A Culture of Generosity

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will begin its annual Stewardship Campaign next Sunday, November 4, 2012.  Our theme for this year’s Stewardship Campaign is Creating a Culture of Generosity.  As a part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), we are greatly influenced by the practices and faith of the early church.  Around the year 112 AD, an early Roman administrator named Pliny the Younger wrote back to Emperor Trajan about the Christians in a province in Asia Minor, which is present-day Turkey.  He remarked in his letter that the Christians gather weekly to celebrate a meal of bread and wine and sing the Psalms throughout the service.  In 155 AD, an early Christian leader, Justin Martyr, wrote a letter to the Emperor explaining how Christians worshiped.  In his defense, he mentions that each week the deacons of the church would bring wine, bread, oil and money to the leader of the congregation to be blessed.  The gifts of treasure would be put aside for the support of widows and orphans and for the support of promoting the Gospel.  The oil would be used by the elders to anoint the sick.  The wine and bread were then blessed and used for the celebration of the meal of Thanksgiving, the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper.  These gifts were essential in reminding the people of God’s gift to us.  Psalm 104:15 was a hymn that many early Christians would have sung. “(God) brings forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.”

Our Campaign logo reminds us of the early church’s culture of generosity.  The work of the church has not changed.  Today, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) continues the ancient tradition of celebrating the Lord’s Supper as the central act of our worship.  Like those early Christians, bread and wine are used to remember the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.  We still anoint the sick with oil as a prayer of confidence that our God is a healing God. Likewise, we still gather the treasure of the saints for the support of the Gospel and the mission of our congregation.  Even though our congregation does not have any vineyard owners, farmers or olive grove tenders, we still use these gifts from God to celebrate the gift of salvation and to heal the sick.  The treasure you give to the work of First Christian Church is used to celebrate salvation, heal the world and proclaim the Gospel.

Our Stewardship Department reported to our General Board that First Christian Church remains a tithing Church.  I believe tithing is an essential discipline that reminds us that God is solely responsible for all we have. God has blessed this community and the world through your spirit of generosity.  This culture of generosity is found in every facet of our congregational life.  Our Disciples Women’s Ministries is nationally recognized as a top supporter of missions.  Our Youth Group tithes 10% of all their fundraisers to missions.  Our Men’s Fellowship Breakfast is a generous supporter of many of our outreach ministries.  Everywhere you turn in our congregation you will meet people who have been blessed by a generous God, and consequently, are a generous people.  It is who we are. It is in our DNA; it is our culture. We are a people who are creating a culture of generosity.  Thank you!

New Website

After months of work, the new website for First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will go public this Monday.  Our new website address is www.firstchristianchurch.org.  The new website is a cleaner site which should be easier to use for visitors and seekers wanting to learn more about First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Ashland.  Our old website, www.fcc-ashland.org, will redirect you to our new website.  In our evaluation of how our old website was used we discovered that the main pages viewed in order of popularity were the staff, newsletter, bulletin, calendar, prayer requests, DWM and sermon pages.  The website has from 800-1000 hits per month from between 400-700 unique users.  These results suggest that our website is primarily used by people familiar with our congregation who are looking for specific information.  About 200 hits a month are from users who have come to browse the website, most likely potential first time visitors, looking for information about our congregation.

Our goal for the new website was to, first, have a name that is recognizable.  Our old website had a dash (fcc-ashland) in the name, which is not universally recognized.  Our staff emails, like RevIke@fcc-ashland.org were not universally recognized by email trailers which would hinder emails or cause them to be returned as “undeliverable.”  Our new web name and email addresses, RevIke@firstchristianchurch.org, RevLarry@firstchristianchurch.org, should improve both our email services and increase our church’s website in search engine results.  These improvements will greatly increase our online traffic and make our website easier to find for people looking for a church home in the Ashland area.  Old emails will remain active during our period of transition.

Second, the new website retains the most popular features used by what we can assume are members who are looking for specific information.  Our newsletters, bulletins, calendar and prayer requests remain key features of the new website and have been redesigned for faster use.  Our staff page has been expanded to help visitors get to know our staff and primary programs featuring profiles of our staff and quick links to established programs.

Third, we have added more complete information about what visitors might expect on a Sunday morning.  One of our most common requests from first time visitors has been information about childcare and what they might expect in a typical worship service.  Information about our congregation’s history and organizational documents like our Constitution, By Laws and Board Members has also been added.
Overall, the website has a more contemporary design, other new features (e-cards, email lists, recommended links for Bible study), QR reader codes for smart phone users and direct links to our Facebook page.  The website goes live on Monday, October 15. Visit us at www.firstchristianchurch.org.  If you encounter any problems or see any mistakes, please give our Office Manager, Kathryn, a call at 324-5335 or email her at Office@firstchristianchurch.org.

Welcoming God: Part 2

The second in a two-part series looking at how God is welcomed by the world:

As a child, I dressed up, along with my classmates, as a pilgrim or Native American while our class learned about the desire for religious freedom of our nation’s founders.  The Pilgrims became icons for religious liberty, but this view, although popular, is not historical.  The Pilgrims disagreed with the established Church of England.  However, their goal was not freedom of religion, but a desire to establish their own context where they could, like the Church of England, enforce adherence to their own doctrines by the community.  Thus, in the early years of this nation, the reality was that a legal relationship existed between church and state in the individual colonies, which were soon to become independent states.  It wasn’t long before states became indentified by faith as well as commerce.  From Episcopalian Virginia to Congregationalist New England, Roman Catholic Maryland to Baptist Rhode Island and Delaware, states were identified by the particular faith practices of their citizens.  Pennsylvania was itself divided by eastern Quakers, mid-state Anabaptists and Western Presbyterians, while New York City was a hotbed for the Reformed Church.  In the midst of the diversity of doctrine of these states, they would find a common ground that ultimately led to the American Revolution.  Professor and author Hunter Baker noted, “Unlike the French Catholic church, the American church was a major force in the revolution, rather than a target of it.”

Predominantly Protestant, the early framers of the Constitution were influenced by Christian worldviews.  The belief in the depravity of the human condition is credited in having influenced the checking, limiting and balancing of power.  The idea that humans are created in the image of God influenced the idea that human beings have “inalienable” rights that are guaranteed not by human institutions but by “their Creator.”  While certainly not perfect, with the institutionalized discrimination of women and slaves, these doctrinal positions welcomed God’s authority in every facet of human interaction.  The Bible, as both a cultural force and an accepted revelation of God’s will for personal conduct, organization of families and communal laws functioned as the foundation for both criminal and civil law.  The Bible was understood as the great equalizer.  With Scripture in hand, the stable boy could stand in the presence of a monarch and discern together as equals since, before God, one was no more important than the other.  Such is not the case with all religions where cast systems separate rulers from untouchables, as in Hinduism, or where one group works while the other only prays, as in Buddhism.

In its original understanding, secularism was an idea that though government is influenced by religious worldviews, its application of particular viewpoints by the government must be neutral.  This was first introduced to our nation by the Baptists of Rhode Island.  Unfortunately, secularism has changed throughout the years.  The foremost research center on secularism is housed at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.  In a recent study of secularism, the center concluded that today’s definition of secularism is the total absence of religious influence in the organization of not only government, but culture. Unfortunately, we are all influenced by something. What is the end of a people who no longer welcome God? We shall soon see.

Welcoming God by the world: Part 1

The first in a two-part series looking at how God is welcomed by the world:

This past week, I took some time to reorganize my home library.  I’m not sure how many books I actually have in my library, but it is enough to organize them in order of topics.  I rediscovered a volume on the failure of one of world’s first experiments with democracy, the Roman Republic.  Historians debate the actually length of the empire, as it evolved from a Republic to an authoritarian Empire and then divided into a western experiment led by the Roman Church while the eastern Byzantine Empire was abandoned both politically and culturally to the Islamic-influenced Ottoman Empire.

The French experiment at democracy is nestled in these years of Roman evolution, and it is the French, not Roman, experiment that ultimately led to the founding of the United States of America. In the French experiment, the Church found itself on the wrong side of the Revolution.  French intellectuals, like Voltaire, Rousseau and Diderot, affluent themselves, argued that both the crown and the church should be dissolved.  Diderot announced his desire to see “the last king strangled with the guts of the last priest.”  The efforts of these intellectuals to first garner the support of the church gave way to animosity when the church refused to support the revolution and was, rightfully so, viewed as an enabler of oppression. Noted author and professor Dr. Hunter Baker writes that the French Revolution was, “designed not merely to overturn the throne, but also break the power of the altar.”  Baker argues that the battle cry of the French Revolution was freedom, democracy and secularism.

However, this secularism was not just an idea of freedom of thought, but a freedom from Christianity and its declarations of ultimate truth.  Of course, the aftermath of the Revolution was far from spotless.  The gruesome and public execution of King Louis XVI by the guillotine fed a public frenzy for the blood of priests and bishops.

In France, a new empire of the fatherland was envisioned.  In this post-revolution era, opportunity for power hungry leaders like Napoleon to rise to power became the heritage of the French experiment in democracy.  The capstone of such despots was ultimately realized with the rise of Adolph Hitler, who fancied himself greater than Napoleon and the emperor of a new Rome.  Even in the course of these human events, the church, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, found itself in the middle of international change.  Many leaders welcomed the idea of a national church while others rejected faith wholesale and persecuted the church vehemently.  At its best, the church moderated the will of power hungry monarchs. At its worst, the Church became a partner in oppression. The call of the Church of Jesus Christ is to announce the reign of God.  This will generally put us at odds with both political sides and even the entire world.

Next week: A Secular Nation?

Little Disciples Toddler Time

Little Disciples Toddler Time at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Ashland, Kentucky

Conforming to what?

Never underestimate the influence of the group in which you keep company. Jesus understood the power of “the group.”  “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19, ESV).

Sociologists identify this as the conformity effect. The concept suggests that when an individual is a part of a group, he or she will naturally and unavoidably begin to conform to the values and activities of the group.  Generally, this act of conformity is classified into two groups, informational conformity, which is when an individual does what the group suggests because he or she lacks the information to make a decision, and normative conformity, the dominant form of social conformity, where an individual goes along with the actions of a group to be liked or accepted.  Both of these kinds of conformity impact us every day.  Sometimes this can be positive for the community, such as the social norm of obeying traffic signals or respecting the property rights of other people.  However, history shows us an example of atrocity on a catastrophic level when typically decent people conformed to the policies of Nazi Germany.

The Apostle Paul understood the power of conformity when he wrote to the Romans, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2, ESV). Paul’s powerful reminder to us as individuals, as ambassadors of Christ, is that we should be actively examining our actions, words, and beliefs so that we will remain in conformity with Christ.

When you find yourself in a situation that is not familiar, ask yourself whether or not the actions or proposed beliefs are consistent with your own principles and those of Christ before automatically adopting them as your own.  Likewise, be honest with yourself in situations where you want to impress others or be accepted by a group.  Ask yourself if the actions proposed by the group compromise your own integrity.

Philip Zimbardo, author of The Lucifer Effect and current researcher in areas of teen bullying, writes: “To resist the powers of group conformity: know what you stand for; determine how really important it is that these other people like you, especially when they are strangers; recognize that there are other groups who would be delighted to have you as a member; take a future perspective to imagine what you will think of your current conforming action at some time in the future.”

An ancient term for baptism was “christening.” It literally means “to become Christ.” We all will conform. Will you be the reflection of Christ to the groups in which you live, work, and worship?

Mission to tornado ravaged West Liberty, Kentucky

A Christian Perspective on Earth Day

“The stewardship of creation is an act of submission to God through Christ who joined creation in the Incarnation.”

Well, that is where I am so far. This Sunday is Earth Day. The Christian Church in Kentucky has been a leader throughout North America with our Green Chalice initiative. Our congregation already meets the practical requirements to be designated a Green Chalice Congregation. We have implemented a paper recycling program; we no longer use Styrofoam and aggressively limit the use of disposable paper products; we have almost completed a transition of our lighting to high efficiency bulbs; we have a programmable thermostat system to minimize energy demands when our building is not in use; we purchase and use fair trade coffee and tea. Still, we continue to look for ways that we might reduce, reuse and recycle.

Throughout my ministry, I have had more than one church member criticize the church’s emphasis on environmental issues. A generalized argument about biblical interpretation or theology would preface a statement like, “and of course, all these environmentalists are worshiping the created, not the Creator.” As I listened, I wondered if it was less a conscientious objection and more an issue of convenience. Of course, it never helped when church sponsored resources would come across my desk with Buddhist Meditation practices and Prayers to Mother Earth. It’s not that I don’t respect Buddhists or adherents to Nature religions, but the Christian tradition is already perfectly suited and resourced for the teaching of biblical, Christ centered stewardship.

Frankly, as an orthodox Christian who has a high regard for Scripture and an appreciation for the life-giving traditions of the church, non-Christian arguments, practices and prayers seem idolatrous. That doesn’t mean I can’t stand side by side with a Buddhist as we clean a river bank or agree with a Druid that sustainable water is an essential for all of humanity. It does mean that as a Christian, I am aware of a unique perspective. Along with many other monotheists who trace their lineage from Abraham, I accept the responsibility to care for that which God has created. The Earth belongs to God. All that is in the Earth, including all of humanity, belongs to God. Because God has loved me I will, with a spirit of gratitude, care for all that is God’s.

As a Christian, my perspective is sharpened. Along with the rest of the family of Abraham, I believe God is transcendent. God is more than that which is, for God is eternal and the cause of all that is. God is beyond, above, uncontainable. However, as Christians, we believe in the Incarnation. The Incarnation, literally meaning “to take on flesh” is when God became human. The transcendent God became immanent, that is, present, here, in the midst of, in creation. God created and when God became a part of creation, I realized just how holy this planet is in the eyes of God.

Well, I’m not a professional theologian and my thoughts may not stand up to scholarly review. As a Christian, I want to know why it is important that I take care of creation. For me, it was because of Jesus Christ and the Incarnation. It is important that we submit, in every way, to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. For the Christian, that includes the stewardship of creation that God himself designed, created and joined.

Why is it called "Good" Friday?

So, why is it called "Good" Friday? Actually, the word "Good" is a hang over from Old and Middle English.  In those days, the possessive was indicated by a double vowel rather then an apostrophe "s".  So the word "Good" properly translated would be "God's" or "God's Friday."
For example, "Good Bye" is actually a blessing one would give to another when meeting or departing. "Good Bye" may be written "God's be ye" or in modern idiom, "You belong to God" and therefore a blessing of safety to the traveler.
Regardless, today is God's Friday...and, using our modern colloquial definition, it is also a good Friday as God in Christ conquers sin and death. With that, I offer an ancient blessing as one traveler to another...Good Bye.

A Post-Resurrection World

“Son,” my father would begin, “the ‘good ole days’ were not that good.  You don’t remember, but we had to go outside to use the bathroom.”  Just this week, I was telling my son, “Son, I remember when you had to actually get up and walk across the room to the television to change the channel.”  Of course, some of you remember the hardship of the Depression and the sacrifice of World War II.  Some remember the days when previous generations struggled to end segregation or marched for women’s suffrage.  For younger generations, it can be hard to understand how bad it was before.  Most of us can only imagine what others have experienced as we declare to those in authority how bad things are now.  What was it like to have to submit to a monarch’s every whim before the Magna Carta?  What might it have felt like to have taxes levied on you without any voice in appointing the person who levies the taxes?  Even stranger still, for many of us, is the thought of enduring discrimination and recrimination simply because of our race or gender.

In many ways, it is a monumental task to wrap our minds around the concept of existence before the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  You and I have always lived in a post-resurrection world.  If we read the Gospels, we get some insight into the life of the disciples before the resurrection. Confusion, uncertainty, fear, jockeying for key positions in the Kingdom they thought was coming, and despair were all common traits in each of the disciples.  How did they and the world change after the resurrection?  Realization, confidence, courage, sacrifice, and hope were the hallmarks of the disciples turned to apostles as revealed in the books of Acts. I can only imagine the response of Peter or Andrew if they heard the church in the present day complain about persecution or show fear in the face of crisis. I suspect we would get a healthy dose of pastoral advice if one of the apostles were to hear the church verbalize the despair of evangelization in our very secular culture. Perhaps the same advice he gave to the Church at Ephesus is applicable today when Paul writes, “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).

The season of Easter is a chance to “remember” through the Acts of the Apostles what a post resurrection people are called to be and to do.  Through Easter, the Old Testament lessons are replaced with readings from the book of Acts.  This Sunday we celebrate the victory of Christ over sin and death. The rest of the Sundays in Easter, we celebrate the victory of the Body of Christ, His Church, over the powers of darkness that seeks to swallow the world in despair and fear.

As Christians who have always lived in the ongoing light of the resurrection, we forget what “the ole days” were really like.  We live in the glory of the resurrection! Christ has been raised from the dead. Those in the church who keep that forefront in their proclamation will never know despair.

The damage Casinos do to our communities

Relief Efforts for Tornado stricken West Liberty, Kentucky

Dr. Lon Oliver, Executive Director of Kentucky Appalachian Ministries and Associate Regional Minister for District 10 and 11(Eastern Kentucky), telephoned the church on Tuesday to thank us for our support of the initial relief to the community of West Liberty, Kentucky.  He has been visiting the shelters and collaborating with other agency directors as they pull together resources to help in the ongoing relief that may well take years.  One of the stories he shared with me was the image of a husband, wife and their children that were living in an area just big enough for a few cots.  The husband was making his way to work for the day and the mother was planning the day’s activities with her small children in area not much larger than the average bathroom. 

This far, our congregation has sent $600 in emergency grants to Kentucky Appalachian Ministries to purchase kerosene for older residents with no power or heat.  An additional $370 was sent to Week of Compassion who is working in partnership with KAM.  Thus far this week our congregation has received an additional $3,000 that will go to KAM’s continued relief effort.

What is next?  For many, the relief effort is frustrating as emergency workers are still doing initial assessment and managing the critical necessities of the survivors.  As the heads of these relief agencies have collaborated, they have wisely divided up responsibilities on which each group is able to focus.  Over the next few weeks, FEMA will provide trailers for long term temporary housing.  Rev. Greg Alexander and our Regional staff will be coordinating mission relief teams to head to the area in the months to come to help with clean up and repair of homes.  In turn, Lon has called together KAM congregations in partnership to help in the long term recovery. FCC-Ashland is partnering with FCC-Morehead to help with home needs.  Our two congregations will join with the Disciple congregations in West Liberty to hold a furniture and home drive to help furnish the FEMA trailers.  FCC-Ashland will be gathering bedroom and kitchen needs and FCC-Morehead will be handling bathroom and personal hygiene items.  Of course, we will receive any gently used furniture or kitchen supplies that we will take to one of the congregations in the West Liberty area for families with insurance or Red Cross certification.  The details of what exactly we will need will be discussed at a meeting with KAM and the minister of FCC-Morehead tentatively scheduled for March 22.  Our target date for the giveaway will be the middle to late April. 

I understand our initial impulse is to rush and do as much as possible today and our financial gifts are making that response possible.  However, in true Disciple ethos, we will not only be some of the first on the ground, we will also be the last to leave.  This relief effort will be a long term mission.  We will keep you informed as our elders, deacons and Outreach Department will be working with both the critical needs and the long term efforts in helping folks, like the family Lon told us about, to rebuild their lives.  There will be opportunities for all of you to be an integral part in this process. Thank you for all you are already doing!

From a sister Church: Peachtree Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Atlanta, Georgia

I Will Make You Fishers of Men from Peachtree Christian Church on Vimeo.

Gambling on Kentucky's Future

The Legislators of our great Commonwealth are about to lay a heavy burden on the shoulders of the voters throughout Kentucky.  They are asking us to make a decision that could well lead to the expansion of gambling without the information explaining the actual costs and impact on our communities.  In recent years, the United States Government has received at least 36 separate reports on the impact of gambling in urban and rural casinos as well as racetrack casinos.  In every one of those studies, implementing specific procedures and guidelines were essential in moderating the negative effects of gambling.  The indictment in each study accepts that there is indeed a negative economic impact and community consequences to gambling that must be factored into the procedures for implementation.  To name only a few, the studies reported a near doubling of filings for bankruptcy, chronic addiction to gambling and domestic violence. Divorce rates in areas with legalized gambling increased by a third and ironically, areas with legalized gambling also saw a significant increase in illegal gambling.  The effects are more significant with destination casinos in rural communities.

The reports also cited that only when state legislators clearly outline a financial agreement with casino owners on how much money will remain in state, used for infrastructure projects such as roads and schools, employment requirements for quotas of in state versus out of state workers, benefit packages for employees, increased investment in law enforcement services and investment in social service agencies that will be forced to handle the added strain of addiction counseling, domestic violence and homelessness, are the effects moderated.  Unfortunately any such details as pertaining to the issue of expanded gambling in Kentucky are, at present, not readily available, making our job as voters all the more difficult.

In all fairness, some of the studies did report initial increased cash flow to state and local governments.  Unfortunately, the long term benefits of the increased revenue were almost universally unrealized as money was soon redirected to social service agencies and law enforcement.

I don’t understand how we can be expected to make an informed decision without the full details of how the expansion of gambling will be realized.  Even if we did have the details, does it make sense to clear the way for an industry that has, in every single case, negatively impacted the social fabric of the communities in which they did business?  Unfortunately, even in those communities where money was made available to help victims of domestic violence, it was little consolation to the wife and children that were presently homeless and victims of a broken family. This situation is not the creative summary from yet another religious leader and opponent of the expansion of gambling, it is the known and observed result of every independent study on the issue. If we must vote, let us vote. However, urge your legislators to provide specifics before we open Pandora’s Box. Frankly, the impact of this issue on my son’s future, the future of this community and our Commonwealth is not “a gamble” I am willing to take.

MLK Sermon at St. James AME Church in Ashland, Kentucky

It is a supreme honor to be have been asked to speak today in celebration of the ministry of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  I dare say that to be asked to speak at Westminster Abbey or St. Peter’s in Rome pales in comparison to having been asked to stand at the pulpit of this historic church on this important day.  I thank the members of the historic St. James AME Church as well as her pastor, the Rev. Leevshia Pryor.  Thank you too to Ann Newman and the NAACP for the privilege of addressing you on this day and this occasion.

I must begin by saying that I am not a speaker, I am a preacher.  A speaker, using his or her own prowess and abilities, articulates a position or set of ideas for the listener to consider.  A preacher does no such thing. A preacher articulates not his or her opinions, but heralds the words of God. It is not in a preacher’s abilities that hearts and minds are changed but it is the power of the Holy Spirit.

Properly introduced, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is not, in my estimation, just a civil rights leader. Nor, if he were here today, would he be so inclined to convey to you a perspective of human society and the prospect of peace and justice that is of human origin.  Properly introduced, the man whose dream we come to honor this day was, and is, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  He too, was first and foremost a Christian and second, like unto it, a preacher of the Gospel.  He was a servant of the same King I have been privileged to serve these past 20 years, the One who is the unique revelation of God himself, Jesus Christ.

I have decided therefore to do that which God has called me to do and the Church has ordered me to do as a Minister of the Word and Sacrament.  I have come here today to preach. 

I stand here in a room of venerable colleagues.  Preachers, elders and deacons who have served the Church in faithfulness.  Many of these preachers, like Bishop Thomas, Rev. Mosley…..have not only proclaimed the Gospel from their respective pulpits, but they have interwoven their lives, the hearts and their minds into the tapestry of a vision that was not Dr. King’s alone, but was given to him by the Prophets of Hebrew Scriptures, the apostles of the early church, The Triune God himself.  Unlike these preachers who have yielded this pulpit to me, I have not tasted the wine of bitterness as they have, I have not endured the threats, the discrimination, the recrimination of a nation that did not want to hear a word from the Lord.  But do we ever enjoy hearing a word from the Lord when the Lord comes to point to us how far short we have fallen from his vision for his creation, his church?

Scripture reminds us of God’s vision that his house is to be a house of prayer for all people. It was God’s vision through the prophets that we are told of the sacrifices his demands…to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. It was God’s vision that in the moments after the rushing wind of Pentecost the Church , in Acts chapter 2, witnessed the gathering of Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, dwellers of Mesopotamia, Judeans, residents of Cappodocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt as well as Libyans, Cyrenes, Romans, Jews, proselytes, Cretes and Arabians all speaking the wonderful works of God. It was God’s vision that a new order of humanity would be based not on creed or color or wealth, but as sheep and goats…the sheep for those who would accept the living word of Christ and the goats who would reject it.

So, let us come together in this moment, on this holy ground, with all who hear the songs of the angels and listen for the voice of the Good Shepherd.

Read Luke 2:13-14.

How easy it is to relegate this reading to the season of his Nativity…a season when even the most bitter among us will seek to at least entertain the utter reordering of the universe…with the intention that when the season is concluded and the lights have been extinguished, we may return to the brutality of our an inhumane experience that we propose is demanded of us in order to survive in a culture of casual callousness.

“Peace on earth and goodwill to all.”

We do not need to be religious to know the destination of the yearning within all of us.  We do not need to be confessionally Christian to hope for a day when mothers do not weep because their sons…and daughters have fallen as sacrifices to the gods of war and human greed. We consider ourselves in our modern context as more advanced than those who precede us. We arrogantly believe that this democratic republic we call the United States of America will avoid the same pitfalls of the other great republic known as the Empire of Rome. Yet we continue to believe that peace and prosperity can be assured by the excessive application of force. We have falsely assumed that the best way to live in peace is to make extinct those who would dare oppose us.

Peace on earth, as the angels’ song resounds throughout human history, they do not propose a position or an opinion for us to consider, but they announce a royal declaration in honor of the newborn King. They announce a new reality…“Peace on Earth.” How shall we know that peace? To welcome this declaration as a reality in our lives depends on four basic propositions that I believe are informed by Scripture, announced by the Church of Jesus Christ and made real in the lives of not only every believer, but every human being. We must, first, recognize that humanity is interrelated. What I do…or do not do…affects all of us. When a mother’s arms ache for the embrace of their child that will never come, we should be filled with a holy rage. When a father excuses himself to go out back and weep with grief unbearable that his child’s voice will never fall on ears again, the righteous indignation of the entire human race should demand a reason.  At last night’s AAMA service, Sister Kelva Nelson reminded us that the cry of hungry children is not only those of far off countries, but children here in our own community. Her testimony, as an educator, that she and other teachers in our community worry about whether or not their students will have enough to eat over Thanksgiving break or feel the embrace of someone who cares for them can be found within our own neighborhoods. 

When fathers forget their children as they might forget the previous weekend’s lovers, when mothers who are strung out on oxycontin are more worried about where their next high will come as we watch their children sink lower in poverty, crime and addiction, it impacts all of us. When a man strikes a woman in a drunken rage, it not only makes one woman a victim of abuse, but he strikes all of us who are made in the image of God.  We know we are interconnected. Our present financial crisis is an example of a global economy that not only impacts our wallets and way of life, but it demeans and dehumanizes the whole human race. The liberation of the human race from oppression, poverty and indignation is an imperative that is demanded of all of us because it affects all of us.

Peace on earth is recognition that the means and the ends must be understood in mutuality.  The ends never justify the means for they are interrelated.  The application of force in order to secure peace is an oxymoron.  It does not make sense.  War and violence only serve to repress those who have been identified as aggressors.  It breeds resentment. Resentment is never satisfied. It lies to us and tells us that retribution will bring solace, but it only serves to fan the flames of hatred and erroneously justifies our contempt for each other.  Before those who use violence as means to liberation are able to fully understand the effects of striking out, the perpetrators of violence wake up one day and realize that they too are victims of their own efforts. The chains of fear and reproach have bound our hands that were created to reach out in service. The iron mask of envy has silenced our lips that were intended to echo the message of the angels throughout the ages.

I am a historian by self designation. The times in human history that the church has flourished have been in times of not just persecution only, but persecution that was defeated with the methods of the Prince of Peace who never spoke evil, never sought to beguile, but was led as lamb to the slaughter.  Yet, in that desecration, known to us as the cross, Christ broke the bonds of death and sin. As the martyrs of the early church were sacrificed for the entertainment of the people, as Christians were fed to lions, roasted on irons of fire and hung on wooden stakes, covered with pitch and lit on fire to provide light for spectators at the coliseum, the eternal Kingdom of Peace was breaking forth into the world.

We support a missionary in China. When he visited our congregation to share with us the work of spreading the Gospel, I asked him to relay to our brothers and sisters in that ancient nation that we were praying for an end to their persecution. He quickly said to me, “No, the Christians do not want you to pray for an end to the persecution of the Church, for it is that very persecution that has catapulted the growth of the faith beyond that of any other nation on earth.” He said, “do not pray that that the persecution will end. Pray that the Christians will be strong in the midst of persecution.”

Peace on earth breaks forth when we are able, as a people, to affirm the sacredness of all human life.  In the Beginning….literally, in Genesis, chapter 1, the sacredness of all of humanity is affirmed in the declaration that we all are made in the image of God. There is no such thing as an unwanted human life or an inconvenient human life. There is no such thing as a disposable human life or a human being that deserves to forfeit his life in execution, because the life that is within all of us is not our own. The life of that child in the womb belongs to God alone. Even the life of the most horrific offender of human brutality breathes because God has willed it.

The New Testament, written in Greek, teaches us that the ancients understood the power and diversity of love. The Greeks gave us two words commonly understood and commonly accepted by us all. Philia, or brotherly love, is the affection we have for our kindred. We get the word Philadelphia from it.  Eros, as understood in modern usage as erotic, properly reminds us of the passion shared between husband and wife. But the Greeks have given us another word for love…a word that may be very foreign to us for I know of no English word that uses its Greek predecessor as a root. The Bible uses the word agape as a description of the depth of love that God has for humanity.  We may well excuse ourselves from this demand dismissing it as divine attribute and out of the reach of our flawed humanity, yet it is the same word that Jesus instructs Peter with….Peter, do you love me, do you agape me?  Then feed my sheep.”

Peace on earth, finally hinges on moral foundation…a foundation that not only proposes, but declares that there is an ultimate morality in the universe.  When we use the title “King of kings” it is not just a term of endearment or respect but a declaration of an ultimate Truth. It is not ours to judge, but it is God’s to judge.  Vengeance is not the prerogative of humanity, but it is the divine right of the Judge of all of humanity…Vengeance is mine saith the Lord. But what shall the vengeance be in response to? Will it be solely reserved for those who have acted with disregard for the sacredness of others, or will be reserved also for those who failed to heed the message of the angels? Will it be reserved for those of us who looked the other way? Will it be the ultimate reality of those who have disregarded the plight of others…even our enemies…to preserve our positions of power and prestige on the backs of the innocent, the children and at the expense of our common dignity?

I conclude my sermon…but I also bring to you a confession.  First, let me publicly thank Scott Holley, a seminarian and postulant for ministry within our own denomination, who helped me with the research for this message. Second, though the sermon was my own as given by the Holy Spirit, the points were not.

You see, on December 24, 1967, at a church on 407 Auburn Ave NE in Atlanta, Georgia, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. took the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church to preach a testament of hope as the Church celebrated the birth of the King of Kings.

The contents of Dr. King’s sermon were different then my own. Our times are different. However, the points…1) the recognition that humanity is interrelated 2) the means must agree with the ends 3) the sacredness of human life 4) there is an ultimate morality in the universe are his…or more accurately stated…God’s.

You see, the greatness of the man is not dependent on style or presentation or prowess…the greatness of this man, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is because of the truthfulness of his message…It is as true today on January 16, 2012 as it was on December 24, 1967. Why? Because it is God’s truth!

The Independent reported that the invitation of a white preacher is a break in tradition. I have never viewed myself as a revolutionary. I am a sinner saved by grace, a servant of Christ’s Church. I am just one of many faithful preachers in this community. The importance of this day is not in who speaks, but in what is said….and ultimately, what you….we…will do with this Truth that is God’s.

Martin Luther King, Sr. and Jr. named after the great Protestant Reformer, who himself was influenced by the 4^th century African bishop Augustine, declared the truth that we are justified by faith in Christ alone. It is a declaration that I have staked my very soul on. And Dr. King, standing within the great heritage of his father, his maternal grandfather and preachers throughout the centuries, reminds us that the mercy through which we have been justified also demands that we work for justice which is an act of mercy.

On March 25, 1968, before the 68^th Convention of the Rabbinical Assembly, Dr. King articulated that “now is the time” for preachers and everyone else to make a difference. As early as 1959, Dr. King had argued that “Christianity contained both the potential and the obligation to strive for a more just world.”

I warned you that I am a preacher. Salvation is a gift of God, a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  I pray that you will, this day, consider that invitation by the One who bore the burden of our sin and the stretched out his arms to show all of creation how much he loved us. And like all gifts, it is intended to be used and not hoarded for personal protection in eternity. I am one of the first generations to be raised, educated and sent forth in the wake of the ministry of Dr. King. But like you, we are not solely the beneficiaries of a dream, but stewards…a point in time…a footnote of history a hundred years from now…may the wake of his ministry become the tide of our time…peace on earth, goodwill toward men.