1. (from the Children's Time) Q: What kind of motorcycle is it? A: Honda Nighthawk 250. It gets 75 miles per gallon.
2. Q: Did you decide to eliminate the bells? A: No, one of the bells has a broken clapper, and we've been advised that ringing them right now could damage them.
3. Q: What were you thinking, quoting from Glenn Beck? A. First, let me thank you for listening! (At least one person yesterday was meditating with closed eyes and deep breathing while I preached.
Below is the text of my sermon (as prepared). If you listen to the audio, you'll see that I cut short the excerpts from my Statement of Faith. And God knows where my illustration about General William Booth and the Salvation Army came from. I didn't plan to use it!
8/29/10 Shameless Christians (Luke 14:1, 7-14)
NOW I understand why Presbyterians never choose front pews at church. We're following Jesus' teaching in Luke 14! We're waiting for the minister to invite us, "Friend, move up higher."…"Fasten your seatbelt!"…
Yesterday on my day off, I attended a zen meditation group at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northern Westchester on S. Bedford Rd. When I told the leader that I've just moved to Mount Kisco to become Interim Pastor for the Presbyterian Church, he responded, "They've been through some troubles, haven't they?" Already in my first week, I can tell that I'm going to have to come up with an answer to that!
As I've begun visiting and talking with PCMK members, I can see that each of you has a perspective on our church's history. I look forward to learning more from you in the days and months ahead. And I expect you'll help me understand the history of this church so that together we can formulate a shared answer to this challenge. After one week, the response I'm formulating goes like this: "Yes, we've been through it. And we're stronger for the pain, and better able to help others who may be suffering. We don't deny our past. In fact, we affirm everything that was good in it, while recognizing our own part in the hurtful things that happened. We will always be ready to ask forgiveness where we may have wronged others. And we are ready to move forward into a positive future that God intends."
Jesus can help us learn how to do this. His word in this morning's Gospel lesson invites us to be "Shameless Christians." Jesus teaches us that:
1) God's loving grace and forgiveness remove any reason for us to feel shame,
2) We are set free to live so that we have nothing to be ashamed of, and
3) We must never be ashamed to be known as followers of Jesus.
Bible scholars are applying sociologists' insight that all societies organize around three social issues: fear, shame and guilt. Roland Muller calls them "the building blocks of society." …
We are called to grow beyond our history--to be even more than we have been, to serve even more effectively, and to praise God with every gift we have, even more gloriously than we have been able to do until now. I am delighted to be able to join the choir, and to hear how it's growing. I am impressed after just one week to see the mission and caring community that this church embodies.
After choosing my sermon topic, I learned of the “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington. The Special Operations Warrior Foundation called it a time to honor service members who fight to protect our freedoms. Non-profit organizations like the SOWF take care of families of soldiers who risk their lives for our country in the event of an accident or loss of life. I think we can all affirm that spirit! While there was a lot of coded political language, Glenn Beck sounded more like a preacher than talk-show host. He called America to "turn back to God." He said as a nation we have walked in darkness, too much focused on our scars. He invited us "to concentrate on the good things in America, the things we have accomplished and the things we can do tomorrow." He affirmed those with other views. "There's a lot we can disagree on, but our values and our principles can unite us."
On this 47th anniversary of MLK's speech, I too have a dream. I dream of a church unashamed of and unhindered by its past, and able to step boldly into the future. We can focus less on our scars. We can face down the constricting power of shame, and experience the uplifting power of self-affirmation. We can rediscover our mission.
What a joyful week it's been. My wife Janice came home yesterday, I had a delightful dinner at the Kung's, Linda Lewis delivered cookies to me at church. Jim Poinsett listened patiently to all my questions and reduced the number of blunders I would otherwise have committed. Still I know I'll have lots of occasions to ask for your forgiveness. As the old poster said, "Please be patient…"
SoF: I’ve come to express my sense of the boundless love of God in this way: Nothing you ever did would make God love you less. Nothing you could ever do would make God love you more.
Despite its self-interested mistakes, the Church lives in the grace of God, and when we practice the ministry of reconciliation we impart that grace to the world.
Life is a gift of Love, which needs to be nurtured in all its aspects. We can’t legislate others’ choices, but the church must engage the challenges of war, violence, poverty, and injustice. Earth is a gift of the Universe, precious and perhaps unique. We who are destroying Creation must find the discipline to stop, to learn new ways to live, and reverse the damage we have done. Our diverse nation represents the hopes and aspirations of newcomers from many nations, spiritual traditions, and cultures. Scripture reminds us that as former outsiders, we must care for aliens in our midst and establish justice in our laws and treatment of immigrants. The church must speak clearly on issues such as these, but in dialog with others’ views.
Holy Spirit (or Divine Breath/Wind) is Source of our Life and Ground of our Being. From our birth until our death, we are alive with the Breath of God. Spirit gives us wisdom and insight to read Scripture so as to discern the Word of God. From my first religious affiliation as a Quaker, I learned to appreciate this “Inner Light” in every person. I expect to learn from Holy Wisdom present in every person with whom I share in ministry. I celebrate the humanity that unites all people, of every category that might be used to divide us, and I treasure the privilege of serving others.
A statement of faith is not to fight over, and certainly not to kill or die for. May my affirmation may prompt reflection and dialogue, and may I grow in the love of Jesus as I minister with others.
I confess I grew up with shame as a primary motivator. I have learned the exhilaration of stepping out of the shame syndrome. As I've taken to heart Jesus' lessons that lifted up those of low degree, and taught outcasts to stand up for themselves, I've found my voice. I know there are two ways that we may try to live as Shameless Christians. One is to be timid and cautious, and try never to make mistakes. Of course we can't succeed, but even worse--life is no fun! The other way is to follow the advice of Martin Luther: "Trust God and sin boldly."
Luther was writing to his younger protégé Philip Melanchthon who was overly scrupulous and anxious about God's grace. Luther rebuked him for such anxiety about trying to merit God's favor:
If you are a preacher of grace, then preach true grace and not a fictitious grace. If grace is true, you must bear a true and not fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death and the world.
True grace forgives real sins and not just polite or acceptable sins. Even with our own deep sense of sin, frailty and failure, grace liberates us to live fully and freely, with candor and honesty but without obsession or anxiety.
CONCLUSION: Cowardly lion lacked courage, the tin man needed a heart, the scarecrow lacked a brain, Dorothy wanted to go home. It seems to me that we here at the Presbyterian Church of Mount Kisco yearn for all of the above! We want the wisdom and courage to speak from our heart about the glory and pain of our past, so that we can return home to the place that PCMK has been for us and find that the Spirit has never left. Amen.
--Jack Lohr, Interim Pastor
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