Human and Divine - Beyond Dust to Reconciliation

Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2015 (Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; II Cors. 5:20-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21)

Key Verse –  II Corinthians 5:20 b and then 20 a followed by 6:1b

"We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.

 

Recently I was speaking with a woman I deeply respect. She told me of attending the celebration of life/ funeral of a friend of hers. While there she observed that her friend's two sons would not speak with each other. She learned that the abrupt brokenness of their relationship has been going for years.

 

Can we begin to fathom the pain of that: for their mother, at some level for the two "brothers"? Being nurtured in the same womb, raised together, seemingly loved, encouraged. But now between the two of them, something much worse than conflict, something like "nothing".

 

Perhaps we can identify. Do we know the experience of broken relationships – maybe with "blood siblings" – or neighbors, colleagues, children, parents, former friends? Relationships that once had substance, understanding, perhaps even belonging, but now are no longer, seemingly "nothing".

 

As followers of Jesus when we consider His claim that everyone is our brother or sister, since we all have the same Father, Mother – well maybe we do know about some such brokenness.

 

What then of our relationship with God? How is it between and with us? Are we on speaking terms with God, seeking to be aware of God's goals, hopes and dreams? Or are we sometimes so self-absorbed, deeply upset with the way "things" are, even with the way we sometimes are?

 

God is not only out there – in some theoretical space, a philosophical construct or far removed from humanity and this creation somewhere else in the cosmos. God may be present in each of those realities. Nor is God even just in here – in my heart, noticeable in some warm fuzzy feeling, that I experience or have heard about in others. But God most certainly has the capacity to also be "in here".

 

God is God – creator of the universe, lover of the most vulnerable - widows, orphans, any alone, struggling, disadvantaged, ill, dying. God is lover of creation – holy, just, sometimes angry but at the same time also slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. Out of love God comes to us- all of us in His Son, Jesus. He comes for all giving His/Her all. In such giving God bridges the gap between us – a gap of our creating – a gap of our wanting and feeling the need to do what we want, when we want, as we want. This gap is mirrored in our feeling or thoughts that we just don't have time for God. How ludicrous! What if God refused to care for us? What if the universe stopped expanding, the sun stopped firing and burning and the rain quit falling? What if Jesus had said to His Father's will, "Thanks but no thanks"? We'd be worse than out of luck.

 

But God doesn't do any of those things. Instead God becomes human reaching out to all, showing us God's way – of care, consolation, sacrifice, risk, suffering, death and new life. We are swept up into God's work to be reconciled.

 

On this first evening of Lent Paul refuses to mince words (surprise, surprise). "Be reconciled to God". Live with God's incredible sacrifice for us inscribed on our minds, hearts and foreheads. Represent God in all we do – not in some self-righteous way but in the way of Jesus – that way of sacrifice, risk, abiding concern for others and all creation.

 

Dear people – none of this, not one iota of the incomprehensible love and sacrifice of God in Jesus is in vain.

 

God is working for reconciliation, new life and love within us and around us – mere mortals that we are, here and now. How amazing, how divine and human because of Jesus! Amen.

 

 

                                                               

Do You Know?

Transfiguration b15, February 15, 2015 (Mark 9:2-9 with II Corinthians 4:3-6 in b.g.

Today is the day that stands as a hinge between Epiphany and Lent – between being shown repeatedly  who Jesus is and being called to follow Him in all the stuff of life – the muck and guck- the wonder and beauty. Today is the day that we "get to hear" this amazing Transfiguration text.

 

Jesus takes his inner circle of Peter, James and John high up a mountain. There they are, apart, BY THEMSELVES. For the Bible mountains are frequently "thin" places. "Thin" places are locales where the separation between God and people isn't as great as usual. Thin places are places where people can actually hear or even see God.  There, on that mountain, Jesus is transfigured. His clothes are dazzling, nearly blinding white. Two of the great heroes of the Bible, long since past, now appear. They converse with Jesus. Moses, whose own face had glowed reflecting God's splendor after receiving the law and Elijah, he who himself had been swept up into the heavens without dying. These two are here, with Jesus.

 

What are to do with any of this? How are we to understand it, learn from it or comprehend it? It's so  foreign! Not only that but in the midst of all this, Peter, James and John are terrified. Suddenly (how Mark loves suddenly or immediately) the three look up and see, ONLY Jesus. On their way down the mountain, Jesus tells them not to tell anyone about his, "until after the Son of Man has risen from the dead". They are, I suspect, literally stunned into silence. . .

 

Perhaps our question isn't so much of what we are to do with the text, but rather, what this text will do with us!

 

How does God show God's self to you or speak to you? ...

 

I have not heard God's voice directly (i.e. audibly). But I have heard and do hear God's mediated voice. This hasn't occurred for me so much on mountains but more frequently in the "valleys" of my life. 

 

God speaks to us regularly and in various ways. My guess is that this is because we need to frequently hear God. We need to regularly be rescued from losing our way – from being convinced that we are alone – that God doesn't or couldn't care - that death, violence, anger, hatred, fear are the great and lasting forces of life, of our lives. So, God keeps speaking to us in ways that are incredible, ever miraculous.

 

Rodney was just 3 years old the day that his pastor came to his door. At first the pastor didn't notice him because the pastor was self absorbed. A number of people in the congregation had been ill. He had just journeyed with a family through suffering and death. His own heart was shattered. That day the Pastor wasn't expecting to hear the mediated voice of God. 

 

It was spring. Little Rodney had been playing in the garden plot had become a muddy morass. The snow had melted. The ice rink which for 5 months had covered the garden, now had disappeared. For that 3 year old boy who had escaped the caring gaze of his mother, the wonders of such mud were a heavenly delight. As the Pastor arrived, Rodney had migrated from the garden's mud to the house's doorstep. As the Pastor sprung out of the car up onto the step Rodney spoke. All that was visible of Rodney were his white teeth and the whites of his eyes. The rest of him was one wonderful, beautiful, nearly mystical muddy mass. Rodney's diction was less than perfect but he said unmistakably, "Pator, DO YOU KNOW THAT GOD MADE EVERYTHING? Do you know that!"

 

On that day, in what was a kairotic moment, and likely for the very first time, that Pator knew that God made everything! God had spoken, cutting through his self-absorption in that little boy! Do you know what I mean? Are you hearing God?

 

Years later that same Pastor was again self-absorbed. He was racing down a mountain road, high above a lake in yet another spring. He was driving TOO FAST, attempting to get to a hospital on time, after finishing a meeting in a neighboring city. On the downhill slope he passed three semi-trailer trucks. Attempting to navigate around a turn his Minivan began to spin out of control. Sliding towards the oncoming traffic and filled with panic he overcorrected and arched now towards a 3 foot high cement retaining wall. It was seemingly all that could prevent him from careening over the adjacent cliff 350 feet into the deep icy cold lake below. His van miraculously twirled around 3-5 times, not striking the wall, not hitting any of the approaching or following traffic. Not only that but when his van slowed enough so that he could control it, it was still heading in the right direction. Shakily he then much more slowly made his way to the hospital. Refusing to inform anyone of his potentially deadly foolishness, nor his miraculous delivery from certain multiple deaths or traumatic injuries he completed his scheduled visit. Upon leaving the hospital room another patient, one he had never met before motioned the pastor over to his bedside.  At the patient's urging the pastor came closer and closer until they could feel each other's breath. Then that man spoke. The words were slow, deliberate, powerful, unmistakable. "Be careful reverend. The Lord can call his servants home at any time." The small hairs on the Pastor's back stood erect. 

 

That might even be more stupid than foolish. What does matter is that we listen to what God is saying.

 

On this Transfiguration Sunday God is speaking to us! Just as Peter, James and John came to know that Jesus is God's own Son, so also can we. On the one hand this may see self evident to us in our distancing kind of way. But note what Jesus does. He takes those Peter, James and John and us down off that mountain. He calls all who will hear to follow him into all the stuff of life - the wonder, the beauty, the mystery, the ugliness, the pain, the suffering, the death, the horror.

 

Sometimes in the throes of life, we lose our way. We are terrified by the overwhelming stuff. But ---- and this is so important, we can know that we are not alone. God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit accompanies us.  They speak. They send others into our orbit. They send us into other people's orbits, calling us to follow Jesus through thick and thin.

 

We must know. We don't understand so much of life or death, let alone God.

 

But we do know this - Jesus comes down from that mountain of Transfiguration. Jesus refuses to give up on Peter, James and John though they "got" very little if any of this Jesus until after they had completely abandoned him, until after he had suffered and died and been raised. In Him is our hope!

 

He doesn't give up on us either. Jesus is with us in our suffering and death, in the suffering and death of this world.  Somehow even out of death He is working for new life, love.

 

Dear people, as we kneel, stand, totter, run or rest on the edge of Lent are we listening for God speaking to us through Jesus? Even now in the midst of all of life and death we are being called to follow Him, God's beloved Son.  Following him, we too will sometimes suffer and in many ways die. But following Him we will also be led through pain, suffering and joy to new life. God does make everything and everyone including us. And someday God will call us home. For now, it's so good to listen to the Son. Amen. 

 

Healing Touch To Serve

Epiphany 5b, February 8, 2015 (Mark 1:29-39)

How have your last few days been? Hectic, crazy, wonderful, marked by beauty or pain?

 

Let me tell you about Jesus' last few days (as depicted by Mark). Following the marvel of his baptism and the exhaustion of his wilderness temptation we are encountered by Jesus walking alongside this amazing lake, the Sea of Galilee. As he walks Jesus meets and calls four men – men who had been doing their job, fishing. Jesus calls them to leave their nets, to leave their families, to follow him. Miraculously, they do it. Then, with them behind him, Jesus goes to the synagogue. There he encounters one who is trapped. This man is plagued by a variety of spirits who recognize Jesus as the Holy One of God, as One who has the power to destroy them, to free this man. Jesus heals the man!

 

Immediately following that synagogue confrontation Jesus and his four followers head over to Simon and Andrew's house. But something isn't right. Can we identify? Simon's mother-in-law is ill. She has a fever. The fever is such that she cannot perform her normal duties. She is confined to bed. She is unable to welcome and serve those who would come into her home. Jesus reaches out to this fevered woman. He lifts her by the hand and ... she is healed.

 

Immediately she springs into action. She begins to serve everyone. The Greek word for serve is diakonia. This is the same word Jesus uses to describe his ministry, his life.  He comes not to be served but to serve. This woman is made well in order to live out her calling of service.

 

In these few days of Jesus' life we see Jesus in word and deed bringing new life, healing, wholeness and restoration to an entire community and to those individuals whom he touches and converses with. As He speaks to the man in the synagogue, that man is freed.  As Jesus stretches out his hand to touch the woman, her fever dissipates. She arises to serve. It's amazing.

 

But it's also confusing. Sometimes we see and experience the power of the risen Jesus firsthand. People are healed, renewed, restored, lifted up in new and various ways.

 

I remember Steve. Steve and his girl friend Tracy showed up at church one Sunday morning. They didn't have much in terms of material goods. Their clothes weren't like so many others who had gathered there. Yet Steve and Tracy had an earnestness, a desire to be present that was both urgent and inspiring. Over time we learned that Steve had for many years been a member of the Hell's Angels. After meeting Tracy he wanted and needed to get out of the Hell's Angels. Tracy brought out Steve's best. But to get out they needed to disappear, to relocate. That was a problem. For all his adult life Steve had made money in illicit ways. He had limited marketable skills. Now, abiding by the law, they were living on welfare, barely getting by. Steve didn't know how to have relationships with people that weren't based on demands and threats.

 

Yet in that imperfect congregation Steve and Tracy began to learn to love and be loved. I will never forget their wedding day. Standing outside of the church, Steve was pensive. I asked him what was going on.  The congregation was feasting them. I saw tears in his eyes. Wearing a new suit gifted by a person in the congregation he said to me, "You know Pastor Tim the last time I had a suit on – was when I was waiting to appear before the Supreme Court of Canada on the charge of murder." After a moment I replied, "But isn't this so much better." He responded with a big smile and more tears. Sometimes God in Jesus and the people Jesus calls to follow Him continue to heal, to make whole, to lift up. That is so good, so wonderful!

 

We do well to listen to the stories of the work of CLWR. The food, the education, the quilts fashioned and donated give people in refugee camps hope. The money invested in resettling and giving former refugees a hand up helps them to find a new home, new possibilities, and peace. If we were to ask the former refugee family down Four Road what the help of God's people through CLWR means to them – you would see broad smiles and many tears. And all of that is good, of God – beyond the shadow of a doubt.

 

But there's more. This "more" that leads to pain and confusion.  Millions of people remain in refugee camps. There are thousands if not millions of people caught in the snares of addiction and poverty. There are people in whom miracles are just beginning to dawn – only to have that ripped away from them. The forces, the powers of evil continue to rage. Some say – at times we all may feel, "Where is God? Where is Jesus proclaiming that God's rule and reign are drawing near when all of this is happening?

 

These times and these questions have the power to turn our lives one way or another. These suffering, life-sucking realities can pull us down, threatening to immobilize our hope and purpose. Then we are severely limited in our abilities to love and serve with our unique gifts and gusto.

 

But even now Jesus comes near. He comes near to you, to me. He comes through His Spirit, through the voices written in Scripture, through his word spoken by the mouths or actions of people. He comes to us. He comes for us. He comes as One wounded, suffering, Himself. He comes reminding us that none of this is our "end" either as the terminus or as the goal. He comes to be with us, to empower us wherever and however we are. We are not alone.

 

Jesus draws near. He is for us, for all. He somehow is in all and through all. He comes to lift us up. Being "lifted up" we can follow Him, this One who himself is lifted up on a cross.  Being lifted up we can serve others and him even as He served His father and us. Even His being lifted up to die is not his complete end. On the third day He is raised to empower others to carry on, to share the good news that in Him, the reign, the rule, the love, the transforming power of God continues to draw near. We too will be and can be lifted up by him as God's own sons and daughters – to love and serve God and others. This is all for the well being of the whole world, beginning again here and now.

 

It was an incredible couple of days for Jesus. Confronted with amazing need and by conflicting powers he heads off early in the morning to pray – to be empowered himself by God. Can we do any less?

 

Dear people, even now Jesus wills to take us by the hand, to lift us up to new life, to empower us to continue or begin to follow him. God knows – there is so much in the world that seeks to hold us down, keep us and others back. But Jesus comes, God in the flesh to speak, to touch, to lift us and all others up, that there might be life and love for all.

 

Even now he draws near. By God's grace listen, see, feel, be healed to serve. Amen.