The Next Episode

The Next Episode.

Sermon manuscript (preliminary) for Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventists

For Sabbath, December 28, 2013.

Being intentional about the direction of our lives, and especially our characters.

Texts:

OT: Micah 4:1-4

In the last days, the mountain of the LORD's house will be the highest of all--the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.

People from many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob's God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths."

For the LORD's teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. The LORD will mediate between peoples and will settle disputes between strong nations far away. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore. Everyone will live in peace and prosperity, enjoying their own grapevines and fig trees, for there will be nothing to fear. The LORD of Heaven's Armies has made this promise!

NT: Luke 3:3; 10-16

Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. . . .

The crowds asked, "What should we do?"

John replied, "If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry."

Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, "Teacher, what should we do?"

He replied, "Collect no more taxes than the government requires."

"What should we do?" asked some soldiers.

John replied, "Don't extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay."

Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. John answered their questions by saying, "I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am--so much greater that I'm not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Summary:

The Baby is born. Now what? What plans are we making to participate in the vision of God the Child incarnated? How can we honor the great gifts we have received?

Now what?

We've done Christmas. It's is over.

Now what?

In the Gospels, the Christmas story is the opening episode of a series. When you read through either Matthew or Luke, when you come to the end of the Christmas story, you feel yourself being immediately pulled into the next episode. What's going to happen next.

Angels sang to shepherds on a dark night. Wise Men traveled 900 miles following a mysterious star. An ancient priest in the temple pronounced a grand prophecy over the baby. And at every stage, we are eager to turn the page. We want to know, now what?

In the Gospel of Luke when the author moves past the childhood stories, he begins by reporting on the preaching ministry of Jesus' cousin, John. John was a riveting, commanding speaker. He stirred the entire Jewish nation. He drew crowds of thousands. As they got caught up in his visions of a new age, the messianic age, they asked, “Now what?”

John replied, "If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry."

Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, "Teacher, what should we do?"

He replied, "Collect no more taxes than the government requires."

Soldiers asked, "What should we do?"

John replied, "Don't extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay."

Here is the sequel to the Christmas story. The story God began writing in Jesus Christ, he continues writing in the lives of ordinary people who commit themselves to an exalted ideal.

Notice John the Baptist's words:

If you have two shirts, pass one along. If you have plenty to eat, share.

The idea summarized in these words is so central to the meaning of Christianity Luke does not even report these as the words of Jesus. Christians—followers of Jesus Christ—immediately recognize them as part of “our convictions.” These words articulate the essence of our most fundamental ideals.

These words are especially potent here in our culture in the weeks following Christmas. Most of us have participated in an orgy of giving and receiving. We have more than two or three shirts. We have more than a single pair of shoes. Many of us have several months income saved as a rainy day fund. We upgrade our cell phones every two years, voluntarily extending our bondage to Verizon. We are rich. The very first answer to the question, Now what? For those of us who are so rich is to practice generosity.

We have received. What are our plans for giving?

Christmas is over. What next? How can we pass on the gift?

The very first place to go when we ask what does it mean to be a Christian is to check our generosity. We are to use our prosperity as a measure for evaluating the condition of those around us. Do we have more? Then what can be done so they can join us in our blessing?

In this vision there is no place for gated communities. No place for tinted windows. No place for the notion that I earned mine. Let them earn theirs.

The next couple of questions and answers explore the very foundations of a healthy civil society.

The tax collectors asked, “What should do?” The soldiers asked, “What should we do?”

We should not confuse “tax collectors” with the IRS. A far better comparison would be to compare the “tax collectors” in this passage to organizations who have the power to use the system of government to increase their profit. When those who have the power to influence Congress use that power to enrich themselves, they are acting the part of the corrupt tax collectors of that ancient era.

Can you imagine the impact it would have on our society if we were to severely limit the power of corporations and other special interests to shape tax policy?

What impact would it have on economies in other parts of the globe if the elite quit using their access to government to enrich themselves?

John's response to the tax collectors acknowledged the legitimacy and value of a a taxation system. He does not tell them to quit collecting taxes. He simply challenges them to act within limits. And especially to limit their own self-interest.

John's answer to the soldiers is along the same line. Do extort. Don't use you power to enrich yourself. Don't use dishonesty. Can you imagine the sweetness of a world where these values, these principles become normative?

Finally, imagine John's final challenge: Be content with your pay. What CEO in the United States would allow his pay to be set by other people over whom he had no power? What if CEOs pay were based on their effectiveness in increasing the spread of company wealth among its employees? What if machinists' pay was based on the value they added to the company?

Christmas is over. We have celebrated God's engagement with humanity. We have celebrated a story that shows us a baby sleeping in a feed box in a barn and announces this baby, this peasant child is the very person of God. Christmas brings God to earth. It links religion and spirituality with the well-being of children and disadvantaged people.

The Christmas story begs us to ask, “Now what?” What are we going to write in our part of the story? Are we going to carry forward the vision of people as the bearers of the presence and dignity of God?

This vision of the triumph of justice and generosity, of equity and morality runs all through the Bible. And it is important to note that it is not merely a vision of individual morality—as important as that is!

2500 years ago the Prophet Micah wrote,

In the last days, the mountain of the LORD's house will be the highest of all--the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.

People from many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob's God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths."

For the LORD's teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. The LORD will mediate between peoples and will settle disputes between strong nations far away. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore. Everyone will live in peace and prosperity, enjoying their own grapevines and fig trees, for there will be nothing to fear. The LORD of Heaven's Armies has made this promise! Micah 4:1-4

Obviously, we are not there yet. Still this is God's dream for his world. The birth of Jesus was envisioned by the prophets as a giant leap forward toward precisely this goal. When we line up our lives with the ideals and values of Jesus, we are cooperating with God in his mission to accomplish peace and harmony, prosperity and freedom.

Let's not scold ourselves overmuch for not having already fixed everything. God has been working on it for at least 2500 hundred years, so it's no surprise that we haven't gotten everything put just so. But neither let us become complacent. Let's not accept things as they are, shrugging our shoulders, saying what can be done?

Christmas is over. What now? A year devoted to sharing. To the cultivation of appreciation for what we have, honesty, the use of our power for the good of all. In doing so we will find the deepest communion with God. We will taste Christmas joy all year.

Finding Jesus, Finding God

Finding Jesus, Finding God

Preliminary manuscript for the sermon at Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventists

For Sabbath, December 21, 2013

Isaiah 58:6-11

Matthew 2:1-11

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him." Matthew 2:1-2

This fall when I headed out in the mornings before dawn, I saw something strange. The constellation Gemini had an extra star. I have spent decades star gazing, matching points of light in the sky with diagrams in star charts. By now the major constellations are like old friends in the sky. Sometimes all I need to see are a couple of stars and I instinctively know the rest of the pattern. So when I looked east and saw an “extra” star in the constellation of Gemini, I knew something was up. I figured it was a planet which had “wandered” into this part of the sky for awhile.

When I checked the star chart on my tablet sure enough, the “new star” was Jupiter.

I imagine it was something like this for the Wise Men. They had spent a life time watching the sky. And in their world there was no light pollution and few clouds. The whole would have been familiar territory. So when a new star appeared, they were immediately transfixed.

Was it “the Star?” The star of Balaam's prophecy?

There shall a star rise out of Jacob

And a scepter shall rise out of Israel.

Numbers 24:17

Tradition says there were three wise men. Rich old men, Persians living in the neighborhood of Babylon. Philosophers/theologians/astrologers/mathematicians. Men who had spent a life time studying ancient prophecies and talking with one another about what those prophecies meant. They had spent decades praying, meditating, worshiping. Their entire lives they had been on a quest, a quest for God. They had cultivated a restless dream of the triumph of righteousness. They dreamed of a world filled with peace and justice, happiness and health.

The Jewish religion had a well-developed vision of a Messiah. Other religions of that time and place also had dreams of a Great King who would set things right. It's likely these pagan philosopher/theologian/mathematician/astrologers happily combined ideas from all of the available religions in support of their vision of the triumph of goodness.

These men stubbornly believed that some day, somehow God would show up, goodness would triumph. The ancient prophecies they paid attention to were the words that fueled this bright dream.

Then they saw the star. There was no mistaking its newness. The sky in their world was black at night. The stars brilliant. They knew the patterns of stars. This was new. And given their life time of dreaming, praying, studying, speculating, contemplation, they immediately identified this star as a summons.

It's 900 miles more or less from Babylon to Jerusalem, no afternoon lark. It would be a major expedition. It would cost a fortune. But what is money for if not chasing dreams?

How long did it take to put together the expedition? How many people were in the caravan? How many camels? How many camel drivers? How many cooks? How many attendants?

The most likely route for the caravan was up the Euphrates River, then eventually south, down through Damascus, then to Tyre out on the coast, then south into Judea and Jerusalem.

In Jerusalem, they asked, “Where is the new king that has been born?”

The arrival of these personages from the East asking about a new king set the city buzzing. A new king? How could that be? But there must be something to it. These guys have traveled 900 miles to ask that question. You don't travel 900 miles for nothing. The Wise Men spoke of the Star which would have been meaningful in that culture. They talked of ancient prophecies—again, highly credible

King Herod was especially concerned. His claim to the throne was never completely secure.

He questioned the Wise Men about the star and their studies of prophecies. Then sent them off to continue their quest with instructions to report back to Herod when they found the child.

The star reappeared and led the Wise Men to a house in Bethlehem. There they found Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus. The Wise Men paid homage. They gave their gifts—gifts worthy of a king. Then satisfied, they headed for home. Happy. Satisfied.

In a sense Christmas is an annual reappearance of an extraordinary star, a planet that wanders across the familiar background of our lives, asking us to check our dreams, inviting us to return again to our quest for God. Christmas reinvigorates our best ambitions. Christmas insists God is here.

God has not forgotten us. God has not forgotten the children of the Central African Republic or the women of Saudi Arabia and India. God has not forgotten the people trying to pay their rent and feed their kids on the money they earn working at McDonalds and Walmart. God has not forgotten the old men wrestling with questions of faith. God has not forgotten the mothers caring for special needs kids or the people coping with their spouse's mental illness.

Imagine we had lived next door to Mary and Joseph and Jesus in Bethlehem. We were there when the Wise Men showed up. Wouldn't we have been surprised? We knew who lived next door. They were regular people. A cute kid. Yes. But a king? No way. God????????? Are you kidding?

Christmas says that child next door in Bethlehem was God.

Then Christmas challenges us to see again the people around us. The woman who shares your bank account and bedroom? Christmas invites us to see the divine in her. Can you do it?

The man you live with: Can you see the divine in him?

The children in your house or across the street? The kids you see on the bus or read about in the newspaper. Not the beautiful kids, not the bright ones, not the responsible ones, not the kids who keep their rooms clean and do their homework without prompting—the other kids: can you see the divine in them?

Christmas invites us to go on a quest to find God, to encounter God. Then Christmas adds this bit of wisdom: You will find him wrapped in a baby blanket, sleeping in a makeshift crib.

This week I received an email from an old friend. It detailed his life-long quest for God. It's a story I've heard before, a story marked with perplexity and pain. I think of him as one of the Wise Men, constantly probing for clearer understanding, refusing conventional ideas of God that violate his deep sense of who a Good God must be. Constantly scanning the skies for a brighter vision.

I cannot answer all my friend's questions. I cannot even answer all my own questions. But this journey of the Wise Men gives one clear point of light.

When we go questing for God, the first place to look is at the ordinary people next door, or the people working at McDonalds or Walmart, or the people washing dishes at the restaurant that serves you your next meal.

God sometimes grants people a vision that transcends this world. They see a star and know that it is a direct message from heaven. But for most of us, finding God will mean learning to see people with the eyes of God.

Christmas can help us do that.

In our worship these last weeks we have ceremonially lighted the Advent Candles. They call us to renew our dreams of peace and the triumph of God's love. They invite us to light our world, joining our efforts to the intentions of God. They invite us to fill our eyes with the light of heaven so that our lives will be radiant.

Good Words

Preliminary manuscript for sermon at Green Lake Church for Sabbath, December 7, 2013. Comments and criticism welcome.

Bible Readings

OT. Genesis 1:1-5

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day. Genesis 1:1-5 NLT

NT: John 1:1-5.

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. John 1:1-5. NLT

Sermon text:

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you." Matthew 12:35-37

Words have magic power.

Nicely done.

Good job.

Perfect.

No worries.

That was helpful, thanks.

It's so good to see you.

My day is better when you're part of it.

You look nice, today.

Finally, one of the sweetest things I've heard in a long time. A young woman said about her fiance: 

“When I'm with him, I can be completely myself.”

Do you feel the power of these words? Writing them puts a smile on my face. Reading them probably puts a smile on your face. They make life sweeter, better. Dark days are a little brighter when we hear words like these.

I have favorite words from the Bible.

Fear not little flock. It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12

Grace and peace to you. (passim, The Epistles and Revelation)

Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. John 8

The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light.

On those dwelling in shadowy regions, a light has dawned. Matthew 1

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5

Christmas time is a season of good words.

Handel's Messiah sets the best words of the Bible to music.

“There shall a Star rise out of Jacob . . .”

And I imagine the blaze of Venus on the eastern horizon on an icy cold, cloudless morning.

Unto us a child born

To us a son is given

And the government with be on his shoulders.

His name will be called Wonderful,

Counselor,

the Mighty God,

the Everlasting Father.

His government and its peace
will never end. Isaiah 9:6-7

I come back to these words over and over—when I read about the Central African Republic and the horrific chaos and violence that seems to eternally haunt the place. I come back to these words to fuel my hope when I read about another poor man who has spent years or even decades on death row for a crime he did not do. When I am confronted again with apparently insoluble conflict in a marriage.

He shall lead his flock, like a shepherd.

Hearing these words or rehearsing them in my mind, I pray, “Hurry up and do it.” And sometimes I pray, “Teach he how I can partner with you in serving your flock.”

Then there are the grand, triumphant words of the hallelujah chorus.

Hallelujah!

For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.

Hallelujah!

The kingdom of this world

Is become the kingdom of our Lord,

And of His Christ,

And He shall reign for ever and ever,

King of kings, and Lord of lords,

And He shall reign forever and ever,

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Goodness will triumph. Evil will be displaced. Justice will reign from pole to pole and sea to sea. Hallelujah!

When we allow these words to permeate our minds, darkness will have less influence. Our confidence in God will deepen. Our commitments to goodness and righteousness are invigorated. We become allies with God in working toward the triumph of goodness.

This is the beautiful power of words. However, as with anything power, words can be misused. They can cut and twist. You know the old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!” Kids say it as a defense against the jagged, ugly words hurled by others. While it is true that most of the time it is preferable to be hit with words than with rocks or ax handles, the saying is, of course, false. Words can hurt.

God calls us away from ugly words, harsh words, biting words. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to a radical, counter-cultural language. Talk radio specializes in ugly words. People on the left and right entertain us by feeding our sense of outrage. These personalities earn their keep by being more sarcastic, more biting, more angry. Listening to these kinds of words frequently will warp our own souls. They will lead us to be angry about what we cannot fix and complacent about the things that we can fix. I have never yet heard anyone describe some positive action they have taken as a result of listening to talk radio or Bill O'Reilly or Jon Stewart. Good words bear good fruit. They nourish life and hope. They spur us to effective, hopeful action.

We can apply the same rule to the preaching we listen to. If a preacher specializes in condemning sin, the most likely effect of listening to that preacher is increased outrage against the sins of others! So, ask yourself what is the effect of the words I am hearing—whether here at Green Lake Church or on TV or over the internet.

Deliberately seek out good words. Deliberately avoid ugly words, jagged words, cutting words.

Now let me really go to meddling. Tell me about the words in your house. Are your children eager to hear your voice? Are they drawn to you by your good words or are you withering their souls with sharp words, disapproving words?

Kids, especially teenagers, if your parents recorded your words would you be okay with them sharing the recording with us hear at church?

Employers, what kind of words do you use with your employees? When you have to correct them are your words more cutting than necessary?

Within a Christian context the force of these questions is highlighted by the words of Jesus:

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you." Matthew 12:35-37

Words matter.

In this season of happy words, hopeful words, confident words about the purpose and power of God, let's cultivate the habit of saying good words, beautiful words, words that heal and inspire. As we do this, we will be partnering with God and we will increase our own capacity to fully trust God's good words to us.

Family of God

Manuscript for sermon at Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventist Church

Sabbath, November 30, 2013

Luke 13 and 19

The story begins with a heart-breaking portrait of affliction. A woman has a horrible deformity of the spine. A kids' version of the story goes like this:

There once was a woman who had very much trouble.

So much trouble, in fact, she was bent over double.

All day long as she went about town

all she could see was down on the ground.

She recognized people not by their faces

but by the color and shape of their laces.

She could not see the sky or birds flying by.

She could not pick the figs in the tree by her house

Or fetch down the pot from the shelf up top.

One Sabbath this woman who had very much trouble and was bent over double, went to the synagoge as usual. And who should show up that day, but Jesus. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then Jesus touched her and she was immediately healed. Her back straightened. Now she would be able to look up at the sky. She could go home and pick her figs. She would be able to see the top of her teenage son's head.

Naturally, she was ecstatic and praised God.

The synagogue ruler, however, was quite annoyed. “Look,” he said, “there are six days for this kind of stuff. Come on those days and be healed. But today—why, this is the Sabbath! It is a day for worship, not for healing.

Jesus pushed back.

“You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water?

The answer was a foregone conclusion. Judaism had a well-developed ethic of the priority of life over ritual, even the life of an animal was worth more than a sacred ritual. So, yes, the most religious Jew, the most devout rabbi would not hesitate to untie his donkey and lead it out to water.

So, Jesus says, if you have that much regard for a donkey or an ox what about this woman?

This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years! Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?” Luke 13:15-16

“Daughter of Abraham.” This woman was not just any human being, some riffraff drifted in from the street. She was Jewish nobility. She was an insider, a family member with a pedigree that went back to the greatest of great names. Daughter of Abraham.

When the synagogue ruler looked at the woman, he saw a deformed, misshapen, grotesque figure. He saw how different she was from the ideal of womanhood. In his eyes the magnitude of that difference was a measure of her unworthiness. To this professional, the extent of her deformity was a measure of how far she was from having any legitimate claim on the favor of God or the service of the community. “Get fixed.” he was saying. “Then come and worship.”

Or worship, if you must, then go get fixed. But either way, know you are not one of us.

Jesus cut through all this status game with a simple declaration: This woman is a daughter of Abraham. She belongs. She is in the family. And because she is in the family, the extent of her deformity is a measure of her claim on the resources of heaven, a measure of our obligation to her.

We just witnessed three baptisms. In an official, public rite we welcomed three young women with noble characters, bright minds, musical gifts, and admirable faith. Any family would be proud to claim these young woman as “part of the family.” We certainly are.

How does the story of the woman bent over double, the Daughter of Abraham, connect with the lives of these young women?

First this story is a promise: On behalf of God, we are saying to Sophie, Irina and Charlotte, “Your place here is not created by your beauty, your character, your intelligence, your moral achievements. We take delights in all those virtues. Yes. And if they all were gone tomorrow, you would still be part of the family. If something happens and you end up bent over double for 18 years, we will still claim you as our own, as God's own.”

Second this story is a challenge, a call: You are called to speak on God's behalf. God calls you to say to one another and to your classmates and neighbors: you, too, are welcome among us. You, too, are children of the Heavenly King. You are called to see with the eyes of God. To see yourself as God sees you—dearly beloved. And to see others as God sees them—deary beloved.

Baptism welcomes all of us into a community committed to healing. Among us brokenness is acknowledged. We don't pretend that being bent over double is normal. We reject the idea that being bent over double is just as good as standing upright. But rather than condemning the person who is bent over double, we join them in longing for healing. We do everything we can to provide for healing.

When the woman who was bent over double was healed, naturally she was ecstatic. And she was not the only one who got excited. When Jesus pushed back against the synagogue ruler's protest, and insisted that healing the woman was the exactly right thing to do, the rest of the congregation joined the women in happy celebration.

This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did. Luke 13:17

Baptism brings us all into a family where we celebrate healing. Our response to human brokenness is a hunger for healing, a hunger that over time displaces our “natural” hunger for vengeance and even our hunger for propriety.

In Luke 19, we read another story about inclusion in the family of God. Zacchaeus was a prominent tax collector in the city of Jericho. Tax collectors were opportunistic business men, widely regarded as morally deficient. Zacchaeus heard Jesus was coming to town. He wanted to see Jesus, but because he was short and because his life could be at risk in a dense crowd, he climbed a tree along the route Jesus would take into town. (In that culture, tax collectors were seen as collaborators with the enemy because they were acting on behalf of the Roman occupation army. Nationalists would happily kill a collaborator if they could do so without getting caught. A short man squeezed in the middle of a dense, milling crowd would have been a tempting assassination opportunity.)

Jesus stopped under the tree, looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down. I'm going to eat lunch at your house this afternoon.”

Zacchaeus tumbled out of the tree and led Jesus and his entourage to his house.

This time the sentiments of the crowd were aligned with the judgment of the Pharisees. They were mad at Jesus. He was contradicting their own prejudices. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. Luke 19:7

At his estate, Zacchaeus put on a feast. At some point in the dinner, Zacchaeus made a little speech.

“I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” Luke 19:8

Jesus, hearing this speech, responds,

Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. Luke 19:9

By going to dinner at Zacchaeus' house, Jesus had demonstrated that he saw Zacchaeus as “inside” the family. When Zacchaeus responded by renouncing deceptive practices and pledging himself to restitution and to generosity, Jesus said in effect, “This proves his place in the family. These are our family values. This kind of behavior is our family tradition.”

The Bible imagines the church as a family—an idealized family.

When someone in the family gets sick, has an accident, loses a job, experiences grief, a healthy family rallies. The family pulls together to see what can be done to support the person.

When the Bible describes baptism as a death and resurrection it is highlighting the radical nature of our identity in Christ. We bury our old identity and are raised with a new identity. We come up out of the water as the newly born children of God, people who have been born into a new family.

In this new family, we have high ideals. We aim to be holy. To love people the way God loves. To forgive as we have been forgiven. To be self-controlled and wise. To be compassionate and generous. To be disciplines and courageous.

When we observe in ourselves or in others a gap between performance and these ideals, we understand that gap as room for growth, as an invitation to orient our lives again toward these noble goals. The gap between performance and the ideal is an occasion for grace—God's pardon, our pardon.

In the family of God, there is no condemnation. Instead we live in hope.

I have listened to mothers of disabled children talk of their dreams and longings for their children. Of course, these mothers want more for their children. But that longing has nothing to do with condemnation. It has everything to do with loving dreams. God dreams of our success, our achievement of holiness and righteousness. God's awareness of the obvious gap between our aspirations and our performance does not lead God to reject us, condemn us. Rather God uses that gap as a call to invite us to try again, to aim higher, to receive forgiveness and to pass it on.

Baptism links us together in a community of hope.

Here at our church we have a couple of young men who are unable to shake our hands or respond in kind when we say good morning. That doesn't stop us from saying good morning. When I see Alex or Quinn, I call them by name and greet them. I would be thrilled if they reached out and shook my hand. I would be ecstatic if Alex responded with a big smile. It hasn't happened. But that doesn't stop me. It leaves me hoping. Someday. Maybe.

The stories of the woman and Zacchaeus turn out right. The woman bent over double stands erect. She can see the sky and pick her figs. The corrupt business man becomes generous and conscientious. We cheer the wonderful turn arounds in these stories. But the spiritual heart of the two stories is not the way they turn out. The spiritual heart of the stories is the radical vision of family announced by Jesus:

This woman is a daughter of Abraham. This man is a son of Abraham. Those who looked like they did not belong, had the status of insiders and old timers.

Baptism declares us, even us, to be insiders and old timers. We belong here. This is our family. Further, baptism declares that we, even we, have been given the full responsibilities of insiders and old timers. That is, we are called to reach out. To bring help and hope and healing to all. We are call to participate fully in the mission of God.

Advocates of Goodness

Sermon manuscript for Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventists

For Sabbath, November 16, 2013

You have heard it said, “Love your neighbor. Hate your enemy.”

But I say, “Love your enemies. Bless the people who curse you. Do good to the people who hate you. Pray for the people who treat you with contempt.

When you do this you are acting as true children of your Father in Heaven. Because he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good. God sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

If you love the people who love you, what's special about that? Even pedophiles do that. If you show respect to people in your own group, that's hardly noteworthy. Even drug dealers do that.

I'm calling you to be a perfect reflection of your Heavenly Father. I'm calling you to act like God.

Matthew 5:43-48

One question I like to ask people is: What good is church?

In the 1700s Quaker Christians advocated for the mentally ill. At that time, the mentally ill were treated like criminals. They were thrown into prisons where the horrific conditions were likely to exacerbate their illness. Quakers awakened the conscience of society and led eventually to more humane treatment of the mentally ill.

It was the Clapham Christians and William Wilberforce who led the decades long march toward the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain—a humanitarian advance that eventually crossed the Atlantic to “freedom-loving” America.

Of course, many Christians opposed liberating the slaves. They were blinded by thousands of years of tradition. They were seduced by the arguments of those who warned of dire economic consequences if moral considerations were allowed to interfere with the “natural” working of the business machine.

In spite of this confusion among Christians, it was the daring moral vision of radical Christians that awakened the conscience of England and led first to the abolition of the slave trade then to the outlawing of slavery itself.

Christians changed the world by awakening the conscious of their society.

What is the purpose of the church? To be an advocate for goodness. To speak up. To speak out for goodness. For fairness and equity. To challenge entrenched privileges that damage people and weaken society.

A few weeks ago, on Youth Sabbath our young preachers, Lissi, Emily and Andrew challenged us to take seriously Jesus' daunting moral challenge.

It is not enough for us to be nice people—to practice conventional manners. We have a higher calling. Recent events here in our area highlight the need for us as a church to renew our commitment to the radical moral vision highlighted by Jesus' words: Love your enemies. Mimic your Father in Heaven who sends his sun and rain on every kind of person. Learn from God to see every human as worthy. The Christian vision rejects the notion that CEOs are more valuable as persons than line workers. The workers who make airplanes deserve protection in their old age every bit as much as the CEO.

“For decades Boeing has given its line workers a decent retirement benefit. It pays out about $90 a month for every year worked at the company, so that someone with 30 years of service would get $2,700 a month when they’re done at age 65. Add Social Security to that and you’ve cobbled together a comfortable but hardly posh old age for sheet-metal workers, riveters and others who build the nation’s planes.”

But something rotten is going on.

Jim McNerny, the CEO of Boeing, is working to get rid of the corporation's pensions for workers.

I'm sure he would justify this action as necessary to ensure the profitability of the corporation. But here where clear moral vision is needed. McNerny, the man leading the charge to eliminate pensions for workers, has 6.3 million dollars in his own company-funded pension account. If he retired now, he would receive a pension of $265,575 per month. Yes, that's right. McNerny, the man who is working to eliminate pensions of $2700 for workers has in place a pension for himself from Boeing of $265,575. The pension of an ordinary worker at Boeing is a measly one percent of McNery's pension.

McNerny's blindness to moral values is demonstrated further in his vigorous advocacy of cutting the benefits workers would receive from Social Security. Maybe he could make a more credible argument for frugality in the social security system if he paid into like his workers do. But nearly all of his income is exempt from social security taxes. So he is advocating cutting benefits paid out from a program that costs him relatively speaking, nothing.

I use the word “blindness” very deliberately. McNerny is so far insulated from the reality of life for working people, he has no idea of the trauma his plans will inflict on ordinary people.

The church needs to be public in our rebuke of the idea that major players in our society should make decisions exclusively on the basis of share-holder value. Obviously, companies have to be profitable or they will cease to hire workers, cease to contribute to the economic well-being of the country. But the well-being of workers ought to considered right along side the well-being of share holders and directors.

If a company must reduce the benefits it pays to workers, it ought to reduce the salary and benefits of its upper management by at least the same percentage. CEO McNerny should be regarded as a failure if he must eliminate pensions for his workers in order to secure the profitability of his company.

Another item from current news—the battle over the minimum wage. I do not know if raising the minimum wage is the wisest way to provide meaningful opportunities for people at the bottom of the economic ladder. What I do know—with moral certainty—is that our wealthy society must find some way to broaden the distribution of the immense wealth that is ours.

When we can pay people $10 an hour to take care of our children so that we can go to the office and make $1000 an hour trading stock, something is wrong. Is trading stock really a hundred times more worthy than the nurture of children? When we pay our teachers $25 an hour to educate people who are going to make ten to a hundred times that much running our hospitals and our government and our corporations, something is wrong. The system is broken. Our moral vision has become warped.

The church cannot limit its ministry to offering consolation to the withering middle class and providing an occasional bit of emergency financial assistance here and there. Yes, offering consolation is a noble thing to do. And providing emergency assistance is essential to our calling. Yes. But that is not enough.

We are a moral community. We ought to be way in advance of society in cultivating a moral vision. We are not here to bless those with privilege and power. We are here to ask hard questions about how that privilege and power is used.

What has Jim McNerny done to increase the share of wealth the Boeing workers receive? What has he done to distribute the power and privilege that tends to concentrate in the upper echelons of corporations and societies?

What has McNerny done to increase the educational opportunities for the children of the people who work in Boeing cafeterias? What is McNerny doing to raise the lower standard of living that is characteristic of South Carolina? It is immoral for someone with his influence to set up a major plant and hire almost 7000 people and do nothing to improve the schools, do nothing to improve access to health care. Given the magnitude of the impact of corporations on their communities, they have a moral obligation to consider the impact of their work on the overall quality in that place.

It's easy to pick on a public figure like Jim McNerny. It's important that we move on from asking questions about him, about people “out there,” to asking what are we doing in our own world to advocate goodness.

If you are a student, what are you doing to catalyze goodness among your classmates? Does your presence prompt people to be more sensitive to people on the edge of groups? Do you inspire other students to take learning and mastering content more seriously? Are you and your friends talking about what you might do to mend the world, to bring about broader justice?

In your work place, what is your moral impact? Among your neighbors? Do you help others see the value in all people?

The church needs to reclaim the wisdom of Jesus—the radical humane vision that sees all people as worthy. God sends his rain on the just and unjust. On the smart and the mentally challenged. On the beautiful and the homely.

I am not arguing that Jesus gives us a business plan. I am arguing that our business plans need to be informed by more than numbers. Business is a human activity. To be fully human is to have a lively conscience. When we make decisions without reference to a sensitive moral vision are acting subhuman.

God calls us to something better.

God calls us to see clearly, to see people with the eyes of heaven.

Karin shared with me a story about the work of World Vision in the neighborhood of Cochabamba, Bolivia. The average annual income in the area is $450. The land produces very meager crops so many of the men leave seeking better opportunities. Sometimes they send money home. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes they return to their families. Sometimes they vanish without a trace, leaving a wife and kids to eke out a hardscrabble existence.

Cinda was one of those abandoned women. She had a plot of ground, but she could grow only one variety of potato and her harvests were meager for lack of water.

World Vision helped to being the community together to build an irrigation dam. Now Cinda grows several varieties. She has reliable, ample harvests. She has enough sell. With her profits she has been able to buy two llamas, some sheep and a pig. Her life has been transformed because a group of people inspired by the vision of heaven regarded poor peasants in Cochabamba, Bolivia as worthy of investment.

Whether we are looking at people in the mountains of Bolivia or the lowlands of Puget Sound, Jesus challenges us to look beyond the status conferred by economic advantage, religious rectitude, social prominence, beauty, intelligence or academic credentials. Jesus challenges us to rise higher than social convention. Jesus challenges us to see with the eyes of heaven and to partner with God in seeing that all people participate richly in the blessings that are ours.

Green Lake Church

Not merely a preaching venue, but a physical space that invites and soothes and sometimes, when the light is right, evokes wonder. Picture taken Sabbath morning, November 9, 2013.

Green Lake Church neighborhood

Green Lake Church is across the street from Green Lake park.

Holy Sex

Sermon for Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventists

November 9, 2013

Text: Genesis One and Two.

Thursday evening I was sitting in Forza's coffee shop just down the street working on today's sermon. When I'm writing in a setting like that, whether I'm working on a sermon or an article or book, the world disappears. For long stretches, my computer screen and keyboard become the entire universe.

Well, on Thursday evening, at some point I returned to reality long enough to notice a really tall guy sitting a couple of feet away. Later I saw he had been joined by a tall woman. She had very short, black hair which showed off her beautiful, elegant neck. Later still, maybe ten minutes, maybe half an hour later, I heard him talking about a sister and then make some reference to other family members. At that point I didn't immediately focus back on my sermon. Instead I eavesdropped for a minute or two. I heard her reply by saying something about her family. Then she asked something further about his family. The conversation was easy, leisurely.

I thought, “first date.” Adam, meet Eve.

The Bible begins with two stories of creation. Chapter One is the story of religion. Chapter Two is the story of sex. And some of you thought the Bible was boring! :-) In both cases the stories make radical claims. The religious and sexual ideals presented in these two chapters have never been surpassed.

In Genesis One, God shapes the cosmos and life. The story climaxes in the creation of humans in God's image and God's double declaration of satisfaction. God announces he is satisfied—God looks at all of creation and says, “It is very good.” Then God demonstrates his satisfaction by keeping Sabbath.

In this vision, religion is pictured as resting with God—NOT placating God, not even pursuing God. On Sabbath we rest in God. We savor God's presence and smile just as God savors our presence and smile. God keeps us company and smiles on us whether or not we notice, whether or not we deliberately keep company with him. The fundamental religious vision of God here at the beginning of the Bible story is a God who is gracious, reliable, supportive, present.

Genesis Two begins again with a vision of a barren, empty void. “There were no plants, because there was no one to take care of them.” Genesis 2:5. There were no animals. No people. There was not even any rain. (This is a particularly important fact for my Seattle congregation!)

God steps into this bleak landscape, stoops to the earth and from the soil fashions a man. God carpets the land with vegetation and populates it with animals. The world begins pulsing with life. But the plants and animals are not the focus. They are merely the backdrop for the human story. The man we met at the beginning of the chapter wanders this lush, vibrant terrain. His initial fascination and engagement slowly turns into an aching loneliness. He sees pairs of animals but for himself he finds no partner.

God interrupts Adam's lonesome trekking. He puts the man under anesthesia, removes a rib, then from this rib magically creates a woman. Adam comes out of anesthesia, opens his eyes, and sees the most gorgeous, mesmerizing sight in the universe—Eve.

“At last!” the man exclaimed.
“This one is bone from my bone,
and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’
because she was taken from ‘man.’”

This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. The man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

In this story, the goal of creation is romance. A man and a woman, brought together by God, enthralled with one another, united in an enduring union. Their connection is so profound, it is described as a new “thing.”

In chapter one, the last thing created was the Sabbath. In chapter two the last thing created is a couple.

Which highlights a profound truth: the purpose of creation is community.

These two chapters remind me of the “Two Great Commandments” we find in the New Testament. When Jesus was asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” he answered the question, but he also corrected the question. The first and greatest commandment is to love God with your entire being. But looking for a single commandment is a misplaced search. The greatest commandment is inseparably linked with the second greatest commandment: love your neighbor as yourself.

Genesis One and Two seem to answer the question: What is supreme purpose of life? Genesis One answers: enjoyment of the favor and presence of God. But we cannot live wisely in the light of that purpose alone. So Chapter Two says, the purpose of life is a relationally rich, enduring sexual union.

Authentic religion cannot be just about God. Not even about my relationship with God. Healthy religion shapes our beliefs about God. It offers practices that enhance our awareness of God and our appreciation of God. AND religion builds happy, healthy relationships and societies.

In recent years, this perspective has found interesting support in a wide variety of studies that show people are happier and healthier if they are married and attend church regularly. (Mere belief in God appears to confer no measurable benefits. Curiously, the states where conservative Christian beliefs are most prevalent—the so-called Bible belt of the South—are the places with the highest levels of divorce and other social dysfunction.)

Some years ago I was invited by the Psychology Department at Andrews University to give a series of lectures on sexuality. I had previously co-authored a small book on sex, but in preparation for these lectures to a bunch of psychology students and professors, I needed a more extensive bibliography. So I read books by marriage counselors, Buddhist authors, Christians, even a hedonist or two.

There was a stark contrast among the various perspectives. The Buddhist books were boring. I'm no expert on Buddhism, but as far as I can tell ecstasy and passion are not major themes in Buddhism. “Mindfulness” is not the first characteristic that comes to mind in describing sex.

The hedonistic author went the opposite direction. In his view, sex was reduced to a brief, intense biological moment. There was nothing of shared history. He knew nothing of intimacy that grows richer over time. His entire focus was on techniques to heighten the fleeting experience of rapture before the excitement faded and you were off to the next adventure.

The Buddhists authors had nothing interesting to say about passion and fire. The hedonist had nothing interesting to say about love.

I read a two or three books by secular marriage and sex counselors. It seemed to me that their advice was smart and practical. But in the books I read, the authors were writing advice to help other people achieve something they themselves had not accomplished. That is, these books assumed that the sweetest experience of sex would occur in a relationship that was life long, a relationship that was not interrupted by affairs or divorce. But every one of these authors had themselves been divorced. So I was a bit suspicious of their wisdom.

I had high hopes for the Christian books, but I was disappointed. They acknowledged that sex was part of God's creation plan. Sex is good. But the couple of books I read seemed to be more eloquent when they spoke of sexual failure and sexual sin than when they spoke of sexual bliss.

This makes sense historically because of the influence of Paul.

Finally, I picked up a couple of Jewish books. Here I found the wisest, sweetest, most convincing writing about sex. They built on the wisdom of Genesis One and Two.

When you bring together the two stories at the beginning of the Bible here's what you see:

It is obvious in Genesis that the sexual union between Adam and Eve was God's plan, God's desire, God's intention. There is not the slightest hint in Genesis that sex is sinful or dangerous. It was the glorious finale of the creative work of God.

In this sense Genesis One and Two parallel the stereotypical plot of a chick flick that ends with a passionate kiss. Or the more circumspect conclusion of a fairy tale—And they lived happily ever after. This is God's dream for humanity.

Genesis imagines sex as far more than mere moments of biological pleasure. Sex is imagined as part of romance, and more, as part of romance that endures and deepens and matures.

This wisdom is the back drop for the moral strictures surrounding sex found elsewhere in the Bible. The rules are rooted in a profound appreciation for the wonder and beauty of sexual intimacy.

The way Genesis presents sexual intimacy, it becomes a source of wisdom that goes way beyond marriage, way beyond the magic of romance. It offers wisdom for every relationship.

When Adam woke from his sleep and saw Eve, he recognized her as part of himself. This is the dream of romance. We find our “other half.” We find the who “completes us.” In the world of dreamy romance distinctions blur and union is the grand truth of life.

This romantic vision offers wisdom for life. We are called to recognize our essential connection with all people. We are all one flesh, children of one father. Classmates, co-workers, neighbors. Jesus expanded this radically and called us to recognize our kinship even with our enemies.

Adam and Eve were naked together and experienced no shame. Again, a beautiful picture of the dream of romance. When we are caught in the wonder and magic of romance, we think there is nothing that could separate us from our lover. We imagine we could tell them all, show them all, and still we would be perfectly secure in their love.

This dreamy romantic vision is a picture of God's dream for our life together as humans—that we would learn to live together in such a way that we can be completely open with one another and be unashamed.

Young people, keep the dreams of grand romance alive in your hearts. Do not be seduced by the promises of mere biological wonder. Reject the philosophies that attempt to separate sex from love. Embrace the disciplines that will lead into glorious, live-long romance.

God designed us as sexual beings. God wants you to experience the bliss and ecstasy of sex. It is also true that the highest sexual bliss is a perfect fusion of biology and soul. Sexual intimacy happens only in deep human relationship, and the richest relationships are enduring ones, yes, life-long ones. Don't let anything less capture your dreams.

Old people, take what you have learned from romance and apply that wisdom broadly. Just as good sex is a fusion of earthy biology and high-flown spirituality, so good Christianity is a fusion of the earthy and spiritual. We have ideas about God. We turn those ideas into wisdom by pouring our lives into concrete engagement in the world. Working to promote prosperity and health. Advocating and practicing reconciliation.

My mind returns to that couple in the coffee shop. They were beginning their romantic adventure by talking and listening. They were gently opening themselves to be known, hoping that as they were known to one another, they would be heard and embraced.

Similarly, we all are called to act as God's surrogates in hearing people's stories. Listening, understanding their dreams and their wounds. Working for their healing. And seeking healing ourselves. As we do this, shame will atrophy, social harmony will increase. We will find ourselves keeping company with God.

The Value of a Person

At breakfast this morning Dad remarked that he was worthless. He is ninety-five years old, and in the last year or two his mental and physical function have dramatically declined. After an intensely active life, he is becoming helpless. So I think I understand his feeling. But I pressed him.

Me: What makes a person worth something?”

Dad: If they can do something useful for other people.

Me: So babies are worthless?

Dad, after reflecting for a minute: “Yes.”

Unfortunately, his words ring true as a statement of his fundamental opinions. His moral meter for measuring the value of persons is barely activated by anything other than performance that contributes to the welfare of another. This connects with his drive to take care of people, a drive expressed in his medical practice. As a physician he cared for thousands of infants, conscientiously, skillfully. But the primary value of this care is what it said about Dad's importance, not the benefit the child received.

This is a tragic narrowing of moral awareness. It prompted me to ask myself the question: What makes a person worth something?

Certainly, when someone engages in service others that act is valuable. Of course. The Bible speaks of people as the children of God. God values them because they are God's children exist, apart from any accomplishment or service.

Human care for one another is valuable. Human creativity is valuable. Human labor is valuable. Human worship is valuable. Yes. Yes. Yes. But there is a fundamental value carried by every human because that human is a child of God.

Another way to speak of this is that every human has value through relationships. We cannot assess the value of a human person by carefully examining the individual in isolation. Putting a human individual under a microscope cannot bring his/her highest value into view.

What makes Dad worth something? He is a dad. He is a son (of God and a father and mother). He is a brother, friend, patient, neighbor. It is Dad's relational situation that creates and reveals his highest value. Part of the reason Dad feels worthless is that most of these relationships have been interrupted by death. His parents, siblings, wife, most of his long-time neighbors and friends are gone. It is for us, his children, to see his value and to act in light of his value, even if he himself has become blind to it.

Life Together

Sermon manuscript for Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventists

October 5, 2013

(Communion Sabbath)

New Testament reading for the day:

Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them. Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves. “You have stayed with me in my time of trial. And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Luke 22:24-30 NLT.

Our New Testament reading today takes us to an upstairs room in ancient Jerusalem. Jesus was eating with his inner circle, a group of twelve men. They didn't know it, but this would be their last meal with the Teacher before his crucifixion.

While they were at the table Jesus warned the group that one of them was going to betray him.

The disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing. Luke 22:23

It was inconceivable that any of them could sink so low. They questioned themselves then looked around at each other wondering. Who could possibly do such a thing? Their bewilderment about which of them might have such a fatal flaw quickly morphed into a debate over which of them was number one. Who was the best man among them? Who was furthest from such ignominious betrayal? Who deserved first place among the twelve?

Jesus stopped them.

“In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves. Luke 22:25-27.

Jesus' words set his disciples up for a bit of clear-eyed analysis: Were the kings the disciples knew about really “friends of the people” or “benefactors” as other translations put it? Did the disciples really imagine that kings made war and levied taxes in the interest of the public welfare? Hardly.

Jesus pushed further: In contrast to what you know is the norm among people of privilege and power, in my kingdom, service really is the supreme value. In my kingdom status is determined by one's willingness to engage in the most challenging service.

Jesus barely gave the disciples time to digest before he through a surprising curve at them. He had cautioned them about the seductiveness of status. He had declared that in the kingdom of heaven one's honor was based on serving not on formal status.

Then Jesus makes a startling announcement:

“You have stayed with me in my time of trial And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Luke 22:28-30

Status can be seductive. Yes. Jesus warned against fooling ourselves that protecting the prerogatives and privileges attached to our formal status is anything other than self-serving. But Jesus does not direct the disciples to deal with the risks of seduction by avoiding status. Jesus throws them headlong into the risk. Jesus makes them kings.

As Christians, we, too, are called to service. We are to use every ounce of status and influence we possess to mend the world, to serve humanity.

The Bible repeatedly highlights the spiritual status of Christians. We are to understand ourselves as royalty in the family of God. We are forgiven. We are called. We are honored. Part of our worship is an affirmation that we are God's special people. No matter our family of origin, no matter what we have been told by parents, teachers, lovers, spouses, children, preachers. We are the prized children of the Almighty.

Then we are called to take our special status and touch others with its wonder.

We have status in our secular lives. Nearly all of us have American citizenship. Something that at least half the world would covet. We are privileged. We are called to use this privilege as a platform for service.

Most of us have an education. There are places in the world where education for women is prohibited. There are terrorist groups that are attacking children and teachers for the offense of getting a non-Islamic education. There are fundamentalist groups here in the United States that actively oppose education beyond high school for women. If we have a bachelors or graduate degree, we are enormously privileged. The challenge that comes from Jesus is this: how are you using the advantage of your education to serve humanity?

Within the church community some of us have positions of influence. What guidance do the ideals of Jesus offer for how we operate in these positions?

One of the more dramatic features of the conversation around the table that even was the juxtaposition of Jesus' clear-eyed acknowledgment of the disciples defects and weaknesses and his affirmation of their potential.

Jesus announced that one of the group was going to betray him. Another in the group was going to deny him. The entire group had problems with the seductive allure of status. In spite of all this, Jesus said, “I'm turning over the management of the kingdom you. You can do it. You are going to do it.”

The work of these guys turned out to be epic. Their response to Jesus changed the world. I think it was Jesus' confidence in them that created their ability to do what they did. It was Jesus' faith in them that allowed them to exercise their world-changing faith in him.

This is my model of church. We empower one another by trusting each other. We know we are ordinary people with the ordinary range of human strengths and abilities and the ordinary range of weaknesses and defects. We are ordinary people. But we are working to build an extraordinary culture. We are practicing cultivating a culture of trust, a culture that pays more attention to potential than defects and failure.

Here we practice looking at one another with the eyes of Jesus. We are not naïve. We know the people around us. We deliberately minimize their failings and celebrate their goodness. We do this because it was modeled for us by the founder of our religion and is enshrined in our most sacred ritual—the Lord's Supper.

We eat together, celebrating a family connection that reaches far beyond our circles of amiable friendship. Our table welcomes all of God's children and makes of them our brothers and sisters. When we eat the Lord's Supper together we remind ourselves that “I” have no special claim. Rather our highest privileges and prerogatives belong us as members of a global family.

Money: Tool of Happiness

Preliminary draft for a sermon on Sabbath, September 14, 2013

At Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventists

There was a little box on the front page of Tuesday's Seattle Times:

1 percent's share of household income:  [Need data]

1 percent's increase in household income 2012 over 2011:  [Need data]

The top of the economic pyramid here in the U.S. Is doing pretty good. If they have trouble knowing what to do with their money, Porsche is ready to help them out.

On Thursday a Seattle Times article carried this title: $845,000 Porsche hybrid gets better gas mileage than Prius.

Porsche’s $845,000 918 Spyder hybrid, unveiled at the International Auto Show in Frankfurt, can reach 62 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds and gets the equivalent of about 72 miles per gallon, based on European fuel-economy data. That tops the 50 mpg of the basic Prius hybrid.

http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2021795781_porschehybridxml.html?cmpid=2628

Apparently, if you have enough money, you can pretend you care about the environment by spending most of a million dollars on a car that gets better gas mileage than a Prius. It also just happens to be able to reach 62 miles an hour in 2.8 seconds.

At the other end of the spectrum there is Hawo Abdi Farah. She came to Seattle 17 years ago from Somalia. She works as hard as she can and saves all she can so she can send money back to her family in Somalia. Her best efforts allow her to send between 100 and 200 dollars a month. Somalis all around the world are doing the same thing. Working hard. Scrimping and saving and sending money back home. Their money is absolutely essential for life to continue in Somalia.

Oxfam estimates these “remittances” total $1.3 billion a year. That's more than Somalia receives from foreign aid and foreign direct investment combined.

The newspaper reporter asked Farah what her relatives back in Somalia do with the money she sends

them. Farah's answer: “Food. They spend it on food. That's all”

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021812761_sarahcolumn13xml.html

Money is central to our lives.

Everything we do is intertwined with money. Our cars, our houses, our food, our clothes . . . Our romances and vacations . . . Our wars and lawsuits . . . . Everything. Every aspect of our lives is inseparable from money.

If our religion does not speak about money, it's irrelevant. If our spiritual practices fail to connect with our personal finances and our views of economics, then our kids may rightly judge our religion to be merely a quaint decoration, a nostalgic relic.

Money is life. If religion is going to engage life, our lives, inevitably it will speak of money and shape our actual practice of money management.

Of course, thinking about money quickly gets complicated. In the political realm, this complexity leaps into any conversation around the income disparity highlighted by the facts I mentioned about the income of the One Percent. Is this disparity a good thing or a bad thing? Is it a sign that the system is working or the system is broken? Is it an important fact or is it merely trivia? What does justice look like when you examine the play of intelligence, diligence, luck, families of origin, and tax code?

Get three people in a room to talk about it and you'll hear at least four opinions. Including the Bible in the conversation does not make it simpler. Reflecting the reality of real-life economics, the Bible's teachings about money are profoundly complicated. Is wealth a mark of ruthless, Darwinian triumph or a sign of the blessing of God? Is poverty a call for compassion or a mark of irresponsibility?

Did you catch the contrast in our scripture readings? The first passage, the one from Deuteronomy, celebrates prosperity. All through the book of the Bible, we read different versions of “Obey God and he will make you prosperous.” “Do the right thing and God will give you bountiful harvests and large flocks and herds. Life will be good.” The second passage, the one from James, imagines wealthy people as parasites and predators. Rich people get that way through deceit and violence. They are rich because of their skill in impoverishing others.

In Deuteronomy wealth is what God desires for his people. In James wealth is suspect. Its potential for seduction is far more prominent than its potential for good.

For today's sermon, I'm going to focus on the positive view of money and wealth presented in Deuteronomy. We'll deal with the cautions about wealth found in Amos and James another time.

Let's look again at the passage from Deuteronomy that was read earlier in our service: (Use one of the Bible's in the pew or call up one on your phone or tablet. I'm using the New Living Translation.)

You must set aside a tithe of your crops--one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year. Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship--the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored--and eat it there in his presence. Deuteronomy 14.

The Jewish people were expected to regard ten percent of their harvest as sacred. It belonged to God. They were not free to do with it just whatever they wanted. It could only be used for purposes specifically delineated by God.

The tithe belonged to God. What did that mean? What would God do with bushels of wheat, baskets of apples and jars of wine? According to this passage, God intended to use “his share” of the harvest as the foundation for a festival, a party for his children. The Jews were to take their tithe, the sacred ten percent of their harvest, to the special holy place and there they were to feast in the presence of God and in company with God's people.

Most of what they produced—ninety percent, in fact—was theirs to manage according to the ordinary demands and ambitions of life. They were responsible to make sure they produced enough food to supply daily meals through the entire year. They were free to produce surplus and sell it at market. It would make sense to turn some of their harvest into silver. If they were smart and hard-working and blessed with good luck, they could build wealth that included a larger house, increased acreage, servants, nice clothes.

The image of a successful, prosperous farmer lies behind the call in this passage for the practice of tithing—that is the devotion of ten percent of their harvest, ten percent of their increase or harvest to God.

The notion of tithe presumes financial success. God wants his people to do well. He expects that the normal human experience will be comfortable prosperity.

With that expectation in the background, God called for those Jewish farmers to devote ten percent of their harvest to God. Which raises the obvious question: What is God going to do with all that grain and produce?

The first purpose mentioned in this passage is a sacred party. The Jewish people were to take their tithe, go to the sacred place and eat their tithe together in a grand festival.

The passage goes on to broaden the purpose of the tithe.

At the end of every third year, bring the entire tithe of that year's harvest and store it in the nearest town. Give it to the Levites, who will receive no allotment of land among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all your work.

Here we see that God's portion of the harvest, the tithe, is to be given to “the Levites.” I like that! The Levites were the clergy. They were specifically excluded from land ownership which in that society was the foundation of wealth. Since they were excluded from commerce, the society was to provide an alternative source of support for them. This much makes sense in the usual religious way. The clergy are specially linked to worship and other religious practices, so it makes sense that they would participate in the sacred money of the tithe.

The Adventist Church has built a very specific doctrine of tithing on this concept. When people give to the “Tithe Fund” in our denomination, their donation supports the work of the clergy.

In this passage, the appropriate use of God's portion is broader than just the support of the clergy class. Tithe is also to be given to

the foreigners living among you, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all your work.

One of the most emphatic teachings of the Bible regarding money is this: we ought to recognize Somali immigrants as part of the people we are to provide for from God's portion. And Mexicans and Eritreans and Russians. Deuteronomy declares that foreigners are to be served from the Tithe that is God's portion.

Widows—people who is Moses society would have had a status like single working moms in our society—were to be served from God's portion.

Orphans—kids whose parents for whatever reason were unable to provide for them—orphans were to be served from God's portion.

It seems to me that we could summarize the ideas in this passage this way: the highest purpose of money is to build a happy, equitable community. A bountiful harvest is a call for a bountiful feast. A feast that is shared in the presence of God. Wealth should express itself in community festivity. And our feasts should include the outsiders and the losers and those with bad luck and those with disabilities.

To put it another way: a bountiful harvest, i.e. wealth, confers a heightened obligation.

This passage and the repeated affirmation of hard work and wealth all through the book of Deuteronomy implies special honor is due to those responsible for the harvest. The bountiful harvest is evidence of God's blessing, God's favor. God is pleased with those who provide the feast.

In Deuteronomy, there is a wonderful, blended vision of wealth as a basis for honor and obligation.

Those who are successful are partners with God. The feast depends on the skill and diligence that produce the harvest. God depends on us to grow the food, to do the harvest, to preserve what is produced. God blesses us with physical strength, intelligence, social skills, drive and initiative. We did not create those things. They are gifts.

We cultivate our awareness of how utterly dependent we are on the gifts by practicing tithing—devoting ten percent of our income to God.

Did you produce your wealth by working hard? Good. Did you create the mental strength which you have employed in your pursuit success? How much credit do you deserve for choosing to be born in Seattle instead of in Haiti? Did you earn an MBA or an MD or a PhD? Good. That is to be commended. You deserve honor for that achievement. But if you get a big head about it, we can justly ask what teachers encouraged you along the way? How much tax money has gone into building the university where you studied? None of us is self-made.

Practicing tithing is a concrete, spiritual practice that connects us with the wisdom of interdependence.

Recently a young friend who is a teacher posted something on Facebook about the median incomes of people ten years out of college. What degrees gave the most bang for the buck? At the top of the list: petroleum mining engineers. Near the bottom of the list: counselors, social workers, ministers.

I read the comments responding to the initial article. They quickly degenerated into snarky attacks. “Petroleum engineers don't care about the environment or about people.” “Counselors don't understand that the cars they drive to work run on gasoline made available through the work of the petroleum engineers.” “Petroleum engineers are smart. Psychologists are wouldn't recognize a solution to an equation if they saw one.” “Petroleum engineers will produce the children who will need the services of the counselors to counteract the lousy parenting skills of the engineers.”

It was a stupid fight.

Engineering, manufacturing, finance create the wealth in our society that allows people to specialize in counseling, theology or music. The producers of wealth deserve respect for the foundational role they play in making a good society. On the other hand, would anyone want to live in a society that was flush with money and stuff and had no musicians, no art, no articulate preachers or writers? In a good society money moves around and links people with all sorts of gifts and skills and aptitudes. Money makes us all richer, not just by putting dollars in our pockets but by enabling this rich cultural development.

Understanding the power of money to enable this kind of goodness is a profound spiritual insight. One of the most powerful spiritual disciplines that supports this understanding is the practice of tithing—devoting ten percent of our income to God. When we tithe, we are deliberately using our money to cultivate our spiritual life.

Adventists have taken this ten percent principle and developed a particular doctrine around it. Some Christians have criticized Adventists for being so strict. They imagine themselves as more evolved. They are not legalistic, Old Testament believers. They are “New Testament Christians.”

I laugh when I hear this. It is true the New Testament does not explicitly teach the obligation to devote ten percent of our income to God. Instead, it tells us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor.

I have never met a critic of tithing who has come even close to this NT teaching.

I once knew a baronness who was rich. Compared to me, she was very rich. She explained to me the reason she did not practice tithing: “For ordinary, middle class people, tithe is a small amount of money. So they can afford to give it. But for me ten percent would be a lot of money. So I can't afford to do it.”

I realized then that I was richer than she was. Her income might have ten or a hundred times my income. But she had barely enough money. In fact, as I got to know her, I learned she was constantly worried about the fact that she was barely getting by. On the other hand, I was so rich I could give away 20 percent of my income and not worry about my financial survival.

One of the curious side effects of tithing is it's reflexive effect on those who practice it. When you devote ten percent (or twenty or thirty percent) of your income to God, over time you develop a deep sense of adequacy and wealth.

This week I made my monthly contribution to the church. I didn't agonize over how much to give. Since we are rich, we can do more than ten percent. Or maybe I should say the other way around. The fact that we give more than ten percent is proof that we are rich.

Part of our religion is giving. We teach people to give ten percent, because it is the only amount ever mentioned in the Bible besides selling everything. We give because we have been blessed. Then we are blessed because we give. Our handling of money becomes a rich spiritual practice and a source of pure joy.

This is part of what our religion teaches us about money.

If we are serious about cultivating spiritual life, we will give habitually. Occasional, spontaneous giving is okay. I'm sure it does good. But it has very little of the transformative power of regular, habitual, systematic giving.

We all understand that part of ordinary life is regularly paying utility bills, buying groceries, paying our mortgage or rent. If we are students or the parents of students, we pay tuition. These payments are an indispensable part of our life in a civil society.

Regular giving is similarly an indispensable part of fully participating in a spiritual society. As a church we welcome visitors. There is no expectation that people need to buy space in a pew or that any particular person buy the privilege of experiencing worship. All are welcome here. On the other hand, until you are practicing habitual giving, your spirituality will remain stunted. Since money flows through every aspect of our life, a fully developed spirituality necessarily includes the practice, the habit, of giving. Tithing is most form of giving with longest tradition in Jewish and Christian history.

Those who have practiced it nearly universally speak of its benefit. It is a practice that will provide a theoretical and experiential foundation for wise thinking about money. It makes us happy partners with God.