Sermons

First Christian Church

“Beyond the Tomb”

Luke 24:1-12

 At the empty tomb hope is restored to the grieving. In the Easter story the grieving who go to the tomb are Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. These women are not unfamiliar with tombs. They are places of memories where those who have passed are kept in the present. They are also places where the grieving can tell stories which is yet another way to bring the deceased into a present time, space and place.

These women had been with Jesus and his disciples as they traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem a distance of about one hundred miles on foot. They watched the body being taken down from the cross and carried away by Joseph of Arimathea wrapped in a linen shroud and placed in the tomb. They understood their role to complete the burial by preparing spices (a combination of myrrh and aloes) to embalm the body which they immediately set out to do.

As they approach the tomb the task before them is absolutely clear but to their surprise the rock that covered the entrance has been rolled back. What they encounter is so far beyond their expectations that their reaction is not annoyance or anger that someone may have stolen the body. Their reaction as recorded by the gospel writer is they're perplexed because there is such a great distance between what they expected and what they encounter.

The surprises only continued when they actually enter the tomb to encounter two men in dazzling apparel and to this, they are frightened. Then comes an interesting question which indicates Jesus is still alive. The two men say: “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” This is followed by the core message of Easter and comes in the form of another question asking the women to recall Jesus' words about death and resurrection – and they remember his words.

Now they're excited and return to the disciples but the eleven don't believe them. The final verse of our text is about Peter who runs to the tomb to look inside and upon seeing the linen shroud, and not unlike the women, is also perplexed. He simply goes home.

That's the Easter story according to the gospel writer Luke and in each of the Synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) the women encounter a heavenly being. In Matthew its an angel along with an earthquake! In Mark it's a young man clothed in white, and in our text its two men in dazzling robes, but what's most striking is what is said by each of them.

In Matthew and Mark, the heavenly beings say nearly the same thing to the women which is not to be afraid for Jesus has risen from the dead. Then they tell them to go to Galilee where Jesus will meet them. In Luke it's a question about looking for the living among the dead, and then they're asked to remember what Jesus said about his death and resurrection. In the Gospel of John there are two angels that ask Mary why she's crying. When she turns around, she's face to face with the risen Christ!

With these differing variations in the Easter story which one is true? Which one actually happened? When you go to seminary and study the Bible these differences begin to be a bit troubling and can even keep you up at night. By the time I finished my first year of seminary my head was spinning with all the different notions of God floating around in it! If it wasn't for my practice of quiet, centering prayer I my not have survived seminary.

Gradually, over much time, mental effort, and struggle it began to occur to me that the details of the stories weren't as important as what the stories were trying to convey. You see, in Jesus' time people didn't read the Bible because there were no Bibles, and most people could neither read nor write anyway. The way people learned about God was through listening to stories.

And as we all know the more colorful and creative a story is the more likely it is to be remembered. In other words, they didn't pay that much attention to the details. What they were listening for was the message conveyed by the stories. The core message of the Easter story is Jesus was crucified and rose again on the third day. That's what matters and the vehicle the message comes in is meant to hold our attention while it is committed to memory.

In fact, people are popping up from being dead all over the place in the Bible. Jesus raises Lazarus, a little girl and a young man on his way to be buried. The Apostles Peter and Paul both bring people back to life, as well as Elijah and Elisha in the Old Testament. You might call raising people from the dead a theme found many places throughout scripture. The message is clear.

Though we tend to think of death as being final God is trying hard to give us a different perspective. God's trying to give us a different lens to look through when we gaze upon the world around us. There is no time on the church calendar when this alternative lens is made more clear than at Easter. It is a lens of hope and resurrection. Death is not final for God and on Easter especially we're called to embrace that truth.

God is trying to give us A Way to see beyond the tomb not only on Easter Sunday, but every day of our lives here on Earth. That means a transformation of the heart has to take place. The Apostle Paul described the transformation like this:

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God's man. Christ showed me how, and enabled me to do it. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:19-20; The Message Bible)

Jesus calls this transformation of the heart being born again or born anew in the Gospel of John (John 3:1-8). The Way of transformation, and by that I mean the way of life that leads to it is described best by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount found in chapters 5 through 7 in the Gospel of Matthew. I won't kid you about it either because its not an easy way to go which is why Jesus says the gate is narrow and the way hard that leads to life. (Matthew 7:14) But with God all things are possible. Following is one story about someone who found the Life Jesus is describing:

Amoret (Am-ore-rit) had struggled with an addiction to methamphetamines since her mid-teenage years and was now in her mid-twenties. She knew in the back of her mind that she was on a path that would eventually lead to either serious health issues or death itself, but she didn't know how to get off the path.

One day while shopping in the grocery store, she ran into an old friend she met while taking a class at the community college and they quickly fell into conversation. She learned that her friend had also struggled with addiction but found a way out by getting involved with a local Pentecostal church. She was a Christian and held weekly Bible studies at her home. She invited Amoret to come visit the study and told her where and when it happened.

Amoret committed the invitation to memory but really had no intention of acting on it. Then one evening after losing too much money at the casino on her way home she remembered the Bible study was on that very night. She drove to her friends house and knocked on the door. In the living room was seated 8 or 9 people obviously enjoying each others company.

Everyone was so hospitable and kind that she returned the next week and the week after that, and gradually began to find that there was something in the fellowship that she was seeking. It wasn't the Bible that so much interested her as it was the relationships that suggested to her an entirely different lifestyle free from addiction and full of hope.

In time she found herself at the little Pentecostal church now a Christian living a life without drugs and learning to be a responsible adult. She eventually married and had children. Her husband was a stay-at-home dad who mostly raised the kids while she worked to pay the bills. Then one day she lost her job in a mass lay-off and the family was in dire straights. She had to find work but there was little available as a department store manager.

Finally, a position with JCPenney's opened up but the store was in Philadelphia on the other side of the country. She'd have to fly to the interview but years before while coming back from Hawaii she'd had a panic attack on the plane. She was now deathly afraid to fly, but Philadelphia was too far to drive to.

One morning in Bible study she started to share her dilemma with her Christian brothers and sisters and as she spoke, she began to cry. As the tears came forth, she said she didn't feel like she fit in anywhere and just thought of herself as a dirty little worm. The leader of the group walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her and told Amoret she was accepted unconditionally by God and everyone there.

In the days that followed Amoret felt as if a one-hundred-pound sack of potatoes had been lifted from her. She felt an inner freedom she'd never known, and she was no longer anxious when around others as if she was living within a kind of zone of liberation. In time she learned that she had undergone a genuine transformation of the heart, what Jesus refers to as being born again. A psychological and spiritual transformation that totally altered the way she looked at the world.

Now she knew that no matter what happened or what kind of situation she encountered God would provide the mental and emotional freedom she needed to cope. It enabled her to get on the plane and fly to Philadelphia where she got the job. Her family soon made the move and to this day they attend another considerably larger Pentecostal church.

The transformation of the heart Amoret experienced gave her the ability to look beyond the tomb not on just one day but everyday for the rest of her life. She now sees the world through a lens of hope and resurrection and this is the core message of Easter. We all can be changed into the likeness of Christ if we're willing to let God help us.

Rev. Mitch Becker

April 20, 2025

Port Angeles

Easter Sunday

First Christian Church

“Counter-Procession”

Mark 11:1-11

Palm Sunday

There are two processions entering the holy city of Jerusalem on a Spring Day in the year 30 AD. One procession is entering from the west and is led by Jesus Christ who is riding a donkey. On either side of the road are people mostly from the peasant class who are shouting out hosanna's as the procession moves forward. Jesus and his followers had come from Galilee a hundred miles to the north with Jerusalem as their goal and their message the kingdom of God.

On the opposite side of the city processing in from the east was Pontius (Pon-tee-us) Pilate and Roman legionaries. It was the practice of the Roman governors to be in Jerusalem during important religious festivals like Passover. They had to travel to the city because they took up residence on the coast in Caesarea where it was much more pleasant. The point of the Roman procession was to exhibit imperial power.

Imagine for a moment the impact of this display of Roman authority and power. There would be cavalry on horses, foot soldiers, helmets, weapons, banners, golden eagles mounted on poles, sun reflecting off of metal and gold. Sounds would include marching feet, clinking bridles, and the beating of drums. There would be dust swirling upwards and a whole host of onlookers with various dispositions. Some would be curious, others in awe, and some angry and resentful.

Pilate not only brings the power and might of Rome but also embodies a theology counter to Jesus' kingdom of God. We don't often think of this, but there was also a Roman imperial theology. The Jewish people, on the other hand, would be quite familiar with it. According to this theology the emperor was more than the ruler of Rome – he was also the Son of God. He was considered the son of the god Apollo. Present day discoveries of inscriptions from the time refer to him as “son of God,” “lord,” and “savior.”

Now we can see clearly that Jesus' procession is a counter-procession to what is happening on the other side of the city. And this is not some spontaneous event, but as can be seen at the beginning of the story as Jesus instructs his disciples to go get a colt that was in waiting – this is a prearranged counter-procession. One passage from the prophet Zachariah says it all: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you, triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass.” (Zachariah 9:9)

The Jews, prior to Jesus' arrival, thought the Messiah would come on a war horse to vanquish the Romans. Jesus uses this opportunity to show them God the Father's real intention to bring peace to the world through the transformation of souls – one soul at a time – until the kingdom of God is established not only in Israel, but throughout the Earth.

As soon as the procession has ended Jesus heads straight to the temple that was not only the religious focal point for the country, but it was also the premier symbolic site of national identity and power. In the temple he proceeds to turn over the money-changers tables and rebukes everyone saying the temple is supposed to be a house of prayer not a den of thieves.

To begin to understand why this is the first place Jesus goes to perform a radical, prophetic act we need to consider the form of society that had come into existence, and it all began 3000 years prior to this event. Monarchical (Mon-arch-cree-ul) and aristocratic (ah-ris-tah-crat-tic) rule by a minority of wealthy people was the most common type of social system in the ancient world. This form of social system has only been recently challenged within the last few hundred years by democratic revolutions. Yet, there is a solid argument that could be made supporting that such rule by a wealthy few still exists though largely hidden from the public eye.

It's safe to assume that in the same way Jesus knew Pilate would be riding in at Passover – he was also aware of the corruption taking place in the temple before he walked into it. His displeasure at what was going on was also prearranged and calculated to have the maximum effect on all present. Since he's in the symbolic space of nationality and power what he's doing is going to reverberate throughout the city.

It would be a mistake to assume Jesus is making a statement for democracy because it hasn't been invented yet, but he is making a statement for proper religious conduct and for his primary message about the kingdom of God. Surely, he wants the temple to reflect the attributes of the kingdom of God which acknowledges all people – men, women, and children – as equally loved and valued by God.

As the entire creation is affirmed in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis and proclaimed “good” by God, so Jesus' kingdom of God embraces the goodness of all that was created, and he promotes this goodness throughout his life and ministry. Even the goodness of children who were seen by society as a burden and insignificant are seen as immeasurably good and valuable by Jesus.

To explore the goodness of God a bit more let's listen to author Danielle Shroyer (Shroy-er) as she equates this goodness with potential:

Creation is the result not of destruction, but of God's goodness overflowing....God looks upon creation and says, “It is very good.” It's....a declaration, over and over, of creation's goodness....If we imagine creation to be something as simplistic as a Utopian happy-go-lucky place where nothing ever goes wrong, we disparage the beauty and harmony illustrated in the Genesis stories. God's goodness is not that shallow and neither is God's creation. I wonder if there is something immature about our desire for the garden to be perfect.

A more appropriate view of creation would be not perfection but potential. God designed the world to develop and function in a certain way, while allowing creation to live freely into its potential. Sometimes creation will live up to and into its potential, while other times it will renounce it....Potential reminds us once again that goodness is both an origin and a goal. It is given to us as a gift, but it is also given to us as a calling.

Whenever I go golfing there is always the potential to have a great game with long drives and solid putting. Half of the game is in the putting which ironically is often lacking. Therefore, the game frequently doesn't live up to the potential that is possible, but it is always a gift to be out there driving and putting away!

If I go into the game anticipating perfect drives and putts at the end in the day the whole experience will be far less enjoyable then it could be. The best way to golf is to acknowledge the potential of a great game and then allow it to be whatever it is recognizing the gift of an imperfect game. This approach to golf easily translates into the game of life itself.

In the mall the other day I saw a shirt a young girl was wearing with the words “It's okay to not be perfect” embroidered upon it. I've been thinking about that message ever since and detect a deep-seated desire within me for things to be perfect. Perfectionism is a characteristic often exhibited by children who grow up in an alcoholic home and especially by the eldest child, like me.

It's an attempt to reduce stress by avoiding criticism in a family environment that can be chaotic and emotionally harsh. It may be the reason I enjoy reading Utopian novels and feel such a strong attraction to the kingdom of God which could be defined as a perfect world. I don't personally consider seeking the kingdom of God a mistake, but it is important to isolate any dysfunctional reasons for doing the right thing.

As Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, we can't really know what's going on in his mind other than he's clearly offering an alternative to Pilates display of imperial might. We know the kingdom of God is often on his mind because it comes up frequently in the gospels. The attributes of the kingdom include the goodness of God and his creation, as well as an equality for all people that far surpasses the societal norm of his day.

Everywhere Jesus went he brought healing and grace which culminates on this day in the riding of a humble colt along with the acclamation of the poor and oppressed. They see in him a new thing that God is doing and they want to be a part of it. When they look at Jesus they don't see torture, humiliation and the cross. They see hope in a Messiah they can't fully understand but they've seen enough to give it a shot.

Its two thousand years later and with the palms erected in the chancel area and the familiar proclamation of a triumphal entry we're ready to give it a shot as well. We're ready to trust God once again as his disciples poised to follow him on a path that leads to the cross. It is the route made available by Christ if we want to ultimately be healed and made whole by the goodness and grace of God.

Rev. Mitch Becker

April 13, 2025

Port Angeles

Palm Sunday

First Christian Church

“Clearing the Hurdle”

2 Kings 4:1-7

Our text opens with a reference to the “sons of the prophets” which bears some unpacking. The sons of the prophets were an order or guild in ancient Israel that served as a training ground for wannabe prophets. When a prophet died, they would be replaced by someone in the guild. It is the wife of one of the members of the guild who has died, and she's distressed because he owed money to a creditor. The creditor was going to take her children away and make them slaves to pay the debt. She is pleading with Elisha (El-lie-sha) to help her save her children.

Elisha's solution is for her to fill empty containers with oil of which she has very little, but Elisha will remedy that situation. Now we arrive at the heart of the story which is about the woman's willingness to ask her neighbors for empty containers.

To us asking neighbors for empty containers might not sound like much, but in ancient Israel containers were crafted, important for everyday survival, and they cost money. Therefore, the neighbor's generosity would be called upon and it wasn't a sure thing she'd receive courteous responses. As the story goes the empty vessels came forth and she proceeded to fill them with oil supplied by miraculous intervention, and her children were saved!

The text for this Sunday comes not from the lectionary, rather it is the text for Wednesday's devotion in our Lenten devotional. Ms. Martin says the beauty of the story comes from the woman's ability to clear the hurdle we all experience when we're reluctant to show our vulnerability. She calls it a hurdle we have to jump over to fulfill necessary needs. In the story the need that's met is the salvation of her children.

The people who attend the Narcotics Anonymous meetings in our church must jump this hurdle every time they attend a meeting. It is human pride that discourages us from making the jump. Our egos are determined to keep us in the dark with imaginings of self-sufficiency and independence.

You might call this one of the gifts of addiction, which is learning how to become dependent on others, while at the same time developing a sense of personal self-worth. It's hard work that takes a lifetime and it cannot be done without the assistance of others. Recovery is far more than the cessation of using drugs. It is a complete lifestyle transformation from an obsession on one thing to the gradual, day by day, reception of everything.

 In last week's Zoom meeting one of the pastor's had reached the end of their rope. She was in such a state that it was upsetting to listen to her as she tried to identify exactly what was wrong while reaching out for help. When one of your peers are struggling to this extent it's easy to be empathetic because we've all been there. I had to admire her willingness to clear the hurdle in disclosing her neediness.

What was most troubling for her were her children who are feeling threatened by the governments anti-LGBTQ actions. Two of her children are gay and one is transgender. Apparently, there is a plan called Project 2025 that calls for, among other things, dismantling the nation's current legal protections for LGBTQ people. The government is trying to establish recognition of only two genders, and has banned transgender people from the military, and healthcare for transgender youth, as well as preventing trans people from participation is sports.

All of this has brought her to a point of emotional upheaval, and we listened to her lament and responded as best we could in everything from suggesting possible therapists to providing inroads to various help organizations including counseling offered by Disciples Home Missions called “The Well Fed Spirit.” It was painful listening to her, and I closed in prayer at the end of the meeting and have been in prayer for her ever since.

If you're at all curious about the official stance of our denomination the General Assembly in 2013 voted to affirm LGBTQ+ people in all aspects of church life including leadership. That doesn't mean everyone in the church is on board with that vote because we're a very diverse denomination, but that is the official stance.

The pastor and her children are only a fraction of the number of people who are emotionally reeling from these, and other similar actions, taken by our government. It is of cardinal importance at this time for our church here in Port Angeles to be doing all we can to help people find guidance, strength and hope through the gospel. We do that with our acts of hospitality and generosity and continued focus on mission. We do it one day at a time.

Keeping the distressed pastor and her children in mind it brings me a certain degree of comfort knowing that this is how we grow in Spirit. We only grow in Spirit when we're challenged by the hurdles that are put in front of us. Each hurdle needs to be cleared before we can move on to the next one, and often times that first hurdle has to do with lament. Artist and organizer Stephen Pavey (Pave-vee) tells us more:

In Amos's time, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had extended its lands and increased its influence over trade routes, which brought great economic prosperity to the nation. God's vision of society – in which wealth is shared and the needs of every member of society are met – was fracturing because of rampant materialism, greed, corruption, and bribery. Like we see in the United States, the gap between the wealthy few and the masses of poor and oppressed had grown wide. While moral standards were collapsing in the public sphere, religious practices and worship of God remained very important in society....In chapter five, Amos begins a lament, or cry of sorrow, against this way of life: “There will be wailing in all the streets” (5:16).

In our own day, the prophet Callie (Cal-lee) Greer, who lives in Selma, Alabama, and organizes with the Poor People's Campaign, tells the nation, “You must let me wail.” In February 2020, she testified to her pain and oppression at a public gathering in Selma: years earlier, her daughter had died in her arms due to poverty and a lack of healthcare. Callie cried out, “You must let me wail for the children I've lost to poverty and will never get back, wail for all the children we mothers have lost. I won't waste my pain. I hope I make you feel uncomfortable. I hope I make you feel angry. I'm wailing because my babies are no more.”

The pastor distressed in the Zoom meeting had begun a lament because of the way she perceived her children being threatened and oppressed by what is happening all around them. The need to lament presents us with a considerable hurdle to clear because it asks us to reveal our vulnerability. The ego absolutely resists any such surrender and is very clever and determined to not give up its illusions of self-sufficiency. But if we want to grow in Spirit lamenting offers a powerful way to begin the process.

In my early teen years, I would sometimes go on a bike ride across country with at least one friend. By “across country” I mean through the wheat and grass seed fields of the Willamette Valley. The valley has many country roads that crisscross through the open fields and in the summer when it's hot the tar bubbles-up and you pop the bubbles as you ride across them.

The goal on these trips was to reach a country store that sold penny candies and when we arrived, we'd stock up on root beer barrels, Tootsie rolls, red licorice and Necco wafers! It's amazing how much sugar you could intake as a kid. Something else that would occur on these trips is the number of dead things on the road. There were snakes and birds and sometimes a possum, a raccoon or a smelly skunk.

I wasn't much of a philosopher back then so the sight of all these dead things didn't generate a lot of thought, but one couldn't avoid seeing the sheer number of dead animals, and it was apparent, even to a thirteen-year-old kid that death was everywhere.

Without death there wouldn't be any life and that's the sort of insight we arrive at when we reach that blessed stage of acceptance. The word “lament” means to passionately grieve, and that's the spiritual challenge, or as I'm describing it this morning the hurdle to clear. It's there for all of us because who of us isn't dying inside about the losses we've incurred over the years.

Ms. Callie used the phrase: “Let me wail” which means allow me to cry out in grief and pain. She's taking the heartache she feels inside and using it to promote societal change. She's trying to empower those of us who have learned how to stay comfortably detached from the disasters that unfold around us.

To some extent that detachment is necessary to survive because the degree of suffering around us can be literally overwhelming. We have to find refuge which is why God has given us the psalms. In contemporary language:

I love you, God –

you make me strong.

God is bedrock under my feet,

the castle in which I live,

my rescuing knight.

My God – the high crag

where I run for dear life,

hiding behind the boulders,

safe in the granite hideout. (Psalm 18:1-2; The Message Bible)

With God as our refuge there is much we can accomplish to bring about change, and in the best scenario spiritual transformation for ourselves and those around us who are seeking God. This is the real work of the church providing a refuge from the melee (may-lay) where the sincere seeker can be fed real spiritual food.

Rev. Mitch Becker

April 6, 2025

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Crossing the Threshold”

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

This is one of the best-known stories in the gospels about the son who makes a lot of bad choices but by the grace of God, and the love of a father, is able to return home. One of the premier challenges a familiar story like this presents is we may have already found our place in the story. When that's the case it makes if difficult to discover anything new.

Try to let go of any preconceived notions like in creating allegorical characters. Maybe who've decided the younger son is a repentant Christian, and the elder son is a Pharisee (or even one of us) and the father represents God. If this is the case the problems that arise include moving the parable out of its historical context, and even worse, diminishing the message of Jesus by misinterpreting Judaism.

Lets try a different approach and attempt to let go of any prior notions of who these people might represent and what the meaning of the story might be. In other words, lets start from ground zero. Instead of characterizing the people involved lets consider what they do in the story.

The younger son wants his inheritance early and after he gets it he spends it partying and whopping it up. The elder son is loyal and a hard worker who apparently gets no reward. The father's love appears to encompass both of his children. We might say the father “crosses the threshold” twice for his children. Once upon the younger sons return, and once to invite the elder son to the party.

The father cannot image the party without both of his children present. The party is just as important for the elder son as it is for the younger one. Note also the generosity of the father in his directions to the slaves to hold nothing back in preparation for the party, and in telling the elder son all that he owns belongs to him.

We're further drawn into the parable as we're invited to sit with the younger son and his poor choices and resulting desperation. He has no one to blame but himself. The elder son is bitter and also fearful about being overlooked. The father is willing, in both cases, to leave his comfort zone to embrace his lost and disillusioned children.

This is one of Jesus' best-known stories because it reaches out to us in several ways. Who of us hasn't squandered love that we've freely received, and who of us hasn't felt left out along with the sense of insecurity that can bring. And who of us hasn't given love hoping for it to be returned. And don't we all harbor the hope that God will leave the threshold to meet our heartfelt desires and include us in the party in the midst of our fears about being left out.

Maybe that is one of the most important attributes an authentically Christian church has to offer – the ability to make people feel they belong. The biblical word for that is “hospitality.” That and similar words are frequently found in the Bible. One example comes from the Letter to the Hebrews: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:2)

In previous sermons I've noted that our church has a gift for extending hospitality to strangers, and another obvious gift is generosity. We see the same type of generosity expressed by the father toward his sons in terms of parental love. The father will not rest until both of his sons are at the party, and he's willing to go to some length to make that happen.

John called me on the morning I wrote this sermon to tell me the estimate on fixing the sanctuary heater was in. It will cost just over $2000 dollars to replace the compressor. I told him that sounded like a lot of money, but we need heat. He also reminded me the heating units are capable of providing cool air. That's not a major concern for around here, but we both agreed it would be Fall soon anyway.

The maintenance of the buildings is a frequent subject during the Zoom meetings with the pastors. Many struggle with how to pay for needed repairs, but that's not such a struggle for us due to the generosity of our congregation and past church members. We have savings that Judy draws from every month to pay for bills and other financial matters. It is how we'll pay for the new compressor, and I want to acknowledge the generosity of the faithful who have gone before us.

Your generosity also needs to be acknowledged and that not only comes in the form of money, but there is a distinct generosity of spirit here at First Christian Church. I see it at every soup and bread meal we enjoy together, and it was especially apparent when we decorated the church for Christmas. Both your generosity and hospitality become increasing important attributes in a culture that grows darker every day.

In the culture at large we see the opposite of hospitality expressed as a general unfriendliness at the least and hatred at worst. In terms of generosity there's a disturbing spirit of downright meanness. In such a cultural environment our practices of generosity and hospitality shine as light in the darkness. The darker it gets the brighter the light!

That's good new and bad news. The bad news is people are turning away from goodness and God. The good news is we haven't. For the faithful these hard times become an incentive to follow Jesus more closely and to move more deeply into the mystery of Christ, or put another way, to grow in Spirit.

We too, like the father, must be willing to cross the threshold of our comfort zones to show the world Christ is alive and well. And we're doing just exactly that with every act of hospitality and generosity we display. The latest example of generosity is the swim passes we bought for the kids at Lincoln High School, and we'll do more in the future.

In the following preacher-activist Sandra Maria Van Opstal encourages us to expand hospitality from something we do to an expression of who we are:

What is this shift, this journey from doing to being? It involves a deepening relationship with both the Holy Spirit and people who may not look like us or share our experiences. Shifting our focus from doing to being allows us to become more fully the community that Scripture calls us to be. Though we may begin with hospitality, where we are saying “we welcome you,” Scripture calls us to journey from that place, through a place of solidarity (“we stand with you), and ultimately to mutuality (“we need you”), where we comprehend just how deeply the global community of Jesus followers need each other in order to be the people of God we are called by Scripture to be....

While we tend to think of this journey from hospitality to mutuality as a one-way process, our life in Christ is far from linear. Jesus exemplified mutuality in every way: in the stories he told, in the way he related to others, and even in the way he died. When the church works to embody mutuality in their daily life, and especially in their approach to immigrants and refugees, we learn to lament, celebrate, and learn together. Ultimately, this leads to healing and wholeness that God wants for (God's) creation! And this means not just doing but being the reflection of God's love, which the church is called to be; to witness to Christ not just in our words but in our mutual identity as members of (Christ's) body.

The operative word in understanding mutuality is “need.” We begin to move toward healing and wholeness when we embrace the truth that we need each other in order to be the faithful people God wants us to be. We may think of Christ as being self-sufficient and independent from the people he was leading and ministering to, but what if he also recognized that he too needed these people as much as they needed him.

That may be hard to grasp because we spend so much time lifting Christ up above us as a king and Messiah and God. But there is no question whether mutual need is important for each of us to recognize and embrace. In our neediness we open up to the Holy Spirit which is how we're healed and made whole. That is how we're liberated from the oppressive influence of the ego. Wholeness happens as a result of letting go of the ego to allow the True self to come forward.

There is the story of the family on a trip to visit grandma Susie but the parents were having a difficult time getting along. They were fighting over the lack of finances and accumulating debt. Everyone was uncomfortable when suddenly one of the children spotted a dead cat on the side of the highway that had apparently been struck by a car, and there was a live one right beside it. Upon seeing the live cat the child that spotted it said, “Dad, lets go back and get that kitty.”

Dad, already in a bad mood at first didn't even listen, and now all the children chimed in, “Dad, we've got to go back and get that kitty!” This continued for several miles until finally their mom agreed, and said, “Horace, these children are already grieving for the cat. Maybe what this family needs right now is something to take care of. Let's go back and get it.” This was too much for Horace to handle. He was already feeling the burden of his poor disposition, and now his wife had joined the chorus with the children. At this point it felt easier to give in than to persist in noncompliance.

Dad turned the car around and they went back to retrieve the cat which was still there when they arrived. Fortunately, mom had some dog treats made with fish and used it to lure the cat in. Once they had it in the car it settled right down and seemed to be quite at home. After there visit with grandma they returned home, and though dad was reluctant at first he soon found spending time with the cat calmed him.

Over time he discovered that giving love made him feel loved. This affected Horace in ways he could never have anticipated and he began to feel that he needed the cat as much as the cat needed him. In the relationship that ensued the cat found a home and the warmth that brings, and Horace discovered that showing love to a cat can make a big difference in your life and the life of your family.

Hospitality and similar words are found throughout the Bible and though usually refer to hospitality toward other people we're also called to show it to other aspects of God's creation. In our generous reception of people, animals, and the natural world around us we are healed and made whole just like Horace.

Rev. Mitch Becker

Port Angeles

March 30, 2025

First Christian Church

“Warning Markers”

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Since this is the Apostle Paul, we'll let him get away with this rather loose interpretation of the Exodus. It's loose in the sense that its a bit of a stretch to compare the crossing of the Red Sea with baptism, and further to compare the rock which provided them water in the wilderness with Christ. The whole point is to help the Corinthians see their own failings by comparison with the failings of their ancestors.

Their ancestors are characterized, in a harsh way, as ones who gave into self-centered behavior which led to temptations. Paul cites the golden calf incident along with sexual promiscuity and that they paid dearly for their mistakes! He returns to the theme of self-centered behavior in pointing out the Israelite's wanted God to serve them rather than the other way around and they paid for that too.

The final failing of their ancestors was to “stir up discontent” which Paul says ultimately destroyed them. Paul sums all this up by labeling it as “warning markers” that have been recorded in scripture to provide guidance in leading a holy, blameless lifestyle. He says that the Corinthians are just as vulnerable as their ancestors and encourages them not to be naive. The admonition is: “Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence.” (1 Corinthians 10:12b; The Message Bible)

The text ends with four separate points about temptation beginning with it comes to everyone. We are all vulnerable to it and no one is exempt from its influence. Also, God remains faithful to those tempted and will not abandon them in the struggle. Temptation will not exceed one's own strength to resist it (which is a debatable point at best). Finally, God will provide a way out of it enabling us to continue down a path of righteousness.

Unlike the folks who attend the Narcotics Anonymous meetings in our church, for the most part, we're not faced with life and death decisions. If they give into temptation the consequences can be quite severe putting them back on a path to ultimate destruction. It's not so acute for us because we're not vulnerable to sin in that way. We're not strung out on drugs nor spending exorbitant amounts of money at the casino nor do we cheat on our spouses. But we do face temptations every day.

For us the temptations are often more subtle, but the consequences are still serious. Take grief for example. All of us are tempted to avoid grieving losses in our lives. Loss can take many forms including loss of loved ones and pets, or loss of an important

relationship with a family member or friend, or loss of health in illness or some physical impairment. When these things happen sometimes, we try to avoid the grief work that needs to take place in order to sustain spiritual and emotional good health. None of us is immune to these losses and we're all grieving to one extent or another, but the question is how consciously aware are you of that grief which resides just below the surface of your conscious self.

My buried grief presented itself to me last week as I prepared for my day with a cup of pineapple green tea and listening to music on Alexa. I asked Alexa to play Joni Mitchell's song “River.” Do you know that one? The setting for the song takes place at Christmas and there are notes played that are similar to a well-known Christmas tune. Just as I happened to turn and look at our wedding picture the notes to the Christmas song played and I began to weep.

I miss Karen because she's thousands of miles away right now and I'm also grieving what's happening to my country. That's not an immediate loss like a loved one or pet but it is something ever present on my mind. I also thank God for the few moments of tears because it means I'm embracing the pain and fear I feel inside and giving it to God.

I'm letting it go because if I don't the temptation to remain in denial becomes perilous. To remain in denial by distracting myself with entertainment or work allows the grief to go deeper and possibly express itself in detrimental ways. It's negative energy that needs to be consciously acknowledged and intentionally let go of otherwise it can manifest in illness or physical problems or negative emotions like anger and resentment and fear.

What I mean by intentionally let go of is that those few moments of tears didn't happen as an isolated event but were a consequence of many days of journal work, depth prayer, scripture reading with a focus on the Psalms, and tai chi and dancing to music to keep the energy flowing. I also take time to let the animals know I love them and I'm taking care of them. That means stopping whatever I'm doing to pet and talk to them and let them know they're loved and appreciated.

This led to an unexpected encounter with Oreo our oldest dog who came over to me while I wept. I remember my first dog, Omar, who would go to another room if I started weeping. Oreo is our traumatized, nervous rescue who exhibits a lot of behavioral problems and undoubtedly felt anxious about my tears. Never-the-less to move toward them rather than away is an expression of love and I felt comforted by her presence. God comes to us in many different ways.

You've been listening to my story and how I attempt to avoid the temptation to deny or distract myself from the pain I feel inside, but we all deal with grief differently. Following is a story about the ways Mr. Brown and Clarence found to cope with grief:

The story begins with Clarence who is Mr. Brown's neighbor across the street and Clarence was confined to bed because of a fall. The doctor told him to remain off his feet as much as possible for a few weeks while his leg recovered from surgery. He spent the majority of his time on his couch in the living room where he could see Mr. Brown out the window.

Clarence took note of how much time Mr. Brown spent out in his front yard trimming bushes, cutting the grass, planting flowers, pulling weeds and other assorted activities. He would spend literally hours at a time out in his yard and over the course of those few weeks on the couch he never once saw anyone come to visit. Mr. Brown appeared to be quite isolated from the community and Clarence felt a bit sad for him.

After Clearance's leg healed, and out of a sense of compassion, he decided he would make an attempt to pay a visit to Mr. Brown thinking he could start up a conversation about yard care. So he walked across the street and knocked on the door and when Mr. Brown answered he said, “I've noticed the care you show for your lawn as I was laid up for a few weeks and could see you out the window.”

Mr. Brown replied, “It keeps me busy, and I don't mind doing the work, in fact, I'm thankful I can still do the upkeep.” Clarence replied, “Well, you certainly put in long hours, far more than I do, but I enjoy the work too” At which point Mr. Brown invited him in for a cup of coffee and Clarence accepted the invitation.

Clarence soon learned that Mr. Brown had lost his wife last year and was filling the emptiness with yard work and reading and television. Clarence had also lost his wife, though many years earlier, and had found spending more time with church activities had helped him fill the void that was left. He told him the church was helping immensely by allowing him to drive the church van.

Clarence continued, “I drive the church van and pick up members who can't get in on their own. I also help with evangelism by visiting people who come to church for the first time, and I attend Bible studies and other educational events the pastor and church staff put on. I also go to both church worship services on Sunday morning.”

Mr. Brown told him he never had much interest in church but was glad Clarence had found it helpful. Clarence then extended the obvious invitation asking Mr. Brown if he would like to come with him to church one Sunday, and to his surprise Mr. Brown said he'd think about it.

A couple weeks later Clarence walked across the street again while Mr. Brown was out in the yard and in the midst of conversation told him the offer to go to church with him still stood. Again, to his surprise, Mr. Brown actually agreed to go with him that Sunday. Eventually Mr. Brown also got involved with the evangelism team and doesn't go to both services but does faithfully attend the second service.

Going to church doesn't resolve the empty feeling inside when you lose your spouse. But it does connect you to others and to similar struggles they're involved in. As you get to know people and how they grapple with the void you can pick up pointers and find mutual support. We all learn to live around the pain and we do that best when were working at bringing it up into our conscious awareness. To feel the feelings and come to know they're not bottomless.

Jesus has told us through the beatitudes that he'll be with us bringing comfort and guidance and strength as we grieve. The second beatitude says: “You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.” (Matthew 5:4; The Message Bible) Flowing tears means the ego defenses have come down and at that point God becomes our refuge.

The warning markers are clear in scripture and reveal the consequences of giving into temptations. The severity of those consequences vary from person to person depending upon what's at stake when we give in to the desire to sin. For some it means life or death and for others it may mean prolonged unnecessary suffering along with emotional collateral damage. Anyway you sum it up its better to stay on the holy path even though that too can be quite difficult.

“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:17-18)

Rev. Mitch Becker

March 23, 2025

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“The Promises”

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

Our text begins with, “After these things....” which is a reference to Abraham and Sarah going to Egypt, becoming wealthy, and their nephew Lot being separated from them, captured and then rescued. Their lives have been quite eventful, yet the Lord has given them no child.

In a vision God tells Abraham he is under The Lord's protection and in time he'll be rewarded. But Abraham laments since he can't see any great benefit in God's rewards when he has no child. God responds by assuring Abraham he will be given a child and then takes him outside and tells him to count the stars in the sky.

The stars serve as a metaphorical image for how many descendants Abraham will have, and Abraham believes the promise and is now considered made right with God because of his faith. Of course, no mention is made of how Sarah will receive this “good news” about countless descendants considering she'll be doing most of the work in birthing them! (I'm being facetious in that God is referring to the decedents who will result from the generations to come.)

Now comes the second promise which is the gift of the Promised Land as their ultimate home. Abraham is skeptical about this promise and wants God to assure him that the promise is genuine. This is where the strange ritual comes in about splitting animals in half and laying the carcasses on either side to create a path. Abraham goes to sleep, and, in a dream, God reveals the enslavement and oppression by the Egyptians his descendants will endure for 400 years. But eventually the Egyptians will be punished, and the Israelite's will walk out of Egypt.

The final vision is of a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch that passes between the split animals. That's when God makes the covenant with Abraham and guarantees that the Promised Land will be theirs.

Sometimes the gospel is understood as God's good news for our bad situations. Most of our bad situations are brought on due to our own self-centered pursuits and poor judgments that manifest in sinful acts and guilt. There are also bad situations that come about because of economic challenges or health problems or troubled relationships. We should also include feelings of depression or meaninglessness which are quite prevalent in these modern times and especially with youth.

In our story today Sarah and Abraham's bad situation is first identified as their inability to have a child. The good news comes in the form of a promise that Abraham's descendants will number as the stars in the sky, and Abraham believes it. That's what people are supposed to do with God's promises – believe them.

Abraham's faith is summed up in the word “righteousness” which means to be right with God or a broader definition might be when you live up to your obligations in a relationship. In this broader definition a priest, for example, is being righteous when he remains faithful and strives to fulfill his sacred vows regardless of circumstances. Abraham is being righteous within his relationship with God when he believes God's promises.

A bad situation in my own life presented itself when the doctor told me I had a 5-centimeter malignant tumor on my left kidney. It left me terrified, and it took several weeks of prayer and journal work to come to terms with the ensuing fear. The first doctor I went to told me the best thing to do would be to remove the entire kidney. That was not the good news I was looking for.

At the time I was doing chaplaincy work at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, and I brought my bad situation to the head chaplain. Her advice was to seek a second opinion which I did when Karen and I met with Dr. Hefty at Virginia Mason in Seattle. After looking at the MRI he felt he could successfully remove the tumor by taking a third of the kidney.

When he finally got in there, he discovered the tumor was still enclosed in a fibrous capsule separating it from the surrounding tissue. Therefore, he only needed to take a tenth of the kidney. On one of the four days I was in the hospital I awoke after a nap to discover Dr. Hefty beside my bed. It was then that he shared the good news of the enclosed tumor, and the minimal amount of kidney removed. I have been cancer free since the surgery in 2012.

You can see the pattern that led up to the good news which began with advice to seek a second opinion. This resulted in being put into the good hands of Dr. Hefty and only a nominal amount of kidney removed. Unfortunately, a kidney, unlike a liver or heart which are basically muscles, cannot repair itself because the internal architecture is too complex. Consequently, my GFR numbers are too low, and my creatinine (kree-a-tuh-neen) is too high. I have stage three kidney disease.

We almost always look for good news when we're confronted with a bad situation, regardless of the source or circumstances.

People of faith like Abraham and us look to God for good news. I did that primarily through the use of my journal and quiet centering prayer. Because God helped me transcend my initial fear of death it in turn enabled me to make good judgments like getting advice from the chaplain and seeking a second opinion. If I would have succumbed to my fear, I could have very well lost my left kidney.

Faith not only believes God's promises it also trusts that good news will be forthcoming. That could very well be a definition for hope. To be hopeful is to trust that there is good news awaiting us in every bad situation. Christians are people of hope. If you're looking at the world in any other way, then you're off the holy path and you need to find a way back onto it.

The spiritual disciplines such as prayer, scripture study, and therapy help us to stay on the “road to somewhere” as Psalm 119:30 states. In these troubling times we're living through staying on that road can be an immense challenge. Typically, we're mostly dealing with our own sin and guilt, but now-a-days the very culture we live in is engulfed in chaos and uncertainty.

Last week's Zoom meeting with the pastors in the region is a case in point. Mat's church is trying to compensate for the shelters in their area being shut down due to discontinued funding. Pastor Adam is under attack because of a video he put out that has been hijacked and reinterpreted to fit a very different sort of message. Pastor Paul in Anchorage had the most troubling story of all about the Ukrainian refugees his church is assisting.

He said half of them have received letters from the government revoking their visa's. These are not immigrants who are under an entirely different system. These are refugees who have fled war torn Ukraine to take up residence in our country. They have found jobs and established homes here.

They cannot return to Ukraine because there is nowhere to go since their homes have been destroyed. Paul and the church are trying to help them and by chance or grace one of the top legal people in constitutional law resides in Anchorage and she has offices in Washington D.C. She and her team are lending their legal expertise in helping the refugees.

Pastor Paul said one of the major problems is that the messages out of Washington keep changing. For awhile they had established a legal foothold through an alternative program for refugees established by Congress, but that has since been discontinued. In the midst of all this anxiety and stress Pastor Paul is about to undergo another heart ablation and is supposed to be avoiding stress and anxiety!

Listening to his story my heart went out to him and the refugees, and I wanted to show him support but couldn't think of any way to do it. Then an opportunity presented itself when Paul, our regional minister, asked at the end of the session if anyone would like to close in prayer. I said I would, and, in the prayer, I spoke of hope and how all things are possible with God.

Paul and his church in Alaska are absolutely committed in their ministry and mission to the Ukrainian refugees, whereas we're still trying to develop a mission to our community and I'm happy to announce some important progress in that area. Karen has spearheaded our attempts to work with Lincoln High School and Mace the principle who happens to be Mia's son.

Last Wednesday Lori down at Shore Aquatics agreed to sell us 100 swim passes for $100 amounting to $1.00 per pass! That's a real bargin. The swim passes will be given to kids who may not be able to afford them. This is not mission to refugees or immigrants, but it is vital mission to the youth in our community.

It is an expression of compassion given to youth who may be in dire need of it. The Apostle Paul tells us there is faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love. We must keep looking for ways to express the love of Christ because that's what we're primarily called to do.

It's also important to say that we don't show compassion to the community because we have concerns about our continued existence. We show compassion because that's what Christ did when he was here on earth. We show it because that's what God did with Sarah and Abraham in the midst of their distress in being childless. God was generous in his compassion not giving them one promise, but two, and in time making good on both of them.

Rev. Mitch Becker

March 16, 2025

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Launching Into Lent”

Luke 4:1-13

We've arrived at the Lenten season and it's not surprising to find the gospel lectionary text to be Jesus in the wilderness. This text is appropriate because it considers all three theological aspects of the season which are: resisting temptation, repentance and the passion of Jesus. One thing that comes through clearly in the text is that our ability to both resist temptation and repent depend not on self-reliance but on our relationship with God.

In the world we live there are many competing stories that influence us. This is why its crucially important to know the Christian story so we can navigate the world in faithful ways. Within our narrative today there are two competing stories beginning with Jesus' understanding of scripture and the more self-focused narrative the devil presents.

Also, there's two primary settings with the first being the wilderness which is an arid region in southern Israel. This is not desert like the sands of the Sahara because it could produce food for flocks of sheep after the rains and there was other life out there. Historically, the desert is the route the Israelite's take to the Promise Land after their liberation from Egypt. The desert helped shape the Israelite's into a covenant people led by cloud and fire. The other setting is Jerusalem which is the center of Jewish power, identity and worship and is where the final temptation occurs.

In the exchange of words by Jesus and the devil there is an underlying theme. The devil is offering a narrative of self-indulgence when he says things like make yourself bread from stones and all the nations of the world can belong to you. Jesus' responses come right out of his Bible or what we call the Old Testament. His responses demonstrate that he knows it's his reliance on God the Father that will keep him on a holy path.

The temptations themselves are interesting in that they focus on Jesus' identity as the Son of God. Twice the devil confronts him with the question: “If you are the Son of God,” followed by an invitation to prove his identity with some miraculous display. In the first three chapters of Luke Jesus is repeatedly identified as God's Son by Mary, Elizabeth, Simeon, Anna, and John the Baptist. In all these revelations Jesus did nothing to prove his identity. The devil's primary approach is to undermine Jesus' sonship with the Father by getting him to perform some type of self-serving act.

Also of interest is the way both Jesus and the devil quote scripture. Jesus' quotes come from Deuteronomy and the devil uses Psalm 91. We see in this usage of scripture that's its not enough in itself since even the devil knows his Bible. What matters is that scripture is brought to light through the Holy Spirit and is rooted in God's Salvation and our faithful obedience, rather than in self-reliance which is the devil's story.

Perhaps the first thing that grabs our attention comes in the opening verse where Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, and thus temptation by the Diabolical One. My hunch is most of us associate the Holy Spirit with baptism and communion and what brings us guidance and strength through prayer and other good things. So, when we read that Jesus is led by the Spirit into this challenging wilderness experience it may be disconcerting.

Then again, if you carefully go through the Book of Acts, you'll find the Spirit often leading the faithful into various trials and uncertainties. A more accurate understanding of what the Spirit does includes both challenges as well as being spiritually accommodating. Perhaps one of the best examples of the Spirit leading the faithful into troubled waters is the speech given by Peter at Pentecost where he cites the prophet Joel:

….your sons and your daughters shall prophesy

and your young men shall see visions

and your old men shall dream dreams

Even upon my slaves, both men and women,

in those days I will pour out my Spirit

and they shall prophesy (Joel 2:28-29)

Pentecostal theologian Amos Yong unpacks this for us:

Peter clearly understood that, whereas the former Jewish era was patriarchal in character, the restoration of Israel would feature the equality of male and female: both would prophesy under the power of the Spirit. Whereas the former covenant featured the leadership of elders, the restored kingdom would involve the empowering of men and women of all ages. Whatever structures had previously sanctioned the social system of slavery, the outpouring of the Spirit had been and would be indiscriminately upon both free and slave, in effect making them equal. In all of this, the work of the Spirit was heralded in strange tongues, not the conventional language of the status quo.

In effect, the restoration of the kingdom through the power of the Spirit actually overturned the status quo, as Mary and Zachariah had already foretold, those at the bottom of the social ladder – women, youth and slaves – would be recipients of the Spirit and vehicles of the Spirits empowerment.

People previously divided by language, ethnicity, culture, nationality, gender, and class would be reconciled in the new version of the kingdom. Potentially, “all flesh” would be included within the kingdom of the last days.

Though Mr. Yong doesn't use the word revolution that is in essence what he's describing – a revolution that would upend and eventually eliminate the social systems that oppressed and took advantage of women, children and slaves. It was, in fact, the oppressed who would be empowered to prophesy and, in that manner, confront the status quo bringing about the changes God envisions.

We can understand this as God giving both permission and power to bring about social changes that will only come through hardship and sacrifice. In our text today the Spirit leads Jesus into a situation involving hardship and temptation which ironically immediately follows his baptism by the Spirit in the Jordan River. If Forest Gump was describing the Spirit he might say, “You never know what you're going to get.”

Jesus' wilderness experience is a severe one where he is up against the Diabolical One himself and Jesus comes out of it ready to do ministry. So, there's various kinds of wilderness experiences and some of the more severe ones we encounter have to do with surgeries and strokes or when a loved one passes. But that's only a representative sampling. The following story illustrates other wilderness experiences:

Allegra was a professor of New Testament studies at a seminary in the Midwest and she was invited to preach at a local church. When a professor comes to preach sometimes people approach them after the worship service because they think they may know something the pastor doesn't. This happened to Allegra as she was approached by a young girl who asked for her advice.

What the question was amounted to something so theologically deep Allegra was surprised it was coming from a youngster. The question was since she didn't care about heaven was she going to hell? Of course, Allegra wanted to know the circumstances that surrounded the question, so she said:

“I'm curious as to why hell would be of such great concern to you while at the same time heaven isn't even on the table. "The girl began to explain that her mother is very suspicious of her and is always asking her questions about who she's spending her time

with and is she drinking or using drugs and is she going to be home on time. Further, she said that these questions are always followed by a threat that conveys the notion if she does anything wrong, she won't go to heaven but rather will end up in hell.

Allegra having raised no children of her own didn't have an immediate response to the girl's question and ended up simply telling her that she thought that was her mother's way of showing she loved her. Allegra knew that she'd avoided the religious aspect of the question and felt her answer was woefully inadequate.

Can you see the wilderness experiences in that brief story? Allegra is left in a wilderness of ignorance and guilt because she feels she's let the youngster down and missed an opportunity to say something important about God. The youngster is left with no answer at all neither religious nor relational.

Wilderness experiences come in all shapes and sizes. Some are severe and potentially life changing. While others happen almost on a daily basis because human beings have limitations and that's why we need to learn to be non-judgmental and especially with ourselves. No one is harder on us than we are and judging ourselves and our behaviors is not loving ourselves.

Before I close the sermon, I want to mention a wilderness we're all living in and it is something that has come forth in modern times. By that I mean it has never happened before, and it presents a unique challenge to the faithful. What I'm talking about is we live in an essentially Godless culture that is becoming more so as each day passes. You might call it the ultimate wilderness.

By saying that I don't mean that God isn't present. It simply means that people as a whole no longer recognize that Presence nor see any particular use for it. That makes us the faithful remnant with an enormous responsibility to preach and live out the gospel. God is with us in this wilderness of Godlessness, and you only need to turn to the Scriptures for hope and reassurance. This comes from Psalm 11 as interpreted in contemporary language:

“I've already run for dear life straight to the arms of God. So why would I run away now when you say the evil bows are bent, the wicked arrows aimed to shoot under the cover of darkness at every heart open to God. The bottoms dropped out of the country; good people don't have a chance? But God hasn't moved to the mountains; his holy address hasn't changed. He's in charge, as always....(Psalm 11:1-4a; The Message Bible)

Rev. Mitch Becker

March 9, 2025

Port Angeles