Sermon for the Installation of Rev. Rony Reyes, Sunday, March 30, 2008

GOD’S HOLY MOUNTAIN

Rev. Dr. David Andersen

Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church of Greater Toledo

Galatians 3:23-29, Isaiah 25:6-10 (Other references: Isaiah 56:1-8, 2:2-3, 9:9)

The first time I visited Chicago as a college student looking at seminaries to attend, I fell in love with it. Never has that love for this city faded. I chose Northern Seminary, partly because of its proximity to Chicago; I worked at Marshall Field’s part time as a student; and I met my wife in Chicago.

The first church I served after graduating from seminary was in Joliet, Illinois, which enabled continued forays into the city. I then served churches in West Virginia, Michigan and Ohio, but because my wife’s family lived in Chicago, we continued our visits to the city, and always when updating my personnel profile, sent by the denomination to search committees of churches looking for a pastor, I included Chicago as a geographic preference.

Nothing ever happened, but here I am today in Chicago, preaching at the installation service for Rony Reyes, my young former associate at the last church I pastured before retiring. Rony is living my dream. How did this happen? It is like the son fulfilling the dreams of the father, and I am overjoyed, but it is not just because Rony is living my dream, it is because I believe there is no better fit in heaven than what has the potential for being in this new relationship between a pastor and a church. It is as though God has played matchmaker in bringing you together and I am delighted this morning to serve as one of the groomsmen, a witness to the formalizing of this unique bond between pastor and people.

Rony needs the challenge this church will give him, and this church needs the love and sensitivity Rony will bring to you as your pastor. And I am blessed to know that somehow that dream I dreamed as a young man was perhaps not all whimsical fantasy but helped in the end to connect me to a bigger dream, God’s dream that we on earth give form to His kingdom in heaven. You as a church and Rony as a minister have in each of your lives separately incarnated this dream of God and now, together, you can expand upon it and grow it.

And what is this dream? Isaiah, almost more than any other Biblical writer, is able to visualize this dream of God’s. He dreamed God’s dream. He saw what God intended and willed to be for all creation, and Isaiah knew that nothing could separate us from this dream, dreamed by God for His creation, the dream that we might be one even as God the Father and God the Son are one.

Some have called the Book of Isaiah the fifth gospel and it has been as such for me. Next to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, it has had the greatest influence upon my life as a Christian and understanding what it is to be a member of Christ’s Kingdom. If you were to ask me what is it Christ enables to be through is life, death and resurrection, I would answer it is the fulfillment of the dreams and vision Isaiah records over and over in his book, visions revealed to him by God, waiting to be fulfilled in the last time but even now breaking in upon us because of the generosity of Jesus Christ who when we accept Him makes all things new and shows us a new creation.

And what are the particulars of this dream that can’t wait and is even now coming to be and we are privileged to see, concretely, in the life and work of this congregation right here at North Shore Baptist Church? Let me repeat in for you in the words of Isaiah.

It is a dream of a Holy Mountain. It is a dream where people of all nations gather together. It is a dream where the shroud that has blinded people from truly seeing one another has been lifted and we see each other as we really are, children of God. It is a dream where all the tears caused by injustice, war, hunger, disease, and prejudice are whipped away. It is a dream where we no longer hurt one another. It is a dream where the Lord Himself will be our host and He will prepare for all of us a feast of rich food and well-aged wine.

This is the dream and Isaiah, repeats it over and over throughout his book, reaching for one image and then another to help us understand its fullness. In one version of it he writes about the foreigner who comes to settle with the people of God but fears, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people,” but the Lord says, “No, I will bring you to my holy mountain and make you joyful in my house of prayer.” No one is to be left out.

But the eunuch, the one excluded from the Temple worship because of how his sexuality was perceived says, “I am just a dry tree.” But the Lord says, “No, I will give you in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give you an everlasting name.”

On this Holy Mountain nations are brought together, differences that use to divide now become diversity that is celebrated, and all those who once felt themselves left out are now given an everlasting name more precious than any other name. They are to be called sons and daughters of God.

The vision of Isaiah is the vision of things coming. It is the vision of God’s intent for all creation. But, and this is important, it is not just a vision of what will be for already we see it coming to pass and it is happening in our midst and we see it here, we see it now, we see it among the people of North Shore Baptist Church.

When I was a student in seminary and so in love with the city of Chicago, the American Baptist church that most connected to my cosmopolitan sense of the city was the North Shore Baptist Church. To me it epitomized the metropolitan church in the city. I was struck by the majesty of your architecture, so stately and strong. I absorbed the sense of your storied history and looked in admiration upon those who were your pastors. It was for me a grand church in a grand city, but through the decades as your own history has evolved, what I began to see was something even grander. What I began to see was not only a church in the city, but a church that mirrored the kingdom of God.

I see in you Isaiah’s vision coming true. I see in your multiple congregations an early incarnation of what awaits us in heaven. I see what awaits us at the end of all time. I see in you a living visualization of God’s Holy Mountain where all people, all nations are given a name above all names that unites us to one another, the name of son or daughter of God.

How did this happen? How did you become this one people encompassing so many people from so many different lands and nations? How did it happen that even before the time when God will be all in all that I see God’s kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven? It has happened because of Jesus. What was a vision for Isaiah has become possible in Jesus Christ. In His word and in His Spirit dwelling in us what was far off is no longer so distant and what once seemed only a like a dream has become a reality as week by week, an Anglo congregation, a Japanese congregation, a Hispanice congregation, a Karen people, a Afro American people gather in one place to worship one and the same Living God.

Jesus makes it possible and from the day the church was born at Pentecost, in ever widening circles, beginning first in Jerusalem and then in Samaria, and then to the Gentiles, including an Ethiopian Eunuch and a Roman centurion named Cornelius, and then to the farthest reaches of the world, in an ever widening fellowship we have come to know what Paul meant when he wrote in Galatians, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” It is enough to make a Baptist shout “Amen.” Amen?

And now, today, to help lead you closer to that Holy Mountain, you are installing Rony Reyes as one of the pastors of North Shore Baptist Church.

Why am I so enthused about this new relationship between a pastor and a people? It is because from the first day I met Rony it seems to me the vision of Isaiah is what has radiated through his life and now he comes to join a people who share the same vision.

The first day I met Rony was in an interview at First Baptist Church of Greater Toledo where I was pastor. He was applying for a position in our church. He sat in the room in a coat and tie and answered questions from the committee. He was from a Pentecostal background. We were an American Baptist congregation. He was from Guatemala. Our heritage was Anglo. Yet, at the end of the day, after interviewing all the candidates, it was Rony we were drawn to.

Over the next two years Rony and I had many long discussions, we worked together, and eventually Hope joined the staff as well, and we prayed together. Early on I remember one discussion in which Rony spoke of the similarities in Pentecostalism to the Orthodox Church and its focus on the Holy Spirit. I was impressed and thought to myself this is not the narrowness I had associated with Pentecostalism and realized I was the one with the narrower view. Rony has an inquiring mind that has led him not only through the corridors of evangelical scholarship, but down pathways carved out by liberationist theologians and into an exploration of his own heritage in the study of Mayan spirituality. I am sure this inquiry mind and questing spirit will flourish in Chicago.

At the center of his self, in his spirit, Rony has a pastoral nature that places healing and caring above judgmentalism and condemnation. He bridges the divide between ethnic groupings, social classes and theological diversity. In short, Rony is in his person what North Shore Baptist seeks to be in its mission, worship and fellowship as a church.

It is to me more than coincidence that has brought you together. It is, I believe, a match made in heaven, and in the relationship I have shared with Rony, the bond between us, transcending barriers of age and ethnicity and theological persuasion, and when I look at this church, incarnating so much of Isaiah’s vision, I realize as well, heaven is not so far away. Rays of light are shining through and that light is in this church.

God is not quiet, but even while we await His final coming, already we see his appearing in this church and daily as we pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” our prayer is being answered, Isaiah’s vision fulfilled, our oneness in Jesus Christ revealed.

I see it in this church, and I see this same spirit in Rony Reyes and I am delighted, overjoyed, God has brought you together.

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory of our oneness in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Pastor Carol In Thailand #5

UPDATE #5

Hello everyone,

Yesterday, Monday, was a day for disappointments. We were supposed to visit an IDP (internally displaced persons) village across the river in Burma during the afternoon. Duane told us the night before that we would not be going. The logistics were complicated, and the schedule so tight that it would be hard to get there and return before dark. I had very much wanted to observe the harsher conditions “on the inside” that all of our refugees have experienced at some point. The morning was set aside to observe cultural orientation classes in Mae La Camp for those ready to head to the US . When we arrived bright and early, we sat in our vans outside the main entrance…and sat and sat. Finally we were told the Thai guards were refusing us entrance. I suppose this too is part of the refugee experience. Lots of waiting, lots of disappointment, and no explanations. Instead, Duane took us to an IOM Processing Center where those applying for resettlement in the US come for medical tests and their Department of Homeland Security interview. We spent some informative time with the NGO (non-government organization) that cares for the families during the 4 or 5 days they stay at the center. I was happy to meet a young man who is headed for Chicago in March.

Today we headed south and up, up, up for several hours into the mountains to visit the Umpiem Camp. Our vans struggled in low gear through mountains as remote and rugged as any I have seen in West Virginia . Everything the 23,000 refugees at Umpiem need must come by truck over this same road. I learned that the two camps we are visiting are the only ones that can be reached without 4 wheel drive vehicles. The cool breezes we began to feel were most welcome after the oppressive heat of the valley.

This camp, like Mae La, is a world unto itself. Our visit began with a meeting with members of the Camp Committee , refugee leaders elected to run the internal affairs of the camp. As we wandered later on our own we encountered the Karen Youth Organization office, the Karen Women’s Organization, a high school, a hostel for orphans and children sent in from the IDP villages to go to school, and several churches. The trio I was with spotted the oversized shoes of some others of our group outside of a house. We removed our shoes to enter as well and were embraced by the hospitality of a Baptist pastor. His wife, a graduate of the Bible College in Mae La we visited on Sunday, teaches 9th grade at the high school. NGO’s may provide some funds for all these institutions, but they are created and run by the refugees themselves. Their initiative and organizational abilities are astounding, especially in the midst of so much privation. When asked what the most common problems of women are in the camp, the Women’s Organization leaders said “Securing enough food for their families.” The food rations are severely limited for reasons too complicated to explain here.

We left feeling again deeply moved by the gentle, gracious spirit of everyone we met. It was a day of immeasurable blessing.Tomorrow we begin to make our way back to Bangkok, and then home.

Grace and peace, Carol

Pastor Carol In Thailand #4

UPDATE #4

Dear Friends and family,
We were divided into four small groups to visit churches in the Mae La Camp yesterday. Even Duane, our leader, did not know which of the several dozen churches the Karen leaders had chosen. As we drove along the road that runs parallel to the camp we could see waves of thatched bamboo huts clinging to the base of an immense, steep
mountainside. My group was dropped off at one spot on the roadside. A young man met us and immediately set off at a tremendous pace along a packed dirt path weaving its way among the little open houses. People were everywhere engaged in ordinary morning routines. The path went up and up, sometimes on log or stone steps. I felt like I was back in my summer camp days, but would have managed better if I had had on sneakers and jeans instead of a skirt and sandals. Before long I began to hear children’s’ voices singing in four part harmony. It was the Sunday school children at the church. We arrived and met the pastor and a young woman who introduced herself to me and asked my name. When I answered she asked “Do you know Taw Kaw Pah?” “Yes, she is a leader in my church.” I said. “I am Taw Kaw Pah’s friend.” In a camp of 50,000 I had landed at the Baw Naw Baptist Church , Taw Kaw Pah’s home church where PoeClee’s uncle is the pastor. Joyful introductions of relatives of those I know followed. It was a moving, joyful day for me, to preach about God’s reign of love, justice, peace and redemption to a packed bamboo church of people who know the reality of the absence and presence of these things acutely first hand. Later we visited the Bible School in the
camp and listened to the students sing gloriously. Seeing the steadfast faithfulness of the people in the camp, and looking into the faces of the young students, longing for a different future for their people through out that very long day was more than worth the sweaty hours on hard plastic chairs, the swollen ankles, and any number of visits to an Asian outhouse. Those who have been in rural Asia will know what I mean by “squatty potty”. The rest of you will have to use your imagination.

There is so much more to tell of that very full day, but it will have to wait until I get home.

Grace and peace, Carol

Pastor Carol In Thailand #3

UPDATE #3

Dear Friends and Family,

We flew to Chaing Mai in a plane full of European tourists. I can understand why. It is a beautiful city at the edge of the mountains of northern Thailand . From here people go elephant trekking, white water rafting, and exploring in glorious National Parks. Someday I would love to return to do all that. For now, our tourist activity was limited to visits to the night market at the end of the day. It is a wonderland of crafts, jewelry, fabrics, and everything else from the bizarre to the mundane, at dirt cheap prices. But we saw things the tourists never see. Every day for the last three days we rode in vans from one ministry project to another. From AIDS prevention to preparing pastors for the ethnic villagers in the hills, training medical teams who enter the conflict zones of Burma to care for the Karen hiding in the jungles, and caring for AIDS orphans. Our missionaries here, and the other Christian workers we met, are brilliant, creative and amazingly effective in initiating projects that are then carried out by the local people.

One story will have to suffice. Our first evening in the night market a small group of us were eating dinner in an open air restaurant. Suddenly a tiny girl, no more than 6 was peering over the edge of the table. We gave her a piece of bread. Then she held up the flower necklaces she was selling. We bought one, and wondered about her story. No adult was in sight. Before the night was out we had seen easily a dozen of these little flower sellers. The next morning we visited ABC missionary Kim Brown and her four health related projects. One is House of Blessing, a preschool for ethnic minority children who live in a nearby slum. She said “These children are selling flowers all night in the night market and never go to school. After we enroll them in our day care and work with the families for a few months, most of them are no longer selling flowers. These darling children sang for us and crushed us with hugs. After 3 years of preschool, they have learned Thai and are ready to enter 1st grade. Doug notified us of the assassination of a Karen leader in the town of Mae Sot , where we will be spending the next few nights. Surely that is the Myanmar military’s retaliation for the earlier killing of the Karen leader defected to their side. We are in no danger. In spite of this hit, the Burma military is not free to roam the streets of Mae Sot in Thailand , and westerners are not a target. We leave momentarily for a 6 hour drive to the Mae La camp.

Grace and peace, Carol

Pastor Carol in Thailand #2

UPDATE #2

Hello from Bangkok

After about 30 hours of travel (I think…jet lag doesn’t help my math skills any) I arrived safely at the Bangkok Christian Guest House.

Bangkok is a vibrant, intense, international city…in many ways familiar to a Chicagoan. We moved around to our appointments using the “sky train”, a newer, cleaner, smoother version of the El. Office workers scurry and school kids chatter and giggle just as they do in Chicago. But there is no doubt we are in Southeast Asia. Women scrub and sweep the sidewalks following a rain, half the vehicles on the streets are motorbikes, market stalls and even entire restaurants sprout on the sidewalks after dark, and along the sois (lanes) the distinction between inside and outside is blurred. In order to visit one ministry located in a multi-story town house, we walked through a laundry operating out of what would have been the garage, completely lacking a front wall.

The international aid agencies we visited gave us precisely the information I need to better understand the Karen refugees arriving at our church. They painted a picture of the Myanmar regime’s “development plans” that seemed as bizarre and brilliantly diabolical as those of the Kmer Rouge in Cambodia in the 1980’s, even if their fatality rate in not as high. The Myanmar military are using forced labor and evacuation of villages to gain control of the rich resources found in the ethnic areas, including Karen State. The result is a nation some have called “the world’s largest concentration camp.” I left thinking “How long, O Lord, how long?” This violent oppression of the Karen people has been going on for decades, sending them over the border into Thailand by the thousands. The bright spot in those visits was meeting people from all over the world dedicated to feeding and clothing the refugees , and slogging through the bureaucracy necessary to resettle them.

The second day we visited Night Light, a ministry founded by Annie Dieselburg, an American Baptist missionary. She is a visionary dynamo who has taken on the global sex trade in her corner of Bangkok. Night Light offers employment in jewelry making for 70 former bar girls. They are welcomed into a community of love (similar to Samaritana’s in Manilla) that works holistically to mend their brokenness. Some of us had commented on the intense presence of advertising in Bangkok, even more so than in the US (though I wouldn’t have imagined that was possible.) High rise buildings are turned entirely into giant billboards, video ads play on monitors on the skytrain, and so on. After visiting Night Light we discussed the impact of social norms by which everything is for sale making it easier to sell women as entertainment. It is not surprising that Bangkok is the world capitol of sex tourism. But it is a difference in degree, not in kind, to what happens at home and elsewhere around the world. On that cheery note I close. We are off to Chaing Mai in the north.

Grace and peace, Carol

Pastor Carol in Thailand #1

UPDATE #1

Dear Friends, family and church folks,

Sandals…check. Sermon….check.

Anti-malaria medication…check.

It’s packing time for my flight tomorrow to Thailand . I am going with a group of American Baptist leaders and pastors to deepen our connections with Karen Baptists from both Thailand and Burma . We will especially be learning about the Karen people and the refugee to resettlement process they are experiencing. The Karen brothers and sisters at North Shore (refugees from Burma/Myanmar) are very excited for me to see their former homes, schools and churches, and have sent me off with fervent prayers.

As I complete my trip preparations, my incredible excitement is tempered with a bit of sadness. We received word a few days ago that due to changes in the political situation, we would not be able to sleep in the Mae La Camp during our 3 day visit there, but would stay in the nearby town of Mae Sot . That’s disappointing, as evening is a good time for casual conversation, and I was looking forward to the deeper experience of camp life that spending the night affords. But I am more sad after hearing from one of our Karen leaders the details of the new reality. Some years ago an important commander in the armed Karen resistance was enticed by promises of wealth and power to join the Myanmar military forces in fighting against his own people. His defection divided the Karen army. On February 3 this leader was assassinated. Those responsible remain at large, but the Myanmar military blames the Karen people and have threatened retaliatory attacks against the Mae La Camp. Such attacks, more common in the summer months, have always been repelled by the camp security guards. But obviously those responsible for our group are concerned about the heightened risk. What saddens me is that there are 50,000 other people in that camp who don’t have the choice to sleep someplace where it is more safe.

I hope to send a few updates during my 11 days in Thailand . I do not know how much computer access I will have. Any updates I do send will also be posted on North Shore ’s website, www.northshorebaptist.org

When asked “What do I need to know before I go to Thailand ?” the first thing my Karen friends said was: “You don’t need your coat.” So wish me well as I leave Chicago ’s snow and cold for a sunnier, warmer place!

Grace and peace, Carol