Sermon: August 21, 2011: More than Meets the Eye

August 21, 2011, Jenny Shultz

“More than Meets the Eye”

N.T. Wright shares a famous Jewish story in his book After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters.  He says “There once was a rabbi who had a phenomenal reputation for thinking logically and clearly in any and all circumstances.  To put him to the test, his students took him out one evening and sent him to sleep by plying him with strong drink.  Then they carried him to a graveyard and laid him out neatly in front of a tombstone.  They kept watch to see what he would say on waking.  When the great man came to, his logic didn’t falter for a moment.  “Point one,” he said: “If I am alive, why am I lying in a graveyard?  Point two: If I am dead, why do I want to go to the bathroom?”  Even in these bizarre circumstances his head was as clear as ever.  

“Character,” says Wright, “is the human equivalent of the writing that runs right through a stick of Brighton Rock candy.  Famously, with that kind of seaside candy, the identifying word (“Brighton,” or whatever) isn’t simply printed on the top of the candy, so that after you’d sucked or bitten at the first half-inch you wouldn’t be able to see it anymore.  No: the word goes all the way through.  Wherever you cut the stick, or bite into it, the letters will always be there.”  “Character” in the sense which it is often assigned in the New Testament is the pattern of thinking and acting which runs right through someone, so that wherever you cut into them (as it were), you see the same person through and through.”  

Paul’s words to the Romans call for such a character as this insisting upon transformation of the mind, body and spirit.   Wright goes on to say that just as the candy doesn’t automatically have writing that goes all the way through, neither do the vital signs of a healthy Christian life come about automatically.  Someone has to manufacture the candy that way.  “In the same way”, he writes, “Christian character has to be developed, you have to work at it, you have to think about it, to make conscious choices to allow the Holy Spirit to form your character.”  

Paul says, “Present your bodies to God as living sacrifices.”  The word used here as present, in the Greek means to “yield your spirits to God.”  Yield your spirits to God that you might be transformed...by the renewing of your minds.      I imagine there is some squirming around in the pews when hearing these words from Paul... “present your bodies as living sacrifices”... do not conform to the world’s standards, be transformed, don’t think more of yourselves than you ought to, live as part of the body of Christ... you aren’t indispensable.

  In these words to the Romans we hear a threefold message from the Apostle Paul: 1.) he reminds the church of God’s mercy & grace, calling them to “respond” by offering themselves to God  2.) he calls them to live as children of God set apart from the world, and to be transformed that they might live by God’s will 3.) he calls them to be humble servants, not thinking more highly of themselves than they ought, and to live as part of the body of Christ- the community of the church.  

In verse 1, we have a “therefore,” which signifies that something important has just been said.  In this case Paul includes everything he has just spoken from chapters 1-11.  Mark Reasoner, Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN reminds us of “the mercies of God” to which Paul is referring in vs. 1.  

Freedom from death (5:12-21)

• Freedom from sin (6:1-23)
• Freedom from a dysfunctional relationship to the law that fosters sin (7:6-25)
• The gift of the Spirit (8:1-17)
• God's plan to conform believers to the Son (8:29), and
• God's faithfulness to keep promises, especially those made to Israel (11:25-29).

It's like Paul is saying at the beginning of Romans 12, "Since God has given such wonderful mercies to us, the least we can do is present our bodies to God!"  Paul goes on to speak about the call to be transformed in vs. 2.  

In contemporary culture we don’t hear the word “transformation” as it relates to the human process very often.  At United Church we are fortunate to hear testimonies of Transformation from each other during various seasons in the church year.  We might also occasionally hear an emotional testimony about a friend or family member who has been through a dramatic experience and has emerged as a transformed person- shedding their old ways and habits and living by new standards... or someone whose near death experience was transformative for them...a catalyst for change, but it’s actually rare in our everyday experiences to hear someone talk about the process of being transformed.  

Perhaps you are familiar with the term transformation as it has to do with the molecular biology of cells.  In the field of molecular biology “transformation is known as the genetic alteration of a cell resulting from the incorporation and expression of exogenous genetic material or DNA.  Transformation occurs most commonly in bacteria, and Bacteria that are capable of being transformed, whether naturally or artificially, are called competent.  Competence is the ability of a cell to take up extracellular ("naked") DNA from its environment.

We are probably most aware of the role of transformation in the formation of cancer cells.  Carcin\o\genesis or onco\genesis is literally the creation of cancer. It is a process by which normal cells are transformed into cancer cells. It is characterized by a progression of changes on cellular and genetic levels that ultimately reprogram a cell to undergo uncontrolled cell division- creating a mass.  

Now, I know this will mean exposure of my absolute and utter sophistication on the issue, but though the transformation of cellular tissue is completely fascinating to me, it’s not the first thing that popped into my mind when thinking about “Transformation”.  When I first read the text for this week I immediately heard the words: “More than meets the Eye” in my head.  I can’t help but recall my childhood experiences with mechanical robots that quickly turned into flashy vehicles and super heroes like optimus prime, the autobots and the evil decepticons.  Hopefully, some of you know exactly what I’m talking about.  I have to say that I was way more into playing with my brother’s transformers than my own barbie dolls or cappage patch kids.... i mean what did Barbie have to offer after all: perfect hair, cute outfits, a man-friend named Ken who had plastic hair, a pink house!?... Come on!  Transformers were amazing- PLAY (http://youtu.be/_AIFoBRIny0) 

Transformers: “More than Meets the Eye”, Hi, I’m Barbie, Skinniest woman alive?!  But, no... these transformers were so appealing.  I mean, they were a crime stopping hero running on two legs and all the sudden they were making an exit get-away on four wheels.  I think my real fascination with them was just knowing that they were mysterious- in a good way...i mean they were able to change...into something seemingly better than who they were in their original forms.  Honestly, what 6 year-old doesn’t pretend to swirl around in a telephone booth, suddenly emerging caped in their glory...jumping off the back of the couch in faith that they’ll soar above the clouds as Superman!  For a child, there is a certain luster about becoming someone else...wearing 6 inch stillettos, bright purple lipstick, a candy necklace and your grandmother’s brass hand me down clip-ons?  Or even cops and robbers...there’s nothing better than a naked baby with holsters on!   Who doesn’t like being transformed into someone who can fly, who can rise above the earthly limitations that chain us to our humanity...and, ultimately, change the world?  

Now I’m sure Paul’s letters to the Romans weren’t transcribed with molecular biological codes and certainly weren’t glittered with flying robots or under-functioning barbie dolls, but I do think his appeal to the church has something to do with both of these very primal examples.

To me, it is disturbingly ironic that one of the most intricately complex physiological transformations within the molecular world is also the most deadly for humankind...creating a disease that kills more people each year than any other.  As scientists seek to fully understand the transformation process and the complexities of malignant and non-malignant mutations seeking a life-saving solution...we, the church, are seeking to be transformed... a similar type of re-programming-and not with a new genetic make-up with new DNA resulting in new physical differences, chemical compositions, or even intellectual nuances... No, Paul’s plea to the church to be transformed, was a plea of commitment, commitment of their bodies, their souls, their entire beings to God.  He asked them to undergo a certain transformation, not unlike that of a single cell whose competence allows it to take on certain extracellular DNA... we are called to be transformed by the renewing of our minds...to take on the character & righteousness of Christ.  

I think one of the biggest difficulties for us in hearing this call to be transformed, is based on our belief that “we must be in control” and that “our super-ego must find a way to figure this out.  Keep in mind that Paul’s first request is preceded by a reminder of God’s faithfulness.  The book of Romans is full of evidence of a loving, present and forgiving God who does not ask us to walk this road alone.  In the latter part of the text we hear the second part of the “how to” piece that we’ve been waiting for.  We know the “what” the “why” and the “initial step of the how to”.. to yield our spirits, the desire to be transformed... but this part is essential.  Paul says “For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, ⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.”  We are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.”  

As you know, I recently took 13 teenagers to Germany and Italy to experience life with our sister church in Cologne Pesche.  It was a remarkable two weeks, our youth are amazing individuals...that’s right they are amazing “individuals”.... i’m not sure if it was the blue shirt mob mentality or the “line-up or else” walking through Florence with a herd of 60 people that finally broke them, but - finally, they became a team!  They are one body...an amazing group of youth! 

It is not without reason that I think primarily of children’s examples when contemplating and working through this call to Christian character, to be transformed.  Who else defines for us the the very ego implicit in each of us that seeks to be “the hero”, the change agent, the rescuer, the protector, the brave one..., the through and through Good person?  I wonder Why we are so ready to play dress-up when we are five years-old, but struggle to dress-up for work each day as an adult?  How do we find ourselves draped with capes, caked with fake eyelashes, atop a mountain with a victory flag one day and at home on the couch, the next?  What is it about our humanity that innately drives us to be transformed into someone else...?  That is until...we find out that being transformed means never going back.  It means taking a step out onto the water ready to leave the boat behind.  Rick preached 2 weeks about Peter and his experience of getting out of the boat, and sinking... and then about the outstretched arm of the one who has called us into this transformational living.  

We’ve somehow created the illusion that we can no longer believe the bit about being transformed, that perhaps we aren’t capable of stepping out onto the water... of the life to which God has called us to, that perhaps God was calling someone else to be the hero, the good one, the brave one, that maybe life in the boat isn’t so bad after all.  For some of us taking that first step onto the water means “isolation”...leaving the boat means leaving a life, whether full or destitute, that we have known and that regardless of it’s richness is “safe”.  But friends.... The boat is not safe.... the boat is sinking with or without us on board.  

The How-to... is clearly defined... “we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.”  The load isn’t getting lighter, job losses are not lessening, fanatical candidates are not weakening, poverty and hunger are no less existent in our neighborhoods as in the third world, anger and grief continue to bind our souls into ever thirsty, broken people who long for transformation...to be led down the path of mercy...to sit at the feet of the one whose arms are reaching out for us.  We are not alone, we weren’t meant to follow Jesus on our own, and we won’t make it on our own.    

“Present your bodies as living sacrifices...Yield your spirits to God, Be transformed by the renewing of your minds- by the diligent pursuance of a God whose love is great enough to transform your suffering into steadfast joy, your brokenness into peace-filled forgiveness, your anger into abundant grace”.  Paul says, “be transfomed....and you will be able to discern what the will of God is- what is good and acceptable and perfect.”    May it be so.  Amen.

Sermon: May 29, 2011: The Holy Spirit!

May 29, 2011

The Holy Spirit

Have you ever come home from work and after supper your spouse or partner, looks at you lovingly and says something like this, “If you really love me, you’ll pick up my father (who drives you crazy) from the airport tomorrow and take him golfing while I’m at work.  Or, if you want to prove that you really love me you’ll pick-up my dry cleaning, give the dog a bath and pick-up the kids from school, ok?”  Or, like me, If you really really love me, you’ll come to the youth Lock-In with me???  Or maybe your child has said, “Dad, if you really love me, you’ll buy me the car I want... or you’ll get me the new iphone or ipad2”, “If you really love me, you’ll forgive me for lying to you and breaking curfew- and you’ll let me go out tonight”.  

I thought Relationships were supposed to be about unconditional love, but for some reason we tend to use manipulative statements as these to get what we want, when we want, and how we want it...putting conditions on the love between us and those we love the most.                                               Today, this gospel reading from John opens with these words from Jesus’ mouth, “If you love me...you will keep my commandments”.  If there is one relationship that is supposed to be a guarantee for unconditional love... it’s the love of God as demonstrated by Jesus, right?  But here we have Jesus saying the words we’ve heard oh so many times...”If you love me...”   If we look back throughout the the past five weeks of gospel readings since Easter Sunday we find the Jesus we know so well proclaiming a love that is without strings, accompanied by grace...unconditional.

Rev. Angela Askew reminds us that “In John 20, to Mary Magdalene- the brokenhearted, Jesus simply spoke her name to assure her of his love. In John’s "Shepherd Discourse," like the sheep hearing his voice, Mary recognized him with joy.  

When the disciples were hiding behind locked doors in fear, Jesus simply stood there among them, sorrowful that they were unable to trust the good news brought to them by the women that morning, but not wasting any time with recriminations or scenes of righteous indignation.

In the "Doubting Thomas" passage, Jesus never said anything along the lines of "If you'd really loved me, I wouldn’t have to show you the scars in my hands and expose the wound in my side..."

On the road to Emmaus, Jesus, in the guise of a stranger, patiently walked with his friends along the road, as he had done so many times before, discussing the scriptures.  Keeping his disguise, he deliberately recreated a very particular memory for them while they were at table together: he took, blessed, broke, and shared bread. Once they recognized him, Jesus did not stay around to say, "Well it took you long enough." He discretely vanished, leaving them to rejoice with one another.

These post-Resurrection appearances strongly suggest that the risen Jesus loved his disciples unconditionally. Yet suddenly in today's reading, going back to a time immediately before his arrest in Gethsemane, we have the big "if." There may be absolute, unconditional love for us on God's side of things, but on our side, Jesus poses a condition to those who would call themselves disciples: if you love me, you will obey my commandments.”  (EpiscopalChurch.org/sermonsthatwork)

Several of you in this congregation have read Marcus Borg’s book, Meeting Jesus Again, for the First Time.  In another of his books, Jesus: A New Vision, Borg writes:  “To be a disciple meant to follow after.  Whoever would be my disciple, Jesus said, Let him follow me. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? It means to take seriously what he took seriously, to be like him in some sense. It is what St. Paul meant when he said, Be imitators of Christ.  What Jesus was like as a figure of history becomes a model of discipleship, illuminating and incarnating the vision of life to which he called his followers.”  (Borg, Marcus: Jesus, A new Vision, 2009)

“If you love me, follow my commandments” Jesus says.

He does not simply, however, say to the disciples... “Love me, and Follow my teachings”... and stand up from the table, walking away into the night.  No-He continues this loving farewell discourse with the promise of another advocate, the Spirit of Truth..Jesus had served as their advocate until now, but as evidence of the love of God abiding with them still He says, “I will send you an advocate who will be with you forever,” and later, “I will not leave you orphaned....the original Greek word orphanos, translated orphan- means fatherless, comfortless, desolate.”

Not only were the the closest friends of Jesus gathered that evening to share table fellowship, as they had done dozens of times before, but this time the room would be full of betrayal, confusion and displacement.  Judas fled the scene as an accomplice to Jesus’ betrayal, Peter’s sins of betrayal deniably exposed to all, and Thomas, Philip and the others still naiively betrayed by their own ignorances- lost to the true nature of Jesus as Christ.  Upon Jesus’ announcement of his impending departure from this earth, all they could hear was, “I am leaving, and you cannot come with me.”  

They felt lost and abandoned by their teacher, their friend...whom they’d given up everything to follow.  He had called them away from the lives they knew, asked them to leave everything to follow him.  He had provided them with direction, hope, and provided a sense of security that they had grown to depend on.  They had shed their old ways and ideals restructuring their lives around the teachings and ways of Jesus and the truth he proclaimed.

Peter looking across the table into the eyes of his beloved friend... shouts, “But Why can I not follow you?!”... and Thomas, “If we do not know where you are going, how will we know the way...how will we follow you?”  Feelings of desolation and abandonment were setting in, disillusioned by the love they had grown so dependent upon they clung tightly to the one they did not know how to live without.    

Have you ever felt abandoned, lost, left behind, comfortless?   Each of us has experiences that have left us feeling abandoned at times...maybe just for a few moments, or maybe for a lifetime.  Perhaps a parent left you in the grocery store when you were a child, and you looked down every aisle as the knot in the back of your throat grew increasingly tighter... until your mom run back into the store frantically searching for you, until you were found again, and safe in her arms.   Maybe you were at baseball or soccer practice and were left waiting for a parent who was supposed to pick you up an hour ago?  Upon seeing the car pull up to the curb you could exhale again, and your heart slowly stopped racing...your security blanket had arrived.  Or maybe you have suffered a greater loss, an abandonment of the soul that has left you broken and alone, feeling rejected and isolated from a love that you once depended upon.

I am certain that each of us can recall an instance where we felt truly alone, left behind, and frightened.  I know I can think of many, but one particular experience stands out for me.  

I grew up fishing with my dad...almost every weekend he was home we would go fishing.  I’m one of three children in my family, Brian is 2 years older than me and Brad is 4 years younger.  And, of the three of us I was the best fisherman.  I’m actually the only adult child who still enjoys fishing, and the outdoors... I think I was the boy my dad always wanted, although the first time he took me hunting...for squirrels, I cried.  That was my first and last hunting trip.  

We grew up out West...lived in Wyoming for 6 1/2 years, from the time I was 6 until I turned 11 when we moved to Colorado.  My dad worked as a builder...building bridges, tunnels through mountains, ski resorts, water treatment plants, and even worked on the Hoover Dam in the late 80s.  This kind of work kept us on the go, moving from one mountain town to the next.  

Growing up in the mountains of Wyoming and Colorado was not half bad, I have to say.  I still feel at home as soon as the snow top peaks appear in the horizon.  

Dad liked to fish for rainbow trout- he’d fly fish, but I never quite got the hang of that so I used mainly fishing lures- which I called fake little fish.  I was much happier with the fake little fish as I didn’t have to worry about putting live, slimy night crawlers on the hook as their insides came outside.  

This particular day, Brian, the older brother, and I both went fishing with Dad.  I think Brian only went for the ice cream.... we always stopped on the way back for ice cream at the local soda shop, next to my favorite- the pet store, in our quaint little downtown.

Dad had an old 1960’s chevy model truck that we’d drive on the weekends...it was pretty beat-up, but something about piling into that thing reminded me of him... and I felt safe in it.  There was just one seat...a long leather cushion that seemed to bounce with us as we rode along.  The truck almost always smelled of oil and fish..not a great combination, but it sure felt good to be in that truck riding next to my dad...while the hot sun melted me into a cozy sleep.  

We drove for about an hour and a half before arriving in Green River, about 30 miles outside of Rock Springs.  It was a perfect summer day, not too hot and not too cold.  

We’d stopped for bubble gum and soda’s on the way down with a promise for ice cream on the way home.  Brian, immediately began skipping rocks on the water even before unloading the truck.  Finally, we were set with poles and tackle boxes in hand, and ready to scope out a spot where we’d set-up camp.  Dad was pretty picky about finding a good spot.  We walked, and walked and walked...for what felt like a half-hour, along the river, before Dad was satisfied.  

For the next hour we settled in, catching one or two fish a piece until Dad was growing tired of our fishing spot.  As always, he would wander down the riverside, crossing it sometimes with his big rubber waiters that were waist high, and moving back and forth fishing from bank to bank.  This time, he said he’d be back in a short bit and that we should just stay in our spots and fish.  We were happy enough where we were...Brian wasn’t even fishing by now, but playing with sticks and rocks trying to lure a turtle.  I was now fishing with a worm..and had a bobber on a line so that I could sit and enjoy the view, and take it all in. I liked to feel all grown up like I could experience something amazing in that place.

Though I was pretty content to take it all in, I was also getting a little worried.  Dad had been gone for nearly an hour and we had finally lost site of him.  Brian said he would go off to look for Dad, but I demanded that he stay...I thought he’d get lost too, and then where would we be?  I fished, and put on another lure to pass the time, but another hour had passed and no dad.  At this point we were both convinced that we should leave our spot and set off to find him.  But...at the lsat second I remembered him saying, “Do not leave this spot...I will be back soon.”  As scared as I was and as alone as I felt I determined that we should stay put and that Dad would come back, and he’d know where to find us.  

The sun was less overhead, and nearing the western bank...teasing me with it’s return, as clouds came and passed by.  I knew that he was out there somewhere, but I couldn’t see him, and how could I be sure he was coming back??  

I began to cry and Brian stood close to me...I think even he was getting scared.  I mean, Dad had a tendency to wander down river while fishing, but he usually came back before long...

After about twenty minutes of tears...I heard a rustling in the grass, and soon enough saw his poles emerge from amongst the tree limbs... “DAD!  I screamed, you’re back!”

Though my dad wasn’t the savior of the world coming to take us into the world hereafter, he was my savior that day.  His promise to return was hard to believe when all I felt was his absence, the abandonment from the one I trusted to take care of me.  Of course upon seeing him, it was much easier to believe in his promise of return...as I hugged him and held onto him.

The disciples too, clung to their savior, uncertain of their futures.  Jesus, seeing their anticipatory grief tenderly reveals his love, and the father’s love- “an Abiding love that will come to them in the form of the Holy Spirit, which will strengthen their faith and enable them to carry forward the love and message of Jesus.  His words of hope mark the beginning of what the world now knows as the spirit-filled life, lived in and through and among the Spirit of God...this Holy manifested presence, the indwelling of our Lord.  Jesus says,

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.  This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.  I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you....”

The Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest, has described the Holy Spirit this way:

“When Jesus let go of his last breath willingly, we believe, for love of us- that breath hovered in the air in front of him for a moment and then it was set loose on earth. It was such a pungent breath so full of passion, so full of life that it did not simply dissipate as so many breaths do. It grew, in strength and in volume, until it was a mighty wind, which God sent spinning through an upper room in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. God wanted to make sure that Jesus friends were the inheritors of Jesus breath, and it worked.”  (ChurckCurrie.blogs.com)

As believers of the working, loving power of God to act and breathe in our lives today it is imperative that we recognize this Holy Spirit as God’s abiding love and as disciples we follow Christ’s commandments to Love one another as Christ loved us.  In times of pain and suffering when the world seems to close its doors, the Spirit will bring you comfort.  When the agony of loss threatens to take the very core of our existence into the dark places of hopelessness...the Spirit will reach out her hands.  

When violence and destruction sink their teeth into an already fragile humanity...we as followers of Christ, walking with the Spirit of truth must love the earth as caretakers with dominion as a responsibility not a birthright to power.  We must remain steadfast in the demanding of equal rights for all peoples and set forth an agenda that will deliver the marginalized out of the hands of the depraved and destructive forces that promote death and burial.  If we, as the United Church of Christ believe that God is Still Speaking we will open our hearts, minds and bodies to the leading of God dwelling within and amongst us, and as a community follow in these footsteps of Christ.  The same Christ Whose breath has breathed fire into the hearts of humanity...creating a catalyst that has synthesized our culture’s worldview, through tradition- reason- and experience, with the ethos of those who are called and believe.    

Barbara Brown Taylor says: “The question for me is whether we still believe in a God who acts like that. Do we still believe in a God who blows through closed doors and sets our heads on fire? Do we still believe in a God with power to transform us, both individuals and as a people, or have we come to an unspoken agreement that our God is pretty old and tired by now, someone to whom we may address our prayer requests but not anyone we really expect to change our lives?” (ChuckCurrie.blogs.com)

As believers, we must dig deep back to the unveiling of the world when the Creator God peeled back the layers from our eyes exposing us to a world without consciousness to a darkness that would inevitably seek to destroy love, that would invite us to sit by and watch.  We can not watch, and we will not participate in the decay of new life, roots that have lost their soil, souls whose roots are drying up, winds that no longer blow, and oceans that reflect the bloodshed upon our own hands.  

It is through this Spirit, the same spirit to which we pray in one of the most ancient of Christian documents, the Nicene Creed, that we can believe and continue to move forward in proclaiming the gospel of Love to the world.   

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.  May it be so.  Amen.

Sermon: Feb. 27, 2011: God our Mother

God our Mother

By Jenny Shultz

February 27, 2011

On December 17, 2010 Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, set himself on fire in protest of the social injustices incurred by himself, his family members and the thousands of others living under the oppression of the Tunisian autocratic regime.  Bouazizi was slapped in the face, spat upon, beaten and humiliated by a female municipal officer and her aides who had confiscated his scales and overturned his food cart simply because they had the power to do so, claiming that Bouazizi needed a permit to do business in the market.  We now know from the head of Sidi Bouzid's state office for employment and independent work, that no such permit was needed to sell from a cart.

Bouzizi’s protest and death, nonetheless, became the catalyst for the Tunisian revolution, leading then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to step down after 23 years in power.  This was only the beginning of what some are now calling the great Middle Eastern Revolution.  Concessions have already been made in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Berhain, Libya, and Yemen, with the most significant taking place on February 11, 2011, with the resignation of Hosni Mubarak, ending his 30-year reign as the president of Egypt. 

When reading through these famous words of Jesus, “Do Dot Worry about tomorrow” and the inferred rhetoric “Just believe, and God will take care of you.”  I imagine what these words of Jesus, spoken on the mountain that day, would have meant to Mohamed Bouazizi contemplating his life before setting himself aflame...  He might have wondered how and when this mysterious provision of God was to be revealed?  How tomorrow could possibly be better than today, or yesterday?  How Jesus could dare ask him to trust in God’s provision when his only means of receiving income, allowing him to care for his family was sabotaged day after day.  And Did the words of Second Isaiah demand a hearing from this man?  When would the mountains move and when would the roads to freedom to be illuminated in his lifetime?  When would the darkness turn to light and when would the shackles bound so tightly around his soul come crashing to the floor paving the way for freedom for his people?  What Freedom?!  Where was this God upon whose palms was written his very own given name?  How could this God really care for him?  When?  Today was the day of salvation, but where was she?  How could he find her bosom upon which he might lay his head?  As Zion lamented for her lost soul, he too probably felt forgotten...

The reading we heard a few moments ago from Matthew is not unique to this gospel text, but was modified from the Q source appearing in both Mark and Luke as part of Jesus great Sermon on the Mount.  We have heard several sermons from this teaching over the last couple of weeks, about being the salt of the earth & the light of the world, about covenantal relationships, about loving our enemies and today we will hear more of Jesus’s words promising God’s provision for God’s children” and about “God’s desire for our complete devotion”.  We will also hear a truth deeply imbedded in Jesus words echoing the promises of God through the prophet in Second Isaiah and uniquely accompanied by the voice of the psalter in Psalm 131 who is calmly familiar with the maternal instincts of a God caring for her beloved children.  

I think it is easy for us to hear the words of Jesus as he teaches his disciples and those gathering around in terms of what we should hear and what we should do and how we should live, and equally how we should respond to the commands,

“Do not worry”, and “serve God not mammon”. 

It does not seem so easy, however, when we hear these words in our current global context: when 17% of the world’s population is starving, when dictators are slaughtering their own people, when genocide is a leading cause of death in the developing world, when our own members sit among us as refugees from a land where freedom was taken away, when 27% of the world’s adult population is suffering from mental illness, and when the most powerful and lucrative nation in the world is liable to the debts of their nation’s wealthiest and greediest consumers.  When greed and pity are accustomed to defining the tendencies of this country’s leaders and when we, the Church, are scrambling around for answers...it is not easy.  

As we hear Jesus’s teaching in conjunction with the prophet’s exilic exhortations of comfort, hope and return there is a unique opportunity within hermeneutics to creatively interpret the metaphor’s implications here.  Jesus may simply want us to hear this message in it’s literal form and resolve to leave our anxiousness at the foot of Christ, setting aside our yearning for material possessions and illegitimate fears and replacing them with devotion to the one who can bring us ultimate peace.  I believe this is true, that Yes, Jesus wants our complete devotion, full trust, wants our unbridled hope and benevolent compassion for others to supersede our selfish desires, our fears and worries.  

I also believe that Jesus wants us to find sole comfort and security in the love of God who has promised to care for her children.  I’ll say that again, Jesus wants us to know, as he wanted the disciples and the crowd to know that day gathered around the mountainside that God’s love is enough for us.  

Barbara Brown Taylor shares a story about the re-discovering our security in God alone, in her book The Preaching Life.  She writes, “Not long ago I took part in the blessing of a friend’s home.  It was not her home, really.  It was a small yellow brick bungalow with a “For Sale” sign in the yard, a house lent to her by the owner while she was between jobs.  The real estate agent thought the house would “show” better with someone in it, and my friend was that someone.  Unsure how long she would be able to stay, unsure where she would go when the house sold and she had to leave, and fundamentally unsure about her ability to make her own living, she moved her things into the house and invited her friends to supper.

    Everyone brought a dish, or a fistful of flowers, or a small gift, and after we had all eaten well we gathered in the living room to begin the celebration.  The prayer book we used suggested several readings for the blessing of a home, and out of these we chose two.  First we read the story from Genesis about Abraham’s hospitality to the three strangers who stopped by his tent under the oaks of Mamre, and after that came a reading from the sixth chapter of Matthew’s gospel.  

    It was somewhat shocking, under the circumstances.  We had just gotten our firend settled.  We had just put the books onto the shelves and hung the curtains on the windows and lined up the cans in the cupboards.  We had just achieved the semblance of a home for her, even though we all knew it was no lasting home, and it would have been nice to hear a gospel lesson that saiad in effect, “You are safe now”  You have a place to live and everything will be all right now.”  That is not what it said.  

     You know what it said.  “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or hwat you will drink, or about your obdy, what you wil wear.  Is not life more than food, and the body more htanclothing?”  The words fell like stones in deep water.  No one coughed or cleared a throat as Jesus preached to us, assuming that we believed him, assuming that we took God’s providence for granted.  He was telling our friend that she was safe, but not because she had a roof over her head and a key to the front door.  “You are safe,” Jesus told her, “because the God who made you will not abandon you.  That is your home, which nothing and no one can take away from you”.   

What I hear in these texts today is a message from God, who is a loving mother, not only instructing us on “what to do or not to do”, but telling her children, Jews and Gentiles alike, those who are scattered about and who will come from all corners of the earth, that “I want to the move the mountains for you”, and I “will bring the rain that you might have food, I will create a clear path for you, and I will shelter you in the palms of my hands”.  Fully vulnerable and undisguised she has imminently exposed herself as a caring, nurturing mother ready to provide for her children.  In the manner of full disclosure she has relinquished the most human-like characteristic that will deliver, that will stand up, that will give us the faith we need in God to find strength enough to stand amidst the flames, find faith enough to protest in the streets, and fight for justice & equality for all peoples.   God wants to open wide the doors inviting us to come home, to find our home in the one and only sustainable & renewable source that exists, the source of all life...the love of God, of a mother for her children.  

We are not traditionally as accustomed to the maternal identity of God, who is called Father, Lord, Abba, King, ...among other terms, most referencing a male or paternal God.  In scripture it is actually quite rare to find such poignant metaphors as is revealed in the Isaiah passage, highlighting God as a nursing mother.  Both Second and Third Isaiah use female imagery for God more frequently than any other Old Testament body of literature.  We find a  similar depiction of God through the voice of the Psalter in Psalm 131 calling herself the weaned child of God her mother.  Isaiah 42:14 presents God as pregnant and giving birth; 66:12-13 portrays God as nursing and comforting the newborn.  

The historical context from which Isaiah is prophesying is Israel in exile, or shortly thereafter, and the people are presented as "barren" (49:21; see 54:1), that is, unable to bring about their own future.  Terence Fretheim, Professor of OT at Luther Seminary in St. Paul MN says, “Only God can make that future possible and the image of God as mother is used to emphasize this point. The result is described in the larger context of this passage (49?21), "I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away—so who has reared these? I was left all alone—where then have these [children] come from?" And the point is that God is the one who is responsible for birthing all these children and, as a result, the land is full of them. God has enabled Israel to thrive. 

Again, We may not be fully comfortable with or always recognize the Maternalism of God in our own relationships with her or even the usage of female images for God in our liturgies or interpretations of scripture, but for centuries Rabbis have equated the God of the Exodus with a Mother providing for her children.  Stating that the mother/child relationship, was extremely influential in terms of their view of and relationship to God.    

In her book, The God Who Feeds, Dr. Juliana Claassens, Associate Professor of Old Testament at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, shares, “Throughout the centuries, God’s gracious gift to Israel has captured interpreter’s imaginations such that it has been the inspiration for innovative theological reflection.  One of the most intriguing moves was made by rabbis who introduced creative imagery to describe manna and its significance.  For instance, several texts make a connection between manna or food imagery and nursing imagery when nursing langauge is used to describe God’s provisional care.  It seems they thought that the metaphor of a mother nursing her baby provided a fitting description of God’s complete care in the wilderness, expressing the fullness of life people experienced during this time.  A baby drinks every day from the mother’s breast, which completely satisfies his or her nutritional needs.  Similarly, every day Israel had enough manna to eat in the wilderness and was completely dependent on God’s protection.  What better way to express this absolute reliance on God for food than the relationship of a child with his or her mother?”  

Later she speaks to the Song of Moses, in Dut. 32:13-14 to demonstrate that God’s care for Israel included, as we hear in Jesus’ words from the gospel of Matthew, care for everything they needed.  She says, “In the midst of the food imagery, one finds the female metaphor of God nursing Israel, “with honey from the crags, with oil from flinty rock.  The term to nurse points to the absolute reliance of a baby on his or her mother as well as to the absolute sufficiency of the provision.  Also, the terms honey and oil serve to emphasize God’s amazing care for Israel.  Both honey and oil were regarded as middle eastern staples.  Particularly, oil had a multipurpose value, being used for food (I Kings 1712), cosmetics (Eccl 9:7-8), fuel for lamps (Exd 25:6), and medicine (Isa. 1:6).  Oil thus served as testimony of God’s blessing.  The fact that both honey and oil could be produced without human cultivation contributed to the development of oil and honey as symbols of God’s care for the people of Israel.”  pg. 6  

Do not worry about what you will eat, or what you will drink, or what you will wear.  

Again, we still see and know hungry people, we still have stressful lives, ourselves, with high-pressure jobs, family illnesses, college tuition, depression and addiction, we are not unlike those dessert wanderers looking for our daily bread, milk to drink and oil as a valuable resource.  

What we may not see, and yet what we cannot live without however, is the relationship, of child to mother.  You may feel like Mohhammed Bouzazi whose lament was deeper than the sorrows of those petitioning against him, like Zion who cried back at God in contempt, “The Lord has forsaken me, My Lord has forgotten me...can a woman forget her nursing child or show no compassion for the child of her womb?”

The answer is “Yes.”  A mother has forgotten, a mother has refused to feed, refused to love, refused to care...a mother has even killed her own child. When we look to the things of this word to deliver us, to set us on the right path... when we depend on the intellect of our own minds and the schemes of our brightest and noblest... when we champion a cause to save the world, even in the best of interests... when we decide that “we do not need God”, the answer is yes... a mother will always forget.  

But, how truly amazing it is, that when we open our hearts, devote our allegiance, surrender our broken and homeless souls to the Mother who can deliver us, who has given life to us, who has nursed our infant bodies, we will never be forgotten.  She said, “I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.  You cannot be forgotten.  You are my Beloved Child.  As the Psalmist quietly sings the song, we too can be quieted by the love of a Mother weaning her child.  

Bouazizi experienced life as death and death as life, but today it is with the hope we have in God, who will deliver us, who brought us out of bondage into freedom, that we can surrender ourselves to the giver of life and trust in God to go before us and with us as we face the complications of our lives.  In order to receive this Mother’s gentle touch, however, we must relinquish the illusion of control, the belief that we are safe in our big houses, safe with our big bank accounts or safe amidst all the great and wonderful things we do each day.  Even as Christians, committed advocates to bringing about justice in the world and working for peace and equality, giving and sharing...we too can shield ourselves from our mother’s cradled lap.  With milk and honey for the journey, all we need to do is reach out for the hand that will hold us, sit before the feet of the one who will guide us and find our home in the shelter of the caring mother.  Amen.