Iced Crabapples, Anyone?

The Giving Response

today's sermon at Faith United Church, UCC, International Falls, MN

Texts: Psalm 46 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

How many of you have ever experienced an earthquake?

It’s very scary when the floor or the ground slides back & forth under your feet! And the sound of plate glass windows or sliding glass doors shaking is unnerving—to put it mildly. It’s freaky when you’re in the grocery store looking at items on the shelf and they start wiggling on their own and you realize it’s not being caused by someone on the other side stocking shelves. When your rocking chair rocks by itself with no one in it and your hanging plant starts swaying, you’re going to want to run for cover… but where? When you’re outside and the air is perfectly still but the tree you’re looking at is violently swishing back and forth as if it was in a huge storm and the car at the curb is bouncing up and down as if someone was jumping on the bumper—but no one is there—you might want to grab onto something for support. When you’re sitting on your couch reading the paper and glance out the window and realize the water in your in-ground pool is sloshing over the edge, you may have a hard time believing what you’re seeing.

All but the swimming pool incident happened to me when we lived in California. In 1989 one of our seminary professors drove over the section of freeway that collapsed in Oakland 15 minutes before the quake hit. A family friend was at Candlestick Park when the quake hit at the beginning of the World Series. A seminary classmate who grew up near Boston couldn’t bring himself to go home to his apartment in San Francisco for at least 2 weeks—and his apartment wasn’t damaged. Another friend knew the truck driver who was rescued from the collapsed freeway but later died.

My grandmother experienced the Quake of 1906. She lived south of San Francisco. The temblor opened the barn door and the horse walked out. That night she could see the glow in the sky from the fires in The City.

I was at a bus stop at the BART station in Hayward, CA during the 1989 earthquake. While the ground slid and the tree waved frantically and the car bounced, several of us looked at each other wide-eyed and then we all grabbed for the bus pole at the same time, just as the shaking stopped. The bus driver was so freaked he went right on by and didn’t pick us up, so we had to wait another half hour for the next bus and then we heard about part of the Bay Bridge collapsing….

But what if most of your city collapsed? Can you imagine? I can’t. I can tell you what it’s like to experience an earthquake, but I can’t imagine the kind of destruction that happened in Haiti this week. I can’t imagine the horror, the fear, the grief, the loss… My seminary professor had to leave 2 hours early to drive the long way around from Berkeley to San Francisco airport while the bridge was being repaired, but that kind of inconvenience is nothing compared to what people are experiencing in Haiti.

And to top it off, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.

The death toll is staggering. I read last night that the Director of the humanitarian relief agency of the United Methodist Church died before he could be rescued from the ruins of a hotel in Port-au-Prince. Others in the group were rescued and brought home, but they were all trapped in the rubble for 55 hours.

When I heard about the tsunami a few years ago, and Hurricane Katrina, and major earthquakes in various parts of the world in recent years, one of my first thoughts is of Psalm 46. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. … God is in the midst of the city; …God will help it when the morning dawns. …”Be still and know that I am God!” … The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. [1]

First there is the horror and the shock of it all as the news stories, photos and videos start coming in. We sit, transfixed, in front of our TVs and computer screens.

Next there always seems to be the weird and crazy statements by a few predictable sources telling us why it’s the victims’ fault. In this case Haiti is supposed to have made a pact with the devil. A quick-thinking person wrote that if Haiti had a deal with Satan they would have lots of banks and high rises, SUVs, botox, wealth, exclusive night clubs, glamour, talent and fame. [2]

And then, thank goodness, comes the giving response. Something new this time has been the option to send a text message on your cell phone in order to donate $5 or $10 for Haiti and then you just pay it along with your cell phone bill. Many people took advantage of that option and it was a great way to get help going quickly.

Paul wrote, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” [3]

We all do what we can do—both in this situation and in everything else we encounter in life. It’s amazing, though, how disaster generally brings out the best in humanity. The United States is sending troops to Haiti and Cuba is sending doctors. I read that American Airlines was flying relief workers over and that UPS was shipping packages to Haiti free of charge. You can go to McDonald’s (here in the Falls or in Fort Frances) and eat hotcakes all day today and next Sunday and the proceeds will be given to earthquake relief in Haiti. Whatever we give here at the church—today and next week—will be matched by the Endowment Fund. What a wonderful gift!

Everyone is doing what they can, according to the gifts they’ve been given. That’s all we can do and it’s what we’re called to do. The relief efforts, money and people flooding into Haiti are an example on a grand scale. On a much smaller scale, we each do what we can for our church. Today is one of the times we really see that when we elect our slate of officers at Annual Meeting. Some people have the gift to be on the property committee, others for the finance committee, others for evangelism, Christian Ed, deacons or church life. And someone out there has the gift that would make them an excellent church clerk—they just haven’t realized it yet! (Hopefully they will by the time we get to nominations from the floor!)

What makes the church work, or the relief efforts work, is everyone working together, using their God-given gifts and talents to help others, to serve God and to bring hope, comfort and love to God’s people everywhere in the world.

“Be still and know that I am God!” God is with all the people in the best of times and the worst of times. No matter who… no matter what… no matter where… The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. AMEN.

Endnotes

[1] Verses from Psalm 46, NRSV.

[2] http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/81595442.html letter to the editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jan. 14, 2010.

[3] 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, NRSV.

Affirmed by Love

Today's sermon at Faith United Church, UCC, International Falls, MN

Texts: Acts 8:14-17 and Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

This is the Sunday—each year—that we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. And of course there are several different versions of this story in the gospels. Today’s reading from Luke doesn’t tell about the actual baptism. It tells about what John the Baptizer has to say beforehand and what happens after all the people have been baptized and Jesus has been baptized.

It says, “…and when Jesus had also been baptized and way praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’” [1]

God is making a statement. “You are mine and I love you!” What a glorious affirmation!

John had said he baptized with water but the one who was coming after him—Jesus—would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

In our other reading, from Acts, the Apostles learned that the people of Samaria had accepted the word of God, so they sent Peter and John to visit them. The Samaritans had been baptized in the name of Jesus but they hadn’t yet received the Holy Spirit. When Peter & John got there, they laid their hands on the people and then the people received the Holy Spirit.

What do you suppose it’s like to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire? What’s it like to be on fire for God and for Jesus?

Ron Buford, the creator of “God is Still Speaking,” has this to say in yesterday’s Still Speaking meditation: “It's about something we often take for granted . . . the miracle that happens when God’s diverse children gather, filled with expectation that God might show up to trouble the waters of our hearts and minds, filling our bellies with the unquenchable fire we need to get through another week, inspiring new ideas and action, gently descending upon us like an unexpected dove.

“Beneath the collective and secret longings of people pretending that everything is OK [lie] the real and hidden hopes of longing people. God, like a knowing lover, gently turns the doorknob of our longing hearts, awakening them to quiver within us.

“Many leave worship thinking and feeling nothing happened. But the open and expectant [leave] with new power and courage to do things they never thought possible.

“Amid the ascending hopes of people and the descending power of God, we publicly baptize our sons and daughters just as Jesus was baptized—among neighbors and friends, into community. In the presence of God, [in the presence of] the living and the dead, saints past, present and future, we claim their lives and reclaim our own for hope, sealed with our unbreakable promise to love them and be loved . . . no matter what.” [2]

All of our lives are journeys. Jesus’ life was a journey. None of us knows what boulders will be strewn across our path or where we’ll dance through sunlit meadows. All we can do is move forward and trust in God’s love.

We hear the story of the baptism of Jesus here, in the season of Epiphany each year. “Epiphany” means manifestation or revelation or showing, and implies a shining light. This story is full of revelation—can you imagine the heavens as they seem to open up and the voice of God speaking directly to Jesus, saying, “You are my Beloved”?

Some of us have experienced a similar knowing—that we, too, are God’s beloved. We have felt it right here (in our hearts). But how many others still need to know they are loved? By God and by people. We can show them, not just at their baptism, but through all their lives. We are loved by God, and in turn we share that love with others. I believe that’s the most important thing we are called to do!

Baptism was the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He then set out on an incredible journey. On that journey he touched the hearts and lives of many, many people. Whether or not he knew at the beginning exactly where that journey would end up, I don’t know for sure, but he trusted in God’s love, just as we can trust in God’s love for our life-long journeys.

I could imagine this poem being appropriate at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry; just as it was appropriate for the Israelites when they set out on their journey to the Promised Land; just as it is appropriate for all of us who are on the journey of life:

I send you forth to the land which has been promised

that it has been promised is all I know.

I do not know the shape of the land

the route which you must go

the dangers certain to befall.

My small experience leads me to suggest

you should expect your share of desert places

where oases vanish upon close inspection

and water springs up from unlikely places.

Also you should beware the Golden Calf

or any beast pretending to be God

the likely candidates will have immense appeal

and an unpleasant aftertaste.

The great advantage of the Promised Land

is that it will wait for you

if on the road a man waylaid by thieves

or startling beauty should distract you

there is time.

You will know when you have reached the land

by the sudden fear you feel

at the edge of grace

and the strong pull of familiar Egypt on your soul

and the knowledge that there is no turning back.

Farewell, beloved

put on the whole armor of God

but leave your heart exposed

since life, like death, demands a certain vulnerability.

And learn a song or two to sing in a strange land.

Be wise as serpents, innocent as doves

accepting the worst from people, expecting the best

You are less what you have learned than what you have learned to love.

Love is your journey's name

and your final rest. [3]

Blessing. Beloved. Fire, wind, and water: life is utterly mysterious and yet, here in the unknown, here in the midst of all that might make us afraid, God is near to us, just as God was near to Jesus as he stood there in the River Jordan, with so much still ahead of him. As he moved forward through it all, step by step, he knew that he was God’s Beloved.

Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reformation, is supposed to have passionately urged people to “remember your baptism!” For anyone baptized as an adult, that is probably a very special, meaningful memory. Those of us who were baptized as infants won’t remember our baptism day, but hopefully we have a sense of how special it was whenever we take part in a baptism here in our own congregation.

Whether we can remember our baptismal day or not is much less important than whether we can remember that we, too, are blessed and beloved. Even if we have not yet been baptized, we can trust and know that we are blessed and beloved, because baptism, is a blessing that doesn’t make us or our lives sacred but acknowledges that we—and our lives—already are sacred. Baptism recognizes that we are already filled with grace. It doesn’t matter if the sky opens up and the voice of God can be heard because the Spirit is already in our midst. [4]

Whoever we are; wherever we are; wherever we’re going, we are all God’s beloved and the Epiphany light of love travels with us.

Let us pray: Gracious God, we remember and thank you for our baptism and our congregations. We give thanks that we belong to you, body and soul, in life and in death, and that we also belong to a great community that has claimed us for hope, no matter who we are or where we are on life’s journey. Help us to live and love together as people who remember your love and our promises. [5] AMEN.

Endnotes

[1] Luke 3:21b-22, NRSV.

[2] http://act.ucc.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=22301.0&dlv_id=25041

[3] “The Journey” by David Bartlett.

[4] Adapted from http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/january-10-2010.html

[5] Ron Buford, Still Speaking Daily Devotional, January 9, 2010.