Trust beyond ourselves

2^nd Sunday in Lent, March 8, 2009

Mark 8:31-38 with Genesis 17:1-17 in b.g.

 

Last Sunday I was sitting beside one of my closest friends who was bedridden in a Winnipeg hospital. I was attempting to accompany him as he was dying. My friend had been living an incredible life. He was graduated from university with high marks. So high in fact that IBM wanted him. He began his career working out of Ottawa, Montreal and Washington DC while in his early 20's.  He was professionally and personally well respected. He had a bright future. But a few years into that career he decided to leave for a while, sensing another call. He began to do youth work in the old ELCC. A few years later he decided to pursue another call. Eventually he traveled to the little city of Saskatoon to attend Seminary. As part of those studies he lived for the year of his internship in the tiny community of Hodgeville Saskatchewan. Then he graduated from Seminary. Not convinced that he wanted to be a parish pastor he did more computer work being employed for a time by the Cooperators. But then he did become a Pastor. He served 2 congregations in Winnipeg. Then he became responsible for overseeing all the youth work in the MNO Synod. And then my friend became the first North American officer of the Lutheran World Federation. He worked out of Chicago often traveling many countries of the world. As the North American officer he coordinated the LWF Assembly in Winnipeg in 2003. Over the last 4 years my friend worked as a consultant to the Ethiopian Lutheran Church helping to partner with other churches, that they may see and do what Jesus is truly calling them to do this world. On February 17 of this year my friend was still working somewhat, having traveled to Geneva.

 

But sitting there silently as last weekend and watching him die quite quickly, I wondered about the meaning of any of that, of all of that. His kidneys were shutting down. His liver had stopped functioning. He could barely speak or open his eyes. 

 

So I ask, what do we value? What matters for us in life?

 

Immediately prior to today's gospel reading Jesus asks his disciples, who are people saying that he is? The disciples tell the truth.  Some of the people are saying that Jesus is  John the Baptist returned to life. Others are saying that Jesus is Elijah ,the great prophet whom Malachi pointed to as returning just before the Messiah was to arrive. Still others were saying that Jesus is one of the prophets. Eventually Jesus asks the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" And Peter inspired by God's own Spirit says, "You are Messiah!" Peter's words are absolutely correct. 

 

Sometimes we too use the right words. We sing, Jesus loves me. We also proudly sing that we will follow Jesus. Occasionally we even do things that are honorable. We may give of our time and talents in ways that help others and the creation. Sometimes we do this with little or no thought for ourselves, or even while making a conscious sacrifice. I witnessed some of this on Friday night as people in the Out of the Cold shelter at St. Alban's Church slept with quilts some of you ladies made. Your work is good. It makes a difference.

 

The early disciples had left home to follow Jesus. Such an act in itself is amazing. But why had they left? Did they grasp, did they even begin to comprehend who Jesus was, who Jesus is, what that might mean for them and others?

 

Apparently not! Mark writes that just after Peter had confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus BEGINS TO TEACH THEM what that means. Pay attention to Jesus words: He must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the religious establishment and yes, be killed. He must! But Peter (perhaps even while loving Jesus) says, NO! Being rejected, SUFFERING, DYING, is not Peter's dream for Jesus, is not Peter's expectation for Jesus. NO, NO, NO!

 

What does Jesus do? Jesus looks at all the disciples. Then Jesus "rebukes" Peter. The word translated rebuke is the same word that Jesus had used in casting out some of the demons in earlier parts of Mark. Not only does Jesus rebuke Peter, but in this context, as Peter is trying to get Jesus to shy away from his mission of rejection, suffering and death, Jesus dares to call Peter, Satan. Perhaps this is Jesus way of saying that Peter in attempting to deflect Jesus' obedience to God is not acting on behalf of God, but on behalf of the power of evil. Peter may be personally convinced that such suffering and dying wouldn't be, couldn't be God's will. But Jesus points out that Peter is blind to God's ways, that Peter is thinking only of himself or in human ways, not divine ways.

 

This causes me to wonder: how am I blind?

 

How are you blind?

 

I have dreams. Yet so often they have to do with myself or of things that I would see as being successful. These things seem to me to be good: more people in church; a wonderful reputation for myself and this congregation; financial success for my children; even the healing of my close friend. I can rationalize all of these dreams, my wishes:  Wouldn't God want more people in church? Wouldn't God be pleased if I as a Lutheran Pastor had a good reputation? Wouldn't we as a congregation be able to do more of God's good and gracious will if our finances weren't in the red?  Wouldn't it be better for my children if they had more financial assets, and didn't need to work so, live with uncertainty? And finally, if my friend who was dying and now has died were healed couldn't he have continued to do more of God's good and gracious will on this earth?

 

But are any of my wishes, my dreams, truly God's will?

 

Peter was convinced that God wouldn't allow Jesus, the Messiah to die. Surely there must be some other way. But Jesus says, NO. He must suffer, be rejected and die. Why? I am convinced that there are many reasons, numerous possiblities. Read the New Testament. According to Mark – the hope is that by Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection people will be freed from the captivity to themselves and the powers of death and evil to actually see in new ways. By God's grace we may be freed from our blindness and enslavement to our way of thinking, our way of dependence, our often absolute prioritization of trusting only in things that we can see, feel, taste and touch. All such things, even though they may be filled with wonder and beauty, are far less than God.

 

To employ Jesus' language: losing our self is essential if we are to live. It's like a mother or father who is blessed with a child. Only God knows why they have hoped to have a child in the first place. There may be as many reasons as there are brain cells. Nevertheless, now they are parents to this child. This child begins to draw them beyond themselves in ways they may never could have imagined. To lose sleep, to give of time and money without thought that before they would have spent on themselves is now their new reality. To be challenged by that child to see the world in ever new ways is now their reality.

 

Last week I finished reading reflections on the life of Pierre Trudeau by so many people who had interactions with him. All of these people said that Trudeau saw as his greatest accomplishment or contribution to the world as being raising his children. His greatest contributions to the world weren't the repatriation of the constitution, or his unique ability to keep Quebec in Canada.

 

Christ tells Peter, the disciples and all of us, that in trusting him, being drawn beyond ourselves and emptying our lives in whatever ways that His drawing us brings, in that is NEW LIFE!  Such life is to be life here and now. Such life also points beyond the here and now, for such life is life with God.

 

And nothing can separate us from such life – not even death.

 

By God's grace may we glimpse Jesus. He suffers and dies because He loves all and refuses to be idle or silent about injustice and the power of evil and death.  They confront Him and he confronts them. He refuses to confront with violence or deceit. Rather Jesus confronts these powers with honesty, his own self-emptying given for the purpose of love. As we glimpse Him may we by God's grace also follow him, trusting that although death is involved, ours and others, such death and loss need not paralyze us.

 

What is to be feared is the temptation to give into our fear in the face of evil and death and place our trust only in ourselves or only in that which we can see, feel, taste and touch. Then death and evil have us in their grasp.

 

May our living prayer be, "Lord we believe, help our unbelief!" Amen.

 

Mountain climbing anyone?

Transfiguration Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009

Mark 9:2-9

 

When our kids were little we lived in Vernon. Now Vernon is nearly surrounded by three lakes, situated in a valley at the bottom of Silver Star Mountain. Occasionally on my day off we would drive up Silver Star Mountain to hike, ski or toboggan. The ascending from that mountain is marvelous. To the east one can view the Monashee mountain range 50 miles away, stretching off into the distance for at least a hundred miles. Below one can see our little city of Vernon. Though that city is over 40,000 people, from part way up the mountain it seems so tiny. Perspective – I often thought about how that tiny speck occupied and occupies a large part of our lives after 17 years. From the height of the mountain I realized that Vernon wasn't unimportant but it couldn't be all there is or was meant to be for me or anyone else. 

 

Mountains have that capacity – to move us in such a way that we are nearly forced to have a different, often a "bigger" perspective. We have older colloquial sayings that pick up on such truth: "Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill!" So, if you haven't ventured up a mountain lately I invite you to make time to take that pilgrimage. As you make the ascent be disciplined to stop, to breathe deeply, to reflect and feel in the silence. I have often felt a closeness to God on mountains – not because I somehow believe that heaven is the only place God is, or that heaven is somehow a geographical place at some "high" elevation. Rather there is something about a mountain that draws me beyond myself – a transcendence about mountains if you will.

 

Today's Gospel text seeks to take us up a mountain. As we arrive we are not alone. Already there are Peter, James and John – Jesus' 3 closest disciples. Jesus is in our midst. In fact Jesus has been leading all of us to this mountain place. At first it's just Peter, James and John, Jesus, you and me who are present. In some ways it's as if we are apart from everyone and everything else. That's no small feat today. Cell phones, blackberries, laptops, music that's piped to almost any and all places, cars and cameras that accompany some of our other gadgets, almost insure that we are never really alone or apart from others. But here on this mountain we are apart by ourselves.

 

And now, right now, some amazing things are happening. Jesus is transfigured in front of us. What we are actually seeing is impossible to describe. The Greek text puts it this way: it says that Jesus' clothes became whiter than any bleach could bleach them, blazing white, glistening white, whiter than white. Words are not sufficient for such reality. Then suddenly, Jesus isn't the only one standing in front of us. Now Elijah with Moses is also there. Do you remember Moses? Moses is the One whom God called from a bush. The bush was burning but wasn't being consumed. As Moses is being drawn to that bush God calls him to be the person through whom God works freedom for the Israelites. They will be given their own land. God will keep the promises God had previously made to Sarah and Abraham. And Elijah? Well, Elijah is only one of two people in the Bible who never died. Elijah was taken directly from earth to be with God without dying. Elijah had been a great prophet.

 

Some scholars in reflecting upon the meaning of Mark's account of the transfiguration say that Moses and Elijah represent the sum of the law and the prophets. If that's accurate then Jesus is standing alongside the sum of the law and the prophets.  Others see Elijah with Moses beside Jesus signifying that in Jesus there is the completion, the fulfillment of all the promises God had been making from the beginning of time. It is from the line of Abraham and Sarah, that a blessing emanates for the entire universe. The debates rage on.

 

Can you imagine it? Someone you knew and cared for having their appearance changed in inexplicable ways right before your eyes? Add to that the appearance of people who had lived literally hundreds of years before. What would you do? Would you think you  were losing it?  Would you lose control of your faculties, even your bodily functions?

 

As is Peter's nature, he begins to talk.  What he says isn't all babble. He wants to build booths to either preserve the moment or reflect some of Israel's experience in the wilderness. During the journey from Egypt to Canaan men annually built temporary booths to live in and worship God. Mark reports that Peter didn't know what to say because he, James and John were terrified. Who could blame them? God is up to something.

 

T o add to the mystery a cloud appears. This is not at all an unusual occurrence on  mountains. Clouds float over and around mountains all the time. But from this cloud comes a very audible voice. The voice speaks of Jesus saying, "This is my Son, the beloved, LISTEN TO HIM!"

 

Sooner or later Peter, James and John look around. Now they only see Jesus.  And then as Jesus bids them, they come down the mountain back to a reality that they are more familiar with. Indeed in the rest of Mark's Gospel they rarely seem to even in the faintest ways comprehend what had happened to them on that mountain. They either temporarily forget or just don't comprehend. Nevertheless they continue journeying with Jesus. He moves to Jerusalem to die. The night before he invites them to wait for him. But they fall asleep. They seem incapable of hearing him, following him.

 

Have you ever been up on that mountain? Have we heard, do we hear the voice of God commanding us to trust that Jesus is God's own Son? Many declare that there is no God. Sometimes we ourselves live as if there is no God. But in Jesus, God, the Creator of the universe takes on our flesh in order that we may glimpse not only that God is but that God loves. Sometimes as with those early disciples Jesus almost drags us along on His journey to the Jerusalems of life, inviting, commanding us to see, to hear, to obey Him. Not merely his words, though they are very important, but also his actions which flesh out the truth of his words. Jesus is the Son of God!

 

Reading further in Mark's Gospel we begin to see that Jesus' sonship, Jesus' love for us does not give us some sort of privileged status over/against others. Instead Jesus as God's Son, living and dying wills to usher all people into the sphere of God's love in which the reality of evil and death around and within us are being confronted. This Jesus, God's own Son can lead us in that confrontation through death to new life.

 

Only God can do this. The other things that we so easily are wrapped up in and trapped by: status, prestige, appearance, finances, these things are unable to overcome evil and death. Any and all of these other things can easily be co-opted by the many powers of evil and death. Only God can transform our hearts and minds, leading us through death to new life, here and now. Only God, can move us beyond ourselves, beyond our fear, our arrogance, our pride to trust the One who is also beyond our explanations, our attempts to manipulate. Only God, acting as God does in Jesus, can deliver us beyond the realities of despair to hope, overcoming even the cruelest powers of death with new life.

 

This morning, this very Son of God, the One whom Peter, James and John saw transfigured on that mountain, the One who goes to Jerusalem to suffer and die, comes speaking to us. Are we listening? Do we trust Him? Will we follow Him today? Are we being transformed by His life, death and the calls He places in and upon our lives?

 

The mountains He beckons us towards are all around us. Best be going! Amen.   

From Chasms To Bridges

Epiphany 6b, February 15, 2009

II Kings 5:1-14 with Mark 1:40-45 in the b.g.

 

I tell you 2 brief stories to push us into the Gospel text for this morning. It was 1978. The landscape of the country of Iran was undergoing changes of seismic proportions. The former puppet leader had been thrown out. Islamic rule was coming to the fore. The complete details of what this might mean was yet to be determined. But for most of the Jewish people living in Iran it was a clear signal that they needed to leave immediately. I happened to be at the Tel Aviv airport on the first day that Iranian Jews started arriving in Israel.  There were literally hundreds of their loved ones gathered at the airport, keeping vigil, hoping and praying that their loved ones would safely escape Iran. Many of the people waiting in the arrivals that day were themselves survivors of the Holocaust. They were painfully aware of what could happen.

 

I will never forget my experience that day. The Tel Aviv arrivals area is like a large airplane hanger divided in half by a wall of bullet proof glass that runs from the floor to the top of the 30 foot ceiling. As the  people arriving from Tehran were waiting to clear customs they would run up to the glass frantically searching for a sighting of their loved ones. If and when they found each other they would put their hands together and then kiss through the glass. Tears ran freely. Sobs of joy emanated throughout the building. Separation, not knowing if they would ever again be able to be together had been interminable. But now, in moments they would be restored to each other's arms.

 

A second story: the first marriage that I ever was privileged to conduct as a pastor was of a very young couple: 21 and 19 years of age. They were married in October. But then the following January the young man suffered an aneuryism and died very suddenly. He left home that morning, kissed his wife good bye and never returned. I arrived at his parents' home moments after the RCMP officers had just told them that their son was dead. I will never forget that father's words, "I can't believe it. It would have been better for my family, for everyone if I had died. How can I live without my son?" 

 

Sometimes the chasms of our lives and deaths are greater than any physical gorge known to humanity. Such chasms make the Grand Canyon look like a mere crack.

 

I tell you these stories because they can thrust into some of the experience of the leper in Mark's Gospel. We don't know how long he has been suffering from his leprosy. But I can tell you this, that in his time and culture all lepers were required to cover their lower lip, wear torn clothing and cry out in a loud voice when anyone came near to them, "UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!"  All of this meant that lepers were separated from their family, from being able to work, from all of those relationships and things they had needed and once depended upon. So, this man is desperate! He has been living with great loss.

 

Mark tells us that this man suffering from leprosy approaches Jesus, begging, kneeling. He is completely and absolutely vulnerable. From his vulnerability he speaks to Jesus, "If you choose, you can make me clean."

 

If you choose! Wow. This man still harbors hope. Perhaps it's just a wild thought or maybe a statement of faith. We don't know the interior state of his mind. We do know that he is looking for restoration to community, to family, to work, to life. That search has somehow brought him to Jesus.

 

Amazingly, Jesus is able to bridge the gap for this man. Jesus is moved by compassion. The Greek conveys the sense of Jesus' intestines turning as he encounters this man. Perhaps Jesus is moved out of empathy for him, or even anger at a system that insists on excluding people, separating them from those they need the most by using of all things, God's name, to complete that exclusion. Whatever the case, Jesus stretches out his hand. He touches that leper, the one who may not have experienced human touch in a very long time. As Jesus touches him, He says to him, " I DO CHOOSE. BE MADE CLEAN!"

 

The impact is incredible. Mark tells it this way: "Immediately" the leprosy left the man. He was made "clean". Here clean doesn't merely mean that whatever skin ailment the man was suffering from had now been removed. Mark's account isn't a commercial for softer skin. No, this man is made CLEAN. Now he is allowed to return home, to be with those who love and cherish him. He is allowed to go back to working, to providing food and shelter for those he loves. His relationships with others can be restored. We have no idea of what this might mean for the way he relates to God.

 

It's an amazing story! But does it have anything to do with us?

 

Aren't we are a people who are separated from others in so many ways. We are a people who know separation. Ageism occurs when disparate world views arise among people because they are of  different ages. Some then are dismissed by others as being irrelevant or even simple. Besides ageism there is also racism. We sometimes succumb to thinking that all Asians or all Caucasians or certain other ethnic groups all do certain things the same way because of the color of their skin or the idiosyncracies of their culture.  Such "stereotyping" blinds us to the amazing realities of each other, to our commonalities, the complexities of we people, even to the conviction that all are created in God's image.

 

I could just as easily point to a number of other perceived realities that create chasms between people or between people and creation. Some of these realities are stereotypes we may hold regarding gender, or particular interpretations of scriptures as if we human beings are completely over or separate from the rest of creation.

 

But what does God or Jesus have to do with any of these chasms?

 

My response to that question both from this text and from the witness of many who have come is this: EVERYTHING! Just as Jesus reached across the barriers to bring a man with leprosy back into community with others and with God, so too the risen Jesus wills to reach across whatever gaps separate us from others, from creation and God to restore us!

 

God can do this in a myriad of ways. God can use common ordinary people like you and me. See the seemingly "ordinary" people that God employs to bring about Naaman's healing in our first lesson. Those people included a captured servant girl who didn't hesitate to tell others that God could help her "master". Other people included Naaman's own servants who cared enough about him to point out the folly of his misplaced anger. No, he didn't have to do anything complex to experience God's healing. All he needed was to obey God's instruction.

 

Even now God may use ordinary people like us, including us, to trust God, to live caring for others and so point them in both word and actions to the loving, powerful reality of God who heals and restores the leper and Naaman.

 

The source of all such action is not the peoples' own power or strength, but the power and strength of God in Jesus Christ. God's power is so different than our power. It is not magic. It is exercised at great cost to God. God's loving power in Christ can bridge any and all chasms relegating them to obscurity.

 

This power and love of God works for new life for people and creation. Death frequently attempts to stake permanent claims on us. Death does visit our relationships seeking to claim our very lives. Jesus knows that fully. But death experiences its limits when Jesus encounters it. For all who derive their hope, their love, their ability to care for others and for themselves from Him,  gaps are crossed, sometimes even obliterated. 

 

May we be among these people. As we are being touched by God and discovering that barriers which separated us at one time from each other are being thrown aside, may we like the former leper and Naaman learn to unashamedly point to the One who gives us life and brings us new life. May we do so in both word and deed, individually and collectively.

 

For in such thankfulness and humility God's kingdom comes even among and through us. Amen and Amen.

Maranatha

Epiphany 5b, Feb. 8, 2009

(Mark 1:29-39; Isaiah 40:21-31; I Corinthians 9:16-23)

 

 

Some of you know that I have a very close friend who has been battling cancer for over two years. I Medically he has been diagnosed as terminally ill for some time. During his journey there have been incredible downs and some amazing ups. This next Tuesday we had hoped that he would have a kind of pioneering surgery, as almost any and all hopes for survival have been exhausted. Yesterday my friend sent me and so me other friends this email: "Well guys, life can be cruel and faith sorely tested. I went for my final test before surgery and its (that's his reference to cancer) back in my bowel so I got the wonderful news that there is nothing else they can do for me."

 

I tell you this because my friend's battle to live is important. His battle for life can propel us into our own realities of life and death, of despair and hope. Without such projection I might be speaking, but my words may only then be mere words.

 

Last week while channel surfing I watched part of a special on the comedian George Carlin. Carlin was doing a stand up routine on of all things, death. He said, "you know the great thing about death – we're all equal. We all get to do it once!" And everyone roared – because it's true and because death makes us very UNEASY. Sometimes when we're uneasy, we giggle or laugh like pre-pubescent children do when adults attempt to educate them about their sexuality. Would we all be able to grow in the manifestations of our living so that we could honestly reflect on our own sexuality, our own approaching death and then be able to laugh heartily, honestly but not derisively!

 

The prophet Isaiah writes this morning to refugees. These people have been torn from their homes, families, and at times their previously held religious convictions. They have been forced to exist in a strange land, dominated by a people who worshipped gods that initially for them held no value or meaning. Yet as time passes and the time of their exile extends they begin to wonder. Could the conquerors be right? Is life simply about winning, about whoever has the most weapons, the largest army, the biggest biceps?  Is there now absolutely no hope for them? Was their ancestor's trust and worship of the one God, Yahweh, only delusion?

 

Similar questions may arise for us as we journey life. When things are going well, when we are handsomely rewarded for our work, while our children are growing and thriving, even when things are comfortable at church or at work, well then we may think we know what we believe. But all of that can change in an instant. Our phones ring. We receive a text. Then there is the diagnosis: cancer, heart disease, MS. Or, perhaps one we have counted on, one we have trusted with who really are, abandons or rejects us. Or, the economy plunges into the toilet leaving us with so much less than we had ever imagined. What and whom do we believe, trust, then?

 

We might come to church. We may even hear the wonderful accounts of Jesus taking Peter's fevered mother-in-law by the hand and restoring her to health instantly. Or we may read of an entire town coming to the door of her house that night and while Jesus  cured so many who were sick with various demons. As we do so we may wonder one of two things: If Jesus actually did this, why doesn't he cure me or those I love, others  I hear about? Or secondly we may wonder if this isn't all just a fabrication, understandings of an ancient, superstitious, less knowledgeable people? 

 

Both of these questions are excellent questions.

 

In the light of these questions let's see and hear some other realities. Isaiah wants to address these refugee people because they are his people, because he too is exiled, and because God speaks to him. On God's behalf Isaiah asks the people, "Have you not heard? Have you not seen?" These are rhetorical questions designed to move them from what they think is an impossible situation towards both comfort and then hope. Someday they will be enabled to return to their homeland, because of that one great God, the God their ancestors worshipped and knew. God is the Creator of the universe. As such God is, greater than any nation, more powerful than any military power, including the one that now seeks to hold them captive. God can lift you up even as you are weak, tired, captured by despair. God can give you new life. So says the prophet Isaiah.

 

In terms of this morning's healing account from Mark's Gospel please note these realities. Early in the morning Jesus goes off to pray. He realizes his need for God's ongoing renewal of his ability to care for others, to actively trust and obey God. Secondly Jesus continues to move on inviting, and commanding those who trust him to keep moving too. Jesus' healing power does not exempt him from suffering, pain or even death. In fact Jesus' concern to bring restoration of all people and all creation to healthy relationships with God and with each other, to limit the powers of evil and selfishness, the enslavement of human thinking and acting as if we are God, all of this, propels Jesus to give His life for others. It should be no surprise if his followers don't exactly experience a bed of roses either.

 

What does all this mean for us? We need to realize that the powers of death, evil, sick- ness and disease continue to be real. We are not exempt. We are mortals. We are caught up by much of the broken fabric of our world. The battle between evil and God rages both within and outside of us, among us. Evil seeks to stake its claim on us in so many different ways. If we attempt to stand alone, the battle cannot be won. But God in Jesus Christ comes to stand with us, to go before us, beckoning us to follow. God's way is not to murder, nor to seek to overpower with increasingly gross expenditures on military armaments. Rather God's way of overcoming evil and death is to allow Jesus to suffer and die but still love, calling His followers to do the same. In that God does overcome evil and death.

 

On an early Sunday morning some 2 ½ days after everyone is convinced that death and evil have won the day, Jesus is raised. This is not a historical fact, in the sense that newspapers wrote it down and cameras flashed or whirred. But Jesus' resurrection is a reality that has propelled Peter, Andrew, James and John, Mary Magdalene, Mary and a myriad of other followers of Jesus to invest their lives trusting that in God there is hope here, now and forever. Evil and death will not win the battle, though they may seemingly temporarily claim the day.

 

When our hearts are breaking and broken or when our hearts are filled with joy and exultation may our song, the cries of our hearts ever be the same, 'COME LORD JESUS! WE NEED YOU! WE LOVE YOU! COME AND ENABLE US TO FOLLOW YOU, NO MATTER WHAT.  You see life and all its powers can be cruel. But in Jesus we see that God is not! Amen. 

Words, Agitation and New Life

Epiphany 4b, Mark 1:21-28 with I Corinthians 13:1-8 and Deuteronomy 18:15-20

February 1, 2009

 

One morning a number of years ago a woman walked into my office. I will call her Norma. When I first met her she wouldn't divulge her name. Nor would she volunteer anything about herself. At that point she said nothing about her military service, that she had both seen and participated in some terrible things. Over time a degree of trust developed between us. Eventually Norma invited me to her apartment. Over a number of years she eventually told me some of the horrible things that had been done to her: by a family member, by a Pastor, by military colleagues, by a teacher.

 

As a result Norma had many personal struggles. As more time passed her trust of me grew. Sometimes she would phone me late at night asking me to come over to help her. Sometimes she had cut her arms and wrists with knives. It's called self-flagellation. Then I would take her to emergency at the hospital. There she would concoct a story about a knife slipping, or about falling on broken glass. Eventually she agreed to see a psychologist. The first psychologist we visited had some skill. He was unable to uncover some of what he referred to as her multiple personalities. Many of these personalities were violent. But that particular psychologist did not have the experience or the wherewithal to influence these personalities in ways so that they didn't do either of us or Norma damage. It was all very frightening. In such a state Norma was anything but free. She refused to come out of her basement suite in the daylight. She was frequently consumed with anger, capable of only God knows what. I feared for her. I feared for others that she came into contact with. At times I feared for my own safety.

 

In today's Gospel we meet Jesus. He is at a synagogue on the Sabbath day. For him this wasn't unusual. Remember He is Jewish. For Jesus to go to synagogue was probably as ordinary as it is for many of us to come to Church on any given Sunday. But on this particular day Mark tells us that in that synagogue there is a man with an "unclean" spirit. Such a spirit is opposed to God, to God's work of bringing life and hope to people. As this man with the unclean spirit meets Jesus that spirit begins to cry out: "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?" Did you notice that although the man is only a single person, that the unclean spirit controlling him is more than one. That unclean spirit recognizes Jesus as He is. That spirit inquires, has Jesus come to destroy them? Not only that but this unclean spirit and all of his or her colleagues recognize very clearly just who Jesus is. They refer to Jesus as the Holy One of God.

 

At first glance all of this may seem extremely weird, like something out of a horror movie such as Friday the 13^th or the Exorcist. It all seems so far removed from our post modern sensibilities. But is it?

 

Are any of us plagued with "unclean" spirits? Are we free to love unconditionally, to not think of others as less than us, to care for ourselves and beyond ourselves, to not indulge ourselves destructively with food, alcohol, or ongoing purchases of more and more stuff that we do not need?  Or, do you ever find yourself dreaming, fantasizing about being almost anywhere else but here? Such fantasies take us away from the reality that is right in front of us, that may be filled with that endless wonder. Such spirits can drive us to harm ourselves and others in so many ways. Granted we may not need to take a trip to the emergency ward of the hospital right now. BUT the truth is, we are often not well, not free. Too often we are not free to live and love in the ways God calls us to.

 

See what Jesus does. He speaks a word to the man with the unclean spirit. Jesus' word is a word of confrontation.  In one sense it seems to be only a word. We might ask, what good are words when confronting powers that enslave? But this word comes from Jesus who has authority. Jesus' authority emanates from the essence of who He is, the Holy One of God. Jesus is the One of God who actually loves the world. That world includes this man with the unclean spirit. So it is that Jesus as the Holy One of God confronts the powers of death and evil that are within and around that man and us! Jesus' words can cast these forces from within us, limit their ability to control us. Such casting out may not be easy or quiet. Indeed the unclean spirit in this man convulses him even as it leaves him. But then that man has the possibility of living in community peaceably, hopefully, knowing Jesus who frees him so to live. 

 

This man through the word of Jesus is being transformed. He is being taken from outside of human community, from beyond knowing and trusting God, to the inside, to new life that is no longer destructive to him or for others. Who knows what this man might be and do now?

 

How about us? Many of us are blessed to come to our "synagogues" week after week. Many of us are being blessed to hear God's very Word, Jesus himself, being proclaimed in word and deed, in Word and Sacrament. Don't you see? Jesus' words are not merely words, such as our words so often are. Jesus' speech can never be limited to or contained by a book. Instead Jesus' words and life can bring us to new life here and now. We don't need to be beyond God, or withdrawn from each other. We can live, knowing and caring for each other and creation. Jesus' words and life can bring such new life to us and others! These words of Jesus are embodied in Himself, in His life, death and resurrection. As they work their miraculous changes in our lives we are sent out to share with others the realities of his words in our own lives. No one needs  be excluded from the love and acceptance of God.

 

Sarah Dylan Breuer, an Episcopalian priest, says it beautifully. The kingdom, the rule and influence of God is like a washing machine, sending what's at the center out to the margins and bringing what's at the margins in toward the center, transforming all in its motion. While still employing that metaphor, she says that Jesus is the agitator.

 

Jesus speaks to us. By God's grace may we be open to his words either to be thrust out to the margins to freely share His love and self emptying with others who are also in need, OR, if we are so broken that we are seriously damaging ourselves and others, may the word of Jesus draw us closer to Him embracing us with new life.

 

Jesus is the One with authority, the strangest kind of authority that gives of Himself so that the whole world can live.  The powers of evil, death and all that is opposed to God, cannot stand against Jesus' unique authority! Thanks be to God! Amen. 

Everybody oughtta know!

2^nd Sunday after the Epiphany, January 15, 2006 (John 1:43-51)

 

There was once young man in his early 20's. He truly loved to fly. This love had grown and been nurtured over the course of his life. When he was only 8 or 9 years old he had a friend whose father flew model airplanes. Every Saturday he would accompany his friend and his friend's father to learn as much as he could about the art of flying. By the time he was 18 he was hanging out at the local airport. By his 25^th birthday he had a private pilot's license. His dream was to pilot his grandmother on her very first flight. There was a significant roadblock to his plan. His grandmother was terrified of flying. She wouldn't even look down from a second story restaurant. Nevertheless, the young man persisted. Then on one summer's clear morning his grandmother agreed that she would venture forward with him. In some ways it was to get him off her back. But in other ways her assent was fueled by at least some curiousity. 

 

They were off to the airfield. He helped her into that tiny craft. He seat belted her in. All the while he kept assuring her, she was safe. They taxied on the runway, ever gaining gaining speed. Then suddenly they were airborne. He glanced over at her. Her knuckles were white. As they reached their aimed for altitude and leveled off, he could see for miles. Then he spoke tenderly to her. "Grandma, do you trust me?" Through clenched teeth, she replied, "I think so". He smiled and replied, "I love you. I wouldn't ever put your life in danger. Please open your eyes and see the beauty of God's creation all around us and below us." Slowly, ever so slowly, she opened her eyes. Only then could she begin to see.

 

Let me ask you a question. Why are you here? For those of you who have come to "know" Jesus the Christ, how has that happened in your life? Has someone, or a group of people told you about Jesus, about being part of His community, about the love of God? Has someone or a number of people actually shown you the love of God in Christ? 

 

In today's Gospel Jesus reaches out to others. Firstly, Jesus "finds" Philip and says to him "follow me". Something is definitely happening. In the very next verse we see Philip going out and "finding" Nathanael. Philip then tells Nathanael, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth."

 

And something happens to Philip as he meets Jesus. This is something at least as great as the love for flying that the young man in my opening story shares.

 

There's an old chorus that I learned at a church camp years ago. It goes like this, "Everybody oughtta know – everybody oughtta know – everybody oughtta know who Jesus is." Well my question and the question of so many in the rest of the world, even Nathanael's question is, "why?". Why would I want to know? What's so important about Jesus? Will it, could it, should it make any difference in my life or in the life of the world if I "know" Jesus?

 

Philip is absolutely convinced that knowing Jesus matters. So, he reaches out to Nathanael inviting him to come and meet Jesus. But at first Nathanael isn't so sure. 

 

How about us – you and me? Do we "know" Jesus? He does reach out to us.

 

A few years ago I met a young man who was interested in getting to know Jesus. That hadn't always been the case in his life. But one day this young man met a young woman. As he slowly got to know her better, he grew to love her. Now she was part of a family that regularly worshipped God, a family who tried to love others with the love they experienced in Jesus. They welcomed this young man into their midst. They accepted him where he was. They refused to shove anything down his throat. They pointed by such living beyond themselves to Jesus. And now as this young man and the young woman he has grown to love have been blessed with a daughter. As they were beginning to inquire about her baptism, this young father said to the Pastor,  "Could I be baptized too, at the same time as our daughter?" The Pastor them met with the young man 2 or 3 times and gave him reading material about baptism, about living a life following this Jesus. As the Pastor and the young man had further conversation, the young man was certain about it. I want to experience and share this love of God that I see in my girl friend's life. This is the love and faith I want to share with our little girl.

 

That young man is now striving to be unapologetically Christian – not obnoxious, but unafraid to demonstrate, to speak openly about the love of Jesus and his trust in Jesus. He wants His life to reflect the love and mercy of Christ in every possible way.

 

We need to know that many people do not come to any church, synagogue or any place of worship. Many people we know and love do not read the Scriptures. But, we who are so privileged, have been blessed to have others invite us to come and see Christ and be touched by Him, are called in the words of the baptismal service, "to let our lights shine". This is our great privilege and responsibility.

 

How can we do this? Our every day actions are very important. We need to actively follow Jesus ourselves, to be disciplined in our prayers and reading. Such discipline is in itself a lifetime journey. I am always amazed at how many people are now willing to spend 30 minutes or more 4-7 times a week, intentionally exercising to take better care of their bodies and minds. This is great. But how about we followers of Jesus? How disciplined are we in intentionally caring for our relationship with God? God wills to challenge, guide and console us!

 

Besides our actions there are definitely times when our words are important. We mustn't pretend that we are perfect or that we have all the answers. We aren't. We don't. We  are sinners and saints at the same time. We don't understand all things. We can't explain everything. But remember we are not pointing to ourselves. We are pointing to the Word of God become flesh – the One who gives His life for the world.

 

So it is that Philip uses words to speak to Nathanael personally inviting him to come and see Jesus. Philip uses words that Nathanael would have understood, words that were natural both for Philip and for Nathanael. 

 

Philip's words pointing to Jesus were, "Son of God, king of the Jews". Nathanael while hearing those words asks a legitimate question. Notice, Philip doesn't make light of the question, but keeps the door open and invites Nathanael to come and see for himself, pointing beyond either of them to Jesus. 

 

That old tune, "everybody oughtta know" employs words that people 30 or 50 or more years would know about: "He's the lily of the valley, He's the bright and morning star, He's the fairest of ten thousand, everybody oughtta know." But such words in our context, our high schools, our Richmond Centers are not likely to be words that many others outside of our own groups may understand.

 

Our worship holds up tradition but at the same time it must also develop and hold up words and music that people can understand, can identity with now – words that also convey some of the reality of the love, humanity and divinity of Jesus. We cannot point others to Jesus, or even embrace them here and now with his love if we use words they cannot understand or actions that keep us at a safe distance from them.

 

It is our call to share this love of God, by pointing beyond ourselves to Jesus. Every body needs to experience the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. And very often God in God's wisdom chooses people like you and me to enflesh that love. Everybody ouughtta know. Amen.

Baptized We Live!

 

Baptism of our Lord, January 11, 2009

Mark 1:4-11 with main emphasis on verses 8-11.

Background texts are Genesis 1:1-5 and Acts 19:1-7

 

G. K. Chesterton, an influential English early 20^th century writer once observed that although Christians affirm any number of doctrines that one cannot "prove", the idea that people are sinful is the most empirically verifiable of all ideas. Indeed if people are inherently and essentially good then why is our world characterized by such barbaric cruelty, globalized violence, unfettered greed, and exponential inequities between the rich and the poor? Clearly something has gone very badly awry with humanity.

 

I have often thought about Chesterton's observations. Certainly they have come to mind this past week as I read the news of Gaza with over 600 dead, 100 or more of them children. To be sure Jews and Arabs have been killing each other for at least 4000 years. Nor are they alone in such killing. Their reality is just a reflection of our entire reality as human beings. I mean what can one say when it is no longer safe to ride a greyhound bus in western Canada?

 

Nor is this propensity towards evil involving violence in any way only found in some people. One day I crossed paths with some young boys who were about to whip a cat around by its tail, just for laughs. In that moment I remembered my own early days of throwing rocks at windows from afar just to see if I could do it, and dropping sundaes from a bridge on cars below in the depths of a Saskatchewan deep freeze. Nor am I alone in this innate desire to inflict damage, inconvenience or worse on others. Such desire wells up within us, being "born" as we say hurtful things to the ones we profess to love, or forget our promises to those same people or idealistically prolong our naivete by choosing to remain ignorant about the impact of our actions or inaction upon others.

 

This doesn't mean that any of us are only evil, or incapable of acting in loving, compassionate even sacrificial ways for others' good. Luther himself declared that people are sinners and saints at the same time. I suspect that this is his way of saying that the battle of good and evil wages on within us all of the time. But he wasn't so naive to thing that somehow we could "win" that battle on our own. Certainly history tells us that we haven't been able to so far. 

 

That's why it frustrates me when people phone me to matter of factly ask, "Can I get my child "done"? They are referring to the possibility of their child being baptized in this community. The implication of such speaking is that baptism is a one time kind of thing –no big deal really, kind of like getting a baby's diapers changed or maybe even grilling a hamburger. When people speak in this way it's obvious that they don't realize just what is at stake in our baptism.

 

We do well to examine Jesus' baptism from Mark's perspective. Each Gospel has its' own perspective. Yet all of them tell us something about Jesus' own baptism. This is very interesting since only 2 of the 4 Gospels record any specifics about Jesus' birth. Now as we read about Mark's unique perspective on Jesus' baptism I want you to note a particular detail. Just as Jesus is coming up out of the water he sees the heavens torn apart. The English translation here is excellent – schizo means "torn" not just opened. When something is opened, it can usually also be closed in a neat kind of way. But when something is torn open, it usually cannot be neatly shut. When something is torn one is unable to go back to the way things were before. God comes to earth in Jesus after Jesus' baptism in Mark and LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.

 

Later the Gospel of Mark has a connecting link to all of this when Jesus dies. At the very moment of Jesus' death the temple curtain is torn in two. Mark wants us to see that the separation between the holy and the profane is ended by Jesus' death. Indeed even the separation between priests and the remainder of the people is never meant to be the same. Indeed Jesus' baptism and death are inextricably linked. They are part of God's great scheme to enter our world, to overcome and transform the evil within and around us!

 

As Lutheran Christians we only have 2 sacraments. These are Baptism and Holy Communion. For us a sacrament is something that Jesus Himself commands. So to take part in the Sacrament is not an option but an act of obedience to God. Secondly, for us a  Sacrament must have a visible sign attached, a promise. In the instances of Baptism and Holy Communion the visible signs are water, bread and wine. The promises given by God's grace are new life with others, with God, strength to live now, as well as what we have traditionally called forgiveness. For we Lutheran Christians a Sacrament is also something that Jesus Himself did, participated and continues to participate in.

 

None of this is necessarily neat or even orderly. But Jesus' baptism is important! Therefore also our baptisms are SO IMPORTANT. It is in and through these sacraments that God promises to come to us, bringing God's own Spirit. The word for "spirit" in Hebrew is "ruach". This word sounds rough. Indeed the action of the Spirit often leads us into rough or difficult places. The word "ruach" can mean "breath", "wind" or "spirit", or even all of them combined. Once the Spirit comes it frequently keeps blowing with it's directing breath. Just after his baptism, the Spirit of God blows Jesus out into the wilderness, to confront and be confronted by the powers of evil. That same Spirit also comforts Jesus, encourages and nurtures Him, enabling Him to carry out his most amazing, wonderful and difficult mission.

 

This day we not only remember Jesus' baptism but reflect upon and hopefully affirm our intention to live from our own baptism daily. Baptism is not a private thing, just as faith can not merely be a private reality. To be sure, baptism into Jesus Christ and Christian faith to be sure are both personal but not private. For the Spirit of God, that great and amazing Holy Spirit, not only works to love us, but also works to call us to love and care for all people and all creation. God wills that all may know God's love and intention. So it is that evil which works against God's love and intention must be confronted. This confrontation must not occur employing more violence or more hatred. Instead this confrontation must employ the incredible love of God that we are embraced with in Christ. Sometimes such loving necessitates messiness, radical honesty, even disruption and radical transformation. Often things need to die within us and our institutions for the love of God to be active and unleashed among us and in this world. 

 

When Luther struggled with doubt or temptation he would often say to himself, "I am baptized". Note that he didn't say at such times, "I believe", or, "Don't worry be happy". Instead he said, "I am baptized!" I am convinced that he frequently said this to himself  because he knew that the action in Baptism is unmistakably God's action. God is the One who accompanies us at all times.  God alone has the power to drown that within us which needs to be drowned and then bring to life a new person.

 

May we rejoice in the work of the Holy Spirit in our baptism. May we welcome the work of the Holy Spirit within us and around us by being disciplined in listening to and for that Spirit. God is saying to us, "You are my child, my daughter, my Son, in your baptism. God also wills to say to us at different points in our lives, as we seek to do God's good and gracious will, "My daughter, my son, with you I am well pleased!" And this is all to be for the good of the entire world.

 

We can thank God for the Holy Spirit's action in our baptism. We can live from that Spirit each day of our lives by the grace of God. Amen.