You don’t have to wait long to hear it. Shortly after some natural disaster be it hurricane or tornado, some TV preacher, usually someone like Pat Robertson will come on the air and blame God for the disaster and say that it is his retribution for, insert the sin of the month here, like homosexuality, same-sex marriage, liberals, I mean after all liberals have been responsible for someone of the most reprehensible things on earth like ending slavery and women’s suffrage.

These fake Christians as I like to call them, what you to be afraid of God because if they can make you fearful of God you will send more money to them and they can buy more private jets and limos while you continue to barely get by, hiding in some corner, afraid of a God that loves you. Recently these guys have been calling for executions of people they disagree with and say that if we do not do what they say God is telling them, God will bring his wrath down upon the earth. No, some people might think that these TV, worrier more about ratings and the money people send them, preachers are God’s wrath, but I will leave that for another day.

Today we should focus on the love of God and the fact that no matter what we do, God does not send his wrath. How do I know this, simple, Jesus.

Let’s take a quick look at Genesis 9:8-17

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between you and me and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth, and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between you and me and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

With all of the rain, we have had these last few weeks I have seen some pretty amazing rainbows in the sky, this is a good reminder of the covenant between God and humanity something I like our TV preacher friends should remember.

But let us now turn to today’s Gospel passage from Luke.

Jesus has set his face towards Jerusalem; he is determined to go there regardless of the consequences. Because he did not have a smartphone and could not access trip advisor to find a decent hotel for him and his friends, he sent some people ahead of him to prepare things for him. They came to a Samaritan village, and they were not welcome there. We all know the hatred that exists between the Jews and Samaritans it is legendary, like the Yankees Red Sox thing.

The Samaritans did not want Jesus to stay with them, they were foreigners and maybe the Samaritans were afraid that they would steal their jobs and health insurance or something and although they were one of the wealthiest towns in the area, they did not have any room for people that looked and talked differently than they did.

Perhaps the disciples should have reminded them of the Passage from Leviticus, you know that Book that the TV preachers and others like to quote from: selectively

“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:33-34

Enter James and John. Now, these two guys are usually pretty solid, but they went off the rails a little here. They asked Jesus, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” Perhaps they had watched Pat Robertson the night before and heard him speak of how God likes to cause destruction to people, even innocent people and so they felt compelled to call down fire upon them.  The Passage we heard this morning simple says that Jesus rebuked them. The Passage does not tell us what he said, but I can only imagine.

I cannot begin to tell you the number of people I have sat with over the years I have been in ministry who feel, for whatever reason, that God does not love them. Time and time again they tell me their story about how some preacher, minister, priest, rabbi whatever has said to them that they are sinners and God does not love sinners, how could He?  This type of church behavior is so prevalent in some circles that it now has a name, Post Traumatic Church Syndrome. The church, in the name of Jesus, has caused so much damage over the years trying to scare people into conformity with a particular way of living.

At the start of every service we welcome people here with the words, no matter who you are, no matter where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here. I hope we mean that when we say it because people are hurting just beyond the walls of this church and they are looking for a safe place of welcome and acceptance. Many of these folks have been shunned by their family and their church.

Jesus is a love everyone sort of guy. He told them earlier that if a town does not accept you or the word you preach just leave, shake the dust from your feet, and go. We cannot compel people to believe, oh it has been tried, the crusades, the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation, the Spanish Inquisition, any number of Holy Wars, laws, legislation, TV preachers threatening God’s wrath and the like. We cannot force people to believe.

As we see in the story from Luke this morning, Jesus does not choose to punish those who are reluctant to support him, even today. Instead, we are reminded again and again that our is a Savior of love, who is not about punishing all who resist or compelling everyone to get in line or face the consequences, but one who invites those who believe to walk the journey with him. Not everyone is ready or willing to take that journey.

In my “From the Pastor” column this past week, I wrote about the “call” and asked the question of what God was calling you too. We have to determine for ourselves what our “call” truly is but I can, without hesitation, tell you that the call for all of us is to simply love and support those that need it. Unless we are willing to start there, the rest of it is useless.

On Pentecost Sunday, June 9, 2019, the First Congregational Church in Salem, New Hampshire celebrated Confirmation and welcomed a new member to the church. During the church service the Confirmands each read a Statement of Faith that they had written.  I did not preach a traditional sermon but used this text as an explanation of what the service of Confirmation is all about.

I think sometimes, we do things in the Church because we have always done them, but we are not really sure why we do them or what they mean. I used to serve a congregation that began some 80 years before I arrived, and the members of the congregation did not speak English. By the time I came, English was the predominant language although they still sang a few hymns on occasion in their mother tongue of Romanian. They did not know what they were singing, but, they learned these hymns as children, and they had a comfort about them. I recall printing the English translation in the bulletin, and they were amazed at what they were singing.

Today we celebrate not only the Feast of Pentecost or the birthday of the Church, but we rejoice in the fact that these folks gathered here have decided to make a public declaration of their faith through Confirmation or church membership. But what does Confirmation mean?

Last week I met with the Confirmands and told them that Confirmation was their choice, not another’s choice for them. I’m sorry to say that the decision to be confirmed lies solely with the person being confirmed. We do not ask to be confirmed because our older siblings were confirmed or because it is what is expected of us when we reach a certain age.

Confirmation is the affirmation of the promises made for these folks at their baptism. We heard the promises again during the service; do you renounce the powers of evil, do toy profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, do you promise to be God’s disciple, follow the way of savior, be a faithful member of the Church, love and show justice, witness to the work and word of Jesus Christ. Do you promise to grow in the faith, celebrate Christ’s presence, and furthering the mission of the Church in the world. All of these questions are serious and should not be agreed to because someone else wants you to.

In Confirmation, you accept and make a public declaration that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. You give yourself wholeheartedly to God and seek to know God’s will for your life. You have promised to follow the way that Christ has left for us and that you will let the Holy Spirit guide you in all you do. When you were brought for baptism promises were made on your behalf, and today you have made those promises stronger, and God has made a firmer and stronger claim on you.

You have also become a member of this particular congregation, and after the service, you will sign your name to the book that people have been signing since the founding of this Church in the 1700s. You have promised to participate in the life and mission of this congregation and to share regularly in the worship life of the congregation. We can chat later about what “regularly” means but publically stating that this is your spiritual home, at least for now, has to mean something we want you and we need you.

As Reformed Christians, we believe that “while you have confirmed your baptismal vows, God, on God’s part, through the laying on of the hands of the minister, claims and accepts you as God’s own, renews the covenant with you, and assures you of present and future needful grace. Confirmation, the laying on of hands, is God’s act of love to you.” (Heidelberg Catechism)

Many people have walked with you along this journey. They have taught you, prayed for you, and will continue to do so throughout your life. This is no small matter or simple ceremony that we have participated in today. “Now you will be on record before God, your family, your friends, and the members of this congregation that you mean to follow Christ, that you are answering the call to you with an audible yes, that you mean henceforth, as far as you are able, to trust in God, to care for others, to care for yourself, and to seek the realm of God.” (My Confirmation, A Guide for Confirmation Instruction)

Today is not the end of your Christian education; it is just the beginning. My prayer for you this day is that you keep these promises you made today ever in the forefront of your mind and that you will always seek after God’s will for your life. Amen.

John 17:2-20

I have no doubt that what Jesus intended was for his followers to be united in thought and united in faith. I am also almost certain that unit of practice really did not matter much and that faith, at least from what I understand from this passage, is more important. Now, that is not to say that practice is not, but the uniformity of that practice is not necessary.

Let me make this point abundantly clear, none of this matters. No church or cathedral matters. No bible, no prayer book, and certainly no theology book matters. Robes, stoles, communion plates, gold crosses, hymn books, none of it matters if we stand counter the message of Jesus Christ, I’m not even saying the message of the Gospel, I’m saying, and please quote me correctly, if we ignore the plain and simple message of Jesus Christ then all of this is wasted. If we are not changing lives, beginning with our own, if we are not caring for the “least of these,” then none of this matters.

I’m not sure how many of you have heard of Richard Rohr. Richard Rohr is a Roman Catholic priest of the Franciscan Order and is a modern-day mystic. In many, if not all of his writings, Fr. Richard makes the bold statement that what the world needs are more mystics and fewer theologians. Rohr would say that we have taken much of the mystery out of our faith and no longer look at things in a mystical sort of way. We want proof, we desire facts about situations where there is no proof, and there are no facts.

Did Jesus turn water into wine? Did Jesus heal the blind people? Did Jesus make the lame walk, the blind see, and the mute able to speak? Did Jesus walk on water and calm the storms? I don’t know, and I don’t care. What I do not and what I do care about are the people behind every one of those stories. We focus on the tangible, and we lose sight of the mystical.

As many, if not all of you know, I began my seminary training in a Roman Catholic seminary in Boston. Like many of you, I grew up in the Church of Rome, and I owe a lot to the Church of Rome. I learned to pray, and I learned to serve in those formative years, and I believe that my spirit awoke and that is what has lead me here to this moment. You see, I think nothing happens by accident. But apart from the theological training was the practical training which focused on what goes where and what one should wear for which ceremony and how one should hold one’s hands. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe in ritual, and I think ritual is essential in our lives and when we perform rituals they should be formal and meaningful, but how I hold my hands or whether I am wearing the right garment should not matter. What matters is the faith, what matters is what is all means.

Back to Fr. Richard for a moment, he has written a new book, I think the guy has written more than 100 books in his lifetime, so It is hard to keep up. But his latest work is called, The Universal Christ, how a forgotten reality can change everything we see, hope for, and believe. In the book Rohr challenges all of us to go deeper into our faith, to push past the headlines and soundbites and to really go down deep and see what is sacred in each person and in everything. Rohr speaks of reshaping the incarnation of Jesus Christ past the Nativity, past the Resurrection and asks us to look at the first Incarnation of Jesus Christ as creation itself. God has revealed God’s self in all of creation; we just need to look for it.

This is a fantastic book. I have had this book for about three weeks, maybe four, and I am only on page 37! When I read, I sit with a highlighter to remember passages. At one point, I think I had every word on every page highlighted. Just when you think you cannot learn anymore, a book like this comes along. Anyway, it’s a great book, and I suggest you pick up a copy, but only if you want to be challenged!

One of the critical ideas that come across in the book is that our aim is off, we have lost focus of what is essential. Rohr says this:

“Too often, we have substituted the messenger for the message. As a result, we spent a great deal of time worshiping the messenger and trying to get other people to do the same. Too often, this obsession became a pious substitute for actually following what he taught – and he did ask us several times to follow him, and never once to worship him.”

We worship Jesus because it’s easy. We worship the person of Jesus, we talk about a personal relationship with Jesus, we invite Jesus into our hearts. None of which Jesus ever asked us to do. Nowhere in anything Jesus said or did ever pointed to himself. When Jesus prayed, he prayed that God works through him for God’s glory, not his own. Jesus commands us to love God, not love Him, believe in him sure but never does he even hint that we should love him. Jesus said to his disciples, “follow me.” Jesus is not physically here with us, so we cannot follow the person of Jesus. But he did leave us his way, and that is what we should focus on.

I agree with Rohr, we have substituted the messenger for the message. We focus far too much energy on the person of Jesus whilst losing the message of Jesus. We love Jesus, we invite Jesus into our hearts, but we hate creation, we hate the incarnational aspect of Jesus in other people. The message requires that we love God and therefore love creation. We should be inviting others into our hearts, not just Jesus! Oh, if you invite Jesus into your hearts, that means you are asking him to change you not just sit around and do nothing. Jesus did more than offer thoughts and prayers, just got up off of his, hindquarters, and did something. When the leapers approached him, when the blind man came, when they brought the man who could not walk to him on his pallet and lowered him through the roof, Jesus did not wave his hand and offer thoughts and prayers, he actually did something!

In a few moments, we will symbolically gather around the table that has been prepared. Much care has gone into the preparation of what you see before you. I prefer the elements to be laid out a certain way, and so I come up and tinker with them after they have been placed. Words will be spoken, elements will be passed, we will consume what is presented to us. After that, biologically, those elements will break down and enter our system and literally become part of us and give us nourishment. But none of that matters if we do not allow this simple ritual to change us.

Back when the church was “one,” whatever that means, the ancients taught that before you take communion, you should make things right with those you have harmed or those you hold something against. In fact, they would say, leave the church, go and make things right, and then come back and take communion. And we could go outside right now, set up a card table, place these elements on paper plates and a plastic jug and it would still be communion. Ritual is important, ritual is sacred, what we are about to do is holy, but if we do not allow it to change us, it is worthless.

I said at the start that I believe that Jesus wants us to have unity of belief, Jesus prayed that we would be united in God just as Jesus is united in God. A few weeks ago we heard Jesus tell those around him how the world would know that we were united, what was that way?  I will give you a hint, it’s not by the buildings we use, it was not by the ritual we recited, it was not even unity in theology, it was love. Love truly is the answer for everything.