Numbers 21:4-9 (NRSV)
 
 
You ever found yourself in a relationship with a BLAMER?  I bet we all know a BLAMER, even if we have never used the word before.  Most groups have at least one.  It is the person who says, “That’s what happens when you run so fast on the pavement” as you attend to your young child who falls down, skins their knee, and immediately starts to cry. Or, when your tooth is hurting so much you can no longer hide your pain, he says “why don’t you take better care of your teeth? Clearly you are still chewing ice.”
 
The BLAMER’S only goal is to cast blame on someone… anyone other than themselves.  From the BLAMER’S perspective the circumstances are irrelevant.  The only concern for the BLAMER is pointing the finger at the person, or thing, to blame followed by identifying the crime.  
 
Maybe some of us here today use a different label for the BLAMER… maybe we say the VICTIM.  You know who I’m talking about, don’t you?  This BLAMER blames someone, or something else, for every bad or painful experience in their life no matter what.  Sadly, and typically without even knowing it, the VICTIM grates on everyone’s nerves because of their poor-me attitude.  Both the BLAMER and the VICTIM are allergic to taking responsibility for anything, including their own actions.  In their mind, people are always against them which justifies their unhappiness.  As one Psychologist writes, “They portray themselves as unfortunates who demand rescuing, and they will make you into their therapist. As a friend, you want to help, but you become overwhelmed by their endless tales of woe: A boyfriend stormed out…again; a mother doesn’t understand; a diva-boss was ungrateful. When you suggest how to put an end to the pity party, they’ll say, “Yes…but,” then launch into more unsolvable gripes. These vampires may be so clingy they stick to you like flypaper.”
 
The primary source of feeling like a victim is the feeling of powerlessness, and because we don’t like feeling that we are powerless, we tend to blame someone or something for causing whatever it is we are feeling at the moment, or whatever it is we are having to deal with.  This is why the single most important belief responsible for the feeling of victimization is feeling powerless.
 
Can any of us here today imagine how difficult it must be to live our lives where everyone we encounter points the finger at us and blames us when things aren’t going the way they wanted?  Or what about those who might just be experiencing something for the first time and just because they didn’t like the experience, or because they didn’t understand what was happening to them, they blame you.  How long do you really think people like this would remain in your circle of friends? 
 
The thing is, when the finger pointing and blaming takes hold, a new narrative is created.  A narrative about who you are and about all of the bad things you have done to others.  This narrative is then handed down to the next generation and maybe even the one after that and unless this new narrative is challenged, it becomes the dominant narrative spoken about you.  It’s amazing really, when you stop and think about how easy it is for a group of people to form opinions and beliefs about who you are based upon the way some in their group describe you or attribute their pain and heartache to you.  In these type situations, the mob mentality can become so pervasive that the story of who you are and what you’ve done is no longer your own. 
 
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I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to have someone else tell the story about who you are.  Luckily for us this has never seemed to bother God.  As bad as I want to be the one telling the story about who I am, God has always relied on others to tell the story about who God is.  Maybe my need to control the telling of my own story, makes God’s decision difficult to comprehend, but make no mistake, the Bible is a collection of sacred stories that reflect a certain people’s understanding of who God is in the context of their journey.  In that way, these stories are not just stories about the people, they are stories about the peoples’ understanding of God and who God is.
 
Not everything found in these stories is easily transferable, but some things are.  For instance, these stories are clear that God deeply desires us and deeply desires a relationship with us.  In fact, these stories demonstrate how God is willing to go to great lengths, and for reasons we can’t begin to understand, just to be in relationship with us.  These stories even demonstrate how God lovingly exists alongside us while we point the finger and blame God for our pain.  These stories, in my opinion, show how unbelievably loving God is, and if we look closely we can see this God of love in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  You see, these stories are love stories showing over and over and over again how much pain, how much finger-pointing and how much blame the Lover is willing to take in the hopes that the Beloved will stop running and turn toward the Lover.  That, my friends, is why these stories are the stories of Love… of Grace… and of Mercy. 
 
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Take the story found in today’s scripture text from Numbers.  Here we find Moses and the people on the move again, though the route is convoluted and not direct.  Because they must go around the land of Edom, the people become impatient and speak against God and Moses.  Their forceful and clamorous voices become urgent as they ask, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?  For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” 
 
Wait!  What was that?  There is no food, AND we detest this miserable food.  Yes, you heard that right.  At first, they say there is no food, but then immediately, within the same sentence say there is food.  There is no logic in a sentence like this, but who of us is always perfectly logical when distraught and over-burdened.  You see, when people get upset, logic goes out the window, and we all know this to be true.  So, in reality there is food, they just don’t like it. 
 
And their illogical statements don’t appear to stop with the food issue as they then confidently state that Moses and God brought them out of Egypt to kill them.  Do any of you think that’s true or could it be that their thinking has been jumbled and twisted by their feelings?  That happens sometimes, doesn’t it?  As feelings are not always the most reliable foundation for accessing what is true.
 
What does seem true is that they have grown tired of their life in the wilderness and have now started to believe their life is going nowhere.  Let’s remember for a minute what led up to this situation.  The older generation is just about gone as most of them have died in the wilderness.  The new generation was ready to enter the promised land and thought they were but were then thrust back into the desert.  Back to living in conditions they had grown to detest.  Could it be that some serious depression had begun to set it? 
 
So, what do people in such a mental state do, they start blaming their condition on someone else.  And in this story, with people seeking to blame others, who else was there but God Who was leading them & Moses, God’s spokesman?  In what must have felt like Deju Vue all over again to God and Moses, the grumbling began and though this is a new generation, they had learned well from their parents.  They pick up the same mantra spouted by them 38 years before . . . “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?  This, my friends, is exactly what the previous generation had said time and again in complaint against Moses, even though it was so untrue. 
 
God had actually liberated them from slavery in Egypt.  Yes, their community had experienced death while traveling in the wilderness, but the only reason was because they had said they would rather die there than enter Canaan!  Yet now they are blaming that on God & Moses!  Then as they journeyed through this region, bitterly complaining against God & Moses, their camp became infested with venomous serpents.  This seems awfully harsh, doesn’t it?  So harsh, in fact, that it took up a large portion of the discussion this past week with my lectionary reading group of pastors.  How can any of us reconcile the God of Love, Mercy and Grace, that we preach about weekly, with a god who would do such a thing to God’s people?  These were the questions being asked within that group, and maybe some of you are asking the same type questions.  They are good questions, I believe.
 
It just so happened that I recognized something in the text that I wanted to explore with my pastor friends that day.  It was something that tended to shed some light and ultimately allowed us, I believe, to reconcile this story with the God of Love, Mercy and Grace.  What I recognized was not some hidden gem, or some miraculous discovery.  Some even suggested that my lawyering skills were on full display, and I think I understand what they mean.  Because here’s the thing, in this text neither God, nor Moses are responsible for saying that God sent the fiery serpents.  That makes this story different from other stories where God is recorded as telling Moses what God is going to do.  In this story, the one telling us that God sent fiery serpents is an un-named Narrator, and it is said in an absolute conclusory way.  And while for some, this may not seem like that big of a deal, to me, it means a lot. 
 
This also makes the rest of the story absolutely remarkable to me because in this story there is a single instance of God talking.  This single instance comes after all of the finger-pointing… after all of the blaming… after all of the complaining.  It is with this single instance where we discover, or re-discover, the ways in which God hears and responds to our pleas.  It is in this single instance where God says to Moses, I want you to take this thing that is causing their death, this thing they blame me for sending, and turn it into the very thing that will sustain life. 
 
How remarkable is that?  After all the complaining.  After all the finger-pointing and all the blaming.  God’s response is to turn death into the source of life.  That is amazing and yes, this helps me reconcile this story with my God of Love, Grace & Mercy.  This helps me see more clearly the power of the Love that permeates through these stories.
 
So, my brothers and sisters, may we come to understand that these stories are both the stories of people long ago doing their best to explain their interactions with God, and the stories of us today trying to do the same thing.  May we come to understand that in and through these stories it is clear that God deeply desires us and deeply desires a relationship with us.  And may these stories help us come to realize how God is willing to go to great lengths, and for reasons we can’t begin to understand, just to be in relationship with us. 
 
AMEN!

Exodus 20:1-17 
 
I’m wondering if you all would do something with me this morning.  I want each of you to close your eyes, and I promise I’ll close mine too.  Now with your eyes closed, I want you to picture God.  What, or who do you see when you picture God? 
 
Keeping your eyes closed I want you now to think about God’s character traits.  If I was a betting man, I would bet that each one of us has our own unique image of God and our own unique idea of God’s character traits.  At least I hope that is true. 
 
If you are like me, at some point when you were growing up, a lovely well-meaning Sunday School Teacher asked you to draw a picture of God.  Would you believe that I still remember what I drew on that piece of paper?  And while physical images are one way of thinking about and imagining God, the physical nature of God is not the only thing that come to mind when I think about the various ways I have pictured God throughout my years.  In fact, a few days ago I asked my mom if it would be OK for me to share a story about a conversation she and I had when I was around 10 years old. 
 
I want you to know that I’ve learned that whenever the story involves more than just yourself, it is always a good idea to ask the other people involved if they are ok with it being shared publicly, and sometimes those people say yes and other times they say no.  Well fortunately for me (not sure I could have thought of another story) mom said sure. 
 
Now, I’m not exactly sure what prompted our conversation about God and who my 10-year-old self believed God to be, but I do remember sharing my beliefs…  And even though I was only 10 at the time, my beliefs about the nature of God have never changed.  These beliefs of mine were there before I shared them with my Mom and have remained throughout.  In fact, those beliefs I shared all those years ago were foundational for my decided to go to Seminary, and they are foundational to my understanding of ministry. 
 
So, there we were all those years ago when, for the first time, I said aloud that God loved me know matter what I did or said.  And while some might say that is what most innocent 10-year-old children would say, I assure you that I still believe it today.  There is nothing I can do or say that would cause God to love me any less than God does today, or any day hereafter.  It had never occurred to me that anything I could do would change God’s love for me.  I have never wavered in my belief that I could be fully open with God, and when I say fully open I mean fully open about me, warts and all.   I can always share anything about my day and myself, whether it be and my shortcomings, if you will, and no matter what I knew God was listening to me and loving me the whole time.  No matter what I shared… the good… the beautiful… the not so beautiful… the downright ugly.  What I shared with God never determined my understanding of God, or my understanding of how God viewed me. 
 
In fact, until that conversation with my Mom all those years ago, I didn’t know other people held different understandings of God.  At that point in time in my Mom’s life, her image of God was of one who always and forever kept score.  Each and every day, for her, seemed to consist of God, the score keeper, tallying up all the points, or the lack thereof, and adding them to the running total that summed up my Mom’s life to date.  Sadly, I don’t think her score ever increased like she wanted because to score points you had to do certain things, or live a certain way, or say certain things, or not say certain things, and there were so many rules that increasing your score felt too hard.
 
Late last week I asked my Mom about her recollection of that conversation.  She said that back then she remembered being so very thankful that I had a loving, intimate relationship with God.  One where I could just tell God about my day knowing full well that God was listening.  Looking back, I have no doubt there were numerous external influences that helped shape my particular view of God.  And that is normal I believe.  I also believe when we are honest we acknowledge the role external forces play in constructing the images we rely on.  Images that some so fully believe that whenever someone suggests a different image, or different way of understanding, the typical response is to call them just plain crazy.  We find ourselves vehemently defending these images, without ever stopping to ask how it was we came to embrace it in the first place.   
 
That’s the thing about the way we enter into and experience life.  No matter what, we always bring our own particular understandings because those understandings have in some ways become who we are.  It helps us initially orient ourselves to our encounters with other people as well as our encounters with creation itself.  And while the stuff we bring can be beneficial, it can also close us off to new and more expansive understandings.  This, I believe, is especially so when it comes to God.  At times these created images of God seem to cloud the situation and in turn cloud our ways of understanding.  When this happens, we fall victim to binary type thinking, where there are only two options: good/bad… right/wrong.  This binary type thinking requires us to cling tightly to our unique opinions.  Such thinking leaves us too defensive when face to face with someone holding a different opinion.
 
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So, all last week I found myself asking people what they saw when they thought of God, and I did this because it seems to me these images that we’ve created about who God is determine how we feel about God’s words, especially the words Carol read for us today.  These words, what we refer to as the Ten Commandments, have a life of their own.  They even have their own movie for goodness sake.  Knowing how important these have been throughout history is better understood when you realize that these commandments have been central to the Hebrew tradition and our own Christian tradition.  It is interesting though, how each particular tradition has their own unique understanding of them.  For instance, did you know there are 13 sentences in the acceptance Jewish version of the Ten Commandments and 17 in the Christian?  Or did you know there are 13 commandments in the actual text, but their allocation to the 10 can be done in a variety of ways.  This is why the Jewish tradition differs from the Protestant Christian which differs from the Roman Catholic.     
 
No matter what your religious tradition is, I believe your understanding of God, your image of God, if you will, actually determines the way you approach these commandments.  For some, like a mother I spoke to just yesterday while waiting for a soccer game to start, these commandments are a lofty and unattainable set of rules handed down to us by the ultimate rule maker.  And while it feels like you should try to live up to them, the truth is not all of them are attainable and that make you feel bad about ourselves, which also means that God feels bad about us.  Then there are others, like the handful of people I spoke with this past week who have never really thought about them at all and struggle to find an image of God.  For them, these commandments don’t really play any role, which makes you wonder if God does.  Then there are those like myself, who believe these commandments are expressions of love given by the ultimate lover to the beloved in hopes that the beloved will find right relationships with God and right relationships with each other.  These commandments, I believe, are better understood as gifts being given to help guide us along our journey.  If we let them, these gifts can teach us about love. 
 
While most people only think of love as a strong emotional feeling toward another person, the love most often spoken about in the Bible is an outgoing concern for others as shown by our actions.  These gifts, show us the actions that demonstrate love toward others, first toward God and then toward our fellow man.  Maybe this helps explain the timing of the giving of these gifts.  After all, in the lead up to this presentation of gifts, God had delivered the people from captivity, from oppression, from slavery.  God had provided food and drink all along the way and had even provided it in the face of complaints.  But that is what real love does.  Real love takes action for the benefit of others.   Real love is concerned for others and how they are being treated and cared for.  Real love not only cares about the oppressed, real love takes action for their benefit.  And real love never does any of it for self-gratification.
 
And in rather remarkable ways, like this past Wednesday night as part of our Lenten Prayer time, real love shows up in the form of Lectio Divina prayer and reminds you that you don’t have to do it all alone.  Reminds you that during the times you can’t fight any longer, real love fights for you and all you need to do is rest. 
 
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So, I wonder, what was the first image you saw a few minutes ago when your eyes were closed, and you pictured God?  Were you interacting with that image?
Did you see someone or something full of love or did you see someone or something you should fear? 
 
No matter what, from this day forward may our image of God be that of the ultimate lover, who is always present.  Who is always taking action out of concern for others.  And may this image rightly order our relationships, both with God and with others.
 
Amen! 

Gen. 17:1-7; 15-16 (NRSV)
 
Names…  We all have them.  Some of us have even been responsible for giving them to others.  But I wonder how many of us have ever spent much time thinking about our names and how our names may have impacted our entire lives?  Maybe some of us have and maybe some of us haven’t, but from all the research that has been done throughout the years, I can assure you names matter.  They give us our first sense of identity… they can be the starting point for telling us who we believe we are in this world.  Names have a way of connecting us to our past while also pointing us in the direction of our future.
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[KEN FREE’S FAMILY STORY OF FEREE AND FREE]
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Now in my own life, there have been many times when people I meet for the first time have made some comment about my last name.  A name I have always LOVED.  I’ve never thought of asking what prompted any of those comments… after all that is not what any of us do when a comment is made about a topic that we love talking about.  So whenever and wherever the opportunity presents itself, I take full advantage, and I do this because the name KNIGHT connects me to my past and guides me toward my future.
 
Now, as most of you know by now, whenever someone makes reference to me being a KNIGHT, I always tell the true, can actually be confirmed, story about something Amy said to me before our wedding day…  she told me that she wasn’t sure she would take my last name because it would require her to “drop” in Royalty.  Taking my last name would mean that she would no longer be known as Amy Queen, and would instead be known as Amy Knight.  Luckily for me she was joking, but as I quickly reminded Amy, my Nanny Knight was a King before choosing to become a Knight.  Yep, Margaret King became Margaret Knight when she accepted William Earl Knight’s marriage proposal.  
 
I love that part of my life’s story.  Each and every time I share that story it feels right.  Do you know what I mean?  That story has so many layers, and each time I tell it I feel connected to those who came before me.  There is something else I love about the King, Queen, Knight part of my life’s story…  You see, in that story I am telling about the ways changing one’s name speaks to new life, and how that new life will one day serve to connect those who come later.  Names, I believe, are really amazing in that way.
 
Knight, though, is not my only name, and I must confess, I haven’t always felt the same way about Jason.  Ironically, most of my life I have not been known by Jason.  In my home growing up I would mostly be called “Boy” or “Duece” or “Jace” or “J”.  In High School everyone called me “JKNIGHT” and in college I mostly remember people calling me “KNIGHTY”.  My High School and College names, I believe, had something to do with sports and my teammates, but no matter what the reason, Jason was not something my peers, my friends or my loved ones, ever seemed to call me.  Maybe this is why I feel much more familiar with the person known as “Boy” or “Deuce” or “J” of “JKnight” or “Knighty”.  I know who I am talking about.  I can actually see that person in my mind’s eye.  I know exactly who they are and what they’re about.  I feel connected to person known by those names. 
 
Now the person known as Jason is a whole different part of my story, though.  And it seems I am still trying to figure out that part of my story.
 
Interesting isn’t it?  To think about the power of a name.  Maybe this explains why some say, “your name is a crucial factor in developing your sense of self and helps propel you forward on various paths of life.”[1]
 
 
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Naming plays a central role in today’s scripture, doesn’t it?  In fact, everyone in this story is given a new name, starting with God, who for the first time is given the name God Almighty.  It seems, this is the author’s way of making it clear that this God who is speaking is the God of Genesis 1… The God who created the heavens and the earth.  This God is the God of all creation.   
 
We also have Abram and Sarai who are given new names: Abraham and Sarah. The changes are subtle but profoundly impactful.  You see, during those ancient days names weren’t apparently chosen because of their popularity or because of the latest baby name bestselling book.  Names reflected the character and destiny of the person and in this case, the names Abraham and Sarah were chosen by God Almighty.  The two of them have been blessed by God and in the twilight of their lives, God will do in them the impossible. They will be the ancestors of many nations, their heirs more numerous than the stars in the sky.
 
The new names are linked to the covenant God established with Abraham and all who come after.  This chapter 17 covenant echoes the covenant God made with Abram in Genesis 15:18. However, the chapter 15 covenant was focused primarily on land, while the chapter 17 covenant will be the lens through which Israel interprets all aspects of life.  This chapter 17 covenant helps them determine how to live faithfully with God, the land, and one another.  This chapter 17 covenant offers the people the gift of hope… it offers them their source of identity, and it offers them their place in the creation.
 
Central to this story is God’s promise to Abraham, the promise of “an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you” (v. 7). As the Rev. Dr. Craig Kocher, University Chaplain at Richmond University says, “The covenant between God and Abraham is a reflection of God’s relationship with all of Israel, and through Israel to the church, and through the church to each one of us… The covenant is a royal promise, connecting Abraham to David, Israel’s greatest king, and through the house of David to Jesus. The covenant is an eternal promise that God makes; YHWH and Abraham will no longer be alone...  This covenant is our destiny.”[2]
 
 
The gift found in today’s text for us, it seems, is in its encouragement that we remember at the center of our being we can discover, or perhaps re-discover, blessing and promise, naming and covenant.  We are followers of the One who established an everlasting covenant with Abraham.  Even in the darkness of Lent, as we journey toward Easter, the promise that God made to Abraham remains.  God is our God, and we are God’s people.  That connection is everlasting.
 
 
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There is great hope in a reminder such as this.  Discovering or re-discovering our blessedness helps those once named Feree become Free without losing their connection to their past.  You see their blessedness was there from the beginning.  Discovery or re-discovering our blessedness helps those like me know that no matter what our name is, we are always, and will always be connected to God.  That is what God promised all of creation.  So, whether or not I know who I am when called “boy” or “Duece” or “Jace” or “J” and whether or not I’m still trying to discover who I am when called Jason, I can rest and remain hopeful because I am connected to that long line of blessing and promise, naming and covenant.  We all are, and that should be embraced and celebrated because there is great power in that knowing.
 
AMEN!


[1] Hedrick, Michael, http://theweek.com/articles/460056/how-names-shape-identity

[2] Kocher, Craig, Feasting on the Word Commentary, Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16, Pastoral Perspective

Genesis 9:8-17 (NRSV)
 
 
By Tuesday of each week I try my best to have somewhat of an idea about where the scripture I will be preaching on is taking me.  It seems this has become the best rhythm for me in my still relatively new bi-vocational life of your Senior Pastor and Attorney to my legal clients.  Now, some weeks are better than others and I am so very thankful for those weeks.  In fact, when Sunday morning comes I ask myself why each week’s preparation can’t be the same, but the same they are not.
 
I want you to know that by Tuesday of this past week, I felt certain this was going to be one of those good weeks of preparation.  I had an inkling of an idea about where today’s scripture was leading me, and that inkling was confirmed and affirmed with my Tuesday Lectionary Reading Group of Pastors - something that always makes me feel good.  I even settled on a sermon title, which for me is a wonderful starting point because once the sermon title comes to me, I know where this week’s journey will be going.  And I must tell you, it feels good to know where you’re heading in those early moments at the beginning of the journey.
 
Then, the events of Wednesday happened, and as hard as I tried to stick to my Tuesday decisions, the pull to journey elsewhere with this scripture wouldn’t let up.  I’m certain all of you know at least one of the events I’m referring to when I say the events of Wednesday, and yes what happened in Parkland Florida is in that category, but there is something else I experienced this past Wednesday that belongs in that category too, and that is the Ash Wednesday Service we had here at our Church. 
 
For me, taking part in that Ash Wednesday service took on new meaning and profound significance precisely because of the vicious, some might say heartless, destruction that occurred in Parkland, Florida just hours before.  I didn’t know these two events would connect in such a way, because I had always thought of only the “dust” aspect of Ash Wednesday.  You see, to that point in my life, my experience with the imposition of ashes was limited, and one of the limitations was in the words the minister said as he/she placed their thumb on my forehead and marked me with the cross.  This is because the only words I had ever heard were “Remember that you were once dust, and to dust you shall return.”  Now there is good biblical reason for a recitation such as this, but this past Wednesday I was taught a completely different set of words and I am forever grateful to Mark Ashworth for it. 
 
“Remember you are mortal, and remember you are loved”
 
Mark first shared this with me, Becky and Daniel during our weekly worship planning on Wednesday morning, and as soon as he did all three of us felt their power.  And even though Mark said we could each say whatever we wanted, I knew that for me there really was no choice.  For one, I wanted to make sure people stood in my line so that I could impose the ashes on some of you who were able to join us.  After all, it would have been lonely standing there watching Mark. 
 
Really, though, the power of those words resonated with me and where I am mentally this Lenten Season.  Remember you are mortal, and remember you are loved!  Isn’t that beautiful?
 
Then Thursday came, and Friday after that, and those words took on new power… Remember you are mortal, and remember you are loved.  You see, by Thursday and Friday anyone who watches or reads the news, as I do every day, couldn’t escape the fact that human life is fragile and humanity itself is mortal.  For most of us, human mortality is something we give our intellectual consent to, but we never really giving it our full consent.  As Mark shared in his Ash Wednesday Reflection, we act like human mortality is something other people have to deal with, not us.  Yet around every corner we turn, it seems, the mortality of life smacks us in the face…  And it breaks my heart! 
 
It breaks my heart to know that just a week ago, Margaret Angel traveled to the funeral of her aunt, especially since it was her last one living.
 
It breaks my heart to see my mom fight back tears on Wednesday night as she learns about a bad diagnosis for a longtime friend.
 
It breaks my heart to hear about Brady Mitchell, the 17-year-old son of my cousin, Chad Mitchell, cancer diagnosis. A diagnosis that has changed rapidly in the past week.
 
It breaks my heart as I sit last Thursday following the chat-room like communication of the ever-growing police presence at Grimsley High School while my two boys were there.
 
It breaks my heart to watch a mother, so overwhelmed by grief and pain, cry out for changes, any kind of changes, so no other parent in the US has to spend two hours of their life planning the funeral arraignments for their teenage child who happened to be one of the seventeen victims in the latest school shooting in our country.  
 
And it breaks my heart to learn more about the ways Nicholas Cruz’s heart had been breaking for some length of time, and maybe it had been breaking for so long that he no longer could even give his intellectual consent to the mortality of human life. 
 
MY HEART BREAKS!
 
 
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And in the midst of its breaking, I cry out for change.  Sometimes those cries are internal, and sometimes they are external, but I cry out for change.  So, as I cried out this week, when yet again I found myself not knowing what to do as everywhere I looked I saw senseless and heartless death and destruction, today’s scripture passage took on new meaning.  It was today’s passage where I found hope.  Today’s passage is a most powerful example of how someone or something can change… how witnessing senseless death and destruction can bring about positive change that is rooted in love. 
 
It was today’s passage where I was reminded, yet again, of the numerous and various ways we are created in the divine image.  An image with traits like the ability to change and limit oneself, especially when faced with senseless and heartless destruction and death.
 
God changed and in doing so limited God’s self.
When face to face with wide-spread death and destruction, God changed.
This God, our God, that is revealed in this passage is adaptable. 
This God, our God, is touched to the heart by creation, and willing to accept hurt to keep hope alive.  And this God unilaterally imposes self-limitations for all of eternity and provides a sign as a reminder.  A sign grounded in Love and offering hope to all of creation.  
A sign we call a RAINBOW.
 
God keeps the future open by self-limitation, which is risky… self-limitation always is, but it’s also what TRUE LOVE requires.  God takes this risk because God’s heart is touched by creation’s suffering. The God who makes this covenant is not an objective judge delivering a just sentence.  This God, our God, is a lover grieved to the heart at the violence and precisely because of that grieving seeks reconciliation (6:6, 8:21).
 
“This act of self-limitation and investment introduces a new and distinct facet into the character of God as portrayed in Scripture. Along with power, justice, patience, and love, the ancient Hebrews also perceived that God was inherently self-giving, willing to enter into a relationship that put limits on even God’s prerogatives. This is, of course, the way it is with all genuine relationships. Parents bound in love to their children make all kinds of sacrifices that would have been difficult to imagine prior to having children.”[1]
 
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The rainbow bending over Noah’s ark with pairs of animals all around is an image painted or hung on the walls of many church nurseries.  Just in case anyone here is wondering, yes our nursery is included in that group.  We offer this story because it seems central to the message of God’s love and hope to our children, and we start offering it at the earliest ages.  It’s as though we want the children to know that, even in the midst of the worst chaos, God will never forget them.
 
Why, though, is this image and its message relegated to the nursery?  Why aren’t the colors of the rainbow emanating from the nursery up the stairwells and into worship and committee/team meetings?  Why aren’t they emanating into youth group, adult education and mission projects, into choir rehearsal and church potlucks?
 
Is there really a more powerful promise the church can offer?  When taken seriously and intentionally, it would profoundly change a faith community into a place where people were willing to let their hearts be remade in the image of God’s heart.  It would be changed into a place where people would let their hearts be broken open, with grief over their own hard–heartedness and the hard–heartedness of the world and its chaos. And when their hearts were broken open the people would be moved to partner with their Creator through patient, forgiving, loving, and prophetic action for the renewal of all creation. 
 
We cry out, oh God, for your Rainbow!
 
Even, and especially in the midst of the chaos of this world, we cry out for your Rainbow because we want to know that you Remember.  We cry out for your rainbow so that we can yet again be reminded that redemption is possible.
 
We cry out for your rainbow to remind us that we too are created in your divine image.  An image that lets us know we too can change.  We too can part with you and all humanity in ways that brings about life instead of ending life. 
 
We cry out for your rainbow so that we may be reminded that we too are called to self-limit so that life will flourish.
 
We cry out for your rainbow because here we are again with our hearts breaking and we desperately need hope.  We cry out for your rainbow as we remember that we are mortal and we cry out for your rainbow because we desperately need to be reminded that we are loved!
 
Amen!


[1] Lose, David J., Feasting on the Word Commentary – Gen. 9:8-17 – Homiletical Perspective

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

​Over and over and over again, as I was growing up, my Papa Tee would talk with me about the best ways to handle myself.  Sadly, I admit every lesson he taught did not leave a lasting impression, but the super majority of them did.  There is one lesson, in particular, that I have remembered since the day he taught me.  And even though he may have only taught it to me once, it is imprinted on my brain in such a way that I do not believe it will ever leave me.  In fact, in many ways this particular lesson speaks to the essence of who my Pop was, at least in my eyes, and who I always strive to be in my own life. 
 
As I prepared to stand before you this week, I thought a lot about this lesson.  Actually, I couldn’t get it out of my mind and when I can’t get things out of my mind, I know I need to give a voice to them.  So, if you would oblige me, I want to share with you the substance of this lesson. 
 
Now, like all lessons Pop taught me, sports were front and center.  Whether it was the basketball court or the baseball diamond, the field of sport seemed to always set the scene.  With this particular lesson it was the baseball diamond, but not only that, this lesson consisted of the one thing he was more well known for than probably anything else in his professional career, the double play.  You see, my Pop was a shortstop and as Sports Illustrated, back in the year 2000, said, a slick fielding one at that.  From all accounts, he worked tirelessly to perfect this particular art, and his work paid off.  Still today, my Pop holds the record for the most double plays ever turned in the Carolina League.
 
Here’s the thing though, this lesson he instilled in me, was not about how to turn a double play.  He had to let go of that dream with me because as hard as he tried to change me, I am left-handed and for those of you familiar with baseball, a left-handed shortstop has never really been a thing.  This lesson was about something else entirely, it was about modesty and humility.  So, while in the front room of his house, with him sitting in his recliner and the Cubs on the TV, because that was all we could really get and plus he liked Harry Cary, he proceeded to say this to me:
 
“Jason, I never had to stand over top of the runner going from 1st to 2nd to let him know how good I was at turning a double play.  It wasn’t my job to turn the focus on me, or to praise myself in any way.  It would have been wrong of me to call attention to myself like that.  Everyone there, the base-runner and the people watching could reach their own conclusions about how good I was at turning double plays.  All I had to do was perform to the best of my ability.  Performing in this way also meant that members of the teams we played, my opponents some might say, respected me and my abilities.  This was a win-win – I did what I was called to do and I never embarrassed other people.  And you want to know something, I built great relationships with all sorts of people.  My opponents… my teammates… Fans.  I never chose to humiliate anyone or stand over them and tell them how great I was and how they should be like me.  That stuff is just plain hurtful and has no place in sports.  You want to know something else, I never thought of myself as more important than my team or more important than the other team.  People who do that have lost sight of what is truly important.”
 
Like I said a minute ago, that lesson, whether he taught it to me one time or a million times, is still imprinted on my brain.  In fact, that lesson so deeply resonated with me and how I chose to view the world at large that all three of my kids have heard my Pop’s words over time.  Yet, the longer I live the more I discover how easy it is for people to BOAST about themselves, and due to the power of my Pop’s influence over me, or maybe because I want to believe that deep down people are not self-absorbed, I keep doing the best I can to live my life for the benefit of others, without trying to turn the focus or spotlight on myself.
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What if your life and the message your life carries were really bigger than you?  Would boasting even be possible, much less the negative impacts that naturally come from boasting?  It seems to me the Apostle Paul knew a little something about the negative impact of boasting, and while one might read today’s passage and initially conclude he is tooting his own horn, after all he does claim to be all things for all people, to reach such a conclusion really clouds the purpose of his message, and forgets his motivation… sharing the good news of the Gospel for the benefit of others, not himself.  His eyes are fixed on sharing Good News to all who might need it, and to share it in ways they might actually be able to hear it.  In this way I see a connection between Paul’s teaching here and lesson my Pop was teaching me:
 
Do not act the way the way you act… Do not proclaim the message you proclaim… just so you get something out of it.  Will you get something out of it… well yes, but this can’t be your focus.  You see, as long as you don’t turn this into something solely about yourself and your own needs, your reach will always expand… but the minute this becomes about you, I promise, people will be hurt, and they will feel alienated and made to feel like they are less than.  Making people feel less than should never be the goal.  
 
To Boast or not to Boast might seem like an easy question to answer, and I believe it would be if we could ever get out of the way, and that part is never really easy.  Oftentimes, we insert ourselves and our agendas into [every aspect of our communal lives].  And as baffling as it is to hear myself say this, even the church and the good news of the Gospel message aren’t immune.  We find ways to make the church serve our needs, instead of the needs of others.  We can even limit the way we dream about church to dreams that only serve ourselves instead of dreams that expand our reach to all people.  We turn the message of grace and hope and unconditional love into anything but, and yet we continue to proclaim it to be Good News. 
 
We resist, both overtly, covertly, and maybe even unknowingly, changes in structure and changes in attitude that would align our message with the Good News of the Gospel just because it feels unfamiliar.  We say things like, we’ve always done this and we’ve always done that, and in doing so we become less than all things to all people.  And when we act this way we stop proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel proclaimed by Christ and start proclaiming the good news of the Gospel of ourselves.  Or maybe some stop proclaiming anything and just sit back while others do which results in someone else’s boastful message becoming the message for the whole group. 
What we must always remember is proclaiming the Good News never includes boasting and that is why the Good News of the Gospel can and should be proclaimed in a multitude of ways. 
One who boasts is expressing excessive pride in oneself. 
One who boasts is blinded to the needs of others. 
One who boasts is ultimately disconnected from the needs of others. 
The result for one who boasts is predictably… sadly… a self-serving message and a self-serving message should never be confused with the message of Good News for all. 
A boastful self-serving message should never be confused with the message of unconditional, freedom granting love.  
A boastful self-serving message should never be confused with the message of grace and hope. 
 
The Gospel Message is always and forever focused on how we relate to and become part of the life of others.  This is why Paul runs through the litany of different groups and how he has been able to connect with and relate to them.  One who only boasts about themselves and their accomplishments will always find relating to other people a difficult chore.  A boastful state of mind opposes the delivery of Good News.
For Paul, his life is to be the restatement of Christ’s own sacrificial giving of his life for the poor and the weak.  And this is not something unique to Apostles, it is for all followers of The Way.  That is why the church should never be thought of as only a community of volunteers… the church is part of the Gospel… the church is part of the Good News. By living a life consumed by self-giving acts, the church is a sign of the New Creation God is bringing about for the whole cosmos.
 
For Paul, how the community orders its life and how members relate to each other are part and parcel of the proclamation of God’s reconciliation of the world.  The church has been called into existence to live as a community that proclaims this new reality.  The only way such proclamation can happen is if the people of the church trust in the radical freedom to fully identify with the people they have labeled ‘OTHERS”.  The church must become as they are so that the church will experience a genuine transformation of the self.
 
Will everyone agree with this teaching?  The short answer is no, but here’s the thing, Paul didn’t actual expect that.  Instead, he asks something of both groups, and it is a big ask because he asks that those on each side identify with those on the other side.  Paul, I believe knows this is the only way to move forward in proclaiming the true Gospel.  Identifying with the “OTHER” doesn’t actually involve a change in conviction, at least not at first, but it does mean that you recognize what it would mean to act in behalf of those to whom you are opposed.
 
This teaching of Paul, is a theological teaching of ministry that applies to all of us, no matter what role we play in the church.  Paul seeks to relate to people where they are, not in a way that diminishes his own identity, rather in a way that respects their otherness.  The reason for their otherness doesn’t matter to Paul.  So what if they are Jew, or Gentile or weak, or whatever else we can come up with to slap the “OTHER” label onto someone.  Paul’s motivation is the Good News of the Gospel.  God loves you and God wants you to know that.  In fact God loves you so much that there is nothing you or anyone else can say or do that would make God love you less.  You, my brother, you my sister are created in the Divine image of God and no one and no thing can ever take that away from you. 
 
Paul, I believe, wants to help all people he comes into contact with to recognize from their own perspectives how the Gospel offers hope.  Paul’s message to all of these “OTHER” people is never about Paul.  In fact, the very message of Paul’s life is a message far beyond Paul himself, and ours should be too.  That’s why Paul isn’t boasting, because he is fully comfortable with the fact that the message he carries is never about him.  Paul, you see, has found joy in being every kind of servant a person can be.  Paul has reached an understanding that his life, if he truly wants to walk the walk of which he talks, can only be fully lived in service to others.  In service to each and every person or group of people he encounters because it seems Paul has come to understand that ALL people are the BELOVED CHILDREN OF GOD.
 
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So yes, the more I sit with this part of Paul’s teaching, the more I see how closely it relates to the lesson my Pop taught me once, or maybe it was a million times, some thirty years ago.  The connection is quite remarkable really:
 
Do not act the way the way you act… Do not proclaim the message you proclaim… just so you get something out of it.  Will you get something out of it… well yes, but this can’t be your focus.  You see, as long as you don’t turn this into something solely about yourself and your own needs, your reach will always expand… but the minute this becomes about you, I promise, people will be hurt, and they will feel alienated and made to feel like they are less than.  Making people feel less than should never be the goal.
Holy and Gracious God, may we all have ears to hear. 
AMEN!

1 Corinthians 8:1-13
 
 
In the summer of 20__ I was fortunate enough to experience something most sports fans can only dream about; I was a guest of ESPN at their annual Awards Ceremony known as the ESPY’s.  Like previous years, the event was held at the famed Kodak Theater in Los Angeles and being a guest of ESPN meant that I stayed in the same hotel as all of the athletes and celebrities and essentially had an all access pass to pre-event and post-event get togethers.   Now this invitation had nothing to do with who I was, it just so happened that an athlete that my former partner and I had as a client was chosen to present one of the ESPY Awards being given out that night, and since he was chosen by ESPN to present, we were invited too.  Nice little benefit I guess, but I want you to know this only happened to me once.
 
That summer also happened to be the summer XXXXXX graduated from high school.  His senior year in high school was a carnival in my opinion because ESPN had earlier decided it would send cameras to XXXXXX, XXXXXX and practically film and air on national tv his every move.  Every single high school XXXXXX game he played during his senior year was shown across the nation.  So, XXXXXX just happened to be another ESPN guest at the ESPY Awards that year and since he and I were staying in the same hotel for a few days, he and I interacted with each other on multiple occasions, and at least back then he was the most self-absorbed, rude individual with whom I interacted.  Now I have no idea what he is like now, but if I had to guess based upon everything I’ve read about him over the years, he is no longer an immature self-absorbed ego maniac who talks down to everyone else he deems unworthy of being in his presence, but during that summer of 20__ he absolutely came across as thinking he was worthy of being named king and the rest of us were unworthy peasants.
 
Now, on my second night there, we held a fundraiser/benefit for Alzheimer’s Research at a famous bowling alley named Lucky Strike.  As people began coming in I notice XXXXXX and his high school cronies were there, and sure enough he just kept acting the same way as before.  Then I pick my head up and saw two gentlemen sitting together at a table and once they see my looking their way they motion for me to come over.  Now would you believe when I got to the table it was none other than XXXXXX and his longtime friend XXXXXX.  They invite me to pull up a chair and we proceed to visit with each other for about forty-five minutes.  Now, our time together was dominated by them asking me questions about who I was and how I came to be there that evening.  Suffice it to say, those two men were two of the nicest men I have ever met, and at one point during my time with them I literally had one of those “split screen” moments you see in the movies.  In my minds eye, on the left-hand side of the imaginary screen, I could see the new version of a pro athlete, one who is self-oriented and feels others are unworthy of being in his presence,  and on the right-hand side of the imaginary screen I saw the older, more mature version of a pro athlete, one who was others-oriented and who genuinely cared about building relationships with people they don’t even know.  On the left was the image of one orientated to only serve self, and on the right the image was that of those who are orientated to serve others. And here’s the big issue in my book, all three of these people possessed a unique ability to influence a lot of people who might have been watching their actions.  In fact, I would submit that today these three men still possess this unique ability to influence tons of people, and where one’s actions only served self, two served others. 
 
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Will you choose to serve self or will you choose to serve others?  This is the question that Paul seems to be addressing in this part of his response to the Corinthians.  Before we go there though, I want to make sure we do our best to understand what Paul is doing here, so to put this in context the people of Corinth, at the direction of a woman named Chloe, sent messengers to Paul telling him about the ways in which they were not getting along, and this greatly disturbed him.  This is how the entire letter we know as 1 Corinthians starts, just look at Chapter 1, verse 10-11, “1.10 ¶ Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.  1.11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters.”  This is what sets up the advice that follows.  Chapter after chapter that follow begin by Paul identifying the specific issue the Corinthians were wrestling with. 
 
Now, as we discussed this past Wednesday evening at our Ask The Pastor time, today we only know one side of this two-way communication, which can make our attempt to understand all the more difficult, but if we remain focused on the proper overall context, then I believe we can begin to see that Paul wants the Corinthians to serve the needs of others first. 
 
So last week Daniel helped us look a bit deeper into the advice Paul gave the Corinthians regarding marriage and relationships, and today as we start the next Chapter of this letter, Paul has moved onto a completely different concern brought to him, but no matter what each and every issue always points back to the overall serious issue of people not getting along, and in this section Paul is pretty clear that no one should ever try to manipulate anyone else.  Paul is pretty clear that your selfish actions may have a lasting impact on others who might look to you as someone to emulate.  More than anything, I believe, Paul is crystal clear that the only way to gain true everlasting life, the only way to experience unspeakable joy.  The only way to truly follow The Way is to be a servant to others, and never a servant to self. 
 
Yes, in this part of Paul’s letter, the specific issue concerns the consumption of food sacrificed to idols but remember every specific piece of advice always ties back to his overall concern that people are being selfish, manipulative and hurting others.  Just listen to the way The Message translates vv. 9-13:
 
8.9 But God does care when you use your freedom carelessly in a way that leads a Christian still vulnerable to those old associations to be thrown off track. 8.10   For instance, say you flaunt your freedom by going to a banquet thrown in honor of idols, where the main course is meat sacrificed to idols. Isn’t there great danger if someone still struggling over this issue, someone who looks up to you as knowledgeable and mature, sees you go into that banquet? The danger is that he will become terribly confused—maybe even to the point of getting mixed up himself in what his conscience tells him is wrong.  8.11   Christ gave up his life for that person. Wouldn’t you at least be willing to give up going to dinner for him—because, as you say, it doesn’t really make any difference? But it does make a difference if you hurt your friend terribly, risking his eternal ruin! 8.12 When you hurt your friend, you hurt Christ. A free meal here and there isn’t worth it at the cost of even one of these “weak ones.” 8.13 So, never go to these idol-tainted meals if there’s any chance it will trip up one of your brothers or sisters.”
 
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Friends, self-orientation is a killer.  Exercising your freedoms in ways that only serve your own self-interests crushes souls.  We are here to build relationships.  We are here to serve others.  Survival of the fittest has never been God’s plan, no matter how much our leaders and other people of influence try to convince us it is.  The old-school American Dream of getting all that you can and winning at all costs.  That old school American Dream of always seeking the spotlight for self-gratification, or so that others will think you are important… that understanding of the American Dream has long ranging negative ramifications.  You see, that understanding of the American Dream allows you to flaunt your freedoms, and there IS great danger in acting that way.  Especially when others, who might be struggling, look up to you.  We are all impressionable and at the same time we all have the power to teach others.  If you are self-oriented, then you are teaching others to be self-oriented.  If you are others-oriented, then you are teaching those around you to be the same way. 
 
Paul, it seems, is trying his best to teach the Corinthians how to be servants of others, not servants of self.  It is timeless advice.  It is advice that has the power to change people for the better.  It is advice that we need to hear over and over and over again.  And you want to know something, it’s on us to be the voices of this advice today, and our world needs it. 
 
Serve others, don’t serve self! 
Serve others, don’t serve self! 
Serve others, don’t serve self! 
 
It could make all the difference in this world, for you and for those you influence.  Flaunting your freedoms just to satisfy yourself is never good, yet far too often our world teaches people to be like that.  Tell an eighteen-year-old boy he is King and at some point he will believe it.  Broadcast his life and his high school XXXXXX games on national tv and I promise you that more times than not, he will start to believe the world revolves around him.  And ultimately that young man’s outlook becomes self-oriented.  Paul knew self-orientation would make the lives of the Corinthians a living Hell.  Self-orientation always does, but there is another way.  A way that leads to a different orientation, an orientation that focuses on others.
 
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There is an ancient Chinese parable about an old man who knew he would die soon.  He wanted to know what Heaven and hell were like.  He visited a wise man in his village to ask “Can you tell me what Heaven and hell are like?”  The wise man led him down a strange path, deep into the countryside.  Finally, they came upon a large house with many rooms and went inside.  Inside they found lots of people and many enormous tables with an incredible array of food.  Then the old man noticed a strange thing, the people, all thin and hungry were holding chopsticks 12 feet long.  They tried to feed themselves, but of course could not get the food to their mouths with such long chopsticks.  The old man then said to the wise man “Now I know what hell looks like, will you please show me what Heaven looks like?”  The wise man led him down the same path a little further until they came upon another large house similar to the first.  They went inside and saw many people well fed and happy, they too had chopsticks 12 feet long.  This puzzled the old man and he asked, “I see all of these people have 12 feet chopsticks too, yet they are well fed and happy, please explain this to me. The wise man replied, “in Heaven we feed each other”.
 
Oh what might our world look like if we were truly servants of others?  One answer might be HEAVEN ON EARTH!
 
Dear God please let it be.  Amen!

1 Corinthians 7:25-35
​This past week Lily and I had a debate, after having lunch together, about whether to go to a bakery and get a dessert. In our debate Lily learned more about my odd eating habits( I usually don’t like to eat sweet desserts right after a meal, unless its cheesecake, I will always eat cheesecake). Lily then told me about her Aunt Betsy. You see Aunt Betsy prefered to eat Dessert before eating a meal. It didn't matter what they were eating, when Lily and her family visited Aunt Betsy, dessert was always offered first. This practice of eating dessert first didn't always sit well with Lily’s parents, they were afraid Lily and her sister would be full of sweets before eating good food. Aunt Betsy, however, had an argument that was always hard to beat, “eat dessert first because you never know when the lord's coming back”. Aunt Betsy lived into her eschatological expectations, her expectation of the return of the lord, by doing her best to enjoy the sweet things of life before every family meal.
In our scripture for today we get a glimpse into the way that Paul lived into his eschatological expectations. Paul firmly believed that Jesus was to return soon and definitely during his lifetime. This is evident in his reference to an “Impending Crisis”,which may have had spiritual and natural implications as the Roman empire was facing a food shortage in the area where Corinth was located, and his confidence that the “present form of the world is passing away.” This expectation of the end of the world as they knew it and return of Jesus, shaped the way he advised the Corinthians to live...“from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it..” Paul is living into his expectation of the Lord’s return by preaching and writing letters to the different churches, expressing his longing for the Corinthians and others to live a life focused solely on God(if possible) as the time of Jesus’s return is soon.
Now, for a period of time I struggled with this passage of scripture. In a class focused on Paul’s letters in my junior year at Mars Hill University, I was given the task of creating a research paper on Paul’s beliefs and teachings regarding marriage. In the process of reading, researching, and reflecting on Paul’s words here in 1 Cor. 7, I struggled with the feeling that Paul was telling the Corinthians to separate themselves from the world. To live as though not a part of the world, but, as individuals who are only looking towards the return of Jesus. This was troublesome for me, how could Paul be telling the Corinthians to drop everything about their lives, their marriages, their happiness or sadness and sit and wait for Jesus to return? That seems so counteractive to the Gospel, to the life and mission of Jesus. I went to my professor, Dr. Baldwin, and posed my questions. Dr. Baldwin helped me to see that it is not that Paul wants the Corinthians to sit and wait for Jesus, but, rather understand and respect the magnitude of the choices that they make and repurpose the stress they hold in their lives.
Paul wants the Corinthians, and us as readers of this letter, to know that the choice  to marry or stay single has major implications on the life we will live. The way that we spend our time and our money has major implications on the life we will live. The relationships that we build in life, the relationships that bring us joy and grief, have major implications on the life we will live. Paul shows that all of the choices made, throughout our lives, can have a big impact on your life and the life of those around you. Paul is troubled by the weight of life within this world and sees great benefit in living lives focused solely on God. He understands the stress that daily life can bring and would rather those who read his letters place their anxieties on God instead of being anxious about life within our world. Paul knows this life is not permanent, a new form of this world could come to fruition at any moment, and in his push to focus on what is to come, Paul shows us the importance of choosing to live into the impermanence.
After that discussion with Dr. Baldwin, I was at first a little angry. I had already written several pages of my research paper and knew that I would have to do some major revisions. I then read more of 1 Corinthians and became amazed at how a mindset of choosing to live into impermanence brings new life into the pages. Take 1 Cor. 10:25-31 “Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience, for “the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s.” If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— I mean the other’s conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the judgment of someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of that for which I give thanks?” You can almost hear Paul thinking out loud as he is writing these words. He feels the weight of even the choice of what to eat. He knows that the Corinthians have the freedom to eat whatever food is offered with no personal repercussions, but, there are times when they should be careful what they eat. In the same way, today we can eat just about anything, but, it would be problematic if we were to bring pork for a meal with a Jewish or Islamic family. Paul would rather us not have to be burdened with these and all the other choices throughout life. Knowing we will be, Paul then provides more advice. So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Whether you marry or stay single do everything for the glory of God.
When we do everything for the glory of God the impermanence of this world takes on a new, different effect. If I live knowing that every meal I have may be the last, I cherish every bite I take. Thanking God for the food provided and and all the relationships created around the table.  If I live knowing that every day I spend married to Lily may be my last, every moment that I am able to spend watching her cook in the kitchen (and she is a better cook then she lets on) and then we pray together thanking God for the life we have, every time I'm able to hear her sing beautiful songs about God’s love, every time I get to listen to her passionately talk about her students in her classroom, everyday I'm with her becomes that much more precious.
NT Wright reflected on Paul's teachings in 1 Corinthians 7 in this way,“The value of this eschatological awareness is that it can give to our lives both a sense of freedom and a sense of urgency. Once we recognize, with Paul, that “the present form of this world is passing away” (V. 31), we can see that the structures of our lives-our human relationships, even the closest ones, the experiences that cause us grief and joy, our possessions, indeed all our dealings with the world-are among those things that are passing away. They are not ultimate or permanent… according to Paul, the recognition that the structures of this world are passing away changes our relationship to the things of this world, allowing us to live with them “as though not.” We can remain involved in all the elements of our daily lives, yet have an inner freedom in relation to these things, recognizing their impermanence. This inner freedom allows us to live more graciously with the vicissitudes of life, recognizing that our identity is not determined by them.”
We are freed by the impermanence of this world, and, every choice we make is urgently important. We have the freedom of being God’s children in anticipation of his kingdom coming, while, knowing that each choice we make wholly effects the world around us. I can see why Paul found this quandary difficult. If we separate ourselves from the world in effort to focus solely on God, we may escape any burden from this world. But. What kind of life is one separated from the world that God created. It's a life that doesn't mimic the Life Jesus modeled for us. Jesus faced the events in his life by living a life of love and hope of a better world to come. We can't escape the burdens of this life, just as Paul knew of the crisis’s the Corinthians were facing, there are events in our lives that we must face. There will be physical, spiritual, emotional obstacles in this life. There will be days we want to give up, walk away, and find a way to live alone far from the struggle. On those days we must remember the freedom that we have in Christ. The freedom to know that the pain will soon end. The freedom to know that the struggles of this world won't follow us into that great kingdom. We must know that through the struggle we have the ability to make an impact great than we may be able to comprehend.
In the spirit of Paul using his letter to the Corinthians to give advise on the many difficult questions of life, I will attempt to give some advice of my own. Examine your life, make well founded choices rooted in your self knowledge, and live. Live in a way that honors God through every choice that you make. Live in such a way that every choice you make illuminates the holiness of God upon the world.
Don’t choose to sit at home, doing nothing, until Jesus returns. Choose to live, lending a helping hand to those who may be stuck in poverty or suffering. Don't choose to spend your life judging others, waiting for Jesus to return and justify your judgments. Choose to live, joining hands with others and experiencing all that is beautiful and majestic about God’s creations. Don’t choose to stand on a street corner, warning others that Jesus is coming to wipe away this world. Choose to Live, live beside those that have been hurt and abused, illuminating the true nature of a loving God that has come to seek and to save. Choose to Live. Up until the very last moment, Choose to Live.
Wright, NT. “NT For Everyone Commentary.” 1st Corinthians 7:25-31. Westminister John Knox Press. Pg.4
NT Wright, “NT for Everyone,” Feasting on the word, 1 Cor. 7:29-31, pg.17-18

1 Corinthians 6:12-20
 
 
Years ago a very popular city in a particular State here in the United States chose a slogan to use in its worldwide tourism marketing campaign.  Now this slogan worked so well, that the phrase itself has become part of our normal conversational talk, and even if you have never been to Las Vegas you know the slogan I am talking about so say it with me… WHATEVER HAPPENS IN VEGAS STAYS IN VEGAS!
 
Ironically, the actual slogan is LAS VEGAS, WHATEVER HAPPENS HERE STAYS HERE, but either one tells the same story.  That campaign was first cooked up in 2003 at a brainstorming meeting in the Las Vegas tourism department of an outside ad agency.  The meeting was sparked by a need to brand Vegas for something other than gambling.  So, after a year of research the following conclusions were reached:
 
“The emotional bond between Las Vegas and its customers was Freedom. Freedom on two levels. Freedom to do things, see things, eat things, wear things, feel things. In short, the Freedom to be someone we couldn't be at home. And Freedom from whatever we wanted to leave behind in our daily lives. Just thinking about Vegas made the bad stuff go away. At that point the strategy became clear. Speak to that need. Make an indelible connection between Las Vegas and the Freedom we all crave.” (R&R Partners Case Study).
 
Just in case you didn’t know how well it worked, this campaign has been credited with allowing Las Vegas tourism to weather the storm of the recession of 2008-2009 and the crash of the housing market which hit Las Vegas particularly hard. Typically, when something works this well we want to know why, and when I look at this particular campaign something about it bothers me because it seems to boil down to telling people that, for a few days at least, they can be someone they are not, they can do things they wouldn’t think they can do, and no one will get hurt because no one in their real life will ever know.  As long as people from their real life don’t show up, they will never know who you said you were, or what you did while on this short, quick journey.  This is your time to let yourself go, to lose yourself, to give into whatever cravings or desires or urges you have.    
 
Let me ask, how boring does one’s life have to be that they need to go somewhere far away and do things they don’t want anyone to know about in order to feel free to have a good time?  Isn’t something wrong with that picture?  Even more important than that, is Freedom really the end result when choices like those are made for those reasons? 
 
 
**********************************
 
Now, I don’t think we should confuse this desire for Freedom that Las Vegas is exploiting here, with the Freedom to make choices, any more than we should conclude that everyone going to Vegas is going for that reason.  I have to believe that there are all sorts of people choosing to visit Las Vegas for all sorts of reasons, which confirms, at least partly, the entire point anyway that we all are Free to make choices in our lives.  This particular Freedom, I believe, is a Freedom we cherish, and rightly so.  But having the Freedom to make choices, doesn’t always result in feeling free.  Sometimes the choices we make leave us enslaved.  Sometimes others believe they can make choices for us, and it is their choice that enslaves us.  Then there are times when someone or some group taps into some desire that is uniquely human and the temptation to possess begins to overwhelm you until you reach a point where the only way to be satisfied is through possession and control.
 
The good news is that we are not the only ones dealing with temptations like these or quests to control everything and everyone around us.  The Freedom of Choices appears to be at the heart of today’s passage where Paul is trying to Counsel a people he loves that just because you can choose something doesn’t mean you should.  Just because you can doesn’t mean it is best.
 
Now, I will say more about Paul and his counseling advice later, but before I do I want to talk about humankind in general and the impact the Freedom of Choices has had, and to do this I believe we must start at the beginning of the human creation story we know as Adam and Eve.  Freedom was absolutely central to this entire story as mankind was always free to eat the fruit, but there would be consequences for choosing to do so.  Where one choice might be rooted in love and community, another choice was rooted in selfishness.  Where one choice was rooted in the selfless type of giving that benefits all, another choice was rooted in egotistical control.  In this way, the problem for humankind in this creation story can be seen as the potential impact the Freedom of Choice has on us. 
 
The fruit came to represent a split in the road, and choices needed to me made.  This happens to all of us.  Maybe even today and in trying to make a decision you reflect on the advice you’ve been given.  Well in our creation story we have the advice the selfless giver of life gave about healthy relationships and mutual love.  But we also have another voice, a voice that says don’t worry about that relationship and love stuff, what you really want is Freedom and the only way you will get it is by gaining control.  Choosing to listen to the advice of one is choosing to accept the good, the true and the beautiful, while choosing the advice of the other is choosing another way, but no matter what you are Free to choose.
 
You see, this is not something unique to the early followers of The Way in Corinth, nor is it unique to us today, but I dare say it is unique to humankind as a whole for humankind has been created by the Divine God whose essence is love, and we were created in that image.  Not a controlling, manipulative kind of love, but a true love which for better or worse always allows the Freedom to make Choices. 
 
So, what do we do when we are told those whom we deeply love are make destructive choices?  That is the question Paul was addressing in this part of his letter, a letter of advice and counsel to those early Followers of the Way who were trying their best to follow The Way in their unique daily lives.  So, Paul, in a rather direct, straight to the point way, says, “you say you have the right to do anything, which is true, you need to also learn that not everything is beneficial to you and your relationships.  While you are correct in saying I have the right to do anything, it is more important for you to know that I choose not to be mastered by anything.
 
It is as though Paul is agreeing that yes, we are free to do anything we want, but just because we are free doesn’t mean we should, especially when hurt and pain and destruction to ourselves and others is the end result.  The advice in this letter is given to address specific problems with a specific group of people and while some of it may sound harsh, and while some of the issues are not our issues, Paul’s advice to the Corinthians is his passionate and reasoned call to embrace the faith they profess and to become agents of God’s love.  Paul’s call in this regard should continue to resonate today for people claiming faith in the same God of Love.  People of faith should seek to be the agents of God’s Love to all they encounter. 
 
We are addictive creatures, but that addictive nature doesn’t have to make us selfish, egotiscal control freaks.  Yes, we try things. 
Yes, we experiment.
Yes, we explore.
And yes, certain things hook us, but they don’t have to master us.
Those things that hook us shouldn’t hurt us or hurt other people.
 
Yes, we are free to choose to do what we want, and at the time Paul was writing so was his audience, but because Paul loves them and cares about their well-being it seems he wants them to know that “Freedom isn’t being able to have whatever we crave.  Freedom is going without whatever we crave and being fine with it.” (SP-017, pg. 75).  The end result of choosing to satisfy some selfish, lustful desire never lives up its promises, because those promises only gratify selfish desires which can actually be harmful to self and others.  Lust, in particular, always promises what it can’t deliver.
 
 
Freedom does in fact have harmful elements, and choosing to do something selfish and destructive just because you are Free to make such a choice is one of them.  Yes, you are free to choose, and the advice being given here is that hopefully next time you will exercise that Freedom in a way that accomplishes something that is beneficial to all.  This is Paul’s advice to those he loved in Corinth and this, I believe, is Paul’s advice to those he loves in Jamestown. 
 
So in our Year of A Million Dreams, lets choose to live out of our own Divine essence and be agents of God’s Love. 
Let’s use our Freedom to make choices that extend God’s Love in ever expansive ways. 
Let’s use our Freedom to make the choices that welcome the oppressed. 
Let’s use our Freedom to make the choices to stand up for justice for all of God’s Beloved. 
 
And just in case any of us travel to Vegas, lets use our Freedom to make that choice so we can share our experiences with others in the most love fulfilling ways we can dream.
 
Amen!

​Matthew 2:1-12
 
 
Over the holiday break our family went to see the movie The Greatest Showman.  Amy & I loved is so much that we went the very next night to see it again, while Jacob went with friends a couple of days after that.  For those who haven’t heard of it, the movie is based on the life of Phineas Taylor Barnum, better known to most at P.T. Barnum. 
 
I love musicals and always have, but I really love this movie.  It is one of those movies I could see again and again and again.  Even though there are some Hollywood induced elements, I found the hope filled message this movie delivers incredibly encouraging and it started from the opening musical scene.  Now, that scene opens with a young P.T. Barnum singing a song titled A Million Dreams.  As the song progresses, P.T. grows up and is joined by Charity Hallett who becomes Charity Barnum.  What caught my attention, like normal, was the story the lyrics of the song were telling. 
 
Young P.T. starts by saying/singing:
 
“I close my eyes and I can see
The world that’s waiting up for me
That I call my own
Through the dark, through the door
Through where no one’s been before
But it feels like home
 
They can say it all sounds crazy
They can say I’ve lost my mind
I don’t care, so call me crazy
We can live in a world that we design
 
‘Cause every night I lie in bed
The brightest colors fill my head
A million dreams are keeping me awake
I think of what the world could be
A vision of the one I see
A million dreams is all it’s gonna take
A million dreams for the world we’re gonna make”
 
Then grown up P.T. shares some of his dreams about his future with Charity followed by Charity saying this:
 
“However big, however small
Let me be part of it all
Share your dreams with me
You may be right, you may be wrong
But say you’ll bring me along
To the world you see
To the world I close my eyes to see
I close my eyes to see”
 
The song ends with the two of them together saying/singing:
 
“Every night I lie in bed
The brightest colors fill my head
A million dreams are keeping me awake
I think of what the world could be
A vision of the one I see
A million dreams is all it’s gonna take
A million dreams for the world we’re gonna make”
 
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For me, the entire story the movie tells about the life of P.T. Barnum and his wife Charity begins and ends with listening to and then following the path of dreams.  Now, we all know that listening to and following one’s dreams did not originate with P.T. & Charity Barnum.  If for no other reason, we know this because the text that Jewell read for us today proves it.  [v 12] “And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.”  This is but one example of a collection of examples found within the stories of our Bible where dreams play a critical role, and this is so because it is widely accepted that the ancient world, and therefore our biblical tradition knew about dreams. The ancients understood that dreams opened you up to a world different from the one experienced during the day. They had the courage to imagine that dream communication is a place in which the holy purposes of God, as confusing and unreasonable as they might be, come to us. 
 
But we are post-enlightened people living in a post-enlightened world, which may answer the question that has been bugging for a while but especially since seeing The Greatest Showman the first time, what happen to our ability to listen to and follow our dreams?  Walter Bruggemann says, “In the post-Enlightenment world, reason has sought to overcome all that is primitive, sacred and lacking in manageable credibility. The aim and outcome has been to control…” (Holy Intrusion: The Power of Dreams in the Bible).  And you want to know something, I think he is right because dreams are revelations of otherness, an otherness that may, if we get out of our own way, open us to an authentic reality and truth that lies beyond our own reasoning. If we were to only begin listening to our dreams like we did when we were young they just might lead to our making wise choices, like that of the wise men in Matthew.  The kind of wise choices that compel you to travel a different way.  That is what the wise men did when they listened to their dream, they chose a different path than the one previously planned.  That is oftentimes what dreams do, which for most of us makes our dreams a little scary because to follow them means we must choose a different way of going home, a different way of achieving our goal, because to follow our dreams is to recognize that we can’t return the same way we came. 
 
You see, dream communication is critical to moving toward a promising future because dreams are focused on larger realities future possibilities.  Without dreams, without imagination, we become stuck in so many ways.  Stuck to living our lives inside the walls of what is, not what is possible.  Stuck living inside a world where our highest goal is control, instead of embracing the mystery of the journey.  Stuck inside a life that lacks innovation, desiring instead understanding and familiarity. 
 
A life stuck in what is, is a life resigned to complacency at best or sadness at worst.  That is not the life of one of listens to and follows the dreams God communicates to them.  Where would we be today were it not for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sharing his dream with us?  You see, King’s dream was a gift of imagination that came from beyond the realm of the political or social reality of his day. And when we say it was a dream that come from beyond, then aren’t we really saying the dream he shared carried a holy message.
 
The thing is, the substance of the dream King shared was a world other than the one near at hand. King was able to imagine a world that was radically different from the one others saw.  “King’s dream, like every dream, is not simply the sign of a wish or projection, it is the intrusion of God into a settled world.  It has a holy intensity that reaches back into generations of suffering; it is a holy intrusion that reaches forward in sanity, continuing to generate a restless uneasiness with the way things are until the dream comes to fruition and a new world is enacted.” Ibid.  “Our technological achievements require and permit us to learn again what the community of faith has known—and trusted—from the outset: there is something outside our controlled management of reality which must be heeded. Sometimes that something turns out to be a miracle of new life.” Ibid.
 
Dreams are the perfect way to hear from God. When you are dreaming, you are quiet, so you can’t ignore God.  So today I want us to start dreaming for our Church.  I want us to start listening to what our dreams are telling us about what we want for our Church.  And I want us to start sharing those dreams with each other.  In fact, I want 2018 to be known as The Year of a Million Dreams here at FBC. 
 
Which leads me to this big DREAM BOARD that found its way into the sanctuary today.  This DREAM BOARD already has some dreams written on it, but it needs more and so do all the other DREAM BOARDS you will find throughout our Church buildings.  All of these DREAM BOARDS are calling you to share your dreams for our Church, no matter how big, no matter how small.  So, for months ahead I want us to share with one another the future we see for our Church when we close our eyes. 
 
Now I feel certain we will be able to fulfill some of the dreams shared on our DREAM BOARDS rather quickly, and I also feel certain other dreams will take a while, but that’s ok.  Like I’ve told you before, our Jamestown Community Farmers Market was really two years in the making and it all started with a dream I had and shared.     
 
Each and every one of us must start dreaming about our Church.  Each and every one of us has a role in this dream building process.  A process which only begins by first listening to our dreams and then finding the courage to share them and follow.  This is our call to begin discerning the future of our church, and each one of us is called to participate.  And remember, if we begin listening to our dreams like we did when we were young they just might lead to our making wise choices.
 
Amen!