Doug McMahon

Blessed Are You Who Are Poor

 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
‘Blessed are you who are poor,
   for yours is the kingdom of God.
 ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
   for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
   for you will laugh.  (Luke 6:20-21)

These are words of hope.  These words affirm the humanity of the poor and insist that every person be treated with human dignity.  This blessing, spoken two thousand years ago by Jesus of Nazareth, affirms the worth of all people.  Biblical scholar, Obery Hendricks writes, "So deep and so debilitating was the effect of impoverishment on the pyscho-emotional health of his people that Jesus found it necessary to explicitly affirm their worth with the validation "Blessed are you who are poor" (Luke 6:20)."

A Huffington Post article earlier this year summarized the desperate situation that many Americans are facing because of the economy:

After the worst economic downturn since the Depression, formerly middle-class people...have found themselves reduced to poverty. With jobs scarce, and with government safety nets shrinking, one misfortune -- a layoff, an injury, a mortgage default -- can transform a person's life beyond recognition. No longer a condition reserved for the margins of society, for drug addicts and the mentally ill, homelessness has infiltrated the heart of America.

As foreclosure and unemployment rates have swelled to epidemic proportions in the past two years, the ranks of the American homeless have grown: the number of homeless families rose 4 percent in 2009, and then 9 percent last year, a pair of new reports show. In effect, even more Americans were homeless than those numbers suggest, stranded in the awkward process of staying with friends and relatives, for lack of a home of their own. Instances of families "doubling up" between 2008 and 2010 rose nearly 12 percent.

The words of Jesus--blessed are you who are poor-- are counter-cultural.  They offer an alternative way of looking at the world and life. Jesus offered a blessing directly to his hearers.  Notice his blessing in the Gospel of Luke is in the second person, "blessed are you who are poor," rather than the blessing found in the Sermon on the Mount, "blessed are those who are poor in spirit."  Here, he speaks directly to his hearers.  You are blessed!  He looked upon those who were poor, hungry and in despair, and said, you matter.  You are a human being loved by God and some of your best days are ahead of you. 

In his blessing, "blessed are you who are poor," Jesus was not recommending poverty or hunger.  His listeners were already hungry and in despair.  He was affirming their humanity and offering them hope.  Our attitude about people who are homeless and hungry tells us something about our own relationship to God.

Jesus considered nobody as a pawn.  Rather than blaming the poor for their condition, he offered words of hope.  

‘Blessed are you who are poor,
   for yours is the kingdom of God.
 ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
   for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
   for you will laugh.

A Wedding Sermon

Yesterday, Robin and I were in Winter Park at the wedding of some good friends.  The parents of the bride were the first couple to unite with our new church in Oviedo back in 1991.  The bride, who was a preschooler back at that time, grew up in our new congregation along with her brother, cousins and our two boys.  With much joy, I preached the wedding semon that follows, based on Colossians 3:12-17 and Mark 10:6-9.

Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.

Let no one separate?

It seems like everything falls apart.   I’m not just talking about marriages.  I mean all over the place, it seems like things are falling apart.  In politics, business and even churches, it seems like things fall apart more often than not. 

We live in a world where things are falling apart all of the time.  But, it doesn’t have to be that way.  Business partnerships, churches, and marriages don’t have to fall apart.  We can learn to live together.  We can build marriages, communities and friendships that endure, that don’t fall apart.

Our Scripture reading tonight, from Colossians 3, was written when the Christian church was in its infancy.   Many new Christians lived in a city called Colossae in the area of the world we now call Turkey.   The Apostle Paul gave to these new Christians in Colossae instructions about how to build a new community, about how to build more loving relationships.  These same instructions can help us as we try to build more loving congregations, more loving families and more loving marriages today.  Things don’t have to fall apart.

The Apostle Paul wrote to these new Christians in Colossae about five (5) virtues that are needed to build a marriage or a community of faith: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.   But--really-- if you’re not patient, what do you do?  Do you just try harder?   Most of us have tried that!  You can’t just say, I’m going to be patient! And, just becoming a Christian doesn’t make a person more patient.  Have you ever been to a church committee meeting?  It’s not always a room full of patient people, is it?

So what do we do?  Let me suggest that the secret is right in the Scripture lesson.  The secret is thanksgiving.  The secret is telling God, “Thank you.”  To be more patient, humble, gentle, compassionate and kind, one has to be more thankful.  We have to develop a practice of gratitude.  I would suggest to you that things fall apart when people loose their sense of gratitude to God.

Anyone, who chooses to do so, can sit quietly in this sanctuary and begin to say prayers of thanksgiving to God.   It may take a moment, but you can find something, tonight, that is worthy of your gratitude.  We can be grateful even in the midst of darkness and difficulty.  Sometimes we are most grateful to God when we experience God as our Good Shepherd walking with us through the lonesome valley.  Therefore, on this joyful evening, witnessing this beautiful wedding, everyone can begin saying prayers of thanksgiving to God.

And, that’s when the transformation takes place!  A thankful person will be a more forgiving person.  A thankful person will be a more loving person.  A thankful person will be a more patient person.    Don’t try to be simply more forgiving, more patient, more compassionate, rather, begin by saying prayers of thanksgiving to God.

When we take time to give thanks to God, we will find love, love that endures, when we give thanks, we will forgive one another more easily and frequently.  When we give thanks, we will be more compassionate, more kind.  Then, we will know the secret of keeping things from falling apart.  The secret is giving thanks to God.

All of us can begin and end each day giving thanks to God that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord.  We can know, that in Christ Jesus, we are forgiven, pardoned for all those times when we have let things fall apart.

So, Christina and Jacob, here is your first wedding gift, not from me, but from God’s Word.  The gift is gratitude, and the reminder to say thank you, every day, all day long.  Never stop giving thanks for each other, for your life together, and for all of your blessings.  Christina and Jacob, don’t just give thanks to God for all of your blessings, but give thanks to God for Jesus Christ himself, our Lord and Savior. 

All day long, always give thanks for this wonderful life you have together.   And remember these words, from God’s Holy Word, “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”  Amen.

A Friend Retires This Weekend

Rev. William “Bill" Cooley was granted the status of honorably retired at the most recent meeting of the Presbytery of Tampa Bay, on Thursday, May 26, 2011.  His retirement takes effect this weekend.  I was given the opportunity to speak to the presbytery.  As I reflected on my friend's retirement, I thought about what it means to be called to ministry in the first place.   I give thanks for Bill's many accomplishments.  I also knew that this would not be the end of his ministry but a transition.  Here is what I said on Thursday:

It is my privilege to speak about the ministry of my friend, Bill Cooley.  I know that I speak for all of us here, and his many friends and colleagues in other Presbyteries, when I say, we give thanks to God for Bill’s ministry and for his friendship.

When I reflect on Bill’s ministry, I think of the Letter to the Ephesians, chapter 1.  There, we read, “I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.”

The Apostle Paul, in the following verses, writes about the “eyes of the heart” and this phrase also makes me think of our friend, Bill.  The Apostle writes, “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you…”

Bill is a pastor and colleague, but most importantly, he is a leader who has sought to lead with the eyes of his heart enlightened.  By God’s grace, Bill is one who possesses a spirit of wisdom and the knowledge of God. 

I am thankful for this opportunity to mark this occasion—Bill’s retirement.  We take this moment to reflect upon the lives Bill’s ministry has touched.  We take time, now, to think about his acts of kindness, mercy, peacemaking and justice.  We give thanks for his teaching and preaching ministry, his counseling, his hospital and nursing home visits, his humor, his faith, and his courage to journey through the past three decades of ministry which have been some of the most confusing and painful decades of our denomination. 

During these past years, we have gradually discovered that we live in a time of massive change in church and society.  Bill is a leader who has persevered through this time of awakening in the church.   Because of his sense of call, Bill is just as excited about the gospel ministry today as he was in 1982 when he was ordained in Roanoke, Virginia.   Bill, now, looks forward to future ministry in Lakeland, the Franciscan Center in Tampa and throughout the Presbytery.

Father Richard Rohr, in his most recent book, quotes Ecclesiastes 1:8, “No man can say his eyes have had enough of seeing, his ears their fill of hearing.”   Richard Rohr then writes, “What is it that keeps us humans from reading reality truthfully, humbly and helpfully?’   What I appreciate about Bill, as he retires, is that he has sought to read reality truthfully, humbly and helpfully.  Bill has been, and continues to be, a gift to this Presbytery and the larger church.

Before ordination, he served for seven (7) years as a Clinical Social Worker and Family Counselor in Sarasota, and then following ordination he served congregations in Roanoke, VA, Richmond, VA, Lutz, FL and Lakeland, FL.

Bill and Jean celebrate their new role as grandparents, and, today, their family and many friends take delight in this moment when we recognize Bill’s many accomplishments and his ministry.   My colleagues at Eckerd College would want me to remind you that both Bill and Jean are Eckerd grads and their preparation for ministry was launched from Eckerd College.

At a time like this, in the life of our Presbytery, we look to Bill, and other colleagues like him, for guidance and wisdom.  Bill knows how to connect us to God in more authentic and joyful ways.  Bill calls us to have eyes to see and ears to hear.  Please join me in thanking Bill for his ministry and friendship all of these years.

Prayer:

O God of grace and glory,

We praise you this day as we give thanks for the ministry of our friend, Bill Cooley.

During this season of High School graduations and College commencement services, we also pray that this recognition of Bill’s retirement wouldn’t simply be an acknowledgement of his accomplishments and the closing of another chapter of his life, but would also be a new beginning as he discovers fresh ways of fulfilling his call in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Bless, O Loving God, Bill and Jean and their entire family, and fill your people with the power of your Spirit that we all might continue to serve with faith, hope and love all of our days.

To your honor and glory, O God.  Amen.

Don't We All Want Community?

Recently, CNN published an article that asked the question, Are there dangers in being 'spiritual but not religious'?  (SBNR) Two people responded to the question this way:

Heather Cariou, a New York City-based author who calls herself spiritual instead of religious, doesn't think so. She's adopted a spirituality that blends Buddhism, Judaism and other beliefs.

"I don't need to define myself to any community by putting myself in a box labeled Baptist, or Catholic, or Muslim," she says. "When I die, I believe all my accounting will be done to God, and that when I enter the eternal realm, I will not walk though a door with a label on it."

BJ Gallagher, a Huffington Post blogger who writes about spirituality, says she's SBNR because organized religion inevitably degenerates into tussles over power, ego and money

These comments remind me, as a pastor, where many people find themselves on their own journeys of faith.  What I want to ask Heather and BJ is this, "can't we be both spiritual and participate in community?"  Don't we all want community?  Isn't the search for community one of the big searches of human life?   Archbishop Desmund Tutu says, "The only way we can ever be human is together. The only way we can be free is together."

Heather and BJ assume that community has to be "in the box" and that participation in a community puts a label on you and me. I certainly understand why people think that. Yet--if we can continue to develop (and redevelop) new faith communities that are "out of the box" and participate in community without labeling one another--we can encourage healthier ways of being in community. 

This new way of community, in the longer perspective, is really a rediscovery of ways of being community that are found in ancient Christian spiritual practices.  Yet, the new way of being may not look much like traditional congregations of the past 50 years. 

A new way of being in Christian community requires us to carefully and compassionately look at the criticisms of people who identify as SBNR.  SBNR people complain rightly, that there are "many tussles over power, ego and money" in religious communities.  These tussles need to be addressed.  Yet, spiritual communities, also have the opportunity to be the place where we invite one another to deal responsibly with our egos, power and money. 

The problem isn't being in community, but the way that traditional religious communities have often been characterized by tussles over power, ego and money.   Spiritual communities offer us the opportunity to deal authentically and holistically with our egos, power and money. 

Sharing

Like most people, I want to make a difference in the world.  Seeking to make a difference is one of the major searches of life.  I remember Kennon Callahan teaching that people participate in four major searches.   People seek strength, community, wisdom and purpose.  People ask questions, like Who am I? Who are we?  How can I deal with this problem? How can I make a difference?  I remember someone else summing it up this way:  we want to understand, to be understood, to belong and to make a difference.

At some point in life, many of us realize that we have been blessed in many ways.  We have a need to give back a portion of that we have received.  Our gratitude motivates us to serve others who may be in need.  We want to share some of what has been given to us.  As a leader of a new faith community and as a college chaplain, I continue to be inspired by people who serve others with generosity and joy.

The way forward for churches involves removing the old barriers that block progress in these four life searches.  Many institutional structures have grown out dated and ineffective.  Its not that people don't desire to serve, rather we get involved in tired religious routines rather than finding new ways to deploy our talents and gifts in service to others.  When we put clear opportunities for service in front of people they often respond with enthusiasm and creativity.  

As people of faith, we must be working in the community and the larger world.  Whenever I recall stories of Jesus indoors at a religious service, I can remember ten other times when he was outdoors or visiting in the homes of people.  Jesus walked the dusty streets of Galilee and Jerusalem, traveled in boats and accepted invitations to dinner in people's homes.  This is how he spent most of his day. There is a time and place for indoor worship gatherings in houses of worship, but the life of faith is lived, most effectively, conversing in coffee shops, working on community projects and engaging in ministry with neighbors.  

It's a new day.  It's a day of mission, as Kennon Callahan also taught.  We are called to participate in ministry, not huddled up in our church buildings, but, by engaging our neighbors in conversation, serving those in need and growing in faith as we live at the crossroads of life.  The life of faith is about relationships, community and growing in faith as we serve, learn, help, discuss, work and pray together.  In short, as we share our lives and resources with others, we find God.

Simplicity

I didn't think too much about simplicity until I was well into my 30's.  By the time I was 35 or 36, I began to yearn for time to do nothing.  I also wanted time to exercise, listen to music, go to a movie or to just do nothing.  As a father of two little children and a busy pastor, it seemed like life had become far too busy and complicated.  As I approached 40, I began to realize that I could control my schedule and my life again. I couldn't change all of my commitments overnight, but I realized that I could begin to build a more simple life. 

It is like trying to lose ten pounds.  You can't do it over night, but it is possible.  If I wanted to keep off ten pounds or build simplicity into your life, I needed to take stock of my schedule and my life on a regular basis.   It continues to be an up and down journey.  

Life is never perfect, and I have learned that new and unexpected interruptions find their way into my life. But I value living a more simple life.  I am learning to more often say no to commitments that make life unnecessarily more complex and busy.  Being busy all of the time is a sure way to undermine our spirituality.

When I get too busy, I take time to look at my life.  Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky write about gaining perspective as "getting to the balcony."  Getting to the balcony for me is taking time to meet with my colleagues in an accountability group that meets for five days once a year.  It also involves taking significant time for vacation with my family.  And twice a month, I meet for two hours of prayer with local friends.  These activities enable me to retreat long enough to get the balcony perspective and evaluate my use of time and personal resources.   The important questions for me during this balcony time are:  "Where is God is my life?  What is God doing?  What is God saying to me?"  

Jesus wasn't busy.  He was effective, compassionate and faithful.  He was intentional and purposeful, but he wasn't busy.  He had time for people and for prayer.  He lived a simple and beautiful life.

When I think of greatness, I think of a simple and intentional life.  I enjoy my life when I take time to reflect, rest and make strategic decisions to use my time well.  I am happiest when I am not rushing around and wasting time. Some people think of sitting around doing nothing as wasting time.  Instead, I think of wasting time as being too busy and running around in an ineffective way.  

Simplicity is beautiful.  It also helps with the other issues I am thinking about:  suffering, sharing, solitude and Sabbath.  They are interrelated.  Over the next four posts I will be writing about suffering, sharing, solitude and Sabbath. 

Forgiveness and the Real World

Whenever I speak about forgiveness in a sermon, people always look up.  For years I have noticed that people want to hear about forgiveness.  I think the mention of the possibility of forgiveness offers people hope.   People want to be forgiven and want to be able to forgive others.  Most people know the pain of being estranged from a friend or family member.

In the Lord's Prayer (or the "Our Father"), Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "forgive us our debts (or sins) as we forgive our debtors."  When I first began to really think about this portion of the Lord's Prayer, I thought it sounded like our forgiveness from God was conditioned upon our willingness to forgive others.  It seemed like Jesus was saying, "God will forgive you, if you forgive others."  What it really means, it seems to me, is that forgiveness is a way of life for Jesus.  

As we learn to forgive others, we begin to better understand that God has really forgiven us.  As we experience forgiveness ourselves we are better able to forgive others.  It is a way of life for Jesus.  Jesus even went so far as to say, "love your enemies."

In his wonderful book, God Has a Dream, Desmond Tutu, writes:   

True reconciliation is based on forgiveness, and forgiveness is based on true confession, and confession is based on penitence, on contrition, on sorrow for what you have done.  We know that when a husband and wife have quarreled, one of them must be ready to say the most difficult words in any language, "Im sorry," and the other must be ready to forgive for there to be a future for their relationship.  This is true between parents and children, between siblings, between neighbors, and between friends.  Equally, confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation in the lives of nations are not just airy-fairy religious and spiritual things, nebulous and unrealistic.  They are the stuff of practical politics.

With a Little Help from My Friends

"Whenever you set sail for a new land, there comes a time when you cannot see the coast."  My friend, Bobby, told me that a friend of his back home in Africa had recently posted this comment on Facebook with no explanation.  The Facebook post came to mind to Bobby while I was sharing with our Spirit Friends group at the Franciscan Center in Tampa.  I was telling my friends about my feelings and thoughts at this point in my new call as a new church planter in St. Petersburg.  When we live by faith there are times when we can no longer see either coast--neither the one from where we set sail nor the new destination. 

Bobby--now moving from sailing to walking-- reminded me that Moses led the people of God through the wilderness on the way to the promised land.  In the middle of the wilderness, the reasonable voices were the ones who argued that going back to Egypt, their home for 400 years, was the wise thing to do. But Moses believed in a promised land.   Moses led the people in the wilderness for a long time-- 40 years-- but that was nothing compared to the familiarity of 400 years in Egypt.

Yesterday, my Spirit Friends encouraged me to keep the faith.  They told me to keep walking by faith and to continue to trust in God.  This is a wilderness time, but many amazing things have happened over the past year.  God has been faithful.  God is birthing a new faith community in our midst.  But it takes time.

I was on the phone this morning sharing this same story with another friend in Pittsburgh.  He told me that he just got home from a summer conference where Rev. Joan Gray, former moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), spoke about the nature of the church. She said one of the the first symbols of the earliest church was a sail boat, not a row boat.

The early church leaders understood that the church was like a sail boat.  God calls us to set sail and catch the winds of the Spirit.  Joan said church people, too often, are tired because they have thought of the church as a row boat.  They are tired of rowing.  The church isn't a row boat it is a sail boat, and our job is to set sail in the wind.

While I was finishing my story, my Spirit Friends asked me, "What are you excited about right now?"  I was able to say I am very excited about my new call.  First, my relationship with God has never been better.  I feel close to God and am enjoying God's presence in our midst.  Second, I have never felt more clear about the vision and mission of the local congregation than I do right now.  Finally, I am enjoying being a pastor. I enjoy all of the tasks of ministry: preparing and preaching sermons, leading worship, participating in mission, planning future gatherings and meeting new people.  

That was a great question:  What are you excited about right now?  How would you answer that question today?  What are you excited about?  What is God doing in your life this week?

Fourth of July

Last week, while attending my 30th Reunion at Asbury College, we visited Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill, KY.  Shakertown is a beautiful place to visit. You can read more about the history of the Shakers here.

We stayed two nights at Shaker Village, and as we have before, we enjoyed another wonderful breakfast in one of the many historic buildings.  The picture to the right gives you an idea of the simplicity and beauty of the architecture and furniture made by the Shakers.

While we were visiting Shaker Village I thought about religious freedom.  The Shakers, at various times in their history, have experienced persecution or ridicule because of their views on pacifism, communal living, celibacy and some of their other religious beliefs.  It is amazing how some religious people belittle others who have beliefs that are different from their own.  Strong religious beliefs should always foster tolerance of others, not bigotry.

For centuries, our country has been a haven for many who were seeking to escape persecution--not always but for many.  Our constitution, and the religious freedom it guarantees, is something we celebrate on this Fourth of July.  The government cannot always protect citizens from the ugly nature of bigotry and hatred like the Shakers sometimes experienced. 

My prayer on this Fourth of July is that all followers of Jesus would confront bigotry and hatred and live in peace especially with neighbors whose religious beliefs are different than their own.  

The first lines of the song Simple Gifts, written by Elder Joseph while he was at the Shaker community in Alfred, Maine in 1848, follows:  

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be." (The rest of the lyrics can be found at Wikipedia.)

Gun Violence

As a new church development pastor, I have been listening to the concerns of people in our city.  Gun violence is definitely a concern.  There are way too many murders in St. Petersburg.  One is too many.  I became much more aware of this in January following our Dr. King Parade in St. Pete.  While preparing to march in the parade, a friend handed me a newsletter.  The newsletter was edited by the mother of a young man who had been tragically murdered in St. Pete last September.  I put the newsletter in my back pocket.  Later that week, I picked it up again from my dinning room table and read it.  I was moved by this mother's story and her dedication to honoring her son's memory by seeking to drive violent crime from our city.  Furthermore, her son's murder was a part of a double murder and is still unsolved.  This mom, Lisa, had begun a foundation, The Cabretti Foundation, in order to teach peace and drive violent crime from our city.

 

 

After reading the newsletter, I called Lisa and volunteered for the next Clean-Up Day in memory of her son, Cabretti.  I have now volunteered for two quarterly clean-up days.  It has been my privilege to meet Lisa and some of her family and friends.  Following the first clean-up day, Lisa agreed to meet with a small group at a local coffee shop.  We heard her story and reflected on how we might better teach the ways of peace in our cities.

In the days following our meeting with Lisa, back in April, a little girl was gunned down in St. Pete by a hail of bullets from a gang fight.  The little girl was sleeping in her bed. The little girl attended the same elementary school as my niece. It was another tragedy.  Every murder whether a little girl, a senior citizen or a teenager is a tragedy and the violence must stop.  Gun violence is impacting our city.

The violence doesn't seem to be on the the radar of most St. Pete churches.  There are some churches and civic leaders who are working to end the violence, but not many.  My prayer is that we can more effectively address the issue of violence in St. Pete.  Missional communities of faith engage the hurts and hopes of their cities including gun violence and standing with those who mourn.  We proclaim a gospel of healing, help and hope in Jesus Christ not just with words but with our action and compassion.