We human beings like to build walls, walls that protect us from those who might do us harm; walls to protect us from those that are different; walls that protect what we have from others taking it.  The book of Acts is Luke’s story of the Holy Spirit breaking down walls that separate people one from another.  We see walls of prejudice, fear, and control falling, one after another as the early Church is being formed. 

 It all starts in Acts 2 when the disciples fear fell away when the Spirit descended at Pentecost. They stop huddling behind locked doors and speak openly.  Then we see the wall of greed, where some had more than they needed and others went hungry, crumbling as they shared what they had with each other as any had need.

Next to fall was the prejudice between Jew and Samaritan in chapter 8.  Samaritans were convinced by Philip’s preaching and joined the Jews in this new Jewish sect known as the Way.  Then the wall of prejudice separating the congregation from those who were sexually different also crumbled.  The Ethiopian eunuch was not allowed in the Jewish Temple because of his condition.  But when the Spirit connects him with Philip in the desert, he is accepted into full membership into the Way and is baptized.

The next barrier broken down is between Saul and the Christians.  Saul was the early Church’s biggest enemy.  He was zealous for hunting them down and arresting them.  But on the road to Damascus he encounters the risen Christ in a voice out of the clouds and ends up converting to Christianity.  It took the Church awhile to accept Saul, now called Paul.  This was a huge barrier shattered by the Spirit helping the Church see that all things might be possible with God’s Spirit.  If the one who wanted to kill them could be one of their biggest evangelists, who knows what might happen?

This was topped in our scripture lesson for today.  Cornelius was a Gentile.  Even worse, he was a Roman centurion.  Will Willimon says he was head of the garrison in Jerusalem.  The Romans were not friendly to Christians.  And a Roman soldier was particularly a menace.  Willimon says Cornelius is equivalent to a Nazi SS officer in our modern world.  Jewish Christians knew of people who had been abused and even tortured by Roman soldiers.

But, that does not stop the Spirit.  Cornelius has a vision where he is to ask for Peter to come to him.  At the same time Peter has a vision on the roof of the house where he is staying.  Peter is praying.  He gets the munchies.  He is thinking about a snack and falls into a trance.  He sees a sheet full of food.  The only trouble is it is full of food that is definitely not kosher.  He can’t eat it.  He is loyal to his tradition.  These kosher laws were a gift to this persecuted nation.  They helped Jews keep their identity as a people when circumstances threatened to break them.

But the Spirit says to Peter, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”  While Peter is pondering this something happens that will make Peter wrestle with more than eating unkosher food. He hears a knock at the door.  The Spirit tells him he is to go with these Gentiles because God has sent them.

So Peter goes to the door and welcomes in these Gentiles and they stay with him.  This was just not done in those days. Gentiles and Jews staying under one roof?  Impossible. What would the other Jewish Christians say?

Peter travels with these Gentiles to Cornelius’ house.  This was a two day journey.  It would be like us traveling from here to San Francisco with strangers whom we had formerly distrusted just because we felt the Spirit was leading us to do it.  Peter is letting the Spirit inconvenience him in ways we would find very challenging. 

Remember, Peter is going to the home of a Roman soldier, someone who had abused his people.  This would be like an Israeli leader in our day going to and accepting a Hamas terrorist.  This is big stuff.

Peter arrives in Caesarea and enters Cornelius’ home.  We can almost feel the tension in the room.  This was an explosive moment. Peter begins to preach a rather dull sermon about Jesus.  It is here where our text for today enters the scene.  (Read Acts 10:44-48)

A couple of observations and a few questions.  Peter was definitely not a Presbyterian and this little worship scene was definitely not a typical Presbyterian worship service.  Notice how Peter takes this totally unprecedented step of baptizing Cornelius and his household.  This action will end up completely changing the whole direction of the early Church. He does it totally on his own initiative, along with the Spirit, of course. 

A typical Presbyterian would need to go to the Presbytery for permission.  This actually gets Peter in trouble with his fellow Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.  You can read about that in chapter 11 of Acts. 

I am not saying the Presbyterian obsession with doing things decently and in order is wrong.  There are good reasons for not going out like a lone ranger whenever we think God’s Spirit is leading us to do something new.  But this need for control does not always serve us Presbyterians very well.

It is also not a typical Presbyterian worship in that the Holy Spirit intervenes and riles up the congregation.  This is actually pretty funny.  Here is Peter preaching away and Acts says the Spirit descends while he is still speaking, interrupting him as it were.  Is Acts saying the Spirit was not present in the rest of the sermon?  I can just imagine some of us Presbyterian preachers saying, “Just a second Holy Spirit, let me finish this sentence at least!”

I say that obviously tongue in cheek.  Certainly most of us preachers hope the Spirit can find room in our preaching to touch the congregation. But if a visitor came to our worship service, would they be able to tell if the Spirit was present among us?  What would that look like?  I don’t think many of us want to speak in tongues to prove the Spirit is here, but how else would we recognize the Spirit in our worship?

The final observation concerns the conversion in this story.  Certainly Cornelius was converted into the Way and was baptized.  But perhaps the greater conversion was Peter’s.  He was converted from seeing this new Jewish sect as being something much more inclusive and bigger than that.  His conversion was far more significant for the history of Christianity than Cornelius’ conversion.  We wouldn’t be Christians if not for Peter being open to Gentiles and bringing them into the fold.

The big question for us is this: Are we willing to go to uncharted places the Spirit might lead us?  What would those places be today?  Certainly the Church’s openness to all regardless of sexual orientation has been one place the Spirit has been leading the Church.  Obviously not all people have heard the Spirit in this call to break down the barriers between gay and straight.  The recent vote in North Carolina has made that abundantly clear.  Newport has been living into this for some time.

Is the Spirit leading us to a deeper respect of all the enduring world religions?  Some have seen this as the new Reformation in the Church equal to the first Reformation where Protestants broke away from the Catholic Church.  We are in the midst of seeing Christianity in a different light than we saw in the past and we have not settled on what that will look like.  If Jesus is not the only way to God, how does that change Christianity?  This is an exciting time for Christians as we strain to hear the voice of God’s Spirit leading us to new places in our journey of faith.

On a more practical level, how is the Spirit leading us in the way we do business as a local church?  How is it leading us in the mission projects we take on and how we fund those projects? Is the way we fund mission out of the operating budget the best way for people to feel passionate about their giving to mission?  How might we do this differently? 

We don’t live in the 1950’s anymore.  People’s lives are far different with a much more mobile society.  Many churches are finding it hard for people to make three year commitments to be church officers.  What does that mean for our Nominating Committee?  We will be discussing this in our session/deacon retreat this year.

The ultimate question for all of us is this: Can we trust the Spirit to lead us to unchartered places or do we place our trust in our need to be in control?  Is there a balance between those two poles?  How can we discern the voice of the Spirit today at Newport?

One scholar says that the Church must be organized to do two things:

One-pass on the tradition from one generation to another.

Two-be open to the winds of the Holy Spirit by which the tradition comes alive in each generation.

To do that well is both a challenge and an exciting venture.  To do only one without the other is to diminish the message and effectiveness of the Church.  Let us strive to hold both together here at Newport.  Let us hold our beloved traditions a bit looser so the Spirit has room to work. Amen

 6:00 p.m.  Punch & Social Time
 6:30 p.m.  Salad

Our speaker is Jean Kim, a leader in working
with homeless and needy women.

Please bring:
 Toiletries (soap, shampoo, lotion,toothbrushes and/or toothpaste)
 Salad to share
 Birthday offering

We will conclude with an introduction of officers
for Fall 2012 to Spring 2013
�
Don’t miss this time together!
 

I John is technically not a letter.  It has none of the defining parts of a letter written in that day.  No greetings at the beginning.  No typical closing.  Many scholars think it is more a sermon.  It was written to a church or group of churches that had seen much dissension and divisions.  Apparently there were a group of Gnostics that caused trouble.  They pushed the notion of perfectionism in terms of perfect knowing.  They also denied the full humanity of Jesus.

You will hear in our passage how the author talks about a different kind of perfection, perfection in loving.  It is God who perfects us in our loving.  We don’t perfect ourselves.  This ought to be a relief to the perfectionists among us.  And I John pushes loving even those with whom we disagree.

Listen, then, for what the Spirit is saying to the Church as we hear part of I John’s message to this fragile church.  (Read I John 4:7-21)

God is love.  That’s what the author of I John says.  If we didn’t catch it the first time, he says it again.  God is love. That’s a rather radical statement.  He doesn’t say God is loving.  No, just God is love.  What does that mean?

One commentator says I John is getting at the essence of God.  God is not a static being that exists like other beings, including human beings.  God is more a force that acts.  I John says that force is love.  It is the love that surrounds us at all times.  It is a love that is available to all who love one another because they have abided in that love.

To say God is love sounds wonderful and comforting.  It makes God sound warm and accessible, even cuddly.  But, as one scholar mentions, to say God is love may cause us to reevaluate some of the other attributes we give to God.  Some want a God of power who can control nature and prevent sickness, a God that will protect them from harm.  Some want a God that “lays down the law with complete clarity and holds everyone accountable, catching the cheaters and rewarding the faithful.”

To say God is love means some of those wishes might need to be seen in a very different light.  Just as parents cannot always protect their children from harm or right every wrong in spite of their love for their children, so, too, a God who is love may not give us what we want.

But what the God who is love does give is crucial to living a satisfying life.  William Sloane Coffin put it this way, “God’s love doesn’t seek value, it creates it.  It is not because we have value that we are loved, but because we are loved we have value.”  We don’t have to earn our value.  The very essence of the universe is a loving force that gives us value as pure grace.

I John then goes on to say that we are able to love others because we have first been loved. “We love because God first loved us.”  Once again he repeats this thought twice making sure we get it.  He doesn’t want us to think by loving others we earn God’s love for ourselves. God’s love comes first.

When we love as a result of being loved by God, we end up abiding in God.  We live in God and our loving reveals the invisible God to others.  Both the Gospel of John and this sermon of John’s are concerned about God’s invisibility.  It is a concern many of us in our day carry as well. How can we get a handle on a God that is often so silent, and always invisible?   

I John says Jesus reveals God in his sacrificial love for us.  And when we love sacrificially we become little Christs, as it were, revealing God to others as well.  The only way we experience the God who is love is when that love is fleshed out in loving, sacrificial acts. 

Thus far we have remained pretty much in our heads when talking about God’s love.  What does it mean to reveal God in our loving?  How is that fleshed out in our day to day living? First, we must acknowledge no one can command us to feel a certain way about another.  Feelings are not something that can be commanded.  Therefore, love is not a feeling.  Love is an action.  It is seeking the well-being of others even if we don’t like them all that much.

Parents know this.  We love our children even when they are, at times, not very likeable, even when they do things we hate.  We may express our love in terms of tough love, but it is a choice to seek the well-being of those lives we are given to nurture into adulthood. The very same thing could be said of children and their parents.  Sometimes parents are not all that likeable either, but children can still love their parents.

Anyone in a deep relationship with another, whether that be a spouse, partner or close friend, knows there are times when we fall in and out of “like” with them.  Hopefully all loving marriages, gay or straight, experience those wonderful feelings of having a crush on the other.  Crushes certainly add spice to any relationship but those feelings come and go sometimes willy/nilly. 

But if those relationships have love at their foundation, if both parties seek the well-being of the other, respect one another and treat them with dignity, then those relationships have a chance to survive some pretty tough times.  Even when we don’t particularly like our partner love can see us through. 

I John says the church is a good place to practice loving our brothers and sisters in the faith. Some of us don’t want to hear that.  In our day when we have such strong theological opinions about a whole host of social and theological issues, it is very challenging to love those who hold positions we think are hurtful, or that embarrass us. Would loving those on opposite sides of denominational votes keep us from splitting?  Maybe the loving thing to do would be helping those who want to leave do so in a gracious way?  Believe me, I am preaching to myself on this one!

When our lectionary class talked about loving those with whom we disagree some asked, “Does that mean I have to love Glen Beck or Rush Limbaugh?  I suspect there are some from a different political persuasion that would ask the same question about Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert.

Obviously our political world is in great need for loving actions toward the opposite camp.  If any of you watch PBS News Hour you may have seen the segment with Shields and Brooks. Those two on opposite sides of the political spectrum model respectful, and I would add loving, dialogue that is both helpful and inspiring.  We need to demand that from our political party leaders.

This is hard stuff.  I John just won’t let us off the hook.  We can’t say we love God, who we cannot see, if we don’t love our brother or sister who we can see.  If we say we love God but don’t love our neighbors, we are liars. I John pulls no punches here.

The good news is that when we practice loving others we grow closer to God.  A Baptist preacher in Georgia, put it this way.  “We must remind our people that only the merciful are sure of mercy, and only the forgiving are sure of forgiveness.  Only the loving heart lives in the love of God.”  To that I say,  “Amen.”

“Why the theatre, why now:  A Christian call to engagement with our region’s love of the Arts”

Pam Nolte is a 36 year stage veteran and founding member of Seattle’s Taproot Theatre Company performing over 75 roles with the company since 1976.  In addition to her work with TTC, Pam has also been seen on the stages of Tacoma Actor’s Group, Book-It and Seattle Public Theatre.  She is active in film and as a voice talent with Imagination Theatre.  Her current love is exploring the use of theatre to improve the lives of individuals suffering from Early Stage Memory Loss.  She lives with her husband, Taproot co-founder and Producing Artistic Director Scott Nolte and is the mother of two wonderful grown children.

I can hear Jim saying it, were he here: “I’m glad you’re preaching on this text!”   Some of you may wonder how we pastors choose which text we’re going to preach from – there’s no big mystery to it.  Jim and I both follow the common lectionary which provides four reading for the day.  The other readings for today are Psalm 23, which we heard the choir sing – the Lord is my shepherd;  a passage from the gospel of John about Jesus, the good shepherd;  and a lovely little passage from 1st John about loving in deed and action.   So why, with these beautiful, comforting, encouraging options, choose the other text? -  the one that ends with a grand declaration that seems to fly directly against what Newport stands for in regard to interfaith dialogue and respect?  The text that says there is salvation in no one else but Jesus.  What?   Why pick this text?  I guess, because, sometimes it feels good to wrestle with scripture; to push back and forth; to let it nudge us toward places that are not necessarily comfortable, and to poke and prod it a bit – especially the parts that, when given some attention, make us uncomfortable or don’t seem to add up.   I invite you to climb out onto the mat with me, and wrestle a bit with this passage!
So, let’s set the background for this text:  Christianity has just experienced a population explosion – in the preceding verses we read that on the day of Pentecost we read that 3000 repented and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.  And then Peter and John are on their way to the temple, at 3:00 which is noted as the hour of prayer.  They encounter a man who has been crippled from birth.  Peter looks him in the eye and says to this man, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.”  And the man does!  Then he goes into the temple with Peter and John, and he’s leaping and praising God.  What?  Kind of a spectacle, don’t you think?  But also perhaps kind of a full body, joyful response to being healed, and giving God the credit.  The people who recognized this man  wondered and were amazed.
Peter says to the astonished crowd something like, “What?  Do you think we made this man walk?  No, he tells them – it was God, who has glorified Jesus, and he adds a perhaps not so gentle reminder: you know, the one you rejected and handed over.” �
Then Peter and John talk to the people about Jesus and resurrection.   Well, it doesn’t take long before the Sadducees – those priestly and lay aristocrats who upheld the strictest letter of the law, and who did not believe in resurrection -  come and arrest Peter and John because of their teaching.  Still,  at this point we read that those who heard their word and believed, were 5000!  What?  Christianity is growing at a rather alarming rate if you’re not one of them.
As Peter and John are being questioned the next day, there’s a twist in the action.  The issue changes from teaching about Jesus and resurrection to one of power.  The rulers question Peter and John saying, “By what name or what power did you do this?”  What?  Isn’t it interesting how power comes into play in so many things: religious institutions, relationships, corporations, abuse and harassment, war and violence, roles that people play or are forced into.  Boy, the good act of healing a man who had been crippled, has caused a lot or ruckus, and now we’re into a tussle over power.  And isn’t Peter brilliant in his response?  Once again he gets to talk about Jesus, because his answer is that the man who was healed was healed in the name of Jesus Christ…the stone that was rejected by you, who has now become the cornerstone.  And then that line comes in:  “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”  It’s a great proclamation!  It’s a beautiful statement of faith for Jesus’ followers.  It’s what you say to the congregation of seekers and new believers about the faith experience you’ve had.
However, this line is one that, as you can imagine, is used heavily by those who would preach one way and one way only to salvation.  For those who hear this and gasp over its exclusivity, let’s continue to poke around at it and wrestle with it.  Let’s keep ourselves open to God’s Spirit in our search, because the wrestling is not about subduing this passage to make it say what we want it to say, but about looking at it from many angles and perspectives and doing our best to understand, with eyes, ears and hearts of faith, what it is saying to us at this time and place.  To do that, we must begin by doing what Barbara Brown Taylor says, which is to “do our best to hear it with first century ears.  It is important to remember that Peter is speaking to the Sanhedrin, and not to the World Parliament of Religions.  He is not addressing Hindus, Buddhists or Muslims.  He is not addressing Christians engaged in interfaith dialogue.  Instead, he is addressing all who were of the high-priestly family in Jerusalem.  Peter is addressing the authorities in his own religious tradition.  He is defending himself within his own family of faith.”
This whole episode started with Peter and John healing a crippled man.  It escalated into a struggle over power.  There were the “powers that be,” and there was Peter and John saying it’s not about us; not power from us; but power in the name of Jesus Christ.  While some interpret the passage to divide those that believe in Jesus from those that don’t,  let’s consider that perhaps the real purpose of this passage is to say that councils, Sadduces, disciples, priests, laity, you and I, do not have an exclusive stronghold, nor do we have the final say in the way of God.  In fact it sounds rather audacious to even say that we might out loud.  As Anna Carter Florence said when she was here for our Meekhof  lecture, “It’s not about us; it’s about God!”
I believe Peter and John were acting out their faith, speaking their faith among those of their own tradition. I believe they were excited about their experience of God’s Spirit moving among them.  I believe they were sharing good news that was not about them but about that which they pointed to in  Jesus, saying there is no other name – not Peter, not John, not the temple officials, not any human leader or church or authority – that we should praise and worship.  That’s a whole lot different than saying to the whole world that Jesus is the only way.�
As Christians we faithfully proclaim Jesus as Savior.  Amen to that!
It is also good to say, “what?” along the way, lest we fall into the trap of thinking it’s all about us, when really it’s about God.  And it’s good to wrestle with scripture – in doing so, we allow God’s Spirit to move within us and we grow in faith. 

Amen.

Come experience “Prayer Camp” as you adventure into many forms of prayer.By the end of the retreat you will have discovered ways to bring yourself into a closer relationship with God and you’ll leave refreshed so you can better love and serve others.
Pick up a flyer today and get signed up.  This is one retreat you won’t want to miss!

Questions?  Contact Kim Iverson at kim@geocomputer.com  or (206) 280-9636.

Our sermon text for today comes to us in Acts.  It is all about a day in the life of the early church.  Chapter three begins, “One day Peter and John were going up to the temple. . .” They end up running into a lame man who is begging for money.  These disciples are not wealthy.  They don’t have much money but they give him something better.  They heal him through the power of the resurrected Christ.

This causes quite a stir as you might imagine.  This formerly lame man starts leaping and jumping praising God.  This gets the attention of the others in the Temple region.  They knew this man and couldn’t believe the change in him.  They start to run towards Peter and John.  It is here where the lectionary begins our scripture passage.  (Read Acts 3:12-19)

This passage is yet another example of the early church’s preaching message.  Peter’s sermon was probably longer than reported here.  This was more a synopsis of what the early church preached.  We get great insight into what these first disciples believed by what they say, and by what they did not say.

Note there is no mention of Jesus dying for our sins.  There is no doctrine of the atonement spelled out by Peter when he talks about our sins being wiped away. The whole emphasis is on God and what God does.  God glorified Jesus by raising him from the dead.  God turned their ignorant actions into something good.  God wipes away their sins after they repent.

There are many interesting paths to explore in unpacking this early sermon.  There is one word that begs for our attention. I’d like to focus on that word in this sermon.  It is repentance.  Peter says we just need to repent, turn to God, and our sins will be wiped away.  We need to understand what repentance means in order to fully grasp the good news here.

Here’s how Fred Craddock and Eugene Boring in the People’s New Testament Commentary define it.  “Repentance does not signify mere grief, being sorry in a religious mood, but a fundamental reorientation of the way one thinks about the world and life, a revolution in one’s thinking that affects a change of direction in one’s life.”

The whole point of repentance is to look at our lives and the world from God’s perspective as we see it revealed in Jesus. We won’t be made whole, find life; however you want to express it, until we can make this fundamental change in perspective.

Repentance is not about beating ourselves up for all the shabby ways we have behaved.  It is not about feeling guilty for all we have done wrong or failed to do right.  Guilt is only good if it is momentary.  Guilt is useful if it reminds us we are walking in the wrong direction and need to turn around and walk in a different direction.  If guilt hangs on for dear life causing us to feel bad about ourselves, thinking we are just a pitiful wretch, it becomes counter-productive.

Repentance is letting guilt show us we are not following the Author of Life, we are not following the one who leads us to life.  Instead we are choosing to seek all those things that lead to death.  Peter put it this way.  The people chose to reject the Author of Life and chose instead the murderer Barabbas. 

Barabbas can be for us a symbol of all that leads to death: fear, selfishness, preoccupation with self, greed, violence, vindictive fantasies, and anger.  What occupies your head as you walk through your days?  What fills up the inner dialogue that seems to chatter on and on in your head and heart as you interact with others?

Psychologists tell us feelings follow thinking.  We may not even be aware of the thoughts that go through our minds that result in feeling a certain way, but they are there and they impact what we feel.  I suspect many of us have very negative thoughts about ourselves or others that fill our inner dialogue.  Then we wonder why we are depressed, stressed out, angry, or overwhelmed.

Repentance is recognizing those negative thoughts that lead us to feel bad and then often act badly.  When we repent we decide to fill our heads with a different message.  This is a constant process.  We don’t repent once and think we have it solved.  Old patterns are hard to give up. 

A good first step is to begin each day with a little repentance exercise.  As we wake up, what thoughts are running through our heads?  How do they make us feel?  Are they leading to life or are they killing the good parts of us?

The session has been reading a book about what it means to be a pastor called This Odd and Wondrous Calling.  One of the authors talks about how prayer can help us face our days from a better perspective.  He writes, “I used to love to quote the spiritual advisor who said that we should each spend a half hour a day in prayer, with this exception: if the day is really jam-packed with too many things to do, then half an hour is unrealistic. On such days it should be a full hour devoted to prayer.”

Another way to help us repent is to hear stories of good news from each other.  Good stories help not only the hearers, but also the tellers.  Good story telling is the essence of witnessing.  That is what Peter was doing in our passage.  He called himself a witness to the story of God defeating death in the resurrection.

Martin Buber, the great Jewish scholar, “recounts that someone once asked a rabbi how you should tell a story, and he replied, of course, with a story: My grandfather was lame. Once they asked him to tell a story about his teacher, and he related how the holy Baal Shem used to hop and dance while he prayed.  My grandfather rose as he spoke, and he was so swept away by his story that he himself began to hop and dance to show how the master had done.  From that hour on he was cured of his lameness.  That’s the way to tell a story!”

When we learn to tell the stories of how God has touched us, healed us, wiped away our sins because we have repented, we will find healing even in the telling of those stories.  And those who hear our stories will be encouraged as well.

As one scholar pointed out, the main event in this text was not the lame man being healed.  It was the sermon on repentance.  Repentance is a miracle all in itself.  When we can get over our unhelpful guilt trips and begin to reorient our thinking, how we look at the world and our lives, we will begin to experience the life to which the Author of Life wants to lead us.  Amen