Pastoral Prayer from 12-22-13

When indicated by “In your mercy Lord” please respond with “hear our prayer”

O God of pregnant expectation, we eagerly look for signs of you in our lives.  In the crowded markets in which we live it is easy to miss the signs of you at work in and around us. 

-         Angry honks of frustration from people looking for the closest spot drown out the sounds of joy coming from relieved parents whose children will receive gifts in your honor;

-         Long receipts filled with evidence of the things that will surround our trees distract us from the time we have to spend with those we love.

 Help us to pause in the midst of the chaos to breath in your goodness, to absorb the grace, to fully experience your presence at work in our lives so we are able to see you more easily and to hear you calling our names. 

In your mercy Lord                        Hear our prayer

We pray for your Beloved children everywhere who are wandering on roads, looking for shelter from the storms of life; may they feel your guidance and may our eyes be opened so we can hear you calling them beloved.

In your mercy Lord                        Hear our prayer

O Light who shines in the darkness, we pray for those whose grief clouds out the joy, for those who experience the longest night every day; may the warmth of your light surround our brothers and sisters and help them to know you sure presence and comfort. 

In your mercy Lord                        Hear our prayer

Oh Child of Peace, into a world filled with violence, we pray you would come once again…too many places know war…too many people have lost loved ones to gun violence…too many people live in fear…Come, O Come Emmanuel and ransom this world from our captivity to carnage and intimidation…Come, O Come Emmanuel and with you bring the light of love once again that we see the harmony of our differences fill the world with your peace.

In your mercy Lord                        Hear our prayer

 

Mission Study Leave

In keeping with Session’s desire to develop a greater focus for our mission activity the Session, acting on a recommendation from the Personnel Committee, has granted me a month long Mission Study Leave and resources from a special fund to travel and visit with congregations around the country who are doing interesting mission programs. 

I will be away from Fairmount from Monday, January 20th - Friday, February 14th.  During that time I will be visiting congregations in San Francisco, CA, Atlanta, GA, Greenville, SC, Ashville, NC, Baltimore, MD, Washington DC, and Philadelphia, PA, and Youngstown, OH.  I will also be spending some time with the Presbyterian Hunger and Peacemaking programs at our national headquarters in Louisville, KY.  

The point of these visits isn’t to get blueprints for what works in other congregations, but to gain insight into methodologies and best practices used to identify congregational mission efforts and to engage members in living out the mission of Jesus Christ in our own context.  I will make an brief initial presentation during the Annual Meeting on Sunday, March 2nd at which time I will invite all who are interested to gather for a more detailed presentation about the results of my conversations with these other congregations and to begin a wider conversation about where we feel the Spirit of Christ calling us to make a difference in the world. 

I am deeply grateful for this time, for the opportunity I will have to enjoy a different pace and to engage in different kinds of conversations that will fill me up for our road ahead.  We will have a lot to talk about after I get back.  I look forward to those conversations I hope will help us to be the difference Cleveland needs right now.  

"The Return of the King" - a sermon preached on 11-24-2013

Rev. Eric Dillenbeck

Colossians 1:11-20 & Jeremiah 23:1-6

“The Return of the King”

November 24, 2013

Colossians 1:11-20

¹¹May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from Christ’ glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Creator, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³The Lord has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins  ¹⁵Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; ¹⁶for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him ¹⁷Christ himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him God was pleased to reconcile all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. 

Jeremiah 23:1-6

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord ²Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. ³Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. ⁴I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord. ⁵The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

“Return of the King”

“The Game of Thrones” an HBO series based on books written by George Martin is wildly popular.  The show earns huge ratings and has won many Emmy awards.  It tells the story of the land of Westeros,  a land of 7 kingdoms that were united under one throne, the Iron Throne, by the power of dragons.  

When the story begins the dragons are long gone and only humans remain.  The current king, Robert Baratheon, is a self-centered and foolish man who cares more about his own desires than the needs of his family or his kingdom.  But the story proves to the reader that he is not alone.  All of those around this king are desperately flawed in their own ways.  After the king is killed, war rips apart the seven kingdoms.  The intrigue unfolds as Cersye, the Queen Regent, tries to protect her illegitimate son’s claim to the throne.  

Filled with horror, the reader can’t help but keep turning the pages as the common people in the story suffer as those who rule the land scramble to protect their own interests.  The players in Martin’s books don’t know how to rule!  It’s all a game of thrones to them.  It’s all about collecting power and using that power to further their own purposes.  

Unfortunately this kind of leadership is not only found in the pages of fiction.  If you change the characters and context just a little you could easily be reading a history textbook.  Something tells me that the Prophet Jeremiah knows a thing or two about the kinds of rulers found in the Game of Thrones.   

Jeremiah, was a prophet’s prophet.  Frederich Buechner says, “There was nothing in need of denunciation that Jeremiah didn’t denounce.”  Speaking in God’s name Jeremiah confronted kings and clergy, he confronted the rich for exploiting the poor and the poor for doing nothing but complaining.  He denounced the many false gods and practices that tended to distract the Israelites.  And when he was tired of always being so critical Jeremiah even denounced God for calling him to be a prophet.  

Like I said, Jeremiah was a Prophet’s prophet.  He was a cultural critic who wasn’t afraid to hold his people accountable.  I imagine he wasn’t a very popular figure in Jerusalem.  When people saw him coming I bet they groaned and quickly discovered they had plans that called them to be somewhere else. 

He might have made people uncomfortable, but that didn’t make his prophetic speech wrong.  In today’s passage, Jeremiah once again challenges the powers of his world.  By this time the kingdom of Israel has already been divided into two kingdoms:

the Kingdom of Israel which was in the North and the Kingdom of Judah in the south, which included Jerusalem.  

Jeremiah was called to speak for God to the Southern Kingdom of Judah during a time when the power of the Assyrian empire was waning and the Babylonian empire was growing.  In the face of these global threats the kings of Judah repeatedly demonstrated how their greed for power and wealth lead them away from their call to provide God’s Justice for their people.  If you look back at chapter 21 Jeremiah clearly outlines their failures and his frustrations.  

But here in the 23^rd chapter it is clear Jeremiah is tired of seeing God’s people suffer as the kings of Judah play their version of the Game of thrones.  “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!, says the Lord”

When you look back in the preceding chapters you can see that when Jeremiah uses the term “shepherd” he is not talking about those working the fields, he is talking specifically about the pastoral role of God’s monarchs.  These leaders represented God to the people and were supposed to tend to the welfare of God’s people, but by every measure they failed.  

But in the face of their failure God is faithful still.  Speaking through Jeremiah, God says to the people “Don’t worry, I’ve got you! I’m going to attend to those who scattered you.  Don’t worry, I will gather you home.  You will once again prosper and have no reason to fear.  Don’t worry, I know there all these empires that surround you, but they will mean nothing to you because the days are surely coming when a Righteous branch of David, (not these pathetic saplings you have had lately, but a good strong branch) shall reign over you and protect all my people, even your brothers and sisters in Israel. 

Jeremiah, don’t forget, is talking to the people of Judah, but it is clear from his words that God has not forgotten his children in the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  Having grown up in the south, I can’t let it pass that these promises of God went first to those in the south, but the truth of the matter is, these promises were never limited. They were always for ALL of God’s children.   

But we don’t have kings!  Our world doesn’t work that way anymore, right?  My guess is, we can relate more than we care to admit to the life and times of the Prophet Jeremiah.  

We know what it is like to live in a time when multiple world powers are on the rise around us.  We know what it is like, especially as we move into this crazy holiday shopping season,  to have many different cultural powers trying to define us, trying to claim us as their own.  We know what it is like to watch as powerful private interests continue to shape the public good.  We know what it is like to watch as leaders forsake the call to work for the justice of all in an effort to maintain a sense of power and prestige.  We know what it is like.  

On Christ the King Sunday, we gather to give thanks for the Righteous Branch who came as a babe placed in a manger; we gather to give thanks for the person that baby grew to be, for the ways he embodied God’s love, for the ways we have been gathered into the kingdom of the beloved son by his life-giving death and resurrection.  We gather because we know the powers of this world are fickle, not strong enough to claim us, not powerful enough to define our lives and worth. We gather to give thanks because in the person of Jesus Christ the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile all things.  

Confident of Christ’s reconciling power in the world, we like Jeremiah, are called to go out to confront the powers that fail to work for Justice for all God’s people. We are called to speak truthfully to our brothers and sisters, saying, “Don’t worry, God is here!  Don’t worry, God is gathering us in, as no one else can.” 

We have done that in the past.  When this community recognized a pressing need for a safe place of nurture for the children and youth of Cleveland Heights, we leveraged our power in Christ to create the Heights Youth Club. When powerful interests in the city were opposed to the idea, we stood up and said, “Don’t worry, God is here to gather us in.”  And now we support a program that is packed with children and youth every day.  

Through the Greater Cleveland Congregations we are still involved in this work.  Together with other Christian, Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters we are confronting the powers of this world that seek to define us and separate us.  We stand together and cry out for justice; we stand together and serve as a vehicle for the power of God to work out reconciliation and peace.  We stand together, trusting that God’s promise was not only for us, but for everyone.  

Let us give thanks for Christ our King, the Righteous branch of David in whom we live move and have our being.  

Thanks be to God.  

Ready and Waiting - a sermon from 12-1-13

Rev. Eric Dillenbeck 
“Ready and Waiting”

Isaiah 2:1-5

The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. ²In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. ³Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that The Lord may teach us God’s ways and that we may walk in God’s paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. ⁴The Lord shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 

⁵O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!

Matthew 24:36-44

³⁶“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. 

⁴⁰Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. 

⁴²Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God

“Ready and Waiting”

“Dad, wake up, the guests are almost here?”

“Honey, it’s 7:00, they won’t be here until 1:00.”

“Dad, when are they going to be here?”

“Honey, we still got a few more hours…why don’t you help Bubba get ready.”

“Dad, when are they going to be here?  I just can’t wait.”

“I don’t know honey…when they get here. Why don’t you set the table while you wait?”

“Dad, when are they going to be here?”  

“Soon, Sarah…Why don’t you clean the windows on the door while you wait.”

Welcome to our house on Thanksgiving.  Every time we turned around our youngest, Sarah, was there.  She knew her aunts and uncles were coming and most importantly, she knew her cousins were coming, and she just couldn’t wait to see them.  We tried to keep her busy as she waited, which helped for a little while, but she was always back with excitement and frustration in her voice.  “When will they be here?”

Those who read the Gospel of Matthew for the first time knew something about this kind of expectation and frustration.  The Gospel of Matthew was written about 40 years after Jesus’ death.  When he died the disciples were under the impression that he was going to come again soon, that they would see him again within their lifetimes. They went out into the world telling the stories of Jesus’ life, telling new believers to watch for his imminent return.  

As they are watching, these first readers of Matthew’s Gospel see all kinds of things.  They see those closest to Jesus begin to die, they see the Jew’s rebel against the Roman empire and they watch as Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed by Titus. They have been watching for Jesus’ return and they are asking, “When is he coming back? Will he be here soon? Is he coming at all?”

To these first hearers and to the impatient 6 year olds in each of us Matthew writes his Gospel message.  

We have to listen carefully though to hear the message because the real gift of this passage is often lost in the white noise of the little apocalypse and overwhelmed by our schedule laden lives.  I find that many people have a hard time hearing any kind of good news from this “Little Apocalypse,” that is what scholars call this section from Matthew, because it is filled with descriptions of the way things will be when Christ comes again.  

“⁴⁰Then two will be in the field; one will be taken; ⁴¹Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken; ⁴²Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

Those who read the Bible literally tremble when they read these words and those who make every effort to read scripture critically, still have a hard time getting past the imagery to heart of the message.  

We see references to the times of Noah and we remember all of the people who were living their normal, everyday lives that didn’t get invited onto the ark.  Then we hear about how some will be “taken” and some will be “left,” and we wonder where is the grace.  But when we look beyond those illustrations, which are used to grab people’s attention and inspire faithfulness not fear, we see the promise clearly outlined.  

“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father…so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

The Son of Man IS COMING AGAIN!  

“Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again”

We sing those words whenever we celebrate communion and we don’t spend much time thinking about them as we move through the communion liturgy, but they proclaim a belief that Christ, who was born of a woman, lived for us; his love-filled life challenged the powers of this world to the point that they killed him and when all the hope in the world was gone, God acted again to call forth Christ from the clutches of death.  Not too long after his resurrection, this Child of Love ascended into heaven with the promise that he would come again.  

We live in the light of that promise and as we enter  the Advent Season, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of the One who came so long ago, we are reminded to keep our eyes peeled for the Light of the One who has promised to come again. Matthew does us the crazy making favor of reminding us that we don’t know exactly when he is coming though.  We can’t put the date and time into our calendars which drives us insane.  

I mean, since I have been preaching this sermon my iPad, phone and computer have dinged at me three times to remind me of appointments and things I have to do today and in the coming days.  

That’s how we live.  Our calendars are FULL of important things that demand our attention and focus; things that are important and life-giving and things that drain and distract us.  Matthew’s timetable drives us crazy because we want to make sure our schedules are free, that we are open and ready when Christ makes his next appearance.  But scripture is vague about the topic because Matthew knows us better than we know ourselves.  

What happens if Christ’s coming just happens to coincide with something flagged as important on our calendars?  “Oh, I have tickets to see Wicked that night…; Ewww, Sorry, that’s my daughter’s scheduled due date…; Uuph…That’s my busy season at work…”

“That is why Jesus will come back like a thief in the night: so that we don’t have time to lock him out.”

I think it’s safe to say we wouldn’t do it on purpose. We just wouldn’t step back long enough from our overcrowded lives to make space for Christ’s arrival.  Just like those early Christians we want Christ to come again, but we want him to come on our terms; we want him to meet our expectations; we want him to fit our schedules.  Because that’s what he did the first time.  Being born to an unmarried teenager in the barn outside of an overcrowded inn is exactly what the world was looking for in the first coming of the Messiah.

Matthew tells us that Christ will come again, but we need to stay awake and be ready because the coming of the Son of Man is going to be unexpected.  Matthew invites us to live a life of expectancy for the day when Christ will come and once again judge between the nations, and arbitrate for many peoples.  We are called to live a life of watchfulness for the day when we shall beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks, when nations shall not lift up swords against nations and we won’t learn war anymore.

We are called to stand on our doorsteps, with our faces pressed against the glass searching for signs of the one who is to come.  But more than that, our wakefulness and our expectancy need to be shaped by practices that will help us reflect the warm glow of God’s future in our present reality so that all people may walk in the light of the Lord!

This Advent season your Fairmount community is trying to embody practices that will help us stay awake to the possibilities of God in the world.  In your bulletin you will find an insert with daily scripture readings and guiding questions that we hope will create in you an expectancy for Christ’s coming again.  Throughout Advent we have opportunities for worship and community that will help us embody the peace Christ yearns to see in the world so that we can be more mindful of ways we can share Christ’s peace with others.  

May the light of this candle of hope burn brightly in our hearts this day, burning away our domesticated expectations, so that we may live life in the light of the new gifts that God is about to give.

Amen!