Category: News

 

It’s here! It’s finally here!

Around the weekend of September 7-8, a lot of the things I love best about Plymouth Church come back from the summer hiatus. Choirs return. Church school resumes. Confirmation kicks-off. 9 to Dine begins again And, this year, we will see some new things: a Wednesday noon class on friendship, a Wednesday 7 pm adult Bible study, meals on Wednesday nights, new programming for older adults and so much more.

All of that is pretty exciting.

But wait! There’s more!

This weekend will also witness the start of our fall focus on Friendship. From September 7-8 right through Thanksgiving, our worship will explore the spiritual practice of friendship.

It all starts this weekend with Jesus.

John 15:12-17

¹²“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. ¹⁷I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

The setting here is the Last Supper –Jesus telling the disciples what they will need to know as they prepare for life without him. And in this section of the discourse, he is teaching them something important about the nature of their relationship with him and with one another.

“I have called you friends.”

Last week I did something I do not often do. I pulled a couple of volumes of Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament off my shelf. (It was pretty dusty). And I consulted a couple of entries to formulate what follows.

The passage opens with the most fundamental commandment: that the disciples “love one another as I have loved you.” The Greek word for love in this verse is ἀγαπᾶτε, the Greek word denoting the highest and most selfless form of love. To make that even more clear, Jesus gives content to the concept by appealing to the example he is about to give them. There is no greater love than “laying down one’s life” for one’s friends.

Does that make you cringe? It makes me cringe a little. To “lay down one’s life” sounds like an invitation to self-sacrifice. Feminist theologians like Rita Nakashima Brock have rightly warned us of the dangers of construing love as self-sacrifice. That kind of rhetoric too often authorizes victimized and oppressed people to “lay down their lives” by continuing to suffer.

But this is where Kittel’s Theological Dictionary was (surprisingly) helpful. To “lay down one’s life” is an expression unique to the Johannine literature (the Gospel of John and the three epistles of John). But if you look at similar phrases in non-biblical literature, you start to see, not a connotation of self-sacrifice, but rather self-risk.

“To hazard one’s life for one’s friends.” Does that sound different? To me it does.

And then we have the Greek word for “friend”: Φίλοs. It is related to the word for “kiss.” But the original root may have meant something like “to regard and treat somebody as one of one’s own people.”

On his last night, Jesus founds a new community –a circle of friends who know that they belong to each other, are defined by Jesus’ example of love and who freely risk themselves for each other and for the advancement of that love.

And Jesus means to make that happen. There is a little conjunction in v.17 that does a big job:  ἵνα (“so that”).  Jesus does not merely set out some vague wishes for how we will be together as a church; he means to make it happen. He tells his disciples about so that it will happen.

He has called us friends.  And he means to make it so.

Plymouth Church, this weekend we start something special. Please don’t miss it. Jesus called us friends. And we’re going to start figuring out what that means –for each of us, for Plymouth, for the whole world.

Today we unveil the syllabus for A Course on Friendship, an adult education class that Matt Mardis-LeCroy will be offering on Wednesdays over the lunch hour.  Plan on joining him -and plan on bringing a friend!

 

We are talking about growing in love –love of God, love of neighbor, love of self.

But what does love of God have to do with love of my neighbor?

Maybe more than we think.

 

Genesis 32:24—33:11

  ²⁴Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.²⁵When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. ²⁶Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” ²⁷So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” ²⁹Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. ³⁰So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” ³¹The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. ³²Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket, because he struck Jacob on the hip socket at the thigh muscle.

 Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. ²He put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. ³He himself went on ahead of them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother.

 4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he said, ‘Who are these with you?’ Jacob said, ‘The children whom God has graciously given your servant.’ ⁶Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down; ⁷Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and finally Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. ⁸Esau said, ‘What do you mean by all this company that I met?’ Jacob answered, ‘To find favor with my lord.’ ⁹But Esau said, ‘I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.’¹⁰Jacob said, ‘No, please; if I find favor with you, then accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God—since you have received me with such favor. ¹¹Please accept my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have everything I want.’ So he urged him, and he took it.

 

We are, obviously, parachuting into the middle of a long and messy story. Here is the nickel version.

 

Like the last time we were in Genesis, this is a story of strife between two brothers. Jacob and Esau are, in fact, twin brothers. But Esau is the older one and therefore, under the rules of primogeniture, is set to inherit all of his father’s property.

 

And he would have done just that –if Jacob had not tricked him.

 

In Genesis 27, we read the elaborate story of how Jacob tricked his father into conferring the blessing on him instead of Esau. Jacob’s deception is deadly serious and Esau vows to kill him.

 

20 years go by before they see each other again.

 

Jacob flees for his life and has a whole series of adventures: he has a vision of angels ascending and descending (“Jacob’s Ladder”), and then ends up living with his Uncle Laban. Laban is every bit the manipulator and trickster that Jacob is, and each tries to get the better of the other. Eventually, Jacob amasses a large family and a small fortune. Life has been good to Jacob.

 

But Esau is still out there.

 

Our passage for this weekend—containing portions of chapters 32 and 33—is part of the longer story of Jacob and Esau’s reconciliation. It is drawn out, thick with tension. (In his Genesis commentary for the Interpretation series, Walter Brueggemann writes, “The narrator has found a style to carry the listening community along the tortured and risky way to reconciliation”). Chapter 32 begins with Jacob—perhaps knowing that an encounter with Esau is now inevitable—making anxious preparations for their eventual meeting. He sends elaborate gifts to his estranged brother. He also sends his wives and children across a river, out of harm’s way.

 

It seems safe to say that Jacob may be hoping for the best but he fears the worst.

 

The night before the brothers are to meet, Jacob waits, anxious and alone. In the middle of the night he is attacked by a mysterious assailant. They wrestle until dawn.  Neither one can get the upper hand. At daybreak, the stranger blesses Jacob with a new name: Israel, meaning, “the one who strives with God.” And then Jacob, in turn, names that place Penuel: “For I have seen God face to face.”

 

The next morning, Jacob and Esau meet at last.  And…they reconcile! Instead of killing his brother, Esau runs to meet him, embraces him, falls on his neck, kisses him. And the brothers weep together. It is a powerful moment of human connection and healing.

 

So how does something like this happen? How can brothers long estranged be brought back together in love? Mostly I am saving that for my sermon. But simply consider this: In 33:10, Jacob says, for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God.

Like seeing the face of God.

 

Jacob knows a thing or two about that.

 

Sometimes seeing God’s face is the secret to loving our neighbor.

 

See you in church!

 

 

 

 

Sometimes the Scriptures hit a little close to home. As we struggle with the aftermath of multiple mass shootings in this country—as we grieve and grapple with the horror—our summer sermon series invites us to consider the story of Cain.

Genesis 4:1-17

Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” ²Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.

³In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, ⁴and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? ⁷If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

⁸Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.

⁹Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰And the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! ¹¹And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

¹³Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! ^14Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.” ¹⁵Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him.

¹⁶Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. ¹⁷Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and named it Enoch after his son Enoch

 

 

We are back at the beginning again, all the way back at the 4^th chapter of Genesis. The Bible opens with two creation stories, a description of the paradise in which human life began and of the subsequent exile from that paradise. Chapter 4 is a sort of starting over.  What will life look like “east of Eden”?

It will look like a brother murdering his brother for no good reason.

This is why I keep coming back to the Bible. I don’t know if this story happened the way that Genesis tells it, but I know it is true: Humans too often and too easily hate other humans.  Abel is Cain’s literal brother but that does not stop Cain from killing him.

This text tells some important truth for this moment. We need a real conversation about gun control in this country. We need to pay more attention to how we treat mental health. We need to clearly and consistently condemn racist and white nationalist rhetoric in our politics.

But.

But we also have to face up to the evil in the human heart. This may be one of the ways that I am not a good theological liberal: I tend to believe that there is something broken in us. We too readily and too easily slide into hatred and fear. Cain’s story is out story.  (It is interesting to note that, after killing his brother, Cain goes on to found the first city. The writer of Genesis takes a pretty dim view of city life. And Human civilization is itself founded by the guy who also invented murder).

But we will not be reading this text in a vacuum. We are in the midst of our summer series on Growing in Love. And this weekend we will focus on love of self.

So rather than share any more of my thinking, let me simply tell you where this weekend’s sermon will start.

I think Cain’s deepest problem is that he does not love himself. Everything follows from that.

I know how that sounds. But I believe it. And I believe recognizing the consequences of our failure to love ourselves could be the first step in turning things around.

See you in church!

 

We say it almost every time we gather: At Plymouth Church our purpose is to grow in love of God and neighbor.

But what does that mean? And how do we do it?

That is what the rest of the summer is about.

Beginning this weekend and continuing right through Labor Day, our preaching and my Wednesday morning Bible study will be exploring what it means to grow in love of God and neighbor.

In this post, I want to establish some background for the series.

One way to gauge the importance of a story from the Jesus tradition is to notice how many times it appears in the 4 Gospels. Jesus’ baptism by John the baptism, his miraculous feeding of a multitude, his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his crucifixion, his resurrection –all of this makes into all four gospels.

But beyond that, it is hard to find many elements of the Jesus story that merit mention in multiple Gospels. The birth of Jesus, for, example, is only recounted in two of the Gospels. The Story of the Good Samaritan is only in one.

When something occurs in 3 out of 4, it is important. And that is exactly the case with a passage we call The Greatest Commandment.

Mark 12:28-34

²⁸One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” ²⁹Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; ³⁰you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ³¹The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³²Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; ³³and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’ —this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.

Matthew 22:35-40

³⁵and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.³⁶“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” ³⁷He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Luke 10:25-28

²⁵Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” ²⁷He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

There is remarkable convergence between these three different accounts. All of them agree that an educated person (a “scribe” for Mark, a “lawyer” for Matthew and Luke) asked Jesus a question. (Only Matthew portrays it as contentious). For Mark and for Matthew, the question is about which commandment is the greatest; for Luke the question is about how to inherit eternal life.

The Gospel writers differ on who supplies the answer (Jesus does in Matthew and Mark but in Luke Jesus turns the question back on the lawyer who provides the right answer) and there are minor differences in the wording -but mostly remarkable agreement.

Mark: ³⁰you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ³¹The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

Matthew: ’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

Luke: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 

Love God with all that you have got; love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus says this is what matters most.

Theology can seem like an esoteric discipline with its own obscurantist discourse. But sometimes it is surprisingly simple.  For example: Richard Niebhur was a 20^th century theologian in our tradition who taught at Yale and was, for my money, the superior Niebhur brother. In a little book called The Purpose of the Church and Its Ministry, Niebhur makes an argument so simple even I can follow it:

1. Jesus said the meaning of life is growing in love of God and neighbor.
2. The church exists to continue the mission of Jesus.
3. The church is here to help people grow in love of God and neighbor.

Can it really be that simple? I think, just maybe, it can.

But in the coming weeks we will need to unpack some things:

-What does it mean to love God?

-What does it mean to love my neighbor?

-And Jesus mentions love of self. Is that a good thing? A bad thing? Something we do all too well or not nearly well enough?

And just because it is simple to understand does not mean it is easy to do. There will be plenty to dig into  for the rest of the summer as we explore our purpose; as we grow together in love.

See you in church!