Month: February, 2012

Fundraiser for the Food Cupboard

There will be a coordinated book sale fundraiser, organized in a large part by Jan Leighton, on Friday, April 20th from 4-6 p.m. and Saturday, April 21st from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Methodist Church. Books can be dropped off at the Methodist Church after April 16th. Set-up for the book sale will be on the 19th and 20th of April. Please start collecting books for this sale and store at your location until the 16th of April. Books on tape, CDs, and DVDs will also be accepted for sale. Area churches that want leftovers need to come help clean up at the end of the fundraiser. We could use a few volunteers from St. Margaret’s to help store books before they go to the Methodist Church and/or to help at the sale.

Thank you.

Maynard Clemons.

Services return to regular schedule

Sunday services will resume the regular 8 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. schedule.

Read and Hear Martha’s Sermon from February 26, 2012

(To print out this sermon, click here for a .pdf file.)

Click here for the sermon.

Click here for the sermon sources.

St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church
Lent 1 and Creation Series 7
February 26, 2012
Genesis 9:8-17; Ps. 104:1-24; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15

We come now to the last in our series of creation stories, and to the beginning of Lent. Over the last 6 Sundays we’ve looked at what Scripture has to say about God as Creator, the character of creation, and the character of humanity. We’ve seen how diverse these accounts are, how they vary in emphasis, and how each one adds depth to our understanding. I hope at the very least we have all come to a place where we no longer look to Genesis 1 alone to inquire into the nature of God as creator and God’s relationship to creation. A closer look at scripture reminds us that none of these passages stands on its own; it is all part of the canon, rich and diverse and ultimately mysterious.

We’ve looked at these seven accounts both by examining their original context, what they would have said to their original audience in their time and place, and also by looking at contemporary scientific understandings. We’ve seen where science and our contemporary understanding can challenge scripture. Both science and Ecclesiastes recognize the cycles of nature, but science helps us to see those cycles, not as wearisome sameness and vanity, but as a gift, a recognition of nature’s fecund and glorious productivity. There is also the garden story in Genesis 2, which has been interpreted to blame suffering in the world on human sin. But science shows us that much of what constitutes suffering in nature cannot be attributed to humans; it just simply is. But Genesis 2 reminds us of how humanity grows up from its falling down, “about its ‘falling forward’ into moral consciousness through painful transitions.” (i)

We’ve also seen where scripture and science come together. The Book of Job and Psalm 104 remind us of the natural world’s marvelous diversity. Biology, genetics and ecology remind us of the importance of that diversity for the flourishing of Life. Second Isaiah talks about the God who is “about to do a new thing,” and creation as ongoing, and resonates powerfully with the scientific principle of emergence. A subtext to all of this is that our own inquiry is never fixed — one hopes! We’ve seen how both science and scripture share a degree of ambiguity, if not mystery. (ii) We continue to engage scripture, new understandings and insights from the sciences, and our experience in the world to seek to grow in understanding of God, our fellow creatures, and our own place and purpose on this earth. That work is never finished.

There is enough diversity and complexity in all of this that we can get tangled up in the weeds and miss the big picture. There are some overarching connections and insights. Taken together, and to some degree even separately, we see that these scriptural pillars of creation, and today’s texts, shed some light on the nature of God as creator, and the nature of humans.

Genesis 9 has long been an important scripture passage for understanding earth relationship. This is the passage after the flood, when only Noah, his family and his ark full of animals remains. I would note, because it’s important, that scripture is clear that the sin that caused God to cover the earth in a flood was violence. Violence is a clear indicator of broken relationship. And, note what is said in this covenant. God says I make this covenant with you [Noah] and with every living creature … the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth….” “Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood…” “I make this [Covenant with] you and every living creature of all flesh;” “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” In this short text, creatures other than humans are mentioned seven times. This is a covenant with all creation.

If Genesis 9 is seen as God’s covenant with creation, Psalm 104 stands as a testament to God’s joy in creation. In some ways it parallels the Book of Job and God’s whirlwind tour of the universe. And so we have joy and covenant. Both reveal God’s desire for a mutuality and harmony in the totality of a blessed creation.

The scriptural pillars of creation and today’s gospel tell us something important about the nature of humanity and humanity’s place in the world. Through them we see a picture of being human that is two-fold, even paradoxical. Two natures in tension. We are creatures of the earth, adama, earthling, a creature among many. We made of the dust. And, we are also set apart for particular service and responsibility. This has been described as “stewardship and servanthood,” or “kingship and kinship.” We acknowledge one and not the other to our peril. We focus on our separateness, our unique place and creation and we think it’s all about us, which has led to dominion and exploitation without humility or recognizing the necessity of limits. If we see ourselves as creatures only, we fail to use our ingenuity and creativity, to see our ability to change and learn and grow, and to work in community to reverse the destruction wrought by human hands. We are servants, creatures, subject to nature’s laws. We are stewards with responsibility to apply ourselves and all we’ve got to the coming of God’s kingdom on earth. By this we understand God’s covenant in Genesis 9 as not only God’s promise to creation, but also as a model for human conduct. It is a covenant that calls on the human community to work in consort on behalf of all creation. (iii)

A creative reading of the Gospel’s wilderness stories can also provide some insights into human’s place in the world. While the Mark version of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness that we heard is a bit short on detail, the parallel passages in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke describe three temptations of Jesus. 1. Command these stones to become loaves of bread. 2. Throw yourself down from this pinnacle, for God will surely save you. 3. Worship Satan and all the power in the world will be yours. What if we understood these as not only the temptations of Jesus, but our temptations too? And what if we looked at them not just in a human-centric way, but in an eco-centric way? What if we saw them as guides for us in how to live and not to live in the world?

“Turn these stones into bread.” We might understand this as the temptation to ignore the natural laws and cycles of the earth. To set ourselves apart. (Didn’t some famous Nobel Prize winning scientist once suggest that we don’t have to worry about the earth, that pretty soon we’ll be able to transport ourselves to another planet?) Contemporary scientists and ethicists are reminding us that we need to live within nature’s laws if we are to survive. We have to stop taking more out of the earth’s crust – oil, heavy metals — than the earth can assimilate. We have to be precautionary before we create and unleash new toxins or substances (like GMOs) into the world we have no ability to unmake. We need to recognize that earth’s systems – oceans, forests, wetlands, sand dunes, rain forests, the atmosphere – have important functions for the well-being of all life and those functions need to be maintained and not disrupted. Recognize yourselves as creatures of the earth, see the earth as habitat. Don’t turn stones into bread.

“Throw yourself off a parapet because God will save you.” There’s the arrogance and the hubris. Acting irresponsibly. We have some special place and God will save us from ourselves. Is throwing ourselves off a parapet in God’s plan? Why are we putting God to the test? God’s joy is in all creation, and God desires the flourishing of all life.

“Worship Satan [or some other false idol] and all earthly power will be yours.” This is a no-brainer. We’ve gotten off track in our relationships with each other and with the rest of the natural world. We’ve sought our own material and short-term gain, we over-consume. We put our happiness in material things. We fail to put our trust in God and trust that God is bringing all things to God’s good purposes.

To turn these three temptations on their head and into positive guides for how to live on this earth, we might say that they remind us that we are creatures and need to live within nature’s limits, that we need to discern and apply ourselves to God’s plan for the flourishing of all life, and to use our power and creativity appropriately and with love and care.

Jesus resisted these temptations. Jesus chose to live in solidarity with human beings, into the precariousness and vulnerability of daily existence, to put his trust in God. He refused the way of power, and chose instead to be a servant. (iv) As ever, he points the way to living in right relationship with God, creation, and each other. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son…”

And so as we begin Lent, we might skip giving up desserts, and instead focus on understanding ourselves as ecological beings, to seek to love the world as God does, to honestly examine the habits and practices that are damaging relationships with each other and the earth. Looking at science and scripture together, we note again that while science can tell us a lot about the what and the how of creation, it can’t tell us why. It can explain the root causes of the ecological crisis and project trends. But it is faith that calls us to repent, to see into the larger mind, to recognize our deep connection to all life, and to live in solidarity with each other and with all life. We should apply ourselves to this task as though our lives depended on it. Because, in fact, they well might.

Amen.

i William P. Brown, The Seven Pillars of Creation: The Bible, Science, and the Ecology of Wonder (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 225.
ii Brown, 224.
iii Brown, 234.
iv Martin L. Smith, A Season for the Spirit: Readings for the Days of Lent (New York: Seabury Classics, 2004), 11-14.

Egg fundraiser for Bishopswood Camperships

Fill an egg to help send St. Margaret’s “Chicks” to camp!  Starting this Sunday and continuing through Easter there will be empty Easter eggs in the Parish Hall that can be filled with donations for Bishopswood camperships.  We have 10 children from St. Margaret’s that we are working hard to send to camp and your donation, no matter the amount, will be a great help.  Please find an empty egg, fill it with your donation, and move to the Easter basket.  On Easter Sunday the basket will be presented at the offering for a blessing.  If you have any questions, please contact Erin Ireland at geireland@myfairpoint.net or 548-2145.  Thank you!

Celebrate St. Patrick at Irish Potluck in March

St. Margaret’s Global Cuisine Potluck Saturday, March 10, will focus on Irish specialties.  Think meat and potatoes, oat cakes, cabbage and more potatoes. Organizer Elaine Bielenberg is busy lining up Celtic fiddlers to entertain us. Dinner is at 6.

Recipes for Irish corn bread, oatcakes and soda bread, Colcannon,  Parsnip and Apple Soup, Boxty ( potato pancake), Coddle (a bacon, potato and onion dish), Beef in Guinness, Steak and Kidney Pie and Ham Steaks with Whiskey Sauce are on the Time and Talent Table in the Parish Hall.

There are also dessert recipes. Among them: Irish Chocolate Cake (probably “Irish” because ingredients include mashed potatoes) and Country Rhubarb Cake. Help yourself to any of the recipes or add one of your own for others to try.

We encourage you to bring a few friends with you to dinner, especially those who like to cook. Remember to bring your own beverages. Come a bit early if your dish needs to be reheated or assembled. And, as always, non-cooks are welcome to help us clean up.

Read and hear Martha’s Sermon from February 19, 2012

(To print out this sermon, click here for a .pdf file.)

Click here for the sermon.

Click here for the sermon sources.

St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church
Creation Series 6, and Transfiguration Sunday
February 19, 2012
2 Kings 2:1-12; Eccl. 8:1-13; 2 Cor. 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9

Ecclesiastes and the Gift of Simplicity

If you’ve been following our exploration into creation stories, you’ve seen that the Bible has many things to say about creation, that no one story tells it all. Nothing points out the dramatic differences more than today’s reading from Ecclesiastes. We have talked about the blessedness and goodness of creation in Genesis 1; the joy of Woman Wisdom and the Cosmic Dance in Proverbs; Second Isaiah and the God who is making all things new; and God’s delight in the wildness of earth’s creatures in the Book of Job. Today we look at Ecclesiastes, for whom “there is nothing new under the sun.”

Ecclesiastes has been called “the most unconventional perspective on creation in the Bible.” (i) It contains the teachings of one identified by the unique Hebrew name of Kohelet, which means something like “one who gathers an assembly” (ii) (The New Revised Standard Version uses “teacher,” but it’s an imperfect translation). When we read someone’s writing, it is always helpful to know who they understood their audience to be, and it is likely that Kohelet was addressing himself as a teacher to young, educated men with “good prospects,” the next generation of movers and shakers. And shake them up he does.

We read the most familiar of passages from Ecclesiastes, in fact one of the most familiar passages in the Bible. But let me give you another example of what our Teacher Kohelet has to say, from Chapter 1 –

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity …
All things are wearisome –
One cannot express it.
The eye is unsatisfied with seeing,
And the ear does not get filled from listening.
What has been, that is what will be;
And what has been done, that is what will be done.
There is nothing at all new under the sun.
There is a phenomenon of which someone says,
“See this, it’s new!”
It has already been for ages,
Those that were before us.

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity…” I kind of like William Brown’s take “vapor of vapors, all is flatulence.” (iii) (!) It amounts to the same thing, something that is insubstantial, even noxious.

Is this just a viewpoint of one very depressed, world-weary and cynical person, or is there some wisdom here? What’s it doing in our canon?

Speaking to his group of young men, students, the teacher seems to want to blast away any pretensions they might have to their own uniqueness, their expectations of lasting achievement. He reminds them they are but dust. Like the Book of Job, humility is the basis of his teaching. He asks “what is enduring?” Wisdom is better than folly, yet the wise and the fools face the same fate in death. Possessions we can’t take with us. We can pass on our goods, our achievements, but those who come after us may not deserve them and may squander them. So don’t aim for immortality. Don’t start posing for the statue you hope they’ll erect to you in the town square. The Teacher points out the cycles of nature, and of life: you’re born, you live, you’ll die. It’s not about sin, this all didn’t come about because of “The Fall” or any other human failing. It’s just inevitable. We are just a part of the web of life. One of my favorite rock groups could be quoting this teacher: “sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug.” That’s our Kohelet.

But there is more here. Thankfully, the teacher doesn’t drop us down a well of bleak nothingness and leave us there. Ecclesiastes 8:15 says “So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God gives them under the sun.” The Teacher says this repeatedly. Pleasure seeking and living for the moment! Well, not quite. The teacher would be better understood as urging us to “receive the gifts of God” (iv) that are evident all around us. This is essential gratitude to God who is the author and source of every good gift. “We practice the core religious virtue of humility by noting with pleasure, day by day, the gifts that come to us from God. And the truth is, most of those are given so regularly that we never even pause to recognize them for the gifts they are.” (v)

Many of us experience the wisdom of this. I’ve heard many times, when someone is asked how they are coping with a deep loss or tragedy, “I’ve learned to take pleasure in the small things in life.” When I’ve been forced to give up things, things I can no longer do, I find I can be happy with less. The first half of life is often about accumulating – degrees, financial security, furniture, reputation and a place in society. That’s important, even necessary. In the second half of life, spiritual growth happens in part by the process of letting things go, and discovering – to your surprise – that you no longer need them, or at least not the way you might have thought you did. You don’t need them to define who you are. And the teacher in Ecclesiastes reminds us to strive to live simply. This simplifying we now know is an ecological necessity. When did we become a nation of storage facilities? When did the malls become our houses of worship? What deep hunger is trying to be filled with more stuff? That question is the beginning of a deepening of faith.

So we have these two notions: the teacher’s insistence on enjoyment, and the pronouncement that runs throughout the whole book, “vanity of vanities.” “Vanity” might be better understood as “absurdity” – the appalling disparity, the gaping chasm between what should be and what is. The Teacher expresses the reality that if we make the purpose of our lives our own achievement, our own immortality, our own gain, we have, in the end, nothing.

And this brings us to the Gospel, the transfiguration. Because, what the Teacher of Ecclesiastes has to teach us is important, but it is not sufficient. Kohelet falls short of a gospel faith. One might see Ecclesiastes as preparing the way for Christ, that it leads us to the door but doesn’t go through it. Learning, day-by-day, to live life as a pure gift, we gradually prepare ourselves to receive the gift of Godself, given to us in Christ. Because God gives us gifts not so that we simply keep them and take satisfaction from them, but that we see through the gifts to Godself, and that we may receive the gift of God’s very self.

Looking at the Gospel, the Teacher of Ecclesiastes may give us a new perspective on the Transfiguration. Like Peter, we too might be tempted to be dazzled by the ethereal vision of Jesus in white, Elijah and Moses at his side. We too, might want to stay in the rarified oxygen of the spiritual, and not have to get earthly, get real, and see things as they are. But the text reminds us that after their vision on the top of the mountain, Jesus comes back down again. Down to the nitty-gritty. Down into religious and political quarrels, which are never, it seems, far from us. Down into poverty and pain, polluted rivers and an unstable climate. Down to species extinction and high asthma rates. Down to problems in Europe and Syria. Down to the threat of Iranian nuclear weapons. Down to the unemployed and underemployed, down to mortgage foreclosures and financial struggles. Down and down, and into it all, Jesus comes.

This gets at the heart of the gospel, Mark’s and, truth be told, that of the whole New Testament. As Paul sings in Philippians, “though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness” (Phil. 2:6-7). Jesus’ downward movement from his rightful place in glory to embrace all of creation out of love is, in a very real sense, the essence the gospel. (vi)

This is not to dwell in the dark places of our lives, but to assure and remind ourselves that Jesus is already there. In the face of everything, even while he knocks the stuffing out of self-importance, the Teacher of Ecclesiastes reminds us that God is in all things. Our Gospel faith reminds us that Christ is present in, and redeems all things. In Jesus, God interacts with creation in “a most intimate, intense, and bodily way.” (vii) Christ saves us not by removing us from this earth, but, coming down the mountain, he enables us to find the ways to live harmoniously with all life, to be attentive to daily living, to respect all life, and to live in gratitude.

God came to us in and through the Incarnate Son precisely to be with us and for us through thick and thin and through life and death — indeed, God came in Jesus to be with us through death into new life. We are called to participate in and enjoy God’s life as it is intended for all creation. May it be so. Amen.

i  William P. Brown, The Seven Pillars of Creation, (Oxford; NY: Oxford University Press, 2010), 177.
ii  Ellen Davis, Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament (Cambridge: Cowley Publications, 2001): 104.
iii  Brown, 181.
iv  Davis, 107.
v  Davis, 108.
vi  David Lose, Commentary on Mark 9:2-9, accessed on line at www.workingpreacher.org.
vii  Norman Wirzba, Living the Sabbath: Discovering the Rhythms of Rest and Delight (Grand Rapids, MI: BrazosPress, 2006), 45.

Lenten Luncheon Series

Take a break in the middle of the weekday and join the Greater Bay Area Ministerium for its “Lenten Luncheon Series,” on Wednesdays during Lent at the First Baptist Church. This year the theme is “Leaps of Faith,” and each of the presenting pastors will have their own particular take on what this means! We gather promptly at 12 for a brown bag lunch, sing a song or two, have a presentation and discussion, and finish promptly at 1. Presenting churches provide sweets to finish the meal. As of this writing, some of the planned subtopics include “master and slave,” “call stories in scripture and legend,” “into the silence,” and “dancing on thin ice.”  Sound interesting? Come and see! The dates for the Lenten luncheon series are February 29, and March 7, 14, 21 and 28.

Living and Loving the Questions (Lenten series)

The month of March in Maine seems like a particularly good time to gather with friends, share a meal and ponder life’s deeper mysteries. This year Martha and Kate Winters (First Church, UCC) will once again be collaborating to facilitate a weekly adult ed where we explore what it means to be a Christian in today’s world. This year the theme is “Living and Loving the Questions,” using a program called “Living the Questions.”^® LtQ is a series of DVD and web-based small group studies “aimed at helping people explore beyond the conventional theologies of traditional Christianity” and wrestle with basic questions that are often, frankly, avoided by the church. It does not offer a systematic theology, but rather is born out of the day-to-day conversations confronting local parishes that involve mysteries of faith and life. Some of the contributors to LtQ include Marcus Borg, Walter Brueggemann, John Dominic Crossan, and John Selby Spong, to name just a few. As of this writing the curriculum had not been firmed up, but some possible topics include: “an invitation to journey”; ‘taking the Bible seriously but not literally”; “evil, suffering and the God of love”; “debunking the rapture,” and “embracing mystery.” Living and Loving the Questions meets every Friday evening in March (five sessions), and like last year will begin at 5:30 with a shared bread and soup supper, followed by the program from 6 – 7:30.

New issue of Reflections is here!

Click on the image of the latest issue of Reflections on the home page of our website.

Potluck draws 24 for dinner

A half dozen versions of Jambalaya, shrimp dishes, salads, “dirty rice” and one amazing bourbon chicken recipe delighted diners at last Saturday’s Global Cuisine Supper. Twenty-four parishioners and their guests attended and many stayed afterwards to play table games. Dennis Urick and Alden Johnson were crowned “Kings” when they found the trinket babies in their pieces of Kings’Cake. Supper organizer Cipperly Good crowned Ginny Johnson, too, just for good measure. (see photo)

Next month’s supper, Saturday, March 10, will focus on Irish foods. Faye Ward and Elaine Bielenberg are in charge and they’ve located recipes for both traditional and modern dishes. Dinner is at 6. Recipes are on the Time and Talent Table. Help yourselves.

The Irish are well known for their love of the potato but the coming of the potato in the 16^th Century turned out to be a mixed blessing despite the nourishment it brought. Until that time, the poor survived on milk, butter, cheese and offal, supplemented with oats and barley. They occasionally made blood sausage. The landed classes ate beef, mutton and pork.

The adoption of the potato as the core of Irish cuisine should not be seen as a voluntary choice.  According to Wikipedia, the Penal Laws in Ireland resulted in the large Irish Catholic majority being denied the right to buy land or pass it on to their descendants. Thus many farms were less than a quarter of an acre yet had to provide food for extended families. “The only way to avoid starvation,” reports Wikipedia, “was to intensively cultivate a single crop, the potato.” That reliance meant terrible famines when the crop failed as it did several times before The Great Famine of 1845-1849, when approximately 1 million people died and another million emigrated.