Blame or mercy - to which are we clinging?

Lent 3c 16, February 28, 2016 – Luke 13:1-9 with Isaiah 55:1-9 in the b.g.

 

Sometimes, (often?) horrific things happen. Children are shot and killed in elementary and high schools. It's so tempting to cast all blame upon the shooter or shooters, or their parents, or a system like too many guns or not enough guns. or a liberal education, or absentee parents, or poverty.

 

Sometimes, there are horrific accidents that may not be any one person's fault. Boulders roll down the side of a mountain. People are struck and injured, even killed. Young children contract cancer. A plane struck by lightning crashes. Everyone on board dies.  It's beyond our comprehension. Are any or all of these people worse sinners than everyone else flying that day? Of course not! A rational person can't directly link such tragedy as punishment by God for some great sin of one or more of the people who have been injured or died.

 

Yet at the same time, we need to be careful not to completely disconnect our sin from tragedy. People are killed or injured by drunk drivers. There are fraudulent builders who try to skimp on using proper materials or disregard safe guards. Such a list could go on and on. Nor can such sin be restricted to individuals, to small or large companies or corporations. We are only beginning to deal with or see the effects of our corporate greed upon the developed world. We are just beginning to glimpse the long term effects of demanding our lifestyle from the earth upon others, especially those who come after us. There are consequences for our sin.  The lines aren't always straight forward – but at times we can see links.

 

Jesus demands that those who blame others for any "wrong" in a particular situation, to take a long hard look at themselves, to own up to their own responsibility for what is harmful or damaging in life.

 

He's very blunt with his audience in both verses 3 and 5 – "No I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all perish like they did".

 

What does he mean? Can there be good news here for anyone, including us?

 

WE must think about what he means by using the word perish. I am not convinced that he means that anyone who doesn't repent will sooner or later meet some kind of tragic end like the people in his illustrations – murdered by a tyrant even as they were in a holy place; or have a tower or sky scraper fall upon them. If God were like this, keeping track of each and every person who screwed up and meting out horrific punishments, would such a God remotely resemble the One who takes on our flesh, suffers and dies in Jesus of Nazareth? 

 

But at the same time, there is a profound truth, a warning here, issued not once but twice by Jesus. The word perish here means, "lost" – lost to relationship firstly with God but also with others. This is a serious event. And so the warning is serious. Losing our relationships, especially with those we cherish including God is serious. We need to heed the warning.

 

Jesus calls his audience that day and every day to repent. Repent means to turn around, to change one's mind, to have one's mind changed. Ultimately repent means to be opened to one's need for and dependence upon God.

 

Ours is a time where such repentance is almost unheard of – often even within the Church. In observing politicians, I rarely if ever see them admitting that they are or were wrong, that they are sorry for what they have or haven't done. Rarely do I ever hear or see them admitting that they need help from others or from God to change.

 

But let's be honest with ourselves. It's easy for us to blame politicians. We have no knowledge of their job. Isn't our blaming them and their blaming others a reflection of the overarching mentality in our society? "None of what is happening is my or our fault. None of that harms or damages others is my or our responsibility!"

 

Such thinking and acting is a denial of our own brokenness. Not only do we make "mistakes" but often, we deceive ourselves into thinking or acting as if we are God. Sometimes we think that we know best, that our actions won't impact others in ways that are harmful or destructive. At others times we may think or act as if there is no God.

 

But such thinking, such acting is sorely mistaken. There is a God. God loves us and this world. So, God gives us commands. They are for our own good, for the well being of others and creation.

 

Firstly and most importantly, we are to love God with everything we are and have. Then, flowing out of that love, we are to love our neighbors even as we love ourselves.

 

This is not easy. As Jesus tells us our neighbors are all people including Muslims, Jews, and people who deny that there is a God.  Our neighbors are people of varying skin colors and cultures, different sexual preferences. Our neighbors also include other creatures and plants. We are all interdependent. We are to love all of these, including, according to Jesus, our enemies. Not agree with them. Not allow them to walk on you, abuse or destroy you. Rather, we are to love them, to actively care about and for their well being. This is God's intention.

 

Do we miss that mark? Absolutely and often. The Scriptures tell us that regarding God's holy intent as revealed in the two great commandments, we are all profoundly guilty.

 

This too is part of our human fabric, part of our gene pool. We cannot consistently love in the way that God intends. We are called to try. But we fail – again and again and again. 

 

This is Jesus' point in his stories today.

 

Is anyone less sinful - even those who have been unjustly and horrifically murdered, or those who have died as the result of an accident?  Jesus isn't saying that the murderer is innocent or that what he or she did is good, of God. Not at all. That is also sin! That is missing the mark of God's good and gracious intent with immense consequences for many.

 

But then after Jesus uncovers some of the truth about us he also tells this amazing parable.

There is a fig tree in a vineyard. Fig trees were often used for trellising in vineyards. But this particular fig tree is not bearing any fruit, even after 6 years.  The land owner comes to gather the figs off the tree. But there aren't any. So, the landowner instructs the gardener to cut the tree down. It's the logical thing to do. But the gardener proposes a different plan. Allow me to aerate the root, to spread manure around the tree. His is a plan of mercy, of grace. It's also fascinating because this is the only place in New Testament where aerating roots and spreading manure is mentioned. The gardener then says, if after this additional year there is still no fruit, well the owner can come and cut the tree down.

 

What are Jesus' words telling us? What do they do with us and to us?

 

May they point us to the truth. We need God! We need to consistently be repositioned towards God. Often we are caught, trapped in so many different thing: fear, greed, addiction, bigotry, hopelessness, drive for success, lack of trust, self righteousness. We need to be freed, to have eyes that can see, hearts that are being warmed, minds that are opened to God and others. This is an urgent need. Seeing the truth of ourselves, of others and of God is not easy, nor painless. But this truth of ourselves and of God will set us free.

 

We can cling to the truth of God's mercy.  God sends different gardeners to aerate  the roots of our lives, spreading stuff that may not always feel good or even smell good, but which leads us from taking up space, beyond simply trying to exist,  to living, loving and forgiving.

 

We must not be complacent. Such grace- filled wonderful opportunities don't last forever. Now is the time. God help us! Amen. 

           

 

Stargazing Trust.

Lent 2c 16, February 21, 2016 (Genesis 15:1-18 with Luke 13:31-35 in the b.g.)

 

TRUST. TRUST is essential to any intimate human relationship. But TRUST isn't easy. It doesn't come without risk even with someone we know, someone we love, someone we can see, feel and touch. TRUST can cost us dearly especially when trust is violated.

 

How difficult then is it to trust God?

To trust God, the One whom we cannot see, but whom we do sometimes "hear", sense, requires at least one leap of faith or more likely a number of leaps of faith.  How then can we trust God in the living of our lives?  

 

As we live we experience many disappointments. Others upon whom we have depended disappoint us – partners, friends, spouses, employers, pastors. Sometimes the Church disappoints us. Fewer and fewer people attend worship. At times the church has been caught up in scandal, in division over many things. All the while people (millions) are hungry, hurting, wondering – if these are the people of God, well where is God? They wonder, can they actually trust, lean upon, depend on God, if this is the way some people of God act? 

 

We also know the fragility of life. Diagnoses are made. Our life's foundations may be shaken. Addictions raise their ugly heads within and around: to things, to substances, to obsessing about what others think or feel. How can we trust God in and with all this?

 

How can we trust God when things we thought we needed, things we thought God maybe even willed for us, don't happen? 

 

I think of a woman who worked so hard, who tried to do what she thought was right.  She studied hard. She married a man whom she had known for a long time. He seemed trustworthy. He appeared to share so many of her values. They both wanted a nice house. They were both willing to work hard. They began to plan to grow old together.  They were married. Shortly after the birth of their first child, her husband abandoned her. Only short months later she discovered her baby had leukemia. Thus began, months and  years of treatment. Miraculously, her cherished daughter lived. But now, years later, that child struggles with learning disabilities the result of the cancer treatments she underwent as a wee child had in order to survive. Can this mother trust God? What does that mean for her?

 

These are the questions Abram is raises today. 

 

Years before Abram and Sarai his wife, had left their homeland. They didn't leave looking for adventure. They left the familiar landscape of home because they had the sense that God was calling them to leave. Even though some of it didn't make sense to them, they became convinced that God wanted them to set out on a journey with an uncertain destination. In their minds that command came with promises. As they journeyed in obedience to God they would experience the blessings of having numerous descendants, of having their own land and of somehow becoming a blessing to others. 

 

So, off they go. Years pass. Much of their journey had been amazing. They encountered many different people. They engaged in struggles experiencing some victories. Recently Abram had been able to rescue his nephew from captivity. But - the clock is ticking. Now Abram is looking back, taking inventory of his life. God's long ago promises are still in his mind. Now he hears God's voice again. God is directing Him. But now Abram is old. He can't see how at this point in his life, God's promises are going to be fulfilled for him.

 

Descendants? Abram doesn't even have one child! Land? He's always on the move. A blessing to others? In the not too distant future he and Sarai will likely die.  God reiterates these promises. But Abram just can't see it.  

 

Can we identify with him?

 

Are we invested ourselves in seeking to know and do God's will in our living? If not, why not? Do we think, are we convinced that our plans will be better for anyone?  Do our plans, as opposed to God's direction, draw us closer to others, to God, to creation?

 

 If we are attempting to trust God, to hear and live in the face of God's promises for us and others – how is that working out? In the midst of all that is happening, personally - and collectively, do we see evidence of God's promises to us and through us, coming to fruition?

 

An important reality regarding Abram and Sarai is that God doesn't back off. God welcomes the voicing of our questions and their struggles with God. In fact, God ups the ante. God tells Abram to continue on his journey. But Abram is also to continue trust God's promises. Look up in the sky. See stars. So shall your descendants be. See this land on which you stand. Someday it will be your descendants' land.

 

Might it be that God is taking us by the hand? Could it be that God is exhorting us to continue trusting the promises God has made to us and for us? We may only be able to see or sense what is immediately within us or around us. We may not be able to trust that God's good and gracious intentions will be or are being fulfilled. Often we are limited by what we can feel or comprehend. Some of this is good. We are to feel. We are to struggle to comprehend. Our minds are amazing, God given gifts.

 

But we must also know this. There is more to reality than what we can feel or comprehend. This is especially true as hopeless casts its shadows over us, as we feel that there is nothing we can do.  We must remember. We must know. God is God. God's promises can and do transcend our limited feelings and comprehension, our human capacity. God does deliver more than we cna imagine.

 

So, God points Abram to this amazing reality in the covenant ceremony. Abram is to bring a heifer, a female goat, a ram, a turtledove and a pigeon. There God makes a solemn promise, an oath a vow, of saying that, I will be cursed if I do not keep my promise to you.

 

Hundreds of years later, God's promise takes on flesh, filling out the third promise to Abram.  God becomes a human being. This Jesus gives his life in the most vulnerable way to embody God's love, to enable us to live from that love, to become blessings to others. God keeps God's promises. God is trustworthy! 

 

Nevertheless, trusting God is never for us a straight or easy path. There is always resistance to such trust from within and without. Such trust can never only be a head thing. Such trust leads to actions, to discipline, to seeking to listen to and obey God individually and together, despite the cost. Often there is cost to such trust because the resistance to the love of God for all is significant.

 

You see, we are not so far removed from Abram and Sarai. We too can hear God's promise. But like Abram we just can't see how and when this might all be for us or through us. We too are often blessed. At times we too have been less than faithful, just like Abram was.  

 

But in those moments, God can take us by our hands, even by our minds and lead us beyond ourselves, outside, to behold the stars or to bend over and touch the earth. Curing Lent God leads us to a cross, perhaps a number of crosses, and says SEE, YOU CAN TRUST ME.

 

By a miracle beyond any and all human understanding God's own Spirit enables us to trust and obey God. May it be so even now!

 

 Lord we believe, help our unbelief. Amen.  

 

Beyond Tempting

Lent 1c, February 14, 2016 (Luke 4:1-13)

Sometimes (often?) there are unspoken assumptions about what we should or shouldn't talk about, particularly in church. When I was a child those topics were sex, religion and politics.

 

Over the years some of this has changed, perhaps even for the better.  We haven't always been comfortable, nor particularly sensitive in speaking about sex or even other faiths in church. We have occasionally attempted to wrestle with what God is calling us to as followers of Jesus to do in terms of political action. In some ways we have begun to make attempts to talk about things that we feel are uncomfortable realities in church. Such conversations are necessary.

 

In wrestling with the Gospel text for this week I began to ask myself – what are we now uncomfortable talking about in church?

 

Two realities sprang to mind. Firstly there is money!  Occasionally we will broach that subject but only when absolutely necessary:  at council meetings, later today at the Annual General Meeting. As I scanned our list of nominees for the committees I couldn't help but notice that not one person allowed their name to stand for the stewardship committee. To be sure Christian stewardship isn't only about money. Yet at the same time it most certainly includes money.

 

Secondly, we don't often converse about the reality of temptation in our lives. I'm not so much speaking about lesser forms of temptation  – such as whether or not the Pastor has been indulging in the goodies left over in the church kitchen's freezer. Instead,  I am speaking about temptation that goes to the core of who we are, temptation that when yielded to has the power to destroy, to overshadow the very image of God in us.

 

Such temptation when yielded to, has the power to rip us like small vessels from our moorings, to propel us into rough waters where panic can easily set in, as we are terrified of being swamped, not realizing that we are not to be the captains of our small but significant vessels, nor are we ever to be solely under our "own" "power". 

 

It's strange that we are hesitant to speak about the power of different forms of temptation in our lives because temptation is such a dynamic and ever present power, so much a part of our human fabric.  After all, we are descendants of Adam – creatures of the earth.

Jesus, being fully human, is no stranger to this deepest kind of temptation which does its devilish best to steal our identity from us. Upon losing our identities, who can tell what we might do?

 

Notice the temptations that Jesus faces in the Gospel text. Are you hungry? Well, feed yourself! What could be wrong with that?  Certainly, we are familiar with such temptations. They show up offering us convenient rationalizations. Just take care of yourself – if you are hungry, eat; if you are lonely, love the one you are with; whatever is itchy, scratch it. Take what you need, better yet, whatever you want. Who will ever know?

 

Secondly Jesus was tempted regarding power. We are familiar with this temptation. At times we are tempted to think that If we just had more: more money, more influence, more stuff, more time – life would be so much better. But to get that money, that influence, that stuff, even that time,  so often we have to compromise who we are and what we believe .

 

We are God's children. As such we live in relationship with God, with others and with creation. By violating trust and or promises we hurt ourselves and others. Even if we do get more - more money, more influence, more stuff, it is incapable of holding the lasting reward that it had so slyly  but falsely promised us.

 

Thirdly, Jesus was tempted to avoid sacrifice, pain and suffering. Sometimes as his followers  we also experience this temptation. Occasionally we may feel that we should be exempt from the difficult trials and vicissitudes of life: from debilitating chronic pain; from illnesses that rise up and sap our strength, our joy, the length of our lives or the lives of those we cherish; from injustice, from tragedy.  Some might tempt us into believing that following Jesus only has to do with certain "spiritual realities". Yet as we attempt to live our lives we begin to see that following this crucified One doesn't exempt us from pain or suffering, from sacrifice or conflict. Sometimes following him throws us ever more deeply into all of those realities.

 

Occasionally we see temptation coming. At other times we don't.  Sometimes the tempter simply leaves us until a more opportune time.

 

The first Adam gave in to temptation. But Jesus, this One who according to Luke, is descended from Adam, does not give in to temptation.

 

Jesus resists those temptations. Somehow He continually knows who He is. He is God's own Son. To be sure he needs bread and all that we need to live. But he also realizes that those things are not the sum total of his identity. Like Jesus we too need "daily bread" but we also need more. We need communion with God and with each other.

 

Jesus resists the temptations of denying who He is and who He is called to be as God's Son.  Thank God that He was able to do so.

 

But what about us?

 

Sometimes we fail to resist temptations. We harm ourselves and others. As we do so we disobey God, even attempt to push God away. In those moments the powers of evil and death rejoice. It may even appear that they are "winning". In those moments life can be awful!

 

But even as we face temptation and see our failures let us also know this. As powerful as evil is, as cunning and sly as temptations can be, nothing can finally usurp the power of God in Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus comes: to live, to love, to suffer, to be crucified. In doing so He takes on evil in all its forms. Jesus also comes to live, to love, to suffer, to be crucified in order to reach out to us and to all others. It is through these acts of his that we can be freed from being enslaved to those powers.  

 

Lent is intended to be a time when we are enabled to look at ourselves honestly. As we are enabled to do so, we will also be moved to turn to God for forgiveness, strength, courage and hope to try again, to live out our identities by God's grace as God's sons and daughters.

 

Remember. Know. We do not live by bread alone. Human power and influence is not that which frees us. Pain and suffering will surely come. But we are never alone. Jesus Christ our Lord is with us and for us. We are God's children. God can and will help us. Something not just to talk about – but to rely upon, whatever the temptation. Amen.

 

 

Holy, holy, holy? You bet!

Transfiguration 16c, Luke 9:28-43a, February 7, 2016

When I was a child the church that I was part of would begin worship each Sunday by singing the same hymn. Yes, I said THE SAME HYMN. It went like this, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty. Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three persons, blessed trinity."

 

Can you imagine? The same opening hymn every Sunday! As a child this familiarity brought me comfort.  As I have grown older, I have come to appreciate variety. There is a beauty and special meaning to different opening hymns for on different days in different seasons. 

 

But these days I am convinced that the old entrance hymn that dominated by early years points to an important reality that is being lost sight of, at least in North America.

 

Where is our deep sense of the mystery, the holiness, the otherness of God? Dear people, we need to have a sense of the holiness, of the otherness of God – from us.

 

These days I am very much confronted by our mortality. These last 2 months we have been slapped upside the side of our heads, individually and collectively,  as Brenda and Joan  have died. I have been beside my own mother as she has been dying and now has died.

 

Don't get me wrong. In many ways our humanity which necessarily includes our mortality is wonderful. Each person is blessed with a unique personality. Some of us are blessed to grow old together. This often includes a growing awareness that nothing lasts forever. 

 

But there are also limits that come with being human. If we are deluded into thinking or feeling that everything depends upon us, sooner or later we will be forced into despair and/or apathy. How can we live with awareness and sensitivity when there is so much death, so much suffering, so much hatred and violence? How can we live with genuine joy and hope: even as infants are being born with deformities and disabilities due to the Zika virus, which their parents up until now knew nothing or little about? How can we live our own systems contribute to such great financial and legal injustice for so many others? How can we live with love and hope when in an instant those we deeply cherish could die or be afflicted with any kind of terminal illness? (Pause)

 

Jesus, Peter, John and James go up the mountain to pray. While they are there, Jesus' face and clothes begin to glow. I have seen people's faces glow: pregnant mothers; people making promises to love and cherish each other on their wedding day; people being ordained, even different members of their family. It happens. It's wonderful.

 

But I have never seen any of those people's clothes suddenly become dazzling white. Jesus is one of a kind! The voice from the cloud overhead specifies Jesus' uniqueness, "This is my Son, my chosen". God tells us that we are to listen to Jesus.

 

On that day Jesus was on the mountain top with Moses and Elijah, both of whom had lived hundreds of years before. Together they symbolize the Law and the prophets. As Jesus stands with them, He is the fulfilment of the law and the prophets. We are privy to something amazing.

 

Perhaps (like us?) Peter wants to film it, have something to bring out to show his family. Perhaps he senses that he may need to be reminded in the future that this "really happened". On the surface his intention looks great. It is an incredibly special moment. The commemoration Peter proposes is in line with the history of his ancestors and their celebration of the Festival of Booths. That celebration proclaimed God's power in freeing them from the slavery of Egypt.

 

But now Jesus points Peter and ourselves to the implications of God's glory. God's glory is caught up in mystery. This mystery includes God's coming among us in order to deliver us and all people from the power of death and evil. God's will is to work through the cross. Here God's power is first manifested first vulnerability. Jesus takes on death and all its powers through love and sacrifice. So it is that Jesus, Moses and Elijah speak of Jesus' 'departure'.

 

So it is also that Jesus leads Peter, John and James down from that mountain to another reality. There Jesus meets a crowd. From the din of that crowd one man shouts out in great pain. He calls to Jesus. This man's son, his only child, is critically ill. An alien force controls his son, throwing the boy down, mauling him. This father has begged the disciples to help him, to free his son. Alas, it has been to no avail. Now the man begs Jesus - free my son!  

 

Jesus is frustrated with his disciples; with those who have heard his words and witnessed his actions. They don't see him. They don't understand that the power to help, to heal, to withstand other powers must come from outside of us, from beyond us, from God.

 

Nevertheless, Jesus does not allow his frustration, his exasperation with others, prevent him from fulfilling his purpose to help, to deliver, to restore people to each other and to God. So, Jesus does heal the boy. He rebukes all that holds the boy down, all that is seeking to limit and destroy him. The son is restored to his father. And people are astounded at the greatness of God.

 

So, I wonder on this Super Bowl Sunday when many millions of people will be deluded into thinking that "glory" is about winning or a half time show or commercials that run at 5 million dollars a hit  even as millions of other people are starving and or homeless, even while many, many of our elder people won't have any companionship today – do we see our need for the glory of this God who in becoming One of us makes His/Her way to the cross ?

 

Holy, holy, holy – Lord God almighty. Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty. God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.

 

Do we realize that God is our creator, our sustainer, the beginning and the end of all people and creation?  We cannot even begin to comprehend God nor see all of God's glory. For just as we receive a fleeting glimpse there are clouds and blinding light. But know this – God dares to become human in Jesus. Jesus shows us the way. He leads us to pray by example and through His Spirit. He wills to give us a power which is so different from our drive for power.

 

O God, help us. O God, free us to love as you love us, to forgive as you forgive us, to be agents of healing and hope as you heal us.  O God may we glimpse your glory and in so doing be enabled to follow Jesus however falteringly.  May we like those early disciples come to know that regardless of our faithlessness and perversity through your Son, your chosen we are also your children. Help us to hear your call to bear your creative and redeeming word to the world. Holy, holy, holy. Indeed. Amen and Amen.   

 

Wowser - right now!

Epiphany 3c, Jan. 24, 2016 (Luke 4;14-21 with I Cors. 12:12-31a and Nehemiah 8:1-3,5-6 and 8-10 in bg

I have been richly blessed in my 11 years of service as your Pastor in Richmond. One of those ways has been my ongoing relationship with the former Rabbi of Beth Tikvah Synagogue, Rabbi Claudio. One year as their celebration of the Festival of Booths ended, Rabbi Claudio invited me to join his congregation for the celebration of Simchat Torah. Simchat Torah  means the joy of Torah. For Jews Torah is many things. Sometimes it denotes the first five books of what Christians refer to as the first or Old Testament. On Simchat Torah Jews dance around the synagogue with their holy scrolls. These scrolls are passed from one person to another as they process around the worship space of their synagogue to music. During this procession they hold the scroll high above their heads. While this is happening there is much clapping, loud singing, dancing and genuine joy.

 

Can you imagine my surprise when on that particular Simchat Torah the people of Beth Tikvah passed me one of their holy scrolls, and invited me, a Christian, to dance with them? I was deeply honored and wildly surprised. After each person had the opportunity to hold and process with a holy scroll the people carried one of the scrolls into their nearby school gymnasium. Then all the younger children gathered in the center of the gymnasium floor being surrounded by the Torah scroll as it was unrolled, being held by the adults of the synagogue. Rabbi Claudio then joined the children inside the Torah scroll. He proceeded to ask them questions regarding the location of the various stories of God's interaction with the people of Israel. Immediately as the question was asked the children would run and point to the location of that incident. Then rabbi would toss the children chocolates. What joy! What symbolism! What power in that word of God.

 

Those people don't see the Torah as some rule book that gathers dust on their coffee table or as something that 'should be' read on particular occasions. Rather, they see the Torah as God's word for them, to direct them and help them in their daily walk of life with God and with others. Their joy and respect for the Torah is real.

 

This reality is made plain in today's lesson from Nehemiah. I have often wondered why we Christians so often have lost this sense of joy, wonder and awe for Scripture? Did you notice that there were at least 6 hours of reading Scripture in that first lesson. As the Scripture was being read the people were moved – to spontaneously life up their hands; to shout Amen! The people were lifting hands and crying out Amen.

 

They had the profound sense of God speaking to them even as the words of the Torah were read. Then they beheld the truth. They were separated from God. But God is continually reaching out to them, seeking to  bridge the gap that existed between themselves and God. 

 

Today I have heard people grumble if the sermon is 15 minutes long or if our worship of God lasts more than 75 minutes. This, despite the reality that we are so privileged  to receive Christ's own body and blood . It's as if we think we have more important things to do...

 

I confess. Sometimes I am guilty. It takes discipline for me to set aside 15 minutes a day to pray, and read Scripture– to listen and be still. Yet sometimes I will go to a movie for 2 or more hours, fly for 5 or more hours for a vacation and watch 20 minutes of commercials each hour that I am  sitting in front of my TV without so much as a second thought. Why is that? Why aren't we more willing, even longing to hear God addressing us today, each day?  

 

At times God draws very near to us. Do you notice the people in the synagogue in Nazareth? They thought that it was just another Saturday. They were coming to synagogue, yet again. Yes, one of their own, Jesus, Mary and Joseph's boy, was home. He had been doing well. They had been hearing all about him. Now he stands up to read, as at least one man would do every Sabbath.

 

He is reading from Isaiah. Two texts are combined. It is allowed. But then he says something very unusual, something that at first confounds them and later angers them, "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing!" 

 

It's confounding because Jesus left part of the text out - about the day of the vengeance of the Lord. He selectively reads only part of the text where the Spirit of the Lord had anointed him to bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free. It's even more confounding because he says that TODAY THIS IS FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING. 

 

The people gathered in the synagogue weren't born yesterday. They know life. They are inhabitants of a seemingly insignificant small country, that is forever under the control of another country. They also know this man Jesus. They knew his parents really well. Some of them have a hope that someday there will be a messiah who will lead them beyond their present state so that their enemies will be placed under their feet. Some of those people cling to that hope. Yet at the same they are absolutely certain that such a Messiah won't look anything like Jesus. They had their understanding of life, of the world, of God. Jesus doesn't fit into any of the parameters of their experience as THE COMING MESSIAH.

 

Nevertheless that Sabbath Jesus is in their midst. He speaks the truth about themselves, life and death. He lives out the truth of His life, as God's own Son, as the Messiah, regardless of what they or anyone else may think.

 

He does all of this in ways that initially don't seem to make any lasting, cosmic difference. He eats with people that others wouldn't eat with: tax collectors, women of ill repute, those who are chronically ill. He reaches out to help others regardless of the day or season. He tells powerful stories that really tick a lot of people off because the "heroes" of his story, the ones who dare to know and do God's good and gracious will, are people that religious experts then viewed as being forsaken by God.

 

Because of this Jesus is resisted, even hated by the powers that be: religious, political and military. His fleshing out of God's love, sharing the hope that comes from God's reign in our lives, calls everything and everyone into question. Such radical questioning will not be tolerated by the powers that be. 

 

So, Jesus is executed. Supposedly that's the end of him, his message.  All this "nonsense" – release of the captives, recovery of sight for the blind, freeing those who are oppressed and forgiving debts both literal and figurative, is now over.  Right? Wrong!

 

Although Jesus is executed he cannot be held nor controlled by death. Nor can his followers be controlled by the death's power or its accompanying fear.  From Peter and Paul, Mary and Lydia, to all who dare to trust and attempt to follow Jesus, their lives are marked by a power different from any other kind of power. Without a doubt, Jesus' followers  can be killed. They often have been. Romero, Martin Luther King Jr., and millions of Christians unknown to the annals of history have been martyred. But the reason for their living, the truth of their unrelenting love for others, especially the most vulnerable and oppressed, will never be silenced.  The love of God made manifest in Jesus, irrupting among his followers and sometimes also among and within us will not be silenced! Christ is risen. He lives!

 

Dear people, do we hear him speaking to us this morning?

 

Are we open to him showing us the truth of ourselves? How we need him! How we need new ways of thinking, of forgiving, and loving. Sometimes, often, we fall short.  Are we able to rejoice as he speaks to us, responding by crying out, AMEN, AMEN – knowing that his words are true? Because of Jesus today can be and is a new day. Because of Him we see that we are loved by God. We can respond by loving others. Do we hear him, now?

 

Or are we distracted: looking at our watches, trying to cling to the status quo, not realizing – that it is far from all there is, all there can be, all that is intended to be?

 

Today, expect to hear and receive God. Go from this place equipped with God's very Spirit, to live for Christ's sake and the sake of the world. Experience the breath and direction of the spirit now. See that because of Christ there is freedom for the oppressed, recovery of sight to the blind, good news for the poor. Live that and share all of this today. Amen.