Scriptures for Sunday, September 2, 2018
Psalm 15
Deuteronomy 4: 1 -- 9
James 1: 17 – 27
Mark 7: 1 – 23
O LORD, who may abide in Your tent?
  Who may dwell on Your holy hill?
Those who walk blamelessly,
     and do what is right,
     and speak the truth from their heart....
                                             - Psalm 15: 1 – 2
Around the world, people of conscience are sick about the sex abuse scandal afflicting our Christian sisters and brothers in the Roman Catholic Church. 
You who know me understand that I practice and preach full “ecumenical” acceptance of, and sharing with, our Roman Catholic neighbors, whether they be in Elkton or Ireland or anywhere.  So I will not point a finger at “them” as if there were not many evils and flaws in our local church, our denomination, and in Protestantism as it is.  All human beings are subject to affliction whether we are innocent or guilty, and we are also all subject to temptation, and we are also all sinners. 
Observing the current suffering and scandal in the Roman Catholic Church, I feel I ought to give you-all a bit of historical background about how their situation compares to ours at Bethel.
In the 1500s, a few Christian leaders in Europe— they were all Roman Catholic, before 1517— had such harsh criticisms of the Pope and the Roman church hierarchy and practices, they began to break away from the authority of Rome.  However, it should not surprise anyone that the new “Protestant” churches which began to form often set up power structures that rivaled Roman Catholicism in authority and force of tradition.
The troubles that are emerging from the shadows of the Roman Catholic past (both long ago and recent) mostly result from imbalances of power between the “men of the cloth”— or, in some notorious cases, even “women of the cloth” (nuns)— and the “lay people,” the regular Christians in the community.  Priests and Bishops and Abbesses and Mothers Superior have held a lot of power, which was magnified by their status as “holy people,” and they far too often used their power to rape, molest, and otherwise take advantage of lay people or subordinates who were supposed to be under their care.  
But I hasten to point out that Protestant churches have also created big, bad power imbalances, and far too many Protestant ministers and other Protestant church leaders have misused their positions in order to take advantage of people under their care. 
Power offers us temptations: great power offers bigger temptations.
Nowadays, the Roman Catholic Church as an institution is experiencing dwindling attendance, donations, and trust, in a time when people who have suffered abuse feel empowered to come forth and tell their truth.  The Catholic hierarchy, from the local church lay leadership up to the Pope in Rome, are forced to listen to the demands that wrongdoers be held accountable.  Perhaps in future years, they may make a much more “flat” arrangement for power, in which the “people of the cloth” and the lay people share authority and hold one another accountable in a more equal way.
In our setting at Bethel, we have been living for many years under an arrangement that ought to provide for equitable power sharing between the congregation and the minister.  It’s a good thing, that nobody seems to think that the “Minister” / ”Clergyman” / “Pastor” is too high or holy for the lay leadership to hold him accountable.
However— and some of you know this already— this equitable power-sharing comes at a time when our attendance and giving are dwindling, compared to what they were at some points in the past.  
And the danger that I or some future pastor will mess up and abuse whatever power we hold is always real.  You lay people must remain vigilant and study the ways to hold your clergyperson accountable, so you will be able to exercise your power when you should.  For example, do you know how to contact our church Moderator and our Deacons ?  Do our leaders know how to reach out to our Association’s Church and Ministry Commission, should problems between the congregation and a pastor get out of hand ?
And that is in addition to (gently and lovingly) holding yourselves, each other, responsible for doing right and avoiding the wrong.
Those who look into the perfect law,
      the law of liberty,
              and persevere,
      being not hearers who forget
             but doers who act—
  they will be blessed in their doing.                  
                                          - James 1:25

Scriptures for Sunday, August 26, 2018
(HOLY COMMUNION)
Psalm 34: 15 – 22
Joshua 24: 1-18
Ephesians 6: 10 – 20
John 6: 56 – 69

Our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh,
but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the cosmic powers of this present darkness,
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  
                                            -Ephesians 6:12
For the past month in worship, we have been reading from the gospel according to John.  John is very different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke in many ways.  One difference is that in John, there is no “Last Supper.”  Instead, John gives us his chapter 6, in which Jesus announces that he is “the Bread of Life,” “the Bread sent down from heaven.”  As my long-ago Professor of New Testament, Charles Talbert puts it, John sees Holy Communion as the “extension of the Incarnation in which the bread and wine function dramatically as the incarnate blood and body of Jesus.”  This Sunday, as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, we will ask ourselves, “Is Jesus really in me ?  And am I really in Jesus ?
                   †                      †                      †
In this week when we have received a freewill offering to support Our Church’s Wider Mission, I am pleased to share with you this recent note from our Interim Conference Minister, Rev. Dr. Roddy Dunkerson.  (He is one of the Central Atlantic Conference staff whose salaries our offering helps to pay.  He is with us until the end of 2018, when our elected search committee and our Conference Board expect to have a new Conference Minister in office to serve us, long-term.)
Dear Friends,
Once upon a time, I was young and foolish.  During the Vietnam War, I dropped out of college and joined the military.  Those days in the Navy gave me many unexpected gifts.  While stationed in London, I attended a service at Westminster Abbey.  I got what I came for, the full high church sense of awe in a wondrous place.
Additionally, there was another bit of very English embellishment.  When the preacher got up to preach, he was summoned to the task and escorted to the pulpit and back to his chair by a man in special garb carrying a mace.  (It was ornamental and clearly meant for that place and that purpose, but, it was a mace.)  The message was clear, “You are preaching by the gracious will of the Queen.”
The preacher was an Anglican Bishop from South Africa.  This would have been sometime in the mid-‘70s, I am guessing 1975.  The Bishop was Anglican, but, not English.  He was South African.  And, he laid us low.  By the end of the sermon, it was clear that either one was working to end apartheid or one was an enemy of Christ.
The irony of the pomp of the symbol of power escorting this man of fire back to his place was palpable.  I can still feel it.
To believe in God is to acknowledge that I am not the center of the universe.  To believe in God is to acknowledge that every living creature is part of God’s creation and therefore beloved.
Sadly, we human beings, and this particular human being who goes by the name Roddy, are quite capable of seeing ourselves as the center of the universe.
The setting of a cathedral with royal connections goes against my more democratic sensibilities.  The notion that the Queen of England is the head of the Church of England is a history I know, but, not a reality to my American perception of the world.  The separation of the church and state are basic to my notions of reality.
That day, long ago, reminded me that I am not the center of the universe.  My notions of what is right and proper are limited by my experience.  But, that day demanded of me that I understand that God did not exist to serve me and the coming of Jesus into the world was political.
There are so many ways that we who have known privilege can come to see it as our due.
I give thanks to God that someone helped me understand that my privilege is to be able to help the cause of justice.
We need to be a healing balm for each other.  But, we also need to speak and live justice.
The cross was the symbol of Roman power.  Jesus moves us beyond the victory of Roman power.
Many of us love the ending of Micah 6:8.  For me, from that worship service long ago the words “but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” are tied to a mace and a message in which the mace loses its power to the way a person allows God to use him to challenge easy comfort.                                 Roddy

Be filled with the Spirit,
as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves....
                                        - Ephesians 5:18 – 19
​The photo was taken on Saturday in Charlottesville.  The folks in the front in robes, on our right, are Rev. Susan Minasian, Rev. Seth Wispelwey, and Rev. Brittany Caine-Conley of Sojourners United Church of Christ in Charlottesville.  This scene was one of many parts of Charlottesville’s response this year to the hate and violence that racists brought to town, the year before.  The religious leaders seen in front, here, include organizers of “Congregate Charlottesville,” which seeks to unite the spiritual groups of their city.  “Faith mobilized. Driven for justice. Acting together.”  They say, “Congregate is an instrument for mobilizing clergy and those who would follow them to respond rapidly, show up, and/or educate on matters of justice in Charlottesville, VA.”
https://www.facebook.com/congregatecville/
On Saturday evening, WVIR-TV (“channel 29”) visited an event organized by Congregate Charlottesville.  “People of all religions gathered in First Presbyterian Church Saturday with Congregate Charlottesville for the Service of Remembrance and Repair and an afternoon of faith and healing.  Hundreds of people came to the service to remember the violent events that took place in Charlottesville exactly one year ago.  The religious  gathering aimed to bring people of different faiths together to talk about social justice and needed changes. ...
“Organizers say they hope the service was an opportunity for community healing.  ‘We really wanted to create a space, particularly those people who have sacrificed so much for the sake of justice this past year.  We want to honor those who have been harmed, we want to celebrate the ways we have resisted white supremacy,’ said Rev. Brittany Caine-Conley.”
“Congregate Charlottesville says they held the workshop in hopes of preparing people of faith to continue to stand up for matters of justice.”
http://www.nbc29.com/story/38864562/first-presbyterian-church-holds-interfaith-events-to-spread-healing

I am aware that many White people have difficulty seeing racism, either in themselves or in other persons who come from “majority” backgrounds.  
However, like many other human experiences, once one becomes sensitized to how it feels to suffer discrimination and prejudice, it turns out to be as common as...                        evil and injustice. 

We followers of Jesus have a very high calling, to stand and walk with “the least of these.”
Seek peace and pursue it.       -Psalm 34:14
And walk in love, as Christ loved us....
                                           -Ephesians 5:2

Scripture Readings for Sunday, August 12
 Psalm 34:1-8
1 Kings 19:4-8
Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2
John 6:35. 41-51

Do people have a tendency to judge you? 
Do you find yourself stuck in other people’s pigeonholes? 
Do you ever wish you could just go far away
             from the people who “knew you when”—
go someplace where nobody knows you and you could start over, fresh?
For many Americans, this is a fundamental part of the American dream: to be able to start over from scratch.  Nevertheless, we also have the fundamental human longing to be loved and accepted by “our own”—
a longing which frequently disappoints us.
Jesus understands all this— he’s been there, done that,
got the bloody T-shirt.
Each of the four Gospels in our Bible tells how Jesus was disrespected and disbelieved when he went to minister in his hometown.  We recently read the account of this, found in Mark 6:1-6, in worship.  Even the gospel according to John, so different from the other three gospels in so many ways, includes this same basic story in chapter 6.  John 6 begins with Jesus miraculously feeding the crowds...  and yet they still disrespected and disbelieved him !  They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’ ?”       (John 6:42)
Jesus was demonstrating to his neighbors that he is the eternal Bread of Life, the Manna from Heaven, but they still rejected him.
In our lesson this week from the Letter to the Ephesians, Christians are told, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.  Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil.  ... Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. ...  Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.         (Ephesians 4:25-27, 29, 31-32)
Reading this reminded me of the remarkable article Mary Luti wrote, which was published yesterday as the StillSpeaking Daily Devotional.
 
                [  subscribe !    http://www.ucc.org/daily_devotional  ]
 
Jesus showed himself again to his disciples by the sea [where they had gone fishing].  When they came ashore, they saw a charcoal fire, with fish on it, and bread.  Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.”                                                 - John 21:1,9,12

Maybe you followed the recent story of twelve boys and a coach trapped in a cave.  First it was a story about whether they'd be found.  Then about whether they'd make it out.  Then, thankfully, about heroic rescue, triumphant success.
But for me, it was first a story about tempting fate.  About a failure of responsibility.  Why did they go in there with monsoons looming?  How could the coach have allowed it, much less led them in?  If they died in that lightless underworld,  Ekapol Chanthawong would be to blame.
One of the waiting mothers saw it differently: “If he didn't go with them, what would have happened to my child?  My dear Ek, I could never blame you.”  Then she added, “When he comes out, we have to heal his heart.”
When someone emerges from a cave (any cave— we trap ourselves in so many), awash in guilt, expecting reprisal, knowing they deserve reproach, you could pile on, rub their noses in their recklessness, strap shame to their back, make them carry it forever.
Especially if they were careless with you, betrayed you or left you to suffer alone, you could tell them they don't deserve you, that you don't love them now.
Or you could build a fire while they're still lost and ashamed.  You could lay on fish and bread.  And when they approach, aiming to kneel, wanting to own the damage and pain, you could tell them to wait until you feed them.  You could say, “Come and have breakfast.”
You could make someone pay.  Or you could heal their heart.  And your own.
Prayer:  Heal my heart, good Jesus.  It defaults to blame.  Make it all mercy.  Like your own.  Amen.
 
About the Author:  Mary Luti is a long time seminary educator and pastor, author of Teresa of Avila’s Way and numerous articles, and founding member of The Daughters of Abraham, a national network of interfaith women’s book groups.

Scripture Readings for Sunday, August 5

Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
Psalm 78:23-29
Ephesians 4:1-16
John 6:24-35

Each of us was given grace
according to the measure of Christ's gift.
                                             - Ephesians 4:7
In our work and play, we have to count and measure things.  For instance, last evening in Bible study, the frog in my throat was croaking, and the others discussed the correct recipe for a “hot toddy.”  Nancy recalled the time when I tried to follow a friend’s “hot toddy” recipe for her bad throat: I mistakenly used a lot more liquor in the mix than I should have, and it knocked her out for twenty-four hours!  (But she also credits it with knocking out her cold....)
In recipes, sports, construction, formatting documents, decorating, mechanical work, inventory, hobbies, planting and harvesting, medical work, sales, finance— in just about every activity of our lives, we learn to count and measure things.  “First down and five!”  “$2.49/ lb..”  “Knit 1, purl 2.”  “250 mg amoxicillin.”  “1:4 pitch roof.”  “246 half-inch widgets in the bin.”  “43 bushels per acre.”  “3.1% gain, this fiscal year-to-date.”  “A dash of Tabasco.”  “Single-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins.”  Go ahead— think of many more examples.  (How many?!!)
Biblical measurements are challenging to keep up with.  Hebrew dry volume comes in “kabs” and “omers” and “measures” and “ephahs” and “homers.”  An “omer” would fit in a two-liter bottle.  Moses reports how “manna,” the “fine flaky substance, as fine as frost” appeared on the ground each morning.  Each day in the wilderness, Sunday ‘til Friday, each Israelite was allowed to collect all the manna they wanted.  Moses told the people, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer to a person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.’”  The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less.  But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed.  (Exodus 16: 16 – 18)
Did you catch that ?  What an odd miracle !  Even though some people gathered more and some people  gathered  less,  everybody  ended  up with equal amounts in spite of their different efforts.  Why ?

Counting with Jesus in the New Testament gets weird, too.  In Mark 6 and 8, and in John 6, we read how Jesus’ disciples gathered five loaves and two fishes and Jesus fed THOUSANDS of people with that little bit. 
Did somebody count wrong ?
When the renowned Bible scholar Walter Brueggemann spoke in Harrisonburg in 2012, he gave us a pretty comical re-telling of the conversation that took place between Jesus and his disciples, in a boat, after the thousands had been fed (Mark 8:13-21).  He portrayed Jesus as a seminary professor with a class of students who “just don’t get it.”  Jesus gives them “an avalanche of questions that are really reprimands:  ‘Do you have eyes and do not see ?   Do you have ears and not hear?  Do you have hearts and not understand?  Don’t you get it?  Don’t you get it, that the world has been changed?!  That the Creation has been jump-started?!  Don’t you get it, that I’m the guy who’s Creator of heaven and earth?!  Don’t you get it, that loaves abound because the world is a carrier of God’s blessing ?!’ 
Then Jesus tries a different type of question: he asks about numbers and measurements: He said, ‘All right, class, back in chapter six, when I fed five thousand people, how many baskets of bread were left ?’  ‘Twelve!  Twelve! Twelve!’  ‘Good, class.  And in chapter 8, right above this, I fed four thousand... was there bread left ?’  Seven!  Seven!  Seven!  Seven baskets!  Seven!’  They know the numbers, because people in the Narrative of Accumulation are good at numbers— but they don’t have any idea what the numbers mean !  And at the end of the paragraph— it must have been one of Jesus’ most pathos-filled statements— he says to his disciples, ‘Do you not yet understand ?  Do you not yet understand that the economics of scarcity no longer pertains?  Do you not yet understand that you’re living in a new world of God’s creation ?  .... 
.... And I’m sure they looked at each other and thought, ‘Do you know what the hell he’s talking about ?’”

Jesus said to [the crowds],
“I am the bread of life. 
​Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”           
                                              -John 6: 35