Untitled

August 29, 2021
by Sara Baron

“Friend, Lover, Parent” based on Song of Solomon 2:8-13

Who is the best friend you’ve ever had? The one who listened to what you said and what you didn’t say, the one who could make you laugh with a simple look, the one you trusted to tell you the truth even when you didn’t want to hear it, and trusted to have your back even if you’d done something wrong??

I hope for you that you have had such a friend, and that if you haven’t, that you WILL have such a friend. I hope you have enough such friends it is hard to figure out who is the best. But whether such a friendship has lasted your whole life, or it was a short lived one, or even one you read about rather than experienced directly, I invite you to consider how it felt.

Keb’ Mo’s song “One Friend” has the refrain:

All I need is one friend
To get me through the
Day
One friend
That never goes away
Only one friend
To understand
And never let me down

The whole is a better place with a friend, and it is a whole lot less lonely. One of the “universal human needs” is “shared reality” and when I think of friendship, I often think of it as centering around “shared reality.” Well, that and “affection” and “humor.”

There is an intimacy to friendship, a joy in being known and seen and in seeing and knowing another. It makes life meaningful. And fun. Friendships make space for authenticity, imperfection, emotions, spontaneity, and general quirkiness. They let us be who we are, and help us let go of who we’re supposed to be.

The primary metaphor for God in Christianity is of God the Father. When we’re being expansive that becomes God as Parent, and occasionally God as Mother. But the primary metaphor is a top down one. God sets the rules, God sits in judgement, God knows better than we do.

In their essence, a lot of arguments I hear within The United Methodist could easily be boiled down to, “Do you believe in a Daddy-knows-best (Paternalistic)sort of God or in an everyones-opinions-and-needs-are-valued-here (egalitarian) sort of God?” They’re both parenting styles, and they largely buy in to the “God as Parent” metaphor.

At one point in my life, a friend who belongs to the Self-Realization Fellowship asked I was at that particular time most connected to God through the metaphor of parent, the metaphor of lover, or the metaphor as friend. This was his take on the usefulness of the Trinitarian model, and I rather like it. He put the three metaphors on equal footing, and when he entered into prayer and meditation, checked with himself to see which aspect of the Divine was accessible to him at that point.

The passage from the Song of Songs seems to guide us a little bit more towards the God-as-lover metaphor, but I decided to start with friendship because I think the point of BOTH is intimacy. Our culture brings so much baggage to sexuality and romance that it can become hard to shake off the baggage and see what’s underneath it.

Also, despite the extensive tradition of sexualizing one’s spirituality (today most visible in “Jesus is my boyfriend” music, historically most visible in mystic monasticism), I prefer to think of the two as informing each other rather than overlapping.

The best part of our intimate relationships (friendships or sexual/romantic relationships) teach us useful skills that we can bring to our spirituality. The best parts of our spiritual connection with the Divine helps us bring our fullest self to other intimate relationships.

Every experience we have of mutuality, of connection, of love, and of intimacy makes possible the next one. As we build our capacity to trust “the Other” with ourselves, we get better at trust. And all of these things – mutuality, connection, love, intimacy, and trust are aspects of friendship, of sexual and/or romantic relationships, and of our spirituality.

As people, we YEARN for connection. We’re also scared of it. And that applies to people and to God!

The book Song of Solomon is a series of erotic love poems. For many people, it is a surprise to find it in the Bible! And yet, many, many, MANY of our ancestors in faith considered it the pinnacle of the Bible itself. Many interpreters try to spiritualize the erotic text, taking one of the lovers as the Nation of Israel, or the Church, or a single person of faith, and God as the other lover. I’m less interested in those interpretations, and far more interested in the ones that think that the Song is about two human lovers.

If the Song of Songs is about two human lovers who appreciate each other’s love, and bodies, and passion, then it is in the Bible as a reminder that the love of PEOPLE can open us to the love of God and the love of God can open us to the love of people. Also, if it is a celebration of physical love, then we are quite simply reminded of the potential goodness of physical love and in our society, that’s an imperative reminder.

Dear ones, I believe the point here is quite simple: nurture healthy love where-ever you find it. Celebrate healthy love at every opportunity. Make time for love, make space for love, and make love a priority. Because love nurtures love, and love is what matters.

Thanks be to the God of love and relationships. Amen

Rev. Sara E. Baron

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305

Pronouns: she/her/hers

http://fumcschenectady.org/

https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

August 31, 2021

Uncategorized

Untitled

August 22, 2021
by Sara Baron

“Blessings of the Journey” based on Psalm 84

Psalm 84 is one of those rare pieces of scripture that doesn’t change meaning from first glance to last look. It is straight forward. The speaker, likely a pilgrim on a the way to Jerusalem, names the wonders of “God’s house,” and is jealous of the birds who are able to roost on the Temple mount, and stay there forever.

The Psalmist names the joy of just being on the journey to Zion, an extension of the joy of Zion itself, and then asks for blessings for those on their journeys.

The Psalmist expresses clear and profound love of God, and gratitude for connection to the Divine and things of the Divine.

The commentators, who have to find something to say, mentioned how incredibly rare rain is in Israel around the time of the Festival of Tabernacles. That’s OK though. It just makes it more profound when the Psalmist says that in the dry valley along the way, unexpected early rains come and pools and springs of water bring blessings.

The Psalm assumes that the Temple in Jerusalem is God’s house, that the presence of God actually resides there. This was never universally accepted in Jewish thought, and Jesus carefully articulated that God is everywhere, but the idea persists. It is even a bit expansive. Many people think of all churches and worship centers as uniquely containing the presence of God. Likely, on some subconscious levels, we do too.

Or maybe they aren’t only subconscious. There are definitely PLACES where I feel God’s presence more easily than in the rest of the world. I BELIEVE that God is everywhere, but my human and finite being notices better in some places than others. Our sanctuary is one of them. I can almost hear the heartbeat of this faith community when I sit in silent prayer in our sanctuary, and the heartbeat of this church opens my spirit to God.

This pandemic has closed us off from so many PLACES, some of them our holy places. Parents send their kids to schools or day cares they’ve never been allowed into. Hospitals limit or refuse visitors. Buildings are closed, or limited use, or require approval to enter. This year our camps refused visitors and during retreat season required reservations to just take a walk. And, of course, our beautiful sanctuary lies quietly in wait for our return to it.

I think we may be in a good position to hear the Psalm’s yearning. Whether or not God specially resides in our sanctuary (hint: no), the sanctuary is a place of worship, prayer, beauty, and safety that opens many of our hearts to God. 17 months after closing it for regular worship, we aren’t unlike regular pilgrims hoping for a glimpse of the Temple. The actual church mice, and occasional church bats, have had far better access than we have!

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise. Selah

The Temple was creation themed. It was designed to celebrate the God who created all that is. Sort of an interesting premise, huh? That the Temple was ONE place that celebrated ALL places, and people from ALL places came to that ONE place to offer praise?

Pilgrimage is a significant part of many faith traditions, and those who lived in ancient Israel would have known it well. Only the residents of Jerusalem had regular access to the Temple. Others had to make INTENTIONAL trips, and often made them for festivals.

Because the journey was aimed at connection with God and faithfulness in ritual, the journey itself was sanctified.

Friends, I think this is where we stand.

We’re on a journey towards the places of God, with the people of God, and the place we stand is holy but it isn’t where we are going to stay.

Luckily, the journey itself is sacred. It has meaning. It has purpose. It matters.

Much like walking a labyrinth, the journey IN and the journey OUT often matter as much as the moments in the center.

Some people never managed to make it to the Temple. For them, the closest thing was hearing the Psalms of the pilgrimage, the Psalms of Ascent, and finding their own meaning in them.

It is the meaning that matters. It is remembering that God is on the journey and not just the destination. It is noticing the unexpected blessings along the way – the early rains, the springs in the desert’s dry valleys, the strength of God, the hearts of the people.

This pilgrimage isn’t always where people want to be This one feels more like exile. This one has gone on too long.

But it is still a journey with God, from God’s place, to God’s place, with God’s people. And it is a blessed journey. And there are early rains.

Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

Bless us, Holy God. Hear our prayers. Hold up the hurting. Find a way for the broken. Help compassion reign in the world. Hear our prayers.

Journeys are long and frightening, and they change us along the way. Guide us, Holy One.

O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed.

The best part of life is being connected with the God of Love and Life. Connections and relationships are what matter. Not important positions, or lovely possessions. Connections to God, to each other, and to creation. That’s what feels like being in God’s own house.

God gives us life, and makes it worthwhile. God gifts us, and helps us. God is worthy of our trust. And the journey itself is blessed, and a blessing. It will prepare us for the next place we arrive at.

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the LORD withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O LORD of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.

Holy one bless our journeys, and the places they take us. Amen

August 22, 2021

Rev. Sara E. Baron

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she/her/hers
http://fumcschenectady.org/
https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

Uncategorized

Untitled

August 15, 2021
by Sara Baron

“The Fabled Wisdom of Solomon” based on 1 Kings 2:10-12 and 3:3-14

(Image: Lamp of Wisdom, Waterperry Gardens, Oxfordshire, England)

What I wouldn’t give for the wisdom of Solomon right now. I’ve prayed for it already, lack of asking isn’t the issue. Life feels like a series of unanswerable questions. “Is this safe?” “Is this wise?” “Is this fair?” “Who does this exclude?” “Whose needs does this meet?” “How do I create balance?” “Whose needs do I prioritize?” “How can I find a middle way?” “How do I manage risk? As a person? As a parent? As a pastor?” “What are the risks of NOT doing the thing?” “How do they compare to the risks of DOING the thing?” “How worried should I be?” “How courageous should I be?”

I’ll stop. It’s probably unpleasant to hear already, and truthfully those are MOST of the questions, they just repeat a lot. Furthermore, these are variations on the themes of everyone’s questions, maybe with a little bit more pressure on those making decisions for others or for groups.

We’re nearing 18 months of pandemic based impossible decision making. I’m also nearing 15 months of parent based impossible decision making, which has led to SO MUCH more respect for every other human who parents or offers caregiving. (I already had respect for those things, but my respect has increased exponentially.)

I find myself thinking about presidents who wear the same thing every day, or offload trivial decisions so that they can keep their capacities for the important stuff. I remember articles about how our decision making capacities are finite, and I think about how incredibly overwhelming it has been to be in this “new world” where everything carries risk and every decision is suddenly BIGGER.

And I want to be Solomon. I want to be blessed by God to be wise. I want God to give me “a wise and discerning mind.” I want to know what to do!!!!!!

But even as I say this, I realize that I have projected onto Solomon and on to this blessing from God a supernatural sort of wisdom and discernment. I’ve read this story and assumed that Solomon always knew what to do, and was always right when he decided. But, I don’t actually BELIEVE that. That would be superhuman.

(Also, if that were true, then the kingdom of Solomon likely would have outlasted … say … Solomon because he would have been able to fix the underlying issues and pick a good successor.)

Which means that the Bible has just served as a very good inkblot test for me to realize that in the midst of incredible uncertainty, certainty would be superhuman. (Or dangerous. That’s another way this can go.) I yearn to feel good about decisions, but that’s not possible right now. I yearn to feel confident as I decide, but that isn’t possible right now either. I yearn, truthfully, to pass my authority off to someone wiser, more prepared, better read – but no one knows the struggles and the questions I face quite like I do, so there isn’t anyone to pass them to.

John Wesley’s “Three Simple Rules”: “First do no harm, then do all the good you can, and stay in love with God” have never seemed so hard to work with!

To keep the challenging more challenging, people judge each other on decisions. I can’t remember the last time I had a conversation that didn’t involve either 1. someone who had to make hard decisions struggling with what is right OR 2. someone who doesn’t have to make the decisions frustrated with those who made them. I hear clergy and bosses worrying over safety procedures, balancing risk tolerance with the will of the body with the needs of the vulnerable. And, at the same time, I hear others complaining on ALL sides.

I’m definitely not Solomon, but I want to offer to all of you some of the models and tools I bring to discernment, under the assumption that we’re all bogged down by the weight of all these decisions. Welcome to a pragmatic sermon. 😉

In terms of the pandemic itself, I’ve been really grateful for an idea I heard put into words in the NY Times in June of 2020.

Manage your exposure budget

Risk is cumulative. Going forward, you’ll need to make trade-offs, choosing activities that are most important to you (like seeing an aging parent) and skipping things that might matter less (an office going-away party). Think about managing virus risk just as you might manage a diet: If you want dessert, eat a little less for dinner.1

During a pandemic, every member of the household should manage their own exposure budget. (Think Weight Watchers points for virus risk.) You spend very few budget points for low-risk choices like a once-a-week grocery trip or exercising outdoors. You spend more budget points when you attend an indoor dinner party, get a haircut or go to the office. You blow your budget completely if you spend time in a crowd.2

This has been super helpful. I often call it the “risk budget.” We all have different risk tolerance, and we have different things we particularly value and need. I hear from many families with kids that day care or school are imperative to someone in the family’s well being, and so they do it. But then their risk budget is spent. I hear from others that going to work and being exposed to a whole lot of people is already an over extension of their risk budget, and they fear bringing something home to their kids, so they don’t do anything else.

I’m mentioning this right now, because people without kids or other unvaccinated people in their households have had an increase in risk tolerance, and aren’t always seeing how carefully others have to manage their risk budget. And, for some in our community that means not coming to worship – even outside, even masked, even distanced – because even that TINY bit of increased exposure is more than the budget can handle.

It isn’t really a FUN thing, a risk budget, but it brings a model to something otherwise incredibly overwhelming. Deciding on each individual activity separately is simply too much for any of us, so a budget gives us a guideline on how to make decisions. It also reminds us that we’re working with different budgets and different expenditures, and none of us need to judge how someone else makes their decisions.

Not quite the fabled wisdom of Solomon, I’ll grant, but a tool nonetheless.

Another simple tool is one I’ve mentioned before. “Daily examen” is a prayer process. It is quite simple. You center yourself, ask for God’s help, review the past 24 hours, identitfy when you felt most alive and connected with love, identity when you felt most disconnected from life and love, thank God for the best the worst and all that’s in-between, and either share that information with another person or write it down. It is entirely too easy to zombie our way through life, especially in the surreal pandemic times. But taking the time to be reflective helps us learn about life, ourselves, God, and what we value. It helps us learn what we need to change, and what we actually love about our lives as they are. This is the single best discernment tool I know, although it is most useful for BIG HUGE decisions that can be made over an extended period of time.

My final “simple” tool is one of those deceptive ones. It is simple, in ideas, but it is much harder in practice. It is: trust God to be working in and through you. That is, notice when something feels off-kilter in you, and trust that it is significant and matters. THIS is the most subversive thing I’m saying today. Trust the wisdom of your body as being connected to the wisdom of the Divine, and when a decision brings a dull ache to your gut or any other part of your body STOP and listen. Figure out what emotions fit into that ache. Then, figure out what needs are under that emotion. (Handy-dandy helpful pdf chart here: Feelings/Needs). We KNOW more than we think we do, and God often works with us in subtle and embodied ways. As we learn to trust ourselves, we are learning to trust God-who-is-with-us-and-for-us.

Well friends, it doesn’t feel like much, and it DEFINITELY doesn’t feel like the fabled wisdom of Solomon, but in the midst of unending difficult decisions, I hope these little tools are gifts for you. May God help us all, as we discern. Amen

1 I’m not convinced diet culture is safe nor healthy, but I left the reference in because I fear it is familiar.

2 Tara Parker-Pope “5 Rules to Live By During a Pandemic” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/well/live/coronavirus-rules-pandemic-infection-prevention.html June 9, 2020.

Uncategorized

Untitled

August 8, 2021
by Sara Baron

“God, Stress, and Abundant Lives” based on 1 Kings 19:4-8

I’m mad. Mad that we – the big collective we – might have beaten this virus if we trusted our experts and prioritized collective well-being. Mad that we “can’t have nice things” still, EVEN THOUGH science provided amazing vaccines in an unbelievably short time. Mad that I have to make decisions no one– including me – likes because the first rule of John Wesley is “first do no harm” and I really believe we have to do that.

But, a friend sent an article this week that pointed out that I’m not mad. I just think I’m mad. Or, more so, that anger is a secondary emotion that works well to mask primary emotions. The article said the emotion that I’m actually feeling is fear. (Note: do not try this at home. Do not tell someone what they’re “really feeling” when they tell you what they ARE feeling. Really, truly. DO NOT DO THIS. The article got away with it by taking about generic people and I personalized.) The article speaks about people choosing not to be vaccinated and vaccinated people’s anger responses:

Though this new flavor of outrage might look and sound like righteous indignation, mental health professionals say that what’s behind it is fear.

“It’s scary to admit that somebody else has power over you and you’re at their mercy and you’re afraid of them, but showing that is not a very American ideal,” said David Rosmarin, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a clinician at McLean Hospital. “Instead of expressing that fear, it’s a lot more comfortable to blame somebody else.”

Anger is what people in his profession refer to as a “secondary emotion.” It’s a feeling that arises in response to a more primal emotion, like fear and anxiety over having some aspect of your life threatened. “The reality is that there are millions of people who are miseducated about something, they’re making a big mistake that will have massive consequences that might affect you and your family and that makes you scared,” Rosmarin said. “But nobody is saying that.”1

That article also says that part of what people are struggling with is that this was always going to be a “long war” but we didn’t get that message from the outset. That fits for me too, I deal better when I have my expectations set correctly.

Two years ago I preached on this passage from 1 Kings 19, and afterwards several of you mentioned that you could hear in it my yearning for a break. (It was fairly soon before my renewal leave.) I hadn’t meant to be that transparent then, and it makes me want to be a little bit cautious now, but….the story hasn’t changed.

This remains a story of Elijah, prophet of God who has worked diligently for what he believed God wanted him to do. The response to his faithfulness has been a threat of murder that came directly from the palace.

Elijah is too tired to fight anymore. He fled for his life, but in the midst of the flight he lost even the will to live.

He prays, asking God to let him die, which would at least be less violent than the death otherwise planned for him. He’d walked into the desert for a day, and when he prayed he sat under a single broom tree, the only bit of respite he could find. The Bible seems to suggest this is a particularly sad story, it is the same one told of Hagar, having walked into the desert, exhausted her provisions, sat under a broom, and prepared to die. Just like with Hagar though, God meets Elijah there.

You may already know how much I love this story. He falls asleep, and wakes up when provisions have arrived. He eats, he drinks, he falls back asleep. When he awakes, provisions have arrived. He eats, he drinks, AND THEN he was able to go on.

I really love that he needs to sleep, eat, drink, sleep, eat, and drink before he can rouse himself. He has gone far beyond the “have a cup of coffee and keep going” point. He is exhausted. He is out of will power. He is out of a will to LIVE. If I were writing this story though, I’d add in some breathing. “He took intentional deep breathes until he was able to slow his body enough to sleep…” and then the rest of the story. It would make it just a smidge better.

Probably because of the book I just read, I’m noticing that the story as written (and more so as adapted), Elijah is given the chance to “complete the stress cycle” in this story. The book is “Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle” written by Emily and Amelia Nagoski. In their opening chapter, they distinguish between stressors and stress. They point out that we need to complete the stress cycle, no matter what is happening with the stressors. And they name, concretely, how to do that. The first and best option is to “do literally anything to move your body enough to get you breathing deeply” for 20-60 minutes a day.2 Elijah walking into the desert for an entire day seems to qualify.

The Nagoski sisters offer 6 other ways to complete the cycle though: 1. “deep, slow breaths down regulate the stress response”3, 2. positive social encounters (even causal ones), 3. laughter – but the real deep belly laughter kind, 4. physical affection from someone you trust (they suggest a 6 second kiss between partners or a 20 second hug with someone you like, snuggling a pet), 5. crying, and 6. creative expression. In other chapters they also talk about meditation and spiritual connection, so I’m going to add a #7 – whatever prayer practices work for you. They’re suggesting that we do at least one of these, and better many of these, every day. Because the stressors keep coming at us. And their book was written in 2019, so it is WAY MORE TRUE today.

So Elijah. He took a long walk (check), I’m all for pretending he took some slow breaths, he maybe had a positive encounter with the angel? (does that count??), and I’m quite sure he cried a lot, the Bible just forgot to mention it. He also took care of his bodily needs for rest, nourishment, and hydration. (Chapter 7 of their book is all about rest.) He also named his despair to God, and naming emotions has a lot of power too.

This little story has a lot of good responses to despair and burnout. Which is good, because many of us are in despair and/or burnout in at least some aspects of our lives.

The pandemic has challenged all of us. The challenges have differed, because we’re different, but we’ve all been challenged. Having another wave is definitely not helping anybody. We’re mad, whether or not that’s a primary emotion, sad, fearful, and maybe even detached. We’re exhausted.

And most of us are comfort seeking. We want things to be easier. We NEED things to be easier. We’re looking for things that sooth, ease, comfort, and console. Often, we’re looking for things to be “back to normal,” familiar, and make sense like we’re used to. We’re human. That’s how we work.

Another facet of how we work is that when we’re in high stress, we revert to earlier and lower levels of emotional functioning. We blame. We over react. We fight. We flee. We gossip. We triangulate. We take all our anxiety and we try to get rid of it by sharing it with others or throwing it at them. This too is human. It is how we work.

No one I know is operating at their best right now. We can’t.

What we can do is seek to complete the stress cycles – we can’t change most of the stressors, but we can give ourselves the best possible chance to change the stress. Our bodies, minds, and spirits are all connected, they’re all “us.” When we care for each of them, we give all of them a chance to do better.

I believe that God calls us all to life abundant. To full, meaningful, connected lives. To spiritual depth and work that matters and relationships that give life. Elijah went from that broom tree to the Mount of Horeb where he deepened his relationship with God, and then on to meet his protege Elisha and started to pass on his labor to the next generation. It wasn’t God’s intention that Elijah struggle alone, or burn himself out. It isn’t God’s will that we struggle alone nor burn ourselves out either. God wishes for full, abundant lives for us all. That’s part of why we take care of each other, and share love in the world. So, dear ones, I encourage you to complete your stress cycles, name your emotions, connect with your dear ones, engage in prayer, and live life as abundantly as you can. God wants it for us, we want it for each other, and the world needs us as healthy as we can be! May God help us. Amen

1 https://www.statnews.com/2021/08/02/belated-realization-that-covid-will-be-a-long-war-sparks-anger-denial/

2 Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski Burnout: The Secret to Unlokcing the Stress Cycle (New York: Ballantine Books, 2019) p. 14.

3 Nagoski, 15.

Uncategorized

Untitled

August 1, 2021
by Sara Baron

“Every. Single. Time.” based on Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15

As far as I can tell, the stories of the wandering in the desert are stories of the people learning dependence on God. Many of the stories of Exodus repeat the narrative “(1) Something was wrong, the people were worried. (2) The people complained. (3) God provided.” Since deserts aren’t super hospitable to life, they make sense as places people can learn their dependence. The writer of Deuteronomy ends up worrying that once the people enter the “land of milk and honey” they’ll forget that they are dependent on God. In the early centuries of Christianity the “Desert Fathers and Mothers” returned to the desert to seek connection with the Divine, and learn again the lessons of dependence.

Historically, there are some reasons to question the overarching narrative of the 40 year wandering in the desert. It may be MORE true that some of the proto-Israelites were desert nomads for a prolonged time in their history, and some of the proto-Israelites were slaves who had escaped from Egypt, and some of the proto-Israelites were Canaanites who decide to follow YHWH when the nomads and former slaves told their stories about YHWH. I rather like this idea, because it is pretty easy to see how nomadic hunter-gatherers in a harsh desert climate would definitely experience the gift of life as a gift from God. And, that their descendants who lived a more settled and fertile existence could relatively quickly change their minds about how lucky they are to be simply alive.

I rather like how these stories begin. The people are frightened for their lives. There is a lack of FOOD or WATER, and those are seriously dangerous lacks. The stories present frightened people as appropriately and realistically negative. They grumble. They mumble. They complain. They romanticize their former lives. In this case, they say, “If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.“ And, I’ll admit, I feel for Moses and Aaron. That ISN’T FAIR. It isn’t even TRUE. But, I also feel for the people, because when humans are frightened for their lives, they really can’t be held accountable for being “unfair” much less have reasonable perspective.

In these Exodus stories, every single time, God intervenes and provides. EVERY SINGLE TIME. Sometimes Moses and Aaron get annoyed, sometimes God gets annoyed, sometimes as a reader it gets annoying that they don’t learn how to trust faster, but God provides EVERY SINGLE TIME.

And I have some feelings about that, because in our world today there is both an abundance of food and an abundance of hunger. Based on both the stories of our faith and the miraculous food producing capacity of the earth, I’m pretty sure that the story is STILL that God provides. But… human beings get in the way. We hoard (the US government is one of the worst), we promote “competition” for who gets to eat, we blame the hungry for being hungry, and we permit wealth to rise to the top no matter the cost to the bottom.

God provides.

Humans intercept.

The challenge is not scarcity – there is enough. There is MORE than enough. The problem is distribution . That is, the problem is acting out the belief that all people are worthy of surviving and thriving, as beloveds of God.

Around here, we try to do our part to change that story. We promote the humanity and belovedness of all people. We have a free breakfast, and we give people extra food to help them make it through the week. We advocate for policies to alleviate hunger everywhere in the world. We donate to SICM and help with summer lunches. We educate ourselves about food distribution, and work with “Bread for the World.” Our tithes and offerings promote justice and compassion programs around the world, and our extra gifts to UMCOR just add on to it.

But, it is a big problem and there is lot of work to be done to BOTH feed all of God’s people AND change policies so we don’t allow anyone to be hungry.

Some of the reason I said all that is because it is true. Another reason is because I’m about to take this story metaphorically, and I could not do so in good faith until I also took the literal meaning of hungry people seriously as well. Especially now when A LOT more people are hungry world wide then were before the pandemic.

When I first considered this passage, my attention was drawn to that complaining and yearning for Egypt. It seemed worth talking about our yearning for what used to be, and how the yearning can erase the realities of the past – things like slavery for example. Much of what I hear, and a good portion of what I experience these days is a yearning for pre-pandemic times. Recently, after I’d shared a bit about how odd it was to give birth during a pandemic and how unexpected parenting a baby during a pandemic has been, a perspective person said, “Well, and you got pregnant before the pandemic, you didn’t sign up for any of this.”

I sighed with relief, like you do when someone really understands. Also, I think that applies to all of us a little bit. The things we were thinking about, planning, and even worrying about 2 years ago all changed on us in early 2020. And we didn’t sign up for this! The stressors and conflicts we live now we wouldn’t have been able to dream 2 years ago. And we didn’t sign up for this.

2 years ago wasn’t great. It really wasn’t. There were serious injustices happening, and the things we were worried about were real. Comparatively though, I see why we want to go back. I can even see why the people grumbling in the desert would have wanted to go back. With death looming, anything else looks better. But Egypt wasn’t their future, it was their past. And we aren’t going back to pre-pandemic times either.

The wandering in the desert, as the story says, was important for forming the people, forming their faith, teaching them their dependence on God. It got them ready for the Promised Land, but it was so hard and so terrifying, there were a lot of times they thought going back was worth it. Without knowing what the Promised Land would be like, or when they would get there, the only things they knew were the terrifying lack of resources of the desert and the utter oppression of slavery.

For most of us, our pre-pandemic times weren’t THAT bad, but I hear people saying now, “Having had a break from it all, I don’t want to live like that anymore.” We’re different. We’ve been formed by this time in the desert. We’re still being formed by this time in the desert. I’m not sure when the Promised Land is coming.

As much as the desire to go back to Egypt caught my initial attention, I couldn’t help but notice that it is only the beginning of this story. This isn’t the story of landing in the Promised Land. This is a story of having God provide. This is a story of there being BREAD on the ground in the desert that would sustain the people AND quails flying overhead for protein, and both of them being gifts of life from the God of life. (In the desert, where other people didn’t interfere with God’s gifts.)

This is the story where God says, “’At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’” And then when it happened, and the bread showed up, the people said, “What is it??????”

And this is where I think God is leading me today.

We’re in the desert, dear ones. Whatever our roles and circumstances were in Egypt, it is far behind. Whatever our roles and circumstances will be in the Promised Land, we aren’t there yet. We are DEEP in the desert, learning our dependence on God. And that means that God is giving us gifts that we desperately need to survive.

And most likely we’re responding along the lines of “Huh?” or “What is THAT?” Or “I’m not sure I want that.” Maybe more than anything we’re thinking, “I’d rather have bread from Pereccas, or Gershons, or Friehofers.” These gift that God is giving, we might not even recognize them. We might not want them. We might be a little horrified.

Today’s story ends with Moses telling the confused and hungry people, “It is the bread that YHWH has given to you to eat.”

What is the bread that God is giving to you to eat right now? How are you feeling about it?

Holy One, help us see what you are giving us, and help us receive nourishment from what you offer. We are tired, weary, weak, and frightened people. Your nourishment is what we need to go on, and we know that this desert wandering is not your final plan for us. Amen

August 1, 2021

Rev. Sara E. Baron

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305

Pronouns: she/her/hers

http://fumcschenectady.org/

https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

Uncategorized

Untitled

July 25, 2021
by Sara Baron

“A God Who Cares (about people)” based on Psalm 14 and 2 Samuel 11:1-15

Trigger Warning: The scripture names sexual assault, and thus this sermon discusses it.

When the Jesus Seminar is assessing the likelihood that Jesus said or did certain things, one of the things they check is “is it complementary?” If it is NOT complementary, they think it is more likely to be true. If it is ESPECIALLY complementary, it is a little bit suspect. Their idea is that the followers of Jesus telling stories about him would be more likely to adapt stories in ways that make him look BETTER, not worse. So when he doesn’t look his best, it is probably because there is some truth underneath it.

1 and 2 Chronicles are pretty rough on King David. 1 and 2 Samuel are not, they are decidedly pro-David. Today’s story comes from 2 Samuel. That means that it is as cleaned up as it can be, and it is still horrible. One of many things I like about the Bible, though, is that the characters who do God’s work aren’t all presented as perfect. That said, I find David particularly problematic. Probably because he had so much power, and is still thought of so highly despite having one of the worst track records in the Bible.

I think this story would have been ignored, or passed over, if it wasn’t for the fact that Bethseba was the mother of Solomon, who would become the king after David. This story, then, is likely true.

Kings in those days were supposed to lead their troops into battle, and King David was a very successful warrior, he had spent many years leading troops in battle. The story starts by saying, “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.” (1 Samuel 11:1, NRSV) It is almost suggesting that if David had been where he was supposed to be, there wouldn’t have been this problem. And to an extent that is right. If David were taking seriously the needs of his people, instead of relaxing in the grandeur of the palace, things might have been very different. But David was at home, and because the palace was so much taller than the homes of the rest of the people, he was able to invade the privacy of a woman who was quite simply engaging in the prescribed RELIGIOUS RITUAL of purification.

She was not displaying herself for him. She wasn’t even taking a relaxing bath. She was fulling religious requirements so that she could rejoin society.

When David asked about her, he was told who she was – including her father’s name and her husband’s. He knew she was married. She knew she didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t say no. Perhaps she tried and it didn’t matter. Perhaps she was afraid he’d kill her husband. Perhaps she didn’t fight because she knew it didn’t matter – it didn’t. The king wanted her, and he got what he wanted. Her wants didn’t matter, her NEEDS didn’t matter.

It is disgusting, despicable, horrible, horrifying, immoral, and all too common.

So is the cover up – the murder that King David ordered when Uriah had too much integrity to enjoy comfort while his fellow soldiers were in the field. (The story definitely contrasts the moral behavior of the two.)

The next scene in this story, the one we didn’t read, is when the prophet Nathan comes to King David and accuses him. Nathan does so via a story, so the King can see his actions from an outsider perspective.

That’s the role of the prophet. Speaking truth to power, even when people in power don’t want to hear it, and try not to hear it.

In much of the Ancient Near East it was assumed that Gods were like Kings – they liked getting gifts (offerings), they liked being praised (worship), they did a lot of quid pro quo (so people praised gods and then asked god for things), they cared about their own power and influence, they could be punitive or generous as they wished. One of the unique parts of the Ancient Jewish faith was the understanding that YHWH God cared about the moral actions of people, and the care of the vulnerable. This was a really big religious transformation.

And we see it in our story today as well as in the Psalm. With YHWH God, even the Kings are called on their behavior. And not just on their behavior with other kings – on their behavior with those who served them – EVEN foreigners (Hittites were native Canaanites, the people who lived in the land before the Jews). Many commentators assume Uriah had converted, or perhaps his ancestors had but he was still considered ethnically a Hittite. YHWH God also cared about the treatment of women – and it doesn’t seem to me that most powerful men of the era did.

The Psalm makes similar points. It conflates believing in God with treating people justly. It names evil as “eating up my people” and it seems pretty clear that the ones being eaten up are the vulnerable members of society. It names that God is found with the ones who do right by others. I think it comes to its thesis in verse 6: “You would confound the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge.” (Psalm 14:6) Finally, it begs for God’s presence, so things will be better for those who are struggling.

Today it is assumed that religion and good behavior go together, and it startled me to learn that connecting the two was once a religious revolution, one that came with Moses. Sometimes I fear that religion and good behavior are TOO strongly connected, because truth be told studies say that religious people do not necessarily behave better than others. For example, religious people abuse partners and children at the same rates as non-religious people, and as we know there is a lot in religions that is used to justify homophobia, sexism, and racism.

I worry we aren’t worthy of the narrative that combines morality with religion.

At the same time, I’m really grateful that we HAVE a narrative that says that God cares about EVERYONE, and God lifts up the lowly. I’m grateful for it, because without it it feels like all would be lost. Then we would just have a system where the powerful are powerful, and that’s just how it is, and everyone should deal and work the system to the best of their ability. But when we follow a God who cares about how we treat each other, and how we treat people who are least able to benefit us later, then we at least have a narrative that counteracts the world’s and can help us all make a difference.

I need that story, even when we fail to live up to it.

I need to have a place to aim for, and a vision to live into. I need to have reasons to reject the current system and work for a better one. I need to believe that God cares about how we treat each other and works with us to care for all and to build a better world, so that I can know I’m a part of a group of people who are working WITH God on that, and that between God and each other we can do things that matter! This is part of the value of faith community for me too – to be present with each other, to encourage each other, to learn from each other, to model good living with each other, and to dream God’s dreams together.

It isn’t fun to read the story of David and Bathsheba, but it is good to read the story and know that it wasn’t just allowed, or ignored, or brushed aside. The story still gets told, and David is still the villain, and God still expects better of all of us – especially of those of us in power.

Thanks be to God for a vision of goodness, wholeness, justice, righteousness, and the kindom where all people are cared for. Amen

July 25, 2021

Rev. Sara E. Baron

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she/her/hers
http://fumcschenectady.org/
https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

Uncategorized

Untitled

July 10, 2021
by Sara Baron

“God’s Plumb lines and Our Values” based on Amos 7:7-15 and Mark 6:14-29

There are days when I struggle to care about ancient kings and the problematic things they said and did to ancient prophets. Tracking royal lineages, and power battles in far off lands from times long past isn’t actually all that interesting.

And it certainly doesn’t seem like a formula for speaking a relevant word to God’s beloveds today.

This may even be one of those days.

One of the more distressing parts of the Bible, though, is that when talking about the power battles of men long dead in cultures I need explanatory books to understand, the dynamics of human life appear to be fairly constant over time. We may not have kings. We may not engage in beheadings in this country. But somehow, when it comes right down to it, things aren’t actually as different as I’d like them to be.

Which, actually, is the whole point as far as I can tell.

The teachings of Jesus are absurdly brilliant in their social analysis, questioning of norms, and in the way they make space for people to come to their own conclusions and then claim truth for themselves. Much of the rest of the New Testament uses the examples of Jesus to do the very same work. And, Jesus was a product of his Jewish upbringing, a tradition with a wealth of knowledge in asking great questions, using stories to help people think, and using prophets to clarify that God’s concern includes concern for those who are marginalized.

Or, to say it more simply, the Bible helps us see things as they are, so we can know what we are up against, and work to change it.

In our text from Amos, Amos is having visions, the king sees it as threatening and thus tries to threaten Amos, Amos responds claiming the King has no authority over him because he is doing what God called him to do.

Well, isn’t that power dynamics in a nutshell?

Someone, with God’s support, speaks uncomfortable truths. Someone with power gets threatened by it and responds by trying to silence the truth-teller. But the one who is working with God’s help isn’t silenced by threats. Because God’s power isn’t a part of human power struggles, and God helps us face our fears. Amos even says, “I’m not a prophet, I’m just saying what God tells me to say.” (Fair question on how we know that, but that’s for another day.)

The King Herod / John the Baptist story in Mark is similar in its function. As I was trying to remember all the details of the relationships of the characters and the political plots they were maneuvering, I came across a line in the Wikipedia article on Herodias that made me stop, “Herodias’ second husband was Herod Antipas (born before 20 BC; died after 39 AD) half-brother of Herod II (her first husband). He is best known today for his role in events that led to the executions of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth.”1

The gist of things is that King Herod had been married off by his father in a political allegiance, and yet he was seeking to consolidate power. He thought that his brother’s wife would be more useful to him in that, so he exiled his first wife and Herodias divorced her husband, and they married. Ironically, perhaps, he was eventually displaced by the angry father of his first wife. Similarly, the things he did to consolidate his power and then to protect himself from accusations against him are exactly the things history remembers him for.

So what’s that story in a nutshell? The King ignored common decency, political allegiances, family ties, and generally accepted morality in order to seek power. The story told in the Gospels is maybe not factual. Instead, it is reflective of the differences between the moral standards of the common people and the fast and loose dealings of those on the top of the pyramid with the lives of those on the bottom.

Our story says that as Jesus was gaining fame, King Herod was living in fear that he was John the Baptist resurrected. That would mean that the Government’s power to KILL wasn’t powerful enough. #Foreshadowing. It also suggests that the King feels a little guilty.

Common morality of the day wouldn’t have permitted a woman to dance in public. So judgement is also present in that. The story also seems to parody how decisions get made about people’s lives. One person is drunk and makes excessive promises, another seeks an easy way out of a difficult situation, and voila, a prophet is killed. As one scholar put it, “A more sarcastic social caricature could not have been spun by the bitterest Galilean peasant.”2

Underlying this story is the knowledge that Jesus was a disciple of John’s, that Jesus largely took up John’s mantle, that the early Christians think of John as the messenger sharing that Jesus was coming, and that the powers of the world would also kill Jesus, and he wouldn’t conveniently go away either.

What strikes me in this story is how many times I’ve heard it. That is, a person with large amount of power in something – government, an industry, finances – wants to accumulate more, does so by illicit means, and then does even worse things to cover it up. And, usually, they get away with it. And, often, everyone knows but no one feels like they can do anything about it. This is the narrative of much of the #MeToo movement. This is the narrative of cover ups in COVID policies. This is the narrative of pretty much every scandal you read about in the news.

In this case, the prophet is the one willing to share the news that others are too scared to say, and to name that immoral behavior is – in fact – immoral.

I think it is fair to say that being a prophet is no fun. And it is very dangerous. (Although I have friends who I think it is fair to say are prophets, and they tend to think some parts of it ARE fun. It may just be that I’m a naturally more cautious person than they are.)

To bring the world from how it is to how God wants it to be requires prophets though. Did you know that the vast majority of theft in the US is wage theft, which almost always goes unpunished?3 One report concludes that wage theft (not paying workers what is owed to them) costs $50 BILLION a year in the US, as compared to the grand total of all robberies, burglaries, larcenies, and motor vehicle thefts in the nation costing their victims less than $14 billion.

Yet somehow petty theft often results in incarceration, and wage theft – in the rare case it is prosecuted – results in fines. The system that lets those with power and money play fast and loose with the lives of people in poverty is still going strong, and our “justice” system empowers it.

This is, of course, one of innumerable examples of how the structures and systems of the world keep on finding new ways to look the same, and what should be outdated in the Bible turns out to be just the same today.

The world tempt us to look away, to justify the actions of those in power, to ignore the cries of the marginalized, to care more about “the economy” then the lowest paid workers in it, to side with the modern kings of the world. There is something deep in human nature that assumes that the ones in power got their by their own merits and the same is true of those without power. But it isn’t so.

God keeps helping us open our hearts so we can see more clearly. God reminds us that the purpose of an economy is to find ways to care for everyone in it, the purpose of a society is to create real justice for everyone so everyone can thrive, and the purpose of a church is to help people expand their own humanity so they can let their hearts be broken by other people’s pain. God’s values aren’t the world’s. God sees fully, profound, beloved value in each and every person, and wants good for all.

And we, dear ones, seek to do the same. May God’s values transform our own, again and again, and again. Amen

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herodias Accessed 7/8/21.

2 Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998 and 2008,) 216.

3 https://www.epi.org/publication/epidemic-wage-theft-costing-workers-hundreds/

July 11, 2021

Uncategorized

Untitled

July 4, 2021
by Sara Baron

If I’m honest, I’m not a fan of my own weaknesses. (I pause now to await the ones who know me well to stop laughing at my understatement.) I would really like to be strong, capable, and impressive in all ways.

I’m not.

I’m a normal human mix of capable and incapable, strong and weak, impressive and profoundly not impressive. It is truly annoying.

From conversation, I’m under the impression that some of you are more at peace with this than I am, and that is such good news. You are all living proof that wisdom, maturity, and the grace of God are profoundly powerful. I’m also aware that some of you are with me, in being frustrated in your own imperfection, and always pushing yourself for more. May God’s grace transform us too.

Anyway, my own sense of self, and my own impatience, are quite a lens to bring to our Epistle reading today. Paul talks about a “thorn in his side,” one that he has asked God to remove repeatedly, and one that he has come to believe is USEFUL in his ministry. The use of the thorn in the side? Keeping him humble, and reminding him that “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul, who in this whole passage is modeling a different kind of leadership is refusing to play the games asked of him. Others have come to the church in Corinth bragging about who they are, what visions they’ve seen, and what authority it gives them. Paul has been asked to justify himself and his authority.

The passage we read today is part of him refusing to play along.

It opens with a weird piece about “someone” having a vision, which ends up being Paul, but he refuses to give any details or use it to gain any power over anyone else. Furthermore, he refuses to engage in even arguing about what form the vision took. Paul is NOT PLAYING by the rules.

He is facing people who boast, but he refuses to boast, OTHER than about God, so instead of bragging about himself, he talks about his WEAKNESSES. He talks about the thorn in his side. (No, no one knows what it is. Options in likeliness order include physical ailment, mental illness, outside persecution, or spiritual torment.) And then he talks about God.

I found a wonderful passage from a commentary I was tempted to share, but it was so dense I didn’t think it would help anything. So, instead, I’m going to summarize it for you, and put it in the footnotes.1 2

Paul is being told that the thorn in his side, that weakness in him, is a place that God’s grace can work. For Paul, this connects to Jesus being “crucified in weakness” but raised to life by the power of God. If Jesus’ life was defined by his weakness and God’s strength, then sharing the Good News of Jesus is also about letting God shine through our weaknesses. So Paul doesn’t try to overcome his weaknesses, nor dismiss them (like the Cynics and Stoics of his day). He also doesn’t try to be self-sufficient, which would involve limiting his own needs to limit his dependence on others. Instead, he accepts his “thorn in the side” and other weaknesses, and lets them guide him to dependence – on God.

So, to those bragging about what they’ve experienced of God, Paul refuses to boast, except about his WEAKNESS. To those seeking self-sufficiency, Paul responds with his dependence. This is definitely one of those cases where I can see why Paul was such an effective messenger of the story and love of Jesus.

This humble Paul, who only brags about his weakness, who acknowledges his dependence, who speaks highly of others but not himself, and who names the work of God in anything others might praise in his own life – THIS is the faith I grew up with. This is what I saw in my own church, and at church camp, and in the Annual Conference leaders when I started attending as a young teenager. I watched this being modeled, and I internalized it. The faith of bragging about the accomplishments of others, but not of ones self. The faith of seeing remarkable transformation happening, and thanking God. The faith of humility. This all feels like first language faith to me, the way that things are without even having to think about them.

From where I stand today, I don’t know if that’s good. Or, at least, I don’t know if it is equally good for everyone, or for every time. And I wonder if another person had been with me in those faith-forming experiences if they would have heard it and internalized it in the same ways.

This is funny, because there is a HUGE part of me that says “OF COURSE THIS IS GOOD, this is WHAT GOOD LOOKS LIKE, this is what being GODLY looks like.” But I’ve learned, over the years, to question everything, especially things that refuse to be questioned.

I wonder if “be humble, only speak of the accomplishments of others, praise God for anything praise worthy in yourself” ends up taking especially strong hold in women, in people of color, and in others who are marginalized, which ends up supporting the status quo in ignoring the wonders and accomplishments of many of God’s beloveds. And, I think about the quiet ways women and people of color are shamed for appearing to be insufficiently humble. I wonder if there are ways that those who are not marginalized are immune to the message of humility, and end up being the only ones comfortable with touting their accomplishments. And then, since others are also touting theirs, they seem the most capable.

I wonder if my first language, faith of my childhood ends up doing more harm than good by reinforcing exactly the ways that society wants to ignore the giftedness of many of God’s children.

Rev. Dr. Eric Law in The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb says, “Our vision of the Peaceable Realm is not based on fear. Instead it is based on lack of fear….This lack of fear is created by the even distribution of power.”3 When humility is used by some, but not others, we end up protecting those in power, instead of moving towards power sharing. Law’s book discusses a cycle of Christian living between death and resurrection: 1. Giving up power, choosing the cross 2. Cross, death, powerless 3. empowerment, endurance, faithfulness 4. Empty Tomb, Resurrection, Powerful. He emphasizes that we need to hold things in balance, not staying in one part of the story, but living the cycle over and over again. In fact, he talks about those with power giving power away, and that is if this is a way of life, power gets shared.

I think that maybe the faith I grew up with is one with GREAT value, especially in any situation where I have power. It is good to brag on others, lift others up, focus on inter-dependence, be aware of one’s weaknesses, and take it as an invitation to invite another’s strengths.

However, I think it is, maybe, only part of a fuller story. It is also important to see how God has gifted us, and think about how we want to use those gifts for the kindom. It is important to hear how what we have to offer blesses others. It is important to receive power, particularly when we are in a situation where we don’t have much. I think the full cycle is bigger than the one I’d internalized.

So, I don’t know what message you need today. (I don’t know what one I need today.) Maybe the reminder to look for God at work in our weaknesses, maybe to brag on each other, maybe to give up on self-sufficiency – and maybe to get REALLY REALLY clear on your own strengths and gifts and not let anyone take that away from you.

But I do know that Paul in 2 Corinthians and Jesus in his own hometown know a thing or two about being human, being limited, and finding God in the midst of it. And whatever else the message is in these passages today, I appreciate the reminder that God can bring good out of my weaknesses, and that makes them rather wonderful just as they are. Finally, I appreciate the struggle, to reach for a fuller faith, and acknowledge the complicatedness of trying to live as a follower of Christ. Thanks be to God. Amen

1“The apostle is directed to understand his affliction as part of that weakness in and through which God’s powerful grace is operated. It is clear that, from Paul’s point of view, the decisive demonstration of this oracular pronouncement is Christ himself, ‘crucified in weakness,’ but alive ‘by the power of God.’ This is why weakness is the hallmark of his apostleship, because he has been commissioned to the service of the gospel through the grace of this Christ – a grace whose power is made present in the cross. Paul therefore does not, like the Cynic and Stoic philosophers of his day, strive to transcend his weaknesses by dismissing them as trifling. Nor does he, like them, hold to the ideal of self-sufficiency, striving to limit his own needs and therefore his dependency on others. Rather, precisely by accepting his tribulations as real weaknesses he is led by them to acknowledge his ultimate dependence on God.” Victor Paul Furnish II Corinthians in The Anchor Bible Series (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company Inc, 1984), 550.

2 Funish, 550.

3 Eric H. F. Law The Worf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community (St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press, 1993) 14.

Rev. Sara E. Baron

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305

Pronouns: she/her/hers

http://fumcschenectady.org/

https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

July 4, 2021

Photo Credit to Barb Armstrong.

Uncategorized

Untitled

June 20, 2021
by Sara Baron

“God’s Peace – In the Midst of the Storm” based on Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32 and Mark 4:35-41

Two years ago at the Upper New York Annual Conference, Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball guest preached for the ordination and commissioning service. She preached on this text, and what she said was memorable enough that I can no longer hear this passage without her interpretation of it.

You may remember that two years ago the United Methodist world was in turmoil over the passage of “The Traditional Plan” at the 2019 Special Session of General Conference. That is, our denomination has been explicitly homophobic since 1972. Thanks to the decades of work by organizers, activists, and people of conscience there was sufficient pressure to create change. A special session of our denomination’s global legislative was called to respond to the church’s continued exclusion of God’s LGBTQIA+ people. There were several proposals on the table that brought positive change, and one that multiplied the harm already being done.

I still remember standing in shock after the final vote was taken, and watching my phone explode with the global news outlet alerts that – as the NYTimes put it “United Methodists Tighten Ban on Same-Sex Marriage and Gay Clergy.” The homophobia of this denomination had already been an abomination, yet people stayed knowing that the best way to bring change was from the inside. It was long, hard work, but we had felt confidence that God’s Spirit of Love would win in the long run. The decision to pass the Traditional Plan changed all that, and made it clear that over the long run people of conscience CANNOT stay in a homophobic denomination.

That was February. We were still reeling, grieving, and furious when Annual Conference came. Thanks be to God, we’d also organized, and Upper New York will be sending a very different delegation to the next General Conference (whenever the pandemic allows that to happen). Nevertheless, the conviction remained for progressives and even many moderates: one way or another, we will NOT STAY in a homophobic denomination. One way or another, we will be part of a church that welcomes all of God’s people, and soon.

It was into that reality that Bishop Steiner Ball preached. And she did so as a guest preacher in an Annual Conference whose Bishop had been a leader in writing and passing The Traditional plan. She took this passage and asked us to stay in the boat with Jesus. She acknowledged the storm raging around us, she named the reasons we would have to simply bail on the entire endeavor, she made space for hurt, anger, and fear. At the same time, she claimed that Jesus was in the boat with us, in the midst of the storm, and powerful enough to respond to the storm. She believed that Jesus could bring resolution, IF we just stayed in the boat. She offered that while the storm was raging so strongly it could be tempting to just jump into the sea, that the sea itself was not without its own issues. She urged us to stay long enough for Jesus to act, to bring resolution, to find a way forward for the people called Methodists.12

Here we are, two years later, still in that storm, and still with Jesus. The biggest change is that with the global pandemic, we are dealing with multiple storms at once. The storm that is the pandemic keeps United Methodists from gathering to split into different denominations that will be able to live their own faith with integrity. The storm that is the church’s homophobia prevents the denomination from being able to speak with moral authority, even of issues of death and dying brought on by the pandemic.

So here we are, in a boat, in the midst of raging storms. But, Bishop Steiner Ball says that Jesus is in the boat with us. Further, she reminds us that Jesus is able to calm the storms.

I am aware that the global pandemic storms, and the global church storms are themselves far from the only storms attacking our boats.

In truth, I suspect that for many of us the storms raging most strongly are inside us. Narratives and traumas from our childhoods continue to attack within. Existential anxiety has its way with us, often in ways we don’t even see. Assumptions about others, fear of the the unknown, and a tendency to see enemies were there are only people who are different also keep us on the defensive. The whole world turning upside down on us, not yet being righted, and likely to find a balance somewhere other than where it used to be obviously doesn’t help either. People are comforted by the familiar, which means that the past 15 months have been particularly discomforting at exactly the time we’ve most needed comfort.

Which is all to say that I think there are storms raging within us, probably all of us to a greater or lesser extent.

To support this theory, mental health professionals have never been so busy. Now, I’d say that in an ideal world, we’d all get regular mental health care as a means of simply being healthy. But most of the time, most people don’t seek mental health care until they’re well into a crisis/storm and can’t find their way out alone. So very busy mental health care professionals is a signal that many people are really struggling.

There isn’t anything wrong with struggling. It is a human reality. The “Disciple Bible Study” curriculums call such things “the human condition.” There isn’t actually anything wrong with being in a storm. It is also a human condition, and quite often it is well out of our control.

That said, being in the midst of a storm, particularly one like our scriptures talk about today are NOT comfortable. These are the sorts of storms that make it seem more likely that death is on the horizon than life.

And Jesus sleeps through it.

Either he was beyond exhaustion, or he was living non-anxious presence or both. Impressive, Jesus.

The story says Jesus awoke, rebuked the storm, and rebuked the disciples. I feel like it forgets to tell us that he then curled back up and went back to sleep. The storm was silenced. The disciples were awed.

I wonder if any of the storms that rage within us are ones that God would be happy to silence and bring to peace, if we were willing to let God do it. I suspect so. Some storms we are aren’t ready to let go of. Some storms just aren’t done yet. But some of them are only causing us harm, and are ready to be silenced.

Can you tell? Can you feel any of them that have run their course and would be response to “peace, be still!”? Can you even imagine what life would be like without that storm?

To go back to the storm we started with, I learned about the church’s homophobia when I was 13, and started working against it then. I have worked for and dreamed of being a part of a big-C Church that welcomes, affirms, and loves all of God’s people. You have too. This church has been explicitly committed to changing the UMC’s life-denying policies for 25 years now, and was already committed to it before then too!

Yet, it boggles my mind to try to imagine life without this fight – or at least changing this fight from one fighting explicit policy to fighting implicit bias. My identity will need a reboot.

And I think that’s often true of our internal storms too. We’re used to them. They’re familiar. They’re a part of who we are, and we aren’t entirely sure who we’d be without them.

But, friends, that’s exactly what God is there for. God doesn’t want to leave us in the pain of the past, or even the anxiety of the present. God is a source of healing, and energy of revival, a vision for wholeness, a hope for the future. Some of the things we’re afraid to give up, God is ready to take away.

God’s peace is stronger than the storms. God’s peace can hold its own EVEN in the midst of the BIGGEST storms. It has a different kind of strength. It has a deeper kind of being.

So I invite you, to hear the words of Jesus resound in your soul. “Peace, be still.” And I invite you to listen to see what storms God has silenced. Because God is up to good in you, in us, in the world, and when we make space for it, God can transform even the most hurting parts of us. Thanks be to God!

Amen

1Please note that these are my memories of a sermon I heard 2 years ago. As memories are faulty, and tend to have holes filled in with one’s own assumptions, this is likely a high bred of what she said and what I wanted to hear and remember.

2 I take no authority to tell anyone they need to stay in the UMC boat. There are good reasons to leave, all the more for people who are LGBTQIA+. I’m sharing that it was meaningful to me, knowing that I’m not the center.

Uncategorized

Outdoor Worship Begins June 6

June 19, 2021June 19, 2021
by Sara Baron

As of June 2021 this time, worship comes in four parts:

The Liturgical Worship Service shared via email or here on the website
The Zoom Second Hour / Check In at noon on Sundays which completes the need for worship to be a gathering by making space for God’s people to be together and support each other
The Informal Summer Outdoor worship on the front lawn at 10AM on Sundays. You are welcome to bring a lawn chair, masks required, rain location is the Sanctuary.
The Contemplative Prayer Service, now moving to 4PM on Sundays on Zoom.

You are invited to connect in the ways that feel live-giving and meaningful to you. Please contact the church office for zoom information.

We expect more changes as time goes on, as regathering becomes safer.