This Weekend

This weekend we have a split schedule. By that, I mean our worship services on Saturday and Sunday will be quite different, with me preaching on Saturday and a guest preacher, Diane Moffett, preaching on Sunday. I am going to offer a brief overview of what you can expect this weekend in worship, because this may a great time for you to attend both Saturday and Sunday without it being redundant. 

Tomorrow we will be reading Paul’s sermon in Athens, from Acts 17, which is an intriguing text because of the theology that we see presented there. One could make the case that it is more Luke’s theology (presuming that Luke wrote the book of Acts) than Paul’s – which is often the case when someone is retelling another person’s story. Still, it is an amazing chapter, which I believe has been mistranslated and misinterpreted for many years because it challenges our customary way of thinking. I will not go on and on about the translation issues now or during the sermon, but if you are interested in hearing more, here’s an opportunity. In some ways I see this sermon as an extension of the sermon I preached two weeks ago on John 14. Our Saturdays @ 5 services are followed by a fellowship reception in the Bonhoeffer Room that we call, “Life Together.” If anyone wants to look at the translation issues behind Acts 17, I will be happy to walk through some of them during that time. 

On Sunday, we will host the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett as our guest preacher in worship and Dr. Moffett will offer a presentation in the Fellowship Hall following worship. Since 2018, Dr. Moffett has been the President and Executive Director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA), which is the mission arm of the PC(USA). Under her leadership, the PMA is inviting congregations, presbyteries, and synods to become “The Matthew 25 Church,” which has three foci: Building Congregational Vitality; Dismantling Structural Racism; and Eradicating Systemic Poverty. Dr. Moffett will be preaching in our 9:30AM service on Sunday, then offering a presentation on being a Matthew 25 church in the Fellowship Hall at 11:00AM. The vision of the Matthew 25 initiative is very much in keeping with how God has led St. Mark over the years, so we will benefit from hearing Dr. Moffett’s presentation in how that vision is shaping the larger Presbyterian Church. What I find refreshing and instructive is how the Matthew 25 initiative connects the work of systemic justice to the exercise of compassion in everyday life. Too often those two approaches to faithfulness are posited as an either/or, when in reality they are two levels of the same work. I am looking forward to Dr. Moffett’s presentation and I hope you will make an effort to be there for them. 

Next weekend, May 26-27, is Pentecost Weekend. So, here’s a heads up: Wear Red! We’ll talk more about that next week. 

Until then I am humbled and grateful to call myself, 

Mark of St. Mark 

God's Word in Human Voice

 God’s Word in Human Voice 

July 10, 2011

Matthew 13:1-23 

Heartland Presbyterian Church

D. Mark Davis

 

Tony Campolo once told a story that I will never forget. One day Tony was going to a convention where he was going to speak to a Pentecostal gathering of some sort. And, just before the event started, Tony gathered with the leaders in a room backstage because they wanted to have prayer for him. If you’ve ever been in a Pentecostal prayer group, you’ll know that, while one person is technically ‘leading’ the prayer, everyone prays aloud all at the same time (a nightmarish form of prayer for polite Presbyterians.) One guy in particular was praying quite loudly and he wasn’t even praying for Tony. Tony heard him saying, “Oh, God, please reach out today and touch Bernie Stolzfus.” Then the guy went on to help God figure out who Bernie Stolzfus was and what the problem was. He said, “Oh, God, you know Bernie Stolzfus, who lives in the blue trailer in that first road in the park next exit 40 off the highway. Bernie is struggling and he’s about to leave his wife Elise and he’s just very confused and Elise loves him so much and he just doesn’t realize how much she loves him and wants to work things out with him. Oh, Lord, just reach out to Bernie today and lead him home to that blue trailer in the first road next to exit 40 off the highway.” Tony, of course, has simply left off praying entirely, and is now wondering, “Okay, why are you telling God where Bernie lives? Shouldn’t we assume that God already knows that? And other such questions.” So, eventually, the prayer ends and Tony does his thing and ‘a good time was had by all’ and later he gets in his car to drive back to his home in St. David, Pennsylvania. 

 

As he’s getting near the highway, Tony sees a hitch-hiker. And, while this is often an ill-advised thing to do, Tony decided that the guy looked harmless enough and he offers him a ride. The guy is clearly troubled about something and as they’re making small talk he says that his name is Bernie Stolzfus and he’s heading to the next town. Tony pulled off at the next exit and turned around to head back where they came from. Bernie looked at him puzzled and asked, “What are you doing?” Tony answered, “I am taking you home! Your wife Elise is sitting at home right now crying, wanting to you to come home more than anything else in the world, and you just don’t realize how much she loves you.” And Tony drove to exit 40 and got off the highway and turned onto the first road and drove to a blue trailer. As they pulled up, a weeping Elise came to the door and said, “Bernie, what’s going on?” Bernie looked at her and said, “Honey, we need to talk.” Then, he turned and looked at Tony and said, “How did you know all of this?” To which Tony says, “God told me!” And whenever Tony tells this story and the audience is laughing at his response “God told me!” Tony will look at the audience and add, “And he did.” 

 

So, what, exactly, is “the Word of God” here? Is it a curiously inappropriate prayer, which happens to contain just the right amount of detail which will later serve to help reconcile a couple in crisis? What is this thing we call “The Word of God”? 

 

In many Christian churches, the phrase “the Word of God” is used to signify the Bible itself, this collection of 66 books written across centuries and put together as a collection across other centuries. But, within the Bible itself, the phrase “the Word of God” has a much more dynamic meaning than simply a collection of books. In the Hebrew Scriptures, when the prophets speak of “The Word of the Lord,” they are very clearly speaking of something that is given to them prior to the spoken message, and therefore much more original than any written account of their spoken message. Likewise, in the New Testament, “the Word of God” is not used simply to refer to what we now know as the Bible. In fact, in the Gospel of John, the writer begins by describing “the Word” as something that existed from the beginning with God, and which was the means by which God called all things into being in the first place. And, it was the Apostle Paul who made the excellent distinction between letters written in ink or chiseled on stone and the Spirit that gives life in the message of the gospel. We will, on occasion, use the shorthand of referring to the Bible itself as “the Word of God,” but I have often found it helpful to follow the theologian Karl Barth’s lead and refer to the Bible as that which ‘contains’ the Word of God, but not to equate the Bible with the Word of God. The Word of God is a dynamic, life-giving entity, which might even come in the form of a curiously inappropriate prayer that just so happens to say the right thing. 

 

For the early church, particularly the community to whom the parable that we have read this morning is written, the question of what “the Word of God” is was a pressing question. It is not that they were trying to root out heretics by deciding who was the real “Bible-believing” church and who was not. It is not that they were trying to justify their own point of view on a hot-button topic of the day by equating their perspective with “the Word of God” and everyone else’s perspective with some depraved form of “human wisdom.” Matthew’s community saw itself as a ‘missional community.’ We saw that a few weeks ago when we read the end of Matthew’s gospel and heard them being commissioned to disciple others in the way of Christ, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth. They saw their reason for existence, not to build a more impressive church than all of the other churches in town, but to continue the work that Jesus began, preaching, healing, and making God’s reign a reality for others in the world. 

 

But, this was also a community that struggled. Many of them were part of the Diaspora, that dispersion of people out of Jerusalem after Rome attacked the city and destroyed its center, including the great temple. Many of them had not gone out deliberately, but had fled the violence and destruction, leaving as refugees, looking for some kind of sustenance and shelter. This original mission was not a program being smartly led by directors from abroad, but a way of life that was both a scraping to get by and a mission of hope. Their lives were the message, the “Word of God” that they sowed was not a written Bible or even dumbed-down cartoon pamphlets, but a message that was embodied in real living. The “Word of God,” for them, was the dynamic power of living with purpose, even as the world around them was inflamed with violence and despair. When we read of “the Word” in this parable, it is “the Word of God” that was originally embodied in the life of Christ, and then alive in those who saw themselves as “the body of Christ” in the world. And this parable of the Sower is a way of framing what this missional community would experience. 

Matthew’s community saw that when “the Word of God” was sown, sometimes it would lay, unattended and never rooted, because some places were beaten down and compacted. When “the Word of God” was sown, sometimes it would take root very quickly, but some ground has never been tilled and the stones along the surface will not allow roots to grow, so the plants would wither in the sun. When “the Word of God” was sown, sometimes it would grow among other more vicious forms of life that overwhelmed it. The same seed, thrown with the same abandon, the same message lived through the same faithful lives, would often come to very different results. And this missional community would experience times of rejection and times of dashed hopes and times of conflict with other concerns. That is just how it is for the missional community. It is not a signal that their message was bad or that they embodied it insufficiently or anything of that sort. That is just how it goes for “the Word of God” in human life. 

 

But, in a twist of hope, there was the seed that fell on good soil. In this parable, the seed that fell on the good soil produced a ridiculous amount of harvest – some thirty-fold, some sixty-fold, and some a-crazy-hundred-fold! This is where some people criticize Jesus, saying that it is obvious that he was a son of a carpenter, and not the son of a farmer. The point, of course, it not whether or not Jesus knows reasonable yields for seeds. The point is that the missional community – with all of their struggles and failures – can take heart, because under the right conditions “the Word of God” produces abundant life, so abundant that it provides enough, despite those dry and barren patches. 

 

That is the hope that sustains us when we find ways to spread the dynamic “Word of God” with abandon. The results may lie far outside of our influence, but the hope is that, by God’s grace, the harvest is plentiful. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

 

 

Keeping the Flame; Passing the Torch

We have had and will continue to have a lot of great opportunities here at St. Mark for you to lean into building our church community and following the path of discipleship. Two weeks ago we hosted Dr. Kathleen Treseder from UCI to speak about Climate Change and heard about how our recent decision to adopt guidelines for going carbon neutral that have been provided and encouraged by the Presbyterian Church (USA). We call our action, “Shifting into Neutral,” as we aim to become carbon neutral by 2030. Last week, we hosted Sister Sara Tarango, to discuss the forthcoming Farm Bill and its effects on families throughout our country. We have some other events coming up soon that we’ll begin promoting in due time. 

Our guest presenters tell me often how impressed they are at the degree to which St. Mark is informed and active with regard to things like caring for the environment and advocating for the marginalized. That certainly has been St. Mark’s modus operandi for a long time, but it is not a wave that we want to ride until it dies out on the shore. It is a movement that we want to renew again and again, passing the torch and sharing the collective wisdom from generation to generation. So, today and next week I want to address how this happens. 

I had a friend named Gus – a former presbytery executive and insightful church analyst – who long argued that when someone retires from their occupation, they should immediately consider themselves as freed up to participate in Christian ministry, whether that is fulfilling a volunteer role in the church, becoming an advocate for their passion, or simply seeing to it that something they always felt should be happening through their church starts happening through their church. His argument was the younger church members are spread too thin, between working day jobs and raising children, so it is unrealistic to expect them to carry the church’s load. Their job, he said, was to be good workers and parents, not to laden themselves with tasks or guilt over the work of the church that others could be doing. 

I won’t lie – not everyone accepted Gus’ invitation to see their retirement as a time to step up, but one person I know answered that challenge beautifully. After an early retirement as a C.F.O. at a major media outlet, he would golf just about every day. But first he showed up, with a toolbox, and piddled around the church, replacing that faucet that never seemed to work right, cleaning the gutters, shampooing the carpet, etc. He worked in conjunction with the Buildings and Grounds Committee and simply said, “I have 2-3 hours each morning that I can devote to doing all the little things that everyone knows need to be done, but nobody gets around to doing. So write up a list and I’ll take care of it.” After, he’d head out to the tee box. 

Not everyone has the leisure or finances to take an early retirement and carve out morning hours for volunteer work. And not every younger person is so spread out that they can’t find time to engage and enjoy the work of the church. Still, Gus taught us two things. 

1. If we’re ever tempted to say something like, “The church ought to be …” then we immediately need to change our language to “We ought to be …” because we are the church. 

2. There are seasons to life. Too often church leaders like me are so focused on meeting the need and recruiting volunteers that we become insensitive to how parenting, establishing a career, or taking care of one’s elders is how many people live out their faith, whether it is part of the church’s collective work or not. 

So, where does that leave us? I’ll say more next week, but for now we need to think of our calling at St. Mark as a dynamic movement that needs constant regeneration. One thing I’ve found amazing about the L.A. Dodgers since moving here is how good they are at regeneration. After winning 111 games last year (that’s s LOT), they did not just bring back the same team for this year. They have two rookies in their starting lineup and have moved into first place even with their anticipated starting shortstop and ace pitcher on the injury shelf. How do they do it? Some teams wait until they hit rock bottom to renew themselves. The Dodgers renew their lineup when they are riding high, constantly investing in their farm system, where younger players are being prepared for being the ‘next man in.’ As focused as they are on this week’s series against the Padres, they are also already thinking about where they will be in three years. 

Sorry for the sports analogy, but it seems appropriate to me, because who we are and who we are becoming are one cloth. As I said, I’ll get back to this with more next week. Until then, let’s continue to be the church.

Mark of St. Mark

Ethic of Tragedy

 Our celebration of Earth Day has me musing on the Ethic of Tragedy as perhaps the most humble and effective way of living faithfully in a tragic world. What follows is me going on and on about it, so read at your own risk. You’ve been warned.

One of my favorite texts in the Bible is Amos 5:19, about the person who fled from a lion and was met by a bear, only to escape the bear and make it home. When they entered the house, they put their hand on the wall to catch their breath and were bitten by a snake. Of course, since it is in Amos, it isn't told as a "story" per se, but my guess is that it originated as a story, so I'm going to keep telling it in that form. My further guess is that it originated as a proverbial story about someone for whom everything went wrong - a kind of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" sort of perspective. I think this story from Amos provides a tremendous jumping off point to speak about ethics from the perspective of tragedy. 

Take, for example, the Climate Change crisis. If you visit the "Climate Clock," you can scroll down and see that, if the world stays on its present course, we have less than 8 years "to save the world." The countdown spins by so fast it creates a kind of anxiety and is a powerfully effective means of showing the severity of carbon in the atmosphere, the need to stop our dependence on fossil fuels, etc. Some people might consider this kind of information a "scare tactic," but for others a true "sign of the times." We often hear the same kind of urgency in letters that we might receive from the left or the right, arguing that unless we support candidate X or win this next election, "they" are going to bring disaster and ruin us all. 

Setting aside for a moment whether these stark messages are true, partly true, or downright fabrications (a la FOX News and Dominion), they seem to be effective in getting people off the snide and into the arena of action or fundraising. It's an ethic of urgency, based on a binary choice between this or that; right or wrong; good or evil; us or them. 

But here's a nagging thing about efforts to address Climate Change. I have an electric car, which I charge every night from my home, which is powered by solar panels. Only if I drive over 50 miles in one day do I have to switch from electric to hybrid and use gas. I love it financially because I've filled the tank twice in 2023 - and that was because my son borrowed it when he was home from school for a week. And I love it environmentally, because I think fossil fuel companies in the US and around the world justify their existence on the "supply and demand" model, but actually create the demand that they pretend to fill. I feel creepy buying gas because I am participating in what I believe is a misleading and sinister operation. 

However, I know electric vehicles and solar panels are not perfect solutions. The batteries in electric cars are sourced from cobalt, lithium, and nickel, which have terribly unjust supply chain problems - as do most raw materials, including the materials for solar panels and oil. And the extraction of those materials through mining can cause as much damage to the environment as mining the materials for a gas-powered car. Then, after their use, there is a significant controversy over whether those batteries can be fully recycled, partly recycled, or eventually disposed of, and adding further toxicity to the ground. While electric cars and solar panels help reduce carbon output, there are still environmentally damaging issues that need addressing. It's like avoiding the roar of the lion and the jaws of the bear, only to be bitten by the snake hidden on the wall. 

Here's my thought on the matter - Christian Ethics has always been exercised in a tragic nexus. Think of "just war" theories. Or Bonhoeffer joining a plot to assassinate Hitler. Or Christian missionaries bringing the gospel to the unchurched, on ships owned by the Dutch Trading Company that exploited those same peoples. It is rarely a matter of pure evil v. pure good. To use the language of Reinhold Niebuhr, it is ever a matter of proximate good and sometimes the lesser of two evils. 

I think other biblical resources that try to reflect on this tragedy are Genesis 3 and the stories about Judas. In Genesis 3, the ground itself is cursed as part of Adam and Eve's disobedience. The ground. That's the context in which human life happens, especially if we just read Genesis chapter 2. The context in which we live is disrupted by and suffers the effects of human sinfulness. It is part of the inescapability of life on earth. And, of course, the stories that follow in Genesis - murder, Babel, the flood - show the consequences of such a tragic context. There is indeed 'right' and 'wrong' in those stories, but the point is that every story takes place within a tragic context. 

Likewise, the gospel attempts to describe Judas shows how the early church struggled with his culpability. Was he simply a schmuck making an evil choice? Yes, he was taking from the kitty all along. Yes, he sold out. Yes, he conspired. And also, no. It was destined for Jesus to be handed over. Jesus himself says, "Go do it quickly" when handing Judas bread during the last supper. And judging from the prayer in the garden, Judas and God seemed to be on the same page. Judas even tried to return the money and committed suicide in response to his actions. Judas was both part of something outside of his control and was a responsible agent making choices with awful consequences. And that's a textbook definition of an ethic of tragedy. 

Sometimes I think we have to be like Bonhoeffer - and perhaps Judas - and go out knowing that we're going to commit a sin, whether it's an assassination, a betrayal, or despoiling the environment in some way. But we go out resolved to do so because not doing so would result in a greater sin - the annihilation of Jews, God's plan of salvation being unfinished, or an even worse form of environmental catastrophe. In an ethic of tragedy, our hands are not clean, so we rely on grace. In an ethic of tragedy, the result is not certain, so we rely on hope. And in an ethic of tragedy, the way is not clear, so we rely on humility and the best collective wisdom we can attain. This is the long and difficult journey of taking up our cross and following the Christ. 

Mark of St. Mark

Shifting into Neutral

 Let me begin by sharing two things. First, since November I’ve been part of an “EcoPreacher Cohort,” co-hosted by the BTS Center and Creation Justice Ministries. You can read about it here. We meet once a month online and participate in hearing plenary presentations and small group discussions. The information and challenges of the program have been marvelous. I joined the program for my own development as an environmental theologian, with hopes that it would prepare me for better leadership here at St. Mark, as well as in my own journey of faith. 

Second, in 2006, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) passed a resolution call on all Presbyterians to go Carbon Neutral as a Bold Christian Witness to Help Combat the Effects of Climate Change. Among other things, the resolution, “calls upon all Presbyterians to take [Climate Change] seriously, to pray asking for God’s forgiveness and guidance, to study this issue, to calculate their carbon emissions, to educate others, and to use less energy, striving to make their lives carbon neutral.” Back in 2006, the emphases were on reducing one’s carbon output as well as purchasing carbon offsets. Today, given the greater severity of our climate crises, there is more urgency for us to attend to reducing our carbon output. 

This year the PCUSA published a “Guide to Going Carbon Neutral,” which you can download or read here. Part of the guide says that going carbon neutral “involves all aspects of church life from the pulpit to the classrooms, to the kitchen, to the community, beginning with a commitment from the Session.” Last November your Session did exactly what the guide calls for, by adopting this document as a guideline that will help us to make both our church campus and our individual homes more carbon neutral. Our Peace and Justice Commission stepped up to spearhead this work and have formed a Task Force to lead us toward compliance. And you responded well in our March 19th congregational meeting, by approving a loan for us to start the process of installing solar panels on our campus buildings. That was one major step in the long and faithful road of attaining carbon neutrality.

Of course, this direction is nothing new for St. Mark. We are continuing the marvelous work that was led in the past by our Ecophilians, particularly during the crucial time when our church campus was being designed and built. St. Mark was declared by the International Audubon Society to be “the greenest church in America” due to those efforts, and for over ten years we have been annually certified as an “Earth Care Congregation” by the Presbyterian Church (USA). The step of going “Carbon Neutral” is a continuation of that work, with many hard and exciting parts. Thanks to all of you who have led us so faithfully this far. Now, we have direction to move forward. 

This Sunday our Peace and Justice Commission and our Carbon Neutral Task Force invite you to come to the Fellowship Hall after worship to hear an Earth Day presentation in the Fellowship Hall after worship at 11:00 a.m. Our featured presenter is Dr. Kathleen Treseder, a climate change expert, who will be sharing her thoughts on St. Mark becoming a carbon neutral congregation. This is a very important time for us and will follow a worship service that is all about living thankfully and well in this beautiful earth that God has made. 

See you in worship,

Mark of St. Mark

Many Thanks

 Friends, 

Do you know anyone ages 18-40 who would be interested in an 8-week internship this summer, to learn faith-based organizing skills? CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice) is accepting applications between now and April 24. To find out more, click here. 

My portion of today’s message will be brief but heartfelt. I want to give thanks. Thanks to all the folks who warmed up, tuned up, rehearsed, decorated, lit matches, bought flowers, baked goods, turned A/V knobs, read liturgy, studied Scripture, discussed readings, taught classes, and simply showed up throughout our Lenten Season, Holy Week, and Easter events and celebrations. We had a full slate of opportunities for study and worship throughout the season and many of you enabled us to have them and many of you took advantage of them. And the joy on Saturday, then twice on Sunday, of our celebration of the resurrection was palpable and wonderful. Thank you for being the church, so faithfully and meaningfully. 

Now, I yield the remainder of this week’s message to our Finance Commission: 

"We are pleased and grateful to report that we have received an excellent response to the recent 2023 pledge outreach.  Pledge commitments currently exceed the 2023 budget target by +$90,000.  Current pledges total $830,000 which reduces our operational (income vs expenses) deficit to approximately -$27,000.   As a reminder, we had faced an original 2023 budget deficit of -$117,000. This represents a significant improvement in our financial position, and although it is difficult to make full year projections based on 3 months, this should leave us with a very manageable 2023 operational budget.  As has been mentioned, we are still projecting needed facilities improvements and solar project expenditures that will be covered separately by our reserve savings and a loan from PILP.  The Finance Commission would like to thank the entire congregation for your prayerful dedication and vital support of St. Mark Church.  We look forward to delivering this positive update to the congregation during worship this Sunday, April 16."

(Mark again): Yet another thing for which I am thankful! When we give with such generosity, it is another indicator that none of us simply “goes to church.” We are the church. What a joy!

Mark of St. Mark

Holy Week Post

 Friends, 

 

What a powerful week we are in. It began with the joyous sounds of “Hosanna!” as we joined those powerful voices, welcoming the Christ with seditious protest language, crying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” That raucous event gave way to a much quieter and somber supper on Thursday, as Jesus washes the disciples’ feet and give them a new command (“Maundy” is the Latin word for “mandate”) to love one another. It was there that Jesus disclosed that one of them would betray him and that Simon Peter would deny him thrice. But it was also a time of promise – a promise that Jesus would not leave them orphaned, but that the Spirit would come and enable them to remember Christ’s teaching and would bring them peace. Now, today, Friday, is the day of the week when the deeds are done – Judas has betrayed, the disciples have abandoned, Peter has denied, justice has been politicized between Herod and Pilate, soldiers have killed, friends have cried, the temple’s curtain has been torn, and the sky has gone black. It is as if every facet of human contrivance has failed and now the world itself has gone into mourning. 

 

The powerful spiritual asks, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” We can easily answer, “No, that was over 2,000 years ago!” But we can more truthfully answer, “We are there every time justice is denied, or violence is held up as the answer, or innocents die, or we justify killing enemies. This story is not just a story from history. It is an exemplary story about the depths of human tragedy, with all of us in starring roles. 

 

It is against this tragic backdrop that we celebrate Easter. We know that resurrection happens in the story – we did this last year and all the years before that. Knowing that resurrection follows death can have to different effects. It can be our reason for denying the reality and true pain of death, to treat the drama of Holy Week as nothing more than a pretense because we’ve read the next chapter already. Or, resurrection can be the gift that enables us to face Holy Week full on, reckoning with what it reveals about our human condition and our inability to fix it. It may sound morose to say, “Yes, I was there when they crucified our Lord,” but we have the courage to say that when we know that our problematic human is not the last word. 

 

So, friends, I invite you to spend this day in reflection. Be bold about the corrupt systems on which we rely, the zero-sum ways that what benefits us often hurts others, the tragic nature of how sometimes even our best efforts merely substitute one kind of problem for another. That’s what Friday is all about. And then, on Saturday and Sunday, we’ll get together and raise our voices in praise that sin and death do not have the last word. 

 

See you on the other side of Friday, 

Mark of St. Mark