Light of Heavenly Life Divine

Light of heavenly life divine,

Cause thy light in me to shine

Breathe and give a pure desire,

Let my soul to thee aspire.

Now renew and sanctify,

Let all sin within me die;

Let thy image now be given,

Make me pure, and meet for heaven.

This hymn is part of a collection put together by Enoch Mudge, the first native New Englander to become a Methodist preacher.   Mudge was part of the congregation from Lynn, Massachusetts who formed the first Methodist congregation in this state when Jesse Lee came to preach.  He served on several circuits and composed the verses of the American Camp Meeting Hymn Book which he published in 1818, the same year that the first class meeting was formed here in South Walpole.  Later Mudge spent much of his ministry in New Bedford where he was the first Methodist preacher appointed to serve the new Seamen's Bethel there.

I was excited to find this little hymn, so suitable for Advent and Christmas, while looking through these hymns for my dissertation.  We will sing it in South Walpole on Christmas Eve to the tune CANTERBURY. 

Here are two more from the same source meant for this season.

Birth of the Saviour

My soul and voice awake and sing,

And shout the Saviour’s praise;

Come, celebrate thy Lord and King, In pure seraphic lays.

The rapture which my soul inspires,

Inspir’d th’ angelic throng;

My soul would emulate their fires,

And now renew the song

Glory to God, the angels sang,

Glory to God, I sing

Good-will o’er earth’s dominions rang;

The echoing heavens did ring.

Peace, joy, and love, swell’d in their strains’

My soul responding cries,

“Peace, joy and love, my soul inflames,

O, shout it through the skies.

“The Savior’s born, O earth, give ear

Receive the royal guest;

I have receiv’d my Saviour dear,

And am completely blest.

Hail! O my heavenly Prophet, hail’

Teach me thy Father’s will;

Hail! Great High-Priest, thy blood avils

For guilty sinners still.

“Hail! Conqu’ring Lord, my sov’reign King

Immortal honour’s thine;

Inspire my soul, that I may sing

Thy praise in songs divine.”

Jesus comes as was foretold

Comes to do his work of grace;

Now the prophecies unfold,

Here he shows his lovely face.

Shout him welcome, now he’s come,

Every heart prepare his way;

Make our hearts thy humble home;

In thine earthly temples stay.
 May we all, like Enoch Mudge, be "completely blest" as we receive the Savior anew this season.

The Power of Communal Prayer - Readfield ME Camp meeting in 1826

A praying circle was formed, to which those who believed in the power of prayer, together with such as were penitent for sin, resorted. Effectual, fervent prayers were poured forth from the souls of the devoted men of God [aka clergy], accompanied by the responses and ejaculations of the pious multitude, and the long drawn sigh, and humble prayer of those burdened with the load of sin. 

All this was not unavailing.  The Saviour came in mighty power, and displayed the glory of his grace in the midst, until shouts of victory and songs of redeeming love burst forth from the happy bosoms of all who had come forward as penitent mourners.  The battle was fought, a complete victory gained, and we retired to our tents, triumphing in the Lord.

Told at a Love Feast at the Glastonbury, CT Camp Meeting of 1844

"Father Burrows, a veteran local preacher, said he had been a Methodist more than fifty years, and adverted to the time when the New England Conference embracing almost all the country east of the Hudson, met in his own chamber in New London. It then comprised only twenty-eight preachers, less by a dozen than were present that morning, and probably more Methodists had gathered at this single love-feast than were some forty years ago in all New England. 'What hath been brought nigh: and those which were no people, have become a great and mighty.' Glory be to God!"  What God did once, God can do again.  Amen.

THE PREACHING THAT PROMOTES REVIVALS

Taken from the Zion's Herald November 2, 1871

            At our recent camp-meeting, there has been a forward movement all along the lines. Christians are longing for higher experiences of grace, and panting to be led to new fields of active labor for God.  The unconverted are thoughtful, serious, and almost persuaded to be Christians. Pastors cannot be too prompt or too earnest in following up these advantages. A rousing sermon, a special service for inquirers after pardon or purity, or even a series of meetings, may be vastly more useful now than at any future time. If not just yet, the best opportunity will come soon, and the wise minister will eagerly watch for it, and faithfully improve it.

            An important part of the preparation for such opportunities is a supply of sermons specially adapted to promote a revival. Admitting that the object of every sermon is to build up men in holiness, and save souls, there are discourses able and appropriate to ordinary occasions which would not particularly help forward a revival.

            Many imagine that an off-hand talk of thirty or forty minutes is all that is needed in a time of revival. He who carries such a theory into practice will probably see the interest in his meeting declining when he most desires it to increase. The sermons that have been most successful in winning souls have been carefully prepared. They may not have been models of elaboration or literary excellence, but they have cost thought and prayer and even tears in their preparation. One of the most valuable chapters in the published works of that veteran revivalist, now laid aside, James Caughey, is the account of his manner of preparing the discourses that have turned thousands to God.  Each point was carefully studied, and every part, from the text to the illustration, was made the subject of thorough and prayerful preparation. He records, that at one time he seemed to be carried far beyond himself in several sermons hastily thrown together. The result was that for a few days he neglected preparation, and by so doing well-nigh lost a battle.

            One secret of the remarkable success of such laborers, is, that, besides using sermons over and over again, they give their whole time between services to mental and spiritual preparation for the pulpit, while pastor have much to do outside in visiting inquirers, etc. Such intercourse with those upon whom the Spirit is moving, would give the pastor a great advantage if he could transfer the fresh facts and illustrations and spiritual glow thus gained to sermons already made, at least in outline. But if, in addition to his outdoor work, he must be daily getting up new sermons, either the sermons, or the pastoral work, or his health, probably all three, must suffer.

            To lay down rules, or point to models of the style of preaching needed, would but trammel the thoughtful minister. Yet there are a few characteristics of all successful efforts of this kind which cannot be too carefully kept in mind by him who would equip himself for such a conflict with the hosts of sin.

            Simplicity is one of these. At a time of religious interest, people are not in a mood to follow long lines of argument, or to appreciate displays of rhetoric. And their souls are hanging in the balances. Each sermon may decide the destiny of some of these. The minister’s business is so to present the great truths of the Gospel, that the humblest mind can see them, and feel their power. And this is not hard to him who makes the Great Teacher his model.

            Directness is not less important. The most effective revival sermons have but a single point, and hold the attention to that until the intellect is convinced, the conscience roused, the heart moved, and the will brought to immediate action. If this can be done in fifteen minutes, all the better. There will be the more time for prayer and the work of the laity.

            Earnestness is, if possible, of still greater moment; not rant, but that intensity of interest which affects the whole man, and impresses all who hear. But it must be the earnestness of love, not of anger.  Christians cannot be scolded into holiness or activity, nor can sinners be driving to the cross.  Nothing will more certainly stop a revival, than the impression that a minister is vexed because people do not seek religion.

            Faith is essential. Not a mere assent to the truths uttered, however cordial, but a conviction that the word is a message from God, and an expectation that he will make it effective. Here is the secret of many failures. “The sermon is the end, not the means.” We do not look for results, and of course do not see them.

            But that which after all is indispensable in revival preaching, is the “unction of the Holy One.” To quote from one of the Methodist fathers, all this scriptural and rational preaching will be of no avail unless another means of God’s own choosing be superadded to give it effect, the light and influence of the Holy Spirit.  This Spirit of live and fire penetrates in a moment the sinner’s heart, drags out to the view of his conscience those innumerable crimes which lie concealed under successive layers of deep and thick darkness, when under that luminous, burning agency he is compelled to cry out, “God have mercy upon me a sinner.” These words of Dr. Adam Clarke stirred the heart of the youthful Caughey[1] and led him to seek earnestly, believingly, constantly for the direct influences of the Spirit to attend every sermon. The result is in a life of wonderful usefulness. May the same Spirit fill the hearts and sermons of all ministers now. Then, above the strife of tongues in this time of political excitement, will be heard the cry, “What must I do to be saved?” and the shouts of multitudes redeemed.

---

[1] Representative was the revivalism of Rev. James Caughey, an American missionary sent by the Wesleyan Methodist Church to work in Ontario, Canada from the 1840s through 1864. He brought in the converts by the score, most notably in the revivals in Canada West 1851-53. His technique combined restrained emotionalism with a clear call for personal commitment, coupled with follow-up action to organize support from converts. It was a time when the Holiness Movement caught fire, with the revitalized interest of men and women in Christian perfection. Caughey successfully bridged the gap between the style of earlier camp meetings and the needs of more sophisticated Methodist congregations in the emerging cities. Peter Bush, "The Reverend James Caughey and Wesleyan Methodist Revivalism in Canada West, 1851-1856," Ontario History, Sept 1987, Vol. 79 Issue 3, pp 231-250

Just Do It!

2 Kings 5:1-14

July 7, 2013

I took the girls to the pool the other day and there were some other moms at the shallow end talking.  I didn’t know any of them, but after overhearing some snippets of conversation, and seeing a last name on the bottom of several pool toys I think I figured out that one of the moms has been in e-mail communication with me related to some church/community business.  Part of me thought, “I should introduce myself,” letting her know that I’m the one she’s been communicating with.  But I have to confess I held back, using the girls as my focus of attention.  You see, so many times when I’ve been in social situations outside of the church things get really awkward when people learn I’m a pastor.  It happened 15 years ago at the 4^th of July block party in my neighborhood in Lynn, it happened when I was single and was going to contra dances, it’s happened at the hair dresser here in town.  I’ve never been that good at entering new social situations, even just as Sarah.  But when I come into secular situations as Pastor Sarah, people have all kinds of strange reactions to me.  So at the pool, at book time in the library I’m often choose to stay reserved than to introduce myself and risk the awkwardness when someone new learns I’m a pastor.

Socially, that might be ok.  My excuses are understandable.  But spiritually, from the point of view that I’m a follower of Jesus Christ who has told me to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world it’s really just a cop-out.  It is spiritually disobedient.  When I pray about it, I know this is true.  If I stopped to check-in with Jesus while I’m at the pool hesitant about introducing myself he would be telling me, “Just do it!”

            Most of us like to think of ourselves as good people, we try not to hurt anybody, we try to be loving and give of our time and our money for the good of others.  Yet when we are really truly honest with ourselves and with God, we make a lot of excuses when it comes to living out a full life as a follower of Jesus Christ. 

One of the commandments for the people of God is to honor the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.  That means that one out of every seven days should be set apart, for community worship, and for rest.  No work, no major housework, no mowing the lawn, no shopping.  Take time to hike in the park or climb a mountain with family or friends, paddle a canoe, listen to some lovely music, or make it yourself, read a novel, dance, linger in the candlelight after dinner engaged in great conversation with people you love.  And the practice of weekly worship doesn’t need to be broken when we go on vacation.  That’s a perfect opportunity to meet brothers and sisters in Christ in the place you are visiting, try a totally different denomination, see how they do it differently, receive unexpected blessings. When it comes to keeping a Sabbath we have a lot of excuses, but Jesus says, “Just do it.”

            Another faith practice that some people avoid is communion.  On the night before he died Jesus told his disciples, “Take, eat…take drink…do this in remembrance of me.” But taking communion regularly has been a problem through the ages because there is a passage of scripture that warns against taking communion wrongly.  In the middle ages many people who knew they were sinning and unrepentant would not take communion, often waiting until the very end of their life to make one grand confession and receive the sacrament just before death.  Some of John Wesley’s friends believed that one needed to feel the love and forgiveness of God in their hearts before they could rightly take communion.  In the years that the United Methodist Church has changed our practice from quarterly communion, to monthly communion it has become obvious that some people avoid coming to worship on communion Sundays.  Again there are lots of excuses, from the extra time it takes, to feelings of unworthiness, to discomfort with the whole idea of eating Jesus’ body and drinking his blood.  When it comes to receiving communion we have a lot of excuses, but Jesus says, “Just do it.”

            Then there is the matter of sharing our faith with others.  Jesus said to his followers, “Go into all the world and make disciples.” He told parables which encouraged us to be light to the world, yeast in the dough, to have an unmistakable flavor like salt. It’s not just hard for people who have pastor in their name, it’s hard for all of us.  Some Christians have created a public image that makes us all look bad.  The church’s official stance on many issues is out of sync with the culture around us. It can take a lot of work to explain to someone who asks that our church isn’t like that; the Jesus I love isn’t like that. It’s just easier to go about our business without letting others know we belong to Jesus.  It’s easier to quietly pray for our co-workers who have troubles, than to offer to pray with them.  And as for actually inviting our friends and acquaintances to come to church with us – we tell ourselves, uh-uh – no way; even though personal invitation is the proven most effective way to help any church to grow in numbers.  When it comes to fully sharing the love of Christ with our neighbors we have a lot of excuses, but Jesus says, “Just do it.”

Maybe one of the very hardest spiritual practices of the Christian life is Jesus’ command to love our enemies.  In the very early years of the church this, plus the commandment not to kill led most Christian communities to expect soldiers to give up their work when they converted.  But loving enemies is very spiritually challenging in a world that loves to vilify people.  We like comic books and movies about superheroes who smite the enemy and save the day.  We want to root for the good guys and we love to hate the bad guys.  Sometimes the idea seems attractive from a distance, but when we are actually feeling threatened by an enemy – whoa!  Just remember the public outcry in our state at the thought of burying Tamerlan Tzarnaev.  He and his brother hurt our city and gave us a dreadful fright that lasted most of a week.  The vast majority didn’t even want his body buried, let alone pray in Christian love that his soul will rest in peace. When it comes to loving our enemies we have a lot of excuses, but Jesus says, “Just do it.”

            These kinds of excuses go back to creation and you can see them all through the Bible.  The story we have for today includes some people who were obedient and faithful, and others who were more prone to making excuses.  The story takes place in the time when the Kingdom built up by David was under attack. The Jewish kings were not so faithful, prophets like Elijah and Elisha were living on the edges of society, trying to bring the people back to faithfulness, but having little success. The enemy was capturing people and making them live in exile.  Naaman was a commander of an enemy army of the land of Aram.  He had beaten the army of Israel and he brought home a young girl from Israel and gave her to his wife as a slave.  We learn that Naaman had a chronic illness, a skin disease.  Now to the world this girl had every reason in the world to consider Naaman her enemy, to do as little work as possible for his family, to be angry and bitter that she was being held captive.  And of all the excuses for not sharing the love of God with someone, being that persons’ slave is on the top of the list.  But this girl just did the will of God.  She saw Naaman suffering and she had compassion on him, saying to Naaman’s wife, “Oh, if only my master could meet the prophet of Samairia, he would be healed.”  In this simple statement she shared the love of God with her enemy.

            Naaman was excited, and knowing that some diplomacy would be required for him to go behind enemy lines in search of the prophet, he turned to his king for a formal letter of introduction.  And just for good measure he brought along some extravagant gifts.  750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold and ten sets of designer clothing.

Naaman’s king assumed that the prophet would be famous and employed in the royal court of Israel, so his letter simply asked the king to heal Naaman of his skin disease.  But the King of Israel was not so faithful, and clearly didn’t even know that Elisha existed, or that there were any prophets still in Israel.  Instead, being rather self-centered, the king assumes that the enemy king is making an impossible request. Perhaps it was a scheme.  Failure to comply could provide an excuse for another raid.  Israel’s king was not prone to showing compassion for Naaman’s skin disease because he thought of Naaman firstly as an enemy.  If it were up to the king of Israel the will of God that Naaman be healed would have been blocked.

But the news of this tense diplomatic meeting made its way to Elisha – who knew right away that Naaman was really looking for him, as God’s prophet.  Elisha sends word to the palace that there is a prophet in Israel and the king should send Naaman to him.

            No Naaman was excited. He had suffered for so long and gone to such lengths to find healing.  His expectations were high.  This prophet would treat him as an international guest of honor, perform a very fancy mystical ritual and cure him.  So when he got to Elisha’s house, and the prophet neither came out, or invite Naaman in, but sent a messenger telling Naaman to simply duck under the Jordan River seven times Naaman was indignant.  What, he won’t even meet me personally!  Wash in that dinky little dirty river when we have two much nicer rivers back home in Damasus!  Naaman stomped off, mad as a hornet.

            But the voice of God came to Naaman, through his servants.  “Just do it.”  You came all this way, made all this effort to be healed.  If the prophet had asked you to do something hard you would have.  So just do it.  Just go and wash in the river over there.  So Naaman swallowed his pride, went down to the river and did as the prophet of God instructed.  He washed in the Jordan seven times and he was healed, his skin was smooth and good as new.  As a result of his healing, Naaman was also converted, proclaiming that there is no other god in all the earth except in Israel. And just so he would remember to worship the God of Israel when he got back home, he brought along a load of dirt from Israel, so he could stand on earth from Israel as he prayed to the God of Israel.

            God’s word for us today is “Just do it.”  Whatever spiritual practices you have heard about but haven’t tried yet, whatever commandments no matter how hard.  Don’t make excuses.  Just do it.  Just keep the Sabbath, try setting aside the whole day and doing only holy things, worship, enjoying God’s creation, enjoying the special people God has put in your life and resting.  No excuses, just do it. When your friends and neighbors are in need of healing and strength tell them about Jesus and pray with them.  No excuses, just do it. When you are talking with someone and they let you know they don’t have a faith community tell them about ours and all the blessings we receive from coming together as the Body of Christ.  No excuses, just do it. When you find an enemy before you – an annoying person at work, a driver who cut you off, a family member who did something that feels unforgivable, a Yankees fan. Love them.  Pray for them.  Ask for God to do far more than you can ask or imagine to turn this enemy into a beloved brother or sister in Christ.  No excuses, just do it!  Take communion as often as you can.  Don’t feel you need to be right with God, or need to understand it better before you come.  John Wesley was clear that the sacrament of communion is a sure and certain means of receiving God’s grace.  Receiving communion can help us get right with God. His brother Charles put it this way, “Do not begin to make excuse; ah! Do not you God’s grace refuse; your worldly cares and pleasures leave, and take what Jesus hath to give.  Come sinners, to the gospel feast, let every soul be Jesus’ guest. Ye need not one be left behind, for God hath bid all humankind.  No excuses, just do it. 

            I do need to make two thing clear here.  First, these spiritual practices are not magic. They are not things we do so that we can get God to do our will.  It’s not as if a person who carefully observes the Sabbath every week will be protected from all bad things that could happen. We know from experience the world doesn’t work that way. But these practices, these commandments of God are, instead, aspects of God’s will for our lives.  They are like the instruction manual that comes with a VCR. When we follow the manufacturer’s instructions things just work better. When we do what God asks of us our lives, and the lives of those around us open to more of God’s blessings.

            Second, God’s work of salvation is not dependant on whether we are faithful and obedient.  As we can see with the story of Elisha and Naaman God can work with us, or in spite of us.  God worked with the slave girl in Naaman’s house. God worked in spite of the King of Israel who had little interest or knowledge of God’s prophets.  God will keep on saving the world from sin no matter what we do.  But what a blessing, what a privilege, what a joy to be able to participate in the unfolding of God’s will being done here on earth as it is in heaven.  This is the exciting part of being in ministry, of being part of a church who together as the Body of Christ is serving the world.  This is when “Just do it” turns from a command, to a cheer.  Jesus Christ is offering you and me the opportunity to be instruments of salvation, and has given us specific practices and spiritual disciplines to use in that goal.  So what are we waiting for?  Let’s do it!

It's Your Turn to Wear the Mantel

2 Kings 2:1-14
June 30, 2013

Gregory Harrison.  In the three years I’ve been here he has shown up in several sermons.  He was the pastor of Wesley UMC in Amherst for five and a half years when I was a student and took my first jobs.  But my connection to Gregory goes further back because he also went to the Christian family camp I’ve been going to since I was five, a Camp Farthest Out that meets on the shores of Lake Winnipesauki.  Winni for short.

            In the early years of camp I encountered him mostly at the table of the Dalgaard family.  They always sat at the same table in the back corner.  I was friends with Elvi and her sister Lisa, Gregory was Elvi’s godfather and had grown up going to Winni with Elvi’s dad John and aunt Lisbeth.  At mealtime, if I wasn’t sitting with my grandparents, you could probably find me at the Dalgaard’s table – and Gregory was often there as well.

            Gregory usually lead the high school and young adult groups at Winni, so when I got older I became even more familiar with him.  He had a great sense of humor, taking part in the funniest side-splitting acts at Stunt Night. I heard Gregory give morning meditations and talks and learned that like many adults at Winni, Gregory was a person who knew how to pray in a way to get answers from God.

I learned he was the youth pastor at Wesley UMC, in Worcester and there were a large number of campers from the church who had started coming to Winni because of his invitation.  Gregory also invited some teen-aged boys, a group Gregory affectionately called his “cubs” to camp.  Gregory was a single man with no children of his own. But he swam at the YMCA and met some of the young lifeguards.  They were generally good kids, but a bit rough and on the verge of getting themselves into trouble.  Gregory would start by inviting them to breakfast, and then to youth group activities like mountain climbing and apple picking, and teaching them to pray.  And Gregory brought his cubs to Winni.  By the time I was in high school Gregory’s oldest cub, David, was going to Yale Divinity School with his fiancé, Gina. The two of them were my prayer group leaders one year when I was in high school, and they led the evening program for the high school kids for several years.

 The year I started college and began attending Wesley UMC in Amherst Gregory was still in Worcester, but at the end of that year the pastor in Amherst retired.  When I heard the news that Gregory had been chosen to take that charge I was ecstatic. It truly felt like divine providence guiding my path and my expectations for all that Gregory could do with this wonderful church were high.  And for myself I assumed that I would soon become a cub too and Gregory would give me advanced instruction on prayer.

I could talk about the years when Gregory was my pastor all day, but for this sermon I need to jump quickly to the end of his ministry five and a half years later. This was the weekend when Gregory was dying of cancer.  Lisbeth Dalgaard, his cub David, two other Winni friends, and I were joined with five members of his family to keep vigil in the parsonage while Hospice helped us tend to him.  It was a powerful, life changing time for me.  But when I went into Gregory’s room for the last time alone and tried to say goodbye I discovered that I was so very angry with him.  I was realizing that he had fallen so short of the expectations I had of him.  The Gregory who was pastor of the church seemed to be a very different person than the Gregory I knew at Winni.  He was formal, standoffish, uptight and could easily get his feelings hurt.  He never adopted me as a cub, and one time when I was out of college and struggling to find my way in the world, the only time I went to his office for pastoral care, he didn’t console or pray with me, he scolded me.  I was angry that he was dying before he had gotten around to passing on his spiritual gifts to me. So, clinging to my faith in eternal life in Christ, I was honest with Gregory.  I told him I was too angry right now. I would say “I love you” later.

            Have you ever had anyone in your life who seemed close to God; someone who had wisdom, inner peace, the light of Christ shining from their eyes?  Have you ever wished that they could share that with you – that you could gain even a portion of what they had?

This desire is at the heart of today’s scripture lesson from Second Kings. It is our last story about Elijah for this season, the mighty prophet of God whose prayers could cause God’s spirit to set a soaking wet altar aflame, provide an everlasting supply of food during a famine and who had the awesome experience of encountering God as a still small voice – sheer silence. Right after that encounter God told Elijah to find and anoint Elisha as the prophet to take his place.  Elijah found Elisha plowing a field, and without a word threw his prophet’s cloak, his mantel over Elisha’s shoulders.  Elisha got the message, left his parents and his work and became Elijah’s cub, an apprentice prophet. You can find that story back in 1^st Kings chapter 19.

Today’s passage in 2^nd Kings chapter 2 finds us at the end of Elijah’s life.  Like Gregory, it seems Elijah’s life was brought to an abrupt end, sooner than expected.  Elisha had a sense of what was to come, and didn’t want to miss anything.  Though Elijah invites him to go on his way three times Elisha refused to leave him.  They travel through some holy land.  From Gilgal to Bethel, where years ago their ancestor Jacob had a vision of angels going up and down a ladder to heaven. From Bethel to Jericho, where Joshua’s army blew their trumpets and the walls of the city at the entrance to the Promised Land came tumbling down.  From Jericho to the Jordan River which parted like the Red sea as the Israelites crossed over on dry land.  When they got to the Sea Elisha rolled up his mantel like Moses’ Rod, struck the river and again the waters parted and the master prophet and his apprentice crossed over into the land where Moses had died.

When they were there Elijah asked Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.”  What should Elisha ask for?  Eloquence, a quick mind, last minute instructions about how to carry on as a prophet?  Claiming his place as Elijah’s heir he asked for what all firstborn heirs got in those days – a double portion – twice as much as the other heirs.  But not a double portion of money, or property.  Elisha asks for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.  Eugene Peterson translates the Hebrew, “Your life repeated in my life.  I want to be a holy man just like you.” Elijah’s reply is important for us to hear. “that’s a hard one, you have asked a hard thing.”  Elisha’s request was not something Elijah could give on his own.  For only the Lord can make us holy. Only the Lord can give us the spiritual gifts that attract us to wise people who have inner peace, a twinkle in their eyes, deep wisdom and joy.  Elijah couldn’t make a sure and fast promise.  But he did use his gift of prophecy to assure his cub. “If you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you.”

Sure enough, just after he spoke these words, the two men saw the chariot of fire swinging low to take Elijah home to heaven on a whirlwind.  Elisha saw the whole thing, and as he was watching Elijah’s mantel fell to the ground.  When Elijah sailed out of view like a rocket ship ascending to heaven, Elisha’s grief began.  He tore his clothes in mourning, and then picked up his mentor’s mantel, used it to part the Jordan river again and return to his work, no longer an apprentice, but a full prophet of the Lord.

            In the days and weeks and months after Gregory’s death I had a lot of time to reflect on the time I had spent with him.  It fell to me, as the one closest to Gregory and living near-by, to sort through his worldly possessions in the parsonage.  Gregory died in January so we had several months to get it ready for a new pastor in July.  In a way I had never expected I had taken the roll of the daughter he’d never had.  And it gave me an opportunity to reflect on his whole life as I came across letters, diaries, photographs and books.  With the help of friends I began to process all the years that he had been my pastor, to move beyond looking at expectations he had not met, to seeing what God had been doing in and through our relationship together.  Eventually I came to see and accept many gifts that I hadn’t noticed when I had only been looking for what I thought I wanted.  Also in these months my own call to ordained ministry became much clearer – enough so that I began visiting seminaries and taking the first steps in my church on the path to ordination. When I met with members of the District Committee on Ordained Ministry for the first time the members questioned my motivation in relation to Gregory, wondering whether I was somehow trying to fulfill his dying wish rather than answer my genuine call.  I assured them that Gregory had never once suggested that I should become a pastor, and that though my time with him had shaped my understanding of my call – the call properly came from God.  Five and a half years after Gregory died, fifteen years ago now, with help from many other mentors and spiritual guides I took on this mantel, the stole symbolic of ordained ministry.

            Over all this time I have continued to reflect on the mantel of faith Gregory left to me.  Though the Gregory who came to our church in Amherst was very uptight at first, over time he did melt, soften, become more playful, more approachable able to love and be loved by the church.  He started to let his humor show, and he started sharing the remarkable stories of answered prayer that he’d experienced through CFO.  Gregory also helped the church learn to pray and hear God’s answer.  He started a weekly prayer group at the church and the number one prayer each week was for families with children – as we only had a handful of teens when he first came.  Not long after they started praying one family appeared and were warmly welcomed, and they brought their friends, and then more and more came until we had a respectable Sunday School and a children’s choir.  Gregory may not have adopted me as a cub, but he use the times when he took me back to campus after church events to share bits of his prayer life and wisdom with me.  He also attracted a large number of Winni friends who visited on Sundays and we’d all go out to brunch after worship.  When I graduated and decided to stay in the Pioneer Valley, Gregory encouraged me to transfer my church membership to Wesley, invited me to serve as the secretary to the Church Council, serve on the town-wide Martin Luther King celebration committee, become a member of the lay leadership committee and to represent the church at cluster meetings where I met other pastors, several of whom were on the District Committee for Ordination. I have come to see Gregory’s mistakes as important lessons about what not to do as a pastor! Gregory was paving the way for me to grow in church leadership and I hadn’t even seen it happening.  I also had several opportunities to travel to Montreal to visit the Dalgaard family with Gregory.  The first trip was to attend Lisa’s wedding, while Gregory served as one of the ministers.  I spent the night of the rehearsal dinner with aunt Lisbeth preparing food for the reception and which was the beginning of my special relationship to her, one of my spiritual mothers.  Last Saturday I was back in Montreal for Lisa Dalgaard’s wedding.  Her sister Elvi was consciously filling in for their father, John who died 12 years ago.  And I was standing in my robe and stole at the front of the aisle, as Gregory had done for Lisa at her first wedding.  I was wearing Gregory’s mantel with thanksgiving.

            But of greatest importance, I feel, was what I learned about the art of passing mantels – sharing spiritual power.  While at first I could only imagine that God put Gregory and me together so that I could receive what he had to offer me, after Gregory’s death as I reflected on our years together I realized that I had only seen half of God’s plan.  The Lord knew that I had spiritual gifts that Gregory needed to grow in faith and love as a follower of Jesus Christ and as a pastor.  Though as I child I had believed that all the people at Winni were angels and spiritual giants I came to see that something about camp made us live as our best, healthiest and holiest selves.  And the real work was taking those selves back into our everyday lives.  As I got to know Gregory I began to understand the wounds of his life, wounds that caused him to put up walls of formality, wounds that allowed his feelings to be easily hurt, fears that were keeping him from sharing his highest and best self with his congregation.  In those first months of his appointment the congregation was dismayed at this person who was now their pastor.  In the midst of one painful conflict they started turning to me, the person who had known him the best and loved him the most – seeking understanding of Gregory’s behavior with the hope of getting to a better place with him.  Gregory, a grad of Harvard and Harvard Divinity School mistakenly thought that the residents of a college town like Amherst expected sermons full of complex theology.  In the first year we would strain our brains each week trying to make sense of what he was telling us.  When he asked me for feedback I replied, “Tell some stories!”  “I can’t,” he said, “I’m a single person, pastors usually tell stories about their families.  I don’t have one.”  “What are you talking about?” I replied.  You’ve got a great big family called Winni CFO.  After that his sermons were much better.

            Again I could go on and on.  My point is twofold.  First spiritual power, spiritual gifts were not Gregory’s to give.  They were gifts from God. And Gregory was not the only person with gifts to give.  God used my presence in Gregory’s church to encourage, even expect him to pick up and daily wear the full mantel of God’s grace, love, joy and peace that had been passed on to him.

            We started out this morning singing Freely, Freely.  In Jesus’ name I came to you to share his love as he told me to.  We are all wearing mantles of spiritual power, created by God, passed on by others who love and follow Jesus Christ.  We to do two things with these mantels.  First we are to discern that they have been gifted to us, passed on by the communion of saints who have dropped them at our feet. God calls us to pick them up, put them on and wear them with grace.  Second, no matter how long or short you have been wearing your mantel of God’s spiritual power, you are called to share it with the people God puts in your path.

            The mantel is the Spirit of God descending upon our hearts.  As we sing this next hymn, let it be your true and deep prayer.  That mantel is symbolized with fire.  The altar of our hearts, no matter how soggy they may seem, can be set on fire with God’s holy Spirit of love.  This is the little light we each have.  We’ve been promising since Sunday School that we would let it shine, and hold it high for all to see.  Let this hymn not just be a song, an interlude before the offering. Let it be your prayer. Teach us, O God, to love thee as thine angels love, one holy passion filling all my frame; the kindling of the heaven-descended Dove, my heart and altar, and thy love the flame. 

Elijah's God: A Rock and a Still Small Voice

1 Kings 19:1-15

June 16, 2013 

When I was a child listening going to Sunday School I was really interested in the stories where God talked to people. It seemed to me that God talked to people all the time.  God talked to Adam and Eve, telling them which fruit to eat, and which tree was off limits.  God talked to Noah telling him exactly how to build an ark.  God talked to Jonah, telling him to go to Nineveh.  God talked to Moses from a burning bush.  People heard the voice of God at Jesus’ baptism “This is my son the beloved.”  I wanted God to talk to me. 

Have you ever wished God would talk to you?  What do you think God’s voice will sound like – deep and booming like thunder?  Accompanied by lightning other special effects? Perhaps through a messenger – an angel with wings and a halo?

            As a child I also noticed that the people in my church, my parents, other adults, the Sunday School teachers, even the preacher didn’t seem to hear God talking to them directly.  Some people told me they felt God when they were in nature.  Lots of people looked for the morals of the bible stories, a kind of indirect communication from God about what to do and not to do.  But in my church I never heard anyone say, “I was praying the other day and God said to me…..”  Curious, why did God talk to people in the Bible, but not in my church?

I am interested to know, how many of you believe you have ever heard God speaking directly to you?  Maybe not in a voice – but somehow you felt clear that God was communicating with you?

            When I was five my grandparents first took me to a camp for Christian families that meets on Lake Winnepesauki – one of many Camps Farthest Out around the world.  One thing I liked about that camp right away is that lots of people were in regular two-way communication with God.  Not only would the guest speakers tell of their conversations with God, but the teachers of my class and many other campers, young and old, reported what God was saying to them.  This served to increase my desire to hear God’s voice talking to me.

            If we could only hear God speak it would be so wonderful.  To hear God call us by name would be so amazing.  If the voice of God was as full of love for us as when our parents, or grandparents, or best friend’s voice, how much it would lift us up.  Wouldn’t it be great if God would help us make decisions about what we should do? Should I sign up for soccer this season, or baseball, or Boy Scouts, or band?  How cool it would be if when taking a test we heard God whispering the correct answers in our ears!  If God would only tell you the right things to say to make your interview so impressive that you would be chosen for that great job.  If God would only cue me in the middle of a fight I might be able to say the right thing for it to end peaceably.

            We have been reading stories about Elijah this month – a prophet of God.  One of those people in the Bible who heard God speak a lot. Last week we heard a story where God gave Elijah direct instructions – God said, “Go to Zarephath and live there.  When Elijah met a poor widow he told her that God said her jar of flour and jug of oil would never be empty if she would share her food with Elijah.  On June second we had a more dramatic story about God speaking – Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal – a false god to a contest where the “god who answers by fire” is the winner.  To make the contest more challenging Elijah had his sacrificial bull, and all the wood and the altar doused three times with water while the sacrifice to Baal was bone dry.  But Baal proved unable to burn up his sacrifice while the fire of the Lord fell on Elijah’s altar and burned up everything, the bull, the wood, the stones the dust and even the water.  God spoke to the people that day by fire.

            But today we have a story of Elijah – the same Elijah – at a point in his life when he isn’t hearing God so well.  You see, after Elijah won the contest with the prophets of Baal, winning back many Israelites to God’s side, he also punished the prophets of Baal and this made queen Jezebel, who worshipped Baal, very angry.  She vowed to have Elijah killed by the next day.  In no time at all Elijah fell from victory to victim.

            Elijah was so scared for his life he just ran away – he ran into the wilderness – but Jezebel was so powerful he really didn’t think he could escape being killed by one of her soldiers. Elijah showed many signs of depression.  He didn’t want to eat. He felt like he was no good. He slept a lot. He blamed everyone else for his problems, feeling very sorry for himself.  He wished he would die. All this time while he was wandering through the wilderness God didn’t say anything to Elijah.  God just quietly took care of Elijah, giving him food and drink in the wilderness.  Elijah was in such a funk he didn’t even acknowledge the provision, speaking not a single word of thanks.  Eventually Elijah came to a mountain, the same mountain where Moses received the commandments from God.  He climbed the mountain and slept in a cave there.

            In the morning God finally spoke, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” Elijah’s answer was whiny, “I’ve been working my heart out for you. The people of Israel have been unfaithful to you, destroyed the places of worship, and murdered your prophets. I’m the only one left, and now they’re trying to kill me.”  God said, “Go out and stand on the mountain for the Lord is about to pass by.”  Elijah went out. First came the great wind, like the wind of the Holy Spirit that came to Jesus’ disciples on Pentecost, but the Lord was not in the wind.  Then there was an earthquake, but the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake.  Then there was a fire, like the fire that had burned up the soaking wet altar, like the pillar of fire that led the Israelites through the wilderness to the Promised Land but this time the Lord wasn’t in the fire either. Finally, Elijah heard a still small voice – a better translation is the sound of sheer silence.

            Sometimes we can know God is speaking to us even when we do not hear a word with our ears.  Like Elijah we can feel God telling us deep inside.  It is not easy to learn to listen to the sheer silence of God.  We are such a noisy people

            Tsitsi – one of 10 – always children – Jovan – Cleo – now in Randolph – house alone – house makes sounds!  She is enjoying the solitude.

            In my family silent treatment was used as a punishment – very scary to me when God is silent – few hard years in my ministry I wasn’t hearing or feeling God. A lot like Elijah – feeling like a failure – bad things were happening to me that seemed out of my control – enemies attacking me – what am I doing here?

            Not the silence of being shut up – not children should be seen and not heard.

            Silence of peace, solitude not loneliness, deep rest. Prayer time – quietness – listening – openness.

            Silence at Taize – whole week – how to use the silence – still set designated prayer times each day even while keeping the silence.  Silence during meal time- not isolation – more attentive.  Once a member of our group arrived after we had begun our meal – if we had all been chatting with one another she might have been unnoticed and had trouble finding a place to sit. But in our silence we all saw her come in and several people jumped up to make a place, find a plate, glass and cutlery for her and pass the food.

            Silence to increase attentiveness – pay attention to muscles in our bodies, notice tension that is related to spiritual wounds, or our own sins – In silence I become much more aware of the thoughts I automatically think that are not conducive to community and sharing the love of Jesus – judgments

            Silence of monasteries - eat in silence – time before and after worship is silent – don’t speak unless necessary – Great Silence from 8 pm to 8 am don’t speak unless it’s an emergency. Society of Saint John the Evangelist  describes their practice of silence this way

“Silence takes root through our cultivation of solitary prayer in which we are free to take delight in our aloneness with God undisturbed.  The Spirit helps us through our struggle with distraction to return to that inmost place of mutual love where God is simply present to us and we to God.  If we are faithful here in our movement into silence, we will bring the same spirit into our worship and cherish the silences observed before and during each time of prayer.  Without this constant opening of the heart in silence alone and together we are unable to feel the touch or hear the word of God.  Silence is a constant source of restoration.  Yet its healing power does not come cheaply.  It depends on our willingness to face all that is within us, light and dark, and to heed all the inner voices that make themselves heard in silence.”[1]

            When I was a student at Duke I had the opportunity to worship a few times with a Quaker Meeting  – children even as small as Salem, Maya and Brandon able to sit in silence for 20 minutes – taught to experience God.

            What to do in the silence

• Read the Bible, (not the begats or the wars) Psalms,
• Better use Guided Devotionals – Upper Room on line, any number of books. These help by pulling out scripture verses, interpreting and reflecting on how they connect to life – Joyce Rupp The Cup of Our Life  – daily meditations all using morning coffee or tea cup to help us reflect on our life in God. 
• Use music – classical – or chants – or praise songs – or African American spirituals. 
• While moving – jogging, or walking – labyrinth behind Union.
• Twenty or thirty minutes.  If that seems too much start with 5 or 10 – stretch. 

The more you practice being in the presence of God’s silence, the more you will hear God’s voice speaking to you, guiding you, giving you life, love, joy and peace.

            God talks to us in many ways – once in a while God uses a loud booming voice, more often God speaks by a verse of scripture, or the words of a devotional that touch our hearts. Very often God remains as silent as a Rock – Elijah Rock – Sturdy and trustworthy, always there, solid ground – shelter from burning sun and storms. A rock we can trust, and when we experience the peace that comes with prayer we will be more likely to obey.

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[1] The Rule of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist

Elijah's God Gives Life

1 Kings 17:8-24

June 9, 2013

This story about Elijah troubles me.  Does it trouble you?  If not I think it should. The first part is the kind of story that makes the Bible seem to be a book of fairy tales. A destitute widow lived in a port city, a commercial capital known for exporting wine, grain and oil.  It was outside of Israel, where the people don’t know the Lord, but worship Baal.  The people inside Israel were worshipping Baal too, the god of the harvest, and the Bible says the Lord sent a famine caused by drought to punish them.  The people in Zeraphath were suffering from the famine too.

The widow Elijah met was about to use her last bit of flour and oil to make the one more meal to share with her son before they died of starvation. Then Elijah came along, asked her to share her food with him and told her that his God, the Lord of Israel would make the flour and oil last.  So she took him up on it, shared her last pizza with Elijah and her son, and like magic there was still flour and oil enough to make pizza the next day, and the next day, and the next.

           
As I just told the kids this part of the story is about compassion, and about the value giving to others even when it seems that we won’t have enough, and about God’s providence for us – helping us to be free from fear of not having enough so that we can share what we have.

           
This part of the story does seem like something from the Brothers Grimm where the magic bowl is always full of stew.  But this doesn’t bother me so much because I’ve seen it in practice.  My grandfather started his ministry during the Great Depression.  My grandmother was determined to marry him, in spite of her mother’s warning that as a minister’s wife she would always be poor.  One little church in Maine was so poor they could hardly pay them. Live chickens, and a standing woodlot served to supplement their salary.  Poor grandma, a city girl, had no idea what to do with a live chicken, while grandpa had to use his ax both to chop off the chicken’s heads, and fell the trees and burn them green to keep the parsonage warm.  Like many who lived through the depression, my grandparents never stopped hording old nuts and bolts, wearing clothes decades after the fashion had changed and saving the water from cooked vegetables to put into their homemade soups.  They shunned debt, waiting 8 years after marriage before trying to have children – my mom is their only child.  At the end of their lives their frugal ways had provided enough that they could give me all the money I needed to attend seminary and come out debt free.  But they were also generous giving to the church and other charities all of their lives.  And they always had room at their dinner table for guests – oh how they loved to invite others to dinner. 

           
I have seen this financial principle of abundant life in God’s care practiced in many churches too.  Though people new to the process of adopting a church budget might be shocked, it is very common to pass a projected budget where the expenses significantly outweigh the income.  And usually when churches are living faithfully by the end of the year such a budget comes out ok even without eating into endowment funds. This is considered financial success.

Our church lives like this.  Last year we had to cash in some money salted away for a rainy day to pay the last $3,000 worth of bills.  This year has been looking even tighter. But just when the Church Council heard the alert and I started worrying we got news that dear Barbara Baldwin, long time member here, who died a year ago today, left 10% of her estate to this church.  This is not a coincidence, it is a god-incidence – God’s providence for his people. Plans are underway to invest most of her gift, but our treasurer and I can rest more easily knowing that God is providing for us, just ask God provided for Elijah and the widow of Zarephath.

            
 But the next part of the scripture passage for today is the one that really troubles me. For just as one crisis was met by God’s providence another crisis occurred Zarephath.  While Elijah was still living as a guest in the widow’s home her son, who not only gave her comfort after her husband had died, but also served as her only health insurance and pension in her old age, this boy got sick and his “illness was so sever that there was no breath left in him.” A euphemism like “passed away” to buffer the cold hard fact that he died. 

In her grief the widow looked for someone to blame.  Surely a God who can keep oil jars and flour canisters filled could also make a sick boy well.  If Elijah didn’t offer any prayers to let her son live, maybe he had something against her. If Elijah’s God let her boy die, perhaps the Lord, the God of Israel wanted to punish her for some sin she committed.

When the accusation left her lips Elijah didn’t argue – “oh no, ma’am, the Lord isn’t like that.”  Instead he took the boy upstairs, put him in bed and made the same accusation to God – “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?”  He then performed a kind of healing ritual three times until the boy came to life. When the woman saw the miracle of her son brought back to life she came to believe in Elijah’s God, the Lord of Israel.

At first glance we might want to say this story shows how Elijah is a man of power, called by God to act with that power to save even the widows of the world, and give life to those who have died.”  But there is an assumptions here that really troubles me.  It is a common belief even today, that God rewards the good with life while all death is God’s punishment for our sin.  The widow assumes that she has done something sinful for God to punish her with the death of her son.  And Elijah doesn’t argue with her. 

Elijah’s actions make it worse as he prays for the boy on his bed. “In effect Elijah implies, ‘Look, God. You sent me to this widow in the first place, and now will you add insult to injury by having her blame me for the death when in fact it is you who have killed him?’ It all comes back to this belief, shared by the widow and Elijah, that the Lord is the culprit here, a God who spends divine time evaluating human behaviors and doling out nasty punishments for that behavior, even to the death of innocent children.”[1]
  
When the Lord listens to Elijah and gives the boy back his life, the widow’s response seals, “the theological mess we find ourselves wallowing in. ‘Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.’ Because Elijah has brought the child back from death, he has proven himself to be a man of God and all he utters can be trusted to be true.”[2]

I was glad to find Professor John Holbert’s reflections on this passage which he titled Love Your Bible but Watch Out!  Holbert argues with the conclusions of this Bible story saying, “God is not in the business of finding ways of punishing human sin by slaughtering loved ones. Nor does God send messengers to announce such terrible claims. If God is like this, then I want no part in such a God or in such a way to view the world in which I live.”

Holbert is daring enough to propose that in this story, Elijah and the widow have not told the truth about God.  His voice comforts me when he claims that, “God can’t be boxed into a simple reward/punishment nexus, not even by the Bible itself.”  He notes that the search for blame when something tragic happens bubbles up naturally when we are in despair.  But the results of this frame of mind can’t be trusted.  Those who create theology in this frame of mind, Holbert concludes, “make God ultimately responsible for cruel acts that ought to lead to prison time rather than worship.”

It has been curious to me as I read accounts of people’s conversions.  Events such as death threatening thunderstorms were often at the beginning of a conversion story.  People seemed to become more aware of their own mortality and the choice of eternal punishment or the way of salvation offered by preachers served to motivate many to join the Methodist church.  If the tragedy led people to God should we say God caused the tragedy?

This is where reading the Bible in context – holding one passage up against another – can be so helpful to our faith.  The scripture assigned to us for next week speaks to this troubling problem presented in 1 Kings 17 today.  In chapter 19 we find Elijah running away from danger, hiding in a cave, feeling dejected and wanting to die.  While in the cave, God told Elijah to stand on the mountain.  First there was a great wind breaking rocks into pieces. But the bible says, the Lord was not in the wind.  After that an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  Then a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.  Finally, all was still.  The sound of sheer silence, a still small voice. That quite calm was where Elijah found God.

I do not believe that God causes tornados that devastate whole towns in Oklahoma, or severs storms like Sandy, or famines, or deranged people with automatic weapons to open fire in public places full of civilians.  God doesn’t cause birth defects, or cancer to make people faithful.  What I do believe is that after such tragic events many people enter into a new spiritual state of awareness.  In their trauma their spiritual antennae are raised, searching for comfort and solace and strength to push through their grief into life. 

When we are in need we are more likely to lift our empty cups and ask God to fill them.  When we are hungry we are more likely to ask the Bread of Heaven to feed us. And when we experience God’s providence our faith is strengthened. I believe God provides for us, even when we think we don’t have enough.  Knowing God can help us to set down our fears of scarcity, and life a life of abundance.  I invite you to lift up your hearts to the Lord so that your soul may be quenched, and you find yourself filled with the Spirit of Jesus, the Bread of Heaven until you know you have enough and are ready to share God’s gifts with others.

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[1] John Holbert Love Your Bible But Watch Out!

[2] John Holbert