PastorEd

I have read that we should be so clear about our mission and purpose that we could explain it during an elevator ride.

I have never been able to… until now.

When asked about my preaching and my church, I simply replied.

“God loves us and accepts us all,

And calls us to Justice and compassion.

Like Jesus we give ourselves to God,

And labor for the healing of the world.”

It worked! And it felt great!

This is why I am a pastor. This is what I live for. This is my understanding of the Gospel.

Life is good.

According to the Bible stories, God is the originator of humanities many languages. At the Tower of Babel in the scroll of Genesis, God confuses the languages of humanity so they will not reach heaven by their unified effort.  I think this meant a literal tower to reach the big upside-down bowl in the sky called the firmament that was arched over the flat Earth.

Then God restores humanity on the day of Pentecost by baptizing the disciples in the upper room with the wind and fire of the Holy Spirit. These completed disciples made of earth, and now baptized by water, wind, and fire, break the language barrier with  supernatural communication. (Read Acts 2)

Among many possible meanings, it establishes that the Church has a mission to the whole world and is not to be limited by differences in language.

It is believed that Jesus spoke Aramaic a form of folk Hebrew. But the language shared in the eastern Mediterranean nations was Greek. The many gospels, and letters of the early church were written in this common Greek.  This was another way that the church broke out of an exclusive Jewish audience, and took the message of Jesus Christ to the known world.

Why does this matter?

1. We need to correct our thinking if we believe having one language is historical for a nation or a religion. We need to understand that even languages we consider today like English, Spanish, German, and the like, are evolving conglomerations of communication and particularly prior to being written, were shot through with major dialects.  The ancient church was multilingual as is evidenced by the many languages listed according to the Acts of the Apostles. The early United States was multi lingual. Apart from the many Native American languages of the North American continent there was Spanish, Dutch, German, and English. For example the army of the revolution was multi-lingual, and they did just fine.

2. This means we can relax about thinking that diversity of language leads to destruction of political cohesiveness. Rather like a strong hybrid we can think of multiple languages as adding to the strength and character of our churches and our nation.  Part of what makes the United States wonderful is our ethnic diversity. Just think of art, food, and music. Diversity enriches us.

3.As a people of God, and followers of Jesus Christ we can remember the Bible stories. God is God of the whole world. And we are to serve the whole world. God is beyond race, class, gender, and language separations. So as Christians, we are bridge builders not wall builders.

In conclusion, we are planning to erect a Peace Pole on our grounds this Fall. It will have the words, “Let Peace Prevail on the Earth” on the side. And it won’t just be in English.  “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God,” says Jesus in the sermon on the mount. The gospel was translated for us into English. It is our task in word and deed to translate the love and justice of God to everyone of every language.

Maranatha.

The gospel is that we are already loved and accepted by God just as we are, and that we are invited, to enter more completely into the good life in God’s beloved community. The security and integrity of God’s love for us, and our love for one another, brings us great joy and purpose.

Jesus shows us the way to live by how he accepted God’s love and offered his life to God, wherever that would take him. So we accept God’s love, and offer ourselves to God wherever that takes us. We turn away from evil, and do good, not because we fear losing God’s love but because harmfulness is bad in itself, and deeds of compassion are their own reward. God does not want us to hurt ourselves or harm others. Neither do we.

Jesus shows us the way to live by how he lived. He was not caught up in having stuff, but loved sharing. He loved people, healed them, ate with them, taught them, and finally died for them. Like Jesus we are not caught up and trapped in compensating for our sense of inadequacy by constant accumulation. Instead we trust God’s acceptance of us and are able to be more simple and authentic with ourselves and with others. We cultivate honest compassionate relationships. Like Jesus we give particular attention to those that are disrespected and excluded in society. We feed the hungry, and visit the sick. More than that, we work to make our world more just and fair, more sustainable and compassionate, towards everyone. In the realm of God, everyone eats, and no one is killed.

And when our death time comes, we trust God. We know that we come from God, and return to God. Loving God, and loving one another, we can let our lives go back to the one who made us, loves us, teaches us, and leads us. As we have trusted God in life, we trust God in death.

In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus is Baptized in the Jordan river by John. God speaks and tells him, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” We often read this as a proposition about who Jesus is that God delivers for our benefit. But what could it have meant for Jesus?

What would it mean for you if God would say to you, “You are my beloved child. I am well pleased with you.”? Would it comfort your soul? Would you accept that you were good enough, worthy enough, as an object of God’s love? Could you really accept God’s acceptance?

Or would you argue with God and tell your heavenly parent that it was a big mistake. “No! I am untrustworthy.” you might say, or, “I have evil thoughts and desires.” You might tell God, “You don’t understand what a screw up I am.”

So for an experiment in accepting God’s acceptance, in an exercise of applying God’s grace, imagine God tells you over and over again. “You are my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.”

Imagine God tells you this every morning, then goes on telling you all through the day. God understands how broken and wounded you are. So God patiently, earnestly, continually says, “You are my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.” Imagine it is the last thing you hear whispered to your heart as you close your eyes in sleep each night. Imagine God goes on like this day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.

Perhaps in time you would come to trust and believe God. Your days would become less heavy with self fear, regret, and self loathing. You would not feel the need to put on appearances so much. You would become more untroubled, humble, and authentic.

And because we love our neighbors as we love ourselves, this acceptance of God’s acceptance, that has become self acceptance, becomes neighbor acceptance as well. Other people look less evil. They become more beautiful. Because you no longer need to impress them, and they no longer need to impress you, some sweet authentic community begins emerging.

How would you act if you truly believed that you had nothing, ultimately, to prove to anyone?

After all, do you really believe “God is love”?

Really?

Try sitting in a pleasant place that feels spiritual to you.

Say to God, “Do you have something you want to tell me?”

Then listen.

Deep

Down

Inside

for…

“You are my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.”

God is still speaking.

We all need some kind of spiritual refreshment. We could just do nothing and let nature take its course. However this may lead to serious spiritual impoverishment. And because spirituality is deeply sustaining, we are less in the universe and less in ourselves when we lack it.  Less aware, less awake, we are spiritual zombies sleepwalking through life.

The path to wholeness is to include everything. We need physical, spiritual, and emotional nurture. We need food, rest and activity for each of these areas. This is as true for our spirituality as it is for our physicality. Then we can fully engage our agency and grow in every way as full participatory human beings in the universe.

How do we feed our souls? How can we cultivate what may be an act of grace that comes from God?  We cannot force or coerce God to give us a sustaining spiritual experience according to our wishes.

Here is an idea.

In Hinduism the Bhagavad Gita assesses humans as having three primary spiritual paths. The path of service is what fulfills some people. Nothing makes them feel more alive than doing good things for others. The path of the mind is what brightens others. Nothing is more fulfilling and nurturing to these people than deeply studying and understanding reality. Devotion is the other path. It is about being close to God, feeling God’s presence, and trusting in God’s grace.

Of course all these things work together. What good is the mind without service? What good is service without devotion? And what good is devotion without some disciplined understanding? So all these things are part of being a wholesome human, even if each person has their favorite.

Now I am writing as a Christian to Christians. I am using this Eastern insight because it is helpful. I do not limit myself to European foods. I do not constrict myself to Roman Numerals but make good use of Arab numerals. I learn as much as I can, wherever I can. This is an aid to my Christian ways, not a hindrance.

Do you know yourself? Do you know what really moves you? Do you know your spiritual love language? Do you know what fills your spiritual gas tank?

Carl Jung in his book “The Undiscovered Self” claims that for all our selfish individualism,  we spend most of our lives avoiding our selves. He claims that it is not selfishness to take some time to get to really know yourself.

Take a moment and ask yourself, “When do I feel most spiritually alive?”

Was it a wondrous feeling of being connected with God and the universe some kind of prayer, song, or worship? Was it about the intellectual content? Or was it a wondrous warming of the heart?

Then devotion is your primary path.

Was it the sweet communion and commotion of the kitchen during the church spaghetti dinner? Was it working side by side on the church yard? Was it bringing the plates and cups to the person in need in small household goods?

Then service is your primary path.

Was it the new idea that opened to world like a flower? Was it a strong insight that once had, alters perception from then on? Was it seeing the wondrous puzzle of life fall into place? Was it the equally marvelous explosion of the known breaking away into a more profound and accurate though complicated reality?

Then the intellect is your primary path.

If devotion is your way, then you should look for devotional spiritual practices. Sing in the choir. Make a worship place in your home and light a candle there. Make an effort to not just attend church, but to truly worship God in spirit and in truth.

If service is your way, then look for opportunities to serve. Volunteer in the Kitchen. Help with household goods. Offer your best to the children in Sunday school. Volunteer to be an usher or greeter.

If the intellect is your way then listen closely to the content of the songs and sermon. Participate in adult education like the Wisdom Circle. Include spiritual reading as part of your practice.

There is a saying, “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Spirituality can be like that too.

Be wise. Take responsibility for your spiritual health and the spiritual direction of your life. Accept the world as it is. Don’t go running off looking for a better place, or a better time. Wherever you go, there you are. So learn to worship, to love, to learn, to serve, and to thrive.  There is nothing wrong with this universe that cannot be made better by you being better.

Spirituality is an art to cultivate, a choice to make, and a gift to yourself and those you love.

I paid my taxes this year with a strange sort of happiness.

I am happy that I live here in the United States. Even though I disagree with numerous policies and programs of the government. I love my country and understand taxes by some name are a part of all human forms of governance.

I am happy that I am blessed with enough health and good fortune thanks to the good people of Park Church, to be able to provide for my family and pay taxes.

Our family has been able to contribute to Oberlin, Bowling Green, and Toledo. I am glad I can support our local firemen, libraries, schools, and other public servants. We also contributed to Ohio and the United States. These organizations feel more distant to me. But I am happy that I am a contributing member of society there too.

Perhaps I was happy just to have finished it all. Because of local individual filing rules and my spouses’ employments we had to fill out four local forms in addition to our joint state and federal returns. I filled out every form to the best of my ability and must admit, some of the local forms were more confusing than the state and federal returns. I was happy to complete the job before the deadline.

I do wish some tax laws were different. I wish that investment dividend money and labor pay was taxed the same, percent by percent. I wish the off shore loop-holes were closed that permitted some large (Not American) Multi National corporations to run internal accounting books in such a way to have no United States tax liability. I wish that there was some way to bring some responsibility to international financial trading through the Tobin tax to provide funding for health, education, and ecology projects around the world.  I wish that taxes would more accurately include those that benefit most from favorable legislation and other forms of externalizing costs. Because I certainly do not want some sort of aristocracy, some form of graduated inheritance tax makes good sense to me.

I wish the money was spent differently too. I wish more money was spent in the military to provide good equipment and services to the soldiers in the field, and less money was wasted in lack of outrageously expensive military research and development projects. I wish less money went to the banks every year to service the national debt, and more money went to provide government oversight towards safe food, clean water, and fair education.  I wish less money was spent on warehousing prisoners for non-violent crimes and more money was spent on re-habilitation of people, and revitalization of local economies.

In the Bible Jesus says “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  In our world where God and Caesar (government) continue to exist together. It is my position that the place for improvements is not with God but with Caesar.

Even so, I have rendered unto Caesar in my taxes, and to God through my pledge to Park Church.

And I am happy.

1. Good Enough! Wanting what you have.

Jesus was against exclusion. He was against exclusion of the poor by the rich. And he was against exclusion of the rich by the poor. 

I often find myself speaking about economic justice for the poor. This is because I find myself facing a daily deluge of advertising that equates success with consumption. This excludes the poor as people that matter. Then there are the “anyone can be rich” Horatio Alger stories that blame the poor for their circumstances.

Blaming the poor is often like blaming the sick.  Their illness to some, demonstrates their lack of faith. Instead of visiting and helping them, they are lectured on Bible verses that say if a person has faith they can move mountains and such. I heard of one woman who was dying of cancer, that told her husband after a particularly self righteous and pedantic visit, “Never let that woman in our house again.”

This is how poor people feel when they are constantly forced to hear charitable advice with the crow they are being served.

But the rich get excluded too. Jesus made a point of reaching out to tax collectors. He invited himself to their homes. He blessed them. He reached out to them. According to the scriptures the Apostle Matthew was one of them.

The rich get blamed for all sorts of things. They are held in suspicion by the have-nots. The saying “Behind every great fortune lies a crime.” is applied to them.  The difficulties rich persons experience are mocked by the poor.  In short the rich are blamed for being rich even as the poor are blamed for being poor.

But Jesus takes us to a better place beyond blaming. I think Jesus would agree with Thomas Paine when he said, “I care not how affluent some may be, provided none be miserable in consequence of it.” (Agrarian Justice 1797)

In the beloved community of God led by Jesus Christ, “There is no longer Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) With this one verse Paul clearly  breaks through the three biggest barriers that separate human beings, tribalism, money and sexuality.

So my vision of Park church is that we are a community of safety, honesty, and respect to all persons. Tribal or national identity does not matter.  Gender identity  and sexual orientation does not matter. Wealth or poverty does not matter. Jesus brings us all together in faithfulness, hope, and love.

Grace and peace to all, in the name of Jesus Christ.

Recently the political entertainer Glen Beck, said on his radio show, “I beg you, look for the words  ’social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church website. If you find it, run as fast as you can!”

Well I say SOCIAL JUSTICE! and ECONOMIC JUSTICE!  In fact I shout it out! It is God’s will. It is God’s way!

Isaiah said “Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor  of my people of their right, that widows may be your spoil, and that you make the orphans your prey!” (Isaiah 10:1,2)

That my sisters and brothers is Social Justice, and Economic Justice from God’s mouth to your ears.

And it is not a lonely aberration. The Bible has over a hundred places that speak in favor of social justice and economic justice. There are some places that discuss criminal justice as well.

Would Glen Beck say, “I beg you, read the Bible cover to cover, look for any place where it prescribes justice for the poor and the outcasts of society. Look for any place where treatment of the weak is not a mater of private charity but a civic responsibility. If you find it, close the Bible quickly, and run away from it as fast as you can!”?

Now it is understandable that this may simply be more theatre. Mr. Beck is getting attention by saying outrageous things. Perhaps that was his intent. I don’t think he claims to be a journalist, scholar, or theologian. This is good because claiming that Social Justice and Economic Justice are not a part of the Gospel is neither good journalism, nor responsible scholarship, nor viable theology.

According to Luke, Jesus says, “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now  for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.” (Luke6:20-25)

I admit these words of Jesus make me uncomfortable. I see myself as being rather rich and well fed compared to the billion people living on our planet today who get just enough or even not enough for life. Approximately eight million human beings die pre-maturely from extreme poverty every year.

I could avoid these hard words of Jesus. I could make the gospel into a “race to the top” with the devil take the hindmost as evidence of God’s displeasure. I could claim that it is God’s will that those millions die every year. I could blame them for being lazy or lacking creativity. Slightly more enlightened I could blame their political leaders for corruption, but that might sound a bit to much like social or economic justice! But I cannot separate Jesus from Social and Economic Justice without harming myself. I will not close my heart or mind to the scriptures or to humanity. I will not censure Jesus for my own ease and comfort.

I expect Mr. Beck is in favor of criminal justice, and enforcement protecting private property. But charity I expect in his eyes should be a matter of personal responsibility.

One of our nations founding thinkers, Thomas Paine, believed that just as the property of the wealthy  should not be left up to anarchy but be protected by law, that caring for the disadvantaged should not be left to the whims of a few but should be part of the proper legal organizing of a just society.

“But it is justice, and not charity, that is the principle of the plan. In all great cases it is necessary to have a principle more universally active than charity; and with respect to justice, it ought not to be left to the choice of detached individuals whether they will do justice or not. ” Agrarian Justice 1797

Once more from Jesus according to Matthew, (25)

From: Thomas Paine : Agrarian Justice 1797 (on an estate tax)

…I care not how affluent some may be, provided that none be miserable in consequence of it. But it is impossible to enjoy affluence with the felicity it is capable of being enjoyed, while so much misery is mingled in the scene. The sight of the misery, and the unpleasant sensations it suggests, which, though they may be suffocated cannot be extinguished, are a greater drawback upon the felicity of affluence than the proposed ten per cent upon property is worth. He that would not give the one to get rid of the other has no charity, even for himself.

There are, in every country, some magnificent charities established by individuals. It is, however, but little that any individual can do, when the whole extent of the misery to be relieved is considered. He may satisfy his conscience, but not his heart. He may give all that he has, and that all will relieve but little. It is only by organizing civilization upon such principles as to act like a system of pulleys, that the whole weight of misery can be removed.

…But it is justice, and not charity, that is the principle of the plan. In all great cases it is necessary to have a principle more universally active than charity; and, with respect to justice, it ought not to be left to the choice of detached individuals whether they will do justice or not. Considering, then, the plan on the ground of justice, it ought to be the act of the whole growing spontaneously out of the principles of the revolution, and the reputation of it ought to be national and not individual.