Opening Litany based on Psalm 1

Pastor: Blessed are the ones who do not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand with sinners or sit in the seat of mockers, but rather whose delight is in the ways of the LORD.

Congregation: Blessed are the ones who meditate on the way and the word of the Lord day and night for they are like trees planted by streams of water.

Pastor: They yield their fruit in season and their leaves do not wither. Whatever they do, the Lord is with them and they seem to prosper.

Congregation: It is not so with the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

Pastor: Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

Congregation: For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the ways of the wicked will perish and they will see the errors of their ways.

Luke 14:25-33

What is the cost?
can I have it my way?
can I have it God’s way?
Can I
I
Maybe that is where the problem is
I
can i
put myself before
God
and still be I
or must i first find myself
on my knees?
Christ has loved me
and offers me salvation
i am saved by the Grace of God
Through the faith of Christ
And yet have the power
To say no
Can i have it my way?
Yes,
But why?

I wonder as I wander

Sunday September 5th, Deuteronomy 30: 15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. After a generation of wondering in the wilderness, the liberated people of God were poised to enter the promise land. There were still choices ahead of them, though not many in the immediate. They could remain in the wilderness, back to their roots as nomads, or enter the land promised to Abraham. Neither choice was free. Either one would require effort on their part to either remain connected to the promises to Abraham and enter the land, or set themselves free and learn to forage on their own for food and water. If they choose to enter the new land (to them) and remain connected to God’s promises it did not mean a free ride with everything going well all the time. Free will then, as it does now, takes it’s toll. And so it is with us, do we remain connected to God’s promises? Or do we let our gift of free will take us down the path of least resistance? Most of us spend most of our time on the wrong path, for that there is forgiveness. Once in a while we find ourselves on God’s path for us, that is when we get a feeling of fulfillment.

the path

Monday September 6th, Deuteronomy 30: Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Most of us in this scenario would want to choose life. It sounds good, it sounds holism, choosing life always seems good. But what it also means is to choose to love God, obey God, and hold fast to God. It also means we choose the life of loving God and loving others. It means we choose the life of taking the lowest seat, it means we take the path of a servant. Choosing life in God is not just take the grace and run, it is responding to the grace given by purposely living a life of living gracefully with others. We do not often do so well at this, but at least most of us try from time to time. At those times when we wander off the path, that is where God’s love and forgiveness come in.

Paul's love child

Tuesday September 7th, Philemon: 10-14 While here in jail, I've fathered a child, so to speak. And here he is, hand-carrying this letter—Onesimus! He was useless to you before; now he's useful to both of us. I'm sending him back to you, but it feels like I'm cutting off my right arm in doing so. I wanted in the worst way to keep him here as your stand-in to help out while I'm in jail for the Message. But I didn't want to do anything behind your back, make you do a good deed that you hadn't willingly agreed to. First things first, Paul did not really father a child, in modern terms, he mentored a leader. While I was on Sabbatical, our congregation was taking care of all the duties, leading worship, sharing the message, leading the singing, serving the meal and even a baptism. In listening to the services on line, I sometimes felt like I had fathered a child. It was wonderful and exciting to listen to all this happen. Then I returned and old patterns both within the congregation and within me returned, the congregation went from taking care of to being taken care of. I have been in this congregation for 19 years and am beginning to question the wisdom of long term ministries. It is easy for me, but I see the congregation falling into old patterns as a chaplaincy congregation rather than a mission field. How have long or short periods of call affected ministry in your life? How have they affected the lives of congregations?

open doors

Wednesday September 8th, Philemon: 21-22 I know you well enough to know you will. You'll probably go far beyond what I've written. And by the way, get a room ready for me. Because of your prayers, I fully expect to be your guest again. 23 Epaphras, my cellmate in the cause of Christ, says hello. Paul trusted in God unfailingly even when Paul was sitting in jail. Paul lived in constant anticipation of what God had in store for him, what new adventure was around the next corner. Even prison was just another opportunity to witness, and even in prison Paul could anticipate the joys God still had before him. If we could only live our lives that way, filled with expectation and joy and hopefulness, perhaps we too could see the spirit’s leading in all of life. Sometimes a crisis is what is needed to open new doors.

follow

Thursday September 9th, Luke 14: 25-27 One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, "Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one's own self!—can't be my disciple. Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple. Being a follower of Christ is not just something we do occasionally; it is a description of who we are. To be a follower of Christ, one is called to put other things in life aside. Being a Christian is more than just a fad, or in the case of the modern church, an anti-fad fad, it is a day by day walk with the God of all humanity and all creation. If you don’t “get into it” you just are not connecting and you are the one losing out in this marvelous gift. This is a calling by Christ who has laid a path before you and is there to help you on your way. Sometimes the hardest part is to take the first step. Sometimes the hardest part is to close the book on the last chapter in anticipation of the next. But no matter where you go, as a child of God, you are never alone.

deck building

Friday September 10th, Luke 14: 28-30 "Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn't first sit down and figure the cost so you'll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you're going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: 'He started something he couldn't finish.' 31-32 "Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can't, won't he send an emissary and work out a truce? I am building a new deck this summer. The idea started with extending the deck and butting it up against a retaining wall. Next came building the retaining wall, which we then discovered needed a deeper foundation to good soil in order to provide stability. It is now the end of the summer and I am finally getting around to actually building the deck. Moral, even if we make plans, it is always a good idea to get a sense of the fullness of the plans needed before jumping into a project. We are also called to put the same diligence and perseverance and planning into following Christ. It is the process of bringing Christ from the periphery of our lives to the center of our lives that brings wholeness to life, it is also a decision that will cost us our lives as we have come to know them. We do this all the time with things that cost money. We sign contracts and commitments that last for years, mortgages that last for 30 years. We know how to do this with life and money, but do we follow the same commitment with faith? All too often we hear excuses of those who have made a monetary commitment to a cabin, boat or motor home and therefore feel obligated to use them every spare moment. I have yet to hear of someone who made a commitment to children, church or God and therefore which was their overwhelming commitment which then governed the how or what of their other commitments.

love others, all others

Saturday September 11th, Luke 14: 33 "Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can't be my disciple. Interesting statement for September 11th. Most will remember this as the day when the US was attacked by extremist primarily from Saudi Arabia. There was a call the next day to not get sucked into the hatred and turn this into a war that would alienate many in the world who now looked in favor of the US. The report did not come from a theological network, but rather from an investment program on National Public Radio. The premise was that this was an opportunity to show forgiveness and focus and in the process cultivate favorable markets and an atmosphere for global cooperation that would enhance international trade for generations to come. But we couldn’t say good bye to that which we held nearest and dearest, hatred and greed. Instead of attacking the Shiite strongholds from which Al Qaeda sprung, we chose to instead attack the Sunni stronghold of Iraq, which just happened to hold lots of oil. If you are not willing to take that which is nearest and dearest to you and kiss it good-bye, you are easy prey for those who would use you and the lives of your loved ones as cannon fodder for their own personal short term greed. We now have the likes of Glenn Beck and FOX being fairly successful at dupping us again to follow our basic racist instincts and return us to this short term greed of which we as a nation have fallen. Love God and Love Others, that is the command according to Christ. The others he was talking about were not just those whose skin is the same color, who live in the same neighborhood, who talk, act and think like us, but also the rest of creation the God created and called good. When we act on this day out of our fears and hatreds and racism, when we deny the building of Mosques dedicated to moderation and decency, when we listen to the vitriol disguised as news from FOX we fall victim to our own hatred, and become so much less than we were created to be and we end up doing the bidding of those, like the Kock brothers, who pull the strings and fit the bills behind the TEA party express. Kiss it good-bye, and read, really read scripture. Pick up Luke and read it beginning to end, then do the same for the other gospels. Listen to what Jesus is saying, not what some TV hack or some hate radio jock is telling you it means, READ IT, IT IS ABOUT LOVING GOD AND LOVING OTHERS, ALL OTHERS. If the Gospel does not fit into that you are not hearing it correctly. You are still holding on to your age old hatred and racism and are being played. Kiss it Good-bye, and hear the Gospel.

Multi-Millionaire Glen Beck is the Anti-Christ

Although I would disagree with Thom Hartman that Beck is the Anti-Christ.  There is little doubt that Beck is doing his bidding.

Yesterday, far right wing Faux News Performer & Multi-Millionaire Glenn Beck preached to a reported 87,000 supporters at his "Restoring Honor" rally and then later appeared on Faux News Sunday with Chris Wallace. When Wallace noted that Multi-Millionaire Beck called President Obama's faith "a perversion of the gospel of Jesus Christ" and Wallace wondered who made Multi-Millionaire Beck "the God Squad," Multi-Millionaire Beck called the President "demonic." Multi-Millionaire Beck said, "The pope even said, this is Pope Benedict, that it is demonic not divine when theology crosses into the line of doing that which only the divine can do. He was speaking specifically about liberation theology." Media Matters also notes that during his interview with Wallace, Beck dismissed the economic agenda associated with Martin Luther King's march 47 years ago, and said that Christians don't recognize Obama's faith. The reality is that Martin Luther King and Liberation Theology call for the same things Jesus Christ did 2000 years ago. Jesus fed the masses, and did ask for a co-payment. Jesus said, to his disciples the only way to get into heaven was to feed the hungry, heal the sick, visit those in prison, and make sure people were clothed and housed. Multi-Millionaire Glen Beck, on the other hand, is collaborating with oil billionaires who promote "less government" which really means no regulation of the oil industry; "lower taxes," which really means "don't raise taxes on billionaires"; and "roll back Obamacare," which really means "keep multi-millionaires like Steven J. Hemsley, who took a half a billion dollars as CEO of United Healthcare, in charge of only healing the wealthy." His Mormonism aside, the anti-theology and naked plutocratic agenda that multi-millionaire Glen Beck is promoting makes him not only NOT a follower of Christ but arguably the opposite. Multi-Millionaire Glen Beck is the Anti-Christ.

the Problem with Hell

Hell doesn't avenge evil or reveal God's power. It does the exact opposite! By holding on to the doctrine of eternal hell, we in essence hold to the belief that in the end God's will to save all people goes unfulfilled, which puts God's power and goodness in doubt.

Full Article by Sharon L. Baker, Ph.D.

no gloat

This week we hear of Jesus attending a banquet in which he gives a lesson on hospitality which is all dropsy-turvy and where the menu does not contain gloat. 

The billionaire funding behind the "grass roots" tea party

The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry—especially environmental regulation. These views dovetail with the brothers’ corporate interests. In a study released this spring, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute named Koch Industries one of the top ten air polluters in the United States. And Greenpeace issued a report identifying the company as a “kingpin of climate science denial.” The report showed that, from 2005 to 2008, the Kochs vastly outdid ExxonMobil in giving money to organizations fighting legislation related to climate change, underwriting a huge network of foundations, think tanks, and political front groups. Indeed, the brothers have funded opposition campaigns against so many Obama Administration policies—from health-care reform to the economic-stimulus program—that, in political circles, their ideological network is known as the Kochtopus.

full article in the New Yorker

Luke 14:1-14

Once I view the world
with a what can I get out of it
           attitude
Jesus looks with pity
             on my choice
Once we view one of the least of these
              my brothers and sisters
as the least
we say more about ourselves
and our view of God
                than we do of them
humble thyself
in the site of the Lord
humble thyself
and you will be raised up
to life
            love
                     God
humble thyself
and seek only to be
a child of God

make it big

Sunday August 29th, Proverbs 25: 6 Do not exalt yourself in the king's presence, and do not claim a place among great men; 7 it is better for him to say to you, "Come up here," than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman. What does the Lord require of us but to show justice, love mercy and walk humbly before your God. Then we don’t we risk possibility of being made a bit more humble than we would wish. God’s way of greatness in the world is, and has always been the great reversal. The first shall be last and the last shall be first, the greatest among you shall be the servant of all, on and on throughout scripture up to and including the King of all Creation, the Savior of the World, the King of the Jews dying on a cross. This is based on the truism that for the most part, when one wants to get ahead in the world they will base their success on rising above the other. All too often we find success comes at the expense of others. We have been able to work up pretty good blinders in this life. We only tend to see the success, not the victims left in the path of success. God calls us to the win/win world of serving others, the world calls us to the win/lose of making it big.

love one another

Monday August 30th, Hebrews 13: 1 Keep on loving each other as sisters and brothers. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. The twofold commandment to love God and love others is, according to Christ, the culmination of all the Law and prophets. The Gospels tell us that Jesus said it is the summation of the gospel. Loving others sounds good on paper, doing it however, takes work because the love Jesus was talking about had little to do with feelings, it was a verb. Loving others as a sister or brother means getting to know them as one would get to know a brother or sister. Entertaining strangers, even those with whom you may not see eye to eye, just might mean you are entertaining angels, but it might also mean that you have just welcomed in someone who is downright weird, or perhaps even dangerous. You won’t know that until you get to know them. What Jesus calls us into is relationships because in the end it all comes down to getting to know one another.

Fox News?

Tuesday August 31st, Hebrews 13: 4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Hebrews, along with Paul’s writings are often used as a proof texts to show that God is opposed to homosexuality. It is true, if you come at this with a bias against homosexual marriage, it would certainly read that way. If however you come at this text with a bias in favor of homosexual marriage, you might read it in a very different way. The writer of Hebrews and Paul do not seem too keen on the idea of homosexuality, but unlike most who oppose homosexual rights today, the basis for their understanding of human sexuality was based on a heterosexual model in which procreation was the goal. Their examples of homosexuality they were familiar with were pedophilia, prostitution or pagan idol worship. They had no concept, individually or socially, of committed long term homosexual relationships. There is also a tendency with these authors to associate other damaging elements of society as sin, with gluttony, greed and covetousness being chief among them. These are sins which we hear very little of from the pulpits of the anti-homosexual, or prejudiced churches. In our society we need to be aware of the bait and switch, churches that point the finger at homosexuality as an example of what these writers meant (which is open to considerable debate) while at the same time diverting our attention away from these authors major concerns, of which helping Christians maintain lifelong committed, healthy, and loving relationships being one. Freeing ourselves from our love of money, and all the greed, covetousness and gluttony, individually and socially, that obsessive love of money spawns, and being in favor of reform measures to reign in the excessive influence of wall street and the board rooms of multinational corporations were high on the list of issues in Paul’s writings and Hebrews. Little, if anything is heard from pulpits of conservative Christianity or the pulpits of the tea party church, fox news. (Male foxes are known as dogs or reynards, females as vixen, and young as kits, pups, or cubs. A group of foxes is a "skulk", "troop" or "earth". Typically, they live in small family groups, and are opportunistic feeders that hunt live prey. Using a pouncing technique practiced from an early age, they are usually able to kill their prey quickly. In many cultures, the fox appears in folklore as a symbol of cunning and trickery, or as a familiar animal possessed of magic powers.)

15 minutes of fame

Thursday September 2nd, Luke 14: 1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: O how we like to step up and get noticed. The fashion industry lives on this compulsion. Most social psychologists will point out that real maturity and satisfaction with life come not with getting ourselves noticed but with being recognized for the depth of our character. Character comes from humble service, for their rest, we try to cover our shallowness with the latest fashion. Maybe someday we could even make it to the supermarket tabloid section. Never trade your 15 minutes of fame for an eternity with God.

Character

Friday September 3rd, Luke 14: 8 "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." The way to build character is to practice the opposite, to practice humility. Humility is associating with the least, lost and lonely and helping them overcome the injustice that put them the place of being the least the lost and the lonely. Sometimes you will not be invited up, those are the better times, it is a recognition of your successful association with the least, lost and lonely. In the end, God notices, and that is enough. As a pastor, I enjoy doing weddings. I enjoy wedding receptions. I usually take the table farthest from the head table and usually stay there. But it is at wedding receptions that I have my best theological conversations, this being the place where the un-churched have been forced to come to church.

give a banquet

Saturday September 4th, Luke 14: 12 Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Just take a look at the difficulties inside the beltway and Juneau these days. From the lobbyists scandals to the to the Koch brothers funding of the tea party, to military government contracts, it is “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” Jesus calls us to scratch the backs of those who cannot scratch your back back. Help the needy not the greedy and your life will take on meaning.

Opening Litany August 29th, Psalm 112

Pastor: Praise the LORD! How joyful it is to live in reverent awe of the LORD and delight in following the ways of the Lord.

Congregation: This is the best gift we can give our children, to be an entire generation of Godly people, blessed, and being a blessing. They will then have all they need and their good deeds will last forever.

Pastor: Light shines in the darkness for those who follow the way of the Lord, their lives are exemplified by generous hearts, compassion and righteousness.

Congregation: The Godly find that good comes to those who help others get a leg up in this world and lend money generously and conduct their business fairly. Such people will not be overcome by evil and will long be remembered graciously.

Pastor: They do not live in fear because they confidently trust the LORD to care for them. They face life with confidence and fearlessness and can face their foes triumphantly.

Congregation: The Godly share freely and give generously to those in need and will long be remembered for their Godliness shining through their good deeds.

Pastor: In this way, through Godly living they will find they have been given influence and honor in this world.

Congregation: The wicked will see this and be infuriated, they will attack and make noise in anger but soon will slink away, their hopes thwarted.

August 24th, St. Bartholomew, Apostle

John 1:43-51

out of a world of doubt
crashing through
with words still on his lips
of a culture well worn
a people nurtured at the hand of God
and yet
a culture shed at the words of knowing
history set aside
for the sake of all time
                  (Rabbi)
and all people
called out of a life
of known
to a life of unknown
                 (You are the Son of God)
that would bring all life
to a newness
promised from before all time
                  (you are the King of Israel)
for all people

Holes and Holiness

Holes and Holiness 

When Jesus heals the bent over woman in Luke 13, she is freed from a condition that has caused her to look down at where she was standing only, unable to see the world around her. Jesus not only heals her from her physical condition, but re-emphasizes her position in life long forgotten by both her and the community as he calls her a daughter of Abraham. She is now not only able to stand up straight, but stand up tall and see and embrace the world around her and the vision for God’s creation from the very beginning called good. What is also healed that day is the community which through its own myopic view of the world had forgotten she too was a daughter of Abraham, a part of creation called good. A community that had grown comfortable with her marginalization, and like all communities which do so, suffered from being less than God had called it to be.

Much to the chagrin of the religious and community leaders this healing took place during the holy time of the Sabbath. After eighteen years of dealing with this ailment, a few more hours wait would not have been an issue for the woman. Jesus chooses this time however to bring a healing to community and something else which had fallen out of health into illness, the idea of Sabbath or Holy Time. In Matthew 5, shortly after the beatitudes we hear 23"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. For Jesus, Holy Time is truly only Holy time when there is reconciliation and the trouble more often than not is that we have become so accustomed to emnity and marginalization that we no longer see it, or care.

This story is a direct follow-up to last week’s Gospel about division not peace with three against two and two against three. Jesus is in essence saying, now that you have heard how the Gospel can make waves, let me show you an example of making waves and the healing that can take place when you confront ill that are no longer seen.

In our world, Holy time has long been compromised to the point where its abuse is no longer even noticed. There was a time in my hometown when, should you discover the need for something from the store because of unexpected guests on a Sunday, you would talk to Junior (the owner of the store) at church and he would go and unlock the store. You could then go in and get what you needed with the understanding that sometime that next week you would stop by, let him know what you had taken and pay for it. Junior himself would not go in, turn on the lights nor open the cash register, it was his time with church and family; it was his Holy time. Out of respect for his Holy time, you would move quickly to get what you needed and leave and in all the years he did this, no one would even think of not coming in that next week to make good on the purchase. There was an aura of respect, for the store owner and his holy time, for the person in need and their holy time, and for the Sabbath as holy time.

Last night someone threw a burning book, George Orwells 1984, up against the back of the church. Somehow it caught part of the siding on fire and caused a bit of charring and some smoke in the building. The initial report was that it was a Bible that was burned. When it was discovered it was Orwells classic instead there was a sense of relief on the part of the police and firemen. There is still a sense of the Holy and a sense of holy horror when that line is knowingly crossed.

Following the post 9/11 surge, most churches sense then have seen a decline in attendance. Here in Alaska it is mostly attributed to the call of the wild as we enjoy the bounty and beauty of God’s gift of creation. For others however it is the day to “do” the shopping, fixing, cleaning, as well as the child enrichment activities of camping, camps and sports. Adults free from rigors of child enrichment can also find this time occupied with the call of the game which fills our living rooms and lives with the allure of the big screen and the lure of the final four.

The twin draws of commerce and entertainment have come to fill the space left by what formally stood as Holy Time leaving us unaware of its gentle slide away from us. The hole in our soul, now a sordid jumble of memories, plans and soggy sleeping bags.

Much has been made of the Islamic Community Center planned for construction in New York near where the twin towers once stood. Dubbed the ground zero Mosque by its opponents, it is claimed to be an affront to the Hallowed Space once occupied by the twin towers that stood before September 11th. The Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf once revered across the spectrum of political and religious ideology as a moderate voice of reason, is now regarded by some as little more that evil incarnate. His presence and the presence of this and other potential Islamic houses of worship has by some been considered an affront to the very nature of this Holy ground in particular and in some cases to our nation as a whole.

In Jesus day, the bent over woman was considered an affront to that Holy space in the week called the Sabbath. Her condition was understood at the time to have been brought on by the presence of sin in her or her parents life. When Jesus healed her, he not only restored her physically but also restored and called her to her rightful position as a child of Abraham. Her dignity as well as her health restored. When Jesus healed her, he restored the community to its rightful position as the gathered community of all the children of God. When Jesus healed her, he restored the Sabbath to its rightful position as a Holy place in time and space where all could gather together as the children of God in celebration of the great things God has done. To do anything less than to restore all the children of God to their rightful place in the family of God is an affront to the very Holy nature of the creator who created all things and said, “it is good.”

When we demonize some of the Children of Abraham because of the horrific acts of a few we succeed only edifying and amplifying the voice of hatred in the hearts of many stung by this voice of disdain and hatred. Fear and hatred being such powerful emotions that all of us are susceptible to the power of them to draw us in and to think and do the very thing we despise in the other. As the great sage and cartoon character Pogo once said, we have met the enemy and he is us. Then Jesus comes along and points out that we have fallen into the age old trap of the adversary and have become the very thing we hate.

Though it is always a bit presumptuous and dangerous to claim to know the full extent of the answer to the question, “what would Jesus do” we can take some cues from what it is reported Jesus did. And what Jesus did was to restore not only parts of a community to their rightful status as Children of Abraham, but in the process also restore the community itself to the full status as the collective assembly of the Children of Abraham and this Holy time and Space to its former status as indeed Holy.

Our calling as the children of God is to concern ourselves less with others who wish return Holiness to time and space than it is with our own misuse of this gift of Sabbath God has given us. It is a call to return to the Holiness we all seek in our lives and the lives of our children and communities in our various ways by honoring this Holy place in time and Space that God has given us with more than just the twin draws of commerce and entertainment in our ever more congested schedules.

You who are here are honoring this Holy Time today, but we all know how easily we too can slip away just one more Sunday too many until the weeks turn into months. So I ask you today not only pray to for, but actively seek out those whose Holy time has been eaten away by one more Sunday too many, who have found one more reason to try to fill the Holy void in their lives with mere busyness, and who secretly long to stand up straight in the assembly of God and be welcomed as a daughter of Abraham, a child of God.

And let us as a community of faith work always toward restoring the Holiness not only in our lives and buildings damaged by vandalism and fire, but the lives of the communities in which we live and the image of this congregation where all the people of God can gather in a welcoming community and together live lives that are inspired by God’s love to Praise, Nurture and Serve. Amen.

Don't Take Away Social Security - Double it Instead!

A New America Foundation study is not calling for Social Security to be cut back but to double it. With the crash of private pensions, homeownership and personal savings in the footsteps of this Republican Great Recession, Social Security becomes central to the historic "three-legged stool" of American retirement security. Yet Social Security now only brings in only a about a third of the money needed for retirement. This study recommends doubling social security payments, and funding it by lifting the cap so millionaire banker, who right now pay a paltry 1%, pay the same 12.4% that a carpenter or firemen does. Add to that a social security tax on billionaire hedge fund managers and others who make their living through sitting on their butts, around the pool, waiting for the interest or dividend check to arrive in the mail, and you can not only double current social security payments, but the system is solvent forever.

From Thom Hartman

opening litany Psalm 103

Pastor: Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise the Lord’s holy name.

Congregation: Praise the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all the Lord’s benefits and blessings.

Pastor: Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases?

Congregation: The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

Pastor: Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion?

Congregation: The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

Pastor: Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like an eagle?

Congregation: The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

Pastor: The Lord made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:

Congregation: The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

Luke 13:10-17

Healing on the Sabbath

Child of God you are free
Stand up
To the powers that be
Holding up the law
Intended for life
Freedom
Healing
And used all too often only as control
Stand up
Celebrate the Sabbath with a smile and a shout
Celebrate the Sabbath and keep it holy with joy
Celebrate the Sabbath and send the devil packing
Out of your life
Forget the cry of the controlling
Holding up the law
While running from it
The law was made for do’s
And we have turned it into a book of don’ts
From life
To death
Stand up and celebrate
Sing with joy and thanksgiving
And on the seventh day God rested
And it was good.

do away with the yoke of oppression

Sunday August 22nd, Isaiah 58: 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah is addressed not to individuals as much as to nations. Therefore let us read this from a national point of view. There is a call to not let the Bush tax cuts expire along with the plan to extend them to all except those who have benefited the most, those on the top economic scale. Have we done away with the yoke of oppression by cutting taxes on the top 1% and corporations or have we only succeeded in passing the economic burden off on the children of those below the top 1%? GOP congressman Boehner has proposed “fixing” social security by increasing the retirement age to 70 which is something only someone who does not work physically with his hands would consider. Another solution would be to eliminate the top cap of $106000 of earned income and apply the social security tax to all income. In the modern warfare of haves against oppressed, tax policy is often the weapon of choice. Perhaps the best way to “fight” terrorism is to promote agendas and programs and budgets that will let our light rise in the darkness and economic justice for all the way of the land.

one in five

Monday August 23rd, Isaiah 58 13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken. I will not kid myself, not all spiritual worship is in church. There are many glorious moments out in this great land, especially here in Alaska, where one can have an invaluable primary experience with God. Most worship is considered a secondary experience with God, in that it is often public remembrance and celebration of other experiences. However, over the years the average attendance at worship has gone from two Sundays a month to one Sunday every five weeks (no scientific data, only my guesstamet) Perhaps this is a reflection on society in general or the church in general or particular, but whatever the cause, it is a call to implement some change. Most Holy days have moved from societal to religious. Wednesday evenings for church activities are long a thing of the past in most communities. Sunday mornings is sometimes when the hockey team can get ice time. When my daughter was in high school their school even had prom on the Saturday evening between Good Friday and Easter. In the Christian community we find it frustrating. Other faith traditions historically have seldom had their timing of traditions considered. How do you create Holy Time? How do you respect the Holy Time of other traditions? One solution is to help our congregations consider all time as Holy Time, and live our lives accordingly. Therefore at those times when we do gather for worship it is a celebration of God’s presence already experienced.

not more evil than the good God can give

Tuesday August 24th, Hebrews 12: 24 You've come to Jesus, who presents us with a new covenant, a fresh charter from God. He is the Mediator of this covenant. The murder of Jesus, unlike Abel's—a homicide that cried out for vengeance—became a proclamation of grace. On the cross, Jesus took all the evil humanity can give and proclaimed that it is not more evil than the good God can give. In the book and film, “the last temptation of Christ,” the depiction was the final and strongest argument to just give into to the tempters plan for the world as stated following Jesus’ baptism. Just bow down and worship me and I will give you all these lands and peoples was how the tempter put it. The gift of grace was Jesus’ “no” to the temptations of this world, temptations we all succumb to, and “yes” to God’s way of self-giving love and the gift of eternal life for all. Our call is to live this gift here and now.

fire

Wednesday August 25th, Hebrews 12: 28-29 Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is Fire! Fire is often used as a metaphor for cleaning and purifying as in the case of a refiners fire. It takes all the extra stuff in our lives, the dross, and clears it away. It leaves what is pure in the refining process. What is all the extra stuff that gets in the way of true worship in your life? What needs to be cleared away in order to experience a fuller revelation of God in your life? Where do you spend your money, your time, your thoughts and how does that interfere with, or enhance you spiritual self? God has given you the gift of salvation through grace, what differences will that make? How will you now live your life?

Woman and world, you are free

Thursday August 26th, Luke 13: 10-13 He was teaching in one of the meeting places on the Sabbath. There was a woman present, so twisted and bent over with arthritis that she couldn't even look up. She had been afflicted with this for eighteen years. When Jesus saw her, he called her over. "Woman, you're free!" He laid hands on her and suddenly she was standing straight and tall, giving glory to God. The Sabbath was made for humanity, not humanity for the Sabbath. Jesus was one to break Sabbath rules, but it was to do good rather than personal pleasure. You would think that after 18 years, Jesus could have waited until sundown when the Sabbath was over to do the healing, and he could have. Jesus prefers however to buck the religious expectation with this healing to emphasize the point that compassion is more important than compliance with a set of rules, norms or expectations. What Jesus was healing that day was not only the woman who had been bent over for so long, but the naive expectation that as long as we worship in the correct way we are cool with God and we need not worry about justice or compassion. Worship helps to set us free also. When we are free for the day, when we can focus clearly on our need for rest and refreshment, when we can connect freely to our loving creator God, then we have received the Sabbath gift to humanity. The response that helps keep the process going is to stand straight and tall and give glory to God for this compassionate gift of grace and Holy Time.

triangles

Friday August 27th, Luke 13: 14 The meeting-place president, furious because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the congregation, "Six days have been defined as work days. Come on one of the six if you want to be healed, but not on the seventh, the Sabbath." Notice the triangulation as the meeting place president addressed not Jesus, but the crowd about his concern. Sometimes the established order of things needs to be shaken up a bit. Sometimes the healing that is needed is to spend the day in worship. But worship without changed lives, changed perspectives, and a changed attitude toward justice is not really worship. If one were to try to work all the time and forgo sleep day after day, soon, among other things, you would become very unproductive. So it is with the Sabbath. Without it, all those things we strive for in life just become a blur. Without worship leading to justice in this world, worship itself is just a blur.

one body broken

Saturday August 28th, Luke 13: 15-16 But Jesus shot back, "You frauds! Each Sabbath every one of you regularly unties your cow or donkey from its stall, leads it out for water, and thinks nothing of it. So why isn't it all right for me to untie this daughter of Abraham and lead her from the stall where Satan has had her tied these eighteen years?" Rules are often about what others are doing wrong according to our standards. Sometimes they are also kept in place to maintain the status quo of power. This woman was crippled for life and lived in a diminished status as a woman with a condition attributed to a “spirit of weakness.” Jesus healing shocks the religious system which had become complacent to the needs of the least, lost and lonely by healing her on the Sabbath, thereby restoring not only her dignity, but the dignity of the Sabbath. It is also a call to remember that all worship should be about freeing ourselves and others from the burdens of life. It starts by remembering that our burdens are not the same as those of others. More times than I can count I have given what I considered to be a sermon that totally missed the mark, only to have someone tell me how it spoke right to what they were dealing with. I may wonder what I said or what they heard, but it matters little. God works in many ways to untie us from the burdens of life and to free us for a life of worship. When we celebrate communion we begin with the words, “on the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus took the bread and broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, this is my body given for you”. The bread that was broken was the bread from the Passover meal, it is the bread symbolizing liberation. When we gather around the body and blood of Jesus, we gather to celebrate the liberation we all experience in our walk with God. As we do so we are called to celebrate in words and deeds the liberation Christ brings to others. If the liberation is only for us then what we celebrate is a vending machine god who only does our bidding. If we celebrate and work for the liberation of all people, then we truly become the body of Christ broken for others.

Mary the Mother of our Lord August 16th

Luke 1:46-55

Sing of the Joy that has come
Sing in the hearts of all the people
that now is the time
and the place
for the greatness of the Lord
to come to the people
Sing for the mighty of this world
given new life
toppled from their self made towers
of pride and anxiety
Sing for the powerful of this world
who have been given new life
brought from their mighty thrones of power
with eyes opened toward Christ
seen face to face
in the eyes of poor and hungry
Sing for the humble
in the new hope that life brings
in a world that offered no hope
and Sing for the hungry
who hunger no more
but who are filled with life
and hope
at the one carried in the womb
of Mary
to a world never the same again
filled with Song

Prayer of the Day
Almighty God, in choosing the virgin Mary to be the mother of your Son, you made known your gracious regard for the poor, the lowly, and the despised. Grant us grace to receive your word in humility, and so to be made one with your Son, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Obama Defends Ground Zero Mosque Plans In Ramadan Dinner Speech

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday forcefully endorsed allowing a mosque near ground zero, saying the country's founding principles demanded no less.

"As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country," Obama said, weighing in for the first time on a controversy that has riven New York City and the nation.

"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said. "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."
I am pleased to see President Obama taking a stand on the controversy over the Islamic Center in New York.  I am please to hear ca call to get back to our values as a nation. 

Obama made the comments at an annual dinner in the White House State Dining Room celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The White House had not previously taken a stand on the mosque, which would be part of a $100 million Islamic center two blocks from where nearly 3,000 people perished when hijacked jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001. Press secretary Robert Gibbs had insisted it was a local matter.

It was already much more than that, sparking debate around the country as top Republicans including Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich announced their opposition. So did the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group.

Obama elevated it to a presidential issue Friday without equivocation.

While insisting that the place where the twin towers once stood was indeed "hallowed ground," Obama said that the proper way to honor it was to apply American values.

"Our capacity to show not merely tolerance, but respect to those who are different from us – a way of life that stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of those who attacked us on that September morning, and who continue to plot against us today," he said.

Full Article

How to save Social Security by cutting taxes.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) signaled that raising the Social Security retirement age to 70 is an option that Congress must consider as it looks at overhauling the expensive entitlement program. For someone who touts lowering taxes as the solution to all problems this is an interesting solution. First to note is that only someone who does not do physical labor for a job would consider such an idea. Second, since Social Security is only applied to the first $106000 of earned income (wages, tips, bonuses, salaries and commissions) it is a tax primarily on the middle class and lower. A fireman earning $106000 per year would pay $15900 (split by employer and employee unless self employed, and then covered totally by employee) in Social Security Tax. Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs would also pay $15900 per year on an income in excess of $500,000,000 while being bailed out by taxpayers. Those in the highest tax bracket, whose income is largely dividends and stock options will not pay on those dividends and stock options and never pay more than the $15900 per year. Boehner’s approach would add up to an additional $79,500 over the five years in new taxes to those earning $106,000 or less per year. While it is true that the same amount would be added to those who earn more than the $106,000 per year, the percentage of income taxed decreases significantly as the salary increases. I propose a very Republican idea, lower the taxes. Why not reduce the Social Security tax to 12% (6 by employee and 6 by employer) but apply it to all income with no top limit. That way someone like Lloyd Blankfein with an income in the neighborhood of $1/2 billion would pay around $6mil in Social Security and the fireman would see his tax burden decrease by $3200. And they both could retire at 65. Not only would Social Security be saved, so would your back.

Opening litany, Psalm 82

Pastor: Our Lord God presides over all creation, even over our hidden gods, our treasures and possessions. Then our Lord God asks the question: "How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?

Congregation: As the children of God we are called to defend the cause of the weak and broken families, to maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. We are called to rescue the weak and needy and deliver them from the hand of the wicked who would take advantage of them.

Pastor: Those who seem to be the movers and shakers who control the money and bend the politicians in reality know nothing, they understand nothing.

Congregation: They walk about in spiritual darkness; all their foundations in this world are shaken.

Pastor: The world says to them, 'You are "gods"; but you are not “gods” but rather sons of the Most High and in the end will die like mere men; fall like every other ruler.

Congregation: Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations, all the nations are your inheritance.

Luke 12:49-56

Let Peace Roll Down
Like a river
Into my soul
your soul
our soul
Let it roll
into the land
and people
and heavens
The Lord has come to bring peace
and yet I know
and God knows
that this peace brings a burning love
a fire to ignite into love
those who hear
it is a fire that keeps us
from hiding
behind our false selves
It’s time to let it burn
It’s time to be true
and let God’s peace
BURN

This land is my land, this land is your land

Sunday August 15th, Jeremiah 23: 23 "Am I only a God nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away? 24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD. When Jacob crossed the river and wrestled with the messenger of God on the other side, he realized that God was not just the God on his side of the river, but was also the God of the lands beyond the river. Today we still tend to impart that kind of territorial thinking to God. Most of the protest against the moderate Islamic Mosque near ground zero is little different from a dog lifting its leg and marking its territory, and about as civilized. The territory is less geographic and more ideological, which to a large degree ends up being geographic. It is singing “This Land is My Land” without the next phrase in the song. In the face of that, God declares that all of heaven and earth is the dwelling place of God. Our responsibility to care does not stop at any border, whether geographic or ideological nor does it include borders or fences or “papers please.” In order to manipulate the voting population certain conservative commentators and “news” channels try to fill our nation with fear of “them.” But our Lord is not just a God nearby. Our Lord is also a God far away. Our Lord is a God of all the children of creation and would prefer we stop acting like the spoiled one and grow up.

Biblical Proof, Blacks are to be slaves

Monday August 16th, Jeremiah 23: 29 "Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? If our aim is to find Biblical support for our way of thinking then with a little practice we can hit the mark every time. Remember the antebellum argument held for so long as proof that blacks were created to be the slaves of whites through the story of Noah. If our aim is to be true to the message God has given us in the word, then the mark that is left on us is one that hits our hearts, not someone else’s complexion. If you haven’t been brought to your knees, either in joy or in remorse, in response to something that came to you through scripture lately, you’re probably not reading scripture enough for your own good. If all you find is something some else is doing wrong, you are not reading scripture correctly. The word of the Lord is like a hammer that breaks down old prejudices as well as hearts of stone.

Room for one more bag?

Tuesday August 17th, Hebrews 12: 1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. The trouble with pioneers is we tend to take the trappings of their journey with Jesus and add them to the trappings of our society or culture and then add them to our own personal baggage and before long we have a church that is more burdened than enlightened by the past. It is one thing to learn from those who have gone on before us and equate the lessons learned to help us in our journey, it is quite another to take parts of their journey, mix it with our culture and personal garbage and hang it around the necks of our children. How much good, but basically useless stuff is in your pockets? Your worship? Your life?

shoot adrenaline

Wednesday August 18th, Hebrews 12: When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! There is a human tendency to tame the Gospel, at least for our lives. That was the temptation Jesus was faced with in the wilderness. Turn these stones into bread, jump down from this high tower, give them a circus and bread and they will gladly pay lip service to you is the way the tempter put it to Jesus. The temptation is there for us also. Give me a worship experience that is entertaining and short and filled with feel good phrases. The Gospel basically boils down to Love God and Love Others, it sounds so simple but try doing it and you just might find yourself on the outs with more than just a few of your friends. The devil is in the details tis true. But sometimes the temptation is to avoid the details and just feel good. It is one thing to cry with the prophets of old to let justice roll down like an ever flowing stream, it is quite another to design the irrigation system.

Fire on the earth

Thursday August 19th, Luke 12: 49 "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! The word used here for fire can also mean passion, or enthusiasm. Having that kind of zeal for the word of God in this world compels us into action and activism. The trouble comes when we see those who disagree with us as enemies rather than the children of God, brothers and sisters who disagree with us. Growth comes more through conversation than conflict, wisdom on the cutting edge of disagreement. God calls us to have both passion and compassion, to argue each point as if it were the most important idea in the world, and in the end, compromise as if it were the most loving.

Passion

Friday August 20th, Luke 12: 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." Intense passion of belief will bring about conflict, and it will tend to bring about divisions. If left unattended, the division will only fester. We are not called to lesson our passion for our beliefs, but we are also called to love one another, including those who think we are idiots because of our beliefs. When I do premarital counseling I encourage couples to fight (I also emphasize that it is verbal sparring, not physical sparring). My one rule is that they put more energy into making up than they did into the fight. These passionate exchanges not only help clarify our beliefs, but often times come up with the most creative solutions. This only works when there is an assurance that the foundation of love is stronger than any conflict.

rapture enthusiasts

Saturday August 21st, Luke 12: 54 He said to the crowd: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's going to rain,' and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time? Sometimes all those charts of the rapture enthusiasts just get in the way of seeing the big picture, it is the Lord’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. We so want to find a scriptural interpretation that supports our prejudice that we fail to see how it affects our brothers and sisters in this world. In the end of time no one is raptured off this earth, but, as it says in Revelation, Christ the Lamb comes to live with us. Perhaps instead of destroying it for fun and profit, we should start cleaning the place now. God is far more impressed with pristine beauty than oil spills and big bank accounts.