Our Money Story: Remember

Exodus 16:1-18      Common English Bible

The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Sin desert, which is located between Elim and Sinai. They set out on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt. The whole Israelite community complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert. The Israelites said to them, “Oh, how we wish that the Lord had just put us to death while we were still in the land of Egypt. There we could sit by the pots cooking meat and eat our fill of bread. Instead, you’ve brought us out into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I’m going to make bread rain down from the sky for you. The people will go out each day and gather just enough for that day. In this way, I’ll test them to see whether or not they follow my Instruction. On the sixth day, when they measure out what they have collected, it will be twice as much as they collected on other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning you will see the Lord’s glorious presence, because your complaints against the Lord have been heard. Who are we? Why blame us?” Moses continued, “The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning because the Lord heard the complaints you made against him. Who are we? Your complaints aren’t against us but against the Lord.”

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole Israelite community, ‘Come near to the Lord, because he’s heard your complaints.’” As Aaron spoke to the whole Israelite community, they turned to look toward the desert, and just then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

The Lord spoke to Moses, “I’ve heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat. And in the morning you will have your fill of bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

In the evening a flock of quail flew down and covered the camp. And in the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the desert surface were thin flakes, as thin as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” They didn’t know what it was.

Moses said to them, “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Collect as much of it as each of you can eat, one omer per person. You may collect for the number of people in your household.’” The Israelites did as Moses said, some collecting more, some less. But when they measured it out by the omer, the ones who had collected more had nothing left over, and the ones who had collected less had no shortage. Everyone collected just as much as they could eat.

Luke 22:1-23          Common English Bible

The Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called Passover, was approaching. The chief priests and the legal experts were looking for a way to kill Jesus, because they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve. He went out and discussed with the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard how he could hand Jesus over to them. They were delighted and arranged payment for him. He agreed and began looking for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them—a time when the crowds would be absent.

The Day of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John with this task: “Go and prepare for us to eat the Passover meal.”

They said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?”

Jesus replied, “When you go into the city, a man carrying a water jar will meet you. Follow him to the house he enters. Say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher says to you, “Where is the guestroom where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?” ’ He will show you a large upstairs room, already furnished. Make preparations there.” They went and found everything just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover meal.

When the time came, Jesus took his place at the table, and the apostles joined him. He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. I tell you, I won’t eat it until it is fulfilled in God’s kingdom.” After taking a cup and giving thanks, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. I tell you that from now on I won’t drink from the fruit of the vine until God’s kingdom has come.” After taking the bread and giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup after the meal and said, “This cup is the new covenant by my blood, which is poured out for you.

“But look! My betrayer is with me; his hand is on this table. The Human One goes just as it has been determined. But how terrible it is for that person who betrays him.” They began to argue among themselves about which of them it could possibly be who would do this.

The last six months have been unlike any of my life.

As you know, since August, I have been working on getting my parents moved out of their home in Arizona, their condo in Illinois and moved to an apartment at the Holmstad in Batavia, IL.

While that process has been extremely challenging and taxing --- the part that has been the most difficult is one that is on-going.

I was made the keeper of the family history.

          A responsibility that I do not take lightly.

I have brought back to Indy about 20 boxes of picture albums and mementos from my parents’ life.

          Nancy uncovered their wedding album on Friday night

I found a picture of my grandmother Marshall when she was a young woman that just exhilarates me.

What I have been doing is REMEMBERING --- and it has been a very spiritual experience

Somewhere I came across this quote --- I have no idea who it originated from, but it speaks to me.

Whenever you hear or read anything of a spiritual nature that moves you or touches your soul, you are not learning something, you are remembering what you have always known.

Remembering can be a powerful salve for the soul

For the next four weeks, Mary and I will be talking about Our Money Story.

My goal is to help us look at what our spoken and unspoken money stories are --- and how those stories have impacted our practice of generosity --- of stewardship.

I get that most of us don’t like talking about money --- and especially don’t like preachers talking about money.

But the topic of money, wealth or possessions is one of the most common topics in the Bible.

          Jesus talked about money more than he talked about faith and prayer.

Like it or not --- money --- our money story --- is spiritual.

As we wrestle --- thinking about God’s money story it is my hope that we will experience it as liberating, inviting and transforming.

I want to invite you to remember, to release, to reimagine, and to restore your money stories so that we can write the one that God is guiding us to live into. 

I want to touch on two biblical stories briefly this morning.  Stories that we are all familiar with --- as we seek to remember that God’s steadfast love endures forever.

The first story is found in Exodus chapter 16 --- it is one of the great stories found in the Hebrew Bible.

The Israelites have fled from Egypt --- having experienced the miracle of the parting of the sea --- they are now in the desert of Sinai and the “Back to Egypt” committee has formed and has started doing what they seem so good at --- complaining.

The whole Israelite community complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert. The Israelites said to them, “Oh, how we wish that the Lord had just put us to death while we were still in the land of Egypt. There we could sit by the pots cooking meat and eat our fill of bread. Instead, you’ve brought us out into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death.”

Do you REMEMBER how God responded to the “Back to Egypt” committee?

Maybe the question we really need to ask is how would we respond to a group of people that we have just rescued from slavery and now are complaining so bitterly that they want to go back?

          I think I might give them a map and say: GO.

But that isn’t what God does ---

“I’ve heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat. And in the morning you will have your fill of bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

In the evening a flock of quail flew down and covered the camp. And in the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the desert surface were thin flakes, as thin as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” They didn’t know what it was.

Moses said to them, “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

Every day, God provided food for the Israelites.

          Quail and manna

It is one of the meta stories of the Hebrew Bible --- God’s steadfast --- God’s enduring love that will last . . . forever.

But there is more to this story.

On the Sabbath the Israelites are told:

“Collect as much of it as each of you can eat, one omer per person. You may collect for the number of people in your household.’” The Israelites did as Moses said, some collecting more, some less. But when they measured it out by the omer, the ones who had collected more had nothing left over, and the ones who had collected less had no shortage. Everyone collected just as much as they could eat.

. . .

On the sixth day the people collected twice as much food as usual, two omers per person. All the chiefs of the community came and told Moses. He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. But you can set aside and keep all the leftovers until the next morning.’” So they set the leftovers aside until morning, as Moses had commanded. They didn’t stink or become infested with worms. The next day Moses said, “Eat it today, because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you won’t find it out in the field. Six days you will gather it. But on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be nothing to gather.”

God provides a concept for what “enough” looks like

But not just that --- God also teaches the faith community about Sabbath, a practice that simultaneously provides rest and guards against hoarding. 

God provides if we are willing to work with God.

The story that Clarke read continues this theme of remembering how we use our money and resources.

The familiar Gospel story opens up on the day of preparation for the Passover --- remembering God’s saving act in bring the people out of slavery in Egypt to the promised land.

          Remembering that God’s love is enduring and steadfast.

Yet we find a group of pious religious believers plotting to get rid of this troublemaker Jesus who they perceived was threatening their lifestyles and pocketbooks.

They have cooked up an interesting plot.

They have found the one of the 12 who seemed weak and willing they plied him with a large sum of money to betray Jesus.

Money is used in a destructive act, here at the beginning of this story.

          30 pieces of silver for one little kiss

Far too often we can relate to this.

But this is a story that has both a beginning and an ending, and both are important as we try to understand our money story.

The money story begins with a story of fear and corruption in which money is a key component.

But how does this story end?

          Do you remember?

At a table --- a banquet --- a meal that even Judas is invited too.

A table in which a meal is shared

          Jesus offers wine and bread

                   He offers his life and his love

                             And there is enough for all.

Rachel Held Evans in Searching for Sunday writes about the table:

“The elements and the meal are identified in different ways: the body of Christ, broken; the blood of Christ, shed; the Bread of heaven, the cup of salvation, the mystery of faith, the supper of the Lamb. But in every tradition I know, someone, at some point, says, 'Remember.' Remember how God became one of us? Remember how God ate with us and drank with us, laughed with us and cried with us? Remember how God suffered for us, and died for us, and gave his life for the life of the world? Remember? Remember?”

Jesus’ act in sharing at this table sets him apart --- as he remembers the kin-dom of God that is yet to come.  A kin-dom in which there is enough for all.

          A gift beyond all other gifts --- the gift of his very self.

                    And reminds us that God’s love endures forever.

What parts of our own money story needs to be dusted off and brought to the light.

          What do we need to remember?

I need to remember the generosity of the wonderful folks at the Richfield and New Mt Tabor Churches --- who would put money into my pockets (when I had none) and tell me to go home to be with my dying brother.

          Their generosity --- in my memory --- endures forever

What do you need to remember?

Today we have had the opportunity to remember our baptism

          To remember that God chose us

                   Not because we are special

                             No --- God chose us --- because that is what God does

                                      God chooses all of us!

          So Remember your baptism --- your being chosen

                   By a God who will love you forever

What do you need to remember?

How have we treated the resources we have been gifted with?

Can we remember the lessons from the Bible?

          God provides

          There is enough

          Do not hoard

          Use your resources for good

          Share (because there is enough)

Remember

Remember --- you are loved eternally

Where Did You Get To Know Me?

John 1:43-51 (NRSV)

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

 

 

Greetings this morning from my parent’s former condo in Darien, IL. 

Hopefully, they have joined us this morning from their new apartment at the Holmstad in Batavia IL right along the beautiful Fox River.

Since they moved out earlier this weekend, Nancy and I, along with some of our children and my brother’s children have been busy preparing their place to be sold.

          We spend 15 hours yesterday painting

It has been --- at times --- a bit overwhelming.

          As I was trying to prepare them for this move

Last April, I was feeling, like many of you, a bit lost.

I needed to find something to ground me --- So I invited folks to join me on Thursdays for half an hour to just walk slowly through Richard Rohr’s book Falling Upward. 

Following that we worked through The Book of Joy --- always at a slow leisurely pace so that we can all participate.

It was fun, because I did it for ME --- I wasn’t really teaching --- I just happened to have a dozen friends join me on the journey.

Starting Thursday, I am starting up again --- we are going to spend some time talking about story telling --- what makes a good story --- and then we will have the opportunity to share our story --- if we desire. 

You are invited to join me.

Because if the truth be told --- I don’t think we can be followers of Jesus without sharing our story.

Last week I shared how I have some issues that I need to wrestle with.

Today I want to take that one step further.

I believe it is important to know our I AM statements because the truth is --- they impact how we come to the biblical story --- and how we interpret the biblical story 

I shared last week that

          I am a privileged, white, older, cisgender male, living in the United States

Now much of that may seem rather apparent.

But for me it is a part of my identity that will influence how I read and interpret the biblical story

I cannot completely separate my interpretation of the Bible and Jesus unless I begin to own --- WHO I AM --- what makes me tick --- and how those influences affect me

Let me try to illustrate this in another way

About 32 years ago --- two other young men and I --- from the recently birthed new church in Warsaw --- traveled to Jamaica on a mission project.

We were thrown in with a bunch of other United Methodists --- mainly from Indiana and arrived in Montego Bay fairly early on a Saturday afternoon.

After collecting our luggage and getting through immigration we drive to the South-West side of the Island 

It was about a 3 hour drive to the little “town” of Malvern where we would be working on fixing up a Church.

One we arrived --- the gave us a tour of the area (that didn’t take long) and as we sat down for a late dinner, they began to outline the plan for our stay.

Since we didn’t all know each other --- we of course --- spent time introducing each other and sharing what skills we had.

The two other young men and I were quickly identified as the three mules --- and we spent most of our working days hauling material from the bottom of a steep hill up to the church which was at the top of this hill.

          We moved everything from rock, to sand to building material

                             Day in and day out

As I identified myself as a clergy person --- in hindsight I now realize that there was some commotion going on.

As soon as the dinner was over --- the leader of the group came to me and said --- they would like to preach in the morning --- a driver will be here to pick you up at 7 am --- it is a good hour drive to the church

It was time to go to bed and I was in full bore panic!

I imagine I felt kind of akin to you might feel if you were --- on the spur of the moment --- asked to pray publicly.

          You know you can do it --- but you have many insecurities about it

I didn’t get much sleep that night

And as we headed off to the church in the morning we took these tiny, windy, what I would say were wide enough for 1 and a half small cars (we were in a mini-van).

I was given the seat of honor in the front --- but it was terrifying --- because every time you went around another curve --- you would hold your breath in case another vehicle was coming.

          The good news was --- I don’t think we ever encountered a car

          The bad news was --- we encountered a lot of trucks!!!

If prayer before preaching is the key to success --- that should have been my greatest sermon ever.

If you were called upon --- at the last minute --- and asked to give a speech, or even a prayer --- what does one speak about?

You would gravitate toward something you feel comfortable about.

I never got comfortable.

I had an interpreter who would translate my midwestern English into Jamaican patois

I was told the expectation was that I should preach for about 45 minutes

I think I managed about 40 minutes

          I spoke about Jesus --- and how he knew me.

In our scripture story today --- which is one of my favorites Jesus is up in the Galilee starting to gather his disciples.  He has just called Philip and Philip is taling to some of his friends:

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?”

I have never met you before --- how could you possibly know me?

I think, whenever we read the Biblical story, we need to remember that it is Jesus who knows ME.

          Before I knew him --- Jesus knows me!

So, once I know the starting point --- that I am already known (and I would add loved) how do I get to know Jesus?

Let me offer three steps that can be summed up with the acronym PSA

          This is my Public Service Announcement for you

                   Prayer, Scripture, Action or life

PRAYER --- spend time with Jesus

          Think of any relationship that you have --- what makes it strong

                   You spend time with that person

                             You listen to their story and you share your story

If you think of any broken relationship in your life I am willing to bet that the time together and the talking and listening to one another broke down before the relationship did.

SCRIPTURE --- we need to read and study the scriptures

But as you begin reading try to avoid the one question that most of us were taught to search for.

Do not ask --- What does this passage mean to me --- Instead try to figure out what this story might have meant to the people who heard it first.

Yes, I know that to do that takes work --- but doesn’t every good relationship.

We need to try to understand what a first century person might have heard in this story 

The reason why this is so important is because at this step we begin to be able to see our personal I AM statements creeping in and by trying to understand the story in context it is no longer about an older white male living in the United States but is about an olive-skinned peasant (in other words – a person of color) living in the first century under occupation by a foreign government.

After we begin to understand its context --- then we can begin to ask the question --- what lessons am I to draw from this story.

ACTION --- I think this is pretty self explanatory

          Jesus told us to go and serve!

To take his message of love wherever we are and to apply his standard to all that we meet

As we begin applying this to our relationship with Jesus --- we are able to have an authentic life for Jesus.

This is basically what we in Methodism call the quadrilateral and I believe it is key to understanding and living Jesus.

So what did I say for 40 minutes or so to my new friends in Jamaica

I can tell you --- that was one of the most terrifying days in my life.

But I felt Jesus’ presence --- because I knew that he already knew me

          I shared how I knew Jesus loved me

But at the same time I shared how I could SEE how Jesus loved them and how they were living that love.

Jesus already knows you --- now it is our turn to learn more about him.

I Am . . .

Philippians 3:4b-15

If anyone else has reason to put their confidence in physical advantages, I have even more:

I was circumcised on the eighth day.

I am from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin.

I am a Hebrew of the Hebrews.

With respect to observing the Law, I’m a Pharisee.

With respect to devotion to the faith, I harassed the church.

With respect to righteousness under the Law, I’m blameless.

These things were my assets, but I wrote them off as a loss for the sake of Christ. But even beyond that, I consider everything a loss in comparison with the superior value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have lost everything for him, but what I lost I think of as sewer trash, so that I might gain Christ and be found in him. In Christ I have a righteousness that is not my own and that does not come from the Law but rather from the faithfulness of Christ. It is the righteousness of God that is based on faith. The righteousness that I have comes from knowing Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the participation in his sufferings. It includes being conformed to his death so that I may perhaps reach the goal of the resurrection of the dead.

It’s not that I have already reached this goal or have already been perfected, but I pursue it, so that I may grab hold of it because Christ grabbed hold of me for just this purpose. Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus. So all of us who are spiritually mature should think this way, and if anyone thinks differently, God will reveal it to him or her.

 

 

I believe it was Robert Burns who said --- the best made plans of mice and men often go awry.

Well, plans certainly have been forced to change.

2020 was a challenging year for many of us. 

In one way or another --- all of us have faced loss of some kind or another

          Lives lost

          Jobs lost

          Opportunities lost

          Life postponed

But the reality is --- for most people who call Meridian Street home

          2020 was an inconvenience but not a catastrophe.

Back in April we fretted over our investment accounts --- but very few wondered if they would be able to put food on the table or keep their home.

I have pondered greatly about what lessons I have learned this last year.

          And I have learned a lot this past year --- especially about myself.                

I have learned that pivoting is not always fun.

I have also learned that I needed to grow.

May 25^th, 2020 was just another day for me.

It was the Memorial Day holiday --- but in the midst of COVID – it was just another Monday

But for others --- the world changed once again on May 25^th

          A 46 year old man was handcuffed --- accused of passing a fake $20 bill

As he was pulled from his car --- he seemed to be having some type of attack (maybe a panic attack) but regardless as he fell to the ground an officer came over and knelt on the area between his head and neck. He cried out that he could not breath --- eight minutes later --- he was dead. 

It was all captured on video.

His name --- in case you forgot was George Floyd.

He wasn’t breaking into the halls of Congress --- smashing doors and windows.

He was accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill.

                   And now he is dead.

Nothing that I have said is not a matter of public record --- but how we hear what I have just said is unique to each of us.

          Our minds all ran in various directions as I spoke these words.

Some minds opened up --- because they hope that I will speak up against injustice           

Others began formulating explanations and alternate theories. 

Before I go any further --- I want you to listen carefully and hear these important words from Henri Nouwen:

Remember you are held safe.

You are loved.

You are protected.

You are in communion with God and with those whom God has sent you.

What is of God will last.

It belongs to the eternal life.

Choose it, and it will be yours.

I share those words, because it is going to be easy to hear what I am saying today and for you to get defensive.

          You know what I mean by that

                   The proverbial “Yeah butt”

                             We have seen a lot of that these last couple of days

But hear a second thing this morning --- I am telling you MY story --- and not yours. 

You may sense some intersections with what I have to share --- you can ignore them if you wish --- I am preaching to myself this morning ---

but you are more than welcome to wrestle with these issues as well if you choose.

Following the death of George Floyd --- people began to protest against what they felt was an injustice --- the death of another black person.

          George Floyds name was added to a litany of others killed by police in recent years.

Rayshard Brooks

Daniel Prude

Breonna Taylor

Atatiana Jefferson

Stephon Clark

Bothem Jean

Philando Castille

Alton Sterling

Freddie Gray

Eric Garner

Tamir Rice

Michael Brown

I hate to say it but I could go on and on

Like many of you --- following the protests this summer I sought to educate myself on this crisis that seems to particularly affect black and brown men in our country.

I reread Leah Gunning Francis’ book Faith and Furgeson, read and attended a number of webinars by Robert Jones and his book White Too Long, I read: Caste by Wilkerson, Eight Years in Power by Coates, How to be an Anti-racist, Me and White Supremacy, but the one that really got me (not that the others didn’t kick me in the rear) --- was White Fragility.

I have always considered myself a progressive when it comes to issues of race --- but there was something in the way that Robin DiAngelo addressed the issue --- and threw my defensiveness back at me (unapologetically --- let me add) that got to me.

          I got angry with her as I read the book.

          Eventually I slowed down and listened.

She forced me to really wrestle with my role in the systematic racism that is prevalent in our society.

I saw that reality loud and clear this past Wednesday.

I am . . .

          What words do you put following that little phrase?

                   And maybe most importantly --- how do those words define you?

If you have a piece of paper handy --- I encourage you to scribble the words that come to mind --- just write them down --- as quickly as possible

I am . . .

I am . . . working hard to change the order of those words that often have been used to define my life.

          Face it --- some words that might get added are beyond our control.

                   But where we put them in our pecking order --- that is my choice.

                             And there is a pecking order.

I am . . .

I am --- I hope first and foremost --- that I am a child of God.

          That is one of those words, I don’t think I got to choose.

                   It is just reality --- I am a child of God.

God is the creator of us all --- you, me and every single human being.

                                       But where does that fit in my order?

--- the pecking order that I do get to choose.

I that I am a child of God to be the first and primary descriptor of me

I am . . . a follower of Jesus and The Christ

But there are other I am’s as well

I am . . . a male

I am . . . a white male

I am . . . a citizen of the United States of America

I am . . . the beneficiary of White Privilege

I could go on and on --- but for me

I am a child of God

And

I am a follower of Jesus

 --- those are the things that I want to govern my life.

Which means I must be aware of those other I am’s and how they influence the way that I see the world --- and Jesus

This is not the sermon I planned on preaching today --- but it can tell you --- it is still the same message.

Paul writes to the church at Philippi:

Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus.

The question for me is what is the “upward call in Christ Jesus”?

There is not an easy answer to that question.

There are many easy answers that I can give --- but it is much more complex and nuanced than simply saying Love God --- Love others.

                   Although in a simple way --- that is what it is about.

But I am going to go back to something that I was taught about 30 years ago.

When I was the Senior Pastor at Simpson UMC in Fort Wayne --- Rev Charlie Crowder taught me a lesson I will NEVER forget.

I have shared it with you before --- but I think it is so important that I want to share it again.

Simpson was a church in a changing neighborhood in Fort Wayne. 

          We had prostitutes that would use the bathrooms.

          We had “red coats” out in the parking lot during the service.

But the truth is --- the church was not ready to change.

          We were build walls around the church to protect us from those on the outside

It was a challenging time to be the pastor --- but there were a group of people who saw what was needed --- long before I did.

          One of them was Charlie

One night at bible study --- as we got to one of those place where we thought we knew what needed to be done and it was that THEY --- and you all know who THEY are. 

We knew that it was THEY that needed to change.

Charlie stood up --- walked to the center of the room and said.

          If you want to see change happen

                   Draw a circle on the ground --- step inside of it and remember

--- the change must start there.

I cannot change all that is wrong in our society

But I can do my best to continue to LISTEN, LEARN and GROW so that I might act

CS Lewis basically said the same thing that Paul did when he said:

You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. 

“but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus.”

So what is ahead of us --- what are we pursing?

The question I am confronted with is which God am I pursuing?

·         The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?

·         The god of American Exceptionalism or Manifest Destiny?

·         The god who puts me first and my interests?

·         The god who supports the democratic party or the republican party?

Or the God who says:

·         Sell all your possessions, give your stuff to the poor and come and follow me

·         “If you have two coats, give one to someone who doesn’t have any. If you have food, share it with someone else.”

·         “it’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.”

·         The God who stops for a woman who is about to be killed by a mob because she doesn’t meet their standards?

·         The God who invites the children to come

·         The God who says there is neither slave nor freeperson, man or woman, black or white --- we are all one in Christ

Which God do I pursuit --- or have I created one to suit my needs and bank accounts?

I love that image that Cogan shared --- Jesus – give me those new glasses to see your vision and kin-dom

I am a child of God

But I am also a child of God that needs to grow and change and to follow Jesus more closely.

I am a child of God who has often failed to see the white privilege that surrounds me.

I am a racist who needs to work on my relationships with people of color.

None of that makes me a bad person

          But I need to work harder to make sure that those things do not define me.

The Reformed Theologian John Calvin once said something to the effect that it’s by looking at our world and ourselves and seeing how broken both are that we come to realize we need a savior... Calvin was also very clear that this savior was Christ.

As I look at our world right now and as I look at myself, I believe John Calvin was right.

I see a deep deep need for the Prince of Peace and the God of Love.

So, I pledge to myself this day to be even more committed to The Christ and God’s vision of the kin-dom

I am a child of God

I am loved and beloved

And I have been invited to follow the God who doesn’t seek power or reward --- but seeks service and sacrifice for the other.

 

 

As we go forth from here today --- let me leave you with this prayer from Rev. Jan Richardson.

Now
more than ever
let us be the ones
who will not turn away.

Let us be the ones
who will go
farther into the wreck
and deeper into the rubble.

Let us be the ones
who will enter into the places
of devastation beyond belief
and despair beyond our imagining.

And there let us listen
for the Spirit that brooded
over the formless darkness,
and there let us look again
for the God who gathered up the chaos
and began to create.

Let us be the ones
who will give ourselves
to the work of making again
and to the endless beginning
of creation.

Turn Back or Move Forward?

These are my words from the night Americans attempted to overthrow the government of the USA, shared at a special prayer gathering at Meridian Street UMC.  Yes, we are those people!

I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from --- my help comes from the Lord.

Today is the celebration of the feast of the Baptism of Jesus --- it is the day we celebrate his breaking out into the world --- and yet . . .

We gather tonight facing an unprecedented time in our nation.

Senator McConnell said during the joint session to certify the election of Joe Biden as the next President of the United States.

"We cannot keep drifting apart into two separate tribes... with separate facts, and separate realities ... with nothing in common except hostility toward each another and mistrust for the few national institutions that we still share."

I stand before you broken hearted, but filled with the trust that Joshua proclaimed:

I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

We stand at a cross-roads --- and we must choose which way we will go:

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days

Tonight we will listen to scripture, pray together and seek God’s direction for each of us.

I invite you to settle in, breath in, and allow the spirit to speak to you.

 

Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Friends, my heart is tied up in knots.

As I know many of yours are as well.

There are no simple ways forward --- all will require great pain.

But if we are willing to turn our hearts back to God --- I believe that we can do that.

Even saying that, I know how trite that can sound.

I know that during the American Civil War soldiers on both side believed they were on the side of God

What God wants of us is come together and seek justice

This afternoon a song kept coming into my head

It was the song that for me became my anthem following 9/11.

It is a song that causes me to look inside and ask myself what is my role in this.

The song is from Pink Floyd and it certainly dates me.

They sing:

So, so you think you can tell

Heaven from Hell? Blue skies from pain?

Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?

A smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell?

Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?

Hot ashes for trees? Hot air for a cool breeze?

Cold comfort for change? Did you exchange

A walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

The problem is --- I never want to look inside --- I would rather find the splinter in your eye than the log that is in my own.

IF we are to get through this --- it is going to require ALL of us to look deep inside.

To stop making everything a binary equation

To stop putting ourselves first

Instead we must follow

          FOLLOW JESUS

We need to ask what Jesus asked:

          what will it profit you to gain the whole world and forfeit your life?

Tonight is not the night for blame

Tonight is the night for us to recommit ourselves to the Kin-dom values of God

And to see each other as God’s children

Would you pray with me:

Loving God, we ask that you fill us with your Spirit of love and unity.

We ask for your help to set aside our differences and look to Christ.

We ask that you would help us to truly live a life of love.

We know that this is only possible through the power of your Spirit, so we pray for your Spirit to move across our land in fresh ways. Turn your people back to you. Draw others to come to know you. Thank you that you are always with us fill us with hope.

We pray for our families, for every relationship most dear to us, that you would guard our time, and our lives together.

We ask for your ability to quickly forgive hurts, for a renewed heart of compassion, for love and faithfulness to be evident in every decision and action.

 

BENEDICTION

O Lord, Our deepest hope, our most tender prayer,
Is that we learn to listen.
May we listen to one another in openness and mercy
May We listen to our own hearts in love and forgiveness 
May we listen to God in quietness and awe.
And in this listening,
Which is boundless in its beauty,
May we find the wisdom to cooperate
With a healing spirit, a divine spirit
Who beckons us into peace and community and creativity.
We do not ask for a perfect world.
But we do ask for a better world.
Give us the courage to make it so.  Amen.

 

 

 

 

Holy God,
who created us for and from love,
in this time anxiety,
hold us close in your arms.
Comfort those who are afraid,
give courage to those who are distressed,
and warm those who feel the cold touch of loneliness.
Breathe in, with and through us
as we walk through uncertainty into a new future
knowing that you are with us now and await us there.

Send us out in the name of the Prince of Peace who is our Lord and Savior.
Amen.

We Are . . . Those Who Dream

Luke 2:1-20  Common English Bible

In those days Caesar Augustus declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists. This first enrollment occurred when Quirinius governed Syria. Everyone went to their own cities to be enrolled. Since Joseph belonged to David’s house and family line, he went up from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to David’s city, called Bethlehem, in Judea. He went to be enrolled together with Mary, who was promised to him in marriage and who was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for Mary to have her baby. She gave birth to her firstborn child, a son, wrapped him snugly, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guestroom. 

Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night. The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified.

The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord. This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.”

When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go right now to Bethlehem and see what’s happened. Let’s confirm what the Lord has revealed to us.” They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw this, they reported what they had been told about this child. Everyone who heard it was amazed at what the shepherds told them. Mary committed these things to memory and considered them carefully. The shepherds returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Everything happened just as they had been told.

 

 

During this Advent Season, we have been inviting you to dream.

We have looked at the dreams of others --- as they longed for the coming of a messiah.

We looked at John the baptizer dreaming of the one greater than him who would usher in the kin-dom of God.

Then the past couple of weeks we have looked at Mary

          Mary who says yes to the dream God gave her --- with great joy

          And Mary who needed Elizabeth to encourage her to keep the dream

Tonight --- as we gather around the manger, we are reminded that we are all dreamers.

Every year, we come to this night with awe, wonder, and holy imagination for what is possible.

Like Mary, we treasure God’s dream in our hearts and commit to keeping it alive.

Like the holy family, we believe and trust in a God who comes to us in the vulnerability of a child.

What I love about the Christmas story is that it is a story of a multiplicity of dreams.

          Mary dreams of her child that will bring salvation to the world

          The shepherds dream of a society where they will not be seen as disposable

                   A world in which they are no longer marginalized

                   A world where they are respected and seen as valuable children of God

          The angels dream of peace on the earth

          The Magi come dreaming of a new world order ---

one they do not comprehend, nor do they understand ---

yet they come --- and they dream

And yet, for each of these dreamers ----

Jesus’ birth often challenged,               

disrupted,

sometimes fulfilled

and always seemed to sustain their dreams.

What are the dreams that you bring to the manger this night?

Many children will go to bed tonight with dreams of X-boxes and I-phones

          Of dolls and baby yodas   

                   Of Bikes and trikes

But others --- others will go to bed this night filled with uncertainty.

          Uncertain how they will feed their family on Christmas day and beyond     

Not sure if they will have a job or a business as we continue to be devastated by the pandemic

Sad because they cannot live up to the American consumer ideal when it comes to Christmas

Still others will have an empty chair at the table, representing one of the almost 300,000 who have died in the USA or 1.6 million that have died worldwide

In a few moments, we will celebrate the coming of the light of Jesus into the world

born in an insignificant town       

in an insignificant nation

to insignificant parents

And yet, the dream that this baby represents continues to transform the world.

How will that dream manifests itself to you?

Claire Smith, a poet from Guyana invites us into this dream

I dream

Of a loving world

Where we see each other

With God’s eyes:

 

I dream of a resourceful world

Where we cherish the unique gift

Of each other;

I dream

Of a hopeful world

Where we recognize the power of God’s grace

To transform and make new;

 

I dream of peace. 

Howard Thurman tells a wonderful story about a chance encounter at a bus stop.

Thurman says that he was waiting to catch a bus when he noticed a man, sitting in his car across the street

          The man seemed to be making notes in some kind of book

          After he finished writing, the man looked toward Thurman with a broad smile

                   Thurman smiled in return

                             Thinking he must know him from someplace

The man opened the door to his car and called out, inviting Thurman to a ride, downtown – if that was where he happened to be going

As he got into the car and they began the journey downtown, Thurman tried to think of where their paths had crossed

Soon it was clear that they were total strangers

          But out of the graciousness in his heart this man had offered Thurman a ride

He was a salesman

          He spoke with an accent

                   But he enjoyed helping people whenever he could

This experience reminded Thurman of a friend of his who loved to stop at a certain corner every day --- offering a ride to any person who happened to be there and wanting to go downtown.

This friend would say that each morning was a exciting adventure in meeting and getting to know a new person.

She said that she gained a rare richness by meeting so many different and unique people.

And what she appreciated most was that she was able to meet an immediate need for someone each day --- just by offering a ride and being friendly company

Thurman writes:

Perhaps there is nothing more exhilarating to the spirit than to be able to minister to the needs of others at the time when a particular need is most acutely felt. This is the essence of the spirit of Christmas....the true meaning of Christmas is expressed in the sharing of one’s graces in a world in which it is so easy to become calloused, insensitive, and hard. Once this spirit becomes a part of a [person’s] life, every day is Christmas, and every night is freighted with anticipation of the dawning of fresh, and perhaps holy, adventure.

What adventure is God planting in your heart this Christmas?

What are the dreams that God is giving you?

But we must, like John, Joseph, Elizabeth, Mary and Jesus do more than just dream. 

We must awaken the dream through our actions.

Three years ago the word “woke” was added to the dictionary.

According to Merriam-Webster woke means:

aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)

Being WOKE requires us to keep our eyes open to the reality around us.

To pay attention to when there is a disparity between how one race or group of people is treated unjustly more than another.

Being WOKE means dreaming of something more.

Something better.

Being WOKE means it’s time to dream some dreams.

To open our eyes and align our reality with God’s reality for justice, kindness, and humility.

When you read the advent and Christmas stories in the bible, it is evident that they are calling us to be woke to the marginalized, the oppressed, the separated.

I want to end tonight sharing two of Howard Thurman’s poems. 

Thurman has the uncanny ability to put into words what many of us struggle with.

In his poem Christmas Is Waiting to be Born, Thurman is calling for us to be woke.

Where refugees seek deliverance that never comes,

and the heart consumes itself, if it would live,

Where little children age before their time,

And life wears down the edges of the mind,

Where the old man sits with mind grown cold,

While bones and sinew, blood and cell, go slowly down to death,

Where fear companions each day’s life,

And Perfect Love seems long delayed.

CHRISTMAS IS WAITING TO BE BORN:

In you, in me, in all humanity mankind.”

Christmas is waiting to be born

          Let it be born in your hearts

          Let it be born in your dreams

          Let it be born as you seek to make God’s kin-dom real to ALL

Let us dream God’s dream.

 

 

 

I will light candles this Christmas,

Candles of joy despite all the sadness,

Candles of hope where despair keeps watch,

Candles of courage for fears ever present,

Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,

Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens,

Candles of love to inspire all my living,

Candles that will burn all year long.

~ Howard Thurman

Those Who Dream . . . Are Not Alone

Luke 1:26-45 Common English Bible

When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee, to a virgin who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. When the angel came to her, he said, “Rejoice, favored one! The Lord is with you!” She was confused by these words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. God is honoring you. Look! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father. He will rule over Jacob’s house forever, and there will be no end to his kingdom.”

Then Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen since I haven’t had sexual relations with a man?”

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the one who is to be born will be holy. He will be called God’s Son. Look, even in her old age, your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son. This woman who was labeled ‘unable to conceive’ is now six months pregnant. Nothing is impossible for God.”

Then Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Mary got up and hurried to a city in the Judean highlands. She entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. With a loud voice she blurted out, “God has blessed you above all women, and he has blessed the child you carry. Why do I have this honor, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. Happy is she who believed that the Lord would fulfill the promises he made to her.”

Last week we celebrated with Mary as she sang her song of praise to God:

With all my heart I glorify the Lord!

    In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.

Mary is filled with JOY as she and her cousin Elizabeth celebrate all that God is doing in their lives.

But it didn’t start that way.

This morning we take a step back and find Mary when she first encounters the angel Gabriel in Nazareth.

I am sure you remember that story

I want us to pause for a moment and imagine; that you are an artist with the desire to illustrate the Annunciation — the very moment when Mary first hears the news that she has been singled out by God. As Luke tells us: 

“Rejoice, favored one! The Lord is with you!” . . . “Don’t be afraid, Mary. God is honoring you. Look! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father. He will rule over Jacob’s house forever, and there will be no end to his kingdom.”

How would you SHOW Mary reacting to those words?

Think of how you would set the scene

What would Gabriel look like?

What about Mary?

Most of us can come up with some images in our heads

Drawn from our experience

Our expectations

But what do the Gospels tell us?

We do not know much about Mary.

Tradition has built great myths about her

At times to the point of making her almost divine.

But that is not what the gospel stories suggest.

Instead, we find an innocent young girl who encounters an angel.

What do we know about Mary?

That is an interesting question and many people have attempted to tell us

Matthew Henry writing almost 300 years ago, and still a very popular commentary in many circles writes:

Her name was Mary, the same name as Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. Her name signifies being exalted, and a great elevation it was to her indeed to be favored above all the daughters of the house of David.

She was a daughter of the royal family, descended from David, and she herself and all her friends knew it, even though she was poor and low in the world. . .  She was a virgin, a pure unspotted one, but espoused to one of the same royal stock - like her, however, of low estate; so that upon both accounts there was an equality between them.

Christ’s mother was a virgin because He was not to be born by ordinary means, but miraculously. It was necessary that he should be so that though He had the nature of man, He had none of the corruption of that nature.

She lived in Nazareth, a city of Galilee, a remote corner of the country, and with no reputation for religion or learning. The city bordered upon non-Jewish lands and therefore was called Galilee of the Gentiles. Christ’s living there suggests the grace coming for the Gentile world.

The angel was sent to Mary of Nazareth. Note that no distance or disadvantage of the place shall be prejudice to those for whom God has favored in store. The angel Gabriel carries his message as cheerfully to Mary and Nazareth in Galilee as to Zacharias in the temple at Jerusalem.

There is a lot there, much, however, that is not found in the actual Gospels.

A careful reading of the New Testament leaves us with more questions about Jesus’ mother than answers. 

Mary is a relatively minor character in the Gospels—mentioned only a couple dozen times, often unnamed and usually silent. 

How did this unassuming figure come to be the most important woman in the Christian church?

And that is the challenge --- 

Mary has been re-created to fill the needs of those who want to see her as more than the Gospels portray.

Yet, there are some things that become abundantly clear from Luke’s telling of this story.

Mary lived in Galilee --- about 90 miles north of Bethlehem and Jerusalem 

(Bethlehem was about 5 miles south of Jerusalem although today you never leave the city)  

She was a “virgin” --- which becomes important for a number of reasons, but not necessarily the ones we have been taught.

Because she was a virgin and engaged to be married, most assume that she was probably a very young girl, maybe even an early teenager (12 or 13) --- but that is speculation.

In both Luke and Matthew, it is Joseph who is from the house of David and gives credence to the Davidic decent of Jesus.

We also learn in Matthew that Joseph is a carpenter --- really a craftsman (the Greek work is tekton), but we know almost nothing else about him.

We should find it interesting that Mary is from Nazareth in the Galilee.

This was a tiny town --- maybe a couple hundred people --- literally at the end of the earth.

There are some who would not have considered Galileans as “real” Jews --- and it wasn’t until the time of Herod that Galilee came back into the fold of Judea --- prior to that the inhabitants had been dispersed and other peoples had been moved into the area --- all courtesy of the Assyrian conquest in 721 BCE.

Even in the New Testament there was concern about Nazareth when Nathaniel asks in John’s Gospel: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

So, what must it have been like for Mary to encounter an angel?

Our theme this advent season has been Those Who Dream

• We have looked at the dream of the followers of Jesus who are filled with hope and possibility
• We have looked at the dream of John --- preparing the way for the kin-dom of God
• We have looked at the dream of Mary --- one of great joy and expectation

Today we look at the role we play in each other’s dreams through the story of Mary and Elizabeth.

Why does Mary say YES to God?

That is a question I often ponder

Or maybe the real question is --- would I have said YES to God if God came to me as God did to Mary?

As a white male --- living an upper middle-class life --- I know that I cannot even pretend to understand the challenges that this invitation from God posed to Mary.

To be pregnant and unmarried in 1st century Judea was unthinkable.

Worse yet, to claim that you were impregnated by God or the Holy Spirit?

As we look at the “annunciation” and the “Magnificat” in Luke’s gospel it is clear that Mary could not have fulfilled the dream of bearing the son of God with out the help and support of others.

When Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant (by another man he assumes) Joseph being a righteous man --- didn’t want to humiliate her, so he decided to call off their engagement quietly.

But he doesn’t

Because according to Matthew: 

an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

I am not sure I would find much solace in such an encounter --- my wife/fiancé is pregnant, and I am not the dad.

But it wasn’t just Joseph who stood by Mary --- so too did her cousin Elizabeth --- Luke tells us:

Elizabeth and Zachariah had no children because Elizabeth was unable to become pregnant and they both were very old. 

Elizabeth stands with Mary and affirms her dream.

Judith Jones in her commentary writes:

“By greeting Mary with honor, Elizabeth overturns social expectations. Mary is an unmarried pregnant woman. She might expect social judgment, shame, even ostracism from her older kinswoman. Yet Elizabeth knows from her own experience the cost of being shamed and excluded. In her culture a woman’s primary purpose in life was to bear children, so as an elderly, infertile wife she had endured a lifetime of being treated as a failure. . . . Elizabeth continues the pattern of social reversal by opening her arms and her home to a relative whom her neighbors would expect her to reject.  Instead of shaming Mary, she welcomes, blesses, and celebrates her, treating her as more honorable than herself. . . . 

Mary’s Magnificat emerges only after she visits Elizabeth. 

Her joy and confidence emerges and is sustained through the support of her cousin.

Elizabeth confirms that the dream and promise is real.

Joseph and Elizabeth both assured her that she was not alone.

And not only are they not alone --- but God’s choice of both Mary and Elizabeth demonstrates clearly that God stands with those who are marginalized and are deemed worthy of God’s love and purpose.

Mary and Elizabeth’s witness teaches us is that solidarity emerges when we share a dream that forces us into pondering what God intends for AND requires of us. 

And if you listen carefully to Mary’s song; it is clear that it is proclaiming good news for the lowly and the marginalized

Judith Jones continues:

Elizabeth’s words and actions invite us to reflect on our own openness to the ways that God chooses to act in our world. What is God doing through unexpected people in our society today? Where is God at work through people whom our neighbors and fellow church members often exclude or treat as shameful? Will we listen to the Spirit’s prompting when the bearers of God’s new reality show up on our doorstep?”

Great question!

Yesterday at the Gathering of Men the topic was on our dreams --- what are our dreams for Meridian Street Church in 2021 and beyond?

It was interesting that all of the dreams that were shared were about helping others.

Someone said that they were not an influential speaker but they tried to help people through his actions --- like helping with habitat or neighborlink --- but what was fascinating is that when someone would say that they were “just a volunteer” he said that he would explain how they were so much more. 

--- Influential speaker indeed!

Those who dream . . . are never alone!

We must affirm and share in each other’s dreams!

But what seemed to get everyone excited was a dream that was shared earlier in the week at the meeting about housing issues in Indianapolis.

I understand that Clarke Campbell shared that he dreamed of Meridian Street buying an apartment building to house our neighbors.

WOW!

Bobby Kennedy, a couple of days after announcing his candidacy for president said, paraphrasing George Bernard Shaw: 

There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?

Fortunately for us --- Mary said WHY NOT

Joseph said WHY NOT

The disciples said WHY NOT

What about you?

A few days before he died, Congressman John Lewis wrote an editorial which was to be published after his death.  In this powerful letter, (which I highly recommend), he wrote:

When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.

May we have the courage of Mary, the compassion of Elizabeth, and the passion of John to remake the world in the image of God.

A dream driven by grace and compassion and not power.

Benediction

As you go,

May you have the strength to dream

wild dreams of justice, and peace, and joy that overflows.

May you have the humanity to listen

to the dreams of others.

May you have the confidence to trust

that the God who heard the cries of the Israelites in Egypt hears your dreams as well.

And may you have the conviction to return

to this space, for our best dreams are those we dream together.

In the name of God the original dreamer,

Jesus the dream come true,

and the Holy Spirit who enables us to be those who dream,

go in peace, go in love. Amen.