Advent, 2009
Dear Friends in Christ:
We have now begun the Advent season, and in so doing have also started the new church year. When I was young, my parents and grandparents told me that time flies as you get older – what wisdom in those words!
Advent is a prayerful time of waiting and watching, while we celebrate in Christmas the coming of the Messiah as one of us. At St. Ansgar, we have a strong tradition of celebrating the Advent/Christmas season in a variety of ways. Here are some thoughts about how we can make our Advent and Christmas a special time:
This coming Sunday, December 6th, is Project Feed Sunday. Can you spare some extra nonperishable food for a needy family? What better way to give thanks for the gift of food than to share with the less fortunate. Please be generous!
Nancy Loranger is spearheading a gift-giving campaign for the youth who are Long Creek Youth Development Center. These are kids who have found themselves in trouble with the law, but for many of them their time at Long Creek is a potential turning point. Our generosity to them sends a clear message that God loves them and that we love them, too! For more info, contact Nancy at 874-6960.
On Sunday, December 13th, at 4:00 p.m. we will install Taylor Elizabeth Whitcomb as our Lucia for 2009. Taylor and her family have a long history at St. Ansgar (and they never miss a Lucia festival!) Join me in celebrating our Scandinavian heritage on December 13th, with the crowning, followed by a reception and Scandinavian market.
On Sunday, December 20th, our children will put on the Christmas pageant at the 10:30 worship service. You won’t want to miss this event! We have the most talented kids in the world at St. Ansgar!
On Christmas Eve, December 24th, we will have a family worship service at 7:00 p.m. Join us for this solemn, yet family-oriented service, concluding with a candlelight ceremony. (There will be no Christmas morning service.)
Don’t forget to sign up to sponsor a poinsettia this year in memory of a loved one! The sign-up sheet is in the narthex.
With prayerful best wishes for a blessed holiday season, I remain
Your servant in Christ,
Pr. Bill Barter
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
OP-ED article from Portland Press Herald October 28, 2009
Opponents Misrepresent and Distort Facts in Marriage Equality Debate
by the Rev. Dr. William M. Barter
On November 3rd, voters will decide whether to repeal Maine’s new marriage equality law or vote no to protect the right of all Mainers to marry the person they love. Much of the opposition to marriage equality has come from some leaders of some churches and denominations. Despite their loud protestations, the fact is that more than 200 leaders representing thousands of Mainers who follow 18 different faith traditions have endorsed marriage equality and urge a no vote on Question 1.
Stand for Marriage Maine (SFMM) is the coalition of groups opposed to marriage equality in Maine and behind Question 1 on the November 3rd ballot. Its members include national religious fundamentalist organizations like the National Organization for Marriage and Focus on the Family. It also has the support of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.
On matters of faith, it is reasonable to expect churches and religious groups to base their arguments on the Word of God. I scoured the organization’s website for references to Scripture, and found none. Highly respected Scripture scholars from many denominations agree that Scripture, when interpreted responsibly, is unclear on the issue of homosexuality, and silent about gay marriage. Perhaps this is why God’s Word is totally omitted by the marriage coalition. Moral statements that omit Sacred Scripture are suspect.
SFMM contends that Maine’s marriage equality law somehow threatens religious freedom. The facts simply do not support this argument. In reality, the new law explicitly protects the historic free exercise of religion.
Before becoming a Lutheran pastor, I was a Roman Catholic priest. In my nine years as a priest, the State (which recognizes divorce) never forced me to marry divorced people, a practice prohibited in the Catholic Church. Even now there are couples whom I refuse to marry in the Lutheran Church for pastoral reasons, and this remains an internal issue. To say that the state will reverse 189 years of history and begin regulating church marriage policies is ridiculous and false.
SFMM argues that a comparison to the history of interracial marriage is wrong and that race has never been part of society’s definition of marriage. This is not true. As recently as 1948, 30 out of 48 U.S. states defined marriage as existing only between a man and woman of the same race. Until 1967, 16 states continued to criminalize interracial marriage until Federal courts ruled those laws unconstitutional.
SFMM says that repeal of Maine’s marriage equality law will protect children. The truth is that marriage equality guarantees that the thousands of Maine children of same sex couples enjoy all of the rights and protections that marriage confers on the children of heterosexual couples. Scientific research and evaluation has confirmed that it is the love and parenting skills and not gender or orientation that determines a good parent. This is the position shared by the American Psychiatric Association, National Association of Social Workers, Child Welfare League of America, American Bar Association, North American Council on Adoptable Children, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychoanalytic Association and American Academy of Family Physicians.
Lutherans believe that Scripture interprets Scripture. If a passage in the Bible is clear, repetitive, and emphatic, it carries greater weight than an obscure text lacking clarity. For example, the teachings of Jesus about love and social justice fall into the weightier category, while the passages often used to make a case against homosexuality are less weighty – for example, Jesus never talks about homosexuality. The Christian Church is most Christ-like when we carry out the more important mandates (feeding the hungry, healing the sick, advocating for the oppressed). Misusing Christ’s teachings to scare people into repealing equal rights legislation is not very Christ-like.
The Rev. Dr. William M. Barter is Pastor of St. Ansgar Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Portland.
by the Rev. Dr. William M. Barter
On November 3rd, voters will decide whether to repeal Maine’s new marriage equality law or vote no to protect the right of all Mainers to marry the person they love. Much of the opposition to marriage equality has come from some leaders of some churches and denominations. Despite their loud protestations, the fact is that more than 200 leaders representing thousands of Mainers who follow 18 different faith traditions have endorsed marriage equality and urge a no vote on Question 1.
Stand for Marriage Maine (SFMM) is the coalition of groups opposed to marriage equality in Maine and behind Question 1 on the November 3rd ballot. Its members include national religious fundamentalist organizations like the National Organization for Marriage and Focus on the Family. It also has the support of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.
On matters of faith, it is reasonable to expect churches and religious groups to base their arguments on the Word of God. I scoured the organization’s website for references to Scripture, and found none. Highly respected Scripture scholars from many denominations agree that Scripture, when interpreted responsibly, is unclear on the issue of homosexuality, and silent about gay marriage. Perhaps this is why God’s Word is totally omitted by the marriage coalition. Moral statements that omit Sacred Scripture are suspect.
SFMM contends that Maine’s marriage equality law somehow threatens religious freedom. The facts simply do not support this argument. In reality, the new law explicitly protects the historic free exercise of religion.
Before becoming a Lutheran pastor, I was a Roman Catholic priest. In my nine years as a priest, the State (which recognizes divorce) never forced me to marry divorced people, a practice prohibited in the Catholic Church. Even now there are couples whom I refuse to marry in the Lutheran Church for pastoral reasons, and this remains an internal issue. To say that the state will reverse 189 years of history and begin regulating church marriage policies is ridiculous and false.
SFMM argues that a comparison to the history of interracial marriage is wrong and that race has never been part of society’s definition of marriage. This is not true. As recently as 1948, 30 out of 48 U.S. states defined marriage as existing only between a man and woman of the same race. Until 1967, 16 states continued to criminalize interracial marriage until Federal courts ruled those laws unconstitutional.
SFMM says that repeal of Maine’s marriage equality law will protect children. The truth is that marriage equality guarantees that the thousands of Maine children of same sex couples enjoy all of the rights and protections that marriage confers on the children of heterosexual couples. Scientific research and evaluation has confirmed that it is the love and parenting skills and not gender or orientation that determines a good parent. This is the position shared by the American Psychiatric Association, National Association of Social Workers, Child Welfare League of America, American Bar Association, North American Council on Adoptable Children, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychoanalytic Association and American Academy of Family Physicians.
Lutherans believe that Scripture interprets Scripture. If a passage in the Bible is clear, repetitive, and emphatic, it carries greater weight than an obscure text lacking clarity. For example, the teachings of Jesus about love and social justice fall into the weightier category, while the passages often used to make a case against homosexuality are less weighty – for example, Jesus never talks about homosexuality. The Christian Church is most Christ-like when we carry out the more important mandates (feeding the hungry, healing the sick, advocating for the oppressed). Misusing Christ’s teachings to scare people into repealing equal rights legislation is not very Christ-like.
The Rev. Dr. William M. Barter is Pastor of St. Ansgar Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Portland.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Kids, cookies, and bread for the world - a reflection on Mark's Gospel
Sermon for September 20, 2009.
Mark 9:30-37 (New International Version)
30They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." 32But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. 33They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" 34But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."
36He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."
For those of you who cannot see this, I am holding a cookie. It’s a nice cookie, with chocolate chips and M&Ms. There are probably a day’s calories in this cookie. Now, if a 2-year-old was eating this cookie and you told him or her that it looked like a really good cookie and you bet it tasted good, what would the child do? Chances are she/he would hand you the cookie, perhaps right out of the mouth. Soggy with saliva, maybe a little snot, and perhaps even some swine flu mixed in, but this gift, being lifted to your mouth by messy little hands would be coming from the heart, because this little person has not yet learned the adult lesson that he/she doesn’t really have to share. In fact, sharing comes quite naturally to children. It is only when we become smart, sophisticated adults that we learn to say, “I’ve got mine. Now, you get yours!”
Compare the innocent sharing of a child with what was going on between Jesus’ disciples in the Gospel today. James and John, Zebedee’s sons, were arguing about who would get the honored place in the Kingdom. Jesus wasn’t even dead and risen yet, and these guys were planning it all out. They were sophisticated adults, wanting to get their piece of the kingdom before the other, at the expense of the other.
Without diving deeply into today’s political debates, we know statistically that the vast majority of people who do not favor health insurance reform already have health insurance. Those who oppose same-gender marriage probably already have the right to marry. On a global level, people starve in some places, while we Americans eat way too much. “I’ve got mine, now you get your own!”
Children, on the other hand, have not yet learned to hate or to be selfish. They are not born racist – they learn it. They are not born homophobic or greedy – they develop these traits if they are taught a certain way. Jesus knew of the innocence of children when he called one forward, not to make a new claim for children’s rights, but to remind us that we should be like the little child who has not yet learned the sophisticated, adult message of selfishness.
Jesus shared. He died and rose, and his gift of resurrection has been shared with all of us. Jesus did not rise from the grave as part of some big show, but rather as an ultimate sharing of grace, of hope. We are challenged to do the same. Can we possibly take on the childlike innocence that Jesus exalts today? Can we share our tasty cookies with other people? Even if our cookies are soggy, dirty, germy, and half-eaten, what we have to share is priceless, and if given in true love, what we have to give is Christlike. In a world where the last come last and the first come first, Jesus mixes it up. He reverses the traditional way of looking at things, and he offers us a challenge to think differently. Like a child who knows nothing but sharing, the Christian is called to do the same.
Mark 9:30-37 (New International Version)
30They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." 32But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. 33They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" 34But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."
36He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."
For those of you who cannot see this, I am holding a cookie. It’s a nice cookie, with chocolate chips and M&Ms. There are probably a day’s calories in this cookie. Now, if a 2-year-old was eating this cookie and you told him or her that it looked like a really good cookie and you bet it tasted good, what would the child do? Chances are she/he would hand you the cookie, perhaps right out of the mouth. Soggy with saliva, maybe a little snot, and perhaps even some swine flu mixed in, but this gift, being lifted to your mouth by messy little hands would be coming from the heart, because this little person has not yet learned the adult lesson that he/she doesn’t really have to share. In fact, sharing comes quite naturally to children. It is only when we become smart, sophisticated adults that we learn to say, “I’ve got mine. Now, you get yours!”
Compare the innocent sharing of a child with what was going on between Jesus’ disciples in the Gospel today. James and John, Zebedee’s sons, were arguing about who would get the honored place in the Kingdom. Jesus wasn’t even dead and risen yet, and these guys were planning it all out. They were sophisticated adults, wanting to get their piece of the kingdom before the other, at the expense of the other.
Without diving deeply into today’s political debates, we know statistically that the vast majority of people who do not favor health insurance reform already have health insurance. Those who oppose same-gender marriage probably already have the right to marry. On a global level, people starve in some places, while we Americans eat way too much. “I’ve got mine, now you get your own!”
Children, on the other hand, have not yet learned to hate or to be selfish. They are not born racist – they learn it. They are not born homophobic or greedy – they develop these traits if they are taught a certain way. Jesus knew of the innocence of children when he called one forward, not to make a new claim for children’s rights, but to remind us that we should be like the little child who has not yet learned the sophisticated, adult message of selfishness.
Jesus shared. He died and rose, and his gift of resurrection has been shared with all of us. Jesus did not rise from the grave as part of some big show, but rather as an ultimate sharing of grace, of hope. We are challenged to do the same. Can we possibly take on the childlike innocence that Jesus exalts today? Can we share our tasty cookies with other people? Even if our cookies are soggy, dirty, germy, and half-eaten, what we have to share is priceless, and if given in true love, what we have to give is Christlike. In a world where the last come last and the first come first, Jesus mixes it up. He reverses the traditional way of looking at things, and he offers us a challenge to think differently. Like a child who knows nothing but sharing, the Christian is called to do the same.
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