Like a Breath

The book of Ecclesiastes is surprisingly modern. It considers questions that many people ask all the time: Who are we, anyway? Why is life worth living? Is anything permanent? This sermon considers the last question. Ecclesiastes says that everything is like a breath -- here one day and gone tomorrow. If that is the case, what can we rely on? This sermon offers an answer.
 

The book of Ecclesiastes is to the Bible as a formal gown is to a county fair. It just doesn’t seem to belong there! Its thinking is so different from any other Biblical book that many people wonder how it was ever included in the Old Testament in the first place! Here’s how different the book of Ecclesiastes is. What doesn’t belong in this group? Puppy… kitten… bunny rabbit… rhinoceros. Of course, all four are animals. But putting a rhinoceros right next to three fluffy, cuddly little critters just doesn’t seem right. That’s how many people feel about Ecclesiastes. It does talk about God… a few times. And it certainly considers the meaning of life, which is certainly a suitable topic for the Bible. But while the Psalms and the Proverbs and even the book of Job affirm that life is good, and believe that justice ultimately prevails, Ecclesiastes doesn’t buy any of it. It’s the “minority report” of Old Testament wisdom literature.

Everything that Ecclesiastes believes is built on the Hebrew word “hevel.” It is used three times in the first verse, and almost 40 times in the entire book (which, by the way, is only 12 chapters long). “Hevel” is translated a variety of different ways depending on which Bible you’re reading.

·      The King James Bible translates it as “vanity,” and so does the New Revised Standard Version.

·      The New International Version translates it as “meaningless.”.

·      The New English Bible translates it as “emptiness,” while the Jewish Publication Society translates it as “futility.”

·      Possibly the best translation is the one that Eugene Peterson used in his Bible paraphrase The Message. He translates “hevel” as “smoke.”

The Hebrew word “hevel” literally means “vapor.” When you go outside on a cold day and you can see your breath, that’s “hevel.” The steam that comes out of a pot of boiling water is “hevel,” and so is the smoke rising from a campfire. “Hevel” is mist. You can see it, but you can’t touch it. And it’s brief – very, very brief. At best, you can see “hevel” for a couple of seconds. After that, it dissolves into the air around it. That’s why it seems to me that “brief” would be the best way to translate this Hebrew word that is so full of shades of meaning.

Ecclesiastes claims that everything we do and even who we are is “hevel.” Listen to the list of things that Ecclesiastes identifies as “hevel.” Wealth and possessions are “hevel.” So are all our great plans, as well as the fame that sometimes results from them. Youth and strength are “hevel,” and so is beauty. Even wisdom is “hevel,” and certainly our own lives are, too. All of them are “hevel” – very, very brief. And Ecclesiastes has a point. Remembering that everything we have and everything we do is “hevel” is not a bad thing.

Lots of people seem to forget that these days, don’t they? They worry about money like it will help them live forever. They accumulate “stuff” as though having enough of it will make them the winners at the game of life. (Have you seen the bumper sticker that says, “The one who dies with the most toys wins”? That’s their philosophy of life in 9 words!) They have a horror of aging, and so they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on Botox treatments and face lifts and tummy tucks. And they jump on each self-help fad with an energy that can only be described as desperate. They want to keep themselves forever young and healthy, and be rich and beautiful. And, of course, it never happens. It can’t happen! Every king, emperor, or pharaoh who ever lived died in the end. Yes, everyone’s life is brief… and no one has ever figured out how to take it with them. Not one.

It makes me wonder what the author of Ecclesiastes would say to us if he (or she) were here today. Perhaps he (or she) would give us some advice.

First, put things in their proper perspective. If everything is “hevel,” then it is foolishness to rely on it too much. Wealth, possessions, fame, health – all of it is “hevel,” and one day it will all be gone. Isaiah asks us, “Why do you work for things that don’t satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:2a), and Ecclesiastes would echo that question. Relying on money or fame or good looks is like relying on smoke! Now, to be sure, none of these things are bad. Ecclesiastes doesn’t say that. In fact, they are gifts from God. “Go, eat your food with gladness,” advises Ecclesiastes (9:7-9). “Drink your wine with a joyful heart. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your spouse, whom you love, all the days of this brief life that God has given you under the sun – all your brief days.” I’d say that’s pretty good advice. And it’s also good advice to remember that none of it will last forever.

Second, we should put ourselves in proper perspective, too. Lots of people think that they’re pretty important. You know the type. In their opinion, if something happened to them, the sun might not rise tomorrow. Well, Ecclesiastes begs to differ. Wall Street banker or housewife, rock star or homeless man, four-star general or fourth grader – not a one of us is indispensable! Our lives are brief, and the world keeps right on going whether or not we are in it. So, what’s the good news, preacher? If our lives are so short and we’re so unimportant, what’s the point of doing anything? Why not just give up?

Well, that’s certainly the conclusion that some folks come to. But not Ecclesiastes. As brief as our lives may be, Ecclesiastes reminds us that those lives are bound up in God – and God is the one thing in our lives that is not “hevel”! That may be the most important advice that the author of Ecclesiastes would offer us if he (or she) were here today. God is the one constant that we can rely on, no matter who we are and no matter what our situation may be. Our lives are like a breath that appears one moment and vanishes the next; but God is from everlasting to everlasting, more reliable than the mountains. And because God is reliable, we never need to worry about what will happen to us from one minute to the next. Now, we let’s have no illusions – life is not easy. The author of Ecclesiastes would be the first to agree with that. But he (or she) would also be the first to remind us that bad times don’t last. Bad times don’t stay around forever! They are “hevel,” too. And God is here with us, no matter what happens. God is truly our Rock, the One on whom we can always rely.

“Hevel.” Vapor… mist… smoke… like a breath. Yes, that’s what we humans are. But thanks be to God that God is anything but “hevel”! How does Isaiah put it? “All people are like grass, and their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will endure forever.” (Isaiah 40:6b, 8)

I Didn't Do Anything!

 Do we earn the blessings that we enjoy in our lives? Most people would say "yes." I agree with them -- but only to a point. And whether we say "yes" or "no" influences what we do with those blessings. Do we share them... or hang on to them tightly. Maybe this sermon will make you think about your blessings in a different way.

“I didn’t do anything!” Now, I ask you, what kind of statement is that? Is it a protest? Is it a confession? Or is it a lament? Let’s take a look at the possibilities.

Anyone who has ever been around children will probably see this statement as a protest. When they are accused of having some part in mischief, most children will immediately cry, “But I didn’t do anything!” Does that sound familiar?

Imagine this scene. Mother is folding laundry in the bedroom while Billy is watching Sesame Street. Suddenly, a huge crash echoes from the kitchen. Mother rushes in, and is greeted by fragments of the ceramic cookie jar spread all over the floor. “What happened?” Mother cries. Billy doesn’t skip a beat. “I didn’t do anything,” he says innocently.

Now, we all know that the cookie jar didn’t jump off the counter and commit suicide all by itself. Billy gave it some help. After all, he was the only other person in the house at the time! But it’s human nature to try to hide our crimes. All of us have said, “But I didn’t do anything!” at one time or another.

But that statement can be understood in another way. Sometimes when we say, “I didn’t do anything,” it’s not a protest; it’s a confession. When we are adult enough to realize that we enjoy benefits that we did nothing at all to deserve, then we confess, “But I didn’t do anything.” The Israelites weren’t very good at admitting that. The scripture reading this morning (Deuteronomy 8:7-18) is a portion of the book of Deuteronomy, the great sermon that Moses delivered to the Israelites as they stood on the very threshold of the Promised Land. “Now remember,” he tells them, “one of these days you’re going to have it pretty good. On that day, you’ll be tempted to say, ‘Hey, look at all the things I have! I’ve done pretty well for myself, haven’t I?’ Well, don’t fool yourselves. Remember that it was God who gave you all those things! You really didn’t do anything at all to deserve them.”

We Americans give in to that temptation all the time. Our culture just loves to brag about successful people who look like they have made it all by themselves. We admire people who have “pulled themselves up by their bootstraps.” In fact, there is a philosophy lurking in the bushes these days that says that we should all just leave one another alone! Let all our neighbors fend for themselves! That’ll weed out the hard workers from the people who only sponge off everyone else. And it sounds really good! After all, there’s nothing wrong with hard work. Hard work is a good thing! Hard work is, in fact, a big part of being successful. But hard work alone can’t earn all the blessings that we enjoy every day. The reality is that “we didn’t do anything” to deserve the good life that we all have. Don’t believe me? Let me ask you a few questions.

Did you get an education? Great! You studied hard, and you applied that education in the jobs that you held later in life! But where do you think your school system came from? Other people set it into place without any help from you. In many places in the world, there is no education system. Or it’s only for the very wealthy. Or it’s only for boys. You took advantage of our system – but beyond that, you didn’t do anything. And by the way, that good brain that you have – you were born with it. You didn’t do anything to get it.

Maybe you own a business. Wonderful! Whether it’s a farm or a grocery store or a beauty shop, you worked hard to make it a success. But – how did you get it in the first place? Did you inherit it from your parents? You didn’t do anything to bring that about, did you? It was pure chance that you were born into the family that you were. Maybe you didn’t inherit it, but took out a small business loan, instead. Many places in the world don’t offer small business loans. If you aren’t born into a wealthy family – well, too bad for you!

Are you beginning to see why I claim that the confession, “I didn’t do anything” applies to every single one of us? It even applies to our church! Most of you know that Nashville has received a considerable sum of money as a bequest from a former member. Did we do anything to deserve it? Nope. The fact is that there are millions of small, friendly, faithful churches just like ours who need money just as much as we do. We were simply blessed enough to receive it. What did we do to earn this gift? Not a darn thing!

“I didn’t do anything.” A protest; a confession; and one more thing: a lament. It’s the lament of Marley’s ghost in the story A Christmas Carol.

You all know that story. Jacob Marley was the partner of Ebeneezer Scrooge; and two more grasping, miserly men were never found upon the face of the earth. Marley visits Scrooge on Christmas Eve, begging him to change his ways, and confessing that he is eternally condemned because of the way he conducted his business. “But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” Scrooge replies. “Business?” cries the ghost. “Mankind was my business! Charity, mercy, and benevolence were all my business! Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down?”

“I didn’t do anything.” That was Jacob Marley’s bitter lament.

“I could have shared some of my wealth with others who needed it desperately, but I didn’t do anything.”

“I could have tried to understand their troubles instead of congratulating myself on my success, but I didn’t do anything.”

“I could have made a difference in the lives of people who were frightened and neglected and lonely, but I didn’t do anything.”

Marley’s ghost was beyond all help. My spirit, he tells Scrooge, “is doomed to wander through the world… and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness.” But we are not doomed to that fate. The world is full of chances for us to offer the help that we are able to offer because of the blessings that we have received.

People in West Milton and in Tipp City and in Troy need our help.

People in Chicago and in New York City and in Los Angeles need our help.

People in Nicaragua and in Colombia and in Kenya need our help.

And we have help to offer them! This congregation has a long tradition of responsible stewardship, of sharing what we have with those who have needs that we can help satisfy.  Empowered by the Spirit, we will continue to do all kinds of things that extend God’s love in our own neighborhood and around the world in the name of Jesus Christ. That, friends, is the greatest blessing of all. We need never say, “I didn’t do anything.”

God's Vision

What does God see that we do not? Or, more to the point, what could we see if we looked at the world using God's eyes instead of our own? Too often, we see only what is written in large, bold letters, and overlook what seems insignificant. This sermon -- my first after returning from a denominational meeting in Long Beach, California -- considers just this question.

Let me give you some background information about this morning's scripture reading (Habakkuk 2:1-3). Oh, it’s a great reading all by itself. But if I set this reading in its historical context, it might have even more meaning for you.

Habakkuk was a prophet who lived in the southern kingdom of Judah, probably 600 years before Christ. If we read from the first chapter of the book, we would find that he is dismayed at what he sees around him. “Why do you make me look at injustice?” he asks God. “Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are all around me. There is strife, and conflict abounds. The law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted (1:3, 4). Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” (1:13) In other words, what is wrong with you, God? The world is all messed up! Things shouldn’t be the way that they are! Why, Habakkuk has begun to wonder if God is even on the job anymore.

Things haven’t changed much, have they? We can echo Habakkuk’s complaint almost word for word. “Destruction and violence are all around me.” That’s for sure, especially if we live in some Chicago neighborhoods. “Conflict abounds. The law is paralyzed.” He might as well be talking about our Congress. They can’t get agree on enough to get even the simplest bipartisan bill passed. “The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.” Yeah, there are plenty of wicked folks around. Oh, we can’t agree on who they are. Some people call them Big Government, while others call them Big Business. Democrats call them Republicans and Republicans call them Democrats. And all of us call them lobbyists and special interest groups. In the end, it doesn’t really matter what we call them. They’re wicked; and they’re as thick as fleas!

In his frustration, Habakkuk goes to the highest point on the city walls – up on the ramparts – and he issues God a challenge. “Talk to me, God! What’s going on, anyway? Why are things the way they are?” And then, this verse began the scripture reading this morning: “I will look to see what God will say to me, and what answer he will give to my complaint.” (2:1) I wonder if Habakkuk even expected a response! Well, God gave him one. “I have a vision,” God replied, “and what a vision it is! I want you to write it down so that everybody can see it. It’s not here yet, but it will be one of these days, I promise. Just keep looking for it…”

God’s vision. What God sees is very different than what we see! What does God see that we do not? What is God showing us that we’re overlooking? What vision is God talking about?

“God’s Vision” was the theme of this year’s General Synod, the gathering of the whole United Church of Christ that takes place every two years. I was once again a delegate from the Ohio Conference. From the moment that we walked through the door of the convention center in Long Beach, California, we were reminded that God has a vision – a vision not just for the church, but for all humanity. Signs on every wall proclaimed aspects of that vision. It’s a vision of beauty, blessing, and laughter. It’s a vision of compassion, understanding, and embrace. It’s a vision of equality, inclusion, and healing. It’s a vision of forgiveness and mercy and grace.

For six whole days, we celebrated that vision together. Now, we were reminded that we are a long, long way from its fulfillment. But we were also reminded that we can see it around us if we take the time to look for it; and if we ask God for the eyes to see it. I glimpsed it at General Synod more than once.

I caught God’s vision of healing in the rainbow scarves that were carried, mailed, or delivered to General Synod. Let me tell you a little bit about those scarves. Over a year ago, members of the UCC were challenged to knit rainbow scarves to symbolize our solidarity with folks who are bullied. Millions of people, you know, both young and old, are bullied on a daily basis. Maybe they’re not smart enough. Maybe they’re too smart. Maybe they’re gay – or people think that they are. Maybe they just don’t fit in. In solidarity with any and all of these folks, UCC members knit scarves. Our UCC leadership hoped to collect 2 or 3 thousand scarves. Over 10,000 were collected. Each scarf came with a pledge to resist bullying in any and all of its forms. God’s healing is all around us.

I caught a vision of community during our Sunday afternoon worship. That Sunday worship is open not just to delegates and registered visitors, but to anyone who wants to worship with us. This year, over 3,000 worshippers gathered in the convention hall. I sat not in front of the stage where the Ohio Conference sat to do its work, but in the back, feeling just a little bit overwhelmed. Several folks wearing identical tee shirts sat down next to me. The woman who was sitting the closest introduced herself – Janet, from Altadena United Church of Christ in the foothills of Southern California. We struck up a conversation, and discovered that we had a lot in common. Her congregation is like this one: rural, aging, on the smallish side, but with lots of love and big dreams for the future. Before worship was over on that day, we had promised to pray for each other, Janet and I, and for each other’s congregations. So don’t be surprised if a reminder to pray for Altadena UCC appears in our worship bulletin. After all, we are all a part of one loving community as we worship the same God, serve the same Christ, and are empowered by the same Spirit even though we are physically so far apart.

And I caught God’s vision of inclusion as we celebrated the diversity of delegates who gathered in Long Beach, California. We were men, women, gay, straight, and transgendered. We came together from around the country. We – or our ancestors – came from all over the world: Africa, Alaska, Mexico, China, Europe, Japan, Central and South America, and everywhere in between. Many of us were differently abled. Some had mobility issues and used scooters to navigate the convention center. Others needed assistance with sight or hearing. Still others requested our patience as they communicated with what we call speech impediments. All are God’s children, and are precious in God’s sight. All are included at the table, and all are welcome there.

Now, it’s hard to keep God’s vision in our eyes when we live in a world that’s so full of suffering and deception. But if we don’t hang on to God’s vision, we risk becoming cynical and jaded. We risk losing hope – and hope is a big part of God’s vision.

On the evening of the Fourth of July, as I was recovering from my trip and from the three-hour time difference between Ohio and California, I discovered that one of my favorite movies was on TV – The Music Man. For those of you who may not be familiar with the story, The Music Man concerns Professor Harold Hill, a traveling salesman who represents himself as a musician who organizes boys’ bands. In reality, he can’t read a note of music. He intends to collect money for uniforms and band instruments, and then get out of town before anybody catches on to the scam. The climax of the movie comes when he is caught and hauled before a meeting of the townspeople. His goose is cooked. The townspeople are even muttering about tar and feathers. Then Marian the librarian stands up. “Do you remember what this town was like before he came here?” she asks? “And do you realize how much he has changed it?” She has seen what the townspeople have not. They have focused on the fact that he is a crook – and he is. They have focused on the fact that he has no idea at all how to organize and lead a band – and he doesn’t. They have focused on the fact that their hard-earned dollars have gone for uniforms that might never be worn and for instruments that might never be played. And they are absolutely correct!

But Marian has seen something else. She has seen him unite the bickering school board into a barbershop quartet, their bitter quarrels turned into beautiful harmony. She has seen the town youth begin to believe in themselves and in their ability to create something worthwhile, even though they only live in an out-of-the-way place called River City, Iowa. And she has seen her brother change profoundly. From a withdrawn boy grieving his father’s death, so ashamed of his lisp that he will not even speak; he has been transformed into a happy, outgoing young man who looks forward to the future with joy. Oh, yes, her vision is very different than the vision of everyone else in town.

Now, I don’t want to put too much emphasis on a movie. After all, a movie is only meant to entertain us… isn’t it? But it does make me wonder. What does God see that we do not?

Is it possible that joy and laughter and grace are just as real – and just as powerful – as deception and pain and suffering? What would happen if we would focus on God’s gifts of community and inclusion and healing?

The book of Habakkuk ends with this verse (3:19) – “The Sovereign Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to stand on the heights.” My prayer for all of you, and for all God’s people, whoever they are and wherever they may be, is that we might catch the vision that God offers us. Then we will truly stand on the heights, for we will see with God’s eyes. When we do – and someday we will – on that joyous day, we will see forever!

Being Yeast

My congregation was delighted to congratulate three graduates this past Sunday -- one high school graduate and two college graduates! This sermon is directed to them, of course, but also to everyone else who reads it. Scoot, you people! Go be yeast!

“So, what do you want to be when you grow up?” Graduates, did you ever hear that question when you were children? What did you answer? Did you always know that you wanted to be a nurse or a mechanical engineer? Maybe you were more like me. I didn’t end up doing at all what I wanted to do at first.

When I was a kid, all the way back in elementary school, I wanted to be a paleontologist – a scientist that digs up dinosaur bones! I don’t even remember why I wanted to do that, except that dinosaurs have always fascinated me (which, by the way, they still do). But when I got to high school, I decided that I would rather be a research biologist. And that’s what I did end up doing for quite a few years. I went to college and got a degree in biology; and then I went to graduate school and pursued cell biology; and I ended up running a rather large cancer research lab in Philadelphia. But, of course, I’m not doing that now. My life changed, as it may for you, as well. After marriage and a family, I finally discerned a call to ministry, and… well, here I am.

So the answer to the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” may not be as straightforward as it appears to be at first glance. Your life has changed already from the time when you were a little tyke; and it will continue to change as you grow older and gain more experiences. But you already know that. And you already know that what you are pursuing as a career right now might well change during your life – not once, but maybe even several times. Careers aren’t as stable as they once were; and you can look forward to a longer life span than ever before. But whatever career you decide to pursue throughout your life, and no matter how long you live, I hope that there is one constant whatever you do and wherever you go. I hope that you continue to be yeast your whole life long!

“Yeast? What is that woman talking about?” you’re probably thinking right now. “Why in the world would I want to be yeast?” Let me introduce you to yeast. Maybe that will give you a clue. Yeast is actually a single-celled microorganism. In other words, it’s a little bitty cell that you can’t see without a microscope. But, oh, my, we can certainly see what it does! If you want to have beer – or a risen loaf of bread – you have to have yeast. When yeast is added to certain food mixtures – specifically, mixtures that contain specific kinds of sugars – all the little yeast cells start to nibble on that sugar, and they eventually turn it into carbon dioxide and ethanol. The ethanol is the alcohol in your beer; and the carbon dioxide is what makes the bread rise. All the little holes in the middle of your bread are there because of the action of yeast. Without yeast, both your beer and your bread will be flat. If you want a little action in your cooking, you need to add some yeast. And you don’t need much of it! Just a tiny bit of yeast affects the whole batch.

Some Bible texts compare yeast to pretty nasty stuff. In both Matthew and Luke, Jesus warns his disciples to beware of the “yeast of the Pharisees.” Just like a little bit of yeast can cause the entire loaf of bread to rise, just a little bit of their teaching can spoil your faith – at least, according to Jesus. And Paul compares inappropriate behavior to yeast. In I Corinthians, for example, he warns that the immoral behavior of just one person can infect the whole Christian congregation! Better to throw out those immoral people, he advises, than to spoil the entire community!

Well, if yeast is such bad stuff, why in the world am I encouraging you to behave like it? It’s because, even though Jesus compared yeast to the teaching of the Pharisees that can spoil faith, he said that the Kingdom of God works the very same way. “What is the Kingdom of God like?” Jesus asked his disciples. Then he answered his own question. “The Kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.” The New Testament Greek actually says that the woman “hid” that yeast in “three measures” of flour. That amount of flour is a huge amount of flour – almost half a bushel. And that tiny little bit of yeast got completely mixed up in all that flour. And once the yeast is in the flour, you can’t very well get it back out, can you? That’s the way the Kingdom of God works, Jesus says. It gets all mixed in with other things until you don’t even notice it any more. But don’t worry! You don’t need very much of it to change things, just like the bread rises with just a little bit of yeast.

Are you beginning to see why I hope you behave like yeast? You are a part of the Kingdom of God – in fact, everybody in this congregation is a part of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is in us, working to transform us into the image of Jesus Christ, just like yeast works in bread flour. And if you’re a part of the Kingdom of God, then wherever you go, you have the chance to start to change the world into the kind of place that God wants it to be! Just like a little bit of yeast leavens the whole batch, one person working on behalf of Jesus Christ can change everything around them! Oh, it doesn’t happen right away. It takes bread quite a while to rise, after all. And the results aren’t always very dramatic. But a little bit of yeast in the middle of the flour always changes the bread that comes out in the end.

Let me give you an example. When Denise graduated from college, she was hired by a large corporation. She worked in her own little cubicle doing… whatever it was that she did. The atmosphere in her office wasn’t terribly inviting. People didn’t socialize very much. They kept to themselves, and only interacted at the weekly progress meetings of their group. After a few weeks, Denise felt that she didn’t really know any of them, even though she knew their names and worked shoulder to shoulder – or cubicle to cubicle – with them. One morning Denise marched in with a big box of fresh doughnuts from her local Tim Horton’s coffee shop. (Denise had good taste in coffee!) She sent out an email to all the folks in nearby cubicles. “Are you hungry? Come on down to Denise’s cubicle for breakfast. It’s on me!” Curious heads began to peer in. “You brought doughnuts? Really? Did you bring chocolate ones? Can I have one?” No one had ever done that before. Of course, none of them lingered too long – they were in the middle of their morning’s work, after all. But Denise found out that Florence was worrying about a sick child at home; and that Mark loved fishing; and that Kathy was going through a very messy divorce. Things began to mysteriously appear in those cubicles – a frozen casserole for Florence, a small bouquet of flowers for Kathy, and a card with a rainbow trout on its cover that wished Mark a great vacation. Slowly the atmosphere in that office began to change. People got to know one another. People started caring about one another. People started helping one another. “The Kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman hid in three measures of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Now, you can’t always see change that quickly. Sometimes, in fact, you can’t see any change at all, even though you are acting like yeast with all your might. You might even get kind of discouraged after a while. But don’t worry. The yeast of the Kingdom of God is working even if we can’t see it doing its thing. The littlest things send up little bubbles of the Kingdom. If you are honest in the midst of a culture that’s fixated on lies… look, there goes a bubble up from your yeast. When you behave unselfishly when everyone else is looking out for himself… oops, there goes another bubble of the Kingdom! And when you send up a quick, silent prayer for help on behalf of someone who needs it… why, it’s more action from your Kingdom yeast! All of these things sends a little bubble of God’s Kingdom out into the world. And with enough little bubbles… why, pretty soon, people start to notice that something is different. They may not know what it is… but we do. It’s God’s Kingdom breaking through into the world, bit by bit. It’s all because of those little bits of yeast, all quietly doing their thing in the big flour barrel of the world.

So, brand new graduates of the class of 2013 – accept our congratulations on your accomplishment! Look forward to the new challenges that you will face, and the new obstacles that you will overcome! And then, go out there and be yeast for the Kingdom of God. Believe me, it will be the most important work that you will ever do!

With Us in Battle

This sermon is dedicated to the men and women who serve our country, especially those who have died in the line of duty. I am convinced that God doesn't take a side in our political squabbles, but that God DOES stay at the right hand of every soldier, sailor, or pilot who is ready to die for the greater good. Let us never forget them.

 “Where is God in the midst of war?” That is a real issue for every soldier, sailor, or pilot who professes to being a Christian. Enlisted men and women who wrestle with that question keep military chaplains very busy, indeed. For some Christians, that answer is easy. Jesus taught us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, and to turn the other cheek. So, some folks conclude that God wants nothing to do with war. These people are pacifists, and they refuse to fight under any circumstances.

But two facts argue against this conclusion. The first is that our world isn’t what it is supposed to be. While God wants only peace and wholeness for all people, there is always somebody who wants to take away what we have for their own benefit. Sometimes that means that we have to take up arms against them. Imagine what our world would be like now if we had allowed Hitler to continue with his ambitions!

And the second fact is that God has always been connected with war in one way or another. The Old Testament is full of stories about God fighting on behalf of God’s people. These stories are rooted in the ancient belief that every tribe had its own god; and that one of the jobs of that god was to go to battle on behalf of the people who worshipped him. Victory in battle proved that you worshipped the biggest, baddest god on the block. Israel was no different. They relied on Yahweh to lead them into war and to fight for them, as this morning’s reading makes clear (Deuteronomy 20:1-4). That belief was a part of their faith until the Babylonian Exile forced them to reexamine it. (But that’s a topic for another sermon…)

Lots of people still believe this way. The news these days is full of reports about radical Muslims praying to Allah as they kill those who don’t believe exactly as they do. The terrorists who destroyed the World Trade Center on 9/11 did just that. But some Christians buy into this kind of thinking, too. Because we believe that God loves us (which God does) and because we see ourselves as faithful Christians (which, in most cases, we are), we fall into the trap of believing that God takes our side in armed conflicts. And that I’m not so sure about.

Even the portions of the Old Testament that are convinced that God goes to war for us have some stories tucked in out-of-the-way corners that cause us to think again. The book of Joshua, for example, contains a little story about an angel who meets Joshua on the evening of a crucial battle. Now, if anyone had the right to expect God to fight for him, it was Joshua! He had been commissioned by Moses himself to take command of the Israelites after Moses’ death. Under Joshua’s leadership, God’s people crossed the Jordan River; and Joshua led them in battle against the Canaanites in order to have a safe home in the Promised Land. On the eve of the battle of Jericho – a battle that, by the way, he was fighting on God’s orders – Joshua had a very puzzling encounter. This is how the book of Joshua tells it: “Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, ‘Are you for us or for our enemies?’ ‘Neither,’ he replied, ‘but as commander of the army of the Lord I have come.’” (Joshua 5:13-14)  Neither for them nor against them? Why, then, is that angel there at all? Maybe it was to remind Joshua that God is far above our political concerns. God is above “taking sides.” Taking sides is for fifth-graders on the playground who are caught up in the middle of petty squabbles. We expect fifth-graders to choose up sides, and to side with their friends. But God? God doesn’t take sides. On the contrary, we are the ones who are called by God to take a side! In the battles that we fight, are we for God… or are we against God?

A story is told about President Abraham Lincoln as he struggled with difficult decisions in the midst of the Civil War. He had invited a group of leaders to the White House to help him in making some of those decisions; and at the end of the meeting one of those leaders asked, “Mr. President, can we pray that God stays on our side?” Lincoln’s wise response was, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side. My greatest concern is whether we are on God's side.” No, God doesn’t take sides. After all, both North and South were convinced that God was on their side! On the contrary, we are the ones who are called to take sides; and we are called to be on God’s side.

Are we on God’s side? In particular, are we on God’s side when we must go to war? Surely every soldier is on God’s side when he or she is willing to lay down his life for the good of her country! In the Gospel of John Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this, that they are willing to lay down their life for their friends.” Sacrifice for a greater good is surely taking the side of a God who has sacrificed himself for our welfare!

And that brings us back to our original question, “Where is God in the midst of war?” If we can’t say that God is on our side politically when we go to war; then where is God, anyway? The story of Joshua meeting the angel might give us a clue to the answer. Although God may not be leading us in battle, fighting for us or against us, God presence will surely be at the side of every single soldier. God certainly is on our side when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves for a greater good. Wherever our soldiers are called to fight; whatever they are called to do in battle; and whether they live or die, God has promised to be at their side.

God has been at the side of our soldiers down throughout our history.

God stood at Lexington when the Minutemen took their first shots at the British, and God shivered with Washington’s troops in the bitter cold of Valley Forge.
God was with our troops at Fort McHenry as the British rained bombs on it; and God stood next to Francis Scott Key on a ship in the harbor as he wrote “The Star Spangled Banner.”
God took cover with the Yanks in the Bloody Lane at Antietam, and charged bravely forward with the Rebels under General Pickett at Gettysburg.
God endured the mud of the trenches during World War I, and walked among the poppies in Flanders Fields where our dead are buried.
God flew with the pilots of the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, and waded ashore with our GIs into the hell that was Omaha Beach.
God sweltered in the steaming jungle rivers of Vietnam, and endured captivity with our prisoners of war in the Hanoi Hilton.
And even today, God stands guard duty in the burning heat of the deserts of Afghanistan.

Wherever there are soldiers, sailors, or pilots who are willing to lay down their lives for those of us at home, God is there, too – with them in battle, in life and in death.

Thanks be to God for his presence with them.
And thanks to them for their courage and their commitment. We will never forget.