In My Lifetime

Trust in God Do Something

A sermon response to the current US administration's separating families who present themselves for asylum in the United States.

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher, Virtual Chaplain, Sunshine Cathedral 

(click the link below for audio of this text)

Trust In God DO Something

When I was newly sober and trying to figure out how to live without alcohol as a crutch I was often crippled by resentment and anger. Often my anger was misplaced but sometimes what enflamed my anger was legitimate but no less deadly to someone newly sober. So I went in search of what to do with my anger so that it did not drive me back to emotional medication with alcohol.

I asked every wise old sponsor type I could possibly find. They all had the same unexpected advise, “Pray for the person who fills your heart with hate.” I was convinced by people far wiser than I am that I could not pray sincerely for someone over time and continue to feel intense anger toward them. I’ve tried it. It works.

And that brings me to the news of the week. As you who were here last week know, I am pretty much OUT of my MIND about what the current US government is doing to families who present themselves for asylum in the US. This week the news of 4000 children warehoused in a Walmart. A tent city growing up out of the desert, a concentration camp with no air conditioning or running water where even more children can be “stored.”

THIS is how it starts. Some families are torn apart. Dads sent to one camp, moms to another, small children to another, and older children to gender specific camps. While American evangelical “so-called” Christians condone the policy and the Bible is used to justify the hideous practice of destroying families and setting children on a lifetime journey to recover from PTSD. Religion’s most useful purpose is to control people, convince them that the Empire is smarter than we are, and warning us to obey the law or God will get us.

So it seems a weird irony that our theme for this week’s service is Trust in God. Really? Just relax because God’s got this? Wait what? No that’s not how it works. Trusting God means trusting our own inner voice, listening to the Holy Spirit, and getting off our hands to speak out and demonstrate, and vote and do all of the things that is incumbent upon US to do!

Trusting God does not mean doing nothing. Trusting God means doing SOMETHING, anything.. to fight against apathy, hopelessness, and garden variety evil. See it’s easy to look at a murderer and know that we need to limit what that person can do to other people. But when a government uses propaganda, lies and mis interpretations of Biblical texts to manipulate people we have to recognize that this is no accident.

A clergy friend of mine put a sentence on Twitter this week that stopped me cold in my tracks. Rev. Marie Alford-Harkey, CEO of the Religious Institute said, “There is no sacred text more holy that a single human life.” Amen my sister. Amen. Propaganda is designed to confuse and sow suspicion. It is designed to make us doubt ourselves. So it’s important to break things down to the absolute basics.

So here’s what Jesus said about the law in Mark 12: 28-31 “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Trusting God means loving our neighbor. Trusting God means welcoming the stranger. Trusting God means caring for those who are oppressed not adding to those who are already suffering. And trusting God means taking care of children. Period. As my friend Marie said, “There is no sacred text more holy that a single human life.”

The great poet Judy Chicago expressed our responsibility and the power we possess in a work called the Merger Poem.

And then all that has divided us will merge
And then compassion will be wedded to power
And then softness will come to a world that is harsh and unkind

And then both men and women will be gentle
And then both women and men will be strong
And then no person will be subject to another's will

And then all will be rich and free and varied
And then the greed of some will give way to the needs of many

And then all will share equally in the Earth's abundance

And then all will care for the sick and the weak and the old

And then all will nourish the young 
And then all will cherish life's creatures

And then everywhere will be called Eden once again

It’s important that we DO something. I don’t know what you’re called to do. I’m sometimes not really clear on what I’m called to do! But I know that doing nothing is giving in to injustice and evil. Doing nothing is being complicit in the injustice and oppression. Saying nothing is silent agreement. Not acting is an action. How will we show our trust in God?

Let us pray ... I will trust in you, God. Your grace is sufficient. With you, all things are possible. Amen.

A Dream of Justice

Readings and Reflection from Sunshine Cathedral of Second Life on Sunday, August 27, 2017

Call to Worship

How shall we get along with one another in this world?
The Apostle Paul said that our love should be genuine. We should hate what is evil and hold fast to what is good.
We should honor one another with kindness and compassion.
We should always be strong in our enthusiasm to serve God.
Come, let us joyfully worship God in all that we do.
Let us praise God in our words, our thoughts, and our actions.

http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/5330/worship-connection-august-31-2014

Opening Prayer

“There is a divine spark within each of us. It burned before we were born, and it continues to burn after our earthly passing. Some call it our soul, our spirit, our True Self, our essence, but it is that which connects us to God – and to each other. When the Bible records in Genesis that we are made in the image and likeness of God, it is because this spark within is from and of God, as if a candle lit from the flame of God.” Holy One blow the wind of your love upon the embers of the Divine Spark within each of us and give us courage to do your work of love and justice in the world today. Amen.

https://contemplatinggrace.com/tag/divine-spark/

The Lessons

Exodus 1:8-11a (NRSV)

Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor.

Psalm 124.2-3, 8 (NRSV)

If the LORD had not been on our side, when enemies rose up against us, they would they have swallowed us up alive in their fierce anger toward us. Our help is in the Name of the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.

Matthew 16.13-20 (NRSV, adapted)

Jesus…asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Humanity is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptizer, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are Anointed, the one chosen by the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For your realization isn’t natural, but supernatural. And I tell you, you are a Rock, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Death will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the realm of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was God’s anointed.

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher, Virtual Chaplain, Sunshine Cathedral

A Dream of Justice

I had a dream this week that has stayed with me and grown more powerful as the week unfolded. It’s not a secret in my house that I would love to have a little dog. I’m a dog person. We have two wonderful cat children but I love dog energy. I like the wiggling, licking, whining love that a dog unfurls when I come back from a short trip to the grocery store. In my dream I was gifted a little tan colored terrier mix puppy. Lord it was an ugly little thing. Most notable was a huge black snout on the end of a long nose. I laughed and thought to myself that I hoped the little guy would grow into that huge nose.

Then I was told that I had been specially entrusted with this little being. And that this little puppy contained all the goodness of all the people and animals and plants and fish and birds and rocks in the entire world. All of it was deposited in this little silly looking puppy. And I was entrusted to care for it and nurture it. Some dream. And all week it’s stayed with me.

Through the ugly news of Trump’s latest meltdown on Tuesday, to the horrible images of the damage in Hong Kong and southern China from a typhoon, to the dire predictions of Hurricane Harvey’s fury and the biblical proportion flooding to follow; even to Friday night’s horror show of the pardon of a racist, law flaunting sheriff found in contempt of federal courts, to the cruel second-class treatment of transgender service people willing to give their lives to protect us all. Through all of it this ugly little dog kept popping into my mind with his wagging tail and big brown eyes full of love and hope.

When I read Exodus 1.8-11a I could not help but equate the king with our current administration and Joseph with all of the people the US government are now oppressing. Just as in our lesson, there are people in power in the United States who fear that various groups of people “not like them” will become so numerous that their hold on control will be challenged. Fear fuels anger, dread motivates hate, and power makes oppression possible. When hate and power are combined, the toxic brew of oppression is stirred in the cauldron of lies and evil deeds and then forced upon those who drink from the evil cup of propaganda and misinformation.

Just as our reading from Exodus washes over us so comes the hope for the future that those who love God have kept alive for millennia. The assurance that no matter what earthly power arises to spread evil, in the word of the Psalmist, ….”Our help is in the Name of the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.” These words echo through the ages to provide balm for our weary souls in the 21st century. The assurance of these words are just as important to us in a time when nuclear annihilation of the planet is equaled only by our destruction of the ecological balance of our beautiful earth. Hope wells up in us even when terrorists and racists cloud our minds with hopelessness and despair.

Our reading from Matthew 16.13-20 is the story of Jesus asking Peter, “Who do people say that the Son of Humanity is?” Peter answers that people have different ideas about where his teachings come from. “Some say John the Baptizer, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets,” is his answer. Then Jesus asks the important question that each of us as Christians must ultimately answer for ourselves, “But who do you say that I am?” I’ve struggled with this question as long as I can remember. It is only recently that I can say with certainty that I have my own answer.

Notice that in our passage, and indeed in much of the New Testament texts, Jesus is described as the Son of Humanity. Isn’t that interesting? The son of God and the son of humanity. How can that be? For me there is only one answer.
In every human child is implanted the divine spark of the creator of the universe. In each of us, is the love of God, the promise of tomorrow, the hope for the future.

Peter understood that Jesus was special only insofar as he tapped into that awareness and did his best to share it with everyone. Jesus never claimed to have “special powers.” But he did know that the spark of the divine that is implanted in every human is beyond the natural world, that it is “supernatural.”

It is not logical to understand ourselves as part of the whole of creation, yet we are. It is not logical to feel the connection to all of humanity, yet we are connected. It is not logical to think that we can be the conduit for miracles, but we can be the connection between the natural and the supernatural worlds. That is our calling.

Once again this week we confront our calling to minister to the wounded broken world. Once again this week we are called upon to be healers, to bind up the wounds of those who are beaten and bruised by the oppression of those with power and privilege. Once again this week we are confronted by our human brother Jesus who reminds us that whomever we think he is, so are we. He told his disciples many times that whatever he did they could do and even more.

We must confront our own divinity. We must accept our responsibility in our own time in history. What will we say when Jesus asks, “But who do you say that I am?” Amen.

  Download music for August 27, 2017 service

"Standing Up for Those Who are Burdened" Easter V April 28, 2013

Readings and reflection from Sunshine Cathedral in Second Life on the Fifth Sunday of Easter Sunday, April 21, 2013.  Visit us in Second Life, (http://www.secondlife.com) and search for Sunshine Cathedral.

 

Call to Worship

Based on Revelation 21: 3-4

One:   We know that God lives with us here in the fleshy, messy world. 

All:      God is not removed from us, God dwells with us. 

One:   First things will pass away and death will be no more. Mourning and crying and pain will cease.

All:      Every tear will be wiped away 

Loving God in whom we live and move and have our being. Remind us that we are not alone in our journey of life. Let us feel your loving presence with us comforting us and guiding us.  Let our connection with your love be our connection to your creation, that we might know your presence even more fully in the love we share with others.

Acts 11.2-4, 12a (NRSV)

When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, ‘Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?’ Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying…’The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us…’

 

The Wisdom of Ernest Holmes

We believe in God as the Infinite Spirit permeating everything.

 

The Gospel

Matthew 11.28 (NLT)

Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

 

 "Standing Up for Those Who are Burdened"

 Click to play audio below.  Text follows.

Standing Up for Those Who are Burdened

 

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher

Standing Up for Those Who are Burdened

All of us know people who are burdened… over worked, underpaid, and unappreciated. Some of us live in hostile environments made by governments, or working conditions, or family situations. Some of us have been taught that unless we perform certain rituals and practices God will somehow love us less. Our gospel lesson to day has Jesus saying to all of us, “Come, rest, relax, be in relationship with me and with each other and you will be refreshed.”

Jesus was particularly speaking, I think, to the poor and the oppressed.  He was talking directly to those people who were over taxed by the Roman government and oppressed by the laws that their religious leaders had created to separate the “good ones” from the “bad ones.”

Governments and empires continue to tax the least able to pay, keeping the poor, poor and allowing the rich to stay rich. How can it be moral for money made from investments, to be taxed at a lower rate than any working person’s wage?  How does that make sense to anyone to allow those who enjoy the luxury of having money to invest to pay 15% tax on what that money makes in interest or dividends while taxing the income of the poor and middle classes, the money that people are literally trading days of their lives for, at higher rates. It’s simply immoral and it burdens those who can least afford it.

Our religious leaders in various faith traditions are doing the same things in our time that the religious leaders of Jesus time did. They “bind up burdens too heavy to bear” and lay them on the shoulders of people who are trying their best to follow the “rules.” In Jesus’ day the Pharisaic tradition had 613 laws that a person had to follow to be considered devout or worthy. Our traditions try to tell us who can marry whom, who is worthy to make a family. Some traditions tell women that they are less than men, refusing them to become clergy and presuming to make healthcare decisions based on a particular group’s reading of scripture.

Young people set off suicide bombs and old monks pour gasoline on themselves and set themselves alight trying to attain some kind of piety, some kind of holiness because they feel they are unworthy just as they are. These have lost hope and resort to these drastic measure, giving up their very lives, in the hope that something will change in the world.

But we have a choice in how we view the world. We can change our perspective and move ourselves from and attitude of defeatism, pessimism, and despair and turn to hope. This, I think, is what Jesus is saying.  Changing our perspective by “coming to Jesus” doesn’t change a single thing in our lives except our view of life.  If we believe that God is here with us, companioning us, suffering with us, we can hang on to hope that a day will come when there is no more crying, and no more mourning.  We can begin to look to a future filled with hope when we realize that we are made in the image of the creator of the universe.

How can we believe that we are created by God and yet filled with sin? It’s just not logical. We know intuitively that when we are connected to others we are connected to God. And it is just as surely true that when we are connected with God we are connected with our own humanity and that of our fellow humans.

This is the real message of Easter, the real message of Jesus the Christ. Evil does not win. Empire does not win. Even death does not win. Love conquers all. And God is always with us. We are not alone no matter what comes our way.

Our work is to bring about the realm of God here on earth. Hope gives us the courage to get up and do something. Hope gives us the strength to get up and start speaking truth to power.

This week in the US we witnessed the most disgusting display of arrogance yet in our government. While millions of children and elderly go hungry, congress rushed through legislation that would insure that those of us who are privileged enough to fly for business or pleasure are not inconvenienced. The across the board budget cuts that supposedly slash spending in every program, in every department in the entire government made an exception this week for air traffic controllers because furloughs for these folks had the potential to cause flight delays.

It’s time we started speaking up and speaking out for those who have no voice in our societies. This kind of obscenity goes right past most of us but it is one of the most egregious examples of privilege and oppression I have witnessed in my lifetime.

“Come to me,” says Jesus, “all you who are burdened and abused and I will give you rest.” That happens when we follow our calling to work for justice. It does not happen by magic. There is no “us and them”. There is no group that deserves to be poor oppressed by an economic system that is unjust and uncompassionate.

We are all made in the image of God. And every single one of us deserves to be treated with love and compassion. The Spirit tells us there is no distinction between “us and them”. Let us practice what we preach this week and live up to the promise of Easter by working for justice and standing up for what is right.

Amen.

I'm Different and I'm Beloved - Second Life Reflection 10/9/10

Click the audio link below to hear the reflection on being different.

I'm Different and I'm Beloved

The Lessons

 The Wisdom of the Dalai Lama

 “May I become at all times,
Both now and forever,
A protector for those without protection
A guide for those who have lost their way
A ship for those with oceans to cross
A bridge for those with rivers to cross
A sanctuary for those in danger
A lamp for those without light
A place of refuge for those who lack shelter
And a servant to all in need.”

Luke 17:11-19 (NRSV)

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”