Sanctuary

Washington UCC, Cincinnati

The stories are different, but tragically following a similar narrative. Young children who have experienced more tragedy in their young lives than most of us would have to face in a lifetime. Each child trying to survive in an environment that hardly nurtures an existence, yet alone, learning the tools, skills, and resources that will be needed to survive in an increasingly hostile nation toward the poor, oppressed, ignorant, and those struggling with the demons of mental health.  Where can one find sanctuary in the midst of life’s struggles to survive?

We were working on a puzzle together; a couple of other friends nearby were playing Connect Four. As Ryan and I were struggling piece by piece with the puzzle, quietly planning our strategy for the next step in solving our puzzle problem, there was an outburst from our friend at the other end of the table, “Aw! Not fair!” and from my side of the table in the midst of puzzle solving, heard Ryan say, “Life isn’t fair!”  Shocked and curious, I asked, “I’ve heard that before, Ryan, who told you that life isn’t fair?” Without missing a beat, the 11 year old said with a voice of quiet certitude, “No one” he said, “I’ve learned it the hard way.” Where can one find sanctuary in the midst of life’s struggles to survive?

Noah is 12 years old and lives a life more tragic than anyone his age should even experience in an R-rated movie.  The highpoints of his life seem to revolve around issues of abandonment, violence, and one adult disappointment after another. His young body wound tighter than a rubber-band, always seeming to live in a mode of survival and distrust, coping the best he can, the only emotion modeled in his life is that of anger and hostility. How many times has he stood between his mother and her abuser? Who knows? He says many, many. Why would he have any respect for the adults in his life? Instead of thinking about dreams for tomorrow, he’s busy surviving in a world he didn’t choose or deserve. Where can one find sanctuary in the midst of such conflict and hopelessness?

Her name is Anastasia. As I swim and talk with her, she asks about the Chlorine in the water. I explain to her the importance of Chlorine in a swimming pool and also what Chlorine can do to our swimming suits as we continue to swim, explaining that between the Chlorine and the sunshine, over time our swimming suits could fade. She sat quietly for a while and then she said, “Maybe if I swim a lot my skin will fade and I can be white.” I didn’t know what to say. I had heard this before, but they were only stories told to me a second or third time around. I was stunned. I said to Anastasia, you know, ebony and the color black are among my favorite colors. I think black is beautiful and you are beautiful too. How can one find sanctuary in the midst of life’s struggle to be accepted no matter how God made us?

There is a popular song that has been circulating around youth ministry and youth circles for several years. The title of the song is “Sanctuary” and the lyrics to the refrain are as follows:

 Lord prepare me 

to be a sanctuary

pure and holy, tried and true

with thanksgiving, I'll be a living

sanctuary for you.

The words and the theology, more theologically conservative than my own, do cause me to pause and ask about the meaning of a living sanctuary. Historically, socially, and theologically sanctuary was considered a place of refuge, a safe place for one who is fleeing for his or her life or finding themselves in a place where they are a stranger, an alien in a foreign land. This is the intent behind why we call our holy gathering place, a sanctuary. It is a place of protection, a place of refuge for the spiritual pilgrim on a journey of grace and wholeness. Although the lyrics and the song seem to imply an invitation that God, the One who redeems us and saves us, can find a “living sanctuary” in us. I think this is too simple, too idealistic and even for the most affluent and faithful, pretty irrelevant, until we can see the meaning of a “living sanctuary” as not a place for God – for God does not need to be safe from a cycle of poverty and pain, a place of hatred and injustice, or a place where a child must choose between dreams and survival. We need to look at this song as more than pious words of thoughtful thanksgiving for the One who created us and see ourselves as a “living sanctuary” for one another. Can we be a living sanctuary for Ryan, Noah, Anastasia, or others who barely exist in a world they did not choose or want? Could a “living sanctuary” be an invitation to open our hearts and our lives to be a healing presence in an unsanitary and perplexing world where there are no good choices? Maybe for a time, fourteen of us chose to be a “living sanctuary” for the children and families of this community. Maybe we were the hands and feet, the eyes and ears to build up the Body of Christ, just maybe.

My Changing Understanding of the Church in the 21st Century

If you love the Church of Jesus Christ as so many significant people who have mentored and shaped me over the years, you cannot help but feel the sadness that is heavy on their hearts these days. If you love the Church of Jesus Christ as I have for many years, it is hard to witness and observe the disdain and rejection of the Church and its ministry by so many.  Amid allegations that the church has somehow lost its focus and its purpose, I find myself wrestling with the changing meaning of Church today. I cannot help but to take seriously the large number of Americans in our culture that claim to be “Spiritual and not religious.” Among the ‘spiritual but not religious’ (SBNR) is a rising tide of those who claim to have no religious affiliation or spiritual persuasion. Among scholars, sociologists, theologians, and church leaders this group, claiming no religious affiliation are known as the “Nones”.   For one who has loved the Church and all things religious, I am particularly troubled by both the allegations of having lost our Christian focus and the rising tide of “Nones” and the “spiritual, but not religious.”  Why are there so many people more persuaded by ‘spiritual, but not religious’ and dismiss the Church as a place to experience the spiritual? My second question recognizes the allegation that the Church has somehow lost its focus and purpose and for many remains a stumbling block for anything spiritual. Have we in the church lost our way?

The following will be my own attempt to understand the changes occurring in our society, our culture and our churches today. In my attempt to understand the growing number of SBNR’s and the ‘Nones’, I hope it will be an invitation to you to join me on a journey to re-imagine new ways to communicate the spiritual things of the Church.  Let me begin by saying that I, like many, am a seeker – but one who loves the “Church” and all its greatness and all of its foibles, inconsistencies and imperfections. Like a seeker, I too am looking for better ways of nurturing and growing a spiritual presence in my own life and in the lives of those with whom I share holy space. Where I may differ with the “Nones”, the Seekers, and the SBNR, is that I do believe that God intended our growth to occur in the context of a beloved community and the quest for truth and meaning  is not intended to be solitary expedition. The Great Spirit, Creator God, the Higher Power or any title we would like to give to the One who gives us life, created a world where all things were created together and are working as one organic community to bring wholeness and completeness to our Universe, our world, ourselves,  and to the One who created life. In my own sacred stories, I am convicted by Paul’s statement to the Church in Corinth when he explained to these early followers that “…When one person suffers, we all suffer and when one person rejoices, we all rejoice together…” When I read this phrase in the context of worship, I am convinced that spiritual things happen in the context of a beloved community.

Like the Seekers, the Nones and the SBNRs, I do believe that the Church and religious leaders have fixated on dogma and doctrine, orthodoxy or right beliefs. We have put more stock in our historical Creeds than the message of our sacred stories. As a Christian, I do believe that we have shaped the Jesus figure to reflect our own politics and motivations. We have used our sacred stories to condemn those who look and act differently than we do. We have used scripture to beat people into submission and maintain an element of ‘job security’ for professional clergy. Our faith traditions, both in the Church Universal and in our local congregations have become idolatries and have been designed to give the false impression that the Christian faith is superior to all other faiths. I am also mindful that the Christian faith, let alone all other religious expressions, have a huge economic impact on our world economy and like the merchants in the Temple, we have created a multi-billion dollar enterprise with all our religious paraphernalia that must be quite an affront to God or other religious gods and goddesses of various cultures and religions.  All of these issues and many more have been well documented in the plethora of scholarship that is available to us. These and others may in some small way explain the rising tide of the Nones and the folks who continue to define themselves as ‘spiritual by not religious.’

So, what do I believe about Church in the 21^st Century that would be invitational to the Nones and the SBNRs population? I could write a Systematic Theology Paper on my changing views and perhaps one day I will. In the meantime, I’ll continue to write and blog about the way the Holy Spirit continues to shape and form my understanding of Church today. I believe that the Christian faith and all religions seek to define our uniqueness and our humanity in the context of a world filled with questions about life and death, about our humanity and the mysteries of the universe. I believe that the Holy Books from every known religion partially answers such questions.  I believe, also, that the meaning and purpose will change for us as we grow and mature in our spiritual walk. I also believe that it is the beloved community that will guide us and enable us to know more fully, our sacred and spiritual relationship with all creation, one another and Spirit God that is truth and wisdom.

I know that there are many pastors; religious personalities, church denominations, passionate believers, and slick pulpit orators who would have us believe that Church is the safeguard of our morality and that eternal life, reincarnation, or any other higher form or place, is dependent upon how well we behave in this world. I reject this outright. Church is not the safeguard of morality. I believe it is our conscious that guides our actions and our behavior. Jesus did not build his ministry upon moral teachings. Jesus showed us kin-dom behavior by his action toward others. Likewise this is true of us too. How we treat one another, and how we take care of the poor, the rejected, the lonely, the ugly, the disenfranchised and the broken is the moral standard of kin-dom behavior. Jesus believed that in treating all people with love, respect, and honor, we would know God and others would know God too. Just as we know God in Jesus, so can others know God in us. This I believe and I believe that this must be done in the context of a beloved community because serious seekers and spiritual beings must be held accountable to the standards of our own spiritual quest. It is in the context of a beloved community that we are able to discern the truth and wisdom that is being revealed to us. I believe that the community helps us to hear the voice of the Divine Being or the Higher Power that speaks through holy words, some of which are bound in such Holy Books as the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Torah, the Quran, and countless other Holy Books that have revealed a spiritual path and calls us to fully embrace the truth we seek.

There are still many themes that prick at my own understanding of the changing church today in light of the perception of a growing percentage of people who are finding the institutional church less than satisfying, but ponderings must come to an end. Before I end my preliminary thoughts on this topic, I want to share another conviction that I believe strengthens our quest for spiritual things and that is to understand that members of any religious organization are sacred storytellers who have been entrusted with important truths. Each religious tradition and/or discipline has only a partial answer to truth, but if we don’t have a place to practice the stories – a part of the truth is lost and all of us suffer. As sacred storytellers, as I see it,  we have two important tasks entrusted to us. We have an obligation to share the stories, and we also, have an obligation to receive the stories that are being passed onto us as a sacred trust. It is also our obligation that we allow the spiritual stories to claim us and live these stories with passion and conviction.  The quest for spiritual things is about a commitment to a way of life and not a little of this and little of that. No, it is a spiritual walk that grows into a viable and meaningful faith, and can also respect and honor the gifts and truths that the other religions, other faiths, and other experience can offer the seeker, the Nones, and the spiritual but not religious.

By his hands, for our sake: A Good Friday Meditation

A sermon I preached at the Community Good Friday Service based upon Isaiah 52 and 53

Hands – hands with opposing thumbs set us apart from other mammals. Our hands receive a newborn baby or hold a crying child. Our hands show affection to a hurting friend and reach out to help an elderly person stand firmly on the ground. Our hands build homes in places where wind and water, mud and fire destroy a place of memories and safety. We can mold a lump of clay into beautiful bowls and plates or weave exquisite patterns with reeds or cloth. With our hands we can paint a masterpiece or build the Cathedral of Notre Dame for all the ages. Our hands fix an automobile, prepare a meal, program a computer, and throw a ball. Our hands with opposing thumbs are beautiful and creative, durable and empowering, a work of art that only one as divine as our Creator could imagine and create. By our hands and for the sake of God and one another, we can boast of the creative and loving things our hands have done. 

"See my servant shall be exalted and lifted up on high…” (Is. 52:13) What could this mean? “Many were astonished…because so marred was the appearance… of my servant”, “…marred beyond the form of a mortal…” (Is. 52:14) What could this mean? “There is nothing in his appearance that we should desire him…” (Is. 53:2) What can this mean? Who could this be? This servant is “…despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with grief and suffering…” (Is. 53:3) What can this mean? Who could this be? This servant is “…despised and is of no account…”  (Is. 53:3). By our hands and for our sake?

 

Hands – hands with opposing thumbs set us apart from other mammals. Our hands can make a fist and knock some unconscious. Our hands can pull a trigger, releasing rounds of death bullets or wield knives that maim or even kill.  Our hands with opposing thumbs can write venomous and violent letters that are filled with lies and sarcasm, and words of hatred and ignorance. Our hands can start forest fires, toss empty plastic bottles into the sea, or bludgeon endangered animals and birds to satisfy our selfish wants and attempt to satisfy our unquenchable desire more.  Our hands are able to throw stones and grenades, execute innocent people and bully the one who is odd, or strange, or different. Our hands, with opposing thumbs, can break windows, destroy property or become the preferred instruments to torture and abuse.  By our hands we can destroy life. 

This week has been a week of hands that love and hands that hate. With his hands he broke the bread and poured the wine. With his hands, Judas betrayed Jesus and with his hands threw the money in the courtyard. With his hands, Jesus washed the feet of the disciples and folded his hands in prayer. With hands, the disciples wielded a sword, cutting off the ear of soldier and with his hand he healed the ear of the soldier. With a whip in his hand, he sent the merchants and moneychangers out of the temple and with whip in hand they beat the back of our savior. With water, Pilate washed his hands, released Barabbas, and turned Jesus over to his accusers. They were the hands of Simon of Cyrene that carried the cross when Jesus could carry it no longer.  The hands of soldiers rolled dice to win the robe of Jesus and strong and mighty hands nailed the hands of Jesus to the cross and thrust the spear into his side. They were the hands of Christ who welcomed the criminal into paradise and reaches out to a sinner such as me with hands of love and grace. 

“Surely he knows our weakness” and by his hands and for our sake reaches out in love. He was “… wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and punished for the mistakes I have made.” For our sake, “…he was oppressed and afflicted….” Our hands “… crushed him with pain, his life an offering for my sin…” By our hands and for our sake he died that we might have life. 

Our hands have the power to give life and to take it. Whose hands betrayed our Savior? Whose hands wielded the whip that scarred our Savior’s flesh? Whose hands stripped our Savior of all dignity, tossed die to win his clothing, thrust the crown of thorns upon his head, and drove the nails into his hands and feet? Could it be? Or perhaps it was the centurion? Will we wash our hands, as Pilate washed his? Will we wield the hammer of sin and disgrace? Could it be us – or maybe it was someone else. What do you believe? 

12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street and the Sins of Capitalism

Not long ago, I posted on my Facebook status that I had just watched 12 Years a Slave and would soon be watching my second selection, The Wolf of Wall Street. A colleague and friend commented on my status telling me how tragic the movie, 12 Years a Slave was in both movie form and in real life. Indeed it was a tragedy – Solomon Northrup is a freed slave living with his educated wife and family in Saratoga, New York. He, himself is educated and makes a living as a fiddle player. He is tricked into a drunken state and soon Solomon Northrup finds himself a slave and is no longer called Solomon Northrup, but Platt. For twelve years he tries to survive, keeping a modicum of self-respect, patiently waiting for a chance to reclaim his freedom and return to New York where his wife and children are awaiting his return. Northrup ends up on the plantation of Mr. Epps who reads the bible daily to his ‘property’, but is himself a sinful drunken sadist who believes in the corrupt principles of capitalism. It is a tragic story.

Through the power of media, the movie Twelve Years a Slave, reminds us once again of that dark and terrible time in our life as a nation.  Forcing any human being to perform under the threat of severe beatings or even death is a terrible thing. It is terrible to think that there was a time in our history where it was acceptable to own human beings, treating them as property, nothing more than a beast of burden to do our work, helping the owner to become rich. How terrible it is that there was a time in our history when there was no humanity, no conscious, and no remorse for the way we treated other human beings all for the sake of earning a dollar and living the American dream of earning more and more capital. It is a tragic story.

We fought a war, brother against brother, and family against family to end this tragedy. For the north, perhaps we fought this war on the grounds of a moral imperative that slaves were human too and no human being, under the threat of severe beatings and sub-human conditions should be used to line the pockets of wealthy landowners. For the south, the Civil War was about economics, the right to own human beings, and the right to make money, no matter the cost. 1840 was a long time ago and the Civil War ended with the emancipation of the slaves – no more would it be acceptable to own human beings as property. Fast forward to The Wolf of Wall Street, a movie about a stockbroker who in the early 1990's starts a brokerage firm and grows the company from 20 people to a staff of 250. Their status, as a trading company and as stockbrokers grows exponentially. Jordan Belfort becomes known as the wolf of Wall Street and through lies, trading schemes and lavish parties becomes filthy rich. As his fortunes continue to grow, Jordan Belfort falls into more lies, more deceit, and soon spirals, uncontrollably, into substance abuse that destroys his family and ultimately his fortune; all this deception and craziness because he believed in the American dream of getting rich and the sins of capitalism. It is a tragic story.

I am struck by the differences, yet similarities of these two stories. Although set in different eras, they are both tragic stories that I believe expose, clearly, the sins of capitalism. A scene in Twelve Years a slave showed the owner, Mr. Epps presiding over the weighing of the cotton brought in from the fields by his property, the slaves.  If Mr. Epps was not satisfied with the yield that was brought in by the slaves, he would instruct them to be beaten. Likewise, in the movie, The Wolf of Wall Street, the sentiment was the same – you stay on the phone until the person at the other end either dies or buys shares. Jordan Belfort gives motivational speeches to his team to sell, sell, and sell some more. If you do not meet the goal for the company, you are bullied and humiliated by Jordan and his staff. Sell at all cost. No conscious, no remorse, and no excuses.  It is a tragic story.

Still, we have much to learn. I tune in the radio in my car. I am a captive audience and for ten minutes, commercial after commercial, inform me that it is my duty as an American to earn and spend money. I was told of many opportunities in which to spend my money and why wouldn’t you want to spend money on yourself? After all, you deserve it.  I was chastised for keeping my cars for 10 years and encouraged to replace my ‘old clunker’ with something newer, fresher, and more exciting model – the kind that will make my buddies jealous. The holy voice from on high informed me that it was a good time to buy a house and that their realtors were ready to serve you – to get you into your new home in 30 days or less. The commercials go on and on and tell us a tragic story about capitalism that is self-indulgent, self-centered, and reckless. As I see it, all of this commercial hype is contrary to the values of serious Christians practicing their faith. I have a dream for America too and it fights mightily against the demons of capitalism. Yes, 12 Years a Slave and the Wolf of Wall Street are tragic stories, and sadly, so is the American dream. Perhaps, one day, we’ll see more clearly the sins of capitalism. 

Snow Drifts, Sand Dunes, and Spiritual Laments

It’s snowing again and the wind is blowing. It’s probably one of those days that we are grateful and happy that we have a warm house and even better if we don’t have to leave it. It’s not easy for us to find words of gratitude or words of thanksgiving on snowy, windy days. In the winter time, especially in January and February, its hard work to stay positive and happy. The blowing snow reminds me of the sand dunes in the wilderness. Just as the snow drifts into piles across our yards and fields, the same phenomenon creates the sand dunes that blow across the vastness of an open desert. When we’re traveling through the desert, we’ve got a lot of sand dunes to traverse before we find our way through the wilderness.

I think that blowing snow and sand is not unlike our personal journey into a deeper, more meaningful faith. As the Spirit blows, our feelings and experiences like a single snowflake or grain of sand blow across our spiritual landscape and sometimes it gets caught in drifting snow or sand dunes in the wilderness that  continue to build and build. Sometimes the drifts are beautiful and serene and other times it buries our hopes and our dreams and we struggle to cling to some element of wholeness and fulfillment. In a white wilderness of blowing snow or a desert on a windy day, it’s easy to lose our bearings and we find ourselves wandering through the wilderness, feeling the hopelessness with each step of a journey – a journey that seems to go nowhere. 

Within the Jewish and Christian tradition, we are blessed with songs and poetry, stories and sayings that express our joy and heartfelt thanksgiving. It is also true that there are words and images that express our disappointments and our despair. The book of Psalms is filled with happy verses of gladness and unity, comfort and prayers of celebration. There is also a large collection of the Psalms that leave us cold and wondering what we’ve read. There are Psalms of despair and anger, hopelessness and revenge and although we don’t like to read them, they are songs that have expressed the spiritual journey of someone. We call these psalms, lament psalms and they help us to get through the cold and drifting snow to a place where we are able to receive the healing love of the Holy Spirit. The lament psalms take us  into the empty wasteland of our despair so that we might see the face of God that turns our mourning into dancing, our tears of sadness into tears of unrestrained joy. The lament psalms gives us a way through the wilderness when there seems to be no other way. The lament psalms help us to be human again. 

One day the drifting snow will melt away with the warm tears of spring and the cold winds of winter will bring us sunshine and blue skies. In the meantime we’ve got a lot of living still to do. Just like winter days, our spiritual journey will pass through lonely times, painful moments, and we’ll wonder where the Spirit is leading us. As we cry out,  trying to find our voice in the darkness of winter,  the flame of God’s Spirit will be, for us, the light of a new day. The Spirit of God may fade from time to time, but it never dies away. As we continue our journey through the snow and ice, through bright days of the winter sun and the gray days of a gathering storm, the voice of God is still calling out to us and the community of the faithful are looking for us in the snow-drifts of life. Let God’s Spirit speak to you, not only when all seems right with the world, but also when the drifting storms block the entrance to your soul. If you must, sit down with the psalms of lament and let the ancient voices of faithful pilgrims speak to your heart and when you are ready, the drifting snow will begin to melt and the warmth of God’s Spirit will bring you through and the birds will sing again, the flowers will bloom again, and the sweet smell of God’s love will bring you through another day.