Scripture:
Every once in a while, it's important to remind ourselves that the characters of the Bible are human. The passage I am about to read makes this point loud and clear. Jacob has just experienced a revelation from God in the form of a dream. God promises to grant land to Jacob and his people, and assures him that his offspring will be as numerous as the dust of the earth. Finally, God promises not to leave Jacob until all this comes to pass.

In Jacob's response, we see how human he is. Hear now a reading from the 28th Chapter of Genesis, verses 20-22:

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, [21] so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, [22] and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you."

Scattered throughout the Bible are passages which deal with the ultimate end of the world as we know it. We refer to these passages as apocalyptic. Before Jesus' birth, there was a long tradition of Jewish writings which anticipated judgment, a cleansing of the earth, and the coming of the Messiah. The writers of the Gospels knew that if people began to accept Jesus as the Messiah, they would anxiously want to know whether the end times were approaching. Jesus spoke to this concern in a variety of passages, including the one I'm about to read. In it, he heightens the urgency of the parables as he spells out specific events which will occur. In listening to the passage, make sure you also pay attention to the assurance which he offers. Hear now a reading from the 21st chapter of Luke, verses 5-19:

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, [6] "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."

[7] They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" [8] And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them. [9] "When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." [10] Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; [11] there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. [12] "But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. [13] This will give you an opportunity to testify. [14] So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; [15] for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. [16] You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. [17] You will be hated by all because of my name. [18] But not a hair of your head will perish. [19] By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Sermon:


It's Sunday afternoon. Sitting on a beach chair at Thornton Pool is a couple, quietly speaking to one another. The hoards of children left when the clouds arrived, yet the air was still warm, and consoling.

"I don't know what to make of that scripture reading this morning," the woman said in a quiet, pensive tone. "All that talk about judgment . . ."

"And what about that persecution stuff", her companion broke in. "I don't see how being a Christian has anything to do with being persecuted. I'd always been taught that Jesus is a God of love, and I've never known anyone to suffer ... just because they said they were Christian."

The woman responded, "Sometimes I just don't know what to make of the Bible. Whoever this Jesus is -- the one speaking in today's reading -- whoever he is, he's not the God I started with . . . ."

"What do you mean?"

"Think of what you learned about Jesus as a child. The innocent babe in the manger; the tune: Jesus Loves Me, This I know . . .. That's the kind of God I can make sense of. But the one I heard from this morning, well . . . I just don't know . . . ."

On any Sunday, when the Gospel is preached, no matter what the church, you don't have to go very far to hear conversations like this between friends, or to see these thoughts proclaimed on people's puzzled faces. Many of us believe we have a pretty good idea about the nature of God, and the qualities of Jesus Christ. Most of us assembled our picture of the deity when we were young, in the same way as the couple in the dialog. And when we encounter scripture, or interpretation, which suggests a contrasting view -- we find ourselves feeling off balance and uncomfortable.

Given our druthers, most of us would hope that God would be and behave in a God like way -- that is, that God would match our image, our notion, of what God is supposed to be like. The brief passage from Genesis in which Jacob offers his vow makes this point.

"If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I may come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God...."

This is the attitude of a leader, a confident self made pillar. It is reminiscent of an attitude which many of us have known from the inside. We are often reluctant to acknowledge openly our blanket acceptance of, and need for God.

• Perhaps we fear that it would be a sign of weakness . . .
  
• Or that we should make it a little more difficult for God to win us over. After all, we don't want to be too easy a sell -- not for God, and not for anyone.
  
• And in any case, we are accustomed to relating to the service world with high expectations and well developed criteria. Shouldn't we have the same attitude toward God? Isn't God in service to humanity?
  
• And if we were to be honest, and hold God responsible for the disappointments in our life the same way our Minister urges us to credit God with the blessings of our life, how would God measure up?

Would we not be left with a tarnished and shrunken God?

But who are we to qualify the specifics of God's nature or activities? And who are we to impose conditions on God's behavior?

Rather, our relationship to God is a life long process of inquiry. And when we embark on that journey of faithfulness, we discover that we ourselves are transformed; and our understanding of God is also transformed. But this only happens if our lives are open to an ever deepening encounter with the living God. As we mature, the nature of this living God is more and more fully revealed to us, but only if WE maintain an open mind and heart. Only then will we receive new revelation and insight.

In contrast with this attitude, so many of us struggle with the changes of the world, the neighborhood, our families, our jobs . . . and amidst those struggles we look to the church for stability, and in particular, we look to the God proclaimed in worship to be an unchanging presence, the same today as when we first met god as children in Sunday school.

Many of us can say with the woman at Thornton Pool: this is not the God I started with. Yet each of us knows that we do not worship a Golden Calf, whose static form never changes. Ours is a living God -- an incarnate God whose life continues, even after death, through the activity of the Holy Spirit in us, and in our community.

How is that Spirit being manifest today in this congregation? Amidst all that is new and still unresolved, what direction is God calling us? How are we evolving, and moving forward in our understanding of and experience of God's changing presence in our lives?

First of all, God is beginning to engage us as a congregation, and work with us as a congregation -- in addition to the ongoing work God continues to do in each of our lives. Let me share one way in which this shows up.

During my first few months, when I asked people questions that had to do with the congregation as a whole, they would always answer for themselves, as individual members who might be effected by the issue I was raising. If it was about an a proposed adult ed program, or a possible sermon topic, or a venture into a new mission project, I would hear back whether or not the individual I was speaking to would personally find benefit from moving in this direction.

More recently, I'm beginning to hear back people's reflections on whether such a proposal would be good for the congregation -- rather than for themselves personally, as an individual. A God who works as decidedly through communities of Christians as God works through individual Christians may not be the God we started with, but it certainly is a God whose call we must attend.

Let me illustrate a second theme by describing a photo that all of you will see in September when we receive our new photo directories. The photo depicts Ladine Rutter and Hanna Kinkle working together on a flower arrangement in anticipation of a reception down in fellowship hall. Both are serenely committed to this labor of love, and they are obviously working in complete cooperation with one another. This photo captures the Holy Spirit at work .... bringing together one of our long time members who has done this kind of thing for decades -- with a new member, who brings innovative ideas and fresh gifts to the task. While this may not be the church we started with, is there any doubt that God calls us to embrace and stretch ourselves to connect with people who are different from ourselves, so that together, we might welcome the emergence of the fullness of God's kingdom?

Another manifestation of the spirit are the two new members classes which we have had over the past three months, bringing in almost three dozen new members. Many have already become engaged in the life of the church, participating in a wide variety of activities and forms of service. And with our new name tags, it's possible for us to introduce ourselves to these new folks, with the reasonable hope that we might learn each other's name!! In the church I started with, we didn't need name tags because we knew one another, and folks rarely moved away. But as your new minister, I find myself thanking God each time I shake the hand of someone wearing a nametag -- and I'll bet I'm not alone in that feeling!

Let me offer some other signs of the spirit that have not yet had time to declare themselves . . . Signs which I hope will become fully visible six months from now. I can see the spirit moving in the annual process by which we identify and nominate the coming leaders of the church. Along with some of the current crop of faithful leaders who tirelessly serve God in this way, I can see some of our new members, eager to join our core committees. And just as significantly, I can see some of those people who may have served 5 or 10 years ago coming back on board:

• willing to acknowledge the changes which have occurred in the church;
  
• wanting to share their wisdom and experience;
  
• and eager to help build the foundation of the church of the 21st century.
  

We need leaders from all three groups: current leaders, new members, AND former leaders who come back to dialogue and grow. In the church I started with, it was always the same faces who could be found at all the church functions.

Another sign of the spirit that is beginning to surface is an increasing openness to spiritual transformation. When a community allows the Holy Spirit to serve as its compass, rather than the seven last words of the church (you've heard them, haven't you? . . .: We've never done it that way before!), then a community can evolve and mature, recognizing that faithfulness requires flexibility and adaptation as God's specific call becomes more and more clear.

Another sign of the spirit that is emerging amongst us is our affirmation that faith and daily life have everything to do with one another. Church is a time for renewal and re fueling. What we take from church we use in our life at home, and in our work, as 24 hour a day Christians. And if we want to deepen our faithfulness, let's not check our work a day lives at the door -- but acknowledge that our work is a big part of who we are, and thus it influences our faith perspective, and is influenced by our faith perspective.

This leads to the recognition that it's not just OK, but it's appropriate and important to discuss openly how our faith informs our attitude toward life's most fundamental challenges: issues such as:

• how to be a faithful parent;
  
• how to find security in God's love as we grow old;
  
• how to sustain a truly grateful heart when we are blessed;
  
• how to remain connected to God amidst tragedy;
  
• how to be honest and accountable for who we are;
  
• how to assess our responsibility as faithful Christians in the coming election;
  
• how to be faithful stewards of the resources and talents with which we have been endowed.
  
  

These and other issues can be addressed in adult education discussions and sermon talk back sessions. Are there some topics on this list that make you uncomfortable? Of course! Me too!!! Are there some that seem challenging? You bet!! The God who accompanies us as we explore these questions is not an ultra pasteurized God which we yank out of cold storage to provide us with pat answers to the new challenges which society presents. We seek a living, dynamic, incarnate God who continues to reveal to all who seek, still more light and truth.


Now: however important all this may be, it's hard for us to let go of the God we started with because, somewhere deep inside, we fear that if we let go of that God, we won't have anything left.


It has been said that the primary activity of the spiritual life is surrender.

• To let go of our understanding of God is scary.
  
• In a dangerous world turned upside down by faithless greed and unchecked desire, to let go of our understanding of God seems foolish.
  
  

But neither we, nor our world, can be saved by a freeze dried God whose essence was captured back when we were part of a church that was the way churches "were supposed to be."
If we are to be saved, it will be by our Living, Loving Lord, who lives today in response to the issues and challenges which we, and everyone around us, face. We will never encounter this saving God of Life, unless we relinquish the God we started with. Letting go is an act of trust -- not trust in our ability to witness to God's truth, but trust in God's ability to lead us to a new and greater understanding of ALL that God is.


Someone once said, "Unless a seed dies, it cannot grow." My guess is that that same someone is giving us fresh images and new parables -- but it's up to us to trust that this will be revealed to us, and to open ourselves to the promises before us.

Amen.