3/20/2017 0 Comments ThirstyTo watch Rev. Tina's sermon on Facebook Live, please follow this link. Exodus 17:1-7 & John 4:5-42
0 Comments
3/12/2017 0 Comments "How the Spirit Moves”“How the Spirit Moves”
John 3:1-17 Rev. Tina Walker-Morin Pilgrim Congregational Church, UCC March 12, 2017 This morning I have a message for you about faith. Wow these winds the past few days have been something. The howling as they wrap around the house. The bitter coldness that stings your nose and cheeks. No matter how long I live here in New England, I am not sure I will ever get used to the bitter cold winds. Down in Virginia we would have violent winds, but they came in the form of hurricanes. The winds would be driving, wet, heavy but warm. I never remember hearing the whistle and howls that the winds up here seem to make. I do remember one time during a hurricane, my entire college team was staying at my parents. Just when one of my teammates said, “this doesn’t seem too bad” a tree came crashing down knocking out our power. Thanks Melissa. It was in that same house but many years earlier that as a child I grew up with the idea of a punishing God. A God who maybe created the hurricane because of something we or someone else had done. A God who I worked hard to please. A God who terrified me of doing something wrong and not making it to heaven. I even remember one night lying in my bunk bed thinking, “it is okay, I will be saved because I believe in Jesus. That’s all I have to do.” And like a mantra I would repeat this to myself, calming the inner anxiety and worry that would stir. “It I okay because I believe”. It was terrifying wondering if people I knew here on earth were going to make it to heaven and was I going to make it to heaven? Our scripture this morning is the first time we meet Nicodemus. Later in chapter 7 before Jesus is arrested, Nicodemus stands up and says Jesus should not be dismissed or arrested until they hear from him personally since their “law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing” (7:51). And we once again meet Nicodemus after Jesus’ death when he joins Joseph of Arimathea (the one who asked Pilate to take Jesus’ body) and brings “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds”. Nicodemus and Joseph then wrapped Jesus’ body with spices in linen and placed it in the tomb. So who is Nicodemus? He is a community leader, a respected official in his religion, a man who comes to see a young Rabbi in the night. The Gospel of John, in which this story occurs, is full of symbolism and metaphors. If you recall the opening verses of the Gospel begin: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5) Jesus is referred to in this passage as both the “Word” and “Light”. There is a stark contrast between light and darkness throughout this gospel. So it is no surprise that Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cover of night when he has questions. Imagine this: Nic comes over to Jesus in the night, maybe because he does not want to be seen or maybe because it is during the time when he is to study scripture. So why not go have a study session with a rabbi? Nic comes to Jesus and says, “I know you are a man of God because I have seen all of your great works. You changed the water to wine at the wedding in Cana, you gave sight to the blind etc., etc.” Jesus responds to Nic with listen to me, “no one can see the kingdom of heaven without being born from above.” (v.3) Nic responds like you or I would, “what in the world do you mean?” Jesus goes on to tell Nic that you must be born from above, born of the Spirit to enter the kingdom of heaven. Nic’s second question is simply, “How can these things be?” Jesus gives Nic a little sermon which includes a reference to Moses and then we get what seems to be an editor’s note, John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” I have struggled for many years with this popular verse from the Gospel of John: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life”. You see it everywhere, particularly down south. At most football or basketball games you will see a sign waving in the crowd with John 3:16 written on it. Some football players have written it on their black eye patches or on athletic tape that is wrapped around their wrists or ankles. It is on billboards and bummer stickers and even mentioned in a new country song by Keith Urban, which has a verse referencing: John Cougar, John Deer, John 3:16. For me, this extremely popular scripture has always held a negative view of God. It describes a God who punishes people who do not believe at all or not strongly enough. It holds onto a belief in heaven and hell, a God whose love for us is conditional. It is easy to imagine that type of god, a god who loves us conditionally because that is the type of love we practice here on earth. However this is only one way to understand John 3:16. After diving deeper you will find that John’s gospel does not include the notion of substitutionary sacrifice, that Jesus died on the cross as a substitute for others. No, it is not a Jesus died instead of us, it was not a one or the other. Rather the “giving” of Jesus Christ has to do more with the love God has for us. Marcus Borg suggests the giving of the Son (of Jesus) in this verse “refers to the incarnation as a whole and not primarily the death of Jesus. [So] How much does God love the world? So much that God was willing to become incarnate in the world.”[1] Now that I can get behind. God loves the world so much that God would do anything to make us see and understand that love. So much so that God would come in the form of a lowly man, take all the abuse and beatings, take on all the questions and doubts, be sacrificed and crucified just to show Her love for us. Did you notice? I used the feminine pronoun, I usually avoid pronouns when referring to God because I believe God is greater than our language and our ideas of pronouns. Yet even our beliefs are simply our own constructs of God. Our beliefs about God are how we imagine God acts. Our beliefs are what our minds create, which is limited. Faith on the other hand is beyond our comprehension, beyond our thoughts and ideas. Faith is believing and trusting even when we have no logical reason to do so. This is what happens to Nicodemus as he gradually he gains faith. God loves us and the world (which God created so much so that God was willing to join us in the human form, as Jesus. It is not about God willingly giving up, or killing Jesus but rather about God loving us so much that God gave us Jesus to follow and learn from. I no longer worry about “making it to heaven” or that my God is sending down punishing, howling winds. I believe the reason we follow Jesus and do good work here on earth, is not for a reward in the afterlife, but rather to make this life better. To make earth as it is in heaven. After all in John’s gospel, eternal life is used to refer to the present experience, while also being something to hope for. So what does it mean to believe? Marcus Borg states Believing is about “beloving Jesus, giving one’s heart, loyalty, fidelity, and commitment to Jesus. [That] is the way into new life”[2]. I would also add believing is trusting and allowing the winds of the Spirit to move with you. Easier said than done. It can be so hard to completely love Jesus and to allow the Spirit to move us. It can be so hard believing and keeping faith. We all get blown into the darkness at times while at other times we stand solidly in the light. And that is how faith is. It is hard and it is never a done deal. “Faith is not a possession, not something that one gets, not something that one has--it is something that one does.”[3] We live out this new life and our faith through our actions here on earth. We all make choices every day. We get to choose how to act, how to treat others, how to treat ourselves and we choose to believe and have faith. As we continue to move through Lent. I invite you to have faith in the Holy Spirit and to sit, see, touch and feel it move around you. Take notice where the Holy Spirit is working and when you are moving with the Holy Spirit. Keep faith my friends and trust that light will always overcome darkness. Amen. [1] http://day1.org/2897-dr_marcus_j_borg_on_john_316 [2] http://day1.org/2897-dr_marcus_j_borg_on_john_316 [3] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=43 3/1/2017 0 Comments Yelling at God“Yelling at God” John 11:32-44 Pilgrim Church, UCC Rev. Tina Walker-Morin February 26, 2017 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable to you O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. This morning I have a message for you about ‘where’s God?’ Have you ever seen Ellen DeGeneres’ standup comedy act where she calls God on the phone? She first performed this act on Johnny Carson’s tonight show. On the show she comes out from behind the curtain, styling a nice mullet (it was the late ‘80s afterall) and says: “so here's the thing, I feel like that everything on this earth is here for a reason. That’s just my opinion, I think that there are no mistakes and I think that even if you don’t understand why one thing is here, you find out later that it works with the ecosystem somehow. I don’t understand why we have fleas here though because fleas do nothing at all beneficial. But I thought at times like this, when we can’t figure it out for ourselves, wouldn’t it be great if we could just pick up the phone and call up God and ask him these things? Just pick up the phone and call up God.... yeah hi God its Ellen.. Ellen.. DeGeneres.. De-Generes. …. She goes on...listen if you weren't too busy--- yeah sure I’ll hold (somebody's at the gate). Onward Christian soldiers marching--- yeah. No just singing along to your tape. It’s not a tape?! They're good! Listen, God, there are certain things on this earth that I just don’t understand why they're here.... no not Fabio. No. … I was thinking about insects. No, bees are great.. the honey. That was clever. You’re welcome. No, I was thinking more about fleas.. they seem to have no benefit--- no, I didn’t realize how many people were employed by the flea collar industry. Not to mention sprays.. well I guess you're right. Course you are! Oh well you got a little cold, God bless you! Bless yourself! You could just bless yourself, couldn’t ya. Ellen continues and finishes with it was good talkin to you too. And ill see---I’ll talk to you later. Alright. Buh-bye" What if we could just call up God? What if we could beckon God to show up and God did. Mary and Martha are thinking the same thing. They too called God…well, they sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was dying and begged him to come. Jesus hears Lazarus is ill but stays two days longer in the place where he was. Eventually Jesus heads towards Bethany. When Jesus arrives Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Martha is the first to get word that Jesus is on his way and she runs out to him and says to him if you were here Lazarus would not have died. We called on you and asked you to come save him and you were nowhere to be found. Martha leaves and Jesus remains there and waits for Mary to appear. Mary also says, “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died” (v. 32). Mary falls at Jesus’ feet…not down on her knees as if to worship him but literally falls to the ground. Jesus seeing Mary and others weeping also begins to weep as he is led to the tomb of Lazarus. Some who were with Mary said “could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Why didn’t Jesus show up in time? Why did God not answer when God’s people called? The people of Jesus’ time asked these very questions; questions that we also ask. Where are you God? God where are you when an innocent child dies? God where are you when I am personally struggling? Or simply, God, where are you? The other week while at work in Waltham, my boss and I were sitting at our work table when she heard something. She said to me, “do you hear that?” As she walked over to our second story window at Christ Church, I too heard a man yelling. I could not tell what he was yelling, was it English or in Spanish? My boss said, “I think he has been drinking” as the yelling continued. Looking out the window she saw a man sitting on the bench near the bus stop surrounded by snow, yelling up to the sky. My boss turned to me and said, “I think he is yelling at God, do we know him? Someone is sure to call the cops.” I came over to the window. At first I could not tell who it was sitting there under a red, white and blue knit cap. As I watched this man he turned again towards the church yelling to God and I realized that is Marco! I know Marco. We quickly grabbed our coats and headed outside. As we came out the church door, walking towards Marco, I waved and motioned my hand to face, as if to ask if he was on the telephone. He was not. I said, “Hey Marco, are you okay?” He said “I am so mad! I am so mad at God. I don’t know why he did this to me… why he makes things so hard. I just got fired and they took half my pay because I did not have my shirt with me and then I went to McDonalds to grab something to eat and I lost my last eight dollars. So now I have no money and I need to catch the bus to get into Boston for a doctor’s appointment. Why is God making it so hard? Why is he doing this to me? Why can’t he give me a break?” We stood there listening to Marco and he apologized for yelling and for yelling at God, he was so upset. I told Marco it is okay to yell at God. God can take it. I also said, “what if God did not do this to you? What if God did not make those things happen, but instead is here with you now and here with us. God is here trying to help you when things go wrong and is looking out for you? What if God heard your cry and sent us to come be with you?” Marco looked a little puzzled and said, “I do feel calmer now, thank you”. We talked for a minute or two longer. My boss ran upstairs to our office and grabbed Marco a T-pass so he could get into Boston and a McDonald gift card so he could get some dinner that night. As the bus pulled up, Marco continued thanking us and talking (I was worried he would miss the bus). He asked if he could call and talk with us some time, we of course said yes. As he got on the bus, he turned eyes bright, smiling and said, “thank you and God Bless You.” Like Marco, Ellen DeGeneres was also going through a tough time. She wrote that comedy shtick after tragically losing her partner in a car crash. You see, they were having difficult time in their relationship and Ellen had temporarily moved out. They both met up at a concert one evening where Ellen’s partner was encouraging her to come home. Ellen pretended she could not hear her partner. Ellen, leaving a little while later, saw a crash on the side of the road with the car split in two. Not realizing it was her partner she drove on. The next morning on learning that her partner had died she was filled with grief and while sitting in her basement apartment thought this “basement was infested with fleas. There were just fleas everywhere, and I remember thinking, ‘It just seems so ridiculous that this young, 23-year-old girl who I was just living with [is] gone, and fleas are here,”’…”it would be great to just pick up the phone and call up God and talk about this.”[1] It would be great to have a phone line directly to God and we do through prayer. However, it is hard because it often feels like a one way radio. Yet God does show up and God’s presence is in community. Marco, Mary and Martha expected Jesus and God to show up in one way and yet God comes to us at a different time and in a different way. God comes to us in community. Jesus came with his followers to Mary, Martha and all who were grieving. Jesus came in community and God’s power and presence is know when we join together. As shown by Jesus, we are called to be and help one another. When we do this God is present and is showing up. We are not meant to do it all on our own. So where is God? God is in our relationships and in our community. God is in the seeing and knowing, God is in the comfort we bring to each other. Lent begins this Wednesday. This year I invite you to join us in community as we seek and experience God together. God is here walking, singing and joining with us through all the good and the bad. Amen. ## [1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ellen-degeneres-ex-girlfriend-death_us_562a9a07e4b0443bb5640afc 2/23/2017 0 Comments Obstructed View"Obstructed View” Luke 7:18-35 Pilgrim Congregational Church, UCC Rev. Tina Walker-Morin February 19, 2017 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable to you O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. This morning I have a message for you about our individual preconceived notions and beliefs. Katie can probably relate to this story. I remember when I was taking driver’s ed. It was the driving part of the course. My friend and I were paired up to drive together. She was nervous because she hadn’t really driven much even though she was almost a year older than I and could have had her learners permit long ago. We did our hours in the white ford escort with our instructor. She would be the driver at times, I would be in the back seat. The drivers ed car we were in had the emergency foot brake on the passengers side (where our instructor sat) and two review mirrors so he could also keep an eye on the road. I felt safe and had a blast driving that white car with the cheese wedge on top exclaiming, “student driver”. Once we had both passed the class I later learned that my friend had no idea what her blind spot was. She told me, “yeah I just turned my head around because that seemed to make the instructor happy. I had no idea what I was looking for.” I was terrified and so glad I did not know this information before. Blind spots. There are several types of blind spots. There are ones when we drive, we all also have physiological blind spot, as the picture on your bulletin illustrates. It is the only place where you eye truly cannot let light in and thus cannot see. However this morning I am speaking of metaphorical blind spots: our preconceived notions and beliefs. In our scripture today, we learn of John the Baptist’s blind spot. Yes we are talking about that very John who leaped in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary came to them pregnant with Jesus. The John who was the one sent to prepare the way for the Lord. The John who is now in prison and will soon be beheaded by Herod’s daughter Herodias. While in prison John sends his followers to ask Jesus if he is the Messiah or should they wait for another? This question is more than a little perplexing. This is John the Baptist, the one who met Jesus and baptized him in the Jordan River. The one whom John stated ““I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matthew 3:14). Why then is he now questioning Jesus? John, the same John who knew and recognized Jesus is now questioning if Jesus is “the one who is to come”? John is expecting a Messiah who is going to “proclaim release to the captives and ... let the oppressed go free” (Luke 4:18). John is being held captive, as he sits in his jail cell, locked away he begins to wonder: if this Jesus guy really is the Messiah then what is taking him so long to set thy people free? John has his ideas and expectations of what Jesus should do and how Jesus should act. Yet Jesus replies to John’s disciples to tell John what they have “seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them.” (Luke 7:22) Just in this one sentence words referring to sight are used three times. John thought he knew the Messiah, knew Jesus and he thought he knew how Jesus would act. However his “blind spot”, his expectations, preconceived notions and his beliefs got in the way. I must admit, many times my assumptions about other individuals has gotten in the way. I remember one gentleman I met during my Clinical Pastoral Education (a chaplaincy internship) at Beverly Hospital. I remember walking up to the patient's room and the door was more than half open. When I entered the room the sun was shining brightly through the large window facing the door. Through the window you could see the other side of the building, since it was built in a cub shape allowing for an open court yard down below. When I came in the patient was seated in the high back hospital room chair wearing one of those typical blue hospital “johnny’s”. That day's newspaper lay disheveled on the unmade white linens of the bed from having been just placed down by the patient as I entered. I remember how fragile the guy looked even though he was cleanly shaven with very short black and grey hair. His receding hair line highlighted his wide blue eyes. He sat connected to an IV line, I could not tell where the IV line was connected but it was somewhere other than the usual placement on a patient's hand or forearm. Behind his thin body on the window sill was a black bag about a foot long, sort of the shape of a shoe bag. This case was actually his portable line. Behind his chair stood the hospital intravenous bag rack with one bag and line hanging. Further down the window sill on the right was a green reusable grocery bag which appeared to be full of his belongings. When I entered the room I introduced myself saying something like “I am Tina, one of the Chaplains here at Beverly Hospital. I am just making my rounds this afternoon and wanted to say hello.” He returned my greeting and I asked “How are you today?” To which he responded “Well, I am fine. I am going home today.” Immediately I responded “Oh good” but just then I thought. “Shoot...I am not supposed to say that!” The fella went on to say how he was a little afraid of not knowing what to do when he got home with his new portable IV machine. We had learned in CPE that not everyone is ready or excited to leave the hospital. Sometimes hospitals are the only place they can get three square meals, or insure their medication is delivered correctly or have attention and visitors, or maybe they are going home because there is nothing else that can be done for their symptoms. I had an innate blind spot, where I initially thought everyone must be glad to go home from the hospital, because I certainly would be. We all have blind spots, we all have our own personal flaws and preconceived notions. We see what we want to see…our expectations blind us from seeing the Truth. The Truth being Jesus. Whether we see and acknowledge our flaws and preconceived beliefs or not. Whether we trust Jesus or question him, like John, he is here and believes in you. Just as he believed in John. When John questioned Jesus, Jesus replied and stated firmly that yes, John is a prophet and he is the one about whom it was written that said this is the one about whom it is written: ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ 28 I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (v. 27-28). Jesus believed in John and Jesus believes in us. Jesus loves and believes in us so much that he knows we can work on our own blind spots, on our own flaws. We can regain sight. But it takes work my friends, and faith. O boy does it take work. It is an ongoing process to catch yourself when you fall. To realize when your flaws, your preconceived notions get in the way of seeing and seeking the Truth. Learning that not everyone is excited to go home from the hospital, or really that everyone’s experience is different than mine was eye opening. But that was just one of the many things I learned during CPE. The thing that has stuck with me the most was what my supervisor kept reiterating, “be curious”. Be curious about the person and situation, ask questions. We think we might know someone else’s answers, but the truth is we don’t. It is when we believe to know or understand someone else’s experience that our blind spots creep in. So be curious my friends and ask questions. And when you catch yourself believing you know or judging another individual pause. Pause and think what else could be going on and then ask for forgiveness. We must work hard to gain sight. My teenage friend who took driver’s ed with me figured out her blind spot and was a good driver. But like in a car, the obstruction can creep up in our blind spots so we must be diligent and check ourselves. Be diligent and be aware of our preconceived notions. The scriptures speak of Jesus restoring sight to the blind; those blind individuals are you and me, with our preconceived notions. We all have blind spots and we all have Jesus. With his help we can work through our biases and preconceived beliefs and dismantle them. Today and always may you be curious and learn the Truth. Amen. ## 1/23/2017 0 Comments God Cares“God Cares” Psalm 103 & 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Pilgrim Congregational Church, UCC Rev. Tina Walker-Morin January 22, 2017 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable to you O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. This morning I have a message for you about hope and healing. One of my favorite writers is the late Maya Angelou. You have likely heard her poem “Human Family” in the recent Apple commercial. It goes: I note the obvious difference in the human family. Some of us are serious, some thrive on comedy. Some declare their lives are lived as true profundity, and others claim they really live the real reality. The variety of our skin tones can confuse, bemuse, delight, brown and pink and beige and purple, tan and blue and white. I’ve sailed upon the seven seas and stopped in every land, I’ve seen the wonders of the world not yet one common man. I know ten thousand women called Jane and Mary Jane, but I’ve not seen any two who really were the same. Mirror twins are different although their features jive, and lovers think quite different thoughts while lying side by side. We love and lose in China, we weep on England's moors, and laugh and moan in Guinea, and thrive on Spanish shores. We seek success in Finland, are born and die in Maine. In minor ways we differ, in major we're the same. I note the obvious differences between each sort and type, but we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike. We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike. We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike. Another great quote of hers is: “I don’t trust people who don’t love themselves and tell me, ‘I love you.’…There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.” ~Maya Angelou Love. Our Psalm this morning is a hymn of praise and might have been sung as a song of thanksgiving by one who has been helped by God. It speaks of God’s steadfast love for us. But what does it mean to love yourself? Might it be a contentment in your soul, in your own being? A deep peace within ourselves? God has steadfast love for us; God’s love will never let go of us. God’s love for you and me is a deep love that goes deeper than any of our earthly relationships can imagine. I believe that it is through God’s steadfast love for us that we are able to love ourselves. Yet, loving ourselves can be hard and often much of our pain comes out of a lack of self-love. God forgives our iniquities and diseases, God is merciful, slow to anger and compassionate towards us, so why do we not treat ourselves the same? If God, who created us out of dust, who breathed life into our very being, can love us unconditionally and love us through all our flaws and imperfections then why can’t we? Why do we hold ourselves back? Why do we hold onto past mistakes, past failures and insecurities? We do it because we do not love ourselves and are unable to see even just a glimmer of hope. Just prior going down to the soup kitchen on Wednesday night I had spent 15 or 20 minutes listening to a woman and how she had no hope. She had no hope of getting out from under the dark cloud that is homelessness. She said once you are sucked in there is no way out. Still holding on to the weight of that conversation and feeling her sense of hopelessness, I walked down the dark dingy stairs to the basement where the soup kitchen is held. Everything seemed brown and dark that night. Even though there were light green and yellow round table cloths covering the 12 tables, and a smattering of Christmas decorations still adorned the hall. The hall had a slight smell stale alcohol, an overpowering smell of dirty clothes, and the taste of destitute. I sat at one of the round tables and wondered “where is the hope here?” Hope. We hear and use the word hope a lot. I hope you get better. I hope the weather cooperates. I hope for a brighter future. Hope. But what is hope? In Hebrews 6:18-20 we are told to “Seize the hope set before us. We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus is a forerunner on our behalf.” The anchor symbol for hope in this passage has no scriptural basis but was common in Greco-Roman culture, just as we too are familiar with anchors today. Anchors are a stronghold for a boat. They are dropped down to hold a boat in place. In the same way, “hope provides present stability and assurance in the storms of life in that it follow Jesus.”[1] Hope is not some pie in the sky wishful thinking. It is a concrete, heavy, iron clad urging and prayer. Hope requires more than just one individual. Hope is a calling out to Jesus to be our anchor and for God to calm the storm. Hope is a powerful light. Hope can plant seeds for growth. Hope is seeing a box of matches and knowing that with one small movement you can spark a fire. Yesterday and Friday I witnessed hope. Seeing people gather on the common, hundreds of thousands of people all standing in witness of hope for a better future. All working within our free democracy, expressing their feelings and beliefs. These individuals gave me hope. Hope that people do care, hope that we can come together and heal. Hope is a vital step to healing. Healing, my friends, is not curing. Being healed and being cured are two very different things. Healing is a state of peacefulness, a state of spiritual well-being. Healing starts with loving yourself, just as God loves you. Healing is looking in the mirror and smiling, thanking God for this one wild and crazy life. Once we are able to love ourselves then we can begin the journey of healing. To feel God’s healing grace we must also have hope. The hope and faith as Paul writes to the Philippians that “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” (4:13). All things: you can love yourself, you can love your God and you can love your neighbor. Loving and consoling each other is healing. Our scripture this morning from 2 Corinthians states: “the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, 4 who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.” God is here with us, consoling us, caring for us…so if we love ourselves, have hope and faith then we will know and feel God’s consoling love. This healing love we will know deep in our hearts and will witness in those around us. We each are agents of healing. We are called to console one another in hard times and when we do, we are acting as the hand of God. Showing the love, grace, mercy and healing power of God. Healing is a team sport. Healing starts with the self, moves to hope and faith and invites God, through other individuals into our suffering. The woman who is experiencing homelessness is lacking hope. It is my job to console her and help her find hope. Jesus exemplified caring and consolation, he was always with people who were suffering and now the Holy Spirit is here among us and working through each of us to console those who are afflicted and healing those who are open. We all struggle and need healing, for as Maya Angelou said “We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike…We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.” May you love yourself, for our God in heaven made you and knew you before you were born; May you have even just a spark of hope and faith; and May you receive and offer God’s consolation and healing. Amen. # [1] Hebrews. Victor C. Pfitzner, (Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: 1997), 103. 1/3/2017 0 Comments Light in the Night"The Light in the Night” Matthew 1:18-25 Blue Christmas Service Pilgrim Congregational Church, UCC Rev. Tina Walker-Morin December 21, 2016 This evening I have a message for you about light. The bright sun last Friday seemed to be mocking me. Glowing through the windows sending patches of light and warmth. Yet when I stepped outside the sun lied to me. Yes, there was still light and it was still bright but where was the warmth? Instead my nose froze feeling as if it would crack and break right off. The layer upon layers of clothing could not protect me from the cold. Friday’s freezing temperatures is exactly how heavy emotions can feel during this Christmas season. A season where everything is supposed to be “Merry and Bright”, yet at times it feels darker than the darkest night. We try to cover up our sadness with layers of smiles and good cheer, only to realize the sadness is sleeping in under the layers and at times flowing over our bodies, gripping us until we are frozen and unable to move. The story of Jesus is a story of loss and sadness just as much as it is about joy and love. Imagine there is Joseph a man who has a job, a good family, a good reputation and has now become engaged in an arranged marriage. Everything he had ever dreamed about. He then learns that his finance, Mary is pregnant and not by him. He must be devastated, confused and worried. I imagine him running home to his brothers asking what should I do? Can you believe this? All of his dreams for the future: of being a well-known carpenter/tradesman, growing a family with his wife Mary, having multiple children, one of which would defiantly be named Joseph after him of course, all gone down the drain. Where is good in this situation? Where is the light? Joseph’s situation reminds me of a friend who was engaged. They had set the date, reserved the hall and all was on course, when he began to question everything. As we sat on his sofa talking, he expressed his hesitation to move across the country, to a place where he knew no one and that would be far away from home and his family. He was unsure what to do. Yes, he loved her but…. So I asked, “what is more important to you, to be with her or to stay here?” He did not answer, I thought for sure the answer would be, to be with her. After all they had been together for several years, they were college sweet hearts. The next day I learned that the engagement was off. The diamond ring that was his grandmothers was returned, tears were shed and future dreams were cut short. Joseph’s dreams have also been changed. He too is a good man like my friend and does not wish to humiliate Mary, after all might he have even loved her? So he plans to end the engagement quietly. After agonizing all day, wringing his hands deciding what to do, Joseph goes to bed with his plan in mind. Then in the middle of the night, during the darkest of hours and angel of the Lord appears to him! And as we just heard in our scripture, Joseph is told that what had been prophesied, hundreds of years before, would come true and Joseph shall name the baby “Emmanuel” meaning “God is with us”. God is with us, in the middle of the night, in the darkest of nights and days Joseph learns that God is with him and God is with us providing the light. This is the comfort we can all find in this season of darkest, on this the longest nights that God will provide the light and that God is with us. For it was told that, “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1:1-4). Yesterday, we held a Blue Christmas service in Waltham for people who are experiencing homelessness. Part of the service included passing the Holy Lightfrom one to another. We sat in a circle in the choir room, each on our wood chairs facing one another and a small table in the middle, with a beautiful golden linen cloth covering it as the candles from the Advent Wreath shined bright on the communion bread and juice placed next to it. When the time came, we asked Paul to light his candle from the Advent wreathe and begin the passing of light from one to another. It was going to be beautiful, as the light would make its way all the way around the circle. However, a couple of the men, one fella who just gotten new front teeth (because his were knocked out in a fight) and another who with his unshaven beard looked like he must have played high school football, took out their cigarette lighters and lit their own candles. I said, “no, no, wait, you guys are jumping ahead of us.” They quickly below out their candles and sat sheepishly, shoulders hunched over, peering around. Then Paul came back over to them and re-lit their candles from his own, still not following the circle of light. And then I realized that is how the light of God and Christ work. It is not a well-orchestrated, planned ritual. No, it is the movement of the Holy Spirit, appearing in the middle of the darkness. Sometimes we take out our own lighters and light our own candle, while other times we wait patiently for the light to come around to us and then at times we need a friend to come over, out of turn and light our candle. Just as we feel the layers of clothing upon our bodies: from hats, to gloves, to coats, sweaters, socks and boots; so too do we feel the layers of emotions: the sorrow, sadness, anxiety, depression, joy, excitement, love and awe. The truth is no matter how we receive the light, no matter how our candles are lit, the promise of God is that they will be lit. That in every dark moment there will be light because: Light is good and God separated the light from the darkness. Amen. |
AuthorAll sermons posted are written by Rev. Tina Walker-Morin. All rights reserved. Archives
April 2020
CategoriesAll Beliefs Blue Christmas Dry Bones Ezekiel Healing Hope John Light Listening Luke Matthew Preconceived Notions Samuel Where's God |