2^nd Sunday of Stewardship Campaign October 18, 2009 “A New Jerusalem” Reverend Michael D. Powell Mark 10:35-40

Well, it’s the second Sunday of our stewardship campaign and the compilers of the lectionary are still dishing up challenges for the preacher. This morning the brothers James and John want positions of honor in Jesus’ cabinet and he challenges them with a question: “Are ye able?” Oh course, they believe they are, not having the faintest idea what they’re talking about. What in the world, or perhaps I should say, what in heaven’s name does this passage have to do with raising our annual operating budget or paying our apportionments? It does not seemingly lend itself well to a stewardship campaign, but then that’s half the fun of it, right?

I talked last week about this beautiful wooded acreage upon which our church was founded 54 years ago, and I talked about the dream those original 60 charter members had that this would be a place where God’s reign of peace and justice would be incarnated in South Salem. And I asked, “How are we doing?” Maybe that’s the tie-in with this morning’s scripture that asks the question, “Are Ye Able?”

The city of Salem shares a linguistic and spiritual root with the biblical Jerusalem! Both are capital cities and both are called "City of Peace," the city of God’s shalom. Salem is a relatively modern city, founded in 1842, whereas Jerusalem was founded as far back as the fourth millennium B.C. and began as an ancient walled fortress that has gradually morphed into a city of rock, concrete, glass and steel, built along craggy hills at the desert's edge. But what makes it special is the fact that it contains the most sacred and volatile 35 acre hunk of real estate on the face of the earth, which has been called "the gateway to heaven," as well as "a path to unimaginable hell."

According to Jewish tradition, this area is the center of the cosmos. Medieval maps, as well as Dante, placed it at the center of the universe. It's where they believed God collected the dust to make Adam, and where Cain killed Abel. Tradition says it contains the altar rock where Abraham agreed to sacrifice Isaac. For the past 13 centuries that rock has been covered by the spectacular Dome of the Rock. It's the same place where, according to the Qur'an, the Prophet Mohammed made a mystical night flight on a winged steed aided by the angel Gabriel before he ascended a ladder to the throne of Allah.

But Jerusalem is more than simply geographical real estate, and it's more than just some kind of Disneyland of the spirit. It's imbued with the blood of ages, and it’s steeped in symbol and myth. "The air over Jerusalem is saturated with prayers and dreams/like the air over industrial cities," wrote one poet. “It's hard to breathe." It's the theological battleground where Jews, Muslims and Christians argue most fervently over whose God is the true God, and whose history is the legitimate one. Among all the cities on earth, only Jerusalem is seen as the locus of redemption and final judgment. For that reason alone, it inspires the fanatic. To die in Jerusalem, the pious believe, is to be assured of atonement.

Jerusalem is also where Jesus was crucified. As Jesus viewed the city from afar he wept, for he knew the conflict and the violence that awaited him there. He was called by God to build a New Jerusalem, a spiritual city where people could live together in peace. Note that I said spiritual city. I’m not talking about a literal city in a specific state. I’m talking about a spiritual state of being, a spiritual consciousness that places Christ at the center of our lives. This New Jerusalem, this incarnation of God’s shalom, is a metaphor standing for the capital city of the Body of Christ! But even his closest disciples failed to understand what Christ’s spiritual kingdom was about until after the dramatic events of Easter. This morning's story reveals that they were still confused about earthly status, arguing over rank and being competitive about their relative state in worldly terms.

James and John were two of the closest friends Jesus ever had, but they could be aggressive and hot-headed. Once when they were refused hospitality from a Samaritan town they wanted Jesus to give them permission to call down fire from heaven to blast it off the face of the earth. No wonder Jesus nicknamed them "Boanerges," which means "Sons of Thunder." In this morning's passage it's their ambition that's revealed. They want seats of honor when Jesus comes into power. Like those who are still fighting for the division of geographical real estate, James and John don't yet understand greatness in spiritual terms.

This brings me to the new city of peace, Salem, Oregon. More specifically, I want to talk about the New Jerusalem that I believe Morningside United Methodist Church is called to be in South Salem. Nobody argues that our six wooded acres are the center of the geographical universe, but it is the spiritual center of many of your lives. It is the most important place on earth for any number of you who have devoted huge amounts of time, energy, love and money to help make it a place of beauty and faith. I’ve had people tell me that they can feel the energy of this place. I have no doubt that for some of you this is a “gateway to heaven,” and that the air over Morningside is “saturated with prayers and dreams.” For many of you this sanctuary is holy ground. Adam may not have been made from the dust of this place, but there have been ceremonies of life and death aplenty here: sacraments of Holy Baptism in which much-loved children were dedicated to God; celebrations of life and memorial services that laid to rest those who have blessed our lives; weddings that joined lives together; worship services that bound us in the unity of God’s spirit. The echoes of laughter and the stain of tears are mingled in this sacred space, and it is, without a doubt, a New Jerusalem for many of us gathered here this morning. In the sanctuary of this Morningside New Jerusalem we have both grieved the crucifixion and celebrated the resurrection of Christ. We have witnessed the candlelight birth of the Christ child on Christmas Eve and joined with one another on Pentecost Sunday in a joyful celebration of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are blessing and guiding us to the dawn of a new day. I believe that this church . . . I believe that every Christian church, is called to be an incarnation of that spiritual New Jerusalem, that “capital city” that lies at the center of the Body of Christ.

Thankfully, people are not killing and being killed over our theological differences here, but I am proud to say that we are on the front lines of a battlefield for spiritual freedom, openness, tolerance and equality. That is an argument worth having, but it is a civil discourse, peppered with prayer for others and cautioned with a compassionate respect for our differences. We are well aware of the James and John-like temptations and misunderstandings that are always among us, so we temper our righteousness with humility and strive to be servants, not masters. Like James and John, we long to be among the best friends Jesus has ever had. Unlike James and John, we strive to understand our call to greatness in spiritual terms, without the trappings of earthly power and worldly glory.

And so we gather once again on this second Sunday of our stewardship campaign and, with the disciples of old, we vow that we are able to drink the cup that Jesus drank and to be baptized with his baptism; for it is a cup of love, and it is a baptism of new life through Christ. And that’s why we’re here this morning, to give thanks for the blessings of God in our lives, and to support this church that has been and continues to be the capital city of our heart and a channel of God’s grace for us. May Christ be your shalom. May Christ be your peace. Amen.