Not-Knowing, Sort-of-Knowing, and Knowing
(John 9:1-41)
 
During the blizzard a few weeks ago, Tula and I watched a classic musical, Guys and Dolls, featuring none other than Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando.  (For a fun look at another side of Brando, watch this film to hear him sing.  Who knew the Godfather sings?!)  I hadn’t seen the movie for decades.
 
It was so interesting to see the movie now that I am a pastor, because one of the main characters is a religious woman leading the Times Square satellite office of an organization similar to the Salvation Army.  A group of Christians march around Times Square in army-like uniforms beating a drum, singing hymns, and preaching, in an attempt to save sinners.  Miss Sarah Brown leads the group.  She is played by the actress Jean Simmons.  Through a series of events, she is pursued by an accomplished gangster, Sky Masterson, played by Marlon Brando.  To win a bet, he takes Sarah to Cuba for dinner at his favorite restaurant there.  Sarah doesn’t know it’s a bet, however.  She goes with him to Cuba because he’s promised to deliver at least a dozen bona fide sinners to her next prayer meeting if she goes.  She needs those sinners because she hasn’t managed to save one soul while she’s been in Times Square.
 
Well, long story short:  Sarah and Sky end up talking about love and Sarah sings the song, “I’ll Know,” in which she states she’ll know, without a doubt, when she meets the love of her  life.  Here are the lyrics:
 
"For I've imagined every bit of him 
To the strong moral fiber to the wisdom in his head 
To the home-y aroma of his pipe. . . .
Yes, and I shall meet him when the time is right. 

SKY. (spoken) You've got the guy all figured out. 
SARAH (spoken) I have. 
SKY (spoken) Including what he smokes. All figured out, huh? 
SARAH (spoken) All figured out. 

I'll know when my love comes along 
I won't take a chance.
I'll know he'll be just what I need 
Not some fly-by-night Broadway romance. . . .
I'll know by the calm steady voice 
Those feet on the ground. 
I'll know as I run to his arms 
That at last I've come home safe and sound. 
Until then, I shall wait. 
Until then, I'll be strong. 
Oh, I'll know, when my love comes along."[1]
 
Sarah is absolutely certain she’ll know when she meets the love of her life because she’s imagined what he’ll be like.  He’ll be moral, wise, stable, steady, calm, and smoke a pipe.  Well, of course, we, as the movie-watchers, know that Sarah is all wrong about this.  She thinks she knows, but she doesn’t.  We can see that she is falling in love with just the opposite kind of guy, none other than accomplished gambler Sky Masterson.
 
The funny thing is, Sky thinks he knows what falling in love will be like for him, too.  He’ll know he’s met the love of his life the instant he sees her because of chemistry.  He responds to Sarah with:
 
"SKY (spoken) No, no, no ! You are talking about love!  You can't dope it like that.  What
are you picking, a guy or a horse? 
SARAH (spoken) I wouldn't expect a gambler to understand. 
SKY (spoken) Would you like to hear how a gambler feels about the big heart throb? 
SARAH (spoken) No! 
SKY (spoken) Well, I'll tell you. 

Mine will come as a surprise to me. 
Mine I lead to chance and chemistry. 

SARAH (spoken) Chemistry? 
SKY (spoken) Yeah, chemistry. 

Suddenly I'll know when my love comes along 
I'll know then and there 
I'll know at the sight of her face 
How I care, how I care, how I care 
And I'll stop.  And I'll stare. 

And I'll know long before we can speak 
I'll know in my heart. 
I'll know and I won't ever ask 
Am I right, am I wise, am I smart. 
And I'll stop.  And I'll stare. 
At that face. In the throng. 
Yes, I'll know when my love comes along 
I'll know when my love comes along."[2]
 
Of course, Sky’s got it all wrong, too.  He’s falling in love with Sarah, with whom he did NOT have instant chemistry!  Both Sarah and Sky think they know, but they don’t know.  In the end, of course, both are proven wrong because they fall in love with each other and get married.
 
Silly human beings:  We think we know when we don’t know.  Or we think we don’t know when we know.  We live our days in certainty when there is none, or in uncertainty when there is certainty.  We see this characteristic of human beings in the story of the healing of the man born blind.  Throughout the passage there are those who say, “I don’t know,” those who say, “I know,” and those who fall somewhere in between.
 
All of these statements of not-knowing, sort-of-knowing, and knowing happen in response to the fact that a man born blind has been healed by Jesus.  This astonishing fact sends everyone into a tailspin.  They’re trying to figure out whether a miracle really took place (Is this the man born blind?), where Jesus is, who Jesus is, how he could heal someone, and if he’s a sinner or a saint for doing so (especially on the Sabbath). 
 
First, we encounter the man’s neighbors and those who had known him since birth.  They can’t believe it’s the same man:  “’Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’  Some were saying, ‘It is he.’  Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’  He kept saying, ‘I am the man’” (8-9).
 
These people are so astonished that they bring the Pharisees to the healed man.  The Pharisees argue among themselves about whether Jesus was from God or a sinner:  “’This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.’  But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs’” (16)?  They can’t decide among themselves, so they turn to the healed man and ask him his opinion:  “’What do you say about him?  It was your eyes he opened’.”  The healed man replies, “’He is a prophet’" (17).
 
There are those who still can’t believe the man is the same one born blind, so they call the parents of the man and question them:  “Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see” (19)?  His parents, freaked out because anyone who proclaims Jesus as the Messiah will be kicked out of the synagogue, answer very carefully, saying, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes” (20-21a).  They redirect the questioning to their son, putting the risk of being expelled from the synagogue onto him, by saying, “Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself” (21b).
 
And, so, they go back to the son, stating that Jesus is a sinner!  The man born blind responds, “I do not know whether he is a sinner.  One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (25).  They continue to badger him, asking, again, how he was healed. 
 
At this point, the healed man becomes frustrated:  “I have told you already, and you would not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become his disciples” (27)?  He’s losing his patience, so he throws them a challenge, knowing that if he they say they want to become Jesus’ disciples they will be at risk of being expelled from the synagogue.  Their response is sharp, calling the healed man a disciple of Jesus and thus putting him at risk of being expelled.  Then they proclaim their faith in Moses as a person from God and their distrust of Jesus as a person from God.
 
Finally, the healed man lays out the truth:  "Here is an astonishing thing!  You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.  We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.  Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.  If this man were not from God, he could do nothing” (30-33).  And . . . he was driven out of the synagogue.
 
The poor guy!  All he did was experience healing and continue to state that he had experienced healing.  First, he keeps repeating, “Yep.  I’m the one who was born blind but can now see,” as everyone around him is freaking out.  Next, he keeps repeating, “All I know is that I was blind but can now see,” while everyone around him is freaking out.  He doesn’t really feel the need to figure out where Jesus is, or who Jesus is, or whether it was okay that Jesus healed him on the Sabbath, or whether Jesus is from God or a sinner, or whether Jesus is the Messiah, or anything, really, because, after all, HE WAS BLIND FROM BIRTH BUT CAN NOW SEE!  He has never seen anything and can now see everything!  Can you imagine how overwhelming and wonderful that must have been?  I mean, he is the one who should be freaking out and running around exclaiming about the glories of creation but, instead, he’s being badgered by all these people who have not had the miraculous experience and, well, just can’t believe it or just can’t accept it as it is.  They have to challenge, and pick, and argue, and have all kinds of feelings and, basically, torture the poor guy.
 
Here’s the thing:  We don’t know until we know, and the way we know is usually through experience.  The man was blind.  He met Jesus.  Jesus healed him.  Now he can see.  That is what he knows because that is what he experienced.  Regardless of how much he is badgered and questioned, he KNOWS what he experienced.  People can argue with him until the cows come home, but he knows what he knows because of his EXPERIENCE.  And that experience allowed him to be open, which allowed him to proclaim, later, that he believes Jesus is the Son of Man and worships him (35-38).
 
We just can’t argue with experience.  It is how we come to know what we know.  The man blind since birth took a leap of faith when he let Jesus try to heal him.  But, after he experienced the healing, he didn’t really have to leap because he knew:  “I am the man blind from birth who can now see.  Jesus healed me.  He is from God.  He is the Son of Man.  I worship him.” 
 
The others?  Well, they were having trouble taking that original leap of faith, so they weren’t open to a miraculous experience and, thus, were not able to know.  The first step toward faith is to show up and be open to a miracle.  I’ve had a few people in the past month tell me that they wish they could believe in God but they just don’t.  As I thought about this statement, it occurred to me that one thing those people could do is take enough of a leap of faith to just show up at a church for a month or so.  Just come to worship.  Meet people.  Sit in a pew.  Sing some hymns.  Hear some sermons.  Pray some prayers.   Take a leap of faith and just show up to see what happens, like the blind man with Jesus:  “Sure, man, you can try to heal me.  Whatevs.”  It’s amazing what can happen when we just take a leap and show up. 
 
I know the amazing things that can happen if we just take that small leap of faith because it’s what I did back when I returned to church in my early thirties.  I had no idea who Jesus was to me.  I knew the Church’s position on Jesus, but I still had to get to know him myself.  So, I started going to church, to a particular church, every week.  And, slowly, I experienced the miracle of a faith community and began to know Jesus through being part of the life of a church. 
 
I shared with someone this week my first experience of asking the prayer team at that church to pray for me.  I hesitated asking them because I wanted them to pray about something that seemed too insignificant to warrant their effort.  I was going to be singing at my sister’s wedding and I was anxious about doing so.  I didn’t want to get so nervous that my voice shook, so I asked the prayer team to pray for me regarding this.
 
The fact that the prayer team would be praying for me was like wearing a blanket from God that would comfort, calm, and warm me.  And, it did.  For the first time, I sang with barely any nerves clearly and sweetly.  “Panis Angelicus” floated from my mouth out over the congregation from the balcony.  It was a holy moment.  My father, who NEVER complimented my singing, remembers that moment to this day.  He was astonished at how much I had grown as a singer.  While it was gratifying to finally get some praise from a man who didn’t hand it out easily, it was even more gratifying to feel carried by the prayer team.  Yes, I had worked hard to improve as a singer, but nerves could have undone all of my hard work had grace not been present, keeping me steady as the sound filled the sanctuary. 
 
Our part in the journey of faith is to take the initial leap and show up.  Jesus does the rest.  By taking that leap and showing up, we experience miracles and come to know God in our own lives.  Like Sarah and Sky in Guys and Dolls, we think we know, but we don’t, until we experience God for ourselves.  Then, no one can shake our faith:  not our neighbors, not those who are like the Pharisees, not even our family members, because we have met Jesus first hand.  We KNOW, and so we WORSHIP.  Amen.
 
Sermon preached by the Rev. Amy Johnson, Canton Community Baptist Church, Canton, CT, on Sunday, March 26, 2017, the Fourth Sunday in Lent.


[1] http://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/g/guysanddollslyrics/illknowlyrics.html
[2] http://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/g/guysanddollslyrics/illknowlyrics.html

A New Dimension
(John 4:5-42)
 
I’ve shared with you in the past about my faith journey.  I don’t want to repeat myself but, as I was working on the sermon for this week, my journey came to mind as being relevant, so I’m going to do a quick review of it.
 
I was born into a Presbyterian church-going family.  My parents were very involved with the local Presbyterian church as elders, deacons, worship leaders at the local psychiatric home, and youth group leaders.  However, when I was seven years old, my father had a crisis of faith and stopped attending church.  I still attended with my mother and grandmother, at times, but a regular church life disappeared for me at that time.
 
As a young adult, I moved to New York City and soon discovered that I was creating in my own life some of the negative dynamics I had learned growing up.  Every family has its challenges and mine is no exception.  I kept trying to make things better for myself and those I loved, but I kept failing.  Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t make a difference for myself or the people I loved who were suffering.  In despair, I called a friend, and she suggested I go to Al-Anon meetings. 
 
She suggested Al-Anon meetings because my boyfriend at the time was a cocaine addict.  No matter what I did, I couldn’t get him to recover.  It was awful.  In addition, one of my friends was severely anorexic.  No matter what I did, I couldn’t get her to recover.  It was awful.  Al-Anon is a 12-step program for people who are in relationships with alcoholics, but the steps can be applied to any situation in which we have no control over others.  I had come to the conclusion that I had no control over these two people, and so was in despair.
 
Having nowhere else to turn, I listened to my friend and started attending meetings.  Slowly, my eyes, ears, heart, mind, and soul were opened to a new reality.  I found at the meetings a community of people in situations just like me who were willing to love and support me even though my life and I were a mess.  I discovered spiritual truths in the 12 steps that enabled me to see that life didn’t have to be the way I thought it had to be.  In short, I had an epiphany:  a Magi-following-the-star, top-of-the-mountain, Paul-on-the-road-to-Damascus epiphany! 
 
My epiphany?  Well, I had been taught that reality was three-dimensional:  It had height, depth, and length, like a box.  The 12 steps, however, taught me that there was a fourth dimension:  the spiritual dimension!  Instead of being a finite closed box, reality was an infinite open box!  The finite box of our world opened into the infinite spiritual dimension through a relationship with God!  Whoa!  This epiphany changed everything!  I didn’t have to stay stuck with “life as I knew it!”  I could let God into my life and live life as God knows it:  a life of endless possibilities, with no dead ends or closed doors.  “For nothing [is] impossible with God” (Lk 1:37). 
 
Think about the magnitude of this realization.  I had spent my life crawling around in the same closed box.  I knew every nook and cranny, every corner, and every wall.  There was no way to get around that box that I hadn’t explored.  “Let me try this:  same box.  Okay, let me try this:  same box.  Wait, what if I do that same thing again; maybe the result will be different:  same box.”  No matter what I did, the box and I stayed the same:  same dimensions, same patterns, same behavior, same dynamics.  Do you know the definition of insanity:  Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  According to that definition, I was behaving insanelys.
 
Once, however, I was in a spiritual environment – the 12 steps of Al-Anon – the Spirit began to work on me.  I crawled around in my closed box for a while even while attending meetings.  Eventually, however, the Spirit moved me to push against the lid of that box.  “Come on, Amy, are you sure this box is closed?  You know, you might be wrong about that three-dimensional reality thing.  Just push against that closed lid and see what happens.”  Well, lo and behold, it turns out the box was only closed because I hadn’t opened it!  Once that box was open, the glory of the Lord shone around and – babam! – my life opened up to a new dimension:  the spiritual dimension! 
 
I remember literally walking around New York City with this new awareness, feeling the presence of God around me.  I was like someone who had been blind but could now see. 
“Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I'm found.
Was blind but now I see.”
I have lived that beloved hymn, and I didn’t even realize it until I was writing this sermon.  Grace:  the gift that keeps on giving.  I’m receiving its gifts even now.
 
Al-Anon saved my life.  It allowed me to be born again, although I wouldn’t have called it that at the time.  I later learned that the 12 steps were written by a Christian and were based on Christian spiritual principles, which were based on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, what we refer to as the gospel, the good news. At that point, my journey with Jesus began.  Who was Jesus?  Who was Jesus to me?  I began to ask questions and discover answers.
 
Which brings me to the Samaritan woman at the well.  She, too, was living in a closed box:  men don’t speak to women they don’t know; Jews don’t speak to Samaritans; God is worshiped on a particular mountain; water is a liquid material that quenches your physical thirst; the messiah is coming but has not come, yet; I have sinned by having many husbands and non-husbands and cannot be forgiven.  She woke up that morning with life as she knew it, but she would go home that evening with life as God knows it:  a life of endless possibilities, with no dead ends or closed doors.  “For nothing [is] impossible with God” (Lk 1:37).  She went to bed that night proclaiming, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!  He is the messiah!”  Her life would never be the same.  The closed box had been opened and the glory of the Lord had shone around.  “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14).
 
We are changed when we encounter Jesus.  Not only are we changed:  reality is changed.  The old, three-dimensional rules no longer apply.  We now live in a four-dimensional world!  Where before there was a “no,” now there is a “maybe” or, even, a “yes!”  Jesus meets us where we are and works with us to move forward, past the false barriers and boundaries in our lives.  In Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, he says:

• You may think your body is thirsty for material water but, in truth, your soul is thirsty for spiritual water:  the living water I can give to you.
• Even though you’re a Samaritan woman and I’m a Jewish man, we can converse.  The cultural rules against a man talking to a woman and a Jew talking to a Samaritan are false barriers.  People set up many false barriers between genders, races, religions, nations, and so on.  However, the reality is that “[t]here is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in [me]” (Gal. 3:28).
• You have had five husbands and now live with a man who is not your husband, but you are never separated from God, even when your society tells you that you are.  For “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate [you] from the love of God in [me]” (Rom. 8:38-39).  Your behavior is an outward sign of an inward condition.  What in you needs to be healed so that you are at peace with yourself and do not need to seek peace in relationships?  I am the Messiah.  Ask me to heal you, for I invite all who are weary and heavy-burdened to come to me and I will give you rest (Mt. 11:28).
• Samaritans say true worship takes place on this mountain and Jews say true worship

takes place in Jerusalem, but the boundaries placed around the correct place to worship are false.  God is spirit and the true worshiper will worship in spirit and truth wherever they are found. 

• You are waiting for the Messiah to come, but he is here and it is I.  Wait no longer; I have come.  “The kingdom of God is at hand” (Mk 1:15).  Live as if it is here!

 
The Samaritan woman encountered Jesus and received the living water that he offers to all who encounter him.  The question we have to ask ourselves when considering this Bible passage is:  Where in our lives are we boxed in and living according to three-dimensional rules?  In what areas and in what ways have we put the lid on the box and shut God out?  Are we living according to false barriers and boundaries that keep us from living as if the kingdom of God is at hand?  Are our spirits dying of thirst for the living water?
 
Take a moment and ask Jesus to reveal these areas to you.  SILENCE FOR PRAYER TO JESUS.  Now, take a moment and ask Jesus to heal you in these areas.  SILENCE FOR PRAYER TO JESUS.  Now, take a moment and thank Jesus for the healing he will bring.  SILENCE FOR PRAYER TO JESUS. 
 
As we continue to drink of the living water, not only are the lids removed from our boxes, but the walls, also, come down, and we are surrounded by the glory of the Lord shining in, around, and through our lives.  Truly, then, we become the light of the world that Jesus desires us to be (Mt 5:14), glorifying God as we spread love, hope, and peace to all who need them.  Thank God that we have come to know the fourth dimension and encountered Jesus.  It makes all the difference, both here on Earth and in heaven.  Amen.
 
 
Sermon preached by the Rev. Amy Johnson, Canton Community Baptist Church, Canton, CT, Sunday, March 19, 2017, the Third Sunday in Lent.
 
 

I received an email message this week from John Hawthorne, who had written an article about ways to help refugees.  He asked me to share his article.  Below is an excerpt from the article.  You can click the link to read the rest.  He provides doable, practical ways to help refugees, including something as simple as writing letters to them to provide encouragement and hope.  Jesus, himself, was a refugee during part of his life, and the Bible exhorts us to provide hospitality to those in need.  Let's do what we can to alleviate suffering among those who are powerless to do much themselves.  --Pastor Amy

9 Ways You Can Help The Syrian Refugees NOW
​
The Syrian refugee crisis has reached massive proportions. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have been displaced from their homes and are trying to make a new life elsewhere. Others are stuck in refugee camps, desperately hoping for the chance to move to another country.

As you watch the news and read the headlines, it’s easy to feel helpless. Like there’s nothing you can do to make a difference. You want to help, but have no idea what you should do.

Thankfully, there are distinct, simple ways you can help that don’t require massive amounts of effort. By taking small actions, you can make a real difference.
Nelson Mandela said:

"Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future."

May these small actions help you turn the sufferings of others into hope. Here are 9 ways to make a direct difference in the lives of the refugees.

TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE
​

Risky Business
(Genesis 12:1-4a; John 3:1-17)
 
One of the books I use with the first-year students I teach at Southern CT State University is This I Believe:  The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women.  The title says it all:  It is a book of short essays written by both famous and not famous people that state each person’s belief. 
 
Brian Grazer, a famous Hollywood movie and television producer, wrote an essay for the book, titled “Disrupting My Comfort Zone.”  Grazer, as is obvious from the title of his essay, believes in disrupting his comfort zone.  He has a good reason for believing this and doing it, too.  Disrupting his comfort zone, putting himself in challenging situations and meeting challenging people, is the best way that he knows to keep growing and, as he puts it, if you’re not growing, then you’re dying.[1] 
 
It is a sound philosophy and it has served Grazer well:  He’s produced more than fifty movies and twenty television series; he’s successful and well-known in his business; and he could retire tomorrow to the golf course.[2]  As I said, his personal philosophy of disrupting his comfort zone has served him well.
 
It is a sound personal philosophy, but it is missing one thing that is of utmost importance to us as Christians:  God.  While it can be satisfying to fulfill our personal goals, and while we may even become successful and famous while doing so, fulfilling our personal goals is not the central concern of Christians.  The central concern of Christians is fulfilling God’s goals.  And it is by fulfilling God’s goals that we, ourselves, are fulfilled.  “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given unto you as well” (Mt 6:33).
 
Grazer has chosen to live a risky life but, the truth is, life is risky whether we choose to live that way or not.  Life is by its nature risky.  We can try to avoid risk, but we can’t.  It’s impossible to avoid it.  Life, by its very nature, is risky.
 
But, as Grazer stated, the alternative to life is death.  Unless we are actively dying, we have no choice but to embrace risk.  If we don’t embrace risk, then we stop growing and are, essentially, dying – if not physically, then emotionally and spiritually.
 
If someone asked us if we want to live or die, we would say we want to live.  We don’t choose consciously to stop growing and die.  If, in fact, we have stopped growing and are now dying, it is because we are tired or afraid, or because we are stuck, or because we just don’t know what to do to next or how to go forward. 
 
When we’ve stopped growing and are dying – for whatever reason – as people of faith we are blessed to be able to turn to God.  We may be tired, afraid, stuck, or confused about how to move forward, but God is none of those things.  Unlike Brian Grazer, our journey in this life isn’t about our own goals, but about God’s goals.  It isn’t about our own power and abilities, but about God’s power and abilities.  We may be tired, but God isn’t; we may be afraid, but God isn’t; we may be stuck, but God isn’t; we may be confused, but God isn’t.  God can take whatever it is we are and use it to fulfill his purposes. 
 
The apostle Paul wrote about our weakness and God’s strength in his second letter to the Corinthians.  Paul suffered from some kind of affliction.  No one has been able to figure out what the affliction was, but Paul suffered from one.  Three times he appealed to the Lord about it, that it would leave him, but the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”  After the Lord says this to him, Paul then boasts all the more gladly of his weakness, so that the power of Christ may dwell in him (2 Cor 12:8-9).  Paul knew that the power of Christ would work through his weakness and redeem him.  Paul was not able to be his own redeemer but, thankfully, he already had a redeemer who was – even in that moment – working to redeem his life for him. 
 
The same is true for us.  We may be weak, but God is strong.  We may be powerless, but God is powerful.  God is, at all times, working to redeem us and our world, but he needs us to get out of his way and let him do his thing!
 
We have a great example of someone getting out of God’s way in order to let God do his thing in the Genesis scripture passage for today.  Abraham and his family had lived in Haran for decades.  Haran is what they know.  They have built their lives there.  Yet the Lord comes to Abraham and tells him to leave his country and his kindred and his father’s house and go to the land he will lead him to (Gn 12:1).  God promises to make of Abraham a great nation, to bless him, and to make his name great (Gn 12:2).  He even tells Abraham that all the families of the earth shall be blessed through Abraham (Gn 12:3)!  It is quite a promise that God makes to Abraham!
 
But in order to get what has been promised, Abraham must give up all that he has known and journey into the unknown.  God doesn’t even name the place to which he will lead Abraham. 
 
Abraham must let go of his own goals and dreams – whatever they might have been – and follow God in faith and trust, not knowing where he is going or what it will be like.  Abraham must risk all he knows on the unknown to which God is leading him.
 
Like Brian Grazer, Abraham embraces the risk.  But, unlike Grazer, Abraham does so not trusting in himself but in God.  Along the way, Abraham will be blessed, but so will all the families of the earth that are to come!  God’s plans for us are not only about us; they are about all of God’s creation.  He blesses each of us so that we may bless others.  God’s blessings are meant to multiply and become all-inclusive.
 
As I contemplated the themes of risk and trust that are in this week’s scripture readings, I couldn’t help but think of the future of this church and the Christian church at large.  As we have discussed many times, things have changed for mainline Protestant churches in America.  The way such churches have “done church” isn’t as relevant to our culture as it once was.  This is apparent in the declining numbers of people who attend church.  Churches are wondering what the future will hold.  Some are tired; some are afraid; some are stuck; some don’t know what to do next.  They aren’t growing, and so they are dying, even though they haven’t consciously chosen to stop growing and die.
 
What we as the people who attend church and who love church must do in this environment is become willing to risk when God reveals His plans for us.  We must become willing, like Abraham, to leave what we know and venture into the unknown with only God’s promise of blessing to fortify us as we follow him.  And, like Nicodemus in the scripture passage from the Gospel According to John, we must be willing to question God when we don’t have the answers.  Nicodemus didn’t understand what Jesus was telling him, but he kept asking questions so that he could understand.  He didn’t give up or walk away; instead, he persisted!  “But how can anyone be born after having grown old?  Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born? . . .  How can these things be (Jn 3:4, 9)?”  Nicodemus was operating on the literal level, while Jesus was operating on the spiritual level, and so Nicodemus had trouble understanding what Jesus was telling him.  But he didn’t give up.  He kept at it!  And he must have understood at some time in some way because later Nicodemus defended Jesus (Jn 7:50) and helped prepare his body for burial (Jn 19:39).  We may not understand where God is leading us as the church, but if we persist, if we keep asking questions, we will understand at some point in some way.  “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened” (Lk 11:9-10).
 
Anne Lamott writes about a sermon her pastor gave about getting direction from God.  Anne’s pastor said that “when she prayers for direction, one spot of illumination always appears just beyond her feet, a circle of light into which she can step.  ‘We in our faith work,’ [pastor Veronica] said, ‘stumble along toward where were think we’re supposed to go, bumbling along, and here is what’s so amazing – we end up getting exactly where we’re supposed to be’.”[3]
 
Regardless of what our plans and goals have been, we need to be willing to let go of them as we listen for direction from God.  Like Nicodemus, we must be persistent until we understand what it is God is trying to tell us.  And, like Abraham, we must let go of what we have known and move into the unknown with God once we have understood what it is God is asking us to do.  Like Pastor Veronica, we have to leave our spot of illumination, that spot of light in which we feel safe, and leap to the next spot of light in faith.
 
It’s a beautiful process of faith, trust, and risk.  We have faith in God, we trust God, and so we risk for God.  We know that God sees us clearly, knows our strengths and weaknesses, and that he will use them to bless each one of us individually, this church corporately, and others we may not even know yet – as long as we trust him and follow where he leads.
 
I’m going to end this sermon with a fable.  I may have shared it with you before, but I love it and it illustrates what I’ve been talking about so beautifully that I’m going to read it again.  Here it is:
 
A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole that he carried across his neck.  One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect.  The perfect pot always delivered a full pot of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, but the pot that was cracked arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the water bearer delivering only one and a half pots of water to his master's house.  The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, but the poor pot that was cracked was ashamed of its imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, the pot that was cracked spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.”
 
“Why?” asked the water bearer.  “What are you ashamed of?”
 
“I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house.  Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your effort,” the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old pot, and in his compassion he said, “As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.  But at the end of the trail, it still felt badly because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the water bearer for its failure.  The water bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side?  That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it.  I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walked back from the stream, you've watered them.  For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”
 
God knows us, and he will use us to bless the world.  All we need do is ask, listen, and leap.  Amen.
 
 
Sermon preached by the Rev. Amy Johnson at the Canton Community Baptist Church, Canton, CT, on Sunday, March 12, 2017, the Second Sunday in Lent.

Image is from http://www.lovethispic.com/uploaded_images/83347-Leap-Of-Faith.jpg
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[1] “Disrupting My Comfort Zone.”  This I Believe:  The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women.  New York, NY:  Henry Holt and Company, 1997, 90, 92.

[2] 91-92.

[3] Traveling Mercies:  Some Thoughts on Faith.  New York, NY:  Random House Inc., 2000, 84.

Paradise Lost & Found
(Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11)
 
Today is the First Sunday in Lent.  Lent is a time for reflection and repentance. 
 
During Lent, we are invited to reflect on ourselves, our lives, and our world, and consider the ways in which we have sinned or are sinning.  Essentially, sin is separation from God.  When we sin, we turn away from God, like distracted children:  “Ooh, look at that shiny thing over there!”  And, off we go!  Reflection allows us to notice the ways in which we have become distracted and turned away from God. 
 
Once we notice the ways we have sinned, we can repent.  Essentially, repentance is turning back to God.  Like the prodigal son (Lk 15:11-32), we wake up, notice those things that distracted us have not fulfilled us, and return home to our Father, seeking forgiveness and reunion:  “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.  Please, forgive me.”
 
The story of the original sin, done by Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden, describes our separation from God and its consequences.  Whether we understand this story to be literal – there were actual people named Adam and Eve who lived in an actual garden called Eden – or figurative – it is a story that tells the spiritual truth of what God intended creation to be and what it became because of our sin – the story is enlightening.
 
God created a paradise that met all of Adam and Eve’s needs.  They had food, drink, and companionship.  All the parts of creation – the human, the flora, and the fauna – were in perfect relationship with each other and with God.  All was well. 
 
Except, there was one thing Eve and Adam could not do:  eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  God told them, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gn 2:16-17).  Eve and Adam were fine with this; they went about living happily in paradise.  They were content.  After all, they had all that they needed!
 
Adam and Eve were fine with this boundary until the serpent came along and planted seeds of doubt and discontent in them. “[T]he serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’" (Gn 3:4-5).  All of the sudden, they were unhappy!  God was keeping something from them!  They couldn’t trust God!  They wanted more than they needed:  They wanted the knowledge of good and evil so that they could be like God!  The fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil became the shiny thing that distracted them and turned them away from God.  And there we have it:  paradise lost.  Sin entered the world. 
 
Adam and Eve’s original sin was to not trust God.  God gave them paradise, but they longed for something beyond it.  God gave them all they needed, but they desired something they didn’t need.  God drew a boundary around paradise, and they stepped over it into distraction and desire.
 
At any moment in our lives, the faithful thing to do is to trust God.  It may look like we don’t have what we need, but we are to trust God, anyway.  It may feel like we are suffering, but we are to trust God, anyway.  It may seem as if there is no hope, but we are to trust God, anyway. 
 
This is what Jesus did in the wilderness.  Right after Jesus is baptized and God proclaims him the Beloved, with whom God is well pleased, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil.  You would think that there would have been rejoicing and celebration, but, no:  instead, there is difficulty and deprivation.   There had to be difficulty and deprivation because Jesus had to withstand the temptations of the devil even in the worst of circumstances.  Jesus had to trust God even in the worst of circumstances. 

• He was hungry, so the devil tempted him to create food:  “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Mt 4:3).  Jesus trusted God and replied:  “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Mt 4:4). 
• Jesus was being tested by God, so the devil tempted him to test God in return:  “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone’” (Mt 4:6).  Jesus trusted God and replied:  “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Mt 4:7).
• He was in a powerless situation, so the devil tempted him with power:  “[T]he devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’” Jesus trusted God and replied, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him”’ (4:8-10).

Booyah!  And with that final resistance to the devil’s temptations, Jesus began the undoing of what was done by Adam and Eve’s original sin.  The undoing would be completed on the cross, but the important first step had been taken.  Paul could later write, “Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.  For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous” (Rm 5:18-19).  And there we have it:  paradise found.  Sin nullified.
 
At any moment in our lives, the faithful thing to do is to trust God.  It may look like we don’t have what we need, but we are to trust God, anyway.  It may feel like we are suffering, but we are to trust God, anyway.  It may seem as if there is no hope, but we are to trust God, anyway.  When we don’t trust God, we look for another solution, turn away from God, and sin.  The “wages of sin is death,” so that is not the way to go (Rm 6:23)!  Instead, we must trust God in all times, places, and circumstances, for our God is a faithful God.  We need only trust in Him for, as Psalm 32 proclaims, “[S]teadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord” (10)!  Jesus has showed us the way in the wilderness.  Let us be faithful disciples and follow his lead, for he leads us to paradise, both here on Earth and in heaven.  Amen.
 
Sermon preached by the Rev. Amy Johnson, Canton Community Baptist Church, Canton, CT, Sunday, March 5, 017, the First Sunday in Lent.

The Divine Light
(Exodus 24:12-18 & 34:29-35; Matthew 17:1-9)
 
The Old Testament and Gospel scripture readings today made me think of a book about spiritual types I have used in the past with church members.  The book is Discover Your Spiritual Type:  A Guide to Individual and Congregational Growth, by Corinne Ware.  It was published over twenty years ago, but when I found it on my bookshelf this week and looked through it again, I was happy to discover that it is still relevant today. 
 
The book defines and describes four different spiritual types and provides an exercise that allows readers to figure out which types they are.  Usually, we have a dominant type but are more than one type.  I remember, distinctly, that I have a lot of what is called in the book a “mystic spirituality.”  Ware states, “The aim of this spirituality is union with the Holy, and, although this is never completely achievable, only the continued attempt, or ‘the journey,’ satisfies.  People attracted to this type of spirituality are often by nature contemplative, introspective, intuitive, and focused on an inner world as real to them as the exterior one.  This is most often the home of the mystic.  Instead of a God who possesses characteristics similar to human ones, God is ineffable, unnameable, and more vast than any known category.  God’s statement to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’ (Exod. 3:14), makes perfect sense to [this type] and is accurate to his understanding of the Holy.”[1]
 
In the Exodus reading, Moses goes up the mountain to meet with God.  He spends forty days and nights with God and, when he comes back down the mountain, his face is radiant because he has been speaking to God, the I AM WHO I AM.   Whenever Moses spoke face-to-face with God, his face became radiant (Ex 34:29, 35).
 
In the Matthew reading, Jesus goes up a high mountain with Peter, James, and John.  When they reach the top of the mountain, Jesus is “transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white” (17:2).
 
In both readings, in both situations, in which Moses and Jesus enter the spiritual realm, they take on the glory of God, which is the divine light.  In a commentary on the meaning of the phrase, “the glory of the Lord,” the divine light is described as, “The white shining cloud of intolerable brightness, known among the Jews as the Shechinah, the visible token of the presence of the Eternal, in the bush, in the pillar of fire and cloud which guided the desert-wanderings, in the tabernacle and the temple.  It shone round the Redeemer on the Mount of Transfiguration.  It robed him when, risen, he appeared to the Pharisee Saul outside Damascus.  The occasional presence of this visible glory was exceedingly precious to the chosen people.  The terror felt by [witnesses] was the natural awe ever felt by man when brought into visible communion with the dwellers in the so-called spirit-world.”[2]
 
These passages are mystical passages.  They are beyond our normal experiences.  They don’t make sense in the material world.  They ask us to move beyond what we know into holy mystery.  They ask us to believe that God, Jesus, Moses, Elijah, and the angels – when in their divine state – pulsate in an intolerable brightness, a divine light, which we call the glory of the Lord or the glory of God or the light of Christ.
 
Since the Season of Advent, the scripture passages in the Revised Common Lectionary have used the imagery of light to describe who Jesus Christ was and is and what he came to Earth to do.  I have preached about the light of Christ more than once during these months.  As I read this Sunday’s scripture passages, the image of divine light jumped out at me again.  “Light,” I thought, “divine light.  I have to preach on this again!  We need another dose of light!
 
I have realized that I focus on the imagery of light a lot as a Christian and a pastor and a spiritual person.  When I pray for people, I ask God to surround them and fill them with the light of Christ.  I tell people who need support that I am sending them light and love.  One of my favorite prayers is St. Augustine’s, “Jesus Christ, Inner Light, do not let my darkness speak to me.”  The truth is, I have worried about this tendency of mine to focus on the divine light.  I have wondered if it is Jesus-the-man enough.  There are many ways to describe Jesus:  lord, savior, Christ, friend, teacher, healer, bread, vine, living water, potter, bridegroom, shepherd, morning star, the alpha and the omega, and so on.  Maybe I should use more concrete names or imagery, like friend or shepherd.  But, I tend to default to “light” and “the light of Christ.”
 
This is why I was grateful to remember the book about spiritual types!  “Amy,” I said to myself, “you tend toward a mystic spirituality, which is legitimate and totally fine!”  And, now, I say to you, “You, also, likely have a type of spirituality that you tend toward.”  There are three other types:  a head spirituality, a heart spirituality, and a kingdom spirituality.  (We can learn about them together, if you want to.)  And, they are all legitimate!  We each relate to the divine in ways that are meaningful to us.  Some will talk to Jesus; others will focus more on God when they pray; others will call on the Holy Spirit; others will dwell in the light of Christ; and others will mix it up!  A quote by John Macquarrie, from his book, Principles of Christian Theology, states, “There are many ways toward the vision, but the vision itself is one and exercises a control over the plurality of spiritual disciplines.”[3]
 
So, today, during our prayer time, come for prayer with whatever way you prefer to connect to God.  And, Rose and I will pray with you with whatever way we prefer to connect to God.  As Paul writes to the Corinthian church, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone” (12:4-6).  We pray to the same Father God, inspired and sustained by the same Holy Spirit, through the redemption of the same Beloved Son.  May the glory of the Lord shine within us and around us as we pray, for God is here, even now.  Amen.
 
Sermon preached by the Rev. Amy Johnson, Canton Community Baptist Church, Canton, CT, Sunday, February 26, 2017, Transfiguration Sunday.

[1] The Alban Institute, 1995, p. 41.

[2] http://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/2-9.htm

[3] Ware, page preceding the Contents page.