A Different Depth of Field

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come.

Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God? 

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

This year I’d like to invite you to adjust the focus of the lens through which you see the season of Lent. We often come to this day zoomed in on ourselves.  What will be our confession? When will I get ashes? What will be my Lenten discipline? That’s not a bad focus and if that’s where you’re called, Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, would advise you to make sure the “WHY” you are doing those things is not to draw attention to yourself but as a means for you to connect more fully with God. 

On the other hand you may feel called to zoom all the way out this Lent.  To take time considering the world as a whole.  It doesn’t take a whole lot of effort to see things like Climate Change, the Corona Virus, and the growing hatred for the other as parallels for the plagues of locusts and the darkness of an army gathered on a mountain, talked about by the prophet Joel. That fully zoomed out view is also not a bad focus, but again, Jesus would advise, that if this is to be your Lenten focus, make sure to do it for the right reasons. Do it for the healing of the world, for the lifting up of the sick, for the protection of the oppressed and not to play the part of either the hero coming to the world’s rescue or the martyr dying for it.

Zoomed in on our own personal journey or zoomed out to address the larger needs of the world are both good and faithful options this Lent. But there’s another option… an option with a different depth of field… which to be honest I seem to have missed in all my previous years but it is the option to which I seem to be called this year. It’s depth of field focuses somewhere between the individual and the entirety of creation. It comes out of that last bit of the lesson from Joel. “Call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast.” This different depth of field seems to call for a focus neither on the individual nor on creation as a whole but on the gathered body. My focus this Lent is on our particular assembly of people, old and young, who worship together, cry together, laugh together, and care for one another together.  Our assembly which so very often seems to live into the call to create a corner of kindness and compassion for smallness of single individuals, but right the midst of the enormousness of all of creation. 

Joel saw pulling his congregation together, with the entire range of all of it’s diverse people as a key element needed to address both the brokenness of the individual AND the brokenness of the world around them. The gathered congregation, Joel seems to have believed, had the power to not just make a difference in individual lives, but to make a difference in the larger world as well.  The first step in doing that was simply for EVERYONE to come together. Something I think that I... maybe we... often dismiss as insignificant.  

Perhaps you feel called to the individual disciplines this Lent… prayer, fasting, giving alms, doing acts of service. If that is what you are called to this Lent, may those acts turn you toward God and strengthen your relationship with the Divine. Perhaps this Lent is calling you to address the large existential crises of our day… things like climate change, poverty, racism or fear. If that is what you are called to this Lent, may you do that work in a way that seeks to shift the focus away from yourself and onto those most deeply affected by the plagues of our day.

But, if this Lent you too feel called to something with a different depth of field.  I would invite you reject the notion that our gathering itself is insignificant and instead renew your commitment to being fully present in our purposeful gatherings HERE.  To recommit yourself to being here, not just for what you can receive, and not just because you may in fact BE what someone else needs that day, but because like Joel, you too feel called to connect more deeply with this gathering… in all of our amazing and often laugh-out-loud diversity.  I think Joel was telling his people what is also true for us... that our gathering itself is a thing that God is purposefully crafting and that our gathering itself somehow has the power to work for the healing of individuals, for the healing of our community and somehow even…  for the healing of the world.

Incredible things happen when this congregation gathers. Whether it’s on Sunday, or at beer and hymns, or on the Appalachian Trail, or in those rainbow chairs out front… If you haven’t yet noticed how God works through this congregation when it is gathered together, this Lent might just be the perfect time to re-dedicate yourself to gathering as an essential part of this solemn (and often not so solemn) assembly and really taking deep notice of what God is miraculously doing in and with this holy gathering. Amen.

Six Days Later

The Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew, the 17^th Chapter

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Six days later. That, is when today’s story begins. But six days later from what? Six days before this, Peter had declared to the world that Jesus was the Messiah! The Son of the Living God! Then, in nearly the next breath, he turned around and told Jesus that under no circumstances should Jesus go to Jerusalem and be killed. Six days before this story, Jesus had told Peter first that he had been blessed with a vision of truth from God and then, immediately, had to turn right around and tell Peter, “Get behind me Satan.”

Peter had tremendously brilliant moments of holy clarity… an amazing ability to see how God was intimately involved and at work in the world. AAAANNNNNDDDDD Peter ALSO had equally tremendous moments of not-quite-as-holy distractions from the world around him.  Distractions from a world which was violent, oppressive, corrupt and actively out to get Jesus… a person he loved and had committed his life to follow.

I’m personally inclined to go easy on Peter for getting distracted by the “crazy” of his world and losing his faithful focus on Jesus. I’m mostly inclined that way because I am also VERY easily distracted by the “crazy” of my world! I too, all too easily lose my focus on Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Thankfully, it also looks like Jesus was also inclined to go easy on Peter when he got distracted by the crazy, violent, corrupt, out-to-get-them world in which they lived. After telling Peter “Get behind me Satan” Jesus didn’t kick Peter to the curb. Instead, he took Peter, along with James and John, and led them up the mountain for some time apart from the crazy world for God to help them all get undistracted from the “crazy” and refocused on Jesus.

There on top of the mountain Jesus was transfigured. Which means he got super shiny… as shiny as the sun… shiny enough to turn the disciples attention back from the crazy of the world! Then, God pointed at the super shiny Jesus and said, “Look! THIS is my Son, HE is THE most important thing…LISTEN to him…DO what he does…LIVE like he lives… He is right HERE with you!”

The world Peter lived in WAS super distracting. It had a corrupt local ruler who was the puppet of a dictator in a foreign country. The local corrupt ruler was supported by one religious faction that had twisted their faith because twisting it lead to power and profit. The rich were getting richer with the help of the corruption and the poor were getting poorer with the help of that same corruption. Peter’s world was a constant distraction, constantly pulling Peter’s attention away from Jesus… and that was without Twitter or 24 hour cable news!

Like I said before, I’m inclined to go easy on Peter for getting distracted by the world he lived in, mostly because I know how much I get distracted and lose my focus on Jesus in the crazy world in which we live. I am incredibly thankful that it is Jesus’ way, NOT to kick distracted disciples to the curb, but instead, to take them by the hand and lead them to a place of calm where distracted disciples, like me and maybe you, can become refocused on the Way, the Truth and the Life that is Jesus the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

Now there are many mountains and other places out there where that MIGHT happen. A holy moment of divine clarity can and does happen in lots of different places all the time. For some of those unforeseeable moments we’re even lucky enough to be looking up at just the right moment and there it is! A transfiguration moment… a moment of divine refocusing. It CAN happen anywhere… it’s true!  However, there is ONE place where that kind of transfigurational, divine, refocusing happens in a time and a place that is much more predictable than all the others.

That place is here. That time is now. Each week the Holy Spirit basically takes each of us distracted disciples by the hand and leads us here. To this place. At this particular time. Each week we hear again the stories which commend to us the Jesus Way of living life. A Way that is distinctly different than the world’s ways. Each week I hold up the bread and the wine and together we see Jesus, lifted high, shining like the sun. THIS is the time and THIS is this place, where we can predictably count on seeing Jesus. The Messiah. The Son of the Living God!  And with that vision we can be refocused from the distractions of our crazy world and in that moment, in some mystical way God reminds us over and over again that THIS is my Son, HE is THE most important thing…LISTEN to him…DO what he does…LIVE like he lives… He is right HERE with you!

You and I are called to live the Jesus Way of living, which is an infinitely challenging thing to be asked to do as we live in this crazy, distracting, corrupt, violent and difficult world of ours. God knows we, like Peter, will inevitably be distracted and lose our focus on God’s Son. But in God’s infinite love, with Christ’s deepest compassion and with the Holy Spirit’s guiding hand we are led each week to come together... to hear again how we are called to live in our crazy world by this unique Jesus Way of living... to see again God’s Son lifted up in bread and wine, shining like the Sun and be invited again to take Jesus with us… to take Jesus IN US… back down from each mountain top encounter with God, into the crazy, distracting, corrupt, violent and difficult world in which we live.  The hope.  My hope.  Our hope, is that what we take with us... and in us... will somehow, in some way, seep out of us and infect the entire world.  Eventually turning the whole crazy lot of it, into the Kingdom of God.  Amen. 

A Fork in the Road

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Moses said:  See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Matthew 5:21-37

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then 6come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell. “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

The great Yogi Berra once gave directions to fellow baseball player Joe Garagiola saying, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” It turns out, that in that one unique circumstance, the choice didn’t matter because both roads led to Yogi’s house.

There are some choices in this life like that, where the choice we make doesn’t really matter... where one way is just as good as the other. But sometimes in life, the choices we are asked to make really do matter. Those kinds of choices are like the ones Moses asked the people of Israel to make as they were on the threshold of moving into the Promised Land. When they finally ended their journey across the wilderness and were about to settle into this new, non-wandering way of life, Moses told them they needed to choose. They needed to choose between living toward life and prosperity or living instead toward death and adversity.

If they lived in this new land by following the commandments of the Lord, which boiled down to loving God, walking through life in God’s ways, and going by God’s rules, they would be choosing to have a blessed life. If however they chose to turn away from God… to bow down to other gods and live their lives by the rules those other gods set down, they would perish.

This wasn’t God on a power trip setting up booby traps to trip up the people of Israel or giving them pointless hoops to jump through for God’s perverse entertainment. This was God telling the people, “HEY! I know how you all are put together! I know what makes you tick because I’m the one that made all your tickers!” God was letting them know that if they chose to live in a way that was in harmony with the way they had been put together, they would have life. If, however, they lived in a way that went against their manufacturer’s recommendations, they would inevitably tear themselves apart. God was sharing some Divine inside-information about how humans work.  God was sharing that out of God’s unconditional and unlimited love, so they might choose to live and live to the fullest!

Jesus was doing that same thing with the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus reminded the people on that hillside that the choices they made about how they lived together really DID matter. Following God’s commandments, ordinances and decrees, not just by the technical letter of the law but by the even deeper spirit of the law as well, would lead them and all of humanity toward abundant life. Walking down another road would lead to death. Jesus wasn’t sharing what we needed to do to make God love us.  God loves us.  Period.  It’s actually BECAUSE God loves us unconditionally that God wants to let us in on how to follow our Manufacturer’s recommended settings and experience abundant life! Jesus was reminding them that when those recommended settings are followed they allow us to get the most out of life!

And now here WE are. We are at a spot like the people of Israel who were camped outside the Promised Land listening to Moses.  We are at a place in history like the thousands sitting on a hillside in Galilee listening to Jesus. Here we are, sitting down once more and being reminded once again of the choices we are facing. Like the people of Israel… like the people on that hillside in Galilee… we too are facing our moment to make our choice. Today, you and I sit at a fork in the road but this one isn’t like the road to Yoggi Berra’s house where either choice will bring us home.  This choice absolutely matters and is a matter of life or death. 

One way will lead us toward life and blessing. The other will lead us toward death and curses. One way leads us to welcome the stranger, the other way asks us to place the stranger in cages. One way shares our food with the hungry. The other way cuts programs and demonizes the poor and tells them to get a job. One way seeks to heal the sick simply because they are sick. The other way leads to providing healing only for those who can afford it. One way leads us to confront the causes of climate change. The other way denies this thing called “climate change” even exists. One way deals with others with honesty and integrity.  The other way insists that the ends of power justify any kind of means.  One way seeks to be reconciled with brother and sister. The other way seeks revenge on entire families. One way walks toward the higher calling of loving our enemies. The other way just doesn’t know if they agree with that idea of loving enemies.  

You and I… we are at a fork in the road and we have a choice to make. One way, we are told in these lessons, leads toward life and the other way... well, it just doesn’t. Like Moses and Jesus, I want for you to choose the way that leads to life.  I know how difficult that is these days but it is the only way toward life!  So that you might have the abundant life you were created to have I call you to stand up, speak out, advocate, write, march and vote for the way that leads our community, state, country and world toward life and away from death. We are at a fork in the road my friends and unlike the road that led to Yoggi’s house, the way we now choose, at this fork in the road, will make the difference between death and life. Amen.

Stay Salty My Friends

The Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew, the 5th Chapter

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Today’s Gospel text was the last text Pastor Martin Niemöller preached on before being sent to a concentration camp. The Nazis had been insisting that genuinely patriotic churches and religious leaders would support them without question. Niemöller said the Church’s salt was in danger of “being thrown into the same pot as the world.” Niemöller had been a prominent and influential pastor until he began to resist the “pot” the Nazi’s were cooking up. The Nazis told him, “When you start to suit your message to the world around you, then you will again be influential and powerful.” But for Niemöller, the church’s call was NOT to “suit the world” around them but to stay SALTY regardless of the cost! “If the salt remains salt” he said, “we may trust God will use it in such a way that it becomes a blessing.” The world around him was cooking up a stew that openly rejected the teachings of Jesus and was pressuring the church to throw its salt into that horrible stew.

Niemöller reminded his congregation that the Church’s “saltiness” is meant to be used to ENHANCE the love of God, LIFT UP the Way Jesus taught us to live in the world, and BRING OUT the worth and dignity of all people. In food, that’s what salt does. It enhances, lifts up, and brings out flavors. The Church’s saltiness therefore, is there to LIFT UP justice, to ENHANCE the lives of the poor, and to BRING OUT the truth, particularly when the world is working hard to hide it. Pastor Niemöller told his church to save their salt. NOT to keep it safe for better times, but so that when they saw others, even in the midst of all the horror around them, cooking up a dish that lifts the lowly, welcomes the stranger and gives bread to the hungry, they could then add their salt to THAT pot and enhance THOSE flavors!

When Niemöller turned to preach about the light, he told his congregation they also needed to resist the temptation to hide their light away from the gale-force evils of the world blowing around them, EVEN if their intention in hiding it away was to protect it. Our calling, he told them, is to put the light of Christ on a candle stand, NOT hide it under a bushel! He told them to let God worry about the winds of the world, but for us he says, “Away with the bushel!” He was absolutely right! Because what is the bushel? THE BUSHEL IS FEAR. It is fear that temps us to cover the light which God has given us to shine into the world. It’s fear that causes us to shy away from standing up to the powerful. It is fear that leads us to horde what we have and not share with our neighbor. It’s fear that plows the soil for racism, anti-Semitism, increasingly violent oppression, and evil to grow. We must not let fear lead us to mistakenly believe the lie that sharing God’s light in times such as these could somehow make it grow dim or even blow it out. With fear, the Nazi’s convinced many religious leaders to throw their salt all-in to the horrible stew of denial and anger, hatred and genocide. Then they convinced nearly all of the rest to hide their light away and not speak out about the horrors happening all around them.

The world around us today is once again brewing a horrible cauldron of cowardice and hate, exclusion and scarcity, violence and horror... all fueled once more by the flame of fear. Many religious leaders and people of faith have once again thrown their salt into this latest boiling stew of fear and hatred or they have bowed to the pressure to hide God’s light under a bushel, not wanting to make waves in their congregations or denominations by talking about politics.

But like Isaiah, Jesus, and Pastor Niemöller told the people of God in the past, I’m going to tell you now... WE MUST STAY SALTY! We must care for one another and help each other stay out of the world’s simmering caldron of fear. But NOT to simply hide from the fray. We stay out of THAT cauldron to be ready to add our saltiness to the small, little pots that, if we look closely, are even now cooking up savory little dishes of justice and loving kindness all around us.

In that same way must also not hide our light under a bushel, fearful of it being blown out by the blow-hard winds of our times. Instead we must hold it high and light the paths which promote the dignity of all people, lift up the poor, the refugee and the stranger and in doing that, bring life into our world. YOU ARE SALT! In your Baptism you were given more salt than can be found in all the oceans of the world! You are light! In Baptism you were given the light of Christ! A light that shines in the darkness! A light NO darkness can overcome! So be ready with your salt and away with the bushel! May you resist the temptation to throw your salt into the horrible stew brewing in our world and instead throw it into those pots that are even now, cooking up the radical message of Jesus. May you be part of enhancing the flavors of unconditional LOVE and LIFE in our world and may you let your light so shine before others so that they may see your good works and glorify God in heaven! Amen.