Sermons

First Christian Church

“Divided Loyalties”

Matthew 22:15-22

Our text today shows us the Herodians and Pharisees have something in common – they don't like Jesus. So they use this opportunity to give him a bad time trying to put him between a rock and a hard place. The question is straight forward enough: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?”

If he answers its lawful, he's going to give offense to both the Pharisees and the crowds who hate the empires meddling and we'd probably better mention the poor who struggle considerably under the empires tax. If he speaks out against the tax the Herodians will interpret that response as being loyal to Rome and will probably take it to the powers that be. It's a well laid trap. In particular because Jesus has a reputation for truth-telling.

Jesus isn't fooled by their political maneuvering though his pockets are empty they have no problem making a denarius appear. By making the coin appear it shows everyone what Jesus already knows. That it's not him being put on the spot but rather the religious leaders.

Then comes the central theme of the text when Jesus asks whose image is on the coin. When they produce the coin Jesus puts off his answer another moment to make something crystal clear. When they respond he tells them to give to the emperor what he's due and to God what he requires.

By highlighting the physical features of the coin Jesus points to blind religious devotion. This image of the emperor on the coin is blasphemous because of the inscription suggesting the emperors image is divine. The issue at stake is idolatry.

From here its easy to see Jesus flipping that coin in his hand a few times and then tossing it causally to the side. Because what ever we render to Caesar, or to the retirement fund, or to the offering basket, we must never forget that our commitment to God is always the final devotion to consider. We may divide our budget but we must never divide our loyalty to God.

There is only one thing that Jesus talks more about than money and that's the kingdom of God. There is roughly 11 parables that speak about money, wealth or material possessions.

The context these teachings often come in use money as a mirror for human motives. How a person handles wealth reveals what they truly worship. In the following Pastor Janelle Bruce speaks to us of amassing wealth and the need for holy disruption:

When seven hundred people die everyday from poverty in the United States while the richest amass and hoard wealth, we must engage in holy disruption. Holy disruption demands that people be treated justly and reminds our legislators that they are servant-leaders who will be held accountable to the people. If we walk in the radical nature of Christ when we step into spaces of injustice, people will think, here comes trouble: good, liberating, loving, Christlike trouble!

Jesus showed us how to overturn tables. May we remember Jesus the revolutionary, the refugee, the prisoner, and the table turner. May we embody Jesus who fought for the poor, questioned corrupt religious establishments, and challenged the evil policies of the government. Just as Jesus disrupts the Roman Empire, we are the moral witnesses of today, and we are called to disrupt the unjust empires of our time.

One of the most prominent ways in our community that a balance is being created between the importance of wealth and the poor is what Joe DeScala and the 4PA volunteers are doing. They have been helping us to cope with the poor that sometimes take up residence on our property for years now.

I recall sometime back when the two gentlemen had taken up residence next to the ravine on our property and one of the gentlemen actually passed away. Joe and his team cleaned up all the trash and returned the area to its original state. An added blessing is that the other gentleman was relocated to permanent housing which is part of the long-range goal of 4PA.

There are forms of idolatry that are related to wealth but are not obviously about wealth. One way I experienced this was as pastor of South Tacoma Christian Church. What happened there was worship attendance dropped to around 30 people every Sunday and it was as if that became an impossible barrier to cross. Though some of us made attempts to increase worship attendance by cold calling at homes in the surrounding neighborhood we just couldn't get above those 30 people.

Eventually the church failed. It was a good death in that it was a unanimous decision to close and the money from the sale of the church went to other ministries in the region. But I always wondered what went wrong. In retrospect I can see that we were deeply involved in idolatry though at the time we couldn't see it.

The idolatry had to do with seeing the church as an institution that needed increased membership to survive. This is literally true because it does take membership for the church to meet its financial responsibilities. But to make that the most important thing is to be idolatrous. It caused the church to focus on the acquisition of money, and that's exactly what Jesus is warning us against.

Jesus says: “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Luke 16:13)

The good news in all of this is I don't see our church practicing this form of idolatry. The church is not overly focused on surviving as an institution and we enjoy many traits of a happy family. We come together to support each other and genuinely look forward to gathering. The love that results is shared with anyone who comes to our church. This is a remarkably hospitable church.

In closing let me share with you some rather strong language from the Book of James:

And a final word to you arrogant rich; Take some lessons in lament. You'll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you've piled up is judgment.

All the workers you've exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You've looted the earth and lived it up. But all you have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse.

To put anything before God in importance is idolatry including the pursuit of wealth. Jesus tells us we have a responsibility to pay our taxes but we have an even greater responsibility to be true to our faith.

Rev. Mitch Becker

October 18, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Transitions”

Philippians 3:4b-14

Our text is about being in transition on the way to a particular goal. Another way to talk about it is in terms of existing in liminal (li-muh-null) space. Paul speaks to this in several different ways and most pointedly when he says, “I press on toward the goal....” As you listen to this Karen and I are on a cruise ship traversing the Hawaiian Islands which is a good way to describe traveling through liminal space.

In a trip like this the emergence into liminal space begins long before the actual cruise. Planning and preparation began months ago and today I accomplished one of the most difficult aspects of preparation: Downloading and printing out the boarding passes and baggage tags! Why they make it so difficult is beyond me. You think they'd want it to be easy to encourage further trips but in truth its about trying to find your way in an electronic jungle.

The boarding passes and baggage tags are just to get on the boat but first you've got to get on a plane which involves ferry rides, overnight in a hotel, check-in via the airlines app and finding coffee at 6am. Until you're in the stateroom of the ship its a liminal experience par excellence. Now the journey through liminal space simply takes on a more relaxed nature.

The Apostle Paul is saying to know Christ is to always be in liminal space.

There are those who never take a trip involving planes and ships but such experiences are good practice for the spiritual life. Because to take Christ seriously means to become accustomed to being in transition since the goal itself is unattainable on this plane of existence. We never arrive but we do learn how, as Father Rohr would say, to go ever deeper into the mystery of Christ.

We learn to trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit to become confident in the grace of God that is always there like a safety net ready to catch us. This is learned by following the Holy Spirit into liminal spaces trusting God to be there for us when needed.

These redemptive experiences happen when we find ourselves in uncharted territory. In times of doubt and anxiety we may drop our defenses and allow God's Spirit to reach us. That is when the peace that passes all understanding, a phrase Paul uses in the next chapter, can be gifted to us and we find ourselves on the rock-solid ground of God's Spirit.

The text itself opens with Paul's comments about the identity he has created for himself. He lays claim to being Jewish and someone that has achieved high status as a religious leader. His religious convictions led him to become a persecutor of the early church which he did because he was “without blame under the law.” He was staying true to his convictions.

After defining his identity, he acknowledges letting go of it for the sake of knowing Christ. Everything he had previously identified with is abandoned and now he's justified not by his adherence to the law but by faith in Christ. This is clearly stated in another letter where he says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me....” (Galatians 2:20a)

Paul is modeling for us what it means to follow Jesus until we become completely identified with him. We allow God to eliminate everything we previously recognized as our-self to become “like Christ.” To be honest, there are few of us that will allow the transformation to go as far he's describing, but as people of faith we, “press on toward the goal!”

For each of us this endeavor looks different. A recent Secret Place devotion described how God has gifted each one of us to fulfill exactly what God has planned within the continued creation of the world. But we do have in common some similar ways of understanding how becoming “like Christ” should look. The following story begins by describing a common way of thinking about spiritual growth:

“Most of us, if we are honest, think of spiritual growth the way we think of a production line – consistent input should equal consistent output. We pray, we read, we serve, and we expect and feel fruitful, joyful, and strong every week. And then we don't – when we feel dry, distracted, and disconnected from God – we conclude that something has gone terribly wrong, or worse, that we have failed.

But consider how a fruit tree actually works. An apple tree does not produce apples in January. Not because it has stopped being an apple tree, not because the winter has broken it, and not because it has abandoned its identity. It produces no visible fruit in winter because it is doing something else entirely. It is consolidating resources. It is hardening against frost. It is quietly, invisibly strengthening the very structure that will bear the weight of next summer's harvest.

The tree's identity is not defined by the presence of the fruit. It is defined by its root system and its connection to the soil. So it is with us. There will be seasons of your spiritual life that feel unproductive – seasons of grief, of waiting, of spiritual dryness – when no visible fruit appears on your branches.

Those seasons are not failures. They are winter. And a wise gardener does not uproot the tree in January simply because it isn't flowering yet. You are still an apple tree. Stay rooted. Spring has not been canceled.” As we “press on toward the goal” of becoming like Christ there are times when we feel as if we're not getting anywhere but if we stay rooted in God the winter will pass and springtime will eventually blossom forth!

The church as of late has been having some experiences that could be described as winter occurrences. The most pronounced is the vandalism that has resulted in the removal of the fellowship hall door. But because we're coming up against this “dark” activity the light of Christ is breaking in (pun intended). This recent email from a member of one of the NA groups testifies to the light. The letter begins: Good morning Pastor Mitch

“Everything going on at the church, vandalism, messes, and break ins breaks our hearts. We cannot understand why it keeps happening to you guys of all places in this area. The only thing we can think of is the fact that Peabody Creek is a huge encampment for the homeless, as we have seen many people coming out of there during our meetings. I found more garbage and drug paraphernalia on the patio when I went to open Friday nights meeting.

I am not here to represent the groups I am reaching out of my own accord. Is there anything we can do to help prevent this from happening or anything we can do to help when something happens? We are so grateful to get to join everyday at your church to share a message of hope and a promise of freedom. We are horrified that you have had two break ins and had to completely remove your backdoor. It breaks our hearts but strengthens our commitment to the program. We cannot understand why it would be happening to you guys at such a small church.

If you have any solutions to our problems, please let me know. A problem for the church is a problem for us. We, as in the women's groups, always do our best to leave the church better than we found it. I cannot speak for the other meetings because I do not attend them but I hope the same goes for them. Have a blessed day and thank you so much for giving us a place to heal.”

I thanked her for the heartfelt letter and said their presence probably is the most they can do to help us out right now and identified the mission of the church as a shared mission with them.

Rev. Mitch Becker

October 4, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Pointing Fingers”

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32

Imagine for a moment that the first wave of exiles is in Babylon even before Jerusalem has fallen. This Jewish community that is established was a result of a violent and bloody siege and they had walked hundreds of miles as captives. They felt humiliated and were now under rule by the Babylonians.

They were settled on a flood plain which was a considerably different environment from the hills of Judea, but they still longed for home, and they had left loved ones behind. They knew that Jerusalem was in danger and that it could not withstand the military onslaught forever. Indeed, Ezekiel foretold both God's judgment and the ultimate fall of the city.

The exiles were convinced that God had executed the judgment against them and were using the Babylonians to manifest it. They also knew the judgment was God's response to sin but whose sins? It may seem odd to us, but the exiles were convinced it wasn't their sin but the sins of past generations that were responsible.

This explains the proverb being quoted: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge,” which means the children are paying the price for their father's sins. Their conviction about the truth of the proverb absolved them, at least in their minds, of any responsibility for their present circumstances.

They're pointing fingers at past generations and moaning and whining about their behavior. God's response is straightforward enough as he describes the consequences of a sinful life as opposed to a life of doing things right. If you do it right, you'll live. If you do it wrong, you'll die. The exiles continue to whine and moan crying out, “It's not fair!” God says, “It's not me, it's you! You better repent or your going to pay the ultimate price.”

In the second to last verse the solution to their predicament is given when God says, “...and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!” In the Bible the “heart” represents the core of their being. The “heart” is a metaphor for who they are at a very deep level below thinking, feeling, and even volition. God is emphasizing to the exiles their need for a complete spiritual transformation.

God is also telling the exiles to do the right thing. But the question that probably surfaced for them, and often does for us, is what is the right thing? A case in point is the recent interactions I've been having with homeless people. Last Tuesday upon Joe Descala's notification by email I checked out the traditional homeless site south of the church off of Park Avenue. It looked to having been abandoned for some time.

I then walked to the north side of the church where there is a well-worn trail that led to a pitched tent. I carefully walked down the trail trying to avoid any garbage, excrement, drug paraphernalia or anything else I might not want to step in or on. When I arrived at the tent it was zipped-up and I asked if anyone was inside. A man responded and later a woman joined into our brief conversation.

The conversation ended by their commitment to moving out soon. When I returned to the office a police officer called my cell phone as I had contacted them earlier. I told him of the homeless peoples presence and he said he was familiar with the site and had recently visited it. He said he would do so again and see what he could do. That's when I told him the tent was not actually on our property, but they had to cross church property to access the site. I don't know if he issued a trespass notice.

The other homeless person I've been involved with this week is someone that initially contacted me by email. I responded by phone as she left her number but couldn't reach her. I ended up sending an email telling her to contact me which she did the next day. She requested a hotel room so she could shower but later Karen reminded me that Shore Aquatic Center offers showers to homeless people though they have to get a voucher at either the library or St. Vincent's or The Salvation Army.

In both of these cases, and so often when working with the homeless, I feel at a loss as to what the right thing to do is. Invariably, what it comes down to is being responsible. The word “responsible” means having an ability to respond. The interaction at the tent was awkward and less than satisfying but I did respond to the situation.

With the homeless woman asking for a hotel room and after being reminded of the service Shore Aquatic Center offers I sent an email giving her the addresses where she could pick-up a voucher. That's not what she wanted but it does fulfill the purpose she specifically asked for which was to clean up. In both cases I've exercised my ability to respond and that's exactly what God is telling the exiles to do.

God wants them to stop pointing fingers at past generations and assume responsibility for their own crimes and misdemeanors.

Yet that's not all that God wants because God further instructs them to get a new heart and a new spirit which is a directive pointing to a complete spiritual transformation. This transformation can be described in many ways, so let me unpack one way as outlined in Eckhart Tolle's best-selling book “The Power of Now.”

In it he describes a mental activity identified as “compulsive thinking.” Another way to characterize it is as “addictive thinking” and what is an addiction. Addiction is a feeling that something is bigger than you and you don't have the power to stop it. It also comes with an illusionary sense of pleasure that eventually turns to pain.

Beyond this, people come to identify with their thoughts even with addictive thoughts. Therefore, one feels if they stop thinking they'll cease to exist. This all begins at an early age and continues to be influenced by the people and culture that surrounds them. To keep going you have to keep thinking.

One way of understanding what God means by finding a new heart and new spirit is to rise above the thinking process; or in the case of what we're practicing in the centering prayer class every other Thursday - to get below thinking. Spiritual transformation has a great deal to do with the cessation of thinking so that consciousness can be experienced.

Because thinking can't happen without consciousness, but consciousness doesn't need thinking. Thinking is just one aspect of consciousness and the enlightened person like Jesus or Buddha or Thich Nhat Hanh or Eckhart Tolle has learned how to access consciousness to the point that consciousness becomes their normative state of mind.

God wants the exiles, and by extension us faithful, to take responsibility for our sinful/selfish behavior. To stop pointing fingers at others and assume our culpability when we lie or take advantage of someone or indulge in our chosen addiction until it harms us or someone else or both. The word used is “repent” which means to turn around 180 degrees and go in the other direction.

If you make that turn the path you're on may eventually lead to enlightenment or consciousness as a normative state though there is no guarantee. Because enlightenment is not something we have the ability to accomplish. It comes by Gods grace and our task is to stay on the right path and that's enough to do for now.

Rev. Mitch Becker

September 27, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“We're All in the Same Boat”

Matthew 20:1-16

Our text is a good illustration of the upside-down world of Jesus ending with the descriptive phrase: “....many of the first ending up last, and the last first.” Which doesn't sit well with us because it seems unfair but the kingdom of God doesn't follow the guiding principles of our world. It works with a whole different set of rules and principles that The Message Bible sometimes alludes to by saying something like: “And you know how God works.” One of the primary tasks of us faithful is to come to understand and practice this different set of guiding principles until we finally “get it” as Father Rohr would say.

The parable itself is pretty straightforward as there are workers that work all day and there are those that work only the final hour of the day. Yet, both receive equal wages which is one denarius or lets just say one dollar. The ones who worked all day are a bit miffed about it and complain to the manager. The manager responds: “Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we?”

A lot of people think the manager represents God but on closer examination that doesn't pan out. Because the use of the term “friend” could be understood as said with a sneer. It sounds nice but the Gospel of Matthew often uses the term “friend” ironically like when the king calls the man friend just before he binds him hand and foot (Matthew 22:12). Jesus calls Judas “friend” when he comes to betray him in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:50).

With this perspective we can see the manager's “graciousness” as cruelty in disguise because he's been “gracious” only with some of the workers and the other ones are left upset and envious. We should all hope this is not the way God behaves.

For some reason when we read the Bible, we often interpret authority figures like kings and father's and in our case, managers as representing God but that's not always the case and it certainly isn't in our parable today.

Let's return to the upside-down world of Jesus with some simple illustrations as to how God works. I first began to see how God works by reading, of all things, the Bible. I kept seeing these parables and aphorisms about the kingdom of God and started to put them into practice by doing things like my homework first before going to play tennis or going to the movies.

If I had a dessert in the fridge and had already had a piece of it instead of getting another I'd go for a walk or maybe a swim. Even more importantly, after I began my recovery from alcoholism instead of going to the store to buy beer, I'd do something else like take my motorcycle out or call a friend to play ping pong or maybe a game of chess.

This can be described as “delayed gratification” but they're also examples of Jesus's upside-down world because their consistent practice eventually leads to freedom from the constraints of the ego or to a spiritual freedom that characterizes the kingdom of God.

It's not hard to be empathetic with these workers in the vineyard who'd been at it all day in the hot sun. It's hard work! I remember picking beans amid the rows of pole beans when I was a kid. The heat would accumulate in between the rows, and the summers can get pretty hot in the Willamette Valley. By the end of the day, I was exhausted, but we were paid by the pound not an agreed upon wage. Everyone was paid in the same manner.

Not so for the workers in our parable and another way to understand their feelings are in terms of coveting. To covet means to strongly desire something someone else is getting and we all do it. One time I told my congregation in Lancaster that I saw a blue Corvette at Starbucks and for some reason I coveted it. Some time later they presented me with a large plastic toy Corvette and the only disappointment was it was red not blue. They responded to my covetousness (kuh-vuh-tuhs-nuhs) which revealed to me something I usually keep hidden away.

What the workers in the vineyard covet isn't the one dollar the one-hour workers got but the way they got it so easily. They had to work all day in the hot sun while these others just sort of showed up for a while.

We most become susceptible to coveting when we fall on hard times whether that be a medical issue or loss of a loved one or anything else that makes us feel desperate and maybe bitter. Here are a few stories that may help us to see how it applies to our own lives:

Maggie is in her mid-forties and sits in the middle of the reception hall receiving condolences from friends and relatives. She tries to do it graciously but inside she feels confused, sad and a bit desperate. Her husband of twenty-five years is gone and she looks around the room seeing people smiling and hugging and carrying on conversations. She wishes she could be in someone else's shoes enjoying the moment the way they are.

Jack is just out of high school working with a crew that lays concrete foundations. One day he was unloading concrete forms from a truck and while throwing a big eight footer

he lost his balance and fell from the back of the truck. He landed face down on the ground onto his right arm while hitting his head on another concrete form. After the scans were taken at the emergency room it was discovered he had a concussion along with a broken arm.

During his six weeks of recovery, he surfed the internet and spent enormous amount of time on Facebook. He looks at the peoples posts and how happy they are. They're so excited about their lives that they even take pictures of what they're eating! He wonders why everyone else is having such a good time and covets their happiness.

Frank had never lived on the East Coast before and coming from the Northwest it feels like another country. He's pastor at one of the eight churches in the community. At the first fellowship of churches meeting where the pastors gather for support and discuss ecumenical activities he always feels different like he doesn't fit in. They all seem to know and like each other and he's not really sure how to connect.

This feeling of isolation stays with him the entire nine years he's there and during that time he often wonders how he could become more a part of things. He loves his church and what he does but can never come to understand how the other pastors seem to enjoy each others company. He wishes he could be comfortable and connected the way they are.

We're most vulnerable to coveting when we feel needy and that's when we want what we perceive other people have, but the truth is we're all in the same boat. To feel different and like an outsider is a very common human emotion. People on Facebook typically appear to be happy and often excited about their lives because Facebook gives you the opportunity to present the life you wish you had. And its very natural to look for a means of escape while grieving and one way that's done is to see everyone else as in a good place and then imagine yourself in their shoes.

The twenty-third psalm begins with the words: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want...” which is important for the spiritually minded to embrace because as we grow in Spirit, we become less concerned with getting and more focused on God's giving. God isn't interested in fulfilling our desires. What God wants is to meet our real needs and it helps if we can discern what those real needs are.

Rev. Mitch Becker

September 20, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Warrior God”

Exodus 14:19-31

Note in our text both the Egyptians and the Israelite's are referred to as “camps,” and the telltale phrase “The morning watch.” Also note how the angel of God strategically moves behind the Israelite's to be positioned between the two camps. And the Egyptians acknowledge that “the Lord fights for them.” This is all military jargon, and, in a word, we could say this is “war!”

As you study the Old Testament it becomes apparent that Yahweh is a warrior God and though this story about the parting of the sea is usually couched in terms of the liberation of God's people it's really about God's personality.

I recently read a post on Facebook that was supposedly written by a minister but your never really sure now days if that's the actual author or if it's just AI. But this post did grab my attention because it struck me as sensible. The central contention was that he had discovered his people weren't reading the Old Testament.

As he looked further into this revelation he found the reason they weren't reading it was because the Old Testament God scared them. This is what made sense to me because Yahweh can be incredibly merciless. Yahweh has all the Canaanite peoples exterminated so the Israelite's can assume the land. The Canaanites were supposedly so evil that they deserved extermination never-the-less it's a massacre. And we could talk about the flood that wiped out nearly all human and animal life forms on the planet.

It's not difficult to understand why people might be afraid of Yahweh. Project ahead a few centuries and we have Jesus whose Bible is the Old Testament. Jesus is undoubtedly well versed in these stories of mass extermination and other similar stories. Yet, his ministry and teachings center on forgiveness and healing.

It so happens that the lectionary Gospel text is about the kingdom of God where the king forgives the servant his debt but the forgiven servant refuses to forgive the one that owes him. The king has the unforgiving servant thrown into jail until he can pay all of his debt. The parable ends by stating that anyone else who behaves in such a manner will get the same treatment. This parable about the kingdom of God is all good until you get to the end where God takes a U-turn and becomes rather merciless.

Father Rohr has commented before about how he sees Jesus taking the Old Testament and focusing on the redemptive, compassionate, forgiving parts of it. At the very end of the parable where God seems to take a U-turn are we getting a glimpse of the heavy-handed Old Testament Yahweh?

Considering our Old Testament text describing the parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army and a brief look at the end of the Gospel text they suggest a rather heavy-handed, authoritative father figure kind of God. A disciplinary God that might keep people from reading the Old Testament and parts of the New Testament.

On the other hand, might there be people who are actually drawn to such a God? Could a heavy-handed, authoritative father figure be appealing to people in need of a sense of safety and security? Remember, last week I talked about that powerful three word sentence in Siddhartha, “People are children.” Children need a strong father figure and even animals do at times.

As you know Karen and I read a devotion from the Secret Place every morning and this week there was one that fits my query today. The woman in the devotion said she caught her dog after finishing a tub of cheese it had come across in the kitchen. The dog knew it had done something wrong due to her scolding and she called her husband to reveal the wrongful act.

Upon the husband's appearance at the top of the stairs the dog immediately ran to him and hid behind his legs. She said as soon as the dog had positioned himself behind her husband it sat straight up and puffed out his chest and extended his chin in a display of assured safety in her husbands presence. To the dog her husband was a strong, authoritative person that was going to protect it from the woman's wrath.

Animals and children both need to feel protected and cared for and those of you with dogs or cats know exactly what I'm talking about. You probably raised children and we were all children once and the child within us is still there. The child within is still attuned and will react to the authoritative parent or the disciplinary God. Some things don't change and Jesus certainly knows this which is why he may end the Gospel parable with a parental type warning. I'll read it to you:

“So my heavenly Father will also do to everyone of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Matthew 18:35) The parable begins with the instruction to forgive your Christian brothers and sisters, “Not seven times but seven times seventy.” The number seven in the Bible represents wholeness or completeness, therefore, “seven times seventy” means forgive always. Forgiveness is to be a lifestyle for the Christian. 

The parable is about always forgiving the faithful, yet that very last sentence isn't about forgiveness at all. It's about what's going happen to you if you don't do what dad says. It is directed to the child within. The phrase “People are children” doesn't mean that we're all behaving like children. It means there's a child within us that still has a lot of influence and Jesus knows this, and God knows it, and some people who have a great deal of power know it.

Not only in our culture but all over the world there is a frightening movement toward authoritarianism. It's happening because people are mostly spiritually asleep. They're not really aware of this child within and they certainly don't know of it's tremendous influence in their lives. It's the task of the church to help people spiritually wake up. The church hasn't been doing very well at this because Christianity became about morality and earning your way to heaven when it's really about raising consciousness.

Waking up to the child within and by the grace of God integrating the child into the rest of our being is something Jesus talks about in the following: “....I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom.” (Matthew 18:3-4; The Message Bible)

He's not saying we need to start whining and throwing fits to get our way. From a psychological level he's talking about the way we were when we were small children and we hadn't learned how to project these false, mask like fronts to the world. When we were small we were creative and spontaneous. We reflected on the outside what we felt on the inside.

The small child can stay in creative contact with it's inner world. There is no split between the ego and the soul. The two are one and in this sense the child is psychologically whole and feels connected to everything. There is no separation between what appears on the outside and what is felt on the inside. Animals have the same experience though without the powerful reasoning abilities humans have.

This, in part, is what it means to spiritually wake up. It's what Jesus is getting at when he says we have to become like children to enter the kingdom of God. Such people that are awake can resist authoritarianism because they're capable of making grown up choices and those choices become the preferable ones.

Rev. Mitch Becker

September 13, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Agents of Accord”

Matthew 18:15-20

If we were to use one word to describe our text, we could say it's about conflict and how to find resolution. It begins with the suggestion that you confront the offender in private and if they don't listen you find a couple trusted individuals and try again. If that fails, you bring it to the entire congregation and if that fails you consider the offender a sinner unworthy of any more attempts at working things out.

We live in a time of heightened conflict exemplified by the everyday behavior of those in government. It sets a tone for the nation's as a whole and though many are not responding in a like manner and are finding alternative ways to behave, unfortunately there are a considerable numbers of people who are embracing conflict as a lifestyle. It's becoming an acceptable practice seen as culturally inevitable.

Most sane people have what you might call a socially acceptable screening process. This process is something learned from parents, friends, teachers as we are conditioned by those around us. The process allows us to evaluate what we say before we say it determining if our words may have undesirable consequences. In this time of relative social insanity the socially acceptable screening process has gone out the window.

One result is that conflict often comes with words and actions that do damage to relationships with no particular interest in reconciliation. The damage is done and we all suffer the consequences. It's all exasperated when people behave like sheep following the leader without any critical concern.

If you want an example of this human like sheep behavior just sit out on the Listening Bench for a half hour and watch what happens. If there is a line of cars and the first car runs the stop sign the next car will follow suit. They may not run the stop sign at the same speed but they will go through it without coming to a full stop. That, in itself, may not be too surprising, but what does catch your attention is that every other car in line will do the same thing.

It brings to mind that incredibly insightful three-word sentence in the book “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse: “People are children.” People will do whatever mom and dad did, the authority figures, even if it was dysfunctional and hurtful because it's what was normal. I became an alcoholic just like my dad.

Our text today is offering alternative behaviors that require the social screening process to take effect and gives specific guidelines within the church to follow. First, confront in private, then with a couple trusted friends, and finally tell the whole community. If all this fails then consider the offender an outsider and move on.

This church has, somehow, managed to avoid any significant degree of conflict. In the six years we've been here conflict has simply not been something the church has had to deal with and I can't entirely explain that because the potential is always present in every congregation. People have opposing views, goals, needs and interests that give conflict the fuel it needs to ignite, but that hasn't happened here.

One reason conflict never gains a foothold is what happens at the Concern and God Sightings time. It is not unusual for ninety percent of our congregation to share Concerns and God sightings in any given worship service. I've never seen that in any of my previous congregations. I have, however, seen an ample amount of conflict in other churches.

Right at the core of Concerns and God sightings exists some of the most heartfelt moments in worship. Sometimes people are on the verge of tears or are actually crying as a concern is shared. Other times we can all be touched by a God sighting and reminded that where two or more are gathered in his name Christ is present.

In such moments as this we are bound together in the body of Christ. This is something that happens only for people who are willing to drop their defenses to experience being cared for by something greater than ourselves. Something we can't see with our eyes but sense it with our hearts and confirm it collectively in faith.

In our present culture the notion of the individual against the world has reached epidemic proportions. One way you see it portrayed in the media is in the superhero movies which are attended by great numbers of people. The notion of one against overwhelming odds resonates with people and its important to know that it has not always been this way.

Father Rohr talks about the communion of the saints that was added to the Apostles Creed centuries after the creation of the creed. He says, it is almost as if it took us that long to understand its importance. He further states that the body of Christ consists of both sadness and joys that are shared and our salvation is found by staying connected to it. He continues:

Since the Enlightenment, however, we have been trained to believe that we each can “do it my way,” like Frank Sinatra's song. Instead of participation in everybody else's great parade. As I often say, if we do not mythologize our pain, all we can do is pathologize it. We Westerns have lost the ability to frame the significance of our own little lives.

I suspect that those who grew up with the richness of the myths and sacred stories of Ulysses and Athena.... have found meaning and consolation for their pain more readily than many of us do today.

They know they were not alone on the journey, while we no longer believe or live as if we are an inherent part of a much bigger story. We believe ourselves separate from the cosmic dance that created Greek comedy and tragedy.... Helping people to see that they are cooperating members of a performance that is already showing – and will keep showing....

He goes on to say that this solidarity in the body of Christ is our salvation, and he describes Paul's notion of “en Christo” as a reference to participating within the body. I have to confess that usually when I talk about being, “in Christ,” I'm thinking about it in terms of the individual or individual enlightenment – not as being part of a larger, more expansive spiritual body. Therefore, my definition of “en Christo” has limitations.

I told you about our wonderful trip to Tacoma and seeing the movie “The Odyssey” which is based upon Homer's great epic poem about the king of Ithaca's long, perilous journey home following the Trojan war. The thing about “The Odyssey” is it doesn't follow the format of a superhero movie because it is a journey that begins with 12 ships and around six hundred men.

Until the very end of the journey Odysseus (Oh-dis-see-us) (the king) confronts a giant cyclops, giant man eating people, a witch that turns his men into pigs and then back again into men, and, of course, the Sirens who are beautiful bird-women that sing an irresistible song to make sailors crash their ships upon the rocks. Almost the entire journey is made with his men and they overcome these perilous situations together.

It is a story for our age that can remind us we don't exist as separate beings facing one challenge after another. We faithful participate within the body of Christ and our salvation comes by remaining connected to it. We do that in an important way during the Concerns and God sightings time, and during potluck Sunday, and when we gathered in the gazebo at the Becker's, and during worship and at its end. In these ways and others, we stay within the body of Christ which is our salvation.

Rev. Mitch Becker

September 6, 2026

Port Angeles