Wow. It was amazing. Being in the match yesterday was a profoundly moving experience. One (as a sign put it) like a mighty stream up 5th Avenue
and it was....
with a spirit of anger, joy, determination and yes, humor. All those wonderful pink …kitty? hats…..(missing an opportunity of a first in a sermon)…
Love the hats!
Less noticeable things that you had to pay attention to notice…like the waving nuns at St. Patrick's Cathedral and church bells at St. Thomas playing “This Land is your land” and “the Star Spangled banner” and “We shall overcome”. All afternoon we marched and posted and chanted and sang. All afternoon picking up new notifications from my friends.
But it was only when I woke up in the middle of the night and checked my phone that I fully got it..the full width and breadth if my friends…there were West-Park folks..:
Pat, Russ, Kate and in the snow in Utah, Jeremy and Center board member Pat
Presbyterians…and Methodists, Lutherans and Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs
Mothers, daughters and grandmothers!
Family members and friends in New York, D.C., Oklahoma City, Portland, Los Angeles ,Utah, Louisville, and the US embassy in Tel Aviv….and a funeral parade for democracy in New Orleans…
Longtime veteran marchers and many, many first timers…
It was the largest one day demonstration in history….conservatively at least three million people…organized and led by women!…wow…
The inauguration dwarfed by the march…
Our scriptures speak of an inauguration today..the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry. It’s easy to forget that he was brought up with at least a hint of suspicion about his parentage. That in an age where couples married young, at age 30 he was still unmarried , living at home and working in his father’s shop, considered odd, at least. And now he has stepped out….being baptized by John in the wilderness…
His ministry begins in this way…John has been arrested…he heads to Galilee, to Capernaum on the lake, and to a people “who sat in darkness…and in the “shadow of death” brought light. And he does so not with a NEW word, but by picking up John’s mantle…and message…right where he left off and proclaims “repent! for the kingdom of heaven is at hand..”
Isaiah describes that time of darkness of exile, of being under another’s control…under yokes and bars and rods…
(This is still the season of epiphany so still with the light…)
The psalm is a song…the Lord is my light, my night and my salvation, in God I trust…a song I remember our friend Andre filling with jazz improvisations…
Corinthians describes division within the community…I belong to Paul…to Apollos…or Cephas…or Christ…
To Donald…to Hillary…to Bernie…(even our faith community breaks down that way..) Easy to forget how sincerely millions of people in this country are in their hope for what our new President can do…some of my friends actually have friends who disagree with them who open up debates in the comments section…some of which disturb me greatly…at how little we understand one another..still trying to understand one of the occupiers who lived here who felt Trump’s speech was an expression of a radical perspective…returning government …“to the people”
What is to be done? What is the light to be brought to his darkness…well, yesterday sure shone…I look at many of my photos and see bright sunlight shining through…but as for the church…
Note how Jesus calls people….as individuals, with particular
places, jobs and names…when we look out, how do we see people? Do we know them? Even our neighbors? (Mine in Harlem knew me before I knew them..)
Paul was called not to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel..not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross not be emptied from its power…
Let’s make that clear…it’s not about saying yes to a formula or saying the right words or giving assent an idea or fancy philosophical argument or systematic theology…but the power of the cross…being willing to follow, even to the end if necessary…from the sake turning away form a system of death and oppression and to one of life and light….
allowing our own lights to shine in the process….shining so that this community can share its light in the broader light that shone yesterday…
may this be a new beginning…an inauguration, of you will, of a new life of faithful resistance…
Today with Jeremy in Utah for the premiere of the new film on which he worked musically, On the Sly: In search of the family stone….and we sang the old song. “They’ll know we are Christians by our love” and “How firm a foundation.” Old songs…we finished with “Fight the Good Fight..” It’s just begun.
It was the Sunday before the inauguration. And we gathered to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And reflect on where we are …now.
All the music of the day was chosen for special reasons….we opened with “Jesus the Light of the World…” continuing our Epiphany theme of light..and getting it…and sang Siyahamba…We are marching in the light of God…a South African freedom song that was late taken up by the More Light movement for full inclusion in church life by the LGBTQ community..a movement that was birthed at West-Park in 1978…the religious Stonewall, you might say…Precious Lord, take my hand was Dr.King’s favorite song, the one that brought the confirm in times of doubt and fear .the uncertainty of our time moved me to sing Blowin in the Wind, a song I would sing the next day at the annual Upper West Side Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. peace walk at Pastor Heidi’s invitation..and of course we called with the Civil Rights Movement’s We Shall Overcome…
And this was my reflection…
This is the Second Sunday in Epiphany…a season of Light…a season of “getting it”…as we continue ti hold our breath in our journey into the unknown…and the weekend of celebrating the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, JR…
In our gospel lesson, somehow we’re still with Jesus where we left him last week, on the banks of the Jordan with John…and this time it’s from the perspective of the Gospel of John…and John too has seen the dove of the Holy Spirit descend and remain on Jesus.
Ultimately, in seeking what Jesus is up to, the people ask him where he’s staying, he responds come and see…and it’s not so much asking where he is but what he does and who he is and by doing so we will discover where we are…
And where is he staying? I’m convinced that these days, we’re going to find him a lot in the streets…
Last Friday, the Micah Institute (and others) walked together to deliver a letter. We walked with Mama Bah, the mother of a murdered child. The Micah Faith Table calls on US Attorney Preet Bharara to launch a full investigation into his case and fully prosecute all officers who killed her son Mohamed Bah, an African Muslim son of our city in Septemer 2012…three years ago…It was profoundlymoving to see Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu and Christian clergy all together…with my neighbor Imam Konate, the spiritual leader of the mosque where Mohammad worshipped…later. he told us emotionally how moved Mama Bah was by the solidarity of so many. She felt a dam in her heart had broken open. “Come and see’’’ says Jesus…
We’ve got macro concerns and micro ones as we move forward…macro-wise, there was recently a full page ad in the New York Times calling us to “Stop Trump” before he is inaugurated…calling on 1000’s…or more.. to come to Washington,DC to block the streets, etc…and of course the women’s march that will take place January 20th…these are macro actions…
We need to be concerned with the micro as well…local issues and actions that are definable, achievable, measurable and verifiable …(the DAM-V test of organizers..)
Tomorrow is our annual Upper West Side Martin Luther King, Jr. walk for peace and justice organized by our clergy and Westsiders for Peace and Justice…
Our march
this year the action is very specific….support for West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing’s proposed expansion of affordable housing at West 108th street…
WSFSSH founder Rev. Laura Jervis
We support affordable housing
.280 units…(20% of our seniors live in poverty, in Manhattan Valley alone 2000 of them are on a waiting list for affordable housing …with a seven year wait..)The plan to use three garages owned by the city has caused a community uproar..…come and see
And our friends from the National Movement Against Sweat Shops and Justice will be Served…are organizing topass a statewide SWEAT bill to stop wage theft…from the most vulnerable of our neighbors, immigrant workers from Mexico, China and French west Africa…come and see…
Frequently at these services, we read from Dr. King’s I have a dream speech. But this year i want to read from Dr. King’s
Letter from the Birmingham jail….1963…
There was a time when the church was very powerful. It was during that period that the early Christians rejoiced when they were
deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas
and principles of popular opinion; it was the thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Wherever the early Christians
entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being "disturbers of the peace" and
"outside agitators." But they went on with the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven" and had to obey God rather than
man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated."
They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest.
Things are different now. The contemporary church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often
the arch supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average
community is consoled by the church's often vocal sanction of things as they are.
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the
early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no
meaning for the twentieth century. I meet young people every day whose disappointment with the church has risen to outright
disgust.
I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour
Yesterday, our Session met with Rick Ufford-Chase
Meeting with Rick
…..we dreamed of creating a congregation committed to:
We are gathered to celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. Our special music includes Jesus the Light of the World, Take me to the Water, Jeremy and I do Bob Ferguson’s On the Wings of a Dove, Wade in the Water and Down to the River to Pray…as always, a joy to sing with Jeremy.
After scriptures, here is our refelction:
It is Baptism of Jesus Sunday.
71.7 % of the earth is water, the oceans contain 96.5% of the earth’s water
Our bodies are 50-65% water, and bodies of infants are 75-78%
There can be life without light. Life without air. But there is no life without water.
Water looms large in the the Bible beginning with creation, the flood,crossing the Red Sea, and Jesus baptized in the Jordan
Our creation story has roots in the Babylonian story with the ultimate defeat of the great sea monster of chaos, Tiamat. (Though our Biblical story does go a radically different direction) Although as my friend Pastor Heidi Neumark likes to point out, and recent events have made clear, Tiamat is never far behind "chaos and confusion” were the words used to describe the scene at the Ft.Lauderdale airport where five were killed and another eight injured…It is a sign of our insanity when the question is asked “Well was this terrorism or just another typical American mass shooting”? Tiamat is never far behind..
Until we took to the air, water was our fastest way of getting from one place to another..the rivers, and later canals…my great grandfather spent some time as a drover on the C&O canal…I’ve often fantasized taking a long river trip…and of course the oceans..
My son watched the movie Titanic the other day….and I pondered the awesome overwhelming power of water overwhelming the human hubris that thought we had created an unsinkable ship..and of course as always, there were significant class issues involved in the Titanic tragedy as well…
Water continues to be a serious political issue whether it’s drought in California, the failure to provide potable water to Flint or what we have done to our rivers and streams, not to mention the ocean..
All goes to say, no wonder water is one of the central symbols of the Christian faith…and today we celebrate, commemorate the baptism of Jesus and consider our own…the official end of Christmastide
First of all what…
Here comes John the Baptist (again!) … Jesus’ cousin, his father aTemple official, a child of privilege, born into religious/political establishment
He has gone out into the wilderness (like the Essenes and Nazirites))
He has adopted a ritual, rooted in Jewish purity rites, the mikveh, suggesting that the whole religious institution has become so corrupted, we all need to be converted again
And so Jesus comes to be baptized
Before we get to why? Lets reflect on relationships. Jesus and John were cousins. Imagine their conversations. Jesus was the poor country cousin so to speak. Imagine their childhood experiences. One remains an unmarried working guy in his father’s workshop. Odd for his day. The other rejects his privilege and goes out into wild as a prophet, What had John been told about Jesus growing up? All that is the unwritten background..John’s hesitation to baptize Jesus, Jesus’ insistence on being baptized…why? if he is sinless? And then the dove. As Leonard Cohen sang:
The birds they sang
At the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
Has passed away
Or what is yet to be
Yeah the wars they will
Be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
Bought and sold
And bought again
The dove is never free
The why is what wraps up our Christmas…the key reality of Christmas is incarnation, word made flesh, God made flesh ….living in the midst of us…it is for Jesus a symbolic act of solidarity with us…he is fully human
By tradition, baptism is emotionally understood like another vaccination/innoculation .My father was always anxious over the fact that my nieces were never baptized.
It’s also a rite of initiation, of inclusion
In our tradition we baptize children because for us salvation is not by our will, or anything we do, or choose, it is a free gift.
We promise community responsibility for a child..We historically rejected godparents, but due to popular demand have ultimately let them in (Although we officially call them SPONSORS)
Each of our own unique ministries comes not through ordination, but through baptism. It is
no longer a ticket to the club, as our denomination declared at its last General Assembly that we offer an open table, baptism not required.
it is a call to us to join Jesus in that solidarity.
Last night I saw Silence, Martin Scorsese’s film of Shushaku Endo’s novel. It’s ultimate truth is that the way of Jesus, our way, is our willingness.to give up all for the sake of others..That is the solidarity we are brought into through our baptism, joining with Jesus as he joins with us.
Following our reflection, we go to the baptismal basin created for us by Cheryl Jaffee, the mother of Occupier Dan after our baptismal font lid disappeared during the Occupy days ..
The "Occupy" basin
It cracked when she brought it out of the kiln. She thought of redoing it, but then decided not to because in her eyes, We were repairing the cracks in the world. There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in (Cohen).
I mix the water fro the Jordan Alistair brought to us with the other water as i pour it into the basin and bless the water. The congregation comes forward to receive a blessing. Each individually. And then, I am profoundly moved as Marsha claims her own ministry as a ruling elder and lays hands on land blesses me. More than any sermon, she has made clear its meaning.
If getting people out on Christmas morning is tough, New year’s day is even worse…and for me there was a trifecta of issues to deal with.
We opened with Jeremy’s gospel version of “Joy to the world..”. To bring in the Kings, we sang the traditional “We three Kings of Orient Are”. Later we will do the Puerto Rican carol, “De Tierra Lejana” in a salsa style. And bring the wisemen back with “Early on One Christmas Morn.” And finally we finish our service with “Jesus the Light of the World”
There was a lot to think about..
Happy New Year!
There are so many ways I can go here…
It’s the 8th Day of Christmas
Because of the way the calendar falls, this year we have no Three Kings Sunday, no Epiphany …if we’re going to do wise men, Magi, they have to be today
The assigned scripture takes us to a place we don’t get to every year, namely Holy Innocents Sunday, the dark Christmas story we don’t read but every three years, the massacre of the children.
And of course, it’s New Years Day….
From Matthew 2 we read:
13Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
16When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. 17Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”
19When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20“Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead.” 21Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”
My friend Pastor Heidi Neumark says the wise men committed civil disobedience…at any rate they lied to Herod….and they saved Jesus but…it led to the massacre of children. In reality, there is no historicity. No external verification. However, using historic population numbers etc, it would have been maybe two dozen children at most…an occurrence so common, it would not have even been written down. Herod was even known to have murdered to be three of his own children…(It was said that it was better to be his pig than his son…)
In church tradition, these children were the first martyrs and the first feast day of the new church year was set for December 28th. The story of the Holy Innocents touches a nerve. And resonates down through history.
In 1534,a mystery play left us the Coventry Carol, the only of the collected Child Ballads with a Biblical theme.
Lullay, lullay
My little tiny child
By-by, lullay, lullaby
Lullay, lullay
My little tiny child
By-by, lullay, lullay
Oh, sisters two
How may we do
For to preserve this day?
This poor youngling
Of whom we do sing
By-by, lullay, lullay
Herod the King
In his raging
Charged he hath this day
His men of might
In his own sight
All children young to slay
Then woe is me
Poor child for thee
And ever mourn and say
For thy parting
Nor say nor sing
By-by, lullay, lullay
Lullay, lullay
My little tiny child
By-by, lullay, lullay
Lullay, lullay
My little tiny child
By-by, lullay, lullay
By-by, lullay, lullay
By-by, lullay, lullay
It was also a common theme with medieval painters, especially Rubens and Bruegel who panted the scene with contemporary characters. (Like by the Nicaragua Solentiname artists in the 1980’s..)
from Solentiname
In 1886, Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck wrote a piece describing the Spanish occupation of the Netherlands based on Breughel’s painting of 1567 (which predated actual repression by two years! )
Breugel
Here is its disturbing conclusion:
When all the children were killed, the tired soldiers wiped their swords on the grass and supped under the pear-trees. Then the foot-soldiers mounted behind the others and they all rode out of Nazareth together, by the stone bridge, as they had come.
The setting sun lit the forest with a red light and painted the village a new colour. Weary with running and entreating, the priest had sat down in the snow in front of the church; and his servant-maid stood near him, looking around. They saw the street and the orchard filled with peasants in their holiday attire, moving about the market-place and along the houses. Outside the doors, families, with their dead children on their knees, whispered in amazement and horror of the fate wherewith they had been assailed. Others were still mourning the child where it had fallen, near a cask, under a barrow or at a puddle's edge, or were carrying it away in silence. Several were already washing the benches, chairs, tables and shirts all smirched with blood and picking up the cradles that had been flung into the street. But nearly all the mothers were kneeling on the grass under the trees, before the dead bodies, which they knew by their woollen frocks. Those who had no children were roaming about the market-place, stopping to gaze at the afflicted groups. The men who had done weeping took the dogs and started in pursuit of their strayed beasts, or mended their broken windows or gaping roofs, while the village grew hushed and still beneath the light of the moon as it rose slowly in the sky.
It is violence, murder, that serves no purpose. Those who could intervene, who the people our to are the church and local political power . The priest impotent. And the feudal Lord indifferent. Which raises the question, where is God? According to New York Times, 100000 of the 250000 trapped in the eastern half of Aleppo are children…
49 died in a mortar attack in July,
8 died n a bombing of a hospital
In November, every day more deaths….
There are 8 million at risk (according to UNICEF) and perhaps 50,000 dead…abnd it goes on and on
Russ’ choice for a bulletin cover is painfully appropriate..
This is the context in which we read Hebrews 2, which we read as an introduction to our Eucharist:
10It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12saying,
“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”
13And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Here am I and the children whom God has given me.”
14Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. 16For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. 17Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. 18Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.
Jesus is there…where are we? The world needs us…
But yes, it is a New Year
Who knows what we can expect? We’re all glad to see 2016 go, BUT what will 2017 bring? Happy New Year? The most I’ve ever heard those words reflected on. You can’t say them without thinking the year…maybe that is the context in which we read Isaiah 63: 7-9
I will recount the gracious deeds of the LORD,
the praiseworthy acts of the LORD,
because of all that the LORD has done for us,
and the great favor to the house of Israel
that he has shown them according to his mercy,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
8 For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely”;
and he became their savior
9 in all their distress.
It was no messenger or angel
but his presence that saved them;
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
We are called on to resist with hope….and joy…
In Their Eyes were watching God by Zora Neel Hurston, she writes of the celebration when the first street lamp comes to a black town in Florida…
The town was full and swarming with people. They wanted to see that lamp
lit at dusk. Near the time, Joe assembled everybody in the
street before the store and made a speech.
“Folkses, de sun is goin’ down. De Sun-maker brings it
up in de mornin’, and de Sun-maker sends it tuh bed at
night. Us poor weak humans can’t do nothin’ tuh hurry it up
nor to slow it down. All we can do, if we want any light
after de settin’ or befo’ de risin’, is tuh make some light ourselves.
So dat’s how come lamps was made. Dis evenin’
we’se all assembled heah tuh light uh lamp. Dis occasion is
something for us all tuh remember tuh our dyin’ day. De
first street lamp in uh colored town. Lift yo’ eyes and gaze
on it. And when Ah touch de match tuh dat lamp-wick let
de light penetrate inside of yuh, and let it shine, let it shine,
let it shine. Brother Davis, lead us in a word uh prayer. Ask
uh blessin’ on dis town in uh most particular manner.”
While Davis chanted a traditional prayer-poem with his
own variations, Joe mounted the box that had been placed
for the purpose and opened the brazen door of the lamp. As
the word Amen was said, he touched the lighted match to
the wick, and Mrs. Bogle’s alto burst out in:
We’ll walk in de light, de beautiful light
Come where the dew drops of mercy shine bright
Shine all around us by day and by night
Jesus, the light of the world.
They, all of them, all of the people took it up and sung it
over and over until it was wrung dry, and no further innovations
of tone and tempo were conceivable. Then they hushed
and ate barbecue.
I wish we had barbecue…but we do have each other …and as we leave here having shared bread and cup, let us remember that it is not these elements but we the people who have been transformed in to the body of the Risen Christ in the World. Let us be his head and heart, hands, feet and words…
Ironic as it sounds, in this neighborhood, Christmas day is a tough day to get people to church, especially if they have young children. But fro many in our community, this is an essential weekly time of community. And so we gather…and so our reflection…
My question today ….What child IS this? Or WHAT child is THIS? As the carol asks…
What Child is this
Who laid to rest
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
That’s the question we have to answer…
The text today….Jon 1 with the words .. in the beginning…the word inn Greek is genesis….sounds like the Happy New Year rejoinder to last night’s Merry Christmas…a New Year… a new beginning…and for most of us. it’s good riddance to 2016… BUT before we go there…it is John’s Christmas story…only for him it’s cosmic…his Christ is in time and out of time and an always was and will be….
It starts with a word…like the word spoken by the Creator that breathes life into creation…like the word brought by preachers and artists and singers and paper makers and painters and poets and prophets…
and the word that brings light…
We almost don’t notice that it brings our man John the Baptist back again…
But what I want to focus on is that darkness has not overcome it…
we need to remember that in a time when darkness surrounds…
that light is a gift…
and we are to receive it…and be light for others…we are all going need that for next year….
But what child is this?
All of John’s cosmic speculation is beautiful and inspiring….but for me it’s the earthly human form, the idea became flesh and dwelt among us…that this child is like the WORD made flesh…ie, the way this child moves in this world will be like an expression, a sermon, a song…
that’s what I want for us…
Pat has brought egg nog and cookies…so we share this time together before returning to our families…
