January 15, 2012 - Answering the Skeptics - Is Faith Reasonable?

I Corinthians 1:18-30

When I was in seminary one of my professors came into class one morning with something obviously on his mind. Over the weekend he had visited the church of one of his students. He was not impressed with the student’s sermon. He told us I felt like he was trying to tell me everything he knows. He was speaking to my head, when I really wanted him to speak to my heart.

It is easy, in a series about belief and unbelief, to give lectures rather than sermons. When talking about today’s subject – Is Faith Reasonable – it is especially easy to do so. It’s easy because it is necessary to employ a certain amount of logic and reason as we speak about the shortcomings of logic and reason. As I have worked through this topic I found it easy to get lost in the amount of information I had collected and struggled to fashion together into a message.

Though I will be speaking about logic and reason today, I really want to speak to you heart. We live in a very scientific and logical age, but we all want something that touches our hearts. Science cannot do so, but faith can.

I want to begin by asking you to look at the following image. Take a close look.

How many of you see a square in that picture? What if I told you there is no square in that picture? Your mind may be telling you there is a square in that picture, but there is no square.

Can we trust what we see? Do we always see what we think we are seeing?

This morning we continue our series of messages titled Answering the Skeptics, and today’s message asks the question Is Faith Reasonable? Is it reasonable – is it logical – to believe in God?

Skeptics are fond of pointing out that it is illogical to have faith. Listen to this quote from Sam Harris, author of the book The End of Faith – religious faith is the belief in historical and metaphysical propositions without sufficient evidence (page 232). In one sentence there is the basic charge of unbelief against belief – it is not logical to belief in something for which there is no evidence. And they claim further, that the use of logic and reason inevitably leads one down the road to unbelief.

Biblical Archeology Review published an article several years ago entitled Losing the Faith, and in that article took up this question of whether or not faith is reasonable. In the article four well-known scholars were asked the question What effect does scholarship have on faith? Did reason, did logic, have a negative impact on faith? Of the four, two had abandoned their faith. Both of them pointed directly to scholarship and to logic as the reason why they abandoned their faith. In the opinion of these two scholars, faith and reason are absolutely incompatible. They came to the conclusion that no thinking person could hold to belief in God. Interestingly, both also said they wish they were believers, but logic prevents belief.

But is it possible to trust logic? My brain tells me there is a square in this picture, but my brain is wrong. What my brain is telling me is there is irrefutable, visual evidence of a square in that picture, but there is not.

While skeptics say that faith cannot withstand the test of reason and the test of logic, I would ask can you trust logic and reason? When skeptics talk about objective evidence, I would ask what is evidence, and how objective is it, really? What seems perfectly logical today may be tomorrow’s equivalent of believing the earth is flat.

As much as skeptics love to talk about logic, it is important to understand that in other areas of life we know it is necessary to suspend logic. Love, for example, has a different kind of logic and uses a different kind of language.

One of my favorite poems is i carry your heart with me, by ee cummings –

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

That’s a beautiful line – i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart). In the interest of logical thinking I have rewritten that poem –

I do not carry your heart in my heart, because we both know the heart is a physiological/biological pump that cannot exist outside of the body.

I do not carry your heart because that would actually be kind of gross, to carry one of your body’s organs, not to mention that it would be deadly to you for me to do so.

But I will share my logical assessment that biology has brought us to the point of recognizing that we have mutually compatible neuroses and our lives match on a subatomic level.

So, from this moment, let use our minds – not our hearts – and form a legal and social partnership for as long as our physiological systems continue to work and keep us living and breathing.

Wouldn’t you like to get that message on a Valentine’s Day card?

Love teaches us that there are times when we are better served by setting aside logic and reason. You might tell someone you love, I would give you the moon and the stars. Well, that’s a nice sentiment, but logic would say and just where would I put them?

But there is still a type of logic to making such a statement, because it tells another person I would do anything within my power to demonstrate my love to you.

Do you think he applies logic and reason to his marriage? Probably not. In fact, isn’t it true that logic gets us in trouble in our relationships? Guys, on your anniversary or wife’s birthday, try this logic – I was going to get you a present and take you out to a nice dinner, but logic dictates that I take that money and invest it in a good mutual fund. And I’m going to do that from now on. There will no longer be any birthday, anniversary, or Christmas presents; it’s simply illogical to spend money for such frivolous things. Go ahead; try it, and tell me what kind of response you receive.

And continuing to use pure logic, couldn’t you say that love is nothing more than a complicated combination of mutually compatible socialized emotional needs and chemical reactions in our brain that trigger responses that evolution has imprinted into our psyches. I guarantee you I am not whispering that into Tanya’s ear. And while it might be logical for me to hide her Banana Republic card I’m not doing that either. But a purely logical, purely scientific view of love could come to those kinds of conclusions.

We live in a world that recognizes the limitations of logic. How often do we say you know, you’ve just got to follow your head? What do we say? Follow your heart. Remember Mr. Spock, from Star Trek? Live long and prosper was as close to emotion as he could get. Who wants to hang out with that guy? Captain Kirk is the guy I’d want to hang out with. Captain Kirk, who never followed logical, but acted according to the heart, attempting to do what logic would dictate as impossible.

Let me add that we do need a certain amount of logic in life. We can’t make very decision based upon the instincts of our heart, but where is the beauty in life when there is only logic? We instinctively recognize that some things – such as love, and faith – have a different type of logic and language.

But we must also recognize there are limits to what logic can prove, because our logic is often constructed in a way to bring us to a conclusion that agrees with what we already believe. Victor Stenger is obviously a very accomplished physicist and astronomer who has a great intellect. Again and again he makes a variation of the following statement earth and life look just as they can be expected to look if there is no designer God (p. 71). He supports this claim by the use of a particular argument from logic –

1. Probably, if God were to exist, then there would be good objective evidence for his existence.

2. But there is no good objective evidence for his existence.

3. Therefore, probably God does not exist.

(p. 22).

Stenger sums all this up by saying that absence of evidence is evidence of absence (p. 18).

The failure of his logic is that he is fashioning an argument that guarantees the outcome he wants. What is objective evidence? What leads one to say objective proof is lacking? What is an open mind, and is anyone really open minded? How do we prove objective evidence has been found? What would be considered beyond a reasonable doubt?

Here is the trap of logic, and it is one that traps those who challenge faith – you can construct your logic to confirm what you already believe. It is a universal tenant of unbelief that faith is unreasonable because it is not open to rational evidence. But opponents of faith almost universally fail to realize they are shaping their logic to fit what they already believe, thus they are not open to rational evidence either. If you claim to be open-minded it’s not logical to then construct an argument in a way that will lead you to what you already believe.

It is also necessary to understand that faith cannot be measured in the same way as science and technology.

Sam Harris writes imagine that we could revive a well-educated Christian of the fourteenth century. The man would prove to be a total ignoramus, except on matter of faith. His beliefs about geography, astronomy, and medicine would embarrass even a child, but he would know more or less everything there is to know about God…if religion addresses a genuine sphere of understanding and human necessity, then it should be susceptible to progress; its doctrines should become more useful, rather than less (The End of Faith, p. 22).

Certainly no one would go to a doctor whose medical knowledge is based on five hundred years ago or accept as a scientist one whose knowledge is unaware of any of the discoveries of the last thousand years. Does it follow, then, that we are wrong to cling to centuries old beliefs and should they then be discarded as ancient superstitions? Harris goes on to say the Bible, it seems certain, was the work of sand-strewn men and women who thought the earth was flat and for whom a wheelbarrow would have been a breathtaking example of emerging technology (p. 45). Well, let’s think about that statement for a moment. I believe the pyramids, whose construction techniques we still can’t figure out, were built by “sand-strewn men and women.” I would like to know about these “sand-strewn men and women,” would they also include the ancient Greeks? The ancient Greek civilization had an advanced understanding about astronomy several thousand years ago. And what about the literature and art that dates back thousands of years that has yet to be equaled? And even before the time of Christ there is evidence that certain surgical procedures were used. Ancient technology may not always rival that of today, but to say that people were unsophisticated is simply wrong.

Ancient does not equal out of date. It is possible to pass on medical, technological, and scientific knowledge, so that each succeeding generation is able to build upon the knowledge of previous generations. But this is not true with either faith or morality. Medical science has known for centuries that “bleeding” people is not helpful, but harmful. Learning morality, though, begins anew with each generation. Timeless truths such as love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31), caring for the orphans and widows (James 1:27), and caring for the least of these (Matthew 25:40) are truths that are passed on, but each generation – each person – must decide whether or not they will accept them and live by them. One generation cannot choose the next generation’s faith and morality. These truths are also valid and necessary in every age; they are not truths or superstitions that we outgrow.

To believe that we have progressed in every other field of human endeavor and should thus dispose ourselves of religious belief is, then, a false comparison, because while there is accumulated knowledge there is no such thing as accumulated morality. We have certainly progressed in leaving behind a lot of bad theology – the kind of theology that supported slavery or led to the Inquisition – but we are not talking about false theology that is created to support our prejudices and hatreds; we are talking about the timeless truths of genuine theology, born in the heart of God and by design must be either accepted or rejected by every individual born into history.

Some truths simply do not change. To love one’s neighbor is and admonition that cannot be treated as though it were an ancient simply because it is two thousand years old.

Faith has a logic that often seems unreasonable and illogical because it is so in opposition to human logic and because it is human logic that is actually illogical. Jesus often spoke in opposites – whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it (Matthew 16:25); the last shall be first, the first last (Matthew 20:16); if any one wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all (Mark 9:35). And in the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter five we find this list of things that seem opposite of human logic – blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed are those who mourn; the meek shall inherit the earth; blessed are those who have been persecuted. And Paul writes in Romans 11:33-34a – Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord . . . And our New Testament reading from I Corinthians this morning makes this point as well. I think it is accurate to say that the mind of God is beyond our grasp and at times we struggle to understand his ways. It is not the logic of God that is illogical, but human logic.

I have taken to heart two important ideas from a recent theologian and one from centuries ago. Tertullian, many centuries ago said credo, quia impossibile – I believe because it is impossible.

(Dismissing God, p. 11).

And Karl Barth, executed by the Nazis at the end of World War II, argued that one cannot understand what God reveals to us without already, in a sense, believing it.

(http://www.iep.utm.edu/f/faith-re.htm)

This is a short point, because of our time constraints, and I close with a story about Alister McGrath, author of the book Dawkin’s God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life. As a professor at Oxford University he is a colleague of Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion. McGrath came to Oxford first as a student, and a self-described atheist, and expected that his studies would confirm his unbelief. What he found totally surprised him and seemed to contradict all logic and reason; McGrath found belief and he embraced the Christian faith.

Is faith reasonable? I would claim that to believe is the most reasonable thing we can do.

January 8, 2012 - Answering the Skeptics - Do Beliefs Matter?

Mark 9:14-24

Our Scripture reading for this morning ends with an odd statement – I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! How do you affirm your belief in one moment while in the next proclaiming your need to overcome your unbelief? That’s quite a paradox, isn’t it?

We live in a world that doesn’t much understand the paradox. We live in an either/or world, especially when it comes to belief, and in particular, religious belief. You either believe or you don’t, right? But this father both believed and struggled to believe.

The inability to accept and live with a paradox is what drives some people, I think, to disbelief.

I received an email the other day that contained an article titled Why I Stopped Believing In God. Listen to a few excerpts –

After my sister was born, my mom was told she couldn’t have any more kids. Six years later, I was her miracle. She always told me I wouldn’t be here if God hadn’t intervened. So I guess it’s kind of ironic that I no longer believe in God.

More and more I began to see that pastors and leaders in all faiths are simply people hungry for power. They like to preach that if you love God, you will get rich. But if bad things do happen, never question God, and never question the pastor because his words come from God.

It seems lazy to never question religion, or explore all the evidence against it. But it has more to do with fear.

Religion is only made real by the minds that believe it is real. And religion will exist as long as there is fear - fear of ourselves, fear of death, fear of each other. Religion thrives on fear. And powerful people take advantage of this. They have always done their best to silence anyone who questions.

The claim of all religions is that you will be freed from pain and suffering if you believe. But I have not found this to be true. …my experience with Christians was always just the opposite. Repression equals depression. And as Christians look down on other people, it makes them feel just a little bit better.

Life after religion is a gift of happiness…made even more amazing without the existence of a man-made God and dictator. I am at peace with the unknown.

(http://open.salon.com/blog/lj_barnhart/2012/01/02/why_i_stopped_believing_in_god)

The author of that piece recognizes some of the paradoxes that we find in life. Sometimes, good people do bad things. Sometimes, churches hurt rather than help people. Does that mean all people are bad or that some people are all bad? I don’t think so. Does it mean all churches are bad because some churches hurt some people? I don’t think so.

The author of that piece also makes, I believe, several very questionable assumptions. Not every pastor or leader is hungry for power. Most aren’t, in my opinion. Most also don’t preach that you will get rich if you love God. Personally, I believe that if you love God you may have less money, as you find yourself giving it away. And plenty of people question God, and I think you shouldn’t be afraid of asking questions; I certainly don’t believe it is threatening to God. I would also question the statement that religion is based on fear. There is, I understand, fear involved for some people and some leaders do prey upon that fear, but that is not the majority. And neither is it true that religion is only made real by those who believe it to be real. God is either real or is not real, regardless of what we believe. And no religion of which I am aware claims that belief will keep you free from pain and suffering. A few people may make that claim, but it is certainly not a claim that can be verified in light of Scripture.

This morning we begin a new series of messages titled Answering the Skeptics.

Why do some people believe in God, while others do not? The reasons, I’m sure, are complicated and numerous. Some researches have even put forth the theory that belief – or unbelief – is part of our genetic disposition.

One statistic I find troubling is the number of young people who drift away from faith when they leave home to begin their adult lives. Part of the reason, I think is the failure to develop a faith that can stand the rigors and challenges of a college classroom or the work place. Some people are given a set of beliefs – or perhaps more correctly, interpretations – and are told that if you doubt a single one of them then the entire system of belief must all be discarded. So they hear something that is in conflict with what they have been told to believe and decide to do just what they have been told – they set belief aside, believing it to be incompatible with the world around them. What a tragedy!

How would you answer someone who asks why you believe in God? How would you answer someone who says they do not believe in God and they want to know why you believe? How do you deal with the relationship of science and faith? How do you respond when someone asks you to prove that God exists? How do you respond when someone says they cannot believe in God because of the evil and suffering in the world?

Does it matter if we believe in God? Some people would say that it does not matter what we believe. Nothing could be further from the truth. It matters a great deal what we believe. Life is driven by beliefs. Some people believe that strapping on a belt of explosives and detonating it in a public place to kill as many people as possible will guarantee they and their family will be given a place in paradise. It matters what suicide bombers believe. It mattered what Stalin believed. It matters if someone tells you that you are worthless and you believe it and the belief of worthlessness leads to self-destructive behavior. And it matters what a person believes about God. People who believe God is angry and vindictive hold up signs with terrible slogans at military funerals, such as the Westboro Baptist Church.

Here are some of the topics we will study during this series.

Faith and Reason – is it reasonable to belief in God? Does it make sense? Why do some believe that faith and intellectualism are incompatible?

Faith and Science – are faith and science incompatible, as some claim? Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith, wrote an OpEd claiming that Francis Collins was not qualified to head the National Institute of Health because he is a person of deep religious faith. Dr. Collins headed the Human Genome Project and has a world class scientific mind, and yet Harris would disqualify him from service because of religious faith.

Why is there so much suffering and evil in the world? Why doesn’t God do more about this suffering and evil?

What about the wrong that has been done in the name of God?

Can the existence of God be proved, or disproved?

I will be making some assumptions as we move through this series.

*People are increasingly identifying themselves as spiritual rather than religious because they do not want to be associated with institutional expressions of religion. Just because people don’t belong to a church or attend church doesn’t mean they don’t believe in God. Many people, turned off by things such as the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church or televangelist scandals don’t want to be associated with institutional religion. People are also tired of the culture wars, and they most people aren’t interested in the politicizing of religion.

*People want their beliefs and their worldview affirmed. Some people are very threatened by the trend of less religious belief in our society. They fear their way of life, their worldview – all the things they hold dear and cherish – will be minimized or threatened. We see this dynamic in politics. People turn to some candidates because they affirm the same values and are fearful of other candidates because they threaten their values.

*People are very influenced by faith – especially the Christian faith – in ways they may not understand or recognize. Anyone who lives in Western society has been deeply influenced by the Christian faith; it frames our entire way of life. The emphasis on having a life of meaning and purpose and the charitable spirit of our society are just a few of the ways the Christian faith has so deeply influenced who we are as a people. It has also shaped our music, art, education, medicine, and politics.

*Religious faith is not diminishing in our world. It is shifting, but not diminishing. Research released at the end of the year gave the interesting results that the percentages of religious people worldwide have not changed since a century ago. Where those religious people are located, though, has changed. A hundred years ago, Western Europe was the center of the Christian faith. Western Europe is certainly not the center of the Christian faith today, although countries such as England are seeing an increase in church attendance and religious activity. Faith is exploding in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. China, officially atheist in their governance, is seeing a huge growth in faith.

*You don’t have to check your brain at the door when you come into a church, at least not all churches. I would be greatly disappointed if you checked your brain at the door when you walked into this church.

*We are spiritual beings – all people, regardless of belief or unbelief. Jesus said man does not live by bread alone (Matthew 4:4), which is a statement underscoring the truth that we are spiritual beings. We are more than just flesh and blood, more than our genes and DNA. Put on some great music, observe a beautiful sunset, look at a baby, or sit on a beach and try and deny that those experiences speak to something much deeper and greater in us.

*There are fundamentalists on both sides of the belief/unbelief argument. Richard Dawkins is just as much a fundamentalist as was Jerry Falwell. The fundamentalists on both sides of the divide do not add anything constructive to the debate, in my opinion. Both sides set up nothing but caricatures of the other side and distort the positions of the other. They make sweeping generalizations of the opposite side, and are basically speaking to those who already agree with them.

*We argue over how we got here, but we are here, and the critical question, I think, is where do we go from hear and how do we get there?

*Our focus should be on love, not in toeing a particular line of theology. Too many churches focus on right thinking to the exclusion of love. There are a lot of people who would take great issue with that statement, but Jesus never gave his followers a belief test. His test had one element – love.

When I was in seminary I took a class in Systematic Theology (it was actually more interesting than it sounds) and Dr. Frank Tupper was the professor. Dr. Tupper could be very provocative in attempting to get us to think, and sometimes members of the class were upset by his comments. One day, a student became so upset by one of Dr. Tupper’s comments that he jumped up, and with tears in his eyes shouted Dr. Tupper, why are you trying to destroy my faith? Dr. Tupper’s response was so memorable I can replay it in my mind as clearly as if it happened yesterday. Dr. Tupper walked over to the student and placed his hand on his shoulder and had him sit back down. Then he sat on the edge of the student’s desk and said Son, I’m not trying to destroy your faith. I want to make sure your faith is strong. If it cannot survive this classroom, it will never survive outside of this classroom.

I believe Dr. Tupper was exactly right. We must develop a healthy and vibrant faith, understanding the challenges to faith and how we will answer them. While in this sanctuary we are in a bubble, a bubble where faith is encouraged and nurtured. Things change when we leave this place, and we must develop a faith that does not fade in face of the challenges that come our way.

May we pray.

A Vision to Live By - January 1, 2012

Luke 9:1-6

Next week I will begin a new series of messages titled Answering the Skeptics. We live in a time where it appears that skepticism and challenges to faith are growing, and I believe it is important to have answers to the questions that come to faith and to us as people of faith. Is it possible to prove the existence of God? Is it logical to believe in God? How do science and faith relate? Are they incompatible, as some say? Is suffering the Achilles heel of faith? What are the evidences of faith, and what qualifies as evidence? What about the evil that is done in the name of God? Is it true that most wars have been fought because of religion? There are a many important questions to consider.

Today, we will take a few minutes and talk about vision. Our Scripture reading for this morning is one of the many examples of how Jesus kept a sense of vision in front of his disciples. And it demonstrates how Jesus taught his disciples that vision is not just an idea but a way of life. Vision is a set of guiding principles that provide the foundation for who we are as a church, as people who are followers of Jesus.

Finding a Student Minister. The difficulty in finding candidates for Student Minister is reflective of the growing scarcity of candidates for all ministerial positions. As a congregation, it is important that we begin to identify those young people who demonstrate the gifts that may be guiding them to ministry. My home church was aware, probably before I was myself, of a calling upon my life.

Children – what a blessing it has been to watch the work of the Children’s Education Committee.

Four Core Values – Children, Worship, Youth, and Welcoming.

Outreach and ministry – we are doing a lot of good things – Arriba Ninos, Christmas baskets and Angel Tree, God’s Kitchen, men’s shelter, and many others. Look for ways we can increase the outreach and the ministry of our church. Partner with other congregations and ministries when possible. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

To continue to emphasize the SHAPE test. The SHAPE test helps individuals to discover their spiritual gifts(s) and after discovering their gifts(s), to put them into practice. A number of you have already taken the test, and had an opportunity to discuss it earlier in the fall at our Dessert With the Elders.

To continue being open to people. Not all churches are open to people. Some churches, while professing their desire to grow, are a closed circle. When people ask me questions, they often begin their question in an interesting way – I want to ask you a question, and I want you to tell me the truth (as though I don’t normally tell the truth!). One of the most common questions I get is, when you are on vacation, do you skip church and sleep in? I am happy to report that when I am on vacation I always attend church somewhere. I attend because I enjoy it, but also because it is an important reminder to me of how difficult it can be to enter a church for the very first time, and we need to be aware of that difficulty. While visiting my mother-in-law several years ago I visited a church where not one person greeted me or spoke to me. From the time I got out of my car to the time I got back in my car to leave, no one said a word to me. I even walked around in the lobby trying to make it obvious I was a visitor. There were a couple of greeters at the door of the sanctuary but they were talking to each other and I had to find a worship program from a table because the greeters were so preoccupied with their own conversation.

Become a Green Chalice congregation. It puzzles me that environmental issues have become so politically controversial. I am not naïve to the reasons why, but it still puzzles me when we consider the stakes involved in the continued degradation of our environment. I grew up in a part of the country where it was very obvious. Strip mines that were never reclaimed and steel mills that filled the air and water with pollutants made our local environment particularly bad. We must remember that we are stewards of God’s creation, and as stewards we must care for what has been entrusted to us.

Build an ecumenical spirit in Shelby County. There is not much of an ecumenical spirit in our country. Ecumenism is one of the foundational principles of the Disciples. When Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Barton W. Stone, and Walter Scott observed the religious landscape of frontier America, they were troubled at the division within the body of Christ. We should be more involved with other congregations and organizations in our community. When it comes to ministry, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We can partner with other congregations and with agencies and organizations.

Continue what we are doing. I can’t really think of a way to describe what we are doing, to be honest. I believe there is a spirit of welcome, of acceptance, and of love that is building on the past and growing our community of faith. The most important part of that, I believe, is to not get in its way. Many churches say they want to grow, but they really don’t want to grow; they don’t want to grow in ministry, in community, in outreach, or numerically. They create a closed circle that new people cannot break into, and they are unable to see that they are a closed circle of people.

I am not interested in “running” this church. My goal is to equip you to use the gifts God has given you in order to offer those gifts back to the kingdom of God. A “permission-giving church”. To empower you to be a spiritual entrepreneur.

To bring the Good News to people who are hurting. There are many people hurting, and not just economically. You only have to scratch the surface of the lives of others to find there are deep hurts.

I want to offer you a personal vision for the New Year, as it is a time of new beginnings and many of you are making resolutions.

Do not let the past define you. Some people don’t believe it’s possible to change, and they want your past – your failures and shortcomings – to define you for the rest of your life. Don’t let them!

You may need a fresh start today. This is the time of year when people think of new beginnings, but God provides a new beginning every day. Maybe you desire to come and ask for prayer. I recognize that not everyone is comfortable doing so, and that’s fine, but it might be helpful to someone. If so, come.

The Gift of Hope - December 25, 2011

I hope you do not have the experience of one man I read about. In the rush of the season he went to the store, grabbed a big box of Christmas cards, went home, signed them, and mailed them, without reading the message inside the card. On Christmas morning, as he was enjoying a few moments of peace and quiet, he saw one remaining card on the table. He picked it up, opened it, and with alarm read this message – this card is just to say, a gift will soon be on the way.

The more things change, it is often said, the more things stay the same.

The Christmas story, as told by Luke, is remarkable as it relates the issues and struggles facing people when Jesus was born. It is remarkable because those issues and struggles still confront people today. As much as the world has changed, much remains the same. But the message brought on that first Christmas was one of hope, and it remains a message of hope. God knows our struggles, and he walks with us through our struggles.

Mary and Joseph were traveling to Bethlehem because of a census taken for tax purposes. I’m sure there was a great deal of discussion about taxes on the journey, among their fellow travelers and in every town and village they visited on their journey. Taxes were the topic of many conversations, and here we are, two thousand years later, and taxes still dominate many of our conversations!

The cost of the journey, added to the crushing tax burden of the Romans, brought a great deal of anxiety to daily life. While Joseph and Mary traveled, there would be no income earned and the journey would have some expense to it. Christmas began expensive, and it’s still expensive.

The joy of the day, and the joy of the season, is dampened for many because of economic uncertainty. Job losses continue to mount and among those who are employed there is anxiety about what their future holds. But the message of Christmas remains a message of hope. We worship a God who cares that we have what we need, and he has provided resources among his people to care for one another.

Political uncertainty was the order of the day when Jesus was born, and that certainly hasn’t changed for much of our world. The brutal reign of the Romans is now reflected in many parts of our world, where the news brings us images of people who want nothing more than their freedom, but they receive violence and oppression. But the hope of Christmas is that God will break the yoke of the oppressor, and will answer the cry of the human heart for freedom.

There was great loss, as Herod’s murderous reign took the lives of innocent children, and today we see that the youngest among humanity continue to be among the victims of tyrants. They suffer under terrible conditions, but the hope of Christmas is that God hears their cries, and God will deliver them.

And there are those who suffer from the loss of loved ones. Christmas is forever changed when we lose someone we love, but Christmas brings the hope of resurrection. For three or four years in a row I spent Christmas Eve or Christmas day in the hospital with families. Some of those who were hospitalized recovered; others did not. One year I stood with a family in a funeral home on Christmas Day, thinking what a terrible time to be in a funeral home, but Christmas brought them hope.

Because of such difficult circumstances in the time of Jesus, many were without hope, and many are without hope today. Years ago I received a call about a family needing assistance. It was just a few days before Christmas, and I drove to their home with some groceries and other items. It was a dreary day, cold and rainy. Their home was back a long, muddy driveway, and the yard was more mud than grass. The home was in very poor repair, and it was obvious the family had great financial needs.

As I got out of the car a young boy about six or seven years old came running out to greet me. My first thought was to feel bad for him, living in such difficult circumstances. I thought about Christmas and wondered if there would be much for him and his family. I asked him how he was doing and he was so excited. He talked about Christmas being just a few days away and his excitement level rose the longer he spoke. I wanted to say don’t get your hopes up. It’s okay if you don’t get much. In my mind, I could just sense the disappointment he would face on Christmas morning. But I realized later how wrong it was of me to try to qualify his hope, because hope is one of the greatest gifts of Christmas. The message of Christmas is especially designed for those who need hope.

In one way or another, we all need hope, and as we gather here today, on Christmas morning, may we give thanks to God for the hope that Christmas brings to us.

December 18, 2011 - A Perfect Christmas? Matthew 2:19-23

There is a Christmas commercial that has run every year for a number of years. It is a classic in Christmas advertising. It’s an ad for Folgers coffee, and the brilliance of the ad is that it really has nothing to do with coffee and everything to do with crafting an image of Christmas. The problem is, the image it creates has nothing to do with reality at Christmas.

The ad begins with a taxi pulling up in front of a beautifully decorated home on Christmas morning. Out steps a young man carrying an armload of presents. He walks up to the door, turns the knob and it opens! What world is he living in? Who leaves their front door unlocked? Why not just put a sign out front that says come in and steal our stuff!

Then the camera shows him stepping into the front hallway of the house. Everything is perfect. All the decorations are in place as though Martha Stewart lived there. Is that your house? It’s not our house. We don’t have an angel on top of our tree – we have Yoda from Star Wars, brandishing his light saber.

To make matters worse, those two kittens we took home a few months ago are destroying everything. They climb the tree, bending down the branches, knock the ornaments onto the floor, and pull at the lights. Every year Nick lays out a Christmas village on a table, and one of the kittens keeps climbing up and chewing the people he puts in the village. It’s like an episode of Godzilla, as she stomps between the buildings snatching victims away and trying to eat them.

After stepping into the house the young man reaches to the wall, flips a light switch and all the lights in the house light up. The lights coming down the banister, the tree lights, lights on the mantle, lights along the windows – lights illuminate everywhere. Is that reality? One switch? At our house you have to connect fifty extension cords before any Christmas lights come on, and then the breaker box in the garage explodes completely out of the wall.

Then he goes into the kitchen and turns on the coffee pot. That’s when you finally see the Folgers can. The aroma of the coffee causes his family, who are upstairs in bed, to stir. They sniff the air and smile. Really? That’s when you call 911! Hello. Someone has broken into my house, and I think they’re downstairs in the kitchen making coffee!

Instead of coming down the stairs with a baseball bat, his parents and sister come bounding joyously down the stairs – all in perfect makeup, of course, and no one has bed hair. The image is perfectly formed, and as his mother turns the corner and sees him she says Peter! You’re home! And then I cry. Because of a coffee commercial.

Actually, it’s not because of a coffee commercial, but the image that is created. That’s the kind of Christmas we all want – a perfect Christmas. We want a Christmas where our family is gathered together, where everything works, where everyone is happy, where there is a beautiful home filled with plenty of presents and plenty of food.

But what is the reality of Christmas? It’s certainly not perfection, is it? Christmas in the real world is far from perfect. Christmas in the real world is a time of running around like some kind of maniac trying to get everywhere you need to go. Christmas in the real world is too little time and too little money. Christmas in the real world is one of stress and anxiety as many worry about not just paying for presents, but putting food on the table. Christmas in the real world is one of anxiety for many because health difficulties cause them to wonder if they will see next Christmas. Christmas in the real world is one of sadness for many because of empty seats at Christmas dinners, the result of loss or of broken relationships.

Our Scripture reading this morning tells us of the return of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus from Egypt. They fled to Egypt because of Herod’s murderous decree after the birth of Jesus. Herod was now gone, but one of his sons ruled in his place, so it was still not safe for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus to return to Bethlehem. Instead, they traveled to Nazareth, in Galilee, the northern region of Israel, which was ruled by another of Herod’s sons. And Matthew closes this section of Scripture by writing and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

It wasn’t the plan Mary and Joseph had in mind, it wasn’t how they would have designed life to go, it wasn’t perfect in their minds, but somehow, God fashioned it into a greater plan.

Life seldom goes according to plan. Life seldom works out in the manner we desire – life is never perfect – but God can fashion a plan out of the difficulties we experience and can even turn those difficulties into something beautiful.

This sanctuary looks beautiful for Advent, doesn’t it? Let me tell you about getting it this way. You can’t imagine what a time we had trying to get these trees together. I lost count of how many times we took them apart and put them back together, trying to get them to look the same. We thought they were supposed to be the same, but there was no way that was going to happen. The one on the left came out okay, but the one on my right looks as though its missing a section and has another tree smashed on top of it, so I’m still not sure that we got them right.

And if you were here last night or Friday night for the cantata you saw a beautiful program. You should have been here on Tuesday evening. You always think it always comes together, but this may be the one time that it doesn’t. But it did, thanks to David’s great direction and talent.

But it’s okay when things seem to be falling apart. It’s okay because we need a reminder that in church – especially at church – we cannot forget that life is far from perfect. Sometimes, in church, we fall prey to the temptation of creating the illusion that everything if perfect. We can gloss over our failures and shortcomings in the hopes that we appear as though our lives are perfectly put together, when the reality is far from perfect.

If you fret about your family and your struggles this Christmas, know that the families in Scripture are far from perfect. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. Jacob cheated his brother out of his inheritance. David – well, David’s family was an absolute mess. If you’ve had a tough year, think about Job. Job lost everything, but in spite of all he lost, he held fast to his faith and knew that God remained with him. If you’re worried about your past and wonder how God could use you, think about Zaccheus, who was so unpopular because of cheating people out of their money that people crowded him out of the view of Jesus as Jesus walked through town. If you struggle with doubt and are overwhelmed with questions about God, think about Thomas, who couldn’t believe that Jesus had risen. Maybe you wish your would like for your house to look perfectly decorated for Christmas, but you’re more worried because you don’t know who much longer the roof is going to last, think about Joseph and Mary, finding shelter in a stable, and placing Jesus in a manger – a feeding trough.

The good news that comes at Christmas is that God’s gifts of love and grace come into our imperfect lives and imperfect world and create something beautiful.

The perfect Christmas is not one where every decoration is in place, where all the lights work, where the table is set for a perfectly-cooked meal, and where the tree is surrounded by presents. The perfect Christmas took place once – in that stable and in that manger, and that Christmas is where we find hope, and love.

Saying Yes to God - December 11, 2011

My grandmother, on my mom’s side, was born on Christmas day. She was named Mary Christina, in honor of being born on Christmas. My siblings and I called her “Little Grandma.” We called my dad’s mom “Big Grandma.” Both of them were about the same size – about five feet tall, so I have no idea how we came up with “Big Grandma” and “Little Grandma.”

Though she was a small woman, “Little Grandma” commanded respect just through her sense of presence. My uncles were tough guys. They were big, tall guys, and when they were growing up no one messed with them. They lived in a tough neighborhood and they were about the toughest in their part of town. But I can remember being impressed at how those big, strong men snapped to attention when “Little Grandma” spoke to them.

“Little Grandma” was actually my mom’s aunt. I told the story in greater detail on Mother’s Day of 2010, but the heart of the story is that she traveled by train to an orphanage in Wheeling, West Virginia shortly after my mom was born. My mom’s mother died the day after giving birth, and a short time later her father left my mom and her siblings at the orphanage. “Little Grandma” was already a widow struggling to raise eight children on her own. Why would someone who was already struggling to raise eight children, on her own, take in another child? My mom needed someone to raise her, and so “Little Grandma” said yes.

I like to think of my grandmother as one who said yes. There was a need, and though it must have seemed like an overwhelming need to someone in her circumstance, she said yes to this little baby.

This morning, as we continue our journey through Advent, I want to talk about another woman who said yes – Mary, the mother of Jesus. Luke’s gospel tells her story, the story of her saying yes to God. Our Scripture passage for today tells of Mary’s joyous affirmation – her yes – to God. Hear her words in Luke 1:46-55.

That is a beautiful passage of Scripture, but its beauty masks the difficulties that came with Mary saying yes to God.

Mary was about to have her life radically changed. The arrival of a child, though exciting, is never the easiest of moments. The arrival of a child means your life is never the same as you suddenly have the responsibility of caring for this tiny, fragile life. I had this illusion that things were going to be relatively simple when we had children. How much disruption could a tiny little baby cause, after all? You bring them home, you fix them a sandwich and that’s it, right? If only it were that simple. When a child arrives, everything changes so much you feel your life has been turned upside down.

For Mary, that challenge was much, much greater than what the typical parent faces. After the birth of Jesus, when Joseph and Mary travel to the Temple to dedicate him, Simeon tells Mary a sword will pierce your soul (Luke 2:35). That’s not a very cheery thought to tell a new mother, is it? You’re supposed to say something like your child might grow up to be king. But Simeon, in a prophetic moment, gives Mary a glimpse of the future, alluding to the pain Mary would face because of what would happen to Jesus.

The first stab of that pain would come quickly, because of the threat of Herod. Joseph and Mary had to flee to Egypt because of Herod’s murderous rampage, putting to death all the male children in the vicinity of Bethlehem. In a life and death situation Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had to leave their home, their family, and all that was familiar in order to find safety. They become refugees, exiles, living in another land. That’s not how life is supposed to begin.

Life is not easy for many children. There are children, every day, born into incredibly difficult circumstances. My grandmother had to provide protection for my mom. My mom’s father was not a good man. He was an alcoholic who was violent and abusive and my grandmother had to be sure he would not try to enter back into my mom’s life. My mom had no knowledge of her father until she was a teenager, and then she had to learn the truth of the kind of person he was. That’s not how life should be – a child should not have to be protected from her own father, but such are the circumstances for too many children.

Saying yes to God means life is going to be different. It’s going to be different because God calls his people to take up for the powerless, for those who need protection from people like Herod, and from people like my grandfather.

But it’s also a reminder of a powerful truth – the world is going to be different because Jesus came to put things right in the world. That’s the good news – that Jesus came to put things right. The bad news is that not everyone wants things to be right. Some people benefit from things not being right.

When you put things right, there is going to be resistance. Mary says, in her response, he has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble (verse 52). That’s a beautiful sentiment, the idea of lifting up the humble. It would be nice message on a Christmas card. But think of the reality of that message – he has brought down rulers from their thrones. Removing rulers from their thrones is not a simple matter. They don’t usually say okay, I’m done. It’s all your now. My best to you. Here’s the keys to my kingdom; let me know if I can be of any help. Herod had power and he was so threatened at the thought of one who would usurp that power that he did not hesitate to take the lives of children. What kind of person would do such a thing? People like Herod, who will do anything to protect their power. The scribes and Pharisees would not receive Jesus well either. He was a threat to their power and so they resisted him and they criticized him and, eventually, some of them got together and plotted how they might put Jesus to death. As much as some people will do anything for money, people are willing to take even more dramatic steps to either get, or keep, power. Jesus was a threat to many who held the power in his day, and they were not interested in giving up that power.

Then Mary says he has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty (verse 53). That’s pretty good news if you’re poor, but not very good news if you are rich.

There were not many rich people in the time of Jesus. Most people lived a hand-to-mouth existence. It’s a grinding-down way to live, being in poverty. It’s a tough, tough life.

As you might imagine, my grandmother, raising nine children on her own, did not have much money. Her husband was a policeman, and after his death she lived on the small pension she received. I don’t know how much it was, but I know it wasn’t adequate to raise a family of that size. My mom grew up poor. I remember when I was younger my mom would tell some of those we were so poor stories. I didn’t know at times if she was joking or telling the truth about some of them. She would say they were so poor they could only afford one bowl of milk for their cereal, so the oldest would get it first, put her cereal in it, then pass on what was left. On it would go until it finally arrived at my mom, with very little left. That story was a joke. I think.

More and more, we see people slipping into poverty. It takes a lot of money to live these days. Housing, food, energy, health care, transportation – there is so much expense in raising a family, and many people are simply not keeping up with the costs.

One of the founding ideals of our society is that of compassion. It is a compassion rooted firmly in the gospel. Compassion is part of who we are as a people, and that compassion is a compelling force that continually calls out to us to never forget the poor and to be advocates for the poor. But more and more it seems that our age is beginning to reverse the words of Mary, to where we might say that the rich are filled with good things while the poor are sent away empty.

Every year at Advent we read about the so-called war on Christmas. If there is a war on Christmas it has nothing to do with how we are greeted when we walk into a store. Personally, I don’t care if someone says happy holidays or Merry Christmas to me when I enter a store. To tell the truth, I prefer that Jesus be left out of the commerce of Christmas.

If there is a war on Christmas it comes when we forget that Jesus was born into poverty and calls us to be compassionate and generous to the poor. Demonstrating compassion to the poor is such a strong component of the gospel that in Matthew 25 Jesus portrays the final judgment as a time when everything rests upon how we deal with the least of these (Matthew 25:31-46).

Next weekend we will deliver 125 food baskets and 70 Angel Tree bags. What a great thing it is to give away! What a blessing it is to be able to give to others!

Mary said yes to God. May we say yes to God as well. May we say yes to be instruments of the love and peace of Christ. May we say yes to be people of compassion and generosity. May we say yes to be people who will comfort the bereaved and befriend the lonely. May we say yes to God, this day, and every day.

May we pray.