We Believe

Posted on May 20, 2013 by

Pentecost SundayWhen the day of Pentecost came, the disciples were all in one place.  The Holy Spirit descended upon them and remained with them.  Filled with the Spirit, the disciples began speaking in different languages.  These words were not a spiritual language of indiscernible sounds in need of interpretation; conversely the Spirit was speaking to the crowd through the disciples in particular languages that could be understood.  The Holy Spirit is our guide, our Advocate, our teacher; therefore when the Spirit is speaking, God’s words seem quite clear.  When the Spirit speaks, it doesn’t mean that things will be easy or safe or predictable, in fact things might become muddy and difficult when the Spirit leads you into the Wilderness with Christ.  When the Spirit speaks, God’s will, God’s radical grace and love is clearly revealed, and the Spirit guides us while we carry the cross on that wonderful journey.

Pentecost is the Jewish celebration remembering the day the Lord gave the Law to Moses.  The disciples were all in one place celebrating the giving of the Law, when the Spirit of God interrupted with the sound like the rush of a violent wind, a heavy and burdened wind carrying something new.  The Law is God’s will revealed, the boundary lines for what it means to be God’s chosen people.  Boundaries are helpful.  They tell us where and where not to go.  Boundaries provide structure and contribute to identity.  Boundaries actually make life much more fun.  Think of your favorite sport.  Imagine going to a football game and there are no yard markers or end zones or referees, just a group of men and women tackling each other.  It would be chaos.  The boundaries and rules give the game structure, making the game much more fun to play.

credoNot only is today Pentecost, but we gather together today to celebrate Confirmation.  For an entire year our eighth grade class has been studying scripture, wrestling with faith, remembering the United Methodist Tradition, and growing in discipleship.  The final exercise in confirmation is for the class to develop a creed, a statement of faith according to the way in which they are hearing the voice of God.  Here is what the confirmation class has decided the boundaries are, so to speak:

 

We believe God is always present, though at times God seems silent.

We believe God is loving and easy to talk to.

We believe Jesus is the Son of God, died for our sins, and is risen for our life.

We believe the Holy Spirit is constantly present, working with us and through us.

We believe humans are created equally by God.

All humans have sinned and all are forgiven

We believe the Bible is God’s word, eternal and sacred.

We believe the Church is a holy place and should be a place of peace and comfort.

We believe that being a disciple of Jesus is following God’s words, leading others in service and love

     However, only having yard markers and goal posts miss the point.  Now imagine your favorite sport with boundary lines and referees, but no coach.  Imagine a team with no leadership, no one to lead practice, on one to call plays.  Imagine that your favorite team had to make it up as they went along.  The game isn’t as chaotic before without the boundaries, but it certainly doesn’t look like any discernable game.  Some would argue that a team without a coach isn’t really a team at all.  You see, boundaries are helpful in discerning where the field of play is, but boundaries don’t offer any guidance as to what you are supposed to do on the field itself.

The disciples have gathered to celebrate the Law, and then the Spirit, the guide, the Advocate, the teacher, interrupts and shakes things up.  Our confirmation class creed is not the ending of their faith journey.  It sounds cliché, but this is the beginning.  It’s not only Confirmation Sunday, it’s Pentecost Sunday!  Now that the boundaries are set, now is the time to allow the Spirit to flourish and guide and move.  “We believe God is always present, though at times God seems silent.”  The Spirit guides us through the silent times.  The Spirit strengthens our faith to know that silence is not God’s final word, and that silence is, most of the time, God giving us a chance to talk.  “We believe that Jesus rose to give us life.”  The Spirit shows us how to live that life of radical grace and hospitality.  “We believe that humans are created equally.”  What does equality mean?  “All humans have sinned and are forgiven.”  The Holy Spirit is the vehicle through which grace is shared and received.  “We believe the Bible is God’s word, eternal and sacred.”  The Holy Spirit is God’s presence which allows us to make sense of the sacred texts.  “We believe the Church is a holy place and should be a place of peace and comfort.”  The activity of the Holy Spirit is the energy and the drive to change “should be a place and comfort,” to “is a place of peace and comfort.”  “We believe that being a disciple of Jesus is following God’s words, leading others in service and love.”  It is the Holy Spirit that guides us on that journey of following in The Way.

pentecostThis is the difference between the Law and the Spirit—the Law is the boundaries—the Spirit is the game itself.  The Apostle Paul talked about how the Law did not have the ability to save, though the Law was good and holy and true.  It sounds counterintuitive.  The Law prescribes that you make a sacrifice at the Temple, that you eat kosher foods, that you care for the poor, that you love your neighbor as yourself.  This is good and right!  Here’s the thing, even though these actions are good and right, humanity is still performing the action.  In other words, humanity is still the gas driving the car.  Humanity cannot achieve salvation.  The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, allows Christ to be living within us.  With the Holy Spirit, humanity is no longer the diving force; rather it is Christ living within us navigating our lives.  The Christ in me serves the Christ in you.  As Paul says in Romans, because Christ died, we will die, and because Christ was raised, we too will be raised because Christ is living within us.  You see, the gift of the Holy Spirit is allowing Christ to dwell with us, and this is something that the Law cannot and never will do.  The Law offers the boundaries, but the Spirit allows Christ to be living with us, allowing us to play the game we call life everlasting.

These Confirmands have learned the boundaries well.  They have written their own.  Now they come here today to affirm their baptism and begin living into their faith, allowing the Christ present within them by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be their new life.  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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One-Liners

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

momMy mother has some great one-liners.  Growing up in a small town in Mississippi, having great one-liners is a graduation requirement.  There are her one-liners in the car: “I never nap in the car when your father is driving because I want to see the fatal crash.”  “Is it pull-out-in-front-of-me day because there ain’t a soul behind me.”  There are her one-liners in casual conversation: “He don’t have the sense to come in out of the rain.”  “I have a life-sized picture of that.”  “Well, that’s just natural selection doing what it does.”  There are the one-liners of great wisdom: “There’s no need to be hoopin’ and hollarin’ after midnight because nothing good happens after midnight.”  “We don’t have time to go the emergency room.”  “This household is not a democracy.  It is a momocracy—a benevolent dictatorship.”

Mary, the mother of Jesus has some great one-liners as well.  When Mary and Joseph had lost Jesus and found him three days later at the Temple in Jerusalem, she said, “Child, we have been searching for you with great anxiety.”  I happen to believe that the Christian tradition has maintained the censored version of that exchanged.  Mary also said, “Let it be with me according to your word,” when the Angel Gabriel announced that Mary would have a son.  When the wedding party in Cana runs out of wine, Jesus’ mother brings the servants to Jesus and says, “Do whatever he tells you.”  Here in our story today, Mary and Elizabeth greet each other, and Mary says, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

map_ancientAfter receiving the news that Mary will be the mother of Jesus, Mary travels with haste from the north in Galilee to the Judean hill country in the south to visit her relative, Elizabeth.  God is doing a remarkable thing here.  Mary traces her lineage back to Miriam, Moses’s sister and one of the first prophets, for as the Ancient Israelites crossed the Red Sea she sings, “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea” (Exodus 15:21).  Elizabeth is connected to the Priests and the keepers of the Law by her marriage to Zechariah.  When Mary and Elizabeth meet together and the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy, the child leaps because in their meeting, the Law and the Prophets are coming together, much in the same way the disciples experienced on the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus is there with Moses and Elijah.  Not only that, Mary is from the north in Galilee.  Elizabeth is from Judea in the south.  In addition to the Law and the Prophets coming together, the divided kingdom of Israel in the north and Judea in the south are coming together.  God is beginning to change the world.  The Law and the Prophets are coming together, the kingdom is being reunited, and God is bringing about this change . . . through mothers . . . because God knew what he was doing.

Mary and ElizabethWhen Mary and Elizabeth meet, Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”  In five words, Mary proclaims what it means to be a Christian, in a way.  God isn’t asking us to be clever, though wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit.  God isn’t asking us to be original, though living a Resurrection life is, in large part, counter to the wisdom of the world.  God isn’t asking us to innovate, though we must always be ready to follow the direction of the Spirit.  What is God asking of us?  The prophet Micah asked the same question, replying, “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.”  Mary says, “My soul magnifies the Lord,” because as lovers of God through Christ in the Spirit we are to recognize what God is doing in the world and amplify it, magnify it.

magnifyI love the imagery of a magnifying glass because a magnifying glass brings into view those things that are normally missed, those small things, which mean a great deal.  The kingdom happens one person at a time.  A revolution begins with a conversation—one heart transforming another.  The kingdom beings to grow when   you shake the hand of someone in need.  The kingdom begins to grow when instead of jumping into email first thing in the morning, you begin your day with prayer.  The kingdom begins to grow when you have a latte for Jesus, meaning that instead of getting a $5.00 latte each morning, you have a cup at home.  Just imagine what we could do if we who love coffee increased our pledge by $20/week.  Going from a latte to a cup of coffee may mean school supplies for every elementary child in need, or microloans for folks trying to change their life or electronic wheel chairs for those having difficulty getting around.  “My soul magnifies the Lord.”  The magnifying glass of the Holy Spirit brings those small things into view, amplifying them into a kingdom that transforms the world.  Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which grows into the greatest of trees.

focused lightNot only do magnifying glasses magnify the small things around us, they also bring light into focus.  Do you remember those days as a child when you would use a magnifying glass to focus sunlight to burn a leaf?  “My soul magnifies the Lord,” can also mean focusing the light of God on one specific purpose.  Mary proclaims many ways in which God is at work in the world, as if Mary is helping us discern that one holy and precious purpose Broadmoor is called to become.  God is one who offers mercy, shows strength, scatters the proud, brings down the powerful, lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry with good things, sends the rich away empty, helps people remember the promise.   Who are we as a church? Who is Broadmoor in the community?  Are we a place of mercy?  Are we a place where people find strength?  Are we a place where the hungry are filled with good things?  What is that one great thing the community would miss should Broadmoor not be here? “My soul magnifies the Lord,” amplifies the mustard seed of kingdom work.  “My soul magnifies the Lord,” also transforms the work God is doing in the word and brings it into focus, offering purpose in each faith community.

God with us“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” sounds like a testimony from someone who has everything going for them, someone whose kids make straight A’s, someone who has money in the bank, someone who has run a half marathon, or helped a child finish a class project, or simply got everyone where they needed to be on time, but Mary’s life is far from “together.”  She just found out that she is having a child.  She’s not married.  What will Joseph think of this?  What will mom and dad and the community say?  Will we have enough to raise the child?  When Mary finds out that she is pregnant, see immediately and quickly leaves town.  She left to visit Elizabeth, but I wonder if she also just needed time to think, to ponder, and to talk about what God is calling her to do.  For some, today is a difficult day.  “My soul magnifies the Lord,” is far from your lips.  Maybe your “one-liner” today is “I miss you,” or “I forgive you,” or “I’m sorry.”

Mary’s words remind us that the kingdom of God is a mustard seed, that revolution that begins with a conversation.  Mary’s words remind us that God is calling us for a particular purpose in the world.  And maybe most importantly, Mary’s words also offer us hope, that even when we don’t have everything together, even when we can’t seem to shake sadness, even when we think we are failing at everything, that God is still with us, providing, nurturing, lifting us up when we are in need . . . you know . . . like a mother.  Praise be to God.  Amen.mothering God

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Think Globally, Update Constantly, and Anticipate Peace

Posted on May 6, 2013 by

Class of 2013Today is Senior Sunday, the worship service in which we celebrate the achievement of graduation from High School and College.  I’d like you to think back to your own graduation or the graduation of a friend.  Do you remember what you did the night of graduation?  I can’t quite remember what I did, but I am certain of what I didn’t do.  I didn’t update my facebook status.  I didn’t send out a celebratory tweet.  I didn’t share graduation photos on Instagram.  I didn’t google directions to the after party.  One of the things I love about graduation is to take a moment to step back a think about the culture this graduating class in inheriting.  The Class of 2013 is inheriting a culture that is more connected and less connected than it has ever been.  In general we can send a facebook post quickly around the world, while at the same time finding it increasingly more difficult to shake the hand of a neighbor.  They are inheriting a “culture of updates.”  If you have a smart phone, maybe you’ve noticed that nearly a day doesn’t go by without one of your apps needing an update.  Soon downloading an app to your phone will be ancient technology.  Soon the only data on your phone will be your profile or your identity, which will connect to the cloud so that apps can be updated as frequently as the speed of light will allow.  You heard it here first, by the way.  The Class of 2013 is inheriting a world dictated by lengthy anticipation with instant reward.  The Christmas decorations are hung earlier and earlier every year, yet the twelve days of Christmas, the days between Christmas and Epiphany, are becoming increasingly irrelevant.  The next Iphone will be announced months before it will be in stores (great anticipation) and people will camp out to get the new phone on the day it is available (instant reward).  Wedding venues book up years in advance (great anticipation), while the wedding ceremony is getting shorter and shorter (instant reward).  Our graduates are inheriting a culture in which there is great pressure to think globally, update continuously, and live with great anticipation of instant reward.

class presidentI’m not sure what the tradition is today, but during my High School senior banquet, the Senior Class President would read a list of wills for the underclass.  You know, “Stephanie Johnson wills the Junior class her seat at the cool table in the cafeteria.  Jason Smith wills his English IV notes to the highest bidder . . .etc.”  Imagine that today’s text is Jesus’ senior banquet in which he is willing wisdom to the Junior class of disciples.  Jesus too asks the disciples to think globally, update continuously, and live with great anticipation, but, as Jesus says, “I do not give to you as the world gives.”

Jesus asks them to think globally.  Jesus says, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”  Jesus is asking the disciples to think globally in the sense that God’s desire is for heaven and earth to be one.  Revelation 21 says, “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals.  He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples and God himself will be with them.’” We pray it daily—“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  Notice that Jesus says, “We will come to them and make our home with them.”  It is not for us to ascend to the heavens; rather we are charged with creating a fruitful environment in which the God can work with us in building the Kingdom.

Word UpHow do we do this?  By keeping Jesus’ word.  What is Jesus’ word?  Jesus says earlier in the Gospel of John, “You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’  I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  The environment we are asked to create is cultivated by the power of loving each other as God loves us.  In a way, Jesus wants the disciples to see the world as a place in which God will dwell through the love we share with each other.  Oh, it started in Jerusalem, but Jesus wants them to think globally, so that all the world will know the love of God.

Dancing with GodIn addition to thinking globally, Jesus wants the disciples to update continuously.  Jesus says, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”  The Holy Spirit will be sent to the disciples as a guide.  Why do we need the Holy Spirit to be a guide?  Jesus did not come to establish a new law.  One of the phrases I hope my Sunday School class will remember after I leave is, “The Bible doesn’t tell you what to do on a Tuesday afternoon at 2:30.”  A simple church is one with lots of rules; however a church which transforms the world improvises with the Holy Spirit.  For example, “sin” is that which separates us from God and from one another.  “Sin” is an archer’s term, meaning “missing the mark.”  In other words, God is asking us to hit the target, but humanity’s aim can be really off at times.  The most harmful sins are ones in which people get hurt, like shooting an arrow into the crowd rather than in the vicinity of the target.  Christ calls us to repent, which literally means to “turn around,” and aim for the target.  Here’s the catch—it’s a moving target.  Now, the target is fixed upon God, but God is alive and dynamic and on the move.  Should the church establish a rule that simply says, “A Christian is one who aims north by northwest,” then we will miss what God is doing a great deal of the time.  We must repent daily.  Daily we must be in prayer asking, “What is your will today, Lord.”  In addition to thinking globally, we must update continuously, or continue in righteousness, righteousness meaning, “being in relationship with God,” a God who is alive and dynamic and on the move.”  The target is moving with the Spirit, therefore we need to Spirit’s guidance daily to repent, to turn toward where God is leading.

Jesus said, “I am going away . . . now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.”  The disciples find themselves in this in-between place.  Their teacher is with them, but he won’t be with them for much longer.  He said that another is coming who will guide them and teach them and help them remember who they are and who God is calling them to be.  The disciples are in this extended period of anticipation, an in-between time of transition.  Anticipation can raise the heart rate, create tension in the body, and cause paralyzing anxiety, which is why Jesus stands before them and says, “I am leaving.  Some of you may be sad or confused.  Some of you may frankly be quite happy.  Others may be filled with great anxiety.  So, to the Class of 2014, to those of you who will be here after I leave, I will you peace—my peace.  My peace I give to you.  I do not give as the world gives.  The world fills you with an anxiety-filled anticipation with a fleeting sense of instant reward, but I give you the kind of peace, which transforms anxiety into hospitality, uncertainty into creativity.  It’s the kind of peace, which transforms the unknown into hopeful opportunity.  If I can leave anything with you, I will you the kind of peace, which surpasses all understanding.

Communion ElementsToday, as we gather around the table, let us think globally.  It doesn’t matter where you live or on what side of the railroad tracks you grew up.  You are welcome here.  Holy Communion reminds us that all of us are God’s children, and that all are in need of God’s grace and mercy.  As we gather around the table let us update our soul, so to speak.  Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit, our guide and our Advocate.  As we gather around the table, let us be filled with a holy anticipation and excitement for what God has in store for us today, tomorrow, and forever.  Let us inherit a Godly culture which calls us out into the entire world, a culture in which the Holy Spirit walks with us daily, a culture which transforms anxiety into joyful peace.  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen!

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Why Do You Keep Us In Suspense

Posted on April 29, 2013 by

Suspense

“Why do you keep us in suspense,” the crowd asked Jesus.  “Tell us plainly if you are the Messiah.”  Words are powerful.  God used words to create everything that is seen and unseen.  The letter of James says, “How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!  And the tongue is a fire . . . with it we bless the Lord and father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God.”  Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew, “Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no’.”  Words matter because it allows thought to be reality.  Words give voice and meaning to the world around us.  Words build up and tear down.  Words can create emotion.  For example, have you heard the shortest horror story ever written?  “Why do you keep us in suspense?” they ask.  Well, try opening a conversation like this:

The last human being on earth sat in a room alone.   There was a knock at the door . . . (Knock by Frederic Brown).

“Why do you keep us in suspense?  Tell us plainly if you are the Messiah.”  This would have been a grand opportunity for Jesus to say, “Yes, I am the Messiah.”  The Gospel of John may have been much shorter.  Maybe the cross could have been avoided.  Maybe this story would have ended differently.  In a way, Jesus does say, “Yes.”  He answers, “I have told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me.”  As powerful as words are, words need help.  Words are not enough.  For example, “Follow me and the world will be at peace,” sounds beautiful should Jesus say it.   It sounds quite different coming from the mouth of Lex Luthor.  Words are powerful, but the powers they assume depend on the integrity of the speaker.  “Tell us plainly,” they ask.  Jesus said, “I have told you, but you did not believe.”  The works I do, the fruit I bear, the life I live, the death I will die, and the life I will live forever more is proof that I am the savior.

SherlockHave you ever tried to solve a mystery and the answer was staring you in the face?  Maybe your looking for your sunglasses and they are on your head, or your daughter drops her pacifier and you are certain it was sucked into the bowels of the earth, only to find that you have it in your hand?  When Isabelle first started talking, she would often use the word, “gradiums,” and it took us forever to figure out what it meant.  I would come home from the store and she would ask me, “Did you get some gradiums?”  Of course, when I don’t understand what my daughter is saying, I usually answer, “no” because I never want to unknowingly agree to something I shouldn’t.  Christie or I would be cooking dinner and she would come up and ask, “Can I help with gradiums?”  We would play in the living room and she would say, “Let me get gradiums,” and I thought, “Oh, good, I’ll be able to finally find out what gradiums are,” but she would come back with some blocks, play-dough, and a my little pony, you know, and indiscernible pattern of objects.  I found myself saying, “Child, why do you hold me in suspense?  Tell me plainly what a gradium is.”  Then one day I saw her playing in her room and she was pretending to cook.  She said to herself, “Let me get gradiums,” and then she would pretend to be adding ingredients to what she was cooking.  Gradiums = ingredients.  Mystery solved, and really, it was staring us in the face the whole time.  You get ingredients at the store.  You use ingredients when preparing a meal.  You gather a variety of items to use as ingredients. I had to see her actions.  I had to take notice of what she was doing to know what she was saying.  Over time, by playing with her and reading with her and caring for her, the words became real.  I now knew what she was saying.  They ask Jesus “Tell us plainly if you are the Messiah,” but their understanding of the Messiah was not who Jesus was.  They thought the Messiah was an earthly king who would establish an earthly kingdom like David.  In a way Jesus can’t say “yes” or “no,” because they don’t understand the question.  When Isabelle asked me, “Can I help with the gradiums,” I can’t answer because I don’t know what she means.  “Are the you the Messiah, tell us plainly,” well, follow me, spend time with me, learn how to love as I love and serve and I serve, and you will discover the answer to your questions.

hannukahIt’s almost funny that they are asking Jesus to tell them plainly if he is the Messiah when he is offering them a sign right under their noses.  “At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem.  It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.”  The festival of Dedication is what we commonly call, “Hannukah.”  It is a celebration remembering the cleansing of the Temple after the Jews defeated Antiochus Epiphanees about 150 or so years before Jesus was born.  When the priests came to rededicate the altar, they found only a day’s worth of oil in the lamp, yet the light remained lit for eight days.  Jesus is walking about the Temple during the festival in which Jews remember the miracle of light.  Had this crowd at the Temple been with Jesus in John 8, they would have heard him say, “I am the light of the world.”  There were eight miraculous days of light.  If the crowd began to follow they would have seen the Risen Lord on the eighth day of creation.  Jesus is walking about the Temple.  You see, the Temple is the place where God dwells.  To end the conversation, Jesus says, “The Father and I are one,” and this is exactly what Jesus is showing by dedicating the temple with his very person.  In other words, Jesus is the Temple, for it was destroyed and rebuilt in three days.

Jesus, the Temple, the place where God dwells is walking about dedicating the Temple with his presence.  They see Jesus doing this and it doesn’t register with them.  “Tell us plainly.”  So Jesus says,” My sheep hear my voice,” which is another way of saying, “You’re not listening!  I can’t tell you plainly if you aren’t listening!”  My sheep hear my voice.  I know them, and they follow me.

Now, listen, friends.  Let us take time to hear the good news.  My sheep hear my voice . . . the good news here is that Jesus is calling.  Our faith begins not with our own effort or our ability to have it together.  The gift of faith begins with God.  It begins with God calling out to us through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.  If you want to be Methodist about it, it is Prevenient Grace.  More than that, Jesus says, “I know them.”  I’ve heard someone say that the true mark of friendship is for someone to know you really well . . . and still love you.  Jesus knows us and chose to die and be raised for us anyway.  Again, if you want to be Methodist about it, this is Justifying Grace.  Not only does God call out to us, not only did Christ die and was raised for us, God has offered the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we might follow.  This is not an eternal game of Marco Polo.  The Holy Spirit guides us in finding the shepherd, and once we’ve found the shepherd, we realize that Jesus had been with us all the time.  “Why do you keep us in suspense?” is a funny thing to say once you realize that Jesus was with you the whole time.  Jesus is calling because he knows you.  Follow him into a new and wonderful and radical life.  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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The Twin–Second Sunday of Easter

Posted on April 8, 2013 by

johnDr. Lindsey Pherigo, professor at St. Paul’s School of Theology, once described the Gospel of John as a beautiful string of pearls.  Each story is beautiful in and of itself, but when they are strung together, they become a beautiful work of art.  Good art is much more than brush strokes on a canvas.  Good art points to a truth beyond itself.  This is why the miracles in the Gospel of John are called signs.  With miracles we stand in reverent awe at the power of Christ, but signs, signs call for more.  Signs call for action.

jesushealingWhen Jesus is at a wedding in Cana of Galilee the wedding party had run out of wine.  Jesus tells the servants to go and fill six stone jars with water to the brim, and when the water was drawn, the steward noticed that the water had become wine—his first sign.  Later Jesus returns to Cana and a royal official begs Jesus to heal his son.  Jesus tells him “Go, your son will live,” and while the official is on his way, he receives word that his son is well—Jesus’ second sign.  To the thousands of hungry follows Jesus tells the disciples, “Go and tell them to sit down.”  To the blind man Jesus says, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.”  To those who witnessed the raising of Lazarus, Jesus says, “Go and unbind him.”  Jesus’ signs in the Gospel of John beg for a response, or if you like, Jesus invites us into the divine action that is transforming the world.  We are invited to change the world with Christ.

Of course, the greatest of these signs is the Resurrection, so for a few moments I would like to walk through Jesus’ appearance to his disciples on the eve of Resurrection Day.

–When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them–

jesus-resurrectionSometimes the Resurrection picture we hold in our cultural memory is one of a beautiful Spring day, the sun is up, the birds are chirping, Jesus is glowing and the orchestra is playing, “Morning,” by Edward Grieg.  This is not so in the Gospel of John.  Early in the morning before the sun had risen, Mary came to the tomb and found it to be empty.  Jesus appeared to Mary while it was still dark.  Likewise, Jesus appeared to the disciples during the evening of that day.  Now John’s prologue rings true—“In him was life and the life was light.  The light shined in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.”  This metaphor of darkness and light runs throughout the Gospel.  Darkness represents confusion, as in Jesus’ midnight meeting with Nicodemus.  Darkness represents evil, for when Judas departs to betray Jesus, the narrator says, “And it was night.”  Darkness also represents great sadness, for the disciples had gathered after the sun had set.  John wants to be clear that Christ has overcome the darkness.  Christ has crucified the confusion, despair, and evil of the world.  It was evening and the disciples had gathered behind locked doors out of fear, and Jesus came and stood among them.

–Jesus said, “Peace be with you.”

peace be with youJesus stands among them and says, “Peace be with you.”  Jesus’ offering of peace reminds us of the beautiful words he shares with the disciples in chapter 14:27—“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Do not let them be afraid.”  Jesus is saying this to his followers who are meeting behind locked doors out of fear.  You see, Resurrection dispels the darkness of fear.  Our story no longer ends in death.  Our story ends with life.  If you believe this to be true, there is nothing to fear.  Peace be with you.

–After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side—

The Resurrected Christ had wounds.  The wounds had been healed, but the scars are there.  This is an important lesson of forgiveness.  You know the bumper sticker, “Forgive and forget.”  The forgiveness Christ offers is not about forgetting.  Forgiveness is giving up the right to hurt someone in the way they’ve hurt you.  If someone slaps you on the check, forgiveness means you refuse your worldly right to slap them back.  “I’m well aware of the pain you have caused me, and I refuse to return the favor.”  Forgiveness is not about forgetting.  Forgiveness is about healing.  The fact that Christ knew the sin of humanity and chose to offer his life for us anyway brings healing and reconciliation.  The fact that God knows how we have missed the mark and chooses to love us anyway is the balm in Gilead which heals the sin sick soul.  The fact that God remembers and offers us grace is why Jesus showed his wounds.  The wounds are still there, but they have been healed.  Don’t you see it in the text?  After Jesus shows them his wounds, it doesn’t bring them sorrow; rather it fills them with joy!  Remember, Jesus is showing his wounds to those who deserted him.  Jesus appears among them, opens his arms to them and says, “May you be filled with peace.  I am alive and you are forgiven.”  They were filled with joy.

–Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you.  Receive the Holy Spirit.  Go and forgive.”

Jesus again offers them peace, and like the other signs in the Gospel, a command is offered.  Jesus breathes upon them the Holy Spirit and says, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.  If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”  Jesus is sending them out into the world with the power of the Holy Spirit for the specific task of offering forgiveness, of building a world of reconciliation in which peace reigns, people are valued, and God is king.

Thomas–But Thomas, who was called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.”—

I love the disciples reaction to Thomas and I think it is a lesson for us today.  When they saw Thomas they didn’t say, “Where were you,” or “We are the true followers because Jesus came to us,” or “Well, if you were hear maybe you wouldn’t forever be remembered as the one who doubted . . .”  No.  They were filled with an infectious, exuberant joy.  “We have seen the Lord!” they tell him.  When someone asks us “What did you do today,” how often do we respond with a joyful, “I saw the Lord today.”  You see, Thomas is called “The Twin,” and I wonder if Thomas is our twin in the story.  Thomas is quite uncomfortable with believing in what he does not see.

hopeResurrection is an exercise in things unseen.  I mentioned this last week at The River Easter sermon.  When Mary comes to the tomb in the Gospel of Luke, she does not see Jesus there, and yet she goes back to the disciples and tells them that he is Risen. At times, Resurrection is an exercise in things unseen.  When we no longer see abject poverty, we know that Christ is Risen.  When we no longer see children who are hungry, we know that Christ is Risen.  When we no longer see people vilifying each other because they disagree, we know that Christ is Risen.  When we no longer see young girls being sold into slavery, we know that Christ is Risen.  When we no longer see violence in schools, we know that Christ is Risen.  The tomb is not so much empty as it is full of the darkness that Christ crucified.  Resurrection is the proclamation of hope—faith in things unseen.

Hope is lost for Thomas, which is why he needs to see the Risen Lord.  Resurrection is not only a proclamation of hope.  For those who have lost hope, our abundant God also offers assurance—faith in things seen.  When we gather around the table, we see and proclaim that Christ is risen!  When we love our enemies, we see and proclaim that Christ is risen!  When we feed the hungry and clothe the naked, we see and proclaim that Christ is risen!  When we beat our swords into plowshares, we see and proclaim that Christ is risen!  When all of humanity is valued as being made in the image of God, we see and proclaim that Christ is risen!  When you know that you have been forgiven, and that you are loved, and that God wants to be with you each and every day, we see and proclaim Christ is risen!

Communion ElementsThe disciples gather for a Eucharistic Celebration.  They gather together, Christ is present among them, Christ offers his body, fills them with joy, and sends them forth with the power of the Holy Spirit, calling them to offer forgiveness to the world.  Thomas, our twin, arrives later to the gathering, as we do today.  Jesus offers Thomas a blessing of hope—faith in things unseen, and the joy of assurance—faith in things seen.  For those who greet the world saying, “We have seen the Risen Lord,” God offers the assurance of salvation.  To those for whom these words are difficult, God offers hope, the hope of a new life, a new creation, a new kingdom built on forgiveness and grace and love.  Praise be to God.  Amen.

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An Idle Tale?

Posted on March 31, 2013 by

God is loveMany years ago my Father and I were walking along the beach and I asked him, “How do you know God exists?”  He thought for a moment.  Then he said, “Do you see that flock of seagulls hovering over the water there?  I know that there is a school of fish just below the surface.  I don’t have to see them to know they are there.  If you want to know where the fish are, look for the birds.”  The Resurrection account in the Gospel of Luke is not, “I’ll believe it when I see it;” rather the story begins with “I’ll believe it when I don’t see it.”  In other words, Luke is calling us into hope, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 8, “For in hope we were saved.  Now hope that is seen is not hope.  For who hopes for what is seen?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”  The women come to the tomb and they do not see Jesus there.  They go to the Disciples and proclaim what they had experienced.  They proclaimed that which they do not see.  Jesus was not there.  There was only an empty tomb.

taizeThe Resurrection turns the world upside down and inside out.  On the one hand, Resurrection is the proclamation of what we do not see because what we do see makes little sense.  The four Gospels have radically different Resurrection accounts.  In Mark, the women run from the tomb say nothing to anyone because they were afraid.  In Matthew, Jesus appears to the women and tells them, “Do not be afraid.  Go to Galilee and you will see me there.”  In Luke Jesus appears only after the women go back to the Disciples.  In John Jesus is there at the tomb and Mary mistakes him for a gardener.  This is not the Gospel authors disagreeing with one another, this is an attempt at recording that for which there are no words.  For example, how do you know this is brown?  Because that is not brown.  We learn a lot about our world by comparing and contrasting what we see.  I know what being cold is because I have been warm.  I know my hands are dry because they have been wet.  I know what Resurrection is because . . . well, there’s nothing to which we can compare Resurrection.  The Gospel writers had a difficult time describing Easter because it is a self-evident truth, like love, joy, and goodness.  What is love?  Well, a definition will always miss the point without experience.  What is Resurrection?  Jesus appears behind locked doors.  He eats fish.  He has wounds.  He disappears.  What is that?  How does God show us Resurrection?  By offering an empty tomb.  By asking us “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”  By offering us hope—the gift of faith in that which is unseen.

hopeSo what is it that we are not to be seeing?  When we no longer see abject poverty, we know we are experiencing the Resurrection.  When we no longer see children who are hungry, we know we are experiencing Resurrection.  When we no longer see people vilifying each other because they disagree, we know we are experiencing the Resurrection.  When we no longer see young girls being sold into slavery, we know we are experiencing the Resurrection.  When we no longer see violence in schools, we know we are experiencing Resurrection.  The tomb is not so much empty as it is full of the darkness that Christ crucified.  Resurrection is the proclamation of hope—faith in things unseen.

ResurrectionBut our abundant God doesn’t stop there.  The Easter story is more than the darkness of the tomb.  It is more than things unseen.  It is more than knowing the fish are below the surface.  It is also about raising your eyes to see the birds.  Resurrection doesn’t leave us in hope, but also offers us assurance.  Resurrection is also about what we do see.  When the women realize that Jesus is not there, the angels say, “Remember what he told you, that he must die and be raised on the third day,” and they remembered.  Their eyes were opened to what the scriptures were saying.  You see, Resurrection offers us hope—faith in things unseen.  Resurrection also offers us assurance—faith in what we do see.  Their eyes were opened to the scriptures, and Christ did appear to the women and to the disciples.  Christ first appeared in the breaking of the bread.  When we gather around the table, we see and proclaim that Christ is risen!  When we love our enemies, we see and proclaim that Christ is risen!  When we feed the hungry and clothe the naked, we see and proclaim that Christ is risen!  When we beat our swords into plowshares, we see and proclaim that Christ is risen!  When all of humanity is valued as being made in the image of God, we see and proclaim that Christ is risen!  When you know that you have been forgiven, and that you are loved, and that God wants to be with you each and every day, we see and proclaim Christ is risen!  Easter is about hope—faith in things unseen, knowing that the tomb is full of the darkness which separates us from God and each other.  Easter is also about assurance—faith in what is seen, knowing that this new kingdom, this new creation is built on forgiveness and reconciliation, and love.  This is no idle tale.  It is life, itself.  Christ is Risen!  Christ is Risen indeed!  Praise be to God!  Amen.

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Is Good Friday “Good?”

Posted on March 29, 2013 by

Duke Chapel InteriorIt was a crisp and chilly Friday evening.  My friends and I had gathered for worship.  The Duke Chapel was brightly lit with a sober and ethereal light.  As we listened to Christ’s passion, the light grew ever dim and the altar was slowly stripped bare.  After each reading a candle was extinguished and another altarpiece removed.  When we heard that Jesus had said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” the chapel went dark—completely dark—not-able-to-see-your-hand-before-your-face dark.  In such a “plugged in” world, I don’t ever recall being in darkness so pervasive, and well, unsettling.  Then the bell tolled.  The deep and resonant bell tower sounded thirty-three times, once for each year of Jesus’ life.  Then the lucifer (the light-bearer, or acolyte, if you will) brought in a single flame and lit a single candle.  We then left in silence.  The Good Friday service was over.  It was stirring.  It was haunting.  But was it Good?

The title “Good Friday” always gives me pause.  We call so many things in life, “good.”  I just saw a good movie.  That was a good dinner.  Do these glasses look good on me?  In church leadership, we are sometimes taught that “Good is the enemy of great” (Jim Collins).  Is Good Friday, “Good?”

In a word—yes.  One day someone asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus said, “Why do you call me ‘good?’  Only God is good.”  This is liberating news, but it also reminds us how often we use “good,” a term Jesus reserved for God, to so many things.  It is a “Good Friday,” because the one who is “good,” died.  It is a good Friday because through brokenness, God’s goodness received evil and transformed it.  With that said, the day we remember Christ’s crucifixion should be called, “God Friday,” because the missing “o” is upon our lips as we stand in awe of God’s vulnerability, like that familiar hymn, “Where you there when they crucified my Lord . . . oh—sometimes it makes me tremble.”

Pray with me:  “Grieving God, on the cross your Son embraced death even as he had embraced life: with faith and trust in your promise.  Grant that we who have been born out of suffering may hold fast to our faith in Christ.  Help us by the power of your Holy Spirit to trust in your mercy in all times of need.  Amen.”

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The Last Words of Christ: Forsaken

Posted on March 12, 2013 by

7 Cover Art Week 4“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  Jesus’ words from the cross rattle our bones and shake our soul by turning our Godly assumptions inside out.  Is it that God is abandoning his son, his only beloved son?  Is the burden of the world’s sin so great that a holy God must avert divine eyes?  Is our Lord and Messiah, the one who fed thousands, walked upon the water, and healed the sick, calmly reciting the 22nd Psalm reminding us that even in the midst of despair God is to be praised?  Did Jesus offer these words because he knew that we, too, feel as if God has forsaken us when prayers are answered with silence and “the good life” is anything but?  It is no exaggeration to say that there are hundreds of answers to Jesus’ disturbing question.  Over the last two thousand years any theologian worth the title has offered meaning to Jesus’ desperate cry, so this morning I would like to offer a single thought, which is this:  God completely empties himself so that he might become those whom he desires to redeem.  To put it another way—God becomes godforsaken so that the godforsaken will have life.  God becomes distant from his own divine self, so that those who have become distant from God are called into eternal communion with the Trinity.

For Jesus to cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” is to reveal that God’s heart within the Trinity is breaking.  God, himself, is experiencing death.  This is the moment in which the “Our Father” becomes “My God.”  Throughout the Gospels, when Jesus prays, he prays to his Father.  Now, his prayer becomes “My God.”  “Our Father” is communal and intimate.    “My God,” is personal and powerful.  His prayer now becomes “My God” because the divine essence within Jesus is dying with his humanity.  Stanley Hauerwas puts it this way: “Christ [dies] on our behalf and in our place.  Hear these words, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ and know that the Son of God has taken our place, become for us the abandonment our sin produces, so that we may live confident that the world has been redeemed by this cross.”[1]

It is no accident that Jesus prays in the words of the 22nd Psalm.  Praying the psalms offers our life form.  The Psalms invite us to praise, to sing, to cry out in anger, and to lament.  The Psalms are words about God, which is the word of God.  In other words, we have been offered divine permission for these words to be our words.  Although Christ dies in our stead, Jesus’ cry from the Psalms gathers those whom God loves together into one body, again as Hauerwas writes, “The life of Jesus has been the perfect prayer the Psalms are meant to form.”[2]  I invite you to pray with me as we read selected verses of the 22nd Psalm:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
   Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? 
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.


Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 
In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them. 
To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.


But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people. 
All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads; 
‘Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
   let him rescue the one in whom he delights!’


Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast. 
On you I was cast from my birth,
   and since my mother bore me you have been my God. 
Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help . . .


For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shrivelled; 
I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me; 
they divide my clothes among themselves,
   and for my clothing they cast lots.


But you, O Lord, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid! 
Deliver my soul from the sword,
   my life from the power of the dog!  Save me from the mouth of the lion . . .


All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. 
For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.


To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
and I shall live for him. 
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord, 
and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.

 

In this moment, the “Our Father” becomes “My God.”  In this moment God is self-emptying and becoming godforsaken so that we who are far away will be drawn into communion with the divine.  In this moment, our assumptions that faith offers “the good and prosperous life” are shattered.  In this moment, Jesus cries through the Psalms, Jesus cries to us and for us, offering our life to be conformed to his, the one who “Emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross,” so that we might also be united in his Resurrection.

 

I pray that you remember, believe, and trust in God’s self-emptying love, so that you can go into the broken places of your own soul and know that Christ’s brokenness offers healing, so that you may go into the broken places of the world and proclaim a life of Resurrection which can be shared today and forever; a life with no fear because Christ has conquered death.  God abandoned himself, so that we, and the whole of creation, would never be.  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

[1] Stanley Hauerwas, Cross-Shattered Christ (Brazos Press: Grand Rapides, Michigan, 2004), 65.

[2] Ibid, 61.

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Last Words of Christ: Family

Posted on March 4, 2013 by

7 Cover Art Week 3When I say the word, “Family,” what image appears in your mind?   Do you see a happy memory of a vacation or time around the dinner table or a holiday?  Maybe you see that Aunt or Uncle who really wasn’t an Aunt or Uncle.  You were so close to them that you considered them as family.  Maybe you’re holding on to a difficult memory of a family member who has passed away?  Maybe it is a politically divisive word for you.  Maybe the word, “family” is a painful word.

FamilyOn the cross, when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”  Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”  And from that time on, this disciple took her into his home.  Jesus is making a new family.  There’s more to this unification than Jesus wanting to make sure that someone would take care of his mother.  Jesus had brothers and sisters.  Especially when reading the Gospel of John, it is important to take a second look at the text . . . or a third look or fourth look.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus’ mother is never named.  We only know her as the “mother of Jesus.”  The mother of Jesus appears in the Gospel twice, once at Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding in Cana where she says, “They have run out of wine,” to which Jesus replies, “Woman, it is not yet my time.”  Her second appearance is when Jesus’ time had come, at the cross.  Likewise the beloved disciple is never given a proper name.  We know this disciple as simply the disciple whom Jesus loved.  Because these two characters are never named, so to speak, we are invited by the Holy Spirit to spend some extra time meditating on what the Gospel of John is revealing.  There at the foot of the cross is the mother of Jesus, the one who gave birth to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Also there is the beloved disciple, the faithful one who will soon see an empty tomb and believe.  The one who gave birth to Jesus and the faithful follower are being united, or to put it another way, through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, God—the one who gave Jesus life, is united to the church—the faithful followers of resurrection.  This is the definition of the Christian family; those who have been called into communion with God through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

diversity2In the Gospel of Mark Jesus is preaching to the crowds when his family comes to collect him because many thought Jesus had either gone crazy or was possessed.  When Jesus hears that his family is there, he looks at the gathering of followers and says, “Here are my mother and brothers!  Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”  Some hear this as a means of Jesus separating himself from his family.  Some hear this as an exclusive element of faith.  I wonder how those who were with Jesus heard this?  I wonder how outcasts hear this?  I wonder how outsiders hear this?  I wonder how the orphaned and the forgotten hear this.  Jesus isn’t necessarily saying that we should divorce ourselves from our families; rather Jesus is re-narrating the very definition of family.  Those who do the will of my Father are my family.  To the outcast and forgotten, the oppressed and orphaned; you are my brothers and sisters.  You are welcome and you have a place at the table.  Jesus’ family is not progeny; Jesus’ family is born through obedience.

The angel Gabriel came to a young girl from a poor family and said, “Greetings favored one!  The Lord is with you.  Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.”  Mary said, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  Jesus’ family is born from obedience.

Jesus has many names in scripture: Wonder Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  He is understood as a second Adam, a new Moses, the ancestor of David.  Someone with whom Jesus is never compared is Abraham because Mary is the new Abraham.  As Abraham said time and time again to God, so too Mary says, “Here I am, Lord.”  To Abraham the Lord says that he will be blessed with a son and he will lead a great nation.  To Mary, the angel says that she, too, will be blessed with a son and his reign will have no end.  The Lord asks Abraham to take his son, his only beloved son up to the mountain to be sacrificed, but as the knife is drawn, the angel swoops down and says, “Abraham, Abraham, do not lay your hand on the boy.”  When Mary is in the Temple for Jesus’ dedication, Simeon says to her, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel . . . and a sword will pierce your soul,” for the knife was not stayed for her son.  The angel said to Abraham, “Because you have been obedient, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven.”  To his mother, Jesus says, “Behold, your son.”  Behold the church.  Behold how your obedience will transform the lives of many.  Behold your new family, a citizenship of heaven.

You are loved.  You are welcome.  You were promised.  Behold each other as a promise of God, and may you be obedient to that promise of love.  When I say “Family,” what image appears in your mind?  I pray that this moment, these people, and those whom we have yet to meet will be on your mind.  Amen and Amen.

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RootedLA Week 3–I Am Light

Posted on February 28, 2013 by

Here is this week’s discussion starter for RootedLA.  Enjoy!

 

 

Discussion Questions

1. What images of light is the Spirit emphasizing in your soul from the video?  What did you see?  What did you hear?

2. What are the broken places in which you are being called to reveal the light of Christ, the light of Resurrrection?

3. what in your own life is in need of light?  Where have you missed the mark with God and Neighbor?

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