How much faith is enough?

10/2

After we read Psalm 137 this morning, I played “By the rivers of Babylon” by the Melodians…covered by Bobmarley and Linda Ronstadt among so many others. It’s part of my stretching out to do songs I  thought I could only  do with Jeremy, now  on my own.

I talked about  its last verse:

Happy shall they be who take your little ones

and dash them against the rock!  

Earlier this week I had posted on Facebook and asked if this was from the Koran or Bible. Radical Islam has nothing on us when it comes to redemptive violence. The  best sermon I ever heard on this verse was by Walter Wink who said we can’t ignore these verses. God wants us to say what we truly feel. And by giving it up to God, we let it go. 

Our Gospel today is Luke 17:5-10

As we begin, I need to clear a way a couple of things…..

First of all, we have slavery…cultural considerations and all, nothing here is to be read as Jesus condoning slavery. .and as to Jesus’ question, "Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'? The answer from his disciples could be, that SOUNDS exactly LIKE WHAT JESUS WOULD SAY….

Then there is this issue of thanks…we DO need to thank people for doing their job…people need to feel appreciated…I remember a member who once told when she asked her boss about  raise, the answer was “Your raise is you have a job.”

Looking at this  another way,Jesus is making a point that there’s no extra credit for  doing what you’re supposed to do…During World War II, the French Huguenot village of Le Chambon sur Lignon, where every family  saved a Jewish family, did not want to be honored…We only did what was right they said. When asked why, they pointed not the quote above their church door, ”little children love one another” We could do no other, they said. 

So…the question is, How much faith is enough?

I’m going to be personal here. FAITH. I’ve been waiting for weeks for my Social Security  check. There’s been one issue after another. Last week, it was due to come in on Monday. By Wednesday, it still wasn’t there. Here it is… I’ll take responsibility for nuclear proliferation, climate change, Israel-Palestine and (maybe) Donald Trump.  All I’m asking God for is a little help on a simple bank transaction. 

And I remembered all the rules about praying…if you really want it, ti won’t come through. You just need to let go and let God. All of that. Then I  realized that’s what you call magical thinking..So I remembered the psalms and said what I felt. And it still didn’t come. 

What does faith looks like, feel like?

Traditional community organizing talks about “winnable issues…” something  has to be “definable, measurable, achievable…” Sharon Welch says that’s not necessarily so. You do something because it’s right, just to make the next step possible…not to accomplish the whole thing…..which may not happen in your lifetime. 

Of course the Rosa Parks action of refusing to move then back of the bus was planned, part of a strategy, not just the random act of a tired woman. …BUT…nevertheless, the actions of one person launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott that was a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights struggle. 

Our bulletin cover this morning features Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers.  His one man silent option toot stand for the national anthem has led to a growing movement to draw attention to the ongoing persecution and life threatening reality for black Americans.

Kaepernick’s witness had now spread to New York City Council where council member Jumaane Williams refused to rise for the opening pledge to allegiance. After receiving death threats, other council members like Brad Lander have line him in solidarity. 

Cornel West in a recent podcast with our member Russ Jennings (https://www.podcat.com/podcasts/odplze-love-in-a-dangerous-time/episodes/ugnnwb-revolutionary-christianity-a-talk-about-dangerous-times-with-dr-cornel-west-ldt066)  speaks of the issue of timing…an individual’s action either lights a spark or goes unnoticed…but you keep trying anyways, just because it’s right. 

In the end, faith is like pregnancy. You can’t be a little bit pregnant, you are or you’re not. Even the tiniest bit of faith is faith, and that’s where we begin.

Leila's communiuon table

Psalm 137:1-9

1By the rivers of Babylon-

there we sat down and there we wept

when we remembered Zion.

2On the willows there we hung up our harps.

3For there our captors

asked us for songs,

and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,

"Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

4How could we sing the Lord's song

in a foreign land?

5If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand wither!

6Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem

above my highest joy.

7Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites

the day of Jerusalem's fall,

how they said, "Tear it down! Tear it down!

Down to its foundations!"

8O daughter Babylon, you devastator!

Happy shall they be who pay you back

what you have done to us!

9Happy shall they be who take your little ones

and dash them against the rock!

Gospel Luke 17:5-10

5The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

7"Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'? SOUNDS LIKE WHAT JESUS WOULD SAY8Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? 9Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"

If you only get it if you don't want it, then what good is it when you get it?

1/25

Trying to hold on.  Anna comes in with puppy. I share the  line from Psalm 36: 6....you save humans and animals alike...the way I see it, that’s Puppy...and Toto...and Tony...all our West-Park dogs...do our pets go to heaven? apparently so...we will protect her insurance and other important papers...keep what’s important to her safe...she also has her latest insider’s report on tenant abuse in the neighborhood...I’ve got to get out and check these things out..

Jeremy drops in with a keyboard on his back. Fresh from a memorial service at ABC.  An unexpected tragedy of the kind that leaves people grasping for meaning, gasping for breath....when the universe seems unhinged...So we’ve got details for the film to work out... and Teddy’s memorial and....we need Piano Dan to tune the piano...

Poet Tim and RL come by We’ve got to get a good keyboard for McAlpin if we want Piano Dan and KT and .....to perform....

Details keeping me grounded as I wonder what’s left, what’s still possible...

The coldness continues. 

I keep asking myself if you only get it when you stop wanting it, what good is getting something you no longer care about? All the  spiritual language about needing to let go in order to receive , as if somehow your wanting it to happen prevents it, or...seems to add up to another way to blame the victim...if only you had been more positive, less worried, more open...you attract what your energy is etc...only adds to the guilt and regret when it doesn’t happen...if I only had enough faith...if....Let go and let God...easier said than done... thy will, not mine....I can say it....but feel it, truly feel it? Not there yet....under all the aphorisms there is still real pain...

On my way to Chelsea to see a couple...and it’s still cold....

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling

9/25

When I first get to the church, it’s very frustrating not to be able to open the doors. Or move the communion table.  I feel helpless. I think of trying to open the doors then realize that I just can’t.  So I go doen to the Bengldeshi copy store to pick up the bulletins. 

Deacon James is the first to arrive and opens the doors and moves the table. I’m feeling better. Andre arrives. then Amy, too. At least we’ll have music. I’m starting to feel better.

Lots on my mind today. It’s been an interesting week.  There was, of course, the execution of Troy Davis,with the  Supreme Court refusing to review the appeal.  It was the 8th straight day of protestors occupying Wall Street with virtually no mention of this occupation  in the news.  Palestine applied for official membership as a state in the United Nations. And yes, US soldiers are still in Afghanistan and Iraq. Young people continue to die. 

A number of themes emerge today. There are issues around faith and authority. In Exodus 17: 1-7, the people are grumbling again. The last time it was because of no food, this time, it’s  no water.  They are frustrated. They want to go back to Egypt. And of course, they blame Moses. And Moses has that classic pastor’s lament, "What shall I do with this people? They are ready to stone me" (Exodus 17:4.) Actually, the people are not so much whiners. With no water in the desert, they are actually desperate. 

God’s response is somewhat strange. God says to Moses, I will be standing there on the rock, strike the rock...Was God on the rock? How do you strike the rock without striking God?

I suppose it also raises for us the questiom of what is success? By earthly standards, Moses was a failure as a leader. He and the people of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Why? Was it just because the men didn’t want to stop to ask for directions?

We expect, we want, but don’t always get,immediate success. But maybe it took that long to get the pharoah out of the people. Like they say, it is easier to get the people out of Egypt than Egypt out of the people......what pharoah do we need to get rid of?  Nancy Sehested has said that true liberation delivers us from ALL that binds us, diminshes us, enslaves us.  We have to revisit what we call success or failure...free ourselves from any internal pharoah, any internalized Egypt. 

In the gospel, Matthew 21: 23-32, we are faced with the issue of  authority...By what authority does Jesus do what he does? He answers in terms of our seeing what it is that he does. The holy people miss it, but the tax collectors and prostitutes get it. Who are the  tax collectors and prostitutes?  They are moral outsiders. The unclean. Steroypical outsiders. (Who are ours? The people on our steps?) Is this  name calling on Jesus’ part or the expression of a preferential option? Jesus’ actions are their own authority. 

Then we have the two sons. The one who says says he’ll work is a no-show. The one who says no at first shows up, gets the job done.  Tax collectors and prostitutes again.   I’m remembering Chuck Mac Donald, my snow shoveling buddy from last winter. Who asked if I was the minister or just someone paid by the minister to be there. When I convinced him that I was indeed the minister he said, Well, then I suppose I have to help you. I don’t want to, but I’m going to. And for the next hour he and his son shovelled their way down 86th Street. (http://west-parkpress.blogspot.com/2010/12/third-day-of-christmas-snow-lay-on.html ) That’s what this is about.  

1 billion of us live in richest nations, 5 billion  in the poorest. How do we think of ourselves? How do we relate? And where are we in these stories? Who are we in these stories?

The answer, I believe is  that passage we read thismorning from Phillipians (2:13)  now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling

Yes, we must work out our own salvation in fear and trembling, living with passion, being willing to take risks, putting a stake in the ground, claiming our ground  and making our stand, but when we go to bed at night, be willing to  consider that we just might be wrong. 

Having the faith to step out, granting authority only to God, seeing the authority of Jesus in his life, not looking, waiting for miracles but working it out on our own in fear and trembling.

May this be our commitment, may we stand with one another on the journey.

Andre sings Come thou font of every blessing, take up our offering, sing a final hymn and gather in our circle for a blessing.  

Later today will be the last perfomance of the Dark Lady Players and the first concert in a new series. 

John (fistbump) closes the doors for us. Our worship has ended. Our service will continue. 

Seekers for pearls

7/24

Steven the proud father is waiting for me to open up. He’s brought food and refreshments for the party to follow today’s baptisms.  Andre’s next and then Luis arrives. Muscle is needed to move the late Victorian Tiffany baptismal font that weighs a ton.  Extended families are arriving. Feel a sense of excitement and  anticipation as the service begins. 

It’s me and Andre again on the music. As we come to our time for prayers of the people, I read these words from Romans :

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.( I say this as part of our prayers every week, want them to know where it comes from.) And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (And mention the difference between all things being good and  that all things can work for the good.) We sing Nada te turbe, and then we pray. For the shaken people of Norway. Those who suffer for peace in Africa. And our own friends and family.

And at the end of our prayers, I read: What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I begin my sermon by pointing to the stained glass window in the northeast corner of the balcony and asking What does that window say? No one is aware that it is a gift from a group called the Seekers for Pearls. And then, if we believe that scripture is a living word, the question is, what is the living word for us right now?

kids on the steps

I say that this is an exciting morning. We have two baptisms! Jordan and Xavier. And I want nothing I say today to take away from that, only to enhance that fact, maybe add a blessing. Only build on that. We're talking about faith, and the kingdom of God, or as we say today, the kindom of God,  the beloved community.


Parables. Fredrick Buechner says that parables are  like jokes, if you have to explain them don’t bother. But being a preacher, I can’t help myself.

We have here five parables from Jesus:

• a mustard seed
• yeast
• a treasure hidden in a field
• a merchant seeking for pearls
• a fish net

baptism

The mustard seed is small like a baby. Small like a little church. Not like the mighty cedars of Lebanon  (or churches on 5th Avenue, Madison Avenue) but ordinary, democratic.  We can become what God intends us to be.  Emphasis on can, not necessarily will. Saying that even a tiny grain of faith is enough to get started.  There is no such  thing as too little faith, it’s like you can’t be a little bit pregnant:  you have it or you don’t, you are or you’re not. 

Yeast...who knows what about yeast?  (Lots of hands go up. People talking about bread.) It’s not always good, is it? (Lots of knowing laughs) ...but you need it to make bread, or beer. There is that sense of rising. In Jesus day, it was also a saying kind of like one bad apple. The point is your tiniest gift can grow and spread and help lift up...and the tiniest rumor, gossip, hateful word....can destroy.

Treasure. Why does he have to hide it? Why not just take it? Was the box too big? Lots of questions here. But the  point he sells all he has in order to get it.

It’s like the pearl. The Pearl of great value. Or like it was in the King James Version, the pearl of great price. Seekers for pearls. I wish I knew who they were. Their story. What role they played in this church. They gave that window in 1890.  And again sell everything...giving up all else for this pearl. We need to ask oursleves, what’s our goal? What’s to be pursued? What is worth giving up everything for? What would you give up for your chidren?

And then the fishnet. Separating evil from righteous. Not sure how that shakes out. Is it like the sorting hat? You go to Slythern? You to Griffindor? I have to believe that God’s grace is sufficient. Anyways, it’s end of the age stuff....though I’ve always liked that gnashing of teeth part. It's not up to us to worry, to judge or condemn. It's up to us to seek to live faithfully. 

But here’s the BIG point...in each of these parables, somebody has to do something...sow a seed, add some yeast, buy a field, search for and buy a pearl...fish...

You  are called to take whatever you have and ACT, do something...

for your family, your church...it will be blessed...

Now, back to children..it takes faith, courage to bring them in the world..We honor and respect that faith and courage. Your job is to love these children. To raise them to know they are loved and valued above any and all possessions....they are your pearls of great price. And we, your church, promise that we  will stand with you in this journey.  

And then  it was time for the baptisms. One of the godparents, Samantha Santiago, presented the children on behalf of the session. They all gathered around the font. We baptised Xavier Steve Santiago, son of  Deyanira Velez and Edwin Steve Santiago and Jordan Ayala, son of Jaime Ayala and Camille Ayala.  Cesarina Calderon and Jaime Ayala were godparents for Xavier and Samantha Santiago and Manuel Padilla for Jordan.

I said that these were good names. Jordan, like the Jordan River, where Jesus himself was baptised. Xavier comes from the Arabic zafeer, meaning bright and splendid. Which he is in your house. 

The Martinez-Ayala- Santiago family is now a five generation family in the church. And that is worth celebration.

After church, we gather deacons and elders and go through our mebership list, dividing up names for calls. We’ll report back in a month. No conversation with Marc and Sarah this week, Marc’s dislocated his shoulder. Stop and have a word with Stephen in the bcak yard before leaving. 


Out on the street, there's Marty.  He asks what book we're on. Genesis, I tell him. Ah, the beginning, he says. My father used to have  a question, why if this is the first book, does the first word start with a bet, Bereshit, and not an aleph? Why? I ask. Don't know, can't remember, he says. Tells me how his father always had him write little essays. How he'd copy them from other books and his father never knew. Tell you the truth, he says,  my brother did the same thing to get into NYU law school. No one ever knew... , 
Stay cool, Marty, I say. Enjoy the afternoon, Reverend, he says. 


It’s been a good Sunday morning. Hot, but good.