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"Get Up!"

6/24/2021

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2 Cor. 8: 1-15; Mark 5: 21-43
 
 
13-year-old Long, a Cambodian girl, was kidnapped and sold into a brothel. When she rebelled, the brothel owner gouged out her eye with a metal rod.

Sunita, a young Indian bride, was held down on a cot by her father-in-law and brother-in-law, while her husband doused her with kerosene and set her on fire.  She later died in the hospital of her wounds. The reason?  Her in-laws were demanding a bigger dowry from her parents. Sunita was murdered over a refrigerator.

     A 12-year-old girl was killed in an acid attack in Southern Afghanistan, because she befriended a 15-year-old boy (who was also killed).

    A 12-year-old Yemeni girl died three days after her wedding night from acute bleeding.

    12 year old Anisha was promised her in marriage to a Taliban fighter to pay a debt. She was handed over to his family who abused her and forced her to sleep in the stable with the animals. When she attempted to flee, she was caught and her nose and ears were hacked off by her husband as punishment.

      These young girls are a reminder that, despite all the advances we have achieved, there are still in many parts of the world where girls and women still face extreme danger and prejudice.  Violence and discrimination are still practiced and long standing. 

   Greek philosopher Aristotle 4th century BCE, following his ancient tradition, considered women ‘defective’ human beings. Christian writer, Tertullian, addressed women in the 2nd century: “You are the Devil's gateway; you are the unsealer of that tree; you are the first forsaker of the divine law; you are the one who persuaded him whom the Devil was not brave enough to approach!"  Martin Luther wrote in the 16th century: “If they (women) become tired or even die, that does not matter. Let them die in childbirth. That is what they are there for.”

          How different is today’s account of Jesus’ words and deeds toward women from these news reports, philosophers and church writers. Today’s story finds Jesus mobbed by a crowd.  Pushing his way through to get to Jesus is the ruler of the synagogue, Jairus. Leaders of synagogues were not generally hospitable to Jesus.   The leaders of Jesus’ home synagogue in Nazareth tried to push him off a cliff when he first preached there.  At another synagogue in Galilee, (Luke 13:14), the leaders publicly rebuke Jesus for healing on the Sabbath a woman crippled for 18 years.  We know from the gospel accounts that these rulers took an active role in having Jesus condemned to death.   

But this ruler, Jairus, is unlike the rest -- his actions speak to us of a different possibility. Jairus is one of the few people who are named in Mark’s gospel who come to Jesus for help.  His little girl, just 12 years old, on the cusp of adulthood, is dying.  Should he go and publicly plead for a miracle from this man who associates with people he wouldn’t let in the doors of the synagogue?   Should he put his reputation aside in a desperate effort to keep his little girl from dying?  Jairus throws caution to the wind.  He falls to Jesus’ feet – an act of submission -- he begs repeatedly to go to his home and lay his hands upon her.  Jairus loves his daughter. He is willing to do anything for her.  His actions on behalf of his little girl are heart-warming – even ahead of its time -- in a time when daughters were not valued as much as sons – a sign for sure of Jairus’ enlightenment.

          Jesus goes with Jairus.  But along the way Jesus is detained – by a woman with a flow of blood. She has been bleeding 12 years – since the time Jairus’ daughter was born, in fact.  Unlike Jairus, she is unnamed.  Jairus is well-to-do and influential, the woman with the hemorrhage is now impoverished – having spent all her money over the years seeking a cure. She is a social outcast – her flow of blood makes her ritually unclean, unable to touch anyone, or anything.  The law stated clearly: “If a woman has a discharge of blood …she shall be unclean…. everything on which she sits shall be unclean. And whoever touches these things shall be unclean.” (Lev. 15:25).  She has been deprived of human contact for 12 long years. Nearly half a lifetime, for a woman in Jesus’ day.

  Then that fateful day happened: Jesus was walking to Jairus’ house, surrounded by a multitude. The bleeding woman faced a choice -- Should she risk exposing herself to ridicule and public condemnation for touching a man?  Should she risk making Jesus ritually unclean?

          This unclean woman is desperate and so she touches Jesus’ clothes, and at once is made well. And Jesus knows.  Jesus stops -- demanding to know who touched his clothes.  Why does he do this? Does he want to embarrass this poor woman?  And the woman does come forward, in fear and trembling, and she too throws herself at Jesus’ feet.  Jesus does not upbraid her. He doesn’t point out that she broke the law.   Instead, Jesus praises her in front of everyone: he calls her daughter. Most people thought no doubt she was sick because of her sinfulness; Jesus praises her faith. Jesus sends her forth in peace healed of her disease.

          All this time Jairus must have been in anguish. As this woman is healed, his daughter succumbs to her illness.  Here was a woman, Jairus, who could never have come near the synagogue.  Jairus, you were personally responsible to keep her out.  And while Jesus is restoring her to life, your daughter loses hers. What a bitter experience. But Jesus addresses you, Jairus, his only words to you:  “Do not fear, only believe.”  Jairus, it’s time. Wake up.   

          Jesus perseveres and goes to Jairus’ house. Amid the wailing, and commotion and even the derisive laughing at Jesus, Jesus goes into the dead girl’s room, and takes her hand and says,  Talitha cum -- Little girl, get up.  This is one of the few phrases which remain in Jesus’ native tongue of Aramaic -- one of the few times the gospel writers records Jesus’ actual words.  And the little girl gets up and began walking about. 
          In both stories, the little girl and bleeding woman are called daughters. They are loved.   Both females are ritually unclean according to the law – which means cut off from human touch and community. But they weren’t cut off from Jesus. They weren’t cut off from a law of love. Jesus brings healing to a prominent man’s family.  Jesus brings healing to an unknown isolated woman.  There are no boundaries with love, not even death.

          The Apostle Paul reminds us in his letter to the Galatians: ' There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave nor free, there is no longer male nor female: for all of you - all of you - are one in Christ Jesus.'  Only the practice of a love that restores wholeness to community, a love that restores us to life, matters. We all are equal in God's eyes, all equally loved by him, and all are welcome.

     Today, Jesus tells us --  get up! How many little girls (and little boys) long to get up – from under what oppresses or hurts them? 

As we follow Christ, we too say, Get up – to all the Longs sold into slavery and to brothels.

--Get Up-to all the Sunitas who die in dowry burnings.

-- we say Get Up to those young girls who are married before their time, and die from childbirth or from bleeding to death.

-- Get Up - to all the Anishas of the world—disfigured and cut off from education, and a dignified life.

-- Get Up to all the girls bullied, abused, trapped by unhealthy body images and poor self esteem,

– Get Up – Get Up -- to all of us –  to be awakened to the power and mercy of God to transcend whatever walls we put up – to be awakened to the life God has in store for you, the peace of Christ  within our grasp --  if we but dare to grab hold of the hand of Jesus, who will not let  go.  Amen


 
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"The Other Side"

6/24/2021

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Mark 4:35-41; 1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49
Yesterday we celebrated Juneteenth, June 19th, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.  This happened when enslaved peoples in Texas learned from Union troops on June 19, 1865, 2 ½ years after the Emancipation Proclamation, that they were a free people.  This past week congress passed a motion signed into law by the President to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.  Since 1865, Juneteenth has been celebrated primarily in African American communities with prayer and religious services, festivals of food, music and dancing, community picnics with speeches and educational events.  While it is a holiday that celebrates the official end of slavery, it also points to the ongoing work that remains to be done to bring about racial justice and harmony in our land.  The challenge remains despite the celebrations.

We live in challenging, stormy times. All this produces enormous anxiety, fear in us. Where will the next mass shooting take place? Violent crimes are spiking. Prices and taxes are going up. Will our children be able to afford college or to take out a mortgage?   Will we be able to retire?  What will happen if we get sick?  How will we pay the bills?
Our readings today speak of battle, overwhelming challenge, nightmarish storms.  In our reading from 1 Samuel, David, a shepherd boy, encounters a valley to be crossed, a valley separating two armies poised for battle.  On one side of this valley stands the army of the Philistines and their top warrior, Goliath of Gath.  A giant of a man, all decked out in the latest technologically advanced and seemingly impenetrable bronze armor.  He is the ultimate fighting machine, the heavy weight champion of the Philistines, ready to make mince meat of the hapless Israelites.

         On the other side of the valley stands the Israelite army. Upon seeing Goliath, the soldiers are quaking in their boots.  But there on the sidelines, is a young man named David, a boy, a teen-ager, eighth son of his father, the youngest, not yet old enough for his driver's license.  David’s skills so far include tending and defending sheep, playing musical instruments and writing poetry.  When this kid hears Goliath shouting his insults, he goes to King Saul and says, “I’ll go fight this Philistine.”  So, David crosses into enemy territory with nothing more than those stones and his shepherd’s staff and sling.  Goliath is insulted that his enemies could not come up with a more worthy opponent. When Goliath came forward, David reached into his shepherd's bag, took out a stone, and slings it, striking the Philistine in his one vulnerable place – his forehead. Goliath, the mighty giant, is taken day by a mere stone.

        What enabled David to win? What kept fear, trauma and anxiety away?   David’s words have become a rallying cry for us in our times of trial – “The battle is the Lord’s.”  David stayed centered in this belief. David declares “The Lord who saved me from the paw of the lion and the bear will save me from the hand of this Philistine!”  David may be young, but he is mighty in faith. He has been delivered before. He holds onto this knowledge as he prepares to confront another adversary.  David’s words and deeds reminds us we have been in battle before, we have crossed the valley many times in the past.  With God’s help, we have made it through.

        Our gospel story from Mark finds Jesus and his disciples crossing the sea in the midst of a storm. Jesus had been teaching the crowds much of the day.  When evening had come, Jesus said to the disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” Jesus was bone-tired from ministering and teaching the crowds all day.  They were leaving the Capernaum area on the Northwest side of the lake and traveling about 4-5 miles across to the eastern side of Lake Galilee.

            As they traveled, in the dark, a ferocious storm hits them. Waves were coming in over the sides of the boat.  Although seasoned fishermen, used to terrible storms, they are terrified at the viciousness of the current storm they find themselves in.  The boat was on the verge of sinking, and Jesus was asleep, through it all. Teacher, they finally cry out, at the point of desperation, “do you not care that we are perishing?”  Unlike David, the disciples are talking from a place of fear, not belief. We’ve been there too.

        Sometimes, at very important times in our lives, when we are in the dark and buffeted by the storms of life -- it feels that as though God has forgotten us.  That Jesus doesn’t care. That Jesus has fallen asleep while we are fighting for our lives.  We feel alone.  Fear replaces faith. The boat is taking on water. The winds are whipping, we’re losing our balance. We shout out, “do you not care, God?”  Do you not care God, that my loved one is on the verge of death?  Do you not care God, that my bank account is almost empty?  Do you not care God at how alone I feel, how helpless I feel, how much darkness and despair I am in?

        When the disciples finally awaken him, Jesus immediately rebukes the wind and says to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And when everything has calmed down Jesus in a similar fashion rebukes the disciples, “Why are you afraid?  Have you still no faith?” This word here is actually more like, “why are you cowardly?”  Jesus was with them.  He would not let them drown.  In some ways, Jesus was teaching them the kind of faith they would need to minister among different peoples, in challenging times like today-- a faith we need to withstand the hardship that comes from daring to get to the other side to righteousness, justice and peace and faith.

Both stories, the one about David and Goliath and this one about the storm on the lake, are about facing almost insurmountable challenges.  What giant looms large in our lives? What storms threaten our safety? How do we overcome this fear-mongering, greedy, materialistic culture and stay rooted in faith? What has enabled all oppressed people, hurting people to endure and stand up for healing, wholeness, peace and justice?  That’s why holidays like Juneteenth, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, are so important to celebrate.  They remind us of the words and deeds of people of faith who have gone before us.. How are parents sacrificed for us. How to survive and thrive in adversity in the storms of life.  They did it, we can too.

Consider this. A young boy, at the age of seven, he had to go to work to help support his family. At nine, his mother died. At twenty-two, he lost his job as a store clerk. At twenty-three, he went into debt and became a partner in a small store. At twenty-six, his partner died leaving him a huge debt. By the age of thirty-five, he had been defeated twice when running for a seat in Congress. At the age of thirty-seven, he won the election. At thirty-nine, he lost his reelection bid. At forty- one, his four-year-old son died. At forty-two, he was rejected for a land officer role. At forty-five, he ran for the Senate and lost. At forty-seven, he was defeated for the nomination for Vice President. At forty-nine, he ran for Senate again and lost again. At the age of fifty-one, he was elected President of the United States. During his second term of office, he was assassinated. But his name lives on among the greats in U.S. history--Abraham Lincoln.  Who issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862.

Think of the sprinter Allyson Felix who has won more medals in track and field than any other woman in America.  An Olympic hopeful for the Tokyo Olympics, she recalls her loss in Beijing through the lens of faith.  “Sometimes God puts you through something in order for you to accomplish something bigger in your life… There is a bigger picture. A lot of times with faith, you don’t get it in the moment. Then later you see why that happened.” (New York Times Magazine, June 20, 2021)
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Like the first celebrants of Juneteenth, we claim what was already theirs – freedom. Hope. Faith. A better future.  Remember, the battle is the Lord’s.  Others who need our help are waiting. There is a bigger picture, that faith leads us to see. The Battle is the Lords. So today we face the storms within us, around us. Through faith we face the giants along the way, with the true knowledge that with the Grace of God, we will cross that valley, we will get to the other side, victorious.  Amen.
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"Be the Seed!"

6/24/2021

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Mark 4:26-34; 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13; June 13, 2021
      I invite you to pull out your bulletin for a moment.  Let your eyes fall on any sentence and follow it to the end.  Eventually you will find a sentence that ends in a period.  Look at that period.  A small dot with the power to stop your reading. At least if we follow the rules of grammar.  But that isn’t the only amazing thing about that dot.

      Look at that dot.  There was once a time when you were no bigger thank this dot. In those cells no bigger than this dot, was contained all the genetic instructions necessary to direct the development of organs and tissues, bones and nerves, glands and blood, limbs and hair.  When you were still this tiny, it was already determined whether you’d be male or female and what the color of your eyes, hair and skin would be.  Can you imagine you were once this small?  Think of this: at some point, we were all small enough that taken together the population of the world could easily fit inside this sanctuary!

       I am not a biologist, I don’t know the exceptions to the rule, but from what little I know, we are not unique in this way.  All living things and creatures begin their lives as a seed – one dot of a cell.  We could draw a parallel with non-living creation:  great masterpieces of literature, art, architecture, music inventions, the ways of thinking that direct our lives – all begin as an idea, a thought carefully worked upon, edited and redone many times before achieving their final form.  So much comes from a speck, a thought, a dot a small seed.

Jesus asked, what shall we compare the kingdom of God?  What did his listeners think?  What were the popular answers in his day?  Is it like the Temple in Jerusalem?   Is it like a Roman fortress?  The Davidic dynasty?  Is it the restoration of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah?  

  No, it is like a mustard seed, Jesus said.  Just like the period at the end of a sentence. How is this little seed a sign of God’s sovereignty?  Why would God settle for that?         But why did God settle for David, the youngest of the sons of Jesse, ignoring seven older, wiser, more seemingly capable brothers as we heard read from 1 Samuel this morning?  Why in salvation history, did God choose the younger over the eldest:  the offering of Abel over Cain, Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Rachel over Leah, Joseph over his ten older brothers?   

          Jesus’ teachings are filled with images and reminders of what is small, little, frail and young.  Did not Jesus say “let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.? Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:14)   Jesus also said:  “For the least among all of you is the greatest.”  (Luke 9:47-48) and “The last shall be first.” 

     It’s an interesting theme that runs throughout the Bible -- this emphasis on the smallest, youngest, the weakest amidst all the pomp and glory.  It’s what the Lord declared to Samuel: “we look on the outward appearance – the Lord looks upon the heart.”  So the seed is an important reminder.  The parable of the mustard seed, one of the shortest parables in the gospels, has one of the biggest messages of faith.

There is nothing more important than the mustard seed. The mustard seed is not only small, it can grow in just about any soil, and just about anywhere in the world.  Once it gets started it is persistent, it grows and grows.  So, to have a mustard seed faith means seeing as God sees. Believing in the potential and vision.  It means to have that ability to look past all that on the outside and look upon the heart. To see within the seed the dominion of God – where the ordinary, small acts we do can be powerful and significant.

When a friend of mine, Chris, was a teenager, he was once in an accident.  He had been hit by a car, thrown out of his shoes. His parents did not know where he was, because Chris had talked a friend into deceiving their parents so they could go to the movies.  They missed their bus home and had to walk.  Then the car hit him. Chris was bleeding profusely, and he was in shock.  He thought he was going to die.    As a crowd of strangers gathered. Then one woman, brought a blanket and covered him. She held him and talked to him, not knowing if he were going to die in her arms. Chris was taken to the hospital and recovered completely.  But he never could find that woman again to thank her. He never learned her name.  But Chris will always remember her. Chris credits this woman with leaving an indelible mark of grace on his soul -- with shaping the course of his life, toward faith and toward service, especially with homeless addicts.   She planted a seed in Chris’ life.

Now, you may wonder, like me, this act wasn’t so small.  It was significant.  Or you may think, “I’ve never been called to save or change someone’s life like that.”   But, how do you know?   How do you know? We don’t usually see the long-term results of our acts toward others.  Every act of goodness, every act of mercy matters to God, and God in turn uses for kingdom growth.

Hilde Back was a schoolteacher in Sweden, when she decided to sponsor one child’s education in Kenya. Hilde’s sponsorship of Chris Mburu cost about $15 per month. Thanks to Hilde’s generosity, Chris wound up graduating high school, going to University of Nairobi and then attending Harvard Law School. He became a U.N. Human Rights Advocate, and he started a charity. He petitioned the Swedish embassy to find the name of his anonymous sponsor. Then he named his nonprofit the Hilde Back Education Fund after the benefactor he never met.

The Fund pays tuition for deserving poor students in Kenya. Since the charity’s start, 847 children have been supported. That doesn’t even include the impact on their families. And who knows how many of these students will be inspired, as Chris was, to give back?

       It’s interesting that the only reason Hilde Back was even alive to support Chris was because of a stranger’s kindness. Hilde was a Jewish child living in Germany during the Nazis’ reign. Both of her parents were killed in concentration camps, but a stranger helped her escape to Sweden. Hilde said that as a Jew, she wasn’t allowed to go to school in Germany. It seemed natural for her to sponsor schooling for someone who couldn’t otherwise attend. And so see pasted the seed on.

Little acts, that we take for granted, can and do have a significant, life- changing impact on people. An encouraging word. A hug. A favor done without reward.  Getting involved. In the hands of God, they become powerful.  What if Samuel had not listened, had chosen Jesse’s eldest, Eliab, instead of David?  Imagine how different salvation history would have turned out. That woman with the blanket never knew how she changed the course of one life.  How were those bystanders changed?   How many lives here have been touched by Chris, thus indirectly by this woman?   And what small acts of kindness shaped THAT woman that put her on the path  through Chris, who by the way is now the Executive Director of Homestretch Inc.  an award-winning program in Virginia that helps homeless families back on their feet. Over 2000 to date. Think of the ripple effect that those families and children have gone on to help.

Is a tiny, mustard seed significant?  Do the little things we do have any impact?   Does our life have importance in the large scheme of things?   To our God who is all powerful, omnipotent, and omnipresent, who knows the number of hairs on our hand and the grains of sand on the beach, every tear we have shed, every seed of love planted, tended, watered, pruned, is a branch in the realm of God.

Be the seed.   Remember what is important. Remember from where you came. A little seed. And countless seeds, sown by countless, unknown people, over countless years. Over centuries.  Only God could orchestrate such a living tree, with roots and branches that stretch out over millennium, scattering seeds in every new generation.   
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One seed, one act at a time, over time. You are that seed God casts in this world.  Cast yourself into the world, every day sharing the love of God in every way imaginable. You are that that seed, sown everyday.  Tended everyday. Until the grain is ripe. The harvest is ready.  Until the dominion of God is realized in our midst.   Amen
 

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"Keeping Up with the Jones, the Kardashians________"

6/24/2021

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​1 Samuel 8 : 1-20; Mark 3: 20-35  
 
From 1913 to 1938, a famous cartoon strip ran in US papers called “Keeping up with the Jones”.  It featured the antics of the McGinnis family, mom, dad and daughter, along with their black maid Bella Donna, who are always comparing themselves to their elusive neighbors the Jones, who always seemed one step ahead of them. The comic series taped into a deep drive of the human psyche – to constantly measure ourselves to others, to never feel like we have enough, to try to get ahead, be the one on top.  As a result “Keeping up with the Jones” is a common phrase in our vocabulary. There are video games, songs, a movie named after it; even a revised reality TV series of 20 years called “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” featuring the well-coiffed, potty mouthed, super affluent Kardashian/Jenner clan as the latest family to measure ourselves against.  Renowned country-western singer Johnny Paycheck epitomized the dangerous results of trying to keep up with the Jones in this song: Let’s listen toa stanza:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urP5lr5yMTE&list=RDurP5lr5yMTE&start_radio=1. You can tune in to youtube to hear the rest of the song!

      The people of Israel had their own version of this social scourge known as: “Keeping up with the Philistines, or Amorites, or whoever was invading the borders that year.”  Israel was created to be a Theocracy, meaning that God was the ultimate ruler and caregiver and protector of the people.  God created a covenant with the people, they were to put God first, obey the law and God would take care of them.  From the get-go there were problems with this plan.  The people constantly rebelled and compared themselves to other nations.  Even after escaping 400 years of slavery in Egypt, they quickly whined about their abundant food in Egypt, compared to the bread and manna they received in the wilderness.  Once in the promised land, God faithfully raised up judges for them to care for them in times of attacks from their neighbors. No matter how many times the people sinned, God was merciful to raise up help for them.  Yet this wasn’t enough.

According to our Hebrew lesson today, the people noted that Samuel, the judge, prophet seer, was getting old. Furthermore, the sons Samuel appointed as judges-- without God’s approval by the way --Joel and Abijah, were not righteous men. The people clamored instead for a king, to be like all the nations.

The request in and of itself was reasonable. God said that both Abraham and Jacob would have kings descend from them.  The law  in Deuteronomy makes provisions for the kings that God would appoint and what their character should be like.  The problem here is the people of Israel’s motives are not pure.   They do not ask for a King who would lead them more closely in the ways of the Lord.  They do not inquire if it is God’s will at this time to send them a king. They text is clear: they demand that Samuel -not  God- give them a King. This comes after battles with the Mesopotamians, the Edomites, the Moabites, the Canaanites, the Midianites, the Ammonites the Philistines, (all battles which God fought on their behalf). Although God had a good track record in caring for them, yet their hearts yearned for the trappings they saw in their neighbors/rivals. They too wanted the prestige the figurehead of a king provided: a nice palace, a court, a ready to roll army.  The Israelites were the new kids on the block so they wanted to prove themselves – not by God’s standards – but with the human standards they saw around them.  They want to be like everyone else.  Just like the Jones.

As Samuel prays to God about this quandary, it is clear to God that this request is a rejection of God’s kingship over the people.  Even so, he directs Samuel to honor the request.  Trying to be like other nations would be a disastrous move.  By the end of the reign of King Solomon, the second king on the united throne, the rivalries among God’s people grew so intense that they divided into two kingdoms:  The kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel.  12 out of 20 kings of the Kingdom of Judah were bad. Of the 19 kings of Israel, all were bad – some bible scholars say perhaps 5 were righteous. Both kingdoms would end up defeated and destroyed by foreign invaders, occupied by other nation’s armies until the time of Christ and beyond.  In fact, Israel did not exist as an independent state except for a few years here and there from the 6th BC until the 20th century.  Such was the devastating consequence of wanting to be like other nations. Yet God worked through this disastrous decision and never abandoned God’s people.

In our gospel reading from Mark, we see a similar dynamic at work, but on the family level.  Jesus has given up all the respectable things families seek after: decent income and a respectable standing in the community. Yet it seems that Jesus gave up his career as a carpenter. He has also stirred up the wrath of the authorities, endangering his life and potentially that of his family’s. Further, he has chosen to go against the norms of society by becoming an itinerant preacher. Jesus seeks to follow God’s will, God’s timing in all matter. Jesus declares that our true families are those forged by the spirit, according to God’s doing.

Who are we trying to keep up with at the detriment of our soul’s health?  What family or social ties do we place over our loyalty with God? This is a dicey concept. God isn’t saying don’t love our families or not to honor our parents. Don’t seek leadership. Don’t seek a good life. It’s just that our duty to God comes first. Because the people of Israel wanted to be like other nations, they paid the price and are still in conflict to this day.

Who are the Jones or Kardashians we seek to emulate?  Supermodels? The wealthy? Professional athletes? Our affluent neighbor who manages to keep his flowerbed blooming and his lawn immaculately trimmed and a late model car in the driveway?  Do we measure our kids against Ivy league standards? Our texts today are reminders that our hearts will always be wandering, always restless, nothing will satisfy, unless we are rooted and grounded in God.  So today, let us turn our hearts first to God, seeking his sovereignty in our lives.  The scripture remind us that Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful. (Rev. 17:14).  So farewell Jones.  Farewell Kardashians. Farewell neighbors who seem to have it all. Hello King Jesus, Hello chosen and faithful ones who seek Keeping up with Jesus first. Amen.
 http://www.firstchurchofharwich.org/sermon-keeping-up-with-the-joneses/
https://jesusalive.cc/kings-israel-judah/

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No Greater Love

5/20/2021

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John 15: 9-17; 1 John 6: 1-6

 
        “Are you mom enough?” so once asked a Time Magazine’s provocative article - portraying on the cover a three-year-old boy breastfeeding.   The article describes a movement called “attachment parenting” where children sleep in the parent’s bed, when young are carried around in a sling, breastfeed on demand and weaned when the child wants to. “On the other hand, we have the advice from the book, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” which extolls parents to be strict disciplinarians, setting forth grueling regime of musical lessons, academics and high expectations that will land your child into Harvard.  Who here knows the term Helicopter parents?  Parents hovering around their offspring’s social science and science projects, checking and double-checking homework, deeply engaged in all aspects of their social lives. 

Before that, in my day, it was the battle between the stay-at-home moms vs. the moms who worked –the ones who always brought the store-baked cupcakes to the school bake sales (guilty as charged).  It was the moms who choose midwives vs. those who went with obstetricians. It was the moms who chose labor without medications vs. those who demanded drugs at the first contraction.  It was the moms who insisted on organic baby food and cloth diapers, those who felt beechnut and pampers were just fine.

Some of us are products of the Dr, Spock guide to baby and childcare, empowering parents to just follow their instinct.  In his heyday Dr. Spock books outsold everything except the bible. Now there are elders among us, or even our parents and grandparents, were reared with the scientific methods of John Watson who chided mothers for their indulgence, warned about the dangers of "too much mother love," and prescribed strictly regimented feeding schedules for infants. Of course, there’s the age-old Biblical proverb “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.” Proverbs 13:24. Welcome to the brave new world of motherhood, parenthood, USA! 

Mother’s Day, which is celebrated today a secular holiday. There are some churches that won’t mention Mother’s Day as a point of principle. Frankly, it can be difficult holiday to observe – not everyone was raised by a wonderful mom.  Some of us are estranged from our mothers, or our moms are dead.  Some of us are not mothers, or cannot bear children, or have lost a child or pregnancy in one way or another. Some of our children don’t fit the well-adjusted, well-rounded mold – they are sick, disabled or have other problems.  How do we honor the totality of the human and spiritual experience that comprises motherhood?   

Our lives have been touched and shaped by the women in our lives--mothers, whether biological or not, or a grandma, auntie, sister, relative, teacher, boss, neighbor or a friend – someone who laid down their life, gave up or deferred a dream—sat in patience, out of love and care for us. Women who encouraged us, believed in us when no one else did – who saw something that no one else did -- doing what John speaks about in our gospel lesson: to love each other as God has loved us. Jesus adds there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend. When we lay something down, we let it go. That’s what love teaches us—to let go -- of our life – not just physically—but let go of control of outcomes, let go of our expectations, of self-centered actions -- in order to help others, to let them blossom as God ordained them to be.
Some of us are lucky as adults, to consider our mother as a special friend. Friendship in Jesus’ time was a very serious matter. To be considered a friend was an honor. Being a friend meant being treated as kin.

So, our Mother’s Day readings invites us to lay down our preconceived ideas of God – of love -- to enter into kinship and friendship with Jesus. So today we also celebrate the feminine images of God in scripture that teach us about love. In Scripture we hear of a God described as a woman in labor (Isa. 42:14)  a mother suckling her child (Num. 11:12),  a mother who does not forget the child she nurses (Isa. 49:14-15), a mother who comforts her children (Isa. 66:12-13), a mother who births and protects Israel (Isa. 46:3-4, Dt. 32:18) --  a mother who calls, teaches, holds, heals and feeds her young (Hosea 11:1-4). We see God as a seamstress making clothes for Israel to wear (Neh. 9:21), God as a midwife attending a birth (Ps. 22:9-10a, 71:6; Isa. 66:9), God as a woman working leaven into bread (Lk. 13:18-21), God as a woman seeking a lost coin (Lk. 15:8-10). God like a female bird protecting her young (Ps. 17:8, 36:7, 57:1, 91:1, 4; Isa. 31:5; Dt. 32:11-12), and like a female eagle (Dt. 32) who hunts and bears the eaglets on her wings (Cf. Ex. 19:4, Job 39:27-30), God like a mother hen (Mt. 23:37, Lk. 13:34; Ruth 2:12) who gathers her brood under her. A God who is like a Mother Bear (Hos.13:8), whose rage against those who withhold gratitude is like that of a bear "robbed of her cubs." God as Holy Spirit (which in Hebrew and Greek is feminine) often associated with the birthing process (Jn. 3:5; cf. Jn. 1:13, 1 Jn. 4:7b, 5:1, 4, 18), consoling, comforting, and inspiring. All these images show feminine power to lay down our lives, endure hardship, to care, and sacrifice – all rooted in the love of God. Scriptures go even further – God says through the prophet Isaiah: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Is. 49:15).

Contrast these biblical images with cultural messages on TV and other media. This 28-billion-dollar industry wants to make sure we don’t forget the cards, flowers, chocolates, special dinners, fancy jewelry, clothes, spa treatments that moms deserve. Ads even pop up when I turn on my kindle, directing me to local florists.  How creepy is that?!  Yes, get the flowers and make a special dinner, but let’s not stop there.  Mother’s Day, as originally intended in the US, calls us to lay down our lives, out of love.

Mothers’ Day in the US came about because a woman named Anna Jarvis, wanted to honor her mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis. Mother Jarvis was a lifelong active Methodist. Mother Jarvis organized medical services for soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict during the Civil War. Shortly after the Civil War, Mother Jarvis organized events to address the poor health conditions in her West Virginia community. She called it Mother’s Work Day, and she went on to organize other local Mother’s Friendship Days to help heal the scars of the Civil War.  She did this, despite the personal tragedy of losing four of her children to disease. In all, eight of her twelve children died before reaching adulthood.

Also affected by the ravages of war, the poet and philanthropist Julia Ward Howe also proposed in 1872 an annual Mother’s Day for Peace -- to honor peace, motherhood and womanhood.  Howe envisioned Mother's Day as "a worldwide protest of women against the cruelties of war." She made this Mother’s Day Proclamation: “Arise, then, women of this day! ....  We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up …. It says, "Disarm, Disarm!" …Let (women) them then ..take counsel with each other.. whereby the great human family can live in peace, and each bearing the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.”  Mother Jarvis also called for a special day for prayers for mothers, children, and for non-violent solutions for disputes between nations.     

In 1905 Anna Jarvis swore to dedicate her life to her mother’s projects. Anna Jarvis’ letter-writing campaign led directly to the establishment of a Mother's Day.  So, on this day, May 9, in 1914, by an act of Congress, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

Sadly, Anna Jarvis became quickly disillusioned with how Mother's Day evolved, that it deviated from the intent to honor the work of mothers as social reformers, activists, and peacemakers. She was against the money-making machine that emerged out of Mother’s Day observations.

We face the very same dilemma.  What could that 28.1 billion dollars we spend on flowers and trinkets and dinners accomplish in terms of maternal health in developing nations?  Giving birth is still risky business in many parts of the world.  Many bleed to death, leaving a family of orphans. Many mothers are still illiterate and can’t feed their children adequately. Mother Jarvis and Julia Ward Howe, would want us to honor our biological or spiritual mothers by befriending and laying down our lives for all mothers, everywhere.  Because there is no greater love than this. Uplifting the mothers in need in this world uplifts future generations and uplifts, justice, peace and love.

So, this is how do we honor our mother God, and all who serve in her name -- all the women and men who are surrogate mothers, who nurture and care for us, Who lay down their lives for others. Who abide with us, whether you follow Dr. Watson, Dr. Spock, attachment parenting or being a tiger mother.  Who want the best for all through acts of justice and love.  

  So lay down your life.  Aspire to the greater love for those in your life. Be a friend to someone in need. Be a mother. In this way joy will shine in us and through us to touch those who God has entrusted to us.  And have a Happy Blessed, Mother’s Day, whoever you are, and may this greater love guide all you do. Amen.
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On the Road to Gaza

5/20/2021

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​\Acts 8:26-40; John 15:1-8

 
         Our text from Acts this morning finds us on another Easter journey, this time on the road to Gaza, of all places.  Modern day Gaza has been a place of civil unrest for years.  At this troubled place come two men with challenging situations and who together find transformation through the Holy Spirit.

Our passage from Acts tells us an Ethiopian Eunuch, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning home to Ethiopia via Gaza.   Although this Ethiopian is unnamed, there are several important pieces of information about him.

He was a man of power and of wealth. He was a court official of the Queen of Ethiopia, in charge of her entire treasury.  The fact that he could read, in Greek, and that he had a scroll of Isaiah, and a nice chariot to boot, are clear indicators of his privilege and prestige. Not many people had any of these things in Jesus’ times. Judaism had been a presence in Ethiopia for many years. Indeed, Ethiopia has been noted as the first center of monotheistic worship on the African continent. 

        Mighty man though he was, the Ethiopian was a eunuch.  Emasculation was common in some pagan rituals, with slaves, and in many royal positions, especially when dealing with women.  No matter how much power a eunuch accumulated, he was always set apart, an outcast.  Jewish law in Deuteronomy made clear that “No  one who has been castrated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the LORD”  (Deut. 23.1) The severity of the laws obliged him to withdraw in the hours for common prayers, yet he was allowed to go alone into the Temple and there offer his sacrifice.  Even though he was looked down up, denied full membership in the assembly, this wealthy, faithful man still made the 1,600 mile dangerous, difficult trip to Jerusalem. 

Our text also introduces us to Philip, one of the first deacon/evangelists named early in Acts.   Philip was friends with Stephen the first martyr of the faith, who had just been stoned to death.  Philip experienced the persecution of the early Christians in Jerusalem, so he and others fled to that despised region of Samaria. –and there he helped establish Christian communities.  It was in Samaria that Philip began preaching, and there were healings, and there was great joy.  There Philip gets the call – to go south to the road that leads to Gaza.

Philip obeys.   The Spirit leads Philip up to that fancy chariot and says something remarkable to Philip: go and join yourself to it.  Philip is not just told to say: halt! Could you pull over? Stop the chariot! Or Can I talk to the guy in charge?  Philip is told “Go over to this chariot and join it.” A powerful word here is used in the Greek for join:  a word that implies a cleaving, a gluing, a connection that produces a deep, lasting and abiding relationship –to have a soul-knitted kind of friendship. Paul uses this word when he encourages us to in Roman 8:9 “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”  

 With that context in mind, Philip hears the Eunuch reading the text from Isaiah 53, and so he asks, do you understand this?  Philip assists this prestigious man who actually owns a scroll if he understands this text from Isaiah, to connect to the text.  Intrigued, the Eunuch invites Philip into the probably very spacious chariot and asks for guidance.  Who was this man, like a sheep led to slaughter?  Who is this man who was silenced? Who is the man who was humiliated? Who was this man who was denied justice?  Who was this man whose life was taken away from the earth? Who is the prophet speaking about? The eunuch asks these questions, because we can imagine, that even with all his authority and power, he was not able to go into common prayer in the Temple; he was excluded, he had no voice, he was denied, because as a child, he was forcibly castrated.
        But this is not a barrier for Philip. Philip tells him. He tells him the good news about Jesus. How he came about to do good; to preach repentance of sins, and the kingdom of God.  How Jesus too was rejected, humiliated by the authorities, left to die on a cross. How they found the empty grave. How he was Risen.  How Jesus gave them a new commandment: that we love one another as he indeed loves us.   Philip helps the eunuch to connect his life --- to join, to cleave, his life to Jesus.

        See, I imagine, as Philip is sharing these things about Jesus, but he is also rolling the scroll a bit further along to show the Eunuch another passage from Isaiah at Isaiah 56:4-6:

and do not let the eunuch say,
    “I am just a dry tree.”
For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
    who choose the things that please me
    and hold fast my covenant,
5 I will give, in my house and within my walls,
    a monument and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
    that shall not be cut off.
 
 
The Eunuch stops the chariot and asks – what is to prevent me from being baptized?  He is so used to rejection he has to ask this question, after all – being a eunuch keeps me from the Jewish assembly – am I allowed in the Christian community? Do I belong?  The answer is yes, Jesus accepts you just as you are. Philip baptized him. The Eunuch went on his way rejoicing.  Now he belonged.

        It is notable that there has been a strong Christian community in Ethiopia since the first century; and many consider the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church the only pre-colonial Christian church of sub-Saharan Africa.  Many believe Ethiopia is the only region of Africa to survive the expansion of Islam as a predominantly Christian state.  The bond of love and friendship that the Spirit told Philip to share with the Ethiopian Eunuch is a vine that was planted in the soil of an ancient and noble civilization, and has borne much fruit, fruit that has endured two millennia.

        We are called to learn from the very first followers of Jesus. From real people, people who were broken, who suffered, yet were able to connect to one another, find Jesus and ultimately joy in that encounter.   Like Philip who saw a dear friend murdered and was exiled to a despised land, yet there he prospered in faith. Like the Eunuch, who could never experience full acceptance until he met Jesus, through the witness of Philip.
​
        Imagine finding Jesus on your road to Gaza. Gaza which represents that place of mess, exile and conflict in us and around us. Gaza It is that wounded place where you have been rejected or hurt by the world. That’s where the spirit finds you today. What troubles keep you isolated, what hurts pull you down? God’s good news to you today is that in Jesus there is the power to heal, to connect, to belong, and forge a community of love and support through the name of Christ our Lord.   You belong. You are whole. You are joined – to Jesus, to one another and there is nothing that can stop you. So in the name of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, join yourself and find the wholeness, the belonging, that your heart seeks, there on your road, in the midst of Gaza, is the Lord, who also seeks to find you there. Amen.
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When Their Eyes Were Opened

5/20/2021

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1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48

 
When my sister-in-law, Dr. Jane Case-Smith died, her legacy as a giant in the field of Occupational Therapy was honored at Ohio State University, with the organization of an annual 5k Run, Walk and Roll to help fund a special scholarships in her name.  Jane an avid runner and did five miles a day in addition to her demanding work load and family obligations.  Somehow, she found time for it all.  Key to her secret? Something like: Go to bed at 9 get up at 4.  Sorry, that’s not happening!  At least not right now.

        Running, or walking, is more than a health practice. It is also a mental practice as well as a spiritual practice.  Many great writers have extoled the importance of walking, not just for its health benefits but for its power to move the spirit and clear the mind.

        Jesus’ ministry was a walking, itinerant ministry. Scholars estimated that Jesus on average, walked 15-25 miles a day.  In our day and age when getting to and from the subway or driveway is the extent of most of our exercise, we forget that not too long ago, the average American walked 11 miles a day – to visit a neighbor, go to school or church or go shopping in the nearest town.

Walking takes us places we don't expect to go to, leads us to people we don't expect to meet, and we find ourselves in chance encounters we hadn’t planned on. Sometimes we walk quietly together.  Sometimes we walk and talk, discussing the events of the day.   Today we hear how Jesus initiates a conversation with two of his disciples, Cleopas, and most scholars assume his wife, walking to Emmaus, a village seven miles from Jerusalem. 

There could be many reasons these disciples didn’t recognize Jesus:  because they were looking through their own doubt, as they discussed their own interpretation of the scriptures.  They doubted the message of the women who said that angels had told them that Jesus was alive.  If these two had believed that message they would have gone to Galilee as the angel reminded them.  They would have stayed with the other disciples to see what was going to happen next, but they didn’t.  They were on their way home, disappointed that Jesus hadn’t been the Messiah, disillusioned that the kingdom he talked about hadn’t come and filled with doubt about him being alive.  

What often keeps us from seeing Jesus at work in our lives and present in our world is our own sense of disappointment, doubt and defeat.  When our own lives don’t turn out the way we hoped they would, our disappointment leads us to ask, where is Jesus in all this?  When we see violence, injustice and persecution in the world we become disillusioned and wonder, is the power of Christ at work in the world?    Jesus often seems like a stranger to us.  Sadly, the church can make Jesus a stranger to others.

As they walk home this stranger accompanies them, listens to their hurt and disappointment. He is accessible and interested in connection. He listens more than he speaks, but when Jesus does speak, he repeats the very teaching and tradition that the two have found lacking. He speaks of the very religious reality they are walking away from. Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus the stranger, interprets the scriptures, strangely warming their hearts as they listen.

        But something interesting is happening here.  Consider that word, stranger. The Greek word in the Bible is PAROIKOS. Elsewhere it the Bible the same word is also translated as immigrant, an exile, an alien or a resident alien. Imagine Jesus – the exile, an alien, the immigrant – the stranger in our midst, who opens our eyes to God’s word, God’s presence in the world.

        PAROIKOS also gives us the word parish – a common word used among many Christian denominations for a congregation.  Isn’t that what the church should be: a community, an intentional family, a motley gathering to include all peoples: from all backgrounds, differences, to include strangers, the outcasts, church exiles and “aliens” like Jesus the stranger, the Paroikos, who walks in our midst.

        Back in our Emmaus story. Look at how that first parish emerges. The travelers urged Jesus strongly to stay with them. Time spent on the road, telling stories, turning stranger into friend. 

        So, Jesus went into their home, not as a stranger, but as an esteemed friend and guest. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Just as he had done so many times on so many roads at so many places. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him and Jesus vanished. 

I believe the Emmaus story is a critical scripture for us. Because it calls us to see Jesus in the stranger in our midst. It invites us to walk with the unseen Jesus. It helps us turn strangers, exiles, the different, into friends through walking and talking about sacred stories, those concepts most sacred to us.

So I would like to challenge us to a spiritual 5K run, walk or roll. To begin a new journey together. To set aside significant time to explore the scriptures this year. To enter the unknown.  To pray together for our community and our future.   As we partake in this spiritual journey may the unseen Jesus led us to become an Emmaus Church – a place open to the stranger, to spiritual exiles, where the word is encountered, Jesus is found, bread is broken, hearts are warmed, and we can celebrate this ancient Irish saying
​:
We saw a stranger yesterday.
We put food in the eating place,
Drink in the drinking place,
Music in the listening place.
And with the sacred name of the Triune God
We were blessed, and our house,
Our cattle and our dear ones.
As the lark says in her song:
Often, often, often goes the Christ
In the stranger’s guise.

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Life in His Name

5/20/2021

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John 20:19-31, Acts 4:32-35

 
      It’s been one week since Easter, one week since the chaos and excitement, one week since the empty tomb, one week since our first “Alleluia. Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed!” It’s one week after the resurrection and the disciples are in the same place they were Easter night. They are in the same room behind the same locked doors. (John 20:19-31)
     So, if the resurrection is such a big deal, such a life changing event, why are they still stuck in the same place? What difference has the empty tomb made? How has it changed them? Has it let them see themselves and their world differently?   I wonder, one week after Easter, what has Christ’s resurrection done for us? Is our life different?          Do we see and engage the world in new ways?  Today’s readings call us to reflect on what a difference Jesus makes in our lives. John declares, “these things are written so you may come to believe that Jesus is the messiah, the son of God and through believing you may have life in his name.”  What does life in his name look like?
According to John the disciples were gifted with new life as they Jesus appears, greeting them with “Peace be with you.”  Jesus then breathes on them, giving them holy spirit.  It reminds us of the second chapter of Genesis when God breathed into Adam the breath of life.  
The kind of life God breathed into Adam as recorded in Genesis is life known as bios in Greek. The English word biology is derived from this root. It refers to the duration of life — one’s life span, the time between one’s birth date and one’s death date; or it refers to the necessities of life — one’s food, shelter, and clothing. Another important Greek word for life is zoe, in which the English words zoo and zoology are derived. It refers to life as God has it. The life that belongs to God that becomes ours when we receive Jesus as messiah, God’s son, and enter a relationship with God. This zoe life, life of the spirit, is not limited by time, nor hindered by death. This is the life Jesus breathed into his disciples when he declared, “receive the Holy Spirit.”
When we were born, we were given bios life, when we are born again we are given zoe life. Until enter into a relationship with God through Jesus we may be physically alive but spiritually we are dead. Remember Jesus assures Nicodemus that we must be born again, born from above.  What is born of the flesh is flesh, what is born of the spirit is spirit Jesus reminds us. To be a follower of Jesus, to know who he is and what he means brings usa new vitality, a new meaning, a new energy, a new purpose, a new significance, a new outlook, a new hope, a new joy, a new life.
     Our lessons from John 20 and Acts 4 today give us several insights into the kind of spiritual life, zoe-life, that Jesus brings us.
In our lesson from John, Jesus speaks to the disciples three times in the upper room giving them assurance. “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (vv. 19, 21).  The spiritual life Jesus gives us gifts us with purpose. We are sent forth into the world to make a difference.  We are called not just to exist but to contribute to the healing of the world.  That’s what zoe life does.  So what are your gifts of service?  Are you called to cheer people up?  Do you have resources you can share with the needy?  Do you use your time to visit or contact those who are sick, in prison, or shut in?  What is that special thing God has placed in your life to share with others, to bring life, in his name? There is no better time than the Easter season to discover Jesus’ calling on our lives.

In the passage from John, after Jesus commissions his disciples, after he sends us forth, he then breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit! If you forgive anyone’s sins, they have been forgiven them. If you retain anyone’s sins, they have been retained” (vv. 22-23).  Out of all the characteristics of this new life we are called to, forgiveness and mercy is at the cornerstone of our life. Not wealth, not wisdom, not fame, not glory, but forgiveness. We are called in our new life in Christ, to exhibit and bring forgiveness, healing, reconciliation. 

         Jesus preached a crucial message about forgiving one another, as God forgave us. We stand in grace, and He expects us to keep our hearts pure toward others, not holding grudges or harboring a spirit of unforgiveness.  Jesus said those who have been forgiven much, love much (Luke 7:47). He expects us to forgive others 70 times 7 times (Matt. 18:22). We are also told that if we are praying but hold something against anyone, we are to forgive that person so our relationship with God is right and righteous! Col. 3:13 says, “Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” God has determined that forgiveness is a key to showing we indeed have eternal life, zoe life.  Whom do we need to forgive this day?  Whom do we need to ask forgiveness from? Forgiveness is often a process, but it is a process at the root of zoe life.

After this, Jesus also brings new life by freely sharing his wounds with Thomas. “Reach here your finger and see my hands. Reach here your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving but believing” (v. 27).  To which Thomas replies, “My Lord and My God!”  Sharing our wounds whatever they may be with others is another characteristic of the zoe life,  spiritual life, Jesus brings us.  God works through our broken places to reach others.  In Jesus’ resurrected body, his scars remain visible.   Just so our weaknesses become a source a strength, a place that God uses, so that God’s power shine bright. The Lord said to Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9 ). We are often ashamed of where we are weak. The times we failed, or sinned. The illnesses we endured, the problems we have carried.  The trials we’ve suffered.  The truth is this: people will more readily connect with us in our humility and brokenness. We need to risk sharing our most broken parts with each other, sharing how God has seen us through our pain and suffering.  The Good news shines more brilliantly through the cracks in our lives than our triumphs.  So, treasure your scars and wounds.  Share them.  Let God speak through them so others can draw close to you and can also feel God’s love touching their wounds as well, and they too can receive life in the name of Jesus. 

What is the result of a spiritual life, a zoe life, of purpose, rooted in forgiveness, and sharing our wounds?   Our story from Acts gives us a snapshot of the radical love expressed in the early Christian community.  “They were of one heart and soul.” They shared their possessions in common. They had great power to share their testimony and there was great grace upon them all.  As a result, there was not a needy person among them, for what they had was distributed to all to had need.  That is what God calls us to: spiritual life meets the needs of the community.

       What an image of zoe life, spiritual life present in life on earth. This is a powerful example of what we could achieve if we, as the body of Christ, believe, and have this life, zoe life, coursing through our veins, in his name. To be of one heart and soul? Unified.  Connected.   What would it be like to hold all things in common?  To eliminate need because we are completely committed to one another.  What a testimony of zoe life, spiritual life, we can be in our community if we set our vision to the image of the early Christian community.  Easter calls us to seek Acts 4 as our goal, the full manifestation of life, zoe life, life in his name on earth. To pattern our lives on the life of that early church, through embracing our calling, to practicing forgiveness, to sharing our weaknesses, so we achieve this life, this zoe life. This is how we grow our church. This is how we be church, in all its vitality and wholeness. 
​
     This is the gift of Eastertide. It calls us to seek his life, to celebrate our callings, to practice forgiveness and reconciliation, to share from our weakness and our wounds, let us be of one heart and mind, mighty in grace bringing the good news of Jesus Christ, so that all might believe in his name, and find life through him. Amen.
 
https://www.gotquestions.org/John-20-23.html
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Approaching Jerusalem

3/31/2021

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Mark 11:1-11   “
Today we enter the holiest and most significant time of our liturgical year – Holy Week.   Over the next week we remember once more Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem, where he was initially received with great fanfare and adulation, with waving palm branches, cloaks laid before him on the road like a red carpet, welcomed with cries of Hosanna!  Throughout the week the tensions between Jesus and the religious leadership will reach a boiling point and Jesus’ fate will be sealed as his disciple Judas is bribed to betray him.   This Thursday we observe Jesus final Passover meal with his disciples followed by his arrest at the Mount of Olives. Friday, our most somber holy day, recalls Jesus’ sentence to death, his torture, crucifixion and death as he takes on the sin of the world, our sin.   

Then exactly a week from today we will stand with the disciples, stunned, fearful, amazed, rejoicing at the empty tomb and Christ’s victory over the grave.  It’s a long emotional roller coaster of a journey, this next week.  It’s a journey of deep valleys and high peaks. It is a procession that, if we allow it, will take us into every nook and cranny of our soul.  It will force out every feeling. It will push us so we can identify with every act of faith, every cowardly act of fear, every act of meanness, every act of devotion, every tear, every shout of hosanna will be ours. 

But let us not get ahead of ourselves.  Let us pause and look at the context of Jesus’ grand entrance into Jerusalem. The crowd has been gathering.  Jesus had just been teaching his disciples about what it went to be great in the kingdom of heaven – if we want to be great we need to be the slave of all.  How not to hold back the little children from Jesus. How nothing is impossible with God. Jesus shares a third prediction of   his death and resurrection. The scriptures tell us that Jesus had just left Jericho with this large crowd when Bartimaeus, a blind man keeps crying out, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” The crowd tries to silence him, but Bartimaeus persists. Jesus stops and calls him forward.  Bartimaeus is so eager he throws his cloak down on the ground – he gives up everything to get to Jesus – and this blind man finds Jesus, and Jesus said, “what do you want me to do for you?” and Bartimaeus said “my teacher let me see again.” And Bartimaeus recovered his sight – immediately, it says, and he followed Jesus on the way.
You see, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem really began in Jericho, when blind Bartimaeus call out Jesus, Son of David!  Bartimaeus, a poor blind man, pushed aside, told to be quiet, calls Jesus “Son of David,” son of the greatest king, the return of the mighty king so longed for by the people of Israel.  This is the first time Jesus is called “Son of David” in Mark’s Gospel. 

So Bartimaeus becomes the parade master of ceremonies.  He was a blind man whose sight was restored - the last person healed before Jesus’ arrest according to Mark. Bartimaeus becomes the symbol of the faithful person, the symbol of the faithful person who will not be silenced by mob rule

  Jesus, approaching Jerusalem, stops at Bethpage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives. He is 1.5 miles away from the Holy City.  We know the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus, prayed to be spared, where he was betrayed, arrested and abandoned, happen at the Mount of Olives.  We know Bethany was the home of his dearest friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus, whom he had recently raised from the dead. 

        Bethpage held great significance as well. Here is where the Sanhedrin, the leadership body of the Jewish people, sat as "elders sitting in the gate of the city." The main seat of the Sanhedrin was in the Temple but certain things could only be determined when they were at Bethpage, outside the walls of Jerusalem (Pesachim 63b).  This was a very important place in the days of Jesus.  Entering this way, he would be riding in through the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem proper. This is also the direction that the Jew's believe their Messiah will travel when he comes. 

        So, Jesus stops the procession and according in a very detailed manner, sends two disciples – to get a donkey. Other gospel writers place Bethpage as the village where the donkey was obtained.  Isn’t it striking that Mark takes 7 out of 11 verses to describe this process?  This must have been a very important point for Jesus.  Jesus wanted to continue the final lap of the procession on a donkey.  Not just any kind of donkey, but a colt, upon whom no one had ridden.  

According to Old Testament guidelines, for an animal to be used for a sacred purpose, it must never have been used for any other purpose (Num. 19:2; Deut. 21:3.   Jesus chose to fulfill a scripture that described a king as righteous, bringing salvation, and gentle – Jesus was careful not to convey an image of a messiah-king carrying a sword, riding a war horse, signaling destruction. 

In this manner Jesus rides into the capital city as a King and is hailed by the people as such, in the manner of the day. The streets of Jerusalem, the royal city, are open to Him, and like a king, He ascends to His palace, not a temporal palace, but the spiritual palace, which is the temple, because His is a spiritual kingdom. He receives the worship and praise of the people -- Hosanna – Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Jesus, knowing his hour had come, allows all this to unfold.  The crowd takes over.  We witness their acts of adulation.  The waving of palms and laying down of coats by the people was no accident or coincidence.  The Romans gave palms to the victors in the Roman games and emperors gave them to their subjects following their military conquests.

Then as meticulous as the procession began it quickly ends.  Jesus enters Jerusalem: he goes to the Temple: he looks around at everything, and as it was late, he returns to Bethany with the twelve disciples.  After all that trouble to get the donkey, we don’t know what Jesus did with it.  But we do know that the donkey was a key player in the parade.  It signals a messiah whose triumphal entry announces that kingship is service.  In the kingdom of God the blind can see, the young and pure of heart are embraced, and no one is silenced.

Today we are almost invited to think back on that journey began from Nazareth to Bethlehem, as legend tells us, a donkey carrying Mary pregnant with Jesus. Even the lowly donkey played his part – so lowly it seems silly to mention.   Today, Jesus sits upon another donkey that carries him to his rightful spiritual home in Jerusalem where a new birth is in order; where once more-- like his parents were turned away--- Jesus will be too. 
​
        Today Palm Sunday, we are invited to join the sacred procession of Holy Week:  to be inspired by a faith of a blind man.  To cast down whatever cloaks us.  To find what we need that can carry us through this week.  May our hearts be filled with the cries of Hosanna!  Save us Lord! Have Mercy on us, Son of David!
Have a blessed and transformative holy week. Amen.  
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Dying to Live

3/31/2021

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John 12:20-36

 
        Who here remembers the two inevitable things in life?  For those who are still wondering, they are death and taxes!  It is worth the reminder that out of the two, taxes is the only one where we can get an automatic extension!  Many of us have taxes on our mind with the traditional filing date for the income tax less than a month away. However, our passage today from John focuses our attention on the topic of death – Jesus; death.  Jesus it seems has his upcoming death weighing heavy on his heart.

        Jesus has taken the news of the Greeks wanting to see him as a sign that his hour had come.  Jesus knew that he had come to bring the gospel not just to the Jewish people but indeed to the entire world.  The message has to spread and grow.  And Jesus knew how this would happen.  He was to become that grain of wheat – sacrificing his life on the cross – and through that sacrifice life would spread to all people in his name.  So, Jesus is preparing his disciples for the inevitable shock of his death.  Jesus is also expressing his own anxiety about his impending death, but knows in the end, it is for this purpose that he came into the world.

The topic of death, even for people like us who come to church, who believe in God and strive to follow Jesus, is not an easy one to raise. Especially now all around us, we see the stirring of spring in nature around us, people are looking though seed catalogues, we are counting down the days to planting.  The beginnings of life, not the approach of death, is on our minds.

Living in a pre-scientific, agricultural world, Jesus’ disciples would appreciate the metaphor of planting a seed, see it apparently die, in order to become a plant that bears much fruit.  Jesus latches on to this image in order to explain to his disciples the purpose of his impending death.

For Jesus, death was just days away and his soul is troubled. As he will later pray in the garden of Gethsemane, “Father save me from this hour”, Jesus struggles, because he knew he came into the world to die for our sins.  Jesus is bracing himself, speaking for himself as much as teaching his disciples, that life can get lost if we treasure and make the things of the world a priority.   We need to die to selfishness. Eternal life should be our priority over the things of the world.  Death is the great reminder of the passing nature of life, and how we should keep our affairs in order- especially our spiritual priorities.

Why is it so hard to talk about death, to confront death, openly like Jesus did?   Our faith teaches us that death, redeemed by Christ, leads us not to annihilation or non-existence as we fear, but to the fullness of eternal life with God.  Facing death while we are alive can awaken in us the desire to live our lives with clarity, energy and purpose.
Facing death can be hard and painful.  We rarely treat adequately the wounds that death deals to us.  Most of us bury our mourning and fear half-alive in our hearts.  And the reality is people do die ugly, unjust, premature deaths.  People die alone and unloved.  People die with bitterness, anger, resentments and fear.  Death wounds in ways that seems humanly impossible to recover -- especially if death comes to a child or in an otherwise premature manner; or if it comes suddenly, hits too often, or arrives in a vicious manner -- as in murder, the kind of death Jesus endured.

 But we must remember that life is this way too.   People live in ugly, unjust ways.  People live alone and unloved.  People live with bitterness, anger and resentments, consumed with fear.   Life brings us wounds and obstacles that seem impossible to recover from.  We bury life and joy in the ground of our hearts and don’t let them bloom.  Neither life nor death is for the weak of heart.

If we allow ourselves to sit along side death, like the gospel asks us this week, it will lead us where our soul is troubled, like Jesus’s was.  Death would talk to us about the loss. The memories.  The good times and the bad.  The sorrow. The unfinished business.   The broken dreams.  Sitting with death just a little while we come to experience the source of real disease.   We come to see how we love or do not love in the course of our lives. Jesus would remind his disciples of the priority of love in the great discourse he gave right before he died, when he declares:  “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” John 13: 34-35. 

Through the lens of love, Jesus prepares to face the betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter, the desertion of his disciples, becoming a pawn between religious and political leaders who would torture, mock and kill Jesus because they saw him as a threat to their power and status.  As Jesus struggles with death, struggles with the hour that is coming, he models trust in God. He knows that he would be that seed, come to die, so all may live.

We may not be imminently facing the physical death of our body, but every day we have the opportunity to put to death parts of ourselves that keep us from loving.  The fear. The selfishness.  The petty jealousies.  Jesus is not telling us to hate life per se, but to not make a priority those worldly things and forces that would detract us from loving and relating well.  Put God first, Jesus, says, our neighbors second, ourselves last, and then we will have our priorities straight.  Every day we reach out in love to someone else or act sacrificially our ego dies, dies to produce life, life that in Christ’s name brings us to life eternal. 

It is said that at the same time the Passover Lamb was killed in the Temple Jesus died on the cross. The Passover Lamb was a cover while Jesus’ death took sin away. Timing was everything. Not only did Jesus die at the right time, but He rose from the grave at the right time as well. On the Sunday after Jesus’ death, the Sunday of the resurrection, The Jews celebrated the Feast of First fruits, which was the beginning of the barley harvest. The Israelites practiced giving God the first portion of their harvest by faith trusting that God would be faithful and bring about a full harvest for them. Jesus rose on that very day. God showing that He is giving us His best and that there will, indeed be a full harvest coming in the future. Jesus’ resurrection is the first fruit of the resurrections to come. Jesus the holy seed that has born fruit of abundant life for all.
​
  As we approach the end of Lent, let us begin to contemplate dying to live, like Jesus did.  Not in a morbid, depressing way. But as a way to understand how precious the gift of life, especially eternal life. Because through Jesus we too die to live, burying the seed of our life in the world with God’s grace, bear the fruit of the gospel into the world.    Amen.
https://gccwaverly.net/2017/03/12/sermon-dying-and-bearing-fruit-john-1219-26/
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