Which theologian are you?

You Scored as Jürgen Moltmann

The problem of evil is central to your thought, and only a crucified God can show that God is not indifferent to human suffering. Christian discipleship means identifying with suffering but also anticipating the new creation of all things that God will bring about.

Jürgen Moltmann 60%
John Calvin 53%
Paul Tillich 53%
Friedrich Schleiermacher 33%
Karl Barth 33%
Martin Luther 33%
Charles Finney 20%
Augustine 20%
Anselm 20%
Jonathan Edwards 13%

Take the quiz at QuizFarm.

It's funny--I've been told this before, that my theology is similar to Moltmann's, years ago when I attended a theological colloquy on Cape Cod. And no, I didn't read any of him when I was in seminary or if I did, I've forgotten it. In fact, I made every effort to get through Systematic Theology without having to read everything assigned--there was just too much. Theologians can be quite long-winded, which you know if you've been reading this blog. So I've asked the local library to request some titles of his so I can do the reading I should have done 20 years ago in order to legitmately claim that my theology is akin to Moltmann.

P.S. Charles Finney? Any relation to Lt. Commander Ben Finney?

The Language of Longing

Story of the brazen serpent in the desert

Numbers 21: 4-9; Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22
******** United Church of Christ
March 22, 2009


Earlier this week, as I was about to start writing my sermon, the doorbell rang. It was the FedEx guy with an envelope for my husband. As I opened the door and signed the electronic pad, I asked him, “How’s it going?” He replied, “I’m hanging in there.” I said, “I guess that’s what we’re all doing these days.” He shot back, “Yeah, it’s about all you can do in this freakin’ world.”

In his voice of complaint I could hear the longing: longing for better days ahead, for a time perhaps in the past when things didn’t seem so complicated, longing for change right now, this minute. And these days, there is much to complain about.

We’ve all heard the news about the incredible amounts of bonus payments given to AIG executives, money that was supposed to be used to bail out the ailing corporation. Edward Liddy, AIG’s CEO, was asked two and three times to release the names of these executives to the House Financial Services Committee. In an effort to protect his employees, Liddy cited that death threats had been received regarding his executives and their families, and he pleaded for confidentiality.

The atmosphere of complaint in this nation has turned vicious and violent for some, harkening back to the days of revolution: not freedom from tyranny, but the poor and middle classes raging against the rich, when a dictator’s empty promises were preferred over a messy, sometimes ill-conceived government of the people.

Our deep longing, our rising complaint reveals our desire for rescue, for someone, anyone to take us out of our painful circumstances and set us down gently in that bright land of plenty, health, and wholeness.

I am a poor wayfaring stranger
Traveling through this land of woe
But there’s no sickness, toil or danger
In that bright land to which I go.

The Israelites wandering in the desert thought that their rescue from Egypt would be better than their life of slavery. But appearances can be deceiving. “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?” We can hear it in their voices: they would almost rather go back to Egypt, back to the Pharaoh/dictator who ruled their existence than trust this Moses, an Egyptian-raised Hebraic stuttering sheep-herder, who looked both ways before he killed an Egyptian, whose life was now sought by Pharaoh. Yet Moses was also the designated mouthpiece of God.

This rescue doesn’t seem to be going very well. It’s hardly a magic carpet ride through the desert: there is no food, no water, and the miserable food—the manna from God—is unacceptable. The people have been complaining continually, and then it gets worse. Poisonous, or fiery, serpents are sent amongst them; they bite the people and some of them die. Their complaint bites them back.

God sends snakes to bite people just because they don’t like his food? Sounds a bit ludicrous to me. My kids sometimes complain about what I cook for dinner but snake bites? Jesus said “Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7: 9-11) God gives good things, not snakes, right?

But if you look in the notes of this Bible passage, another word for fiery serpent is seraph, as in the seraphim, celestial beings in the court of heaven. In early Judaism these were six-winged flying snakes, demonic creatures really, but who also sang the praises of heaven. Literally, seraph means ‘burning one’. These were the angels who touched Isaiah’s lips with burning coals in order to purify his speech. Those who looked upon the seraphim directly would be incinerated due to their intense brightness and heat.


Seraph

God sent these fiery serpents to remind these poor wayfaring Israelites that what they longed for was not what satisfies the stomach but what satisfies the soul—God. Sometimes what we long for the most, we also avoid the most. We long for closeness with God but we also fear that intense brightness and heat that cuts through our despair. Like Dante, many of us only seem able to find heaven by traveling straight through hell.

I know dark clouds will hover o’er me
I know my pathway’s rough and steep
But golden fields lay just before me
Where weary eyes no more shall weep.

So what’s the cure for complaint, the cure for our circuitous route through sickness, toil and danger, the wilderness of life, the cure for sin? God has Moses construct a serpent made of bronze, to resemble those fiery ones, and set it on a pole, that those who have been bitten will look upon it and live. They will look upon the instrument of death and they will live.


Brazen serpent sculpture, Jerusalem

Worship is a cure for the sickness of sin. And we have our own pole to look upon, this brazen cross of death and resurrection, that we might remember the burning heat of Jesus, how he came to bring not peace but a sword; remember his intense brightness, making blind those who claim to see and freeing those who live in darkness.

Worship, like complaint, is another language of longing. In worship we give voice to our desire for wholeness, our longing for healing, our hunger for justice and peace. We listen to the old, old salvation story told again and again as we make our circuitous way through our own wilderness. God’s rescue, even that one offered to us in Jesus Christ, does not lift us out of our painful circumstances but gives us a way through them. That brazen cross looms not only over our individual lives but over every person, every community who dares to love.

But worship does not take place solely within these walls. Worship is anything that pulls the focus off of us and onto God and our neighbor. We worship when we serve others, when we give our offering, when we teach Sunday school, when shelter meals are dished up, when youth are greeted with smiles and open arms at True Colors, when jr. high kids gather and talk and have fun together, when we wait with a friend for test results to come back, when a “Thank you, God” escapes our lips.

In these moments the old, old salvation story is told through our story and through the story of this congregation, that story of not of rescue but of a way through. We remember, in the words of the psalmist, God’s steadfast love and God’s wonderful works to humankind, even to us, offering thanks and singing songs of joy. We remember that God seeks not to gratify our immediate wishes but to satisfy the longing of our hearts.

I want to wear a crown of glory
When I get home to that bright land
I want to shout the salvation story
In concert with that angel band.

Ultimately what we, and those Israelites, long for is home, that promised land where all God’s children are beloved and live in peace, where weary eyes no more shall weep. Death and resurrection are not the only absolutes of the Christian life. They point to the highest truth which is love. And love is home; God is home. We long for those many rooms, those many mansions Jesus prepares for us, those places of acceptance, trust, forgiveness, mercy, healing, compassion, justice and peace.

We are always living in an in-between time, between what was and what will be, a time that will never come again. And like the Israelites it seems we must take the long route through the desert to find our way to that promised bright land.

Today we begin an interim time, a time of transition, a time when we wish for what was known in the past, when we desire the resolution of our future, when we long for anything but the present unknown. We will wrestle, we will struggle, and yes, we will complain. Whenever we go through a time of uncertainty, little things that bother us will seem like big things and big things will seem overwhelming. And that’s okay. It will feel like we are wandering through the desert, but at least in this church, we won’t complain about the food!

The desert has a purpose. In the desert God made a community, one that would listen to God, no matter who God spoke through. Everyone leaves—everyone, one way or another. Moses was an interim minister himself: he never got to the promised land—he only saw it from a distance. Jesus, too, was a transition man, between this world and the next. But God’s love is steadfast.

What we need to remember in this interim time is that we’re all longing for the same thing, and our complaining, our worship, and this house of love will remind us of that. We’re all longing for home.

I’m going home to see my Savior
I’m going home no more to roam
I am just going over Jordan
I am just going over home.


"Wayfaring Stranger", words and music traditional


(My first Sunday went very well. I was welcomed with roses and a well-chosen greeting card. When I whispered to the deacon seated next to me how touched I was, she replied, "Get used to it." )

Rush is in the Bible!

The other night, in my devotional reading of the psalter, I came across Rush Limbaugh in the Bible! But please don't tell him--it will only swell his oversized head.

Psalm 52 (KJV)

Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man?
the goodness of God endureth continually.
2Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor,
working deceitfully.
3Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness.
4Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
5God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away,
and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living.
6The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:
7Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength;
but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
8But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God:
I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
9I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it:
and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.

A working girl in process

You may remember a previous post in which I compared my latent feelings about supply preaching to a one-night stand. Though I am still ready for a full-time commitment, I have accepted a part-time position as the interim pastor of a local church. This is a church I have worked with before when their pastor was on sabbatical.

When I interviewed with the interim search committee (all familiar faces, by the way--I even remembered their names!), I explained these feelings as part of an answer to the question, "How have you changed in the last three years [since you were here last]?" The chair of the committee asked, "But this is still a temporary position. How would you describe this relationship, if we were to call you as the interim minister?" And another committee member responded, with all due respect, "A love affair?"

Yes, a love affair. With a church. With God. What a wonderful way to heal, to grow, for both of us to move forward. Now, don't get me wrong--I don't have on my rose-colored glasses. I know things will be rocky at times, stressful--I'll get some grief hurled my way. Really I'll be more like a midwife attending the birth of something new and wonderful. But this church will also midwife me into a new chapter as well, without their even knowing it.

The sad part of this, though, is that I will be away from my home church whom I dearly love. In fact, I fell in love with my home church, which is what has made it wonderful and difficult when I had to return after serving in another church. It was wonderful to be home, but it was difficult to be in love and yet not be their pastor, to be in relationship but only so far. This coming Sunday will be my last for quite a while. This interim position could last as long as two years. My emotions have been running in all directions: grief, joy, fear, excitement, doubt, hope, you name it.

I have so much to do: resign from the board of Trustees in my church and from volunteering in the thrift shop and the Jr. Pilgrim Fellowship, the upcoming tag sale, find people to fill in for me in a few places. Visit the matriarch of our church who holds a special place in my heart (she calls me "Trouble"). I have to sign my contract, get keys, meet with the Pastor and Personnel Relations committee, meet with the moderator and the chair of Deacons. Oh and write a sermon every week. I haven't worked like this in twelve years. Plus take a three-day course of interim ministry training in PA, which is the only amount of time I can be away, since I am still the primary caregiver for my girls.

In fact, they hired me even though I didn't have the training; it was their only concern. So I asked the chairperson, didn't they interview other candidates with interim training? Yes, they did. So why did they hire me, even though I am not trained in interim ministry? She said it was because of the answers I gave in the interview that were not like the answers of the other candidates. They prayed about it, struggled with it, but in the end they felt that I would be best for them. And I am humbled.

So dear blogfriends, pray for me. Pray for this church. Hold us in the light. And fasten your seatbelts...it's going to be a wild ride.

These shoes were made for walking

from NPR.org - All Things Considered, March 5, 2009

Indian Company Buys Gandhi's Belongings for $1.8 M


The man who had Gandhi's personal effects in his possession, James Otis, claimed he was selling the items to raise money to promote pacifism. He had offered to give the brass bowl and plate, eyeglasses, pocket watch and sandals to the Indian government but with two conditions: that the Indian government increase its spending on health care for its citizens and that Gandhi's things be sent on a world tour. The Indian government, threatening legal action before the auction, rejected the conditions (claiming their rightful sovereignty), saying that they would bid on the items as they are part of India's heritage. In the end they were purchased by an Indian businessman, who then donated them to the Indian government.

What gets me is that James Otis, an avowed collector of items pertaining to nonviolence, does not view money and the selling of a modern saint's modest possessions as part of, or contributing to, violence. As it was, he started a fight. If he truly wanted to promote nonviolence, he would have given them to the Indian government with no fanfare, no publicity, no strings attached ...anonymously.

I think Gandhi would have preferred that his things fade into obscurity, performing their function for someone who needed them. Now they'll be treated like holy relics.

Education = Opportunity = Freedom

from Newsweek - March 9, 2009

"If we give the money to the widows, they will spend it unwisely because they are uneducated and they don't know about budgeting. But if we find her a husband, there will be a person in charge of her and her children for the rest of their lives."

--Mazin al-Shihan, director of a city agency in Baghdad that plans to pay men to marry Iraq's war widows.

Why not then take this money and educate the widows? Then she can be in charge of herself and of her children. Imagine being married to a man who was paid to be your husband. This world will not evolve toward peace while women are still being treated as chattel.

A third way

Genesis 9: 8-17; Psalm 25: 1-10
********* Congregational Church

March 1, 2009


When I was a little girl, I would look at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, and think to myself that I was the only person who had to use a mirror to see my face and my body, as I looked out on the world from within my small frame, from behind my eyes, and that no one else was like this.

As I grew older, especially into adolescence, it was always my view of reality, of events, my emotions, my perspective that was the most important, the only framework on which I based my values, my decisions and my ideas of “The Way Things Are”. In a nutshell, I was the center of my universe.

That is, until I had begun my habit as a serious reader, until I had formed friendships in earnest. Through my relationships with books and with peers and adults, I discovered this whole new world of other people’s opinions, thoughts, feelings, points of view, which were entirely different from my own! Now I had to find another path of negotiating the world in such a way that would honor not only my own selfhood but that of others as well.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Third Way philosophy of politics. It is a term used by centrists as a synthesis of capitalism and democratic socialism, using elements of both of these divergent methods of economic governance. It has also been known as the Radical Center. FDR’s New Deal is an example of this Third Way politics. The Third Way rejects both pure socialism and laissez-faire capitalism. Instead it focuses on social justice as well as the development of wealth and technology. Both laissez-faire capitalists and social democrats feel betrayed by this Third Way, because of an all-or-nothing adherence to their own positions.

To help move beyond this culture and political war we’ve been engaging for the past half century or so, a non-profit, non-partisan think tank by the name of ThirdWay.org was launched in January 2005. They take their motto from the eighteenth verse of the first chapter of Isaiah: “Come, let us reason together.” Working on security, political and cultural issues, this team of leaders is working with elected officials, candidates and advocates to create progressive policies, to change the climate of debate from one of fear and anger to that of reason and respect.

Anytime there is more than one person in the room, there is going to be a difference of opinion of some sort, therefore, a need for a third way: not my way, not your way, but another. That is why when two or three are gathered, Jesus is in the midst of them: not as a benediction for small gatherings but because in the Church, Jesus is our third way of being in community with one another.

Lord, dear Lord above: God of mercy, God of love,
Please look down and see my people through.

Every relationship must have a third way if it is to be an enduring one: not a compromise but an altogether different way of living, creating a new being, a third entity. Marriage is a perfect example. Each person in the marriage has an independent life, with their own work, interests, desires and hopes, yet together there is also an interdependence which helps to create shared hopes and interests, giving a kind of synergy to each partner, shaping this third entity, a marriage, a covenant.

Of course these are the best intentions in a relationship. Often it is difficult for us to find this third way. We can be hopelessly wed to our own opinions and attitudes, believing that it has to be my way or the highway. We perceive a threat, we think a conflict is at hand, the fear is rising in our throats, and instantly our bodies and minds react in the ancient way: fight or flight. We come out with our weapons ready or we run away to a safe place to hide.

I believe that one of the next stages in human evolution will be to evolve beyond this “fight or flight” reflex and to find a third way of being in community with each other. When we were hunting saber-tooth tigers and mastodons, perhaps even up to when we were pioneers in a new world, we needed that ready flood of adrenaline that would literally save our lives and the life of whatever community we lived in. It was absolutely necessary that our weapons were ready or that we had a safe place to hide.

But throughout much of our modern history most of that which we perceive as a threat will not lead to loss of life. To be sure, many people, groups, communities, and nations are convinced that this is “The Way Things Are”: that we cannot live side by side with those of another skin color, religion—including those of the same faith but different interpretation of scripture and tradition, sexual orientation, or political viewpoint, therefore we must fight until one of us has conquered the other. And flight doesn’t seem to be an honorable option anymore.

Lord, dear Lord above: God of mercy, God of love,
Please look down and see my people through.

A third way beyond “fight or flight” would be compassion. When we perceive a threat to our beliefs, to our viewpoint, it is a signal that this is the time for listening compassionately to another’s beliefs, another’s viewpoint, another’s pain of feeling as alone and lost as we are. It is easier for us to be flooded by our fear and anger; after all, compassion requires real work of the soul. But this is why we have the forty day journey of Lent: that real work would be required of our souls, because our souls need to be hearty when we come to Holy Week and for the living of our days.

In the Hebrew scripture lesson we read that even the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth and of every creature and every living thing has found a third way to be in relationship with the creation. Before the flood God was the Creator, whose spirit moved over the face of the waters, set lights in the heavens, separated the waters and made the dry land, put plants and creeping things and animals upon it and birds in the sky, finally crowning creation with those made in God’s image, male and female, and gave them dominion over the created order. And a voice proclaimed everything good.

But the creation had become corrupt. Blood had been spilled in a jealous rage between Cain and Abel, opening a Pandora’s Box of violence. The inclination and the thoughts of the hearts of humankind were continually evil. And God was sorry that he made humankind on the earth; it grieved him in his heart. And so with the decision to flood the earth, to blot out human beings from the earth along with every living creature, God was not only Creator but also now the Destroyer. Yet because of God’s decision to save Noah and his family, along with pairs of every living thing, there was hope for God yet.

The third way of God was covenant, and the one with Noah was the very first one of many. Through this covenant with Noah, his family, his descendants, with all creatures and every living thing, for future generations, God became the Redeemer of creation. Rather than an endless cycle of creation and destruction, God chose to redeem the creation through relationship, through covenant, and invited humankind and all life on this earth to be a partner in that relationship.

This was over and against the gods of the time that Genesis was written and edited. God’s people were in exile in Babylonia, around 500 BCE, with a remnant left behind in Israel. It was essential to write the ancient stories during this time of turmoil and fear so that the people would not lose faith, that they would remember that God remembered them. The Babylonian creation story was one of creation through destruction: the god Marduk kills his sea goddess mother Tiamat and with her body he establishes the earth and the sky, with bars to keep the waters from escaping.

There is debate over which creation story was written first, but it is the differences rather than the similarities which are important. The Hebrew God hung up his weapon of destruction, his bow, in the sky as a reminder to God that never again would God destroy all life with a flood. Never again would God enter into battle with creation. Never again would God give up on us. Only through relationship, through covenant, through compassion and community, only through this third way could God’s creation be redeemed and saved.

This is no easy path to take and so God takes the first step. God takes many steps to be closer to creation and to humankind, as many that will lead to a cross and to death, in the covenant established in Jesus Christ.

But it seems God can only come so far; we must be willingly to turn and come close to God ourselves. But as Psalm 25 illustrates for us, coming close to God is not easily undertaken; it is not for the faint of heart to come closer to the heart of the Holy One of heaven and earth. Our fear, our pride and our inability to trust constantly get in our way. Yet we do not need to be afraid of this God. We are assured that “grace is never lacking/And that strength and courage will be bestowed.” This God is in covenant with us and desires only that we move closer in relationship; not only as individuals but also as a community, as a whole creation that includes every living thing on this earth.

God has chosen the third way of covenant and peace and thus, is ever striving to redeem this creation. By establishing this covenant with us, we are invited to join God in striving for this third way of peace, compassion and mercy.

How is it difficult for you to trust God, both as individuals and as a covenant community? Which areas of your life and your life together become easily flooded with fear and anger? When have you experienced the redemption and grace of God and what changes did you live through as a result? Is prayer for you a time to be brutally honest with God or to be good and find the right words? What real work is required within your soul and within the soul of this church? How do the ministries of this church connect with God’s third way of compassion and redemption?

At times this human life can seem overwhelming, full of storms, struggle and suffering. Yet God has made a promise to us, never again to blot us out from the earth but instead to enter into relationship with us, that we would never again be alone. We covenant with one another to journey toward this God of peace and justice together, that we might participate in the healing of the earth and all living things, that we might be people of the Third Way, of the Radical Center. Sounds like Jesus to me.

I believe God is now, was then, and will always be.
With God’s blessing we can make it through eternity.

Lord, dear Love above: God of mercy, God of love,
Please look down and see my people through.
Please look down and see my people through. (1)

Amen.



_____________________________________________


Notes

1. “Come Sunday”, words and music by Duke Ellington.

Sources

http://www.thirdway.org/about_us

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Way_(centrism)

Tough pairings

See more comics from Calamities of Nature

Coming Clean

Christ Healing a Leper, Rembrandt, 1657-60

2 Kings 5: 1-14; Mark 1: 40-45
****** Congregational Church

February 15, 2009

In the United States between 1976 and 2006 there were 7,166 cases of Hansen’s disease or as it is more commonly known—leprosy. India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal and Brazil have the highest outbreaks. In 2006 the World Health Organization registered a total of 259,017 new cases worldwide but this represents a drastic reduction from the 500,000 to 700,000 cases reported each year for the past 13 years. However, there are millions of people that, though they have been cured, still suffer from physical disabilities and social injustice.

Of course it is the shame attached to Hansen’s that keeps the disease from being eradicated, among other factors. There is still the belief that one’s bad behavior is somehow responsible, especially in third-world countries. Many do not seek treatment because of fear, ignorance or social stigma. Those with Hansen’s are still shunned from community not only because of fear of contracting the disease but also because of the victim’s supposed lack of morals. Despite our post-modern world, sickness and sin still walk very much hand in hand on this earth.

But we all know from experience that when it comes to sickness, it doesn’t matter who you are. The greatest and least and everyone in between will get sick at some point in their lifetime. It’s the last thing we want to think about: the weakness of our bodies. And Naaman is no exception.

We read that Naaman is the commander of the army of the king of Aram, what would be Syria, that he was a great man, in high favor with his master, that the Lord had given him victory. Yes, it reads that the Lord had given Aram, a foreign nation, victory over Israel. Sin and defeat in battle also went hand in hand.

So we have this mighty warrior, this great man. Yet we can hear the “but…” coming: he suffered from leprosy. The word ‘leprosy’ is used in the Bible to convey any number of skin diseases. It was thought that any imperfection in the body was due to one’s sin and thus, one was considered unclean by the Levitical code of purity. In truth, having a skin disease was the equivalent of saying that one was covered by one’s sin. The psalmist speaks of his face being covered in shame, of his sin being ever before him. Though Naaman was a great man, he had been brought low by this leprosy and needed help in his suffering.

He receives help from the unlikeliest source: his wife’s servant girl, who was taken from Israel in a military raid. Naaman is to go the prophet Elisha who will heal him. To his credit, Naaman heeds this advice, even though it comes from a girl who is a servant and a foreigner. Status and station in society are observed in this communication: the servant girls tells Naaman’s wife, she in turn speaks with her husband; Naaman then goes to the king of Aram who then writes a letter of introduction to the king of Israel.

Now here’s where everyone’s egos start getting involved. First off, Naaman brings a treasure trove of gifts, presumably not only for the king of Israel but also for the prophet Elisha. Second, assuming that he is expected to cure Naaman, the king of Israel thinks this foreign king is trying to pick a fight with him. And third, none of this transpires the way Naaman thought it would, that he, being a great man, arriving with his chariot and horses, would be greeted by this great prophet, who would then show forth the great power of God in this great healing. Instead he receives a message from Elisha via a messenger, another servant, to wash in the Jordan, which was like a creek compared to the great rivers of Damascus. All of these unrealistic expectations are a recipe for conflict. Naaman just wanted to be healed; now everyone is ready for a fight.

Then the voice of reason and wisdom enters in from yet another unlikely source, from Naaman’s own servant. Notice that it is the servants, those in a weak position, that bring wise counsel and the key to salvation and healing. Naaman then washes and his skin becomes like that of a young boy, reminding us of Jesus’ instruction that if we want to enter the kingdom of God, we must become like a child, like one who is willing to trust, to put one’s life into the hands of another.

In the gospel reading in Mark we have one who is precisely that: one who is willing to trust, to put his life into the hands of another. “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Here is one who has been reduced in every way. Because of his leprosy, he has lost everything. He could not worship in the temple. He could not live with his family or in his village. He had to beg for everything. He had no dignity, no identity except for his disease.

Miracle 28: Leper cured, Ian Pollock, 2000

Author José P. Ramirez Jr. in his latest book Squint: My Journey with Leprosy details his own experiences. He tells a story of when he first returned home for a visit during his treatment for Hansen’s disease. He was one of thirteen children and was concerned for his family, that by sharing meals together he might communicate his disease to them. Early on his first morning home he went into the kitchen and began sorting out dishes, glasses and utensils that he would use, marking them with tape. When his mother saw what he was doing, she became angry and broke the plates, telling him never to do that again, that he was no different than his brothers and sisters.

In other translations of this story from Mark we read that when Jesus was faced with this begging leprous man, that he was not moved by pity but by anger. In Middle Eastern traditions, both pity and anger are emotions that come from the gut. Being begged in public to heal an outcast, which would also make Jesus unclean and an outcast, got Jesus in the gut. Frankly, it doesn’t matter to me which emotion moved him, but that Jesus did choose to heal the man.

The verb ‘to choose’ or ‘to be willing’ in Greek is ‘thĕlō’, which means to delight in, to desire, intend, please, love. Jesus delights in healing this man, desires him to trust him. His intentions are to heal him, this man whose sin is ever before him. It pleases Jesus to heal this man who is covered in sin. It is the love of Jesus that compels him to touch this outsider, taking that social stigma upon himself.

It’s a very Jesus-y thing to do. We read countless stories of Jesus associating with sinners and outcasts, thieves and prostitutes, gluttons and drunks. Yet what if we substituted the word ‘Church’ for the characters of Naaman and the leprous man? If we believe that the Bible is still speaking fresh words of God, then what is the Spirit saying to the Church?

There was a great Church that suffered from a debilitating disease, one that covered the Body in shame. The great Church thought that the prophet, the leader, the minister would lay hands upon it, that the power of God would come down, that something great would happen. But it was the servants of the great Church, those in the weakest position, who had the wisdom for the great Church’s healing. Listening to the wisdom of the servants the great Church washed itself and became clean, like a child.

A Church with an unbearable disease, that had lost everything, came begging to Jesus and kneeling before him said, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Jesus, moved in his gut with anger and pity, said, “I do choose. Be made clean.”

If we believe these stories to be true, then it is the Church that needs to be healed, both the whole community and the individuals that comprise it. We are a week and a half away from Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent and of our reckoning once again that we are indeed human, that we need help. I believe these readings from today’s lectionary are a way to get our hearts and minds jump started on that Lenten journey.

As much as the world needs to remove the discriminatory, hurtful word ‘leper’ from its lexicon, we the Church need to reclaim the word ‘sinner’. Sin also carries a huge stigma with it but that stigma, that shame, that fear also prevents us from asking for healing. We find it difficult to admit that we are weak, that sin has taken a hold of us, and that we have been brought low. We forget that it was for sinners not the righteous that Jesus came, freely sharing his life and his love.

One of the earliest prayers of the Church is also one of the simplest: “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Jesus did not blame those who were sick for their illness, even though sin and disease were thought to be one and the same. Instead, Jesus saw illness as an opportunity for healing, forgiveness, and restoration, rather than guilt, blame or judgment.

Jesus comes to us in our weakness and desires that we be honest and that we trust him, especially with our shame, our fear, and our sin. By healing us, Jesus invites us to be part of his ministry, reaching out to those outside the Church, taking on the social stigma of the poor, the mentally ill, those with disabilities, extending the hand of justice to those still outside the full life of the Church.

How willing are you to let yourselves and your lives be shaped and cleansed and remade so that you might be restored? What ministry of restoration does this church offer to the surrounding neighborhood and community? In what ways do you need to come clean with your past, your identity, and your expectations of what it means to be a church? What areas of church life do you have difficulty trusting with God? When have you experienced the healing hand of Jesus, freely proclaiming that good news?

Admitting we need help is the first step toward healing, both as a church and as individuals. Often it is our pride that gets in our way. We need to come clean with our sinful nature. But Jesus and his healing are waiting for us. We need only to choose to put our lives in his hands. How willing, how delighted are we to trust God?

May it be so. Amen.

Quickie picture meme

I got this from Jan over at Yearning for God.


1. Grab the nearest book - no matter what it is. Textbook, novel, pop-up book, building code study guide, whatever.

2. Turn to page 25.

3. Read the 10th word on that page, or the following if that one is blank.

4. Type that word into Google Image search.

5. Post the third image.

6. Tag 4 people and tell them.

7. Link back to this post - Which I do right here.


The book was Best Words, Best Order by Stephen Dobyns. The word was "covered".



I tag Suzanne, Andy, MoCat and Will.

Happiness is...

One of the books I've been reading lately is The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner, an NPR correspondent. He traveled to several countries, including the Netherlands, Switzerland, India, Iceland,and Bhutan, searching for the happiest places in the world.

In Bhutan they actually strive to measure a Gross National Happiness, rather than a Gross Domestic Product, like the U.S. Weiner quotes Karma Ura, director of Bhutan's think tank: "We don't believe in this Robinson Crusoe [personal] happiness. All happiness is relational." Then Weiner writes this:

"A quick quiz. What do the following events have in common? The war in Iraq. The Exxon Valdez oil spill. The rise in America's prison population. The answer: They all contribute to our nation's gross national product, or what's now referred to as gross domestic product, or GDP, and therefore all are considered 'good', at least in the dismal eyes of economists.

"GDP is simply the sum of all goods and services a nation produces over a given time. The sale of an assault rifle and the sale of an antibiotic both contribute equally to the national tally (assuming the sales price is the same). It's as if we tracked our caloric intake but cared not one whit what kind of calories we consumed. Whole grains or lard--or rat poison, for that matter. Calories are calories.

"GDP doesn't register, as Robert Kennedy put it, 'the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, or the intelligence of our public debate.' GDP measures everything, Kennedy concluded, 'except that which makes life worthwhile.' Nor does GDP take into account unpaid work, the so-called compassionate economy. An elderly person who lives in a nursing home is contributing to the GDP, while one cared for by relatives at home is not. Indeed, he may even be guilty of reducing the GDP if his caregivers are forced to take unpaid leave from work. You have to give economists credit. They have taken a vice--selfishness--and converted it into a virtue."

All happiness is relational. If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. The goal of a leader, of a community, of a church, of a marriage, of a family, is not to make everyone happy but to build relationships, connections, interdependence, the result of which can be a form of happiness. In the church we call it covenant. Those who founded our nation called it the United States Constitution, which provides for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Unfortunately, we have turned it into an individual pursuit rather than a collective one.

You know what makes me happy? Witnessing the happiness of others and being able to participate in some small way in their happiness: baptisms, births, weddings, building a house in a garbage dump, giving money away to a complete stranger, holding a hand at a hospital bedside, singing on a Sunday morning, hugging a friend, junior high kids sharing their talents with each other, cooking a meal for my in-laws, watching my daughters grow, one day seeing my husband
working in the field of his dreams.

What makes you happy?

Yes, Suzanne, it was tripe

Suze and I went to a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch in Bridgeport last week. I had been there a handful of times before, ordering the house special, Pho, a beef noodle soup. As I was introducing a friend to the place, I encouraged us both to order the Pho.

But I did not know that the ingredient pictured above was tripe, at least my conscious mind did not want to acknowledge the possibility because I had just put a piece in my mouth, chewed it up and swallowed, with a mixture of ignorance and dread.

So I took a picture of what I hoped was an Asian fungus with my cell phone, went home and Googled images of fungus and tripe. Book tripe as a matter of fact. Also called Bible tripe--how appropos, she said with much chagrin.

A Driveway Moment

Deuteronomy 18: 15-22; Mark 1: 21-28
***** **** United Church of Christ

February 1, 2009


Though there had been other economic depressions in the United States before the crash on October 24, 1929, none had been as severe or as long-lived as what would then be called the Great Depression.

Analysts thought it might have been just a correction of the market, at least that it would be no worse than the recession that occurred after World War I.

Of course we know that this did not prove out. The loss in stock market values came to an estimated $30 billion, which would be about $360 billion by today’s standards. By 1933 unemployment had climbed to 15 million. Though the whole world suffered from the depression, only Germany equaled the percent of unemployed workers in the U.S. Suicide rates rose. Despair, shame and anxiety fought with our better nature. The poor endured the worst of it. Farms were lost, homelessness increased, and funding for public education was severely reduced.

Resentment of immigrant workers increased. Mexican Americans were blamed for lack of jobs for ‘real’ Americans. Over 6,000 were deported in February, 1931.

People around the world looked to their leaders to save them from this economic disaster, in some countries setting the stage for fascism and Communism. In 1933 FDR came to the presidency while many watched, waited and hoped that through his policies, the United States could recover.

It all sounds vaguely familiar, doesn’t it? The recession we are now experiencing is having a similar affect on the mindset of every nation, every economic system, every person who’s worried about their job, their home, their health, their future. It’s pervasive, leading us to thoughts of despair, anxiety, worry, fear, and for some of us, shame. Any one of these can be debilitating, crushing our spirits, capturing and holding our attention to the exclusion of all else. As Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff said in a recent interview, people are starved for some kind of perspective.

In this age of information we cannot escape the ‘bad news’, neither here at home nor abroad. Every morning we can turn on the TV, the radio, the computer, or unfold the newspaper and know what is going on across the country and all over the world. We hear of disaster, war, elections, economies faltering, brutality, violence, death, and the small corner reserved for good deeds, cooperation, sacrifice and valor. We may have free speech in this country, but we use it so freely that it whirls willy-nilly around us and into our minds where it reverberates in an endless tumble of anxiety. And we can become bound inside; bound by our fear not so much of what has happened or what will happen but our fear of what could happen. Our spirits become unclean and bound up, from the Greek word “akarthartos”, meaning the opposite of catharsis. To put it bluntly, we can become full of it: we allow ourselves to become overcome by “stinking thinking” as they say in 12-step groups, and our minds need to be healed.

In the gospel of Mark the people in the synagogue hear of a new teaching, some new information, that which can give release to the unclean spirit. Listen to this unclean spirit. It says “Have you come to destroy us?” Though the people of Capernaum do not instantly recognize Jesus as a prophet, the unclean spirit does. Its response to the very real presence of Jesus is one of fear, destruction, and violence. Resistance.

"Miracle 24: Man with Unclean Spirit", Ian Pollock (2000)

We’re all awfully good at giving Jesus resistance. Especially when we are in group form; you know, Church. Take for example annual meetings. Fear usually raises its head at one point or another in an annual meeting. I heard one church had on its agenda a deficit budget. One member exclaimed in so many words, “You mean you expect us to pass this budget on good faith that we will find the money sometime this year?” And another member responded, “Yes. That’s what we’re all about is faith. All we have are pledge cards. We don’t have any money in hand right now. We always pass a budget on faith: faith that people won’t lose their job or get sick or move away. Every year we have to trust that people will keep their promises.”

As a community of faith we also need to trust that God will keep the promises made in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, that is, the promises of forgiveness, mercy, healing, rebirth, and love. When we hear news about the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, the latest insurgent attack, about Hamas and Israelis resuming their hatred and violence at one another, about people losing their jobs, losing their homes, about the high cost of health care and prescriptions, about the drastic losses in our retirement funds, about anything that can tempt us toward despair, it can be easy for us to have our imaginations swept up by fear and dread. When our church family murmurs to itself and has difficulty imagining its future we can sometimes lose our attention from Jesus and the promises made to us. Our demons begin to hold our attention in such a way as leaves little room for the healing power of Christ.

I am an avid listener of public radio. One of the news programs, “All Things Considered”, has a phenomenon referred to as a “driveway moment”. It’s when a news feature or interview or story captures the listener in such a way that they are compelled to stay in the car in their driveway for just a few extra minutes to catch the end of the story. Jesus is giving the people in the synagogue just such a driveway moment. He is giving them new teaching, new information that is so compelling that his listeners acknowledge the authority with which he gives this new teaching, this new information. We do not hear what Jesus has said to them but we do hear only a few verses before that he proclaimed that the time is fulfilled, that God’s reign of love has come near, that those who listen and hear are to repent, to return to God and believe the good news.

This would have been quite a gripping driveway moment for the listeners of Mark. Mark is often referred to as a “wartime gospel” in that it was written during the war of revolt between Israel and the Roman occupation when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, around the year 70 CE. Jews who followed the Way of Jesus still thought of themselves at this time as Jews and would have seen the destruction of the temple as a sign of the end of the world.

Having witnessed yet another temple destroyed would call to mind the times of exile in their past and might have led them to despair. The gospel writer of Mark, through the teaching of Jesus, is giving his listeners a message more convincing, more persuasive than that of the Roman lord Caesar’s edict of utter destruction and death: the new authority of Jesus over that of the Roman Empire, the power of God over the power of evil. That authority, that power being love, is the gospel, the truth that can heal our minds, release our unclean spirits, and center our attention on Christ. When our attention is centered on Christ, we are able to accomplish far more than we can possibly imagine.

We may have convinced ourselves that it is our weakness, our powerlessness, our darkness that makes us fearful to be the Church in the world. Marianne Williamson, in her book A Return to Love, writes:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

In these uncertain times (but really when are they ever certain), when we aren’t thinking clearly, we do not always recognize God’s message of glory within and often it is when we look back on our lives that we then realize when God was speaking to us. As in the reading from Deuteronomy we must trust and commit to heart the words of the prophet that God has promised to us, the teaching of Jesus, that clears our minds, unbinds our spirits and sends our demons packing. We can then tap into that power that God has placed within us that the glory of God can be made manifest, be made visible, in our lives, in the Church and in the world.

Worship is our “driveway moment”. It is our time to be in community and to remember that we are a community, not a crowd. It is a time to confess our lack of attention on Christ and our need to be healed of our fearful thinking. Jesus comes to us as a people; his very real presence commands our attention and says to us: “Be not afraid. I am Lord.” The way of domination, of empire, war, death—these are not lord. The way of injustice, exclusion, strife, shame—these are not lord. The way of scarcity, poverty, slavery, disease—these are not lord. The way of fear is not lord. Jesus is Lord; his Way is love, mercy, forgiveness, peace, justice, and resurrection.

So, ***** **** UCC, in what ways do you need to be healed of fearful thinking? What are your demons of resistance? What are you full of that you need to be emptied of? How do you see yourselves as church? Where do you witness the power of God in your life together? What aspect of the good news of Jesus Christ captures your imagination and moves you to action? How can this faith community be a source of Christ’s authority of love and justice in a frightened world?

Worship is our catharsis, our creative moment to be out of time, to heal us of our “akathartos”, our unclean mind, to let go of all that binds us and to refocus our attention on Christ. So we surround ourselves with music and prayer, gather ourselves about the table, proclaiming the good news and giving praise to God, that we would remember again and again the simplest of confessions, that Jesus is Lord, not only of our lives but of our life together as a people of faith. We have been set free: to serve, to love, to be the very real presence of Christ in a fearful world. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Bank on it?

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs. " ~Thomas Jefferson 1802 (attributed)~

A lamentable gap

from The Christian Century:

February 10, 2009 issue, "Reoriented":


"If praying 'thy kingdom come' is to have any integrity, it must start as lament--lament for the gap between God's realm of peace and justice and reality as we know it. The prayer is a cry for a different kind of world. It is an expression of our deepest longings for a time when God's peace and justice and righteousness will prevail.

"The Lord's Prayer is not about us, however, but about God. Thy kingdom come. To pray this prayer is to orient our lives toward God and not ourselves, toward God's will and not our own. The prayer is a way of stating our allegiance to God rather than to the political, economic or cultural powers of this world. We pray for the wisdom to see where God's reign is already breaking into this world and for the courage and strength to align ourselves with it.

"To pray 'thy kingdom come' is finally a confession: we acknowledge that the gap which exists between heaven and earth runs right through our own lives and through the communities of believers who claim to follow Jesus. For this reason, we need the rest of the prayer: 'Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.'"

Some heavy metal with that sweet roll?

from the Grist.org:

We already know that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is something to stay away from, even though the FDA recently ruled that foods containing this nasty stuff can be labeled as 'natural', as in 'naturally sweetened'.

Here's another reason to stay away from it: in two studies, one conducted by the FDA, traces of mercury can be found in foods with HFCS, ranging from 31% to 45% of foods tested. The FDA has known about this since 2005 but has done nothing about it.

The skinny on high-fructose corn syrup

Many of my friends to whom I sent this story were not surprised, given the ethos of the previous administration. Perhaps I am a bit Pollyanna-ish but I am still shocked that those in public service can do such a disservice to their constituents.

But then, as one friend replied, if you can't trust Coca-Cola, who can you trust?

A dream realized

Last month I was volunteering a few hours at my local NPR station for their membership fund drive. During a lull in pledge calls, two women--another volunteer and one of the staff--and I got into a discussion about why do African-Americans call themselves by that moniker. Why can't 'they' just let go of that and be called 'Black', my two companions wondered.

No other ethnic group, with the exception of Native Americans, identifies themselves as such. Perhaps we hear 'Cuban-American' or 'Euro-American' from time to time, mentioned in an article or discussion, but most of us refer to ourselves simply as 'American'. And we keep our ethnicity secondary, or at least, separate from that: Latino, Hispanic, Caucasian, Asian, etc., each of which includes a whole host of ethnic backgrounds.

I pointed out that African-Americans are the only ones who are descended from those who came to this country against their own free will, that they were Africans first and Americans only because they were brought here in chains. Native Americans are identified as such because their country, their land was taken against their will, that they were the first and only Americans until us immigrants invaded their homeland, infected them with disease and poverty, and declared them savages. These two liberal-minded women, who probably would bristle at being included in the term 'men', had never thought of that before.

On Tuesday my family and I attended the inauguration of President Barack Obama (boy, does that sound good!). The majority of people who attended were African-American. In the subway, on the streets of DC, and in the crowd that hemmed us in on all sides, we were surrounded by faces of color. I felt as though this was truly their day and I was welcomed as a guest at the celebration.

None of us can really know the experience of what it means to be oppressed unless we have experienced it ourselves. The key is to listen and listen well to people of color, to trust their experience as true, and that we all play a part in the problem and pain of racism.


P.S. Below is a map of the National Mall. My family and I were standing near 14 St. west of the Dept. of Agriculture. Security closed the Mall at 9 a.m. because the crowd was so overwhelming. We were 3o feet from the fence and had a narrow view of one of the Jumbotron screens, partially obscured by a tree. When Barack Obama took the oath of office, my oldest daughter (12) was smiling and my youngest daughter (9) was standing on her father's knees, her arms pointed to the sky in V-formation, chanting "O-ba-ma!" with the rest of the crowd. It was then that I knew it was all worth it.

A new anthem?

On the threshold of Inauguration Day 2009 we have a call to renewed patriotism, but really it's the old nationalism that's been pumping its pulse with renewed vigor since its blood transfusion on Sept. 11, 2001, amplified by the then neo-con administation. It's a wonderful sentiment--the video even includes a Jewish cantor and a Muslim mu'azzin, but then they aren't introduced until the video is half over.




So far as I knew, we had already received our marching orders, our new anthem for a new day, and on Election Day we made it official.





However, I can understand that a sizeable portion of our population is still nursing a wound of disappointment, that this song is an attempt to participate in this new day and to gather others under one banner. That may be admirable but it cannot be done disguising religiosity as patriotism. At the very least, it is excluding those of no faith but who still love this country. I can't imagine an atheist or an agnostic singing the words 'born again' in reference to anything.

My family and I are traveling down to Maryland tomorrow, staying with some friends, and attending the inauguration on Tuesday, so look for us on TV! ;-) And hope and pray that all will be safe, with an attitude of camaraderie and care for one another.

P.S. I'm really looking forward to taking down that counter on the sidebar.

Engineering, deck 19

My husband, who is an engineer/physicist at Sikorsky Aircraft, heard this one at a training seminar:


How can you tell if an engineer is an extravert?


He looks at your shoes instead of his own.

Troubling the Waters

"Troubled Waters" fractal from Fractal Daydreams

(I didn't get a chance to preach this sermon: snow cancellation. The lyrics in italics are the refrain from an African-American spiritual that I would have sung as I preached the sermon.)

Genesis 1: 1-5; Mark 1: 4-11
****** Congregational Church

January 11, 2009


It didn’t take long for that baby in the manger to grow up, did it? Christmas was two and a half weeks ago; now he’s a grown man. The last we heard about Jesus in our lectionary readings were two vastly different stories: first, from Luke, that he and his family, after being presented in the temple, returned to Nazareth, where Jesus grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, with God’s favor upon him; second, from Matthew, that he and his family had to flee to Egypt because of the persecution of King Herod, only to make their home in Nazareth after King Herod had died.

But according to Mark’s gospel, the story of Jesus begins not with his birth, but with his baptism, with the beginning of his public ministry. And it begins with high drama: John proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, Jesus immersed in the waters of the Jordan, clouds and shadows and sky rent open, and a voice from heaven saying “Beloved”. Beginnings are very important. They set the tone and the direction of the rest of the story.

The Genesis lesson gives us an account of the beginning of creation, setting the tone and direction of the story of the relationship between God and God’s creation. Here there is also high drama: chaos—that formless void, then the Spirit of God moving over the waters like a strong wind, darkness, then light where there was none, and a voice saying “Good”.

Our own beginnings, our birth into the world—there is no higher drama than the labor to bring a child into the world: nine long months we grew in darkness, in the waters of the womb and then the struggle, the first breath, light and voices. Nurse midwives tell us that our beginnings, how we come into the world, affects us as infants and as we grow and develop. They advise low lighting, warmth, quiet or soft music to ease some of this drama, to ease the infant’s transition into the world. Parents are also encouraged to give their new baby his or her first bath, as a way of bonding with the child.

All these beginnings have at least three elements in common: light, darkness, and water. And not calm water but moving water—restless oceans, a flowing river, water breaking from the womb.

Wade in the water, wade in the water children,
Wade in the water, God’s gonna trouble the water.

When Jesus came to John for baptism, he was participating in an ancient Jewish religious ritual called a mikvah. A mikvah is ritual immersion in a bathing facility with a natural source of water, such as a spring or a groundwater well. According to Orthodox Judaism, a mikvah is necessary to make one spiritually pure in order to worship in the temple. To facilitate purification, the water has to be living water—water that moves.

Water that moves is a source of life. We need water to live. More than 80% of the human body consists of water. Billions of years ago, the first life forms on this earth evolved in the primordial oceans, and then emerged onto land. Every life form on this earth has its beginnings in waters of some sort, and then has a continuous need of water.

In a hot arid climate, such as the Middle East, water is the antithesis of death. Many of the purity laws in Leviticus relate directly to some form of death. In Orthodox Judaism women are required to have a mikvah after their monthly period, not because the bodily function is unclean, but because it is considered a loss of a potential life, a form of death. Death is considered unclean because it is believed to be a consequence of sin. Death did not enter God’s creation until the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

And so John was proclaiming a baptism, a mikvah of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. To repent is to return from exile, to turn from going the way of sin that leads to death, to turn toward the Way that leads to the promised land of God. The Greek root of the word ‘repent’ means to think differently, to go beyond the mind that you have, beyond conventional understanding. Einstein is quoted as saying that we cannot solve a problem with the same mind or consciousness that created it. To think with a sinful mind is to think we are in death. To repent is to realize that we are forgiven, that God intends us for life, and then to live that truth as a way of life.

But why is John offering this repentance, this forgiveness in the wilderness? If a Jew who followed the Torah wanted to be cleansed of sin and death, they would go to the temple in Jerusalem, to be washed in the temple mikvah and proclaimed pure by the temple priests.

Most scholars agree that John was an Essene, a desert sect of the Jewish faith that rejected the temple authorities, believing them to be corrupt, that they had taken too much power and authority for themselves, controlling who was in and who was out. John prophesied the coming of the Anointed One, the Messiah. To prepare to be ready to follow the Messiah, the people must turn from their sin that they may be able to accept the teaching and the Holy Spirit this Messiah would give. They must be able to think differently about God and their relationship to him. And desperately wanting to be close to God, they came from all over the Judean countryside and from Jerusalem, away from the seat of religious authority, to participate in this cleansing mikvah that was free to all.

Wade in the water, wade in the water children,
Wade in the water, God’s gonna trouble the water.

So why did Jesus need to be baptized? After all, he is the one John described as more powerful than himself, whose sandals John was unworthy to tie. I can think of three reasons why Jesus would begin his ministry in this way.

First, it was customary (and still is) for one who was entering the rabbinical vocation to be purified in a mikvah, to be immersed in God’s living waters as part of the ordination.

Second, Jesus may have already had it in mind that he was headed toward his own death. The experience of being submerged in water and rising with the breath of God filling his lungs may have been to remind him not only of the promise of resurrection, but of God’s promise to sustain him through whatever lay ahead for him.

And the third and perhaps most important reason was that Jesus was aligning himself not only with John’s anti-establishment agenda but also with the crowds who came for baptism. These would have been those considered outcasts by the religious authorities, the poor, the sick, the sinners, tax collectors, drunkards and prostitutes with which Jesus would be spending most of his time; in essence, the neediest of God’s people, those who acknowledged that they had lost their way and were ready to return to the Way of God.

By allowing John to plunge him into the sacred waters of the Jordan, Jesus not only troubled the waters of the religious authorities, but declared himself a mikvah, became living water for the neediest of God’s people. And the heavens tore open, the Spirit came upon him like dove, and voice came from heaven proclaimed, “You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Even though our experience of baptism is not nearly so dramatic, do we realize what we’re doing when we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives? Remember, beginnings are important: they set the tone and the direction of the rest of the story. Baptism is the beginning of our faith story. The Holy Spirit has been with us from the very beginning, stirring up the waters of our lives, cleansing us of that which we don’t need, healing our brokenness, making us ready for a life of compassion, service, forgiveness, and justice for the neediest of God’s people.

Like creation, baptism is not a once and over event but an invitation to grow. Jesus calls us from the shores of the Jordan to join him in his baptism, his ministry, yes, even his death but also in his new life. If we want to have new life, we must be willing to let go of the life that is not working for us. If we want to renew the church, we must be willing to let go of that which is holding back the church from renewal. If we’re looking for calm waters, unchanging ways, and a clear horizon, this is not the baptism we were given. Troubled waters are part of the good news of Jesus. Troubled waters mean life: life lived in the presence and in the care of God.

How do you, ****** Congregational Church, need to repent, that is, to think differently about your life together? How does the Holy Spirit make herself known to you? How often do you personally think about your own baptism? Who are the neediest of God’s people in this neighborhood—how might this church be living waters for them? How might you practice baptism on a daily basis?

You are beloved children of God, each and every one of you. In creating you, God has declared you good. And by your baptism you have been made one with Jesus and with his ministry of compassion, healing, and justice. Your lives will never be the same again.

Wade in the water, wade in the water children,
Wade in the water, God’s gonna trouble the water.

Amen.