Sermon – 4 Epiphany

4 Epiphany

North Shore Baptist Church

31 January, 2010

Jeremiah 1: 4-10

1 Corinthians 13: 1-13

And the World is About to Turn!

(Read Jeremiah passage)

Let us pray: Lord God of the prophets, may the words I speak and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to your purposes of Grace and Love. Amen.

***

The passage read by Carol is one of the most well know pieces of Scripture; known by almost anyone who has ever been to a wedding. I read this passage 5 nights a week for a year and a half when I was in Tony n Tina’s Wedding. The words have become so enmeshed in our minds with weddings that when it comes up in the Lectionary; how is one to talk about it?

Well, for starters I will say that this passage should be stripped of the eros that is has received over the ages. Many of you know that while there is only one word in the English language for love; in the Greek of the New Testament there are three words that can be translated to love. They are Philia, Eros, and Agape.

Philia is an Aristotelian concept that is reminiscent of the kind of feelings that one would have for a friend; it is a general dispassionate love. It is loyalty to friends.

Eros is commonly thought of as romantic, sexual love, but it is more than that. While in a contemporary context that is its meaning in the context of the New Testament it was the kind of love that one would feel towards friends, more meaningful than philia, but not necessarily romantic. Lovers and Philosophers seek truth via eros; for as Plato said about eros, it helps the soul recall knowledge of beauty, and contributes to an understanding of spiritual truth.

Agape is the third form of Love in the Greek of the New Testament. This is the love we are most familiar with in the church world. It presents us with a deep, genuine affection that goes beyond that of eros. It is the deepest kind of love. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. describes Agape this way:

Agape is more than romantic love, agape is more than friendship. Agape is understanding, creative, redemptive, good will to all men. It is overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. Theologians would say it is the love of God operating in the human heart. So that when one rises to love on this level, he loves men not because he likes them, but he loves every man because God loves them. And he rises to the point of loving the person who does an evil deed while hating the deed that the person does.

It is agape that Paul is referring to in in this passage. So, lets get rid of the sentimentality of this passage and look at it as the “creation of a vision of love that rejoices in truth and bears all the suffering of Christ!”

Paul was holding up a mirror to the people of Corinth, and in turn is doing the same things to us.

Paul is holding up the mirror to the Corinthians and reminding them, that, yes, the gifts of the Spirit are great and important things; but they mean nothing unless there is love. Love, to Paul, is the only thing of permanence. It is the only thing that will remain when all else is gone.

When Paul tells the church that love is patient; it is because they have not been patient.

When love is kind; they have not been kind.

When love is not envious, boastful, or rude; they have been all of those.

This mirror held up to us helps us to see whether or not we are holding ourselves to the standard that God has put before us in the person of Jesus Christ.

This church is a wonderful place and does much great work, but we must stop from time to time and look into that mirror. We must make sure that in all we do there is the love. When we open our doors to the world: we must be a place of patience, kindness, hospitality. We must become a sanctuary. It is our call! We are that kind of place, but we must not forget it, and even if times get tough and belts need tightened we need to remember our call.

This is a call the entire church universal must live into.

So often the church acts like Jeremiah from todays text: “But I am just a boy. I don’t know how to speak!” We forget that God has had this calling on God’s people since before creation: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to all nations!.”

Friends, part of being a body of love is to find our prophetic voice. We need to hold God’s mirror up to the world, and not be afraid of what may happen.

We must find our voice and use it!

2009 saw 460 murders in Chicago. Nearly 50% of the victims were between the ages of 20 and 30.

352 of the victims were black; 106 white or hispanic; 1 Asian; and 1 race unknown.

In the 2008-2009 school year over 36 children were killed…many by other kids.

In our own neighborhood, a nursing home is being threatened with closure because of its extremely poor treatment of patients.

People, our neighbors, are loosing their homes because of deceptive banking practices.

Shelters are closing left and right leaving our homeless with no place to stay.

Politicians are debating whether or not someone should have the privilege to be covered by insurance when they become ill.

Students are going broke going to college.

We open the newspaper and we see stories of disappointment, distress, and distrust.

Sisters and brothers, being a place of God’s love extends beyond the walls of our building and the buildings of other churches. We must begin to use our voice. We must speak truth to power and look at the systems that are the cause of such injustices.

This is why we must hold this mirror up to ourselves first! For we see in a mirror dimly, but when the room is ignited by the light of God we can begin to see clearly. We can begin to speak not as a children, but as an adults.

The church must get her hands dirty and call our leaders out when they are acting unjustly. When the voices of power become so loud that they begin to cover the cries of the children in the streets; when the voices of the “reasonable” drown out the voices of the hurting; when the shouts of MORE, MORE, MORE overwhelm the cries of please, please, please. We must hold up that mirror and say ENOUGH!

MP William Wilburforce said enough and fought parliament. He fought for the abolition of the slave trade and argued for the love of God…and this led to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 which led to the abolition of slavery in most of the British Empire.

Mamie Till said enough and demanded her brutalized son’s casket remain open forcing people to see the horror of racism. She demanded the world see what they did to her baby.

Brother Bill Tomes said enough and walked into the killing fields of Cabrini Green. In is cassock made of blue jeans he would be an angel of light. He would deal with gang members in only one way…the love of Christ.

Parents all around this city are saying enough and gathering together to reform their schools. Getting involved in the local schools councils, and holding the mirror to the administrations and teachers.

We must follow their lead and tell those who hold power: look at yourselves. You, Mr. Politician, you are one election away from becoming obsolete if you do not start acting in love! You, Mrs. CEO, are one share-holders meeting away from being unemployed if you do not start acting in love! You, Bank Lender, are one deceptive loan away from closing your doors if you do not start acting in love!

This is what being the church is! We are God’s voice for the voiceless! We are God’s hands and feet! We, Sisters and Brothers, are the Body of Christ!

Love is the only thing that can change the world. We can prophecy; speak in tongues; teach; preach; do miracles; but none of those things are of any use unless they are rooted in love.

Like the Jeremiah, we may continually moan about having to do this job, but the LORD has touched the church and given us given us the words and authority “to pluck up and to pull down; to destroy and overthrow; to build and to plant!”

No one said being the church was an easy road.

But, there is to joy in our work. Though sometimes the road is daunting, and the hill steep: when we hear of a child making it home from school safely; when a friend gets a job; when the ill are able to get treated; we are given a glimpse of the world as it should be! We are given the hope that will help us to continue. Our faith is restored. The great gift of love is present!

It is with these words that I urge you all to go to the polls on Tuesday. Look beyond all the vitriol spewed on the television. Learn what the candidates stand for. Then hold the mirror up to their positions. Are they acting in love? Will their policies attack they systems that have done the damage, or are they the status-quo? If you find none that meet those standards, there is the blank line for a write in. Make your voice heard. Let the world know that the love of God influences your decisions. And when the decisions are made and the general election is held in November: Keep the elected accountable. Keep on them. Hold the mirror to their actions, and if they are not acting in ways that show the love of God; let them know!

It is with these words that I urge you get get involved in neighborhood associations; local school councils; write letters to the editors; get involved. Be a prophetic voice; hold up the mirror, and do not forget to look into it yourselves.

It is with these words that I urge us, as a community of faith, to not be afraid and speak out against injustices in our neighborhood; city; country; world: for if we proclaim the love of God nothing else matters.

Agape is a transformative, redemptive love that will change the world. It is our job to make that Agape known!

If we do that, can you imagine how the world might change?

It will not happen overnight, but we can be a people of transformation and renewal. We can be a people of hope; we just need not be afraid. Sisters and brothers…faith, hope and love remain…love being the greatest. With it great things will happen:

My heart shall sing of the day you bring.

Let the fires of your justice burn.

Wipe away all tears,

For the dawn draws near,

Friends, And the world is about to turn.

Sucker Punch–Prayer and Wisdom

Ten months ago Mae and I suffered the hell that is miscarriage.  We lost our little Declan (Man of Prayer).

Our journey began almost three years ago.  We decided it was time to begin trying to start a family.  After a year in and nothing it was recommended that we begin seeing a fertility specialist.  We did, and low and behold, after months of diagnostics, we went through the process of IUI and Mae became pregnant.  We learned this about a year ago this month.  We were ecstatic.  We spent January and February telling family and friends.  We began to putting together wish lists.  We were getting ready to welcome our little one.  It was a beautiful time.

Then in mid-March a curtain was drawn.  Darkness filled out life.  Mae began cramping and on March 19 we went to the hospital and were confronted with the fact that she was going to have to have a D&C.  We left the hospital childless.  Broken.  Mourning.  The joy we had experienced the months before were gone. Despair replaced it.

I let the loss process.  I tried to move on.  I looked at life as a continuum, and though we were in the valley we could, one day, begin to climb out.  But that would not happen easily.

We continued to visit the clinic and were met with failure around the bend.  Insurance was not covering any of this, so we burned through our savings; we begged and borrowed from friends and family; we took out a loan…not a damned thing.  Bullshit.  Nadda.  We were taunted by hope, only to be turned down.  Then comes November of this year.

Mae heard about a drug that is prescribed for people with PCOS.  It is something that should have been prescribed when she was first diagnosed, but because it was diagnosed by a fertility clinic they were more interested in trying to get us pregnant than regulate the problem.  Not that I blame them; that is what they do, but it would have been nice to know about this drug before…it could have solved a lot of issues.

Mae began the drug and on Dec. 22 of 2009 she approached me with a pee stick that had two lines on it…a positive!  After a month on the drug she became pregnant…we did it on our own!  Giddily we visited our families for Christmas, but we did not tell them, as it was way too soon.  Mae had an OB/Gyn appointment scheduled for the first week of January 2010.  We went and saw the ultrasound of a healthy baby.  6 weeks and 3 days old.  We went home and told family and a few friends.  Elated.  Nervous.  We had bee down this road before, and did not want to tell too many too soon.

Joy had returned.  We had finally named our lost child, Declan, and were looking forward to welcoming his baby sibling to the world.  Mae had dreams that the baby in her was a girl.

A week or so ago Mae began to have an odd sensation in her gut.  Like she had done too many sit ups.  Not cramping, and in talking to others who had been pregnant we were told this was normal.  However; having suffered the loss of Declan, we decided to play it safe and make a Dr. appt.

We got to the Dr’s. office and when she was told why we were there she said that that was normal, but since were were there she would give Mae a check up.  She pulled out the ultrasound wand and began to look at the screen.  We was looking at it intently…saying nothing….moving the wand aound…punching buttons…finally…”I’m sorry.  I don’t see much growth and I can’t find a heart beat.”

Silence…Sucker Punch right in the gut.

She told us all the stuff that one says…not our fault…yadda yadda.  She is sending us to a high-risk specialist to help us figure out why we lost this baby.  I don’t remember much.  We held it together until the door closed…and then…

On top of the heartbreaking news of loosing your child, the next worse thing is seeing your lovers heartbreak right in front of you.  My heart is broken, but it had to see the utter grief in Mae just killed me.  I love this woman more than anything in the world, and to see her go through this again is heart crushing.  For both of us we mourn.

In the dreams that Mae had about our baby girl she heard the name Sophie…Sophia…Wisdom.

We name her Sophie.

All I can do now is pray that she and her brother are at peace.

All I can do now is follow the model of the Man of Pray and Wisdom, and keep my prayers going, even though I think God is playing some sort of cruel joke on us.  My faith is telling me there is more, but damn it…where the hell is it?  I don’t know…but I, for the memory of my two lost babies, will keep being a Man of Prayer and a seeker of Wisdom.  Maybe, one day, I will get over this, but for now I am pissed off that we can have such joy; only to have it taken from us in such a cruel way.

My love is with my wife.  I will hold on to you forever!  I will not allow the shit storm to overtake us.  I hold my hand out to you, my love.  We will walk through this together, there has to be a light somewhere and we will find it…for the time being, though, we will stumble through the darkness together.

I love you, Mae.  I love you Declan.  I love you Sophie.  Help us to find the light.

We will try again.  Hopefully one day, we will hold your brother or sister in our arms, and tell them that they have a brother and sister watching over them.

All Saints Day Sermon

All Saints Day
North Shore Baptist Church
1 November, 2009
Isiah 25: 6-9

Memory Eternal

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Thou’art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy’or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. – John Donne (Holy Sonnet X)

Let us pray:  Oh God of our ancestors: the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of our faith, the saints before us; be with us and among us this day and everyday.  May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to your purposes of grace.  Amen.

***

Today we celebrate the feast of All Saints.  It is the day in which the church universal gathers together to remember the saints gone before us:  St. Francis, St. Clare, St. Columba, St. John Chrysostom, St. Theresa of Avila…

As Baptists we tend to shy away from the words saint.  In fact when it was mentioned that we were going to be celebrating All Saints Day someone said, “but we don’t believe in saints.”  Maybe we don’t venerate a special class of people like some on other traditions do, but we do honor our saints in our own ways.  Kraft Chapel?  Howel Hall?  Starett Library? Schreiber Choir Room?

The word saint come from the greek a”gioV meaning holy.  The plural of which a]gioi is the basis for our modern meaning of saints.  The term saints, a]gioi, occurs 62 times in the New Testament (according to the NRSV translation) mostly in the Pauline Epistles.  This is a term used for all those who believe in the saving power of Jesus Christ; for only God is Holy, but we are, as Romans states, “called to be saints” stressing our vocation to be like Christ.  We call each other saint as a reminder that we are called to share in God’s witness.

Throughout the history of the Church, saints have been remembered.  Since the days of the martyrs, saints have been venerated.  The first noted All Saints commemoration in the west happened when Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon at Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all of the martyrs.  On November 1, the year is uncertain,  during the Pontificate of Gregory III a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica was consecrated in memory of all martyrs AND saints.  This was mainly celebrated by people in Rome until Pope Gregory IV opened the feast day to the whole of the Church.    This feast day was originally created to correct any discrepancies in the calendar of saint feast days.

Today, we join the church universal in remembering the saints.  Those holy ones gone on before us.

***

One of my professors when asked why we, who do not venerate the saints, should celebrate All Saints day told the following story.  He was in Germany in November of 1963.  He and some friends were excited to be going to hear a lecture by a famed theologian.  At the lecture they were given the news that President Kennedy had been murdered by an assassins bullet.  Obviously in a stated of shock they did not know what to do, or how to mourn.  The following Sunday, two days later, was what is know as Totensontag or Dead Sunday.  It is when many of the reformation churches in Germany celebrate the commemoration of All Saints by going to the cemetery and decorating graves.  Dr, Krentz and his friends decided to go to the local cemetery and participate in the remembrances.  When they got to the cemetery, everyone there formed a kind of receiving line and embraced die Amerikaner and comforted them in their loss.  All present has lost someone, and now, as a community they were embracing those for whom loss was the most fresh.  Community gathered.

We gather together to remember All Saints because it strengthens us as a community.  We need this community to gather as we mourn.  This community is what will help to hold us together until that day when we will have no more tears.

According to Isiah in today’s reading the LORD of hosts will prepare a feast for all   peoples.  A meal of rich food and wine.  God will gather together the community of saints and host a meal of reconciliation and commemoration.  A meal is the sign of a treaty or agreement in the ancient near east.  The meal talked about in this passage is one in which God will “destroy the should that is cast over all peoples…and swallow up death forever.”  The image of swallowing up death is a vivid one for the ancient Israelites.  Baal, the god of the oppressors, would swallow Yam and Mat every year as part of a fertility rite.  The fact that YHWH will swallow death is a single act that defines a new age.  The age in which YHWH will wipe the tears from all faces.  God, in this moment, is acting for the living.  God is making a promise that there will be an end to our mourning.  This passage is written for the living.  The gathered community in the sharing of a meal will see the coming of a new age.  We have to remember that during this time there was not belief in an afterlife.  God is promising the living community an end to their suffering.

In the reading that Pastor Carol used for the Call to worship we are given a vision of  the saints gathered around the throne of God and the Lamb.  They are waving palm branches in worship and adoration reminiscent of the entry into Jerusalem.   They are gathered, from every nation, in the presence of God and the Lamb.  The are the beneficiaries of the new age.  Their tears are gone.  Their hunger and thirst have vanished.  This gathering of people will not abandon their messiah as the one in Jerusalem did.  Instead they cry out “Blessing and Glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!”

But this passage, too, is written to the living and the suffering.  It is a promise that the Christians in the Roman Empire, being persecuted for their faith, suffering for their Messiah will one day have their tears wiped and their bodies restored.  It promises a community, a community of saints that they, will one day join in the unending song.

***

In a little bit we will be joining together in the act of Holy Communion.  I use this phrase on purpose.  What we will be doing in an act of community.  We will be participating in the act that unites us with all of our sisters and brothers from around the world.  We will be gathering at the table to eat a meal.

This meal is an act of Holy Memory.  We are called by Jesus to remember.  To gather as community and remember the promise given to us in the Messiah.  We are to remember.  This act of remembrance and celebration is the act that gives us our identity.  This meal is the one in which we are reminded that God has and will continue to destroy the shroud and swallow up death forever.

This meal is what joins us with all the saints.  It is the meal that St. John of Patmos shared with the persecuted in the rest of the empire.  It is the meal that St. Francis shared with St. Clare.  It is the meal that the immigrant shares with the native.  The refugee and the free.  It is the meal that is shared by a soldier and her mother on the other side of the world.  It is the meal that we share with those from our past.

A couple of days ago I got to my school’s daily chapel service early.  We change the seating arrangement in the space, but presently the seating faces south.  The south side of Augustana Chapel is a bank of windows.  In the center is a beautiful triptych of stained glass, but on either side of that we can see through to 55th Street and on to the campus of the University of Chicago.  Across the street I saw a maple tree shedding her leaves.  If you remember form my sermon in July, I mentioned how much I love trees.  I kept watching this tree throughout the entire service, and I began to think about what was happening.  I was witnessing, in this literal rain of leaves, hundreds falling in the course of 20 minutes; I was witnessing the life of the church.  This church and the church universal.  Each leaf was a saint which fulfilled its purpose.  It gave the proper nourishment.  Protected the seeds.  Housed the birds.  Each a different part of the whole.  When its time came and its purpose completed it let go.  It offered itself to the ruach that is the breath of God and was sent off that tree.  Now the tree is bare.  Its life force slowed.  The tree is the church.  There are some think she is dying or is dead; she is really rejuvenating.  She is gaining strength.  Being fed by the new gift of the saints.  The leaves that left her are now feeding her roots as they begin to compost and return their essences to the earth.  They may no longer be a part of the bright and flouishing tree, but the are giving her the strength she needs to begin to bloom again.  Sisters and brothers, the church is that tree.  There is power in that tree and she is preparing to bloom again.  We have had our saints and they have left us, but they are still with us.  Nourishing us.  Providing us with a life force to get through the winter.  We remember them for this reason.  As an act of thanksgiving.  As an act of sustenance.

We remember St. Andrew the Mailman.

We remember St. C.S. Terry who offered his home for the organizing meeting of North Shore Baptist.

We remember St. W.C. “Daddy” Brown one of the first six deacons.

We remember St. J.L. Kraft defender of Dr. Virgin.

We remember St. S.M. Steator architect and visionary and St. Lourie Larson because of whom we have an educational AND recreation wing.

We remember St. Evelyn Tannenhill now leading the choir of angels accomanied by St. Lucille Ingebretsen.

We gather as community to remember the saints who have gotten us here.

We gather at the table to join the saints in unending song.

We are promised a new age.

We are promised “Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.”

We are called to move on.

We are called to remember.

We are called to Memory Eternal.

In the name of the Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit:  We remember.

Sermon for 9/27/09

Justin Thornburgh
Sermon: Proper 21
Psalm 19
27 September 2009
Community Church of Wilmette

God Sustains: Torah/Teva;Teva/Torah

Friends, I bring you greetings in the name of God our Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit, from your sisters and brothers at North Shore Baptist Church. It is great to be back here at Community Church. You are always so gracious in your welcome and I am grateful to call you all sisters and brothers.

C.S. Lewis called Psalm 19, “the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.” Coming from a man of his stature those are some pretty heavy words. The greatest poem in the Psalter, the book of Psalms. One of the greatest lyrics in the world. I guess we can assume that he had yet to hear I am the Walrus. All kidding aside, though, what is it in these words that makes Brother Lewis say these things about todays reading? Why would this Psalm rate higher than some of the more well know ones that, too, have a mysterious power to draw us in?

Let us pray: May it be, O LORD, that the words of my mouth and meditations of our hearts be useful for your purposes of grace. Our rock and redeemer. Amen.
***
Today’s reading, according to the lectionary, is actually only the second half of Psalm 19. Beginning at verse 7 and going through the end. I thought about using just that for the text today. It is a very important text. But the more I thought about it and the more I read from people much smarter than me the more I realized that only reading Psalm 19:7-14 does a major disservice. I like context, and yes, while 7-14 are great words dealing with the promise of and promise from the Torah, the law, it can not stand alone.

You see, the whole Psalm builds to the final line. A line of power. A line that is both an utterance of praise and a full throated confession. O LORD, my rock and redeemer. In the language of the present sermon series, O LORD, my unmovable sustainer! These lines are a prayer that our actions be acceptable to the LORD. But we cannot get to that act of confession and praise on the law alone. The torah is only part of what frees us to this and opens us to such a place.

The Torah works in tandem with Teva, nature. The first part of this Psalm has the heavens telling of the glory of God. They pray in a never-ending litany of praise. The cosmic scope of the opening verses give us notice of the expanse of God’s greatness. The sun in its unending circuit lights the way of the LORD. And night declares the Creator’s wisdom. God’s glory is present in all things. And yet, there is more to God than just nature. There is the Law. Nature and Law. Teva and Torah.

The author of this passage put these two things together for a reason. A reason that may or may not make sense to our 21st century mindset.

The author spends the time painting the picture of God’s creative power in order to then bring the ethereal majesty of God to a personal reality in the embodiment of the Torah. What the torah, the law, represents to the ancient hebrew people is the revelation in which God revives and enhances humanity. The torah is the means in which the people are able to relate to YHWH.

In our context, though, we don’t like rules. We don’t want to be told what to do. Our ways are the right ways. And we see God in nature. I know I do. When I look at a tree and listen to her story I see God’s protective presence. When I walk my dogs and they see something in the dirt that I totally miss, I start to pay closer attention. I love to play in the dirt. To imagine how God felt when forming us from that dirt and breathed life into us. Us, created in the image of the creator. God is all around. Why do we need the law? We have Jesus. Doesn’t Jesus trump the law?.

***
A couple of years ago after Iowa and Wisconsin were hit with terrible storms (this is the summer that Lake Delton up at the Dells emptied) Mae and I did some traveling through the damaged areas. The storms were in May and June and we went through about mid-July. We saw the mud pit that was known as Lake Delton. We saw farmland that looked as though there were ponds scattered through out the land. But, even though there was all that rain, by mid-July it was almost drought conditions. I still remember vividly one parcel of farmland outside Guttenberg, IA. This farm was along the Great River Road. The farm was flooded. The creek that ran parallel to the farm, had evidently, during the storms turned into a small river. It tore through the south end of the farm leaving flooding that had not subsided a month and a half later. That same parcel of land, though, not 500 feet from the flooding looked like a scene out of The Grapes of Wrath. It was haggard, dry, cracked and caking. Desolate. There was nothing there. There was nothing that could grow. Even with numerous gallons of water 500 feet away this land was parched. Crying for something to sooth its tongue.

This poor land was not producing what it was meant to produce. I can not speak for the farmer, I do not know his or her personal story, but I am sure they were devastated both economically and spiritually. There were no heavens telling of the glory of God and the firmament surely did not proclaim the creator’s handiwork.

I was reminded seeing this of all we have done to help make this land so vulnerable to such devastation. I can not stand here and blame the farmer for making choices that led to the land being put in such danger. I can stand here and confess that I am partly responsible for what that land suffered. I am a consumer of the products it is forced to produce. I buy pop. I buy items that are made from the chemical properties of the crop grown, even though there is nothing even food like with the product. I am a consumer. That is part of the basis of an economic system that thrives on supply and demand. I provide the demand and the market place provides the supply. But at what cost?

In 1944 there was a meeting in Bretton Woods, NH. This gathering was one of the first major economic policy meetings post WWII. Seven hundred thirty people from the 44 allied nations met to discuss the economic future, especially since many, including U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull, believed that an unstable economy was one of the leading factors of the rise of Nazism. Also, they wanted to figure a way to govern and regulate monetary issues between states and to open free trade commerce between participating nations, and by doing so help to reduce global poverty. Their goals were lofty and led to the creation of two institutions that are still around and in the news today, particularly this weekend with the G-20 summit going on in Philadelphia, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Two institutions with the goals of lending and regulating monies to those countries on the cusp. Noble goals came out of Bretton Woods and some of the results have benefited humanity in wonderful ways. However (you knew there would be an however, didn’t you); the prevailing mindset of those at the meeting echo that of either President Roosevelt or Sec. Hull, it was a little unclear in my research if It was Hull speaking on his own or reading a greeting from the president, either way, the mind set was this, “Earth is infinitely blessed with natural resources…prosperity has no fixed limits.” That mindset led to some wonderful advancements in human technology, but sadly we may be beginning to find out what the long term results of such a mindset is.

Of the many advancements to come as a result of the Bretton Woods summit was something called the Green Revolution which started to come in to use around 1946. Now this was not a direct descendant of the summit, but some of the ramifications of it are. The green revolution was started in order to grow enough food for those who are suffering from famine and perpetual hunger. Among its goals was increase the amount of crops per acre. It did this using genetics to modify crops and allow them to become pest and weed resistant. Subsidies were put in place to have farmers grow one certain crop. Thereby creating a monoculture that did not necessarily follow the traditional protocol of rotating of crops. This led to the leeching of nutrients from the soil and forced farmers to need to use herbicides and pesticides, most of which contain fossil fuels. The green revolution helped to save countless lives and it is a blessing in that regard, but the technology used has begun to cause an approachingly irreversible dependence on the pesticides and herbicides. And because of many of the free trade advances created out of Bretton Woods farmers are forced to keep planting more and more crops to reap the same kinds of profits. There has begun to be an over saturation of the market, especially of non-food related crops. Corn for ethanol, plastics, etc. The dry caked land with the pond size puddles is partially created as a result of the forced unsustainable farming techniques.

Sisters and Brothers, The heavens are telling the glory of God…The law of the LORD is perfect. We have a sacred duty to care for this land. For this air. For this water. We are witnesses every day to the glory that is proclaimed by the blooming flower and the raging water. We are called as children created in the image of the Eternal to be the care takers of this earth.

God our sustainer and redeemer has given us helps. We just need to use them.

God gave us nature to be the witness and example of God’s glory. God has given us the Torah, too. God has given us the story of creation. The story of bondage. The story of journey. The story of redemption. In the torah God intends for us to find the way back to Eden. God has made us for a creational purpose. We are to work and care for this our charge.

God sustains us on our journey.

God sustains us when we begin to allow the greed and corruption to take over and forget the original purposes of the Bretton Woods summit.

God sustains us in our weakness.

God sustains us with the witness of nature.

God sustains us with the promises found in the torah.

God sustains us with the gift of the first born of creation.

God sustains us with the word.

The stories found in the torah tell of the God who brought Israel out of the desert. The God saw her cross into that promised land. The God who saw her through exile . The God who sustained them through all.

This is why these two section of the Psalm must be read together. Teva is the witness to God’s glory. Torah is the promise of God. They work together. They can not work apart. For if we have nature without the law our eyes are closed to the promises of God. If we have law without nature our eyes are closed to the cosmic dimension of God’s grace.

There is a third part to this Psalm that I have yet to explore. As I said earlier this song builds to a climax and the climb begins in ernest in verse 11. Our author, being so overwhelmed by the greatness of God, drops to her knees in confession. Asking her creator to keep her from proud thoughts, to keep make her blameless and innocent of great transgression. To keep her eyes open to the sustaining power of the LORD.

Friends, it is my prayer for you that you are able to see the sustaining power of God around you. Using Teva and Torah as your guides. May your eyes be opened. Look around. See the gifts you have. The children who participate in service at the time for the children. See and be thankful that a sister is getting baptized into the body of Christ next week. See the kids who come into your building for Skylight theater. See and be thankful for the Boy Scouts. See and love the members of Sukkat Shalom. See the gift of hospitality you show to strangers and members. See the blessing of the turkey ministry. See and be thankful for the fact you have a seminary intern and you are able to minister to her as she to you. See and be aware that though you may be small you are a part of the vital living body of Christ. See all of the ways God is sustaining you and be thankful. You are a place of Grace. You are being sustained by God and you in turn are called to live into that sustaining power. You are to be a place of sustenance to the world. Continue to be that place. Open your eyes and hearts to new possibilities. Remember God Sustains.

As you continue to work into being a place of sustenance for those needing refuge, remember the the prayer of our sister, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” My rock and my redeemer. God will not leave you. God will carry you though the darkest moments. Just be aware. Use the gifts of Teva and Torah to help you. The heavens are telling of the glory of God and The law of the LORD is perfect.

Amen

Quick Moring Post Before I Go Study

I am getting ready for my last class of my first week back to school in 10 years.  I have been blown away by how much this week has confirmed my call.  I feel where I am supposed to be and am grateful beyone meausre.  This week has been an emotional one, as I have experience the Divine Presence more than I have in a long, long time.  I think it stems from Rev. Dr. Craig Satterlee’s homily from the first day of classes.

He preached on the Mark passage (7:24-37) focusing on Jesus’ command to the deaf and dumb man to “Ephphatha” to “Be Open.”  That is what I have tried to do this week.  When I received a 39 page sylabus I was intimidated, but when I went to class with an open heart and mind my fears were released.  When I need a book until mine get here I am open to the gift of hospitality by a student who had that class last year and offered to loan me hers.  When, yesterday at convocation, 200 people gather at the table all singing the prayer “Take, Oh Take Me As I Am” I opened myself up to experience the Divine Presence that is the mystery of Grace at the Table.

I pray that I keep allowing myself to ephphatha.  I pray you all find ways to be opened.

Welcome

Isabella Rose Thornburgh. My new niece. She was born today 9/2/09 on what would have been her Grandpa T’s 67th birthday. Grandpa T is the cool cat in the previous post.

with momma and big bro, Logan

Lessons Learned: A Tough Year…A Memorial

Today marks the eleventh anniversary of the death of my Dad.  For those who do not know; for as long as I can remember my dad suffered from diabetes.  Beginning in the summer before my freshman year of high school, 1991, his body began to rebel and started losing the war against the disease.  Over the next several years he lost both legs below the knee, most of his fingers, was on dialysis, and was loosing his eyesight.  Diabetes is a slow methodical assassin.  It takes its victims out bit by bit.  That is how it attacked my dad.  We knew he would not be around forever, but when diabetes dealt her final blow it happened so quickly we were all stunned.  The monster had been working on his veins, slowly turning them to stone.  His heart was attacked and what would have been a moderately severe, but probably treatable heart attack was a death sentence.  The rock hard veins and arteries around his heart could not be stinted lest they shatter.  Within 24-hours he was gone.

I have been thinking about Dad a lot over the last several months.  I have imagined what our debates would have been like during the election, and how, though he probably would not admit it due to the winner being a democrat, he would have been excited to see our nation move forward and elect an African-American.  I imagine the look of joy and tears welling up in the corner of his eyes was we announce to the family that we were expecting our first child.  I can see him greiving as we lament the loss of the same child.  And I can imagine his encouragement as I begin seminary in the fall.

My Dad taught me a great many things during our brief 21 years together.  Most important he taught me to to enjoy life.  Love those around you.  You hold them up when they are hurt, and let yourself be held by them.  You may be going through hell, but no matter what, the sun also rises.  There is tomorrow, and if there is not, make sure those around you are able to see the sun rise through the clouds of their grief.  When we lost Zippy, I took these lessons to heart.  In the dark days and months after the miscarriage I, every morning, look to the east and see the sun rise.  I give thanks for the gift I was given, not only in the short time with Zippy, but for the life and lessons of George Allen Thornburgh.

Dad, the Orthodox say Memory Eternal when one passes to the next life.  Know your Memory is Eteranally with me.

And now, something for you all to see to meet my dad!

Morning in Hyde Park

Since we have moved to Hyde Park, I have had to get up even earlier to go to work.  This is not totally a bad thing, I just need to learn to go to bed earlier.  Last night I went to bed a 8pm, so this morning I feel great.

I take the dogs for their morning way, and our neighborhood is absolutely gorgeous.  Many folks have beautiful flowers.  There are the trees and the birds.   We are out early enough that it is just the three of us with the occasional jogger.  It is our time, and it is wonderful.

Have a good day.

Sermon 7/12/09

Sermon: Proper 10
12 July 2009
North Shore Baptist Church – Creation Sunday
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
Psalm 24

Dance Naked?

Let me continue reading the lesson a little further (2 Sam. 6:20-22):

David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, ‘How the king of Israel honoured himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ maids, as any vulgar fellow might shamelessly uncover himself!’ 21David said to Michal, ‘It was before the Lord, who chose me in place of your father and all his household, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord, that I have danced before the Lord. 22I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in my own eyes; but by the maids of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honour.’

Let me give a little context to what is going on in the passage we just heard.  In 2 Samuel 5, David has been anointed the king of all Israel. And in a move that is mocked by her inhabitants, David decides to make Jerusalem the capital.  It is said that David is too weak to make this happen, but alas, he was successful.  He also has defended the land against a Philistine attack.  This is where today’s reading picks up.

David has gathered the chosen men of Israel to come with him to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant.  This is a move to let the people know that even though there is a new leader and a new government and a new capital Israel will still honor the old traditions.  They receive the Ark from Abin-a-dab and it begins it trip to Jerusalem.  It is a grand procession with singing and dancing and music.  An ecstatic journey.  Until (and this is what is left out of today’s reading) Uzzah tries to balance an unsteady ark and is struck dead.  One of the commentators I read mentions that this is not divine punishment, but because Uzzah was not ritually prepared to deal with the situation.  Whatever the reason (another sermon of another day) this incident literally puts the fear of God into David, and David is mad.  Afraid and angry David leaves the ark in the care of O-bed-e-dom for three months.  When David hears that O-bed-e-dom has been greatly blessed during this interim time, he decides to go get the Ark and restart the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  Taking care to make sure Uzzah’s death was not in vain David offers sacrifice after moving the ark six paces.  Some think this is every six paces.  They journey of ecstasy resumes.  Shouting and dancing and singing and music and all of Israel are rejoicing praising the LORD.  David is only girded in a linen ephod.  This is a garment worn by the priests, but as the text mentions he is only girding himself. It is believed that David is naked except for the wearing the ephod a belt.  This is supported by the fact that Micahl, David’s wife and Saul’s daughter, looks upon this display and despises David for it.

At long last the ark is brought to its place and David continues to offer sacrifice and blesses Israel and his own house.  Michal, though, chastises him saying, “How the King of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eye of his servants’ maids as any vulgar fellow might shamelessly uncover himself!”  David respnds,  “It was before the LORD, who chose me in place of your father and all his household, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the LORD, that I have danced before the LORD.”  I want us to look at this today.  How can we dance naked, stripped of everything that keeps us from the LORD?

***
Let us pray:  May it be, O Lord, that the words of my mouth and meditations of our hearts be acceptable to your purposes of grace.  Amen.

Have you ever been walking down the street and been hit with such joy that it is a total surprise and you can do nothing but say, “Thank you God!”?

I had that happen to me recently.  Every Tuesday I go to the farmers’ market located in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art just off Michigan Ave.  I was walking back to the office with an arm full of freshly baked bread, asparagus, home made peanut butter and jelly.  I was walking along watching the people, listening to the urban symphony (the percussion of the jackhammers, the staccato rhythm of a giddy child, soaring flute of the birds filling the trees while waiting for someone to drop a piece of lunch, the low cello countermelody of  wind blowing through my ears), watching the pigeons going after the remains of a lunch at one of the outdoor seating areas of a local shop, smelling the humidity in the air, touching the trunk of a tree as I passed by and WHAM I can do nothing by smile with tears in my eyes and thank God for this moment.  I had what John Prine calls the Illegal Smile on my face for the next several blocks.  I worshiped God in that moment.  I lived in to the mystery that is grace.  I was so overwhelmed by the gifts around me that I lost myself.

It was a moment where I was totally open to and responding to the Holy Spirit.  I was stripped of all the garbage that had been going on.  The pressures of work, the thoughts of moving, the cloud of things outside of my control:  they were all gone.  I was there.  Stripped of everything.  Dancing naked before the LORD.  In the glory of Eden.

It was a moment and it passed, but it will come again and I will be ready.

These moments, though, happen quite rarely…at least for me.  There are many, many times when my life is not focused like it should be.  I am focused on work.  I am focused on making sure our bank account is ok.  I am focused on pleasing everyone around me instead of focusing on the one who gave me all these things.  I am wearing the cloak of the pressures of the world.  Life gets in the way.  Life shrouds us with the things that prevent us from giving God the worship and praise our Creator deserves.  We are human.  It happens to all of us, but do not fret.  Our reality is one of brokenness.  But it is also a reality of grace.  A reality of constant reminders that even when we are broken there is the promise of a new day.  We just need to go to God as we are.

Look at the Psalms for proof that this disconnect happened to folks we look up to and admire from the Bible.  Psalm 51, one of my favorites, is a confession of brokenness and sin.  The psalmist is laying all their troubles before the LORD.  Going to God warts and all.  Psalm 39 is  plea from a confused leader for wisdom and forgiveness.  A plea for God to “hear my prayer.”  Psalm 140 is a cry from a person being overwhelmed by their enemies.  A prayer for deliverance from those enemies.  In these examples, and many many more, the psalmists are just like us.  People living living, working, grieving, searching for the light at the end of the tunnel.  People buried under the strain of work.  People whose children are going away to camp for the first time.  People who have recently lost their jobs.  People who are dealing with the passing of a loved one.  The Psalms are for us and about  us.

The thing about the Psalmists though is that they, even in their darkest hour, go to God.  They go to God with tears rolling down their cheeks.  They go to God.  The act of going to God frees them to begin the process of unburdening themselves.  It allows them to begin to transform.

I look at the psalms and say to myself, yeah, but…  I am too busy to sit down to pray.  Too much to do…I can not give God the worship deserved.  I try.  I go in spurts.  I will be good for a while of setting aside time in the morning to pray, but then the snooze alarm looks better and better.  I try to set aside time at lunch hour to go to the chapel at the hospital across the street from the office and pray, but then I have an important project due and then I have a lunch meeting and soon I am back eating lunch at my desk.  I try to make time at night, but I need to fix supper or I am too tired from the day at work to focus on anything by CSI reruns.  I do not think I am the only one here today that is going trough this.  How can I make the time to go to God?  Again the Psalms help with this.

Hear today’s Psalm.  Psalm 24 (read):

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it;
2for he has founded it on the seas,
and established it on the rivers.

3Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
and do not swear deceitfully.
5They will receive blessing from the Lord,
and vindication from the God of their salvation.
6Such is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.*
Selah

7Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
8Who is the King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle.
9Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
10Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory.
Selah

“The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it.”  Look around you.  These trees are the LORD’s.  The grass is the LORD’s.  The squirrels chasing each other through your lawn  are the LORD’s.   Psalm 148 talks about the very earth praising God.  This is where I find the time and the ability to respond to God’s works in my life.  I watch the birds going for worms in the morning.  I look at the trees raising their leaves in praise on sunny days and bowing in reverence on raining one.

I love trees.  I love the stories they tell.  Have you ever stopped and looked at a tree and tried to hear its story?  One of my favorite trees is just over on Magnoila, directly across from where we are now.  It is on the west side of the street.  It is a tree that tells me a story of a very rough life.  This tree is a short squatty one.  The trunk is twisted, badly.  It has fought to get to where it is today.  But there is a split in the trunk and there is part of this tree that is clean and straight.  It is a limb that says “I am going to make it.”  It is a limb that literally shows new life in this old tree.  This tree is praising God.  This tree is a witness to me that in all things God creates new life.  God is present.  Looking at this tree I am able to let my guard down and go to God.  Nature is God’s way of reminding me that I am not alone.  I can always go to God anywhere, anytime.  I just need the reminder.

One of my favorite contemporary blues singers is a guy named Keb Mo.  I first saw him at a special event at Chicago Shakespeare.  He and Barbara Gaines, the artistic director, went though and looked at the musicality of the Bard’s works.  Through that event I became a fan.  On his album “Just Like You” there is a song that I look at as a modern day psalm.  It is called “Hand is Over.”  Here is a sample of the lyrics:

If your problems
won’t go away
and you’re worried
both night and day
hand it over
get on your knees and pray…

Ain’t no mountain
you can’t climb
ain’t no answer
you can’t find
All you need is a hand to hold
It’ll heal you body
and feed your soul…

Hand it over
Hand it over
Give it up, Give it over
Hand it over
Get on your knees and pray

This song frequently pops into my head when I am overwhelmed.  I use it as a reminder, like watching the trees, that no matter how busy or how tired, God is there.   All I need do is hand it over.

Something begins to happen when we are able to hand our burdens over to God.  We begin to open ourselves up to the transformative power that is Grace.

Worship is not for us, but for God.  However; that does not mean we do not get anything out of it.  When we go to the LORD and begin to hand over our problems; they are accepted and turned into seeds that help us to grow.  As we allow ourselves to transform and be transformed, our worship of God fertilizes us and our roots grow deeper and our leaves turn greener and we begin to loose ourselves to our Creator.

As we loose ourselves to our Creator others begin to see the Creator in us.

As other see the Creator in us we can help them to begin to unburden themselves.

We give God our troubles.

We listen to the music of creation.

We open ourselves up for transformation.

We strip ourselves of the burdens and worries and stress that keeps us from God.

We hear the music of creation.

We begin to dance in praise of our God.

We dance unashamed because the Grace of God is what sustains us and protects us from all that will try to bury us.

We dance.  We dance. We dance.

Madsen Cycles

Hi Folks.  See that button over there ——->

Yeah, the one that says Madsen.  Click it for me and check out their site.  You see, they are having a contest and by linking to their site I entering a contest to win a bike!  So, help me out.

Thanks