Pastor Joey Reflections

Psalm 98 is an invitation for believers to respond in faith through music. Though less demonstrative than Psalm 150, the instructions are clear. Persons of faith are to use music as an integral part of worship.

Of course, we as modern people have the full benefit of musical developments over the centuries. The Church has a rich history of great music composed for worship settings. Inspired composers have written great pieces for the seasons of Advent, Lent, Easter and Pentecost. Others have written for the settings of worship, be it Morning, Evening, Communion, Baptism, Wedding or Funeral services. These great pieces of music were given to the church not merely to admire, but to inspire others to compose new music which in turn would be passed on.

We know throughout history, in sacred and secular settings, music has been a powerful influence. William Congreve, the 18^th century playwright wrote, “Music has charms to soothe a savage beast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.” Another William (Shakespeare) frequently used music references or terms to make a point in his plays. In TWELFTH NIGHT he penned, “If music be the food of love, play on; give me excess of it…” In THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, he writes, “…here we sit, and let the sounds of music creep in our ears: soft stillness and the night becomes the touches of sweet harmony.” Then, later in the play he writes, “The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils; the motions of his spirit are dull as night, and his affections as Erebus; let no such man be trusted.”

The Psalmist implores us to sing a new song, or shout for joy because of what God has done. The playwright encourages us to use music as a tool of measure for those things we value in life.

Music is used to sell us everything from produce to politicians. It floods our senses in markets, waiting rooms and elevators. How easy it is to forget that it is a gift from God. The music we make has holy implications. As Saint Francis wrote, “Lord make me an instrument of your peace…” As the music plays, may we be open to the Creator, composing new music within us.

In the text I Asked for Wonder (a spiritual anthology compiled on the life of Rabbi Abraham Joshua  Heschel , and edited by Rabbi Samuel H. Dresner), the following is offered under the title, “Answer or Refuse.” 

“Vain would be any attempt to reconstruct the hidden circumstances under which a word of God alarmed a prohet’s soul. Who could uncover the divine data or piece together the strange perceptions of a Moses? The prophet did not leave information behind. All we have is the prophet’s certainty, endless awe and appreciation. All we have is a Book, and all we can do is try to sense the un-worded across its words. What actually transpired is as unimaginable to us as it was unbelievable to those who witnessed it. We cannot comprehend it. We can only answer it. Or refuse to answer.” (God in search of Man, pp118-89)

From Genesis to Revelation over and over again, the soty of the lvoe of God at work in the world is told. In narrative, prose, prophetic utterance, proclamation, parable and song, through writings we call holy, the story of faith is shared. The authors of the Bible were inspired by their individual experience to record God’s work as an expression of faith. 

Some of the Bible began as oral tradition and was handed down for generations before being written. Other parts of the Bible were written for worship or instruction and others still were personal testimony and witness. In each and every case the motives remain the same. namely to tell the story of the love of God as evidenced in the lives of people of faith. An old quote of forgotten origin says, “Preach to the world the love of God, use words if you have to.” The point being who we are and how we live are part and parcel of our testimony of faith.

In 1 John 4:7-21, the author gives a pattern for living based on a simple premise. God loves us. Proof of this love is the way and work of Christ. Followers of Christ are called to respond to each other and the world in love. Over thousands of years, billions of words have been penned interpreting Holy writ, and yet in the words of Rabbi Heschel, “God simply awaits our answer in the affirmative.”

We live in an age given to the verbiage of power. We have powerful computers, powerful entertainment systems, powerful entertainers, and of course, powerful politicians. We power walk, eat power lunches, read books that make us more powerful and wear powerful clothing.

In terms of military strength, we can safely say the United States is a Super Power, yet her greatest power rests in the ability to be a peacemaker. In a similar fashion our country is known for its great wealth. However, our greatest economic power lies not in dollars, but in the sense that we are all poverty stricken if we do not give the opportunity to everyone for financial security.

In Acts 4:5-11, Luke writes of the distinction between power and authority. Peter is called before the rulers in Jerusalem and asked by what name, power or authority he has healed and ministered? Peter tells them that the work and wonder done, is in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The rulers had authority and wondered who had given authority to Peter and the other disciples to preach, teach, and heal? Peter, on the other hand, had power, the power of the Holy Spirit; the power of Jesus as teacher, friend, and Savior. Peter knew the power of his ministry was in the name of Jesus, not in perceived authority from others.

April 7-14, 2012, the mother of our religious heritage celebrated Passover in recognition of the saving hope and powerful grace of God. In a different way, but with the same intent, when we Baptize, celebrate Communion, or confirm members; we recognize the greatest power we have as Christians. It is the power of relationship. The Love of God, come to us in the person of Jesus, is relational. It does not provide exemption from the woes of the world, but it is a gift of presence.

The power of that Name in our lives, and the extent to which we make the Love of Jesus real for ourselves and to others, is our best hope and greatest strength. No other credentials or authorization is required. Our validation is the Love of God received and in turn shared.

Luke 24:36b-48 is a post-resurrection passage where Jesus comes to his followers and they struggle with believing who he is. this is not the only challenge in belief for the early Church. In John 20:19-31, the story of the disciples gathered when Jesus appears to them. Thomas is not present and will not believe until he can touch Jesus’ wounds. So Jesus appears later that Thomas may believe. The Bible is replete with such stories. An angel of God tells Abraham and Sarah that in old age they will become parents, and they laugh in the face of Holiness itself. Noah doubts that God really wants him to build an Ark. King David doubts the real power of God and experiences a fall from grace. Peter swears loyalty to Jesus only to deny him. Paul insists on his righteous condemnation of those who follow Jesus only to find his surety could not have been more false. Doubt comes becuase it can and because sometimes it must. 

In a Homiletics Magazine article from March 2009, the agnosticism of the late astronomer Carl Sagan is written. Jerry Adler of Newsweek in March of 1997 states that Sagan was fascinated by the phenomenon that educated adults, with the wonders of science manifest all around them, could cling to beliefs based on the unverifiable testimony of observers dead for 2,000 years. He once said to cleric Joan Brown, “You are so smart; why do you believe in God?” “Of course, Dr. Sagan meant ‘Why would you or how could you?’” Rev. Brown replied. “She found this a surprising question from someone who had no trouble accepting the existence of black holes, which no one has ever observed. You’re so smart, why don’t you believe in God?” Adler goes on to say that Sagan never had doubts about his agnosticism. His wife Ann Druyan told him, “There was no deathbed conversion… no appeals to God, no hope for an afterlife, no pretending that he and I — who had been inseparable for twenty years — were not saying goodbye forever.”

‘Didn’t he want to believe?’ she was asked.

“Carl never wanted to believe,” she replied fiercely. “He wanted to know.” 

Therein lies the difficulty. Far too often we need to know rather than simply believe. Be it Dr. Sagan, or the bank manager, you, me or the postal worker, we forget that God’s existence does not require our approval. The world we live in, with its flora and fauna, even the bubble gum we can experience — and the Black Holes we cannot — are proof that God believes in us. Our need to know is not a validation of faith; our willingness to believe is.

The season of Easter comes to us in springtime, a season of growing and birth. Author Hugh Kerr reflects upon this in his book, The Simple Gospel, in an essay titled “Starting Over Again.” Dr. Kerr reminds us that the faith tradition is full of examples of God’s generative power. Words with the prefix “re” (such as “repentance,” “redemption,” “reconciliation,” “renewal,” “regeneration,” and “resurrection”) are used regularly in the Bible. These words along with words suggestive of transformation — like the term “New” (as in “New Testament,” and in the book of Revelation, a New Heaven and a New Earth) evoke the promise of change found in relationship with God. 

Each season of the Church year, be it Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter or Pentecost, calls upon us to contemplate the work of God in our lives. However, none is more demanding than Easter. For in Easter, we remember the work of God in the life of Jesus. We recall the gift of ministry He gave in life and death and life anew. We reflect on His gracious acts, and we reconcile our hearts to the work of grace in each of us. In this season, we can claim fully and without reservation a love that can make all things new.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God….” The author of the book of Revelation opens the twenty-first chapter with those words.

Easter for us as people of faith is filled with images of things that are new. New wardrobes as weather changes, a new sense of time as the days lengthen. Renewed appreciation for creation as life blossoms into season. A new hope born in the seasonal liturgy which tells of empty tombs and the possibility of God in the face of impossibility.

The problem is we relegate this business of death and resurrection to Easter and leave it to Jesus alone. We forget that Jesus’ call to people of faith is to die to those things which blind and hamper us, and live to claim and call of God in our lives.

The late Bishop Gerald Kennedy wrote of the renewing power of God’s grace in his book Fresh Every Morning. The central theme of the text was that regardless of our past, the love of God in Christ provides us with unique opportunities to be more fully alive in God each and every day.

If we take the Bible narrative seriously, then life in God is stronger than any kind of death, the love of God is stronger than our strongest hate, the grace and hope of God are stronger than any frailty or fear we might possess. 

Why reserve those thoughts only for Easter? How much better might it be if we choose to understand Easter daily (if not moment to moment), rather than a yearly occasion? 

In Philippians 2:5, the Apostle Paul writes: “let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” He goes on to say in Hymn-like poetry that Jesus, though equal with God, did not assume God-like activities, but rather took the form of a servant, healer, and thus becomes our Savior.

In Philippians 2:12-13, the Apostle Paul writes: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for God’s good pleasure.” Paul writes this not to simply salvation, but to remind believers (then and now) of one’s personal responsibility in matters of faith. Throughout his writings, Paul instructs followers of Jesus to act and live as responsible persons. So, to say here, salvation must be worked out in a personal way is not inconsistent with his teaching. 

This is not to say Paul did not believe in divine help. The Christian doctrines of justification, sanctification, regeneration and grace are based largely on his letter to the Romans. 

The late Scottish theologian William Barclay wrote that, “A man has a right to ask of my salvation, as I do how much money he has in the bank.” Dr. Barclay saw salvation as personal and private. He wrote in his autobiography, “…I am a simple-minded person. I have neither a philosophical nor a theological mind. For that reason, i need to think in pictures. As Regine Pernoud says in her book, Heloise and Ableard: ‘There is a world of difference between learning to repeat GOD IS AN OMNIPOTENT BEING and learning to address oneself straight to God saying: THOU ART MY ROCK.’”

Dr. Barclay lied. He had a great mind. For he used the Bible and great works of literature to help people see more plainly the work of God in their lives. He spent his life teaching people to use their minds that their souls might be nourished. Faith seeks form and function in the mind. Salvation is mostly a work of the heart. 

Paul wrote to the people of Philippi with the intent of informing them. His letter was meant as a teaching tool by which the faithful could learn to be holy, and more effective as a body of believers. He trusted people to use their heads, hands and feet to bless the world in the name of God.

I was raised by parents who would often share the adage, “If you don’t have something good to say, do not say anything.” In my heart of memory I believe they lived it quite well. I would like to say that I have lived the letter of this rule, however, rarely have I lived even the spirit of it. Beginning with the early wilderness story in Exodus 15-17 and concluding with Numbers 21 (with a break from Exodus 19-Numbers 10) the people God handpicked Moses to lead into a new land and depth of faith did nothing but complain about Moses. Everything from the perceived scarcity of food and water to the difficulty of the trip, even Moses’ sense of direction was a source of murmurings.

Moses could seemingly not please the people, for their griping had become a recreation of sorts. Every move and plan an opportunity to voice a criticism. Dr. Kennon Callahan, a noted consultant and teacher in church planning, says the modern church is continuing this fine tradition in some manner. He sees the efforts of local church usually lowering the level of dissatisfaction rather than raising the level of satisfaction. Another point he makes is with regard to perception becoming reality. Meaning, quite simply, that if we perceive something to be difficult, unfair or bad, it becomes so because we believe ti to be so. Conversely, if we choose to perceive there is hope and goodness at hand, then it becomes so. I have a clergy friend who says, “If the argument in faith is whether the glass is half full or half empty, there is no point in arguing. Just order another round.” The point being argument based on perception is just that: pointless. Our aim is to look for places where hearts can meet. 

The folks with Moses were no different than us. Their perception was that things were not going well and that Moses was a poor leader, so it follows that they would complain. In their affliction, Moses intercedes on their behalf, explaining that if they look at the serpent the will be healed. Again, note that this will require the ability to perceive the possibility.

The question this raises for us is what do we perceive in life and especially in faith? Are we hopeful or hateful? Satisfied or sad? Grumps or glad of heart? More importantly, can we perceive being less vocal in complaints and more vocal in sharing the goodness we know and see around us? 

John 3:14021 is part of a larger passage which begins with verse one. It is the narrative of the encounter Jesus had with Nicodemus. Though not mentioned by name, Nicodemus is the intended audience of verses 14-21.

you will recall Nicodemus questioned Jesus about the concept of new birth, and Jesus responded by telling of new birth in faith. When pressed by Nicodemus, Jesus amplified the answer. Verses 14-21 continues this expanded answer to include the understanding of just how great the love of God is, and that new life in faith leads to transformed living. It appears in the text Nicodemus believed Jesus’ thinking absurd.

In Nicodemus, we find the armchair quarterback in all of us. We detach ourselves from the game; analyze the action, and pronounce judgment upon those participating. This comes from the narrowness of our single-minded thinking. Jesus and Nicodemus were both Jews, each devout by any standard or measure of faith. Jesus in his openness affirmed Nicodemus where he was, and invited him to look at questions outside of his present experience. Nicodemus, either through fear of something new, or pride, would not open his heart or mind to a new understanding and experience of God.

We are not unlike Nicodemus. We find it easier to find fault than find common ground between differences. it is easier to raise questions and cast doubt than to seek that we may know or adjust our frame of reference and broaden our perspective. 

The gospel writer tells us in Jesus, God sent the very best. Not to judge or condemn, but out of love, that our lives might be blessed. No pie in the sky theology, but abundant life, full members of the Kingdom here and now. The only catch is we have to claim our tickets. At times though it’s more fun to evaluate than be part of the action.

In 1 Corinthians 1:22-23 Paul writes, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.” The tension is between wisdom and power. Some want religion and the experience of faith to be wise beyond measure, irrefutable, authoritative. Others want a life of faith filled with power and experience of the Holy. Paul in fact infers that both are elements of the experience he knows in Christ, but to the groups in question, Paul’s witness presents roadblocks to the faith experience. 

Paul is not picking on the Jewish community, remember he is a Jew as is Jesus. He is not making fun of the Greeks or Gentiles either, for they both were of prime interest to him in terms of mission and conversion. Paul’s interest was expressing the Good News of Christ, and here he pointedly states the risks found in sharing the Good News. 

Those same risks exist today. We live in a highly technological age. Information comes to us quickly and powerfully from our computers, radios and televisions. While these  may be used as tools for ministry, the most effective expressions of faith are still the written and spoken word. To those who live with absolutes, no expression is effective, and we (or rather, our faith) remains foolish or a stumbling block. 

Do we then stop sharing the Good News of Jesus? Of course not! We are called by the love of Christ to witness. To share what we have experienced. To tell what we know to be true of God’s love. To do so in worship, with song, and prayer, and in the very way we live. To do so, not becuase all will believe, but that all may believe.