Sermons

First Christian Church

“Inseparable”

Romans 8:26-39

When we look at Scripture, we generally think of it in terms of individual salvation. This is because our culture trains us to think primarily in terms of individual concerns, gain and identity. Yet not only is the vast majority of Paul's writings directed toward community, but the vast majority of the Bible is written in such a manner.

Whenever we approach Scripture, and hopefully that's often, we need to remind ourselves that these ancient peoples operated with an entirely different worldview than we do. In our present culture individualism becomes even more pronounced with men who are trained from an early age to equate manhood with an ability to stand alone and succeed without help.

The Apostle offers a note of hope even for us two millennia later and that comes in the form of the Spirit which intercedes for us. If we're humble enough to invite the Spirit into our lives through prayer our consciousness can be increased accordingly. The Spirit moves us out of self-focus by freeing us to become more aware of the world around us. The end result for some is to become: “...proud owners of everything that can't be bought.” (Matthew 5:5b; The Message Bible)

Living at a time of considerable cultural distress and transition we may easily become discouraged and even fearful of the future. For the faithful Paul brings an important word of encouragement that we would do well to allow to reside deep within our souls. The message is God is in charge and bringing all things into right relationship with him.

The two most prominent ways he supports this is by telling the faithful community: “that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” As I said in my sermon last Sunday we are fulfilling our God given mission, therefore we can trust that all is working for good since we indeed love the Lord.

And the text closes with another word of support when he writes: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?....No, in all these things we are more than conquers through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Karen has been harvesting weeds that are growing wild in front of our house. Some of them are taller then the both of us and include thistles and other leafy things I can't identify. The other night I walked down to where she was to observe her work. After a few minutes she said she'd like to quit and asked me if I would cut twenty more weeds. At first, I refused with the excuse I was in my pajama bottoms, but on second thought I decided to lend assistance.

I went into the house and changed into my work pants and got started on the weeds. After cutting and loading them into the wheelbarrow I continued by grabbing hold of an immense plant with the clippers and pulled up hard. To my chagrin the clippers lost their hold and the handle flew up and caught me in the lip accompanied with a sharp pain that told me some damage had occurred. Later, looking at it in the mirror I discovered I'd cut both my inner and outer lip.

At the moment of impact and before any degree of pain had occurred my conscious focus became fixed upon that area of my face. The pain that soon followed revealed the extent of the injury and at first I felt angry soon to be followed by depression. Soon after depression followed an attempt to blame something or someone for what had happened.

I thought of blaming Karen for asking me to harvest weeds and I thought of the weeds themselves being so enormous and difficult to cut and I even wanted to blame the clippers for not being sharp enough! At this point you might recognize what is happening is I'm quickly going through the stages of grief which can be attributed to a sudden loss of health.

It begins with shock as the clipper handle impacts my lip soon followed by anger. Next comes the attempts at blaming which is an aspect of the bargaining stage followed by depression and finally a letting go of all of it to accept the reality of what has happened. We go through the stages of grief not only due to major losses but also because of minor ones.

A problem that can arise during the grief process whether due to a minor or major loss is it's so intensive that we often lose touch with God. That's why it's important to keep moving through the process so we can reconnect at the acceptance stage. When that happens grief becomes an ally and a powerful tool that assists in spiritual growth. When we get stuck in one stage or another it has the opposite effect. Unfortunately, a lot of people get stuck sometimes in addiction, or denial, of fearfulness. Whatever the case we've got to keep moving forward!

The community in Rome Paul is writing too undoubtedly had to deal with grief because its such a common human experience. But they were also dealing with a host of troubling issues including maybe first and foremost ethnic division. The Gentiles were looking down on the Jews and visa versa. They were caught up in arguments about dietary laws and living in the capital of the Roman Empire they were fearful of the authorities.

They were coping with all of this and more and Paul's counsel to them differs with each individual issue, but our text gives us a pervasive remedy which amounts to never fear God loves you and is ultimately in charge. It's important to be reminded that God's in charge especially if you're dealing with the authorities; or that God loves you when people are being haughty with each other as the Jews and Gentiles were doing.

Paul supports his theological thesis reassuring them in this way (using contemporary language:) “That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good” and “I'm absolutely convinced that nothing – nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable – absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.”

The following comes from a commentary on the website “Scripture Savvy” written by Jamie Wilson:

Paul's list of opposites in this verse serves as a vivid contrast to emphasize the strength of God's love. For instance, by mentioning “death” and “life,” he signifies that no matter what state we find ourselves in, God's love is always present....The phrase “the present nor the future” points to time itself, conveying that no situation we currently face or will face can alter our relationship with God.

God's ability to love is not limited by how we perceive our circumstances. This verse challenges us to recognize that the adversaries and transitions in our life do not determine God's love; however, they can help strengthen our faith. Paul encourages us to seek a deeper understanding of God's love, allowing it to inspire, motivate, and guide us through challenges. This sense of assurance empowers us to confront our fears and difficulties with a strong heart and unshakable faith.

Rev. Mitch Becker

July 26, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Angels Ascending”

Genesis 28:10-19a

The visually stunning highlight of this story is the ladder extending to heaven with the angels going to and fro on it. It's one of the most widely known stories of the Bible but few have much knowledge regarding the theological content. Being people of “The Book” lets delve into that now.

Jacob is running from his brother Esau (Ee-saw) because he has stolen Esau's birthright. He's on the lamb not from the authorities but from his brothers anger as he intends to kill him. Jacob's route is to backtrack on his father Abraham's journey to Canaan going all the way to Mesopotamia! It is his mother Rebekah who initially instructed Jacob to deceive his brother and she now tells him to run from Esau.

Rebekah loves her son and hopes he'll only be gone for a short while, but it turns out he's gone for twenty years and sadly never sees his mother again. This all gives us a bit of background to what's happening, but the text is really about Jacob's encounter with God out in the desert. Jacob is at his most vulnerable moment when God appears.

God identifies himself as the God of both his grandfather and father and then gives him the same promise he made to his relatives. That being: “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.” What this promise amounts to is comprehensive protection for his journey both going and coming back.

Jacobs initial reaction is to consider the place God appears as holy. He says: “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” He names the place Beth-El meaning God's House. Jacob being the ever clever one attempts to make a bargain with God. The bargain amounts to telling God if he'll take care of him than in exchange he'll be faithful. Jacob can't just accept God's graciousness but has to include this condition. He can't imagine getting something for nothing, so he bargains and wrestles with God in the same way he does with everyone in his life!

Though the story is really about God's faithfulness it's interesting to note that this faithfulness does eventually have an effect on Jacob. Upon his return from Mesopotamia some twenty years later he finally acknowledges his own unworthiness as opposed to God's faithfulness. God's unfailing care and generosity makes Jacob a wealthy man with an accumulation of livestock, servants, camels and donkeys. God fulfills all his promises to Jacob and because of it he is transformed from an immature youth to the founder of a nation.

We could approach this story by taking a closer look at Jacob's crimes and misdemeanors and how his wily ways get him into trouble. But the focus of the story is upon God's promises which he keeps. The story depicts an unconditional grace that God gives Jacob not for meritorious behavior but because it's within God's character to be generous.

Jacob deserves none of this grace, yet it is poured out upon him in the form of steadfast protection and eventually prosperity. Though it's not in our text the prosperity seems to finally breakthrough Jacob's devious ways to reveal a deeply entrenched sense of unworthiness. Jacob prays: “God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, God who told me, 'Go back to your parents homeland and I'll treat you well.' I don't deserve all the love and loyalty you've shown me. When I left here and crossed the Jordan, I only had the clothes on my back and now look at me – two camps!” (Genesis 32:9-10; The Message Bible)

The phrase “two camps” refers to how large his family and overall possessions have become including livestock. He formed “two camps” (or caravans) so if Esau catches up to them he'll only be able to attack one camp. There were also an army of angels which he encountered upon leaving Laban's house and their spiritual presence may also be included in this description of “two camps.”

God's faithfulness to Jacob is so freely given without any prior requirements that it becomes difficult for us to accept. We too, like Jacob, have a hard time believing we can get something for nothing but that seems to be of God's nature. One way that God's faithfulness has been revealed to us is in the gift of the Holy Spirit that couldn't come until Jesus ascended to heaven. Following Father Rohr expands on this unmerited gift:

Consciousness, the soul, love, the Holy Spirit, on both the individual and shared levels, have sadly become largely unconscious! No wonder some call the Holy Spirit the “missing person” of the Blessed Trinity. No wonder we try to fill this radical disconnectedness through various addictions.

There is an inner reminder, an inner rememberer, who holds together all the (diverse) and fragmented parts of our lives, fills in all the gaps, owns all the mistakes, forgives all the failures, and loves us into an ever-deeper life. This is the job description of the Holy Spirit, who is the spring that wells up within us – and unto eternal time...(it is) the very presence and consolation of God within us.

You must contact this Immensity! You must look back at your life from the place of this Immensity. You must know that this Immensity is already within you. The only thing separating you from such Immensity is the ego's unwillingness to trust such an utterly free grace, such a completely unmerited gift.

Losing touch of the Holy Spirit, or never experiencing it's presence in the first place, can result in the pursuit of addictive behaviors as an attempt to fill the emptiness. C.S Lewis in his book “Mere Christianity” talks about this emptiness as “a desire that no earthly experience can satisfy.” Therefore, we must seek an experience that is “out of this world” so to speak. The Holy Spirit is a gift that came direct from heaven and is the “out of this world” experience we need.

If this remedy isn't sought after through prayer, the Scriptures and faithful fellowship then the emptiness will prevail and one consequence is a pervasive loneliness as described in the following:

In 2023, the United States Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek (Fee-vek) Murthy (More-thee), issued a formal advisory declaring loneliness a public health epidemic. The report found that approximately half of American adults report measurable levels of loneliness, and the social disconnection carries health risks comparable to smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. Let that sink in for a moment – fifteen cigarettes a day.

The advisory noted that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans had been spending significant less time in community – fewer meals with family, fewer meaningful friendships, fewer hours in civic and religious gatherings. We are, statistically speaking, a society that has lost its roots in one another.

Now, the church is not primarily a social club or a wellness program. But it is worth noting that the very things the Surgeon General is now prescribing – consistent community, belonging, shared purpose, face-to-face presence – are the things the Body of Christ has practiced for two thousand years.

Rooted people are connected people. The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 3 that we are to be rooted and grounded in love – and that this rootedness happens together, with all the saints. You cannot grow deep in isolation. The vine produces fruit through branches that stay connected. What this data is telling us about human health; Scripture has been telling us about the soul for millennia. Belonging to Christ means belonging to each other.

From a strictly spiritual perspective it is the Holy Spirit that fills the gaps and binds us together grounding us in the love of God.

Rev. Mitch Becker

July 19, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Good Soil”

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

The parable focuses on the Sower but let's begin with the soil the seed is planted in; and if we're talking about soil then we're really talking about us because we're the ones that hear about the kingdom of God.

Soil is conditioned by the environment which surrounds it. Some soil sees a lot of impacting by animals and people walking on it and vehicles driving over it. This soil becomes hard and packed and will not receive a seed well if at all. There are people that get walked on a lot sometimes because they allow it to happen and other times because they're subjected to abuse or possibly both.

Rocky soil Jesus describes as people that can't stay with the program. When the going gets tough they find a way out. Soil that is filled with thorns can be understood as people who have too much going on. There is no room to plant seed because all available soil is tied up with other concerns.

Good soil takes years to develop. It has to be worked, fed, and nurtured over time. God's creation can produce good soil as leaves fall and blend into the ground, and good soil can also result from a gardeners care who tends to it in the same conscientious way they tend to the plants.

The parable is usually described in terms of the Sower who scatters seed and in the Old Testament it's Yahweh that does the sowing. In the gospel it's Jesus who's sowing the kingdom of God, and eventually it will be his disciples doing the work.

Exploring the kingdom of God a bit it can be contrasted to the kingdoms of the world and in particular the Roman Empire. Those that embrace the kingdom of God can expect resistance from the kingdoms of the world. It also is clear that the kingdom of God is not a place but more so a state of being which is closely tied to trusting the message of Jesus. This kingdom is associated with the poor in spirit and persecution and therefore is governed by humility.

And a thought that doesn't come with the text but is worth mentioning is that seed which lands on hard or rocky soil does stand less of a chance of taking root and thriving but sometimes seed grows anyway.

Karen and I saw a tree growing out of a tree trunk of a fully mature tree on our walk Saturday morning. Sometimes flowers grow from between slabs of concrete and trees can seemingly grow from solid rock in higher elevations. These tenacious plants and trees offer hope that the kingdom of God may find a way to grow even on days when we feel beaten down or overcome by thorns or when being tossed across the rocks.

The soil that our log home sits on and surrounds our home is a dense, nutrient rich clay that makes for a solid foundation to rest on, but it's not so good for sowing seed. The primary problems are the soil is so dense that it's hard for roots to grow and it restricts air circulation. We cheat and buy bags of potting soil from Home Depot and mix it in with the clay.

As you're going to see if you attend the Bar-B-Q today that most of the plants, flowers, shrubs and arborvitae are healthy, but what you don't know is many of them simply don't grow much or grow very slowly. Ironically, this description of our plants can also serve as a description of our church.

Like our plants this is a healthy church! We like each other and in the nearly six years Karen and I have been here I've never felt the integrity of the church seriously threatened. The best way to describe the church is it has all the components of a happy home governed by love. Yet, we don't increase in numbers even though this congregation opens up like a flower whenever someone visits.

The hospitality this church demonstrates is unmatched by any of my previous churches. It brings to mind the way Peter broke through the limitations the early church leaders in Jerusalem had imposed upon the church. Peter's boldness came as a result of a vision he had of four-footed animals, reptiles and birds coming down from heaven enfolded in one large sheet. He interpreted the vision as God telling him he could eat anything in direct violation of Jewish dietary laws. Following is a meditation by Episcopalian priest and author Barbara Brown Taylor:

Peter got in big trouble for it too. When he arrived back in Jerusalem, his Jewish brothers jumped all over him...From their perspective, Peter had sold out. He had crossed over the dividing line between God's people and other people. He had disobeyed the law, which was not negotiable, which was the one thing that made them who they were.

As gently as he could, Peter told them what had happened to him, how God had taken that one thing (the Jewish dietary law) away from him, but had given him something else instead –

a vision that included all creatures, all people, whom God alone had the right to call clean or unclean. He had not sold out.... “If God gave them the same gift that (God) gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ,” Peter said, “who was I that I could hinder God?” When he said that everyone got very quiet. Then they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

How often, in the church, do we try to say where the Spirit may or may not blow, when the only thing God has asked us to do is to try to keep up with it wherever it goes?

I believe this church is “keeping up with the Spirit” because I see the evidence everyday. I see it with the outside of the church looking better then it ever has with the lawn trimmed and flower pots under the windows. I see it in Narcotics Anonymous meetings every evening of the week, and with people coming and going, and in frequent requests and communication online.

I see it in a by-weekly class on centering prayer and in the way someone always comes forward when a need arises and in our faithful Basic Mission Finance giving at Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, Thanksgiving, and to Week of Compassion and Reconciliation offering. Most of all I see it in the love we share between one another that results in a quiet contentment and a generosity that meets every need. Like Peter's vision we seem to understand that anyone and everyone is welcome here and that type of hospitality comes from the Spirit.

Before the day is over many of us will be gathering at our home for fellowship and to share in a meal. That too is indication of the Spirit blowing through our church.

In gathering and hospitality offered to anyone, and in caring for our church, and looking deeper into our souls, and providing a home for those struggling with addiction, in generosity, and most importantly in acting as a family governed by love we are sowing the seed of the kingdom of God. That is our primary mission and we are fulfilling it.

The kingdom of God isn't a place. It's a different way of looking at the world and it comes from the inside out. The seed is sown in the human heart and from there it grows and that's the growth that matters most because everything good and God comes from there.

Rev. Mitch Becker

June 12, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Thirsty Camels”

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

This is a wonderful story which includes drama, intrigue and humor and can also be considered a love story. It begins with a remarkably faithful servant of Abraham's who is commissioned to go to Abraham's former home and find a wife for his son Isaac. His former home happens to be in Mesopotamia which is a considerable distance from Canaan.

After arriving there he goes to a well and prays that God will bring a wife for Isaac to him. His prayer is quite specific concerning the potential wife including that she'll offer not only him water but the camels as well. He no sooner finishes the prayer, and Rebekah appears immediately responding to his request for water for both him and the camels.

The humorous side to Rebekah's generous response is that a camel can drink twenty to thirty gallons of water at a time and there are ten camels! Water jars at that time could hold between three and five gallons, so we're talking about going to the well to draw water maybe sixty to seventy times. Not only is Rebekah generous and courageous but also amazingly strong!

The servant has no doubt that Rebekah has been sent by God to fulfill the role of wife for Isaac. He praises and thanks God and then seeks out her nearest relatives which turn out to be Laban (Lay-ban) and Bethuel (Beth-youl). Laban was Rebekah's brother and Bethuel her father and the nephew of Abraham making Rebekah part of Abraham's family line. This further convinces the servant he's got the right gal!

Her relatives acknowledge God's involvement and tell him to take her to become Isaac's wife, but they also go to Rebekah for her consent which is good to see in the story. Because up onto this point there is much in our present culture we would find objectionable including there is no initial consent on Rebekah's part only a sign from God. The marriage is negotiated entirely between the servant and her relatives, and there's much emphasis on bridal gifts that make it feel like a financial transaction has taken place. Seeking Rebekah's consent acknowledges her own self-worth within the entire story.

She mounts her camel and is accompanied by her maids as they follow the servant to the Negeb (Neg-geb) where Isaac lives. This is where another humorous element enters the story as it tells us upon Rebekah's sighting of Issac some translations read: “...and she fell off her camel.” Presumably, awestruck by the sight of her potential mate.

He marries her and loves her and is consequently comforted in the midst of his grief over his mother's death. Though his mother, Sarah, died when he was only three years old the story ends by acknowledging the comfort Rebekah brings in the midst of the prolonged grief he's had to endure.

It's a great story that's complicated as we humans are, but let's focus on the prayer dimension of the story. As a whole there are three aspects about prayer beginning with the signs we're looking for to confirm its God that is answering our prayer. And beyond the signs how do we further determine the answers authenticity. Finally, who must agree with us that the answer has come from God?

Let's take a closer look at the servant's initial prayer request made to God:

“Well, when I came this very day to the spring, I prayed, 'God, God of my master Abraham, make things turn out well in this task I've been given. I'm standing at this well. When a young woman comes here to draw water and I say to her, Please, give me a sip of water from your jug, and she says, Not only will I give you a drink, I'll also give your camels water – let that woman be the wife God has picked out for my masters son.'”

The servant isn't describing something that has already happened and he isn't imaging it – he is praying a very precise prayer which he wants God to explicitly fulfill. And when each and every detail of the prayer is met the servant can be confident that the answer is authentically from God. This servant is taking no chances. He wants the real deal, and he knows how to get it. He has barely finished the prayer, and God responds to it in exactly the way the servant has described.

What authenticates the response is the prayer is met exactly as described, in every detail, as desired. I don't know about you but when I pray I just hope for any type of response let alone exactly as I desire. But this is how the servant knows the response is genuine and that he's got the right gal.

Further affirmation of the response comes in the form of Rebekah's consent to the marriage and not included in our text is her families consent when they say, “The thing comes from the Lord, we cannot speak to you bad or good.” Her father and brothers' affirmation are important and a sign that is also spoken of in the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul said when he wrote to the Corinthians:

“Remember the Scripture that says, “A matter becomes clear after two or three witnesses give evidence.” (2 Corinthians 13:1; The Message Bible) And Jesus said: “If he won't listen, take one of two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again.” (Matthew 18:16; The Message Bible)

In our story Laban and Bethuel serve as witnesses that make the matter clear God wishes for Rebekah and Isaac to be bound in holy matrimony. Confirmation also comes in the form of an exact response to the servant's prayer and in Rebekah's consent.

The question may arise as to why we need confirmation about perceived responses to prayer. Maybe the most obvious reason is the nefarious capabilities of the ego even to the extent of being capable of great evil. The egos persistent influence into the affairs of humankind make the authentication of prayer responses both important and totally necessary. In a word, we have to be careful.

It amounts to getting a second opinion before we take action. Some things, of course, don't require God's guidance like what are we going to have for dinner or should I wait and hold the door open for this elderly person. Other things like should I marry this person or do I schedule surgery or simply pursue physical therapy may require at least a second opinion if not a third or even fourth.

I've told you the story before about getting the second opinion concerning the cancerous tumor on my kidney. If it wasn't for Doctor Hefty's second opinion the first doctor would have taken my entire left kidney. As it turns out taking a tenth of it did the job.

The big questions require at least a second opinion, and we have access to a variety of sources which are described, in part, in this following quote from C. S. Lewis:

I don't doubt that the Holy Spirit guides your decisions from within when you make them with the intention of pleasing God. The error would be to think that he speaks only within, whereas in reality he speaks also through Scripture, the Church, Christian friends, books, etc.. (podcasts, movies, other religions)

The real question is will we make the effort to seek confirmation.

Rev. Mitch Becker

July 5, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Walking Bundles of Contradiction”

Matthew 10:40-42

Maybe the best way to unpack these verses is to begin with a story about a lighthouse keeper:

For thirty-one years a lighthouse keeper named Farquhar (Far-qua) McGillivray (Mac-gill-uh-fray) tended the Rubha (Roo-uh) Mor (More) light off the Scottish coast. Night after night he climbed the iron stairs, trimmed the wick, polished the lens, and kept the flame burning through gales that rattled the tower like a tin can. Historians later noted that because of his remote posting, Farquhar almost never actually saw a ship pass safely by. He kept the light burning for vessels he could not observe, for sailors whose gratitude he would never hear, for a harbor he could barely make out on clear days.

When a journalist once asked him if the isolation ever made him doubt the point of his work, he reportedly said, “The light doesn't need me to see the ships. It just needs to keep shining.”

The way that story applies to our text is it illustrates what a disciple can expect in return for faithfulness. In terms of this physical plane of existence not much. To bring this even closer to home we only need to consider the verses that precede our text:

“Do not think that I've come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law (a difficult relationship anyway); a man's foes will be those of his own household.”

Jesus identifies discipleship as resulting not in any type of physical or relational gain but can actually rupture the most important relationships in our lives. If you think following Jesus is going to bring about material rewards or relational gain you've got it all wrong. Richard Rohr once characterized following Jesus as “winning by losing.”

What he means is by learning how to let go of the egos desire for control and surrendering to challenges by embracing vulnerability we open up the path that leads to transformation. Transformation is the true goal for a sincere disciple of Christ. Spiritual gain, not physical or material, is what we're called to seek and it's absolutely crucial to get that right.

The reward received by those that embrace either a prophet or a righteous person the text speaks of is decidedly a spiritual one. The Right Reverend Michael Curry a retired Bishop of the Episcopal Church can tell us more about such rewards:

There will be a time when God's GPS points you in a direction that makes people uncomfortable. It may make you uncomfortable. The evolution of long-held beliefs can be a spiritual earthquake; the ground beneath us shaking, the very fault lines of our identity shifting and seeking to resettle. But if we can make it through, we find the reward: not an easy journey but a share of what the Bible calls “peace that passes all understanding,” the peace of knowing we are living love's way, without contradiction....

We humans are walking bundles of contradiction. I know that I am, and experience suggests that I am not alone in that. As people often describe relationships... “It's complicated.” It is and we are.

Rev. Curry begins by describing uncomfortable situations God puts us in with other people and I find this is a constant occurrence in ministry. This week when I came to work there was an SUV parked in our lot which I didn't think much about because people often leave their cars at our church for various reasons. It was also in too good of shape to be abandoned and I started working and forgot about it.

The next day it was still there and that's when I noticed it had a for sale sign in it. I assumed it would have a phone number written on it, which it did, and I wrote it down with the intention of calling the owner. It struck me as presumptuous to attempt to sell a car from our lot without permission and I struggled with how to speak to them in a pastoral manner. I was pretty sure I'd have to be firm and tell them to come and get the car.

I made the call and she identified herself as Katie who lives across the street from our church. I said, “Are you Lincoln's wife?” And she replied that she was, so I immediately felt a connection and relaxed a bit. She said she'd been trying to reach someone in the church to see if it was okay to leave her car there with a for sale sign in it.

I told her I didn't have a problem with that, and from there she spoke about our church and how we've been good neighbor's over the years. She was especially enthusiastic about the “artistic” signs that Linda has been displaying on Thursdays conveying messages of peace and goodwill and I said Linda was our resident prophet.

Anticipating calling someone to be confrontational with them to establish some type of boundary is always uncomfortable, but I find it happens a lot in ministry. God's GPS does often point me in a direction that leads to uncomfortable situations.

The reward for following God's GPS is primarily spiritual. Rev. Curry describes it as a “peace that passes all understanding.” This peace results from transcending the contradictions in our minds that are a result of dualistic thinking. The uncomfortable encounter with others drives us toward a deeper spiritual reality which is non-dualistic.

It really amounts to thinking in a different manner where it becomes possible to drop down into a peace that is not dependent upon outside forces. It is a peace that always resides within us but is typically masked by the contradictions that come from dualistic thinking. In the following meditation Father Rohr describes the transcending of dualistic thinking as a “beginners mind:”

The dualistic mind is the one we're all educated into. It's the one that gets us through the day, helping us make important distinctions and necessary judgments, pointing us to the left or right. It's essential for the advent of the scientific, industrial, and now technological revolutions, so we're all grateful for it. It is good and necessary as far as it goes, but let me be clear, it doesn't go far enough! The dualistic mind cannot deal with the biggies: love, death, suffering, God, infinity, and the very notion of grace.

To balance what I see as an overreliance on dualistic thinking, we have to find ways to practice thinking in a different way, where we can receive the moment as an open field. I call it the non-dual or contemplative mind. In that space, we don't have to divide the field or reject anything we don't understand as wrong. We don't have to eliminate everything that is mysterious, negative, painful, or problematic. With the contemplative mind we can leave the field open.

By leaving the field open you're no longer making judgments about things or people being right or wrong, good or bad, positive or negative. By leaving the field open you're enabled to accept everything you encounter and beyond that experience a wholeness or a sense of being connected to everything around you. In the most profound of mystical experiences one feels as if you are everything. At that point you're experiencing the world the way God does or the way Jesus did when he walked the earth.

This is precisely why Jesus is so often difficult to understand because he's experiencing the world with a non-dual perception where enemies can be loved and persecutors can be prayed for. We can never fully appreciate the teachings until we too see the world holistically with a non-dual mind.

Rev. Mitch Becker

June 28, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“The Sacrifice of Ishmael”

Genesis 21:8-21

This story about Ishmael comes nestled between the better known stories of Isaac's miraculous birth and his near sacrifice at Mount Moriah. It begins with Sarah seeing Ishmael (Ish-mail) teasing her son Isaac and this irritates her to the point she tells Abraham to get rid of Ishmael. A further justification for this is she doesn't want him to share in the inheritance after Abraham dies.

In ancient Hebrew culture men were allowed to have multiple wives with no set legal limit to how many and Abraham had three in all. Abraham is deeply hurt because of Sarah's directive, after all, Ishmael is his biological son of the slave woman Hagar (Hay-gaar).

By divine intervention God speaks to Abraham counseling him to do what Sarah says and to not worry about it because his dependents will come through Isaac. This is a clear indication that Isaac will be a patriarch of the chosen people.

By the same token, God assures Abraham that Ishmael will also become a patriarch but not of God's chosen people. Ishmael will be a patriarch of the Arab nations. With this reassurance from God Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael off into the desert with a little bit of food and water. Soon the water is gone and she places Ishmael under a bush and sits apart from him because she can't endure watching her child die.

For the second time in the scriptural account God appears to Hagar (or an angel of God – in the Old Testament the line between the two is often blurred) and assures her that Ishmael will be alright and beyond that he'll become a great nation! Then a well of water appears and she goes to it to refresh both herself and Ishmael and from then on God looks after the boy.

One striking feature of this story is the inclusive nature of it. Hagar's ethnic origin is Egyptian but in a wider sense she represents any foreign slave. She was Sarah's slave who then gives her to Abraham because she couldn't have children. Abraham accepts the gift making Hagar his wife and consequently becomes the father of Ishmael.

All of this activity speaks to a certain level of inclusiveness though Hagar is a foreigner and undoubtedly considered by both Abraham and Sarah as socially inferior without any personal authority. Further Sarah legally owned Hagar of which Abraham would consider her as a secondary wife.

But it's the inclusiveness of God that serves as an example for us. To continue, Sarah's abusive treatment of Hagar did not begin with our text but first appears a couple chapters prior. When Hagar becomes pregnant she gets haughty about it and feels she's moved a couple notches up the social ladder. Hence, she looks upon Sarah with a certain degree of disdain and Sarah doesn't like it.

In response Sarah so torments Hagar that she runs away into the desert where she encounters an angel of God at a spring on the road to Shur (Sure). The angel tells her to go back to Sarah and suffer the abuse because she's going to be the mother of many descendants. What amazes Hagar most about this divine encounter is it was believed you couldn't have an audience with God and survive. She's so delighted at having survived the encounter she actually ends up naming God: “Thou art the one that sees.”

Therefore, this is yet another, one on one, divine encounter with Yahweh the God of the chosen people. Not only does Yahweh take care of Hagar but also commits to caring for Ishmael as he grows into adulthood. Neither Hagar or Ishmael are one of Yahweh's chosen people but apparently are of great importance and are being loved and cared for. How do we miss this?

Jesus certainly didn't as he goes about the countryside ministering, caring for, teaching and healing despised Samaritans, a Canaanite woman, a Roman centurion and that's just the foreign people. He also embraced women and children who were considered socially inferior to men and lepers who were seen as unclean. Jesus clearly picks up on the inclusive nature of God as depicted in the Old Testament.

The Apostle Paul paints a picture of inclusiveness frequently in his writings the most famous being the following: “In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 3:28; The Message Bible)

We probably have a tendency to view ourselves as being reasonably inclusive having gotten in touch with any seeds of prejudice or bigotry buried within our psyche. But in all honesty such seeds are generally buried deep and it takes considerable effort to get to them and root them out. They are planted in our youth and are transferred to us through phrases like, “your an Indian giver” denoting someone who gives a gift and then later wants it back.

Other examples include “that's so gay” or referring to someone with Cerebral Palsy as being “spastic” or whenever the word “nigger” is used. Words and phrases like this were commonly used in my youth and are deeply ingrained.

This kind of social influence was formative and it takes a lifetime to become fully conscious of them and identify them as derogatory and undesirable. I'm still working at it. The work really began when I moved to the Bay Area and became exposed to a much wider variety of ethnic groups and varying ways of life rarely made available in my rural setting in Oregon.

At my ordination I asked a friend to read something I wrote for the seminary newsletter which described an experience I had riding the Bay Area Rapid Transit train which included the line: “...and a black man called me friend.” Being called “friend” by a black man struck a deep chord within me because it was said with such sincerity. Beyond that it suggested I was becoming less judgmental. It felt good to be growing out of my rural background into a more inclusive understanding of the world around me.

In the present culture we're living through it's as if we're all being given permission to be our worst selves. This is a radical change from many of the influences of our culture in the past. In my youth there were people like John Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy who were pioneers of social change and equality.

Now-a-days it seems like we're heading in the opposite direction where prejudice and bigotry are accepted and even encouraged, and it goes well beyond this. Not too long ago Elon Musk said that “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.” Oddly enough, this approach seems to be working for him at least in terms of personal wealth as he's is now the world's first trillionaire. Many people today are allured by someone who can achieve this kind of excessive personal gain.

God clearly favors inclusiveness with the empathy he shows Hagar and the commitment to care for Ishmael. Jesus takes note of God's inclusive character and implements it into his own ministry and the Apostle Paul doesn't miss this. These are examples of inclusive behavior that become a model for us to follow in our individual and collective ministries.

On a final note: it's ironic that the war with Iran is being carried out against the descendants of Hagar and Ishmael. What would happen if we were to look upon these descendants in the same way God looked upon Hagar and Ishmael with both empathy and care?

Rev. Mitch Becker

June 21, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“A Different Kettle of Fish”

Exodus 19:2-8a

In this portion of scripture there is a core message that comes through loud and clear for the people of God. What it amounts to is God didn't bring the people out of Egypt so they could do whatever they felt like doing with their freedom. He brought them out of Egypt so they could become his people by living out the covenant he gave them.

By extension the same is true for us. We've not been freed from the bondage of the ego so we can do whatever we please. We've been freed so we can better discern the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit can create a vision for us to follow. In strict religious terms you might call it a path of righteousness and an even better word for righteousness is justice.

By the same token, we've been gifted with the guidance that comes through scripture and by reciting the twenty-third psalm we see how justice can aptly replace the word righteousness:

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, he makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside the still waters, he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of justice for his names sake.”

Illustrated in the text is that the people become God's people when they make the attempt to live out the covenant God has given them. Christians also have been given a covenant to live out which is specifically referred to during the words of institution at communion. Jesus calls it the “New Covenant.”

The New Covenant has three defining features including the forgiveness of sins not through animal sacrifice but due to the ultimate sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross. It also indicates an internal transformation mentioned by Jeremiah where God promises to write his laws on the hearts of his people (Jeremiah 31:33). Also, Jesus' followers receive the Holy Spirit which empowers us to discern what early Christians would come to call The Way.

The Way brings us back to the path of justice we're to follow not for our sake but because we belong to God we want to stay as close as possible to him. Isn't that the way it is when you identify with something? You don't want to stray too far off the path because straying leaves you feeling lost and alone without purpose and ultimately unloved which is not a desirable place to be.

There is a world of difference between a covenant that's written on stone tablets and a covenant written on the human heart. The most obvious difference is one comes at you from the outside in and the other from the inside out. The covenant Jesus instills within us through a divine transformation eventually leads to no longer being predisposed to sin.

The reason for this is the divine transformation results in an internal connection with God and any behavior that might disrupt that connection is avoided. What becomes most important is to do whatever facilitates and enhances the connection including depth prayer, scripture, acts of compassion, and being in community with God's people.

Sinful acts which can also be defined as selfish acts run contrary to the Spirit that wants to flow from the inside to the outside world. In this way, selfishness interferes with the development of relationships with other people. This may lead to alienation and loneliness and can affect the persons mental and psychological health. Continued self-focus stifles the Spirit impeding spiritual growth. The following story serves as an illustration as to the affect selfish acts can have upon us:

Once, in a small village nestled between rolling hills, there lived a man named Elias. He was a gifted teacher, respected for his wisdom and kindness. For years he had led Bible studies, mentored young people, and shared God's word with humility. But deep inside, Elias harbored a quiet selfishness – a desire to be seen as the most important person in the group, to have the last word, and to be remembered above all others.

At first, his selfishness was subtle. He would volunteer to speak last a meetings, not because he had more to share, but because it gave him the last chance to impress. When others offered praise, he would smile and nod, but his heart was not truly grateful. He began to compare himself to others, measuring his worth by how much he could contribute rather than by how much he could receive from God.

One day, a young woman maned Miriam approached Elias with a question about prayer. She was thoughtful, patient, and genuinely seeking God's will. Elias, eager to be seen as wise, gave her a long complex answer, but it was more about impressing her than listening to her heart. Later, Miriam confessed that she felt misunderstood and discouraged. Elias, surprised, realized he had not truly heard her.

Over time, his selfishness grew. He stopped inviting others to lead, avoided open discussions, and began to withdraw from the group. His focus shifted from serving others to protecting his own reputation. He missed opportunities to pray with humility, to share God's love without ego, and to grow in dependence on the Holy Spirit.

One evening, as Elias sat alone in the study hall, he felt a deep emptiness. He had taught so much, yet he felt spiritually dry. He remembered a verse for Philippians 2:3: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride.” That night, he wept – not because of failure, but because he had been so focused upon himself that he had lost sight of God's purpose for his life.

Elias began to change. He started listening more than speaking, inviting others to lead, and sharing his own struggles with humility. He learned to value the fruit of the Spirit – love, kindness, and self-control – over the fruit of the flesh, which included selfish ambition – Slowly, the group grew closer, and Elias found joy not in being the center, but in being part of something greater.

At one point in the story it describes Elias as not growing further in dependence on the Holy Spirit which is a central aspect to that intimate connection with God I spoke of earlier. It becomes apparent over time that this connection is greatly enhanced by a consistent and deepening desire to rely more on the Spirit and less upon self determination.

In letting go of attempts to be in control of your life, or the life of others, the guidance of the Spirit makes itself known and accessible. Praying with humility means to sincerely seek God's presence, and by extension his guidance, because it's more trustworthy than your own limited wisdom and resources, and, quite simply, it's pleasurable. Being in God's presence is deeply restful even more so than REM sleep because it's happening at the level of your soul.

Following are the words of Jesus as translated in contemporary language: “Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.” (Matthew 11:28a-29b; The Message Bible)

The covenant written on stone gave the Israelite's guidance they needed to become a people of God but such guidance from the outside has limitations. Jesus changed all of this by writing the covenant on our hearts through a divine transformation. If we'll allow the transformation to happen the covenant can continue to come forth from the inside out. It's a better way but we have to be open to it and that takes a lot of prayer, thinking and self-examination which a great many people are simply not willing to do.

Rev. Mitch Becker

June 14, 2026

Port Angeles