Sending Grace to Wall Street

At the risk of saying something blasphemous...

During this whole financial crisis, which seems to be getting worse by the day, the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

I've always been fascinated by the two sons; the younger one, who demands his inheritance and goes off and spends it wildly and the older son who stays and is the "good son." There is always a lot of sympathy for the younger son who realizes his wrong and comes back to his father asking to be made no more than a slave. The father instead gives him a party, joyous that his wayward son is finally back home.

The older son isn't so happy. Here he was, the good one, who stayed and was faithful to his father and his irresponsible brother is getting a party.

I've always identified with that older brother, because I understood his anger. He was the good guy, and he felt like he was not be rewarded for his faithfulness. I've been that situation as well.

But Jesus was trying to get at the whole concept of grace, of loving and caring for someone regardless of what they've done. The father loved both sons, but he was happy that his son that wandered off was now back home. This was no time for laying blame, but for granting forgiveness.

Read on...

I Have This Great Idea...Just Give Me Ten Years to Explain It.

One of the things that I've learned about being an aspie is that we have a hard time explaining things. It's those darn communication skills. I remember a few years ago, trying to explain some idea I had to someone at church and failing to adequately explain that concept. I had an idea, but I could not share that with that person.

Australian blogger and fellow aspie, Gavin Bollard, shares that letter writing is one way for people to communicate with aspies. I would agree, but I think it also might be a way for those us with Aspergers to be able to communicate feelings and thoughts too hard to spell out in person.

More often than not, I can write a whole speech in my head, but for some reason, when I get in front of a person, that well written speech gets garbled. Maybe writing these thoughts would be more easier.

What about any other aspies out there? Is letter writing a way we can communicate with friends and neighbors?

Moving On

I found out today that I didn't get to the second around for the position of pastor at a church. For ethical reasons, I am not going to say where the church is located.

I would lying if I said that I was not bothered by it. I thought there might be some hope, but I wasn't what they were looking for. In the end, my view of church and their view of church didn't match.

I was looking for a place where I could do ministry. But in chatting with my husband, he reminded me that this probably wasn't the right place and that's okay.

Of course, this now makes me wonder what is next. I've been wondering if I am up for parish ministry. But then again, maybe I am. I guess I will have to see what God unfolds.

But it is frustrating. I mean, last Monday was six years since ordination and I feel I haven't done much. I have to believe God knows what she is doing.

I really hope so.

Holding Together

I've always been a political junkie. I interned for my congressman back in the summer of 1990. What a wonderous time. Here I was, a kid from Flint, Michigan interning with his congressman and seeing some of the political greats. I remember having the opportunity to see Nelson Mandela give a speech to a joint session of Congress. Here was a man that I heard about, who only a few months prior was released from prison. This man that the then-racist government in South Africa tried to break, was standing in front of Congress unbowed.

I've always been interested in politics and have blogged about politics for several years.

But I'm not liking it this year.

There is something in the air that has people just being plain mean to each other. And maybe what is more disturbing is to see Christians regardless of political persuasion saying things that they should be ashamed of.

You know, people have the right to express who they are voting for and why. But can't we do that with some respect? Do we have to be mean?

Too often, the church is nothing more than an extension of the political parties. Jesus becomes a cheerleader for whatever your ideology. There are liberal churches and conservative churches, ready pom squads for both parties and God help you if you are the minority in each others churches.

I'm a McCain supporter. But you will not see me making any snide comments about Obama or those that support him. I disagree with the views, but not the people.

Whatever happened to Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ? What happened to understanding that the church is made up of different people from different walks of life? What happened to trying to listen to each other and respect each other instead of tearing each other down.

I think I understand why some people choose not be involved in politics: it becomes too divisive. People get so wrapped up in trying to be right that they forget to be loving towards each other, even when they disagree.

So, go ahead and support whoever, but leave your partisan poison at the door. It's making me sick.

A Tsunami of Grace

I'm one of the bloggers for the DOC Lectionary Blog. This is what I wrote for this Sunday.

Looking for the "Door"

I'm trying really hard to not make this a "pity post."

Unbeknownst to my husband, I was thinking a lot today about my vocation and if this was where I belong. The last six years haven't been filled with successes: I was let go from two jobs as a youth pastor, started a church which flamed out, and have left a lot of people upset with me. Doors haven't been opening for me in the way of calls or other opportunities.

Some say that if I move to another part of the country, then things will be better. Maybe. But that's something I need to talk about with Daniel and he just started a new job. Also, will a change of location really make things better? Sometimes we just end up bringing our problems with us.

Some of the behavior that has caused so much mishaps has been because of my Aspergers, I know that now. I don't think that keeps one out of the ministry, but it can make difficult.

I guess, it's just after so many years of not seeing doors opening, of not feeling affirmed in ministry, I am wondering if this is a message that God doesn't want me here. I don't know.

All I do know is that tonight I felt sadness, a sadness of feeling like I've failed and that there is no chance for redemption.

Not all is bleak, though, I have enjoyed my time as the Communications Specialist for the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area and I've received a lot of affirmation there. I've been doing other religious media work for my own denomination and also starting to branch out. It's all good, it's just that it's not what I had planned for.

Maybe this is the Door. If it is, it wasn't the one I expected or hoped for.

But then again, it may only be a resting place until the Door opens. Who knows?

Did I keep this from becoming a "pity post?"

Back in the Day...

I've been a Janet Jackson fan for years (though her current stuff isn't as good). One of my favorite songs is "Alright," which is a bouncy and joyous song. I remember it on the airwaves during the spring of 1990, my junior year in college. The song was good, but the video was even better- a sheer delight, full of gorgeous coreography and stunning color.

For old time's sake, here's the video:

You Gotta Have Faith

I've been reading Becoming a Blessed Church, by N. Graham Standish again. I say "again," because I was reading it a few months back, and then stopped for some reason and for other unknown reason, I've started again.

It's been a good book to read, and I'm jazzed that it will be the focus of a class at this year's School for Congregational Learning in Des Moines.

What I have read so far, has reminded me a lot about the importance of prayer and of faith in the life of a congregation. Standish shares stories of two pastors who totally relied on faith and prayer in their endeavors and how things just seemed to work out. The first was about Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in California, the author of the book The Purpose-Driven Life and the second was Walt Kalestad, pastor of Community Church of Joy, a Lutheran congregation in Arizona. Both churches are what one would call a megachurch, but Standish isn't trying to tell people "do-this-and-you-too-will-become-a-megachurch." He focuses on how they relied on God and how they had faith in God. Standish would say they were open to God's power.

As I was putting this week's sermon, I was reminded of the faith of the Cannanite woman. She believed in Jesus, even when Jesus seemed to be dissing her.

It reminded me of my own recently life and how much I tend to be a functional atheist at times.

When Community of Grace was still going, I was placing my trust in things that ultimately let me down: local churches, the Region and techniques.

Now, I should say, I am not blaming these people or institutions. What I am saying is that I was placing trust in these things, and not on God.

I wonder what would have happened if all the time spent trying to get the attention of local churches and trying this and that to attract people to the church, would have been spent in prayer and asking for God's guidence? Something tells me that things might have turned out differently.

I'm not saying that prayer is some kind of good luck charm and that if I did enough of it, things would be different. But maybe praying would have reminded me who I was doing this for and whose power to rely on instead of my own power.

You really gotta have faith.

Sunday Sermon- August 17, 2008

“Fit for a Dog”
Matthew 15: 10-28
August 17, 2008
Lake Harriet Christian Church
Minneapolis, MN

During my freshman and sophomore years in high school, I was on the cross country team. I enjoyed distance running, but I wasn’t the best at it. God might have graced me with perserverance, but God didn’t give me the gift of swiftness. In many of the smaller meets, I was usually bringing up the rear.

One day during my freshman year, we my high school had a meeting with another high school in the suburbs. We went out to a local golf course to run the race. As usual, I was in last place, steady running along the rolling hills of the golf course.

At some point, I started hearing voices. At first I think I thought it was someone cheering me on, despite being last. But the voices weren’t friendly, instead they were very menacing voices. At the edge of a cul de sac were several youths, maybe at the most a few years old than I was. They were hurling racial slurs at me, calling me names that I can’t say in a family setting.

I was shocked by the slurs, but kept on running. It made no sense to let them get to me, so I kept the legs pumping, while they kept heaping insult upon insult. At some point, another member of my high school’s cross country team, who also was African American, ran to my aid. He had already finished the race and swiftly ran to confront the teens. From what I was told, all he did was simply look at them, which must have been enough to call off their racial slurs.

After I finished the race, many of the parents who were there watching the race, were shocked at what had happened and asked if I was okay. I was, but I had been rudely reminded of my parent’s admonition that there would be people who might not like me simply because of my color. My father, having grown up in Jim Crow Louisiana was well aware of this. I learned that day, that even though we have come a long way as a nation in race relations, there were always going to be people who would treat others horribly simply because of how the appear.

Today’s gospel reading is difficult, if not confusing to hear. We are used to a Jesus that is welcoming of everyone and yet here we see a Jesus that is not very nice, not very nice at all. Jesus seems to look like a hypocrite and a bigot all in one.

The passage begins with Jesus talking about his nemesis, the Pharisees. He tells the crowds that it is not what someone puts in their mouths that defiles, but what is in that person’s heart that makes someone unclean. He takes direct aim at the religious leaders, telling them that it is not following rules that makes a person righteous, but their heart, their intentions, that matter. This is all classical Jesus, sticking it to the self-righteous among him that cared more for following the law, than they did in helping their brother or sister.

And yet, all this seems forgotten in the next part of the passage. He is in region of Tyre, when a woman, who was not Jewish, came up to him frantically. She is desparate to have Jesus heal her daughter who was tormented by a demon. What was Jesus’ reaction? Well, at first he ignored her. Then the disciples told him to send her away.

Jesus responds, but it seems that he is still not paying any mind to this woman. “I have come only for the lost sheep of Israel,” he responds. No Gentiles need apply.

The woman pushes further and gets in front of Jesus and drops to the ground. “Lord, help me,” she says. She seems to know that this Jesus could heal her daughter and knew this was her only hope.

Jesus finally speaks to her and says, “It isn’t right to take the food meant for the children and give it to dogs.”

Ouch. Now, some scholars think that the term “dogs” here meant a more playful term, like “Puppies.” But it would seem rather callous for Jesus to be playing with the woman, when her daughter was gravely ill. Other scholars say that calling someone a dog was a derogatory term, in the same way that another word referring to a female dog is used as a derogatory term today.

So here we have Jesus, the Son of God, the one who broke barriers to welcome everyone, showing a sense of prejudice to a fellow human being.

No one would blame the woman for walking away, but instead of doing that, she pushes back with a witty response worthy of Shakesphere. “Yes, but even the dogs get what is left by the children at the table.”

For some reason, this shocks Jesus and he realized the woman’s faith. She was no longer a foreigner, but a woman of great faith. The woman came home to find her daughter healed.

So what is this story ultimately about? Is it about race? Is it about inclusion? Well, on one level it is about that, but there is another undercurrent going on here. It’s all about faith and placing our faith in God even when it seems that God has no faith in us.

The Pharisees placed their faith in their correct following of religious practice. But Jesus exposes that as a sham, because someone can be good at practicing the faith and still be a rotten person. During the time of slavery and later Jim Crow, there were many white Christians who were stead churchgoers and took their faith seriously and still treated their black sisters and brothers like dirt.

The Gentile woman, on the other hand, placed her faith in God. For all we know, she may have not worshipped the God of Israel, but she knew that this God could heal her daughter and that this man, Jesus would heal her daughter. So, she was bold in asking and never took no for an answer.

What does this all have to do with this faith community here in the early 21st century?

Everything.

Like the Pharisees, we can place our hope in things other than God. We can place our hope in our traditions, in our bank accounts and in our buildings. Or, we can be like the woman, who had faith even when the road seemed dark and with out hope. The woman’s faith was bold, daring, audacious, willing to break boundaries. She believed in a God that would heal her daughter and knew, knew, that Jesus would heal her loved one.

This sermon could have been one where I simply said that we should be more welcoming to people who are different. It would have been a perfect “After School Special” kind of sermon. But I don’t think we are simply asked to be nice to others, but to live in faith and open up the doors, welcoming others regardless of who they are, not because it’s the nice thing to do, but because it is we believe, with our whole hearts, that the Jesus who healed the Cannanite woman’s daughter, is one that welcomes someone regardless of the race or sexual orientation.

But there is even another message that we need to hear. The fact is, we are the dogs. We are not part of the children of Israel. We are outsiders. And yet, we can come boldly before God in faith because even the dogs receive God’s blessings.

I’m not much of a dog person. I’ve always loved cats and I’m the proud servant of two cats. (If you have cats, you understand why I said I’m a servant.) Some of my friends do have dogs. What I’ve noticed is how faithful dogs are to their companions and to others that they meet. I remember one day when I met up with two of my friends. Along with them, was one of their dogs, a large Rottweiler. Now these dogs have a reputation for being big, scary dogs, but this dog was incredibly friendly and decided to lick me.... a lot. This dog showed love and acceptance. Not unlike the woman who was once called a dog.

We will face a world where we will be shut out for whatever reason. But we have faith in a God that knows no boundaries and is with us, to the end of the age. Amen.

Can An Aspie Pastor Succeed? Yes.

So I've been thinking a lot about how a pastor with Aspergers can be successful in the pulpit. Someone helped me see that I've been seeing Aspergers as a burden rather than a positive. That's not surprising, since the diagnosis is rather new. But in thinking, I've come up with a few stregnths in being a pastor with Aspergers:

• Strong preaching skills. While I might lack in the social skills, I do preach a good sermon. That's always been important to me. People need to hear God's Word and I take that charge seriously.
• Good Administrative Skills. I realized this during my years as a new church pastor. I could do all the behind-the-scenes work, putting up the website, looking over the budget, and doing some of the other seemingly mundane stuff.
  
• Good Planning Skills. I've been good with planning things, such as worship. I've never been good with people who just tend to let things happen. I remember being part of an Episcopal church for a while that was anything but organized. It drove me nuts, because the worship was never planned-it just sort of happened. I'm also the go-to person to get events set up and running and look at what's not being done.

There are probably more, but that's what I've thought of. Yes, I do have a drawback when it comes to things like people skills (which means stay away from youth ministry), but the fact that I am learning is that I can't be the whole package for people. I might need an associate or lay person to help me in that area.

The fact is, having Asperger's doesn't mean I can't be a pastor. It just means being a different kind of pastor.

Can An Aspie Pastor Succeed?

As I become more knowledgable about Aspergers, I am realizing how different I am from neurotypicals. A lot of things that come naturally for others, are thing I've had to learn.

I am noticing more about how this affects me as a pastor. Being a pastor is a social activity, or so I've observed. I've noticed how some my colleagues are great at all the social aspects of ministry and can do quite well. They know how to engage others socially, in ways that I can't fathom.

Me? Well, I am good at certain "technical" things, worship planning, preaching. I was able to give a funeral for someone I was familiar with who had committed suicide because I was able to "stand back" emotionally. But when it comes to being social with people, I tend to be found lacking or so it seems, compared to others.

In the world we live in, those social skills matter. I remember a pastor who preached horrible sermons. This wasn't simply my viewpoint, others at the church this person was at would say the same thing. But he was also loved by the people because of his social skills. In some way, this person was cut some slack because he was viewed as a friend to so many in the congregation.

I can preach fairly well, but I am deficient in those "people skills." It's not that I'm unfriendly, it's that I don't know how to "slap people on the back" like other pastors. Hell, being in a line to after worship to greet people is hard work for me.

I know there are positives: as one friend said, my analytical approach to life can be of value. Of course, that means I have to learn how to "sell" that, something that is also hard for an aspie to do. Hard, but not impossible. Like every other social skill, it's something I will have to pick up cognitively.

Can an Aspie Pastor succeed? I guess we are about to find out.

From the "When I Was Your Age" Dept.

I know that I am no longer a spring chicken when the members of the R&B group New Edition are all in their 40s.

After that unsettling thought, I was reminded of some of their hits from the late 80s and early 90s, especially some of their solo work. I decided to download Ralph Tresvant's 1990 hit, "Sensitivity," for old time's sake.

Good times. Hard to believe that was almost 20 years ago.

You Aren't Getting Sleepy

I have trouble sleeping.

I can remember as a child getting up very early for no reason other than it was time to get up. When other people are tired and can go to bed like that at 7pm and wake up 15 hours later, I have to stay up a certain amount of time before I can "wind down" and even then it's hard to sleep.

It's still hard for me to sleep. It's been better since I've been on anti-depressants, but still it's hard to fall asleep.

Now I find out it might have to do with Aspergers.

This all makes me wonder: what is it about the autistic brain that makes it hard for them to fall asleep? Does anyone else with Aspergers or any other autistic disorder have these issues?

Responses are greatly appreciated.

Maintainence vs. Mission

I stumbled upon this blog post and thought to share it. I see a lot of this happening in some churches I know. I will blog more about this later.

1. In measuring its effectiveness, the maintenance congregation asks, “How many visitors have we attracted?” The missional congregation asks, “How many members have we sent?”

2. When contemplating some form of change, the maintenance congregation says, “If this proves upsetting to any of our members, we won’t do it.” The missional congregation says, “If this will help us bless and touch someone outside of our faith community, we will take the risk and do it.”

3. When thinking about change, the majority of members in a maintenance congregation ask, “How will this affect me?” The majority of members in the missional congregation ask, “Will this help align our activities around the missio dei — the mission of God?”

4. When thinking of its vision for ministry, the maintenance congregation says, “We have to be faithful to our past.” The missional congregation says, “We have to be faithful to our future.”

5. The pastor in the maintenance congregation says to the newcomer, “I’d like to introduce you to some of our members.” In the missional congregation the members say, “We’d like to introduce you to our pastor.”

6. When confronted with a legitimate pastoral concern, the pastor in the maintenance congregation asks, “How can I meet this need?” The pastor in the missional congregation asks, “How can we meet this need?”

7. The maintenance congregation seeks to avoid conflict at any cost (but rarely succeeds). The missional congregation understands that conflict is the price of progress, and is willing to pay the price. It understands that it cannot take everyone with it. This causes some grief, but it does not keep it from doing what needs to be done.

8. The leadership style in the maintenance congregation is primarily managerial, where leaders try to keep everything in order and running smoothly. The leadership style in a missional congregation is primarily transformational, casting a vision of what can be, and marching off the map in order to bring the vision into reality.

9. The maintenance congregation is concerned with their congregation, its organizations and structure, its constitutions and committees. The missional congregation is concerned with the culture, with understanding how secular people think and what makes them tick. It tries to determine their needs and their points of accessibility to the Gospel.

10. When thinking about growth, the maintenance congregations asks, “How many Christians, who aren’t currently members, live within a twenty-minute drive of this church?” The missional congregation asks, “How many unreached people groups live within a twenty-minute drive of this church?”

11. The maintenance congregation looks at the community and asks, “How can we get these people to come to our church?” The missional congregation asks, “How can we go and be engaged with these people?”

12. The maintenance congregation thinks about how to save their congregation. The missional congregation thinks about how to plant new missional communities to extend the Kingdom of God.

Do Disciples Care About their Children?

Presbyterian blogger and pastor, Shawn Coons is on to something:

Like most other mainline denominations, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has been losing members since the 1960s. We are down to about half the size that we once were. And this decline logically comes from many (most likely a majority) of churches losing members on a near-yearly basis.

But the average Presbyterian church seems indifferent to this reality. Sure, there is nervousness and some small lament of the declining number of “nickels and noses,” but how many churches actually acknowledge this reality and really wish to do the hard work of trying to reverse the decline? Acknowledging churches: few. Really working to reverse it: even fewer.

So here comes my question. Let’s put aside the notion that members and numbers may not be the best indicator of a faithful or successful church (duh). Doesn’t the average Presbyterian with kids/grandkids want the church to be around for their grown kids/grandkids? The writing is on the wall but most people seem interested in preserving the church they are used to, rather than helping to create one that will be there in the future.

You could switch "Presbyterian" for "Disciple" and I think the same thing would hold true for those of us in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). I think more often than not, when churches are talking about growth, they want growth without really changing. I think there are a lot of churches out there that want to live as if its 1958.

But the thing is, there can be no growth without some change. When babies grow, they outgrow their clothes. Parents don't try to keep putting on clothes that no longer fit. But churches seem at times to want to use the same methods and ways of thinking that no longer make sense in 2008.

Many of the Disciple churches that I have visited are graying, with few people under 40. Do most Disciples care about this? Maybe, I don't know.

What do others think?

Sunday Sermon- July 26 and 27, 2008

“To Go Before”
Romans 8:26-39,Matthew 13
July 27, 2008
Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer
Minneapolis, MN

I’m a car nut.

That should not be so surprising, since I grew up in Flint, Michigan, the birthplace of General Motors and both my parents are retired autoworkers. I subscribe to most of the automobile magazines like Motor Trend and Car and Driver. If you want to show me a good time, take me to a car dealership. I can remember recently visiting friends in Texas, and one of them had a new Dodge Charger. I was quite stoked that I got to ride this “muscle car.” I was a very happy little boy.

But I am also someone that takes care for the environment very seriously. I’ve been interested in alternative fuels and fuel efficient cars. Five years ago, I bought a 2002 Volkwagen Jetta Diesel. It was a wonderful car that got great mileage- upper 30s in the city and the low 40s on the highway. Recently, I decided to start looking for a new car in light of my partner Daniel getting a new car. He purchased the Smart Four Two, the little sub-subcompact from Europe that was made available in the US this year. I wanted to get a station wagon or bigger hatchback should we need to carry something big.

Of course, I wanted to get another fuel efficient car and I started looking around. There was one car that I was very wary of considering: the Toyota Prius, the grandaddy of hybrid cars.

It’s not that I didn’t like the car. I just didn’t like some the people who were buying the car. A few years ago, the New York Times reported that many people who bought the Prius bought to make a statement- to show to others that they were “green.” In reading the story, I sensed a certain amount of smugness in some of these Prius owners and I’m not into buying something to be showy. This eco-freindly car does have a reputation in the wider culture as one driven by pious and arrogant people. Indeed, the animated series South Park, poked fun at Prius owners. In that episode, the car was called...the Pious and the drivers did exhibit a certain air of superiority.

In today’s gospel, Jesus is talking about what the God’s Kingdom is like and he does it by rattling off a bunch of parables to describe it. It’s like a mustard seed...it’s like yeast in dough...it’s like a pearl of great price. Jesus just keeps piling on the similies and just as you are trying to digest one idea, he throws up another one.

What is interesting about Jesus’ description of God’s kingdom, is that he is drawing up an interested picture of a kingdom. Now, the people of that day, living as they were in the Roman Empire, knew all about kingdoms. It was all about kings, and armies and power. Even today, while we don’t live in an Empire ruled by a king or emperor, still think of governments and nations as big and mighty things. In the mid 90s I lived in Washington, DC and can’t remember a time living around so much marble and Romanesque architecture. I have to say, I was awed by the beauty of buildings like the Capitol, the Supreme Court and the Washington Monument.

But the kingdom Jesus is talking about is nothing like those places. In God’s Kingdom, there are no White Houses, or Buckingham Palaces. Instead, Jesus talks about weeds. Jesus talks about a mustard seed, being a small seed that grows into a big tree. He talks about a woman, I repeat, a woman making bread by adding yeast into it. That in itself was odd since was talking about women’s work and he was talking about adding yeast to bread, which would have deemed the bread unclean. Then there was the “treasure” that some person found in a field that he didn’t own. He then goes and buys the field, not telling the owner that there is a hidden treasure in the field.

These are all odd symbols of the God’s kingdom. What is Jesus trying to say here?

I think Jesus trying to say that the kingdom that God rules is one that is different than what we are used to. It is found in that that is considered small and insignificant.

When I was told that you are all focusing on creation care over the next few weeks, I was excited but worried. This an important issue for me, but I didn’t know how these lecitonary texts fit into the theme. What I can see in these texts is that as children of God, citizens of God’s kingdom, we are called to usher forth God’s kingdom in those small ways. When we look at issues like the environment, we tend to think we need to do BIG things. But what if all that it takes to deal with issues like global warming is doing small things? What if means biking to work or buying compact flourescent lightbulbs? Like the mustard seed, it seems like doing such things could hardly make a difference in how we care for God’s creation. But like the mustard seed, it is those little acts that make a difference and can change the world.

But there is that thing with attitude. Pride can really creep in there and make us feel superior. We tend to get “greener than thou” and lord it over others. But the parables remind us that we are to be humble in being harbingers of God’s kingdom. The seed, the yeast, the woman, were all humble things. We are called to follow the ways of the kingdom in humility, not arrogance which is the way of this world.

But living out your life according to God’s kingdom, doesn’t mean that living will be easy. Living a life of humilty will rattle those who live in the earthly kingdom.

One morning, as we were leaving a local breakfast joint another family was coming in. I had noticed the family was looking at the car and then walked towards the restaurant. I heard the mother mutter about how dangerous these small cars were and how “they” whoever “they” are, were more concerned about saving the earth than in saving the humans.

Did I tell you that their car was a Chevy Suburban?

Following Kingdom values means that others won’t get it and will make fun of you. But we know that our treasure is found in God.

Oh, about that new car. Want to know what I got? A Toyota Prius. After test driving it, I decided I liked the car after all. But I bought not to make a statement, but to live according to the ways that God has taught. To try to make a difference in the world, like a mustard seed, yeast or a pearl. May it be so with all of us. Amen.

Aspie Adults and Faith

A dear couple who know that I have Aspergers, gave me a wonderful resource called, Autism and Faith: A Journey Into Community. It looks at Autism from a faith perspective and how congregations can make these communities welcoming to those of us with some form of autism.

From a pastor's viewpoint, I think this is extremely helpful. I have to wonder how many families as well as adults with autism have not darkened the door of a church, synogogue or what have you because of the fear that they or their family will not be accepted. So, in that sense, it is important.

What was frustrating was that there were very few voices of those who have autism. They did include one young man and that was good. But I am left with this question: what happens when the person that is on the autistic spectrum isn't a child, but is the pastor? How in the hell do you deal with that?

I have to believe I am not the only pastor with Apsergers. But they are hard to find. If I do find a fellow Aspie clergy, my first question will be how they did it. And then I would want to find some way that we could connect and support each other.

I do wonder at times, how in the world I can be a pastor, such a social job, when you have autism. But then God seems to be in the habit of picking people to do stuff that they don't seem suited for. I'd love to see what God does with this.

God and Country

Every so often, when I am around my friends and loved ones, I tend to quietly roll my eyes on a certain issue.

That issue is patriotism.

Being that I live in one of the more liberal areas of the country (Minneapolis) and I am part of mainline Protestantism and most of my friends are of the said liberal persuasion, it's not a big surprise that I tend to hear a lot of comments that see America in a different way than I might.

It's not that I am some right-wing nutcase that talks about the United States in the same league with Jesus, but the fact is, I do like the country that I happen to live in. Lord knows, it's not perfect, I am a black gay man after all, but it does have some good things that I think should be celebrated when Independence Day rolls around.

I am also not saying that the United States or its government should never been criticized. Of course, injustice needs to be brought to the attention of our nations leaders when it fails to do right.

What I am getting at is the almost constant negative comments I hear from fellow mainline pastors about the United States. The criticism is justified at times: I mean, we have to remember that this nation treated my ancestors as nothing more than property and was trying to get rid of another group of people. I don't have a problem with talking about some of the darker aspects of American history. What I have a problem with is when those on the Christian Left tend to speak in a way that all that gets talked about is the dark side. I think that was the problem I had personally with Jeremiah Wright; it wasn't that he criticized America, it was that he painted a nation that was basically evil with no capacity for redemption.

In doing some research on this topic of faith and patriotism, I stumbled accross this article from the evangelical magazine, Christianity Today. David Gushee sees love of country as a form of piety:

Philosopher Jeffrey Stout says that piety is the virtue associated with gratitude toward the sources of one's existence. Love of country can, in this sense, be seen as a form of piety. We wave the flag in gratitude for the nation in which we live and move and have our being, the geographic source and arena of our existence. Asking someone to avoid patriotism because it compromises Christian faith is like asking them to avoid demonstrating affection to their parents because that, too, can compromise their Christian faith.

Abandoning patriotism can be a rejection of our embodiment as particular human beings in a particular context. It can mark a dismissal of the kinds of natural ties that root us to family, place, and time. I am here, not there; from these parents, not those parents; living in this era, not another one. I am not a free-floating spirit but an embodied person, rooted somewhere rather than nowhere. Patriotism simply says "thank you" for, and to, the particular national community in which our bodies have been placed.

I think Gushee has a point here. Being patriotic can be a way of saying thanks. He does give a nod to those on the Left that see how patriotism can morph into something more dangerous- th e last century has had its share of brown shirts who wreaked havoc in our world. I would agree with the sentiment as well. In a sinful world, something like love a country can change into something pretty dreadful.

But I don't think that means we should not be patriotic, it means that we need to be on guard when an expression of thanks becomes something more sinister.

I have to say thanks that I do live in a country that inspite of what it did to my ancestors, what it did to my father who grew up in Jim Crow Louisiana, it was able to rise above its racist beginnings. I am thankful as a gay man that even though living in the United States isn't easy, I am able to live in relative safety, whereas in other countries people are still facing death for simply loving another person of the same sex.

I have to say thanks that in spite of that same racist past, we very well may see a black man assume the nation's highest office.

I am not trying to gloss over all the bad things that have happened in our nation or have been caused by our land. But I also know there is a lot of good as well, and for that, I am thankful and I want to work to better the lives of others in other parts of the world, so that they too can be thankful.

Gushee ends his essay by stating that for the Christian living in the United States in 2008, patriotism has to be expressed as a "yes, but:"

We need to be able to say "yes, but" to patriotism. Yes, we love our country, but we do not fully belong here or in any earthly land. Yes, we want our nation to flourish, but every human being and human community is equally precious in God's sight. Yes, we value our nation's ideals, but they are not the same thing as the message of the kingdom. Yes, God blesses America, but he blesses other nations, too.

Of course, we can't put God above nation or even equal to the nation, which I believe is the sin of the Christian Right. But we can still love our nation, as long as those of us who are followers of Christ know that we have a higher love than that of the the US of A.

So, I will be a patriot. I will love this country, imperfect as it is, because it has some good values. I will let it know when I think it has done wrong. But it's not my main love: that belongs to Jesus.

But I will still say the Pledge of Allegiance (even without the reference to God , which wasn't there in the first place), I will still take my hat off during the singing of the national anthem and all that stuff. I still like America, warts and all.

Sunday Sermon- July 13, 2008

“Better Churches and Gardens”
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
July 13, 2008
Lake Harriet Christian Church
Minneapolis, MN

Last Thursday night, I decided to do something that I haven’t done in a long, long time.

Long before I could drive.

Long before I graduated from high school.

I played kickball.

Yes, I played that simple game where we tried to kick a plain, red ball and run around bases. It was fun, but I was reminded of something. I know that many of you are “more mature” than I am, but I can say that playing kickball at 38 is a lot different than playing it at 13. When I was 13, I could play kickball forever. These days, not so much. And my muscles feel it the next morning.

I was doing this all for a reason. I am part of a group young church folk, ordained and not ordained in the United Church of Christ and the Disciples that were looking for ways to get young adults in their 20s and 30s who were not really connected with a congregation involved in the life of the church. We’ve called the group Come Thirsty and to start things, we are meeting every Thursday in July at a local park in Minneapolis for a game of kickball and then going to the nearby Bryant Lake Bowl for fellowship and maybe a game of bowling.

There is very little that makes it seem like a church event, with the exception that we start things off with prayer. Other than that, it looks like a normal gathering of 20 and 30-somethings.

To some, it might not seem like much is going on to further God’s work in the world. What does kickball have to do with Jesus? Well, maybe everything.

In today’s gospel, Jesus decides to tell a story about the kingdom of God. Now, I love the parables and have since I was a child. But I have not really like the parable of the sower, the first parable. It reminds me of my time in college when the campus pastor would use this sermon to talk about our spiritual lives. The message is that we need to be really good and have open hearts to recieve God’s message. This story had been turned into a moralistic tale and it seemed to lose its mystery and power.

But these days, I have a different understanding of the parable. I’ve said this before, but parables are not really morality tales, but peeks into what the kingdom of God is like. That is what is going on here.

Jesus tells a tale of a sower who throws the seeds here, there and everywhere. Now, I don’t have a green thumb, but I know well enough that any farmer or backyard gardener, is very careful where the seeds go. They take care to plant then in the right place and in the right soil. Seeds are precious and have to used with great care.

But this sower is not that careful. In fact, he is not careful. This person just throws seeds anywhere, even though there is good reason that such a process isn’t going to be that fruitful. And it looks like such a prophecy is becoming true, because the seeds get eaten up birds, choked by thorns or simply die on the rocks. As if by luck, some of those seeds fall on good soil and they produce a bumper crop beyond anyone’s imaginations.

So, what is going on here? Well, let’s imagine that the sower is God or Christ. God decides to just spread God’s seed, or God’s word anywhere, not caring if it produces fruit or not. This is a wonderful example of grace. God’s love is extravagant, it is wasteful. God is hardly stingy when it comes to sharing love with creation. In some cases that love will be shared and not returned. In others, it will produce and abundant harvest that will seed another generation. God is willing to take the risk and flings seeds far and wide.

What you don’t see here is the message that we normally hear: that if we work hard and are dilligent, things will work out. I am not saying that we should ignore that message. What I am saying is that in God’s economy this rule doesn’t apply as much.

When Jesus was on the earth, he was always sharing his life with others. Some took that message and ran with it, becoming faithful disciples. Others refused to hear the message. Now matter what, Jesus still shared, like a sower sowing seeds every which way.

As Christ followers, we are called to do the same. Churches are called to share God’s love in word and deed. Now sometimes, that will be warmly recieved, and other times it will not. But like God, we just keep on doing what we are doing.

As this congregation readies itself for a new pastor, we are reminded in this parable that we are to go out and start planting seeds. We don’t have to wait for a pastor to do that. We are called to do that NOW. We are called to share God’s love in word and deed to the world outside the doors of this church. When we gather to pack food packets for the hungry, when we gather weekly for prayer, when we show concern with our sisters and brothers in our workplaces, we are planting seeds. The sower went out to plant seeds. So did Jesus. And so are we. The church is not a club, there to serve only the needs of each other, but a staging ground where we prepare to go out into the world.

We will encounter problems. Some of those seeds will fall on hard soil or deaf ears, some will fall on those who worry about everything, some will be taken by the birds or get concerned other things. But we still plant away because in the end, the harvest is going to be plentiful. Lives will be changed.

So back to that game of kickball. To some it might seem like a waste of time. But I have to believe we are planting seeds in the lives of young adults who might not have thought about church before. Our work is having an effect in that local congregations are starting their own groups, some after a long dormancy. I believe seeds are being sown, here and there, and some of it will not take root. But some of it will. But it really doesn’t matter; because we place our trust in God who will produce a bountiful harvest, far beyond our imaginations.

Amen.

Wide Awake

Tonight, Daniel and I were invited over for dinner at my friends' Erik and Scott's for dinner. It was also the first time I got to meet an "imaginary friend," Ray. I've known him for a few years via LiveJournal, but this was the first time meeting him in person. As we chatted, Ray talked about his experience at Church of the Apostles in Seattle and then Erik and Scott started talking about their church, Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer. They truly love their church and having preached there a few times, I do enjoy it as well.

The night before, I took part in Come Thirsty, a group of mostly 20 and 30 somethings in the UCC and (hopefully in time) Disciples. We didn't do "churchy" stuff except prayer. What we did do is play kickball and had a damn fun time doing it. Afterwards, we went over to the famous Bryant Lake Bowl for bowling and drinks.

I have say that event left me feeling good. From the outside it might not look like ministry, but that was what was going on and it made me feel excited.

As I thought about tonight and last night, I've realized how spiritually listless I feel at times. When I look at my fellow Disciples here in the Cities, I don't see people fired up for mission, but people just existing, surviving. And it brings me down.


Don't get me wrong, I love these people. I care for them and want to be part of this crazy community called Disciples. But at times, I get tired of how defeatist and scared we are when it comes to living out our faith. I wish that our churches were more bold, more willing to take risks. I wish those that have left Disciple churches stop complaining and start doing something.

As I prepare for this Sunday's sermon, the word that keeps sticking in my mind is "listen." That's the word found in the parable of the Sower and I think God is trying to tell me something.