Labor Unto Glory (Jeremiah 2:4-13)

 ⚫When I began working on this sermon, the image of a cracked cistern that could hold no water stuck in my mind…

While I was pondering what to make of that, the McLean County Museum of History announced the discovery of an old brick cistern right here in Bloomington, just a few blocks from First Christian Church. It’s in the 200 block of Washington Street. 

The Public Works Department was doing some excavation work when the cistern was revealed.

A cistern, if you don’t know, is a basin meant to hold water. Drinking water, rainwater…And they’re usually in the ground…

I’m not sure exactly how this cistern was used. But I do know that when they discovered this cistern, they also found two wooden pipes running from that cistern to another cistern under the intersection of Washington Street and Madison Street.

Apparently, in the 19th century, water, sewer, and even gas lines were often constructed of wood. 

Historically, cisterns have been vital parts of the infrastructure for cities all over the world.

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The city of Istanbul, for example, has hundreds of ancient cisterns buried beneath it. The largest is the Basilica Cistern, built in the 6th century.

The Basilica Cistern is huge. It’s enormous! It is capable of holding 21 million gallons of water. The floorspace covers 100,000 square feet. That’s almost as big as two football fields. The ceiling of the cistern is held up by 336 marble pillars.

Today, the Basilica Cistern has become a tourist attraction…

Most of the water is drained, just a little bit on the floor is left, and they have installed metal walkways over the water… and they have also installed modern, color-changing LED lights (you know I love color-changing LED lights!) 

Sometimes they have concerts there… imagine the acoustics! (Although the 96% humidity in the cistern might not be good for certain musical instruments.) They also have art shows and other events in the cistern.

A ticket to visit costs 1,650 lira, or about 40 dollars. But know that, as of August 1, the Basilica Cistern has gone cashless, just like the BCPA and Grossinger Motors Arena, so if you plan on going, be sure to bring your credit card.

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If you don’t think you’ll be going to Istanbul anytime soon, you can visit the Basilica Cistern virtually, via the website. Or you can play the video game Assassin’s Creed Revelations, which features a sequence set in the Basilica Cistern.

If you do visit in person, your visit will begin by climbing down 52 stone steps into the cistern. Once down below, you will be surrounded by walls that are thirteen feet thick, coated with a waterproofing mortar.

That waterproofing mortar is important. If you’re going to build a cistern to hold 21 million gallons of water, the walls and floor need to be waterproof. Otherwise the water will all leak out.

Imagine the effort it took to build the Basilica Cistern. It is said that it required the labor of 7,000 slaves to build, and that construction lasted 38 years. 

And imagine if, after all that, they forgot to waterproof it. All that labor would have been in vain.

The prophet Jeremiah says that the people have built cisterns that can hold no water. All their labor has been in vain. 

Since this is Labor Day weekend in the United States, it does seem a good time to contemplate our own labor, what it is we labor for, and whether or not our own labor has been in vain, or whether it has yielded good results.

We want our labor to mean something. We want it to yield results…

In Jeremiah’s time, the people of Israel established their nation over the course of many years. 

First, they were in slavery in Egypt… laboring not for themselves or for their own welfare, or even for God, but for Pharaoh.

Then God led them out of slavery, so that they could use their labor to build their own nation in their own land.

And what high hopes they had when they began! 

But then they began to forget.

They began to forget that it was God who led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, across the wilderness, and to the Promised Land.

They forgot that God, who always had and still has their welfare in mind, should be lifted up and praised and honored in all they do.

Instead, they began to use their labor to glorify themselves. They would build something, and say, “look what we have done,” forgetting that nothing they accomplished would have been possible without God.

The breath in their lungs, the strength in their bodies, the hope that dwelled within them, all came from God.

And the nation they built became like a cracked cistern that could hold no water. Their labor was in vain. As the psalmist wrote, “unless the Lord builds this house, those who build it labor in vain.”

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Here is something I have found helpful. We all are given, by God, a certain amount of life energy.

What we use that life energy for matters.

Now let’s say you go to work. 40, 50, 60 hours a week. And maybe that job isn’t very meaningful to you. It’s just a job.

Does that mean you are laboring in vain?

Not necessarily.

At that job, you are trading in your life energy, right? You give the company, the boss, whoever, 40, 50, 60 hours a week of your life energy, and in exchange, they give you a paycheck.

So now you have converted your life energy into money.

Let’s say that you get paid $20 an hour. You work one hour, and you get $20. So that $20 represents one hour of your life energy. 

And let’s say that, after work, you stop by the store, and you see something that costs $20. If it costs $20, that means that what it really costs you is one hour of your life energy.

So instead of asking yourself, “is this item worth $20,” you should ask yourself, “Is this item worth the one hour of my life I gave in exchange for that $20.”

I find that thinking about money this way helps me make better decisions, as it reminds me that my money is really the result of my labor, and I don’t want my labor to be in vain.

If I spend my $20 on something that doesn’t enrich my life or the life of my family, or if I spend it on something that goes against my values, then that would be like building a cistern that can hold no water. It would be doing all this work, yet the work I do would not be accomplishing any goal I have or helping in any way to fulfill the vision I have set for how I want to live.

(I probably should have saved all this for when we talk about stewardship later this fall, but labor and money are so intimately connected, that I couldn’t wait until then.)

Learning about the Basilica Cistern in Istanbul, and how it was built with the labor of 7,000 slaves, brings up another issue. It’s not just my labor that matters. It is the labor of those around me.

I’m glad that the labor of those 7,000 slaves was mentioned in the material I read. It’s important to remember that much of what we enjoy is the result of the labor of others… and that sometimes, that labor was forced; and that those who did the labor were not able to benefit from what their labor produced.

In Micah 4, there is a vision of what the prophet calls “the days to come,” when the Lord’s instruction goes forth into the land, and the people listen to the teachings of God.

And in that vision, the prophet says that the people “shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees.”

That vision, of people sitting under their own vines and under their own fig trees, also appears in 1 Kings 4, where life under the reign of Solomon was good and prosperous.

Zechariah also presents a vision of people sitting under their own vine and fig tree.

What that means is that those who labor, tending to the vine, tending to the fig tree, tending to the crops they grow, get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Their labor is not in vain.

In God’s vision for the world, people do not labor in vain. People do not exert their life energy, only to have someone else receive all the benefits and rewards from that labor. 

Slavery is not a part of God’s vision.

Neither is it a part of God’s vision to have a society where people labor and spend their life energy without receiving a living wage. A company whose CEO earns billions, while the employees do not earn enough to feed themselves or their families, or enough to secure adequate housing, is contrary to God’s will. 

All labor is important. All labor has value. And all those who labor should be able to share in the abundance their labor helps produce. They should be allowed to sit under their own vine and their own fig tree, and enjoy the fruit they helped produce.

So on this Labor Day weekend, let us remember the labor of others, and the blessings we have received because of their labor and their life energy; 

let us honor all who labor; 

And let us consider our own labor, and the ways we spend our own life energy, so that it may bring glory to God, and life to us and those around us.

Deeper Roots (Joel 2:21-24 & Psalm 126)

 I’ve never been to the Holy Land, but I have been to California…

The climate in my home state is very similar to the climate in the Holy Land. They both have what climatologists call a “Mediterranean Climate.” 

It is a unique climate; only 2 percent of the earth’s land has a Mediterranean climate.

In a Mediterranean climate, the rain comes in the winter. It almost never rains in summer. 

That’s why Los Angeles has long canals bringing drinking water into the city from the Colorado River, and from the Sierra Nevada, where the snow falls so heavily in winter that it is measured in feet, and takes most of the summer to melt. It’s that melting snow that allows Los Angeles to have drinking water through the long, dry summer.

Los Angeles averages around 14 inches of rain annually. However, the amount of precipitation that falls varies greatly from year to year. In 2004, Los Angeles had 37 inches of rain; two years later, in 2006, Los Angeles had just 3 inches of rain.

Some years, when the timing and amount of winter rains are just right, the wildflowers explode on the hills. People will flock to certain areas known for wildflowers to wander among them, admire them, and take photos. 

Places where California poppies grow become a carpet of bright orange spreading out for miles.

In many of the canyons around Los Angeles, one can find massive sycamore trees growing. These trees are huge, and sometimes their trunks twist and curve, giving them unique shapes. 

Sycamore trees also require a lot of water to grow, which is why they only grow in canyons, along streams.

In summer, those streams often run dry. So how do the sycamores survive?

By sending roots down deep underground. Because underground, the water continues to flow, even when there is no water flowing on the surface. Sycamores would not survive if their roots were shallow, because on the surface and near the surface, the land is dry all summer long. But deep down, below the surface, the water flows all year long.

Many of the streams in the Holy Land are the same way. They are dry much of the year, at least on the surface. 

In California, these seasonal streams are often called arroyos. In the Holy Land, they are called wadis.

The Jordan River is big enough that it usually has water flowing in it all year long… but not much. I did read once that more ink has been spilt to describe the Jordan River than there is water flowing in it. 

Perhaps that description was written by someone from the Midwest, disappointed by how little the Jordan River is when compared to rivers like the Mississippi, or even the Illinois River.

However, the Jordan River is capable of growing much larger when the rains come, overflowing its banks, before settling back down to its normal size once the rains are over.

The L.A. River works the same way. It can be a raging torrent during winter storms, but most of the year, it’s nothing more than a trickle.

So… even though I’ve never been to the Holy Land, I have been to California, and I understand the excitement and the joy and the anticipation that surround the arrival of the winter rains, which the prophet Joel wrote about.

And I understand the reference the psalmist makes, to the Negeb, a river whose waters are replenished every winter after the summer-long drought. People in the Holy Land, like people in my home state of California, pray each year that the winter rains come, that it’s not a year of just 3 inches of rain, but enough rain for the crops, enough to drink, and enough to cover the hills with wildflowers.

This is what a life of faith is like, don’t you think? When Joel was talking about the rain that turns the pastures green and which produces fruit on the trees, and causes grapes to appear on the vine, I don’t think he was just talking about climate and agriculture, do you?

There are seasons which make it easy to have faith, seasons of wildflowers and fruit and green pastures; but then there are seasons when faith itself seems to run dry…

And in those seasons, we need to be like the sycamore. We need to have deep roots.

Sycamore trees are ready for the years of drought, because their roots are deep. How do we grow roots that are deep?

I know, for many of you, our church’s small groups help you grow deep roots. Our small groups give the opportunity to dive deeper into scripture, to gain insights by discussing issues of scripture and faith with others, and to pray. They help you maintain your faith, even in seasons of drought. 

Many of you also volunteer in one way or another, on a team or committee or board, by serving as a greeter, or preparing or donating food for various events. Service to others also helps our roots grow deep.

Many of you are generous with your time, your talent, and also your treasure. Generosity is also a way to grow deep roots, and a stronger faith.

And generosity is borne out of gratitude. 

Like the prophet and the psalmist, I am grateful for the rain. I am grateful for the soil, and grateful for the tree that bears fruit. 

Sometimes, I will pause while I am eating, and ponder just what it is that I am eating. The other day, while I was working on this sermon, I was eating a slice of pumpkin pie. And what is pumpkin pie? It is pumpkin, flour, sugar, spices, and a few other ingredients, all mixed together and baked.

But the pumpkin in pumpkin pie isn’t just pumpkin. The pumpkin itself is made up of water, nutrients from the soil, and the energy of the sun. 

In fact, everything we eat can be traced back to the sun. In every bite, we are gifted with the energy of the sun, converted into food form, through the miracle of photosynthesis.

Even the water and the nutrients that are in the food we eat, depend on the sun’s energy.

Pondering this truly helps me be more thankful when I eat, to remember that what I’m eating contains the energy of the sun, the energy of the universe, and what a miraculous thing that is!

Being aware that my food is actually the energy of the sun helps me understand other things… like money.

With the pumpkin, I started by asking, “Just what is this pumpkin, exactly?” Now, let’s ask: “Just what is this money, exactly?”

And just as the pumpkin contains within it the energy of the sun, there is an energy at the source of the money you have.

In this case, it is your own life energy—the life energy given to you by your Creator.

We all have a certain amount of life energy. Every day, we make choices about how to use that life energy.

Many of us have spent many hours of our lives at work, where we have exchanged our life energy for money. We give so many hours of our life energy, and in exchange, we receive so many dollars.

So when we talk about money and dollars, what we’re really talking about is life energy.

And when I go to spend my money, I ask myself, “Is what I’m spending this money on worth the life energy I exchanged it for.”

To make it simple: if I earn $20 an hour, and I see something that costs $20, then the real cost of that item is one hour of my life energy. It takes one hour of my life energy to be able to afford this item.

Remembering this helps me make better decisions regarding my money. I often ask myself: Is what I spend money on worth the life energy I exchanged it for?

I know that many of you believe that the ministry of First Christian Church is worth a lot of your life energy. You have been blessed by this ministry, and you want to bless this ministry with your life energy.

Some of that life energy you give just by being here.

Some of your life energy, you give by volunteering and serving.

Some of your life energy, you give when you spend time praying for the church.

And some of that life energy, you give in the form of money.

You recognize that this ministry is something that you want to spend your life energy on.

I want you to remember that: Just like the pumpkin in my pie is actually the energy of the sun, converted into food, the pledge you make or the offering you give is more than just dollar bills. It is your life energy.

And I am so grateful that you so generously give of your life energy to this ministry. I am so grateful that I also get to give much of my life energy, in various forms, to the ministry of this church, to something that I believe so strongly in, something that is meaningful and worthy of my life energy.

One of my very favorite authors is Robin Wall Kimmerer. She wrote a very popular book a few years ago called Braiding Sweetgrass, and now she has just released a new book, called Serviceberry. 

In Serviceberry, she talks about gratitude, and abundance, and how the blessings we receive, we send on to bless others. 

But we don’t always pass them on in the same way we received them, or in the same form, or to the same person. 

The tree receives carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but it doesn’t give back CO2; the tree gives oxygen back, which is a real blessing to us and to all forms of life that depend on oxygen. The tree doesn’t say, “I’ve received CO2, I need to pass on CO2.” That’s not how the ecosystem works.

I have received many blessings in many forms throughout my life. Much of it was received from some very kind and generous people.

I’ve often wondered how I can pay them back. But now I realize that, just as the tree doesn’t give back the CO2 it receives, but gifts O2 to those who need it, so too can I pass on the generosity that I have received in different ways, to different people, since I’m not always able to return it to those from whom it came.

You know this in your life: think of someone whose generosity has been a blessing to you. Could be someone alive or someone who has passed on… Someone who you thought, “How can I ever pay them back for what they’ve done for me?”

Often, we can’t pay back the people who have been so kind and generous to us.

But you can be, and probably have been, generous in your own way, to others who have benefitted from your generosity. In this way you are like the tree; the tree that receives CO2 from the atmosphere, but then generously passes on O2…

So when I give thanks for the food I eat, I give thanks for the sun, the rain, the soil, the air—all the things that are contained in every bite.

And when I give thanks for this ministry, I’m really giving thanks for the life energy of so many lives—all of you—which really is what this ministry is.

This ministry is you. It is your life energy, the life energy given to you by God, which you now generously pass on.

And when we use our life energy for things that matter, things that make a difference, things that bless others…

Then our roots grow deep…and we tap into God’s ever-flowing abundance.

And we come a little closer to experiencing life in the kingdom of God; the kingdom that operates under a gift economy; the kingdom of abundance and generosity.

God's New Day (Isaiah 65: 17-25)

 

1. A New Day

Today’s sermon is about stewardship.

If that doesn’t excite you, I promise you, I will make it exciting. I won’t talk about money (much). And by the end of this sermon, you’ll be glad you listened to the whole thing.

So, to start, let’s talk about today’s scripture from Isaiah 65, which says: “I am about to create a new heaven and a new earth.” 

Through Isaiah, God makes this proclamation in a time of trouble and distress. Oppression. Occupation. Captivity. 

It’s a time when the bad days outnumber the good days; a time when there is so much more bad news than good news.

But a new day is coming. A new day is here! A day of joy and gladness!

The lectionary actually presents four different Old Testament scripture readings for today; you’re not supposed to read all of them; you’re supposed to pick one or two. But I can’t help but notice that all four - in one way or another - talk about this new day.

Isaiah 12 says: “You will say in that day: ‘I will give thanks to you, O Lord… I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.”

It’s another description of God’s new day that is coming; the new day that is already here.

Malachi 4 says: “The day is coming [when] the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.” God’s new day will be a day of healing. A day of wholeness for all who live in a fragmented world.

Psalm 98: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.” In a time of trouble and distress, the songs that are sung are songs of lament. But a new day of joy and gladness means new songs will be sung: songs of praise and thanksgiving.

A new day. A new heaven. A new earth. A new song…It’s not like the days we have known (days of toil and oppression)... It’s not like the world we currently live in (a world of inequality and injustice). It’s not the same song we’ve been singing (a sad lament). 

It’s a new day, a new world, with a new song.

2. Proclaiming Good News

All this talk about a new day, a new song, etc. is thematically related to the new kingdom Jesus talked about: the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom that is present, now within and among all those who follow him.

It’s a day marked by peace. Not the peace of any empire, which is enforced by armies and occupations; but true peace, characterized by the love neighbors have for one another. It’s a peace that values the good of the community, the nation, the world, rather than just the good of oneself or one’s own family. It’s a peace that is based on justice and equality.

And this message of God’s new day is a message that has been entrusted to us. We are the proclaimers of this new day! We are the proclaimers of the new heaven and new earth! We are the proclaimers of God’s new kingdom!

The world that we live in proclaims its own message. And too often that message - the message of the world - is: 

You’re not good enough.

You’re not worthy of love.

You don’t deserve peace.

Your rights are not important.

Your life doesn’t matter.

But the message that is ours to proclaim is this:

You are created in the image of God. 

God’s presence is in you! 

When God created you, God pronounced you VERY GOOD! 

YOUR LIFE MATTERS TO GOD!

If that’s not the message you’ve received from the church, I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry. If church has made you feel less than worthy - if church has made you feel guilty or ashamed - if church has left you feeling worse about yourself than you felt before you heard the church’s message, I’m deeply, truly, sorry.

Because that is not the message that has been entrusted to us to share. That is the message of the world, which, in many places, has infiltrated into the church, and corrupted the truly good news that is the message we are supposed to proclaim.

3. Reminders…

Speaking of good news: whenever we have an election, we hope the results of the election will be good news. We pin our hopes on election outcomes that will bring about a new and better day for our country. 

Yet when the results come in, there is always some disappointment; there is always the realization that the new kingdom is not yet fully realized in our world, or even in the hearts and minds of our fellow voters - especially when election results show that too many in our country are willing to support candidates whose campaigns are based on lies, or who support white supremacy, or Christian nationalism, or who are willing to deny justice or equal rights to the more vulnerable segments of our population.

It helps, then, to seek out reminders that the promise of God's new day is still alive, and that the reality of that new day is, in many ways, present, right now, all around us - no matter what the election results are. The kingdom is present within us and among us, as the scripture says. 

There are glimpses of this new day, this new kingdom, all around us. This weekend, the new Black Panther movie premiered; the movie presents a fantasy world in which Black lives do matter every bit as much as white lives - a world where Black lives are seen as sacred and valued. Yes, it’s fantasy, but the movie was made by real people, and millions of people seeing it feel joy and hope at this glimpse of the world as it can be. 

I’m also reminded of God’s new day when I watch the TV show Queer Eye. On this show, the whole spectrum of humanity is lifted up as sacred and beloved. It shows a new day where people of every sexual orientation, every gender identity, every race, are valued and deemed worthy of love. Often, the people featured on the show don’t fully love themselves, and throughout the show they learn to love themselves, they learn to see the good in themselves, they learn to look in the mirror and see the beauty that is more than skin deep. 

4. BKCC!

But for me, the most significant reminder that God’s new day is a present reality is the ministry of Bixby Knolls Christian Church. I’m not saying our congregation is perfect, because no congregation is perfect; but we are learning to live out the good news of God’s new day - the kingdom that is present within us and among us. And we’re learning how to share the message that God’s love is genuine, is real, and is for every person without exception. 

I’ve heard people who are too familiar with the life-denying, judgmental, condemnatory messages all around us, say about Bixby Knolls Christian Church: What a breath of fresh air.

I’ve heard them say: This little church is the best-kept secret in Long Beach.

I’ve heard them say: Bixby Knolls Christian Church is the first place that accepted me and loved me just as I am.

These are actual quotes; I’m not making them up.

And it lets me know that we’re doing something right. That we’re proclaiming a message that is so desperately needed, a message of good news that is exactly what our neighbors need to hear.

One thing I’ve learned from substitute teaching is that a lot of the love and affirmation in our world today is conditional. The students I teach often have a hard time believing that they are worthy of love and affirmation just as they are. 

The message they’ve heard is the same message told to people by empires past and present. Your worth depends on what you can contribute to the empire, to the emperor. Your value to society depends on the contribution you can make to the empire’s treasury, or the service you can provide as part of the empire’s military. 

But the new message of God’s new day is that you have value and you are loved simply because you exist. Simply because you are a human - a human who God created in God’s own image.

That’s the message that is ours to proclaim. And believe me, it’s a message that changes lives! It’s a message that saves lives! It’s a message that makes a huge difference in our world!

I’ve been connected to a number of churches in my life - and no church that I’m familiar with does a better job of sharing the good news of God’s new day than Bixby Knolls Christian Church.

And maybe some of you wonder why I’ve stuck around here for so long. Isn’t there another congregation somewhere that could pay more, or have more programs, more excitement, that might be more attractive to a pastor?

But I haven’t found a congregation more committed to being so fully loving, and growing in love, as Bixby Knolls Christian Church. And I believe that Bixby Knolls Christian Church is a congregation worth staying at. A congregation worth fighting for.

5. Committed to God’s New Day

So I’m committing to continuing to fight for this congregation, this ministry, so that the message of God’s new day and the message of God’s amazing, radical, unconditional love for all people will continue to be shared with those who need to hear it.

And I invite you to join me.

If you believe that this is a ministry worth fighting for…

If you believe that the good news of God’s new day needs to be heard…

If you believe that BKCC is called to share this good news with the world…

Then I invite you to recommit to making this ministry a priority in your life.

There are three main ways to do that.

One is by your participation - by making your presence a priority.

Two is by prayer - by making it a priority to pray for our church.

And three is by your financial support. (I did say I was going to talk a little about money.) In addition to participation and prayer, ministry does require money…

So: will you join me in prioritizing the ministry of this church in 2023?

In the past, we have collected pledge cards to help us plan our budget, but this year I’d like to collect commitment cards. And I’m inviting every teenager and adult to fill one out. 

Now, if only one person in your household makes a pledge of money on behalf of the other members of the household, that’s fine; and only that person should mark a monetary amount. So, if a married couple, for example, pledges to give jointly to the church, only one of them should mark that dollar amount on their card.

But every person - every teenager and every adult - can indicate their commitment to participate, and their commitment to pray. And that’s why I’m asking that every teenager and every adult fill out a card. Even young children can fill out a card, if they want to.

And together, we will proclaim the message of God’s new day. Together, we will sing a new song, full of hope and affirmation. Together, we will spread the news that God’s love is real, and it is for every person.