"MANY DWELLING PLACES"

(Preached Sunday, May 22, 2011 at All Peoples Christian Church, Los Angeles)

In my Father’s house are many rooms… many mansions… many dwelling places. It’s a popular scripture to read at the bedside of a dying person, at funerals and memorial services. It’s comforting to imagine that after we die there’s a beautiful place awaiting us, a city where “the wall [is] built of jasper, [and] the city [of] pure gold, clear as glass, [its] foundations … adorned with [semiprecious] jewels; … and the [gates of pearl] … the street of the city [paved with] pure gold...”[1]

Surely we don’t take that description literally. Like the prophets in the Hebrew Bible – Ezekiel’s description of four living creatures appearing out of a cloud, for example – John, in his Revelation, was attempting to describe something that is beyond words. But we can be confident that God loves us and wants good for us and that whatever the afterlife is like – and no one knows for sure – it is good.

Eight years ago I received the tragic news that a young woman I had known, for whatever reason, dived off of a multi-story parking garage. She was beautiful, talented, and loved… and I imagined that she leapt from whatever darkness was chasing her into the loving arms of Jesus.

I like to imagine that when I die… in some form or another everyone I have ever loved, and Jesus first of all, will meet me with open arms and joyful embraces.

But whatever does happen to us when we die… I’m o.k. with it, because I trust in God.

But what if Jesus was talking about something more immediate? What if he wasn’t talking about the afterlife at all? What if that dwelling place he prepared for us is much closer at hand… right here?

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”[2]

For two thousand years Jesus has gathered people to himself, not at the time of their death but by showing them how to live.

In our Creator’s house are many dwelling places… and we call them Church. A place where we can always find Jesus. A place where we can see God. A place where great things are done.

As long as I can remember, I have loved going to church. I’m at home worshipping amid the “bells and smells” of a Roman Catholic High Mass, or on a hilltop in the mountains surrounded by teenagers with guitars and hand drums. I have felt welcome among Methodists and Presbyterians and Jehovah’s Witnesses. I have sung and prayed in ecumenical and interfaith gatherings. I guarantee that in each setting, God was present… but my experience of belonging is not a universal experience.

I remember the shock and sadness I felt when I commented that I expect to be welcome in church, and a man looked at me – a gay man – and said, “That has not been my experience.”

Wow.

You know, and I know, that of all places church is where everyone ought to feel welcome – where the God of the universe waits for the hurting and seeking and lost to answer the invitation to the banquet.

Philip said to [Jesus], “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”[3]

So many people are dissatisfied. They long for anything but what they find in this world. No one has shown them the loving God Jesus talked about, a God whose house is so big that there is room for everyone. Some, like the young woman who dived to her death, choose to give in to despair. Others live a life that is no life at all, paralyzed by dreams of an afterlife.

Someone wrote, after the non-event of yesterday’s predicted judgment day:

We are ready for the rapture--not because we are waiting for it to happen,
but because we discover it unfolding, continually, all around us. We are
enraptured by the revelation that we have NOT been taken. We are Left
Behind to attend to the holiness with which the tattered, beautiful world is
already imbued.[4]

She’s right. This is a beautiful world, and within it is the potential for enough rooms for every man and woman, boy and girl.

In their book Compassion: a reflection on the Christian life, Henri Nouwen, Donald McNeill, and Douglas Morrison talk about displacement as a requirement of the gospel call to community. They say, “The call to community as we hear it from our Lord is the call to move away from the ordinary and proper places.”[5]

In a way, they are saying that we are called to give up comfort and complacency for the sake of God’s realm. It just may be that we have to step aside in order to allow the Christ to prepare a dwelling place for everyone – that we may have to experience discomfort in order for others to be comfortable.

We may have to be willing to accept people whose presence makes us uncomfortable.

Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I
do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the
Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.[6]

We have the opportunity to build on the foundation already laid for us. Now, Jesus said he was going to prepare a place for us, and that because he was going away, we could do even greater works.

Look at what has already been built at All Peoples – a gathering of people of diverse races and life experiences who embrace and celebrate our differences and love and respect one another despite differing or diverging beliefs. A gathering of people who are not so focused on the hereafter that we neglect the needs of our brothers and sisters here. A gathering of people who are not shoving and jostling for position in line because WE KNOW that in our Daddy’s house are enough rooms for everyone.

There are other dwelling places – other churches – besides All Peoples, in other communities and other languages, maybe where the worship is better suited to some peoples’ tastes. Dwelling places where God may be found, not just through the Christian gospel but through Judaism or Islam or any one of a myriad of faith traditions. But we have been placed here, in this house – and we are the ones who are responsible to fling the doors wide and say, “Come on in!”

We may find that we have to give up something dear to us. We’ve talked about how the beloved All Peoples tradition of hugging may be frightening to some, and maybe we need to think about what a church will look like that is a safe place for newcomers but still fills our own need for closeness.

We may have to be willing to sit in fellowship next to someone who is homeless and hasn’t bathed in a while – and it may not be pleasant.

Father Greg Boyle tells a story of what happened when his local parish decided to allow homeless people to sleep in the church pews at night.

Come Sunday morning, when it was time for Mass, the odor of unwashed bodies still lingered. And one day he asked the parishioners, “What’s the church smell like?” An elderly man responded, “Smells like feet.” They decided that letting homeless men sleep there was a commitment they had made because it was what Jesus would do. And eventually one of the women responded, “It smells like roses!”[7]

We may have to occasionally sing or tell the good news in a language few of us understand, so that those who do not understand our language will know that they are loved.

In God’s house – in God’s heaven on earth – are many dwelling places. No one need be left out in the cold. Fling wide the doors, and do mighty things!

AMEN.

[1] Revelation 21:18-21, RSV, paraphrased.
[2] John 14:3, RSV.
[3] John 14:8, RSV.
[4] CowGaels in Tir Na Blog. http://mainecowgaels.blogspot.com/. Accessed May 22, 2011.
[5] Henri J. M. Nouwen, Donald P. McNeill, and Douglas A. Morrison. Compassion: a reflection on the Christian life. (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 63.
[6][6] John 14:12-13, RSV.
[7] Gregory J. Boyle. Tattoos on the heart: the power of boundless love. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010), 74.

Gifted

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness,
lowliness, meekness, and patience…

~ Colossians 3:12, RSV

It had been a few years since I had taken a spiritual gifts inventory and I decided I was overdue for a reevaluation. It was no surprise to find that my primary gift is compassion. I’ve gotten the same result on every spiritual gifts assessment I’ve ever taken.

According to the United Methodist Church, “Compassion makes us fundamentally aware of the Christ in others and springs from our desire to care for all of God’s creatures and creation.”[1] Yeah, that’s me! God has gifted me with compassion. I don’t have to work at it. It’s in my spiritual DNA.

It seems to me that compassion is sadly lacking in the world today, as evidenced by the recent horrific news about suicide among gay teens and, of course, the rhetoric about undocumented or “illegal” immigrants. So what hope is there for people who find it difficult to recognize “the Christ in others?” Good news! According to a 2008 article on the website Science Daily, “Cultivating compassion and kindness through meditation affects brain regions that can make a person more empathetic to other peoples' mental states.[2]

As part of the study participants at the University of Wisconsin-Madison were asked to first focus on directing positive energy (wishes for well-being and freedom from suffering) at their own loved ones, and then to direct that same positive energy toward “all beings.”[2] Over time the activity in parts of the brain that respond to emotion showed changes that indicated the subjects were becoming more empathetic.

Compassion is not an option for those of us who claim to follow Christ; it’s an obligation. If you sometimes find it difficult to care about what other people are going through… if you have a tendency to think they brought it on themselves… or it’s not your problem… maybe it’s time to ask the Holy Spirit to give you the gift of Compassion. You may have to work at it a little – spend a little time in meditation; it’s worth it.

[1] Compassion. “Explore the Spiritual Gifts” http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.1355371/k.9501/Spiritual_Gifts.htm
[2] University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Compassion Meditation Changes The Brain." ScienceDaily 27 March 2008. 26 October 2010 .

Economy

And he said to them, "Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

~ Luke 12:15, RSV

The other day on the radio I heard Robert Reich, who was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton and is now a professor at UC Berkeley, compare the current economic situation in the United States to the situation that led to the Great Depression. [1] Both in 1929 and in 2007 the top 1% of America took home about 23.5% of the nation’s income. Reich says on his blog at http://robertreich.org, “A record share of the nation’s income [is] going to the top, leaving the vast middle without enough purchasing power to get the economy moving.” [2] He said in the radio broadcast that wealthier people speculated in land, commodities, and stock. There was a lot more to it, and Mr. Reich explained it all much more clearly than I ever could, but it piqued my interest.

If you could look at our bank statement or income tax return it would be apparent that my spouse and I are far from wealthy. Still, though, we are fortunate to have good medical coverage, the means to pay our mortgage and meet our other financial responsibilities, and enough “discretionary income” to enjoy luxuries like cable t.v., movies, and dinner out. We have a little money in stocks for our retirement and a very small amount in savings. We are people who try to be faithful to our God; what, then, is an appropriate Christian attitude toward the economy?

Based on a concept laid out in Leviticus [3], in 1998 the National Council of Churches adopted the “Jubilee 2000” resolution which, among other things:

[Urged] the United States government to use its leadership in the international community to support and promote debt cancellation for impoverished countries that reduces poverty, and restores economic and environmental justice for people who have borne the major burden of their countries' indebtedness. [4]

I think Jesus would have approved; he did, after all, teach us to pray, “And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.” [5] While we sometimes interpret this line of the prayer as a metaphor, the word translated “debt” in this passage is the same as that used later in the parable about the servant who was forgiven what he owed.

Some would argue that people are entitled to accumulate wealth and shouldn’t be expected to “carry” those who haven’t worked as hard or are somehow otherwise not as wealthy. Never mind that we don’t have a level playing field; Jesus also told a parable about laborers who were hired throughout the day and all paid the same wage, even though some had worked longer hours than others. [6]

Finally, in the Acts of the Apostles we’re told, “Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common.” [7]

Maybe these are stories we Christians need to remember, regardless of whether we are rich or poor or part of the rapidly-shrinking middle class.

[1] Robert Reich. October 1, 2010 at First Congregational Church of Berkeley. Broadcast October 6, 2010 on Letters to Washington, KPFK (Pacifica Radio).
[2] Robert Reich. “Another horrible jobs report – and why the great jobs recession continues.” October 8, 2010. Robertreich.org. Accessed October 8, 2010.
[3] Especially see Leviticus 25.
[4] National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. “Resolution on the Jubilee 2000 Campaign to Cancel the Unsustainable International Debt of Highly Indebted Poor Countries.” Adopted November 12, 1998. http://www.ncccusa.org/98ga/jubres.html. Accessed October 8, 2010.
[5] Matthew 6:12, RSV.
[6] Matthew 18:30, RSV.
[7] Acts 4:32, RSV.

An open letter

I submitted this letter to the Press Telegram, my local newspaper, on August 5. They haven't published it, so I assume it's o.k. to share it with you.

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This is an open letter to “Liberals” and “Conservatives.”

I am a deeply religious and socially liberal person, disillusioned with both of the major political parties and skeptical about the potential effectiveness of the third party with which I am allied. I am also a voter who has had enough of the unpleasantness coming from every corner.

When did “conservative” and “liberal” become pejorative terms? Words only have the meaning and power we assign to them. To be conservative is to be cautious, to be concerned with protecting something of value. To be liberal means to be generous and tolerant. Those are all good ideals.

I’d like to think we all want what is best for the people of the United States. I believe we could redirect th e energy that goes into pointing fingers and drafting propaganda, instead strategizing together for equitable public policy and solutions to the social and economic problems that affect the entire nation.

We who live in this country do not have to be in an adversarial relationship with one another. I would love to see politicians, public employees, and private citizens focus on their agreement rather than their disagreement. I would love to be surrounded by people who can listen respectfully and with open minds to what people around them have to say, even when they disagree.

Do you love your neighbor?

I know a lot of Christians who claim we are in the "End Times" or the "Last Days" prophecied in the Christian scriptures, especially the Revelation of John. I'm skeptical, but I can live with that. Jesus' original disciples didn't always agree and we modern-day disciples don't have to agree, either.

What bothers me, though, is the idea that there are followers of Jesus Christ, generally kind and decent people, who are looking forward joyfully and with great anticipation to the "Rapture" and the "Tribulation" or some variation of an end time when (they hope) the true believers will be lifted fully alive into Heaven and everyone else will be left behind.[1]

I've read those passages. It isn't "Good News." In fact, it's very, very bad news.

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke[2] have descriptions of wars, betrayal by family, executions, "suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, no, and never will be."[3] The Revelation to John describes famine and plague and the devastation of the planet.[4] And yet there are Christians praying for that day. For shame! How can any human being with a conscience wish that on anybody?

Jesus said the second greatest commandment, or law, is "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."[5] If I love my neighbor as myself I don't want her to suffer. If I love my neighbor as myself I pray for good, not for bad.

Oh, and if you're still anxious for the end of the world? You might want to re-read those selections from Matthew 24 and Mark 13. You just might reap what you sow.[6]

QUESTION: How ought Christians pray who believe the "end times" prophecies are literally true? How else can those passages be understood?

[1] Thus the title of the Tim LaHaye/Jerry Jenkins fiction series.
[2] See Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21.
[3] Mark 13:19, NRSV.
[4] See Revelation 6.
[5] Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31 & 33, Luke 10:27. Also repeated in several of the Epistles: Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, and James 2:8.
[6] Job 4:8, Galatians 6:7-8.

Encouraging Words

But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel; I have called you by name, you are mine." (Isaiah 43:1)

One of the passions God has ignited in my heart is for what are typically called "at-risk youth;" specifically, I care about the young men and women who are involved with "street gangs," fraternities/sororities that originally started as a way of forming community and for mutual protection, but now have evolved into a culture of drugs and violence.

Gang violence is a problem in my home town. My perception, which may or may not be accurate, is that it has gotten worse in recent months.

Don't misunderstand. I don't live in fear. I feel safe in my home, in my church, and on the streets. I realize that innocent bystanders sometimes get caught in the crossfire - a perfect example is a four-year-old from Long Beach who is now recovering from a gunshot to the head - but most of the violence is directed at members of rival gangs, or people who are mistaken for rival gangmembers. As a middle-aged white woman, I don't fit the profile. ("Profiling" isn't just something the police do!)

In my previous post I asked the questions, "What are you doing about it?" and "What can the church do about it?" I don't know what to do. I'm not sure that my feeble efforts are making a difference, that my passion and my caring are translating into successful action. I'm frustrated with my helplessness.

This week, though, I saw a glimmer of hope. This week I'm at the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a gathering of some 6,000 clergy and laypeople who are here to conduct the business of the church, learn from one another, discuss priorities, learn from one another, reconnect with old friends, and recharge our batteries. This year's theme, based on Revelation 22:2, is "...for the Healing of the Nations."(1)

One of the friends I hooked up with is the Reverend Silvia Tiznado of Phoenix, Arizona. I told Silvia about how much I want to reach out to the young people in the neighborhood surrounding my church and my contention that, as much as it frustrates me, if they're tagging(2) on the back of our building at least they aren't out doing something worse. I shared with her that I try to address them with humor, and it seems to work - for a while - at least in stopping the tagging. Here's an example:

This is the House of God and it doesn't belong to me (the Pastor) or to the people in the pews. It doesn't belong to you or your homies. It belongs to God, and God loves you. Jesus Christ died for you, so why don't you come by some Sunday and get to know him. Get to know the people, too. You might like us!

It cuts down on the tagging, but that’s not enough. I want to offer them “a future and a hope.”(3) I want them to know the joy and excitement of having a life centered around God.

And Silvia said, “They want to be there. They’re drawn to the church, and that’s why they keep tagging on it.”(4)

Yes! Words of hope! I believe that it is God who draws all of us to Godself, to Christ, to the Church. And I am determined that Silvia was speaking with a prophetic voice when she declared that the young men who claim the neighborhood around our church are being drawn there.

QUESTION: What can those of us who are on the "inside" do to prepare for the arrival of those who are "outside" to ensure that they feel wanted? How can we communicate welcome to people who do not know that they are welcome?

(1) "... on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month;and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." Revelation 22:2, RSV.

(2) For those of you who don't know, "tagging" is graffiti, usually one's name or the name of the gang, frequently using spraypaint and with a distinctive style.

(3) For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD, "plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11, RSV.

(4) I'm operating from memory. My apologies to Silvia if this isn't exactly what she said!

Hope

Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you. (Psalm 71:6)

Some scriptures say that we are born sinners. I believe that we are born perfect and innocent. Every criminal, drug dealer, hard-core gangbanger started life as a sweet, newborn baby with a clean slate, beautiful and pure and with all the potential of the human race.

In cities and suburbs and rural areas all across the world, "street gangs" are a concern. We're losing our kids, and we feel helpless to do something about it. The thing to remember, though, is that they aren't just "our" kids; they're God's kids. And God weeps at every senseless death, every ruined life, every fractured family.

Locking them up isn't helping. "Three Strikes" isn't helping. Fear surely isn't helping. We have to love them back into the arms of God, and love is a verb. Love is action. Love is something we have to do.

The following information is from Focus Adolescent Services:*

Young people join gangs for a variety of reasons, some of which are the same reasons children join other pro-social groups such as 4-H and Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts."

Some of the reasons for joining a gang may include:

• A search for love, structure, and discipline
• A sense of belonging and commitment
• The need for recognition and power
• Companionship, training, excitement, and activities
• A sense of self-worth and status
• A place of acceptance
• The need for physical safety and protection
• A family tradition

Focus identifies the risk factors for joining a gang as racism, poverty, lack of a social support network, and media influences.

QUESTION: What are you doing about it? What can the church do about it?

*Focus Adolescent Services, Salisbury, MD. http://www.focusas.com/Gangs.html

Where We Live

"Blessed are y0u poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied." (Luke 6:20b-21)

No need to go into details, but I have been waiting over three months for some response from a company that owes me money. I've been frustrated, and can't understand why they aren't stepping up and doing the right thing. Do they think I can afford to pay hundreds of dollars just for fun?

And then I thought, "Well, maybe they do." Maybe they think that all pastors serve mega-churches and make six figure salaries. Uh... no. Some of us serve tiny churches and drive twelve-year-old cars. Like most big cities, Long Beach has some pricey neighborhoods - Naples, Bluff Park, Virginia Country Club, a few others. But I don't live in one of those neighborhoods, and my church isn't in one of those neighborhoods.

Here in North Long Beach, we're surrounded by Title 1 schools(1), Section 8 housing(2), and a forest of foreclosure signs. We have a lot to learn about who God is, what it means to be "church," what it means to be servants like Jesus. The people we serve are faithful and generous, but they have to work with what they have... and some of them have a lot to give.

QUESTION: What can the church do to meet the life-needs of the people in our communities, as James wrote, "What is the good, brothers and sisters, if a person has raggedy clothes and is hungry, and one of you says, 'I'm praying for you to be warm and fed' but gives nothing?"


(1) Title 1 is a program of the U.S. Department of Education with the purpose of "improving the academic achievement of the disadvantaged."
(2) Section 8 is a subsidized housing program administered by Housing and Urban Development.

Celebrate Youth

Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12, NRSV)

Today I leave for Loch Leven, our regional church camp and conference center, to spend the week as one of the counselors for young people who are entering 9th and 10th grades this fall. I’m looking forward to the experience. It’s an age when they are no longer children but not quite adults, an age when most are anxious to assert their individual identities and their independence.

The talents, ideas, and opinions of teenagers and twenty-somethings are too often discounted by older adults. What a mistake! They ask questions older people never think to ask. They recognize when we don’t “practice what we preach.” They have a personal interest in the long-range effects of policies and decisions being made now.

Like those of us who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s, the youth of this twenty-first century are living in a nation that is fighting a war on foreign soil and dealing with political scandal, and they are facing peer pressure to experiment with drugs and sex. Unlike my generation, they are also tempted by a glut of electronic gadgets and attend schools that have been cutting “non-essential” programs for decades and are now faced with even more cuts to their budgets. Many are being threatened or tempted to ally with violent street gangs. I don’t know what that’s like.

QUESTION: How can the Church get its message out in a way that is more attractive than video games and drugs? How can the church be home and family to kids who feel like they have neither?

A New Venture

This blog was "born" on July 3, 2009. I don't know what to expect, but I hope it serves to help the readers grow closer to God.

God wants us to be in relationship with the Divine; and we build relationships through communication. God is not threatened by your questions, nor is your salvation dependent on your grasp or proclamation of any particular doctrine.

Obviously, Jacob's Well is directed at people who identify as Christians or who are drawn to Christianity. Christianity is a religion of community, and no blog, chat room, or other form of "virtual" community can take the place of involvement in a living faith community. If you live in the area, you are welcome to worship with us at North Long Beach Christian Church, 1115 E. Market Street in Long Beach, California; otherwise, unless somehow prevented from doing so, whether by physical limitation or some other confinement, I encourage you to find a church where you can learn and grow and participate in the "Priesthood of all Believers."