Text: II Corinthians 5:16-18
The easiest way for a pastor to get in trouble is to preach politics. The IRS says I can’t endorse a particular candidate - at least not from the pulpit. Preachers most often hear negative comments when they preach on issues of the day that are considered “political.” This often happens when a preacher’s remarks don’t line up with a congregant’s beliefs. Very few people get upset if you’re on their side of an issue.
I can say that this makes a preacher, especially a new preacher, cautious - careful to address both sides of an issue, and hesitant to move too far beyond the congregation - especially the vocal members of a congregation.
But change does not happen when we’re cautious. Change happens when we take a stand and speak and act boldly. The history of the world is the story of those who stepped out ahead of others and boldly pushed society forward. We see many illustrations of this in Scripture. Two weeks ago our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrated the feast of Purim which celebrates the actions of Esther.
The book of Esther tells her story. She lived during the time the Jewish people had been taken in exile and were living in Persia. When the king selected her to join his harem, he fell in love with her and made her queen, though he did not know that she was Jewish. One of his top ministers was slighted by Mordechai, a Jew who would not bow to him, and so the minister convinced the king to have all of the Jews put to death.
Mordechai was Esther’s cousin and he got word to her of what was to happen. Esther, though she was not allowed to approach the king, cleverly designed a series of banquets during which the king offered her anything she desired. She spoke boldly and asked that her life and the lives of her people be spared. Which they were.
In Acts, we find numerous examples of Paul and other disciples speaking boldly, even when it meant risking their lives.
Dr. Jack Sullivan, in his article on what the historic black church can teach us, says, “No meaningful social changes would have occurred without courageous acts on the part of Black churches and other churches of goodwill. If they had played it safe they would have delayed justice and derailed the freedom movement. Thank God for the marches, the sit-ins and the peaceful demonstrations! Thank God for visible and vocal church leadership that insisted that God’s liberating “yes” was more powerful than society’s oppressive ‘no.’”
Being faithful requires us to move past being safe, to being bold, taking a stand for justice and freedom for all. It requires a change, a new creation. It’s what Joan Campbell, Ed Weisheimer, Al Pennybacker, and many other members of this church did when they invited Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr to speak here back in the 60’s.
As Dr. Sullivan says, “Our faithfulness, growth, and credibility are not rooted in our ability to play it safe and avoid controversy, but in our willingness to open ourselves to God’s transformative, liberating love-justice vision, and take the risk of teaching, living and preaching this vision with decisiveness, clarity and without apology.”
But it’s not enough to have done it then, we have to continue to do it now. We have to continue to speak boldly, to teach boldly, to act boldly. We have to look past our upbringing, our prejudices, and even, in some cases, society’s norms when they conflict with what Jesus taught. As Paul says, we are no longer to see things from a human point of view but from Christ’s point of view.
Being faithful requires boldness in other ways as well. Boldness in speaking about our faith and how it has made a difference in our lives. Boldness in making changes in our personal lives and in our lives together as a community. We need to be continually recreated, made new, through the power of God’s love for us. Christ came that we might be reconciled to God. And we are to continue that ministry of reconciliation. Christ didn’t just do something on his own and then leave us to ourselves. Christ invited us in to the inner circle, he touched the very core of the disciples’ lives and helped them understand that there was a better way to live, that they could be transformed into children of God. That life could have new meaning, excitement, joy, love.
That is our ministry of reconciliation too. To work to transform the world by witnessing to God’s call for justice and peace. But also to witness to our neighbors and friends of God’s love and transformation of our lives.
And that requires us to be bold.
-Rev. Roger Osgood
Showing posts with label Christian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Is it bad to be sheep?
Text: Luke 13:31-35
Seems to me that sheep get a bad rap today. They are always portrayed and referred to as dumb animals that will follow one of their own into danger, off the edge of a cliff. It’s quite possible that sheep, certainly ones on farms that have been bred for wool or meat, are in fact pretty stupid animals. I’ve only been around sheep at county fairs and can’t really speak to their intelligence level. But they survived for thousands of years before being and their herding together is a survival mechanism just as it is for many plant eating animals (cows, gazelles, etc). Moving together means that the community is more likely to survive when attacked by hungry carnivores.
Humans, especially Americans, often take a different view of how to survive in the world. We are a group that almost worships individual effort. The greatest heroes in the books we read and the movies we watch are those that triumph through their own individual effort. We praise the sports players who rise on their talents and abilities. And we deride “the sheep” among us; those who place the work and good of the community above their own welfare.
In our scripture passage this morning Jesus laments the fact that he has attempted to gather the “lost sheep” of Israel under his wings, but they are unwilling. “The image we are given is of God/Jesus as a hen gathering a whole bunch of chickens under her wings. What might that imply about our relationship with those other chickens? It requires a physical closeness to be packed together under those wings. It implies a learning to get along with one another if we wish to stay packed together under those wings. How do we balance our own comfort level of space with this image of physically gathered together under God's loving wings? Being packed together in a pew? Rubbing shoulders with others on the way out of church? Sharing the peace by touching others with a handshake -- or an embrace (when appropriate)?”
http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke13x31.htm
Rev. Jack Sullivan, in his article on five things we can learn from the historic black church, tells us many black congregations travel across town or even hundreds of miles just to be together for worship or fellowship with other churches. Through these gatherings members maintain family ties, find strength and share their testimonies of the wondrous acts of God. And he quotes the words of Martin Luther King Jr. “We are tied together in a single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the way God’s universe is made; this is the way it is structured.”
What does that mean for us as individuals and as a church?
We need to act as a community - seeking consensus, supporting decisions that are made by the whole even when we may not agree with them, reaching out and supporting one another [especially those who are on the edges of the community], being present so that we are a part of it. Those of us who tend to act alone need to be intentional about getting more involved with others and opening up more (even if that’s difficult), being aware of who is not present and reaching out to them. Be willing to ask for help and extend help.
And it means reaching out beyond the walls of this church to invite individuals into our community, and engaging with other churches to build larger communities that widen the circle even further.
The historic black church and others dealing with oppression know that it is necessary to pool their efforts to make progress. Those of us of all ethnic groups and backgrounds who have “made it” can learn a valuable lesson about the value of communities that grow and thrive because they move forward into the future together, encouraging and supporting each other so that God’s Kingdom might be more fully realized.
-Rev. Roger Osgood
Seems to me that sheep get a bad rap today. They are always portrayed and referred to as dumb animals that will follow one of their own into danger, off the edge of a cliff. It’s quite possible that sheep, certainly ones on farms that have been bred for wool or meat, are in fact pretty stupid animals. I’ve only been around sheep at county fairs and can’t really speak to their intelligence level. But they survived for thousands of years before being and their herding together is a survival mechanism just as it is for many plant eating animals (cows, gazelles, etc). Moving together means that the community is more likely to survive when attacked by hungry carnivores.
Humans, especially Americans, often take a different view of how to survive in the world. We are a group that almost worships individual effort. The greatest heroes in the books we read and the movies we watch are those that triumph through their own individual effort. We praise the sports players who rise on their talents and abilities. And we deride “the sheep” among us; those who place the work and good of the community above their own welfare.
In our scripture passage this morning Jesus laments the fact that he has attempted to gather the “lost sheep” of Israel under his wings, but they are unwilling. “The image we are given is of God/Jesus as a hen gathering a whole bunch of chickens under her wings. What might that imply about our relationship with those other chickens? It requires a physical closeness to be packed together under those wings. It implies a learning to get along with one another if we wish to stay packed together under those wings. How do we balance our own comfort level of space with this image of physically gathered together under God's loving wings? Being packed together in a pew? Rubbing shoulders with others on the way out of church? Sharing the peace by touching others with a handshake -- or an embrace (when appropriate)?”
http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke13x31.htm
Rev. Jack Sullivan, in his article on five things we can learn from the historic black church, tells us many black congregations travel across town or even hundreds of miles just to be together for worship or fellowship with other churches. Through these gatherings members maintain family ties, find strength and share their testimonies of the wondrous acts of God. And he quotes the words of Martin Luther King Jr. “We are tied together in a single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the way God’s universe is made; this is the way it is structured.”
What does that mean for us as individuals and as a church?
We need to act as a community - seeking consensus, supporting decisions that are made by the whole even when we may not agree with them, reaching out and supporting one another [especially those who are on the edges of the community], being present so that we are a part of it. Those of us who tend to act alone need to be intentional about getting more involved with others and opening up more (even if that’s difficult), being aware of who is not present and reaching out to them. Be willing to ask for help and extend help.
And it means reaching out beyond the walls of this church to invite individuals into our community, and engaging with other churches to build larger communities that widen the circle even further.
The historic black church and others dealing with oppression know that it is necessary to pool their efforts to make progress. Those of us of all ethnic groups and backgrounds who have “made it” can learn a valuable lesson about the value of communities that grow and thrive because they move forward into the future together, encouraging and supporting each other so that God’s Kingdom might be more fully realized.
-Rev. Roger Osgood
Monday, March 1, 2010
Unfit for Fishing
Text: Luke 5:1-11
For several years I worked for a man who loved to fish. Every summer he would host a company fishing trip on Lake Erie, where the employees would spend all day in boats trying to catch walleye. I was a little anxious my first time out for a couple of reasons. First, I didn’t have much idea what I was doing; and second, I had learned over the years that I was susceptible to motion sickness.
Well it turned out that I was right to be anxious. Not about not knowing anything. Like many people who are passionate about their hobbies, the guys who loved to fish were more than happy to explain what I needed to do. And for a little while I actually enjoyed myself. But sitting in a boat, even on a relatively calm day, is a moving experience and it wasn’t too long before the movement caught up with me. I spent the rest of my time on the lake “chumming,” as they called it, and receiving a bunch of so-called good advice. Like “eat something,” not good advice, and stare at the horizon, which helped a little once I stopped taking the other advice.
I have fished several times since then, even took my own sons fishing once or twice, but I have never even remotely resembled a fisherman. And I haven’t outgrown the motion sickness thing either. So the reality is that you’ll never see me on one of those fishing shows on the sports channels. You could say that I am in many ways unfit for fishing.
You could not say the same thing about Simon Peter. Peter was a professional fisherman; he made his living at it. Which is not to say that he didn’t have some bad days. Like this one when Jesus shows up. They had been out all night fishing and hadn’t caught anything. So Peter must have been feeling a little down when he carried Jesus offshore to address the gathering crowds.
This is one of many times in the gospels that Jesus teaches without any record of what he taught about. Maybe that’s because of what happened next, with the non-fisherman telling the disciples to head out into the deep water and cast their nets - with outstanding results.
Given that there were so many fish the boats were in danger of sinking, a practical fisherman like Peter might have said a quick thank you and started getting those boats back to shore. Instead, he falls on his knees and proclaims his unworthiness. “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” But Jesus responds, Don’t be afraid, follow me and from now on you’ll be catching people instead of fish.
Have you ever felt unfit for something? Maybe even something that was an important part of your job or your volunteer work in the church or elsewhere? Ever waited for someone to discover that you really didn't know what you were doing?
We’ve all felt unfit to be sharers of the Good News. We know Christ asks us to go into the world and make disciples, but not only do we feel uncomfortable with that, we feel completely unprepared. We don't have all the answers. We may say the wrong thing. We may just not know what to say.
But how prepared was Peter? Or the other disciples? They were working men, not trained, degreed pastors. And they spent less time with Jesus than most of us have spent in church, and just like us, the gospel writers tell us that they didn’t “get” most of what Jesus was trying to teach them. Yet there they went after Jesus’ death, venturing out into the deep water of spreading the gospel, leaving their old lives behind to tell the good news.
It would be easy to listen to this story, declare ourselves unfit to be out catching people, and continue on with our regular ordinary everyday lives as if this story was not about us, and this call was not ours too. But what if we can set aside our fears for just a moment, realize that Jesus doesn’t call us because we’re fit but uses us as we are?
And what if we could realize that it may not be necessary to give up everything and leave it all behind like Peter? What if our lives could be transformed right where we are, with the people we love and know? The last thing those tired fishermen were expecting was a showing of God's awesome power right there, at the end of another workday. Our workdays, too, hold the possibility of seeing God's hand at work in our lives and all around us.
So here's my goal for this year: Talk to one person each month about my faith or our church and if they don't have a church home invite them to Heights Christian Church. It's not much, I know, but I think it’s doable even though 99% of the people I see, meet and talk to on a regular business already have a church home. But lots of folks out there don’t have a church, may not even have a faith, and the numbers are growing. So it’s likely I could find a few to talk to, if I just give up my feeling of inadequacy.
Maybe it’s time for all of us to venture out into the deep water.
-Rev. Roger Osgood
For several years I worked for a man who loved to fish. Every summer he would host a company fishing trip on Lake Erie, where the employees would spend all day in boats trying to catch walleye. I was a little anxious my first time out for a couple of reasons. First, I didn’t have much idea what I was doing; and second, I had learned over the years that I was susceptible to motion sickness.
Well it turned out that I was right to be anxious. Not about not knowing anything. Like many people who are passionate about their hobbies, the guys who loved to fish were more than happy to explain what I needed to do. And for a little while I actually enjoyed myself. But sitting in a boat, even on a relatively calm day, is a moving experience and it wasn’t too long before the movement caught up with me. I spent the rest of my time on the lake “chumming,” as they called it, and receiving a bunch of so-called good advice. Like “eat something,” not good advice, and stare at the horizon, which helped a little once I stopped taking the other advice.
I have fished several times since then, even took my own sons fishing once or twice, but I have never even remotely resembled a fisherman. And I haven’t outgrown the motion sickness thing either. So the reality is that you’ll never see me on one of those fishing shows on the sports channels. You could say that I am in many ways unfit for fishing.
You could not say the same thing about Simon Peter. Peter was a professional fisherman; he made his living at it. Which is not to say that he didn’t have some bad days. Like this one when Jesus shows up. They had been out all night fishing and hadn’t caught anything. So Peter must have been feeling a little down when he carried Jesus offshore to address the gathering crowds.
This is one of many times in the gospels that Jesus teaches without any record of what he taught about. Maybe that’s because of what happened next, with the non-fisherman telling the disciples to head out into the deep water and cast their nets - with outstanding results.
Given that there were so many fish the boats were in danger of sinking, a practical fisherman like Peter might have said a quick thank you and started getting those boats back to shore. Instead, he falls on his knees and proclaims his unworthiness. “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” But Jesus responds, Don’t be afraid, follow me and from now on you’ll be catching people instead of fish.
Have you ever felt unfit for something? Maybe even something that was an important part of your job or your volunteer work in the church or elsewhere? Ever waited for someone to discover that you really didn't know what you were doing?
We’ve all felt unfit to be sharers of the Good News. We know Christ asks us to go into the world and make disciples, but not only do we feel uncomfortable with that, we feel completely unprepared. We don't have all the answers. We may say the wrong thing. We may just not know what to say.
But how prepared was Peter? Or the other disciples? They were working men, not trained, degreed pastors. And they spent less time with Jesus than most of us have spent in church, and just like us, the gospel writers tell us that they didn’t “get” most of what Jesus was trying to teach them. Yet there they went after Jesus’ death, venturing out into the deep water of spreading the gospel, leaving their old lives behind to tell the good news.
It would be easy to listen to this story, declare ourselves unfit to be out catching people, and continue on with our regular ordinary everyday lives as if this story was not about us, and this call was not ours too. But what if we can set aside our fears for just a moment, realize that Jesus doesn’t call us because we’re fit but uses us as we are?
And what if we could realize that it may not be necessary to give up everything and leave it all behind like Peter? What if our lives could be transformed right where we are, with the people we love and know? The last thing those tired fishermen were expecting was a showing of God's awesome power right there, at the end of another workday. Our workdays, too, hold the possibility of seeing God's hand at work in our lives and all around us.
So here's my goal for this year: Talk to one person each month about my faith or our church and if they don't have a church home invite them to Heights Christian Church. It's not much, I know, but I think it’s doable even though 99% of the people I see, meet and talk to on a regular business already have a church home. But lots of folks out there don’t have a church, may not even have a faith, and the numbers are growing. So it’s likely I could find a few to talk to, if I just give up my feeling of inadequacy.
Maybe it’s time for all of us to venture out into the deep water.
-Rev. Roger Osgood
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Joe’s Blog on the E-vent
At Heights Christian Church, we're into the first week of a six-week experience in prayer and study. About 76 people have signed up to be part of one of seven small groups that will be meeting once a week. One group meets on Tuesday afternoons and one on Thursday nights. the rest meet on Sunday during the second hour time. The first meeting for the Sunday groups will be on October 19.
Some people, of course, feel unable to be a part of one of these small groups, and it's for you that I am writing. For many of you, lack of time may be the reason, so I promise to keep this short. But we don't want you to feel left out or not a part of this church-wide experience in some way. Some of you have health reasons or distance reasons. So here's an attempt to fill you in on what's happening so far:
Prayer is a huge part of this event. There are nine people in a prayer team who are praying for all of us by name every day. There are now prayer cards in the pews that you can write a request on. There are three "prayer walls" on which these requests will be attached. Or you can attach your own. We will all be praying for each other and for our church. [You don't need to be in a group to fill out a prayer card]. In addition, about half of each small group meeting will be devoted to discussing prayer or actually praying. A major focus of our prayer is praying for each other.
Everybody has gotten a book called Unbinding Your Heart. Even if you haven't signed up for a small group, it would be great to read along in this book. Ask Rev. Roger for one. We read one chapter a week. Everyone is committed to working through the prayer part of the book on pp. 119ff. There's one reflection a day for six weeks. Would you have time to join us in that?
The second huge part of this E-vent is sharing our faith. In order to share it, we have to think about what it is, get comfortable about it, and 'practice' talking about it. The meetings, prayers, and chapters help us to do that. The introduction and first chapter point out the great reluctance most of us have about sharing our faith, or even talking about "Evangelism." The author, Martha Grace Reese, emphasizes that this is NOT about changing other people's beliefs or accosting strangers. It's more about being more comfortable sharing what is really important to us.
In her study of 150 successful mainline churches, she found what works in them for growth and vitality, and that seems to be the result of prayer (and being open to the Spirit's leading) and their own style of faith sharing. Much of this is still awkward and uncomfortable, but we've just begun and are determined to see it through! Our shut-ins and some of our college students and relatives who have moved away, are contributing their prayers to our efforts. We hope and know that you will too.
- Joe LaGuardia
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