Is It Really A Pastor Shortage?

I'm not always so sure that we have

'a pastor shortage.'

I am more sure that we have a shortage of

full-time calls that can support a pastor with a family.

I am more sure that we have a shortage of people

who can afford 7 years of full-time higher education

and the loans and living expenses included.

I am more sure that we have a shortage of

congregations that want a woman pastor,

or an LGBTQIA+ pastor,

or a non-White pastor,

or a pastor with a disability,

or a pastor with an accent.

I am more sure that we have a shortage of

congregations that didn't destroy their pastors

through toxic conflict during the pandemic

or before.

I am more sure that we have a shortage of

congregations that want to be actively engaged

in serving the oppressed in their communities, and instead

prefer to function more like private membership clubs.

I am more sure that we have a shortage of

congregations that want to open their doors

and welcome in people who do not look or act like them,

and instead prefer to wish that time would turn back

to the 1950s

when women's volunteer labor was plentiful;

where families could sustain themselves on one income;

where the Baby Boom packed every pew, Sunday School, and nursery...

We live in different times now

and I would never want to go back.

It's time to realize where we are now,

where we are going,

and follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

Remember When Jesus Said... (A Woman's Worth)

Remember when Jesus said,

A woman's worth

was in how many babies

her uterus could pump out?

And she better belong to a man

because she's worthless

without one?

Yeah, me neither.

Jesus Never Said, "Follow Paul"

 Jesus never said,

"Follow Paul."
Jesus never said, "when Paul arrives,
anything he says will be more important than anything I say."
Jesus never said, "women should remain silent in churches."
Jesus never said, "women should submit to their husbands."
Jesus never said, "the Church is my bride,"
(especially in a time when brides were property).

Jesus respected women,
listened to women,
and treated women as equal to men.

Paul may have written a lot
and he may have been a religious scholar,
but he was still a human being

with human flaws.

So I'm a lot less concerned with what Paul said,
and a lot more interested in what Jesus said and did.

And I find the people who want me to care more
about how they think Paul wanted me to act
as a woman

Are usually up to no good
in their reasons
for wanting to control women.

No Need To Be Ashamed

Jeremiah 29:1,4-7; Psalm 66:1-12; 2 Timothy 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19

(Look these up at bible.oremus.org or biblegateway.com)

Today we hear in the prophetic book of Jeremiah words of counsel to the people who have found themselves in exile, far from home, not to give up but to find a way to ‘bloom where they have been planted.’  Perhaps that’s an odd bit of advice, or perhaps it’s very timely, to people who are feeling so very uprooted.

We also hear in the continuing conversation in Paul’s letter to young Timothy some sage advice not to get entangled in wars of words with people who might try to prove him less experienced or too young for this kind of work, but to not be ashamed and to speak the truth.  And in the Gospel, we hear of how Jesus heals ten lepers and sends them to the Jewish priests to be admitted back into the community, but the Samaritan who realizes his healing returns to Jesus alone.

And today in the life of the church we observe Domestic Violence Awareness Sunday.  This is something relatively new in the life of the church and in the self-understanding of Presbyterian Missions.  However, it’s an integral part of what our mission agency and several of our ministries do.

The Church (meaning the church universal) has really failed on this point for as long as anyone can remember, and only recently started teaching that no one should have to experience violence in their homes, even if they are married to the person that abuses them.  So the first thing that I want to say today, and on every other occasion where I have the opportunity to do so, is that abuse is not, and never has been, part of God’s plan for our lives.  Abuse is sin, and the shame for it rests solely on the abuser, and not the abused.

I was also reminded this week that as the Church, (meaning the church universal), we’re not terribly good at defining what abuse is or who might experience abuse.  Perhaps that doesn’t surprise anyone here after a decade or more of abuse scandals.  But let me tell you how I was reminded, because I was really impressed.  I met several students at the high school who are involved in a group called Imagine, which teaches awareness, prevention and intervention for domestic abuse.  They were active in discussion about allowing men into the group.  This is because we often think of abuse being caused by men against women.  However, in recent years we’ve been increasingly aware that men can also suffer from domestic violence, whether their partner is male or female.  And women can suffer whether their partner is male or female.  Truly no one is immune from a situation such as this.  I thought to myself that even though I was in a similar group in high school and college, I was not nearly so wise.

From PADV Packet: (www.presbyterianmission.org/padvn)

Violence in any form is a destructive force that damages and destroys life and well being.  When violence is woven into the fabric of family relationships it distorts and destroys not only the violence between the victim and the perpetrator but the well-being and sense of self of each and every family member.  So often, families enmeshed in violence have lost a sense of hope and the prospect of healing and restoration seems to be a remote possibility.

I think that you can be at home, and still feel like you are in exile, that you have no home.  I think you can also have a church home that doesn’t really feel like home, a place where you find yourself all alone in a room full of people, because of whatever it is you are wrestling with or don’t want other people to know.

So then, you have a choice, albeit a difficult one:  do you stay where you feel you have no true home, and try to make the best of it, or do you pack up and go?  Sometimes, just such questions really are the biggest ones of our lives.  

Well then, when is it okay to bloom where you are planted?  When is it okay to go?  Actually, the same Bible and the same God tells the same group of people different things at different times in their journey.  And so it is with us.

A lot of people facing abuse don’t leave because they fear what may happen to themselves, or their children, or their pets.  And that is a legitimate fear demonstrated far too often--the deadliest time in an abusive relationship is often when the abused person tries to leave.  However, others get out because they realize what’s going to happen to them or the children or the pets if they don’t go.

At this particular point in the Israelite’s lives, so recently exiled, so weakened from the journey, and so traumatized, God tells the people to bloom in exile.  Find a happy home.  Raise a healthy family.  Thrive, don’t just survive, and don’t give up.  A day will come when there will be healing and joy.  Even if you’ve had to leave everything behind just to save your own life, there is hope.

Now God is not being Pollyanna about this, God’s just being realistic.  God knows they’ll never physically make it back home, or anywhere good, in the physical state that they’re in.  They have to get their strength back.  They have to build up a few resources, build up their numbers, and multiply--surround themselves with a supportive community that will be a force to reckon with when it is time to get up and go.  They’re going to have to be wise about this, and prepare for the journey.  They’ll get home someday, we’ll cover that story in a few weeks, but for now, it’s time to figure out a plan for the meantime, even though they are faced with difficult truths.

Alright.

Now for something a bit different...let’s talk a bit about leprosy.  We’ve talked about it before: that nasty flesh-eating disease that makes you look like a zombie; no easy cure back then like there is today; nobody wants to be around you because you stink and look awful and they don’t want to catch it from you, so you’re in exile, (see a theme here?) living in a leper colony until you die.  You can’t even go to worship, because the priests don’t want you bringing your mess in there.  But then Jesus comes along and heals these ten lepers he meets.  Why does the Samaritan come back?  The lepers whose spiritual home is in Jerusalem are begging to be freed from their stigma.  When they go to the priests, the priests will admit them back into the community, and that’s what they desire most.  The Samaritan isn’t going to be accepted into that community anyway; that’s not his people.  Because there is no fear of stigma in him, because he is not ashamed, he can recognize the truth and come back praising Jesus.

There is no need to be ashamed when speaking the truth, especially when the truth heals you and sets you free.  This is the philosophy behind the new shelter being built here in Dane County, that the women who live there have no need to be ashamed, and that by being in the light, they are safer, than trying to hide in stigma and fear.

I want to share with you something else from our Presbyterian Mission website on this issue, because it’s so well put: When domestic violence occurs, hope and restoration are never easily attained.  Sometimes they are decades in the making, especially if the victim or survivor of domestic violence and her family have no community of support to assist them on their long journey.  This is precisely where the Church should be.  As Christ’s agents of hope, we are charged to be “a light, shining in the darkness,” to those whose hope has been thwarted and do not know where to turn.

The Psalm today says, “we went through fire and water; yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.”  Ours is a God who turns the sea into dry land, who has kept his people among the living, and has not let our feet slip.  Ours is a God who will not let us be lost, no matter in what situation or where we find ourselves.  And our God is a God of justice, a God of compassion, a God of healing.  We are not alone.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Prayers this Week

For all who are caregivers for loved ones struggling with extended illness, that they may find respite, courage, and strength for the journey.

For those struggling with illnesses that have not yet been fully diagnosed, that they may find the answers and the treatments they need.

For all who are suffering from domestic violence, that they may find safety, hope, and healing.

For ministries of healing and hope in the PCUSA and around the world.

For families of children with special needs, that they may find the support, welcome, and access they need for full inclusion.

For families who are homeless, whether living with a relative or friend, living in their car, or living in a shelter or on the street, that they may find a true home.

Mary, Martha, and Malala

Mary, Martha, and Malala

Luke 10:38-42

Usually when I read the Gospel story about Mary and Martha, I think about the ‘Mommy Wars,’ you know, stay at home mother vs. career woman, and the animosity between women in the two roles over the past several decades.  Or I think of slightly burnt-out volunteers in churches, wondering why nobody will help them.  Or I think about a devaluing of women’s work in general, perhaps even by Jesus, if you read the story that way.  After all, Jesus, supper isn’t going to fix itself.

Ah, but a series of events this past week changed how I see this scripture verse.

First, I happened upon an article talking about AIDS education in Africa.  The missionary health worker arranged a training and invited the community.  The chiefs and important men of the area sat on the benches to one side, in places in honor.  Most of the women opted to stay towards the back and chat during the presentation.  The missionary concluded that the women had not heard much of presentation and commented, “perhaps this is what Paul meant by saying women should be silent in churches.”  They needed to be able to hear the literally life-giving words being shared at the front of the room.  [I’ll link it here when I find the article again].

Well, perhaps.  I wasn’t in the room, so I don’t know how much the women heard.  Or maybe they’d heard it all before. Who knows.  But it reminded me of my time working throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, and particularly of public space and private space, and especially women’s space, and men’s space, and the roles and actions that each one plays.

Much like in Bible times, when guests come, a feast is prepared out of anything the family has on hand.  The table is set and the men of the family and the guests are seated.  Once the guests have had their fill, the women and children of the family are fed, always in a space separate from where the guests are.

My years of human rights work took me to many family homes in those regions, and after a while, I realized, we rarely saw the women of the family when we were visiting, especially if we brought male colleagues along with us.  The men of the family hosted us in the front room or parlor.  This was partly a protective measure, in cases where the guests were not well-known to the family.  There was also the practical measure that someone needed to get dinner on the table.  However, as a foreigner, even though I was a woman, I was granted space to be in the room, and at the table, and participate in the conversation.

At first, it was exciting to be at the table, because the conversations were always political and often radical--I always learned something I didn’t know before.  But after a while, I tired of the conversation and wondered what the other women were doing.

Eventually I’d excuse myself to go in the back with the women.  In doing so I learned how to cook some amazing food, and I made several friends.  I also got to see real life in so many homes, since the best was put into the room where guests would be received.  I also got to see women truly ‘at home,’ with their heads uncovered and their hair down, and able to relax in private family space.

In Bible times, most women didn’t get to go to school.  Granted, many families couldn’t afford to send any children to school; and many boys apprenticed with their fathers to learn the family trade.  Wealthy families may have privately instructed their daughters, but most education for girls was in-home domestic and religious education. Boys who went to yeshiva, or religious school, would have become literate in Biblical languages in order to read Torah, and would have been encouraged to debate religious ideas with the rabbis.  Girls would not have this opportunity.

Yet even today, in many places around the world, women face major obstacles in getting a complete education, especially outside the home. In places where families don’t have enough money to pay for the books, clothes, and supplies needed to send kids to school, the boys are usually sent and the girls kept at home.  Sometimes the obstacle is not just economic, but political: the recent story of Malala, the girl who was shot for being a vocal activist for girls’ education--who not only survived her injuries but also gave a speech at the UN for her 16th birthday, reminds us painfully of this today.  

Speaking of pain, let’s go back to Martha, in her kitchen, apparently fuming. It’s not that Martha’s wrong.  She may be bitter, but that’s understandable.  It’s that Martha is doing exactly what the world expects of her, which is good in its own right, but she’s also feeling left out, and perhaps nervous at what’s happening in the next room.

After all, Jesus breaks barriers by talking to Mary in the front room.  Mary breaks barriers by participating in the discussion. And Jesus gets that someone has to put dinner on the table, because elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus is out there washing his disciples’ feet and breaking bread and pouring cups and then even after the crucifixion and resurrection, he’s out on the beach grilling up fish for breakfast.  

I think, more often than not, Jesus got it, and still gets it.  Jesus gets that women and men need to have equal access to the table, to the conversation, and equal responsibility to the chores at hand.  

So let’s not pit one sister against the other.  I believe Jesus is saying both sisters have a place at the table.  Sure, we all have our responsibilities, but in our life of faith, we look for ways that all may share the responsibilities--men and women, young and old, everyone together--so that we all may not only have but enjoy a place at the table, together with the Teacher.

May it indeed be so.

++++

Two recent pop songs for Mary and Martha:

“What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJO3ROT-A4E

“She Will Be Loved” by Maroon5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIjVuRTm-dc

(disclaimer--these are songs that come to mind and seem to resonate when studying passages for the week.  Not all parts of all songs fit; I try to preview and prevent explicit content, but there may be in the lyrics or videos content which may be either graphic or triggering for some viewers.  I’m always willing to discuss these further, either online, or in person at church).

Forward Motion

Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalm 126; Philippians 3:4b-14; John 12:1-8

In this season of Lent we’ve been talking about companionship along life’s journeys:  about sibling relationships, and friends, and family and finding spiritual community as well.....

And speaking of families, I wonder, how many of you have either heard your parents say, or maybe you said it to your kids, “and this is why we can’t have nice things?”

You usually hear it when something of value gets wasted, broken, or misused in some way.  (I heard it endlessly in our home with my four brothers; I’ve invoked in my home at least once with my toddlers already)! Families, and college roommates, and governments, and even church congregations, can have arguments about how to use our resources best--with differing and sometimes competing values attached to each purpose.

So, going back to Bethany in the Gospel story today:  This is a group of friends at dinner having, at first glance, this kind of argument.  They all know each other well; they have goals of fulfilling a mission; Mary uses the expensive perfume to wash Jesus’ feet.  Judas says, we could’ve probably invested that in better ways, what a waste.  The story is emotionally loaded. Motives are assigned to each of the players in the story, and some harsh words are said, and also, perhaps you noticed, Jesus takes sides.

So let’s try to untangle what happened...

Extravagant Things

First of all, there’s the extravagance of using a perfume which cost a year’s wages.  At today’s rates, maybe $20,000 or more for a manual laborer?  That's a lot of money, I don’t even know if there’s a perfume that expensive in existence today.  And we don’t hear how Mary even got it--is this something you just keep around the house?  We may never know.

However, listen to where they are--in John’s telling of the story, they’re at the house of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.  And while his sister Martha served Jesus and the disciples, Mary made this gesture of affection.  And it’s important to note that in John’s telling of the story, Mary is not some awful sinner, not a prostitute as we sometimes infer (it’s not actually in the Bible); but Mary, sister of Martha, sister of Lazarus, and friend of Jesus.

Now, if someone brought my family member back from the dead, I could see that kind of extravagance.  It’s not sustainable for your bank account, maybe it’s foolish in a hundred ways, but it’s pure gratitude.  If someone did that for me, for my family, I think I’d be saying, you know, take whatever you want, it’s yours--the car, the house, whatever, I don’t care! After all, my family member is worth more to me than anything I might own.

And Paul has similar things to say about his own life in today’s reading--that his love of Christ and his compulsion to spread the Gospel have really cost him everything he had--his status, his employment, his freedom (since he’s often in jail)--and he considers it all worth it, because he knows that what he has found in Christ is worth far more than any of that.  Especially the hope Paul has of resurrection from the dead.

It’s funny, because we often today hear about extravagance trying to avoid death, or even old age, which if we live that long we know is in itself inevitable.  We joke about guys who get fancy cars as part of a midlife crisis; we talk about women who “have a little work done.”  We hear of people wanting to be cryogenically frozen in hopes of being brought back to life at some point in the future.  Sometimes people who are desperately ill try this in hopes of later finding a cure.  (Although, I admit I’m not sure I’d want to be brought back a hundred years in the future, if all my friends and family were gone).  

Over and over in the Scriptures today we hear about God doing new and surprising things that sometimes seem foolish, or at least contrary to conventional wisdom.  God tells us that for those of us who weep, we will end up rejoicing, that our fortunes will be restored despite our suffering, that what has happened in the past is the past, because God is about to do something new--and we simply need to be ready for it.

So, I tried to think of where foolish extravagance might be fruitful.  Well, how many of us made complete fools of ourselves while pursuing our spouses?  How many of us don’t care what we look like when we’re lavishing affection on our children or grandchildren, when we’re rolling around on the ground playing with them?  I think we also know at moments like those, that this is what really matters.  Moments like these, maybe we begin to understand what Mary is doing.

And we know, (right?) that this kind of time is all too important with those we love:  we know for young parents not to stress too much about the state of the housekeeping when the kids are young, and  to just love them while they are there.  They will be gone before we know it.  The same is true of working long hours and neglecting our families whenever we don’t have to do so for survival--too quickly, our loved ones are gone.

And speaking of gone:  remember also that disciples, Mary, Martha--everyone in that room--saw Lazarus resurrected, but there is no promise at that moment, on that day, in that place, that Jesus is only going to be dead for three days.  Maybe for them at best, there’s a faction of Judaism that teaches resurrection on the last day, but not in three days.  If they had any inkling of what was coming, that Jesus would be condemned and executed, we can really understand such extravagance.

Footwashing: Would You Really?

I’m going to throw another idea out on the table now:  washing someone else’s feet with your hair.  Let’s be honest, this is kind of gross.  And maybe not many of us have hair that long. Yet footwashing was part of the hospitality rite, and with good reason: people wore sandals without socks, it was hot and dusty, so their feet were probably reeking.  Servants and slaves did this in good households, but they brought out water and towels.  But really, how many of us would do that for someone else, even a friend?  How many of us would do that for our spouses?  The closest many of us have gotten is cleaning a child who stepped in dog doo, am I right?  And how many of us would let someone else wash our feet?  Do we worry about what people would think of our feet?  Are they ugly? hairy?  smelly?  I really enjoy doing a foot-washing service on Maundy Thursday, but I know a lot of people are afraid to do it, because it’s pretty humbling and well, intimate, to touch somebody else’s feet, or have somebody else handle your own.

Remember the story of Lazarus though?  When Jesus entered that tomb, on the fourth day, the day that was considered proof beyond a doubt that they guy was dead and had even started to stink--that’s the day Jesus went into the tomb.  All those burial spices and perfumes used to anoint the dead--they weren’t about to help now.

Feet don’t seem maybe so bad in comparison.

And now Mary is here, and according to Jesus, is anointing him for the day of his own burial.  Jesus knows the time and is counting the cost.  He is perhaps frustrated with friends who don’t see the big picture.  And yet, he embraces the friend who is willing to be ridiculed by extravagance.

So why is Judas upset?  Maybe he was stealing--although, if you remember John’s gospel is being written down decades later, after lots of fighting between Christians and Jews, maybe there’s a little gossip happening there.  In the meantime, sometimes we stay with what we find comfortable and conventional because we simply fear the unknown.

++

Paul writes about loss and gain, and pressing onward toward the goal--the goal of resurrection. Meanwhile, Jesus too, realizes he’s in forward motion: heading toward the cross.  If people around him realized even that; still only God could have known about the resurrection and promise of Easter, the surprise that lay in store.  God has, and God will continue, to turn sensible world order on its head.  God continues to do a new thing.  When we are beyond hope, like Lazarus, God lavishes extravagant love on us.  And that is our way forward, in all times, and in all places, with abundant hope. Amen.

There But For the Grace of God...

Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9

This is an excellent resource on prayers celebrating the gifts of women in the church:  http://www.pcusa.org/media/uploads/pw/pdfs/2013_celebrate_the_gift.pdf

Today’s Scriptures offer some difficult stories, and show us that the questions people had for Jesus back in his time, are not so very different from the questions of faith which we hold deeply today.

Today we have stories of people suffering and being struck down, stories warning us to be mindful of our own morality, and how not to end up like those other folks.  And maybe these days, we might have a question in our minds of just how troubling these stories can be.

When Bad Things Happen To Good People*

In the Gospel story, people are asking Jesus the fundamental question, Why did these bad things happen to these people? After all, they suffered unspeakable acts when the local dictator killed people trying to practice their religion.  And we hear from the people an even deeper suspicion then than now that might those who suffered might have deserved it; morality, etc.  Yet Jesus reminds them that the people who suffered are no better or worse than anyone else.  Simply put, tragedy is not God’s punishment for sin.  That’s pretty radical talk, and often overlooked.  And Jesus goes on to say that trying to insulate ourselves from the bad which has happened to others, is more likely to lead us on our own short-sighted paths to destruction.

And in Paul we hear phrases that are so often misinterpreted by people trying to comfort others going through suffering.   But what does it really mean to be tested?  And that phrase that God never gives us more than we can handle--not actually what Paul says--says that everyone faces tests; rather; God gives a way out somehow, and that is what allows us to endure a situation, because there is some glimmer of hope.  And that way out may entail some extremely difficult choices.

It’s important to realize when reading this passage that Paul is trying to coerce the “know it alls” at Corinth, who think that they’re better than others and can get away with doing things that cause others to stumble, because they’re invincible.  Paul is warning them that they’re just as human and just as vulnerable as anyone else.  

When we see someone else who is suffering, we have this saying, “There but for the grace of God go I.”  It’s supposed to be a sympathetic phrase, that we could just as likely be the one suffering as the person we’re observing.  But it’s not really God’s grace that allowed us to live a more privileged or less harrowing life than someone else.  And it doesn’t mean that God didn’t extend grace to a person who is suffering.  Instead, I think the more appropriate questions are:  How much grace does God extend to us?  And, How much grace do we need to extend to each other?

Women, Self-Righteousness, and Grace

As you’ve already seen in the bulletin, this weekend of focus on the gifts of women in PCUSA, and it’s the ‘kickoff’ of sorts to our One Great Hour of Sharing.

And I’m wondering if you’ve heard the phrase, “hating on each other?”  It means to have a certain amount of self-righteousness about someone else, especially the kind that we get together in groups to express.  Well, I’m going to be honest with you, just as the Scripture stories all have people who are kind of doing this to others today, we’re pretty good at doing this as women.  If you want evidence of this today, you need look no further than the websites called “mommy blogs;” where you can hate on those who use disposable diapers, or daycare, or formula, or just parent their children somehow differently than you do.  A generation ago, before the Internet, the more familiar term was the “mommy wars”--with deeply drawn lines between women who stayed home to raise their children and those who worked outside the home.  It really is the same war, now just fought on different media.

However, as a world, we’re making a little more progress when it comes to ‘hating on,’ or blaming, women who experience domestic violence or sexual assault.  The rhetoric in this country is dying down about whether the woman in question did something to “deserve it,”  whether by wearing the wrong outfit or burning her partner’s supper--and more emphasis is being put on women’s rights not to be abused in the first place.  Yet, there is still work to be done in our society, and work to be done around the world on this very topic.  And we ourselves can probably be more helpful when talking about these things in other places by not saying it happens because the men in those countries are somehow morally or culturally inferior to the men in our own, as a result of their race or ethnicity or religion.  Perhaps when we say this, we do so in the vain hope that it will not happen to us.

And there are so many other circumstances in which women can find themselves, that we are more willing to judge or regard with disgust, rather than compassion--for example, teenage pregnancy, or prostitution.  We heap shame on women who do either of these things, while probably hoping that either situation doesn’t happen to anyone we know.  And yet, even in the Bible, God brings blessings through pregnant teens and prostitutes.  It’s not an easy life, to be sure, but we don’t need to make it harder.

Remember that phrase again, “God never gives you more than you can endure?”  Well, maybe God doesn’t, but others do?  What is harder to face, the suffering of our situation, or the stigma we receive from others?

And then, there’s the tension that exists closer to home, that might be in any of our homes, which is the tension between Mothers vs. Daughters; or especially mothers and daughters in law.  We consider ourselves lucky when a relationship is good; and almost inevitable when the relationship is not--perhaps because years of heartache are so deeply felt and remembered.  Whatever role we play, it’s easier to commiserate with our friends than to really work on the brokenness in the relationship itself.

[And let’s be honest, the world has changed and it exacerbates that tension: Everything that we thought we knew about raising children 20 or 40 years ago is considered wrong now:  should the baby always sleep on its back, or on its stomach?]

Of all the things I’ve described above, then and now, I think we do well to hear those words in Isaiah, when God says:  My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways.  The heavens are higher than the earth--well, we all know that taking the high road, and truly doing so, is hard!

And yet, we too, whether we have faced misfortune, or are tempted to judge others who have, we might know deeply the words of the Psalmist, that God’s “Steadfast love is better than life; my soul clings to you, you have been my help.”

The Outreach Factor: God Abundantly Pardons

This will be even more important for us as we seek to grow.  As Isaiah says, People we wouldn’t even consider associating with might turn to us, and when we reach out as a church to our community, we might be surprised whom we find waiting for us, if we are really practicing God’s welcome!

Why waste our efforts on anything less than what God seeks from us?  Whether cliquishness or fashion or denigrating others?

After all, God abundantly pardons.  What if the housekeeping isn’t perfect?  God pardons.  Did you make a costly mistake at work?  Have a family fight?  Did you sleep in and miss church?  God abundantly pardons.  Forgot to exercise last year?  Your Doctor might not be so understanding, but God abundantly pardons.  The point is not to give up and stop caring as if nothing matters--but at least to reduce our anxiety about failure, so that we can begin to practice love.  Begin seeing world as God sees it --and not wandering around in self-righteousness, because that is a problem.  I think we all have to be reminded of this from time to time, because it’s so easy to do, to think we’re doing it all right, we’re going to church every week, we’re watching our mouths, we’re doing a little volunteer work here and there--but it’s too easy to judge others.  We get too fixated on what others doing wrong, probably missing something looming large in our own lives.  Paul says, “If you think you’re standing, watch out that you don’t fall.  Everyone faces the same kinds of tests in this life.”

Finally, let’s go back to that fig tree in the garden.  When we’re ready to cut others down, God pleads for another chance.  When we’re the ones who feel like we’re a waste of space, God may simply have put our feet in manure a while until we are ready to thrive again!

When we have been shown such abundant grace, why wouldn’t we want to respond in kind?  Why wouldn’t we want to bear good fruit?

Tragedy is not a punishment for sin.  In judging others, we risk destroying our own lives as well as others.  God has shown us the ways of love, through extending grace to us, that we might lend our own acts of healing to a hurting world.  Go and do likewise. Amen.

*There is an excellent book by this title, authored by Rabbi Harold Kushner.  I highly recommend it.

Children’s sermon:  Why do bad things happen?

Sometimes we do things that aren’t wise, and bad things happen. If we tease someone, they might cry.  If we don’t study, we might get a bad grade.   If we let our cat out, it might get lost.  Other times, we have accidents, where we didn’t do anything wrong, but something bad happens anyway.  In Biblical days, people thought that if something bad happened to you, you must have done something wrong to deserve it. This is done to scare other people into being good, but didn’t work very well, and people were afraid.   Jesus says that this is not true, and that we should not judge people by the bad things that have happened to them, because they could happen to anyone.  Rather, we should focus on God’s love for us, trust in God, and show God’s love to other people.

Prayers:

For those recovering from stroke

For those struggling with mental health

For those struggling with addictions

For all who face abuse in their homes and families

For all who face hunger

For all women who struggle to gain access to education, work, and safety in their daily lives around the world

For the Catholic church, as they seek a new leader, that they may discern with wisdom