“Catholic Spirit”

“If your heart be as mine, then take my hand.”

from “Catholic Spirit”, a sermon by John Wesley

This is one of my favorite quotes EVER. The quote is actually from 2 Kings 10:15, and reads this way in Wesley’s translation:
“Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? … If it be, give me thine hand.”

The sermon was a response to questions being asked about differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, or specifically between the Roman Catholic Church and The Church of England. In Wesley’s day, without today’s forms of media, the “Larry King Show” and “Bill O’Reilly” were played out in pamphlets published and handed out on street corners, and sermons delivered in churches, and, in Wesley’s case, out in fields or standing in the town square. or on a tombstone even.
These kinds of questions and arguments, while invigorating, frustrated Wesley quite a bit, because it really was a waste of time and energy. Wesley wanted to focus on our scriptural understanding of God, and our lives with God, as modeled and taught by Jesus Christ. Wesley thought, as do I, that we will all have differences in opinion, which invariably lead to differences in how we prefer to worship, or in our doctrine, but these kinds of differences are inconsequential in relation to the living of our salvation. These differences should not get in the way of our love for one another, and our unity in Christ Jesus. I love how Wesley explains this point. He says the scripture does not mean to “be of my opinion” or to “embrace my modes of worship”, but it does mean “first, love me”. He goes on to describe beautifully what kind of love this is. It is not a love that simply tolerates, but is a love that is tender and kind, compassionate and patient. It is a love that encourages and inspires, that “covereth all things; that never reveals either my faults or infirmities, --that believeth all things; is always willing to think the best, to put the fairest construction on all my words and actions.” Isn’t that beautiful?
I’ve been preaching this Summer on 2 Samuel, and the stories of David coming into his kingship, and his life as king. I’ve been highlighting the relationship David had with Nathan, and will really focus on that this next Sunday. Nathan plays a remarkable role in David’s life, not because he agrees with David about everything, but because he disagrees sometimes, and he is not silent. Even so, the love and respect David and Nathan share, allows for the sharing of frank honesty, without schism. The key to this relationship, is their devotion to God. Both of them hear and are convicted by God. They are joined at the heart because their hearts are united in God, and therefore, they join hands in the living of their days. What a glorious model of relationships. I’ll explore this more in coming weeks, so...

See you at church!

Leading Ideas: A Resource for Church Leaders

Leading Ideas: A Resource for Church Leaders

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I Shall Taunt You a Second Time

So, this Summer, I'm challenging myself to preach on the 2 Samuel readings from the lectionary. I often do this kind of thing whenever I find myself steering away from something, or saying something like "no way I'm doing that". If it is the "hard thing", that's typically what I choose to do. Thus, the 2 Samuel sermons.
For those of you who know my sermon prep process, you know that I begin by reading all of the lectionary readings for the season, and see which ones connect with me or speak to me. (if any do... if none speak, then I just have to depend on God to lift up the scriptures for me to preach on.) Earlier this Summer, I was reading, and immediately said "well, I'm not preaching on the 2 Samuel passages." Yeah. Famous last words.
Last week, the sermon title was "I Shall Taunt You a Second Time". If you're not a Monty Python fan, that's a quote from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". For some reason, the taunts that the Jebusites were hurling at David (in 2 Samuel 5:1-10) reminded me of the scene in that movie where the French soldiers were hurling insults over the castle walls at King Arthur. like... "Your mother was a hamster and your father smellt of elderberries. Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time." There were some other pretty funny ones, but they might be considered inappropriate here.
You see, David was attempting to take Jerusalem from the Jebusites, in order to create the seat of his rule over all the lands of the tribes of Israel. The Jebusites say that even the "blind and lame" can fight off David's army. There are a couple of verses that are troublesome, because David refers to either a "gutter" or a "water pipe" as a means of getting to the "blind and lame", or as a place to throw the "blind and lame." The "blind and lame" are refered to as David's enemies, and we're not quite sure why.
I tend to go with the belief that David had insulted the Jebusite gods (statues), saying they had eyes, but could not see, and feet but could not walk. (thus... blind and lame) There is also the statement that the "blind and lame" will not enter the palace, or courts.

What the heck do we take from these scriptures? We recognize this passage as the culmination of David's long journey to achieve the promised position of King of Israel. Okay... God is true (as always) to God's promises, and the ways that God makes those promises come to fruition are varied, and unexpected. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING THE PROMISES COME TO BE! God is fully capable of making that happen. (Like God's promise to me that I would have children.... and I marry into a culture that shares their abundance of children, and now I am the mother of 4 boys... 2 of which still live in Tonga.) So, that's the first thing to take away... but we already knew that... right? "Gimme something new", you might be saying.
Okay, try this on... David is a precurser for Jesus... he is referred to as the great shepherd and the tribes pledge to be his flesh and bone (uh... like the church is Jesus' flesh and bone!). So, imagine now that it's Jesus saying, "The blind and lame shall not enter the kingdom." Not only must our eyes be opened to spiritual things, but our feet must not hold fast to a pedestal as a statue, but be about the work of Christ's flesh and bone... sharing the way of salvation in all the world... caring for the poor and the widows (those who cannot care for themselves). Maybe it's not so much our feet, but our BOTTOMS that need to get freed from the pews to get out in the world. For me... that'll preach.
The new "rethink Church" campaign of the United Methodist Church has a key slogan of "What if 'Church' was a verb?

Folks... we, the church, have been blind and lame for far too long. Jesus wants to heal us. Let's take him up on that! (or I shall taunt you for a second time!!!!)

cya in church!
RevB