Sermon: Praise for the Unfolding Story

 

Praise for the Unfolding Story

Luke 1:57-80

It's been nine months since Zechariah has made a sound. No words. No singing. No liturgical chanting of the Torah in the Temple. No talking in his sleep in the middle of the night. And no advice (which was probably convenient for his wife Elizabeth, since his silence lined up precisely with her entire pregnancy.)

Nothing. No sound at all for nine months.

And then, at a circumcision naming ceremony, these holy and miraculous words just pour out. They suddenly burst forth in the presence of the people, like they've been stored inside Zechariah, like they've been forming inside him with cells and sinews and life of their own.

This song of praise is suddenly born among the people in Zechariah and Elizabeth's own living room. And everything large, cosmic, and magnificent about God breaks into this particular moment. This song of praise at once large and expansive, and at the same time, particular and specific to these people, this party, and this child who is indeed to be named John.

It's a song of great praise.

And, you know, that's a big deal because up until this point, Luke, the author, has pretty much depicted Zechariah as an Old Grump! Yep, a really Old Grump.*

But Zechariah also had a few reasons to be in that place. Zechariah and Elizabeth had known great pain. They longed to be parents, but for many years, their hopes led to nothing but disappointment. And as their pains are told in Luke's story, Elizabeth even says that she has endured disgrace among her people simply because she remains childless. But suddenly, all of that is about to change when Zechariah receives an unexpected visitor. Zechariah was a priest, and when he was serving in the sanctuary, a messenger from God appeared to him. That messenger's name was Gabriel, and he said, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. . . Even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God."

Incredible news, right? But like us, Zechariah was not quick to believe everything he hears, especially something that would be so miraculous, especially something that would speak to his disappointment. Sometimes, we prefer the certainty of misery to the misery of uncertainty.** How could he possibly trust this incredible announcement? Zechariah said to Gabriel, "How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years." An Old Grump. But I think we can understand his reservations.

And he was about to have reason to become grumpier. Gabriel replied, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur." And there you have it. Grumpyville for nine months. Maybe this wouldn't be so great for Elizabeth after all…

Who knows what happened during those nine months? What we do know is that Elizabeth did conceive a child who would be named John, a child in fact, who would grow up to become famous as John the Baptist, issuing cries for repentance along the River Jordan, teaching that the Kingdom of God is about to come near, and preparing the way of the Lord Jesus. This child was with Elizabeth for nine months, and as he remained silent, words of praise were forming inside Zechariah too.

So they were all in the living room. Simple enough. Maybe Elizabeth and Zechariah had argued as they were in a rush to get their place ready for a party. (In that case, the silence would be helpful for Elizabeth). They were tired, new parents at an old age. And to bring some modern sensibilities into the moment, maybe party favors were strewn all over the place. And friends were gathered alongside that really annoying uncle who regularly embarrasses himself.

In such a simple and mundane moment, Zechariah was about to be freed. When he wrote down the name of his newborn son - JOHN - his tongue was freed and he began to sing words of great praise – words about God's large, unfolding story with the people of Israel and ways that this large story was sweeping into the present moment in the life of this child.

A new child was before them with great promise, and Zechariah was newly born too.

I love moments like these. I love the moments when God's large story of love, commitment, and new life, breaks into the present moment, and we are restored and sent forward as new people. I love those moments because they happen all the time!  And perhaps what I love most of all, is that every single moment - no matter how mundane - is ripe with the possibility of significance. Martin Luther trekked off to his bathroom of all places and read the Book of Romans there (I'm not making this up) and in the process, he has a Life Aha big enough to ignite a church reformation. A woman gets on a bus on a mundane Thursday, but this time, Rosa Parks won't sit in the back. In another living room 13 years ago, a question is raised that will eventually change our life and witness as a church: "What are we going to do to become a multicultural congregation?" Our lives are filled with moments like these - moments pregnant with possibility, and in this season of Advent, we remind one another to wait and watch for them. That is what we do together.

So here we are in our living room, the place where we gather weekly, and whether we've been expecting much or whether we're fixated on distractions this morning, God is in this place among us. God's large story breaks into this sanctuary every Sunday, and we are new people because of it.  Now sometimes we’re like Zechariah and Elizabeth’s friends.  “You can’t name him John!  You need to choose a family name!  We’ve always done it that way. . .”  Sometimes we’re like that. But at other times, we are made free by God’s Spirit, and we are able to praise God for all the amazing gifts of our lives.  We are able to praise God for all the amazing gifts of this congregation.

So let’s have a time of praise this morning in our own living room.  This can become a pep rally moment, and even God’s Presbyterian Frozen Chosen might join in with an Amen or two.  Amen?

For a church filled to capacity last night with guests who have so much to teach us, and for the resounding music of hope and praise that happened here, Amen?

For children who are singing with spirit and. . . sunglasses. . . who teach what it means to be a person of trust and joy in this world, Amen?

For a vibrant Spanish Language Ministry that is growing and unfolding with strength in the midst shared meals, empowerment, and a new tradition of posadas that will happen here next Saturday night, Amen?

For doors of a Chapel that are flung wide open to our city in a new Sunday Evening Worship service, where bread is broken every week and the “Spiritually Hungry but Institutionally Suspicious” are invited into community and love, Amen?

For people who struggle through this season because memories and losses are difficult, but who know in their gut, that when they come here, they are loved to their core and provided with deep purpose, Amen?

For a congregation that is growing with strength as God’s Spirit gets inside our bones invites us to take risks and live our lives on behalf of this neighborhood and this world, Amen?

For God’s story sweeping up our own story, Amen!  Amen!  Amen!

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

*   I owe Robin Gallaher Branch for this observation and description which I found in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C Volume 1.
** This powerful phrase and observation comes from The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog and Other Stories from a Child Psychologist's Notebook: What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love and Healing by Dr. Bruce Perry.

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

Partners in Service!

This week, we celebrate many people from Pasadena Presbyterian Church who are partnering with others in mission.  We add our prayers and hopes to their hard work, and we are grateful for the relationships they are building.

Korean Ministry in Partnership with Aguacalientes, Mexico

In the wee hours of the morning (1am today to be exact!) sixty members from the Korean Fellowship at PPC traveled to Aguacalientes, Mexico where we have mission partners and friends.  Together, they will be hold medical clinics and plan Vacation Bible School for children.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are traveling, that they might learn, grow, and serve as they deepen relationships with the people of Aguacalientes.  We are grateful for the wisdom and opportunity of our mission partners and friends in Aguacalientes.  We pray that they would teach us and evangelize us through their lives and witness, and we pray that our Korean members and friends will serve well and bring this wisdom and passion back to Pasadena where we can continue to do great work!

God's peace on your endeavors.  We add our prayers to that peace!

Lissett Matos in Partnership with the Synod of Ayacucho in Peru

Our thoughts and prayers are also with Lissett Matos this week.  A recent high school graduate, Lissett is one of several youth traveling to Peru on the Living Waters Mission Trip through San Gabriel Presbytery.  You can learn more about that trip here.

San Gabriel Presbytery has partnership with the Synod of Ayacucho in Peru, and youth from Southern California churches are traveling to build relationships and assist others as they create opportunities for clean water throughout the region.

We are grateful for Lissett -- all the ways she learns and serves here at Pasadena Presbyterian Church!

Our prayers are with all our friends and mission partners this week!

Sister Madonna Buder in the Ironman Contest!

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: 

A New Vision for Collegiate Ministry
Miss Manners: Some Young Adults Live at Home Because They Like It
Extreme Kayaker Helps Young Adults with Cancer Through Outdoor Adventures
Raising Funds and Friends for Campus Ministry

Poem: With That Moon Language

With That Moon Language

Admit something:

Everyone you see, you say to them, "Love me."

Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise someone would call the cops.

Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect.

Why not become the one who lives with a full moon in each eye

that is always saying,

with that sweet moon language,

what every other eye in this world is dying to hear?

-Hafiz

Mainline Summer

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: 

Douhat: Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?
Bass: Can Christianity Be Saved? A Response to Ross Douhat
Douhat & Bass: Asking the Wrong Question?
Texting Dominates as Teens and Young Adults Make Fewer Phone Calls

Sermon: Belonging

The following sermon was preached by Kaci Clark-Porter on June 3, 2012 at University Presbyterian in Austin, Texas.  Kaci is the Director of Campus and Young Adult Ministries.

Psalm 100, Psalm 139, Deuteronomy 7:6-11, Romans 8:31-39

Introduction to sermon series:

Well, I dare say it would not be summertime at UPC without, you guessed it, a sermon series. We may be without a senior pastor, but we are certainly not without sermons.

When the staff met earlier this spring to decide what topic our series should cover, we decided not on something predictable like The Lord’s Prayer or The Beatitudes; no, this summer we decided on something distinctly Presbyterian.

We would focus on one of our church’s confessions; namely, A Brief Statement of Faith.

This confession of faith was commissioned in 1983 after the “Northern” and “Southern” branches of the church reunited to form our current denomination, the Presbyterian Church USA.

Our denominational leaders at the time believed this monumental event called for the preparation of a brief statement outlining our core beliefs as newly united body.

In front of you you should find, there in the pew rack, a small [insert color] card with the The Brief Statement of Faith printed on it. This is for you to use this summer either as a fan or, if you choose, as a reference aid. You’ll see that it’s been broken down by lines into small manageable chunks; each chunk representing that Sunday’s text.

For instance, this morning we’ll be focussing solely on line 1; and next Sunday Ted Wardlaw will be focussing on lines 2 through 6. That’s right, Ted Wardlaw has to follow me. Please keep him in your prayers this week. (I’m kidding, of course, and say this only because I know he’s preaching in New York this morning.)

With that being said, my preamble is complete. Let’s begin with line one. But first, let us turn our hearts and minds to God in prayer. Let us pray:

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of each heart in this gathered body, be acceptable and pleasing to you, God, our strength, our hope, and our redeemer. Amen.
—
“In life and in death we belong to God.”

That’s been my Facebook status since Thursday morning, and can you believe it’s only gotten 26 likes? What is wrong with my Facebook friends?! I could upload a picture of our dog wearing reading glasses and it would get more likes than that!

It did, however, get some pretty great comments. One, in particular, from our own Randal Whittington, who shared that whenever she hears those words, she always thinks of Jack Stotts.

Jack Stotts, you may know, served Austin Seminary as it’s president from 1985 to 1996, and was often referred to as “a gentle giant.” He was tall, but his hugeness had more to do with his intellectual prowess and cheerful spirit than it did with his stature.

What you may not know about Jack Stotts is that he was appointed as moderator of the special committee responsible for writing A Brief Statement of Faith.

It took the committee 8 years to write the 80 lines that make up the confession. And of those 80 lines, Stott’s says, the first one is the most important. Perhaps that’s why Randal thinks of Jack whenever she hears those words; words he believed were foundational to who we are as Reformed believers, as Presbyterians, and as God’s own chosen and beloved children: “In life and in death we belong to God.”

Shortly after the document was adopted into the Book of Confessions, Stotts shared some of his reflections on the Statement during a chapel service at Austin Seminary. I listened to this address, which I could unfortunately find only on cassette tape, earlier this week while sitting in my car because that was the only tape player I could find.

And while sitting there, motionless in my carport, not knowing whether there would be anything of worth on this crummy, 20-year old cassette tape, I heard Jack Stotts deliver an eloquent defense of those first nine words. He said:

“The 80 lines are summarized in the first line: In life and in death we belong to God. Those nine words are, I believe, the throbbing heartbeat of what we hold most dear. They’re the anchor we toss out when times are difficult and waters are assail by storms. They’re the star that can guide us in the midst of sorrow and joy both. They are the handholds on a rocky cliff that prevents us from falling into the abyss. They reflect what is at the heart of the reformed heritage, the sovereignty of god. In life and in death we belong to God.

Those nine words, he said, have the rhythm of a mantra. Words to be said over and over again. Words to soak down into ones experience and into ones consciousness and into ones unconsciousness, so they may bubble up when we need to hear them or we can say them to ourselves or to some others whom we believe need to hear them. Listen, in life and in death we belong to God.”

The tape, I decided, was worth listening to. He was right, those nine words need to be heard over and over again. And each time we hear them, they are perhaps something new for us: a throbbing heartbeat, an anchor, a guide, handholds on a rocky cliff. Whatever their manifestation, they are, at their very core, words of deep reassurance and hope. Words that rescue us even in the most desperate of situations.

In life and in death, and in the midst of life, we belong to God.

One of the younger members of the committee responsible for preparing the Statement, a theologian by the name of Bill Placher, says of this first line, “It does more than say where life and death are to be found. It says where we are to be found in life and death–belonging to God.”—

In an age where it would be unacceptable to list God as your child’s emergency contact, it’s difficult not to believe that we belong to our parents and our children belong to us.

It’s not uncommon for a parent to list the experience of holding their child for the first time as one of the most profoundly meaningful experiences of their life; their life forever altered in the moment they realize, seemingly all at once, both the responsibilities and privileges of parenthood.

And yet in spite of the gravity of such a moment, some parents still fail to live into their parental responsibilities and abuse their privileges.

On Wednesday evening, Holly and I went to an informational meeting for people who are interested in becoming foster parents in the state of Texas. Prior to the meeting I had tried to prepare myself for what I might hear; I knew I would likely be disturbed by some things and surprised by others, but ultimately I had no idea what to expect. Before the meeting started, as I watched people walk in, pick up their handouts, and take their seats, I noticed the wide range of types of people there. There were young people and older people, white people and persons of color, single people and couples, people who already had children, and people that currently had none. But in spite of all this diversity, there was one characteristic we all shared: the desire to provide a child with a place to belong–even if only for a little while.

And so I couldn’t help but think about those words: in life and in death we belong to God.

Throughout the entire meeting that short phrase looped and looped and looped in my head like a pesky tune. It bumped into memories from my childhood and adolescence: to whom I belonged was never anything I questioned! I always knew. I knew my parents would take care me, and if something happened to them and they weren’t able to, then I knew another important person in my life would swoop in and claim me. I began to worry that my understanding of belonging was only one sided. What would someone whose life has been riddled with displacement think or feel about the word “belonging?” What conscious or subconscious thoughts would bubble up for them?

And then it occurred to me: these words weren’t written for a denomination torn asunder who put themselves back together again. These words were written for lives that have been torn asunder by powers and principalities that claim we belong, not to God, but to them.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, not even death can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ.

There is a reason, I believe, this climactic and reassuring passage from Romans is so popular at funerals. Funerals, of course, imply that someone has died. But this passage is not for the deceased; it’s for the living, for those struggling to survive the severe pain of separation.

What can separate us from Love? Nothing. Nothing. Not even death.

One criterion the committee required of A Brief Statement of Faith was that it must help us have hope for the future. Without hope, God’s involvement in our present lives, especially in the midst of great suffering, might amount to little more than a feeble expression of the company that misery loves.

I believe these nine words: in life and death we belong to God, contain enough enough hope for a lifetime–from birth and death and every time in between.

[Reformed theologian, Shirley Guthrie, is often remembered for saying, "The best insight we have into what God will do is found by looking at what God has done. In other words, Christians remember the future."

Hope does not belong exclusively to future; in many ways, without our past we our hope for the future is dismal at best. In 2008 a storytelling project was founded. Stories for Hope, is a storytelling project to help young Rwandans overcome a violent legacy. Many of their lives were ruptured in the 1994 genocide. Their remaining elders were quiet, fearing new grief or the spark of revenge. Lots of young women and men were left as orphans, without knowing the important stories of where they came from. They needed access to the past, without having to repeat it, and that's where the storytelling project came in, helping to facilitate dialogue between young story-seekers, and their chosen elders. These conversations revealed hundreds of untold family and cultural stories. But, in order to carry young Rwandans to the brink of hope, the elders were encouraged to include difficult accounts of resilience and strength. And because of their courage to share stories about their past, the young listeners have since reported improved family relations, self-esteem, and the motivation to keep moving forward.

These nine words are our story, a complete account of our faith containing enough hope for a lifetime--from birth to death and for everything in between.]

Jack Stotts concludes his reflections on A Brief Statement of Faith with these words of hope:

When disappointment comes to your life as surely it will, remember you belong to God, not to disappointment.


When failure comes as surely it will, in some way, some time, and in some place, remember you do not belong to failure, you belong to God.


When suffering comes, as surely it will come, to me and to you, to our dear friends and neighbors. Remember, you do not belong to suffering, you belong to god who suffers for us and with us.

No matter what happens in the future, remember this promise: In life and in death we belong to God.

That is a solemn promise on which we depend. It’s God’s promise in which we have confidence.

The confession itself ends with a resounding echo: with believers in every time and place we rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.

-Kaci Clark-Porter, Director of Campus and Young Adult Ministries at University Presbyterian Church

It's You I Like

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!

Jon Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen
Homeboy Industries
Fresh Expressions: Different Churches for Different Cultures?

The Missional Church... Simple

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: 

The Church We Mean to Be
In the Middle: Intersection Between Age & Wisdom 
The Ministry of Fudge and Loving Youth 
Crisp: Young Adults Are Driving Less, Fueling Change
Grace Ross: Young Adults Have a Harder Time Making a Living

Post-General Assembly Sermons

The 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) convened last week in Pittsburgh.  Presbyterians from across the country came to deliberate, discern, debate, and vote upon decisions for our denomination.  Many pastors chose to refer to General Assembyl in their sermons from Sunday.

Today we offer you voices from several pastors across the nation.


--My Sermon Response to the 220th General Assembly
Pastor Jason Cashing
Presbyterian Church of Franklinville
Franklinville, NY

--The Mainline Church and Dusty Feet
Pastor Emily C. Heath
West Dover Congregational Church
West Dover, VT

--Home is Never the Same
Robert Williamson Jr.
Biblical Studies, Hendrix College
Conway, AR

--Lifting a Hand Against the Lord's Annointed
Pastor Sarah Ross
First Presbyterian Church of Pleasant Hill
Pleasant Hill, MO

--Perpsective is Everything: Clothe Yourselves with Compassion
Pastor Jerry Tankersley
Laguna Presbyterian Church
Laguna, CA

--Shaking Off the Dust to Dream
Emily Hope Morgan
Clarence Presbyterian Church
Clarence, NY

--Water From a Rock - Know When to Fold 'Em
Pastor Kurt Esslinger
Agape House
Chicago, IL

--Walking, Running, Soaring in Hope
Pastor Carlos Wilton
Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church
Pleasant Beach, NJ

--With and For the Rejected
Pastor Renee Roederer
Pasadena Presbyterian Church
Pasadena, CA

Sermon: With and For the Rejected

Mark 6:1-13

And they took offense at him. . . He called the Twelve and began to send them out. . .

The story we just heard is a story of rejection followed by a story of sending.

Rejection. Jesus has been traveling on foot with his disciples, their feet dusty and sore.  Jesus’ disciples are his students and his friends, a group of people from a variety of walks of life, none of them prominent or prestigious. These disciples have been following Jesus from town to town -- learning from him, misunderstanding his parables, watching Jesus heal people. and sometimes staring at him incredulous, even in fear: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” they ask when Jesus calms the storm on the lake.  Jesus and his disciples have been traveling around, proclaiming to others that “The Kingdom of God has come near.” “Repent.  Turn around!” they say, “and believe in the good news.”

In the midst of this great preaching and healing tour, Jesus and his disciples use those dusty, sore feet to walk into a place very near to Jesus: Nazareth of Galilee, his home town, the place where he grew up.

I wonder what he expected to happen there.  I wonder what the people of Nazareth expected.

Jesus came in with an energy that was amazing and it seems, perplexing, to the people who had watched him grow up in Nazareth.  He began to teach in the synagogue, a place that must have felt like home to him: How many times did he hear important words there – words of the Scriptures and words of his community, and how many times were those words connected to the very actions of the ministry and healing that he was bringing to other towns?

He began to share himself with them. He began to teach, and they were amazed and perplexed.  “Who is this person?” they wondered.  “Where did Jesus get this kind of wisdom?” “Didn’t my son play outside with him years ago?” “Aren’t those the hands that made our dining room table?”  “Wait a second, this guy is that carpenter, right? Isn’t he the one who worked on my Dad’s house a few years ago?” Somehow, this teaching, and this healing, and these deeds of power were too much to for them to grasp.

After all the praise and questions of wonder in this text, there’s an interesting turn in just one sentence. “Where did all this wisdom and power come from?” the people of Nazareth keep asking in a series of questions.  Then one sentence in the text suddenly shifts it all: “And they took offense at him.”

I wonder what was so offensive in their eyes. . . The author of this text doesn’t give us many details here.  But it seems like quite a shift, doesn’t it? And in the context of this particular passage, without many details, we’re left to wonder.  So let’s wonder: I wonder if it was just too difficult to see Jesus for who he was - a person who had grown into adulthood with astounding gifts, a person who was there to proclaim a Kingdom of God beyond anything that they had known before. I wonder if they were reducing him to something familiar and manageable - to a child and adolescent they once knew, or to an adult carpenter, known solely by trade he practiced before venturing out.  I wonder if they reduced him and tried to sum him up in their minds, so that he wouldn’t have a claim on them.  If they could sum him up and reduce him, they couldn’t be changed and challenged by him. In reducing him, they thought they could stay safe from an invitation to grow and change.  “They took offense at him.”  The people known most deeply to Jesus rejected him.

This must have been deeply troubling and upsetting to Jesus. “Prophets are not without honor, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house,” he said. It must have been difficult for him to learn this by experience.  He was amazed at their unbelief.  He was rejected.

Rejection.  It’s been on my mind in many ways this week.  It has been on my mind as I’ve watched and followed General Assembly, an important gathering that took place in Pittsburgh.  Presbyterians across the country came together to deliberate and discern a number of issues, and again and again (sometimes exhaustively it seems -- once until 1:30 am!) they voted to make decisions.  A number of motions and overtures passed by affirmative votes, but a number of motions and overtures were also rejected.  And in the midst of those votes, I know that a lot of people feel rejected.

Palestinians – and Palestinian Christians in particular – had reached out to us in the hopes that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) would divest from three companies that participate and profit from their own oppression – including a company whose equipment regularly and unpredictably destroys Palestinian homes and infrastructure.  We voted not to divest.  I imagine that Palestinians feel rejected.

Individuals and couples from the LGBTQ community were also watching us this week as the  Assembly voted on a recommendation to change the wording about marriage in the Book of Order -- our constitution -- from a “man and a woman” to “two people.”  We all expected this vote and debate to be controversial. It was voted down by 4%, 30 votes difference.  I watched the debate and the vote online through the live feed.  It lasted three and a half hours. There were powerful words of affirmation and inclusion along with genuine words of concern and of question.  But there were also words that were profoundly dehumanizing. One woman’s comments, in particular, I believe, crossed the line from disagreement into raw hatred, and they’ve been ringing in my ears ever since. This morning, gay and lesbian individuals and couples feel deeply rejected by our church.  We need to remember them in our thoughts and prayers.

And throughout all of this, another community has come to my mind again and again.  They give me hope and an exciting sense of vision.  I am amazed and at times, perplexed, by their incredible gifts. 

Our young people – our youth and young adults – were present at General Assembly as well.  Mostly, they served as Theological Student Advisory Delegates and Young Adult Advisory Delegates.  I want you to know that they served us well.  Time and time again, as I watched the Assembly, I was blown away by their own hope and vision, touched and honored by their convictions, moved by their respect for themselves and others, and challenged by their questions. Now did you hear the term in their title?  Advisory?  They were Advisory Delegates.  That means that they were able to speak on the floor and advise the Assembly.  They were also able to give a mock, advisory vote electronically before commissioners cast their own votes, the votes that would actually count and make the decision final.

I want you to hear this statistic.  Please let it sit with you: Of the commissioners who were gathered this week to vote and make decisions on behalf of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), only 7% were under the age of 45.  We had youth and young adults present to advise this assembly, but 93% of the commissioners were over the age of 45.[i]

Do we value young people in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)?  Who are we if we don’t have their voice and their amazing and perplexing gifts of ministry?  So often people ask, “Who will we be without them? Without them, the church won’t survive in the future!”  But let me say emphatically, that the church is impoverished right now – right now! right this very second! – without them.  They need our attention and love, and we need their gifts and passion.  We need to be in relationship with our youth and young adults, and we need to value their voice among us.

The story we heard this morning is a story of rejection, but it’s also a story of sending

The preaching and healing tour didn’t stop.  Instead, Jesus chose to empower his disciples and to send them out with the gifts they needed to do the work of the Kingdom.  They were empowered, but that didn’t mean they would escape rejection.  The text is realistic: Rejection was going to come sometimes. But they were sent out to proclaim and heal, nonetheless.  And that is exactly what they did.

Young people, today I want to empower you and tell you that God has given you gifts for ministry.  God’s Spirit is upon you – not just because you are young – but because your life is claimed by God.  Listen.  Put your ear to the ground.  And stay under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  God is going to use you here.  God is going to use you beyond these walls.

And to all of us, may we all remember that our lives are claimed by God.  God’s Spirit does not abandon us once we are older.  No!  We have the very gifts, wisdom, and experience to offer children, youth, and young adults who have been rejected by this church.  God has given us what we need for the journey.  We are being sent out.

So we can be with and for those who are rejected!  We can choose to stand with Palestinians and Israelis alike!  We can have ferocious compassion for gay and lesbian youth who are bullied and school and concern for legally married couples who have to check ‘single’ every year on their taxes.  We can be a church that says an emphatic ‘yes’ to our young people – right here and in this neighborhood.  We can be sent to those who feel rejected.  And with God’s help, we can proclaim and heal.  With God’s help, we will also be healed by those very people who feel rejected.

So what does it look like?  What does it look like to be a church where all generations love and challenge one another, where all generations say ‘yes’ to loving rejected people? I’ll tell you.

It’s Vena and Adrian, the musical directors of our two children’s choirs.  It’s the way that they give each other support, trading stories and wisdom about teaching in public schools. It’s also the way they care for our children.

It’s the fact that I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation with Warren McClain – not one! – where he didn’t tell me how much he appreciates me.  You can keep that coming, Warren!  I appreciate you too. (By the way, you’re also allowed to get mad at me sometimes.  And that goes for all of you).

It’s the way that Shannon Ludt comes up with brilliant ideas and questions about how we might minister to children in Pasadena, specifically those who are struggling in poverty.  It’s also the way she includes others into the conversation about those ideas.

It’s the way that Dr. Mark Smutny, our pastor, gets down on his knees in front of this congregation to do the Time with Children.  It’s also the way that you, older than our children, so frequently choose to get something out of that time for yourselves.

It’s the way that Thea, Myron, Mona, and others often always seek to find those who don’t have a place to go for the holidays – often young people – and invite them over for a delicious meal.

It’s the way that Pastor Hyun Sung and other Korean leaders have chosen to do something absolutely radical: That is, to have Korean young adults serve on the Session, something that hardly never happens in other Korean Presbyterian churches. It’s culturally radical.

It’s Bryce Nicholson, who so regularly pushes his grandmother, Mary, around in her wheelchair on Sunday mornings.  They both model for us what it means to love people of all generations.

I could give so many more examples. I imagine you have examples.

So are you encouraged to be the people we’re called to be today?  Are you called and committed to be a church for all generations?  If so, say ‘Amen!’ Are you called and committed to be a church for those who are rejected?  If so, say ‘Amen!’ You can be.  You will be.  It’s because of you and your dedication – but primarily that God’s Spirit upon you -- that we will give this great witness.  We’re doing it today in this very moment. Thanks be to God. Amen.

-This sermon was preached by Pastor Renee Roederer and the community at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. (7/8/12)

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[i] I learned of these statistics from Still Waters, the blog of the Rev. Theresa Cho.  You can read the entire post, “In the Middle: Intersection Between Age & Wisdom” here: http://theresaecho.com/2012/07/03/in-the-middle-intersection-between-age-wisdom/