A LOT TO DIGEST

March 29, 2015

Palm Sunday

Mark 11:1-11

Isaiah 50:4-9a

(prayer)

Those of you who know me know that I am a bit of a sports fan.  I have a couple of sports and teams that I like to follow regularly, but I can be perfectly happy (when the time and my mood is right) to watch pretty much any sport - even if I have no idea what the purpose or rules are.

I am not sure why this is. 

I don't think I am a ferociously competitive guy. 

I do think that there are a lot more important things in life than mere games. 

I am abhorred at our societal priorities that willingly has billions of dollars swirling around pro sports, but can't muster the resources to meet the need for short term transitional housing in communities the size of Beaumont and Leduc.

//

//

I have had to learn to prioritize my sports fandom compared to my carefree bachelor and kid-free days.  For example, I have noticed that I don't watch as much hockey or baseball as I used to - at least during the regular season.  I may not be able to tell you how every team is doing throughout the year, but come the playoffs, I can catch up quickly.

//

People my age and a bit older may remember that former Oakland Athletic, California Angel and New York Yankee baseball player, Reggie Jackson, was nicknamed "Mr. October" - because (no matter how strong or weak his regular season had been) he had a habit of really shining in the playoffs.

//

In the fullness of life, sometimes, the best we can do is show up for the playoffs - to be there when it really counts.

//

Some of you have been at St. David’s for church in recent weeks.  In that way, you have been on a shared journey.  For the past five Sundays (since mid-February), as a church we have marked this time as The Season of Lent.

If you are new today or haven't had the chance to attend church in the past month or so, don't worry - you've made it for the playoffs!

//

Today is the start of what is sometimes called Holy Week.  It is Palm Sunday today.

From the biblical narrative we learn that Jesus and some of his closest followers arrived in Jerusalem about a week early for the Passover festival.  It sounds like he was in the area for the Sabbath immediately before the Passover.

From Mark 11 (which we read today) and in similar passages in the other three gospel books, we learn that Jesus made his first day trip of the season into the city on the first day of the week: Sunday.

All accounts report that Jesus was riding a donkey and that he began to draw a crowd almost immediately - clearly his reputation as a teacher and healer preceded him.  It is said that some in the crowd cried out 'hosanna' - a phrase that literally means save us, but has a more triumphant connotation: we're saved!

This day gets its name because some in the crowd waved tree branches in the parade-like atmosphere.

//

But Palm Sunday is just game one in a best of seven series.

Unfortunately, because our pattern is to make time for church on Sundays – if we wait until next week to tell more of the story of Holy Week, we will have missed out on some important details.  Next Sunday is Easter... the day on which Jesus was raised from death and appeared to a number of his followers.

Imagine if a person – completely unfamiliar with the Christian story can to church for the first time on Palm Sunday and then again on Easter.

On the first week, he or she would hear, we welcome our king by waving palm branches and shouting Hosanna.

And then one week, later, the message was Hallelujah, Jesus isn’t dead anymore.

She or he would realize that they must have missed out on a significant part of the story.

//

That is why sometimes we also call today Passion Sunday – from the greek word meaning ‘to suffer’.

Between Palm Sunday and Easter are parts of the Holy Week narrative where Jesus suffers.

//

St. David’s is offering two other services over the next few days.

On Thursday evening, we can come together to remember the Passover meal that was to the highlight of that week for Jesus.

And on Friday morning, we can hear about how Jesus was arrested and tried and executed.

//

I know that not all of us will be able to be part of one or both of those times, so I think it is important for us to recall Jesus’ passion as well as the palms today – even though it may be a lot to digest in one hour of church.

//

We can imply from the biblical accounts that Jesus and his followers camped outside the Jerusalem city gates on the hillside of the Mount of Olives.
It is likely that many other pilgrims set up temporary lodgings in the same area.  Who knows they might have been in a section with other Galileans.

The stories tell us that each day leading up to the Passover, Jesus went into Jerusalem and spent time at the temple.  Luke’s gospel says that he was teaching.  What that likely meant
is that he would find an open spot in one of the temple courtyards and sat with his disciples and any other interested pilgrims and offered his insights on God and faithful living.  Like he had done over the past several years in many places, Jesus made good use of storytelling as a method of teaching.

According to Mark, in the temple Jesus told a parable about a vineyard owner who leased out his land while he went away on a trip.  When it was harvest time, the owner sent a servant back to the vineyard to retrieve some of the fresh fruit (presumably this had been part of the lease agreement).  But those using the land refused and beat the servant within an inch of his life.  The master kept sending servants trying to get what he wanted – and each of them was greeted with violence (some were even killed).  Finally, the owner sent his own son, assuming that the lessees would respect his wishes.  No... they killed him too.  Then Jesus asked, what should the lord of the vineyard do?

The implication is... if we reject God’s authority, are we really no better than these wicked farmers?

//

Another time during that week, Jesus was asked if it was okay to pay taxes to the emperor (no this was not a question about the recent Alberta provincial budget).  Jesus responded by taking a coin and asking who’s image is on the coin?  [It was Caesar’s]  Then give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God.

//

But Jesus may have attracted the most attention for something he did rather than something he
said.  Early in the week, three of the gospels tell us that Jesus reacted harshly to those who were set up in the temple to help pilgrims participate in the Passover rituals.

The temple authorities did not accept Roman (or any foreign) coins as offerings to the temple treasury, so there were money changers at the temple to exchange people’s everyday money for temple currency.

As well, it would have been difficult for pilgrims who had come great distances to bring their own lambs for the Passover meal or sheep or birds for any number of temple animal offerings that they wished to make while they were in Jerusalem, so there were sellers of animals on the temple grounds as well.

The story goes that Jesus trashed many of the merchants displays – turning over tables and opening animal pens.  Jesus’ motivations are not precisely clear, but clearly the presence of this market like atmosphere bothered him. 

As the week went on Jesus was confronted several times by priests, scribes and pharisees at the temple, asking what authority he had to do and say these things.

Within the halls of the temple authorities, Jesus and his teachings and disruptions were a topic of conversation.

After the evening meal on Thursday, Jesus was in a garden praying when the temple police came to arrest him.  The story goes that one of his own disciples led them there and pointed Jesus out so the arrest could be made. 

Jesus appeared before the religious council (the Sanhedrin) and was questions about his actions and claims that some were making that Jesus was God’s messiah.

It was this last rumour that also attracted the attention of the political leaders.  Messiah (anointed one) is a regal reference.  If this Jesus was acclaimed as a king, that would be a threat to Roman rule. 

Jesus was taken before the roman governor (Pontius Pilate) to answer to the charge of treason.  From what we can gleam from the biblical narrative, the religious leaders were happy to provide evidence to Pilate that Jesus was a threat.

The story goes that Pilate was more unimpressed by Jesus than worried, but that he couldn’t afford to be soft on any disobedience to the empire, so he sentenced Jesus to die.  Jesus would be among a steady stream of troublemakers who would make the way to the cross under roman rule in Judea.

One story says that the crowd was given a last-minute opportunity to commute Jesus’ sentence but they demanded crucifixion.

//

What a change over only a few days.  Adoring crowd shouting hosanna had shifted to blood thirsty mobs crying crucify.

//

On the Friday of that week that should have been about the story of liberation from the time of Moses, Jesus died as an enemy of the empire.  He wasn’t alone feeling the wrath of Rome that day – there were at least two other criminals who were being crucified along with Jesus.

//

Jesus’ died relatively quickly.  In some cases crucifixion could take days; Jesus succumbed in only six hours.

His death devastated his followers.  Some of them turned their backs on him.  Others scattered.  Only his closest disciples remained to bury Jesus’ body – and that was hurried because the day was ending and the day of rest (Sabbath) was approaching. 

The best they could do was to wrap his body in linens and place it in a borrowed tomb.  They would have to wait until first light on Sunday to anoint his body.

It seemed like the end of the road.  There was nowhere to go.

//

As we will hear next Sunday, they didn’t get that chance because suffering had turned to joy.

//

//

Years later, followers of Jesus who proclaimed the resurrection – who believed that Jesus was God's anointed messiah – drew connections between some of the events of Jesus' last days and words found in their sacred texts. 

There is a lot for us to digest over this service and over the next week, but it took decades for the early church to find language that helped them explained what had happened over that first Holy Week.

//

When they told the stories of their lives with Jesus, they supplemented their recollections with readings from the psalms and the prophets.

In the Palm Sunday story, for example, memories of the crowds shouting 'hosanna' drew them to Psalm 118: LORD save us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. 
The fact that Jesus was remembered to have ridden a donkey brought to mind Zechariah 9: Shout daughter Jerusalem.  See your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey.

The suffering Jesus went through found language in the words of the servant songs from the book of Isaiah:

I was given the tongue of a teacher and sustained the weary with a word.  I gave my back to those who struck me.  I turned my cheek to those who pulled out my beard.  I did not hide my face from the insults and spitting.

The followers of Jesus believed that – as it was for Isaiah’s ancient servant, it was also true for Jesus – God helped him.  Adversaries might try to declare him guilty, but God’s servant (Jesus) is vindicated.

//

Today and this week, we have before us paradoxical language:

·        Hosanna and Crucify;

·        Death and Resurrection;

·        Turning Tables and Teaching Humility;

·        Criminal and Christ;

·        Betrayal and Commitment;

·        Hiding and Being Found;

·        Two sides of a coin;

·        The authority of Caesar’s empire and the Kingdom of God;

·        The anointed one who does not get anointed.

//

Holy Week is complex.

It may not make sense easily.

Maybe it doesn’t need to.

//

//

Let us pray:

Holy God, we rejoice in this day you have given us. Be gracious in our times of questioning, and make us bold followers of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

#210VU Christus Paradox “You Lord Are Both Lamb and Shepherd”

IN THE DAYS...

March 22, 2015

Lent 5

Jeremiah 31:31-34

John 12:20-26

Hebrews 5:7-10

(prayer)

Today is the
fifth of six Sundays in the church season of Lent. 

"Lent"
is an artificial designation (that some churches pay attention to) as a means
of marking the annual journey towards Easter. 
Over this time since
mid-February, we have focused on some of the significant events and teachings
in Jesus' ministry and talked about how they can influence our life and faith
today.

One week from
today, we will reach the final Sunday in Lent - March 29th, 2015 will begin an
intense week honouring and appreciating Jesus' final days - starting with a
joyful and hopeful parade of waving palm branches and ending with Jesus'
closest followers huddled in fear and disillusionment having just witnessed his
execution.

//

So we are in
the midst of a wider story that is complex:

- exciting and fearful,

- joyful and grief-stricken,

- confusing and pensive.

//

Even as we
acknowledge that we are part of a wider narrative - each time we gather as a
community of faith, it is a new and fresh time: that stands on its own -
regardless of how this moment fits into any greater whole.

//

Today, we have
before us three Bible readings, three passages of scripture - from different
eras of our faith-full past.

Let's spend
some time this morning seeking wisdom for today from these sacred texts.

//

Jeremiah was a
philosophic leader (a prophet) from among the Hebrew people of Judah in the
eighth century BC.  The nation of Judah
and it's capital city, Jerusalem, was being taken over by an encroaching
empire.

//

In the mid 20s
of the first century AD, Jesus and a group of dedicated followers (who had
journeyed with him from Galilee) were in Jerusalem for a Hebrew festival. Jesus
was approached by some greek-speaking pilgrims and he speaks what he call
"truth" about God.

//

Finally, a
writing from later in that first century. 
From a time decades after Jesus met with those greeks.  In this letter, the author tries to find
meaning in the violent nature of Jesus' death.

//

//

There is an
obvious common bond between our first and third readings even though they have
eight centuries between them.  Both
Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 5 speak about a new way of relating to God.

In fact, in a
way, John 12 has a bit of that too.  I'll
get ti that later.

//

Religious life
in ancient Judah centred around the worship practices and rituals of the temple
in Jerusalem.  Over many centuries,
judean life had evolved to include ways of connecting the everyday activities
of the people to their God.  For the
Hebrew people, they had the Torah,
the Law.  Ancient stories and instructions for life in
the land contained in what we know as the first five books of the Bible:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  Of these, it is the third and fifth books of
the Torah (Leviticus and Deuteronomy) that focus on ways of faithful
living.   The Torah set aside practical
practices for how to organize one's life - including ways to show honour and
devotion to God - reminders of their place within the wider story of faith
described in the other three (more narrative) books of the Torah.  God and faithfulness was instilled in the
lives of the people of Judah: daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally and beyond.

For example,
many of the traditions involved bringing special gifts to the temple priests
(from the fruits of one's living or as symbols of their contrition).  The priests actions of the ritual served to
signify that the person was in a renewed and reconciled relationship with God. 

The laws
recognize the reality of human fraility.  Although God and the people are in a covenant
relationship with each other, it is a struggle for the people to be fully
faithful to this covenant.  And so the
Torah provides a means for the people to fulfill a desire to be 'right with
God'.  Parts of the Torah dictated
procedures for confession and forgiveness; for offering and atonement.

Through the
regular adherence to these practices and rituals people were reassured of their
continuing 'right relationship with God'.

As I mentioned
before, by the time of Jeremiah, these rituals of faith were often tied to
temple life.

There in lied
the prophet's concern. 

The Babylonian
Empire was the world superpower of the day. 
Like a series of imperialists before them, the region of Judah and its
neighbours was eyed as a valuable possession - valuable for controlling trade
because of its strategic location at the crossroads between Africa, Europe and
Asia as well as it access to the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.  Jeremiah had witnessed the Babylonians
systematic takeover of the countryside. 
At the time of Jeremiah 31, Jerusalem was under siege. The prophet know
that the place of past practices in future of the people was uncertain.

And so, it is
into that context that the prophet expresses faith in a fresh way.  We can
be certain that the days are coming when we will understand our covenant with
the god of our ancestors in a new way. 
We have been given a written law - things we have been taught.  These ways of being have served us well and
they do not need to be forgotten.  But
imagine if the Torah was not only preserved in sacred texts and solely in the
memories of the wisdom of the priests, but dwelled within each person's heart:
in the hearts of kings and peasants, in children and elders, in the rich and
the poor - in everyone.  Imagine not
having to be taught about God because all that is holy would already be
coursing through your veins.

The prophet
was projecting into to a post-ritualistic society.  Even without the temple, God will be known.

//

As history unfolded,
the judean people were displaced.  Their
250 year old temple was looted and laid to ruin.  They kept their faith alive for several
generations while they were living as exiles hundreds of miles away from
Judah. 

It was only a
dim imitation of the prophet's vision.

When the
grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those original exiles returned to
Judah, they built a new temple and tried to reestablish the old ways.

In fact, a
grander renovated version of that second temple was the one which Jesus visited
and worshiped in during his lifetime. 
Many of the atonement rituals continued in Judea and Galilee of the
first century AD.  It is fair to assume
that they were religiously practiced by Jesus and his disciples.  We can read even stories about Jesus visiting
the temple in his final days - teaching in word and action.

//

A significant
historical event happen in Jerusalem in the years between the life of Jesus and
the writing of the letter to the Hebrews: in the year 70, the second Temple was
laid to ruin like it predecessor 800 years earlier.  This time it was a new Babylon (so to speak),
the Roman Empire, who destroyed this temple in response to a local uprising -
which was trying to end Roman rule in the middle east.  Obviously unsuccessful.

That context
is essential to what we heard from the book of Hebrews today: the old ways of
atoning our relationship with God are no longer possible.  The days of the temple priests acting as
intermediaries between the people are gone. 
And yet the author of Hebrews reminds his readers that "in the days
of his flesh, Jesus offered up fervent prayers [to God and] was
heard."  This is intentional
priestly language being assigned to Jesus. 
To further that point, the book of Hebrews compares Jesus to
Melchizedek.

Melchizedek
was a king and a priest mentioned in Genesis chapter 14 who shared a meal with
Abraham and offered the Hebrew patriarch a blessing in the name of a deity
known as "Most High". 
Melchizedek is also mentioned in Psalm 110, as an authoritative claim to
the righteous nature of King David’s
leadership.  The Psalm 110 language is
quoted to refer to Jesus by the author of Hebrews.

The
presumption is that original readers of the book of Hebrews were post-70,
jewish followers of Jesus (hense the name of the book).  They would have been very familiar with the
old Torah rituals and were struggling to find meaning in a world after the
temple.  I suspect that they would have
appreciated the letter-writer's assertion that Jesus has replaced the temple
priest's role as conduit to God.

The book of
Hebrews (like Jeremiah before it) pointed to a new way of viewing our
relationship with God - in fact Jeremiah, chapter 31 is directly quoted later
on the the Hebrews letter.

The message is
that in a post-temple world, we are not lost from the welcoming arms of
God.  It is as if the author of Hebrews
is saying to his readers, "we don't need the temple anymore - or those
parts of the law that needed the temple; Jesus is our Way to God."

Christians can
view the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as a realization of Jeremiah's
dream - our reconciliation to God is no longer a matter of a physical ritual
but in heart-held beliefs.

//

//

As we also
heard this morning, one time - in the days of his - Jesus was approached by greek
speaking pilgrims at a festival.  As I
read up on John, chapter 12 this week, I could not find a scholarly consensus
on who these greeks were, but there are three possibilities:

1.   
They are hellenists: jewish people born outside of
Judea and Galilee who grew up speaking Greek, not Arameic.  The apostle Paul was a hellenistic jew - born
in Tarsus in Macedonia - fluent in greek.

2.   
These pilgrims could be people from another land and
religious background who had converted to judaism sometime in their life.  It was common for these procelytes (as they
were called) to visit Holy Land at some point.

3.   
These greeks could be gentiles: non-Jews; curious
tourists or travelers who somehow had heard about Jesus.

//

It doesn't
really matter which one they were; the fact is that they came from outside of
the context of The disciples who were with Jesus at the festival.

Jesus welcomed
these seekers - he bridged the language barrier (like with the help of a
translator - there is no way a galilean peasant like Jesus could speak greek).

Jesus spoke
about the cycle of farming.  The endless
circle of life, growth, death and new life again.

Jesus' message
of renew easily translated.

The chance to
be part of a new life of faith is never passed. 
We only need to allow the old ways to come to an end, so that fresh
growth and germinate and emerge.

Although, the
root of this story might go back to the days of Jesus, the gospel of John was
written for the Christians of the late first century - people from a variety of
places and religious backgrounds.  John
was written in greek and so when the readers saw that Jesus welcomed these
greeks and called them worthy servants, it was an affirmation of their own
place within the community of faith.

//

//

A common theme
in all our readings today is that - even in the midst of changing times and
circumstances, a good and meaningful connection to God is possible.  Our God is not stuck in the past.  Our God is a present reality.

We do not need
to repeat rituals that fed a by-gone era, to know the Holy One today.

We are not
limited to the language that had meaning for the early followers of Jesus.  They had to understand their faith in ways
that made sense for their time and place.

We can hold to
the same basic faith within the language and rituals of the 21st century
church.

//

Thanks be to
God, whose love and compassion is our constant, whose heart can fill our heart,
wherever we are. 

//

Let us pray:

Holy God, we are known by you.  Every crevice of our past - every heartbeat
of our present is known and loved by you. 
Help us to know you.  Amen.

#186VU 

“Now the Green Blade Rises

OUT OF GREAT LOVE

March 15, 2015

Lent 4

John 3:14-21

Ephesians 2:1-10

(prayer)

Mother Teresa said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with
great love.” 

What a wise woman – a true saint to the church and the world.

She did not just speak these words; she lived her life doing the small things out of great love.

In September 1946, Sister Teresa felt a strong call from God to leave her convent and begin living and working with the poor.  She began doing just that in 1948.  With some basic medical training and a heart of compassion she set out into the slums - started a school and began engaging in the lives of the poorest of the poor.
She spawned a movement by her actions eventually founding her own diocesan congregation, later known as The Missionaries of Charity.

//

I doubt that it is each our fates to become Mother Teresas in the fullest sense of her example - but we can all aspire to do small things out of great love.

//

The nature of God can be described as, ‘the deepest of all compassion’ – Jesus said that the greatest commandments were ‘to love.’  Following Jesus is accepting the challenge to live life caring about everyone and everything that God has put in our life - to do the same things out of great love.

Easy to say. 
Harder to do.

Hard - because we aren't always mindful of the small things; and Hard - because we have emotions other-than-love competing for our attention.

//

//

Biblical scholars date the gospel of John to the end of the first century - that makes it the last of the four gospels to be written and, in fact, one of most recent Biblical records we have.

So, it makes sense that one of the central themes of John is 'believing'.  That theme is summed up in the later chapters of the book in the story of the resurrected Jesus appearing to the disciple named Thomas.  If you are familiar with that story, you will recall that on the Sunday after Jesus died on the executioner's cross he appeared to Mary Magdalene early in the morning.  She ran and told the other disciples, but they weren't sure that they could believe her on her word alone.  Two of the disciples confirmed that the tomb was empty, but couldn’t confirm that Jesus wad raised from death.  
That evening, Jesus appeared to the disciples directly.  They talked with him; saw his wounds.  They believed then.  But Thomas wasn't there when Jesus came.  Like Mary did in the morning, others told the story of their experience but the one who missed out was reluctant to believe.

The next week, Jesus appeared again and - this time - Thomas was there.  He got his own chance to see and believe.  That section of the gospel is summed up with Jesus saying: blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. 

The gospel-writer intends that sentence to heard by his readers.  By the end of the first century, the community of the followers of Jesus was almost exclusively made up of those who 'hadn't seen' - the apostles who had seen and shared their first hand experiences with Jesus had all passed away by this time.
The church was transitioning into its second and third generations of followers who did not know Jesus in the flesh.
John needed to find language that would be helpful as the church made this transition.

The gospel of John encourages believing.

//

We see the believing theme in our reading this morning from chapter three.  "That everyone who believes in [God's son: Jesus] may not perish but have eternal life."  This is possible because of the great love of God.  God so loved the world... that there was Jesus... and in this love, there is no condemnation, but life eternal.

The text goes on to compare Jesus' life of teaching and actions as a guiding light - not only to those who experienced those times directly - but also to those who found inspiration in the stories of faith.

The promise contained in the great love of God is on-going.
The grace of God has outlived Jesus' first disciples.

//

In the letter to the Ephesians, we heard the call to see ourselves as being made 'for good works'.  Paul dances around his words carefully.  He doesn't want his readers to think that doing good works earns us God's love.  Rather God's love is the start of the faithful relationship.  God - abundant in mercy - has already embraced us with saving love.

//

And so here we sit - on this side of the love of God - to make the compassionate ministry of Jesus real in the world today.

As I said earlier, it is easy to "say" that we will do small things out of great love, but that it can be challenging to actually do it.

As I implied before, we can sometimes miss the small things, because we are to focused on the big picture.  Small things count - even if they are only known to those directly involved.

There is a great story about a boy walking along a beach during low tide on a very hot day.  Forgive me, if you've heard this before, but I think it bears repeating. Hundreds of starfish were starting to dry out waiting for the waters to return.  The boy - worried that some of the starfish might not survive the cycle - began tossing starfish back into the surf.  A passerby told the boy, "Why are you bothering with this?  There's so many; there's no way you can make a difference."  The boy paused.  And tossed a starfish into the water.  "I made a difference to that one."

Small impacts may not be noticed on the grand scale, but they matter to those presence, even if they don't change the world in that moment.

I hope that we can all feel the call to do the small things that manifest God's love. 

//

I also implied earlier that 'love' is sometimes the barrier.
We may not always feel like loving. The Apostle Paul understood this and wrote about it in a letter to the church in Corinth.

Love is not jealous or boastful.

It is not arrogant or rude.

It does not insist on its own way.

It is not irritable or resentful.

Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing.

When our minds and hearts are dominated by jealousy or resentfulness or our own sense of self-superiority, our ability to shine the light of God’s great love is impaired.

We all know what it feels like to irritable.  We might even he self-aware enough to know what contributes to our irritability, be it lack of sleep or any number of pet peeves.  And I am sure that we all know that when we are irritable, loving attitudes are hard to come by.

Being mindful of these facts of conflicting emotions, is the first step in getting past them and letting great love do its magic.

//

In the New Revised Standard english language Version of the Bible the word 'love' appears 538 times.  We are created - as Ephesians says - out of God's great love.  John reminds us that Jesus' presence in the world was an act of God's love for the world.

//

//

So... out of all this I think some encouragement for us today is to work on unlocking the great potential of compassion in our lives. There are at least two ways we can be doing that:

1.  Don't be too discouraged by the vast amount of work love has to do - the great yearning and need there is for deep compassion in the world.  Focus on the small opportunities to have an impact in little corners of the world.  That was Jesus' primary style: moment to moment, person to person, leading by example.  What we may find - is these small acts will add up.  Love's momentum will build. 
2.  And, secondly, we will do well to be mindful of those feeling and ways of thinking within us, individually, that block our ability to be open to showing God's compassion to others. When we harbour jealeousy or resentment, or even our own sense of self-worth, we can block love from doing God's great work.  Perhaps this can begin with the promise expressed in the Ephesians reading this morning: Even when we were dead through our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ - by grace [we] have been saved... It is a gift of God.

Let us pray:

We lift up our hearts to you, O God.  We thank you for your constant love that saves and heals.  Open us up to living out your great love.  Amen.

#333VU “Love Divine”

IT HAS TO MEAN SOMETHING

March 8, 2015

Lent 3

1st Corinthians 1:18-25

John 2:13-22

STORYTELLING

I used to love watching the TV sitcom, Cheers.

The subterranean Boston pub was owned and operated by the former Red Sox relief pitcher, the lady chasing, recovering alcoholic, Sam Malone. 

Although the central thrust of the series was the romantic tension between Sam and the fish-out-of-water waitress Diane (and in later seasons, the upwardly mobile bar manager, Rebecca), my favorite scenes almost always involved Sam's assistant bartenders. 

For the first three seasons, drinks were poured by Ernie Pantusso, Sam's old pitching coach.  Coach's claim to fame, as a player, was his ability to get automatic walks, by being hit by pitches.

There is a great scene where Diane is asked to throw a pitch down the hallway (toward Coach who is off camera) so Coach can demonstrate his skill. 

Diane: (to those at the bar) I'm not going to throw this anywhere near him.

**bonk**

Coach: (triumphantly emerging from down the hall) I'm on my way to first!

To regular viewers of the show, all those pitches to the head explained Coach's simple demeanor.

//

The actor who played Coach passed away while Cheers was still a top rated show, so in season four, a new bartender was hired: Woody Boyd - a lovable, yet naive, farm raised young man from Hanover, Indiana.  The story was that he was Coach’s pen pal.  They never wrote letters to each other - they just mailed each other pens.

Woody didn’t hold any records for being hit-by-pitch, but he shared Coach's unsophisticated, happy-go-lucky nature and a plain and simple approach to life.

In the final season, there was an episode that involved a bar bet on the sorry state of modern politics.  
The bet: Frasier proposes that he could sign Woody up to run for city council: and simply put his pretty face on some posters with a meaningless slogan and still garner 10% of the vote.

The slogan (15 years before Barack Obama's presidential run) had to do with "Change".

Woody: (practicing a speech) I am running for city council to make change.

Fraiser: No, Woody, it’s 'a’ change.  (Woody looks confused)  You see, in the bar you make change, but but there you want to make a change.  So, change change to a change.  (Woody still confused).  Just
change it!!

//

//

Sometimes, things aren't easy to explain.  It's not always a lack of information or a need to study harder. 

I am sure we all have had the experience when we just had trouble 'getting it'. 

We are curious creatures. 

We seem to be hardwired to want to expand our knowledge.

We seek to understand.

//

When events happen in our lives, we often will look for a deeper meaning - that can help us experience a learning, a deeper meaning or a sense of peace or closure.

//

We live in a world that wants quick and easy answers.

But that is not always possible.

//

We all will do well to be a bit counter-cultural and let ourselves wrestle with mystery for a
while. 

Not every question of faith, has an easy answer.

The promise is that it is in the searching that we can sometimes be found.

#605VU  "Jesus Teacher, Brave and Bold"

//

//

MESSAGE

(prayer:  Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in you sight, O God, our strength and redeemer, Amen. - Psalm 19:14 pluralized)

//

The Apostle Paul seems to have intentionally chose a confusing argument to make his point in the part of the letter to the Corinthians we read this morning.

I have noted many times before that the church in Corinth experienced quite a bit of division and internal debate.  The main context of the letter we call '1st Corinthians' is Paul offering his authoritative opinion on several issues - including the realities of the cultural and religious diversity among the people drawn to the gospel of Jesus.

We see that right in the first chapter.

The events of Jesus life, particularly were still being absorbed by the early church of the mid-first century. 

What does it all mean?

Paul explains that there is not always a clear path to meaning.  Some in Corinth longed for sudden, indisputable experiences that would make faith easy: signs.  Others looked to intense study as the means to find meaning: wisdom.

Paul, instead, invites all of the Corinthians to trust in the power of God.  Paul proclaims to them that God's most foolish moment is still greater that the highest wisdom any human can attain.  That God's deepest weakness is still stronger that any human might.

//

I think that another way of saying what Paul is saying is to say: let go into the unknowing.  There will be aspects of following Jesus that will not be easy to understand.

Faithful living often includes moving forward without all of the questions answered.

//

//

The story of Jesus Turning the Tables at the Temple was remembered and told throughout several early Christian communities.  In a rare bit of consistency, this event is recorded in all four of the Biblical Gospels (even the book of John - the last of the gospels to be written - which seems (for the most part) to have
deliberately attempted to not simply repeat the narratives of the other texts being shared among the early churches.  John doesn't even record a communion story.).  John's author does change the timing of this confrontation at the temple. 
Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell it as a story early during Jesus's final week.  It is presented as possibly a reason why the authorities began to pay attention to Jesus that week, which eventually led to his arrest and crucifixion.

John's gospel - instead - places the story right at the start of Jesus' ministry: effectively telling his readers that all of Jesus' ministry is an upsetting of the ways of the world.  Jesus is an agent of change in the world.

Personally, I'm not bothered by this difference in timing.
I suppose, if one had to take every word literally, you could make the case that Jesus 'cleansed' the temple twice, three years or so apart.  Or you could embrace the conflict and allow the author of John a little poetic license in how the story of Jesus is told.

//

Why did Jesus do this?

·        Concern over commerce in general (John); you have made this temple a market place.

·        Concern over unethical business (Synoptics).  You have made it a den of thieves.

//

In John, the story focuses on the crowd's reaction to Jesus' actions.  What gives you the right to do this?  If you have that kind of authority, do something else.  Show us more!

John then (as he does often in the fourth gospel) foreshadows the end of the story.  Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days.  That was enough to lose those who wanted a miraculous sign.  Even with a great number of highly skilled workers - it would take years, not days, to build a structure like the temple.

Just in case the readers of the gospel were confused, the author makes it clear that this statement is really about Jesus' death and resurrection, not a house of worship.

Even in year 90AD or so, people wanted to know what it all means.

//

//

As I said earlier, we live in a world that wants quick and easy answers.  But that is not always possible.

//

Easy answers are attractive. 

Certainty (real or not) sells.

//

Sometimes, people are more satisfied with a quick, incomplete (even wrong) answer than being told, "I don't know".

//

I appreciate that churches are seen by some as a place to have life's questions answered.  And many of us do discover purpose and meaning within the context of communities of faith.

But... wouldn't you agree that honest uncertainty is less foolish than unequivocal answers that can't be sustained.

//

The early church really struggled with the utter violence of Jesus' death.  It made no sense to Jesus' closest followers.  It turned their world upside down.  Even the meaning of amazing experiences with a resurrected Jesus was up for debate. 

One of the most shocking verses in the Bible is Matthew 28:16-17.  Keep in mind that this is a post-Easter passage.  Jesus was raised by the dead and seen by several disciples in Judea.

"The eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee to mountain where Jesus had told them to go.  When the saw [Jesus], they worshiped him; but some doubted."

Jesus was crucified and risen, and still there was doubt, seemingly among his remaining eleven disciples (only eleven because Judas was dead at this point).

//

There are volumes of books called ‘commentaries’ that seek to explain the context and meaning of the various books of the Bible.
Some commentaries are very scholarly and technical, others come from a particular theological perspective.  I find reviewing a number of commentaries a good way to prepare for preaching or teaching in the church.

It is an interesting activity to read various Biblical commentaries on this verse trying to understand its meaning.

Here are some of the explanations I found: 

·        One commentary dealt with this odd passage by just ignoring those words about doubt entirely and jumping right to the meaning of the next verse.

·        In another, the "some who doubted" must have not included the eleven disciples - they had to believe the commentator asserted, they’d already seen Jesus raised.  So, these words about some doubting must be referring to people standing off at a distance, without a clear view.

·        Still another suggested that the doubt referred to past doubt, for people like [doubting] Thomas the twin.  What the passage means is that even those who used to doubt, now worshiped Jesus.

·        Then there was the idea that doubt was only among the locals - they didn't believe that this Jesus being bowed down to had ever been dead.

·        The strangest one to me said that “the doubt: was not that Jesus had been raised from the dead, but that he had come to Galilee.  That commentary assumed the doubts felt that this person being worshiped must be someone else, not Jesus - not necessarily an impostor, but certainly a case of mistaken identity.

·        One commentary noted that doubt or uncertainty is also found in other resurrection appearances: Thomas (John 20); the disciples on the road to Emmaus who don’t recognize Jesus at first (Luke 24); the women leaving the tomb in such fear that they said nothing to anyone (Mark 16).

·        The same commentary noted that (like with the Thomas story), seeing is not always believing.  Faith comes by means other than evidence.

//

Faith comes by means other than evidence.

That may not meet everyone’s need for quick, easy and certain answers - but faith can be like that.

If it was always quick, easy and certain, we probably wouldn’t call it faith - which implies some trust (or at least hope) in what is unknown.

//

Therein lies the greatest promise - we don’t need certainty to walk with our Christ.  
We don’t need all the answers to follow Jesus.

We may get confused.  We may get it wrong and have to re-adjust our thinking, but the promise is (as we heard last week and in the Creed we said together again today - we are God’s people, no matter what. 

//

We are not alone. 

Thanks be to God.

//

Let us pray:

As we explore our life and actions in this season of lent, let us be open to your guidance.  Amen.

#142VU  "Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross"