July 4th weekend: reflections on nation and church

7/7

Cara  joined the church today

It’s been hot. Very hot. The kind of heat where you walk around with a constant light layer of uncomfortable sweat, clothes sticking to you. Starting to get to people.

I’m disheartened to see all the doorways filled. Guys, it’s after 10. I need to get these doors open. Sunday morning. Church. You know? They begin to stir. I walk around the corner to go in the side door. And there’s Sean.

Sean....

I know, I know. Just help me, OK?

So  help him gather up his stuff. Help him into the wheelchair. Get his backpack on the back of the chair. Help him pick up his stray items. He’s thirsty. I get him a Red Bull. Soon he’s on his way. The yellow gloves will come later. 

I’m doing all the set up by myself again. Go down the street to get what I need for communion. Rob comes in to get the broom and dust pan. Cara’s now here. Strikes up a conversation. Done my share of sweeping myself, she says just like meditation....as Rob sweeps.

I’ve put on a day’s work by the time church is ready to start. We’ve got to figure this out. 

I start out playing Wade in the water with Marc. 

Wade in the water

Wade in the water 

Children wade, in the water

God's gonna trouble the water

Who's that young girl dressed in red

Wade in the water

Must be the children that Moses led

God's gonna trouble the water

[Chorus:]

Wade in the water, wade in the water children

Wade in the water,

God's gonna trouble the water

Who's that young girl dressed in white

Wade in the water

Must be the children of the Israelite

Oh, God's gonna trouble the water

[Chorus:]

Who's that young girl dressed in blue

Wade in the water

Must be the children that's coming through,

God's gonna trouble the water, yeah

[Chorus:]

You don't believe I've been redeemed,

Wade in the water

Just so the whole lake goes looking for me

God's gonna trouble the water

We sit in a circle. Share our prayers. Read our scriptures. 

As usual, there’s a lot to talk about. This is the weekend of July 4th. Usually a time for me to share a reflection on the nation. Reinhold Niebuhr (120th Street at Broadway is now named for him, he was many years at Union)  used to say we need to preach with the newspaper in one hand and Bible in the other. There’s plenty to attract our attention...countries in turmoil.. A tumultuous Middle East.. especially Egypt. Revelations about the ever increasing secret powers of the NSA. And out west, wildfires spreading like, well, wildfire....

But I’m drawn to two articles...One is from last Sunday’s New York Times Op Ed page, the gospel according to me....(http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/29/the-gospel-according-to-me/) It basically argues that our focus is now on well being, inwardness instead of meaning from some kind of collective project.

The unintended byproduct of the liberation movements of the 60s  -70s  was an increasing obsession with self defined by unbridled acquisitiveness, IE, you are what you possess.

It’s been 13 years since the publication of Bowling Alone  ... Since then we’ve seen a steady decline of social capital....break down of community.Of the sense of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone) That is who we are as followers of the Reformed tradition. 

And today, an article about class war in the skies..

(http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/class-struggle-in-the-sky/)...have you flown

anywhere lately? Noticed the difference between our side and the other side of the curtain? What used to be  luxury experience for everyone is now super luxury for a few, and bottom of the boat steerage class for the rest of us. (For a satiric look at this, see Pedro Almodovar’s I’m So Excited where all of the hordes in steerage have been drugged to manage the stress of economy class syndrome, something any of us who fly are familiar with.  

This is the context within which we look at the church. We seem to be in  a day and time where the church as we knew it is all but dead, as my pastor friend Elise and I were talking about it yesterday. 

Our Presbyterian churches tend to be small. Three-fourths (76 percent) have 200 or fewer members. The average, or mean, size of a Presbyterian church is 180 members. The median size is 89.Eight in ten (81 percent) have 250 or fewer members. More than half (54 percent) have 100 or fewer. (Data from PCUSA.org.)

Our scriptures today suggest some clues. In Luke 10:1-12, we find a strategy.

Jesus sends out 70. Two by two, no one can go alone. As Jesus says the harvest is plentiful, laborers few (don’t we know it)  and that we must ask The Lord for laborers...

What’s at work here is radical discipleship. What is it? The young adults say they’re not sure but they know it when they see it...

Back to Strategy:

The workers are sent out nearly without resources to show that you have to win the confidence of those you go out to so that they will support you. You are to  Remain in the house,.....where you have been received, not run about from place to place, home to home. If you have found a  genuinely compassionate person, that is a good place to begin As we know from organizing, you have to stay long enough to develop core leaders.

We are to eat what is before you, that is to be accepting of the culture and gifts of those we go out to. 

And when you are rejected, Shake  off the dust from your feet... meaning know when to leave, know when to stop beating your head against the wall.

(The lectionary creators carefully excluded verse 12 where Jesus says that for those who show no welcome, no hospitality, it will be worse for them than Sodom showing clearly Biblically, and especially for Jesus, the sin of Sodom was refusal to grant hospitality and abuse of strangers, absolutely NOT same sex love...Thus our old friend and prophet Howard Warren could rightly proclaim those who reject the lgbtq community to be the true Sodomites)

When the apostles come back with their stories of success, Jesus said he saw Satan falling from heaven like lightning, .....that means the  power  of Satan , the accuser...that internal voice of criticism that drags us down and prevents us from being who we are created to be is defeated once and for all. 

In Galatians 6: 1-16, we also find helpful counsel. When someone has broken faith with the community or fallen short, we are to act with gentle compassionate correction. And avoid being tempted. Meaning I suppose the temptation to condemn or think ourselves better than.

Or perhaps it is to avoid being taken under ourselves. I remember my summer intern years ago in Tulsa who felt he was called to minister to dancers in a strip club. When the owner of the club called me to say he was concerned about my intern, who seemed to have  fallen  in love, I told him he had to be clear which part of himself was responding to what call. 

We are to  bear one another's burdens BUT all must carry their own loads. If we each carry our own loads, helping one another will be no difficult task. I love community organizing at least in part because of its golden rule as per Sol Alinsky: never do for anyone what they can do for themselves. Not charity (doing for), ideology (thinking for) or advocacy (speaking for) but building a strong community, an organization capable of shifting and changing and adapting because it is built on sustainable relationships...

As Paul says, you reap what you sow. It took me awhile to figure out what Paul’s flesh talk was all about. It’s not our natural response of the senses but self absorption. Preoccupation with self.

We are called to work for the good of all, especially the family of faith.

On the one hand we need to be aware of and respond to needs we that perceive to be in the culture, like the need to feel  authentic and connected. BUT....I see us called to be a counterculture. One where we celebrate the  good of the whole, the beauty and value of relationship, community.

Of a God that actually demands something of us, of a faith practice that expects something and a membership that means something...more than vague self oriented spirituality. Someone says, but if you make it too hard, people won’t join. And I say, we don’t ask enough. People want to know that it is important to us, that it matters. that is where we will begin to begin again.  

Today our new Deacon John and new Elder Don assist in serving our communion.

Then Elder Leila presents Cara as one who has requested to become a member of the church. And we heartily welcome her. 

We sing the old hymn of welcome Blessed be the Tie that binds then finish with I’ve got peace like a river. Another good Sunday.

Then back into the heat. 

We will end the holiday weekend serving at the shelter at SPSA. Kate has a wonderful meal planned. My recipe for pulled pork. 

A gift. Passing on the mantle. The religious Stonewall

6/30

On the way to church, I  get a text from Stephen. He and Cara will be late to church. So I will be on my own to set up. Depressing.

But when I arrive, I find Sergeant Keith and los Rodriguez and the lost boy all still there. There seems to have been some kind of rapprochement between Keith and the others. So we talk. 

I learn my lost boy’s name is Rob. He wants help to get it together. They all join in to help me get it together for this morning. Keith and Joe help roll the heavy baptismal font to the center of the sanctuary. Rob sweeps the steps and takes out the garbage. Soon we’ll be ready for worship. 

I learn that Keith believes either Dick Cheyney or Texas governor Rick Perry should be President. Well, all right, then. I understand where’s he’s coming from. He talks to me bout the appropriate display of the American flag in the sanctuary. 

Sheryl Jaffe

My congregants are beginning to arrive. And soon Sheryl arrives as well. She has come down from Massachusetts with a very special gift. A new cover for our baptismal font that went missing during the peek of the #OWS days. OWS promised it’s replacement. Sheryl, an #OWS mom, made it happen. Almost a year and a half later. 

on the wheel

We begin with Desmond Tutu’s Goodness is stronger than evil, kindness is stronger than hate...in honor of Nelson Mandela.

After we read the story  of  the Elijah being carried away, we sing Swing  Low, Sweet Chariot. 

And today we do our Psalm 77 People’s mic style as we recall #OWS.

ready for glazing

As my sermon begins, I note that there’s lots to talk about today:

*We are ordaining and installing officers

* It's LGBT pride Sunday

• And we are receiving a gift that brings an end to a story

To help us reflect on these things, what do our scriptures tell us?

First we have Elijah (2 Kings 2: 1-2, 6-14) passing on the mantle ( that's where that expression comes from) And he's carried away by chariots....without really being dead. Which is why in the Jewish tradition, he always  still seems to be around. Or just around the corner. There’s always an empty chair for him. At a bris. (Circumcision celebration.) Or at Passover. And he seems to appear at moments and bring small miracles. 

When we ordain and  install new people, we are passing on the mantle. Just like when Elijah passed it on to Elisha who  struck the Jordan and parted the waters. Perhaps the best biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., was Parting the Waters, not referring to the parting of the Red Sea by Moses,

Moses parting the water by Angelo Romano

but to this parting of the Jordan by means of Elijah’s mantle. King picking u the mantle of Moses, the mantle of Elijah and parting the waters.  And now  the mantle is being passed on. To us. 

Today we join our  hearts with the people of South Africa...and all around the world... as they pray for Nelson Mandela. We celebrate his life and witness among us.  A beacon of a tireless fight for justice and peace and relentless in the pursuit of reconciliation.

In Luke (9: 51-62), we find Jesus setting his  face to Jerusalem. Being clear and single minded as to where he was going and why. He asks those near him to follow me, and many respond, I will follow you without really understanding what that means. We need to know exactly what that means before making promises. 

His comments about the birds of the air and foxes gives  us an image  of a homeless savior. One whose  home is the journey itself. 

The key here is a single minded focus. There can be no distractions. When one asked to follow asks to first bury his father,sounds reasonable but Jesus responds that the dead should bury the dead. On reflection, it’s not really clear just how long the father would live....it comes down to let me wait until...I get my new job, I get my degree, my children are raised .There is no waiting until...if you want to follow, you must follow now. What’s dead must be left for dead...what was is not what will be. ideas, theologies, forms, all....let the dead bury the dead. 

No, it  must be now.

We just can’t say we 'll wait until our deal is done...we need to do it now.

As we ordain and install new leaders today, we are passing  on the mantle. And to symbolize that, we will use these More Light stoles. They were originally symbols of resistance. Originally stoles were only for ordained clergy. But during the years when ordination was denied to LGBTQ elders and deacons as well, people from the More Light movement from across the country knitted stoles for use at General Assemblies (Presbyterian legislative meetings) to symbolize those whose ministries were denied. Finally, in July 2011, 33 years later, the ban was lifted. Now these stoles symbolize welcome, acceptance, the power of the ordination of elders and deacons. The power of the people. To those who are being ordained today, this mantle is passed to you....

                                              Whoopi Goldberg sings I Will Follow Him

As we pass our collection plates, I play I will follow him from Sister Act. (And does anyone remember Little Peggy March?)

And then I invite Sheryl to come forward to explain her offering, her gift. Her son Dan was one of the  first Occupiers to come  to West-Park. His time here was not always easy. in fact, sometimes deeply troubled. But Dan’s inherent goodness was always evident, even at the most difficult  moments.And he persevered. And we all rejoiced when he went home, set his face to his own Jerusalem and wound up a chef again. We celebrate the fact that he is now a chef in Colorado. 

Stephen, Sheryl and Bob

Sheryl shows the cover it took months to create. The size itself was a challenge. Then a crack appeared and she had to reglaze and seal it. But I thought, she said, that’s what you do,  fix the cracks in the world, the cracked lives...Sheryl has brought an end to a story. Her new creation joined to the florid late Victoriana of the original Tiffany font. She even echoed its water lily/lotus theme, a symbol that transcends Christianity for rebirth. In the inside of her cover, the words for peace from many languages are transcribed. And in tiny letters, right under Shalom, OWS 2012 is inscribed. The time that OWS lived here will always be remembered. Sadly this part of the story will not spread through Murdochland and beyond  the way the disappearance did.

Stephen responds that it was the church’s response to that incident that drew him close. The compassion. Clear speaking, but compassion. The vision of a permanent reminder of #OWS presence. How that led to a journey to his ordination today. And of Marsha thanking OWS the morning amends were made. Money for the missing computer paid back. You took responsibility, even though you didn’t have to, she said.  The people who wrecked the economy never did. You paid us back. The banks never did. We thank you...  

And so as we receive the cover, we give thanks, sing our doxology. Remember as Breuggeman said, resistance begins in doxology.

OWS 2012

Soon it is the moment to ordain and install our new officers. I explain how in our tradition, all ordinations are equal. As Stephen and Don are ordained to be ruling elders, so I serve as a teaching elder. And John is ordained to a ministry of compassion, justice and service. More Light stoles are placed on the shoulders of each. Passing on the mantle. 

Following the ancient tradition, all the way back to Elijah and the  company of prophets, all in the congregation who are ordained lay their hands on our new ordinands. And the the mantle is passed on. 

Ordained deacons and elders

After in singing Siyahamba, a song of South African resistance that became an important song for the More Light Movement, 

We are marching in the light of God, we are marching in the light of God..we go to the chapel.

There we gather to refine the language of the our resolution to sell our manse. To build a sense of stability. It has been a good day together. Much to give thanks for. To celebrate.

More Light Stoles

     

                                                               * * * * 

I’m getting ready to leave to head downtown with Presbyterian Welcome,  to serve water at the Evelyn Davidson Memorial Water Table, named for the wife of Bob, the former pastor of West-Park. Her idea...to give a cup of cool water in Jesus’ name to hot marchers in the Pride parade.  But I hear Pastor Jane say the word Lot, and I realize she’s preaching about Sodom and Gomorrah. So I look in. She sees me and says isn’t that right pastor  Bob? And I say yes.

Many of her Sanctuary NYC people have chosen to be here instead of at the Pride parade. Rainbow colored balloons mark the day. She’s preaching about how the sin at Sodom wasn’t about same sex love but abuse of the stranger.The crowd’s desire to rape the strangers (angels) has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with domination, she says.  She goes on to bring out the often forgotten part when  Lot offers up his virgin daughters to the crowd instead. (No, I don’t get it either...)

She speaks of the importance of acknowledging your shadow, naming it, incorporating its power. How that applies to some of the more outre displays and activities of pride weekend. Taking that part of you that wants to remain hidden and transforming it, using its power to be who you are called to be. At the conclusion of her sermon, she asks me to photograph them in a Pride Sunday portrait. After all have named  their personal quality  to be claimed and transformed. 

And then I speak. How I was on my way out when I heard a word and had to stay. I remembered my friend Howard Warren.Founder of Presbyterian ACT UP. How he stood up to the Presbyterian power elite and accused the the executive director, and thereby the whole Church, of the sin of sodomy. That is refusing to welcome, accept and honor the stranger.  And then I explained  how this very place was the birthplace of the  More Light movement. A movement that  has spread across the country and across all denominations. How this place was, in reality, the religious Stonewall. So it’s good to be here on Pride Sunday. It all began here.

I join them for their final songs. Glad I stayed. Proud to have passed on the mantle of the religious Stonewall prophets.

                                        * * * * 

Finishing up work. Late at night. Marc says it’s time to get the garbage out. Can’t the people  who live here do it? I remind him that no one lives here anymore.  And so we go down together Take the garbage out together. The day is over.