May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. NIV

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer. NKJ

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock, and my redeemer. NRSV

Before the sermon on most Sundays, we recite the last verse of Psalm 19 and ask God that the words that we speak and those that we hold in our hearts will be acceptable in His sight. This prayer is a burdensome request and one that we should always be asking.  I checked three different versions of this passage and found that some have the phrase, “may these words…” while others have the version we use, “may the words…”

“May these words…” would seem to imply that the words we are about to speak, say the sermon, should or would be acceptable in the sight of God while the other version, the one we use here, “may the words…” implies that all of our words should be acceptable in the sight of God.

So are the words we speak acceptable in the sight of God?

It is a privilege and an honor to stand in this spot each week and bring you a message that not only uplifts but also convicts. It is always my prayer that the words that I hope God gives me move us to action of some kind in our personal lives or the world at large. A preaching mentor told me that the sermon should make people uncomfortable and squirm a little. We are supposed to preach what we need to hear and just what we want to hear.

But standing here each week is also a great responsibility, and I try not to take that lightly. All through history preachers have used their words for all sorts of reasons, good and bad. Our prayer that the words we speak not only here at this moment, but later today and continuing, will be words that are acceptable to God.

Words have immense power that can build someone up, offer them hope and comfort or can shatter their world and cause irreparable harm. Because of the damage that can be done by our words, it is essential for us to have custody of our words. There are very few examples in Scripture of Jesus making fun of someone or otherwise putting them down. Even when Jesus was “dressing someone down” his words were from a pure heart with the intent of making corrections to build up and not to break down. Although he had stern words for people they were always spoken in love, I am not sure I can say that about my words.

The words that the writer of this verse uses come from deep within himself, from his heart, the place where thoughts form and fester if you will.  The Psalmist is asking the God purify his heart so that his words will also be pure.

From a psychological perspective, we do not say things by mistake or say things we do not mean. For us to speak we have to have thoughts, so if we say a cruel or hurtful thing to someone that thought was born and took root in our hearts and our minds. We have control, or at least we should, over the things we say, and that is Psalmist prayer today, that just because the thought has formed does not mean we have to speak it. He is asking for God’s protection from himself!

There is an old saying, “engage brain before opening mouth.” I know I am guilty of saying something that should not have been said or perhaps said something that needed to be said but said it wrong like the Psalmist my prayer is that God will protect me from myself and purify my heart, so my words build up and not break down.

In a few moments, we will symbolically gather around that table and reenact of you will, a very intimate time that Jesus had with his followers. Among them was the person that would turn him in as well as the one who would deny him and they all abandoned him when he needed them the most. But knowing this he still gave himself to them in the bread and wine.

My faith teaches me that it is not so much about what happens if anything, with the bread and the wine but what happens with us at that moment. Theologians have argued for generations whether the bread and wine are transformed, but the question we should be asking is, are we changed?

As we continue this service and the meeting that follows let us keep in mind the prayer we say and the prayer of the Psalmist that the words of our mouths and the what we hold deep in our hearts may be acceptable in the sight of God. We invite him into our lives to change us not to change him.

Let our closing prayer be the same as the one we used to open:

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock, and my redeemer.

It was not long ago that we were wishing each other a Merry Christmas and celebrating the birth of the Christ Child and now we have begun the season of Lent. We start this season with the reminder that we are mortals and that all of this is going to end. On Ash Wednesday we hear the words “remember thou are dust and to dust thou shall return.” This is not to put us under some cloud but to make us understand that the time we have here on this earth is finite.

Lent calls us to a time of deep spirituality, or a more profound sense of spirituality, as we prepare for that awesome day of the Resurrection. In some ways, Lent forces to focus on the events of Good Friday but I like to push through those events to the Resurrection keeping in mind that to get to Sunday we have to go through Friday.  We need to acknowledge those events, but we do not have to dwell there.

Over the next few weeks, I will be preaching from the Psalms. The Psalms are an exciting part of the Scripture. Unlike most of the book of the Bible, the Psalms are not written to any one person and are intensely personal. Most of them are prayers, and the early church used them as such in the daily prayers. The Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions still use them for the clergy and others in daily prayer. Some of the Psalms are laments while others are joyful but, they are a stream of consciousness by the writer who is wrestling with something and often takes his anger to God.

Psalm 25 underlines that the season of Lent is a sustained process in relationship with God. It also speaks to the reality of the struggle against enemies and is bound up with hearing and appropriating the teaching of the Lord over time.

But what are these enemies that the Psalmist writes about?

There are two types of enemies being confronted here, the obvious are the external enemies those who are out to get us or have declared war against us, but the other is more subtle, the enemies from within.

This past week we have, once again, come face to face with evil in the murder of 17 innocent children and teachers just going about their day. Evil picked up a weapon that has no other purpose but to kill and did just that. Evil was trained by other who hate those who are different and instructed him well. It did not take long for excuses to begin and fingers to be pointed and cry that it is “too soon” to discuss gun violence or who we might prevent it but the problem is there is no time in between these acts of evil to have that discussion as they have become all too familiar.

The enemy that is within is the enemy that says my rights are more important than others, or the voice that refuses to compromise, on any side of an issue, and therefore paralyzes us to working something out. When we entrench ourselves in our corners, we are unable to hear what the other person is saying. When we are so rigid in our beliefs, we think we are the only ones that are right, and that is a lie of the greatest magnitude.

In the days of the early church, there was a controversy between Peter and Paul about how Jewish this new way would have to be, and the issue was around circumcision, did the gentiles have to be circumcised like the Jews? A council was called in Jerusalem, and both sides of the issue were heard, and a decision was made. The entirety of the body of theology that we have today was decided by compromise and the best information available at that moment. The ability to listen to others and change the way we believe about an issue or issues is rooted in the tradition of the church.

With all of that said the biggest internal enemy is anger and there is a lot of that.

It has been said that emotions are irrational, all emotions and that we should not make decisions when we are emotional. Emotions blind us to reality and even the truth. Anger can be useful as it moves us to exact change, but only after the emotion has worn off. I do not doubt that the evil that was unleashed in the hallways of that school in Florida was caused by anger. What caused that anger is a matter of debate, was it a mental illness, probably as a sane person does not do such a thing, or was the anger caused by an external force, the white supremacist group he belongs too, perhaps it is both.

The Palmist is pleading with God to protect him from his enemies, and that should be our prayer as well. He does not wish them to harm only that they are exposed for what they are. But he ends this particular passage with the prayer:

Make me know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you, I wait all day long. (v 4-5)

This should always be our prayer not only during this season of Lent but always.

My mother died on Thursday, February 8th and today, February 13th was her funeral. This is the sermon I preached on that occasion. 

I would like to begin this morning’s reflection with a word of thanks. On behalf of my father, my brothers and sister-in-law, the grandchildren and I thank you all for not only being here today but for being with us these last days as we begin the process of healing. It is so lovely to see all of you here and to have read all of the amazing messages in the cards you sent and the messages posted on the Facebook.

But I need to add a very personal note of thanks to my darling wife, Nicky. I would not have been able to get through these last few days without you, and I am so glad you are a part of my life and a part of this amazing family. Thanks for saying yes!

I hope you will grant me a few moments of reflection here this morning, it might be a little longer than usual, but it is always dangerous when you give a preacher the microphone. I cannot count the number of funerals I have presided over, but this one has to be the hardest. Someone asked me how I could do it and my response is it is what I do, and it is what she wanted me to do. Where does my strength come from? I turn to Psalm 121, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Rituals are important. We all have them, and we have all participated in them. Think about our lives, they all revolve around one ritual or another; even our morning routine can be considered a ritual. We have rituals for beginnings, and we have rituals for endings. We have rituals for the start of life and, what beings us here today, rituals for the end of life.

The other day as the family gathered at home we grew up in, we had the ritual of going through the pictures to prepare the video that was being played at the wake last night. Going through boxes of photos and photo albums was an amazing thing and were able to tell stories and have good memories. Rituals are important.

When I was in the Orthodox Church, at the end of every funeral or memorial service, we would sing Memory Eternal. I will spare you my singing voice today, but the reason this was sung and the reason we would say may their memory be eternal, is to remind us that it is up to us to not forget those who have gone before us. Sure there will be pain we when have memories and moments of intense grief, but I believe all of those who have gone before us are always with us in our minds and our hearts. We keep them alive if you will, with the stories and the memories that we share and the private ones.

But, this ritual today is not for my mother. I know it sounds like a cliché but she is in a “better place.” My faith teaches me, and this is my faith, and it works for me, my faith teaches me that she is now truly in a better place because she is not here and having to deal with the pain. For her, that part of her life has ended. But my faith also teaches me that she is with all of those who have gone before us. She is playing scrabble with her sister Jackie or sitting around a table working on another piece of ceramics. By the way, Jacob and Julia, you are going to have to replace her at Eileen’s ceramic shop. Today this ritual is for us, a time to grieve and a time to celebrate.

But my faith also teaches me that she has been welcomed into that place and is in the arms of her savior and that she heard those words we all long to hear “well done good and faithful servant.” I know this has to be true, she raised four boys and had to deal with all of us, not me, of course, I was an angel. But if that is not a ticket in I do not know what is!

But let’s talk about faith for a moment. Any of you who know me or have heard me preach you know that most of what I preach, teach, believe, and act follows two simple rules; love God and love your neighbor. My mother lived this in her life, and that is where I learned it. Sure, I went to seminary, and all of that but my belief comes from watching her in her life she loved her God, and she loved and cared for her neighbor. And she did unconditionally. My mother respected everyone; my mother respected the choices everyone made. She may not have always agreed with them, but she respected them.

Faith was important to my mother, and she taught all of her sons to respect faith, but she also told us that we had to make our own decisions. Her faith was her faith, and it worked for her that did not mean it would work for us and we have become, well, a somewhat eclectic faith family. But I remember the day I told her I had been accepted to seminary. She had a big smile on her face, and she said that could not wait to see me standing in the pulpit at Most Blessed Sacrament Church, well, here I am! Maybe not the way she wanted me to but…

And let’s talk about this place a little. This building that formed our young lives. Most of my family were baptized here, received our d first spoke to me and called me to serve Him in ministry. This is a unique place, and it is good that we are here today in this place that she loved.

So how does one sum up 84 years of life? I have been thinking about this for several days, and it came to me last night as I was standing in line at the wake. I can sum up my mother’s life just by looking out at all of you and the hundreds that came to the wake last night. When I preach, I often use the image of the pebble being dropped into the lake and the ripples going out. We saw ripples last night and have been hearing from people all over about how my mother touched their lives in big ways and in small. I shook so many hands last night I thought I was running for office! But what an amazing tribute and I thank all of you again.

Family was important to my mother. She came from a rather large family, there were 10 of them all together, and the family has gotten a little larger since then. As each of her sisters and their families moved away, she stayed in contact with them. Every now and again when one of the cousins was getting married, she would load us all in the car, and we would head off on some journey. Many times it was like National Lampoons Vacation, but we always arrived, and we always returned.

But the last few years she was able to connect with the vast extended family via Facebook, and she loved sitting at the table in the morning looking at all of the pictures and reading about what was going on in their lives. She did not make many comments, but she read everything and was genuinely interested in everyone’s lives. Many of the “out of town” relatives, as we call them, have come today, from both sides of the family and I am sure she has a big smile on her face knowing that we are all here. She was so looking forward to the reunion in Tennessee this summer.

So now we begin the task of life without. It has been said that we never get over it, but we just get used to them not being there and eventually the smile and the laughs will return. My mother had a good run, and she lived her life to the fullest. If there is one lesson that we should learn is that life is short, yes 84 years is short, hug those that need hugs, love those who need love, forgive those that need forgiving and live life today for we have no idea what tomorrow will bring.

Let us pray:

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; to be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

Last Tuesday night we held a forum here at Bethany concerning the search for our new senior minister. We asked our Associate Conference Minister Don Remick to come and share some thoughts on the process and also to begin a discussion around the idea of shifting gears from searching for a settled pastor to what is called a designated term pastor. The big difference, and there will be more information coming out about this in the next few weeks, is that a designated term pastor come with a unique set of skills designed to help the church, such as ourselves, revitalize.

I describe it this way. Most of us have a doctor who is a general practitioner. They have a variety of skills to treat most ailments but will often refer you to a specialist such as a cardiologist or other such skilled professional. Yes, a settled minister might have the necessary skill set to revitalize a church but why not bring in a specialist to assist. As I said, there will be more information on this in the coming weeks.

But during the conversation last week, and thanks to those who took the time to come out, a question was raised about bringing more people to church and how we do that. The sobering response is there is tried and true method for how to do this. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of books written about bringing people to church but each church is different and each set of people, us, is different.

Also this past week a new study was released by the Public Religion Research Institute with the title Diversity, Division, Discrimination: The State of Young America. The study looked at what young people think is essential in their lives. It asked the question what concerns you the most about the future.  Now, the survey is many, many pages long and goes into great detail but the point is these are the things that the young folks are interested in and have questions about. So how do we reach them?  We start by speaking their language.

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he speaks about being all to all. To reach the weak, I must become weak. To reach the Jew, I must become a Jew. In other words, if Paul wants to reach people he has to be willing to meet them where they are and talk about the issues that are important to them.

Years ago I did some volunteer work with a street mission in Kansas City. It was part of a missions program I was involved in, and it was designed to introduce people to ministering cross-culturally.  One of the critical points I learned during those few weeks was you cannot minister to someone, in the hopes of changing their lives, unless and until their basic needs are met. Food, clothing, shelter the basic human needs and I will add a fourth to that list, security.

I might have the most inspired message given to me directly by the Holy Spirit, but if the person I am delivering that message too is hungry, they will not listen. We need to feed them physically before we can feed them spiritually.

What Paul is reminding us is that we have to put aside what we think is essential for what those around us think is important. He is not saying we have to compromise on our beliefs, but what he is saying is that we have to be open to those around us, meet them where they are, fulfill their needs if possible, and then we can share the good news with them.

Several years ago I had the opportunity to preach at Christ Church here in Quincy. I am not sure if any of you have ever been inside the church, but the pulpit is up a few steps. While climbing those steps, the preacher comes face to face with the enormity of the task at hand. There is a sign inside the pulpit, just at eye height as you begin the climb up the stairs. Right at eye level are words of warning from St. Paul, “Woe to you if you preach not the gospel.”

These are very sobering words for anyone who claims to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not just those of us who stand in places like here at Bethany or just down the street at Christ Church. All of us are called to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ with our very lives and so the question I ask all of us today is, are we doing that?

There is no doubt in my mind that Gospel has a preferential option for the poor.  Jesus says he has come to preach the good news to the poor, not that the rich do not need to hear it as well, but the poor and oppressed need hope more than ever. Jesus came at a time and to a people that were being oppressed not only politically but by their religion and their religious leaders. The task was so enormous that no one could live up to the standard that was being put forth. Jesus came into that world and preached a radical message of love and freedom for everyone, not just a select few.

The work of the Gospel does not take place inside of the four walls of the church building. The work of the Gospel takes place out there, in the street, in our everyday lives. How we treat each other inside is essential, but how we treat those outside, and the message we project, is preaching the Gospel.

Paul tells us, “I have become all things to all people, that I might, by all means, save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.”