Basic Lessons For The Faith Community
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"Basic Lessons for the Faith Community" by Keith Wagner
"Before There Can Be Liberation There Must Be Death" by Keith Wagner
Basic Lessons for the Faith Community
by Keith Wagner
James 5:13-20
Our society is sometimes cold and impersonal. I believe it is aggressive. It’s all about being in a hurry, winning and looking out for one’s self. I believe that James was giving the faith community some basic lessons. First, James was encouraging the faithful to care for one another. He was saying that we need to be truthful, sharing one another’s burdens and joys.
Why is this so difficult? First, we get lazy. We take our relationships in the church for granted and we stop working at it. We work hard at relationships that have to do with our careers or our own self interests. But in the church we figure people know we care so we stop caring.
In early August, The CBS evening news told the story about what was happening in Ferguson, Mo. One year ago, an African-American man, Michael Brown, was shot by a white police officer. There were riots and a public outcry of police profiling and abuse. Since then Ferguson has appointed an interim police chief by the name of Andre Anderson.
When asked why he wanted the job he said, "I've always been known as a consensus builder and one that can work within the boundaries of racial discord. There are police officers here that quite frankly some of them don't understand the dynamics of many people in the minority community and to some degree I would say that it's not their fault." Anderson further explained. "We have to train people to understand where they serve."
His biggest priority is to tell cops to just get out there and talk to people. "If you're not interacting with the public on a regular basis and you're interacting with individuals that were arrested, if formulates an opinion in general so it's going to take time to change the culture. Give it time, we will get there."
In other words, officers have to reach out in the community where they serve. They need to really get to know their people. They also have to forgive, which was the second lesson James advocated.
One time there was a country doctor in Scotland who had very poor clients. Although his patients would pay him in eggs, chickens, and vegetables at harvest, and meat at slaughtering time, his huge ledger book would contain many names where nothing was paid. Once per year, the doctor would go through his book and write "Forgiven" wherever he knew the patients would never be able to pay.
When the doctor died and his heirs received all of his material possessions, they brooded over the ledger book and all of the "Forgiven" debts. Eventually, they tried to take some of the patients to court. But according to the story, the old Scottish judge said that there was no way that any court in Scotland could possibly find for the heirs when the physical evidence of the ledger was so eloquent with its message of "Forgiven, Forgiven, Forgiven" on every page.
* * *
Before There Can Be Liberation There Must Be Death
by Keith Wagner
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
In February, 1960, Adolf Coors III was kidnapped and held for ransom. His body was found seven months later on a remote hillside. He had been shot to death. His son, Adolf Coors IV was fifteen years old at the time. He lost his father and his best friend. For years, Coors hated Joseph Corbett, the man who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for murdering the elder Coors.
Fifteen years later Coors became a Christian. His life was transformed. He realized his hatred for Corbet hindered his growth as a person of faith and alienated him from other people. He prayed, asking God to help him. Finally Coors decided to visit his father’s slayer at Canon City Penitentiary in Colorado. Corbett refused to see him so Coors left a Bible for him with an inscription. It read, “I’m here to see you today and I’m sorry that we could not meet. As a Christian man I am compelled to forgive you and ask you to forgive me for the hatred for you I have held in my heart.” After fifteen years, young Coors was free.
I believe that Esther was a person in need of liberation. She was enslaved by an oppressive Persian culture. Not just her, but the entire Jewish community. Esther told the king of her plight and gave him the name of the man who was responsible. As a result, Haman, was hanged at the order of King Ahasuerus. However, following the hanging, “The anger of the king abated.” Not only was Esther and the Jewish community free, the king was free of his anger.
I don’t believe that a case for violence or even retribution can be made based on this one story. Nevertheless, one man’s death led to the liberation of Esther, one of God’s faithful. In addition the event resulted in a celebration, called Purim. Perhaps it was on a much smaller scale than Passover, the primary celebration of freedom for the Jews during the Exodus. There can be no doubt that death was involved in both.
There is a second consequence of the story of Esther, which I believe is more significant. In the process of celebrating the Jewish community shared food with each other and gave gifts to the poor. This is not to say that the means justifies the ends. Rather, it highlights the joy of giving alms.
In the book, Small Miracles, written by Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal, there is a story about a man named Mandelbaum. He was modern day good Samaritan. When he and his wife would go shopping in town, Mandelbaum would walk up and down the streets putting quarters in parking meters. He had a habit of making it to the meter before the meter maid. His wife thought his little acts of kindness were a bit obsessive. She wondered why he bothered since no one ever did anything nice for him.
Her husband was being highly charitable, but none of the owners of the parked cars would ever know who he was, or even if they had been spared a $25 parking ticket. His wife was proud of him but she never witnessed anyone returning the favor.
One day she was shopping in another area of the city and ended up in a dress shop. She lost all track of time and finally realized that her parking meter had expired. She ran outside only to see the meter maid a few feet away from her car. There was no way she was going to beat her to the meter. She knew her husband would be upset with her if she got a parking ticket. He considered that the height of irresponsibility and a horrible waste of money.
The maid was almost at the meter when a strange man appeared from nowhere and put a quarter in the meter. He smiled broadly at the meter maid then quickly walked away. "Who could it be?" she wondered. "Perhaps he was a neighbor, a relative or a friend of her husband." She hastily walked after him and finally caught up with him. She thanked him for rescuing her from a parking ticket then asked him why he did it. He must have known her husband. But he replied, "I don’t know your husband nor do I know you or your car. I just thought it was a shame for someone to pay $25 for a parking ticket when all it cost me was 25 cents." She was overwhelmed with his generosity. "Oh, it’s OK, really," he said, "I do this all the time."
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He has served churches in Southwest Ohio for over three decades. He is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and has an M.Div. from Methodist Theological School, Delaware, Ohio, and a D.Min. from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He has also been an adjunct professor at Edison Community College, Piqua, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
*****************************************
StoryShare, September 27, 2015, issue.
Copyright 2015 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"Basic Lessons for the Faith Community" by Keith Wagner
"Before There Can Be Liberation There Must Be Death" by Keith Wagner
Basic Lessons for the Faith Community
by Keith Wagner
James 5:13-20
Our society is sometimes cold and impersonal. I believe it is aggressive. It’s all about being in a hurry, winning and looking out for one’s self. I believe that James was giving the faith community some basic lessons. First, James was encouraging the faithful to care for one another. He was saying that we need to be truthful, sharing one another’s burdens and joys.
Why is this so difficult? First, we get lazy. We take our relationships in the church for granted and we stop working at it. We work hard at relationships that have to do with our careers or our own self interests. But in the church we figure people know we care so we stop caring.
In early August, The CBS evening news told the story about what was happening in Ferguson, Mo. One year ago, an African-American man, Michael Brown, was shot by a white police officer. There were riots and a public outcry of police profiling and abuse. Since then Ferguson has appointed an interim police chief by the name of Andre Anderson.
When asked why he wanted the job he said, "I've always been known as a consensus builder and one that can work within the boundaries of racial discord. There are police officers here that quite frankly some of them don't understand the dynamics of many people in the minority community and to some degree I would say that it's not their fault." Anderson further explained. "We have to train people to understand where they serve."
His biggest priority is to tell cops to just get out there and talk to people. "If you're not interacting with the public on a regular basis and you're interacting with individuals that were arrested, if formulates an opinion in general so it's going to take time to change the culture. Give it time, we will get there."
In other words, officers have to reach out in the community where they serve. They need to really get to know their people. They also have to forgive, which was the second lesson James advocated.
One time there was a country doctor in Scotland who had very poor clients. Although his patients would pay him in eggs, chickens, and vegetables at harvest, and meat at slaughtering time, his huge ledger book would contain many names where nothing was paid. Once per year, the doctor would go through his book and write "Forgiven" wherever he knew the patients would never be able to pay.
When the doctor died and his heirs received all of his material possessions, they brooded over the ledger book and all of the "Forgiven" debts. Eventually, they tried to take some of the patients to court. But according to the story, the old Scottish judge said that there was no way that any court in Scotland could possibly find for the heirs when the physical evidence of the ledger was so eloquent with its message of "Forgiven, Forgiven, Forgiven" on every page.
* * *
Before There Can Be Liberation There Must Be Death
by Keith Wagner
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
In February, 1960, Adolf Coors III was kidnapped and held for ransom. His body was found seven months later on a remote hillside. He had been shot to death. His son, Adolf Coors IV was fifteen years old at the time. He lost his father and his best friend. For years, Coors hated Joseph Corbett, the man who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for murdering the elder Coors.
Fifteen years later Coors became a Christian. His life was transformed. He realized his hatred for Corbet hindered his growth as a person of faith and alienated him from other people. He prayed, asking God to help him. Finally Coors decided to visit his father’s slayer at Canon City Penitentiary in Colorado. Corbett refused to see him so Coors left a Bible for him with an inscription. It read, “I’m here to see you today and I’m sorry that we could not meet. As a Christian man I am compelled to forgive you and ask you to forgive me for the hatred for you I have held in my heart.” After fifteen years, young Coors was free.
I believe that Esther was a person in need of liberation. She was enslaved by an oppressive Persian culture. Not just her, but the entire Jewish community. Esther told the king of her plight and gave him the name of the man who was responsible. As a result, Haman, was hanged at the order of King Ahasuerus. However, following the hanging, “The anger of the king abated.” Not only was Esther and the Jewish community free, the king was free of his anger.
I don’t believe that a case for violence or even retribution can be made based on this one story. Nevertheless, one man’s death led to the liberation of Esther, one of God’s faithful. In addition the event resulted in a celebration, called Purim. Perhaps it was on a much smaller scale than Passover, the primary celebration of freedom for the Jews during the Exodus. There can be no doubt that death was involved in both.
There is a second consequence of the story of Esther, which I believe is more significant. In the process of celebrating the Jewish community shared food with each other and gave gifts to the poor. This is not to say that the means justifies the ends. Rather, it highlights the joy of giving alms.
In the book, Small Miracles, written by Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal, there is a story about a man named Mandelbaum. He was modern day good Samaritan. When he and his wife would go shopping in town, Mandelbaum would walk up and down the streets putting quarters in parking meters. He had a habit of making it to the meter before the meter maid. His wife thought his little acts of kindness were a bit obsessive. She wondered why he bothered since no one ever did anything nice for him.
Her husband was being highly charitable, but none of the owners of the parked cars would ever know who he was, or even if they had been spared a $25 parking ticket. His wife was proud of him but she never witnessed anyone returning the favor.
One day she was shopping in another area of the city and ended up in a dress shop. She lost all track of time and finally realized that her parking meter had expired. She ran outside only to see the meter maid a few feet away from her car. There was no way she was going to beat her to the meter. She knew her husband would be upset with her if she got a parking ticket. He considered that the height of irresponsibility and a horrible waste of money.
The maid was almost at the meter when a strange man appeared from nowhere and put a quarter in the meter. He smiled broadly at the meter maid then quickly walked away. "Who could it be?" she wondered. "Perhaps he was a neighbor, a relative or a friend of her husband." She hastily walked after him and finally caught up with him. She thanked him for rescuing her from a parking ticket then asked him why he did it. He must have known her husband. But he replied, "I don’t know your husband nor do I know you or your car. I just thought it was a shame for someone to pay $25 for a parking ticket when all it cost me was 25 cents." She was overwhelmed with his generosity. "Oh, it’s OK, really," he said, "I do this all the time."
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He has served churches in Southwest Ohio for over three decades. He is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and has an M.Div. from Methodist Theological School, Delaware, Ohio, and a D.Min. from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He has also been an adjunct professor at Edison Community College, Piqua, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
*****************************************
StoryShare, September 27, 2015, issue.
Copyright 2015 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
