What Doesn't Make It Into a Sermon

When I was writing the sermon last week, I began with a bit on what it takes to write a sermon. Frankly, it didn't belong in the sermon so it never made it there. This is a good thing. But still, I believe there are some words that may be valuable about the creation of "the interpretation of the Word of God."

Hope you enjoy... of course if you don't there are those "reaction buttons" at the bottom of the page and as always, a place for comments.

There are days when writing the sermon is easy. Those are days to be reckoned. No matter how easy the gospel seems to be, no matter how easy the words seem to come, the easy sermons are always the ones that lead us into peril.

The hazards of the sermon make themselves known in many ways. Some days they come up as a just a surface rendering of scripture. These days the sermon is like a wood veneer on some sort of cabinet. The outside says it’s oak, but on the inside it’s just so much sawdust and glue. It looks sturdy, but in truth, once the rubber meets the road, it’s not durable at all.

Another way the sermon can become a hazard is when the sermon is all sunshine and flowers. The opposite side of this same coin is when the sermon is nothing but doom and gloom. Neither of these sermons can carry the full weight of the gospel of Jesus Christ. One of them discounts the reality of sin and devastation while the other foregoes the reality of grace and redemption. The promises made by both of these sermons are incomplete. Yes, there is sin and devastation and there is grace and redemption, but one without the other is imperfect.

There is another quality to the sermon which when neglected causes the word of God to sound like a banging gong or crashing cymbal, a lack of love. The better way to say that for this situation is a lack of pastoral care.

Extending that musical instrument metaphor, I know that God will use me as his instrument. In God’s way, one of the extremes of how I will be used as his instrument is like a fine Stradivarius violin. This instrument, in the hands of a master will be in total harmony. The music will be finely tuned. The melody will be exquisite. The song will give glory to the one who plays it. In fact, while the Stradivarius is the finest violin ever made, its only glory comes from the one who plays it.

The other extreme is that God can play me like a cowbell; a one note, 1-2-3-4, hit-it-hard, keep-the-time cowbell. It’s useful. It keeps time as well as the one who hits it, and if it’s the Lord our God banging on the cowbell, it will be perfect. Of course, there are other ways to keep time. If all I can be in the pulpit is a cowbell, then the Lord can easily have me replaced.

In short, I need to approach sermons, and all of life, in a pastoral way. A way that glorifies God, shares the Gospel with the world, and sends us into the world to live the life God wants us to live. Let’s just say that this week; I have been played like a cowbell, hoping not to preach God’s word with the substance and nutritional value of cotton candy

Pastor Paul's August Newsletter Article

Dear Friends in Christ,

Today that salutation is particularly appropriate. I consider everyone who receives this newsletter to be a friend in Christ.

Some of you are far, far away from our beloved Marshall, Texas. You have long been faithful to this part of the body of Christ, longer than I have been alive. You have been faithful to this part of the body of Christ over the tenures of many pastors. You have been faithful at times when you have been the pastors to this part of the body of Christ. You are saints of this congregation even in absence.

Some of you have been doing God’s work in this part of the Body of Christ for a long time and are still active. You are the people who have served as Elders, Sunday School Teachers, and volunteers. You are the saints who serve everyday, many with nary a notice. You are the saints of this congregation and you are noticed.

Some of you are new to the area. You have been a part of the community for a year and even less. You are like Marie and I; we have been here less than two years. As I type that I think wow, two years… It’s not long at all and the time has just flown! These are the new saints of this congregation.

There have been lots of changes too. There have been weddings and there have been births. There has been great sadness too, grieving for those who have died. These are the saints in the church triumphant.

All of this talk of the saints may seem out of place, but it is not. In his many letters, Paul referred to the believers as “saints.” Especially at the ends of his epistles Paul asks the recipients of these letters to pray for the saints in…such-and-such a place. It may not seem usual, but it is real. It is true. Those who believe are saints—now and forever.

Friends in Christ, some are near and some are far. Some of you I see often, some of you not often enough. Friends in Christ, those of you who are far away I miss and hope to see soon. Friends in Christ, those of you who are near I hope to see soon. Saints of Christ, faithful followers of the Lord, I hope to see you soon.

See you soon,
Pastor Paul

Pastor Paul's "The Dark Knight Rises" Review

Let's begin with this, there is no real way any movie in this series can beat "The Dark Knight." Director Christopher Nolan (who also co-wrote the film with his brother Jonathan) and actor Heath Ledger did such a great job between themselves to make "TDK" such a physically and emotionally visceral movie that "TDKR" (The Dark Knight Rises) can only pale next to it. Getting that out of the way, I liked it.

I liked the action. I liked the story (when I could follow it). I loved the visuals. The audio was even great. The cameos made this a great movie. Bringing back Cillian Murphy, who played Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow in "Batman Begins" was a stroke of genius! Liam Nissan coming back as Ra's Al Ghul was brilliant.

Honestly though, Bane as the chief antagonist is kind of boring. He's a brute, not much more. Even when we find the reason behind his brutality (and Darth Vader starter kit face piece) there isn't that much.

Some have pooh-poohed Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, but I liked her spin on the character--and the way she can kick ass in high heels. (I don't know if it was a stunt woman or not, and I don't care. I will forever think it was her kicking ass.)

There is one controversy that has come from this, Rush Limbaugh's Bane vs. Bain controversy...

As you can see in the clip, Limbaugh links together the villain Bane and Mitt Romney's Bain Capital hence Romney becomes the face of Bain/Bane. He fears this will influence "brain dead voters" who will link the two. For me, there was a message in the movie that should irritate and worry Rush more.

The movie make a great deal of what happens when the poor and downtrodden, with a powerful charismatic leader (Bane), decide the day of the 1% is done and it's time for the 99% to give it a go. In a plot point that shouldn't be much of a spoiler, it doesn't rue well for the power elite when the disenfranchised have the opportunity to turn the tables.

I think this should have been the big point that should have scared Rush to death because blowhard talk show hosts would be on the top of the list of power-elite banner carriers the tribunal would try. If the argument is that the 99% can't stay organized, that's probably true, but it's like the two guys trying not to be eaten by the bear. I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you.

If you're looking for a plot point in TDKR to be afraid of, that's the one.

Pastor Paul's July Newsletter Article

My sister has recently noted that I don't post much stuff here. She's right. It's not like I'm putting long-form content anyplace else, it's just that either I haven't had much to say recently or I've had so much to say it's all garbled and not making it past my fingertips.  Well, this much has gotten past. Here is my Newsletter Article from July. God bless and enjoy!

Dear Friends in Christ,

We are coming up on Independence Day, the day we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is a joyful day. It is a day that should be celebrated joyfully.  The declaration beings:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Reading this, from the perspective of a protestant minister, something very important pops up; The Laws of Nature have a place of precedence over Nature’s God. Natural law is a view that certain rights or values are inherent in or universally recognizable. In the battle for American Independence, one of the natural laws, the inherent values the Colonists held is that being taxed without having a say about how they are taxed is wrong. “Taxation without representation is unfair.”

I gotta admit, putting natural law before the one who creates natural law bugs me, but let’s not stop there, it gets better. The declaration continues:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

This part tells the world that our national forefathers believed that our Creator has first given us certain rights that cannot be denied and that the role of Government is to ensure that these rights are not denied. God gives us rights and Government helps secure these rights.

Romans 13 tells us that government is ordained by God so we must be obedient lest we rebel against what God has instituted:

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

This applies to taxes too…

This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

So friends, let us obey God. Let us give thanks to God for our leaders of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Let us give thanks for our leaders local and national. Let us even give thanks for our church leaders from the Session to the General Assembly, for they too are a government body, the leaders of our denomination.

God bless you all. God bless the PC(USA). God bless the United States of America.

See you in church,

Pastor Paul

Pastor Paul's June Newsletter Article

Dear readers, this is a particularly long writing for both a newsletter article and blog post. I pray you forgive me as I believe the subject matter deserves and needs these words. God bless you as you read and as always, please comment if you desire. ~Paul

Dear Friends in Christ,

Many of you are aware from the local newspaper and the coffee shop that the First Presbyterian Church in Longview has split. Many are leaving to form a new Evangelical Presbyterian Church congregation and the remaining members are staying to make a go of it in the historic First Presbyterian building.

Many of you also know that our own Harriette Malcolm has served as Clerk for the Presbytery’s Administrative Commission for First Longview. Now that the Pastors who served that church have demitted (sorry, church jargon—set aside/renounced) their PC(USA) ordinations Harriette is now Clerk of their Session. This will continue until the remaining members of the First Presbyterian Church in Longview elect a new Session and Clerk.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a Presbytery meeting in Dallas to discuss some things including the formation of that Administrative Commission. A meeting that could have been finished in an hour (including 40 minutes of worship) took three. It took that long because people were hurt and wanted their pain known and acknowledged.

Friends in Christ, any time a church faces a split there is pain. Few congregations in the Presbytery know that better than this one after a split over twenty-five years ago. There are still members of this part of the Body of Christ who feel that pain intimately. It is the Church’s version of a civil war where brothers and sisters and parents and children fight on opposite sides of the line, or in the case of the church the aisle. It is horrible. It is terrible. But as for the question of whether or not it can be prevented, well, the answer to that just might be no.

The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow was the Moderator of the 218th General Assembly in San Jose. He is also a prolific writer and noted speaker on technology and the church. In a recent article the Rev. Reyes-Chow quoted Dr. Fred Heuser, Executive Director of the Presbyterian Historical Society, about the history of splits and reunions among Presbyterians. Dr. Heuser writes:

The conflict and divisiveness within the PC (USA) today is part of a broader pattern that is deeply rooted in our past. The “flash points” that have produced these conflicts may be different, but the underlying tensions that birthed them are remarkably similar.

The Rev. Reyes-Chow believes that we are in such a time. He continues, “Our struggle now is to move away from the many adversarial postures that exist and acknowledge that God may indeed be working through and in all of us during these days of denominations shifts.” [Italics mine.]

The way I read it, the former Moderator of the General Assembly is saying that we need to move from fighting one another because God may well be calling some folks out of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to do the work of the Body of Christ on Earth and calling others to stay and do the work of the Body of Christ on Earth.

To me, that sounds horribly painful. It also begs the question, “Can schism bring glory to God?” Actually, that’s not such a good question. It puts human work (schism) before God’s work. This is never a winning concept. Maybe this is a better question, “Can God do something glorious despite this schism?” That isn’t so good either. This question fails to remember that God does not love us “despite who we are” (sinful creatures). Instead we must remember that God loves us because of who we are, his children.

It’s as easy as that, God loves us because we are his children.

So the better question is “Can God do something glorious through this schism?” I believe the answer is yes. God meets us where we are, even on the battlefields we put up in our sanctuaries, Presbyteries, and General Assemblies. God’s overflowing love is greater than our understanding.

Granted, none of these things relieves us of the bitter realities of our feelings. Those who were here during the split know this too well. The pain of watching family leaving may be as fresh as a newly formed scab, a scar yet to be made. Others remember the pain. Even though the scab has long peeled away and the scar faded, even if just a little. Others just remember what caused it. The Rev. Reyes-Chow tells us not ignore that pain:

Now of course, this does not mean that I do not care or do not grieve the loss of the denominational relationships with those who are leaving, but I also do not begrudge anyone or have an overwhelming urge to fight to make people stay when they are feeling like this is no longer a good place for them. What I am trying to do is to be gracious in the face of frequent castigation (castigation means criticism. -Paul) and loving as I see colleagues move into a new denominational relationship; all the while, remaining committed and faithful to my part in discerning what it means to be the Presbyterian Church (USA) today and into the future.

There is grief and sorrow and pain over the departures. But what the Rev. Reyes-Chow tells us is that he doesn’t and we mustn’t act on the all too human urge to fight with or hold grudges against those who leave. Let them be committed to who they are being called to be and we will continue to be who we are committed to be. We need to do this with grace, not with a chip.

Now he also points out that when there is separation there are other questions to be worked out; questions that end up being asked and answered by church and civil, lawyers and accountants. Every legal split has its arguments about who gets the house and the stuff, but that is not the focus of his article nor this one.

This is a time to grieve the loss of PC(USA) relationships. This is a time to grieve the loss of church friends. It is not a time for hate or spite or distrust to overwhelm the truth that Christ is Lord of ALL. Regardless of any view of “us and them,” Christ is Lord of ALL. Because Christ is Lord of all, we can forgive those who have hurt us, and there is a lot of hurt going around among the current and former members of First-Longview and with in the denomination.

This is our call to continue living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of where we do it. We can do this with grief. We can do this with sorrow. We can never do this with hate.

See you in Church,
Paul

For the link to Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow's full blog post, click here.
For the link to  Dr. Fred Heuser's full article, click here.

Law & Order, PC(USA) Unit

I trust you'll find this more enjoyable if you play the doink-doink noise before reading...

...of course I could be wrong.

Leslie Scanlon, Presbyterian Outlook Magazine National Reporter, reports that the Presbytery of the Redwoods has refused to follow through on the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission's finding that the Rev. Janie Spahr be rebuked after the Commission found that she had violated the denomination’s constitution by performing 16 same-gender weddings in 2008.

During that time, same gender marriages were legal in California, but were and are still not within the wedding policy of the denomination. The full article to is found at this link.

As Denver's own Mike Rosen would ask, I will tell you where I sit before I tell you where I stand...

Let's begin with my rather murky take on "same-sex" unions. I believe that in America, as a civil right, people (two human adults) ought to have the opportunity to form a legal union. I believe the civil benefits of family should pertain to heterosexual as well as homosexual couples. This is where I leave my self open, not only to those who think the sexuality of the parties to be at issue, but to those who disagree with the individual nouns I used: two, human, adults.

Some would consider my "two" qualifier too restrictive and "adults" to be unnecessarily binding. As for human, some might say your dog or my cat should have legal standing similar to my wife. Not me. So guess what, this is my blog and "two human adults" is my opinion. If you don't like it get your own blog.

Now, here's where I muddle the waters. In my study, I have found the scriptural witness of marriage to be between man and woman. Granted, not always just one, but still... Granted, the definition of "adult" in the ancient of days does not reflect our view of the age of majority, but still... It's man and woman. I can't get past that.

Here's the other side of that coin: I believe God can bless a union between two same-sex people. I believe a sovereign God will do as a sovereign God will do. This being within the giving loving character of God. God's love which is without limit, overflowing, and self-emptying.

On a final note, while I am muddling through how I might deal with this if called upon (Not a wedding, but a sort of union? What does that mean anyway? Holy? Civil? Still not a wedding. You can see I don't have that answer...), the congregation I serve is not. The official policy of First Presbyterian-Marshall is in line with the PC(USA) Directory for Worship as it is currently written. No homosexual weddings. Period, end of sentence. So speaking for the Session, don't ask to use the building.

Having said that...

I believe the Presbytery of the Redwoods has erred in not exercising the legal authoritative judgement of the Permanent Judicial Council. You don't have to like the rule. Shoot, Redwoods has always supported Rev. Spahr. Yet as a member of the covenant, all Presbyteries are expected to carry out the judgement of the Permanent Judicial Council. Sorry.

On a side note, I could see Rev. Spahr accepting this "rebuke" as a badge of honor. In one way or another, she has told the world that stood up for the gospel, and she stood up for the couples. I believe if you are going to wade neck deep into the hardest churning waters of Presbyterian Polity you shouldn't cross the river if you can't swim the tide. I believe Rev. Spahr is capable in these waters.

Yet, there is one other response Scanlan noted in her article. To quote:

Mary Holder Naegeli, an evangelical minister from California and executive director of the Presbyterian Coalition, described the vote in a blog post as “a new low in Presbyterian life.” Naegeli wrote, “I cannot recall in nearly 25 years as an ordained minister ever witnessing open defiance” of a direct church court order. She added, “this is a presbytery gone rogue.”

I agree with Rev. Naegeli that Redwoods Presbytery has acted in "open defiance of a direct church court order." But here's the rub. In our current national political climate, we need to beware of the phrase "going rogue." A phrase that is seen as a politically conservative badge of honor against the powers that be is in this case being used as a theologically liberal badge of shame against the powers that be.

It may be right to say in our current vernacular, "Going Rogue" is a good thing when it stands up for what we believe and a bad thing when it goes against whet we believe. Maybe the remaining similarity between being "good rogue" and "bad rogue" is that Governor Palin and the Presbytery of the Redwoods both see themselves as "good rogue." To both, being a rogue as a complement.

Go ahead, do the doink-doink thing again if you want...

Pastor Paul's May Newsletter Article

Dear Friends in Christ,

God is mysterious. With this in mind, a few years ago the denomination found a burning need to examine scripture to see what images the Bible uses to describe the persons of the Trinity. It was released in a report called, “The Trinity: God’s Love Overflowing.” They knew this was going to raise some hackles, which is why they stuck very closely to what the bible says. Here’s one example from that list:

As we are born anew by water and the Spirit, the Triune God is Compassionate Mother, Beloved Child, and Life-giving Womb

(Isaiah 49:15; 66:13; Matthew 3:17; Isaiah 46:3).

Of course the committee knew this, along with some of the other images they discovered, was going to raise a ruckus. Feminine imagery for God, no matter how biblical, is quite uncommon. I mention this because as a “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” kind of pastor, I need to remember that scripture contains other Trinitarian images that are biblical and important.

With this I say, Happy Mother’s Day. I use this preface because while we are used to seeing the face of God as the Father, God loves us and protects us and keeps us like a Mother too. In Mothers we see the strength of God. In Mothers we see life and life giving. In Mothers we see the face of God. By the grace of God, we are blessed by our mothers. We are also blessed by a Lord who (in 1970’s speech) is in touch with his feminine side.

The report contains this prayer—

In praising the Triune God we use biblical language, both classic –

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,

and surprising –

Mother, Child, and Womb.

We may use words that speaks of the inner relations of the Godhead –

Lover, Beloved, Love,

and those that speak of the loving activity of the Three among us –

Creator, Savior, Sanctifier,

Rock, Redeemer, Friend,

King of Glory, Prince of Peace, Spirit of Love.

Happy Mother’s Day! God bless Mothers—for you show us the face of God.

See you in church,

Paul