Rev. Alanna Simone Tyler – dwkcommentaries

We Are the Church: Love and Serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit at Westminster Presbyterian Church

On October 29, 2023, Rev. Dr. Tim Hart-Andersen, Senior Pastor at Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church, delivered the sermon “We Are the Church: Love and Serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit,” which was the seventh and last of his series of sermons before he retired at the end of that month.[1] Here are a summary of that worship service and the text of that sermon.

Call to Worship

Rev. Dr. Meghan Gage-Finn led the Call to Worship with these words, “Our help is in the name of the Lord,” and after the congregation said, “maker ofheaven and earth,” she said, “Let us worship God.”

Call to Confession and Prayer of Confession

Rev. Dr. David Tsai Shinn offered the following Call to Confession and Prayer of Confession:

“Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. In your mercy, forgive what we have been, help us amend what we are, and direct what we shall be, that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your holy name.”

Then worshippers said their silent prayers of confession followed by Rev. Shinn’s Assurance of God’s Forgiveness: “Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life has gone; a new life has begun. Friends, hear the good news,” and everyone responded, “In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Alleluia! Amen”

The Scripture: Matthew 22:34-40

“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’”

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”

The Sermon[2]

“When I began thinking about the date for my final sermon at Westminster, which is today, it didn’t take me long to settle on Reformation Sunday. It may be an obscure date for many of you, but I’ve always appreciated this annual chance to look back at where we once were, to help us understand where we are and what may lie ahead.”

“We are the church, and the church has been around a long time –more than 2000 years. Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg 506 years ago, in 1517, the date often cited as the start of the Protestant Reformation. The Presbyterian Church formally began in this land in 1706, which means that Westminster has been around for more than half the life of our denomination.”

“One reason for the sustainability and vitality of the Christian Church is its ability to adapt, like a healthy ecosystem. When circumstances have challenged the church, it has had to change – sometimes quickly, as with the covid pandemic – but usually the church transforms more gradually, finding its way, sometimes reluctantly, even kicking and screaming, with God’s help, through difficult times.”

“Twenty-some years ago I was in Cuba with a Westminster group. We were walking through the scruffy trees and tumbled-down buildings of the Presbyterian Church’s camp on the island. It was early in the first decade of this century, right after the end of the 1990’s, the período especial, the “special period” following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Cuba’s economy had been in free-fall for more than a decade and it showed everywhere, including the camp. It was bleak. No running water. No electricity. No resources. Not much hope.”

“As I walked through the camp I came upon a hand lettered sign tacked to a tree: Habrá tiempos mejores, it said, pero este es nuestro tiempo. “There will be better times, but this is our time.’”

“It was only one sentence, but like Luther’s theses, those words signaled a recognition of hard times and a willingness to face them, trusting in God to bring needed change eventually.”

“There was nothing sudden about the Reformation. Theological streams of change were flowing through Roman Catholicism long before John Calvin and Martin Luther, whose hymns we sing in our service today.”

“In the late 12th century Peter Waldo began preaching a return to the gospel basics of caring for those who were poor and destitute in Lyon, France. If parents have kids looking for Waldo, he’s in 14th century France. He was declared a heretic, and his followers were massacred by Catholic kings, but the Waldensians are still around.”

“There were others. Catholic priests John Wycliffe in 14th century England and Jan Hus a hundred years later in Bohemia both preached a new openness to the words of scripture. Wycliffe translated the Bible into common languages. Hus spoke against the corruption of the church. They, too, were declared heretics by Rome – Jan Hus was burned at the stake (which the Pope apologized in 1999) – but the seeds they planted would germinate and come to full bloom in the Reformation of the 16th century. Ironically, 500 years later, now, some of their “heresies” are now at the heart of Catholicism – ministry with those who are poor, for instance, or reading the Bible in local languages.”

“In the Reformation and in other times when the church has gone through change, those on the leading edge have often been animated by returning to the Bible. That was the genius of the Protestant Reformers. They wanted to arrive at a more focused, simple core of what it means to be the people of God. To do that they peeled back layers of ecclesiastical accretions and peered into the biblical texts themselves to find the heart of God’s desire for humankind. Sola Scriptura, they declared. Scripture alone. They wanted to rebuild the faith from the ground up.”

“Today’s gospel lesson offers a window into competing religious claims in the time of Jesus, and how he responded to them. The Pharisees and Sadducees disagreed on key issues, and each group wanted to leverage the popularity of Jesus. They, and that pesky 6 6 lawyer, peppered him with questions to help their own cause while also hoping to entrap him by his response. They asked about working on the Sabbath, about divorce, about obeying Rome – and, in today’s passage, they asked about the law. Centuries later the Reformers would return to pursue essentially the same line as they challenged the Church.”

“’Teacher,’ they say to Jesus, ‘Which commandment in the law is the greatest?’”

“That’s the compelling question for people of faith in every age: What matters most to God? What is our core religious teaching? Every attempt at reforming or challenging or changing the church, and ourselves as followers of Jesus, arises out of that single question. Jesus offers the answer, straight out of the Hebrew scriptures: ‘To love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and to love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“Those words underlie the Charge and Benediction I’ve offered at the end of worship at Westminster since I began serving among you. ‘Go forth into the world in peace…Hold fast to that which is good…Render to no person evil for evil…Love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.’ That’s a summary of the admonition from Jesus to love God and love neighbor. Everything else in our faith flows from the commandment to love.”

“Presbyterians relish an old phrase in Latin: ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda, the church reformed and always being reformed. Across the ages, the church has had to ask itself again and again the question put to Jesus: What is the greatest commandment? What matters most to God? In its answer – if honest and faithful – the church has either reformed itself or been reformed.”

“Change in the Church has usually come in response to shifting realities in which Christian faith finds itself. Sometimes forces outside the church – economic pressures, war, political unrest – have pushed the church in new directions. And sometimes forces inside the church – new theologies, challenges to power, new understandings of God’s call – have also brought transformation to the church.”

“In her book The Great Emergence, Phyllis Trible says the church goes through regular cycles of change, seasons of transformation which she likens to ‘rummage sales,’ when the church sorts out its accumulated stuff – theology, doctrine, liturgy, practice – and clears away all that is extraneous to the gospel in order to reclaim the core of its faith.”

“The Reformation was such a time, and it resulted in enormous change for the Christian Church – an epic rummage sale. Five hundred years earlier, the Great Schism of the year 1054, when Christianity split between Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Catholicism, was another such major change in the Church. The Reformation and the Great Schism both took place in times of serious social and political upheaval. The impact on the church in those times was transformation – whether the church wanted to change or not.”

“The world today is similarly roiled and roiling, this time by vast inequalities, international conflicts, powerful technologies, competing political values, global economic systems, massive migration, climate change, cultural hostilities, and religious struggles. Like other times in history, this is the kind of context – right now – in which the Church will have to adapt to sustain its life and witness.”

“A different kind of Christianity may emerge in response to the realities of life in the 21st century. Today there’s a struggle between clashing views of the direction of the church. Divisions in Christianity today fall along lines beyond denominational affiliation. We see that in the tensions between those clinging to a narrow and restrictive faith – increasingly linked to Christian nationalism in our country – and those trying to center their faith on the gospel mandate for inclusion and justice.”

“Westminster finds itself in the latter part of the church, trying to center our faith on inclusion and justice. Our congregation is pursuing a Christianity that practices respect for people of diverse faith traditions. We’re willing to work with them and others of goodwill to pursue systemic change for those on the receiving end of the cruelties of history and economy and culture. As we seek to live out the teaching of Jesus, we’re focused in this congregation on building community that welcomes, and listens and learns, that seeks to heal and offer refuge from a world that feels as if it’s flying apart.”

“Those commitments place us in a church growing into something new – or maybe it’s a rediscovery of something old – as old as the gospel itself.”

“We don’t proclaim a faith that excludes others; ‘I came that all may have life and have it in abundance,’ Jesus says. (John 10:10)”

“We don’t understand God’s grace as being withheld until we meet some religious test; ‘Judge not lest you be judged,’ Jesus says. (Matthew 7:1)”

“We don’t expect to find Christ in those who are successful and powerful and privileged in the world’s eyes; ‘As you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me,’ Jesus says. (Matthew 25:40)”

“I consider myself a hopeful Christian universalist. I follow Jesus, and trust my salvation comes from him, but I hope and expect God’s love is bigger and wider and deeper than I could imagine. Some may call that perspective heretical, and that’s alright; from history we know that heresies often lead the church in faithful new directions, especially in challenging times.”

“Habrá tiempos mejores, pero este es nuestro tiempo. There will be better times, but this is our time.”

“Westminster, this is your time. You are the church. Love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

“Thanks be to God.”

“Amen.”

Responding to the Word

Led by Rev. Alanna Simone Tyler, the worshippers joined in saying the following Affirmation of Faith from the United Church of Canada:

“We are not alone, we live in God’s world. We believe in God: who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit. We trust in God. We are called to be the Church: to celebrate God’s presence, to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.”

Rev. Tyler then offered the Pastoral Prayer before leading the congregation in the Lord’s Prayer:

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”

Next was the Offertory portion of the service led by Rev. Margaret O. Fox with the Westminster Choir singing “I Was Glad” by C. Hubert H. Parry:

“O God beyond all praising, we worship you today and sing the love amazing that songs cannot repay; for we can only wonder at every gift you send, at blessings without number and mercy without end: we lift our hearts before you and wait upon your word, we honor and adore you, our great and mighty Lord.”

The congregation then joined the Choir in singing Gustav Holst’s “O God Beyond All Praising.” Rev. Fox concluded this portion of the service by saying “The Prayer of Dedication for the Offerings Received” and by the choir and congregation singing “A Mighty Fortress” (No. 275).

Words of Gratitude and Farewell

As this was Rev. Hart-Andersen’s final sermon at Westminster, at the end of the service there were Words of Gratitude and Farewell from the Community expressed by Imam Makram El-Amin of Masjid An-Nur in North Minneapolis followed by the Congregation’s participating in the following Litany of Gratitude and Farewell:

“One: God has been our dwelling place in all generations; before the mountains were brought forth, or the earth was formed, God has been our refuge, offering blessings without number and mercies without end. All: We give thanks for God’s presence through this season of life and ministry. One: Jesus Christ has been our teacher and friend: in sacraments celebrated and Word proclaimed, in pursuing justice, and teaching, listening, and guiding, seeking us when we wander from the fold of God, Christ has been our companion.”
“All: We give thanks for Christ’s presence through this season of life and ministry.”
“One: The Spirit has been our guide and comforter: in partnerships forged across traditions and cultures, in relationships with neighbors nurtured across borders through listening and prayer, in meals shared around wide tables of welcome, the Spirit has led and sustained us.”
“All: We give thanks for the Spirit’s presence through this season of life and ministry.”
“One: The love of God has been made visible through these past decades. In the waters of baptism and celebrations of life’s joys, in tender words of comfort in moments of pain, in ashes on our foreheads and nourishment of bread and cup, we have known God’s love.”
“All: We give thanks for the Triune God’s presence through this season of life and ministry.”
“One: O God, you have called us to ventures where we cannot see the end, by paths never yet taken, through perils unknown. Give us good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us, and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
“All: Amen.”
Hart-Andersen then said, “I give thanks to God for my years of service among you and pray God’s blessing on what lies ahead for Westminster. “
“All: We give thanks to God for our shared ministry with you and pray God’s blessing on what lies ahead for you and your family. Amen.”

This section of the service was concluded by The Prayer of Blessing, which was provided by the Rev. Dr. Anika Galloway, Pastor, Liberty Community Church, the first and only African American led Presbyterian congregation in Minnesota and a Westminster friend.

Music

Nor can one forget the following beautiful music throughout the service by Dr. Melanie Ohnstad, Minister of Music and the Arts and Organist Emerita; Douglas Carlsen and Charles Lazarus, trumpets; Michael Gast, horn; R. Douglas Wright, trombone; Jason Tanksley, tuba; Mike Cramer, guitar; Ben Gaunt, fiddle; Kenneth Vigne, Piano):

“A Mighty Fortress is Our God” by Benjamin M. Culli;
“Christus factus est pro nobis obediens” by Anton Bruckner;
“Fantaisie a Deux” by Rachel Laurin;
“Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art” (Hymn No. 624);
“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (Hymn No. 475).

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[1] Bulletin of Service, Westminster Presbyterian Church (Oct. 29, 2023)(this bulletin for Reformation Sunday also included presentation of Bibles to third graders); Westminster Presbyterian Church (Minneapolis), website. A subsequent blog post will list its websites that discuss all of Rev. Hart-Andersen’s final sermons to be followed by another post with this blogger’s appreciation for his pastoral service.

[2] Rev. Tim Hart-Andersen, Sermon, We Are the Church: Love and Serve the Lord and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit, Westminster Presbyterian Church (Oct. 29, 2023)

“We Are the Church: Be of good courage. Hold fast to that which is good” at Westminster Presbyterian Church

On October 8, 2023, Rev. Dr. Tim Hart-Andersen, Senior Pastor at Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church, delivered the sermon, “We Are the Church: Be of good courage. Hold fast to that which is good,” which was the fourth of his final seven sermons before his retirement at the end of October.

Scripture: Joshua 1: 1-9

“After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.’”

“’Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.’”

Sermon[1]

“The text we just heard recounts the conclusion of the Exodus, the foundational story of identity for Judaism. Moses leads the Israelites out of enslavement in Egypt into the wilderness for forty years, on their way to the Land of Promise. Jews around the world spent the last week remembering the Exodus during the Festival of Sukkot – and yesterday they awakened to the news of an attack on Israel. Let us pray – yet again – for peace for all the peoples in that region of the world.”

“In their wilderness sojourn the Hebrew people encountered hunger and thirst, doubt and rebellion, fear and anxiety, but through it all, Moses kept the faith. He followed the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day. Moses was clearly an early adapter in using the cloud as a navigational system.”

“They finally reach the Jordan River, and the Land of Promise – I call it that because it should be a land of promise for all who live there – the Land of Promise is within sight. On Mt. Nebo, on the border between present day Jordan and Israel, Moses looks out over the Jordan Valley and the West Bank, sees the town of Jericho, that Joshua will take in his first conquest, and then up the hills on which the City of David will rise. And then he dies, leaving the people without a leader at a critical point in their journey.”

“But God has a succession plan.”

“The Lord  spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, ‘My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them.’” (Joshua 1:1-2)

“Transition in leadership can be challenging, and when it accompanies a risky new venture, it can be doubly difficult.”

“Now it’s Joshua’s turn to look out over the coming conquest of the land of other nations. I wonder if he senses that entering that land would be the start of unending geopolitical conflict still present today, much of it rooted in how this text has been understood and implemented. Joshua is overwhelmed by an uncertain and frightening future that lies ahead.”

“Did you hear how God prepares Joshua to cross the river? Three times God tells him to be ‘be of good courage.’ I will be with you. You are not alone. My word will go with you.

Be of good courage. Hold fast to that which is good. We’ve heard that line every Sunday in worship in the closing Charge and Benediction since I began serving this congregation. I often think of those words when I find myself facing some river over which I need to cross, knowing it will not be easy.”

“We are the church. We’re the ones who are of good courage. We’re those who hold fast to that which is good.”

“What is ‘good’ courage? It’s the determination to stand for what is right and just and fair even when it’s hard. For Moses, and then Joshua, it meant holding fast to the law of God, not turning away from it. Good courage is the bravery that comes from unwavering commitment to pursuing God’s vision of a world built on kindness and justice and love, a world where all are respected, and hope does not disappear.”

“We all need courage like that at times in our lives. Any one of us can find ourselves facing situations that loom large and threatening, moments when we’re not sure we can keep going. In those moments we can look for help beyond ourselves. To get through whatever we face, personally or together, we can remember that it’s not only up to us. That’s one of the gifts of faith: we know we are not alone as we seek courage to get through difficult circumstances beyond our control.”

“We hear that theme in our music today. The text for The World Beloved reminds us that God’s love never leaves us. Bluegrass music sings of the strength from a power greater than our own that allows us to live through hard times.”

“I’ve made two Civil Rights pilgrimages through the south, and both times I came away astonished at the courage of the young people of that day… Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old Black girl walking alone through angry adults into an all-white school through a crowd of angry adults in New Orleans. …Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat on the bus eight months before Rosa Parks did the same thing… The students who faced police dogs and water canon in Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham as they protested for their parents’ right to vote…That is good courage.”

“Courage is evident in large and small ways in our time. The growth in the hospice movement is a sign of courage to face squarely the reality of the end of life. Teenagers seeking help for a mental health crisis – that takes courage. Those standing up to powerful interests to try to stop climate change are demonstrating courage on behalf of the planet. Trans kids and their families who face bullying from school boards and politicians and yet refuse to back down are showing good courage.”

“As I think about the church and its future – and here I mean not only this church, but the Christian Church, and for that matter, all communities of faith – in coming decades we will need good courage in new ways, to hold fast to that which is good, because of future challenges we cannot yet even fathom – there are many, but I want to focus on one that may surprise my colleagues, knowing my limited knowledge of computers.”

“I’m thinking of the coming impact of Artificial Intelligence. I spent the summer reading about this; if you’re not either fascinated by it or fearful of it, then you’re not paying attention. The view from Mt. Nebo today looks out over a landscape that will soon be altered by astonishing new technologies that will affect all of us in significant ways.”

“Some are comparing the coming of Artificial Intelligence to the discovery of electricity or humanity’s harnessing of fire. After spending months with the developers of AI, Ross Andersen wrote recently in The Atlantic that the goal of artificial general intelligence, which goes far beyond the currently available AI, is ‘to summon a superintelligence into the world, an intellect superior to that of any human.’” (The Atlantic, September 2023, p. 54)

“If we don’t readily see the implications of this new technology for people of faith, it becomes apparent in listening to those engaged in developing it. One person working on superintelligence refers to it as ‘the final boss of humanity.’” (The Atlantic, September 2023, p. 66)

“That sounds like religious language.”

“The Internet and our use of it today will seem quaint and naive in merely a few years. Changes in technology only recently predicted to be here around 2050 are now expected by 2026. Economies and social and political systems will face enormous upheaval in coming to terms with the power of AI. It is both hopeful and ominous.”

“The technologies that emerge over the next decade represent for people of faith a mid-21st century Jordan over which the human community will soon cross, not knowing where we are going. Will AI be a force that benefits or harms humanity? Will the new technologies help us cure disease and clean up the planet and learn to live together peaceably, or will they serve as new means of control that diminish human meaning and purpose, expand existing inequities, and lead to catastrophic uses?”

“On Mt. Nebo, God reminds Joshua and the Israelites they have reason to hope in the future because they take good courage with them as they cross into the unknown. This congregation has the chance to do the same – to step into the next chapter of its life with courage and hope, not knowing what lies ahead. I’m not referring to the short-term transition of a retiring senior pastor. I’m pointing to the much larger and more consequential challenge and opportunity to live into an as-yet undetermined future together.”

“That future will be shaped by technologies only now being developed that will have profound impact on systems that could move humanity in more just, equitable, and sustainable directions – or away from them. The Church and other people of faith and goodwill can and must play a part in determining a new course for the human community.”

“The word to Joshua and to people of faith everywhere and in every age is a word to which we, too, should listen as we cross a new Jordan into tomorrow, with the song of God’s love in our hearts: Be of good courage. Hold fast to that which is good.”

“Thanks be to God.”

“Amen.”

Prayers

Rev. Alanna Simone Tyler led the congregation in the following Prayer of Adoration and Confession: “God of grace, you brought the Church into being long ago. Across the ages people have loved you and followed you. We join them in praising your name, but we confess the Church needs renewal today. We are confused and afraid. We do not trust your Spirit can still stir the Church. Awaken us, we pray. Give us good courage. Summon from us a response that sings your praise and holds fast to the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.”

After the sermon, Rev. Alexandra Jacob offered a Pastoral Prayer and then led the congregation in the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen”

Music

The church choir opened with a “Bluegrass Hymn Sing” and “The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass.” The choir and congregation sang “Prayer of Good Courage” from “Mountain Vespers” by Kent Gustavson and “Lord Jesus, You Shall Be My Song” accompanied by the church organist, who concluded the service with the Postlude “When the Angels Carry Me Home.”

Conclusion

This sermon does a wonderful job of making a profound theological point in simple language that is tied to words in the Old Testament. “Be of good courage. Hold on to that which is good.”

Three times God tells Joshua “Be of good courage.” And God gives Joshua three reasons to “be of good courage. You are not alone. I will be with you. My word will go with you. Hold fast to that which is good.”

What is good courage? “It’s the determination to stand for what is right and just and fair even when it’s hard.” It’s “the bravery that comes from unwavering commitment to pursuing God’s vision of a world built on kindness, and justice and love, a world where all are respected, and hope does not disappear.” (Emphasis added.)

Moreover, Westminster and all other churches (and indeed all communities of faith) ”in coming decades . . . will need good courage in new ways, to hold fast to that which is good, because of future challenges we cannot yet even fathom,” especially Artificial Intelligence. A recent article in The Atlantic magazine said that “the goal of artificial general intelligence, . . . which goes far beyond the currently available AI is “to summon a superintelligence in the world, an intellect superior to that of any human” or “the final boss of humanity.” (Emphasis added.)

Such future changes “could move humanity in more just, equitable, and sustainable directions—or away from them. The Church and other people of faith and goodwill can and must play a part in determining a new course for the human community.” Thus, all of us need to “Be of good courage. Hold fast to that which is good.” (Emphasis added.)

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[1] Rev. Dr. Tim Hart-Andersen, Sermon, “We Are the Church: Be of good courage. Hold fast to that which is good,” Westminster Presbyterian Church (Oct. 8, 2023); Bulletin of the Worship Service, Westminster Presbyterian Church (Oct. 8, 2023).

“The Benediction Never Ends” at Westminster Presbyterian Church

On September 17, 2023, Rev. Dr. Tim Hart-Andersen, Senior Pastor at Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church, delivered the second of his last seven sermons, “The Benediction Never Ends at Westminster Presbyterian Church,” before he retires at the end of October. Here is the text of that sermon along with a summary of this Sunday’s worship service.

Call to Confession and Prayer of Confession

(Rev. Alanna Simone Tyler) “O Holy One, you wear a thousand different names, but we hesitate to use any. Forgive us. We depend solely on ourselves, as if you were a figment of someone else’s imagination. We go through the motions, yet our faith has little depth or staying power. We long to be renewed. Help us discover the deep joy that comes from trusting in you, and following Jesus, in whose name we pray.”

Scripture

Isaiah 25: 1-4:

“Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done wonderful things,
things planned long ago.
You have made the city a heap of rubble,
the fortified town a ruin,
the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
Therefore strong peoples will honor you;
cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
is like a storm driving against a wall.”

Romans 8: 32-35, 37-39

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The Sermon[1]

“Religion has always tried to help people face the mystery of mortality. Dealing with death is the one constant in every age and culture. It happens to everyone; I hope that’s not news to you!”

“Humanity’s capacity to create symbols, and our need to bring order to the world, gave rise to rituals around death long ago. Those rituals offered the cultures in which they developed ways to find meaning in life and in death. Over time, different religious traditions evolved, each with its own understanding of what happens at death and how to treat the end of life.”

“This summer we visited several archaeological museums in Europe. Each one introduced us to ancient ways of navigating the loss of life. We saw mummies, complex burial vaults, carefully selected items placed in graves – jewelry, drinking vessels, weapons, amulets, and other items. All of that tells us something about how our ancestors dealt with death. We can imagine the gatherings held on such occasions, where laments were lifted, stories told, exploits recounted, gratitude expressed, and religious response offered.”

“That is essentially what humans still do at funerals in every culture and religion, but when death comes in sudden and overwhelming numbers that is not possible. In Derna, Libya, there are now more than 11,000 confirmed deaths from the catastrophic flooding last week, and that number could grow to more than 20,000. Body bags stacked anonymously in mass graves violate the rituals we long for at the time of death and extend the trauma. Let us keep the survivors who have lost so many in our prayers. To offer help, look for information on our website tomorrow on how giving for Libya relief through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.”

“Death on that scale is not common, but mortality is never very far away. There’s no way to avoid facing death. What matters is how we attend to it. That’s a basic task of any religion, certainly ours. Responding to death with courage and hope is at the heart of Christian proclamation.”

“We may think of our congregation as being primarily engaged in Sunday worship, in justice and service, or education, or music and the arts. We’re known in the community for those things, and they are part of our mission, but there’s another dimension to our ministry that may not be as widely known. We help families move through the loss of a loved one, and we do it often.”

“Last week Westminster held five memorial services or funerals – the latter being when the body is present. And this week we have two more. That pastoral work is central to our life as a Christian community. We have something to say at the time of death.”

“Today’s scripture lesson from Romans affirms the power of God’s love. The Apostle Paul is confident that God’s love conveys us from this life to the next. ‘Who will separate us from the love of Christ?’ Paul asks. ‘Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?’”

“Then he answers his own question – and this is our response to the age-old wondering about life and death.”

“’No,’ he says, ‘In all these things’- the stuff that happens in life –

‘We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Romans 8:35, 37-39)

“I’ve preached on that biblical text than any other in my 40 years in ministry – some 300 sermons. That’s because it’s the scripture of choice at memorial services. It’s the funeral equivalent of the ‘love chapter’ in I Corinthians used at almost all weddings.”

“For that reason, I’ve been reluctant over the years to preach again from Romans 8 on a Sunday morning. But with retirement coming at the end of next month I decided that the text offers such a strong affirmation of our hope in life eternal it needs to be heard one more time.”

“Most people would rather attend a wedding than a funeral; in contrast, as I’ve said before, most ministers would prefer leading a memorial service. At a memorial service pastors play an essential role in helping those assembled to face death and not be undone by it.”

“A Christian memorial service does three things. First, it invites us to name the sorrow and acknowledge the loss. The pain is real. No matter how long and wonderful someone’s life may have been or how welcome their release from suffering in this world was, there is, nonetheless, an absence, and absence in the heart they once occupied in our lives. So, we express our grief and do not deny it.”

“Second, at a memorial service we remember the life of the one who died. We tell stories of their legacy, the love they shared, the values they lived, the difference they made. We laugh, we cry, we revel in our memory of who they were to us.”

“Memorial services, especially when in a more secular setting, are often called a celebration of life and sometimes the subject of death itself can be oddly taboo. In a Christian funeral, we do not avoid mention of the end of life. This is the third piece: a memorial service gives us the opportunity to face death squarely and proclaim the core of our faith: that God’s love carries us from this life into the mystery of life eternal.”

“During the construction of the US Bank Stadium back in 2016, a worker fell to his death in an accident. I was asked to speak to the workers when they came back onto the site for the first time two days later. I was there at the start of their work day, very early in the morning. The workers assembled on the future football field, in their safety vests and hard hats.”

“I was introduced, and when I stepped to the microphone, 1200 hard hats quickly came off. It was their way of making that construction site sacred space. That moment transcended time. It could have been any community gathered anywhere in any age, to mark the loss of one of their own.”

“I looked out at them and did what I do at every memorial service. I acknowledged the pain of losing a co-worker. I said his name to honor his life. And I spoke of the hope we have in the unseen force of love that is stronger than death. Then I offered prayer for his family and friends and all bearing sorrow that day. With my “Amen,” the hardhats came back on, and a new work day began.”

“I imagine most of those workers were grieving that day, and also have been facing their own mortality. A construction site, especially a massive one like the stadium, can be a dangerous place. However difficult, that’s important for us to do from time to time.”

“Jews are preparing today for Yom Kippur. It begins at sundown this evening and continues for 25 or 26 hours until nightfall on Monday. Yom Kippur invites Jews to remember those who have died and to examine their own lives as they enter a day of fasting.”

“It is something like our Ash Wednesday, when we reckon with reality and remember that from dust we have come and to dust we shall return. Ash Wednesday invites us to consider the inevitability of our own deaths. We hear that again at memorial services in a part of the liturgy called the Commendation. “

“Imagine for a moment these words being said at your memorial service:

“All of us go down to the dust; Yet even at the grave we make our song, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Give rest, O Christ, to your servant with all your saints, where there is neither pain nor sorrow nor sighing, but life everlasting.
“Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant…Tim, Steve, Mary, Alan, Bob, Nancy.” Drop in your own name. “We commend your servant…”
“Receive them into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light.”

As is often true of anything we don’t fully understand, we tend to avoid the subject of death, as if it might not notice us and slip by. We may not like talking about the end of our lives but ignoring it can lead us to fear it and cause anxiety when it does comes near, as it will. Our time on this earth is fleeting; coming to terms with that truth helps us live with more purpose and live more fully in each day.”

“The Bible is not afraid of human mortality. Throughout the texts of the older and newer testaments we hear the repeated promise that God intends to do away with death.”

“The ancient prophet Isaiah imagines an invitation to a mountaintop feast – and this is proof that even back then when someone dies people started to eat together as a way to process their grief –

‘On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines…

And God will destroy on this mountain

the shroud that is cast over all peoples…

God will swallow up death for ever (and) …

wipe away the tears from all faces.’ (Isaiah 25:6-8a)”

“In Revelation, we hear that same promise this way: ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.’ (Revelation 21:4)”

“The Apostle Paul puts the promise like this: ‘Behold! I tell you a mystery…We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.’ (I Corinthians 15:51-52a, 54c)”

“The old hymn echoes the promise: ‘Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before thee, glost in wonder, love, and praise.’ (Charles Wesley, Love Divine, All Loves, Excelling; 1747, vs. 4)”

“That is the promise we bear as Christians. We will hear that promise in a few minutes at the font, when we baptize little Roselyn Natasha.”

“The common thread is that death is not final. ‘I am the resurrection and the life,’ Jesus says. (John 11:25)”

“With that assurance we take our place with people of every age, every time, every place who have faced death either on a small or large scale, and wondered what it means. Our response is to hold fast to the Easter promise of eternal life. That’s why we call a memorial service a Witness to the Resurrection. We share the Apostle Paul’s conviction that nothing – nothing – can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“God is good. All the time. All the time. God is good.”

“In this season as I wind down my ministry with you, we’re thinking a lot about benediction. A benediction is a blessing. Our faith claims that the blessing of life from God continues after our earthly experience into the mystery that ultimately awaits us.”

“Love never ceases. It’s the final blessing. Hope is fulfilled.”

“Life after life. The Benediction never ends.”

“Thanks be to God.”

“Amen.”

Congregational Affirmation of Faith

(United Church of Canada) “We are not alone, we live in God’s world. We believe in God: who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit. We trust in God. We are called to be the Church: to celebrate God’s presence, to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.”

Music

The congregational hymns were “Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty,” “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” “You Belong to Christ” (after the baptism of an infant) and “Love Devine, All Loves Excelling.”

The choir sang “Hallelujah” by William Walker and “Rest” by Ralph Vaughan Williams

The organ Prelude and Postlude were the “Sarabande and Gavotte” and “Rigaudon” from Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite.

Conclusion

This was another inspiring sermon. Thanks to Tim.

=============================

[1] Sermon, The Benediction Never Ends, Westminster Presbyterian Church (Sept. 17, 2023). Bulletin of Service, Westminster Presbyterian Church (Sept. 17, 2023).

“Whose People Will Be Our People?”

This was the title of the November 18 sermon by Senior Pastor, Rev. Tim Hart-Andersen, at Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church.[1]

Preparing for the Word

The Prelude for the service was Franz Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto (Movements I and II) that was performed by Douglas Carlsen, trumpet (Minnesota Orchestra) and Melanie Ohnstad, organ.

Associate Pastor, Rev. Alanna Simone Tyler, then led the congregation in the following unison Prayer of Confession:

“O Holy One, we gather today aware that we fall short of your hopes for us. We are a people divided. We do not trust one another. We forget we belong to the whole human family, not merely to our little circle. We do not accept the stranger as if it were you, O Christ. Forgive us, and make us one again, with you and with those from whom we are estranged.”

Listening for the Word

The Scriptures: Ruth 1: 1-18 (NRSV):

“In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.”

“Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had considered his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.’ Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. They said to her, ‘No, we will return with you to your people.’ But Naomi said, ‘Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.’ Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.”

“So she said, ‘See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’”

“But Ruth said, ‘Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!’”

“When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.”

The Sermon:

“Few stories in Hebrew Scripture are as central to our Christian narrative, and are as reflective of what God is up to in Jesus, as the account of Naomi and Ruth.”

“In many ways it’s a thoroughly modern story, a tale of love and survival, of refugees and immigrants, of loyalty and generosity, of family legacy and the quiet strength of women.” (Emphasis added.)

“Naomi, an Israelite, marries a man from Bethlehem. They flee famine in Israel and travel as refugees to the land of Moab to the east, beyond the river Jordan, where they settle as a family.”

“But after a time Naomi’s husband dies, and with no one to provide for her and being a refugee from a foreign land, she faces serious hardship. Fortunately, her sons have grown up. They marry women of Moab, Orpah and Ruth, and can now care for their mother.”

“We often view the story of Ruth as the tale of individuals and the decisions they make. But their lives, and this story, are lived in a much broader context. Naomi, from Israel, and Ruth, from Moab, represent two nations historically in conflict. Their people are enemies.” (Emphasis added.)

“To get a feel for the unsettling power of this narrative, imagine it set in the modern Middle East. If we replace Moab with Palestinian Gaza, and Bethlehem with Israeli Tel Aviv, we begin to get a sense of the larger, treacherous, complicated implications of this story.” (Emphasis added.)

“For a time all is well for Naomi in her new life in Moab, but then tragedy strikes again. Both sons die, leaving her vulnerable once more. The only hope for Naomi is to return to Bethlehem where she has relatives on whom she might be able to depend. She learns the famine that caused them to leave in the first place is over, and she decides to go home.”

“When Naomi sets off for Bethlehem, her two daughters-in-law decide to go with her, but Naomi stops them. She tells them to go home to their own people, where they have a chance of surviving, of marrying again and starting new families, and being among their own people. Orpah chooses to return home, but Ruth’s love and loyalty compel her to go with her mother-in-law, who tries again to dissuade her. I imagine them standing on the banks of the Jordan, the border between Moab and Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, Naomi urging her to return home one last time. But Ruth stands her ground.”

“’Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you!’ she says to Naomi.”

‘Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried.’ (Ruth 1:17-18)” (Emphasis added.)

“It’s a stunning soliloquy, with far-reaching consequences. With her words, Ruth reframes and redefines existing norms and realigns historic assumptions. She chooses to ignore the accepted boundaries between people and nations. She sets self aside and declares her intention to use love as the measure by which she will live.” (Emphasis added.)

“The story of Ruth points to the dangers of exaggerated nationalism and the risks of restrictive boundaries within the human family. The story upends old rules about identity, and proposes new ways of thinking about relationships. It shows that grace and generous love can disrupt historic patterns of exclusivity.” (Emphasis added.)

“After Ruth’s words, Naomi really has no choice, so the two of them set off together for Bethlehem, climbing up into the hills of Judah from the Jordan Valley. Once they get there, they have no means of sustaining themselves. In order to provide food for the two of them, Ruth goes to glean in the fields with other poor, hungry people, picking up leftovers after the harvest. She happens to do this, to glean, in the field of Boaz, a kinsman of her dead husband’s family.”

“Boaz sees her and is attracted to her, and asks about her and, eventually, with a little encouragement from Ruth, falls in love with her. They have a son named Obed, whose wife has a son named Jesse. Remember the prophetic prediction that ‘a shoot will come out of the stump of Jesse?’ That shoot would be David, son of Jesse, great-grandson of Ruth – David, who would become king of Israel, and from whose line the Messiah would one day come, as the prophets of old had foretold.” (Emphasis added.)

“In other words, without the courage and strength of Naomi and the perseverance and love of Ruth, the story would end. There would have been no Obed, no Jesse, no David – and, eventually, no Jesus. The entire biblical story for Christians rests on this one foreign enemy woman, a young widow who leaves her own people, with great risk, goes with her mother-in-law, to support her, because it was the right and just thing to do. As the Shaker poem the choir sang earlier says, ‘Love will do the thing that’s right.’”

“’Where you go I will go, ‘Ruth says. ‘Where you lodge I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.’”

“The prophet Micah asks, ‘What does the Lord require of us’ Ruth, a foreigner not under the law of the Hebrews, instinctively knows the answer: ‘To do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.’” (Emphasis added.)

“The story of Ruth is a parable for our time. It may not be Moab and Israel, but in America today we live as if we were enemies of one another. There’s no longer a common understanding of what unites us as a people. We think the worst of those with whom we disagree. Everything has a zero-sum quality to it. Either you’re with me or you’re against me.” (Emphases added.)

“Your people cannot possibly be my people.”

“American individualism has always been in creative and generative tension with the call to live as one community. These days, however, that tension has largely been displaced by rampant sectarianism. Very few now try even to talk across the divide anymore. Rigid partisanship precludes the possibility of building a shared purpose as a people. We cannot see beyond our own firm boundaries.”

“Presidential historian Michael Beschloss spoke at the Westminster Town Hall Forum last Tuesday. More than 1700 people were here. The sanctuary and Westminster Hall were filled to overflowing.” [2]

“We were surprised by the crowd. Why did so many people come? The midterm elections were over and the relentless campaigning was behind us , and I think people wanted to take a longer view of where things stand in America. We had just marked the 100th anniversary of the Armistice ending the First World War. And our national Day of Thanksgiving is nearly upon us, always a time to pause and reflect on the road we as a people have trod, and on the journey ahead. People came that day to find hope for the future of our nation.”

“The questions asked of Beschloss at the Town Hall Forum focused less on any particular president, current or historic, and more on the present contentiousness in our land. People wrote question expressing serious anxiety about the health of our democracy. They wanted to hear from a professional historian whether things are as bad as they seem. They are, in his view.“

“Beschloss is deeply concerned about the nation and its future. In his study of history, he said, he knew of few times in our country’s life as fraught with division and discord, and the potential for worse, as ours. Even as he expressed hope about the enduring strength of American democracy, he warned about the risk of conflict escalating into violence.”

“This is not only a Republican-Democrat problem, or a conservative-progressive matter. It’s not even solely a political problem, nor merely a lack of civility. It’s something far more than that.”

“It’s the same question Ruth faced, a question of identity and belonging: whose people will be my people? Our people?”

“It shows up in the rural-urban divide. It can be seen in the widening gulf between those with a high level of economic comfort and those who have been left behind – and in the policies aimed at keeping things like that. We see it in unresolved racial disparities among us. It’s there in the backlash against immigrants. There’s a growing education gap and a perception of elitism among us.”

“We’re all caught up in it. We’re all caught up in the cultural dividing lines that cut across the nation. And naturally we think the “other side” is at fault; but none of us is innocent.”

“Beschloss said that when American presidents have found themselves leading in a time of war they always become more religious. He described Lincoln coming to Washington as an agnostic, and maybe even an atheist,, but as he sent men off to fight and die on the battlefield he turned to the Bible and to prayer for wisdom and strength and succor. We can hear it in his speeches; he quoted scripture all the time. He needed something beyond his own resources to bear the terrible burden and to help resolve the national crisis.”

“We need something, as well, beyond our own limited resources. What we’re facing, I think, can be described as a spiritual problem. We’re too mired in mundane, daily outrage to see things from a higher point of view.” (Emphasis added.)

“In contrast, Ruth refuses to let the prevailing perception of reality – that Moab and Israel are enemies – define her own point of view. She chooses to live according to a different reality. She seeks a deeper, broader, more generous perspective on the human family. She lifts her vision above the discord and looks beyond it. She wants to see things more as God intends them to be, not as the world sees them.”

“We’re in a moment where our nation lacks that kind of moral vision, a vision that looks beyond the immediacies of our divided house, a vision summoning us to conceive anew the possibilities the American experiment was meant to offer. We cannot keep living like this; there’s simply too much at stake not to try to reclaim the values at the heart of our democracy – values never perfectly implemented, but that have served as aspirational measures of our life together.”

“This is a Naomi and Ruth moment, and the question facing us is: whose people will be our people?” (Emphasis added.)

“As Christians, we believe that Jesus embodies God’s response to that question.” (Emphasis added.)

“In the coming season we will we speak of this one who is born in Bethlehem, the descendant of David. We will speak of him as Emmanuel, God with us.”

“Jesus does with all humanity what Ruth does with Naomi. He lives for others and loves them unconditionally, even at the risk of losing his own life.” (Emphasis added.)

“In Jesus, and in Ruth, we have the blueprint for human community: a generosity of spirit that starts by saying, “Your people will be our people.” (Emphasis added.)

“Thanks be to God.”

Reflections

This sermon provided historical and contemporary contexts that made the story of Ruth and Naomi more powerful.

Naomi and Ruth were from countries, Israel and Moab respectively, that were enemies. Yet Ruth “reframes and redefines existing norms and realigns historic assumptions.” She “chooses to ignore the accepted boundaries between people and nations” and thereby “shows that grace and generous love can disrupt historic patterns of exclusivity.”

“Jesus does with all humanity what Ruth does with Naomi. He lives for others and loves them unconditionally.”

It is easiest for nearly everyone to first experience love in a family and define yourself as a member of that family. Then as we grow up we enlarge the family group to include friends and neighbors, eventually people from a geographical area and then a nation. All of these groups are logical and hopefully enriching.

The challenge then is to understand and treasure all human beings who are outside these groups. We are offered opportunities to do so by reading about people in other cultures and lands, by seeking to engage with nearby neighbors with different cultures and traditions, by welcoming newcomers of all faiths and traditions to our cities and towns and by traveling to other lands.

I have been blessed in this quest by a superb education; by living and studying for two years in the United Kingdom; by traveling to many other countries in Europe, North America and Latin America and a few countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa; by being a pro bono asylum lawyer for Salvadorans, Somalis, Colombians and men from Afghanistan and Burma; by learning and teaching international human rights law; by researching and writing blog posts about Cuba, Cameroon and other countries and issues; and by getting to know their peoples and by getting to know people in Minnesota from many other countries.

Especially meaningful for me has been involvement in Westminster’s Global Partnerships in Cuba, Cameroon and Palestine and learning more about these countries’ histories, traditions and problems and establishing friendships with individuals in these countries. For example, this past May, individuals from these three counties visited Westminster in Minneapolis and we all shared our joys and challenges. Especially enriching were three worship services focused on each of our partnerships.

For example, our May 20, 2018, service on Pentecost Sunday featured our Palestinian brothers and sisters from our partner congregation, Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.[3]

We had Palestinian music from the Georges Lammam Ensemble (San Francisco, California). Rev. Munther Isaac, the Senior Pastor of our partner congregation, provided the Pastoral Prayer and led the unison Lord’s Prayer. My new friend, Adel Nasser from Bethlehem, chanted the Twenty-third Psalm in Arabic.

Then Rev. Mitri Raheb, the President of Dar-Al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, had an illuminating conversational sermon with Rev. Hart-Andersen that was centered on the Biblical text (Acts 2: 1-12). This passage talks about a gathering in Jerusalem of people “from every nation under heaven,” each speaking “in the native language of each” and yet hearing, “each of us, in our own native language” and thus understanding one another. Here are some of the highlights of that conversation:

Hart-Andersen said the text emphasized that all of these people were in one place together, affirming the vast display of God’s creative goodness in the human family when no one has to surrender his or her own identity and thereby affirms the identity of every human being.
This is what God wants in the human family, Hart-Andersen continued. Make space for people who are different. The miracle of Pentecost is the existence of bridges over these differences and the destruction of walls that we tend to build around our own little groups.
Hart-Andersen also pointed out that Minnesota today is like that earlier gathering at Pentecost with over 100 different language groups in the State.
Raheb agreed, saying that Palestine is also very diverse and God wants diversity in the human family. As a result, there is a need to build bridges between different groups, and the Covenant Agreement between Westminster and Christmas Lutheran Church expressly calls for building bridges between the U.S. and Palestine. He also treasures the gathering this month of Cubans and Cameroonians with the Palestinians and Americans because it helped to build bridges among all four of these groups. We were experiencing Pentecost in Minneapolis.
Raheb also mentioned that the original Pentecost featured the miracle of understanding among the people speaking different languages. The Holy Spirit provided the software enabling this understanding.
Hart-Andersen said the diversity of the human family compels us to build bridges. The mission of the church is to resist walls that keep us apart.
Raheb emphasized that Acts 2:1-12 is a foundational text for Arabic Christianity as it mentions Arabs as being present on Pentecost.
He also contrasted Pentecost with the Genesis account (Chapter 11) of “the whole earth [having] one language and the same words” and the resulting arrogance to attempt to build a tower to the heavens. God responded by confusing their language” so that they would not understand one another and stop building the tower of Babel. This is emblematic of empires throughout history that have attempted to impose one language on all parts of the empire.

Yes, we all are brothers and sisters in Christ!

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[1] The text of the sermon is available on the church’s website.

[2] See Beschloss Discusses “Presidents of War” at Westminster Town Hall Forum, dwkcomentaries.com (Nov. 15, 2018).

[3] The bulletin and an audio recording for this May 20 service are available on the Westminster website.

“What Is the Highest Law?”

This was the title of the November 11 sermon by Rev. Tim Hart-Andersen, Senior Pastor at Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church.[1]

Preparing for the Word

Stewardship Moment for Justice was presented by Rev. Dr. Jimmie Hawkins, Director of the Presbyterian Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C. He discussed the activities of the Office, including its actions to help change the cash-bail system in the U.S. while also combating the silo effect of interacting only with like-minded people.

Prayer of Confession. Associate Pastor Rev. David Shinn led the congregation in the following unison Prayer of Confession:

“Gracious God, by day and by night we lift our prayers to you, crying out for justice, yearning for what is right, longing for your peace. Replenish our strength and stir up our hope, as we look for signs of your coming reign. Keep us working and praying for the day when your justice will roll down like waters, and your righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. And fill us with the peace that passes all understanding—the deep peace of Jesus Christ, our Savior, in whose holy name we pray. Amen.”

Listening for the Word

Holy Scripture: Matthew 22:34-40 (NRSV):

“When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ [Jesus] said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’”

Sermon:

“This morning’s gospel passage is set in the midst of a debate between Jewish leaders, the Sadducees and Pharisees. In first century Israel they were powerful competing elites connected to the Temple in Jerusalem. They often disagreed on the meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures.”

“Matthew presents us with a window into their debate as it draws in Jesus. They ask him about paying taxes to Rome, because they disagree on what they should do. They ask Jesus about resurrection because they disagree about life after death. They’re at odds over interpretation of the law.”

“So when the lawyer asks Jesus a question it’s not merely to trap him, as we Christians often read the text. It’s more likely a local debate in which they want Jesus’ opinion. The lawyer genuinely wants Jesus to weigh in: does he support the Sadducees or the Pharisees?”

“The scene is not that different from what plays out among groups of Christians today. We debate the meaning of scripture, and we want Jesus on our side.”

“’Teacher,’ the lawyer asks, ‘Which commandment in the law is the greatest?’”

“It’s a good question. Among the 613 laws in the Hebrew Scriptures, he wants to know which is most important. It’s a bottom-line question, and we should listen carefully to the answer Jesus gives. He’s speaking not merely to that Pharisee or to others eager to hear his response. He’s speaking to us [too].”.

“’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,’ Jesus says, reaching back to Deuteronomy [6:5]. ‘This is the greatest and first commandment.’”

“But he doesn’t stop there.”

“’And a second is like it,’ Jesus says, this time going back to Leviticus [19:18]. ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’’”

“But he’s not done. Jesus wants to clarify his response and aim it at the interpretation of all the ancient texts, so he throws in a bonus answer: ‘On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matthew 22:38-40)”

“The fundamental rule of interpreting scripture, Jesus is explaining here, is the law of love. If the interpretation of a text points in the direction of God’s love, if it amplifies God’s desire that we love one another, if it shines light on the unconditional love of God, then we have understood the Bible in the way Jesus wants us to read it.”

“I wonder if the response of Jesus settles anything. Did the Sadducees and Pharisees walk away saying to one another, ‘We’ve been going about this all wrong. Our faith wants us to start not with law, not with the rules, not with the doctrine, not with the strict definition of what’s right and wrong, but with love.”’

“That’s the takeaway from this text for us, as followers of Jesus. The starting point and the end point in our encounter with the world, with our neighbors, with those with whom we disagree, even with those we consider enemies, the starting point and the end point is always, always, always, the love of God.”

“To love in the way of Jesus we cannot keep putting ourselves at the center.”

“When Jesus says that all scripture ‘hangs’ on the love of God and love of neighbor, the image of a clothesline comes to mind – a long line representing the love of God and the love of neighbor, stretching across all of scripture. Each biblical story, the psalms and the prophets, the formative narratives of the Hebrew people – we see them all hanging there, on that one line.”

“Then we notice that the line is longer, and stretches even further. We see the parables of Jesus, the healings, the cross and resurrection, hanging on that line of love. And the line keeps stretching. The letters to the first Christian communities are hanging there, and the words of the early councils of the church.

“And that clothesline of love keeps stretching, through the spread of Christian faith around the world, through many generations of faithful followers. Nothing stops it. The line keeps going – the commandment to love God and to love neighbor, as we love ourselves – it keeps going right into the life of this congregation…and what is hanging there on that clothesline in our life together?”

“We see our worship every Sunday for more than 161 years. We see our welcome of Chinese newcomers in the 19th century, when they were scorned by others. We see the schools we started among immigrant children living on the flats along the river in the late 1800’s. We see our ownership of Abbott Hospital and our role in offering medical care and training to thousands in the middle years of the 20th century, We see our support of mission in other lands that evolved into our global partnerships today.”

“It’s all hanging on that long line of love stretching through our life.”

“We see the 16 churches Westminster has helped launch over the years, including Kwanzaa, now Liberty Church, the state’s only African-American Presbyterian congregation. We see that partner church there, together with us on the long line of the love of Jesus.”

“We see our church calling and installing [today] an Associate Pastor for Justice and Mission, Alanna Simone Tyler, nurtured by our partner congregation in north Minneapolis.”

“It’s all there.”

“We see Westminster’s willingness to work for marriage equality and to stand up for justice by advocating for an end to racism, for sensible gun safety, and for more affordable housing. We see Westminster using our new facility to welcome people coming in off the streets.”

“Our life as a Christian community hangs on a clothesline of love that stretches all the way back to Jesus and on into the future.” (Emphasis added.)

“And we’ve learned that to love in the way of Jesus, the other must always be at the heart of our concern, especially when the other is vulnerable, always at the center of our concern.”

“’No one has greater love than this,’ Jesus says, than ‘to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’ (John 15:13)”

“One hundred years ago today, at 11AM on November 11, 1918, the Armistice ending the Great War was signed. Inscribed on the bronze plaque in the Cloister Hall are the names of 191 men and women of this church who served in what was to have been the war to make the world safe for democracy. They were prepared to lay down their lives for others – and seven of them did.”

“During the war the women of the church formed the Westminster unit of the Red Cross. They ran one of the largest volunteer medical supply programs in the country, preparing bandages, garments, and other materials for our soldiers, orphans, and refugees. The women of Westminster produced and sent abroad more than 366,000 articles.”

“When troops came through town on their way to being deployed, Westminster families saw them in worship and invited them home to Sunday dinner after church. Westminster’s pastor at the time, [Rev.] John Bushnell, whose own son’s name is on that plaque as having served in the Navy during the war, describes hosting three soldiers at one such Sunday afternoon meal:

‘The talk centered about their home lives and it was found that one was a Catholic, one a Methodist, and one a Mormon, all three feeling entirely at home with a Presbyterian minister’s family. It was a local example of the leveling or elevating process of common great cause, eliminating all distinctions and creating the common denominator of an elemental human emergency.’”

“As we mark Veterans Day tomorrow we acknowledge that U.S. soldiers continue to fight in Afghanistan and other lands, without a sense of ‘elemental human emergency’ and no perception of a ‘common great cause.’ But, still, they serve on behalf of the nation and we must not forget them.”

“During World War I, as we bade farewell to those going to serve, prayers were lifted each Sunday. Large American flags draped the front of the organ, as well as a banner with stars representing every man from the church serving overseas. Flags of our allies were placed in front of the pulpit. A ‘Westminster War Letter’ helped people keep track of our soldiers.”

“The congregation wept with the families of those whose sons were killed. The first to die was Edward Phinney, a deacon of the church. To love in the way of Jesus means to be willing to give up privilege and power – even life itself – so that others might live. Fred Wagner, a candidate for the ministry, was later killed in battle in France.”

“Nine-and-a-half million soldiers on all sides died in the Great War, the war that was to end all wars. Another 10 million civilians perished. More than 21 million were injured.”

“Westminster did not romanticize or glorify the war. Referring to the great loss of life, the Rev. Bushnell wrote, ‘It made us understand and hate war as never before.’”

“Following the Armistice of 1918, the Rev. Bushnell described war as ‘an affront to Deity, to (hu)mankind, and all the elements that constitute a moral universe.’”

“Speaking 20 years later, in 1938, as Europe was moving toward war again, he wrote, using words that may sound applicable to us in our time:

‘There is at present far more fear harassing the human family, more despair of the (unity of humankind), more bitter strife and hatred between nations, more greed, more lust than before.’ (All quotes and other information from John E. Bushnell, The History of Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1907-1937 [Minneapolis, Lund Press; 1938], pp.21-31)”

“The response to the bitterness, hatred, and fear that enveloped the human family then and the response to the bitterness, hatred, and fear that envelops us now is not more war and more weaponry and more violence, but, rather, that which Jesus says to the Pharisee long ago, when asked which was the highest of all the laws: ‘The first and greatest commandment,’ Jesus says,

‘Is to love the Lord your God, with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind, and the second is like it, to love neighbor as yourself. On those two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’”

“And, we might add, the ministry of this congregation, and of Liberty church and other communities of faith and people of goodwill everywhere, and the life of this nation, and the future of humankind. The commandment to love. To love God and neighbor.”

“As we hear the bell toll here in our sanctuary with others across the land marking the Armistice 100 years ago, as we remember and give thanks for those who served and those who died in the Great War, let us also redouble our commitment to strive for the justice and peace that comes from those who follow the highest law: to love God and love neighbor.”.

“Thanks be to God.”

Reflections

This sermon was especially powerful for me.

As I wrote in my eighth blog post in April 2011, “”The first foundation of my Christian faith is Jesus’ encounter with a clever lawyer in Luke 10:25-37. The lawyer asked Jesus a trick question as to what the lawyer had to do to inherit eternal life. The lawyer did not really want to know the answer; instead, the lawyer wanted Jesus to give an answer that could be twisted to incriminate him. Jesus ducked the question and instead responded with another question: ‘What is written in the law? How do you read it?’ The lawyer replied, ‘Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and your neighbor as yourself.’ Jesus then said the lawyer had answered correctly and that he would live if he did exactly that.”[2]

“The lawyer, however, would not let it end there. He then asked what he thought was another trick question of Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Again, the lawyer did not really want to know the answer; instead he wanted Jesus to provide an answer that could also be twisted against him. Again, however, Jesus did not answer directly, but instead told the Parable of the Good Samaritan without the punch line identifying the good neighbor. Once again Jesus asked the lawyer to fill in the blank, this time to identify the good neighbor in the story. The lawyer did just that by saying, ‘The one who had mercy on [the man by the side of the road].’ Jesus then said, ‘Go and do likewise.’ (Luke 10: 29-37)” This Parable is the second foundation of my Christian faith.

Apparently the lawyer in this account in the Gospel of Luke was drawing upon two passages of the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy 6:5 Moses is reminding a new generation of his people of the laws he had received from God on Mt. Sinai when Moses says, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.’ The other passage is Leviticus 19:18, where Moses in summarizing what God had delivered to him on Mt. Sinai says, ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Today, this precept—”Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and your neighbor as yourself.”—is still the first foundation of my Christian faith.

Therefore, I was pleased to hear the same message in this passage of Matthew with the reversal of the roles of Jesus and the lawyer from Luke. Now, the lawyer is posing the question, and Jesus is providing the same answer.

I also was pleased and surprised to hear Rev. Hart-Andersen’s add the metaphor of the clothesline when Matthew in the New Revised Standard Version says, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Emphasis added.) This integrative device made sense to me.

Although I was not a Westminster member during the events in its history that were recounted in the sermon, hearing about them, especially as tied to the Bible with the clothesline metaphor brought tears to my eyes.

Returning to the Parable of the Good Samaritan, one of the lessons of this story for me is that your neighbor whom you should love as yourself is anyone and everyone and that they can appear when you least expect them. That sets forth a daunting assignment. I have never met this challenge and never can.

That leads to the third foundation of my Christian faith. God knows that we fail and yet forgives us. The most powerful statement of God’s forgiveness comes in another story by Jesus, The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-31), . As an only son and as a father of two sons, I see myself in this story as the older, resentful son as well as the younger, lost son and more recently as the father.

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[1] The text of the sermon and the bulletin for the service are available on the church’s website. This service also included the installation of Rev. Alanna Simone Tyler as Associate Pastor for Justice and Mission, which will be covered in a separate post.

[2] My Christian Faith, dwkcommentaries.com (April 6, 2011).