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.

Eckerd Commencement Prayer

Yesterday, I enjoyed participating in the 48th Commencement of Eckerd College.  I was able to congratulate all of the students who received their diplomas including a 90 year old PEL graduate, Ellen Nizzi.

I also was grateful to be able to offer the invocation, which follows:

O God, our Creator and Redeemer,

how do we express the joy in our hearts this day?

 

Our hearts are full of memories and of hope!

On this new day, we take this moment

to breath

to look up and look around

to give thanks--

 

for your goodness

your faithfulness

for family and friends

for faculty, staff and others

who have walked with us during these past years.

 

When we face the challenges of another day,

may the joy of this moment be our strength.

 

Bless, O Loving God, Eckerd College,

each and every person here, today,

especially the class of 2011,
and all of your children throughout the world.

Amen.

Prayer

"How do I pray?"  I sometimes hear this question as a pastor.  The disciples once asked Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

I once had a seminary professor who would challenge his students to have "El-stop" answers for profound questions.  By El-stop answers, he meant that we should be able to answer a question in a quick and concise way.  He said that we should pretend that we were waiting for the Elevated-train at a Chicago train stop.  If we were having a conversation with someone while waiting for the train, someone might say something like "How do I pray?"  He thought we should be able to give a brief but helpful answer.

Here is my El-stop answer to the question, "What is prayer?"  Another time, I'll answer the question, "How do I pray?"  Prayer is a conversation with God.  We talk to God and listen to God.  Sometimes we need to say some things to God.  Sometimes we just listen. In silence, we might reflect on a few verses of Scripture and apply them to our lives today.  But prayer is simply having a conversation.

The second thing I would say about prayer--knowing the train is now very close to the El-stop--is that prayer is not about getting what we want.  Rather, it is about discovering what God thinks would be best for us.  That doesn't mean that we shouldn't come to God like a child and plead for whatever we need.  But, if we are in the habit of asking, we eventually discover that God can help us have a different perpective on our asking.

The last thing about prayer---the train conductor has applied the brakes and the train is coming to a stop.  The ultimate prayer is simply to say "thank you" to God.  We can thank God for every good gift.  We can, even, thank God for God's faithfulness to us on the worst of days.  God is a Good Shepherd who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death.  We are not alone.

Yes! There is so much more to say about prayer, but that's the point of El-stop answers.  You only get so much time to answer.  If you had only a minute to answer the question, "What is prayer?"  What would you say?  Feel free to comment below!

Just for Today

I was reading some prayers this morning in the Book of Common Worship (Pastoral Edition) and found this beautiful, simple and short prayer:

In a Personal Crisis                Teresa of Lisieux (1873-1897)

Just for today, what does it matter, O Lord, if the future is dark?  To pray now for tomorrow I am not able.  Keep my heart only for today, grant me your light--just for today.  Amen.

Although I'm not presently going through a personal crisis, I like this prayer because it reminds me to live one day at time.  It teaches me to trust in God and to ask God to help me live faithfully today.

 

 

 

No Room in the Inn

Last Sunday night, I attended a Memorial Service for Homeless people who died in Saint Petersburg during the past year.  The gathering was held in the fellowship hall at the Unitarian/Universalist Church near Mirror Lake followed by the serving of a hot meal.  The event was organized by Rev. GW Rolle who serves with me at the Missio Dei Community.  He is a strong advocate for the Homeless and was once homeless himself.  Most of the people in attendance were currently homeless themselves.

During the service GW read the names of persons who were found dead on the streets of Saint Petersburg.  All of them had been homeless.  Before the names were read both GW and and others spoke.  David, a friend of mine, who, like GW, once homeless himself, read from Matthew 25, the parable of Jesus that teaches us that true religion and authentic spirituality are measured by acts of mercy and love.  

The Gospel according to Luke tells us that Jesus was born homeless.  His pregnant mother, was traveling with Joseph to the city of Bethlehem.  They found themselves without a place to stay because there was no guest room for them.   The baby Jesus ended up in a manger near the animals.  Joseph, a carpenter and not a wealthy man, made do that first Christmas evening.

Jospeh, Mary and Jesus weren't the only people in the Bible who faced a crisis like homelessness.  The Joseph of the Book of Genesis was sold into slavery by his brothers.  Eventually, Joseph rose to a position of great authority in Egypt, but that horrible experience of homelessness and slavery helped make him the wise man that he became. 

The Bible says that one day a Pharaoh rose to power who knew not Joseph. The great leader and prophet, Moses, when he was a newborn, was put in a basket by his mother and placed in the River because the Jewish children were being killed by the new Pharaoh.  Moses' mother hoped that someone would rescue her child and the Pharaoh's daughter, of all people, was just the one who did that for the little boy.  Moses no doubt was shaped by these life experiences which informed his judgement as he led the people through their wilderness wanderings to the edge of the promised land.

Last Sunday night, GW and David spoke with the wisdom and grace informed by their own experiences of homelessness.  They spoke a message of hope to the crowd.  When GW read the names during the Memorial Service, some of the deceased on his list were unknown persons but not forgotten people.  Whether we knew their names or not, we gave thanks for their lives and prayed to God that they would be received into God's everlasting arms. 

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in God Has a Dream, wrote, "One of the most blasphemous consequences of injustice and prejudice is that it can make a child of God doubt that he or she is a child of God.  But no one is a stepchild of God.  No one.  God's love for us and our love for others is the single greatest motivating force in the world.  And this love and the good it creates will always triumph over hatred and evil."     (Pages 40-41)

A Life of Prayer

Sunday night, Robin and I began our vacation at the Jersey Shore.  We are visiting my parents in Ocean Grove and looking forward to visiting family and many good friends here at the Shore.  Ocean Grove is a seaside town organized by a Methodist Camp Meeting Association.   Thousands of vacationers have visited here during the summer for over a century. There are hundreds of beautiful old Victorian homes and thousands of year round residents.

The following is a quote, on prayer, from Elizabeth O'Connor.  She wrote these words in 1968, therefore, some of these words sound dated, but the main points are still right on target.  I am reflecting on these words as I begin my vacation.

"This God with whom we will be engaged for the rest of our days comes to us across a great distance, and at the same time He is the divine force at the core of our own lives.  He is a God whom we will know in many ways, but one of the primary ways is prayer grounded in Scripture.  As people on an inward-outward journey, we are committed to taking whatever time is needed to develop an interior life--a life of prayer.  We will take the time to learn how to settle into the silence that is always there.  We will take the time to be with God in the quiet places of our spirit, so that we can come to know a different quality of life.

  "The chorus of voices is growing which maintains that the whole of life is prayer, and that it is artificial to set aside specific times.  This leaves unanswered the question of how one arrives at the place where his whole life is the kind of prayer one would have it.  What will make us open to being addressed by God in the events of life, to hearing His Word in newspaper headlines and committee meetings, from the careless friend and the impatient clerk?  What will keep us from being caught up in the noise and competition and salesmanship in the midst of which we spend most of our waking days?  Is it not precisely because God does address us in the arena of life that we must prepare ourselves to hear Him there?"

Journey Inward, Journey Outward, Elizabeth O'Connor (1968)

To Plan or Not to Plan?

Today, I was reviewing some pictures on my iPhone.  I ran across this picture of a planning board.  We wrote on it during our Fall planning session in Campus Ministries.  I like to plan.  I like to try and anticipate what needs to be done and to set some goals for the future.  I like to make concrete, specific and measurable goals.  A year later, you have either accomplished those goals or you haven't.  If our goals are measurable and specific, there is nothing to debate.  The goals are either completed or we talk about why they are not completed.  Then, we move ahead with revised goals.  

But, it's just as important to be open to what's happening right in front of us.  It seems to me that I can, sometimes, be so engrossed in my plans that I miss the opportunities that are right in front of me.  For example, I can walk into an event, with an agenda of goals, yet fail to experience the real significance and joy of the gathering.  

It's not enough to get busy and work.  In fact, busyness can prevent us from really experiencing life. Some things can't be planned.  Sometimes, I find that I simply need to be present in the moment in order for the right things to happen.  For example, a pastor may desire to see his or her congregation grow, but, making goals more important than meeting people is counter productive.  Sometimes just hanging out with people at a coffee shop-- or having a picnic and getting to know people while playing frisbee-- is the best use of our time.

There are also times when I discover that I need to move in a new direction changing my plans and goals.  For example, there are goals that I have left unfulfilled.  It's not that I just decided to avoid those goals.   It was not procrastination that caused my goals to remain incomplete.  Rather, my coaches and I discerned that it seemed more faithful to go in a new direction.  A wise person once asked, "When you see that you are wrong, what do you do?"  There is nothing superior with being consistent, if you are consistently wrong.

On one occasion, Jesus taught that we should plan ahead, and, on another he said we should consider the lilies growing in the field.  He said,"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.  Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?  For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him."  (Luke 14:27-29 - NIV) 

But, Jesus also said, "Consider how the lilies grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!" (Luke 12:26-28 - NIV)

In the first teaching, Jesus is talking about discipleship and making a commitment.  He tells us that we need to be willing to sacrifice and persevere.  We need to count the cost.  Earlier, he tells us to trust God for all we need.  Hard work and action have a place.  We, also, must cultivate the ability to trust God.

Living life can be as simple as a lilies growing in the field.  Lilies are beautiful not by hard work and planning.  Lilies need only be what they were created to be.  When God provides the rain and sunshine, the lilies have everything they need to grow and blossom.   As people of faith, trusting God and being present to the moment is the greater practice to develop in life.

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.