A Work of Art

“PLIABLE PEOPLE”
Text: Jeremiah 18:1-11
Faith United
September 9, 2007


I love Jeremiah, he’s my kind of dude
He’s so out there, and so real
He got really ticked off, and he got really depressed
and he made no bones about telling God about it
If you think being one of God’s people
means that you have to be all neat and pretty,
holy and upright, look at the prophets
If Jeremiah were here now,
his doctor would most likely recommend medication
or a long sabbatical that included time in a luxurious spa
He’s just not in good shape---

People have often said to me in the past
` that sometimes they get more out of the children’s sermon
than they do the adult sermon,
which I’m not always sure how to take that
but I think it has a lot to do with how we learn
I firmly believe that God is the originator of the concept
of children’s sermons
ond that method was passed on to Jesus
because God is always taking the stuff of life
and using it to make a point
to teach a lesson, to give the Word
Taking something we can see and touch
something that we understand, the very stuff of our lives
to talk about something we may NOT understand as well
God had the prophets and other messengers
act out the lesson sometimes, to literally act out a living parable
to give an image that speaks for itself
That whole concept reminds me of my former Bishop back in the Wyoming Conference
at the ordination services back there
Her name was Bishop Morrison, and she’s retired now
The ordination service at Annual Conference
is always a high holy event
and it’s an inspiring occasion for everyone there
Well, Bishop Morrison was dressed in all her Bishop finery
what is called a cassock, that is often worn by Catholic priests
residing over communion
and underneath the cassock she wore a purple shirt
with a clergy collar
because purple is the color for bishops
She carried a shepherd’s staff
as a symbol of being a shepherd of the flock
But near the beginning of the ordination service
Bishop Morrison would hand over her staff
and unbutton the many, many buttons on the sleeves
of her fancy bishop’s robes
And then she’d literally roll up those sleeves
as if they were on a common workshirt
she knelt before each person
that was about to be ordained
and she washed their feet
It was a powerful image
and I know of no other bishop that has done it
To see a BISHOP of the United Methodist Church
in all her fancy purple robes, exuding her authority and position
to see her roll up those fancy sleeves,
kneel at someone’s feet
and wash them with her bare hands
was a very moving and inspiring moment
One of those JESUS moments, I’d say
Nothing had to be said
Her actions were the message
that this is what Jesus calls us to do
to be humble, to serve one another,
no matter who we are, or what position we hold
to do as Jesus did
The one who came not to be served, but to serve
It is a powerful living parable of the Gospel
that I will never forget
God told Jeremiah to go down to the potter’s house
that God had a message,
that he had to give to Jeremiah first
Potters were very common in that time and in that place
and still are
But back then, almost every household vessel
was made out of fired clay
so it was a much needed profession
It was a common sight
to walk through the village
and see the potter at work at his potter’s wheel
Look at what you see, Jeremiah, God said--
It’s a potter, it’s something one is likely to see every day,
What’s the big deal?
As Jeremiah watched the potter do what the potter does for a living,
He saw that when a clay vessel turned out badly
the potter mushed it back together
and started again with the same clay
he didn’t throw out the clay
but started again
Has your life always turned out the way you expected?
Are you doing what you thought you’d be doing
at this point in your life
when you thought about it many years ago?
When you were a teenager, trying to figure out what to do next,
whether to get a job or go to more school
what to do with your life
trying to figure out where your life was headed…
did it always turn out the way you planned?
I’m suspecting not… at least not always
I don’t know about you, but I had images of my life
all along the way
and usually it turned out differently
Sometimes we assume that we’ll go here or there
get a job, get married, have 2.5 kids
have a nice house and live a nice life
But too often things change
sometimes it all comes crashing in
whether it’s bad decisions that we made
or it’s just life that happens
Sometimes the plans get changed
More often than not, it’s against our will
whether it’s a spouse that decides to leave
or we get laid off from a job
that we thought would last
or we suddenly face a diagnosis
that changes everything as we know it
Or a loved one dies
a car crashes
planes hit towers in the city
Essentially … LIFE happens
and things don’t always turn out the way we planned
As a young adult
I envisioned myself living out the rest of my life
in New Jersey
I was going to be a psychologist
and a writer
Then I thought maybe I’d be a Christian educator
in some large church somewhere
Then I went through a time that I thought I’d be a
Certified Addictions Counselor
and marry my current boyfriend in Pennsylvania
And during that time
there was absolutely no way
in heaven or earth
that I would even be involved in Church
Nothing has turned out the way I planned it back then
and I thank God …
I know some of your stories
I know that some of you had had other plans as well
that didn’t work out the way you planned
plans that came crashing down around you
maybe more than once
Because, well, that’s life
I’ve seen people whose lives and plans have been crushed
or sometimes exploded open
or completely cut off
and I’ve seen people react in different ways
Sometimes they give up
Sometimes when it happens too many times
they can’t take it anymore
they become bitter and angry
and STUCK
They stop growing, they stop thriving
they stop searching and believing
And I’ve seen other people who have faced enormous tragedy
or one thing after another
and those who know them wonder
if they’ll get through it this time
because the same circumstances might simply
crush someone else
But this person rises above it
gets up out the dirt, washes off the mud and the blood
nurses the wounds
and chooses to begin again
Chooses to say, ok, God, here are all my broken pieces
What do you think we can do with them?
Can we make something beautiful?
On Friday I was at the Nelson-Atkins Art museum
in Kansas City
and looked at all kinds of art
sculptures, paintings
modern and old
I’m always fascinated by the different visions of art
some of it totally baffles me
but some of it is just amazing
that a human being could create such beauty
I particularly love the marble sculptures
It’s fascinating to me
how someone could take a piece of hard marble
and chisel into something so smooth and beautiful
with ripples of muscles
the creases in toes and toenails
and biceps and thighs
And this being done several hundred years ago
There was a painting by Rembrandt
of a young man
and we were told that if you look closely at his hat
that Rembrandt had made a mistake or simply
changed his mind
and decided to reshape the hat in the painting
in doing so, he simply blended the colors
that were already there
and painted them into a different image
He didn’t wipe off the paint
He used what he had
And that’s ‘like what God is saying to Jeremiah
This is what I will do with my people
I will work on you, my people
I will mold you and shape you into the people
I want you to be’’
But the people weren’t cooperating
They’re thumbing their nose at God
like some rebellious child
‘’Why should we listen to YOU?
We’ll do what we do, we’ll do what we want to do
Whatever the consequences ‘’
And God ached for his people
But he didn’t give up
God doesn’t give up
I don’t believe that there is one solid plan
for each of our lives that is mapped out at birth
so that if we mess up, get off the path
or get lost somewhere along the way
then the whole plan is messed up, scratched
useless
God has a plan for all of us
but God doesn’t control us like a bunch of robots
God gave us the gift of freedom
and by doing that, made more trouble for himself
But God included in his blueprints
a crazy, unheard-of gift called GRACE
so that when we messed up
when the world crashes in
when we as nations and communities
decided to kill each other, destroy each other
instead of build the kingdom of God
we’re always given another chance
that we simply don’t deserve
God, like a wise parent,
will let us suffer the consequences of our bad choices
I don’t believe that God blows up buildings
or sends a hurricane or deadly epidemic to destroy
Would you do that to YOUR child?
I believe that some things, like war and terrorism
happen as a result of the choices we make as a people
whether here or over there
Our choices, their choices, affect everyone
And God’s heart is broken again and again
when we choose death over life
I believe God’s heart is broken when we give up
when life gets to be too much
when another obstacle or tragedy or loss
comes crashing down on us
and we choose death over life
we give up
I believe that we are all works of art
created at the hands of our God
our individual lives, our lives as a church
as a country, as a world
So many things threaten to undo us
so many things crush us and wound us
and sometimes deliberately seek to take us down
That’s life in this crazy, sin-sick world
As it was, also, in Jeremiah’s time, and in Jesus’ time
only the details of the same story seem to change
But God says, nonetheless, ‘’you can thumb your nose at me
but I will not give up
you can go your own way, you can seek to control
your own lives, thinking you know better
and I’ll still be here when you come home
God, the Great Creator, the Great Potter
will take the stuff of our lives and reshape us, renew us
remold us, remake us….
The Creative Spirit of God will take those cracked places
and broken places, and smooth them out, making them stronger
than they were before
It ain’t easy being clay
We have to surrender ourselves each and every day
sometimes each and every moment
to the creative, trustworthy hands of God
and say, ok, I get it, I can’t do it, I only mess it up
Take my life, in all its brokenness
in all of its darkness or confusion
and mold it with the baptismal tears of new creation
We can really fly all out of whack when life gets to us
but like the pottery on the wheel,
being shaped by the Master’s hand
we need to stay centered, focused
The potter applies pressure to the clay
steady pressure from opposing directions
all while spinning on the central axis
Sometimes when the pressure is too much on the outside
we simply cave in on the inside
but we have the power to stand strong in the center
to fill our insides with the Spirit of God
So that when the pressures of this world
push on us from the outside,
we can push back with the power of God
with the centered, steady faith and trust
in God’s amazing grace
You may know the legend of the Phoenix bird
The legend of the Phoenix has been around for centuries.
the Phoenix is a supernatural creature,
living for 1000 years
Once that time is over, it builds its own funeral pyre,
and throws itself into the flames.
as it dies, it is reborn anew,
and rises from the ashes
to live another 1000 years.
We are the people of God
We are fashioned out of a clay made by the one
who made all the worlds
we have a power within us, by the Spirit of God
to recreate, renew, and be born again and again
but we can’t do it
We have to let it go, we have to surrender to the one who made us
in the first place
allow ourselves to be remolded, remade
renewed and reshaped daily
at the hands of the Master Potter
We are promised that we will never be left
or forsaken
God will never give up on us, no matter how badly
we get out of whack
But God will simply take the stuff that we’re made of
and continue fashioning all of us into
a gorgeous work of art

Keep It Simple, Silly!

“KEEP IT SIMPLE, SILLY”
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Faith United
September 2, 2007


Life is hard
and people can be mean
I am grateful for such technological gifts
as the internet
But I get so sick of day after day
being inundated with the cruel gossip
about the latest pop star to crash and burn
and spend her 4th time in rehab
Or the latest politician caught with his pants down
You can say you don’t feel sorry for them
because they make millions of dollars
or own several houses
but any human being has the capacity
to be humiliated
Even the people we like the least
Why does our society seem to thrive on humiliation?
Tearing each other down?
It goes on long after middle school, I assure Sarah
Middle school, I think, is our training ground for the real world
Why do people thrive
on telling each other’s failures and tragedies?
What kind of rush to do we get
out of humiliating somebody?
It’s a tough world out there
It always has been,
we just didn’t use to have the technological capabilities
of spreading the word so much so easily before
Jesus wouldn’t have lasted three years
if he was here now
The Church gets a bad rap
I’ve told you many times
I hate going out there
and telling people what I do for a living
They act differently when they know
Sometimes they act better,
sometimes they just think it’s pretty funny
that someone still believes all this stuff
The mainline Church is declining in numbers
it has been for a few decades now
people don’t take us as seriously
or they just don’t have the time to take us seriously
and to be a part of us
They choose to put the Church at the bottom of their priorities
and often they have good reasons, I admit
The Church has been caught with its pants down
many times as well
So there’s programs, there’s lots and lots of books to read
on how we bring more and more people
back to church
There’s all kinds of campaigns and slogans
and special strategies
that are tried and used and abandoned
year after year
People look at the aging population
of the congregations of the Church
and wonder what will happen after that generation goes?
They’ve been wondering that for several decades,
generations have come and gone
and somehow we’re still here
It’s very easy, and we have lots of help
as pastors and churches
to get discouraged about the future
Especially when all these programs that we’re given to try
often don’t work
Many years ago in New Jersey
I went with a friend of mine from church
to an AA meeting
she didn’t want to go alone
And I must admit, I was pretty nervous myself at the time
being a pretty sheltered kid
I imagined all kinds of things about the people I’d meet
I was shocked
that most of the people I met
looked… well, like ordinary people
that I saw everyday or at church
After that, I’d gone to some Al-Anon meetings
because of some issues in my extended family
and with some employers that I used to work for
who were alcoholics
I met people who said they couldn’t talk like this
at church
they couldn’t be as honest with each other at church
as they could at these meetings
They couldn’t find the acceptance
the grace, and the love at church
that they felt at these meetings
And it broke my heart
but I understood
I, too, was able to be more honest
with these people, than I could be with church people
Everyone in those meetings
knew what their weaknesses and sins were
and were very honest about them
they didn’t try to be what they’re not
And they/… we … were equalized by our humanity;
our sins and our struggles
They talked about knowing their need for God
to get through each day
but more than that, to find meaning in their day
to find hope and purpose
And they talked about these meetings as being the place
where they found that hope
that acceptance, that LOVE
whereas at church they only found rejection and judgment
I know it’s even more difficult in a small town
where you’ve grown up
where people remember what you were like as a teenager
or a young adult
The mistakes that you made
or that your family made
and people don’t forget
no matter how much you’ve changed
And that carries over into the church
But what if we could forget?
Or at least know that the past doesn’t matter anymore?
What if we could come here and be that honest?
What if we could come here and be ourselves?
No matter who we’ve been in the past?
What if we felt better
just by walking in that door each Sunday
knowing that THIS is our family, THIS is our home
a place that we are reminded that we are precious children
in God’s sight
No matter what we’ve done before
or what demons we wrestle with each day?
What if?
What if we came here and found a spirit of community
so radically DIFFERENT from what we find out there??
What if we weren’t so afraid to talk about
The way things are?
What if we talked honestly about how important it is
to stay faithful to our spouses in marriage?
to not treat sex like some kind of sport
that doesn’t affect the heart and soul?
Talk about SEX in church??????
What if we weren’t so afraid to be different?
What if we weren’t so afraid to embrace those
who are so different?
What if we dared to actually boldly BE different?
M. Scott Peck tells the story of the Rabbi’s Gift
It’s the story about a monastery that had fallen on hard times
it was once a great order
but after a number of different factors,
it fell into decline
There was anti-monastic persecution in the 17th and 18th centuries,
followed by the rise of secularism in the 19th century
people were less interested in the church
All of the branch houses of the monastery were lost
and it had declined so much that this little monastery
was down to 5 monks in the decaying mother house
The abbot and 4 others
and all of them were over 70 years of age
It was clear to them that it was the beginning of the end
In the woods that surrounded the monastery,
there was a little hut that a rabbi from a nearby town used
occasionally for his own retreat
Through their many years of prayer and contemplation,
the monks were a little bit psychic,
they could tell, they just KNEW
whenever the rabbi was in the hut in the woods
“The rabbi’s in the woods again,” they’d whisper to each other
Finally, the abbot, who agonized daily over the decline
of his order, decided to pay the rabbi a visit
and ask him some advice as to how these old monks
could possibly save their monastery
The rabbi graciously welcomed the abbot into his hut
but the rabbi wasn’t much help
He didn’t have any inspiring words of wisdom, so it seemed
he could only identify and relate to the abbot’s concern
“I know how it is,” the rabbi sighed
“The spirit has gone out of the people.
It’s the same in my town. Almost no one comes to the synagogue
anymore, they’re busy with other things ….”
And so the abbot and the rabbi
wept together over their similar circumstances
After awhile, they read from the Torah together
and quietly spoke to each other about things of God and the Spirit
Finally, feeling refreshed by the rabbi’s company,
the abbot decided it was time to leave
The two men embraced
“It’s been a wonderful thing that we should meet
after all these years,” the abbot said,
“but I still failed my men in my purpose of coming here.
Is there nothing you can tell me, no advice at all,
that you give me that would help me
save my dying monastery?”
“No, I’m sorry, friend,” the rabbit responded. “I have no advice to give.
The only thing I can tell you is that the Messiah is one of you.”
When the abbot returned to the monastery,
the other monks gathered around him eagerly
“Well, what did he say? Can he help us?”
“He couldn’t help,” the abbot said wearily
“We just wept and read the Torah together.
The only thing he did say, just as I was leaving—
it was pretty cryptic—
He said that the Messiah is one of us.
I don’t know exactly what he meant.”
Hmm, they all shrugged sadly
and went about their day disappointed
But in the days and the weeks and the months that followed,
the old monks pondered
and wondered whether there was
any possible significance
to the rabbi’s words
The Messiah is one of US?
Could he have possibly meant one of us monks here
at the monastery?
If that’s true, which one?
Do you suppose he meant the abbot?
That would make sense
If he meant anyone, he must have meant Father Abbot
he’s been our leader for more than a generation.
On the other hand, he might have meant Brother Thomas
certainly Brother Thomas is a holy man
everyone knows that Thomas is a man of light
Certainly he couldn’t have meant Brother Eldred!
Eldred gets real crotchety at times
just a crusty old guy
But come to think of it, even though he’s a thorn in our sides,
When you look back on it,
Elred is virutually always right
Yeah… sometimes VERY right
He could NOT have meant Brother Philip
He’s so passive, you hardly know he’s there
A real nobody
But then, almost mysteriously,
He has a gift for somehow always being there when
you need him
He just magically appears by your side
maybe Phillip is the Messiah
Of course the rabbi doesn’t mean me
He couldn’t possibly mean me
I’m just an ordinary person
But what if he did?
Suppose, just suppose, I’m the Messiah?
O God, not me
I couldn’t be that much for you, could I?
As they contemplated this way, all of them,
The old monks began to treat each other
with extraordinary respect
on the off chance that one among them
just might be the Messiah
And on the off off chanced that each monk himself
might be the Messiah,
they began to treat themselves with extraordinary respect

Because the forest in which it was situated was so beautiful
it so happened that people still occasionally came
to visit the monastery to picnic on its tiny lawn
to wander along some if its paths,
even now and then to go into the dilapidated chapel
to meditate
As they did so,
without even being conscious of it,
the sensed the aura of extraordinary respect that now
began to surround the fine old monks
and seemed to radiate out form them
and permeate the atomosphere of the place
There was something strangely attractive
even compelling, about it
Hardly knowing why, they began to come back
to the monastery more frequently
to picnic, to pray, and to play
They began to bring their friends to show them
this special place
and their friends brought their friends
Then it happened that some of the younger men
who came to visit the monastery
started to talk more and more with the old monks
After awhile one asked if he could join them
then another
So within a few years the monastery
had once again become a thriving order
and, thanks to the rabbi’s gift,
a vibrant center of light
and spirituality in the realm
The letter to the Hebrews
is a letter to a people that have been beaten up
by the world
who have been persecuated for their faith
for believing in the foolishness of the Gospel
and going against the grain of society
for being DIFFERENT
Wow, how we treat people who are DIFFERENT
Man, we crucify them, don’t we?
You know each other’s stories better than I do
What if we looked at each other
and saw only the precious child of God,
the endless possibilities and potential in each face?
What if we actually dared to see JESUS
looking back at us in our neighbor’s eyes?
You’re not Lincoln or Omaha,
and all too often, I hear you apologize for yourselves
as a church or a town…
but the people who know me
know I’m different
because of my 2.5 years with you
And they know, there is something special
about Gibbon…
because they see it in me
Look at each other, I dare you,
Look at each other… and see the face of God