Welcome Humility

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8; Mark 9:30-37
September 23, 2012
© 2012

 

I.                Before getting into full-time pastoral ministry I did educational research and editorial development for Family Concern. We shared office space with Youth for Christ in Wheaton, IL and my cubical was directly across from Vic Glavich’s. Before coming to Youth for Christ, Vic had been a legislative aid to Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield. Vic told me how one evening the senator had arrived at a hotel where he was to speak, the room was not set up and the events staff had gone home. The senator’s team was vigorously complaining to the night manager and madly scrambling to locate someone with the authority and will to call in an overtime crew. When the senator’s staff returned to tell him they were having trouble getting anyone to come in to set up, they found the senator with his coat and tie off setting up the last row of chairs. He had just enough time to freshen up in the men’s room before his audience arrived. I tell you this, not to comment of Mark Hatfield’s politics, but knowing that he openly identified himself as a disciple of Jesus, this incident illustrates that if you get close enough to God, you will welcome great humility.

A.           This is a difficult lesson to learn. In Mark 9:30-37 Jesus was teaching it to his disciples, who just didn’t seem to get it. From the Mount of Transfiguration …

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; ³¹for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” ³²But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

³³Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”³⁴But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. ³⁵He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”³⁶Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

1.              This is the second time in Mark that Jesus told his disciples about his impending death and resurrection. Rather than ask him about what they didn’t understand, they argued with each other about who was the greatest. I don’t think they were suggesting Abraham, Moses, David or Elijah as candidates.

2.              Once they were in the house in Capernaum and away from distractions and public scrutiny, Jesus overtly told his disciples that whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.

3.              Then to illustrate, he took a little child from the host family in his arms and said that receiving one child was equivalent to receiving him, to receiving the one who sent him. In the first century, children were not thought of as cute or innocent. They had no social or legal status; they were vulnerable and insignificant.

B.            Candy and I got to know David and Karen Eubank when we were at Central Christian Church in Dallas. The Eubanks live in Thailand and are deeply involved with the people of Burma. They have met Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the democracy movement there. So I follow the developments in Burma with personal interest. Though Aung San Suu Kyi is Buddhist, not Christian, I think her advocacy of the relaxing of sanctions against the regime in Burma now that she is free from house arrest and elected to parliament, also illustrates great humility.

C.            In James 3:13 the word translated “gentleness” is the same word that is translated “humility” elsewhere. Verse 17 is a magnificent definition of great humility. “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.”

II.            Great humility may seem incompatible with great visions, but both Jesus and James are clear that great humility is essential for accomplishing great visions. For Senator Hatfield, setting up chairs was as much a part of sharing his vision for the country as speaking to his audience. For Aung San Suu Kyi, making life better for all the people of Burma is more important than her personal political ambitions. Jesus was prepared to be humiliated, betrayed and killed to accomplish the redemption of broken humanity.

A.           1^st Christian Church, Midwest City has a great vision to serve your neighbors in the name of Jesus. A decade ago you took the bold step of moving to Anderson and Reno into a new facility. About a year ago you took on a massive capital campaign and construction project to build the JCAC as a venue for serving your neighbors.

B.            I appreciate Susan Updegraff’s encouraging and challenging update on the capital campaign. You have made a great start, but in the interim between pastors with lots of other things calling for attention, you will need to be intentionally determined to keep and accelerate the momentum on your capital campaign. This is a lot bigger than having funds come in at a pace to keep ahead of the mortgage payments. It is a lot bigger than the satisfaction of completing a successful campaign in three years. This is about actualizing your great vision of bringing the love of Jesus to your neighbors.

C.            Because of that, your capital campaign is a spiritual issue. I know a lot of prayer went into moving into this building, constructing the JCAC, and into launching the capital campaign. James 4:1-3 is a stark reminder that just praying about something doesn’t necessarily obligate God to provide what is requested. God cuts through our pious language and knows whether we are asking for our ambitions or for the glory of God. How we ask is as important as what we ask.

III.       How can you tell if you are asking for your ambition cloaked in noble pious words or are genuinely asking for God’s glory? Get close enough to God and you will welcome great humility. Humility so great you release your ambitions to welcome God’s vision.

A.           The disciples argued about which of them was the greatest. James 3:14 names envy, selfish ambition and boasting as signs we are not on God’s wavelength. The 4^th century Desert Father, Abba Matoes said, “Whenever you hear [people] praising [their] neighbor more than [themselves] it is because [they] have reached a great stature: for this is perfection to praise one’s neighbor more than oneself.” (p. 144)

B.            In the next few weeks you will all have opportunity to contribute your ideas for the congregation’s vision for the future. You can expect people to have different ideas and even to disagree. The spiritual test will be whether you have great enough humility not to sink to conflicts and disputes, but to listen for the voice of God in what each one contributes.

C.            Humility is elusive. Just when you think you might have achieved a little humility, it slips away. Yet, great humility does not denigrate or discount the Holy Spirit moving in you and enduing you with gifts. Just as the Apostle Paul encouraged people to use their spiritual gifts, in Romans 12:3 he wrote, “By the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

IV.      So how do you get close enough to God to welcome great humility? James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and [God] will draw near to you.”

A.           Great humility reminds me that I need God most for what I think I can handle on my own, not just when I know I’m overwhelmed. The hackles of our egos bristle when we feel we are being unfairly criticized. Defensiveness crowds out humility. The 19^th century Russian mystic Theophan the Recluse wrote this antidote: “When you find that you are being maligned, accept it: it is a kind of healing mud-bath. You do well not to lose the feeling of brotherly friendliness toward those who apply this medicine to you.” (p. 242)

B.            Jesus’ profound teaching about greatness and humility came as almost a sidebar to his teaching his disciples that he was to be betrayed, killed and rise again. Yes, the disciples did not understand and were afraid to ask, but their argument about greatness was not just random. For Jesus the cross and the resurrection were the essence of great humility. Jesus says to us as he tried to say to his disciples, “Start seeing the cross! Start seeing the resurrection! The cross and the resurrection are not just what I am all about, the cross and the resurrection are what I am calling you to be all about.”

C.            I have quoted from the 4^th century Desert Fathers and from Theophan the Recluse today. All of the Christian spiritual classics, all of the Christian spiritual giants through the centuries agree. Get close enough to God and you will welcome great humility.

Welcome the Greater Good

James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-33
September 16, 2012
© 2012



 I.                From Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie, the fascination of mystery stories is solving a puzzle that depends on picking up on obscure details to identify the unexpected culprit. In the Bible, mysteries are profound truths about God that are hidden in the ordinary events of life and revealed by God to those who are able to accept them. The Epistle of James presents a different kind of mystery. Who wrote it? When? To whom? I rather enjoy this sort of puzzle. Just about when I think I’ve got it solved, I discover one detail that makes that answer unlikely if not impossible. Several people named James were followers of Jesus. Was one of them the James that wrote this letter? It seems to expand on several themes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount with a very Jewish perspective on God’s righteousness. Yet, it also draws on some language from some Greek philosophers. It makes no reference to other parts of the New Testament and may have been written earlier. But James is not a hodge-podge of Jewish, Christian and Greek ideas. Far better scholars than I have wrestled with it without solving the mystery.

A.           If I can tolerate a little ambiguity, I think I can make sense out of this mystery, even if I can’t solve it. James was written in a time of transition when most Christians were Jewish and the Gospel was just starting to spread into Greek culture. They were trying to figure out how these influences fit together and where they were incompatible. The stories and teachings of Jesus were being passed around by word of mouth, but little if anything had been written yet. So it makes sense to me that James was concerned that people not only hear what they were told but lived by it. Since most of this was verbal and not written, James was concerned with what is spoken, thus the emphasis on the tongue.

B.            James begins this section with a warning to those who thought they could be teachers. With little if any written material, what teachers said had a lot of power for good or ill. James was obviously concerned about the negative influences and goes beyond the lessons of the teachers to include everything we say to and about each other. What James wrote about the impossibility of both fresh and salt water coming from the same spring or different fruits from a tree or grapevine reminds me of what Jesus said in Luke 6:45. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

C.            When our son Erik was 7 and we were living in the Daybreak community in Ontario, I was talking with Father Henri Nouwen about being frustrated with losing patience with Erik. Talking about that verse, Henri said, “If you want to know what is happening in your heart, listen to what you say when you speak before you think. You can never guard your mouth 100% of the time. What you have to do is change what you put into your heart.”

D.           Life’s transitions can put a lot of stress on the path from heart to mouth. When the future seems uncertain, we crave security. The anxieties in our hearts easily overflow into critical, even angry words that may not be limited to those who seem threatening. Our words can even sting those we are clinging to. As you explore your vision for the future of 1^st Christian Church, Midwest City, you can expect some tensions along the way. James wrote that not many should become teachers. But especially in times of transition, reliable spiritual leaders, teachers if you will, are essential, and what they say is formative.

II.            James wrote that “anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect.” (v. 2) In this political season we see how quickly opposite sides are to jump on the slighted slip of the tongue and try to make an issue of the gaff. I know my verbal regrets would fill many volumes. Sometimes the blunder comes right on the heels of what at least I thought was a brilliant insight. That certainly happened to Peter in Mark 8:27-33. To get the full impact of this incident, you need to know that the “you” in Jesus’ conversations with Peter are plural. All of the disciples are included, not just Peter. He spoke as the leader, reflecting all of James’ concerns for teachers and their words.

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”²⁸And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”²⁹He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”³⁰And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

³¹Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³²He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

A.           Both here and where this is reported in Matthew 16, Peter seems to have gone from speaking his great confession identifying Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, almost immediately to his foot-in-mouth gaff for which Jesus rebuked him as Satan’s mouthpiece.

B.            Peter intended to rebuke to Jesus privately, but he was speaking on behalf of all of the disciples. Yes, Jesus addressed Peter as Satan, and included all the disciples by implication of the plural pronoun for “you” when he turned to look directly at them. But Jesus did not contrast divine things with demonic things. Rather he characterized Peter’s words as setting their mind on human things. James 3:14-15 is parallel, asserting that selfish ambition is earthly and devilish. The temptation is not to something ghastly but to something that seems normal, even healthy. I suspect that most of our temptations are not to heinous crimes but to subtle words protecting and promoting our self-interest.

C.            I think we can all understand how strongly we respond with self-preservation and self-protection. I think we can all understand how Jesus’ disciples might regard him as perhaps even suicidal and want to rescue him. They were totally unprepared to consider that the long awaited Messiah would suffer, be rejected and killed.

III.       Yet this is exactly how Jesus defined his messianic mission. The divine things on which Jesus had set his mind are to suffer, be rejected, be killed and after three days to rise again. I suspect Peter and the other disciples neither heard nor comprehended what Jesus said about rising again after three days. That was just too far out of their reality, yet it was the key to understand not only what Jesus had said about suffering, rejection and being killed, but rising from the dead was the climax of his messianic mission. Suffering, rejection, being killed and rising again were the path to the redemption of broken humanity. On the way to Jesus’ messianic mission, self-interest and personal preference give way to God’s redemptive greater good.

A.           Up until now Jesus’ messianic mission has been a mystery hidden in his teaching and his compassion and even his miracles. Now, when Jesus was on his way to the cross, he began to reveal this mystery to his disciples. Mark records that Jesus adds details to this teaching two more times (9:31; 10:32-34). The mystery is that Jesus produces redemption by giving up his own interests, his own life for the good of others. Philippians 2:4 makes adopting this mind of Christ the prescription for Jesus’ disciples. “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interest of others.”

B.            This incident is the turning point in Mark’s Gospel. From here forward, Jesus is on his way to the cross. On his way to the villages of Caesarea Philippi Jesus asks his disciples about his identity. Caesarea Philippi was established to celebrate the Roman Emperor’s claim to be divine. The place was chosen because in Greek legend a cave there was the birthplace of the god Pan. In the days of the Northern Kingdom it had been a center for Baal worship. So Jesus choose it as the place to reveal the mystery that he was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. The rest of Mark’s Gospel happens “on the way,” and ever since following Jesus has been about being “on the way,” not about arriving. Jesus’ disciples are always in transition.

IV.      The transition time between pastors reminds us that we are always on a journey; we are always in transition. Much of the time we go from day to day almost unaware of the movement. Milestones such as birthdays and anniversaries; births and graduations; new jobs, new homes, new cars all remind us we are “on the way,” not at our final destination.

A.           In the coming weeks and months you will do a lot of thinking and talking about the vision for the future of 1^st Christian Church, Midwest City. That is likely to mingle hope and fear. From your hearts, you mouths will speak. You will see things differently from each other. You will have contrasting ideas and worries. What you say to each other will be important. Maybe more important will be how you say it. James 3:9 reminds us that the people who disagree with us and the people who irritate us are made in the likeness of God. The way we speak to them reveals what is hidden in our hearts in relationship to God.

B.            In a variety of ways you will be asking yourselves and each other what you want 1^st Christian Church, Midwest City to look like in ten years. The temptation is to think in terms of our own interests and our personal preferences. “I hope we have lots of people who are generous givers and will love the same hymns I love and not want anything that makes me uncomfortable. And I hope I don’t have to work too hard to accomplish this.”

C.            On the way to Jesus messianic mission, self-interest and personal preference give way to God’s redemptive greater good. As your interim pastor, I am not the one to shape your vision. That is for you as a congregation before God. But I can tell you that my dream and prayer for you is that you will be a community in which many, many people are transformed in the name of Jesus. Sure some of them will make you uncomfortable. Some will frustrate you. Some will bring unanticipated changes. But as the power of Jesus flows among you, God will send you plenty of people, made in the likeness of God, who will be redeemed as you are on your way following Jesus’ messianic mission.

Welcome Challenging People

James 2:1-10, 14-17; Mark 7:24-30
September 9, 2012
© 2012

 

I.                Art Howe was a homeless man in his 80s who usually slept in the shed behind the hardware store. He worshipped irregularly with the church I served in NJ. His one earthly treasure was a trombone he played with the pick-up orchestra we had for Advent and Palm Sunday each year. Somewhat incontinent, he didn’t change clothes or wash up often or well enough. You only needed your nose to know if Art was in worship, and people gave him a wide berth. He was the personification of the poor person in shabby, filthy clothes of James 2:2.

A.           The rich and poor people of James 2 were guests in worship. The criticized favoritism was the way those early Christians extended hospitality to the rich in hopes they would become part of the church. The insult to the poor signaled them they need not return.

B.            James’ Epistle elaborated on the Sermon on the Mount. Here he picked up on “blessed are the poor” as recorded in Luke 6:20. His warning was very strong. Verse 1 could be translated, “By showing partiality you do not really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do you?”

C.            Just as in the earliest days of the Church, a congregation who invites their neighbors to the love of Jesus can expect to welcome some challenging people. God does not always send the people we would choose.

II.            Matthew’s report of the Beatitudes starts with “blessed are the poor in spirit.” (5:3) Not all of the challenging people who check out a church’s worship are shabby and filthy. Some may be affluent and educated but poor in spirit: hungry, hurting, hunting. As a boy, Steve Jobs – the recently deceased founder of Apple – attended a Lutheran church with his parents. At age 13 he asked the pastor, “If I raise my finger, will God know which one I’m going to raise even before I do it?” The pastor answered, “Yes, God knows everything.” Steve then showed the pastor a picture of starving children in Biafra and asked, “Does God know about this and what’s going to happen to those children?” The pastor answered, “I know you don’t understand, but yes, God knows about that.” Steve said he didn’t want to worship such a God, walked out of the church and never came back. (Kara Powell, Fuller Youth Institute, Hermanutics, Christianity Today, September 4, 2012)

A.           Especially among those in their 40s and younger, the percentage who dropped out of church as children or have never participated in church at all is growing. They bring hard questions that leave us uncomfortable. When we ignore the questions or are too quick to hand out settled answers, we easily send the message, “We don’t ask those sorts of questions about God here,” and send the seekers elsewhere. Much more effective is to welcome the questions and explore their implications together.

B.            Whether or not they ask theological and ethical questions, when secular folk check out a church, they often bring wounds – wounds that may have been inflicted by life or even by a church or Christians. Broken relationships, betrayals, addictions, disappointments and destructive decisions are not easily or quickly repaired. Material assistance and counseling may help but do not bring instant results. Prayer, confession of faith and baptism may be important steps on the journey but are not the destination. Transformation comes gradually in a trustworthy community patiently living Christ’s love.

C.            A congregation will experience frustration whether people come with profound doubt or pain. We’ll get a chance to examine both in October when we’ll look at the book of Job from the Hebrew Scripture. I’ll share with you its pivotal place in my faith journey. By inviting their neighbors to the love of Jesus, a congregation can expect to welcome challenging people.

III.       In Mark 6 Jesus is rejected in his hometown of Nazareth. He sends the Twelve on their first mission trip. When he is listening to their reports, a crowd gathers. He tries to get away for some rest with his disciples, but the crowd follows and grows to over 5,000. He feed them, sends the disciples away in a boat while he goes up a mountain to pray alone. A storm threatens the disciples’ boat, so he walks on the water to calm them and the sea. Another crowd gathers, many wanting to be healed. In chapter 7, Jesus has a prolonged confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes about ritual purity. Mark 7:24-30 tells what happened when he tried again to get away for some R&R, thinking that in Gentile territory he might get a break.

From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice,²⁵but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet.²⁶Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.²⁷He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”²⁸But she answered him, “[Yes! Lord!] Even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”²⁹Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.”³⁰So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

A.           I think this Syrophoenician woman was quite likely a very young single mother. She was a challenging person for Jesus. She interrupted his retreat for rest and private teaching with his disciples. She was annoyingly persistent, even though the account in Matthew 15 suggests Jesus tried to ignore her. She was desperate for her daughter with no apparent support system. In that society her husband, father or brother would have been expected to help, but she was alone. And, of course, she was a Gentile. She probably did not speak Jesus’ native Aramaic. Did he try to talk with her in Greek, which he would rarely if ever have used? Her presence challenged what Jesus had just been teaching about ritual purity.

B.            In his comments on this week’s lectionary readings in the Christian Century (September 5, 2006), Steven Fowl writes that someone had a wicked sense of humor putting these two passages on the same Sunday. “Jesus seems to engage in just the sort of activity that James warns against, refusing to heal a very sick child because she and her mother are not Jewish.” Suddenly Jesus is the uncomfortable guest in our worship from whom we distance ourselves. Some commentators go through all kinds of exegetical contortions to soften Jesus. Other caution against trying to wiggle out of our embarrassment.

C.            If you can live without trying to explain away how rude and insulting Jesus seemed to be, I think we can hear God’s voice in this awkward space between James and Jesus. Right after his devastating dismissal of ritual purity in favor of purity of heart, Jesus intentionally went to Gentile territory where he was certain to meet Gentiles who would want his help. His disciples were not offended by his rudeness. In fact, Matthew 15 says they asked him to send the woman away. Jesus’ response to her was typical of Jews at that time.

D.           But the tables turn in the exchange Jesus and the woman had about dogs, which could be especially interesting if they were speaking Greek. For Jews all dogs were unclean and were never house pets, but Jesus used the word for small family dogs that Gentiles did keep as pets. It would still be insulting for him to compare her to a dog, but she picked up on it and responded that these small family dogs did clean up the crumbs that dropped from the children’s table. Her desperate love for her daughter prompted her to accept this insult and turn it to her advantage. We miss some of the impact in the NRSV that uses “Sir.” She emphatically responded to Jesus, “Yes! Lord!” Matthew 15:28 reports Jesus commended her for her “great faith.”

E.            When a church welcomes challenging people who bring their puzzles and their pain, it is not just to meet their needs. God uses these people and their challenges to stretch those of us who consider ourselves to be Jesus’ serious disciples. By inviting your neighbors to the love of Jesus, this congregation can expect to welcome some challenging people who will surprise with what they contribute to the church.

IV.      Do you remember Midori Ito, the figure skater from the 80s and 90s? Because of the multi-cultural implication and the sound of her name, I suggest we might think of some of these challenging people as Midwest City Midori. Of course, plenty of long-term Oklahomans are your neighbors too. I thought I might call them Choctaw Chuck. As your church invites your neighbors to the love of Jesus, you will be challenged by many Midwest City Midoris and Choctaw Chucks. By 2022 they could outnumber you who have been part of this congregation for years. Some of them will be like Art Howe, Steve Jobs and the Syrophoenician woman.

A.           Most churches think they are friendly and welcoming. Effectively including challenging people calls for an intentional and intense ministry of hospitality. You will need to learn how to protect people who are already feeling that they don’t quite fit from embarrassment that will drive them away. More important than getting them into programs is helping them make new friends. People usually need at least five friends to stay in a church for more than a couple of months. You will have to teach people the basics about Jesus and faith and church without making them feel ignorant. You will need to be patient as they take years to work through their puzzles and pains.

B.            Twenty years ago Candy and I lived in the L’Arche Daybreak community in Richmond Hill, Ontario. We had a 4 month sabbatical in this Roman Catholic community of about 50 mentally handicapped adults called core members and about 100 assistant members. God used some very challenging people to help us grow. They have a prayer that captures this experience well. It is in the insert in your bulletin, and I’d like us to pray it together.

O Father, we ask You to bless us, and keep us in Your love.

May [ours] be a true home, where the poor in Spirit may find life;

A place where those who are suffering, may find comfort and peace.

Lord, give us hearts that are open, hearts that are humble and gentle,

so that we may welcome those You send, with tenderness and compassion.

Give us hearts full of mercy, that we may love and serve;

And where discord is found, may we be able to heal and bring peace;

And see in the one who is suffering, the living presence of Your Son.

Lord, through the hands of Your little ones, we ask You to bless us.

Through the eyes of those who are rejected, we ask You to smile on us.

Lord, grant freedom and fellowship, and unity to all the world;

And on the day of Your coming, welcome all people into Your Kingdom.

Welcome Ambivalence

James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
September 2, 2012
© 2012

 

Currents of Alienation Sandra Harrington 2004

I.                When we took our oldest son, Jon, to Grove City College in Pennsylvania for his freshman year, someone from the administration spoke just to the parents shortly before we were to head home. He said something like this: “You have unloaded a trailer load of stuff into your son’s or daughter’s dorm room. You’ve toured the campus together. You’ve opened an account with the bookstore and the meal service. Right now they are meeting their upperclassmen big sisters and brothers. In less than an hour you will cry and hug each other on the parking lot. Your children will walk back to their dorms for welcome parties. You will drive off and by the time the campus fades in your rearview mirrors, you will have wiped your tears and shouted, ‘Whoopee!’”

A.           I’m sure both you and Les and Joyce Brown had many thankful tears when you bid them farewell. I don’t know if Les shouted “Whoopee!” when he woke up Monday morning and didn’t have to come into the office. But I did have lunch with him on August 22. Yes, he still loves and misses you, but I can tell you he’s enjoying himself and has no regrets. Candy and I are thankful for the way you have welcomed us, but I doubt we have evoked and “whoopees” from you. My job is to get you ready to welcome your new pastor with a genuine “Whoopee!” Right now you’re between “whoopees” in ambivalence.

B.            Both personally and as a congregation, as uncomfortable as it feels, ambivalence welcomes you to Christ’s creative, constructive adventures.

C.            Ambivalence comes when we feel tugged in two seemingly contradictory but equally compelling directions. In September we’re going to put some of the words of Jesus from Mark’s Gospel up against some of what James wrote in his Epistle. I expect we’ll feel an ambivalent tug between the two. If we listen closely, in this sometimes uncomfortable space, I believe we can hear the voice of God. Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 captures the essence of just such a conversation between Jesus and some religious critics. Remember what we just read from James as you listen to Jesus.

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him,²they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. ³(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; ⁴and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.)⁵So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” ⁶He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; ⁷in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

⁸You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

¹⁴Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand:¹⁵there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.

²¹For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder,²²adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly.²³All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

II.            I hope you enjoyed the change of pace with the Call to Worship from the Song of Solomon this morning. Perhaps you’re wondering how that relates to Jesus and James. In that ambivalent space between Jesus and James, I believe I hear the voice of our Divine Beloved calling, “Arise, my Love, my fair one, and come away. The time of singing has come.” You’re not quite ready for that yet, so feel ambivalent.

A.           All of that washing by the Pharisees and Scribes had nothing to do with hygiene. It was not Mom calling, “Supper is ready. Wash your hands, and come to eat. We’ve got your favorite tonight.” Oh no, this was an arduous ritual to be sure that if you had touched a sinner during the day, or a sinner had touched your carrots or your frying pan, you wouldn’t be defiled by taking some speck of a sinner in with your supper. This was not about love but about suspicion and fear.

B.            Like a lot of traditions, this one started with good intent: health and a reminder to live a holy life. But also like a lot of traditions, it deteriorated into lifeless, loveless routine.

C.            This is Labor Day weekend. Labor Day first became a national holiday in 1894 when President Grover Cleveland settled the deadly Pullman Strike. It was a way of recognizing the contributions of labor unions to the working people of the United States. Over a century later we take a day off work and school, but very few are thinking about labor unions or workers.

D.           All nations, communities, families and, yes, churches have rituals to celebrate important people, events and ideas. I expect you started some rituals when the church moved here to Reno and Anderson, and some of them have become well engrained traditions. Nothing wrong with that, but Jesus asks us, “Are these God’s traditions or our traditions? Do they nurture love or conflict?” Ambivalence welcomes you to Christ’s creative, constructive adventures.

III.       Both Jesus and James are concerned about what defiles us. Neither of them would say, “eating with ritually unwashed hands.” James wrote that pure, undefiled religion or worship was to care for widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world. Jesus said that the evil intentions that come from within the heart defile a person. Though it sounds like James is advocating exterior religion and Jesus interior, I think this ambivalence takes us directly to love that is both heartfelt and expressed in relationships.

A.           For both Jesus and James, religion or worship have nothing to do with the style of our services, the selection of the hymns, the length of the sermon, or whether anybody messed up. Neither of them even mentions the assembly of the congregation for worship. For both of them, pure religion and worship is about how we treat people. For James it is caring for weak, needy, hurting people. For Jesus it is about fidelity, integrity, respect, generosity, humility.

B.            Widows and orphans were about the most disadvantaged people of that time. “Widows and orphans” became a kind of shorthand for all of the disenfranchised and outcast, including foreigners, the disabled and publicly scorned sinners. Without a doubt plenty of people in Midwest City and Choctaw qualify. I know that this congregation cooperates with other congregations in the area to offer some help in the name of Jesus.

C.            I am also confident that for many more people in Midwest City and Choctaw personal, emotional, relational and spiritual pain is all too real even when economic poverty is not a significant issue. For many of them “religion” offers little if any hope, so they don’t naturally look to the church. These are your neighbors, your coworkers, your classmates, maybe even your relatives. The kind of religion and worship Jesus and James propose makes each one of you a bridge for someone to the love of God.

D.           Jesus and James would agree that pure religion and worship is not about institutional maintenance or even growth for the church but about the mission of Christ’s love for hurting people. When that happens, the Church grows. Growing is a byproduct not the goal. Investing in the church is not so the organization will survive, but so that it can be about its mission. Ambivalence welcomes you to Christ’ creative, constructive adventures.

IV.      To move a congregation from maintenance to mission will necessarily tamper with its traditions and invite ambivalence. When a church seriously explores its mission, differing and even conflicting opinions are not only inevitable, they are desirable! Ever practical, James recommends “listen more, speak less.” When someone suggests what seems just plain wrong to you, “be slow to anger.” Who knows? As questionable ideas bump up against each other, the Holy Spirit can use the energy to spawn something better. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “It is no harder for God to use our mistakes than our triumphs.” As you look at the virtues that counter the defilements Jesus named, we see the humility and selflessness that can welcome ideas from any source.

A.           Part of the property of Central Christian Church in Dallas had been a children’s playground but the equipment was gone, and it was unused. Except that some neighbors let their dogs run there. A couple of members complained about the trespassers, until they saw a couple from their Sunday school class who had a dog sitting business using it. The very ones who had objected, now suggested fixing it up to be a real dog park, and it became one of their most effective outreaches to their neighbors.

B.            I have heard some conversation about dreaming that this this campus could become a community center for your neighbors. Some things are already happening in the JCAC. What activities can you imagine attracting people? You might think of these as sorts of “fishing ponds” for bringing people to Jesus. Not everyone, of course, but you who participate in those activities can think of yourselves as “anglers” who are alert to build relationships with people who are hungry for Jesus, even if they don’t know it. The sky’s the limit!

C.            As your interim pastor, my job is a lot more than keeping things going until you get a new pastor. I intend to be leading you through some steps that can be done much more effectively in the time between pastors.

1.              Recognizing how your history brought to this point.

2.              Sharpening the vision for future mission.

3.              Developing and focusing the congregation's leadership, both staff and lay, for the mission ahead.

4.              Renewing connections with the larger Church.

5.              Preparing to welcome a new pastor with “Whoopee!”

D.           Ambivalence welcomes you to Christ’s creative, constructive adventures. I am already excited about what I believe God wants to do with 1^st Christian Church of Midwest City in the decade ahead. One very helpful way of thinking about the future for this congregation is to ask yourselves, “What can this church be and do, so my grandchildren and their friends will want to participate and have their spiritual needs met here?” Some of you have grandchildren who are involved here now. Some of your grandchildren are in other churches or maybe no church. Some of you have children and are not thinking about grandchildren yet, but use your imagination to see what God might have in store. I know not all of you do or will have children, but I think projecting a generation ahead can still be helpful for forming a future vision

When I think of our grandchildren, I realize that no one model answers this question.

Hannah,14, and Isaac, 12, in Pennsylvania go to a large big-box, high energy, very produced “ultra-contemporary” congregation of young families. Hannah went with her Dad on a mission trip to Guatemala, and Isaac went on a middle school mission trip to Washington, D.C. Their Mom spearheads a ministry to mothers of preschoolers.

Sam, 10, and Elizabeth, 5, in Wisconsin go to a small Mennonite church that meets on Sunday afternoons in a Lutheran Church’s building. Their worship is traditional but informal and includes a whole range of ages. They have no pastor and their Dad shares in the preaching rotation and their Mom leads worship. Several times a year they do a whole church weekend retreat at the farm of one of their members.

I mention the contrast in the churches our grandchildren love to remind us not to think of narrow or stereotypic models but of a wide range of adventures.