Whisper.

Whisper. Say it with a nod and wink and smile. Furtively. Because it's our secret, but no less true for that. Love will win. And so will we because we are lovers, and even more certainly, beloved. 

A response by the Norwegian Union Conference leaders to the GC document, A Study of Church Governance and Unity

I copied this from the web site for the Norwegian Adventist Church:
http://www.adventist.no/Media/Adventist/Images/2016/September-2016/A-response-to-A-Study-of-Church-Governance-and-Unity

October 4, 2016

A response to "A Study of Church Governance and Unity"

A statement by the Norwegian Union Conference leaders

The document "A Study of Church Governance and Unity" published recently by the General Conference Secretariat seeks, it claims, to develop unity in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The document has a number of weaknesses and is likely to contribute to the splitting of the church over the issue of equality for women in ministry. An attempt to coerce unions to comply with General Conference Working Policy is likely to set in motion a series of uncontrollable and unpredictable events.

Oversimplification

A major weakness of the lengthy document from the Secretariat is over simplification of the issue under consideration: the Adventist church’s approach to the ordination of women. The basic assumption on which the argument of the document is based, is this: Unity can only be achieved by getting deviant unions in line with General Conference Working Policy.

It is understandable that the General Conference Secretariat, whose function is to ensure that Seventh-day Adventist entities follow the General Conference Working Policy, writes only in terms of policy compliance, but it is a dangerous oversimplification based on pragmatic rather than moral and spiritual considerations.

Those unions which have ordained female pastors or stopped ordaining altogether, do so because they are convinced that the Bible tells them to treat men and women equally. Their decisions are not grounded in policy, but in spiritual and moral obligation.

The document does not properly take into account the theological understanding that has motivated unions to a course of action different to the stipulations of the Working Policy. This failure in understanding means that the document will not actually provide a basis for stronger unity, but rather the contrary.

The work of the Theology of Ordination Study Committee (TOSC) ended by presenting two opposite understandings of the biblical material on the ordination of women. When a worldwide church study of ordination concluded that both views are legitimate, it is futile now to call upon Working Policy to deny that diversity.

Diversity

Section III of the document discusses “Diversity, Union and Authority” and states: “In the Bible, diversity is a positive quality, not a negative one” (p. 10). The same is true in 2 the writings of Ellen G. White. The document goes on to raise the question of how the limits to diversity are to be defined. The Secretariat proposes the principle that decisions on the limits of diversity should be defined “collectively and collaboratively, not unilaterally.” (p. 12).

The document considers the early church council in Jerusalem (Acts 15) saying it “is significant almost as much for its process as for the theological decision that resulted.” (p 13). The document ignores the fact that there are two major factors for the success of the decision at the Jerusalem council. One factor was how the Holy Spirit lead to positions they previously held unthinkable as well as working mightily among gentiles. In the council, Peter told how he was asked to visit Cornelius, and Paul and Barnabas witnessed concerning their work among gentiles. The second major factor was the apostles’ brave leadership of guiding the church into a totally new understanding of Scripture, making room for different practices in the church.

In the Old Testament, God had prescribed a manner of worship and from their plain reading of the Scriptures, the Jews had drawn the conclusion that “it was improbable that He would ever authorize a change in any of its specifications.” (AA 189). Still the leadership of the church helped members to a broadened view. Ellen G. White says: “the very existence of the Church” depended on this decision (AA 192).

At the General Conference Session in San Antonio in 2015, the Seventh-day Adventist Church decided to deny the principle that guided the Jerusalem Council and made it a success. The work of the Holy Spirit through female pastors in China was not mentioned. Delegates decided against diversity in the practice of ordination. Previously, in the years while TOSC did its work, the General Conference leadership had followed a strategy of conspicuous silence regarding how to handle diversity. The General Conference behaved very differently from the apostles at the Jerusalem council, providing no leadership to the church on a very divisive issue. We believe that the General Conference leadership must take responsibility for its failure to reach a decision that would create the possibility for different practices to exist harmoniously, side by side within the church. Because of the “no-vote” in San Antonio, we are now in a much more difficult situation than we were in prior to San Antonio.

Need for leadership to lead

The question of ordination of female ministers has undoubtedly been the most divisive and most difficult issue the Seventh-day Adventist Church has faced in recent decades. When facing divisive issues, the church needs competent leadership. However, the General Conference President has made no attempt to create space for divisions and unions to allow ordination of women. The TOSC had not ruled any of the presented views as illegitimate. Therefore there was an obligation for the General Conference leadership to set aside divisive personal convictions and work for a unifying solution.

The General Conference was repeatedly urged to give a recommendation to the delegates to the San Antonio session. Most notably many members of the General Conference Executive Committee pleaded with leadership at the 2014 Annual Council to give guidance to the delegates. Leadership declined. The failure to create space for different views on the ordination of women to ministry was a grave mistake.

Elder Wilson made clear his personal opposition to the ordination of women, but he never attempted to defuse the situation by calling for a solution that would accommodate both sides. If unity was high on the agenda of the General Conference 3 leadership prior to San Antonio, they did not use the most obvious opportunity to create it.

The study document released by the General Conference Secretariat says not one word about the obligation of the General Conference leadership to safeguard unity by creating space for different practices. That is a major weakness of the document.

Dialogue is better than confrontation

Joshua 22 recounts a story showing the value of dialogue in changing policy. After the conquest of Israel, the account in Joshua 22, describes how some tribes heard that the two and a half tribes that took land on the other side of the Jordan, had erected an altar. The Israelites assembled for war against the two and a half tribes. They would not tolerate a departure from policy.

However, after representatives had talked with the leaders of the two and a half tribes, the situation was defused. War was avoided. The unauthorized altar was accepted.

Ellen G. White comments on the issue: “How often serious difficulties arise from a simple misunderstanding, even among those who are actuated by the worthiest motives; and without the exercise of courtesy and forbearance, what serious and even fatal results may follow (PP 519).

She continues to draw lessons of the greatest importance and relevance for the Seventhday Adventist Church in the present crisis: “While very sensitive to the least blame in regard to their own course, many are too severe in dealing with those whom they suppose to be in error. No one was ever reclaimed from a wrong position by censure and reproach; but many are thus driven further from the right path and led to harden their hearts against conviction. A spirit of kindness, a courteous, forbearing deportment may save the erring and hide a multitude of sins (PP 519.520 Italics supplied).

“The wisdom displayed by the Reubenites and their companions is worthy of imitation. … Those who are actuated by the spirit of Christ will possess that charity which suffers long and is kind” (PP 520).

This is the kind of attitude needed to make sure the Seventh-day Adventist Church stays united. Only actions bearing the qualities of the fruit of the spirit will bring true unity among the people of God. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal 5:22.23).

Assessment of possible outcomes

It has become known that the General Conference is working on a document outlining how to discipline unions that do not comply with policy. Information from the General Conference indicates that the church leadership wants to use considerable pressure to get unions in line with the Working Policy.

It is our experience that few of the documents presented by the General Conference to the Executive Committee, contain any assessment of possible outcome scenarios. Therefore, it is important to ask, what are the implications of the church leadership’s failure to consider possible responses to the propositions in the present document?

We have noted above that the document "A Study of Church Governance and Unity" is oversimplifying the issue. Any thinking along the lines that an Executive Committee action would coerce unions into line, is far too optimistic. The major problem with this thinking is that the General Conference is appealing to policy, but for the unions in question this is a question of a biblical and moral mandate.

In a showdown along these lines, the General Conference is bound to loose. We are Seventh-day Adventists. We know by heart Acts 5:29: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (KJV).

Here are some possible outcomes that must be be considered:

1. Unions accept the urge to return to following the General Conference Working Policy. This is probably what the General Conference is intending. It is, however, an unlikely outcome, given the biblical, moral and in some cases legal obligations felt by some unions that they have to treat men and women equally.
2. The General Conference tries to replace union leadership in unions that do not comply with the Working Policy. Any such move will most certainly meet with strong opposition, and may turn out to be impossible to accomplish because the actions of these unions are an expression of the convictions of the members in those unions.
3. General Conference will lose further credibility among large segments of the membership because of the handling of the situation.
4. The Church will split. The affected unions may sever connections with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. A domino effect may take place where many other unions leave the Seventh-day Adventist Church. By trying to coerce unions, a series of uncontrollable and unforeseen events will develop. 

The probability of splitting the church by voting harsh measures against unions which do not fully comply with the General Conference Working Policy is arguably higher than the probability of achieving the desired outcome of unity. That must be a sobering thought for everyone involved, particularly for the members of the General Conference Executive Committee.

There is always more than one option

The document "A Study of Church Governance and Unity" released by the General Conference Secretariat leaves the impression that the compliance of the Unions is the only solution to current problems.

However, in any situation there are always several options. Discerning leaders will always try to present various options when facing an issue that is a violation neither of any of the Fundamental Beliefs, nor of any clear biblical principle. To think there is only one option available is very dangerous for an Executive Committee facing crisis. Here are some possible options that may better preserve unity.

1. Leave the situation as it is. Continue a genuine dialogue with all parties in order to find workable solutions.
2. Work constructively toward a healing solution along the lines of Acts 15 opening up for diversity. It is within the power of the General Conference Executive to vote changes to the General Conference Working Policy that will ensure unity in diversity.
3. Create a new gender inclusive credential. It is the prerogative of the General Conference Executive Committee to create new policies.
4. Discontinue ordination in its present form. Specify a simple prayer of dedication as the norm when people begin ministry in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
5. Table the proposal and give further study to finding means of healing. 5 Never before in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church have we been closer to a major split of the church. May leaders and members of the Executive Committee take to heart the lessons from Joshua 22 and Acts 15 and make wise decisions that will truly foster unity in our Church, despite our differences

Never before in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church have we been closer to a major split of the church. May leaders and members of the Executive Committee take to heart the lessons from Joshua 22 and Acts 15 and make wise decisions that will truly foster unity in our Church, despite our differences.

Fall Lectures at Green Lake Church

Fall Lecture Series at Green Lake Church

Life and Work among the Disadvantaged 
October 7-8. 2016

Trevor Gardner will speak Friday night and Sabbath afternoon. Shelly Ngo will speak for Sabbath School and the worship service. Both will help us see into a world most of us have never experienced. They will talk about how faith has impacted their work and how their work has impacted their spiritual and religious life. Their presentations may re-shape how you view the world.

There will be a soup supper Friday evening at 6:30p before the presentation. There will be a potluck lunch on Sabbath followed by the final presentation and Q&A. We plan to live-stream all four presentations.

See the bios below.



Trevor Gardner is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law. Professor Gardner writes in the area of criminal justice with a focus on policing. His research addresses a variety of related topics including racial profiling, community control of police, racial peer-group identification among African-American police officers, and decriminalization movements among local governments.
After completing undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan, Professor Gardner earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal. He then worked as a trial attorney at the District of Columbia Public Defender Service, litigating juvenile and adult criminal cases from presentment through disposition.

Professor Gardner left criminal practice to join academia, earning his master's and doctoral degrees in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.



Shelly Ngo is a writer, speaker, and social media strategist for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Prior to her job at the prosecutor's office, Shelly worked as the director of marketing and communications for the international relief and development organization World Vision, which operates in nearly 100 countries worldwide.  She earned a master's degree in communication leadership and digital media from the University of Washington, and undergraduate degrees in journalism and political science from Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA.  Shelly is the mother of four teenaged children, the owner of a corresponding number of pets to teenagers, and a fan of the all-too-rare afternoon nap.

Faithful

.
Sermon manuscript for Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventists
For Sabbath, October 1, 20162016

Texts:
Exodus 2:15-21  Let's begin the scripture reading with the second word of the second sentence, “Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian. When Moses arrived in Midian, he sat down beside a well. . . .”
Luke 22:15-20

It would make a perfect romantic movie, a chick-flick I think they call it. Right up there with the Princes Bride. The adopted grandson of a wicked king strikes a blow for his enslaved native people. He kills a wicked, abusive supervisor. Then he has to run for his life.

He ends up in the remote wilderness of the Sinai peninsula. Afraid. Alone. But alive.

This particular afternoon, weeks into his fugitive existence, he is sitting in the shade at a well. A group of young women bring their sheep to the well to water them. They have filled the troughs and the first batch of sheep is just beginning to drink when other shepherds arrive. A bunch of guys. They rush toward the girls' sheep waving their arms and shouting. The sheep scatter and the girls go after them. The guys laugh and jeer. “Thank you for filling the troughs little girls. That was very kind of you.” The language went down hill from there. The girls gathered their sheep at a safe distance from the jerks.

The stranger gets to his feet, pulls a sword and marches toward the guys. His eyes flash fire. His body screams threat and indignation. “Get your sheep out of here or I'll turn them into lambchops and when I'm finished with them I'll turn you into worm food. Move.”

The guys are astonished then terrified. They had no idea who the stranger was, but everything about him said warrior, commander, boss. And his sword did not look like a toy.

They moved their sheep away. Not far enough. Moses drove them far from the well. Then he turned and beckoned the girls. They came shyly bringing their sheep. Moses grabbed the rope and hoisted bucket after bucket of water from the well as effortlessly as if it were a teacup. The girls didn't know what to think. Who was this stranger, this handsome stranger, this commander?

Their sheep watered they moved off toward home, chattering all the way with amazement.

At home their father wanted to know why they were home so early.

“Well, there was the guy. He chased away the other shepherds and filled the troughs until all our sheep were done.”

“What?” their dad exclaimed. “A stranger protected you and watered your sheep and you left him sitting by himself at the well? Go find him. Bring him home for dinner.”

The girls were only too happy to comply.

Moses came to dinner.

And stayed the night.

And accepted a job.

And married Zipporah, Dad's oldest daughter.

And they lived happily ever after.

Well, not completely ever after. There was that time when Moses' brother and sister family wanted to get rid of the black woman. It's not clear if they were opposed to Zipporah because she was black or they figured they could use her blackness to incite other people to be sympathetic to their allegations.

But it didn't work. Moses obeyed the expanded version of Genesis command. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and brothers and sisters and be one with his wife. Moses and Zipporah began their romance with a fairy-tale meeting and preserved their union through all the drama of Moses life.

Romance seems to part of the very essence of being human.  Whether it's Hollywood or Bollywood or Shakespeare or Homer or the modern Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, every human story involves romance, our consuming guiding hunger for love and connection. As we watch these stories or read these stories our own hearts are captured. We find ourselves holding our breath hoping they make it, hoping again for the triumph of love.

In the Bible this theme of romance is linked directly with God. Our hunger for magical union—AND ENDURING UNION—is presented as a mirror of the hunger of God. God is a lover, a persistent, hopeful, we could even say, stubborn lover.

It is against this backdrop that we make the best sense of the command, “Don't commit adultery.” When we link our hearts and lives and bodies in romance, violation of that trust, turning our attention to someone else always rips and tears at the very fabric of our being. I remember reading the comments of a secular counselor. She was responding to a question about whether an affair is ever justified. Her answer: First, I tell clients who ask me this question, 'you must recognize that someone is going to get hurt. Always. Inescapably.

It is a law of humanity. Hence the commandment: Don't hurt each other. More than that, be stubborn in faithfulness.

Be faithful so you don't hurt each other.

And more, be faithful, because that is the way of God and you are God's children.

Because we are Christians we look especially to Jesus as the clearest exhibition of what God is like. With this idea of romance—and enduring faithfulness as the sweetest, truest flower of romance—let's turn our attention to the last supper.

Jesus had gathered a family, a whole gang of lovers. The intense relationship among these men reminds me of what I have read of the bonding of the members of a military unit who have braved combat together or among miners who have spent years watching out for each other in the dark shafts of coal mines or police who have shared risk and service together. They have become family. They have become one unit, one group, a unique intensity of union.

Over three years of intense ministry, constant service, occasional threat, frequent opposition and challenge Jesus and his twelve friends had become one. Jesus knows he has reached the end. He is going to die. So he plans a special meal.

That evening at the table he makes a speech.

“With great desire I have anticipated this dinner. Take this wine and share it among you, knowing that it symbolizes my blood. My ministry, indeed my very life, finds meaning in the family gathered here at the table. I will die before I let you go. I live in you. Drink, all of you. Even you, Judas. Drink.”


Faithful. Jesus was faithful. And when we take the bread and drink the fruit of the vine, we are receiving that faithfulness. We are saying, Thank you. Yes. Yes.

And we are pledging ourselves to carry forward the romance of Jesus. We will do all that we can to extend the love of God to all. We will die before we will kill. We will give before we allow someone to be be driven to theift by their need.

And will join Moses in protecting the vulnerable who would be driven from the well by coarse, bullying rowdies.

Today, at this table, let's take fresh resolve, fresh inspiration to join in the romance of God.

Fall Lecture Series at Green Lake Church

Life and Work among the Disadvantaged 
October 7-8. 2016

Trevor Gardner will speak Friday night and Sabbath afternoon. Shelly Ngo will speak for Sabbath School and the worship service. Both will help us see into a world most of us have never experienced. They will talk about how faith has impacted their work and how their work has impacted their spiritual and religious life. Their presentations may re-shape how you view the world.

There will be a soup supper Friday evening at 6:30p before the presentation. There will be a potluck lunch on Sabbath followed by the final presentation and Q&A. We plan to live-stream all four presentations.

See the bios below.



Trevor Gardner is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law. Professor Gardner writes in the area of criminal justice with a focus on policing. His research addresses a variety of related topics including racial profiling, community control of police, racial peer-group identification among African-American police officers, and decriminalization movements among local governments.
After completing undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan, Professor Gardner earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal. He then worked as a trial attorney at the District of Columbia Public Defender Service, litigating juvenile and adult criminal cases from presentment through disposition.

Professor Gardner left criminal practice to join academia, earning his master's and doctoral degrees in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.



Shelly Ngo is a writer, speaker, and social media strategist for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Prior to her job at the prosecutor's office, Shelly worked as the director of marketing and communications for the international relief and development organization World Vision, which operates in nearly 100 countries worldwide.  She earned a master's degree in communication leadership and digital media from the University of Washington, and undergraduate degrees in journalism and political science from Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA.  Shelly is the mother of four teenaged children, the owner of a corresponding number of pets to teenagers, and a fan of the all-too-rare afternoon nap.

Honoring Parents

Sermon manuscript for Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventists for Sabbath, September 17, 2016.

Texts: Exodus 20:1-17, Mark 7:6-13

Wednesday, I was talking with my brother, Gary, about plans for my dad's memorial service. He is the family historian and the designated organizer of the service. We talked about various elements we wanted in the service. We discussed Dad's oversized virtues and how to celebrate them. Then Gary raised a very delicate question: there will be some people present who were wounded by Dad's defects. How can we honor Dad without trivializing the hurt these people experienced? The stories of Dad's generosity and drive and diagnostic prowess are true and multitudinous but I appreciated Gary's sensitivity. Dad blessed many people but he wasn't flawless. So how do we appropriately honor him and those who were impacted by his flaws.

A delicate question, indeed.

The fifth commandment declares, “Honor your father and mother.”

It is a basic human virtue. Families and societies build on this virtue. Even if this were not stated in the Ten Commandments, it would still be just as essential for healthy, happy life. Honor your parents.

As I was working on my sermon this week, it struck me that I have usually read this commandment through the lens of a couple of passages in the New Testament.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. (Ephesians)

Children, obey [your] parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. (Colosians)

When I think about the words, Honor your parents, I have usually imagined children, kids, little people like the beautiful crowd that comes up here for children's story.

Monday morning I was sitting at the kitchen table working on paying bills, when suddenly I became aware of a conflict. My daughter-in-law had given my three-year old granddaughter some instruction which I didn't hear. And my granddaughter gave some response, which again I didn't hear. I became aware of the conversation as I heard my daughter-in-law say,

“Kyra, what did I tell you?”

At about the same time, my son walked into the room and joined the contest.

“Kyra, can you say, 'Yes, Mother?'”

No, Kyra could not say that.

So the conversation continued. There was a lecture about the right way to respond when mother gives directions. There was an explanation of the consequences of refusing to respond with respect and obedience. I was glad to be a bystander instead of the responsible adult.

Such conversations are not infrequent in our house. For some reason, my grandkids appear to have received a genetic inclination to stubborn resistance to adult direction. :-) So it falls to their parents to educate them on the importance of showing proper respect and deference.

Honor your father and mother. That's the command. That's what kids are supposed to do. Parents are constantly trying to figure out how to shape their kids so they will give proper honor and respect to parents and teachers and other authority figures. It's a pretty universal ambition of parents. And we happily look to the Fifth Commandment for divine backup. The commandment says, Honor your parents. So we imagine God backing us up as we try every technique we can think of to get our kids to show us proper honor and respect.

That's how my brain used to process this commandment.

However, this week, meditating on the commandment, a different perspective came into view.

The Ten Commandments were not aimed at children. They were not aimed at slaves. They were not aimed at women. They were aimed at people with power—which in the world in which the Ten Commandments were given, generally meant men, men with property and money and family.

The Sabbath commandment explicitly mentions children and servants and animals and in the process makes it clear that the commandment is directed to the men who have power over children, servants, and animals. Men, don't make these others work on Sabbath. Men, take Sabbath off, and make sure that all the creatures whose lives you control also enjoy Sabbath rest.

The last commandment again mentions animals. It also mentions women. And makes it clear that the force of the commandment is aimed at men with power. Do not take your neighbor's treasure. Do not scheme to get your hands on your neighbor's livestock or your neighbor's wife.

When we read, Honor your parents, we should understand this command is addressed to us, not to our children. This is not God backing up parents in their perennial battles with rambunctious, strong-willed children. This is God challenging grownups who manage their own lives—who are free to make their own decisions about time and money and words—this is God challenging us to honor our parents.

The command is directed to those of us with power. In the ancient  culture it would have been aimed primarily at men. In our culture where power is more widely distributed, the command applies more broadly. But lets' be clear, the primary target of this commandment is grownups not little ones. The commandment is aimed at those of us who usually sit still in our pews not at the ones who are squirming. :-)

It is directed to people who have full power to honor or not to honor. The command calls us to look at ourselves. Will we honor our parents? Will we ignore them or scorn them or hate them or mock them?

We are free to choose. Let's honor our parents. Because, as the commandment reminds us, this honoring is crucial to healthy, happy life.

How is honoring our parents linked with healthy, happy life?

First, it helps to counterbalance the notion of radical individualism that is eating at our social fabric. When we honor our parents, we are remembering that our life is a gift. We did not spring from the dirt. We did not create ourselves. We were born. When life works the way it is supposed to, a mother and father gave us life and thrilled at our birth. For years, every breath we have taken has brought joy to a man and woman whose hearts we own, ineluctably, irrevocably, incurably. Our failures have crushed those same hearts. Our hopes have been their hopes. They have hoped for us even when we were too busy or too preoccupied or too beaten to hope.

When we honor our parents, we are giving attention to some of the most deeply-rooted natural human goodness God has planted here in the world. Another word for honoring our parents is gratitude.

Honoring our parents, this special form of gratitude, is like making a contribution to public radio. If you listen to NPR you have heard their fundraising appeals. They make quite a point of the uniqueness of their business model. They give everyone the program. You listen for free with no contractual obligation. The programs are broadcast whether we give or not. As the fundraiser begs and pleads for the listeners' money, the listeners remain free not to give. If you give, it is your own choice. 

It's like this with honoring parents. They remain our parents whether we honor them or not. The life they have poured into us is ours whether we acknowledge it or not. Giving gratitude and honor to our parents does not create the goodness of our parents. Their goodness is a given.

The question is, will we see it? Will we honor it?

If we do, our lives will be even more richly blessed by the goodness to which we have turned our attention.

Few earthly parents are flawless. Honoring our parents does not require us to pretend our parents are flawless. It simply means that at least on occasion we turn our full attention to the gifts we have received from them, the good things that have come our way because of our parents.

Some parents have done such damage to their children, that the children must avoid all contact with the parents. This is rare. But it happens. In these cases, the children must take extraordinary action which I won't attempt to address in this sermon. My concern is the great bulk of us who have ordinary parents who have the ordinary mixture of goodness and brokenness that is the common lot of humanity.

The commandment is aimed at normal life and normal people. For us honoring our parents is crucial to the cultivation of our well being. Honoring our parents means acknowledging that no matter how hard I have worked, the capabilities I have poured into my work came from somewhere else. They were gifts before they were habits and achievements.

Second, honoring our parents means given attention to the gifts and deliberately turning our attention from flaws and defects and wounds and holes and neglect. Letting go of history so we can build a future.

This kind of deliberate focus sets us up for worship.

Christian theology declares God is perfect. God is our father in heaven who supplies our every need, the mighty defender who protects us from all harm, the eternal judge who insures justice for all. That is what we sing. That is what we proclaim in our theology books.

But that is not what we experience. In our own lives or in the lives of people we love or at least in the lives of people we read about in the newspaper or on line, every need does not get supplied. Not every person is protected from harm. “Justice” seems unduly influenced by money and power.

When we honor God, we are deliberately focusing our attention on the good things in creation. Just as in honoring our parents, we interpret their actions in light of the kind of good intentions we know ourselves to have as parents, so in honoring God we interpret the world through the lens of what we know of the heart of a good father or mother.

God intends blessings. God's will is peace and justice. Evil and pain, poverty and war and oppression are contradictions of the purposes of God.

When we honor our parents we are practicing looking in the direction of their best intentions, their highest evident virtues. And the more attention we give, the easier it is for us to move that direction.

In the same way, in worship, we give our attention to the highest virtues of God. We contemplate generosity, mercy, truthfulness, faithfulness. And in our contemplation God draws us to himself and shapes us in his image.

When Gary and I talked about our dad's memorial service, Gary was right to be sensitive to the reality that Dad was not perfect and that his imperfections left marks on other people. And he was right to want to portray as vividly as possible Dad's larger-than-life virtues. Gary was quite explicit in his desire to take this opportunity to put Dad's virtues on display because of the potential for this display to impact others. Gary and I both know people who are believers and church members because of the goodness of our father. We know people have gone on to make a major impact on the world for good because of ways our dad invested in their lives. We believe that when that kind of generosity is examined and celebrated, those who see will themselves be ennobled and elevated. Honoring our father will affect our characters. Publicly honoring him has the potential to call others to higher living.

Let's study our parents to find their greatest virtues and then give appropriate attention to those virtues and the love and affection that connected those virtues to our lives.

Let's honor our parents.

Let's give ourselves in worship to the most glorious visions of God.

And pray that God will shape us into parents worthy of honor, Christians worthy of the name.

Don't Feed your Greed. Instead Love your Neighbor.

Sermon manuscript for Sabbath, September 10, 2016
Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventists

Texts: 1 Kings 21:1-7, Luke 12:13-21

Last week, I placed five imaginary chocolates here on the piano. Today, I'm going to put them in the shelf in the back of the lectern.

In their place, I have another treat for you.

This is a piece of blackberry pie. Not just any pie. This pie came from the kitchen at our house. It's is my wife's recipe done to perfection by my daughter. The crust is exquisite. The filling pops with incredible flavor—the berries are from a special place in our back field where the berries are different from berries elsewhere in our neighborhood. The berries in the small section of our berry row are amazingly flavorful. Building on these special berries, Bonnie has added sugar and lemon in exactly the right proportions to balance tartness and sweetness. The texture of the finished pie is heavenly.

On the plate beside the pie is a couple of scoops of Alden's Organic All-natural Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. On top of the pie is whipped cream. Not Miracle Whip. Not some white stuff squirted out of a can. No, this is real cream, the kind that comes in glass bottles. My did the whipped cream. He added just the right bit of sugar and vanilla, then hand-whipped it to a soft, creamy consistency.

I'll take just a bite. Bliss. While you're dreaming about blackberry pie. I'm going to talk about the tenth commandment: Do not covet.

What does it mean to covet? Today's Old Testament reading illustrates what the word means.

Ahab was king of the nation of Israel. He was a successful king if you measured him by military and financial accomplishments. At some point he looked out his window at the property next door to his palace and thought, “That would be a perfect place for an intimate garden. I'll buy it.” So he goes next door for a conversation with his neighbor. “Nathan, my friend. I see you have a very fine place here. How much do you think it's worth?”

Do you mean what do I think someone might offer me or are you asking how much money would tempt me to sell?

How much would you take for this place?

It's not for sale.

Look, Nathan. I'll give you good money and I will find another property for you, one that would be even more suited for your vineyard, a place with more room, better access to water, better views.

You name it. Whatever you want I'll give you, just sell me your place.

It's not for sale.

This property has been in our family for generations. Selling this place would be disrespectful to my ancestors. I'm sorry, but no.

Ahab was upset. He was used to getting his way. After all, he was the greatest. He went back to his palace, crawled into bed and fell into a deep funk.

Sometime later in the day, his wife Jezebel came in. What you so gloomy about?

He told her.

What??!! she said. “Are you king or not? You can do anything you want. You can have anything you want. But leave it to me. Just get up and wipe that pout off your face.”

Jezebel arranged to have Nathan framed for blasphemy. The stratagem worked. Nathan was executed by stoning for blasphemy. And Ahab confiscated the property.

And lived happily ever after. NOT.

Stories of this kind of greed do not end well. They never do. Even if the coveting strong man appears to win, we don't end the story there. We keep telling the story until we come to the part where it all blows up. Because we know that might does not make right. We know, deep in the core of our being, that just because someone can, does not mean that someone should.

Coveting means looking at the treasure that belongs to our neighbor—looking so long and so intently that we begin to scheme to snatch it. We begin think how to use our power to overwhelm their power and take the best of their lives for ourselves. This is coveting. Don't do it. It is evil. Wicked. Repugnant. Don't!

It is easy to find modern examples of this kind of thing.

The current drive by an oil company to build a pipeline across Indian land in the Dakotas, sounds curiously like the story of Ahab. The company, with the power of money and government behind it, is determined to take Indian land for its own use.

Just this Wednesday, the Seattle Times had a front page story about poor people from Asia who are confined on fishing boats off Hawaii in a weird version form of legal American slavery. Why? Because they can. Years ago, a loophole was written into American law that allowed boats off Hawaii to hire people without the protections offered elsewhere to people employed on American boats. According to the report, the living conditions on many of these boats are squalid and miserable.

Why does this happen? The employees are desperately poor. The employers are driven by greed. They are determined to make the most profit they can, even if it means stealing from the lives of their employees.

This evil. And everyone knows it is, once it's brought into the light of day. This is the value of news reporting on this kind of abuse. The question for us is how do protect ourselves against the allure of covetousness?

The oil company does not have any animus toward the Indians whose land they are violating. They just want the money, the income, they will get from building the pipeline. These boat owners have no evil intentions toward the employees they are exploiting and abusing. I'm sure if we learned about the owners of these companies we would find they are nice people. They take care of their children. They are nice to their dogs. How is it that they have gotten sucked into this kind of covetousness? How can we avoid falling into the same kinds of evil?

Most of the Ten Commandments are expressed negatively. Which makes sense. It's easier to detail the few things that are prohibited than to list all the good things that deserve our attention. So the commandments say, don't worship idols, don't murder, don't steal, don't cheat, don't give false testimony. But when Jesus was asked to summarize the moral law, he switched to the positive. What is the great commandment? Love God with your entire being. Anything else? Sure. Love your neighbor as yourself.

The antidote to coveting is practicing loving our neighbor. When we deliberately focus our affection and admiration on another person we are made immune to the allure of covetousness. We avoid covetousness, all sorts of other stupid sin, but focusing our attention in loving appreciation toward God and neighbor. Our lives go where we look. So, let's point our lives toward goodness. Point the front wheel of our bicycles toward love and generosity, toward compassion and kindness.

Years ago my son was taking horse riding lessons. I couldn't figure out why he needed lessons. He could ride far, far better than I could. But he wanted to become even more skillful so we signed him up with a well-known teacher. I was standing beside the arena during one of his lessons. As far as I could tell, Garrett and the horse were doing everything they were supposed to. Suddenly, the instructor hollered at him.

“Where were your eyes?”

Garrett pulled up his horse while the instructor lectured him.

I couldn't believe it. Over the years various family members have tried to improve my horse riding. They have directed me to do things with my hands. Hold the reins a certain way. Pull or don't pull. Raise your hands. Lower your hands. I've been told, “Push him over with your knee. Sit back in the saddle.” There have been other commands equally as incomprehensible, but as far as I can recall, the skilled riders in my family have never ever told me to do something with my eyes. Most of the time, they just give me commandments. DON'T DO THAT!

But apparently once you've mastered the basics. Once you're doing more than just trying not to fall off, eyes become important.

The instructor told Garrett, “Your horse will go where your eyes go.”

It's the same with life. We go where we're looking. So let's look toward goodness. Let's aim to be generous and frugal, to be industrious and creative. And when we notice riches in our neighbors' lives, let's rejoice in their good fortune and ask ourselves what can we learn from their good success.

Let's learn to look at our neighbors—the people around us, the people we work with, our classmates at school, those who sit near us in church—let's learn to look with love, with affection and respect and admiration. How do we do this?

First, by the simple act of listening.

Long ago and far away, I was upset about what the administration of an organization where I worked. I made an appointment with one of the vice-presidents. I had a prepared speech, the bullet points of my protest. I was ready to speak truth to power—that's a high-flown label for grousing about the boss. :-)

At the appointed time, the secretary sent me into his office. I was ready. I could feel the adrenaline rising. But before I began going through my list, I made the mistake of asking how he was doing. And he began telling me. His life was in crisis. I don't remember any details now. It may have involved his kids or his parents or his marriage or all of the above. The details don't matter now. The more carefully I listened, more he poured out his woes. In his position he probably didn't have many people to talk to. I never did get to my laundry list of complaints that day. I had to deal with them later. But I was struck with the power of simply inquiring and then listening.

When we listen to people, when we hear them, when we pay attention to their stories, we are unlikely to find our attention grabbed by their possessions. Instead of coveting, listening will lead us to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Love your neighbor as yourself. You know how sweet it is to be heard. So listen. Practice listening. Practice asking questions and then shutting up and listening, waiting to hear. It is one of the sweetest ways to practice loving.

What shall we do?

Love our neighbor. Give affectionate attention to our neighbor. Listen to our neighbor. Learn their stories. Learn about their parents and their children and their dogs and their cats and iguanas. Listen so carefully, so gently, they find it safe to mention the places where they hurt. Hear their dreams and hopes and ambitions. Love your neighbor.

Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Pay attention to your neighbor until you can see their greatness, their nobility, their value. Pay attention to your neighbor until you understand how it is that God could love them so dearly.

This is a perfect preventative for coveting.

At the beginning of my sermon I talked about a wonderful piece of blackberry pie. I'm hoping you can still imagine it. Maybe you can even still taste it, still feel the smooth texture of the cream and the sharp bite of the blackberry flavor on your tongue.

Last week, in the lobby after church, several people told me they were still salivating over the chocolate I described at the beginning of the sermon. Their hunger for the imaginary chocolates I set on the piano stayed alive throughout the entire sermon. They could not take their eyes or their taste buds off that chocolate that was displayed here on the piano. (in imagination)

Today, at the beginning of the sermon, I mentioned chocolate again. But unless you are an absolute chocolate addict, my guess is you have not given it any more thought. For sure I haven't been thinking about the chocolate pieces I hid in the back of the lectern. Instead, I've been dreaming of the blackberry pie and ice cream and whipped cream.

I forgot the chocolate because I cultivated my attention for something else.

The allure of coveting will evaporate as we give our attention to the actual humanity of our neighbor. As we practice loving our neighbor, the notion of snatching their treasures becomes unthinkable. Alien. Absurd.

When we are focused on money, it is easy to forget that employees or neighbors or people who need welfare are human beings. But when we turn from our spreadsheets and pay attention to the actual human beings who are being served or neglected, who are being enslaved, suddenly our moral duty becomes clearer. The more vividly we see real human beings, the easier it will be to join with God in his generosity and kindness.

The apostle Paul writes

When we love our neighbor we keep the law because all Bible commandments can be neatly summarized in this one command: love your neighbor as yourself. Romans 13:8-10

This is direction enough for life. Let's do it. Let's practice listening, giving, and loving. This is our holy ambition. This is our heavenly calling.