Author: Mark Mong

¹² Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³ Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.   Philippians 3:12-14

I am sure by now that you have either watched the Olympics or read/heard a report about the Olympics.  But nonetheless the Winter Olympics are in full force and most of our community is drawn to pay attention however that looks like.  I admire the tenacity of the athletes who have spent so much time and energy investing into just qualifying for the games themselves.  How much was spent on diet, exercise and training to become the best they could be at their events?  But making the Olympics is just half the goal, they must then apply themselves more so to competing against the best in the world.  They must commit, excel and strain to achieve a medal.  Attaining the Olympic games is not the goal, but to win gold.

Paul may have never competed in the curling competition, and neither could I, but he did know about the games because in his letter to the Philippians he uses the image of running the race.  He understands himself as the athlete competing in the race and all that it takes to attain and reach the finish line.  Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own.  Paul describes how far he has come into the work of his Apostleship, but he has not attained the resurrection of the dead.  He might have made the games, but he has not won the gold medal, he must press on to make it his own.  He must invest more of himself even to the point of being crucified with Christ to achieve the finish line, the gold medal, the resurrection of the dead.

Look at how far we have come in our calling to merge.  We are almost four years in this process and that time has passed quickly.  Think of the decisions we have made, the bonds that we have nurtured, and the lessons we have learned.  We have come far.  But the goal is not just to make the merger complete, the goal lies further on and we must press on.  The goal is not just to make the games, but to win gold, the goal is not just to merge, but the goal lies further on.  We have invested ourselves in the work set before us, but we must continue the work even after the merger is finished.  We must press on to gold.

We would be remiss though if we forget that the only reason we make this our own mission and goal is because Christ has made us his own.  Think of how Christ pressed on to find and rescue us, even at the cost of his life in the worst of possible deaths.  If this is how he acts towards those he loves and cares for, then how far will you go to press on and make it yours?  Think of the sacrifices in spending our time with and for others.  Contemplate the offerings of your resources for those in our community in need.  Ponder the gifts of your abilities and skills that you could share and put to work for those in want.  If Jesus has made this his own mission and purpose, then we can also make this our own.  We can go for gold.

What are you pressing forward and straining towards?  Do your goals align with Christ’s?  The work of this Lenten season may just be that we align our goals increasingly with Christ’s.  To strain ahead instead of resting in the glories of the past, to press forward into the unknown future of what Unity is called to be.  But make no mistake that these forty days are about not just being grateful for how far we come but also realizing that we have not yet reached the finish line.  We must press on; we must strain for the finish line, no matter what the cost to ourselves.  This is how Jesus lives and through the work of His Spirit it can become how we live.  Let us press on, let us reach for gold, let us reach for Christ and make Him our own.  Amen. 

12 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

My Brothers and Sister in Christ,

As I sit in my office on a cold, late January morning with the temperature being 3 degrees with a windchill of -8, I long for warmer days and sunshine.  I noticed in my newsfeed that Spring Training begins in a few weeks, and I am hopeful that soon the Polar Plunge will be over and we can return to heat and humidity.  No play in baseball gives more excitement to the fans and hope to those stuck in frigid temperatures than the squeeze play.  The batter bunts the baseball, sacrificing an out, while the runner on third steals home.  Will the runner score, will the batter connect with the ball and make it to first?  I would much rather worry about these things than will the furnace keep working or what will the gas bill look like!

In baseball, the hitter can sacrifice themselves to move a runner over or even to score a run, but for the Church in Rome divided between Gentile and Jewish Christians, sacrificing themselves for the other group was a tremendous challenge.  Paul writes many words and ideas to this Church in his letter and in the later parts of the letter he writes by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.  For the Jewish Christians keeping the Jewish law, sacrificing their way of life for the Gentile Christians not keeping the Jewish law, this was a tremendous sacrifice they were struggling to make.  Paul encourages them that what is important is not the Sabbaths and the Kosher meals but mutual faith working out in mutual love.

In our upcoming months, we at Unity will have to make many decisions on many things and some have the potential to create conflict and division among us, like the Churches in Rome and Corinth.  But, we also have the Spirit of Jesus Christ which can create mutual faith and mutual love.  But, it requires sacrifices.  Will we sacrifice our preferences for sake of others?  Will we bunt to move someone over or to be a blessing to another part of Christ’s body?  Or will we be concerned only to get what “I” want and in the way and style that I want it?  This is why Paul tells the church in Rome, and us that we need not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.  The fallen world selfishly only wants what it feels entitled to have, while the renewed world only wants what is good for others, in other words, the renewed world makes the sacrifice, like Jesus sacrifices. 

My friends, we find ourselves not only longing for physically warmer seasons, but also spiritually warmer seasons when the work of merging is over.  But we can only be a warmer community of mutual faith and mutual love, when we realize that we need each other and others need us.  That can only happen if we sacrifice and yield our wills to Christ, who sacrifices himself and yields to the will of God.  But we all must sacrifice our preferences and desires over the next year to the preference and desire of Christ, which is that we love God and our Neighbor.  That will take you (and me) sacrificing our wants to what God wants.  We must learn to bunt so that others may be blessed and score.  Amen.

In Christ, Rev. Mark

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58

I may not be a great baker or cook, but I do enjoy making the attempt.  One of my favorite recipes is confetti cake.  You take a package of sprinkles and put some of the package in the batter and you withhold the remainder of the sprinkles until the cake is baked and iced and then sprinkle the remainder of the candy on top of the icing. The result is confetti on top and confetti inside the cake.  Great for birthdays and serves 8-10 people.

But while you want to withhold some of the candy to put on the top of the cake, you don’t want to withhold anything to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  Paul writes in his letter to the Corinthians, always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.  The context of this verse is Paul’s great chapter on resurrection and how the resurrection of Christ gives victory to those called into Christ.  Since the body of Christ is loved and gifted by Christ and Christ withholds nothing from the Church, the Church can learn to love and give without withholding anything from God and from each other.

Do we as the Body of Christ in Ashtabula, Ohio give ourselves fully though?  You keep some of the candy to put on later, do we withhold something from our community and from God for ourselves or do we fully give away ourselves?  The most obvious concern is always our financial resources, which were important for the Corinthians to contribute to the collection for Jerusalem.  But, what about our time and our spiritual gifts also?  Do we withhold our time, doing what we will, or do we give our time, doing what Christ wills?  What about our energy and intelligence, do we contribute them or withhold them for personal agendas and plans?  I have no doubt that we give something, but do we truly give fully though?

Give yourselves to the work of the Lord.  We can give ourselves fully to some things but what about the work of the Lord: fully to mission work, or fully to people work, or even fully to the work of merging together.  I can rake the leaves, I can winterize the house and put all of myself into those chores, but can I give myself fully to the work of discernment that God is calling Unity into?  The difficult and challenging work of study and correction, growth and transformation?  Building relationships with strangers, struggling with new bylaws, policies and budgets?  Or do we withhold our time and energy for other tasks and ignore and avoid these tasks commanded by Christ? 

Perhaps the real struggle is that we are unsure that if we invest fully in this merging process that we will have real results worth the effort and hardship of growth.  But if we give ourselves to this work of the Lord, we are reminded that we know that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.  In vain means empty or without result.  Perhaps the reason we withhold from God now, is because we want to know that our investment will have a payoff.  But the nature of faith is not knowing the result before action but an action of entrusting oneself to God and allow God to bring forth the result. 

We are at a critical time in the new life of The Unity Presbyterian Church of Ashtabula, where all of us are called to discern and to work out this new life together to which we have been called.  That will only bring forth fruit to the glory of God if we all, give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord.  Not to withhold for ourselves out of fear or anxiety but in faith, knowing that our work is not in vain, trusting and giving.  Whether we are working on bylaws and policies, or furniture and food, let us give all of ourselves to the work, and allow God, as the Master Baker to create, and I think we will come to find that what God creates can be great for our Birth-Day and serve all.  Amen.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24

We are entering that season of year where flowers beds and gardens are being cleaned out, planted and mulched for another season of growth.  We remove last year’s leaves that have blown in and last year’s branches that have fallen off into our yards in bags that go off to the dump.  We plant this year’s annuals and spread around mulch.  Mulch, the leaves, branches and plants from previous seasons which break down and give nutrients and protection to this year’s growth.  The plants from previous seasons that give life to another season in the cycle of life.

Just as it is with mulch, so too with Jesus Christ.  Jesus understood himself as the mulch which dies to give life to others, truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  His death was to be the means of God bringing God’s creation back from exile and gathering all things together to re-make them.  Mulch is fertilizer for flower beds and gardens.  Jesus is fertilizer for Creation, to bring the people back to the covenant with God, to remove their sins of falling short and to resurrect them to Glory and Life. 

With the momentous decisions made in April, we at Trinity and East Side, find ourselves in a resurrection moment.  We are becoming new thanks to the work of God.  Just as a gardener plants new plants for the season, we are the new planting of God.  We are planting a new church, a new community formed, shaped and gathered by the Spirit of Jesus Christ.  The good news of the Gospel is that while God has planted us as a new church, we are “mulched” by Jesus Himself.  Fertilized with nutrients, lead by His will, we are the re-newed planting of God.  Since Jesus was resurrected, we find ourselves being resurrected now, in a new beginning. 

But with new beginnings come endings.  We might be planted and shaped into something new, but we must say goodbye to Trinity and East Side.  We are certainly prepared by God for the future, but we also must say goodbye to the past.  This is a time of loss for both congregations and therefore a time of grief.  Mulch is a fertilizer for the future but also a remainder of last year.  This time of resurrection is also a time of dying.  We must say good-bye to what was to embrace the new thing that is becoming.  To honor and grieve the closing of two faith communities to celebrate and live into the planting of a new.

We seem to be called into a season of deep, spiritual work.  While we can catch a glimpse of the new things God is doing, we must grieve and celebrate the wonderful things God has done.  Just as we did deep work to reach this point in our community’s journey, so must we continue the deep work while we can begin the next.  What must we say good-bye to?  What stories need to be shared and remembered?  What memories and learnings need to be lifted up and carried with us?  All of this is the mulch of the past which gives life to the present and future.  This is our dying work that must accompany our rising work.

My friends, we have come so far by the grace of Jesus’ Spirit.  Let us continue our Easter work of dying and rising as Jesus died and rose.  Let us engage in our deep work of dying to Trinity and East Side, that we might rise to the (Insert New Church Name Here).  So dig out the pictures to show off to the other church, write the stories to share with the new members, and remember the lessons you learned to teach to new brothers and sisters in God’s family.  But most importantly, let us begin our letting go of what was, to become and align into what is growing.  We have been mulched by Christ, time for us to die and rise.  Amen and thanks be to God.

In Christ,
Rev. Mark

¹⁶ From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. ¹⁸ All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  2 Corinthians 5:16-21

If you live in Ashtabula County you know all about Interstate 90.  The highway bisects the county almost in the geographical middle of the county.  Depending on which way you are traveling east or west, the highway comes into or leaves the county either around Madison or the Pennsylvania State Line.  I cannot begin to imagine how many people have travelled into and out of our county over the course of a year or even a lifetime, but I personally have driven out of the county to visit loved ones for the holidays and into the county when those vacations are over.

Our journeys of discipleship are very similar to trips made on Interstate 90.  The highway comes into and leaves the county; we are on a similar journey out of the kingdom of sin and death and into the Kingdom of God.  The Greek word Exodus from which the second book of the bible takes the name in a quite literal fashion means the road out, and the word Eisodus quite literally means the road in.  Paul would describe the journey of discipleship as if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.   The old has passed away, the road out, the new has come, the road in.

To take Route 90 out of Ashtabula, or the old creation has passed away, quite simply means that our connection to sin and death has been severed and we are now free or liberated from our sins, our guilt and our connection to the evil powers of this world that cause us so much misery and apathy.  Like Israel in Egypt or Babylon, the taskmasters have been vanquished, and we are free to take the road out of slavery to sin and death and free to take a journey into new and better land.  The moments we crossed the line are forgiven, our moments of falling short of the humanity we were created to be are cancelled, our moments of missing the mark in obedience to the covenant are gone.  These are the old things which have passed away.

To take Route 90 into Ashtabula, or the new creation has come, quite simply means that we now have been baptized into Jesus Christ, and we can be born again and live life anew and afresh in God’s righteousness.  Like Israel in the land of Canaan, we are free to enter the promised land flowing with milk and honey.  But to make the trip in means to live life differently than the lives we lived in Egypt or sin.  To love instead of hate.  To be faithful to God.  To offer kindness to the least and to make things right and just.  Israel was called to be holy or different because they were in Canaan and not Egypt, we are called to be holy or different because we are in God’s creation instead of Sin’s creation. 

Friends, we are on the cusp once again of another season of Lent, a time of introspection, discipline and repentance.  If we are on the road out of sin and death, what do you need to give up this Lenten Season?  Perhaps not Brussel sprouts or chocolate, but pride or hate?   If we are on the road into the Kingdom of God, what do you need to take on this Lenten Season?  Humility, justice or love?  If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come; let us put aside the old life and through the Spirit of Jesus Christ become the new creation.  Let us take the road out of sin and the road into Christ.  Amen.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not rely on your own insight.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
⁷ Be not wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
⁸ It will be healing to your flesh
    and refreshment to your bones.  Proverbs 3:5-8

One of the skills I learned in the Boy Scouts growing up was how to use a compass.  During our Jamboree, where all the troops in Cleveland gathered to compete against each other in the various skills we were learning, our leaders set up a compass course.  Throughout a very large area of the forest, our leaders attached markers with a unique hole punch to trees and then gave us the bearings on how to find them with our compass.  We had to run through the forest and find the markers and punch our cards and whoever had the most correct punches received the points.  Sometimes, I remember the event being easier than others, we quickly found the markers and sometimes I remember us having to wander the woods until we found them.  But most of the time, we were able to find our way even if that way was a long and winding road through the pine trees.

In our time together as two churches, we have experienced moments of the last three years where we arrived at the destinations where God wanted us to go, but we have also experienced moments that felt like a long and winding road through the pine trees.  Perhaps we are unsure of what God is calling us to become, or perhaps we have great anxiety about what a merged congregation might look like.  While we certainly have all that, and much more, we do have a compass to point us in the faithful direction and to aid us in our discipleship.  Proverbs states, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.  Jesus, our Lord knows the path for us to take.  Jesus, our Shepherd protect us from those who prey upon us.  Jesus, our Provider, gives us every Spiritual gift needed for us to follow.  All we can do in those moments of uncertainty and anxiety is to acknowledge Him in every choice and matter, and He will compass us to the faithful end.  He will make straight the discerning choices we as a community of faith must make this year. 

What I think the Author of the Proverbs is showing us is that no matter how much we don’t understand the path or even the destination we really do not rely on our own insight.  While human insight has provided profound discoveries in energy and medicine, that insight still does not compare to the insight of Jesus Christ.  He might just have a more complete and a more faithful insight into what is best for our community.  Can we acknowledge he might just know better?  But the Author is also showing us that no matter how much an uncertain future frightens us, or how much this drastic change worries us, we can still trust in the Lord with all your heart.  I worry and I fear, but Christ is faithful until death and entrusts himself to God.  He just might be a more faithful human being than we could ever be for ourselves.  Can we acknowledge we just might need His help?

Friends, as we face a momentous time of discernment and decision, no doubt we must also face our fears and our anxieties.  But we have been promised the Son and the Spirit, our compass to a faithful life together and our energy to live into that life.  This means that as have our last town hall meetings, and our last conversations, and our last moments as two congregations, we don’t have to be confused, nor afraid.  God has promised direction for our minds and refreshment to our bones.  Faith then it seems, is about acknowledging we don’t know the path or the goal, but we know the compass.  Faith then it would seem is about confessing that we have neither the courage nor the endurance, but we have the Spirit of God.  Our calling seems to be to live these next few weeks and months in discernment, not by fear but by faith, neither by weakness but by the power of God.  Let us follow our compass and we will faithfully reach the finish line, even if we must take the long winding road through the pine trees.  Amen. 

¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.  Luke 1:19

¹ Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.  Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.  Psalm 127:1

¹⁸ Give thanks in all circumstances: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  1 Thessalonians 5:18

¹² Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  Philippians 3:12

As I sit here in my office on a gloomy Christmas Eve morning, the bulletins sit ready to be read.  The bells wait on the tables ready to be played.  The candles wait to be lit, and the pews wait to be filled.  The decorations are hung, the sermon has been written, and all things wait in silence for the hum and joy of another Christmas Eve Candlelit service.  Everything for the moment is calm and waiting in expectation.

Perhaps then as I sit and review my to-do list, wondering if I have forgotten any chore and wondering if the sermon needs any more polishing, I can relate to what Mary did that first night of motherhood so long ago, Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.  The Shepherds had left with an out-of-the ordinary story about lights and angels, recognizing this newborn baby as God’s long-awaited Messiah and she stored all these things and turned them over in her heart.  I find myself storing up not just another Christmas Eve but another year and turning over the times and seasons of 2024.

What a year and what times have we had!  We have had new beginnings adding another church to our community of faith, and we have said goodbyes to long-standing pillar members.  We have had to compromise on worship arrangements, and we have added new energy and new excitement to our Outreach partnerships.  We have studied and learned, and at times struggled and wrestled with new problems.  But perhaps the greatest learning of mine is that of a single verse of scripture, for all my work and investing in merging and meshing communities, unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.  Unless God meshes and merges, I work to no effect.  Unless God protects this community, my work is empty.  Unless God gathers and encourages, my words and actions are in vain.

But God has done everything God promised and more.  When we look over everything that has happened, we can see the faithful actions of a faithful God.  God is still working, rescuing and leading his people.  God is still here and still for God’s people.  This is why I sit in the silence of an empty church, storing and pondering another year and like the Apostle, giving thanks in all circumstances: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  I am floored at how 3 groups of people can become knitted together stronger than any quilt.  I am astonished at how differences can be worked out and flabbergasted at how new energy can be released into tired and frustrated hearts.  I am staggered at how God overcomes barrier and roadblock to see God’s will done.  I am stunned, like Mary, at the new things God is doing, and I will never stop giving thanks to God for you and your willingness to try new things.

No sooner than I think of all the good things God has done this last year, I also begin to contemplate the tasks that God has prepared for us this coming year: new mergers and new decisions and new collaborations.  We certainly have come far but still have more journey to make.  Paul is right when he wrote, not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  We are not there yet, but still must press forward as the runner keeps putting one foot in front of the other until Christ returns, and that means a new faithfulness on our part.  God is still faithful to us; will we grow in faithfulness back to God?

In a few hours, we will sing, pray and worship our faithful God who became flesh.  The waiting and expectation will turn into presence and joy.  In a new year, we will face and discern what the will of our faithful God is.  The challenge will be for us is how we meet God who meets us in Jesus of Nazareth?  Thankfulness in all circumstances, pressing forward to meet Christ who made us his?  Courage and collaboration?  Faithfulness and fearlessness?  Hope and Wonder?  Let us make this season, a season of faithfulness for the faithfulness of our God; and then every day of 2025 will be Christmas day.  Alleluia and Amen.

Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double for all her sins.

³ A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
    Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry!”
    And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
    and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades,
    when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
    surely the people is grass.
⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades;
    but the word of our God will stand for ever.  Isaiah 40:1-8

I sit in front of my computer, looking out my dining room window upon 60 inches of now blowing snow thanks to the Alberta Clipper coming through and wondering to myself, if I must shovel my driveway one more time, I might scream in frustration!  My routine while stuck at home during the blizzard was to shovel two or three times a day and to try and keep a runway to the road.  Each time I think to myself I have overcome the snow; the clouds drop six inches more.  Even with over-the-counter pain medication, my arms and back could not handle having to shovel another few inches let alone the foot the forecast threatens me.  I wonder what the use is in shoveling if more snow keeps dropping?

The strength in my arms has faded, now I know what Isaiah means when the flowers fade.  My motivation for a clean driveway withers, just like Isaiah’s grass when the breath of God blows upon it.  A voice says cry and Isaiah said cry what.  A voice says shovel and I say I am buying a snowblower.  Isaiah is speaking to people in exile in Babylon and buried under snow and melancholy I find Isaiah still speaking to us in exile in Siberia.  Commanded to speak and cry to the people and he didn’t have it in him.  Buried in an avalanche of snow and upheaval, we are commanded to prepare for the LORD’s coming and we don’t have it in us.  We wither and fade in faith because it feels like we shovel or prepare in vain to no effect; we clear the driveways of our hearts and something new drops in.  We clear a foot and creation drops two more.

I can understand Isaiah’s situation, but I can also appreciate the response of God.  Isaiah was in exile, and we find ourselves also in Babylon.  But the enormity of his and our surroundings, surrounded by idols and unfaithfulness, God reminds Isaiah and us, that while our strength and situations wither and fade, God’s strength and faithfulness stands forever.  Our existence is not an achievement in which we can put on the mantel, but a divine gift given precisely into our withering and fading hearts.  Spoken not into prosperity but into exile, which creates renewal.  Spoken not into abundance but into scarcity, which creates renewal.  Spoken not into energy and imagination, but into tiredness and staleness, which resurrects.  Since the Word of God stands forever, we don’t need to achieve it, we can, as finite creatures, open ourselves to receive it, and come to life again.

This is why Isaiah found the strength to comfort the people of God, because the strength of God finds him in his exhaustion.  And if God could find Isaiah and exodus him from his fatigue, God can do likewise with Israel from Babylon and God can do likewise with today’s church from Babylon.  Energy for our weariness.  Hope for our despair.  Peace for our polarized nation.  Joy for our misery.  Love for our malignities and nastiness.  Comfort ye my people, because God has come to exodus, or bring out his people from their exiles.

This is how we find the strength to prepare the road out of Babylon, because it isn’t ours, but the very power of our faithful God.  This is how the valleys could be filled in and the mountains shaved off, the crooked curves made straight, and the rough patches of asphalt smoothed out; because it isn’t really our work, it is really God’s work in God’s power, and it will never be in vain or empty.  But for it to be God’s work then something needs to change in us.  Perhaps instead of building a Christian Empire, we need to do the hard and vulnerable work of building the Kingdom of God.  Relationships and community instead of building and budgets.  Gratitude instead of envy.  Courage instead of fear.  Security instead of anxiety.  Love instead of hate.  Forgiveness instead of guilt.  That’s building the road out of Babylon.  Maybe that’s the work this Advent which needs done.

Friends, I am tired of shoveling snow, but I also think we are tired of witnessing Gospel.  Every time we make headway, we suffer setbacks and discouragements.  But Advent reminds us that we never labor in vain, because we labor under the gracious and loving work of the Word of God, who stands forever, even while our energy and commitment wither and fade.  So, find comfort in the faithfulness of God this Advent season, do a little road work in our hearts, but most importantly live as the new people that come into God’s Kingdom, because God has already come to us.  Advent means coming… maybe it is time for us to come back to God, again.  Amen. 

¹⁵ Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves; ¹⁶ and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. ¹⁷ He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,

“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
            But you have made it a den of robbers.’

¹⁸ And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. ¹⁹ And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city. 
Mark 11:15-19

Many people have campers in my neighborhood.  Whether they enjoy parking their campers in a campground for a summer or an evening.  The Winnebago transports people and their possessions from place to place.  Going to see the Grand Canyon?  Your camper can take you there and cook your meals, keep you cool and wash the dirt and sweat off.  But what happens when you purchase a Winnebago and park it on your driveway and never use it?  The camper becomes a status symbol or perhaps even something to brag about: my camper is bigger and better than yours.  The point of a camper is to travel and deliver people and possessions to their destination.  When you buy it to show off, something needs to change.

Just as it can be with campers parked in driveways instead of campgrounds, so too is it with Churches or Temples.  The Temple of Herod was meant to be a vehicle for connecting with God by prayer.  Every symbol from the Exodus, the law and the sacrifices, were meant to be the vehicle for delivering the people to God and God to the people.  A Winnebago is a vehicle that can get someone from Ohio to California, the Temple was the vehicle to get the people to God, through prayer.  The Temple was not god, but a vehicle or a symbol to transport the people to God, to close the distance between Heaven and Earth, from Creator to creature. 

The great dilemma for Jesus was the purpose of the Temple to be the vehicle for faithfulness and covenant between God and Creation and finding the temple to be for a different purpose.  “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”  But you have made it a den of robbers.’  The point of a Winnebago is to be a vehicle for transportation, not to sit as an object of pride in the driveway.  The point of the Temple is to be a vehicle for transportation to God, not to sit as an object of pride and greed.   The people were to connect with God in the building, not to stare at the building and earn a fortune.  Instead of using the temple, they park it in the driveway and to brag to the neighbors and to fleece a fortune.

Now we can understand why Jesus cleaned house.  The point of the Temple buildings was to be a vehicle moving the people to God and Jesus reinstates or rededicates the building to that purpose.  Instead of being used unfaithfully, Jesus cleans the temple to be faithful to why God created it in the first place.  Not to park the vehicle in the driveway, but to be a vehicle moving the people to God.  To be a house of prayer connecting with God inside the covenant, not to be a house of thievery, connecting the leaders with mammon or money inside greed.

What then is the purpose of our buildings?  To be a vehicle moving us to God, or to be a vehicle parked in the driveway to brag about to our neighbors, or to be a source of income increasing our cash flow.  We need a building, but that building needs to serve God’s purpose and serve our needs as a community.  We need a space to worship God, but it doesn’t need to be gilded in gold, to connect with God.  We need spaces to study and learn, but it doesn’t need to be the lecture hall of Harvard.  We need spaces to cook, eat and fellowship together, but those spaces do not need to be a 5-star restaurant, limiting the clientele.  We need spaces to store goods for our neighborhoods and to serve the physical and emotional needs of our neighborhoods, but those spaces do not need to be the Waldorf-Astoria.  We have needs as a community, but to what end, God’s or ours: a vehicle to connect us with God, or to park in the driveway to gather fortune and fame?

As we begin the process this month of discerning what we need from our building spaces, I will repeat Ad Nauseum, that our buildings need to serve the purpose of connecting us to God not filling our checking accounts or our egos.  Perhaps this is the golden opportunity to clean house, literally and metaphorically.  Are our sanctuaries about worship or entertainment or competition?  Are our kitchens and dining rooms about fellowship and camaraderie or snobbery in the form of gilded plates and professional kitchens?  Are our rooms about learning, and nurturing faith, or are they about status and showing off?  What changes can we make to make our buildings to change them into the vehicle they were supposed to be, to bring us closer to God, not to become gods that deliver us further from God.  Jesus cleaned house, maybe the time is now for us too also.  Amen