The Father of Jesus

 

Luke 1:26-38

(Matthew 1:18-25)

December 21, 2014

 

Mark S. Bollwinkel

 

            In our scripture lesson this morning, a part of the wonderful Christmas story, we hear about Mary’s courage and dedication.  We hear about Elizabeth’s joy.  But what about Joseph?  The father of Jesus is only mentioned in passing.

            It was very important for the gospel writers to point to the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies that the Messiah would come from the “house of David” in order to prove Jesus’ divinity.  Both Matthew (1:1-17) and Luke (3:23-28) include long genealogies to show Jesus’ lineage back to the greatest king of Israel’s history.  For most Hebrews in first century Palestine, King David was their image of what a Messiah was supposed to be; a great warrior, devoted to the prosperity of the nation and sanctity of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Joseph is of the “house of David”.

            But Jesus is born divine and of a virgin.  Modern logic might find contradiction in a text that argues that Jesus had human and heavenly fathers at the same time but the gospel writers and listeners didn’t.  Such drama was very common in the religious heritage of the Ancient Near East.

            When Joseph is listed in Luke’s genealogy the writer puts in parentheses, “Jesus…the son (as was supposed) of Joseph” (3:23).  Jesus is the Son of God after all, and Joseph is but a bystander.

            Luke will mention him only once more when the hometown crowd at Nazareth tries to throw Jesus off a cliff, rejecting his message.  They scorn Jesus saying, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” (4:22)

            The gospel of Mark doesn’t mention Joseph at all.  In all of his preaching neither does the apostle Paul.  The gospel writer John cites his name only twice.

            So what is Joseph doing there in our crèches scene, really!?

            Matthew gives the best description of the man;

 

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.   When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.  But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; his name is Jesus, for we will save his people from their sins’…when Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.”  (1:18-25)

 

            Joseph was a just man, a righteous man.  The original term suggests that the community recognized such a person as some one who always did things right by his faith and by his neighbors.

            Boris Trajkovski (1956-2004) was a righteous man.  You may not be familiar with the name of the former President of Macedonia, one of the states of former Yugoslavia, just north of Greece and south of Kosovo. (We heard a witness of faith from our UM Missionary there, Carol Partridge, last week…)

            President Trajkovski was a United Methodist.  At his acceptance speech in November 1999, he quoted the prophet Micah from the Old Testament, “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:6).  His audience was shocked.  Macedonian politicians don’t quote scripture. Few know any scripture to quote.  This was a former Communist state after all.  The vast majority of its people, if religious, belong to the Orthodox Church or are Muslim. 

It wasn’t long ago that Protestant churches were regarded with suspicion and hatred.  Protestant churches were burned.   Protestant missionaries were harassed.  In the years of Marshall Tito there were incidents of imprisonment of Protestant pastors and the confiscation of church property.

During the first free election in this foundling democracy, Trajkovski’s opponents said, “If a Protestant becomes President, we will all be forced to become Protestants!”  Cherry bombs were thrown at United Methodist churches.  “Don’t vote for the heretic!” was painted on church walls.

But still the candidate ended all of his speeches with, “God bless Macedonia!”

Boris Trajkovski grew up in a church where every Sunday the children stand at the front of the sanctuary at the end of the service to recite together a verse of Scripture.  As an adult he became a United Methodist Lay speaker.  He taught the Bible in Sunday School.   Although a part of an extreme minority in his country, he did not hide his faith as he has sought to serve his people.

President Trajkovski won the 1999 election with a healthy majority of votes.  Macedonians were not forced to convert to Methodism.  Before his tragic death in a plane crash on February 26, 2004 he was urgently trying to build bridges between all of the communities in his nation as they struggled with terrible poverty and the aftermath of the NATO bombing of Kosovo to the North. 

President Trajkovski was elected because the people could see in his character and faith a future for Macedonia.  That is what “righteousness” means.   People, like Joseph father of Jesus, who do the right thing even when the odds are against them are righteous indeed.

           

            Joseph was a compassionate man. 

In his society it was a disgrace for one’s betrothed to be pregnant before the official marriage was consummated.  He had every right to divorce Mary without any questions asked, but he was “unwilling to put her to shame”. 

            Remember the story of the reluctant Inn Keeper?  It happened at a church Christmas pageant one year.  Susanna had been picked as the Inn Keeper.  She had one line, “Go away, there is no room in the Inn”, which she was to deliver to Joseph and Mary as they came into the Bethlehem scene on their donkey of cardboard.  No matter how many times they practiced the scene, Susanna just couldn’t say her line.  The idea of turning away the parents of the baby Jesus was just impossible, inconceivable, for this very bright nine year old.

            One rehearsal, to the frustration of the exasperated director, she blurted out, “Go away, there is no room in the Inn…but wait, we just got a cancellation!”  Another time it was, “Go away, there is no room in the Inn…have you tried the Motel 6 down the road”.

            The Director and the parents tried to explain that this was only a church play, and that her line was an essential part of the drama and after all it came from the Bible and if she didn’t get right they would have to find another Inn Keeper.

            Susanna relented.  She assured all the adults that she would do her part.

When the big night came, all in the production were on pins and needles as to what Susanna would say.

            The lights were dimmed and the crowd was hushed.  She looked perfect in the bathrobe and turban as the Joseph and Mary came into the scene on their donkey.  They got their lines straight as can be.  Susanna said with clear conviction her all important line, “Go Away, there is no room in the Inn”.  And as Mary and Joseph turned to exit she blurted out, “But why don’t you come in for some hot chocolate before you have to go!”

            We all know people whose compassion defines their living, even to their own detriment.  Joseph must have really loved that young girl Mary. In the end he would risk his own reputation out of compassion.  He would not put her to shame.

 

            Joseph was a faithful man.  He listens to and obeys the commands of angels.  (note: When an angel comes to warn him of Herod’s threat to kill the Christ child and directs the family to flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15).  When an angel tells him it safe to return to Nazareth (Matthew 2:19)).

            So does Mary.  In Luke, Gabriel comes to her explaining her role in the miracle of Christmas.  She could have been as young as 13 or 14 years old, yet when confronted by the angel she responses with courage and faith, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord…”

            In modern terms these might be the most unlikely pair to start a family.  A mature and respected man, publicly recognized for his faith.  A juvenile girl, unknown, unwed.

Consider the courage it took for them to go ahead with this marriage.  What would others think, after all?

            Most of us over fifty years old grew up in a culture with the expectation that what “family” means is a man working outside of the home, a women working inside and children happily bounding around the house.  “Ozzie and Harriet” and “June and Ward Cleaver” were our models of what family was all about.

            But now we know that just having a Mom and a Dad is not enough.  Thank God that most families are places of nurture and loving relationships, but they can also be the home for victims of violence, neglect and abuse.

            What makes a family “good” isn’t just having a Mom and a Dad and kids.  What makes a family is the love its members share.  Single parent families, blended step-families, adults without children, kids being raised by grandparents, single unmarrieds adopting, elderly singles living independently from their children, and the traditional two parent family, all kinds of shapes and sized of families are good, when love rules their life together.

By our culture’s standards it took real courage and faith for Mary to do what she was called to do.  The same is true of Joseph.  He was willing to go against the odds and the expectations of his neighbors to love Mary and her son Jesus.

            Shouldn’t love be the only measure by which we judge some else’s family?

 

            In spite of the theological awkwardness of Jesus’ two distinct fathers, at the heart of the Christmas story is the conviction that at a particular time and place…in a way that supersedes the normal course of human events…God acted in history for our salvation.

            God’s steadfast love, his urgent willingness to forgive and love us, becomes flesh.

            Our Christmas story is full of such grace.  In Mary’s courage.  In Elizabeth’s praise.  In the Magi’s searching.  In the Shepherd’s proclamation.  Celebrate its wonder and glory in the coming week.  Let its hope and opportunity be born again in our hearts.

            And don’t forget the carpenter Joseph, even though he is merely a footnote in the records.  He risked social scorn and humiliation to follow the command of God, to love his wife to be, and stand by her when he could have run away.

            Joseph is in our crèches scenes because righteousness, compassion and faith are never forgotten. 

And because he names the baby “Jesus”, which means “God Saves”.

 

                        Amen.

           

When Good News Is Bad News

When Good News Is Bad News

 John 1:6-8, 19-28

December 14, 2014

Mark S. Bollwinkel

 

            As we heard last week the Advent season doesn’t begin with manger scenes and wise men but the urgency of God’s future.  John the Baptist announced, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord”.    John fulfills the prophecy of the Old Testament that a voice in the wilderness will announce the coming of the new messiah.  

            Two thousand years ago John the Baptist was drawing significant crowds of faithful to his baptism for the repentance of sins in the river Jordan.   So much so that historians of the day record his popularity.   Kings and princes knew about John and his following.  It was as if John the Baptist made headlines in the newspapers and was a regular on the nightly news.   All of the gospels make it plain that the popular Baptist was not nor claimed to be the messiah; rather John was the herald of Jesus’ coming.

            Of the Christ, John the Baptist will say, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.  I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

 

            Sandals were the most common form of footwear in the ancient near east.  Most often made of leather, sandals had a simple sole with straps around the ankle.   The poor or those in mourning went barefoot.   Shepherds, soldiers and those traveling required good sandals to withstand the stones and thorns along the way. 

Remember that public sanitation, sewer systems and toilets are modern inventions.   In Jesus’ day, and well into Renaissance European history for that matter, human, animal and material waste was discarded along the streets and roads.    One’s feet, even with the best of sandals, were commonly covered in dirt and filth.   

It was the custom to take off one’s shoes and wash one’s feet when entering a house or worship area.   Slaves were assigned to take off the master’s or mistress’s sandals and clean their feet after a journey out of the house.   Touching another’s feet was a degrading act in part due to the contact with the dirt and filth of everyday travel.   This is why it is so shocking when the sinful woman cleans Jesus’ feet with expensive ointment and her tears and then dries them with her hair (Luke 7:36-f).   This is why it is so startling that Jesus insists on washing the feet of his disciples before the Last Supper (John 13:1-f).

When John the Baptist says he is “unworthy to even untie the straps of Jesus’ sandals” he is speaking as if a slave to a master.   John wants to make it clear that for all his piety and popularity he is not the messiah.   And he wants to make it clear just how holy this Jesus really is; in other texts he will call Jesus nothing less than the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29)

John the Baptist is dressed for the part of an apocalyptic herald rejecting modern convention and living an ascetic life dedicated to God’s future.   He is a wilderness man, clothed in camel’s hair, leather belt; eating insects and honey.     He can see the day dawning when love will rule the human heart.  In the coming of the messiah social injustice and spiritual corruption will be rooted out.   He is dressed for the journey of faith in God’s promised future and he is ready to give his life to it.

How about us?   

            Is our faith best represented by a sandal or a dress shoe, for example?  

You know the kind.   The kind of shoe you pull out of the back of the closest for special occasions, blow off the dust and polish.   These aren’t your most comfortable shoes.  They don’t get much use.   Made of fancy leather they are probably stiff.  After wearing them your feet hurt.   These are the kind of shoes that you sigh with relief when you take them off.   But you’ve got to have a pair like this for business meetings, or weddings, funerals or church on Sunday.   These are “what will people think” shoes if you don’t wear them to the appropriate function.

In the Kudzu comic strip Rev. Will B. Dunn assigned to pastor a wealthy congregation explains to a colleague, “You can’t judge a wealthy person until you’ve walked a mile in their Gucci’s!”

Are we dressed for the journey of faith in dress shoes? Used for appearance and not much for practice?

How about work boots? 

Work boots are tough, sturdy shoes made to take a beating.   Their soles are rippled with texture so to grip slippery surfaces.   Many will have steel plates in the toe.  Shoes like this will often be scarred or stained from the effort.   They can be extremely comfortable but are not the kind of shoe you wear to a party, to your Mom’s Thanksgiving Dinner or to church on Sunday; what would people think?!

If we wear work boots on the journey of faith we are committed to putting our faith into action, to the mission of service and the efforts of compassion.   If we wear work boots on the journey of faith we have little time to pray in silence, to read a book or to waste in the comfort of a sanctuary.  Changing the world is what faith is all about for the “work boot” faithful.   If Jesus is coming we have to look busy, preparing the way for the coming of the Lord.

Or maybe our faith is best described in a running shoe.

The foot race is one of the Apostle Paul’s favorite metaphors for the journey of faith; “I have fought the good fight.  I have finished the race.  I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord…will award to me on the day and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Tim 4:7-8, also note, I Cor 9:24, Gal. 2:2, 5:7, Heb. 12:1)

Paul isn’t thinking of a sprint or a dash but the marathon race, the endurance race in life and faith.   One needs light weight but strong shoes for a distance run.  Soles that can take a beating.  Leather that won’t weigh you down.   The goal of such a journey is the crown of righteousness, the reward for enduring hills and valleys, good days and bad.   It takes commitment and training to run a marathon, good nutrition and coaching.  You can’t do it alone.   Whether you are slow or fast makes no difference.  Simply crossing the finish line with your head held high is all that matters.

 

John the Baptist is dressed for the journey of faith, a faith born in the passionate conviction that God’s promised future was dawning in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.  He didn’t feel worthy to untie the straps of Master’s sandals, as if he, John the Baptist, were nothing more than a slave.   Yet that Master will honor John and all of us by his own humility and love.   This Jesus will invite us to sit at his feet and learn (Luke 10:38-f).  This Jesus will wash the feet of those who follow him.

 

Let me digress for a moment.

 

Have you ever had to tell someone something you knew they didn’t want to hear?  Such as during an employee’s evaluation and review, or in a dispute with someone in your family, or telling a friend he has got a problem which everyone is aware of but him?

It is tough to be honest.  Especially about painful issues.

            One of the most famous of the Peanuts comic strips has Linus giving Charlie Brown this sage bit of advice, “”I don’t like to face problems head on.  I think the best way to solve problems is to avoid them.  This is a distinct philosophy of mine.  No problem is so big or complicated that it can’t be run away from!”

Know any people like that?

We put up with lousy relationships for years because we’re afraid to express our needs to our partners.  We learn to live with alcohol or drug dependency supported by family and friends in a denial system where they feed the habit because confronting it would be too painful.

David Myers writes in his book, Your Better Self, that we are a culture which avoids direct responsibility for our actions.  We accept credit for success and blame others for our failures.  Athletes will credit their skills for a victory but blame officials or the weather for a loss.  Myers documents the descriptions of auto accidents from victim insurance forms, with words such as:

 

-“An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished”

-“A pedestrian hit me and went under my car”

-“As I reached an intersection, a hedge sprang up obscuring my vision and I did

            not see the other car”

 

It is hard to listen to the preaching of John the Baptist this Third Sunday of Advent.  This is Christmas time.  We want to hear stories of the Baby in the Manger, the Star in the East, Shepherds and Angels.  Now is the time to hear the Good News that God loves us just the way we are, so much so that God becomes one of us.  And it is wonderfully Good News!  

But it can be bad news for those who worship power and privilege.  It can be bad news for those whom greed is the measure of wealth.  It can be bad news for those convinced they have all the answers and don’t need anybody else in their lives.

Here on the third Sunday of Advent we find John the Baptist, shouting from the top of his lungs, that to get to the manger we’ve got to go through the desert. 

So what will it be?  Sandals.  Dress shoes.  Work boots.  Running shoes.

What shoes are we wearing for the journey of faith?

 

Amen.

Prepare Ye the Way

Prepare Ye the Way

Mark 1:1-8

December 7, 2014

Mark S. Bollwinkel

 

            The gospel of Mark doesn’t begin with a Christmas story, as do Luke and Matthew.  Rather Mark starts with John the Baptist announcing the Good News.  Quoting from Old Testament prophets Malachi (3:1a) and Isaiah (40:3) the baptizer shouts, “I am the messenger, the voice in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord!”

            By tradition the second Sunday of Advent always includes reference to John the Baptist.  Most of us want to hear about shepherds and angels, stars and Magi but this Sunday we get John the Baptist!  It makes sense for a number of reasons.

This is a season of preparation.  We are getting the house ready for Christmas by putting up the lights and decorating a tree.  We are preparing for Christmas morning by shopping till we drop.  We are cleaning out the closets and getting the guest rooms ready for visitors during the holiday.

We know how to prepare.

But do we know how to prepare “the way of the Lord”?

Unless we are comfortable relegating all this holiday effort to cultural conformity the reason for the season is preparing “the way of the Lord”.   That is why we decorate the house, and spend a fortune on presents and welcome friends and family into our homes.  We open our hearts and lives to the love of God in the gift giving, the feasting and the wonder of the lights and music and images of Christmas.  We seek the light of God in the darkness of our world through these preparations.

Don’t we?

In the original language the term “the way” literally meant “pathway”, “street” or “road”.  In the New Testament it is being used metaphorically to mean the path of, or pilgrimage with, Jesus.

“Preparing the way of the Lord” is the challenge to make ready our hearts for the journey with Jesus throughout our lives.  If we want more than going through the motions of Advent and Christmas we need to plan for the trip.  We will need a number of things for the journey.

 

First, a map.

The best trips begin with a clear sense of where we are going and how to get there.

            Have you ever been to Wisdom, Montana?  On the map this town of 98 people is located just outside of Beaverhead National Forest on highway 43.  If you’ve never been there you have to trust that the map is true.  In fact, this piece of paper is the record of hundreds if not thousands of people who have travelled to Wisdom, Montana.  Over the years a body of knowledge has been built necessary for the map makers to accurately depict their experiences to the exact location. 

This piece of paper isn’t Wisdom, Montana but if you ever want to visit Wisdom for yourself, you better have a good map.

The Bible describes the destination of history.  The Bible is our map for the journey.  Of course, we also use the creeds of the church, the hymns of our worship tradition and the teachings of the great theologians to map the way.  But if we would really “prepare the way of the Lord” in our lives we would we would get to know this wonderful resource we have in the Bible and bring it along for the trip.  John the Baptist suggested just that as he quoted from Isaiah and Malachi. 

 

            Secondly, we need a mirror.

            John the Baptist tells us to “prepare the way of the Lord” by the baptism of repentance.  Baptism was practiced for hundreds of years prior to John’s ministry as a ritual cleansing symbolic of spiritual renewal and re-birth.

            John the Baptist was an eschatological preacher.  He had a passionate view of what the future holds (Matthew 3:7-10, Luke 3:7-9).  He was a desert esthetic, wearing animal skins and eating wild foods to purify him self for the end of the world.  The Old Testament prophets he quoted saw the day coming when a Messiah would usher in a new heaven and earth.  The Good News John announced is that in Jesus the new Messiah has come.  God’s promised future is about to unfold (Matthew 3:2).  The baptism he offered was an initiation rite into the community dedicated to living in the present as if God’s future were now.

            In the original language “repentance” (metanoias) means “to change one’s mind”, it is rooted in the Hebrew verb (tesubah) “to turn around”.   Repentance is radical; it means to change one’s heart, will and conduct.

            Most of us sophisticated, well-educated folk don’t want to hear about repentance.  We are doing just fine thank you, we could lose a little weight, spend more time with the spouse or kids, be a little nicer to the dog but all-in-all we are decent folks.  Sure the world is a mess but we didn’t cause it.  Few of us would go out into the desert to be baptized by John.

            But in his day hundreds left the cities to do just that, so much so that the historians of the day wrote about his popularity.  The tyrant of the day, King Herod, had him beheaded to remove any political threat.

            John’s world was a mess, too, with famine, wars and rumors of wars.  The Roman occupation of Palestine was brutal and the Hebrew people lived under constant threat and limitation.  Unlike us, they sensed that their spirituality had something to do with it.  Many, across all social strata, felt that a spiritual renewal as a society could redeem their nation and future.  They flocked to John the Baptist with a passionate hope for their lives and the world.

            What they found in that moment was an opportunity to take stock of who they really were as individuals and their need for God.  Baptism was “coming clean” about their mortality, their ethics and the brokenness in their lives and then “washing away” their sin.  To “prepare the way of the Lord” meant a radical honesty about who they were and where they were going, and a radical openness for God to make something new of them and their world.

            In the 12 Step recovery movements from any addiction, the steps include taking a “fearless moral inventory” of one’s life and a commitment to make amends for the past hurts we have caused others.  We won’t get healthy and whole as individuals…we won’t get healthy and whole as a society…until we honestly confront the shadow side of our lives.

            Those who really love us are willing to offer that honesty in supportive confrontation.  We call it “holding up the mirror”, really taking a look at yourself, what you have done and who you have become as a person.

            To “prepare the way of the Lord”, to journey on the way with Jesus, means we will have to bring our mirror along.

 

            Lastly, we will also have to bring along a large trash bag.

            The baptism John offered was for the repentance of sins and the receiving of God’s forgiveness.   That too is a challenge for people like us. 

            You see, to “prepare the way of the Lord” means we learn how to forgive and receive forgiveness.  The journey on Jesus’ way is a glorious opportunity to get rid of the trash we carry around with us like a dead weight.  It’s a life long journey that leads to joy and peace; past hurts, slights and failures only bog us down.  That is why John the Baptist offered repentance and forgiveness.  To be an agents of the future we have to learn to let go of the past.

 

Clara Barton (1821-1912) founded the American brand of the International Red Cross in 1882.  Earlier she had become known as a battlefield angel of mercy in European wars, and she carried the same respect in her own country during the Civil War.  One day an old friend, burdened by the painful weight of a long-held grudge, yet anxious to find a companion who would help him nourish it, reminded the famous nurse of a time years earlier when she had been the victim of a vicious act of hatred.  When Clara acted surprised and unaware that such a thing had ever happened, the friend asked, “Don’t you remember that?”  Clara replied, “No.  I distinctly remember forgetting it.”

(Max L. Christensen, Turning Points: Stories of People Who Made a Difference, Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1993, pp.7-8)

 

The Good News John announces is that in our estrangement from God, God has come back to us.  We are given an opportunity to clean up our act and start a new life, in fact a new world. However much we have fouled up, nothing we have done can defeat this good news.

Journeying with Jesus into the promise of God’s future we are going to need a

large trash bag in which to dispose the garbage of our past. 

 

            When we remember John the Baptist on the second Sunday of Advent we hear that same call in his proclamation to “prepare ye the way of the Lord.”  The road leads to eschatological promise of hope.  The kingdom of God and eternal life are the destination.  We’ll need a map, a mirror and a trash bag to get there but there is joy to be found in the journey.

 

If all we want from the Christmas season is warm memories and comfortable platitudes we will dismiss the call of John the Baptist.  But this Jesus he foretells isn’t interested in memories and platitudes. 

God loves us just as we are but God loves us too much to leave us that way. Change and growth results from the encounter with grace.  Advent can be an opportunity to clean up the old and make a new commitment to God’s future for our lives and the world.

So will we have another Christmas as usual or shall we prepare the way of the Lord?

 

Amen.

Committing Ourselves to Each Other

Committing Ourselves to Each Other

Acts 2:44-47

 November 23, 2014

 Mark S. Bollwinkel

 

            On Pentecost, after the fire and wind of the spirit drove the disciples from hiding out to proclaim the good news of Jesus in the streets of Jerusalem, the apostle Peter preached the first sermon in church history.   He explained how the life, death and resurrection of Jesus was the fulfillment of all the hopes and dreams of the Hebrew people.  He explained how God wanted to offer love and forgiveness to all people.    He invited anyone willing to follow to join a new movement that would transform the world.

            The result of that sermon and the outpouring of the spirit that day was the birth of the church, the Christian community.  They were all together. They shared all they had; food, money, time and talents.  They served the poor.  They worshiped and prayed together.

            Many, many things have changed since that day 2,000 years ago but the essential nature of the Church remains the same.  In their movement to reform the Church of England in the 18^th century, John and Charles Wesley organized the Methodists to be that essential community in their time and place.  When we at Church of the Wayfarer are truly the Church we are a community of people “…Reaching up, Reaching in and Reaching out…”

            Our mission statement echoes Jesus’ teaching of the Greatest Commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with heart, soul, mind and strength [Reaching up], and you shall love your neighbor [Reaching out] as your love yourself [Reaching in].” (Matthew 22:34-40).

            Whatever we do as a church or as faithful individuals is to reach up, in and out.  We even structure our Sunday morning worship by that mission.

            We are all in this together.   We can’t, nor have we ever been able to, achieve such goals all on our own.  That’s no different now as it was back 2,000 years ago.

            The music might be different.  The languages spoken would be certainly strange to those first century brothers and sisters.  The context of our history would be alien to them as much as theirs would be to ours.    Yet we would have the essential nature of our community very much in common; worship, prayer, service and sharing our resources with each other.

During the Sunday service on two weeks ago, I asked the congregation to jot down their first thoughts when asked “How has Church of the Wayfarer touched your life?”    These edited responses describe the spirit of our church and the reason that we give financially to keep this place going:

 

-COTW has brought us to so many wonderful people, both through the congregation and even strangers we meet who are “wayfarers” visiting Carmel.

-It’s amazing how much peace, clarity and invigoration just sitting in this beautiful sanctuary can bring.

-Having a nice minister who likes to bake pies!

-A community and closer and deeper communion with God on my spiritual journey.

-It has brought me back to God.

-The instrument for my children and grandchildren learning that God loves them.

-Support during times of personal grief.

-A place to always learn something new.

-A place to focus on gratitude, peace, justice and love.

-The church has guided me to use my intellect and talents to serve other in our community, especially those in need.

-I am not as lost as when I first came.

-I have had the chance to do different things that I never even thought or knew about.

More than an institution, a church like ours is the community from which we “Reach Up, Reach In and Reach Out”.   What a privilege to support it with our time, talent and gifts!

            In a few minutes we will be celebrating an opportunity for generosity.  We will be asking every household here to make an informal, symbolic commitment to support the 2015 Operations of Church of the Wayfarer.  

            We will not be doing this as they did in a church in Kansas years ago.  Before the service began the pastor approached the organist and asked that she play “appropriate music” when it came time to collect the pledges for their annual financial campaign.   The pastor was going to ask everyone willing to give $ 1,000 a year to the church to “stand up and be counted”.  The organist was a little confused and asked the pastor, “What do you mean by appropriate music?”   To which he replied, “Why, the Star Spangled Banner of course!”

Hopefully you brought a commitment card with you, or maybe you have already sent it in, or if you’d like one please just raise your hand and the ushers will be glad to bring you one.  Please jot down your estimate for giving next year, either in a dollar figure or a percentage of annual income.  If you leave us your contact information we will use that information to thank you and keep you up to date with our progress; no salesman will call!   No one will ever suggest that ‘you are behind on your pledge’!   We don’t do that and won’t do that!   Our elected financial decision makers and staff need to know if they can ‘count us in!’ to support next year’s Operations, so even if its only $ 10 a week put something down so you can feel a part of this important next step in the life of our church.

            Bonnie and I did our math in preparation for this day.  We have practiced the spiritual discipline of tithing since we were first married and in seminary; tithing is giving 10% of one’s annual income as described in the Bible.  We tithe my salary each month to Church of the Wayfarer.   We offer a second tithe and then some to a number of church and non-profit efforts that mean a lot to us; the Alzheimer’s Association, the School of Theology at Claremont and a number more.   Now you may dismiss all this as what one would except to come from a preacher.   But the fact is that Bonnie and I love to give and we have a lot to give.  For us giving is a joy and a privilege.

         

            You and I have the opportunity as supporters of Church of the Wayfarer to grow in our faith, love each other and offer the hundreds of sojourners that come to Carmel each and every day, even if only for a moment as they visit our sanctuary or stroll through out garden, to touch on something bigger than themselves.   Together we are making a positive difference in our lives and the world.

            We want everyone to feel a part of it, whatever they are able to give.   Because we are all in this together.  Because when the church is the Church we gather to worship, pray, serve and share, just like the Pentecost folks, just like the first Methodists, so many years ago.

            As we make our offering this morning we are not just committing our money, we are committing ourselves to each other.

Amen.

Living a Life of Gratitude and Contentment

Living a Life of Gratitude and Contentment

Matthew 6:24-29

November 9, 2014

Mark S. Bollwinkel

 

            Jesus preached about money, wealth and possessions.  A lot.

 

‘No one can serve two masters…. You cannot serve God and wealth….do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear….where your treasure is there your heart will be also (Mt 6:21)….seek first the Kingdom of God and all things will be given you (Mt. 6:33)

 

We don’t like to think of money as a spiritual matter but it is.   Managing money in our lives is a spiritual challenge.

 

“We were meant to find our security in God but we find it in amassing wealth.  We were meant to love people, but instead we compete with them.  We were meant to enjoy the simple pleasures of life but we busy ourselves with pursing money and things.  We were meant to be generous and to share with those in need but we selfishly hoard our resources for ourselves.”  (Adam Hamilton, Enough: Discovering Joy through Simplicity and Generosity, Abingdon, 2009 p. 21)

 

            The spiritual implications of how we manage money are huge.   The number one cause of marital breakdown and divorce is financial stress (Hamilton, p. 20).  One of the primary indicators of marital success in a cohabitating couple is if they have a joint checking account prior to the marriage.  The ability to talk about and plan a couple’s financial needs indicates a level of communication and trust which is a primary foundation of success in a marriage.

            We’ll choose to stay in jobs we hate to pay the bills.  We’ll take advantage of another person in a business transaction in order to make a buck.   We’ll ruin our emotional and physical health with stress over our financial choices.   We’ll spoil our kid’s maturing into self-reliant, self-sufficient adults by giving them too much and not teaching them the value of “no”.

The spiritual implications of how we manage money are huge because it is all too easy for money to end up managing us.

            Contentment is no easy thing to find in this life full of both capricious disasters and bountiful blessings.   We’ve all encountered people along the way who are absolutely miserable in spite of their wealth, privilege and status.  We’ve all met folk who are at peace in spite of their poverty or suffering: “Contentment makes poor men rich, but discontentment makes rich men poor.” (Benjamin Franklin)

            Webster defines “contentment” as “ease of mind; satisfaction”.  You can’t buy it, you can’t steal it, and you can’t fake contentment.   But why then to we do often try to do just that?

            Americans spend billions of dollars each year on legal and illegal drugs to buy a moment of tranquility or bliss.   We work ourselves into stress related diseases pursuing a multi-tasking lifestyle of conspicuous consumption while pushing our kids to follow the same path.   Jesus says, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ (Luke 12:15)  

            Jesus suggests that contentment lies in our relationship to God.

            When we put God first, we put aside the pride and shame that stops us from asking for help.

            When we put God first, we can stand up to the temptations of a culture designed to equate happiness with acquisition and learn to nurture the patience of deferred gratification.

            When we put God first, loving relationships become the measure of success.          As Jesus says it’s all about where we are investing our hearts. (Matthew 6:21)

 

            That’s especially true when it comes to money and the church.   Are we putting our hearts into it?

            Most preachers dread the annual stewardship campaign.  We can see the glazed look that falls over the people’s faces as soon as money is mentioned in Church.  Folk start staring at their watches wondering how long they have to endure talk in church about money.   There is an unspoken assumption that this is all about getting people to give more money.  I am far more interested in a more difficult challenge.   Are we putting our hearts into our financial support of the church? 

In two weeks we will be asking each of us to dedicate a Commitment Card during our worship services indicating our intentions to support Church of the Wayfarer’s Operations next year.

The card which most have already received in the mail or can get here on Sunday the 23^rd, will ask us to list our intention for financially supporting the Operations of Wayfarer next year, either by listing a dollar amount or a percentage of income goal.

The cards are symbolic of our intentions, simply an informal measurement of our congregation’s excitement for and commitment to the direction of our ministry next year. No salesman will call!   There are no “pledge police”.  No one is going to say you are ‘behind in your pledge’.  We will ask for contact information on the card to send you a ‘thank you’ and keep you informed of our progress as a church.  What the Finance Committee needs to know is if they can count on each one of us.  We’ll know that by the level of response and the actual financial giving between now and the end of the year.

If we seek to reach our ministry goals next year, we are looking at a potential Operating Budget around $ 300,000.  Wayfarer is blessed with a number of sources of income….our Foundation, facility use, wills and bequests….but most of our ministry is resourced by the contributions from you and me. 

 

We may think of that as a lot of money but not when we think of the potential to change lives for the better.

People don’t give to budget line items, they give to people. 

What’s the dollar value of a pastor by the bedside of a dying parishioner or the moment when a grandchild is baptized on a Sunday morning?

What does it cost to have an entire congregation praying for you to get better after a surgery or stand by you to support you as you bury a wife or husband?

From this place we send volunteers out into the community to serve the homeless and feed the hungry.  We offer scholarships to High School Seniors as they begin their college careers.  On these hallowed grounds we welcome hundreds of visitors each and every day to tour our sanctuary and the beauty of our gardens where, if even for a moment, they think of something bigger than themselves in the midst of a vacation or a day at the beach.

When we dedicate a portion of the wealth entrusted to our stewardship to the work of God through Church of the Wayfarer we are not just contributing to a budget, we’re contributing to changed and healing lives.

 

            I performed a small renewal of wedding vows ceremony here in our Sanctuary a few months ago.  Only nine people involved, the couple and their kids.  No fancy flowers, no special music.  The couple had been married here 25 years ago.  The husband had survived an operation for cancer.  The couple wanted to mark his progress by celebrating the power of the love they found in their marriage.   It was simple and beautiful.  When they left the sanctuary they rushed to ring our steeple bell, as they had 25 years before and as they had ever since on their occasional visits to Carmel.  They left our church beaming, smiling from ear-to-ear.  

            What is that worth?   Does such a moment of contentment for two strangers deserve our investment?   It sure does for Bonnie and me.

 

            Church of the Wayfarer needs each and every person to step up and be counted for financial support, to be sure.  The more we give the more we will be able to do.   But more importantly regardless of the dollars we plan to give we need to invest our hearts here, because it makes a positive difference in our lives and the transformation of the world.  Because we are all in this together.

There is joy to be found in generosity and contentment.  For in the end that is why God gave us his only son.

 

Amen.

Called to Witness

“Called to Witness”

Revelations 7:9-17

 

November 2, 2014

 

All Saints Day Holy Communion Service

Church of the Wayfarer, Carmel 110^th Anniversary

 

Mark S. Bollwinkel

 

            Along with the 110^th Anniversary of Church of the Wayfarer, we celebrate All Saints Day today.  Begun as the “Feast of All Saints” and formalized in 835 CE to be held on November first, All Saints Day commemorates those who have died in the faith and now reside in Heaven.  “All Hallows Eve” or Halloween is a cultural creation held on the night before All Saints Day.  Halloween has nothing in common with the Christian understanding of death and afterlife.  For those of us who have survived the death of a loved on, All Saints can be a reminder of the hope, love and faith we can share in this life that can never die.

 

            United Methodists do not have a system whereby individuals are picked out for sainthood above others as the Roman Catholics and Episcopalians do.  We affirm sainthood in the lives of any and all believers, past, present and future.

            We most often think of famous Christians when we think of “saints”.

            John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Movement, was a scholarly Don at Oxford who burning with the fire of the Holy Spirit brought worship, sacraments and the Christian life to thousand of lower-class English who were segregated from the Church of England.  His Methodist Movement revolutionized 18^th century industrial England and was one of the most important elements of the pioneering development of North America.

            Anne Hutchinson, who lived between 1591 and 1643, was the first woman preacher in New England.  A mother of 16, she dared challenge the tyranny of the Puritans.  She suffered expulsion and banishments from Massachusetts to the “Indian” territories where she and many members of her family were murdered.  Her legacy was major influence on those who would write the Bills of Rights and the Constitution.

            Martin Luther King, Jr., could have taught in a university or lead one of the prosperous Baptist congregations in the north but after his graduate education in Boston, chose to return to his home in the south.  There he led the struggle for human rights among African-Americans.  He was killed by hatred and bigotry but his memory and influence are far from dead.

            Certainly we would consider Wesley, Hutchinson and King to be among the saints.  But saints are not just those from the past who are famous because of their deeds.  All saints, known and unknown, are those people whose faith is a way of life, much more than a social convenience.  Saints are those whose vision of the future reflects the promised Reign of God as proclaimed by Jesus.  Saints are those who dare to live in the present as if God’s future were now, as if love, compassion and justice really were the values of the world.  They live as if they know the end of the story.

            We hear it in our lesson from the last book of the Bible, Revelations.  God’s future is full of saints, more than can be counted, of every nation, race and class.  They worship God, they hunger and thirst no more, they are in one fellowship with God and each other, and their tears are wiped away.

            Citizens of God’s kingdom have “seen” what the end of history will be like, they know its spirit in their hearts and find the courage to live accordingly.

            Using this definition, we can rejoice that there are saints among us right now, right here in this very room!  I won’t embarrass them by blowing their covers.  We all know those who give beyond their resources; those who help, even before they are asked; those who have endured pain and brokenness only to become more loving and kind.  The saints among us live in spite of the odds, as if they live in a different world.  They do.  Their allegiance is to the Kingdom of God.

 

            Our “Milestones of History” reminds us that on August 18, 1940, the name “Church of the Wayfarer” was adopted by the membership. Dr. James E. Crowther had suggested the name based on a script and musical arrangement he had written in 1919 for a great religious drama/pageant, "The Wayfarer".  I don’t know if Pastor Crowther was a saint or not but he left a lasting legacy of good here in Carmel.   He recognized that the Carmel congregation in a community of artists, writers and bohemians was made up of sojourners from all parts of the country.   Christians are traditionally “wayfarers” along the way, as John Wesley put it we are all on the way to “perfection”.  The stone cross and bench, at the front of the chapel, is carved with the phrase, “Rest and Be Thankful”. The phrase is borrowed from another rough stone bench, which was located at the summit of a pass between Loch Long and Loch Fyne in Scotland.

            Just think of those who have gone before us leaving our church the wonderful organ, the glorious stained glass, the Wayfarer’s Garden that beckons hundreds every day in their midst of their vacations or travel to consider the beauty of the earth and something greater than themselves.  We are in debt to those no longer with us because their love lives in our hearts and minds still this day.

 

            On All Saints Day we do not celebrate death.  We celebrate that which in life can never die; the love we make and share with each other.  Love is the only thing we take with us into the next life, it is the only thing that gives life eternal meaning.  In the Beatitudes, Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor, there is the kingdom of heaven; blessed are those who mourn, they shall be comforted; blessed are the meek, they shall inherit the earth…” (Matthew 5:1-11).  That is why those who mourn know comfort.  That those who hunger for justice shall be satisfied.  That those who graciously give will know mercy.  And that those who make peace are the blessed among us for they are rich in the only things that really matter.

            It is the promise of our faith that those of us who live life under the rule of love shall one day in the next life be together again.  We hear it in the lyric we just sang; “O blest communion, fellowship divine!  We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.  Alleluia” It will be like a banquet where all our hunger is satisfied and all our pain in gone, and the need for tears will be no more.

            As we take Holy Communion together this morning, we enact what that eternal banquet will be. 

Spiritually we will be one with those who have gone before us.  Of course it is a mystery.  But it is one that can guide and shape the lives of potential saints like you and me as we plan for the next 110 years of this blessed church.                       

            Amen.