God Speaks

A Sermon Preached at Salem United Church of Christ

Higginsville, Missouri

14 February 2021

I. God Is Judge

• To be honest, the portion of Psalm 50 that is the lectionary reading for today, today being Transfiguration Sunday, is only an introduction – the rest of the psalm takes a different course
• In our reading, the emphasis is obviously on God, on God’s nature and actions – first, God speaks, but it is not simply a speech that God gives to the world – this time, when God speaks it is to issue a summons – God’s speech here calls the earth, “from the rising of the sun to its setting,” which we can understand geographically as from the east to the west – but we can also take it metaphorically, perhaps going beyond geography to include time – God summons the earth in all its days, past, present, and future – metaphorically, God’s summons could refer to the whole earth, its creation to forever – and the summons could thus include us
• In a similar vein, Zion can be a geographical reference, as the location of the city of Jerusalem – that might mean that God shines forth from the place – Zion could also refer to God’s people – and given what comes in the rest of the psalm, that seems like a good choice – out of God’s people, who are completely beautiful, God shines forth
• The scene here reminds me of a courtroom – God comes into the room with signs of awesome power, a devouring fire and a mighty storm – and having come into the room, God calls to the heavens and the earth to hear of God’s judgment – the universe knows that God is righteous, and that God is judge of all things
• This is the introduction – what follows is the content of what God speaks in the cosmic courtroom, and it is not an easy message to hear, because God, acting as judge, prosecutor, and witness, has come to testify against God’s people
• God’s testimony declares that God does not accept the sacrifices of the people – it seems that a misunderstanding has arisen among the people, or at least some of the people – the misunderstanding is that some have come to believe that the purpose of sacrifices is to gain favor with God, to put God in the debt of the ones making the sacrifices – instead of giving an offering out of gratitude, they give an offering in an attempt to manipulate God
• What they have not comprehended is that the animals they use for their sacrifices belong to God already – even if God were hungry, God would not tell the people – and the idea of God being hungry is ridiculous on the face of it – does God eat the meat or drink the blood of the sacrifices? – of course not
• These same misinformed givers of sacrifices also reject the discipline of a life lived in relationship with God – rather than adhering to God’s Instruction, they live as thieves, liars, slanderers, deceivers – and in the presence of such evil, God has remained silent…until this point
• We find the root of the problem in v. 21: “You have thought that I was one just like yourself” – but God is not one just like human beings, and so God rejects their sacrifices and lays the charge against the mistaken worshipers
• What God wants is not the ritual form of relationship with God, which keeps the traditions and follows the letter of God’s Instruction, while ignoring their spirit – what God wants is honest, authentic, personal relationship with the people – what God wants is a gift of thanksgiving – such a gift recognizes the relative positions of both God and the worshipers – God is God and the worshipers are not – God is the creator of all things, including the worshipers
• God’s testimony of judgment might sound harsh in our ears and in the ears of the deluded worshipers, but God offers abundant life to all who bring their gifts with gratitude and who follow the right way

II. God Speaks

• I am not entirely sure why Psalm 50 is the lectionary psalm reading for Transfiguration Sunday – maybe it is because of the line that says that God shines forth – I suppose that the line does fit with Jesus’ experience on the mountain
• You remember that story from the three Synoptic Gospels (Mark 9.2-8║Matthew 17.1-8║Luke 9.28-36) – while there are some differences in the three tellings of the story, the main elements are present in them all – Jesus takes Peter, James, and John, and heads up a mountain – while on the mountaintop, Jesus begins to shine and his clothes becomes dazzling – he talks with Moses and Elijah, although we do not know anything about their conversation – in his excitement and enthusiasm, and maybe his terror, Peter (of course it is Peter) speaks up to say that it is good that they are all there and that he thinks they should erect three shelters, one each for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, as if they are going to stay on the mountaintop, or maybe to memorialize the moment – in response to Peter’s statement, a voice comes from heaven to say that Jesus is God’s beloved one – and all three versions of the story include this statement: Listen to him!
• That statement could also be a good summary for Psalm 50 – God speaks! Listen to God!
• God does not desire from us an outward demonstration of piety – God does not desire sacrifice from us so that we can please or appease God
• Our friend and my colleague, Andy Mockridge, is fond of saying that God’s judgment is always mercy – if Jesus tells us anything, if his life shows us anything at all, it is precisely that – God’s judgment is always mercy
• God did not offer the testimony against God’s people as a threat – the hope, the goal, for doing it was and still is to encourage people to lay aside our tendency to think that God is one just like ourselves – do not forget where the psalm ends – it ends with a word of assurance to those who give generously and with gratitude, who go the right way
• God calls all people to be faithful, not to a creed or to a church or to an institution, no matter how noble they might be – God calls all people not to trust in ritual or tradition, no matter how meaningful and comforting and even challenging they might be – God calls all people into relationship with God, to trust in God, to show gratitude to God, to recognize that only God is God and that God is not one just like us
• The source of our hope and our life is not in ourselves – the source is in the God who speaks, and in speaking calls us to life and relationship

III. Conclusion

• On this Transfiguration Sunday, may God speak and transform us by the power and presence of the word in us – may God speak to us, and when God speaks, let us listen to God

Lamplighter Article, January 2021

Dear Friends,

About a week and a half before Christmas Crystal read on Facebook that one of my seminary professors had died. The former professor was Dr. Reidar B. Bjornard, my Hebrew Bible professor, whom I have mentioned several time before. At his passing, Dr. Bjornard was 103 years old. He was born in Norway and served in the Norwegian resistance movement during World War II. He was a brilliant man, an inspiring teacher, and a tender pastor to his students.

I was in his office once for a chat. He showed me what he had been reading when I came into the room. As I recall after nearly forty years, he was reading his father-in-law’s notes in Norwegian on a lecture in Greek class taught in German. Seeing the handwritten notes led me to comment that I wished that a book by one of Dr. Bjornard’s teachers, Sigmund Mowinckel, which was available only in German, had been translated into English. He looked at me with a smile and said simply, “Learn German.” Nothing to it, I suppose.

Dr. Bjornard (I cannot call him by any other title even after all these years) preached the sermon at my ordination. I was tremendously honored. His text was John 3.30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” It was a moving and inspiring sermon, obviously, since I have never forgotten it.

He came into a class one time and noticed that there was a problem with the door. He spent a few minutes and corrected the problem. When he sat down to teach, he looked at the group around the table and said, “A pastor’s primary task is to be a good custodian.” He was only partly joking—he had a very dry and wry sense of humor—because, indeed, pastors are caretakers of all sorts of things. We see to buildings and lives and confidences. We have “custody” of hearts and spirits, and Dr. Bjornard was telling us that our calling is to be careful and mindful custodians.

I had not seen Dr. Bjornard in I do not know how long. I corresponded with him a few times, but I do not recall if he ever replied. He retired not long after I left seminary, and I could not tell you if he even remembered me, but I never forgot him, nor will I ever forget him.

That happens a good deal in our lives. We have relationships with some people, relationships that last only for a season in our lives, and yet they echo throughout our lives. Dr. Bjornard may have forgotten me the day after he preached the ordination sermon, but who he was and how he was continues to be a presence in my life. Which leads me to wonder, is there anyone in whose life my presence will continue to echo for years after we part?

We do not think often about such things, or at least I do not. And yet how profound our lives could be if we did think about them. How far the ripples of our lives could extend into the lives and the world around us if we gave more thought to striving to be positive influences.

On the flip side, I know that there are times that I have lost my temper and been short with someone who absolutely did not deserve it. If we are not careful, those “negative ripples” could extend as far as any positive effects we bring into the world

The year 2020 was a hard one in so many ways. So, reflecting on the life of Dr. Reidar B. Bjornard has encouraged me to strive to be someone who brings thoughtfulness, mindfulness, and positive influences into the lives of people around me. The adult Sunday School class is currently reading and discussion Grateful, by Diana Butler Bass. I want to be a person who lives a life of gratitude and praise.

I invite you to join me. Together let us work toward influencing the world around us in positive ways. Let us work to be good custodians of the blessings of our lives. Let us be people whom others will remember long after we are gone because we were grateful and joyful and merciful and loving, and all that the good news of Jesus calls us to be.

Grace and Peace

Tommy

God Will Do This

A Sermon Preached at Salem United Church of Christ

Higginsville, Missouri

13 December 2020

Third Sunday of Advent

I. Community Instructions

• Today we are at the end of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonian followers of the way of Jesus – the letter is probably the oldest writing in the Christian New Testament, and it is a personal letter, filled with the apostle’s praise, thanksgiving, and encouragement for the Jesus people in the city
• The apostle closes this mostly positive correspondence with some final words of wisdom – he tells the followers of Jesus to respect the leaders of their community, whom Paul may have put in place – the people should esteem their leaders for their work on their behalf
• There should be peace among the Jesus people as they urge idlers to become active in the work, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, and live with patience for all of them – the human tendency is almost the opposite of the apostle’s instruction – we tend to deride idlers, beat down the faint-hearted, and despise the weak – but once again, a prophet of God tells us that Jesus’ followers are not to live as others live – they are to be an example of a better way
• Not for the last time in all his letters, the apostle tells his readers, in this case the Thessalonians, never to retaliate for anything that others do to them – do not repay evil for evil – instead, they are to seek to do good to one another and to all – this is certainly a hard thing that Paul tells the people, but his instructions are going to get harder still
• Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances – this has to be one of those times when one of the biblical writers uses exaggeration to make a point – this is ridiculous – no one can do any of this – it is bad enough that the apostle wants the Thessalonians to forgo retaliating for perceived wrongs and to live at peace with one another and do go to those who do them evil, whether inside the community or out – but this goes too far – rejoice always? – pray without ceasing? – give thanks in all circumstances? – seriously? – and then he affirms that “this is the will of God in Christ Jesus” for them, which makes me believe that he absolutely means this
• Without going into any detail about it, Paul moves right along by telling his readers not to quench the Spirit, to heed the words of the prophets, by which I believe he means himself and the community’s leaders, as well as the ancient prophets, and any prophets who will arise in future – and yet, while the Thessalonians are to heed the prophets, they are also to test everything, holding on to what is good and keeping away from every form of evil
• Their goal, their aim, their purpose for all of this is healing and wholeness, both for themselves and for the world – they will do all of this, they can do all of it, uniting them completely, body, spirit, and soul, because it is the work of God in them, in their community – they can do it because God is actually the one who does it in them and through them – it will happen because God will do this

II. God Will Do This

• This is hard for us, too – none of this sits better with us than it might have with the Thessalonians – living at peace with one another is not our best event in life’s games – we are much better at demonizing those who are not like us, and, having demonized them, we move on to eliminating them – as a human race, we have become quite adept at this
• As followers of Jesus, however, we model a better way, a more excellent way, as Paul will later say to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 12.31) – we model a way of peace, a way of respect for others, a way of non-retaliation, a way of doing good not only to the people we like, but to everyone
• As followers of Jesus, we allow God to work God’s healing in us, and because God is making us whole, we can indeed rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and given thanks in all circumstances, because our very lives consist of these things
• Think of it – what do rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks sound like to you? – to me, they sound like worship – and I believe that that is what the apostle is saying to the Thessalonians and to us, too – our lives are to be constant and complete expressions of worship – all that we do is to declare openly to all the world our rejoicing for God, our constant relationship with God, and our gratitude to God
• It is not something that we can accomplish on our own, and, thank God, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, God will do this – God will do this in us, through us, and with us
• Through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, God will heal us and make us whole – we cannot do it for ourselves – only God can do it – but it is also true that we can prevent it from happening – we can indeed quench the Spirit, like pouring water on a fire – we can ignore the Spirit’s urgings – we can tune out the voice of the Spirit as it comes to us – we cannot heal ourselves, we cannot live lives of worship on our own, but we can choose not to allow God to work in us and move us
• God brings the healing and wholeness to us, partly, as individuals – more importantly, however, and more emphatically, God does this in community – as we grow together in the Way of Jesus, as we learn to live with one another in the fellowship of Jesus’ followers, God will do this
• The adult Sunday School class is currently reading together a book called Grateful, and, as it happens, the chapter we shared today included a part of our epistle reading – and the author reminded me, reminded us all, that we really should not rejoice about everything, we should not be grateful for all circumstances – we all of us know some degree of suffering in our lives – we all know sorrow at some time or another – and while we might not be grateful or rejoice in such things, if we allow God to walk with us through them, they, too, can help us grow as human beings and as children of God – and we also grow as individuals and as community through even the difficult times
• We might not rejoice and give thanks in every moment of our lives, every moment is nonetheless a gift from God – every moment is grace – and life is always a gift
• The importance of community in being followers of Jesus also goes against the grain of our radical and insistent individualism in the modern world – for followers of Jesus, we cannot separate the community and our mission together from our identity – community is the heart of following Jesus

III. Conclusion

• Advent is a season of preparation – we prepare our lives, our bodies, our spirits, our souls, every day for the coming of Jesus – we cannot do that preparation on our own – we can only do it fully in peaceful and peaceable community with other followers of Jesus – and we can only do it as God works in us and through us
• We cannot do it alone – and we cannot do it on our own, either as individuals or community – but we can do it because God is at work in our bodies, spirits, and souls – the one who calls us is faithful – of this we can be sure – God will do this

Excel in Generosity

A Sermon Preached at Salem United Church of Christ

Higginsville, Missouri

17 May 2020

I. The Offering for the Saints

• The saying is that the more things change, the more they stay the same – as we read this piece from Paul’s Corinthian correspondence that surely seems to be true
• Paul is not in Corinth, obviously – he might be in Macedonia, where he had gone at the urging of the Holy Spirit – in the meantime between his earlier visit to Corinth and the occasion of this letter, relations between Paul and the Corinthian followers of Jesus had deteriorated
• The Corinthians were a fractious bunch, a difficult community of people, under the best of circumstances, and these were not the best of circumstances – the apostle used much of the first Corinthian letter to address some serious communal issues in the Greek city – as far as Paul was concerned, the Corinthians had abandoned much of the way of Jesus in favor of their own way – rather than service to others, the Corinthians had turned to taking care of themselves – rather than looking to Jesus as their guide, they had chosen to follow other human teachers and argued about which teachers were best – rather than exercising their various spiritual gifts for the good of all, they had exercised their pride in certain spiritual gifts while denigrating others – no, these were not the best of circumstances
• Quite a bit of this so-called second Corinthian letter deals with personal attacks on Paul and the apostle’s defense of his authority and his teaching of the good news of Jesus
• Then, suddenly, the apostle begins to address the Corinthian participation in an offering for the Jesus community in Jerusalem – the apostle never gives us a clear reason for the offering for the saints – there may be a hint in the Galatian epistle, in which Paul says that the community in Jerusalem asked him to “remember the poor” when he spoke to Gentile communities (Galatians 2.10), which Paul was happy to do
• When he was in Corinth, Paul began to raise the offering, and the Corinthians were eager to participate – they regularly set aside money for it, which Paul was to gather when he returned to Corinth and take to Jerusalem
• But the Corinthian eagerness and enthusiasm waned, and the collection seems to have stalled – the apostle writes here to encourage them to reignite their enthusiasm for the offering – he does this in several ways
• First, he tells them of the eagerness in Macedonia to share in the offering – the Macedonian followers of Jesus are poor, at least compared to the Corinthians, but, in a wonderful turn of a phrase, Paul says that “their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity” – not only have the Macedonians given as much as they could but they have given even more than that, going beyond their means to share with their fellow Jesus people in Jerusalem
• Paul does not do this to shame the Corinthians into doing what they have promised – instead, his is an appeal to their excellence – they excel in so many ways, in faith, in speck, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in Paul’s love for them – and if they excel in these ways, he wants them to excel in generosity, too
• Next he turns to the generosity of God and of Jesus in Jesus’ gift for all people – although he was rich, Jesus became poor for the Corinthians so that they, in turn, could become rich – but the wealth that Jesus provides is not the wealth of people and nations – it is not in material things, such as money – the wealth that Jesus provides is an embarrassment of riches in love, grace, mercy, life, and peace – the proper response to such a gift is gratitude, which the Corinthians can express in their own generosity
• And Paul emphasizes the mutuality of the life of Jesus’ followers – everything is a matter of a fair balance – as the Corinthians give eagerly now, so others will give eagerly should the need arise in Corinth
• That is the nature of the life of disciples of Jesus – there is eagerness to serve, there is gratitude to God for all of God’s gifts, especially the gift of Jesus, and there is mutual love, respect, and support for other

II. Excel in Generosity

• But, as I said, the more things change, the more they stay the same – for whatever reason, the apostle has to remind the Corinthians of these things – and we need those reminders, too
• Even though Jesus tells us that we cannot serve God and wealth (Matthew 6.24), and even though Paul tells us that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (I Timothy 6.10), we find all sorts of ways to keep for ourselves as much money as we can – learning to love God and not our own wealth and comfort is for us a lifelong journey
• Of course, this gets us into the practice of stewardship, which concerns not money alone, but our use and care for all the resources that we enjoy – our struggle with stewardship connects to the untruth that rules the economies of our world – that untruth says that there is not enough for everyone so we have to get our portion first and keep it – it is the lie of scarcity
• Jesus teaches us, however, that we do not live in a world of scarcity – the life that God offers to us all through Jesus is a life of abundance – at the heart of the good news is our trust in God that there is enough for everyone
• The early response to the spread of the coronavirus was to fall immediately into the fear of scarcity – people began hoarding toilet paper, of all things, as well as cleaning supplies – there was always enough for everyone, but because we took more than we needed, we created a scarcity – we were afraid and we confirmed our fears all by ourselves
• God has provided all that we need – our work as disciples of Jesus involves learning to trust in the abundance of God, and to share from our abundance with others so that “the one who has much does not have too much and the one who has little does not have too little”
• This also works as the basis for justice in our world, which is also a concern of stewardship – I have said many times, borrowing words that I heard from John Dominic Crossan, that justice does not mean that everyone has the same, but that everyone has enough

III. Conclusion

• This is our stewardship of all of the gifts of God, the gift of life, the gift of this planet, the gift of our relationships with God and with one another – God calls us to share in the stewardship of every gift of God, which we have in abundance, for the good of all people
• As followers of Jesus, let us live in the truth of the good news that tells us that there is enough and that in our eagerness, in our gratitude to God, and in our love for others, we too can excel in generosity

Lamplighter Article, October 2018

Dear Friends,

On 19 August, I marked my fifth anniversary of being at Salem United Church of Christ. I was remiss in not saying anything about it, but when Sarah was assembling the August Lamplighter, I was preparing for the Youth on Mission trip to Imperial, Pennsylvania. You may have noticed that the front page of that edition of the newsletter talked about the Elders’ projects for the Festival of Sharing. Quite frankly, I thought I had sent Sarah an article, but I never did. That was completely my error. When we returned from the work trip, I was thinking of other things and the anniversary slipped my mind.

Of course, my coming here was a bit unusual. As you may recall, the Rev. Dale Parson suggested to the Church Council that they try a different way of finding a pastor. Dale told the Council about a method of designating a pastor for a particular period of time, after which, we could decide together whether this was a situation that worked for us all.

I was serving University Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio, and had gotten Privilege of Call in the United Church of Christ. This privilege is a sort of an authorization that tells churches that the one receiving the privilege has the approval of a Committee on Ministry to seek a call. I was not earnestly seeking a call, but Crystal and I were living 650 miles apart, so when Dale called and asked if I would be interested in speaking to a congregation in western Missouri about serving there, I was certainly open to it.

I met with some of the Council members in March of 2013, which was the beginning of our conversations about Salem Church and whether I could serve here. During that time, I spoke with some people who knew the congregation. I remember very clearly one of them saying that all that Salem really needed was someone to love them. That was something I thought I could do. The Council invited me to preach on Father’s Day in 2013, and the congregation decided to have me come as the designated minister for a term of three years. If during that three years we all wanted to make the designation permanent, we could do that by a vote of the congregation. In the annual meeting in January 2015, the congregation made the designation permanent and I became the settled pastor here. I was delighted then to have the sense of permanence attached to my work here.

After five years, I am even more delighted. Salem is a wonderful family situated in a marvelous community. I could not ask for a better place to serve, to work, and to share life together. Salem Church is a generous and loving church, filled with hard working and committed people. I consistently receive support and encouragement from you all. Sarah Berry and June Howell are amazing people with whom to work.

Sometimes I go to the Chinese buffet here in town, and, as we all do, I pick up a fortune cookie. One of the “fortunes” that I found is now on my desk. It says, “You deserve respect and will eventually get it.” I happened to be with several ministerial colleagues when I got the fortune, and we all laughed about it. The truth is, however, I already feel respected. I could not ask for more. Salem United Church of Christ is my home. I am happy to be here.

Grace and Peace

Tommy