Gospel: John 17:1-11
1st Reading: Acts 1:6-14
2nd Reading: 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11
Here’s a joke about stress and anxiety to start us off this morning: Man goes to doctor. Says he's anxious. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world. Doctor says the treatment is simple. The great clown Terrifini is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up. Man bursts into tears: "But doctor . . . I am Terrifini.”
“Cast all your anxiety on God, for God cares for you.” This text from 1 Peter doesn’t say we don’t have anything to worry about. It simply says to place them in God’s hands and quit worrying so much. It also says it might not be that easy to let go of our worries, that it is a discipline.
Let’s start with the worries. People seem to have always worried. I guess it is the curse of having a memory. Even dogs and cats worry, sometimes. In the book of Acts, the Disciples are worried about Jesus leaving them and ascending up to heaven. They are worried about being alone. They are worried about the political situation of their occupied country. They are worried about being powerless. In 1 Peter the people are going through a fiery ordeal. They feel alone. They are threatened and enslaved. They are far away from friends and loved ones. In the Gospel of John, the Disciples are worried about all that they will face once Jesus has physically left their side.
Worry can serve a positive function in our lives. It can help us to take a good long look at our problems and take positive steps toward overcoming them and avoiding negative outcomes. On the other hand, worry can take over our lives and make us sick. All over the Bible, we are reminded not to be afraid. Worry and anxiety can keep us from living life fully, from experiencing the restoration, support, strength, and establishment of God.
We worry about a lot of different things, but underneath, our worries are probably not so different from the worries of the Disciples. We might be worried about our own health. We get worried about changes in our culture or world. We worry about the happiness of our children and grandchildren. We worry about what other people think about us. Underneath all this, we are really worried about being powerless and alone. We are worried about losing control. We are worried about whether our lives are meaningful.
When anxiety becomes the threat or the excuse, God reminds us of who God is. Yes, God is powerful and mighty. God has been and always will be. God is there to challenge and guide us. But we are assured, whatever else we fear, we don’t have to be anxious about God. We don’t have to hide from God. We don’t have to be anxious about whether we are acceptable to God. We can be in awe of God and impressed with God, but God says, the angels say, Jesus says, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news.”
Think of who God is. God created balance and order in this world for our own good and the good of all living things. God brings us back into relationship every time we wander off. God creates covenants with us to give us a transformed life, to make better people out of us, to give life to our communities. In Christ Jesus, we see even more clearly that God heals, feeds, mends, embraces, teaches, builds up, encourages, restores. God is so determined to give us this new life, that God gave the only Son, gave up everything, became completely vulnerable in our threatening world and showed us that there really is nothing to be afraid of. “The Lord is my strength, whom shall I fear?” Whether we live or we die, we are the Lord’s.
The command not to fear or be anxious is not law, it is Gospel. It is not a rule, it is an invitation. If we are afraid of God’s wrath then we will only worry more. But instead God frees us from having to be anxious. It is an invitation to let go, to place our troubles in God’s hands, and to move forward free from anxiety and fear.
So how do we discipline ourselves to cast all our anxiety on God and let it go? How do we return our focus to be able to see the power and love of God everywhere we look and everywhere we go?
The first step might be to confront those fears. Write them all down where you can get a good look at them. Which of them do you have any control over? You might as well cross off the ones you don’t. How might you take reasonable steps to work through the fears and anxieties you can do something about? A community can be a good place to bring your fears. Discussing them with another person can help you get perspective on them and possible solutions that you haven’t thought of. Some things that tend to decrease worry that you might think are unrelated are taking good care of yourself, eating right, getting enough sleep, exercising, and getting plenty of positive human interaction, including touch.
It is so easy to dwell on the negative. Think of all the chemicals our bodies make and distribute. The ones that are sent out for worry and anxiety day after day can make us sick. But we can turn our minds to focus on the positive and our body chemistry changes. I am easily prone to anxiety. It is easy for me to picture all the things that are wrong with my world, my family, the earth, my church, and on and on. It begins to paint a picture in my mind of suffering and cruelty. All I feel when I see this picture is despair and hopelessness. I go over and over in my mind all the things that are wrong, dig those trenches deeper and deeper. The pathways of the mind get ruts in them. We get used to certain thought patterns and we get stuck in these loops.
The Disciples also got stuck in their sense of loss and despair. When Jesus departed, they stood there looking up for a very long time. Maybe they would have stayed there forever if a couple of angels hadn’t come by and asked them what they were looking for. These angels reminded the disciples that this was a temporary situation, that Jesus would be back, in fact Jesus was all around them especially in the community that had come to surround them and give them hope, who are named at the end of that reading.
When we are anxious, once we’ve faced our fears, Jesus invites us to look in another direction. Take some time to count your blessings. That helps construct a consciousness in our minds of all that is good in the world, our families, the earth, the church, and on and on. It is about acting to bring that neighborhood, world, or yourself more in keeping with the good world you can envision. That beautiful amazing place is the way that God sees the world and God is working through us and other people to help form the world more the way God sees it, where there is enough food to go around, where people share all things in common, where life is respected, where health and balance is restored, where folks are restored, supported, strengthened, and established.
I think that is what we wanted with our Reconciling in Christ statement. There are forces of fear in this world that would fear and discriminate against people we dearly love, who we know have value in God’s eyes, and who have added a richness to our lives. We could let those fears overwhelm us. But there are people who had a vision. It wasn’t just something they made up, but they took to heart the Biblical teaching that nothing can separate us from the love of God, and that God so loved the world that he gave his only son that we might have eternal life. They could see this vision of a place where absolutely everyone was welcome to participate in community and worship God and serve God in safety and acceptance. And while the rest of the world might not be there and yes, it may be a work in progress which we have not fully reached, we are working toward God’s vision in this church which we know to be God’s church, which is a safe place for all who experience discrimination based on any differences between people. Let us leave fear and anxiety behind and live God’s vision in this church.
Look around at the different people here with different experiences and opinions and lives. All have worried. All have loved. All are seeking God. God brings us together to be strengthened, to be welcomed, to let go of our fears and anxieties, to live fully in the love of Christ, sharing that with our neighbors.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
May 25, 2014
Gospel: John 14:15-21
1st Reading: Acts 17:22-31
Psalm 66:8-20
2nd Reading: 1 Peter 3:13-22
As many of you know, my little guy loves fans. He is obsessed with fans. I like to shop at second hand stores and we aren’t there very long before he usually spots a used fan on a shelf somewhere and asks for it. Sometimes, if it isn’t too dirty or too big to fit with him there in the cart, I get it down for him and let him play with it because it gives me more time to browse. Sometimes this just makes him very upset. He says, “Turn it on, Mommy!” and sometimes cries and carries on. I try to explain to him that it needs to be plugged in to work and sometimes he takes the plug and tries to connect it to the shopping cart or even to insert it somewhere near the blades.
We, too, need to be plugged in to our power source in order to come to life. Just like a fan can’t plug itself in, there isn’t really much we can do about it. God created us. Jesus came to show us life abundant. We are already plugged in to our power source. We just might not know it or feel it sometimes.
In Jesus’ time, Jewish folks believed that God’s power came down to Jerusalem and plugged in there. That was the hub. Then the priests plugged into that power source and they could decide who else could plug in to them to be connected to God. The priests were the gatekeepers. It was a similar situation in the Roman Catholic Church and still may be to a certain extent and there is perhaps still some of that residue left in Lutheranism and other forms of Christianity. For instance, we say in Lutheranism that only pastors can bless the bread and wine for communion, which is a sacrament, the body and blood of Christ. Communion gives a special access to God available only through pastors. I just call it job security, not gate-keeping or restricting access, especially since we say all are welcome to commune.
When Jesus came, it was like an electrical jolt of energy. The Disciples, Jesus’ closest followers, got used to having their power source right at hand. But Jesus was now telling them that he was going away and they were anticipating a power outage. This was an absolute disaster for them. Jesus was showing them how to stay connected, once he wasn’t there with them all the time teaching them and directly leading them in person every day. Although Jesus would die and later ascend into heaven, he would still be their power source and keep them connected to God. This way they would be able to do healings and feed people and share the good news and live abundantly and help others to do the same. In 1 Peter we get a picture of what happens to Jesus after he dies. Jesus’ job is to bring us to God, keep us connected. He held that power cord within himself as he died, linked it up with the unrighteous as well, put them on the power grid, and ascended to heaven, putting a permanent installment of power lines between us and God. That way we would stay connected forever.
So, without any initiative from us, we are connected with God. God gave us life and keeps us going, in this life and forever. And as living creatures made in God’s image, we are curious, and we begin to grope, to ask why, to look for meaning in life, to ask why we suffer, to explore how we can relate to each other and this world, to seek connection. As we seek answers to the deepest questions of life, and begin groping around in the dark, we may begin to get an inkling about this power source, this connection between us and God. And we a link, not just to our power source, but to all others who are also part of this grid. We find ourselves linked up to other people who are also asking similar questions, seeking, searching, hoping, praying for something more, looking for connection with something greater. And we even find ourselves connected to those who aren’t looking for more. We find ourselves connected to people who are just like us and those who are very different from us. We find ourselves connected to God, our power source, our source of life and love, and we find connection with each other.
When Paul went to Athens, at first he could find no connection with the people he met there. All he saw at first were these strange people who worshiped all these other gods. Everywhere he looked he saw shrines to every conceivable god, people misunderstanding their power source. But he knew in Christ he was connected so he looked harder for that connection to these strange people. He found this shrine to an unknown god. He knew these people were searching just like he had. They had all these gods, yet something was still missing. Their gods were more like people, just with a lot more power. They were like the X-Men. They had personality flaws and weaknesses and fought with each other all the time. These Athenian people were holding out hope that they would find the missing link, that they would find a connection that made a little more sense, that gave them a set of values that would be satisfying, that would explain life a little more clearly, that would show them their connections with each other and empower them to fully live. And Paul affirms their search and their openness. He found the common ground between him and these people. He related to the people he met there. He was able to share his experience of God, who God is, what God does. Paul explained that unknown god tothem, giving them all a connection to God through Jesus Christ.
The Christian slaves in first Peter knew their connection with their Creator. Even though they were far from home, had no rights, and were looked down upon and constantly discriminated against, they remembered their connection with God, their source of power and life. They never forgot that. Through this letter, they are being encouraged and built up to keep that connection open with those who oppress them. They are encouraged to keep up their hope, not in broken and damaging human institutions like slavery, but in God who frees us and loves us to live fully, to live connected. Hope was a rare thing in those times in that place where this letter was written. If their oppressors saw hope in them, with the least reason to hope, their oppressors might be inclined to ask them to give an account of the hope that is within them. Where does it come from? How do you keep going? These Christians are ready to give an answer, to tell that their hope comes from God and explain what it does for them and how it keeps them going and how they stay connected.
We live in a world that is so connected. The moment someone gets sick, a natural disaster strikes, or Justin Bieber gets arrested, we can know it. When Nigerian girls get kidnapped across the world, we know it. Yet sometimes we are so overwhelmed by all the information coming in that we can’t sort it out anymore, or we get so connected electronically, that we forget the live people right in front of us.
God dreams of a world where we tend to our connections. I can picture God’s dream where we know where we come from, that God made us in love to love and care for each other and this world that God made. I can picture God’s dream in which we tend to the connections between us, where we look for what we have in common, where we are curious about one another and ask questions and form relationships that bind us close, where we make ourselves vulnerable to each other and show who we really are, what hurts us, what gives us joy, opening fully that connection between us. I can picture God’s dream in which we truly feel one another’s joy and one another’s pain and it leads us to act to make this world more life-giving for everyone and everything that God has made good.
Today we are talking together about same-gender marriage and blessing in this church building. We’ve talked and acted over the years to be loving and inclusive of all people, to open our connections with those we’ve hurt over the years, to honor God’s values of love. We’ve studied the Bible and realized that we all pick and choose from the chapters and verses there. We know the Bible is inspired by God, but written by human hands, reworked and corrected, added to and subtracted from and then translated in thousands of different languages and translations. We know it was written in a certain time and place for a particular culture. And we know that Jesus talked about how we spend our money, that we should give it all away and that divorce is wrong, but never breathed a word about homosexuality, that was written down anywhere. And we know that we are one body, although with different perspectives and experiences, we belong to Christ. That connection between us and God and us and each other can never be severed. We belong to each other and we belong to Christ. We are connected to each other, despite our differences. And that is a good thing. We need each other to make the connection complete, because God’s love is for all—the righteous and the unrighteous, slaves and oppressors, democrats and republicans, men and women, and so forth. Let us remember our connections to God and each other as we move forward in our discussion, and see this as an opportunity to grow our faith, to give an account of the hope that is within us, and to grow into a stronger community of love.
1st Reading: Acts 17:22-31
Psalm 66:8-20
2nd Reading: 1 Peter 3:13-22
As many of you know, my little guy loves fans. He is obsessed with fans. I like to shop at second hand stores and we aren’t there very long before he usually spots a used fan on a shelf somewhere and asks for it. Sometimes, if it isn’t too dirty or too big to fit with him there in the cart, I get it down for him and let him play with it because it gives me more time to browse. Sometimes this just makes him very upset. He says, “Turn it on, Mommy!” and sometimes cries and carries on. I try to explain to him that it needs to be plugged in to work and sometimes he takes the plug and tries to connect it to the shopping cart or even to insert it somewhere near the blades.
We, too, need to be plugged in to our power source in order to come to life. Just like a fan can’t plug itself in, there isn’t really much we can do about it. God created us. Jesus came to show us life abundant. We are already plugged in to our power source. We just might not know it or feel it sometimes.
In Jesus’ time, Jewish folks believed that God’s power came down to Jerusalem and plugged in there. That was the hub. Then the priests plugged into that power source and they could decide who else could plug in to them to be connected to God. The priests were the gatekeepers. It was a similar situation in the Roman Catholic Church and still may be to a certain extent and there is perhaps still some of that residue left in Lutheranism and other forms of Christianity. For instance, we say in Lutheranism that only pastors can bless the bread and wine for communion, which is a sacrament, the body and blood of Christ. Communion gives a special access to God available only through pastors. I just call it job security, not gate-keeping or restricting access, especially since we say all are welcome to commune.
When Jesus came, it was like an electrical jolt of energy. The Disciples, Jesus’ closest followers, got used to having their power source right at hand. But Jesus was now telling them that he was going away and they were anticipating a power outage. This was an absolute disaster for them. Jesus was showing them how to stay connected, once he wasn’t there with them all the time teaching them and directly leading them in person every day. Although Jesus would die and later ascend into heaven, he would still be their power source and keep them connected to God. This way they would be able to do healings and feed people and share the good news and live abundantly and help others to do the same. In 1 Peter we get a picture of what happens to Jesus after he dies. Jesus’ job is to bring us to God, keep us connected. He held that power cord within himself as he died, linked it up with the unrighteous as well, put them on the power grid, and ascended to heaven, putting a permanent installment of power lines between us and God. That way we would stay connected forever.
So, without any initiative from us, we are connected with God. God gave us life and keeps us going, in this life and forever. And as living creatures made in God’s image, we are curious, and we begin to grope, to ask why, to look for meaning in life, to ask why we suffer, to explore how we can relate to each other and this world, to seek connection. As we seek answers to the deepest questions of life, and begin groping around in the dark, we may begin to get an inkling about this power source, this connection between us and God. And we a link, not just to our power source, but to all others who are also part of this grid. We find ourselves linked up to other people who are also asking similar questions, seeking, searching, hoping, praying for something more, looking for connection with something greater. And we even find ourselves connected to those who aren’t looking for more. We find ourselves connected to people who are just like us and those who are very different from us. We find ourselves connected to God, our power source, our source of life and love, and we find connection with each other.
When Paul went to Athens, at first he could find no connection with the people he met there. All he saw at first were these strange people who worshiped all these other gods. Everywhere he looked he saw shrines to every conceivable god, people misunderstanding their power source. But he knew in Christ he was connected so he looked harder for that connection to these strange people. He found this shrine to an unknown god. He knew these people were searching just like he had. They had all these gods, yet something was still missing. Their gods were more like people, just with a lot more power. They were like the X-Men. They had personality flaws and weaknesses and fought with each other all the time. These Athenian people were holding out hope that they would find the missing link, that they would find a connection that made a little more sense, that gave them a set of values that would be satisfying, that would explain life a little more clearly, that would show them their connections with each other and empower them to fully live. And Paul affirms their search and their openness. He found the common ground between him and these people. He related to the people he met there. He was able to share his experience of God, who God is, what God does. Paul explained that unknown god tothem, giving them all a connection to God through Jesus Christ.
The Christian slaves in first Peter knew their connection with their Creator. Even though they were far from home, had no rights, and were looked down upon and constantly discriminated against, they remembered their connection with God, their source of power and life. They never forgot that. Through this letter, they are being encouraged and built up to keep that connection open with those who oppress them. They are encouraged to keep up their hope, not in broken and damaging human institutions like slavery, but in God who frees us and loves us to live fully, to live connected. Hope was a rare thing in those times in that place where this letter was written. If their oppressors saw hope in them, with the least reason to hope, their oppressors might be inclined to ask them to give an account of the hope that is within them. Where does it come from? How do you keep going? These Christians are ready to give an answer, to tell that their hope comes from God and explain what it does for them and how it keeps them going and how they stay connected.
We live in a world that is so connected. The moment someone gets sick, a natural disaster strikes, or Justin Bieber gets arrested, we can know it. When Nigerian girls get kidnapped across the world, we know it. Yet sometimes we are so overwhelmed by all the information coming in that we can’t sort it out anymore, or we get so connected electronically, that we forget the live people right in front of us.
God dreams of a world where we tend to our connections. I can picture God’s dream where we know where we come from, that God made us in love to love and care for each other and this world that God made. I can picture God’s dream in which we tend to the connections between us, where we look for what we have in common, where we are curious about one another and ask questions and form relationships that bind us close, where we make ourselves vulnerable to each other and show who we really are, what hurts us, what gives us joy, opening fully that connection between us. I can picture God’s dream in which we truly feel one another’s joy and one another’s pain and it leads us to act to make this world more life-giving for everyone and everything that God has made good.
Today we are talking together about same-gender marriage and blessing in this church building. We’ve talked and acted over the years to be loving and inclusive of all people, to open our connections with those we’ve hurt over the years, to honor God’s values of love. We’ve studied the Bible and realized that we all pick and choose from the chapters and verses there. We know the Bible is inspired by God, but written by human hands, reworked and corrected, added to and subtracted from and then translated in thousands of different languages and translations. We know it was written in a certain time and place for a particular culture. And we know that Jesus talked about how we spend our money, that we should give it all away and that divorce is wrong, but never breathed a word about homosexuality, that was written down anywhere. And we know that we are one body, although with different perspectives and experiences, we belong to Christ. That connection between us and God and us and each other can never be severed. We belong to each other and we belong to Christ. We are connected to each other, despite our differences. And that is a good thing. We need each other to make the connection complete, because God’s love is for all—the righteous and the unrighteous, slaves and oppressors, democrats and republicans, men and women, and so forth. Let us remember our connections to God and each other as we move forward in our discussion, and see this as an opportunity to grow our faith, to give an account of the hope that is within us, and to grow into a stronger community of love.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
May 4, 2014
Gospel: Luke 24:13-35
Reading: Acts 2:14a, 36-41
I invite you this morning to stop and take notice of the beating of your heart. Find your pulse – either on your wrist or on your neck, wherever you can feel it strongly. This is fire. Pure energy. Just as the energy from the sun animates all life and ignites chemical reactions that enable the flourishing of life, this fire is also within us, igniting millions of chemical reactions that enable us to exist as the beings that we are. Consider where this pulse came from and how it came to be you. Feel your blood pulsing, keeping your cells alive, bringing oxygen and nutrients, and taking away carbon dioxide and other waste products. How amazing the heart is! Consider how it beats throughout our lives, the four chambers working together, the network of veins and capillaries stretching for tens of thousands of miles, if laid end to end about 2 ½ times around the earth. Continue to note the beating of your heart.
I remember the first time I heard Sterling’s heartbeat through the monitor at the midwife’s office—the fast beating whoosh, and each time after that. I remember seeing his heart on the ultrasound—I could see all the chambers. And now to hold him close and feel his heart beating, fast when he’s upset or has been running or jumping, slowing as he sleeps. What an amazing miracle that this organ is that beats inside each one of us.
The heart is involved in so much more than just pumping blood. According to Rollin McCraty Institute of HeartMath Director of Research, "The heart is a sensory organ and acts as a sophisticated information encoding and processing center that enables it to learn, remember, and make independent functional decisions.”. He discovered that the heart’s electromagnetic field, as measured by an electrocardiogram (ECG), in one individual could be detected and measured in another person when the pair either were seated within three feet of each other whether they were touching or not. The heart of one person sends out signals that affect other people nearby.
The heart is busy doing all these things that we are just beginning to understand, yet how often do we take a moment to be aware of what our heart does for us, how it affects us and others?
The heart is mentioned several times in the readings for this morning. In Acts, Peter is addressing a huge crowd of Jewish people of every language and nationality there in Jerusalem. Upon hearing all that Peter shares about Jesus, how he is the Messiah, many in the crowd were cut to the heart. They were touched. They had a physical reaction to this news. They knew about Jesus. They were the ones who had cried out for him to be crucified not two months before. This feeling of being cut to the heart may have been a mixture of shame a guilt, with some hope mixed in and some joy. Here were Jesus’ friends addressing them who had cried out for him to be crucified. The disciples didn’t come to shame them. They came to share the good news of God’s love, forgiveness, and new life for all. The hearts of those in the crowd were probably hurt because of what they had done to Jesus. In the heat of the moment and the pressure of the crowd, they’d acted rashly and cruelly. But now, they’d had some time to reflect on their actions. They may have seen him suffering there on the cross. Many of them likely had regretted their actions that day. Now Jesus’ friends were offering them acceptance and welcome. They were forgiven. They were invited to be part of something life-giving and new. They were invited to be part of the promise for all, for their children, for those who are far away. They heard loud and clear, each in their own language, it doesn’t matter where you come from, what language you speak, or how you’ve been cruel in the past, you are welcome to join with Jesus in life and love. They were invited into community which would strengthen them and give them new vision and awareness.
While we’re not quite having 3,000 baptisms today, it’s not a competition, and this is one of the largest groups of people we’ve welcomed here in a long time. Today God says to these new members that we are all in one community, God’s family. How wonderful that folks here at King of Kings took notice that someone they knew was searching and thought to invite them, that our website was able to convey the kind of welcome that Christ extends to us all, that through open minds and open hearts we’ve embraced these new people in our midst, that these folks have come to accept us for who we are with all our shortcomings and failings, and that together we make a new community. We gather together and affect one another’s hearts. Together we look with the eyes of our hearts, we share our stories of faith, we share our struggles, and together we try to see Jesus and his love and we try to be Jesus’ heart reaching out in love and generosity to those in need.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus calls the disciples slow of heart. He calls them foolish. He calls them slow of heart to believe what the prophets have been saying in the Bible all along about what the Messiah would be like and that he would be raised and that he would bring new life to all people and draw all creation to himself.
Jesus calls them slow of heart because they missed the point of his teachings. They walked with Jesus for three whole years. Still they didn’t see what was right in front of their faces, Jesus. The Disciples heard the scriptures. They went to the tomb. The same is true of us. We miss Jesus right in front of us. Jesus tells us to look for him in the poor and imprisoned and hungry and abandoned.
Jesus comes near to us and walks with us on the road. Our eyes don’t see him. We see what we’re used to seeing. We blame people for their condition, we judge. We don’t look and listen for Jesus. We stand around looking sad, feeling sorry for ourselves. We cry out for God to get people back in shape, to make this world better, and we miss Jesus standing right in front of us.
What if we stopped and listened to the beating of our hearts? What if we stopped and made ourselves aware that the person standing right in front of us also has a beating heart? What if we stopped and acknowledged the miracle right in front of us? And what if we listen to them, their story about what makes them who they are and what they are passionate about? And what if we shared some of our heart with them about what makes us who we are? What if we simply accompanied each other, shared our presence with one another, our energy field? Might we be more likely to see Jesus there? Could that change our whole world view until our hearts are burning to know other people more deeply and to know ourselves more deeply, and to know God more deeply? Might our hearts then burn with the Holy Spirit that binds us together into community?
Out of that conversation between the disciples and the risen Jesus, comes an invitation. The disciples urged Jesus to come to dinner. Whenever we invite Jesus, he accepts. And as he breaks that bread at the table with them and blesses it, he is blessing them with his presence, and the day ends. The old passes away and something new begins to occur. Even though it is dark, and it would have made more sense if they had recognized him in the light of day, their eyes are opened and everything changes. Their whole history is reinterpreted, considering Christ’s presence from the beginning of the universe, through time, in every tree and river, to the moment of their birth when their heart began to pump oxygen, breath, spirit, that their very own lungs had drawn into their body, in every dark valley, in every loss, in every life lesson, in every moment of love and forgiveness. God with them at all times and all places.
Jesus reveals himself to the Disciples and reveals himself to us. It was in the breaking of the bread that he is revealed. It is in those times when we are broken, not quite whole, that we are ragged and jagged, awkward, when we are so aware of our own need, our own failures, that our eyes can be open to see Jesus offering new life. Just as our hearts pump blood throughout our bodies and sustain our life, Jesus’ love pumps through our lives, whether we are aware of it or not, God’s presence with us.
God came to be a human being with a beating heart, like all of us. And he allowed his own heart to be broken, with all the injustice he saw, all the people he met that were left out, all the children going hungry, all the cruelty that we inflict on ourselves and each other and this beautiful world. And he allowed his heart to be broken, literally, as he died there on the cross. His beating heart stopped. And he handed his heart to us, in this meal that we share almost every week, the body and blood of Jesus, the heart of Jesus, pumping life and love to all of us, his body in this world.
Now, together with Christians of every time and place we are asked to be Jesus’ heart beating for the world. We are invited to have a heart for the poor, the old, for teenagers, for little ones, for the tired, for the sick, for the oppressed and hungry. We get to be Christ’s heart in the world, full of compassion and love, aware of all the beating hearts around us and responsive to their needs.
We find ourselves confused and disappointed in life, feeling abandoned, guilty, and weary. Like the disciples, we are walking away from the cross, from all the difficulties we’ve faced. We find Jesus walking with us. We find people of God, people of faith walking by our side. We find God’s grace and forgiveness walking with us, listening to us, being with us in our sorrow. And in a meal, a relationship is recognized that has always been there, that opens our eyes to the Kingdom God is creating in this world.
This is a tiny peek at the Kingdom of God. Where else do you have such an interesting group of new members? Where else do you find this combination of gifts, passions, and life experiences? Where do you find this particular combination of beating hearts? Don’t let yourself keep walking without seeing. We break bread together at this table each week—extend that invitation to each other, get to know each other, have a compassionate heart, and find yourself seeing Christ and experiencing God’s presence wherever you go.
Reading: Acts 2:14a, 36-41
I invite you this morning to stop and take notice of the beating of your heart. Find your pulse – either on your wrist or on your neck, wherever you can feel it strongly. This is fire. Pure energy. Just as the energy from the sun animates all life and ignites chemical reactions that enable the flourishing of life, this fire is also within us, igniting millions of chemical reactions that enable us to exist as the beings that we are. Consider where this pulse came from and how it came to be you. Feel your blood pulsing, keeping your cells alive, bringing oxygen and nutrients, and taking away carbon dioxide and other waste products. How amazing the heart is! Consider how it beats throughout our lives, the four chambers working together, the network of veins and capillaries stretching for tens of thousands of miles, if laid end to end about 2 ½ times around the earth. Continue to note the beating of your heart.
I remember the first time I heard Sterling’s heartbeat through the monitor at the midwife’s office—the fast beating whoosh, and each time after that. I remember seeing his heart on the ultrasound—I could see all the chambers. And now to hold him close and feel his heart beating, fast when he’s upset or has been running or jumping, slowing as he sleeps. What an amazing miracle that this organ is that beats inside each one of us.
The heart is involved in so much more than just pumping blood. According to Rollin McCraty Institute of HeartMath Director of Research, "The heart is a sensory organ and acts as a sophisticated information encoding and processing center that enables it to learn, remember, and make independent functional decisions.”. He discovered that the heart’s electromagnetic field, as measured by an electrocardiogram (ECG), in one individual could be detected and measured in another person when the pair either were seated within three feet of each other whether they were touching or not. The heart of one person sends out signals that affect other people nearby.
The heart is busy doing all these things that we are just beginning to understand, yet how often do we take a moment to be aware of what our heart does for us, how it affects us and others?
The heart is mentioned several times in the readings for this morning. In Acts, Peter is addressing a huge crowd of Jewish people of every language and nationality there in Jerusalem. Upon hearing all that Peter shares about Jesus, how he is the Messiah, many in the crowd were cut to the heart. They were touched. They had a physical reaction to this news. They knew about Jesus. They were the ones who had cried out for him to be crucified not two months before. This feeling of being cut to the heart may have been a mixture of shame a guilt, with some hope mixed in and some joy. Here were Jesus’ friends addressing them who had cried out for him to be crucified. The disciples didn’t come to shame them. They came to share the good news of God’s love, forgiveness, and new life for all. The hearts of those in the crowd were probably hurt because of what they had done to Jesus. In the heat of the moment and the pressure of the crowd, they’d acted rashly and cruelly. But now, they’d had some time to reflect on their actions. They may have seen him suffering there on the cross. Many of them likely had regretted their actions that day. Now Jesus’ friends were offering them acceptance and welcome. They were forgiven. They were invited to be part of something life-giving and new. They were invited to be part of the promise for all, for their children, for those who are far away. They heard loud and clear, each in their own language, it doesn’t matter where you come from, what language you speak, or how you’ve been cruel in the past, you are welcome to join with Jesus in life and love. They were invited into community which would strengthen them and give them new vision and awareness.
While we’re not quite having 3,000 baptisms today, it’s not a competition, and this is one of the largest groups of people we’ve welcomed here in a long time. Today God says to these new members that we are all in one community, God’s family. How wonderful that folks here at King of Kings took notice that someone they knew was searching and thought to invite them, that our website was able to convey the kind of welcome that Christ extends to us all, that through open minds and open hearts we’ve embraced these new people in our midst, that these folks have come to accept us for who we are with all our shortcomings and failings, and that together we make a new community. We gather together and affect one another’s hearts. Together we look with the eyes of our hearts, we share our stories of faith, we share our struggles, and together we try to see Jesus and his love and we try to be Jesus’ heart reaching out in love and generosity to those in need.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus calls the disciples slow of heart. He calls them foolish. He calls them slow of heart to believe what the prophets have been saying in the Bible all along about what the Messiah would be like and that he would be raised and that he would bring new life to all people and draw all creation to himself.
Jesus calls them slow of heart because they missed the point of his teachings. They walked with Jesus for three whole years. Still they didn’t see what was right in front of their faces, Jesus. The Disciples heard the scriptures. They went to the tomb. The same is true of us. We miss Jesus right in front of us. Jesus tells us to look for him in the poor and imprisoned and hungry and abandoned.
Jesus comes near to us and walks with us on the road. Our eyes don’t see him. We see what we’re used to seeing. We blame people for their condition, we judge. We don’t look and listen for Jesus. We stand around looking sad, feeling sorry for ourselves. We cry out for God to get people back in shape, to make this world better, and we miss Jesus standing right in front of us.
What if we stopped and listened to the beating of our hearts? What if we stopped and made ourselves aware that the person standing right in front of us also has a beating heart? What if we stopped and acknowledged the miracle right in front of us? And what if we listen to them, their story about what makes them who they are and what they are passionate about? And what if we shared some of our heart with them about what makes us who we are? What if we simply accompanied each other, shared our presence with one another, our energy field? Might we be more likely to see Jesus there? Could that change our whole world view until our hearts are burning to know other people more deeply and to know ourselves more deeply, and to know God more deeply? Might our hearts then burn with the Holy Spirit that binds us together into community?
Out of that conversation between the disciples and the risen Jesus, comes an invitation. The disciples urged Jesus to come to dinner. Whenever we invite Jesus, he accepts. And as he breaks that bread at the table with them and blesses it, he is blessing them with his presence, and the day ends. The old passes away and something new begins to occur. Even though it is dark, and it would have made more sense if they had recognized him in the light of day, their eyes are opened and everything changes. Their whole history is reinterpreted, considering Christ’s presence from the beginning of the universe, through time, in every tree and river, to the moment of their birth when their heart began to pump oxygen, breath, spirit, that their very own lungs had drawn into their body, in every dark valley, in every loss, in every life lesson, in every moment of love and forgiveness. God with them at all times and all places.
Jesus reveals himself to the Disciples and reveals himself to us. It was in the breaking of the bread that he is revealed. It is in those times when we are broken, not quite whole, that we are ragged and jagged, awkward, when we are so aware of our own need, our own failures, that our eyes can be open to see Jesus offering new life. Just as our hearts pump blood throughout our bodies and sustain our life, Jesus’ love pumps through our lives, whether we are aware of it or not, God’s presence with us.
God came to be a human being with a beating heart, like all of us. And he allowed his own heart to be broken, with all the injustice he saw, all the people he met that were left out, all the children going hungry, all the cruelty that we inflict on ourselves and each other and this beautiful world. And he allowed his heart to be broken, literally, as he died there on the cross. His beating heart stopped. And he handed his heart to us, in this meal that we share almost every week, the body and blood of Jesus, the heart of Jesus, pumping life and love to all of us, his body in this world.
Now, together with Christians of every time and place we are asked to be Jesus’ heart beating for the world. We are invited to have a heart for the poor, the old, for teenagers, for little ones, for the tired, for the sick, for the oppressed and hungry. We get to be Christ’s heart in the world, full of compassion and love, aware of all the beating hearts around us and responsive to their needs.
We find ourselves confused and disappointed in life, feeling abandoned, guilty, and weary. Like the disciples, we are walking away from the cross, from all the difficulties we’ve faced. We find Jesus walking with us. We find people of God, people of faith walking by our side. We find God’s grace and forgiveness walking with us, listening to us, being with us in our sorrow. And in a meal, a relationship is recognized that has always been there, that opens our eyes to the Kingdom God is creating in this world.
This is a tiny peek at the Kingdom of God. Where else do you have such an interesting group of new members? Where else do you find this combination of gifts, passions, and life experiences? Where do you find this particular combination of beating hearts? Don’t let yourself keep walking without seeing. We break bread together at this table each week—extend that invitation to each other, get to know each other, have a compassionate heart, and find yourself seeing Christ and experiencing God’s presence wherever you go.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
April 27, 2014
Gospel: John 20:19-31
1st Reading: Acts 2:14a, 22-32
2nd Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Remember your first bicycle? What color was it? Was it a hand-me-down, or did you get one shiny and new? Who taught you to ride it? How long did it take you to learn? Where did you go on your first bicycle? What adventures did you have?
When Jesus first met the Disciples, they were riding tricycles. There is nothing wrong with tricycles. They are steady and safe, but they don’t go very fast. They are pretty good at helping a person develop muscles, but they are pretty inefficient. Tricycles are preparation before riding a bicycle. They teach the basics about pedaling and stopping and starting. The disciples had been fishermen, and there was a tax collector and a doctor among them. Jesus seemed to see these as tricycle professions, that helped prepare them for their lives of discipleship, following him and doing his ministry.
So Jesus comes along and invites them to be fishers of people and to follow him. Jesus invited them off their tricycles and instead set about leading them on bicycles with training wheels. During this time, the disciples ride alongside Jesus. He pedaled and they pedaled. He used his brakes, they used their brakes. He signaled a right or left turn and they did the same. They were practicing ministry on their bikes with training wheels. Occasionally, Jesus would send them around the block under the buddy system, but asked them to check in after each time around to make sure they were in one piece before they went around again.
Over Holy Week, the Disciples took their training wheels off. They didn’t expect it to be so difficult. They felt ready, reassuring Jesus that they wouldn’t deny him, that they would stay focused on his teaching. Instead, they found themselves covered with scrapes and bumps and bruises. They fall again and again. Judas betrays Jesus and he runs straight into the street without looking. He doesn’t survive the week. The other disciples have their own mishaps. Peter betrays him. They all feel like failures as their friend Jesus lets go of the bicycle seat and they can’t seem to make this work. They can’t seem to get anywhere without his help.
Now we come to the disciples this morning. They have parked their bikes with no intention of ever riding them again. They are so frustrated and afraid that they are ready to go back to their tricycles. They are ready to go back to their everyday lives and forget everything that Jesus taught them, everything they ever experienced with training wheels on or even the brief moments of exhilaration they felt before they went tumbling to the ground. And since Jesus has been killed, their teacher won’t know that they gave up. They will never have to face him and see his disappointment.
Now enter Jesus. If you think they were afraid before, think how they feel now. Jesus comes to them, locked up in that room in fear. They are expecting to get a well-deserved scolding, to be read the riot act. All they get from Jesus is grace. “Peace be with you.” Jesus isn’t going to escalate their fear or point out all their failures and failings. Instead Jesus gives them peace.
Then he breathes on them. You can’t just tell someone to be at peace. It is something you can show and you can share. You can’t give peace unless you are at peace. If you are anxious, peace won’t be communicated. A slow, even breath is one way of communicating peace. Go ahead, try it.
When Sterling was a little baby and he’d cry when he was teething or something, I’d feel frustrated sometimes. But I knew that the best way to give him peace was to be at peace, myself. I’d take a deep breath and relax my tense muscles and I’d just feel him relax in my arms. Sometimes he would even take a deep breath to match mine.
Jesus does that for the disciples. He gives them a gift of his breath, his peace, his forgiveness. He gives them his calm breath to calm their fears and invite them to breathe so their bodies and minds would be ready to get back on the bicycle and try one more time or however many more times it would take until they were experts.
Once Jesus imparted his calm breath to them, he does give them one piece of advice. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” If you are going to ride this bicycle, to share the good news swiftly and effectively, you can’t always be looking backward, blaming, beating yourself up, dwelling in the past. Retaining sins, yours or others, will only hold you back. Forgiveness is the only way forward. He was telling them they would need to learn forgiveness to be disciples and they were going to need to accept his forgiveness.
They had let him down. They had increased his suffering when he needed them most. They had denied his friendship. They had pretended they didn’t even know him. He had died a most horrible, lonely death and they had survived because they had denied him. They had the worst kind of survivor’s guilt. Now here is Jesus standing before them, the one they had abandoned. He offers them peace. He offers them forgiveness. He offers them another chance to do his ministry, to share his love, to be his disciples. He refuses to look back or retain sins. It is all forgiveness for Jesus and he recommends that course to his disciples.
But one disciple wasn’t there that day. Thomas had been away and when he came back the Disciples told him that Jesus was raised and had visited them. Thomas took one look at this cowering group of Disciples and he's not buying it. They are still all locked up in fear. Their bicycles are still parked in the garage. If Jesus had come and breathed peace on them, if Jesus had forgiven them and told them to let go of their grudges and regrets, if Jesus had told them he was sending them out, what were they still doing here? Because of their paralysis, Thomas can't possibly believe. Their actions don't match the story they've told.
Thankfully we know that they eventually did venture from that locked room and found the courage to get back on their bicycles and share their story far and wide even at great risk to themselves, until it reached our ears today.
The Sundays of Easter we proclaim, Christ is Risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! We say it loud and proud with our voices. Do we show it in our actions or are we still locked up in our fears?
Jesus empowers us in all different ways. In the Gospel, Thomas is away when Jesus comes to the Disciples. Jesus ensures that he is empowered by community--that he is reunited with the witnesses and thereby strengthened to share the Gospel. In the same way, we have this testimony of the witnesses that they touched and saw with their own eyes. We have the generations who have gone before as part of our community that give us strength to live the Gospel, to reach out in love, to forgive, to move forward. And we have the generations who are yet to come, that give us courage to live the truth of the Gospel.
We have Jesus' instructions in the Bible, the Sermon on the Mount reminding us that blessing is more than just what is on the surface, his example of giving his life for the sake of others, his parables making us think deeply about our own participation in God's Kingdom ways now today.
We have Jesus' challenge to stretch ourselves, to look deep within ourselves and face our brokenness from other people and from this beautiful earth that God created. God wants to show us how to be a better team player. God invites us to have a changed life because of him, not just keep repeating the same mistakes over and over. God wants us to have a life that, although quite possibly more difficult than the one we have now, will also be more fulfilling, more life-giving, more balanced. Finally, Jesus offers peace when we are afraid, encouragement to get right back up on that bicycle and get moving forward to do God's work of love.
By this new life, we find ourselves blessed and we become a blessing to others, so that others can meet Jesus in their own way, have their own experience of forgiveness and healing and new life and salvation.
Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
You are risen! You are sent by Christ to have new life and share new life! Live in God's love!
1st Reading: Acts 2:14a, 22-32
2nd Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Remember your first bicycle? What color was it? Was it a hand-me-down, or did you get one shiny and new? Who taught you to ride it? How long did it take you to learn? Where did you go on your first bicycle? What adventures did you have?
When Jesus first met the Disciples, they were riding tricycles. There is nothing wrong with tricycles. They are steady and safe, but they don’t go very fast. They are pretty good at helping a person develop muscles, but they are pretty inefficient. Tricycles are preparation before riding a bicycle. They teach the basics about pedaling and stopping and starting. The disciples had been fishermen, and there was a tax collector and a doctor among them. Jesus seemed to see these as tricycle professions, that helped prepare them for their lives of discipleship, following him and doing his ministry.
So Jesus comes along and invites them to be fishers of people and to follow him. Jesus invited them off their tricycles and instead set about leading them on bicycles with training wheels. During this time, the disciples ride alongside Jesus. He pedaled and they pedaled. He used his brakes, they used their brakes. He signaled a right or left turn and they did the same. They were practicing ministry on their bikes with training wheels. Occasionally, Jesus would send them around the block under the buddy system, but asked them to check in after each time around to make sure they were in one piece before they went around again.
Over Holy Week, the Disciples took their training wheels off. They didn’t expect it to be so difficult. They felt ready, reassuring Jesus that they wouldn’t deny him, that they would stay focused on his teaching. Instead, they found themselves covered with scrapes and bumps and bruises. They fall again and again. Judas betrays Jesus and he runs straight into the street without looking. He doesn’t survive the week. The other disciples have their own mishaps. Peter betrays him. They all feel like failures as their friend Jesus lets go of the bicycle seat and they can’t seem to make this work. They can’t seem to get anywhere without his help.
Now we come to the disciples this morning. They have parked their bikes with no intention of ever riding them again. They are so frustrated and afraid that they are ready to go back to their tricycles. They are ready to go back to their everyday lives and forget everything that Jesus taught them, everything they ever experienced with training wheels on or even the brief moments of exhilaration they felt before they went tumbling to the ground. And since Jesus has been killed, their teacher won’t know that they gave up. They will never have to face him and see his disappointment.
Now enter Jesus. If you think they were afraid before, think how they feel now. Jesus comes to them, locked up in that room in fear. They are expecting to get a well-deserved scolding, to be read the riot act. All they get from Jesus is grace. “Peace be with you.” Jesus isn’t going to escalate their fear or point out all their failures and failings. Instead Jesus gives them peace.
Then he breathes on them. You can’t just tell someone to be at peace. It is something you can show and you can share. You can’t give peace unless you are at peace. If you are anxious, peace won’t be communicated. A slow, even breath is one way of communicating peace. Go ahead, try it.
When Sterling was a little baby and he’d cry when he was teething or something, I’d feel frustrated sometimes. But I knew that the best way to give him peace was to be at peace, myself. I’d take a deep breath and relax my tense muscles and I’d just feel him relax in my arms. Sometimes he would even take a deep breath to match mine.
Jesus does that for the disciples. He gives them a gift of his breath, his peace, his forgiveness. He gives them his calm breath to calm their fears and invite them to breathe so their bodies and minds would be ready to get back on the bicycle and try one more time or however many more times it would take until they were experts.
Once Jesus imparted his calm breath to them, he does give them one piece of advice. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” If you are going to ride this bicycle, to share the good news swiftly and effectively, you can’t always be looking backward, blaming, beating yourself up, dwelling in the past. Retaining sins, yours or others, will only hold you back. Forgiveness is the only way forward. He was telling them they would need to learn forgiveness to be disciples and they were going to need to accept his forgiveness.
They had let him down. They had increased his suffering when he needed them most. They had denied his friendship. They had pretended they didn’t even know him. He had died a most horrible, lonely death and they had survived because they had denied him. They had the worst kind of survivor’s guilt. Now here is Jesus standing before them, the one they had abandoned. He offers them peace. He offers them forgiveness. He offers them another chance to do his ministry, to share his love, to be his disciples. He refuses to look back or retain sins. It is all forgiveness for Jesus and he recommends that course to his disciples.
But one disciple wasn’t there that day. Thomas had been away and when he came back the Disciples told him that Jesus was raised and had visited them. Thomas took one look at this cowering group of Disciples and he's not buying it. They are still all locked up in fear. Their bicycles are still parked in the garage. If Jesus had come and breathed peace on them, if Jesus had forgiven them and told them to let go of their grudges and regrets, if Jesus had told them he was sending them out, what were they still doing here? Because of their paralysis, Thomas can't possibly believe. Their actions don't match the story they've told.
Thankfully we know that they eventually did venture from that locked room and found the courage to get back on their bicycles and share their story far and wide even at great risk to themselves, until it reached our ears today.
The Sundays of Easter we proclaim, Christ is Risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! We say it loud and proud with our voices. Do we show it in our actions or are we still locked up in our fears?
Jesus empowers us in all different ways. In the Gospel, Thomas is away when Jesus comes to the Disciples. Jesus ensures that he is empowered by community--that he is reunited with the witnesses and thereby strengthened to share the Gospel. In the same way, we have this testimony of the witnesses that they touched and saw with their own eyes. We have the generations who have gone before as part of our community that give us strength to live the Gospel, to reach out in love, to forgive, to move forward. And we have the generations who are yet to come, that give us courage to live the truth of the Gospel.
We have Jesus' instructions in the Bible, the Sermon on the Mount reminding us that blessing is more than just what is on the surface, his example of giving his life for the sake of others, his parables making us think deeply about our own participation in God's Kingdom ways now today.
We have Jesus' challenge to stretch ourselves, to look deep within ourselves and face our brokenness from other people and from this beautiful earth that God created. God wants to show us how to be a better team player. God invites us to have a changed life because of him, not just keep repeating the same mistakes over and over. God wants us to have a life that, although quite possibly more difficult than the one we have now, will also be more fulfilling, more life-giving, more balanced. Finally, Jesus offers peace when we are afraid, encouragement to get right back up on that bicycle and get moving forward to do God's work of love.
By this new life, we find ourselves blessed and we become a blessing to others, so that others can meet Jesus in their own way, have their own experience of forgiveness and healing and new life and salvation.
Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
You are risen! You are sent by Christ to have new life and share new life! Live in God's love!
Easter 2014
Gospel: Matthew 28:1-10
1st Reading: Acts 10:34-43
2nd Reading: Colossians 3:1-4
Such a mixture this morning of fear and joy! The fear gets us asking, “Am I good enough? Do I believe the right things? Am I doing what God wants me to? Am I where I am supposed to be?” Upon hearing the good news of God’s love, or knowing the unconditional love of another person, then joy becomes the prominent emotion. The joy has us proclaiming, “I am loved. You are loved. There can be peace and new life.”
“Anyone who fears him and does what is right....” This gets us asking if we’re good enough.
“…is acceptable to him.” Now comes the joyful part—we are acceptable.
“They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.” Now we’re afraid again.
“but God raised him on the third day.” Back to joy.
“He is the judge.” Now we’re afraid.
“Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” Joy and relief.
Fear and joy are all mixed together in the Gospel, too. The guards are fearful of the earthquake and the angel. They faint from fear, like dead men. The angels tell the two Marys not to be afraid. When they left with their message for the disciples they had both fear and joy. When they meet Jesus on their way, he again tells them not to be afraid.
When I was growing up church was something very serious and communion so mysterious and fearful. God gave God’s only son as a sacrifice. That is Jesus’ own body and blood. He suffered. His own disciples didn’t understand him. The whole world rejected him. We reject him every day. It was all so sad. I used to wonder when I took communion if Jesus could feel me chewing him up. It wasn’t until I got to seminary that I learned that we weren’t crucifying Jesus every time we communed. So many somber faces at the communion railing made me sad and fearful.
And yet in Sunday School, we sang, “If you’re happy and you know it,” and “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy down in my heart.” I guess it was ok for kids to be happy, but once you become an adult, it is time for fear and sadness and seriousness. And yet, even for the adults it was a mixed bag. The word “Eucharist” that we use to talk about communion means “celebration.” And communion was about remembering the story of how God saves us, which seems to me a joyful thing, and remembering the body of Christ, putting all the people back together again who were separated by sin and fear.
How many times has fear pushed people away from church and God? How many times do Jesus and the angels have to say, “Do not fear,” before we understand that we don’t have to be afraid and we don’t have to try to scare others.
It really has been children that have taught me true joy at the communion table and at church. This is Easter Joy that God is trying to give us, but we have been too afraid to believe or accept. It began with Bethany, a little girl adopted from Bulgaria, who became a part of my home congregation. She was two when she finally came into her new family, the first child to be adopted out of a particular orphanage. We prayed for her for her pending adoption for over a year. We gathered baby items to be given to the orphanage to win their good favor. And when she came she held the tops of her hands together because she was so used to having her hands slapped that she was protecting them. But when we sang “Now the Feast and Celebration” at church we would dance with her in the pews and now she teaches dance, a college student at OSU. That’s what it is to be joyful in the face of death and to experience resurrection. When I came here and gave communion some of my very first times, there were the expectant hands of Otis and Oliver, reaching up over the communion railings, their expectant faces wanting the bread. There was the time that one of the Hellums boys stuck his whole hand in the communion cup. And the times that children have assisted with communion because, although we may get the seriousness of it all, they get the joy of it. They get the joy of being included. They get the joy of tasting something delicious. They get the joy of community. They are eager to see, hear, touch, smell, taste and experience Jesus, not fearful.
Sometimes those old teachings come back to me, too—the old conversations about what is proper attire for an acolyte and how much understanding is enough to have communion. But I have to remember, those are not from God or the Bible. Those are human conversations from a particular time and place. They are about what may or may not be proper, which is a matter of opinion. They are about what is human, not divine. They cause us to draw lines of partiality and judgment.
The scriptures say it clearly, “God shows no partiality.” Peter is speaking to some Romans. He is finally getting it. Nobody is left out. These Romans are loved by God. They are included. Today, children commune at any age. Those who haven’t been baptized commune. All are truly welcome at God’s table. God shows no partiality. Jesus appears first to the women at the tomb, to those who weren’t even considered fully human. God shows no partiality. For any who have ever been left out, this is reason for joy.
To be left out is a kind of death. Not to be recognized for your gifts is to be rejected, not a full member of the community, not to be fully human, not to be allowed to share your God-given gifts with the community. But to know that God shows no partiality, that God is love, and that we are Christ’s body in this world sent to love all, is a joyful thing. When we include those who haven’t been included, we open ourselves to learning from them. This now is what the children are teaching us if we are willing to set aside our fears and allow the joy of Christ to bring us to new life and hope.
Here is a list of things that children do during communion, written by a United Methodist Pastor Jason Valendy in Saginaw, Texas. These are all things he wished adults did more often:
Run down the aisle. It is okay to run down the aisle for communion. In fact shouldn't we all be running to feast with Christ?
The women at the tomb ran to tell the Disciples the good news and they ran smack into Jesus. They weren’t very dignified—they were excited, they were joyful. They didn’t care how ridiculous they looked. There was an urgency, anticipation, joyful expectation.
Take communion with a stuffed animal. This should be acceptable, as long as the stuff animal is served communion as well. Kids understand that everyone is welcomed to the table. Human and teddy bear alike.
If you are 4 or 5 years old—what does “everyone is welcome” look like to you?
Drink every drop. It is critical that every drop of grape juice and morsel of bread is consumed at communion. Who cares is people are waiting behind you to move back to their pews, you do not leave that table until you have been able to take ever last moment you can with Christ.
Do you see these kids tasting it, experiencing it, enjoying it? We have a lot to learn from them.
Ask for a "big piece". Why settle for just a little bit of Christ? Don't we all want a "big piece" of Christ?
Or two pieces like we’ve got here regularly on Sundays, now! If one is good, then two is twice as good. Who wouldn’t want more!
Dunk the whole piece into the cup. If you get to dip the bread into the juice, soak that bread and be sure to no worry about drips or stains. Don’t hold back. Let your whole hand be immersed in God’s blessing.
Seek out the leftovers. The bread of Life is too good to discard in the trash or fed to the birds. Eat all the bread after worship.
Some congregations pass around the communion bread in the social hall after church. We usually do that at our pastor’s gatherings. Here at King of Kings, come ask for some at the kitchen, if you’d like some more.
Laugh. Partaking in the banquet of God is a joyful event! Smile, laugh and if you need to, put a rubber crocodile on your head and make the pastor laugh with you.
There is nothing that bonds us together like laughter around the dinner table. The same is true of God’s table.
Express thanks. One thumbs up at the meal is something, but two thumbs up is great.
We can all benefit from being more thankful, more aware of our blessings and where they come from.
Save some for later. Putting bread into your pocket seems like a reasonable way to take Christ into the world.
Whether you are planning to eat it yourself or share it with a friend, it is good to remember that God goes with us into our everyday lives. He is always with us and there is always enough of him to share.
We have so much fear in our lives, so much seriousness. God walks with us in our darkest valleys and holds us close. And when we least expect it, Jesus appears before us or sends an angel with a message we don’t always accept or understand, that he is risen and new life is happening.
What we do at church and at communion ought to have something to do with our regular life. How we are at the communion table has much to do with how we love and how we live. Whatever your fears and limitations, run toward life. Run toward love as the two Mary’s did that first Easter and as countless children have toward the bread of life. Share love, share life without partiality. Enjoy life and love. Seek more life and love. Be immersed in life and love. Return to it again and again. Don’t waste any of it—get every last drop that’s coming to you. Smile and laugh as you share it with others. Give thanks for it and take it with you wherever you go.
God meets us at the various tombs of our lives where we stand in disappointment and loneliness, broken, hurting, and somber. God wrestles there in the tomb for three days. And God sees the bigger picture, that the story doesn’t end there. God meets us with a message of hope that God is there with us and that there is more to the story. New life is possible. When all hope seems to be lost, new life is already occurring, not just for Jesus, but for all of us. It isn’t the kind of hope in which we are more put together, but in which we admit we are all unraveled and stand there as helpless as children, trusting, open to miracles, ready to learn and grow and see in new ways and experience wonder and Easter joy.
1st Reading: Acts 10:34-43
2nd Reading: Colossians 3:1-4
Such a mixture this morning of fear and joy! The fear gets us asking, “Am I good enough? Do I believe the right things? Am I doing what God wants me to? Am I where I am supposed to be?” Upon hearing the good news of God’s love, or knowing the unconditional love of another person, then joy becomes the prominent emotion. The joy has us proclaiming, “I am loved. You are loved. There can be peace and new life.”
“Anyone who fears him and does what is right....” This gets us asking if we’re good enough.
“…is acceptable to him.” Now comes the joyful part—we are acceptable.
“They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.” Now we’re afraid again.
“but God raised him on the third day.” Back to joy.
“He is the judge.” Now we’re afraid.
“Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” Joy and relief.
Fear and joy are all mixed together in the Gospel, too. The guards are fearful of the earthquake and the angel. They faint from fear, like dead men. The angels tell the two Marys not to be afraid. When they left with their message for the disciples they had both fear and joy. When they meet Jesus on their way, he again tells them not to be afraid.
When I was growing up church was something very serious and communion so mysterious and fearful. God gave God’s only son as a sacrifice. That is Jesus’ own body and blood. He suffered. His own disciples didn’t understand him. The whole world rejected him. We reject him every day. It was all so sad. I used to wonder when I took communion if Jesus could feel me chewing him up. It wasn’t until I got to seminary that I learned that we weren’t crucifying Jesus every time we communed. So many somber faces at the communion railing made me sad and fearful.
And yet in Sunday School, we sang, “If you’re happy and you know it,” and “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy down in my heart.” I guess it was ok for kids to be happy, but once you become an adult, it is time for fear and sadness and seriousness. And yet, even for the adults it was a mixed bag. The word “Eucharist” that we use to talk about communion means “celebration.” And communion was about remembering the story of how God saves us, which seems to me a joyful thing, and remembering the body of Christ, putting all the people back together again who were separated by sin and fear.
How many times has fear pushed people away from church and God? How many times do Jesus and the angels have to say, “Do not fear,” before we understand that we don’t have to be afraid and we don’t have to try to scare others.
It really has been children that have taught me true joy at the communion table and at church. This is Easter Joy that God is trying to give us, but we have been too afraid to believe or accept. It began with Bethany, a little girl adopted from Bulgaria, who became a part of my home congregation. She was two when she finally came into her new family, the first child to be adopted out of a particular orphanage. We prayed for her for her pending adoption for over a year. We gathered baby items to be given to the orphanage to win their good favor. And when she came she held the tops of her hands together because she was so used to having her hands slapped that she was protecting them. But when we sang “Now the Feast and Celebration” at church we would dance with her in the pews and now she teaches dance, a college student at OSU. That’s what it is to be joyful in the face of death and to experience resurrection. When I came here and gave communion some of my very first times, there were the expectant hands of Otis and Oliver, reaching up over the communion railings, their expectant faces wanting the bread. There was the time that one of the Hellums boys stuck his whole hand in the communion cup. And the times that children have assisted with communion because, although we may get the seriousness of it all, they get the joy of it. They get the joy of being included. They get the joy of tasting something delicious. They get the joy of community. They are eager to see, hear, touch, smell, taste and experience Jesus, not fearful.
Sometimes those old teachings come back to me, too—the old conversations about what is proper attire for an acolyte and how much understanding is enough to have communion. But I have to remember, those are not from God or the Bible. Those are human conversations from a particular time and place. They are about what may or may not be proper, which is a matter of opinion. They are about what is human, not divine. They cause us to draw lines of partiality and judgment.
The scriptures say it clearly, “God shows no partiality.” Peter is speaking to some Romans. He is finally getting it. Nobody is left out. These Romans are loved by God. They are included. Today, children commune at any age. Those who haven’t been baptized commune. All are truly welcome at God’s table. God shows no partiality. Jesus appears first to the women at the tomb, to those who weren’t even considered fully human. God shows no partiality. For any who have ever been left out, this is reason for joy.
To be left out is a kind of death. Not to be recognized for your gifts is to be rejected, not a full member of the community, not to be fully human, not to be allowed to share your God-given gifts with the community. But to know that God shows no partiality, that God is love, and that we are Christ’s body in this world sent to love all, is a joyful thing. When we include those who haven’t been included, we open ourselves to learning from them. This now is what the children are teaching us if we are willing to set aside our fears and allow the joy of Christ to bring us to new life and hope.
Here is a list of things that children do during communion, written by a United Methodist Pastor Jason Valendy in Saginaw, Texas. These are all things he wished adults did more often:
Run down the aisle. It is okay to run down the aisle for communion. In fact shouldn't we all be running to feast with Christ?
The women at the tomb ran to tell the Disciples the good news and they ran smack into Jesus. They weren’t very dignified—they were excited, they were joyful. They didn’t care how ridiculous they looked. There was an urgency, anticipation, joyful expectation.
Take communion with a stuffed animal. This should be acceptable, as long as the stuff animal is served communion as well. Kids understand that everyone is welcomed to the table. Human and teddy bear alike.
If you are 4 or 5 years old—what does “everyone is welcome” look like to you?
Drink every drop. It is critical that every drop of grape juice and morsel of bread is consumed at communion. Who cares is people are waiting behind you to move back to their pews, you do not leave that table until you have been able to take ever last moment you can with Christ.
Do you see these kids tasting it, experiencing it, enjoying it? We have a lot to learn from them.
Ask for a "big piece". Why settle for just a little bit of Christ? Don't we all want a "big piece" of Christ?
Or two pieces like we’ve got here regularly on Sundays, now! If one is good, then two is twice as good. Who wouldn’t want more!
Dunk the whole piece into the cup. If you get to dip the bread into the juice, soak that bread and be sure to no worry about drips or stains. Don’t hold back. Let your whole hand be immersed in God’s blessing.
Seek out the leftovers. The bread of Life is too good to discard in the trash or fed to the birds. Eat all the bread after worship.
Some congregations pass around the communion bread in the social hall after church. We usually do that at our pastor’s gatherings. Here at King of Kings, come ask for some at the kitchen, if you’d like some more.
Laugh. Partaking in the banquet of God is a joyful event! Smile, laugh and if you need to, put a rubber crocodile on your head and make the pastor laugh with you.
There is nothing that bonds us together like laughter around the dinner table. The same is true of God’s table.
Express thanks. One thumbs up at the meal is something, but two thumbs up is great.
We can all benefit from being more thankful, more aware of our blessings and where they come from.
Save some for later. Putting bread into your pocket seems like a reasonable way to take Christ into the world.
Whether you are planning to eat it yourself or share it with a friend, it is good to remember that God goes with us into our everyday lives. He is always with us and there is always enough of him to share.
We have so much fear in our lives, so much seriousness. God walks with us in our darkest valleys and holds us close. And when we least expect it, Jesus appears before us or sends an angel with a message we don’t always accept or understand, that he is risen and new life is happening.
What we do at church and at communion ought to have something to do with our regular life. How we are at the communion table has much to do with how we love and how we live. Whatever your fears and limitations, run toward life. Run toward love as the two Mary’s did that first Easter and as countless children have toward the bread of life. Share love, share life without partiality. Enjoy life and love. Seek more life and love. Be immersed in life and love. Return to it again and again. Don’t waste any of it—get every last drop that’s coming to you. Smile and laugh as you share it with others. Give thanks for it and take it with you wherever you go.
God meets us at the various tombs of our lives where we stand in disappointment and loneliness, broken, hurting, and somber. God wrestles there in the tomb for three days. And God sees the bigger picture, that the story doesn’t end there. God meets us with a message of hope that God is there with us and that there is more to the story. New life is possible. When all hope seems to be lost, new life is already occurring, not just for Jesus, but for all of us. It isn’t the kind of hope in which we are more put together, but in which we admit we are all unraveled and stand there as helpless as children, trusting, open to miracles, ready to learn and grow and see in new ways and experience wonder and Easter joy.
Homily for Maundy Thursday, 2014
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is preparing the Disciples for something big. It reminded me of the first time I read Homer’s Odyssey, the way Odysseus prepares himself and his comrades before their encounter with the Sirens. Just by the seriousness of their preparation, I knew something big was coming. What could it be that could so lure a group of heroes off track? What kind of monster lurked near the ship on its journey that would be such a threat? Odysseus orders his men to stop their ears with bee’s wax, but he doesn’t want to be protected from that sound. He wants to hear the Siren song and live. So he has the men tie him to the ship’s mast and not release him no matter how he begs. What a surprise it was, then, that these were no monsters, at least outwardly, but only beautiful women with a song so alluring that men would leap into the sea at the sound of it and die.
In the Gospel for this evening, the Disciples are not going to be spared with any bees wax or other protections from what was coming. They were about to have a very troubling week in which their teacher, mentor, and friend would be tortured and killed, their loyalty would fail them, and their entire belief system would be shaken and shattered. They would see and hear it all with no earplugs or blindfolds.
Jesus had been preparing them, though, from the very beginning of his ministry. He prepared them for healing and feeding and casting out demons. He showed them what to do and he sent them out to do it. He gave them illustrations in the form of stories and parables so that they could begin to make sense of what they were seeing and hearing from Jesus and learn to think for themselves. He taught them the scriptures to give them grounding and a bigger context for all that they were seeing and doing.
He told them outright what was going to happen, that he would die and rise again. They were confused by these statements. They didn’t believe Jesus. They might have thought he was speaking metaphorically. They tried to correct him, to tell him he was wrong about all that.
But now Jesus departure is imminent. Jesus has one last chance to wrap it all up, to give them one last lesson to get them through so that his ministry continues after his death. Soon, what Jesus has been telling them will be clear, as he is arrested and tortured and crucified and breathes his last. He knows that they will be so afraid. Their instincts will be to scatter and hide and forget everything they learned. The Sirens of their fears will soon be calling to them to jump ship. The Sirens of the accusations of those who know they are associates of Jesus will be calling to them to scatter. The Sirens of an easier life will be calling them away from all that Jesus has taught them.
What Jesus does is to prepare them by tying them to the mast. The mast I am referring to is God. Jesus ties them with scripture, the stories of God saving the people throughout the ages: The story of the Exodus from slavery into freedom. This ties them, joins them with their past, their ancestors, with God and God’s saving nature from the very beginning. He ties them with service. By washing their feet, by such intimacy and care, they will be linked with him forever. Whatever else happens in the coming week, they have shared this moment with him and can see clearly his love for them. They have built a memory that will ground them when they are afraid. He has tied them by his example. They have a way of reaching out to each other, of caring for and serving one another that tie them to the other Disciples. When Jesus is no longer with them, they will be able to look to each other and care for each other. This will sustain them and hold them secure. Jesus has tied them with love. This is the strongest rope of all. The world will call to them with all kinds of lies, that death is the end of the story, that what is worthwhile in life should not be this hard, that their experience of Jesus isn’t real. But love will hold them to that mast, to God and to each other. It will show them the truth.
This is not just a story that happened a long time ago. Jesus knows that our lives are full of trouble. We will not be spared difficulties and suffering. Loving God doesn’t provide earplugs or blindfolds. But through these stories, we, too are tied to our mast. We are tied to God through the stories handed over to us, of God’s saving action, that aren’t just about other people, but us, too. We are tied through service, the service that we do for each other this night and together in the Pantry and Backpack buddies. We are tied through love. Jesus loves us. We are to love one another. That’s what will help us through troubled times. That’s what will help us see and participate in the Kingdom that God is bringing to this world.
It is easy to be two congregations, independent, self-sufficient, proud to be among the few remaining who can afford a full-time pastor, with beautiful buildings each in their own way, with many ministries that benefit the community. And Jesus washes our feet and tells us that independence isn’t the goal. There will be times of trouble. We will experience times of fear and suffering. God is giving us a gift tonight, the gift of himself, the gift of a strong mast, God, the gift of strong rope which is story, service, and love, the gift of each other and this town to serve. May we accept this gift and ride out the storm together bound and prepared by this love.
In the Gospel for this evening, the Disciples are not going to be spared with any bees wax or other protections from what was coming. They were about to have a very troubling week in which their teacher, mentor, and friend would be tortured and killed, their loyalty would fail them, and their entire belief system would be shaken and shattered. They would see and hear it all with no earplugs or blindfolds.
Jesus had been preparing them, though, from the very beginning of his ministry. He prepared them for healing and feeding and casting out demons. He showed them what to do and he sent them out to do it. He gave them illustrations in the form of stories and parables so that they could begin to make sense of what they were seeing and hearing from Jesus and learn to think for themselves. He taught them the scriptures to give them grounding and a bigger context for all that they were seeing and doing.
He told them outright what was going to happen, that he would die and rise again. They were confused by these statements. They didn’t believe Jesus. They might have thought he was speaking metaphorically. They tried to correct him, to tell him he was wrong about all that.
But now Jesus departure is imminent. Jesus has one last chance to wrap it all up, to give them one last lesson to get them through so that his ministry continues after his death. Soon, what Jesus has been telling them will be clear, as he is arrested and tortured and crucified and breathes his last. He knows that they will be so afraid. Their instincts will be to scatter and hide and forget everything they learned. The Sirens of their fears will soon be calling to them to jump ship. The Sirens of the accusations of those who know they are associates of Jesus will be calling to them to scatter. The Sirens of an easier life will be calling them away from all that Jesus has taught them.
What Jesus does is to prepare them by tying them to the mast. The mast I am referring to is God. Jesus ties them with scripture, the stories of God saving the people throughout the ages: The story of the Exodus from slavery into freedom. This ties them, joins them with their past, their ancestors, with God and God’s saving nature from the very beginning. He ties them with service. By washing their feet, by such intimacy and care, they will be linked with him forever. Whatever else happens in the coming week, they have shared this moment with him and can see clearly his love for them. They have built a memory that will ground them when they are afraid. He has tied them by his example. They have a way of reaching out to each other, of caring for and serving one another that tie them to the other Disciples. When Jesus is no longer with them, they will be able to look to each other and care for each other. This will sustain them and hold them secure. Jesus has tied them with love. This is the strongest rope of all. The world will call to them with all kinds of lies, that death is the end of the story, that what is worthwhile in life should not be this hard, that their experience of Jesus isn’t real. But love will hold them to that mast, to God and to each other. It will show them the truth.
This is not just a story that happened a long time ago. Jesus knows that our lives are full of trouble. We will not be spared difficulties and suffering. Loving God doesn’t provide earplugs or blindfolds. But through these stories, we, too are tied to our mast. We are tied to God through the stories handed over to us, of God’s saving action, that aren’t just about other people, but us, too. We are tied through service, the service that we do for each other this night and together in the Pantry and Backpack buddies. We are tied through love. Jesus loves us. We are to love one another. That’s what will help us through troubled times. That’s what will help us see and participate in the Kingdom that God is bringing to this world.
It is easy to be two congregations, independent, self-sufficient, proud to be among the few remaining who can afford a full-time pastor, with beautiful buildings each in their own way, with many ministries that benefit the community. And Jesus washes our feet and tells us that independence isn’t the goal. There will be times of trouble. We will experience times of fear and suffering. God is giving us a gift tonight, the gift of himself, the gift of a strong mast, God, the gift of strong rope which is story, service, and love, the gift of each other and this town to serve. May we accept this gift and ride out the storm together bound and prepared by this love.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
March 30, 2014
1st Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
2nd Reading: Ephesians 5:8-14
Gospel: John 9:1-41
This morning I invite you to sit with blindness for a bit and close your eyes. In a little bit I will tell you when to open them.
We all suffer from blindness of many kinds. We see what we expect to see and miss what is right in front of us. Like Samuel, we see value and kingliness in the eldest and strongest son. Like the townspeople in the Gospel, we place blame for an illness or injury and avoid people with different abilities, refusing to see them and treat them as people. Like the Pharisees, we are so attached to our traditions that we are blind to a miracle. Every day, we miss those in need right in front of us as we put our needs and our family’s needs before others. Every day, we refuse to see people for who they are, but instead judge them on previous experience or their reputation or how they dress or where they live. We are blind to what is within people, their story, their pain, their hunger. We are blind to miracles happening around us every day. We take that blessing and question it and refuse to accept it. We are blinded by our expectations and limited imagination. We are blinded by greed and sin.
“The LORD does not see as mortals see,” It says in the first reading for today. “Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord,” it says in the second reading.
The message for today is that we’re not seeing too well folks. We haven’t for a long time. At first Samuel, it seems so clear who will become the next king. Saul had been king and he had some sons. However, Saul had disobeyed God and allowed his soldiers to take the spoils of war for themselves. It is only right in the eyes of a human being that this is how you conduct war. God sees it differently and Saul’s family is passed over when it is time to crown the next king. God tells Samuel that he will crown one of the sons of Jesse from Bethlehem—this is where we get the Jesse tree and the Jesse we sing about at Advent. So Samuel reluctantly goes to Jesse’s house. Which son will be king? It will be the oldest son, right? He is big and tall. He is powerful. This is what our eyes see and our minds tell us is right. Samuel has his mind made up—it has to be him. God says, “You don’t see as I see. It isn’t him.” Surely it must be the next son. “Not him either.” Then the next and the next down the line.
“The LORD does not see as mortals see.” “Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.”
“Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” That was what people were told by the religious authorities, that it was somebody’s fault. He was kept out of the Temple and Synagogue because of this supposed defect in him. Yet, Jesus was clear. That isn’t what this is about. We may not blame the victim or parents of people with differing abilities, but we definitely have a hard time seeing that they have feelings just like we do. We exclude. We keep our distance. We are afraid. We are the ones who are blind.
Several teachers told a story this week of troubled kids who came into their class. They could choose whether to read the past reports and have their preconceived ideas about who was good and who was bad and what to expect. Most teachers were blinded to the value of these troubled kids and treated them as if they were going to cause trouble. Guess what, they caused trouble in those situations.
We may not be that attached to our Sabbath day, but we don’t see miracles that happen to people with tattoos, with saggy pants, who use language that might be offensive, who don’t go to church. It isn’t that those miracles aren’t happening, but that our minds are blind to see certain people as people at all and to see the value in their lives.
As you sit within this blindness of the eyes, search the blindness in your hearts. What has come between you and others? What might God being trying to show you that you haven’t been able to see yet?
The good news is that God has come into our midst, the light of the world, with a light to illumine the darkness and mud to heal blindness of the spirit. We’re going to have to humble ourselves and allow ourselves to get a little dirty. We’re going to need to admit the mud that is already there that Jesus is planning to wash away with his own saliva. We’re going to have to admit our own blindness enough to allow ourselves to be touched by Jesus. We’re going to have to be open to having new eyes.
So now I invite you to open your eyes. These are new eyes. These are the eyes of God that you have now. They are the eyes of the poor, the imprisoned, the young, the very old, the eyes of a helpless tree, an animal, an insect. God is giving us eyes to see through other perspectives. God is giving us eyes to see beyond our expectations, to be curious about what is within another person or part of creation, what drives them, what gives them life, what gets in the way of abundant life for them, how it is they give glory to God.
Our eyes begin to clear. We see with the eyes of God, kingly qualities in a shepherd, leadership qualities in a small child, that compassion, care, and a tender heart should be the first things we look for in those we admire. We begin to see every situation as an opportunity for blessing and glory for God, so we sit with those who are rejected, we listen to those who suffer addictions, we go to the bedside of the sick and dying. When we see with the eyes of God, we listen to the trees, the animals, the mountain, all those who cannot speak for themselves and we value them and care for them as God asked us to do at the very beginning in the garden when everything was in balance and harmony and God knew that it was good. When we see with the eyes of God, we are ready to see something new that defies our expectations. We give people a chance to be good. The teachers who didn’t choose to prejudge the kids in their class, found those troubled children excelling and growing like never before. When we see with the eyes of God, we give people a chance at a new start, just as Jesus did for us. We see a king born among the animals. We see God willing to give his life for the world. We see ourselves taking a different path that we did when we were blind. We find healing and relationship. We find beauty and truth. We find justice and love.
Jesus brought that healing to the blind man this morning. How do you think it must have felt to be seeing for the first time? Jesus gives him healing so that his flesh will now see as clearly as his heart. He has actually been seeing more clearly than anyone else in the Gospel all along. He has been seeing in his heart as God sees. Unfortunately, he saw a lot of cruelty and blame. But he also saw the fear and pain clearly in those around him, knowing they too could experience this difficult life. He sees so clearly that he doesn’t judge people by their looks or give greater honor to the rich and cultured or even blame those who excluded them. He has seen clearly the hearts of people and now he has physical eyes to match and is free to participate in a life of blessing in which he can be a leader in his community guiding the people in how to see anew with the eyes of the heart, the spirit, of God. Now that he has his sight restored, other people will value him as the leader he always had the potential to be, if others had not been blind to all that he had to offer.
God is opening our eyes to see. God is showing us what it is like to be born where you’re not wanted, as Jesus was, how it feels to go hungry, as we talk to those at our pantry, what it is to see strength in vulnerability as we age and face illness, what it feels to be chopped down as we take compassion on our tree and consider how Christ was taken out in the prime of life, what it feels like to stand up for what is right as we talk to our legislators about the need for food stamps. Through the eyes of God we will see incredible beauty and incredible cruelty, but we will have compassion and hope that the mud and saliva will create us anew as Adam and Eve and that the light will spread and that every day more eyes are opened like the tulips and daffodils this time of year and as each one is opened, more light will shine until the earth becomes the eye of God, full of light, seeing everything clearly, sharing life abundant, and thriving in the grace and love of God.
“The LORD does not see as mortals see.” “Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.” Open our eyes Lord and help us to see as you see and to live lives pleasing to you and life-giving to our fellow creatures.
2nd Reading: Ephesians 5:8-14
Gospel: John 9:1-41
This morning I invite you to sit with blindness for a bit and close your eyes. In a little bit I will tell you when to open them.
We all suffer from blindness of many kinds. We see what we expect to see and miss what is right in front of us. Like Samuel, we see value and kingliness in the eldest and strongest son. Like the townspeople in the Gospel, we place blame for an illness or injury and avoid people with different abilities, refusing to see them and treat them as people. Like the Pharisees, we are so attached to our traditions that we are blind to a miracle. Every day, we miss those in need right in front of us as we put our needs and our family’s needs before others. Every day, we refuse to see people for who they are, but instead judge them on previous experience or their reputation or how they dress or where they live. We are blind to what is within people, their story, their pain, their hunger. We are blind to miracles happening around us every day. We take that blessing and question it and refuse to accept it. We are blinded by our expectations and limited imagination. We are blinded by greed and sin.
“The LORD does not see as mortals see,” It says in the first reading for today. “Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord,” it says in the second reading.
The message for today is that we’re not seeing too well folks. We haven’t for a long time. At first Samuel, it seems so clear who will become the next king. Saul had been king and he had some sons. However, Saul had disobeyed God and allowed his soldiers to take the spoils of war for themselves. It is only right in the eyes of a human being that this is how you conduct war. God sees it differently and Saul’s family is passed over when it is time to crown the next king. God tells Samuel that he will crown one of the sons of Jesse from Bethlehem—this is where we get the Jesse tree and the Jesse we sing about at Advent. So Samuel reluctantly goes to Jesse’s house. Which son will be king? It will be the oldest son, right? He is big and tall. He is powerful. This is what our eyes see and our minds tell us is right. Samuel has his mind made up—it has to be him. God says, “You don’t see as I see. It isn’t him.” Surely it must be the next son. “Not him either.” Then the next and the next down the line.
“The LORD does not see as mortals see.” “Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.”
“Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” That was what people were told by the religious authorities, that it was somebody’s fault. He was kept out of the Temple and Synagogue because of this supposed defect in him. Yet, Jesus was clear. That isn’t what this is about. We may not blame the victim or parents of people with differing abilities, but we definitely have a hard time seeing that they have feelings just like we do. We exclude. We keep our distance. We are afraid. We are the ones who are blind.
Several teachers told a story this week of troubled kids who came into their class. They could choose whether to read the past reports and have their preconceived ideas about who was good and who was bad and what to expect. Most teachers were blinded to the value of these troubled kids and treated them as if they were going to cause trouble. Guess what, they caused trouble in those situations.
We may not be that attached to our Sabbath day, but we don’t see miracles that happen to people with tattoos, with saggy pants, who use language that might be offensive, who don’t go to church. It isn’t that those miracles aren’t happening, but that our minds are blind to see certain people as people at all and to see the value in their lives.
As you sit within this blindness of the eyes, search the blindness in your hearts. What has come between you and others? What might God being trying to show you that you haven’t been able to see yet?
The good news is that God has come into our midst, the light of the world, with a light to illumine the darkness and mud to heal blindness of the spirit. We’re going to have to humble ourselves and allow ourselves to get a little dirty. We’re going to need to admit the mud that is already there that Jesus is planning to wash away with his own saliva. We’re going to have to admit our own blindness enough to allow ourselves to be touched by Jesus. We’re going to have to be open to having new eyes.
So now I invite you to open your eyes. These are new eyes. These are the eyes of God that you have now. They are the eyes of the poor, the imprisoned, the young, the very old, the eyes of a helpless tree, an animal, an insect. God is giving us eyes to see through other perspectives. God is giving us eyes to see beyond our expectations, to be curious about what is within another person or part of creation, what drives them, what gives them life, what gets in the way of abundant life for them, how it is they give glory to God.
Our eyes begin to clear. We see with the eyes of God, kingly qualities in a shepherd, leadership qualities in a small child, that compassion, care, and a tender heart should be the first things we look for in those we admire. We begin to see every situation as an opportunity for blessing and glory for God, so we sit with those who are rejected, we listen to those who suffer addictions, we go to the bedside of the sick and dying. When we see with the eyes of God, we listen to the trees, the animals, the mountain, all those who cannot speak for themselves and we value them and care for them as God asked us to do at the very beginning in the garden when everything was in balance and harmony and God knew that it was good. When we see with the eyes of God, we are ready to see something new that defies our expectations. We give people a chance to be good. The teachers who didn’t choose to prejudge the kids in their class, found those troubled children excelling and growing like never before. When we see with the eyes of God, we give people a chance at a new start, just as Jesus did for us. We see a king born among the animals. We see God willing to give his life for the world. We see ourselves taking a different path that we did when we were blind. We find healing and relationship. We find beauty and truth. We find justice and love.
Jesus brought that healing to the blind man this morning. How do you think it must have felt to be seeing for the first time? Jesus gives him healing so that his flesh will now see as clearly as his heart. He has actually been seeing more clearly than anyone else in the Gospel all along. He has been seeing in his heart as God sees. Unfortunately, he saw a lot of cruelty and blame. But he also saw the fear and pain clearly in those around him, knowing they too could experience this difficult life. He sees so clearly that he doesn’t judge people by their looks or give greater honor to the rich and cultured or even blame those who excluded them. He has seen clearly the hearts of people and now he has physical eyes to match and is free to participate in a life of blessing in which he can be a leader in his community guiding the people in how to see anew with the eyes of the heart, the spirit, of God. Now that he has his sight restored, other people will value him as the leader he always had the potential to be, if others had not been blind to all that he had to offer.
God is opening our eyes to see. God is showing us what it is like to be born where you’re not wanted, as Jesus was, how it feels to go hungry, as we talk to those at our pantry, what it is to see strength in vulnerability as we age and face illness, what it feels to be chopped down as we take compassion on our tree and consider how Christ was taken out in the prime of life, what it feels like to stand up for what is right as we talk to our legislators about the need for food stamps. Through the eyes of God we will see incredible beauty and incredible cruelty, but we will have compassion and hope that the mud and saliva will create us anew as Adam and Eve and that the light will spread and that every day more eyes are opened like the tulips and daffodils this time of year and as each one is opened, more light will shine until the earth becomes the eye of God, full of light, seeing everything clearly, sharing life abundant, and thriving in the grace and love of God.
“The LORD does not see as mortals see.” “Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.” Open our eyes Lord and help us to see as you see and to live lives pleasing to you and life-giving to our fellow creatures.
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