S.A.T.-onics or Word Made Flesh

1 Christmas       December 29, 2013

Is.61:10-62:3     Ps. 147:13-21

Gal. 3:23-25,4:4-7  John 1:1-18

Lectionary Link

Katie:  Well, here we are again in the pulpit.  Are you up for this gig today?

Connor:  I’m not sure.  I’m feeling rather laconic, how about you James?

James: I don’t know if I’m up to homiletic discourse today.

Katie:  Puh…..leeze guys….You’ve finished your S.A.T.’s.  You don’t have to throw around those fancy words anymore.  There should be a special dialect of English for the S.A.T. test.

Connor: What would you call it?

Katie:  I guess you could call it S.A.T.-onics.

James:  So S.A.T.-onics is a special dialect of English that High School juniors and seniors are forced to learn in order to pass a test to try to get into the college of their choice.

Connor: So surreptitious, recondite, arcane are all important words to know in S.A.T.-onics?

Katie:  Yes and in order to be a college freshman, a group of people have decided that we should know some words even though we will probably never have the occasion to use them.

James:  So the purpose of S.A.T.-onics is to learn language for the purpose of passing an exam.

Connor:  That’s about it.  But I guess it never hurts to increase our knowledge about more words and vocabulary.  It is like a painter looking for more color combinations to paint a picture.

James:  It could be that Word and Vocabulary are involved in life itself as a great test.

Katie: The Gospel of John opens with: In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.

Connor:  This expression tells us that our human consciousness is created because of words and our language ability.

James: Using words then is the big test in life, even a greater vocabulary test than the S.A.T.

Katie:  Our language ability is what makes us as human being different from other animals.

Connor: If we are unique because of our ability to use language, then the biggest test in life has to do with how we use language.

Katie:  We need to learn how to speak well.

James:  Does that mean we have to have a big vocabulary?

Katie:  No, I think the purpose of the S.A.T. vocabulary is for reading and writing in an academic setting.  Speaking well means something else.

Connor:  Like what?

James: Speaking well probably means learning to say the right thing at the right time and in the right way.

Katie:  It takes our entire life time to learn how to do this.  Controlling our tongue can be very difficult.

Connor:  It can be difficult to speak the truth.

James: To learn how to speak well means that we need good models and examples.

Katie:  The writer of the Gospel of John believed that Jesus was a very good example to show us how to use our words.

Connor:  But there is a more profound use of words than even our speech.

James: What would that be?

Connor:  It is what might be called “body language.”

Katie:  Our bodies do speak a language.  Our bodies have something like a dance choreography about them.

Connor:  The Gospel writer said, “The Word became flesh and lived with us.”  The Word of God was expressed fully in the entire life of Jesus.

James:  It is very important that the words which speak agree with the things that we do.

Katie:  It is called walking the walk and not just talking the talk.

Connor:  Well, I find it quite easy to say, “Do as I say, not as I do.”

James:  Learning to walk the walk is the greatest word test in life.

Katie: Other names for our body language are morals and ethics.  What do the actions of our lives say to others?

Connor:  Once you think about it, learning S.A.T. vocabulary seems quite easy compared with the great word test of life itself.

James:  Well, it is about the end of the year.  And some people use this time to review what they have done during the past year.

Katie:  And other people use the end of the year to think about what kind of changes they want for their lives in the New Year.  Have you guys thought about your new year’s resolutions yet?

Connor:  New Year’s resolutions have to do with the great word test of life.

James:  How can we learn to say the right thing, at the right time and in the right way in the new year?

Katie:  And how can we let our bodies do some good talking in the New Year?  How can we let the good word be made flesh in the actions of our lives in the New Year?

Connor:  What should we use for the test of our word life in the New Year?

James:  Is what I say and do kind?  Is it creative?  Is it appropriate to the situation?

Katie:  I think this Gospel for today require all of us to ask this question:  How will the Word of God be made flesh in our lives in the New Year?  Let the love and kindness of Christ be our guide in the New Year.  Amen.

The Afterlife as Living at the Grand Canyon

19 Pentecost, Cp21, September 29, 2013 

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16

1 Timothy 6: 11-19  Luke 16:19-31

Lectionary Link

Youth Dialogue Sermon

Connor: In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.  Please be seated.

I was rather interested to find out in reading today’s Gospel that one of the images of the afterlife fits the biggest attraction in the State of Arizona.

Kalum: Are you speaking about 120 degrees in the shade in the summertime?  And are you implying that parts of Arizona resemble Hades in summertime?

Connor: That is not what I had in mind.  But the New Testament was written in Greek….and so it is all Greek to me but there are two Greek words in our Gospel lesson which refer to the main attraction of Arizona.  Can you say, Mega Chasma.

Kalum: Mega Chasma.  They both are retained in the English…Mega means very big.  Chasma means Chasm.  But how does that refer to Arizona?

Connor: Mega Chasma can mean Grand Canyon.  The image that Jesus uses for the afterlife is a Grand Canyon.

Kalum: Well, the Grand Canyon is a magnificent work of water and wind erosion that has been created over many, many years.  But do you think that this Grand Canyon of the afterlife is an attractive tourist site to visit?

Connor: Well, I think the point of the parable of Jesus is this: The attraction of the Grand Canyon of the afterlife depends upon which side of the Canyon you are stuck on.

Kalum: The good side to be on is with Abraham and Lazarus the leper.

Connor: The bad side to be on is the side of the rich man.

Kalum: This parable uses the story theme of “trading places” as a way for people to learn about empathy; learning how to walk in other people’s shoes.

Connor:  Do you think that this means if we have it good in our current life, then as way of cosmic balance, we will have to have it bad in the afterlife?  Does justice mean that the afterlife is a way of balancing out the experience of good things and bad things among all people?

Kalum: I guess it could mean that.  But the parable is a story about giving insights on how to live now.  It really is not about the afterlife.

Connor: What do you mean?

Kalum: It could be that each of us find ourselves in this life on one side and there are people whom we neglect, don’t see, don’t care about who live on the other side of the canyons of our lives.

Connor: So, like water and wind erode over time, we can with small habits of prejudicial thinking slowly separate people from our lives until we complete ignore them and don’t see them, or worse, mistreat them.

Kalum : Yes, Lazarus was very close to the rich man when they were alive; Lazarus sat at his gate and for the rich man, he was one of those irritating members of the “welfare” class.  The rich man saw Lazarus every day, but he really did not see him in a way that acknowledged his human dignity, his worth and his needs.

Connor: So even though the rich man was close to Lazarus he slowly built a Grand Canyon with his habits of neglect and by the end of his life, the Grand Canyon was what he took with him to the grave.  It became the character of his life.

Kalum: In the parable, the rich man found out too late about this Grand Canyon of separation and he wanted to warn his family not to make the same mistake.

Connor:  In the parable of Jesus, Jesus was not very hopeful about messages from the afterlife.  It is not like Ghosts of Christmas Past can visit Scrooges and frighten them into charity and kindness.   Father Abraham said that if they did not listen to Moses and the prophets, they would not even believe a person who came back from the dead.

Kalum: Does this contradict the main teaching of Christianity?

Connor: What do you mean?

Kalum: Well, Christianity is based upon people believing that Jesus came back to life in some significant way to comfort his disciple and give birth to the church. 

Connor: Perhaps, the church was dealing with the fact that many people were not convinced about the resurrection.

Kalum:  The writer of the Gospel of John obviously knew about the parable of Lazarus and the rich man.

Connor: Why do you say that?

Kalum: In the Gospel of John, the story about a man who is brought back to life is about a man named Lazarus.  And we are told that after Lazarus came back to life, many people still did not believe in Christ.  So this story in the Gospel of John complemented the parable told by Jesus that is recorded in the Gospel of Luke.

Connor: I believe the main point of the parable is to warn us about the slow formation of separation between people that can come because of wealth and poverty, race and gender, national origin or any other form of prejudice.

Kalum: Well, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Connor: What do you mean?

Kalum: Seems like the division between the wealthy and the poor is a very ancient problem.

Connor: It still is a problem today; one wonders if the message of Jesus has been successful at all in this world.

Kalum: Well, one could also say, what would the world be like if we did not have these warnings and the efforts to correct patterns of prejudice?  The world could be a much worse place if we did not have people who reminded us about our responsibility for the care of all people.

Connor: The Gospel is supposed to be good news.  And the poor need good news.  And God has left it up to all of us to learn how to practice good news with each other.

Kalum: Well, we could really be depressed about the poor conditions for many people in this world.

Connor: Or we can know that we still have work to do in learning how to live together.  Good news would cease to be good news if the conditions were perfect, and we are not there yet, so we have lots to do to bring good news to people.

Kalum: We begin by not letting Grand Canyon of separation build between us and other people.

Connor: The Gospel of Jesus encourages us to accept love and empathy as the greatest calling in our lives, no matter how we earn our living.

Kalum: And if we recognize that Grand Canyons exist between people in this life; if we have inherited Grand Canyons of separation then we have another calling to do some major engineering.

Connor: What kind of engineering?

Kalum: Bridge building.  We need to join people who are separated by building bridges of contact and recognition and empathy.

Connor: So we have lots of work to do.

Kalum: We have preventive work to do.  We need to respect the dignity of each person so that we don’t get separated from each other.

Connor: But we also have to be bridge builders.  We need to be honest about the Grand Canyons that exist between people.  And from honesty we need to build bridges of connection.

Kalum: There’s lots of work to do and I’m tired already.

Connor: But there is good news.

Kalum: What’s the good news?

Connor: The good news is that the Gospel is never going to leave us unemployed.  So let’s get to work.  Let’s work to prevent separation among people.  And where separation exists between people, let us build bridges of connection.

Kalum: Let’s make sure that the Grand Canyon is  but a beautiful place to visit  in Arizona and   not a Grand Canyon of separation that we take to our afterlife.   Let us learn from Christ to build bridges with each other in this life.  Amen.

Youth Dialogue Sermon on Following Christ

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 Page 693, BCP

Galatians 5:1,13-25

Luke 9:51-62

Youth Sermon

June 30, 2013

Katie: In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.  Please be seated.

Our biblical readings today provide us with many things to reflect upon.  But if I were looking for a theme, I might look at the various types of personalities of people who express their faith and belief in God.

Connor: Well, what if we were all like Elisha?    

James:   What do you mean, Connor?

Connor:   What if we would only follow God by demanding the spectacular?

Katie: I see what you mean.  What if I would only remain an Episcopalian if I could see Father Phil beamed up to the U.S.S. Heavenly Enterprise before my very eyes?  Beam him up Lord Scotty, or I won’t believe!

James:  Well, I guess if you had Trekky demands then you might have to give up your faith.  I suspect Fr. Phil will leave this world in a more standard way.  There have been no Assumptions since the Virgin Mary.

Katie: I’m glad that Elisha got to see his shock and awe so that he was able to believe that God would bless his ministry just like God blessed Elijah’s ministry.

James:  Does the Bible give us heroes in order to make us feel inferior in our ordinary lives?

Connor: I don’t think so.  I think the point of the Bible is to give us examples of faithful lives in order that we might learn to accept and develop our own original relationship with God.

Katie:  Connor, I grant you that….you are an original….throw away the mold type of guy.  I think that Gospel reading shows us that Jesus is dealing with some different attitudes of some of his followers.

James:  One of the attitudes is “Agree with me or else.”

Connor:  Or else what?

James:  Or else I’ll call down fire from heaven as a way of punishing you for not agreeing with me.

Katie:  We still have many “boom boom” prophets today.  Some people are so certain of their own views that they think that every earthquake and hurricane is God’s punishment on people with whom they disagree.

James:  And you notice that Jesus rebuked them for their very destructive judgments.

Connor: Jesus was also concerned that his followers did not mistake over-confidence for faith.

Katie:  What do you mean?

Connor:  Some were certain that it was a “piece of cake” to follow Jesus.  And Jesus warned them about being too sure of them selves.   Our lives of faith do not exempt us from hardship and difficult situations.  And there are things that could happen that might challenge our faith.

James:  We can have faith in God without being too proud of the way in which we know and understand God.  There are too many people today who are so certain about their way of believing in God. 

Katie:  Sometimes the ones who are overconfident end up losing their faith when they experience some difficult situations.  I think Jesus is telling us to be realistic about what it means to have faith and follow him.

Connor:  We get no exemptions from the general conditions of what can happen to anyone in this life.

James:  There is another type of person who thinks that following Jesus is too much trouble; they think it interferes with their lives.

Connor: I know what they mean….it is difficult to be such a superstar basketball player and still follow Christ.

Katie:  Yeah, right…What Jesus might be saying is if anyone thinks that following Christ is not good for their lives, their careers, their families, then don’t do it. 

James: But this also means that they must not understand Christ if his life and teachings are not good for their lives and their career and their families.  I also think that Jesus exposes the fact that often when we say, “I can’t,” it really means “I won’t.”

Connor:  Well, Jesus does allow us the freedom to be ignorant about him and all sorts of things.

Katie:  I think that St. Paul has some important insights for us.  He is more concerned that everyone works to know the fruits of the Spirit.  They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  These are important virtues that we must learn to practice no matter what we do in our lives.

Connor:  The fruits of the Spirit are compatible with everything that we do in life.  We don’t need to be called to the priesthood in order to be called to the fruits of the Spirit.  We need these virtues to learn excellence in living, no matter what our occupation is.

James:  I think that what we learn from our readings today is that we need to find our original relationship with Christ.

Katie:  I think that Christ invites to follow him in very individual ways…ways that fit the gifts of our personality and the situations of our life.

Connor:  But we also follow Christ in our communities.  We have learned to follow Christ in our Episcopal community at St. John the Divine.

James: Did you ever think that we might be following Christ in the wrong way?

Katie: What do you mean?

James:  Well, the Episcopal Church is very small; St. John’s is very small.  There are lots bigger church than ours.  There are religious people who shout much louder than we do about our faith.  Should we worry about our future relevance as a church and a parish?

Connor:  Will St. John’s always be here?  Will it lose its place and relevance to enough people to keep it going?

Katie:  People who shout the loudest about their faith often get the most attention.  I think as Episcopalian that we have some important things to preserve, even though we don’t shout so loudly about our faith.

James: Yes, the Episcopal Church believes that faith and science go together.  There are so many expressions of the Christian faith which don’t accept more recent understandings about science and about people.

Connor:  I think it is important that we find our faith relevant to the world that we live in.

Katie:  Especially in how we practice justice towards all people.

James:  I think that the Episcopal Church still has a place in this world, even if we are not people who are over-confident about being the only way of understanding things.

Connor:  I think we owe it to keep our church alive.  I think we owe it to keep St. John’s alive and well with our support.

 Katie: The stewardship committee of St. John’s is having a summer appeal to help our parish.

James: I think St. John’s is a good investment; it is a place to develop leadership; public performance, musical talents and skills.

Connor: It is a place where can explore our faith with honest acceptance.

Katie:  It is okay to be a small church too.  In this small parish we have the opportunity to feel like we belong; we don’t have to be lost in the crowd.  And we know that we are needed.

James: Can you recommend the summer campaign for giving to St. John?

Connor: I can.

Katie: Easy for you to say, since you’re not writing the check….but I agree.  We have a calling to be at St. John’s here in Morgan Hill and follow Christ in the way that we can.  And we hope that we do it with an attitude of non-judgmental love and acceptance.  We hope we can know the fruits of the Spirit in our lives.

James: So now that we’ve made a shameless plug for the stewardship campaign of St. John’s, what else can we say?

Connor: Love God, Love Christ, Love your neighbor, be local in your faith and support St. John’s as a community of faith that has a mission today, tomorrow and into the future.  Amen.

Youth Sermon: Yo, Yo, "In the Beginning was the WORD." Yo. Yo.

1 Christmas    C   December 30, 2012

Is.61:10-62:3     Ps. 147:13-21

Gal. 3:23-25,4:4-7  John 1:1-18

Youth Sermon

Lectionary Link

James: In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.  You may be seated.

James:  (Doing rap, adding voice mimic of turn table swishes)

Yo, yo...“In the beginning was the WORD!  (make the rap gesture..one that is not obscene)

“And the WORD (make the rap gesture) was with GOD. (make the rap gesture..)

“And the WORD (make the rap gesture..) was GOD.  (make the rap gesture..)

Rachel: So why do rappers always say the word WORD?  (make the rap gesture..)

James(using an affected British accent): Excuse me, did you say rappers?  In my circles we call it classical urban poetry.  After all it has been around as an art form since the 1970’s with roots much deeper perhaps even in the 1950’s.  And in classical urban poetry, WORD (make the rap gesture..)  is a very important word.

Kalum: Did you compose that classical urban poetry?

James:  No, of course not.  I borrowed it from the Bible.

Rachel: Where in the Bible?

James:  It comes from the first chapter of the Gospel of John.

Kalum:  Rappers use the expression “WORD”  (make the rap gesture..) as a sort of contraction, meaning, “That’s the word or I approve or I am in agreement.”

Rachel: But in the Gospel of John it is not used like the rapper’s use of the word, WORD.  (make the rap gesture..)

James: That’s right.  In the Gospel of John, Word is perhaps the most important insight in the entire book.

Kalum:  It’s like the writer tries to begin the Bible all over again.

Rachel:  Why do you say that?

Kalum:  The book of Genesis, the book of creation begins with these three words, “In the beginning.”  And what are the first three words of the Gospel of John?

James: “In the beginning.”  But how do you think the writer of John was trying to make a connection with the creation story?

Rachel:  How did the original creation story explain creation?

Kalum:  God spoke.  God said, “Let there be light.”  And there was light.

James: And how does that connect with In the beginning was the Word.

Rachel: Bingo!  God spoke.  What does God speak?  God speaks words.  So when creation happened, God spoke words, and then the Spirit moved and completed the creation.

James:  Wow, the writer of the Gospel was trying to show how God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit were present at creation.  If God the Father is the speaker then the Word that he spoke was Christ the Word.  And then the Spirit completes the act of creation.

Kalum:  I guess this means that the writer of the Gospel tried to explain the meaning of the life of Jesus using the only Bible that he had which was the Hebrew Bible.

James:  Yes, and in the Gospel of John, Word is very important.  Jesus said that his words were Spirit and that his words were life.  Jesus spoke lots of words and those words recreated the lives of his listeners.  And the writer of John said that if people would read the words of the Gospel they could come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah.

Rachel:  Having words is what makes us human beings different from animals.

Kalum: Before a baby can speak the adults organize the baby’s world with words and as the baby gets older a baby learns all of the names for everything in the world.

James:  So, it is the use of words that in some way creates or makes our world.  Before we have words our lives are more just instinctual.  As soon as we have words we do not have to cry as much because we can tell our parents where we hurt and what we need.  So, it is the word that creates or organizes all of our human experience.  Without words we can be lost in our own pain and in our tears.

Rachel:  But is the Gospel of John just about saying that human life is different because we have language?  Why didn’t the writer say, “In the beginning was the language and the language was with God and the language was God.”

James: I think that Christ exemplified Word life in a different way.  It is not just that human being have a language.  Language is a particular version of our basic Word ability.  A person has word ability but a person can speak more than one language.  Why do you think that WORD was a metaphor or name for Christ?

Rachel:  I think it could have to do with the phases of how people come to know God.

Kalum: How so?

Rachel:  Well, even if we don’t know about God, we can know that our lives are structured.  And so WORD is this invisible structure within everything.  We can appreciate this structure because we depend upon consistency and predictability in how things behave.

James: But the structure of the world does not seem like a personal way to know a creator who has done the structuring of the world.

Kalum: I’m reminded of the question of Albert Einstein, “Can we believe that the universe is a friendly place?”

James:  Now, I get it.  The writer of John wrote, “The Word was made flesh and dwelled among us.”

Rachel:  So this is the answer to Einstein’s question.  Yes, the universe is a friendly place; the one who created and structured the universe is the Word.  And this Word is revealed as the greatest person in our world, Jesus Christ.

James:  The best way to see and understand the structure of our created world is in the life of Jesus Christ.  So he is the Word made flesh.

Kalum:  And now Jesus of Nazareth is invisible to us.  We can no longer see him.  He has disappeared to be the Risen Christ and re-assume his role as WORD OF GOD.

Rachel:  So now we can know that the Word is present everywhere because the Word continues to structure and reveal created order everywhere.

James:  Yes and since Word became a person in Jesus Christ, we know that there is a loving, friendly, sacrificing, presence behind the order of all things.  That’s pretty exciting don’t you think?

Kalum: Amen.

Rachel:  Well, I think that a synonym for Amen would be the favorite expression of classical urban poetry.

James:  And what would that be?

Rachel: WORD!  (makes the rap gesture)

Kalum: Do you think that we could get this mature group of people to say, WORD! (makes the rap gesture) rather than Amen?

Rachel: It’s worth a try.

James:  Here we go.

    “In the beginning was the Word. (rap gesture)

Kalum, Rachel and everyone:  Word! (rap gesture)

James:  And the word (rap gesture) was with God. (rap gesture)

Kalum, Rachel and everyone: Word!  (rap gesture)

James:  And the word (rap gesture) was God.  (rap gesture)

Kalum, Rachel and everyone:  Word!  (rap gesture)

James: All things were created through the WORD.  (rap gesture)

Kalum, Rachel, and everyone:  WORD! (rap gesture)

James: And the Word (rap gesture) was made flesh.  (rap gesture)

Kalum, Rachel and everyone: WORD! (rap gesture)

James: And the Word (rap gesture) dwelled among us.  (rap gesture)

Kalum, Rachel and everyone:  Word!  (rap gesture)

James:  And believing in the Word (rap gesture) we become children of God.  (rap gesture)

Kalum, Rachel, and everyone: Word! (rap gesture)

Kalum, Rachel, and everyone: Word! (rap gesture)

Kalum, Rachel, and everyone: Word! (rap gesture)

James(once again in his best British accent): I say, I think we’ve taught this mature group classical urban poetry!  Bravo. (James politely claps)

Most Frightening Meaning of Hell: Waste!

Youth Sermon for September 30, 2012  9 a.m. service

Lectionary Link

Kalum: In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  You may be seated.

Kalum: Did you ever have to submit to your teachers a writing assignment?

Connor: Yes, of course.  Why do you think that I ended up nicknaming many of my teachers Mr. and Mrs. Red Ink.

Kalum:  So you get lots of unsolicited corrections on your paper?  Just think of it as free advice.  What kind of free advice do you get?

Connor:  Well, Miss Red Ink will throw some Latin at me.  She’ll write, Non sequitur…which means that she does not think my conclusions follow from my premises.

Kalum:  What other free advice does she offer?

Connor:  She’ll write “run on-sentences.  New Paragraph.  Too many topics in one paragraph."

Kalum: I guess she wants you to be a better writer.

Connor:  It’s a shame that she doesn’t appreciate my intellectual property?

Kalum:  Are you sure?  She’s aware of Wikipedia too, you know.

Connor:  But speaking of too many topics in one paragraph, did you read today’s Gospel?  It seems as though the editor just wanted to cram together lots of topics.

Kalum: Are you saying that the writing style is not inspired?

Connor:  Well, my teacher does not always think that my writing style is inspired.  But it could be that the Gospel is a collection of various sayings of Jesus that were edited and put together by a later editor in the early Christian communities.

Kalum: So they just wanted to preserve the sayings of Jesus and it did not matter that the original situations of the sayings were not remembered.

Connor:  Let us look at some of the topics.  First, competition in the community.

Kalum:  Well, we do have lots of silly competition in religious communities.  Does food that is given to a hungry person taste better if it is given by an Episcopalian or Lutheran or Baptist?

Connor:  Of course not.  I think that we can ruin even a good deed, if we think that our way of doing a good deed is better or more effective than the way someone else does the same deed.  We can ruin a good deed with our pride.

Kalum:  Yes, is that like that man who was extremely proud of his humility?  Did I ever tell you how humble I am????

Connor: It is perhaps sad that today we have so much competition between Christian churches and between different religions.  Some religious people want to say, “Our way of praying is better than yours!”

But the pride of thinking that one is better than others actually overturns the goodness of the religious act.

Kalum:  Jesus was telling his disciples to just be thankful that a person was healed of a painful emotional and spiritual disorder.  It did not matter if it done by someone who was sanctioned by the twelve disciples.

Connor:  Another topic of Jesus had to do with a rather heavy necklace.

Kalum:  Did Jesus talk about jewelry?

Connor:  No, but Jesus often used extreme language to make a strong point.  How many people today say they don’t believe in God because they see some of the bad things that happen because of the fighting of religious people?

Kalum:  People can be offended when they see religious people behaving badly.  And that might actually keep them from faith in God.

Connor: A millstone around the neck and tossed into the sea; that is a very punishing piece of jewelry.

Kalum:  Is that like what the mob used to say about wearing concrete boots in Lake Michigan?

Connor:  Perhaps, but the severity of the image was Jesus’ way of saying that it is a terrible thing to be responsible for turning another persons away from knowing and believing in God’s love.  And especially if it is a “little one,” a child.

Kalum: Well, Jesus did have a knack for severe illustrations. 

Connor: What do you mean?

Kalum:  If we were literal about the words of Jesus we would have to have every parking place at the church designated as handicapped parking.

Connor: Why do say that?

Kalum:  Well, if we had to cut off our hands and feet every time we went wrong or did something wrong, we’d all be physically impaired.

Connor:  So, if Jesus is not being literal what does he mean?

Kalum:  I think that he means that we have to learn how to use all of the gifts of our lives in the right way.  And if we use them wrongly, we need to fast and give up an activity until we learn self control.

Connor:  So, I have to give up eating brownies until I can stop at just eating one or two?

Kalum:  That's partly so.  But everything in life has many uses and God has placed us a managers and stewards of our life resources.

Connor:  Jesus uses severe images to shock us into the right use of all of our functions in life.

Kalum:  And now we get to the most shocking word of all.  Hell.  My mom told me I could not say that word, but the Gospel and this sermon gives me permission:  Hell, hell, hell, hell.

Connor: Don’t over do it or we’ll have to add some censor beeps.

Kalum:  Actually hell and fire may seem like they are severe punishment but it could be that they are productive teaching metaphors.

Connor:  What do you mean? 

Kalum:  Fire is about purification.  Things are sterilized or purified by fire.  The Bible writings often use fire as a symbol for the purifying process of life.  The purpose of our trial and error in this life is like a purifying fire and that is a good thing.  The painful things that we learn in life because of our mistakes can be like the fire that helps us to leave our mistakes behind and take up new behaviors.

Connor:  But what is good about hell?  It is used to talk about an endless place of fire and punishment for bad people or perhaps a place that freezes over if the Cubs ever win the World Series.

Kalum:  The word for hell in the Gospel refers to the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem.  It is where the waste was burned. 

Connor:  So, Jesus was saying that the most frightening thing that we can do with our lives is waste them.  We should see the fires of the trials of life as a way to get rid of what is wasteful in our lives.

Kalum:  Yes, that is quite an awesome notion about hell.  Jesus is saying to everyone, “Really be frightened by the notion of wasting your life.”

Connor:  I have to admit that is more effective than hell with little devils prancing around with pitch forks.

Kalum: Yes, Jesus was warning his disciples about wasting their lives through pride and petty competition.

Connor:  And we waste our lives and other people’s lives if we don’t live our lives showing others that God is love and that God is interested in salvation and health no matter how it comes or who brings it.

Kalum:  So, in the harsh words of Jesus we are shocked to remember some important things.

Connor:  We need to recognize goodness, no matter who does it. 

Kalum:  We need to learn self control and if necessary fast and give up things completely until we learn self control.

Connor:  And the thought of hell and fire can be very useful.

Kalum:  Jesus says in a very strong way, “Do not waste your lives!”

Connor:  Amen.

Kalum:  Amen.