The Eternal Immigrant

Today I’ve stolen my sermon title from a fresh new creed.

It’s called the Immigrants Creed and was written by Jose Luis Casal, General Missioner of Tres Rios Presbytery in Texas. Visit this link to view the whole creed:
http://www.ethnicharvest.org/ideas/creed.htm

We’re going to read the whole creed later, but for now I want to get real familiar with this one sentence from it. So Let’s read it together first in English, then in Spanish.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the eternal immigrant from God's kingdom among us, who speaks all languages, lives in all countries, and reunites all races.

Of all the people who should be preaching this sermon today about the Eternal Immigrant, I am probably the least likely suspect.

Of all the people who should be co-pastoring a church that’s at least half-full of immigrants, I probably wouldn’t be your first choice.

I’ve never really been an immigrant.

I was born four blocks from here at Bethany Hospital.

With the exception of my college years, 50 miles away at Ottawa, Kansas, I have spent my entire 49.5 years here within 10 miles of my birthplace.

Technically, I’m not an immigrant and never have been, even though I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Mexico, Central and South America and Europe.

I’ve never had to learn a new language in order to get by.

I’ve never had to adapt to a new culture and give up precious parts of my history and myself.

The only thing that has ever separated me from my biological family members has been death.

I don’t know of a single other pastor in a Presbyterian Church who is pasturing four blocks from his birthplace.

Most pastors, at the very least, migrate to other cities and states.

But somehow I haven’t migrated at all.

And yet here we are together . . .

The least likely pastor to be able to relate to immigrants and a church full of immigrants.

How many of the rest of you were born within 4 blocks of this church?

From my perspective you’re all immigrants.

How did we end up here together?

Spanish speakers, English speakers, Guatemalans, Missourians, Ecuadorians, Kansans, Mexicans, Colombians, West Virginians, Hondurenos, country folk, city folk, suburban folk, Latinos, Europeans, Young, Old.

How did all of you end up here together 4 blocks from where I was born?

The Eternal Immigrant.

You got up and you moved when the Spirit said move.

Why?

Because when the Spirit says move, you’ve got to move, Oh Lord, you’ve got to move when the Spirit says move!

Why?

Because God’s Spirit is always on the move.

Jesus told Nicodemus, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)

Let’s say it again, I believe in the Holy Spirit, the eternal immigrant from God's kingdom among us, who speaks all languages, lives in all countries, and reunites all races.

Why are we here together?

Because of the Eternal Immigrant, God’s Spirit, who is working to reunite us.

People wonder why we do we what we do?

Why do we bother to sing in two languages? Why do we bother to pray in two languages? Why do we bother to preach in two languages?

They think we must be drunk.

But it’s only Noon.

But they are right. We are drunk.

We are drunk on the Eternal Immigrant. God’s Spirit has baptized us, has intoxicated us, has inebriated us, has inflamed us with this ridiculous folly that we belong together.

The Eternal Immigrant has come to us from God’s Kingdom to reunite us and offer us the passport of baptism which give us freedom to immigrate to God’s Country, God’s Kingdom where all our differences are respected and welcomed.

Let’s say it again, I believe in the Holy Spirit, the eternal immigrant from God's kingdom among us, who speaks all languages, lives in all countries, and reunites all races.

Where does the Holy Spirit live?

Here in Wyandotte County? Yes!

In Michoacan? Yes!

In Quito? Yes!

In Mazatenango? Yes!

In St. Louis? As much as I hate to admit it. Yes!

The Eternal Immigrant is at work in every city, every country, every continent, working to reunite all God’s children everywhere.

There is no river the Eternal Immigrant won’t cross.

There’s no border the Eternal Immigrant can’t break through.

There’s no desert the Eternal Immigrant can’t transverse.

No stupid border walls that the Holy Spirit won’t demolish.

The Eternal Immigrant makes her home where we are and where we aren’t.

Let’s say it again, I believe in the Holy Spirit, the eternal immigrant from God's kingdom among us, who speaks all languages, lives in all countries, and reunites all races.

The Eternal Immigrant bursts into our lives and gives us the ability to talk to anybody in any language.

In today’s story the Eternal Immigrant baptizes, intoxicates, inebriates, inflames the disciples with a wide variety of languages.

The streets of Jerusalem were filled with tourists who were there for the festival.

And the Eternal Immigrant pushed the disciples out the door to where the people were.

And the Eternal Immigrant in a miraculous moment gave them the ability to speak the languages of all those tourists.

If you are baptized, intoxicated, inebriated, inflamed with the Holy Spirit there is nobody you can’t or shouldn’t talk to about Jesus.

Say it again, I believe in the Holy Spirit, the eternal immigrant from God's kingdom among us, who speaks all languages, lives in all countries, and reunites all races.

God’s Holy Spirit is the Eternal Immigrant and when the Eternal Immigrant says, “Move” then by God, You’ve got to move when the Spirit says move, You’ve got to move when the Spirit says move, Cause when the Spirit says move, you’ve got to move, Oh Lord! You’ve got to move when the Spirit says move!

I thank God, that by the power of the Eternal Immigrant, I have become an alien, a stranger, a foreigner who holds a baptismal passport to the only Country, the only Kingdom, the only Realm that matters --- God’s.

Because of the Eternal Immigrant I no longer belong to Wyandotte County, I no longer belong to the United States, I no longer belong to North America or the western hemisphere.

Because of the Eternal Immigrant we belong to God’s Country, God’s World, God’s Kingdom where there are no strangers, there are no aliens, there are no foreigners and where every immigrant can find a home.

Thanks be to the Father, the Son and the Eternal Immigrant.

Your Password

Good Morning Loved Ones,

A gentle rain and another cool spring day awaits to witness to your thankful work and worship.

Psalm 100 (The Message) - A Thanksgiving Psalm

On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.
Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn't make him.
We're his people, his well-tended sheep.
Enter with the password: "Thank you!"
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.
For God is sheer beauty,
all-generous in love,
loyal always and ever.

Your password to a blessed day is "Thank you!" It's amazing what saying it will do for you and for the people you encounter throughout the day. The baseline is the perfunctory, polite, Ms. Manners requirement that so many today omit. But as those accomplished and well versed in gratitude the baseline is underachieving. Eye contact, emotive voice and a smile is the next level. Off the charts is when the whole person gets in the act with a laugh, a leap, a song and a wide open embrace of the day. Step it up a notch today and see what what happens.

1) For the glory of my hands, feet, eyes, the senses of sight, touch, smell, hearing, for the lungs, heart, spleen and myriad other organs and functions that keep me going without thought or instruction, for being fearfully and wonderfully created, I give thanks.

2) For this home, this Gimme Cinco community that shares the minor and the massive thanksgivings and everything in between, for the exponential increase in my hope quotient that I experience when I open and read your five or six or seven, for this shared discipline that has changed my life, I give thanks.

3) For grandparents, all of them now gone for more than fifteen years, for their instruction, love, grace and care, for Diet-Rite sodas, Hi-Lite Ice cream, Yahtzee games and Sunday School with the Behrens', for white rice swimming in butter, the most delicious toast I have ever tasted and loving day care on Tremont with the Davidson's, for Lincoln Logs, toy trucks, toy John Deere tractors and fried chicken with the Nelson's, I give thanks. (It's a blessing to have 50% more G-Parents.)

4) For a blessed Memorial Day of extra sleep, accomplished tasks around the house, a family bike ride, a delcious dinner of "blackened teriaki chicken," and the grounding of wandering around the cemeteries to bless our memories.

5) For a welcoming community of faith, open to all and hospitable, for Lisa Ewald and the youth group from Nebraska that will arrive at Grandview Park about 6:30 pm and make it their home for three nights while they serve our community with Crosslines, I give thanks.

So, make yourselves at home talking praise. Whether it's a baseline day or you're off the charts we need to hear from each other. Open your hearts and share the blessings of this day.

Pastor Rick
http://gimmecinco.blogspot.com

Fuss-Less Friends

Good Morning Loved Ones!

In my sermon research for last Sunday I discovered that it is indeed right to call you Loved Ones. In Jesus farewell discourse with the disciples in John 15 he calls them friends. The Greek word used in that passage for friends is "philos" which literally means Loved Ones. So, there you go. We are Jesus' friends, his Loved Ones, his philos. Let that be the starting point for our gratitude today.

Part of the Gospel passage from today's lectionary readings:

Luke 12:22-31 (The Message)

Steep Yourself in God-Reality
22-24He continued this subject with his disciples. "Don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the ravens, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, carefree in the care of God. And you count far more.
29-32"What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.

Today are you preoccupied with getting or with responding to God's giving? Take a few minutes to do the latter. Let's say "Thank you!"

Today I am thankful that God has given me a community of friends. It is a community that exists among the faithful at Grandview Park. It is a community that exists in the Body of Christ beyond Grandview Park. And it is a community of friends that exists even beyond the bounds of the Body of Christ.

1) I give thanks for the working friendship among those who are currently serving as deacons and elders at GP. God did not make us friends in order to be a mutual admiration society. God made us friends to work together despite our differences to make a difference. For my circle of friends at GP, thank you, Jesus!
2) I give thanks for my group of friends at IJAM (Immigrant Justice Advocacy Movement). We are friends of every theological stripe with even a few agnostics in the mix. We work together for justice, hope and change and along the way our friendships are changing us. For my friends with a purpose at IJAM, thank you, Jesus!
3) I give thanks for my friends like Mark Killingsworth who have been empathetic and compassionate friends through many rough spots in my life. Since the day Mark welcomed me to my dorm room in college I have never doubted his friendship. For my friends like Mark Killingsworth who seem to be my friends for no particular reason, thank you, Jesus!
4) I give thanks that in Jesus we have a mutual friend through whom we have unlimited access to a world of friends. He chose us to be his friends, not in order to close the circle. No, he chose us to be his friends to go out and choose more friends by invitation and hospitality. For being the ultimate "social networking" source, thank you, Jesus!
5) I give thanks for the assurance given by Jesus, and oftentimes communicated through my friends, that I don't need to worry about having or getting friends, that I don't need to worry about the clothes I wear, that I don't need to worry about the food I need, that because I am in a community created and blessed by Jesus I belong and can live and work without anxiety and in peace with my brothers and sisters, my friends, my Loved Ones. Thank you, Jesus, for community!

Friends, Philos, Loved Ones . . . let's respond to God's giving!

Pastor Rick
http://gimmecinco.blogspot.com
There is no prayer group tonight.
Tomorrow's prayer group is at the Parrett's house.

A New Vision - John 15:12-19

To see the world differently sometimes you have to downshift.
I downshifted this past week to an average speed of about 12 mph.
This was Bike to Work week in KC and so as often as possible I rode my bike around town.
You see things differently at 12 mph than you do at 70 or even 55.

A few of the things I saw this week:
A fully decorated Christmas tree on the sidewalk,
A man who befriends, names, talks to, and feeds the birds,
A man who is living on a pedestal 50 ft above the Kansas river.

This last one was the most amazing thing I saw.
It was early on Thursday morning and I was on the bike bridge that crosses the river underneath I-70. At about 7:30 am a man was lifting his old clunker of a bike over the bridge railing from the river side.
I wasn’t sure what was going on.
Then I saw that he had a bedroll and a backpack and he hoisted himself up onto the bridge from the river side of the railing. He had spent the night sleeping on the concrete bridge post suspended about 50 ft above the Kaw River.

You see amazing things when you slow down.
Your vision has to change to adjust to the new speed.

In the scripture today, Jesus has slowed down the disciples.
No longer are they out running around Galilee and Judea.
They are at the last supper with Jesus.
He has stopped the running and he is offering them a new vision, a new way to look at each other and the world.

Sometimes we have to slow down.

Jesus is about to leave them and he spends about 4 entire chapters of John’s gospel giving them instructions.

Sometimes we just have to slow down.

The heart of the instruction that he gives them is this:
“Love one another as I have loved you.”

You’ve got to slow down to hear that.

“Love one another as I have loved you.”

Peter had to slow down when Jesus gave him the visual when the dinner started.
Remember how at the beginning of the dinner Jesus had washed the disciples feet.
Peter’s mind raced as he saw Jesus wash the other disciples feet.
“He shouldn’t be washing our feet. He’s the Lord, he’s the Messiah, he’s the Jefe.”
Jefe’s don’t wash the feet of the day laborers.
This is a new vision and Peter doesn’t like it.
When Jesus gets to him, Peter says, “No way. I’m the one who should be washing your feet.”
And Jesus says, “If you can’t accept this new vision, then you can’t accept me.”
And Peter’s racing heart and mind slows down and accepts the vision, “Not just my feet, Jesus, I need you from head to toe.”

This new vision requires us to slow down.
Even 12 mph is too fast.
What does Jesus mean when he says we are to “Love one another, as I have loved you.”
We’ll never get it if we are always on the run.
Friends slow down for each other.
Friends stop for each other.
Friends wait for each other.

And that’s the new vision Jesus gives us.
Friendship.
He says, “There is no greater love than to give up your life for your friend.”
Then he says that amazing thing.
You are my friends.

Have you slowed down enough to hear it?

You are my friends.

Has your mind stopped racing about whatever your plans you have for tomorrow?

You are my friends.

This is the new vision.

Jesus is our mutual friend and by him we become friends with one another.
Jesus is your ultimate Facebook connection.
Your search for friends begins and ends with Jesus.
Through him you can be friends with anybody.
Through him you can love one another.
After all, that’s what friendship is about. Love.

The Greek word used in this passage for friends is philos which literally means “Loved Ones.”
The new vision that we need is to be able to look around this room first of all and see only philos, loved ones.
We must realize that we didn’t choose to be friends with Jesus. Jesus chose to be friends with us.
We didn’t choose the philos that Jesus would bring into this room. Jesus chose them for us.
And so that makes this commandment to love one another more than a Facebook thing.
If Jesus recommends a friend to you, it really isn’t in your best interests to reject the friend.
Being friends in Jesus’ social network is not really about liking. It’s about being among the chosen.
That makes this friendship thing in Jesus’ world a new vision.
It’s a new vision that we must slow down to get.
Because this friendship, this love that Jesus is talking about is not an ethereal, other-worldy concept.
This new vision requires hard work.

Maybe you look around here and you see some people you like, some you don’t know and some you don’t like.
It doesn’t matter.
Because Jesus has slowed each of you down enough to get you in the same room together.
You are, each one, his philos, Friends – his Loved Ones.
And Jesus says that the vision of friends is to look out for each other.
To give up what you want --- for your friends.
Now that’s not hard to do with friends that you choose.
The hard part is to do that for friends that Jesus has chosen for you.

In his sermon on the mount Jesus said, “If you love only those who love you, what’s so special about that?”
This is a new vision. New, not because I just said it. It’s new because you have to stop to get it.
This kind of friendship Jesus is calling us to is the kind that doesn’t run away.
This kind of friendship keeps promises made even when it is inconvenient.
This kind of friendship keeps promises made in the name of the mutual friend Jesus.

Each year we have potential deacons and elders who stand before us and in the name of Jesus promise to be faithful friends doing the work of the church side by side.
And each year, along the way, some of these friends disappear.
They’re too busy. They’re going to fast. Somebody offended them so they run.
It doesn’t matter. This new vision is not about them.
It’s not about you.
It’s not about me.
It’s about us and this new vision of friendship.

The friendship Jesus is talking about is about partnership and risk, responsibility and conversion, pain and difficulty.

True friends slow down and stop even when it hurts to do so.
True friends don’t cut and run.
Friends of Jesus are in it for the long haul. Not by or for themselves, but by and for others.
The new vision is not easy.
But it greatly expands your social network.
No one gets rejected.
Not even people who put their Christmas tree on the sidewalk in May.
Not even crazy old men who talk to the birds.
Not even people who spend their nights suspended above a river sleeping on a concrete post.

Open your eyes.
Open your hearts.
Slow down.
Live by faith, not by sight.

Birds, Birds and More Birds

Good afternoon, Loved Ones,

A portion of today's lectionary reading from the gospel:

<sup>Romans 8 16-18 (The Message)

16-18</sup>"No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a washtub or shoves it under the bed. No, you set it up on a lamp stand so those who enter the room can see their way. We're not keeping secrets; we're telling them. We're not hiding things; we're bringing everything out into the open. So be careful that you don't become misers of what you hear. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes."

1) Today I heard the gospel from the Birdman of Argentine. Most mornings Joe sits on the patio of the McDonalds at Kansas Avenue and 42nd St. Joe feeds the birds. Blackbirds, sparrows, wrens . . . it doesn't matter. Most of them have names. One of them is a blackbird named Harry whom Joe says is a walking gentleman in his all black tuxedo. I had stopped for a bite on my bike ride to a morning meeting when Joe freely shared his love of the birds. When he found out I was a preacher he commended me for "shouting down hell." I hadn't thought of my work that way and I thank Joe for generously sharing his breakfast with one more crazy, squawking bird, this one on a bike.

2) Sam will soon be home!

3) It's Bike to Work Week!

4) Bump Haynes faithful service to the church in good times and in bad.

5) For those who are generous, who open their hearts, homes and tables to friends and neighbors and even strangers and enemies.

Short and sweet today. Light your lamp of gratitude and it will guide your giving and get you generously through this hump day.

Peace,
Pastor Rick

Non-Anxious Robins

Good Morning Loved Ones,

Here's hoping your day is off to a great start. Our passage is from today's lectionary readings.

Colossians 2:6-7 (The Message)

^6-7My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you've been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You're deeply rooted in him. You're well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.

Are goodness and mercy chasing you down today? Is your cup running over? Let's hear about it.

1) For a lush, green front lawn with freshly sprouted new blades that is constantly full of non-anxious robins pecking out breakfast, lunch and dinner. And for a bare-spotted, well-worn, back lawn, protected and loved by a black, white and brown bundle of canine love.

2) For the Kent Parretts of the world who bring skills, tools (in a neatly organized van!), energy and infectious laughter to our work days and the way they accomplish one good thing at a time. (I wish we could clone him!)

3) For the Big Picture confirmation class young people who are becoming rooted and constructed in Jesus and are about ready to get out of school on Pentecost Sunday, May 31st when they will be baptized and confirmed.

4) For our two non-paid pastors at GP. Our Parish Associate, Pastor Terry and our Pastor Emeritus, Pastor Tom. For their wisdom, the way they know their way around the faith and their willingness to give freely of their gifts and leadership.

5) For all those who are letting goodness and mercy catch them and are out there living the faith and letting that goodness and mercy spill out of their full cups into the world, flooding it with peace, justice, hospitality, warmth, faith, hope and love.

6) For my mother and her never-failing love for her children. For her willingness to give and make their needs her own. For all those who carry life into this world and nurture, protect and serve. For our mothers.

Come on. You got one extra from me. Some of you I haven't heard from for a long time. "Let your living spill over into thanksgiving."

Pastor Rick

Chased by Love

Psalm 23:6
We don’t have much time today so I’m not going to beat around the bush.
I’m going to take the old public speaking mantra to heart.
I’m going to tell you what I’m going to tell you, then I’m going to tell you, then I’m going to tell you what I told you.
Here’s what I’m going to tell you . . .
Jesus got your back!
I can’t say a lot about Psalm 23 that hasn’t already been said.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want . . .”
These words are embedded in our hearts and minds.
They are even used regularly by artists, musicians and movie makers.
Psalm 23’s words have been echoed by Puff Daddy and Biggy Smalls, Good Charlotte, Coolio and even Kanye West.
Kanye West says, “I walk through the valley of the Chi where death is
Top floor the view alone will leave you breathless Uhhhh!
But I'll be gone 'til November I got packs to move I Hope… (Jesus Walks)
God show me the way because the Devil trying to break me down
(Jesus Walks with me)
The only thing that that I pray is that my feet don't fail me now
(Jesus Walks)
And I don't think there is nothing I can do now to right my wrongs
(Jesus Walks with me)
I want to talk to God but I'm afraid because we ain't spoke in so long."
Kanye knows it.
Jesus got your back.
Kanye knows that in the midst of everyday, real threats of drugs, gangs and violence there is a Good Shepherd who’s got his back.
The valley of death is not a metaphor for Kanye and those to whom he sings.
The “valley of the Chi” is the mean streets of Chicago, the south side, Cabrini Green, the housing projects from which many do not walk.
But Kanye knows that Jesus walks there.
Jesus got your back.
What do you fear is chasing you today?
Maybe it’s drugs, maybe it’s a gang, maybe you can relate to “Jesus Walks.”
But maybe what’s chasing you is some other fear.
Jesus walks.
Maybe you were reluctant to pass the peace today because you fear that swine flu is chasing you.
Jesus walks with you.
Maybe you’re being chased by the IRS or maybe even your relatives who want something out of you.
Jesus walks.
Maybe you’re being chased by the fear that your marriage is falling apart; you don’t know how to talk to each other any more
Jesus walks with you.
Maybe it’s a chronic disease that won’t seem to let you go, that keeps taking a little bit more from you every day. (I think we call that life!)
Jesus walks with you.
Maybe you’re a church torn by a conflict and you’re afraid that the conflict could rip you apart.
Jesus walks.
Maybe you’re a church in exile, a church with a long, rich history, adrift, without a home and you’re wondering if God has a place for you.
Jesus walks with you.
I’m tellin’ you, Jesus got your back.
Oh I l know it don’t feel like it sometimes.
I know that valley of death is deep and dark and when you’re down in there it’s hard to catch even a glimpse of the sun’s rays.
Like I have said before, at least once a week I find myself at least starting that descent into that dark valley.
For some reason it was Thursday this week.
I had a great sense and feeling of despair and powerlessness on Thursday.
Sometimes it just comes on you, doesn’t it?
You feel yourself trudging down into that deep, dark valley.
But guess what?
Even there Jesus walks with you.
Whatever it is that is chasing you or that you’re chasing . . .
Jesus is a better chaser.
Jesus got your back.
This last line of Psalm 23 is really our assurance.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life . . .
I doubt that David wrote that on a Thursday.
I suspect he wrote it on a Sunday, right after worship and the community meal as he was headed to his car in the afterglow of this beautiful thing that happens once a week.
But the Hebrew word that David uses there and we translate “follow” is not so much follow in the sense of two little kids following their scout master.
No, the Hebrew word means to pursue, or to be more dynamic, to chase after.
Goodness and mercy aren’t just out for a Sunday afternoon stroll with you.
Goodness and mercy are hunting you down.
Goodness and mercy, AKA Jesus, are going to catch you; it’s just a matter of time.
Jesus got your back, people.
Whatever’s happening to you now, in your everyday life, good or bad . . . that’s not the end of the story.
This table right here is the end of the story.
This is a table of grace.
This is a table of hope.
This is a table of peace.
This is a table of welcome.
This is the table where Jesus catches us.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies . . .
My cup runs over.”
Grandview Park, First Presbyterian, Ivan, Phylis . . . all you all out there.
Here’s what you need to know today.
Jesus got your back.
All the days of your life . . .
Jesus got your back.
If we can remember that, it will change our lives.
We will dwell in the house of the Lord, forever.
Here’s what I wanted to tell you.
Jesus got your back.