Sermons

First Christian Church

“BYOB”

John 2:1-11

The setting for our text today is the wedding at Cana and you may be surprised to know that such events were BYOB or bring your own booze, and in this case, wine. Which may explain why the wine ran out in the first place considering the guests were most likely from the poor peasant class.

It's Mary that alerts Jesus to the sudden shortage, and it's important to remember they live within an honor/shame culture. Mary may sense the shame the host will have to endure and seeks a quick remedy by asking Jesus to miraculously replace the wine. From here, we can go in a lot of different directions because the text doesn't spell out the reasons for peoples comments and reactions. We have to be creative.

Lets see how The Message interprets Jesus' response to his mom: “Is that any of our business, Mother – yours or mine? This isn't my time. Don't push me.” With my own mother I can't recall a time being “pushed” though certainly it must have occurred on occasion. For example, she never pushed me to leave home after high school. I took my time and worked in the canneries and lived at home. I left when I was ready.

When you don't know the emotional context of “Don't push me,” it's hard to interpret the full meaning of it. If there's any angry tone involved, you might wonder if Jesus had a long-standing problem with his mom pushing him into things. If it's said in a more matter-of-fact way, then Jesus just feels certain in his lack of response to the situation.

The more important aspect of this response is the comment, “This isn't my time,” which obviously is a reference to doing signs that demonstrate his powers as the Messiah. Again, Jesus sounds down right convicted about not performing anything of a miraculous nature, and as moms sometimes do, she completely ignores this and tells the servants to follow his instructions. Jesus, like a good son, does the miracle!

This brings us to an important symbolic aspect of the text which is that the wine Jesus creates to fill the jars is even better than the wine they started with. It was the custom to serve the better wine first and after people were under the effect of the alcoholic beverage the poorer grade wine would come out. The host is surprised when the miraculously created wine is even better than the original stuff.

From here we can make an easy transition to the celebration of the Eucharist. In worship the best is saved for last along with the implication that this is what the faithful have really come for. Through the proclamation of the word of God, shared prayers and hymn singing we're brought closer into relationship with Jesus, but its at the Lord's Table we're brought into intimate relationship with God.

The Eucharist or what we call “communion” has become in modern times a largely symbolic ritual meant to bring us into closer relationship with God. It can still do that, and as we listen to the following excerpt we need to remember that communion for the early church was known as a “Love Feast” and was a full meal. The “Love Feast” explains, in part, the rapid spread of the Christian faith in that it provided nourishment for people who often couldn't feed themselves. Father Rohr begins by talking about the sharing of food:

In all cultures, sharing food is a complex interaction that symbolizes social relationships and defines social boundaries almost more than any other daily event. Whom you eat with defines whom you don't eat with. Certain groups of people eat certain kinds of food. Through our choices and behavior at the table, we name and identify ourselves.

This might seem like an unfair example to some, but today a vegetarian (or even vegan) diet has become a conscious choice for many because they studied the politics of food: who eats meat and who can't eat meat; what eating meat is doing not only to our health but even to the planet. Researchers surmise that the meat-heavy Western diet contributes to one-fifth of global emissions on our planet. Zen master Thich (Tick) Ntah (Not) Hanh (Hahn) writes:

“As a spiritual family and a human family, we can all help avert climate change with the practice of mindful eating. Going vegetarian may be the most effective way to stop climate change.”

Considering these thoughts our own Soup & Bread Sunday may have come to mind. Though we rarely think about it while we're eating together we are, in fact, building upon existing relationships, and in some cases beginning new ones; all the while reinforcing our identity as a people of faith that enjoy being together and sharing a meal.

It's not too much of a stretch to see Soup & Bread Sunday as an extension of the communion celebration.

Eating together is an expression of intimacy which begins at the Lord's Table and

continues around the tables in the Fellowship Hall. Eating together can be awkward and very different from eating by yourself or with immediate family. Sometimes food doesn't make it all the way into your mouth, or beverages are spilled, or you may become self-conscious about the amount of dessert in front of you.

All these aspects of a community meal involve paying attention to what you're doing, being patient with others behaviors, and helping anyone in need of assistance. It often requires intentional, caring contact that typically doesn't occur in a worship service. This is how relationships are built upon, and what's unique about Soup & Bread Sunday is it all happens within a context of a people who share the same faith.

This community meal as an extension of communion has significantly contributed to a post-pandemic awakening that's now expressing itself in multiple ways. We need to thank both Linda and Margaret for birthing Soup & Bread Sunday and for keeping it going! This month Roger N. graciously brought a yummy chicken noodle soup enjoyed by all, and in the months ahead hopefully others will step forward to maintain this important part of our life together.

This all brings to mind a story about someone that visited a Trappist monastery and was enraptured by the Eucharistic celebration that, to his surprise, morphed into a community meal:

Though Basil had long since graduated from high school he still didn't know what he wanted to do with his life. He'd worked in construction jobs and a grocery store as a bagger and for a time in a steel mill, but all such experiences had been short-lived and equally unsatisfying. His life was boring and lacked vision. He knew in his heart something needed to change.

This resulted in a vague sense of desperation, so he decided one day to pay a visit to the Trappist monastery just outside of Louisville, Kentucky. Prior to this visit he had briefly attended a local Foursquare Pentecostal church and was impresses by the passion and prayerful practice of the congregation.

The visit to the monastery was a way of appeasing his sense of desperation, though he didn't really feel the monastery would have a lasting effect upon him. He drove up the hill, parked, and entered the abbey. He had not planned to attend Sunday mass since he had no idea when it started, but it seems the Spirit had led him to that very worship service.

Mass was nothing like what he'd experienced in the Pentecostal church, and at first he felt as lost in the worship service as he did existentially. He had no idea how to follow the prayer book, but he did enjoy the monks singing the psalms and the sermon was based on the Prodigal Son which he tended to identify with.

When the priest walked to the back of the altar to begin the Eucharistic celebration, he felt a pang of rejection knowing he wasn't Catholic and would not be welcomed at the Table. As the priest began the celebration, he noted how different it was from the Pentecostal communion service in that it was full of symbolism and formality.

Then, something completely unexpected happened and it occurred when the priest held up the cup of Salvation. Basil suddenly felt as if the priest had become Christ himself. Of course, it was still the priest standing there with the cup held high, but Basil felt he was in the actual presence of the Lord.

The feeling was overwhelming and though he knew in his mind he wasn't welcome at the Table wild horses couldn't hold him back from going forward. He was going to receive this gift from God regardless of what anyone might think. He went forward and knelt at the altar to receive the wafer and cup, and nothing was said or done to deny him this aspect of God's grace.

After the mass Basil fell into conversation with one of the monks in the narthex and was subsequently invited to have lunch with them. With some apprehension he accepted the invitation and joined them to eat soup and bread in silence. He'd never eaten a meal in silence, and it only added to what had already occurred at the Lord's Table.

It was not until much later in his life, and after many years of faithful discipleship in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) that he realized what had happened that morning. Out of the few times he'd received communion at the Pentecostal church, who celebrate it only once a month, and after countless times as a Disciple of Christ, he finally realized that morning in mass was an epiphany, and he intuitively understood that Christ was in him, and he was in Christ.

A Disciple may receive communion a thousand times before the real mystical experience of it occurs, but for Basil it came early on, and he has never forgotten it, and now sees it was a sacred sneak-peek at what was to come in his spiritual journey. A deep spiritual/psychological healing began on that morning and has continued to this day.

At the wedding in Cana the best comes last and so it is with every worship service in our church.

Rev. Mitch Becker

January 19, 2025

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Transforming Twitch”

Isaiah 43:1-7

The words of the prophet are an attempt to reshape the identity of an oppressed, long-suffering people held in captivity in Babylon. The exiles are suffering from a spiritual disorder that is common among all human beings for all ages. That disorder is namely people's tendency to see themselves as far less than the children of God they actually are.

These words are some of the most consoling and deeply trans-formative words in the Bible. The Babylonians see God's people as slaves of the empire and over time they've adopted this definition for themselves. God through the prophet is challenging this harmful self-definition and the highlight of the challenge is found mid-point through the text where it reads: “Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you...”

God vows to augment this love by protecting his people assuring them he'll be with them as they “pass through the waters,” and they'll not be overwhelmed by the rivers, nor will fire burn or consume them when they walk through it. This demonstrates the authenticity of God's love for his people, and who of us wouldn't risk our own well-being for the safety of those we love and cherish?

Our text today perfectly conforms to this special day of the church year known as Baptism of the Lord Sunday. At our own baptisms we are “marked as Christ's own,” and designated as one of God's precious, beloved creatures, and Called to witness to God's grace and mercy.

In one of the commentaries, I reviewed there was a story about a man whose life was transformed by God. Following is the story as it was recorded by the author Callie Plunket-Brewton:

“A month or so ago, I met a man who has two names. His given name is Jeremy. He's been called “Twitch” for years. Twitch, he told me when we met, was the name he went by when he was in and out of jail before he got clean. I said that I would call him Jeremy, thinking he wouldn't want to be called a name associated with his pretty harsh past. He then said the most extraordinary thing. He said he wanted people to keep calling him Twitch so that it would be clear to the people who had known him before that he was a transformed man. He was afraid that if he started to go by Jeremy people might not realize that he was the same Twitch who'd been in jail with them.

He comes around pretty often to the homeless ministry where I sometimes serve and hangs out with our homeless guests. Many of them know him. He wants them to recognize him and take heart that God can transform their lives, too.”

This story describes the overall purpose of our text which is to solidify our identity within the parameters of God's grace and mercy. We're all quick on the draw when it comes to demoting our God given identities as God's precious children. Our vision is severely limited and requires constant upgrading by a generous and loving God. Through the prophet God attempts to accomplish this upgrading with the exiles in Babylon as well as with the Church today.

John came in the office last week and told me that there is interest in establishing another Narcotics Anonymous meeting in our church on Tuesday evenings. Neither John nor I see any problem with adding another meeting to the four that presently exist. It's a privilege for us to be able to facilitate these important times of support and healing for so many people. On the other hand, it's rather sad because it points to a widespread need for drug recovery in our city.

The first task these folks are confronted with is to stop using drugs and that's a biggish step in itself. But its only the beginning of the healing that must take place because at a deeper level one's self image must also be addressed. That's one reason I visited with the Wednesday group to intentionally invite them to Sunday worship. The work they need to do can be helped along by the word of God and its ability to contribute to a better self-image. Today's text is a good example of the more comprehensive healing God makes possible.

This deeper level of spiritual/psychological healing is fraught with difficulties not the least being having to give up the previous dysfunctional self-image for a healthy one. Even though the dysfunctional one doesn't work well it is the only self-image one has known. For that reason alone, it's hard to let go of what's familiar for something new and unknown. The group enables the struggling addict to keep moving forward with words of encouragement and mutual support.

Eventually we're all trying to reach what the Apostle Paul describes so beautifully in the letter to the Corinthians when he says: “All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shinning with the brightness of his face. And so, we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.” (2 Corinthians 3:18; The Message Bible)

This is the ultimate goal for anyone of faith whether they be a recovering addict or any one of us sinners.

This involves a revamping not only of self-image, but also our image of God. The two are closely related because the way we see ourselves influences the way we see God, and vice versa. The two are not mutually exclusive – one depends on the other. To continue this discussion lets allow Brain McLaren to make a contribution:

….the God imaged by Jesus exerts no dominating supremacy. In Christ, we see an image of God who is not armed with lightning bolts but with a basin and towel, who spewed not threats but good news for all, who rode not a warhorse but a donkey, weeping in compassion for people who do not know the way of peace. In Christ, God is supreme, but not in the old discredited paradigm of supremacy; God is the supreme healer, the supreme friend, the supreme lover, the supreme life-giver who self-empties in gracious love for all.

The king of kings and lord of lords is the servant of all and the friend of sinners. The so- called weakness and foolishness of God are greater than the so-called power and wisdom of human regimes. In the aftermath of Jesus on the cross, we should never again define God's sovereignty or supremacy by analogy to the kings of this world who dominate, oppress, subordinate, exploit, scapegoat, and marginalize. Instead, we have migrated to an entirely new universe, or, as Paul says, “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) in which old ideas of supremacy are subverted.

For the addict the source of the addiction whether that be alcohol, drugs, shopping, excessive eating, news feed or whatever – the addictive source becomes the supreme desire in the addict's life. In a very real sense, the obsessive focus on the one thing becomes a god, but its a god that dominates and controls. As one bumper-sticker reads: “Addiction is giving up everything for one thing – Recovery is giving up one thing for everything.” The idolatrous god has to be replaced by the type of God Brian is describing – the God Jesus imaged. A story can bring this home for us:

Odette began her descent into alcoholism in adolescence having grown up in a home of an addictive mother and a co-dependent father. In some respects, this is so unfair since the child doesn't know that life can be any other way. When you grow-up in an alcoholic home the path of least resistance is to follow your parent's example, which Odette did.

By the time she reached young adulthood she was a full-blown alcoholic frequently in trouble with the law and in and out of jail. Most of her friends also drank but were largely able to keep it under control. Not so for Odette who was unable to curb the addiction until finally she was binge drinking, which is staying drunk for days at a time.

Her saving grace was an interest in clothing and fashion which eventually led her to the community college and a major in textile fundamentals. Unfortunately, by the time she reached the end of the first semester the best grade she accomplished was a C in the History of Costume. History was always especially interesting to her, but some of the other classes she just squeaked by with D's. It was apparent she wasn't going to cut it as a student if she didn't do something radical.

That something radical began as an invitation to a dance being held by a local Disciples of Christ church. The invitation was extended by an old friend from high school by the name of Orson. Odette was actually more attracted to Orson than going to the dance, and thought she might find some inroads to romance by going. What she actually got was another invitation but this was to attend a Bible study class which she also accepted because of her continued interest in Orson.

It was at the Bible study that her focus began to shift from her alcoholic lifestyle, and Orson, to a healthier lifestyle, and she was baptized on a Palm Sunday. She stopped drinking altogether, and though nothing ever became of a deeper relationship with Orson her relationship with God blossomed. This corresponded directly with her life as a student and her grades improved dramatically.

Unlike most alcoholics that require a support system such as Alcoholics Anonymous provides, Odette was able to immerse herself in church and school and after a couple years of sobriety and subsequent success was unwilling to return to her addictive lifestyle. She was able to turn her life around through a combination of faith and hard work, and continued to grow deeper into the mystery of Christ. She is now in her early seventies and has for many years been the head merchandiser for the local Macy's department store. She's quite happy about the way her life has unfolded.

The next hymn we're going to sing is entitled, “I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry” and it's a beautiful piece which speaks to Baptism of the Lord Sunday, and Linda has been gracious enough to agree to lead us through this unfamiliar hymn.

The words of the prophet on the surface are just that – words. It takes a lifetime to finally allow words like: “Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you...” to sink in and take root in our souls. We may have to go through something like Odette did, or maybe it comes easier, but sooner or later if you'll remain faithful the light will come on and that's when it all becomes worth it.

Rev. Mitch Becker

January 12, 2025

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Adopted By the Cross”

Ephesians 1:3-14

Our text is about how people can coexist amid the vast expressions of what it means to be human. The Apostle Paul is a Jew writing to a largely Gentile audience with a message that states God has brought these two ethnic groups together by his grace, and in order to sustain this newfound relationship the parties involved must practice humility, gentleness and patience.

The letter itself opens by thanking God for having created this reconciled relationship between the two groups. God is recognized as the unifying force that has adopted the church as God's sons and daughters, and that this was planned from the beginning of time.

Adoption in Paul's day was not uncommon. For people of wealth and power it allowed for a heir if the elite couple was without children. The adopted person over time would be awarded the same social status as the parents, not to mention the wealth they'd inherit. The adopted person (I say person because this could be either a child or an adult) would return the favor by assuming the parents name and remaining loyal.

These principles of adoption also apply to the church as one adopted by God. What is unique about this particular adoption is its not of an individual but of entire ethnic groups of people. The language echos the stories of God choosing Israel for the purpose of redemption for those adopted. Here, the story of the Hebrew peoples release from bondage in Egypt best applies.

Throughout the text God is the one doing the adopting, but Christ is also repeatedly presented as a key participant. This is made especially clear in the next chapter where we read: “Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders (the Gentiles) and peace to us insiders (the Jews). He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.” (Ephesians 2:16-18; The Message Bible)

This adoption of two separate ethnic groups that were at one time hostile toward each other is a preview of coming attractions. It is part of a much larger and comprehensive plan of reconciliation designed for all of Creation – both heaven and earth. This is Christ's ultimate purpose which we can see coming about on an individual basis as we are transformed into his likeness by the Holy Spirit.

When I first became a serious Christian having joined First Christian Church in Albany after about a year I attached a purple ribbon to my lapel. I said the ribbon represented “peace on earth through Christ.” I wore the ribbon for more than a year and didn't take it off until I moved to Corvallis to attend Oregon State University. Our text today contributed to my conviction to wear the ribbon and make a prophetic statement to the church about peace. The most influential part of the text was found in these two verses:

For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

You can see how Christ is central to the process of unification of all Creation which is why I specify in my prophetic statement that it must occur “through Christ.” Today, considering what I've learned and have experienced since 1981 I probably wouldn't phrase the statement in such a Christological way. But at the time it was important for me to do so, and I got in a bit of trouble for it.

Maybe not so much because I made Christ central to accomplishing unity, but because as one member of the church put it: “You're threatening my job at Wah Chang. Much of the metals production we do goes to the military, and if those contracts disappear I won't have a job.” I don't remember what I said to him. What I remember is I didn't take the ribbon off, and I didn't stop my peacemaking efforts.

In fact, I tried to start a Disciples Peace Fellowship in the church with an evening meeting during the week. My at the time girlfriend, another member of the church, came to the meeting, and that was it. Subsequent meetings were equally well attended and eventually I discontinued them.

It was revealed to me sometime later by the associate minister, Ray Lindley, that those early Disciple Peace Fellowship meetings planted the seed for a later peace organization known as Albany Peace Seekers which has been an influential force for peace in the area. The last Facebook post I can find is dated February, 2022. They've been around a long time, and as far as I know they're still in existence.

Ray felt it was the Disciples Peace Fellowship meetings that spurned the interest for the later peace organization, but my feeling is it was the purple ribbon that proved more important. The purple ribbon actually served two purposes. The first was to promote peace for the church and the world, but there was also an effect that came from the inside out for myself.

My spiritual/psychological development had been negatively impacted by my addictive practices with alcohol. When you cope with things like grief by getting drunk you bypass the stages of grief. You don't learn how to manage your feelings, nor do you develop effective mental/emotional strategies for coping with the more challenging aspects of life.

Whereas many people begin to develop such strategies in adolescence I began as a young adult and had to play catch-up. My prophetic stance about peace sometimes resulted in challenges that required me to cope with difficult personal situations, as well as learning to stand and express myself in terms of my religious convictions.

This is all ego work that needs to be accomplished before you can engage in deeper spiritual and emotional development. In other words, you have to have an ego before you can let one go. Important ego development happens when you stand up in front of people and express personal convictions. It also happens when you have to struggle with things like grief and disappointment.

This was an important time in my life where I began to put into practice what would later become a lifestyle which I maintain to this day. These strategies for coping also involve prayer, both quiet, centering and intercessory prayer. Prayer invites God's power to resolve difficult situations, and it can bring healing, guidance or strength when people need it.

A recent example that can be cited is the mass killing which occurred early in the morning on New Years Day. I wrote a response to this horrible event and put it online both using the church email list and my personal Facebook page. My cousin Pennie responded to it talking about the importance of prayer in regard to these all too often violent occurrences in our society.

I told her that by praying for the victims we not only can bring God's healing power to bear, but it's also good for ourselves to pray when such things happen. Some people contend that prayer isn't really doing anything that one has to take action! Yet, there are few things more powerful at this level of existence than heartfelt prayer for the well being of others.

Such compassionate responses to horrific events is the opposite of denial. It means to allow the horror of it all to be fully acknowledged. In so doing one realizes that violence of this nature can only be countered with the love of God. This, in turn, can open the door of our soul to allow God's compassion to flow through us and out into the world. Father Rohr puts it this way:

We are saved by standing consciously and confidently inside the force field that is Christ, not by getting it right in our private selves. This is too big a truth for the small self to even imagine. We're too tiny, too insecure, too ready to beat ourselves up. We don't need to be correct, but we can always try to remain connected to the Source....

All we can do is fall into the Eternal Mercy – into Love – which we can never really fall out of because “we belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God,” as Paul so beautifully stated (1 Corinthians 3:23). Eventually, we know that we are saved by mercy in spite of ourselves. That must be the final humiliation to the ego.

Our holiness is really only God's holiness, and that's why it's certain and secure. It is a participation in love, a mutual indwelling, not an achievement or performance on our part. “If anyone wants to boast, let them boast in the Lord,” Paul shouts! (1 Corinthians 1:31)

As we absolutely refuse to hide our heads in the sand and courageously face whatever evil the world has to offer through prayerful submissions to God we're in turn empowered by God's compassion. Rohr is encouraging us to stand within the “force field that is Christ.” There are a thousand different ways to practice denial, but if we want to grow in Spirit and be healed both personally and collectively as a society we must face the horror with the power of prayer.

That is the road to Salvation that Christ showed us so long ago, and it remains our best hope to this day. Our text today is about showing people who were once hostile toward each other how to coexist with grace and humility. The Apostle Paul reminds the Ephesians they've been adopted by God. They are children of God and in full participation with the divine plan to bring all things together in Christ. Things both in heaven and on earth.

We are now those children of God also Called to be in full participation with the divine plan. God can't accomplish this without us, and we can't do a thing without God.

Rev. Mitch Becker

January 5, 2025

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“A Holy Recovery Project”

Luke 2:41-52

Our text consists of the only words in the gospel about Jesus' childhood. The opening verse tells us that Jesus's parents made the trip to Jerusalem for Passover an annual event. Since the distance they needed to cover, from Nazareth to Jerusalem, was nearly 90 miles on foot that was a considerable annual undertaking.

Jesus is 12 years old which according to Jewish customs means he was one year shy of manhood. Therefore, this is a childhood experience in the life of Jesus. Yet, even as a child the teachers in the temple that are listening to him are amazed at his understanding and his answers. The teachers are fully focused on Jesus, and he's asking questions as well as giving answers that astound them.

Now, let's look at the text from start to finish beginning with the holy family traveling to Jerusalem for Passover. The first problem presented is the parents lose track of their child. The solution is to send out an all-points bulletin and search for Jesus. The resolution involves locating him in the temple.

This leads to a new problem which is that Jesus's explanation for being in the temple makes no sense. He says, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” The solution is that they all return home and Mary ponders everything that has transpired. We're left with a denouement (day-noo-maan) which is a French word meaning there's no final resolution. The story is left open ended and that's important to note.

Because much of the gospel and a considerable amount of biblical content leaves us without resolutions or explanations. In other words, God is ultimately a mystery to humankind. When we read the gospel or listen to Bible stories we would do well to always keep in mind that these are not facts to be ingested, but rather ancient wisdom provided for human enlightenment.

For example, how likely is it that the holy family would walk 90 miles every year in order to celebrate Passover. Not too likely, so what's the gospel writer trying to convey? What he wants us to recognize is that Jesus was well informed and thoroughly indoctrinated in the Jewish faith. That's the whole point.

You see, people in ancient times didn't think like we do. We're steeped in the scientific method which is heavily left brained. We look for facts and certifiable proof that can be corroborated by research and reason and rationality. What mattered in ancient times was truth not in terms of verifiable facts but in descriptive realities.

Luke is telling us that Jesus was thoroughly Jewish. That's why he was always coming up against the religious authorities because so often they weren't living out the central tenets of Judaism. They would interpret their faith to satisfy their wants and needs, and in that manner corrupted their own faith tradition. Jesus knows what the Torah says and tries to hold them to its Godly purposes.

Keeping these things in mind: the big day is behind us, and I hope your Christmas celebration was everything you wanted it to be. However, we're still basking in the glow of a miracle that represents the mystery of God the gospel is trying to convey to us. There is no scientific way to explain the Son of God coming to us by a women impregnated by the Holy Spirit. No matter how hard you try you're just not going to be able to fit that into a systematic process of hypothesis followed by data collection and experiment.

With that said allow me to share a story with you that I came across on Facebook. It's not unusual for me to look over my Facebook feed in the evenings as I'm getting ready for bed (that may or may not be a good idea). On the evening of Christmas Day I was scrolling through and came upon a story written by a former pastor in a church in Salem, Oregon. My hometown of Albany is about a twenty minute drive up the freeway to Salem, so the story caught my attention.

In it he spoke of a parishioner who told a story about his father who was in the Air Force during World War 2. His father was a rear turret gunner in a B-17. The pastor talked about the ammunition his father used and that some exploded munitions nearly missed his father's head. He ended the story saying that when his father returned to base, he called their mother, and that their mother had been praying for him as she sensed he was in danger.

If you're familiar with Facebook you know that such stories are then followed with comments from readers, and most of the comments were along the lines of thank you's for his father's courageous service. But some of them contained criticism about perceived errors in the story.

Criticism like the pastor identified the ammunition as 9mm, whereas B-17's apparently used 30 and 50 caliber machine gun ammunition. Someone else said that phones were not readily available to people back then, and there was other criticism, but you get the point. One moral of the story is don't put stories on Facebook if you're emotionally fragile!

The critical response that really got my attention was the guy that not only questioned some of the facts but actually attacked the pastor's faith with snide remarks about how he was trying to sensationalize to draw attention and ultimately fill the coffers of the church. He also made references to the pastor's vivid imagination fueled by the fantasies of the gospel.

I've seen this before where the criticism begins focused on the facts and eventually degenerates into blanket criticism about religion, and in this case into someone's personal faith practices. One reason this happens so often is because peoples worldviews are disproportionately influenced by science and the scientific method. And its important to remember this is a recent phenomena occurring within the last 200 years.

Before that people lived day to day with a religious worldview. There wasn't a focus upon facts and an overemphasis on the material world. Before the “enlightenment,” as the immersion into this factual/material world is ironically called, occurred miracles were more easily embraced and sometimes even taken for granted.

Miracles are happening all the time it's just that people can't see them because they're so focused upon facts and tangible reality. There's just no place for miracles any longer and this explains in large part not only a lack of belief in the Spirit, but also the vast degree of sarcastic, judgmental, fear-based responses when anyone defines their reality in religious terms.

The particular miracle that is central to the Christmas season is that of a baby in a manger who comes about by a most unusual way. Not by two people coming together creating a baby by normal reproductive means, but by an impregnation from God Almighty. Yet, it's also remarkable that you can put a story on Facebook that can be read by virtually every human being on the planet. That's a miracle too.

But if all you have to see things with is a strictly scientific worldview then all your going to see is electrons flowing through cell phones and computers, and you will miss the miraculous dimension altogether. If a good part of the world population can't even appreciate the miraculous nature of Facebook how much more difficult is it to see an immaculate conception? To embrace the Christmas miracle requires a leap of faith, and many people in this left-brained world just can't make the leap.

As I told you at the beginning of this sermon our text today leaves us without resolution. The French word I used is denouement which means the story is open-ended and if you think about it so is the gospel. Jesus just goes up into heaven leaving the disciples to carry on where he left off. What he left them with was the teaching of The Way to enlightenment and the power to heal. The power to create their own miracles.

Now, we've been left to carry on with the same work and to create our own miracles. At the Christmas Eve worship service there were more people present than we typical have on any given Sunday. Surrounding us in this sanctuary are numerous symbols for the Christmas season. They have been long gone for sometime, but they're back now. I lit the Christ candle with a device that makes a flame when you depress the trigger.

Folks, we're surrounded by miracles all the time, every day. That is not the question. The question is can you see them? Maybe the real gift of Christmas is its attempt every year to help us see the miracles that God Almighty is ultimately responsible for. Yes, God was ultimately responsible for Christ's birth, but in the final analysis God is responsible for all these other miracles as well.

That, my friends, is the religious worldview in a nutshell. The religious worldview can see that God is behind everything and people used to be able to see that too, but we've been spiritually blinded by facts and figures. People are just wandering around in a empty, material reality that cannot even begin to grasp the wonder of creation and the miracles that abound.

Christmas is God's way of giving sight to the blind and we get to be part of the holy recovery project. That is a miracle and a blessing at the same time. We get to be on the inside like the disciples who followed Jesus around the countryside. Like the three wise men we bear the priceless gift of salvation for a world wandering through a fact obsessed wilderness.

It's a tremendous responsibility that we can only fulfill by staying as close as possible to the four primary spiritual disciplines of prayer, study, compassion and community. That's our part and God will do the rest. God is an inexhaustible source of miracles or as scripture states: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...” (Ephesians 3:20)

Rev. Mitch Becker

December 29, 2024

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Wired to Persevere”

Luke 1:46b-55

Our text is known as The Magnificat (Mag-nif-faw-cot) and for some it is Mary's song of praise and gratitude to God. For others it's a song of defiance against oppressive forces and those that benefit from the poor in the world. In this regard, it is a radical protest song of the kind you might hear the exiles in Babylon singing. Hear and feel the power of it:

The Lord has shown strength with his arm;

has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

Has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

Has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

Mary is sounding the opening fanfare to Christ's Advent pronouncing it as a world-transforming event. In one of the commentaries unpacking this text he wrote about a professor who grew up a child of one of the missionaries in the Philippine islands. She said, “Growing up among the nation's poor....when they heard Mary's Psalm, it was the first time that anyone had told them the good news that God cares about them – the poor, the oppressed.”

Mary's psalm is saying that it's Christ who has come to challenge the societal structures that feed upon the poor and keep them enslaved to the system. Christ is doing what God has done throughout the centuries which is to lift up the lowly, free those enslaved, feed the hungry, give justice to the widow, to the orphan and stranger.

And this powerful song of resistance has been sung time and again and recorded in the Bible. One example comes for Psalm 146:

The Lord sets prisoners free;

the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

The Lord lifts up those that are bowed down;

the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the strangers,

upholds the orphan and the widow. (Psalm 146:7c-9b)

As people of faith, we're called to take the gospel out into the world to be transforming agents for God. Karen and I accomplished this with the widows at Laurel Place last week. We, along with Jerrie, brought the gospel word, prayer and Christmas carols to the population of mostly widows at this assisted living facility in the form of a worship service. This gathering was especially significant empowered by an atmosphere of holiday celebration!

You could tell by the look on people's faces that they appreciated the effort we made to remind them that though they may often feel forgotten they still matter to God. Bringing a worship service to an assisted living facility isn't what some people may think of as challenging oppressive societal structures; yet bringing comfort and hope to a population of mostly widows is exactly what God has been encouraging the faithful to do for ages.

If we're going to be agents of transformation we've got to start somewhere and it's not the starting that is so difficult – the hard part is keeping it up. At some point being faithful has more to do with perseverance than anything else. In fact, the Apostle Paul defines faith as perseverance: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us....” (Hebrews 12:1)

Perhaps Paul, more than anyone else in the biblical record, gave us an example of what faith as perseverance looks like! He established, nearly single-highhandedly, the fledgling Christian church in the Gentile world. An immensely difficult thing to do in his day. It's not too much to say that Paul was wired to persevere.

We who are present in worship today have also been called to persevere in faith and if you're here today I hope you hear that as an affirmation. Being present in worship on this fourth Sunday of Advent says something important about you. It means, like Paul, you too are wired to persevere. This gift does not come to everyone and if it did there would not be an empty seat in the sanctuary.

As you can see, there are several empty seats because not everyone is wired for perseverance. Many people at this time in the season are exhausted trying to get all their ducks in a row for the big day. We're certainly tired too, but we have an edge because underneath the weariness is the love of God and a deep inner recognition of what this season is all about. In a word, it's all about Christ. This vision from the English mystic Caryll Houselander describes it perfectly:

I was in an underground train, a crowded train in which all sorts of people jostled together, sitting and strap-hanging – workers of every description going home at the end of the day. Quite suddenly I saw with my mind, but as vividly as a wonderful picture, Christ in them all. But I saw more than that; not only was Christ in every one of them, living in them, dying in them, rejoicing in them, sorrowing in them – but because he was in them, and because they were here, the whole world was here too...

all those people who had lived in the past, and all those yet to come. I came out onto the street and walked for a long time in the crowds. It was the same here, on every side, in every passer-by, everywhere – Christ....

I saw too the reverence that everyone must have for a sinner; instead of condoning their sin, which is in reality their utmost sorrow, one must comfort Christ who is suffering in them. And this reverence must be paid even to those sinners whose souls seem to be dead, because it is Christ, who is the life of the soul, who is dead in them; they are his tombs, and Christ in the tomb is potentially the risen Christ....

Christ is everywhere, in him every kind of life has a meaning and has an influence on every other kind of life....Realization of our oneness in Christ is the only cure for human loneliness. For me, too, it is the only ultimate meaning of life, the only thing that gives meaning and purpose to every life.

In this particular season of Advent there is a sorrow which is pervasive throughout the culture and it's source is the deadness of the soul that Ms. Houselander is describing. As she has already pointed out the good news is that the potential for the risen Christ resides in every tomb. This is a great hope that we must adhere to and bring to every wandering soul we possibly can.

This is hard work because coming up against other people's wilderness journey forces us to confront our own. We would just as soon keep such things buried and out of sight, but there is no healing possible, no opportunity for the risen Christ, if we hide our heads in the sand. Love is always a risk, but if we'll rely on Christ and keep him before us through prayer, study and Christian community we will persevere.

We can help dead souls to rise again, and that is our calling on this fourth Sunday of Advent and every day throughout the year. That is how we find what the ultimate meaning of our life is...by risking to love. Every empty seat in this sanctuary represents someone out there wandering in a spiritual wilderness. We need spiritual clarity to persevere.

In the following Anglican hermit Maggie Ross offers us such clarity through an experience she had at the Lord's Table:

I took another step when the story of Nicodemus was read at the Eucharist the morning I was to leave for retreat at a Cistercian (Sis-ter-shun) abbey. His question, “How shall this be?” awoke the echoing voices of Mary and Zechariah, of Abraham and Sarah's laughter over God's preposterous proposal that he at a hundred years, and she in her nineties would bear a son....

To bear the Word, to enter the kingdom, we must indeed be born from the Spirit, not for the second time in the womb of our natural mothers, but continually in the love of the Mother of God that brought forth her son, and like her, in the same movement, to bear Christ as well. Mary, then, is my mother in this second birth, just as she is for Nicodemus.

That my heart is still not big enough to encompass this paradox I readily admit. I still feel unease about Mary sometimes....But if nothing else, Mary has taught me to say yes, as Jesus said yes to the cup that did not pass from him. And each time that cup is passed to me at the Eucharist, I look into its depths beyond the dark wine shimmering gold and, trembling, I say, “yes.”

To say “yes” to God, and especially at the Lord's Table because that “yes” opens the way to the spiritual rebirth Ms. Ross is describing results in the spiritual clarity we need to be able to say “no” to the injustices and oppression that surrounds us on every side. These injustices range from systemic evil that denies people the respect they deserve to the abuse of loved ones who in their brokenness traumatize the innocent to the injustice of a widow left forgotten in an assisted living facility.

When we say “yes” to the inner transformation God is trying to instill within us we're enabled at the same time to say “no” to injustice and take Spirit led action to counter it. What happened on that Holy Night so long ago matters because it was God's way of breaking into our darkness to bring goodness and light.

It's the second birth that enables us to be bearers of this goodness and light. To be “little Christ's” in a broken world. Mary's Psalm is about praise and thankfulness, but at a deeper level it's about saying “no” to injustice in whatever form it comes in.

Rev. Mitch Becker

December 22, 2024

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“The Wells of Salvation”

Isaiah 12:2-6

The county requires us to periodically test the water quality in our well. That was done when we moved into the trailer and a little while ago I took our own sample into the courthouse. For some reason we've received only partial results from the test and only the part that analyses the nitrates. We're still waiting for the other test results (since I wrote this we have acquired the remaining test results which were satisfactory). The level of nitrates is at the highest acceptable level, so a filter may be necessary. There is no filter necessary for God's wells of Salvation which run pure and plentiful meeting the deepest needs of parched souls.

Looking at chapter 12 as a whole we see it provides a transition between what has been a recount of Judah's history made up of both obedience and disobedience to God's covenant. It also points to the day of God's salvation and judgment which is a day of joy when the peace of God will permeate the earth because God's salvation has been acknowledged: “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and has become my salvation.” (Isaiah 12:2)

God's salvation is given credibility and the people are being encouraged to spread the good news! It is the people who will finally establish the kingdom of God on earth, and it's affirmed that the “holy one of Israel” is now in the midst of them.

To return to the motif of water God often provides it for desperate people, and it's a commonly used metaphor for salvation. There is a passage much later in the book of Isaiah that encapsulates this notion of water as a refuge for the people:

When the poor and needy seek water and there is none,

and their tongue is parched with thirst, the Lord will answer them,

I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of valleys;

I will make the wilderness a pool of water...so that all will see and know,

all may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this. (Isaiah 41:17-20)

Jesus is now providing the waters of salvation to all who seek wholeness and tells the Samaritan woman at the well what we all long to hear: “Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst – not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”

Since salvation is clearly the theme for the text we need to start with a precise definition of the concept and to do that we'll begin with the common understanding within the church. For most Christians salvation means to be saved from sin and Jesus accomplished this by his sacrifice upon the cross. The theological concept for this is called: “substitutionary atonement.”

But for some this understanding of salvation lacks depth as so much of the practice of our religion does. This lack of depth explains, in some part, a corresponding lack of interest in Christianity within the culture. So, lets unpack the concept of salvation by using one of the two central stories of the Hebrew people. The first story is the exodus from Egypt where salvation is characterized by a liberation from bondage eventually leading them to the Promised Land.

But what we'll focus on is the second central story which is about exile in Babylon that eventually results in their return home to Jerusalem through the wilderness. Here salvation is about a return journey that is enabled by God where the people reconnect to that in which they live and move and have their being. We do this all the time whenever we enter into a medical or relational or cultural wilderness. We find our way back home by reconnecting to God, don't we?

Something important to note in regard to both of these stories is they're not about individuals finding salvation. They're about a large group of people reconnecting to God while journeying through a wilderness. The substitutionary atonement mostly practiced by modern day Christians is always about an individual receiving salvation. This is more representative of the individualistic culture we live in than the stories of the Bible.

I've already cited the Hebrew peoples two central stories about salvation, and to give you an example from the New Testament consider that the Apostle Paul is almost always writing to groups of people and rarely to individuals. In the following he's referencing salvation:

What I'm getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you've done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I'm separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive to God. (Philippians 2:12; The Message Bible) Now lets listen to a story about being lost and found:

There once was a young couple with three children who would visit their friends from high school every Christmas. Their friends lived in Eugene, Oregon which was about an hour drive from their home and one of these visits was particularly memorable. Not because it involved a special Christmas occurrence, but because of something scary happening with one of the children.

It happened to the youngest one, Randy, who was four years old at the time. Their friends also had two children and the grown-ups were playing Monopoly in the kitchen while the children played games out in the living room. For some reason on this evening Randy decided to venture outside even though it was early evening and totally dark out.

He walked down the sidewalk which led from the house onto the sidewalk that paralleled the street and preceded to walk around the corner. Soon, he was completely lost. Thankfully, he didn't try to cross the street but just kept following the sidewalk until he was on the backside of the block.

It was there that he was noticed wandering along the sidewalk by a neighbor who went outside to find out what was going on. He approached Randy and asked him where his parents were, and, of course, he had no idea. The neighbor wasn't sure what to do, and rather than immediately call the police he decided to sit Randy on his front porch steps with an ice cream cone and see what would happen.

Randy was sitting there enjoying the ice cream cone when his father walked by and noticed him on the steps. He thanked the kind neighbor for taking temporary responsibility for his son and quietly with a sense a great relief took Randy back to the friend's home.

Losing a child is a parent's worst nightmare and subsequently finding them a tremendous joy and relief! Randy's story did not end with him being kidnapped or hit by a car or any other tragedy, rather it was a Christmas ending about the gift of being lost and found.

There is one chapter in the Gospel of Luke that is solely devoted to stories about being lost and found. It's chapter 15 and the stories come in succession with the lost sheep, the lost coin, and ending with the lost son or better known as the prodigal son. That you find one entire chapter solely devoted to being lost and found says something about the importance of such stories. They can also be thought of as stories about salvation and each of them convey a crucial spiritual truth. We are all lost until God finds us!

When the shepherd finds the lost sheep, he throws a party, and Jesus makes sure we understand the party reflects what's happening in heaven. The same happens when the woman finds her lost coin, but now Jesus ties it into a sinner repenting and the angels rejoicing! In the last story about the prodigal a really big party is thrown but no mention of heaven or sin.

The last story ends with the prodigal's big brother debating whether to go to the party at all. He's jealous about little brother's good fortune and unconditional acceptance by their father. Big brother is symbolic of our own sinful nature that keeps us alienated from God's embrace and lost in a world of ego dominated decisions and desires. Big brother is on the outside looking in as are all of us until we fully receive the gift of salvation.

We don't find God. God finds us, but we have to do everything we can to make that possible. Advent is taking us to the full recognition of the gift that's already been given, and this gift was foretold long before that Holy Night in Bethlehem actually occurred. From the prophet Micah:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah (F-raw-thaw), who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in travail has brought forth; then the rest of his brethren shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. (Micah 5:2-4)

Micah is prophesying seven centuries before Christ and indicating that Christ's origin is far earlier or as he says from “ancient days.” Also, in this text is the reference to the exiles in Babylon and is what's meant by: “...then the rest of his brethren shall return to the people of Israel.” So, there it is again, the lost to be found by The Christ.

The best approach we can take during Advent is to assume that we're lost and in need of being found. We naturally resist this kind of spiritual awakening, but until the truth of being lost is fully embraced there isn't much hope for salvation. It begins with the self-effacing admission of being lost in sin with sin defined aptly as selfishness. The Christ child will lead us all home if and when we're willing to be led.

Rev. Mitch Becker

December 15, 2024

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Platforms for Paradox”

Luke 21:25-36

Our text this morning is a portion of a longer apocalyptic (having to do with the end times) text where Jesus is warning the faithful about upcoming persecutions and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. These verses are full of imagery and symbolism and because of that I'm going to read our text to you from The Message that puts it into contemporary language which is easier for us to understand:

It will seem like all hell has broken loose – sun, moon, stars, earth, sea, in an uproar and everyone all over the world in a panic, the wind knocked out of them by the threat of doom, the powers-that-be quaking. And then – then! – they'll see the son of man welcomed in style – a glorious welcome! When all this starts to happen, up on your feet. Stand tall with your heads high. Help is on the way!

He told them a story: Look at a fig tree. Any tree for that matter. When the leaves begin to show, one look tells you that summer is right around the corner. The same here – when you see these things happen, you know God's kingdom is about here. Don't brush this off. I'm not just saying this for some future generation, but for this one, too – these things will happen.

Sky and earth will wear out; my words won't wear out. But be on your guard. Don't let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap, for it's going to come on everyone, at once. So, whatever you do, don't go to sleep at the switch. Pray constantly that you will have enough strength and wits to make it through everything that's coming and end up on your feet before the Son of Man.

This may seem like an odd way to begin the season of Advent which is all about God coming to humanity as a baby. It's supposed to be a time of joyful anticipation with armies of angels singing, but instead we have armies of soldiers surrounding the holy city bringing chaos and destruction.

Try to think of Advent not as either/or situations but rather as a platform for paradox. For example: The “signs” suggest the risen Christ, but at the same time there is the infant Jesus. You have power and glory on the one hand and humility and helplessness on the other. You have nations in distress resulting in anxiousness and fear then again there is the good news of great joy for all the earth!

The spiritual potential in these apocalyptic texts is immense where we can move from either/or thinking to both/and thinking. Paradox can be understood as when things seem to be contradictory on the surface, but on closer examination truth is revealed. But in order for that to happen we have to be patient and provide space for it to occur. This can be especially difficult to achieve in a culture that is as polarized as ours. Following are a few examples of paradox in literature:

If I know one thing, it's that I know nothing.

This is the beginning of the end.

Deep down, you're really shallow.

What you're looking for is what's looking. (My personal favorite)

Some of Jesus' paradoxes are:

You have to lose yourself to find yourself.

The humble will be exalted.

Be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Being patient and providing space for truth to emerge from paradox is what's meant by “staying awake at all times” and “keeping watch,” because God is overseeing reality, not us. We must learn to be patient and not give into either/or thinking, nor get so myopic about Christmas and its preparations that we neglect prayer and contemplation. Truth comes to us as a gift from God and as disciples of Christ we're called to stay awake and watch for it, especially during the Advent season.

Now, here's a paradox: In order to stay awake and watch you must put your mind to sleep, and that is the primary purpose for paradox. So, lets use the most important of Jesus' paradoxes which is losing yourself to find yourself. Another way of saying that is you must die in order to live. How do we know this is the most important paradox, because he went to the cross to demonstrate it and it has become the central symbol of our faith.

One could say this is the only way to Life with a capitol “L” but that wouldn't be quite true. There is another way that's been pioneered by Eckhart Tolle (Toll) and particularly in his groundbreaking book, “The Power of Now.” It is possible for one to learn how to stay in the present moment where time ceases, and all your problems disappear.

Just to quickly summarize: The more you're able to stay in the present moment, which is the only place God is, the more you can be free of pain. Your mind resists being in the Now because that puts it outside of time. The mind needs time to be in control, therefore, it perceives the Now as a threat. The most powerful way I know to learn to embrace the Now is a daily practice of contemplation.

Okay, that's enough of an alternative way to Life for now, and don't get me wrong here by thinking I'm telling you not to think. Quite to the contrary. We must think a great deal before we arrive at this deeper understanding of Christ's teaching. But, at some point, we have to stop thinking because Truth with a capitol “T” can't come forth if we're trying too hard, and here again, contemplation plays an important role.

For example: We need to think about dying in order to live in terms of the ego dying so the True self can come forward. That needs to happen, and we need the teachings, stories and parables to guide us down the path. But the ultimate Truth we seek doesn't come because of our mental efforts. It comes by grace when we have quieted our minds. Of course, quieting our minds during a time of social upheaval can be a tall order.

To this end, Richard Rohr recently sent out a special letter about how to cope with the avalanche of news that's flooding the culture. He wrote: “I also recommend a serious fast from cable and internet news. The amygdala (ah-mig-duh-la) cannot process this much negativity, misinformation, opinion, and paranoia. It gets hooked.” The “amygdala” is a small almond shaped part of the brain that plays a key role in processing emotions, motivation, and memory. In other words, discipline your news intake.

To return to apocalyptic literature we need to understand that it was popular in Jesus day and apocalyptic elements can be found throughout the Bible. They're found in Joel and Zechariah and Isaiah and Daniel and The Revelation and in all of the gospels. It was a literary vehicle biblical authors used to convey a sense of urgency about God's coming to us.

Allow me to make a suggestion here which is an educated one earned through prayer and study and religious experience. When Jesus talks about coming in the clouds it sounds immediate or at least in the very near future, but that didn't happen. What has happened and is happening at this very moment is Jesus is coming to us not from the outside but from within his faithful followers which is each one of us.

This process of emerging from within is accomplished by thinking about paradox like what it means to die in order to live. That sets the stage, so to speak. But the ultimate purpose for paradox is to quiet the synapse (sin-naps) of our brains so Jesus can come forth from within. In this sense, Jesus isn't a person. Jesus is the manifestation of the love of God within us, and it's already there. We just have to let it out.

Maybe this story can help: One of the most important books in my life has been “Walden” written by Henry David Thoreau. The book came to me at a critical time in my life where I was in-between my first love of Jesus and taking my first serious steps of faith in joining First Christian Church in Albany.

“Walden” gave me something to believe in and I wrapped my intellect around it and also found spiritual encouragement. I was so impressed by it that I packed up my Volkswagen van and moved to a park somewhere between Albany and Corvallis. I lived in the park with my dog Omar until the police came one night and told me I couldn't make camp there.

It was the year 1977 and about 25 years later Karen and I drove from our home in Ohio to Walden Pond which was about an11 hour drive. There is a trail that encircles the pond and we had just begun the walk when suddenly I felt we were walking on holy ground! It was a powerful religious experience. But it didn't occur without a great deal of prior thought about the book and the way it affirmed the sacredness of the creation.

Karen was walking maybe 20 feet in front of me when it hit me, and I'll never forget the holiness of that moment. This is the way Jesus comes to us. Holiness surrounds us every minute of every day, its just that we don't always see it. Perhaps, the most important spiritual goal we have as faithful people is to create scenarios where religious experiences can happen more often. Until one day, our life simply becomes one long extended religious experience.

Once I attended a lecture series at Englewwod Christian Church in Yakima and the lecturer was the author Phillip Gulley and he was talking about religious experience. A question came forth from a person in the group and they said they used to have frequent religious experiences but that they had ceased.

Mr. Gulley responded to that by saying some people reach such a state of spiritual maturity that they don't have individual religious experiences any longer simply because there whole life has become one long, extended religious experience. This is what's meant by the term “enlightenment” and a frequent term used in the Bible for this is “Salvation.”

Jesus is our Salvation and by that, I mean in following him and living our lives out in the way he did means to be dying to our egos on a daily basis. We die to be born again, over and over again, or as Jesus puts it: “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” (John 10:10b; The Message Bible)

Rev. Mitch Becker

December 1, 2024

Port Angeles