John 10: 22-30; Acts 9:36-43; Rev. 7:9-17
 
So which team are you routing for?  Team Kelly Clarkson? Team Blake Shelton?  Team Ariana Grande or John Legend?   Some of us may – or may not -- have recognized the trademark names of the reality TV series, “the Voice,” which, like the widely popular shows like America’s Got Talent and American Idol, seek to bring the best and brightest talent, the next singing sensation, the greatest singer, to the American audience.  

Whether you watch these shows or not, we are in a season of discerning the voices.  No matter where your politics lie, we have been listening to various public opinions on abortion, gun control, economic insecurities, runaway crime, climate change, among others.   This church is in a season of discernment.   Where is God calling us? What shall we do with the resources at hand?  Each of us must discern our faith journey and how we devote our time, energy and resources. 

The challenge for us is to discern God’s voice among all the voices we hear.  There are a lot of voices out there telling us who we are, what we should want, who we should be.   What voice, whose voice are we listening to?

There are voices telling us to do this, don’t do that.  In honor of Mother’s Day here’s a list of things mothers tend to say to us; Eat your vegetables!  Because I said so, that’s why!  Shut that door, you weren’t born in a barn!  And the most common of all - I love you!  I am proud of you!

In our gospel lesson, a Jewish faction gathers around Jesus and asks, “tell us plainly, are you the Messiah? “Jesus doesn’t answer them directly because he knows they aren’t true believers.   They would just use his words against him. So instead, Jesus tells them: “My sheep hear my voice.  I know them, and they follow me.” 

If we are Jesus followers, we will know his Voice, and be able to pick it out from the din that surrounds us.  What a powerful, comforting thought.  Scientists tell us that newborns know their mother’s voice from the womb.  Doctors also tell us that the last sense to leave us is hearing and encourage us to speak gently and lovingly to a comatose patient.   So, we, from birth to death, are shaped by the life of faith, through baptism, anointed by the Holy Spirit, to know The Voice of Jesus.

We know the voice of Jesus, but it can get muffled by the sheer variety of voices and messages we hear.  We can even listen to our own voice and confuse it with God’s.  It is difficult to tune out all other voices to discern the voice of Jesus speaking to us.  We can get to the place where we are not aware of our lack of hearing The Voice.

I came across a humorous example that spells out this point.  A man decided his wife was getting hard of hearing. So he called her doctor to make an appointment to have her hearing checked. The doctor said he could see her in two weeks, but meanwhile there was a simple, informal test the husband could do to give the doctor some idea of the dimensions of the problem.

“Here’s what you do,” he said. “Stand about 40 feet away from her, and speak in a normal conversational tone and see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response.”

That evening his wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he’s in the living room, and he says to himself, “I’m about 40 feet away, let’s see what happens.”
“Honey, what’s for supper?” No response.
So he moves to the other end of the room, about 30 feet away.
“Honey, what’s for supper?” No response.
So he moves into the dining room, about 20 feet away. “Honey, what’s for supper?” No response.
On to the kitchen door, only 10 feet away. “Honey, what’s for supper?” No response.
So he walks right up behind her. “Honey, what’s for supper?”
She turns around and says, “For the FIFTH time, CHICKEN!!!!”

        The man learned he was the deaf one after all.  If we are not hearing God it is not because God is deaf.  We need to get closer to God.

Our texts today help us with how we are to listen to the true Voice.  It is the actions and the scriptures that accompany the voice that tell us the identity of The Voice, and whom we should follow.  The actions in the scriptures confirm The Voice.

In our reading from Acts, Peter raises from the dead a beloved follower named Tabitha, or Dorcas, who cared for the widows of Joppa.   The word widow in Hebrew comes from a root that means “mute,” or “silent.”  It aptly describes the status of widows in the ancient world: powerless, defenseless, vulnerable, most often poor and destitute.  So, Tabitha had a ministry with widows, those who were silenced.  Peter, after praying, tells Tabitha to get up.  Tabitha hears Peter, speaking with the authority of Jesus. Peter takes Tabitha by the hand and helps her up.  Tabitha is alive again.

We know The Voice of Jesus because The Voice originates from the care of those who are powerless and most vulnerable in our world.  We know The Voice of Jesus because it tells us, like Peter did, to get up. The Voice of Jesus raises those aspects of us that have been long dead and buried back to life.  To dream. To hope.  The ability to forgive and move on. The ability to see with new eyes. All brought back to life.  The Voice of Jesus takes us by the hand and helps us up, and restores us to life.  

The actions in the scriptures confirm The Voice.

Ultimately, we find the beautiful, ancient yet ever new voice of God in the acts of caring for others.  Do we want to be sure that we hear God?  Let us listen to those in need: whatever the need, within our congregation and in our larger community.  This is where we will hear God speaking.

Let the actions of God speak to us so we will listen with full attention.  Let us tune out the voices of despair, of judgment and fear.  Instead let us listen to The Voice. 

The Voice that cared for widows. The Voice that says, “get up.”  The Voice that reaches out a hand and helps up.  The Voice that can summon the dead to life.

The Voice that nourishes, restores, leads and protects, that voice that feeds through affliction and blesses.  The voice that breaks through the confusion of our day.  The Voice that praises through suffering.  Do we hear that voice?  Let us get close to it. 
 
That is the Voice of Jesus.  It will become our voice too, if we listen faithfully to it.  It will become our voice too if we act, like Peter, seeking the voice of God, because we belong to Team Jesus!
Amen.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

​Acts 9:1-20; John 21:1-19

 
Back in 1901, Andrew Carnegie was the wealthiest man in America, in not in the world. At the height of his wealth, Carnegie had the equivalent of $308 billion in today’s calculations. At one time he had forty-three millionaires working for him. In those days a millionaire was a rare person.  A reporter asked Carnegie how he had hired forty-three millionaires. Carnegie responded that those men had not been millionaires when they started working for him but had become millionaires as a result.

The reporter's next question was, "How did you develop these men to becomes so valuable to you that you have paid them this much money?" Carnegie replied that people are developed the same way gold is mined. When gold is mined, several tons of dirt must be moved to get an ounce of gold; but one doesn't go into the mine looking for dirt and mud; one goes in looking for the gold.

Our scripture lessons today tell us the stories of two men, whom Jesus mined:  Peter and Paul.  Together they built the foundation of the early Christian church as we know it.  Peter, a humble Galilean fisherman, was declared by Jesus the rock on which the church would be built.  Peter was the patriarch of the Jerusalem church, eventually moving to Rome and becoming an influential and revered figure there. 

The spread of the gospel throughout the Greek speaking Roman Empire is largely due to the tireless efforts of the apostle Paul. Paul a Roman, Greek speaking citizen and highly trained Pharisee, a “Hebrew of Hebrews” in his own estimation.   Two men with a zeal and love for Jesus and his gospel.  Two men specifically chosen by Jesus to establish his divine purposes on earth.  Two unlikely men; yet with one thing in common:   To reach the gold in each man, Jesus had to mine through a lot of dirt.  Reach gold, however, the Lord did.

In our story from John, we find the disciples traveling back to Galilee to go fishing.   Here, on the seaside with a catch of 153 fish, Jesus feeds his disciples. Jesus is concerned with feeding people, body, mind and spirit.  Unlike the last supper, we could call this the first breakfast, for these are the two meals that bracket Jesus’ death and resurrection.   At the last supper, after they had eaten, Jesus spoke of a new commandment for his disciples to love one another (13:34-35).  That they should be recognized as disciples by their love.  Peter unfortunately failed to show his love for Jesus at his darkest moment.  Instead, Peter denied Jesus three times.

Here, after they had breakfast, Jesus takes Peter aside and asks him three times, “Do you love me?”   A startling question that Jesus asks no one else, not his mother, or the beloved disciple, of Thomas or Mary Magdalene.  Just Peter.  The Lord, who knows all hearts, knows that Peter loves him like all the rest.  The most likely question is that Jesus is excavating through the dirt and mud.  Peter undoubtedly experienced a great deal of shame for denying that he  knew Jesus.  So, Jesus, never vindictive, wants to clear the mud of the guilt and shame Peter feels.  Jesus wants to remind Peter of all he taught about love, that night of the last supper.   A new commandment I give to you, to love one another as I have loved you.    If you love me you will obey what I command.  If anyone loves me, she will obey my teachings. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love.   Three times Jesus emphasized love in his last discourse.  So now again, he emphasizes it with Peter.   To heal Peter.  To help Peter find the gold within.   So, he says, when Peter says of course I love you:  Feed my lambs.  Tend my sheep.  Feed my sheep.  

Peter, Jesus says, I believe you.  You have the gold of love in your heart.  Now use it to care for others. Once more like at the beginning of his ministry Jesus issues the command: Follow me.   The next thing we hear of Peter is on the day of Pentecost when he is boldly preaching outdoors to the crowds of Jerusalem.

With Paul, the encounter is no less dramatic.  Paul has been successfully persecuting the growing Christian movement, with encouragement from the high priest in Jerusalem.  Acts tells us that Paul, originally named Saul, fixed to destroy the church (Acts 8:3). He dragged people off to prison and approved the stoning of the first martyr, Stephen.

Paul, with great missionary zeal, is armed with letters to arrest Jesus followers in Damascus.  Jesus intervenes with Paul as he does with Peter.  With a blinding light that knocks Paul to the ground, Jesus asks Paul one question, “Why do you persecute me?”  There were many who persecuted Jesus in his life and afterwards, but it is to Paul that Jesus appears and pointedly asks the question, “Why do you persecute me?”  Jesus wants to find the gold in Paul.  He doesn’t condemn Paul or damn him to hell.  He wants Paul to think of the people he is hurting, to truly understand his actions, and to know who Jesus really is. So feared is Paul that a Jesus follower, Ananias, is troubled by the Lord’s instructions to go to Paul.   Jesus reassures calls Paul, “my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. v. 15.”  Underneath the dirt and the mud, Jesus knows that gold is there.

       Jesus’ faith in both Peter and Paul pays off.  Before long, Paul has done a 180 and is proclaiming, “Jesus is the Son of God.”  Close to 1/3 of the New Testament is attributed to Paul’s writing or influence.   Jesus knew there was dirt in both men’s lives.  However, Jesus also knew there was gold, gold that would change the world. Jesus was willing to dig for it.

We all sit here together, and we know there is probably plenty of dirt in us and around us.  However, there is gold.  Our task is to not be afraid of digging through the dirt, not to be deterred by failures and setbacks, knowing underneath it all there is precious gold. Jesus sees it. Jesus says we are worth the work.

We may not be figures like Peter or Paul.  However, we can relate to because they somehow got beyond the dirt and let the gold in their life shine.  They were able to do this because Jesus believed in them and commissioned them to serve.  Jesus believes in us – in each of us.  Jesus says we are each worth the digging to extract that which is precious.

What dirt and mud do we have to get rid of?  Pride? Jealousy? Resentments? Gossip? Hatred or contempt of someone?  We may feel trapped in sin, trapped in something painful, fallen and struggling to regain composure. We may think we have gone too far, lost too much. Have nothing more to give. Perhaps the weight is so heavy that we are unconvinced that there is anything good buried under there. But that’s not so.  Jesus sees what we can’t see. That we are precious in God’s sight.  God has a plan and a purpose for our lives. We are gold in God’s eyes, meant to shine.  Your gold is priceless and needed for God’s realm on earth to flourish. Like Peter and Paul, let us open ourselves to the excavation of the Holy Spirit.  Be cleansed of the dirt so that clings to us. So that that nugget of gold will emerge, and like Peter and Paul, become a cornerstone in the realm of God here on earth.

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Gold
http://www.sermonsearch.com/sermon-illustrations/3766/andrew-carnegie/

John 20:19-31
 
Let’s state the obvious, even in the midst of the season of Easter:  We live in a wounded world.  The war in Ukraine is dragging on. Climate crisis goes unchecked. Interwoven into these concerns is the fall out of the pandemic – economic problems, inflation, high gas prices, supply chain issues, levels of gun violence that we haven’t seen in years.  40.3 million victims of human trafficking. 26.6 million refugees worldwide. And not least of all, let us not forget 175,000 people who have on average who have died of hunger and hunger related disease this past week.  That doesn’t even touch upon the wounds carried by communities. The wounds passed down by families.  The wounds carried in the bodies and spirits of individuals. Wounds are everywhere. What wounds weigh on your soul?

The wound that ravaged my family is a common one: alcoholism.  It was a wound that destroyed my parents’ marriage, left us briefly homeless and financially unstable.  For years my four older brothers had morning and evening paper routes around their school schedule to help put food on the table.  Alcoholism was a contributing factor in two of my brothers’ deaths. My eldest brother, Sean, died when I was 15 due to an overdose in the midst of a drunken stupor. Another brother, Chris, died a year later, in an automobile accident in which alcohol played a factor.  I am positive that each person here could tell accounts of wounds endured during a lifetime of living.   Is there honestly anyone present that hasn’t face a trial or tribulation that hasn’t left a mark on your soul? Anyone? I didn’t think so.

For this reason, I treasure the passage from John that we have read today.  Because of the trauma of life, the disciples lock themselves up, for fear of the Jewish leaders.  They saw how these leaders brutally treated Jesus and got him sentenced to death.  It is natural for them to think that they were next to be disposed of. These religious leaders were not going to stop at anything.  They were intent on annihilating the Jesus movement once and for all.  They were a wounded group. They felt the pain of Jesus’ death.  They felt the guilt of their lack of bravery in the hours that Jesus needed them.  They were confused at the reports from the other disciples who proclaimed that Jesus had been risen from the dead, the stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty.  Never a shaken up, wounded bunch had been seen.  Yet in this dark hour, Jesus appears, bringing peace. Neither locked doors or locked hearts cannot keep Jesus away. Jesus doesn’t bring reproach. Jesus doesn’t criticize. Jesus doesn’t dwell on their mistakes.  Jesus brings peace.  But Jesus brings another thing.  Jesus, in his resurrected, body, brings his wounds.  Through his wounds, Jesus brings life.

Thomas was not with the other disciples when all of this occurred, so they report to him what has happened using the same language Mary had earlier used, “We have seen the Lord.” But Thomas declares: “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”   Frankly, who among us would react differently? 

We first hear from Thomas, called the Twin, toward the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry at the time that Jesus goes to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead.  The religious leaders, react in rage to Jesus’ miracle and redouble their plans to kill Jesus. On that occasion Thomas said to his fellow disciples: “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (Jn 11: 16). His determination to follow Jesus reveals his total readiness to stand by Jesus.
A second comment by Thomas is recorded at the Last Supper. On that occasion, while predicting his own imminent departure, Jesus announced that he was going to prepare a place for his disciples so that they could be where he is found; and he explains to them:  “You know the place where I am going” (Jn 14: 4). It is then that Thomas intervenes, saying: “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” (Jn 14: 5).  Jesus responds with his famous declaration: “I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14: 6).

I don’t know about you, but Thomas comes across as a straight shooter, grasping and assessing the situation accurately. So, today for the third time Thomas speaks, saying, “Unless I see.” He is just stating that he wants to see what the rest of them saw:  the wounds in Jesus’ hands and side.  He is the one who was ready to die with him.  The one wanting to know the way.  He just wants to know the way.  Thomas knows the way to Jesus is through his wounds of the cross. Jesus very much obliges and appears the next time when Thomas is with the community.  See and believe, Thomas, Jesus says. At this point Thomas goes further than any other disciples by confessing, “My Lord and my God.”

Our passage today tells us that we must not be afraid to touch our wounded places for these are precisely the places where Christ is most clearly revealed.  Jesus choses to be found in wounds.  After all, Jesus could have easily chosen a resurrected body free of wounds.  A whole body in its prime.  But Jesus chose instead that his wounds be visible.   The scarred Jesus does not wait until we’re all beautiful and ready for church to meet us. He chooses to come to us in the midst of pain, illness, and injury.  We find him in the wounds of life. He is with the abused, the hurt, the refugee, the grieving, the lost, the struggling.  Unless we see Jesus in the suffering of the world, we will not find him. For that is where Jesus wants us to find him. 

Not in the corridors of power but in the homeless shelter.   Not on the red carpet, all coiffed and buffed, but in the hospital bed, the prison cell.  Not at the Met Gala overflowing with riches and fancy foods, but at the soup kitchen.  Not in some mansion filled with all the wonderful amenities of life, but in your broken heart and mine.  This doesn’t mean that Jesus doesn’t want us to have the good things of life and be happy.  Jesus just knows that the loneliest place, the most isolated place in life is the wounds we fear to reveal, those wounds that hold us bound, keep us locked.

The Jesus who walked on this earth did not see himself as set apart from the world. Rather he willingly entered into the pain by extending his hand to those hurting, by living among us, and then dying. Jesus was fully human and experienced the pain of living in a fallen world. Peter teaches us that Jesus carried in his own body the sins we committed. He did this so we might live in righteousness, having nothing to do with sin. By his wounds we are healed (1Peter 2:24).

Do you know the sign language for Jesus? It is this: put your finger into the middle of the palms of each hand moving back and forth…from first one hand and then to the other. Jesus is known by his wounds.  So where are you feeling wounded today?  Where is fear keeping you locked down?  Where do you need peace?  Let Jesus touch those places.  As you feel Jesus’ touch, allow the healing power of the Risen Lord to fill you. Then in turn touch others. Let our wounds become the conduits of grace to others, signs that no matter what we have gone through, we can heal, we can be healers, because Jesus, Our Wounded Healer, stands in our midst, and because of this, we have life in his name. Amen
 https://seedbed.com/emily-matheny-touchremember-john-2019-31/
https://pcpe.smu.edu/blog/preaching-john-20-19a-31-in-the-midst-of-the-pandemic

Isaiah 65:17-25; Luke 24:1-12

 
Christ is Risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

We have been following the events of Jesus’ last week of life for the past two Sundays.  Just two weeks ago we encountered the powerful tale of how Mary of Bethany signaled the descent into Holy Week by anointing Jesus with a precious, expensive perfume made of pure nard.  It was one of the most beautiful things anyone had done for Jesus and foreshadowed the anointing he was to receive upon his death.

Today, we hear the account on how the faithful women disciples, with spices in hand, make their way to the tomb of Jesus.  The gospels tell us how they fretted and worried how they will get past the stone that was in front of the entrance of the tomb.  My guess is that they hedged their bets that the Roman soldiers placed there to guard the tomb from raiders. No need to worry. They found the tomb open and empty.  Two men, identified as angels in other accounts, and appear like angels, ask the women, why there are seeking the living among the dead? Remember what he said to you back in Galilee?  The women remembered and believed.  The next thing we see is that they report back to the eleven disciples what they witnessed and heard. They disciples respond with one word.  In Greek, it is the word Leiros.

Leiros. The only time the word Leiros appears in the Bible is here, in Luke’s account of the resurrection of Jesus.   At the root of the word is the English word “delirious.” And so, what the men were really saying was that the women were out of their minds, crazy, spouting nonsense.  It is most often translated politely as “Foolish Talk,” an idle tale,” “a silly story,” or “a foolish yarn,” “utter nonsense” or even garbage or trash.  Scholars tell us that the word in question is quite offensive and vulgar, more fitting for a locker room than an Easter Sunday worship service with everyone at their finest.   Now, I’ll admit I’m tempted to actually come out and say the bad word, but then I will have planted it in your head and now you won’t be able to get it out.   So, I’m not going to say it, I’ll leave it to your imagination.  Let’s just say the “G” rated version is “you’re full of baloney!”  I think you got it, right?   This bad word accurately describes the most common worldly response to the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus raised from the dead?   Leiros!  

That’s exactly what happened that first Easter morning. The women, the first to proclaim the Good News of the resurrection and the male disciples say to them: “Leiros!”  To add weight to the disciples’ off-color remark is the Jewish legal stance that a woman’s testimony was unacceptable, inadmissible in a court of law. It’s all leiros the men declared.

So, the most sacred, most holy, belief which is front and center to our faith, the resurrection of Jesus, is met by the disciples with foul language.  The same disciples who fled from Jesus, who denied him, who hid behind locked doors in fear.  How can we appreciate how far that first Sunday is from where we find ourselves today? Look around and we see and smell beautiful spring flowers. We hear amazing music, shouts of alleluias, people dressed in their finest. Today we do not experience fear, but joy;  and heaven forbid nary a vulger word on our lips.   Jesus risen? We shout alleluia - not Leiros like the first disciples did.

The Easter message challenges us. It defies human logic. It stretches our reason. It questions everything the world would hold acceptable. After 2000 plus years we have tamed the gospel into a complacency that has taken the teeth out of the good news.  The Easter message says, Yes, death is real, but it is not the final word.  In raising Jesus from death, God changes the rules of the game. Death is defeated, life has the final say.

Easter turns everything upside down. Easter comes in the most unlikely of times: war, supply chain problems, economic worries, a pandemic that won’t go away. Easter teaches us is to look for God where we least expect God to be. To anticipate God using people we wouldn’t dream of God associating with. To get used to God surprising and even overturning our expectations.  Scandalous. It upends it all. And that is the cornerstone of our faith – that God’s good news choses the unexpected, the least trustworthy, the most unrespectable of people and situations to reach us.  God reaches us in our weakest, most vulnerable places of our lives, the mess and muck we make, and turns us around in the most unimaginable, incomprehensible shocking ways possible. God finds us in our weakest state and brings the death and brokenness of our reality to resurrected life. God is not put off by the leiros  of our lives and the leiros around us. In Christ God turns us around, to find life where there once was no life. 

      The Apostle Paul reminds us that if the resurrection didn’t occur, if it’s all just a bunch of leiros, then we’re all just a bunch of pathetic people, our preaching is fake news and our faith is a joke (1 Corinthians 15:13-15).  We celebrate today because we declare that the tomb is empty, Jesus is vindicated. Jesus promises us a new life, a life that doesn’t need to be based in just foolish talk, idle tales, silly stories, stupid yarns.  Love is our destiny, hope our gift, joy our heritage peace our legacy.        Today’s story is a down to earth account of real people like us coming to terms with greatest message to ever grace the world.  It encourages us to tear away the pious masks we wear around each other.  To be real people in a broken world.  It is OK to be ourselves. It’s in fact vital that we be our true selves, so our testimony of how has transformed us can truly touch other people’s life and make sense to them.   God finds us as we are, warts and all.  God hears our doubts, the careless, harsh and even nasty words that cross our mouths and accepts us. Jesus died for us, he rose for us in the messiness and contradictions of life.  We are sinners redeemed, not by anything we have done, but solely through the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

This is the greatest news we can ever receive, because the tomb is empty, the stone is rolled away – we find the Risen One right here in our broken human lives that yearn for change, that seek to be better. That hopes to make a difference.  It’s not leiros, people. It’s not foolish talk. It is truth.  Let us proclaim it:  Christ is risen!  Christ is risen. Indeed!  Alleluia!

​amen.https://www.wpc.org/uploads/sermons/pdf/April21Jones2019.pdf
http://www.fellowshipreformed.org/sermons/2018/4/9/the-journey-all-glory-laud-leiros
https://broadwayucc.squarespace.com/sermons/2019/4/22/idle-talk-amp-other-good-news
1Anna Carter Florence, Preaching As Testimony (Westminster John Knox Press, 2007) p. 119.
2The Mishna states, “From women let not evidence be accepted, because of the levity and temerity of their sex.” Thomas G. Long, The Christian Century, April 4, 2001, p. 11.
https://sermonwriter.com/sermons/luke-241-12-an-idle-tale-london/

​ 

 Luke 22:14-23; Philippians 2:1-13
Palm Sunday

       Palm Sunday today marks the beginning of Holy Week, the most significant time in the Christian calendar – the days we follow Jesus to the last supper, then to the cross, to the tomb and then wind up at the empty grave next Sunday, on Easter.  I am old enough to recall how Holy Week used to be publicly somber week. I remember stores being closed, and religious programing with movies like “Ben Hur,” “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” and “King of Kings” shown on commercial television.

       Those days are gone. The most we see on TV are ads for Easter candy. So how are we to mark the days of Holy Week?  Will we spend the week distracted, and focused on the cares of the world, or will we choose to orient ourselves to the cross? Will we enter the passion of Jesus or the passions of the world?  What choice will we make?

Holy Week forces us to ask: Who is Jesus for us?  It is estimated that there are over 1000 films, documentaries and shows made on the life of Christ.  From the farcical “Life of Brian,” to “Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter,” “Jesus Christ, Super Star,” to the over-the-top blood and gore “Passion of the Christ” by Mel Gibson – to the 2020 “Jesus Film.” Each movie has a unique angle to tell us Jesus’ story.  Who was he?  A holy man? A prophet? A charlatan? The actual messiah? More importantly, what difference does he make in our lives?  How will that difference lead us to spend the next five days? Will it be just another mundane week, or will it be the most important week of our lives?

The messiah, in Jewish teaching, is the expected king of the Davidic line who would deliver Israel from foreign bondage and restore the glories of its golden age; which includes:  to build the Third Temple (Ezekiel 27:26-28).  to gather all the Jews back to the Land of Israel (Is. 43:5-6). to usher in an era of world peace, end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease (Isaiah 2:4); to spread universal knowledge of the God of Israel, and to unite the entire human race as one. (Zech. 14:9).  This is why the expectations of the crowds ran wild when Jesus entered Jerusalem. All these expectations were being projected unto Jesus.  That’s why people spread their cloaks on the ground as a sign of great respect, they waved palms, they shouted “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in Heaven, glory in the highest heaven!”  The crowds, Luke tells us, witness Jesus perform deeds of power. Healings. Miracles. Jesus fit the bill of the foretold Jewish Messiah.  Centuries of waiting was finally over. 

Yet the gospels remind us that Jesus, throughout his life, carved out a different image of messiah.  In his first temptation in the wilderness, Jesus refuses to worship the devil in exchange for power over the earth.   Jesus proclaims to Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world – and that also speaks that the peace he offers us is not of this world.  The teachings of Jesus are clear: the kingdom of heaven is a kingdom of peace, repentance, justice and love of God and neighbor.   Jesus identifies himself as suffering servant, the son of God who accepts the cross and death on behalf of sinful humanity.  What earthy king would do that?  In Luke alone, Jesus plainly predicts three times his impending passion and death (Luke 9:22; 9:43b-44; 18:31-33).  However, people hear what they want to hear. Jesus does not force the truth of his mission on us, even in his death and resurrection. We are free to choose to accept Him or not to accept him. We are given a choice to repent or not to repent, to declare Jesus as our Lord and Savior – or that he’s just another ordinary guy, who was at the wrong place at the wrong time?

In Jesus’ interactions with people, people have a choice on how to act and engage Jesus.  Will they respond with love? Or out of selfish regard?  Remember the rich man who kept all the commandments, no mean feat, but wanted to know the way to eternal life?  Jesus looked on him with love and said, “go sell what you have and give to the poor and then follow me.”  The rich man walked away dejectedly.  Jesus didn’t force him to give up his money; he didn’t call him back and tell him to do something different.  Jesus left him with choice. In the parable of the prodigal son, the elder son refuses to join the feast when his younger brother returns. The Father doesn’t force his older son to enter, doesn’t bribe him.  It’s his choice.  If we look through the gospels, we seem many occasions where Jesus could have smoothed things over or could have insisted on certain conduct. But he didn’t.  Jesus operated on the core belief that love requires that we have free will. Love that is not freely chosen is not love. God loves us too much to take free will away from our lives, even if it means at times we sin, make mistakes, or suffer as a result.  Our free will to choose is that important. 

Jesus, this week, gives us an example of a steadfast free will that stays the course through his passion. We see this in his refusal to walk away. We see this in his refusal to abandon the principles of the Kingdom.  In his commitment to the will of his Father. We see this in his refusal to lash back at those who tortured him, who hated him, who treated him in the most egregious manner possible. That free will won us our salvation, and now we have our free will to make a choice for or against Jesus, the salvation he offers, the guidance he gives, the love he pours out on us.  It is simple as that.  How will we use our free will this week? For ill or for good? With or without Jesus?

       We have been given, not the messiah we want, but the messiah we need.  Throughout this week we have the opportunity to reject out right or accept with humility the truth that Jesus the Messiah dies freely for us. The messiah we need offers us a choice:  will we stand with him or flee? The messiah we need seeks to awaken in us the power of love, to repent and to free our will from the tyranny of selfishness.

Let us now, in this holiest of weeks, freely embrace the messiah we need, the messiah who emptied himself and took on the form of a slave for the forgiveness of our sins, who show us how true love, free will acts. Spend time this week to get to know this messiah.  Pray. Fast. Read the Bible. Come to worship on both Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Through the faithful choices we make this week, may we recommit our lives to him – and discover true freedom for our souls and experience the joy of salvation in our hearts.           

Let us pray: Lord God, today as the crowds proclaim you as King, we come before you asking your help to accept you as king of our hearts.   Some of us today need your grace to receive your forgiveness and love as lord and savior of our lives. So, we ask for a Holy Week that transforms us, converts us, to you, the messiah we need. Help us to lay our burdens at the foot of your cross. Touch all our hearts present because we need you in our lives.  May we find ourselves at Easter Sunday a changed people, a holy people a people whose lives are on fire through the power of the Holy Spirit filling us.  Thank you, Jesus, because you have freely chosen us, and now we freely chose you.  Amen.
 

John 11:1-8

 
What is the strongest sense of smell of something that you remember?  The perfume or lotion of someone dear to us?  Some delicious homemade recipe from childhood?  Freshly baked bread?  The smell of just brewed coffee?  Chocolate chip cookies just out of the oven?  How about a Christmas tree?  Or perhaps some not so pleasant orders, like a refrigerator overdue for a cleaning?  As a child, on the way to my Uncle Doc’s, we’d pass the slaughterhouse - whew - the order or dead carcasses spread for blocks. I can still recall the smell of the smoke from my neighbor’s pipe, the lilacs blooming in our backyard.   The sense of smell strongly influences human behavior, it strongly elicits memories and emotions, and shapes perceptions. Did you know that everyone has a unique odor identity similar to a fingerprint — no two people smell the same way except identical twins? Studies have found that scent marketing increased customer intent to purchase by 80%, turning indecisive shoppers into actual buyers. One gas station actually added the smell of fresh coffee to its store and increased coffee sales by 300%.

Our gospel lesson today invites us to engage our sense of smell, to imagine what the Bethany home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha smelled like when Mary, kneeling before Jesus, poured out a pound of pure nard, a perfume worth a year’s worth of wages, on Jesus’s feet.  Close your eyes and imagine the best scent possible you can conjure up. We are told this beautiful perfumed imbued the entire house. 
Now John tells us in the chapter before today’s reading that Jesus had brought Lazarus back to life from the dead.  The Pharisees and chief priests met. They felt the crowds turning toward Jesus.  As a result, they began to plot to kill Jesus.  So, today’s story signals the last week of Jesus’ life. Lazarus, Mary and Martha, siblings, honor Jesus with a meal, perhaps to celebrate Lazarus’ return to life. It is a meal that actually sets the scene for Jesus’ death, in a matter of days.

It was an ordinary meal.  Lazarus was at the table with Jesus. Martha was busy serving.  Then out of the blue comes Mary.  Mary of Bethany is, if we recall, the female disciple who sits at Jesus’ feet and listens. Remember how Martha complained, asking Jesus to tell Mary to help her out in the kitchen?  Jesus defends Mary, saying she has chosen the “better half.”  Mary has paid attention, she has connected the dots, and now she knows the end is near for Jesus: he has come to Jerusalem to die and be raised. So, without asking, without a speech, Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with this costly ointment and tenderly dries them with her hair.  Servants typically washed the feet of guests.  Here is Mary, assuming the role of the lowly servant to her Rabbi, Master, friend. 

Mary’s action is met with criticism by Judas the thief turned betrayer.  In other versions of the story in other gospels, all the disciples are indigent, perhaps thinking there goes Mary, going overboard, perhaps they are uncomfortable with the act of anointing Jesus.  Mark and Matthew say that Jesus is anointed on the head, here Mary anoints Jesus’ feet and dries them with her hair.  All in all, it is an extraordinary act, extravagant act, even slightly scandalous, for it is out of custom for a respectable woman to let her hair down, let alone use it as towel.  Jesus again defends Mary by telling the disciples to leave her alone, for she alone has correctly interpreted the times, Jesus’s death is drawing nearer.  Mary couldn’t stop this from happening.   But she could show her love, she empties her account, her savings, to envelope Jesus with the fragrance of love.

If we step back a minute, it is interesting to note that the only time Jesus receives gifts are at his birth, when the magi from the East bring him gold, frankincense and myrrh; myrrh being a spice used commonly to anoint the body upon death.  The gift bearers are foreigners, but they get it – Jesus is the King of the Jews and they acknowledge it while Jesus’ own people reject him. Now here at the end of his life, Jesus receives another gift, the gift of anointing with pure nard at the hands of a humble female disciple, a woman, a second-class citizen, on the fringe of the official group.  Mary lovingly boldly carries out this prophetic act that Jesus interprets as preparing him for his death and burial.  Jesus’ life and death are bookended by anointing spices. The deeper question Mary’s act brings to mind is this: where in the gospels is Jesus treated with such tenderness and lavish love – except perhaps the act of another woman, a repentant sinner, who crashes the Pharisees party to anoint Jesus’ feet with her tears and dries with her hair?  The truth is despite all that Jesus has done for others; Mary’s of Bethany’s act tops the charts.  None of his disciples demonstrate their love for Jesus in any way. It can even be said that Mary’s act of anointing Jesus’ feet inspires Jesus, who a few days later at the last supper, will wash his disciples’ feet.

The truth is, Mary reveals how God’s love is scandalous, outrageous, overflowing.  Imagine a God who suffers on behalf of his creation.  But that’s what Jesus does. If we look at all the world religions, Christianity is the only one where at the center of the message is a messiah who dies an ignominious death for love. Jesus embraces death, the indignity of death, with the death of a common criminal, to prove his love for us.  Scandalous. What kind of crazy God would do this? Unthinkable! Mary captures this powerful love as she ministers to Jesus.

It is Mary’s scandalous love that lets Jesus know he is not alone.  I would like to think, as Jesus prayed desperately in the Garden of Golgotha, as he was arrested, falsely charged, badly beaten, and lay dying on the cross, that somewhere in his memory that scent of the lavish perfume lingered, reminding a brutalized Jesus of Mary’s gentle touch. 

Mary’s scandalous love is an example for us for we are called to be the aroma of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:15-17) in a stinking world where death and violence hold sway, in a world that smells of greed and judgment.  We are called to lavishly spread the sweet, sweet aroma of compassionate love.  Mary makes us think: am I stingy with my love for Jesus?  Do I hold back like the other disciples?  Do I turn the other way when someone is in need?  Our reading asks us, what was the last lavish act of love we have performed – an act so scandalous, so outrageous, it left others shaking their heads in wonder.  You see, that’s what we are called to do as followers of Jesus. To pour out our inner resources, to give lavishly of our material resources so that others who witness stand in awe, and exclaim, “I want to know this Jesus that has inspired you so!”
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In these final weeks of Lent, let us get scandalous. Let us get extravagant. Let the powerful aroma of Christ fill our hearts and follow us wherever we go. Let us empty the tank, giving generously until the world overflows with the scent of faith and love wafting through us from the cross of Jesus, the scandalous incarnate love of God who emptied himself, gave it all away, so powerfully, so lavishly so that people would smell the fragrance of love and in turn believe in our scandalous, extraordinary fragrance of God’s love poured out in on the cross of Jesus Christ, our savior, our Lord.
 
 
https://www.companionsontheway.com/post/lent-five-extravagant-love-as-a-response-to-fear
https://www.spectrio.com/scent-marketing/the-psychology-of-smell-how-scent-impacts-customers/
https://saidanotherway.org/2019/04/07/the-frangrance-that-lingers/
http://www.abideinchrist.com/messages/1cor1v23.html

Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-32
 
Surprise, surprise, it turns out that Jesus didn’t have an ideal family life! Below is a recently unearthed transcript of Jesus’s younger brother James’s encounter with a therapist.
 
James: Lately I've been having this feeling that Mom loves Jesus more than me. Seems like everything he does is just perfect in her eyes--it's like she thinks the guy walks on water.
Doctor: James, it's really very common for a younger brother to have feelings of jealousy about an older brother. You just have to realize that it's in your own mind. He probably feels the same way about you. Tell me what makes you think your parents favor Jesus.
James: Well, the time that Jesus did walk on water, Mom was all "Jesus-does-miracles" this and "Jesus-does-miracles" that...
Doctor: You sound angry.
James: How would you feel if your brother was God?
Doctor: James, James, James... It's natural that a younger brother would put his brother on pedestal, but at a certain point you need to grow up and come to think of him as a peer.
James: No, really, I mean he actually is God.
Doctor: Have you ever confronted Jesus with your feelings? 
James: Yes, and he gives me this patronizing sermon about how I'll be fine because the meek are going to inherit the earth anyway. I mean, I may not be the sharpest nail in the carpenter's box, but I can tell a left-handed compliment when I hear it.
Doctor: You know, life isn't always fair. Sometimes one brother gets more attention than another. You're just going to have to learn to deal with that and realize that while, to you, your big brother is always going to seem larger than life, to most people he'll just seem like a regular guy.
James: I know, I know. And it's not like I'm not proud of his accomplishments. I just wish he wouldn't lord it over me.
 
Sibling rivalry. Since there have been families with more than one child, there have been struggles between offspring.  The first recorded sibs in the scriptures, Cain and Abel, reveals an older brother, Cain, envious of God’s preference of younger brother’s Abel’s sacrifice.  Resentful, Cain kills his brother, and defiantly responds to God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” This is a question that has haunted the entire history of human relations.

The parable that Jesus tells the religious elders is a spin off of the Cain and Abel story, we know it as the parable of the prodigal son. The predominant focus of the story down through the ages is the stunning rebellion of the younger son who demands his inheritance in the most scandalous fashion, leaves town and spends it all on dissolute living. Contrast to the younger son is the faithful, obedient elder son, who is pushed to rage and resentment at the unconditional love and mercy of the father who treats the return of the younger son with lavish, unconditional love.  The father doesn’t punish the younger son for pain and social humiliation he’s put his family through.  Instead, the father’s first act is to run to his son (a very shocking and undignified act for a man of renown in the ancient world; servants ran, wealthy men didn’t), and he immediately embraces and kisses him.  Next, he calls for the son to be given a robe, a ring, and sandals, all which symbolize the restoration of the wayward son to a prominent rank in the family, his authority and status reinstated. Finally, to top it off, the father calls for the fatted calf to be killed so a grand feast can be celebrated to mark the prodigal’s return.  We are so focused on the father’s extravagant love that our attention has been turned away from the unresolved tension in the story: the relationship between the brothers.  The Cain and Abel complex all over again.

        In the ancient world, the firstborn male child held a special place of privilege and honor.  The first born was believed to prove the virility of a man and the fertility of a woman.  In many cultures such a child was thought to belong to the gods.  Child sacrifice of the firstborn was a common practice as a way of returning the child to the gods, thus ensuring future fertility. In the Bible, this practice was replaced by an elaborate system of redemption, where the parents paid an extra offering to the Temple to “buy back” the child from God.  The firstborn inherited a double portion of his father’s estate.  The firstborn received the father’s blessing and place of leadership and privilege in the family clan system. This system of dedication of the firstborn was actually extended to animals and crops as well.   It is where we get our system of tithing, the returning of our first 10% of income to God through giving to the church and charities.

        The elder boy in Jesus’ story, by dumb luck has the place honor and privilege.  Yet despite all he has, like Cain, he becomes resentful when the younger brother is accorded special honor. Notice that the elder son does not engage his younger brother – doesn’t try to talk him out of his crazy plans, or does he try to seek him out once he left. The elder son is incandescent with rage that the younger son was received back with love, honor and festivities when he returns home after shaming his family by his sinful living.  The elder son expected the typical response, which would have been a formal shunning of the young man by the clan and community. If the father won’t behave according to the cultural norms of the day, the elder son gladly steps in and refuses to engage the feast, much to the sorrow of the father.

God (or the father in the story), upsets this established human order.  It is the nature of God’s love is to restore a balance that includes all peoples in God’s blessings.   God’s home is a place where everyone is loved, forgiven and has a place of honor and privilege.  All are precious in God’s eyes, the elder and younger son alike.

The Cain and Abel dynamic is alive and well in our world as in Jesus’ parable.  We live, by dumb luck, in what traditionally is called “the first world” with its double portion of the world’s resources. One in six of the world’s children living in extreme poverty doesn’t cause a ripple in the media; instead, we hear of the top 15 billionaires grew their wealth by 65 percent during the coronavirus pandemic.  Such imbalance creates great unrest and division in our world.  Look at the conflict playing out between Russia and Ukraine.  Older brother striking out in a deadly fashion against the younger one.

Cain and Abel battle in our hearts.  Who hasn’t, like the older son, been judgmental of others’ behavior? Who hasn’t felt, from time to time, envious or refused to let go of resentment?  Who hasn’t refused to be gracious and forgiving to an offense? Who hasn’t failed to be grateful for blessings received?

Who hasn’t, like the younger son, sought love and acceptance in all the wrong places?  Who hasn’t had to come to their senses with an I’m sorry, I’ve sinned against heaven and you.   Who hasn’t had to face someone they’ve hurt and risk rejection? Who knows what it is like to be lost? The bottom line is 1`have sinned, both need each the great love and mercy of God as depicted by the Father in the story.  That’s the balance God restores to us in Christ.

Jesus the firstborn, our divine brother, restores the balance on the cross. In our final weeks of Lent, let us contemplate how we can bring our fighting and discord to our Gracious God, who is waiting to run out and meet us, to robe us with righteousness, to put the ring of belonging on our finger, to give us shoes of honor, and to call for the feast, because what has been lost is now truly found. God’s forgiveness saves us. So may we forgive lavishly as well, and restore divine order to the family of faith, creating a human family to which all belong, through the love and mercy of God. amen

Isaiah 55:1-9; Luke 13:1-9

 
In the opening weeks of Lent, we explored the hunger Jesus had after spending 40 days fasting in the wilderness.  Jesus’ hunger is for our salvation, for our spiritual growth, for us to be reconciled to God.  We look at our own hungers and how we need to turn our hunger back to God.  Today we focus on another need just as powerful- if not more so – thirst.  Jesus says we must both hunger and thirst for righteousness.   One of the painful encounters of the cross Jesus was the acute pain of dehydration – one of Jesus’ final cries is “I thirst.” Jesus joined the pain of thousands of thirsty people worldwide. 

Somewhere in the world at this moment, instead of joyful, playing children, there are listless children: perhaps a bit fussy, with sunken eyes, dry skin, low blood pressure, a feeble pulse.  These are thirsty children but may become too weak to even sip life-giving fluids.    900 of these children will die today due to lack of safe water and poor sanitation which contaminates the water available, leading to disease and death.   The World Economic Forum calls this a world crisis:  It is estimated within eight years more than half of the world’s population will face a growing water-based vulnerability.

The irony is that water is all around us.   71 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, and the human body is between 55 and 78 percent water, depending upon body size.   We need to take in about eight glasses of water a day to stay well hydrated.  It doesn’t happen automatically.  We must seek out clean water if we are to stay healthy keep our bodies in balance.

We are all thirsty people.  Every day we thirst.  Every day we must drink water to survive.   We can go up to three weeks without food.   We typically cannot survive more than 3-4 days without water.  

Just as urgent is the spiritual thirst crisis.  Some of us are lost on the inside.  Some of our lives are out of joint, we lack peace, our capacity to have compassion and to love is stunted.  People languish spiritually as surely a dehydrated person lingers between life and death.   The clear, clean thirst for God has been contaminated by materialism, greed and selfishness, among other pollutants, that masks deeper spiritual needs.  “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy?”  The prophet Isaiah asks us.         
  
       Like water, God’s Spirit is the fundamental building block of life.  Our spiritual lives require its 8 glasses a day – we need that glassful of scripture. We need several glasses of prayer.  We need to drink in acts of service to our neighbor.  Mostly we need gallons of Living Water. Jesus says, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." John 7:37-39

  Spiritual sustenance depends on relationship – with God and with each other.   So, a healthy, balanced, spirit-infused life of living water is one characterized by gratitude.  Today Jesus gives us examples of spiritually-deprived lives, thirsty lives that seek other avenues to be fed.  Luke records that there were some people talking to Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  Such spiritual dehydration reflects a sadistic act of the Roman Prefect, a spiritually bereft man - who we will meet personally at Jesus’ trial on the day and be the bureaucrat responsible for Jesus’ death. 

It is a spiritually deficient heart, a spiritually thirsty heart, that would blame these victims and look for signs of sin in their lives for their terrible fate.  No Jesus says.  Just like those 18 people upon whom the tower of Siloam fell – another tragedy – that people sought to blame the victim – Jesus says there was no particularly evil thing these poor people did to cause their deaths.  A spiritually parched heart would locate blame and guilt on others, or some sick sense of enjoyment or vindication.  A spiritually hydrated heart – instead would feel compassion for the victims and their families.  A hydrated heart acknowledges the various ways that we need to repent to get right with God.

For this reason, Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree that hasn’t bloomed in three years, despite the expense, time and effort involved.   A spiritually thirsty heart would say enough is enough!  Three years is adequate time, and most would agree with this assessment.  It is a spiritually evolved heart, filled to the brim with living water, spirit and love, that says give it one more year.  That willingly invests extra time and effort, that pull out the stops,  and will not give up on someone in need.
A spiritually well- hydrated person builds bridges, makes connections, forges relationships, and invests time in others.  This is what Jesus is teaching us in Luke.  We see suffering people and ask, “how can we help,” not wonder what they did wrong, how I can avoid their mishap, or remove what is problematic from my sight.    Filled with living water, well-hydrated, we automatically overflow with compassion, kindness, forbearance and patience.

The same is true for our spirits.  How many of us are aware of a thirst for God? Do we yearn for God as much as we do for rain when we’re in the middle of a drought? Do we long for God the way we long for glass water when we’re very thirsty? The psalmist describes it perfectly (Ps 61), “O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; My soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
We are usually aware when we are physically dehydrated.  Our body literally screams for water.  Our throats are parched; our mouth and skin are dry.   Are we attuned to our spirit and its’ needs to be replenished?

The Lenten season is a time for us to become awaken to our need for God and Living water.   We are called to Lenten disciple to awaken ourselves to our fundamental thirst for God; to deepen our awareness of our need for Jesus, our living water. Through prayer, fasting and almsgiving,  Lent awakens in us the life God envisions for us, as Isaiah so richly records: “You shall go out with joy and led back in peace.”  Such is a spiritually full life.
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   So today let us choose to stay hydrated – thanking God for clean water, but for the many ways we can hydrate our Spirit – through recommitting our hearts to Jesus, drawing closer to him through Lenten practices of fasting, prayer and almsgiving.  Let us rediscover how thirsty we are for God – as vital as the breath we take each moment.  May we see how thirsty everyone is – and may we thirst to be a part of the solution to a healthier, and a more whole world.   Amen.


http://www.who.int/elena/titles/bbc/dehydration_sam/en/
http://water.org/water-crisis/water-sanitation-facts/
http://www.wateraid.org/what-we-do/the-crisis/statistics
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=water%20the%20new%20oil
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/20/what-pope-francis-really-said-about-trump-not-being-christian.html
http://www.biblecenter.com/sermons/spiritualthirst.htm

Luke 13:31-35; Genesis 15: 1-18:  

Last week, at beginning of Lent, we were confronted with Jesus’s hunger, his physical hunger after fasting in the wilderness, and his spiritual hunger – his hunger for us, and all his sacrifices on our behalf as a result of his hunger for humanity. This past week I encountered an article about hunger in the world, historic hunger in the Ukraine. At the entrance to the Kiev Memorial Park there is a sculpture of a very thin girl with an extremely sad look holding several classes of wheat in her hands. Behind her back is the Candle of Remembrance, this is a monument that marks the historical event known as Holodomor (Hladomor).

Hladomor refers to one of Joseph Stalin’s most heinous forms of terror against the Ukraine. In 1932, Stalin took the grainy land from Ukrainian peasants, and all its yields, creating artificial hunger. Thus, the nation that produced the most wheat in Europe was left without a crumb of bread. The peak of the Hladomor was in the spring of 1933. In Ukraine, 17 people starved to death every minute, over 1000 every hour, and almost 24500 every day! People were literally starving to death on the streets.

During 1932-1933 hunger killed between seven and ten million Ukrainian people. Hunger was a lethal weapon meant to punish a people into submission.  The same tragedy is repeating itself as stories are surfacing of starving Ukrainians in the current war.

Throughout history hunger has been a weapon in war and is a heinous war crime.  Deliberately depriving people of food is one of the most despicable acts in the world, and it has been a common occurrence as the result of war throughout the ages, all around the world.  On this second Sunday in Lent, we dig deeper into the issue of hunger.  Last week we spoke about our own hunger, what are we hungry for. Jesus hungered to do the will of God, which led him, as we heard from Luke today, to die in Jerusalem.  Why did Jesus hunger so for Jerusalem, and what significance does it hold for us?

 In Jerusalem was the temple, the heart of Jewish identity and the place of ritual sacrifice.  Jesus, who made the ultimate sacrifice on the cross on our behalf, represents the new temple, the new covenant, ushering the New Jerusalem.   Jesus hungered to restore Jerusalem to righteousness, and it grieved him when the City turned away from God will and God’s way. Jerusalem compromised its values, it killed the prophets and turned away from God’s covenant.  Yet Jerusalem is central to salvation history; it is the birthplace of the church and remains a symbol for how we are to live faithfully in a world that cannot escape the clutches of war.  We need to seek Jerusalem, the Jerusalem established by God.

Jerusalem is first mentioned in the bible under the name “Salem.” The wanderers Abraham and Sarah, sent forth by God to a promised land, are welcomed and blessed with gifts of bread and wine by a King Malchizedek of Salem – the site of Jerusalem.  Salem is linguistically related to the Hebrew word, “Shalom,” which we know means, wholeness, justice, peace.  Deeply rooted in Jerusalem’s foundation is that offering of hospitality to the wanderer, the stranger, an offering that is an act of justice that creates peace.  This is a vision of life that God calls us to establish wherever the kingdom of God exists on earth.

The root of “Jeru” is “seeing, being shown, also reverence and awe.”  The word is linked to the terrifying story of Abraham being tested by God to sacrifice his only son Isaac on Mount Moriah, in the area near Jerusalem.  Through testing and obedience, Abraham demonstrated a faith for his day and culture that was sacrificial, reverential.  God stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son -- being shown to sacrifice a nearby lamb instead.  While many elements of Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac are foreign to our understanding, we know what it is like to be tested, to sacrifice, even when we don’t understand.

These stories weave together the name of Jerusalem.  So, Jerusalem is known as the “City of peace, a vision of peace, to see God, to be shown justice, to see peace.”  Jerusalem is the place where faith is tested, and sacrifice demanded for the sake of peace. It is a city called to  hunger for peace, for the presence of God, of experiencing reverence and awe. That’s the destiny on the shoulders of Jerusalem.  Jesus hungered to complete God’s will, and so Jesus was the sacrificial lamb, the lamb like the one that Abraham found, the lamb who has come to restore peace and wholeness to our lives. To restore Jerusalem to its place in salvation history.  Jerusalem is the archetype, the prototype, the pattern upon which all the world’s cities should be formed.

It is ironic that the place named “to see peace” the city sacred to three of the world’s major religions, has been a place where down through the centuries the shifts of world power played out…the Israelites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, Hasmonians, Seleucids, Romans, Constantinople, the Muslim caliph’s, the crusaders, the Ottoman Empire, the British, down to our present quagmire, where Jew, Arab and Christian all claim some stake.  Down through the ages we have sacrificed each other, and we are lived far from peace in our world today.

Amazing for a tiny parcel of land, with no real economic value, only 47 square miles. But the most hotly contested piece of real estate in the world. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. Jerusalem is called by the rabbis the “navel” of the earth and light of the world, the “metropolis of all countries.”    
    
Therefore, Jesus declares that Jerusalem has become the city that kills. A city that has become addicted to power where that religion is a key element in conflict.  Jerusalem, City of Peace, has been embroiled in three thousand years of war. City of Peace, hungry for war. Instead of being a beacon of faith to the world, Jerusalem killed the Prince of Peace, has become like any other power-hungry capital in the world has acted down through the ages.  Jerusalem is the mirror of all the great capitals of the world from Moscow to Kyiv, Washington to Beijing, instead of hungering for reverence and peace, we seek destruction and war.

Jesus consciously chose Jerusalem as the place to die --- and as the place for his church to be born. Jesus exhibits hospitality as he washes his disciple’s feet, the night before he died, and made the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. Radical hospitality.  Reverence for God. That’s that foundation of our faith.  That’s what Jesus is famished for on our behalf.

As Jesus approaches Jerusalem for the last time, he gives an image of how he envisions a new restored City – really how the church is to be in the world.  How the City is to be healed and restored. Jesus picks the most incongruous image for himself.  That of a mother hen.

A Hen.  In the time of conflict, a hen doesn’t inspire much confidence or awe. Hens are pretty low on the food chain.  No ferocious, venomous fangs, pointy claws, or sleek strong muscles to run fast.  No Good Shepherd with a powerful rod and staff.  No proud lion of Judah image, or the mighty eagle, with deadly talons.  Even a fox would do, but no, Herod gests that one. Jesus settles on a mother hen, seeking to gather her chicks under her wings.

Jesus reminds us, as he approaches Jerusalem, that love is not predatory. Love is protective, and vulnerable.  If we truly want to create a city of peace, we don’t need foxes, lions or eagles.  Foxes scatter.  Hens gather.  We need hens.

Look at us. We fight over land.  We fight over oil.  We fight over clean water.  We fight over the honor of clans and tribes.  We fight over religion. We fight over parking spaces – over items on sale at the store.  Where’s the hospitality?  Where’s the sacrifice?  Peace is not built by foxes or lions.  We need hens.  Hens who gather.

Jesus died in Jerusalem to show us that God is not a predatory bold thirsty lion, fox, or eagle, but a mother hen, protecting, ever brooding, and ever seeking to gather in all her chicks.  God as King would offer hospitality to the way farer.  God our Heavenly Parent, who would send his only son to die for us – to break the chains of sin and bloodlust we are imprisoned to.  That’s what Jesus is hungry for. That’s what we are called to hunger for as well. 
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There’s where Lent would have us focus:   To stand like Jesus did. To gather and protect. To be hospitable.   To give sacrificially, stretching ourselves, and going outside our comfort zone.   That’s the real vision for Jerusalem, city of peace.  We are called to realize Jerusalem is here, in our hearts, a New Jerusalem to cover the earth, to transform Moscow, to heal Kyiv, to be a source of bounty for all the hungry souls of the world. So, this week of Lent, we embrace hospitality, we embrace reverence for life, we sacrifice and most of all let us gather and protect the vulnerable.  Jesus died for this.  Jesus died for us, so we can be a New Jerusalem, to change our cities that kill, to cities that gather the people who hunger, who seek peace, who seek life for all.  Amen.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2014/03/31/ukraines-new-sites-of-memory-a-candle-in-kiev-a33478

Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4: 1-13
 
Our Lenten season today begins with the story of Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness when once there Jesus fasted for 40 days.  At the end of his fast, Jesus was famished.   Have you ever been famished?  Sometimes we’re in a hurry in the morning and skip breakfast, and by 11 am we are so hungry we feel like we can eat a horse. Some days we are so busy we find ourselves skipping lunch and making do with a snack from the vending machine.  Many of us have had to fast before a medical procedure or getting blood drawn.   Some of us may fast as part of a weight loss plan. 
Our scriptures however talk about a deliberate fast for spiritual purposes.  During Lent, Christians are called to the disciplines of prayer, almsgiving and fasting. Today we will reflect on the discipline of fasting. Fasting means different things to different people. For some, it means a total abstinence from food for a period of time. For others it might be only one meal a day.  Others fast from certain items, like meat, fish, dairy, or sugar.  Has anyone here ever fasted for spiritual purposes?  What kind of fast do you do?

In the bible, people fast for a variety of reasons. As a sign of repentance for our sins.  To prepare for something significant, to gain wisdom, to increase spiritual strength, or to bring added urgency for something important that is being prayed over.  There were communal fasts in times of national calamities. Jesus once told his disciples that certain unclean spirits could only be expelled by prayer and fasting (Mark9:29).  Like Jesus, Moses fasted for forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai before receiving the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 34:28).  Daniel eliminated delicacies, meat and wine from his diet for the full three weeks in order to understand a vision he had received ( Daniel 10:3). Queen Esther, in order to save her people from annihilation, called for a 3-day communal fast to avert disaster. King Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast to ensure a victory over enemies (2Chron. 20:2-3).  The people are called to repentance by the prophet Joel through a time of “fasting and weeping and mourning.” Joel (2;19). The prophet Anna fasted and prayed for the redemption of Jerusalem and the coming of messiah, and as a result, recognized Jesus as the Messiah when brought to the temple as a baby. With so much prominence given to fasting in the scriptures, it is striking that it is probably the least discussed and promoted Lenten discipline in our churches today.  Growing up, I never heard a sermon about fasting. The extent of my instruction was to eat fish on Fridays and eat nothing between 1-3 on Good Fridays.  I believe I missed out on a lot.

It is clear that fasting is a spiritual discipline that Christians are strongly encouraged to incorporate in their faith practices.  Fasting is a powerful tool because at its core, fasting is an act of humility. Fasting can be physically uncomfortable – but it's for an important reason. In our discomfort, we discover the frailty of human nature. Our eyes are opened to hidden or unconfessed sin or wrongdoing. We acknowledge in fasting that we don’t have the answers.  We don’t have the strength in and of ourselves to accomplish what needs to be done. Fasting is meant to awaken us to our spiritual life, which is often buried under a mountain of material wants and desires. Fasting confronts us with our pride, our self-righteousness and our need to be right and calls us to see ourselves through the eyes of God, fragile, vulnerable, prone-to-sin beings loved by God.

Fasting forces us out of our daily routine.  By deny ourselves a meal, a piece of meat, a dessert, we allow ourselves to become more aware of the spiritual dimension of life. Our vision becomes clearer. We get to see all the ways we have dealt with our spiritual hunger—through food and snacking, with social media, through shopping, or work.  Fasting exposes the ways our lives have become upended and how our priorities have been messed up.  
Being famished raises the issue of what are we really hungry for?  Our deepest most fundamental need is for love and acceptance, and as people of faith, it is our need for God that is paramount in our lives.  St. Augustine put it succinctly when he said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.” However, The Devil the tempter, just as he tried to steer Jesus off path, tries to upset our lives, tries to substitute other things for the love and presence of God in our hearts – from trying to inflame our appetites for money, recognition, power, self-importance all things that obscure the true desire of our hearts. Fasting is a key tool in combating the temptation of evil in us and around us.  I read this past week that only 20% of Protestants even participate in Lent, let alone fast. The Evil One must be pleased with that statistic.  Imagine how spiritually powerful we could become if we developed a consistent routine of prayer, fasting and almsgiving?

Fasting although powerful, in and of itself is not a panacea – fasting invites us to change our habits and hearts. If we don’t change fasting is futile, as the prophet Isaiah once powerfully proclaimed:

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

During our season of Lent, let us be reacquainted with the spiritual discipline of fasting, as far as you are medically able to do. If fasting is not an established practice, try during this season of lent to make it one. Start small – Fast from dessert. Fast from junk food or sweets.   Fast from processed foods, or from take out. If you are healthy enough, maybe skip a meal. See what it is like to go an entire day, or from day to dusk, without eating. Fast in other areas of your life.  Fast from social media.  Fast from gossiping or thinking unkindly of someone else.  Let us fast from fighting!  Just know whatever you can offer up is accepted by God – it is good enough. God is delighted with our baby steps. Do we want to grow or revitalize as a congregation? Do we seek a vision of God for our future? Let us fast, each to their ability. I invite you to join me, God willing, in fasting one day a week, from noon on Wednesday to noon on Thursday during Lent. Do whatever works for you. But let us reclaim fasting as part of our spiritual practice we become famished.  Famished for the presence of God. Famished to break the hold of sin and evil. Famished for healing. Famished for caring for each other. Famished for God’s righteousness, justice peace and mercy to mold our hearts and flourish on earth. May we be famished this Lent, and in doing so, may we all truly taste and see that the Lord is good. Amen
 
 
https://www.guideposts.org/better-living/health-and-wellness/5-spiritual-benefits-of-fasting
https://www.google.com/search?q=What+percentage+of+protestants+fasts&rlz=1C1AVFC_enUS864US864&sxsrf=APq-WBttQNRW4822lBgqBuGlXANA8392mQ%3A1646505698967&ei=4q4jYv25OtWoptQPlf2I6A8&ved=0ahUKEwj9srraz6_2AhVVlIkEHZU-Av0Q4dUDCA4&uact=5&oq=What+percentage+of+protestants+fasts&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQAzIHCCEQChCgATIHCCEQChCgAToHCAAQRxCwAzoECCMQJzoHCCMQ6gIQJzoNCC4QxwEQrwEQ6gIQJzoFCAAQkQI6CwguEIAEELEDEIMBOgsIABCABBCxAxCDAToICAAQsQMQgwE6DgguEIAEELEDEMcBEKMCOgQIABBDOggIABCABBCxAzoECC4QQzoFCAAQgAQ6BQgAEIYDOgYIABAWEB46CAgAEBYQChAeOggIIRAWEB0QHjoFCCEQoAFKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQ-AlY9m1gyXBoA3ABeAKAAXWIAYUrkgEENzIuNJgBAKABAbABCsgBCMABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp