The Canaanite in all of us.

August 17, 2014

Matthew 15:1-28, The Voice (edited)

M Narrator: Some Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to ask Jesus a question.

Scribes and Pharisees: 2 The law of Moses has always held that one must ritually wash his hands before eating. Why don’t your disciples observe this tradition?

M Narrator: 3 Jesus turned the Pharisees’ question back on them.

Jesus (exasperated): Why do you violate God’s commandment because of your tradition? 4 God said, “Honor your father and mother.[a] Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.”[b] 5-6 But you say that one need no longer honor his parents so long as he says to them, “What you might have gained from me, I now give to the glory of God.” Haven’t you let your tradition trump the word of God? 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah must have had you in mind when he prophesied,

8     People honor me with their lips,         but their hearts are nowhere near me. 9     Because they elevate mere human ritual to the status of law,         their worship of me is a meaningless sham.[c]

M Narrator: 10 To the multitude gathered he said,

Jesus (confidently): Hear and understand this: 11 What you put into your mouth cannot make you clean or unclean; it is what comes out of your mouth that can make you unclean.

M Narrator:12 Later the disciples came to Him.

Disciples: Do you realize the Pharisees were shocked by what you said?

Jesus: 13 Every plant planted by someone other than My heavenly Father will be plucked up by the roots. 14 So let them be. They are blind guides. What happens when one blind person leads another? Both of them fall into a ditch.

Peter: 15 Explain that riddle to us.

Jesus: 16 Do you still not see? 17 Don’t you understand that whatever you take in through your mouth makes its way to your stomach and eventually out through the bowels of your body? 18 But the things that come out of your mouth—your curses, your fears, your denunciations—these come from your heart, and it is the stirrings of your heart that can make you unclean. 19 For your heart harbors evil thoughts—fantasies of murder, adultery, and whoring; fantasies of stealing, lying, and slandering. 20 These make you unclean—not eating with a hand you’ve not ritually purified with a splash of water and a prayer.

M Narrator: 21 Jesus left that place and withdrew to Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman—a non-Jew—came to Him.

Canaanite Woman (wailing): Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is possessed by a demon. Have mercy, Lord!

M Narrator: 23 Jesus said nothing. And the woman continued to wail. His disciples came to Him.

Disciples: Do something—she keeps crying after us!

M Narrator: Jesus said to the disciples.

Jesus (contemplating): 24 I was sent here only to gather up the lost sheep of Israel.

M Narrator: 25 The woman came up to Jesus and knelt before Him.

Canaanite Woman: Lord, help me!

Jesus (confused): 26 It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.

Canaanite Woman: 27 But, Lord, even dogs eat the crumbs that fall by the table as their master is eating.

M Narrator: 28 Jesus—whose ancestors included Ruth and Rahab—spoke.

Jesus: Woman, you have great faith. And your request is done.

M Narrator: And her daughter was healed, right then and from then on.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Like is often true, today’s gospel makes a lot more sense if you know what comes before.  [so we read starting with verse one]. The Pharisees came to Jesus to ask him why his disciples didn’t follow the handwashing ritual required of pious Pharisees. 

In his conversation with the Pharisees about handwashing, Jesus turns the question back on them.  He points to an example where they are not following the law, and have, in fact, come up with a way to avoid following the “Honor your Father and Mother” commandment by giving such resources to the temple instead.  A perfect example of how NOT to run a stewardship campaign.  [wink] 

All of this matters because here is Jesus, having just argued with the Pharisees, wrapping up that teaching by saying:

18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 19For out of the heart come evil intentions, […etc., etc. ]20These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile." Jesus has just set himself up for what happens next.  After teaching, clearly, that what matters is what comes out of the heart.  A Canaanite woman puts him to the test.  Jesus is faced with the question: What is clean or unclean? Does it matter who you are and what purity laws you follow? Or is the real issue the stuff you put out into the world.  Because this woman, a non-Jew – we call those “gentiles” – and even an old enemy of Israel, comes to Jesus begging for crumbs, asking for a healing of her daughter.  And Jesus’ first reaction is a big fat no.  Horribly un-Jesus like, don’t you think?  Jesus is trying to stay focused on his vocation, his call to the “lost children of Israel,” which up until now in the gospel have surely provided him plenty of work in themselves – as shown by the whole clean/unclean argument.  Israel isn’t “getting it” – and even the disciples at this very moment want Jesus to send the Canaanite woman away.  Which he won’t do.  He engages, once again, in conversation with someone who is culturally off-limits.    A woman, non-Jew, from the “wrong” side of the lake. 

Yet, the woman persists.  And we have to wonder what’s going on in Jesus head.  He’s just been arguing with the Pharisees narrow vision of who is clean, who gets included in the promises.  The gears are turning as he recalls more of Isaiah’s prophecy

“the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant —  7these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

With extreme humility she calls him her Lord, she calls him the Son of David – she knows who he is! –she points out to him what HE JUST SAID.  If it is what comes out of a person that really matters, and this woman insists on humbly claiming trust in Jesus as God’s son, capable of transforming her and her daughter’s life…. Well, what would Jesus [you] do?

And here we get a glimpse into the 100% human Jesus is, alongside his 100% divine.  It looks like Jesus changes his mind.  It looks like Jesus’ understanding of who all gets included, of who all can display the clean heart of faith, shifts.  She has opened his eyes to the reality that great faith can come from even someone on the outside.

And thank God he did!  Because, I mean… did any of you grow up Jewish?  

That woman is us!  We are the non-Jews who get crumbs from the table, get included on the Holy Mountain.  The promises that were made to Israel wrap us up too.  That’s what God does, draw the circle wider and wider, include us in the joyful house of prayer, that’s what God is up to in Jesus, gracing each and every one of us with the promise of new and eternal life. 

Something clicks in Jesus, maybe it’s the 12 baskets of crumbs, maybe it’s Isaiah, maybe it’s his own divinity revealing itself in this moment.  We praise God today, and every Sunday, for the blessing of being loved into God’s family.

This week I had a woman come to the door asking for crumbs.  It doesn’t happen every week, but it happens often enough that I am working together with other pastors and faithful Christians in the area to figure out how to faithfully steward the crumbs we have been given.  I wonder if we too are able to recognize how we sit at Jesus table as guests.  We did not inherit the promise of Abraham until Jesus came in flesh and grafted us in.  If we, gentiles, non-Jews, have been given crumbs that have resulted in abundance, and resulted in a secure place at the table… who is the Canaanite woman now?  

Is it the single mom who’s food stamps doesn’t stretch to the end of the month?

Is it the one who has had his electricity turned off for weeks in Detroit?

Is it the men and women on the street of Ferguson, MO with their hands up chanting “hands up, don’t shoot”?

Is it the people of color in our society that must learn from a young age how to lower the anxiety of the police?

Is it the hungry people who eat rice and beans, not macaroni and cheese?

The central American children showing up on our doorstep… asking for our crumbs?

It is time, people of God, to take up the gospel challenge, to see the other as Jesus saw the Canaanite woman.  Worthy of being included fully in the promises, and therefore fully included in our life together. 

Amen.  

Thirsty.

The Gospel according to John. [Glory to you O Lord]

5So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. 7A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." 8(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." 11The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" 13Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." 15The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."

16Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." 17The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; 18for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" 19The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." 21Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." 25The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." 26Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you."

27Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?"28Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he? 30They left the city and were on their way to him.

31Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, eat something." 32But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." 33So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him something to eat?" 34Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35Do you not say, 'Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' 38I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."

39Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I have ever done." 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41And many more believed because of his word. 42They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world."

The Gospel of the Lord. [Praise to you O Christ].

Thirsty.

Grace, Peace and Freedom are yours from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Thirsty.

When was the last time you were thirsty?

Can you tell the difference between thirst and hunger? I googled this on Thursday and I was shocked to see how many blogs had an entry on this very subject. I wish I had bottles of water to hand out to all of you right now because I bet you’d finish them before the end of this sermon.

The Spiritual discipline I chose this Lent was to fast from sweets.  I have a huge sweet tooth, some of you know this well.  Though usually I find sweets a nice treat to bring a little sweetness to life, recently I felt as if sugar was taking away life.  I mean that every 90 minutes I was searching around for something else sweet to eat. 

So I figured that Lent was my invitation to put in place a fast.  If I have become obsessed, maybe even addicted, to something, even something seemingly innoculous and innocent as butterscotch disks, if I am getting distracted by where my next soda is going to come from… Then, as ridiculous as it sounds, that’s coming first in my life.  Commandment number one: “You will have no other god’s before me” – broken by the pastor. 

And this fasting experience has been fascinating.  First – it has been hard.  And I should say, this is not my first time doing this.  I used to fast from sugar every Lent for maybe 10 years?  But I haven’t done so recently.  So it’s hard.  The first few days were no problem, but around day 10 I was ready to give it up.  Scrounging the cupboards for a good fake-sugar substitutes and eating every bit of dried fruit in the house.

And it took until day 15 for me learn something from all this.  To get closer to what God wants for my life… I learned that, maybe, when I’m craving sweets… I’m really just thirsty.  I’m thirsty for water to moisturize my sandpaper hands and relieve the tightness in my temples.  I’m learning what thirsty feels like. Sweet water that can actually quench my cravings and calm my belly. 

And I think it goes further.  I don’t just substitute bubbly sugary boosts for the drink that feeds my cells. But I also drink up messages about how I should look or parent or landscape, or keep house, or whatever just like it’s a caffine-sugar fix to any unease in my life. 

It all comes back to water. 

"If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."

Jesus starts out this story thirsty. And though we never hear whether he got a drink from the well, he clearly got some kind of satisfaction from the exchange he had with this woman, for he ends up in a different place.

He has been out in the open by a well in the midday sun, and when the disciples ask him if he’s had anything to eat, he says to them, No need… “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.”  Has Jesus just been fed by doing his Father’s will?  Has Jesus’ thirst been quenched, as ours can be, by not just drinking of this living water but by being the very wellspring gushing up to eternal life?  Being a well of living water for those who need to hear, to know what God has in store for them?

This unnamed woman needed to hear that eternal life was a promise made by God that included her.  And Nicodemus came seeking it last week.

Last week we were urged and pushed along with Nicodeums to go again through the birth canal, to be born of water and spirit.  To live a real, new, life, a life in God.  A life that doesn’t come from knowing how to be good religious folk, but comes only through this water right here.  Comes only by knowing more deeply who Jesus is, what Jesus says

and by becoming his followers. 

This was a new birth that Nicodemus wasn’t sure he could go through.  But our nameless woman today dives right in.  He comes at night, lurking in the darkness. He is a man with status, used to being “in the know.”  She comes to a well for her daily water, her identity obscured by markers of her exclusion. As a Samaritan she is counted outside of the Jews, though they share much heritage, including this very well.  As a woman, she is an untouchable, another man’s property.  Men who have not treated her kindly, likely divorcing her for barenness.  “She may live in the shadows of her marginality, but she speaks to Jesus under the sweltering heat of a midday sun.” (working preacher.org)

She is thirsty for that living water.  And she jumps on the chance for a drink.

I have been talking with a few of you about an opportunity for a small group Bible study.  High-commitment.  A chance to really dive deeply into the living water that God gives us through Scripture and prayer.  If you’d like to join me on this kind of adventure, let me know.  I know that when we did the cottage meetings a year and a half ago now, there was some interest in Bible study.  Yet, nothing has really come to the forefront on this yet.  We can only cram so much into a two hour block on Sunday mornings, it’s our time to worship, to really grow in relationship with other another and to deepen our fellowship as the Body of Christ.  So I’m talking about an invitation on some other night or day of the week to go through the whole of scriptures, to really get a sense of what God is up to in these books of the Bible… to drink deeply from this living water, the word made flesh that comes to us in scripture.

The Confirmation students and Tom and I just finished the “Echo the Story” curriculum.  Our students got an overview of the Bible in 12 sessions, key stories in the scriptures that help us to start to “get” the big picture of what God is up to.  How amazing it was to see those youth ask the hard questions about the Bible, to start to challenge themselves and God, to engage seriously with their faith – to begin to carry inside of them a living water for those desert moments.

And yesterday I was with 5 even younger people with their parents, learning about communion.  We read the stories of the Passover and The Last Supper, and these kids drank from the same well, along with their parents.  We sipped at the story of God’s people, who were enslaved, to be released by God’s great act of power at the Passover and through the parted waters of the sea, as we sipped the wine at the last supper with Jesus, a bittersweet cup for us.  We remembered that we are people who walk wet.  Who receive forgiveness and grace through the living water of baptism and remember the same each time we feast at this table with Jesus.

How about you? Do you know if you are thirsty?

If you are like me, and most Americans, you are far more thirsty than you realize.  Drinking far too little water. 

Today, and every day, Jesus offers us living water.  Drink up! Here in this community, Here at this table, Here at this fount of living water.  Satisfy your thirst with me.  I need it so much I’m here every week.  (smile/wink).  And I’m still thirsty.

I invite you to consider what a commitment to Bible study and prayer would look like for you.  How might you drink from this wellspring that is Jesus?  Are you ready to dive right in – like this high commitement study - or is there a way to setup a drip irrigation system to keep you watered?  Like the daily devos books we have out in the narthex?  Or a daily bible verse app on your phone?

And remember that Jesus says today… as we are watered we become the well for others. 

Today, when you come up for communion I invite you again to remember how wet you really are.  To take Jesus up on the invitation to live into this water.  Water the roots you are growing this Lent.  Take water from the font, mark yourself on your forehead, or cross your body.  Use words, or don’t, the action suffices to remember.  Remember that you have the water of life, and you are the water of life for others.

Amen. 

Let Go

CPent6 13, Lectionary 13, Proper 8

1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 Psalm 16 Galatians 5:1, 13-25 Luke 9:51-62

The Gospel according to St. Luke. [Glory to you O Lord]

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53 but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 Then they went on to another village.

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." 59 To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60 But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61 Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." 62 Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

The Gospel of the Lord [Praise to you O Christ].

Grace, Peace and Expanding Love are yours from God the Father, through the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ.

I am not a farmer kid, but I do come from farm country.  And therefore, I have seen people plowing.  Anyone here ever plowed a field themselves? Do you mind if I put you on the spot? 

[come up?]

1.     Can you describe for us plowing a field?   

2.     Ok, so say we have the tractor (or oxen) set up with the plows and we are about to head out into the field.  What is the most important thing to know if we were going to be given this job?

3.     One thing I have noticed is that the fields are always so geometric looking… the plowing seems to go in straight lines… would that be key to the job?  Why?

“Straight lines.”

Hm. Jesus says, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  Now Jesus is a carpenter, but I wonder if he had noticed the same thing I had.  A main skill in plowing seems to be heading off in a straight line.  I mean, you need to be looking where you are going. Is that right? I bet that was especially true when the plow was pulled by oxen or horses rather than a tractor.  In my experience with animals, if you aren’t clear about where they should be headed, you’re in trou-ah-ble. 

So I wonder, if you were trying to lead the oxen and plow down the field while looking over your shoulder… just what would happen? Maybe just a messy job?  Is it possible to ruin a field that way? Would we have to do the whole thing over again?

It’s probably helpful to look at the scripture again: Jesus says to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God,”… Jesus says this in response to a person who says, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”  A guy who seems eager for Jesus’ invitation to “Follow me” but that invitation was actually addressed to someone else who wanted to go and bury his father.  And Jesus response there was not particularly kind either: let the dead bury their own dead.  Three times Jesus is in conversation with people who want to follow him and he responds by upping the ante.  “You want to follow me?  Well, let me tell you what this is really all about… “

Three times Jesus challenges the would-be followers.  And each time the answers do not seem to be particularly encouraging.  What is Jesus up to here?

Jesus has just come down from the mountain where he was transfigured, the text tells us that “his face is set towards Jerusalem.”  The tone of the story of Luke changes here.  Suddenly Jesus is a “man on a mission.”  Even though his followers don’t get it yet, Jesus seems to know what Jerusalem has in store for him, his focus is incredible.  Focus upon what he came to earth to do, which has been revealed to him on that mountaintop.  Focus upon his dear Father, to whom he looks, longing to be back together again.  The story tells us that the days drew near for him to be “Taken up”… does Luke mean taken up on the cross?  Taken up to heaven? Taken up from the tomb?  Maybe Jesus doesn’t even know what’s in store, precisely.  But he clearly won’t be distracted from his mission.

“Follow me”… “follow me”

We are invited into the mission /as the three people/ who Jesus encounters on the road.  These three have no name… no identity… we don’t even know how they react to Jesus statements to them!  “Follow me,” Jesus says. ///We have to remember, that all we know about so far is that Jesus is a miracle worker who has taught us that these supernatural healings and signs all point towards the coming kingdom of God.  And we know that we have glimpsed this kingdom, we have glimpsed the wholeness and beauty in these miracles we have seen. We are just beginning to discover who Jesus is, and are so excited about the change that is coming, that we are following the call.  The call to bring people to Jesus… to hear the good news of the coming kingdom.

We are those followers on the road.  We get to hear the difficult words of Jesus; maybe he’s saying a different thing to each of us… what we each need to hear to point us towards a new way of life.  A life of letting go.

For that seems to be the bottom line.  No matter what we bring to Jesus, his response is “Let that go.”  Let go of our ideas, let go of our rules, let go of our past…fears, hang-ups, judgemental tendencies, fixation on money, narrow minded ness, piles of stuff and self-centeredness all have to go… not to mention, our entire lives[1].  Jesus invites us, “Come live!”  Come live where God has already taken that thing that is holding you back…God has already made it let go of you.

What do you hear when I say that today Jesus says “let go”?  

Do you hear Jesus saying the familiar adage…“Let Go and let God?”  Is that freeing for you?  Can you hear Jesus calmly easing off your burdens of excess responsibility? 

Do you hear Jesus commanding voice prying your fingers from that to which you cling?  Your children, your spouse, your credentials, your status?

What else might you hear?

Peter Marty, a Lutheran pastor and teacher wrote an article on this in the July Lutheran Magazine. I invite you to check it out online. www.thelutheran.org – search for “Letting Go.”

I’ll tell you what I hear from Jesus’ message to Let Go.

I hear Jesus siphoning off my worry about what I can’t control.  I hear Jesus reminding me that my image is as a Child of God over and above any other image I might want to portray.  I feel God clasping my face in his hands, looking me straight in the eyes “I love you, you are my creature, put your trust in me.  For I have made you fit for the kingdom of God in the waters of baptism.  I have made you fit to proclaim the kingdom.  The joy, the peace, the heart-wrenching compassion of your God.  I am your God, who refuses to burn you to a crisp with a lightening bolt even when you refuse me.  I have chosen another way.  I have chosen the way of loving you all the way to the cross… down to hell and back again. For you, my child, you can let go.  But I will never let go of you.”

Can I get an Amen?

So back to that plow, before we’re done here: it’s hard to do a job unless I look ahead to where I am going.

Over and over again Jesus says, Let Go.  Let go of the stuff that is holding you back.  For you have a mission.  You are called.  You need to go the way a bird needs to fly.  And you don’t need any extra junk weighing you down.  No, you need to move forward.  You need to move into the hungry and naked places of the world.  You are my hands and feet!  You bring in the kingdom that overturns the tables.  You bring the light to dark places!  Go, welcome all into me.  Welcome all to faith.  Welcome all to life.  This new, free, life where we are able to let go of all that keeps us from following.  By only God’s power, we let go and let God move us forward.

Amen.

[1] Peter Marty, The Lutheran, June

Thomas and Us.

CEaster2 13

Acts 5:27–32 

Psalm 150 (Alternate) 

Revelation 1:4–8 John 20:19–31

Grace, Peace and Amazement are yours by Jesus Christ, the Risen One.

Puffy eyes, wake up dreaming about the worries of the night before, exhaustion from the sobs, the flood of emotion that racked my body… overwhelming

standing in a line to buy bread and suddenly  the voice of the merchant is too grating or the thing someone is buying in front of me reminds me of who I’ve lost, and I leave the my items behind and head for the door before my tears betray me

waves of memories, moments I wish I could relive, moments I wish I could re-do, guilt next to laughter, bright, shiny memories next to painful ones,

the injustice leaves me angry, the blaming leaves me exhausted,

time moves slowly when I want it to move quickly and races rapidly by when I cling to the fleeting moments

regrets I never knew you had, or never guessed would pop up, take on a life of their own, loom like they are ultimate failures

…and now they tell me they’ve seen him alive.  They tell me Jesus lives.  Impossible!  I can’t bring myself to believe that… I feel so betrayed… he just left us.  Got himself killed on that cross.  I don’t trust him anymore.  We thought he was God.

What might it have been like to be one of the disciples after Jesus died?  In John’s version of the story, every time we hear about the disciples after Jesus dies it isn’t just the inner circle of 11, it’s just “disciples”  those who were with him… those who heard his stories and trusted his teachings… those who believed he was bringing in a new kingdom.  Like you and me.  Just regular disciples of Jesus. 

And those disciples are the ones Jesus breathes on.  The ones who receive the Spirit and become Christ’s new body in the world.  Christ’s body, the church.  That’s you and me. 

Just like Thomas and the disciples, we live in the in-between times.  We live knowing Christ has died and that death is still a part of life.  AND we live knowing that resurrection is a reality.  Even when we do not always know how that looks for us. 

In fact, like Christ’s first body, we are undergoing a death and resurrection.  I’m sure you’ve heard the bad news.  The church is dying. 

The Pew Research Center put out new results on the “nones” last October. That is, n-o-n-e-s.  Those who do not claim a religion of any kind when asked.  It probably won’t surprise you that one in five US citizens now check the “none” box.  And those same people aren’t looking for a religion, for the most part.  But, interestingly, most of them believe in God and sense some sort of spirituality.  But the thing I think is most compelling for our dying church was stated by my colleague, Keith Anderson, “There are plenty of takeaways from the report, but it is clear that there are simply fewer and fewer people with whom the church has a traditional, historic affinity - people who might attend a church out of expectation, obligation, or habit, be it for familial, ethnic, or cultural reasons.”  (http://pastorkeithanderson.net/item/the-rise-of-the-nones-and-my-trip-to-asheville)  

The church is dying.  Yes, dying.  The church we know has been laid in a grave.  The church that dispenses religious goods and services.  The church that feeds us. The church where our needs are met through quality programs and where our children go to be taught by the professionals.  The church who has a long history.  That church is on its last leg. 

But! A new church is arising.  Just like Jesus, this church is just the same body of Christ and yet might feel unrecognizable if we are looking for the old body.  This church is a body that is sent on a mission.  This church gathers in community for worship.  This church learns from one another and from the outside world, even when they are not “in church.” 

Nothing I am describing is a judgment of good or bad on the old or new church.  It just is.  These are observations that lots and lots of people are making- people a lot smarter than me.  But you and I can see it too, right?

The reason I bring up this uncomfortable truth today is because the reality of such a death-to-life transition is painfully obvious in today’s gospel.  The disciples are all in that moment.  I mean, it’s Easter!  Jesus Lives!  And they know it… or do they?  They’ve been told anyway, the women and Peter have seen the empty tomb.  Yet, here are the disciples.  Confused, alone, probably anguished – at least, it sure sounds like Thomas is.  The disciples have locked themselves up for fear of death. 

And then Jesus walks into the room – disregarding the locked doors.  Jesus appears with a word of Peace.  And a word of Purpose. 

My brothers and sisters, You are called to be OUT THERE, Jesus says.  They need to know!  They need to know that your God – the Father- THE God. Has overcome all fears, all wounds, all limitations.  For Them! For You have I died and For You have I overcome death.  So that you cannot be held captive by locks and chains.  So stop locking yourselves up!

This is the time.   You are freed.  Trust your freedom.  My Spirit is with you.  Trust my Spirit.  Trust in the One who Loved you enough to die for you… and to overcome death for you.  You saw me die, now you see me live.  Blessed are those who trust even when they do not see.

We have received the Spirit.  And now we have to figure out what to do next. 

And that makes us part of the new church that is being born. 

The church who experiments together, who worships in ways that engage our creativity and bring our lives “our there” “in here” and back out again. For Holy week, this church blew confetti into the air!  Maybe next we’ll make a mural together or create a stations of the cross that invites us to open our eyes to the Easter Story in a whole new way… I’m thinking glow sticks as “fire”.  Maybe next we’ll have a cross-generational Sunday School session where all our people – from grandpas and grandmas to little beepers – learn together and teach each other to trust in God.  We’ll hold up the baptismal promises made today by Jake’s family and welcome him and all the babies to teach us what trust looks like.  Next we’ll get Fit to Serve! Offering our very bodies as a whole body of Christ to our community… we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the broken, love the difficult; Be present –for each other and in our community.  All of this is grounded in our sacramental worship – living into what we are made when we eat the Word every week…  the words, the body and the blood of Christ.

We are the church that welcomes all to faith and life in Jesus Christ.

We are called to go into the culture and be able to live out our faith there, to talk about our faith out there beyond the locked doors, to realize there really is no “out there” the body of Christ is everywhere.

So when someone says, “I will not trust until I see Christ’s own body,” we offer our hands…  In trust that the Spirit has been breathed into us whether we are in the midst of grief and confusion or pure, unadulterated, Resurrection joy.

Hand-trembling joy.  I wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch…to hold him in my arms.

Paralyzed, wide-eyed, by the rush of love that rolls over me… my love for him reaches out…yet  even before my hand twitches to move…even more his love is surrounding me, warmth easing over my heart until I realize my whole body is embraced by the light that emanates from him.  My heart feels like it will burst with the awe of the moment…and the pure truth of the matter, the “rightness” of it clears my eyes.

I can feel peace down to my toes, down to the darkest places of my heart, in that moment there is no darkness, only peace.  Peace replacing every anxiety, every doubt, every pain.  Peace as deep as the best sleep you’ve ever had.   

I touch his hands, hear him speaking… but I barely comprehend the words.  My thoughts are filled with just one, exploding phrase “He is alive!” 

Christ is risen!  Alleluia!  (response)

Jesus is alive! Alleluia! (response)

Jesus LIVES!  Alleluia! (response)

Amen.

And God Said No.

A Word in Response to the Sandy Hook tragedy.

CAdv4 12

Micah 5:2-5a

Hebrews 10:5-10

Luke 1:39-55 (Psalm—part of gospel)

The Gospel according to Luke. [Glory to you O Lord]

39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." [SING Magnificat from Holden Evening Prayer] 46 And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

The Gospel of the Lord [Praise to you O Christ].

Grace, Peace and Mercy are yours from our Savior Jesus the baby who is coming.

Boy, the beginning of advent seems like a long time ago.  Remember?  Remember when we were hearing of the end of the world and Jesus coming back?  Remember when we took scraps of paper home with us?  When we wrote down what signs we see in the world of Jesus’ coming?  Remember when we talked about how disordered and disorienting advent can be- slowing us down and helping us to pause, look around, and see what’s coming- kind of like being in love?  Remember talking about how God is deeply in love with us- and we are about to fall in deep with that baby in the manger?  Remember hearing from the kids about how the gifts we have are enough for God?  Remember how we are enough?  There is a lot to recall… a lot has happened in the last three weeks.

As I sat in my office attempting to think out what God is calling me to say to you this morning, I struggled mightily with coming up with any words that seemed worthy of the day, the scripture, the time we are in. 

After the tragedy in Newtown… and all the discussion about the world ending.  All I could think about was how the world DID end for the mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and aunts and uncles and grandparents… of 20 first grade children last week.  The world they knew is gone. 

We weep with them, we rage with them… this week as the funerals have begun, we send notes of encouragement and when the children go back to school there will be paper snowflakes from all over the country to welcome them.  We grieve with them and we hold onto hope for them, because they may not be able to.

We struggle to put together any words… but these are the words we have been given for today:

My soul proclaims your greatness O God, and my spirit rejoices in you

You have looked with love on your servant here, and blessed me all my life through.

Great and mighty are you, O Holy One, strong is your kindness evermore.

How you favor the weak and lowly one, humbling the proud of heart.

These words came from the mouth of a young woman about to be a teenage mother.  When that angel showed up on her doorstep, her world ended.  No longer was she just a young woman engaged to be married- with one swift word from God’s messenger she was in a great deal of trouble.  Her innocence was stolen from her- at least in the sense that everyone who saw her saw an unmarried, pregnant girl… and I imagine, much like would happen today, they had their own version of her story.

A young woman at the mercy of Joseph, the man she was to marry.  He had the legal right to throw her out on the street- discarded and abandoned.   His faithfulness to God and to her was all that saved her.

This won’t be the last time Mary’s world will crash down around her. 

In about 30 years, she stands at the execution of her innocent son- watching her first born child wrenched away from this world in the most violent and public display the Romans could think of.  And her world ends. 

Yet her song doesn’t.             

You have cast the mighty down from their thrones and uplifted the humble of heart,

You have filled the hungry with wondrous things, and left the wealthy no part.

Great and mighty are you, O Faithful One, strong is your justice, strong your love,

As you promised to Sarah and Abraham, kindness forevermore.

Mary’s song – is called the Magnificat- it puts a magnifying glass to situations like Sandy Hook- and all the injustices of the world and says

NO. 

This is not what God intends. 

God will put right the world. 

Out of these ashes, out of this dust, God can make a new creation.  God created us from dust to begin with, God will resurrect us again. 

We can remember this every time water splashes on our faces.  Water that reminds us of our baptism.  For when that baptismal water was first splashed upon us, one world ended and a new one began.  You, dusty creature, you were made new again in baptism.  The death that was in you before- the death that you still fear now- the death was put to death in baptism.  For death does not have the last word.  God has the last word.

And so we sing with Mary:

My soul proclaims your greatness O God, and my spirit rejoices in you

You have looked with love on your servant here, and blessed me all my life through.

We sing to put a magnifying glass on the tragedy of Sandy Hook and hear God’s voice saying- “NO.”  No, this is not the way the world was created to be.  No, this is not how we will allow our world to continue.  No, senseless violence will not claim our children.  No, mental health needs will not be ignored.  No!

For Great and mighty is our God!

God is strong and kind and merciful. 

God favors the weak and the lowly.

God humbles the proud and lifts up the humble.

And God calls us along with Mary. God calls us to proclaim his greatness- to magnify it.  To make the whole world know what God intends for the world… and that will mean that the world as we know it will end.  This world will end and out of its ashes, a new creation will arise.  Where the love of God has overcome all evil.  And all of us who are broken and dying now, those of us who are victimized, who are depressed and tortured in our minds, who are lonely, who are filled with a cancer…

We will be reunited as whole, as God’s children in that new creation.

What are my words compared to Mary’s today?  For she knows the hell of our world ending.  And God knows it too… for he sent his son Jesus, and suffered his death, and when Jesus died he went down to hell… to end the world where death reigns.  For God goes to hell and back with us... God goes to hell and back for us!  To find us! And God’s word is resurrection and new life.

And so we can sing with Mary today

My soul proclaims your greatness O God.

We can sing of the promise that this baby she bears brings with him.  Jesus birth is just the beginning, but when our world has ended… sin, violence and death do not have the last word.  There is the hope.  Hope of finding ourselves at the beginning, given new life, as new as this little person coming in the manger.

Amen.

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