I was going to preach on I Corinthians this morning, but instead, I would like to say a few words about the earthquake in Haiti.
The damage that has been done to that nation is beyond the scale of imagination. The latest reports I have seen say that at least 50,000 people have died, and the capital has been essentially flattened. Services like electricity and water are spotty, food is running short, people are living (and dying) in the streets, the government is not working.
As one blogger wrote in the immediate aftermath of the quake,
Very rapidly, President Obama needs to come to terms with the idea that the country of Haiti, as we knew it, probably does not exist any more.
This calamity raises a number of important questions for us. First, it raises the question: why would God do - or allow - such a thing to happen?
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Matthew 2:1-12
Do you remember that slogan I talked about last year: “the little church with the open arms?”
I still think we can be that church.
That is to say, I think that we can be both a restored community, one that has healed its own wounds, and a restorative community, one that heals the wounds of others. I think that we can overcome division, isolation, and alienation, and the despair they fund. We can help others to do the same.
I believe that Salem has the potential to be that church.
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If you weren’t here tonight, we missed you. Next year!
12-24-09p
(.pdf file, includes sermon)
Luke 3:7–18
We talked last week about Advent being a time of anticipation, of spiritual development and deepening. As part of that message, I spoke of three things that keep us from fully engaging the work of Advent: consumerism, tradition, and grumpiness. This morning, I want to return to and expand upon one of those themes. read more…
These photos were taken by Pat McFadden for a mailer we’re trying to put together. I have no idea which ones we’ll use.
Luke 21:25–36
Have we talked about apocalyptic literature before? In case we have not, or in case you have not had the opportunity to hear me wax eloquent on the subject, here is the short version of everything you need to know about it. Apocalyptic literature, of which today’s gospel lesson is an example, is a traditional form of ancient literature that is found in and outside of scripture. That is to say, some parts of the Bible are apocalyptic, but it’s not limited to the Bible. The most famous example of apocalyptic literature is the Book of Revelation.
Apocalypses are typically written to a persecuted group, with two messages: first, that God is for them in some way that escapes the understanding or control of the people who are oppressing them. God is on your side, and nothing the people in power can do will change that. Second, despite all indications to the contrary, things will work out in the end. Because God is in control and the principalities and powers are not, it is all going to be okay.
Those messages go hand in hand, and they are usually expressed in some kind of poetic imagery. It’s not really important for us to understand that imagery exactly. The code isn’t written for us. What’s important for us today is to hear the messages: God is for us, and because of that, every little thing will be all right.
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With your indulgence, I want to do something today that I hardly ever do, namely, preach a sermon not based on a specific text.
Here’s why. As my wife reminded me the other day, we’ve been here for three years now. That’s just two months less than David Wernecke was here, and a year longer than George Jorenby was around. We have a ways to go before we catch up to Rev. Flegel’s tenure: he served the church for seven years. But then Lance Lackore was around for only a little more than three years, and then with a few exceptions, it’s been pastors here for about two or three years all the way back to Rev. Csatlos, who ministered to the congregation for twelve, between 1911 and 1923.
Most of you know all of this history already. My point in bringing up is simply to say that I already have been here for a decent length of time compared to how long other recent pastors have been with Salem, and it looks like we’re not going anywhere anytime soon. The plan, such as it is, is to be here with you at least until Bill graduates from high school. At that point, I’ll be 53, and we’ll talk.
In any case, that I have been here and look to be here for a while has some nice benefits.
The greatest of these is a willingness on your part to undertake real ministry. To be clear, I am not proposing that my presence has created your desire to do ministry. First of all, that desire comes from your willingness to respond in faith to the leading of the Holy Spirit. God proposes, and you disposes. I only have something to do with in that the stability of having a pastor allows your natural inclinations to surface.
In other words, I’m really not trying to pat myself on the back. It’s just that being here allows you to feel secure enough in the future of your congregation that you can get back to its core business, which is doing ministry. And I want to celebrate that fact.
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Mark 9:30-37
Our gospel lesson for this morning is one of those texts that means pretty much exactly what it says. It also one of those texts that reminds us that the life of faith is in some ways not about us at all. It is about God.
Specifically, it is about a god who delights in upsetting the expected order of things. Jesus is depicted here as the authoritative teacher who teaches his followers to forgo privilege or status in favor of humility and service. He also announces himself as the messiah who must die, a pronouncement that his disciples are not ready to understand.
These things are of a piece with his welcome for children. Jesus is not the kind of person to push the forgotten or powerless into the margins. He wants to bring them into the very center of his life. He is not that kind of person, and more to the point, he is not that kind of God.
So as I say it is not about us at all. It is about God’s work in seeking out and raising up the children of God. This is the way things are meant to be, and God means to return them to that.
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I’ll leave these up until the October newsletter comes along, or such time as I remember to delete them:
