Siege

I don't have a lot to say today.  Lent is challenging enough when we give thing up of our own choosing.  Well there is something difficult about not knowing how things will work out.  Ends
do not justify means.  How things finish is important as how thing start.

We like to think in our daily lives that we know how things will end.  Most days with sleep and we rise to face a new day.  We are confronted by the problems of the world and in most cases we work hard to avoid common pitfalls.  We see people stuck in different situations.  I have been stuck in a number of difficult situations.  What they all had in common was the people outside of difficulties.  The world went on around us.

Well the only one outside of this situation we currently face is God.  This is a truly unique time on this planet.  Everyone is going through the same thing.  We see how we are really together and actually in a small place.

Thing about sieges you have to construct a new model of living.  You have to be content with things that you can not know.  How will this all end.  How will I go on tomorrow.  I will go on tomorrow this I know.  Now as a person of faith you recognize the similarities of a faith journey in general.

One thing about being in a siege is you will recognize the next time you find yourself in one.  I don't know how people lived years without electricity, but I know they never lost their love for electricity.  Now in this time of Lent we are being shown what little control we truly have.

On the positive side we are doing something new.  In the entire history of mankind there has been only one response to pandemic and that is death and kaos.  In 1918, they didn't even really understand what it was that was killing them.  It did not matter that they did not know why death had come they had learned faith in death.

Here today we are doing something or trying to do nothing to reduce death.  We have choose kaos instead of death.  We didn't really know we could make that decision.  We can.  We can believe what we do not see.

Our scripture today comes from the ninth chapter of John, well is the ninth chapter of John:


Healing the Man Born Blind

9 While He was passing by, He noticed a man [who had been] blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi (Teacher), who [a]sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed and illustrated in him. 4 We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world [giving guidance through My word and works].” 6 When He had said this, He spat on the ground and made mud with His saliva, and He spread the mud [like an ointment] on the man’s eyes. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of [b]Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing. 8 So the neighbors, and those who used to know him as a beggar, said, “Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Still others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But he kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” 11 He replied, “The Man called Jesus made mud and smeared it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received my sight!” 12 They asked him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”
Controversy over the Man

13 Then they brought the man who was formerly blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was on a Sabbath day that Jesus made the mud and opened the man’s eyes. 15 So the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He smeared mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.” 16 Then some of the Pharisees said, “This Man [Jesus] is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner (a non-observant Jew) do such signs and miracles?” So there was a difference of opinion among them. 17 Accordingly they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “[It must be that] He is a [c]prophet!”

18 However, the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the man’s parents. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but as to how he now sees, we do not know; or who has opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him [and stop asking us]; [d]he is of age, he will speak for himself and give his own account of it.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of [the leaders of] the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged Jesus to be the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue (excommunicated). 23 Because of this his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 So a second time they called the man who had been [born] blind, and said to him, “Give God glory and praise [for your sight]! We know this Man [Jesus] is a sinner [separated from God].” 25 Then he answered, “I do not know whether He is a sinner [separated from God]; but one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 So they said to him, “What did He [actually] do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27 He answered, “I already told you and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again and again? Do you want to become His disciples, too?” 28 And [at that remark] they stormed at him and jeered, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know [for certain] that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this Man, we do not know where He is from.” 30 The man replied, “Well, this is astonishing! You do not know where He comes from, and yet He opened my eyes! 31 We know [according to your tradition] that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone fears God and does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the [e]beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He would not be able to do anything [like this because God would not hear His prayer].” 34 They answered him, “You were [f]born entirely in sins [from head to foot], and you [presume to] teach us?” Then they threw him out [of the synagogue].
Jesus Affirms His Deity

35 Jesus heard that they had [g]put him out [of the synagogue], and finding him, He asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “Who is He, Sir? Tell me so that I may believe in Him.” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and [in fact] He is the one who is talking with you.” 38 And he said, “Lord, I believe [in You and Your word]!” And he worshiped Him [with reverence and awe]. 39 Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment [to separate those who believe in Me from those who reject Me—to declare judgment on those who choose to be separated from God], so that the sightless would see, and those who see would become blind.” 40 Some Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind [to spiritual things], you would have no sin [and would not be blamed for your unbelief]; but since you claim to have [spiritual] sight, [you have no excuse so] your sin and guilt remain.

So this to me as Jesus often does, puts things on their head.  I was blind but now I see becomes more than a celebration.  It is a coming of age story.  Now how does this comfort us today.  Well we are not necessarily together to be comforted, but I take wonder why it was that Jesus healed on that sabbath.  The man had been blind since birth.  Jesus was in no hurry up till this point to heal, but he was doing what was his nature teaching and healing.  He was being himself and had found a teachable moment.  For his disciples that day, for the pharisees, and for us.

Great teachers never miss those moments.  It is how you know that they are great.  Jesus shows great love for those closest to us but he shows great love to be sure to those far from him.

"Are we Blind?"  In so many ways the answer is yes.  Blind to what the world has been doing for so long.  Well the world has our attentions.  Perhaps it is finally time to stop:

[How often we write false thinking into custom, what a tyrant habit can become. When people do the same thing long enough it becomes tradition, and we pass it on from father to son as an accepted rule of life. Behind us are generations in which men held certain notions and followed certain behavior patterns, and walked so long in the same crooked paths that they inspired us to walk in those crooked paths, too, until now we have not only our own sin to conquer, but the sins of our ancestors as well. Call it heredity, call it original sin, call it anything you like it is there. Some one has said that every man is an omnibus in which all his ancestors are riding. This is why so many of our notions are false out dated and wrong.
But Jesus challenged custom! He never regarded any custom as sacred simply because it had been handed down from father to son, or because it had been accepted because of long use. He walked up to many a custom made sacred by tradition and challenged it. Recall to mind how many times Jesus began his talks with people by saying, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time---but I say---" It was as though he was saying, "What if men of old walked a crooked path? It need not be so with you. Suppose man has always answered violence with violence, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth it need not be so for you. Suppose man always has measured his importance by counting his servants, and sought greatness for himself by lording it over lesser men. This is false thinking handed down, and it need not be so among you."

You say the risk is great? Of course it is! That is what the cross was--a great risk, with the odds terribly against it.]

excerpt from http://wfmsermons.blogspot.com/2009/12/

Nottingham March 22, 2020 Conference Call

Not Available in Your Country

There is a feeling

Sleep

We don't turn off just turn our page

World on Fire

They seemed to know what they were doing when I came along

They bought things like regular gas sounded right

Dear me I love me

Nothing here is my fault

I was not asked to be here

I do not really know where here is

I see positive signs in faces I see

I hear words that resound in my soul

How do I know I have a soul?

Words resound there

Sympathetic vibrations that tear at my soul

Pain is what shows me my environs

Everywhere are we

Everywhere are them

I am me

I am we

Everything I've done in muscles memory

Nothing lost just not remembered

I am all there

I was all there

I know no way besides the way

Loving only the beginning

I lean me I teach me I send me I receive me

Forever new until forever is now

Consistency

It is what you are made of

What making kombucha reminds me

A two thousand year old connection

I like to put things together

With the new millennium we searched for sustainability

We created an unsustainable recycling industry like morons we are

A hundred years before there wasn't much garbage

Yes we were fewer but we made fantastic desserts from orange peals

Happy

Hallow brown in the eye

Blue haired to say blue eyed

Heard to describe what you smell

Tree people taking the bus to work

Diapers cleaned by hand and reused

The Roma scatter as the siren sounds

Dalmatia and they say every one has their own

Prose would do you fairer

A deep study 

Transcendental in thought

Helping good for you

A reciprocal relationship

You honor me let me honor you

You take some times from the least of us

Because it would be an insult not to

We drove away with the meat in the car

No words could be

A story I have now often told

From our perspective we had done nothing

There was this reflection in her eyes

A new beginning for her children

We brought art supplies and painted on the walls of one room

I was happy that day I would have liked to stay

Just above Visoko

There was a grim sense to war

We did so that we could

The hungry and cold easy to help

we are able

Our theme for this week again we find ourselves challenged.  If you don't find yourself challenged in your faith life, well I don't know how that would be.  I don't have a lot to say today, but something important to remember.

Somos del Señor: God Gives the Growth

This theme beautifully relayed in our scripture from Corinthians today.

1 Corinthians 3:7-9 Amplified Bible (AMP)

7 So neither is the one who plants nor the one who waters anything, but [only] God who causes the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one [in importance and esteem, working toward the same purpose]; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers [His servants working together]; you are God’s cultivated field [His garden, His vineyard], God’s building.

 There is seeming contradiction here, but it is an important starting place for us today.  We are the most important to God each of us.  Only in faith can we understand this fact.  We need to understand our value in what we do.  In My professional life I understand that I am completely replaceable.  Those moments I experience are however mine forever.  I often feel I am in the right place at the right time.  In our spiritual life we are not replaceable.

So much work that you could work to the end of you life and find your self at the beginning.  It is kind of surprising and what the old can't truly share with the young.  As I aged I often wonder why people didn't tell me more what to expect.  The world being so difficult actually makes it easier to help.  Not sure where to start, start where you are their is work all around.

Had an interesting time recently completing the first half of basic lay speaker training.  My first goal which I failed was to be on time.  Not only late I made Pastor Wilma and Sister Terry late.  My second goal was to try and learn something.  We took an overview of  the basic history of the church.  Well trodden territory as I a had helped recently with a confirmation class and also because I find history interesting.

We talked about what manifestations of God's power we experience in our life.  What came to me was the web of relationships that make all the small miracles of life.  Taken apart they almost seem like a God wouldn't have time to worry about such small things.  Pastor Moore spoke recently at Brother Keith's funeral how God always put him on his path when he needed dug out of the snow.  Several occasions he outlined.  

People when they think of religion they think of the big miracles.  I always think of the parting of the Red Sea.  That I am sure is because I watched the Ten Commandment movie so many times at my Granny's.  I didn't think I would ever see a miracle as big.  As we spoke about how the power of God manifested in our lives that day the thing that came to me was how the parting of the Red Sea was probably a very easy thing for God.  Water listens.  The Red Sea didn't debate.  Well guys like Keith never debated about helping, but you know people like that are all too rare. 

The greater miracle is that we find our way ever to where God wants us.  We have moments in our lives when we feel like we are in the right place at the right time.   Certainly we have quite a few that don't work out so well.  But these comedies of errors that our lives sometime become lead us in clear direction.

Today we are confronted by a Jesus in Mathew as tough as I know him.  Maybe that day flipping tables in the temple I think he was more fierce, but this scripture in Mathew is here for us everyday.  The entire scripture we read today Matthew 5:21-37 is kind of impossible.   The Jesus we are confront with here today in Mathew is the reason why so many Christians prefer to read Leviticus. 

Verse 21 and 22 read:

21 “You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever murders shall be [a]guilty before the court.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who continues to be angry with his brother or harbors malice against him shall be guilty before the court.

Yes Jesus is equating anger with murder.  That sounded impossible to me a child to not be angry.  Or to know that it is mentioned in the same breath as murder doesn't seem possible, but here we find it.

In Matthew 5:33-37 Amplified Bible (AMP)

33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not make false vows, but you shall fulfill your vows to the Lord [as a religious duty].’ 34 But I say to you, do not make an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God; 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you are not able to make a single hair white or black. 37 But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’ [a firm yes or no]; anything more than that comes from the evil one.

Pastor Debbie often recommends a second translation to look at scripture.  Here another look at the section on oaths.  Do you hear anything different.  What is it you hear.  What catches your spirit?

Matthew 5:33-37 Modern English Version (MEV)
Teaching About Oaths

33 “Again, you have heard that it was said by the ancients, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall fulfill your oaths to the Lord.’[a] 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these comes from the evil one.

We are here in the the sermon on the mount today.  A nice place to be I always think. Jesus here is was also rebuking those opponents he had at the time who were clearly hypocrites.   The context of this passage tells us te importance for our lives.  Jesus denounced those who took oaths with great words and no action.  A good definition for politics.  We don't need to swear great oaths with grand words at all.  These really serve no purpose.

I was pondering this scripture last week watching the new Picard Star Trek show.  I enjoy those shows for several reasons probably mostly because I watched with my father when I was young.  In any case I also enjoy the pan galactic mythology wisdom myths represented.  In this episode Thursday a character admonished a student to not make a promise. Don't be a jailer.  The details elude me, but the point remains.  Also reminds me of some of the best advice I ever got.  Do what you can.  Don't promise just do what you say you will.  Jesus ever radical.

We are able to follow this model presented here.  We can connect to more than two hundred years and we can connect to more than two thousand years.  You ask me how?  Well I don't really know that many ways, but I do know that there are many ways. 


I've found one in the last six months here in the youth center.  I've been experimenting with brewing Kombucha.  My long term goal is to create a new project, but this far I have only been in a testing phase.  I won't swear to anything righ now.

Things have been going along well enough that I have felt comfortable to share with friends.  I have been drinking regularly what I have brewed and have received no complaints thus far from those I have shared.  What makes me feel comfortable is the product I have managed to produce has been very consistent.  It reminds me  how we get to know anything.  

I have two scobies living in the Youth Center now each in their own glass container.  A mother and daughter if you will.  They create similar output each week.  The input to the process is sweat tea.  The scoby unlike my body loves sugar.  I like Kombucha because I have been habituated to having a drink.  Water might be a better choice, but kombucha is a better choice to many other drinks available.

Interestingly my thoughts of water remind me why they would make kombucha for so long.  Truth is for most of human history water was very sketchy.  Most of the middle ages in Europe the drink would be a fermented product.  Having this living kombucha keeps the bad stuff away essentially.  It is when I realized this it made sense to me why Kombucha was easier to make than I thought it would be.  People have been doing it for at least two thousand years.  What people do often isn't hard, this we have experience with as well.

So my mind finds this two thousand year old relationship in my life.  It's not so unusual to be connected through the millennia.  

I say all this to say something small.  The greatest miracles of God are in relationships that last and can be depended upon.  We know thing change, but we have things that remain consistent as long as we remember to teach.  There are many things in this world that are not broke.

Lord, we are able. We can see the connections that demonstrate your presence in our lives.  We can try to be where and when we are needed.  Some people find this world of evil daunting and do not know where to begin.

I myself have seen that it is easier to help where thing are worse.  In a war displaced people need shelter and food.  In Cleveland it isn't always clear what it is people need.

I would argue it isn't too much different from the struggles I see kids make everyday at school.  They often can not find the right answer because they don't fully accept what the question asks them.  47 what?  A math classic teaching about units, but the point is people fail to see connection.  

Do you see miles per hour as a division problem?  I enjoy teaching about units.  You know it isn't only numbers and variables we do math with: meter times meter is meter squared.  Well I think math is good fun.  It is our reading comprehension tested here.

Paul is reminding us that we are children of God who need to mature in God.  We have plenty of work.  To my mind I see Paul still hoping to feed  us solid food soon.  Spiritual colic is like the regular one about learning to digest and accept.

Let Us Pray: God of all creation, the offering we bring to your altar this day is the fruit of our labors; and we want to bring you the best we have. No harvest comes from us alone but starts in your goodness; and many have contributed to every good gift we bring. Working together in your fields, generous God, we pray that our gifts might be used to bless others who hunger for connection with you. We pray in the name of Christ, our savior and redeemer. Amen. (1 Corinthians 3:1-9)

Nottingham Feb 16, 2020