City Called Heaven

The following sermon was preached in James Chapel, Union Theological Seminary in New York City, at a communion service preceding commencement, May 17, 2002. While many of the references are particular to the setting, the general themes (where to look for God; the awkwardness of losses, in-between times and transitions;it remembering our own stories in light of vocation and mission) are transferrable to other settings. One explanatory note: the chapel was decorated in part by cords hung at irregular places throughout the space. Graduates and other Union students had been invited to hang from these cords symbols from their time at Union (a backpack, theology books, a stethoscope, baby clothes, a chaplain's vest from the WTC recovery), requiring partipants in the service to take note of them and also negotiate their movements around the objects. Up in the Air So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He repli...

I received news last night that Krister Stendahl has died. For many years, Bishop Stendahl was one of the leading lights of the Lutheran church. First known for his influential scholarship on the Apostle Paul, his academic work influenced his ministry. His understanding of a Jewish Paul working in the multicultural Mediterranean fed Stendahl's own passion for religious openness, tolerance, and friendship. As Bishop of Stockholm and Professor at Harvard Divinity School, his leadership role helped many in the church find legitimacy and hope in that kind of vision. Rest eternal grant to him, O Lord: And let light perpetual shine upon him. Few leaders of the church in our day - perhaps ever - have combined his depth of scholarship, pastoral discernment, and unfailing kindness and graciousness. While taking strong and controversial positions (on the full inclusion of women and gay people into the church, on the "Jewishness" of the early Christian movement, on the religious ope...

We would like to claim Martin Luther King, Jr. as our own, and believe we stand with him. May it be so. But King was controversial, opposed, and, at the end of his life, abandoned. As he became more radical, he sought to confront oppressive power in fundamental and far-reaching ways, challenging warmakers and poverty profiteers. His support, his approval, his reputation suffered. Perhaps it is right that our nation, which justly wishes to celebrate Dr. King and claim him as its own, observes his birthday as a national holiday. But in the church, it is more appropriate to commemorate martyrs on the date of their death. While we think of martyrs as those who have been killed for their faith, the word means "witness." A martyr is one who gives witness. Martin King gave witness to several things I would like to remember today. King as disciple King's oratory was, of course, shaped by his church tradition. But his preaching was in the service of his mission, called by God to p...

Easter greetings to all. On Good Friday we heard the old, old story - that greed, power-lust, and fear can put hope to death. That story is told far too often, just turn on the TV, read the paper, listen to your colleagues' and neighbors' complaints about all that is wrong. We cannot call that story false, for the evidence is undeniable. Our world is broken. Yet sometime between Friday's gloom and Sunday's dawn, God spoke a new story. God's loving will to life, to righteousness, to justice is infinitely stronger, infinitely more persistent, infinitely more inevitable than evil. Like Mary Magdalene ( John 20:1-18 ), this holy power is so radical we might not recognize it at first. Until it calls us by name, and we remember that word first spoken at creation, that whispers in our very bones "It is good." Maybe once again we can ignore the deceiver's lies, and trust that that first word is also the final one, and that we are God's tender, blessed ones...

Sixth Sunday in Lent March 16, 2008 Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16 ; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 26:14—27:66 (Liturgy of the Passion) There is no story more important to Christians than the Passion. There are no more central Messianic prophecies than the “suffering servant” songs of Isaiah. And there is no better summary of Christ’s role than the Christ-hymn of Philippians. With so much going on in these great texts, we might easily miss what God is saying as we pray this Psalm, in the midst of these proclamations of Christ. For the Passion, the suffering servant, the Philippians hymn, all describe one who is an outcast. Insults, bullying, gossip, layoffs, illness, divorce, aging, scandal, rejection. There are so many ways to be out, not in. Everyone I know has been in this position, though it is one we would all rather flee. Yet this Sunday, this Holy Week, in fact every Sunday and every week, God directs us again and again to attend to the one who is suffering. In the Pass...

Fifth Sunday in Lent - March 9, 2008 Ezekiel 37:1-14 ; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45 Perhaps you’ve heard people refer to Lent as a “downer.” Probe a little, and I expect you will often find that this is a reaction against the notion of Lent as a fast or time of deprivation (so seldom observed), against a somber or even dreary quality in some of the music and worship, or against a focus on our sinfulness which may seem extreme. Yet the story of Lent, as we journey with Jesus to Jerusalem and his Passion, is essentially forward-looking. There is a direction to the story. Even as we remember Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and death, we are hearing the story from the other side. These stories, though, reach out to where we are. We do not always live in the land of resurrection. These places of dry bones, these decaying bodies, these sealed tombs are real to us. Sometimes our sin brings destruction upon us. Sometimes the sin of others crashes into our lives. And the result is...

A Simple Prayer for Lent Sometimes there’s nothing better than to turn to prayers tested by time and experience. The “Jesus Prayer” is one which you might wish to try this Lent. While it has ancient roots, it is probably best known in the West from a 19th century Russian book, The Way of a Pilgrim. The pilgrim uses the Jesus Prayer in his spiritual journey, attempting to pray without ceasing by repeating this prayer. The words are simple: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” There is some scholarly debate on whether the prayer originated with calling upon the name of “Jesus,” or with the experience of remorse for sin. Either way, the prayer reflects an expression of faith from our liturgy, “Lord, have mercy,” the Kyrie. It also evokes an ancient practice (known in Judaism as sheviti) of putting the name of God, the object of your prayer, in front of you. It seems especially suited to Lent. Despite its depth, it is a simple prayer which addresses some of our most...