by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  (Please feel free to email a response or question)
August 16, 2009
1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14; John 6:51-58

In our lives, the arts offer us a fresh look at the world around us. A chance to see the world through the eyes of another person. A moment separated from our day-to-day routine. Earlier this month, several people from Memorial enjoyed a potluck dinner together at the American Players Theater. At the theater, the actors, costumes and lighting transport us from reality into a glimpse of the life of the characters on stage.

While an evening at the theater seems complete, we only see a small portion of what occurs before, during and after the show. In the world of theater, there is an intriguing tradition of leaving a light on behind the stage at all times. There, at stage left, the production company makes sure that there is a light shining. This light is to protect the auditorium from any misfortune. The light is left on to ensure that the actors will be safe, that they won’t “break a leg.” The light is left on to ward off a fire in the building.

This morning, I have several scenes to share with you. These scenes are taken from the lives of our ancestors. These scenes are taken from the lives of our family, friends and neighbors. Here, in these scenes, God leaves the light on for us. When no one else is around, the Light is on. When we ourselves feel that we need to leave, that this “God thing” is not for us, the Light is on. When events in the world around us make us cringe and see things that we don’t want to see, the light is on.

So I present to you Act 1:

On the rooftop overlooking the city, reality set in. The young man was filled with grief. His life had been turned upside down. How could he have been left with this responsibility? Who could he trust? There was treachery in the air. He lay down on the couch for a moment’s rest.

But sleep would not come. He tossed and he turned. Anxiety and fear tore at his soul. Grief overtook him. In his sorrow, he found that the problems of the kingdom played over and over in his head. Here he, Solomon, began to question the wisdom of his father.

Why did his father David select him, a younger son, to become king? Just before he died, his father had said to Solomon, “be strong, show what you’re made of! Do what God tells you. Walk in the paths (God) shows you” (1Kings 2:2b-3a, The Message). Here, on the rooftop overlooking the city of Jerusalem, Solomon remembered his father’s words.

Solomon suddenly felt something different in his heart. He suddenly felt the presence of God. In that foggy place between wakefulness and sleep, the words rolled over in Solomon’s mind: I need to figure out how get a grip on the chaos around this place…

O.K., so I have just taken great liberty in retelling this morning’s reading from I Kings. However, take a moment to look at your bulletin. There you will notice that as the Bible passages for this week were gathered, the theologians who painstakingly worked on the process of selecting verses skipped over several lines.

What was left out of the story? What happened behind the scenes? We are given a polished picture of Solomon’s rise to power. In his lifetime, Solomon gained renown for his great wisdom. As we listened to Jan sharing the reading from the Hebrew Bible with us this morning, we heard that God talked directly to Solomon in a dream. As a young, inexperienced ruler, when he hears the presence of God working in his soul, Solomon asks God for one favor: to learn how to govern his country fairly and with wisdom.

If you were God listening to this humble young man, wouldn’t you respond with “all right! Here is a man who is going to make a difference in the world! Here is a man who will be a good leader. The world will finally be a better place.

But wait…what about those passages we didn’t read today? It turns out that there was a lot going on behind the scenes.

Turning to read between the lines, we find out that soon after David’s death Solomon became suspicious of his older half-brother who should have been the heir to the throne. He is worried that his brother Adonijah is scheming to take over the kingdom, and Solomon soon finds a reason to have his brother killed.

Skimming over the passages that were omitted this morning, we learn that other individuals in the kingdom that questioned Solomon’s right to rule are also detained and killed.

The stories that are left out make us squirm. We can celebrate Solomon as a wise king, but we find it hard to understand why our ancestors wrote about events we would rather not hear about. 

Why did the writer of 1 Kings tell us about Solomon’s short comings? How can a wise ruler, finding favor with God, become intertwined with power grabbing schemes filled with marriages for political gain and ruthless killings of those that might threatened Solomon’s rule? How do we remember that the light continues to shine, even though overwhelming abuses of power and discrimination darken the stage?

ACT 2:

Fast forward to today. In a new place, a new time, another story emerges. Not a story of power. But it is a story of human failing. It is also a story of love. A story of shadows. It is also a story that, if discussed, can keep the Light of God. The Light of God brought forth in the midst of a reality in which the topics that make us uncomfortable must be faced head on, or lives will be shattered.

In the stories that are not told, people become outcasts. In the stories that are not told, people die. This is the story of the presence of the HIV virus in our midst. This is a story about a place where God gathers close to the people who are vulnerable.

This is actually not ACT 2, but a story of ACT 7. Each August, the ACT rides are held to raise awareness of the presence of HIV/AIDS in our local community and to raise money for the AIDS Network. Last week, twelve people from Memorial participated in a Health and Wellness mission along the ACT 7 route as 140 bicyclists tackled the steep hills of Southwestern Wisconsin. On Day One of the ride, as we worked at a morning pit stop, providing water, ice, Gatorade and cheers to the riders, one of the bicycle jerseys a rider wore summed up the light that needs to stay lit in our midst. The shirt read: “We all have AIDS if one of us does.”

If one person has AIDS, we all do. There is stigma and discrimination attached to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Much of the fear is based on misinformation, silence, and our discomfort in talking in healthy ways about sexual relationships. The Light is there. God is there. As a community, we must be there.

ACT 3:

I want to share with you another scene from ACT 7. This story occurs around a box of carrots. Fifty pounds of carrots to be exact. This is a story about a teenager from Memorial who is driven to make a difference. There are many young people at Memorial that are a lot like her. This summer she traveled to Back Bay Mission with the confirmation class to help rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina and to work in a soup kitchen. Now back home, she knew that she wanted to do more.

She knew that people with HIV/AIDS lived in her community, and she wanted to be a part of making their lives better. Here she sat, in a school in Albany, which is just southeast of here, peeling carrots. She had never peeled carrots before. This evening she sat peeling carrots with two older women - one a pastor from her church wearing a “God is Still Speaking” t-shirt - and one a stranger she had just met. Put yourself in her place. As a teen, would you be uncomfortable? Would you feel welcome?

Now how would you react…how would you respond when the stranger asks, “So, what is the UCC?”

Now how do you feel? How would you feel today if someone came up to you and asked, “What is the UCC?” Would you be surprised? How would you respond?

I cannot answer the question for you. God calls us and each of us answers this question for ourselves. We experience God in different ways; and in each of our individual ways God offers us a fresh look at the world.

The Light is always on, even behind the scenes. Yet what is hidden behind the curtain, what goes on behind the scenes, sometimes needs to come out from backstage into the light of the production. This is not a dress rehearsal. This is the life that God has given us. Love and compassion must not be hidden, but embraced and seen by all.

This is what is occurring in ACT 4.

This is Pride Week in Madison. A celebration of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered community in our neighborhood.

Friday evening, area clergy and couples in committed same-sex partnerships gathered at the Capitol. In the beauty of the Capitol rotunda, love was openly celebrated in a commitment ceremony.  Family, friends, and people who just happened to be walking through the Capitol building experienced a safe place; a place where the wisdom bestowed by God and the Light that is eternally lit could shine brightly; shine safely; shine in love. The love shared by the couples gathered in this community of God shone brightly. No longer hidden, but seen by all.

ACT 5: “Come to the table. I am the bread of life... Come; Come and eat of my body; taste my blood.” (paraphrased from John 6:51-58).

Here, before us this morning, Jesus invites us into absolute communion with him before God. No excuses to limit the Light to backstage. Yet how do you respond to these words? Do you embrace the invitation? What happens off stage, in the silence of your mind? Do you cringe at the suggestion of eating Jesus’ body and drinking… blood? How do you explain this to someone who asks, “What is the UCC?”

Once again, it is interesting what is left out from the Word today.

As we hear the Message from John, there is more to the story. Reading ahead a few lines in scripture we learn that Jesus’ words today are not only difficult for us to grasp, but that the disciples had a similar reaction. In fact, in John 6:66, we are told that many of Jesus’ followers were turned off by this message and stopped following him. “Come to the table. I am the bread of life...Come; Come and eat of my body; taste my blood.”

Is bringing Jesus’ message out to the audience difficult for us? Does it make us squirm? Can we begin to grasp the radically new light God offers us at the table? Not a light to be hidden back stage. God invites us out. Out into the stage of our community. God invites us to fully embrace one another. In this way, we fully embrace God.

Now- the next scene is your scene. Your “act.”

What is happening behind the scenes in your life? What light has God given you to bring forth? Whether it is the big stuff - working in a leadership role in the community - or the small stuff - peeling carrots - prepare yourself to carry the Light from this place; from backstage onto center stage; into the midst of our community.