"This Table Belongs to Jesus"

November 4, 2007

You may remember the movie a few years ago called Broadcast News in which an angry man leaned out his window and yelled “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” Soon a movement was born and people everywhere were yelling the same thing out their windows. Well, today I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.

But first, what I am not angry about: Several people in this church have chosen to worship elsewhere because their perceptions of what I believe or don’t believe are so different from their own set of beliefs that they feel they cannot sincerely worship in this church any longer. Fine. This is a free country, thanks especially to the veterans who have given their lives in the service of freedom. We are allowed to think differently, vote differently, argue and disagree. Praise to a gracious God who has provided so many different world-wide religions, and even provided thousands of different Christian churches because we all believe so differently. Thank God especially for the United Methodist Church and its proud tradition of education, scholarship, thoughtful faith, spirit-filled minds and hearts. We are a church which has spent millions of dollars to tell the world that we practice open hearts, open minds, and open doors. This means we do not have to agree on everything in order to feel and practice God’s love for us and for all. This means we are free to tell the Christian story as Jesus has lived it with us. That may not be the same for everyone. So differences do not make me angry. I believe we are called to celebrate our differences! Jesus came that we might have life, and have it abundantly!

Two things really make me angry—gossip and denigration. Don’t lie. And don’t put anybody down! Many of you have expressed your concern about friends coming to you and saying, “What’s this I hear about your pastor storming out of the ministers’ meeting and refusing to sign that paper?!” I have been stopped on the street and told, “Hey, I hear you’re not a Christian.”  I have been grilled several times about what I don’t believe in. I have been accused of bringing the anti-Christ to this church. Where is all this coming from?

Gossip and lies—The first Wednesday of October some of the ministers in town met at the Lutheran Church for a monthly luncheon. It has always been at noon, but this day it was changed to 12:30. A few of us were not notified of the change. So I came back at 12:30 to have lunch with the other ministers, even though I had a 1:00 appointment. After lunch one pastor handed out copies of this document. Apparently they were trying to reorganize as a ministerial alliance based on this document from 10 years ago. He began by saying, “Well, we should be able to get through this first part, since we are all Christians.” Immediately the conversation began—the Catholic priest said, “Catholics can’t support that first item, because we also believe that sacred tradition has authority.” I said, “We United Methodists have what we call the Quadrilateral—we believe in Scripture as the primary source for authority, but also lift up tradition, reason and experience.”  There was silence. I looked at my watch. It was 1:00. I excused myself with a smile and a pat on the back of the first minister, saying, “I have a 1:00 and didn’t know the time had been changed.”  “Goodbye, Steve” someone said and I left with a wave of the hand.

Those are the facts. I don’t know what happened after that, except the above mentioned lie going around town. I don’t know if anyone signed it, or if it was changed.  No matter, this is also the truth—I would not have signed it anyway. I don’t have to prove to anyone that I am a Christian by signing a doctrinal creed. I am an American. I am free. I am a United Methodist Christian. Thanks to Christ, I am free. We do not sign creeds. We are not a doctrinal church. We cannot, dare not put God in a box stamped “The Truth” then denigrate, put down, persecute who ever does not kneel to that box! Who do we think we are?

I know who I am—one individual on a journey to re-connect with my truest self, to reconnect to my creator and my savior. And on that journey I discover I am not just an individual, but a part of the sacred wholeness that God has designed. I travel with billions of other humans on the same sacred journey. And I have been given a holy task—to tell the sacred story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and help anyone who hears to explore that story and make it their own.

My job as the minister of this church is not to spoon-feed you a certain way of thinking, but to challenge you, inspire you, encourage you to look deep in your hearts and discover your own holy story, to see yourself on that sacred journey with Jesus and with all God’s children, to provide resources to help you go deeper in your faith, to remind us all that we are here for others—to keep our hearts and minds and doors open to others, all others.

We will not be judged by God on how we answered certain questions, but on how we treated our neighbors, how we loved our enemies.

My whole ministry I have focused on keeping the doors and windows of the church open to those whom we may think of as on the fringe—folks who have been damaged by church in the past, people who think the church is irrelevant, a waste of time, people who are starving for a taste of the sacred and who need a loving community where they are free to meet God on their own terms! People, we are that loving community for many already!!

This table belongs to Jesus. This table belongs to Jesus! This table belongs to Jesus!! It is not mine. It is not yours. It is not Methodist; it does not even belong to the Christian Church. It belongs to Jesus, and he does with it as he pleases. Can any of you imagine that he would want to keep you away from it? Does anyone here think it is possible that Jesus would say no to anyone who approaches? Anyone, for any reason?

I am done with this topic. No more rumors. No more gossip. No more lies. No more small town busy-body stuff. No more judging others, no more putting anyone down, no more questioning anyone’s integrity.  From now on we go forward in love, because God first loved us. We go forward proudly as United Methodist Christians with Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Doors.

Jesus’ table is open—now, always.

Amen.