Reformation Day to Halloween 2016

10/30

Check out today’s bulletin cover…..

The Dakota Pipeline protests continue. This is probably the most important protest of recent years as Native Americas protest a pipeline drill into their scared land. They are indigenous people. ( I’m waiting of someone to tell them to “ Go back where you came from…”) They say they are "Protectors" not"protestors" I have to ask,would we run a pipeline through Arlington Cemetery?

This makes the Chief Wahoo hats worn by the Cleveland Indians all the worse..

Chief Wahoo

Cleveland may win…My friend Bruce Reyes Chow has been wearing a “Caucasians” shirt….

Thus we are "Caucasians"





















                                                                    

Last week I was in St. Louis visiting with colleagues. Some of the wounds of the Ferguson uprising still visible. The Pastor of 3rd Presbyterian Church kept church open to serve meals to the kids….because the schools were closed…and fro some children, their only meals came at school.

Yesterday here ended the two days long Transformation Festival…It’s theme was Leaving victimhood behind…One of the speakers was from the wounded warrior project…for soldiers returning from deployment …how tragic it is how abandoned some of our veterans have felt.

I tell my seminary students…we always do theology in a context..this is mine this week….what is yours?

Today is Reformation Sunday. This weekend begins the 500th anniversary celebration of the beginning of the reformation. Martin Luther  never intended to start a new religion or even a new denomination. (Can you imagine living in a time where there was just ONE church?)

Do you remember what set him off? The sale of indulgences…to pay for St. Peter’s basilica in Rome. (What a great fundraising scheme…to pay to take years off purgatory. That’s what started it. Like pulling on  loose thread, this eventually led him to question the whole system. Led him ultimately to“priesthood of all believers.” In our tradition, our equal ordinations. It’s why I am primarily a teacher and not a priest. A facilitator not a mediator. I am an administrator of sacraments, not a consecrator. What began there had broad political impact as well…Marilynne Robinson argued that Calvin’s reformed theology led to the  Enlightenment and humanism. 

Tomorrow is Halloween…the night before All Saints and then  All Souls days.…Luther chose the day deliberately. Because we are all “saints” and “souls…”

Last week we spoke of  a vision. Habbakuk spoke of “Writing the vision and making it plain so that even runner can read it..” Like bill boards along the highway.  What is the vision we seek to write?  We need to write?

I am more and more convinced that in a challenging and confusing time…at the end of empire…we are called to a radical  Christianity. I don’t mean that in a political sense, though there are certainly political implications. I mean that like Luther, we seek to go to the root and for us that root is Jesus. That more than anything we need to seek a radical obedience to the way of Christ and live that out in a community that works to help each other figure out what that means. To seek to be a Zaccheus who goes out to see Jesus and gets seen himself. To make Jesus the ultimate authority in everything we do. 

That’s how I see it on Reformation Day 2016. 

(And Happy Halloween!!!!)

                                                                         ****

In honor of Luther, we sing together A Mighty Fortress...

                                                                          ****

Halloweeen another perfect, beautiful day...a day for walking through the park..for debriefing the Transformation Festival  with Carman and Lotte ... then to West-Park where Leila and Pat have transformed the church...for the next four hours we greet a steady stream of trick or treaters..amazed at the cleverness of some costumes, like the two man Mr. Softee ice cream truck...Leila, Pat, Larry, Dion, David, Marsha and finally Russ all do their part...we did this well...

on the steps

Greeting the neighbors

Thanks Pat and Larry

Selfie

Add caption

friends

Marsha looking Wagnerian

Mr.Softee

First Reading Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4

1The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.

2O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you "Violence!" and you will not save? 3Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. 4So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous-therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

vd

1I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint. 2Then the LORD answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. 3For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. 4Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faith.

Gospel Luke 19:1-10

1He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." 6So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." 8Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." 9Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

Who do you belong to?

1/14

Long, extended conversation with representatives from a seriously interested party. Marsha, Leila and Stephen with me on our side. And our friend Ann from the Landmarks Conservancy, who’s been over almost every inch of this building and helped us with the 10 year plan for restoration, here to answer questions. An overly long discussion of awnings and signage. What will it take to get the scaffolding down? Oh, around $450-600,000. I’m seriously pondering what it could be like to not have the church house .To have a firm separation. Even with a good neighbor. Feel tired when it’s over.

Anna walks in during the meeting. I walk out to talk with her. She wants us to keep her papers safe for her. And wants help to find an attorney to help her draw up a will. I’m touched by her trust. Of course we can do this. 

Jim comes by to drop off some papers he’d collected over the years. He’s already become a key member over at Jan Hus, across the park. We’ve always thought of that church as part of the family. It’s a good place for Jim and Holly. In their neighborhood. But I/we miss them. They gave much over the years. Through some of the most difficult times. Carried a heavy load on that part of our journey. I feel deep gratitude. I feel the absence. For a moment I remember our men’s writing and spirituality group. Jack, our leader. Seasons.

A woman has come in  seeking help. I’ve only got a few dollars left. This keeps happening. She looks at me with that is that all you’ve got look. And I return the yes that is look. She says, you a minister, right? I say, yes I am. She says, so pray for me. So I place my hands on her shoulders, close my eyes, call her by name, do just that. She thanks me, leaves. 

Kirsten is a young woman from George Fox on Oregon. Working as an intern for Amanda. She’s come to check us out. Part of Amanda and Bill’s plan for the tower. She asks good, professional questions. I give her the tour. Tell her the stories. As always, Amanda is thinking creatively and outside the lines. I’m anxious to see a plan.  

RL talks to us about taking care of he and Harvey's information. This too is a honor. He sees the remains of Danielle's banana. So why are bananas so popular? He asks. She shakes her head. Because they've got appeal...

         

                                                   * * * * 

Time for Bible study. Tonight we’re into the 12th chapter of Mark. Confrontations and controversies for Jesus. Starting with the question of taxes. You can only get this if you see it in sequence following the questioning of his authority and his parable of the wicked tenants.

Lots at play here:

• Unlikely coalition of the pharisees, the local synagogue rabbis, finding the living God in the word of God and the Herodians, officials of the Roman installed ethnarch Herod. Sort of the Ahmed Chalabi of his day. Normally enemies, see shared interest in eliminating Jesus.
• The tax was hated as going to the occupying power. No taxation without representation.
• Seek to entrap him with their question about taxes. If he says no, he's  subversive. if he says yes, he loses his popular support.
• Whose image? No religious...or patriotic, Jew would carry a coin with the image of Caesar on it. Jesus carried no denarii. Those that do are already compromised. 
• The word render means to pay to someone you are indebted to.
• This is in no way a passage of compromise. Jesus' message is clear. Nothing belongs to Caesar. Everything belongs to God. Who do you belong to? But his words are so careful, there’s nothing they can do.
• If everything belongs to God and we are called to be stewards, we have to concern ourselves with all of creation. every part of life.  We talk about how his theology has inspired civic participation. For Calvin, the highest calling was that of magistrate. Anna asks about other examples, like schools. And we speak of the long tradition of  Presbyterian schools and hospitals across the world. Generations of post-colonial  leaders educated in Presbyterian schools. It’s about stewardship....
• And why no matter who wins an election, which party or power, we must always hold them accountable. Just like IAF.

Our traditional reformed way of political decision making:

• Check the Bible
• Check the tradition
• Check all available secular analyses
• Pray and listen for the guidance  of the Holy Spirit
• Fight with all your might for what you believe is right
• Go to bed with the thought that you might be  wrong

Next story is the Sadducees, the doctors of the law. A trick question about the tradition of brothers-in-law taking the place of their dead brother in a marriage. And who gets the woman in the afterlife?

• Typical lawyer’s question, says Marsha.
• They’re asking about an afterlife they don’t even believe in.
• The real issue here is keeping property in a family. The woman is only a vehicle of posterity. And they want this dominance to continue even in the after life. 
• Jesus says in effect, Really? In the community he is creating, these kind of patriarchal relationships will no longer be tolerated. Not in a community of mutuality. God is God of the living, not the dead. Live right now,what comes after will take care of itself.

One more questioner. A scribe has been listening. One responsible for copying the Torah carefully. Keeping God’s word right. He has heard. He has seen. And his question comes from a place of sincerity. Real inquiry.

Jesus answers that the Shema, hear O Israel, the Lord your God s one...is the greatest commandment. (And why the concept of the Trinity would never make sense to a faithful Jewish person.)

• And the second commandment is like unto it, Love your neighbor as yourself. Nothing new here. Hillel said something very similar. But Jesus connects these two verses from two different places so as to say, and the only way you can love God with all your heart, all your strength and all your soul is to love your neighbor as yourself. 

Sounds good, but...Anna is perplexed at how we get fro that kind of ethic to religious support of income disparity, military dominance, oppression. I say that once you become the official religion of the empire, everything changes. 

Then Marsha stops me. So what’s the payoff?Why should I do this? 

I mention the feeding stories as  demonstrations.  

She says so he’s speaking to hungry people, do they have to wait until the next world to get fed?

But the feeding was real, the hunger met here, now. 

OK, but why?

I have to think about this Perhaps experiencing it is self-evident. We have to create an experience that is self-validating. This way of life makes us happier,more fulfilled. I think again about the black church. About lgbtq worship services  and in the communities  of struggle who experience salvation and freedom and liberation within their communities before it becomes manifest in the world around us. 

But....says Marsha.

We need to talk about this more. 

Calvin

Reformation Sunday: Battening down the hatches

10/28

Today is Reformation Sunday. But it’s also a day on which everyone is holding their breath in anticipation of the coming hurricane. 

Reformation robe

In honor of the day, I’ve got my collar on for the first time in a long time and I wear my academic robe, explaining the difference between a priest and a minister. To oversimplify, a priest is an intermediary, a minister, more than anything, a teacher. My ordination and that of my elders, equal, but different. All a result of the revolution begun by Luther on October 31st, 1517. O that day he would nail his 95Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. 

Needing to raise money to pay for St. Peter’s basilica, the Pope had authorized a new sale of indulgences under the direction of Johan Tetzel who was known to have said, As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs. Luther insisted that  since forgiveness was God's alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error. Christians, he said, must not slacken in following Christ on account of such false assurances.

But he also had another objection. On the moral side of the equation he asked, Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money? He had no intention of leaving the church or dividing the church. But, as is so often the case with questions, once you ask one, it’s like pulling a loose thread. One leads to another. And a whole structure of thought begins to unravel. 

Luther chose  the day deliberately. It was All Hallow’s Eve, (Halloween), the night before All Saints’ Day. And he wanted to call into question the necessity of praying to saints. And the next day, November 2nd, was by tradition All Souls’ Day, a day of remembrance of all those who have died. Because of what Luther began, we now conflate All Saints and All Souls as all of us are saints. And November 1st became the Day of the Dead. 

Luther’s theses led to some very basic radical ideas:

1. Forgiveness was God’s alone to grant
2. No mediator is necessary between human beings and God
3. The Bible should be in the language of the people, belongs to them, not the church...when people can read for themselves, they won’t be manipulated
4. Our ministries are given to us by our baptism

The issue of putting the Bible itself into the language of the people was itself radical. In essence, it would enable people, in Freire’s terms, to become the subjects of their own histories. No longer subjects in the narrative written by a religious system  of domination and control. And Guttenberg’s printing press, the Internet of the day, made that revolution possible. 

The social and political ramifications of these theological ideas would go beyond what Luther had envisioned. So much to his dismay, the peasants revolted believing that he would support them. And Luther would turn against them, as he would the Jews who he naively believed would convert en masse once he had shown them a Christianity purified from corruption. He simply couldn’t fathom their continued persistence in their own tradition and his response was vehement and vitriolic. 

Luther’s reformation, a faith based in Sola Scriptura, Sola gratia (only scripture and only grace) would open the door to John Calvin of France who took these thoughts further into a church that would be reformata et reformanda... IE, reformed and (ever) reforming... My tradition seems to forget that last part. For Marilynne Robinson,(see her Death of Adam essays) it was Calvin's thoughts that would open the door to humanism.

And just because it’s still Octoberfest, I shared this quote from Luther. 

He who drinks much beer sleeps well; he who sleeps well does not sin; and he who does not sin goes to heaven.

Even though Teddy has created an easel for us to go to the street and collect from people their theses, especially in these pre-election days, concern about Hurricane Sandy, the so called Frankenstorm, sends us into a flurry of preparation.  

This is complicated by the fact that Sanctuary NYC is preparing for their one year anniversary and the visit from  not only other New Thought ministers but also the Mayan Elders from Guatemala with their message about the end of their calendar and the beginning of a new age. 

We’re pulling down ladders, tying things down and trying to tighten anything that could blow away. Taking down our banners, removing debris from the scaffolding, stacking chairs and tables in the back yard.  l leave Marsha on a ladder to grab my Guatemalan clergy shirt and stole to jump into the procession and than deliver a greeting in English and Spanish aware of the activity swirling around outside the building.

I excuse myself from the service and go back out to finish the work. Rachelle is wanting to direct things. Anna and Puppy are intently observing everything. And commenting. I regain focus. Check out Jay’s work in the back. Steve tying down the mini dumpsters left by Woodshed’s recent clean out day. Double check with Jamie and Marsha on blow away details, John R standing at the ready.

In the back of my mind, the small attendance, even with the coming hurricane, gnaws at me. Jeremy’s drum flowing world music fills me with envy, it’s what I always wanted. Back to the job at hand. Thankfulness for this crew. We are battening down the hatches. Prepared as we will be. 

There’s an eerie quiet in the air as I head home.