ELEVENTH PENTECOST

ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (SERIES A)


I WOULD LIKE TO BEGIN
BY SHARING SOME OBSERVATIONS WITH YOU
AND THEN ATTEMPT
TO TIE THOSE OBSERVATIONS
TO THE SCRIPTURES
WE HAVE JUST HEARD

IN BIBLICAL TIMES
WHEN ABRAHAM LIVED
WHEN MOSES LIVED
WHEN JESUS LIVED
THE GODS WERE THOUGHT TO DWELL
IN HIGH PLACES
THESE PLACES WERE CALLED
MT OLYMPUS OR HEAVEN
OR THE FIRMAMENT OR PARADISE
SO SHRINES WERE BUILT IN HIGH PLACES
TO WORSHIP THE GODS.

CONVERSELY
SOME OF THE GODS WERE THOUGHT
TO DWELL UNDERGROUND
IN THE WORLD OF THE DEAD
IN PLACES CALLED HELL OR HADES
OR THE UNDERWORLD


THE FIRST WORDS OF JESUS
TO SIMON PETER WERE
COME BE MY DISCIPLE
HIS LAST WORDS TO PETER WERE
COME FOLLOW ME.
EVERY STEP OF THE WAY
BETWEEN THOSE TWO CHALLENGES
PETER NEVER FAILED TO FOLLOW
EVEN THOUGH HE OFTEN STUMBLED.







IN CHAPTER 26 OF MATTHEW
WE SEE PETER
IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE
BRAVE ENOUGH
TO WIELD A SWORD
AND CUT OFF
THE EAR OF THE HIGH PRIEST'S SERVANT'
BUT IN THE SAME CHAPTER
PETER
STANDING IN THE HIGH PRIEST'S COURTYARD
WITHERS UNDER THE SCORNING GAZE
OF A SERVANT GIRL
WITHERS TO THE POINT
THAT HE SWEARS
THAT HE DOES NOT KNOW THE MAN



ABOUT TWO MONTHS AGO
I WAS A WITNESS
TO A CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENT.

I HAD COME TO HELP MY FRIEND
AND HIS SON--IN-LAW
CONSTRUCT A GARAGE.

THE SON-IN-LAW
WAS INSTALLING A STEEL BEAM
ABOUT A THOUSAND POUNDS
AND DIDN'T WANT ANYONE AROUND
PREFERRING TO WORK ALONE
SO HE SENT HIS FATHER-IN-LAW
AND ME FOR SUPPLIES
WHEN WE CAME BACK
THE STEEL BEAM HAD FALLEN ON HIM
QUICKLY WE CALLED 911
AND THEN TRIED TO LIFT THE BEAM.
IT WAS TOO HEAVY
WE COULDN'T DO IT
SO WHILE WE WAITED FOR THE RESCUE SQUAD
I WENT AND HELD HIS HAND
AND SAID THE LORD'S PRAYER
OUT LOUD IN TO HIS EAR.
I CONTINUED HOLDING HIS HAND
AND PRAYING OUT LOUD
UNTIL THE RESCUE SQUAD CAME
WHEN THEY CAME
THEY PRONOUNCED HIM DEAD

THEN THEY ASKED ME TO LEAVE
AND AS I LEFT A GREAT NUMBNESS
AND QUIET AND EMPTINESS
DESCENDED UPON ME.
I SAID TO MY FRIEND
I FEEL NUMB.
HE SAID
SO DO I

AFTER THAT INCIDENT
I DISCUSSED THE EMPTY FEELING
WITH SEVERAL CLERGY FRIENDS OF MINE
THEY SAID IT WAS A COMMON FEELING
THAT THEY ALL HAD SHARED


LISTEN CLOSELY
AS I RE-READ
A PORTION
OF OUR FIRST READING


THE WORD OF THE LORD SAID TO ME
GO OUT
AND STAND ON THE MOUNTAIN
BEFORE THE LORD,
FOR THE LORD IS ABOUT TO PASS BY.

NOW THERE WAS A GREAT WIND,
SO STRONG THAT IT WAS SPLITTING MOUNTAINS
AND BREAKING ROCKS
IN PIECES BEFORE THE LORD,
BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE WIND;
AND AFTER THE WIND AN EARTHQUAKE,
BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE EARTHQUAKE;
AND AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
A FIRE,
BUT THE LORD WAS NOT
IN THE FIRE;
AND AFTER THE FIRE
A SOUND OF SHEER SILENCE


WHEN ELIJAH HEARD IT,
HE WRAPPED HIS FACE IN HIS MANTLE

THE SHEER SILENCE THAT ELIJAH HEARD
AND THE NUMBING QUIET THAT I HAD FELT
WERE BOTH THE SAME THING
IN BOTH GOD WAS SPEAKING TO MAN
IN A VOICE LOUDER THAN THE WIND
LOUDER THAN THE EARTHQUAKE
LOUDER THAN THE FIRE

IT WAS GOD'S VOICE
YELLING IN MY EAR
LEAN ON ME
LEARN OF ME
I AM ALL YOU NEED RIGHT NOW
AND MY SILENCE AND MY LOVE SURROUND YOU
LEAN ON ME
LEARN OF ME
YOU ARE MY BELOVED



BUT GOD
IS TOO CLOSE TO US
THAT WAY
SO WE LOOK FOR GOD
IN OTHER PLACES
HIGH AND LOW
WE WANT TO BLAME GOD
FOR THE DEATH
WE ENVISION A GOD
WHO PLAYS DICE WITH HIS CREATIONS
WE ENVISION A GOD
WHO IF HE WERE A REAL FATHER
WE WOULD HAVE HIM ARRESTED
FOR CHILD ABUSE
WE FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE IN A GOD
WHO LOVES US
WE WANT A GOD
WHO LOOKS,
ACTS
AND THINKS LIKE US.
WE FORGET
THAT WE ARE MADE IN HIS IMAGE
NOT HE IN OURS
SO WE LOOK PAST GOD TO TRY TO FIND GOD
WE ARE NOT THE KIND OF PEOPLE
THAT PAUL WRITES ABOUT IN ROMANS
COUNTERING THE BELIEF
THAT GOD DWELT EXCLUSIVELY
IN HEAVEN
OR IN THE UNDERWORLD
WHEN HE SAYS



PEOPLE WHO HAVE FAITH
WILL NEVER ASK, “
WHO WILL GO UP TO HEAVEN
TO BRING CHRIST DOWN?”
NEITHER WILL THEY ASK, “
WHO WILL GO DOWN
INTO THE WORLD OF THE DEAD
TO RAISE HIM TO LIFE?”
ALL WHO ARE ACCEPTABLE
BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITH
SIMPLY SAY, “
THE MESSAGE IS AS NEAR AS YOUR MOUTH
OR YOUR HEART.
THE MESSAGE THAT GOD WALKS AMONG US
LAUGHS WITH US
CRIES WITH US
TRIES TO INSPIRE US
SO THAT THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
MIGHT BE BETTER


THIS PETER KNEW
SIMPLE IMPULSIVE PETER
WHO AT THE VOICE OF JESUS
LEAPED FROM THE BOAT
TO WALK ON WATER
WHO WALKED ON WATER
UNTIL HE THOUGHT
HE WAS DOING IT HIMSELF
THEN HE SANK
AND CRIED
LORD SAVE ME
BUT JESUS REACHED DOWN
AS HE DID SO MANY TIMES WITH PETER
AS HE DOES SO MANY TIMES WITH US
AND SAVES US

AND WHEN HE SAVES US
HE SAYS TO US
WHAT I HAVE DONE
YOU MUST DO
I GIVE YOU A WORLD TO SAVE.
TO MAKE BETTER
TO ROOT OUT EVIL

EARLY MAN DISCOVERED FIRE.
IT MADE LIFE BETTER FOR HIM
I GIVE YOU LOVE
AND I ASK YOU TO SHARE IT WITH ALL

BUT AS PAUL SAYS IN OUR READING
BUT HOW ARE THEY TO CALL ON ONE
IN WHOM THEY HAVE NOT BELIEVED?
AND HOW ARE THEY TO BELIEVE
IN ONE OF WHOM THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD?
AND HOW ARE THEY TO HEAR
WITHOUT SOMEONE TO PROCLAIM HIM? 15
AND HOW ARE THEY TO PROCLAIM HIM
UNLESS THEY ARE SENT?
AS IT IS WRITTEN, “
HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET
OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS!

BUT I SAY
HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET
OF THOSE
WHO DARE TO LEAP FROM THE BOAT
AND WALK ON WATER FOLLOWING JESUS


WE ARE CHALLENGED
TO REMEMBER
THAT GOD DOES NOT LIVE
REMOTELY IN THE SKY
OR UNDER THE EARTH
BUT HERE WITH US.
WE ARE CHALLENGED TO REMEMBER
THAT GOD SPEAKS TO US
IN THE SILENCE OF OUR HEARTS
AND WE NEED TO BE QUIET AND LISTEN
WHICH IS TO SAY THAT WE MUST PRAY

AND FINALLY WE ARE CHALLENGED
TO REMEMBER
THAT IF WE BRING LOVE
INTO THE WORLD
AND INTO OUR LIVES .
WE WILL ONCE MORE HAVE GIVEN MAN FIRE

AND WE ARE ASKED
TO BE WILLING
TO LEAP FROM THE BOAT IN FAITH
KNOWING GOD WILL SUSTAIN US
AND BRING US SAFELY HOME

EIGHTH PENTECOST

EIGHT SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

READINGS

EXODUS 16;2-4,9-15
PSALM 78;23-29
EPHESIANS 4;1-16
JOHN 6;24-35


ONE CHRISTMAS
WHEN MY CHILDREN WERE YOUNG
TIME WERE TOUGH
MONEY WAS SCARCE
SO I TOOK A SECOND JOB
TO EARN ENOUGH MONEY
SO THAT THE CHILDREN
WOULD HAVE PRESENTS

CHRISTMAS CAME
AND OUR TRADITION WAS
THAT WE SAT IN A RING
AND EACH CHILD ONE AT A TIME
WOULD UNWRAP ONE PRESENT
WE WOULD KEEP GOING AROUND THE RING
UNTIL ALL THE PRESENTS WERE OPEN
WHEN WE WERE DONE
THERE WAS A MOUND OF GIFTS
IN FRONT OF EACH CHILD

IT WAS THEN THAT ONE OF MY CHILDREN
SAID TO ME
IS THIS ALL I GET DAD

I FELT HURT
I FELT ANGRY
I FELT SHAME
THAT I COULDN'T HAVE DONE BETTER
I FELT CRUSHED
BY WHAT I FELT
WAS MY CHILD'S INGRATITUDE

WE ARE ALL FAMILIAR WITH INGRATITUDE

PEOPLE HAVE BEEN UNGRATEFUL TO US
IF WE ARE HONEST WITH OURSELVES
WE HAVE BEN UNGRATEFUL TO OTHERS
PARENT TO CHILD
CHILD TO PARENT
FRIEND TO FRIEND
MAN TO GOD

MAN TO GOD INGRATITUDE
IS THE TRADITIONAL WAY OF PREACHING
ON TODAY'S FIRST LESSON
FROM EXODUS

THE ISRAELITES HAD BEEN RELEASED
FROM SLAVERY IN EGYPT
PHARAOH'S ARMY
SENT TO RECAPTURE THEM
HAD BEEN DESTROYED
THEY HAD ESCAPED
TO THE WILDERNESS
OF SINAI
THEY HAD PASSED THROUGH A DIVIDED SEA
TO A BARREN LAND
AND THEY WERE HUNGRY

SO THEY COMPLAINED TO GOD
THROUGH MOSES AND AARON
WERE THERE NOT ENOUGH GRAVEYARDS IN EGYPT
THAT WE HAD TO COME OUT HERE TO DIE
IN EGYPT WE HAD MEAT
AND OUR FILL OF BREAD
DID YOU BRING US HERE TO DIE OF HUNGER
THIS THEY SAID TO GOD THE FATHER
THROUGH MOSES AND AARON
THEY SAID
IS THAT ALL THERE IS DAD
IS THAT ALL THERE IS FATHER

WE MIGHT EXPECT A GOD
TO REACT ANGRILY
TO SUCH INGRATITUDE

BUT GOD THE FATHER SAYS TO US
BECAUSE HIS LOVE FOR US
IS GREATER THAN OUR INGRATITUDE TO HIM
GOD THE FATHER SAYS

I HAVE HEARD YOUR COMPLAINING
AND THEREFORE
AT TWILIGHT
YOU SHALL EAT MEAT
AND IN THE MORNING
YOU SHALL HAVE YOUR FILL OF BREAD
SO IN THE EVENING OF THAT DAY
QUAIL CAME
WERE CAUGHT AND EATEN
AND IN THE MORNING
A SUBSTANCE LIKE CORNFLAKES
APPEARED ON THE BUSHES

WHEN THE ISRAELITES SAW IT
THEY ASKED
WHAT IS IT
IN HEBREW MANNA
AND MOSES REPLIED
IT IS THE BREAD
THAT THE LORD
HAS GIVEN YOU TO EAT

TO ME
THE MORAL OF THE STORY
IS NOT SO MUCH
THE ISRAELITES INGRATITUDE
BUT THAT GOD HEARD THEIR COMPLAINING
AND LISTENED
THAT IT DOESN'T MATTER
WHERE WE ARE IN GRATITUDE
OR INGRATITUDE TO GOD
NO MATTER WHERE WE ARE
HE IS LISTENING
AND ANSWERING OUR NEEDS

I DON'T WANT TO BE POLLYANNA
IN THAT STATEMENT
GOD'S LOVE FOR US
DOES NOT MEAN
THAT EVERY DAY WILL BE SUNNY
OR FREE OF PAIN
HE WILL NOT GIVE
THE ONE LEGGED MAN ANOTHER LEG
BUT HELP THE ONE LEGGED MAN TO LIVE
WITH HIS ONE LEGGEDNESS
FOR GOD ANSWERS OUR NEEDS
NOT OUR WANTS
AND SOMETIMES GOD WEEPS
WHEN EVIL OVERCOMES
HIS LOVE FOR US

WHEN WE
OR THE WORLD
SAY MANNA MANNA
WHAT IS THIS
WE WOULD RATHER LIVE WELL FED IN EGYPT
THAN HUNGRY IN THE DESERT
GIVE US BACK OUR SLAVERY
BECAUSE FREEDOM IS TOO HARD
BECAUSE EVEN
WHEN WE ARE GIVEN
EVERYTHING WE NEED
WE ARE LIKE ADAM IN THE GARDEN
WHO SAYS
IS THIS ALL I GET
AND THEN EATS THE FRUIT

AND IN AWFUL AWARENESS
SHOUTS OUT
MANNA MANNA
WHAT IS IT
AND KNOWS
THAT IT IS SIN

AND CRIES OUT
I HAVE LOST GOD
BECAUSE OF MY INGRATITUDE
BUT GOD HEARS US
IN OUR DEEPEST MOMENT
AND FEEDS US
AS HE DOES IN HOLY COMMUNION

WE CRY MANNA WHAT IS IT
AND GOD REPLIES
SIGNS AND PROOFS OF MY LOVE
FOR JESUS SAYS
I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE
IF YOU COME TO ME
YOU WILL NEVER BE HUNGRY
IF YOU BELIEVE IN ME
YOU WILL NEVER BE THIRSTY

WE CRY MANNA WHAT IS IT

AND JESUS SAYS
I HAVE COME LIKE WHEAT
THAT IS BROKEN AND GROUND DOWN
BY YOUR SINS
BY YOUR INGRATITUDE
AND I SAY
THAT I AM BREAD
AND I LIVE IN THAT BREAD
TAKE
EAT
AND REMEMBER ME

AND JESUS SAYS
I HAVE COME LIKE GRAPES
BROKEN AND CRUSHED
BY YOUR INGRATITUDE
AND I SAY
THAT I AM WINE
AND I LIVE IN THAT WINE
TAKE
DRINK
AND REMEMBER ME

AND THIS GIFT
AMONG ALL THE GIFTS THAT GOD GIVES US
IS THE GREATEST GIFT
THIS GIFT OF BREAD AND WINE
THIS GIFT OF BODY AND BLOOD
THIS GIFT OF GOD HIMSELF
LET US BE GRATEFUL
AND SAY AMEN
LET US SAY AMEN
AND THANK YOU

SEVENTH PENTECOST

SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

I WOULD LIKE TO START
BY SHARING A FEW STORIES WITH YOU
AND THEN TRY TO MAKE THEM RELEVANT
TO TODAY'S READINGS

IN ANCIENT ROME
AND IN OTHER CAPITAL CITIES
AROUND THE TIME THAT JESUS LIVED
WHEN A RULER WAS VICTORIOUS IN BATTLE
THEY WOULD RAISE A MONUMENT TO HIM.
ON IT THE RULER WAS OFTEN SHOWN
RIDING A MAGNIFICENT PRANCING HORSE.
BEHIND HIM WALKED HIS PRISONERS OF WAR,
ALWAYS CHAINED
SOMETIMES BY THE NECK.

THE POSE OF THE RULER WAS PROUD
AND ARROGANT,
THE POSE OF THE CAPTIVES
WAS ONE OF NO HOPE

WHEN I WAS COURTING MY WIFE BARBARA
I TOOK HER TO HER FIRST
THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE.
SHE WAS EXCITED AS A YOUNG CHILD
WHICH THOSE OF YOU
WHO KNOW HER
IS NO SURPRISE
YOU KNOW THAT SHE INTENSELY LOVES
AND LIVES LIFE.

THE PARADE HAD ALL THE NORMAL THINGS
THE BANDS, THE FLOATS, THE CLOWNS
ALL OF WHICH SHE ENJOYED
WITH GREAT ENTHUSIASM.

AT THE END OF THE PARADE
SANTA CLAUS CAME BY
ON A MAGNIFICENT FLOAT
WITH ELVES, REINDEERS AND SLEIGH.
SANTA WAVED TO THE CROWD FIRST ONE SIDE
THEN THE OTHER.
AS HE PASSED US


BARBARA
GRABBED MY ARM
IN A DEATH GRIP
YELLING OUT LOUD
HE LOOKED AT ME
HE LOOKED AT ME
HE LOOKED AT ME PERSONALLY.

WHEN I WAS STILL WORKING IN INDUSTRY
EVERY SATURDAY WE WORKED,
DONUTS WERE BROUGHT IN.
ONE FOR EACH.

DURING THOSE TIMES
WHEN I WAS ACTIVELY BATTLING
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE.
I WOULD GO UP TO THE DONUT
AT 8 O'CLOCK AND SAY
I CANNOT,
WILL NOT,
SHOULD NOT
EAT YOU.

AT NINE O'CLOCK
THE DONUT CALLED TO ME
BECAUSE IT HAD MY NAME ON IT
AND I SAID TO IT
I CANNOT,
WILL NOT,
SHOULD NOT
EAT YOU.

AT TEN
AND ELEVEN O'CLOCK
IT CALLED ME
AND I TOLD IT
I CANNOT,
WILL NOT,
SHOULD NOT
EAT YOU.






AT TWELVE O'CLOCK
IT WAS PRACTICALLY CRYING,
IT WAS LONELY,
IT HAD MY NAME ON IT.
BUT I STRUGGLED AND RESISTED
AND SAID
I CANNOT,
WILL NOT,
SHOULD NOT
EAT YOU.

AT ONE O'CLOCK,
THE TRUTH BE TOLD.
I ATE THE DONUT

LET US LOOK AT PAUL
IN OUR SECOND READING
FROM ROMANS
WHERE HE SAYS.
I do not understand what I do.
For what I want to do
I do not do,
But what I hate to do
I do.
For I have the desire
To do what is good,
But I cannot carry it out.
For what I do
Is not the good
I want to do;
No,
The evil I do not want to do-
This I keep on doing.
For I see another law at work
In the members of my body,
Waging war against the law of my mind,
And making me a prisoner,
Of the law of sin,
At work within body.
What a wretched man I am!
Who will rescue me from this body of death?

NOW PAUL IS A GREAT THEOLOGIAN
BUT HE GETS COMPLICATED
AND I MUST CONFESS
HE OFTEN CURES ME OF INSOMNIA.

HE COULD COMPLICATE A ONE CAR FUNERAL

TO MY SIMPLE WAY OF THINKING
PAUL COULD HAVE SAID
I ATE THE DONUT
AND I WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD.

BASICALLY WHAT PAUL IS SAYING
IS THAT WE ARE ALL FLAWED INDIVIDUALS.
AND WHEN WE CRY OUT
WHO WILL RESCUE ME,
WE KNOWS THE ANSWER.
IT IS JESUS CHRIST

WHO IS THIS JESUS
THAT PAUL TRUSTS SO IMPLICITLY
LET US LOOK AT OUR GOSPEL MESSAGE
WHERE MATTHEW WRITES
THAT JESUS SAID TO THE CROWD
I COMPARE YOU
TO A GROUP OF CHILDREN SINGING SILLY SONGS

WE PLAYED THE FLUTE
YOU WOULD NOT DANCE,
WE WAILED
YOU WOULD NOT MOURN
IS THIS NOT A SONG
WE OFTEN SING TO JESUS
IF YOU WERE MORE
LIKE WE WANTED YOU TO BE
WE COULD FOLLOW YOU WITH EASE
BUT YOUR WAY
MEANS GIVING UP DONUTS
AND WE DON'T WANT TO

JOHN LIVED
LIKE A HERMIT IN THE DESERT
WE DIDN'T LIKE THAT



JESUS LIVED AN ORDINARY LIFE
AMONG SINNERS
WE DIDN'T LIKE THAT

AND SO WE SING OUR SILLY SONG IN A CIRCLE
UNTIL WE ARE DISTRACTED
BY THE SOUNDS OF A PARADE IN THE DISTANCE.
WE HEAR THE HURRAHS,
THE SINGING, THE JOYFUL SHOUTS
AND WE WAIT FOR THE PROUD RULER TO COME BY
FOLLOWED BY HIS SLAVES
BUT INSTEAD WE ARE GREETED
AS ZECHARIAH SAYS
BY THE SIGHT
OF A MAN RIDING A DONKEY
FOLLOWED BY LAUGHING SINGING CHILDREN
WE CRY STOP THE CHILDREN FROM SINGING
THIS IS NO VICTORIOUS RULER
THIS CARICATURE

WE DO NOT SEE A KING
ARROGANT AND SUPERIOR
RATHER WE FIND A PERSON GENTLE AND HUMBLE
RIDING ON A DONKEY
WHERE IS HIS WAR HORSE
WHERE IS THE MOUNT SUITABLE FOR A KING
WHO..WHO WOULD FOLLOW HIM
THIS POOR EXCUSE FOR A RULER
THIS FLAWED PICTURE OF A RULER
WHO..WHO WOULD FOLLOW HIM

BUT AS HE COMES PASSING BY
HE LOOKS EACH ONE OF US IN THE EYE
AND SAYS
COME, COME FOLLOW ME
DROP DROP YOUR CHAINS OF SLAVERY AND SIN
COME, COME FOLLOW ME
FOR MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT

COME, COME FOLLOW ME
WITH ME IS FORGIVENESS FOR YOUR SINS
WITH ME IS A SAVIOR WHO KNOWS
AND DELIGHTS IN YOUR HUMANNESS



COME, COME FOLLOW
LAY DOWN YOUR HEAVY BURDENS

COME, COME FOLLOW ME
AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS
SHALL WE JOIN THE PARADE
SHALL WE SAY AMEN

SEVENTH EPIPHANY

SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY


IMAGINE IF YOU WILL
THAT YOU ARE JESUS
STANDING ON TOP OF A HIGH MOUNTAIN
ON THE NORTH SIDE
OF THE SEA OF GALILEE..
YOU ARE LOOKING DOWN
AT THE SEA OF GALILEE.
THE MOUNTAIN IS IN GALILEE.

LOOKING SOUTH
YOU SEE THE KINGDOM OF JUDEA
AND THE CAPITAL
JERUSALEM.

LOOKING EAST YOU SEE PEREA.
LOOKING WEST YOU SEE SAMARIA.
AND YOU ARE SAD
BECAUSE THERE IS MUCH HATRED
IN THE LAND.

THE PROMISED LAND
HAS BEEN CONQUERED BY ROME
AND DIVIDED INTO THE FOUR PARTS
OF GALILEE, JUDEA, SAMARIA AND PEREA.

THE JEWS HATE THE ROMANS
WHO ARE EVERYWHERE
ACTING AS POLICEMEN.

THE JEWS HATE THE SAMARITANS
AND THE PEREANS
BECAUSE THEY WORSHIP GOD
IN A NON JEWISH MANNER.




WE HAVE IN THIS SEASON OF EPIPHANY
FOLLOWED JESUS
AS HE BEGINS HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY.
JESUS LOOKS DOWN AT THE LAKE
AND AS HE DOES
HE LOOKS BACK IN TIME
AND REMEMBERS THE EVENTS
THAT WE REMEMBERED
AS THE SUNDAYS OF EPIPHANY
CAME AND WENT

THE READINGS FOR THE YEAR 2001
EPIPHANY SEASON
COME MOSTLY FROM LUKE.
THE SEQUENCE OF READINGS THIS YEAR
HAVE VISITED THESE SCENES
FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS.

FIRST WE VISITED EPIPHANY,
THE VISIT OF THE THREE WISE MEN.
THEN THE BAPTISM OF JESUS
WHERE GOD THE FATHER
DECLARED THAT JESUS WAS HIS SON.
THEN THE WEDDING AT CANA
WHERE HE CHANGED WATER INTO WINE.
THEN HIS FIRST SERMON AT NAZARETH
AND HIS REJECTION BY HIS NEIGHBORS.
THEN WE HAD THE MIRACLE OF THE FISHES
WHERE THE APOSTLES CAUGHT SO MANY
THE BOAT BEGAN TO SINK.
AND LAST WEEK
JESUS CAME DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN
AND PREACHED THE SERMON ON THE PLAIN
ALSO CALLED THE BEATITUDES.






LAST WEEK JESUS LOOKED DOWN
AT THE DIVIDED KINGDOM
AND WAS SADDENED.
THIS WAS NOT HIS FATHER’S DREAM
FOR THIS LAND
THIS PROMISED LAND
AND ITS PEOPLE.

RELIGION HAD BECOME
AN OBSERVANCE OF LAWS AND RITUALS.
THE PRIESTS ARGUED
OVER SUCH THINGS AS
CAN A MAN WITH A WOODEN LEG
WALK ON THE SABBATH
BECAUSE THE WOODEN LEG
WAS A BURDEN
AND ONE COULD NOT
CARRY A BURDEN
ON THE SABBATH
BECAUSE CARRYING A BURDEN
WAS WORK.

THE PERFORMANCE OF RITUAL
IN THE TEMPLE WAS SUCH
THAT
ON ANY PASSOVER
OVER 250,000 LAMBS WERE SOLD
AND SLAIN IN ONE DAY
MAKING GOD’S HOUSE
MORE A SLAUGHTER FACTORY
THAN A HOUSE OF GOD.

THIS IS WHAT HIS FATHER’S RELIGION
HAD BECOME
AND HE IS SADDENED.
SO LAST WEEK
HE SLOWLY COMEDOWN THE MOUNTAIN
AND PREACHED THE BEATITUDES.


LUKE HAS A SENTENCE
AT THE BEGINNING
OF THE BEATITUDES
THAT SAYS
THERE WERE PEOPLE
FROM SIDON AND TYRE
IN THE CROWD.
HE DID THIS DELIBERATELY
BECAUSE THE JEWS ALSO HATED
THOSE FROM SIDON AND TYRE

SO JESUS LOOKED AT THE CROWD
THAT HAD SO MUCH HATE
AND PREACHED A SERMON ON FORGIVENESS.
A SERMON, WHICH SAYS
IF ANYONE HITS YOU,
TURN THE OTHER CHEEK.
EASY TO SAY DIFFICULT TO DO.

JESUS SAYS
FORGIVE YOUR ENEMIES,
DO GOOD TO THOSE WHO HURT YOU.
WHEN EVERY PART OF YOUR BEING
SAYS MAKE A FIST
AND HURT YOUR ENEMY
JESUS SAYS LOVE THEM.
JESUS HAS GOT TO BE KIDDING HERE
RIGHT

BUT ULTIMATELY
JESUS IS RIGHT.
FOR WITHOUT FORGIVENESS
NATIONS WILL FIGHT
LONG PAST REMEMBERING
WHY THEY ARE FIGHTING,






NEIGHBORS WILL FIGHT
LONG PAST REMEMBERING
WHY THEY ARE FIGHTING,

FAMILIES WILL FIGHT
LONG PAST REMEMBERING
WHY THEY ARE FIGHTING

HUSBAND AND WIVES
WILL FIGHT
LONG PAST REMEMBERING
WHY THEY ARE FIGHTING,

BROTHERS AND SISTERS
YOUNG OR GROWN OLD
TILL NEAR DEATH
WILL FIGHT
LONG PAST REMEMBERING
WHY THEY ARE FIGHTING.

WHEN WILL IT END.
AS THE SONG SAYS
LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH
AND LET IT BEGIN WITH ME.

WHAT I WOULD LIKE YOU TO DO
RIGHT NOW
AS A REACTION TO JESUS' SERMON
IS WRITE DOWN WITH YOUR FINGER
ON THE PALM OF YOUR HAND
THE NAME OF THAT PERSON
YOU FIND IT HARD TO FORGIVE.

THEN RUB YOUR HANDS TOGETHER
AND ERASE THEIR NAME.
THINKING AS YOU DO IT
THEY ARE FORGIVEN.
TRY IT



LET GO THOSE CHUNKS OF ICE
WHICH WE ALL CARRY
THOSE CHUNKS OF ICE OF HATRED
WHICH WE ALL CARRY
LONG PAST REMEMBERING
WHY WE ARE CARRYING THEM

HARD YOU SAY.
TOO HARD.
AND I AGREE.
BUT IT IS JESUS
NOT ME
WHOM IS SPEAKING
WHEN HE SAYS
LOVE YOUR ENEMIES,
DO GOOD TO THEM,
LEND ACCORDING TO THEIR NEED
EXPECTING NOTHING BACK.
BE MERCIFUL
AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS MERCIFUL.
STILL TOO HARD.

LET ME PAINT YOU A PICTURE.
THERE IS A MAN WHO IS DYING.
CONDEMNED TO DEATH
FOR A CRIME
HE DIDN’T COMMIT.

CONDEMNED TO DEATH
OUT OF JEALOUSY
AND FEAR OF LOSING POWER.

ALL HIS FRIENDS
HAVE DESERTED HIM
OUT OF FEAR.






ONE OF HIS FRIENDS
HAS SOLD HIM FOR A PRICE.
ONE OF HIS FRIENDS DENIED
HE EVER KNEW HIM.

HIS HEART
WHICH IS STRUGGLING
TO STAY ALIVE
IS STILL FILLED WITH LOVE
FOR ALL MANKIND.

AND HE IS GIVING THINGS AWAY.
HE WILL DIE POOR.

HIS CLOTHES ARE GONE.
HE HAS GIVEN HIS MOTHER
TO THE CARE OF HIS FRIEND JOHN.

NOW HE GIVES AWAY HIS ANGER.
STRUGGLING UPRIGHT ON THE NAILS
HE CRIES OUT
FATHER FORGIVE THEM
THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.

FORGIVE THE RULERS
OF TEMPLE AND STATE,
FORGIVE THE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE CRUEL TO ME,
FORGIVE THE CROWD
GATHERED LIKE VULTURES
TO SEE ME DIE,
FORGIVE THE THIEF WHO CURSED ME
FORGIVE ALL
WHO HAVE DESERTED ME,
LIED ABOUT ME,
SOLD ME FOR A PRICE






JESUS
LOOKING DOWN FROM HIS HIGH PLACE
ON THE CROSS
LOOKING DOWN THE YEARS
FORGIVING ALL WHO HAD EVER LIVED,
WHO WERE LIVING THEN
WHO WOULD LIVE IN THE FUTURE.

LOOKING DOWN FROM HIS HIGH PLACE
HE COMES TO THIS ROOM
AND CRIES OUT
FATHER FORGIVE FRANK
AND BARBARA,
JOE AND TOM,
ALICE AND JAN,
FATHER FORGIVE ALL
FROM EMANUEL IN WARWICK,
FATHER FORGIVE ALL
FROM FIRST LUTHERAN
IN BROCKTON,
FATHER FORGIVE ALL
FROM ST JOHN’S
IN PEABODY,

AND WE CRY IN RESPONSE
FATHER FORGIVE US
AND FORGIVE THE ONE
WE FIND IT HARD
TO FORGIVE
WE
AND THEY
KNOW NOT WHAT WE DO.



IN THE LIGHT OF OUR FORGIVENESS
CAN WE NOT TAKE
THE NAME OF THAT ONE PERSON
WE FIND IT HARD TO FORGIVE.
WRITE IT ON THE PALM OF OUR HAND.
RUB OUR HANDS TOGETHER
TO MAKE IT DISAPPEAR.

AND SAY TO THAT PERSON
THAT CHUNK OF ICE
THAT I HAVE CARRIED
WITH YOUR NAME ON IT
IS MELTED.
I FORGIVE YOU

AND JESUS SAYS
WELL DONE MY BROTHERS
AND SISTERS
WELL DONE

IN YOU
I AM WELL PLEASED.
MAY IT BE SO AMEN



Frank A Vollmer

SIXTH PENTECOST

SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

I WOULD LIKE TO START
BY SHARING A FEW STORIES WITH YOU
AND THEN TRY TO MAKE THEM RELEVANT
TO TODAY'S READINGS

IN ANCIENT ROME
AND IN OTHER CAPITAL CITIES
AROUND THE TIME THAT JESUS LIVED
WHEN A RULER WAS VICTORIOUS IN BATTLE
THEY WOULD RAISE A MONUMENT TO HIM.
ON IT THE RULER WAS OFTEN SHOWN
RIDING A MAGNIFICENT PRANCING HORSE.
BEHIND HIM WALKED HIS PRISONERS OF WAR,
ALWAYS CHAINED
SOMETIMES BY THE NECK.

THE POSE OF THE RULER WAS PROUD
AND ARROGANT,
THE POSE OF THE CAPTIVES
WAS ONE OF NO HOPE

WHEN I WAS COURTING MY WIFE BARBARA
I TOOK HER TO HER FIRST
THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE.
SHE WAS EXCITED AS A YOUNG CHILD
WHICH THOSE OF YOU
WHO KNOW HER
IS NO SURPRISE
YOU KNOW THAT SHE INTENSELY LOVES
AND LIVES LIFE.

THE PARADE HAD ALL THE NORMAL THINGS
THE BANDS, THE FLOATS, THE CLOWNS
ALL OF WHICH SHE ENJOYED
WITH GREAT ENTHUSIASM.

AT THE END OF THE PARADE
SANTA CLAUS CAME BY
ON A MAGNIFICENT FLOAT
WITH ELVES, REINDEERS AND SLEIGH.
SANTA WAVED TO THE CROWD FIRST ONE SIDE
THEN THE OTHER.
AS HE PASSED US


BARBARA
GRABBED MY ARM
IN A DEATH GRIP
YELLING OUT LOUD
HE LOOKED AT ME
HE LOOKED AT ME
HE LOOKED AT ME PERSONALLY.

WHEN I WAS STILL WORKING IN INDUSTRY
EVERY SATURDAY WE WORKED,
DONUTS WERE BROUGHT IN.
ONE FOR EACH.

DURING THOSE TIMES
WHEN I WAS ACTIVELY BATTLING
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE.
I WOULD GO UP TO THE DONUT
AT 8 O'CLOCK AND SAY
I CANNOT,
WILL NOT,
SHOULD NOT
EAT YOU.

AT NINE O'CLOCK
THE DONUT CALLED TO ME
BECAUSE IT HAD MY NAME ON IT
AND I SAID TO IT
I CANNOT,
WILL NOT,
SHOULD NOT
EAT YOU.

AT TEN
AND ELEVEN O'CLOCK
IT CALLED ME
AND I TOLD IT
I CANNOT,
WILL NOT,
SHOULD NOT
EAT YOU.






AT TWELVE O'CLOCK
IT WAS PRACTICALLY CRYING,
IT WAS LONELY,
IT HAD MY NAME ON IT.
BUT I STRUGGLED AND RESISTED
AND SAID
I CANNOT,
WILL NOT,
SHOULD NOT
EAT YOU.

AT ONE O'CLOCK,
THE TRUTH BE TOLD.
I ATE THE DONUT

LET US LOOK AT PAUL
IN OUR SECOND READING
FROM ROMANS
WHERE HE SAYS.
I do not understand what I do.
For what I want to do
I do not do,
But what I hate to do
I do.
For I have the desire
To do what is good,
But I cannot carry it out.
For what I do
Is not the good
I want to do;
No,
The evil I do not want to do-
This I keep on doing.
For I see another law at work
In the members of my body,
Waging war against the law of my mind,
And making me a prisoner,
Of the law of sin,
At work within body.
What a wretched man I am!
Who will rescue me from this body of death?

NOW PAUL IS A GREAT THEOLOGIAN
BUT HE GETS COMPLICATED
AND I MUST CONFESS
HE OFTEN CURES ME OF INSOMNIA.

HE COULD COMPLICATE A ONE CAR FUNERAL

TO MY SIMPLE WAY OF THINKING
PAUL COULD HAVE SAID
I ATE THE DONUT
AND I WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD.

BASICALLY WHAT PAUL IS SAYING
IS THAT WE ARE ALL FLAWED INDIVIDUALS.
AND WHEN WE CRY OUT
WHO WILL RESCUE ME,
WE KNOWS THE ANSWER.
IT IS JESUS CHRIST

WHO IS THIS JESUS
THAT PAUL TRUSTS SO IMPLICITLY
LET US LOOK AT OUR GOSPEL MESSAGE
WHERE MATTHEW WRITES
THAT JESUS SAID TO THE CROWD
I COMPARE YOU
TO A GROUP OF CHILDREN SINGING SILLY SONGS

WE PLAYED THE FLUTE
YOU WOULD NOT DANCE,
WE WAILED
YOU WOULD NOT MOURN
IS THIS NOT A SONG
WE OFTEN SING TO JESUS
IF YOU WERE MORE
LIKE WE WANTED YOU TO BE
WE COULD FOLLOW YOU WITH EASE
BUT YOUR WAY
MEANS GIVING UP DONUTS
AND WE DON'T WANT TO

JOHN LIVED
LIKE A HERMIT IN THE DESERT
WE DIDN'T LIKE THAT



JESUS LIVED AN ORDINARY LIFE
AMONG SINNERS
WE DIDN'T LIKE THAT

AND SO WE SING OUR SILLY SONG IN A CIRCLE
UNTIL WE ARE DISTRACTED
BY THE SOUNDS OF A PARADE IN THE DISTANCE.
WE HEAR THE HURRAHS,
THE SINGING, THE JOYFUL SHOUTS
AND WE WAIT FOR THE PROUD RULER TO COME BY
FOLLOWED BY HIS SLAVES
BUT INSTEAD WE ARE GREETED
AS ZECHARIAH SAYS
BY THE SIGHT
OF A MAN RIDING A DONKEY
FOLLOWED BY LAUGHING SINGING CHILDREN
WE CRY STOP THE CHILDREN FROM SINGING
THIS IS NO VICTORIOUS RULER
THIS CARICATURE

WE DO NOT SEE A KING
ARROGANT AND SUPERIOR
RATHER WE FIND A PERSON GENTLE AND HUMBLE
RIDING ON A DONKEY
WHERE IS HIS WAR HORSE
WHERE IS THE MOUNT SUITABLE FOR A KING
WHO..WHO WOULD FOLLOW HIM
THIS POOR EXCUSE FOR A RULER
THIS FLAWED PICTURE OF A RULER
WHO..WHO WOULD FOLLOW HIM

BUT AS HE COMES PASSING BY
HE LOOKS EACH ONE OF US IN THE EYE
AND SAYS
COME, COME FOLLOW ME
DROP DROP YOUR CHAINS OF SLAVERY AND SIN
COME, COME FOLLOW ME
FOR MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT

COME, COME FOLLOW ME
WITH ME IS FORGIVENESS FOR YOUR SINS
WITH ME IS A SAVIOR WHO KNOWS
AND DELIGHTS IN YOUR HUMANNESS



COME, COME FOLLOW
LAY DOWN YOUR HEAVY BURDENS

COME, COME FOLLOW ME
AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS
SHALL WE JOIN THE PARADE
SHALL WE SAY AMEN

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
ACTS 7; 55-60
PS 311-5,15-16
1 PETER 2; 2-10
JOHN 14; 1-14

THERE IS A CHILDHOOD POEM ABOUT CHRISTMAS
THAT SAYS

THERE WAS A KNIGHT OF BETHLEHEM
WHOSE WEALTH WAS TEARS AND SORROWS;
HIS MEN AT ARMS WERE LITTLE LAMBS,
HIS TRUMPETERS WERE SPARROWS

IN JOHN'S GOSPEL
THE FIRST TWELVE CHAPTERS
HAVE JESUS PREACHING
IN WORD AND ACTION
LARGELY TO UNBELIEVERS
BOTH JEW AND GENTILE

IN CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THERE IS A CHANGE
JESUS HAS SUMMONED HIS DISCIPLES
TO GATHER WITH HIM
FOR THE PASSOVER
FOR A MEAL
A MEAL
THAT WE HAVE COME TO CALL
THE LAST SUPPER

IN CHAPTER THIRTEEN
JESUS HAS WASHED THEIR FEET
JUDAS HAS LEFT TO BETRAY HIM
PETER
HAS DECLARED HIS LOYALTY
EVEN ONTO DEATH
AND JESUS HAS TOLD HIM
THAT BEFORE THE ROOSTER CROWS
TO BEGIN THE DAY
HE WILL HAVE DENIED HIM THREE TIMES

THERE WAS A KNIGHT OF BETHLEHEM
WHOSE WEALTH WAS TEARS AND SORROWS;
HIS MEN AT ARMS WERE LITTLE LAMBS,
HIS TRUMPETERS WERE SPARROWS

IN CHAPTER FOURTEEN
BEGINS THE LAST DISCOURSE
THE LAST SERMON
THE LAST CHANCE
BEFORE HIS DEATH
FOR JESUS
TO CONVINCE HIS FOLLOWERS
WHO HE WAS
AND WHAT HIS MESSAGE WAS

LOOKING BACK THROUGH HISTORY
WE MARVEL
HOW DUMB THEY WERE
HOW DENSE THEY WERE
LOOKING FORWARD TO NOW
WE WONDER
HOW DUMB WE ARE
HOW DENSE WE ARE

ENTER NOW IN JOHN'S PORTRAYAL
OF THE LAST SUPPER
ENTER NOW
THOMAS AND PHILIP
THE QUESTIONERS
THE DIALOGUE GOES LIKE THIS

THOMAS SAID TO HIM, "
LORD,
WE DON'T KNOW
WHERE YOU ARE GOING,
SO HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WAY?"
JESUS ANSWERED, "
I AM THE WAY
AND THE TRUTH
AND THE LIFE.

NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER
EXCEPT THROUGH ME.
IF YOU REALLY KNEW ME,
YOU WOULD KNOW MY FATHER AS WELL.



FROM NOW ON,
YOU DO KNOW HIM
AND HAVE SEEN HIM."
PHILIP SAID, "
LORD,
SHOW US THE FATHER
AND THAT WILL BE ENOUGH FOR US."
JESUS ANSWERED:
PHILIP
DON'T YOU KNOW ME,

EVEN AFTER
I HAVE BEEN WITH YOU
SUCH A LONG TIME?

PHILIP
ANYONE WHO HAS SEEN ME
HAS SEEN THE FATHER

NOW JOHN
USES THOMAS AND PHILIP
TO BE A VOICE
TO SHOW
WHAT THE MIND OF THE PEOPLE WAS
WHEN JESUS WAS TEACHING

TO BE A VOICE FOR ALL THOSE
WHO FOUND HIS TEACHING HARD THEN


TO BE A VOICE FOR ALL THOSE
WHO FIND HIS TEACHING HARD NOW
.

THERE WAS A KNIGHT OF BETHLEHEM
WHOSE WEALTH WAS TEARS AND SORROWS;
HIS MEN AT ARMS WERE LITTLE LAMBS,
HIS TRUMPETERS WERE SPARROWS

WHAT WAS THAT HARD MESSAGE

IT WAS
THAT WHEN YOU LOOKED AT JESUS
YOU WERE LOOKING AT GOD

AND IN THE TIME OF JESUS
TO LOOK AT GOD
WAS INVITING DESTRUCTION

REMEMBER WHAT GOD
TOLD MOSES ON THE MOUNTAIN
YOU SHALL SEE MY BACK
BUT MY FACE YOU SHALL NOT SEE

WHAT JESUS WAS SAYING
WAS THAT GOD
WAS NOT TO BE FOUND
ON SOME MYSTIC MOUNTAIN
OR TRAPPED IN A TEMPLE
TO BE APPEASED BY SACRIFICE

WHAT JESUS WAS SAYING
WAS THAT GOD
HAD BECOME DOMESTICATED
HE WAS LIVING AN ORDINARY LIFE
AMONG MEN.

IT IS JESUS WORKING
WHO GIVES WORK DIGNITY

IT IS JESUS WEEPING
OVER LAZARUS
THAT GIVES GRIEF
JOY
FRIENDS
AND FAMILY MEANING

IT IS JESUS DIPPING BREAD IN OIL
AND FEEDING JUDAS
THAT SHOWS A GOD
THAT KNOWS PAIN AND SORROW
AND WHAT BETRAYAL FEELS LIKE

IT IS JESUS
LABORING TIME AND AGAIN
TO EDUCATE HIS FOLLOWERS
WITH LITTLE SUCCESS
THAT GIVES MOTHERS OF FAMILIES MEANING

IT MEANS TAKING CARE OF THE WORLD
BECAUSE GOD LIVES HERE

IT MEANS TAKING CARE OF EACH OTHER
BECAUSE WE ARE IMPORTANT
BECAUSE GOD MADE US IMPORTANT
WHEN HE BECAME
ONE OF US

THERE WAS A KNIGHT OF BETHLEHEM
WHOSE WEALTH WAS TEARS AND SORROWS;
HIS MEN AT ARMS WERE LITTLE LAMBS,
HIS TRUMPETERS WERE SPARROWS


AND HE COMES WITH A MESSAGE
HE GIVES TO EACH OF US TO TEACH
THE MESSAGE
THAT GOD IS
HE LOVES
HE CARES
AND WALKS AMONG US
THAT THERE ARE NO CASTAWAY PEOPLE

THIS IS WHAT PETER MEANS
WHEN HE WRITES IN OUR LESSON

BUT YOU ARE A CHOSEN PEOPLE,
A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD,
A HOLY NATION,
A PEOPLE BELONGING TO GOD,
THAT YOU MAY DECLARE
THE PRAISES OF HIM
WHO CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS
INTO HIS WONDERFUL LIGHT.

ONCE
YOU WERE NOT A PEOPLE,
BUT NOW
YOU ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD;
ONCE
YOU HAD NOT RECEIVED MERCY,
BUT NOW YOU HAVE RECEIVED MERCY.

AND THAT MERCY
THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED
WE ARE ASKED TO PASS ON.
EVEN IN SUCH AN EXTREME CASE
AS STEPHEN
WHO WHILE THEY WERE STONING HIM,
PRAYED, "
LORD JESUS, RECEIVE MY SPIRIT

AND FALLING ON HIS KNEES
CRIED OUT, "
LORD,
DO NOT HOLD
THIS SIN
AGAINST THEM."

AND WHEN HE HAD SAID THIS,
HE DIED.

WE ARE TASKED
TO MAKE THIS WORLD BETTER
BETTER THAN HOW WE FOUND IT.
WE ARE ASKED TO FORGIVE
BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN

WE ARE ASKED
TO DO THIS BECAUSE
JESUS
LOVED THIS WORLD
SO MUCH HE CAME TO LIVE HERE
AND TO DIE FOR IT

SO JESUS IS ASKING US
AND IS ALWAYS ASKING US

LITTLE LAMBS
WILL YOU HELP ME

LITTLE SPARROWS
WILL YOU HELP ME

WILL YOU HELP ME
BUILD A BETTER WORLD

AND I SHALL BE THE CORNER STONE
THE STONE THAT THE BUILDERS REJECTEDAMEN

FOURTH LENT

FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT

(JESUS SAID)
JUST AS MOSES
LIFTED UP THE SNAKE IN THE DESERT,
SO THE SON OF MAN
MUST BE LIFTED UP,
THAT EVERYONE
WHO BELIEVES IN HIM
MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.
FOR GOD
SO LOVED THE WORLD
THAT HE GAVE HIS ONE
AND ONLY SON,
THAT WHOEVER
BELIEVES IN HIM
SHALL NOT PERISH
BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.

FOR GOD
DID NOT SEND HIS SON
INTO THE WORLD
TO CONDEMN THE WORLD,
BUT TO SAVE THE WORLD
THROUGH HIM.

WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM
IS NOT CONDEMNED,
BUT WHOEVER DOES NOT BELIEVE
STANDS CONDEMNED ALREADY
BECAUSE HE HAS NOT BELIEVED
IN THE NAME OF GOD'S ONE
AND ONLY SON.

THIS IS THE VERDICT:
LIGHT HAS COME
INTO THE WORLD,
BUT MEN LOVED DARKNESS
INSTEAD OF LIGHT
BECAUSE THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL.

EVERYONE WHO DOES EVIL
HATES THE LIGHT,
AND WILL NOT COME
INTO THE LIGHT
FOR FEAR
THAT HIS DEEDS WILL BE EXPOSED.
BUT WHOEVER LIVES BY THE TRUTH
COMES INTO THE LIGHT,
SO THAT IT MAY BE SEEN PLAINLY
THAT WHAT HE HAS DONE
HAS BEEN DONE THROUGH GOD












(SONG)
IF I KNEW YOU WERE COMING
I'D HAVE BAKED A CAKE
BAKED A CAKE
BAKED A CAKE
IF I KNEW YOU WERE COMING
I'D HAVE BAKED A CAKE
YES I WOULD
YES I WOULD
YES I WOULD

ODD WAY TO BEGIN A SERMON
ISN'T IT
BUT IT'S TRUE
YOU INDIVIDUALLY
ARE SO IMPORTANT
IN GOD'S PLAN FOR THE WORLD
THAT THERE SHOULD BE A CAKE
IN YOUR HONOR

IN FACT
SINCE WE KNEW YOU WERE COMING
THE STAFF BAKED A CAKE

(SONG)
SINCE WE KNEW YOU WERE COMING
WELL WE BAKED A CAKE
BAKED A CAKE
BAKED A CAKE
SINCE WE KNEW YOU WERE COMING
WELL WE BAKED A CAKE
YES WE DID
YES WE DID
YES WE DID

(CAKE BROUGHT IN
PLACED ON ALTAR)

THE CAKE SITS ON THE ALTAR
A SIGN OF GOD'S LOVE FOR YOU
ANOTHER GIFT FROM GOD FOR YOU
YOU MIGHT SAY
WHY ALL THE FUSS
WE DID NOTHING TO DESERVE A CAKE
AND THAT'S TRUE
WE DO OR HAVE DONE NOTHING
TO DESERVE
CREATION AND SALVATION
WE ARE PRODUCTS OF GOD'S LOVE
AND THAT LOVE
GIVES US WORTH
AND ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A CAKE
WE ARE PRODUCTS OF GOD'S LOVE
HOLD ON TO THAT THOUGHT

IMAGINE IF YOU WILL
NICODEMUS
HEARING THESE WORDS FOR THE FIRST TIME

FOR GOD
SO LOVED THE WORLD
THAT HE GAVE HIS ONE
AND ONLY SON,
THAT WHOEVER
BELIEVES IN HIM
SHALL NOT PERISH
BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.

FOR GOD
DID NOT SEND HIS SON
INTO THE WORLD
TO CONDEMN THE WORLD,
BUT TO SAVE THE WORLD
THROUGH HIM

TODAY'S GOSPEL STORY
IS PART OF THE LARGER STORY
WHERE NICODEMUS COMES AT NIGHT
TO QUESTION AND LISTEN TO JESUS

NICODEMUS HAS BEEN RAISED
IN THE JEWISH CONCEPT OF GOD
WHERE GOD MAKES THE RULES
AND PUNISHES THOSE WHO BREAK THEM

IN CONTRAST TO THAT THOUGHT
NICODEMUS HEARS
THAT GOD DID NOT SEND HIS SON
TO CONDEMN THE WORLD
BUT TO SAVE THE WORLD THROUGH HIM

OR AS A POET HAS SAID
FROM THE DEEPEST RECESSES OF ETERNITY
GOD CALLS OUT
I'M LONELY
I'LL MAKE ME A MAN
A WOMAN
A WORLD
AND I SHALL LOVE THEM
FAR PAST
ALL THEIR IMPERFECTIONS
FOR I CREATE THEM OUT OF LOVE
AND THAT LOVE IS A REFLECTION OF ME
AND THAT LOVE IS A FREE GIFT FROM ME

NICODEMUS DIDN'T UNDERSTAND
A GOD WHO DIDN'T KEEP SCORE
DIDN'T MAKE SENSE
CHRISTIANS OFTEN DO NOT UNDERSTAND
THE FREENESS OF GOD'S LOVE

AS PERHAPS ALL MEN AND WOMEN
FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE IN A GOD OF LOVE
THERE IS A STRONG FEELING AMONG US
THAT GOD MUST BE PACIFIED
THAT HIS ANGER MUST BE CONTAINED

BUT GOD DID NOT MAKE US TO TORTURE US
BUT TO SIT AT HIS TABLE
AND DRINK OF HIS WINE
AND BE HIS FRIEND FOREVER

WE FIND THAT HARD TO BELIEVE
MARTIN LUTHER FOUND IT HARD TO BELIEVE
HE ALWAYS THOUGHT
THAT GOD WAS HIS ENEMY
A FATHER HE COULDN'T PLEASE

UNTIL GOD BROKE THROUGH TO HIM
SAYING IN EFFECT
I
GOD
MADE THE WORLD
NOT TO BE A CONQUERING HERO
NOT TO BE A DISAPPROVING FATHER
BUT A LOVING FRIEND

AND I ASK
THAT IN RESPONSE
TO THIS GIFT I GIVE YOU
THAT YOU LOVE
ALL MEN
WOMEN
WORLD

THAT YOU LOVE THEM
AS I HAVE LOVED YOU
FOR I HAVE LOVED YOU INDIVIDUALLY
AS IF THERE WAS ONLY ONE OF YOU TO LOVE

INDIVIDUALLY
YOU HAVE MY FULL ATTENTION

EACH ONE OF YOU
IS SO IMPORTANT
INDIVIDUALLY

THAT I GOD CREATED A WORLD
AND SAVED IT
THROUGH THE ACTIONS OF MY SON

WHEN YOU EAT THE CAKE
AND TASTE ITS SWEETNESS
AND THE CAKE BECOMES PART OF YOU

REMEMBER
REMEMBER
THAT I GOD LOVE YOU
AND I ASK
THAT YOU SHARE THAT LOVE
WITH ALL YOU MEET

AMEN

THIRD EPIPHANY - SERIES A

THIRD EPIPHANY

WHEN MY CHILDREN WERE YOUNG
WE SPENT EACH SUMMER
CAMPING IN THE WOODS OF PENNSYLVANIA
OVER TIME
MY CHILDREN BECAME EXPERT FISHERMEN
EVEN TODAY
MY CHILDREN FISH IN PLACES
LIKE ALASKA, MEXICO, MAINE, JAPAN, PENNSYLVANIA AND CALIFORNIA
THEY ARE KIND OF ADDICTED TO FISHING

DAD DID NOT FISH
HE WAS TOO BUSY BAITING HOOKS
COULD EVERYBODY SAY POOOR DAD

SO ONE FATHER’S DAY
MY CHILDREN GAVE ME A POCKET FISHERMAN
WHICH WAS A FOLD UP FISHING POLE WITH A SET OF HOOKS

SO THE NEXT DAY
EARLY IN THE MORNING
I PICKED UP
MY POCKET FISHERMAN
AND WALKED TO THE LAKE
IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL MORNING
WITH FOG
LAYING ON THE GROUND
ABOUT FOUR FEET THICK
SO THAT ALL YOU COULD SEE
OF ME
OR ANYONE ELSE
WAS OUR HEADS

WHEN I GOT TO THE LAKE
I SAW A MAN FISHING
SO OUT OF COURTESY
I MOVE A HUNDRED FEET AWAY FROM HIM
I UNFOLDED MY FISHING POLE
BAITED MY HOOK
REACHED BACK WITH MY POLE
MADE A PERFECT CAST
AND CAUGHT THE TREE BEHIND ME

AFTER A TERRIFIC FIGHT WITH THE TREE
I FREED MY HOOK
BUT NOT BEFORE I HAD AWAKENED
EVERY BIRD IN THE FOREST
NOT TO MENTION
SEVERAL SCOLDING SQUIRRELS
AND SORRY TO SAY
MY FISHING COMPANION
WHO WAS A HUNDRED FEET AWAY
LEFT IN ABSOLUTE DISGUST
AT MY AMATEURISHNESS

IF AT THAT MOMENT
JESUS HAD WALKED THROUGH THE MIST
AND SAID TO ME
FRANK
I WILL MAKE YOU A FISHER OF MEN
I WOULD HAVE SAID
YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING

BUT IN OUR GOSPEL TODAY
JESUS COMES TO FOUR MEN
WHO WHILE THEY WERE GOOD FISHERMEN
WERE NOT THE ONES
ANY OF US WOULD HAVE PICKED

IN FACT AN EMPLOYMENT AGENCY
ONCE REVIEWED
THE FOUR APOSTLES
FOR THE JOB
OF APOSTLES
AND REJECTED THEM ALL EXCEPT JUDAS

OF THE FOUR
MENTIONED TO DAY
THE ONLY ONE I WOULD HAVE PICKED
WOULD HAVE BEEN
ANDREW
BECAUSE IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
ANDREW
ONCE HE WAS CONVINCED
THE JESUS WAS WHO HE CLAIMED TO BE
THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH

ANDREW TOOK JESUS TO MEET PETER
THIS IS THE BASIC WORK OF AN APOSTLE
HELPING PEOPLE TO MEET JESUS

BUT PETER
WHO WOULD PICK PETER
FOR SUCH A SENSITIVE JOB

PETER WAS RASH AND IMPULSIVE
SPOKE WITHOUT THINKING
WE KNOW WHEN FACED WITH DANGER
HE TURNED COWARDLY

BUT JESUS SAW SOMETHING IN PETER
SOMETHING THAT MOVED HIM
TO GIVE PETER
A NEW NAME
FROM SIMON
TO ROCK
IN ENGLISH
PETER

THE FIRST WORDS OF JESUS TO PETER
WERE COME
BE MY DISCIPLE
HIS LAST WORDS TO PETER WERE
FOLLOW ME
EVERY STEP OF HIS LIFE
BETWEEN THESE TWO CHALLENGES
PETER NEVER FAILED TO FOLLOW
EVEN THOUGH
AS WE KNOW FROM OUR BIBLE STUDY
HE OFTEN STUMBLED

THE OTHER TWO MENTIONED
JAMES AND JOHN
SEEM TO HAVE JOINED UP FOR THE WRONG REASONS
THEY SEEMED BE AFFLICTED WITH SIBLING RIVALRY
JESUS NICK NAMED THEM
SONS OF THUNDER
THEY HAD A BAD TEMPER WHEN CROSSED
BOTH WANTED TO BE IN IMPORTANT PLACES
IN JESUS’ POLITICAL KINGDOM

WHAT DID JESUS SEE IN THEM
WHAT DOES JESUS SEE IN US
FOR WE ARE CALLED TO BE DISCIPLES
AND WE RESPOND WE HAVEN’T THE TALENT
WE ARE NOT WISE
WE HAVEN’T THE TEMPERAMENT
AND JESUS REPLIES
I TOOK A ROCK
AND MOLDED IT
AND PETER WAS THAT GREAT VOICE
WHO PROCLAIMED THE GOSPEL AT PENTECOST
AND KEPT PROCLAIMING IT
UP TO HIS DEATH FOR ME

JESUS HAD CHANGED HIM
AS JESUS WILL CHANGE US
IF WE LET HIM
JESUS DOESN’T WANT ROCKET SCIENTISTS
HE WANTS US AS HE MADE US
HE DOESN’T NEED ELOQUENCE
AS PAUL SAYS IN OUR SECOND LESSON
I DO NOT PREACH WITH ELOQUENCE
FOR ELOQUENCE
WOULD TAKE AWAY
THE POWER OF THE CROSS

IT IS THE POWER OF THE CROSS
THAT WILL CHANGE US

SO JESUS SAYS
TO EACH ONE OF US
INVITING US TO BE HIS DISCIPLES
INVITING US
KNOWING WE ARE NOT UP TO THE JOB
INVITING US
KNOWING
THAT AS FISHERMEN
WE OFTEN CATCH TREES

BUT HIS MIGHT
WILL MAKE UP
FOR OUR LACK

HE INVITES US
BECAUSE A LONELY GOD
NEEDS US
FOR A FRIEND
AND CO-WORKER

SO TO EACH ONE OF US
HE SAYS
COME
COME MY BELOVED
COME
MY LITTLE CATCHER OF TREES
COME
I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN
COME
BE WITH ME
BECAUSE I LOVE YOU
COME
COME
AND BE MY FRIEND

THIRD EPIPHANY

THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY


TODAY
IS THE THIRD SUNDAY
AFTER THE EPIPHANY.
EPIPHANY IS A GREEK WORD,
WHICH AT ITS ROOT
MEANS TO SHOW.

EPIPHANY IS ALSO
THAT TIME IN THE CHURCH YEAR
FROM CHRISTMAS
TO BEGINNING OF LENT.

AS IT APPLIES TO THE LIFE OF JESUS
IT TREATS OF THOSE EVENTS
WHEN CHRIST
WAS BEGINNING TO SHOW
HIS KINGSHIP
AND HIS DIVINITY.

ON JANUARY SIXTH
WE HAD THE FEAST
OF THE EPIPHANY ITSELF
WHEN THE WISEMEN
FOLLOWING A STAR
CAME TO SEE HIM.

ON JANUARY SEVENTH
WE HAD THE BAPTISM OF JESUS
WHEN GOD THE FATHER
DECLARED
THAT JESUS WAS HIS SON.

ON JANUARY FOURTEENTH
WE HAD THE WEDDING AT CANA
WHERE JESUS TURNED WATER INTO WINE.

AND TODAY WE REMEMBER
WHEN JESUS
PREACHED FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN HIS HOMETOWN NAZARETH.

LET ME TELL YOU A STORY.
MOST OF IT IS TRUE.
THE REST IS A PARABLE.
JESUS TOLD PARABLES.
THEY WERE
AND ARE
STORIES TO TEACH A LESSON.

JESUS
FILLED WITH THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT
WAS PREACHING IN GALILEE.
GOING FROM VILLAGE TO VILLAGE.
AND THE PEOPLE FELT HOPE
AND JOY
IN HIS MESSAGE
BUT THE RULERS OF THE SYNAGOGUE
AND THE WEALTHY AND IMPORTANT
FELT THREATENED

HE WAS NOW IN NAZARETH
AND HE AND HIS MOTHER
WERE WALKING TO THE SYNAGOGUE.
AT THE DOOR THEY PARTED.
MARY WENT TO SIT WITH THE WOMEN
BECAUSE THE SYNAGOGUE WAS SEGREGATED.

AT THE CENTER OF THE SYNAGOGUE SAT
ALL THE IMPORTANT MEN OF THE VILLAGE.
AROUND THEM SAT
THE OTHER MEN OF THE VILLAGE.
THE WOMEN WERE IGNORED
THEY WERE NOT IMPORTANT.
IN FACT THE JEWISH LEADERS SAID
THAT IT WOULD BE BETTER
FOR THE BIBLE TO BE BURNED
RATHER THAN BE TAUGHT TO A WOMAN.

THIS WAS THE WORLD JESUS LIVED IN
AND HE DID NOT LIKE IT.
HE ALSO DID NOT LIKE THE PRAYER
THAT JEWISH MEN SAID DAILY.
THEY SAID
BLESSED BE GOD
THAT HE HAS NOT MADE ME
A GENTILE.
BLESSED BE GOD
THAT HE HAS NOT MADE ME
A WOMAN.
BLESSED BE GOD
THAT HE HAS NOT MADE ME
A SLAVE.
THIS ALSO BOTHERED JESUS.
IT WAS NOT THE WORLD
THAT HE
OR HIS FATHER WANTED.

LATER PAUL
IN GALATIANS
WOULD ANSWER THAT PRAYER
WITH A NEW ONE
THAT REFLECTED WHAT JESUS THOUGHT
WHEN HE WROTE

AS MANY OF YOU
AS WERE BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST
HAVE CLOTHED YOURSELVES
WITH CHRIST.

THEREFORE
THERE IS NO LONGER
JEW OR GREEK,
THERE IS NO LONGER
SLAVE OR FREE,
THERE IS NO LONGER
MALE AND FEMALE;

FOR ALL OF YOU
ARE ONE IN CHRIST JESUS.

BUT THAT PRAYER WAS WRITTEN
AFTER JESUS HAD LIVED AND DIED.
BUT TODAY IN OUR STORY
JESUS IS BEGINNING HIS JOURNEY.
AS HE LOOKS AT THE ASSEMBLY
HE IS SADDENED
THAT THEY HAVE WANDERED
SO FAR FROM HIS FATHER'S DREAM.
HE OPENS THE SCRIPTURES
AND READING FROM ISAIAH
HE DECLARES IN A STRONG VOICE
THE NEW/OLD VISION OF THE FATHER
FOR HIS PEOPLE.

TODAY HE SAYS
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME.
HE HAS APPOINTED ME.
HE HAS APPOINTED ME
TO BRING GOOD NEWS
TO THE POOR.
HE HAS APPOINTED ME
TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO CAPTIVES
HE HAS APPOINTED ME
TO TELL THE BLIND
THAT THEY SHALL SEE.
TO TELL THE DOWNTRODDEN
THEIR BURDEN IS LIFTED
AND TO TELL
ALL PEOPLE
THAT THE TIME FOR GOD'S BLESSINGS
IS NOW.

JESUS CLOSES THE BOOK.
LOOKS AT ALL THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE,
LOOKS AT ALL THE NOT SO IMPORTANT PEOPLE
LOOKS AT HIS MOTHER
AND ALL THE OTHER WOMEN
WHO DID NOT COUNT
AND SAYS
TODAY
THIS SCRIPTURE HAS BEEN FULFILLED
IN YOUR HEARING
MEANING THAT THE TIME FOR CHANGE
WAS NOW
AND FOR THAT REASON
JESUS WAS PREACHING.
I HOPE MY SERMON
IS BETTER RECEIVED
THAN JESUS' WAS
BECAUSE WHEN JESUS WAS FINISHED
HE WAS CHASED OUT OF TOWN.
BUT THAT'S NEXT WEEK SERMON
SO TUNE IN.

BUT THE RICH MEN AND THE IMPORTANT MEN
AND THE LEADERS OF THE SYNAGOGUE
THOUGHT
WHY WORRY ABOUT THOSE WHO ARE WITHOUT.
ABOUT THOSE WHO COUNT FOR NOTHING.
THE OTHER MEN WONDERED
WHY THE FUSS,
LIFE IS GOING ON OK FOR ME.

IT TOOK PAUL
AGAIN IN TODAY'S LESSON
TO PUT WORDS TO JESUS' DREAM
WHEN HE WRITES IN CORINTHIANS.
THAT THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
IS LIKE A BODY,
MANY PARTS
ONE BODY.

AND THAT THAT
BODY IS THE BODY OF CHRIST.

AS PAUL WRITES
FOR IN ONE SPIRIT
WE WERE ALL BAPTIZED
INTO ONE BODY.
NO MORE JEW OR GREEK,
SLAVE OR FREE
BUT ONE BODY.

AND IN THAT BODY
IF ONE PART SUFFERS
THE WHOLE BODY SUFFERS.
JUST AS IF
ONE PART OF THE BODY IS HONORED
THE WHOLE BODY IS HONORED.
WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR NEIGHBOR.
THIS IS JESUS' DREAM
THAT WE CARE FOR OUR NEIGHBOR
AS IF HE WERE CHRIST.
THAT WE CARE FOR OUR NEIGHBOR
BECAUSE HE IS ONE WITH US
IN CHRIST'S BODY.

SO JESUS LOOKING AT THE WORLD
THROUGH OUR EYES
AND SEEING
THAT IT IS NOT THE WORLD
THAT HIS FATHER
OR HE WANTS.
ASKS US TO SAY WITH HIM
AS HE SAID IN NAZARETH ON THAT DAY.

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON US.
HE HAS APPOINTED US.
HE HAS APPOINTED US
TO BRING GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR.
HE HAS APPOINTED US
TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY
TO CAPTIVES
HE HAS APPOINTED US
TO TELL THE BLIND
THAT THEY SHALL SEE.
TO TELL THE DOWNTRODDEN
THEIR BURDEN IS LIFTED
TO TELL ALL PEOPLE
THAT THE TIME
FOR GOD'S BLESSINGS
IS NOW. SO I ASK YOU
(PUT IN NAME)
WILL YOU HELP JESUS
TO MAKE THE WORLD
THE WAY HE WANTS IT

RESPONSE
I WILL AND I ASK GOD TO HELP ME.

SECOND LENT - SERIES A

SECOND LENT

SERIES A



LET ME START BY TELLING YOU A FEW STORIES

THE WORD CALENDAR
COMES FROM THE LATIN WORD CALENDS
WHICH MEANS THE FIRST OF THE MONTH
SO A CALENDAR
IS A DEVICE
THAT HELPS PEOPLE
FIND THE FIRST OF THE MONTH

THE WORD CALENDS
ALSO MEANS
THE COIN PURSE OF THE MONEY LENDER
WHO WOULD COME BY
ON THE FIRST OF THE MONTH
WITH HIS PURSE OPEN
TO RECEIVE THE PAYMENTS DUE HIM

DURING THE ADVENT SEASON
THAT PRECEDED THE MILLENIUM
I WAS ASKED TO PREACH
ON THE MILLENIUM
THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL OF FEAR
IN THE COMMUNITY
ONE FEAR WAS THAT THE COMPUTERS WOULD FAIL
THE OTHER WAS A STRONG UNDERCURRENT
THAT GOD HAD PICKED THE YEAR 2000
AS A TIME TO COME
TO COLLECT OUR DEBT TO HIM
THAT HE WOULD COME WITH HIS OPEN PURSE
LIKE A MONEY LENDER DEMANDING PAYMENT
AND BECAUSE WE WERE IMPOVERISHED
AND COULDN'T PAY
WE WOULD BE PUNISHED
NOT A NEW IDEA
OUR FOUNDER
MARTIN LUTHER
LABORED MUCH OF HIS LIFE
UNDER THE IDEA
THAT TRY AS HE MIGHT
HE COULD NOT PLEASE GOD
AND AS A RESULT
AN ANGRY
MEAN SPIRITED GOD
WOULD PUNISH HIM

IN TODAY'S GOSPEL
NICODEMUS
COMES AT NIGHT
TO MEET WITH JESUS

HE WAS AN IMPORTANT RICH MAN
A LEADER IN THE COMMUNITY
HE CAME AT NIGHT
HIS COMING AT NIGHT
DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN
HE WAS AFRAID TO BE SEEN
WITH JESUS
A JEWISH PROVERB OF THE TIMES
SAID
IF YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO A MAN DEEPLY
COME TO HIS HOUSE WHEN THE CHILDREN
WERE ASLEEP
AS THOSE OF US WHO ARE
OR WERE PARENTS KNOW
THAT USUALLY MEANS
LATE AT NIGHT
SO NICODEMUS
CAME TO JESUS AT NIGHT

WHO WAS THIS NICODEMUS
A PHARISEE
A LEADER OF THE PEOPLE
AN OBSERVER OF ALL THE LAWS
THAT MUST BE OBEYED
TO PLEASE GOD

JUDAISM HAD DISINTEGRATED
INTO A SERIES OF MAN MADE LAWS
CREATED BY A PROCESS CALLED PILPUL
WHICH WAS A STUDY OF THE LAW
TO DISCOVER ALL ITS SHADES AND MEANINGS
AND THE ONES WHO PROMOTED THIS STUDY
WERE THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES

SOME EXAMPLES
YOU COULDN'T WORK ON THE SABBATH
SO A MAN WITH A WOODEN LEG
COULD NOT WALK ON THE SABBATH
BECAUSE THE LEG WAS A BURDEN
AND THEREFORE WALKING WAS WORK

IF YOU WERE HURT
YOU COULD BANDAGE THE WOUND
BUT YOU COULDN'T PUT MEDICINE ON THE WOUND
BECAUSE THAT WAS WORK

ALSO IF A GENTILE WOMAN WAS HAVING A BABY
YOU COULDN'T HELP HER
BECAUSE SHE WAS NOT ONE OF THE CHOSEN PEOPLE
TO WHOM THE LAW HAD BEEN GIVEN

THE SCRIBES AND THE PHARISEES
WERE CONSTANTLY STUDYING THE LAW
ADDING SOME REQUIREMENTS
TO DAILY LIVING
OR FORBIDDING
SOME ACTIONS
IN DAILY LIVING
YOU REMEMBER THAT JESUS WAS ACCUSED
OF BAD CONDUCT
WHEN HE HEALED PEOPLE ON THE SABBATH DAY
BECAUSE HEALING WAS WORK

THEY OPPRESSED THE PEOPLE SO MUCH
WITH THESE LAWS
THAT JESUS CRIED OUT
YOU MAKE UP HEAVY BURDENS
FOR MEN TO CARRY
BUT DO NOTHING
TO HELP THEM CARRY
THEIR BURDENS

OR AGAIN JESUS CRIED OUT
THE LAW EXISTS FOR THE PEOPLE
NOT THE PEOPLE FOR THE LAW

SO NICODEMUS
A GOOD MAN
BURDENED DOWN
HE COULD NOT KEEP
OR FOUND IT DIFFICULT
COMES IN THE NIGHT
TO FIND THE LIGHT
WHO COMES IN THE NIGHT
TO HAVE HIS BURDEN LIGHTENED

AND JESUS SAYS TO HIM
JESUS SAYS TO HIM
BE BORN AGAIN

HOW MANY TIMES
HAVE WE SAID
IN OUR OWN LIFE
I AM TIRED OF THE WAY THINGS ARE
I AM GOING TO TRY TO CHANGE MY LIFE
I WILL BE REBORN


BUT HOW WE SAY
WITH NICODEMUS
HOW CAN WE BE REBORN
AND JESUS SAYS
BY THE WATER AND THE SPIRIT
OF YOUR OWN BAPTISM
BY THAT BAPTISM
YOU HAVE RECEIVED REBIRTH
YOU HAVE BEEN REBORN

BUT
HAVING BEEN GIVEN SUCH A GIFT
WE FEEL UNWORTHY
WE CANNOT MEASURE UP TO THE MARK
WE CANNOT FILL THE MONEY LENDER'S
PURSE
UNWORTHY OF THE GIFT OF REBIRTH
WE FEEL THAT WE WILL BE CRUSHED
BY ITS WEIGHT
BY ITS OBLIGATIONS

BUT JESUS SAYS
MY FATHER SO LOVED THE WORLD
HE SENT ME
HE SENT ME
TO SAVE IT
AND ANYONE WHO BELIEVES IN ME
BELIEVES IN THE FATHER
AND WILL RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE

BUT THE GIFT IS TOO GREAT
TOO GREAT FOR US
WHO ARE TOO SMALL
HOW CAN WE EVER REPAY YOU
BELIEVE IN ME
IS ALL I ASK
BELIEVE
AND LET YOUR LIFE FLOW
FROM THAT BELIEF
BELIEVE IN ME

BUT WE SHALL STUMBLE
BELIEVE IN ME
BUT WE ARE WEAK
BELIEVE IN ME
BUT WE ARE UNWORTHY
BELIEVE IN ME
BUT WE ARE SINNERS
I HAVE FORGIVEN YOU

SO WHEN THE TEMPTER COMES
AS COME HE WILL
TO MAKE YOU DOUBT
YOUR BELIEFS
TO MAKE YOU FEEL
UNLOVED AND UNWANTED BY GOD
TELL THE TEMPTER
WITH HIS OPEN PURSE
TELL THE TEMPTER
MY DEBT HAS BEEN PAID
MY DEBT HAS BEEN PAID BY JESUS
WHO DID NOT PAY
THE GREAT PRICE HE PAID
SO THAT LATER HE COULD DESTROY ME
AS YOU ARE TRYING TO DESTROY ME

TELL THE TEMPTER
WHEN HE COMES
TELL THE MONEY LENDER
WITH HIS OPEN PURSE

CLOSE YOUR PURSE
AND MARK MY BILL
PAID IN FULL BY JESUS

SECOND EPIPHANY

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

LET US BEGIN AS WE BEGIN ALL THINGS
IN THE NAME OF GOD THE FATHER
WHO CREATED US,
IN THE NAME OF GOD THE SON
WHO REDEEMED US,
IN THE NAME OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
WHO INSPIRES US.

LET US BEGIN IN THE NAME OF GOD,
MOTHER OF US ALL.

THIS IS THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY.
THAT TIME OF THE CHURCH YEAR
BETWEEN CHRISTMAS
AND THE BEGINNING OF LENT.

THE WORD EPIPHANY MEANS
TO SHOW.
THE CHURCH USES THIS TIME
TO COMMEMORATE
THE TIME WHEN JESUS
WAS BEGINNING HIS MINISTRY.
WAS BEGINNING
TO SHOW THE WORLD
WHO HE WAS.

SO WE HAVE THE FEAST OF EPIPHANY ITSELF
WHEN THE WISEMAN CAME.
MEN DRAWN BY A STAR
HERALDING THE BIRTH OF A KING.
THAT KING BEING JESUS.

THEN LAST SUNDAY WE HAD
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS
DURING WHICH GOD THE FATHER
SPOKE FROM HEAVEN
DECLARING
THAT JESUS WAS HIS SON.

THIS SUNDAY WE HAVE THE WEDDING FEAST AT CANA

LET TELL YOU A STORY

WHEN I WAS A CHILD
EVERY SUMMER
WOODEN SCREEN DOORS
WERE PLACED
ON ALL THE OUTSIDE DOORS.
THERE WAS A LONG SPRING ATTACHED
WHICH WHEN YOU LET THE DOOR GO
SLAMMED THE DOOR LOUDLY.
THIS WAS USUALLY FOLLOWED
BY YOUR MOTHER YELLING
DON'T SLAM THE DOOR.

GRADUALLY
DUE TO MY MOTHER'S INFLUENCE
I LEARNED
NOT TO SLAM THE DOOR.
IT WAS NOT AN EASY TASK
FOR MY MOTHER OR I.

SHE WOULD COME TO THE DOOR
AND IN FRONT OF ALL MY PLAYMATES
CALL FRANK ANTONY
GET OVER HERE.
WHEN I GOT OVER THERE
SHE WOULD SAY
FRANK ANTONY
OPEN AND CLOSE THE DOOR
QUIETLY.
I WOULD OPEN THE DOOR
AND CLOSE IT
QUIETLY.
THEN SHE WOULD SAY
NOW FRANK MIBUY
YOU CAN GO AND PLAY.

TO THIS DAY
IF I SLAM A DOOR
NO MATTER HOW OLD I AM
AND MY MOTHER IS NOT AROUND
I GO OPEN AND
CLOSE THE DOOR
QUIETLY.

ARE YOU PROUD OF ME MOM.
ARE YOU PROUD OF FRANK ANTONY

IN TODAY'S GOSPEL
MARY IS AN IMPORTANT GUEST
AT THE WEDDING.

LISTEN TO THE GOSPEL AGAIN.
THERE WAS A WEDDING
AND THE MOTHER OF JESUS WAS THERE.
JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES
WERE ALSO INVITED.

FOR THIS WEDDING
MARY WAS A MORE IMPORTANT GUEST
THAN JESUS.

NOW WEDDINGS
IN THE TIME OF JESUS AND MARY
WERE WEEK LONG EVENTS
AND FOR THE WINE
OR THE FOOD TO RUN OUT
WAS A DISGRACE
TO THE FAMILIES INVOLVED.

SO MARY
WHEN SHE SEES THE WINE RUN OUT
IS CONCERNED FOR THE BRIDAL COUPLE.
SHE IS CONCERNED THAT THEIR MARRIAGE
NOT BEGIN WITH DISGRACE.
SO SHE TURNS TO HER SON
AND SAYS
THEY HAVE NO WINE.

HE SAYS
IT IS NOT OUR PROBLEM,
IT IS NOT MY TIME TO BEGIN.

MARY LOOKS AT JESUS
WITH THE TIME IMMEMORIAL LOOK
OF MOTHERS
WHO LOOK AT CHILDREN
WHO SLAM DOORS
AND SAYS TO THE SERVANTS
DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU.

THE LEGEND
IS THAT THE WATER
LOOKED WITH LOVE AT IT'S CREATOR
AND BLUSHED.
BLUSHED AND BECAME WINE.
BLUSHED AND BECAME WINE
FINER THAN THAT
WHICH WAS SERVED
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FEAST

DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU
AND WHAT DOES HE TELL US.
HE ASKS US TO BECOME WINE
TO BE DRINK TO THE WORLD
TO SAY TO THE WORLD
WHAT AN ANCIENT GREEK PRAYER
HAS HIM SAY

I AM YOUR GOD
WHO FOR YOUR SAKE
HAVE BECOME YOUR SON
OUT OF LOVE FOR YOU
AND FOR YOUR DESCENDANTS

I NOW
BY MY OWN AUTHORITY
SAY TO ALL
WHO ARE HELD IN THE BONDAGE OF SIN
TO THROW OFF YOUR CHAINS
I HAVE FREED YOU

TO ALL WHO ARE IN DARKNESS
BE ENLIGHTENED
FOR I AM THE LIGHT

TO ALL WHO ARE SLEEPING
AWAKE
IT IS TIME TO AWAKE

AND TO ALL IN DANGER OF HELL
COME BACK TO ME

I DID NOT MAKE YOU
TO BE A PRISONER OF HELL
BUT TO SIT AT MY TABLE
AND DRINK OF MY WINE

THIS IS THE MESSAGE
FOUND IN OUR READINGS FROM ISAIAH
AND IN PSALM 36.
I GOD
WANT WHAT IS GOOD FOR MY PEOPLE.

YOU AND I ARE ASKED
TO BECOME WINE TO THE WORLD
BUT WE SAY WE CANNOT DO IT.
WE HAVE NO SKILLS.

BUT PAUL REMINDS US IN CORINTHIANS
THAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN SKILLS
BY THE SPIRIT.

WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN WISDOM
KNOWLEDGE,
FAITH,
HEALING,
MIRACLE WORKING,
PROPHECY,
AND THE GIFT OF TONGUES
THAT ALLOW US TO SPEAK
TO ALL PEOPLE IN A LANGUAGE
THEY CAN UNDERSTAND.

WE ARE ASKED TO BE WINE FOR THE WORLD
WE ARE ASKED TO DO WHAT JESUS TELLS US
AND WHAT HE HAS TOLD US IS WRITTEN IN OUR HEARTS

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS
WE ARE ASKED TO INVITE THE WHOLE WORLD
TO THE WEDDING FEAST

TO BE AT PEACE WITH ONE ANOTHER
AND WHEN WE SLAM DOORS
TO GO BACK AND DO IT RIGHT

ARE YOU PROUD OF ME JESUS
ARE YOU PROUD OF ME AND ALL MY FRIENDS
ARE YOU PROUD OF US JESUS

AND THE ANSWER COMES THUNDERING FROM THE HEAVENS

YOU ARE MY BELOVED SONS AND DAUGHTERS
IN YOU I AM WELL PLEASED


MAY IT BE SO
AMEN
AMEN

FIRST EPIPHANY

FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

THE BAPTISM OF JESUS

LET US BEGIN AS WE BEGIN ALL THINGS
IN THE NAME OF GOD THE FATHER
WHO CREATED US,
IN THE NAME OF GOD THE SON
WHO REDEEMED US,
IN THE NAME OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
WHO INSPIRES US.

LET US BEGIN IN THE NAME OF GOD,
MOTHER OF US ALL.

THIS IS THE FIRST SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY.
EPIPHANY
WHICH IS THAT TIME OF THE CHURCH YEAR
BETWEEN CHRISTMAS
AND THE BEGINNING OF LENT.

THE WORD EPIPHANY MEANS
TO SHOW.
THE CHURCH USES THIS SEASON
TO COMMEMORATE
THE TIME WHEN JESUS
WAS BEGINNING HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY.
WAS BEGINNING
TO SHOW THE WORLD
WHO HE WAS.

SO LAST WEEK
WE HAD THE FEAST OF EPIPHANY ITSELF

WHEN THE WISEMAN CAME.
MEN DRAWN BY A STAR
HERALDING THE BIRTH OF A KING.
THAT KING BEING JESUS.

THIS SUNDAY WE HAVE
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS
DURING WHICH GOD THE FATHER
SPEAKS FROM HEAVEN
DECLARING
THAT JESUS WAS HIS SON.


THE BAPTISM JESUS RECEIVED
WAS NOT THE SAME AS THAT BAPTISM
WE RECEIVED
WHEN MOST OF US WERE CHILDREN

BAPTISM WAS RESERVED IN THE JEWISH FAITH
FOR THOSE
NOT BORN JEWS
THOSE SINFUL PEOPLE
NOT BORN A JEW

THE JEW BELIEVED
THAT BEING A SON OF ABRAHAM
HE WAS ASSURED OF GOD'S SALVATION

AS LONG AS HE FOLLOWED THE LAW
HE WAS ASSURED OF GOD'S SALVATION
THERE FOR HE HAD NO NEED FOR RITUAL CLEANING

BUT THERE WAS A MOVEMENT IN JUDEA
IN JESUS TIME
THAT THE NATION HAD LOST THEIR PRIVILEGED STATUS

THE NATION HAD BEEN CONQUERED BY ROME
THE PEOPLE
WERE DESPERATELY WAITING
FOR THE MESSIAH
TO FREE THE LAND
THEY FELT THAT GOD WAS ANGRY WITH THEM
ANGRY WITH THEM BECAUSE OF THEIR LIFESTYLE
THEY FELT
THAT THERE WAS A NEED FOR A CHANGE
THAT THERE WAS A NEED FOR A CLEANSING
THAT THERE WAS A NEED FOR REPENTING

SO THERE WENT OUT INTO THE LAND
THOSE CALLING FOR CHANGE
SOME WERE CALLING FOR POLITICAL CHANGE
OTHERS LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST AND THE ESSENES
WERE CALLING FOR MORAL CHANGE
AND THE SYMBOL OF THAT CHANGE
WAS THE WHOLE BODY PLUNGING
OF A PERSON INTO A LAKE OR RIVER



BUT THE CANDIDATE HAD FIRST TO STATE
HE WAS SORRY FOR HIS SINS
AND WOULD TRY TO AMEND HIS LIFE

AND JOHN'S MESSAGE OF REPENT
AND CHANGE YOUR LIFE
WAS BEARING FRUIT
MANY WERE FLOCKING TO JOHN
FOR REPENTANCE AND BAPTISM

UNDERLYING THIS MOVEMENT
WAS THE THOUGHT
THAT IF THEY CHANGED THEIR LIVES
THE MESSIAH WOULD COME
BUT THEY WANTED A POLITICAL MESSIAH

WHAT THEY WOULD GET
WAS A SERVANT

THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SURPRISED
BECAUSE GOD HAD DESCRIBED THAT SERVANT
IN ISAIAH
OUR FIRST READING TODAY
LET ME REFRESH YOUR MEMORY

THE LORD'S SERVANT

THE LORD SAYS,
"HERE IS MY SERVANT,
WHOM I STRENGTHEN -
THE ONE I HAVE CHOSEN,
WITH WHOM I AM PLEASED.
I HAVE FILLED HIM WITH MY SPIRIT,
AND HE WILL BRING JUSTICE TO EVERY NATION.
HE WILL NOT SHOUT OR RAISE HIS VOICE
OR MAKE LOUD SPEECHES IN THE STREETS.

HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF A BENT REED
NOR PUT OUT A FLICKERING LAMP.
HE WILL BRING LASTING JUSTICE TO ALL.
HE WILL NOT LOSE HOPE OR COURAGE;
HE WILL ESTABLISH JUSTICE ON THE EARTH.
DISTANT LANDS EAGERLY WAIT FOR HIS TEACHING."



AND NOW
THE LORD GOD SAYS TO HIS SERVANT,
I, THE LORD, HAVE CALLED YOU
AND GIVEN YOU POWER
TO SEE THAT JUSTICE
IS DONE ON EARTH.
THROUGH YOU
I WILL MAKE A COVENANT
WITH ALL PEOPLES;
THROUGH YOU
I WILL BRING LIGHT
TO THE NATIONS.
YOU WILL OPEN THE EYES
OF THE BLIND
AND SET FREE THOSE
WHO SIT IN DARK PRISONS.

THE THINGS I PREDICTED
HAVE NOW COME TRUE.
NOW I WILL TELL YOU
OF NEW THINGS
EVEN BEFORE
THEY BEGIN TO HAPPEN."

THIS SERVANT
THIS GOD MADE MAN
WHO DID NOT CONSIDER EQUALITY WITH GOD
SOMETHING TO BE GRASPED,
TO BE CLUNG TO
BUT RATHER
EMPTIED HIMSELF OUT
TOOK ON THE FORM OF A SLAVE
A SERVANT
TO SAVE US FROM OUR SINS

THIS GOD MAN WAS BORN IN A STABLE
WAS HUNGRY AT HIS MOTHER'S BREAST
WAS SENT TO SCHOOL
LEARNED TO TIE HIS SANDALS
WAS TRAINED TO BE A CARPENTER
TOOK CARE OF HIS MOTHER
STUDIED THE SCRIPTURES
LOOKED OUT AT THE WORLD
AND KNEW IT WAS NOT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE



SO HERE HE WAS
STANDING
LOOKING AT THE RIVER JORDAN
WHERE JOHN HIS COUSIN
WAS BAPTIZING
KNEW HE HAD TO MAKE A DECISION
KNEW HE HAD TO DECIDE
WHAT HE SHOULD DO WITH HIS LIFE
KNEW THAT IF STARTED PREACHING
THE WAY JOHN WAS PREACHING
THEY WOULD EVENTUALLY KILL HIM

BUT HE HAD HEARD
THE CALL OF HIS FATHER
TO MISSION
LIKE A BUGLE SOUNDING SOFTLY
IN THE DISTANCE

AND LIKE ALL MEN
BECAUSE HE WAS MAN
HE STRUGGLED WITH HIS DECISION
TRYING TO DETERMINE
HIS FATHER'S CALL
TRYING TO DETERMINE HOW TO BECOME THE PERSON PAUL WOULD DESCRIBE IN OUR SECOND READING

HE DID NOT NEED BAPTISM
THERE WAS NO SIN IN HIM
WHAT WAS IN HIM
WAS A DESIRE
A NEED
TO SHARE HUMANITY'S PLIGHT
TO BE WITH SINNERS
WHERE THEY WERE
AND WHERE THEY WERE
WAS WITH JOHN ENTERING THE WATER

SO HE JOINED THE LINE
BUT HIS COUSIN JOHN
FELT HE WAS UNWORTHY
BUT JESUS SAID
LET IT BE DONE




SO JOHN PLUNGED HIM INTO THE RIVER
AND HE CAME UP
GASPING FOR AIR
LIKE A NEWBORN BABY
LIKE A REBORN BABY
LIKE ALL THOSE IN LINE WITH HIM

AND FROM HEAVEN CAME A VOICE
THE VOICE OF A FATHER
PROUD OF HIS SON
FOR MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE
AND THE VOICE SAYS
THIS IS MY BELOVED SON
IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED

AND JESUS LOOKING AT ALL GATHERED AT THE RIVER
AND LOOKING DOWN THE LONG RIVER OF HISTORY
COMES TO THIS ROOM WHERE WE ARE GATHERED
AND SAYS
TO EACH ONE OF US INDIVIDUALLY
YOU
YOU ARE MY BELOVED BROTHERS
YOU ARE MY BELOVED SISTERS
IN YOU I AM WELL PLEASED

MORE JEREMIAH WRIGHT

The following is excerpted from the speech given by Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, at an NAACP dinner in Detroit on April 27.
Throughout its 99-year history, the NAACP has been built by people of all races, all nationalities, and all faiths on one primary premise, which is that all men and women are created equal. The nation's oldest civil rights organization has changed America's history. Despite violence, intimidation and hostile government policies, the NAACP and its grassroots membership have persevered.
Now, somebody please tell the Oakland county executive that that sentence starting with the words "despite violence, intimidation, and hostile government policies" is a direct quote from the NAACP's profile in courage. It didn't come from Jeremiah Wright.
Otherwise, he will attribute the quote to me and continue to say that I am one of the most divisive people he has ever heard speak. When he has never heard me speak. And just to help him out, I am not one of the most divisive. Tell him the word is descriptive.

I describe the conditions in this country. Conditions divide, not my descriptions. ...
One of your cities' political analysts says in print that first just my appearance here in Detroit will be polarizing. Well, I'm not here for political reasons. I am not a politician. I know that fact will surprise many of you because many in the corporate-owned media have made it seem as if I had announced that I'm running to for the Oval Office. I am not running for the Oval Office. I've been running for Jesus a long, long time, and I'm not tired yet.
I am sorry your local political analysts and your neighboring county executives think my being here is polarizing and my sermons are divisive, but I'm not here to address an analyst's opinion or a county executive's point of view. I am here to address your 2008 theme, and I stand here as one representative of the African American religious tradition which works in concert with other faith traditions, believing as we work together that a change is going to come. ... The support of the Jewish community, the Muslim community, and the Christian community, Protestant and Catholic, is in concert with the credo of the NAACP and a definite sign that a change is definitely going to come. ...
I believe that a change is going to come because many of us are committing to changing how we see others who are different.
In the past, we were taught to see others who are different as somehow being deficient. Christians saw Jews as being deficient. Catholics saw Protestants as being deficient. Presbyterians saw Pentecostals as being deficient. Folks who like to holler in worship saw folk who like to be quiet as deficient. And vice versa. ...
Whites saw black as being deficient. ... Europeans saw Africans as deficient. Lovers of George Friedrich Handel and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart saw lovers of B.B. King and Frankie Beverly and Maze as deficient. Lovers of Marian Anderson saw lovers of Lady Day and Anita Baker as deficient. ...
In the past, we were taught to see others who are different as being deficient. We established arbitrary norms and then determined that anybody not like us was abnormal. But a change is coming because we no longer see others who are different as being deficient. We just see them as different. Over the past 50 years, thanks to the scholarship of dozens of expert in many different disciplines, we have come to see just how skewed, prejudiced and dangerous our miseducation has been.
Miseducation. Miseducation incidentally is not a Jeremiah Wright term. It's a word coined by Dr. Carter G. Woodson over 80 years ago. Sounds like he talked a hate speech, doesn't it? ...
Turn to your neighbor and say different does not mean deficient. It simply means different. In fact, Dr. Janice Hale was the first writer whom I read who used that phrase. Different does not mean deficient. ... Dr. Hale showed us that in comparing African-American children and European-American children in the field of education, we were comparing apples and rocks. And in so doing, we kept coming up with meaningless labels like EMH, educable mentally handicapped, TMH, trainable mentally handicapped, ADD, attention deficit disorder.
And we were coming up with more meaningless solutions like reading, writing and Ritalin. Dr. Hale's research led her to stop comparing African-American children with European-American children. ... She discovered that the two different worlds have two different ways of learning. European and European-American children have a left-brained cognitive-object oriented learning style, and the entire educational learning system in the United States of America - back in the early '70s, when Dr. Hale did her research - was based on left-brained cognitive-object oriented learning style. ...
African and African-American children have a different way of learning. ... Those same children who have difficulty reading from an object and who are labeled EMH, DMH and ADD. Those children can say every word from every song on every hip-hop radio station half of whose words the average adult here tonight cannot understand. Why? Because they come from a right-brained creative oral culture like the (greos) in Africa ...
What Dr. Janice Hale did in the field of education, Dr. Geneva Smitherman did in the field of linguistics. ... Linguists have known since the mid 20th century that number one, nobody in Detroit, with the exception of citizens born and raised in the United Kingdom, nobody in Detroit speaks English. We all speak different varieties of American. ... Linguists knew that nobody in here speaks English, but only black children 50 years ago were singled out as speaking bad English.
John Kennedy could stand at the inauguration in January and say, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." ... Nobody ever said to John Kennedy that's not English. ... Only to a black child would they say you speak bad English. ... Ed Kennedy today cannot pronounce cluster consonants. Very few people from Boston can. They pronounce park like it's p-o-c-k. Where did you "pock" the car? They pronounce f-o-r-t like it's f-o-u-g-h-t. ... And nobody says to a Kennedy you speak bad English. Only to a black child was that said. ...
Different does not mean deficient. Tell your neighbor one more time. ... (This) is also true in ... biblical studies, black sacred music and black worship. We just do it different, and some of our haters can't get their heads around that. I come from a religious tradition that does not divorce the world we live in from the world we are heading to. I come from a religious tradition that does not separate the kingdom of heaven that we pray for from the devious kingdoms of humans that keep people in bondage on Earth.
... I also come from a religious tradition that say if you feel excited about something, be excited about it. ... Listen to how bombastic he is. Isn't he bombastic? He's stirring up hate. ... I come from a religious tradition where we shout in the sanctuary and march on the picket line. I come from a religious tradition where we give God the glory and we give the devil the blues. The black religious tradition is different. We do it a different way. ...
I believe a change is going to come because many of us here tonight, at least 11,900 out of 12,000, many of us are committed to changing how we see others who are different. Number one, many of us are committed to changing how we see ourselves. Number two, not inferior or superior to, just different from others. Embracing our own histories. Embracing our own cultures. Embracing our own languages as we embrace others who are also made in the image of God. ... When we see ourselves as members of the human race, I believe a change is on the way. When we see ourselves as people of faith who shared this planet with people of other faiths, I believe a change is on the way. ... Many of us are committed to changing, number three, the way we treat each other. The way black men treat black women. The way black parents treat black children. The way black youth treat black elders and the way black elders treat black youth. We are committed to changing the way we treat each other. ... The way the have and have-mores treat the have nots. The way the educated treat the uneducated. The way those with degrees treat those who never made it through high school. The way those of us who never got caught treat those of us who are incarcerated. ...
We are committed to changing the way we treat each other. ... It's going to take people of all faiths including the nation of Islam, but we can do it. It's going to take people of all races, but we can do it. It's going to take Republicans and Democrats, but we can do it. It's going to take the wisdom of the old and the energy of the young, but we can do it. It's going to take politicians and preachers ... but we can do it. It's going to take educators and legislatures, but we can do it. If I were in a Christian Church, I would say we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. If I were in a Jewish synagogue, I would say is anything too hard for Elohim? If I were in a Muslim mosque, I would say Sha Allah we can do it. If I were pushing one particular candidate, I would say yes, we can. ...

JEREMIAH WRIGHT'S 911 SERMON

Editor’s note: CNN Contributor Roland Martin has listened to several of the sermons of Rev. Jeremiah Wright from Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Portions of the sermons have been excerpted in recent stories.
As this whole sordid episode regarding the sermons of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has played out over the last week, I wanted to understand what he ACTUALLY said in this speech. I’ve been saying all week on CNN that context is important, and I just wanted to know what the heck is going on.
I have now actually listened to the sermon Rev. Wright gave after September 11 titled, “The Day of Jerusalem’s Fall.” It was delivered on Sept. 16, 2001.
One of the most controversial statements in this sermon was when he mentioned “chickens coming home to roost.” He was actually quoting Edward Peck, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and deputy director of President Reagan’s terrorism task force, who was speaking on FOX News. That’s what he told the congregation.
He was quoting Peck as saying that America’s foreign policy has put the nation in peril:
“I heard Ambassador Peck on an interview yesterday did anybody else see or hear him? He was on FOX News, this is a white man, and he was upsetting the FOX News commentators to no end, he pointed out, a white man, an ambassador, he pointed out that what Malcolm X said when he was silenced by Elijah Mohammad was in fact true, he said Americas chickens, are coming home to roost.”
“We took this country by terror away from the Sioux, the Apache, Arikara, the Comanche, the Arapaho, the Navajo. Terrorism.
“We took Africans away from their country to build our way of ease and kept them enslaved and living in fear. Terrorism.
“We bombed Grenada and killed innocent civilians, babies, non-military personnel.
“We bombed the black civilian community of Panama with stealth bombers and killed unarmed teenage and toddlers, pregnant mothers and hard working fathers.
“We bombed Qaddafi’s home, and killed his child. Blessed are they who bash your children’s head against the rock.
“We bombed Iraq. We killed unarmed civilians trying to make a living. We bombed a plant in Sudan to pay back for the attack on our embassy, killed hundreds of hard working people, mothers and fathers who left home to go that day not knowing that they’d never get back home.
“We bombed Hiroshima. We bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an eye.
“Kids playing in the playground. Mothers picking up children after school. Civilians, not soldiers, people just trying to make it day by day.
“We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff that we have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.
“Violence begets violence. Hatred begets hatred. And terrorism begets terrorism. A white ambassador said that y’all, not a black militant. Not a reverend who preaches about racism. An ambassador whose eyes are wide open and who is trying to get us to wake up and move away from this dangerous precipice upon which we are now poised. The ambassador said the people we have wounded don’t have the military capability we have. But they do have individuals who are willing to die and take thousands with them. And we need to come to grips with that.”
He went on to describe seeing the photos of the aftermath of 9/11 because he was in Newark, N.J., when the planes struck. After turning on the TV and seeing the second plane slam into one of the twin towers, he spoke passionately about what if you never got a chance to say hello to your family again.
“What is the state of your family?” he asked.
And then he told his congregation that he loved them and asked the church to tell each other they loved themselves.
His sermon thesis:
1. This is a time for self-examination of ourselves and our families.
2. This is a time for social transformation (then he went on to say they won’t put me on PBS or national cable for what I’m about to say. Talk about prophetic!)
“We have got to change the way we have been doing things as a society,” he said.
Wright then said we can’t stop messing over people and thinking they can’t touch us. He said we may need to declare war on racism, injustice, and greed, instead of war on other countries.
“Maybe we need to declare war on AIDS. In five minutes the Congress found $40 billion to rebuild New York and the families that died in sudden death, do you think we can find the money to make medicine available for people who are dying a slow death? Maybe we need to declare war on the nation’s healthcare system that leaves the nation’s poor with no health coverage? Maybe we need to declare war on the mishandled educational system and provide quality education for everybody, every citizen, based on their ability to learn, not their ability to pay. This is a time for social transformation.”
3. This is time to tell God thank you for all that he has provided and that he gave him and others another chance to do His will.
By the way, nowhere in this sermon did he said “God damn America.” I’m not sure which sermon that came from.
This doesn’t explain anything away, nor does it absolve Wright of using the N-word, but what it does do is add an accurate perspective to this conversation.
The point that I have always made as a journalist is that our job is to seek the truth, and not the partial truth.
I am also listening to the other sermons delivered by Rev. Wright that have been the subject of controversy.
And let me be clear: Where I believe he was wrong and not justified in what he said based upon the facts, I will say so. But where the facts support his argument, that will also be said.
So stay tuned.
- Roland S. Martin, CNN Contributorwww.rolandsmartin.com

AUGUSTINE

Ask the loveliness of the earth, ask the loveliness of the sea, ask the loveliness of the wide airy spaces, ask the loveliness of the sky, ask the order of the stars, ask the sun, making daylight with its beams, ask the moon tempering the darkness of the night that follows, ask the living things which move in the waters, which tarry on the land, which fly in the air; ask the souls that are hidden, the bodies that are perceptive; the visible things which most be governed, the invisible things that govern—ask these things, and they will all answer you, Yes, see we are lovely. Their loveliness is their confession. And all these lovely but mutable things, who has made them, but Beauty immutable?- Augustine Sermons 214.2

MOTHER'S AGAINST THE WAR

He will leave again.
Again, I'll be broken, a relic
of that young woman I was when
I stood over his bassinet and
hoped his rash would heal
if I changed to cloth.
……………………………………………………………………………………


He left it out
of sight, as if recalling
my refusal,
when he was a boy,
to buy him one.
The only evidence
it existed, a small
brown square of paper,
slightly buckled,
three holes shot
through at the heart,
lying on the table
by his will.
…………………………………………………………………………….







His head was freshly shaved.
A blue square bandage
on his shoulder covered
the small pox shot they all get
before they ship out to Iraq.
In days he'd be cargo on some army plane,
and I'd be in New York City listening
to his message on my machine.
I save all his messages.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Last Mother's Day,
when he was incommunicado,
nothing came.
Three days later, a message
in my box; a package,
the mail room closed.
I went out into the lobby,
banged my fist against
the desk. When they
gave it to me, I clutched it
to my chest, sobbing
like an animal.
I spoke to no one,
did not apologize.
I didn't care about the gift.
It was the note I wanted,
the salt from his hand,
the words.
……………………………………………………………………..


Frances Richey
....................................................

OSCAR A ROMERO

Those who have created the evil are those who have made possible the hideous social injustice our people live in. Thus, the poor have shown the church the true way to go. A church that does not join the poor in order to speak out from the side of the poor against the injustices committed against them is not the true church of Jesus Christ.- Oscar A. RomeroThe Violence of Love

Had it been me...

As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say, "That's a terrible statement," I grew up in a very segregated South, and I think that you have to cut some slack. And I'm going to be probably the only conservative in America who's going to say something like this, but I'm just telling you: We've got to cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told, "You have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can't sit out there with everyone else. There's a separate waiting room in the doctor's office. Here's where you sit on the bus." And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had ... More of a chip on my shoulder had it been me.
- Mike Huckabee, offering his perspective on the preaching of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. (Source: MSNBC)

TAN FU

YANGISTS LIKED TO QUOTE THE EXAMPLE OF TAN FU,
AN ANCESTOR OF THE ZHOU KINGS,
WHO HAD RENOUNCED THE THRONE
RATHER THAN FIGHT AN INVADING ARMY:
" TO SEND TO THEIR DEATHS THE SONS
AND YOUNGER BROTHERS
OF THOSE WITH WHOM I DWELL
IS MORE THAN I COULD BEAR,"
HE EXPLAINED IN HIS ABDICATION SPEECH' .

PISTIS

Faith
(Pistis, fides). In the Old Testament, the Hebrew means essentially steadfastness, cf. Exod., xvii, 12, where it is used to describe the strengthening of Moses' hands; hence it comes to meanfaithfulness, whether of God towards man (Deuteronomy 32:4) or of man towards God (ps. cxviii, 30). As signifying man's attitude towards God it means trustfulness or fiducia. It would, however, be illogical to conclude that the word cannot, and does not, mean belief or faith in the Old Testament for it is clear that we cannot put trust in a person's promises without previously assenting to or believing in that person's claim to such confidence.
It seems a surprising way to begin talking about happiness by Saying, .. Blessed are the poor in spirit." there are two ways m Which we can come at the meaning of this word poor.
As we have them the beatitudes are in Greek, and the word
That is used for poor is the word ptochos. In Greek there are two Words for poor. There is the word penes. Penes describes a man Who has to work for his living; it is defined by the Greeks as Describing the man who is autodiakonos, that is, the man who Serves his own needs with his own hands. Penes describes the Working man, the man who has nothing superfluous, the man Who is not rich, but who is not destitute either. But, as we have Seen, it is not penes that is used in this beatitude, it is ptochos, Which describes absolute and abject poverty. It is connected With the root ptossein, which means to crouch or to cower; and It describes the poverty which is beaten to its knees. As it has Been said, penes describes the man who has nothing superfluous; Ptochos describes the man who has nothing. At all. So
This beatitude becomes even more surprising. Blessed is the man Who is abjectly and completely poverty-stricken. Blessed is the Man who is absolutely destitute.
As we have also seen the beatitudes were not originally
Spoken in Greek, but in Aramaic. Now the Jews had a special Way of using the word poor. In Hebrew the word is 'alii or Ebion. These words in Hebrew underwent a four-stage develop Ment of meaning. (l) they began by meaning simply poor. (2) They went on to mean, because poor, therefore having no Influence or power, or help, or prestige. (3) they went on to Mean, because having no influence, therefore down-trodden and
Oppressed by men. (4) finally, they came to describe the man Who, because he has no earthly resources whatever, puts his Whole trust in god.
So in Hebrew the word poor was used to describe the humble And the helpless man who put his whole trust in god. It is thus That the psalmist uses the word, when he writes, " this poor Man cried, and the lord heard him, and saved him out of all his Troubles" (psalm 34: 6). It is in fact true that in the psalms the' Poor man, in this sense of the term, is the good man who is dear To god. "the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever"
(psalm 9: 18). God delivers the poor (psalm 35: 10). "in thy Goodness, 0 god, thou didst provide for the needy" (psalm 68: 10). "he shall defend the cause of the poor of the people"
(psalm 72: 4). " he raises up the needy out of affliction, and Makes their families like flocks" (psalm 107: 41). " i will satisfy Her poor with bread"(psalm 132: 15). In all these cases the poor Man is the humble, helpless man who has put his trust in god,
Let us now take the two sides, the Greek and the Aramaic,
And put them together. Ptochos describes the man who is Absolutely destitute, the man who has nothing at all; 'ani and Ebion describe the poor, and humble, and helpless man who has Put his whole trust in god. Therefore, " blessed are the poor in Spirit" means
Blessed is the man who has realized his own utter helplessness. And who has put his whole trust in god.
If a man has realized his own utter helplessness, and has put His whole trust in god, there will enter into his life two things Which are opposite sides of the same thing. He will become Completely detached from things, for he will know that things Have not got it in them to bring happiness or security; and he Will become completely attached to god, for he will know that God alone can bring him help, and hope, and strength. The man Who is poor in spirit is the man who has realized that things Mean nothing, and that god means everything.
We must. be careful not to think that this beatitude calls Actual material poverty a good thing. Poverty is not a good Thing. Jesus would never have called blessed a state where People live in slums and have not enough to eat, and where Health rots. Because conditions are all against it. That kind of Poverty it is the aim of the Christian gospel to remove. The Poverty which is blessed is the poverty of spirit, when a man
Realizes his own utter lack of resources to meet life and finds His help and strength in god.
I
Jesus says that to such a poverty belongs the kingdom of Heaven: ,why should that be so? If we take the two petitions of The lord s prayer and set them together:
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven,
We get the definition: the kingdom of god is a society where God's will is as perfectly done in earth as it is in heaven. That Means that only he who does god's will is a citizen of the Kingdom; and we can only do god's will when we realize our
Own. Utter helplessness, our own utter ignorance, our own utter inability to cope With life, and when we put our whole trust in
God .. Obedience is always founded on trust. The kingdom of God is the possession of the poor in spirit, because the poor in Spirit have realized their own utter helplessness without god And have learned to trust and obey. '
o the bliss of the man who has realized his own utter Helplessness and who has put his whole trust in god For thus alone he can render to god that perfect
Obedience which will make him a citizen of the kingdom of Heaven!
Abraham had now become not merely the father of the Jewish people but the ancestor of all the faithful. His 'faith' (Greek: pistis, a word which, it is important to note, should be translated as 'trust' rather than 'belief) had made him a model Christian, centuries before the coming of the messiah. When scripture praised Abraham's faith it was referring 'to us as well': 'Scripture foresaw that God was going to use faith to justify the pagans, and proclaimed the Good News long ago, when Abraham was told: In you all the pagans will be blessed.' 41 When God commanded Abraham to abandon his concubine Hagar and their son Ishmael in the wilderness, this had been an allegory: Hagar represented the Sinai covenant, which had enslaved Jews to the Law, while Sarah, Abraham's free-born wife, corresponded to the new covenant, which had liberated gentiles from Torah obligations.
The author of the epistle to the Hebrews, who was probably writing at about the same time, was even more radical. He was trying to console a community of Jewish Christians
We should also recognize the changes in the meaning of our English verb, "to believe." Its use in mediaeval and Elizabethan times conveyed the sense of trust in a person, loyalty or commitment to a person. That is the sense in which Paul and all other biblical authors used its Greek equivalent, pisteuo when speaking of believing in God or in Jesus Christ. Since the time of Hobbes, Locke and Mills in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, it has gradually taken on the force of a proposition, "to believe that .... " In the 1959 edition of Chambers Encyclopedia, the article on "Belief" states, "what we actually believe, in the strictness of the language, is always a proposition or set of propositions. Of these, creeds are composed." (Quoted in Smith, Wilfrid Cantwell, History and Belief. Charlottesville, VA. Virginia University Press, 1977, p. 49; n. 30, p.109.)
Faith is the noun corresponding to the verb "believe," for which the Hebrew is heemin, the hiphil form of aman, and the Greek (LXX and NT) pisteuo. The latter is a key word in the NT, being the term regularly used to denote the many sided religious relationship into which the gospel calls men and women, that of trust in God through Christ. The complexity of this idea is reflected in the variety of constructions used with the verb (a hoti clause, or accusative and infinitive, expressing truth believed; en and epi with the dative, denoting restful reliance on that to which, or him to whom, credit is given; eis
and, occasionally, epi with the accusative, the most common, characteristic, and original NT usage, scarcely present in the LXX and not at all in classical Greek, conveying the thought of a move - ment of trust going out to, and laying hold of, the object of its confidence). The Hebrew noun corresponding to aman (emuna, rendered pistis in the LXX), regularly denotes faithfulness in the sense of trustworthiness, and pistis occasionally bears this sense in the NT (Rom. 3:3, of God; Matt. 23:23; Gal. 5:22; Titus 2: 1 0, of man).
A further argument for free will is that God's commandments carry a divine "ought" for man, implying that man can and should respond positively to his commands. The responsibility to obey God's commands entails the ability to respond to them, by God's enabling grace. Furthermore, if man is not free, but all his acts are determined by God, then God is directly responsible for evil, a conclusion that is clearly contradicted by Scripture (Hab. 1:13; James 1:13 - 17).
Therefore, it seems that some form of self determinism is the most compatible with the biblical view of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.
who were beginning to lose heart by arguing forcefully that Christ had superseded the Torah, was more exalted than Moses I and that the sacrificial cult had simply foreshadowed Jesus' priestly act in giving his life for humanity. In an extraordinary passage, the author saw the entire history of Israel as exemplifying the virtue of pistis, trust in 'realities that at present remain unseen'." Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets had all exhibited this 'faith': that had been their greatest, indeed their sole achievement." But, the author concluded, 'they did not receive what was promised, since God made provision for us to have something better, and they were not to reach perfection except with us.'
In this exegetical tour de force, the whole of Israelite history had been redefined, but in the process the old stories, which had been about far more than pistis, lost much of their rich complexity. Torah, temple and cult simply pointed to a future reality because God had always had something better in mind. Paul and the author of Hebrews showed future generations of Christians how to interpret the Hebrew Bible and make it their own. The other New Testament Writers would develop this pesher and make it very difficult for Christians to see Jewish scripture as anything more than a prelude to Christianity.
Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was before.