From the UCC Network: 10/29/2011 "A Ministry of Transportation"

A Ministry of Transportation

Mark 2:3-4

"They brought a paraplegic to Jesus, carried by four men. When they weren't able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher."

Reflection by Lillian Daniel 

Early in his ministry, Jesus had a reputation for healing, and so he was starting to get mobbed wherever he went. The crowds were so big because there were, and still are, so many people who long for physical healing. The irony was that in order to push through to the front of the crowd, you would need physical strength. The sickest and physically weakest would never have a chance by themselves.

But one man had friends who were determined to get him to Jesus. They were so determined that they climbed up on the roof and lowered him into the courtyard, so that he would not be left out. What a ministry of transportation.

In church, when people lose their ability to drive, or find themselves unable to be as mobile as they once were, it's hard for them to get to worship. Sometimes they feel forgotten when no one notices that they have been missing. Sometimes they are reluctant to ask for a ride or for help.

They need good friends like the ones in this story. They need people who will call to see where they have been, offer them a ride to church, or bring them word from the community. They need people who are determined to get them to Jesus.

Prayer

Dear God, is there someone in my community who needs to get to Jesus? Is there someone who needs a ride to church or a word from our community? Is there someone who feels forgotten by our church, or even by God? Open my heart to their needs. Amen.

About the Author Lillian Daniel is the senior minister of the First Congregational Church, UCC, Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She is the author, with Martin Copenhaver, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.

From the UCC Network: 10/22/2011 "The End of All Our Searching"

The End of All Our Searching

Excerpt from John 5: 39-47  

"You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings."

Reflection by Felix Carrion

Many of the religious thinkers of Jesus' day were troubled by Jesus, by his thoughts about God, by his approach to truth. The same was the case in the early church when the gospel of John was written. To be fair to some of these folks, they were not ready to let go of cherished ideas and theological doctrines that may have held the strongest sway in their lives for a long time. Yet, the more they hardened their understandings, the more calcified they became. In the end, they could neither see nor accept that much in their own scriptures pointed to one who would love God, love truth, and love all people, like Jesus did.

When we seek validation from scriptures we are more preoccupied with our glory or the glory of others than the glory of God. We want the scriptures to point back to our position. We want to win the debate. We want to prove the opponent wrong. We want to be right. Convinced that we are right, this self-gratifying approval trumps the honest inquiry and a passion for the truth.

There is another way to gain the truth from scriptures. Stand in the path that opens the scriptures, and be prepared to go wherever the scriptures lead. Search them for the truth you are seeking and you will not be disappointed. Your perspective may end up validated; it may also be refuted. Either way, you will have come upon the deeper truth that points back or forward to God, who in the end is the end of all our searching.

Prayer

O God, light a fire in my heart and mind for your truth. Make me a lover of your truth. Amen.

About the Author Felix Carrion is Coordinator of The Stillspeaking Ministry, United Church of Christ.

From the UCC Network: 10/21/2011 "The Passages That Make Us Say “Eew”"

The Passages That Make Us Say “Eew”

Excerpt from Titus 2: 7-8,11-15   

“Show yourself in all respects a model of good works.”

Reflection by Martin B. Copenhaver

Today’s assigned reading from the Bible is from the letter to Titus, sometimes attributed to the Apostle Paul, chapter 2, verses 7-8 and 11-15, which of course sent me immediately to verses 9-10 to see what was left out.  Here are those unassigned verses:

“Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back, not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity, so that in everything they may be an ornament of God our Savior.”

Eew.  No wonder they left out those verses.

Today it would be hard to find a moral issue about which there is greater agreement than that slavery is wrong.  But nowhere in the Bible is the practice of slavery condemned.  Slavery is not defended as much as it is simply assumed.  What are we to make of that?

When Paul said, in another letter, that in Christ there is “no longer slave or free,” it came like a revelatory flash.  Only hundreds of years later, however, were the full implications of that understanding seen completely.  God’s revelation may occur in a flash, but our understanding of it unfolds over time.

This understanding is deeply embedded in our tradition.  John Robinson, pastor of the Pilgrims, sent off members of his congregation to the New World with these words in 1620:  “The Lord has more truth and light yet to break forth out of his [sic] holy word.”  Or, as we like to say in the United Church of Christ today, “God is still speaking.”  And, thank God, it is true.

Prayer

God, give me ears to hear what you are saying today, even if it is different from what I thought I heard you say yesterday.

About the Author Martin B. Copenhaver is Senior Pastor, Wellesley Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is the author, with Lillian Daniel, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.

From the UCC Network: 11/20/2011 "A Mother's Work is Never Done"

A Mother's Work is Never Done

Excerpt from Mark 1: 29-31  

"Simon's mother-in-law was sick in bed, burning up with fever. They told Jesus. He went to her, took her hand, and raised her up. No sooner had the fever left than she was up fixing dinner for them."

Reflection by Lillian Daniel

This story cracks me up. Simon's mother was very ill, consumed with a fever, but Jesus was able to cure his friend's mother, to literally "raise her up." What a moment that must have been.

So after this life-threatening illness and a miracle cure, what does this woman do next? She makes them all dinner, of course. Simon may be a grown-up, his mother may have just had a near-death experience, but a mother's work is never done.

I know one could make a feminist analysis of this story, and feel sorry for the hard work women had to do in a patriarchal society. But as a postmodern woman, I still relate to Simon's mother simply as a mother.

These days, with one child in college, and another with three short years left at home, I find myself longing to cook meals for my kids. These days, we have to schedule family dinners in advance with our busy high school sophomore. So I love it when my daughter and a group of her friends just happen to find themselves together around the kitchen counter, and I can whip up a little something. I’m eager for my son's first trip home from college because he has already told me what he wants me to make him for dinner.

In my early years of parenting, cooking for my children was just another chore, another stressor in an overscheduled working mom's life. But now, I'd like to do more of it.

When Simon's mother recovered, she must have been enormously grateful to have been given more days to live. But what she chose to do in that moment was something very ordinary. She cooked a meal for her son and his friends. Because when you look back on your life, it's not the big vacations, the promotions, or the extraordinary events you remember. It's the simple stuff, like cooking a meal for your son and his friends.

Prayer

God, you are the host, the mother who waits for us with a heavenly banquet and a loving heart. In you, may we find the grace to delight in each other and in each day you give us. Amen.

About the Author Lillian Daniel is the senior minister of the First Congregational Church, UCC, Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She is the author, with Martin Copenhaver, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.

From the UCC Network: 10/18/2011 "Majoring in Minors, Minoring in Majors"

Majoring in Minors, Minoring in Majors

Excerpt from Numbers 12:1-2

"Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.  'Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?' they asked.  'Hasn't the Lord also spoken through us?'  And the Lord heard this."  (NIV)

Reflection by Kenneth L. Samuel

Determining what's really important and pertinent to our lives is an ongoing struggle.  Too often we confuse the tangential with the essential.  Why else would high school sports command the attention of the multitudes while high school graduation rates plummet with little public concern?  Or what about the fact that more people are likely to vote for the next "American Idol" than for the next governor of their state?  And we all know that more of us watched the royal wedding of Prince William and Lady Katherine than President Obama's address to the joint session of Congress regarding the American Jobs Bill.  And this is to say nothing of how the NFL, the NBA and NASCAR actually determine much of our church calendars.

The children of Israel had been delivered from bondage in Egypt, but they faced colossal challenges as they sought to posses their land of promise.  They had settlements to negotiate, communities to build, children to nurture and a destiny to realize.  But in the midst of these awesome challenges and opportunities, Miriam and Aaron turned their attention to the personal prerogatives of their brother Moses.  They murmured against Moses' selection of a woman from Ethiopia (a Cushite) to be his wife.

How sad that even to this day, so many people choose to neglect the pertinent matters of the common good in their self-righteous quests to regulate the personal liberties of other individuals.  While the nation stagnates in the grip of economic crisis, there are those whose main agenda is the denial of marriage equality to all Americans.  While public schools falter and crime increases and prisons multiply, many can focus only on the repeal of women's reproductive rights.  While globalization has made the need for multi-religious dialogue more necessary than ever, there are those who think it is of vital importance to deny the building of a mosque near Ground Zero. 

Isn't it time that we redeem the time by reassessing our priorities and deciding what's really important?

Prayer

Gracious God, please give us discernment to know what is pertinent and vital to our common good.  And give us respect for the individual liberties of all.  Amen.

About the Author Kenneth L. Samuel is Pastor of Victory for the World Church, Stone Mountain, Georgia.

From the UCC Network: 10/16/2011 "Hands"

Hands

Excerpt from Exodus 39:32-43  

"Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its hooks, its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; the covering of tanned rams' skins and the covering of fine leather, and the curtain for the screen; the ark of the covenant with its poles and the mercy seat; the table with all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; the pure lampstand with its lamps set on it and all its utensils, and the oil for the light; the golden altar, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance of the tent…The Israelites had done all of the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses."

Reflection by Quinn G. Caldwell

Here's the thing about hands.  The same pair can be used to build a bomb and to stroke a child's face; to smack your spouse around and to paint a masterpiece; to flip somebody off and to remove a cancer from an ailing body.  It's all about who's in control.

The Israelites had just blown it big time: they had cast themselves a golden calf to worship.  The story glosses over the actual process of making the calf, but it must have taken a lot of work, some of it quite skilled, to produce such a thing.  A lot of work, a lot of craftsmanship, a lot of time, a lot of loving care…all to produce one of the worst abominations God seems able to imagine.

Now here are those same people, offering the Tabernacle.  The hands that created an abomination have now woven, and dyed, and cast, and sewn, and built a great portable cathedral in the desert.  Those same sinning hands have now produced tools to dispense forgiveness, and furniture for righteousness, and containers for covenant, and a seat for mercy, and a great thing of beauty rising in the starkest of surroundings.

When left to their own devices, the best the people could come up with were a cow and a party.  With God in control, they crafted mercy, and forgiveness, and beauty.

Who's going to control your hands today?

Prayer

God, I know whose playground idle hands are.  So grant me tasks to do with mine that will be gentle, beautiful, creative, and just.  Amen.

About the Author Quinn G. Caldwell is Associate Minister of Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts, and co-editor, with Curtis J. Preston, of the just-published Unofficial Handbook of the United Church of Christ.

From the UCC Network: 10/16/2011 "About Taxes"

About Taxes

Excerpt from Matthew 22: 15-22 

"Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?"

Reflection by Felix Carrion

Entrapment is the aim of the question about taxes posed to Jesus by the Pharisees. But Jesus is too smart to fall into the trap. He's also too smart to supply a yes or no response. And, for sure, he will not answer a question each of them must answer for themselves.

(Having said this, Google "famous quotes about taxes," if you want to laugh and be intrigued.)

Now back to the question about taxes served to Jesus on a large platter of political machinations, seasoned with a whole lot of flattery. (Is this sounding familiar?)

Here's the deal. Two factions in Jesus' day were having it out over taxes. The Herodians, supporters of the local dynasty of Herod, were clear about paying taxes to the emperor, their overload. With Rome's backing they had garnered their power and fortunes. The Zealots, on the other hand, were committed to overthrowing Rome's rule over Israel, and would not support in any shape or form paying taxes to their oppressors. The Pharisees were kind of in the middle. They did not abide being subjects of Roman dominance but were in opposition to the Zealots’ use of force.

Had Jesus answered no, he probably would have been arrested on the spot. Had he answered yes, he would have landed squarely on the side of the Herodians, willing subjects of Rome and of this world’s power and fortune.

So, Jesus says show me the coin used for the tax.  (Note he didn't pull one out of his "pocket.") Whose head is this, and whose title? They answer, Caesar's.  Jesus responds, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God.”

What I hear and see in Jesus' actions and words is this: What does the world say about who is the head of your life? What does the world say about what this ruler is entitled to?

Now, what do you say?

Prayer

O God, grant me pure clarity about what belongs to this world and what belongs to you. And, may I give my all to you. Amen.

About the Author Felix Carrion is Coordinator of The Stillspeaking Ministry, United Church of Christ.

From the UCC Network: 10/14/2011 "Consider Breaking a Rule"

Consider Breaking a Rule

Excerpt from Acts 10: 9-23a  

"He heard a voice saying, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat.' But Peter said, 'By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.' The voice said to him again, a second time, 'What God has made clean, you must not call profane.' This happened three times . . . Peter was greatly puzzled about what to make of the vision that he had seen . . . While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, 'Look, three men are searching for you.  Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation, for I have sent them.'"

Reflection by Christina Villa

Peter is hungry and has a vision in which God tells him what to do: "Get up, Peter; kill and eat."  Wait a minute, Peter says, I'm not going to just kill any old thing and eat it!  There are rules against that, and even having God tell him it's OK—not once, not twice, but three times—isn't enough for Peter.  He's still greatly puzzled. What could it mean?  What should he do? He’s still sitting there thinking about it when the Spirit, sounding exasperated, taps him on the shoulder: "Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation."

Sometimes we get so used to following "rules" that our obedience to them gets in the way of our obedience to God. Sometimes rules protect us from challenge or risk. In the process of staying safe, and perhaps congratulating ourselves for being good rule-followers, we never do anything that might be considered divinely inspired—or even very important to us. 

What rules are you busy following while the Spirit is repeatedly trying to make you get up and do something else, something you were meant to do, something God has in mind for you? 

Prayer

Thank you for never giving up on trying to get my attention.  Amen. 

About the Author Christina Villa is on the staff of the United Church of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio.

"Hello and Goodbye" [cross-post]

 Witness for Justice #550

October 17, 2011

Hello and Goodbye

Jim Deming

Minister for Environmental Justice

I thought I would be glad to say goodbye to Andy Rooney when he retired a few weeks ago.  You know, he’s the guy onSixty Minutes who was always nattering on about some trivial issue like, “And what’s the deal with the lock on Ziploc bags?  Do we really think locking up a thin layer of plastic is going to keep out thieves?”  I know many of us who watched him always asked why anyone would get paid for highlighting the mundane side of life.

But since a recent trip to Lucca, Italy, I’ve had to rethink my farewells.  My spouse and I and another couple rented a small house for a week near this historic city, and as we checked in with our host, we were confronted with a long and complicated list of what we had to do with our trash.  There were buckets for food scraps, plastics, glass, metals, paper, and a small bucket for anything else that did not fit those categories.  Each bucket was marked in English and Italian, and the separate days of pick-up were listed on each.  And, in a gentle pre-scolding, we were told by our host that violations would incur a fine.  Andy would have been so proud of all the details.

In the beginning, it seemed a hassle for us Americano paying-guests to acknowledge the remains of every item we ate or bought or used.  But as the week progressed, we became more aware of every piece of “trash” and its lifecycle and eventual destination.  What seemed at first an imposition became instead an awareness of our patterns of consumption and waste.

For those of us who live with an environmental conscience, the most obvious lesson here might be that none of God’s gift of creation should be “thrown away.”  Everything we use, consume, recycle, or send to the dump was and still is a part of the sacred gift of life.  There is no secular/sacred divide.  Every scrap and detail is sacred because it comes from God, and how we use or abuse the earth’s abundance reflects on our respect of and love for our Creator.

And for those of us who live with a social conscience, the lesson might be that there are no unimportant people in God’s eyes.  Jesus tells us that God cares even for the tiny sparrow, a creature of insignificance even for seasoned bird-watchers.  So it would seem that God has a place in God’s heart for the ordinary, the mundane, even the naturally and socially insignificant.

Which leads me to one more conclusion: maybe those folks protesting on Wall Street are proclaiming that there are no “throw-away people.”  Maybe they are telling us by their protest that this competitive culture bent on dividing haves from have not’s or have nothings is not life-sustaining or just.  Maybe they are raising our awareness of our patterns of consumption and waste on a human level.  That we can’t hide our “trash.”

Thanks, Andy, for reminding us that even the mundane are sacred.

The United Church of Christ has more than 5,277 churches throughout the United States.  Rooted in the Christian traditions of congregational governance and covenantal relationships, each UCC setting speaks only for itself and not on behalf of every UCC congregation.  UCC members and churches are free to differ on important social issues, even as the UCC remains principally committed to unity in the midst of our diversity.

From the UCC Network: 10/13/2011 "Has God Spoken to You Lately?"

Has God Spoken to You Lately?


Excerpt from Exodus 33:7-11   

"After Moses had gone in the Tent of the Lord's presence, the Lord would speak to Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks to a friend."  (Good News Bible)

Reflection by William C. Green

It's hard to imagine what it would be like to be spoken to by God face-to-face. What would God look like?

But this is to mistake speaking for seeing. Moses did not see God; rather God spoke to him. This was a personal experience, but it wasn't meant to be private. The purpose was to enable the people themselves, through Moses, to listen to the God who still speaks to all. Then as now the question is not whether and to whom God is speaking, but whether we’re listening.

Sometimes something of God hits us with overwhelming feeling. We decide to begin, or end, a marriage or partnership. We find another job. We start speaking out instead of hiding how we really feel. We finally accept the risk of serious surgery because the alternative is worse.

Other times God's word strikes us with the force of a hint. This is simply a hunch, an inclination to go one way rather than another. At those times it's helpful to remember that God can't guide us until we get going—just as Abraham and Sara headed out to the promised land, "going out not knowing" and were corrected along the way.

God reaches us in many ways. Whether or not any of these can be called "face-to-face," any of them can help us move ahead backed up by grace beyond measure. And when we get it wrong, we'll be redirected.

Prayer

Gracious God, may I hear the word you are speaking—and learn to take a hint. Amen.

About the Author William C. Green, a United Church of Christ minister, is the Director of Long Looking, a consultancy service specializing in fundraising and education for congregations. He is the author of 52 Ways to Ignite Your Congregation: Generous Giving.

From the UCC Network: 10/10/2011 "Into God's Custody"

Into God's Custody


Excerpt from Jude 17-25

"To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy..." (NIV)

Reflection by Kenneth L. Samuel

I don't think many people truly understand the significance of benedictions –the final words of blessing.  We know that the last words of loved ones leave lingering effects in our minds and memory,  yet many people give little or no value to the final words of God that conclude a service of worship.  Often, people are too busy or too eager to meet their next engagements to even remain in place for the benediction.

 The book of Jude is a concentrated statement of contentious concern.  The writer stridently argues for the preservation of his Christian belief against the intrusions and deceptions of false teaching.  Jude urges his hearers to hold earnestly to their faith and to resist the temptations to compromise with evil.  Then, at the end of his urgent call for Christian vigilance and perseverance, Jude pronounces a benediction.

In the benediction, Jude's words of contentious caution give way to words of care and concern.  The focus is shifted from those who would destroy the body of believers to the one who is able to deliver the body of believers.  Jude is so concerned about the ongoing life and health of his hearers that he commits them into the care and custody of the one "who is able to keep them."

Perhaps what we experience in worship wouldn't be so fleeting and so easily forgotten if we paid more attention to the final words of blessing.  Perhaps we would feel less abandoned in our daily lives outside of church if we really received and held on to the blessing of the benediction.

For all of us who are so easily distracted from the paths of truth by vain trivialities; and for all of us who sometimes allow doubts and fears to diminish our godly resolve, the benediction releases us and commits us into the custody of the one who is able.

Prayer

Dear God, help us to be cognizant of every benediction, and let every benediction serve as the blessed assurance of your constant presence and protection in our lives.  Amen.

About the Author Kenneth L. Samuel is Pastor of Victory for the World Church, Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Revenge Is Not the Answer

Chasing Our Golden Calves

¹⁵ Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the covenant in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, written on the front and on the back. ¹⁶ The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets. ¹⁷ When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp." ¹⁸ But he said, "It is not the sound made by victors, or the sound made by losers; it is the sound of revelers that I hear." ¹⁹ As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰ He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. ²¹ Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?" ²² And Aaron said, "Do not let the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are bent on evil. ²³ They said to me, "Make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' ²⁴ So I said to them, "Whoever has gold, take it off'; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!" ²⁵ When Moses saw that the people were running wild (for Aaron had let them run wild, to the derision of their enemies), ²⁶ then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. ²⁷ He said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, "Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor.' " ²⁸ The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day.²⁹ Moses said, "Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought a blessing on yourselves this day." ³⁰ On the next day Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." ³¹ So Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Alas, this people has sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold. ³² But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, blot me out of the book that you have written." ³³ But the Lord said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. ³⁴ But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; see, my angel shall go in front of you. Nevertheless, when the day comes for punishment, I will punish them for their sin." ³⁵ Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf—the one that Aaron made. Exodus 32:15-35

I'm certainly glad I'm not having to preach on this text anytime soon; although there are some pastors out their who would find this passage from Exodus right up their alley of thought, I assume. It's a Hollywood epic just waiting to be produced; one filled with all the blood and death and mayhem that we seem to long for on the cinematic big-screen nowadays. Worldly people gone astray, and God's bloodletting revenge upon them. The special-effects folk would have a field day with this lectionary scripture.

Although I may personally struggle with this biblical account of God's reaction to the waywardness of humankind, I can clearly see within this text the civil-havoc that the divine payback that day did not seem to abate. It's all around us as I write these words. Political divisions, as we all try to assert control over our worldly circumstances and set into our own stone tablets our agenda for the way things will be for the future and for everyone else. Our chasing after our own golden calfs as the new gods to bless our lives, as seen in the financial corruption on Wall Street and throughout the coporate world. Our allegiance to the profitable bottom line for our own survival, while ignoring the survival of our brothers and sisters around us. God's revenge may have rained down upon them generations ago, but the same old whoring after other un-Godly gods is with us still.

So, how do we face up to and bring about a more just and righteous world in the midst of the sinful persistence of the human race? Or, are we suppose to? Do we have a role to exercise – as did Moses and the sons of Levi – in providing corrective direction to the downward spiral our world seems so intended upon taking?

First, I want to unequivocally say “Yes!”. We, like the faithful who have journeyed before us, do have a decisive part in the human drama which continues to degrade this world which our God created. And, secondly, I strongly believe that that role is not one of continued bloodshed and disregard for the life and well-being of our neighbor. That is not to say that God might not play a vengeful hand in the misdirections of this world. But, it is to say that such a response is God's purgative and must be left to God.

Our second lectionary passage for today – Jude 17-25 – gives guidance to us, I believe, of our human response to the destructive sins of the world. In the context of this writing, the same issues which plagued Moses time are still addressed in the author of Jude's generation. Not much has changed over the progression of the ages. But two things strike me as very important in how we respond to the chaos around us. First is Jude 9:

⁹ Not even the archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil about who would have the body of Moses, dared to judge the devil guilty. Instead, he said, "The Lord punish you." (New Century Version)

Here, even the archangel is saying that what will happen in the end is God's purgative and not ours. The Archangel Michael refuses to condemn even Satan, and does not respond in ways that bring about injury or harm.

And secondly, Jude 17-25 lifts up a much different warrant for us than did our Exodus passage.

¹⁷ Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said before. ¹⁸ They said to you, "In the last times there will be people who laugh about God, following their own evil desires which are against God." ¹⁹ These are the people who divide you, people whose thoughts are only of this world, who do not have the Spirit. ²⁰ But dear friends, use your most holy faith to build yourselves up, praying in the Holy Spirit.²¹ Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the Lord Jesus Christ with his mercy to give you life forever. ²² Show mercy to some people who have doubts. ²³ Take others out of the fire, and save them. Show mercy mixed with fear to others, hating even their clothes which are dirty from sin. ²⁴ God is strong and can help you not to fall. He can bring you before his glory without any wrong in you and can give you great joy. ²⁵He is the only God, the One who saves us. To him be glory, greatness, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord for all time past, now, and forever. Amen.   (New Century Version)

Throughout this section from Jude, the author speaks to our responses as ones of compassion, mercy and love – even towards those who hate us. These reactions in our human drama are ones that can empower a new outlook and righteousness in our neighbors, without the need for our judgments of outcasting and death. These new roles open up un-though-of possibilities for reconciliation of all God's people, and for the breaking down of the barriers of class/faith/race, and all that sort of stuff, which have divided us all for eons.

If there are to be ways of death and destruction, it seems to me that our sacred scriptures point towards leaving that solely in God's hands, as we instead share in ways that build up society and all our neighbors.

Listening to the Dead [cross-post]

Listening to the Dead

by Bert Montgomery

In the fall of 1980, when I was 12 years old, I went with my dad into downtown New Orleans to his office on Magazine Street. Driving down Canal Street, the home of the beautiful and historic Saenger Theatre, I noticed something strange happening, and the Saenger Theatre was the epicenter of it all.


The Grateful Dead was set to play a few nights at the Saenger, which meant that a few days before the first show DeadHeads from everywhere converged upon New Orleans and set up camp along and all around Canal Street. Being a budding student of all things 1960s, this fascinated me to no end. Though I’ve never been an honest-to-goodness tie-dyed-in-the-wool DeadHead, it was about that time that I really became interested in them; it was about that time, in my pre-teen years, that I began listening to the Dead.


Listening to the dead . . .

In perhaps one of the very funniest Three Stooges short films, Shemp dies and then is sent back as a ghost to try to reform the cheating, lying and face-slapping Moe and Larry; assuming, of course, that Moe and Larry will listen to the dead.

Charles Dickens brings Jacob Marley’s ghost back to haunt Ebenezer Scrooge and to announce the coming of the Ghosts of Christmases past, present and future. Why? To bring about a conversion of sorts – a reformation of Scrooge’s greedy, merciless and isolated self; assuming, of course, that Scrooge will listen to the dead.

Listening to the dead . . .

Jesus tells a story about a nameless rich man (see Luke 16:19-31). The rich man, who thoroughly enjoyed everything his money could buy, was blind to the needs of another right outside his window. The rich man was deaf to the cries of a person in great need – crying at the end of the driveway every time the rich man drove by in his top-of-the-line luxury car. He never paid any attention to poor Lazarus reaching out for some assurance that his humanity mattered.

The only thing Lazarus ever got was a good view of the rich man’s DeadHead sticker on the back of his Cadillac.

But little did the rich man know, even with his buildings named in his honor at the universities and denominational offices and local church compounds, that he was blocking out God. For God came to the rich man seeking compassion. God came to the rich man seeking mercy. God came to the rich man seeking mere crumbs from the table. God came to the rich man as one of the very “least of these” – but the rich man never saw; never heard.

By building his barriers to keep his comfortableness in and the uncomfortableness out, he had also put God “out of sight” and therefore “out of mind.”

When both die, though, it is Lazarus that is hanging out with Father Abraham, while the rich man is now suffering down in Hades. The last has been made first. The valley has been brought up and the mountain has been made low.

In the spirit of Uncle Mortimer sending Shemp back from the dead, the rich man begs Father Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to warn and reform his brothers. But, as Jesus points out in the story, people have more than enough opportunities from those living around them to hear the Truth and follow the Way; people simply are not prone to listen to the dead.

People simply are not prone to listen to the dead.

Thousands and thousands of years of teachings and examples of compassion, mercy, community, sacrifice . . .

and thousands and thousands of years of selfishness, greed, isolation, war …

if only we knew that in building our walls and putting up our fences and locking our doors and turning up our radios that we were not only securing ourselves from unpleasant sights, smells and sounds around us, we were also securing ourselves from God himself.

And if we won’t even listen to our Scriptures today …

And if we won’t even heed the words of the prophets today …

why then would we even listen to the dead?

Listening to the dead . . .

I have received only one speeding ticket in all my driving years. Early one morning on my way to work, I was driving along a wide-open four-lane highway with little traffic. A great song came on the radio, and as great songs are wont to do to me, I became entranced. My trance was broken when I noticed the police car right behind me. I got clocked doing a whopping 8 miles-per-hour over the speed limit.

The song? “Baba O’Reilly.” It is a great song of course; but its by The Who. Had I been listening to the Dead, perhaps I never would have gotten into trouble.

If we would just listen to the dead . . .

But then again, so few of us will even listen to the living . . .


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Bert Montgomery is a writer, minister and college lecturer living in Starkville, Mississippi. His new book isPsychic Pancakes & Communion Pizza (2011, Smyth & Helwys).