Sunday, March 17, 2024

Show Us Your Socks Message; Mark 13:1-23

 

Rev. George Miller

March 17, 2024

Mark 13:1-23

 

…so- we know what ya’ll thinking- “That’s the reading for today?” 

 

This scripture full of doom and gloom is what we’re preaching on for ‘Show Us Your Socks Sunday’?

 

We have all these wonderful, beautiful people from ARC, including staff, clients, and Donna, the Director of Development and this is what we’re preaching on?

 

We’re here today to show off our colorful, lively, socks in support and acknowledgment of people living with Developmental Disabilities….

 

…and what we just heard is wars, earthquakes, lies and liars!

 

A Dios Mio!  How is this possible?

 

And the answer is this- Emmanuel is not afraid to speak the hard topics.

 

It would have been so easy to skip today’s scripture and find something nice, like Jesus feeding folk or a woman searching for lost pennies.

 

But here’s what we know- when we take the easy way, we don’t grow.

 

When we face the hard times, the difficult moments, that’s when we can grow, when we can become better versions of ourselves, and we become closer to God.

 

That’s when we become Superstars.

 

So, let’s take a look at today’s reading.

 

Jesus is in Jerusalem with the disciples looking at the Temple, and one of the disciples says “Wow- look how beautiful this is.”

 

And the Temple was beautiful.  Herod the King had spent all the people’s money to make it a sight to be seen.  Supposedly, he had the entire Temple covered in gold so that when the sun hit it just right, it lit up in magnificent ways.

 

“Look how beautiful this is!” the disciples say.  But Jesus is not impressed.  See, he knows that hard times are coming.  He knows that soon there is going to be great pain and suffering.

 

So he says “Don’t be impressed.  This building will not last.  Be prepared- hard times are coming our way.  Be alert- how you respond to the difficulties will make all the difference.”

 

Jesus is being very real.

 

By not sugar coating anything, Jesus is allowing his followers to understand what’s going to happen. 

 

He gives them the gift of being prepared, not devoting all their energy to things that don’t last.

 

Jesus is very honest with those he loves.  There will be wars.  There will be disasters.  There will be hunger. 

 

There will be fathers disagreeing with their children; there will be siblings fighting amongst each other.

 

Kind of sounds like today, doesn’t it?

 

Kind of sounds like things happening in places, like Haiti, Ukraine, Advent Hospital.

 

Kinds of sounds like things gong on in our own lives. 

 

How many here are currently living through a crisis in which it feels like your world is ending? 

 

How many here are having issues with Mom and Dad, sister and brother, son and daughter, grandchildren?

 

How many here are struggling with a car that won’t work properly or paying rent or homeowners insurance?

 

How many feel like they are constantly on alert, unable to get a proper night’s sleep?

 

By speaking these realities, Jesus acknowledges just how difficult and scary life can be.

 

It can feel as if there is no comfort in this scripture…but today’s story does not end here.  There is more that we did not read today.

 

See, in chapter 14, right after Jesus speaks all these words of doom and gloom, he goes to the house of Simon for a meal.

 

Simon is an interesting fellow.  He is different from all the other people in town.  Simon is not like everyone else.  Simon is someone that not everyone knows or is friends with.

 

Because Simon is different, he may spend a lot of time alone.  People say unkind things about him.

 

How many people here today have ever felt different? 

 

But Jesus didn’t care that Simon is different.  In fact, Jesus goes into Simon’s home to have a meal. 

 

Who knows what they ate?  Maybe pizza and Mountain Dew?  Perhaps chicken nuggets and iced tea.

 

Who knows what Jesus and Simon Peter talked about.  Perhaps they discussed Disney Princesses, or Marvel Super Heros, or Legos.

 

As Jesus and Simon are sharing a meal, a woman comes in, carrying a beautiful alabaster jar.

 

Alabaster is so beautiful, so shiny that it captures the light and it can show off the colors of the rainbow.

 

So after Jesus speaks about the doom and gloom, and he’s hanging out with Simon, this woman comes in with a bright, shiny jar…

 

…and she proceeds to open it up and to pour out its perfume and lotion all over Jesus.

 

She pours from this beautiful alabaster jar all this sweet sweet smelling ointment over Jesus and it runs down from his hair to his beard to his chest to his legs, to his ankles, to the soles of his feet.

 

…and Jesus is covered in beauty, and light and joy.

 

This woman covers Jesus in ointment and in her own way she is saying “I see you.  I am aware of you.  And I love you.”

 

In this single act, this woman literally embodies the entire Gospel that Jesus came to teach.

 

In this moment of unexpected generosity, in the home of Simon who was so different from everybody else,

 

This amazing woman shows us just what it looks like to Love God and what it is like to love our Neighbor as ourself.

 

From the doom and gloom of today’s reading we enter into awareness and love that one person can show another.

 

And does this woman’s actions prevent the pain and suffering from happening?  No. 

 

Does her actions stop the Last Supper and Crucifixion?  No.

 

Does her actions stop the realities of life from creeping in?  No.

 

But what she, at this moment, is offer a moment of grace, a moment of beauty and glamour and care that can empower one to face the horrible and horrific.

 

Today’s reading may not be what we wanted, but it is the reading that leads us to where we are today.

 

Think about it- we are all wearing our most colorful, beautiful, lively socks; some are wearing green hats, bowties and necklaces.

 

In some ways, our socks are anointing our feet.

 

In some ways, our socks are like that woman’s ointment.

 

They cover our feet with beauty, with heart, with awareness and joy.

 

Life is full of anxiety, stress, fear, anger, worries about the unknown, and of being seen as different.

 

All those things we face on a day to day basis.

 

But today’s reading reminds us that we do not have to face things alone.

 

Today, our colorful socks reminds us that we do not have to do it alone.

 

Yes, we have God, yes we have Jesus.

 

But guess what- we also have each other.

 

Jesus knew all the pain that was about to happen.  But at that moment he has the disciples. 

 

He has Simon. 

 

At this moment Jesus has this woman with her alabaster jar, pouring out love and awareness upon him.

 

The socks we wear today are a reminder that we are not alone.  That we have one another.

 

We have Simons we can turn to when life seems scary. 

 

We have people like this woman who remind us of the world’s beauty when the ugly seems to be too much.

 

We have amazing community organizations like Ridge Area ARC, The Shepherd’s Pantry and the Garden of Hope.

 

We have amazing individuals like Shelly and Samantha, Carlos and Candance, Jessica and Donna who are there to offer care.

 

We have God.  We have the Holy Spirit.  We have Jesus, who knows exactly what it is like to face the scary, uncertain things in life.

 

Buildings fall.  Problems arise.  But God’s word endures forever.

 

And God’s word reminds us to love.  To love God.  To love one another.

 

Today we show our socks despite all the worries of the world.

 

Today we show our socks as a sign of love, just as the woman who anointed Jesus, body and soles.

 

Amen and amen. 

Monday, March 11, 2024

Loving Our Neighbors; Mark 12:28-34

 

Rev. George Miller

March 10 ,2024

Mark 12:28-34

 

Next week will be a great day.  It is our 1st ever “Show Us Your Socks Sunday” in which everyone is invited to wear their most colorful, beautiful, visually loud socks that they can find.

 

Why?  To bring awareness that March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month.  To show our support for people living with Developmental Disabilities. 

 

And to raise money for Ridge Area ARC, our local non-profit that focuses on providing a full, complete life to our community sisters and brothers who are living with Developmental Disabilities.

 

Why do we this this?  Out of love and because they are our neighbors.

 

Each and every one of them is fully unique and individual.  They are the folks who grow vegetables in our Garden Of Hope.  They are the volunteers at the Shepherd’s Pantry, handing out quality of life products.

 

They are the artists who exhibited their photography at the Peter Pollard Museum.

 

More than that, they are funny, they are Romeos, they are Valentine Day Queens, they are introverts, extroverts, horse riders, employees, Mountain Dew Drinkers, and next week some of them will be worshippers with us.

 

How awesome that as Emmanuel UCC we understand the Gospel to be such that not only do we recognize our Veterans, our Women, our Canadian, our Haitian, our Cuban, our Pilipino, our LGBTQ neighbors,

 

not only do we recognize those that lost a child, our Fathers, our Moms, but we also now recognize and lift up our neighbors who live with Developmental Disabilities…

 

…because not too long such people were locked away, kept away, not talked about, hidden, treated as less than.

 

And they are not less than- they are Children Of God.

 

Love.

 

That is the theme of today’s scripture, and Thank God, because love is what we need.

 

And not just mushy love; not just romantic love, but the kind of love Jesus talks about- love for God and love for neighbor.

 

Since we’ve been following Jesus this entire season, we know that he is not ignorant.  Nor does Jesus have an unrealistic view of the world or of how things work.

 

When Jesus says “Love your neighbor” he knows exactly the kind of neighbors that are out there.

 

Remember the guys who took apart the roof to lower down their friend for Jesus to heal? 

 

If that was indeed the actual home of Jesus, it means he knows that loving your neighbor could mean your house gets messy.

 

Jesus says “love your neighbor”, and he walked over 3,000 miles in his ministry.  So he’s met a lot of neighbors.

 

Jesus says love your neighbor and he’s referring to the ones who appear to be demon possessed and those sick in bed. 

 

Jesus says love your neighbor and he’s referring to those fishing in the sea, those mending nets on the shore, and those who work the fields and orchards and vineyards.

 

Jesus says love your neighbor and he has met a tormented man in the graveyard, a non-Jewish family, a woman who’s been bleeding and a little girl who is as good as dead.

 

Jesus says love your neighbor and he has been rejected by his own townsfolk, doubted by his own disciples, and taunted by religious and political leaders.

 

Jesus is not ignorant or unaware of the world.  If anything, Jesus is fully aware of the world and just who his neighbors are.

 

And regardless if the neighbor is grumpy old Frank telling kids to stop playing in front of his house, or it’s a child in crises,

 

Jesus says “love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

But what is love?  And what does love look like?

 

This week I heard a wonderful story about love.  It came from the son and daughter of Carole Klein.

 

They shared how Carole had a great eye for art and design.  She created the packaging for the items Charlie sold. Carole could find a totally fine looking wreathe at Marshall’s, take it home to add more to it.

 

Carole’s son shared that one year it was his responsibility to pick out the family Christmas Tree.  He thought it would be funny to go and purposely get the saddest, sickliest, skinny tree he could find.

 

He was only 15 at the time, so he can be forgiven for his humor.

 

But he took that Charlie Brown- tree home and although Carole had her questions and she had her doubts, she went ahead and decorated that tree.

 

Carole took something so sickly, so sad looking and she filled it with lights and color and beauty and class and when she was done she placed it in the living room.

 

And then she turned to her son and said “Now- we are going to get the real tree.”

 

Carole knew all along that her son was playing a prank; she knew it was meant to be a joke.  But she turned that nothing into something, and to this day THAT is the tree the family most remembers.

 

What Carole demonstrated that year to her son was love.  She could have chosen anger; she could have chosen discipline; she could have expressed disappointment.

 

But instead Carole chose love, and her family will have a memory they will never forget.

 

Love and neighbor.

 

Essentially the entire Gospel.

 

But what is Love?  How can we show love to a neighbor especially when our neighbors are not us and may show love in diverse ways.

 

Looking back over my life, I think of the different people and different ways each showed love.

 

There was a friend’s mother from Sicily who would show her love by feeding us whenever we came over, no matter how late it was, even at 2 am in the morning.

 

And I learned that one way to receive and show that love back was to graciously accept her food and ask for seconds.

 

How do you show love to someone from Haiti?  Eat their rice and on May 18 to tell them Happy Haitian Flag Day.

 

How do you show love to someone from Colombia?  Accept their cup of Cafecito and drink it without adding milk and sugar.

 

Germans show our love by being on time and honoring tradition.

 

English and Jamaicans may show love through a cup of tea.

 

If you see a Veteran, thank them for their service.

 

If there is an elderly person, don’t quickly zoom behind and before them.

 

If you meet a person of color, learn to pronounce their name correctly to honor the mother, auntie, grandmother who lovingly chose that name.

 

How do we show love?  If you know an introvert, be quiet and treat them to a night inside. 

 

To show love to an extrovert, you’re going to have to attend a party now and then or not be jealous when they go without you.

 

If you want to show love to a grandchild, niece or nephew who is a true Legos, D & D or comic book fan, take them to a store and let them go go go while you sit down, allowing them their time in fan club heaven.

 

The list for ways to show love to our neighbors goes on and on and on.  It’s a beautiful thing, and it’s often so easy to do and costs so little.

 

Jesus does such an amazing thing right here in today’s reading.  When he’s asked a complicated question, he responds with the simplest and most life-giving of answers.

 

Love.  Love God.  Love your neighbor.

 

Because when we do, when we love God, when we love those around us, heaven is one step closer, and the Gospel that much clearer.

 

Love.  Love God.  Love neighbor.

 

That’s essentially the whole Gospel summed up in 5 words.

 

Carole Klein embodied that love.

 

Next week we get to show that love to the people of ARC as we wear our socks, welcome our sisters and brothers, and praise the Lord together.

 

For that, let us say “Amen.”

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Do You Believe God Is Distant? Have You Felt Like God Has Put Up a Fence? Mark 12:1-12

 

Rev. George Miller

March 3, 2024

Mark 12:1-12

 

“God, the Lord is my strength, he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights.” (Habakkuk 3:19)

 

Once upon a time, in the land of Israel, there lived a prophet named Habakkuk.  Legend has it that he was named after a plant that grew in the North.

 

Habakkuk loved the Lord.  But he felt restless.  He was a man attuned to the temperature of his time and he could sense that war is about to begin.

 

He sees the injustice.  He’s been witness to senseless violence.  He’s tired, so tired of the strife and suffering of the people.

 

But more than that, he’s tired with God.  He’s disappointed with the Lord.  He thinks God is just being deaf and acting lazy.

 

While other prophets place the blame on the people and want to blame the leaders, Habakkuk does something else- he places the blame on God.

 

Habakkuk doesn’t mince his words; he doesn’t play nice and gentle. 

 

He sees all the mess, all the chaos, all the fuss around him and he says to God very bluntly “How long?  How long are you going to let things keep going the way they are going?”

 

Habakkuk speaks directly to God and asks, “How long do I, how long do we, have to cry out for help before you hear us?”

 

“How many mothers need to see their sons die and how many fathers need to hear their daughters cry before you step in and do something?”

 

Habakkuk’s faith is unwavering; fearless.  His faith is formidable.

 

He fully believes in God.  He fully believes in the God of the Red Sea who heard the cry of the captives.

 

He believes that God is strong, God is capable, and God cares enough about the least of these. 

 

With that knowledge he says  “How long are you going to let sin surround us before you do what you are supposed to do?”

 

…and here is the cool thing.  God hears.

 

God hears Habakuk.

God acknowledges his concerns.

God accepts the challenge.

God responds. 

 

God says “Believe me when I say that I see; believe me when I say that I hear; believe me when I say that I know.”

 

God hears all the bad that Habakuk says about God and God says “Hold on.  Be faithfully patient.  And wait.”

 

“I know waiting is not your strong suit, but wait…and you will see just how much I do love, how much I do care, and how much I can do.”

 

And though this message doesn’t solve all of the current problems Habakkuk sees, it gives him space to breathe, time to reset.

 

And it gives him Hope.  Hope that God is still there; hope that God is still being God.

 

With that hope comes a sense of peace, and a sense of comfort.

 

At the end of his conversations with God, in which Habakkuk feels heard and comforted, he says-

 

“God, the Lord is my strength, he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights.”

 

And that is so beautiful.

 

What else is beautiful is that through Habakkuk we have a biblical role model of how we can be honest with God, how we can say what we mean, we can discuss what distresses us…and God hears.

 

What’s so beautiful is that we can question, we can wrestle, we can even disagree with God, as long as we stay in communication and relationship with our Creator…

 

All of this leads us to today’s reading.  It is a reading I dislike, a reading that comes across as most uncomfortable.

 

For me, it doesn’t feel like it fits; doesn’t seem to reflect where we have been in our journey with Jesus.

 

This year we’ve presented a vision of Jesus who is right there, hands on, validating the life and intimate aspects of the human experience.

 

Jesus has been at our workplace, in our bedroom, in our places of mental disarray and medical issues. 

 

Jesus shows us again and again that the Lord is our strength, who makes our feet like the feet of a deer, and makes us  tread upon the heights.

 

When not visiting with us, Jesus has been telling parables about things we know.  Sowing seeds, planting crops, baking bread.

 

But here comes a parable in which the every-day person is presented as evil, the workers are the bad guys.

 

Modern theologians question if this story was even told by Jesus or if it was made up by Mark or inserted by someone else to make the religious leaders of their day look bad…and I may agree.

 

The story starts with a man who plants a vineyard, puts a fence around it, and then leaves for another country.

 

Right away, with the mention of the fence, there is a visceral reaction.

 

Sure, fences can be a good thing.  They can keep you safe, keep your dog from running into the street, but they also separate.

 

Right away, I think of my childhood neighborhood where we had a grouchy neighbor named Frank who was always complaining, always yelling at us kids when we played in front of his house. 

 

We’d be playing football, baseball, tag and at some point Frank would pop his angry head out the door and yell move away.

 

So this parable rubs me the wrong way, as if God is an middle aged grump who doesn’t want anyone to have fun.

 

What’s worse, though, is this sense of desertion. 

 

After this man puts up the fence, and leases it to the tenants, he ups and leaves, he goes to a different land, never to be seen again.

 

This does not strike me as the God in Genesis who walked with Adam in the cool evening breeze. 

 

This doesn’t sound like the God who sat with Abraham under the oaks of Mamre.

 

It certainly doesn’t sound like the God who wrestles with Jacob.

 

This does not sound like God is the Lord of our strength, who makes our feet like the deer, and our spirits tread upon the heights.

 

This sounds as if God is absent, uncaring, and too busy with foie gras and Cuban cigars to care about the people in God’s care.

 

Yes, there’s the wine press, yes, there’s the watchtower, but they seem more as a babysitter than the actual presence of the landlord.

 

So when his slave is sent to the people, they don’t respond so kindly.  Maybe what they really wanted was the man.  They didn’t want some peon coming along.

 

Maybe they really missed the man, maybe they wished there would be some more “water from the rock” and “manna from heaven” moments.

 

Maybe like Habakkuk, they felt the owner of the vineyard was away too long, and therefore too uncaring and far too inaccessible.

 

So instead of being like Habakkuk and using their words, they use their actions, they use their hands, they use their fists.

 

This is not to get the tenants off the hook, but what if part of what was really going on is that they really missed the man, they really missed his presence, they really missed his miracles?

 

What if what they are feeling is “Does it matter?  Does anything we do make a difference if the landlord is far far away, so distant, and so uninvolved in our lives?”

 

Like Habakkuk, like Jacob, I wrestle with this parable, because it feels upsetting that a fence has been put up and he went away.

 

And it so goes against what Jesus has been talking about. 

 

Throughout Mark, the God that Jesus seems to embody, seems to represent is a God who is very hands on, who is very present, who is very much there.

 

Throughout Mark, the God that Jesus seems to embody is one who has no fence, who is not Frank the neighbor, who is right there, right amongst the people be it work, field, home or graveyard.

 

The one saving grace is that this parable is not aimed at the every day person, this story was not told to point a finger at the average person just trying to make ends meet and see another weekend come along.

 

This parable was aimed at the chief priests, scribes and elders who were the head of the religious institution.

 

This was aimed at those who were supposed to know better and act differently.

 

Still, this scripture sits uncomfortably, and it leads more to a set of questions than to any kind of answer.

 

How do you perceive God to be?  What do you imagine your relationship with the Lord is like?

 

Do you see God as close at hand or do you see God as out of the country, and how does this affect your relationship?

 

Do you see God as active in your garden, or do you see God as walking away once it’s built?

 

Do you see God as putting up fences or tearing them down?

 

And if you believe there are fences that God constructs, what are their purposes and are they for good?

 

We ask these questions and we continue to speak with God as we make this Lenten journey, knowing that just as God heard the captives and God heard Habakkuk, God hears us.

 

May we each be able to receive an answer.  And like Habakkuk, may we each be able to say

 

“God, the Lord is my strength, he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights.”

 

For that, let us say “Amen.”