I'm on sabbatical

A note to everyone: I am on sabbatical until August 18. I will only post one sermon during that time -- the text of the sermon that I will preach at the Mongai Parish in Tanzania, on June 15.

“What God Intends: Goodness and Delight” The Holy Trinity May 18, 2008

(First, read the text for this sermon: Genesis 1:1-2:4a)

I hate to see those car emblems of a fish with feet, with the name, “Darwin” within the fish. Do you know the emblems I’m talking about? I hate to see one of those emblems because it indicates that the car driver has taken a side in a fight that does not have to be a dispute at all. There is, in fact, no conflict between science and the Bible. That’s because the Genesis creation stories and the other material in the Bible were composed long before there was any concept of “science” -- a concept that's only a couple of hundred years old. The Bible contains stories that witness Truth about God. Communicating scientific truth was not in the minds of the authors and editors of the stories in the Bible.

And so, for instance, I see absolutely no problem with being a Jew or Christian who believes that God created the universe – while, at the same time, considering the theory of evolution to be the best scientific explanation of how God created the universe.

And I wish that the Genesis creation stories would not be dragged into this pseudo dispute between religion and science for another reason. That’s because it flattens them out and makes them boring! Trying to make them be science robs them of their power as stories – which is in their ability to evoke Truth about God (Truth with a capital “T”).

Let me lead us into this morning’s reading from Genesis in a way that might show what I mean.

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Think of that. Formlessness. Darkness. Chaos! But still – God! “A wind from God.”

The story invites us into big questions: When have you experienced chaos? When have you felt a desperate need for order?

I think that’s what’s happening when someone is diagnosed with cancer. Cancer cells are pure chaos within a human body. They are cells gone berserk; out of control; multiplying malignantly! Cancer treatment is the attempt to kill those chaotic cells, and to restore the order of cell production within the body. To use language from the creation story, cancer treatment is the attempt to bring form to the formlessness.

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Do you know that there are two creation stories in Genesis? They are very, very different. Let me offer a couple of examples. The second story, the older one, in chapter two of Genesis, begins with dry dust; while the first story, in chapter one, begins with the chaos of water unbounded. In the second creation story, a single human being is the first thing created; while in the first story, all human beings are created at the same time, as the final act of God’s creation. (If this was a Bible study I’d continue. It’s fascinating to compare the two stories side by side.)

This morning we read from the first creation story. It was composed sometime around the 6th century before the common era. It was composed as a faith statement during the Babylonian exile – after the Babylonians had overrun Jerusalem and destroyed the temple, which was the very place where God resided according to the Judaism of the day. Could the people even believe in God without the temple? It was a shattering experience. All of the peoples’ religious assumptions were in chaos! Their religion had become formless.

Generations later a new religious consensus would evolve, as the prophets opened the people to God’s continuing revelation. But that hadn’t yet been worked out when the author composed this first creation story. This story was addressed to those experiencing utter chaos and formlessness. They had been driven into foreign lands where their religion was unknown. They were in exile, physically and spiritually. (At this point, I think of those of you who have described experiences of feeling spiritual exile, times of being in the wilderness, of not knowing how to make your way back home to God.)

The Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann suggests that this creation story is poetry used for worship by these people of God engulfed in this chaos of exile that was like a “formless void and darkness covering the face of the deep.” This would mean that these verses from Genesis are liturgy, drawing the worshipers into the mystery of God, as all good liturgy does; that, even in this seeming hopelessness, still, a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

Into chaos, the story tells us, God brings order. The story describes creation happening in seven days. (“Seven,” of course, is a number denoting perfection, the special working of God.)

The story is witnessing to the fact that, even and especially in the midst of chaos and terror, what God intends is goodness and delight! The story moves “from God’s confrontation with chaos to the serene and joyous rule of God over a universe able to be at rest.” (Brueggemann)

Look at how this movement happens. The first thing God creates is what? Light! And look at what God thinks about the light – (verse 4): And God saw that the light was good.

So. Now that there is light to banish the terror of darkness, what’s the next thing needed? It is to bring some order to the chaos and formlessness of all this water. So the next thing God creates is a “dome in the midst of the waters” – the sky! (Now put yourself in the world view of these ancient people. Obviously, that membrane of sky must be protecting us from water that’s up there! Have you looked up this morning? What color do you see when you look up at the sky? Blue! It’s obviously water!) And so, as God speaks this word of creation, there is order restored, there is water separated from dry land. And what does God think of that? Verse 10: And God saw that it was good.

Next is created vegetation, plants and trees; and then the sun and moon and the stars; and then water creatures; and then earth creatures – and look at how God judges each stage of the creation in the story. Verse 12 (“it was good’). Verse 18 (“it was good”). Verse 21 (“it was good”). Verse 25 (“it was good”). You see how the refrain in this hymn is repeated – “it was good”; six times? It’s a liturgical refrain, repeated again and again, just like the refrain we sang three times this morning, in the Hymn of Praise in our liturgy.

Finally, God needs to create someone to take care of all the rest of creation. And so, as the crown of creation, God creates human beings – all human cultures, all at the same time.

So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

After these six days of work, as God surveys all God has created, what does God think? Verse 31: God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. God is delighted with the creation! It is full of goodness! That’s what God intends: goodness and delight! (What good news, when you and I are experiencing the terror and anxiety of chaos and formlessness, that God is the creator, that God brings order, that God intends for us goodness and delight.)

But still, in the story, not all is perfect. That comes on the seventh day. What does God give to us human beings on that day?

God gives the permission to rest! The permission to rest in grace. God gives us permission to let go of our compulsions and our need to constantly drive ourselves. We receive the ability, instead, to be delighted in God’s goodness! God offers you and me the opportunity to let down the particularly sinful burden we carry – that it all depends on us – and, instead, gives us permission to open, to enjoy the gifts from God that come to us new every day.

What joy there is, when we receive this permission from God to let go of our compulsions. That’s what sabbath rest offers. What freedom!

What joy there is in the life of faith, engaging in such faith practices as sabbath rest. The life of faith is the life-long journey more and more deeply into the grace-filled mystery of God.

So, I issue a call to repentance. Turn away from those compulsions and anxieties that deaden your spirit. Turn, instead, towards God who creates us, and who intends for us goodness and delight!

In the name of that God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

“A Stewardship Sermon For Pentecost” Pentecost, 2008 May 11, 2008

(First read the text for this sermon: 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13)

Here’s the way it happens. There are three parts to the movement. We listen to God the Holy Spirit revealing to us what our gifts are, what we’re good at. We listen to discern how the Spirit is calling us to use our gifts. And then, of course, we act! We are empowered by the Spirit. We use our gifts according to the God’s kingdom politics! In those “varieties of activities,” we are the risen body of Christ in the world!

On this festival of Pentecost, we celebrate the gifts given to the church by God the Holy Spirit.

This morning’s second reading comes from chapter 12 in First Corinthians, where Paul is writing about the gifts and talents and abilities that the members of that ancient congregation have received from the Spirit, and the language sounds awfully lofty. We read: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.

All of this sounds great, huh? At the same time, I have to tell you that Paul is writing to a congregation so dysfunctional that it makes any other congregation seem like heaven on earth (especially this congregation of St. Stephen, in Williamsburg)! Here’s how bad it is among the Corinthian Jesus people. Some are saying, “I have this gift” (and then they name their gift: of speaking in tongues, say, or of prophecy, or the working of miracles) – “and you don’t. So that means I’m more special than you! God has blessed me more than you!”

That’s why Paul is having to write about spiritual gifts at all: because some in the Corinthian congregation are using their gifts in a divisive way, one-upping each other, enhancing their own individual status! Paul is having to tell them that none of us is more highly favored over another, regardless of what our gifts may be. That’s because all gifts come from the same Spirit; from the same Lord. Indeed, there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.

So, we all have many gifts from God the Holy Spirit. We are involved in many activities of mission and ministry. But – it is all by God’s initiative! You are I are only responding to that gift-giving! It is the Holy Spirit who animates the risen body of Christ on earth! So – none of us can take credit; or puff ourselves up; and certainly none of us can denigrate others, by being competitive about our spiritual gifts.

According to Paul, God the Holy Spirit gives us our talents and abilities for the common good. That means: I have received gifts from the Spirit; I’m good at certain things, not for me – but for you! For your benefit! Not for my own self-aggrandizement. (Can there be anything more counter to our self-promotional culture?) Why are you and I given talents and abilities by God the Holy Spirit? It is so we can be servants to each other! No, it’s wider than that. It’s so we can be servants to whomever is in need, whether in this community of worshiping Jesus people or outside, in the mission field.

What I’m talking about, of course, is stewardship. This is a stewardship sermon for Pentecost! We listen to God the Holy Spirit revealing to us what our gifts are. We listen to discern how the Spirit is calling us to use our gifts. And then, of course, we act, empowered by the Spirit! We give ourselves away, to serve others with our talents and abilities! It’s stewardship: how we use what God gives us!

What a great theme to highlight on this day when the College of William and Mary is graduating its class of 2008; and on this day when six of our youth are becoming adults in the church by affirming their baptisms! What are their spiritual gifts, their talents, the things they’re good at? How is God calling them to serve, with their gifts?

Paul lists a number of gifts, in this morning’s verses from First Corinthians. He mentions the ability to speak wisdom; and the gift of translating knowledge about God into something useful; and the ability to buoy others by faith; and the gift of being a healing presence when there is pain and disease; and the working of miracles and prophecy; and the discernment of spirits (because some spirits are opposed to the Holy Spirit); and an ability to speak in charismatic tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, Paul writes, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. Why? Back to verse 7: To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. So each spiritual gift is only useful if it helps to build up the particular community of people on the journey together, in Christ, in the life of faith.

Is Paul’s list exhaustive? Of course not! What are other gifts that you have received from God the Holy Spirit, that aren’t on Paul’s list? What are gifts you have received from the Spirit, that enable you to be a servant to those in need, not only here in our community named for St. Stephen, but beyond?

Some of you have received from the Spirit administrative abilities that allow you to be servants on the board of a health clinic or another agency serving the poor. Some of you have received from the Spirit the ability to drive a nail straight into a board, which allows you to help build Housing Partnership houses for those who are poor. Some of you have received from the Spirit the gift of speaking well with public officials, or of writing well to them, which allows you to advocate effectively for the justice of God’s kingdom politics. The gift of computer skills is beyond value! The examples can go on and on.

We rejoice with those graduating from the College of William and Mary today, who are moving forward with a sense of the work or the further schooling that God the Holy Spirit is calling them to do, according to the gifts they have received from the Spirit.

We rejoice with the six youth who are affirming their baptisms this morning! Here is what I will ask them, concerning their continuing journey in faith:

You have made public profession of your faith. Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy baptism:
to live among God’s faithful people,
to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper,
to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,
to serve all people, following the example of Jesus,
and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth?
If these emerging adults in the church are willing to engage in these “varieties of activities” of life in Christ, they will each respond: I do, and I ask God to help and guide me.

As these words express, the life of faith is rooted in worship among others who have received spiritual gifts, and who are giving themselves away in servanthood. This is stewardship of our gifts and talents that have come from God the Holy Spirit; the things we’re good at!

How will these emerging adults serve those in need? Here’s the way it happens. There are three parts to the movement. We listen to God the Holy Spirit revealing to us what our gifts are. We listen to discern how the Spirit is calling us to use our gifts. And then, of course, we act, empowered by the Spirit, using our gifts according to the God’s kingdom politics!

You who are “veterans” know this, through your own continuing discernment of the gifts you have received from God the Holy Spirit, and from your engagement in the “varieties of activities” that the Spirit calls us into. We are the risen body of Christ in the world!

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

“God’s Kingdom Politics” Easter 7 May 4, 2008

(First, read the passage for this sermon: Acts 1:6-14)

Do you remember a more interesting presidential campaign? Senators Clinton and Obama are in a death grip that seems never-ending and mutually destructive. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, Senator McCain is getting an unopposed free ride during these months, but he’s not raising much money, and nobody even seems to be enthusiastic about him.

And now there’s been the spectacle of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the retired pastor of Barack Obama’s church in Chicago. Having spent two years working in a south side Chicago black church while in seminary, I was not astonished (as many people were) by those first taken-out-of-context sound bites of six year old sermons. I recognized that simply to be the rhetorical style of a type of black preaching which draws directly from the model of the prophets in the Old Testament. And, a week ago Friday night, I was very impressed by the Rev. Wright during the broadcast of the extended, intelligent, nuanced conversation he had with Bill Moyers. But, obviously, what he has said this past week is another thing entirely! It’s certainly not been in service of the Word of God. It’s been egotistical, irresponsible performance art, and it’s inflamed deeply held racial fears among many white folks. What we’ll watch for this week is how badly all of this has damaged Obama’s candidacy.

Mixing together religion and politics is like combining nitrogen and glycerin. It is incendiary! That’s because political operatives have found it effective to use religion to cause polarization. In past campaigns, some Republican candidates have sharply defined being Christian to mean being opposed to abortion and to gay people. Preachers who have spoken out in favor of such candidates have often literally demonized those who disagree, as not being followers of Jesus. Democrats in the past have not felt comfortable enough talking about religion to even know how to respond. As Jim Wallis subtitled his 2005 book, God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It.

Here are a few paragraphs that Wallis writes, to introduce his book:

"Dare we search for the politics of God? It’s much easier to just use God to justify our politics. Yet, if we look, really look into our biblical and other holy texts, we find a God who speaks about “politics” all the time, about what believing in God means in this world (not just the next one), about faith and “public life” (not just private piety), about our responsibilities for the common good (not just for our own religious experience). And here’s the big news: the politics of God call all the rest of our politics into question.

"The place to begin to understand the politics of God is with the prophets, the ancient moral articulators in the Scriptures who claimed to speak in “the name of the Lord.” What were their subjects? Quite secular topics, really – land, labor, capital, wages, debt, taxes, equity, fairness, courts, prisons, immigrants, other races and peoples, economic divisions, social justice, war and peace – the stuff of prophets.

"Whom were the prophets often speaking to? Usually to rulers, kings judges, employers, landlords, owners of property and wealth, and even religious leaders. … [T]hose in charge of things were the ones called to greatest accountability. And whom were the prophets usually speaking for? Most often, the dispossessed, widows and orphans (read: poor single moms), the hungry, the homeless, the helpless, the least, last, and lost. Is God into class warfare? No, God wants the “common good”… "

What the Old Testament prophets are doing, in other words, is speaking words from God to advocate in favor of those who need to be protected so that there can be a common good. Wallis writes:

"… Clearly the politics of God is different than ours – from the Republicans and the Democrats, the liberals and the conservatives, the Left and the Right. The politics of God makes them all look pretty bad and points the way to some very different directions – but some very hopeful ones."

What this means is that God’s politics are not partisan or polarizing or even nationalistic. Instead, they express the yearnings of God’s people all over the world. They are politics of the kingdom of God. They express what will be reality when our Lord’s Prayer is fulfilled, as we pray each week: “Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”

Of course, American political operatives are not the first ones who have tried to domesticate God to support their political position. Look, for instance, in this morning’s story from the Acts of the Apostles. Notice that some of Jesus’ followers expect that the risen Jesus will act in a nationalistic way! Jesus has risen. Jesus has been talking about the Spirit that will empower mission in Jesus’ name. And we read this: So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?"

This is an understandable nationalistic longing! For centuries, Israel has been oppressed and occupied and overrun by a succession of superpowers: the Assyrians and the Babylonians and now the Romans. Here’s the question: Is Jesus the messiah as God’s people had understood and expected that the messiah would be: the one who would restore the nation of Israel to political and military strength?

This is not the first time that people have wanted to make Jesus a king! But at each occurrence of that, in the gospel stories and here in Acts, Jesus’ response is to open us to understand that God’s kingdom politics cannot be reduced even to one nation, let alone to a partisan position advocated by one political party.

What are God’s kingdom politics? Well, we name them – each week, in the words we sing and speak in worship. Indeed, the kingdom of God is reality right now, when God the Holy Spirit forms us by what we are doing, and by what we are singing and speaking, in this time of worship.

Last Sunday morning, I asked the adult class to compare what is prized in our culture, as contrasted what kind of people our worship would form us to be. Here are some of their responses. As opposed to the individualism; and the striving after status; and the aggression; and the promotion and marketing; and the selfishness that our culture encourages, worship calls us to collectiveness and community; to our equality in God’s eyes; to strength expressed in gentleness and love; to openness in being drawn by God’s invitation; and to an openness to the needs of the world, so we can be servants to those in need. When the Holy Spirit forms us to live in these ways, the kingdom is becoming reality!

When we take a Sunday morning sabbatical from the relentless cultural pressure for efficiency and productivity, we can be opened to God’s grace-filled invitation into God’s kingdom. To use more examples from the liturgy, God’s kingdom is where people are willing to confess weakness. (How counter cultural is that!) Living in the kingdom means praying for mercy, and receiving forgiveness. There is good news of God’s compassion and salvation in the kingdom! There is prayer for all who are in need. There is awareness of the need for justice which is rooted in God’s compassion. There is generosity: we give ourselves away, and so there is abundance. There is feasting!

Our worship is full of these things! Through our worship God forms us in these kingdom politics.

And, of course, Jesus the Christ did not rise from the dead just for us, here in our little congregational gathering. God came in the flesh of Jesus Christ for the world that God is creating; the world that God loves! And so, God forms us in God’s kingdom politics, so we can e active in the world.

Diana Butler Bass refers to this as “Compassion enacted.” She writes, “Mercy is the beginning of justice, the first footsteps toward God’s kingdom….Justice is not a program, a political platform, or a denominational position on social issues. No, justice is the pilgrimage of the beloved community, the journey toward the establishment of the Kingdom of God.”

Community; the equality of all people in God’s love; strength expressed in gentleness and love; servanthood to those who are in need; the humility that allows us to confess weakness and to receive forgiveness; the good news of God’s compassion and salvation; justice which is rooted in God’s compassion; generosity and abundance and feasting: those are God’s Kingdom politics!

In the name of God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia