Our small group study will meet to discuss Our Strangely Warmed Hearts.
Rev. Karen P. Oliveto, the author, was elected as a bishop of the United Methodist Church in 2016. She was the first woman to serve as the senior pastor at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, the fifth largest congregation of the UMC. She is also the first openly lesiban bishop.
The United Methodist Church will gather for Special Conference in 2019 in which we as denomiation will set the course for its future especially regarding our doctrinal stance of homosexuality. The Council of Bishops has adopted the suggestion by the Commission of a Way Forward with One Church plan that endorses theological flexibility for each pastor, congregatoin, and annual conference.
While the future of the UMC is unclear at the moment, we encourage our congregation to pray for our denomination first. We also invite our congregation to be equipped and prepared more theologically and spiritually by studying the history, stories, and theological argument of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters within the UMC.
Schedule
May 27 (Sunday) 9:30 am – 10:30 am Chapter 1: The Gay Liberation Movement
June 3 (Sunday) 9:30 am – 10:30 am Chapter 2: The UMC and Homosexuality
June 10 (Sunday) 9:30 am – 10:30 am Chapter 3: Here I am, Chapter 5: Coming Out While Going In, Chapter 5: Living at the Intercsection
June 17 (Sunday) 9:30 am – 10:30 am Chapter 6: How Long, O Lord? Chapter 7: Closets No More, Chapter 8: We Shal Be Made Perfect in Love in This Life
The book is availalbe in the church. The book price is $10.
We are celebrating Easter on April Fools’ Day this year. One might say, “Christ is risen.” “Really?” “Well, it is April Fool’s Day.” It is something that does not make sense scientifically. But it is a witness that has passed down to us through the Church from the empty tomb. On this day, the religious authority, military threat, fear, and death became objects of God’s laughter when Christ was risen from death. We invite you to join us for five weeks sermon series and small group study with a theme, “April Fools! Laughing with God”
April 1 (Easter) – Laughing with God at Death
April 8 – Laughing with God at the Impossible
April 15 – Laughing with God at Legalism
April 22 – Laughing with God at Respectability
April 29 – Laughing with God at Life
The small group study is at 9:30 am on Sunday. Our worship starts at 10:45 am. We invite you to join us and laugh with God together.
*The sermon series and small group study are developed by Doug Damron, Jonathon Kollmann, Jim Stauffer.
When we say the word “home,” it seems to bring many emotions. Comfortable. Relaxing. Embracing. Peaceful…etc. Advent and Christmas is the season that people think about the meaning of home more. People drive or fly to be with their families. One of the images is that the families sit around the fireplace next to the Christmas tree. Children are excited to tear open the gift boxes on Christmas Day. Grandparents tell the stories holding their grandchildren. Ham is cooking inside the oven for the dinner. Children from college come home for the vacation. Soldiers come home to be with their family. When we say the word “home,” I wonder if you have any specific place in your mind.
For me, it is hard to pinpoint and say that this is my home. In growing up as a Methodist pastor’s kid, my childhood was always on the move. I remember living in 3 different towns until I turned 8 years old. After finally spending 12 years at one small church in the countryside, my life started rolling again from place to place. I went to the college. I joined the military. I wanted to explore the world and learn English so I went to the Philippines and Australia. I finished the college. I came to Boston to study theology. Then, my life now is that when the bishop says, “It is time to move,” my family pack everything and move. So, it is hard to pinpoint and say, “This is my home.”
Recently, I had an incident that made me feel like I was far from home. When I was waiting to pick up Daniel at the school, some children were exiting their classroom for recess. As they were passing by me, one of the boys, looking like 7 or 8 years old, started laughing at me and saying, “Chinese!” Well, it is not the first time people look at me and say, “Ni Hao?” What am I supposed to say? “Not all Asians are Chinese?” It is a little boy so I cannot judge what implication he had exactly in his mind. But in the hallway, this boy was laughing at me for being different. I looked at him directly with a stern face, implying “stop.” But he kept going on. And I started thinking what Daniel is going through at the school now.
Well, my case is different from most of you in this church. But I wonder if some of you also share similar experience as mine. I wonder some of you feel like you miss home. I know that some of you are not from here originally as well. Some of you are from the mid-west. Some of you are from the south. I know that you all have your family around here. But you always feel like that there is another home in your heart. It is not that you can go back there now because the place you grew up is not recognizable now. Probably new restaurants. New neighbors. New buildings. But in your dream, you often find yourself being back to the place with your father and mother and your siblings. The sense of missing home in your heart.
In today’s text, the writer of Psalm sings such memory of being home. “Lord, you were favorable to your land. You restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people. You pardoned all their sin.” In other words, the Psalmist is saying, “O God, you used to be so much nicer.” Why does the singer say that God used to nicer? Many biblical scholars agree that this song was written either while the Israelites were in exile in Babylon or they just returned to their homeland they found ruined. In other words, they miss their home where they had and enjoyed the abundance in God. But they are all gone now. They are far away from their home and miss it badly in their hearts. So, the song praises God who was very gracious in the past.
In the Disciple Bible Study, we have been recently studying how Moses was instructed by God to build the tabernacle as the place of worship for God. What is interesting is that God ordered Moses to put the ring on each corner of the arc of the covenant. But it was not just the arc of the covenant. God ordered to put the ring on the tabernacle as well so that when the time came to move, the priests could carry the tabernacle and the arc of God with the poles. God guided the Israelites through the wilderness by the cloud and fire. When the cloud came down and stayed around the tabernacle, it meant that God was there. When the clouds moved, it was the time for them to pack everything and follow and move.
It was interesting to me that the Israelites did not find the sense of home through the houses, their hometowns, or buildings. In their journey through the wilderness, they constantly moved from place to place. So, there is no point arguing which place they could pinpoint and say that this is our home. Rather, they found their security, their comfort, and their hope in God who was constantly on move. Wherever the arc went, it symbolized the presence of God who was with them. Wherever God was, the Israelites found home. When the Israelites were about to lose their battle against Babylon, Jeremiah told them that it is ok. God would go with them to the foreign land and surely be with them there.
And I was reminded of the special Christmas Eve I spent when I was in New Hampshire. While people were growing excited to spend Christmas with their families and friends, I realized that I and Sungha were not the only ones that did not have families here. In my church, there was a young man with a mental illness who lived alone with his cat. He yearend to come to the church every Sunday because the church was the only place that was nice to him. Since he did not have a car, he walked 1 hour and 30 min to the church every Sunday. There was also a family of single mother and her 3 years old son that lived in the housing project that was considered as dangerous. After the Christmas Eve service, we gathered for a special celebration with burgers and soda from McDonald.
As we shared the spirit of fellowship and hospitality, I felt in my heart that I was home. It is not the physical building that brought the sense of home. The house was rather unorganized, messy in the dangerous neighborhood. But the sense of being together, embracing one another as friend, and seeing the face of Christ was what brought a sense of home to me. The church is Greek is ecclesia. It means “being called out of the world.” It is interesting to notice that we do not choose to come out of the world and decide to become Christians. It is the work of the Holy Spirit who calls us, even though we might not share much in common, even come from many different places, and make one body in Christ together. As Christ welcomed strangers, forgave sinners, and healed the sick, we know that Christ is in the middle of us when we gather in his name and serve one another in humility. Home is right here with us.
Advent is the season that we hear the story how God came to this world and found home by dwelling among us. Christ did not come as the prince of the powerful or the rich. Rather, he came as a meek and humble baby of a carpenter and his teen mother surrounded by animals and shepherds. And the message Christ brings to us is “Emmanuel” – God is with us. God is right here with us even we struggle with despair, hopelessness, and anxiety. God is right here with us and we find home in the presence of God. We find the presence of God when we are called by the grace of God to make new family by welcoming and embracing one another as new brother and sister in Christ. And I want us to watch a video this morning which is shared in this season of Advent.
Somehow, I think this story illustrates what Christmas is about. When we were far from God because of our sins and brokenness, God still came to us in Christ and adopt us as God’s children again. God comes to us and dwells among us calling our place, however messy it might be, home. And whenever we gather in God’s name, sharing the spirit of radical hospitality, love, and peace, it is our home. May God bless us all as we faithfully wait for the coming of Christ whose message is this, “God is with us.” Amen.
Last night, our church hosted Music Concert for the People of Puerto Rico and Mexico. I was surprised that we had many people attending on Saturday evening. I was notified after the concert that we raised about $1700 to be given to UMCOR. My gratitude goes to everyone who performed, sang, shared the stories, and served foods. There is something that I need to confess this morning though. The idea of the concert was not my idea. In September after the earthquake in Mexico and hurricane in Puerto Rico, Ron suggested that we could do some hymn singing and raise the money to help them. When Kathi heard it, she brought the idea to me. I said, “Yeah, it is a great idea, Kathi. Let’s think about it.” But in my mind, I hesitated to go ahead because it is a lot of work. Well, I need to think about the Stewardship Sunday. I need to think about Advent Sundays and Christmas. I just wanted to play safe, convenient. But there are times when you know that the Holy Spirit is pushing you to step out of your safe zone.
As we hear from the scripture lesson from Matthew 25, I wonder if you share my trouble that I do not find anything wrong with the third servant. So, the master goes on a journey, calls his servants and entrusts his property to them. He gives 5 talents to the first one, 2 talents to the second one, and finally 1 talent to the last one. My mind tells me that if I were the third servant, I would grumble because it does not seem fair to be given just 1 talent when my colleagues are given more than my portion. So, the master goes away for a trip. The first two servants do a great job with trading and make double of what they have. The third servant buries the talent in the ground. And my question is this, “What is the problem with that?” At least, he did not go out and wasted it. The master comes back home and greatly rewards the first two servants. But he harshly rebukes and punishes the third servants who wanted to play safe, convenient, and certain.
What is the problem with playing it safe? At least, you can predict the future. The first two servants went out and did the trade. It is possible for them to lose all they had and appear to their master with nothing and say, “Sorry, master. We have lost all you have given.” The third servant could at least bring the exact same talent to his master. The result is secure. The result is predictable. Isn’t it what we all want? If you are still working and paying the pension for your retirement, or if you have already retired and received your income from pension, would you want your company to use your pension aggressively with a possibility of losing it or preserve it conservatively?
Our lives as Christians could be also about playing safe, convenient, and predictable. People could just gather for worship service, share some fellowship inside but never dared to go out to the world to face the challenges, hardships, and struggles. When I was working as Teaching Assistant at Boston University, I saw lots of students who were filled with enthusiasm for their ministries. One day, I met one of my former students who looked so tired and even angry. I asked him, “What is going on? How is your ministry?” And he said, “Well, I thought that I could come and turn around this declining congregation. I suggested that we do some programs to reach out to the children in the community, do ministry with the poor and hungry. And they tell me, “Joe, we are not really interested in changing who we are. I know you talking about making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. But our mission is to make sure that we as the church exist in this town even after you are gone.”
When Jesus tells us the parable that the master entrusting his property to the servants, it is insightful to know that one talent is a large sum of money, “equal to the wages of a day laborer for fifteen years.” Some commentators believe that one talent in today’s world could amount to one million dollars. So, when the master gave the last servant one talent, he actually trusted his servant that he could manage such a large money. The Gospel tells us that the master gave his property to his servants according to their abilities. It indicates intimate relationship between the master and his servants because he knows their capabilities. He intimately knows them to the point that one could experience growth instead of break-down when pushed to face challenges.
And Jesus implies God as our master who knows what we are good at and what we are not good at. God who created us in God’s image and calls us God’s children God is the One who knows where we can grow and how we can grow in our love for God and God’s people. And God gives us all talents and gifts. God may not instruct us how exactly to use our talents and gifts. As each servant must decide how to use his time during the master’s absence, we are also called to discern how to use our talents and gifts until Christ comes back in his final glory. Faithfulness is not merely obedience to directions. Rather, faithfulness means responsible discipleship. The grace of God is a gift given to us that we did not earn. But it is our responsibility of what we do with the grace of God. We are saved by our faith in Christ who redeems us from our sins and adopt us as children of God. But it is our responsibility to live as the children of God in this world, not by ourselves, but empowered and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.
If we realize that what we have from God today are gifts from God – whether it is our money, our possession, our family and children, and even our lives, we cannot just play the spirituality of safe, convenient, predictable, certain, and fearful. It is because God who serves certainly did not play safe in God’s terrestrial realm. Instead, God came down to the world, dwelt among us, and gave God’s only Son, Christ, to die on the cross. In our Disciple Bible Study, we discussed how terrible it was to read Abraham commanded by God to sacrifice his own son on the altar. It was because God was testing the faith of Abraham. But we know that when he raised his knife, the angel of God stopped him. One of the members, Linda, then said, “But God allowed Christ to die on the cross.” When we say that we are to love our God with all our hearts, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all our strength, we are called to love and imitate God who certainly did not play safe, convenient, and predictable. Rather, we see God in Christ who faces challenges, risks, and uncertainty.
In Five Practices of Fruitful Congregation, Bishop Robert Schanse calls the “Risk-Taking Mission and Service” the practice of church that actively going outward to engage the world and proclaim the good news through the words and actions. It includes “the projects, the efforts, and work people do to make a positive difference in the lives of others for the purposes of Christ, whether or not they will ever be part of the community of faith. I believe that our church in Putnam is strong with Risk-Taking Mission and Service. We constantly push our limits and engage our community by offering foods through Daily Bread and Community Café. We clothe the naked by offering NU2U ministry. We led our youth group to the mission trip in Philadelphia. We offer the love of Christ to our young people not just Sunday school but also Vacation Bible School. What other ministries have I missed? Bishop Schnase says that Risk-Taking Mission and Service is such fundamental activity of the church that failed to practice it in some form results in a deterioration of the church’s vitality and ability to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
I believe that Risk-Taking Mission is critical both to individual and church. As we as individual greet and welcome strangers, we see the face of Christ in them no matter where they come from. As we serve them, we embrace the humility of Christ by lowering ourselves. Instead of becoming the third servant who just goes home and buries his talent in the ground, we are called to use whatever God has given us today to wisely use for the glory of God who calls us to serve others in the name of Christ.
There is one thing that I would like our church to embrace risk and push ourselves to come out of our comfort zone. Everyday, we get the posts from Facebook that people who are arrested by the police officers for misdemeanors or crimes. We can read the comments on those postings that people ridicule those who are convicted and say that they deserve to be punished. First of all, we do not know the stories of their lives. Maybe, someone needed some money to feed his or her little children who were going hungry. I am not saying that their acts should be justified. But I wonder what Christ would tell these people who are locked in the jail with their families facing uncertain future without their husband or wife, brother or sister. There is a correctional facility in Brooklyn with male inmates. Thanksgiving is coming next week. We get together with our families, children, and friends and celebrate with so much food. What can do we about those inmates or their families as the followers of Christ?
Bishop Schnase shares a story of how we might take up the risk-taking mission in our lives. Lucas runs a small business, has a young family, and volunteers frequently at church. After a spiritually powerful experience on a Walk to Emmaus retreat, he prayerfully searched for ways to respond to God’s call to make a difference. He did not feel called to ordained ministry, but he did want his life marked by greater service to Christ. He joined a team of men who met weekly for months to plan a prison ministry, Kairos, to offer spiritual sustenance to those serving time. He and his team received permission, signed waivers, and were permitted to spend seventy-two hours in a maximum-security facility for violent offenders. He describes the experience as nothing short of life-changing for himself as well as for many of the incarcerated and the other volunteers. Their significant engagement, genuine conversation, gracious respect, and active concern broke down barriers and established relationships that would extend for years.[1] And I want us to watch a video of Kairos ministry.
In Matthew 25:36, Jesus says that when I was in prison and you visited me. Let me ask us. What kind of God are we serving? Are we serving God who stays out of the world, who enjoys the lofty status of divinity? God who plays safe and convenient and predictable? Or are we serving God who intermingles with the messy realities of this world, who stand with the poor, the naked, the sick, imprisoned, and oppressed and suffering? Where is Christ calling us out to take the risk-taking mission and service? I pray this morning that God gives us the spirit of audacity to live out the good news in Christ rather than being satisfied with the spirit of safety, predictability, and convenience.
[1] Robert Schnase, The Five Practices of Fruitful Lives
Title: A Redemptive Dream of God: Joseph’s Story #1
During this summer, we went over the story of Jacob. It was a story of how God reshaped his identity from a trickster to a person of blessing. He fooled his brother in his eagerness for the birth right. He even fooled his father, Isaac, who was weak and blind. However, God called him out to the wilderness and made him go through a time of changing his identity. His original name, Jacob, meant the grabber. But God blessed him at the river after the night of wrestling and called him Israel. This month, I invite you to walk with me with the narrative of Jacob’s son, Joseph, a dreamer, through whom God delivered his entire family from the famine and brought to reconciliation.
Interestingly, Joseph’s story begins with another dysfunctional family. His father, Jacob, experienced the parental favoritism. Jacob was favored by his mother, Rebecca. His brother was favored by his father, Isaac. Although many of us believe that we equally love our children, many psychologists suggest that it is natural to admit that we favor a certain child over others due to the gender, personality, or certain need. Well, parental favoritism, however, often leads to the conflict and brokenness within the family. And the book of Genesis tells us that Joseph was the favorite of his father among his 12 children because he was born while Jacob was old.
Just imagine that parents decide to divide their inheritance for their children. They give their 15 years old pick-up truck to you. But they decide to buy a new sedan for your brother or sister. And they tell you, “We equally love you both.” Would you believe what they say? Or would you be jealous of your sibling and complain the unfair treatment from your parents? This is what Jacob does. Because he loved Joseph among other sons, he made an ornate robe with long sleeves. Joseph wore his robe to show his brothers that he was the favorite son of his father over his brothers. The scripture tells us that they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
Although the popular image of Joseph from our Sunday school and movie might describe him as a faithful man with God’s dream, we find his character, not just immature but also arrogant. The scripture says that he was a young man of seventeen. It is a wonderful age. My former parishioner who recently deceased used to tell me how he met his lovely wife from the high school when he was only 17 years old at the prom party. Some are filled with excitement for going to the college. Some are filled hope for working and starting their careers. Many 17 years old are eager to leave their parents and gain their independence from them.
I am sure that Joseph was a young man with many excitements for his future. But see after he tended the flocks with his brothers, he came home and went to his father to bring a bad report about them. “Dad, Reuben forgot to give the water to your sheep. You know, Judah only sleeps during the day while I work hard for you.” Well, his father Jacob does not correct him but allows him to be spoiled. And how more trouble comes to him because of his dreams. He had a dream that he and his brothers were binding sheaves of grain in the field. Then his sheaf rose, and the sheaves of his brothers gathered around and bowed down to it. He not only dreams but also knows what it means. But he immaturely goes to his brothers and tells them about it. And the scripture tells us that they hated him all the more.
Here is more trouble. Joseph had another dream. This time, the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed down to him. He knew that his brothers were pretty upset when he first told them about his first dream. But it seems that he is eager to upset them even more. He again goes to his brothers and tells them the dream that his entire family including his mother and father would bow down to him. Joseph lacks humility. He is so caught up in his achievement, dream, and success. It is all about him. He does not care about how others might feel about him.
How about you? What were you like when you were 17 years old? Were you filled with many visions and dreams for your future? What did you want to become as you were growing up? What kind of family did you want to make or what kind of spouse did you think you were going to meet? What was your character like? Were you a person of humility caring about others around you? I wonder how many of us can relate to Joseph that when we were 17 years old, our life revolved around us. It was about my career. It was about my house. It was about my family. It was about my success…
I admit that I can relate to Joseph when I was 17 years old. When I was in the high school, my neighborhood was notorious for its poor education. Going to a college is a choice one can make. But the chance was very limited in our town. But with the grace of God, I was able to make it to a good school through which I met my wife, Sungha. But when I was at the school, I was not grateful. I thought that I was there because I was a smart kid. I was full of complaints. I was critical of Christianity, condemned the church for its corruption and exclusivity, and everything.
For Joseph, his arrogance and insensitivity bring him to the unwanted pitfall of his life. His father, Jacob, asked him to go and check on them grazing the flocks near Shechem which was about 60 miles away from him. When he arrived at Shechem, his brothers took it as an opportunity to plot against him and even kill him. They say, “Let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him.” Just imagine how hateful his brothers were against Joseph because of his broken relationship with them over the years fueled by the favoritism of their father.
But Reuben, the first son of twelve, tries to alter the plan and save his life. “Don’t shed any blood. Let’s just throw him into this cistern in the wilderness” They were eating their meat while their brother Joseph was starving in the pit. Then they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites going on their way to Egypt. Another brother Judah says, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites instead.” Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery and tried to cover up the story by killing a goat and dipping the robe that their father made for him in the blood. They brought the bad report to their father, “We found this.” Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for him saying, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.”
Joseph, a young man, spoiled by his father’s favoritism, a young man who was arrogant and self-centered, is now forced to live as a slave. He is taken out of his comfort and privilege and forced to unknown future. In “What’s your Story?” Sarah Heath insightfully suggests that God calls Joseph out to adventure through what seems like a pitfall in his life. Just like his father, Jacob was reshaped in his character through the trials under his uncle, God calls Joseph to go to unknown territory believing that God will surely walk with him and reshape his identity and alter his life. We will learn more about the redemptive plan of God through the turmoil of Joseph. But the message seems clear to me. When we think that it is all about me, God calls us tells us that it is not about us. It is actually about God. It is also about others God calls us to serve.
I was retired from the military in 2001. I was still disillusioned with my life being arrogant and self-centered. But I was not happy that although I was studying at the seminary, I did not have a call to ministry but only grumbling about the church. I was 20 years old and came to visit my uncle and aunt in Baltimore for two months. On Sundays, we always went to a Korean immigrant church. One Sunday, I decided to visit a United Methodist Church on the same block as the Korean church. The pastor was very graceful. The congregation was very diverse with white, black, and Hispanic/Latinos. I was very touched by the pastor who was full of energy and joy walking back and forth engaging the congregation. After the worship, he asked me what I was doing in Korea. When I told him that I studied theology, he said, “Oh, you should go to Boston University. I went to the school as well.”
I did not know at that time that God was speaking through the minister that God was calling me to follow God to unknown adventure. It was a journey that called me to come out of my family, friends, and comfort zone in Korea. But I am glad that I was able to follow God by God’s grace at that time. It is because I came to realize that it was not about me. Although I was an arrogant and self-centered person, God made me see an alternative reality through the congregation in Baltimore. Maybe some of us today feel like that we are trapped in the pit just like Joseph was. You are not happy about your situation because you believe that you were forced to be there. But I hope that we see the hands of God calling us to follow to unknown adventure through which God will bless not just us but also those around us.
As theologian Donald Miller says, the story we live today is a redemptive story of God. It is about how God saves us from our sins and calls us to live as God’s children in our faithful response to God’s grace. It is not about us. But it is about God. And it is about the people and God’s creation that God is calling us to go and serve in God’s love. I hope that we answer the call and follow God even though we cannot predict our future, we cannot calculate the benefit. But God has a wonderful plan for us. God has a story of redemption, restoration, and reconciliation at the end of the story for us. Let us boldly take out steps to the adventure together. Amen.
