That We May Have Hope

Second Sunday in Advent

Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72:1-7; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12

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

[These are some of my favorite Bible passages, especially the Isaiah, so I have a few other things in writing [in brackets] that time did not permit me to share on Sunday.  However, I share them here to peruse at your leisure].

Many of you know that on Tuesdays a bunch of us pastors get together to study the Scriptures for the week and get started thinking about the sermon.  And most weeks it’s helpful, but this week it somehow got dragged down into one of those discussions where you try to figure out how to fix the world--and an hour later you haven’t fixed anything and you’re just kind of tired, and maybe a tad cynical:  One says, raise the minimum wage, another says that’ll just make everything more expensive and folks’ll end up back in the same place. And on, and on.

I don’t want to sit there and dwell in cynicism too long, so let’s get some basic assumptions out of the way before we begin: We know there’s brokenness in the world, and we wish it were not so.  We wish there were some easy fix, but we also kind of know there’s not.  We know that whatever can change the world for the better, will take an enormous amount of energy and effort.  We know we can’t check out of the situation entirely either.  And we know we don’t want to think about all of that and just end up tired, we’d like to have something to hope for!

Isaiah 11:6 '...the calf and the lion...and a little child shall lead them.'
Found at doveandcross.org

Today in our Scriptures we’ve got some amazing and perhaps a bit confusing imagery of a hoped-for world: A world where nature is re-ordered such that predator animals and their prey can live together peaceably and no one fears harm; a world where a king does not just look out for his rich and powerful political allies, but creates justice for the poor, who can give him nothing in return; and how even from a seemingly-dead stump, new life can spring forth.  

Wouldn’t it be wonderful!  How can we get there?  How can we have such a world where these things that we deeply in our hearts hope for, could come true?

Ah, that’s what folks have wrestled with throughout all time!

So, now, enter this strange character, John the Baptist, kind of a wild and crazy-seeming guy, a prophet proclaiming the kingdom of heaven is near, and the people of Jerusalem and all Judea are going out to him to be baptized, and they’re confessing their sins.

And many Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious establishment leaders of the day, are coming out to join them.  And that’s where John gets angry.  Why is that?

It might be worth noting that this idea of using water for spiritual cleansing is nothing new even in John the baptists’ time.  Jewish people for centuries had been using mikvehs, sort of like a big baptistry or if you don’t know what that is, a jacuzzi, with stairs that you descend on one side until you’re pretty well submerged, then you come back up the other side, ritually clean.  You do this after doing anything makes you ritually 'unclean'--such as preparing a loved one’s body for burial, or after childbirth, or a list of other things that I’m going to send you to Wikipedia for, since the list is a little 'earthy:'  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikveh

And here's a link to images of both ancient and modern Mikvehs, via Google image search. (Note that a person may not be wearing clothes in a Mikveh, so view at your own discretion).

Going Through The Motions

That makes you ritually pure to enter the Temple, the house of God, and worship.  It’s a powerful symbolic ritual, designed to prepare people to increase their relationship with God by leaving behind distractions of daily life.  But the real importance is not really the physical ritual, it’s the internal preparing of your heart for worship and relationship with God.  In other words, it’s not magic.  Going through the motions might make you look acceptable to your peers, but it doesn’t really do much for you if your heart isn’t in it.

That said, why is John so angry at the Pharisees and Sadducees?  It’s because they’re going through the motions, and they’re also relying on the privilege of their bloodline for their security in this world.  Rather than being accountable for their own actions and how their own corruption is harming other, especially vulnerable people, they are seemingly smug, and they hold everyone else accountable to the motions, without consideration for their human struggles, whether physical or spiritual.

Don’t Be Too Quick To Judge

We shouldn’t be too quick to judge, though.  Sometimes I think, If the Sadducees and Pharisees are there trying to get baptized, then really, maybe they’re not feeling all that smug and secure. And let’s be honest: we, too, could become smug, to say that we’re Christians, that Jesus reconciled the world 2,000 years ago, and that’s that.  Well, yes, we believe that our eternal salvation is in the death and resurrection of Christ, but if we do not let that affect how we live out our daily lives in relationship to God and one another, we really lose out on so much in this life.

The Gift of Baptism

In our faith tradition, we baptize infants because we believe that God does the work of salvation, that we do not and cannot earn our salvation, any more than an infant could.  God has done that work for us, that is God’s gift to us.  That is our gift whether we keep it up on a shelf, or whether we take it out every day and use it.  The gift is still ours either way, but in our daily lives right now, we are made richer by using it.  

[This brings up a tricky situation that many families wrestle with:  when grandparents want a child baptized sort of ‘just in case,’ even if parents don’t want the child baptized or plan to teach them the faith.  If you are a grandparent worrying over grandkids that aren’t baptized or don’t get to church, don’t fight with the parents over it.  And of course, you would never threaten a fiery hell or whatever else folks sometimes threaten others with, because that doesn’t help anyone.  Instead, you teach them the love of God and inspire that relationship two ways:  you show them God’s love with your own compassionate and gentle presence, and you teach them what it means to love others.]

In a world where we are living out our Baptisms, we aren’t afraid to love our enemies, to show compassion, or to forgive those who have hurt us. We hold each other to a different kind of accountability, one that says, ‘we’re all in this together, we care about the same things, we want a more peaceful world for our children here on earth,’ not a legalistic or revenge-based accountability that is so common in our world, yet so ultimately empty and unfulfilling.  

[After all, how many times have we heard where a person said about a lawsuit, it wasn’t really about the money and it didn’t make them feel any better, they just really wanted more than anything to hear that the person who hurt them was sorry for doing so.?

Sometimes in life, we cut off or try to avoid people who have done us harm because we think it’ll hurt less.  Granted, sometimes in life-threatening situations, such as a history of abuse or domestic violence, we do have to do that.  But in the more routine difficulties of relationships, the distance doesn’t really heal.]

[I’ve told you before as a pastor I’m often surprised by how many people worry whether they are actually saved or if they are going to hell.  And yet I take those concerns seriously.  If we ourselves haven’t faced that kind of anxiety before, we can at least sympathize with the people in the Gospel story, who are going to John the Baptist to be baptized for the repentance of sins.  They want  to be washed clean of whatever’s been bothering them that they’re not proud of.  But again, it’s not a magic trick.  It’s not a thing to check off your list.

Ideally, we’re reminded of the bigger picture, that world and kingdom of God we are hoping for, when we gather to worship, and then we are sent forth to figure out how to live that kingdom hope and those kingdom values in our daily lives--in how we treat our coworkers or fellow drivers or the store clerk or waitress or the person on the street asking for change.]

A Transformation Of Hearts

The Gospel for today happened to be the text for Friday’s Bible Study group, and one question came up, how do you really know that you have repented and are forgiven?  And I would answer, you know in your heart.  If that’s confusing, because I think that can be, even for me sometimes, then ask yourself--about a situation where you’re upset with someone, for example.  If you have something that you are sorry for, some harsh words, well, are you really sorry?  You know when you’re holding back in your heart.  When there’s someone out there that drives you nuts that you see everyday, (maybe even at church!), have you learned to feel compassion for them and whatever they may be going through?  

Are you just being nice to someone’s face, or do you truly deeply care about them?

There’s a quote in the book, Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, which really stuck with me this week: “I find that by the time I truly understand my enemy... then I also love them…”  Those of you who know the book know that the quote ends with gaining advantage over and destroying the enemy, which isn’t all that loving.  But for our purposes today, let’s just take that first part:  

Can you go up to a person who drives you nuts and say directly to them, “hey, I know we’ve had our differences and probably still will, but I just want to let you know I care about you and I want to keep trying to work things out?”  When we are living out our Baptism, we don’t have to destroy our enemies.  It is enough just to love them.

(You can read the full quote here via Goodreads.com).

Anxiety and Hope in an Uncertain Future

While we’re talking about total transformations of the heart, let’s be real.  I’m a pastor, and I can be totally loving and forgiving and compassionate and understanding of each and every human being I meet for oh, at max, about six or seven days in a row. (And sometimes, if we’re really going to be honest, maybe some days, only a few hours, or a few minutes.  Some Sundays, I’m not even home from church before I’ve grumbled about three other drivers along the way). But, six or seven days, let’s say, and then I need to be reminded that the Kingdom of God is built not by resting on our laurels or by going through the motions, but by the active, daily practice of love.  Love in forgiveness, love in compassion.  We will all need to keep working at this, every day, for the rest of our lives.  Our eternal salvation does not depend on this, because that work has already been done.  But our world today, very much needs these daily doses of love.  By love, true community is built.  By love, all obstacles and challenges can be faced together.  By love, our world is transformed.

While I’m not likely to take the Isaiah passage literally and allow my young children to go play with nests full of snakes anytime soon, I do still fervently hope for a day when no one will hurt or destroy within the realm of God.

In an uncertain future, we can take hope.  And really, no matter how good or bad the present times are, the future is always uncertain.  We can allow that to paralyze us with fear, or we can allow that to turn us into cynics, or we can live into hope.  As Paul has written: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers this Week:

For all who struggle in body, mind, or spirit, with the winter weather

For all who are hungry or homeless at Christmas, and at any time of year

For all who are grieving or hurting at this time of year

For all who are unable to gather with family and friends for the holidays

For the hope and justice and inspiration brought to all people by the life and leadership of Nelson Mandela

Youth Moment: Why Can’t We Be Friends?

We have a lot of kids gathered here today, which is wonderful, and I wonder if everyone knows each other already.  Let’s introduce ourselves.  Now, let’s say I’m friends with this group of kids on my right.  If I also become friends with the kids sitting on my left, does that mean I have to stop being friends with the first group of kids over there?  Of course not.  Friendship grows as it is shared!

I had a friend in kindergarten and first grade, who didn’t know this.  So she told me that I could be her friend one week, and then another girl we knew would be her friend another week.  We had to take turns being her friend.  It was kind of silly, because we all could have been friends together!

Sometimes older brothers and sisters in a family worry when a new baby comes along, because they think that the baby will get more of their parents’ love and they’ll have less.  But in reality, parents’ love grows and expands to include all of their children.  And this is what the Gospel story is about today.  People are worried in a situation that they’ll get less because they had to share so much, when Jesus just wants them to realize that they are all children of God, and to stop their silly argument.  And we will be God’s children forever, both now and in heaven. 

Thanks be to God for the gifts of friendship and love!

Can You Dream BIG Enough?

Luke 20:27-38; Haggai 2:6-9; Psalm 145:1-4, 17-19; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

I bet when you think about Consecration Sunday, you don’t immediately go to the Gospel story for today.  It’s a little weird, this story about seven brothers who all married the same wife and all died childless, and whose wife is she going to be when they all get to heaven?

Actually, it sounds like a great plot for a soap opera.  You could call it The Days of Our (After)lives, All My Husbands (But None of My Children), My Seven Sons...my point is, it sounds a little scandalous; and the Sadducees point is, wouldn’t it just be more convenient if there was no resurrection, because isn’t that going to be one messed up family fight?  It’d be way better if all the characters just stay dead.

And Jesus is listening to all this, probably thinking the real soap opera drama is what’s going on in front of him.  

The big deal about this marriage thing, which is called Levirate marriage, is that it’s all about money.  Marriage throughout Biblical times became about property acquisition, and a wife was regarded as property.  If the husband died, a brother was required to marry the wife to produce heirs to carry on his brother’s family fortune, and to provide for his brother’s widow, otherwise the widow was out of luck. This meant the brother was left with less of his own inheritance and fortune.  Now the widow is obviously out of luck in this case, (and I think she kind of was all along), but the point is, Jesus isn't worried about money and property and inheritance in heaven.  Jesus is concerned about relationships that are bigger than property lines and inheritance.  Jesus is concerned that people are just valued for who they are, not what wealth and security they can provide.

Jesus is basically saying here, guys, you are not dreaming big enough.  Heaven can’t be bothered with these earthly hangups.  We are all children of God, alive in the Resurrection, and not mere property.  We're meant for something bigger.

++

You remember the song Imagine, by John Lennon?  I was listening to it again this week and have been thinking it over.  It’s really not a godless song, as some have criticized it, but actually a very Godly one.  I especially appreciate the line which says, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one….”

What if we could dream big enough, and weren’t limited by our own pre-set mindsets?  

When I dream bigger, I realize everything I have belongs to God.  I’m more willing to share, more willing to forgive.  More willing to think outside the box.

In our own lives, we are more than our property, right?  God doesn’t call on us to simply pay the bills and that’s that.  After all, whose heart can be stirred by the monthly bills?  Is your joy and purpose for being when your water and sewage bill arrives at home? ( If so, we need to talk.)  No, but the joy comes in watering flowers and seeing them grow, or seeing the kids splash around in the backyard on a hot summer day, tubtime when they’re little, or even all those showers when they’re teenagers.  We can be proud of a fine-looking house, but chances are good we sacrificed for that house so that it could be a home where our loved ones gather and are fed and nurtured and where everyone inside knows they are loved and safe.

Church is more than an hour on Sunday mornings, we know.  But, “Church” used to be held in people’s homes--the places where they ate, went to the bathroom, washed the dishes, slept, read, sometimes fought, and where they raised their children; often where they gathered as friends and maybe even where they earned their livelihood.  The connection between worship and daily life were unmistakable.

On this Consecration Sunday, are we dreaming big enough?  Sure, the lights and mortgage need to be paid.  But why?  Is that where it all ends?  No, of course not.  Everything we do here we need to do for mission, to make God’s presence and God’s kingdom, a kingdom of good news, known here on this earth and all around us.  Sure, pay the light bill--in fact, run it up because we’ve got people filling this place, filling the rooms, using up the toilet paper and paper towels and such.  Even clean that greasetrap some more--and that is the number one least glamorous thing in our yearly budget--because we’ve had to wash so many dishes, because so many people were welcomed in and fed here, not just feeding their bodies but feeding their minds and spirits here.

So yep, let’s pay that snowplow bill--so people can find a home of welcome here all year round.  Let’s pay to maintain our lawnmower, so our lawn can be filled with people enjoying God’s good creation, whether playing sports or listening to a lawn concert or planting flowers or watching the wildlife go by. Let’s even maybe pay off the mortgage on this house of worship early, so we can start spending that money building houses for people who need them.

Let’s ask ourselves, what is this lightbulb, that chair, this table, that greasetrap doing to advance God’s reign of love and welcome in this corner of the world?  Don’t let your dreams stop at the property line.  Dream bigger, break down the barriers, and together let us be living, fully alive, and joyful children of God. Amen!

Prayers this week:

People of the Philippines and others suffering from the storm

For all struggling with addiction, and those who love and care for them

Youth Moment: Healthy Friendships

Have you ever had a friend who wasn’t very nice to you?  Sometimes this is called a ‘frenemy’--a friend who kind of acts like an enemy.  They aren’t actually real friends, because they seem to enjoy hurting our feelings, or sometimes even hurting us physically.  

Our true friends are kind to us and respect us.  It’s hard sometimes, but we need to recognize our true friendships as ones which are healthy and built on kindness.

We can also be a friend to others who need a friend and don’t seem to have one.  When someone is being teased or bullied, this is an especially good time for us to be their friend, by spending time with them, or by encouraging our friends to spend time with them and be kind to them, or even to tell a trusted adult about the person who is being hurt.  It’s not tattling to stop someone from being hurt.

Click here to view some great links to learn more about bullying and healing!

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.

Beyond Things

Hosea 11:1-11; Psalm 107:1-9; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21

What This Message Is Not About

It would be so easy to preach this week’s Scriptures as a pointed stewardship lesson, that God blesses us with so many things that we should be ready to give everything to God, and by the way, we have a mortgage on the building, so, you know, be generous....right.  Give as you feel led, but that’s not what I’m going to talk about today.

Instead, let me talk a bit about parenting.  After all, the Gospel story starts off with a sibling dispute over the inheritance--something that causes a great deal of pain in families.  And you can definitely hear the parent in God’s voice speaking throughout the passage in Isaiah.

Let’s Talk About The Kids

My family and I went back to our old neighborhood this week, and pretty soon all the parents were hanging out talking about our kids--sharing both the joys and the frustrations.  Many of you know that banter.  And I wonder, what if God talked about us the way we talked about our kids?  How would that sound?  “Oh, you know, Adam and Eve, they were so cute and agreeable at first, but then they made a total mess out of my garden--so I put up a gate to keep them out of there--but then they just went out and made even bigger messes, I can barely keep up with it all!”

Well, God does often talk about us as though we were God’s children, because we are.  And we really hear that today in the reading from Hosea.  We hear how God raised us up like a child, and such vivid imagery:  I taught them to walk, I held them in my arms, I healed their injuries, I lifted them like infants to my cheek, I fed them.  Can’t you just see that?

And yet, that relationship was mired in pain.  For as much as God tended and nurtured the children, they ran away from God, and found themselves increasingly mired in trouble, and wouldn’t turn back and seek help, they put their trust in powers, like powerful political alliances (aka “friends”) that would ultimately betray and destroy them.

Hosea:  The Perfectly Dysfunctional Family

I noticed that several folks commented (but nobody complained!) that some of the usual Bible readings were absent last week while I was away.  Part of the reason for that was they were kind of doozies.  The upshot of the story was that God commanded the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute, and then have a couple of kids which he was supposed to name, “Not My People” and “No Pity.”  Well, ouch.  God’s point in this was to create a totally dysfunctional family, where there is no love, no mercy, and no fidelity, to serve as a metaphor for what had gone wrong in the relationship between God and God’s people.  Granted, this didn’t go over well: mostly because it was weird, and also, as far as God’s people knew, it was a time of relative prosperity.  Everything was going great, so, what’s the big deal?  In reality, things were about to go horribly wrong in ways even they could see: As the scripture reads, the sword rages in their cities and they are in danger of returning to captivity and repression.

When Things Go Horribly Wrong

I think most of us have known situations where a child has been raised lovingly, and still somehow ends up down a wrong path that leads to their destruction.  Perhaps the most frequent metaphor today would be drug addiction [CBS This Morning 8/5/13 reported on the new heroin epidemic].  But there’s any number of things that could happen, that are truly frightening.  And for those of us who are parents, we may wonder if there is any reason we would ever abandon one of our children, or even kick them out of the house.  Perhaps ultimately, and realistically speaking, if the child was endangering the others who lived there, to protect the rest of the family, we might have to say, “you can’t come home right now.”  Now, I don’t want to ever think about any of that happening to my kids--who are rascals, but they’re also so young and innocent right now--but it might.  I can parent to the best of my ability, but I realize that even as a pastor, my family and my children are not immune to the ills of this world.

And that’s where we hear and understand God speaking through the prophet Hosea in today’s reading.  [Insert your own children’s names here] and you begin to get the picture of God, this brokenhearted parent, worried sick:

“How can I give you up, ____________?  How can I hand you over, ________?  

[Insert your own name here] and you begin to get the picture of God, this brokenhearted parent, worried sick.

Insert the name of anyone whom you love deeply, and you begin to get the picture....yes, I think we can begin to tap into those feelings and relate.

The good news is, even when we have done things to break God’s heart, God doesn’t write us off.  God instead chooses compassion and continues to invite the rebellious child home.

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It’s Not About the Little Things

Sometimes, our relationships are painful, but nothing huge and tragic has caused it.  Sometimes, things just ‘get in the way’ of our relationships.  Not just material things, like the inheritance dispute between the brothers in the Gospel story, but things, you know, stuff that happens, and builds up, and forms into walls and barriers between us that are so hard to tear down, without tearing each other down in the process.

Granted, it’s easiest not to let those walls get built up in the first place--to handle the issues while they’re small, and not let them blow up into big things.  When those little things get blown up, then we know the relationship is in trouble.  After all, even churches die, not because they ran out of people to invite, but because they got caught up fighting over little things like the carpet and blew all their energy, and pffft, there they went.

Who among us doesn’t have a relationship we wish could be better?  Who among us doesn’t have words or mistakes we wish we could take back?  

All these human divisions, God seeks to break down, bridge, or transform.  We’ve talked in the past few weeks about those walls of animosity between Jews and Samaritans--folks who were really two sides of the same coin; and today Paul speaks to us of Greek and Jew, slave and free, barbarian and Scythian (and who are those guys anyway--we’ve forgotten, because the division didn’t really matter)!  God is inviting us to not let those little things--and they are really little things, that we make into big things--stand in the way of love.

Beyond Things

So let’s talk about that Gospel verse again, but in a non-traditional way.  Maybe it’s not such a bad thing to build bigger barns--or churches, for that matter.  Really it’s hoarding, or at least not sharing, that is the problem.  We have a beautiful new facility, and God does call us to share it--to share our sanctuary, share our classroom space, even our lawn, and not keep it to ourselves.  Things will probably get dinged up a bit in the process, and we’re going to need two things:  a good-sized can of touch-up paint, and a load of graciousness.  After all, it isn’t really our building, but God’s.  When we can overlook the little things, and use wisely the big things we have been given, all of our relationships, and all of us individually, are deeply blessed.  God wants for us far more than we can imagine.  Thanks be to God!

Prayers this Week:

For all who struggle with addictions; mental health concerns; and for all who are facing abuse of any kind.

For those who come to harm when working in far-off places.

For our Sikh brothers and sisters as they remember the shootings in their sacred space one year ago.

For our PCUSA friends who are gathered at the Big Tent conference in Louisville, KY this weekend.

For all who are traveling

For all who are ill or injured

For those who are dying, and for those who are grieving

For peace in our world

Lyrics for the Lectionary:

When reading the Scriptures this week, consider the following:

A Thousand Years, Christina Perri (Hosea)

Somebody That I Used to Know, Gotiye (Hosea)

Paradise, Coldplay (Hosea, Luke)

How To Save A Life, Fray (Hosea)

Feel the Tide, Mumford and Sons (Psalm)