The Worst Sermon

Mark 12:38-44

This morning, all across the country, pastors of various backgrounds woke up with determination, energy, and joy.  They hopped out of bed.   They may have even bypassed the coffee!  And they sped off in their cars, making a beeline for their churches, knowing that something had lined up favorably in the universe.  That’s right: It’s Year B in the Revised Common Lectionary, and that means that the scripture lesson today is about the widow who gave everything she had.  Yes!  That’s the text that the universe placed smack dab in the middle of Stewardship Seasons all across our nation.  Thank you, universe! (And parenthetically, thank you creators of the Revised Common Lectionary!) Slam dunk!

Pastors will stand in their various pulpits today, and they’ll uplift Jesus’ observations about this poor widow.  They’ll call attention to the great sacrifice that she made.  And putting my humor and sarcasm aside for a moment, let me say there will be something great to learn and experience in those sermons.  Those sermons will remind the people in the pews that we too are called to give deeply of ourselves and to trust God with all that we have and all that we are.  Those sermons will be convicting and meaningful.

And thanks to the universe, many pastors will draw parallels to the Stewardship Season.  They’ll say that these rich leaders gave so much, but it cost them so little.  Meanwhile, this poor widow gave everything she had.  They’ll tell their parishioners that we too should give deeply and sacrificially to the Stewardship Campaign and the ministries of the church.  Now let’s be honest: We do know that some of these sermons will be terribly manipulative.  But not all of them.  Some will draw great parallels and inspire church members to greater giving, ministry, and vision.

Thanks to the universe, those sermons will be happening all across our country today.  A lot of pastors are grateful for such favorable synchronicity.

I’ve heard those Year B sermons, and I’m grateful for them.   I’ve even preached in that direction myself.  But this time, I’m thinking a bit differently because I also think that there might be a problem here.  Maybe this text doesn’t line up in the way that some might hope, at least, not in the exact way I’ve outlined.  Maybe Jesus’ observations about the widow aren’t really celebratory at all.  I imagine that Jesus is moved by the widow’s commitment and sacrifice, but I wonder if his observations are really about a tragedy that is taking place in front of his very eyes.

So let’s take our own eyes to that scene, and let’s try to imagine what Jesus and his disciples observed on that day.  First, Jesus observed the scribes, and he saw great hubris, enormous self-pride that surrounded them in all they were doing.  The scribes were experts and teachers of the Jewish Law, but it’s clear that these scribes weren’t practicing the same laws they were teaching.  I wonder what caught Jesus’ attention first.  What moved him so strongly that he shared words of warning when he voiced his observations to his disciples?  Was it how the scribes were dressed?  Was it how they interacted with others?   Jesus was deeply affected by what he saw: He said, “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and be greeted with respect in the market places and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets!”  Jesus saw something so dangerous that he warned his disciples.  But it wasn’t just the scribes’ robes or their desire to have others fawning all over them.  It was more than that. “They devour widows’ houses,” Jesus said.  And their prayers weren’t ultimately for widows, the poor, or others who were struggling.  Jesus said these particular scribes gave long prayers for the sake of appearance.  “They will receive the greater condemnation,” Jesus tells his disciples.  They’re in the wrong here.

And then Jesus and his disciples sat down opposite the treasury and watched.  Let’s imagine the scene together along with them: Some rich people came and put in enormous sums of money, and these enormous sums didn’t go unnoticed.  The sound of them clamored through the air.  The treasury of the temple had long, metallic receptacles that were shaped like trumpets, and people placed their offerings inside.  Sometimes, they flung their offerings inside these receptacles, and when all those metallic coins made contact, the sound went before the givers, and all took notice.  So what happened when Jesus saw the rich, the powerful, and the leaders of this religious institution making spectacles of themselves only to be followed by the little tinkle of two copper coins given by a vulnerable widow?

Jesus saw her.  He called attention to her and voiced his observations perhaps because the others said nothing and noticed nothing.  They were too busy making spectacles of themselves.  Why would they value the great sacrifice of this widow?  But the tragedy is actually greater than ignoring her: These were the people who had the resources to help her and come alongside her and yet, they were spending their time “devouring widows’ houses.”  This woman – this child of God – was giving all she had to live on to the very people who were willing to destroy her.  And this is the tragedy of this text.

And that’s why I’m unsure if those universe-favoring, Year B sermons are most authentic to what’s happening in this story.  But let me be clear: They aren’t “The Worst Sermon” as my sermon title indicates today.  No, “The Worst Sermon” is the one that I preach too often – the one that we all preach too often with our very lives – the one that bypasses those who are poor and suffering, sometimes because we ignore them and we ignore their great contributions, but other times it’s even worse.  “The Worst Sermon” we preach as the Church of Jesus Christ is the one where our lives fortify and serve the very institutions and situations that are devouring and destroying those who are most vulnerable.  That is our very worst sermon.

And it’s a tragedy.  It’s one that should give us pause, and it’s one that should provoke our prayers.  How can we repent?  How can we turn around from living this way?

It’s not easy, but good news today is that this doesn’t have to be our sermon.  And it doesn’t have to be our church.  We have a grace-filled opportunity right here to be a place and a community of faith that lives differently in the face of need.  First of all, we can’t ignore it anymore.  Do you know that 30% -- 1/3 – of children in this zip code live in poverty?  I live in this zip code.  I live in this neighborhood, and I am almost completely insulated from that reality.  And you know other needs and other struggles that you observe in your lives, in this city, in this nation, and around this globe.  The fact that you know them is in and of itself a grace-filled opportunity, and you yourselves are a grace-filled opportunity when you bring these concerns into our sanctuary and into the life of our community through your prayers, your voice, and your actions.  You do that here.  I see it, and it is a grace-filled gift of God.  Thank you.

Our doors and the buildings of our campus don’t have to be an edifice – certainly not a fortress of power, might, and tribute to ourselves.  You know, of the most important ministries of this church will happen in just a few minutes actually.  We need to pay greater attention to it.  When we walk out of these sanctuary doors, and when our Spanish Language service finishes in the chapel, some of its members will go into the Fellowship Hall to faithfully serve people who are struggling: There will be a hot meal, and the God Loves You Food Ministry will distribute groceries to individuals and families who are in a tough place in this economy.  That is a vibrant ministry of this church, and yet, it can only be our Best Sermon when you and I become personally involved with it – yes, that means bringing food and contributing funds – but even more, it coming to know those who are receiving and even more than that, coming to realize their strengths and leadership and great sacrifice.  You and I can do that.

Our doors and the buildings of our campus don’t have to be an edifice at all.  We can open them up.  In fact, we do open them up to a large number of support groups and anonymous groups throughout the week.  A large number of people come to these meetings, looking for direction and support as they make some of the most important and empowering decisions of their lives.  We can pray for them.  We can greet them and welcome them when we see them here at our church.

Our doors and the buildings of our campus don’t have to be an edifice, but to many of the young residents who live in these nearby apartment buildings, the church has seemed like nothing else but an edifice to them.  People of the millennial generation often believe that the institutional church hates those who are outside its doors – that it hates those who don’t have Christian commitments and that it certainly hates those who are gay and lesbian as our nation battles so called “culture wars.”  But this church doesn’t hate.  It has great love.  We believe differently than that.  And now, a ministry team at PPC has started a weekly Evening Worship Service in the hopes that we can connect with these residents, that we can build relationships with them and welcome their gifts and talents here.  You can support that ministry as well.

There are so many ways that Pasadena Presbyterian Church can preach and live its Best Sermon – a sermon of welcome, love, and empowerment.  There are so many ways right here.

So guess what?  This turned out to be a Stewardship sermon after all!  It is true that your money and contributions help us preach our Best Sermon here.  But I actually want to say something deeper than that today: You help us preach our Best Sermon through these ministries.  Your yourselves are the resource.  And so this week, I pray that God will give us the stewardship of good eyes to see the value and contributions of those who are in vulnerable places.  And I pray that God will give us love and strength to come alongside those very people.  We don’t want to preach our Worst Sermon.  We want to preach our Best Sermon.  And we do that when we serve those that Jesus notices and loves.  How will you contribute to this great proclamation in the days ahead with your very lives? 

I can’t wait to find out.

So let’s start now with proclaiming what the Christian Church believes.  I invite us to stand and speak the Affirmation of Faith together. . .

-Renee Roederer, Associate Pastor of Pasadena Presbyterian Church



Love Looks Like This. . .

 

And it goes forth to also include others. 

The 'Very True' Life

John 6:51-58

The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. . .

I know a little girl whose name is Sylvia.  She’s eight years old now, but I’d like to share something that she said when she was just four years old.  I’ve never really forgotten it because it was at once, wildly silly and beautifully childlike and at the same time, pretty observant with language that was wise beyond her years.

One day, out of nowhere, Sylvia suddenly brought up a topic with an intriguing introductory sentence.  She said, “I’m going to tell you something that isn’t true, but it’s also Very True.”  Hmm. . . what an interesting way to introduce something. . .  It isn’t true, but it’s also Very True. . . Sounds like some kind of metaphysical riddle, like something of absolute depth was about to come out of her mouth. . .  “Well, what is it, Sylvia?”

“Did you know that Tweety Bird can fly AND hold things because she has wings AND arms?!?”

Yep, there it it is.  At once, wildly silly and beautifully childlike and at the same time, observant with language that was wise beyond her years.  It really was.  She had observed that most birds don’t have wings and arms, but the cartoon Tweety Bird did.  And since Tweety Bird is a cartoon, she isn’t real, so this observation “isn’t true,” but at the same time, according to four-year old Sylvia, somehow wings and arms both get to the crux of who Tweety Bird is and what she can do (fly and hold things at the same time!) so the observation is also Very True.  It isn’t true but it’s also Very True.

Well, that language has stuck with me over the years, and I find myself thinking about it from time to time.  Not True but also Very True.  And I found myself thinking of it again this week when I began to study the passage we just heard from the Gospel of John.  Jesus tells his followers what they must do in this passage, and let’s just be honest here.  The language is pretty graphic.  It involves eating his flesh and drinking his blood, and that sounds kind of cannibalistic.  Now of course, we know that isn’t really what he meant, and we might not want to admit in church that our minds kind of moved in this direction.  But we can be honest: Some of us went there.  Thank goodness we don’t have to take this command to eat flesh and drink blood at face value. 

I’m going to insert something here that theologian John Dominic Crossan says, that no one actually takes the Bible completely literally.  He says, “When the Bible tells that Jesus is the Lamb of God, no one says that Mary had a little lamb!”  (I love that).

And that reminder might be helpful for us today.  This language might not be the first set of words we would use to describe our relationship with Jesus.  But it has something to say to us.  We don’t have to take it at face value, but that also means we also don’t have to dismiss it.  We now get to enter one of those wonderful situations of faith where something isn’t true, but is at the same time, Very True.

Jesus says, “The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”   When we think of Jesus giving his flesh, we might think of what we know to be true:  That Jesus was eventually crucified, killed unjustly on a cross.  And around here, we say that that Jesus died for a reason.  It wasn’t in order to offer up some kind blood and gore on our account.  No, Jesus died because he lived a life of such radical love that he threatened those who were in power.  Do you know why radical love can threaten those in power?  Radical love does that because it goes to those who have no power.  Radical love sits with the powerless and loves them through and through as the people they are -- people worth love, value, and attention.  People who love radically like Jesus did, naturally challenge structures of power because they love the powerless, and by choosing to be with them, they tear down the very barriers that have made them excluded.  That’s how Jesus lived.  That’s Very True.  And we believe that Jesus modeled that love – love for the powerless and love for you and me – even unto death if that’s what it took to show God’s love, even unto death on a cross.  He never stopped loving all the way there.

            “The bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”  Jesus didn’t say, “The bread I will give for the life of the world is a bunch of ideas.”  Or “The bread I will give for the life of the world is bunch of really good theological propositions.”  Or even, “The bread I will give for the life of the world is a blueprint to implement forms of charity that help people, but keep them at arms’ length so that they remain anonymous.”  No.  Jesus is the Bread that has come down from heaven. He aims to give himself to us.  He aims to live on our behalf.  He does it now.  He gives himself. 

And what are we to do?  We are to focus our energy and attention so deeply on him that we take this kind of life in.  We take it to be within ourselves.  He is the bread, and he is the life-blood that is to be in our bones.  Eating flesh and drinking blood?  Not true.  But consuming this great love and putting it into action?  That is Very True.  That’s the Very True life to which are called.

            We have people in this church who know what it’s like to feel powerless.

            We have people who know what the cancer wing of the hospital is like. 

            We have people who know the deep and abiding fear that someday they might lose their mental faculties or memories, and we have spouses and adult children and grandchildren in this church who have painfully watched this happen to people they love.

            We have people who are bright, intelligent, and gifted in various ways, but who have struggled deeply to know whether they’ll have a job and enough money to pay the bills.

            And we have people in this church who come here weekly for food assistance.  It feels as though this economy has eaten them and spit them out.  Many of them speak Spanish. Some of them are fearful about discrimination and deportation.  All of them have great gifts and abilities, great hope and dreams for themselves and their children.

            Some of us give food and money to help them.  And this is a great start.  But I ask myself some tough questions and wonder if Jesus would do something differently if he walked in this church.  I wonder he would stand in the food line with them.  I’m certain he would know their names.  I am a pastor of this church, and I am ashamed to tell you that I only know a handful of names of the people from Spanish Language Ministry.  Isn’t that sad?

I know some people, and that’s good.  I say hello to them on Sunday mornings, and that’s a start.  But it’s just a start.  I bet the Very True life calls you and me to know these people by name and to love them, to go over and sit with them sometime, to even work really hard to learn their language.  After all, so many of them have worked hard and are working hard now to learn ours.  What if we learned theirs too?  I bet we wouldn’t just learn vocabulary words.  I bet we would learn about human lives – stories, passions, dreams, struggles.  Maybe those are the kinds of things we need to eat.  Maybe we need to eat the Bread from heaven of being together and loving.  Maybe we need to eat the Life-Blood that says, “I’m not just going to do things anonymously for you.  I’m going to enter kinship with you and let you change my life.”

That is the Very True kind of life.  That is the kind of life where people eat around the same table and consume who Jesus is and how he lived.  I wonder, how will you live the Very True kind of life, loving most deeply and living for that which matters most?  How will you do it, and how will this church do it?  I can’t wait to discover this feast.  I can’t wait.  Let’s find out.  Amen.

Renee Roederer, Associate Pastor, and the Community at Pasadena Presbyterian Church

Young Adults in the News!

As a young adult community, we want to stay aware of the particular gifts that young adults bring to our world as well as the particular challenges that young adults face. We are curious to learn about culture and trends among young adults. Here are some recent news stories and blog posts:

Most Young Adults Expect Marriage to Last a Lifetime

Young Adults Value Appearance More than Health

'Dreamers' Getting Ready for Big Day Tomorrow

Wednesday Night: Music and BBQ!!!!

This summer, Pasadena Presbyterian Church is having four Wednesday Night BBQs featuring music groups that are fun and quite talented!  And the next event is this Wednesday, August 15! 

All are welcome!

We invite you to join us on our patio on Wednesday at 6:30pm for Korean BBQ.  At 7:15pm, we will have the gift of hearing music from The Oasis Singers.  We are grateful for such great opportunities for music.!

At at 8pm, we invite you to a meaningful Evening Worship Service in the Chapel.

Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday night!

Peace,
Renee Roederer
Associate Pastor, Pasadena Presbyterian Church

Man and Goose are Friends!

Becoming an Innovative Church!

We believe that Pasadena Presbyterian Church is in a season of dreaming. Who are we? Where have we been together, and how are we called to move forward now? How is God stirring our hearts and minds?

As part of our ongoing mission and call, we want to be Sacred Space for the City. And in that posture toward the people and neighborhoods around us, we are curious about innovative forms of ministry and mission that are happening within our larger Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) denomination and in other churches and community groups. We are also interested in questions being asked around us - by those who have a faith commitment and by those who do not.

We have much to learn from everyone!

Here are some commentaries. We hope that they will call us anew to be an innovative, creative church that meets the needs of people around us!

#dreampcusa: God is at Work.  Are We Paying Attention?
How to Share Your Faith (Evangelism Radio Style)
Walking Church