tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60692481399135681512024-03-13T07:20:44.444-07:00LatinLutheranA Mexican-American-Lutheran pastor's sermons and thoughts on spirituality, marriage, religion, parenthood, nerdhood, Jesus, and life's simple pleasures.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.comBlogger324125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-72356231653945214042023-11-13T23:35:00.000-08:002023-11-14T10:59:41.519-08:00Tamar, and Others We Don't Like To Talk About<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1664481918&color=%23ff9000&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/tamar-and-others-we-dont-like-to-talk-about" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Tamar, and Others We Don't Like To Talk About">Tamar, and Others We Don't Like To Talk About</a></div><p><i>Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault </i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>First reading contains incident of rape, incest, and parental neglect. However, it's important to read all of the readings beforehand.</i></p><p><i>Inspired by <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%2013%3A1%E2%80%9316%2C%2021%E2%80%9322%3B%20Psalm%20103%3A1%E2%80%9317%3B%201%20Thessalonians%202%3A9%E2%80%9312%3B%20Mark%2010%3A13%E2%80%9316&version=CEB&interface=print" target="_blank">2 Samuel 13:1–16, 21–22; Psalm 103:1–17; 1 Thessalonians 2:9–12; and Mark 10:13–16</a>, from Wilda Gafney's A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church.</i></p><p>After today, you can’t ever say that I save the hardest readings for Pastor Al! Lord have mercy. What am I going to do with this? Is what I asked myself this week! Well, here we go. At first, I thought I was going to go with the topic of family, which is very strong throughout all the readings. And it certainly may come up again, but I wanted to go a little deeper than that because we all have such varied experiences with family. For some that very word is a trigger word associated with abuse and neglect. And for others, it is the very definition of grace, and everyone in between. Going deeper than just family allows us to come at these readings on ground that’s at least a little more level. And so, I’d like us to explore these three concepts together: respect, honor, and status; through today’s readings. </p><p>We’ll begin with our first reading and end with our Gospel reading, so let’s get this first one out of the way. Yikes. As you may have guessed, this reading from Second Samuel does not appear in any other lectionary. And this time I don’t blame them! I mean, who wants to talk about this on any day, in any place, much less in church on Sunday? Well, I do. I mean, I don’t want to, but I firmly believe that we must, especially on this most holy of days, in this most holy of places—because if we don’t bring our deepest hurts here, among the gathered body of Christ, how can we ever expect healing to happen out there? If we continue to pull the curtain between God and those things we don’t like to talk about, how can healing happen? Think of it this way. </p><p>Imagine if racism was battled in pulpits across North America fifty years ago, a hundred years ago, five hundred years ago! Imagine how different our world might be today, if the pain of racism was called out by pastors across our nation beginning when European settlers stole their first plot of land in the Americas. The same could be said about sexism during Women’s suffrage movements at the turn of the last century, or any time in history actually, if people heard women lifted up by the all-male pastor’s club of the day. Here’s one last example, imagine if in the decades leading up to the AIDS epidemic, pastors spoke out against homophobia, right from their pulpits! I don’t think it’s too dramatic to wonder how many lives that could have saved, but instead we turned it into a “gay disease” that no one wanted to talk about, including the church. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiDQJg3yDWPSFS2HenGERHvlxISPTy9woFYP1SRjI71BakR8Kch6GNJTB6uo5DKG7qXt53FNd66u41GIV76S2vJMlDPwfwkRQnRPW03xUxW5kASab3va_S0mKd4Mf-T4PTnQTd7EKZeqn5ee9NHsA57rzyEnC42gNU9zQQozyv3KZGNOZ__G7WU5CVpQ/s298/1520184738246a.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="298" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiDQJg3yDWPSFS2HenGERHvlxISPTy9woFYP1SRjI71BakR8Kch6GNJTB6uo5DKG7qXt53FNd66u41GIV76S2vJMlDPwfwkRQnRPW03xUxW5kASab3va_S0mKd4Mf-T4PTnQTd7EKZeqn5ee9NHsA57rzyEnC42gNU9zQQozyv3KZGNOZ__G7WU5CVpQ/w320-h320/1520184738246a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>And as for the topic found in today’s first reading, what happened to Tamar is all too common today. I won’t ask for a show of hands, but so many of us know someone who has endured the same fate as Tamar. And did you notice just how similar the reaction was then compared to today? The amount of silence within the story? Her mother was nowhere to be found. Her dad was more concerned about protecting his son. A friend of the family who turned out to be an accomplice to this horrific crime. If you didn’t know better you’d think this was an episode of Law & Order: SVU, but unfortunately, it is a reality for far too many of our loved ones. The creator of this lectionary, the Rev. Dr. Wilda Gafney, selected this as our first reading today, not to torture us, but to give us an example of how this shouldn’t have played out. <p></p><p>To show us what it looks like when respect, honor, and status, are completely absent. To show us what it looks like when someone’s humanity is completely stripped of them. Whew! Ok, I think that’s enough of that story. Our Psalm for today was a beautiful response to our first reading, giving us the opposite of what we had just experienced. There, our Psalmist gives us the image of God who is not only wise and loving, not only our merciful redeemer and provider, but does so as our Mother, whose love flows from God’s very womb. And even names that love that comes from her womb, us. We are that love that comes from her womb. What a profound contrast to that first horrific reading. Because here God is the perfector of respect, honor, and status, lifting us up, as a mother lifts up her baby. </p><p>As we move to our next reading, Paul continues this image of parental love but with a twist! Paul presents this kind of parental love as not just something between biological relatives, but as something that we actually get to choose! What Gafney calls, “families of choice.” I know for a fact many of you know that kind of love and how special it is. Whether you were adopted, officially or unofficially, by someone, or you were the one who took someone in as your very own. The selection of this reading creates this brilliant segue to our Gospel reading, where we have a very familiar story. Mark shares this little scene well into his book. So, by this time the crowds following Jesus are huge, and whole families are joining the crowd, kids and all. </p><p>And of course, like many religious celebrities or politicians, parents started bringing their kids to Jesus for him to hold. Think: the Pope blessing kids or presidents kissing babies. I don’t how those ever became a thing to begin with but parents just love doing that! I don’t know if popes and presidents like that, but I can tell who didn’t, Jesus' disciples, his closest followers, his inner circle. They said, “Uh uh, get your kid’s dirty mitts off him! You have any idea how hard it is to keep his tunic white!” Ok, I’m slightly paraphrasing there. Point is, they weren’t having it! And Jesus got angry. What?! Jesus was allowed to get angry? Yes, and so are you! In fact, I think God counts on it! But that might be for another sermon. Jesus corrects them and asks them to bring the kids to him, and then says something really odd. </p><p>He said that it was to kids like those “that the realm of God belongs…[that] whoever does not receive the reign of God as a little child will never enter it.” Now, why is this so odd? I mean, maybe he’s just good with kids. What’s the big deal? Well, in that day, children weren’t thought of in the same way we think of kids. Today we sing about how kids are our future. Then, they sang about how their sons were gonna join the workforce in a few years, or how their daughters were gonna bring them a hefty dowry! Oh, I’m sure they loved their children, it was just different. There was very little respect, honor, and status afforded children. They had about as many rights as a woman, and not much more than slaves. You’ve heard that old adage, “Children should be seen and not heard.” It was like that only on steroids. </p><p>So, when Jesus corrected them, and told them to bring the kids to him, to allow them to cut to the front of the line, and then tops that off with, these are who the realm of God belongs to, he is completely turning respect, honor, and status on their head! Those disciples must have felt like they were in the Twilight Zone! In your mind's eye, picture this, you show up at Thanksgiving dinner, and you walk in and see all the kids are sitting at the main table, and all the adults are sitting at the little plastic kiddie table complete with mini plastic chairs. And no one is complaining about it! They're just chowing down on their turkey and mashed potatoes like this is all normal, while the adult's legs have gone completely numb before they could even get seconds. That’s the best modern-day example I could come up with! </p><p>That’s how strange this was to them! But telling them, that unless they became like these little kids, they wouldn’t enter the reign of God? That was the real kicker! To imply that these kids, who were given little to no respect, honor, or status, had something to teach those crusty old disciples? That must have felt like a low blow. But then I remember just how much my own children have taught me, how they have made me a better human being, and how they came out of their mother’s womb, free of judgment, free of bias, free of all the isms that we adults are so susceptible to, and I understand what Jesus meant. And then we’re led to wonder, where in God’s world does respect, honor, and status, need to be turned on their head? And who is there to teach us something about the reign of God? </p><p>Palestinian children? Yes. Israeli civilians? Yes. Ukrainians? Yes. Black and brown people in the U.S.? Yes. Women in states who’ve lost the right to their own bodies? Yes. Trans people? Yes. Drug addicts? Yes. Alcoholics? Yes. Neurodivergent people? Yes. Bipolar people? Yes. The unhoused? Yes. I’ll let you add to that list on your own time. These and more, are groups of people in our society that don’t get a whole lot of respect, honor, or status, if any. Now imagine if we flipped that on its head the same way Jesus did. </p><p>Imagine if we, all of a sudden, put them at the front of the line. Imagine if we, had the courage to talk with them like the human beings they are. Imagine if we listened to their stories, to their journeys, to their heart. Imagine what they could teach us, what they could teach us about respect, honor, and status. May we find the courage to turn respect, honor, and status on their head when the need arises—in the same way that God has already done for us—like a loving mother, showering us with unconditional love, whether we deserve it or not. Thanks be to God. Amen.</p><div><br /></div>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-31790348766089942022023-05-24T18:52:00.000-07:002023-05-24T18:52:26.928-07:00Do You Believe In Miracles?<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='451' height='375' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy6kUV3gAqcjfDimelSAh3_KeyUue1A9LkpzqNWwA1H_MtcMCozjDo3EKXz9Cg_inkm4RRAu6pwBnjXZFBsYg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><p></p><p><i>Inspired by John 11:28-44 as found in A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W</i></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Do you believe in miracles? A
line from one of my favorite songs goes, “I don't believe in miracles, and they
happen every day. I don't believe in Jesus, but I'm praying anyway.” It’s a
tongue-in-cheek way of expressing this disconnect between faith and reality,
between what we want to believe and what we can see. If you ask me if I believe
in miracles, well, probably like the writer of that song, my answer would
depend on the day, or my well-being, or some other factor. But what is a
miracle anyway? How do we even define a miracle? Is it always something
supernatural? Is it always something unexpected? Is it always something
positive? Is it always of divine origin? Are miracles objectively true, or are
miracles in the eyes of the beholders? As you can see, it isn’t easy to define
what a miracle is. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">What intrigues me about the story
that we read from the Gospel of John, is that the actual miracle, the raising
of Lazarus, ends up being a very small part of the story. The reality turns out
to be, that what we witness in the raising of Lazarus, is what has already
happened throughout the story to all the other characters. It really is
masterful storytelling on the part of our author. So, let’s dive a little
deeper to see what I’m talking about here. We started this story last week, and
in the first half of this story, the focus is on Martha. Martha enters this
story upset, and not just over her dead brother. She enters this story in a
state of disillusionment over what she sees as either a failure of Jesus’, or
of God, as she had known God. “If YOU had been here my brother would have never
died!” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">I imagine her pointing an
accusatory finger in Jesus’ face, yelling through tear-filled sobs. Jesus
simply says, “Your brother will rise.” “I <i>know</i>, [she probably said
annoyedly], I know that he’ll [<i>eventually</i>] rise in the resurrection on
the last day.” As if to say, my brother just died, Jesus, I’m not in the mood
for a Sunday school lesson. Or I guess it would be a Sabbath school lesson back
then? Anyway, without missing a beat, Jesus looks her in the eye and says, “<i>I</i>
am the resurrection!” As if to say, “Now, here, right before your eyes, Martha!
It’s happening inside you, in this very conversation!” Because she responded
with, “I believe you are the messiah, the Son of God.” You see, in that
conversation with Jesus, surrounding the miracle of the raising of Lazarus, not
only are Martha’s spirits raised, but her perspective of Jesus is raised. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">The “miracle” hasn’t even
happened yet, and yet I can safely say that from that conversation forward,
Martha never looked at Jesus the same way again. I assure you, after that
conversation, he was no longer just “Rabbi” to her. She had been raised. But
that was last week, in today’s story the focus moves to her sister Mary, who
was not there to hear this conversation. Martha goes back home and tells Mary
that Jesus is waiting for her nearby. Mary goes to meet him, and she too is
upset with Jesus. She says the same thing that Martha did, “If <i>you</i> had
been here, my brother would not have died.” The first time was bad enough but
twice? Now Jesus was walking around with two daggers sticking out of his heart!
Which might be why, he weeps with her. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3MuN9BlGCJTuxy1bFugD__ecEV1V0FTkQO7RuyfYKELzvg4gNkRj0PjrLAV1vx4fChRIpGhbu6DJwi_Gqj6U_l5-ivzLRPVmap4dOK9CKgFnrcT1bZbdQwsriQTbo5a9QrvQ1Hcnfe1DCBpBrOLKqW8nNE9wkoRyD5Us4XFWO7lOVl3jzL7Bqrasm/s1500/EeENC1wWAAMyW7I.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="1500" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3MuN9BlGCJTuxy1bFugD__ecEV1V0FTkQO7RuyfYKELzvg4gNkRj0PjrLAV1vx4fChRIpGhbu6DJwi_Gqj6U_l5-ivzLRPVmap4dOK9CKgFnrcT1bZbdQwsriQTbo5a9QrvQ1Hcnfe1DCBpBrOLKqW8nNE9wkoRyD5Us4XFWO7lOVl3jzL7Bqrasm/w400-h265/EeENC1wWAAMyW7I.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I have to pause the story here
and bask in how profound a moment this is, and not just in Jesus crying, but in
Mary and Martha’s accusatory comments. Here they are, on a first-name basis
with the savior of the cosmos, and they’re angry with him, to his face! And I
can’t help but stop here and reflect on our own relationship with Christ.
Because we too are on a first-name basis with the Chosen One, and I don’t know
about you but I’m angry with him all the time! I mean, we always hash it out
and end up being ok, or at least civil with each other, but that was a learned
behavior over a longer-than-it-should-have-been part of my life. Because that
is not the way that I grew up thinking about God. I grew up equating God to my
parents, whom you did not talk back to, whom you did not express your
displeasure with their performance as a parent. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And yet, that is exactly what
Martha, and now Mary, do with Jesus. And sure, he cried a bit about it, but I
can’t help but believe that this exchange between them strengthened their
relationship. This exchange of erupting emotions, this exchange of piercing
words, this exchange of tears between two people, one of whom just happens to
be the Messiah, raised both their hearts and minds, allowing them to see each
other in a way they had not before. So now Mary is raised, and the “miracle”
has still yet to happen. So now Jesus is raised, into this deeper relationship
with his friends Martha and Mary. Do you remember that first time you argued
and/or cried with a friend of yours? You’re never the same after that, are you?
And often in a good way. Neither were they. They had been raised. And then we
have the famous miracle of the raising of Lazarus. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">It gets a whopping <i>one</i>
verse at the end of this story, which begs the question, is this thee miracle
of this story? Because it almost reads as the backdrop, to a more profound
lesson that our author is trying to highlight for us, that miracles happen all
around, us all the time, if we define them appropriately. Likewise,
resurrections happen all around us, all the time, if we define them
appropriately. To use a recent example from my own life, my youngest daughter
Jesha was in the hospital all last week. She was fighting a mysterious
bacterial infection that caused a painful abscess to form on the side of her
throat. She had to have emergency surgery at one point to drain the abscess but
she came out fine and is all better. Now, I think most people, especially those
praying for her healing, would consider that the miracle here. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">But another part of that week
tells a different story. You see, my wife Sara was in LA on business, and I
don’t think either of us expected her to rush home for this. Maybe we were in
denial as to how serious this was, which is pretty common with people and their
families in the hospital, but we assured her that we would be fine. So, there
we were, Jesha and I, together for 10-12 hours a day, in the hospital, caring
for each other, in what turned out to be quite a horrifying experience. But the
emphasis I would put on all of that is, together. In our little half of that
cramped hospital room, we talked, as much as she could, we laughed, as much as
she could, we cried, we slept, we watched our beloved Oakland A’s get their
butts kicked every day, and then we left, but most importantly, we did not
leave the same father and daughter that we walked in as a week prior. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">My friends, every time a
relationship is deepened, no matter how painful the experience might be, you
both <a name="_Hlk135308800">risen</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Every time a relationship is
strengthened, we risen. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Every time comfort is given, you all
are risen! <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Every time understanding is
achieved, y’all are risen! <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Every time forgiveness is given, y’all
are risen! <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Every time you are vulnerable
with another, y’all are risen! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Every time you see more clearly,
feel more deeply, love more unconditionally, y’all are risen! <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Every time you experience
selflessness, y’all are risen! <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Every time you are valued and
appreciated, y’all are risen! <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">So, I guess I believe in miracles
after all. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">I hope you do too. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Amen.</p><p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-46359658819477115502023-05-03T00:39:00.003-07:002023-05-03T00:39:49.419-07:00Saint John the Baptist: The Patron Saint of Agnostics<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwq4yQN9nIKcNEBPMDGrlcV2bXg0PWBdx5qEEovFpY90hCVpjU5QjqWjB5Cx1pdw6mn4xZJSjypVpbiYeYoPQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /> <i>Inspired by Luke 7:18–23 as found in The Women's Lectionary For The Whole Church, Year W</i><p></p><p>One thing that drives me up the wall is indecisiveness. I don’t have much patience for it, and the older I get the worse it gets. I bet we all have someone in our group of friends or family though that is indecisive. You know, the one who can never decide on where to go to eat, or what movie to watch, or which TV show to binge next. Raise your hand if you have someone in your group of friends or family that is like that. Those of you who are not raising your hand, that probably means that you are that indecisive one in the group. I mean look, you couldn’t even decide to raise your hand or not! I’m just teasing. To be fair, my aversion to indecisiveness probably comes from my upbringing. One of my mom’s favorite sayings was one that I cannot repeat here, but it’s a phrase that included a certain four-letter word and the word pot. </p><p>It’s a humorous, albeit crass phrase that gets at the heart of making a decision. If you don’t know it, ask someone later, but not right now. To be fair, if we’re honest, we all have indecisive moments in our lives. I sometimes don’t like to decide because I want to make sure my decision is acceptable to everyone. The joke there of course is that no decision is acceptable to everyone. So, just make a decision already, I tell myself. Other times there are just too many choices to choose from! And other times we genuinely don’t care which choice is made so we just step back and let others decide, which is fine unless everyone else in the group also feels that way. Decision-making is an important part of our lives, in our work lives, our personal lives, and even in our spiritual lives. But maybe not as much as we’ve been taught. </p><p>A nasty habit developed in the Christian church, particularly in America, that began all the way back in colonial America. And that was this idea that one had to make a decision to follow Christ or not, to believe in Christ or not, to have faith or not. It’s a very black or white kind of theology, right or wrong, left or right, yes or no. You’d think I’d like it. But I’m Lutheran, so I don’t. Nothing in life is that simple, including our spiritual lives. And our Gospel reading is a perfect example of this, and it’s also why I think that John the Baptist should be the patron saint of agnostics. Just so we’re on the same page, an atheist is someone who has decided that God doesn’t exist, which I can respect, for the mere decision alone. They have made a choice and have moved on. </p><p>Side note, some of the most profound and respectful religious conversations I’ve had have been with atheists. As long as they know you’re not going to try and change their mind, they are some of the deepest thinkers out there. They are the ones that have not decided. The simplest definition of an agnostic is someone who believes that if there is a divine being, it is unknown and unknowable to humans, so for that group, God remains a big question mark. Another way to describe agnosticism is to say that since humans can’t prove the existence of God, then one cannot believe or disbelieve in a God. Well, if we use that definition then we’re all quite close to being agnostics! They taught me a lot of things in seminary but proving that God exists was not one of them! </p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHwtavSDFe11SAlFpnowK_4HYRayjZcO4g_NfnkBiuhx8ms9JM5VHPEw7zLAObV1MZKBfhi52qWQuCjHniVSkJ7e-qy0YU0MWn_rvj7xnB711KBewQkHSdt9ukIjHOm9Ry2VI1jypcGbdJaAx2GPyeWupb-T5RA9YoxmJzR_s5z1-ct3JlD4f7Rq8M/s2000/191215_StJohnTheBaptistinPrison_Full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1578" data-original-width="2000" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHwtavSDFe11SAlFpnowK_4HYRayjZcO4g_NfnkBiuhx8ms9JM5VHPEw7zLAObV1MZKBfhi52qWQuCjHniVSkJ7e-qy0YU0MWn_rvj7xnB711KBewQkHSdt9ukIjHOm9Ry2VI1jypcGbdJaAx2GPyeWupb-T5RA9YoxmJzR_s5z1-ct3JlD4f7Rq8M/w400-h315/191215_StJohnTheBaptistinPrison_Full.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"St. John the Baptist in Prison, Visited by Salomé"<br />Guercino, 1591–1666</i></td></tr></tbody></table>So, let’s turn our attention to our Gospel reading. Here we get this little scene between John and two of his disciples. Now, already, your Spidey senses should have gone off, because yes, it says two of John’s disciples. Not disciples of Jesus, disciples of John. John still had disciples. Now, why would that be? Well, many scholars have concluded that it was because he was still on the fence about Jesus. I mean, think about it, if he completely, 100% bought into what Jesus was selling, why would he need or even have disciples of his own still? Followers don’t have followers. Think of it this way, you would never hear a pastor say that they have followers. Can you imagine if someone asked me how big our church was and my answer was, “Oh I have about a hundred followers.” </p><p>If you ever hear a pastor say that, run! Cuz that ain’t no church, that’s a cult! To be clear, I’m not accusing John of being a cult leader. His following started before Jesus began his ministry, before there was someone for John to follow. But what about after? Why didn’t he and his followers all go and start following Jesus after his baptism? Well, because they’re human. It’s not very realistic to think that 100% of everyone that encountered Jesus, even John’s very own followers, just dropped everything, including everything they believed prior, and started following and believing Jesus wholeheartedly! That’s just not how we humans work. And not just as a group, but also as individuals. I’d be lying to you if I stood up here and told you that God expects 100% of your heart and mind, 100% of the time! </p><p>No human can do that, and God knows that. Which is why you don’t hear any judgment when John the Baptist, sends a few questions to Jesus, from his lonely prison cell. And they were not easy questions, to say the least. John asks his cousin Jesus, “Are you really the one we’ve been waiting for? Or should we keep looking?” Yikes. I don’t know if that was harder to ask or harder to hear. But in typical Jesus fashion, he doesn’t give him a direct answer. Like, how hard would it have been for Jesus just to say, “Yes. Yes, John, I am the one.” Would that have been so hard? Instead he said, “those who were blind receive sight, those who were lame walk, those who were diseased-in-skin are cleansed, those who were deaf hear, those who were dead are raised, those who are poor have good news proclaimed to them.” </p><p>Which was just Jesus’ way of saying, “Consider the evidence.” Consider the source, sure, but first, consider the evidence. Another way to ask this would be, are people being healed or hurt? Likewise, are the vulnerable given hope or judgment? Those are good questions to ask if you’re ever wondering if something or someone is of divine origin or not. Not that following Jesus means perfection, far from! We’ve all hurt people but on the whole, when taking a look at the big picture of our lives, have we hurt or healed? Have we given hope or judged the vulnerable? We have this tremendous opportunity right now in our world, yes, even in little ol’ Auburn, to bring hope and healing. And one of those many groups, I would like add to Jesus’ little list. </p><p>Jesus mentions the blind, lame, diseased, deaf, I would add the questioning, the doubting, the unknowing, the skeptics, the proof-seekers, the fence-sitters. We have this amazing opportunity, the same one that Jesus gave his cousin John when he was in the throws of questioning from his dark, lonely prison cell, to comfort the questioners, to ease the minds of doubters, to sit on the fence with fence-sitters; because, as we know all too well, comfort doesn’t always come with answers, but sometimes it comes with sitting alongside others, and maybe even admitting that we too have got a lot of questions. Because faith isn’t about having all the answers, or being 100% committed, or making this big one-time all-encompassing decision for Christ! Sometimes it’s just taking a step. Sometimes it’s just taking a seat. Sometimes it’s just asking a question. Whatever it is for you, I pray that it is met with comfort, openness, and love. And it it’s not, you just send them to ol’ Saint John the Baptist, the patron saint of agnostics, of the questioning, of us. Thanks be to God. Amen.</p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-11326224318605815042023-03-27T10:42:00.002-07:002023-03-27T10:42:56.279-07:00Yeasty Dreams<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='561' height='466' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzNXXUCG0UkfH98ATI3YLTXRBJscwg8bkBrOEP4wLEPIkww2RBa9709agA5VpcaH0sq6l3e_6u95ymPVzUJTQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Inspired by Luke 13:20–21 as found in A Women's Lectionary For The Whole Church, Year W</i></div><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">There’s nothing like the smell of
freshly baked bread is there? There’s something about that smell that just
transports my soul back to my childhood. Watching my mom and her mom make bread
was a regular part of my upbringing. However, my mom and grandma were much
faster at it than Sara is. Not because they were faster, and not because they
were better bakers either. But only because the bread that they made was
unleavened, a flatbread. Many cultures are known for their flatbreads, and they
of course go by many names. For me, I knew it as a tortilla. Our Jewish
siblings know it as matzo. Our Norwegian neighbors know it as lefse. And many
Asian countries know it as naan, just to name a few. It is much faster to make
than leavened bread, but don’t let that fool you. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS1PnNahJBt4vIVnOBbY3nFekplc2XmO2HioVDH80VyvQwTE9Q3E95yD5Cb_DjkiyGu7rdWlMIQTnJjl1iVQ3Av_lTkUKPEZ-334ZJA5DJLfocw9XVhXZmk95jzMNjgyrD-GTgZyvG0DfCpMHr42pmBiIsishZv8jb08iLiMP_KXbaSuq8ibv6HoRH/s2000/black-chef-baking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="2000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS1PnNahJBt4vIVnOBbY3nFekplc2XmO2HioVDH80VyvQwTE9Q3E95yD5Cb_DjkiyGu7rdWlMIQTnJjl1iVQ3Av_lTkUKPEZ-334ZJA5DJLfocw9XVhXZmk95jzMNjgyrD-GTgZyvG0DfCpMHr42pmBiIsishZv8jb08iLiMP_KXbaSuq8ibv6HoRH/w400-h266/black-chef-baking.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Any kind of bread is a time-consuming
process. In fact, it took so much time and effort for our ancient ancestors, as
I learned this week going down the rabbit hole of the history of bread, that
they only made it for special occasions, in the same way we have cake for a
birthday or wedding. There’s a little bit of trivia for your next cocktail
party. But then some genius baker discovered yeast, which added a whole new
dimension to not only the flavor of bread but also its preparation. Scholars
think that happened around ten thousand years ago somewhere in the Fertile
Crescent of Western Asia. Leavened bread may be delicious, as well as
beautiful, but it made an already time-consuming process even longer because
now you had to wait for the bread to rise. So, all of this is fascinating, but
why would Jesus compare it to the realm of God? <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Jesus said that the realm of God “is
like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until
all of it was leavened.” I think we can take away at least four lessons from
this, to teach us what Jesus meant by this comparison, to teach us how we can
live this out. Those lessons are: the realm of God takes time, it is bold, it
is communal, and it takes work. But first, what do we mean by the “realm of
God”? I really like this translation. We usually hear this as the “kingdom of
God”, but not only is that overly gendered, but it’s just not that accurate.
Kingdom is too small. Not only is it a human concept but it just has too many
limitations. The word kingdom implies borders, walls. And I don’t think anyone
here believes that God’s realm has borders or walls! So “realm” works much
better. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">God’s realm is wherever God has
power and influence. And who are we always saying that God’s hands are in this
world? Whoever wants to assist God in spreading her realm across the globe. Ok,
so now that we have a working definition of “the realm of God”, let’s see what
kind of yeasty lessons Jesus has for us. Now the first of those lessons is an
easy one, it takes time. God’s realm takes time. It’s not a race. We’re not in
the business of seeing how many souls we can save in record time! Those that
are really interested in spreading God’s realm have got to be willing to play
the long game. It’s not going to happen overnight, or even over a month. It’s
gonna take a lot of patience and waiting, just like waiting for bread dough to
rise. Now, let’s talk about the boldness of God’s realm. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Another word might be potent.
Just like it doesn’t take much yeast to make a loaf of bread rise, it doesn’t
take much of God’s realm to make a difference in the world. And I think what
makes it so potent, what makes it so bold, is how different it is. I mean,
think about how different yeast is! It can make a whole host of delectable
baked goods, it can be used to make ethanol fuel, and let’s not forget, without
yeast, we couldn’t make liquid bread, beer! However, yeast can also cause food
to spoil, as well as cause a plethora of infections throughout the human body!
It is a strange part of planet Earth. Likewise, the realm of God is also seen
as a bit strange. The realm of God declares winners when there wasn’t even a
race! It interprets people’s words and actions in the best possible light
rather than the worst! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">It lets go of grudges way sooner
than is deserved! It teaches silly things like loving our enemies, and sharing
rather than saving. How weird is that? More than weird though, these are bold,
potent, ways of being in the world, that too often go against the grain of
humanity. The next lesson is that the realm of God is communal. Jesus said that
the woman was using three measures of flour. That’s about 40 pounds of flour.
40 pounds! Why in the world would she be using that much flour? Because
bread-making in the ancient world was often a communal activity. In order to
conserve the fuel needed to bake the bread, as well as other resources, a whole
community would gather to make bread for everyone. God’s realm is meant to
operate the same way. It is a team effort, where all participate, and where all
get what they need. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And what do I mean by all? Who is
included in this communal endeavor of spreading God’s realm? For that, we come
to the last of these yeasty lessons, that God’s realm takes work, hard work.
The bones of our ancient ancestors clearly show us that they knew what hard
work was. Their bones show telltale signs of wear and tear, specifically on the
parts of the body involved in making bread; wear on the knees from grinding
grain to make the flour, wear on the hands from kneading that flour with the
yeast. Have you ever kneaded dough? I would help my mom make tortillas
sometimes and she would have me knead the dough because she had joint problems
in her hands and wrists. After kneading for a while, I remember thinking, isn’t
that enough? It wasn’t! And that was dough for a flatbread! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sR8RGKb4vZ1WV-oQh54es101hf4UtoAbk5ljppmfgbYuuC4BH-T85vntayGqaT1xBVnpuhDxdBh7Xrp5AFZ_bjgxmzh3DAmV9yc0S0Q9dOZa7g1KuAx-gKoJ9u4Kv2BASQqqaDrtTKC8W4x4UWBEAbE0tw8PgsymmHDWqdHX-_nxwTeIt549I9-L/s3953/IMG_4862a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1721" data-original-width="3953" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sR8RGKb4vZ1WV-oQh54es101hf4UtoAbk5ljppmfgbYuuC4BH-T85vntayGqaT1xBVnpuhDxdBh7Xrp5AFZ_bjgxmzh3DAmV9yc0S0Q9dOZa7g1KuAx-gKoJ9u4Kv2BASQqqaDrtTKC8W4x4UWBEAbE0tw8PgsymmHDWqdHX-_nxwTeIt549I9-L/w400-h174/IMG_4862a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My lovely wife making bread dough as a visual <br />while I preached this sermon.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Kneading dough with yeast in it
is an even bigger job because you gotta make sure that the yeast is evenly
spread throughout the dough. Otherwise, it ain’t gonna look very pretty! This
made me think of how we’re supposed to spread God’s realm evenly throughout our
world. Because if we don’t, it ain’t gonna be pretty. And let me use a recent
event to explain. I’m sure many of you have heard of the horrific treatment
that one of our local pastors has received this past week. Many of you even
know him because he used to be our youth director back when I first started.
I’m of course talking about Pastor Casey Martinez-Tinnin. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Like many gay pastors, he has
recently been the victim of what can only be described as a <a href="https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/placer-county-pastor-receives-death-threat-controversial-video/103-b80a49b2-e139-4f27-9437-1f267794b182?fbclid=IwAR0Cmh8WiEBMB76bpKAyRZ8sEeVjFStWTkC4G05LywAPRdxNwJxLryLAZ-Y" target="_blank">character assassination</a>. Two people from an ultra-conservative group posed as parents
looking for help for the transgender child, met with him to talk, and recorded
the conversation without his permission. Like many pastors, he trusted these
people out of compassion for their child. Only to be taken advantage of, to
have the video posted online, highly edited of course, all for the purpose of
defaming a pastor who’s simply trying to save lives, from harm by others or
themselves. He and his family and congregation are now enduring death threats,
and harassment from so-called “Proud Boys” stationing themselves outside their
house, hurling insults at them, and spreading lies to their neighbors. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Many in the area have come to
their support. Which is great to see. However, I have to wonder, could that
have been prevented? And if so, how could we prevent it in the future? Are we
even planning for the next time this happens? This is where that evenly spread
yeast comes in, the yeast that takes hard work evening out across God’s realm.
Because what if, and I know this is a big what if, but stay with me here, dream
with me, what if, we had spread God’s realm so evenly, so broadly, </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">that every church was a
Reconciling in Christ church, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">that every church was a welcome
place, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">that every church was a safe
place, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">that every church was a healing place,
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">that every church was overflowing
with love, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">that every church was flying a
pride flag in support of their LGBTQ+ siblings, whether they had a gay pastor
or not! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Because then, how would their
enemies know who to target next!? Do you see how something as simple as a pride
flag is so much bigger? This isn’t just about creating a safe place here? This
is about creating a safe place everywhere, for everyone! This is a matter of
life and death, and that’s no exaggeration! What if, we spread God’s realm so
evenly, so broadly, that it created a blanket of protection upon this whole
region? Can we dream that big? I don’t know. I do know this, small dreams make
small results. So why not dream big? I honestly don’t think we have a choice
but to dream big. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Not if we’re gonna take Jesus at
his word, that the realm of God is like a woman mixing yeast into flour, until <i>all</i>
of it is leavened. How can we not dream big, when we have a God who takes the
time and waits patiently for us, whose love for us is boldly potent, who
continually gathers us around this communal table, and who never tires of
putting the work in for us. Dream big my friends. Dream, yeasty dreams, as we
make bread for the world, with the world, for the sake of the world. Thanks be
to God. Amen.</p><p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-5403566428164794362023-03-22T12:08:00.000-07:002023-03-22T12:08:59.465-07:00Laetare! Rejoice!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='475' height='395' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwiVm9m5W6rPchuNc60o2ajJqDuftMr6zNWDqmRhm2RbrqF41HN8GDJ47teAsfvjrfSoBGmKSSGRENfm5M9hg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><p></p><p><i>Inspired by Song of Songs 4:7–16; Psalm 136:1–16; 1 John 4:7–12; John 3:11–17 as found in A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W</i></p><p>This has been a
strange Lent. I’m not sure if any of you are feeling that way, but for me, it’s
been a bit odd. I think it’s been partly because of the state of mind I’ve been
in. Life has been quite a roller coaster this year so far, complete with ups
and downs and loop de loops and even the occasional nausea. I mean, life is
usually like that, right? It just seems like this year the roller coaster has
been set at high speed! And I have a feeling that I’m not alone. That roller
coaster has made plenty of stops here at Bethlehem too. Like most churches
these days, financial stress is at an all-time high. That coupled with our very
divided society makes for quite a few loop de loops. Churches are having to
make decisions that they never thought they’d have to, like making cuts to key
staff or ministry programs. Some have even had to close up shop. </p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Thankfully, we
are nowhere close to that but the threat always seems to be looming around the
corner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, other than me being
away for the month of February, it hasn’t affected our worship life too much.
Which is important because if we’re gonna grow, visitors need to have a
positive experience here at Sunday worship. Some of you might be thinking,
“Well, if that’s the case, Pastor, could you make this sermon a little more
positive?” Don’t worry, I’m getting there. I just think it’s healthy to say how
many of us are feeling, out loud, first. Especially during this time of year.
Lent is all about reexamining our lives, taking stock of our relationship with
God and others, and identifying where we need a course correction, where we
need to improve. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPnijytC7OCOV8pbqKjviF6_6V_QXMYkR3jBV0_Wvac27arZZDPCpjUeui2CUMmpUS2Yqst9D53E4JX3SF1vq9QcJnjbOcxdOXzKHDarWsfqdC-yh5XfAbx0vHduGtsOwvUVK337-95JeAol8_RrXXck7aVr8LB6c_ekvUQ8Jc5sDCf62MC4sDHTA/s2160/eb82fc53767e88084ce3308f5375ee01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2160" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPnijytC7OCOV8pbqKjviF6_6V_QXMYkR3jBV0_Wvac27arZZDPCpjUeui2CUMmpUS2Yqst9D53E4JX3SF1vq9QcJnjbOcxdOXzKHDarWsfqdC-yh5XfAbx0vHduGtsOwvUVK337-95JeAol8_RrXXck7aVr8LB6c_ekvUQ8Jc5sDCf62MC4sDHTA/w400-h266/eb82fc53767e88084ce3308f5375ee01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>But when you’re
already feeling knocked down, Lent can feel like it’s just kicking you while
you’re down. And that’s coming from someone whose favorite season is Lent! But
even I am struggling with this one! And then I was reading a book the other day
and I came across something I hadn’t heard of before, Laetare Sunday.
Just curious, have any of you heard of Laetare Sunday? Where? From what I’ve
read, many Anglican, Catholic, and Lutherans celebrate this day but I’ve never
heard of it before, and I grew up Lutheran <i>and</i> went to a Lutheran
seminary! However, the more I read about it, the more that didn’t matter to me,
because it turned out to be a beautiful tradition that I wish more Lutherans
would celebrate!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And here’s why. First
of all, the word Laetare is Latin for “rejoice.” <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">It’s a
reference to an Isaiah passage which way back in the day used to be one of the
readings on every fourth Sunday of Lent. And so, it became known as
Laetare Sunday. But even after common lectionaries became a thing, and
that Isaiah passage was no longer read on every fourth Sunday of Lent, the
traditions of Laetare Sunday were just too deeply embedded, and so they
stuck, and these traditions are quite profound. At its most basic, it marks the
halfway point of Lent. Which might sound insignificant, but you gotta remember,
some Christians take Lent very sacrificially! Like abstaining from certain
foods or drinks, or certain activities. So, being told that you’re halfway
there, that the finish line is now in sight, is anything but insignificant for
a lot of people! However, on an even more profound note, it’s a respite. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">It's a respite
from the somber nature of Lent. And let’s be honest, somber is being kind.
Sometimes it’s downright depressing. Trust me, I get quite a few eye rolls when
I tell people that it’s my favorite season! And I get it, Lent can not only be
somber, but it can also be quite challenging, even intrusive. So, another
tradition on this day is to change the color of the day from purple, to what
they call “rose” but is often just straight-up pink, which may be why not
everyone celebrates it! Thank you to Roberta for putting together some “rose”
for us today! But it’s this focus on rejoicing, in the middle of Lent, that
really spoke to me today. Which is why our first hymn was a very un-Lenty kind
of hymn! And so will the others be today. Not only is it a nice break from the
norm, but it sure seems like it’s needed right now. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Our readings
for today do a great job of pushing us into a rejoicing state of being. Our
first reading is from Song of Songs. We did a series last summer on the Bible’s
wisdom literature and it included a few passages from this book. It was pretty
spicy at times, but you couldn’t help but walk away from it feeling just in
love with love, no matter the kind of love. In this passage we have two lovers
absolutely in awe of one another, just head over heels for each other! For
those of us who have experienced that kind of love, we know that not only is it
wonderful, but it’s also a bit scary, and not at all rational, is it? Sometimes
it makes us say and do the funniest things, all in the name of love! Kind of
how our passage started with, “All of you is beautiful, my beloved companion,
there is no flaw in you.” Ok, how do you read that and not roll your eyes! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">I mean, I love
my wife, Sara, but she ain’t perfect! And if any of you tell her I said that, I
will deny, deny, deny! Seriously though, isn’t that the way love can be? And
not just romantic love but any kind of love. It just makes us believe the
silliest things. But it also makes us see the best in others. Makes us
sacrifice for others. And who cares if it don’t make sense when you’re simply
in love with love! And to think, the author of Song of Songs wrote this to show
you just how crazy in love God is with you! And if that ain’t worth rejoicing
over, I don’t know what is! Our Psalmist continues the theme of rejoicing, but
through the lens of thankfulness. Thankfulness for not only the mighty deeds of
God that the Psalmist lists, but mostly for the everlasting faithful love of
God. Hesed is the Hebrew word used here. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">It refers to a
deep love that is filled with trust, and covenantal promise; a love that is not
controlled by conditions. Again, if that’s not worth rejoicing over, I don’t
know what is. And the next two authors continue to drive this home like no
other. Talk about being in love with love. If this was a baseball game, Song of
Songs is on third, our Psalmist is on second, First John is, well, <i>on</i>
first, telling us that not only is God filled with love, but that God <i>is</i>
love. The Gospel of John is up to bat and what happens next? Someone call it!
Grand slam! Can you tell I’m ready for baseball? John hits it outta the park,
clearing the bases, with “For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
life.” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">And we can’t
leave out the next verse, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to
condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
There’s so much in these readings to rejoice over, where do we even begin? It
doesn’t matter. Begin anywhere. Just begin somewhere. This is our respite, from
the hard work of Lent. Take advantage of it, my friends. This is Laetare.
Rejoice! For no matter how tough you are on yourself during this season, or any
season of the year, this is your reminder, that at the end of the day, you are
loved, no matter what. This is your reminder that when all is said and done,
God looks at you and says, “Well done, good and faithful servant”, as she
invites us to our ultimate respite, in her tender arms. Rejoice! Amen.</p><p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-35176975771193913432023-03-12T06:00:00.007-07:002023-03-12T06:00:00.159-07:00Of Fig Leaves & Sewing Needles<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='447' height='372' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzaQtICMasblFlAjOxCYOxBqGCA8wfs3q6iZLlDqjQgT9gbfJnehtKhJKs1rPFjyj7D7xG1I-MbFkmKAE5CBQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p><i>Inspired by Genesis 3:8–21 as found in A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W</i></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">This might be too old of a sci-fi reference but some of you
might remember the show Lost in Space from the mid to late ’60s. That was
before my time but I remember watching reruns as a kid and hearing this famous
line from it, “Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!” The Robot would say that
whenever it detected any source of harm, especially around the youngest child,
Will. Wouldn’t that be nice to have a robot like that for our lives? Especially
as a parent of teenagers, it would have been nice to send them with a robot
that would alert them of danger when we weren’t around to do that for them. And
not just danger, but maybe even the possible bad decisions! How awesome would
that be! Well, for the parents anyway. This is kind of how this story from
Genesis operates for us. Let me explain.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As we read last week, the woman and the man had just eaten
from the tree that God had instructed them not to, they realized they were
naked, and so they covered themselves up with fig leaves. Not a long-term
solution by any means but they were afraid, and people who are afraid don’t
always make the best decisions. So there they were, hiding in the garden, fig
leaves blowing in the wind, and what do they hear? God taking a stroll through
the garden, calling out for them, “Where are you?” Quick side note here, notice
that God’s omniscience, God’s all-knowingness, and God’s omnipresence, God’s
ability to be everywhere at once, are not in play here. In this story, God does
not know where they are, and God is in some kind of physical form, in only one place
at a time, as we humans know all too well.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Oddly enough, our faith ancestors were ok with that! But we
don’t have time to go down that rabbit hole so let’s keep moving. God finds
them and discovers what they had done. What gave them away? Those darn fig
leaves! The fact that they were hiding their appearance and their selves from
God was the telltale sign that they had done wrong. And isn’t that human
nature? When we know we’ve done wrong, we hide, we withdraw, or we just straight-up
run. And sometimes we do that physically, but we can also do that emotionally,
mentally, and spiritually as well. We humans have discovered all kinds of ways
to withdraw with our guilt in tow, rather than face the music. After hearing
what they had done, God hands out some curses, but not to whom you’re expecting!
God curses the snake, and the ground, but not them!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Did you notice that? Oh, they don’t get off scot-free, to be
sure, but the author doesn’t use the word “curse” in reference to the woman or
the man. I find that pretty darn fascinating! They get their fair share of
consequences doled out to them but they both are able to leave that garden
without being labeled as “cursed.” Why is that important? Because if they walked
outside of that garden cursed, then we walk outside that garden cursed! And
that just wouldn’t do, not for our God. Life was already going to be hard
enough as it was without us having to also carry around the label of being
cursed. And besides that, it’s just not the way of our God, and it never has
been. This story flies in the face of this lingering idea that somehow the God
of the Hebrew scriptures was different somehow, angrier, more vengeful, more
strict, etc.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The reality is, God has been a God of grace and mercy since
day one! And that has never changed! Humans have certainly tried to make God
out to be those other things when it suited them, even in scripture we see
that. But the God of love and compassion that we have come to know through Christ
has always been there. Sometimes you just need to weed through all the human
redactions to get at the original truths that lie beneath, to get to the heart
of God. And the heart of God shines brightest in the very last verse of our
Genesis reading, “And God made garments of skins for the woman and her man, and
clothed them.” That doesn’t sound like an angry God to me. It’s easy for us to
read the preceding consequences in an angry tone of voice, or worse yet, a
parental disappointed voice!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But this action of making clothes for them, doesn’t sound
like the action of someone who is angry. Maybe a better tone of voice to read
this with might simply be a tone of sadness. The way a parent is sad when their
child makes some regrettable decisions and there’s nothing the parent can do
about it. Kids are gonna be kids. But that parent’s love never wanes. Quite the
opposite in fact, that love produces compassion and empathy. And that’s what I
see here in this tender scene between God and Eve and Adam. In her book, This
Here Flesh, Cole Arthur Riley writes, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSvzdFrCKnznzqtuiLIfgNvlnJv08pqOep_u_t4RSHC-ESmsRk0lCxocpsQ8Dyp0sotq5mXR5EFhQDYEb-SrNYb0nQeLCfL3ppkYI6ZMaEacojbJ5ji28_Z91AbTt1-99P6nDef8Wd4VgK-htNgMg4uHAwnbFKChWcy7fOOQ_BEj21gJWbTGEcCzx/s900/caribbean-seamstress-sylvia-castellanos.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="900" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSvzdFrCKnznzqtuiLIfgNvlnJv08pqOep_u_t4RSHC-ESmsRk0lCxocpsQ8Dyp0sotq5mXR5EFhQDYEb-SrNYb0nQeLCfL3ppkYI6ZMaEacojbJ5ji28_Z91AbTt1-99P6nDef8Wd4VgK-htNgMg4uHAwnbFKChWcy7fOOQ_BEj21gJWbTGEcCzx/w400-h399/caribbean-seamstress-sylvia-castellanos.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>“On the day the world began to die, God became a seamstress.
This is the moment in the Bible that I wish we talked about more often. When
Eve and Adam eat from the tree, and decay and despair begin to creep in, when
they learn to hide from their own bodies, when they learn to hide from each
other—no one ever told me the story of a God who kneels and makes clothes out
of animal skin for them. I remember many conversations about the doom and
consequence imparted by God after humans ate from that tree. I learned of the
curses, too, and could maybe even recite them. But no one ever told me of the
tenderness of this moment. It makes me question the tone of everything that
surrounds it. In the garden, when shame had replaced Eve’s and Adam’s dignity,
God became a seamstress.”<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you haven’t read that book, I highly recommend it.
Certainly my favorite book of last year, and quite possibly the most beautiful
book I’ve ever read. When we are at our lowest, when we are at our most guilt-ridden,
when all we can do is hang our head in shame, when punishment seems to be our
only future, God is there to clothe us in grace and love, with a compassionate
heart that just can’t be matched. This story serves two purposes for us. To
warn us of danger, that this life is fraught with peril, both from outside and from
within. And also that God will not only be there through it all, but will be
there with sewing machine in tow, ready to clothe us. May you hear the gentle
hum of God’s sewing machine this Lent, my friends, wherever this season leads
you. Thanks be to God. Amen.</p><p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-59745082884730018752023-03-09T13:53:00.002-08:002023-03-09T13:53:31.532-08:00Nakedness=Vulnerability=Growth=Life<p><i>Inspired by Genesis 3:1-7 as found in A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W</i></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">During my time off this past
month, I got a massage. I knew my back and shoulders were riddled in knots, and
though we were out of town at the time and couldn’t go to my usual place, I was
in so much pain that I found the first place had an opening, made an
appointment, and went. It was a nice place with very friendly staff and they
promptly took me back to my massage room and told me to get undressed. Now,
some people strip down to their birthday suit for a massage but I haven’t been
that brave yet. I know, details about your pastor’s life that might not belong
in a sermon! But hey, it’s me. Anyway, I am certainly glad I didn’t choose to
be brave that day because of what happened next! So there I am, laying face
down on the table, eyes closed, ready to be transported to nirvana for the next
hour and a half. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">I hear her walk back in, without
a word, and all of a sudden I feel the table shift and move and that’s when I
realize that she’s getting on the table! And yes, I too was thinking what kind
of a place was this! But before I could even finish that thought, I feel her
feet on my thigh, then her other one on my glute, as she continues to walk to
my upper back like this is the most normal thing in the world! And for this
place it was, because that’s when I remember seeing on their sign, “Thai
Massage”, and thought, “Oh, so this is what a Thai massage is! I’ve always
wondered!” How many of you have ever had one? It is a very different kind of
massage, and I don’t just mean the walking on the back! It is very…I don’t know
a better word than, intimate. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Those therapists are not afraid
to use their whole body to not only massage you but to stretch you, to pound on
you, to contort your body into unnatural positions, all for the purpose of
releasing tension found throughout your body. And that she did! But I gotta
tell ya, that was next-level vulnerability! I don’t think I have ever felt
quite that vulnerable, and at one point, a little scared! I may not have been
naked, but I sure felt like I was! And speaking of naked, I know, that was an
odd path to our Bible readings. But again, it’s me. If you wanted ordinary,
well-trodden paths to the Bible, you wouldn’t have come here today! I’ve
preached on our first reading many times over the past decade, but I don’t think
I have ever centered on this particular element of the story, their nakedness. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BRWrBu5cTO70XIl8wdMGCYUrNeBa7dV0CirTrpnkfiPPly2Uyp9Flua4Nn3AghCMF8TcnupwBYVEFQjfc_F381Z69kvBVwtelXI_n60wNaIAletYa5-NAbRPCaoy2haXAH0S-1zdU6Y9g-2pAIpMWtyadXcSFg_I303L8F3SGRtivRIeiMuh4odT/s2048/10015001_XXL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2045" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BRWrBu5cTO70XIl8wdMGCYUrNeBa7dV0CirTrpnkfiPPly2Uyp9Flua4Nn3AghCMF8TcnupwBYVEFQjfc_F381Z69kvBVwtelXI_n60wNaIAletYa5-NAbRPCaoy2haXAH0S-1zdU6Y9g-2pAIpMWtyadXcSFg_I303L8F3SGRtivRIeiMuh4odT/w400-h400/10015001_XXL.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>One of the questions I’ve walked
away from this story with is, “Was nakedness a good thing or a bad thing?” And
the answer to that question, is yes, according to our author. Being naked began
by representing innocence and a oneness with creation, but ends with it
representing shame and embarrassment. And in between all that, the author uses the
snake, who by the way, is not represented as a villain in the text, that’s
something that we’ve done to that character, but I digress, the snake makes
this weird connection between nakedness and, intelligence and knowledge on the
one hand, and shame and embarrassment on the other. So, is nakedness a good
thing or a bad thing? Again, yes! So, let’s talk about what nakedness means for
us in our everyday lives. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Like most everything else in this
Genesis story, it’s not supposed to be taken literally. Another word that might
be more helpful when thinking of our nakedness, is vulnerability. Is being
vulnerable a good thing or a bad thing? Yes! It is both necessary and useful
for growth as a human being, but also one of the most frightening states of
being for us to be in. So, let’s use the words interchangeably. Whenever I use
the word naked, think vulnerable. Likewise, whenever I use the word vulnerable,
think naked. I don’t want to be distracted by the word naked, but I also don’t
want to lose its intensity. So, what does it mean to be naked? What does it
mean to be vulnerable? One of the consequences of sin in our story is the loss
of comfort that we had in being vulnerable with one another. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Once humans understood what it
even means to be vulnerable, they quickly covered themselves up, began building
these invisible walls around ourselves, our families, our tribes, our churches,
our genders, our communities, our sexualities, our nations. We cover ourselves
in so many ways it’s no wonder we have trouble seeing each other. To add further
complication, many times we cover ourselves up to protect ourselves from abuse.
Many of us have been treated so badly by others, for reasons out of our
control, like the color of our skin, or our age, or who we love, that we have
very legitimate reasons to build those invisible walls! But those walls that we
build to cover ourselves up with, are unstable at best, not unlike those fig
leaves, but they also come at a high price. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">There are many lessons from this
story that we can walk away with, and one of them is to remind us that there is
another way, another way to relate to one another, to live with each other.
This story is a call, a challenge for us to return to that original state of
being, that state of vulnerability. Now, I realize we can’t do that fully, I’m
not that naïve. As long as there is sin in the world, we can never be truly,
fully vulnerable with each other. But I also know that we can’t move forward as
a people, as a community, as a nation, as a church, unless we are willing to be
as vulnerable as we can be with one another. How else are we going to gain
empathy for each other and the world? How else are we going to gain compassion
for each other and the world? Do you have anyone like that in your life? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Someone who you can be vulnerable
with? Someone who you can be yourself with? Maybe it’s your spouse, a friend, a
sibling or other family member. One of those people in my life is my wife Sara.
One of the reasons I’m always getting on her case to take care of herself so
that we can live long lives together is purely out of selfishness, because if
she ever left me behind, the chances of me finding someone else in this world
that I can be that vulnerable with is slim to none. I hope you all have someone
like that in your life. Now, imagine practicing some of that vulnerability with
others, maybe even the occasional stranger! How’s that for a terrifying
thought? That’s the stuff of nightmares for an introvert like me! Especially
when you take into account how this ended for Jesus. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">But what did we think it meant
when Jesus told us to take up our crosses? That following Jesus was going to be
a cakewalk? Of course not! Following Jesus isn’t always going to end well for
us but it will bring our world closer to that garden, closer to the way things
were meant to be, until our ultimate end, when Christ finishes that work. So,
what might this vulnerability look like? Here’s a few questions to help you process
that this coming week. Can we be vulnerable enough to share when we are in need
of help? Spoiler alert, we are <i>always</i> in need of help! But imagine the
chain effect that could cause in others, sharing that they need help after
seeing you do it. Here’s another one, can we be vulnerable enough to share with
someone or some people that they have wronged us, hurt us? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Can we imagine a world without
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King being vulnerable enough to tell the white world
how much his people had been hurt by them? As a person of color, I cannot.
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine a world worse than this, but trust me, it most
certainly could be worse. Here’s a follow-up to that, can we be vulnerable
enough to admit when we have hurt others, and do that dreaded deed, apologize! You
know, I have seen public apologies to indigenous peoples for the stealing of
their land, I’ve seen public apologies to black Americans for the enslavement
of their ancestors, I’ve seen public apologies to the LGBTQ+ community for
their exclusion by the church, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a public
apology to the women of the world for their disenfranchisement and exploitation
at the hands of men. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Is that too big an expectation?
Maybe I’m being naïve. What other ways of being vulnerable with each other and
the world would you add? Here’s one that’ll really throw you for a loop! How
vulnerable are you with…yourself? Are you able to truly be yourself, with
yourself? Asked another way, how honest are you with yourself? Scholar Phyllis
Trible calls Eve the Bible’s first theologian. For she was vulnerable enough with
herself to not only contemplate who God really is, but also to interpret God’s
words, and maybe even to question God’s integrity. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Talk about being vulnerable with
oneself! But maybe that’s where this work of vulnerability needs to begin, from
within. But, don’t forget, before you do, brace yourselves! This story calls us
to some hard work, without many guarantees, save this one. That, just like the
cross of Christ, it is guaranteed to bring new life. New life to you, to those
around you, even to the world, as it can be quite contagious. Thanks be to the
author of vulnerability, Jesus the Christ. Amen.<o:p></o:p></p><i></i><p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-2058834791283755982023-01-29T17:52:00.000-08:002023-01-29T17:52:14.760-08:00We Need To Talk About Bruno<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1435436671&color=%23ffa500&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/we-need-to-talk-about-bruno" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="We Need To Talk About Bruno">We Need To Talk About Bruno</a></div><p><i>A sermon inspired by Isaiah 16:1–5, Ephesians 3:1–6, and Luke 3:23, 31–38 as found in A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church. Press play button ▷ above for audio.</i></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">We had a good time on Wednesday
evening talking about our family trees. I am so thankful for the few who attend
that each week. Not only because is makes my preparation time worth it but more
importantly, we learn so much from each other, we learn so much about each
other, and even deeper than that, this journey with Christ, which is
challenging, feels a little less lonely for the rest of the week. This past
Wednesday we shared members of our family tree that have inspired us and made
us proud. But we also talked about those members of our family tree that no one
talks about, or even some that have been all but erased and now only live on in
rumors and hushed voices. The stories we shared! It was difficult to focus on
the Bible readings because we were so captivated by our family trees! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Throughout the discussion, I had
this song in my head and it hasn’t left since. It’s from the Disney movie
Encanto. Encanto is a Spanish word that is a little tricky to translate into
English. Just like Biblical translation, context is key. It can mean
enchantment, delight, joy, but it often has a whimsical, even other-worldly
notion to it, like a spell or a magical place. And that’s the way it’s used in
this movie. It’s this enchanted realm that this family lives in to be protected
from the evils of the outside world, only for them to realize that evil is
inescapable. An example of this is the way that this family has emotionally,
mentally, and spiritually abused one of their own, Bruno. I know, that sounds
pretty grim for a Disney movie, but Disney’s been pretty grim since they
imprisoned Dumbo’s mom and murdered Bambi’s! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCI5hIRdA195o4wppuj4qKoiiSGN4wZC7nH-yfWD5zHzWG3hV6wq48EMYwxmZLUgQiaoU6b406dWexlHPdpIUG6-0KjgBJBJIEkgJVyt-uRY-5lZFJoY-8mK04IaTWi4RXUlXgKoZFOVPVEREPexDFTM6ao8DczzHowqkhQN3D2MeJrHnF4j0JSgZ1/s3000/6203fb2f322cd.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="3000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCI5hIRdA195o4wppuj4qKoiiSGN4wZC7nH-yfWD5zHzWG3hV6wq48EMYwxmZLUgQiaoU6b406dWexlHPdpIUG6-0KjgBJBJIEkgJVyt-uRY-5lZFJoY-8mK04IaTWi4RXUlXgKoZFOVPVEREPexDFTM6ao8DczzHowqkhQN3D2MeJrHnF4j0JSgZ1/w400-h200/6203fb2f322cd.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>Not that I was emotionally
scarred by that or anything as a kid! Bruno has an unusual gift in this movie.
He can see visions of the future. Unfortunately for him, most of his visions
are of catastrophes that befall the family, and instead of seeing that as a
gift, his family sees it as a curse, and even blames him for all the horrible
things that happen to them. They disown him, banish him, and he spends a decade
living inside the walls of their mansion, hiding from them, while at the same
time, needing to be near them, because they’re all he has. Which leads to the
song I mentioned, which is called, We Don’t Talk About Bruno. In the same way
that many of us have members in the family tree that we don’t talk about or
even have attempted to erase. Which also raises the question, how do we define
family? But let’s save that for later. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Let’s switch gears and take a
look at our readings for today. Our Gospel reading was “interesting.” It’s
another one that isn’t typically read during Sunday worship as it doesn’t show
up in either the Revised Common Lectionary or the Narrative Lectionary. Which
is a shame because there’s a lot of fruit to pick here. At first glance, it’s
“just” a genealogy that shows where Jesus came from. But when you ,take a
moment to look at the names, you discover that something else might be going on
here. There might be a covert message here, hidden behind the walls of Luke’s
Gospel. First of all, it should be pointed out that the Greek manuscripts that
we have of Luke do not include any women’s names in this genealogy. In an
effort to make this translation as inclusive as possible, the translator added
in the women that we know of connected to all those men. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">This doesn’t just bring
inclusivity though. It highlights the hidden message that Luke included here.
Because it causes you to remember some of the stories that are connected to
these names and before you know it you realize that these characters weren’t
exactly the cream of the crop! In fact, there are some pretty unsavory family
members included in Jesus’ family tree. Here’s some examples: Abraham’s
personal fears put his wife Sarah in great danger multiple times; his grandson
Jacob was a manipulative thief, his son Judah sold his own brother into slavery
and then allowed his dad to believe that he died for years; and David was a
murdering rapist! Add to that list, there are Gentiles included in this list!
Outsiders! Gasp! How dare they! Ruth was a Moabite, remember those people
because they’ll come up again, and Tamar was a Canaanite! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Now those last two might not
sound like a big deal but for them it was. For them, purity of bloodlines was
crucial to the survival of their people and their religion. It was forbidden,
many times over throughout the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew
scriptures, to “mix” with other nations. Which makes the inclusion of Gentiles
in Jesus’ genealogy all the more surprising, on top of the unsavory characters!
And by including them, Luke is saying, in between the lines, in between the
walls, this is the blood that is running through the savior of the universe! In
any other religion, a genealogy would be there to prove the purity and holiness
of a divine figure. But for Luke, Jesus’ impure, profane genealogy doesn’t
weaken the message, it makes it stronger! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">As if to say, God’s message of
love will not be held back by your or your ancestor’s behavior! God’s message
of love will not be held back by your or your ancestor’s resident status, or
societal status, or marital status, or criminal history, or anything else that
our world tries to convince us will do so, or anything else that our religious
institutions, our religious families, have tried to convince us will do so. And
this has been on the books for a long time. In our reading from Isaiah, God
tells her people to grant justice and shelter to the outcasts and the
fugitives, even the Moabites, an ancient enemy of theirs! Going so far as to
consider them birds from the same nest—family. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Likewise, in our Ephesians
reading, the author states that Gentiles, outsiders, once forbidden, have now
“become coinheritors, are of the same body, and sharers in the promise in
Christ Jesus through the gospel”—family. And so I ask you, how do you define
family? I asked this of our group on Wednesday and they came up with
descriptors like love, protection, safety, acceptance. What would you add to
that list? Maybe a better question is, who do you consider family? Blood
relatives? Friends? Church? Who else would you add to that list? I can tell you
who God would add to that list? Just using our readings for today, God adds
strangers to that list, foreigners, criminals, enemies, those of other
religious faiths, the outcasts, the erased ones, the Brunos of their world. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Your homework this week is to
explore who in our world needs to be re-added to our list of family members.
Who are the strangers today, the forgotten, the outcast, the erased. Who are
the Brunos of our world? It’s a daunting task, I know. Trust me, I’d much
rather be up here just telling you how much God loves you and how much you are
included in God’s family. But then I’d only be doing half my job, because
that’s only half the story. So, as you revel in the gift of being called a
child of God, the privilege of having your very own leaf on God’s family tree,
remember those who have been pushed behind the walls of that gift, remember
Bruno, all the Brunos of our world. We need to talk about Bruno. Amen.</p><p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-78738851129525116832023-01-24T23:48:00.001-08:002023-01-24T23:48:26.505-08:00Healed to Work<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1431975829&color=%23ffa500&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/healed-to-work" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Healed to Work">Healed to Work</a></div><p><i>Sermon inspired by Zephaniah 3:14–20; 1 Timothy 4:1–6, 9–10 & Mark 1:29–31 as found in A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W. Press play button ▷ above for audio.</i></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">During my internship year in
Alabama, I took a few of our church-members to an interfaith forum at the
University of Alabama at Birmingham. The forum included a rabbi, a priest, and
an imam. They were asked various questions, and so each gave their own take on a
variety of topics. It was fascinating, and we all learned a lot. One of the
highlights for me was when they started taking questions from the audience and
someone asked the rabbi, “How do you go about converting to Judaism.” He kinda
chuckled and said, “Well, the first thing I would ask someone who wanted to
convert is, why! Why would you do this to yourself? It’s not that fun! It’s a
lot of work! From the way we eat, to the way we dress, to learning Hebrew,
worship, and don’t get me started about all the rules on the Sabbath! I
wouldn’t recommend this way of life to anyone!” he said. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Not only was that a surprising
answer, believe me, nobody saw that coming, but what I appreciated about that
answer was how authentic and honest it was. It’s something we could use more of
in our own religion. We have a tendency to emphasize all the great and
wonderful things you’re gonna get if you “join us”, like love, community,
family, care, guidance, knowledge, support, and the other wonderful things that
you would add to that list. It’s a great sell! It really is! And I’d agree,
those are all things that you should be getting from any religious institution.
What I haven’t heard enough of in my lifetime as a follower of Jesus, are all
the other not-so-positive things that you get from church. And I’m not talking
about any kind of abuse, that’s for a whole other day! But the reality is, in
addition to all that wonderful stuff, you’re also gonna get a whole lot of
work!<i><o:p> </o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i>And</i>, you’re not gonna get
paid for any of it! Well, not with money anyway. Hopefully, at the end of the
day the work is worth it for you. So, what kind of work am I talking about? Well,
let’s talk about the obvious kind, the kind that’s probably going through many
of your minds right now, and that’s all the volunteer hours it takes to run a
church. I would love to add up those volunteer hours sometime. I think we would
be amazed at that number! Just the volunteer hours to put this Sunday morning
show on for you each week is a lot! But even aside from that there’s cleaning,
there’s set up for coffee hour, take down of coffee hour, making the coffee,
cooking, committee meetings, repairs on an old building, groundskeeping, and
the list goes on! It’s a lot! And I haven’t even mentioned what our president,
vice-president, and treasurer have to go through! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">So there’s that kind of work that
goes along with being part of a religious institution but that’s the obvious
stuff. Before we get into the less obvious stuff though, let me tell you why
the work of ministry is on my mind. Whenever we have a super short Gospel
reading, today’s was only four short sentences, I always think to myself, “How
am I gonna get a whole sermon outta that?” So I took a harder look at the other
readings and at first I was having a hard time finding anything useful, and
sometimes there isn’t, and that’s ok. But I read them again, and again, and
again, which is probably why I didn’t finish this sermon until last night,
which is really unusual for me, but something finally jumped out at me. A
thread that ran through each of our readings, though very subtly. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">In our reading from Zephaniah, what
you heard was the very ending of a very short book, it’s a pamphlet really. And
throughout it, Zephaniah is doing what many prophets did, and that was trying
their best to get their people to get their act together and follow the way of
God. In spite of that however, it’s a very hopeful book, because for Zephaniah,
God isn’t tied down by our behavior. Halleluiah! Right? Our behavior does not
dictate what God can or cannot do. God does what God wants, period. And so,
Zephaniah wrote about God’s powerful, saving work, and how, at the end of the
day, God will bring you home. But there was one line that stood out like a sore
thumb. In God’s voice, Zephaniah writes, “On that day it shall be said to
Jerusalem: Fear not, Zion; do not let your hands grow weak, daughter.” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">What a strange thing to say, “do
not let your hands grow weak.” In the midst of all the talk about rejoicing in
God’s power, God’s salvation, God’s protection, God says, oh yeah, by the way,
keep them hands strong. Okaaay, kinda weird. What’s <i>that</i> about? Put a
pin in that and let’s take quick look at our second reading, which was from
First Timothy. Here we have a pastoral letter to a young Christian who was sort
of an apprentice of Paul’s, part of the next generation of followers of Jesus.
The letter was written to encourage, teach, and support Timothy, and so the
line that jumped out at me was when the author said, “for this we toil and
struggle.” And again I thought, that’s an odd thing to say, especially in the
midst of so much love and support for Timothy. But the thread doesn’t stop
there, it continues to the Gospel reading. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">This is just the second miracle
that Mark records. Jesus had just left the synagogue where he healed a man of
what they called an unclean spirit. It was a big production, lots of people
witnessed this, including the Jewish leadership. And you have to believe that
was intentional. This was Jesus’ way of saying, “Heads up y’all! Your messiah
has arrived.” And word began to spread quickly. Mark then writes, “Immediately
they went to Simon’s house.” Whenever Mark uses the word “immediately”, and
it’s often, that’s our cue to see if there’s a connection between the two
stories, and there usually is. What I love about these two stories is that it
goes from a big miracle with a big audience for maximum exposure, to this small
miracle, in this small intimate family moment, where Jesus heals Simon’s
mother-in-law. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsc0Od5LkPVXBtyZMz7YyU7CR1b6-2oeyZkQAgPUSIhuR8ZnoMLtnCLIKu84utC-lgAgEw3AGTUnBa6u_kjcfTap4DF3kc0RQ4_Mxl9khqbPxEmS2zEScbzHiF79dGi5AWsi9BmsfVYn9gVWIh0CGHOZd33QirOR2qGzpbJHs9QPhRlFU-P01AvuE4/s1600/Suocera%20di%20Pietro%2011.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1470" data-original-width="1600" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsc0Od5LkPVXBtyZMz7YyU7CR1b6-2oeyZkQAgPUSIhuR8ZnoMLtnCLIKu84utC-lgAgEw3AGTUnBa6u_kjcfTap4DF3kc0RQ4_Mxl9khqbPxEmS2zEScbzHiF79dGi5AWsi9BmsfVYn9gVWIh0CGHOZd33QirOR2qGzpbJHs9QPhRlFU-P01AvuE4/w400-h368/Suocera%20di%20Pietro%2011.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>'Healing of Peter`s Mother in law'<br />Rembrandt, 1660</i></td></tr></tbody></table>And so, right outta the gate in
this book, Mark shows us a Jesus who is not just here for big miracles and lots
of attention, but that he was also here to make time for the small, personal,
miracles that no one around them would even see or know about, except Simon’s
family. I love that about Jesus, but believe it or not, that wasn’t the most
profound moment of this story. After Jesus takes her by the hand, lifts her up,
and heals her, Mark records that she got up and ministered to them. And again,
I thought, that’s an odd detail to include. Why didn’t the story end with her
healing—Jesus took her by the hand, lifted her up, and healed her. Period, end
of story. Next scene. What was the point of telling us that she ministered to
them right after her healing? Well, I think this is where that thread ends. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">The take away that Mark wants you
to leave this story with, just like the author of Zephaniah and First Timothy,
is that God’s saving, protecting, guiding, healing work on us is not for
nothing. Meaning, whenever God heals us, that’s never supposed to be the end of
the story. Rather, God heals us for the work ahead. And no, that’s not God
pulling a fast one on us, nor is it God being manipulative. This is God seeing
value in you and your God-given abilities. If there’s anything selfish about
this it’s only in that God loves the world so much that God wants you working
in it, to make it a better place than the way you found it. So, let’s end with
what this work might look like. Other than the obvious stuff that we already
talked about. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Last night my family and I were
watching the National Day of Racial Healing: An MSNBC Town Hall, and one of
their guests, author Nikole Hannah-Jones, was asked what racial healing means
to her. She said, when I think of racial healing, the people I think who really
need healing are white people. “We black people may have suffered a lot of
harm, but the people who caused the harm, are the people who need the healing,
the reflection, the fixing.” That is the kind of work that Christ calls us into.
The kind of work that causes us to reflect on what makes us who we are, and be
honest with what needs healed. Another guest, Minnijean Brown-Trickey, who was
one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of nine black teenagers who integrated
Little Rock Central High School, said, “Activism is a life sentence.” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">While many of us might call it
being a social justice warrior, she on the other hand, likened it to incarceration.
That is the kind of work that Christ calls us into. The kind that costs us
something. Now, those are big dramatic examples, but the work of ministry that
we are all called to comes in all shapes and sizes. From parenting and
marriage, to being the best supervisor at work that you can be or, like Simon’s
mother-in-law, serving those around you with a heart for hospitality, and
everything in between. At our Wednesday evening Bible discussion, one of our
college students shared a little bit of what it was like to take care of her
family when everyone in her household got COVID. I remember texting with her
during that time and even through my phone screen I could hear her exhaustion
and frustration and fear. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">So, on Wednesday I asked her,
“Why did you do that? How did you get through it? What motivated you?” She
said, “Love and duty.” Love and duty. I thought to myself, maybe I should have
her preach this Sunday! Christ comes with healing for whatever ails us, for
whatever holds us back, but Christ doesn’t heal for nothing. And no it’s not a
requirement, not an ultimatum, we don’t believe in a do-this-or-else kind of
God. So, how about we call it an expectation, or in the words of Marie Claire,
our duty? Whatever we call it, it is Christ’s hope for us. May we be ready,
each time Christ lifts us up by the hand, to be healed, and to go to work.
Amen.</p><p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-12035306038696753742023-01-24T16:25:00.005-08:002023-01-24T16:25:58.990-08:00Let It Go<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1431767668&color=%23ffa500&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/let-it-go" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Let It Go">Let It Go</a></div><p><i>Sermon inspired by Mattew 3:1–6, 11–17 as found in A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W. Press play button </i>▷<i> above for audio.</i></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">As some of you may remember, I
serve on our synod’s Candidacy Committee. For those who don’t know, a synod is
simply the geographic areas that our denomination is separated into. Ours is
the Sierra Pacific Synod and it stretches from Porterville to the Oregon
border, and from the West coast to Elko, Nevada. And just like a congregation,
each synod has an ordained leader, only there it’s called a bishop, and it has a
council and lots of committees. The Candidacy Committee is in charge of
overseeing those who want to become pastors and deacons in our denomination.
It’s been extremely rewarding work, and honestly, some of the most holy work
that I do, other than leading worship for you all of course! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">But it’s an honor to accompany
others on the same journey to ordination that I took not that long ago. One of
the things that has been enlightening for me is the advice that I hear myself
giving them. Whatever it is, it almost always comes from my own experience as a
pastor, and usually from the pitfalls that I have encountered over the years. I
find myself getting quite protective of them. A common piece of advice that I
give baby pastors is this, “The day to day duties of a pastor take up more time
than you think, leaving less time to do the “exciting” stuff that I know you
want to do. Unless you’re a workaholic.” Which always leads to a second piece
of advice, “Don’t be a workaholic!” Nobody is going to sing your praises after
you die for being a workaholic. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Because being a workaholic is
easy! But being good at your job, whatever it is, while also making quality
time for family, friends, those in need, and self-care—<i>that</i> takes real
work—and you will be remembered for it because it will leave a lasting
impression on a lot of people. But I digress. What “exciting” stuff am I
referring to when talking to these incubating future pastors? Well, a lot of
them are social justice warriors, ready to take their ordination papers to the
streets before the ink is even dry, to battle each and every injustice that
comes their way! Some of them are interfaith networkers, ready to show the
world just how wide God’s love stretches as they work side by side with people
of other religious faiths. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Some are writers, some are social
media influencers, some are musicians, some are podcasters, some are youth
ministers, some even want to be politicians! Unfortunately, there’s just not a
whole lot of extra time to work on those “exciting” things. Especially since so
many of them are going to find themselves in churches a lot like Bethlehem,
where they’re gonna end up carrying the load of two or more positions! Heck,
for ten months in the heart of the pandemic I was pastor, office manager, and
music director! Not that I’m counting or anything. So what I ask them is this,
“Do you find the day to day, week in and week out, work of a pastor, exciting?
Because if not, are you absolutely sure this is what you want to spend the rest
of your working years doing? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">But, this is really getting at
something deeper, something more foundational. What we’re really talking about
is, managing your expectations. How well you manage your expectations is going
to have a profound impact on how successful you are. And, of course, I’m not
talking about financial or professional success. Although, this could apply to
those too. I’m talking about how successful you are at being a human being. And
since I am a pastor, I’m also talking about spiritual success as well. Now
there’s a concept, right! Spiritual success? What in the world is pastor
talking about now? Well, for the answer to that, let’s focus our attention on
today’s Gospel reading. We read about the Baptism of Jesus, but oddly enough,
it wasn’t Jesus that got my attention. I’m sure he’ll forgive me. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk4ldXp4xMMhFXBqdbBmzu45fvWjwuFZ6cIXjUnunxc1KPv_GTvxK07vcScDQx30vqrOVTjWYpMbYxMxs0yOD0tXeB7Yv7Izf6t_TSTM-RjOHlpLCMqyfuFBXJLu59CKi0sXL4Gq40oyS8m3o6a5s1RaBiSmAjTgfRngMH88i8h9SPNYkaZ8KrB24N/s2209/Baptism-of-Jesus.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1687" data-original-width="2209" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk4ldXp4xMMhFXBqdbBmzu45fvWjwuFZ6cIXjUnunxc1KPv_GTvxK07vcScDQx30vqrOVTjWYpMbYxMxs0yOD0tXeB7Yv7Izf6t_TSTM-RjOHlpLCMqyfuFBXJLu59CKi0sXL4Gq40oyS8m3o6a5s1RaBiSmAjTgfRngMH88i8h9SPNYkaZ8KrB24N/w400-h305/Baptism-of-Jesus.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>What grabbed my attention was
John. Now, I have always found him to be a fascinating character. I mean, who
doesn’t love a camel hair wearing, bug eating, wilderness preacher! But it’s
practically impossible to walk away from the Gospels and not have a ton of
questions about this guy! Like, why did he dress like that? Why did he eat like
that? Did his personality make up for it all? Not to mention all that has been
written about the possible mental health challenges that he may have suffered
from. Fascinating character, but it’s none of those things that caught my
attention. It was actually the struggle he has in this story of Jesus’ baptism,
and particularly how he gets through it, in the moment even. So, Jesus makes
his first appearance in the Bible as an adult. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">There’s nothing in the Bible
about him between last week’s story of him as a twelve year old boy in the
temple to today’s story at his baptism. Scholars have said he was around thirty
years old by that point. John is about the same age, and is a cousin of Jesus,
which we read about last month in the story of Elizabeth. We know even less
about his life up to this point. Jesus finds him in the wilderness by the
Jordan river in full blown ministry mode. He is baptizing, preaching, teaching,
telling everyone who would listen that the messiah was almost here. He dressed
like a prophet, ate like a monk, and had already gained a large following. Not
only were crowds of people coming to see him in the wilderness and getting
baptized, but the religious leadership was also coming out to see what all the
fuss was about. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Which is just another way of
saying they were wondering what was taking attention away from them. So, in the
midst of all this, Jesus shows up and he too wants to be baptized, and John,
looks Jesus, the savior of the world, in the eye, and says, “No!” But he
doesn’t stop there! He explains to Jesus, that he’s got this all backwards! As
if Jesus doesn’t know how to be the messiah, he says, you should be baptizing
me! And no one would have blamed Jesus for getting angry at this point and
saying, “Who do you think you’re talking to, bug breath!” But that’s not the
Jesus we know, is it. Jesus oozes empathy and goes straight to the heart of the
matter like only Jesus can, looks <i>John</i> in the eye and says, “Let it go.
This is the way it’s meant to happen.” Let it go. So, what did John have to let
go? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Why was baptizing Jesus so
difficult for him to do? Why did it feel so wrong for John? Well, if you go to
seminary, they’ll give you lots of answers for that. Deep theological answers
about the nature of Jesus’ divinity, the nature of Jesus’ humanity, and don’t
get them started on how Jesus’ baptism was different than ours! There’s a whole
separate bookcase for that topic! Have you ever noticed when an answer is
particularly complicated, that you begin to wonder if it’s because they really
don’t know the answer? Yeah, I got the feeling quite a bit in seminary. So,
none of their answer were really satisfying concerning John’s hesitation to
baptize Jesus, and so I searched for something a little more down to earth.
Truth be told, these biblical authors were not writing grand theological
dissertations. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">They related truths using very
relatable, human stories. So, what did John have to let go? He had to let go of
his expectations, his preconceived notions of who Jesus was going to be, how
Jesus was going to operate, what Jesus was going to believe. As his cousin,
John already knew Jesus, they probably grew up seeing each other regularly,
probably spent holidays together. But John didn’t know <i>this</i> Jesus, the
Jesus who was now ready to get to work as the messiah, the savior of the entire
universe. And already, in this first moment of meeting Jesus the messiah, he’s
already not meeting his expectations! On day one! Hell, on minute one! In
John’s eyes, Jesus is already failing! Thankfully, Jesus knew. Jesus knew John’s
struggle. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And he also knew it was going to
be a common struggle, with everyone who encountered him…then and now. Jesus
knows that in order for something new to come our way, that we have to let
something go. Sometimes it’s a preconceived notion or expectation we have,
sometimes it’s a particular attitude or perspective we have, sometimes it’s our
ego, sometimes it’s our behavior, only you and Jesus can determine what that
is. Whatever it is, Jesus is looking at <i>you</i> in the eye, both of you
still dripping from the waters of your baptisms, and says, “Let it go.” Jesus
doesn’t just bring life, Jesus brings new life, emphasis on new, something
you’ve not experienced before, something you’ve not thought about before,
something that’s gonna surprise you, excite you, maybe even startle you a bit! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And there’s Jesus, still standing
there with you, at the river, saying, “Let it go.” And like John, you probably
know what it is he’s referring to. Thankfully, each day, hell, each moment, we
have that same opportunity to let it go, and let Jesus surprise us with
whatever is up his sleeve. And I know, we all have different feelings about
surprises, but this is Jesus we’re talking about. We know him. We trust him. My
advice, would be to follow John’s lead and let it go. Not so that God will love
you, God already does, but so you can see what new thing Jesus has up his sleeve
for you. Because God has already looked at you and proclaimed to the universe,
“This is my child, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Thanks be to God.
Amen.</p><p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-26601748809580006902023-01-10T15:00:00.004-08:002023-01-10T15:05:34.133-08:00Wonder Mode<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1421017291&color=%23ffa500&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" title="Ron Valadez" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/wonder-mode" title="Wonder Mode" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Wonder Mode</a></div><p><i>A sermon inspired by Isaiah 52:1–10, Psalm 36:5–10, 1 Corinthians 1:26–31, and Luke 2:41–51 as found in A Women's Lectionary For the Whole Church.</i></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">When we first moved to the house
we now live in, the backyard was completely overgrown. It was so bad that at
least fifty percent of it did not allow you to walk upright. You had to crouch
down to walk through most of it as if you were lost in the jungle. So that
first year I spent a lot of time back there, cutting, pulling, yanking out all
the overgrown vegetation. It was good exercise for me, but there were times
when it got the best of me and I needed some help, when a root or tree trunk
wouldn’t budge from the ground it had clearly called home for a long time. When
things got that bad, there was one person I knew I needed to call. My teenage
daughter, Jesha. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">So, I’d get my phone out as I
took a rest in that mess of a backyard, and called Jesha, who was just inside
the house, because that’s how families communicate these days. And when she
would answer, I wouldn’t just ask, “Can you come out and help me, please?”
There was a key phrase that would signal to her just how dire the help really
was. I would say, “I need your help in the backyard, and I need you to come in Beast
Mode.” Beast Mode is what we call it when I just need her brute strength and
let me tell you, she is one strong specimen of a human being. There were times
when she would come out and see me struggling, pat me on the shoulder to signal
to me to get out of the way, and like Samson of old, she’d just rip out
whatever it was I was struggling with! Let me tell ya, her Beast Mode is
something to behold! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Now, let me tell you about my
other daughter, Grace, and her Tank Mode. All her life she has been a
protector. She and her sisters might fight like cats and dogs but when there’s
an outside threat, she will go into Tank Mode faster that you can say help, and
no one will touch her sister without first going through her! Tank Mode is
something to behold too but I’m not gonna lie, it’s a bit scary to witness! The
first time I saw it, she was probably around three, four tops, and my wife Sara
and my oldest daughter were wrestling on the bed, and I guess things got a
little too intense for tiny little Grace, and before we knew it, we heard what
can only be described as a battle cry coming from the corner of the room,
“Don’t hurt my mommy!” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And as I look over, she’s running
at full speed, though in my memory this is all happening in slow motion, and
she throws her whole tiny body into her sister, who was twice her size but she
didn’t care, because she had to save her mommy. I literally had to pull her off
her big sister and assure her that no one was in any real danger. Like I said,
it’s a bit scary to witness but also comforting at the same time. Beast Mode,
Tank Mode, we all have different kinds of modes that we can turn on at any
given moment, different switches we can flip when a need arises. Have you ever
seen Lisa’s Mama Bear Mode? Well, if you do, word to the wise, just step out of
the way. Ok, so why am I talking about our different modes? Well, because I
noticed a few in our readings today and one in particular really got me
wondering. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">The first one I noticed is from
our first reading, which was from Isaiah. The first line says it all really,
“Awake, daughter, awake! This is Isaiah being in Prophet Mode. Prophet Mode is
less about telling the future, which is what most people think of when they
hear the word prophet or prophecy, and much more about disturbing the status
quo. In this passage, Isaiah was literally telling them to, “Wake up! Snap out
of it!” Which is particularly poignant when the person or people being told
that, doesn’t realize they’re asleep! Meaning, I think it’s all too common for
us humans to not even know when we are stagnant, standing still, with no
forward movement, either content with the status quo or just too lazy to do
anything about it! And sometimes you can get by for a while like that. Isaiah
was there to tell them, times up. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Hold that thought, as we take a
snapshot of the next two readings. Our Psalmist is in Cheerleader Mode, but not
to cheer us on, to cheer God on, to urge God to be the God that the Psalmist knew
God to be. One who is faithful to us, with a love like no other. And in our
second reading, Paul is doing what Paul loves to do, be in Teacher Mode. But
it’s our Gospel reading that I found most fascinating. Here we find the only
story of Jesus’ childhood from the time the magi visited him as a toddler to
when we encounter him as an adult, that made its way into the Bible. In reality,
there’s lots of stories about these missing years written back then, they just
didn’t make it into the Bible for a variety of reasons which we don’t have time
to get into. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">In <i>this</i> story that Luke
tells, the twelve-year-old Jesus and his parents are making their yearly
pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. On their way back
is when things go sideways. Now, maybe he was very mature for his age and was
given a lot of freedom, but it took them a day to realize that he wasn’t in
their traveling group, and then another two days of backtracking before they
finally traced him back to the temple! Mary is in full-blown Mom Mode. I mean,
you can practically here her use her mom voice. You know the one, the voice
they use when there’s a lot of people around and they don’t want to cause a
scene but they also want to communicate to you that this is far from over!
Yeah, nobody likes the mom voice. And Joseph, well, he just seems to be in
Oblivious Mode, otherwise known as Dad Mode. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWnvxZv_ow1axRBdkaWojrRSIXY1zZk7N5ogMIgyPD3g4_Pv08yqigvPghA3cajof6p9nqTGw9jeWZQP4_SSaMjiiZLlgs7uiervPjVDH-9eOgzdl_8qu_vVdQpuTzcEqbYugHtUZdZc9xiWM8-GmQ6OtTgacmbDnuZoJ_odz3YR1-K6OYCaSXuHQm/s1740/FHeG8H1XsAEE5i-.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1131" data-original-width="1740" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWnvxZv_ow1axRBdkaWojrRSIXY1zZk7N5ogMIgyPD3g4_Pv08yqigvPghA3cajof6p9nqTGw9jeWZQP4_SSaMjiiZLlgs7uiervPjVDH-9eOgzdl_8qu_vVdQpuTzcEqbYugHtUZdZc9xiWM8-GmQ6OtTgacmbDnuZoJ_odz3YR1-K6OYCaSXuHQm/w400-h260/FHeG8H1XsAEE5i-.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Now, I have preached on this
story many times over the past decade. One time my sermon was titled Jesus the
Brat Child, keying in on how he sasses his mother. Another time it was titled,
That Time We Lost the Kid. But as usual, it was something else that caught my
heart this time around. Luke writes that they found the twelve-year-old Jesus
in the temple, “sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them
questions.” Jesus was in Wonder Mode. The savior of the world, the ruler of the
cosmos, the King of kings, was sitting there looking up at these weathered,
gray faces, listening and asking questions. Wouldn’t you have loved to be a fly
on that wall! What was he asking? What could he have possibly been wondering
about? I don’t know, but I don’t think that’s the point here. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Jesus here is demonstrating
something that I think has largely been lost in our religion. And that is a
sense of wonder, of questioning, of searching for something new, of doubting,
of critical thinking, and, being comfortable with not getting all the answers
we want. After two thousand years, the church has acted like we’ve got all the
answers, we’ve had long enough to figure all this faith business out. And we
have become comfortable with the answers provided. So much so, that any other
answer is automatically suspect, if not outright labeled heretical. Let me tell
you something, if Jesus can sit there and wonder and question and listen,
imagine how much freedom we have to enter into Wonder Mode! But we humans like
to have answers, they bring a sense of comfort to us. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And we also like things in black
and white, right and wrong, left or right. Gray areas? Not for us? Uncertainty?
That’s a form of weakness! Not having the answers? Our society will label you
naïve at best. Well, that’s not what Paul calls Jesus in our second reading.
Paul calls him the very personification of Wisdom. Which in itself is
interesting because the Hebrew scriptures always personified wisdom as a female
but that’s a discussion for some other time. This is what I hear God saying
today. It is not weak to be uncertain. It is not naïve to not have an answer.
And the gray areas of our faith, and there are many, many more than we’d like
to admit, those areas are not devoid of God. On the contrary, God thrives
there! Because that’s where we grow, where we are stretched, where our hearts
and minds are opened. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">The gray is full of adventure and
excitement! But the only way to get there, is to be like Jesus in our Gospel
reading, and go into Wonder Mode with our faith. And I’d be lying to you if I
said it wasn’t scary in the gray, but if it makes you feel any better, you’ll
be in really good company there! So go ahead, question your faith, think critically
about what you read in the Bible, dabble with some doubt and see where that
takes you! Don’t settle for something some old, white, straight guy wrote a
long time ago just because he got some doctorate somewhere. Jesus didn’t call
professors to follow him. Heck, he didn’t even call ministry professionals to
follow him! He called people who had a heart, a heart that wanted more out of
faith, a heart that wondered if there was more out there. So, do yourself a
favor, try out your faith sometime, in Wonder Mode. Just, don’t forget to
buckle your seatbelt. Amen.</p><p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-79638291390464039122022-12-25T18:16:00.000-08:002022-12-25T18:16:01.642-08:00A Walking Dead Christmas Eve<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1410187945&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/a-walking-dead-christmas-eve" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="A Walking Dead Christmas Eve">A Walking Dead Christmas Eve</a></div><p><i>A Christmas Eve sermon inspired by Isaiah 26:16-19 and Luke 2:1-14 as found in The Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church Year W</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPFnEWsQVqhRq0Tj-K5eJZjEEto2mdRzIoJmyKsT15Gy_pApliK7rM8Pp9DpGI6FVIKj3ZDoww8YBSSbQE5ZBB9hYLwYaiivcaltNNHwD78OZr4QVHQmZe8y-boal1ZlUbhibTi-HFAya1kNF1kE6lJsFlB9-A9XpgwWolhaOpKVJMTVKPtloXn4_/s2000/51dK7ZZpQhLbbb.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="2000" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPFnEWsQVqhRq0Tj-K5eJZjEEto2mdRzIoJmyKsT15Gy_pApliK7rM8Pp9DpGI6FVIKj3ZDoww8YBSSbQE5ZBB9hYLwYaiivcaltNNHwD78OZr4QVHQmZe8y-boal1ZlUbhibTi-HFAya1kNF1kE6lJsFlB9-A9XpgwWolhaOpKVJMTVKPtloXn4_/w400-h164/51dK7ZZpQhLbbb.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>What are we even doing here? Not
how you thought I was gonna start this, was it! Seriously though, why do we do
this every year? Why do we put ourselves through all of this? I like Christmas
as much as the next guy but dear lord, is it really worth it all? All the
stress? All the running around? All the credit card debt? All the anxiety? All
the manual labor? Emotional and mental labor? All the family drama? All the
awkward conversations at Christmas parties? All the sitting and standing at
church, not to mention another sermon! How many of these do you actually need?
Didn’t the last one stick? – Is anybody out there thinking, now that you put it
that way, why <i>do</i> we do this every year? It’s a lot, isn’t it! I mean,
baby Jesus is cute and all, just look at him, he’s adorable! But he ain’t no
baby no more! <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Even <i>he</i> is too old for
Christmas! So the question remains. Why do we do continue to do this every
year? Hold that thought, cuz I’d like to highlight one of our readings that
Stephanie just read for us. Thank you, Stephanie. It was the first one, which
came from the book of Isaiah. I don’t know if you noticed, but it wasn’t your
typical Christmas Eve reading, to say the least! Isaiah was throwing around
words like distress, disciplined, labor pains, writhing, dust, and just for
good measure, corpses! Well, now that I say them out loud, that does sound a
lot like Christmas! When did I become such a Grinch? Honestly though, I had to
double check that I didn’t look up the wrong reading! This sounds more like an
episode of The Walking Dead than Christmas Eve! And for those of you who’ve
never seen that show, it’s about zombies, walking corpses. That’s really all
you need to know to get that reference. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">So, I read it again, and it made
me cry, right there in the library! I didn’t make a fool of myself or anything,
but tears were formed. And I think it’s because it is one of the most real,
authentic, raw, Christmas Eve readings I’ve ever heard. You adults, do you
remember when we were kids, and Christmas was just nothing but fun and joy and
receiving? And I know that not everyone experienced that as children, and if
that’s you, my heart goes with you. But then we became adults and realized that
Christmas doesn’t just happen, does it? We adults have to make all that happen!
On top of all of the family stress, work stress, relationship stress, children
stress, financial stress, mourning the faces we won’t see at the Christmas
dinner table this year. On top of all that and more, we got to make Christmas
happen! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Isaiah, describes a woman giving
birth, and it’s the perfect analogy. Think about it, for those of you who have
seen a woman give birth, up close and personal like, and that same woman
decides later to have another one, tell me you didn’t think, Why!? Why would
you do that again? That was horrible! It was horrible for me! And I just stood
there like an idiot taking pictures! If ever there was a reason why women
should rule the world, that’s it right there. Those who can push a baby out
their body and say, Let’s do that again, should be calling the shots! Am I
right? I have a strong feeling that Isaiah, like Jesus, had a good momma. I
think if they had asked their mothers, why did you have me if it hurts so much,
they’d have said, because I couldn’t wait to meet you, silly! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Because they knew, as most
mothers do, that it’s not about them, it’s about something bigger than them,
something more profound than even a mother. If we’re honest, we don’t know as
parents how our kids are gonna turn out! So why go through all the trouble, all
the pain, if there’s no guarantee it’ll be worth it all!? Well, here’s my
answer to that question. Because mothers, like Mary and Isaiah’s momma, have
this uncanny ability to sense a bigger picture at work in their lives and the
lives of those around them—an insight into </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">a hope bigger than any kind of
hope we humans can muster, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">a love bigger than our love, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">a promise bigger than our
flailing attempts to keep our word, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">a faithfulness so big that it
puts our human loyalties to shame, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">a selflessness that makes us
question if we even know what sacrifice is! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">That, my friends, is why we
gather here, year in and year out, on this night, during a time when the nights
are at their longest, and we succumb to the Earth’s shadow for so long that our
very hearts and souls can feel its weight! We do this every year because this
is our opportunity to thumb our noses at all that tries to keep us down, </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">at all that tries to lead us to
despair, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">at all the walking <a name="_Hlk122643791">corpses </a>that follow us around, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">the corpses of pain, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">the <a name="_Hlk122724163">corpses
</a>of heartache, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">the corpses of stress, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">the corpses of unrealistic
expectations, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">the corpses of self-doubt, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">and all the other walking corpses
who aren’t worthy to be named, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">on <i>this</i> night we tell them
all where they can go, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">because Mary didn’t raise no baby! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Mary raised the very hope she
knew was bigger than our hope, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">the very love she knew was bigger
than our love, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">the very promise she knew was
bigger than ours, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">the very faithfulness she knew
was bigger than ours, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">the very selflessness she knew
was bigger than ours…<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Mary…raised…Jesus! <o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">That, my friends, is why we find
ourselves here again: Mary’s little baby boy, born for us again, when we need
it the most. Amen? Amen.<o:p></o:p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-25528311459468726902022-12-20T15:18:00.001-08:002022-12-20T15:18:15.218-08:00Hannah, Mary, & Paying It Forward<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1406843236&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" title="Ron Valadez" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/hannah-mary-paying-it-forward" title="Hannah, Mary, & Paying It Forward" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Hannah, Mary, & Paying It Forward</a></div><p><i>A sermon inspired by 1 Samuel 1:19–28, 2:1–10, & Matthew 1:18–25 as found in A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">One of the challenges with this
new lectionary so far, has been keeping God as the central mover and shaker
every Sunday. And I think that’s because all these women from these stories so
far have been so fascinating and movers and shakers in their own right! They
are all forces to be reckoned with, and I have to resist the urge to make them
the core of the message. Thankfully, my seminary training has kept me in check,
reminding me to keep scripture foundational, and God central, specifically
Jesus. ‘Cuz let’s face it, we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the birth,
life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. But these ladies from these
stories, my goodness! They weren’t playing around! They meant business! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Which makes sense because anyone
who comes from a disenfranchised group, has to work harder to be seen, to be
heard, to get ahead in life, to exist. And so it was with just about every
female character in the Bible. What has been fascinating for me, and I hope for
you too, is the way these Biblical women have been paired with the Jesus
narrative, the way their stories run alongside it, and thereby highlighting
things I’ve never considered before. It’s been just as enlightening to find
similarities in these stories, as it has been differences. And since we are
keeping Christ central in all of this, what has happened is that each of these
women have shown us a piece of God’s character. By getting to know them, we
have gotten to know God, a little better each time. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">So, before we dive into today’s
stories, let’s do a quick recap of what they’ve revealed to us about God so
far. We started in Genesis with the story of Hagar, Sarah’s African slave who
after being abused by her, runs into the wilderness to escape, only to be found
by God, revealing to us a God who not only sees us, but allows us to see her.
And more than that, our God sees the invisible of our society. Hagar, shows us
a God who sees. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, laughs at God’s promise of a baby at her
old age. And instead of striking her down where she stood for laughing, God
engages in a playful back and forth with her. Sarah, shows us a God who can
take a jab and not get bent out of shape. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Mary and Elizabeth show what it
looks like to affirm and support others, rather than compete with them. They
show us a God whose ego isn’t bigger than her heart. And in her unnamed state,
Samson’s mother shows us the importance of being named and seen for who we are.
She shows us a God who upholds the dignity and respect of others. This brings
us to today’s first reading, which is yet another Bible story that has never
been assigned to be read in Sunday worship services. So, if you’re not that
familiar with this one either, it’s not your fault. This is the story of
Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel. Now, he should be way more familiar
to many of you, we’ve read lot’s of stories about him over our lifetimes. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCt97NVhzjpiCygJNbsUl8G_6im4_KtWWdUR7fEapkhLTugkzjRDzpR949oWS8FmhsK90ra7DSTtC-6uhfSS4vGET4avf6-Atyj9KES2wsoO8DevN946qzJMJLBk2p95wBa4Na7apESSn5DY8d53QovwPE5zx1N6djwPBKVFLW5zYXg5VHqzBmhBZe/s1280/maxresdefaultaa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCt97NVhzjpiCygJNbsUl8G_6im4_KtWWdUR7fEapkhLTugkzjRDzpR949oWS8FmhsK90ra7DSTtC-6uhfSS4vGET4avf6-Atyj9KES2wsoO8DevN946qzJMJLBk2p95wBa4Na7apESSn5DY8d53QovwPE5zx1N6djwPBKVFLW5zYXg5VHqzBmhBZe/w400-h225/maxresdefaultaa.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>His mom Hannah, however, like
many mothers, has had to be content working in the background, in the shadows
of the men around her. I’d say this is the case with many parents, doing the
things that good parents do and not getting much credit for it. And it’s not
until you become a parent yourself, and you see the lengths that you would go
to, to raise your children, to guide them, to protect them, to provide for
them, that you realize, “Wait sec, is this what my parents did for me?” Odds
are, yes, they did, but I say that knowing that not everyone has had the
privilege of having loving parents. Hannah was though, but I got to admit, she
has a unique way of expressing that love. The back story is basically another
tale of a barren woman in a very abusive, dysfunctional family. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">I know, how many times are we
gonna hear a story like that, right! It’s almost like God is trying to tell us
something, isn’t it? Anyway, Hannah, still childless, endured some pretty harsh
treatment, both from her husband, and her husband’s other wife. When he would
divvy out the food, he would give much less to her, then he would to his other
wife, because he thought that God was keeping Hannah from conceiving. You have
to remember that their progeny was closely tied to their identity both as
humans and as religious adherents. Meaning, if you didn’t have kids, male or
female, then two things were assured in their minds, you were incomplete and
would be forgotten when you die, and that there must be a reason why God is
keeping you childless. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Which was code for, you must have
done something wrong to deserve that. Let me be clear, we do not believe such
things today, well, some brands of Christianity do, but not here.
Unfortunately, our Bible is chock full of not only characters that believed
such things, but authors too. It’s a lot to wade through and sort out but
that’s why you have geeky pastors like me to do it with you! So, not only was
he withholding food from her, but his other wife, would emotionally abuse her
constantly! She would mock her and laugh at her and make her feel worthless.
She was merciless. The author states that Hannah would cry every time and not
eat, and that this went on for years. Today we would call that depression and
an eating disorder. You can’t tell me the Bible isn’t relatable to our modern ears.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Hannah’s husband then has the
audacity to ask why she is so sad all the time! Like I said, a very
dysfunctional family. So, Hannah goes to the temple to pray, still crying, only
to be dismissed by the priest who assumes she was drunk. Yet another abusive
man in her life, only this time it’s spiritual abuse. Then she makes this very
unusual deal with God. She says, if you give me a son, I’ll give him back to
you so that he can serve you his entire life. A very odd deal, especially from
someone who wanted a baby so badly. It’s not like she had ten kids and didn’t
mind losing one! She had none! A very odd deal indeed. But not as odd as
following through with it! And that’s exactly what happens! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">She <i>does</i> have a baby boy,
and that’s where our reading picks up the story, and she gives him to the
temple priest, the same one that accused her of being drunk, to be raised by
him, and trained to serve in the temple for the rest of his life. Talk about
commitment! I’ll have to remember this story the next time I preach on
stewardship! Not only is she generous in giving to God but she gives off the top,
her only son! Hmmmmm, now where have I heard about an only son before? Oh well,
it’ll come back to me. In our Gospel reading, we have another story of God
intervening on a woman’s behalf. Joseph, is about to divorce Mary, quietly, how
kind of him, after finding out she was pregnant and he ain’t the baby’s daddy! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">She was on the brink of living a
hard life of alienation and poverty, as their society did not look kindly on
that kind of behavior. But God, as she always does, advocates for Mary and
appears to Joseph to tell him what’s up. And though we all know how that story
ends, our first reading gives us a glimpse into another aspect of Mary’s
motherhood. The fact that she too, had to give up her son in service to God.
But unlike the prophet Samuel, his service cost him his very life. But I’d like
to leave you with a bit of a twist to Hannah and Mary’s gift, because it’s not
really that they were paying back to God what had been given to them. In
reality, they were both paying it forward. And so, they show us a God who is
selfless. We know that because of their songs. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">This is the part where we ensure
Jesus remains central to the message. Like Mary’s Magnificat from last Sunday,
Hannah also prayed a song right afterward, which we also read together, and
because of this song, the ancient rabbis considered Hannah a prophet as well.
You may have noticed the similarity in both their songs. Each of them saw their
baby boys as being part of a larger picture, and each of them saw their sons as
coworkers with God, bringing justice and peace to their people. For Hannah and
Samuel, their people were their fellow Jewish people. But Mary knew that Jesus
was called to serve everyone, the entire world, past, present, and future. </p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Which is why the author Matthew
gives him the title, Emmanuel, God with us. Because only God could claim you
and I as their own, two thousand years beforehand. As we close out this final
week of Advent, your homework is a two-parter. First, identify the many ways
that God has blessed you, has answered your prayers, even if it wasn’t exactly
what you imagined. And second, ponder how you can follow Hannah and Mary’s
lead, by discovering ways that you too can pay it forward, for the sake of the
world, with the bigger picture of God’s faithful love as your foundation. And
as you do my friends, may a songful prayer of God’s wonders stir within your
hearts as well. Thanks be to the one who is with us always, Jesus our Emmanuel.
Amen.<o:p></o:p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-19941986515553732112022-12-13T11:44:00.002-08:002022-12-13T11:44:53.781-08:00Mary's Battle Cry<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1402059892&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/marys-battle-cry" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Mary's Battle Cry">Mary's Battle Cry</a></div><p><i>Sermon inspired by Judges 13:2–7 and Luke 1:46–56 as found in The Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">In our first reading, we have yet
another Bible story that is not found in any other lectionary, and so, once
again, you have never heard that story read in Sunday worship before; which is
kind of odd because the baby boy that is spoken about is none other than Samson!
Known for his superhuman strength, as well as his long hair, he’s one of the
better-known Bible characters. Believe it or not, you can even find Samson
action figures! And then of course there’s the bitter love story between him
and Delilah. But the portion of the story we read doesn’t focus on him, he
hasn’t even been born yet. No, it focuses on his mother. I don’t know if you’ve
picked up on this yet, but Advent has been full of annunciation stories. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">First, we had a messenger of God announce
the miraculous birth of Hagar’s baby boy. Then we had a messenger of God
announce the miraculous birth of Mary’s baby boy. Then the miraculous birth of
Sarah’s baby boy. Then the miraculous birth of Elizabeth’s baby boy. And now we
have the announcement of the miraculous birth of…oh, what was her name? It must
be here somewhere. Where did I put it? Oh, that’s right, the author never gave
her a name! Did you notice that? The mother of one of the biggest names in the
Bible, not to mention the miraculous birth after she had struggled with
infertility, doesn’t get a name? I find that not only odd, but also
disrespectful. Clearly a result of the androcentric world that this story comes
from. I only wish this was an isolated case. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Unfortunately, she is in a long
line of women in the Bible who were never given a name. Some of them played
major roles, and some minor, not that it really matters. Cain’s wife? Nameless.
Noah’s wife? Nameless. Queen of Sheba? Nameless. Job’s wife? Nameless. Peter’s
wife and mother-in-law? Nameless. The woman healed by touching the hem of
Jesus’ robe? Nameless. Jesus’ sisters? Nameless. The many other women standing
in support of Jesus while he died on the cross. Nameless. And that’s just a
small sampling of the well over a hundred women who go nameless in the Bible. And
let’s be clear about this, they all of course had names, but these authors took
it upon themselves to unname them. Yes, I know that’s not a real word, I just
invented a new verb. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKrF1DpXae2RBGL6j7VUoHIKv4eBTSaSviKWg-P83eqEPyuFkY2N3P4JWVCuj5lhRHWJxA1wA7fxsZkH4rgL-kf36pOMoCPpPVD-Q3hy8EUcAZ2Rcku2RUaiMBTxX1Klkiy23W2rCy3ZLYF8y7lD3EBdS1M864NayQD7X8s30HDDt2wv9HRBRJEx6/s2500/221121-colorado-springs-shooting-club-q-victims-se-605p-7770c4.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="2500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKrF1DpXae2RBGL6j7VUoHIKv4eBTSaSviKWg-P83eqEPyuFkY2N3P4JWVCuj5lhRHWJxA1wA7fxsZkH4rgL-kf36pOMoCPpPVD-Q3hy8EUcAZ2Rcku2RUaiMBTxX1Klkiy23W2rCy3ZLYF8y7lD3EBdS1M864NayQD7X8s30HDDt2wv9HRBRJEx6/w400-h200/221121-colorado-springs-shooting-club-q-victims-se-605p-7770c4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>These biblical authors, that we
call “inspired by God”, stripped these women of the first identifying marker
given to them at birth. Disrespectful doesn’t even begin to describe that act.
Because it’s not just a stripping of one’s identity, but of one’s dignity as
well. I’ve seen two examples of this recently in the news. The first was after
the mass shooting at Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs. Police Chief
Adrian Vasquez released the names of the five who were murdered, and when he
did so, he not only was careful to use their correct names, because not all of
them were using their names given at birth, but he also stated their correct
pronouns. I had never heard that before, not from an official of any kind in a
press conference, and certainly not from law enforcement. It was a profound
moment. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Profound not just for the dead,
but for their supportive family members they left behind who got to witness
their loved one be named and seen for who they were. And profound for all our
living LGBTQ+ siblings who yearn to be named and seen correctly. Police Chief
Adrian Vasquez began by saying, “"We respect all of our community members
including our LGBTQ community. Therefore, we will be identifying the victims by
how they identified themselves and how their families have loved and identified
them." After reading their names and pronouns, he said, “We strive to give
the victims the dignity and respect that they deserve.” </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJHooCwsXAwDaWPTGaiI0TtF2UL1Y8hapB81M5Kir9Rnmgq6GPnHIyVnK9lGbqk-P-DBviheKbFYZNDYKACSbpNL3WGPz7jj3BUVR1E0EX4hUgki3ioCtjIwycORyad07AK9sTqTsmAyaLlb-5vQeuLGSXSKOOeq_gLxlIYY6k2BuBktonUWPmVoKJ/s2000/download%20(2).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="2000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJHooCwsXAwDaWPTGaiI0TtF2UL1Y8hapB81M5Kir9Rnmgq6GPnHIyVnK9lGbqk-P-DBviheKbFYZNDYKACSbpNL3WGPz7jj3BUVR1E0EX4hUgki3ioCtjIwycORyad07AK9sTqTsmAyaLlb-5vQeuLGSXSKOOeq_gLxlIYY6k2BuBktonUWPmVoKJ/w400-h266/download%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The other example of the
importance of being named that I recently saw in the news came out of
Philadelphia. There was a huge crack in a cold case from 1957 of a murdered
four year old boy, only known as The Boy in the Box, as the technology of the
day prevented them from identifying him, until now. New DNA tests finally came
back with helpful results, allowing them to finally identify him, Joseph
Augustus Zarelli. What really struck me about this, was that they had been
working on this for 66 years, and never gave up! Not only that, but the entire
city has not only heard of the Boy in the Box but actively memorializes him by
leaving flowers on his grave on the date of his discovery, and toys at
Christmas. He has remained in their hearts for so long, even though they’ve
never met him! <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Why? Philadelphia Police
Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said this at the press conference, “When people
think about the boy in the box, a profound sadness is felt, not just because a
child was murdered, but because his entire identity and his rightful claim to
own his existence was taken away.” Whew! I know, heavy stuff. Thank you for
sticking with me. We’re not going to end on a sour note, trust me! Back to our
Bible story. The mother of Samson gets this great news from this heavenly
messenger that she’s going to have a baby, and she runs to tell the good news
to her husband, who doesn’t believe her. Because, why would a messenger come to
you and not me, he thought. And he doesn’t know what to do, even though she
just told him the instructions that she was given. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">So, he asks for the messenger to
return, still not believing that this was really a messenger from God! God
obliges, and the messenger returns, but not to him, to her. She runs to get her
husband, and the messenger basically tells him, I’ve already told her what to
do, just let her do it. Her husband burns an offering to God and in the fire
the messenger ascends into the heavens right before their eyes. Her husband,
still looking upward like a deer in headlights says, “Great, we’re dead.” I’m
paraphrasing, but he was convinced that God was now going to kill them! And it
takes his wife to calm him down and say, if God was going to kill us, why would
God bother with any of this? Because she knew, that this was bigger than her,
this was bigger than him, bigger than them. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">She may not have known the
details but her gut was telling her that this story they were a part of had a
larger purpose. And was she right! Her baby boy grows up to save his people
from both themselves and an outside threat, sacrificing himself along the way
to do so. Hmmmm, foreshadowing the story of a future baby boy? I’d say so!
Speaking of whom, in our Gospel reading, we have what’s known as the Magnificat,
where today’s first and last hymns come from. It’s Mary’s response to her own
annunciation, as well as Elizabeth’s. And like the nameless mother-to-be from our
first reading, Mary and Elizabeth know that they are part of something much
larger than them. They know that this is going to be a difficult road for both
their sons and themselves as mothers of sons called to fight injustice in the
world. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And Mary, speaks some of the most
astonishing and insightful words ever recorded in scripture, which Luke put
into verse and many have set to music for two thousand years now. These words
are astonishing because they are not what you’d expect from the sweet, little, Mary
that we’ve seen on TV. She begins by acknowledging her own blessedness to be a
part of such a story of God’s, and that quickly turns into nothing short of a
battle cry. Somehow, like her nameless ancestor from long ago, she has this
insight into the bigger picture that’s going on, of the work that God is going
to do through her and her baby boy. Somehow, she knows that he will be both
salvation and destruction for so many people. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Not because of whether they
believe in him or not, but because she has been given eyes to see the world for
what it is, with all its beauty and with all its heartache, and she has every
intention of giving those eyes to him to see the world through—eyes that can
see both the goodness and evil in this world, eyes that can see who the
privileged are, and who the nameless are, the forgotten, the unseen, the
dismissed, the different, the unheard. Somehow, she knew that her little baby
boy was either gonna mean salvation for those whose hearts were broken, and a
whole lotta trouble for those who took advantage of them. </p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">How was she so confident in that?
Because she had the same God you and I do. A God who names us and sees us for
who we are, calling us her very own children. A God who sees the nameless of
our world and points us toward them. A God who sees the privileged of our
world, and sometimes that’s us, and calls them to use their privilege for the
greater good, for the bigger picture. For we have the privilege to be a part of
a story so much greater than us, both as recipients, and as coworkers with
Christ, bringing justice and dignity to a world who still needs it so badly.
Thanks be to God. Amen.<o:p></o:p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-41963708414905222652022-12-06T13:35:00.004-08:002022-12-06T13:44:37.335-08:00Affirming Relationships<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1397532373&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/affirming-relationships" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Affirming Relationships">Affirming Relationships</a></div><p><i>Sermon inspired by Genesis 17:15-22 and Luke 1:39-45 in A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church.</i></p><p>I’ve had several names over the course of my lifetime. Not in the alias kind of way, I wasn’t running from the law or anything like that. But when I was very little, and I can’t believe I’m sharing this publicly, my sister and mom used to call me Tinkers. We don’t need to get into where that came from but luckily it didn’t stick for too long. Then when I was around four, my favorite uncle, Uncle Dennis, came up with a new name for me. Mostly because, not only was my name Ron, but my dad’s name was also Ron, and to top that off, my then brother-in-law’s name was, you guessed it, also Ron. So, rather than having three people answer when anyone said Ron, and I have a feeling my Uncle Dennis was trying to help me out by ditching that other name, he decided to start calling me JR, short for junior in Ron Jr. </p><p>And it worked! It stuck. Everyone from my childhood family still calls me JR to this day! Crisis averted. Well, that may be an exaggeration because it’s not really about the name, is it. Whether they called me Ron, or Ron Jr., or JR, or that other name, it’s less about the actual name and more about the relationship that each name represents. Though I may not care for the name that my mom and sister used to call me, I remember fondly the relationship that the name sprung from. Same with my given name, and the connection that it represents between my dad and I. And with JR, and the memories with Uncle Dennis that continue to serve me throughout my life, long after he left this world. And with the new names I’ve been given since, like Dad, and Pastor, and the many terms of endearment that my wife uses. </p><p>All the names for me, past, present, and future, are all beautifully wrapped up in so many wonderful relationships and memories. And speaking of names and relationships, our first reading continues with the theme of naming from last week. Only instead of God getting a name, it is Sarai that gets a name, as well as her future baby boy. Let’s start with Sarai though. In this story, Sarai is given the same blessing that Hagar and Abraham received, she would become a mother of nations, rulers would come from her womb, for generations to come! And to mark this promise, God gives her a new name, Sarah. Well, sort of. Here’s the interesting thing about this “new” name. It turns out to just be an alternate spelling of the same name. Its meaning does not change. </p><p>Sarai and Sarah both mean “princess.” A fact that my wife Sara likes to remind of occasionally. So, what’s the big deal then? Why the spelling change? If it’s the same name, what’s the point? Two things came to mind. First, we talk a lot about God’s transforming power in our lives, creating us into something new from our very core. What we might not talk enough about is that at the same time, God accepts us as we are, and no amount of transformation will cause God to love us any more than God already did at first sight. So, changing the spelling of her name, is a recognition of who she is, faults and all. And remember, just last week, she was portrayed as an abusive slave owner. So, these are not perfect people that God was dealing with here, neither Sarah nor Abraham! </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJA-ZZPPj-IKrq8xl6rrFHh21cQVeLQcmdq82fUemNIkeQxrHFUcTG_kW6jU6U541HP5Wi41HKhXuUBIcrJTdkmWrO95vzDbH6-VvbyGsKjweqgTaeG-E4W8rzJ3LLx_wRB9Aw0OkyCErYIhFOpWZwlcicG6iKZeVgDyNxhRzVX7tmix6iM__wz-2L/s1728/MaryElizabeth2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1648" data-original-width="1728" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJA-ZZPPj-IKrq8xl6rrFHh21cQVeLQcmdq82fUemNIkeQxrHFUcTG_kW6jU6U541HP5Wi41HKhXuUBIcrJTdkmWrO95vzDbH6-VvbyGsKjweqgTaeG-E4W8rzJ3LLx_wRB9Aw0OkyCErYIhFOpWZwlcicG6iKZeVgDyNxhRzVX7tmix6iM__wz-2L/w400-h381/MaryElizabeth2a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>In fact, you could easily make the argument that God isn’t even dealing with “good” people here! But I think that’s the point, I think that’s what makes these stories so powerful, and these people so fascinating and relatable! The conclusion that the author wants us to come to is, if God can use them, as faulty as they were, God can use anybody, even us. And the other thing that came to mind was that though this spelling change didn’t represent a new person, as if Sarah was now this new and improved version of herself, it did represent a new relationship, with God—a relationship that would have a profound affect on this 90 year old mother to be. And just to make sure that they didn’t forget how far they’d come, God names her baby boy, Isaac—which means, laughter. <p></p>God’s way of saying, for the rest of your lives I’m gonna make sure you remember that you both laughed at me! Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor! For generations to come, it would be a reminder to think twice before laughing at God’s promises. And speaking of God’s promises, the two women in our Gospel reading are overflowing with them! Like Sarah, Elizabeth is also having a baby in old age, and Mary is having one at a very young age, and out of wedlock at that, a very dangerous circumstance to find oneself in that day and age as a woman. And yet, both of these women carry within them two very special babies. Elizabeth’s baby turns out to be John the Baptizer, aka, John the Baptist, and Mary’s baby turns out to be the long-awaited messiah! <p></p><p>What struck me though about this part of the story was not their babies, it was the interaction between these two pillars of the faith. As amazing as their babies would turn out to be, their mothers were already pretty amazing! It’s no wonder that they turned out as good as they did with mothers like these. What struck me about their interaction was in both what was said and what was not said. They both come to each other with pure affirmation of each other, to lift up one another, in solidarity and support. What is not here is any sense of competition. And I know that might sound funny, but just think of their ancestors and all the competing they wasted their time on, even within the same family. </p><p>I mean, Mary would not be telling a lie if she said to Elizabeth, “Well, good for you, having a baby at your age! Look at you! All I have is the savior of the entire universe right here!” We laugh but we also know how human of a response that would be. But not from these two. Mary travels far to be with Elizabeth, and Elizabeth, she’s just tickled pink at the sound of Mary’s voice, so much so that the miracle child within her leaps for joy! You can’t tell who is honored more, to be in the other’s presence. And in a world where we’re expected to compete with everyone and everything, I just found that so profound and inspiring. If our first reading was all about relationships, then this Gospel reading shows us what they can look like. And for Mary and Elizabeth, it looks like affirmation, support, encouragement, care, love, and honor. </p><p>What our world could be like, if we could be more like Mary and Elizabeth in this moment between them. What our world could be like, if we were more affirming of others, supportive of others, encouraging, caring, loving, and honoring of the child of God found in everyone, especially those we’ve never met, those we’ll never meet. From the way we treat others, to how we greet others, is it Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, to making the effort to use the correct pronoun. There are so many ways we can follow Mary and Elizabeth’s lead of lovingly affirming those around us. </p><p>I thought this sermon was going to end with me asking you, “What makes joy leap from within you?” But instead, I think the question before us is this, “How can you make joy leap from those around you, family, friend, or stranger? What can you do to affirm, support, encourage, care, love, and honor those that God puts in your path, so that pure joy leaps from within them? May the God of Elizabeth, Mary, and Sarah, go with you, as you find out. Thanks be to God. Amen.</p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-34005073323678671172022-12-02T00:28:00.002-08:002022-12-02T00:28:20.871-08:00"The God Who Saw Me"<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1394648170&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/the-god-who-saw-me" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title=""The God Who Saw Me"">"The God Who Saw Me"</a></div><p><i>Sermon inspired by Genesis 17:15–22 and Luke 1:39–45 f</i><i>rom "A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W"</i></p><p>Raise your hand if you’ve ever
heard the story of Abraham and Sarah as abusive slave owners! Don’t be embarrassed
by that! It’s not a story that gets read a whole lot. In fact, it isn’t found
in the Revised Common Lectionary or the Narrative Lectionary! So, you’ve never
heard it read on a Sunday morning before. At best, you may have heard it in a
Bible study but even then, it’s a disturbing story to read, let alone study.
Which is why I think this new lectionary that we begin today, will be fascinating
and eye-opening for us! The simple question, Why <i>don’t</i> we hear the story
of Abraham and Sarah as abusive slave owners read in worship, is enough to
spark a fantastic conversation! But for now, let’s just stick to the story
itself. First, a little background is in order. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Not long before our reading from
Genesis, Abraham was given a promise. He was promised that a nation would grow
from his family, that would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. This story
is most notable by the fact that when Sarah, his wife, hears this, she laughs,
denies it, but God insists that indeed, she laughed. That is the Sarah that we’ve
come to know and love, the woman who laughs at God’s promise, and is able to
have this playful exchange between the two of them. A very different Sarah than
found in our first reading for today! Still childless, Abraham and Sarah wait for
this promise to come true. They wait and they wait and they wait. Until finally,
Sarah decides to put matters into their own hands and takes her African slave
named Hagar, and gives her to Abraham to have a child with! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Now, every study Bible that I grew
up with always had a note at this spot to let the reader know that this was
indeed a common practice in that day. I don’t know if that was their way of
sidestepping the gigantic elephant in the room, or if they were just in
denial, but, I don’t care how common it was, this was a disturbing practice!
Wrong is wrong, no matter the century! And make no mistake, this was not consensual!
Hagar was a slave. This was no more consensual than when a slave is told to
make dinner or harvest the grain. It’s no wonder the Church hasn’t had us read
this on Sunday mornings! But wait, it gets worse! After Hagar gets pregnant,
Sarah gets jealous of her, even though this was her idea! Criminy! We think our
families have issues! But the hits don’t stop there! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Sarah goes to Abraham, who, by
the way, is a spineless buffoon in this story, just going along with whatever
Sarah says. She goes to him to deal with this slave of hers who thinks she’s
better than her now just because she’s got his baby, according to Sarah. I
swear this sounds like a trashy reality TV show, doesn’t it! Spineless Abraham
says, she’s your slave, do with her what you want. So, Sarah beats her! Yeah,
let that sink in for a bit. This was the last straw for Hagar who promptly ran
away. And this is where our first reading picks up. God finds her out in the
wilderness by a spring, heading in the direction of Africa, her homeland. Like
her master Sarah, Hagar has her own profound interaction with the Almighty, but
there is no laughter here. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">After explaining to God why she
was there and where she was going, God’s response is nothing short of alarming.
God tells her, in no uncertain terms, “Return to your mistress, and subject
yourself to her.” I’m guessing that was not the response that Hagar was
expecting. But who knows what she was expecting, this wasn’t even her god, this
was her cruel master’s God. For all we know she thought, so that’s where they
get their cruelness from! And this is where it gets tricky. Because we all know
that our God is not a cruel god, and yet, in this story God seems to do
something that seems a bit heartless. And I think that needs to be named here,
not sugar-coated, not explained away, not made excuses for, just named. Not for
God’s sake, but for the sake of Hagar and her story she left behind for us. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">As well as for the sake of
everyone who has ever been asked to do something horrifically difficult for the
greater good. Sometimes, it’s just enough that your plight is recognized, by someone,
by anyone. I feel like we need to be a good friend to Hagar in this moment and just
say, “Wow, that must have been really rough, that must have really stung.” I’m
guessing many of you have experienced something similar. When you’ve gone
through a terrible experience, and no one seems to recognize just how horrible
it was? And I’m hoping you’ve also had the opposite of that, when someone not
only recognizes it but acknowledges it with you. Doesn’t that feel like such a
weight lifted from you? And I think most of the time we’re not looking for a
pity party, we’re not looking to put a team together to get retribution. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Heck, we’re not even looking for
help! Sometimes all we want is to be seen, for our current struggle to be seen
for what it is. Someone to end all the second-guessing that we do with
ourselves: Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe it’s not that bad. Maybe I’m being too
sensitive. Maybe I’m the problem. What a breath of fresh air to have someone
say, “No, you’re not overreacting, that was horrible.” But back to our story because
it doesn’t end on such a sour note, and we haven’t even talked about Mary yet! So,
God doesn’t end there, God continues the conversation with a promise. God says
that she also will be the mother of a nation. Her offspring will eventually be
too numerous to count! And it will start with the baby boy growing in her
belly, Ishmael. And that’s when something truly fascinating happens. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyy_aZRYJuz4DdAMEoof3e0DEyyA_EZwCWNjAZ-vEo6no5bNCm80Z9y8akcYoDzOFhuxK905p2Dpcb7R-vVVOXs5MVZso8sVYcFtV_BeeAHkBl_iEpphMGg_6UQPW7HBPg5ySI3wtPv9jvvcYjd5vPkW9O6nd8dV22j4mXvWkIPsceiyKpY1eiKO-x/s783/Hagar+(72PPI).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="606" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyy_aZRYJuz4DdAMEoof3e0DEyyA_EZwCWNjAZ-vEo6no5bNCm80Z9y8akcYoDzOFhuxK905p2Dpcb7R-vVVOXs5MVZso8sVYcFtV_BeeAHkBl_iEpphMGg_6UQPW7HBPg5ySI3wtPv9jvvcYjd5vPkW9O6nd8dV22j4mXvWkIPsceiyKpY1eiKO-x/w310-h400/Hagar+(72PPI).jpg" width="310" /></a></div>Hagar gives God a name! Not only
that, she is the only person, in the entire Bible, to give God a name! Hagar,
an enslaved, African, single mom, says to this god who appeared to her in her
wilderness, “You are El-ro’I”, which means “God who saw me.” Lest we try to
label her as only a lowly victim, Hagar proves to us that she is so much more.
In spite of horrible circumstances, she is a force to be reckoned with. So much
so, that when she meets God, she defines their relationship. And speaking of
another powerful woman, Mary gets a promise of her own in our Gospel reading. The
promise of all promises, and like Hagar, this promise comes to fruition through
her future baby boy. Only this baby boy doesn’t end up being the father of a nation,
he turns out to be the ruler of the entire cosmos! <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And like Hagar, God comes to her
not as a stranger, but as someone who knows her, who sees her, who has kept a
caring eye on her, and her extended family, like Elizabeth, who has some
amazing news of her own to share! And with the strength of Hagar, Mary says, “How
can this be…?” As if to say, hold up a sec, run that by me again! How exactly
is that gonna work? Mary needs a few more details before she agrees to
anything! Unlike her ancestor Abraham, who just went along with whatever Sarah
said. After getting a few more details of the plan, Mary of course, like her
ancestor Hagar, acquiesced. And also like Hagar, it would mean a difficult road
for her from here on out. God knows, parenthood is a hard road as it is! But their
roads were fraught with so much more. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Not unlike most of our lives, if
we’re honest. So, what name would you give God? As you look back on your life,
and the experiences that God has walked with you through, and maybe even nudged
you into, or shoved, sometimes it feels more like being shoved, how have those experiences
shaped your relationship with God? And how might that be captured in a name? For
Hagar it was El-ro’I, God who saw me. For Mary, it was Jesus, which means “God who
saves.” This Advent, I encourage you to ponder what name you might give God. That
is your homework. </p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And for extra credit, also ponder
how your own name for God could be a breath of fresh air for someone else who has
experienced something similar and might feel less lonely after hearing your name
for God. As you engage in this work of naming God this Advent, may you be
comforted by the God who Sees You, may you be strengthened by the God who
saves, and may you be inspired by Hagar, the woman who named God, and Mary, the
woman who birthed God. Thanks be to the God who has named <i>us</i> her Beloved Children.
Amen.<o:p></o:p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-39676983846593292872022-11-21T14:00:00.000-08:002022-11-21T14:00:33.766-08:00What Does Your God Look Like?<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1387801402&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/what-does-your-god-look-like-majesty" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="What Does Your God Look Like?">What Does Your God Look Like?</a></div><p> <i>Inspired by <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Is+42%3A14-16%3B+Mt+23%3A37-39&version=CEB&interface=print" target="_blank">Isaiah 42:14-16 & Matthew 23:37-39</a> </i><i>on Majesty of Christ Sunday</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">This passage from Isaiah made me
wonder, and please forgive me ladies if I’m overstepping here as a man because
what do I know about childbirth, right? But this passage made me wonder if part
of the reason why childbirth, is so difficult and painful, is to ensure that
the mother is so invested in this child that she will do anything for it. Stay
with me now, as I either enlighten you or dig myself into a hole I can’t get
out of! Think of it this way, in any relationship, there is a threshold of when
you can just leave and cut your losses, right? That point where the investment
that you have put into this relationship is too high to give up now, and so you
just keep putting in the work. In childbirth, the mother meets that threshold
on day one! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">From the moment she takes that
first look into her baby's eyes, she thinks, “We’ve already been through hell
and back together, there ain’t noth’n that’s gonna take me away from you now!”
This is the beautiful analogy that the author of Isaiah uses to describe God’s
devotion to us. It’s an analogy that we wouldn’t understand without our shared
experience of childbirth, either as participants or supporters, and it’s a
devotion that we wouldn’t understand without a willingness to see God with
female attributes and experiences like the pain of childbirth, the struggle of
carrying a baby for nine months as your body is contorted to fit the baby, and
of course, the devotion between mother and child, that is simply a devotion
like no other. I’m sorry but I really don’t think dads can even touch it. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">However, believe it or not, this
sermon is not about childbirth, or motherhood, or even parenthood. It’s more
about, seeing God in all of God’s splendor, and exploring what gets in the way
of us being able to not only do that for ourselves, but share it with others.
So, here’s probably the biggest hurdle that keeps us from seeing God for who
God really is, and that’s our bad habit of referring to God solely with male
pronouns. For millennia, God has been seen as a man, specifically, a white,
old, straight man at that. Now, is there anything inherently wrong with that?
Absolutely not! What limits our view of God is when that’s our only image of
God! Think of it this way, you know me, I’m a sci-fi geek so just bear with me. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">If an alien sent you a private
message. A message only to you, and wanted to know more about Earth but was too
scared to come down and see for themselves. Their first question to you is,
“What does a human look like?” What would you send them? A picture of a man?
Well, that’s only part of the human experience, isn’t it? That would not
provide the full story. So, how about a picture of a man and a woman? Hmmm,
that’s still only part of the experience! Ok, how about a picture of a man, a
woman, an infant, a toddler, a grade-schooler, a middle schooler, a high
schooler, a middle-aged person, and an elderly person. How about now? Is that
the complete picture of what humans look like? Of course not! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">I’d bet my firstborn that the
images going through your mind are mostly white people. And there’s nothing
wrong with that, those are the images that our society has placed as our
default. The challenge is to step outside your default position, and not stay
there! So, back to our alien. Black and brown people would see those pictures
and think, well, what about us? Aren’t we what humans look like too? Of course!
So, you find black and brown versions of all those pictures, as well as East
Asian and West Asian, and native peoples. Ok, surely we have enough pictures to
show this alien what humans look like now, right? That’s when a transgendered
and a non-binary person taps you on the should and says, “I don’t see us in any
of those pictures.” Holy cow! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAVbKJHeZ5ryos7Oap05gUGjK2A_Svm4j4r_nBZfNvn5KQImxLgBJP3LgXIzbU34bNZRQnWGoCI3WtoP1x4PqMfnd0htpcIpPUe0iobsWl-1dscOyilRJv6AIdKEWrDxC2rQC17pXFqjfjIlJenDeX8PxjeQai3xKRI6bMOuNhIelUl1PxubMHibG/s2188/Michelangelo%20God.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1482" data-original-width="2188" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAVbKJHeZ5ryos7Oap05gUGjK2A_Svm4j4r_nBZfNvn5KQImxLgBJP3LgXIzbU34bNZRQnWGoCI3WtoP1x4PqMfnd0htpcIpPUe0iobsWl-1dscOyilRJv6AIdKEWrDxC2rQC17pXFqjfjIlJenDeX8PxjeQai3xKRI6bMOuNhIelUl1PxubMHibG/w400-h271/Michelangelo%20God.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>How many pictures would you have
to send this alien! Do you see where I’m going with this? Just being <i>human</i>,
is endlessly multifaceted, and there are endless combinations of what it means
to be a human. Now, imagine that same question, about God. What if the alien
asked, “What does your God look like? A hundred years ago, this is the image
that would immediately have been sent. But as we just explored, this image, of
a white, old, straight God doesn’t even begin to encapsulate who God is. So,
what images, and language even, would we send that alien to show them who our
God is? That sounds like an overwhelming assignment, doesn’t it! Where would
you even begin? Well, let’s begin with scripture on this Majesty of Christ
Sunday, and see just how majestic God is described there. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">We already covered God as a woman
in childbirth, so we would send them that lovely picture, but the Bible also
imagines God as a midwife and a mother comforting her child. We would send them
this one as well, the Bible is chock full of male images for God, like King, Lord,
Groom, Husband, and Father. The Bible also describes God as human attributes,
like breath, a face, ears, eyes, a finger, a hand, a mouth, a voice. So we’d
have to send them all those images as well. And so far, these are just the
human images and attributes that the Bible uses to describe God. And there are even
more non-human descriptions! Let’s start with animals. In the Gospel of Matthew
Jesus says, “How often I wanted to gather your people together, just as a hen
gathers her chicks under her wings.” </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">So, we’d have to send those
aliens a picture of a hen gathering her chicks. As well as a mama bear being
robbed of her cubs, from Hosea. A dove from the Gospel of Mark. An eagle, from
Deuteronomy. A lamb, from the Gospel of John. A leopard, from Hosea. Hosea must
have liked wild forest animals. And let’s not forget a serpent, no not the one
from Genesis, the one from Exodus that Moses lifted up, that John compared to
Jesus. But the Bible doesn’t end there! It continues to imagine God as
inanimate objects! So, we’d have to send those aliens pictures of: bread, a
cornerstone, a cup, a drink, a fortress, a fountain, a gate, a hiding place, a
horn, a lamp, a shield, a temple, a tower, a bush on fire, a cloud, a tree,
dew, light, a morning star, like on our bulletin cover, rain, a root, the sun,
a vine! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">But wait, there’s more. The Bible
includes things you can’t even see to describe God! So, we’d have to send those
aliens descriptions of things like: silence, the way, the feeling of shade or
quenched thirst, thunder, wind, as well as hope, strength, truth. All these and more are how the biblical authors imagined God.
And yet, this became our default. Now, I’m not going to get into why that
happened. For now, it only matters that it did, and more importantly, how
willing are we to step outside that defaulted position. Not do away with it! No
one is saying to discard this image. But what are we willing to add to it, in
the same way that our biblical authors added to this? </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Next week, we will be starting a
new lectionary, a new one-year collection of assigned readings for Sunday. And
this lectionary, not only comes with a selection of Bible passages to read, but
the author, the Rev. Dr. Wilda Gafney, has also included her own translations
of every passage. Why do I mention this, because she uses all kinds of
descriptors and titles for God. Some are fascinating and unique like Sinai’s
Fire, and Too Holy to be Pronounced. I love that one! Too Holy to be
Pronounced! And you will also hear many feminine descriptors and titles for God
like She Who Speaks Life, Mother of Mountains, and Womb of Creation. Some of
these you will immediately fall in love with, and some will inevitably rub you
the wrong way, or sound so unrelatable and foreign to you. </p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">When that happens, don’t give up,
stick with it, be brave! For that is often a signal that God wants to take you
somewhere new. And even if that’s not the case, know that whatever descriptor
or title that you don’t care for, is probably bringing new life to someone else
in this room. And if that’s not enough for you to stick with it, I don’t know
what to tell you. Truth is, our God is so big! So much bigger than this. So
much bigger than any one image, or adjective, or title. Our God is so much more
majestic than that, and we owe it to the world to show God for who God really
is, in all of God’s glory. Thanks be to God! Amen.<o:p></o:p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-46247642219847477562022-11-16T11:51:00.003-08:002022-11-16T11:59:00.382-08:00Barnfulls of Self<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1384501231&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/barnfulls-of-self" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Barnfulls of Self">Barnfulls of Self</a></div><p> <i>Sermon inspired by <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2012%3A13-21&version=CEB&interface=print" target="_blank">Luke 12:13-21</a></i></p><p><i>3rd in three-week series on stewardship</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='486' height='404' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxD7E0TPFmIvcRVKlRsQ2k0jckTvSYau_Bpt2ZMi8arGVE3fvih8hJrT-z-W7CJy2125lkISg06UEcVF1ZCMQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Press play </i><i> </i>▷ <i>directly </i><i>above to watch video first.</i></p><p style="text-align: left;">Time, talent, and treasure, or as
the genius of George Carlin would put it, time, talent, and “stuff.” Well,
we’ve come to that point in our three-week exploration of stewardship, we’ve
put it off long enough, we’ve explored time, we’ve explored talent, now we turn
our attention to treasure, to stuff, to money. It’s a topic that many pastors
avoid like the plague, and for good reason. It’s a sensitive subject in our
society. And we certainly don’t want to stand up here and be just another
voice, in a chorus of voices, asking for your money. At the same time, it is an
absolute dereliction of duty for a pastor to <i>not</i> speak, teach, and
preach, about money. For two reasons, one, because Jesus talked about money <i>a
lot!</i> Some have said that Jesus taught about money more than any other
topic. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">That’s not exactly true, but even
when he wasn’t teaching <i>about</i> money, he was using money and wealth as an
illustration to teach about something else. Either way, money and wealth were
clearly on his mind all the time! And not that we pastors have savior
complexes, or at least, we shouldn’t, but if money was an important topic for
Jesus, the savior of the cosmos, shouldn’t it be an important topic for us,
especially the spiritual leaders that Christ has called? The answer to that is
clear, yes! The other reason why pastors shouldn’t avoid this topic is because <i>everything</i>
we do has a spiritual element. I serve on our synod’s candidacy committee,
that’s the committee that approves people to become pastors and deacons. We had
a meeting last week and we got to have lunch with some of our seminarians. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">One of them was worried that they
would not be prepared for the administrative side of the job. After assuring
them that they were absolutely right about that, hey, I’m not gonna lie to
them, I also gave them some advice. I told them to attend some meetings of
every committee in your future church, even the most mundane, boring ones!
Especially them! Like the finance and budget committees. Why? I told them,
because our spirituality, our faith, our trust, is woven through everything we
do, and don’t do, whether we like it or not, and money is no different. And as
the spiritual leader of your congregation, you need to be there, to give a
perspective on things that otherwise be overlooked. And I also told them to be
prepared to invite themselves to such meetings because not every congregation
is used to or comfortable with a pastor at meetings concerning money. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Hmmmm, wonder why that is? I’ll
tell you why, because we often operate under the illusion that we can direct
which parts of our lives that God can be a part of! Which sounds pretty stupid
when we say it out loud, doesn’t it! But we do it all the time with certain
topics! Our money? Oh, we got this, God, no need to worry about us! Sex? Ewwww,
what does God have to do with that anyway? Politics? Heh, heh, no, we like our
politics sans religion, don’t we! Or at least that’s what we’ve tried to
convince ourselves. Who are we kidding? God? Let me tell you something, and you
can file this one under “things my pastor warned me about.” You are walking on shaky
ground when you begin to tell God where God can and cannot be in your life. And
“shaky ground” is putting it lightly. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Which brings us to today’s Bible
story. At this point in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus’ popularity has skyrocketed.
People in the thousands are following him around as he travels from city to
city throughout the region. On top of that, he has already made enemies of the
religious leadership. Why? One guess, because he challenged them on their greed!
Now apparently, he’s taking questions from the crowd, and someone asks him to
intervene between him and his brother's dispute over their inheritance. Jesus
says, “Who appointed me as judge or referee between you and your brother?” In
other words, who are <i>you</i> to tell me what to do? But Jesus gets over it
and decided to tell them a story. A story about a landowner who had a very good
year. The crops on his land greatly overproduce! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">So, what does he do, now that he
has more stuff than he knows what to do with? He tears down his barns and
builds bigger ones! What else would a rich landowner do? What else indeed. Some
might say, well, maybe he’s just saving some for a rainy day, so that he
doesn’t go hungry during a famine. But remember, he’s introduced to us as a
rich landowner. He’s already saved for a rainy day. This is above and beyond
that. Yet, he still wants to keep it all for himself. And he’s well within his
rights to do just that! There’s nothing illegal about that! But that’s not what
is concerning for Jesus here. It's deeper than that, and more troubling. And
there are two clues that lead us there. The first one is kinda hidden. The
Greek word that Luke uses for land here, is unusual. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">It’s not the typical word that
one would use to refer to farmland or property. It’s a word that refers to
something much bigger than that. It literally means district or region or even
country! In other words, this guy owns half the county! Meaning, the success or
failure of this guy's land, affects a lot of people, from the servants and
slaves to the employed and unemployed. And that’s where the other clue comes
in. The rich landowner plans to build bigger barns and says confidently,
“That’s where I’ll store<i>…all my…</i>grain!” Did you hear those two words
that tell us so much about this guy? All and my. He’s operating under the
illusion, that what he has is all his, in its entirety! And no matter what we
are talking about, that is never, ever, true. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">He may not have been violating a
secular law, but there was a religious law concerning gleaning. Gleaning was a
way to care for the poor that was built into the system. It worked like this,
when the crops were harvested, there were lots of it that fell on the ground.
Rather than having your workers go back over the land and pick it up, it was
intentionally left for the poor to come and glean from the land as a way to
survive. Therefore, no Godfearing landowner would ever say that it was <i>all</i>
theirs. It never was, by law. Now, keep in mind, this guy owned half the
county. This negatively affected a lot of people. All because he couldn’t
realize, or refused to acknowledge, his responsibility to take care of those
around him, after he was given more than he needed. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU7AWRWxK1VvQvok-wW3sYBQW219LEhf3GEX87wLZ25gL1PtMFOn31bV2z7F4UZK9QxK6RVfpHsB1djnHQXsFTTIY-IUv4wq7fCU4h466YDqAJkexaET0HU6QtEwNiqMZ4indpYD4fFv5RUtq_UCLGjVwneQ1-xMG59g0w8zl6HzV6qg9eU9f2GsjM/s1200/thumb1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1200" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU7AWRWxK1VvQvok-wW3sYBQW219LEhf3GEX87wLZ25gL1PtMFOn31bV2z7F4UZK9QxK6RVfpHsB1djnHQXsFTTIY-IUv4wq7fCU4h466YDqAJkexaET0HU6QtEwNiqMZ4indpYD4fFv5RUtq_UCLGjVwneQ1-xMG59g0w8zl6HzV6qg9eU9f2GsjM/w400-h209/thumb1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>And this can be applied to
everything. Anything that God had given you more of than what you need: time,
talent, food, shelter, transportation, healthcare, clothing, stuff! And then
there’s the intangible things that we have an abundance of like love, care,
freedom, fun, safety, peace, joy, just to name a few. What has God given you an
abundance of, and how can you share it? It’s not just a responsibility, it can
also be an adventure, trying to find creative ways to share from your
abundance, especially when it comes to things like freedom and joy. But that’s
not what we’re here to talk about, is it! We’re here to talk about money. And
specifically, as it concerns Bethlehem, right? I mean, this <i>is</i> a sermon,
and we are <i>here</i>. So, let’s finish Jesus’ story. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">The foolish rich man dies that
very night. And so all his hoarding for himself was for nothing. And who knows
how many years he had done this, how many years he had caused those around him
to suffer. And who knows if the next landowner will be any better! What Jesus
was trying to teach those two brothers, was that this preoccupation with money
and wealth and stuff, was a futile endeavor. You can’t bring any of it to
heaven anyway. But their fault goes even deeper than that. Jesus says, “This is
the way it will be for those who hoard things for themselves and aren’t rich
toward God.” I had a hard time wrapping my head around what it means to be
“rich toward God.” It’s an odd phrase, with questionable grammatical syntax,
but I really liked the way The Message translation put it. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">That version puts it this way,
“That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.” I
love that. So, how do we put this into practice here at Bethlehem? First, we
have to admit that we are the foolish rich landowner from this story. Compared
with so many around us, both near and across the globe, we are rich, and we
don’t give nearly enough of the excess away. Until we can admit that, nothing I
say in this sermon will amount to a hill of beans. Next, is to ask yourself, if
I’m not gonna keep it all for myself, then who do I want to gift it to? Now,
before I die. As a pastor, I’ve seen too many families fight over money and
possessions after a loved one dies. My advice, start giving some of it away, now, so that you can decide who gets it. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And as far as Bethlehem goes, ask
yourself this, what has God given you in abundance here at Bethlehem, and how
can you share that abundance with others so that more people can experience
what you have here. That’s the difference between survival and ministry. God
has not called you here to survive. Let me repeat that, God has not called you
here to survive. God has called you here to be nourished for service. And if
you want others to experience what you have experienced here, then you need to
do what you can to ensure that happens as effectively and efficiently as
possible. With your time, with your talent, and with your treasure. </p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">I’ve said it before and I’ll say
it again, ministry is not for the faint of heart. It will ask you to take
risks, to step out of your comfort zone, even with, especially with, your
wallet. And as you do, know most assuredly that you do not reach into that
wallet for your own benefit. Remember, God cannot love more than God already
does. But you do it for the benefit of others, both here and out there, both
now and for the benefit of future Bethlehemites you haven’t even met yet, ensuring
that they have a place when they walk through those doors someday, hoping for
the same nourishment and call to service that you have received here, in
abundance. Thanks be to God. Amen.<o:p></o:p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-66370978439006488752022-11-08T13:58:00.001-08:002022-11-08T13:58:15.543-08:00The Extraordinary Ordinary Talents of the Visible and Invisible Kinds<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1379056279&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/the-extraordinary-ordinary-talents-of-the-visible-and-invisible-kinds" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="The Extraordinary Ordinary Talents of the Visible and Invisible Kinds">The Extraordinary Ordinary Talents of the Visible and Invisible Kinds</a></div><p> <i>Sermon inspired by <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A38%E2%80%9342&version=CEB&interface=print" target="_blank">Luke 10:38-42</a></i></p><p><i> 2nd of three-week series on Stewardship</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">This is week two of our
three-week series on stewardship. I’ve divided this series up using that good
ol’ stewardship mantra: time, talent, and treasure. Last week we covered how we
are called to be good stewards of our time, and this week we will explore how
we are called to be good stewards of our talents, with the overriding principle
continuing to be, we are called by God to be good caretakers of all that God
has entrusted to us, and that includes our talents. So, let’s start with a
working definition of talent, because I think we have a habit of inflating that
word more than is helpful. The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear
the word talent is a talent show. And for me, being in a talent show sounds
like a nightmare! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">If Hell turns out to be a real
place and the way I find that out is by going there, I imagine it could very well
be an endless talent show that I am in! Because I think what comes to most
people’s minds when they hear the word talent are these amazing skills and
performing arts that leave us in awe when we see them. But the reality is, God
isn’t thinking about America’s Got Talent when God calls us to be good stewards! What God is <i>really</i> talking about is <i>anything</i> that you know how to
do, and are pretty good at. Oh sure, for some people that might be something
pretty extraordinary, like juggling sticks of dynamite while breathing fire but
for most of us, they are talents of the more ordinary kind. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And it also depends on how each
person defines extraordinary, because for me, I am in complete awe of musicians.
The fact that I can give Laura Ann a book with a bunch of lines and dots in it
and she can sit at that big box of wood and wires and make beautiful music,
just blows my mind! To me <i>that</i> is extraordinary. But again, let’s try to
move away from the extraordinary, and closer to the ordinary. This congregation
is full of talent, but how we define talent makes that hard to see sometimes. However,
if we define talent as anything we know how to do and are good at, well that
opens up all kinds of possibilities! That opens up all kinds of opportunities! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">That opens up all kinds of <i>responsibilities</i>
in how we use them. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, because first, we
have to name them. And this is a big hurdle for a lot of us! We can be so
self-denigrating. I hear people say all the time that they have no talent. Not
only is that not true, it’s also kinda disrespectful if you think about it. I imagine
God hearing that and thinking, “Really? I gave you no talents, no skills, no abilities,
no passion for anything? Really?” We all have them. And the first step in using
them is naming them, <i>and</i>, and this is the really hard part, admitting
that you’re good at them! Oh, the pains people will go to in order to not have
to admit that they are good at something! What is that? Where does that come
from? I’ll tell you what it’s not, it’s not humility. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">How many of you remember that old
Sunday school song, This Little Light of Mine? We should have sung that today! Many
of us have been singing that song since before we started walking. And
according to that song, what are we not supposed to do with our light? Hide it!
Correct! But then we become adults, and the lyrics somehow change to, this
little light of mine, I’m gonna not tell anyone about it because I don’t want to
be accused of bragging. What’s that about! We’ve got to get over that
silliness! So, I’ll go first, just to prove to you that God will not strike you
down for admitting you have a talent and that you’re actually good at it. One
of my talents is public speaking. Now, I could have done lots of things with
that talent. I didn’t have to use it in the pulpit. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">I could have been a teacher, a
politician, gag, or I don’t know, a self-help guru. Any of those would be
worthy and equal, equal, uses of that talent. Yes, even being a politician. Now,
do I think I’m any good at it? Well, of course I do! Otherwise, I wouldn’t do
it! What kind of a narcissist would I be if I stood up here, took your money,
week in and week out, and made you sit through bad preaching! I’ll tell you
this, that’d be a surefire way to test if Hell is a real place or not! I’m
kidding, I’m kidding! So, what are <i>your</i> talents? We mentioned musical
talents, there’s a lot of that in this room. How about Lefse making? How about woodworking?
How about working with children? Storytelling? Money counting? And I don’t mean
in the miserly way. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTHupWD6Tv89-yd6Y0YR9_VH9er75cJZRgFFQDLh7P8ucnRXxfkPtCS-M35EDapIerpBkksH8u5nixnkiFf9a1T-w_BsUtQVH67piuFYRebk2TiZz9GCFaMlDqxjzX0hEUXO0hGyHqU44tkoRo3Wt4u1I0yu8UX3xrRLPLPDfgOI8tDC83HGUAmKn/s800/Jesus,%20martha-and-mary-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="800" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTHupWD6Tv89-yd6Y0YR9_VH9er75cJZRgFFQDLh7P8ucnRXxfkPtCS-M35EDapIerpBkksH8u5nixnkiFf9a1T-w_BsUtQVH67piuFYRebk2TiZz9GCFaMlDqxjzX0hEUXO0hGyHqU44tkoRo3Wt4u1I0yu8UX3xrRLPLPDfgOI8tDC83HGUAmKn/w400-h275/Jesus,%20martha-and-mary-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Our talents come in all shapes
and sizes, but they don’t always come in tangible ways either, which brings us
to our short little Bible story that we just read. The first Bible passage that came to mind was this story of Martha and Mary—which
had to have been a God thing because I’ve never connected this story to
stewardship before. So, Jesus is invited by Martha into her home and she goes
and does what any good host would do. She goes and gets a meal ready for their
guest. While Martha is busy in the kitchen, Mary is sitting over there
on her…floor, and just listening to Jesus! <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Martha gets upset, pleads for Jesus
to intervene, and Jesus tells her that <i>she</i> is actually the one in the
wrong here. That must have hurt. So, what did Martha do that was so wrong? Clearly, her talent was hosting, cooking, making people feel comfortable. On top of that, she was using those talents on the savior of the world? Where did she go wrong?
Before we answer that, Mary is no slouch either. Remember, talents come in all
shapes and sizes and tangibilties. And yes, I think I made up a new word there,
but you know what I mean. I don’t know what other talents Mary has but I do
know she has the talent of listening. And maybe even deeper than that, she knows
when to use which talent at any given moment, which is a talent all on its own! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And here’s another less obvious
talent that Mary had, good instincts. She saw something in Jesus that told her
that this was someone that she needed to spend time with, to take seriously, to
listen to, even at the expense of social expectations. In this story alone, she
had just as many talents as her sister Martha, they just weren’t that visible.
So, I ask you again, what talents do you have? The talents of listening, like
Mary? How about comforting? Welcoming? Empathy? Patience? Organizing? Just to
name a few of the many talents that I’ve seen in this place. They just aren’t
always that visible. Like the many people who we are remembering on this day.
People who have gone before us, people who we miss dearly, who have left such
an impression on our lives. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">This week, as you continue to
explore your own talents and who you feel God calling you to use them, I
encourage you to be mindful of the many talents that have been passed on to you
by loved ones who are no longer with you, both the visible talents and the less
visible ones. And while you’re at it, consider saying thank you to the people
who are still with you in this life, who have also passed on talents to you. We
leave too many things unsaid over the course of our lives, and All Saints
Sunday not only comforts us in our grief over loss, but can also be that gentle
reminder of who we still have in our lives, generating within us, hearts of
gratitude. Thanks be to God. Amen.</p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-12416599980070389902022-11-01T15:24:00.003-07:002022-11-01T15:24:44.201-07:00Time Bandits<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1374560068&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/time-bandits" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Time Bandits">Time Bandits</a></div><p> <i>Sermon inspired by <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A19-34&version=CEB&interface=print" target="_blank">Matthew 6:19-34</a></i></p><p><i> 1st in three-part series on Stewardship</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Today we start a three-week
series on the topic of stewardship. Stewardship is another one of those very
churchy words. You don’t hear it much outside of the church world. It’s not as
churchy as a word like, sanctification, but it’s still a pretty churchy word.
So, what is stewardship? I think when most of us hear that word we think of
money. No matter how much we are told that it’s more than just about money,
money is still the first thing we think of when we hear the word stewardship.
In addition to what we think, we probably all have very different reactions to
the word. Some of us might cringe, others might get a shiver down their spine,
others might clutch their wallets tighter. I think that’s why there’s such a
push to convince people that stewardship is more than just about money. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And it certainly is, which is why
we won’t get to the topic of money until the third and final Sunday of this
series. However, with today’s mainline churches struggling with their finances,
shrinking attendance, budgets that feel heavier than they’ve ever felt before,
I’m not gonna lie, it took a lot of convincing, to myself, to wait until week
three to talk about money. Because truth be told, it’s not prayers or thoughts
or well-wishes or getting more volunteers, that’s gonna lift churches out of
this financial funk that we find ourselves in. At least, not by themselves.
It’s gonna be cold hard cash, is what our brains keep telling us! And it’s hard
to argue with that. But my brain also tells me that nothing is that simple. Maybe
this topic needs some nuance. So, let’s see what we can do. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">By definition, stewardship is the
job of being a steward, and a steward is someone who takes care of, manages, is
responsible for, someone or something. In the church world, we believe that we
are called to be stewards of all that God has entrusted us with. From the world
around us, to her creatures, to the elements, to our fellow humans, to
ourselves, and yes, our money and wealth. The underlying premise for this
entire series is that we are called to be caretakers of all that we believe we
have been given by God. Quick side note, just to keep us grounded, we are not
the only ones called by God to be stewards. Who takes care of our air? Trees
are the ones that have been called by God to be stewards of the air. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Who takes care of our digestive
system? Bacteria are the ones that have been called by God to be stewards of
our digestive system. And don’t get me started on dogs, and all they do for us.
In the past, the church has elevated humans above all other creatures and
living things. This is not only an arrogant stance, but a harmful one as well.
Because if we believe we rule over someone or something, the odds of us abusing
that power is pretty darn good. But let’s get back on track. The catchphrase
that caught on about a hundred years ago to teach people what stewardship
entailed was: time, talents, and treasure. We still use this today, cuz it’s a
great little catchphrase, and pretty accurate too. So I figured, why not
separate this series with those! That’ll be easy, right! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGtvmjQCVFVv-IIIKxwQBZCFPmfttQoOc3ICp1MrL4IpB2OChM1yLeeiqVfsxsSoNHEyKFfiRRQtvlNyHnHnMcZIqdtTdCOpti0FmsYlXJgQYrmkD7IfYZFFMMj8RUJsc_I08dPW9Z9mcMyU7uBWwz39XbmK4gGXUcpHrB1jTnsaV4tvoow2Q5cP_o/s1024/3659724814_0a6947896f_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="1024" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGtvmjQCVFVv-IIIKxwQBZCFPmfttQoOc3ICp1MrL4IpB2OChM1yLeeiqVfsxsSoNHEyKFfiRRQtvlNyHnHnMcZIqdtTdCOpti0FmsYlXJgQYrmkD7IfYZFFMMj8RUJsc_I08dPW9Z9mcMyU7uBWwz39XbmK4gGXUcpHrB1jTnsaV4tvoow2Q5cP_o/w400-h323/3659724814_0a6947896f_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Wrong! That idea did not turn out
as easy as I thought but I like a challenge so here we go. Time, time is
something that is on our minds a lot, especially compared to centuries past.
Imagine living a life when the only times that you needed to know were when the
sun came up, when the sun was at its highest, and when the sun went down.
That’s it! I don’t know about you but that sounds like total bliss. Today
though, everything seems to revolve around time, doctor visits, store hours,
going to the gym, coffee with your pastor, school schedules, when to take your
pills, when to give your dog her pills, there’s just no escaping that clock.
Did you know that there’s 56 days til Christmas? I know, that was cruel, but
did you feel that as soon as I said it? <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">For most of us, that either felt
like a dagger to the heart or a punch to the gut! Rarely do adults hear that
and get excited! That clock just feels like it’s always breathing down our
necks though. And even worse, it’s always whispering in our ear, “Do you have
enough time? Are you sure you have enough time?” And the answer to that
question is almost always, “Yes.” I know it doesn’t feel that way, and I also
know that you’re not gonna wanna hear this, keep your rotten tomatoes down, for
now! I have a feeling this series is gonna be full of cold hard facts that make
us uncomfortable, or hit a little too close to home. Don’t kill the messenger!
Here’s the first one: We have time for things that are important to us. We make
time for things that are important to us. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Think about it, we complain all
the time that there aren’t enough hours in the day but when something arises
that is important to us, all of a sudden, we find a way to fit it in. And
sometimes it’s for wholesome things like family time, and sometimes it’s for
self-care things like walks or reading or grabbing a beer with a friend who
doesn’t mind listening to you complain. And sometimes it’s for selfish things
that we find the time for. No matter what it is, if it’s important to us, we
find the time for it. Which is why, and here’s cold hard fact number two for
today, get your tomatoes ready. I’m gonna let you in on a secret from a
pastor’s brain! They’ll never tell you this, unless they’re a fool like me. But
this is why, whenever someone tells a pastor all their excuses for not
attending this or not participating in that, it just falls flat. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Not because we pastors don’t care
about your time, but because we pastors have all the same life stresses and
frustrations and family garbage and busyness as everyone else. And yet, we’re
expected to show up at everything! And do you really think we do that for the
money? Do you really wanna go there? No, we show up because these things are
important to us. And we want them to be important to you. And of course, we don’t
expect you to show up to everything. But I at least wanted to give you another
perspective before you tell your pastor, and I hope to God it’s still me after
this sermon, about why you didn’t come to this or that. The point of this is
not to make you feel guilty although I may be past that point already. My point
is to give you perspective and guidance, as you ask yourselves either, “What is
important to me?” or “Why isn’t that important to me?” </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Let’s end by turning our
attention to our Bible reading, which was from Matthew. The word treasure is
used several times and so you’d think this would have been perfect for the
Sunday we go over money and wealth. But I noticed something else that I hadn’t
before. Time is ever present throughout this reading, but you have to read
between the lines. In this reading, Jesus is trying to give perspective and
guidance on how we see our wealth but he uses a very interesting tactic. Almost
all of the metaphors that he used, take up a lot of time in people’s lives.
Let’s go through them real quick. Collecting treasures. Have you ever collected
anything? Baseball cards, spoons, bells, Star Wars figures, whatever it is, it
is a time-consuming hobby. Next one, Jesus talked about worrying. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">How many of you spend too much
time worrying? It’s awful, isn’t it! If I spent half the time I worry on something
more positive, who knows what I could accomplish! Next is food and drink. Now,
for a big guy like me, Jesus almost lost me at, “Isn’t life more than food?” It
took everything not to just check out at that moment! But also, as someone with
an unhealthy relationship with food, I can totally relate to why he said that!
And don’t get me started on the whiskey collection I started during the worst
of the pandemic! Next one Jesus mentions is our appearance. This is a tough one
to talk about, especially in these times, because it’s so easy to be labeled as
vain if you spend too much time on your appearance, and if you don’t spend
enough time on it, people start to worry about your mental well-being. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Either way, we are a culture that
is obsessed with appearance. When we meet someone who looks very different than
us, maybe it’s a bunch of facial piercings or tattoos, or curly hair, or red
hair, or someone’s weight loss or weight gain, our brains start short-circuiting
or something! We get tongue-tied, we put our foot in our mouth, and we can’t think
of anything else to talk about other than their appearance! What I wish Jesus
would have said here is, “Why do you worry about what other people look like so
much?” If I was his editor I would have had him add that. Point is, we spend an
unhealthy amount of time on our own appearance, as well as others. And since
this is a stewardship sermon, this begs the question, are we being good
stewards of our time? </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">If so, just let me know and I’ll
put an extra star on your chart. If not, then it might be time to take
inventory of your time and start asking some tough questions. How much time <i>do</i>
I spend on everything? And since this <i>is</i> a sermon, the questions should
include things like: How much time do I set aside, from the top mind you, not
the leftover time at the <i>end</i> of the week, on things like—my
relationship with God, my relationship with my church family, the growth of my
church family? What is important to me? What is <i>apparently</i> not important
to me? And why?! What I don’t think gets said enough, is that time, talents,
and treasure, wasn’t meant to be a multiple-choice test. The truth is that God
calls to respond to each of those in some way. </p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Maybe not equally, but as you’ll
see over these three Sundays, we’re called to respond to each. Not because God
will love you more, and certainly not so you can stay in “good standing” with
the church, but because the world needs our time, so badly. This world is never
gonna heal without our time that we are called to generously give. So, as you
take inventory of your time this week, that’s your homework, and if you want
extra credit, and if you’re brave enough, do it with someone else who knows you
well. You might be shocked at how they see your time versus how you see it!
Either way, as you do this, know most assuredly my friends, that God always has
time for you, never tires of your joys and sorrows and whining, and looks at
each and every one of you as if you were the most important thing in the
cosmos, even though you’re not. Thanks be to God. Amen.<o:p></o:p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-69535577989970177792022-10-24T13:53:00.005-07:002022-10-24T13:53:30.981-07:00One Table for Everyone<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1369380391&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/10-23-22a" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="One Table for Everyone">One Table for Everyone</a></div><p> <i>Sermon ispired by <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+11%3A17-29&version=CEB&interface=print" target="_blank">1 Corinthians 11:17-29</a></i></p><p><i> 4th in a four-week series on the Sacraments</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Today we finish up our four-week
series on the Sacraments, and that means next week is all about stewardship!
Yay, stewardship! Everyone’s favorite topic! It’ll be fine! Painless! Mostly.
But today is all about the table and what happens there. The question we
explored last Sunday was, “What does communion mean for me?” Today, our
question is, “What does communion mean for the world?” What does that table mean
for everyone else outside those doors? How can what happens with us here at
this table, have any effect on everyone else, especially when they aren’t even
here? Last Sunday we also talked about three gifts that we receive at the table: </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">(1) we get quality, personal time
with Christ; (2) we get fed by Christ which reminds us that we are alive,
physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually; (3) and we get sight,
as it causes us to see things differently. So, we’re gonna revisit each of
these gifts that we receive at the table and see how they affect the rest of
the world. Let’s start with that last one, the gift of sight, and work our way backward
this time. Because this one’s a biggie! This
gift is kind of the key to unlocking everything else. If we walk away from the
table and are seeing the world and everyone and everything in it just the same
as when we walked into this room, then we can forget about there being any
effect at all on the world when we leave this place. So, how are our eyes
opened, how does the table help us see anew? </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Our reading from First
Corinthians is quite enlightening. This church is having a really hard time
with this particular gift, and it’s having an effect on others. Apparently, they
aren’t just having a little morsel of bread and half a sip of wine at their
communion service. They are having an entire feast. But that’s not their
problem. Having a big meal during a worship service would actually be kind of
cool. Their problem was, that some were going hungry, while others were
overindulging. And the reason why they had that problem is because, as Paul put
it, there were divisions among them. Meaning, there were inequalities among
them, which resulted, as it always does, in a group being disenfranchised. Tell
me that doesn’t sound familiar! This is such an old behavior of ours! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">We see this everywhere we go. We
can’t drive a mile without seeing an unhoused neighbor. We can’t scroll through
our social media without seeing another person of color, or a woman, or an LGBTQ+
person, being mistreated in some way. We can’t turn on the news without hearing
about how the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. And don’t
get me started on how there always seems to be money to bail out the banks and
large corporations but when we little people need bailed out all of a sudden
there’s no money for that! But I digress. This is what we humans do. And in that
church in Corinth, two thousand years ago, this same behavior had seeped in. So
badly, that Paul told them that it wasn’t even Christ’s meal anymore that they
were eating, but something else altogether. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjADl_BiUNbSFjdMUAVTOx3XqoB-l2PDavyxmJHLtRiFX_Hu9w8-IOdqp6gFYhzzthkZQoaLjIAYmpLgIspgvtiPU70xAMRNRMMAYBu3FCwneMKq2xz0X2m_6z-IG5oN5DBmeD9Nvwwp78ccDwfWYw_Y2-XgRrjvgx8Z7MZyl_246AQlBiCC8t2h-pm/s1200/22f00b06504a09403e646cdfafbcb6e7.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjADl_BiUNbSFjdMUAVTOx3XqoB-l2PDavyxmJHLtRiFX_Hu9w8-IOdqp6gFYhzzthkZQoaLjIAYmpLgIspgvtiPU70xAMRNRMMAYBu3FCwneMKq2xz0X2m_6z-IG5oN5DBmeD9Nvwwp78ccDwfWYw_Y2-XgRrjvgx8Z7MZyl_246AQlBiCC8t2h-pm/w400-h300/22f00b06504a09403e646cdfafbcb6e7.png" width="400" /></a></div>For Paul, and more importantly,
for Jesus, no matter who comes to the table, everyone comes to it on equal
ground. No one is more important, no one in particular goes first, and no one goes
without. I hate to use an airplane analogy two weeks in a row, at least we’re
not crashing this time, but it’s almost like there was a priority line at that
church in Corinth. Some got to go first, and some had to wait, some got nice
seats, others didn’t, and some didn’t even get a seat! For Jesus, there ain’t no
first-class line to the table. Why? Because what we do in here, is supposed to
be mirrored out there. If we can get in the habit of maintaining equal ground
here, the hope is that we carry that habit out there. If our eyes see this in
action here, week in and week out, the hope is that our eyes naturally look for
it out there. And when it doesn’t find it, help create it. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">The next gift is the gift of
being fed. This one might sound simple, as if God is just calling us to feed
people food whenever we can. If that was the case then most churches are doing
a pretty good job of that, including us. But physical nourishment isn’t all we
talked about last week. We also talked about being fed emotionally around this
table, being fed intellectually around this table, and being fed spiritually around
this table. And in the same way that we are called to mirror the equal ground
here, out there, we are called to feed out there, in the same way we are fed here.
Think of your own families. Are parents expected to only give their children
physical nourishment, and that’s it? Give them three squares a day and their responsibility
is fulfilled? </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Of course not! Parents are
expected to feed their children emotionally, intellectually, and for religious
folk like us, they are expected to feed them spiritually as well. Those same
expectations hold true out there. When we leave here every Sunday, Christ says,
“Now, go feed my people, in the same way that I have just fed you.” So, what does
that look like? What does it look like to feed people emotionally?
Intellectually? Spiritually? And how are we doing in each of those ways? I
think you might find that we do more of those than you think? At the same time,
if we put our heads together, we could come up with new and adventurous ways
to fulfill Christ’s call to feed God’s people out there. And just so we’re
clear, who are God’s people out there? Everyone </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And that brings me to the last
gift of the table, the gift of quality time with Christ, and also to something
that Paul said in our reading. Paul has some pretty harsh but profound words for
that church in Corinth. Clearly, he is disturbed by their behavior and isn’t holding
back here. He writes, “those who eat the bread or drink the cup inappropriately
will be guilty of Christ’s body and blood. Everyone should examine themselves,
and eat from the bread and drink from the cup in that way. Those who eat and
drink without correctly understanding the body are eating and drinking their
own judgment.” Now if we’re supposed to mirror this gift as well out there,
this gift of quality time with Christ, by spending quality time with people out
there, then I think we have to re-examen what Paul is saying here. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">The traditional interpretation of
“understanding the body” as Paul puts it, is understanding not only the presence
of Christ in the bread and cup, but also understanding the death of Jesus that
brought us this bread and cup to begin with. However, I want to stretch that a
bit. Surprise, surprise. Because I also think that “understanding the body”
also means, understanding where Christ is, in the here and now, so that we can
mirror that quality, personal time that Christ gives us in here, out there. Because
Christ is everywhere, and in everyone. But for most of the last two thousand
years, the Church hasn’t been willing to admit that, because the church has
been too willing to maintain its safe, comfortable boundaries. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">It’s been too willing to maintain
who is in and who is out, who is saved and who is damned, who is a friend and
who is an enemy, which brings us full circle to the divisions that Paul talked
about at the beginning of today’s reading. But what if that was never the way
it was meant to be? What if, we were meant to go out from this table of grace,
and recognize, with our new eyes, that the body of Christ that we just experienced
here, extends out there to infinity and beyond! What if, the gift of spending
quality time with people, just like Christ does with us here, was meant to
remind us, and everyone, that we are all in this together, that we are all one
body, no matter what? </p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">What if our job was not just to
understand the body, as if it was an intellectual exercise, but to reconnect
the body, every chance we get, by spending quality time with people we normally
wouldn’t, by feeding people in ways that they’ve never been fed before, by
seeing people, really seeing people and all that they have to offer, all their gifts
and all their challenges, everything that they bring to the table, in the same
way, that Christ spends time with us, feeds us, and sees us? Thanks be to God.
Amen.<o:p></o:p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-21675338057449949532022-10-17T14:13:00.001-07:002022-10-17T14:13:13.842-07:00Table Gifts<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1364898196&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/table-gifts" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Table Gifts">Table Gifts</a></div><p> <i>Inspired by <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2024%3A13-35&version=CEB&interface=print" target="_blank">Luke 24:13-35</a></i></p><p><i> First of two-part sermon on the Sacrament of Holy Communion</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Today we start a two-part sermon
on Communion. And just like the two-part sermon on Baptism, we will be asking
the same two questions, “What does this sacrament mean for us?” And, “What does
this sacrament mean for the world?” which we will address next Sunday. So, what
does this sacrament mean for us? As we explore the answer to that question,
remember that <i>us</i> means two different things, us as individuals, and us
as a community. One of the things that I like about separating this into two
sermons is that today I can focus solely on us. But if this was one standalone
sermon, that would be out of character because nothing about our faith is all
about us! Or at least it shouldn’t be, but we humans have a tendency to want to
make things all about us. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAAt7D88UUldX7f5jHF43Sblhlyk_5MZTlxLRwyHXiCEWlqHt2vLGRopmsk63F7vatf55dtbaCdxW9slayg1e2tfBm5DZ505NX2SEZxj9t8L1NiR59aWIYgNoRTb0j8gJFaeOy8WxJmxmzHsMInk5niPAX0sSrGxkcsRQzW0gbOXP1qTtlrWgR_IA/s1112/000031052-llkicivadn3den2aeoc.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1112" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAAt7D88UUldX7f5jHF43Sblhlyk_5MZTlxLRwyHXiCEWlqHt2vLGRopmsk63F7vatf55dtbaCdxW9slayg1e2tfBm5DZ505NX2SEZxj9t8L1NiR59aWIYgNoRTb0j8gJFaeOy8WxJmxmzHsMInk5niPAX0sSrGxkcsRQzW0gbOXP1qTtlrWgR_IA/w400-h288/000031052-llkicivadn3den2aeoc.png" width="400" /></a></div>However, it’s certainly ok to
start there, and I’d argue that it oftentimes is <i>necessary</i> to start
there, with us, either as individuals or as a community. Because, to paraphrase
supermodel Ru Paul, if you don’t take care of yourself, how you gonna take care
of somebody else? That’s not being selfish, that’s just being practical, with a
future orientation of caring for others, but we’ll get into that more next
week. For now, think of it like this. When you’re on an airplane that’s about
to crash, and it loses cabin pressure, and the oxygen masks fall from the
ceiling, who do they tell you to put the mask on first? Yourself! Even if you
have a child. Put it on yourself first they say. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Again, that’s not being selfish,
or cruel. That’s ensuring that you will be able to help someone else afterward.
In fact, that’s operating under the assumption that you will help someone else
after you put your own mask on, right! That’s the exact opposite of being
selfish. And that’s why we come here first to receive the gifts offered at the
table, before we go out <i>there</i> to do God’s work in the world. As I was
writing this sermon, I was noticing just how similar my words were between what
I wrote about Baptism and what I was writing about Communion, which made total
sense because the two are indeed closely tied together. What we experience at
the table is directly tied to our baptism. It is an extension of our baptismal
call to be transformed into something new. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">It is part of that ongoing work
of dying and rising with Christ through our baptisms. So, what are the gifts
that we receive at the table? Well, you know how we pastors like things in
threes! There are certainly more than three, but these are the first three that
came to mind so that’s what we’re gonna go with: we are given quality time with
Christ; we are fed; and we are given sight. And we are going to use this story
that I just read, often called the Road to Emmaus, to flesh out each of these
gifts of the table. Let’s start with the first one, quality time with Christ. The
Road to Emmaus story is one of my favorite stories from the Gospels. And many
scholars over the centuries have claimed that this is Luke’s finest work of
storytelling. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Throughout the story, these two travelers,
of whom we don’t know much about, get the gift of all gifts, and get to spend
quality, intimate, personal time with Jesus. It’s like they won a contest or
something! Or like an evening with Jesus was auctioned off! Imagine the
opportunity, to have this time with him, just you and Jesus, away from the
crowds, away from the chaos, away from the enemy spies, away from any
distraction. Just you and a road and Jesus. It’s the road trip of a lifetime!
When the pandemic first broke our broken world, and the claustrophobia of
sheltering in place was pushing the limit of our sanity, my daughter Jesha and
I started taking evening car rides, just to get out of the house. She and I
share a love of music, and so we often would introduce each other to music that
the other hadn’t heard before. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">When the sheltering-in-place
ended, the car rides didn’t, and they have become a staple of our diet.
Thankfully my car is a hybrid! When they started I remember my wife asking me,
“So what do you all talk about for so long on your rides?” The question kinda
caught me off guard, but I said, “Honestly? Nothing.” We don’t really talk a
whole lot, unless it’s about the current song or band that’s playing. And I
know, many people might think I missed a golden opportunity as a dad there but
for us, it was enough, more than enough, to just sit with each other, be present
to each other, and experience something together. It’s this same kind of
quality time together that Christ gives us when we gather around the table. And
it might come in different forms for everyone. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Maybe it’s in the teaching, maybe
it’s in the eating, maybe it’s in the singing, or maybe it’s in the sitting
together. Point is, it’s together, and it’s personal, and it’s such a gift. The
second gift given at the table is being fed. Now, that might sound obvious, but
you and I know that we’re not talking about being physically nourished. What’s
a little morsel of bread and a half a sip of grape juice gonna do for us
anyway! But, it’s not so much about <i>what</i> we are being fed, but more
about what Christ is implying in the meal, what Christ is communicating to us
in this meal. At the table Christ is reminding us that we are alive. Because
God don’t feed the dead, my friends! If Christ is feeding you, that means you
are alive! Alive in every way! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">If Christ is feeding you, that
means you are physically alive! If Christ is feeding you, that means you are
emotionally alive! If Christ is feeding you, that means you are intellectually
alive! If Christ is feeding you, that means you are spiritually alive! Cuz God
don’t feed the dead. And I know that might sound like common sense but I also
know that many of us come to the table with our souls limping, with our minds
weighing us down, with our hearts battered and bruised, with our bodies failing
us, and so to be reminded by the creator of the cosmos that you are indeed
alive, in every way imaginable, isn’t merely common sense, but possibly the
most profound thing you may experience all week! When those three broke bread
together in our story, they not only experienced the resurrected Jesus, but
they too, came alive! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Which leads us to the third gift
of the table, the gift of sight. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that there
is something special that happens when a group of people gather to eat. Whether
it’s your family, friends, coworkers, soup kitchen, or here at church, the
shared experience of a meal changes something within the group, changes the
dynamic of the group. I have always urged the church councils that I’ve served
on, to begin with a meal for this very reason. I imagine that there’s a lot of
reasons that this occurs. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that from an
anthropological perspective, there’s probably an evolutionary reason why meals
connect us so, but that’s probably a discussion better left to our Wednesday
evening Bible discussion. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Anyway, there are too many
reasons to explore for this sermon but one thing that this story points out is
the connection between sharing a meal, and seeing something new. For them, it
was recognizing who Jesus was. Up until that point they didn’t know who they
had been walking and talking with. It was the shared meal that did it for them.
In hindsight, they realized that there were clues that Jesus had been there all
along, but for whatever reason, they couldn’t recognize him. And isn’t that
relatable! </p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Imagine how long a list we could
make of all the things that get in our way of recognizing Jesus by our side in
our everyday lives. And that list certainly must include ourselves. We get in
our own way all the time! Which is why this gift of sight, given at this table,
is so important. This is our weekly reminder that Jesus is still with us. Every
week we get to come here, and get quality time with Christ, to be fed by Christ,
and experience Christ say to us once again, “I’m still here. I haven’t gone
anywhere. I’m still here.” Thanks be to God. Amen.<o:p></o:p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-7081289062088504262022-10-11T14:19:00.002-07:002022-10-11T14:20:53.470-07:00Colonizing Our Hearts<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1361246686&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/colonizing-our-heart" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Colonizing Our Hearts">Colonizing Our Hearts</a></div><p><i> Inspired by <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2012%3A1-18&version=CEB&interface=print" target="_blank">Romans 12:1-18</a></i></p><p><i> 2nd of two-part sermon on the Sacrament of Baptism</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Last week we started a four-week
series on the sacraments, where we’ll spend two Sundays on each of them. So
this is the second and final part of our time on baptism. Our question that we
explored was, “What does baptism do to us?” And our answer was, a lot! Baptism has
the capability to transform us down to our very core, creating us into
something new, but recognizing that this is a lifelong process, not something
that happens on the day you were baptized. And also recognizing that it is God
who does the heavy lifting in this whole process. So, if you missed last week,
that was the gist of it, that’s <i>what</i> baptism does to us. However, we didn’t
go over the how and why, so let’s do that now. How does God bring about such dramatic
change through the sacrament of baptism? </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Don’t forget to keep in mind through
all of this that baptism is a lifelong process. I think a good analogy to
explain how baptism works in us is to compare it to simple exercise. In order for
exercise to have any significant positive change in you, ya gotta do it often
and do it regularly, right! You can’t go to the gym <i>one</i> time and wonder,
“Why is my belly still there?” You could compare it to just about anything that
you have to do consistently in order to reap its benefits. Learning a new
language is another one. I took years of Spanish in both high school and
college! Do I speak it now? Nope. Why? Because I didn’t continue to use it. And
if you don’t use it, you lose it! Just like playing a musical instrument or any
other kind of art or hobby that you try your hand at. So, how does it work with
baptism? </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">How do you consistently work on
your baptism? Do you dunk your head in a bucket of water every day? Or give
yourself a little spritz every once in a while? No, for the answer to that we
need to turn to the words of our baptismal rite that we Lutherans use. When we baptize
babies, their parents are told this, “As you bring your child to receive the
gift of baptism, you are entrusted with these responsibilities:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">to live with them among God's
faithful people,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">bring them to the word of God and
the holy supper,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">teach them the Lord's Prayer, the
Creed, and the Ten Commandments,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">place in their hands the holy
scriptures,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">and nurture them in faith and
prayer,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">so that your children may learn
to trust God,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">proclaim Christ through word and
deed,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">care for others and the world God
made,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">and work for justice and peace.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">It’s not magic. It’s just good ol’
fashioned hard work, determination, perseverance, and a whole lotta love! This
is the spiritual equivalent of your doctor telling you to exercise and eat
right. We don’t come to church because we think it makes us better than others,
or even because we think it’ll make God love us more! We come to church to continue
in this work of being made new, to be transformed into the people that God made
us to be. And we do that by living among God’s faithful people, hearing God’s Word
proclaimed, eating together, praying together, being around people who you
think are better people than you in the hope that it’ll rub off on you. Newsflash,
they think the same thing about you! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">I, like many of you, made these
same promises when my girls were baptized, and I did my best to keep those
promises. When they leave the nest, will they continue going to church? I don’t
know. Will they pass on this faith to another generation? I don’t know. Will
they end up appreciating those promises, or end up resenting them? I don’t
know. I can tell you this though, that I am so very proud of the strong,
compassionate, loving, fiercely empathetic women that they have become. And I
have no doubt that they will leave this world a better place than the way they
found it. How am I so sure of that? Because my sorry life has been made better
for having known them. And I have to believe that those promises, and the many
congregations that walked with us over the years through those promises, had a
hand in who they have become. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Which brings us to the question of
why. Why are we called to such transformation? Why is this baptismal life so
worth it? Why did so many biblical authors make it sound like a matter of life
and death? Well, the old answer used to be, so that we can go out and save the
world! In other words, we’re so good at transforming ourselves, now we can go
out and transform the world! It’s an approach that elevates ourselves above
others. It’s an approach that has led to colonization, genocide, slavery, and other
atrocities. It’s an approach that said, “We’re gonna bring Jesus to them cuz
they don’t know any better. They might not like it at first but when they get
to heaven they’ll thank us.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t read the Bible
in such a way that would support that approach. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">And speaking of the Bible, we
read another passage from Romans today. And this passage says quite the opposite!
Paul says, “Don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought to.” I love the
way he can speak so plainly sometimes. Oh, he can wax poetic with the best of
them but sometimes I’m just waiting for him to say, “Can y’all just stop being
jerks out there, please?” So, right away Paul gives us a reality check,
reminding us that we aren’t better than anyone. He goes on to say we are all
one body, made up of different parts with different gifts. Like trees that grew
from a sprout and are now bearing fruit. Side note, this will come up again
when we talk about communion over the next two weeks. And where does Paul say
we are to use those gifts? Just here amongst ourselves? Of course not! We
practice them here for sure! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">But Paul immediately begins a
focus on the outside world. The world we find right outside those doors. And he
starts saying some very profound things, some even quite provocative. Like, “Hate
evil.” Not, hate evil people, but hate evil. “Welcome strangers into your home.”
“Bless people who harass you…don’t curse them.” “Be happy with those who are
happy, and cry with those who are crying.” Notice there are no conditions on
these. It’s not, be happy with those who are happy, but only if you agree with
what they’re happy about. It’s not, cry with those who are crying, but only if
you are sad about the same thing. Paul continues, “Consider everyone as equal, don’t
think that you’re better than anyone else. Instead, associate with people who
have no status. Don’t think that you’re so smart.” </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLDp0eRFBtFIZSGap5IVJAC0f0tzkRRswJIeFXM4VR3AZwQuq4fLK34e3gW7nt7fPUzCIEue-elVgxwy86Bcfmb5WaOIrzZ9jnBsWBwmlaDh5XTJ19PYm08BMCqQ5KoA8vX8ErlWVIwDw8vDX_2boD_K2I5AchyxtN4kjm8qot5l3TxAjXC5zMJ_jL/s1960/KZXDY6TQPSQMIKJJAHZQ5T2REU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1470" data-original-width="1960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLDp0eRFBtFIZSGap5IVJAC0f0tzkRRswJIeFXM4VR3AZwQuq4fLK34e3gW7nt7fPUzCIEue-elVgxwy86Bcfmb5WaOIrzZ9jnBsWBwmlaDh5XTJ19PYm08BMCqQ5KoA8vX8ErlWVIwDw8vDX_2boD_K2I5AchyxtN4kjm8qot5l3TxAjXC5zMJ_jL/w400-h300/KZXDY6TQPSQMIKJJAHZQ5T2REU.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I love that one but then he comes
through with this grand slam, “Show respect for what <i>everyone else</i>
believes is good…live at peace with all people.” Show respect for what everyone
else believes is good, not what you think is good, for what they think is good.
Imagine if that had been our approach all along, rather than the we’re gonna swoop
in and save the world from their wicked and uncivilized ways. Imagine the
atrocities that could have been avoided. Here’s a cold hard fact for ya, if the
church had taken Paul’s approach, and thereby Jesus’ approach, I wouldn’t
exist, my people would have never existed. Meaning, Mexicans, in the form we
are now, would have never existed. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">We are a mixture of the
indigenous Aztec people, and the Spanish Empire that swooped in to “colonize”,
which of course is just a polite way of referring to how they conquered,
pillaged, and raped their way through the land, all under the guidance of the
church. That makes us, of Mexican descent, the walking, talking, breathing,
living embodiment of one people’s assault over another. They didn’t teach that
to you in high school, did they, when they taught you the history of Columbus
Day that we have to endure tomorrow. This is not how it was meant to be. That
is not what living out our baptisms was supposed to look like. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Rather than swooping down to “save”
people, our baptisms call us to continue the work of transformation that began
inside our sanctuaries, out in God’s sanctuary, the rest of the world. Meaning,
rather than going out to change people, we are called out to <i>be</i> with the
rest of God’s people and be changed by them! It is in spending time with the
rest of God’s people that lives are changed. Whether it’s our unhoused siblings,
all of whom have real human stories, that are not stories of laziness. Or our siblings
of color, who carry with them centuries of assault on their very bodies. Or our
sisters all around us and across the globe, each of whom could share stories of
what they’ve had to endure at the hands, eyes, and words of men. Just look to
our Iranian sisters, or the battle for reproductive rights here in our own country. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Last week we wondered, why is
this baptismal business so serious? Because Jesus came into our world and saw that
change and transformation was needed. Because Jesus came into this world and
heard so many people crying for change and transformation. Because Jesus came
into this world and gave a way to accomplish that change and transformation.
Only for Jesus, that change and transformation starts here, in the heart, in
this place, but ends, out there, with the rest of God’s people, so many of whom
are crying for change and transformation. That’s what John the Baptist meant,
when he emerged from the wilderness, urging people to change their hearts and
lives through baptism. </p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Serious business indeed. Which is
why at every Vigil of Easter service we recommit ourselves to this work, and I
thought today would be a good time to do it again, using those words that were
said at your own baptism, followed by anointing with oil in remembrance of your
own baptisms. So, let us now affirm this baptismal work that God has done within
us, and that we are called to continue. In body or in spirit, please rise and
face the baptismal font.<o:p></o:p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-22012619109054841332022-10-06T15:13:00.001-07:002022-10-06T15:13:30.333-07:00Living to Die<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1358297572&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Ron Valadez">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/living-to-die" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Living to Die">Living to Die</a></div><p><i> Inspired by <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6%3A1-11&version=CEB&interface=print" target="_blank">Romans 6:1-11</a></i></p><p><i> 1st of a two-part sermon on Baptism</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Alright, so we wrapped up our
series on the Apostles’ Creed last week. I had a lot of fun with that! I think
because these series we’re doing this Fall are more topical, rather than being
solely focused on one book of the Bible. They allow for a bit more creative
freedom. I can see why some churches and their pastors do this all the time. I
can hear my seminary professors now, “Scripture must remain central, not a
topic!” Yeah, Yeah, I know. Anyway, I hope you are getting something out of
these Fall series too. Today we begin a four-week series on the Sacraments.
Next will be a three-week series on Stewardship, everyone’s favorite topic! And
that brings us to the last day of the church year, and bam, it’ll be Advent!
Where has the year gone! It’s October already! Can you believe that? But back
to sacraments. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">We Lutherans have two, Holy Baptism
and Holy Communion. We’re gonna spend two Sundays on each. And each of those
two Sundays is gonna be like a two-part sermon. The first part of each will be
focused on what that sacrament means for us. Meaning, what does it do for us.
And the second part of each will be focused on what that sacrament means for
the world. Meaning, after that sacrament has done its work on us, then what? Is
that where the work of the sacraments end, with us? The obvious answer is, no,
and that’s what we’ll explore in the second part of each of these two-part
sermons. Today, the question before us is, “What does Baptism do for us?” Or,
maybe a more accurate way to ask that is, “What does Baptism do <i>to</i> us?” </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Because, first off, as we’ll see
next week, ultimately baptism isn’t for us at all but for the rest of the
world, and second, to put it plainly, God already loves us from the day we are
born! There is nothing on God’s green earth that could make God love us any
more than God already did at our first breath. Baptism doesn’t change God’s love
for us. Then what does it do? A whole lot, let me tell ya! And it ain’t for the
faint of heart I can guarantee you that! Because what Paul, John the Baptist,
many authors in the Hebrew scriptures, as well as Jesus himself have taught, is
that baptism can change you, to your very core. And we don’t need Jesus to tell
us how tough change can be!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">But before we go any further, I
have to be clear with how I use the word baptism. When I, and I hope all
pastors, of the Lutheran kind at least, use the word baptism, I’m not referring
to an event that occurred on the date that appears on your baptismal
certificate or in some church record book somewhere. When I use the word
baptism it is in reference to everything that has occurred from that date to
this very moment. Because baptism isn’t a once and done event. Your baptism is
an ongoing, daily process, daily working, daily practice, daily discipline,
that just began on that date, but isn’t completed until, as Luther put it,
until the day we die! I have a feeling most parents don’t realize that’s what
they’re signing up their baby for when they get them baptized! But it is! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">So, when I use the word baptism,
please keep in mind that I’m referring to your whole life from baptism to
death, not just that one event. But back to our original question, what does it
do to us? Well, there’s a long biblical pattern of God intervening on our
behalf using the element of water. This pattern starts all the way back in the
first story of creation, when God separated the water from the land for
inhabitation. God rescues Noah and his family from the waters of a flood. God
rescued the Israelites from slavery through the waters of the Red Sea, and
after wandering through the wilderness for forty years, they pass through the
waters of the Jordan River to the Promised Land. These are just a few examples
of God intervening on our behalf to create opportunities for life, to create
hope when there was little to none. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">What I would like to point out
here before we turn to our Christian scriptures is that in each of those
instances, something or someone had to die or cease to exist, in order for that
life and hope to come to fruition. In the Noah story, the rest of the world had
to die. In the Exodus story, the Egyptians had to die. Even in the creation
story, the world as it was had to cease to exist in order for life to have a
place on it. Then, a character from the wilderness appears on the scene, John
the Baptist, a cousin of Jesus, whose mission it was to prepare people for the
coming of the Messiah. And this is where the pattern of God intervening through
water takes an interesting twist. John the Baptist prepares people by telling
them to “Repent and be baptized.” </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Now, repent is a very churchy
word that we don’t really use anywhere else, and therefore, has lost a lot of its
meaning, and power, its sting if you will. The Common English Bible
translation, one of my favorites, doesn’t use the word repent at all. Instead,
it uses the phrase, “Change your hearts and lives.” It’s a bit wordier than
“repent”, but it gets at the heart of what is really being said, and gives back
some of its power too. Because, what John the Baptist and many other biblical
authors have highlighted is the total change that baptism can bring about, in
your hearts and lives, inside and out, complete transformation. Then, Paul
takes this even further, I mean, he pushes this to the limit. Paul compares the
process to death, and not just any death, but Jesus’ death! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Paul said, “All who were baptized
into Christ Jesus were baptized into Christ’s death. Therefore, we were buried
with Jesus through baptism, and joined with Jesus in death, so that just as
Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of God, we too can walk in
newness of life…For this is what we know, the person that we used to be was
crucified with Christ in order to get rid of the corpse that had been
controlled by sin.” This is the twist I was talking about earlier. Now, what has
to die? Us! Not creation, not the rest of the world drowning all around us, not
our enemies who treated us badly, us! In order for new life to spring forth, it
has to start with us, and it has to start with death! Total and complete death
of who we were, so that who God is calling us to be, can sprout!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">The church has used many
analogies to explain this process. Our opening hymn for today used the image of
smelting in what I think is one of the greatest verses ever written. This is
the third verse: "When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie, my
grace, all-sufficient, shall be your supply. The flames shall not hurt you; I
only design your dross to consume and your gold to refine." Dross is what
accumulates at the top of molten metal, the impurities. This is how many
interpret the so-called fires of Hell to be, more like a refining fire, taking
out our impurities, rather than a place of eternal torment. If we are to be
made into something new, then something has to die in us, something has to
cease to exist. Paul calls it sin, which could be ego, anger, selfishness, greed,
or any number of things. Only you can answer that for yourself. No human knows
you better than you. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzTMf95-g1t-v9ICZVGLpGx8lGVg9cjU2Av4cTHzNF9wd3ylEJg6V9eaxY6cGG33a1IvNroPMOL6EB_Qw8O7OVM5V40889r3MIAIRYDCLpvbf7NdKgxUmdzqrVlRylvH0PC01uC1pqr-e2IVaol9PkRt9cGBS5bQRxJ16psIgGRzI9mf_fArYuJtv/s2715/bean-seedling.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1810" data-original-width="2715" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzTMf95-g1t-v9ICZVGLpGx8lGVg9cjU2Av4cTHzNF9wd3ylEJg6V9eaxY6cGG33a1IvNroPMOL6EB_Qw8O7OVM5V40889r3MIAIRYDCLpvbf7NdKgxUmdzqrVlRylvH0PC01uC1pqr-e2IVaol9PkRt9cGBS5bQRxJ16psIgGRzI9mf_fArYuJtv/w400-h266/bean-seedling.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Other analogies often used for
this process can be found in our next hymn, whose first verse reads, “Seed that
in earth is dying grows into ears of grain. Grapes that are crushed in the
vessel turn into golden wine. God, through this mystery grant us faith in our
deepest darkness, life in our night and death.” Unlike our opening hymn, this
one is a good ol’ fashioned Lenten hymn! You can tell by how serious it is.
Which makes sense because it is in Lent when we acknowledge how serious this
baptismal life really is. A seed has to die, has to cease being a seed in order
for new life to sprout. A grape has to die, has to cease being a grape, in
order for something new to come, wine. This is serious work, this is life or
death. Even our last hymn calls on God to grant us wisdom and courage for the
facing of this hour, for the living of these days. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Why is this baptism business so
serious? Well, we’ll get into that next Sunday. But for now, let me leave you
with this, so that I can put a star on my “I was a good Lutheran today” chart.
This transforming work that I speak of, this baptismal life that calls us to
die and rise into something new, in the here and now, is not a work that we do
of our own accord. This is beyond our pay grade. This is a work that God does
to us, within us, for us, around us. We have the option to either cooperate or
resist, but ultimately, only God can create such change! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Only God can create such
transformation! <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Only God can create such new life!
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Only God can create gold from our
dross! <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Only God can create sweet wine
from our sour grapes! <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Only God can create life from our
death! <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Only God can create healing from
our pain! <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Only God can create abundance
from our scraps! <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Only God can create hope from our
fear! <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Only God can create a sprout from
a dying seed! <o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Thanks be to God! Amen? Amen.<o:p></o:p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069248139913568151.post-66904542552951882812022-09-26T14:27:00.001-07:002022-09-26T14:27:39.624-07:00Our Guiding Presence<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1351492771&color=%23ffc400&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez" title="Ron Valadez" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Ron Valadez</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ron-valadez/our-guiding-presence" title="Our Guiding Presence" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Our Guiding Presence</a></div><p> <i>Inspired by <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A1-18%3B+Matthew+1%3A20-23%2C+28%3A19-20&version=CEB&interface=print" target="_blank">Acts 2:1-18; Matthew 1:20-23, 28:19-20</a></i></p><p> <i>3rd of three-week series on Apostles' Creed</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">One of the things that I have
found interesting about this series on the Apostles’ Creed, and I didn’t want
this to get lost on you, is how much it has pushed us to learn how to talk
about God in short, concise ways. Thanks to today’s technology, our society has
an extremely short attention span. If you can’t explain something quickly and
precisely in under a couple minutes, and even that might be stretching it, you
will have lost your audience; whether your audience is someone you meet at the
grocery store, or sit next to at the local brewery, or at the gym, work,
school, wherever. And if you’re lucky enough to have someone actually ask you
about your religious beliefs, one, you better be able to answer that briefly,
and two, you’ll want to say it with some confidence. Otherwise, you can forget
any follow-up questions, for sure! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">So, two weeks ago we covered the
first of three sections of the Creed, and we talked about God as being a
creative caregiver. Last week, we covered the second section, and we talked
about Jesus as the good son. And this third and final section of the creed is
all about the Holy Spirit, and goes like this, “I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the
resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” Now, like the last two
weeks, we could have taken any one of those clauses and dove deep into its
meaning. But this didn’t feel like the time to do that. The question that has
kept returning each of these three weeks is, “What are we proclaiming in this
section of the creed, as a whole?” </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Laura Ann mentioned to me how odd
it felt to not only read that text from Acts on a day other than the Day of
Pentecost, but also to select from so many wonderful Pentecost-themed hymns,
and I couldn’t agree more! I didn’t want this to be a standard Pentecost sermon,
though there may be no escaping that this time. So, I asked myself, if I had to
sum up the Holy Spirit, this last part of the Apostles’ Creed, in a short
phrase, what would it be? These three weeks have really been like training
sessions on how to give an elevator pitch to anyone asking you about your
faith! No really, think about it. Week one, God the creative caregiver. God is
not only the almighty creator but is creating, continually, all around us and
within us, as God takes the time to intimately care for us, deeply and
personally. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Week two, Jesus the good son. Our
Jesus inherited the very best of who God, Mary, and Joseph is and was, and has
passed it onto us in the form of grace, love, and peace. I don’t know about you
but I’d be more likely to ask a follow-up question to either of those, than to
a person telling me to repent or go to hell! Amen? And this is what came to my
mind for today regarding the Holy Spirit, our Guiding Presence. Our Guiding
Presence. So let’s break that down a bit. As I’ve mentioned before, we have a
habit of making our faith into this individualistic relationship between “God
and I.” Some of that comes from our human nature, and some of that comes from
our society, that good ol’ fashioned “American” rugged independence. However,
that was never how our faith was intended to be lived out. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">One thing that I appreciate most
from our ancient Jewish siblings, is that they had an all-or-nothing attitude
towards their faith. My Hebrew professor used to say that for them, we’re all
in this together. We’re either all gonna sink or all gonna swim, but either
way, we’re gonna do it together. We’re either all gonna rise, or all gonna
fall. I absolutely love that! And that’s why I included the word “our” in the
phrase, “our guiding presence.” The Holy Spirit surely plays a part in our
individual lives, but first and foremost, the work of the Holy Spirit is
communal in nature. Think about our reading from Acts that I read to you today.
Who did the Holy Spirit descend upon that day? One person? No. Multiple people
in different times and places? No. She descended upon the community, upon all
gathered there that day. She is <i>our</i> guiding presence, before she is <i>my</i>
guiding presence. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">But guiding who, and guiding
where? Well, the traditional answer to the who question is that she guides the
church. But my theology is anything but traditional, and that was just the
church’s ego talking any. That’s not how God works in scripture. The Holy
Spirit works with and through anyone she wants to, regardless of what they may
believe or don’t believe. Who are we to say where she will go and not go
anyway! I believe the Holy Spirit is a guide for the world, for anyone who is
willing to be guided by her. And that brings me to the other half of that
question, where, guiding us where? That gets a little more nuanced. The quick
and easy answer is, she guides us in the ways of Christ for the sake of the
world. But at the same time, she doesn’t force us down any particular path.
It’s a collaborative relationship between us and the Holy Spirit. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJTxo7fWccb-RXvWe1ccEzNk0c0IAJSl-iiPMT9INLckzy-hIKioXw4d3xmg0R_bPmjrkgWyP9OdWcJhT6BJ2I96SdaNaY8LMmTu5OhcZx0mfU02sJyMjJ07wK-UzhoasYWo7p3wmNPwo0A3cyZriADmhWeRDpwThYxi_EgTZ97SNpoZf0GgI_lu_d/s3333/20220918_131116a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3333" data-original-width="2979" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJTxo7fWccb-RXvWe1ccEzNk0c0IAJSl-iiPMT9INLckzy-hIKioXw4d3xmg0R_bPmjrkgWyP9OdWcJhT6BJ2I96SdaNaY8LMmTu5OhcZx0mfU02sJyMjJ07wK-UzhoasYWo7p3wmNPwo0A3cyZriADmhWeRDpwThYxi_EgTZ97SNpoZf0GgI_lu_d/w358-h400/20220918_131116a.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>A co-op if you will. Let me give
you a real-world example. Let’s say the church is a sailing ship. A sailing
ship relies on the wind to move it. Like our next hymn, let’s say the wind is
the Holy Spirit. But that’s not all that moves the ship, is it! Someone also
has to steer it, by manipulating the rudder. That’s where we come in. We harness
the power of the Holy Spirit to take us where we feel God calling us to go.
Now, this is where it gets complicated, because some people want to set a
course that leads them to tell people that they need to repent or go to hell. And
others, want to set a course that leads them to tell people that they are
loved, and not alone. Period. No questions asked. No strings attached. I was
walking out of the church the other day and it was a windy day, and as I’m
walking out I notice our banner out front being pushed by the wind. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">From where I was standing, it
looked an awful lot like a sail on a ship. I hope you can see that clearly
enough in this picture that I took of it. My next thought was, well there’s my
sermon for this Sunday! And it was not lost on me that this was not just any
church banner blowing in the wind that day. But it’s a banner that represents
our allyship with the LGBTQ+ community. And more than that, it’s a banner that
represents the course we have set, a course that has led us to tell people that
they are loved, and not alone. Period. No questions asked. No strings attached.
Now, let’s move to that last word, “presence”, “our guiding presence.” My
favorite part of the Gospel of Matthew is the literary bookends that Matthew
created. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">At the beginning of the Gospel he
reminds us of the prophet Isaiah’s words that a child will be born and will be
called Emmanuel, which means “God – with - us.” They, of course, name him Jesus,
and nothing more is said about this name Emmanuel, not directly anyway. Then,
at the very end of the book, Jesus tells them to go and baptize and teach
everyone what he had taught them, and his final words are, “And remember, I am with
you always, even to the end of the world.” “Emmanuel, God with us”—"I am
with you.” </p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">These beautiful bookends proclaim the truth of Christ’s continued presence in our lives through the
power and wind and guidance of the Holy Spirit, who is always with us, never
leaving our side, and ready to guide us, together as a community, sometimes
with a gentle breeze, and sometimes with a storm if we’re being bad sailors and
need a course correction. After all, <i>she </i>is God, and <i>we </i>are not. Thanks be to
the creative caregiver, the good son, our guiding presence. Amen.<o:p></o:p></p>Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792610484582716586noreply@blogger.com0