Remembering Who We Are, with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski.

Remembering Who We Are, with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski. Series: A Braver Way A Spacious Christianity, First Presbyterian Church of Bend, Oregon. Scripture: Matthew 5.5, Matthew 23.11, 2 Corinthians 5.

Join us this Sunday, either online or in-person, to hear a powerful message about promoting healing, peace, and the common good. Let’s come together to explore how we can be a force for tenderness and mercy in this world.

About the Series, A Braver Way: Finding Calm, Wisdom and Courage in these Anxious Days

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At First Presbyterian, you will meet people at many different places theologically and spiritually. And we love it that way. We want to be a place where our diversity brings us together and where conversation takes us all deeper in our understanding of God.

We call this kind of faith “Spacious Christianity.” We don’t ask anyone to sign creeds or statements of belief. The life of faith is about a way of being in the world and a faith that shows itself in love.

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Keywords:

voting importance, moral neutrality, Christian leadership, tenderness and mercy, meek and gentle, power and privilege, public service, racial injustice, forgiveness, election encouragement, spiritual discernment, common good, peacemakers, revolution of mercy, presbyterian, church, online worship, bend, oregon

Featuring:

Rev. Dr. Steven Koski, Brave of Heart, Guests

Transcript

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Music. Welcome to worship at First Presbyterian we at First Presbyterian practice a spacious Christianity, which means, no matter where you are in your faith journey, you belong and there is space for you at the table, there is space for your doubts and questions. We believe doubts and questions are a gift that invite us into deeper conversations and a more authentic faith. We believe diversity is a strength. Every story is sacred and everybody matters. We do our best to live the spacious and radical love of Jesus so that all might have a chance to flourish in this world. We are so glad to connect with you in this way. We would also love to worship with you in person if you're ever in the neighborhood on Sunday mornings at 830 or 10am and never hesitate to reach out to us to learn more about us or how we might support you. I hope you enjoy this worship service welcome. Something I like about our church is like, how we're so welcoming and how there's a lot of different people here. You can tell this, it's just such a welcoming and awesome community, and everybody's making it fun for kids coming in. So every Sunday you'll have, like, special holiday events, like an Easter egg hunt or a Christmas play, and it's always just such a welcoming community. I really like about First Presbyterian is that I just get to be free. There's a wonder room, and I'm in the Wonder room, I feel good. Church is good for you. When I'm at church, I feel welcomed. Keep being welcoming in a place for people to come you. Holy one, source of all life and love, we thank You that Your love is always present, even when we're not always present to your love. Your love is present in the spaces between friends. Your love is even present in the spaces between enemies. Your love is present in the rubble of villages destroy because of hate. Your love is present with grieving families, innocent children caught in the crossfire of war. Your love is present with those still reeling from the devastation of hurricanes, floods, wildfires. Your love is present in the first responders, relief workers, aid workers, bringing hope where there seems to be none. Your love is present with those living in tents because they have no home. Your love is present with those in assisted living waiting for a visit or the phone to ring, your love is present with those who are numb with grief. Your love is present with those living with the uncertainty of illness. Your love is present with those living in the relentless shadows of mental illness. Your love is present in the bedtime stories between parent and child, and even when we fail to recognize the presence of your love, which is nearly every moment you recognize us, you see us. You call us by name. You love us. You love us as we make space to be present to your love. Give us the grace to return even a bit of this love to you in the way we love one another, deep in our awareness of your love, that we might live as the presence of your love in this broken and hurting world. Amen. November 5 feels like one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime. I mean, what a gift it is to live in a democracy. Voting is the most powerful non violent change agent we have in a democratic society. So please vote. Encourage others to vote. Vote as your conscience leads you. One of the things I value most about being Presbyterian is our belief that God alone is the Lord of your conscience. What I say in a sermon is led by my own conscience and discernment of where God is leading me, and you led by your conscience, have every right to disagree with me. My goal is never agreement, but an invitation into deeper discernment about what it means to be followers of Jesus, committed to his spacious and radical love in such a time as this. Now I know some of you may be thinking, What does voting have to do with our faith? Please, please keep politics out of the pulpit. You know it's true, I have no right, and it's not my job to tell you who to vote for. Partisan politics has. No place in the pulpit or in the church. But partisan neutrality is not the same as moral neutrality. Voting is not separate from your faith. Voting is an expression of your faith. It's an act of love. It's been said that voting is a kind of, kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children. I mean, for people of faith, voting is an act of spiritual and moral discernment, deciding the values that will that will shape our common life together. There are leaders in every political party that that exercise power in corrupt ways, because leadership was never meant to be about power. From a Christian perspective, leadership is about sacrifice and service. That's why Christian nationalism is so dangerous. Beware of any Christian movement that acts as though the world is full of enemies to be dominated and destroyed, rather than full of neighbors to be loved. Beware of any Christian movement that demands the government be an instrument of God's wrath, rather than a source of God's mercy, generosity, compassion. Christians are called to serve, not dominate Christian nationalism keeps telling Christians to take up their sword and make our nation into their version of Christianity by any means necessary. Jesus called us to put down our swords, take up our crosses and be like him, serving the world through grace, humility, compassion, self, sacrificial, love. Jesus said that the greatest among you are those willing to be a servant, not just for some, but servant of all as we consider our vote up and down the ballot, followers of Jesus, don't ask, who will best serve my interests, but who will best serve the common good? Who will best help us love our neighbors, who will shape public policy that will that will feed the hungry, care for the poor, welcome the stranger, care for the least of these, who will best help us heal what divides us, who will help us be peacemakers and love our enemies who will shape public policy that cares for God's holy earth. It's correct. It's not my place to tell you who to vote for. But partisan neutrality is not the same thing as moral neutrality. It is my job to remind you that Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God, and that the best way to love God is to love your neighbor as yourself. Voting is an expression of your faith. It's a way of demonstrating love for your neighbor. Now, the lawyer asked Jesus, well, who is my neighbor? And Jesus responded, the one in need of your mercy. Recently, Pope Francis said, in this time of harshness and hostility, what we need is a revolution of tenderness and mercy. Tenderness and mercy, he said, are chosen by the strongest among you. What if that was our lens? How might our vote usher in a revolution of tenderness and mercy? I mean, Jesus said, Blessed are the meek and gentle of heart, for they will inherit the earth, meek, gentle of heart. I picture Tom Hanks in the movie a league of your own, where he says, are you crying? There's no crying in baseball. You can't be soft if we're going to win. But Jesus. Said, Blessed are the meek and gentle of heart. That actually seems a little naive and out of place given the current political climate. Now, when we think of the word meek in our culture, we think of someone who's timid and allows themselves to be a doormat. When we think of someone who's, who's gentle of heart. We think of someone who's, who's fragile that you have to take care of. That's the wisdom of our culture. And Jesus certainly isn't calling us to be timid and fragile. So what is the wisdom of Jesus? The Greek word pro ates, translated as meek or gentle of heart, was actually used in the time of Jesus to describe the opposite of unbridled anger, harshness, brutality. It was a word that it was actually used to describe a person of authority and power who refused to use their power and privilege to crush or harm another person. Now, example, would be a king who has the authority and power to harshly punish, and instead chooses to use that power to forgive the King, who chooses to heal instead of hurt, who chooses reconciliation instead of revenge. In the time of Jesus, was considered meek and gentle of heart. Now in our culture, this is viewed as weakness, according to the wisdom of Jesus, it's actually what true strength looked like. Now think of Jesus hanging from the cross, he couldn't be any more vulnerable and weak. I mean, they laughed at him. They spit at him. They they made fun of him, saying, uh, some king you are. Look at you now. Look how weak you are. And Jesus looked in the eyes of those who nailed the nails in his hands, and he said, Father, forgive them. Jesus, in His last breath, used his power to forgive. I can't think of a more powerful expression of love than that. In this world of ours, that that defines power by control and domination, we actually dare to trust. It's that kind of vulnerable love revealed in Jesus, that kind of meekness, that kind of gentleness of heart that is stronger than even the worst kind of evil. LR nosed wrote, preserving a gentle spirit in a heartless world takes extraordinary courage, determination, resilience. Do not underestimate the power of gentleness, because gentleness is strength wrapped in peace, and therein lies the power to change the world. Blessed are the meek and gentle of heart in a hostile and heartless world, think of this perspective in terms of voting. How do we exercise the power and the privilege of our vote not to serve ourselves or to harm others, but as a way to foster healing, promote peace, lift up the most vulnerable. The late Congressman John Lewis was was often described by his colleagues as as a gentle giant, even though he was short in stature, John Lewis channeled his outrage, his outrage over racial injustice, into a lifetime of public service. He never backed down. He never backed away from from getting into what he called good trouble, necessary trouble, refusing to rest until the dignity and worth of every human being was recognized in the 1960s George Wallace used. Demonizing and dehumanizing language of rage and hate to become Alabama's governor, and he led the South's efforts against racial integration, vowing segregation forever. Now, Wallace used his power to try to maintain power and crush his enemies, and how Wallace exercised power created a climate of violence, leading to John Lewis having his skull fractured by a police baton as he led a peaceful march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Toward the end of George Wallace's life, he actually sought the forgiveness of John Lewis. And John Lewis said, when I when I met George Wallace, I had to forgive him, because to do otherwise to hate him, would only perpetuate the evil we sought to destroy. John Lewis said, If I refuse to forgive and chose to hate, I would become the monster I've devoted my entire life to overcoming. Blessed are the meek and gentle in heart in a hostile and heartless world, friends care deeply care, deeply. Be outraged. Get into good trouble, necessary trouble. But as it says in Proverbs, 423, above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Now more than ever, it is so important to remember that you are a beloved child of God. You are made in the image of God's own goodness. It is so important to remember the goodness of who you are at your core, at a time when the ugliness of inhumanity is on full display, the gift we can offer right now is the very best of our Humanity in these next few days leading up to the election and beyond, I really encourage you to find a few moments to step away from the devices, the news cycles, other people's opinions, until you can hear that still, that still small voice within and I really encourage you in the next few days to each and every morning, ask yourself the following questions, what role do I want to play in this moment in history? I Who do I want to be? How can I use my power and my privilege in service of healing this broken world? What do I need to be brave with my life. How can I stand up for what is right and what is just without dehumanizing or demonizing others, without losing sight of my own goodness, friends, we don't simply cast our vote by filling out our ballot. We vote for the world we dream of for ourselves and for our children. We vote for that world every single day with our hearts, our voices, our hands, our feet, may our votes usher in a revolution of tenderness and mercy In this hostile and heartless world. May it be so. Friends, we don't simply cast our vote by filling out a ballot. We vote for the world we dream of, for ourselves and for our children every single day with our hearts, our voices, our hands, our feet, may our votes usher in a revolution of tenderness and mercy. Go in the peace and the love of Christ, and May the love that we bring into this world bring peace to others. May it be so. Thank you so much for joining us, and we hope you enjoyed this worship service. If you would like to make a donation helping make these podcasts possible or support them many ways. First, Presbyterian seeks to serve our community. You can make a financial gift online@bendfp.org every week, we hear from someone thanking us for the gift of these broadcasts, and what a difference they make. Your support makes that possible. Our church is committed to reach beyond our walls, bringing hope where there is despair and love where it is needed the most. Your generous support helps us to be generous in love. Go to our website, bend fp.org, and click on the link. Give online Your support is really appreciated and makes a difference in people's lives. Thanks again. I hope to See you next week. You