Lift High The Crucifix

Maundy Thursday, April 17, 2014-04-16

Texts – Exodus 12:1-14; I Corinthians. 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31-3

There are times when we find the actual image of Jesus' body hanging on a cross offensive. That's one of the reasons that you don't usually find a crucifix hanging in Protestant churches. . . It's plainly just too offensive. Don't we want to come to church to feel good?

 

I was reminded of these sentiments some time ago when a fairly young bride to be stopped by to "scout out our church" as a possible venue for her upcoming wedding. She was gushing about the beauty of the facility except for one thing. As we stood together in the nave, she said, "can't we do something about that thing? And then she pointed to the large crucifix in our chancel." And I said, "No thankfully we can't get rid of "that thing".

 

Many people still would want to. We live in a culture that does everything it can to deny the reality of death. We don't like death. We don't like things that remind us of death. And we certainly don't like things that remind us of our own contributions to the reality of death of others and ourselves.

 

But St. Paul reminds the early Christians and us – that as we gather for the meal our Lord instituted, the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion – as we remember and participate, as we gather around the altar, underneath His cross for the meal; even as everyone is welcomed to the meal, regardless of age, understanding, gender, economic status - we are proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes.

 

Although this is difficult because in doing so we are faced with the truth about ourselves, our own actual participation in the killing of Jesus through our greed, our fear, our damaging God's creation to turn massive profits while forgetting about those most vulnerable, it is so essential because in doing so we are also confronted with the truth of God.

 

This truth of God is both difficult and oh so wonderful. The truth that God is just and holy – and will not deny those realities. At the same time the truth that God loves us so, that God refuses to leave us alone in our brokenness, our rebellion, our hatred, envy, greed and fear. . So God intervenes – in a radically upside down way. God intervenes, not in the way of human power of excluding or eliminating the so-called "enemy". God intervenes not in the wa we humans would expect. Rather God intervenes in these ways: by washing the feet of his own disciples including Judas who is going out this very night to betray him. God intervenes in Jesus in the way of service – to those disciples who after 3 years still didn't get it;  in the way of service to we who so often think there are more important things to do than to honor God or to serve others, who often forget or refuse to pray or even give of our times, talents, and property to others in need, selflessly.

 

God refuses to give up on the first disciples. And God refuses to give up on us. So, Jesus goes to Jerusalem, to love the world – to most certainly die, yes on that cross.

 

This is why we are to proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again. Not only tonight, but most certainly tonight – but also tomorrow and the next day and the next day. This is what we are to do in our worship, in the ways we work and in the ways we love.

 

There is no Easter without Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. There is no love without sacrifice. And there is no eternal life, no reconciliation with God, with others and with ourselves without the death of Christ.

 

So, dear people let's hold the crucifix high. Do not be ashamed by it. Instead may we be humbled by the One who dies there – humbled yes, yet at the same time, inspired and most importantly reborn. Amen and Amen.

 

 

Sick Unto Death?

5^th Sunday in Lent, April 06, 2014. The Gospel is John 11:1-45 (the raising of Lazarus). Secondary text is Ezekiel 37:1-14 (valley of dry bones)

"Now a certain man was ill." ... No kidding. It's one of the understatements of John's Gospel. Only a few verses later we find out that LAZARUS IS DEAD. Indeed "a certain man was ill".

 

But he wasn't the first one to be ill nor the last. Kevin had been ill from before he was born. Born with a congenital heart defect doctors told his parents that he might only live for 10 or 12 years. Unfortunately there was nothing they could do about his heart defect, except give him the best possible care and their utmost most love. Certainly both his doctors and his family did that. BUT Kevin was one of those people who just kept defying the odds. Most of his schooling happened at home. His 10^th birthday came and went. His 12^th birthday came and went. In his late 30's he received permission to take his driver's license. You should have seen him drive. I think they named tee shirts after his driving skill – NO FEAR! Kevin trained himself to be a musician – to play the fiddle, guitar, to dabble on keyboards. This too is amazing because Kevin's fingers – the ends of them are at least 50% larger than most people's due to poor circulation.  Kevin is also a ham operator.

 

Yet through all of this Kevin's health was gradually deteriorating. In 2010 it was discovered that Kevin may be a suitable candidate for a double lung and heart transplant. At that point there had only been about 30 of these done in Western Canada. Kevin needed to make a decision. Should he risk his life with such invasive, radical surgery?  Or should he maintain the status quo – continue to live as he has for the last now 50 years, suffering from gradual debilitating health until he dies. What would you do?

 

We all suffer from degrees of illness. Our truth is, "we are all sick unto death". I was reminded of this every day when our girls were very young. Then, we lived in the country on a 7 acre parcel of land. On one side of this land was our house. On the other side was the church. But between the house and the church lay the cemetery. Spring, summer and fall I would cut across the cemetery to get to the church. And some days our 2 and then 3 year old come over to "get her daddy". Together we would hold hands as we returned home. On one of those occasions  Chelsa asked me, "Does everyone and everything die, Daddy?"

 

What a profound question! I had to know and tell the shattering truth, "Yes, my princess, everyone and everything has to die".

 

Of course we also must know this truth. . . Death can come in many forms: from our hearts stopping, to the cessation of our brain activity. Death can also claim our emotions, and our thoughts. Exist by these proverbs and we are being claimed by the power of death: You can't teach an old dog new tricks. What goes around comes around." Such thinking is fatalistic. Such thinking denies the possibility that human beings can be changed, that sometimes, in fact often, there is grace where we receive so much more than what we deserve. Could any of us ever  deserve to be born, to be loved, to have friends, to be blessed by a child? 'Tis all grace!

 

Nor does death only seek to claim us as individuals or people. Death can seek to claim institutions as they lose their purpose for being. This can also include the church as an institution. we know it. If we cease to be about loving as Christ has loved and loves, if we refuse to be honest about ourselves and others, if we refuse to serve as Jesus calls us to, we will certainly die.

 

Ah yes, there was man who was ill, Lazarus by name.  His name, Lazarus. His sickness was unto death. Now Lazarus had 2 sisters, Martha and Mary. They are devastated by his death. Consumed with grief. The one they love has died. The one who gave them status and could earn money has died. Much is lost. So, they send word to their friend Jesus. But he is delayed. Eventually as Jesus approaches Martha runs out to him. She says what many of us have thought and felt, "Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died".

 

If only! But Lazarus has died. He is dead. Jesus responds to Martha, "Your brother will rise again." But such a promise doesn't help her right then. Now Jesus proceeds. He tells Martha,  " I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this, Martha?" Miraculously, she says that she does.

 

Later they arrive at the tomb where dead Lazarus has been for 4 days. Then Jesus tells people to remove the stone guarding its' entrance. Now Martha isn't so sure! She states the obvious – "Lord, he'll stink." Jesus looks at her and questions her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?". . . Then the stone is removed.  

 

The rest of the story as we have it in the lectionary reads like a fairy tale. Jesus yells at the corpse, "Lazarus, come out!" Then Lazarus bound and wrapped stumbles out. Jesus tells the onlookers to unbind him. Lazarus was dead but now he is alive! Can you imagine Martha's joy?

 

Nevertheless, at some later time Lazarus would still, most certainly die!

 

Not only that, but if we read on only a few more verses, we see that the opposition to Jesus grows.  Now, people are conspiring to kill him – this one who brings new life, who speaks truth, who cares about all he meets. W, of ll people, must realize that He is killed.  Before there can ever be an Easter, before death and evil's power can be stopped, we human beings do our worst to this one of God, this human one who is at the same time divine.

 

His claim sometimes is like slap in our face. "I am the resurrection and the life." Do we believe this? Like Martha we can say yes, but what about our own death and the pain, suffering, deaths of others we so deeply love?

 

Jesus comes to us in the middle of our lives – to all of our struggles, joy and pain and asks us – "Will we trust that he is the resurrection and life, here and now?" Are we open to Him filling us with His Spirit, having parts of ourselves within and around us die, so that there may be new life? Such new life is real and attached to God forever. Everything else eventually fades, blowing out like a candle in the wind.

 

Indeed, whom are we trusting? Amen. 

 

To, Mud In Our Eye!

Lent 4a, March 30, 2014  John 9:1-41

Main thought – One thing I know, though I was blind, now I see.

(process of conversion and disruption).... Lord, I believe (trust).

Malady – Know – beyond intellectual assent, beyond a feeling – at the foundation of our life. Our life built on that (Trust 3 people – my father, my mother and my wife). We say we know but do we ??

When everything else falls away – what/whom do we know?

Means – paint blindness of someone (not deprecatory) but perhaps – others, ourselves.

I once knew a young man, whom before he was married and was blessed with children, had all kinds of theories about child rearing. Have you ever known anyone like that? Listening to two close friends complain about their lack of sleep because of their two very young children and admitting that in the middle of the night they welcomed those 2 wee boys into their bed, this young man most assuredly and loudly declared, "If I ever have children, MY KIDS won't ever be sleeping in my bed. There will be structure. They will sleep their own beds."

 

Some years later I again met that young man. Now he had married and been blessed with 3 children of his own, all then under 4 years of age. Now he was singing a different tune. One morning I heard him say to his wife – we should just build a bed that fills our entire bedroom. Then all the kids could be in bed with us and fall asleep. Maybe then you and I could sleep some too... Have you ever known anyone like that?

 

I once knew a young seminary student. He was fairly bright, studied hard. We spoke often. One evening I listened to his theories on prayer. This is close to what he said: "I believe in the omniscience of God – God is all powerful, knows all things. God will do what is right and good. Therefore, I don't personally pray very much. After all,  God knows best."          

 

Some 5 years after he had become a Pastor I met him again. Eventually our conversation turned to prayer. He humbly confessed with a significant  amount of joy and surprise that he now prayed, both regularly and fervently, even silently. Asking him what had changed, he smiled and said: "life, me and the experience of others needing to pray with him." His previous "theories" on prayer had evaporated.  . . Have you ever known anyone like that?

 

Let me ask, WHAT DO YOU KNOW, for sure? Think a moment – tell yourself.

 

What do you know, that you would cling to if you had been on that Malaysians airflight – or if you were among those who continue to look for their loved ones in the horrific  mud slide in Washington State? What do you hold on to for dear life when your significant relationships end or are terminated? What do you cling to when you facing the results of unknown tests or are awaiting surgery for yourself or for someone you deeply love? That's what you know.

 

Jesus has a way of encountering us that makes us cut to the chase. As He approaches, there are moments when everything else begins to fade away. We are then led on an expedition of, 'discovery'. So it was with the young man and his parenting theories. The 'discovery' as Jesus encounters us is like the young would be pastor who had theories of prayer, developed from intellectual exercises divorced from many of the gut wrenching realities of life. Once this young pastor began to sit beside even one person he had grown to love while they were dying, surrounded by their family, so desperately needing to hear a word of God, a word that honestly and nakedly expressed their needs, their hopes and dreams, their pain, despair and faith, cascading like waves, well then he began to pray.   

 

As Jesus encounters us the things we thought we knew, which sometimes occupy so much of our time, money and energy – often fall away. As Jesus encounters us new realities arise. Everything including ourselves are being made new. NOT THAT THIS BEING MADE NEW IS EASY! Not at all!

           

So, can we see the 'man born blind' in today's Gospel? The title given him is interesting. The man born blind. Why do we so often define others by their different abilities or in our eyes (pun intended) lack thereof? Why do we sometimes frequently remember our perceived failures or shortcomings while also often losing sight of or even forgetting that which we have been blessed to do or be part of that is wonderful, life-bringing? 

 

Let's look again – carefully. The man born blind is being encountered by Jesus. Jesus acts, speaks and sends him. The 'man born blind', perhaps having "nothing" to lose actually obeys Jesus.  It is then that 'man' begins to see. Not only does he see with his eyes ... but he begins to see so much more. He even begins to see Jesus. Many who were sighted that day, did not, would not or could not see Jesus.  

 

This 'man's' developing 'sight' is an ongoing, progressive gift from Jesus! Do we notice that?

 

In the man's first response to his neighbors he simply makes a factual statement about Jesus."This man named Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes and said to me, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam'. Then I went and washed and received my sight." He likewise responds to the Pharisees' question about Jesus.

 

But later as the Pharisees, push the question "what does that man say about Jesus?" the man begins to see more clearly. He says, "Jesus is a prophet". Then other religious people question the man  further accusing Jesus of being a sinner. Now he answers, "I do not know whether he, Jesus, is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." Now the 'man' stands his ground based on the sight Jesus has given him, a sight that is expanding!

 

To be sure there is a cost to his gift of sight. His neighbors refuse to recognize him. In their eyes he can no longer be 'the man born blind' because he is no longer blind. They don't know what to do with his transformation. Even his own family do not support him.  They throw him under the bus. "He is of age – ask him". They do not wish to be excluded from the synagogue group they know. They don't wish to be in uncharted territory.

 

But this man, now being enabled to see, keeps telling others of his experience. What does he receive for that? Now he is being excluded from everything he had known before, including his own religious institution.

 

Once again Jesus finds him. (a recurring theme) Now this man is given sight to see, even to know Jesus, the Son of Man. Jesus is the One who will come to judge the living and the dead – the One who is fully God and fully human. Now this man begins to believe, to see more and more, even to know in the sense of this One is whom I will hold onto, the One I can count on – the One that gives me and all others life!

 

So let me ask again – WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

 

Is it possible that Jesus is encountering us? Is it possible that this Jesus who dares to spit into the dirt and take his fingers and touch the 'man born blind's' eyes, also touches us? Is it possible for we sinners to have our eyes, ears and hearts opened again and again to God and God's creation? Might we actually see other people as they are without attempting to define them or ourselves by supposed abilities or lack thereof? By God's grace might we see in others, even a bit of Christ himself?

 

Can we, like the man born blind, be given new hearts, minds and attitudes in the midst of our culture, which time and again demands that we accept things the way they are, que sera sera? Is it possible for us to forgive, to let go of grudges, to see Jesus as the One who knows us and yet chooses to forgive us?  Might our old wounds be healed?

 

Today this Christ promises to come to us! By God's grace might we too have mud in our eye, so that we are able to humbly but joyfully confess, "One thing I know – though once I was blind, now I see!" Amen.  

               

Where Is God?

John 4:40-42 (Lent 3a, 2014, March 23, 2014)

Sitz im leben: Major unrest in the Ukraine. A serious mud slide in Washington State leaves some people homeless and dead. |Authorities are still looking for the debris of a Malaysian airliner some 2 weeks after it literally disappeared.

 

Do you ever wonder where God is, if God is actually with us or not? I don't ask this question only on a philosophical scale. Some people who aren't Jewish or Rwandan have written tomes  pondering the atrocities of the holocaust, or the Rwandan Genocide. They speculate about this or that – regarding God's presence, God's activity or inactivity during such horrors. Now of course if you are Jewish or Rwandan, such musing can never be only intellectual or even only philosophical.. Indeed if we don't have hearts of stone, such questions about God's presence and activity in the midst of horror and evil can never be only intellectual or merely philosophical.

 

So, let me ask, where is God when something horrific happens to us or those we love?

 

As I was growing up, I played competitive fastball. One of our rival coaches was Paul. Paul was well known, loved. He always fielded amazing teams. As I grew older I began to play on  more elite teams. Soon, Paul became my coach. I began to learn a number of things about him. He was a man of a quiet faith – Roman Catholic by denomination. When I started playing for him he was celebrating 20 years of sobriety. That in and of itself is amazing. It is never easy to overcome addiction. But as you hear his story, you will see that his ongoing sobriety is incredibly miraculous.

 

Paul and his wife had been blessed with 4 children. However one day their second youngest son, Emile, aged 13, was out playing baseball in a pickup game. An errant pitch struck Emile in the temple. Emile died that night. To say that Emile's death was devastating for his family would be a disservice to all of them. However Paul did not go back drinking then.

 

A year or two after Emile's death Paul and his wife, Rose, were blessed with another child, a daughter whom they named Audrey. I grew to love Audrey. Our fastball team would tour small towns every weekend from May through August.  In the time between games Audrey would traipse around with me. I would buy her treats and occasionally take her on a ride at the local fair. Her whole family enriched my life.

 

Some years later after Audrey had turned 9, she was outside playing in her backyard. The yard was fenced. The neighbor next door happened to be cleaning his rifle in his basement. Somehow the gun accidentally discharged. A bullet raced through the basement window, through the fence and struck young Audrey, KILLING HER.

 

I HEARD the horrific news of Audrey's death on television that night. I couldn't believe it. I was numbed and angry at the world AND GOD. I couldn't imagine the pain that Paul and /Rose and their children were going through. I wouldn't have blamed Coach Paul one bit if he had gone back to drinking after the tragic deaths of two of his beloved children. I wondered to myself in anger and disbelief – where is God in all this?

 

Today we meet a woman who at times in her life may also have deeply wondered where God was.  She had been married five times. We don't know any of the details of her marriages. What we do know is that marriage then wasn't something she could have initiated or terminated. As we meet her she is no longer married. The one she now lives with is not legally or even religiously her husband. On this particular day she comes to the well to draw water. It is noon time. In some ways coming at this time is unusual. Women would usually come to the well much earlier in the day and often in groups. This woman is seen as an outsider by almost everyone. She comes to the well alone, as she likely did almost every day.

 

But this particular day in the midst of the messiness and wonder of her life she is met by a strange man. Looking at him, she realizes that he is Jewish. So may not have expected much from him except perhaps for a look of disdain. Can you imagine her surprise when he speaks to her? "Give me a drink!" She is caught off guard. But she quickly recovers. "How can you a Jew speak to me a Samaritan?" ... After all, the two groups didn't get a long, AT ALL! Furthermore – men aren't supposed to speak to women, especially women they don't know.

 

But this stranger refuses to be put off.  He may have even drawn closer to her. He speaks to her again, now OF LIVING WATER. She is at a loss.

 

Just like Nicodemus from last week, this woman first thinks literally. How could this guy give me living water when he doesn't even have a bucket? The well is deep. Hers is a GOOD QUESTION.

 

BUT NOW, this strange man pushes her deeper towards an intimacy that is both exciting and terrifying – life-giving and gut wrenching.

 

Their conversation progresses – from the history of that specific well and her ancestors, to her very identity and the identity of THIS STRANGE MAN who dares to speak to her. He tells her much of her own history. Most amazingly, he speaks to her without scorn, but with hope, with promise – WITH A FUTURE FOR HER  that begins to open up in ways she had never even imagined or thought possible until right now.

 

As her future begins to OPEN she leaves her water jar at the well, and returns to the town. She cannot contain herself! The former boundaries of 'insider' and 'outsider' no longer matter. Now she speaks to people who for years had excluded her, scorned her, looked down their noses at her. Now SHE INVITES THEM to come and see. Come and see a man who has told her everything she has ever done, and still accepts her! He cannot be the long awaited One, can He?

 

How amazing! This woman is moved beyond all the barriers that had been defining and limiting her life, a life where she at times may have had to wonder, where is God in all this chaos? Now she is being freed, even to invite others to see for themselves.

 

So, is God among us or not? In the wonder and mystery of your life – do you see God? What  about in the losses and uncertainties, when so much seems dark, confusing, life-sucking – when you no longer can speak, feel or think, when belief may seem to be a foreign universe?

 

Sometimes when we least expect it, maybe even when we have totally given up, that one beyond us encounters us. It might be at a well, at a ball game. God knows it could even be in a church building. . To be sure this someone is asking something of us. That One shows us ourselves. Yet there is even more. That someone offers us something totally amazing, miraculous.

 

In the midst of our own at times unconscious thirst, God approaches us in the flesh, crashing through our barriers, revealing us to ourselves, holding up our needs. Then that One somehow shows us that  He is, THE ONE OF GOD. This One of God continues speaking, "Oh, trust me, be opened to me, know my love in that One who goes to the cross for you – for your pain, in your pain, in your brokenness, anger, addiction. Follow me – all you who are weary – and I will give you ... rest.

 

O God, may our eyes , ears, hearts and minds be opened as you approach us, bringing with you the living water, assuaging our thirst and birthing us to new life. Amen.

           

 

What Do These Things Mean?

Lent 2a, John 3:1-17, March 16, 2014

MT – Jesus presents a krisis in our lives – will we be of the light or of the darkness – although "after the 'fact'" this involves choices – we need to acknowledge that we are dependent on the grace of God in Christ for this birth – this mystery, this rebirth, this transformation daily.
And it leads from one krisis to another – in a world of complexity, confusion, a mixture of so-called light and darkness. Depend on the breath, the wind, the water, yes, the Spirit.

I speak to you only by the grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord...

Means –  (Have two large signs to hold up before the congregation: one simply says John 3:16; the other says, HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE?)

 

Have you seen this before? Where do you see it? Do you know it's content? Can we explore it? God so loved the world – the cosmos. What does that cosmos include? People – just some people? Only people? Does the cosmos also include plants, animals, water and other materials? You betcha!  

 

"So loved the world"  that God does something. Love isn't merely a feeling or an abstract thought. Love involves action. When we love someone, actually love someone, we not only think about them – we do things with them and for them. We feed them or take them out to eat. We communicate with them. We sacrifice for them.

 

I can't help but think about this as I watch Carolyn become so ill. Her friends come to visit her.  Her family keeps a vigil. I think about this as I watch parents care about and for their children. Parents drive their children places, accompany them as they try on new clothes, ache when they ache and rejoice as they rejoice. I think about this as I watch so many of you invest yourselves in this community – time, talents and money.

 

God loves the world. And that's difficult because this world is broken.

 

Do you know what I mean, that our world and that we are broken? See Syria, a nation allegedly poisoning her own people. See the Ukraine – where foreign troops have entered to perhaps divide a nation. See Afghanistan a country that has known war and occupation for so long. Even now, after these occupations Afghanistan remains torn apart. See us as people: forgetting God, at times attempting to treat God as a genie (we'll take God when we're really in trouble) or we'll attempt to treat God like some kind of jack in the box (stay in 'there' closeted by our meager understandings, until we want you to 'pop up').

 

See our brokenness. We argue over the most trivial things: who will get what from mom and dad's estate – and so forget their love for us as their children are divided.  See our brokenness as churches split and congregations divide. These are the communities called to hold up the love of Christ for the entire world. See the abuse of drugs. See the pain of such absue and addiction. See our brokenness in the damage we are doing to the world we have been entrusted with.

 

Perhaps Paul says it best, "Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?"

 

Nevertheless, God loves the world. So, God acts to free this world, to transform this world, including you and me. Even though at times we may think that we have things all figured out, even forgetting that we need God, God still acts. God is faithful – even though we and those who have gone before us so often have been faithless. 

 

This morning we are allowed to eaves drop on Nicodemus' being encountered by Jesus. Wwho is Nicodemus? That's right he is a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, the religious leaders of the day. Nicodemus thinks that he knows all about God. Certainly Jesus is from God. Although that is true, Nicodemus hasn't even begun to realize who Jesus is. I wonder if we do?

 

Remember, even in Nicodemus 'thickness', Jesus loves him. So Jesus turns Nicodemus' supposed certainties on their heads. Nicodemus says, "We know". Jesus says, " Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born "anothen"  Now anothen is a Greek word. It can mean "again" or "from above" or "renewed". I suspect that Jesus intended all of these. Here  what Jesus is referring to is beyond calculation, beyond human comprehension, beyond analysis.  But Nicodemus wants to analyze, to understand, to, in a sense, be in control. Nicodemus takes Jesus literally.  For a grown man to be somehow back inside his mother's womb is pure and utter darn nonsense. But Jesus push Nicodemus farther!

 

So, Jesus says, "Very truly I tell you (there it is again), no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit! ... Then pushing harder Jesus says more, "The wind (breath, Spirit) blows where it chooses and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Now Nicodemus is lost. He says,

 

(hold up sign) HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE?

 

Indeed – how can these things be? How can the Spirit of God blow – even upon us? How can something seemingly so simple as water – flowing over us bring us life now, eternal life now, eternal life forever? How indeed can this be? Explain that to me! Can you , yourself, change your heart and mind – be led from fear and confusion, hatred and anger, apathy and a me first attitude to something, someone new?

 

Nike's  earlier theme for advertising, JUST DO IT, just doesn't work here! Anymore than a baby can conceive herself or navigate under his own power his/her mother's birth canal. How ludicrous, such thinking, such statements!  

 

Jesus says that's how it is with God's reign, God's influence, God's changing of our hearts and minds. God needs to do something. And God does something! God comes into this world, into human lives, our lives and becomes human. In fact God empties God's self in doing so and dies.  God dies for us – for you, for me. Ponder that. Whom would we willingly suffer for, die for? What kind of love this is!

 

And finally all of this is conveyed in and through a motley group of people. I don't know how these things can be! I just observe them. These people, so called by Christ, for moments, and sometimes for hours and even days are led way beyond themselves, to be caught up in God's mission for the world, to actually love the world. This isn't merely some feeling nor even abstract thought. Rather these people are led to do costly things, even sacrificial things for others out of love for those others and obedience to God.

 

But of course when we actually love we often won't calculate the cost. This love is priceless.  

 

Oh Spirit of God, help us in these Lenten day to be transformed, to be born from above yet again so that in the midst of our brokenness and despair we may live as you call us to, even though we don't fully understand. Amen.

 

Do You Know Who You Are?

Lent1 a, March 9, 2014

Matthew 4:1-11; with Genesis 2:15-17 and 3:1-7 in the b.g.

 

What do you do when you are hungry?

 

What do you do when you are thirsty?

 

Jesus was hungry and very likely thirsty. To be sure, these were his own choices. He had been fasting a long time. Fasting is not in vogue these days. But at its best fasting is intended to deny oneself some basic needs in order  to focus on the goodness of God, to ask God to open our hearts and minds to God's presence and to be honest with one's self in doing so. You can be sure that after a significant time of fasting that  Jesus was hungry and thirsty.

 

It's then that the tempter appears to Jesus – and to us. When we are most vulnerable. I don't know about you but when I'm hungry I can be a bear. In my hunger I am less patient, less kind, more demanding, more prone to rage. Similarly when I am tired my behaviour is often less than exemplary. Or when I am particularly singled out for what I have said or done I am more prone to do things that are destructive to myself than when I am experiencing much acceptance. There are many times and circumstances in which I become more vulnerable. How about you?

 

So  Jesus meets us. He is hungry and thirsty. At times we are also "hungry" and "thirsty". It is often in these times that the tempter draws near. At first glance, temptations may seem harmless. What could be wrong with satisfying one's hunger? Surely God wouldn't want us to be hungry?  If Jesus had decided to do what the tempter was so seductively inviting him to do – make bread out of stones, a kind of magical thing – who knows how many could have been fed? I am sure that the bread so made could have benefitted many people.  Similarly today in places like Syria, the Central African republic, and in many soup kitchens and food banks across Canada. The tempter's word to Jesus seemed so straight forward. It was either "If you are the Son of God" .... or, "Since you are the Son of God". The tempter's words are a challenge to Jesus' identity – to Jesus' trust of God His Father. "PROVE THAT YOU ARE, WHO YOU SAY YOU ARE".

 

Thanks be to God, Jesus does resist the tempter. In so doing Jesus points out a fundamental truth lifted from the Scriptures: one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Wow!  In Jesus' response to the tempter we see that Jesus is very clear about whom he trusts.

 

But the tempter doesn't give up. Again the tempter challenges Jesus identity. If you are the Son of God or since you are, throw yourself down from a very high holy place. Surely God will take care of you, since you are God's son! But once again Jesus resists the temptation, the challenge to prove his identity. He responds to the tempter, "Do not tempt the Lord your God!"

 

Again the tempter is foiled. Still he refuses to give up. Now the tempter ventures into the political realm.   Wouldn't you like magical power over all the realms and machinations of the world without having to suffer or really do anything for it? hat would we have done?

 

But Jesus will not cut a deal. He will not trust anyone else before God regardless of their alleged power. Now Jesus cuts to the chase, "Away with you Satan, for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him'."

 

Now  the tempter withdraws – but not forever.  

 

In some ways all of this appears surreal, or at the very least long ago and far away. But is it?

 

What are you hungry and thirsty for? What do you yearn and long for? Escape from responsibility? Peace and quiet? A respite from financial worries? Assurance that you will be physically or mentally well? Magical deliverance from any pain or struggle?  Relief from compulsion and compunction to overeat or under eat, to purge or even to seek thrills without any repercussions?

 

An important part of being human is that we have longings, yearnings, sometimes almost an insatiable thirst or hunger. These "drives" may be for many things taking on a variety of forms. We are very often  like the old country singer twanged,  "Looking for love in all the wrong places." I suspect that lyricist knew something about the reality of temptation.

 

St. Augustine also knew something of temptation. I paraphrase him: our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God.

 

God has created us to be in healthy relationship – with God, with others, with creation. This yearning is deeply embedded in our beings. Some might even say that in some mystical way, these yearnings are part of the makeup of our DNA. But too often we think, we feel that we can  control the fulfilment of such yearnings ourselves. Then we do not realize what if off-limits for us. Overstepping our boundaries we place our trust in ourselves someone or something else, other than  God. Then, instead of loving and serving God we seek to love things and use people. We forget whose we are and so are blind to who we are.

 

It's not  easy to remember whose we are. It's even more difficult to live from this amazing identity. Even though most of us have had the cross embedded on our foreheads for a long time and even though in that moment God promised to seal us with the Holy Spirit forever, there are other spirits at work in this universe. Such spirits are similar to that first tempter who addressed Adam and Eve and then who "seductively invited Jesus" to throw himself down for a kingdom. Such spirits seek to worm their way into our hearts and minds: to deceptively manipulate us into thinking that we are in control, that if we only had more, or our way, we would be happy. Of course such spirits really seek to control us.. 

 

We need to beware. Yielding to such temptation may lead  to momentary "highs". But such "highs" are accompanied by long and depressing lows resulting in ultimate emptiness and heartbreak, both for ourselves and others.  

 

As human beings we cannot escape temptation. Nor will we will  always be successful in resisting temptation. This is sad but true.

 

But this One who marks us in our baptism with Christ's love and victory over sin, death and evil throgh the sign of the cross, loves us deeply. This One, this God in the flesh, keeps on seeking us, calling us to remember whose we are. This One also continually invites us to obediently follow His Son.  

 

All you who are hungry and thirsty: Be sure to be honest with yourself and with others. Realize that there is food which fills, enabling us to be healthy – to love and be loved, to forgive as we are being forgiven, to care with all we have even as Jesus has cared for us by emptying himself. This is the food and the drink that God wills for us. But there is also other food, which appears tantalizing but which when ceased causes heartbreak and loss ultimately for ourselves and others.

 

May we eat and drink of the good food, slowly and deeply. Even then, we still will be far from perfect. Yet  in the resulting humility, by God's grace, we will be enabled to live from our actual identity, God's own children. Who knows by God's grace some others may even see the face of Christ reflected in our faces.  Amen.

Our Ashes - Mortality Blown By The Fleshy Immortality of God

Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2014-

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 (in the midst of a plague of locusts the people are called to and can turn to the Lord who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love

Psalm 51 – my sin is ever before me.

II Cors. 5:20b 6L:10 – called to this ministry of reconciliation. Don't accept grace in vain. But cruciform living. (Community)

Matthew 6:1-6 – why do we have discipline, why do we have piety? Love God, talk with God, our father.

 

Can you believe that it's Ash Wednesday again? That one day in the Christian year when we promise to make time – to listen to God, to be honest with ourselves, to attempt to see Jesus on his journey and to know, to intentionally experience the grace of God, cherish it, freely share it.

 

What to say – as our numbers in North America become fewer, as many haven't even heard the word, Lent.

 

Tonight, I want to comment on three realities tonight.

 

Firstly, our mortality. Our mortality is something we occasionally think about. More often our mortality is something we seek to avoid. When my children were younger they were always brought to worship on Ash Wednesday. With everyone else they would come forward and I marked their tiny foreheads with ashes and utter those oh so honest but ominous words, "Remember( ah yes, REMEMBER) that you are dust and to dust you shall return." 

 

Today, as my parents are in their 90's, and I am encountered by their increasing frailty,  I must face both their and my own mortality.  In the last three weeks we have celebrated/marked three funerals here. Mortality is unavoidable!

 

But can we face our own mortality? Such a "facing" is so important if we are to be enabled to truly live.  We are dust and to dust we shall return. Yes, wonder-filled dust, God breathed dust but still dust. During this Lenten season  may we be still long enough – turn off our TV's our ipads, our iphones so that  be – be with others, be with ourselves, be with God and know our mortality.

 

Secondly, I want to say something about our own sinfulness. ... We live in a culture that is wont to blame others for everything – politicians, the weather, the markets, different ethnic groups, different religions, different religious leaders. But Lent is a time for we Christians to take our own inventory – personally, as families, as cities and nations. Are we listening to God's will in our lives? Do we seek to care about and for others in the same way we care about ourselves? Too often our answer is, no. That dear people is "missing the mark", what the Bible refers to as sin. Until we acknowledge our own sin, our own culpability to God and to others, there will not be, there cannot be healing or personal transformation. One of the marks of any Christian community is an ability to seek to be honest with ourselves, with God and others. This leads to a certain humility but also hope ...

 

Which leads me to forgiveness. We can acknowledge our sin, because we know it's not all about us, nor does it all depend on us. God alone is God. God becomes human in Jesus to embrace our vulnerability, to allow our sin, our brokenness, our hatred, jealousy and greed to do their very worst to him. We must not forget this, nor make light of it. Make the time to see our brokenness within and around us:  harsh words, selfishness, insecurity – the bombings, the so-called ethic cleansings, the invasions of Iraq and probably the Ukraine. As a result innocents, men and women, children, suffer and die. But too often we are absorbed in our own "stuff" – which may be far removed for that which  is life-bringing, life-giving, birthing hope.

 

To all of this, God comes in Jesus. These are the essentials of Lent. Jesus is going to Golgotha for us, for the entire world, to reconcile and transform all that and all who are broken.

 

So, yes, it's Ash Wednesday. It's time to focus on our mortality, the realities of our lives and the life of the world. It's time  to be intentional with the One who knows us inside out.- to see and hear the truth about ourselves, our world and God. Even in the midst of the ashes there is this breath of God, stirring embers, even ours. From God's breath we can be enlivened to give to others, to pray more than just for ourselves or those closest to us. Maybe even we can be moved to fast,  not so that we can boast to others, but so that we might honestly know our dependence upon God. Blessed Ash Wednesday and Lent, for the good of the world. Amen.

The Transfiguring Holiness of God

Transfiguration Sunday, March 2, 2014 (Matthew 17:1-9)

 I wonder if you have ever experienced, been intensely aware of the holiness of God? Such an encounter can happen in a number of ways.

 

I remember one day, going to visit a parishioner. It was spring time in Saskatchewan. The snow was melting quickly, the sunlight was just beginning to contain noticeable warmth  and everything was returning from its five month dormancy to the abundance of life. Even the robins were returning, singing merrily. I drove into the driveway. I jumped out of my car and was about to ring the doorbell when I saw 3 year old Rodney sitting on the step. At first it was difficult to recognize him. You see Rodney's mom had been busy. And so he had been playing, unattended in what last week had been their back yard rink, but which now had been transformed into a mucky quagmire. So when Rodney met me, all I could see of him were the whites of his eyes and when he opened his mouth his very white teeth. He smiled and said, "Hello Pastor Tim". In his very next sentence the holiness of God crashed into me. Three year old Rodney asked me in his complete mucky state, "Pator Tim, DO YOU KNOW THAT GOD MADE EVERYTHING?"

 

 In that moment as I looked at him, I realized, just as if a shot of lightning had struck me, that certainly God made Rodney and everything but now in a way that I had never realized before. In that moment I was humbled by the holiness of God in that little boy....

 

Sometimes when the holiness of God strikes us – we are moved to fear. I remember being inside a large inner city church at 1 o'clock in the morning. I was then very young, merely 23 years old. I was preparing my very first funeral sermon – in a tiny little office. There wasn't any one else around. The entire church, save for my office/closet was encased in darkness.

 

The man who had died was elderly. He had been born in Sweden, baptized as an infant under the auspices of a Lutheran congregation. But later, when he came to Canada he had become a Jehovah's Witness. He had remained in their fellowship for over fifty years until just three years prior to his death, when he had chosen to leave. Now he had died. His wife according to his wishes had requested that a Lutheran Pastor preside at his funeral.  Needless to say, I was afraid. I had hardly been to any funerals myself. Now on my own, with my supervisor holidaying in Europe I was to speak to this man's family. I was struggling. I was asking God for guidance. aI didn't know what to say or do, or even what Scriptural passages to choose.

 

But then as I was sitting in my office I had the sense that Jesus himself was sitting in the front pew of that large church. On the one hand his presence was comforting. I wasn't alone! But on the other hand, his presence was utterly terrifying. The risen Lord sitting there in "my" church. He who knew me, who knew my thoughts and feeling, all my shortcomings. I was so scared I couldn't even go out and see if he was actually sitting there. Yet I could feel his presence intensely for about fifteen minutes.

 

Ah, yes the holiness of God – and the reality of our lives - so less than holy!

 

Perhaps that's some of what we hear from Peter, James and John as Jesus is seen with Moses and Elijah and then TRANSFIGURED before their very eyes. AT first in Matthew's account they seem to at least be able to remain standing as this is occurring.  But then God's voice COMES OUT OF THE CLOUD, "This is my Son, the Beloved, LISTEN TO HIM". At that, Peter, James and John fall on their faces. Who can blame them?

 

We might know this experience, at least figuratively if not literally. We fall on our faces – hurt people we love, forget God, think very unkind things about people without even really knowing them or understanding why they are acting the way they are. Then relationships are severed, or, we slink off trying to justify our action or inaction in our own minds. God can see all  of that. God does see all of that. When we realize this, we can literally fall on our knees, our faces and ask God's forgiveness. We are responsible for what we do, for what we don't do.

 

So, when we observe those 3 disciples this morning, they have just seen Jesus transfigured, hobnobbing with Moses and Elijah. They have also been enveloped by the cloud of God's presence and now have fallen on their faces.  They are literally paralyzed. They sense their mortality in the face of the immortal, their sinfulness in the face of the holy.  

 

But God, through the agency of God's own beloved, His Son, doesn't leave those early disciples or us in that state. God's own Son, approaches James and John and touches them. Then he speaks to them – GET UP, STOP BEING PARALYZED. NO LONGER LAY ON YOUR FACES. COME ON, LET'S GO BACK out of the cloud, to the other realities of life. Jesus has important  things for Peter, James and John to do. The risen Jesus also has important things for us to do. He has the capacity to raise us up from wherever we have fallen on our faces – to experience new life in the midst of any and all of life.  

 

Sometimes the very holiness of God surrounds us but we are so busy, so afraid, so convinced that "life" is up to us, that we miss beholding God.

 

Be careful! Behold the holiness of God surround us as water splashes over us reminding us of our baptism. We are God's children, called to listen to God's own Son in so many ways. Sometimes his voice appears in the voices of others, in the Words of Scripture, in the bread and the wine, where MIRACULOUSLY JESUS GIVES HIMSELF UP TO DEATH FOR YOU AND ME SO THAT WE CAN BE RECONCILED TO GOD AND TO EACH OTHER. THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE CAN EXPERIENCE NEW LIFE.

 

Luther has great insight when he says that we are to fear and love God: fear in the sense of AWE, REVERENCE, RESPECT. There is no other God. Nor is God about to fit into or be contained by our minds, our understanding, our work at logic. Only God can lead us through holiness, and all the ickiness of life to love and forgiveness, to hope and meaning, to love and courage.  THANKS BE TO GOD, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, Amen.