Sermon March 21, 2010

“Rivers in the Desert and Perfumed Feet” Isaiah 43:16-21, Psalm 126, John 12:1-8 (selections)

“When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.”

Thus starts the song “It Is Well With My Soul,” which was written after personal tragedy. It took me a long time to hear the difference in the two lines, and realize they were two separate ideas:

Whether peace is with me, OR sorrow flows over me, I say “It is Well with my Soul.”

For our church family, we've had a lot of the second this week, with three deaths, tears and sorrow have been flowing. Because of that, I've made a choice to focus on the first in today's worship. We need the peace, and joy, and goodness. Luckily, the texts today – unlike the standard Lenten texts – feed us with what we need.

The Gospel lesson today is just a little bit different then the story as we sometimes hear it. The Gospel of John tells a story VERY similar to the synoptics, EXCEPT that it is Mary the sister of Lazarus who is anointing Jesus, and not a prostitute like it is in the synoptics. This is a woman who is consistently presented as knowing the right way to be with Jesus. She's the one who sat at his feet, and received praise for doing so. And now she is the one who understands that the best thing she can do is annoint him and bless him.

Footnotes in study Bibles let you know that 300 denarii was a year's wages for the average person in those times. The extravagance is outstanding. She basically pours a $20,000 container of perfume/moisturizer on his FEET and cleaned them with her hair. I'm not sure I can imagine a more profound action.

The Gospel of John, with its poetic imagery and profound language, intends to leave us SMELLING this story. Did you hear the line “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume”?

Really, the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume as it interacted with the body of Jesus. The same perfume smells differently on different bodies, right? So we're lead to wonder, in this passage, about the fragrance of Christ. His body combined with expensive, pure, oily, essential perfume: filled the whole space with its scent. Sweet, intense, fragrance of the body of Christ. The perfume, then, becomes both itself and the symbol of the smell of Christ. That the most expensive of all oils, poured in great excess over him and combined with him creates the smell that approximates the true goodness of Christ.

I've been pondering this week, what I would associate as the smell of God. For me, the answer seems to be: water. Water, in theory, has no smell, but in function it does. The smell of the ocean is pungent. The smell of each river is distinct. Even streams have a smell. Somewhere in the goodness of the smell of moving water I find a connection to the smell of God.

That was one of the hard parts of living in the desert for me, there wasn't moving water anywhere to be found. Water in the desert is so very clearly the same thing as life in the desert. Where there are sprinklers in LA, the ground is dry pebbly sand, and nothing grows from it. (And the climate of LA is similar to the climate of Jerusalem.) In the winter, in LA, the rains fall, and the desert blooms. The water brings life where there seemed to be no life. But when the rain stops, the life goes back into hiding. And really, even the amazing bloom of the desert is stark in contrast to life here, with abundance of water. The amount of water in a place is in direct correlation to the amount of LIFE in a place. Water equals life.

So, when we hear in the Psalm and our Isaiah passage that God will bring RIVERS into the desert, we are hearing that God will transform the live-less land into a place of abundant life and profound goodness. There is no desert where there is a river. The desert stops being desert – and that's the promise God is making in the midst of the desert. It seems we come again to “when sorrows like sea billows roll.... it IS well with my soul.”

I was never very good at praying out in the desert. My throat would be parched and my skin burning and the sun would shine too brightly into my eyes. My friends who grew up in the desert were frustrated with me that I couldn't sink into the beauty of the starkness. I could see it, but it was always so unfamiliar to me that it made it harder to pray. It does, however, make it easy to connect with God as the living water, and to think about God as the drink that quenches all thirst.

And, again, since I can smell God in water, it becomes possible for me to consider the SMELL of the living water, and the joy that would come with that smell when truly thirsty in the desert. Even drinking in the SMELL of the water could fill a soul with hope, and fill in the places of fear and worry.

My brother and I took the hike of lifetime once. It was suggested to us that we go to Prarie Creek Redwood State Park and hike the James Irvine trail. That far up north CA is a totally different place. The redwoods themselves have a scent that is indescribably beautiful, if you ever have the chance, I'd encourage you to go see and smell them. The trail we hiked ran through the redwoods, down into “Fern Canyon”, out to the beach of the Pacific Ocean, and the back to the trailhead through more redwoods. The entire day was amazing. But today I want to talk about that Fern Canyon.

The state park website puts it this way:
Dim and quiet, wrapped in mist and silence, the redwoods roof a moist and mysterious world. Park trails meander over lush ground and the walker is treated to the cool feeling and fragrance of wood and water.

A couple beautiful “fern canyons” are found along the North Coast, but the Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is undoubtedly the most awe-inspiring. Five-finger, deer, lady, sword, and chain ferns smother the precipitous walls of the canyon. Bright yellow monkeyflowers abound, as well as fairy lanterns, those creamy white, or greenish, bell-shaped flowers that hang in clusters. Ferns are descendants of an ancient group of plants which were much more numerous 200 million years ago. Ferns have roots and stems similar to flowering plants, but are considered to be a primitive form of plant life because they reproduce by spores, not seeds.

In Fern Canyon you hear water slowly dripping down stone walls, cushioned by vibrant green plants. The floor is pebbles, flat and easy to walk on. The Redwoods shoot high, starting at the top of the canyon walls and going on forever. It is so green you can't believe it with all the walls covered in ferns. (You don't get the color, but you get the coverage on the cover of your bulletin.) And the smell, that's what got me to remembering Fern Canyon this week. All at once you can smell the ferns – with their light, bright, vital scent, and the water, with its freshness and coolness, and the redwoods … that smell like … like wisdom, and the lightest waft of the ocean too, as its less than a mile away. The smell in that place, along with the beauty and peace that it inspired, lead me to say that Fern Canyon comes the closest in my life to smelling of God.

Our God is water in the desert. Our God fills our souls when nothing else is doing it. Our God offers us beauty for all of our senses, as reminders of God's own goodness. Go out from this place, my friends, and use all of your senses to let God fill up your souls.

Amen

Sermon March 14, 2010

“ Manna, Pig Pods, Feasts” Joshua 5:9-12, Luke 15:11b-32 3/14/10

For many of us the prodigal is such a familiar story that we tune it out. “Yeah, yeah, I know that one.” For the sake of hearing it anew, and maybe even a little bit differently, we're going to try it in modern times and with women:
There was baker, a woman in her late forties, who had two daughters, both of them worked with her in her two bakeries. The younger one said to her one day, “I'm sick of this and I'm sick of you. When you die, I'll get one of the bakeries. Sell it now and give me the money so I can live the life I want!” The mother did so, and the daughter went off far away, and wasted all the money just before a recession hit.
She found herself in dire straights, desperate, hurting, and degrading herself to make enough money to almost fill her belly. When she came to her senses, she decided to go home. She knew she wasn't going to be daughter to her mother anymore, but at least she could work in the bakery and have some dignity and a full belly. She prepared her words all the long journey home, “I've hurt you and I've hurt God. I'm no daughter of yours. But, I beg of you, let me just wash dishes and sweep floors under your watch.”
Her mother, though, heard she was coming, and ran out to meet her with arms open. She kissed her daughter and cried with joy. When the daughter tried to start her well-worked speech, the mother called to the bakery workers, “Find my daughter's chef jacket, and some better shoes. Get out cakes and cookies, and the good champagne in the back of the fridge! My daughter, who was dead to me, is home and alive! She was lost, but now she is found!
So the party began, but the older daughter, the one who had been loyal and faithful, couldn't just look the other way. She was sulking outside when her mother found her. The daughter said, “I've been here working and you've never given me a bag of cookies to take with me to a party, but when SHE comes back you empty out the whole display case for her! She's been off being a whore and you throw her a party!”
The mother was persistent though. “My daughter, you miss the point! You work by my side day by day, and all that is mine is in fact yours! You have the choice to take cookies whenever you wish! But right now we have to celebrate! Your sister was dead and now she's alive. We lost her, but now she's home again!”


There are three deep truths about forgiveness in this prodigal story. I would remind you that the word prodigal means excessive – and speaks both to the younger child's spending AND the parent's generosity! The younger child, in the midst of utter failure, and living a life that degrades, still struggles to turn around and go home. It doesn't even seem like an option until all of a sudden she sees herself and the situation she is in clearly. Once she lets herself see it, she also realizes that it isn't the way it has to be. She doesn't expect the forgiveness, that's clear in the story. But she realizes that whatever she's done, she doesn't have to live degraded forever. I like the phrasing “when she came to her senses.” Before there can be forgiveness, we have to realize what we've done and what impact it has had. That sudden awakening is the first step, and nothing can happen beyond it.

Secondly, the parent figure in this story is totally over the top with generosity. There is no doubt that this is a God-figure, willing to let the child have free will, and willing to accept the child back with unbelievable joy, and without imposing guilt. Few human parents could be so unconditionally generous. What an image it gives us of God! This parent-figure is so delighted to have the child alive and found that the child can't even speak the words of guilt and remorse. The parent already knows, and the forgiveness is running out to meet the child. How good it is to be a child of this kind of parent!

Finally, the older child speaks to us another truth. If you notice, the story leaves a cliff-hanger. Does the older child go into the party? Can she forgive? Can she rejoice? Does she hear her mother's statement that she and mother are one? Does she realize that staying home, working hard, and being part of the family IS part of her reward – that a life well lived is something her sister is jealous of? It is my guess that we aren't told because its our choice. We live this story over and over – in all the roles. But in the end, we have choices about how we play them.

I just finished reading Desmond Tutu's No Future Without Forgiveness. He tells the story of his work with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. The commission hear the stories of victims and perpetrators during decades of violence under the rule of apartheid. Many were kidnapped, tortured, raped, and killed – often never to be found during those years. The commission, however, did not punish. Instead, anyone willing to share the whole truth of what they had done was granted amnesty from future prosecution. Even the way this was carried was highly controversial, but the leaders of the government were some of the most prosecuted victims of apartheid, and they choose the way forward. They intentionally did not follow a Nuremberg trial model, which was not truly an option because there had not been a war with a victor. But, in any cause they were intending instead to build stable peace in a land where almost all were victims and very many were perpetrators. So punishing was not going to help – and it would probably keep the truth from coming out. They also intentionally chose not to ignore what had happened and bury it under the rug. They believed that damage had been done and to ignore it would mean that it would rise again later.

So, they set up ways to listen, they heard stories. People willing to say what they had done and ask forgiveness were granted amnesty. They found, to their astonishment, that more people were able to offer forgiveness (for terrible wrongs) then the number willing to ask.

The power to name what has been done is immense! It is like the moment when the younger child comes to her senses. To share the story, and say you are sorry, does make a real difference.

In South Africa, as well, there were monetary sums paid to the victims, recompense for their losses. The intention was not to buy it away, but acknowledge that it had been.

The whole book is a stance for restorative justice (rather than retributive). The country had lived escalating violence for decades, and they choose to step out of it, to speak of it, to forgive, to remember, and then to try to move forward.

Bishop Tutu offers these reflections:
“God does not give up on anyone, for God loved us from all eternity, God loves us now and God will always love us, all of us good and bad, forever and ever. His love will not let us go, for God's love for us, all of us, good and bad, is unchanging, is unchangable. Someone has said there is nothing I can do to make God love me more, for God loves me perfectly already. And wonderfully, there is nothing I can do to make God love me less. God loves me as I am to help me become all that I have it in me to become, and when I realize the deep love God has for me, I will strive for love's sake to do what pleases my Lover. Those who think this opens the door for moral laxity have obviously never been in love, for love is much more demanding than law. An exhausted mother, ready to drop dead into bed, will think nothing of sitting the whole night through by the bed of her sick child.”1
As God forgives, so are we to forgive. To forgive frees two people. One can move from being a victim to being a full human again, and another from perpetrator back to full human. Sometimes, genuinely, that is not so easy to do.

Tutu offers this real life story that comes to the same question as the Prodigal leaves us with. It is, however, not his story, its Simon Wiesnthals:
Simon Wiesenthal in the anthology The Sunflower, On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness, tells the story of how he was unable to forgive a Nazi soldier who asked to be forgiven. The soldier had been part of a group that rounded up a number of Jews, locked them up in a building, and proceed to set it alight, burning those inside to death. The soldier was now on his deathbed. His troubled conscious sought the relief that might come through unburdening himself, confessing his complicity and getting absolution from a Jew. Simon listened to his terrible story in silence. When the soldier had ended his narration, Simon left without uttering a word, certainly not one of forgiveness. He asks at the end of his account, “What would you have done?”


What would you have done?
And, more importantly, what will you do?

Amen

Lenten Devotional Booklet, March 10th

Luke 11:14-23
Sara Baron

In the United Methodist Church today, elders are ordained clergy people, leaders within the faith. It would be easy to take this passage as instructions only for church leaders, and ignore it if you aren't one. Yet, all people in the church are responsible for being examples. We all look to each other for ideas of how to act and who we should be. No one is excluded, and actions that bring glory to God count as a blessing when any person does them! Remember, even when you don't think anyone is looking, that you are an example and a leader. What you do matters!

Lenten Devotional Booklet, March 9th

Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9
Matthew Harrington



I feel God is at work through people. He is at work through me when I help out at church by doing things to help people. Those things are Harvest Supper, VBS, and Sunday School, etc. But I think God is always at work in each of us.

Lenten Devotional Booklet, March 8th

Psalm 25:3-9
George Hillis



In this passage, David tells of God’s guidance and instructions. He also asks God to be patient and kind and to forgive each wrong done as a young person. As we ourselves get older, we should remember these words and apply them to our lives. We should mentor the youth and remind them of God’s teachings and of his forgiveness.

David says “God leads humble people to do what is right.” We as God’s people can lead others to do what is right.

Announcements, March 7, 2010

In just two weeks we'll have the Turkey and Biscuit Dinner after worship (Free will offering, combined with a talent show and a silent auction! Items for the auction can be left in the nave (entryway). We look forward to seeing your talents!

The deadline approaches for the Oneonta District Spring Lay Speaking school in Greene on April 10th and 17th is TODAY. Pastor Sara is teaching basic and would love to have you in the class. Click here for more info.

On April 24th we'll be heading on Oneonta to build with Habitat. Please come! Sign up by e-mail, comment on the blog, or on the sheet on the clipboard table.

We're still looking for people willing to brainstorm about a Community Meal. If you are willing, talk to Mike Virgil!

Is there anyone out there willing to coordinate Local Church? Its not a hard job, really!

Signs ups are in the nave for cleaning the church, hour with Sara, and the Habitat Day!

Next week we'll receive the “One Great Hour of Sharing” offering.

Sermon (March 7, 2010)

“Delight in Rich Food and Steadfast Love” Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63; Luke 13:6-9

The young people of this congregation are very wise.

We discussed joy in confirmation class a few weeks ago, and they said that the shortest spurts of happiness come from material gifts, while the longest living joy comes from relationships. They understood, as well, that happiness is fleeting, but joy comes from within.

When I prepare funerals, I ask families to tell me what the person loved. Almost always the first answer is relational – spouse, children, family, friends, all of the above.... And then come the answers that are active: gardening, sports, some club, travel, cooking, etc. (Often sports affiliations also arise. Loving or hating the Yankees is, after all, identity forming – and very active!) Rarely, however, are more things listed than relationships and activities.

I've been wondering how my family, or friends, would answer for me. What would they say I love? I'm sure just about anyone could say people and skiing and Sky Lake, but beyond that its not fully clear. Our concept of what we love may be different than what others see of us. What we love is visible by what we DO, not just what we think about doing.

Hopefully what we DO, what we spend our time on and show our love for, are the bread and wine that truly feed us. That is, we seek to live so that the places we put our love may be the ones that feed our inner spring of joy. The book of Isaiah almost outdoes itself with the questions of 55:2: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” Why DO we spend our time on activities that don't feed our souls? Why DO we spend money on things that won't feed any part of us?

Why would we do that, especially when God is prodding us toward the good choices, offering us the bread of life and the actions of wholeness. In fact, in this passage, food and wine and milk are free for the asking. What is needed is provided. God makes sure that life continues.

At first, the gospel might seem like a different story. Rather than free food, we see a fruit-tree that isn't giving fruit. And, may we remember, that nurturing a tree in the desert of Israel takes serious resources. Water is scarce, but the tree needs water! Fertile soil takes effort. The gardener doesn't want to give up on the tree that has been wasting resources though. Instead, the gardner wants to GIVE MORE to that tree – to bury it in manure and give it every chance it might have to bear fruit. Rather than blame the tree, the gardner seems to take blame on himself, for not giving it all it needs.

Really the nurture of the tree becomes the same as the abundant life-giving food of Isaiah. God desires good living for us - body and soul. This is familiar information. The 23rd Psalm makes it just as clear – that God is like the shepherd guiding sheep to still, drinkable water, and full, nurturing fields of green. Today's Psalm 63 says the same, but more clearly pointing out the feeding is not only physical, “My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips.”

We have already been fed at the communion table: God has given us the food and the drink to feed our bodies and souls. May the continual prodding of God keep you making decisions to stay full. May the love you have guide your relationships and actions. May you notice what fills you, and keep coming back for more. And, when things dry up and there is no fruit, may you be patient enough to let God the gardener try harder to care for you.

May you receive the gifts of rich food and steadfast love.

Amen

Appointment Announcement

As announced in worship this morning, it is Bishop Hassinger's intention to appoint me to the Park Terrace United Methodist Church in Apalachin, NY as of July 1, 2010. It is a profound joy in my life to be the pastor of the Morris United Methodist Church, and I will always be grateful for my time here. I expect God to be doing great things both here in Morris and in Apalachin in the years to come.

- Sara

Announcements, February 28, 2010

Our youth group is going to New Hampshire from July 4-10, and you are invited to be in mission with us. Talk to Sara for more information!

Adult studies (in Lent): Death and Resurrection! Starting Feb. 23rd. Tuesdays in Lent: A Lent Communion Worship Service. 6 to 6:30 PM. Come to one or both!

On March 21st we'll have Turkey and Biscuit for lunch, a talent show, and a chinese auction! Its time to get talents ready and auction items considered!

Lay Speaking School - April 10th & 17th @ Greene UMC - Basic course is being taught by Pastor Sara Baron. See Pastor Sara or any of our lay speakers for info (Barb S, Barb V, Steve M, Patty H). Registration deadline is March 10th.

We are still looking for Pancake Breakfast workers and coordinators!

Does anyone have a button making machine we could use?

April 24th – Habitat Day. Mark your calendars!!

We need a coordinator for Local Church. Can you do it?

The Lenten Devotional Booklets are here! Feel free to grab one to share! (Or read here)

There is no one signed up for fellowship time for the next two weeks!

Do you want to work on our new community meal? Talk to Mike Virgil or Sara.

Thank you to Rev. Allyson Ellis for being half of today's pulpit exchange!

March 6th

John 4:5-42
Barb Virgil

Jesus and the Woman of Samaria

When Jesus leaves Judea to go back to Galilee, he has to pass through Samaria. Thirsty and tired, he stops at a well in the city of Sychar. It is about noon, and a woman comes to the well to draw water. Though Jews and Samaritans did not share things in common, Jesus asks the woman for a drink of water. Hesitant, but inquisitive and open to learning more about who this man is and why he seems to know about her, their conversation continues until she is convinced he is able to give “living water”. She believes in the Messiah, and Jesus, for the first time, proclaims I am He.
Excitedly she goes to get others to come and hear him. Meanwhile…the disciples have arrived and intend to feed Jesus. Jesus must instruct them that he is at work doing the will of him who sent him. He recites a parable highlighting what seems obvious to him, “look around you and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.” “The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life.”
Fortunately, many Samaritans believed the woman’s testimony and they desired to hear more about and from Jesus. He stayed with them for 2 days. Many more believed because of his word. They said, “it is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
Wow! This is a wonderful scripture. It illustrates how Jesus took every opportunity to evangelize and teach. He clearly understood what he was intended to do and how he was to go about it. He had no doubt about who was doing the leading in this work…it was coming directly from God.
The Samaritan woman’s existing belief, in the promise of the coming of a Messiah, laid the foundation for the words Jesus spoke. Because of the testimony the woman shared, others believed…at least enough to want to hear for themselves.
This encounter was no accident. God prepares us to speak and to hear about his plans for us. Evangelism and Testimony are essential in bringing the kingdom of God on earth.

March 5th

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Linda Hillis

The Parable of the Prodigal Son…

Prior to this parable are two other parables – the one about the lost sheep and another about the lost coin, each illustrating that God rejoices about each sinner who repents. The parable of the lost son continues the theme of rejoicing and adds to it. The first half of the story describes rejoicing over the sinner who returned, the second half more directly addresses the reaction of the father and the older son. In the first two parables, the lost were found by searching. In this parable, the younger son was found by waiting. When the father sees the son coming from far off he is not filled with anger or rage, but with compassion. He runs to him and embraces him, and then celebrates his return by preparing a feast and giving the son a robe and sandals (signs of honor). In this story we are reminded “nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Just as the earthly father rejoices in the return of his son, so does our heavenly Father rejoice when we repent and return to his flock. In the second half of the parable, we are confronted with the reaction of the older son. He is full of anger and jealousy when he learns his brother has returned and their father has received him with open arms. Unfortunately, the parable ends without revealing what the older son did.  Would the hard-hearted son change his mind and rejoice about the brother’s return? How many times have we felt anger and jealously when we perceive that someone else has received preferential treatment? Are we able to be happy for someone else who has been healed of their illness, gotten the promotion we wanted, or live in the house of our dreams? The father’s reaction again reminds us to put aside our own disappointment and anger.  “My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

March 4th

1 Peter 5:1-4
Sara Baron


The people seeing what Jesus did were trying to discount his actions. They said to themselves, “Well, the only reason he is succeeding in getting bad-stuff out of people is because he is united with bad-stuff.”

I'm not so sure they are the only ones who have ever felt that way. Rather than delight in the good around us, sometimes we want to discount it. I suspect this is often because we're a little bit jealous- and worried that if someone else can do good that we can't do, then it speaks poorly of us.

God, however, works differently in different people, and in different churches. We aren't all supposed to have the same “good.”

There was a summer when I was working as an intern chaplain at a hospital when I started to become very jealous of social workers. When people had serious problems, the social workers would swoop in and find the person housing, food, and transportation. I could just listen and pray. I wanted to DO!

God needed a listener/prayer and a doer. With my work combined with the social workers, more good was done – and then we added in the medical professionals and there was a lot of HEALING.

I see God at work in healing – when it comes from human hands and when it comes from Divine strength. What a miracle it is that good overcomes and healing is possible!

March 3rd

Luke 16:19-31
Justice Mitchell



God watches over us day and night. He watches are actions and our thoughts. He know when we are greedy or do not care about anyone in pain or suffering. If you give up your luxuries in life or share them with others that have little or nothing, you will be rewarded. People that do not listen to God or for God do not know what is going to happen. If you listen to and for God, and obey, you shall be rewarded twice.

March 2nd

Psalm 31:5-6, 14-16
Krystal Ray



This passage is about putting your trust in God. It is about putting yourself into God's hands allowing God to protect you. This passage also tells us that God has unfailing love. As I was reading this I was thinking of how I put my trust in God and believe that no matter what God's hands are surrounding me and protecting me.

March 1st

Matthew 23:1-12
Elaine Frederick



Through Jesus God teaches us that to be humble about our lives and our faith and also how it affects the way we live our lives.

The best seat in the house, fancy clothes and/or adoration from those whom we know does not bring pleasure to or grace from God for our lives.

Live and spread your faith without fanfare and be exalted in God's eyes only.

February 27th

Matthew 17: 1-9
Eleanor Gaccione

“The Transfiguration: A Foreview of the Future Kingdom”

In this passage we are told that Jesus’ face shone like the sun and that God spoke to some of the disciples from within a cloud. Albeit these experiences seem inconceivable to us, we read similar stories throughout the Bible. However, what would it be like if modern man experienced these encounters with God? Would anyone believe such a thing really happened? How would the majority of people respond to an account of such magnitude?

I read Mark’s and Luke’s versions of the same story (Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36). Matthew and Mark both wrote that Jesus instructed the disciples – “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” Luke’s account says that the disciples kept what happened to themselves; they were not directly instructed by Jesus to remain quiet.

Because of the reactions others might have to what the disciples experienced, I can see why they might choose to keep quiet about what they had witnessed. However, I was perplexed why, in Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts, Jesus would instruct His disciples to remain quiet about His transfiguration.

All in all, this passage made me think of all the ways God shows Himself to us today. Perhaps we don’t see a face shining like the sun, or robes of white. Maybe we don’t hear God’s voice coming to us audibly from within a cloud. Yet, God reveals Himself to us in a myriad of ways (including visual and audible) if we are open to seeing and hearing Him.

February 26th

Matthew 5:43-48
Barbara Smith

“Love your Enemies – God’s standard for us”

Jesus’ radical and tough teachings.

Think about it! Who, around you, is easy to love? Maybe it’s someone who has your same interests and ideals so you want to be around them – it’s easy and comfortable.

Jesus, on the other hand, picked a motley crew at best to become his disciples and follow him. Jesus stopped and talked with outcasts. One example is the Samaritan woman at the well. He not only spoke to her but his words told her – “I see you, I know all about you and I value you”. Jesus told us to love your enemies and he lived it.

Who around you is not in your “inner circle”? Who do you put in the category of an enemy? Perhaps someone who has hurt you or someone you would not want to be seen with? Jesus shows us that that is the very person we should be reaching our hand of friendship and love out to.

God, thank you for showing us the way to see another person as you see us.

February 25th

Matthew 5:20-26
Janet Card

And Jesus said, “Listen to God's laws and obey. If you kill you will be met with God's judgement. But if also you are out of sorts and angry with your brothers for no cause make peace and forgive, and then offer your gifts to the altar of God, as you will be met with God's judgement if you carry that anger and bring no closing to your troubles.”

Anger and carrying hurt harms what we have in our hearts. So clear your heart of this and you will feel lighter and free.

February 24th

Matthew 7:7-12
Al Puylara

Where do we find God? By surrendering. As self reliant independent people we are so used to taking care of everything ourselves. Sometimes we get so caught up in doing, doing, and doing we get overwhelmed. We become so focused in taking care of everything that we never ask for help when we need it. We sometimes feel that asking for help would appear that we are weak. Our ego doesn't want to seem vulnerable. However, it is necessary to surrender that ego and ask for help when we need it. In other words, where do we find God? We find God when we surrender and ask for his help and guidance.

The weekend

If you are reading this, then presumably you are lucky enough to still have power during what has been termed a 'snowpocalypse' by The Watershed Post. In the hopes that we will all have dug ourselves out by Saturday, here is a listing of family friendly events:

Step into Seuss: Sat Feb 27th at 10am, enjoy Seuss stories at The Green Toad in Oneonta (www.greentoadbookstore.com), then go to Southside Mall from 2-6pm (http://www.shopsouthsidemall.com/) for more Dr. Seuss. Rumor has it that there is a 7 foot tall Horton the Elephant stomping about town.

Also Saturday: "Heat Up the Night" at the Farmer's Muesum in Cooperstown from 6-9pm (http://www.farmersmuseum.org)

Looking ahead:

Tues Mar 2: St. Mary's School, Rt. 7, Oneonta will be hosting a life size Dr. Seuss event open to the community from 5 to 8pm. Come with your family to celebrate the silly and sensational stories of Dr. Seuss. Children are invited to step into their favorite Seuss story, literally by stepping into one of eleven selected Seuss stories. That evening, St. Mary's is also hosting a ham dinner from 4:30pm to 7pm. (http://www.stmarysoneonta.org/school/index.php)

Also, Sugaring Off Saturdays begin March 7th at the Farmer's Museum!

Sermon (February 21, 2010)

“Land and Shelter” Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Luke 4:1-13 2/21/10


The scriptural theme today is most clearly “temptation.” Deuteronomy, as always, is clear that once the people get out of the desert and into the promised land, they'll lose sight of God. The giving of tithes and the first produce of the land, along with the liturgical repetition that means, “I once was a foreigner in a foreign land, it is only by God's grace that I now can grow food on land God entrusts to me” is an attempt to resist temptation. Even in Hebrew Bible times, people were tempted to believe they'd gotten to a good place by their own doing, and could forget to thank God for God's help. Even back then, 4 thousand years ago, there was a temptation to forget God.

There are three named temptations in the Gospel lesson this morning. First, to transform stones into bread; second to have power over the whole world; third to test God.

After a long fast, there is reasonable fear. Mortality itself is faced. Additionally, there is hunger and pain and delusion. The temptation Jesus faced was to use his power to respond to the fear. That should sound more familiar than the temptation to make stones into bread! To use power to respond to fear. Now that's a common temptation in human life. We are so afraid of fear that we'll do just about anything to make it go away. Including, I'm convinced, keeping our lives busy and our ears full of gibberish to avoid having time to think (or pray.) When face to face with fear, we most often use our power to throw things at it, and or ignore it with all our might.

Jesus, instead, stayed face to face with the Tempter and the Temptation. Throughout this passage, take note, the temptations come from Scripture itself! Its always good to remember that the large themes of the Bible take precedence over any individual passage. There are many stories of God speaking to people through words/phrases/verses/stories from the Bible, and they have been great blessings. BUT, its easy to get pulled aside by a passage that seems to tell us what we want to hear. In the United Methodist tradition we learn to read scripture with our church tradition, all of our reason and logic, and the experiences we've had in life informing it. We try NOT to be pulled aside by one bit of Scripture. Like Jesus does, we can find responses in the Scripture itself to temptation. He responds to the Tempter from the same text that the Tempter tempts him.

So, he stays face to face with temptation, and says NO while looking at the temptation. He refuses us to use his power to reduce his body's fear of death. He maintains that life and death are not the most important thing. He asserts that God is more than bread, and God is what he needs, and God will provide – or not – and he'll stick with what he is given.

Temptation one: fear and responding to it with our own power, eliminated. Jesus faces down fear with God-trust.

Temptation two, to take over all the kingdoms of earth, is the temptation of power. For Jesus it is in the most extreme case. He is offered power over the whole world. Our power temptations tend to be a bit smaller in comparison. Sort of like, “I am tempted to have the power over the blue crayon” in comparison. But they're the same temptation. Do we take power that will harm people? Do we take what will harm ourselves? Do we take what isn't ours? Do we want to!?!?!?!

Or, can we respond as our life-example does, and say in the face of any temptation to be in power over others “All Power is God's. It is not mine to take.” Phew. Good for him on that one!

The final temptation, in a distorted way, is idolatry. Brueggmann has said that idolatry is an attempt to control God. He points out that when little idols are made, a person can move them around! Any form of trying to contain God into something smaller than God is (i.e. anything) or to be more controllable than God is (i.e. any control at all) is an extension of the idea of making a little idol to worship. That makes a WHOLE LOT of sense to me. In the third temptation, the Tempter suggests that Jesus fling himself off the tower because God will take care of him. That is, to fling himself off the tower with the expectation of what God's response will be. To jump, and thus MAKE GOD catch him. That is, to control God's action in the world!!!! To jump would be to try to control God. Controlling God, that's a form of idolatry. Jesus' answer is deceptively simple. He simply says its wrong to test God. But the underlying truth is that its wrong to try to control God. (We can ASK, but that's about it.)

Others have faced these temptations as well. In concentration camps during the Holocaust, people were being slowly killed off by starvation as well as everything else. There was not enough bread to survive. Yet, there were people in the camps who took their own bread and shared it with the more sick or more hungry. They choose not to focus on the fear of their own death, to focus on the goodness of every bite EVEN WHEN STARVING, but choose live on God and share their bread.

In occupied France at the same time, a group of French Protestants in a border village, chose to refuse the power offered to them. They were told to comply, to name the Jews among them, and to report any they met. In their faith conviction, they refused what protection they could have received by complying. Instead they worked quietly and quickly and saved THOUSANDS of Jewish children and adults. They paid prices too, the death of the child of their leader and others, and imprisonment for many. They were all threatened with death and destruction. They could have yielded, and taken the “kingdom” of peace. They refused, saying that only God had power over them, and only God would the yield to. They saved others at risk of themselves because they believed it was God's will, and they needed to follow God's power.

Like Jesus at the pinnacle of the temple refusing to test God, there are many who have chosen NOT to test God. Specifically I think of St. Francis, and Mother Teresa, and Sam Dixon (the UMCOR leader who died in Haiti). There is a temptation, in response to the pain of the world, and especially to extreme poverty, to TEST GOD by saying, “God will provide.” Yet people have chosen, over and over again, not to test God, but to offer themselves as Gods hands and feet and hearts in the world. They care for the uncared for and love the unloved and feed the unfed because they're not testing God to do it for them. They act for God, instead of asking God to act for them.

There are real temptations in life. We face them throughout our days. Many fit well into these categories: fear that motivates us to self-protect; power that tempts us towards self-importance; and idolatry that makes us try to control God. We are much like the people who have entered the land -we need the reminders that we are not alive or well by our own power. We need God to be our shelter. We seek God to counter our fear. We need God to be in control. We need to offer ourselves to God rather than ask God to act for us.

May we, as we face our Tempters, be brave enough to stand face to face and trust in God to guide us through.

Announcements, February 21, 2010

Our youth group is going to New Hampshire from July 4-10, and you are invited to be in mission with us. Talk to Sara for more information!

Adult studies (in Lent): Death and Resurrection! Starting Feb. 23rd. Tuesdays in Lent: A Lent Communion Worship Service. 6 to 6:30 PM. Come to one or both!

On March 21st we'll have Turkey and Biscuit for lunch, a talent show, and a chinese auction! Its time to get talents ready and auction items considered!

Lay Speaking School - April 10th & 17th @ Greene UMC - Basic course is being taught by Pastor Sara Baron. See Pastor Sara or any of our lay speakers for info (Barb S, Barb V, Steve M, Patty H). Registration deadline is March 10th.

We are still looking for Pancake Breakfast workers and coordinators!

Does anyone have a button making machine we could use?

April 24th – Habitat Day. Mark your calendars!!

We need a coordinator for Local Church. Can you do it?

The Lenten Devotional Booklets are here! Feel free to grab one to share! (Or read here)

There is no one signed up for fellowship time for the next two weeks!

Do you want to work on our new community meal? Talk to Mike Virgil or Sara.

February 23rd

February 23rd
Jonah 3:1-10
Steve McWilliams

Jonah ran away from God, but was given a second chance. His second chance was not one he would have chosen; a message of doom to the most powerful city in the world. The message was not one that was prepared, but one that God would tell him what to say. His audience was not one that one would have chosen, the people of Nineveh who also needed a second chance for they had been condemned by God for their ways.

As I read the text, I though about how many second chances that I have had; times when I did not have a second chance or times when I had a second chance in some way but did not take advantage of it. Probably most people do think back on their lives and have wishes of situations where they would have made a different choice, but our lives and our lives with God are not about yesterday. Our lives are about today and what we do today may have an affect on tomorrow. One day at a time and we live in the present. Yesterday may help us or hurt us, but we cannot live in it.

Jonah’s past must have influenced his decision to follow God, for he did not try to run form God a second time. When the king of Nineveh heard of this, he had the people and other parts of creation to not drink, feed, and to be covered with sackcloth for repentance. It is not always our hearing God’s word that pleases him, but our response to it. Like Jonah and the people of Nineveh, repentance has to be one of sincerity from the heart, and not superficial words of the mouth.

God is always there to show compassion to anyone willing to seek him. The purpose of God’s judgment is correction, not revenge. One of the most meaningful words to me is grace, for even on second chances I may not get it right. Thanks be to God.

February 22nd

February 22nd
Isaiah 55:10-11
Anne Posey


As a Methodist by choice and a Catholic from birth, I was raised to give things up for Lent rather than to offer something up, so here goes. This passage seems to reassure us that God’s words have potential energy. God’s words once shared become kinetic energy that fuels the body and soul to drives us to accomplish a goal. That accomplished goal then fills the tank for the next task. This passage seems to offer a never-ending cycle of kinetic energy for life through Jesus. God’s word is recycled over and over again to feed us. How green!

February 20th

February 20th
Matthew 4:1-11
Linda Hillis

This is the very familiar story of Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. The wilderness is a place of struggle, temptation and testing. Just as Israel came out of Egypt and for forty years was tested in the wilderness, so now Jesus experiences his own exodus, passing through the waters of baptism, and into the desert to be tested for forty days, as Israel was for forty years. The first temptation could not have been better timed. Jesus had been fasting for forty days. He was entitled to eat. Even Israel in the Old Testament was miraculously fed by manna. Why not the Son of God? “Turn these stones into loaves of bread. Use your power to satisfy your physical needs. You are entitled to food after a forty-day fast.” Jesus was hungry and of course needed something to eat. Why not turn the stones to bread? The temptation was that Jesus use his miraculous powers to provide for himself. Jesus chose a pattern of life where he would always use his God-given powers for others, never for himself. He healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind and raised the dead. His powers were always for others, not himself. That tells us something profound about the Christian life. Do I seek my own advantage? Do I want things for myself that others cannot have? Am I more concerned about the well being of others, or just myself? The second temptation was the devil’s attempt to get Jesus to doubt God by asking Jesus to put God to the test. Sometimes we are angry at God because we have attempted to test God and we are disappointed. If my loved one is healed of cancer, then I’ll know God loves me. If my boy comes back safely from an overseas mission, then I’ll know God is on my side. If I get the job that I’ve been praying for, then I’ll know that God cares for me. But what if my loved one dies of cancer? What if my boy is killed overseas? What if I don’t get the job? Will I still love and serve God regardless of the outcome, as Jesus does? In the final temptation Jesus is tempted to win the world by worshipping the devil. Jesus flatly refuses. The price that Jesus would pay for his unwavering obedience to God was incredibly high. It would ultimately cost him his life. We are continuously tempted today by the ways of society. How do we respond? Are we prepared to follow the ways of Christ, even unto death?

February 19th

February 19th
Luke 5:27-32
Barbara Virgil

Jesus Calls Levi

Levi, a tax collector, is at work in the tax booth when Jesus approaches him and says “follow me.” Levi immediately leaves everything and follows Jesus. Later, Levi hosts a great banquet for Jesus, where many tax collectors and other “sinners” are present. The Pharisees and their scribes question the disciples about why they eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners, and Jesus is the one to answer…“those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

From the beginning, (after Adam and Eve’s original sin in the Garden of Eden), God understood how prone we humans would be to poor decision-making, making false judgments and assuming things we shouldn’t assume, so he provides a way for us to repent. He provides a second chance. He says, “follow me.”

It is not up to us to judge who is acceptable in God’s eyes, or who has need of his leading and healing. It is only necessary for us, as individuals, to recognize His call and to follow Him.
 
 

February 18th

February 18th
Isaiah 58:1-9
Mike Virgil

In essence this scripture talks about fasting to serve the needy in our community, and then in turn receiving God’s grace. It also talks about actually serving neighbors in need not just talking about it, or doing it half heartedly then wondering why God doesn’t respond in a positive way to our efforts.

I see this scripture play out in the efforts of the humanitarian aid workers in Haiti; and in those in our community reaching out to help people who have suffered a catastrophic loss in their lives or who are struggling to make ends meet. These organizations and individuals are selfless when it comes to doing for others in their time of need. Unfortunately, there are also those that disguise their motives as helping others for their own personal gain.

As humans, we are sometimes fooled by what we see or hear. A true believer in God acts in a selfless and caring manner without concern for, “What’s in for me?” God knows your true intentions. I am thankful for those in our community that are selfless givers.

February 17th, Ash Wendesday

February 17th
Joel 2: 12-18
Patti Pulara

Where is God? In Hope. I think that the book of Joel uses the symbol of locusts devouring land and enemy armies destroying Jerusalem to compare the destruction of the human spirit that is without the awareness of God. This led me to think about where one finds God amongst the daily grind of life or amidst disaster and ruin? I can look at Haiti as an example and see what they are doing. Where are they finding God? It can be summed up in one word...."HOPE". As one Haitian musician sang to his people; "Don't get discouraged, go inside yourself where you can find your spirit..." It is there that we find god and the hope to live another day.

Lenten Devotional Booklet

Morris United Methodist Church

2010

Lenten Mediation Booklet, Online

Welcome to the Morris Lenten Meditation Booklet of 2010. This is our church's third creation, and it is a delightful one. Our youngest contributer this year is 7 years old! We had a nearly perfect return rate on the reflections. The theme this year is “Where is God at work?” You'll see some great answers in these pages.

Sundays are excluded from this booklet because Sundays are not a part of Lent. But, to keep ourselves attentive to God at work during every day, there will be Sunday reflections as well. They'll just be done verbally in worship! So, come to worship and year your brothers and sisters in faith share their scriptural reflections as well!

Instructions:

1. 
   
   
   
   
   Take a moment to breath/pray/center.
2. 
   
   
   
   
   Pull out your Bible (or borrow one from the church if you have one of those versions that makes no sense.
3. 
   
   
   
   
   Read the assigned scripture.
4. 
   
   
   
   
   Read the reflection offered in this booklet.
5. 
   
   
   
   
   Rest with it for a few.
6. 
   
   
   
   
   Repeat the following day.

The hope is that this booklet will be a blessing to all- those who wrote and those who get to receive the gifts of the mediations.

Pastor Sara Baron

Lessons

(Picture is NOT of me.)

While on vacation I had the chance to take a ski lesson.  Its been quite a while since I took a ski lesson, 10 years maybe, but I've been skiing for 17, and usually I don't think I need them.  My parents and I had gone to Jay Peak though, and Jay Peak has amazing glades.  I've been playing in glades for a few years, but without any training.  Jay has lessons for people to teach them how to ski in the glades!  So I signed up for a lesson!

Well, then I got nervous.  "What if the instructor is mean?  What if the instructor asks me to do something I can't do?  What if the skiing is too hard?  What if I make a fool of myself?"  Now, if you think about it, someone you pay to teach you to ski isn't very likely to be mean.  Further, I know how to ski! 

So why was I so scared?

Because taking a lesson of any sort is putting yourself in someone else's care for a bit.  I'm used to being in control, and it was scary to let it go!  I know that taking a class or showing up to a new event at church can be similarly scary.  Afterall, the pastor may ask you something you don't know, and you could be embarrassed. 

My ski lesson was great, I learned a great tip on how to use poles.  Sometimes foregoing control and being a bit out of sorts is worth it.  For the record though, I know how it feels.

Announcements, February 14, 2010

Sign ups available: cleaning the church, Hour with Sara, Fellowship, and pancake breakfast coordinators, volunteers, and for food.

Our youth group is going to New Hampshire from July 4-10, and you are invited to be in mission with us. Talk to Sara for more information!

Adult studies (in Lent): Death and Resurrection! Starting Feb. 23rd at 6:30 PM.

Tuesdays in Lent: A Lent Communion Worship Service at 6 PM.

On March 21st we'll have Turkey and Biscuit for lunch, a talent show, and a chinese auction! (All after worship) Its time to get talents ready and auction items considered!

We are looking for a group of people to work on creating a Community Meal at our church.  Talk to Pastor Sara or Mike Virgil if you have interest. 

Lay Speaking School- April 10th & 17th @ Greene UMC - Basic course is being taught by Pastor Sara Baron. See Pastor Sara or any of our lay speakers for info (Barb S, Barb V, Steve M, Patty H). Registration deadline is March 10th.

We have a great idea, but we need a button making machine.  Before we run out and buy one, does anyone have one we could use?

April 24^th – Habitat Day. Mark your calendars!!

Habitat Day

We have signed up for a work day with Habitat for Humanity of Otsego County!

We're going on April 24th and we need two teams:  one to work and one to feed the workers!  Can you go?  Sign up by commenting on the blog, answering an e-mail, or telling Pastor Sara.

Lay Speaking School

ONEONTA DISTRICT

LAY SPEAKING SCHOOL

“Leading, Caring &

Communicating”

at

Greene United Methodist Church

Greene, NY

April 10 & 17, 2010

Please Share this form with any who might be interested

Questions?

Call/e-mail

George Gallandorm (607) 674-2552 revgeorge@frontiernet.net

or

Richard Hanson (315) 858-3731

rhanson2@stny.rr.com

Basic Lay Speaking

Led by

Rev. Sara Baron and Tom Blake

Looking for inspired and inspiring leadership skills and personal growth? Laity attending lay speaker school for the first time (or after a long absence from the school) need to enroll in “Lay Speakers Ministry: Basic” This course helps students develop personal faith and life styles that proclaim the gospel. The course helps students grow in their abilities to witness, teach, lead, serve, and preach (revised course will not require you to prepare and present a devotional). Increase your skills, enjoy meeting and sharing with others, reinforce your faith journey.

Lay Speakers Tell Stories

Led by

Rev. Joyce Allen

Lay speakers will learn what makes a good story, discover their own style as a storyteller, learn and practice creating stories from their own experiences during their faith journey.

Sharing Your Faith - One-on-One

Led by

Rev. Benjamin Shaw

The purpose of this course is to provide some tools for sharing your faith with other individuals in a one-on-one basis. This course has been up-dated to reflect the new word “witness” in our membership vows. Also, there will be a segment on boundary and misconduct issues. All are invited to audit the course. Those who have completed the Basic Lay Speaker course will receive Advanced Lay Speaker Certificates.

Hymnody

Led by

Rev. George Gallandorm

This course is not only for the musically gifted, but the musically interested. The course will spend sometime on the history of music in the church. The major emphasis will however be the use of hymns and music in worship. Also developing worship services that integrate music as a vital and lively spiritual component. Time will be spent on use of the United Methodist hymnal and other resources available.

Daily Schedule

April 10

8:15-8:45 - Registration

8:45-9:00 - Worship

9-12 – Class time (w/break)

12-12:45 Lunch available

1-4 – Class time (w/break)

April 17

8:30-12 – Class Time (w/break)

12-1 – Lunch available

1-3 Class Time (w/break)

3-4 – Closing Worship

Registrar:

E.Elaine Gates

48 Pleasant Valley Road

Port Crane, NY 13833

eegates@frontier.com

Phone:607-226-7219 (day)

607-648-9790 (after 6 p.m.)

Send completed form and registration fee ($30 made out to Wyoming Annual Conference) to the registrar.

Cost of school is $30 – Lunch extra

Words about the School

All churches in the United Methodist connection require inspired, capable and trained leadership of both clergy and laity. It is our goal to assist and empower laity to lead, care and communicate with confidence and ability. Courses are provided for laity who are interested in expanding their faith journey and/or developing their skills as leaders.

THIS SCHOOL IS NOT ONLY FOR LAITY WHO DESIRE TO PREACH OR LEAD PUBLIC WORSHIP. Lay speakers throughout the Wyoming Annual Conference, and entire United Methodist connection have historically filled this role in obedience to God’s call on their lives. But God’s call is different to each of His created, and God has given each of us our own special gifts and graces, as the Apostle Paul so often mentioned. Lay Speaking Classes are developed to help individuals pursue their call, whatever it may be –teaching, caring, mission, evangelism, worship or preaching.

Deadline – March 10, 2010

Registration Form

(Deadline – March 10, 2010)

Name: __________________________

Address: ________________________

______________________________

Phone #: _________________

e-mail: _________________________

Local Church/District: _____________

COURSE SELECTION – Choose 1

Basic Lay Speaking* ____

Sharing Your Faith ___

Hymnody ___

Story Telling ___

Lunch will be available at the church each day for $ TBD

Lunch 4/10 ___ Lunch 4/17___

Reservation only for lunch. Money will be collected the days of classes.

Basic students need signature of your pastor and Church Council

Chairperson.

Pastor: _____________________

Chair: _____________________

Pancake Breakfast

Somehow or another, I'm told it started with an intention to "feed the hungry," we've ended up with a tradition of having Pancake Breakfasts during Lent.  Each week a person or couple signs up to be the "coordinators" and they make sure that there are enough volunteers, plenty of food, and the coffee gets started really early!  Others sign up to bring food or volunteers.  As a team, pancakes and french toast, eggs, bacon, and sausage, are made, apple sause and drinks are served, and dishes get washed.  The kitchen is always full of fun, and many people come to enjoy the good food and atmosphere.

This runs from the first Saturday after Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Palm Sunday because, really, we don't want the Sanctuary to smell like pancakes on Easter.  At least we're honest!

Sermon (February 14, 2010)

"Shining" based on  Transfiguration – Exodus 34: 29-35, Luke 9:28-36

Moses comes off the mountain with his face shining. By the narratives in the Bible, Moses is the ONLY one who gets to speak face to face with God (whatever that means). However, the experience of being close to the Divine Presence changed him – physically even. The rest of the people, in fact, couldn't handle it. Being close to Moses when he'd been transformed by being close to God was too much for them. They made him cover his face so he wouldn't freak them out. My guess is that they didn't want to be reminded that profoundly of the mystery and power of God.

Peter, James and John had a similar experience. They were SLEEPING when it started, but were woken to a vision of Jesus shining with God's light, standing between Moses and Elijah. What a way to wake up! And, in addition to seeing the glory of God they also heard God's voice. Which, as the scripture says, terrified them. Peter had been on his understandable kick about “let's memorialize this moment” when the voice spoke with “This is my child, the beloved, listen to him!” Even Peter was stunned into silence.

Its intentional, in the Gospel, to mention that the disciples were sleeping. It is meant both as “sleeping” AND as “failing to be attentive to what God is doing.” The Gospels are often contrasting FULL LIFE with God to spiritual sleep-walking through life without seeing what God is doing. The disciples were, as it all started, not noticing what God was doing, but they woke up to it. And, yes, good job if you noticed it – this stands in contrast to the sleep FILLED night for them in the Garden of Gethsemane. This time they notice. That night they lose the battle.

The battle to stay awake to God's Presence and work in the world is one of the primary challenges of faith life. Just like its easy to forget how nice it is to move around freely until you twist and ankle, or how great it is to have opposable thumbs until one is hurt, or how much you really do love a family member until that person goes away for a week, or how much you have in life until you see a homeless person beg for pennies; its possible to tune out the extraordinary Presence of God.

Bruce Epperly, in the Process and Faith Lectionary for this week says that “the church is called to be a laboratory for spiritual experiences, a place where persons expect God to “show up” in their lives in life-changing ways.”¹ That is, we're not meant to take the experiences of Moses and Jesus as cool moments that show how faithful they are – we're supposed to follow in their footsteps, walk up to the mountaintop and open ourselves to God's presence like they did. And then watch and see what God does with us.

This leads us to some very important questions: where is your mountaintop? I've asked a lot of you that question, and many of you have great answers. I've even gotten to see some of the places. However, some are a bit less accessible at this time of year ;) Let me ask again, for those of you who haven't answered, and for those who know but may need to consider: Where is your mountaintop? That is, where is your holy place? That is, where can you go to let God change you from the inside out? I know of: a fishing pond. A fallen tree by a steam. The garden. Hilltops with views. A quiet place under the hickory trees. But it isn't always about place.

In the book “The Five Love Languages, “ Gary Chapman² suggests that each human being “speaks” one of 5 love languages. That language is the primary way that the person experiences love, and because of it, is the primary way that person tries to express love. His point is that each person in a partnered relationship needs to speak to their loved one in the language of the loved one – not the language they wish to receive in.

The 5 are: Being Present; Acts of Service, Words of Affirmation; Physical Touch; and Giving Gifts. It occurs to me that these are also a key to our Holy Places. For some, it will be place – probably those (like me) who respond most to BEING PRESENT. We just wanna hang out with God. Many of you tell me that you feel most connected to God when you are in service to the church – cleaning the pews or polishing the brass or teaching Sunday School. That should be an ah-ha about what you need to do when you need closeness to God. I suspect that people for whom love is best known in words of affirmation, worship is KEY to connecting to God. Perhaps writing poems to God, or a valentine, or just singing praise songs throughout the week helps. I'm not QUITE sure how those who speak physical touch best seek God, but I have a few guesses – perhaps there is something more positional for you in how you pray – like the vision I used to have lying in a church pew and thinking of myself as lying on God's lap for prayer. Also, perhaps, physical connection with others – a partner or a family member or a friend – or just holding a baby – is the best way to feel God's closeness. Finally, for those who know love through Gifts, perhaps giving your offering, or buying the flowers for the church, or donating to the trustees project, leaving some pens downstairs for the rest of us, or giving to the graduates each year, is important to your connection to God.

The key here is to remember that we aren't all the same, and that connecting to God takes on MANY forms. BUT – you are responsible for finding the ways that work for you and using them! And for finding the time to do so!

Now, my dear brother is the best skier in the family – sorry Mom and Dad. He operates under the theory that if you aren't falling while skiing, you aren't trying hard enough. And, because of that theory I'm convinced, he has pushed himself further and gotten better than I really even dream of. But we actually all keep his rule in mind on the mountains.

This week I stood in a glade at Jay Peak, on top of a mound of snow which was on top of a small tree trunk and looked down the mountain. To get off of that mound of snow was going to require a super tight turn that I was pretty sure I couldn't make that would land me going too fast for the next turn. And, to be honest, there wasn't any better way out of my situation. So, I took a breath (which is ALWAYS a form of prayer), and told myself, “OK. You are going to try this turn. And you are going to fall. And that's OK. You won't get hurt, you'll just fall.”

Now, before you think I'm being arrogant, I'll let you know that I had plenty of falls this week, and I have a bruise on the INSIDE of my upper arm from one of them to prove it. But, after that little pep talk to myself, I planted my pole, and took the turn. And I got it around without a problem and continued down the rest of the trail without a fall.

The fear of falling had stopped me in my tracks, but once I remembered that it wasn't such a bad thing if I did, I could continue on. And once I wasn't afraid of the fall, I didn't even have to do it – I was more able than I knew! Seek God with a willingness to risk – a willingness to fall! Because you never know when you'll be surprised at how close God is and how willing God is to shine through you!

It is scary to be face to face with God. And its hard to even seek God because closeness to God also brings you face to face with yourself. Those are the risks.

Knowing them, are you willing to risk to get closer to God?

That is, are you willing to really see yourself, and the world, and deep truth? Are you willing to take a class (Death and Resurrection) and see where it takes you? Are you willing to give up some time in service? Are you willing to come talk to me about forms of prayer that may get you out of a rut? Or to ask someone to be your prayer partner? Or to give more to Haiti because God's heart is broken with the people's pain? It won't hurt, at least not in the long run, but it will change you!! Are you willing to try new ways, seek old ways that worked, look for God in all you do?

And then, if you go to a holy place and find the time to tune in to God, are you open to the changes that may come? How might prayer move you to act in the world? How might more God in your being make you more loving, and thus worried for others? How does your spirituality impact your living?

Here we end– with the questions to answer, with the knowledge that God DOES change people into Shining out with love, and with the affirmation that you have to be willing to fall to move forward sometimes – ESPECIALLY in spiritual life. May you find space, time, and willingness to risk.

Amen

1Bruce G. Epperly, "February 14, 2010 
6th Sunday after Epiphany
 Transfiguration Sunday" http://www.processandfaith.org/lectionary/YearC/2009-2010/2010-02-14.shtml, accessed on 2/13/210

2Gary Chapman, Five Languages of Love. (Northfield Publishing, 1995).

Announcements, February 7, 2010

Sign ups: cleaning the church, Hour with Sara, Fellowship, and the Lent Booklets!


Our youth group is going to New Hampshire from July 4-10, and you are invited to be in mission with us. Talk to Sara for more information!


Adult studies (in Lent): Death and Resurrection! Starting Feb. 23rd.


Mark your calendars for the Ash Wednesday service this year at 7 PM on Feb. 17th. Start the season of Lent with a time to remember and let go!

Tuesdays in Lent: A Lent Communion Worship Service.


On March 21st we'll have Turkey and Biscuit for lunch, a talent show, and a chinese auction! (All after worship) Its time to get talents ready and auction items considered!

Pastor Sara is going skiing! If you need a pastor, please call Rev. Allyson Ellis of the New Berlin UMC at 847-6350. Sara will be back for Sunday worship.

We are still looking for people to be coordinators for the Pancake Breakfasts - sign-up sheets are in the Narthex.  If you have questions or need more information, please talk with Elaine M. or Elaine F. after Church.  (Saturday mornings in Lent)

We are looking for a group of people to work on creating a Community Meal at our church.  Talk to Pastor Sara or Mike Virgil if you have interest.

Sermon (February 7, 2010)

“Here We Are – For Better or Worse”
Isaiah 6:1-8 and Luke 5:1-11


Our readings this week are both call stories. Which is church language for “a story in which God calls on someone, and that person's life is changed by responding.” These stories are particularly important, because they speak to us about how God has been heard in the past – which is meant to inform us about how God may be heard in the present.

God uses a lot of means of communication, and with all the ones in the Bible -and some of them are WEIRD – they're still just a small set of examples of God's work. We still learn a lot from them though.

Isaiah's call, by our best guess, happened when he was in worship at the Temple. He has a vision of God sitting on a throne, and the hem of the robe of the Lord is so big that it fills the whole Temple. A fabulous point here: God sometimes speaks during worship! Further, God speaks sometimes to just one of the people who are present, and in a unique way, and not always from the worship itself. This vision was Isaiah's alone. God spoke while Isaiah was present and seeking God, but others who were doing the same were not called that day.

A second point: it appears that experiences of God are awe-striking. Pretty much everyone in the Bible, when they get close to the Divine One, responds “AHHHHHHHH!!!! I'm not Good Enough!” Isaiah is no different. He responds that he is unclean. EVEN THOUGH he would have cleaned himself in order to enter the Temple. God's response, however, is to symbolically remove objections. The uncleanness is made clean. Isaiah doesn't get out of the work. And, once God has acted to both call and remove the barriers, THEN Isaiah speaks the words “Here I am, send me.” I rather like it that God does all the acting! We often sing the hymn, but its good to notice that Isaiah speaks his faith and his willingness – AFTER God has prepared him. We don't have to be ready for what hasn't happened yet, and we will be prepared for what we are asked to do. God isn't calling everyone to the same work, or at the same time, or even at the same rate. BUT, God is faithful to prepare us. Phew – that's some pressure off!

Peter's experience is VERY similar to Isaiah's. At first there is just frustration, then Jesus comes and there is a sign of God's power and goodness. Then, when Peter is overwhelmed by God's closeness, Peter also responds with his unworthiness, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" And the response is still the same as well. “Do not be afraid.” We humans apparently need to hear that a lot! But then, as well, the sinfulness is not a barrier. Jesus changes Peter's life by calling on him to leave the fish and seek out people. Its rather amusing really: The fisherman can't get any fish, so Jesus has him pull in a HUGE catch as a way to tell him that his fishing days are over. God's sense of humor, as per usual.

These call stories are profound, the men who experienced them had radically different lives afterward. Isaiah became a prophet – going around sharing God's desire for justice with the people as a full time “job.” Peter left all that he knew and followed Jesus. His house, his friends, his family, his profession, his possessions – they all stayed behind.

I suspect, although the Gospels don't mention it, that as hard as that seems, it was really a blessing for Peter. He was totally free! A fisherman who fished all night without a catch would be worrying about having enough for the family and for the market – worried about well being for that day and that week. But those worries were left behind. The care for the nets (which occupied a lot of the land time of fisherman) and the stability of the boat, and …. all the work that has to be done to maintain possessions got left behind as well.

I think about it sometimes. My car, which serves me so well to get me from one place to another, also has its own hold on me. I pay its insurance bill, and for gas, and maintenance. I always have thoughts in the back of my head about when I'll need to get gas, when it next needs an oil change, “was that a weird noise?”, and a mild fear that I'll get a flat. I've gotten a lot of inconvenient flats. That is, m car occupies a bit of worry and organizational space in my mind as well as taking some of my income to maintain. To be honest, all my possessions do! This may be more relevant to some people than others, but, for example, a new shirt can be pretty fun. But has it ever happened that a new shirt doesn't quite match any of your pants? And then you buy new pants? And then the pants are too long and you need other shoes? And then the shoes are perfect, but you need.....

Each possession comes with its own demands. I'm done harping on it, but I notice that Peter in leaving it all behind and following Jesus might well have been very blessed to walk away from having possessions. He isn't the only one who followed God that way, and he isn't the only one to be blessed by it. I will note that we we might all be happier if we had less things tying us down, but most of us are probably still not called to give it all away – at least not yet! Apparently, if God is going to ask that, God will at least prepare us and respond to our objections first!

In any case, God is calling people. The calls are to different things and in different ways, but they're around. I hope you'll be open to noticing when they happen in your life. Moreso, I hope you'll let go of any fear you have of what God might ask. It is true that God isn't afraid to ask beyond what we deem reasonable or easy, but its also true that God will prepare us for what we're asked to do. So there is no need to be afraid, and probably the only barrier to your call is your fear that keeps God away.

Like Peter was blessed to walk away from all he knew, and like that's really a very strange form of blessing, may God ask of you what is best for you – and may you be open to respond.

Amen