Saying:<br />My God,<br />My God,<br />Why hast thou forsaken me?<br />And he drooped his head and died.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">"Sealed," Bobby Strickland</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 20.592px;">And the veil of the temple was split in two,</span><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The midday sun refused to shine,<br />The thunder rumbled and the lightning wrote<br />An unknown language in the sky.<br />What a day! Lord, what a day!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When my blessed Jesus died.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Oh, I tremble, yes, I tremble,<br />It causes me to tremble, tremble,<br />When I think how Jesus died;<br />Died on the steeps of Calvary,<br />How Jesus died for sinners,</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sinners like you and me.</span></span></div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-64273698627341343432015-12-08T11:40:00.000-08:002015-12-08T11:40:55.702-08:00Sermon: Advent II: The Path Is Illuminated: John the Baptist<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming<br />
Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Sunday, December 6, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Advent II: Light and Life to All He Brings</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>The Path Is Illuminated: John the Baptist</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><b>Luke 3:1-6, NRSV </b></div>
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<span class="s1">In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, </span></div>
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<span class="s1">“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”</span></div>
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<span class="s1">One: This is the Word of God, for us, the People of God. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>ALL: Thanks be to God!</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>The opening lines of our scripture verse today seem to be throw-aways. They are the part that I always want to skip, so that I can get right to the good stuff. I want to make the crooked paths straight. I’m ready for the mountains to be laid low and the valleys to be exalted! I am desperate for the rough paths to be made smooth. These opening two verses are filled with nothing but ancient names, complicated pronunciations and outdated geography. But, these first two verses are there for a reason. They establish the political scene in which this narrative is being told. In the reign of Emperor Tiberius, Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was ruler of Galilee, Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. The very beginning of this particular story reminds us that the context of our salvation is never divorced from politics. These names are not unfamiliar to us, and they will become critical to the story in a few short weeks as our narrative takes us from Christ’s birth to Christ’s death. Listen again: </span></div>
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<span class="s1">“In the reign of Emperor Tiberius, Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was ruler of Galilee, Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests.” The inclusion of this information names those in the political landscape who were to be held accountable for carrying out the actions that crucified Jesus. Under Tiberius’s reign, Pilate released Barabbus to the masses, and washed his hands of Jesus’ conviction. Herod had been chasing Jesus since the moment of his birth, when he sent the wise men to find the star at its rising, and ordered the slaughter of the innocents – all first born children under the age of 2. It was Herod who sought the title “King of the Jews,” and this was the conviction under which Jesus was arrested, tried and murdered. This is when Mary, Joseph and Jesus fled to exile in Egypt, refugees in a foreign land, seeking shelter and safety. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Friends, our faith is <b>inherently</b> political. Jesus was killed at the hands of the state. His family sought political asylum after his life, and the lives of so many other children, was threatened by the ruler. We cannot pretend that politics and Christianity are not deeply interwoven. What, then, are we called to do? </span></div>
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<a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Z52UrEl62kZPWvL3vxyZufGrmml6UAFM3f9SKwwqm7cPLwi8tcjvO_WjmXK51aiqsQBLkl2PwuuwOAFGnkQ0d-La4yM_kl2OsldA8odDvyirPgWbQr5Lu4geT24vARp71S6gNOUlrr2sPwVU" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Z52UrEl62kZPWvL3vxyZufGrmml6UAFM3f9SKwwqm7cPLwi8tcjvO_WjmXK51aiqsQBLkl2PwuuwOAFGnkQ0d-La4yM_kl2OsldA8odDvyirPgWbQr5Lu4geT24vARp71S6gNOUlrr2sPwVU" style="border: none; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; transform: rotate(0rad); white-space: pre-wrap;" width="209px;" /></a><span class="s1">The GOP was derided this week for inviting prayers for the victims and their families after the devastating shooting in San Bernadino, after the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/gop-candidates-call-prayers-calf-massacre-article-1.2453261" target="_blank">New York Daily News</a> ran a scathing headline in condemnation of their passive response. The hashtag #GodIsn’tFixingThis began trending on Twitter, which means that millions of people are shaking their fists in outrage, either because their faith and its practices are being attacked or because there is the perception God has let us down. The problem is that both statements could be true.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">This week, an Editorial ran on the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/05/opinion/end-the-gun-epidemic-in-america.html?_r=0" target="_blank">front page of the New York Times</a> for the first time in 95 years. It read, “All decent people feel sorrow and righteous fury about the latest <i>slaughter of the innocents</i>, in California… But motives do not matter to the dead. Attention and anger should be directed at the elected leaders whose job it is to keep us safe, but who place a higher premium on the money and political power of an industry dedicated to profiting from the unfettered spread of ever more powerful firearms.” Did you hear that? They borrowed our language, Church. The language we have used to describe the <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=160046064" target="_blank">flight of Mary and Joseph to Egypt </a>while Herod ordered the murder of all first born children is the “slaughter of the innocents.” They are using our words to discuss the world today, and we have an <b>obligation</b> to speak back. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">It is my best hope to stand in this pulpit, week after week, and try to offer theological insights into the text which can help us make sense of the world. And, week after week, there is a need to hold the text and the world in each hand, and weigh how one affects the other. Karl Barth reminds us that, “The Pastor and the Faithful should not deceive themselves into thinking that they are a religious society, which has to do with certain themes; they live in the world. We still need - according to my old formulation - the Bible and the Newspaper."</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>This week, we all sat with a newspaper in one hand, as we listened to journalists and politicians use the language of our Church to tell us what the world needs. If you think for a moment that your faith is irrelevant, or that the Church is unnecessary, this week will remind us all that the world is crying out for a word from us - the believers in an almighty God - to make sense of the chaos. We watched as the GOP prayed for the victims and their families, and listened as <a href="https://twitter.com/chrismurphyct/status/672176555859296256" target="_blank">Senator Chris Murphy replied, “Your ‘thoughts’ should be about steps to take to stop this carnage. Your ‘prayers’ should be for forgiveness if you do nothing — again.”</a></span><span class="s2"><sup><a href="https://twitter.com/chrismurphyct/status/672176555859296256" target="_blank"> </a> </sup></span><span class="s1"> But, strangely enough, that is exactly what our text is telling us to do today. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">This week, phrases like "prayer shaming’ were used to describe the rhetoric offered after one too many mass shootings took the lives of too many innocent people. But, prayer is what we do when we have no other way to move forward. It is how we begin. It is the origination of action. But, as journalists reminded us this week: <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=313563843" target="_blank">Faith (including prayer) without works is, indeed, dead</a>.</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">So, now, if we go back and read the text from Luke 3:1-6, we can see that John the Baptist’s cry from the wilderness is coming from a political landscape of corruption, greed and impotent enforcement of the law. It is in the context of this political backdrop that the text tells us, “John went into all the region, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Do you hear the subversive nature of this action? John, a prophet, the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, leaves the safety of the wilderness to emerge into a dangerous political landscape, and preaches baptism and forgiveness, not condemnation and judgment. He preaches an <b>actionable</b> and gracious response: Prepare ye the way of the Lord! </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">This, Sisters and Brothers, is a call to justice, a call to action! This is not a sit-back-and-watch sort of platitude. This is the reminder that we, the people of God, are called to help bring about the Kingdom of God, here and now. This doesn’t separate us from the implication that God is called to make God’s own self known in the midst of the turmoil. I am of the opinion that God needs to show up in big ways, especially when the tragedies occur. But there is a tie between the prophetic call of John the Baptist to the indictment that God isn’t fixing this. And that tie is <b><i>us</i></b>, the Church. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>We are the ones the world is observing now. Our God is on the line, our prayers are cast as weak, and our faith deemed irrelevant. But, you and I know that our response of grace and forgiveness is the only way to change the world. It is also the most difficult thing to offer. Because the crooked paths have yet to be made straight. We are waiting, just as those who heard the words of the <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=316603317" target="_blank">Prophet Isaiah</a> (40:1-5), “Comfort ye! Comfort ye, my people! Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. The voice of him that cries out in the wilderness; prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God."</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>We live in a world where warfare has yet to be accomplished, where the valleys are low and the mountains are still insurmountable. But, we are called to be the ones who model what it means to be baptized, with water. This means we are imbued with grace - a gift freely given to us - and encouraged to share it. It means we must listen to those with whom we disagree. It means we must push those who need to be held accountable. It means we do the work to prepare the way for the one who is coming after us. We do so by letting go of our pride, embracing our enemy and relinquishing a love of war for a search for peace. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Today, on the Second Sunday of Advent, our prayer is for peace. There is no week more desperate for a word of peace than this one. This is the day we look for justice to roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream, when nation will no longer lift up sword against nation and we study war no more. <b>Our salvation is woven into the fabric of political reality of the world</b>. We are called to rise above it, to pray without ceasing, and to preach forgiveness and righteousness. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">So, Church, let us stand up and be the ones who answer the question, “Where is God in this?” Let us be the reason why people see God in the midst of the turmoil. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">In the name of the God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. </span></div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-30968917100498419472015-11-21T12:27:00.000-08:002015-12-08T12:27:36.407-08:00The Importance of Being<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e82X_E6uacg/Vmc9HlGWHNI/AAAAAAAAnHw/7cfN5C7ybUA/s1600/kx-logo-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e82X_E6uacg/Vmc9HlGWHNI/AAAAAAAAnHw/7cfN5C7ybUA/s320/kx-logo-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Earlier this year, I met Ernest Hackmon, long-time Laguna Beach resident, and radio host of a show on Laguna's local radio station, KX 93.5. He was kind enough to ask me to be a guest on his show in February to talk about ministry for and with the LGBTQ community. He had me on the show again to talk about hopes for Thanksgiving, issues of faith, and what it's *actually* like to be a minister.<br />
<br />
Thanks, Ernest. It's an honor.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.kx935.com/podcasts/tiob-volume-iii-episode-4-mandy-sloan-flemming/">http://www.kx935.com/podcasts/tiob-volume-iii-episode-4-mandy-sloan-flemming/</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.kx935.com/podcasts/the-importance-of-being-show-reverend-mandy-sloan-flemming/">http://www.kx935.com/podcasts/the-importance-of-being-show-reverend-mandy-sloan-flemming/</a><br />
<br />Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-37064833938926998132015-09-20T12:50:00.000-07:002015-09-20T12:50:15.444-07:00Sermon: Must I Read the Bible Literally to take the Bible Seriously? <div class="MsoNormal">
Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.lbumc.org/">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sunday, September 20, 2015<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
How Do You Read the
Bible? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Matthew 5:17-20, 43-48<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I
have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18For truly I tell you, until heaven
and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from
the law until all is accomplished. 19Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least
of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least
in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called
great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you, unless your righteousness
exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<sup><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">43</span></sup><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“You have heard that it was
said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ <sup>44</sup>But
I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, <sup>45</sup>so
that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on
the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the
unrighteous. <sup>46</sup>For if you love those who love you, what reward
do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? <sup>47</sup>And
if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than
others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? <sup>48</sup>Be perfect,
therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One: This is the Word of God, for us, the People of God. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Many: Thanks be to
God. <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
weekend, I had the pleasure and privilege of attending a conference in
Minneapolis, Minnesota called, “<a href="http://www.whychristian.net/home/">Why Christian</a>?” The premise of this conference
was that each of the 15 speakers who addressed us would be answering the same
question: Why am <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I</i></b> a Christian? The speakers were all women, many of them pastors,
some were professors, and all of them were prophetic, honest and intelligent.
My current pastoral hero, Nadia Bolz-Weber and Rachel Held Evans dreamed the
idea of this conference up over a year ago, and after a few phone calls to some
of the people they had come to know and respect, this remarkable event came
together. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
listened (and tweeted) with rapt attention as these women, these unusual,
beautiful, odd, courageous, gifted, diverse and called women, told us the story
of why they claimed the identity of “Christian.” The panel included speakers
who were white, black, brown, Asian, Indian, Hispanic, gay, straight,
genderqueer, trans*, short, tall, pregnant, mothers, single, divorced, musically
gifted and overachieving. Many of them acknowledged that they confessed to be
Christians, despite the hurt that the church had caused. Most of them
acknowledged that they did so because they came to claim the Scriptures as the
story of their very own lives. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My
friend and seminary colleague, Mihee Kim-Kort, was one of the speakers. She is
a Korean-American Presbyterian minister, married to a super-Caucasian
Presbyterian minister, author, blogger, speaker, activist, young adult pastor
and mother of three (including a set of twins). In her spare time, she managed
to answer the phone to say “yes” to the invitation to come and speak. She
approached the question, “Why am <b>I</b> a Christian?” by re-framing it to
ask, “Who do you say that I am?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This,
of course, is the question that Jesus asks Peter. If you recall, Peter’s quick
response is, “You are the Messiah!” Jesus proceeds to teach the Disciples about
everything that is to come: that he must suffer and die. This is the story of
our Incarnate God, friends. God chose this messy, fragile, earthen vessel into
which to pour God’s very self, knowing that damage was likely and scars were a
guarantee. This is the question we are posing for ourselves over the next
several weeks: Who do you say that I am? How do our lives reflect the image of
God in which we have been created? Would it surprise people if we told them we
were Christians? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today,
our primary question is about the Bible. Being a Christian has precious few
requirements. There’s no surgical procedure at the hands of a rabbi on the 8<sup>th</sup>
day, no dietary restrictions, no mandates about which direction to face when we
pray. Being a Christian is a practice that requires only two things: Love God.
Love your neighbor as yourself. We claim the name of Christian because we are
able to do these things since it was Jesus, God in the flesh, who showed us
how. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
order to see how God did that, though, we have to return to the stories of our
tradition. The problem is that the Bible is viewed as being as dangerous as the
church, to many. The Bible is filled with stories of temptation, deception,
lies, duplicity, arrogance, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>murder,
seduction, patriarchy, greed… and that’s just in Genesis! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If
I’m being cynical about it, I could confess that it seems as though the Bible
is a collection of stories which tells us all about how much people reject God.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But,
if you catch me on a good day, I’ll tell you that truly, deep down, I know that
the Bible is a collection of stories which tells us all about how much God
loves us. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
problem is: both things are true. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Bible says many things: it tells us about how God created the world and called
it Good, and then… just 10 chapters later, it tells us about how God destroyed
the world because there was nothing good left in it. God tells Abram and Sarai
they are going to have a child in their sunset years, and then orders Abram –
now Abraham – to take that precious, long-awaited child to Mt. Moriah and
sacrifice him. “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away,” as Job reminds us.
So, how are we to read the stories about a God who seems less loving and more
punitive, and hold them in tension with the stories about a God who loves the
world so much that he sent his only begotten Son, not to condemn the world, but
to save it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
is not a book with a very good editor. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
are inconsistencies. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
are stories that have clearly not been fact-checked. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
are omissions, of names and people. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
are exaggerations and probably a lot of plagiarism. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So,
<b>how on earth</b> are we to read this book, filled with mysteries and wonder
and laws and rules. It is boring, it is fascinating, it is wonderful, it is
horrible. It is like reading pages of tax code in conjunction with paragraphs
of a Danielle Steele novel. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Except,
that this book isn’t a book. It’s words. And, these words have been spoken
through the ages, from generation to generation. I have a lot of respect for
stories that have hung around this long, because it means that these words were
worth saying. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But,
let’s remember what we hear in the prologue to the Gospel of John: “In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word <b>was</b>
God.” That means these words have been around longer than the creatures who
knew how to speak them. The Word existed before creation, before time. The Word
was with God. The Word <b>was</b> God. If we are willing to consider the poetry
of this, maybe it will begin to tell us how we are to read the Bible. Not as
stories, not as myth, not as allegory, not as factual, but as words that are
TRUE. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If
these Words were not true, if they didn’t resonate with the human experience,
then we would have stopped speaking them a long time ago. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s take our Gospel lesson for today, in
which the Scribes and Pharisees are giving Jesus a very hard time, since it was
their duty to defend the dot and tittle of interpretation of the Scriptures.
Keep in mind, the Scribes were the ones who spent their days ensuring that the
scriptures were recorded so that they could be kept and passed on. The words on
the page meant a lot to them. It was their work, their vocation, their life. Their
calligraphy was the blueprint of faith for the next generation. They were
striving to answer the question, “What must we do to please God?” And they
believed fully that the answer was contained in the words written in their
careful and precise penmanship. These words on the page were sacred, and these
words were theirs to defend. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So,
when Jesus shows up and starts noodling with the interpretation of seemingly
straightforward things like, “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy,” they get
a little bent out of shape. It seems as though Jesus hasn’t just moved their
proverbial cheese, but he has unapologetically eaten it, too. He heals people
on the Sabbath, and tells the diligent Scribes that they have no right to
condemn him. They are perplexed by this man, because not only does he <b>know</b>
their words, but he manages to use these words <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">against</i> them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
causes a fair bit of tension between them. They become the object of his teachings
more often than not. Woe to those who are like the Scribes and the Pharisees!
For they provoke the irritated exhale of the Son of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something marvelous happens in this passage,
though. Jesus finally stares into the eyes of the scribes and acknowledges that
their work is critical. He takes the steam out of their locomotive by saying, “<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or
the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you,
until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter,
will pass from the law until all is accomplished.” In telling the Scribes that
their work is not unimportant, that it is necessary and essential for the law
to be upheld, he honors their diligence in overseeing this archival project.
But, he offers an important insight into his work on earth: he is here to
fulfill the law. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We all know that the
work it takes to become a gifted attorney means to know the law so well that
you can read it in new ways. All of our words require interpretation. It is one
of the reasons we find ourselves arguing with our Christian sisters and
brothers about the Bible in the first place: each of us can read the same
passage and each of us will have a different understanding of its meaning. This
is one of the blessed freedoms we are given, that all of us might be able to
read these words and hear how they sound to <b>us.</b> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
this passage, </span>Jesus liberates us to read the scriptures in a new way. He’s
pushing the Scribes to see that the solution to the great problem of
interpretation is not shredding the scrolls and muting the Prophets. This would
lead to a world without ground rules or history; there would be no parameters,
no promise. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesus
says that he comes, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. To me, this
means that Jesus demonstrates the fullness of the words on the page, not in the
self-limiting way we interpret or translate them, but in the Spirit of what God
is intending for us. Let’s go back to the example of Abraham and his long-awaited
Isaac. Let’s consider that though this is a horrific story of the implication
of obedience to God, at all devastating costs, it is also the story of the ram
caught in the thicket. It is the story of God’s faithfulness and Abraham’s
promise. What if this word is meant to tell us about the ways in which God
offers provision for us, rather than the way God takes away what is precious to
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fulfillment of the law and
Prophets in Christ means that we may reach a day when we no longer need them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Jesus speaks these
words to the Scribes and Pharisees: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Whoever breaks one of the least of these
commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great
in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds
that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
This seems pretty pointed, given that the Scribes and Pharisees are sitting <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">right there</i>, but I’m willing to believe
that the Word-Made-Flesh-And-Dwelling-Among-Us is probably choosing <b>his</b>
words carefully. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “Whoever breaks one of these
commandments will go directly to the outer darkness, where there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.” Rather, he says, “whoever breaks one of these
commandments will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” This tells me that
the kingdom of heaven might just be for all of us, even the ones who forget how
to keep the rules. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, I’d wager that
being <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">least</i> in the kingdom of heaven
is far better than being greatest in the kingdom of earth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jesus goes on to use one of my
favorite phrases in the Bible: “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">You have
heard it said</b>, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But I</i></b>
say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” I love
this use of language that only Jesus employs: You have heard it said… but <b>I</b>
say... Only the Word Made Flesh could convince me that this new way of hearing
might be acceptable. After all, it is much more in my nature to love my
neighbor and hate my enemy. I’m good at that. I excel at it. I would be the
proud victor of the Love My Neighbor Series. Make me a medal, commission the
trophy, organize the parade. This is what I am <b>made</b> to do! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>However,
theologians like to call this passage, “The great reversal.” If you read the
Gospel of Matthew, especially the Sermon on the Mount, you’ll see that it’s
filled with crazy things like the last being first and the first being last.
The great reversal is a terrible inconvenience to those of us who have raced to
the front of the line, only to find that the concession stand is closed. The
kingdom of heaven boasts a pretty fantastic banquet table, but we all need to
remember that the ones who will be served first are those who are the
hungriest. In this passage, </span>Jesus is “starting a revolution by calling
the rules of this world into question and, at the very same time, redeeming
this world that he loves and that will, in due time, put him to death.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What, then,
does this text tell us about how we are to read the Bible? After all, it
doesn’t answer the question of whether or not we should take it literally or
figuratively, with a grain of salt or with utter obedience. It hasn’t settled
if this is the inerrant word of God or the inspired Word of God. What Jesus
tells us in this passage is simply that we need to hear these words (after all,
he didn’t come to abolish them). But, when we hear these words, we should do so
with an understanding that they are our guide, the syllabic pathways of God’s
persistent outreach to us in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all possible
ways</i>. Through creation, promise, rainbows, steadfastness, prophets,
providence, deliverance, forgiveness, and finally… incarnation, God employs all
possible resources to continue to communicate the only Word that matters: love.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So,
Jesus, who do I say that you are? You have heard it said that you are John the
Baptist, possibly Elijah. But, I say that you are the Word – the Word made
flesh, and dwelling among us – and you are True. <br />
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">David Lose,
http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=3076<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-72667254147971657982015-08-16T12:01:00.000-07:002015-08-18T12:06:36.204-07:00Sermon: A Party for the Prodigal<div class="MsoNormal">
Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming<br /><a href="http://www.lbumc.org/">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a></div>
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Worship led by <a href="http://www.beerandhymnsoc.com/">Beer & Hymns OC </a><br />
August 16, 2015<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Luke 15:1-3, 11-32<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to
listen to him. <sup>2</sup>And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and
saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” <sup>3</sup>So he
told them this parable: <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<sup>11</sup>Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two
sons. <sup>12</sup>The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the
share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property
between them. <sup>13</sup>A few days later the younger son gathered all he had
and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in
dissolute living. <sup>14</sup>When he had spent everything, a severe famine
took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. <sup>15</sup>So
he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent
him to his fields to feed the pigs. <sup>16</sup>He would gladly have filled
himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. <sup>17</sup>But
when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have
bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! <sup>18</sup>I will
get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned
against heaven and before you; <sup>19</sup>I am no longer worthy to be called
your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ <sup>20</sup>So he set off
and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and
was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. <sup>21</sup>Then
the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am
no longer worthy to be called your son.’ <sup>22</sup>But the father said to
his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a
ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. <sup>23</sup>And get the fatted
calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; <sup>24</sup>for this son of
mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to
celebrate. <sup>25</sup>“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came
and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. <sup>26</sup>He called
one of the slaves and asked what was going on. <sup>27</sup>He replied, ‘Your
brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has
got him back safe and sound.’ <sup>28</sup>Then he became angry and refused to
go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. <sup>29</sup>But he
answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a
slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never
given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. <sup>30</sup>But
when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with
prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ <sup>31</sup>Then the father
said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. <sup>32</sup>But
we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has
come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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One: This is the Word of God, for us, the people of God. <o:p></o:p></div>
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ALL: Thanks be to God.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There
was a man who had two sons.” If you have spent any amount of time in or near a
church, it is likely that you know how this story goes. It is one of the most
recognized stories from the Bible, and one of the most perplexing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right away, we are invited to hear about these
three characters and are welcomed into their world, their story. There is a
father, who is mysteriously singular in his parenting tasks. There are two
sons, brothers, who are different in every way. The older son is responsible,
frugal, and loyal. The younger son is selfish, short-sighted, and reckless. Of
course, you know the end of the story. The younger boy asks for his share of
the inheritance, and leaves the farm, spending his money on prostitutes and
gambling. He loses everything and realizes that the servants at his father’s
house have a better life than he. So he returns, pitiful speech prepared, and
is greeted not with judgment but with relief. His father welcomes him home,
prepares the fatted calf and they feast. Meanwhile, the older son has become
furious over the turn of events. But, the father forgives his brother,
nonetheless. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If
I asked you to pick a character in the story with whom you most closely
identify, you wouldn’t have much trouble deciding. Either you love the younger
son – the one who is welcomed home – or you identify with the older, loyal son.
It is rare that we find ourselves identifying with the father figure. He’s a
mystery – why did he give the son his inheritance, when this is tantamount to
the younger son saying, “You’re worth more to me dead than alive, and I want my
share.” And why, even if he is tremendously relieved, did he welcome the
younger son home with such reckless abandon? No consequences? No stern lectures
about how things are going to be from now on? <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
have always identified most closely with the older brother. He is the
responsible one who never rocks the boat. He does what is expected. He stays
close to home. He is frugal and wise and completely faithful to his father. He
is begrudging of his younger brother and downright hateful upon his return. I
cannot say that I blame him. As an only child, I always craved siblings, but
this story caught me off guard. It seems as though even siblings aren’t exactly
best friends. Or, frankly, the secret to a healthy social life. They can
highlight everything you strive not to be, embody the characteristics you pride
yourself most in not displaying, and somehow still manage to endear the
affection of your parents. Siblings are, in short, the worst. Or, at least,
this one is. My sympathies have always been aligned with the older brother, the
loyal and faithful one who doesn’t even get a goat with which to celebrate with
his friends. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But,
if I’m being fair, what would he celebrate? It seems as though he’s unmarried,
so there are no progeny coming his way. Would he delight in a fine day in the
fields? A particularly beautiful sunset? The cost of living a very safe and
responsible lifestyle is that it is without drama. It has probably never
occurred to him to ask for a goat, which it seems likely his father would have
happily given him. Rather, he is content to feast on his dinner each night,
just like he’s always done. Perhaps he took too much joy in the fact that there
was more meat for him once his brother left. Perhaps he noticed the subtle ways
in which life was better for him, more plentiful. His father spent nights
wondering about his lost son, and this child rejoiced when he got seconds on
dessert. No man is without sin. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
younger brother is certainly a character. He will be remembered through the
ages as the “Prodigal Son.” Prodigal, in case you’re curious, simply means “one
who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way.” I’ve always assumed there
was a redemptive undertone to this title – the one who was lost, and then was
found, but this is not the case. He is marked for all of time with the title of
Spendthrift. I have a hard time associating with this character, because I find
him so distastefully unlike me. He’s arrogant, rude, and cares only of his own
way in the world. He is the one who approaches his father and asks for his
share of the property. To him, it has no value except for what it can give him.
This child has likely not known hardship. He has grown up comfortably, with
little concern for day-to-day security. Because of this, it has no value to
him. So, he gathers all he has and travels to a distant country, squandering
everything in debauchery. Then, of course, things get hard. As it would happen,
a famine comes upon the land in which he is living. He has nothing and there is
little to spare, so he hires himself out to feed pigs. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As
an older-brother type, I take a certain pleasure in considering the foolish
man, who once was rich and arrogant, but finds himself feeding the pigs of a
stranger in a strange land. If you’ve ever seen “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCQGQ5qBQTA">Avenue Q</a>,” you know that this
is called “<span style="color: #191919; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">schadenfreude,”
or experiencing joy in the suffering of others. The lofty has been brought low!
The first is indeed last! Isn’t this the stuff of Gospel promise? <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Except
that Jesus tells us in the story that, “he came to himself.” The only way this
could happen would be in a moment of desperation and clarity. Here he is, lost,
alone in a strange land, far from those who have loved and cared for him and
with no way to return because of his shame. There is another part of me who
sees not an arrogant man, but a lost little boy. My heart warms a bit. Then he
begins his resolution:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘How many of my
father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of
hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I
have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called
your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ Then, I don’t feel so
sympathetic. Jesus frames this story as one of repentance and rejoicing over a
lost sheep, as though this boy is repentant. But it’s not clear that he has
repented of anything except poverty. It is only his own suffering that causes
him to return to his father, not a change of heart. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then
we encounter the most perplexing part of the story. The part I have the most
difficult time understanding. The father, seeing his lost son in the distance,
runs to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus tells us that he was
“filled with compassion,” or as I humbly recognize is the <b>opposite</b> of
schadenfreude. He feels concern for the suffering of his son, and he runs to
him, embraces him, and stops him halfway through his apology (just before the son
can insist that his father treat him like one of his hired hands). He tells the
servants to bring out a robe – the best one – and to give him a ring for his
finger and sandals for his feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is
falling all over himself to honor this arrogant and selfish boy. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On
my best day, I can see this as a beautiful reunion between a heartbroken father
and a lost son. I can recognize the sense of relief that comes with the
reappearance of your precious boy, who left of his own accord with no clear
intent to return. I can imagine my own overwhelming relief at the joy of seeing
the face of my child whom I worried I would never see again. But, this father
is more gracious than me. My embrace would be quickly followed by a lecture, a
stern talking-to, finger wagging. But this father says, “Go and </span>get the
fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was
dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then
comes the part of the story that we’re all waiting for. <span style="color: #191919; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The older son called one of the slaves and asked what was
going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the
fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ This is when it gets
good, right? The older brother becomes angry and refuses to go see his sibling
and his father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his
father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you,
and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a
young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of
yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed
the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always
with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice,
because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and
has been found.’”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
share the older son’s fury. This isn’t fair. You and I both know that life
isn’t fair, but this seems to highlight the absolute injustice of the world. I
stay, and I get nothing, but he squanders everything and gets a party? Where is
<b>my</b> party?! But the father reminds his oldest boy what he most needs to
hear, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” Including
this spendthrift brother, this burden of loss, this terrible anxiety that is
now relieved. What they share is more than property or even the bond of family.
What they share is the same emotional responsibility for the lost son, and all
that entails. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
this story isn’t about me. And it’s not about the sons. It’s about the father.
Jesus tells this story to the grumbling Pharisees because they, like me, are
more concerned with the disreputable company Jesus is keeping rather than the
awareness of their need for grace and acceptance. If we are to look for ourselves
in this story, we cannot be found through the righteous indignation of the
older son. We cannot be found in the debauchery of the younger son. We cannot
be found in the sympathy of the father. No, we can only be found as the child
who receives grace when we deserve none. The only way for us to comprehend this
story is for us to recognize ourselves in the relief of forgiveness, even when
we don’t ask for it properly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That’s
because this isn’t just a story about us, and our tendencies. It’s a story
about God. Our perspective must shift to comprehend what Jesus is teaching:
grace above legality, compassion over shadenfreude, forgiveness without a
lecture. We are <b>all</b> homeless prodigals, and all of us deserve less than
what God gives. This is not a great comeback story. It’s not the story of a boy
pulling himself up by his bootstraps or loyalty being rewarded. It’s not the
prodigal’s poor and misguided apology that forces his father to set the banquet
table any more than our remorse encourages God to prepare the table for us,
THIS table. We cannot throw our own party. The good news is that we don’t have
to. It’s already been done for us. All we need to do is show up and celebrate
with the one who loves us most. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the name of the Father, the Son
and the Holy Spirit. Amen. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Above is the call to prayer, "Sweet, Sweet Spirit," led by Lauren Francis, <a href="http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/">Kristen Howerton</a> and Mandy Flemming. </div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-7735163616191201802015-08-02T12:18:00.000-07:002015-08-18T12:18:23.617-07:00Sermon: YOU are the Man! <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming<br />Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</div>
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<span class="il">Sunday</span>, <span class="il">August</span> <span class="il">2</span>, 2015</div>
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“YOU are the Man!”</div>
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<strong><span class="il">2</span> Samuel <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1255426241" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">11:26 - 12:15</span></span></strong></div>
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When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord, and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him,<br /> “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds; but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him.<br /> Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.”<br /> Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”<br /> Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.<br /> Thus says the Lord: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun. For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.”<br /> David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan said to David, “Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.”</div>
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Then Nathan went to his house. The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became very ill.</div>
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One: This is the word of God for us, the people of God.<br /><strong>All: Thanks be to God.</strong></div>
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Last week, we heard the story of David and Bathsheba, and concluded with the hope that God can redeem the most broken of people, the most blatant of sinners. If God can redeem David, think how much God can redeem us.<br /> Today, we hear the story of David’s conviction. David, the beloved of God, the one from whom our Savior has descended, the king of Israel, has been caught. After all, before any sort of redemption, there must be confession. The prophet, Nathan, comes to David and tells him a parable about a rich man who has many flocks, but when a traveler comes to visit, he takes the beloved lamb of a poor man. One who has much takes the sole, tender possession of one who has little. David hears the parable, and doesn’t recognize that this story is Nathan’s wise attempt to convict him of his guilt.</div>
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“The bait is set and David seizes it: what the rich man has done is unconscionable. David is incensed and swears a rather elaborate oath in the Lord’s name that the rich man must restore the poor man’s lamb many times over. It may be that David also issues the death penalty for the rich man. At the very least, the rich man will pay dearly; he may also have to pay with his life. ”<a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#14eeefb0adf7e262__ftn1" name="14eeefb0adf7e262__ftnref1" style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></a></div>
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But then the blow is struck by Nathan: “You are that man!” In Hebrew this phrase is only two words long, and is the second of three important two-word phrases that drive the plot in this story. This is a story that includes much detail, but the pivotal moments are told with great economy of language. When Bathsheba comes to David to announce her pregnancy, she says, simply, “harâ anokî,” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">ָא</span> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">ֹנ</span> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">ִכ</span> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">י</span> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">ָה</span> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">ָר</span> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">ה</span> “I am pregnant.” Two words to change their lives. Two words upon which hang the possibility of choice and consequence. The choice David makes is clearly the wrong one. In a host of already bad decisions, he opts for the most harmful solution to his present problem. He has Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, deliver his own death sentence to the general who sends him to the front lines of battle.</div>
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After David receives word of Uriah’s death, he sends for Bathsheba and makes her his wife. But, these things displeased the Lord, and the prophet Nathan was sent to convey God’s displeasure. Parables are God’s way of speaking to those who have ears to hear. So often, parables seem to confuse more than they explain. But, perhaps this is an indication of David’s connection with God. The parable Nathan shares cuts to the chase; David gets it. And, Nathan’s response to David’s reaction: “You are that man!” (attâ ha-îš) demonstrates the simplicity of his conviction. God knows! Nathan knows. David has not escaped judgment.</div>
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But, David’s response is his own two-word phrase after hearing God’s judgment through Nathan, “I’ve sinned against the LORD” (ah-ah-tî la-YHWH). Much is communicated with very few words in this narrative. Big things hang on two-word phrases.</div>
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I’m pregnant. harâ anokî</div>
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YOU are the man! attâ ha-îš</div>
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I’ve sinned against the Lord. ah-ah-tî la-YHWH</div>
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This is the entire story of what could have been David’s fall from grace. But, one thing is critical to note. This doesn’t end with a press conference or excuses. David does what many of us can’t: he confesses that he has sinned against the Lord.</div>
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God has every right to be angry. God says to David, “I anointed you king. I rescued you from Saul’s hand. I gave you a house, wives, the house of Israel and Judah. AND, ‘if that had been too little, <em>I would have added as much more</em>.’” WHY, David? Why? Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in God’s sight? For a man who has everything, why has he sought to take what belonged to another?</div>
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The consequences of David’s actions are real. God says that he will give his wives into the hands of his neighbor. Trouble will be raised up in David’s house, and the sword will never depart from it. If ever we wonder about God’s willingness to punish the righteous, we can see from this account that no one is exempt from the judgment of the Lord, including the one “after God’s own heart.”</div>
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There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that what David did was wrong. Nathan’s visit and parabolic re-telling of David’s actions are to ensure that David himself can understand the gravity of his actions. Can he? Is it possible for the anointed one of God to feel contrition, guilt? To be accountable?</div>
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What we hear in David’s response is an absence of denial. “He hears Nathan’s parable, hears the two-word conclusion, attâ ha-îš (“You are that man!”) and replies with a stunningly quick and brief two-word confession: ah-ah-tî la-YHWH (“I’ve sinned against the LORD”). It almost seems too quick, too brief. We’d like to hear David say more, be more contrite, than just two words. And yet, with only two words at hand, David doesn’t deny, he confesses. Immediately, quickly, without excuse -- in front of Nathan and God and all others who witnessed this dialogue. There he is: Great king David, a man after God’s own heart, an adulterous, murderous sinner. And yet, there he is: adulterous, murderous, sinful David,<em>confessing</em>. Perhaps he is a man after God’s own heart after all because he is somehow able to hear God’s judgment and immediately accept it and the results that follow upon it.”<a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#14eeefb0adf7e262__ftn2" name="14eeefb0adf7e262__ftnref2" style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[<span class="il">2</span>]</span></a></div>
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But, what we want for someone who has done such wrong is an admission of guilt, a litany of sorrow and grief, an acknowledgement of the hurt he has caused. We’d like to hear him talk about how he knows his wrongdoings and how his sin is always right in front of him (Psalm 51:3). We’d like to hear him say that he knows God is correct in judging him (Psalm 51:4b). We’d like to hear him beg for mercy and forgiveness (Psalm 51:1-<span class="il">2</span>, 7-13). But that response doesn’t happen, at least not with Nathan present.</div>
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But, let us not forget that there was “a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord.” That chord is what resonates in Psalm 51, the prayer for cleansing and pardon, which David writes after Nathan’s prophetic visit.</div>
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Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.</div>
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Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.</div>
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For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.</div>
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Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.</div>
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Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.</div>
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You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.</div>
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Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.</div>
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Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.</div>
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Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.</div>
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Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.</div>
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Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.</div>
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Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.<br /> Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.</div>
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O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased.</div>
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The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.<br /> Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia; line-height: 32px; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0.5in;">
“Remembering the fullness of this story can help us see all of life as the theater for God's wily, costly, persistent performance of redemption.”<a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#14eeefb0adf7e262__ftn3" name="14eeefb0adf7e262__ftnref3" style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#14eeefb0adf7e262__ftnref1" name="14eeefb0adf7e262__ftn1" style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></a> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">Brent Strawn, <a href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2228" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.workingpreacher.<wbr></wbr>org/preaching.aspx?commentary_<wbr></wbr>id=2228</a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#14eeefb0adf7e262__ftnref2" name="14eeefb0adf7e262__ftn2" style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[<span class="il">2</span>]</span></a> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">Brent Strawn, <a href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2228" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.workingpreacher.<wbr></wbr>org/preaching.aspx?commentary_<wbr></wbr>id=2228</a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#14eeefb0adf7e262__ftnref3" name="14eeefb0adf7e262__ftn3" style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></a> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">Ted Smith, <a href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=355" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.workingpreacher.<wbr></wbr>org/preaching.aspx?commentary_<wbr></wbr>id=355</a></span></div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-42447444496605723572015-07-26T12:25:00.000-07:002015-08-01T12:44:54.342-07:00Sermon: David and Bathsheba<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402" name="OLE_LINK4"></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming<br /><a href="http://www.lagunabeachumc.org/">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">Sunday, July 28, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><a href="http://www.lagunabeachumc.org/Multi-Media%20Page">Listen to the sermon audio here. </a></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David and Bathsheba<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=304938264">2 Samuel 11</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle,
David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the
Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened,
late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the
roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman
was very beautiful. David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was
reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.
(Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her
house. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab
sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the
people fared, and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to
your house, and wash your feet.” Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there
followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the entrance of the
king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his
house. When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said
to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your
house?” Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths;
and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field;
shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As
you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.” Then David
said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So
Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, David invited him to
eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out
to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to
his house.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the
hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the
hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down
and die.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">One: This is the word of God, for us, the people of God. (?)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">ALL: Thanks be to God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><o:p>[NB: The text from Leonard Cohen's heartwrenching "Hallelujah" were performed throughout the course of the narrative by the gracious and talented <a href="http://www.victoriamcginnis.com/">Victoria McGinnis</a> and Daniel Thompson.]</o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She
scooped up the water in her hand, and watched as it lightly poured out of her
palm, onto her knee that was peeking out of the bath’s horizon. She hummed,
over and again, a quiet refrain… hallelujah. Hallelujah. She was thinking of
her husband returning. He hasn’t been home in months, for it was Springtime –
the season in which the kings went to battle. He loved this season. It was what
brought him joy, in the strangest of ways. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She washed the dirt from beneath her
fingernails and thought of the mystery of their marriage. She never envisioned
this for herself. She thought she’d be married, yes, but not to a Hittite. Her
father’s people were always so brutish, and though she loved him, it made her
feel all the more different, distinct. Her mind wandered to the scenery around
her. She was strangely blessed, to have this view of the kingdom. Her eyes
could see into the royal residence, and she often wondered what it was like
there. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>King David, ruddy and handsome, had
more wives and concubines than she had friends. She knew that they were treated
lavishly. She dreamed, sometimes, of what it would be like to live in a palace
with other people, rather than in her home, alone, waiting, all the time, for
her war-weary husband to return. His loyalty was always to the King. Some days
she wondered if he remembered he had a wife. She hummed her hallelujahs as she
wondered… <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">Well I
heard there was a secret chord<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">That David
played and it pleased the Lord<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">But you
don't really care for music, do you?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">Well it
goes like this:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">The fourth,
the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">The baffled
king composing Hallelujah…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
bath, to cleanse her after another month had passed in which she failed to
bring about a son, felt different. Month after month, she would bathe upon her
roof, feeling the guilt and shame of her failure to conceive. And, month after
month, she would stay in the bath long after the water was cold; it was a
visceral reminder of her failure, her pain. She prayed to God above to open her
womb, but her prayers were ignored. Her heart was typically heavy after these
baths, weighted down by the burden of longing and hopelessness. She tried to
open her heart to the possibility that she might not ever be a mother, but she
could see in Uriah’s face each month the bitter disappointment that he masked
so badly. He would drain his cup of wine, gulping readily, and leave as she
prepared to ritually cleanse herself. His silence was his judgment. His battles
became his children. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">Baby I've
been here before<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">I've seen
this room and I've walked this floor <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">I used to
live alone before I knew ya<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">And I've
seen your flag on the marble arch<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">And love is
not a victory march<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">It's a cold
and it's a broken Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s not as though Uriah was a bad
husband. He was generous, he was loyal. He was kind and gentle. He may have
been a warrior, but he was like a lamb at home. He was, at one time, as loyal
to her as he was to David. She remembered what it was like, just after her
father betrothed her to him. He was respectful, but tender. The first year of
marriage was a delightful discovery, as strangers became intimate friends. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Those days were long gone, as Uriah
became more focused on his career. He hoped to become a general in David’s
army. He fought bravely and successfully, but nothing pleased him more than
returning home to his wife. But, these returns were growing more terse, as each
month passed with no news of future generations being provided. His heart grew
strangely cold. Bathsheba could feel it. Now they were just inhabitants of the
same space on the fleeting days that Uriah was home. In the springtime, this
was rare. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">There was a
time when you let me know<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">What's
really going on below<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">But now you
never show that to me, do ya?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">But
remember when I moved in you<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">And the
holy dove was moving too<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">And every
breath we drew was Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">And as the
water grew tepid, and she watched it stream down her arm, to her elbow,
Bathsheba stared at the royal residence and her breath caught in her throat as
she noticed that there was a figure on the roof, looking her way. He was alone.
It was King David. Out of habit, she averted her eyes, but she had to check…
she opened them, quickly, and noticed that he was still there. Staring. At her.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">Her cheeks
flushed. Her pulse quickened. She was anxious. Nervous. Embarrassed. He could
see her. She felt exposed, vulnerable, terrified. So, she stayed very, very
still.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She lifted her eyes again. He was still there,
and it appeared as though he might be smiling. Before she could stop herself,
she lifted her hand, slightly, in a gesture of reverence. The king, watching
her, returned it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">Her head
tilted to the side, curious at the strange thing that had just transpired. It
was only a moment more before he left the roof, called for by a servant below.
She stayed in the bath, letting her breathing slow. The anxiety left her. She
climbed out of the bath and retreated indoors. The king saw her. She had been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">seen</i>. It was difficult to describe the
mixture of emotions that accompanied this realization, but the most baffling of
which was the strange sense of astonishment. She had been seen, looked upon,
witnessed. It was difficult to say if this was true in her own home. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">As she
dressed, she grew tired. She went to bed, early. The next morning when she
awoke, there was a knock at the door. It was loud and notable. When she ran to
answer it, she was surprised to see the King’s messengers standing on the other
side. Her hand flew to her mouth as she started to ask, “Is he…?” Her first
thought was that Uriah had been killed in battle, and this is how she would
come to learn the news. But, this was not the message they brought. Instead,
they said, “Come with us. The king would like to see you.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">She
dressed, quickly, in the finest clothes she could find. The king! The very
king! It seemed impossible that this would be happening to her. The events of
the previous day flooded her mind. She felt certain she’d done something
inappropriate by offering the gesture of respect. Perhaps this was punishment?
Perhaps she had offended the king? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She learned quickly, upon arriving at the
king’s residence, that he was not offended, but she couldn’t discern if she was
being punished or not. David himself greeted her at the door, walking her onto
the roof upon which he’d viewed her. She stood there, in silence, for what
seemed like hours, waiting for an explanation. His explanation didn’t come with
words, but she understood completely. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">A cold and
broken hallelujah was all that was on her lips. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">Her life
changed forever. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">She
returned home, and went to bed, though she lay awake for hours, rolling the
events of the day through her mind. Her tears soaked her pillow, ran rivets
down her cheeks and neck. She couldn’t even pinpoint the source of her sorrow.
Shame, yes. But a strange sort of longing crept in. Was she longing for the man
who did this to her?! No. That wasn’t it. She was longing for the things that
made her feel seen, special, known. It made more tears spring from her eyes to
realize this. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few weeks later, she was preparing to draw
another bath. She was preparing to soak her grieving and empty body in the
waters that did little to comfort her. But the sign to bathe never came. Days
passed, a week, a month… she began to suspect something when breakfast turned
her stomach. Two months later, her waistline began to expand, as did her feet.
Her sandals and robes were becoming tight. As she lay in bed, her hands rested
on her abdomen as she tried to perceive if her prayers had been answered in the
worst way possible. What if…? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">In the third
month, she knew it was time to send word to the king. If he was going to have a
child, he had every right to know. She sent word to the king, “I am pregnant.”
Those three words were enough to transform him, as well as her. It wasn’t long
before she heard that Uriah was being summoned. She had a cousin who worked
near the kings’ messengers, and he relayed the news to her. She felt her heart
tighten at the thought of seeing him again. David had taken her, yes, but <u>she</u>
was the one bearing the burden of shame. Day after day, she waited for Uriah to
return, and he never did. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">The
messengers did, though. They returned one day with Joab, who was a scoundrel
and a fighter. It was never good if Joab appeared at one’s doorstep. This time,
her instincts were right. Joab came into her home, and described what had
happened. Her husband was among the soldiers who were besieging the city, and
as a valiant warrior, he was appointed to lead the charge. Some of the servants
of David fell in battle. Uriah was one of them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">Maybe
there's a God above<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">But all
I've ever learned from love<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">Was how to
shoot somebody who outdrew ya<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">And it's
not a cry that you hear at night<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">It's not
somebody who's seen the light<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">It's a cold
and it's a broken Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Her
cries caught in her throat, as she escorted Joab out the door. She turned away
from him, wailing. Her cries filled her ears, her mind, her heart. She sobbed
and sobbed until her throat was raw. The only word she could muster was a cold
and broken hallelujah. She sat on the floor, alone, running her hands over her
swollen belly. The king had taken everything from her. Her dignity, her
husband, her body. And, you and I know how sinister the king had been. His
pride allowed him to take what was his – this woman, wife of another man, who
was a devoted and loyal servant. His privilege permitted him to have Uriah
deliver his own death sentence to Joab. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Bathsheba spent the next 7 days in
the customary period of mourning. Her family and friends came to sit and weep
with her, and she prayed none of them would notice the signs of her pregnancy.
She made lamentation for him, singing her hallelujahs with the little breath
she could muster. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After
her time of mourning, the family and friends departed, and she went back to
being alone. Her only company was the quickening of the baby in her womb. On
the 8<sup>th</sup> day, a loud and jarring knock came to the door. It was the
king’s messengers again. They said the king had sent for her, and she was to
pack her belongings and come with them immediately. She did so, slowly,
reverently. And, when she arrived, David greeted her with the same gesture they
exchanged on the roof. Tears came to her eyes as this man, who had done
terrible things to her, welcomed her into his home. She became his wife, and in
a matter of months, she bore him a son. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She
knew that this child wouldn’t be theirs to keep. He was stuck with a fever, and
Bathsheba watched as her new husband rent his garments and fasted. He prayed to
God above, and when their son took his final breath, he went to the house of
the Lord and sang his own cold and broken hallelujah, offering his child and
his guilt back to God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After
that, things were different. They shared the same song, David and Bathsheba. He
consoled her in her grief by singing it to her, and their melody became their
story. She bore another son, Solomon, the king who would build the temple. It
was Bathsheba who was with David through his reign, he took no other wives
after her. Their home was not immune to the trials of loss, but their shared
refrain is what kept them connected. Theirs is a story of selfishness, weeping,
brokenness, and sorrow, for love is not a victory march. It is a story of
unexpected redemption and grace. Every day that she looked upon David, her
first thought would be of the gesture they exchanged. All that transpired after
it never ceased to fill her with perplexity. But, as she looked upon Solomon,
who grew into the wisest king of their time, she felt a quiet assurance that
God would work good into her story. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s
why she continued to sing her refrain, and why we hear her story every time we
look back to the lineage of our savior, and see that it is filled, not with
saints, but with sinners like David, son of Jesse, father of Solomon by the
wife of Uriah, who is not forgotten, but memorialized in this litany of
generations. Because God can redeem the most broken of people, the most blatant
of sinners. If God can redeem David, think how much God can redeem us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK4;">Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-34322913685361367212015-07-19T12:03:00.002-07:002015-07-19T12:03:46.817-07:00Sermon: The Lord Will Make You a House<div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming<br /><a href="http://www.lbumc.org/">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a></div>
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Sunday, July 19, 2015</div>
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The Lord Will Make You a House</div>
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<strong>2 Samuel 7:1-16, NRSV</strong></div>
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Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.”</div>
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But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan:</div>
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Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”</div>
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Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that <em>the Lord will make you a house</em>.</div>
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When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.</div>
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Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.</div>
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One: The word of God for us, the people of God.</div>
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<strong> Many: Thanks be to God! Amen. </strong></div>
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<strong>Ecclesiology</strong>. This is the term we use to describe the nature of the church. Of course, the thing we think of first when we hear the word “church” is the physical building in which we sit. In that case, then this is the very first recorded conversation with God about the church as we know it. In this passage, David has taken on his role as king, has danced before the Lord with humility and reverence, and settled into his house built of cedar. God has granted David rest from his pursuing enemies, and in this moment of Sabbath quiet, David kicks his feet up on his cushioned ottoman and suddenly realizes the injustice of their dwellings. David says to the prophet Nathan, “See, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent!”</div>
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The implication here, of course, is that David believes it is his job to build a magnificent house for the Lord. Nathan, previously unknown to us, stands by to hear David’s wish and encourages him to do “all you have in mind” because, notably, “The Lord is with you.” (I wonder if this was spoken with a hint of irony, knowing that God would decline the invitation to establish a permanent address.)</div>
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That night, the Lord speaks to Nathan, and declares that David will not be the one to build the Lord’s temple. God, always surprising, shows a passive aggressive side when Nathan is reminded, “Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribes of Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not build me a house of cedar?’” The answer, of course, is no.<br /> The Lord instructs Nathan to tell David that it was God who took him from the pasture, to be the prince over the people Israel. It is God who will appoint a place for the people, and there, they will be safe. Judges will be appointed, and there will be rest from all of his enemies. It is there, in that place, that the Lord will make you a house. The Lord will bless him with offspring, and it is <em>that</em> child who will build a house for God’s name, and God will establish his kingdom. God will love him as a father, and David’s house and kingdom will be established forever.</div>
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This passage tells us that the Temple is built for the future; THIS is Nathan’s message to David. The temple is not necessary for the current generation to worship God. God will permit David’s son, Solomon, to build the temple, elaborate and gilded, but this is not the promise that matters. God tells Nathan, “He shall build a house for my name (not God’s <em>presence</em>, but God’s very name), and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. As it has always been understood, God does not “reside” in an earthly abode, but the Lord’s <em>name</em> is localized at one sanctuary as a manifestation of divine presence.<a _anchor="#_ftn1" href="" name="_ftnref1" style="color: #0066cc; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></a></div>
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Perhaps God has promised the same for us. The temple is not built for our benefit, but for the benefit of our children, our grandchildren. The temple is not ours. That means our task is to instill the gift of faith in the generations to come. Our expectations cannot be contained in the walls of a building, because our God cannot be contained there.</div>
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Previous generations have built a temple for their children to maintain. Now, these temples have become our idols. We strive to fill them, we take on debt to repair them and we force temples to meet the needs of an ever-changing congregation. It is virtually impossible to fulfill our mission of “making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world,” when our primary responsibility is paying the insurance bill on time. We have become disciples of our physical plants, rather than disciples of Christ, the cornerstone.</div>
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The same is true for our churches as an institution. More and more, it is evident that the denomination exists to maintain itself. What does this mean for the UMC? Are we building a temple that is too unwieldy to maintain, or are we building a home, that is adaptable and accepting? If our God cannot be contained in one place, how can we expect the disciples to be? As we look ahead to the conversations happening at the General Conference of the UMC in May 2016, we know that a schism is possible There are two sides, who cannot seem to agree. But, my prayer is that the Spirit of God will be able to move amongst us, doing exactly what Paul describes in his letter to the Ephesians:<br /> “For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it… In Christ, the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”<a _anchor="#_ftn2" href="" name="_ftnref2" style="color: #0066cc; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></a></div>
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We have a particular challenge in this modern era of church, in that we have the privilege of re-defining how we understand ecclesiology. We know that the numbers are changing. There are fewer people in worship on Sunday mornings, and a smaller percentage of those people are in their 20s and 30s every year. This means that the church cannot be about the institutions that we’ve built. Our temples are decaying, but despite any evidence to the contrary, the body of Christ is not. As we look back, we know that "The apostles saw Christ in the flesh, but they did not see the church. We, on the other hand, see the church, but not the incarnate Christ. For both the Apostles and later Christians, that which is visible leads to faith in the invisible."<a _anchor="#_ftn3" href="" name="_ftnref3" style="color: #0066cc; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></a></div>
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The church is changing.</div>
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People are changing.</div>
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Our fear is that the church is dying.</div>
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With all that I have, I promise you that the church is not going to die. The Body of Christ is much stronger and vital than any of our institutional attempts to enliven it.</div>
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A few weeks ago, Matt and I had the opportunity to go to the <a href="http://www.beerandhymnsoc.com/">Beer and Hymns OC</a> Gathering in Costa Mesa. This is not a denominational movement, it's not a non-denominational gathering. It is simply excellent music, traditional hymns and young people packed wall to wall.</div>
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Friends, they're out there. The millennials are out there, finding church in a bar in Costa Mesa. Singing hymns that your grandmother sang. Singing with vigor, with spirit, with a pint of IPA. They are becoming the body of Christ, praising the name of the Lord.</div>
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So, we don't have to fret about the church's death. It's not dying. It's <em>changing</em>. The metamorphosis of the church and the way in which we gather and worship means that we have to adapt to how we do our sacred work, because God cannot be contained in a box or a tent or a temple. And, neither can the body of Christ.</div>
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In talking with the people who organize and provide the music for Beer and Hymns, I have heard that they are having a similar problem. The Spirit is moving, and they don't have anywhere to send the people whose hearts are being strangely warmed. There are plenty of choices, plenty of churches. But, we offer something special here. We offer a church that embodies what the whole of the UMC proclaims to be: a church with Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors. We offer a place to question, doubt and struggle. We offer faith formation, and fellowship. We offer kindness and compassion. We offer acceptance and an open welcome to all. We offer the sacraments as a means of grace. We offer Christ, crucified and risen.</div>
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It is not our duty to build a temple for God! It is not even our duty to maintain the temples that were built before us. It is our job to receive the kingdom that God has built for US. We do not make the house… God does (v. 11). This is the true nature of our ecclesiology, the church – God has built it <em>for us</em>, and we are the good stewards of God’s <em>name</em>. Who we <strong>are</strong> is church. So, let us be the surprising signs of God’s presence in the world. Let us be the place where God’s name is being proclaimed! Let us share it and shout it and sing it with gusto. God’s presence cannot be contained, and so we must continue to look for God in the myriad of places in which God may appear. For, we are not stewards of the temple. We <strong>are</strong> the temple, which God has built. Paul writes that, “Christ is building you into a place where God lives through the Spirit!” So, let us go and share that Spirit with all who seek to know the loving and ever-present God.</div>
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<br />In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.</div>
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Amen.</div>
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<a _anchor="#_ftnref1" href="" name="_ftn1" style="color: #0066cc; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></a> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">Deuteronomy 12:5, “You shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes as God’s habitation to put God’s name there.”</span></div>
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<a _anchor="#_ftnref2" href="" name="_ftn2" style="color: #0066cc; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></a> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">Ephesians 2:11-21, NRSV</span></div>
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<a _anchor="#_ftnref3" href="" name="_ftn3" style="color: #0066cc; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></a> <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 26.666664123535156px;">Adam Ployd, <em>Augustine, the Trinity, and the Church: A Reading of the Anti-Donatist Sermons</em>.</span></div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-15296199323133902072015-06-28T11:57:00.000-07:002015-07-01T12:53:39.208-07:00Sermon: David and Goliath: Let No One Lose Courage!<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rev. Mandy Sloan
Flemming<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.lagunabeachumc.org/">Laguna Beach UnitedMethodist Church</a><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sunday, June 28, 2015<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I Samuel 17:1a, 4-11,
19-23, 32-49<o:p></o:p></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.lagunabeachumc.org/Multi-Media%20Page">Listen to the Sermon Here!</a></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David and Goliath: Let No One Lose Courage! <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sisters
and Brothers: I have a confession. I am not a particularly patriotic person. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5ywPi9uOPW0/VZGSCMpm5II/AAAAAAAAjwI/F5ucvOrmwgI/s1600/Five%2BSmooth%2BStones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5ywPi9uOPW0/VZGSCMpm5II/AAAAAAAAjwI/F5ucvOrmwgI/s320/Five%2BSmooth%2BStones.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
do, however, strongly identify as a southerner, having been born in Tennessee
and spent most of my adult life in Atlanta. When my Uncle Wayne, who lived his
entire life in the small town of Burlison, TN, met Matt, to whom I had recently
become engaged, he asked where he was from. When Matt responded that he was,
actually, Canadian, my Uncle Wayne paused for a country minute. He was a man of
very few words, and after a small eternity, he responded with, “Welp. At least
you ain’t a Yankee.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
was as much of a welcoming embrace as Matt was going to get, and I took it as a
victory. So, as we come to today and look to celebrate this nation’s
independence from England, singing songs of patriotism and national pride, I do
so with some trepidation. My identity as an American has never defined me. And
yet, I feel particularly defined by my identity as a Southerner. Last week, as
I sat in session during the North Georgia Annual Conference and listened to the
devastating news of the shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston,
SC, my heart broke as it tried to make sense of the tragedy. Racism is a woven
into the fabric of the part of the country I identify as home, and stories like
this are sadly unsurprising. I listened as South Carolina’s resident <a href="http://www.pnwumc.org/news/statement-on-charleston-shooting-from-bishop-l-jonathan-holston/">BishopJonathan Holston</a> offered a statement saying that, “As a people of faith
committed to social justice and opposed to gun violence and racism, we grieve
the lives lost and destroyed by this horrendous act of violence. The reality is
that no one is unaffected. We are all impacted by the horror that occurred in
this place of worship.” And, what we saw was an unparalleled outpouring of
grace and forgiveness from the people who loved and knew the victims of the
shooting. Grace. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>God
shed his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">grace</i> on Thee. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
is our prayer, is it not? God, shed your grace on us. And yet, it is so
astonishing when we see it happen. When grace is stronger than hate or
retribution. When people look into the eyes of someone so blinded by hate and
respond with love and compassion. God, shed your grace on us. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
conclusion of the North Georgia Annual Conference led us to voting on
resolutions that broke my heart. I spent last Friday in prayer, as my sisters
and brothers offered speeches on the floor of conference in support of the
removal of the discriminatory language in our United Methodist Book of
Discipline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I listened, and hoped, and
prayed. And then we voted. The resolutions failed, 60%-40%. The very next day,
I sat in Redlands at the Cal-Pac Annual Conference with our delegates, and
listened and prayed and hoped, as the resolutions passed with an overwhelming
majority. In one week, I watched as my LGBTQ friends experienced a great
sadness, as their push for equality in the church was defeated. Then, this
Friday, I awoke to the news that the <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf#page=33">Supreme Court of the United States ofAmerica announced its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges</a>, holding that states
must both allow same-sex couples to marry and recognize same-sex marriages from
other states.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One
nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i></b>.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></b>And
yet, as I celebrated and rejoiced and cried with my friends who were suddenly
viewed as people, equal in the eyes of the law, I felt a sorrow in my heart
because I still cannot, without consequence, officiate the wedding of a
same-sex couple. It should be the hope that the church would lead the world in
justice issues, but I cannot deny that the UMC is lagging far behind. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
watched as<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Barack Obama offered <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK7tYOVd0Hs">theeulogy for Rev. Clementa Pinckney</a>, and as I received the news of friends
receiving marriage licenses, his words became the soundtrack to their joy: “The
Bible calls us to hope, to persevere and have faith in things not seen. They
were still living by faith... They did not receive the things promised. They
only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were
foreigners and strangers on earth. We are here today to remember a man of God,
who lived by faith, who believed in things not seen, who believed that there
were better days ahead, off in the distance.” These beautiful words were
juxtaposed for me against the backdrop of my news and social media feeds. I
thought about my friends <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf#page=33">Bill and Matthew</a>, an interracial gay couple who will
celebrate their 41<sup>st</sup> anniversary this fall. I thought about Don and
Dave, who have been together almost as long as I’ve been alive. I thought about
all of the people who persevered in their hope, who believed there would be
better days ahead, off in the distance, when they could name – without fear – the
person with whom their family was made. It was a day when the giant of hatred
and discrimination felt as though it had been toppled by a stone thrown by a
courageous and faithful opponent. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today,
our text is one that is familiar to most of us. The story of David and Goliath
is one of the first indications for us that the king that God has chosen from
the branch of Jesse is a boy who is equipped with courage and faithfulness. The
text is careful to spend adequate time detailing Goliath’s strength and might: he
was a man, more than 9 feet tall, bearing armor that weighed 125 pounds. He
carried a staff that was as long as the bar on a weaver’s loom, the head of
which was 15 pounds. Goliath emerges from the ranks of the Philistines, a
champion fighter, unabashedly confident. What is at stake for the Philistines
is freedom, as Goliath makes the cavalier promise to become the slaves of the
Israelites if any amongst them is able to fight and kill him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
the face of this mighty opponent, we find Saul and the Israelites, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">distressed and terrified</i>. There is none
among them who could single-handedly conquer this beast. It would take all of
their ranks to begin to defeat him, and they were unprepared for the
possibility that this battle wouldn’t be waged in formation. But, morning after
morning, for 40 days, they took up their position against the Philistines,
prepared and ready for battle. And, morning after morning, for 40 days, Goliath
emerged from the Philistine ranks and shouted his speech at them: “Give me an
opponent, and we’ll fight!” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now
David, the youngest son of Jesse, was present on the 40<sup>th</sup> day. His
father had sent him to bring provisions to his 3 eldest brothers who were
fighting amongst the Israelites, and he hears the speech that Goliath has
repeated each of the last 39 days. David asks his brother, “What shall be done
for the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel?
For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the
living God?” (v. 26) David is brought to Saul, the commander of the Israelite
army, and he tells him, “No one should lose courage because of this
Philistine!” as he volunteers to go and fight him. No one should lose courage,
David declares, because of this Giant. This enemy. This force of evil in the
midst of our company. This boy, a shepherd, not a soldier, tells the leader of
the army, to have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">courage</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As
can be expected, Saul doubts David’s ability to stand up to Goliath. “He has
been a warrior since he was a child, and you are just a boy!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, David reminds him that he a shepherd,
the keeper of sheep. He may not have been trained in battle, but he has rescued
his flock from the jaws of lions and bears. David is a boy, yes, but a boy of
great courage and determination. “This Philistine will be just like the lions
and bears, and the Lord who rescued me from their power will rescue me from the
power of this Philistine.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
source of our strength, sisters and brothers, is the same as David’s. We draw
our courage and ability from the persistent and ever-present God who has been
with us through the ages. I think back on this church’s history, and all that
you have done for the community. You have provided shelter for the homeless,
you have prepared thousands of meals for the hungry, you have worked to teach
and support countless people in this community and in Tanzania. You have
provided a safe and welcoming place for those who were dying of AIDS. You have
said yes to families who were rejected by other churches. You have raised children,
grieved one another’s losses, struggled through difficult times and never
forgotten that you are a family – the beautiful, beloved Body of Christ, that
is unified by one thing: love. God’s love. It is in this that you have always
found your identity. It is in this that you have grounded your authentic
welcome to all who would walk through these doors. You have never, ever
forgotten that you were called to Love God and Love One Another, and it is in
this that you draw your greatest strength! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As
we look ahead to the future of the church, I am filled with hope. This
congregation is beautiful and ruddy! We are shepherds, not soldiers. We are not
trained in the ways of battle, but in the ways of protection and compassion,
willing to rescue our vulnerable ones from the mouths of wild animals. I
believe this is why the tragedy at Mother Emanuel AME has provided the ability for
us to address racism and gun violence as a country; because they were the
courageous and faithful people who responded to their loss with forgiveness and
grace. They are modeling for us how the <b>church</b> can be the locus of
change, leading, rather than following. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Soon,
we are going to be faced with a choice about our identity as Methodists, and
you have already declared what you believe: that we are people with the power
of the crucified and risen Lord on our side! You have never backed down from
what was <b>right</b>, because of this. The battle ahead of us – the one we
will be waging at General Conference – is bigger than we are. The battle to
strike down the giant of racism, homophobia and discrimination looms over us. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But,
what that giant doesn’t know is that we have the power of God’s love and might
on our side. In our bag, we hold one, smooth stone: the stone we received in
our baptismal remembrance. David chose 5 small, smooth stones from the stream
bed. But our stone is chosen from the font. This stone is just a small token of
the promise made for us before we could ever understand it: that we are
created, loved and cherished by God. This smooth stone is our weapon against
fear and hatred. This smooth stone is what will protect us when we stand up for
what is right, when we face the giant of injustice and when we demand that all
people be treated with dignity. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
smooth stone is our weapon, not because it is designed to do harm, but because
it reminds us of our true identity: as people who are called, chosen and
beloved by God. In the scripture Marilyn read for us, Paul writes to the
Corinthians that they carried “the weapons of righteousness” as they persisted
in their faith and ministry. “Look! Now, is the right time! Look! Now is the
day of salvation!” (2 Cor. 6:1-13) In our right hand, we hold the weapon of
righteousness, which will slay the giant of hate with the power of love. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The difference today is that there is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nothing</i> at stake if Goliath loses.
Goliath promised that the Philistines would become the servants of the
Israelites if he was defeated. The Goliath of racism and homophobia is immense,
and yet, if we are able to defeat it, there is nothing lost; no freedom is
sacrificed. The only consequence is a more perfect union. A place in which <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i></b>
people may be truly free to pursue life, liberty and happiness, without fear!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
In the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Amen. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>1 Samuel 17, 1-49 -</b> <b>David and Goliath<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Narrator 1: </b>Catarina Paton<b> Goliath: </b>Matt Flemming<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Narrator 2: </b>Lauren Smith<b> David: </b>Owen Blum<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Narrator 3: </b>Jay Sowell<b> Saul: </b>Jackson Flemming<b></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>NARRATOR 1</b>: Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; Saul and the Israelites gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah, and formed ranks against the Philistines. The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armored with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>GOLIATH</b>: Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us. Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>NARRATOR 2</b>: When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. David rose early in the morning, left someone in charge of the sheep, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. All the Israelites, when they saw the man, fled from him and were very much afraid. David said to Saul,<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>DAVID</b>: Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>SAUL</b>: [to David] You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>DAVID</b>: Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>SAUL</b>: [to David,] Go, and may the Lord be with you!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>NARRATOR 3</b>: Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>DAVID</b>: [to Saul, struggling] I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>NARRATOR 3</b>: So David removed them. Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. The Philistine said to David: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>GOLIATH</b>: Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>NARRATOR 1</b>: And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>GOLIATH</b>: Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>DAVID</b>: [to Goliath] You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>NARRATOR</b> <b>2</b>: When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly towards the battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, striking down the Philistine and killing him; there was no sword in David’s hand.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>NARRATOR 3</b>: This is the word of God, for us, the people of God.<br />
<b>ALL: Thanks be to God.</b></div>
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Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-21240227094589564892015-05-07T14:29:00.000-07:002015-05-07T14:29:35.413-07:00A Liturgy for the Festival of the Christian Home: A Blessing for All People and All Families<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Since beginning pastoral ministry in 2003, it has always been my tradition to celebrate, not just Mother's Day, but "Festival of the Christian Home," which is a beautiful way to consider the inclusiveness of this particular day. This is a United Methodist term, and our tradition believes that we can use this as an opportunity to strengthen our homes as a place for living justly, celebrating the fullness of our creation as individuals and families of all compositions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">It has always been true - from Biblical times until today - that families have had a variety of ways in which they are expressed. Many of us have dear and close relationships with our families of origin, but so many of us do not. In light of that, we have found ways to create families of choice, form covenant relationships with spouses and partners, and become loving and caring people to children of all ages. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">This Sunday at <a href="http://www.lagunabeachumc.org/" target="_blank">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a>, we will offer a Blessing of Families liturgy, in which we, as individuals, couples, families of choice and families with children, are invited to come forward to be anointed and blessed. This ritual serves a dual purpose, both to honor the people who have mothered and loved us, as well as to honor the many ways in which we have created our families. I wrote this liturgy in 2008 for use at <a href="http://www.stmarkumc.org/" target="_blank">Saint Mark United Methodist Church</a>, as a way to recognize the covenant relationships that existed, but had never had the opportunity of being blessed or recognized in the church. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">I pray that you will bring those dear to you to our service of worship, so that we can celebrate this special day together. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><u style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB">BLESSING OF OUR
INDIVIDUAL CREATION</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Fathering God,
you have searched us and known us. You know when we lie down and when we rise
up; you discern our thoughts from far away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mothering God,
it was you who formed our inward parts, you who knit us together in our
mother’s womb. We praise you, for we are fearfully and wonderfully made!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Holy Son, you
have come into the world as the Word made flesh and dwelling among us, as a
constant and abiding reminder that God is always with us, even to the ends of
the earth. You are the light that has shined in the darkness, and the darkness
did not overcome it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Creating
Spirit: Where can we go that you are not with us? If we ascend to heaven, you are
there. If we make our bed in the depths, you are there. If we perceive the
darkness overwhelming us, we know that even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. You hem us
in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon us. When we come to the end, you
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let us pray:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Loving God, in your wisdom you have created us and given
us many gifts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, we thank you for
all that we mean to each other and to our friends and families.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We thank you for the love that has brought us
to this time and place, and for your love which abides to tie us all together.
Where you are, O God, there is love. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><u><span lang="EN-GB"><b>BLESSING OF OUR
RELATIONSHIPS</b></span></u><span lang="EN-GB"><b> </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">God, in your
wisdom and love, you have created us and called us good. You have created us in
your image, and blessed us as men and women. Today we celebrate the joy that we
have found in relationship with one another. As you have created us and called
us good, so have you said that it is not good that we should be alone, so you
have given us helpers as partners. You have given us choice in who we build our
relationships with, and we are able to say to one another, as Ruth said to
Naomi: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Where
you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>your people shall be my people, and
your God, my God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let us pray:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">God, your strength is sufficient for us all. We have
committed ourselves one to the other in your presence, so we pray that you will
continue to be with us in the unfolding of our future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give us strength and courage in times of
difficulty, wisdom and love in times of opportunity and challenge, and the
sharing of joy in times of happiness and success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May we continue to grow in your love; through
the power of Jesus Christ. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>BLESSING OF OUR
FRIENDSHIPS AND FAMILIES OF CHOICE</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Incarnate
Christ: You have modelled to us what it is to be in relationship with one
another. You have broken bread with the weary, comforted the lonely, healed the
sick, and wept with friends. We see in your witness what it means to love one
another as God has loved us. We thank you for calling us friends, because you
have made known to us everything that you have heard from our Father in heaven.
Thank you for sharing in relationship with us as equals, and help us to
continue to love our friends as you have loved us. Bless us as we form
relationships with one another that, as we speak, our souls will be bound up in
one another, so that we may love our friends as our own souls, just as Jonathan
loved David. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let us Pray:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">God of friends and families, we are linked together<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>in a community of friendship and support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray for one another. We remember those
who cannot be with us today. May we all continue to share in your gifts of
love, strength, courage and wisdom, and to know your joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give us growing understanding, sympathy with
each other's difficulties, patience with each other's faults, and grace to walk
in your ways. Amen. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><u><span lang="EN-GB"><b>BLESSING FOR
FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN</b></span></u><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Creator Spirit:
You have worked in us to make us open to loving one another in selfless and
life-giving ways. For some of us this means the responsibility and joy of
raising children. For these lives, which have touched us and blessed us, we
thank you. Today we bring to you our children in order that they may be blessed
as Christ blessed the children of his day saying, “Let the little children come
to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God
belongs.” And he took them up in his arms and blessed them. Help us to bless
them as they have blessed us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let us pray: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Loving God: We come today carrying children and youth
in our hearts – the children we brought into this world, the children we
parent, our grandchildren, nieces, nephews, Godchildren, mentees, the children
we care for in our work, and the children we speak out for in our witness.
Lord, help us not to be so preoccupied with our purposes that we fail to hear
their voices or see their special vision of truth. Keep us with them, ready to
listen and to love even as you have loved us, your grown-up and sometimes
wayward children. Amen. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">THE LORD’S PRAYER<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And now, with the confidence of the children
of God, let us pray:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Our
Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. <o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thy kingdom
come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Give us this
day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For Thine is
the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">THE ANOINTING<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All are welcome to come forward to be anointed
individually. If you like, you may come as an individual, or with your spouse or partner, children, or with friends and family of choice.</span><span style="font-family: Garamond;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-21488050611159448642015-04-26T11:40:00.000-07:002015-04-27T11:58:28.035-07:00Sermon: This I Believe: I Believe in the Holy Spirit<div class="MsoNormal">
Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.lagunabeachumc.org/" target="_blank">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Sunday, April 26, 2015<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Audio Available <a href="http://lagunabeachumc.org/Multi-Media%20Page" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">This I Believe: I Believe in the Holy Spirit<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the
Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my
behalf. 27You also are to testify because you have been with me from the
beginning. 4But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes
you may remember that I told you about them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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‘I did not say these things to you from the beginning,
because I was with you. 5But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you
asks me, “Where are you going?” 6But because I have said these things to you,
sorrow has filled your hearts. 7Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to
your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not
come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8And when he comes, he will
prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9about sin,
because they do not believe in me; 10about righteousness, because I am going to
the Father and you will see me no longer; 11about judgment, because the ruler
of this world has been condemned.<o:p></o:p></div>
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12 ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot
bear them now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the
truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and
he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14He will glorify me,
because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15All that the Father
has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare
it to you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
is our third sermon in the series on “This I Believe,” which we are studying
alongside our Confirmation Class as they engage the basic theological tenets of
our faith. We have taken time the last two weeks to study God and Jesus Christ,
as the first two members of the Trinitarian way in which we understand God.
Again, allow me to reiterate that I realize that this is a little nutty. But, if
we believe that God has been revealed to us in such a way, then it is our
faithful task to seek to understand it.<br />
That means that this
week, we are focusing on the most perplexing person of the Trinity: The Holy
Spirit. Many years ago, I supervised a Confirmation Class at Lawrenceville
Presbyterian Church in Lawrenceville, NJ, and there, the youth had to write out
exactly what they believed about the basics of our faith. They wrote
beautifully about God: I believe that God is bigger than me, created
everything, loves me, wants what is best for me. They wrote directly about
Jesus: I believe that Jesus is the son of God, born of Mary, and lived on earth
so that I may know the fullness of God’s love and how to live on earth. And
then, they had to write about the Holy Spirit: I believe the Holy Spirit is
present now, and always, to remind me that God loves me and is always with me.<br />
I watched these
youth struggle with fear and trembling over their statements. They had a lot to
say about God, some fine “straight-from-the-Creed” language about Jesus, and a
few vague remarks about the Holy Spirit. No one could quite pin that person of
the Trinity down, which I suppose is the point. The Spirit is amorphous,
androgynous, and atypical. I joke each week with my preacher friends about our
sermon prep, and we have varying ways in which we describe the Holy Spirit’s
presence or absence in our writing. My dear friend, Sam, once wrote that the Holy
Spirit neglected to show up for inspiration until Sunday morning, at which
point she dragged in wearing last night’s clothes with an unlit cigarette
hanging from her lips. These images are so resonant for us, because the text is
so inconclusive about how we should understand the Holy Spirit’s presence in
our lives.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Our
text today comes to us from Jesus’ great farewell narrative to the Disciples,
after the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, but before his betrayal, arrest and
crucifixion. At this point in the Gospel of John, Jesus’ ministry has covered
everything from healing to feeding to exorcism to prophecy; he has even raised
Lazarus from the dead. In order for the message of Jesus’ ministry to sound
like anything other than the ramblings of certifiably insane people, there must
be a force on earth that can testify to the truth of it. Jesus tells his
Disciples, “The Advocate is coming, whom I will send to you from the Father.
The Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, and the Spirit will testify on
my behalf.” The author of John uses the Greek word “Paraclete,” which is
typically translated to mean “one who has been summoned or called to the side
of another--literally, an ‘advocate,’ or, by extension, a helper or legal representative
in a trial or other arena of judgment.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>God,
in Christ, knows that the way in which God’s presence on earth has been
revealed is not going to be received with assurance. So, God has elected to
send this Spirit to us, that we might have help in times of judgment. This is
the first way in which God ensures that we will not experience life on earth
alone – outside of God’s comfort – but with the help of the One who is always
with and for us. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
language of Advocate is deeply resonant to me, because it requires courage to
say, in truth and love, things that are difficult to hear. Like the Disciples,
we are called to testify – to tell – to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">proclaim</i>
what God has done in our lives, that others may come to share in it. But this
is messy, and often falls on the ears of those who cannot hear or perceive it. Think
how much more bold we can be when we have support and help. Jimmy Carter, in
speaking out about the treatment of women world-wide, said that, “It is time we
had the courage to challenge these views.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
The courage to challenge. This is what the Advocate does for and with us. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Holy Spirit, then, is about more than just the completion of a three-fold way
to understand God’s abiding presence in the world. The Holy Spirit is about the
gift of Hope. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>David Lose writes that it
is “The cross by which God dignifies and sanctifies all human suffering by
promising to be there with us and for us. If God’s greatest revelation was made
manifest in and through the struggle and suffering of a man hung on a tree,
then what suffering of ours can ever truly be God-forsaken. Hence, God promises
to be with us amid suffering, and even work through that to build character and
endurance and increase our capacity for hope.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
are still watching as the death toll from the earthquake in Nepal rises, this
morning up to 2,200. There are countless ways in which we can identify the need
for God’s spirit to be more mightily present in the world than it seems to be. The
world’s capacity for suffering is too great, and the need for an Advocate to be
in this world with us, arguing with the forces of evil, persuading the darkness
to recede, and condemning the rulers of this world is paramount. How, then, do
we see this happening? We need the Holy Spirit to be the answer to the looming, perpetual question of, "HOW?!" "How could you let this happen?" "How can I go forward?" "How do I tell them?" "How do I know if this is right?" <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">As I wrote and edited last night, the wind was
blowing mightily outside my home. The leaves were battered endlessly as the
wind whistled through the narrow passageway between the houses in Arch Beach
Heights. It made us all sit still and pay attention, as the normally placid
weather has become shrill and attention-seeking. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When we speak of the
Spirit, we often do so with the idea that it is sent to comfort us. This is how
the word in John’s Gospel, Paraclete, is often translated: comforter, or
helper. But the Spirit of God is not just a serene blanket, wrapping us in a
soft, downy nest. She is also a mighty force, pushing us urgently through the
darkest of nights and asking us to be more brave and courageous than we thought
we could be. There are times in which the vision of Jesus as Shepherd, tender
of his flock, isn’t comforting. It’s too benign. Too pastoral. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
are times when we need the relentless and unforgiving Wind to blow across the
face of the deep, so that something <b>moves</b> in us. We cannot be still. We
cannot be herded. We can only be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pushed</i>
to be, do, or become more than we ever thought possible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This is the gift of the
Spirit, my friends. Jesus says to his disciples, “</span>I tell you the truth:
it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate
will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” It is almost
impossible to understand how the absence of such a beloved person could be to
the Disciples’ <b>advantage</b>. But, Jesus reminds them that if he doesn’t go
away, the Advocate won’t come. It is the most painful thing in life to consider
that absence may make space for something new to grow. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Holy Spirit is the abiding “I AM,” The substance of heaven that fills all of
earth. If God has promised since the dawn of human history to be present in our
life and story, then the Holy Spirit is the means in which God does this. I AM
that I AM, God declares. This ontological statement of being is more than just
a philosophical argument. It is the Divine Promise to be present, always, that
we may never be alone. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesus
goes on to confess something remarkable to his Disciples: “I still have many
things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” But, maybe if we listen
carefully, we can hear what Jesus conveys. This text is so challenging, because
the Spirit is too obtuse to pin down precisely. And, my experience of the Holy
Spirit’s presence in my life may look very different from yours. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So,
let’s pay attention to what is here. If you do a quick survey of any Bible
passage, you’ll find that the verbs dominate. “It’s what we do and don’t do
that preoccupies human beings. And it’s the verbs we cannot imagine for ourselves
(live, liberate, forgive, resurrect) that the church offers, and that we reach
for, week after week.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
So, as a preacher, it is my job to preach the verbs. And, as hearers of any
text, it is our job to enact them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Spirit comes to speak what the Spirit hears and declare the things that are to
come. Speak! Declare! Glorify! This is what the Spirit – as our Advocate -
empowers us to do. And, we can do them because the things we have understood about
sin and righteousness and judgment are wrong. And, it is not up to us to
correct them. It is up to God – the Spirit of God – the mighty force that
abides with us, which is powerful enough to move mountains and gentle enough to
provide comfort to those in peril.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So,
let us be willing to let the Spirit work in our lives. Let us be open to
perceiving the still, small ways in which the Spirit is present. And let us speak,
declare and glorify the God who is courageous enough to abide in this world
with us, now and always. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
the name of the “God who is with us, for us, and refuses to be God without us.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Amen.</span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=271">http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=271</a></span>
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Jimmy Carter, <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/24/1379812/-Jimmy-Carter-Losing-My-Religion-For-Equality%23">http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/24/1379812/-Jimmy-Carter-Losing-My-Religion-For-Equality#</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">David Lose, <a href="https://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?m=4377&post=2588">https://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?m=4377&post=2588</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Anna Carter Florence</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">William Stacey Johnson</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-88114269197310084762015-04-19T14:15:00.002-07:002015-04-19T14:15:53.957-07:00Sermon - This I Believe: I Believe in Jesus Christ <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="" name="OLE_LINK2"></a><a href="" name="OLE_LINK1"></a><a href="" name="OLE_LINK26"></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;">Rev. Mandy
Sloan Flemming<br /><a href="http://www.lagunabeachumc.org/" target="_blank">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sunday, April 19, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This I Believe: I Believe in Jesus Christ<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Luke
24:36b-48, NRSV<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2L4CdZ_jyJo2SJrVOQLudTrgChMMgLac1pABAVarr5U0TaWjfB0pZMpg_l8npe3_QoF0UzdFEaoFf7pssJZkzysXUkjTZujhLHaU7Ikv1nYRMltxL1HnfdvMZSCQweUwZLSEwz-MVDOg/s1600/30pascuaB3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2L4CdZ_jyJo2SJrVOQLudTrgChMMgLac1pABAVarr5U0TaWjfB0pZMpg_l8npe3_QoF0UzdFEaoFf7pssJZkzysXUkjTZujhLHaU7Ikv1nYRMltxL1HnfdvMZSCQweUwZLSEwz-MVDOg/s1600/30pascuaB3.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While they were talking about this, Jesus
himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They were startled and terrified, and thought that
they were seeing a ghost. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and
why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it
is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you
see that I have.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And when he had said this, he showed them his
hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still
wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he
took it and ate in their presence. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then he said to them, “These are my words that I
spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the
law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened
their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is
written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third
day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his
name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You are witnesses of these things</i></b>.
And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the
city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
is the third Sunday of our Eastertide season, and the second Sunday of our
sermon series, “This I Believe.” In order to partner with our confirmation
class and support the work that our youth are doing to seek and understand the
theological foundation of what it means to be a Christian, we, as a congregation,
are going to walk alongside them and lift up the most important parts of our
faith as we know and practice it. Last week, Meg preached a beautiful sermon on
what we believe about God, as Christians. This week, we turn our attention to
Jesus Christ, to further explore what we believe about this person of the Trinity.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If
I’m being perfectly honest, our religion is pretty weird. We are the only
religion that understands God in this particular way: as one God, expressed in
three forms: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And, when we talk about Jesus, we
speak of him as having two natures – being fully human and fully divine. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Guys. This
is nuts. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realize full well that this requires an
awful lot of trust in God’s ability to make these things evident to us. And,
for many of us, our faith doesn’t hinge on a perfect understanding of the
natures of God, or Christ. Rather, our faith is formed throughout a lifetime of
openness to God and the beautiful ways in which God reveals that that God is,
in fact, present in our lives. For most of us, the theological understanding of
who Christ is has very little to do with our personal faith. Except, that we
proclaim some bizarre things as Christians that bear some attention. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What on
earth does it mean for us that we believe in a God who would become Incarnate
(one-with-us), live, suffer and die, only to be resurrected on the third day? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What does
it mean that God became one-with-us in the form a man – fully human and fully
divine? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What are
the implications for our faith when we look to the cross and see God Incarnate
(one-with-us) breathe his last? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What are
the possibilities for us when we see this same God, fully human and fully
divine, alive and well? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Here, two weeks after Easter Sunday, we are experiencing the same questions of Christ’s
conquering of death that the Disciples are. At this point in the Gospel of
Luke, Jesus has appeared twice to them, once on the Road to Emmaus and now in
the midst of their conversation about him. After it has been discovered that
Christ’s tomb is empty, there is a lot of debate and question amongst his
followers as to what has happened. Some, like Mary Magdalene and Peter, see …
and believe. But many who hear of the story cannot comprehend the complexity of
it. So, it seems understandable that Jesus would appear to them and introduce
himself with the words, “Peace be with you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But,
these words bring the opposite of comfort to his friends. Filled with fear,
they look to him, terrified and afraid, certain they were seeing a ghost. For
all of the things the disciples have witnessed in Jesus’ presence, including
the raising of Lazarus from the dead, they have never seen a ghost. I find it
such a strange and wonderful story that the illogical assumption they make is
more reasonable in their minds than the truth. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But, you know that the old saying is
true. When you have lost something, you always find it in the last place you
look. The Disciples weren’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">looking</i>
for Jesus anywhere but the tomb. They were looking for a body to anoint, not a
mouth to feed. So, when Jesus appears to them in the flesh, I can sympathize
with their inability to believe that their friend has <b>actually</b>
reappeared to them. “If the resurrection really is true, well then, there goes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">life</i> as we knew it. In the words of Anna
Carter Florence, “if dead people don’t even stay dead, what is there to count
on?”</span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This is because the Resurrection is
the great “yes” in the face of an all-encompassing “no.” It is the hope that
not even death is final. It is the curiosity that the certainty of the end may
not be certain at all. “This is what Karl Barth described as the ‘impossible
possibility,’ a reality that transcends the everyday real, a Truth deeper than
all else we have been told is true.”</span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"> So, like
the disciples, we are asked to make a choice about what we believe about Jesus.
For many, it requires a very clear experience – a mountain top moment – a life,
changing, crystallizing, burning bush sign from God that what we have been told
is true. That there IS a God, and that God <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i>
with us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But, the beauty of our text today is
that the disciples actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i> get
such a sign. They stare in amazement at the many before them, who is clearly
the exact likeness of their recently deceased friend, and with joy and
amazement, and they cling to their doubt. How could this be? How could this
man, who they understood to be the Son of God, be standing before them? Each
week, I’ve been asking for feedback on Facebook about what people believe about
our topic. My friend, Colleen, wrote me and offered something beautiful. She
said, “I used to think that I was a poor Christian because I doubted the
divinity of Christ. I think at this point I have come to think that there are
some things that we just won't KNOW for sure and maybe it might be enough for
me if I can relate to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">person</i> that
Jesus might have been.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
is much of our faith that is chalked up to mystery. Sometimes, I’m grateful for
this language as the only sufficient answer I can offer for difficult
questions. But, mostly, I find it completely insufficient as a <b>reason</b>
for faith. If God remains mysterious, then how are we to grow and deepen our
faith? Just exactly how did Jesus become the only son of God, born of the
Virgin Mary? “It’s a mystery!” is woefully incompetent as a response. A Jesuit
scholar writes that, </span></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“Mystery can more accurately be described as the reality we cannot
understand with our human faculties. Doubt is not the problem. Doubt is often a
very good starting place for inquiry.”</span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If there is one thing the Disciples
in our passage have in spades, it’s doubt. The difficult thing for us is to
understand what to make of our doubt. We have been conditioned to believe that
doubt is <b>bad</b> for our lives of faith. It’s an indication that we aren’t
trusting God enough. I disagree. I think we open ourselves up to deepening our
faith when we realize that, “The opposite of faith isn’t doubt, the opposite of
faith is certainty.” I love this because it opens us up to the ability to
question God and God’s presence in our lives. It allows us to engage Jesus,
crucified and risen, with a skeptical raised eyebrow, to see what answers will
come. And, certainty is the thing that closes us off to learning more about the
nature of God. Once we decide something is true, it’s very hard to be convinced
otherwise. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So,
</span>“doubt is not the opposite of faith. Doubt, in fact, is probably a
necessary ingredient to faith. Faith is not knowledge. Faith is more
tension-filled. It is acting as if something is true even when you have no
proof that it is.”</span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"> The
tension in our passage is that the people who knew Jesus best cannot recognize
him in his resurrection. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, the secret of this passage is unlocked
for me when it tells us that, “While in their joy they were disbelieving and
still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It is in the midst of their very
seeing that the Disciples’ disbelief holds fast. The beauty of this moment is
that Jesus doesn’t take the time to rebuke or lecture them. He doesn’t roll his
eyes or quote Isaiah. Rather, he does the one thing that could confirm their
hope: the risen Christ asks if there is something to eat. This is the beauty of
our incarnate God: that he sees the only way to persuade us that he is alive in
this world, truly alive, is to hunger with us, to eat with us. He engages their
concern that he might be a ghost, and he addresses it directly by doing the
simplest and most basic of human things. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It
directs us to two things: The bizarre and blessed gift that is the Incarnation
of God in Christ, as well as God’s choice to be revealed to us as such.
Incarnation. Revelation. God-with-us. God abiding with us, and allowing us to
see it and notice. There is no other religion that understands God in such a
way, so very real and visceral and present in the world. We have a unique
understanding of God. The God of all gods is not lofty and distant, but fragile
and available. This is not a God who abides in the highest heaven. This is a
God who eats broiled fish with the commoners. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK25;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK26;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And,
we are the witnesses of these things. This is how the Good News is told. Jesus,
upon revealing himself to the disciples, reminds them that he has fulfilled
what the scriptures foretold. He reminds them, “You are witnesses of these
things!” </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"> Go, and tell. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"> Speak confidently about what you know to be true. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"> Open
yourselves to the questions that remain. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Karoline Lewis, </span><a href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=3587"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=3587</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> David Lose, </span><a href="http://www.davidlose.net/2012/06/impossible-possibility/"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.davidlose.net/2012/06/impossible-possibility/</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> Kevin O’Brien, </span><a href="http://www.jesuit-collaborative.org/journal-may2014"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.jesuit-collaborative.org/journal-may2014</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> David Lose, </span><a href="http://www.davidlose.net/2015/04/easter-3-b-resurrection-doubts/"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.davidlose.net/2015/04/easter-3-b-resurrection-doubts/</span></a></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-63162260132938327702015-04-05T11:00:00.000-07:002015-04-05T11:00:00.969-07:00Sermon: The Promise of Resurrection<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="" name="OLE_LINK22"></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;">Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming<br /><a href="http://www.lagunabeachumc.org/" target="_blank">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;">Easter Sunday<br />
April 5, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;">The
Promise of Resurrection: “For whom are you looking?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><br />
John 20:1-18, NRSV<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KbERE32FH3U/VSBprukxa2I/AAAAAAAAgmA/8ngem_Lt8qo/s1600/The%2BTomb%2Bis%2BSealed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KbERE32FH3U/VSBprukxa2I/AAAAAAAAgmA/8ngem_Lt8qo/s1600/The%2BTomb%2Bis%2BSealed.jpg" height="320" width="264" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;">Early on the first day of the week, while it
was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been
removed from the tomb. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;">So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the
other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken
the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;">Then Peter and the other disciple set out and
went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple
outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the
linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came,
following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and
the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but
rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb
first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not
understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples
returned to their homes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;">But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she
wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white,
sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other
at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them,
“They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When
she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did
not know that it was Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;">Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him,
“Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will
take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in
Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on
to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and
say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your
God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the
Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sisters and Brothers: It is Easter
Sunday! It is the great day of celebration for Christians as we rise, early in
the morning on the first day of the week, and gather in the cold to make a
radical and ridiculous claim: Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen, indeed! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
is nothing new under the sun to add to this simple, mysterious message. It is
the core of who we are as worshipping Christians, as people who believe in a
God so powerful that even Death could be defeated. And yet, we gather every
Spring, in the midst of the world’s own proclamation of new life to shout our
hope and faith. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Why
is it that we gather, at the strangest times, to share in the story that’s been
told for us for thousands of years? Why do we believe it’s important to tell
this story, preach this story, hear this story? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s
because this is a story unlike any other. Yes, we tell it and hear it as if it
is a favorite family anecdote. But this is not <i>just</i> a story. The gift of the
Resurrection is that it is our opportunity to encounter, not just the story,
but the Word. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The author of John’s Gospel tells our
story this morning with great care. If you remember, we approach each Christmas
with an ear to the opening lines of John’s Gospel: “<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=295187759" target="_blank">In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God</a>.” John’s Gospel, the Good
News of how deeply God loves us, is centered around the idea of God’s intention
to be in the world with us. At Christmas, when we gather in the lateness of the
day to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we repeat the words, “Emmanuel! God with
us!” This is the promise of the Incarnation – that God so loved the world that
God became one, with us, in this very world, in this very body. At Christmas,
we look to the fragile, precious infant in the manger and whisper, “Emmanuel!
God is with us,” and we absorb the beauty and mystery of birth. We inhale the
sweet scent of the season, as pure as the head of a tiny baby, and give thanks
for God’s willingness to be in the world with us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But,
on this morning, we look back on the story we’ve been hearing since that Silent
Night. We have heard of a child, chased into Egypt for refuge, a boy who
teaches the rabbis in the temple, the man who is baptized by his prophetic and
strange cousin. We have listened to the stories of Jesus calling his Disciples,
traveling through the passages between Jerusalem and Nazareth, healing, restoring,
exorcising. We have watched as his authority grew, as the crowds gathered, as
loaves and fishes fed thousands. We have listened as the Pharisees have
questioned him, we have paused while he rebuked them, we have applauded when he overturned their tables. We have followed this
story until this point, when the child that was born in a humble manger finally
succumbs to the gruesome death that has chased him from the very beginning. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As we gather on this morning, there
is nothing new to add to the story. We know how it ends. We know how it began.
But, we gather to hear how to <b>live</b> this story. How do we even begin to live out
the hope that we are supposed to have when we hear that the tomb is empty, and
that the Gardener isn’t the gardener after all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If you’re anything like me, you bring
with you to this service more than just a hope for the Easter promise of
resurrection. You bring a healthy skepticism as to how this could be possible.
You bring your doubt, your worry, your uncertainty. You bring your best
intentions and your sights set to the future. You want to hear, in the
re-telling of this ancient story, how to live, because death is certain. You want to know how to cast aside your grief,
your pain, your disappointment, your guilt and live as though the promise of the resurrection is real. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And,
what the author of John’s Gospel gives us is nothing more than a simple story.
There’s no theological insight in this telling. There’s no grand mystery of the
universe revealed. There is only the empty tomb and a very confused Mary
Magdalene. There is only Simon Peter, the rock upon which the church is built,
entering the tomb to discover both an unkempt pile of linen wrappings and the
cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, neatly rolled into a place by itself. They
saw. And believed. No fanfare. No fireworks. No reunion. Just a peace that
passes understanding and the urge to return to their homes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It
is Mary Magdalene who waits by the tomb, weeping. Her grief of Friday returns,
manifest in the loss of her beloved once more, this time with no way to tend to
his body, no way to enact the rituals of grieving. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> But
it is Mary who looks in the tomb, and sees – not the linen wrappings – but two
angels. Messengers. Harbingers. One at the head, near the neatly wrapped cloth.
The other at the foot of where Jesus had laid. They ask her the most absurd
question, “Woman, why are you weeping?” As if there could be a reason other than the one </span><span style="line-height: 32px;">that brought them to the inside of this tomb. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She
answers them in earnest, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where
they have laid him.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
is the sum total of our grief, isn’t it? I have lost something, and I don’t
know where to find it. Something precious to me is gone, and I fear I will
never see it again. Whatever you bring to this service today – your worry, your
sorrow, your disappointment, your hope – Mary speaks to the very thing that
makes our hearts squeeze tightly in our chests. We have loved, and lost. And we
fear we will never be happy again. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But,
something stirs behind her. A rustling, the softest of sounds, and she turns…
her tears blurring her vision. Her grief clouding her thoughts. Mary cannot see
because the darkness has become too pervasive. But, do you remember how John’s
Gospel begins? “What came into being in him was life, and the life was the
light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not
overcome it.” (John 1:4-5) A voice repeats the question of the angels,
asking more intently, “Woman, why are you weeping?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Her
silence is her only response. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So,
the voice presses on, “For whom are you looking?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If
Mary’s answer to the angels is the sum total of our grief, then this question
is one that resonates throughout all of time. “For whom are you looking?” You.
Today. Now. Are you looking for one who was lost to you? Are you looking for
something that was never yours?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you
looking for something that used to be? Are you looking to hold on to what you
have so tightly that nothing may ever change? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“For whom are you looking,” he asks
Mary. He asks this because there is nothing to be found. Her hope has been
dashed, and there is only the stark emptiness of the tomb that mocks her grief.
Now, she can no longer anoint the body or attend to the ritual. Even that
privilege has been stripped of her. The emptiness of the tomb is the last thing
her broken heart can bear. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"> </span></span>The voice asks this question, not for the first time. The voice has asked this question only three days prior – to the soldiers that Judas had led to the garden where he was praying with his disciples. They replied that they are seeking Jesus of Nazareth, and his answer to them was, simply, “I AM.” Jesus offers the soldiers, the disciples, the hearers of this reply the great Divine Revelation: I AM. Alpha and Omega. The First and the Last. The Beginning and End. And now, the man whom Mary supposes to be the gardener asks the question of the ages. But it is not in the asking that she recognizes him. It is in the quiet uttering of her name: Mary. </div>
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She responds, "Rabbouni," which means teacher. This is the quiet drama of resurrection. It is in the sharp intake of breath at the recognition of his face. It is in the flooding away of grief and the heart-swelling joy of restoration. These things are internal. They cannot be described. The author of John's Gospel isn't privy to the emotions that accompany Mary's moment of awareness. Her grief is gone. Her sorrow is healed. Her heart is mended. Her joy is complete. Everything she has ever hoped for has been given to her. </div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The true mystery of Easter is in the
resurrection, the real, physical act of life conquering death. What this tells
us is that God has the power, not only of life over death, but also to sanctify
the <b>emptiness.</b> “The symbol of Easter is the empty tomb, and you can't depict or domesticate
emptiness.”</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title="">[1]</a> You can only </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="line-height: 32px;">look to it and see, not what is absent, but what shall be restored. </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK21;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK22;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To be empty implies that we are left with nothing, that there is no
hope, no joy, no life. But, in being restored to life, Christ redeems not just
life, but the absence of it! Christ lives, that we might live, because now…
even <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">emptiness</i> has meaning. Even <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">emptiness</b> is redeemed. Even emptiness
is holy and sacred. If Christ can redeem emptiness, then think what the hope of
the resurrection means for us - today, now. </span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
story, told time and again, tells us all we need to know about God. This story
is not just about God’s marvelous acts in Jesus Christ. This story is not just
about our God’s willingness to become Incarnate – one with us – alive and real,
fully human and fully divine. This story is about how we can approach that God
with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nothing</i> and still be filled. God
works to redeem the emptiness. God works to restore the lost. God loves to heal
the brokenhearted. God lives, that we might live also. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Where
is thy victory, boasting grave? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
tomb is empty, and yet it has been filled with hope and promise and new life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Hallelujah!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Christ is risen! <o:p></o:p><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Χριστός ἀνέστη!</span></div>
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Alleluia! </div>
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He is risen indeed! <o:p></o:p><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!</span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Frederick Buechner, <a href="http://frederickbuechner.com/content/easter">http://frederickbuechner.com/content/easter</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-64476095549689626932015-04-03T15:43:00.001-07:002015-04-03T15:43:42.726-07:00It is Finished: The Death of the Messiah<div class="WordSection1">
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<span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 113%; mso-bidi-font-family: Papyrus;">When it was noon, darkness came over the
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<span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 113%; mso-bidi-font-family: Papyrus;">Then Jesus
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<span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 113%; mso-bidi-font-family: Papyrus;">And the curtain of the temple was torn
in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw
that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of
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<span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is finished. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Messiah dies. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Candara;"><span style="line-height: 113%;">In the last lines of this verse, the Roman Centurion watches as Jesus breathes his last breath and exclaims the first profession of faith: "Truly, </span></span><span style="font-family: Candara;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">this</span></span><span style="font-family: Candara;"><span style="line-height: 113%;"> man was the son of God."</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 113%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 113%;">But his words mislead us. What about this death makes it so clear that the broken body on the cross was the Son of God? There is nothing that should </span><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">lead</span><span style="line-height: 113%;"> tell us that this death was different than any other. It is just as horrible, just as </span><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">gruesome</span><span style="line-height: 113%;">, just as heartbreaking. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 113%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 113%;">But maybe that was the point. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 113%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 113%;">If </span><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">we take the Roman Centurion's words literally, then we have watched the most grim example of child abuse done <b><i>for our sake</i></b>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">I cannot abide this. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">I cannot abide that God, a loving Father, would require such sacrifice of his only son. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">I cannot abide that God, the God of Moses and Abraham, David and Elijah, would ignore Jesus' petition from the cross as he gasps, "My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me?" </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">Except that these words have been spoken before. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=295098930" target="_blank">Psalm 22</a> begins with the same words: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b> Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b> and by night, but find no rest.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Candara;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">The Psalmist wrote these words. It is Jesus who recalls </span></span><span style="font-family: Candara;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">them, who recites the opening lines of the song of his heart. The song of his life. The song of his death. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b> Many bulls encircle me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me; </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>They open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b> I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>My heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; </b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b> My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b> you lay me in the dust of death. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b> My hands and feet have shriveled; </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>I can count all my bones. </b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b> They stare and gloat over me; </b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>They divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing, they cast lots. (Ps. 22:11-18)</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Candara;"><span style="line-height: 113%;">Jesus speaks these words, in the moments before his death, not </span></span><span style="font-family: Candara;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">because</span></span><span style="font-family: Candara;"><span style="line-height: 113%;"> God has <i>forsaken</i> him, but because God has <i>remembered</i> him. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 113%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">The reason for this suffering, the reason for this death, is not because God has asked the greatest sacrifice of his only Son for our sake. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">No, it is God <b><i>in Christ</i></b> who has suffered this brutal death. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">God is not apart from Christ on the cross. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">God <b>is</b> Christ on the cross. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">God suffered that we might not suffer alone. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;">When Jesus utters this Psalm, he points us not to how it begins, but to how it ends: </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me. </b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you: </b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>You who fear the Lord, praise him!</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; </b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; </b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.079999923706055px;"><b>The Lord did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him. -Ps. 22, v. 21-24</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is not a death of a son, atoning for the sins of all human history. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is the act of a Loving God, working in the world to redeem it. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;">Jesus' death was not divine punishment, but the death of </span><span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;">God</span><span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"> Incarnate who suffered and
died, as well.</span><span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Let us wait and see and hope what God shall do, since even our suffering is shared. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even our suffering is sacred. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; line-height: 113%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Candara; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 113%;"><br /></span></div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-49130082510477894012015-03-22T11:30:00.000-07:002015-03-22T11:30:01.703-07:00Sermon: The Promise of Renewal<div class="MsoNormal">
Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming<br /><a href="http://www.lagunabeachumc.org/" target="_blank">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a><br />
Sunday, March 22, 2015<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Promise of Renewal<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Jeremiah 31:27-34<o:p></o:p></div>
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27The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow
the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed
of animals. 28And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down,
to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and
to plant, says the Lord. 29In those days they shall no longer say: “The parents
have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” 30But all
shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall
be set on edge. 31The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It will not be
like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was
their husband, says the Lord. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and
I will be their God, and they shall be my people</b>. 34No longer shall they
teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all
know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will
forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today
is the fourth and final sermon in our Lenten series on the Promises of God.
Each week, we have heard a text and sought to understand what God can be
promising to us. We have heard about God’s promise of presence, the promise of
overturning, the promise of whosoever, and today, the promise of renewal. Throughout
our Lenten season, we have turned our prayers to God in these specific and
direct ways, including Ash Wednesday when we wrote our prayers, and sent them
back to God in a fire. We have written our prayers, and woven them together
into a tapestry of truth-telling. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u_S2nJpvD5E/VQ7cf_hcO0I/AAAAAAAAgkw/mvj14q64kUY/s1600/IMG_0979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u_S2nJpvD5E/VQ7cf_hcO0I/AAAAAAAAgkw/mvj14q64kUY/s1600/IMG_0979.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
On these slips of paper are the words and
names<br />
<br />
and hopes of us – this gathered congregation –<br />
<br />
that we have collectively
given back to God.<br />
<br />
What a sacred, beautiful and honest work of art<br />
<br />
we have
created together. Here, in our worship,<br />
<br />
we have prayed these prayers, and
sought out<br />
<br />
what it means to live into God’s promise to us.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
is also the time for us to consider our Lenten journey, and observe how we have
changed during this time of reflection and self-denial. In giving up eating in
restaurants, I, for one, am fitting into clothes I haven’t worn since before
Sloan was born. But Lenten disciplines aren’t about what we <b>get</b> from
them, they are about how we open ourselves to change. If you have taken on a
discipline during this season, consider how your life and rituals and patterns
have adapted to your intentional choice. I used to take a little cream with my
coffee. In this season, I have left behind the dairy I thought so necessary.
Now, I am an adaptable creature, who can consume coffee without any
modification. I am liberated. I am changed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today,
we are expecting to hear about God’s promise of Renewal. This is the greatest
hope for us, isn’t it? That we might find new life, new strength, new hope.
Renewal is the promise that it will get better, that we will have the
resources, that we will be transformed. It is the goal of our Lenten journey,
in short, and our Christian journey, in full. As the Old Testament scholar
Walter Brueggemann writes, “Lent is our season of honesty. It is a time when we
may break out of our illusions to face the reality of our life in preparation
for Easter, a radical new beginning. Lent is a time for honesty that may
disrupt the illusion of well-being."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
So, as we approach Palm Sunday, the Passion of Holy Week and the promise of
resurrection, we do so with the hope and anticipation that we shall have a new
beginning because of this season of deliberate awareness. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It
seems fitting, then, that the prophet Jeremiah should bring our closing word to
this season. The prophet Jeremiah came from Anathoth, a village in the hill
country of Benjamin, one of the tribes of Jacob – also called Israel – in the
north of Judah. He was the son of a priest, the grandson of a priest, and his
line of succession made it no surprise that he might be called to serve in the
temple. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jeremiah’s
story seems like a fairy tale, set in an ancient land in a far away place,
rustic and humble. His is the story of a man – a simple man – who was appointed
by God to be the voice of one crying out. His voice sounded like Moses,
resonated with the same authority. This man, Jeremiah, was to be the voice of
reason, the voice of love, the voice of redemption to a people who were broken
and scattered. It was Jeremiah of whom it was said, “Before I formed you in the
womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you
a prophet to the nations.” (Jer. 1:5) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By
the time we meet Jeremiah, the Israelites have endured assimilation into the
Babylonian Empire. Jeremiah, along with the tribe of Judah, witnessed the
destruction of Jerusalem and the holy Temple, the fall of the Assyrian Empire
and the death of King Josiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of
Jeremiah’s words to the people are cries of lament. Jeremiah incessantly warned
his people to mend their ways, to return to God, to take up the faithfulness of
their ancestors and to live into the promise of what God would do.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As
we encounter our text today, we do so, not as Christians with an eye to the
promise of the resurrection, but as broken and scattered people, with only
prayers of lament and sorrow in our throats. Jeremiah has preached repentance,
to no avail. So now, his sorrowing is past, and he uses the gift God has given
him – that of prophecy and truth-telling – to preach a new covenant. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
days are coming, says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant. It will not
be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors – a covenant that
they broke. But, I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their
hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they
teach one another, for they shall know me, for I will forgive them and remember
their sin no more.” This is the only Old Testament passage where
"new" modifies "covenant.” The law remains a key point of
continuity between old and new; but it will be written upon the heart, no
longer a written Torah.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a></span> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Here,
God is telling the people of Judah that despite innumerable attempts to remain
faithful and live into the old covenant – the old promise of faithfulness and
steadfastness – that the old covenant is irreparably broken. It is here, in
this passage, that we learn something altogether wonderful about God: God does
not turn away from the people who consistently break covenant. Rather, God
finds <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a new way</i></b> to be in relationship with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If
this is what we are striving to do in our own lives, seeking to live out in our
own way, then this promise of renewal is about more than just being changed or
turning over a new leaf. This promise of renewal, at its core, is about
forgiveness and reconciliation. It’s about relentlessly seeking out ways to be
in relationship with the most challenging of people, simply because we love
them. It is about setting aside expectation, and re-evaluating how we can make
it work. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What
God promises to do in this passage is utterly radical. God tells Jeremiah, “I
will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. I will be
their God, and they shall be my people.” If you consider the ways in which the
society of the Israelites was created and sustained, it was all done through
the temple and in the course of religious life. By saying that the law – which
had been in the hands of the experts to interpret and implement – would be
written on the hearts of the people, God is saying that there would no longer
be a need for the world to function as it had. God says, “No longer shall they
teach one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me.” Knowledge of
God, then, is inherent in their very being. The law is no longer written on
parchment, a limited, finite, protected entity. Now, the law, which isn’t just
rules, but the way in which to be in life-giving relationship with God and
others, is written on the hearts of all. “They shall <b>all</b> know me, the
Lord says, from the least to the greatest.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
new covenant is about what God chooses to do for us, in our hearts. Now, the law
is not to be logically understood. Now, there is a new covenant that is so
close that it is physically <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in</i> our
hearts, coursing through our veins. What flows from our soul, what fires our
passions, is not just biology, but relationship. As our hearts beat, our life
is renewed, God’s promise is renewed, and we live into the covenant that God is
ours and we shall be God’s people. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This</i></b> is the commitment of God; the
covenant; the promise. That we are God’s. Now, forever. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It
is the last verse of our text today that demonstrates how this is possible. God
says, “I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” If I’m
being completely honest with you, I have such a hard time with the language of
forgiving and forgetting. So often, my attempts to forgive turned into an
ongoing relationship that was harmful. The delicate balance between forgiveness
and boundary-setting is tricky to navigate, and I know that if I forget
previous wounds, I risk being vulnerable to them again. It is the remembering that
keeps me safe. But, this is not about our relationship with one another, per
se. This is about God’s ongoing relationship with us. Despite our repeated
refusal to keep covenant with God, God chooses not only to continually engage
us, but to re-define the covenant itself. God forgives, and forgets, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> are the only ones who benefit from this.
This tells us so much about God, and God’s insistence on relationship with us,
because “God does what Israel cannot: God forgets. In response to their
failure, God refuses to recognize it. In response to their infidelity, God
calls them faithful. In response to their sin and brokenness and very real
wretchedness, God's memory has to be pushed and prodded to find any recollection.
God forgets.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So,
the divine memory of our relationship with God is no longer marred, but
beautiful. It is less like the threadbare tapestry, worn by perpetual erosion,
and more like a beautiful work of art, restored to its fullness. Written on our
hearts is not just the law, but the promise that we are God’s people. Our
response, then, must be some kind of radical generosity, which alone can break
the cycles of resentment and revenge. As God’s people, we must learn to live as
people guided by our hearts, called to serve the Lord, love others and change
the world by living differently in it. “The way back to God, says Jeremiah, is
the way of forgiveness.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
this, is the promise of Renewal. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the name of the Father, the Son
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O God who answers
prayer, I come before your throne. <o:p></o:p></div>
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O God who answers
prayer, I come to you. <o:p></o:p></div>
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By awesome deeds
you answer, with deliverance you answer. <o:p></o:p></div>
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You are the God of
my salvation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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You are the hope
of all the earth. – <a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/playlist/view_playlist/-4?page_object=artist_738286" target="_blank">Psalm 65</a> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Walter Brueggemann, ON Scripture, Odyssey Networks,
2015. Video: Race in America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.odysseynetworks.org/on-scripture-the-bible/ferguson-forgiveness-jeremiah-3131-34/">http://www.odysseynetworks.org/on-scripture-the-bible/ferguson-forgiveness-jeremiah-3131-34/</a>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> Terence E. Fretheim <a href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2369">http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2369</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">David Lose, <a href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=1508">http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=1508</a></span>
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Walter Brueggemann, ON Scripture, Odyssey Networks,
2015. Video: Race in America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.odysseynetworks.org/on-scripture-the-bible/ferguson-forgiveness-jeremiah-3131-34/">http://www.odysseynetworks.org/on-scripture-the-bible/ferguson-forgiveness-jeremiah-3131-34/</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Psalm 65, Michael Eubanks, <a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/playlist/view_playlist/-4?page_object=artist_738286" target="_blank">http://www.reverbnation.com/playlist/view_playlist/-4?page_object=artist_738286 </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-6682496886541211242015-03-15T11:51:00.002-07:002015-03-15T11:51:56.843-07:00Sermon: The Promise of Whosoever<div class="MsoNormal">
Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming<br /><a href="http://www.lagunabeachumc.org/" target="_blank">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a><br />
Sunday, March 15, 2015<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Promise of Whosoever<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John 3:14-21, NRSV<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him
may have eternal life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘For God so loved
the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may
not perish but may have eternal life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Indeed, God did
not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the
world might be saved through him. 18Those who believe in him are not condemned;
but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not
believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment, that
the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light
because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not
come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do
what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds
have been done in God.’ <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
is one of the best known passages in all of scripture. Almost all of us have
heard the famous line, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son, that whosoever liveth and believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life.” John 3:16 has become a verse that is synonymous with
evangelical Christianity, and this guy, in particular: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwewiJES7ipxmw5LTxq6FTBB_4b0T80HHWS8UmyJcXXCpa3HnDA8d_liZ6tm3bLHL5YPRXFKD5_c1R9joY_hsxczHkH26oQuArvXtZcWQGYYZgjcbaHInJ9PeFPLnH5hI4Qz7wHktM1XQ/s1600/john_316_031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwewiJES7ipxmw5LTxq6FTBB_4b0T80HHWS8UmyJcXXCpa3HnDA8d_liZ6tm3bLHL5YPRXFKD5_c1R9joY_hsxczHkH26oQuArvXtZcWQGYYZgjcbaHInJ9PeFPLnH5hI4Qz7wHktM1XQ/s1600/john_316_031.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a>Rock 'n' Rollen and Rainbow Man,
best known for wearing a rainbow-colored wig and, later, holding up signs
reading "John 3:16" at stadium sporting events. This verse is the
definition of bumper-sticker theology. If you ask just about any Christian what
they believe, some version of this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one</i>
verse will likely arrive as the answer. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I’ve
always had trouble with this verse, because it seemed to me to be the way that
people were able to narrowly define what it means to be Christian. “Whosoever
lives and believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life,” seems
like the instruction for how we make an appointment with the realtor for one of
God’s mansions. It also makes it seem as though eternal life is a prize to be
obtained, and that the only way to do it is by living and believing in Jesus.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But,
in order to be fair, we must put John 3:16 back in context with the rest of the
pericope. Our text is a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee
who comes to visit him in the dark of night. Nicodemus said to him, “Rabbi, we
know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these
signs that you do apart from the presence of God. How can these things be?”
Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand
these things? Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to
what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony…And just as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> that
whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesus
makes reference to a very strange event in the Hebrew scriptures here. It is in
Numbers 9:21 that we learn the story of when the people spoke against God and
against Moses. So, the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they
bit the people, so that many Israelites died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This manages to get the attention of the Israelites, because they come
to Moses and confess that they have sinned by speaking against the Lord, and
ask him to intercede on their behalf. God tells Moses to “make a poisonous
serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and
live.” This is a very strange story for Jesus to recall to Nicodemus, indeed.
It’s one that’s not particularly flattering to the Israelites, but it does
reveal something interesting about God. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Regardless
of the density of the chosen people of God, and their continued refusal to
trust in the steadfast love of their creator and sustainer, God always listens.
God continually forgives. God eternally reconciles. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
Nicodemus can’t hear that. Jesus speaks his language – after all, Nicodemus is
a teacher of Israel and the scriptures should be as close to him as his own
breathing. Jesus references this strange passage in Numbers, for the sake of
its reinterpretation: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have
eternal life.” Nicodemus finds this perplexing “because it demands that he let
go of all that he has accomplished and understood. Some things are hard to
grasp not because they are conceptually subtle, but because <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they
ask so much of us</i></b>. We don’t want to understand, because if we
understand, we are implicated.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
was typically how things went between Jesus and the Pharisees. He continually
overturns their long-held perceptions of passages and offers new
interpretations of the law. He frustrates the Pharisees completely. This
conversation is difficult for Nicodemus for the same reason it’s difficult for
us, because, so often, we hear John 3:16 as “a threat for those unwilling to
accept God’s love. Because rather than heard as an invitation to participate in
spreading God’s love it’s a summons to exclude those we think God does not love.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> So,
who, then, does God love? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesus
talks clearly about who is saved and who is condemned. This language is
dangerous for us, because it establishes some kind of salvation clique in which
some are out and some are in. Jesus says that, the light has come into the
world, and “those who loved darkness more than the light are condemned” (v. 19); take just a moment to remember when it was that Nicodemus came to visit Jesus: in the dark of night. John Wesley says that, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This</i> is the
condemnation - That is, the cause of it. So God is clear.” If we are to study
this passage, we cannot ignore the language around condemnation. But, it seems,
also, as though this is the only thing we derive from it. I cannot imagine that
Jesus’ words to Nicodemus are intended to be the plum line for <b>us</b> to
decide who is worthy of the love of God. John Wesley continues, saying that, “God
sent <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> his Son into the world to
condemn the world - Although many accuse him of it.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Our core understanding of this text cannot rest in the fear of condemnation. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So,
we return to the question: who, then, does God love? The answer is clear: “God
so loved <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the world,</i>” which, if we’re
being honest, is not a particularly loveable entity. The course of human
history has not demonstrated the world to be a place where love wins. It is a
place filled with anger, jealousy, greed, destruction. And yet, we have this
simple assurance that God so loves… the world. And everything and everyone in
it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If
this is so, then “it is possible to read the whole of Scripture, from creation
to the eschaton, as God’s love story for the world. It was, after all, divine
love stronger than well-deserved judgment, that carried Israel during the time
of exile, and it was God’s love that sent Jesus to be God-With-Us, Incarnate in
the world, where he taught that love is not merely for those who look and think
and believe like us (or the Pharisees), but even for our enemies and those who
persecute us.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many
years ago, when I first arrived at Saint Mark, I had the joy of meeting
long-time member, Joseph Hackett. Joseph was a man for whom faith was a gift
that resonated from him with ease. He was a remarkable theologian, and his
pulpit was the hairdresser’s chair behind which he stood. Joseph had always
been a church-goer, a faithful follower, a believer. But, when Joseph grew up
and began to discover the fullness of who he was, he faced rejection from his
church, his family. This led to years of depression and worry, as he perceived
the distance between him and God, a chasm which could not be closed. But, when
he found Saint Mark, a community that welcomed all, he said that he felt the
worry and shame melt away. It was in this community that he realized that, “God
has blessed us so abundantly. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0t8KS22Z7w" target="_blank">It was here that I learned that God loves me, thatI was precious to God. It was here that learned that ‘whosoever’ included me– that Jesus died for me</a>.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> My
friend, Joseph, unlocked this text for me. What once was a passage so commonly
used as the narrow lens through which to view Christianity, suddenly became the
open door of God’s love for everyone. It is John 3:17 that reveals the core of
this text, for me: ‘Indeed, God did <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i>
send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world
might be saved through him.” Does this not tell us the very nature of God’s
being in relationship with us? That God sent Christ, not to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">condemn</b>, but to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">save</i></b>? Just as Paul
writes, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus” (Romans 8:1). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If
you’re wondering why this is so important to me, it’s because my heart for
ministry is with those who have been excluded from the fold. My heart is with
the broken, the lost, the lonely. This is why, week after week, we make it a
point to say that the doors of this church are open. It’s because the promise
of God’s love is available to all, and it’s simply our job to invite and
welcome people in to the community. It is here that we are privileged to share
in the most beautiful parts of life together – baptism, the common meal,
sharing our prayers, passing the peace. This is not just a place where we
gather to be social, this is the locus of our strength and hope. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It
is here, in this place, where we live into the light and promise of God’s
eternal love. It is here, in this place, where we learn to love those who are
unloveable. It is here, in this place, that we come to worship the God who
first loved us, and not just us, but the whole world. It is here, in this place,
that the broken are welcomed, the lonely are comforted, that the meek are
empowered. It is here, in this place, that the world is turned on its head and
we live into the promise of Whosoever. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
In the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Amen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Let us pray:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The light, just
breaking into the darkness of the morning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">It touches everything, shines on the whole world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The shadows of early morning fade as the sun moves across
the sky, and emblazes light onto every surface of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">What in our <b>world</b>, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The <b>church</b>, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Your own life</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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hold these thoughts, images and feelings in your heart. Take a moment to
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Numbers 21:7-9, “The people came to Moses and said,
‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord
to take away the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. 8And the
Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and
everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.’ 9So Moses made a serpent of
bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person
would look at the serpent of bronze and live.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Lance Pape, <a href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2394">http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2394</a></span>
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Karoline Lewis, <a href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=3550">http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=3550</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">John Wesley, <a href="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wesley/notes.i.v.iv.html">http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wesley/notes.i.v.iv.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Paul C. Shupe, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Feasting
on the Word</i>, Year B, Vol 2, Pastoral Perspective, p. 118.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> Saint Mark
UMC Capital Campaign Video, 2007.</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0t8KS22Z7w">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0t8KS22Z7w</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-28556301150136744312015-03-08T11:30:00.000-07:002015-03-10T10:18:33.065-07:00Sermon: The Promise of Overturning<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming<br />
<a href="http://www.lagunabeachumc.org/">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a><br />
Sunday, March 8, 2015<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>The Promise of
Overturning<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>John 2:13-25, NRSV<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/cBIoUTRyHPA/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cBIoUTRyHPA?feature=player_embedded" style="clear: right; float: right;" width="320"></iframe><sup>13</sup>The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus
went up to Jerusalem. <sup>14</sup>In the temple he found people selling
cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. <sup>15</sup>Making
a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">sheep and the
cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their
tables. <sup>16</sup>He told those who were selling the doves, 'Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a market-place!' <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></a> <sup>17</sup>His
disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal</span> for your house will consume
me.”</div>
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<sup>18</sup>The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you
show us for doing this?” <sup>19</sup>Jesus answered them, “Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” <sup>20</sup>The Jews then said,
“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you
raise it up in three days?” <sup>21</sup>But he was speaking of the temple of
his body. <sup>22</sup>After he was raised from the dead, his disciples
remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word
that Jesus had spoken.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<sup>23</sup>When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover
festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was
doing. <sup>24</sup>But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them,
because he knew all people <sup>25</sup>and needed no one to testify about
anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The very first thing
we should do upon encountering a text is to ask us what it says about God and
our relationship with God. The problem with the text today is that it tells us
something very complicated about God – that God has feelings. <o:p></o:p></div>
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My dear friend from seminary, <a href="http://www.wpc-alex.org/article118901.htm">Rev. Casey FitzGerald</a><span style="line-height: 200%;">, is a Biblical
Storyteller</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;" title="">[2]</a><span style="line-height: 200%;">. She tells this story in her </span><a href="http://www.storydivine.com/?cat=7" style="line-height: 200%;">podcast this week</a><span style="line-height: 200%;">, and made
reference to the striking picture of Jesus that this particular text paints of
him. When we think of Jesus, we tend to picture this:</span><a href="http:/#_ftn3" name="_ftnref1" style="line-height: 200%;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Mistral; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></a><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HBTFL7wv76g/VPwDXoIawoI/AAAAAAAAgiE/v5OA_H9YwgA/s1600/Copy_of_Christ_in_Garden_Gethsemane_Heinrich_Hofmann1890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HBTFL7wv76g/VPwDXoIawoI/AAAAAAAAgiE/v5OA_H9YwgA/s1600/Copy_of_Christ_in_Garden_Gethsemane_Heinrich_Hofmann1890.jpg" height="166" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">(You should know that my grandmother had a print of this in her home,
which was complete with glittered stars upon which Jesus could cast his gaze.)</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">But, Casey highlights for us the problem with this vision of Jesus. It softens him, making it seem as though God </span><span style="line-height: 32px;">Incarnate's most laborious job was finding a light source to keep behind his head at all times. This painting, by a German man named Heinrich Hofm<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">ann from 1890, is entitled, ironically, "The Agony in the Garden." I find this funny because </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
looks less like a man in deep despair </span><span style="line-height: 32px;">and more like, as Casey describes,</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> “Malibu Jesus,” </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">who maybe needs a good barber. </span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Mistral;"> The problem with this text is that it shatters our image of a benign
embodiment of the one true God, and encapsulates the scope of power and emotion
that God-With-Us must feel. In short, this text dashes our hopes of the
Malibuification of Christ. That's part of the reason hearing children read this
text underscores its irony. There is nothing sweet about this story. This isn't
"love your neighbors" or "blessed are the meek." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Mistral;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No, This is Jesus, our beloved Jesus, </span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Mistral;"> making whips out of
cords and driving out the tender lambs and the calves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Mistral;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This is Jesus, our outraged Jesus, </span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Mistral;"> pouring out the coins
of the moneychangers and overturning their tables. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Mistral;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This is Jesus, our prophetic Jesus, </span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Mistral;"> screaming that the
doves had no place in the temple.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Mistral;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">And yet, even in his outrage, it seems as though the offended parties
had the audacity to stand up to him. “What sign can you show us for doing
this?” they ask. Just prior to this incident in John’s Gospel, Jesus performed
a miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee when he turned water into wine.
Really, really good wine. The text tells us that, “Jesus did this, the first of
his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples
believed in him.” (John 2:11). The overturning of the tables, Jesus’ big, adult
temper-tantrum, occurs at least 85 miles away from Cana. This means that it’s
highly unlikely that the onlookers and moneychangers could have heard about the
miracle that he had performed.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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The disciples might have believed and understood his
glory, but the men with empty dove baskets did not. And they were angry. They
wanted something in exchange for what they had lost. They wanted something
good. They don’t ask for money, or their livestock. They must have heard him
when he shouted, “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” This is no
timid child. This is the voice of one, crying out from the echoes of the
prophets of old, borrowing Zechariah’s words, “And there shall no longer be
traders in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day!” (Zechariah 14:21).<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, Jesus gives them
a sign. Let those who have ears, hear: “Destroy this temple, and in three days,
I will raise it up!” Despite the literal interpretation of his audience (“It
took 46 years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in 3 days?!”), the
author of John’s Gospel is kind enough to pencil in the meaning: Jesus was
speaking of the temple of his body. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> Suddenly, the rage
and anger have a home. This is not about money or maleficence. This is about
the death of the incarnate God, and God’s refusal for our actions to destroy
what God has promised. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;"><b>That’s</b> what this text is telling us. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;"> We spend years
building up a temple, a church, a ministry, a business. Then, suddenly, one
day, it exists only to serve itself. Whatever the beauty, the creativity, the
original purpose was of our idea… it’s gotten lost in spreadsheets,
projections, net losses and profitability. Even in relationships, what begins
as the most beautiful notion of romantic and unconditional love eventually
devolves into a series of squabbles over whose turn it is to empty the
dishwasher. Every parent has stared deeply into the eyes of their infant - gazing
with hope and wonder, only to find that approximately 13 years later, those
same eyes seem to do nothing but reflect mutual exasperation. Over the course
of time, our best intentions become inwardly focused and self-sustaining.
Almost as soon as they begin, the institutions of our lives become engines for
their own survival.</span></div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Jesus is calling attention to this because, for the temple system to survive, “it had to
function as a place of exchange for maintaining and supporting the sacrificial
structures. Jesus is, then, is calling for <b>a
complete dismantling of the entire system</b>.” But this is terrifying to us.
It’s terrifying to the hearers. If the temple isn’t necessary, then what do we
do?? How do we find God? Worship God? Where do we seek God? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
When
Jesus drives the animals out of the Temple, overturns the tables of the
moneychangers, and demands the end of buying and selling, “he is really
announcing the end of this way of relating to God. God is no longer available
primarily, let alone exclusively, via the Temple.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> So, how do we determine the location of
God’s whereabouts? Our colloquial understanding is that God abides “in heaven,”
which implies that the God of Gods is confined to a very nice residence in the
sky. This, however, is exactly the kind of limitation that Jesus is pushing
against. If we are truly going to seek out and find the Presence of God, then
we must figure out who Jesus is and what Jesus means. “This deeper engagement
also underscores the <i>Johannine
theological theme of abiding</i>…If the temple symbolizes the location and
presence of God, Jesus is essentially saying to the leaders that <b><i>he</i></b>
– the one whose body shall be destroyed and raised up again - <b><i>is</i></b>
the presence of God. Where one looks for God, expects to find God, imagines God
to be are all at stake for the Gospel of John. In Jesus, God is right here,
right in front of you.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></div>
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This
means that when Jesus shows us this marvelous display of righteous
indignation, that Christ himself is modeling for us how we are to be <b>truly
present</b> in the world. Sisters and Brothers, it is not a matter of <i>if</i> or <i>when</i> but a matter of <b>how</b>
Christ overturns institutions. If it were up to me, the institutions of
government, economy and social status would be overturned <b>immediately.</b>
I’m growing tired of the fight, the struggle, to both be <i>in</i> the world, but not
of it. I’d love it if these perceived barriers were removed from our path
immediately, but God doesn’t seem to work that way. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Jesus is the
fulfillment of the law, the embodiment of it. We are bound by the law, but
Christ has come to set us free. In this moment of overturning, Jesus models
incarnational theology – meaning, what it looks like for God to be in this
world with us. God overturns the tables, not out of sheer rage, but because the
institutions that bind us do not bind God! The Incarnation is God’s way of
lovingly engaging the world in the most real and visceral way. By living. By
suffering. By dying. By being rebuilt. By abiding. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YOk5oxEiM60/VPxdDlcijnI/AAAAAAAAgjw/Htf6k3GrFr4/s1600/11043372_10153060967468405_228562427653936930_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YOk5oxEiM60/VPxdDlcijnI/AAAAAAAAgjw/Htf6k3GrFr4/s1600/11043372_10153060967468405_228562427653936930_o.jpg" height="204" width="320" /></a> Today
marks the 50<sup>th</sup> Anniversary of the three Selma to Montgomery marches
in 1965 were part of the Selma Voting Rights Movement and led to the passage
that year of the Voting Rights Act, a landmark federal achievement of the 1960s
American Civil Rights Movement. Activists publicized the three protest marches
to walk the 54-mile highway from Selma to the Alabama state capital of
Montgomery as showing the desire of black American citizens to exercise their
constitutional right to vote, in defiance of segregationist <!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->repression.
Representative John Lewis describes his experience as a member of the march,
saying, “I thought I saw death. I thought we were going to die.”</div>
<span style="line-height: 200%;"> President Barack
Obama, in his remarks commemorating the Marches in Selma said, "What they
did here will reverberate through the ages. Not because the change they won was
preordained; not because their victory was complete; but because they proved
that nonviolent change is possible; that love and hope can conquer hate."</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="line-height: 200%;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></a><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span><b style="line-height: 200%;"><i>This</i></b><span style="line-height: 200%;">
is righteous indignation. This is the overturning of tables, slowly and surely,
that the unjust institution would be torn down and re-built in 11 days, with
voting rights for all.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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The same is true for our call to Biblical Obedience, over and against a mandate to uphold the rules in the Book of Discipline. Bishop Mel Talbert, also a champion of the Civil Rights movement, teaches us that “Biblical Obedience is a call for us to claim
our identity as it relates to the Bible, to speak truth to power, and decide
that laws that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
queer persons and allies in the life of the Church are immoral and unjust and
are no longer deserving of our loyalty and support. It is a call to declare our
beliefs and start doing the right thing. Jesus was asked by a scribe, “Which is
the greatest of all the commandments?” Jesus simply said, “There is only one
God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and
love your neighbor as yourself.” It is time for us as people of faith to live
into those commandments. It is time to see ALL human beings as our neighbors.
That is Biblical Obedience.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></div>
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The church cannot
exist only with the hope of self-sustenance. Rather, we must overturn the need
to do things as they’ve always been done, liberate ourselves from the
perpetuation of the institution, and discover the radical over-turned way we
are called to be in ministry and service to the world. Our task as Christians
is not to balance our budget or provide a community place for fellowship and
food. Our task as Christians is to live in this world with the awareness that
God abides here, with us. Now and always. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the name of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Amen
and Amen</b>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Let us pray: <o:p></o:p></div>
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If you wish, close your eyes and imagine this scene:<br />
...Business as usual… then the violence of
Jesus’ anger… the shock of the onlookers…Pause with the scene for a moment, and
let it unfold in your imagination. <br />
What
in our <b>world</b>, <br />
The
<b>church</b>, <br />
<b>Your
own life</b><br />
Makes
Christ <i>this </i>angry now?<br />
Invite God into the place where you hold these thoughts, images and feelings in
your heart. This is your chance to give these things over to God, and let God
be angry with you, for you. Here, in the courtyard, I invite you to “overturn”
the tables of the things that have set up camp in your lives and hearts. Smash them, break them, let them go. Watch as
the good intentions that have turned into bad habits & misguided actions
are turned on their heads. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">See also: Zechariah 14:21, “and every cooking-pot in
Jerusalem and Judah shall be sacred to the Lord of hosts, so that all who
sacrifice may come and use them to boil the flesh of the sacrifice. And there
shall no longer be traders in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day.”<br /><o:p></o:p></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Video of the text provided by <a href="http://faithandwonder.com/">Faith and Wonder</a>.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBIoUTRyHPA"><br /></a> <o:p></o:p></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Agony in the
Garden</span></i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">, Heinrich Hofmann, 1890.<br /><o:p></o:p></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> <a href="http://www.davidlose.net/2015/03/lent-3-b-igniting-centrifugal-force/">http://www.davidlose.net/2015/03/lent-3-b-igniting-centrifugal-force/</a></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2377">http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2377</a>
<o:p></o:p></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/07/remarks-president-50th-anniversary-selma-montgomery-marches">http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/07/remarks-president-50th-anniversary-selma-montgomery-marches</a></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.rmnetwork.org/blog/2013/10/25/biblical-obedience/">http://www.rmnetwork.org/blog/2013/10/25/biblical-obedience/</a></span></span></h4>
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<!--EndFragment-->Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-44792882245471503702015-03-01T11:30:00.000-08:002015-03-01T11:30:01.665-08:00Sermon: The Promise of Faithfulness<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="" name="OLE_LINK11"></a><a href="" name="OLE_LINK10"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Rev. Mandy
Sloan Flemming<br />
Laguna Beach United Methodist Church<br />
Sunday, March 1, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The Promise of Faithfulness<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Mark
8:27-38<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><sup><span style="font-family: Georgia;">27</span></sup></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of
Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say
that I am?” <sup>28</sup>And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others,
Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” <sup>29</sup>He asked them,
“But who do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i> say that I am?” Peter
answered him, “You are the Messiah.” <sup>30</sup>And he sternly ordered them
not to tell anyone about him.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><sup><span style="font-family: Georgia;">31</span></sup></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man
must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests,
and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. <sup>32</sup>He
said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. <sup>33</sup>But
turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind
me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human
things.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><sup><span style="font-family: Georgia;">34</span></sup></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to
them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up
their cross and follow me. <sup>35</sup>For those who want to save their life
will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of
the gospel, will save it. <sup>36</sup>For what will it profit them to gain the
whole world and forfeit their life? <sup>37</sup>Indeed, what can they give in
return for their life? <sup>38</sup>Those who are ashamed of me and of my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed
when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This text comes to us after a series of events
in which Jesus has shown himself to be a man of remarkable power. In chapter 8,
he has already fed the 4,000 with a meager serving of bread and fish, healed a
blind man, and withstood the indignity of the Pharisees asking for a “sign”
after they have witnessed these things first hand. When Jesus warns the
Disciples about the “yeast” of the Pharisees, they misunderstand him and ask, “‘It
is because we have no bread.’ 17And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them,
‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or
understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do
you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember?” (Mark 8:17-18). This
question rings with hilarity after Jesus has done so many remarkable things in
their presence. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But,
when Jesus asks the Disciples who people say that he is, he is inviting
dialogue. This is not a test, as the Pharisees sought to test him. Rather, it
is an earnest engagement with how the world receives his ministry. Jesus asks
one of the best questions in the Gospels, posing it to his Disciples who are
having an atypical moment of lucidity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesus
asks plainly, “’But who do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i> say
that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.” This is Peter’s shining
moment of insight. The time when his earnestness and wonder coincide to produce
the right answer to a very difficult question. This is Peter’s confession of
faith. “You are the Messiah,” he says. The one who has come to save us. The one
who abides with us. You are God, with us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">In a sermon series on the topic of promises: this
text could begin and end right here. It is this confession of Peter’s faith
that underlies our own testimonies to why we show up here week after week. But,
it’s the fact that he is correct that keeps us going. After all, we are not
disciples of Peter. We are disciples of Christ, the Messiah. That means that
even before Peter or you or I could recognize the gift of grace we receive
through the life, death and resurrection we receive in Christ, that God had to
decide to become one-with-us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
the promise of faithfulness we receive. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So,
let us ask our selves the same compelling question: Who do we say that Jesus
is? This forces us to look clearly at our faith and own it for ourselves. If we
say that Jesus is someone who taught us how to live well, then we must reflect
whether or not we are. If we say that Jesus was a prophet, then we must observe
the ways in which his words are becoming real. If we say that Jesus is the son
of God, then we must consider how we are living out our lives as brothers and
sisters in Christ. This is the foundation of who we are as a faith community. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But, as we read on, there is one
line in our scripture today that has always given me trouble. Jesus says to the
crowd and his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny
themselves and take up their cross and follow me. <sup>35</sup>For those who
want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my
sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” Jesus spends some time
speaking candidly with his disciples just prior to this about the events that
are to unfold. He tells them about his suffering, rejection, death and
resurrection after 3 days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter
famously rejects the notion that this is possible and necessary, and Jesus
rebukes him. Even though Jesus is so clear with his disciples about these
events, there is something about his use of the phrase “take up thy cross and
follow me” that has plagued me for years. How could they know the depth of what
this means? How could they possibly understand? We have the benefit of
hindsight – we know the story and when we hear, “take up thy cross,” it means
something particular to us. I always thought this was an outreach to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i> – the hearers through history. That
we might know - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in a way the disciples
never could - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that this call to
discipleship has clear and noticeable ramifications for how we live our life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">But, if we are to push a little
harder, taking up the cross sounds like a mandate for us to receive a burden we
don’t want to bear. I look back on the previous few months and the turmoil
we’ve seen in so many communities. The fall was filled with conversation around
the events in Ferguson, MO. We watched as our country took to conversations
about race and reconciliation with the same passion that we saw during the
height of the civil rights movement, and we <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZOKvYcx_o" target="_blank">listen to modern-day prophets sing for </a></span><span style="line-height: 32px;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZOKvYcx_o" target="_blank">the hope</a></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZOKvYcx_o" target="_blank"> of Glory</a>. We have been praying for ways to help the
homeless community in Laguna Beach and beyond; and, yesterday, in less than 8
hours, our leadership and missions committee drew up a plan for how we can open
our doors to serve as an overflow shelter during the cold and rainy nights. We have
been called to work for <a href="http://www.calpacumc.org/news/excitement-and-encouragement-at-immigrant-welcoming-event/" target="_blank">immigration reform and seek how to serve migrant children</a>. Our congregation has seen an
incredible response to our <a href="http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bible-647513-sowell-church.html" target="_blank">willingness to engage the topic of how the churchcan re-visit the texts that sought to exclude and oppress the LGBT community</a>.
Today, in Georgia, my clergy colleagues are fighting hard to save the life of a
</span></span><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-vIww2QD7KW61KnsP5XCJB5xOxGAeDT0WzM0W6MPYww/viewform" style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 200%;" target="_blank">woman on death row who is to be executed tomorrow</a><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Take
up thy cross is hard to hear, because the cross is rarely something we would
choose. But, let us look to Jesus. Part of the reason this language is so
abrasive to us is because Jesus did nothing to deserve the cross himself. It’s
offensive to us because this man – this son of God – doesn’t deserve the burden
of the cross. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But,
here’s the thing: he did it anyway. He did it because the cross was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">never</i> his. The cross was ours, and ours
alone. And he took it up for us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So, when Jesus says, “Take up thy
cross and follow me,” he doesn’t mean, bear your own burdens. He means, lift up
the burdens of others that they might not be carried alone. He means that we
are to do things, not because they benefit us, but maybe because they <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">don’t</i></b>.
We are called to feed the hungry, not because we’re hungry, but because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they</i> are. We are called to advocate for
those who are marginalized, not because we were once marginalized, but because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they</i> are. We are called to speak out for
the voiceless, because people will listen to those with strength. We are called
to open the doors, not because we want to grow our church, but because there
are people hungering for a vibrant community in which to live out their lives
of faith. The work we do, the ministry we share <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is not about us</i></b>. We do
not, can not do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anything</i> to earn
God’s love or grace. We can only act out of our own conviction that if we take
up the cross and follow Christ, then we widen the reach of those who will come
to know God’s love. This is the true cost of discipleship – denying ourselves
and our own self-interest that others may be considered. This is how we use our
privilege. This is how we are the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">We
gather today, not <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">only</b> to hearken to
a call of social justice and mission in the world, but to remind ourselves why
it is that we do such things. Theologian Rebecca Chopp argues that “The church
is not created for fellowship, continued support, spiritual nourishment, or
even social service; rather, the church is called to give to the world news of <b><i>emancipatory
transformation</i></b>.” </span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">That means
when we “deny yourself and take up your cross,” we are invited into what the
cross can also mean – “not just death and suffering, but God choosing human
relationships. The cross represents God’s commitment to humanity (it is truly
the symbol of God’s faithfulness to us). The cross represents what we do when
we are not in relationship with the other and think only for ourselves. Because
we realize it’s not just about our own selves. Lent is a denial of the self in
the best way, the self that refuses community. The self that thinks it can
survive on its own. The self that rejects the deep need of humanity --
belonging.”</span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><sup><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></sup></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">God promises to be faithful to us by being willing
to do the very things God asks of us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Our
call is to pray to see how we can live into a life of discipleship for its own
sake, remembering that Christ took up the cross on our behalf, that we might
take it up on behalf of others. Jesus is the embodiment of perfect love,
absolute grace, and total acceptance. The cost of discipleship, then, has a
reward beyond what we can imagine in heaven. The cost of discipleship yields
the gift of community, compassion, forgiveness, reconciliation. When we deny
ourselves, we give up the stronghold on all that keeps us from loving openly,
that keeps us from becoming transformed into people who live into the promise
of God’s faithfulness to us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So,
let us be changed by the Good News that Christ comes to give. If we seek to
serve only ourselves, then we are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">bound</b>
by our interpretation of Scripture, our history, our narrative, our
expectations. But Christ comes and says: I am not bound by your expectations. I
am the Son of God, the living Christ, and I have come to teach you how much God
loves you, and how we are called to be in relationship with one another –not
just with the people who are like us or nice to us or praiseworthy or
acceptable. This Good News is for the people who have never had a good word
spoken to them, and today – that doesn’t mean you. It means those who are
outside freezing in the rain, unable to be cured, locked up in prison, marginalized
because of their sexuality and silenced by the government. We are called to
tend to them, heal them, listen to them, and remind them that THIS is the year
of the Lord’s favor, so that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they</i> may
be the ones to say, “MY eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!”
And we can, at last, gather together in worship and praise of the God who
refuses to let any of us go, so that we can be transformed into a people of living
into the promise of God’s faithfulness. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -.5in; margin-right: -.5in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -.5in; margin-right: -.5in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -.5in; margin-right: -.5in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK10;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Amen and Amen. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Karoline Lewis, <a href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=3542">http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=3542</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-15157131093559322762015-02-18T10:25:00.001-08:002015-02-18T10:25:15.134-08:00Lenten Devotion: Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18
<br />
<div class="page" title="Page 6">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wWOooyOLsZo/VOTYkd7ijQI/AAAAAAAAfXQ/bEd7HUUB6Gk/s1600/ash-wednesday_t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wWOooyOLsZo/VOTYkd7ijQI/AAAAAAAAfXQ/bEd7HUUB6Gk/s1600/ash-wednesday_t.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 14.000000pt;">Ash Wednesday, February 18
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 14.000000pt;"><a href="http://www.lagunabeachumc.org/" target="_blank">Laguna Beach United Methodist Church</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 14.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Scripture: </span><span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=291283888" target="_blank">Philippians 2:5-11</a></span><br />
</div>
<div class="column">
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">This scripture, the Christ hymn, is an incredibly powerful passage
for me. It is a call for us to be to one another as Christ has been to
us, which is humble, kind, and filled with compassion.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Paul writes this letter to the Philippians, as an encouragement in
their mission to share the Gospel. This text is equalizing, and
removes the possibility of pride or judgment.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The person whom we are to embody is Christ, and Christ alone.
The person of Christ “did not regard equality with God as
something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form
of a slave.” How challenging is this message for us? When we
need our Christ to be vindictive and overpowering, he is humble
and servant-like. When we need our Christ to be particular and
attuned to our individual needs, he beckons us to listen to the
cries of those who are in the most need. Because he humbled
himself and became obedient to the point of death.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lqRpCXrvtUY/VOTYBXReDpI/AAAAAAAAfXI/TlMYvbzIfBQ/s1600/LBUMC%2BLogo.Lent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lqRpCXrvtUY/VOTYBXReDpI/AAAAAAAAfXI/TlMYvbzIfBQ/s1600/LBUMC%2BLogo.Lent.jpg" height="200" width="120" /></a><span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">So, too, are we called to “die to self,” that we might put the
needs of our sisters and brothers ahead of our own. In this, we
receive the kingdom, for the kingdom is not filled with gold or
treasures, but with powerful and loving relationships which
provide us all that we need.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">We share, as brothers and sisters in Christ, the ability to claim Jesus
as our savior, but this does not give us the right to doubt the faith
or needs of others. Rather, it calls us to sing this hymn in a unified
voice, so that “every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Prayer</span><span style="font-family: 'CenturyGothic'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">: Gracious God, Let us humble ourselves that we might
become more like you. Let us die to self that we might find
abundant life in you. Free us, that we may serve you fully. Amen. </span><br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-63116541204877601062015-01-06T08:19:00.003-08:002015-01-06T08:19:28.526-08:00Sermon for Ephiphany: A Light Shines in the Darkness? <div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="" name="OLE_LINK2"></a><a href="" name="OLE_LINK1"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Rev.
Mandy Sloan Flemming<br />
Laguna Beach United Methodist Church<br />
January 4, 2015 – Epiphany Sunday<o:p></o:p></span></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b>Matthew 2:1-12<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;">In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of
Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, <sup>2</sup>asking, 'Where is
the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its
rising, and have come to pay him homage.' <sup>3</sup>When King Herod heard
this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; <sup>4</sup>and calling
together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them
where the Messiah was to be born. <sup>5</sup>They told him, 'In Bethlehem of
Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"> <sup>6</sup>"And
you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;">
are by no
means least among the rulers of Judah;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;">
for from you shall come a ruler<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;">
who is to
shepherd my people Israel." '<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;">7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from
them the exact time when the star had appeared. <sup>8</sup>Then he sent them
to Bethlehem, saying, 'Go and search diligently for the child; and when you
have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.' <sup>9</sup>When
they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star
that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the
child was. <sup>10</sup>When they saw that the star had stopped, they were
overwhelmed with joy. <sup>11</sup>On entering the house, they saw the child
with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their
treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. <sup>12</sup>And
having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own
country by another road.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Here it is, the week after Christmas.
Our sanctuary is still adorned, the last chord of "Silent Night" is
still hanging in the air, and we come to celebrate the arrival of the Magi.
"Arise, Shine; for your light has come!" But, what accompanies the
light is bad news. The good news, spoken to Mary by the angel, shared with
Elizabeth, whispered to Joseph, came out of the desperate need for something
good to happen. This text from Isaiah that begs to be preached with unspeakable
joy is paralleled with a Matthean text that is extracted from unspeakable
grief.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mary, who delivered her baby in a
foreign town, barely having been able to catch her breath from a long journey,
has welcomed strangers to the manger where she laid her tiny baby boy. I can
imagine that there was little surprise over the visitors that came during their
stay in Bethlehem. I'm sure when one is told by an angel that she is bearing a
child, conceived by the Holy Spirit, few things can come as a total shock. But,
the arrival of the Wise Men from Persia might have caused a raised eyebrow or
two. They brought expensive gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They
followed a star at its rising, and rejoiced when it came to rest. The lowly
shepherds had the same experience as Mary and Joseph, and it seemed to make
sense for these humble men to come and see the baby born in such desperate
conditions. After all, isn't it always the poor who are most ready to receive
the Gospel? But for the Wise Men to come, bearing gifts of such an elaborate
nature … this was something big. It wasn't just the destitute who were seeking
out this special child anymore. Now, he was starting to attract the attention
of the kings – real kings, kings with power and money and whims, kings who held
the power of life or death over their subjects.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And, as we know, Herod did exactly
that. In the middle of all that joy and celebration over the birth of Jesus,
there was a dark and sinister plot formulating in the quiet rooms of Herod's
palace. The scribes and chief priests hunkered down and thought about the visit
they'd just received from these men from the East. What business did they have
coming to Jerusalem? The business of seeking out a new king? Their question
struck fear into Herod's heart, and "all of Jerusalem with him," as
he struggled to figure out how he's missed the news of the King of the Jews
being born.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There's something inherently scary
about a prophecy being fulfilled. The news that a ruler was born, who would
shepherd the people of Israel, didn't bring the calm and peace that could be
expected. After all, shepherds are meant to bring order to rambling beasts.
Rather, it incited the kings and leaders to actions based on their fear.
Sitting on a throne in Jerusalem, hearing about a king born in pitiful
Bethlehem from Persian astronomers was enough to incite Herod to violence and
judgment. After all, Herod knew that it was <i>Jerusalem</i> that would receive
God's promise of prosperity. That's what Isaiah 60 says, right?
"Arise, shine; your light has come! And the glory of the Lord has risen
upon you… Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your
dawn." And, here they are! The kings! The nations! Bearing gifts and
seeking to pay homage… but to the wrong king, in the wrong city.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Well, maybe we have the wrong text,
too. After all, the chief priests and scribes didn't point to the prophecy
found in Isaiah. Instead, they told Herod about Micah 5:2:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;">"But <b>you</b>,
O Bethlehem of Eph-ra-thah, who are one of the little clans of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judah, from <b>you</b> shall come forth <i>for
me</i> one who is to rule in Israel." <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;">Biblical prophecies are always a mixed bag,
aren't they? Ask any Prophet, and you'll see that being the messenger of such
news doesn't present the most positive job landscape one might imagine. You'd
think working as one chosen by God to speak to the people on God's behalf might
come with some perks, but the business of God is never blithe. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The same is true for the prophecies
themselves. Though we desperately want to hear about the light shining in
mighty Jerusalem, what we hear is a glimmer of hope illuminating a little clan
of Judah. And here we are on Epiphany, celebrating the manifestation of God's
promise in Christ, and we've got it all wrong. It's country-bumpkin <i>Micah</i>,
not the poet Isaiah. It's lowly <i>Bethlehem</i>, not metropolitan Jerusalem.
It's kings following a star, not the brightness of the dawn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And, it doesn't seem to get much
better after Christ has finally made his big arrival in the world. The events
that unfold after the visit by the Magi are terrible and heart wrenching. After
the wise men head home by a different road, Joseph is warned in a dream to flee
the country. He takes Mary and Jesus to Egypt, thus fulfilling another awful
prophecy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn't take Herod long to
realize that the Wise Men aren't coming back with a detailed map for him to
follow, and in his rage, he orders a decree that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all children</i></b> under the
age of two must be killed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I awoke yesterday to some terrible
news. A dear friend, a clergy colleague, who is married to one of the most
talented pastors I’ve ever known, ended his own life on Friday. His battle with
depression ended when the darkness overtook him. No light could shine in. In
his death, he leaves a broken-hearted and frightened spouse and two beautiful,
confused daughters. I held the news of his death in my head and heart as we
barreled home from our trip, and shared my sorrow with my friend, Sam, who
offered me this: Herod is a wicked man, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">still</i>
slaughtering our innocents. And, it’s true, isn’t it. That Herod’s power
manifests in many ways, even still. And we lose innocent people to the deepest,
darkest horrors. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Kings bearing gifts have gone
home, the Messiah has fled the country, the infants have been massacred, and it
seems that these prophecies are leaving Judea with a lot of empty promises and
overwhelming grief. When Joseph and his family are finally called out of Egypt
to return to Israel, he was, understandably, afraid. If he returned with his
family to Bethlehem, Jesus would be the only boy his age still alive. So, he
followed the warning given in a dream, and headed to Galilee where he made a
home in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled another prophecy, which declared
that, "He will be called a Nazorean." Danger! At this point, it
doesn't seem like Israel can handle any more fulfilled prophecies. If the light
is coming, then it's got an awful lot of darkness to overwhelm.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From his birth, Jesus seemed to be
simultaneously revealing and confounding the scriptures. Who would have thought
that the birth of the Messiah would have brought such bloodshed to the children
of Bethlehem? This Christ that we honor never seems to fit our expectations. We
try, as we re-create the Nativity story each Christmas, to capture the God's in-breaking
into the world in the quiet beauty of the manger. A lovely Mary, with a doting
Joseph at her side, rocks the porcelain Jesus while sheep, donkeys, shepherds
and wise men come and bow down. But the story we tell is larger than the
details we try to remember at Christmas each year. There are other voices in
scripture, other prophecies that have a darker edge.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Wasn't the point of the Incarnation
that God was coming to save the people of Israel? Lest we forget, there were
more prophecies to fulfill as Jeremiah's words came true: "A voice was
heard in Ra'mah, wailing and loud lamentation. Rachel weeping for her children,
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more." It seems that the
presence of the light necessitates shadow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Once God is here, though, it seems
that death is perpetually at his heels. Christ is born, honored, and sent away
to Egypt as the rest of his peers are put to death. Once back in Galilee, Jesus
is baptized by a crazy man who is eventually beheaded. Jesus is tempted by
Satan himself, and then gathers together a bevy of misfit apprentices, who
never seem to fully understand what job it is they're being trained to do.
Jesus heals strangers, outsiders, lepers, and widows, but he fails to show up
when his best friend is dying. He fulfills prophecies, but not always the right
ones. He references scripture, but doesn't elaborate. He claims to be the Son
of God, but won't allow his Father to come to his rescue as the Roman soldiers
are nailing him to the cross. And just when it can't get any worse, he goes off
and dies a pathetic death. The nerve of our Messiah!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The blood that has followed him
throughout his life finally overcomes him on the cross. That porcelain babe has
been shattered and broken. But, Jesus wasn't done fulfilling prophecies, was
he? This unexpected, unpredictable Messiah, who didn't do anything we
envisioned, found a way to beat death. And then it all becomes clear: those who
tried to overwhelm this man with their power suddenly were rendered powerless.
Herod and the chief priests, the Scribes and Pharisees, Judas and Pilate… they
all had a shot at it, but it was Christ who came in final victory to save his
people at last. "Let our hearts thrill and rejoice," for Christ has
turned everything on its head, even death itself!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There will always be a shadow side –
we live in a world that is still filled with poverty, disease, sin and greed.
But these things do not have the final say. The light cannot be overcome by the
darkness, no matter how profound. Once the light came into the world, the
darkness lost its power. <i>Death</i> lost its power.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sisters and Brothers, Arise, Shine,
for your light has come. Praise be to God! Amen. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4972705419293846402.post-39377091523456667442014-11-02T15:03:00.000-08:002014-11-02T15:03:08.859-08:00Sermon: Blessed Are Those Who Mourn, All Saints Day 2014<div class="MsoNormal">
Rev. Mandy Sloan Flemming<br />
Laguna Beach United Methodist Church<br />
Sunday, November 2, 2014<br />
All Saints Day<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stewardship Sermon Series, Part 3: Gifts</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
“Blessed Are Those Who Mourn”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Matthew 5:1-12, NRSV<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up
the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. <sup>2</sup>Then
he began to speak, and taught them, saying:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<sup>3</sup>“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><sup>4</sup>“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blessed are those who mourn, for they will
be comforted</i>. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><sup>5</sup>“Blessed
are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><sup>6</sup>“Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<sup>7</sup>“Blessed are the
merciful, for they will receive mercy. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><sup>8</sup>“Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they will see God. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><sup>9</sup>“Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><sup>10</sup>“Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><sup>11</sup>“Blessed
are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil
against you falsely on my account. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><sup>12</sup>Rejoice
and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Here we are on week 3 of our Stewardship Sermon series. Our focus this
week is on “Gifts.” On a day like this, when our entire worship service is
structured around our invitation to the communion table, as we remember and
celebrate the Saints who have gone before us, it is easy to consider the gifts
we have received. In this very congregation, we have lifted up to God eight of
our own members, who we have loved and cared for in their lives of faith.
Edythe Handy, John Slover, Evelin Alleman, Anne Price, Dee Jensen, Don Beaver, Darrin Reed and Pam Conroy were beloved
friends. They were parents and grandparents. They were the people who shared
with us in our study, who sat by us in worship, who made things happen, who
welcomed the newcomers and who poured us drinks without even asking. These
eight members are more than we could ever capture in a single moment, because
they were, for us, the body of Christ. And today, we give thanks to God for
these people who have gone before us, in life and in death. They are saints,
they are witnesses, they are beloved children of God, who have been welcomed
home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">As we approach our scripture today, we do so as people who are
desperate to hear good news. We do not come to the table today without the
burden of grief or longing; this is not a normal invitation. Because, like so
many other occasions we have had, we are accepting an invitation to a supper
that feels as though it is missing a guest. Our grief comes, not just in death,
or in the memory of a loss, but in the fading away of dreams and hopes. Perhaps
you have lost a career, perhaps a diagnosis has sent your family spinning into
chaos, perhaps you long for restoration in a relationship that can never be
made whole. It is with all of these losses and griefs that we come to our
Gospel reading with the hope that it will provide us with some sort of guide as
we cope with the empty feeling we have in the wake of these absences. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Shortly
after Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee, he also invites 12 men to come and
be his disciples. “Follow me,” Jesus tells them as they are raising their nets,
“and I will make you fish for people.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
news of Jesus’ fame spread throughout the land, as he proclaimed the good news
of the kingdom and healed the sick. Great numbers of people flocked to hear
him, and when Jesus saw that the crowds had gathered, he went up on the
mountain and begins to preach. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">What Jesus preaches to them is the sort of sermon all preachers hope
to give. Jesus knows his audience intuitively, and speaks directly to each of
their concerns, because he knows that “loss comes in leave-takings, in slowly
losing a loved one to Alzheimer’s or cancer. It comes in the loss of employment
or dignity. It comes from struggles with illness both of body and mind. It
comes from the exhaustion of caring for those with special needs. It comes from
disappointment at home or work or school, of dreams deferred or hopes dashed.”
“Blessed are the broken in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” Jesus
says to all who can hear. These are his first words to the assembled
congregation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">No one has ever called the broken in spirit “Blessed.” Rather they are
typically asked who it was that sinned, their mother or their father. No, this
is not the crowd that is blessed. This is the crowd that has no other hope than
to listen to an off-beat rabbi teach something altogether new about their
scriptures, as he heals demoniacs, epileptics and paralytics. They are not
blessed because they are broken-spirited, but they also haven’t given up hope,
and hope points to a place in the future where our prayers are answered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Now, consider the crowd that might be gathered. <a href="http://www.nadiabolzweber.com/" target="_blank">Nadia Boltz-Weber</a> is a
Lutheran pastor in Denver, CO, who founded a Lutheran Church called <a href="http://www.houseforall.org/" target="_blank">House forAll Sinners and Saints</a> (HFASS, which is a fantastically subversive acronym for
a church). She was a woman who came to her faith after living through addiction
and illness, but realized that the often sordid company she kept always sought
her out as the one to share pastoral care. She answered a call to ministry and
now she serves a congregation that is filled with the least of these. It is
packed with former and current drug addicts, drag queens, artists, musicians
and every faithful person in Denver who’d ever thought there wouldn’t be a true
church home for them. Nadia writes that she was very comfortable with this,
until she was asked to preach at Red Rocks on Easter Sunday. The next week, the
congregation started morphing into a crazy hybrid of her own people and the
folks who looked a lot more like their straight-laced parents. She sat back and
looked at the congregation and thought, “Who are these people? Why are they
here? This is not a church for <b>them</b>.” Until she witnessed the folks who
had been long-time members gravitating to the new visitors. They became, in
fact, the straight-laced foster parents of the children who had been abandoned
by their own families of origin. She watched as the people she never expected
to arrive, showed up and started sharing their love. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This sort of congregation must have
been what Jesus was observing as he looked out over the masses. Here, were not
the crowds of fisherman or dutiful women. Rather, there were the aged and
withering, the cynics and skeptics, the outcasts and the lonely, the
tax-collectors to keep an eye on things, the curious and the desperate, the
Pharisees and scribes. “</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">You
can see them looking back at him. They're not what you'd call a high-class
crowd—It doesn't look as if there's a hero among them. They have their jaws
set. Their brows are furrowed with concentration. … It is not his hard times to
come but theirs he is concerned with, speaking out of his own meekness and
mercy, the purity of his own heart.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">With this bizarre collection
of people from all over Galilee, Jesus begins to speak, starting with a message
that will fall on the ears who are most desperate to hear it, “Blessed are the
broken in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If we’re being honest, Jesus could
have stopped right there and gone home. There is enough wisdom and hope in the
opening lines of this sermon that we don’t need much more than that. But, Jesus
is kind. So he continues, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be
comforted.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In each of these statements from the
Sermon on the Mount, Jesus offers promises that are unconditional. This means
that these are not future-looking promises. They are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">already</i> true. So, when Jesus says, “blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted,” there is no condition under which our mourning
isn’t blessed, and no condition under which we shall not be comforted when we
grieve. It seems impossible to imagine, in the thick of our grief, that there
will ever be a time when the loss before us doesn’t define our lives or ways of
living. It seems impossible, even selfish, to move forward in the wake of such
grief. It is important to remember that our futures are never determined by the
realities of our past. Jesus reminds the hearers in that sermon, just as Jesus
reminds us today, that we shall be comforted when we mourn, because when we
struggle, we are not being faithless. “Struggle, doubt, feeling overwhelmed,
wondering if God is out there – these aren’t signs of failure or lack of faith,
but are actually a testament to profound faith as we wrestle with such
deep questions and thereby take God seriously. And so when we feel at our most
low, and wonder if we have lost our faith, God names us among the most faithful.
<i>Blessed are those who struggle</i>”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
because “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesus
continues his sermon to include the blessing of the meek, those who hunger for
righteousness, those who are merciful, those who are pure in heart, those who
are peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake and for the
Jesus’ sake. Again, these are not the citizens that society rewards or blesses.
These are the people who are outcast or forgotten, scorned and mocked. Jesus
speaks directly to those of us who are struggling, who seek to be the Gospel,
to live as people transformed by our faith. But, it is so challenging when the
world speaks back to us. Why be generous when we could save our resources and
build up our own empires? The world calls us to be self-serving, but the world
does not bless us as Christ does. Christ says, “blessed are the merciful, for
they shall receive mercy.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In one of the stewardship resources
I’ve been reading, author urges us to “move from being a consumer of church to being
a contributor.” On a day like this one, when we celebrate and lift up the gifts
we have been given, it is a blessing to consider how we can give back to the
church (which is never just a building) that has shaped and formed us. Consider
the ways in which our Saints were contributors to our life of faith, and to our
shared ministry of transforming the world for the sake of the Gospel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Yesterday,
I was talking with Sloan about what happens when we die; at least to the extent
that I know everyone does so. She asked astonishingly pointed questions upon
the revelation that we both age and will come to a mortal end. “Will someone
bring us all back together again?” Yes, Sloan. It is God who will bring us back
together again. “Will someone make us not old? And alive again?” I’ve never
before had a grounded understanding of the resurrection that is promised to <b>all</b>
of us, but when my beloved daughter asked this question, I had no trouble
answering her with an assurance that came from beyond my own understanding,
“Yes, Sloan. Jesus will restore us to the people we were, in the company of all
who we know and love.” What an incredible gift to be the recipients of this
promise of eternal life. Let us celebrate that promise, here at the table,
where those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled. Rejoice
and be glad, sisters and brothers, for your reward shall be great in heaven. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> <a href="http://frederickbuechner.com/content/beatitudes-0">http://frederickbuechner.com/content/beatitudes-0</a>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4972705419293846402#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">David Lose, <a href="http://www.davidlose.net/2014/10/all-saints-a/">http://www.davidlose.net/2014/10/all-saints-a/</a>
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Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836539218916926779noreply@blogger.com0