Emmanuel United Church of Christ: A Sojourner's Community

Adam and Eve Revisited

3/12/2022

During a recent discussion springing from our reading of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, we noted the positive nature of the Skywoman Falling creation myth of the original peoples in the Great Lakes region compared to the very negative Adam and Eve creation myth in the Bible. What we need to know, however, is that it is only the Christian interpretation of the Adam and Eve story that views it as a negative fall from grace. It is my understanding that Jewish folks do not see the story as a fall or in the negative ways we Christians view it.

I am not a scholar of Jewish theology, so I do not wish to address the story from a Jewish perspective. But I would like to offer a different take on the story for Christians to consider.

The issue I have with the traditional Christian interpretation of the Adam and Eve story is two-fold. First, it presents an incredibly negative view of humanity. This fall of humanity from grace supposedly makes us so depraved that only the death of Jesus can restore our relationship to God. In fact, there are those who insist that we can never overcome our depravity and the only saving grace we have is that, if we believe in Jesus and his salvation, God does not actually ever see us, but only sees Jesus standing between God and us. I find this concept, that we have to deceive God in order to be in relationship with God, appalling.

While there are certainly times when I also hold an incredibly negative view of humanity, my overall attitude is that of the more positive parts of the Genesis creation narrative – that the creation as a whole is inherently good and that humanity, created in God's image, is therefore also inherently good. We are distressingly capable of unspeakable evils, but the answer to such evil is not additional evil – i.e., the "necessary" death of Jesus. The answer has to do with the amazing and unconditional grace of God.

Which brings me to my second concern about the traditional interpretation of the Adam and Eve story. It presents an incredibly negative view of God. If God is so angry at humanity that only the death of Jesus can satisfy his anger, then we are not dealing with a true God, but a God who is only a reflection of our own worst inclinations. If God is pure love, then there is nothing that can make God so angry as to demand a sacrifice. If God is pure love, then God is limited to love as the only response possible in the face of humanity's disappointing tendency toward evil.

So, if the traditional Christian interpretation of the Adam and Eve story leaves us dissatisfied, is there another way to see the story which is more productive? I think there is.

I see the story as a reflection of humanity's movement from a dreamlike state of innocent ignorance to a state of responsible knowledge or awareness. The garden of Eden sounds like a paradise, but is that the kind of life we truly want to live, with no awareness of good and evil and no choice but to live in this dreamlike state? Could we truly appreciate such a life if we had no knowledge of any other possibilities?

Instead, when Adam and Eve eat the apple, they become aware that they can make choices and they become responsible for their choices. That responsibility might seem like punishment (expulsion from the garden), but in fact it opens up a whole new world of possibilities, both good and bad.

We see the same movement acted out in the maturation of our children from infancy to adulthood. Babies are totally self-centered, but nobody faults them for being that way. It is necessary for their survival. As they grow older and become more aware of their surroundings, we begin to expect them to be less self-centered, to share their toys, to take on certain chores (which they often see as punishment), to do things to help others and so become more responsible. By the time they leave the nest, we expect them to be responsible adults who understand that the best life is one in which they are as willing to help others as they are to help themselves.

So I see the story of Adam and Eve as a reflection of our experience of life in which we eventually find it possible to make choices based on our awareness of the world around us. Far from being a negative thing, this is what makes life challenging and exciting and worth living. While it allows for many poor decisions to be made, it also presents us with exhilarating possibilities of goodness and grace.

God's role in all of this is not to give us an escape route from our responsibility, but to shower us with an abundant and unconditional grace which is meant to nurture within us a desire to be gracious ourselves. It is a tremendous risk, but God remembers that the creation is inherently good and so counts on that goodness to eventually prevail. I find this way of seeing the story as far more inspirational and encouraging than the overly negative traditional interpretation.

I welcome your comments.

Michael Loser
Covenant Participant

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Getting from Here to There - A Conversation with Wisdom

3/1/2021

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I don’t really know whether I was dreaming
             Or having a vision
            Or both
The woman standing before me was simply beautiful
            Simply – not like a glamor model on the glossy pages of a fashion magazine
She evoked in me an intense delight and a deep desire to be in her presence
            Not unlike the crush I had on my first grade teacher
            Or my recurrent dreams of saving my 3rd grade classmate from some calamity
            And becoming her hero
            Think Charlie Brown and the little red-haired girl
I wondered to myself
            Who are you
            Or maybe I said it out loud
Because she answered as if I had asked her
I am known as Wisdom
You may call me Sophia
            And you have been seeking me
            You have been calling me for much of your life
Please forgive my ignorance
            But when have I called for you
Every time you wondered how to get from where you are
            To where you want to be
            You have summoned me, Sophia
And you are only now responding
            Why now
            Why after so much seeking
            So much frustration
Oh, I’ve been here all the time
            You just did not see me
            Perhaps you expected a wise old man
            Perhaps you anticipated that I would be the reward for accumulated knowledge
            Perhaps you assumed you would acquire my presence as a function of aging
            I am not any of those
            But I think you are now ready to see my true nature
Which is what
            If I might be so bold to ask
It is really no mystery
            You have read about me many times in the scriptures
            What do you recall from your studies
Well my favorite story about you is from Proverbs
            That you were there when all was created
            That you rejoiced to see what came into being
            That you were especially delighted with the creation of humanity
That’s my favorite too
            But that bit about rejoicing
            It was more like laughing and playing
            And yes – pure delight
            Unbounded pleasure
            Total joy
You sound like what we call a free spirit
            That is so different than what we consider to be wisdom
            We think it’s all about knowledge and understanding
            Insight like the wisdom of Solomon
            Making good choices
            Walking in ways faithful to the goodness of God
            Serious business
Those ideas are not completely foreign to who I am
            But they are more about the far end or the result
            What I want to show you is the way of wisdom
            The way to get to those desirable results
I’m willing to listen
            What is this way that you talk about
It is a way which is all about
Imagination
            Creativity
            Playfulness
            Experimentation
            Practice
            Laughter
            Delight
I don’t understand
            Those don’t sound like especially serious things
            Can such things lead to the wisdom we need to face the challenges of our world
You have long desired to get from where you are to where you want to be
            But you have been frustrated
            You don’t see a clear path to attain your goals
            You often feel guilty for not being the person you want to be
            You sometimes feel the burden of obligation to become someone you are not
            Guilt and obligation will never provide you with what you need
            Think for a moment about what it is you most desire
            Imagine what your life would be like if you reached your goal
The best description I’ve ever considered was a life immersed in God’s presence
            A life filled with gifts of the Spirit
            Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
Goodness, authenticity, gentleness, integrity
A life that looks like the life of Jesus
When you think about such a life
            Is there any place in that life for guilt
            Or obligation
            Yet such negativity has had a strong influence in your life
Well how do you propose that I get from where I am to where I want to be
            Isn’t it just about doing the hard work
            Putting in the effort
            Choosing to be what I want to be
            Acting on that choice
            And regretting and repenting when I fail
Do you remember the day you watched your infant son learning how to stand up
            Experimenting with the best ways to get back down
Oh yeah - That was so delightful to watch
            He repeatedly pulled himself up alongside the couch
            First he just plopped back down
            Then he found different ways to get back down more slowly
            It was fun to watch him trying different ways to do it
Notice the words you have used to describe that experience
            Delightful, fun
            This is what I experience as I watch people become who they want to be
            But you must become like that child you enjoyed watching so much.
Didn’t the apostle Paul say - When I was a child, I spoke like a child
I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child
When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways
Yes, but do you also remember what Jesus said
I do – Unless you become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven
I’m confused – what does it mean to become like children but not be childish
You know more than you think
            What do you think being childish is like
Well – self-centered, moody, tantrum-throwing, unserious, unfocused
Right – but what attributes of a child do you admire – what would you like to imitate
It has always bothered me that, as we age, we lose our imagination
and our willingness to experiment – it seems like we get stuck in certain ways
So I guess I like all the things you mentioned earlier
Imagination, creativity, playfulness, experimentation, practice, laughter, delight
Do you remember the math teacher who taught you geometry
I do – and I remember that he taught us to treat it like a game we were playing
            I remember having a lot of fun learning geometry and playing that game
            For some reason I think he was a pastor before he was a teacher
            Now I think he must have known you
When you delight in the possibilities and play with the options, then I am there with you
            Working with you, supporting you, guiding you, inviting you, encouraging you
            Just like you were with your children as they learned to stand, to walk, to talk
            But it is not just me that is with you
            Think of all the others who are searching for the same thing as you
            Trying to get from where they are to where they want to be
            It’s always easier to do it together than to try to go it alone
I know that from experience
            And I am deeply grateful for those who are on the journey with me
            It seems to me now, more than ever before, maybe we can get from here to there
            I can’t wait to start playing with the options – imagine the possibilities
And I, Sophia, can’t wait to continue watching and helping you to get from here to there
Imagine my delight

Michael Loser
Covenant Participant

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Difficult Conversations

8/22/2016

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It’s hard! It is difficult to have certain conversations! Whether that conversation is about a deeply held belief about our country, our faith, our race, our place of privilege…it is hard to talk about these things.

The question may be why you are having the conversation in the first place. Are you having the conversation to convince the other person of your own belief? Are you having the conversation in order to determine if someone is within your same circle of belief? Or are you having the conversation to personally grow and to encourage the other person to grow in their own personal direction as well?

In an article by David Schmelzer, he notes a concept taught within the Vineyard Church. There it is taught that there are two ways to approach faith (and, I would conclude, other deeply held beliefs). You could call one the “bounded set” and the other the “centered set.” A “bounded” faith is like a circle…a line is drawn around what you believe and you are either inside the circle or outside the circle. The only real reason to talk about what one believes would be to decide if they were “in” or “outside” that circle. You might try to convince them in, but if they say “no” then the conversation ends. Those that approach faith in this way are like the Pharisees who cared about believing in a certain way and following ritual in a legalistic way! Jesus spent little time with these and frequently condemned the manner in which they approached faith.

A ”centered” faith, on the other hand, is held together with what is at the Center. For us who are Christians, it would be Jesus. We are Jesus followers…followers of the Way of Christ…and we aim to point all in our life toward that Way. But all around us are other people, each also trying to center their lives. It is in the centering process that we can discuss our faith so that we might grow, not just on our own, but with each other. It is all about whether we are moving closer to our center or moving away from our center. We determine that through our conversations with each other and deepen our walk in the process. Jesus welcomed these conversations, whether with the Samaritan woman at the well, the lawyer who asked who his neighbor was, or the man who lay by the pool waiting to be healed. He never drew people in or out of the circle but widened the hospitality of God and invited them into the Presence of God in their conversations.

This is an important concept to keep in mind whether you invite someone to worship or to join our dialogue on Racism this fall or to offer witness to the love of God in someone’s life. We say in the United Church of Christ, “No matter where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.” It is the journey we are welcoming them to join, not an end point. Dare to journey with us! Dare to invite someone to join us! Dare to live a “centered” faith where all of our life(s) point to the Way of Jesus Christ! Dare to talk about what that looks like! Dare to invite others to be on the journey with us!

Eva O'Diam
Pastor, Dover United Church of Christ

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Not What We Deserve, But What We Choose

4/28/2016

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One of my favorite forms of literature is science fiction/fantasy, and one of my favorite authors is Stephen Donaldson. Donaldson’s major effort is a three series, 10 book, fantasy work centered on the tragic hero Thomas Covenant. As I’ve read these books through the years, I have found many quotable passages which convey what I take to be deep truths about life.

As I was making my way through the final book of the final series the other day, I came across some thoughts about what we deserve or don’t deserve and it set me to thinking about that whole notion of deserving. We have all said, at some time or other, he/she doesn’t deserve that or I didn’t deserve that.

In the book (quotes taken from The Last Dark, pages 187-189), the young boy Jeremiah says about Stave, a companion who was severely injured in an attempt to help save The Land, “He does not deserve this.”

“Ah, deserve,” sighed Kindwind [a Giant]. “The notion of deserved and undeserved is a fancy. Knowing both life and death, we endeavor to impose worth and meaning upon our deeds, and thereby to comfort our fear of impermanence. We choose to imagine that our lives merit continuance. Mayhap all sentience shares a similar fancy. A wider gaze does not regard us in that wise. The stars do not. Perhaps the Creator does not. The larger truth is merely that all things end. By that measure, our fancies cannot be distinguished from dust.”

We choose to imagine that our lives merit continuance even as we know the larger truth which is merely that all things end. That is such an interesting thought. But does it suggest that life has no greater meaning or purpose? What would it mean if we admit to ourselves that there is really nothing we deserve?

“For this reason,” Kindwind continues, “Giants love tales. Our iteration of past deeds and desires and discoveries provides the only form of permanence to which mortal life can aspire. That such permanence is a chimera [illusion or fantasy] does not lessen its power to console. Joy is in the ears that hear.”

Jeremiah protests – He thinks that’s exactly what his captors had been telling him. “Nothing matters,” he says. “It’s all dust. That’s why Lord Foul laughs – and Roger – and those Ravers. They agree with you. In the end, they’re the only ones who get what they want.”

Kindwind looked at him sharply. Like the flick of a blade, she retorted, “Then hear me, Chosen-son, Hear me well. There is another truth which you must grasp.”

“Mortal lives are not stones. They are not seas. For impermanence to judge itself by the standards of permanence is folly. Or it is arrogance. Life merely is what it is, neither more nor less. To deem it less because it is not more is to heed the counsels of the Despiser.”

“We do what we must so that we may find worth in ourselves. We do not hope vainly that we will put an end to pain, or to loss, or to death.”

There is so much here. Does it empower us to recognize that, no matter what we do, we will never put an end to pain, or to loss, or to death? Or does it create in us a kind of despair and an inclination to not even make the effort? The notion of the Giants that “Joy is in the ears that hear” is repeated a number of times in the novels. It suggests that joy is a choice, not something that is given. I like that notion.

And this whole passage suggests that we choose our own meaning and our own purpose for life. And that is so true. We just have to look at the diverse presidential candidates to recognize that. Do we find more meaning if we seek a purpose of helping all persons in the world (all of God’s children, if that is how we choose to put it) to find the best possible life? Or do we find more meaning in putting America first and foremost above all other concerns? Do we find more meaning in living for the sake of others, or do we find more meaning by trying to enhance our own welfare? These are the kinds of choices we must make.

Jeremiah finds little comfort in Kindwind’s words. Again he protests. “It’s not that easy.”

Her response was a snort. “We were not promised ease. The purpose of life – if it may be said to have a purpose – is not ease. It is to choose, and to act upon the choice. In that task, we are not measured by outcomes. We are measured only by daring and effort and resolve.”

What a fascinating idea. We are not measured by outcomes. We are measured only by daring and effort and resolve. If we could embrace that truth, we might be much more willing to take the chance to work for seemingly impossible goals. But, as Jeremiah reflects to himself later, “Some things were too easy. Accepting failure was one of them.”

I am convinced that not only joy, but truth, is in the ears that hear. And the stories we tell, whether they be biblical stories, fantasy tales, family stories, or stories about our congregations, convey to us the possibility of hearing joy and truth. That’s why we tell stories – to convey meaning and purpose, truth and joy. Are the stories, particularly biblical stories, true? They are to the extent that we hear truth in them. Isn’t that also the case with family stories? How often do we agree on all the details? Yet we hear the stories as a source of truth and joy about our families.

We were not promised ease. The purpose of life is not ease. It is to choose, and to act upon the choice. It is to find the courage to live for what we have chosen, not because it is easy or because we are guaranteed success, but because that is what gives our lives meaning and purpose, truth and joy.

We need to tell the stories that offer others the possibility of hearing truth and joy and that empower them to choose wisely how they will live.

Michael Loser
Co-Pastor, Emmanuel UCC

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God's Will Be Done

2/29/2016

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In Victor Hugo's classic novel, "Les Miserables", the main character is a convict just released from prison, a man imprisoned for thievery, a man named Jean Valjean. By law, he must wear a patch that identifies him as a former prisoner and upon entering any town or village; he must first announce his presence to the local chief of police. Wherever he goes, news of his presence precedes him and the local taverns and innkeepers refuse him food and lodging. Destitute, he finds himself at the door of the local Bishop, a kind man of the cloth, who takes pity on Valjean and offers him food and a place to sleep for the night. In the middle of the night, Valjean awakens, sneaks through the Bishop's house and steals several valuable items of silver, including two silver candlesticks – the Bishop's prized possessions…candlesticks that everyone in the village knows belong to the Bishop.

When local police stop Valjean on the road the next day, they find him in possession of the candlesticks and immediately realize that he has stolen the items from the Bishop. Valjean claims that the candlesticks were a gift, but the police know he's lying and drag him back to the Bishop's house. When the Bishop answers the door, the police relate to him the lies Valjean has given them, but to everyone's surprise – including Jean Valjean, the Bishop scolds the police and tells them that Valjean's story is true. The Bishop then scolds Valjean for forgetting another bag of silver, and sends the ex-convict on his way with not only the bag of silver previously stolen, but a second bag of silver as well.   You can imagine how Valjean felt. One minute, he was on his way back to prison. The next, he was free with more money in his pocket than he ever dreamed possible. In the story, the Bishop's act of kindness had such a profound effect on Valjean that he made a dramatic change in his life and dedicated it to the service of God.

Now, you might be sitting there thinking, "That's a good plot for a novel, but stuff like that never happens in real life." But I take exception to that notion. It happened in this evening's Scripture passage when Christ healed the nine undeserving lepers who couldn't be bothered to say thanks for being cured. It also happens to each and every one of us, every day of our lives.

We're not deserving of His love – but God loves us anyway. We're not deserving of God's grace, but He showers us with it in spite of ourselves. We don't deserve the rich and abundant life we enjoy in this Country, but God has certainly blessed America…and He wants us to take and use those gifts as instruments of His good will. The critical question is – will we?

As I look back on my life, and how I arrived at the place I find myself today, much of the credit goes to people I never thanked. Some have died. Some I've just lost touch with. It's not that I didn't have good manners; I just didn't always appreciate the gifts they were giving me, or recognize at the time how powerfully their actions would affect my life. And the times when actions of others affected me the most, were the times when I was the least deserving.

I've done and said things to people in my life that were mean and cruel, and a few people forgave me anyway. I lived my life in a selfish pursuit of my own pleasures, oftentimes at the expense of others, and when it all came crashing down around me, there were a few people who didn't stand around and jeer, "Boy, you had that coming", but instead, offered me a hand and helped pull me up. I am not proud to admit I once ruined a marriage. I broke the trust of friends and relatives. I trashed a decent career and got about as low as one can be in life without giving up and committing suicide, but there were a few spectators to the tragedy that was my life, like God and a few others, who recognized that I didn't deserve their mercy or kindness, but they gave it anyway. And they changed my life because they did.

I have to admit that I struggled for a time with guilt over not having said "thank you"…or not having let those people know that their generosity and kindness to me (when I was least deserving) had a huge impact on my life, but over the years I've come to appreciate the fact that in their own way, each and every one of them made a choice to act as Jesus would act, to show kindness, mercy and compassion, when none of it was deserved…to be forgiving of me, even though I wasn't really being remorseful. They were people who saw value in me, even when I didn't recognize it in myself, and they went out of their way to help me, even though they never got a "thanks" in return or saw that their actions made a difference in my life.

At first blush, you might think, "That's a real shame", but I don't think so. Those people weren't kind and generous and forgiving of me because they wanted a pat on the back or a medal or public recognition of their good deeds. They did what they did because they made a conscious choice to act like Christ. They decided to be an instrument of change in the life of another human being without the immediate reward of seeing the fruits of their deeds.

My Grandma Zorbaugh use to say, "God's work is hard work and slow work". I understood at the time why it was hard. It took me a lot longer to figure out what she meant by it being slow.

In Victor Hugo's novel, when Jean Valjean left the Bishop's home for the second time, that's the last time the Bishop was discussed at length in the novel. The Bishop didn't get to see the fruits of his charity. He didn't get to appreciate the fact that his single act of mercy ultimately changed the lives of hundreds of people for the better. All he had was the knowledge that he had done God's will.
That's one of the difficulties with being a follower of Christ. We're asked to do things that make absolutely no sense whatsoever - to love our enemies, to be kind and generous to those who don't deserve it, to forgive when forgiveness isn't warranted…and not seek anything in return except the knowledge that we have done God's will. That's because God's work is slow work and things don't always turn out as fast as we hope it would.

These days, people are falling all over themselves in this country to be called Christian, but with what it takes to be a true follower of Christ, sometimes you have to wonder whether they're nuts or delusional, or just ignorant about what Christ really asks his followers to do. It's a tough row to hoe!

For me, being a follower of Christ boils down to one simple question: How will I respond when Christ asks me to be an instrument of change in the life of another human being? I ask that question because I don't know when that time will be. I don't know who that person will be and I have no clue as to where I'll be or what circumstances I'll be facing. I might be in a good mood or grumpy and irritable. I could be feeling on top of the world or totally bummed-out. I could be feeling generous that day. I might be feeling like a selfish grunt. All I know is that God is going to ask me to be an instrument of change…maybe once, maybe twice…maybe a thousand times. And if I'm going to call myself a true follower of Christ, I have to be ready, willing and able to respond each and every time…but let's face it – I'm human. I'm going to fail sometimes – probably more than I care to admit. I'm going to choose the easy path…the path that make me feel good now…and that's often not the path God will want me to follow.   I just hope I realize my failure and strive to do better the next time.

The best and most practical piece of advice I can give is to get into the habit of doing God's will, because it certainly doesn't come naturally. I pick up a newspaper and read an article about a person who's killed a child and my gut instinct is to be first in line to tie a hangman's noose around the killer's neck. When I read about a bullying incident, I want to go and beat the tar out of the bully to teach that person a lesson. When I think of the millions of people that Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme affected and how thousands of elderly folks lost their entire life's savings because of his fraud and his personal greed, there are times when I'd like to see his prison guards deprive him of all food and water and let him slowly starve to death – give him a taste of what it feels like to be deprived of life's essentials. But then I think of Christ; bent down on his hunches; drawing in the dirt; unwilling to cast the first stone; seizing the opportunity to answer His father's call to be an instrument of change in the life of another human being…and that's when I remember what Christ is calling me to do…and then it's time for me to decide whether I want to follow Christ or not.

As I said before, being a follower of Christ doesn't come naturally. You have to work to make God's will part of your life and part of your nature. Once it’s part of your nature, you'll be changed, and so will the lives of many people you meet along the way. Unfortunately, like the Bishop in Victor Hugo's novel, you may never see it. That's because God's work is slow work and you may not be around to see the harvest the seeds of your good deeds helped produce. All you'll have is the knowledge that you've done God's will, but in the end, that's all that really matters. Thanks be to God, Amen!

Steve Zorbaugh
Friend of Emmanuel

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Pastors' 2015 Annual Reports

2/19/2016

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”The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.” John 1:14

In a recent UCC Stillspeaking daily devotional, Tony Robinson wrote, "We often think of the Christian faith as our human search for God, our feeble attempt to get close to God. The Bible tells a different story . . . the story of the God who keeps showing up, intruding, refusing to leave us alone, searching for us. A God who won't take 'no' for an answer. Just when we thought we were safe in some gated community (there are a lot of different kinds of gates and fences), God moves into the neighborhood, pitching her tent on the corner, down the hall, or next door. 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.'"

As I look back on the past year, God does seem to have kept showing up, searching for us, with new ideas of who we are meant to be, full of grace and truth. Mike and I are just completing our first full year of shared ministry, and I believe that has given new energy to our life at Emmanuel. It certainly has given new life to my ministry! The "brainstorming" sessions we had during the year opened up lots of fresh ideas and possibilities, including our plan for leaving our usual space on each 5th Sunday of the month in 2016 as a way to expand both our ministries and our horizons.

The Word does seem to be dwelling among us, and you appear to be experiencing that, too. I find it reflected in the comments you wrote this fall in response to our question, "What is it about Emmanuel, 'A Sojourner's Home,' that motivates you to support it?" Your comments included your appreciation for the music, the intellectual stimulation of our discussion hours, how varying perspectives are respected and encouraged, the enthusiasm and commitment and excitement of being a covenant participant, the ease and friendliness of being church without the rigidness of typical "church," the freedom and varieties of the worship experience, the open-mindedness and kindness of the conversations we have together, how it is a safe space to ask questions and grow spiritually and pursue our faith journeys, and how we care about others and generously give to help them. As one person summed it up, "This is a place – a space – a community where I feed my need to belong... where I can be refreshed and challenged and comforted and encouraged." These are all signs to me that the Word has been showing up, intruding, refusing to leave us alone, constantly searching for us, and not taking "no" for an answer! I wonder what else God has in store for us in 2016?

With you in the journey, Pastor Kay

God told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home
for a land that I will show you.” Genesis 12:1

If you had told me a little over five years ago that I would become co-pastor of a congregation in 2015, I almost certainly would have laughed and said, “I don’t think so.” Although I found my 32 years of ministry generally satisfying and enjoyable, I was ready to move on, to follow other passions, and – above all – to relax!

Then we found Emmanuel, and everything changed. The free spirit and energy of this small group of people enticed us and we quickly found ourselves wanting to be deeply involved in the life of this group. I discovered that, in fact, I did not want to be an anonymous or fringe participant in the church, but an active and fully committed contributor in the life and ministry of an engaged and engaging congregation.

When Pastor Kay first mentioned the idea of becoming co-pastor with her, I wasn’t ready to do so. But eventually it seemed like a good idea in order to give her more flexibility with her time and to keep me involved in the church. It has been a year unlike any of my previous years in ministry.

Along the way, there have been many significant moments and thoughts, but the one that continues to frame this new experience for me is the concept of “making the road by walking.” From the time when God called Abram to leave everything familiar for an unknown future, it has been key for people of faith to be willing to move ahead into uncertain futures with the confidence and hope of God’s Spirit lighting the way. Many congregations have lost sight of that key and have been willing to sit back and enjoy “the way it’s always been,” for as long as that might last. But Emmanuel rediscovered the importance of the journey and the challenge of moving ahead into the unknown, trusting in God’s blessings to sustain you.

As I said recently, this is the year that will test us as much as any since the decision was made to restart the congregation in 2004. If we have been tempted to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our previous labors (our reserve funds), the days when we can do so might soon end. There is a very small part of me that says – well, then I could just go back to being fully retired. But I think you know that this is not at all what I want! I don’t know where else I could find what Emmanuel offers – the challenge, the energy, the commitment, and the freedom to seek God and a future more in line with God’s vision for this wild and wonderful life. I am ready to do whatever it takes to keep the journey going and I hope you are too.

Making the road together with you, Pastor Mike

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January 13th, 2016

1/13/2016

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The other day we had a lively discussion at Emmanuel about unconditional love. If you are familiar with our fellowship, you probably know that the glue that holds us together is our desire to interact with people who are not exactly like us, who do not think exactly like us, and who do not believe exactly like us. So lively discussions are not at all unusual at Emmanuel. But this one was a bit more animated than many.

When we talk about unconditional love, we are usually talking about the kind of love that God shows us in Jesus. I don’t remember precisely how the subject came up in this recent conversation, but it quickly became about whether or not we as humans are capable of loving each other unconditionally.

Several of us claimed that only God is capable of unconditional love. They suggested that, even though we can approach such levels of love in theory because we are created in the image of God and Jesus demonstrates that humanity can so love, in practice we all have a line beyond which we simply will not go with our willingness to forgive and to be reconciled. That line might be when someone threatens to do or actually does significant harm to us. Or that line might be when someone betrays us to an extent that we simply cannot trust them anymore.

Several others of us stated either that they had experienced unconditional love or that they had expressed such love in very difficult circumstances.

We were fairly certain that we were talking past each other and that we were not unified in our definitions of either the word “love” or of the word “unconditional.” And it occurs to me now that there is another way to approach the discussion which takes into account the concerns of all involved.

Those who were claiming that unconditional love is humanly possible wanted to make the point that it is possible for us to offer a love that is not tied to certain conditions being met. And that is certainly true, at least within certain contexts. The best relationships (friendships, marriages, family) are based on a love that is not conditional, but intentional – and proactive. What I mean is that the best love we offer to others is not based on what they have done for us or on whether or not they love us first, but it is a love that we intentionally initiate whether or not it has been earned or is deserved at that moment.

That is essentially the kind of love which spouses promise to one another in the covenant of marriage. And it is unconditional in the sense that it is not conditioned on certain requirements, but is freely offered to the other even when the other may not be particularly deserving of it.

The concern of those who claimed that only God is capable of unconditional love is that there are circumstances in which it is certainly not advisable, and likely impossible, to offer such love to another person. For instance, a woman who constantly forgives her abusive husband and welcomes him back to the point where he finally kills her would have been well advised not to offer such unconditional love at some prior point.

So it does appear to me that the sticking point in our conversation was on the term unconditional. We can offer unconditional love in the sense that it is intentional and pro-active, not dependent on conditions being just right so that we “feel” like loving the other. But if by unconditional love we mean that there could never be a circumstance when we would stop welcoming the other back into relationship with us, that might not be humanly possible – or at least, in many circumstances, advisable.

I’m curious how you respond to these thoughts. Please take the opportunity to respond with a comment.

Michael Loser
Co-Pastor
Emmanuel UCC

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The Value of Stories in Defining Our Faith

8/24/2015

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The power of stories has long been evident to me. Much of that probably goes back to my study of Joseph Campbell’s works on mythology and heroes. I search every story I read for clues to the meaning and purpose and beauty and joy of life.

I find deep meaning in all kinds of stories: Bible stories, science fiction such as Lewis’ Space Trilogy, fantasy such as Tolkien or and Harry Potter or Stephen Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, historical fiction such as Roots, history, science - almost any kind of story can convey meaning to me.

And not every story is told with words. I thoroughly enjoy music, every piece of which conveys a variation on the basic truths and constructs of chord and tonal structure. I particularly like jazz because of the creative variations with which jazz musicians tell those basic truths.

Nature tells us countless stories of beauty and order, if we pay attention. One of my favorite takes on the story nature tells is captured by these words from Wendell Berry. “When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”

Stories convey to me what is most important in life. In that sense, they help me to inform my understanding of God - they help me define my God. That may sound like I think God is a human construction and that is, in part, true. But that is only part of the truth.

Every person alive worships, or more accurately, worth-ships some kind of god (or, if you don’t like that word, some kind of ultimate authority). Any given person’s god is whatever ultimately informs and shapes his/her life. Whatever people hold worthy of their attention, their loyalty, and their devotion, is their god. Whether or not these gods have a reality apart from us is, to a certain extent, irrelevant. The power these gods hold over us is very real and very potent.

For some people, materialism is their god. Such persons dedicate their lives to acquiring possessions that give their lives value and meaning and purpose. Most all of us dabble in this “faith” to some extent. Some people worth-ship other gods (Allah or the Judeo/Christian God, for example), sometimes with the specific intention of limiting the power of the materialistic god over them.

Other people worth-ship a nationalistic god. For such persons, their national identity (sometimes coupled with a particular ethnic identity) shapes and informs much of what they say and do. Some people worth-ship nature and will do whatever it takes to preserve and protect the natural world.

There are elements of all of these “faiths” in every person’s life, to a greater or lesser extent. And it is essential for us to define for ourselves what gods we are willing to serve. It is most helpful if we can define a god who encompasses all of what we find worthy. The best god, ultimately, is the god whom we find so worthy that we can follow that god’s ways without hesitation.

For me, that god is the traditional Christian God revealed most completely through Jesus. Have I put my own spin and my own interpretation on the definition of that particular god? Of course I have! Just like the jazz musician, I have my own personal take on the basic ideas and concepts of the faith I have chosen to follow. And my own personal take on the Christian God may be unlike that of any other person.

But just as jazz musicians can come together and make beautiful music together even though they each interpret the basic notes of a song differently, so all who hold to a particular faith can worth-ship their god together even though each one brings a unique perspective and understanding of their god and their faith to the table.

I am always looking for stories, of all the types listed previously, to help me in my continuing process of defining the god whom I find worthy to worth-ship. But even as I admit that I am in the process of “defining” that god, I would also suggest that this doesn’t mean I am making this god up out of thin air.

The best god is not only one whom we find so worthy that we can worth-ship that god without hesitation, but is also one who is not “chosen” by us but who “chooses” and “calls” us. That is, the god I ultimately want to worth-ship (consider worthy of my devotion, my time, my resources, my allegiance) is the one I find so compelling and so irresistible that I finally cannot choose but to follow this god’s way.

Again, for me, that god is the Christian God who is revealed most fully in Jesus. And the most telling revelation of that God, for me, is in the fifth chapter of Galatians. The best and most compelling fruits of the spirit of God, for me, are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, authenticity, gentleness, and integrity (my own translation/interpretation, of course!). It is these characteristics of the Christian faith that I find most worthy, and I base my whole interpretation of the Christian faith upon these basic values. It is, finally, these values and this faith tradition by which I seek to limit the authority of what I consider less worthy gods (materialism, hedonism, nationalism, etc.) over my life.

Michael Loser
Co-Pastor
Emmanuel UCC

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The Challenges of a Diverse Community of Faith

12/25/2014

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The fellowship of covenant participants and friends which make up Emmanuel UCC covers a wide spectrum of approaches to faith. We have persons who hold a rather traditional faith, persons who embrace a more progressive faith, and persons who are more secular or humanist in their approach to life. It is particularly at Christmas and Easter that the differences among us surface most dramatically. Our conversations during these seasons can sometimes be uncomfortable because of the differences in how we approach the biblical stories of these seasons.

While I want to talk about this issue in terms of traditionalists, progressives, and humanists, they are not totally distinct categories. They represent a continuum along which our folks populate many different points. And while these categories may apply to the differences in our convictions at the heart of our faith, we all share many common characteristics, an important one being a unanimous desire for justice to be realized in our society and beyond. Just as important is our willingness to hear and to consider different perspectives on matters of faith; that is critical to our continued life as a covenant community.

The primary matter that separates these three loosely defined groups which we find at Emmanuel has to do with how we perceive the Bible. Traditionalists tend to hold to the classic belief that the Bible is the Word of God, either directly communicated or at least divinely inspired by God. Progressives tend to see the Bible as a human product of people who were moved to share their best understandings of God and of God's desires for God's people. Humanists tend to see the Bible as a human product full of fairy tales and cultural biases.

Traditionalists value the Bible because they see it as divine revelation and may resist any attempt to question the Bible for fear that, once you begin to question whether any part of the Bible is actually true, it might lead to a questioning of the Bible's worth as a whole. Progressives value the Bible because it was written by people of faith who were earnestly attempting to live their lives according to their faith. But progressives also believe that we need to continue the conversation beyond where the biblical authors have taken it, particularly in those areas that have been heavily influenced by an ancient world-view and by cultural biases. Humanists tend to see little value in the Bible because of its antiquity and cultural bias.

Just about everyone who embraces a progressive faith once held a much more traditional faith. The movement from traditional to progressive can be very slow and rather disquieting because, deep inside, we know that there is the danger of losing our faith altogether if we begin to question any part of it. But in the same way that science moved beyond the earth-centered view of Ptolemy to the sun-centered view of Copernicus and Galileo and Kepler, progressives have moved beyond the three story universe which underlies biblical assumptions toward a more scientific view of the universe in which we live.

The implications of that for the Christmas story are significant. Whereas traditionalists see the birth of Jesus as the literal entry of God into the world in human flesh, progressives focus more on the meaning of the story as metaphor and take it to mean that we no longer need to look up to the skies or heavens to locate God, but that God is to be found among and even within us.

As with almost any theology we can dream up, there are scriptures that support this view. Jesus himself told his disciples that they would do what he did and more. And the second letter to the Corinthians (3:18) says “And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” Or, as The Message puts it, “And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.”

So, while traditionalists tend to see Jesus as someone who is unlike us and so far above us that we cannot begin to attain his holiness or divinity (which keeps God located “out there” somewhere), progressives tend to see Jesus as one who came to show us what a God-filled life is like so that we can, like him, attain it to some degree at least.

Finally, it comes down to how much meaning or truth we are convinced we can find in writings that may or may not be “factual.” Ironically, traditionalists and humanists are more alike than different in this respect. They both want to be as certain as they can be that they are living by a truth that is supported by indisputable facts. The difference is the source of those facts. Traditionalists find the facts from which they glean the truth in the writings of the Bible. Humanists look to science to provide them with the facts that explain for them the truths about life in this universe. The other primary difference is that traditionalists have identified facts that they believe never change, while humanists assume the facts may well change as science progresses.

Progressives are typically less concerned about facts (which are rarely static, anyway) and are more interested in discovering universal meaning and values. We find those in the Bible and many other places – in literature, in art, in music. Of course, progressives are not always consistent in how they approach such things. I have always struggled, for instance, to find the meaning in abstract art – I tend to like art that represents what I recognize as “reality” (the facts!). I have the same tendency in music, especially jazz – I love jazz, but I struggle when I think the musicians may have forgotten or lost the melody they started with, particularly if it is a melody with which I am very familiar.

My favorite progressive author is Marcus Borg (I highly recommend his The Heart of Christianity). He says, basically, believe what you will about whether or not the events reported in the Bible actually happened the way they are reported, but don't miss the deeper meaning of those stories. And my favorite quote on these matters is from the Native American storyteller who says, as he begins to tell his tribe's story of creation, “Now I don't know if it happened this way or not, but I know this story is true.”

As we continue our journey together, it will be important to remember how different our perspectives are in some ways, yet how similar they are in others. We want to converse in ways that help us all to continually grow in our faith and our understanding.

Michael Loser
Covenant Participant
Emmanuel UCC

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Sacrifice or Investment?

11/6/2014

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With the birth of the Tea Party and the popularity of Libertarianism, the philosophies of Ayn Rand have taken on new life. I find little in Rand's writings valuable for my own understanding of life (her book titled The Virtue of Selfishness, for example), but there is one thing I do agree with and another that I would state a bit differently.

Rand says that everyone must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. And she defines sacrifice as giving up something greater for something less. To give up a penny for a dollar is not a sacrifice. To give up a dollar for a penny is sacrifice. This is not the dictionary definition of sacrifice, but I think it is how most people experience it.

One of the major problems I have with the historical institutional church is its insistence on sacrifice as a central theme in the life of Jesus and as a primary expectation of the followers of Jesus. Not only does it make no sense to me (because it does not finally accomplish what I think God wants to accomplish with us), but I think Jesus himself never suggested we should sacrifice anything.

Everything Jesus suggested that we do comes with some inherent reward – it is to our ultimate benefit, or our reward will be great in God's realm, or we will get back what we have given and more. Jesus clearly viewed the giving of ourselves for the cause as investment, not as sacrifice – and that's the language I would like to see the church use.

Around the time I was formulating these thoughts, some time ago, a young woman in the Midwest lost a portion of both her legs during a tornado as she used her body to protect her young children from harm. The media hype was all about the sacrifice she had made for her children. But did she give up something greater for the sake of something less? No!

She valued the lives of her children more than her own well-being. She invested herself in the protection of her children so that they could continue to live and grow. She did not make a sacrifice. She made a costly choice, but the cost was less than the reward she received, the safety of her children.

I think the church needs to get away from the language of sacrifice and replace it with the language of investment. The man who found the treasure in the field sold all he had for a greater treasure. The man who found the priceless pearl sold all to get something greater. These are the kinds of examples Jesus used to talk about his way of discipleship.

So when I give to Emmanuel, or to any cause for that matter, I am not doing so because I feel obligated or I think I owe a debt or dues or I think I can buy my way into God's realm. I am not sacrificing what I have for the sake of something of less value than what I am giving. I give to those things that I think make a difference in my life, in my community, and in my world.

Ayn Rand thought that a person's own happiness is that person's noblest goal. I have amended that slightly, but I am convinced that we generally do only those things that we think are in our own self-interest (and we generally end up resenting or regretting what we do for other reasons). Whereas self-serving people do only those things which they think will serve not only their basic needs, but also their endless and insatiable appetites for more, people who act in their own self-interest will do those things which not only serve their needs, but also the needs of others because they know that doing so is ultimately in their own self-interest.

My self-interest is wholly intertwined with the interests of others. My own life is inextricably connected to every other life and all of creation. The Apostle Paul knew about that – if one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers; if one part of the body prospers, the whole body prospers. As a bonus, I have discovered that working for the good of all gives me incredible joy and satisfaction.

I think our little congregation is on the right track. I find considerable joy and satisfaction in my association with this fellowship, and so I think it is in my own best self-interest (and in the greater interests of others) for it to continue to function for as long as possible. When I give my offering to Emmanuel, it is no sacrifice. It is an investment in something worth much more than what I could ever give.

Michael Loser
Covenant Participant, Emmanuel/York UCC

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Adam and Eve Revisited

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Difficult Conversations

Not What We Deserve, But What We Choose

God's Will Be Done

Pastors' 2015 Annual Reports

January 13th, 2016

The Value of Stories in Defining Our Faith

The Challenges of a Diverse Community of Faith

Sacrifice or Investment?

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