Sermons

First Christian Church

“Defining Moments”

Exodus 24:12-18

Tyler Mayfield begins his commentary on our text by describing a trip to the holy land he took with a group of seminarians. He said on the first two days of the trip they toured the Israeli coast checking out various sites previously occupied by Roman soldiers. He said the students seemed to be “tolerating” the sightseeing, but he also sensed concern about not seeing anything associated with Jesus.

They began to drive eastward which eventually took them to a high mountain and the bus climbed to the top of it. Near the top of Mount Arbel (Are-bull) they stopped to walk the remaining way to the very top of the mountain. When they reached the top they literally “froze” taking in the view. There before them was the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum (Kay-per-knee-umm), and the Mount of Beatitudes. He said, “Before us all were the very places Jesus taught and healed.” This was clearly a “defining moment” for them. What they'd been preparing for months in advance suddenly became a living reality!

But as inspiring as the moment was, they still had to eventually come down off the mountain. The defining moment soon became part of the overall experience of the trip. And so it is with all mountaintop experiences – eventually we have to come down and continue on our way.

Moses is no stranger to mountaintop experiences. In our text he receives a Call to climb Mount Sinai and receive the tablets of the law. While climbing the mountain Moses is surrounded by a great cloud. The Israelite's at the bottom describe the cloud as a “devouring fire!” On the seventh day God calls Moses out of the cloud but then he returns and walks around in it for a total of forty days.

This must have been a difficult time for him. Finally, the Lord gives him the Ten Commandments which had to have been a defining moment in his life. But the people are still in the wilderness, and he must go to them to lead them out.

As important as Mount Sinai is it is still only one stop on a long journey to the Promised Land. This is a description of what characterizes all of our spiritual journeys. We all have our mountaintop experiences which can be inspiring and deeply meaningful, but we must continue on into the valleys and plains of life and perhaps other mountains as the following psalm describes:

And how blessed all those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel; They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain! God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and at last turn – Zion! God in full view! (Psalm 84:5-7; The Message Bible)

Sometime prior to graduation the president of my seminary asked me if I would like to accompany one of the donors on a six-week trip through Western and Eastern Europe. I told him that sounded fantastic and soon I was meeting with Monty at his home in San Francisco. The initial meeting went well and the week after graduation we were on our way.

The first hint of trouble occurred on the plane when Monty saw me reading a Newsweek magazine and told me as a seminary graduate I could do better. That struck me as a bit odd and I don't remember if I stopped reading it. I had also brought along a copy of Paul Tillich's “The Courage To Be” which Monty later told me was more fitting for a seminary graduate.

It was not long before a relational coldness set in between us where conversation was at a minimum and I often felt frustrated and sometimes angry with him. I understood my presence there was to be a helpmate but that was not Monty's understanding. Unfortunately, we made poor companions and so the adventure soon became a trial of endurance.

One defining moment occurred in a cathedral while we were still in West Germany. As we walked together across the floor Monty failed to see the fast approaching steps and literally tried to walk on air. I broke his fall by grabbing his left arm and pulled him to safety. That defining moment worried me because we had many more cathedrals to go and Monty was becoming increasingly uncooperative.

In Switzerland while walking alone he missed another flight of steps and fell and broke his glasses as well as cut his head. After that I called the president of the seminary back in Berkeley and that helped a bit but throughout the trip I considered going home early. However, I could never bring myself to abandon Monty because though he felt he didn't need me the problems he was having told a different story.

When we recall our spiritual journeys, we may have a tendency to favor the defining moments and maybe the high points of the experience. But often the truth is these defining moments, and high points happen as the struggle ensues and each obstacle that we encounter is confronted and resolved with prayer, strategy and sometimes dogged perseverance.

Moses' first defining moment on Mount Sinai probably comes on the seventh day when God calls him out of the cloud. The second certain defining moment comes at the culmination of the forty days and nights on the mountain when he receives the Ten Commandments. The whole experience could be considered a spiritual journey but think of the hardship he must have endured spending forty days and nights in the middle of nowhere lost in a dense cloud.

Ironically, my six-week trip with Monty also amounts to around forty days and nights, and like Moses it was fraught with hardship and anxiety. Though I wasn't in the middle of nowhere, nor in dense fog, I struggled with a cold (back then they only lasted a couple weeks), diarrhea from bad food in Romania, and, of course, constant relational difficulties with a 93-year-old man who really didn't want me there.

It's been thirty-five years since the trip, and the defining moments are crystal clear to me. The first one occurs on the cathedral steps, and in the second country we visited, Switzerland, I shook hands with my cousin who could have been mistaken for my father as he walked toward me just outside the village of Bilten. The third one happened in a small restaurant in Warsaw, Poland where I recognized one of the few people in Europe I could identify.

Sitting at a table a few feet from us was Lech Walesa (Lech Wuh-leh-suh) the leader of the solidarity movement in Poland that led the Polish people to their freedom from communist rule. I walked over and introduced myself and shook hands with him and he gave me an autographed copy of his picture. The fourth defining moment was the tour through the museum at Auschwitz which took place soon after that meeting.

After meeting Lech Walesa I felt that encounter was the reason for the entire trip. It justified the struggle and hardships I'd endured all those weeks and this is often what makes up a defining moment. It somehow puts everything into focus and I had not one defining moment but four. Moses had at least two and perhaps more in those forty days on Mount Sinai.

A defining moment doesn't necessarily have to happen during struggle and hardship. It can happen at anytime. It can happen on a flight to Thailand or simply while walking the Olympic Discovery Trail. To identify it all you have to look for is a phrase that sounds something like: “Oh, this is why I'm here” or “This is what I came for.”

Rev. Mitch Becker

February 15, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Tasty & Lit Up!”

Matthew 5:13-16

In this portion of scripture Jesus is not talking about a kingdom of God that's on the way but rather it's right there available to them in the present tense. In terms of embodiment what he's describing is what their new lives in that kingdom look like – tasty and lit-up! Further, this new life is not only something received by the grace of God but is also something to be given generously away.

Considering salt and light neither one exists for itself but only becomes useful when they interact with something. Think about light as it travels through space. You can't see it until it strikes the moon which reflects it back to us. Salt has a saltiness to it but its when you put it on a steak that its true purpose is revealed. Therefore, as we interact generously with the world our true purpose as salt and light is revealed.

On the morning, I wrote these first words describing our passage from scripture I noticed Roger N. picking up trash along Park Avenue. What he's doing is a community service, without pay, that was acknowledged last year in the newspaper in the Rant and Rave column. Somebody was so taken by Roger's generosity that they took the trouble to write about it and send it into the paper.

This is the kind of generosity that Jesus is after in his disciples because Roger is not limited to picking up trash in this ministry. He also interacts with numerous people along his route including this minister. Since Roger is a follower of Jesus the Spirit of God flows through him out into the world in selfless acts of community service and through the relationships he both establishes and then nurtures.

The bushel Jesus refers to is not a unit of measurement but can be better described as a basket. If we live with the light God shines through us concealed as if a basket was covering it then we've lost our usefulness and will effectively be discarded by God. But if we leave the basket in the laundry room where it belongs and allow God's light to shine through us then as The Message Bible describes: “By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”

Sometimes what's helpful to identify is the nature of our bushel (we all have one) and then we can choose to put it back in the laundry room and leave it! Have you ever heard the phrase the devil is in the comparisons? One form a bushel can take is when a church compares itself to another church and in so doing negates the vital ministries its doing in the community. I've already described, at least in part, Roger's ministry. Linda is standing along Race Street promoting the love of God with signs she's made and her faithful presence. 

We're all making it possible for numerous people to recover from addiction. Karen is a social dynamo and I have an online ministry that knows no bounds. I could go on. Never, never compare your church to another church because it's a grave injustice to do so. Rest in the assurance that we're both tasty and lit up by the Spirit of God!

Global Missions is the international outreach division of our denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and they frequently ask for prayers for other countries. Last week the call came out for the country of Mozambique and included were the following comments written by a local pastor. As you listen to the comments it's obvious that the author based it upon our scripture passage for today:

Many people are advised not to consume salt in their meals, but some people “steal a little salt” because salt is very important and indispensable to humans. And food without salt often does not appeal to many. Salt has a very peculiar taste, unlike anything else. When mixed with other substances, it preserves them from corruption and imparts some of its flavor to everything it is mixed with. Salt is only useful as long as it preserves and enhances flavor; otherwise, it serves no purpose.

Christians are the salt of the earth, so they must always be ready to salt the world so that it is not corrupted by sin. The second characteristic of the true believer is to live as light in this world. We know very well that the property of light is to be totally different from darkness. The smallest spark in a dark room is immediately visible. Of all the things that were created, light is the most useful. Jesus wants Christians to be more useful...as salt and light in the world.

When I was in college at Oregon State, I was asked to write a devotion for an Advent devotional my church was putting together. At Oregon State I no longer was taking any science classes but my dream to become a scientist still lingered and found expression in the devotion I wrote that year.

In it I talked about how light when passed through a prism breaks down into the colors of the rainbow. The analogy I drew involved asking people to imagine the Spirit of God when it passes through us breaking down into different aspects of love. There is passionate love and nurturing love and the love of friendships. There is the love that occurs between family members and there is unconditional love or agape which is frequently referred to in the Bible.

I talked about how we can either be open or closed to the flow of God's Spirit though us and the way we practice our Christian lives has much bearing on whether this happens or not. Like light that passes through a prism, so God's Spirit passes through us to express love in its varied forms, but some things depend on us.

This all happened so long ago that I don't remember how it was received by the church as a whole, but I do recall one specific comment made by the wife of the youth pastor. As we were walking down the street together we began to talk about what I had written and in the midst of conversation she turned and looked at me with a questioning expression on her face and said: “Is that the sort of thing you think about all day?”

That caught me entirely off guard to the point I didn't reply at all. It wasn't exactly an affirmation and it certainly wasn't any expression of gratitude nor showing any degree of interest. From what she said and the way she said I took it my devotion struck her as rather odd and irrelevant. Perhaps she thought my time would be better spent doing things as opposed to thinking about things.

When considering the scripture passage itself it seems apparent that Jesus is trying to light a fire underneath his disciples. The rendering of the passage in contemporary terms makes this clear:

Let me tell you why you're here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God -flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.

If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand – shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up to God, this generous Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16; The Message Bible)

Sometimes I watch a video online hosted by Tripp Fuller who describes himself as a “theology nerd.” He hosts different programs with various guests often who have achieved some type of notoriety in the realm of religion. The particular video I'm referring to now had John Dominic Crossan as a guest. I remember Marcus Borg referring to him as “Dom” which is a nickname used by his friends.

In the video “Dom” said something both insightful and provocative. He said in effect: “The Bible is a book not so much about the way the world is as it is about the way the world could be if people would cooperate with God.” As people of faith we're called to seek ways to cooperate with God by bringing out the God-flavors and God-colors of the world.

Rev. Mitch Becker

February 8, 2026

Port Angeles 

First Christian Church

“Bookends”

Matthew 5:1-12

This is a familiar text that you may have a lot of pre-conceived ideas about, so let me approach it from an angle of embodiment rather than spiritualizing it. By embodiment I mean how did the beatitudes apply to the everyday life of the marginalized and suffering people in Jesus time. To begin, we have to understand that the beatitudes are framed within the kingdom of heaven.

By framed, I mean the first and last beatitudes apply the kingdom of heaven in this manner: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” and “Blessed are those who are persecuted...for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In this way these two beatitudes act like bookends demonstrating the importance of the kingdom of heaven.

We can assume those who are suffering because their poor in spirit means they're being humbled by life's circumstances and in doing so are still being faithful to God. As well, those who are grief-stricken are also faithful to God. This holds true for each beatitude where their plight is a consequence of trusting that in time God will vindicate them. As The Message Bible often says, “This is how God works.”

For those who are in a position to take advantage of the marginalized and poor they may be fortunate in the moment, but it is those who are trusting God that will be fortunate forever. In this case, I'm translating the word, “Blessed” into the word, “fortunate.”

To illustrate the radical nature of the beatitudes after listing them he says: “Blessed (or fortunate) are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” Here we see that faithfulness in Jesus results in entrance into the kingdom of heaven. This faithfulness manifests itself in the way we follow Jesus to our own crosses.

I'll close this introduction with words from a commentary written by Elizabeth Shively:

Jesus calls us to join this radical kingdom.... (and) we can continue fishing for people, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom at great cost to ourselves, (and) fighting oppressive powers in Jesus' name. We can suffer for the sake of Jesus and the gospel with the assurance that God has the last word. When we see people receiving the word of God and finding healing and freedom in Jesus' name we can announce, “the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.”

Since Jesus frames the beatitudes with the kingdom we can assume he feels the kingdom is something his disciples desire in their lives. We can take it for granted that the kingdom of God falls upon the hearts and minds of his audience as something of both importance and desirability.

This presents a grave problem for modern day society since the word “kingdom” has very limited application. Never-the-less, it is the way Jesus used to describe the endpoint of practicing the beatitudes and in living out his teaching as a whole. When we grieve in the hope that God will bring healing, and when we hunger for justice, and are merciful, and practice peacemaking, and endure persecution for his sake we can expect to be blessed with revealings of the kingdom of God.

In the beginning they come to us as religious experiences often momentary but maybe with increasing frequency. At some point if we stay on the path we may stop having momentary religious experiences and simply enjoy one extended religious experience. That can be described as reaching enlightenment or more completely entering into the kingdom of God. This is the primary goal of any follower of Jesus.

One reason this achievement, if we can call it that, is so important is because Jesus teaches and speaks from his own existence within the kingdom of God. Therefore, to understand what he means by teachings such as “love your enemies” and “pray for those who persecute you” only becomes possible when you're state of being matches up with his. Otherwise, such teachings seem like sheer nonsense at best and insanity at worst. This explains why some people, including members of his own family, questioned his sanity.

Before we continue Cynthia Bourqeault (Bore-show) does a good job of describing what Jesus meant by this frequent phrase in the gospel. She says:

Jesus uses one particular phrase repeatedly: “the kingdom of heaven is within you” (that is, here) and “at hand” (that is, now). It's not later, but lighter – some more subtle quality or dimension of experience accessible to you right in the moment. You don't die into it; you awaken into it...

The kingdom of heaven is really a metaphor for a state of consciousness; it is not a place you go to, but a place you come from. It is a whole new way of looking at the world, a transformed awareness that literally turns this world into different place....the hallmark of this awareness is that it sees no separation – not between God and humans, not between humans and other humans. And these are indeed Jesus' two core teachings, underlying everything he says and does.

That last statement about no separation underlying everything Jesus says and does is pretty bold, yet all we need to examine is the beatitudes and especially the ones that are active. You might ask what does mourning have to do with no separation. When we mourn in the hope God is at work within us we're both seeking and counting on wholeness as an end result.

Further, another way of describing hungering for righteousness is to deeply desire justice. The justice the prophets are often talking about is “distributive justice” or the notion that everyone has enough to get by including enough resources and opportunities. To be merciful is to bring people together through acts of kindness, forgiveness and understanding. To be a peacemaker is self-descriptive and we endure persecution because Jesus' teachings about unity and forgiveness often clash with worldly values.

In the spirit of the beatitudes, I'm going to close this sermon with the letter I read to you from our regional minister, Rev. Paul Allen and regional moderator Rev. Doug Garner. They open the letter with the events unfolding in Minneapolis and the fear and violence which is occurring there. The letter goes on to describe what it means to be a Christian in these troubling times and includes suggestions on how we can respond.

The suggestions encompass praying for those suffering from unrest and trauma in communities across our country. Creating a space within our congregation to both grieve with those suffering and share ideas about what can be done. Actively reaching out to anyone who has been traumatized or is suffering from emotional distress. And being witnesses with both our words and actions to God's reconciling love in our broken world.

Our regional leaders are attempting to focus our attention on the deeply troubling events that are unfolding across this country. Of course, we're all shocked and angered by the display of brutal, indiscriminate force being unleashed on people who are mostly of color.

Jesus was no stranger to tyrannical, oppressive power. He allowed it to have its way with him so he could send an enduring message to the world. It is now the central symbol of our faith. Crucifixion, whether that be of sinful practices or of our very life is a consequence of taking Jesus seriously. The beatitudes are just words on a page until you apply them in your own life. That's when you begin to discover how fortunate it is to be a follower of Jesus.

Rev. Mitch Becker

February 1, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Bringing the Message Home”

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

A lot of passages written by the Apostle Paul is difficult to understand because of complex sentences, complicated theological concepts and his frequent references to Hebrew culture. In contrast, our passage today is more direct because it focuses on the cross of Christ attempting to bring about unity in the church at Corinth.

New Testament scholar Richard Hays calls what Paul is doing here a “conversion of the imagination.” Because The Apostle is trying to get the Corinthians to make the cross the central narrative of their worldviews. In doing this their previous worldview and its understanding of reality is challenged to be reshaped. The whole point is to bring the community together around the message of the cross.

In the opening verse Paul calls them to unity “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The name is crucial because it provides the authority which calls them to account. It is the name that makes them one. Paul brings this home later when he says, “Were you baptized into the name of Paul?”

Bringing them together in the name of Christ provides both a description of the problem and the solution. Because they're claiming other names and using them as “identity markers.” This results in an social ailment we might describe as “party spirit” something we see frequently now-a-days in modern politics.

This party spirit is even revealed in the way Paul has learned about their social ailment. Because the information has come from “Chloe's (Klow-ees) people.” In this case, the message is about the church fracturing with Chloe's people favoring the Apostle Paul. In this we see something about Paul and a humility we sometimes sense in his writings.

As we near the end of the passage we can note that Paul does not try to get them to side with the Paul party even though that must have been a temptation to do so. He says, “Was Paul crucified for you?” Rather than giving in to the temptation he uses the opportunity to reaffirm the primacy of the message of the cross.

The famous Trappist monk Thomas Merton nearly single-highhandedly brought contemplation back into the mainstream of Christianity and our passage today reflected one of his basic premises which is we're all one in God. Paul is saying essentially the same thing only he's using the message of the cross to approach this profound spiritual union.

Merton had an uncanny way of interpreting his inner life in a way that any reasonably intelligent person could understand. And he felt deeply that any inner healing was ultimately for the healing of the world. As he neared the end of his life he shared the following prayer (which is partially represented here) that was radical in its time and remains so today:

Oh, God, we are one with you. You have made us one with you. You have taught us that if we're open to one another, You dwell in us. Help us to preserve this openness and to fight for it with all our hearts. Help us to realize that there can be no understanding where there is mutual rejection. Oh God, in accepting one another wholeheartedly, fully, completely, we accept You, and we thank You...Fill us then with love, and let us be bound together with love as we go our diverse ways, united in this one spirit which makes You present in the world, and which makes You witness to the ultimate reality that is love. Love has overcome. Love is victorious. Amen

In our passage the church in Corinth is fragmenting because the faithful are identifying with different people rather than finding unity in the message of the cross. Paul is pleading with them to see the error of their ways and by mutual recognition embrace their oneness in Christ.

Paul is affirming Merton's conviction that by accepting one another wholeheartedly we're accepting God and he says it like this: “....that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” The formula is pretty straight-forward we find union with God in mutual acceptance of each other.

South Tacoma Christian Church was my second senior pastorate, and I was still a budding pastor making frequent mistakes and paying for them in various ways. We learn mostly from our mistakes and my experience was no exception. In those first few years I managed to pretty much isolate the leading family creating a considerable gap between me and the church which was never entirely healed.

The church eventually closed by mutual agreement and if it wasn't for the success of the churches that came after I'd probably feel a considerable amount of guilt. But due to the mistakes and the struggle and the wisdom of my ministers support group I discovered the pastor God always wanted me to be. I found my calling and the subsequent churches I led benefited from my hard-earned maturity.

The wholeness I found in God translated out into the subsequent churches resulting in a wholeness of community or a unity in God that both Merton and Paul are describing. But it did not come without considerable struggle, prayer and sometimes dogged perseverance.

This wholeness of community was symbolized at our wedding at First Christian Church in Shadyside, Ohio. All of the prominent members along with a great number of family and friends were in attendance. Even my mother flew out from Oregon, and you'd have to know her to fully appreciate that accomplishment!

The wedding represented a coming together of the people we were closest to, and for the church it was a representation of something that was already present namely a unity in Spirit. I recall, as well, when the pastor's would visit for our district clergy meetings the women of the church would make lunch for everyone.

The clergy, who were mostly men, enjoyed this sort of attention immensely and well they should since it didn't happen in any of the other churches. We almost always went to a restaurant following clergy meetings. But not in Shadyside because the ladies so enjoyed extending hospitality to us. Only a church that's got its act together can pull that off and not only once but every clergy meeting that occurred.

Much later and due to the miracle of social media the matriarch of the church, Elizabeth, told me the years Karen and I were there were the best years the church had ever seen. Of course, much needs to be attributed to Karen since she added a relational dimension to my ministry and has always taken her role as a pastor's wife very seriously.

The Apostle Paul is pleading with the church at Corinth to start being the community in Spirit God is calling them to be. He does this with both eloquence and humility as is evident in these closing words put into contemporary terms:

God didn't send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach The Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn't send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center – Christ on the Cross – be trivialized into mere words. The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but to those on the way to salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. (1 Corinthians 1:17-18; The Message Bible)

Rev. Mitch Becker

January 25, 2026

Port Angeles

 First Christian Church

“How Long to Sing This Song?”

Psalm 40:1-11

The Christian rock band U2 consistently fills stadiums for their concerts, and their faith could be described as stealth in that it can be hard to recognize in their music. But in using words from Psalm 40 their stealthiness disappears with the song “40” that appears on their album “War.” Because the song begins with an adaption of verses 1-2 that indicate waiting patiently for the Lord and then moves to God's deliverance with the words: “He drew me up from the desolate pit” and “he set my feet upon a rock.” Finally, the chorus goes to: “He put a new song in my mouth.”

But then the song includes a line that is not part of the psalm with the words: “How long to sing this song?” These words echo a line from the first song on the album, “Sunday, Bloody Sunday,” which is a lament about a horribly violent day in Ireland. The album ends in thanksgiving but includes an awareness of continuing pain and suffering.

Looking at this rendition of Psalm 40, we can conclude the song holds true to the psalm because it's a song of thanksgiving that recognizes the ongoing troubles in the world along with its desperate need for salvation. (To a great extent I relied upon a commentary written by Jerome Creach for this opening interpretation of our text.)

Sometimes when people are experiencing ongoing troubles in their workplace they quit and find a job elsewhere. They do this because they see it as a way to salvation with a release of stress and other emotional challenges they've been having to contend with. For many the new position starts out well but soon they're experiencing the very same problems they were in the previous position.

These problems can include poor communication between them and their boss and possibly other employees, or they're not getting the recognition they feel they deserve and they begin to lose motivation and interest. Because these problems were present in their former position it becomes apparent that the source of their problems is not their jobs but resides within them.

I say “becomes apparent” yet ironically not to the employee whose actually experiencing them. This is because there's a human tendency to blame others for the hardships and suffering we all endure. The Apostle Paul puts it like this: Therefore, you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are, when you judge another; for in passing judgment upon him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. (Romans 2:1)

A quick example that comes to mind occurred Wednesday when I walked Oreo to the college. On our way we encountered a large pile of dog poop on the sidewalk that someone had left apparently for some other more thoughtful person to pick up. So, this made two doggie pick-up bags I had to carry to the waste receptacle at the college.

We continued our walk and about one half block further down the street I encounter yet another pile of poop and even larger than the previous one! I didn't pick that one up and though I could let the first pile pass without judgment the second one elicited the full range of negative emotions. Feeling both frustrated and annoyed I wondered how anyone could be so inconsiderate. But then, as my habit is when I find myself upset about something someone else has done I became reflective and pondered the origin of my own feelings about the indiscriminate piles of dog waste.

And then it came to me, like a gift from heaven, that before I met Karen I too left piles of dog waste whenever I took Omar, my first dog, out for a walk. I did this frequently and thought nothing about it because no one had ever shown me differently. I didn't think of the practice as being inconsiderate or thoughtless or anything at all.

This illustrates, in a two-fold manner, why enlightenment is so hard to reach because if no one has told you something is wrong you're not going to see it as sin. To compound the problem even if you're capable of identifying the behavior as sin you're apt to place blame upon someone else. Why? Because, before enlightenment, that's what people do. It's very, very difficult to wake up!

But with God all things are possible and with prayer, study and ceaseless acts of compassion over many years you may wake up and realize as the comic strip “Pogo” famously described: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” In regard to passing judgment upon others the great opportunity here comes in the form of forgiveness. Instead of being angry at the negligence of the dog owner, by grace, I was able to recognize my own similar sinful behavior.

That's the first step to forgiveness because the anger and frustration I felt about the dog owners behavior isn't about him or her – it's about me and the way I punish myself for sins that have not been redeemed. It's I that needs the forgiveness Jesus gave his executioners from the cross when he said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

This story about the opportunity to forgive oneself due to the negligence of another and how it relates to our own crimes and misdemeanors is helpful from a spiritual standpoint, but there are far more hurtful human behaviors than leaving dog waste on the sidewalk. The following story illustrates one such behavior:

In a predominately black church in the deep south there had been recently constructed a building to hold Sunday school classes and a prominent white minister in the denomination was invited to attend the celebration. They wanted him to be a part of things because of his notoriety and long-standing commitment to Christian education.

After worship the pastor invited the congregation to go outside and form a circle around the new building. This was a large, well established church in New Orleans so they had no problem gathering enough people together to form a circle. There were a few other white people in the circle, but not many, and the visiting white minister found himself standing next to a little girl of maybe seven of eight years.

The pastor of the church asked everyone to take the hands of the people next to them and so the white minister did so. Upon grasping the little girls hand she looked up at him and said, “Are you a nice man?” The minister replied, “Yes, I think so.” When the acknowledgments of thanksgiving were over the father of the little girl approached the white minister and apologized for his daughters uncomfortable question.

The white minister told him that he wasn't personally offended but was curious as to why she might think he wasn't a nice man. The father explained that at work he often had trouble with some of his fellow employees and unfortunately, he would bring his frustration and anger home with him. As young children often rely on their parents' emotional cues and can absorb even hidden feelings, so her question revealed what she'd been picking up from her father.

The father is on the road to redemption in that he's acknowledging his own sin which is unfortunately being reflected in his daughter. In this case, the sins of the father are being visited upon the daughter. Never-the-less his daughter will have to come to terms with it and hopefully she encounters many kind and thoughtful white people in her life.

If you will recall the last verse of our text it is about mercy, love and faithfulness and and in that respect we can easily include forgiveness, but to consider the text as a whole the overall message is about waiting on God to receive these wonderful gifts. The psalm is about waiting patiently for God because he cares about his children. Furthermore, deliverance from hatred, anger and an unforgiving heart is on the way. It will come from God as a sheer gift.

Rev. Mitch Becker

January 18, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Unforced Rhythms of Grace”

Isaiah 42:1-9

In our text the “servant” is sometimes interpreted as the nation of Israel itself, but since the Gospel selection for this week is Jesus's baptism, we'll favor the alternative interpretation that the servant is Jesus.

God is presented here as the creator of everything that exists and when God contemplates the chosen servant it is with great affection. God places the Spirit upon him and essentially holds the servants hand watching over him. To be sure, God also chooses entire nations like Assyria and Babylon to do his will, but there is an abiding affection toward the chosen servant.

The servant is to bring forth justice not only for Israel but for the entire world and he will not be defeated until this is accomplished. In this respect, the servant will not only reaffirm the covenant with God's people, but will also bring justice to all the nations. Ultimately, the ways of justice will be something that has not been previously seen. The reception of these new ways of justice will be comparable to the cries of joy expressed after God's people were freed from bondage in Egypt. The servant will be a kind of choir leader for these songs of joy.

Also of note is that the servant will not in any way force justice upon people. As the text points out he will “not cry or lift up his voice” or in any manner try to impose his agenda. What is envisioned is because the nations will desire justice so earnestly they'll come of their own free will to listen intently to instruction. The chosen servant is gentle as described in the gospel:

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:29)

The servant will attend to the needs of the poor and to those being abused and will not be discouraged in fulfilling his mission. And this is in no way a passive mission but if intervention is necessary that will also happen bringing the marginalized out of darkness into the light.

We may feel comforted in the knowledge that the servant isn't going to force his agenda on us and further that he's described as being “gentle and lowly in heart.” One of my favorite ways this aspect of the servant is presented is in The Message Bible where the servant comes to teach us the “unforced rhythms of grace.” More on that later.

Problems can arise if we limit Jesus to this rather benign characterization of him because considering the gospel as a whole it doesn't pan out. Jesus also had a sharp edge to him that becomes apparent when he does things like confronts the religious leaders labeling them as “hypocrites” or a “brood of vipers.” Further complicating things are teachings like “I've not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Perhaps most telling is when his family considers that he might be “out of his mind.”

At this point we have to consider a wider context for the servant and begin to see him as far more progressive and revolutionary than we're comfortable with. Lets let theologian Obery (O-burr-ree) Hendricks Jr. jump in here and flesh this out a bit:

I was raised on the bland Jesus of Sunday school and of my mother's gentle retellings, the meek, mild Jesus who told us, in a nice, passive, sentimental way, to love our enemies, and who assured us we need not worry about our troubles, just bring them to him. He was a gentle, serene, nonthreatening Jesus whose only concern was getting believers into heaven, and whose only “transgression” was to claim sonship with God...

I have been blessed to experience the adoration and worship of Jesus in every aspect of his person and grandeur...except one: Jesus the political revolutionary, the Jesus who is as concerned about liberating us from the kingdoms of earth as about getting us into the kingdom of heaven. Yet the Gospels tell us that is who Jesus is, too. And what he was crucified for. This is the Jesus who called me back to church – the revolutionary Jesus.

Before we go any further lets unpack this notion of Jesus being a political revolutionary. By political I don't mean he was interested in organizing “No King's” protests back in Galilee or that he was engrossed in power plays or partisanship (par-tuh-sun-ship) like we see in modern politics. And it certainly doesn't mean that he was in any way interested in overthrowing the Roman Empire by means if force.

What I mean by “political revolutionary” is he saw that change needed to happen in a comprehensive manner not only within the hearts of individuals. Jesus wasn't just the Savior of “me” even though many of the hymns we sing point us in that direction. We have to be very careful here because Jesus is the Savior of the entire world. We just reviewed that fact with the celebration of Epiphany and the appearance of the Gentile Wise Men from the East.

Let's return to Mr. Hendricks for a moment and see how he describes the intentions of a Savior for the world:

“But (he) also demanded sweeping and comprehensive change in the political, social, and economic structures in his setting in life: colonized Israel. It means that if Jesus had his way, the Roman Empire and it's ruling elites among his own people either would have no longer have held their positions of power, or if they did, would have had to conduct themselves very, very differently....It means that Jesus had a clear vision of the healthy world that God intended and that he addressed any issue – social, economic, or political – that violated that vision.

When I take time for a meditative sit, I am not seeking the revolutionary Jesus. What I'm hoping to encounter is the teacher of the unforced rhythms of grace that I might dwell in that alternative world of nurture, reassurance and empowerment. It doesn't always happen but even failing in this regard is success. Because desiring God is an important aspect of loving God even if that love isn't fully requited.

But when we as a community of faith give swim passes to Lincoln High or provide a facility for people struggling in recovery or even when we have the cross painted or display the Bethlehem star in a window at Christmastime, we are affecting society. We are promoting change in a manner God intends for the world to be changed.

Can you imagine the impact upon society that's being made by assisting over a hundred drug addicts to stay clean and sober. People who were previously a drain on societies resources become a contributor to the greater good. The effect is enormous and spreads through the society like waves in a calm pond after a rock impacts the surface.

The unforced rhythms of grace move through the society from one person to the next in a way that seems to have no ending. In this conflicted, struggling culture we're now living in these waves of grace counter the uncertain and sometimes frightening events we see happening around us. This is how we stand up to the darkness by being open to the Spirit and allowing it to flow through us and out into the world.

In the end the unforced rhythms of grace enjoyed during quiet prayer, or in any other context their encountered, translate to revolutionary energy that transforms the world in a way God intends. This is how we become instruments of goodness and grace.

Rev. Mitch Becker

January 11, 2026

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Flights of Refuge”

Matthew 2:13-23

 Our text displays a tension between Herod's evil intentions, and the guidance granted the holy family by God's angels. Joseph's first dream directs them to Egypt effectively avoiding the execution of their newborn babe. To take flight to Egypt was ironic in itself since Egypt was historically a place of oppression for God's people. Yet Egypt provides refuge for Israel's Messiah!

Later the angel tells Joseph to take his family first to Israel, but he then receives another dream telling him to avoid Israel because of the new king Archelaus (Ark-kuh-lay-us). The final dream instructs them to go to the obscure village of Nazareth in Galilee.

In this story we see clear parallels between the holy family's flights of refuge and the stories of the Exodus. Moses was sent to save the Israelite's, whereas Jesus is God's instrument of salvation not only for the Israelite's but for the entire world! It's interesting to note that even as a baby Jesus faced rejection and is rescued. He was a saved Savior, a delivered Deliverer. (taken from a commentary by Diane Chen)

The parallels with the Exodus don't end there since Moses could have been killed due to Pharaoh's persecution in the form of an edict to eliminate all male Hebrew infants. Jesus narrowly missed the same fate in avoiding Herod's order to kill all the first-born males in Bethlehem under the age of two.

Joseph demonstrates for God's people what they must do in order to be saved which essentially is to follow God's instruction to a T. Joseph does exactly what God tells him to do by taking the child and his mother to Egypt and to “wait there for further instructions.” And when told to return to Israel his actions match the instructions word for word. In this way the holy family avoided the threats posed by both Herod and his son Archelaus.

We can see in these flights of refuge that Joseph in his humility is willing to trust God's direction while putting his own fears on the back burner. This is a faithful example what we must do to stay on the path to salvation.

There was a wonderful example of someone humbly following God's guidance in the devotion for Christmas Eve written by Caroline Hamilton-Arnold:

“Mommmmm, you skipped, 'the shepherds trembled,'” my toddler groggily corrected me. Assuming him asleep, I skipped part of the final lullaby, “Go, Tell It On the Mountain.”

In our eagerness to make it to the celebration of Christmas, the long-awaited birth of Jesus, we have a tendency to speed right through the trembling shepherds. Angels were declaring God's glory and message of peace and favor, the good news that God's very self was born into this world, and their audience was shaking in its sandals. Once the nerves settled, though, they went to see the Christ child, and they were amazed.

The line between amazed and terrified is pretty thin. Especially when it comes to living into a new thing God is doing with us and through us, amazed and terrified usually go hand in hand.

A Week of Compassion delegation was visiting Indonesia to see sustainable development efforts addressing child malnutrition. One member of the delegation, who had hardly traveled out of his home state of Georgia prior to this, remarked that because he had shown up to this other side of the world trip despite his fear, he glimpsed the presence of Christ, born again in a community garden on the side of a remote mountain in West Timor (Tee-more).

The gentleman got a glimpse of Christ because he trusted God and faced his fears making the trip to West Timor. Joseph was able to save his family from the evil intent of kings because he trusted in God's guidance not on one occasion but on several. Both of them ended up where God wanted them to be.

Probably only a few of you watch the reels on Facebook or on other venues the internet offers. Now-a-days artificial intelligence creates many of these short videos. A recent one had huge herds of some type of animal crossing over a freeway stopping all the cars. Another one had a lion rescuing a lamb from a flooding river. Pretty amazing and absolutely fake.

How do I know it's fake? Because lions eat lambs, they don't save them from flooding rivers though we might wish it were true. However, what is true is the place in our hearts that is touched when we see such an act of compassion. We are moved by what we witness and are encouraged to do something of the same thing. Compassion is contagious.

Faith can be contagious too and that's why God has gifted us with these stories in the Bible. They're meant to inspire and encourage us to do something of the same thing Joseph did. He trusted God and was led to refuge and finally to their home in Nazareth. God took care of them because Joseph paid attention and did what he was told.

The devotion telling of the gentleman who goes to West Timor with a Week of Compassion delegation also trusts God. What results from his act of faith is a religious experience. We don't know if it's a vision of the Christ or an act of Christ like compassion all we're told is he gets a glimpse of the presence of Christ.

The point of this story is also to move us – to move us closer to God. It's unfortunate that often what requires us to move is some type of persecution or fearfulness or at least we have to face our fears and go through them the way the man in the devotion did.

I wish it were easier but its not and these stories of persecution and fearfulness populate the entire Bible and much of our religious literature. But there is more because we're not alone in our journey to God. And that's what makes this Christmas story so special and so unique and so treasured by so many.

The message is Emmanuel meaning “God with us.” God came down from heaven to dwell with his children. We can now be the faithful, compassionate people God Calls us to be. We can be like God. What's called for is to be as humble as Joseph and as fearless as the man in the devotion. Sounds like a tall order. Thankfully, God is with us now so we're not alone.

Rev. Mitch Becker

December 28, 2025

Port Angeles