Follow the Light (Sermon from Jan 6, 2019, Epiphany)

When I was younger, the only thing I really knew about Jesus was the manger story. My grandparents had the manger scene with little porcelain figures and a manger my grandfather had made of wood and newspaper. I knew about this little holy family, and that the stories said Jesus was born in this manger-thing (I mean, what even is a manger?), and that there were animals and a shepherd and 3 wise men or magi.



I was basically the only Bible story I knew. For those of you who don’t know, I wasn’t raised in a religious environment. I grew up among my Irish Catholic family in California, but my parents left their religions of birth. So my younger sisters and I had only been to church a handful of times as kids, and I really couldn’t tell you what happened. I was mostly playing with She-Ra dolls in the pews.



My grandma and grandpa had this big painting of Jesus in their bedroom. I was at their house all the time because mother’s parents, the Irish Catholic ones, while my parents were at work.




Well, when I was little, I thought it was my dad. Because all I really knew Jesus was that little baby-in-a-manger Jesus that sat on my grandparents’ piano at Christmas time.



So when I was little, I knew very little about Jesus. I knew he was important, I knew Christmas as supposed to have been his birthday and perhaps apart from a couple anecdotes, all I knew was the simple Christmas story-- Jesus was born in that manger thing and the magi followed a star to bring him gifts that sounded fancy. I knew gold was fancy, so I figured frankincense and myrrh must have been, too.



And they are fancy. They’re gifts that were for kings. Back in the time and place of Jesus, a King was really the most powerful and important thing you could be, which is what this story is trying to tell us. But Jesus clearly isn’t an actual king.



The passage mentions King Herod, right?



But this baby, with a strange birth, born a very poor refugee, is important and powerful, but in a way wholly unlike what power looked like at that time, right? Powerful people are born in big, fancy places, not among farm animals to a scandalized woman. But these wise men give these super fancy gifts to Jesus.



It’s flipping ideas of power at the time on their heads. It’s royal offerings to a poor child. It’s setting the stage for someone who will challenge power and claim that true power is among the people, maybe even among the animals, and comes from something else.



It’s calling for a different way of looking at things, a different way of leading.



When I think about what’s going on in our world, I think I kind of feel like the writer of the Gospel of Matthew. I’m not super happy with all of our leaders right now-- I think some of them are pretty terrible.



The Gospel of Matthew was written during a time of struggling powers. In those early times in Christian history, the communities that followed Jesus were doing something pretty different.



And these communities tell stories of leadership that says “NO” to an ugly use of power and decides to share wealth with a poor family.



They celebrate weekly feasts at which ALL KINDS of people-- rich, poor, indentured, free, Roman citizens and occupied peoples, those healthy and sick-- all together… which was super taboo at the time.



And this kind of thinking starts from the very beginning of the story, right?



This story with the 3 magi is only in two gospels and we have very few stories from Jesus’ early life. I don’t know if this story happened this way-- it probably didn’t happen this way-- but I think it’s true.



These magi or astrologers find a different way. They don’t go back to King Herod. They choose the path of light and life and giving extravagantly. They know where the true power lies-- humility, respect, sharing-- using power for good and resisting power when it does things wrong. They give what they have of value to Jesus before they go back home.



When I think of this story, I always ask of myself, “What do I have to give?”



So I want to share a poem that helps me think about how I can best serve:



This is “Clearing” by Martha Postlewaite



Do not try to save

the whole world

or do anything grandiose.

Instead, create a clearing

in the dense forest of your life

and wait there

patiently,

until the song

that is your life

falls into your own cupped hands

and you recognize and greet it.

Only then will you know

how to give yourself

to this world

so worthy of rescue.



So my hope for this year is that we all find ways to best give of ourselves, whatever that means. Whether it’s to turn around your story and flip expectations, to give extravagantly and unexpectedly, or … or and/or… to continue trekking forward toward whatever light we’re following.



May it be so.



Amen.

Early Israelites Lived in Extended Households

Most of the Israelites in the Iron I and Iron II periods lived in extended households.  Families were composed of multiple generations (up to 3) and may have had multiple wives.  Sons would have stayed in the same household and daughters would have married out.  They would have lived together in one house.  Ancestors could also still be considered part of the extended family.

Catherine Keller

“You this moment come forth, a wave freshly breaking on the face of the deep. In an ocean of overlapping waves, all new, all different.

"Perhaps every creature in a creature’s own way is called. Persons personally, animals bestially, plants vegetably… Among persons, a tinge of consciousness of this lure lets us choose— to grasp a fresh possibility, or not…

"Here is the question, perhaps finally the only question that matters: In this moment, will you somehow materialize the possibility? Will you in traditional language heed God’s will? Like a way cresting, turning, might you sense the wisdom for this moment? Do you begin, however minutely, to embody the love that is possible— in this moment, this time, this place?”

Catherine Keller, On the Mystery: Discerning Divinity in Process (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2008), 100.

Matthew 2:1-12 (NRSV)

Matthew 2:1-12
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

The Avatar by Kerry Hardie

"The Avatar" by Kerry Hardie



Listen, this is the trinity, he said, tramping the wet road
in the thin well-being of winter morning:
God the curlew, God the eider,
God the cheese-on-toast.
To his right a huddle of small blue mountains
squatted together discussing the recent storm.
To his left the sea washed.

I thought it was whimsical, what he said,
I condemned it as fey.
Then I saw that he meant it; that, unlike me,
he had no quarrel
with himself, could see his own glory
was young enough for faith still in flesh and in being.
He was not attracted by awe

or a high cold cleanness
but imagined a god as intimate
as the trickles of blood and juice that coursed about inside him,
a god he could eat or warm his hands on,
a low god for winter:
belly-weighted, with the unmistakable call
of the bog curlew or the sea-going eider.

Temptation

The Heart of a Child and the Mind of a Scholar

Religion is never about facts. Our ancestors knew this, despite their lack of knowledge about so much else. This is apparent in the ways they kept histories. True beauty is seldom derived from fact.

As much as Humanity has learned throughout history, one broad failure is the way we have treated religion. We, as a species, love to learn. (It’s a good thing.) Problems, however, come when we try to defend old “knowledge” in the face of new.

Take any creation myth. While centuries ago, believing a culture’s creation myth to be literally true my not have been so absurd and illogical, it certainly is today. Really, now— even the Pope believes in evolution. The problem arises when we try to make an old system fit into our new paradigm. Creationists who try to use science to defend their theories (which science clearly does not) or who posit that God is trying to fool us in a test of faith (really?) are making silly attempts at defending an illogical belief.

Perhaps what we should be asking ourselves is not how to defend our myths, but how to better understand them. After all, there is little reason to believe the point of any scripture is to establish facts. There is little reason to believe our ancestors took such care in preserving our tradition so that we can know how long it took to form our world. In all reality, knowing the specifics of creation is about as useful as me knowing the name of whoever built my desk— not very.

Why should we get our panties in a bunch about something that wasn’t the point of the story and in the grand scheme of things is rather peripheral? The point of scripture is its meaningful aspects; those aspects cannot be affected by science or history and needn’t be at odds with them. Perhaps we can derive from Genesis a story about how beautiful our natural world is. Perhaps we can see how the increasing diversity in our world is a great pleasure to God. Perhaps we can see that it is impossible to deceive God. Perhaps we can learn that the pursuit of knowledge can be horribly damaging if it’s in defiance of morality. Perhaps we can find that our actions are only ever our own and that placing blame on God or others cannot justify acts of betrayal. Not one of these lessons is derived from the “facts.” They’re from the story. The details of the story are not why it’s been repeated for thousands of years; it’s the lessons that we are supposed to remember. My belief in evolution doesn’t contradict any of these lessons. 

What the evolving human mind needs to do is not to suspend logic for fear of displeasing a puppet master god, but to embrace logic and use it to unpack scripture which has provided spiritual sustenance to our species for generations upon generations.

We should approach scripture with the hearts of children and the minds of scholars. We deserve no less.

I've started working on a book called "The Heretic's Bible."  I'm starting with the Torah.  I hope you'll join me on this journey.

If I Translated the First Line of Genesis

In one of my classes, we discussed the first line of Genesis and the words and letters in Hebrew that form it. Based on my understanding of Hebrew and the intentionalities of words and letters, if I were to translate the first line of Genesis, it would read as follows:

In a beginning of this thought, the Divine created mother earth and the beyonds and word to tell of this creation.

White Noise to Study or Meditate #1

I'm going to share some meditation sounds which can also be used for studying.  All are from the same place, but these are my selections from them.

Here's the first:  Rain Sounds

The night before preaching

seekinguncertainty:

The night before preaching

The Experience of Mexican Immigrants in the Early 20th Century

Because of laws restricting immigration from other countries, Mexicans were allowed to immigrate at rates that other immigrant groups were not. This led to a large amount of Mexican immigrants, comparatively. This concerned European Americans, many of whom desired racial homogeneity-- or at least dominance. A petition of educators in 1927 led to Mexico’s inclusion in the quota system and restricted their immigration going forward. Many feared that European Americans would lose their position of dominance in society and a more racially diverse America would emerge. The Great Depression also contributed to the level of racism among white Americans as job insecurity increased and, again, people in lower economic classes were pitted against each other in competition for work. Many Mexicans were “repatriated,” including many who were American citizens.

Today’s political atmosphere continues to demonize immigrant labor as “taking work from American citizens.” Such language seems to be thinly veiled racism, as Latin American immigrants face the brunt of this discrimination. While in the past, Mexican and other Latin American immigrants could easily cross over the American border, border security has increased to levels which make undocumented immigration very difficult. Walls and security fences have been erected, patrols of armed law enforcement are a dominant presence along the border, and civilian militia threaten immigrants in some areas. Similarly, in different times, immigrant labor has been encouraged as a way to industrialize America and complete government projects; in today’s world of financial insecurity and increasing divide between rich and poor, dialogue seems to parallel the scapegoating that existed during the Great Depression-- many Americans feel that undocumented labor threatens the financial well being of citizens (the subtext amounting to “white Americans”).

Call to Worship for Epiphany One

One: We follow the light in search of goodness

Many:  We follow the light in search of love

One:  May it illuminate what is good

Many:  May it teach us how to love

One:  We follow the light among the darkness

Many:  We know that God separates the light from darkness and shows us the Prince of Peace

All:  May we love the light, selflessly journeying to offer ourselves to Goodness and Love.

So I've Started a New Project

I'm writing a book.  I'm calling it "The Heretic's Bible" and it is a telling of Bible stories... or maybe a translation?  It's something.  I'm a few chapters into Genesis so far... 

I think it's like, "Bible stories for a modern mind" or something.

Trying to figure out how to publish and whether starting online might be good?  I dunno.  I need to think on that some more. 

Anyway, I am starting with the Torah and may do the Gospels after that...

Hey, I'm Preaching on Sunday

If you're around, I'm preaching January 6, Epiphany Sunday, at my spiritual community, Peace United Church of Christ.

It'll be an all-ages service, which means my sermon will be appropriate for children and not very long.

Word.

Early Mexican Experience in the U.S.

Anglo Americans viewed Mexicans as lazy and poor stewards of land, much like Anglo Americans viewed all cultures unlike their own. I hear similar forms of racism in today’s dialogue surrounding immigration, which is largely (whether explicitly or implicitly) focused on immigrants from South America.

Americans were treated fairly hospitably when they immigrated to Northern Mexico. Many of Mexico’s elite appreciated their presence. However, when numbers of Americans in Mexican territories began to vastly outnumber the Mexican presence, people sought to limit immigration of folks from the U.S. Despite that, Americans continued to immigrate illegally to Northern Mexico, a reality that seems paradoxical in light of current political realities.

As Mexican immigrants take the brunt of racist anti-immigrant rhetoric in the U.S. and many U.S. citizens seek to limit and deport undocumented immigrants, the reality that many are residing in land that used to belong to their people, speaking a language that used to be the language of the land, and disobeying laws similar to those that were disobeyed by the population that would ultimately violently take their land, speaks to the short memory and willful ignorance of many Americans, as well as the pervasiveness of the kinds of mentalities that led Americans to discriminate and wage war against people unlike them and to continue to devalue the lifestyles and cultures of those even nominally unlike them.

This undoubtedly creates strained relationships between the U.S. and our political and cultural neighbors. Not only does our history of violence and oppression color our current interactions, it continues the narrative of white colonialism and racist governing. Many of our laws and trade agreements (NAFTA comes to mind) continue to exacerbate our relationship with other countries as we leverage our national power in ways that continue to impoverish and oppress other communities, whether by forcing western models of industry on countries who have little desire for them, invading countries to plunder resources and gain advantageous trade agreements under the guise of good will, or gerrymandering political districts and pushing minority populations within our own country into ghettos where they lack the resources and agency afforded to those in dominant circles.