Progressive Christian Theology 101

“God in All, All in God”

Lesson for MCC New Haven

May 26, 2013

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

Texts:

Romans 5:1-5

John 16:12-15

·       Progressive Christian Theology 101: Theo/Thea (God) + Logos (Word/Reason/Logic) = Exploration of God

·       Most Christian denominations are Trinitarian, though some are not.

·       Trinity: Not three gods, but rather God revealed in three persons. Traditionally “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (or Ghost). Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. Source, Christ, Comforter/Helper/Paraclete. This formula is used in baptism and in blessing.

·       Hebrew God in the Tanakh: YHWH (tetragrammaton) transliterated as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”. It is written as “LORD” in most of our Bibles. Jews do not speak this name for God. God’s name is kept unspoken because it is too holy to speak. Many Jews write “G-d” in further respect. Jews refer to God in common conversation as “HaShem” meaning “The Name.” In prayer, they use “Adonai”, meaning “Lord” (“Kyrios” in Greek). Before the temple was destroyed in 70CE, the name was pronounced, but only in the Holy of Holies by the priest.

·       Hebrew names of God:

o  Elohim, “God of Power.”

o  Ehyeh asher ehyeh, “I AM” or “I AM that I AM” or “I will be who I will be.”

o  El Shaddai, “Almighty Breasted God”

o  Shekhina, God’s dwelling presence. Feminine.

·       Trinities of other religions. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva in Hinduism, etc.

·       God beyond the Trinity: What other ways do we see God? Panenthiesm: God in All.

·       What kind of God can we believe in? The question should not be “Is there a God?” but rather “Is there God?” Our answer today: Yes. God is.

·       Psalm 139: “Where can I go from your Spirit?” The answer: Nowhere!

·       The problem of suffering: “theodicy”. Especially after the Holocaust (Shoah), theologians had to change their ideas about how God works in the world. We cannot believe that God causes suffering. We hear some fundamentalists claim this, but that is harmful theology.

·       God did not cause the tornados in Oklahoma. Natural disasters are NOT “acts of God.”

·       Our beliefs inform our behavior. Believe in a punishing, angry, manipulative God, and you will be as well. Believe in the God of Love that Jesus taught about and demonstrated, and you will live a life of love as well.

·       For more info on Progressive Christianity, visit www.ProgressiveChristianity.org

Spirit-Filled Living

“Spirit-Filled Living”

Sermon for MCC New Haven

May 19, 2013

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

Texts:

Acts 2:1-18

John 14:12-17

         Happy Birthday! … On the Christian calendar, today is called Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost has long been called “the birthday of the Church.” Each year, we read from the second chapter of Luke’s Book of Acts how the disciples were all gathered together after Jesus had departed from them. And just as Jesus had promised, they had a life-changing spiritual experience together. Without any history, you may read the story and think their experience is just a bunch of meaningless chaos. A strong wind blew through the house where they were and then tongues of fire appeared above each of their heads. And though the crowd spoke in many different languages, each person heard the others speaking their own language. They could understand each other without a translator.

         I imagine that if I had not grown up in the church and I read this story, I just wouldn’t get it. It sounds like just one more story with crazy Bible language. And that is why we turn to the eleventh chapter of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (verses 1-9, GNB). “At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words. As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there. They said to one another, "Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard." So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together. They said, "Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth." Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which they had built, and said, "Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want! Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand each other." So the Lord scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. The city was called Babylon, because there the Lord mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth.”

         We know that this is not a historical story. All the people of the world at that time did not speak the same language. And we also know that God is not a separate entity that lives in the sky and comes down to check on us now and again. This kind of text was written in order to give a lively explanation for why different people spoke different languages. Imagine it being told around a campfire. The moral of this story is that people were trying to get to heaven, and they tried doing so to “make a name for themselves.” They wanted fame; they weren’t seeking a relationship with God.

         Now let’s look back at the Pentecost story. Remember that Jesus had just done what the people of Babylon had failed to do: he ascended to heaven to be with God. And he didn’t do so selfishly as the Babylonians had tried to do. No, Jesus went to “prepare the way,” that others might come after him. But instead of just disappearing and waiting for people to die so that they could rise to heaven in spirit, Jesus sent heaven to them.

         The fire of God’s holy Spirit fell from heaven so that it could live within those who had been enlightened by Jesus’ teachings. And hinting at the story of the Tower of Babel, without mentioning Babylon specifically, we see the peoples of the world united once again, this time by Love.

         Was the disciples’ hair on fire? No. Did someone just leave a window open when there was a storm brewing? No. Were there really people from all those places gathered there? I don’t know. What I do know is that the Pentecost experience was a life-changing one for those involved, an experience that isn’t isolated to that house in Jerusalem, but is rather an experience that is available to us all. Luke makes a bold point in his story telling: God is with us. Nothing can separate us from the Love of God.

         It makes perfect sense that this event is said to have happened on the Day of Pentecost. Christians did not invent this day; Jews did. It was the Festival of Shavuot when Jews celebrate Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. In the third chapter of the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible, the story is told, “There an angel of the Lord appeared to [Moses] in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And [Moses] said, “Here I am.” Then [God] said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” … And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”

         Do you see the parallel here? Moses experiences God as a flaming bush in a “mountain-top experience” in which the power of God is too much for him to bear for long. But on the day of Pentecost, Jesus’ disciples are not told to step back from the flame of God. Instead, the flame rests upon each of them, filling them with Holy Fire. Their Rabbi, Jesus, had brought the wonder and power of Sinai down to them.

         In Progressive Christianity, we do not claim to supersede Judaism. We honor the Jewish faith as one of many paths of truth. Jews still experience the Holy Fire of God in the lighting of the shabbos candles every Friday night as the Sabbath begins, and in the lighting of the Menorah during the eight days of Hanukah. Through their tradition passed down from generation to generation, they experience the holy.

         As Christians, we follow in the teaching of Jesus, that this Holy Fire cannot be contained, and it cannot be put out. When we open our spirits to the Spirit, we are ignited with the same loving-kindness that Jesus demonstrated. We’re just flaming with love! And as Jesus said in the passage from the Gospel of John we heard today, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.”

         And I believe we are! MCC today is working miracles. Since 1968 when that first group of people met together in Rev. Troy Perry’s living room and experienced the holy Spirit there, MCC has spread like wildfire and never stopped. The KKK tried to put out the fire, but it couldn’t. The Moral Majority tried to put out the fire, but it couldn’t. AIDS tried to put out the fire, but it couldn’t. Hate crimes have tried to put out the fire, but they won’t. We heard the terrible news yesterday that a gay man was murdered by a shot to the head just Friday night in Greenwich Village in New York. We have come a long way tearing down walls of bigotry and hatred, but there is still a long way to go. We can’t let incidents like this make us hide in fear; we must continue to live boldly. We are a holy people, empowered by the Queer Spirit of God to spread the Good News that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt to be true: God dwells within us too. Luke quotes the prophet Joel in saying that God will pour Her Spirit upon ALL flesh. Not just some flesh; ALL flesh. Black flesh, white flesh, tan flesh, purple flesh. Straight flesh, bisexual flesh, gay flesh, transgender flesh. Young flesh and old flesh. Able flesh and disabled flesh. ALL means ALL.

         The founders of MCC New Haven knew this truth. I have spent many hours in our office looking through old records, tracing the path of the Spirit through our history. I believe that Spirit was present with Yale Divinity School students Kenneth Theriault and Beverly Lett who had the courage to start a church for LGBT people in 1977 when homophobia and transphobia was a common reality. I believe Spirit led Harry Wright to be the first Moderator and Paul Keroack to be the first Clerk of MCCNH’s first Board of Directors in 1979. And I believe that Spirit led Tom O’Loughlin to join the Board in 1981. I’m sure both of you have been recognized many times over the years for your work, but we continue to thank you today for all you have done in following Spirit and in still being here today.

         Through thick and thin of the past 36 years, God’s Spirit has blown through the life of MCC New Haven. For many years, attendance stayed around twenty. For a time in the 90’s, under the leadership of Rev. Susan Heiskell, attendance was around 150. In fact, in 1991, we had two services: one morning and one afternoon. A building fund was started. Then a recession hit and that dream had to be deferred. The church saw new leadership under Rev. Burnie Barbour, Rev. Marylin Bowens, and others. The choir enjoyed a season with Beth Styles.

I know that those of you who were involved in the church over those years have good memories and not so good memories. Spirits were encouraged and spirits were broken. Relationships began and some ended. Some beloved members passed away, including Harry Wright. I know that remembering some of these things may be painful. Struggle and loss isn’t fun. But we are a Christian community, and as such, we are called to look back and claim our story as part of God’s story. Never forget, God has laughed and danced with you and God has wept with you.

Over the coming weeks, you will have the opportunity to write on the timeline posted on the wall significant events in the church that are important to you. Take a note card for each event, and write how you saw Spirit at work during that time. Don’t be snarky. Don’t bleed all over the paper. Instead, do the work of healing by recognizing all that God has done for us. If you’re new to the church, please feel free to write down the date of your first service with us or an event with us that is important to you. This will be our way of looking straight into that burning bush, without being afraid.

The Holy Spirit that is with us is the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit within us speaks the truth through us in Love. As Paul writes in his letter to the Romans (8:26, NRSV), “…the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” You may not know how to express your feelings about our history. But if you allow Her to, the Spirit will intercede for you, advocate for you, help you.

A Course in Miracles (22:59) says, “Extension of forgiveness is the Holy Spirit’s function. Leave this to [Her]. Let your concern be only that you give to [Her] that which can be extended. Save no dark secrets that [She] cannot use, but offer [Her] the tiny gifts [She] can extend forever. [She] will take each one and make it a potent force for peace. [She] will withhold no blessing from it or limit it in any way. [She] will join to it all the power that God has given [Her] to make each little gift of love a source of healing for everyone. Each little gift you offer to the other lights up the world.”

We have a choice to make today. Do we frantically try to rebuilt the Tower of Babel to seek something in the sky that isn’t there like a “Golden Age” gone by, or do we embrace the Spirit of Healing and Forgiveness that is right where we are, that is our very own breath? If we choose the Way of Spirit, we will grow. If we choose the way of Ego, we will scatter like the people of Babylon.

The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Giving, the Spirit of Generosity. Opening our hearts and our hands to serve our church and beyond our doors through giving the very best of our time, talents, and treasure is what will open up greater prosperity for our community. I’m here to orchestrate this process; I’m the maestro. But what’s an orchestra without the full cooperation of the musicians? A cacophony. I ask you today, for the sake of all who have come before us to keep this church alive, and for the cause of Christ, to choose with me the wild, daring, yet most fulfilling way of Spirit. In the words of the Sufi Mystic Rumi, “Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.” And so it is. Amen.

Rising Above

“Rising Above”

Sermon for MCC New Haven

May 12, 2013

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

Texts:

Acts 1:1-11

Luke 24:49-53

“What’s up?” … I know I use this phrase a lot. The response I usually get is either, “Not much.” or the more smart-aleck response, “The sky.” People since the beginning of time have defined their surroundings by “up,” “down” or “around.” Humans have always observed that the earth is down and the sky is up. But the understanding of what is “around” has changed with the modern age. In ancient times, the earth was thought to be flat, there was thought to be a firmament in the sky that held it up, like a ceiling. The stars were thought to be holes in the sky that showed through to the bright heavens beyond it. They also thought there was an ocean above the sky and that is where rain came from.

They also thought of the ground as another firmament that divided the land of the living and the land of the dead. The Greeks called the god of the underworld “Hades”. The Jews called the underworld “She’ol,” a place where all souls went to sleep after a life of struggle and labor. The Zoroastrians thought of the underworld as a place of judgment where a soul has to cross a bridge from life to death. If the person makes it safely over, she gets to enjoy paradise. If the bridge narrows, he falls into a fiery hell. Much of Christianity took on a close version of this myth, except paradise was in the sky where God lives and hell was under the earth.

The ancient worldview also included the idea that there was an “end of the earth” which you could fall off of if you went too far. This idea kept many from sailing too far into the ocean. This is probably why people of the Old World didn’t sail to the Americas until the 1400s. There were said to be great pillars there that held up the firmament in the sky, just as the pillars of a Greek or Roman temple hold up the ceiling. This all made perfect sense to them. And they told stories like that of the traveler Odysseus to affirm their worldview.

But in the modern age, we know that none of these things are facts. We know that the earth is spherical and that the sky is a mix of gasses in the atmosphere before outer space. We know that the stars are enormous flaming balls of gas light-years away. We still can’t fully understand the Universe, but we learn more and more about how it works over time.

This new understanding has informed the way we think about God and the claims of the Bible. We heard in today’s readings about the event that the church calls “Jesus’ Ascension.” The gospels tell us that after Jesus dies, he rises from the dead and is transfigured into the Risen Christ. He then appears to the disciples on many occasions to confirm to them that they must continue his work. And then the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts tell us that Jesus was “carried up into heaven.” When Luke wrote these words decades after Jesus’ death, it made sense to tell it this way. They knew of the story in the Hebrew Scriptures about Elijah who had been carried up into heaven to be with God. So to say that Jesus was carried into heaven was to confirm that all Jesus had said about having been the Chosen One of God was true.

In our modern mind, the Ascension makes no sense. It seems like something out of science fiction. The characters on Star Trek would say, “Beam me up, Scotty!” and they would be lifted up back to their spacecraft. Whenever I read this text, I think of Jesus saying, “Beam me up, YHWH!” People have created fictional characters like Superman and Wonder Woman who can push off of the ground and fly into the atmosphere. But they always come back. If we believe that Jesus literally flew off like this, we must ask, “Where did he go?”

The Mormons believe that Jesus went to the Americas to preach the gospel. A group of Christians in Kashmir, India believe that Jesus didn’t ascend at all but rather traveled to their town in India to live the rest of his life teaching spiritual principles. They guard a temple where they claim the body of Jesus is buried. One show on the History Channel talks about the possibility of Jesus having been an alien that came to teach people how to get along and then was literally “beamed up” back to a space ship. (Can you tell I really don’t take that channel seriously?)

No matter what happened to Jesus’ body, we know from personal experience what happened to Jesus’ Spirit. Next week, we will celebrate what we call the Day of Pentecost, remembering when the disciples were gathered together and had a communal experience of the Holy Spirit falling down on them. But before we spoil next week’s lesson, let’s stick to the meaning behind ascension.

In the Apostle’s Creed, it says that Jesus “ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God.” In ancient times, the right hand was considered the “good hand” and the left hand the “bad hand.” That ideology continued even into 20^th century America through shaming of those who are left-handed. Thankfully, even our President is now unashamedly left-handed.

Since we know that God isn’t a longhaired old man sitting on a cloud, what is the spiritual meaning behind this? The meaning that Post-Colonial theology gives us is that Christ has ascended above the powers of the world that rule by force instead of by love. Christ also ascends above all categories that characterized him as a man. Jesus was a man in the flesh. Christ is now the Cosmic Christ who is ever-present as Holy Wisdom. Christ has no particular gender, sexuality, ethnicity, or class. Christ is the Universal Rabbi who guides us on our journey. And this Cosmic Christ does not leave us stuck in the muck of life, but leads us to ascend as well.

Saint Wynonna Judd sings a song about ascending called “Rock Bottom”. She sings

“When you hit rock bottom
You've got two ways to go:
Straight up
And sideways
I have seen my share of hard times
And I'm letting you know
Straight up
Is my way

Things are tough all over
But I've got good news
When you get down to nothing
You've got nothing to lose
I was born naked
But I'm glory bound
And a dead end street
Is just a place to turn around

[Chorus]

When the sky is the limit
Up on easy street
Rock bottom
Ain't no place to be
Rock bottom
Ain't no place for me…

         I don’t know about you, but I know I feel like I’ve hit “rock bottom” a few times in my life. You feel like you’re trapped. You feel like there’s no way out. You feel like you might as well stay there because at least you have something to stand on. But the problem with that logic is that when you’ve sunk to the bottom of the lake, you can only hold your breath so long! But staying at the bottom of the lake is not good news! That’s not the abundant life Jesus was talking about.

         The Good News is that we always have the ability to ascend above whatever’s keeping you down. The hard truth is that it’s rarely someone else doing it to us. We hold ourselves under water. It feels nice at first to hide down there. But I don’t know about you, but I don’t have gills! You can’t breathe down there. Your only way to life is up.

         I know that I am saying this as a white man in the United States who enjoys most of the privileges that come with that identity I was born with. (I say “most” because my queer identity keeps me from many rights and privileges.) But my faith leads me to be a feminist. The Jesus I know and love preached and lived equality. I know that women and people of color face what is called “the glass ceiling,” even in 2013. According to the Center for American Progress (www.AmericanProgress.org), women in the U.S. make 9% less than men who hold positions on the same level. Women work just as hard and are just as intelligent as men, but are still treated differently just because of their gender. I say this without any hesitation: Shattering the glass ceiling is a Christian priority. Jesus did it as much as he could 2,000 years ago and we need to follow in his footsteps in doing it today.

         Especially since today is Mother’s Day, I think of all the mothers who have worked hard, both in the workforce and in the home to raise children to be good people as adults. Today, let’s meditate together on the great love of mothers. I know that some people never grew up with a mother or had a mother that did not treat them well. But there are always women in our lives who show us that tender care, that warm embrace that I know reflects the grace of God. Think of who those women have been for you. It may be a grandmother, an aunt, or a member of your chosen family. Maybe you called her Nana, Auntie, Abuela, Grandma, Mommy, or Mummy. I know I have so many Mamas, I can hardly keep track of them all. I would go broke buying Hallmark cards! At this time, whether your mothers or mother figures are still living or if they have passed on, I invite you to join in a Great Litany of Mothers. Feel free to say their names aloud and feel free to say several if you like. …

         We give thanks to our Mother God who has gifted us with all of these beautiful women in our lives. We offer a prayer of gratitude in knowing that all mothers who have passed on to the arms of the Divine Mother continue to lift us up and lead us on, giving us strength through their spirits that remain in our hearts.

         The concept of a Mother God is not a new one. The Hebrew Bible describes God many times as a mother bird, as Sophia Wisdom, and as the one who has birthed creation. Jesus described himself as the Mother Hen who has called out to Jerusalem to gather her chicks under her wings. In the 1300s, Christian mystic Julian of Norwich (c.1342-1416) was the very first woman to write a book in English. And in this book, Revelations of Divine Love (Chapter 59), she wrote this,

“So Jesus Christ who sets good against evil is our real Mother. We owe our being to him--and this is the essence of motherhood! --and all the delightful, loving protection which ever follows. God is as really our Mother as he is our Father.“ …

“So Jesus is our true Mother by nature at our first creation, and he is our true Mother in grace by taking on our created nature.”

        Even though Jesus of Nazareth had a Y Chromosome, Julian of Norwich recognized that Christ transcends gender. It was a comforting image for her to see Christ as Mother. And outside of the so-called Abrahamic Religions, we know that the Divine has been worshipped as Goddess around the world. Oftentimes the Goddess was worshipped as the highest form of divinity because it is woman who gives birth. Even in ancient Israel, Jews hid statues of fertility goddesses in their homes because they desired a relationship with a God whose essence is feminine.

         There is no sin in worshipping God as Mother. In my prayers, I often call God “Mama.” In MCC, we practice what we call Inclusive Language, which recognizes that males, females, and everything in-between and beyond gender are all reflections of God. We are ALL made in the image and likeness of God. God isn’t confined by gender norms and we don’t have to be either.

         I hope that today, you can embrace with an open heart and an open mind the beautiful diversity that is motherhood. Whether you have had your own biological children, adopted children, or taken someone under your wing, you are a nurturer. And this is the innate quality that we celebrate today.

         I don’t think Jesus ever floated up into the sky like Mary Poppins or floated away in a big bubble like Glinda the Good Witch in the Wizard of Oz (remember her waving to Munchkin Land saying, “Goodbye! Goodbye!). But I do know that as Mother Christ, he called each one of us to rise above our circumstances to a life of abundance where nothing can touch our spirits. The character Elphaba sings in the Broadway musical Wicked,

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes: and leap!
It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
And you can't pull me down!

I'm through accepting limits
''cause someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I'll never know!
Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love I guess I've lost
Well, if that's love
It comes at much too high a cost!
I'd sooner die
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I'm defying gravity
And you can't pull me down”

         Saints, never ever let the negative keep you down. And so it is! Amen.

Advocates for Peace

“Advocates for Peace”

Sermon for MCC New Haven

May 5, 2013

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

Texts:

Acts 16:13-15

John 14:23-29

One of my favorite things about worship from week to week here at MCC New Haven is the affirmation that we say together: “I am God’s Beloved: Deeply Loved, Richly Gifted, Highly Favored, and Abundantly Blessed!” If someone asked me what we believe that is unique to our community, I would point out this positive affirmation. I truly believe that when this affirmation is taken to heart, it can transform your life.

We heard Jesus say in today’s reading from the Gospel of John, “Those who love me will keep (or be “true to”) my word. The result of holding on to Jesus “word” is that God’s love will be revealed to you and the Divine Presence will make a home with you. I love that image: a house filled with love, a house that practices radical hospitality. Surely a home filled with God’s love is something we all desire. But how exactly can we be true to Jesus word so we can share in such happiness?

The ‘Sunday school answer’ I have heard is, “You’ve got to follow the Bible. Do what it says. After all, it is the word of God!” Those three phrases each make my skin crawl; a flashing red “Danger!” sign goes off in my mind. I know that many people have good intentions when giving broad teachings about scripture. They mean well. But it’s often been said, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” To challenge this broad answer, I ask a question, “Can we in good conscience consider every part of the Bible the ‘word of God’ when much of it seems to promote exclusion, violence, and hatred?” I think not. And that’s okay! God is not going to throw a lightning bolt from the sky like the Greek god Zeus. God has given us the gift of our intellect and the power of the words that come out of our mouths. God smiles on us when we use them for good.

John even opens his entire Gospel with the words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Note that it does not say, “In the beginning was the Bible, and the Bible was with God, and the Bible was God.” Of course not; that would make the Bible an idol. Scripture can be a wonderful tool for our faith, but we must give very careful study for personal use and take even more care when expressing your faith to others. In short, just because it’s in the Bible doesn’t make it a “good word.”

Toltec spiritual teacher don Miguel Ruiz wrote a book that has probably saved my faith: “The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom.”[1] In this book, Ruiz explains that as each of us grows up, we make countless agreements with ourselves and with the world. If your parents tell you, “You are a girl,” you repeat in agreement, “I am a girl.” If your friends tell you, “You are ugly,” perhaps you repeat in agreement, “I am ugly,” and from that point believe that you are ugly. Many of us were told by bullies as children, “You’re weird” or “You’re a pervert.” Unfortunately, many of us internalized these words. Ruiz describes these agreements as casting bad spells.

It seems in hearing the Gospel passage today that the disciples had made some poor agreements. They knew Jesus would soon be executed, so they agreed, “We will be alone.” They agreed to put on fear as a security blanket, so easily forgetting Jesus’ teachings they had heard all along. This is where Jesus gives the anecdote to the spell of fear cast on them. In essence, Jesus said, “You are never alone! Though my body cannot stay here, my Spirit will be with you. The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete*, the Advocate, the Helper, the Comforter will remind you of my good word. *By the way, the Greek word “Paraclete” is not in any way related to the English word “parakeet,” as much as the Holy Spirit does appear as a dove in the Book of Acts. (Just had to make that clear J ).

Jesus combated fear with Divine Love and Peace. Not only does he promise the presence of the Holy Spirit, but he also offers his peace, which is the fullness of his entire ministry. This kind of peace isn’t just freedom from anxiety. (A pill can take care of that). It also cannot be attainted by violent means. (Such as wars that are said to bring times of peace.) No, Jesus’ peace is a shalom kind of peace, which can best be described as “wholeness.” Jesus is telling them that wholeness of spirit, fullness of life is theirs whenever they choose to embrace it. This kind of wholeness the Gospels also call “The Reign (or Dominion) of God.” This place of peace is within you; it is yours to find.

Remember our original question for today: How can we be true to Jesus’ word? Ruiz has a good idea that Jesus demonstrated for us in combating fear. Ruiz gives four new good agreements to replace the countless bad agreements we have made in life. The first one speaks to our text today. It says this: “Be impeccable with your word.” What he means by this is to stop speaking against yourself. Stop beating yourself up. Stop punishing yourself. Even if you think you deserve to be tortured with some medieval device, don’t let your mind go there! Any time you punish yourself, you are acting without love. And remember that lack of love is the definition of sin, so essentially when you punish yourself, you are sinning in an attempt to atone for sin. And what sense does that make?

The biggest way we punish ourselves is to hold onto guilt and pain. We refuse to put the Balm of Gilead on our wounded souls because we don’t feel worthy of it. The logic goes, “If I’m wounded, I can get pity, and since misery loves company, I’ll never be alone.” There’s a strange false sense of security that we can fall into when we’re all sad together. But Jesus didn’t call his disciples to stay in a living hell; Jesus called them to a living Heaven.

This Heaven-on-Earth can be ours each and every day, but only if we practice being impeccable with our word. In the movie, “The Help,” the nanny put the young girl on her lap and taught her how to be impeccable with her word. She had her repeat, “I is smart, I is kind, I is important.” No, she did not teach her proper grammar, but she taught her the most important lesson of her life.

Negative self-talk is the opposite of the voice of the Holy Spirit. Including many of us, same-gender-loving and gender-variant people were taught to dislike or even hate themselves for their feelings. A Judge was placed in many of our heads that continues to throw the book at us, that is until we tell him, “You’re wrong!” I love that in some translations, the word “Paraclete” is translated as “Advocate.” In the 1960s when the Gay Rights Movement was just beginning, The Advocate magazine was one of the few publications that made our people feel unified across the U.S. (In fact the ad for the very first MCC service in Los Angeles was run by Rev. Troy Perry in 1968, which included his home address where the service would be held. That was a very courageous move for the time.) The magazine was called The Advocate because those who were out of the closet together -despite danger- advocated for those who were not yet out. The Holy Spirit does the same! When we have shackled ourselves with fears, bad agreements, and self-judgments, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit nudges us and with her soft voice whispers, “You are God’s Beloved: Deeply Loved, Richly Gifted, Highly Favored, and Abundantly Blessed.” and “You is smart, you is kind you is important.” If you listen for them, countless affirmations of your beauty and sacred worth are being whispered to you each and every day. These are the keys to your freedom, the keys that will unlock your shackles.

One of the most encouraging quotes I can think of comes from Marianne Williamson’s famous book, “A Return to Love.” It was made famous when Nelson Mandela quoted it in a speech after he had been freed from prison. Williamson writes, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”[2]

If you’re playing small today, if you’re holding onto bad agreements today, or if you’re just feeling discouraged today, Jesus has a prescription for you. Affirm who you are in God’s eyes and affirm the wonderful Advocate who assures that you are never alone. When it comes time at the end of the service to say our affirmation together, take extra care to open your heart up wide to receive the peace of Christ that passes all understanding and joy unspeakable. We claim these things as our inheritance as children of God today. And so it is! Amen!

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[1] Ruiz, don Miguel. The Four Agreements. Amber Allen Publishing, 1997.

[2] Williamson, Marianne. A Return to Love. Harper Collins 1992, 190-191.