"Don't let the grass grow on your path"

Sermon 1Lent-Feb. 26, 2012
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Mark 1:9-15 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
The Rev. Christopher Henry is a Presbyterian pastor and once told this story:“Several years ago, I was attending a Sunday afternoon book club in a small town in North Carolina. The participants in the club were the pastors and lay leaders of local congregations--Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, and Presbyterians. That day we found ourselves sharing personal stories of faith formation. How did you become a Christian? Where did your faith journey begin? One by one, members of the group described how we had been raised by loving and faithful parents who brought us to Sunday school and church, told us the stories of Jesus, and helped us to grow in maturity of faith. Each story sounded something like that, until there was only one person left to speak. As tears formed in her eyes, she said, "I am a Christian because the Christian church saved my life." Suddenly, the chatty group fell silent. She described how she had been abandoned by her parents as an infant. Sent to a foster home, she was neglected and abused for the first six years of her life. At age seven, she was adopted by a local family. Not knowing what to expect, she spent the first night wide-awake in her new bed, afraid and anxious. The next morning, a Sunday, the family got up early, had breakfast, and got into the car. "It was my first time at church and I had no idea what to expect. We walked into the Sunday school classroom, and the teacher's face lit up. 'Welcome, Janet, we've been waiting for you.' Then she read the Bible story for the day. I will never forget the feeling. Jesus says to his disciples, 'Let the little children come to me. Do not stop them.' I knew, knew with all of my heart, that he was talking to me. I knew that I was home. I am a Christian because of that moment. A new beginning, the kingdom in the midst of the wilderness.” a kingdom in the midst of the wilderness.
Twice each month, on Thursdays, I meet with the clergy of the downriver Episcopal Churches. On the second Thursday of the month we talk about the readings and how we might preach them. The 4th Thursday we spend much of the meeting in Lectio divina. Lectio Divina is a way of praying. You read the gospel aloud 3 times slowly-each time with a different reader. And after each reading there is silence while you think about what was just read. After the first reading everyone is asked to pick out a word or phrase that jumps out at them. One person took the phrase: “with you I am well pleased”. Another chose: “tempted by Satan”. A third picked, “with the wild beasts”. A fourth person selected “believe in the good news." And another “drove him out into the wilderness”. The word or phrase that we choose says a lot about where we are that day, and where our soul is at. I’m going to read the gospel again, slowly (it’s short) and I want you to see what word or phrase chooses you.
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
What word jumped out at you? What stuck with you when you opened your eyes? Say it to yourself a couple of times so you can remember it.
Lent is a 40 day journey of the heart. We’re supposed to use this time not for self-punishment, but for growth and understanding. What was Jesus about? And what are we about as his followers? Do you still remember your word or phrase?
Sarah Henrich, a professor of New Testament, writes that the thing that strikes her about this morning’s gospel is how violent and lonely it is. “The loneliness of God's servant, a theme that persists throughout the gospel, is already suggested in these verses. It all begins in the wilderness, home to prophets of Israel and to Israel itself in the years of wandering. Jesus, too, will be there…”
This can be a 40 day time of questions without worrying about the answers. Jesus didn’t go into the wilderness to prove how strong he was. He was driven there by the Spirit. He had just see the heavens ripped open and heard a voice-what did it mean for him? What was his life supposed to be? Did God tell him that he would live forever? That he would rule the world? That he would never be sick or in pain? No. God simply said, "You are my Son, the Beloved…”
If we learn anything from this passage, it is that to be loved by God, to be God’s beloved, can be a terrible gift. Jesus is tempted and tested. It is a difficult time, and it had to be scary and hard.
We are called just as Jesus was. Richard Jensen writes: “Mark introduces the theme of repentance and faith as the response that is called forth by Jesus' preaching. Jesus calls humanity to a time of listening, a time of decision. It is time to turn our lives around and believe the good news announced by Jesus that the kingdom of God has come near to us. “
Take the card that is in your bulletin this morning and write on there one way you will grow closer to God this Lent. If you want, you can use the word or phrase that jumped out at you from this gospel. Or you can put on there how you are in a wilderness yourself-and what questions you have. Perhaps you want to write the ways you are being tested-and how the angels are ministering to you. Maybe you could put on this card what it means to be loved by God, and what is the Good News for you?
On the outside of this envelope put your first and last name. In 3 weeks we will give it back to you, so you’ll remember where you were and how you are growing closer to God this Lent.
This is the first Sunday of your Lenten journey this year. It’s an opportunity to start again. For some it’s time for a new beginning, the kingdom in the midst of the wilderness; for others it’s a chance to accept the hard news that you are loved by God; and for others it’s time to take the next step in your walk with God.
“Early African converts to Christianity were earnest and regular in private devotions. Each one reportedly had a separate spot in the thicket where he would pour out his heart to God. Over time the paths to these places became well worn. As a result, if one of these believers began to neglect prayer, it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind the negligent one, "Brother, the grass grows on your path."
This Lent, grow closer to God. Wear down the grass on your path. Amen.

Closer to God

Sermon-Ash Wednesday-Feb. 22, 2012
O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.

How many of you are wearing a cross right now-a necklace, a pin, somewhere on your person? How many of you have a cross in plain view in your house? We surround ourselves with crosses-why?

I went to a very strange high school. There was a large Catholic high school in our area and almost all the Catholic kids went there. And there were a lot of Jewish kids in our area, so I went to school knowing a lot of Jewish customs, but pretty ignorant of Catholic ones. One of my good friends was Amy Otis, who showed up at school one day with dirt on her head. I grabbed her and started teasing her, “Amy”, I said, “you’ve got dirt all over your face-you better go in to the bathroom and clean up!” She began laughing at me, “don’t you know anything? It’s Ash Wednesday!” I continued to give her a hard time (this was high school) and finally she said something like this: “This is who I am.”

Today most of you will come forward to receive a cross of ashes. We could have put the ashes in a circle, or heart shaped, or just a smudge, but instead we put them in the shape of a cross. They are supposed to represent our humanity, our mortality, our brokenness . “Remember you are dust, and to dust you will return”. We begin Lent by wearing ashes to represent that we are human-but we aren’t only human. We wear the ashes in the shape of a cross because we believe that we are more than just ashes, we are claimed by Christ.
In the 1890s Max Beerbohm wrote a book called, “The Happy Hypocrite”. There was a man named Sir George Hell. He was “A worldly man, he is a dandy, fond of gambling, drinking, womanizing, and the like. When he spots a young and innocent dancer named Jenny Mere”. He falls madly in love with her, but she tells him that she will only marry a man who has the face of a saint. He is crestfallen. He goes to the city and stumbles upon a small shop where a man makes lifelike masks. He buys a mask that is fitted for his face that looks like a saint. That evening he proposes to Jenny and she accepts. He continues to wear the mask afraid that she will see who he really is if the mask comes off. And even more, in order to fool his new wife he begins living like a saint-being generous, honest, caring, forgiving. A month after they are married a woman from his past finds him. She wants to expose him for who he really is in front of his new wife, so she rips off his mask. And underneath his face has assumed the contours of the mask. He now looks like a saint.
That is what we do in Lent. We put on these ashes, admitting, confessing that we are only human. But we put them on in the shape of a cross, asking God to change who we are by Easter so that we look more like him. This cross of ashes is our saint’s mask. The ashes are who we are, the cross is who we hope to be.
In your bulletin is a 3x5 card in an envelope. On this card, write one thing you will do the next 40 days to become closer to God. 1 thing. It can be something you’re leaving behind-a bad habit, a debilitating tendency, a crippling practice. Or it can be one thing you’re taking on-a new discipline, a positive routine, a healthy habit. Write down one thing that you will do this Lent that will bring you closer to God.
These are some of the suggestions from Alyce MacKenzie, one of my favorite preachers : “It might be to leave behind unhealthy eating patterns, drinking, or abuse. It might be an unhealthy spiritual diet: the habit of gossip, of jealousy ,of consistently seeing the worst in people and situations. It might be indifference to the condition of the homeless and the lonely in our community. It might be the habit of judging and categorizing others to maintain our sense of superiority. It might be something positive like seeing the good points of a troublesome family member, to show more affection to our spouse, to keep in better touch with our extended family, too participate in a ministry of care in our community.” What can you do this Lent to change what your face looks like?
We will give these back to you mid way (March 19th ) through Lent so you can see how you are doing. Write your full name on the outside of the envelope.
This Lent we are going to put on our saint’s mask to see who we can become in 40 days. This Lent we are going to say, this is who we are-we are ashes, but we are in the shape of a cross. We are broken, mortal, and human-but we are moving towards Easter and becoming someone new. This is who we are. Amen.

“The Old Switcheroo”

Sermon-6 Epiphany-Feb. 12, 2012
O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.
A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, "If you choose, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I do choose. Be made clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.
There is a small town on the walk to Santiago de Compostela called Sarria. Up on a hill in the town is a very small, very old chapel made of stone. It is called the Chapel of St. Lazarus, and it was built for the lepers who walked the Camino to Santiago in the middle ages hoping to be healed. They had their own chapel because no one wanted them anywhere near the other pilgrims.
“Ho hum”, you might be thinking, “Jesus heals a leper-what a nice story!”
Ah, but this one is different.
Jesus keeps doing something in the Gospel of Mark that we hardly ever but eventually-like in today’s story, it finally jumps out at us. Let me set it up.
A few verses back, Jesus goes to Capernaum, to a house, where Peter’s mother-in-law is ill. And he takes her by the hand, lifting her up-and heals her. In today’s story, a leper comes up to Jesus and Jesus does the unthinkable-he stretches out his hand and touches him-and the leper is cleansed.
All the way through the gospel of Mark we will see Jesus doing this-touching those who are ill, laying hands on those who are off limits. Leprosy was considered a disease, but it was more than a disease-it was a physical representation of sin. So that when a person had it they didn’t need just to be healed, they needed to be washed from their taint. Consequently, when Jesus touches the man with leprosy he doesn’t send him to the doctors so they can pronounce him cured-he sends him to the priests so he can be readmitted to the community-because he is no longer an outsider. Jesus doesn’t just give the man his skin back-he gives him his life-he can now rejoin the world. He no longer has to stay away from villages and towns, he no longer needs to avoid people. This man who had a death sentence can now live a normal life. That is huge. Unfortunately-the same can’t be said for Jesus. Listen to what happens: “so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country;”-in other words-they changed places. The man who had leprosy was now back in society-but Jesus wasn’t. All because Jesus touched him.
I thought about this story for me. Has there been a time in my life, when I felt like an outsider-when no one wanted to be near me? Has there been a time when I felt like I didn’t belong, like a failure, an outcast? Was there a time when someone reached out to me, brought me back in-and it cost them?
Do you remember a time in your life, when someone touched you, literally or figuratively contacted you, and made you whole? A time when you were feeling so alone, so isolated that you might as well have been a leper? And someone came into your life, and it felt like they were saving your life?
Sara Henrich writes : “By the end of this story, Jesus has shown us what it costs to go where the people are and it is a cost he is "willing" to pay. He begins as the one free to wander and proclaim, urgent in his message and successful in gathering crowds. By the end of the story Jesus has traded places with the former leper who is now wandering freely, proclaiming what the Lord has done and creating widespread positive response, while Jesus has become isolated and lonely. There is an exchange of roles, an exchange of realities between Jesus and the man whom he has healed: this points long-range to the role that Jesus is willing to take for humanity itself, giving up his life of freedom for the loneliness of the one isolated on Golgotha, whose "willingness" is a proclamation in its own right."”
Every story in the gospel of Mark, is a shadow, a foretaste of what is coming. Here Jesus changes place with a man who is dying. It’s supposed to reveal what he will do one day for all of us.
Today’s story is about Jesus realizing what his ministry will be-rescuing those who are lost-and taking their place. So many of these gospel readings show a growing awareness on Jesus’ part what being the messiah means. Even when he does good, even when he is extremely popular, even when he is brave-perhaps especially when he is faithful, it will cost him greatly. And for us, followers of this man, we learn what he has done for us-and what the challenge will be if we are to follow him. Amen.

“He’s not Issam Nemeh”

O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.

I do a lot of reading and preparation for my sermons (it may not seem like it, but that’s another issue) . And as I read other sermons and commentaries I come across stuff that really is worth sharing but it doesn’t fit the aim of the sermon. At all. So I get distracted and lose the point because I get focused on something that isn’t the goal.

The story is told of a man who went to his doctor to ask if he could help him with his snoring problem. “As soon as I go to sleep,” the man explained, “I begin to snore. It happens all the time. What can I do doctor to cure myself?” The doctor then asked, “Does it bother your wife?” “Oh,” the man answered, “it not only bothers her but it disturbs the whole congregation.”
There was a pop song written and sung by Warren Zevon back in 1990, One verse says:

“I was gambling in Havana
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this”

Mark 1:29-39
As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

This is from the Belleville Area independent 15 months ago: “There was a huge traffic jam on West Columbia Avenue in Belleville on Sunday afternoon as hundreds of cars lined up to get to a faith healer at St. Anthony Catholic Church. Channel 7 News had run stories six different times between Thursday and Sunday about the faith healer coming to Belleville and many people came with their sick children, ailing elderly people, and others in wheelchairs, on walkers and with oxygen. Almost 1,000 [people]were prayed over by Dr. Issam Nemeh between 1 p.m. Sunday and 1 a.m. Monday morning when he finally finished. About the same number had to be turned away, said church members who volunteered at the event.”

1000 people over 12 hours-that’s one person every 1 minute 23 seconds for 12 hours. I’m sure some of you were there or were trying to attend. 1000 more were turned away. Did you hear about it? 83 people every hour for 12 hours.

“Healing services were set for 1:30, 3, and 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, but an additional service was added for 7:30 p.m., because of the crowd. The church was full and the overflow was kept in the Father Folta building. Some people who arrived at 1 p.m., didn’t get to see Dr. Nemeh until 8 p.m.

Volunteers stood in the rain directing traffic to ease the jam on West Columbia until Belleville Police told them they couldn’t stand in the street because it was unsafe. They continued to direct traffic in the parking lot and explain the situation to drivers.

One volunteer, who did not wish to be identified, said it was so hard to see those in need turned away, but it just wasn’t possible to deal with all those who came.

“How do you tell the children no?” she asked, saying it was heart-breaking to see. She said at the very end of the session, Dr. Nemeh tried to work in the extra people.

She said people came from the Upper Peninsula, Traverse City, Pontiac, and even Cleveland, where the doctor has a following. A nun from Nigeria arrived.

She said Dr. Nemeh only took one break for the day and that was to eat dinner.”

1000 people in attendance, many waiting for 7 hours, 1000 more turned away.
[When Deacon Dick first started at Trinity he asked if we could have a healing ministry here. I said “sure, but don’t expect too much response-we’ve tried that and not too many people took advantage of it.” But he said, “this is important, even if only one comes for healing, this is God’s ministry.”]

Usually when this gospel is preached you hear about Peter’s mother-in-law. But the real key to this gospel reading is this section: “That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do."

"Everyone is searching for you." But that wasn’t true. What was everyone looking for? They wanted healing. They wanted hope. People didn’t come to see Dr. Issam Nemeh . They came to be cured. If the gospel stories seem strange to you at times, think of Issam Nemeh-the crowds, the publicity, the overwhelming needs of so many people.

People aren’t listening to Jesus, they’re not hearing him talk about the Kingdom of God-what do they want? They WANT TO BE HEALED. Or they want the demons driven out of them. Jesus came to spread a message that God was in their lives and was calling them to become new-and everyone was coming up to him saying, “hey, that’s great, but could you please cure my wife, my child, my friend-please heal ME.” When you listen to this gospel do you hear it?

“And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." Everyone wants you. Everyone wants a piece of you. They wanted to be healed, and Jesus kept telling them, “I am a healer, but I am not just a healer, I am starting a whole new life.” It’s not by accident that this passage includes the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law. As we listen to that story, we’re supposed to learn what healing is for. “He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” We are healed-so we can serve, so we can live a new kind of life. We are changed so we can become new. Healing, having our demons cast out-that’s not the end. Jesus doesn’t heal people so they can go back to their old life. He touches us so we can begin new lives.
He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do."

“For that is what I came out to do.”
What do you think Jesus was thinking about when he got up before dawn and went off to a deserted place? What was on his heart? He came to bring a message about God and what God’s kingdom would be like and he was mobbed with people wanting to be healed.
All the struggle, all the battles in Jesus’ life are set up here in the first chapter. People want Jesus to be one thing-he came for more than that. The disciples don’t understand who he is, or what his purpose is-all they know is that people can’t get enough of him. So they constantly misunderstand.

Kate Huey writes: “This Jesus was no celebrity-of-the-moment, any more than he was a magician (like some) or a rebel leader (like others). And, to him if not to the crowds or even to his closest followers, his purpose was clear. He was not about being a "sensation," or a success, or even popular. What he "came out to do" – his whole purpose – was to proclaim a message, the Message: The [kingdom] Reign of God. Jesus will push his disciples, then as now, taking them in new and unexpected directions, moving on in ministry to do what he came out to do, even if it's not the most popular thing to do, even if it's the very thing that will lead to his death.”Healing is important. We need it, we want it. But it’s not the end. Jesus realizes as he goes out to that deserted place while it was still dark, that if we can we will turn him into Issam Nemeh-only a healer. But Jesus came for more than that. He came to touch us so we could live new lives.
“Everyone is searching for you." He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do."

So I get distracted and lose the point because I get focused on something that isn’t the goal. It’s easy to do. When you’re sick or hurting, when the demons voices are insistent or demanding, it’s easy to lose sight of the purpose.Proclaiming the message-that is what he came out to do. Of course everyone is searching for Jesus, we all want to be fixed. We all want our demons exorcized. We all want the pain to go away. The question is, are we willing to be changed? Amen.