Supplemental!

On our UCC profiles, there are a couple of places where you can put Supplemental Information. The following video is "supplemental."   Somehow, these dear young men capture the heart and soul of what I strive for as a pastor and teacher.   It's true, it's fun, it's love.   I hope you watch it--these guys are going to change the world!

On Walking: A Palm Sunday Meditation

Palm Sunday-2013

Meditation:    “On Walking”

Prayer: In the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all of our hearts, may we hear your Voice of Love and Challenge today. 

Walking. 

Walking:  as a verb, it means “ 1. to move at a regular and fairly slow pace by lifting and setting down each foot in turn, never having both feet off the ground at once.  or  2.  Use similiar movements but of a different part of one’s body or a support:  “she could walk on her hands.”

Walking. 

How much of a part of your life is walking?  

Walking, as is moving, journey-ing, going from one place to another...with or without assistance. 

I walk dogs everyday.  They threaten to leave me if I don’t.  

Some of us hurt when we walk--our knees hurt, our feet hurt with plantar faciatis  or bunyons; some of us need assistance to walk, some of us can’t walk, so we have assistance...

Moving through the world, our lives, is walk. 

Sometimes it’s a cakewalk (as in easy-peasy)

Sometimes it’s a sleepwalk (as in unconscious)

Sometimes we  rush to and fro, sometimes we amble, sometimes we  just plod along, sometimes we stumble and fall.  

Walking, in the time of transcendentalists, was almost a holy endeavor, a way to get  back to your soul, to discover God or meaning.   

I remember the first  time I attended a Buddhist Sangha for meditation.  I didn’t know much about what to expect, but I knew that there would be a time for walking meditation.  So, when the gong rang, I stood up, and followed the person in front of me, who walked out the door. 

I thought, cool, it’s beautiful outside!  Then I realized that the person in front of me was going to use the lavatory, and that there was no one in behind me.    There I was, stranded, and clueless.  Apparently, walking meditation meant walking around the room, softly, following and leading at the same time.  Who would have known?  

No one told me. 

After a time, I slipped back into the meditation room, where everyone, by that time, were back on their meditation cushions.   I didn’t return. 

I enjoy walking, for the most part.  I am grateful that I can walk.  

Some people hate it. 

If someone invites you to take a walk, or sit and have a cup of tea, which would you choose?  (Note--it’s not bad to choose the tea.  It’s just a questions.)

In spite of enjoying walking, I have to say, I am a stumbler.  I stumble, I fall often, I pick myself back up.  Twice I have broken a foot this way, because of my lack of balance, and being lost in thought and not truly paying attention to my body walking.  

Walking, however one walks, takes consciousness. Attentiveness.  We should journey attentively, even if it means walking around in circles.  

We began our worship with a parade walk.  It was fun, right?  Sometimes all we need is a parade, to be joyful and happy for once.   Hosanna!   Hosanna!  

But now, oops, look at where we have ended up.  In Jerusalem.  It’s the beginning of Holy Week...the beginning of Passover.  Jerusalem, in the first century, had an ambiguous status for Jews.   It was the center of their world, and devotion; while at the same time it was a center of religious collaboration with Imperial Power.  And at the same time we have been parading with Jesus into the city from the east; at the same  time a Roman Garrison, led by Pontius Pilate was marching into the city from the west, to shore up military force in case the Jews celebrating Passover got out of control.  It was one of Jesus’ greatest political actions! (Marcus Borg, Holy Week, Two Different Meanings, @  http://www.marcusjborg.com/2011/05/07/holy-week-two-different-meanings/

And then, as we stand here, at the end of our Parade, on the cusp of Holy week, we have a choice on how we choose to “walk”, to “journey” through this week, as Disciples.  There is the fracas in the Temple, when Jesus chases out the moneychangers; there is the betrayal by Judas, there is the last Supper, the denial of Peter, the walk to Golgotha, and yes, the crucifixion.  How do we go through this week?  How do we walk with intention, through a narrative that is so hard to make sense of.  Some of may choose to skip the journey. 

Yet, before we back away from Jerusalem, and show up next Sunday at the empty tomb,  what if we, as 21st century Christians in a post-Christian world, reclaim the Holy Week narrative as one of passion and transformation? 

Many of learned that the reason for the crucifixion and the events leading up to it was about Jesus dying for our sins, as if that was his and God’s purpose for his life.   I argue, with our brother Marcus Borg, that the purpose of Jesus life was about the kingdom of God now, not life after death, but life on earth as the Lord’s Prayer affirms.  It is about this world being transformed into a world of justice and peace--this is God’s dream for the world, and it was Jesus’ passion for the kindgom of God that “led to his passion of his suffering and death.”  (Borg) So as we walk through Holy Week, we are faced with the juxtaposions of imperial power and love; greed, betrayal and humility; broken-ness and wholeness.   We are asked to consider God’s passion and Jesus’ passion for the world, and we are faced with the journey of our own personal transformation.  

So back to walking.  How will you walk, journey through Holy Week? 

Will you stumble through it, grasping at finding meaning for your own dying and resurrection?  Will you tread lightly, wondering how to make sense of the domination of Power in your life that is not life-giving?  Will you plod through, recognizing how you have betrayed yourself, others?

Will you walk with someone, with God, with a friend?  Maybe you will crawl through it alone, although you are never alone, beloved. 

Sisters and brothers.  We have entered Jerusalem, a Holy City within us, and the world around us.  A place of contradiction, of suffering, of passion, and transformation. We are invited to wander through its streets and stories, to journey with intention.

We began today with a parade...with palms and hosanna’s and song.....and when we leave, we will leave with crosses, in silence.  Crosses--once a symbol  of execution, but now a symbol of our faith, a symbol that reaches in all directions,  encompassing the world with passionate, justice, peace-filled love.   

How will you walk with the cross this week?

Amen. 

Random Thoughts on Preaching and Worship

In my thirteen years of ordained ministry, I have had the blessing of hearing great preachers, and the opportunity to experiment with different styles of preaching.

My mentors for preaching are are Prof. Barbara Lundblad at Union Theological Seminary in NYC (who was also my preaching professor), Dr. James Forbes,  Pastor Emeritus of Riverside Church in NYC,  Rev. Martha Spong, UCC pastor and writer, who blogs at Reflectionary, and my dear colleague, Rev. Laura Ruth Jarrett, of Hope Central Church in Boston.

Barbara Lundglad taught me to find my voice, and to trust the risk of preaching.  Once, in class, she invited me to re-preach my sermon while rolling around like a tootsie roll in front of the classroom.  I. Kid. Not.  It was a vulnerable and transformative moment in my education.

Both Jim Forbes and Barbara are wind-up preachers.  They start on the page, with their manuscript.  They begin slowly and thoughtfully, and then, oh my! The spirit runs loose.  You know they know their sermons inside and out and are able to allow the Spirit to move through their study and preparation in order to enliven the Word that is nestled in their bodies.  It's amazing.

Storytelling.  Barbara and Martha Spong are superb storytellers--whether it is a Bible story, or a life story.  They give witness to God in the World.   I work on that in my preaching--as I think story is the way we live our lives, the way we understand our lives, the way we share our lives.

Martha is also a poet, and her sermons are beautifully wrought with words that thread and braid together in incredible insight and access to the Gospel.

And Preacher Jarrett.  She is the best non-manuscript preacher I have ever heard.  She might have a manuscript, but the sermon is lodged in her body and when she speaks, the God in her connects to the broken, God hungry places in you.

How do I preach?  By drawing from my teachers, by listening to God, by rolling the text around in my head and heart, and being awake and aware of what is going on in the world, and in the congregation.    Sometimes I walk around and preach, sometimes I preach from the pulpit (which you can see in the video is kind of high up in the sky), sometimes it's scripted more than others.   It depends on the whole of the worship, of course--because the sermon is connected to the whole of the worship service.  The sermon isn't the only thing that happens!

One thing that I do know, is that the spiritual art and discipline of preaching is a holy endeavor, a sacred task, and it takes openness to risk and vulnerability.  It is daunting, and joyful, and I am blessed to get to serve God in this way.

Thanks for stopping by this blog~

Six Words

Devil’s Test? No Chance. Love prevails

Luke 4:1-11 

Lent 1                  February 10, 2013                Rev. Karla Miller

Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” 

In November 2006, The StoryTeller’s SMITH Magazine asked their readers, “Can you tell your life story in six words?”  Apparently, the six word memoir caught on like wild-fire, so much so that Smith magazine published several book collections of these memoirs.  

Here are some examples:

Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends

I still make coffee for two 

Catholic school backfired.  Sin is in!

Extremely responsible, secretly longed for spontaneity. 

The psychic said I’d be richer.

I threw away my teddy bear.  

What about you? What would be your six word memoir? Or current state of being?  Just try it--(congregation had pencils and paper to do this.)   

Tired of winter, dreaming of flowers. 

Don’t test me, drivers in Boston!

Love my family, clay, and God. 

3 dogs. 8 cats. Happy Family. 

Tenant in my own home. Pets. 

I first learned about the six word memoir in a week-long workshop presented by UCC pastor and author, Rachel Hackenberg.  She challenged us ( a room full of lay and clergy women) to capture the essence of biblical texts in six words.   

For example, 

remember the story of the prodigal son and his older brother?   The youngest son demands that his father give him his inheritance now, so that he might enjoy life. He packs his bags, lives a life of hedonism until he has squandered everything, and comes crawling back to his father.  His father is so overjoyed, he throws a party.   In the next scene, the older brother grumbles that he had done everything right in his life, had stayed home and worked hard, and his dad had never given him a party for being good!

The father replies that everything he has is his eldest’ sons--and the joy is because he thought the youngest son was gone, lost forever.  

How would you sum up that story?  My colleagues came up with two:

Where is momma in this story?

Only God is Good.  Shut up. 

Today, we find ourselves in the season of Lent.   The fourty days the early church fathers (or somebody) designated as sacred, before Easter.    Over the years, in myriad of Christian traditions, Lent has taken on a variety of meanings. 

Some people take on a spiritual practice, like writing a prayer a day, or reading through the gospels, or intentionally take five minutes of silence.

Some people “give up” something decadent, like chocolate, facebook, broccoli, or scotch.  

As a young Christian, I used to be an avid “Lent-keeper”    One year, in college, I abstained from cookies and ice cream, which was huge.   As a teen-ager, I would go to church every Lenten Wednesday that I could, and collect coupons.  At the end of Lent, if you had attended at least 5 worships, you received a lapel pin--of a cross or fish or some other Christian symbol.  

These days, I wonder what really might make a meaningful lenten discipline.  Because that is what it is about, right?  Discipline that results in some kind of growth? My friend Terri says that Lent is a season that invites us to do three things. I am going to to tell you what they are  in six words:

1. Remember You. 
2. Practice Faith. 
3. Be Grateful. 

That’s it. 

Six words to describe three simple sounding elements of spiritual discipline that are any thing but simple.  

Our text today reveals this. 

Jesus was “led” by the Spirit into the wilderness.   

He had just experienced the waters of baptism in the river of Jordan, 

and it was there that God claimed him as his own.  

Jesus remembered who he was,

a beloved, created child of God. 

It was only with this deep sense of self that he could indeed follow God into the wilderness.  

In Luke’s version of Jesus being in the wilderness, we learn that he had been fasting for fourty days.  It is only when he is at his weakest, most famished state of being that the Testing begins. 

Jesus is offered all that might be nourish him, make him powerful, and great.  And yet, in spite of the very real temptations, Jesus practices his faith, by  by drawing on the traditions and teachings of his childhood.  At that moment, I wonder if Jesus really believes what he is quoting, but the act, the practice seems to be what is important. You see, faith is not belief.  It is an action, no matter how much or little you believe.      Frederick Buechner writes that faith is “less a position on, than a movement toward, less a sure thing than a hunch.”   

And finally, the testing, the tempter goes away. Finally there is relief.  Finally, Jesus can move on and be all who he is.  

Can’t you just imagine Jesus praying these six words, “Thank God that is all over!” 

I summed up this passage as Devil’s Test? No Chance. Love prevails. 

I know. It’s fantastic, right? Strong and sure and convicted. 

However, I am not sure it truly reflects the essence of the struggle in the wilderness. 

My friend Sharon, tongue in cheek,  came up with these six words:

“For the Love of God, “No!”

and then she wrote:

“Went out. Roughed up. Left Saved.”

Have you ever just been at the end of your rope? Where your heart is blistered by the pain of circumstances, and everything is out of control?     Have you been led or pulled into the wilderness--a kind of time out of self-denial and testing so that maybe, something might change? 

Recently I read an interesting memoir by a woman named Cheryl Strayed (her real name) called Wild.  At 26, she was devastated by death and personal catastrophe.  She impulsively decided to hike 1100 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State--alone.  Never mind she had no experience as a long distance hiker--in fact, she never had backpacked before her first night on the trail.  It was an romantic idea with a promise of transformation.  

In reality, it was a stupid idea--she had far too much stuff, she couldn’t lift her pack, her feet were raw with blisters and blood because her boots didn’t fit, she almost starved, she faced rattlesnakes and black bears, intense heat and record snowfall. 

And yet she continued on her wilderness journey, 

sometimes having to change her plans and goals.

At times she barely survived. 

She made some really stupid decisions. 

Things didn’t go as she had planned.  She had to adjust and make changes.  

She had to give up a lot of stuff she thought she needed. 

She had to survive without what she really needed, but had already given away. 

She got roughed up. 

And yet, at the end of that journey, 

She did leave “saved.”  

In that journey, though...

I think she remembered who she was--

a person of worth, of value, of purpose. 

She remembered that really, all we have is right NOW, this moment, this life to live. 

She learned to practice faith--faith that she would survive the journey....

And at the end of it, in spite of the being roughed up, 

She was grateful. 

To be alive.  To have accomplished.  To really experience life. 

So, 

have you lost your way?  We all do, almost everyday. 

 (I can’t tell you how many times I day lose my way and forget that I am a beloved child of God.)

are you being led...to risk a little, to wander in the wilderness...

are you willing to look honestly inward?

Are you already there, being roughed up? 

Remember You are beloved.  or let someone else remember for you. 

practice your faith...even if that is simply hoping that your hunch is right...

and remember, 

that even flowers bloom in the desert, 

and that there are always angels that will bear you up. 

Because, in six words, or six-hundred words, 

this I know in three words:

Love prevails,

Always. 

Amen. 

I'm Ready to Party!

I’m Ready to Party!

John 2: 1-11             The Wedding at Cana

MLK Sunday           January 20, 2013       Rev. Karla Miller

It’s the third week of January. 

It’s cold.  (not as cold as it could be, I know).  

That’ s a good point--it’s not cold enough to hold snow, to be beautiful, but it’s just kind of mushy out there, and it is weird, isn’t it, that there isn’t much snow, AGAIN for two years in a row? 

It’s flu season.  I think about how thousands of germs are plaguing every surface of every thing, and my hands are getting chapped from washing them so much and another thing, 

it’s not getting bright enough outside fast enough.  

I know, 

I am whining.  

And it’s not the wine of grace found in our gospel story today.   

Frankly, I am ready to party. 

Party!

You know, let go, enjoy, shake it all off and be JOYFUL!  What about you?

What are some of the best things about a party for you?  Or party-ing?

(wait for answer)

In John, there are 7 signs  that supposedly reveal who Jesus is, and what his ministry is about....

and the very first sign of Jesus’ public in the fourth gospel, 

is a wedding party.  

Not a return to his home-town, like in the gospel of Luke, or a Sermon on the Mount as in Matthew, nor an exorcism as in Mark, but party where Jesus turns water into wine.  

Why the writer of John introduce Jesus ministry with a party, 

a party where his mother nags him, and so he makes more wine for the all ready inebriated wedding guests?  

What are we supposed to see about Jesus, what deeper reality about God is the Christ  revealing--because isn’t that the point about Jesus?  That who he was and did pointed to revelation about God? 

Perhaps the writer of John chooses this story to illustrate what true grace is.   

Grace.  

The word grace only appears 4 times in John, and the first is in the first chapter of John, which is like a prologue, a setting up of the book.   In John, the prologue is really an ancient hymn about the Word becoming Flesh, and it notes from  that fulness we have all received, grace upon grace (1:16)   (Karoline Lewis, Working Preacher, Epiphany 2) 

But really, does that mean--grace upon grace.  I can say it, you can hear it, it sounds nice, but...it’s illusive.   John sings that Christ is the Source of Grace, but knowing that is a bit esoteric,

the second chapter sets out to show us what “

“grace tastes like, looks lie, smells like, sounds like, feels like? “ (Lewis)

And what the writer wants us to know that abundant grace tastes like the best wine you have ever tasted--an exquisite surprise when you are actually expecting the super cheap stuff.   Or, when you are expecting frozen fishsticks, and you are treated to line caught striped bass so tender it practically melts in your mouth, and you actually can have seconds!   Choose your taste metaphor, but the abundance in this text can not be over looked.  

Really--Six water jars--25-30 gallons, filled to the brim in and of itself is amazing, but the best wine on the last day of a wedding celebration that had been going on for several days?Typically that’s the point you bring out jugs of Gallo or boxes of wine.  

But no--Jesus isn’t just going to do what is simply asked of him--make more wine--if Jesus is going to make more wine, it is going to be over the top, luscious, juicy, extravagant wine.   Something to really remember, really experience. j

I think that’s the point, don’t you--if you are going to do something, do it with pizzaz, with a flourish, have a good time with it.  Be joyful!   We see this same flourish and abundance in the feeding of the five thousand-- instead of everyone getting enough to eat, well, there are baskets and baskets left over.   It’s a party, all over again.     Can’t you imagine it---sitting on the grass, no bugs, just your friends and family and others who are captivated by this Rabbi with hope! humour!  drive!  

It’s the original Beloved Community.  Abundantly JOYFUL!

I’m ready to party!  Aren’t you?

I need to say, I am not talking  over-consumption here, beloved.   We live in a first-world culture where spiritual hunger and thirst are filled with stuff--too much and too many of everything where we over-consume and live in excess, which either leaves us still empty or so drunk we are dulled in our “physical and spiritual perceptions” (Ernest Hess, Feasting on the Word Year C, Vol.1) to the point of denial and heart-sick and despairing.  In short, I am not ready to PAR-TAY, numbed by life or cynical about the state of things.

A few weeks ago, I participated in a wedding, in this very sanctuary.  It was incredibly moving and satisfying to bear witness to the relationship of the brides, and to the community they had gathered over the years, from different pockets of their lives that brought them to the day they chose to enter the covenant of marriage.  It was a disparate group--most of us had only the connection of our friendship with one of the brides.   At the wedding party, they were sparkling, filled with abundance, and pronounced, each of you represents the best part of our lives.   

That was a party. 

That was Beloved Community.   

Sisters and brothers, we are beloved community.   But I sense there is a thread of fatigue, a lack of lightness in our air.   We have a LOT going on, and I certainly don’t want to appear flippant at all about the hard work that is before you---Search Committee, Leadership Council, shaping our future, commission work, lack of volunteers,  not enough hands to do things, 

besides what people might be experiencing personally--loss, grief, fear, sadness, overwhelmed-ness....

besides living in a world where we are three years into a new decade, 12 years into a new century, and we are reflective of where we are in our “hour”.   Polls show the first ten years of this century were experienced as the worst decade for many--we struggle with war, economic devastation, global warming, violence in our streets that goes unregonized, and in our first grade classrooms.   We don’t know what lies ahead--what changes are coming?  

At Eliot, we have had a myriad of changes--

and questions abound--

who is God calling to be the next spiritual leader of this congregation? 

what is exciting about our future? 

who will be our next office manager?  

who will be called to serve in lay leadership?   

It gets heavy doesn’t it?  

Indeed.  

But let’s not reverse the miracle of abundance.  

Let’s not turn our wine back into water (Kierkagaard)

There is so much wine, so much joy to be had by just being Beloved Community--doing the best we can, laughing when we don’t, 

forgiving when we fall short, 

and trusting in the love of God and love of one another.   It’s time to lighten up, and party.  

You need it.  We need it. 

I am going to play Mary now. Honestly, I believe she is the most important character in this story, because she is the one who nudges Jesus to take action--about something that seems so incredibly insignificant.  Or at least, not important as far as life and death issues are concerned.  

But she knows her child.  She knows the potential, she knows the deep, deep, deep special-ness of this person who was formed in her womb, and birthed into a world of oppression and hope.  

She knew it wasn’t time for the party to end.  It was time for it to begin.

She Knew that the hosts would be embarrassed to run out of what was essential to the wedding feast.  

She knew that it was time,

and all Jesus needed was nudge.   

So I am nudging you now.  It’s TIME, Eliot.  It’s time for the church in the 21st century to just be amazing, satisfying, full.   It’s time to reveal all and even more what we have...it’s time to lighten up, to not worry, 

and just Be Love.  

Just Be Beloved. 

The Beloved Community.  

I am ready to Party!!!

Are you?

Amen.
   

Sören Kierkegaard, 19th century
"Christ turned water into wine, but the church has succeeded in doing something even more difficult: it has turned wine into water."

My Two Cents

My Two Cents

Rev. Karla Miller

           Mark 12: 38-44 (Widow’s Mite) 

               November 12, 2012             

So, the Big Papi signed a two year extension contract with Red Sox, worth at least 26 million dollars.   Some question whether it was a good move, considering Ortiz’ age, and limited play this past season because of an injury.   

So, what do you think?  Good for the Sox, or not? 

You want to know my two cents?   

It’s a heck of a lot of money just to hit a ball, and I think it is definitely good for Big Papi!

Oh, and did you hear?  

This breaking news:  Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez broke up last week. 

My two cents?  Who cares?  (Well, perhaps a lot of Justin Bieber fans who dream about him.)  

If you don’t know who Justin Bieber is, no worries--

but again, that’s just my 2 cents.  

That’s Just My Two Cents.  It’s a funny turn of phrase, isn’t it?   We usually use it when we are expressing an opinion about something, and then we add it as a qualifier, meaning, well, this is my opinion, but it’s not really worth that much so you can take it or leave it. 

I think more often than not we use it to express opinions we really do believe are important, but adding the qualifier makes it a more humble opinion, or if someone doesn’t agree with our opinion, well then it looks like we don’t really care about our opinion.   But, again, that’s just my two cents.  

But what if...

all you had were two cents?  Like the widow in the gospel?  What would you do with it then?

It’s important to consider this story in the context of how and why Jesus is in the temple in the first place.  From chapter 11, we can ascertain that it is Tuesday of the Passion Week.

Two days before, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, where the crowds applauded and cheered for him.  He makes a stop at the Temple, looks around, and then returns to Bethany, where he is staying with Mary and Martha.    The next day, Jesus goes back to the Temple, and starts creating havoc--by throwing tables around and driving out the moneychangers and those selling doves. 

*Now, Jesus wasn’t necessarily upset at the  commercial activity going on in the temple--in fact  The Temple performed many financial functions, including operating as a central bank and treasury. 

He was upset with corruptness of some of the transactions.  For example, the moneychangers conducted their business on behalf of wealthy Jerusalem families, and their exchange rates were criminal--sometimes as high as 50%.   Can you say loan shark?  

Secondly, doves were an appropriate sacrifice for the poor, but those who were selling the doves inflate the price of doves so much that even the poor couldn’t afford them.  Therefore, the poor couldn’t participate in the cleansing sacrifices that were an essential practice of atonement and forgiveness of their religion.  

After the upset, on Tuesday, Jesus returns to the Temple, and launches into a critique of the Temple establishment, including the priests, and elders, Pharisees and the Sadducees.  

And our gospel opens with Jesus skewering the scribes, who were the Temple lawyers.   Jesus mocks their ostentatiousness--prancing in long robes, clamoring for seats of honor.  But what really gets into Jesus craw is the real damage they do, by “devouring the house of the widows.”    You see, when someone died, the scribes would swoop in to manage the deceased person’s estate, naturally charging a fee for their services.  However, their services were rife with embezzlement and exploited the widows.  They accompanied their exploits with long, showy prayers.

One can see why Jesus called these guys out on the carpet.  

So then, Jesus sits down by the treasury.   The treasury was located in the Court of Women.  It consisted of 13 chests into which people threw their offerings.  This was quite an open procedure.  Donors would state publicly the amount of their gift and the purpose for which it was given.  That such a system might generate some "showing off" would not be surprising.   

After observing the rich, and one poor beggar widow-- He states that the woman gave the most, because she gave, literally, “all she had to live on.”

But note, Jesus does not laud the woman or even suggest that anyone ought to emulate her.   Rather, she is a representative of the on-going exploitation of the poor by the Temple elite--not only do they devour widows houses, but they took at least one woman’s entire life.   She is  representative of the on-going exploitation of the poor by the Temple elite, who do not heed the prophet Jeremiah’s(7:1-15)  warning that  only if  “you do not oppress the alien, the orphan and the widow” will the Lord God “dwell with you in this place.”    This warning is on point in the first century Temple.   

 (*adapted from  John Petty on November 02, 2009 http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2009/11/lectionary-blogging-mark-12-3844.html)

So, what is this for us?   Most of us aren’t going around exploiting widows or taking the last pennies from the poorest of the poor.  That happens, I believe, but not necessarily with the good folk at Eliot.  

It’s hard, but I think the distinction for us, as people of the top 3% wealthiest of the world (yes, I did the calculations) is not so much what we give, but what we care about.   

And this is where it gets complicated.  

The widow, somehow, no matter if she was applauded by JC or not, cared that her all was given to the treasury of the Temple.  God only knows why, but her two coins showed that whatever it was, she wanted to give it.  

The temple, accepted it, caring for funding, rather than for her--directly opposite of the prophets teaching.  

What if you truly only had two cents?   What would be worth giving your all for?  

Would it be for the speaking out for the rights to education for girls in Pakistan, like the girl, Malala, who blogged about this, and survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban?  

Would it be for making sure that war veterans had all of the treatments necessary for PTSD and other issues, to the point that you founded a non-profit called “Operation Freedom Paws”, matching vets with service dogs in order to enhance their quality of life, like Mary Cortani?

Yesterday, I met someone who left everything, her family, her home, and sold her car, so that she might get an education--not only to better her family’s life, but the lives of school children in her country.  

I think we are being called, to consider truly, what we would give our all for, not just individually, but as a community.   What is it that we would give our all for, what and who do we care for enough to give it all?  

I don’t know what your answer is, or our answer, but it bears considering.

And that, beloved, is my two cents, for today.   

Amen.

Questions?

Questions?

Rev. Karla Miller, Eliot Church of Newton

Pentecost 21B, October 21, 2012

Mark 10:35-45 and Job 38:11-17, 38-40

A few weeks ago, Liz and I took a trip to Ikea, and among other things, we bought a few things. 

Now, if any of you have purchased furniture type items from Ikea, you know that everything comes in a flat box, and with directions, The thing is, the directions don’t come with words—just diagrams, and some of the diagrams are more clear than the others. 

I was doing pretty well assembling the t.v. console. Until I was on the last step, which was putting on the doors, and I realized that the top of the table face the back, so I had raw particle board facing the front.   Argggh.      

The table top was the second step out of 21.   I had no choice.  I had to take it all apart. 

Now, Ikea furniture comes with certain items of hardware that only exist, I am convinced, in Ikea   World.   One such of these items is something called a “cam-lock”  which serves to lock a bolt in place in a weird way, but they are really strong, and engage with a simple screw driver.   

That being said, they are not disengaged with a simple screwdriver.  Believe, me I tried.  I had eight cam-locks to disengage before I could continue with the deconstruction.   Those camlocks would not come out with a screwdriver, even though I had loosened them.   I tried holding the piece of furniture upside down to try to shake them out.  No budging.   

I asked myself, “What tool can I use to get these babies out?”

I rummaged around, and got a long fork that one uses in grilling, a tweezers, and a chopstick.  

(What?  You don’t have those things in your toolbox?)

I fiddled and fished and jimmy-ed and jiggled those darn camlocks.   I did deep breathing and meditated my mind on the tiny round things.   I told them, “I am not giving up!!
You will come out!”    After two hours (and this I do NOT exaggerate) I had only managed to pry two of the eight out of their lock-holes. I was tired and frustrated, and then decided that Ikea was to blame, because of their stupid cartoon directions that didn’t indicate front and back.   

So I decided to call them and complain, and to tell them I was bringing it back ASAP.   After a few nice computer voices transferred me to an actual person,  I burst out in my tirade.  “Look, I put this stand together backwards because your directions are not clear.   I can’t get the camlocks out of their holes, and I have tried everything--chopsticks, screwdrivers, you have no idea!  I have been trying for HOURS and I can’t, and now it’s not usable and...”

The representative kindly interrupted me:  “Ma’am.   MA’AM! They aren’t supposed to come out after they have been locked in.  That’s why they are called camLOCKs. .  They LOCK.     To which I screamed back, “WHAT??? Then what am I supposed to do?  Surely I am not the only person and....”

“Look,” nice clerk says, “you can still take the piece a part....you just need to loosen the lock, and gently pull, and the parts will separate.”

“Huh?  Really?”  So I tried, and guess what, she totally was right.   I backed down, profusely said thanks, and hung up.  

Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.   I am pretty sure this applies to me in that situation.   

You see, I started with the wrong question.   Or, I persiverated on the wrong question.   My question was “what tools do I need to remove the cam-locks”....but I made an assumption--that the camlocks were removable.   After a few tries, I could have asked, “

This isn’t working!   I wonder if the cam-locks are even removable?  I ought to call someone who might know--Ikea World.  

Questions.   Our texts are full of questions today.   

Divine questions.  

God  responds to Job’s complaints of Divine  Absence with a poem of questions. 

Jesus responds to James and John request with questions.   

And the questions put forward in these two texts are open-ended, laden with possibilities and thoughtful wonderings,

rather than insanity.   

In last week’s reading,  Job was ready to die. He had lost to death his crops, his flocks and his children.  He is covered from head to foot with itching oozing sores.  His friends insist that God has punished him for some wrong doing, his wife urges him to curse God.  Instead, he sits down in the  dust, resigned, and stuck, crying out, “God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me; ¹⁷If only I could vanish in darkness, and thick darkness would cover my face!” (23:16-17)   He wants to disappear into the void.  (Robert Alter,  The Art of Biblical Poetry, New York: Basic Books, 1985) )    

 God responds, from a whirlwind,  to Job’s void by challenging him to turn his face into the breadth of life, beginning with the light and energy of creation, to the forces of nature and to the wild animal kingdom.  Indeed, the Divine response to Job was to remind Job of the  Power of Life.   God opens a way, through incredibly challenging questions, a path for Job, to look for the holy, for life, for hope beyond his loss in the sheer wildness of all creation--a path that might offer transformation in the midst of loss and grief and betrayal.   

Job was like the camlock.  He was stuck.   God’s questions don’t necessarily unlock him--but when considered, might gently loosen the grip of the void allowing him to breath and see the light. 

I wonder, 

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus uses questions to remind James and John, and yes, even the rest of disciples, of the risk and reward of following his teachings.   I love how Jesus answers J and J’s demand with a question, 

“What is it your want me to do for you?”

It’s the same question Jesus asks the blind man, Bartimaeus down in vs. 51, “What is it you want me to do for you?”

Bartimaeus asks to see.   James and John ask to be great.   There is nothing wrong in any of these responses, but it is clear that it has to be done in Jesus’ way, and not the world’s way.   

And so, Jesus questions their response, “Do you really know what you are asking for--to drink from my cup? “

I think that the same thing often happens in congregations. They will make statements like, "We want to grow," "We want to reach out to our community," etc., but they don't really know what those statements mean or the steps it requires to make such "glorious" things happen. This is clear in Jesus response--you must serve, rather than be served. (Brian Stoffegran)

And this is the heart of the matter, isn’t it, for the people of God?  

For example, in considering change, which is the servant question--

“Will this change upset our members and how will it affect me?”  or “Will this help us reach someone on the outside?”

Which is the servant question, 

“How do we save our congregation?”   or  “How do we reach the world?”

Which is the servant question?

“How can we get the community to support our congregation?”    or  “How can the Church support these people?”   (Brian Stoffegran quoting Harold Percy, “Good News People”)

These are hard questions to ponder, and being a servant is a whole lot of effort and risk and  strength.   And yet, it is what and who the church is called to be--anything else is “play” church.  But just as Jesus walked with the disciples, the Divine promises to walk with the people of God.  

And just like Job, the people of God can end up in a rut, and experience abandonment.   

But God will always come to us, whether from a whirlwind, a sunset, or some other part of creation.     

And there is one more thing, just as congregations are called to serve, we as individuals are called to serve.  

And so, I ask, 

What is the void in your life, what are the stuck places?   

Where is God’s presence (or absence) in those places?

I only have this to say:  Watch out for the whirlwinds!

And, I ask, 

What is it you want Jesus to do for you?  

To see? 

To be first?  

To make you a disciple, in love with Gods’ world enough to reach out in care and love and risk to it?  

It’s a question, isn’t it? 

full of possibility and hope and risk, and life. 

Amen.