Join us for worship this Sunday, April 27th, to hear our Florida Conference Minister Kent Silaldi preach. He will be preaching about building and maintaining relationships as a central way of expressing God’s love with his sermon titled “Created for Relationship”.

To learn more about Kent, visit the UCC FL Conference website or check out Kent’s blog here.

We hope you to see you for worship this Sunday at 9 or 11am. 

The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (Ps 24)

Earth Day 2008The theme of Earth Day this year is Call for Climate: global warming action.   Throughout the world countries will both celebrate and challenge each other to reduce global warming.Here is one simple suggestion for today from the Earth Day Committee:  “Join us in switching out millions of inefficient incandescent light bulbs so we can save money, energy and the environment!

”Loving God, the Earth is Yours.  Thank you for the fullness and the beauty of Your Earth.  Help us to challenge ourselves to be better stewards.  Help us to speak out and take action to help shepherd Your Earth toward health and healing.  Thank you, God, for the beauty of the Earth.”  Amen.

Tax Day. Again. 

 I keep reminding myself of this passage from Matthew:

 ¹⁷Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ ¹⁸But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ ²¹They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ ²²When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away. (Matthew 22:17-22)

We of course are not living within the Roman Empire and we do have the ability to vote, question the priorities of our government, and write letters to our local and national officials.  We can seek to make changes and speak for those whose voices are not heard.  It is right that we work and pray to remember all of God’s children.

 … and it is right to remember to whom we belong.  UCC pastor/author Anthony Robinson writes:  “Although we are perhaps unlikely to really think we belong to the government or the IRS, it is much more likely in our world today to imagine that we don’t belong to anyone or anything, except ourselves.”

 Loving God, help us, on this day and every day to remember and give thanks that we belong to you.  Help us to listen to your Still Speaking voice and to work each day to put You first in our thoughts, first in our prayers, first in our hearts.  Amen.

This Sunday, April 13^th, is Good Shepherd Sunday.  It seems to me to follow the theme of last week’s reading of the walk to Emmaus (Matthew 24:13-49):  As Cleopas and another unnamed follower walk the seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus, a stranger joins them and they begin to talk, not realizing that the stranger is the Risen Christ. 

“How many times,” I wondered as I read this passage from Matthew, do I walk with the risen Christ and not realize it?” 

The 23^rd Psalm is a continuation of the reminder that God is constantlypresent; walking with us, caring for us, present to and with us in trial and danger and comforting us in need.

 Not only is God present with us in comfort, the psalmist reminds us that God rejoices with us in feast and prepares a table of abundance for us.  

 I give thanks for Psalm 23 – a psalm of comfort and sanctuary and the assurance that “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” John 19:25. 

It doesn’t matter that Thomas was no better and no worse than the average disciple who had difficulty believing that Jesus had risen.  It does not matter that tradition has him carrying the Gospel to India, where there still exists an order known as Christians of St. Thomas of India.  Nor does it seem to matter that this same tradition has Thomas suffering martyrdom for the faith.

Nope. Thomas will always be “The Doubter,” the on who demanded proof over faith.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe … (John 19:29)

Jesus’ response to Thomas is not necessarily scolding.

 I believe that tradition has made his response judgmental.   Blessed are those who mourn, blessed are those who thirst for righteousness … blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe …” Note that Jesus does not add “… and cursed are those who doubt …” 

So why does the Christian community put this negative “spin” on Thomas – and perhaps more importantly – on doubt?  I think perhaps that there have been those who look for easy answers.  Faith is not stationary, but moving and changing like a river.  Sometimes faith is easy.  …and sometimes faith is hard.

If we read through the Bible – especially the Psalms – we see evidence of our mothers and fathers in the faith doubting and questioning the acts of an always present God.

I think that the gift of Courageous Thomas, Honest Thomas, is his trust.  Thomas does not understand where the journey with Jesus will lead, but he is content in the assurance that Jesus will be with us on the trip.  His open questioning and doubt shows us that Jesus does not meet his doubts with scolding, but with grace. Doubts may not always lead to answers, but they almost always lead to growth.

 Thanks be to God for doubts, and fears and faith – and thanks be to God for the ways we live and grow and doubt and believe in humility and honesty and in the abundance of life. 

Christ is Risen!  Christ is Risen, indeed!

Goodness is stronger than evil;
love is stronger than hate;
light is stronger than darkness;
life is stronger than death;
victory is our through Jesus who loved us                                                                                                                                                   Desmond Tutu, South Africa

Good Friday
           Holy Saturday
                        “Were you there?”

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
We were the silence when no bird sang.
Were you in the garden when the disciples fell asleep?
We were the betrayal in Judas’s kiss.
Were you in the courtyard when the cock crowed three times?
We were the denial in Peter’s mouth.
Were you in Pilate’s chamber when he washed his hands of Jesus’ sentence?
We were the hatred of the crowd and the indifference in Pilate’s heart.
Were you there when the soldiers dressed Jesus as a king?
We were the mockery in the crown of thorns.
Were you among the onlookers at Golgotha?
We were the nails that pierced Jesus’ hands and feet.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
We were the silence when no bird sang.

John 13:34-35 ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 

Today is Maundy Thursday, the day we remember the Last Supper of the disciples, the agony of Jesus in the Garden, and the betrayal by Judas. Maundy comes from the Latin mandatum novum; reminding us of the new commandment to loved as we are loved.  I remember a song we sang in Sunday School when I was a child.  The chorus:

             and they will know we are Christians by our love, by our love            yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love … This is a day to remember that new commandment … love one another as I have loved you …

The Hebrew Bible reading for Holy Week is Isaiah 50:4-9. (http://www.textweek.com/festivals/) We read this passage as we ended our 11am Palm Sunday worship, moving toward Holy week. Isaiah 50:4-9 4The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. 5The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. 6I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. 7The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; 8he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. 9It is the Lord GOD who helps me; who will declare me guilty? All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up. Today, March 19th is the five-year anniversary of the war with Iraq. A prayer written by the Rev. Yousif al Saka, an elder in the Presbyterian Church in Baghdad, offers one word, full of poignancy and promise: We beseech You, we humble ourselves for the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, to send your Holy Spirit to shade the land of Iraq, so that peace may prevail in its dwellings, and the acts of violence, kidnapping and persecution may cease; so that the displaced may return to their homes, the churches may reopen their gates without fear from shells and explosion; so that smiles may be seen again on the faces of children that have been stolen from them here in this difficult time; so that the elderly may lean back on their chairs in comfort and tranquility saying farewell to their children when leaving for school or work without anxiety or fear; so that mothers think only of happy, prosperous, and peaceful futures for their daughters and sons. O Lord, have pity on us, we Iraqis. Let the light of your face shine on us, bless us, strengthen our belief, and bestow patience upon us. We will pray for peace at our 12:10 Wed. meditation group, and at a special 5:30-6:00pm time of lament, meditation and prayers for peace; both in the UCT sanctuary Teach us to wage peace, loving God, teach us to wage peace.

Hosanna … Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna! (Mt 21:9) Palm Sunday is a joyful, joyous day of celebration and confusion.  “Who is this?” the crowds were saying.  “Who is this, who comes on a lowly donkey, yet causes people to shout ‘Hosanna!’ and wave branches of palms in delight?” 

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” (Mt 21:10-11)

 “Who is this, who heals and comforts and challenges us to serve God and each other?”“Who is this, who welcomes the rejected and consoles the weary?”“Who is this, who calls me and gives my life hope and meaning?” We know what the week ahead will mean for Jesus and for us.  We know that there will be denial, betrayal and desertion by those who followed and those who loved him.   Yet we also know that hope is coming, hope is ours, and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Loving God, on this day of palms and rejoicing, we shout, we cheer, we rejoice that you have come to us and shared our common lot. Be with us as we rejoice and sing your name.  Be with us as we ‘praise you on the earth now,             joining with Creation and calling all the nations to your praise.’  Thanks be and bless your Holy Name.  Amen.