Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, ‘What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.’ 3Then Queen Esther answered, ‘If I have won your favour, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me—that is my petition—and the lives of my people—that is my request. 4For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.’* 5Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, ‘Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?’ 6Esther said, ‘A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!’ Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. 9Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, ‘Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.’ And the king said, ‘Hang him on that.’ 10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated.
20 Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, 22as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.
We are beginning an exciting series on World Religion here in our church this next month of October. The Christian Education Committee recently did a survey asking what class’s people were interested in taking and the biggest interest was a class in World Religions. I am looking forward to teaching a confirmation class to our young teenagers this year and had planned to have a unit on world religions. The Christian Education Committee and I decided that we would combine a class with field trips every other month to Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu temples and an Islamic Mosque in Portland for our confirmation class and invite everyone in our church to join us. I have done this before and not only is it a great way to teach about our faith in juxtaposition to other theological ideas but it is a wonderful way to support our confirmation students as we join them and share our religious and spiritual adventure and get to know them better. During the year of my first confirmation class with our young teenagers I ask that you hold all of them in your prayers. We are engaged in a momentous commitment to pass down our Christian tradition to the next generation. I meet with them last week and I was inspired by their inspirational questions and all the passion of God they are filled with.
Psalm 24
Entrance into the Temple
Of David. A Psalm.
1The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it;
2for he has founded it on the seas,
and established it on the rivers.
3Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
and do not swear deceitfully.
5They will receive blessing from the Lord,
and vindication from the God of their salvation.
6Such is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.*
Selah
7Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
8Who is the King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle.
9Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
10Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory.
Selah
Mark 9:38-50
Another Exorcist
38 John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone* casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ 39But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. 40Whoever is not against us is for us. 41For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
Temptations to Sin
42 ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me,* it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. 43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell,* to the unquenchable fire.* 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.*,* 47And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,* 48where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
49 ‘For everyone will be salted with fire.* 50Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?* Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’
Sermon:
So I am thrilled to begin our “World Religions” program in the honor of our children, with a special Tibetan Buddhist monk who will be coming to our church in just two weeks on Saturday October 10, 2009 from 2 to 4 pm. Please invite your family and friends to this special event and program with Nechung Kuten, Medium for the State Oracle of Tibet. Like many ancient civilizations of the world, the phenomenon of oracles remains an important part of the Tibetan way of life. Tibetans rely on oracles for various reasons. The purpose of the oracles is not just to foretell the future. They are called upon as protectors and sometimes used as healers. Kuten-la as he is referred to, will be speaking on “Compassion, Healing, and Peace” and will bestow a powerful Tibetan Buddhist blessing called, “Vajrakiaya”.
Tomorrow is Yom Kippur the holiest day in the religion of Judaism. All Jewish holidays begin when the sun goes down on the previous day, so it is appropriate that we begin celebrating Yom Kippur today. As Christians at least half our holy teachings every Sunday comes from the Jewish bible, and every week as a Christian teacher and preacher I feel compelled to remind us all regularly that Jesus was a Jew. When we understand the profundity of this important fact our relationship to Judaism should grow healthier.
Jesus was a Jew and I do not believe that he planned to begin a new religion, but instead he wanted his disciples to become better Jews. What he always taught was how to be in a better relationship with God. Jesus quoted and used Jewish scriptures, as did every disciple who wrote the New Testament years after Jesus had died.
While studying our scripture reading from the Christian bible in the Gospel of mark this past week I was reflecting on Yom Kippur when it dawned on me that our New Testament passage could have been a Yom Kippur sermon, or a teaching Jesus gave to his disciples. He is continuing his conversation with his disciples from last week about the themes of arrogance versus humility and how they relate to our relationship with God.
Yom Kippur is the highest holiest day of the Jewish calendar and it is all about our relationship with God.
The disciples and John ask Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, “Teacher we saw someone driving out demons in your names, so we tried to stop him, because he wasn’t one of our adherents. Jesus responded, “Don’t stop him! After all, no one who performs a miracle in my name will turn around the next moments and curse me.
In Fact WHOEVER IS NOT AGAISNT US IS ON OUR SIDE” (Mark9: 39)
The disciples, like us, are a little reptilian and moronic about what is right, and they were unsure of the validity of this healer whom they were unfamiliar with. Some of us may be uncomfortable with Nechung Kuten when he comes to our church, but I feel confident Jesus’ message was always to open your arms further and include more.
The message of Jesus is encouraging us to become more included and give up our habits of exclusivity in all our relationships.
As always Jesus is encouraging us to give up our fear of the unknown, of the stranger, and instead model the radical hospitality. This is how we may be in a good relationship with God. We must show the same radical hospitality God shows us to all others.
This is the message, the “Good News”; everyone is welcome at Gods table. Teaching world religions to our children is an urgent calling for us as Christians. The history of the Christian church that goes back 2000 years has gone against Jesus teachings about being inclusive to all for “whoever is not against us is on our side.” We have done great harm to millions of people in history persecuting those who Christians did not believe were as the disciples say arrogantly, “THEY WREN’T ONE OF OUR ADHENRESNT”
Considering the violence between Moslems, Jews, and Christians in the world, we need to learn how to honor all world religions if we want to survive as a human species.
Christianity and Judaism are no better than Buddhism, Hinduism, or Islam. Until we learn to honor and celebrate all of the world religions as beautiful expressions, and the diversity of the sacred God, we will be exclusive, not living as Jesus has commanded.
Jesus says in our reading, “and if anyone causes one of the children to mislead them about this they should have a rock hung around there neck and they should be thrown out to sea.” (Mark 9:42)
These are pretty harsh words if we consider that he is talking about adults who want to deny children the opportunity to learn about God in all religions and as expressed in all people.
Would Jesus think that only giving children degradation messages of sexual exploitation would be the study diet for children, or should we give them the biblical message that our bodies are God’s temple, and thus deserve to be treated as the sacred vessels they are?
I know Jesus would be thrilled about our confirmation students, and any interested adult who begins to learn more about all of Gods expressions of holiness in the world
It is such a paradox that Jesus was a Jew and now anti-Semitism and persecution of Jews by Christians has become such a central and sinful part of our history, most recently with the Holocaust. Thousands of years of Jesus’ teachings have shown that there is not one way to God ritualistically or religiously.
But there is only one way of God, and that is humility and atonement.
If your hand sins cut it off, this message is pretty clear. If you are sinning you have to stop.
If your right hand worldview is that Christian is innately better than other religions cut that sinful right hand off.
If your left hand is anti-Semitic then it is time to learn about Judaism and cut your sinful anti-Semitic hand off.
Salt in the ancient world was used in an impure state. If the impurities were greater than the salt then salt tasted very bland and had to be thrown out.
“Maintaining salt among yourselves,” was a way of saying that if something is no good anymore you have to throw it out.
Our provincialism and exclusivity and arrogant ideas that our religion is better than other religions is an impure kind of salt that cannot make our religious diet taste good. We have to throw out the religious food that is impure, bland, salt less.
We can be nourished by the rich spiritual diversity of common religious ideas that form all the world religions.
The more I learn about other religions the more I feel rooted in my own. It is a global village and our children are exposed to movies, other cultures, and religions more than past generations. This is wonderful salty, spicy world they live, that we must all learn to enjoy.
“BE AT PEACE WITH ONE ANOTHER” Jesus ends his lesson with this command. Be at peace, he is saying, with anyone you have exclusivity with, anyone you have assumed you are better than, anyone from different religions, or anyone who is a healer from another community.
What is sin? All sin means in the bible is missing the mark. Jesus is simply saying if you are going in the wrong direction in your life stop and make a better direction toward God, then continue.
Rosh Hashanah began at sundown September 18 this year,
and Yom Kippur begins tonight at sundown.
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. It is a time of great celebration, family gatherings, and parties. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, the most solemn day of the Jewish year and is observed on the last day of Rosh Hashanah. It is a day of fasting, reflection, and prayer. Traditionally Yom Kippur is considered the date on which Moses received the second set of Ten Commandments, which then became the Day of Atonement. Atonement means making amends to God.
It is also called the Days of Awe. Yom Kippur atones only for sins between people and God, not for sins against one another. To atone for sins against another person, you must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible. That must all be done before Yom Kippur.
Atonement theology in Christianity is often referred to when people say, ‘Jesus died for our sins.” But this is not what the day of Atonement is about in Judaism.
I do not believe that Jesus died for our sins, or in Christian atonement theology at all. I do not believe that the purpose of Jesus’ life was to die for the sins of others. Infact this idea is a very late theological expression that only arose a thousand years after Jesus had died. As Marcus Borg says, “[Jesus’] death was the consequences of what he was doing (as a healer, wisdom teacher, social prophet, and movement initiator) not the purpose of his life.” (The Heart of Christianity p 92)
Rabbi Lerner is an inspired contemporary Rabbi who is the founder of Network of Spiritual Progressives and the editor of TINKKUN magazine, the only religious magazine I know of that writes about all world religions.
Michael outlines what a possible Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Practice could be. First, (I have providing this in your order of worship in order for you to take it home and try it) consider Repentance: Carefully review your life; acknowledge to yourself who you have hurt and where your life has gone astray from your own highest ideals. Find a place where you can be safely alone, and then say out loud who and how you’ve hurt others and how you’ve hurt yourself. In the case of others, go to them and say clearly what you’ve done and ask for forgiveness. Do not mitigate or “explain”- just acknowledge and sincerely ask for forgiveness. …..We do not start from the assumption that anyone has become evil. Rather, we vision any ‘sins’ as “missing the mark.” We are born pure and with the best of intensions to be the highest possible spiritual being we can be, as though we were an arrow being shot straight toward God to connect more fully, yet at various points in our lives the arrow gets slightly off track and misses the mark. Repentance is really about a mid-course adjustment to get back on track…….Practice 2: Forgiveness: Every night before going to sleep or every morning before engaging in your various tasks, project your interactions with others, review your life, recall who you feel has hurt or betrayed you and toward whom you are still holding resentment or anger.” (Rabbi Michael Lerner)
During Rosh Hashanah we would have already done the spiritual work of life review and on Yom Kippur in essence we would dialogue with God about how to live more fully as God wants us to. It is the tradition on the eve of Yom Kippur to light two candles, I have brought two candle for us to light, one I want to represent the atonement to God we have as Christians in all the ways we have not included people of other religions in our hearts, minds, spirits, and tables. The second candle represents our atonement our amends to God for all the anti Semitism, the millions killed in the holocaust, and all of the sins of blaming Jews for the death of Jesus. We go into Yom Kippur admitting as Christians that the Romans killed Jesus. He threatened the status quo in his radial message of inclusion and his invitation of everyone to Gods table. We promise to learn about other religions and to honor them with our children in order to save our human family from the arrogance of exclusivity, which is the root of many wars and world problems.
The Kol Nidrei is the first prayer, and should be recited before sunset. It is written in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. In the evening service the day before Yom Kippur the Ark is opened and two people take from it two Torah scrolls and the cantor recites:
“In the tribunal of Heaven and the tribunal of earth, by the permission of God — praised be He — and by the permission of this holy congregation, we hold it lawful to pray with transgressors.”
The cantor then chants the passage beginning with the words Kol Nidrei three times.
“All personal vows we are likely to make, all personal oaths and pledges we are likely to take between this Yom Kippur and the next Yom Kippur, we publicly renounce. Let them all be relinquished and abandoned, null and void, neither firm nor established. Let our personal vows, pledges and oaths be considered neither vows nor pledges nor oaths.”
The leader and the congregation then say together three times and I ask that you all repeat after me.
“May all the people of Israel be forgiven, including all the strangers who live in their midst, for all the people are in fault.”
The torah scrolls are replaced and then the evening service begins.
Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath and no work can be performed. It is well known that you are supposed to refrain from eating and drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur. It is a complete, 25-hour fast beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ending after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur. Most of the holiday is spent in the synagogue, in prayer. It is customary to wear white on the holiday, which symbolizes purity and calls to mind the promise that our sins shall be made as white as snow (Is. 1:18).
Let us close in silent prayer as we ask God to help us get on a path to live a life of love and justice. Tomorrow let us consider sending our own prayers to God and to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Simply click into the web site www.Aish.com they receive thousands of prayers via email and each one is printed out in a very small font, for God has good eyesight, and each day a Yeshiva student places the messages into the cracks of the Wall. This web site will be in the newsletter or you can email your prayers to me and I will forward them on to God and the Wailing Wall.