Did you hear? Michael Jackson died...Hey ...is it true? Is Michael Jackson dead? NO! what do you mean? Who said? I can't believe that's why I'm standing by this radio-tv-phone.
This was in some part the conversation throughout Philly within minutes of the announcement that Michael Jackson had died. When I heard, I said "NO!" NO! NO!" and the person sharing the news just nodded. We all felt the lost. I am sadder than I thought I'd be about the lost of someone I've never met face-to-face. But then again, Truly I grew up with Michael.
Remember the time - when he was the first African American to have a video (Billie Jean in 1983) on MTV? (Until Michael did any of us really watch MTV??? even with the controversy and MTV's crazy attempts to justify why--other than racism--they excluded African American artists)
Remember the time - when Michael Jackson was the first to use the music video as an art form. Changing it from watching your favorite artist sway to their own music to a theatre quality production?
Remember the time - when Michael Jackson gathered together every celebrity possible to create the "We are the World" song and video?
Remember the time - when no matter how we--they--tried no one, truly no one could moon-walk like Michael?
Michael is truly the king, not just of pop, but of his craft... Every song and every video that we know him for was his own creation. His art. His genius.
But my baby sister [CR] is right, how sad for him to die not only so young but so unhappy! Michael Jackson crossed cultures and continents; had people screaming his name and singing his tunes in a multitude of languages; sold out concerts the world over...and yet, he was clearly the most unhappy celebrity I have ever paid attention to!
How amazingly untimely and unfortunate that he died before he could be okay with himself, his life and his God. How horrible to have influenced decades of music, millions of lives and numerous careers, to have so many people feel so connected to you... and yet feel so alone and unhappy
...there are so many lessons here I'm reluctant to start the list. But let me point out two:
- Money doesn't automatically make for a happy life
- and we'd better spend time focusing on what will.
I do not want to die, but if I must, I certainly do not want to die young...I guess theres no real danger there ;-/ ...and unhappy. I am making my "to-do-to-make-me-happier-list" right now!
Michael Jackson - I'm sorry you are gone...I am grateful you were here.
Please, Michael... Rest in Peace.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Things you might not know I like
1- trees (actual trees, pictures of trees)
2- hot air balloons (the colors; shapes; the possibilties)
3- daylight savings time
4- driving on open highway on a warm, sunny day
5- sunrises-sunsets (actual sunrises/sunsets, pictures of them - if you add trees to the mix then I'm really pleased!)
6- the shore/ocean
7- reading
8- needlework (counted cross stitch; sewing, crocheting; quilting -I really love it )
9- pictures of a little girl and boy (it makes me think of my son & daugther)
10- rice
11- bread
12- chocoloate
13- ice cream (now chocolate ice cream is the best of both worlds! and if you add nuts I'm in heaven!)
14 - warm breezes on my skin
15- the sound a lit match makes when it has been thrown into water
16- learning things - just about anything
17- gadgets/technology
18- plants (you probably knew this already); (truly its the leaves -the many shapes, sizes and ways that new ones appear; and the various shades of green and of course the shades of red!)
19- Hugging ( hugging and being hugged - kisses too :-D )
20- seeing men with their children
2- hot air balloons (the colors; shapes; the possibilties)
3- daylight savings time
4- driving on open highway on a warm, sunny day
5- sunrises-sunsets (actual sunrises/sunsets, pictures of them - if you add trees to the mix then I'm really pleased!)
6- the shore/ocean
7- reading
8- needlework (counted cross stitch; sewing, crocheting; quilting -I really love it )
9- pictures of a little girl and boy (it makes me think of my son & daugther)
10- rice
11- bread
12- chocoloate
13- ice cream (now chocolate ice cream is the best of both worlds! and if you add nuts I'm in heaven!)
14 - warm breezes on my skin
15- the sound a lit match makes when it has been thrown into water
16- learning things - just about anything
17- gadgets/technology
18- plants (you probably knew this already); (truly its the leaves -the many shapes, sizes and ways that new ones appear; and the various shades of green and of course the shades of red!)
19- Hugging ( hugging and being hugged - kisses too :-D )
20- seeing men with their children
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Designated
CONTEXT - Below is a sermon written for the Sunday evening Service of Broad Street ministry(BSM). BSM is a ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and is housed in the church building of a congregation that was dissolved approximately 8-10 years ago. BSM grew faster than anyone anticipated and it became clear that deacons might be necessary to reach out to those who were experiencing regular life traumas (loss of loved ones -death, divorce or decision; illness; hospitalizations - you get the point) For approximately ten months I worked with several people who were "designated" as having the natural gifts of caring, support and encouragement. May 31, 2009 the day of Pentecost was "designated" as the day for installation. I created and led the service and preached the following sermon.
DESIGNATED
Last week my three year old grandson was screaming and crying so loud that my daughter had to stop the car and let him call and talk to me. You see they had just left my house and they were on their way home. When he was at my house he asked me at the doorway to each bed room “is this your room?” thinking nothing of it I told him yes, and eventually he learned that all the rooms were “mine”. As he put it “All the room is Noni’s! All the rooms.” Somewhere between that event and the time to leave he had decided that I was alone, that I had no friends and most importantly that he, his brother and parents should not leave me! In his mind it was clear that his “Noni” should not be alone. His message to me and his parents was so simple and so clear that I was really too mushy to tell him that Jesus left the disciples but provided the Holy Spirit at Pentecost!
It is significant to me that this incident about being alone and leaving and being cared for occurred the week before Pentecost. From the gospel lessons we learn that Jesus had to go…that his time on earth was done…he had been crucified…he had risen from the dead…he had hung around talking to folks and handing out final instructions and such… and now it is just time to go. So while I don’t envision the disciples screaming and crying like Christopher, they still did not want Jesus to leave them. In response Jesus provides the disciples with the Holy Spirit to fulfill his promise to never leave them or us alone. From the beginning God saw that it was not good for humans to be alone and created one for the other. In Acts the gathering in Jerusalem occurs fifty days after the crucifixion of Jesus. It is important for a number of reasons one being that this is when the Holy Spirit was given to us; to protect us from aloneness and to unite diverse people in a community with Christ at the center. Before I go further let me give you a little information about Pentecost.
- Pentecost means fifty and is celebrated fifty days after Easter.
- Pentecost is the only holy day that must be counted to determine the date of celebration. And there is this whole discussion about which event or day you start to count from. I am so not getting into that! So on to some other facts.
- Pentecost is the great festival that marks the birth of the Christian church by the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Pentecost is as important as Christmas and Easter but it doesn’t have secular activities and celebrations tied to it.
The Acts text is full of imagery and lots of points of discussion and even debate. However, for me there is much in the text that points to the importance of us being together… supporting, encouraging one another despite our differences, despite the fact that we experience God in different ways or hear God in different languages.
As someone who follows the lectionary, I can tell you that there were two significant passages designated for today. At first glance though, the passage from Ezekiel did not seem to fit. But the more I pondered the two I saw that the juxtaposition allows us to see in not only both passages, but in our lives that God provides a way for dry bones to put on flesh. It happened here when God took the dry bones of Chambers Wylie Presbyterian Church put flesh on them and transformed them into Broad Street Ministry. In the Acts passage we see that God provided a way for the disciples—sad, shaken and caught in the grip of fear—to be bold in the spirit.
Being alone in the world is problematic. I’m not talking about alone time or solitude. Alone time or solitude is another issue. Alone time or solitude is something we crave when we are very busy, when lots of people are all around us and our responsibilities overwhelm us. But being truly alone with no one, any one to wonder how we are and what we are doing is unwise and unhealthy and is not what God wants for creation.
And so God designated the Holy Spirit to be present for us. And it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the church becomes what she should be in this day and time.
In Acts we are witnessing the beginning of the church, the bare bones of the church so to speak. Now the church has grown and it needs more flesh… some structure… some polity. The church now needs to organize in a way, such that we can clearly and continually make space for the gifts of the spirit in every facet of the church. And so as we grow and make space for all, some tasks become assigned. Some tasks become designated. But this does not mean that these are the only persons who can and must perform these tasks. Becoming designated to be the pastor, or an elder or a bishop or a deacon, does not deny what Calvin lifted up as the priesthood of all believers to serve and glorify God together through their gifts. Becoming designated does not let the rest of us off the hook.
And so on this day I am thankful for the movement of the spirit. I am thankful for the power of the Holy Spirit in those women and men of God who prayed that this not be the end of their witness in this space. Who had faith in spite of evidence to the contrary that “divided tongues as of fire”[1] would appear and would rest on this place and fill it once again with the power of the Holy Spirit. I thank God for each of the men and women who began this journey way back in September. I thank God for those who planned and prayed and participated. I am grateful also that God continues to move and brought together women and men from all walks of life to minister to the community here. So in the spirit of gratitude I call up E__, H __, A__ and C__ so we can recognize what God has done and is doing on this day of Pentecost.
Amen.
[1] Acts 2:3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
Designated Text: Acts 2:1-8 Preached May 31, 2009 Broad Street Ministry - Philadelphia, PA
Friday, April 10, 2009
A New Family - John 19:26-27
The second word is taken from the gospel according to John chapter 19 verses 26-27 which reads:
26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." 27 Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. "
This is the word of the Lord
Although we’ve chosen verses twenty six and twenty seven on which to take the word going a ways back in the text to verse sixteen we learn that much has happened. The soldiers have taken charge of Jesus, Jesus has carried his own cross; he has been nailed to this very same cross and placed between two criminals. The soldiers are placing bets and dividing his clothes.
On the cross and in the midst of his own personal agony; Jesus sees his mother and his beloved disciple grieving for him and becomes concerned for them. Jesus says “Woman here is your son”, looks toward the disciple, and says, “Here is your mother”. In assigning his mother and his friend to one another, Jesus is backing up what he said earlier in John chapter 13 verses 34-35[1] “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”[2]
Jesus is providing each of them with a new family. He is assigning them to love each other and to care for each other. He knows that they will need each other as they grieve the lost of him. He knows that they will need to share memories with each other.
But let me pause a minute to ask … didn’t Jesus think that his mother and his friend would see about each other? Didn’t he think that their love for him would automatically transfer into love for each other? I don’t know. However, let’s look at ourselves for some insight. Many of us have friends who have other friends that we don’t know or if we know them, we don’t like really like them. We may have wondered how our wonderful friend ––let’s call her Rose–– could spend time with someone like Lisa. We are puzzled, you don’t like Lisa but we sure love Rose. You think to yourself …How can this be? Yet even without an answer, we know one thing for sure… there is no automatic love for Lisa just because we already love Rose. Our love for the friend we have in common ––Rose–– does not automatically transfer to Lisa or to us.
Many of us here love Jesus. However, can we say that our love for Jesus automatically transfers to all those that Jesus loves? If we are honest, we must answer “no”. We don’t automatically love anyone. We have family members that are on the other side of the country. We don’t automatically love them. We have neighbors that live on the other side of the street and church members that sit on the other side of the church. We don’t automatically love them. There is nothing automatic about love.
From the cross Jesus knows this and from the cross Jesus became concerned. He wants his mother and his friend to take care of each other. He is assigning them a task to complete because of their love for him. The task? To love each other; To care for each other; To love each other because they love him. He is saying “I know you love me and I love you. Now I want you to love each other.” “Woman” Jesus says to his mother “allow my friend to be your son (now)”. To the beloved disciple he says, "Allow my mother to be your mother (now)”.
Jesus says this to us as well. He wants the children of the church to view the adults as their parents and he wants the adults to view the children as our own sons and daughters. He wants us to love those that he loves. Jesus is creating a new family – one -family that is not bound by blood or culture. A family that is related and connected to each other through their love of Jesus... Not a nuclear family that separates by blood…. Not a cultural family that separates by culture, race or ethnicity… Not a denominational family that would separate us by creeds, confessions and biblical interpretation. NO! Jesus is creating a new family! A family that is not separated by class or culture, gender, race or blood, social economic status or sexual orientation. Jesus is creating a new family that is not separated at all! Jesus creates a new family which is bound and connected to each other by their love of God and of Jesus the Son who allowed himself to be crucified so that we would be saved from our sins. In every way possible Jesus’ ministry demonstrates what he tells us if we love Jesus , then we must love each other[3].
Jesus has created a new family from the cross! Jesus shows us that in Christ we are not just new creatures we are a new family as well.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[1] John 13:34-35 - 4I 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.”
[2] The New Interpreter’s Bible – John p. 499
[3] John 19:34-35
“A New Family”
Good Friday Meditation - Berean Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA
Sermonic Text: John 19:26-27 April 10, 2009
26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." 27 Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. "
This is the word of the Lord
Although we’ve chosen verses twenty six and twenty seven on which to take the word going a ways back in the text to verse sixteen we learn that much has happened. The soldiers have taken charge of Jesus, Jesus has carried his own cross; he has been nailed to this very same cross and placed between two criminals. The soldiers are placing bets and dividing his clothes.
On the cross and in the midst of his own personal agony; Jesus sees his mother and his beloved disciple grieving for him and becomes concerned for them. Jesus says “Woman here is your son”, looks toward the disciple, and says, “Here is your mother”. In assigning his mother and his friend to one another, Jesus is backing up what he said earlier in John chapter 13 verses 34-35[1] “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”[2]
Jesus is providing each of them with a new family. He is assigning them to love each other and to care for each other. He knows that they will need each other as they grieve the lost of him. He knows that they will need to share memories with each other.
But let me pause a minute to ask … didn’t Jesus think that his mother and his friend would see about each other? Didn’t he think that their love for him would automatically transfer into love for each other? I don’t know. However, let’s look at ourselves for some insight. Many of us have friends who have other friends that we don’t know or if we know them, we don’t like really like them. We may have wondered how our wonderful friend ––let’s call her Rose–– could spend time with someone like Lisa. We are puzzled, you don’t like Lisa but we sure love Rose. You think to yourself …How can this be? Yet even without an answer, we know one thing for sure… there is no automatic love for Lisa just because we already love Rose. Our love for the friend we have in common ––Rose–– does not automatically transfer to Lisa or to us.
Many of us here love Jesus. However, can we say that our love for Jesus automatically transfers to all those that Jesus loves? If we are honest, we must answer “no”. We don’t automatically love anyone. We have family members that are on the other side of the country. We don’t automatically love them. We have neighbors that live on the other side of the street and church members that sit on the other side of the church. We don’t automatically love them. There is nothing automatic about love.
From the cross Jesus knows this and from the cross Jesus became concerned. He wants his mother and his friend to take care of each other. He is assigning them a task to complete because of their love for him. The task? To love each other; To care for each other; To love each other because they love him. He is saying “I know you love me and I love you. Now I want you to love each other.” “Woman” Jesus says to his mother “allow my friend to be your son (now)”. To the beloved disciple he says, "Allow my mother to be your mother (now)”.
Jesus says this to us as well. He wants the children of the church to view the adults as their parents and he wants the adults to view the children as our own sons and daughters. He wants us to love those that he loves. Jesus is creating a new family – one -family that is not bound by blood or culture. A family that is related and connected to each other through their love of Jesus... Not a nuclear family that separates by blood…. Not a cultural family that separates by culture, race or ethnicity… Not a denominational family that would separate us by creeds, confessions and biblical interpretation. NO! Jesus is creating a new family! A family that is not separated by class or culture, gender, race or blood, social economic status or sexual orientation. Jesus is creating a new family that is not separated at all! Jesus creates a new family which is bound and connected to each other by their love of God and of Jesus the Son who allowed himself to be crucified so that we would be saved from our sins. In every way possible Jesus’ ministry demonstrates what he tells us if we love Jesus , then we must love each other[3].
Jesus has created a new family from the cross! Jesus shows us that in Christ we are not just new creatures we are a new family as well.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[1] John 13:34-35 - 4I 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.”
[2] The New Interpreter’s Bible – John p. 499
[3] John 19:34-35
“A New Family”
Good Friday Meditation - Berean Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA
Sermonic Text: John 19:26-27 April 10, 2009
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