Rev. Donna's Weekly Sermon

The Desire of Your Heart

2012-01-29T13:08:00.000-08:00

Matthew 6:19-21, 25, 33;

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Let's play a game of Family Feud. Forget about the feuding part but try to guess how Americans on an informal survey answered this question: What is it that keeps you up at night? Family? X! Health?
X!X! Food, Shelter, Clothing? X!X!X!

The Number One Answer to ‘What keeps you up at night?” Survey Says: Money.

Between 2007 and 2009, a survey said that the number one thing that was keeping Americans up at night was money. That answer probably does not come as a surprise to any of us. We are in the midst of the worst financial times in this country since the Great Depression. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in Washington, DC wrote a 673-page report as to the causes of these terrible financial times. Not surprisingly, the causes fell along party lines, with the Democrats blaming Greed, and the Republicans claiming that banks were demanded to make home loans to folks who could not really afford them. The FCIC report was probably 672 pages too long for all that we gained from it.

Through these difficult days, even if we are among those who have done everything right, we are still affected by the pulsing pain of the economic hardship gripping our country. It is the rare person, I think, who is not worrying about money these days. We have all been witnesses to or even knocked down by the dominoes of over-consumption as they fall one after another these days. In one way or another, large or small, each of us has played a part in the out-of-control financial situation our country is in.

We have lived in this nation these past prosperous years on three assumptions: (1) our income will always go up; (2) the stock market will always go up; and (3) housing prices will never go down. When I bought my condo in 2006, I was so happy that I was making this investment and it was going to provide for my future—I was going to be set for life! I don't even dare find out how much my home is not worth any more.

Our lives become out-of-control when we take as timeless truths our over-assumptions, and when we get caught up in over-consumption of something (anything), whether it's money, food, sex, possessions. If we want to get a handle on what's going on in our financial world then the answer is not to budget better, invest smarter, or save more. The best way, or perhaps the only way, to get at the root causes of all that is keeping us up at night is to examine our issues through the voice of spiritual language.

According to the Catholic Church, there are seven deadly or cardinal sins; they are “deadly” because these particular sins put our salvation in danger. The first three sins as we know them today are lust (Gr. luxuria), gluttony (Gr. gula), and greed (Gr. avaritia). Whatever we lust after, we shall never be satisfied; however much we consume nor how fast we eat and drink of it, we shall never be filled; and no matter the extent of our riches and possessions, we shall never have enough. Spiritually, we are out of control when we engage in these behaviors because we leave no room for God; we have no desire to seek God first.

Jesus in Matthew 6:19-21(p 6) is very clear about where we need to focus our desires so that salvation shall be ours. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

When Jesus spoke these words, remember that he was talking to thousands of peasants and people scourged by sickness, sin, selfishness and demons of all types. They were simply folks like you and me who were looking for antidotes to their first-century out-of-control lives. In our humanity, we are all vulnerable to the same sins. We have to make spiritual choices about where we place our treasure. Placing our “treasure” in front of God means we add idolatry to our sins. The Bible is full of examples of people making egregious mistakes, committing heartbreaking sin because they take their focus off God and place it onto earthly, fleshly desires. Adam and Eve lusted after the forbidden fruit; the Israelites worshiped a golden calf and pagan gods; and today we get caught up in a desire to worship our desires. Why?

What we know about humanity is that it is easier to put our faith in gods we can see rather than a God we cannot. Golden apples, golden calves and golden bank accounts—all are a reflection of our culture's encouragement to desire more, more, more. Yet, the God who commanded us to honor the sabbath, to say no to lesser things so that we can say a greater yes to God, to trust that God will keep the promise to be with us always no matter what, has one more antidote for the out-of-control lives: “Strive first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mt 6:33, p 6).

What things is Jesus talking about? Look at verses 31 and 32: Do not worry about what we will eat or what we will wear or what we will drink because God knows that we need these things, but strive first for the kingdom of God....” In one sentence we have the secret to the conundrum of why less is usually more.

Less is more when we worship God and not our desires. Less is more when God is in first place, not last. Less is more when our hearts weigh all our actions and our attitudes, our pursuits and our purchases, on the scales of God's kingdom and righteousness. When we are generous toward God, God delights in our faithfulness; God knows that we have our priorities and our desires straight. When we are faithful with a little, God will give us much more. Therefore, less is more.

Take your own internal survey and ask yourself, Is my concern about my earthly treasures keeping God up at night? If you and I serve our treasures, our desires, before we serve God, then we are turning away from God, and that's what keeps God “up at night.”

God wants us first. And God wants to be first in our lives. If we would rather not be devoured by moths and rust, if we do not want to lose ourselves to a thief that can steal our souls as well as our treasures, then it's time to take God's word seriously. In order to strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, there are three steps to take.

The first step is best described by the Greek word: metanoia. Metanoia is the moment when we suddenly realize we have been moving in the wrong direction. Metanoia means to repent, turn back to God. All of us are probably in need of repenting with some or all of our treasures. Repentance with our treasures is not about making a new budget, moving our investments, or fully funding our IRAs . The tithe is treasure repentance. The Bible is full of commandments to bring the first fruits, the first tenth of one's treasures to God. The promise in is that we will receive even more treasures in return.

Sacrifice your best lamb, a tenth of your fields of grain, or a few pigeons, and God will return to that one a multitude in return. We're not much into sacrificing lambs these days, but neither are many of us in the habit of sacrificing a tenth of our treasures, either. Yet, the tithe is what God requires. God is not interested in our lambs and grain. God is interested in our attitude that we should bring with gladness the best of who we are and what we have been given to honor God, to say in effect, “God I bring my very best to you because you are the most important treasure in my life. I seek you first.”

Go home today and look at your treasures. Do you pay God first? Is the first check you write from your paycheck to God? Do you give to God cheerfully or resentfully? It makes a huge difference.

We live in difficult economic times. It's natural to want to hang on to our treasure to protect ourselves. We want to make sure we have more than enough to meet any needs that might arise. We store up whenever we can and whatever we can because we afraid, anxious, worried, stressed.

Storing up treasures on earth is not the antidote to the out-of-control life. Relying on ourselves to provide for our needs rather than relying on God's promise to care for all our needs is just not a faithful practice. It goes against what we have been told is good and right.

When we started the “new year” in September, I preached a sermon series called “Putting God in First Place.” Who knew that we should end up here with the very same message? This sermon series on Antidotes to the Out of Control Life comes to the same conclusion.

The most important antidote to our out-of-control lives is simple and profound: show God that God is the most important part of your life by putting God in first place; giving God your first gifts, your best gifts, a tenth of all your treasures. And a tremendous thing will happen to you: All true treasures like sabbath and peace, trust and gifts...and so much more shall be added unto you and yours in ways that will boggle your mind.

God is good all the time. Rely only on God, for things should not be the desire of our hearts or less we perish for lack of an antidote for the out-of-control life. Choose life, friends; this life God has prepared for us so that we may not succumb to humanity's insanity. Choose the Christian life so that we may think more deeply, see more clearly, listen more effectively, savor life more fully and most of all serve God completely. Let's let go of worldly desire and assumptions so that tonight and every night we shall sleep well, knowing we rest in the care of an all-embracing God. Amen.

January 29, 2012
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

PAUSING IN A DANGEROUS PLACE Luke 10:25-37

2010-07-15T05:58:00.001-07:00

“A Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him he was moved with compassion.”

· Review from last week: “Why Bad Things Happen to Smart People”
◦ Direction, not intention, determines destination.
◦ Arrival at our desired destination requires us to align our direction with our intention.
◦ We must connect the dots of each decision we make along our path in order to reach our intended goal – the picture we have of how we want our lives to look
◦ Failure to connect the dots causes people to end up making decisions that lead to bad (and unintended) outcomes.

· The name “Samaritan” doesn't pack the same punch for us today as it did in Jesus' day. Instead of “Samaritan” you might try inserting “Al Qaeda” or “Hitler”; perhaps pimp or child molester or rapist. That deep-in-the-belly repulsion we feel is similar to what the lawyer who tested Jesus would be feeling at the mention of the Samaritan.
· This lawyer knows Jewish law inside and out, backwards and forwards, and every which way from Sunday, the way the late Senator Byrd knew the constitution of the United States.
· This Lawyer asks Jesus, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” The lawyer already knows the answer Jesus is supposed to give; he's an expert in the law. You might even say that the Law is the lawyer's gospel. He may even figure that he knows the law better than Jesus does.
· What the lawyer doesn't bargain for is that the “teacher” is about to teach him something he doesn't know — the difference between the Law as gospel and the Gospel as law. The distinction is huge! It's one thing to recite the laws; it's a whole different country to live the Law. Anybody here ever exceeded the speed limit?
· We may know Christians who can recite Bible passages chapter and verse and think they know more about God and Jesus than we do – that they are better Christians than we are. Again, it's one thing to recite the words but it's a whole other story to live the Word.
· The lawyer seeks “to justify himself” (10:29) and asks, “And just who exactly is my neighbor?” And that's when he leaves the gospel in the ditch for his first love, the Law. As that happens, he gets lost.
·
· It is very easy to get lost along the way to our intended destinations.
Our inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness sometimes sends us off in wrong directions, which as we know explains why bad things happen to smart people.

· Andy Stanley (The Principle of the Path) writes that what so often trips up us smart people is that we are on a happiness quest not a truth quest. The happiness quest trumps the truth quest and before we know it, we're the ones in the ditch on the side of a dangerous road.
· Look at Lindsay Lohan. Is this a woman who pursues her own happiness over facing her own truth? Did you see the shock on her face when she heard “90 days in jail” and her name in the same sentence? Did you see the expletive sketched on her fingernails? Did you hear her defiance outside the courtroom? “I am NOT going to jail!” She's the talk of the town — but not the way she had dreamed of when she started out.
· The truth is, she already is imprisoned! She can't admit it; perhaps drugs and alcohol help her keep the truth from herself. She fell off the path to stardom a long time ago and hasn't been able to find her way back — and she won't, until she can speak of the real reasons she's where she is today. She needs a good Samaritan to help her out of the ditch she's in and show her the way out of the dangerous place.
· Being deep-in-the-belly honest with ourselves is tremendously difficult. We want to have “lawful” reasons for making the choices we make; it's too hard sometimes to admit the real reasons behind what we do. Selfishness is not a Christian value. So we set out in defense of our personal happiness on what Stanley calls a “Justification Safari.”
· Basically, after we have decided to do something that we think will aid in our happiness, we have to set our brains to the task of justifying why it's OK to step off our intended path.
· For example, It's like trading in one SUV for a newer, flashier, more expensive model and justifying the higher car payment (that's not, by the way, on our path to financial security) by telling ourselves (and others) that we made the trade for better gas mileage. We can trade in one SUV for another for a number of reasons, but good gas mileage isn't one of them.
· And so it goes with the priest and the Levite. Each refused to help a fellow Jew; Luke doesn't tell us why each holy man “passed by on the other side” of the road, but we can make an educated guess that as soon as they did so, their justification safaris began. They told themselves, “Coming into contact with blood (or a dead body) would make me ritually unclean for my work in the temple”; but the real reason they avoided the man is, ”it's too dangerous to stop here and help that man because I could end up in the ditch myself.” “It will make me late for my appointment.” Etc.
· Because they are unwilling to pause in a dangerous place to help their brother, the two holy men show that they are more concerned with themselves than with the needs of their neighbor. Like the lawyer, they wanted a choice about which neighbors they had to love.
· The Samaritan, however, is willing to pause in a dangerous place to show mercy and compassion — to love his neighbor first -- before considering his own comfort, his own happiness. He sees the truth in the situation.
· When happiness points in one direction while wisdom, truth, integrity and common sense point in another, that's when smart people end up in really bad situations and start doing really stupid things.
· People have a hard time leveling with themselves, whether we are talking SUVs or the gospel.
· As long as we are lying to ourselves about why we are making the choices we make, it will be impossible for us to get to where we want to be. To find the path to where we want to go, we must break the cycle of self-deception. Pretending that our choices are prudent and lead to our intentions gets us sooner or later stuck in a dangerous place. That dangerous place is away from the God who gifted us for the journey and sent us his son to lead us in the Way.
· If you're pausing in a dangerous place right now, be honest about the situation. What's the real reason behind the choices you're making? Without this kind of brutal honesty with ourselves, we surely will make unwise choices.
· Like Lindsay, What we won't know will hurt us. Truth sets us free; lies hold us captive; each is a path. Which choice will we make? Which path shall we take?
· Being honest can be painful; we can feel beaten and bloodied and left for dead as we go through the cleansing process. But it's worth it, because
◦ When we learn to tell ourselves the truth, we will know exactly where we are and understand then how to get to where we need to be. We give up the justification safaris in exchange for the God quests. For one thing I know:
◦ There is a savior who is willing to pause in our dangerous places and lift us out of the ditches we have gotten ourselves into.
◦ There is a savior who, at the cost of his own life's blood, brings us to the inn where our wounds are dressed and we are fed, clothed and cared for until our savior returns to settle our account.
◦ There is a savior who does more than pay our bills, he forgives us our sin and heals our transgressions.
◦ Yet what does this Savior require of us? Simply this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
· The parable of the Good Samaritan is a story for travelers on the path — a scriptural GPS (global positioning system) if you will – “guiding us in the only direction God desires: the way of love and compassion for ALL (emphasis mine) others”#.
· This is his promise; this is his power; this is his path; and this is our hope. “Do this, and you will live” (10:28).

July 11, 2010
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

THE PATH II: Why Bad Things Happen to Smart People

2010-07-06T07:05:00.001-07:00

2 Kings 5:1-14; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

“But his servants approached him and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it?
How much more, when all he said to you was, 'Wash, and be clean?'”

*Let's begin by recapping a few items from last week's message:
Jesus had turned his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51)
Christians are most faithful when we turn our faces to Jesus and make Jesus the path in which we walk so that we can reach our rightful destination
The principle of the path is this: Direction, not intention, leads to Destination.

*Said another way, the actions we take and the decisions we make in our lives do not necessarily lead us to the destinations we intend for our lives. Consider this example:

The last thing they heard was the piercing whistle of an oncoming train. Moments later, dozens of mostly Latin American immigrants who crossed the tracks instead of using an underground passageway to reach a beach party in this seaside resort were dead or injured, their body parts strewn among the rails. Spain's deadliest train accident since 2003 took place during a nationwide ritual on one of the longest days of the year called Noche de San Juan, or the night of St. John, when the blazing Spanish sun sets at 9:30 p.m1.
The young people on their way to this beach party to celebrate the summer solstice had every intention of going out and having an awesome night; it was never their intention to be killed and maimed. The underground passageway was the correct path to take, yet it was clogged up with people and seemed to be taking too long to get through it to the beach. So they changed direction which led to a deadly destination. Direction, not intention, leads to destination.

Andy Stanley writes in his book, “Generally speaking, we don't abandon the clearly marked paths because we are looking for trouble. There's always something about the alternate routes that is powerfully appealing.”2

The healing of the Aramean General, Naaman, tells us something of the consequences of a decision to leave the clearly marked path, namely, the instructions of Israel's great prophet, Elisha. Fortunately for Naaman, his servants are able to talk some sense into him and get him back on the path to a cure for his leprosy. If he had continued in the direction he chose, Naaman would never have found the healing he needed — his intended destination... See if you can pick out the places where and why Naaman left the Path:

VV 10-11 Elisha sent a messenger to him saying “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean. But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, 'I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy.'”
Naaman left the path when he got angry, insulted by what he perceived as disrespectful treatment from Elisha.
Naaman expected that because he was a very important person, “a mighty warrior,” (v 1) that Elisha would make a big flashy show out of healing him.

Anger and Arrogance set Naaman on a different path, one that would not lead him to his intended destination, the healing of his leprosy.

V 12 I picture Naaman walking heatedly in circles, his armor clanking and protesting as loud as the man himself. He was shouting at no one in particular, while all his men watched. “'Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than ALL the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?' He turned away in rage.”

VV 13-14 Naaman gets going in the right direction; he gets back on the path with some wise guidance from his servants. He had come a long way; brought expensive gifts, and frightened the King of Israel to reach his intended destination. There had been a lot of fanfare, a big show, but none of that got Naaman to where he wanted to be. Yet, Naaman's men knew the Principle of the Path (this is not something Andy Stanley made up). “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, 'Wash, and be clean?'”

If we make ourselves our own destination, if we make decisions that lead us in directions that do not lead to the destinations we desire, all we end up doing is wandering around in a circle of life marred with regret, illness, and despair. Is that where we want to go, how we want to live? Of course not, yet the misdirected decisions we make reveal why bad things happen to smart people.

I do not believe God intends for bad things to happen to us, but when they do, God is always certain to lead us back in the right direction, if only we learn to discern his plan and agree to the adventure. God created for great things, yet “we all have a propensity for choosing paths that do not lead in the direction we want to go”3 and then we wonder where we wandered, how we got lost.

There are three points to remember about being lost: 1. We never get lost on purpose; 2. We never know exactly when it happens; and 3. The road we are on always determines where we end up.

You see, direction decides everything. The decisions we make are not isolated events — each one is a step in a certain direction; these steps when we take the time to connect them determine our destination.

Imagine you are looking in the rear view mirror of your car. What do you see behind you? Where you've been, of course Now, think about where you are in your life today and try to pick out the decisions you made — the steps you took -- that determined the direction(s) you have traveled along your life's journey, the ones that got you to where you are today.

If you were to plot them on a graph and then connected the dots, would the connected dots reveal the pictured destination at which you intended to arrive? We rarely end up in places different from the direction we have taken.

If you keep changing your major in college, it takes longer to get your degree doesn't it?You have to take more courses in the new field. If we keep changing courses in life, we postpone the arrival at our destination. When we get lost in life, we can't retrace our steps and start again without losing precious time. Connect the dots!

When we choose to connect the dots, when we turn our faces to Jesus and walk with him on his path, we could very well experience what the seventy disciples found when they went out among the people where Jesus sent them. Luke 10:17 captures the moment: “The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”

The demons people face today work to lead us in wrong directions. A walk with Jesus can either cast them out or help us to live with the consequences of our actions. Jesus heals every situation; all we have to do is turn our faces directly on him.

Jesus connects the dots in our lives; he leads us to fulfill God's plan for us. He is the one sure way to the destiny for which we are created, to have our “names written in heaven” (LK 10:20b). Amen.

Questions: Are there disconnects in your life?
Are there discrepancies between what you desire in your heart and what you are doing with your life?
Is there an alignment between your intentions and your direction?

July 4, 2010
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

The Path, Part I

2010-07-06T06:58:00.001-07:00

Galatians 5:1, 13-25; Luke 9:51-62

“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Luke 9:51

One third of Luke's gospel takes place while Jesus is traveling, and the first step of his journey begins with verse 9:51, when “he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” The road Jesus traveled was not planned out ahead of time. He didn't get a Trip Tick from AAA. He didn't use a GPS; he didn't even have a map; but then, he didn't need one.

It's not the one-foot-in-front-of-the-other road Jesus takes to Jerusalem that we contemplate today but the firm focus he follows that brings him to arrive “successfully” at his destination, Jerusalem, and to reach his ultimate destiny, the cross.

Jesus wants us to reach our own destinies as well. We do not have to go to the cross, because Jesus in his great love for us has covered that path for us. Something else is necessary. Today, through the urging of the Holy Spirit, my prayer is that as Christians and as Congregation, we can “set our faces,” not just on Jerusalem, but expressly on Jesus.

To “set one's face” means to focus intensely on a purpose, a goal, an achievement, an accomplishment, an intentional destination, and nothing can persuade you to veer off course, nothing can make you change your focus or make you turn your face away from your destination.

I invite you to contemplate your own paths as we spend our summer Sunday mornings exploring what author and pastor Andy Stanley defines as the Principle of the Path, which states simply, “Direction, not intention, determines destination.”1

I was talking about the Principle of the Path with Frank Thomas earlier this week. He looked it over (it's posted on my door) and then looked back at me and said, “To put it another way, 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions.'” Yeah; something like that!

The Path, you might have guessed, is more than a physical, geographical route. The path is our intention; that is, we set out intending to arrive at certain destinations: successful, wealthy, well educated, happy, Christ-like. However, sometimes we get distracted and make decisions that seem like

they shouldn't affect our intended destination, yet we so often find ourselves in places very different from where we intended to be.

And that's how the principle of intention works. “What's true geographically is equally true relationally, financially, physically, and academically.”2 It takes deep determination, as Luke would say, to “set our faces” and arrive where we said we were going to arrive – happily married, financially stable, physically fit, or academically accomplished.

In Luke's gospel, Christ is a walking, talking example of how to keep moving in the right direction despite the distractions that always seem to crop up.

When the Samaritans would not receive Jesus, the disciples wanted to incinerate the townspeople, but Jesus rebuked them. Why? Because such action would not get him to the Cross. Instead the moved on to the next village.
On the road, one man said, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus replied in such a way that the man needed to think about the hardship and homelessness the new disciple would encounter if he truly followed him.
Another man wanted to follow Jesus, but he was distracted, “First let me go and bury my father.” This man wanted to go in another direction first, before he followed Jesus; I wonder if the man wanted Jesus to wait for him while he took care of his father's remains. “Let the dead bury their dead.” If you're going with me, you have to go now — the direction is NOW.
Still another said, “I will follow you Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” And Jesus' answer is the same. The direction is now, not later, not after certain things happen.

There are so many temptations, so many distractions, in our personal lives that if we are not disciplined and focused, we end up traveling in a direction that does not lead to the destination we desire. When we go back, look back, put our hand to a different plow, the path we end up taking probably looks something like Interstate 710 in Los Angeles, which I think must be an example of California's “You can't get thyuh from hyuh.”

The same dangers arise in our Congregational life. I truly believe that if we do not set our faces on Jesus, our wonderful church will be plow-pressed to reach its God-given destiny. When we go downstairs into the fellowship hall for our annual meeting, we will have tremendous opportunities to set our faces on Jesus. What we must be mindful of deciding on directions that will not lead us to our hoped-for destination.

This church, like all true churches, belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, and not to us, and so FPFC's destination must be Jesus. Annual Meeting is the place to make a conscious choice to set our faces on the people and places that need Jesus as much as we do. “For freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit to a yoke of slavery” Paul writes to the Galatians but his words are so appropriate for us as well. We have to watch out for yokes that want to enslave us:
Zero percent financing and no money down...
but he's rich...
She makes me feel like I used to feel...
That's how business is done here...
No payments for 12 months...

Yokes like these turn us in directions that we shouldn't be going, unless of course our intended destination is bankruptcy, divorce court or prison, to name a few. If we want to go with Christ, as Christian and as Congregation, we have to keep going in the same direction Jesus is going.

Plowing through life in directions that do not lead to the destination that Jesus bought for us with his own blood – everlasting life with God in the new Jerusalem — sets us up into works of the flesh instead of life in the Spirit. Paul writes that the desires of the flesh and the desires of the Spirit are opposed to each other “to prevent you from doing what you want” (Gal 5:18).

Doing what we want in the moment (the desires of the flesh) may feel good at the time, yet almost always leads us in a direction (behavior) that is not going to get us where we desire to go. And then we are shocked, dismayed or bewildered about what happened – it's kind of like seeing a moose at Long Sands: that's not supposed to happen!

If we want to be Christian, and Congregation, we've got to stay on the right path. We have to keep our faces “set on” on Jesus. We have to be careful about our choices and decisions. We have to choose the right path. “Simply put, you and I will win or lose in life by the paths we choose.”3

So, let's ask ourselves, Am I winning or losing in life by the paths I have chosen?

Then during the week, let's contemplate our answers to questions such as:

If I think I may be losing in life, how can I change the paths I have chosen?
Does my intention for my life line up with my current direction? [Can I get thyuh from hyuh?]
Is the path I'm on likely to take me where I want to go? Where Jesus wants me to go?

Next week, we apply the Principle of the Path to our daily lives and explore the puzzling phenomenon of why bad things happen to smart people.

We will look at what is causing the “disconnect” in our lives, in our relationships, and in our faith.

We will even discover ways to connect the dots between the choices we make and the outcomes we experience.

The principle of the path may not be as quantum as the theory of relativity, but it sure is a powerful way to put Christ's energy in our motion to get each of us – and our church -- going in his direction. This is how we get from where we are now to where we want to be: We set our faces, and our hearts, on the path to salvation. Amen.

First Parish Federated Church, South Berwick. June 27, 2010. The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor.

The Christian Compromise

2010-02-15T06:54:00.000-08:00

Exodus 34; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)
Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him.”
On Friday, February 12, “with hours to go before the opening ceremony, a luger from the nation of Georgia was killed after he lost control of his sled on the infamously fast track at Whistler and crashed into a steel pole.”1 All the OEC mentioned of the athlete's tragic accident in its opening remarks was, “The time for sorrow is now; the time for reason will come later.” Let the games begin, even though lives will be compromised.
In another Georgia, 115 years ago, the world also gathered to celebrate not human athletic excellence and Olympic dreams but human industrial, agricultural, and artistic excellence throughout the world. About six thousand exhibits were examined and beautifully designed medals were awarded. The Awards Committee awarded a total of 1,573 medals: Gold medals, 634 - Silver medals, 444 - Bronze medals, 495. [
Opening remarks on September 18, 1895 were delivered by Booker T Washington, a former slave, esteemed educator, founder of Tuskagee University, and civil rights activist. Washington's speech on the first day of the “Atlanta Exposition” (World's Fair) was probably the most important given at the 100-day event, and it is certainly one of the most eloquent and famous speeches ever delivered in our nation's history.
Washington's speech is so rich, I wish I had the time to read it in its entirety to you now. Yet, as time constrains us, I quote you his eloquent conclusion:
...May I repeat that nothing in thirty years has given us more hope and encouragement, and drawn us so near to you of the white race, as this opportunity offered by the Exposition; and here bending, as it were, over the altar that represents the results of the struggles of your race and mine, both starting practically empty handed three decades ago, I pledge that in your effort to work out the great and intricate problem which God has laid at the doors of the South, you shall have at all times the patient, sympathetic help of my race; only let this be constantly in mind, that while from representations in these buildings of the produce of field, of forest, or mine, of factory, letters,and art, much good will come, yet far above and beyond the material benefits will be that higher good, that, let us pray, God, will come, in a blotting out of sectional differences and racial animosities and suspicions, in a determination to administer absolute justice, in a willing obedience among all classes to the mandates of law. This, coupled with our material prosperity, will bring into our beloved South a new heaven and a new earth.”2
This speech about the races working together for the advancement and prosperity of all was brilliant. Instead of coming out swinging with vinegar and vengeance on his breath, Washington called all people to focus on humanity's best qualities of love, devotion, loyalty and relationship between blacks and whites, not only in the cotton states but throughout the world.
Washington's approach to the benefits of the quality and equality of race relations was met with criticism by future NAACP founder/leader, W. E. B. Du Bois. He renamed Washington's speech “The Atlanta Compromise.” It was a name that stuck. Du Bois believed that Washington's message was insufficiently committed to the pursuit of social, academic and political equality for the black race. Washington, Du Bois felt, had compromised the message and intentions of their race to seek equal rights and equal justice with whites.
Washington, I think, was insightful enough to look beyond skin color and political power and could see a shining “transfiguration” of race relations through the means of a “higher good,” which was, as he said, marked with a determination to “administer absolute justice, in a willing obedience among all classes....”
I would describe transfiguration as nothing less than the glowing glory of God shining from within and throughout a person—or a nation, or a race, or a people. The mystery of the “Big T” is that it's glow can be seen despite the disguise of human flesh and the great guise of human behavior. One who witnesses transfiguration has the ability to see beyond, behind, between body and soul of the other and discern the glowing presence of the divine.
The problem is that people often do not comprehend what they are seeing. This was certainly the case for Peter, James and John. They had no idea what to make of the Transfiguration of Christ on the mountain that day. They were so astounded, so frightened and so mesmerized, yet Luke records they “kept silent and told no one any of the things they had seen” (Luke 9:36b). They covered it up; they put a veil on it.
Both our passages from Exodus and Paul's second letter to the Corinthians speak of veils—Moses wore a veil across his face to protect the Israelites from the frightening, glowing evidence of his having been in the presence of Almighty Yahweh. In Second Corinthians, Paul speaks of our being able, because of Christ, to remove the veil over our eyes that we may see God face to face.
What Peter and James and John witnessed on the mountaintop, and what they heard spoken by a voice from the cloud, was meant to convince them, and so to convince us, not just of the divinity of Christ, not just of the holy company Jesus kept with Moses and Elijah. No, it's more than that.
“This is my son, the Chosen; listen to him” is revealed so that when they all return down the mountain they shall work more fervently because their eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; the veils of sin and death can be removed through an uncompromised faith in Jesus Christ.
Understand that Paul uses “veil” as a metaphor for what prevents us from seeing the full truth about God.”3 What might some of those veils be? Pursuits of power, wealth, and fame, for sure; turning away from the truth, whether it's about human safety or human slavery or anything else. Veils are any “thing” that blinds us from sight and insight of God's goodness, any thing that compromises our hearing and doing God's will.
When we choose the veil rather than the hard-won victory, we participate in what I am calling “The Christian Compromise.” The Christian compromise comes when we keep what we have seen and heard about God through Christ to ourselves; the Christian Compromise comes when we run straight to the crown and bypass the cross. The Christian compromise comes when we put ourselves first instead of last. The Christian Compromise comes when we care more about money and manna than we do about living by the Spirit and learning God's word.
Transfiguration is the cure for the Christian Compromise.
“The transfiguration of Jesus offers a glimpse of what is possible, not only for Jesus, but for all humanity.”4 The God who once brought Israel through the Red Sea now brings those who believe in the promise, rather than those who live in the compromise, out of slavery to sin and death and into the freedom of new life, the resurrection life.
Christian faith alive involves believing and trusting, seeing and doing God's will. Living the Christian faith gives one the ability to see the glow of the glory of God shining before, behind and between body and soul of our fellow travelers on this journey through life. And what that means is this:
If people do not know the promises of God, it is because Christians have not told it to them. If people cannot see the transfiguring light of Jesus Christ, it is because Christians have not shown it to them. If people do not feel the love of God, it is because Christians have not shared it with them. As long as Christians wear the veil of compromise, we remain in the darkness, in slavery to sin and death—our message of salvation is insufficient for the cause. The time of sorrow is ever present, and reason may not overcome it.
On the campus of Tuskegee University there is a statue of Booker T Washington. He stands behind a slave, lifting off a full-body veil—and the slave is coming out from under it, perched, ready to stand, with one hand pushing back the veil and one hand holding an open book. The inscription on the statue reads, “Lifting the Veil Of Ignorance.”
As long as we compromise our faith, the promise of freedom of new life in Christ will remained veiled. Christians are called not to compromise but to proclaim that the promise of salvation, freedom, is fulfilled on a cross. We have a responsibility to the Christ, not to the Compromise.
This is our lesson for all times, from the moments of Moses until Christ comes again: No cross; no crown. When that message is the one that sticks, then, and only then, shall we live in the ultimate place of promise: the new heaven and new earth where there is room and love for all. Amen.

First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
February 14, 2010
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

It's a Divine Life

2009-12-31T08:04:00.000-08:00

1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26; Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 2:41-62

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Well, it’s finally over. Another Christmas is over, and we survived. All that’s left is the clean up. All the used wrapping paper is in the fireplace or out in the trash barrel; the Christmas tree’s days in a place of honor are numbered because all the pretty ornaments and twinkling lights are going back in their boxes. The boxes will be returned to their storage places in the attic, the cellar or the garage.

I do hope, friends, you had the kind of Christmas experience you wanted or hoped for: the family, the friends, the gifts, and the food; the quiet of the silent night, the blessing of a holy night. All of it.

This next week many of us will make mention of the ways we are going to improve, enhance or change the way we live in 2010. Many of us will predictably seek to live in the land of Overachievement. After every Christmas the approach of a new year inspires folks to accept the challenge of living not just a better life; we want to live a Great Life.

We have the morning news shows, Dr Phil, Oprah—though not for long; Martha Stewart, Jay Leno, Judge Judy, Fox News and countless others to help us improve our lives in 2010. They are all overachievers. Overachievement is a value in our society, but there are some who are positing a different theory.

In my research I discovered that there is one Ray Bennett, MD, who offers us a new resolution quest: Underachievement. Hear what he has to say:

“Underachievers are the best, most dependable workers. This may seem counter-intuitive but the key here is that while some achievement is necessary and good for productivity, a lot of it is dangerous to you and everyone around you. And if you have a wide enough perspective, you’ll see it’s also an exercise in futility.”

Here are his principles that support underachievement:
· Life’s too short.
· Control is an illusion.
· Expectations lead to misery.
· Great expectations lead to great misery.
· Achievement creates expectations.
· The law of diminishing returns applies everywhere.
· Perfect is the enemy of good.
· The tallest blade of grass is the surest to be cut.
· Accomplishment is in the eye of the beholder.

I’m not endorsing Dr Bennett’s thesis; I just use it to offer a different perspective. Actually, I believe that there is even another—an even better—way besides overachievement or underachievement to embrace a new life on January 1, 2010. And it’s not a new discovery. We’ve always had access to the secret because it’s right in the bible. All three of our texts describe this new way of life in one way or another.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about making a new year’s resolution to commit ourselves, our congregation, to the divine life in 2010. Believe it or not, the divine life is possible for all of us—one does not have to be divine to do so. One only has to put on the clothes of divinity. Divine clothing is nothing like anything we might have unwrapped on Christmas morning.

Look at I Samuel 2:18. We find Samuel about 12 years old wearing the priestly robe (apron, actually) that his mother Hannah has made for him. Yet, it is not the robe that is divine and allows Samuel to pursue the divine life—it is the faithful commitment of the tear-filled resolution Hannah, his mother, made to God before the boy was even conceived to promise and deliver the boy to God for God’s purpose.

Looking at another12-year-old boy at the Temple, we do not see Jesus wearing already woven priestly robes but we witness the weaving of the ephod of wisdom, another quality in the divine wardrobe. We might think that Jesus was born knowing it all because he was, after all, God’s son. Yet, the text is clear that Jesus did not “know it all”; he was sitting (not standing) among the teachers, listening to them, and asking questions. The ephod of his wisdom became visible as he demonstrated his understanding and answered their questions.

Paul in his letter to the Colossians talks a lot about the divine life and how the believers are to put on the clothes of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience and, above all, love.

A faith that is worn on the inside, secreted underneath the costume of human “niceness” is not only underachievement, it is an empty package; it’s coal in your stocking; it’s a Christmas tree without ornaments; it’s an angel without good news, it’s a heaven without the glory of God.

We cannot imagine such things. Without seeking to dress in the clothing of the divine life, we are as naked and forlorn as Adam and Eve in the Garden.

Resolve this year with me to dress our congregation in the raiment of divinity. Dressed appropriately we then may take on the true ministry God has purposed for us. It’s a divine life that our Lord desires for us; and its dress code applies 24/7: “…whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

December 27, 2009
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

IS THERE A VITAMIN FOR THAT?

2009-12-19T16:33:00.000-08:00

Micah 5:2-5a; Luke 1:39-55; Hebrews 10:5-10

“My soul magnifies the Lord...”

We received new members today; it's always a great day when that happens. Those of us who have attended here for a long time feel encouraged by the presence of new members for a variety of reasons:

· affirmation of the hope that we are a church worth joining
· new friends; people like us
· it means the church is growing
· we have more people to work on committees & suppers
· we will see an increase in our stewardship income
· the sanctuary will look fuller
· the pastor will meet her quota of attracting new members

Whatever the reason, we rejoice...for ourselves and for our newest members. Yet, what has happened here this morning is not about us. Contrary to the reasons listed above, the fact that we have 7 new members today is not because of something we do or do not do; it's only about what God is doing.

God sends these people to us for God's purposes, not ours. It's true, their gifts, as they share them, may be just what we need at the time, but these folks are not here to fulfill our hopes, solve our problems, or relieve our weariness. These seven are here first because God has sent them, and second because we wanted them to come. Learn not to mix up those two things, even though we put them through our paces the last several weeks in our new Exploring Membership class.

One of the questions that came out of this class was, “What do you do about Mary?” I have not been able to get that question out of my mind; and the timing is perfect because lo and behold, we're in the season of Advent, looking at Christmas just five days away, and it's traditionally our time to look for Mary, great with child, appearing stage left, right on cue.

We reformed Protestants don't give Mary all that much attention. She's only the Mother of God, after all. Mostly what we do is take Mary out of the box in December and set her in her rightful place next to the baby Jesus, who is lying in a manger while cattle are lowing and the star in the sky looks down where he lays.

Yet, the question from our friends who grew up Catholic is an important one for us to answer if we are to honor the journey that has led them here today. It's time for her to be delivered. It's time to take Mary out of the box, hold her in our hands, study her face, and listen intently to her song before we obligingly place her in the manger as usual because there is by design no room for her in the “inn.”

In this process, my hope is that we will take off our Protestant or Catholic ears and listen closely as Christians, because it is our faith in Jesus Christ that makes us one.

All that other stuff, like Catholic and Protestant, United Methodist and United Church of Christ, dogma and doctrine, only seems to breed debate, division and dissension, hardly the tone we're after at Christmas time

The challenge today is to make room for Mary in the inn, our inn-er selves, for she was the favored one of God; she was blessed among women and blessed was the fruit of her womb; she was the handmaiden of the Lord, a servant, untouched by the world, a believer in the God of Israel, the vessel between God and God's incarnation ...and a woman with 'tude, Attitude, with a capital A.

Don't be fooled by tradition and think that Mary was meek and mild, an inexperienced girl frightened by angel visitations in the middle of the day. Mary is far more sophisticated, far more courageous than many Christians, no matter the flavor, give her credit for.

Before we can understand Mary's attitude of magnificent joy, we must be acutely aware of the desperate times they lived in.

In those days of Caesar Augustus, an unmarried woman who was expecting could expect to be stoned to death in the streets.

Why does Mary sing of joy?

Those were the days of Herod the Great—great terror and great taxation, that is. Herod was deeply depressed and increasingly paranoid. Herod “had assassinated members of his own family for anything that even smelled of treachery” (Scot McKnight, “The Mary We Never Knew” in Christianity Today, Dec 2006), and he taxed Israel far beyond her means in part to fund the expansion of the Temple… to be called the Temple of Herod and to keep the Jews in abject poverty. He was an ugly so and so; too bad there wasn't a vitamin for that! We all probably know someone who could use such a vitamin!

Why? Why does Mary sing of joy?

I think Mary sings of joy because she has an attitude, an attitude of the greatness of God. God is great in trustworthiness; God is great in righteousness; and God is great in steadfastness.

I think Mary sings of joy because her place in the world, her God-given purpose in life, has been revealed to her and she believes God's word is true.

Mary did not seek the blessings of all generations so that she could be put on display once a year nor was it her idea to be kept in a garden grotto in the yards of the faithful.

I think that Mary sings of joy because the incarnation of God, the Word made Flesh, is the beginning of the end for the powerful and murderous, and it is also the beginning of the end of the suffering for the people of Israel.

They will be saved; God will pay the ransom with his Son, Christ our Lord. So, in the context of those horrific days in 5/6 BC, I now ask you,

How can Mary not sing of a great joy that is for all people?

Her attitude allows for the vision of a new day that God is bringing to pass. If we read the Magnificat, the Canticle of Mary, and identify the great reversals that God has planned for the powerful and the lowly, how can we not hear and see that hers is a song of subversion...subversion against ruthless, heartless kings; the powerful; the proud and all their brutal injustices:

“He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly” (Luke 1:52). Just imagine if King Herod, Great in Paranoia, had heard Mary's song! [Would it interest you to know that Herod died a few years later of kidney disease, gangrene and scabies?] There isn't any vitamin for that! His was a miserable death. Seems fitting.

What doesn't seem fitting is the death of God's son, on the cross. Yet, we know it to be another of God's great reversals. One innocent man, the blessed fruit of Mary's womb, dies for the sins of all humankind. The writer of Hebrews reminds us of Jesus' only mission, “See, I have come to do your will, O God.”

Have we come to this church to do God's will? Let it be done.

Can we sing, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” Let it be sung.

Do our spirits rejoice in God, our Savior? Then let us rejoice, for a visible faith in the Word of God made flesh is the best vitamin of all. Magnify! Get an attitude! Sing the courageous song of faith. Blessed are you! Amen.

December 20, 2009
1st Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

The Omega Point

2009-11-25T06:27:00.001-08:00

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14; Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord, God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Today, we celebrate “Christ the King,” aka, “Reign of Christ” Sunday, the last Sunday of the Church's year of seasons. In secular terms, it's the New Year's Eve of the Christian Church calendar.

Scripture on Reign of Christ Sunday teaches us that Christ was and is and is to be. It's called a tripartite formula. In other words, Jesus was with God in the beginning, and he is with God today, and he will reign with God forevermore. Jesus reigns over all because he was born a king, lived on earth as king—though his kingdom was not of this world—and he reigns as King forevermore, seated at the throne of God: God's formula, God's design. Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega Point of Truth. Jesus not only reveals truth; he is truth. All others are suspect.

On Friday, I heard a tripartite formula used in secular circumstances. With my mother and my brother, and four others, I spent four hours in the “holding tank” outside a courtroom in the Essex County Family Court Building in Salem, MA. We saw a lot of people coming and going: some arguing, some rejoicing. Lawyers were making corrections to settlements and negotiating terms between clients. There was lots of walking going on all the time—judges, attorneys, court officers, clients. All this was happening outside the courtrooms.

One woman stood out to me. She was trying to hold back her frustration and tears. She wore a black dress, too dressy for her shoes and the windbreaker she put on waiting for the elevator. A well-dressed, older man with briefcase in one hand and an umbrella in the other approached her. Despite the great echo, I heard him say to her, “Are you okay?” Then, he smiled and said, “That went pretty well.”

“No. I'm not okay” She wiped tears angrily from her cheeks, pushing back her stringy long hair. “Don't you see? He wins. I give up. He'll never change. He always was an xxxxx; he is an xxxxx; and always will be an xxxxx.” That is also a tripartite formula. She turned and walked down the grand stairs, weeping, disheveled and worst of all, broken. The smile faded from his face as he turned, stepped onto the elevator and the doors closed.

I had a long time to think that morning. It's a very old courthouse—marble and granite and cast iron railings and window panes on the inside; gargoyles, scrolling stonework and grand columns on the outside. I could not help but think about the history of Salem—church and state; witches and gallows. The former live in a lie, the latter dying in the truth. The irony of it all was as thick as the granite walls.

The long and the short of it was that my brother was on the losing end of a custody battle for his twin daughters. Nothing went his way, and he was told, by his attorney, that he was to say “Yes,” when the judge asked him if he agreed with the “agreement.” The new agreement had removed several of the previous arrangements he had for spending time with his daughters and ultimately gave sole custody to their mother. “You must say, Yes,” the attorney said.

The real travesty or dis-carriage of justice for me was when they were both sworn in. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?” I felt the rising of a bewitching cackle in my throat. There was no truth here. The court made my brother lie so that nothing worse would happen to him and the twins. Then the judge asked him if he agreed with the “agreement.” And again, he had to lie. He had such courage, I thought, when I wanted to stand up and shout, “No! It's not the truth; you're making him lie in a court of law!”

And I just cannot get that absurdity out of my head. I feel broken and disillusioned with the court system. I hope it will get better someday. I am grateful for the experience, however, in that I realize now that the courts have power like Pilate had power; it's a power that comes from a fallen world, so it's really no power at all. Jesus, however, has the real power, and his power is the truth.

Think about the interchange between Jesus and Pilate in the 18th chapter of John. Pilate's so uncomfortable, he keeps leaving the courtroom and walking the halls of his palace, time after time coming back to continue the “trial.” Why is he so uncomfortable? What about fear?

Look again at John 18:33. “Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you king of the Jews?” Pilate is nervous; definitely nervous. He's got Rome breathing down one side of his neck, and the Jerusalem crowds breathing down the other. It's almost as if Pilate is the one on trial, not Jesus.

In our vernacular, Jesus answered Pilate with a bit of sarcasm. In effect, Jesus said, “Are you personally interested or are you simply repeating gossip?” Jesus had no fear of Pilate; he did not have to tell Pilate only the things he wanted to hear so that everything could be packaged up nicely and sent away. That's the motive of this world.

However, “on Christ the King Sunday, we have to ask how the “not-of-this-world” reign of Jesus Christ relates to the “very-much-of-this-world situation in which we live.” Walter Brueggemann says quite succinctly, “The gospel narrative...makes a claim... that in Jesus of Nazareth the things of the world are settled on God's terms” (Sermon Seeds, UCC.org).

God's truth revealed in Jesus Christ brings me comfort today. I am so thankful for Jesus in my life. I sat on those uncomfortable wooden benches trying to figure out what God's terms are for this situation. I realize today that this truth is not mine to have and to hold right now. What is mine is faith in Jesus the Christ, the one who is truth. When I see him, I will understand the Omega Point of all of this suffering.

For now, let us find consolation in Jesus' words to Pilate. “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37b).

Long before John, Daniel witnessed to the same vision: “To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed” (Dan v 7:14).

For this we were born and shall ever be destroyed no matter what happens, my dear friends; for this we were brought into the world, to testify to God's truth, Jesus Christ. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever” (Rev 1:5b-6).

This world does not belong to us; any power we have comes from far beyond, in a higher court. We belong to Jesus, whose kingdom is not of this world. Jesus is the one in whom Alpha and Omega meet, and we are in his midst; we can gather around him by the thousands and ten thousands of thousands to worship him and call upon his holy name: O come, O come, Emmanuel; O Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus, O Come, brothers and sisters, let us adore him, Christ our Lord, the one who is and who was and who is to come” (Rev 1:8b). Amen.

November 22, 2009
First Parish Federated Church of S Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

I

Leaving Home

2009-10-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

Genesis 2:18-24; Hebrews 1:1-4; Mark 10:2-16

· Two weeks ago, I preached a good news message about God's wanting us to have not just a good life but a great life. The great life constituted protecting the vulnerable of society, not just the cherub-faced ones, but the deeply marginalized members of society (widows, orphans, poverty stricken, mentally ill, homeless, etc.).

· Last week the good news was about the immense power we have within us because we belong to Jesus Christ. This power, when used for good, allows us to accomplish great things for God in terms of serving the least of our brothers and sisters and improving the lives of the powerless among us.

· Today we have scripture that lends itself to discussing the foundation and sanctity of marriage. How does this follow along with the previous messages—that is our task for today; and somewhere in here lies the Good News.

· And what might this scripture say to Christians faced with the legal (Pharisaic) question regarding same-sex marriage?

· Pharisees are really good at bringing up the Law to trick and trap Jesus. They've never been able to do it, but we have to give them and A for effort.

· Please notice that their question is not about marriage but about divorce. Yet, when Jesus answers them, HE talks about relationship and God's true intention for marriage.

· In ancient days, marriage was primarily a means of ensuring families' economic stability and social privileges. A woman's sexuality—important for creating offspring and inter-family alliances—was essentially the property of her father, then of her husband.

· Divorce was an offense against the property owner, not against the woman, lawfully speaking. There was no such thing as “marriage equality,” any way one might want to understand that terminology.

· Jesus redirects the question about divorce because God's design was for marriage: a covenant between two people that grew by mutual commitment and accountability to each partner; it was never about cows and land and virgins. Those things are of human construct.

· Marriage in our industrialized day is not usually about property and blood lines and virginity; it is much more about people seeking mutual fulfillment—where two people commit to be there for better, for worse; for richer for poorer; in sickness and in health; in plenty and in want; til death they doth part. The problem is, of course, we all happen to be human.

· When I marry a couple, I believe that they believe they have every intention of fulfilling their vows. But there's something I say to them, (I look right in their eyes when I say it, too) just after I pronounce them husband and wife: “And above all else, never forget to be thankful for what God has done for you.”
·
· All jokes aside about the downside of marriage. I know it's hard work; I know it's not easy; I know that sometimes divorce is necessary. On the other hand, I know that marriage is a great blessing. It accomplishes great things for society: security, commitment, fulfillment, etc.
· Yet, from where I stand, I wonder how many married people perceive that marriage is treated as a privilege in our society when it really should be a right—fits right in there with the inalienables: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

· Whether you vote Yes on One or No on One is your right; I just want to ask you to know what you're voting on and why you vote the way you do. Avoid the tendencies to put our own opinions in God's mouth.

· This vote on November 3 on this question of legalizing same-sex marriage is just that: a legal question. And the legality is about granting the rights and the privileges of marriage to people who find mutual fulfillment with each other, are committed to each other for life, whether they stand before a legal representative of the state and pledge these things or not.

· However, when one is legally married, one has privileges that are not available to others in committed, covenant relationships: health insurance, purchasing power, visitation and end-of-life decision making for or by the loved one.

· And that is what this vote is about. The vote has nothing to do with God. It has to do with extending legal rights to people in the margins of society—just like the widowed, the orphaned and the leprous ones in Jesus' day.

· It's about allowing, legally in the eyes of the state, two persons who are in a committed, covenantal, mutually fulfilling and satisfying relationship with each other, who desire to be responsible to and for each other.

· We are called to lead a great life and we have the power to lead a great life—a life that watches out for the poor and marginalized, the oppressed and ostracized—because we belong to the one who came to save us ALL from poverty and oppression, sin and death.

· My job here today is not to convince you or instruct you or demand that you or judge you in how to vote on November 3. I will love you no matter which way you vote.

· I do not know what it is like to be married, both the good stuff and the hard stuff and the bad stuff if it all goes wrong. I do not know a lot of things about life, but what I DO know is this:
·
· to love as I have been loved;
· to heal as I have been healed;
· to forgive as I have been forgiven;
· to feed as I have been fed;
· to care for all others as I have been cared for;
· to speak for those who have been silenced;
· to remember those who have been forgotten;
· to suffer not the little children to come unto Christ for such is the kingdom of heaven;
· and above all else, to never forget to be thankful for what God has done for you, for me, for the whole wide world through the gift of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, so that we would never have to be alone. Amen.

The Great Life

2009-09-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

Mark 9:30-37; James 3:16-4:6

Most people want to live a good life, wouldn't you say? A good life might be described by what we have and what we do. We value a well-kept home and nice car, a fulfilling job and a close family; we desire to take care of our health and our minds; we volunteer at our churches and schools, donate to charities, save for our children's education, and help our neighbors. We obey the rules, pay our taxes, provide for our families, pick up after ourselves, and purpose to be productive citizens. We put a good deal of effort into having and doing these things. We live a good life.

Living the good life is a good thing, so relax. We are not about to be upbraided for having what we have and doing what we do. The purpose of scripture, I believe, is not to beat us to a pulp; the purpose of the scripture is to tell us good news, and the good news from scripture today is that God wants us to live more than a good life: God wants us to live a GREAT life.

The quibbling point is, what we consider the “great life” to be and what God defines the “great life” to be lead to two very different destinies.

In this passage from Mark, Jesus does not rebuke the disciples for their debate about greatness; he teaches the disciples what true greatness is. If you want to be great, he says, then become like one of these [children]. Embrace them.

We love stories about Jesus and the children. Many a Christian has heard many a sermon and sung many a hymn about the little children coming to Jesus: “Little ones to him belong; they are weak but he is strong...” We become very sentimental when we think of Jesus with the children; we love to sing “Jesus Loves Me,” one of the most beloved hymns in all of Christendom. By the way, did you know that...

In 1943 in the Solomon Islands, John F. Kennedy's PT-109 was rammed and sunk. Islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, who found Kennedy and the survivors, remember that when they rode on PT boats to retrieve the survivors, the Marines sang this song with the natives, who learned it from missionaries.
This hymn was titled "China" in some hymnals of the 19th century, and it was the inspiration for the name of the town of China, Maine.1
When Jesus called the child to him and told his disciples that they must become like “one of these” if they wanted to be great, what was he really saying? Nothing sweet and sentimental, that's for sure.
First-century children were extraordinarily vulnerable, not only physically but also culturally, due to
their low status in family and society. Most first-century children were not even expected to survive until adulthood, so it was only when they grew up that they became “real people.” Children had nothing to give and the only things they “took” were orders from adults. They really were WEAK.

So imagine disciples' confusion when they wanted to know who was the greatest, and Jesus showed them the weakest: “26 inches tall, limited in vocabulary, unemployed, zero net worth, [a] nobody.”2
In our present economical circumstances in this country, there are many adults who are now unemployed, have a low or zero net worth, and often feel like nobodies. The good life is disappearing for so many with no good news in sight. Once confident, productive and strong adults now feel powerless, weak, because the good life has been stolen from them. As one man said to me this week, “Where's my bailout?” He used to have a good life: he had a good job, a good apartment, a good car. Then he lost his job and now he's living in his van and he is hungry everyday. Even if he had food, it's very difficult to cook food in a van.

Imagine how excruciatingly difficult it is to ask for help in the first place when one is used to being self-sufficient and sheltered, strong and satisfied. Grown men have come here and wept for the sense of failure and devaluation they experience under the economical circumstances we face today. They feel defenseless, and they are powerless (weak) in contention with our culture.

Is Jesus teaching us that we must become powerless and weak? Yes. And so we find ourselves much as the disciples must have been, perplexed, disconcerted and disconnected, and certainly provoked. As I said, however, this is not a sermon to chastise us. In God's kingdom, if we want to find our “way to the top, we must lay claim to the last and lowest place.”3

You see, what Jesus is saying is that God's kingdom belongs to those to whom the world says nothing belongs. Does this mean we all give up our jobs, our 401ks, and live in our cars? Absolutely not. No one would choose to do such things. What Jesus wants us to choose is the lifestyle not of greatness but of gratitude; to have a heart for God's righteousness, not a mind for self-righteousness.

To be great in God's economy, we evaluate every system, every power, every choice based on what it will do for the most vulnerable, not those closest to us.”4 We are called to be “great” for those who experience prejudice, intolerance, and discrimination simply for desiring to have the same rights and privileges we all expect. We will be voting in November on this very thing. How will each of us vote, out of the good life or out of the great life?

Why does God want us to live this great life? So that those who are considered least in our society may be encouraged, empowered, and most of all, embraced. Jesus calls us to reflect God's extravagant welcome; hear it with your own ears; say it with me, with your own lips: “No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here” ...and not only welcomed, but embraced.

Jesus taught his disciples, and so he teaches us. Let there be no confusion. The message for us today is to live not just a good life, but the greatest life by welcoming the least, for when we welcome the least, we welcome Jesus, and not [just] Jesus, but the One who sent Jesus. Let's begin our new year with this call to greatness...and await what the Lord has in store for us, this Church, and the community God has placed us here to serve and to embrace. Amen.

September 20, 2009
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise

CRUMBS

2009-09-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 35;4-7a; James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17; Mark 7:24-37

“Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.”

Today we are going to spend a little time under the table before we gather “at the table.” Under the table one can find such treasures as food scraps, spilled milk, dropped shoes or silverware, used paper napkins, toys, dogs, cats, maybe ants and who knows what else. If you look at the floor around the table after dinner, you can always tell where the youngest children were sitting—you can tell what was on the menu just by looking under there. You should see what's on the floor after a church supper!

Yet, the real jaw dropper in today's message is the under-the-table zinger exchange between Jesus and the Syro-Phoenician woman. Lots of folks have a hard time swallowing the idea that Jesus could say something so rude, especially to a despondent parent who has come to him looking for compassion and healing. His calling the woman a dog just doesn't compute. That's not the Jesus we know and love!

The desperate woman who has come out to find Jesus who is just as desperately trying not to be found.

Haven't we all been in that position now and again, when we just want some alone time? Time to think a complete thought; remember our names, retreat from the pressures of everyday life and experience a little quiet? Jesus needed that kind of time, too. Leaving Galilee and Capernaum behind and traveling into Gentile territory of Tyre and Sidon was a little like Jesus crawling under the table to get away from it all and stay out of sight of all the people who wanted to get something from him.

But...the syro-phoenician woman must have heard about the power of this Jesus; and rumor had it that the healer was in town. For the sake of her daughter, she went out looking for him, not particularly because she believed that he was Messiah, the Son of God, or anything like that. She was a woman desperate to save the life of her child. She would have done anything, gone anywhere, promised everything to anyone who could exorcise the demon that possessed her daughter.

She did not know, nor did she really care at the time, that the man whom she sought was not only able to set her daughter free from a demon, but that he was also the one who had come to set all people free from the demons of sin and death. She was focused on one thing only. All the woman wanted was a few crumbs of his time; she wasn't looking for a complementary ticket to the banquet. And when she catches up with Jesus, what does she get for her trouble?

“Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”

The Syro-Phoenician woman, however, does not miss a beat in the exchange. Nothing can dissuade her from her appointed errand—her child's life is at stake. “Yes, Lord," she replies, "yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” What does that mean? How about, “I may be a 'dog' but even dogs need to eat.” Why does Jesus seem to change his mind and grant her daughter's healing?

Notice: the woman does not slink away; she doesn't give up on Jesus. She hangs on as long as there is even just one crumb of hope, and it is her tenacity and quick comeback that endears her to Jesus. “For saying this you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” Compassion at last.

When the woman returned home, she found her daughter healed. Jesus had not come near the girl. He did not touch her, put spittle on her, say a magic word or anything else. The daughter was healed from a distance because her mother had the courage to come near to the Lord, stay near the Lord and put her complEte trust--her whole self--in him.

You see, just like in our passage from Isaiah, the Lord's presence turns the tables upside down, everything goes through a great reversal--deserts bloom, roads are made straight, hearts change, the blind are made to see, the deaf to hear and the lame to leap like deer.

And the mastery of this whole episode teaches us a few lessons.

1. Tenacity in faith is essential.
2. God is merciful.
3. The Lord loves a good debate.
4. And most of all--

Even the “crumbs” are enough to bring healing and wholeness, miracles and mysteries, to each one of us. We don't need the whole loaf to get the big benefit. A single crumb will do

When we come out from under the table of thinking we might not deserve what God has to give, we find ourselves standing AT the table. The complete banquet of love and salvation is before us.Have you ever wondered why everybody gets just a small piece of the loaf? We don't need to eat the whole loaf, we don't have to grab a fistful to get all the Christ we need; we simply take is one small piece. Even the crumbs that fall from the loaf as we pull one piece carries within it the entire promise of God to each of his children—wayward or demon- possessed, obedient or rebellious, passive or aggressive, astute or simple or any other combination you can think of--the great sacrifice made for the salvation of all God's children.

The Good News is that there's enough love and healing, mercy and hope in one little crumb from the loaf to feed the whole world with Christ's love. So he calls us to come out from "under our table" where our hurts and failings, disappointments and demons hide, and stand before his table: take and eat for this bread is Christ's body broken for us; take and drink for this is his cup of blessing poured out for us. Christ feeds us with his love, so eat your fill and "Be opened." Let Christ open our ears, release our tongues and speak plainly of the most amazing love the world has ever known. "Ephphatha!" Amen.

September 6, 2009
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

Contagious Purity

2009-08-31T04:11:00.000-07:00

Song of Solomon 2:8-13; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

“But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”

We like to keep ourselves looking good on the outside, don’t we? We put a lot of effort into it. Yet, today’s word of scripture is about improving how we look on the inside. We are warned by James to avoid being “Like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like” (1:23-24).

The Pharisees were big on looking good, that is, clean, on the outside. they believed that their religious rituals led to their personal perfection, which made them better than everybody else. It was as if being perfect in God’s law made them as perfect as God.

The Pharisees tried so very hard to protect themselves from defilement that they must have met themselves coming and going from one dirty washroom to the next. The problem was that the ways they went about being pure were contaminated with self-designed rules and regulations.
In the midst of all that ceremonial washing, When did they have time for God?

It is so easy to be distracted from God when higher honor is given to human traditions and religious rituals. In their efforts to prove themselves pure, the Pharisees actually poisoned others around them by spreading their own impurity upon the innocent and vulnerable.

James speaks to this truth: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (1:27). The Pharisees would never be in the same room with widows and orphans and the vulnerable for fear of being defiled by them. Every time they chose to wash their own feet instead of the feet of the marginalized of society, they defiled themselves. They defeated themselves.

Never one to miss a teachable moment, Jesus answered the Pharisees’ defilement challenge by naming true defilement. “There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile…For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come” (Mark 7:15, 21a).

God did not design us to be hopelessly impure. Neither are we designed for perfection. Who wants a world filled with perfect people? God does not care if our hands and faces are dirty. What God cares about is the condition of our hearts. The one thing, above all else, that our God desires, is our hearts, clean and pure, ready to receive and then to share God’s abundant and perfect love for all people. So, how is it possible to share this good news.

We easily understand physical contamination, defilement, impurity in scientific, biological terms. Germs are bad; disinfectant is good. No one would prepare dinner in the bathroom, even though statistics show that the bathroom is often the cleanest room in the house. There is just a huge “ick factor” in the very idea. We all have standards of physical purity.
What, then, are the standards of spiritual purity? What if we felt as much of the “ick factor” about dishing out wounding remarks as we do about the proper ways to prepare our food? “Jesus is proposing that we intentionally build a culture that worries about whether our behavior is feeding grudges or a spiral of violence in the same way—but with considerably more intensity—that most of us were brought up to worry about food practices feeding bacteria” (Dylan’s Lectionary Blog: Proper 17, Year B).

Let’s take this even a step further. Most of us consider that if one impure thing touches a pure thing, then the whole thing is rendered impure. By the way, the five-second rule is really bad for you. I heard it on The Doctors. Let that assumption about purity carry over into how we treat people. Don’t we get caught, like the Pharisees did, in judging others as “less than?”

We are not called to live in such a way. I share with you these words written by Sarah Dylan who has such a brilliant insight to Jesus and his teachings that I dare not paraphrase and risk losing the clarity and truth of which she speaks.

It is possible to live in such a way, to display in our relationships a quality and consistency of love, that something the world writes off as irredeemable is transformed into something bearing witness to God’s power to redeem. If it’s what goes in that makes someone impure, then people need to guard carefully against coming into contact with the wrong sort of person, lest they come into contact with the wrong sort of things. But if what flows out of people in loving relationship with one another radiates purity, then we are freed to live making decisions based on love and not in fear. That I s an incredibly radical, liberating transformative insight—one I’m always trying to take in more deeply.

And there’s one further insight from Jesus’ view of purity that might be more radical still. If purity is something radiated out by how we are in relationships, then we actually NEED other people for a life of holiness. For example, If true purity is about exercising forgiveness, then we NEED to take the risk of staying in relationship with people the world thinks are hopeless to experience God’s holiness. If true purity involves exercising compassion, then suffering in the world isn’t proof that God doesn’t care, but is an opportunity to experience and proclaim just how much and in what ways God does care. If true purity is about relationship, then the challenges facing us as a church of flawed and bickering people are an opportunity to understand God’s grace more deeply and proclaim it more powerfully by insisting that reconciliation be the first, middle and final word. ..That’s Jesus’ teaching in this Sunday’s gospel; that’s the example we have in Jesus’ manner of life, which posed a profound challenge to his Pharisaic brothers much as it challenges the church today.

When we look in the mirror, I pray we do not walk away unaffected by what we see. I pray that we see the full potential of whom God creates us to be. I pray that we become carriers of contagious purity from this moment out, visiting one another with the only goal of how to build up one another in love.

In our God is the strength and power we need to meet every challenge that life presents us. Avoid the “ick factor.” Every time we look in the mirror, let’s strive to spend the rest of the day being as good-looking on the inside as we are on the outside, for God created us beautiful. Amen.

August 30, 2009
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

Suiting Up For Christ

2009-08-31T04:09:00.000-07:00

Joshua 24:14-28; John 6:60-71; Ephesians 6:10-20

In Matthew 16, there is a simple exchange between Jesus and Peter, which ends with Jesus asking, “But who do you say that I am?” and Peter answering, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Yet, at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, in the hands of the ancient church fathers, Peter’s answer is slightly adapted to help us understand who Jesus is and his position in the Trinity.
Jesus said, “Who do men say that I am?” And his disciples answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist returned from the dead; others say Elijah, or others say of the old prophets.”
Jesus asked, "But who do you say that I am?"
Peter answered, "Thou art the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, by an act of His will, being generated, in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to his creation, but only on the fact that Scripture speaks of a Father, and a Son, and a Holy Spirit, each member of the Trinity being coequal with every other member, and each acting inseparably with and interpenetrating every other member, with only an economic subordination within God, but causing no division which would make the substance no longer simple."

And to that answer, Jesus said, "Huh?"

So now that we understand how the three members of the Trinity relate to each other, let’s look at today’s three passages of scripture and examine how they relate to each other. I will focus on these three things: choices, witnessing, and faith.

The tribes make their emphatic choice to worship and serve Yahweh, even though Joshua defiantly goads their proclamation over and over again. “You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God” (v 19). In the repartee, what happens? The people become louder and more emphatic in their witness to the covenant with Yahweh, “YES! WE WILL SERVE THE LORD! Then they confidently departed each tribe to their own land.

The crowds of disciples who have followed Jesus from the feeding of five thousand on the mount, across the sea of Galilee and then back again, the ones who begged Jesus to “give them this bread always” have been brought to the peak of faithfulness only to fall off the edge, trading faith’s fervor for great grumbling. “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” (v 60). They had a choice to make.

Most chose to leave; they departed, each back to their own land, their regular life. Only the twelve remained with the Holy One of God—and one of them would deny him three times, another would betray him with a kiss into the “sworded” (and sordid) hands of Roman soldiers.

· The fledgling churches to which Paul wrote were persecuted
relentlessly. They lived in the midst of people who hated them and a government that hunted them. They were shunned for
choosing to follow that radical blasphemer, Jesus Christ; for their rejection of the letter of the law for the spirit of the law; for their strange (cannibalistic!) practices and offensive teachings. They must have been afraid at times, insecure and vulnerable at times, so Paul reminds them that the strength of the Lord God is with them at all times. Easier said than done, many would say, but Paul knows what he is talking about.

We do not need complicated dogma when we are in crisis; Paul tells us simply, with imagery we can understand, what we need to do: “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (vv 10-11).

I wanted to talk to you this morning about the shield and the helmet and breastplate, etc, probably because that would have been easier to do. However, I feel that God wants me to share with you instead how the armor of God makes us strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. How it makes us able to stand in the face of what would destroy us and brings us triumphantly through to the other side.

In June, in one day, I received two envelopes in the mail, and the contents of each caught me with my armor down. One letter was from the IRS and the other was from the Pheasant Hill Property Board. One said that I still owed them several hundred dollars after the several thousand I already paid them; the other said the condo owners were each being assessed $4000--$1000 each year for this year and the next three years and the first $500 was due July 1, just a few weeks away.

I didn’t have on my armor, I hadn’t suited up for Christ before I opened my mail, so I was not prepared to fight the good fight, physical, spiritual or otherwise. I began to cry and pace around my house. I was ready to give up. I began to succumb; I began repeating words I seemed to be hearing in my head, “You can’t do this; just give up. It’s impossible! Give up, give up, give up.” Over and over again, I heard the words—and I hated them but I was almost ready to believe them.
Then I heard a new voice, some new words, “He’s trying to trick you.” And I stopped in my tracks. Something came over me—was it the armor of God, the spirit of truth, the light of Jesus, the word of God, shining in my present darkness? Just when I was about to succumb to the wiles of evil, God spoke a stronger word to me. “Don’t believe it.” The Lord became strong in me.

I stood up straight, stretched out my arms toward the ceiling, the bad-news papers still clenched in my fist, and out loud I proclaimed (I even think I was gritting my teeth), “OK, God, then you do this!” And a sense of calm came over me. I stopped crying; I put the papers down; and I took a nap. Fighting the devil wears you out, you know!

You see, what I realized was that voice in my head, the one that was so cunning and devious, was trying to get me to believe that I was lost and alone, weak and vulnerable. I believe that voice, that deceitful cunning, is what Paul is warning all believers about when he speaks of the wiles of the devil. Only the whole armor of God can protect us when it comes to spiritual warfare.

All those bills have been paid now, God provided for me and God will provide for you, too. God provides because God loves. When clothed in the armor of God, no devil shall be able to prevail against us. Neither shall it overcome Christ’s church. True light will shine blindingly bright in this present darkness.

This is the good news today, God provides and God prevails. Why? Because the Lord our God is a jealous God and he never lets go of those who belong to him. God is so possessive of us that he sent his only son not because Jesus art the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, by an act of His will, being generated, in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to his creation,” but because he loves us beyond this world into the next.

So when Jesus asks you, “Do you also wish to go away?” give him not long laundry list of excuses, simply confess, as Peter did, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” The only answer left then is to follow him when we hear him call our names. Amen.

August 23, 2009
First Parish Federated Church of south Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

2009-08-11T08:07:00.001-07:00

DRAWN BY GOD
I Kings 19:4-8; John 6:35, 41-51

No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me;
and I will raise that person up on the last day.

I want to tell you a story of a real man named Sadhu Sundar Singh, who was born in India in 1889. At the age of 15, he converted to Christianity after having a vision of Jesus. His father threw him a farewell party and then kicked him out of the family. It was Sundar's life work to travel around distributing gospels to people. He came upon some non-Christians on the train and offered a man a copy of John's gospel. The man took it, tore it into pieces in anger and threw the pieces out of the window. That seemed the end. But it so happened, in the provident of God, there was a man anxiously seeking the truth walking along the train tracks that very day, and he picked up as he walked along, a little bit of paper. In his own language it read, “The Bread of Life.” He did not know what it meant so he began to ask of his friends.

One of them said, “I can tell you; it is out of the Christian Book. You must not read it or you will be defiled.“ The man thought for a moment and said, “I want to read a copy of the book that contains that beautiful phrase!” and he bought a copy of the New Testament. He was shown where the sentence occurred—our Lord's words “I am the Bread of Life”; and as he studied the Gospel, the light flooded into his heart. He came to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he became a preacher of the gospel. That little bit of paper through God's Spirit was indeed the Bread of Life to him, satisfying his deepest need (Adapted from Stephen Olford. Basics for Believers, 2003, pp 112-13).

Sundar Singh, it seems to me, was drawn by God for a very special purpose in spreading Truth. A holy encounter with God, God's angels, or Jesus himself happens over and over again in the bible and behind all the action is God drawing his people closer to him all the time.

Elijah was drawn by God to eat the bread of life even as the hunted prophet prayed for his own death. Under the shady, shaggy broom tree he fell asleep and either had a dream or awoke to the touch of an angel instructing him to, “Get up and eat.” His daily bread is provided near his head. He eats and falls back to sleep. Once more the words, “Get up and eat or the journey will be too much for you.” Elijah does as he is told. We don't know if Elijah is still worried that Jezebel was in pursuit of his life or not. What we do know is that after the meal of bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water, he got up and went in the strength of that food for forty days and nights Horeb, the mount of God.

Long before Jesus, you see, God was in the business of providing bread for the journey and food for the soul. God could draw the hearts of even those who though they were once zealous for the Lord but later, at the end of the day, would rather die than face another day. God, our Father and Creator, draws his children closer through life-giving bread—quite unlike Sundar's father who sent the boy packing when he gave his life to the Lord.

Food has always been a big draw for people. In ancient times just about every decision, every business transaction, and every religious ritual was centered around food. How many stories in the bible can you name that have food as one of its central characters? You can only get as far as Chapter 3 in Genesis before food—a certain fruit—leads the world's first eviction notice. Food is intended to be for our good, yet when we look around today, many people in our country have turned our daily bread for sustenance into an hourly bread, an addiction. Obesity is epidemic among children and adults alike. The weight-loss industry is a $40 billion business in this country.

In 2004, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ranked obesity as the number one health threat facing America. Obesity currently results in an estimated 400,000 deaths annually1 and costs nearly $122.9 billion.2
These statistics lead me to ask, What is it that we are so hungry for? What do we hear ourselves and others saying? “I'm so hungry; I can't seem to get enough to eat.”

It's pretty common knowledge that many people are overweight because they eat the wrong foods—and lots of it. Others eat to swallow their pain; some find their weight as a way to protect themselves from anyone or anything that might get too close to them.

We're a hungry people; we stay hungry because we do not feast on the right food. Yes, we need to make deposits in our bodies of the seven food groups for our physical health, but I think that we are still starving and foraging for food because we do not eat the Bread of Life.

I was thinking about the food chart and I began to convert it into a spiritual food chart. Try to imagine with me as I describe this spiritual food pyramid.

At the base of the pyramid are three blocks. One is “bread of life”; the next is “living water”; and the third is “new birth.” In the second tier there are two blocks. One is filled with “The Word” and the other is filled with “Prayer.” At the top of the pyramid is “Worship.” As with the food pyramid, I have assigned suggested servings of each block in the spiritual pyramid.

Worship=1 large serving on Sundays; mini servings on weekdays in the midst of other moments or specially set aside. (Psalm 100:4; Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.)
The Word: I recommend at least two servings per day, one in the morning and one in the evening so as to begin and end the day with God filling your soul. (Matthew 4:4—a man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.)
Prayer = all day long—at least once before every meal and at bedtime, and any time in between (I Thessalonians 5:17).
Born Anew= first thing every morning. (John 3) Remember that Jesus taught Nicodemus that if he wanted see the kingdom of God he would have to be born from above.
Living Water=8 times a day. (John 4) Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that if she knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to her, 'Give me a drink,' she would have asked him and he would have given her living water.)
Bread of Life=all day long; repeat as often as necessary. “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.” (John 6:50).

Unlike the temporary bread and water, when we eat a balanced spiritual food diet, we cannot overeat. We will grow, that is true, not around our middles but in the middle of our being—the heart and soul of who God creates and calls us to be.

Many things in our world draw us in, but they are not always the right things or good things. It is a test of will for humanity has a tendency to resist the holy things. But it's all very logical, you know. If we want to have a healthy body, we have to feed it the good things, the right things so that it can function well and allow us the strength and freedom to be all that we can be.

So if we extend the metaphor, if we want to have a healthy spirit, we must also feed our spirits with the right and good things. Jesus is the one thing, the holy thing that can fill all our spiritual needs. He is the bread of life that God provides for the whole of our lives, both on temporal and eternal.

The Good News today my friends is that God provides the true Bread of Life—all that we need to survive and thrive in today's famished world. In II Peter 3 Peter writes, the Lord does not want any of us to perish...EVER.

We have been given this Bread of Life so that we may have eternal life, drawn by God's love for us through those beautiful gates we are supposed to enter with thanksgiving. When we eat of this bread we will be spiritually filled up. Gone is the desire to eat more manna that still leaves us hungering for who knows what, and come to us is the Way to take a 40-day journey through any wilderness to the mount of God. We will survive it because God is drawing us closer with each new day—it matters not how many Jezebels seek our demise; it's like the wind and the waves, no matter how wild a ride it gets to be, cast your Jesus bread upon the waters and just see what happens.

The journey will not be too much for us when we eat the True bread of Life that God has sent directly from heaven to feed us. Forget about eating pounds of fruitless fear; stop drinking gallons of worry, anger, vengeance or apathy. We must get up and eat this Bread of Life, otherwise the journey will be too much for us. And do not worry about having enough for the journey. We've already seen what Jesus can do with five loaves and two fishes.

Eat well of the Lord today and every day, my friends, for God is drawing us nearer by the hour. Amen.

August 9, 2009
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise

2009-08-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

MANNA ON THEIR MINDS
Exodus 16:2-4; 9-15; John 6:24-35

“I am the bread of life.”

Humanity hungers for many things—food, shelter and clothing, of course. Yet, we have other hungers as well; we have emotional, intellectual, cultural, visceral needs all blistering for a salve.

Money will not soothe the burn. In an economy as wounded as ours is, something richer is needed. We have been taught where sustenance is to be found, yet it is often the last pantry we search for that seemingly elusive spiritual satisfaction.

There is a spiritual famine in our land, even right in our own community. People today are starving for God. How is it that they have not recognized the Bread of Life moving among them? Why is it so many remain as wilderness people—wandering and wondering—with only the next crop of manna on their minds?

People walk up and down the sidewalks on either side of our sanctuary every Sunday (I can see them when the windows are open in the summer.) Even though I am speaking with you, my mind wanders out there. I shoot off a little prayer for them—and even the dogs they might be walking with—praying that some day they may walk in here rather than right past here. I want them to have what we have. I hunger for them to feast with us upon the Bread of Life.

Jesus said to the crowds, “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”

That’s how it is with miracles, you know. We often miss them in their ordinariness.

Barbara Brown Taylor wrote a sermon titled, “Bread of Angels” on these two passages from Exodus and John. She, too, cautions folks about missing the point of manna and miracles. Listen to her words:

If your manna has to drop straight out of heaven looking like a perfect loaf of butter-crust bread, then chances are you are going to go hungry a lot.

When you do not get the miracle you are praying for, you are going to think that God is ignoring you or punishing you or—worse yet—that God is not there. You are going to start comparing yourself to other people and wondering why they seem to have more to eat than you do, and you may start complaining to heaven about that.

Meanwhile, you are going to miss a lot of other things God is doing for you because they are too ordinary…If on the other hand you are willing to look at everything that comes to you as coming to you from God, then there will be no end to the manna in your life…Nothing will be too ordinary or too transitory to remind you of God.

Take something as ordinary and transitory as a yard sale. FPFC has the yard sale of yard sales.
Yesterday, all over the Ouellette’s lawn you could see customers on their cell phones. “You should get down here!” They were saying. “It’s unbelievable!”

While I was there for several hours on Friday and Saturday, what I witnessed among people in our church was nothing short of miraculous.

Perhaps it seemed like we were raising money to benefit our ministries here at the church, but I also know that we were releasing miracles to benefit anyone who crossed our path. What I saw was people doing the work of God by believing in the one whom God sent.

I saw such faith as I witnessed the camaraderie of your working side by side, emptying the barn stocking the tables, laying out the furniture. We were red-faced and back bent; we were sweating yet smiling; we were determined and delighted and depleted. We are exhausted yet we are replete. How good this feels!

I could feel how much you love each other, and it doesn’t get much better than that for any pastor who leads a congregation.

I witnessed as you worked at the grill, under the canopies—sorting, folding, lugging, selling, assisting customers with their purchases—making their eyes light up with the price of a bargain, and sharing invitations to join with us at church.

You could ask any of the workers yesterday to testify to the encounters they shared with people and you would understand that miracles happen, even at yard sales.

You see, the Good News today is that God is always sending us something to eat.

Day by day, God is made known to us in the simple things that sustain our lives—some bread, some love, some breath, some wine—all those absolutely essential things that are here today and gone tomorrow. (BBT, p 11.)

On the surface it appeared as if we were “doing it for the church” or “to meet our budget.”

Yet, very truly I tell you, we were able to work so very diligently and devotionally for God because we are growing in our belief in the one whom God sent: Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life—and we want to work for this Bread always.

Because of our hunger for the Lord, it matters a little less what the difficult economy is doing. It matters more that people are being fed by the one who supports, sustains and satisfies spiritual life.

The world hungers for this food—always. Serve the people the same bread we taste today: the Bread of Life, sent by the one who created it all. Amen.

Taylor, Barbara Brown. Bread of Angels, p 10.

FIRST PARISH FEDERATED CHURCH OF S BERWICK, ME
August 2, 2009
Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

A Tale of Two Kings

2009-07-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

II Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10; Mark 6:1-13

“He ordered them to take nothing for their journey…”

On July 4, 1776, King George III of Great Britain made an entry in his daily journal: “Nothing of importance happened today.”

What people of the king’s time thought of him sometimes mattered which side of the “pond” they were on. The patriots in the Revolutionary War would make effigies of him and burn them. They would throw rocks at pictures of the monarch and burn down the houses of known loyalists in the colonies. To all those people in the colonies, he was not a hero, but an evil tyrant.
The Loyalists in the Revolutionary War loved the King. They would hang pictures of him on their walls and would salute the flag of Great Britain every day. They would hold tea parties for King George III. For most Loyalists, he was a hero, almost a god.
So which kind of king was he? An evil tyrant or an idolized hero? I think he was probably both, depending upon which side of the “pond” one swam in. Most of us have had the experience of perceiving someone one way and then hearing someone else describe that same person as the exact opposite. Who is right? Is anybody wrong? Humanity is complex; we can be both depending on which side of the relationship we’re on.

Two of today’s lessons focus on kings. As I studied the passages this week, I began to sense similarities and differences, so I lined up qualities of King David in one column and Jesus in another, each as inferred or stated in just the scripture we read today.

First, I wrote down general knowledge or background information that we know about them.

They were both related (remember the lineage chart at the beginning of Matthew); they were 30 years old at the beginning their official work; they were both identified as shepherds—David of sheep and Jesus of people; and they were both kings. Yet, the kind of kings they were, were quite different, depending on which side of the Galilean Lake one lived.

Let’s look at the two passages again for noting dissimilarities. What do you see in David’s story that is oppositional to what happens in the story about Jesus?

In David’s story, the 12 tribes come to David at Mount Hebron, the fourth holiest place in Judea (Abraham Isaac, Jacob, Rebecca, etc all buried in a cave there), and proclaim, “Look, we are your bone and flesh” (v 1b). David’s reputation of being a great warrior was known far and wide. His flesh and bone wanted to be in covenant with him.

In Jesus’ story, Jesus returned to Nazareth, where he grew up and where a lot of his relatives still lived, and they said, “Is not this the carpenter, the Son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas (Jude) and Simon and are not his sisters here with us?”

His flesh and bone rejected this hometown boy; he was no hero to them. Instead, they thought he was either crazy or arrogant or both and they took offense at him (v 3c).

The tribes made a covenant with David. “So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.

When Nazareth rejected Jesus, he was heard to say, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house” (v 4).

David built a city for himself and named it, “City of David.”

Jesus, on the other hand, was chased out of more cities and towns than one could count; people were always plotting against him, trying to kill him, to get rid of him. His rejection in his own hometown made it impossible for him to reach and teach the people about the kingdom of God coming near. He was too familiar to them.

What he was teaching and claiming just didn’t jive with how they remembered the carpenter’s son. Mark writes that, “He could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them” (v 5).

Finally, in verse 5:10, these words are written, “And David became greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.”

When Jesus went to the cross, he was heard to say, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And when Jesus was hung on that tree to die, they hung a sign over his head. Do you remember what it said? “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”

The scribes and the Pharisees despised Jesus, Jesus was too radical; he was disloyal; he would not answer to any earthly king, let alone the keepers of the law.

And the people felt betrayed: He was not the military Messiah they were expecting to conquer the world and set it at their feet. I wouldn’t doubt it if somebody went home that Friday night and said to their family, “Nothing of importance happened today.”

There’s one more important difference between King David and King Jesus. David became greater because the “Lord was with him.” Jesus on the other hand, is the Lord. And that’s the good news today, friends: Jesus is the living Lord who reigns in heaven and walks with us everyday.

Is it not good to know not only that the republic for which our flag stands survives 233 years after our declaration of independence from Ol’ King George, and also that our Lord and King, Jesus the Christ, stands and reigns to this day, 2000 years later.

He is alive and because he is alive we can worship him and put our trust in him, but he needs to see that we’re alive with our faith and our loyalty and commitment to the very mission for which he came to earth, for which he sent out the twelve disciples two by two: to save all people from their sins that they may one day live with him in paradise.

The mission may be filled with discomfort and rejection, but we need to take nothing for the journey—no bread, no bag, no money in our belts—except the staff of faith for protection and direction, and a tunic of hope for endurance and assurance. Let’s take this journey, friends; let’s live for the Lord, and let something of great importance happen today, Confess that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, forever and ever, Hallelujah! Amen.

OVERCOME WITH AMAZEMENT

2009-06-30T04:52:00.000-07:00

Mark 5:21-43; 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15

“Then, one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw Jesus, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.”

“She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,
for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”

Jesus preached the shortest sermon of his life when he said to Jairus, “Do not fear; only believe.” Five words, two commands, one broken-hearted father. Can you imagine how he must have been feeling that day? There he was, a ruler of the synagogue—a position in his day that carried a lot of prestige and power.

Jairus’ responsibilities involved being the administrative head of the synagogue. He was the president of the board of elders and responsible for the good management of the synagogue. Not only that, he was responsible for the conduct of services—he did not usually take part in them, however; but he was the one who assigned the ritual duties and made sure that, in our terms, the bulletin was followed exactly as written—nothing changed, nothing omitted.

Jairus was a man of great importance in his synagogue, but “something happened to him when his daughter fell ill” (Barclay, p 126). No longer would he view Jesus as an outsider, a dangerous insurgent who confronted and threatened the Jewish hierarchy. None of that “rebellion” mattered any more because his beloved child was “at the point of death” (Mk 5:23a).

Jairus, the dignified ruler of the synagogue, feeling powerless and caring nothing for his personal dignity and pride, completely overcome with grief, dropped all his prejudices about this wandering rabbi and fell at Jesus’ feet, weeping, begging him to heal his 12-year-old daughter: “Come and lay your hands upon her, so that she may be made well, and live” (Mk 5:23b).

Now let’s turn for a moment to the unnamed woman, because that’s how Mark tells the story of these healings, right? Her story interrupts Jairus’ story.

This woman is outcast in her society. Her family, friends, those who knew her were bound by Jewish law to take a wide berth around her. She was unclean! Banished! Nobody else even sees her; it’s like she is invisible, and she is sick unto death. She, like Jairus, believed that Jesus had healing powers that could change her life.

Where did this woman get the strength to make her way to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, then to push her way through the “great crowd gathered around him” (Mk 521b)? Imagine the press of the flesh! It was a lot like trying to make your way through the crowds at the Strawberry Festival!
She had to break through all kinds of human barriers and laws that were in place to keep certain people out, people who were undesirable, leprous, possessed, different—and nothing sent people running like a dead body or a bleeding woman.
She was weak but she had faith, and in her weakened condition she encouraged herself toward Jesus. He was the only hope she had left, “for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well’” (Mk 528).
Jairus, his unnamed daughter and the bleeding woman fared far better than what happened to a 16-year-old boy in Connecticut a few days ago. He was the subject of an exorcism at the Manifested Glory Ministries Church in Connecticut. This "healing" is supposed to chase out the gay demon that purportedly possesses the boy. The exorcism was filmed and posted on line by the church!
The video, which is very disturbing, shows the 16-year-old lying on the floor, his body convulsing, while members of the small Connecticut church stand over him, yelling, screaming, at the tops of their voices for the demon to come out of him. Apostle and Prophetess of the church, Patricia McKinney, said, “We don’t hate homosexuals. I just don’t like their lifestyle.” She also defended the action by saying that the youth is 18. The boy confirmed he is 16, but otherwise declined to comment, citing the advice of his pastor [emphasis mine] (Mail Foreign Service Last updated at 3:57 PM on 25th June 2009). Well, somebody’s not exactly speaking the truth.
The point is that what happened in the MGM church in Bridgeport, CT, was not anything like how Jesus healed people. There was abuse disguised as love in that church’s dealing with the boy. But with Jesus miracles, not exorcisms, are the path to healing and new life; Jesus uses Kingdom ways to release us from our dis-ease.
When the woman simply reached and barely touched Jesus’ cloak, the Lord felt it. Even in the midst trying to move through the crowd, he was “Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’” Mk 5:30).
Jesus knows a “faith touch” when he feels it. He is not an impersonal healer; he’s not into screaming at demons, either. Jesus wanted to know the identity of who touched his clothes and received power from him, not because he was angry but because Jesus is a personal healer. He knows the whole truth about each of us; and he responds in Kingdom ways to our deepest needs and hurts. “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (Mk 5:34).
When Jairus fell begging at Jesus’ feet, Jesus immediately picked him up and set out with Jairus to heal the daughter. Imagine Jairus’ anguish when Jesus stopped to find out who touched his clothes. Even the disciples were incredulous about Jesus’ question. Can’t you just hear them now, “Are you kidding me? Look at all these people…you want to know which one of them touched you!?” But Jesus does not operate within the human barrier of time.
The woman came forward “in fear and trembling” (5:33) and told him the whole truth about her life. As Jesus was blessing the woman into a new, a “clean” life, he overheard the news from Jairus’ messsengers that it was too late; no one could save his daughter now: she was dead. Yet, Jesus softly spoke to the now small-and-broken father who no longer resembled a ruler of anything, “Do not fear; only believe” (Mk 5:36b).
Jesus is our healer, too. He is the one who is always there for us when we are feeling ostracized or outcast, isolated and ashamed, sick and sorrow-filled. Jesus iis the one who is always there for us when we feel broken and defeated. All he asks of us is to tell the whole truth about our lives. We put into words that have sound the truth we know hides way and deep inside. Is there something that you need to tell Jesus today? Is there something that is dying inside of you that needs a resurrection? Are you afraid? Do you need a faith touch? Ask for his help, seek his healing power; knock at the door of new life and it shall be opened to you.
Barbara Brown Taylor, voted one of the twelve best preachers in America, says of this passage that “Mark addressed all of us who suffer from the human condition, who are up against things we cannot control” (“One Step at a Time” from The Preaching Life).
Each and every one of us as individuals and as a community have been in situations that seemed impossible to heal. Are you in one right now? Is there a place where you have little or no control and you are frightened of the possibilities? Are you even confused about what being healed by Jesus means? One theologian (John Pilch) tells us that “Healing is the restoration of meaning to people’s lives, no matter what their physical condition might be” (SAMUEL @ www.ucc.org. Reaching out in faith involves incredible risk. Are you willing to take the risk to receive healing and new life from Christ?
Imagine yourself as the father of the 12-year-old girl. Do you not feel winded by the long run to the sea—your lungs burn and your muscles cramp, and yet you push yourself to go faster because you are on a life-and-death errand. Aren’t you afraid that something might happen to her while you are away from home? Isn’t your heart already breaking because you feel so helpless to do anything to save your child’s life? Do you feel like a “bad father” and are you filled with regret over the things you did not do…or did do that you shouldn’t have? Will you risk it all—your job, your reputation, your personal pride, your own life even—to turn your life over to Jesus?
Imagine yourself as the woman who has been ostracized for 12 years with no one coming near her, disdaining her. And you’re so very, very tired. Your disease has taken everything you’ve got—your health, your money, your relationships—to get to this point of desperation. The only thing that has not been stolen from you is your faith. Will you risk it to reach out and simply touch the hem of the master’s cloak?
Imagine you are the sick child. You do not know what is wrong with you; you don’t understand why you’re hurting so bad, you’re burning up with fever, and you’re scared because this time Mom and Dad cannot fix it. You’re suddenly faced with the realization that death make take you away from all you know and all whom you love. You are overwhelmed by the darkness all around you. Will you risk your life to be touched by Jesus and hear him say, “Talitha koum!”? I should think that it would have been better for that 16-year-old boy to hear, “Son, get up!” rather than “Get out of his belly, you gay demon!”
The good news today is that Jesus’ power to heal our lives can cross any and all human barriers we put in his way. We can trust Jesus with the whole truth of our lives, and he WILL make us well one way or another. Remember the words of the Lord for your own healing today:
“Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
“Son, do not fear; only believe.”
“Little girl, get up!” (Little boy, get up!”)
Tell Jesus the whole truth; run to the Lord with every concern; be touched by Christ. In his words and in his touch we can seek—and find—the freedom of new life that comes from the healing power of a faithful relationship with Jesus Christ. And if these words don’t convince you of what Jesus can do in your life, how about these, Run; Reach; Rise and do everything in his name and as your heart warms with a growing faith, you will not only be made well, you will also be overcome by amazement because with your new way of life, you will see how the Kingdom of God has come near to you. Amen.
June 28, 2009
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, Maine
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

Inside and Out: How to be a More Beautiful Person

2009-06-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

I Samuel 15:34-16:13; Mark 4:26-34; II Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17

GOOD NEWS: God knows who we truly are because he looks inside our hearts and not on our outward appearance.

MESSAGE: Grow in your relationship with God, through his son, Jesus Christ, and you will become a more beautiful person inside and out.

She sang, “I Dreamed a Dream,” and a frizzy-haired 47-year-old Scottish woman, named Susan Boyle, knocked the world off its axis. With over 11m hits on YouTube, this plain-faced, , bushy-eye-browed woman is living proof that the old adage is true, you cannot judge a book by its cover.
For the three judges and millions of witnesses, the heavenly sound that came out of Susan's mouth could only have come from the heart and soul of an angel. No one on either side of the Atlantic Ocean would ever have imagined the beautiful voice tucked away inside this odd-mannered woman. Today, she is living proof of “Fronti nulla fides,” which translates, “never have faith in the front” (Juvenal, Satires II, 8). And what we have learned about Susan since that night is that regardless of the strength and beauty of her voice, she is just as vulnerable to exhaustion, mood swings and fear as the rest of us.
The Good News for us is that God looks upon our hearts and not on our outward appearances when he considers who we really are. God never judges us by our packaging. God never keeps faith in the front we present to the world. No amount of beauty or brawn can hide our true hearts from God. We may be able to fool others about who we are, but we will never fool the Lord.
So, instead of trying to be perfect on the outside, why not explore how to be beautiful on the inside? Each scripture today can speak in its own way to this idea. The more we allow God to grow in our hearts, the more we walk by faith and not by sight, the more beautiful we will become on the inside; and a beautiful person on the inside radiates beauty on the outside.
Among many truths, one message today's scriptures reveal is this one: As we grow in our relationship with God, through faith in his son, Jesus Christ, we will become more beautiful, inside and out.

The anointing of the young and ruddy shepherd boy, David, as future King of Israel, demonstrates not only that God knows what is in our hearts, but also that God chooses us for the strength of our inner beauty and not for the attractiveness of our outer appearances.
Of the eight sons of Jesse, David was the least likely candidate to be king. Even Samuel the prophet, who was sent to do the anointing, was dumbfounded as son after handsome son was rejected by God. Samuel's problem was that he used human standards to judge who should be king.
The prophet is admonished by God for his supposition: “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look upon the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart” (16:7).

(1)

In I Samuel 17, David's heart is proved when he faces the giant Philistine, Goliath, with only a slingshot, five smooth stones and a heart beating with the unwavering belief that there is a living God in Israel. David's relationship with the living God empowered him to defeat the Philistines on his own. No king's armor or warrior's bravery were needed. Time after time, David showed courage and steadfast love for the Lord.
We also know that there were times when temptation overruled his heart, and David grieved God with his sin. Still, the scripture says that God loved David...David was a man after God's own heart (I Samuel 13:13-14).
We might think that God loved David so much because he was courageous and confident and strong...but those are human ways of judging others. No, God loved David because of his truthful and trusting heart. When David was confronted with his sin, he was broken by it. He fell on his face and asked the Lord's forgiveness. True repentance makes us beautiful in the sight of the Lord. In Psalm 51, David writes,

(6) Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

(17) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

What else makes us beautiful in the sight of the Lord? Let's look at the parable of the Mustard Seed.

In a world that confuses size with power and price, the parable of the mustard seed (“the smallest of all seeds”--at least at that time) presents a contradiction. The mustard tree grows very large, so large birds can make their nests in its branches. How can something so large come from a seed so small? And why does the mustard seed have anything to do with having a beautiful heart?

I see this parable as an experiment in encouragement. It is a parable about trust. William Barclay wrote, “Never be daunted by small beginnings” (Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p 110). This parable once again shows us that human criteria do not apply in the kingdom of God; God looks at the heart of the matter.

In this story, Jesus is teaching that size or relative power at the beginning of the journey does not indicate the final result. “God's mysterious power as shown by the seed's growth cycle can be compared to how the gospel works in the hearts of believers” (Life Application Bible Commentary; Mark, p 115).

No matter how small we deem the seed of faith in our hearts, God can and will make it grow, if we are but willing to build the right relationship. The right relationship is with God's son, Jesus Christ. Understanding God's truth is linked to one's relationship with Jesus. If we keep Jesus at a distance, we can only observe his love from a distance. If we get close to Jesus, we understand his love from within. Jesus' love within us makes us beautiful, inside and out.

(2)

When I read Paul's words in his letter to the Corinthians, I am captured by the beauty of his joy. He embodies the beauty and love that comes from deep relationship with Jesus Christ. He is a walking witness to the incredible change that God can effect when the Lord lives in our hearts—Paul was transformed from persecutor to peacemaker, all from a close encounter with the risen Lord on a dusty road, traveling to Damascus.

From Paul we learn that one who walks by sight sees only the visible...and what is visible is temporary. The one who walks by faith will see beyond the visible to what is invisible, permanent and eternal (Preaching Through the Christian YearB, p 309).

What are we talking about here? We are talking about looking at the world the way God looks upon the world, by examining the hearts of his people. We are talking about the Christian's dual existence: the one we live in a mortal body on earth and the one we live in Christ, through the eyes of faith and a heart filled with love.

Walking by faith and not by sight is the culmination of believing that what is visible to the mortal mind is transient and what is invisible is eternal. “The life of faith by definition transcends bodily existence as it draws its sustaining power from the risen Lord whom we know but cannot see, except with the eyes of faith” (PTTCYB, p 310). A life walked in faith makes us beautiful, inside and out.

We have examined at least three qualities that when allowed and encouraged to grow within our hearts make us beautiful, inside and out. We tend to think that we are stuck with the heart we are born with, that if it is selfish and weak from the start it will be selfish and weak at the end. If our hearts are trepidatious and vulnerable through most of our lives, we think we are too late to make an exchange for courage and strength.

This is how mortals think; it is not how God looks on us. God looks beyond the visible, beyond appearances, and sees the eternal good, the inextinguishable light that can shine from our hearts.

God gives all the growth, all the beauty the world has ever heard or seen, whether it is an angelic voice from a woman named Susan or the new eyes of faith from a man named Paul, who was blinded by the beautiful light of Jesus Christ.

And what have we learned about being beautiful? We have learned that God looks inside our hearts to judge us and not upon our outward appearances; we have learned that we are to trust in small beginnings, for in God's hands they shall bring inspirational results; and we have learned that to walk by faith and not by sight reveals the promised hope that lies beyond this world; the invisible eternal, heaven's home, the kingdom of God.

David was small, young and ruddy looking, yet God could see the light in his heart and that light shone on his face, in his eyes, throughout his life.

Mustard trees were considered a nuisance, yet they demonstrate the promise that large, heavenly benefits can come from small, earthly beginnings.

Faith gives us vision beyond the visible to the invisible, beyond what is temporary to what is eternal.

The ways of God are loving and beautiful; Jesus came to earth to teach us about God, and how to be loving and beautiful, too.

Go ahead and dream the dream; the more we allow God to grow in our hearts through developing a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ, the more beautiful we become, inside and out. Amen.

June 14, 2009

First Parish Federated Church, South Berwick, ME

The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

2009-05-25T06:40:00.001-07:00

A NEW PLOT IN LIFE
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Good News: Every one of us is important to Jesus.

There is a story quoted in baseball circles about Earl Weaver (when he was manager of the Baltimore Orioles) and his experience with a born-again outfielder named Pat Kelly. As the story goes, Kelly is said to have told Weaver he had learned to walk with God, to which Weaver is reported to have replied, “I’d rather have you walk with the bases loaded.” The Christian walk is incomprehensible to those who are not motivated by Christ.

Trouble in the Bible

For the apostles, the bases might have been loaded, yet there was still an empty spot on the roster—they had eleven men instead of 12, the number Jesus had originally chosen. They figured they needed to get their numbers back up to twelve. Twelve is an important number in the Bible: 12 sons of Jacob, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 disciples of Jesus, and the 12 thrones in heaven. Eleven would never work.

Yet, 120 people were smooshed into this “upper room.” How were they to choose one person from that number to replace Judas? Who was qualified? Who would do it? I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I would want to be known as the one who replaced the guy who betrayed the Savior of the world to the Romans. We all know what happened to him in the place affectionately known as “Murder Meadow.”

Time between Jesus’ ascension and Pentecost was 10 days. Two hundred forty hours of living like sardines and watching each other grow old called for a desperate act—the formation of a church nominating committee and a church election. . It seemed a good idea to hold a committee meeting, as any church would do, while they awaited further instruction from Jesus. They had not heard the prophecy that “God so loved the world that he didn’t send a committee.”

Trouble in the World

We often have a difficult time dealing with waiting. When we don’t see something happening, we assume nothing is happening. Perhaps we even feel that Jesus is ignoring us or has forgotten us, that we are not important to him. This concept is one idea we must never believe. Each one of us is as important to Jesus as if we were the only person on earth.

Jesus is at work in our lives all the time, but silence and/or perceived inaction makes us very antsy. If the wait becomes unbearable, we may wander into the territory of thinking He is telling us one thing because that is what we want to or expect to hear, Sometimes we choose to hear the safe thing, which soothes our nerves but does little to witness to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

A middle-aged farmer who had been desiring for years to be an evangelist was out working in the field one day when he decided to rest under a tree. As he looked into the sky he saw that the clouds seemed to form into the letters P and C. Immediately he jumped up, sold his farm, and went out to P-reach C-hrist, which he felt was God’s leading. Unfortunately, he was a horrible preacher. After one of his sermons, a neighbor came forward and whispered in his ear, “are you sure God wasn’t just trying to tell you to P-lant C-orn?

Jesus had the farmer right where he wanted him, planting corn. Yet, the farmer seemed to think that planting corn was not important enough so he sold the field of purpose for a field of dreams. He did not know how important he already was to Jesus. He did not recognize that he already had all the gifts he needed to serve Jesus. He was a planter and a harvester for the Lord, not a preacher. No one job in the kingdom is more important than another. No one job in the church is more important than another, but all jobs, gifts, pursuits in a church are to witness to the Resurrection.

If churches today used this criterion for planning its future, what are we doing today as a church today that we might keep doing and what might we eliminate from our pursuits? Each one of us is important to Jesus and each one of us has an important role to pursue in his church.

God’s Grace in the Bible

The gifts to be an apostle were already gathered in that upper room. Peter listed the requirements: (1) The new apostle must believe in the resurrection, for the resurrection is the one thing that defines Christianity from all other religions. (2) The new apostle must know Jesus as a result of living with Jesus. (3) The new apostle, in traveling all the days with Jesus and the other eleven, must be able to work with the remaining apostles.

By these requirements, two names came to mind: Joseph/Barsabas/Justus and Matthias. Matthias was chosen, but I want you to notice HOW he was chosen. Matthias met the proper requirements of an apostle, but requirements were not enough. Something more was needed. In fact, two more steps were necessary before Matthias would be confirmed to his new position.

The next steps in the process included (1) Prayer. “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of the two YOU have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place” (Acts 1:25); and (2) casting lots to determine which man would become number 12. Matthias, of course, “won.”

Very, very little is known of Matthias, and even less exists to testify to his work. His physical gospel has been lost, but we do have a few of his quotations preserved in the works of Clement of Alexandria.

“We must combat our flesh, set no value upon it, and concede to it nothing that can flatter it, but rather increase the growth of our soul by faith and knowledge.”

Is Matthias not testifying to the supreme importance of the Christian’s heart and soul? A place was chosen for Matthias, but what about Barsabas?

Was Barsabas left out? How do you suppose he felt? Maybe he knew the disappointment that so many of us experience when we are turned down for the prized position we’ve worked so hard to get. In an age of terrifying unemployment rates, how does one keep going after being rejected time after time? Many are driven to near hopelessness, while others have the faith to keep going, keep searching.

God’s Grace in the World

Each one of us is important to Jesus, and each one of us has an important role to pursue in Jesus’ church, and so we must be ready for a new plot in life. This new plot is of Christ’s own choosing. We make ourselves ready for the journey by preparing our hearts and souls through faith and knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

None of us knows enough about Jesus, yet he knows everything about us. Why does he bother to know everything about us? The answer is so simple, because each of us is important to him—he wants to know everything about us; and because he knows everything about us—he knows our hearts—he will choose the best P-lot in life for us, Whether that plot includes preaching Christ or planting corn, He has a place for us.

If we are uncertain about which direction to go, we can pray as the apostles prayed: “Lord, you know my heart. Show me the path you have chosen for me to take in this ministry.”

That’s a scary prayer for many folks, and fear is a reason we miss out on so much of life that God wants to show us. We want to be careful what we pray for because we just might get it! What if we get a sign to go somewhere or do something we don’t feel we are ready for? Then what are we supposed to do?

Two words: GET READY! You see, the thing about Barsabas is that even though he was not chosen this time to fill the twelfth spot, he was READY to do so. He knew that Jesus had a role for him to play in his resurrection witnessing. He knew he was just as important to Jesus as any of the other 120 folks in the upper room; he knew he was just as important as any of the eleven, and he knew he was just as important as Matthias. He may not have been given the title of “apostle,” yet, He kept himself ready to serve the resurrected Lord. We can take from the experience of being “not chosen this time” that we must always keep ourselves ready to do what Jesus needs us to do.

Friends, we do not get our importance from fancy titles; we are already important. Our titles may inform others of what role we play in the church, but they do not confer any special powers or privileges. They do not give us worth; we are already worthy.

· We do not need to be called a missionary in order to witness and show hospitality to strangers.
· We do not have to be a trustee to care for the facility.
· We do not need to be a choir member to sing a new song.
· We do not need to be a preacher to tell somebody about how good the Lord is, and that the He loves us for all time.
· We do not have to be an usher to welcome somebody into the house of God.
· You do not have to be on the Christian Ed Committee to teach someone about Jesus and his love for us.
· You do not have to be a deacon to show compassion and loving concern to others.

Rather than seeking a title or special position, I think it is better for us to understand ourselves as Jesus does: a person so important to him that he would go to the cross, die and be resurrected for us, even if we were the only person on earth.

When we leave here today, we can go out and walk with the bases loaded, or we can go out and walk with Jesus. The difference in the walks is mighty. With the first you score five runs, maybe slap a few hands as you round the bases and stamp your foot on home plate. With the second, you’re found ready and willing to hit it out of the park. People are instantly on their feet—are they cheering for you? Oh, no! They’re praising the Lord because you have testified to his power at work in you. That power is offered to all who are ready to step up to bat.

Those who step up to bat are given titles, but they do not mean very much in the world today. They offer no privilege, no power, no entitlement. Yet, in the church, in our faith, they mean the world to us:

· Jesus has titled us “Witness”: And you shall be my witnesses… (Luke 24:48)
· Jesus has titled us “Friend”: And I have called you friends… (John 15:15)
· And God has titled us “Beloved”: “You are my Beloved…” (Luke 3:21-22)

Beloved, let us love one another; let us discover how important we are to Jesus and express it to others, that they, too, may be given a new plot in life, a life built on Jesus Christ, for this is the true calling and purpose of the Church. Amen.

May 24, 2009
The First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise

2009-05-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

PARDON THE GLORIOUS INTERRUPTION
Acts 10; particularly verses 44-48

Today’s Good News: God shows no partiality in pouring out the Holy Spirit on people so that all may be saved.

If ever there was a case of a “God-incidence,” the meeting of Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10 is one of the very best. The whole new world of Christianity was about to be gloriously interrupted and notoriously tipped on its head. Demographically and geographically, the boundaries of Judea would soon be reached. The good news of Jesus Christ seemed to be headed for the proverbial end of the road. Think about it; if God had not had bigger plans for the Judeo-Christian world, you and I might not be gathered here together right now.

Everyone—Jews and Gentiles—in biblical days believed the message of Jesus Christ was given to the Jews only. God eliminated this belief through bringing together two men of faith: Cornelius, a Gentile from Caesarea; and Peter, a Jewish man and apostle of Jesus Christ. God brought these men together for the purpose of revealing that the good news of Jesus Christ is meant for all people; that no one who believes in God and does what is right shall be denied salvation.

The only complication was that each man was shocked by the vision he was given and wanted to resist it in the worst way. Cornelius stared in terror at the angel of the Lord who told him to send for Peter in Joppa. Peter characteristically, impulsively protested when he was told to eat of the animals, even those that Jewish law proclaimed unclean. “By no means, Lord!”

Terror and fear, confusion and resistance. Peter and Cornelius were “greatly puzzled” (10:17) by their double vision. Certainly they had never even heard of each other, let alone met, yet God called them together for the purpose of bringing Jews and Gentiles together as one in Jesus Christ. Each chose to obey the word of the Lord they had received even though it called for them to take great risks for the faith.

I think we can certainly identify with Cornelius and Peter. They were not just being called to step outside their religious boxes, they were called, in the words of Anne Robertson (formerly pastor of St John’s Methodist Church in Dover, NH), to “Blow the lid of the God-Box” they lived in.

Robertson writes, “When we become closed to aspects of God that we don’t understand or to experiences of God that aren’t our own, we create the fiction that we know all there is to know of God and God’s ways. Our limited experience and expression then become the standard by which all others are measured and the truth by which all others are judged” (Robertson, Blowing the Lid off the God-Box, p x).

It is very difficult to step outside the comfort zones of our religious boxes, let alone blow the lids off them! We tend to be gut reactors to God’s call Just like Peter, we can say far too quickly, “By no means, Lord!” Yet, no matter who we are or where we are on our life’s journey, God created us good, for his purpose and for his pleasure.

We may at times find this trusting God in all things difficult. The tension we feel can only be relieved through prayer, study, meditation, and obedience; yet, it is so much easier to go with what we know rather than with what can make us grow.

The tension we feel is real, as real as the tension Peter spoke of when he entered Cornelius’ house. “You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection” (Acts 10:28-29).

Peter’s entourage experienced a similar sense of tension as they witnessed Cornelius’ household receiving the Holy Spirit. Luke writes in Acts 10:45. “The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.”

Empowered by the Holy Spirit all the people in this story were able to see their way through what at first they believed was “unlawful” to do. Yet, they overcame a common, pedantic belief by risking it all for a most uncommon teaching: God shows no partiality in pouring out the Holy Spirit on all people so that all people may be saved.

A message for us today is to challenge ourselves to take risks for God. Cornelius through answered prayer and Peter through divine vision show us that not only is obedience in the face of fear possible, it is to be preferred; it is to be entered into with haste and without objection.

The same powerful Holy Spirit that was poured out on Cornelius and his household is poured on us as well. Imagine what wonders we would behold if we could really let go and let God’s Holy Spirit send us beyond the limits of our known comfort zones.

We could blow the lid off our God Boxes and speak to the world about the mighty God we serve, the gracious God who loves all without partiality, the merciful God who died once that all who believe in him and do what is right might live forever—talk about speaking in tongues!

In the middle of Peter’s preaching he sees and hears that the Holy Spirit has been poured out on the Gentiles; they’re talking in tongues and praising the Lord. You can just hear him thinking, “Enough with the preaching! The water’s merely a formality; bring on the Spirit! It’s happening to them just as it happened to us on the day of Pentecost! Good Lord, what a ride!”

Peter’s sermon was gloriously interrupted by the outpouring of the Spirit upon people he never would have believed could receive it from God. Such good news is this for us today! Christianity has spread to all nationalities, all races, all places since that day at Captain Cornelius’ house. His gift is our gift. How shall we praise the Lord for his gift of the Spirit? How shall we celebrate the good news that God shows no partiality?

We must do as Peter did. He went to places God sent him without objection. Faith is a journey God invites to take; faith is not pretty scenery God invites us to sit back and watch. Each one of us is called, by name, to join the journey.

If we struggle with a serious illness, would it not be better to share the journey with the healing power of the Holy Spirit? If we fear the darkness because we have lost our way, would it not be better to share the journey with the divine light of the Holy Spirit to guide our way? If we wrestle with doubt, or grief, or depression or fatigue, would it not be better to have the immutable strength and perseverance of the Holy Spirit working for us?

The Holy Spirit is for all people. What good news! Speak of it; give the gift a voice. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Live and empowered life for the news is good my friends: from now on there is neither Greek nor Jew; slave nor free, male or female, for we are one in Christ Jesus who is Lord of all (Galatians 3:28). This Word is not sort of true; it is not partially true; it is fully true, and upon its truth we are saved. Amen.

May 17, 2009
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

Put Your Life on the Vine

2009-05-11T08:15:00.001-07:00

PUT YOUR LIFE ON THE VINE

John 15:1-8; I John 4:7-21

“I am the true vine.”

One day, Jesus decided that he needed a new robe, so he went to the shop of Finkelstein the Tailor. A few days later, when the robe was ready, Jesus tried it on and it was a perfect fit. He asked the tailor how much he owed. Finkelstein brushed him off, “No! No! No! for the Son of God? There's no charge! However, may I ask a small favor of you?”

“Anything!” Jesus responded. “Just ask!”

“Whenever you give a sermon, perhaps you could just mention that your nice new robe was made by Finkelstein the tailor?”

Jesus readily agreed and as promised, extolled the virtues of his Finkelstein robe whenever he spoke to the masses. A few months later, Jesus happened to walk past Finkelstein's shop and noted a huge line of people waiting to order Finkelstein robes. He made his way through the crowd to speak to the tailor, and as soon as Finkelstein spotted Jesus, he shouted, “Jesus! Jesus! Look what you've done for my business! Would you consider a partnership?”

“Certainly,” replied Jesus. “Jesus & Finkelstein, it is!”

“Oh, no, no,” said Finkelstein. “Finkelstein and Jesus. After all, I am the craftsman.”

The two of them debated for quite some time. Their discussion was long and spirited, but ultimately fruitful, and they finally came up with a mutually acceptable compromise. A few days later, the new sign went up over the shop. Can you guess what it read?

Before I tell you the answer, let's take a closer look at this morning's text that also teaches about being in a kind of partnership with Jesus. The word John uses is not partnership, however; the word he uses is abiding…

“I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”

We live in a time and culture where there is much suffering, much uncertainty. Anxiety, a sense of helplessness and all kinds of troubles are around every corner. We don’t know when or if the struggling will end and it's all very unsettling, discouraging, frightening. Whether examining these troubles at home or in the church, the outlook seems quite bleak.

Some churches will say that we are suffering God's judgment and punishment. Some populations say there is no God or that God has forsaken us. Others do not make any connection at all between God and what's happening in our world.

But what about this approach: cannot our understanding of these difficult times we are living in be seen as a way of God's pruning us for greater fruitfulness? I think we can, for Jesus' teaching in John 15 reaches across the centuries. Let's look at then:

During the final Passover meal that they would share, Jesus is preparing his disciples for the difficult days after Jesus has been crucified, resurrected and ascended into heaven. The eleven who remain will encounter great anxiety, sorrow, anger, betrayal, persecution, poverty, and eventually martyrdom.

The disciples are struggling to understand why and how God uses suffering to bring about greater fruitfulness. It just doesn't seem to make any sense. To help them understand how their relationships with one another, with him and with God work, Jesus uses the very familiar grapevine to explain.

Archaeological evidence from Egyptian tombs shows that grapes were being cultivated 2500 years before Christ. Grapes are the most widely grown fruit in the world. The grapevine is part of Israel's national emblem. Grapes are a big deal. But, why so much talk of grapes on the eve of Crucifixion?

The quality of the vine is only as good as the rooted stock. Individual branches are grafted onto a healthy productive stock. New plants are pruned for three to five years to “train” them before they are allowed to produce a crop. It takes a lot of feeding, watering, and pruning, pruning, pruning to yield the best grapes.

Did you know that good roots can produce fruit for as many as 100 years? That, for their size, vines are very productive, yielding as much as eighty pounds of grapes in a single season? That, disease and lack of productivity can spread from dead branches that have not been removed from the vine?

It takes an immense amount of pruning and caring to develop a fruitful vineyard. Equally so, it takes an immense amount of care and pruning to develop a faithful disciple who will yield much fruit for the Lord.

We are facing difficult days in our lives: we are anxious about our jobs, our mortgages, our expenses, our debts, our health, our wealth, and perhaps even our ability to put one foot in front of the other. Add to that, most recently, a pandemic, and it seems we are bombarded with stress and distress from every direction.

Besides our personal lives, we have been through some difficult times in this church—as is fairly common in churches—with great anxiety, sorrow, anger, betrayal, and what hardly needs mentioning, a lack of funds, low attendance and less than abundant fruitfulness. Could these difficulties and sufferings be the pruning process of the great vinedresser? Are we being pruned for greater fruitfulness? I believe that is exactly what's been happening here.

Just as Jesus was preparing his disciples that the time of suffering that they were about to experience was part of a God's bigger plan for an abundant harvest of love. We, too, can learn from Jesus, the true vine, that our suffering will lead to a greater abundance than we can even imagine.

With the hope Jesus shares in this gospel, growing, committed Christians can find strength for the troubled times by abiding in Christ, remaining true to his word, by literally putting our lives, grafting ourselves, on the vine. God is dressing us for mighty works in his name.

God is glorified when we abide in Jesus and bear fruit for him. Jesus' word makes it possible to understand spiritually what's going on in our lives and helps us to endure all things with grace.

Friends, there will always be seasons of trouble, but Jesus promises to those who abide in him that even though they suffer they will one day thrive if they continue living in him, spreading his love, teaching his word, and never, ever giving up.

.

Have you figured out the name of the shop that Finkelstein and Jesus finally agreed upon? Are you ready? Don't prune the messenger now. Here goes: Lord & Taylor.

See, we can survive bad jokes on our own. For the real hard stuff of life, the only way for us as Christians and as a Church to survive the pain of pruning is by abiding in Jesus.

What does it mean to abide in Christ? Each of these activities begins at some point, but the long-term branch-to-vine practice is called abiding. Abiding in Christ means[1]:

· Believing that he is God’s Son (I John 4:15)

· Receiving him as Savior and Lord (John 1:12)

· Doing what God asks us to do (I John 3:24)

· Continuing to believe the gospel (I John 2:24)

· Relating in love to the community of believers, Christ’s body (John 15:12).

Abiding with Jesus, we will come through difficult times with a greater faith, a deepening spirituality, and a growing congregation.

Abiding in Christ, we know that God promises us times of great fruitfulness. When we put our lives on the vine, our ultimate demonstration of great faithfulness, we are met with the ultimate demonstration of God's great love: salvation through his Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Apart from him, we can do nothing. Amen.

May 10, 2009/First Parish Federated Church/S Berwick, ME; Rev Donna Lee Muise, pastor

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[1] Life Application Bible Commentary: JOHN, p 308.

Untie the Donkey

2009-04-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

UNTIE THE DONKEY
Mark 11:1-11

....Go into the village ahead of you...and you will find tied there
a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it.

The most important week of the Christian year is upon us. Today we start the journey toward Easter. We line the aisles of our church as the Jews lined the road to Jerusalem, all of us waving leafy palm branches and shouting “Hosanna!” It's a wonderful day.

But we know something today that the Jews of Jesus' day did not: this one day of triumph will morph into three days and nights of sorrow. Even as we celebrate this morning, we know that the shadow of the cross looms large behind the Temple; that the air of Jerusalem will be saturated with the breath of betrayal; and that Jesus was fully aware that he was riding into the majesty of “royal” suffering and death.

Knowing what we know, we still wave the palm branches and sing, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who cometh to bring us salvation!” Why? It is the gift of faithful paradox.

The paradox of our faith is as I have shared with you each year. In order to understand Easter, we must go through Good Friday. Jumping from Jesus' riding on, riding on in majesty one Sunday to Jesus' rising victoriously from the dead on the next Sunday, is a lie. This is the reason I so strongly urge each of you to attend the services on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. It's not a burden; it is fulfillment.

Like it or not, scripture is full of truth; it doesn't leave out the hard and depressing and even the frightening stuff in between the triumphs of God. It's the stuff in the middle—Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Silent Saturday—that makes this entire week one complete faith story.

In order to experience the magnificent highs of Easter, we must expose ourselves to the desperate lows of Good Friday. In order to complete our participation in the frenzy of the “cheering, chanting, dizzy crowd,” we must gather quietly with Jesus in the upper room, communing for the very last time with our most intimate friends, knowing that our betrayer is among them. We must be humble enough to have the Lord wash our feet clean, wipe our tears away, and forgive us our sins against him.

I ask you today, are you ready to ride the beast of burden called Holy Week, or will you get to the empty tomb by some other way?

Jesus is asking us today through the living word of scripture to be his witnesses to the paradoxes of the faith: to spread our cloaks before him and then rip his robes from him; to raise our voices, singing hosannas in his name, and then to raise our fists against him and demand his condemnation—Crucify Him; to weep beneath his cross and rejoice in front of his empty tomb. To walk with him on the road to Emmaus and to take his message to all the world.

In all the world, Christians are known for living irrationally: “We love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. We forgive, as we have been forgiven. We renounce violence as a means of defending or securing or saving ourselves or those we love. We live out the ministry of reconciliation: NO MATTER WHAT.

Our faith makes little sense to the outside world—it may not even make sense to us, yet still we press on. We might be reluctant reconcilers, yet still we press on. At times we feel faint and exhausted and powerless; we are sick and grief-stricken; we are weary and weak, yet still we press on, remembering the words of Isaiah, “He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but (sing with me) those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength...(Isa 40:28-31).

The Lord will help us in His way; we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, but there is one thing we are having some trouble doing. We have some trouble trusting Jesus to know what he is doing with us. We trust more what he was doing with the disciples in his day than we trust what he is intending to do for us, and that's where the donkey comes in.

The disciples followed Jesus' instructions to the letter back “in the day.” Jesus said, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immedi-ately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately'” (Mk 11:2-3).

The disciples were successful. They untied the donkey and began to bring it back to Jesus. When they were asked what they thought they were doing, the two simply said, “The Lord needs it and will send it back immediately,” and the owners let the disciples take the colt.

What about us? We believe we are loved. We believe we are forgiven. We believe that God sent Jesus to save us from sin and death. We believe the promise of the gospel and we sing the songs of faith, so why are we so reluctant to do what he asks? Why do we hesitate to go into the village ahead of us and untie the donkey?

Everybody's got a donkey, my friends. It's extremely valuable;it's irreplaceable. It's the gift each of us is given—the purpose for which we are created. The Lord needs us every bit as much on this Palm Sunday as he did on the first Palm Sunday so very long ago.

But we have so many other “lords” pulling us in a hundred directions. We are so “dizzy” that might have trouble finding our way to the church, why would we ever want to walk over to Dover, untie a slow and smelly donkey and drag it back to town?

Because it is what the Lord has asked of us. The Lord needs us to do his work. And in the midst of all this, I am suggesting that the first work we can do is to agree to untie the donkey, liberate ourselves (and our church) to be the disciples—to be the Church—that Jesus needs to reach his beloved brothers and sisters: all of us caught in a world at war physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially.
Do not let your hearts be troubled! There is freedom for all of us, but first we have to untie that donkey.

Last November, I left my donkey tied in the distance, and I share it with you as intimate friends who are about to share the last supper with Jesus. (Tell story.)

When I say, “Untie your donkey, untie your colt”; I mean untie your life, untie your faith:let it ride on, ride on in majesty. Leaving your colt tied at the door is like leaving your heart there, too. Leaving the donkey tied up means that it will never be more than a beast of burden. Untying the donkey, untying our lives, means that we are free to be carriers of Christ, servants of grace, bringers of peace, vessels of hope, and children of God.

As we contemplate the week ahead—the bread and the wine, the cross and the grave—let us deeply consider Christ's claim upon our lives. Where are we all tied up in knots? What will untangle us so that we may be free to go not only into the next village but to the ends of the earth to bring the good news that Jesus lives? And because Jesus lives, we can face not only tomorrow, but every tomorrow no matter what it brings. We can face anything, for we are never alone—not in the Garden of Gethsemane, not on the cross at Calvary, and not in the tomb of Aremathea. We have our Savior and we have each other. Into our hands has been placed to power to untie the donkey and set people free for the love of Jesus Christ. In the midst of faith's new dimensions, my friends, ride on, ride on! I'm behind you all the way! Amen.

April 5, 2009
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise

Temple Upside Down

2009-03-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

TEMPLE UPSIDEDOWN
John 2:13-22; I Corinthians 1:18-25
The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength."

Today, I want to look at the "unexpressed text" in our passage from John—a familiar passage to many, especially since it covers an event that is recorded in all four gospels. This story is always taught in Sunday School, probably because it is very dramatic. It also challenges our stereotypical characterization of Jesus as always being kind, good, and soft-spoken; and it involves a lot of yelling and running, as well as imperfect people running afoul of the perfect Christ.

Bear with me as we go deeper into the text, to what I see as an underlying human condition that leads people astray, a condition that we can learn to counteract through a proper perspective of God’s divine authority and Christ’s sacrifice for our sin.

There are three features of John’s report of the cleansing of the Temple that do not all appear in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These features are the presence of oxen and sheep inside the Temple precinct; the making of a whip; and the prophetic words of Jesus in v 19.

There are no Jewish historical texts that mention animals in the Temple. Knowing what we know about animals and the call of nature, the reason they were not allowed within the Temple is more than obvious.

No weapons were allowed inside the Temple, so the best guestimate is that Jesus grabbed the bulrushes (used for bedding for the animals who were not supposed to be there) and made a whip out of those. Today’s crime scene investigators might call the bulrushes a "weapon of opportunity."

It also appears as if Jesus drove out the merchants as if they were animals. However, none can imagine that Jesus would resort to violence in order to make a point. He preferred preaching parables to wielding weapons.

The third unique feature of John’s record is verse 19: "Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews pounce on his words at that moment and also bring it up at his trial, distorting the meaning into little more than sorcery.

How had the sacred Temple at Passover time deteriorated from a holy house of prayer, reverence and worship into a bellowing barnyard of cheating, money changing, out-right thievery? Enter the human condition of slowly, unnoticeably, imperceptibly forgetting our good intentions. What starts out as a righteous reason for a noble action can deteriorate over time into a pointless practice or, as in the case of the Temple merchants, an occasion for what might be called "sanctioned sin."

How did the chosen people of God corrode into the self-chosen people of God? The same way any of us does, by forgetting our purpose, our call, our reason for being; by losing sight of our right-side-up selves that God created us to be; by living as though we grant God his power and his wisdom.

When we forget whose we are, major correction is necessary. We need to be turned upside down, perhaps (figuratively or literally) dropped on our heads so that we start using our hearts for God.

If any believer allows the safety of human intellect to inform the ways our "business" of faith is conducted, then believers have forgotten who is in charge.

It is time to remember well the words of Paul in I Corinthians: "The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength" (v 25).

Look at the merchants in the Temple: the services they provided could very well have started out as a helpful means of providing a convenient way for the pilgrims to enter the Temple. The services of the Merchants provided the faithful the necessary elements to fulfill their holy obligations. The best animals for their sacrifices and the right coinage for their Temple taxes were made easily available, what could be so bad about that?

Somewhere along the line, perhaps through the passage of time, the merchants’ motivations oozed into desires for personal gain under the guise of business transactions, and it was in this meandering metamorphosis that sin silently replaced sanctuary.

"Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!" Jesus was angry, incensed. Nothing less than turning the temple upside down would achieve total cleansing. This was not an occasion for a parable.

John does not relate this event as a reason to kill the Church, nor is it an attack upon all our rites, customs and designated holy places, but upon our tendency to elevate these things to positions of higher holiness than we ascribe to God.

We tend to give these places and customs the worship and devotion that belongs to God, and God alone.

When we love things that cannot love us back, we misplace our love. When we present Christ-like attitudes to achieve personal gain, we abuse our Lord. When we define God within our own terms, we confine our hope to the weakened structures of a fallen world. Salvation means little more than satisfying human ideology.

Through God’s gift of Jesus Christ to the world, we have been given the presence of the highest love, the model of the deepest commitment, and the grace of the finest forgiveness.

Turning the temple upside down is the best way to turn Christians right side up for the journey with Christ to the cross on Calvary hill and the salvation joy of resurrection morning—proving Jesus’ words to be true: the temple destroyed and rebuilt in three days. Amen.

3/15/2009//1st Parish Fed Church, S Berwick, ME/Rev DL Muise

Spirits in Prison

2009-03-01T17:54:00.000-08:00

SPIRITS IN PRISON
Mark 1: 9-12; 1 Peter 3:18-22
At once, the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan.
Let’s get right to it: Christ requires, not simply desires, disciples who are willing to confront, not simply face, the wilderness.
The wilderness can make or break a Christian for any number of reasons—Mark mentions a few trappings in verse 12: he was in the wilderness 40 DAYS; he was being tempted by SATAN; and he was with the WILD BEASTS and ANGELS attended him.
FORTY DAYS in bible language means an extraordinary long time. What can we take from a very long time outside of our safety or comfort zones? Perseverance? Trust? Patience? The art of Solitude? Yes, these, but something more.
TEMPTED BY SATAN: Why was Jesus DRIVEN, even THROWN, into the Wilderness just after that beautiful moment at the Jordan? To teach us how to respond, with scripture, when tempted? To encourage us to not fear the wilderness journey of discipleship? To face our own temptations and wild beasts? Yes, these, but also something more.
WILD BEASTS in Jesus’ day constituted boars, jackals, wolves, foxes, leopards and hyenas. Angels are the messengers of God. What a juxtaposition of forces—wild beasts and angels—all around Jesus. One group could tear him apart and the other could put him back together again. How should we understand the presence of each?
To remind us of the hostile nature of the wilderness? To accentuate Jesus’ vulnerability as a human? To impress upon us his ability to deal with both the beast and the angel? Yes, these, and also something more.
What is the something more we are to learn today? Let’s look at 1 Peter 3:18. "Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God."
Every move he made, every word he spoke, every prayer he prayed, Jesus did all of it in accordance with his mission to bring each person back into relationship with God.
There are no forgotten children of God: no one too sick, too bad, too dirty, too haughty, too ignorant, too intelligent, too beast-like, to be reached, to be healed, to be made whole, to be suffered for, to die for, to rise for. Yes, Jesus did all of these for us, and even more.
"He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. [And] In that state, he went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison…"
The wilderness season of Lent is an appropriate time to examine how our spirits are imprisoned.
We live as free individuals. We make our own choices and decisions about everything, yet when it comes to our faith, many of us own imprisoned spirits.
We settle for something less than angels but more than wild beasts. We are willing to endure ten days, but not a full forty. We stop short of the full commitment; we stop short of the cross, and that is why our spirits remain in prison.
Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. I am saying to each of us that the unexamined faith is hardly worth having.

When Socrates spoke of the unexamined life, he was on trial for heresy. He was encouraging his students to challenge the accepted beliefs of the time and think for themselves.

The sentence was death but Socrates had the option of suggesting an alternative punishment. He could have chosen life in prison or exile, and would likely have avoided death.But Socrates believed that these alternatives would rob him of the only thing that made life useful: Examining the world around him and discussing how to make the world a better place. Without his "examined life" there was no point in living.

So he suggested that Athens reward him for his service to society. The result, of course, is that they had no alternative and were forced to vote for a punishment of death. "The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living" by Karl W. Palachuk
Our challenge as we begin this Lenten journey is to free our spirits—not for our own gain, of course, but for God’s glory.
The something more that we can receive through our walk with Jesus Christ is a strength like no other—the strength of the Spirit to not only throw us into the wildernesses of our lives but also to bring us out victorious. Let’s get right to it:

Jesus defeated Satan.
He faced the wild beasts.
He endured the entire journey
He emerged to fulfill his mission.
He was obedient unto God, even to the point of death.
He sits at the right hand of God—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
When Christians in obedience to Christ gather in churches as one body, they have the strength of wild beasts and angels; they have the fortitude to not merely to persevere but to PREVAIL.
Know this, the Church, any church, our church, cannot prevail without the loving commitment to go to the cross with Christ. On the other side of the cross is resurrection, reconciliation, redemption…and an invitation to the greatest banquet our hearts will ever feed upon.
At Christ’s table, the gates of heaven open wide: the imprisoned spirits are set free…free, for what? To pledge with a clear conscience our faith in God who will find us in any wilderness, from the deep woods of Oregon in THE SHACK to the shores of coastal Maine.
The Lord knows where we are. Shall we keep our spirits in prison, or shall we go out to meet him and receive something so much more? Amen.
March 1, 2009
First Parish Federated Church, S Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

The Compassionate Community

2009-02-26T07:29:00.000-08:00

2 Kings 5:1-12; Mark 1:40-45 “If you choose, you can make me clean.”

The man with leprosy, in coming to Jesus for healing was demonstrating three qualities that would do well in any Christian’s life:

Coming close to Jesus demonstrates courage—not only to break society’s barriers but also to approach him intimately

Kneeling before Jesus reveals his desperation and his humility; he was abandoning the law, risking ultimate suffering

Asking of Jesus his HUGE request reveals his faith that Jesus can do for him what he desires; the only barrier is, will Jesus choose to do so

Contrast this leper with Namaan—a decorated war hero and a leper. However, at every turn, he feels insulted by what he is told to do in order to be restored. In fact, everybody in the story has a nose out of joint because of what they are asked to do—all except the servant girl—a child, a slave, a captive from Israel.

The maidservant offers these simple words, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy” (2 Kings 5:3).

Complete trust that Elisha would cure Namaan, spoken with that great caveat, “If only.”

How often do we find ourselves with the words “if only” on our lips? Today’s scripture from Mark teaches us to make the HUGE ASK of Jesus and not to hide behind the procrastinator’s flimsy cloak of “If only.”

JC Ryle said, “People are not lost because they are too bad to be saved, but because they will not come to Christ so that he may save them” (Life Application Bible Commentary, p 40).

Now, Namaan would think that he should not have to go to a poor, homeless carpenter for the eradication of his disease. He wanted to wash in the clean and mighty rivers of the land, for he was a man worthy of this honor, though he was a leper.

In Jesus’ day, lepers were corpses “haunting the edges of the community [they] could no longer enter” (Preaching Through the Christian Year B). He or she is worthy of nothing. Not only is this painful disease ravaging his body; the misery of being completely ostracized from family, friends, and community relentlessly burns throughout his soul, leaving him bereft of love and relationships …basic human needs.

Had Namaan lived in Jesus’ day, he probably would never have approached the Lord, but for a very different reason. He did not have the “right stuff”: faith, courage, and humility. And he would not have accepted a poor man’s touch.

The scripture says that Jesus was moved with pity by the leper’s request. Jesus had compassion for him. The Lord stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose,” he said. “Be made clean” (Mark 1:41).

I find it very difficult most times to ask for what I need; probably most of us do. If fear keeps us from making the BIG ASK of Jesus, our faith needs work. I believe Jesus does choose to touch us with his compassion, yet we are inclined to hold back—not like Namaan but more like Mack, the lead character who is also suffering with great pain at the loss of relationships in The Shack.

“Why do I have so much fear in my life?” Mack asks Jesus, who answers, “Because you don’t believe. You don’t know that we love you. The person who lives by their fears will not find freedom in my love…To the degree that those fears have a place in your life, you neither believe I am good nor know deep in your heart that I love you. You sing about it, you talk about it, but you don’t know it.” And Mack breathed a huge sigh of the soul, “I have so far to go.”

The Lord is compassionate beyond all human understanding. He stretches out his hand by choice. He is the balm in Gilead of which we sing. We have a choice: to live with Christ in beloved community or live outside of him in dis-eased captivity.

What, then, shall we choose? For choice is the only barrier we face. Defy all fear and ridicule; override any doubt and sense of unworthiness and come close to the Lord. Let’s seek to be close enough to him that he can stretch out his hand and touch us.

“Jesus does not minister long distance. His work of forgiving brought him into contact with sinners; his work of lifting put him in places with the fallen; his words of encouragement were given among the hopeless; his healing put him with the diseased; his giving new life took him to the tomb.” (PTTCYB, p 103).
And he was willing to do it all; it was his choice, even unto the point of death on a cross, to die for us, to cure our sin, to save us for God.

The irony of this passage is that while Jesus brought the leper back into beloved community, Jesus was forced to seek out lonely places—the wilderness, the desert. Jesus Christ is willing and able to do for us what we are unwilling or unable to do for ourselves and for our community---this is the chasm of love across which we must extend not only our hands, but our very selves, our whole soul.

If we look to Jesus as a vital example of compassion, we find him embodying love in real, active ways: feeding people, physically and spiritually; touching and healing their bodies, minds and souls; giving them good wine to drink; rubbing mud on their eyes; holding their hands, speaking and listening to them—all these are actions to change people’s physical conditions, personal situations, and relationships with each other and with God.

Yes, we have so far to go; but to not take the journey is to reject the beloved community for which we were created; to refuse to make the HUGE ASK is to leave people in finite misery. Open yourself to the Lord; come and hear what Jesus will choose to do for you and see if you can contain the good news—the great healing you have received—Let the Lord hear your request; and may we both hear these words come back to our ears, spoken from our mouths and from our hearts, “I do choose.”

Share in the Lord’s compassion. Create the beloved and compassionate community. Wade in the muddy waters and be made clean for the work of the gospel must spread throughout the earth.

Unless we who have experienced the gospel speak, then the one who desperately needs the good news may never hear it—and the Lord is not willing that even one of us should perish. Rise up, compassionate community, and let us show ourselves to the people. IF we choose, we can lead them to the one who can—and will—make them clean. Amen.

February 15, 2009
First Parish Federated Church, South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor