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Author: Tim

Senior pastor of First Congregational United Church of Christ. Ordained in May, 1983. Called to First Congregational UCC in August, 1994. Retired July 1, 2018.
is anybody else bothered by this?

is anybody else bothered by this?

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Is anybody else bothered by this?

In the predawn hours of Jan. 29, a CIA Predator aircraft flew in a slow arc above the Pakistani town of Mir Ali. The drone’s operator, relying on information secretly passed to the CIA by local informants, clicked a computer mouse and sent the first of two Hellfire missiles hurtling toward a cluster of mud-brick buildings a few miles from the town center.

The article in today’s Washington Post goes on to report that the missiles succeeded in killing a top Al Qaeda operative, Abu Laith al-Libi. So … success?

The strike force relied on local informants to target these particular houses. (Who else was in the houses? What if the informants were mistaken or lying?) And the strike was carried out without prior permission or notification of the Pakistani government … because they might say, “No”; because the delay could jeopardize the success of the operation. (Doesn’t the Pakistani government have a right to say, “No”? Would we tolerate a foreign government carrying out unilateral military actions on our soil … regardless of the justification?)

Is anybody else bothered by this?

lenten prayer

lenten prayer

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A beautiful and empowering Lenten prayer posted by David Warkentin, reminding us that Lent is not merely about self-denial, but about transformation:

Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling within them.
Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of all life.
Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.
Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
Fast from worry; feast on trust.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.
Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer.
Fast from hostility; feast on nonviolence.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal truth.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from facts that depress; feast on truths that uplift.
Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm.
Fast from suspicion; feast on truth.
Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.
Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.

Gentle God, during this season of fasting and feasting, gift us with Your Presence, so we can be gift to others in carrying out your work. Amen.

ucc letter on science and faith

ucc letter on science and faith

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John Thomas, President and General Minister of the United Church of Christ, has this month released a pastoral letter written in consultation with the UCC Science and Technology Network entitled A New Voice Arising: A pastoral letter on faith engaging science and technology. The letter asks:

Can we dare to seek, to wonder, and if necessary to doubt until we believe anew, confident that in the end we will be filled with a fresh faith that engages the hunger in so many hearts and minds?

UCC poster: Who said God doesn't like science?The letter wants us to believe, “Yes, we can! Yes, we can dare, as people of faith, to seek and wonder and doubt. Yes, we can dare believe that our seeking and wondering and doubting will lead us to a deeper and truer and more relevant faith. Yes, we can dare hope that our readiness, as people of faith, to take scientific exploration and technological innovation seriously will engage the minds and hearts of this generation of spiritual seekers.”

The letter is companion to a new website and a new internet advertising venture all intended to stimulate conversation about the intersection of faith and science, and to continue to portray the United Church of Christ as a church ready and eager and able to engage this generation on its own turf. Or to put it in a another way, the UCC is seeking again to live out the implications of its faith a God who is still speaking, a God whose voice speaks in fresh and compelling ways to our world as it is and as it is becoming, a voice that is ever new and ever relevant.

UCC poster: God makes room for quantum mechanicsI think wise people have always known that science is not by nature anti-religious, and that religious faith is not by nature anti-science. It’s just that lots of folks have forgotten that. We have forgotten that the inquiring mind and the seeking heart are both essential elements of the human spirit, and that a keen mind makes faith deeper, and that a deep faith makes a mind keener. I am glad that the United Church of Christ is reminding us of that and I look forward to following the ongoing conversation.

playing it safe?

playing it safe?

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We have been studying the parables of Jesus in a Wednesday evening Bible study at church. This week, one of the parables we discussed was the parable of the three servants …

Once there was a man who was about to go on a journey; he called his servants and put them in charge of his property. He gave to each one according to his ability: to one he gave five thousand gold coins, to another he gave two thousand, and to another he gave one thousand. Then he left on his journey. The servant who had received five thousand coins went at once and invested his money and earned another five thousand. In the same way the servant who had received two thousand coins earned another two thousand. But the servant who had received one thousand coins went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The servant who had received five thousand coins came in and handed over the other five thousand. “You gave me five thousand coins, sir,” he said. “Look! Here are another five thousand that I have earned.” “Well done, you good and faithful servant!” said his master. “You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!”

Then the servant who had been given two thousand coins came in and said, “You gave me two thousand coins, sir. Look! Here are another two thousand that I have earned.” “Well done, you good and faithful servant!” said his master. “You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!”

Then the servant who had received one thousand coins came in and said, “Sir, I know you are a hard man; you reap harvests where you did not sow, and you gather crops where you did not scatter seed. I was afraid, so I went off and hid your money in the ground. Look! Here is what belongs to you.”

“You bad and lazy servant!” his master said. “You knew, did you, that I reap harvests where I did not sow, and gather crops where I did not scatter seed? Well, then, you should have deposited my money in the bank, and I would have received it all back with interest when I returned. Now, take the money away from him and give it to the one who has ten thousand coins. For to every person who has something, even more will be given, and he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing, even the little that he has will be taken away from him. As for this useless servant — throw him outside in the darkness; there he will cry and grind his teeth.”

Jesus’ parable describes servants (folks like us) being entrusted with an enormous amount of wealth (which is true of us). The parable seems to be about what Jesus expects us to do with all that wealth — wealth of money and resources and skills and energy and ideas and passions — with which we have been entrusted.

After listening to Jesus tell this parable, can we possibly think that Jesus means the church to “play it safe?” But isn’t that what we do?

peace on earth

peace on earth

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Rachel SimonsRachel Simons lives in Galati, Romania, a field worker with Word Made Flesh, an Christian organization committed to “serving Jesus among the poorest of the poor.” She works with Galati’s street children, providing them educational and recreational and spiritual programs, and interacting with them on a daily basis in their own context on the streets.

The following is taken from one of her recent prayer letters:

… around the holidays I constantly run into children begging outside of restaurants, shopping malls, supermarkets and at stop-lights. They know that people tend to give more in December, so they bear the cold, stomp their feet to keep from freezing, and stand for hours outside of places that attract shoppers.

The weight of poverty is felt so deeply this time of year, and the lines are drawn between those who can shop and those who are left on the margins, outside the window looking in. Yesterday as I waited at the bus stop in below freezing weather, I watched some children I know doing their dance outside the pastry shop door … dancing to keep their feet from freezing. One of the boys had courage to step inside the door for a few brief moments of warmth before getting scolded to “keep out!” … Please pray for those who are marginalized and left out. Pray for God’s kingdom of peace and equity to come on earth as it is in heaven.

When people like Rachel have a heart for the “poorest of the poor,” not just generally, but for particular children and women and men they know by name — when they see them and love them and pray for them and choose to be with them — then God’s peace has already come on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus is indeed among us!

To learn more about Rachel’s ministry in Galati and about the global ministries of Word Made Flesh, check out the Word Made Flesh website.

shame on burger king!

shame on burger king!

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From a UCC Justice and Peace Action Network newsletter:

You probably also know that after much work and a successful boycott, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) won an agreement with Taco Bell for improved pay, better working conditions, and greater dignity for tomato pickers. CIW also signed similar agreements with McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC, Long John Silver’s, and A & W Restaurants.

There is great momentum within the fast food industry to improve conditions for farm workers but Burger King is refusing to join this movement.

Burger King’s actions are threatening to undo a hard-fought victory on behalf of exploited farm workers. I have just received this call to action from the Sojourner’s community:

Dear Timothy,

For Christmas, Burger King is trying to make the country’s poorest workers even poorer.

A few months ago, we asked you to send messages to Burger King, asking them to join McDonald’s and Taco Bell in increasing the sub-poverty wages of Florida tomato pickers.

Almost 20,000 of you responded, but Burger King’s behavior has only gotten worse. Not only have they failed to heed the faith community’s call to improve wages and working conditions for tomato pickers – they’re working to undermine the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ existing agreements with other fast-food chains!

As Eric Schlosser, author of Fast-Food Nation, explained in the New York Times:

The migrant farm workers who harvest tomatoes in South Florida have one of the nation’s most backbreaking jobs. For 10 to 12 hours a day, they pick tomatoes by hand, earning a piece-rate of about 45 cents for every 32-pound bucket. During a typical day each migrant picks, carries, and unloads two tons of tomatoes.

Yum! Brands (owner of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC) and McDonald’s had agreed to pay a penny more per pound to increase wages by 70 percent per bucket, but this holiday season workers aren’t receiving the increase. Why? Because Burger King has refused to pay the extra penny and its refusal has encouraged tomato growers to cancel the deals already struck with Taco Bell and McDonald’s. This month the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, representing 90 percent of the state’s growers, announced that it will not allow any of its members to collect the extra penny for farm workers.

A Burger King spokesman responded, “Florida growers have a right to run their businesses how they see fit” – apparently, even if that means putting profits ahead of justice and dignity for their workers.

Meanwhile, on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs – a major shareholder in Burger King, with two representatives on the board of directors – is preparing to pay holiday bonuses. Last year, Goldman Sach’s top 12 executives received more than $200 million in bonuses – more than twice the annual earnings of 10,000 Florida tomato pickers.

As we read of such injustices in this time of Advent, we reflect upon God’s justice and mercy, as described in the words of Mary:

[God] has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; [God] has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty (Luke 1:52-53).

Advent reminds us that God intends well-being for all, not just some. We hope you’ll join us in taking action.

Blessings,

I encourage you to join me in responding to Sojourner’s call and send a message to Burger King.

the president we want … in a word

the president we want … in a word

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We hosted a pre-caucus house party this evening at our home during which I asked our guests to express what it is they are looking for in a presidential candidate in one word. Their answers make quite a list!

  • integrity
  • compassion
  • inspiration
  • honesty
  • justice
  • humility
  • diplomacy
  • reconciler
  • character
  • change
  • moral

I do hope and pray that our next president will be marked by attributes like these!