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NO PASSIVE BELIEVER

3/27/2022

Genesis 1:1-5 (NIV)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Today is the Fourth Sunday in Lent, though because of our visit to Geyserville this is only our third in-church week. The first Sunday we spoke about not “storing up treasures” for ourselves here on earth, and our discussion revolved around the idea of taking the time to recognize just what our true treasures are and learning to value them as such.

Last week, the third Sunday in Lent but only the second Sunday actually here in our normal routine, we spoke of the generations that came before us who preserved and passed along the great stories of our faith and the teachings of those beliefs. Again, this message revolved around us recognizing our role and responsibility as storytellers in our own time and place – as part of the great long span of storytellers down through the centuries passing our knowledge along to generations to come.

We are just about in the middle of Lent for this year – halfway to Easter – and if any theme is developing for this Lenten season I would say that it is recognizing and acknowledging that we do not play a passive role in our faith journey. We are not meant to be simply passive receivers of what others tell is the truth of our lives. We are instead to be active agents of our faith. To be active agents of our beliefs. To be active agents of our relationship with our God.

Our faith journey is between God and each one of us. It is up to us to know rights from wrongs. Up to us to know the where’s and the why’s of this thing we call faith. It is up to us to responsibly pay attention and not just accept that we know it all because of things we have been told.

Many of the things I was told about God when I was a child seem very doubtful to me as an adult. Even though the things told me were said by good, sincere people who believed they were doing the right thing and teaching me the right way. Looked at through my adult eyes, I simply cannot any longer accept them without question. As a child, I received passively, but as an adult I recognized my own responsibility to judge the rightness and wrongness of things I had been taught.

For instance, even as a child I could never fully accept the doctrine of original sin – that I, and every other soul alive – had been born into irredeemable sin because of the actions of two people who, maybe, lived thousands of years before me. That made no sense to me then and it still makes no sense now.

In fact, as scripture tells the story of the Fall, God does not come out looking very good. God’s response to that piece of fruit being eaten is a huge over-reaction. It is unkind and not remotely loving. As an adult, then, I have to look at that story and decide that, rather than the truth, it is a fable that tells us much more about the people who wrote it than it does about God, who I believe to be much more loving then the God in this story.

We are taught by scripture and the church that humankind began to go wrong almost from the beginning, with Adam and Eve’s “sin.” The church made it easy, then, to think that we are doomed from birth, with almost no chance to “get it right” except through the agency of the church. And yet, if we are indeed created by the One who made us with love and grace – as the church also teaches us – how can we see ourselves as doomed? How could a God who loves us blame us – and punish us all -- for someone else’s error?

I remember having a teacher in the seventh grade who if anyone in the class did something wrong, the entire class was punished. Even at that young age not a one of us agreed with that policy. We thought it was unfair and mean, and not terribly intelligent, to be honest. I don’t believe God plays this kind of game with us.

God did not create us to fail. God even gave us the tools we need to be the people God calls us to be. We are given God’s own wisdom. And I believe we are expected to use it. And it is our responsibility to use it well – deciding for ourselves what is truth and what is story.

So I chose a reading that starts us literally at the very beginning. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” we are told. And then, as the very first thing God did after this initial act, God said, “Let there be light,” and God “separated the light from the darkness.”

Before we humans even existed ourselves, God gave us light to see our way. Light to see each other. Light to see the difference between good and evil, between life and death, between truth and story. Light to know the choices before us.

Lent is a time for us to journey deeply into the depths of our own souls. When we make this journey into ourselves there will be times when the choice before us is a difficult one to make. This business of being responsible for our own journey can be hard and uncomfortable. We can find ourselves torn between the easy answer and the answer that we really suspect is right. Sometimes when we’re in this spot, we try to convince ourselves that gray is not really a bad choice – that we can split the difference between right and wrong and still be OK.

And yet, our reading demarcates a clear, easy to read choice between right and wrong, between light and dark. We can take the easy way out and accept what may be a fable, or we can do the hard work and find God’s actual truth in the stories we are given – be they stories of Creation or of Jesus walking among us. And when we are giving our own stories for future generations to add into the mix, we can be certain to make them as honest as we can – not glorifying ourselves, or seeking to make ourselves seem important, but seeking God’s glory instead.

We meet Jesus not only in scripture, but in our communities, and especially, in our own lives. This is the Good News we are called to share – that we are loved by God. That we are not intended to be passive receivers but that we are meant to be active agents in our life-giving, on-going relationship with God.

Amen.

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THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH

3/20/2022

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Psalm 78:1-4 (NIV)

My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old—things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.

We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.

Today is the Third Sunday in Lent.

Our reading for today reminds us of the importance of words. Everything that we believe we know today about God and Jesus and the kings and prophets and apostles we have because someone – many someone’s – cared enough to repeat their words so that others in other times and places could know the great stories of our faith.

These words made an historic journey down through the ages, through thousands of years, to reach us here today. That journey at first was strictly oral – spoken words – spoken and remembered and spoken again by newer voices. Their speakers told the stories they had witnessed themselves, or stories they had been told by their mothers and fathers or by the teachers in the Temple.

In time – often long spans of time after the initial event – but eventually -- some versions of the words were written down. These then, in their turn, were edited and redacted and translated to other tongues -- over and over again until finally a version became codified as the "authorized" version.

Take, for instances, the greatest of the Old Testament stories -- that of Moses leading the people out of slavery in Egypt. This story is so lost in long-ago time that we can’t even say with any certainty that Moses was a single real person and not a collection of folk-heroes who over time gained that worldwide hero status. Assuming there was a real person, the estimates for the dates for his life vary wildly. The majority opinion seems to settle his birth at somewhere around 1300 BCE, give or take a couple of hundred years either way.

The Book of Exodus which tells the stories of Moses was most likely written down somewhere around 600 BCE. That means this story was told and retold and remembered and retold orally for 700 years before ever being written into any more permanent form.

Similarly, the story of David – the shepherd boy who would become Israel’s greatest king – existed only in oral form for 400 years or so before it ever achieved written status in the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel.

Likewise in the New Testament, the four gospels were put into written form anywhere from 40 to 120 years after the life of Jesus. The very earliest could have been in the lifetimes of those who actually knew Jesus, but the later were written down long after Jesus’ death. Before being written, they were simply stories repeated whenever the early Christians gathered.

We owe most everything we claim to believe to 3000 or more years of storytellers, because even when the stories were written down they were handwritten and rare and only belonged to the Temple or Church. For households to own bibles of their own is a comparatively recent occurrence in this long 3000 year span. In times of mass illiteracy, endless war, plague, and superstition, it was the storytellers who carried these stories forward.

Even today, most of us, though literate adults and bible owners ourselves, began to learn the basis of our faith through stories told to us by Sunday School teachers and bedtime-story reading parents – or maybe these days by cartoon characters -- the Garden of Eden, Noah’s Ark, David and Goliath, and all those childhood favorites.

Our faith is built up, for each of us, from our own experiences in life, but it is these stories handed down from generation to generation that give us the framework that holds these personal experiences and makes sense of them. Those times when we have personally resonated with biblical stories, or when we have recognized God with us – all those are anchored by, as our Psalm today puts it, these “things from of old—things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us”.

When we hold a trusting, sleeping child, or we see again after a long absence someone we have always loved, we get a glimpse of the amazing love that scripture tells us over and over God has for us. When we stand looking out over a high mountain valley or on a rocky cliff looking out into the endless ocean, we can understand just a bit, God’s passion for this incredible world which was brought into being in Creation. When we find ourself mesmerized by the delicate and unique grace and beauty of a butterfly we understand that what we are feeling is part of God’s love for all creation. Our human lives amplify – over and over again -- the message – the stories -- of Scripture.

Again, we owe so much to the millions who came before us and passed on the stories so that we may know what God has done and continues to this day to do. Did these story collectors know that what they were doing was saving the stories of our faith for thousands of years of believers? Possibly not. They just told the stories because they believed they were important and because they made a difference in their own lives.

And there is an obligation that goes with this knowledge, an obligation put on us to join the legions of storytellers and to do our part in the telling. It is our half of a covenant between then and now, to not only teach and repeat the old, old stories but also to add in our stories – our stories of the wonderful things God does in our lives, because God is with us now, not just then.

This past weekend I was privileged to join a Zoom conference on the topic of “Testimony”. Now that’s not a word we use often around here and I wasn’t sure what I was going to hear. I knew what the word means in both its legal and religious meanings but it is a word rarely used in my own religious setting. I just wasn’t sure where we were going to go with it.

I learned that “Testimony” comes from a Latin word that means “witness.” Just as a witness in a legal matter testifies to the truth of what they have seen and heard -- what they know – what they have witnessed themselves – so it is in the church. I’m grateful for the leadership of our regional Disciples Women’s Ministries for presenting this information and this experience.

God's grace gives us an opportunity to testify to what God has done in our lives – that’s it. When we experience God and we know we have experienced God, we can either keep that knowledge all to ourselves or we can share it with others. It’s almost that simple.

I say ‘almost’ because it doesn’t just stop there. When – if – we share our experience, our testimony, others hear it and our words may move them to recognize and, in turn, share their story as well. When we speak out, someone else may find the way to name their own blessings – to give their own testimony. The joy is that our testimony can give hope and healing to the world.

When we speak our own truths, we become part of that greater story of the living church’s testimony to God’s greatness. Does this mean you have to button-hole total strangers on the street and force them to hear your story? Of course not. But if you know a truth worth sharing, would you not do so with friends? No one is asking anyone to preach. Even your questions can be part of your testimony – and if that word itself bothers you, if it seems a little scary, then let it go and just think of it as ‘sharing’. We all share with each other at times, right? And thus we add to the on-going story.

I’ve quoted from our Psalm at the beginning of this message, urging us to share those “things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.”

Now the last line in the part of the Psalm we read says that “we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.”

May we go out and do so.

Amen.

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TREASURES OF THE HEART

3/6/2022

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Matthew 6:19-21 (Contemporary English Version)

Don’t store up treasures on earth! Moths and rust can destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal them. Instead, store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and thieves cannot break in and steal them. Your heart will always be where your treasure is.

Today is the first Sunday in Lent. The assigned gospel reading for today is the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness which we had discussed just a few weeks ago, and so I decided to use instead the gospel reading from Ash Wednesday for today. The three verses I’ve chosen for reading here are part of a longer segment, but these three seem to me to lie at the heart of the reading’s purpose.

So, “Do not store up treasures on earth!” and yet, do we really know where our treasures are locked away? Maybe we even prefer the idea of having them nearby so we can access them more freely instead of having them tucked up in some heaven, light-years away. More to the point, do we know what our “treasures” really are? An over-flowing bank account? Lots of electronic gadgets? A home theater with an eight-foot TV screen? Fancy cars? Now, those things might be nice to have, I guess, but are they really the treasures of our hearts?

If home theaters and fancy cars don’t do it for you, how about prestige and fame? Are those what you long for? These are things that the world appears to value – the treasures of earth – but they are also the ones the reading tells us can be destroyed by time and assorted vermin – leaving us with nothing.

If it isn’t, then, all the riches and the fancy toys of the world, what are the treasures of our hearts? Scripture here does a pretty good job of telling us what shouldn’t be seen as treasure as well as what should.

How about being loved by a God who is never too busy to listen to our prayers? That’s a treasure, surely? The writer of Matthew, in the section just prior to the verses I read here, is quite clear on what is proper praying and what is just showing off for the world.

When you pray, Matthew says, “don’t be like those show-offs who love to stand up and pray in the meeting places and on the street corners. They do this just to look good.” Instead, go somewhere where it’s just you and God. And for pity’s sake don’t drone on and on with lengthy words – God already knows what you need.

And then there’s alms-giving, which is another good thing surely? The writer here has opinions on that as well. “When you give to the poor, don’t blow your own horn. That’s what show-offs do in the meeting places and on the street corners, because they are always looking for praise.” Instead, give your gifts in secret. God will know, and that’s what matters.

So, what are the treasures that are stored in God’s heart for us? In 1st Timothy we are told to “do good, be rich in good works, and be generous and ready to share.” And, of course, there is the classic line from Micah 6, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

In another place in that same chapter of Micah, God rails against dishonest merchants who use false measures and dishonest weights to cheat their customers. Perhaps, then, simple honesty should be high on our list of treasures.

It is obvious that we have moved beyond materials things and into the realm of ideals for our treasures. If honesty is a treasure, then how about respect? Not the fan-club kind of respect, but maybe the simple knowledge that your friends and co-workers respect you as an honest and decent person? That is a piece of self-knowledge for us to treasure – and God treasures it too.

How about Love? There’s the love that we are given by others – and that is precious indeed. But perhaps even more precious is the love we give to others – those who, for some reason, we feel deserve it – partners, parents, children, dearest friends -- and especially the love we give to those who have done nothing particular to “earn” it except to share this earth with us. Our brothers and sisters in God’s family.

How about the beauty of this rich and varied world around us? The variety to be found in humankind, the creatures we share this planet with, the warmth of the sun or the night sky blazing with stars?

How many of these treasures are we familiar with? How much time and energy do we put into seeking them and recognizing them? And if we do indeed notice them, do we recognize them as gifts from God, given us through the Holy Spirit?

These, and others like them, are the treasures we build up for ourselves as we pass through this life. The fancy gadgets and flashy cars – even fame and adulation – will not transfer with us when we finish this life, but the love and caring, the honesty and respect will, I believe, remain with us because God keeps them for us and holds them safe from decay and ruin.

I saw a meme the other day that stated simply, “To be rich is not what you have in your bank account but what you have in your heart.” It may sound trite, especially since it was accompanied by a drawing of a fuzzy kitten, but it is nevertheless deeply true.

Perhaps it could be a spiritual practice for us during this season of Lent – to look around us, well and carefully with attentive prayer, and truly notice and see the treasures we have accrued along our way. This forty day period is a time each year when God calls us to slow down – and pray to be given the gift of truly seeing the treasure and blessings that are part of our lives. A time to give thanks. A time to cherish those treasures that God sees as blessings.

A time to remember that “your heart will always be where your treasure is.”

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NO PASSIVE BELIEVER

THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH

TREASURES OF THE HEART

Rev. Cherie Marckx

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