Beautiful Rene

My head was thick and my eyes bleary with the effects of a bad cold. Urgent chores at home had kept me from breakfast. So when I walked into Aurora Commons* I was moderately miserable. Rene took one look and demanded with beguiling authority, “Did you have breakfast? Do you want me to make you some pancakes?”

“Sure, I'll have some pancakes. Thanks.”

“You want some eggs, too?”

“Yes, that would be nice.”

She added my order to her backlog and went back to the griddle. I greeted others. Chatted with Andy, the director for the day. Out of the corner of my eye I watched Rene at work. She filled a plate with pancakes, buttered them, added eggs and handed the plate to another hungry soul. I saw plates of pancakes here and there around the room. Rene greeted everyone that came within her circle. I laughed inwardly as I saw her patting the pancakes with her hand after flipping them on the griddle. I couldn't tell if she was showing affection to the pancakes or was checking their cooking progress.

She dished several other plates. Finally, she tapped me on the shoulder and handed me my plate. I poured Aunt Jemima, then walked across the room and sat with another of her customers, a hard- looking man that I thought I recognized. I tried to start a conversation. He refused to talk. Instead he simply shoved a container of syrup toward me. At least I guessed it was syrup. The container was a glass jar. The liquid was brown with mysterious specks in it. He handled it with a dry dish rag like it was hot. After some minutes of silence, he said, “It's seasoned with nutmeg.” And lapsed back into silence. I added some of the mystery juice to my pancakes and kept eating.

A little later Rene came back to check on me. She touched my shoulder. “Is it good?” I nodded and made happy noises. She, in turn, was obviously pleased with my pleasure in her cooking. She headed back to the griddle. Andy said she had been cooking pancakes for all comers all morning.

I had not met Rene before, but I'm at the Commons only an hour or two per week. She was obviously a regular and knew many of the folk that came in and out. She added sparkle and warmth to the place. For the time I was there last Tuesday, she was the matron, the mother of us all. The world of Aurora Commons was better because she was in it.

I thought of the stark contrast between Rene's identity inside Aurora Commons and outside on the sidewalks along the Avenue. There she is a street walker. A figure in Seattle's criminal underbelly, a visible testament to human brokenness. Here she is beautiful, admirable, noble.

So which is she? Matron or street walker? Care giver or parasite? Scrappy survivor or temptress? I don't know enough about the world of Aurora sidewalks to offer meaningful commentary on that . world. I don't understand prostitution, drug addiction, unemployment, human trafficking. But I do know that inside, within the walls of Aurora Commons, Rene is beautiful and nurturing. She is admirable and admired.

Maybe this is a model for church. Some of us have details in our lives that are sketchy at best, maybe even base and despicable. Our current lives are not our ideal lives. Still we come to the House of Prayer. For an hour or two inside these walls we bask in a different identity. In worship we know ourselves as beloved daughters and son. In community with one another we experience admiration and appreciation from our sisters and brothers. We kindle again our hope that God's promise of transformation and redemption reaches even to us. In the physical space, the rituals, and the humanity of church we taste, we know by direct experience, the Gospel.

*Aurora Commons is a drop-in center sponsored by the Awake Church. It offers sanctuary to the street walkers, homeless, addicts, mentally ill and everyone else in the vicinity of Aurora Avenue and 90^th Steet.

Church and Young Atheists

Church and Young Atheists: Part one in a series, God and Young Atheists

Sermon manuscript for Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventists

Sabbath, August 2, 2014

Texts: Colossians 1:1-10

Matthew 22:34-40

Luke 10:25ff

Mark 12:28-34

Erica attended Auburn Adventist Academy. She graduated from Walla Walla University—an Adventist school—and moved back to Seattle. A few months ago we met at Starbucks in Pioneer Square to catch. on life. She asked about my kids and the animals at our house. Then it was time to find out what was going on in her world. She was working for a non-profit, making a little money and a big difference in the lives of her clients. Her boyfriend was similarly employed. She was happy.

I had heard through the grape vine she was an atheist, so I asked about that. She explained she didn't really know for sure there was no God. She just found it easier to say she was an atheist than to try explaining all the complications in her mind in regard to God. Church people had been good to her she said. It's just that she couldn't believe everything she was supposed to believe. So she called herself an atheist and no one hassled her about the details.

I meet more and more young people like Erica. They grew up going to church. They used to believe, used to pray, to read their Bibles. Now they consider themselves atheists. Some of my young friends are quite confident that science gives a completely sufficient description of the forces and causes operating in the universe. There is no need for God. Others are not so certain. The most obvious characteristic of their thinking is questions.

I thought it would be good for us as a congregation to think about these young people. How should we respond to their questions, to their lives?

Let's begin with a curious congruence between what these young people tell me and the words of the Apostle Paul.

At the beginning of the book of Colossians we read these words.

We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. May God our Father give you grace and peace. We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace. (Colossians 1:2-6 NLT)

Grace and peace. . . . We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. The Good News that came to you is . . . bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives.

Paul had never met these people, but he had heard about them. And from what he had heard, it was clear the religion of these Christians in Turkey was not merely a set of dogmas or Bible interpretations. Their shaped their lives. They were good people.

When I talk with young atheists, one thing that jumps out at me over and over is their affirmations of the church. They remember going to church and being treated well there. The people at church they knew were good people.

Of course, you can find horror stories. Church leaders and church people have been sexually and verbally abusive. But I only hear about this in the news. I do not hear about this from the young people I know. They may think of themselves as atheists. They may find church irrelevant or uninteresting at this point in their lives, but when they tell me about their direct, personal experience of church, church was a good place, populated by good people.

You have done a good job representing God to your young people.

Speaking to you as representatives of the world church, I say, “Thanks.” Thanks for being kind. Thanks for teaching Sabbath School classes and involving young people in the life of the church. Thanks for learning the names of the kids who sit on the same row you do in church. Thanks for taking kids out on your boat, for taking them camping and for involving them in feeding the homeless. It is because you have shown the kindness of God to these young people that they are willing to sit down at Starbucks and articulate their questions and uncertainties. Because of the goodness of people like you, church is not a scary place. Because of you, church is seen as a wholesome community of good people. You make God look good.

As we consider how we can best respond to the atheism of young people who have grown up in our churches, let's take satisfaction in knowing that most of these young people have seen good things in church. Church is not “the problem.” These young people do not struggle with faith because you have failed. You are not to blame for their crises of faith.

When I talk to people in their fifties and older, I frequently hear stories about damage they experience in church. Church in their youth was not a safe place, not a welcoming place. But happily, I do not hear those kinds of stories from people in their twenties and thirties. Which brings me to my second point. In responding to our young atheist friends, we should pay attention to what they say. They are not processing great failures by the church to care for them as persons. Rather they are pondering deep, haunting questions that lie at the very core of religious and theological conviction.

The gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, all recount conversations between Jesus and a questioner who asks the great big question. If the conversation had happened today, the question would have been something like, “What is the meaning of life?”

In that society, the question went like this, “What is the greatest commandment?” “What is the highest human obligation?”

Here's the way Matthew tells the story: a conservative religious scholar asks the question not to seek understanding, but as a secret attempt to make Jesus look bad. Of course, Jesus wins the day by giving a wise, incontrovertible answer. The first and greatest commandment is to love God with your entire being. But you can't stop with one commandment. There is a second right up there with the first. And that second commandment is love your neighbor as yourself. answers well this way: A Pharisee tempted Jesus by asking what is the greatest commandment? (Matthew 22:34-40)

The Gospel of Luke also pictures the questioner as someone out to score points in a debate with Jesus. This time the question comes out like this: “What do I have to do to inherit eternal life?” Interestingly, Jesus does not immediately answer the question. Instead he asks the scholar for his understanding of the Bible. What is his answer to the question. The lawyer gave the classic answer Jewish thinkers drew from the Books of Moses—Love God and love your neighbor. Jesus said, “You've got it right. Do that, and you're good to go.” Since the lawyer hadn't actually been looking for insight, he refused to accept this as the answer. Nothing can be that simple. So he asked the complicated question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus then told a story that confronted the lawyer with the stark challenge of a moral choice. The real questions are not theoretical definitions, but am I willing to take moral action? Will I do goodness? (Luke 10:25ff).

In both Matthew and Luke, the questioner is morally suspect. The purpose of recording the story is to show the wisdom and goodness of Jesus. Mark does something very different.

In Mark's story, the questioner is also a scholar. But instead of setting out to trick Jesus, he asks his question because he has been impressed with the answers Jesus has given to other questions. This scholar engages in conversation for the purpose of seeking understanding. He asks Jesus the same famous question, “What is the most significant commandment?” Jesus answered with his famous summary, The first commandment is love God with your entire being. The second commandment is love your neighbor as yourself.

Now notice what happens. After hearing Jesus' answer, the scholar, says. “Yes. That's right. Because surely there is only One God. And to love God with one's entire being and to love one's neighbor matters more than the performance every possible religious ritual.”

The scholar asks a real question.

Jesus gives a real answer.

The scholar sees the wisdom in Jesus' answer and affirms it.

Then what happens next? Jesus affirms the scholar. “You are not far from the kingdom!” (Mark 12:28-34).

This story provides a model for our conversations with young atheists. When we talk with young atheists, there is little value in attempting to prove that we are right. In the stories of Matthew and Luke Jesus is shown to be right, but where does that leave the questioner? The questioner is wrong and lost. But in Mark, the questioner is shown as an honest seeker for truth. The point is not proving that Jesus is right, but that he leads questioners to toward the kingdom and blesses them in their journey.

Let's learn to copy Jesus. Let's not aim to make ourselves look good. We don't even need to work to make the church look good. Rather let's learn to hear our young friends. Let's honor their quest for truth.

Most of the time when you ask young people why they are atheists, they will tell you about their commitments to truth and justice. When they voice these values, we can say to them truthfully, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

When we listen carefully and respectfully to our young friends, they will help us sharpen our own thinking. We will create the kind of community that they themselves dream of inhabiting.

Many of the young atheists, I know are single or without children. If we continue to respect their spiritual journey now, while they questioning and searching, it may well be that when they have children and look for a community that will help them teach their children compassion, integrity, justice, peace, and wisdom, they will decide that the church is just the kind of community they have been looking for. They will once again claim their place in this visible expression of the family of God.

Lantern of God

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship, Sabbath, January 15, 2011.
Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 5:8


We were camped in an informal camping area some distance off a remote gravel road. It was cold. There was snow on the ground and snow in the air. After we finished supper, Karin crawled into the tent. I helped get the sleeping bags zipped together and hung around until she was all snuggled in. Then I went for a walk. It was magic. Because of the snow, the road was obvious, even in the dark. The longer I walked the heavier it snowed.

After half an hour I turned around. The darkness was deeper. The snow fall was heavier. I began to wonder if I might walk right past our camp.

It was not a real worry, though, because before I left I had lit a hurricane lantern and set it on a large rock at our campsite.

Sure enough fifty yards from the turn off to our campsite, through the snow and the trees, I was beckoned by the warm light. The yellow glow of the lantern advertised a snug shelter from the freezing wind, a cozy, pre-warmed sleeping bag. Ease.
Hurricane lanterns live up to their names. They work in extreme conditions. A candle works fine inside a draft-free room. A bowl of kerosene with a wick draped over the side will work in some settings. But a hurricane lantern works outside when the wind is blowing and it's pouring rain. And on snowy nights in eastern Oregon. It even works on the wintery plains of Wyoming. You can hang a hurricane lantern on a nail outside the log cabin door to serve as a beacon for a cowboy finding his way in from tending the cattle.

The lantern makes possible the magic of light from the combination of flame and kerosene. Flame is not enough. Kerosene is not enough. Of course, a lantern without flame and kerosene is not worth much. It's when we bring together lantern, kerosene and flame that we have life-saving light.


The church is God's lantern in the world. It is in the church that God's presence and grace become visible and effective.

Jesus' ministry brought light to those in darkness (Matthew 4:16).
He called himself the light of the world. (John 8:12)
The Gospel of John says that Jesus was the light of humanity, that he lit up every person who comes into the world. (John 1:4, 9)

With all this affirmation of Jesus' role as the light of the world, it is surprising to read Jesus' words in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world.” You—disciples, believers, Christians, people like you and me. We are the light of the world!

Jesus is the light of the world. We are the light of the world.

Which connects strongly with several passages in the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians 1:22-23. God placed all things under Christ's feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Notice the words, “The church is the fullness of Christ!

Now the words of chapter 2:19-22

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens,
but fellow citizens with God's people and
members of God's household,
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

The church is the body of Christ, the very fullness of Christ! The church is the dwelling of God. We are God's temple. The church is the lantern which houses and displays the glory of God's presence and grace.

If a person is looking for God, God's intention is that they can find him by coming to church. God's intends the church to be a place, a community, where people can renew their connection with him. We can revive our faith by participating in the life of the church. And those who have never made a connection with God can begin their walk with God by connecting with the church.

The church is the medium through which God is most powerfully present in the world. It radiates hope in a hopeless world. It promises safety, security and belonging.
The church is the light of the world. Paul writes that God intends that his wisdom is to be evident “in the church.” (Ephesians 3:10). Paul prays that God will be glorified in the church (3:21). That's a wonderful affirmation. God has amazing confidence in us. It's a daunting challenge. I find myself wondering, “God, are you sure about that? Are you sure you want me to represent you?” The answer is yes. He does want me and you to serve as his representatives.

That's our job. When people meet us they are meeting God.

Going back to Paul's words about the church being the body of Christ, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way, it's natural for us to ask ourselves what we can do to make sure we are living up to this privileged status. What can we do to make sure we are truly The Light in the dark world?

In the current Adventist climate, the “proper answer” is, “We need the Holy Spirit.” Which, of course, is true. In fact, Paul says that God lives in the church through the Holy Spirit. (2:22). But this answer misses Paul's point. Paul does not say that seeking for and receiving a new measure of the Holy Spirit is the key to being filled with all the fullness of God. The key to radiating the glory of God is mentioned in several places in the book of Ephesians.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the saints,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 3:17-19

Then in chapter 4:

to prepare God's people for works of service,
so that the body of Christ may be built up
until we all reach unity in the faith and
in the knowledge of the Son of God and
become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 4:12-13

In both of these passages, the key to being filled with God, filled with Jesus is knowing God. When we know God we will radiate his presence and grace in a dark world? Knowing the height and depth and breadth of God's love.

Beware of strategies that focus over much on the Holy Spirit. Human effort to “acquire” the Holy Spirit is not a major theme in the Bible. The presence and work of the Holy Spirit are promised in John 13-16. What we are called to pursue is a full, rich, true knowledge of God. The key to being filled with God is knowing God. And this is something we can actively pursue.

The first thing we can do to deepen, enrich, purify, intensify our knowledge of God is to practice daily reinforcement of the good things we already know. Most of us are Christians. Many of us have been Christians for a long time. If someone were to give us a quiz we could give the right answers to questions about God. But often this knowledge gets swamped by all the knowledge we have from elsewhere in our lives—TV, radio, the internet, friends, bosses, coworkers, family.

We can make our factual knowledge more potent, more effective in our lives by daily refreshing our awareness of the good news. Some ways we can this are:

Bible reading. There are all sorts of ways to do this.
Online devotionals. There are a variety of sources of emailed daily devotionals.
Christian music.
Books on tape or CD. Great for commuting.

A second way to deepen and purify our knowledge of God involves more in depth exploration. We can do this through:

Sermons can challenge and question our present ideas and instinctive convictions, pushing us to consider things we might not have otherwise.
Books can open our minds and hearts. Both topical books and biographies and memoirs of people of faith can feed our own faith.
With both sermons and books, it is important to seek out input that builds our faith and confidence. Avoid input that increases your fear or your condemnation of other people and churches.

A third way to enrich our knowledge of God is to engage in behaviors that reinforce our faith such as:

Attending church—the mere fact of attending, quite apart from the content of sermons or the words of the music, just going to church—tends to reinforce our faith in God.
For some of us, spending time in the out of doors will build our faith.
For nearly everyone, participating in acts of service will have a reflexive positive effect on our faith. As we participate with God in responding to human need, our own confidence in God will grow.

In addition to filling our lives with positive reinforcement, we can avoid things that erode or obscure our knowledge of God.
Limit our exposure to talk radio and TV news.
The world is actually safer than it was years ago. Children are less likely to be abducted. Fewer people are starving. I don't mean to imply the world is a safe happy place for all six billion of us, but if you are more aware of the threats and disasters than you are of the beauty and glory of the world, you need to reduce your consumption of negative input. Do not listen “to be informed.” Listen for the purpose of taking action. Listen and send money. Listen and contact your legislators. Listen and pray. But do not listen merely so you can be aware of the evil in the world. This kind of listening erodes our effective knowledge of God.
Listen to yourself. Do you speak more frequently about the trouble in the world or the blessings. Do you speak more passionately and enthusiastically about the gloom or the light? Do you celebrate goodness or decry badness more frequently and intensely?

In John 17, Jesus said, “This is life eternal, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” We do not find eternal life for ourselves or others through the pursuit of an experience with the Holy Spirit. The function of the Holy Spirit is connecting us with God. The Spirit is not seeking to win our hearts to himself. Rather he acts on behalf of the Father and Jesus.
So please, let us give ourselves to enriching and purifying our knowledge of God. Let us build on the connection God has given us and continually seek even greater intimacy with him. Let us seek to replace the defective elements in our understanding that come from our families of origin, faulty education, our own brokenness and frailty. Lets refine our knowledge through prayer, meditation, reading, worshiping, and serving.

Let's do everything we can to make our congregation a community of light. Let's be the hurricane lantern of God, the indestructible, inextinguishable light in a world haunted by darkness.