Rev. Amy Sens
Scriptures: Acts 17:22-31, John 14:15-21
Friends, it is good to be here today. It was such an enjoyable experience last week to visit with other UCC folks from across the city last week. If you missed it, the food was great, and it was so enjoyable to talk about the challenges our churches face. But more than that, I found it really encouraging to find out that there are exciting things happening in – believe it or not – small UCC churches here in Baltimore. Am I remembering right that it was Rev. Desiree who said, “Small but mighty?” I agree and I think it’s good to remember Phillipians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. May Christ strengthen us indeed as we seek to follow him in our lives, as individuals and as churches. So, before I begin, I’d like to pray a sung prayer. If you know it, feel free to sing along. Let us pray.
“Open our eyes, Lord”
In our story from Acts today, the apostle Paul is in the Greek city of Athens, preaching to the Greeks about Jesus’ death and resurrection. It might surprise you to know that in terms of religious practice, the Roman Empire was a time of a great deal of upheaval, fermenting, and general mixing up of people. In fact, at its largest expanse the Roman Empire connected under one political power people all the way from India to Spain and from North Africa to the British Isles.
So it became easier – not easy, but easier – to travel between nations that formerly would have known nothing about each other, and to trade ideas, philosophies, and religions with each other. In other words, there were more ways to run into a religion you’d never heard of before. And for the Athenians, their approach was to 1. be interested in all kinds of new stuff, and 2. if it was a god somewhere, build a shrine to it. Might as well, just to be on the safe side.
So Paul comes to this hotbed of religious activity and starts preaching in the middle of the town square. In a way, it’s funny that Paul would be the one preaching to non-Jew Gentiles, since not so very long ago he was a rigid, zealous, strictly observant Jew. He still is a Jew, but one who also sees himself as a follower of Jesus. And where before he used to watch people’s coats at the stoning of a martyr, now he preaches in public to Gentiles to tell them about the work God has done for them through Jesus.
And when Paul speaks to the Athenians about that work – that gift of forgiveness, resurrection, new life, that kingdom of God – he doesn’t start out by explaining the whole history of Jewish law. He starts where the people are. He starts out by pointing out what the people are already doing. “I’ve been through your city,” he says, “and I see that you’re very religious. You even have an altar to an unknown God. Well. I’m here to tell you that I know who this unknown God is. This unknown God is the God of everything. The God who made heavens and earth, who defies and lives beyond shrines, and who is all around us, surrounding us at every moment. This God is the God revealed through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. So, turn from your ways and believe in the goodness of God and the assurance that your mistakes will be forgiven.”
I was out walking in the neighborhood around our church a few weeks ago. And it was a more intentional walk than usual. I was praying, as I walked, for the people I saw. It was a very interesting spiritual exercise. I recommend it, if you’re the type of person who likes to walk. I saw people of different races and ages – young kids, young mothers, kids playing in the park down the street, older folks relaxing on their porches, young people moving some things into a house around the corner. People of Morrell Park, I wanted to say, like Paul does, God loves you. And God welcomes you.
It seems to me that we are living in a time much like Paul’s. There are a wide variety of beliefs, philosophies, religions, and practices that people can choose from. And, like the people of Athens, modern Americans can set up a shrine to any god. And we might think of those other gods as other religions, but I think the shrines that get the most attention these days are the ones built to the gods of power, security and American invincibility, gods of money, consumption and waste, gods of entertainment and addiction. Many of these things, in and of themselves, are not bad things. But ultimately, they are not God. Our God of peace and justice, our still-speaking God, our God of grace and forgiveness, that God Jesus reveals in human form, our God is still an unknown God to many people.
I don’t want to give the impression that all the answers about God are here in this room, and that no-one outside this room has any idea about who this God is that we name. But I think we miss the point if we try to tell our stories as if we have the corner on truth, or that another person must be compelled to think the way that we do because we have somehow wrestled them into it. Perhaps you’ve met someone with this approach before. Paul, for one, strikes me as a particularly bold character, at least at first. But really, he is just starting where the Athenians are, and telling his story about God with their worries, their interests, their perspectives and their culture in mind.
Do you have a story that you’ve been meaning to tell? A time when God was present to you, in the midst of crisis, or at the height of joy? Do you have a story about healing, about forgiveness, about persistent, faithful love? Is it possible that you know God a little better than you might ordinarily admit in public? And if you don’t have your own story to tell, what about our gospel lesson from today? Jesus tells his disciples – tells us! – that “I will not leave you orphaned, I will be with you. I give you my peace, not as the world gives, but freely, generously. My Spirit of love will be with you to guide you, to strengthen you, to comfort you.” This Jesus reveals a God worth knowing. And his stories are ours to hear and to know, and they are also ours to share.
There are people outside these four walls who are afraid to come to church, whether because they believe God will judge them harshly, or because they believe we will judge them harshly. Or maybe both. The God who embodies love, forgiveness, joy, and peace in Jesus, is an unknown God. And yet, there are those outside our walls who call out in prayer to an unknown God. Healing, love, and peace are in short supply in this world, but God is generous. May the Spirit of Jesus use us to answer those prayers to an unknown God. Amen.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Sermon 04/20/08 (Genesis 6:11-13a, 17-22)
“Two by Two, They Disappear”
Genesis 6:1-13a, 17-22
Rev. Désirée H. Gold
St. Mark’s United Church of Christ, Baltimore, MD
Sunday, 20 April, 2008
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Integrity of Creation Sunday
----
 Have any of you gone to the Baltimore Zoo to see the new baby elephant? I haven’t yet, but I can’t wait. I’ve seen pictures, and that baby elephant is so cute! It’s amazing how such a funny looking animal can appear cute, but he certainly does. I love polar bears too. For Christmas my sister “adopted” a polar bear for me through the National Wildlife Federation. It came complete with a certificate and with this darling little stuffed animal. So, I have my very own polar bear up North somewhere! Until I can meet him, I keep myself busy watching videos on the Internet of a polar bear that was born in Germany last year. I love lots of animals. There is nothing more beautiful than seeing an animal in its native habitat. ...The trouble is, of course, that native habitats are quickly disappearing. Global warming is shrinking the Arctic ice caps by leaps and bounds, pushing polar bears and other Arctic animals out of their habitats. An increase in severe weather, which some scientists believe is another product of global warming, is pushing other animals out their habitats around the globe. The clear-cutting of forests is evicting many species from their homes.
It is estimated that between 20-30% of all plant animal species are at risk for extinction in the period of only a few decades. Of course, many of these species are not cute little animals, like baby elephants or polar bears. We’re talking the extinction of insects, rodents, things we’ve never even heard of, in addition to the gracious lions and tigers and bears. Because most of the species at risk for extinction are animals or plants that we either don’t know about or don’t want to have around, it’s hard to get us humans to care about their demise. I heard an NPR program last year in which a conservationist was interviewed. He said his organization had to advertise the plight of polar bears and penguins and other such cute, beautiful animals, otherwise people just didn’t seem to care about the possibility of extinction.
The trouble is, everything on our planet is connected. If the pesky mosquito becomes extinct, birds lose a food source. If those birds then become extinct, their predators are in trouble. The predators of those predators are in trouble. The elimination of the predators causes overpopulation of other species, which leads to a lack of resources. It’s the domino effect. The other trouble is, we humans are called to care for these animals.
"And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive. Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them."1
God entrusted the natural world to Noah even when God intended to start over with a devastating flood. Even in God’s wrath, God wanted to protect God’s Creation, and God entrusted Noah to that task. It would seem to follow that God would not command Noah to protect the flora and fauna of the Earth and then allow future generations to let them go. It certainly cannot be the case, in any common sense I can think of, that God would allow us humans to screw up God’s Creation so royally -- that the extinction of species would happen at our command rather than God’s.
There are those who argue that the recent storms and droughts and extinctions are signs of God’s wrath and that we may, in fact, be moving toward the end times. Whether that is true or not, I cannot imagine that God wants us to stand by and do nothing about the destruction of our planet. If God really wants the Earth to be destroyed, God will do it and we won’t be able to stop God. In the mean time, we are called to care for what we have. If all of this is taking place at the hand of God, might it not be a test? Might God not be testing us to see how willing we are to care for God’s Creation? ...I happen to believe that climate change is a result of human action -- a manifestation of the free will God gave us. Whether I am right or whether all that is happening is at God’s hands, I cannot just sit by and watch it happen.
God commanded Noah to lead all the animals of the earth, two by two, into the Ark. As the animals, and the food that God commanded Noah to bring for them, is disappearing, we have other concerns as well. Environmental disasters affect us humans. Our food supplies are being depleted. As droughts lead to a decrease in crop production, humans are suffering. Australia is a huge producer of rice for nations throughout Asia. Due to its severe drought, rice production is way down. The price of rice is thus increasing, and there have been riots in Asian countries because the people there cannot afford to pay for this food staple. This was not a big news story. Most of the people rioting for rice are poor.
Just as people don’t seem to care about animal extinction unless it involves cute witto animals, we have a tendency to turn a blind eye to the human effects of climate change unless they affect us directly. The destruction of the planet has a much greater affect on the poor than it does on people who can afford to live better. According to a resource put out by the Presbyterian Church-USA:
"Although global climate change affects all human populations across the globe, it hits those living in poverty the hardest because they depend on the surrounding physical environment to supply their needs and have limited ability to cope to climate variability and extremes. Global climate change reduces access to drinking water, limits access to food, and negatively impacts human health particularly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. According to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC, developing countries are expected to suffer the most from the negative impacts of climate change."2
While we might complain about the increased price of rice -- or gasoline -- most of us actually can pay for it. We might have to tighten our apron strings a little, but we are making more than the $1 a day that many people in developing countries make. While we might not like the hotter temperatures -- I certainly don’t -- many of us can find an air conditioned room somewhere, whether it is in our own home or in a public library. While many of us complain about pollution -- I get annoyed when I see all the trash on the road, and I could barely stand being in the Los Angeles smog for a few days -- we don’t have to bathe in or drink water that is foaming with industrial pollution or filled with human waste.
Even in our own U.S. of A. -- the richest nation in the world -- the poor get hit harder by climate change than the wealthy. Remember Hurricane Katrina? While many people rushed to aid hurricane victims in New Orleans, there is speculation that help came less quickly than it could have because the areas hardest hit by the storm were populated by very poor people.
Jesus entreated us to care for the poor and the hungry and the sick and the troubled. We’re not doing that. One of the things we need to do in order to care for the poor and to “love one another,”3 as Jesus taught us to do, is to take better care of our planet. One of the things we need to do to avoid the commandment, “You shall not kill,”4 is to take better care of our planet. One of the things we need to do in order to “love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind”5 is to care for the world that God created. Through our participation in climate change, we are not committing acts of love toward our neighbor. We are committing acts of indifference. We are killing, both members of the animal kingdom and members or our own species. By ignoring God’s commandment to “take two of every living thing” into the Ark, we are not displaying love for God. We are allowing the natural world, to whose care God entrusted us, to die in the flood while we scramble to save ourselves. We cannot be saved if we do not reverse this course of action. We must, in a spirit of repentance, in a spirit of obedience, and in a spirit of love, build that Ark so that it can hold all God’s Creatures and not just the most sinful species.
Now let us pray.
1. Genesis 6:19-21
2. http://www.pcusa.org/peacemaking/worship/earthday08.pdf
3. John 13:34, etc.
4. Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17
5. Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37
Genesis 6:1-13a, 17-22
Rev. Désirée H. Gold
St. Mark’s United Church of Christ, Baltimore, MD
Sunday, 20 April, 2008
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Integrity of Creation Sunday
----
 Have any of you gone to the Baltimore Zoo to see the new baby elephant? I haven’t yet, but I can’t wait. I’ve seen pictures, and that baby elephant is so cute! It’s amazing how such a funny looking animal can appear cute, but he certainly does. I love polar bears too. For Christmas my sister “adopted” a polar bear for me through the National Wildlife Federation. It came complete with a certificate and with this darling little stuffed animal. So, I have my very own polar bear up North somewhere! Until I can meet him, I keep myself busy watching videos on the Internet of a polar bear that was born in Germany last year. I love lots of animals. There is nothing more beautiful than seeing an animal in its native habitat. ...The trouble is, of course, that native habitats are quickly disappearing. Global warming is shrinking the Arctic ice caps by leaps and bounds, pushing polar bears and other Arctic animals out of their habitats. An increase in severe weather, which some scientists believe is another product of global warming, is pushing other animals out their habitats around the globe. The clear-cutting of forests is evicting many species from their homes.
It is estimated that between 20-30% of all plant animal species are at risk for extinction in the period of only a few decades. Of course, many of these species are not cute little animals, like baby elephants or polar bears. We’re talking the extinction of insects, rodents, things we’ve never even heard of, in addition to the gracious lions and tigers and bears. Because most of the species at risk for extinction are animals or plants that we either don’t know about or don’t want to have around, it’s hard to get us humans to care about their demise. I heard an NPR program last year in which a conservationist was interviewed. He said his organization had to advertise the plight of polar bears and penguins and other such cute, beautiful animals, otherwise people just didn’t seem to care about the possibility of extinction.
The trouble is, everything on our planet is connected. If the pesky mosquito becomes extinct, birds lose a food source. If those birds then become extinct, their predators are in trouble. The predators of those predators are in trouble. The elimination of the predators causes overpopulation of other species, which leads to a lack of resources. It’s the domino effect. The other trouble is, we humans are called to care for these animals.
"And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive. Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them."1
God entrusted the natural world to Noah even when God intended to start over with a devastating flood. Even in God’s wrath, God wanted to protect God’s Creation, and God entrusted Noah to that task. It would seem to follow that God would not command Noah to protect the flora and fauna of the Earth and then allow future generations to let them go. It certainly cannot be the case, in any common sense I can think of, that God would allow us humans to screw up God’s Creation so royally -- that the extinction of species would happen at our command rather than God’s.
There are those who argue that the recent storms and droughts and extinctions are signs of God’s wrath and that we may, in fact, be moving toward the end times. Whether that is true or not, I cannot imagine that God wants us to stand by and do nothing about the destruction of our planet. If God really wants the Earth to be destroyed, God will do it and we won’t be able to stop God. In the mean time, we are called to care for what we have. If all of this is taking place at the hand of God, might it not be a test? Might God not be testing us to see how willing we are to care for God’s Creation? ...I happen to believe that climate change is a result of human action -- a manifestation of the free will God gave us. Whether I am right or whether all that is happening is at God’s hands, I cannot just sit by and watch it happen.
God commanded Noah to lead all the animals of the earth, two by two, into the Ark. As the animals, and the food that God commanded Noah to bring for them, is disappearing, we have other concerns as well. Environmental disasters affect us humans. Our food supplies are being depleted. As droughts lead to a decrease in crop production, humans are suffering. Australia is a huge producer of rice for nations throughout Asia. Due to its severe drought, rice production is way down. The price of rice is thus increasing, and there have been riots in Asian countries because the people there cannot afford to pay for this food staple. This was not a big news story. Most of the people rioting for rice are poor.
Just as people don’t seem to care about animal extinction unless it involves cute witto animals, we have a tendency to turn a blind eye to the human effects of climate change unless they affect us directly. The destruction of the planet has a much greater affect on the poor than it does on people who can afford to live better. According to a resource put out by the Presbyterian Church-USA:
"Although global climate change affects all human populations across the globe, it hits those living in poverty the hardest because they depend on the surrounding physical environment to supply their needs and have limited ability to cope to climate variability and extremes. Global climate change reduces access to drinking water, limits access to food, and negatively impacts human health particularly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. According to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC, developing countries are expected to suffer the most from the negative impacts of climate change."2
While we might complain about the increased price of rice -- or gasoline -- most of us actually can pay for it. We might have to tighten our apron strings a little, but we are making more than the $1 a day that many people in developing countries make. While we might not like the hotter temperatures -- I certainly don’t -- many of us can find an air conditioned room somewhere, whether it is in our own home or in a public library. While many of us complain about pollution -- I get annoyed when I see all the trash on the road, and I could barely stand being in the Los Angeles smog for a few days -- we don’t have to bathe in or drink water that is foaming with industrial pollution or filled with human waste.
Even in our own U.S. of A. -- the richest nation in the world -- the poor get hit harder by climate change than the wealthy. Remember Hurricane Katrina? While many people rushed to aid hurricane victims in New Orleans, there is speculation that help came less quickly than it could have because the areas hardest hit by the storm were populated by very poor people.
Jesus entreated us to care for the poor and the hungry and the sick and the troubled. We’re not doing that. One of the things we need to do in order to care for the poor and to “love one another,”3 as Jesus taught us to do, is to take better care of our planet. One of the things we need to do to avoid the commandment, “You shall not kill,”4 is to take better care of our planet. One of the things we need to do in order to “love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind”5 is to care for the world that God created. Through our participation in climate change, we are not committing acts of love toward our neighbor. We are committing acts of indifference. We are killing, both members of the animal kingdom and members or our own species. By ignoring God’s commandment to “take two of every living thing” into the Ark, we are not displaying love for God. We are allowing the natural world, to whose care God entrusted us, to die in the flood while we scramble to save ourselves. We cannot be saved if we do not reverse this course of action. We must, in a spirit of repentance, in a spirit of obedience, and in a spirit of love, build that Ark so that it can hold all God’s Creatures and not just the most sinful species.
Now let us pray.
1. Genesis 6:19-21
2. http://www.pcusa.org/peacemaking/worship/earthday08.pdf
3. John 13:34, etc.
4. Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17
5. Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37
Sermon 04/13/08 (Acts 2:42-47)
“The Real Church”
Acts 2:42-47
Rev. Désirée H. Gold
St. Mark’s United Church of Christ, Baltimore, MD
Sunday, 13 April, 2008
Fourth Sunday of Easter
----
 I spent this past week reading the Baltimore phone book. ...Okay, fine... I didn’t read the whole thing! But the “Churches” section itself is 16 pages!! There’s the United Church of Christ (of course), Church of Christ, Church of God in Christ, “just plain” Church of God. There’s African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist Episcopal, United Methodist. (Don’t even mention all the Baptists!) There’s Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church in America. There’s Eastern Orthodox. Greek Orthodox. Orthodox Coptic. There’s Catholic. Several varieties of Lutheran. Seventh Day Adventist. Unity. Wesleyan.
Depending on how you count it (and which phone book you use), there are 69 Christian denominations, just within Baltimore! The number is likely higher, since not all of the denominations I named above have their own section in the yellow pages. Some churches in the phone book call themselves “nondenominational,” or “interdenominational,” and I’m not sure if all the ones I counted identify themselves as Christian, or if there are other denominations that would identify themselves as Christian. But even if I (or the yellow pages) missed a few, anything close to 69 denominations is mind blowing! More than seventy different ways of worshiping Christ, just within one city! And, of course, most of those denominations have several congregations within Baltimore, and each of those congregations likely worships Christ in slightly different ways. We all name ourselves Christians, but we have, in some cases, very different ideas about what “being Christian” means.
Our current denominationalism seems a far cry from the description of the early church that we have heard this morning from the book of Acts:
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and
signs were being done by the apostles.
All who believed were together and had all things in common;
they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the
proceeds to all, as any had need.
Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple,
they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and
generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.
And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved."
Granted, Luke’s description in Acts paints an idealistic picture. It is doubtful that even the earliest days of Christianity were as perfect as Luke makes them sound, that there was no greed among believers, that they really always “ate their food with glad and generous hearts,” or that they spent their every moment awe-struck at the wonder of God. And, even in those earliest days, while there may not have been formal denominational lines, different Christian groups did exist and practiced their discipleship in different ways. However, literal or not, this depiction of the earliest Christians paints a picture that is worth remembering. While ideals may not ever be met to exactness, they give us something to reach for, a goal to which we can aspire.
We may differentiate ourselves from the Evangelical Bible Church, and from Church of St. Paul the Apostle African Methodist Episcopal Church down the street. We may spend a sometimes significant portion of our time complaining rather than praising God (we all experienced some consternation when the power went out during Holy Week). We may be American capitalists who think “holding everything in common” sounds too much like “Communism.” We may spend a great deal of time worrying about our own church budget and not as much time giving all we have to those less fortunate than we are. We may be just plain caught up in the modern world. It is precisely for those reasons that we need to hear the words of this morning’s scripture. We need to remind ourselves of the simplicity contained therein -- a simplicity which we may never be able to meet, but to which we can aspire. Perhaps we can even make some changes in the direction of that simplicity.
For example, could we spend a little more time in Christian fellowship with one another? We (and, yes, I include myself) have been known to run off after grabbing a bite to eat at “Fellowship Hour,” in order to make it home to do all those things that consume our time: watch the game, do laundry, take a nap. ...Could we perhaps remind ourselves of the importance of gathering together as people of faith, rather than the “importance” we place on a football game or a weekly chore?
We “break bread together” formally once a month during Holy Communion. Could we see every opportunity that we have to eat with one another as a holy “breaking of bread”? When we are munching on cookies at Fellowship Hour, could we begin to see that as holy time, not just social time?
And our prayers? Could we begin to hear the prayers raised up on Sunday mornings as not just a list of names? Could we lift up prayers to God, not only in those “official” moments -- in church, before a meal, before bed -- but every moment? “I made it home safely. Thank you, God.” “That sunrise is beautiful. Thank you, Creator God.” “John has a runny nose this morning. Please be with him.” Prayer with every breath we take.
What about holding things in common, and distributing what we have to those in need? I have long been of the opinion that Communism is deemed evil because in every experiment it has been accompanied by tremendous greed. But the communal life has millennia of Christian history. What would happen if we began truly sharing with one another? ...Not just sharing a book or a piece of jewelry with a fellow church member or other friend...but sharing what we have with even those we do not know? What would happen if we gave everything that we do not truly need to those who do need it?
These days we throw a TV dinner in the microwave, eat quickly, often alone, and for the sole purpose of fueling our bodies. When was the last time we savored our food, truly ate it with “glad and generous hearts”? And what would happen if we did?
Perhaps if we found ways to reach closer to Luke’s ideal, we would indeed find it in us to praise God more often than we do. And perhaps we would have greater success in “having the goodwill of all the people.” Not all of them, of course. But by living the Gospel, rather than just preaching it, we could change not only our own lives but the lives, the hearts, of those around us.
We worship in different churches and call ourselves different names because we come to God in a myriad of ways. Fine. God created us in God’s own diverse image. But the words of Acts lay it out clearly. Regardless of who we think Christ is, regardless of what name we use for God, regardless of whether or not we dance joyfully in worship or believe that dancing will lead to sin, we are all called to give to the poor, to praise God, to break bread together, and to live a life of prayer.
Now let us pray.
Acts 2:42-47
Rev. Désirée H. Gold
St. Mark’s United Church of Christ, Baltimore, MD
Sunday, 13 April, 2008
Fourth Sunday of Easter
----
 I spent this past week reading the Baltimore phone book. ...Okay, fine... I didn’t read the whole thing! But the “Churches” section itself is 16 pages!! There’s the United Church of Christ (of course), Church of Christ, Church of God in Christ, “just plain” Church of God. There’s African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist Episcopal, United Methodist. (Don’t even mention all the Baptists!) There’s Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church in America. There’s Eastern Orthodox. Greek Orthodox. Orthodox Coptic. There’s Catholic. Several varieties of Lutheran. Seventh Day Adventist. Unity. Wesleyan.
Depending on how you count it (and which phone book you use), there are 69 Christian denominations, just within Baltimore! The number is likely higher, since not all of the denominations I named above have their own section in the yellow pages. Some churches in the phone book call themselves “nondenominational,” or “interdenominational,” and I’m not sure if all the ones I counted identify themselves as Christian, or if there are other denominations that would identify themselves as Christian. But even if I (or the yellow pages) missed a few, anything close to 69 denominations is mind blowing! More than seventy different ways of worshiping Christ, just within one city! And, of course, most of those denominations have several congregations within Baltimore, and each of those congregations likely worships Christ in slightly different ways. We all name ourselves Christians, but we have, in some cases, very different ideas about what “being Christian” means.
Our current denominationalism seems a far cry from the description of the early church that we have heard this morning from the book of Acts:
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and
signs were being done by the apostles.
All who believed were together and had all things in common;
they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the
proceeds to all, as any had need.
Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple,
they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and
generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.
And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved."
Granted, Luke’s description in Acts paints an idealistic picture. It is doubtful that even the earliest days of Christianity were as perfect as Luke makes them sound, that there was no greed among believers, that they really always “ate their food with glad and generous hearts,” or that they spent their every moment awe-struck at the wonder of God. And, even in those earliest days, while there may not have been formal denominational lines, different Christian groups did exist and practiced their discipleship in different ways. However, literal or not, this depiction of the earliest Christians paints a picture that is worth remembering. While ideals may not ever be met to exactness, they give us something to reach for, a goal to which we can aspire.
We may differentiate ourselves from the Evangelical Bible Church, and from Church of St. Paul the Apostle African Methodist Episcopal Church down the street. We may spend a sometimes significant portion of our time complaining rather than praising God (we all experienced some consternation when the power went out during Holy Week). We may be American capitalists who think “holding everything in common” sounds too much like “Communism.” We may spend a great deal of time worrying about our own church budget and not as much time giving all we have to those less fortunate than we are. We may be just plain caught up in the modern world. It is precisely for those reasons that we need to hear the words of this morning’s scripture. We need to remind ourselves of the simplicity contained therein -- a simplicity which we may never be able to meet, but to which we can aspire. Perhaps we can even make some changes in the direction of that simplicity.
For example, could we spend a little more time in Christian fellowship with one another? We (and, yes, I include myself) have been known to run off after grabbing a bite to eat at “Fellowship Hour,” in order to make it home to do all those things that consume our time: watch the game, do laundry, take a nap. ...Could we perhaps remind ourselves of the importance of gathering together as people of faith, rather than the “importance” we place on a football game or a weekly chore?
We “break bread together” formally once a month during Holy Communion. Could we see every opportunity that we have to eat with one another as a holy “breaking of bread”? When we are munching on cookies at Fellowship Hour, could we begin to see that as holy time, not just social time?
And our prayers? Could we begin to hear the prayers raised up on Sunday mornings as not just a list of names? Could we lift up prayers to God, not only in those “official” moments -- in church, before a meal, before bed -- but every moment? “I made it home safely. Thank you, God.” “That sunrise is beautiful. Thank you, Creator God.” “John has a runny nose this morning. Please be with him.” Prayer with every breath we take.
What about holding things in common, and distributing what we have to those in need? I have long been of the opinion that Communism is deemed evil because in every experiment it has been accompanied by tremendous greed. But the communal life has millennia of Christian history. What would happen if we began truly sharing with one another? ...Not just sharing a book or a piece of jewelry with a fellow church member or other friend...but sharing what we have with even those we do not know? What would happen if we gave everything that we do not truly need to those who do need it?
These days we throw a TV dinner in the microwave, eat quickly, often alone, and for the sole purpose of fueling our bodies. When was the last time we savored our food, truly ate it with “glad and generous hearts”? And what would happen if we did?
Perhaps if we found ways to reach closer to Luke’s ideal, we would indeed find it in us to praise God more often than we do. And perhaps we would have greater success in “having the goodwill of all the people.” Not all of them, of course. But by living the Gospel, rather than just preaching it, we could change not only our own lives but the lives, the hearts, of those around us.
We worship in different churches and call ourselves different names because we come to God in a myriad of ways. Fine. God created us in God’s own diverse image. But the words of Acts lay it out clearly. Regardless of who we think Christ is, regardless of what name we use for God, regardless of whether or not we dance joyfully in worship or believe that dancing will lead to sin, we are all called to give to the poor, to praise God, to break bread together, and to live a life of prayer.
Now let us pray.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Sermon 04/06/08 (Luke 24:13-35)
“Another Case of Mistaken Identity”
Luke 24:13-35
Rev. Désirée H. Gold
St. Mark’s United Church of Christ, Baltimore, MD
Sunday, 6 April, 2008
Third Sunday of Easter
-----
This week marks two important anniversaries in human rights history. The news has been ablaze with stories marking the forty years since the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4th, 1968. And April 9th marks the execution, in 1945, of Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pacifist who plotted to assassinate Adolph Hitler. Neither man lived to see the Promised Land, but both changed history indelibly. Although Bonhoeffer’s plot against Hitler was not successful, he spoke truth to power and fought the Nazis, mostly without violence. Although institutional racism lasted long beyond King’s death (and, one could argue, continues today), Dr. King changed the face of race relations and so much more.
We remain haunted, I think, by their legacies. Bonhoeffer has been a hero of mine for many years and, indeed, he inspired Martin Luther King, Jr. Forty years after his death our world reverberates with memories of King’s assassination. Although Bonhoeffer is not quite the household name that King is, he remains a preeminent name among those who continue the nonviolent battle for human rights. We honor both men for the work they did in their lives, for the sermons, speeches, and writings they left behind, but we venerate them, too, as martyrs.
I was not in Baltimore, much less alive, when the race riots took place forty years ago this week. I certainly wasn’t in Nazi Germany when Bonhoeffer was hanged. But the stories of their deaths have been passed down through history. The fact that King was assassinated, that Bonhoeffer was executed, remain part of the fabric of 20th century history and perhaps figure into the veneration of these human rights heros. They are martyrs, and martyrs are remembered in part for their spectacular deaths.
This past week I read an article questioning what would have happened if Martin Luther King had not been shot in Memphis that day. What if he had lived? He’s younger than some of you -- he would have turned 79 in January. What more might he have done if he had had another forty or fifty years? Would he have gotten closer to the Promised Land of a colorless society? Would he still be a hero, or would some scandal have ripped him from the headlines?
Bonhoeffer would be 102 if he were living today, but what if he had not been killed in that Nazi concentration camp? What if he had, in fact, killed Adolph Hitler? What more would he have done? What more would he have written? Would Martin Luther King, who had been so inspired by the dead pastor’s writings and works, have had a chance to meet his hero? Would Bonhoeffer have faded into the background, gone on to live a quiet old age?
It is, of course, impossible to answer these “what ifs.” A lot can happen in a few decades, and we will never know what would have become of these two men who are such heros in death. They live on in the legacies they left behind, but we remember these champions of nonviolence, in part, for their violent deaths.
Jesus, too, died a violent, humiliating death. Such a promising young religious leader (like his modern followers, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King), his life was cut short by people who were afraid to hear his message. Here, indeed, is where we find him in this morning’s scripture. Two men, walking along the road to Emmaus, must share the sad, yet confusing, news of Jesus’ death with the man who joins them along the path. This man, of course, is the risen Christ, but they don’t know that. They know only that “Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people” had been condemned and crucified but that there had been some strange thing about his tomb being empty. The two men clearly do not understand the meaning of the empty tomb; we are told that their faces were sad. As far as they know (at least in the first part of the scripture we hear today), Jesus, a great prophet, is now dead.
Three great prophets dead and gone: Jesus Christ, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther King, Jr. The thing is, that’s not how this story works.
As pastors, Bonhoeffer and King were, of course, followers of Jesus’ teachings. So, I hope, are we. We read Jesus’ message about caring for the poor, loving our enemies, and I hope we follow those teachings. Jesus was a great rabbi and he left behind a legacy of sermons we find in our gospels. He was a man very close to God whose lessons we can follow.
We can follow Bonhoeffer’s and King’s teachings in much the same way. I am in awe of Bonhoeffer’s moral struggle, which led him, a pacifist, to conclude that assassination was the only appropriate response to Hitler. I kneel at the feet of King’s legacy -- how this one man had such an incredible influence in a racial atmosphere that I can barely imagine.
All great teachers, these three. But we risk losing the reason for our faith when we focus solely on the teachings of Jesus. Few people can best Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King, Jr. when it comes to powerful sermons, but Jesus did it. Yet however important his teachings were, Jesus had more to give us than just what he said. He had more to give us, even, than a violent death to remember with sadness. He is not a martyr. He died a gruesome, violent death, it’s true. Jesus was human, and he really did die. He had all the makings of a traditional martyr: important prophet killed for upsetting the status quo, for challenging authority. There remain aspects of martyrdom in our memory of him too. We commemorate Good Friday every year, and we use the cross as a symbol of our faith. There is a church in the Holy Land built on the spot where it is believed Jesus died. Just as John McCain made a speech this week in front of the hotel where Martin Luther King was shot, pilgrims gather from around the world to see the place where Jesus may have been killed. But, I repeat: Jesus is not a martyr in the traditional sense. While we mark the death of the human man, Jesus, our faith centers not around his human death but around his divine Resurrection. We do not worship a crucified Christ. We worship a risen Christ.
This morning’s Gospel could have been the sad story of a murdered prophet. Jesus may not even have had the legacy of Bonhoeffer and King, since there was no mass communication to spread news around the world that a popular rabbi had been killed. He was well-known in his crowd, yes, but if he had simply died on that cross -- a common execution method at the time -- his story may not have been passed down to billions of followers over thousands of years. His death wasn’t the end of things, though.
We cannot weep at the blood at a hotel in Memphis or cry at a concentration camp in Germany. We worship an empty cross because Jesus Christ is no longer dead. He has been raised. While Bonhoeffer, King, and Jesus will all live on through their teachings, Jesus gives us something more: he is alive among us.
The men on the road to Emmaus discovered, in the breaking of the bread, that the stranger they met was the man they grieved. It was, for the third week in a row, a case of mistaken identity. First Mary at the tomb, then Thomas and his doubts, and now these two men. All shared grief at the death of the man they loved. All discovered that their grief was premature.
As our hearts break over the anniversaries of two heros, and at the violence and racism that both men fought, let us remember the One who remains alive with us in the breaking of the bread.
Now let us pray.
Luke 24:13-35
Rev. Désirée H. Gold
St. Mark’s United Church of Christ, Baltimore, MD
Sunday, 6 April, 2008
Third Sunday of Easter
-----
This week marks two important anniversaries in human rights history. The news has been ablaze with stories marking the forty years since the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4th, 1968. And April 9th marks the execution, in 1945, of Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pacifist who plotted to assassinate Adolph Hitler. Neither man lived to see the Promised Land, but both changed history indelibly. Although Bonhoeffer’s plot against Hitler was not successful, he spoke truth to power and fought the Nazis, mostly without violence. Although institutional racism lasted long beyond King’s death (and, one could argue, continues today), Dr. King changed the face of race relations and so much more.
We remain haunted, I think, by their legacies. Bonhoeffer has been a hero of mine for many years and, indeed, he inspired Martin Luther King, Jr. Forty years after his death our world reverberates with memories of King’s assassination. Although Bonhoeffer is not quite the household name that King is, he remains a preeminent name among those who continue the nonviolent battle for human rights. We honor both men for the work they did in their lives, for the sermons, speeches, and writings they left behind, but we venerate them, too, as martyrs.
I was not in Baltimore, much less alive, when the race riots took place forty years ago this week. I certainly wasn’t in Nazi Germany when Bonhoeffer was hanged. But the stories of their deaths have been passed down through history. The fact that King was assassinated, that Bonhoeffer was executed, remain part of the fabric of 20th century history and perhaps figure into the veneration of these human rights heros. They are martyrs, and martyrs are remembered in part for their spectacular deaths.
This past week I read an article questioning what would have happened if Martin Luther King had not been shot in Memphis that day. What if he had lived? He’s younger than some of you -- he would have turned 79 in January. What more might he have done if he had had another forty or fifty years? Would he have gotten closer to the Promised Land of a colorless society? Would he still be a hero, or would some scandal have ripped him from the headlines?
Bonhoeffer would be 102 if he were living today, but what if he had not been killed in that Nazi concentration camp? What if he had, in fact, killed Adolph Hitler? What more would he have done? What more would he have written? Would Martin Luther King, who had been so inspired by the dead pastor’s writings and works, have had a chance to meet his hero? Would Bonhoeffer have faded into the background, gone on to live a quiet old age?
It is, of course, impossible to answer these “what ifs.” A lot can happen in a few decades, and we will never know what would have become of these two men who are such heros in death. They live on in the legacies they left behind, but we remember these champions of nonviolence, in part, for their violent deaths.
Jesus, too, died a violent, humiliating death. Such a promising young religious leader (like his modern followers, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King), his life was cut short by people who were afraid to hear his message. Here, indeed, is where we find him in this morning’s scripture. Two men, walking along the road to Emmaus, must share the sad, yet confusing, news of Jesus’ death with the man who joins them along the path. This man, of course, is the risen Christ, but they don’t know that. They know only that “Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people” had been condemned and crucified but that there had been some strange thing about his tomb being empty. The two men clearly do not understand the meaning of the empty tomb; we are told that their faces were sad. As far as they know (at least in the first part of the scripture we hear today), Jesus, a great prophet, is now dead.
Three great prophets dead and gone: Jesus Christ, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther King, Jr. The thing is, that’s not how this story works.
As pastors, Bonhoeffer and King were, of course, followers of Jesus’ teachings. So, I hope, are we. We read Jesus’ message about caring for the poor, loving our enemies, and I hope we follow those teachings. Jesus was a great rabbi and he left behind a legacy of sermons we find in our gospels. He was a man very close to God whose lessons we can follow.
We can follow Bonhoeffer’s and King’s teachings in much the same way. I am in awe of Bonhoeffer’s moral struggle, which led him, a pacifist, to conclude that assassination was the only appropriate response to Hitler. I kneel at the feet of King’s legacy -- how this one man had such an incredible influence in a racial atmosphere that I can barely imagine.
All great teachers, these three. But we risk losing the reason for our faith when we focus solely on the teachings of Jesus. Few people can best Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King, Jr. when it comes to powerful sermons, but Jesus did it. Yet however important his teachings were, Jesus had more to give us than just what he said. He had more to give us, even, than a violent death to remember with sadness. He is not a martyr. He died a gruesome, violent death, it’s true. Jesus was human, and he really did die. He had all the makings of a traditional martyr: important prophet killed for upsetting the status quo, for challenging authority. There remain aspects of martyrdom in our memory of him too. We commemorate Good Friday every year, and we use the cross as a symbol of our faith. There is a church in the Holy Land built on the spot where it is believed Jesus died. Just as John McCain made a speech this week in front of the hotel where Martin Luther King was shot, pilgrims gather from around the world to see the place where Jesus may have been killed. But, I repeat: Jesus is not a martyr in the traditional sense. While we mark the death of the human man, Jesus, our faith centers not around his human death but around his divine Resurrection. We do not worship a crucified Christ. We worship a risen Christ.
This morning’s Gospel could have been the sad story of a murdered prophet. Jesus may not even have had the legacy of Bonhoeffer and King, since there was no mass communication to spread news around the world that a popular rabbi had been killed. He was well-known in his crowd, yes, but if he had simply died on that cross -- a common execution method at the time -- his story may not have been passed down to billions of followers over thousands of years. His death wasn’t the end of things, though.
We cannot weep at the blood at a hotel in Memphis or cry at a concentration camp in Germany. We worship an empty cross because Jesus Christ is no longer dead. He has been raised. While Bonhoeffer, King, and Jesus will all live on through their teachings, Jesus gives us something more: he is alive among us.
The men on the road to Emmaus discovered, in the breaking of the bread, that the stranger they met was the man they grieved. It was, for the third week in a row, a case of mistaken identity. First Mary at the tomb, then Thomas and his doubts, and now these two men. All shared grief at the death of the man they loved. All discovered that their grief was premature.
As our hearts break over the anniversaries of two heros, and at the violence and racism that both men fought, let us remember the One who remains alive with us in the breaking of the bread.
Now let us pray.
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