Sermons

Luke 4: 16-21 & 1 Corinthians 12: 27-31 * Roger C. Lynn * September 24, 2006

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Lately I've been asking myself a lot of questions. The particulars take a variety of forms, but in the end it all seems to come to one query. "Just who do you think you are?" It is a question worth pondering from time to time. What does it mean to be me? What am I called to do? Who am I called to be? Just who do you think you are?
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We like to talk about faith in terms of the gifts we receive through our participation in this way of living - the support and the joy which comes from following the path of faith. But the truth is that it's not always easy, this business of faithful living. Walking with God and seeking to follow where we think God is leading us can take us into some rather unsettling, and even frightening, territory. This is true not because God leads us into harms way, but because the world is not always ready to receive the gifts which faith prompts us to offer. The good news of love and acceptance and forgiveness and peace and generosity and compassion can seem threatening to those who only know how to experience the world through a filter of fear. And frightened people sometimes lash out at whatever they perceive to be the source of their fear.
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Isaiah 35: 4-7 & James 2: 14-17 * Roger C. Lynn * September 10, 2006

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We live in a world that is filled with images of violence and hatred. It can be frightening to live here sometimes. Tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and there is lots of fearful talk floating around about the danger we are still in. There is also lots of talk about justice. The other day President Bush gave a speech in which he talked about bringing "justice" to those who were supposedly behind the attacks. The word he used was justice, but in listening to him talk it sounded a lot like vengeance. It sounded a lot like making sure that someone gets punished in response to our pain.

The people in Isaiah's day who were living in Babylonian exile also knew about pain. They had been ripped from family and home and faith, and subjected to domination by a foreign power. They wanted justice, and the justice they wanted looked a lot like vengeance. They wanted someone else to suffer for they pain. And so Isaiah writes to this exile community and he speaks about God's vengeance. "Say to those who are of a fearful heart, 'Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. God will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. God will come and save you.' " (Isaiah 35:4) I can almost hear the exiles' response to these words. "It's about time! I can hardly wait for God to let these awful, godless Babylonians have it! Let the punishing begin." And then comes the very next verse. The writer of Isaiah is brilliant. He has sucked us in by using words like vengeance and "terrible recompense." And then he delivers the death blow to that entire way of thinking by turning everything completely upside down. You want vengeance, says Isaiah. Well, here's what God's vengeance looks like. "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes." (Isaiah 35:5-7) That is the world of God's reality. That is what it looks like when God has God's way in the world!
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Song of Solomon 2: 8-13 * Roger C. Lynn * September 3, 2006

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It may be true that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but the names we use do matter. How we describe something, or someone, has a profound impact on how we experience that which is being described. My neighbor may be the kindest, gentlest person on the planet, but if I've got it in my head that he is angry, violent and abusive I'm not likely to invite him over for dinner. Nor am I likely to encourage my family and friends to spend time with him. The names we use do matter.

How we talk about God matters. It doesn't change who God is, but it certainly affects how we experience God. And it affects how we relate to the world "in God's name." Throughout history there have been countless names for God. Even just within our own tradition there are a great many. The hymns and readings we are using in today's service lift up several of these. And yet, the lion's share of the time God is described with a very small handful of names. Just take even a casual glance through our hymnal and notice how often "Father" and/or "Lord" show up. Both have gender-exclusive limitations. Both have patriarchal and hierarchical overtones. Lord has militaristic and/or feudal implications. And yet, these two names have nearly cornered the market in terms of how we understand God.
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