Nagoya Mission

Training - 11/8/2009

Mark 12: 28-34

 Hideki Matsui --- Godzilla.  For those who have not been keeping an eye on the news this past week, his name has been in newspapers, radio, internet and TV particularly here in Japan, his home nation.  The reason being is that Matsui is a member --- at least for the time being --- of the New York Yankees; the baseball team that won the US World Series Championship.  Matsui in particular did exceedingly well winning the individual honor of World Series MVP --- Most Valuable Player.

 Hideki Matsui has received a great deal of attention, but his time in baseball goes further back than these recent home runs with the Yankees.  In 1992 while playing at the Japan National High School Baseball Tournament at Koshien Stadium for Seiryo High School in Kanazawa, Matsui sparked a nationwide debate because he drew five consecutive intentional walks in a game.  Intentionally walking a player by a pitcher was and is not a common practice at Koshien.1

 This week I have been thinking, seeing the present success of Matsui, learning more about the practice and work called for in Japanese sports clubs, in High School and Junior High, I wonder how much "natural" talent for baseball --- Matsui may have?  His whole life, since 3rd grade, has been so steeped in playing, practicing and perfecting the game.  I believe it may be impossible to distinguish his talent from his training.  The same could be said for Japanese baseball player Suzuki who plays for the Seattle Mariners.  Talent and training seem to be one.

 That being said, as Christians we have a unique view of physical training and what it means in our lives.  Just look at 1 Timothy 4: 7-8 and this succinct reflection: “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”  This observation however, leads me to reflect; “How do we train ourselves in “godliness”?”

 The answer partly lies in today's gospel lesson, where Jesus answers the question of a religious leader: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?2  Jesus responds not with one of the Ten Commandments, because as many of us know those are hardly the only commandments in the Bible, and according to Jesus not the most important.  Instead Jesus first recites the training mantra of the Shema.  “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”3

 As an observant Jew, Jesus recited this combination of confession, that there is only one God, and commandment “Love…” to God twice a day -- during his morning and evening prayers.4  While sticking to this twice-daily ritual was itself a training regime, it is the message of the Shema that Jesus embodied so perfectly and which offers all of us a way toward complete and genuine "godliness." 

 If you notice, the building blocks of this Shema focus on the heart, soul, mind and strength.  In other words, no element of human existence is excluded from this training in faith.  The exercises that are to be worked on expressed in the Shema allow no parts of our being to unattended.

 I am not a Matsui or a Tiger Woods or a Ronaldo, not only do I not have their talent, but I do not train as the train.  But I am a professing Christian so the words of Jesus today are more than just a teaching they are a reminder in how to train.  Perhaps though we can gain some insight from the worlds of athletes to better understand about what Jesus is teaching us today.

 Mark Allen is the six-time “Ironman” winner and holder of the title “The World's Fittest Man.” “Ironman” and “Ironwoman” competitions include a grueling triathlon of swimming, bicycling and running, designed to push the capabilities of the human body to their limits.  To compete as an Ironman or Ironwoman one must be in superb, all-round, peak physical condition.

 Mr. Allen has devised a 16-week program designed for "ultimate fitness."5  That is not what I find interesting rather it is what Allen chose to use for he divides his training into four components. These include "heart training" for endurance; "mind training" for attitude; "nutritional training" for internal fitness; and "strength training" for muscle mass.  Sound somewhat familiar?  Therefore let’s take Allen’s approach not to trivialize the Shema mandate but to help us reconsider the words of Jesus as we train in “godliness.”

 Allen begins with Heart Training or Endurance Routines, urging his athletes to begin slowly, train easily, and be patient.  "Go for long-term gain, not immediate gratification," says Allen.  Building endurance, building up the stamina of your heart, depends on steady, incremental gains -- not flurries of heart-warming activities followed by weeks of uncaring sloth.

  The key for Allen is to “Get faster by going slower.”  I believe that observation helps us because remember the “heart” described in the Shema was not viewed as the location of our emotions --- that was usually the bowels.  Rather, heart training is a focus on building love endurance, not an emotion.  To be able to love God and love neighbor takes a constant, steady stream of commitment.  For Christians that would mean that building up the heart for feats of faith takes long, slow workouts and training.  To bolt out the door and save the world is to fumble and fall.  Rather we are to push ourselves but not to the point where we “dip into muscle” in bursts of energy and then stop completely for months on end.

 The second suggestion from Allen is Mind Training or Mental Toughness.  An Ironman course is daunting so just thinking about it can shake a person’s confidence.  Training recognizes that sometimes attitude is everything.  To take that instruction for us Christians that attitude is a key for example, when we do not see any way we can love a particularly unlovable person, we can focus on the goal of love, an attitude to get us through those times we find someone who is “unlovable.”  Having a disciplined mind does not mean a narrow, closed or muscle-bound mind, it is a mind focused squarely on the goal.

 Allen provides a third, Molecular Strength or what we Christians could call Soul Training.  This training includes a nutritional plan.  But instead of advocating some sports drink with his name on it, Allen suggests we stop and listen to our bodies, for the body will tell us what it needs.

 This means as Christians we may need to tune to our being so that we can hear and understand the language of our soul.  Allen is right to insist that genuine fitness begins at the molecular level.  But training for godliness is to recognize that there is much more to our insides than biology and chemistry -- there are the cravings and callings of the soul.  An untended soul sours.  It grows surly.  Its bile seeps out and gradually pollutes the heart, the mind and the body.  Tending our soul means intentionally turning it toward God’s love, regularly bathing in worship for example, and exercising through daily deep-knee bends of prayer.

 Allen has a fourth area called Strength Training or Muscle Routines: To look at Allen and other tri-athletes, you wouldn't know it, but the point of strength training is not to get bigger muscles, but to get better muscles.  The issue for these athletes is performance, not bulk.

 When Jesus advocates this portion of the Shema, “loving God with all our strength,” I believe that Jesus recognizes that a part of human existence is sheer physical.  We have bodies that we must feed, clothe and care for, not to bulk up, but bodies that are subject to injury, sickness and death.  So, it takes a certain amount of brute strength just to get through each and every day.  To deny that God's presence and love needs to be involved in this physicality would eliminate godliness from our existence.  Using the words of Paul, “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?”6
 Jesus Christ perfectly embodied the Shema -- reflecting God's love and loving the neighbor with all of his heart, mind, soul and strength.  Let Jesus coach us as we train in godliness; to love God and neighbor with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.  So, what area; heart, mind, soul and strength, do we need to focus on today?  Or are we focusing on one at the expense of the others?

 We are not athletes of the caliber of Matsui and their training is not necessarily the model we follow, yet we are Christian and “godliness” is something to which we do train.  Finally there is one key difference between athletes and their success and Christians, because of God’s grace godliness comes in Jesus Christ, and talent is not necessary but training is.  Amen.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hideki_Matsui
2 Mark 12:28
3 Ibid. vs. 29
4 Deuteronomy 6:5
5 Outside, XXII, February 1997, pp. 40-54
6 1 Corinthians 3: 16

Tomorrow - 11/01/2009

Revelation 21: 1-6

Choices, human choices, are interesting to say the least….  Just take for example, American actor Rob Morrow.  He may be best known for his role as a New York doctor exiled in Alaska in the US TV series Northern Exposure and for his current role in the US TV drama series Numb3rs.  Those choices are not what interest us however; rather it is his daughter’s name.  The actor and his wife named her … Tu.  Tu Morrow.1

An interesting situation exists in southwest Ohio, an American state in the Midwest, with its village called Morrow.  It was named for Jeremiah Morrow, one of Ohio’s early governors.  However, the Morrow name has provided grounds for humor, especially when someone wanted to get to Morrow tomorrow.2

I simply point to these illustrations because not only do they illustrate human choices, but also to introduce today’s theme.  Tomorrow in biblical terms is far more meaningful, than a couple playing with their last name or the public finding humor in the name of a town.  Tomorrow in the Bible is not simply what happens 24 hours later … tomorrow is the future, God’s unfolding plan, the time that has not yet arrived.  Fundamentally it is the assurance that the present is never the end of the story.  Tomorrow proclaims that the darkness of today will not survive.

It is also the stuff of prophecy.  “The days are surely coming when ...” proclaimed the Old Testament prophets.  Such biblical prophecies were often uttered during dark and dismal days when not only the present but also the future looked bleak; “Tomorrow” was God’s word to the prophets to be proclaimed to keep faith, hope and courage alive.

Understanding this Biblical sense of tomorrow is thus, one of the keys for understanding Christian faith.  When we embrace the way of Jesus Christ, we enter the kingdom of God, which is already here in some ways.  But we also inherit the hope of the kingdom to come, where God’s love and power will have full sway, where all wrongs will be righted and where there will be neither sorrow nor suffering anymore.

Just for contrast, let me compare it to the classic Buddhist understanding of the future: the concept of Nirvana.  Nirvana is not the same as the Christian concept of afterlife nor is it similar to the meaning of the Biblical “tomorrow” rather as a Buddhist priest explained: “The Buddha said all forms of life are unsatisfactory because of birth, sickness, and old age; eventually you will end up suffering if you’re alive.”3  Nirvana he adds is “the end of suffering while you're alive and the end of rebirth after you die.”  In short, one key difference between Buddhism and Christianity is the understanding of the meaning of “tomorrow.”

Let’s examine our Christian understanding of “tomorrow” using today’s reading from Revelation.  Our passage comes from the final book of the Bible.  A book that in many ways is similar to the prophets of the Old Testament.  The days are surely coming when “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”4  This passage not only resembles the Old Testament prophets but what we most often hear, when we are personally facing sorrow or pain that seems insolvable.  “Don’t lose hope,” we say. “There is a better world coming.”

In addition, this passage gives us a visible image of tomorrow which is otherwise mysterious, using the image of a city a “new Jerusalem,” fleshed out later in Revelations.  This image of a future city is to help us as we struggle with the complexities of the present.

To be honest, however, this promise of God’s kingdom “tomorrow” while it engenders faith, hope and courage in some people turns others off to Christianity.  Critics respond, “Christianity is based on a someday hope instead of immediate solutions.”  Tomorrow is the refuge of people who cannot accept reality.  Christianity is primarily wishful thinking whereas Buddhism for example struggles with the realities of the present.

Of course, in a sense, the critics are right.  Christianity does have a wishful-thinking element.  Where we differ with our critics, however, is on what wishful thinking can accomplish in our reality.  Sometimes, tomorrow is the channel of positive, if not immediate, change.

Let me share an illustration.  In the early, dark days of World War II in Europe, England was ill prepared to defend itself.  Night after night, warplanes repeatedly bombed London.  Many of the city’s children were sent to live with relatives out in the countryside, and the people who remained, lived under daily threat.  British flyers seriously outgunned and piloting outdated planes, took to the air to defend the country.  Many did not return.  During this difficult time, one of the most popular songs in England was “The White Cliffs of Dover,” which proclaimed words like these in it lyrics: “There’ll be joy and laughter / And peace ever after, / Tomorrow / when the world is free ... Tomorrow / Just you wait and see.”

The mood of that song was not unlike what we read in today’s lesson from Revelation, the “tomorrow” of the prophet, but it also highlights that tomorrow is not just an eternal one.  It was a tomorrow that was possible within the lifetime of that generation, of our generation, and of the generation that may follow us.  Although the “White Cliffs of Dover” is not a Christian hymn it is a symptom of this thinking this “tomorrow” that engenders hope and courage.

This “tomorrow” does not remove us from reality.  In the late 19th century, many Christians looked ahead to the 20th century with hope and optimism, believing that our world was making progress, scientific, mechanical, etc, toward becoming a more just society.  Those Christians had an enlarged vision of what following Jesus meant.  They no longer limited their work to bringing people to Christ and making disciples, but were active in society as well, taking on such problems as poverty, warfare, injustice and other human ills.  Those Christians saw themselves as helping to establish a new social order that would be a place of peace, justice and well-being --- the sort of things we expect in the kingdom of God.  Some people went so far as to say the world was about to enter a century that would be Christianity’s own.  Many today continue in that vein.

However for many others, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Holocaust and other 20th-century happenings eventually convinced many who touted what was called “Social Gospel” that they were not about to see the dawn of the earth’s version of the kingdom of heaven after all.  Some commentators are even suggesting that the contemporary trend of people searching and developing their own inner “light,” their own inner “divine” is partly in response to this prior “social,” outward, gospel.  Instead of the Kingdom of God being a social progressive movement, this tomorrow in our reality is now an inner event.  The Kingdom of God of tomorrow is in you now!  Other commentators have pointed to the trend among some that this Kingdom of God is to be found in your pocketbook or purse.  The Kingdom of God of tomorrow is prosperity now.

If anything, our lesson points out however the when kingdom of God arrives it will be because God has acted to make it so.  In other words, our world will not evolve or progress into the new heaven and the new earth on its own.  It will not come by our doing, whether in prosperity or a focus on our inner selves.

Nonetheless, our Christian faith, our courage, our hope and our faith in tomorrow drives us to work for the good not only people’s souls, their “tomorrow,” but also of our whole beings now, today.  We cannot expect to establish a time when their “will be no more tears;” that will be God’s doing.  But neither should we assume we can have no responsibility for our present reality.  Just because we cannot change everything, in society, or in our selves, it is no reason to think it is a wasted effort to change some things or at least try to.
 

Instead, this work is to find tomorrow today.  This concept of “finding tomorrow” is found in the Old Testament, the Hebrew is: “tikkun olam,” translated in different ways but generally meaning “repairing the world.”  It is also within our lesson today.  Because of Jesus Christ, finding tomorrow happens today.  They are the nearer tomorrows, those tomorrows that we “find” in God’s kingdom that has come now.  “I am making everything new! (I am finding tomorrow today --- I am repairing the world). Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’  He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.’” 

Because of Jesus Christ, “finding tomorrow” does not only come in death.  It comes throughout time from the beginning to the end, the Alpha and the Omega, in hope when getting out of bed seems impossible.  It comes in forgiveness when we are forgiven and when we forgive.  “Finding tomorrow” comes when we have lifted in prayer not only our joys and sorrows but the joys and sorrows of others.  It comes in incongruent ways sharing a cup of water, food, to sacrifice and obedience.  “Finding tomorrow” comes in countless ways.

Because of Jesus Christ, we are promised that the darkness that we may see today will not survive.  That does not free us from the reality of today.  Rather it helps us “find tomorrow” today and gives us faith that tomorrow will come.  Amen.

1 http://www.tv.com/rob-morrow/person/29885/biography.html
2 http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=17179
3 http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma/heaven.html
4 Revelation 21: 4

Nostalgia - 10/25/2009

Mark 10: 46-52

 Are you ever nostalgic?  The term nostalgia describes a longing for the past.  The word according to Wikipedia the internet encyclopedia and dictionary, describes the word as a “formation of a Greek compound,” consisting of "returning home", and "pain" or "ache".1
 I recently had a wave of nostalgia while I was watching a DVD of a TV show from the United States.  In the episode a father brought snickerdoodle cookies to his estranged daughter because it was her favorite cookie when she was growing up.  That gift intended to bring good feelings, feelings of 懐かしい nazakashi, to the man’s daughter failed but it did not fail with me because it brought to mind a warm butter cookie with a lot of sugar and cinnamon, memories of being a child and my mom.  That feeling is nostalgia.
 Of course there are other times I have feelings of nostalgia, interestingly enough they tend to revolve around food! 
 But, nostalgia of course is not limited to food.  For example, one of the great mythologies of Japan is that the “authentic” nation is not found on the streets of Akihabara, Tokyo but instead real Japan is present in the rural agrarian districts.  A study was done where researchers showed an older painted picture of a terraced ripe rice field ready for harvest and a modern painting of Tokyo and asked “Which picture represents authentic Japan?”  Even when the majority of the nation resides in urban areas, it seems that feelings of nostalgia are evoked and ふるさとfurusato --- hometown --- andちれい --- chirei --- the “soul” of  place manifested.  The majority of people pointed to the picture of a terraced rice field as that of authentic Japan.2  Studies in the United States have been done with images of the old West or images from the 1950’s and have had some similar results.
 That is why today’s gospel and the healing event of Bartimaeus perhaps do not stir the same emotive feelings and reactions in us as it did at the time of Jesus.  Let’s explore today’s lesson, the last healing event in the Gospel of Mark, more thoroughly.
 Jesus and the disciples are leaving Jericho, one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world.  Jericho is located northeast of Jerusalem in the vicinity and on the west side of the Jordan River on the southern end of the Jordan Valley.  In Mark it is the last city visited before Jesus dies in Jerusalem on the cross.
 As they are leaving for Jerusalem, Jesus, the disciples, and a large crowd pass through the gates, were they go by a blind beggar.  That would not have been unusual at that time because beggars would have been located outside city gates not only because of their physical problems --- “outsiders” rather than “insiders” --- but also because the location was opportune for begging as many people would be coming and going through the gates in and out of the city.
 What was unusual was what happened next.  First, Mark identifies the beggar, which Mark rarely does, and tells us that is Bartimaeus, the son --- “bar” --- of Timaeus.3  This Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is walking by so he raises his voice, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”4
 For Bartimaeus to call Jesus “Son of David” is to evoke a nostalgic longing, deep-seated in the Jewish conscience, for an anointed king, a legitimate heir to the throne of the great King David, the greatest time in the history of the Jewish nation.  So “Son of David” is also charged with political power as well.  After all, the Roman governor, Pontus Pilate, hardly wanted his authority to be challenged by talk of a Jewish king.
 The expression “Son of David” is in one way a backward-looking phrase that evokes nostalgia and warm feelings among the Jews of this region.  They would have remembered the promise of Psalm 18, God “gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.”5
 The people of that day would have looked forward to seeing their king march into Jerusalem, with crowds of supporters shouting: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.”6  There was a lot of passion for this future “Son of David.”  Much more than anyone is ever going to feel for ripened rice on a terraced field or at the memory of snickerdoodle cookies.
 In this passage from Mark, it is only a sightless man who sees Jesus clearly.  Only blind Bartimaeus correctly identifies Jesus as the long-awaited “Son of David.”  We hear next that the crowd is annoyed by his shouting, and they sternly order him to be quiet.  It is possible that they are bothered by his brashness, maybe feeling that blind beggars ought to be seen and not heard.  Perhaps from their perspective, he is like a homeless person blocking the sidewalk, shaking a cup and asking for spare change.  Or maybe they are nervous because of what he is saying, fearing that the long arm of the Roman military will bring the hammer down on anyone associated with a Jewish king.
 In any case, Bartimaeus will not be silenced.  He cries out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”7  His faith in Jesus will not be crushed by the criticism of the crowd, or by the fear of what Rome might do to someone speaking in such a politically incorrect way.  He shows a profound level of courage besides evoking deeply emotional nostalgia feelings.  Bartimaeus does not seem to care that the people around him are telling him to be quiet.  He just does it.
 What is the result at this hint of nostalgia as well as faith?  Jesus stops in his tracks and says, “Call him.”  You get the feeling that the crowd goes silent at this point, surprised that Jesus would respond to the shrieks of a blind man sitting in the dirt.  Whatever the emotion of the crowd at this point, the word is relayed to the blind man, and Bartimaeus responds by throwing aside his begging cloak and springs up to meet Jesus.
 The unusual character of this event continues because we have the interesting question from Jesus when Bartimaeus arrives, “What do you want me to do for you?”  That is an intriguing question, don’t you think?  Bartimaeus is a beggar, so he could have asked for a bag of gold.  He had no status in the community, an “outsider” rather than an “insider” so he could have asked for some respect.  He is unemployed, so he could have asked for a job.  We can assume that Bartimaeus had made his mistakes in life, so he could have asked for forgiveness.
 “What do you want me to do for you?” is the question that Jesus puts before him.  It is open-ended, non-directive; a blank check, just waiting to be filled in.
 Bartimaeus says, “Rabbi, I want to see.”  It is a simple and straightforward request, but one that is much harder to fulfill from anyone other than Jesus.  It is much harder than a plea for a job or a bag of gold or even a place of honor in the community.  "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you."  And immediately Bartimaeus regains his sight, and follows Jesus on the way.
 What does this event say to you and me?  In a former congregation I remember a discussion I had with a person who was commenting on the world contrasting it too the past and in particular the 1950’s in the US.  She was saying on how wonderful it was not only for her, but also for the church.  I responded to her that for me appealing to a bygone age, will not sort the sheep from the goats.  It only separates the young from the old.  And new Christians from those who have been Christian for a longer period of time.
 When Bartimaeus exclaims from the roadside “Son of David” he is not appealing simply to a nostalgia King of the past but to a King of the present and the future.  For Bartimaeus to evoke the past is not what gets him healed rather it is his confession of faith.  Second, Bartimaeus not only refuses to be silenced he is not concerned about what other people are saying.  As Bible scholar Lamar Williamson puts it Bartimaeus “is the one who can truly see” because his eyes are focused “on the one thing he wanted most in the world, together with his keen anticipation that Jesus could and would grant it.”8
 What does that mean for us?  Are we blind because our sight is focused on the past, or are we blind on what we need most, unable to clearly see or speak what we need?  Or are we more comfortable with out begging blankets before us, afraid to cause a stir.  Let us place our sight of Jesus, the “Son of David” the man, the savior, the son of God, the resurrected Christ, where we find healing today.  Amen.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostalgia
2 Inexorable modernity: Japan’s grappling with modernity in the arts. Hiroshi Nara, Lexington Books, 2007, p. 178
3 Mark 10: 46 & Mark, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Lamar Williamson, Jr., John Knox Press, Louisville, 1983, p. 196
4 Mark 10: 47
5 Psalm 18: 50
6 Psalm 118: 26
7 Mark 10: 48
8 Mark, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Lamar Williamson, Jr., John Knox Press, Louisville, 1983. p. 198.

Control Issues - 10-18-2009

   Are you a perfectionist?  A perfectionist is a “person who is displeased by anything that does not meet very high standards.”[1]  Before any of us answer yes or no, let me ask this; are you a hoarder or a pack rat?  Do you have a hard time throwing anything away?  Did you know that perfectionism and hoarding are interrelated?

   I did not learn about that relationship until I was a pastor in Wisconsin in the USA.  A retired elderly woman in the church, lived in a small home, however, it was not neat as a pin.  On the contrary before being hospitalized her home had gotten to the point where a person could barely enter her home, because it was so full of old mail, newspapers, magazines, clothing, food, junk and boxes.  There was a narrow trail from the door to the kitchen table, where she slept and ate, to the bathroom.  Everywhere else, in all the rooms, all around piled high were stacks, taller than me, of years and years of accumulation.

   The police finally intervened, when it was established that she had resorted to cooking on one burner because her oven and refrigerator were full of junk. 

  This woman suffered from a form of Compulsive Hoarding Syndrome, a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder that causes people to acquire and hold on to stuff most of us would call junk.  Compulsive hoarders stubbornly hold on to everything, because they believe they might somehow need those items in the future.

   However, the accumulation of stuff is only a symptom for compulsive hoarders.  According to the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation in the United States, the root cause of this disorder has to do with an acute case of perfectionism.  “People with compulsive hoarding syndrome do not like to make mistakes,” writes behavioral therapist Karron Maidment.[2]  In order to prevent making a mistake, hoarders will avoid or postpone making decisions.  The net result of the fear of making a mistake is that compulsive hoarders avoid doing many tasks like throwing stuff away, because everything becomes overwhelming.

  While Compulsive Hoarders Syndrome sufferers represent extreme cases of perfectionism, perfectionism itself is indicative of a larger and more pervasive human disease, human sin --- the desire to be in control.

   According to Dr. Steven Phillipson of the Center for Cognitive-Behavior Psychotherapy in his study of children he found that perfectionism in children arises from the need to gain “control of a world that seems to be slipping out of control.”  He found that “a perfectionist believes that he needs to protect himself from the potential of his world crashing in around him, because it might be discovered that he is imperfect or that he does not have all the answers.”[3]

   As we grow older, many of us adapt or somehow realize that our desire for control has to be tempered and balanced.  Perhaps it comes for many with maturity as Dr. Phillipson suggests; perhaps it comes when we realize that we cannot have it all, or perhaps when we become more concerned with that life after: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Yet however much our perfectionism is tempered, that does not go to the fundamental problem: human control in a world that seems so much out of control.

   Our gospel offers a case study of what I mean.  This man is often called the “Rich Young Ruler,” a title that is really a blend of descriptions pieced together from all the gospel versions.  Here in Mark, however, we know only that he is a person with great wealth.[4]

   Interestingly enough, before we find out about his wealth, we discover that he is a perfectionist.  ‘”Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?’”[5]  Jesus responds by giving him a quiz on some of the Ten Commandments, to which he responds checking all the boxes.

   So far, the man is seemingly ---- in control.  ‘”Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.’”[6]  This wealthy man has managed to maintain standards, at least in his own eyes, while also managing to either inherit or through his own efforts or a combination thereof in becoming wealthy.

   Jesus knows humanity, Jesus knows sin.  How does Jesus respond to this man?  Did Jesus know he was wealthy?  “’Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me.’”  “At this the man's face fell.  He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”[7]

   Jesus next turns to the disciples by providing a metaphor of a camel going through the eye of a needle to talk about how hard it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.[8]  The stacks and stacks of stuff that we accumulate as a means of validating our worth, validating that we are in control, can create an ever-narrowing pathway until, eventually, it is impossible to squeeze our way out.

   Jesus however does not leave it just with the metaphor for he offers a therapeutic solution. While compulsive hoarders need some serious psychological intervention, humanity needs only one prescription.  Jesus spells it out “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

  So, what are we do with this lesson.  Many of us read or hear this story and say, “Well, thank goodness I’m not rich!”  I am not a perfectionist!  I do not have control issues!  That must be someone else’s problem.

   The second approach has to do with the force of Jesus’ prescription. Jesus is not really asking us to give up everything we have; he’s using a hyperbolic metaphor.  Disciples of Jesus for example, do not really need to get rid of everything we own, and trust God right?  That simply is not realistic.

   The disciples add a third response, “Look, what we have already done;” Certainly what you are talking about does not apply to us.  We can juggle wanting to be in control and still call ourselves followers of Jesus.  

  I believe Jesus challenges all three of these excuses directly in this lesson, and his words are convicting for all who want to be his followers.  He challenges us to think about how we continue to hold on to what ever we are holding on to in our own lives.  The question is whether I will seek health and wholeness by learning to give up not only when asked, but to ponder my desire for control.

   Did you notice that Jesus did not bring up the first four commandments?  Was it intentional?  Was it a test?  If you remember, the first four commandments are the ones about honoring God, about making everything in our lives subject to God, which are the basis for the six that follow.

   For God, or control in a world seemingly out of control is not about full houses and mountains of material goods.  Nor do control and its symptoms of perfectionism have anything to do with eternal life.  Rather, following God is all about emptying, about giving away: clearing the clutter and letting go of anything and everything that keeps us from finding the door to God’s kingdom; “the last shall be first.”

   Thankfully, the woman who I told you about at the beginning of the sermon was freed from the home of her own making.  However, many people who struggle with Compulsive Hoarding Syndrome die in a squalid pile of junk.

   The question for us --- the rich, the poor and the many in between --- is whether we will be found trying desperately to be in control to the end, holding on frantically to whatever we can not take with us, or whether we will be wholly trusting in God, having given the best of ourselves and our blessings to the service of God.  Or will we be found dead, buried in the junk of our accumulation?

   The model for our living and dying is Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ loved this wealthy man, as he loves us.  So, let us not turn away from that love.  Let us trust and be made whole.  Amen.

---

[1] http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=perfectionist

[2]  Maidment, Karron. Compulsive hoarding syndrome: An introduction. Obsessive Compulsive Foundation, Inc. www.ocfoundation.org/1005/m100a_002.htm.

[3] When the going gets tough...the Perfectionist takes control: Early recognition of perfectionism amongst adolescents from ages 12 – 21, Steven Pillipson, Ph.D., Center for Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy, http://www.ocdonline.com/Whenthegoinggetstough.php

[4] Mark 10:22

[5] Vs. 17

[6] Vs. 20

[7] Vs.22

[8] Vs.25

Milk - 10/11/2009

Hebrews 1: 1-4; 2: 5-12

 Guess what.  If you call a cow by name, she’ll give you more milk. Show a little kindness and a personal touch, and she’ll be more productive.  Perhaps the same is true for us.1
 When I was growing up for a couple of summers as a teenager, I worked at my uncle’s dairy farm in Wisconsin.  My grandfather who was still alive at that time would join us as the cows entered the barn.  While they walked in and went to their particular stall, he would speak Norwegian to the cows.  One time I asked him, “Why are you talking to the cows?”  He said, “Because when you talk to them and give them names, they give more milk.”  I didn’t quite believe him.  But now years later, a new study out of England, reported in the American newspaper USA Today, reveals that affectionate treatment of cattle --- including the giving of names to cows --- can increase the amount of milk they give.  The average cow produces about 2,000 gallons --- 7,570 liters --- of milk a year, but if you know her by name, she’ll give you an extra 68 gallons --- 257.4 liters.
 There’s a message here for all of us today so yes I am going to say it, “let’s milk” this study for all it’s worth!
 Researcher Catherine Douglas of Newcastle University in the United Kingdom says farmers have always believed that naming cows has a positive effect.  But until now, there has never been any scientific evidence.  Her study shows that if a cow is not given individual attention, then it’s likely to be uncomfortable around humans and become stressed.  A stressed cow releases a hormone called cortisol, which inhibits milk production.
 On the other hand, cow-friendly farmers name their cows and make contact with them from an early age. “They chat to them in passing,” Douglas observes. “They walk among the cows and speak with them.”2  Cortisol is not present, and thus the cow gives more milk.
 So it seems that my grandfather was correct, cows that are known by name will be happy, calm and productive.  Anonymous cattle are going to be stressed and unproductive.
 Makes sense, doesn’t it?  The same applies to us.  Look at today’s lesson.  The letter to the Hebrews says that “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.”3  God sent Jesus to walk among us and speak to us, to show us God’s will and God’s way by being in relationship with us.  Hebrews continues by reminding us that “The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”4
 All that simply means that God has spoken to us by a Son.  As the gospel of John puts it, “The Word became flesh and lived among us.”  The author of Hebrews is reminding us that God through his son is not distant, but with us.  Not silent, but speaking to us.  Not harsh, but full of grace and truth.
 Hebrews goes on to say that Jesus “who makes men holy” and then adds “those who are made holy are of the same family.”  For this reason, Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters, saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”5  Take a moment and consider that; Jesus Christ sings our praises!
 As many of you know, Jesus loved to use images from rural life when he was teaching the public about the nature of the God kingdom.  We have examples of Jesus using not only images of seeds and vineyards but also of shepherds.  So, it is not out of place to picture a down-to-earth and highly human Jesus out in a field with us.  He could be dairy farmer, walking among his cows, calling us brother and sister, and praising God in the middle of the endless herd of humanity.  He is addressing us by name, showing us a little kindness and a human touch, and taking the time to get to know us and our odd and unpredictable behavior.
 That of course is not the usual picture of Jesus.  For example, historian and theologian Jaroslav Pelikan points out in his famous book Jesus Through the Centuries, that over time we have seen Jesus as the Rabbi, the Cosmic Christ, the Monk Who Rules the World, the Universal Man, the Mirror of the Eternal, the Teacher of Common Sense, the Poet of the Spirit, or the Liberator.6  So, although a pastoral Jesus may be an appealing image, historically we have avoided that image theologically leaving that Jesus Christ to art and stained glass windows.
 Nevertheless there is something to be said for an image of Jesus theologically as a farmer in the pasture with us.  Certainly, it’s close to the biblical image of the shepherd, the one who “calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And “When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”7 
 This dairy farmer, this shepherd, is the Christ who “for a little while was made lower than the angels,” says the letter to the Hebrews, all for the purpose of walking among us, making us happy and calm.8  This is all for our benefit, says Hebrews, because we are not angels: “For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants.”9
 Why?  According to Hebrews why should God through Jesus come to help us, like a farmer who cares for us and calls us by name?
 To make us more productive.  Clearly, Jesus wants good milk.  And he wants lots of it.  “My Father is glorified by this,” says Jesus, using a slightly different agricultural metaphor, “that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”10
 Now, it would be wrong to push this image too far and begin thinking of ourselves as actual cows, lining up to be milked.  For many reasons, that is not a pretty picture.  Furthermore, besides, our output is not supposed to be dairy products; instead, says Hebrews, the harvest is to include mutual love, hospitality to strangers, concern for prisoners, faithful marriage and a life as Hebrews puts it “free from the love of money”11  Better to be blessed than stressed.
 So, why aren’t we … less stressed?  According to the author of Hebrews, we are to be less stressed.  Perhaps that is why Hebrews is the most often quoted letter in the New Testament, but for many the least understood because of its elaborate theological arguments.12  In other words, we may have a sense that Hebrews is telling us something important, but we have little patience for reading or understanding what we read.
 In short, according to Hebrews, so to speak is that Jesus is the very expression of God, who came to be God enfleshed among us, because God knows that we are not going to bear much fruit if we are stressed about our salvation.  We are not going to give good milk if we feel guilty about not volunteering enough or if we are uncomfortable about our theological knowledge.  Hebrews points out that God knows that we are not going to be very productive if we feel badly about not being holy enough … or prophetic enough … or spiritual enough.
 Rather, Jesus came to bless us, not stress us.  Or, as the gospel of John puts it, Jesus came to save us, not to condemn us. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”13
 I believe that it makes a difference to know that Jesus Christ loves us and cares for us.  We are called by name, praised by Jesus Christ!  Hebrews stresses that Jesus Christ is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters, and to walk with us, talk with us and tell us we are his own.  But by the same token, this leaves us with a challenge: to grow in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ by really working at it, day after day after day.
 According to the letter of Hebrews, we all have been placed under the care of a high priest, Jesus the Christ, who, in these “last days” is the expression of God.  But, like all good cows, let’s not forget that our job is to produce.  Amen.

1 Thank you to www.homiletics.com
2 Der Bedrosian, Jeanette. “Naming cows isn’t udder nonsense.” USA Today, February 5, 2009, p. 6D.
3 Hebrews 1: 1-2
4 Vs. 3
5 Hebrews 5: 11-12
6 Pelikan, Jaroslav. Jesus Through the Centuries. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1985.
7 John 10:3-4
8 Hebrews 2: 9
9 Vs. 16
10 John 15:8
11 Hebrews 13: 1-5
12 Hebrews, Long, Thomas G. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, John Knox Press, 1997. p. 1
13 John 3: 17

Junk - 10/4/2009

There was no sermon on September 27, 2009 at MCIC.

   Garbage can be dangerous.  Floating around the earth is a vast cloud of garbage, including bits of metal from hundreds of exploded rocket boosters and bits of satellites put into space by not only the United States but USSR/Russia, China, Japan, and now private firms to name a few.
   Of course, what makes that garbage dangerous is the incredible speed at which various satellites and shuttles travel --- an average of 17,000 miles per hour.  At that speed, a strike by debris the size of a pea is comparable to being struck on Earth by a 600-pound block of steel traveling 60 miles per hour.
 Garbage in space is dangerous as junk can be for our lives as Christians.  It is dangerous not only for our lives but the lives of other.  I thought about that because this is what Jesus is driving home in this discussion with his disciples; an admonition about the attitudes and actions that can do damage to themselves and others.  That teaching from Jesus is not new and may even seem repetitive, yet it is one we must consider again.  What kind of junk do we leave behind as we move through our daily activities?  What is the potentially deadly debris of our everyday words and deeds?
 Today’s lesson begins with the disciple John peevishly reporting that an outsider has been using the name of Jesus without permission.  “‘Teacher,’ said John, ‘we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.’”1
 Did you catch that?  Why did Jesus' followers try to stop the man who was doing his work in the name of Jesus?  Was it because he was not doing the right kind of exorcism?  Was it perhaps that he was not a good representative of the work of God?  And why would the disciples want to stop someone from working in the name of Jesus?
  Before we continue, perhaps we need to remember that the disciples were already on shaky ground from something that had happened earlier:  Here's how Mark tells the story in an incident found in this same chapter.    We will begin where the disciples are arguing.  Jesus asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?  Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.  Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground.  He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid.  I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”2
  A few verses later, when the crowd is gone and the disciples are alone with Jesus, the disciples ask him about their failure and Jesus gives them an answer.  “After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why couldn't we drive it out?’  He replied, ‘This kind can come out only by prayer.”3
  Does this clear thing up a bit?  It is difficult enough to be unsuccessful in front of your teacher, but to be unsuccessful when someone who isn't even “following us” is flourishing can be a bitter pill.  Not only that, but there is an implication here that the nameless disciple is doing better with his prayer life than they are.  Ouch!
  Not only does this prior incident give us incite in John’s complaint, but there is the exorcist himself --- revealed in the comment.  Obviously the exorcist believed in the person and the power of Jesus and was doing his work under Jesus' authority “...in your name.”
 But, we also find out in John’s that this healer was not in one of the inner circles: not one of twelve or one of the other people like one of the seventy Luke tells us Jesus sent out to do his work.  This is a nameless disciple. 
  Well, how does Jesus respond?  Although the wording is harsh, simply put, we should never be more exclusive than Jesus himself.  Jesus uses exaggerated notions and actions to make his disciples face the gravity of what they have done.  The disciples, by rebuking the unknown man who offered healing and exorcism in Jesus' name, had stopped up a river of divine compassion from flowing to those in need.
That of course is not saying that all ways, paths and roads lead to God, and thus healing, rather Christians are to be more concerned about the stumbling blocks, the junk we may erect, then say the nuances of Christian belief.
     But, as I said, this lesson makes me wonder about our own junk that we may leave around.  Let’s explore that before we review the harsh words of Jesus.
     The first stumbling block I noticed is exclusivity.  John and the others see themselves as the “only” chosen ones, guardians of faith and practice.  Certainly we need to guard ourselves and those in our charge from what can hurt them and ourselves, but the danger in that is that we are not God.
    Another piece of junk we can spread is insensitivity, especially insensitivity to the emotional and spiritual needs of others.  The disciples avoid or consider less important, the fact that people are being healed in the name of Jesus in comparison to their own hurt feelings.
Exclusivity and insensitivity are two, but there are more.  We can be careless simply in judgment of others and ourselves.  For example, the person who was combating evil in the name of Christ was successful in ministry even though as I said he is and was an “unknown.”  Meaning, our judgment in what is significant or insignificant can hamper those around us.  There is no such thing as an insignificant disciple in the eyes of Christ.
    Furthermore, not only is he a nameless disciple but he was able to do something in the name and in the power of Christ that the disciples were unable to do.  Meaning, not only is there the judgment of others, but sometimes, perhaps like the disciples, we just do not like it that someone else succeeds where we fail.  We can easily let envy and jealousy foul the air.
Ambition and hard work are good, the disciples had been chosen, we have been chosen, we are the salt of the earth, but yet other’s success does not mean that our own service as disciples is somehow tasteless or unsatisfactory to God or not needed in this world.
   But there is one additional rub in our lesson and that is the harsh response of Jesus.  In order to understand that, if you remember, the way Mark reports the story; the disciples were not even successful in stopping the man!  “We tried to stop him,” they say to Jesus.
    Certainly on occasion we may be exclusive or insensitive, inadvertent judges, envious and jealous, but to actively prevent healing.   That is why Jesus continues with such harsh words for those of us who do: “it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.4
  We need to remember that when Jesus is replying to the disciples, his answer should be seen in the context of excuses, as attempts to minimize.  We excuse ourselves, saying that wasn’t really me, it was my hand; it way eyes … I was tired, hungry, out of sorts …. that was what wronged someone, not me.  Or we say, it was not really me, it was my feet that took me places I should not have gone.  You get the idea.  Jesus uses our own ridiculous blame-shifting to damn us.  Moreover, by minimizing our actions we may actually be seeding maximum suffering; by passing blame our actions are no longer just junk, stumbling blocks, but actually stopping God’s healing of the world.
The Russian Mir space station off-loaded more than 200 objects, most of them rubbish bags during its first 10 years of operation; a sign of ignorance.  The upper stage of a US Pegasus rocket disintegrated into a cloud of some 300,000 fragments, and it single-handedly doubled the collision risk for the Hubble Space Telescope in 1996; accidents do happen.
In God’s grace given to us freely in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we are forgiven.  Certainly, we are forgiven of our ignorance and accidents of faith; nevertheless we need to be careful in our discipleship so that we are a millstone hampering the work of God.
    So, let us be at peace with each other and the many more nameless ones serving in Christ’s name.  Let us work on our exclusivity or insensitivity, let us shun our inadvertent judgment and evade jealously and envy.  Instead, let us rejoice in the success of others as children of God and like salt be humble, and in that way, season all so that all hear the good news of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

1 Mark 9: 38
2 Mark 9: 17-18
3 Mark 9: 28-29
4 Mark 9: 43

A Statement of Faith is not Enough - 9/20/2009

   For a nation like Japan, the beginning of a new government is a rather simple affair.  Just compare the installation of Hatoyama Ichiro as Prime Minister to the beginning of the US presidency of Barack Obama.
  Since the Diet election where the Democratic Party (民主党Minshuto) and it’s allies won the majority seats in the lower house Japanese parliament, we have watched Hatoyama getting in and out of cars as he went from meeting to meeting to set up the next government.  Then on September 15th, the members of the Diet walked past a box where they inserted their ballot and guess what --- Hatoyama is elected the prime minister.  Later that day, Hatoyama dressed in a black morning coat, has a short, formal event with the Emperor.  It’s all over and Hatoyama is off to more meetings to set up the new cabinet and government.
    Compare that to the US.  On inauguration day, for example there is a long parade up to the steps of the capitol.  There are universal prayers, music and then of course there is the oath of office.  After the oath is a speech by the new president and then after all of that, there are various parties that go on late into the night and in to the early morning of the next day.
   It could be for that reason; a simple affair compared to a more complex event, but in the US the inaugural of a new government does not always go smoothly.  Take from example, this past Inauguration Day in the US on January 20, 2009.
    There were 2 million people at the occasion and millions more watching on TV.  Finally, we have the moment where Sen. Barack Obama raised his right hand to take the oath of office.  John Roberts, Chief Supreme Court Justice of the United States, laid out the oath: “I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will execute the office of President faithfully.”  Oops!
    Problem was, the oath was supposed to read: “I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President.”  The word faithfully had somehow flipped out of place, landing at the end of the phrase.  Chief Justice Roberts gave it another shot.  They tried together to get back on track, and then the ceremony continued with the inaugural speech and everyone rushed off to parties.
    Of course as Americans are fond of political theater, conspiracy thinking immediately erupted over the oath.  Because Sen. Obama had voted against John Roberts’ Supreme Court appointment, some people said the mix-up was intentional.  Others claimed that Obama would not and could not become president until he said the oath of office correctly.
    Well, just to be safe, Obama and Roberts repeated the oath the next day.  But here’s the bigger issue: What does it matter because the phrase “execute the office of President faithfully” has the same meaning as “faithfully execute the office of President.”  It’s a distinction without a difference.  And because we are here half way around the world a somewhat safe distance from US media, I can tell you that the 20th Amendment to the US Constitution states that the terms of the outgoing president and vice president shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of their successors shall then begin.   In other words the oath is an exercise more for show.
  What does all that have to do with us?  Think about it with me for today were we hear how Jesus asks his disciples who he is, and Peter answers, “You are the Christ.”1  Peter is exactly right in what he says and he does not mess up any of the words of this particular pledge.  And yet, getting the words right is not all there is to being a faithful disciple.  Peter does not fully comprehend the import of what he is saying --- for instance, Peter is quick to confront Jesus just a few verses later, when Jesus begins to teach his followers that he “--- must suffer many things --- must be killed.”2
  Peter nails the statement, but not the office.  Peter does a great job with his statement of faith about Jesus, but he has yet to grasp what the job of following the Messiah is all about.
  I wonder how we become obsessed with pledges and getting the words right --- perhaps concerned about the exact words of faith or perhaps concerned depending on the particular people we are with --- and miss the focus of this lesson; the specifics of two particular offices: Messiah and Follower.  Only when we understand these roles will we be able to faithfully execute the office of disciple of Jesus Christ.
  Jesus is on the road with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he asks his followers, “Who do people say that I am?”  What are people “Twittering” about?3  The disciples answer, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”4
 Jesus makes the question personal, and asks, “Who do you say I am?”5 Peter answers him, “You are the Christ,” the term Christ or Messiah means anointed one: a term which has profound historical meaning as the divinely chosen leader of the people for Jews.
 This answer is perfect, and Peter is to be commended for this these words.  But Jesus is keenly aware that many people are looking for a practical, military Messiah ? God’s Commander in Chief ? to drive the Romans out of Jerusalem and restore the kingdom to Israel.  So Jesus sternly orders the disciples not to tell anyone about him.6
 But a pledge --- a statement of faith --- is not enough.  More important is the nature of the office, not the office of President or Prime Minister, but Messiah.  And that is why Jesus begins to teach them that the Son of Man “must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”7  To be the Messiah, Jesus has to undergo suffering, death and resurrection --- there is just no way around it.
 This is hard for Jesus’ disciples, which is why we also need to look at the office of Follower.  When Jesus talks openly about his suffering and death, Peter takes him aside and begins to rebuke him.  It’s inconceivable to Peter that God’s anointed leader would have to suffer a humiliating death.  But Jesus quickly turns the tables and rebukes Peter, saying, “Get behind me, Satan!  You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”8
 Most of us focus on the first part of this statement, “Get behind me, Satan!”  Or we focus on this slam on Peter who had just given the pldge.  But in doing that we may miss the most important message for us as followers: the primary task of faithfully executing the office of disciple of Jesus Christ is this: set your mind on divine things, not human things.
 Jesus explains what the office of disciple means.  Jesus calls together the crowd with his disciples and says to them, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”9  That is the beginning of the key to executing the office of disciple: to set our minds on divine things, not human things.  To do so means to deny our selves, take up our cross and follow Jesus.
 Think about that.  How well do we do that: deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus?  How much do we focus on getting the words right for ourselves or getting others to say it our way “Jesus is the Christ” than on the office: deny, take up, and follow?
 Peter’s oath and then denial both come from the same tongue, the same heart, the same man.  This means that the particular challenges as office holders, as followers are going to be different, unique as each one of us is uniquely created by God, but no matter what language one uses, no matter how we may stumble over the words, we have each been called: deny, take up and follow.  It is not that there is one way to deny our selves, one way to take up the cross and one way to follow Jesus rather it is in only in Christ that we find the strength to do so and it is only in Christ will our statement of faith be honored.  Amen.
 
1 Mark 8:29
2 Vs. 31
3 Vs. 27
4 Vs. 28
5 Vs. 29
6 Vs. 30
7 Vs. 31
8 Vv: 32-35
9 Vs. 34

There is nothing more I can offer - 9/13/2009

  In a recent New York Times opinion piece, a doctor in pain management described the difficulty in saying these words: “There is nothing more I can offer you.”1
 I can’t tell you how many times, I have wanted to hear those words as I have sat with families in numerous hospital rooms.  I remember in particular one time when these similar important words finally came out of a doctor.  In that situation, after hearing those words, the family made the decision to remove all life support.  As we prayed, all those life sustaining tubes were removed and together we comforted each other as we watched this family’s father, husband, and grandfather die.
 Why are those words “There is nothing more I can offer you” so difficult but also so freeing?  I know that we have confidence in science and its companion, technology.  I know that we place a great deal of trust and therefore authority in medical practitioners but yet, why is it that those very words --- “there is nothing more…” seem irrational, and difficult to say, yet for all practical purposes are only honest.
 Healing --- particularly the healing miracles of Jesus, from my experience as a pastor --- draw the greatest number of questions and interest of Christians --- even more interest than (sadly) Jesus death on the cross and his resurrection.
 Therefore, let us take some time to explore some aspects of healing from one of the more unusual healing stories of the public ministry of Jesus Christ to see what we can learn.  This lesson is unusual for many of us, not only because it is an instance where the faith of the person healed is not mentioned, but even more interesting because it involves the healing gestures of Jesus: thrusting fingers into ears, touching tongue with saliva, casting eyes heavenward, and sighing and the mysterious healing word in Aramaic --- “ephphatha.” 
 When we think of Jesus healing, we generally think of Jesus speaking words of healing --- sometimes from a great distance away.  “Then Jesus said to the centurion, ‘Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.’ And his servant was healed at that very hour.”2  Or if Jesus is in close proximity, we think of him laying hands on the person who’s seeking healing.  “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.”3  We might even think of him forgiving sin in the context of healing, “Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?”4  So, we generally for example, don’t think of Jesus putting fingers in ears and saliva on a tongue.
 I do not know about you but I was brought up --- prior to my travels in Asia --- saliva, and spitting in particular was a rather unpleasant act.  I was brought up that saliva is associated with chewing tobacco and one’s action after brushing teeth.  Saliva is a bodily fluid so when someone spits, do it in the bathroom.  And when someone else spits, you really ought to look away and get out the latex gloves to protect yourself.  However, both the early Jews and Greeks believed that spittle was an important curative force, part of the science and art of curing a person.  So is that why Jesus applied his saliva to this man’s tongue?  
 It could be something more.  Remember, this man was deaf.  Had Jesus spoken a word of healing to this man, he would not have heard a word, nor could this man by the same token express his faith because the Greek word (mogilalon) to describe the man means he spoke indistinctly, not that he could not speak at all.
 Possibly Jesus chose this method of healing for this man that was consistent with his needs.  According to Professor David L. McKenna in the Communicator’s Commentary on Mark, “Fingers in the unhearing ears and spit on the uncoordinated tongue tell the man that Jesus understands his problem and intends to do something about it.”5  The point made by McKenna is that Jesus touched the deaf man in his place and point of need similar to a therapist massaging the very muscle that is pain or stress --- meaning Jesus sometimes heals with words; sometimes with a touch or laying of hands and as we see today with saliva at the point of need.
 What is also intriguing about this healing is one of the most fascinating details in that Jesus looks upward and sighs.  Why did Jesus look up and sigh?  And why was Mark so careful as to include that seemingly insignificant detail in this event?
 The obvious point is that the sigh is included precisely because it was not insignificant.  This sigh could have been another non-verbal way of communicating with a person who could not hear his words --- for this deaf man may have seen, felt or understood this non-verbal cue from Jesus.  Or the sigh was an expression of the humanity of Jesus --- a sigh of compassion.  Or the sigh was to God, based on general frustration or compassion at a person who had long suffered.
 What can these few details of this unique healing event tell us about healing in our life as disciples of Jesus Christ?
 First of all, we are told that Jesus has a compassionate public ministry, one that was focused on a man who was in need of healing regardless of faith and that Jesus addresses needs, not necessarily wants.  Furthermore, not only did Jesus heal in a caring way that was consistent with his needs, but Jesus also took the man aside and dealt with him privately, away from the crowd.
 Taking the man aside to address a need, is not only a reminder to us readers that Jesus is at this point still the hidden revelation, meaning that we will need further unfolding of the Gospel, but also that Jesus was not using healing as a means to attract followers or money.  Jesus did not strive to make a spectacle of the sick and the needy in order to boost his book sales, income or popularity.  Something all Christians are to emulate.
 Second, this man was not just healed; he was made whole.  His healing enabled him to enter society as an active participant of it.  As a deaf person in that society without a true sign language, this person was a true social outsider.  Now, as a hearing, verbal person, this person would be able to be socially integrated into society in a way he had never before experienced.
 In scripture, healing is not limited to curing physical ailments.  Rather, healing is connected to becoming a whole person --- not just physically, emotionally, spiritually but also socially.  For this person, a critical part of his healing was that it gave him an opportunity to become what God truly intends all of us to be --- social beings.  Healing for Christians then is to be similar in goal --- helping others become a whole person.
 What else might we learn about the healing ministry of Jesus and thus our practice of Christian healing from this event?  For that we need to return to a detail in verse 31: “Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.”
 Most of us forget to read scripture without a Bible atlas by our side, so the significance of that verse may be lost on us.  This short verse suggests that Jesus’ sojourn in Tyre and Sidon appears to be brief, but it is an actuality a lengthy way home by circling north, turning southeast on the far side of the Sea of Galilee and passing through the region of the Decapolis before entering Galilee on the south side of the lake.  This journey on foot would have taken Jesus months to complete.
 Jesus began this journey in Tyre with a healing of a woman’s child, and now we have a healing close to the end, with no record of Jesus healing anyone else.  Imagine that!  A journey of months with only two healings!
 We Christians think that the healing ministry of Jesus Christ was one where everyone everywhere was healed.  That’s not the case.  Just as there was a pool in Jerusalem called Bethesda where a “great multitude” of blind, deaf and invalid lay, waiting for an angel from heaven to come down and trouble the waters and provide healing.  We are told that Jesus came along and singled out only one and healed that person.6
 Why didn’t Jesus heal the others?  Indeed!  At that question, I go back to those wise words, “There is nothing more I can offer you.”  Those are our important words whether from the mouth of a doctor or from our own lips at the bed side of a dying parent or child for we are not God.
 Our gospel ends with these words, “People were overwhelmed with amazement. ‘He has done everything well,’ they said. ‘He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’7  This “punch line” in a sense is to help us understand and remember that all the miracles of Jesus whenever and to whomever they happen simply point to the extraordinary power at work in Jesus Christ and evidence that the Kingdom of God is at hand.  That is the most important lesson to learn about healing.  Rejoice because God’s ultimate, glorious purpose is that all are to be healed.  God is not at our dying bedside saying “There is nothing more I can offer,” because not only did God offer, but God gave us the healing that comes with the death of his own on the cross.  That holistic healing comes all the time including at our death.  As Christians --- then followers of Jesus Christ --- we may have gifts and talents in the healing arts that include laying on of hands, but whether we heal or not, whether we are healed or not, ultimately we are to remember “there is nothing more that we can offer” except point to the important gift of all, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

1 “Coming to Know the Limits of Healing,” Colin N. Fernandes, M.D., The New York Times, September 8, 2009.

2 Matthew 8: 13
3 Mark 6: 5
4 Luke 5: 23
5 David McKenna, Communicator’s Commentary on Mark, Word, pg. 160. Compassionate Spit Mark 7:31-37, pg. 2

6 John 5:1-9
7 Mark 7: 37

At First Glance ... - September 6, 2009

 At first glance it is a seemingly common encounter in the life of Jesus --- a woman comes to Jesus to have her daughter healed.
 But with a careful reading, there many unique and yes, troubling elements and questions with out clear answers that emerge.  First is the location.  We are told that Jesus journeyed to Tyre and Sidon -- two coastal communities in Phoenicia which at that time were a part of Syria.  In the ministry of Jesus it was the only time he ventured beyond traditional Jewish land into clear Gentile territory.
 Besides this change in geography comes something else for vs. 24 we are told that “he entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there.”  So, was Jesus on a holiday, spiritual retreat, a rest?  We know that there was a sizable Jewish population in those cities.  Was it a relative’s house?  Yet at this seemingly random location, he later casts out demons, heals the sick, and causes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.  It’s a really peculiar way to stay out of the public eye, isn’t it?  Jesus seems to be avoiding the public attraction that his healings might create.  But then that is exactly what happens.  
Then of course we have this first healing in this area that begins with this Canaanite woman throwing herself at Jesus’ feet.1  Which is curious not only because of the words said later but is not a normal cross cultural encounter.  Canaanite women at that time if they were married or had male relatives did not approach and speak to men unilaterally.2  Does this then mean she was a widowed or divorced single mother?
 And then of course there is the response of Jesus to this woman at her plea, the opposite of what we had come to expect of Jesus.  In all other respects, this little girl is precisely the sort of person that Jesus delights in healing.  This girl is suffering and her mother seeks Jesus out.
 Nonetheless, Jesus responds not with “Your faith has healed your daughter,” but with "First let the children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."3  It is as harsh then as it is now.  Dogs were the scavengers of the streets --- seemingly diseased and dirty --- which in many ways Gentiles were to Jews because Gentiles did not follow clean and unclean rules; it was and is --- an insult.
 Yet, in review, we find out that Jesus does not use the common, normal insult word for stray dogs.  Rather in Greek he used the diminutive term for little puppies or household pets, still insulting but with a twist, meaning that Jesus could have been saying this insult with a matter of fact face, in essence, that she's a dog --- and her sick daughter as well.  Or it could mean that his expression is a poker face, because he is in fact merely testing her.  He wants to know what she believes, beyond her desperate need to have her daughter healed.  Or it could mean the face of Jesus was one of teasing, with a knowing half-smile.4
 If all this was not enough, we have the response from the woman who seemingly is non-pulsed by these words, quickly turning those words into an opportunity.  To which Jesus, either stunned or ready for it, answers in effect -- "touch?" woman; “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”5
 In the end, Jesus does heal the girl in this episode and everything turns out well.  Nevertheless, we are left not simply with a miracle happy ending, but also with many questions and with a sense of unease that lingers long after the Gospel has moved on to other matters.
 So, what are we to make of all of this?  I have read this gospel many times and have always come out of the experience with something to think about.  This time, I was struck not with those various questions but with something else.  I was struck with the similarities of the woman in this episode has with others miracle healings performed by Jesus.
 There are at least three similarities.  First is the honesty.  Jesus always attracted messy people.  These messy people that look to Jesus are not people in denial.  These are not people, who think that they are not sick, or they are not possessed, or they are not needy.  They need help, and they need it right away.  The people, who come to Jesus no matter the culture, place or need, have genuine and honest clarity about their condition and situation.
 This Syro-Phoenician woman is as honest as they come.  She seems to be brutally honest to herself and the people around her.  As I mentioned she has three strikes against her, she is a woman, she is a Gentile, and is possibly a single mother who has a demon-possessed daughter.  None of these things won first-century popularity contests.  Nevertheless this woman has heard about Jesus and what ever she thought about him, what we can say, she is brutally honest and it is that need that drives her to Jesus. 
 That second aspect of this episode that resembles many of the other healing events is humility.  This woman had a humble spirit.  This Gentile woman comes and throws herself at Jesus feet, begging him to cast the demon out of her daughter.6  Jesus’ response is interesting as we have said before.  Yet, the woman responds with a humble spirit, and instead of being defensive, which she had every right to be, she is contrite.  She might be a cultural “puppy” but she will accept that position if it means being fed what she seeks.
 Bernard of Clairvaux, the French abbot who wrote a great deal about humility, says that it is only when humility warrants it that great graces can be obtained, and so when we perceive that we are being humiliated, look on that humiliation as a sign of a sure guarantee that grace is on the way.  “Just as the heart is puffed up with pride before its destruction, so it is humiliated before being honored.”7  (My emphasis - Why is that we may remember the first part of the quote but not the second?)  This Gentile mother both bows down and cries out on behalf of her daughter.  Her approach to Jesus is humble and broken.
 The third resemblance of this episode to others in the life of Jesus is faith.  This Gentile woman responds in faith.  The boldness of the woman to Jesus proves that she is somehow dimly aware of whom she is encountering.  Jesus heals, and nothing will stop her from being faithful to that knowledge.  In the same story in Matthew 15, Jesus responds to her by saying, "Woman, you have great faith!  Your request is granted."8  
 So as interesting as this episode in Jesus public ministry may be because of it’s location, the fact that it is a woman, her life situation and need and the language used, we may possibly ignore the most fundamental aspect, the crucial teaching it has for us; honesty, humility and faith.
 For many of us our values are to have faith in ourselves or in aspects of our culture and world from technological advances to money and its security.  For many of us our values are that humility is a sign of submission and assume it is weakness or a sign of domination.  For many of us honesty is determined by the situation and the people with whom we associate.  For the woman in our gospel her need was honest, her spirit was humble, and her response was faith.
 The final unknown answer in this gospel is that we do not know if this woman followed Jesus, but the fact that Jesus met her needs and so revealed his own glory is absolutely clear.
 While the circumstances of this woman’s story are different from ours, Jesus operates the same today as then and calls us to do the same with the same spirit.  We are pushed to go in faithful proclamation and compassionate service in every place and to all people, regardless of results.  Let us not ignore the model of this gospel and the many others --- honesty, humility and faith in ourselves and in others.  Let us model honesty, humility and faith, go in mission wherever Jesus Christ takes us and respond in healing love wherever it is needed.  Amen.

1 Mark 7: 24-25
2 Still searching for the reference.
3 Vs. 27
4 Got this idea from http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/ficca_4326.htm
5 Mark 7: 29
6 vv. 25-26
7 Bernard of Clairvaux, True Humiliy Sermon # 34 On the Song of Songs.
8 Matthew 15: 28

Inherent Vice - August 30, 2009

 Do you all pay much attention to art or the art world?  I am not an art devotee however I have enjoyed my occasional trip to a museum or gallery.  I cannot for example, describe how the Dutch painter Rembrandt borrowed from the Italian painter Caravaggio, but in a multi-choice test where I am to circle the names of painters, I probably would have gotten the answer correct.[1]

   I also sometimes read articles about art; hopefully improve myself.  One article a few years ago in particular caught my eye.  This article discussed “The Holy Virgin Mary,” a modern piece of art work by a Chris Ofili.  In the words of one observer, the work is “a big semi-abstract collage eight feet high and six feet wide, resting on two balls of resin-covered elephant dung with pins stuck into them spelling out the words Virgin and Mary.  The Virgin, simply drawn, is black, in a flowing blue-gray robe, a flowerlike form, flat against a gold backdrop.  There are small cutouts from adult magazines stuck to the picture to suggest putty.”  This observer went on to say, “Like all of Ofili’s collages, the work is colorful and glowing.”[2]

   Maybe.  But what was interesting for me about the article was not that it went into a discussion on the merits of modern art, or whether public money should support such artistic endeavors or how it may insult the Christian faith.  Rather the article was discussing another issue: It’s one thing to preserve and protect a painting from Renoir or Monet from the ravages of time, air pollution, light and other influences that can degrade a work of art over the centuries.  But how do you preserve an artwork that is made of organic material or less stable components --- like elephant dung?[3]

   That’s the problem facing art conservators.  Stuff melts or rots. Rubber disintegrates.  Dried mud flakes and blows away.  Art Conservators who deal with this issue are facing the problem of “inherent vice.”

  The phrase “inherent vice” originates from the marine insurance industry.  It’s a legal term that means: a quality within an object, material or property that results in its tending to deteriorate or destroy itself: in short, a built-in tendency to self-destruct.[4]

   Put some apples in a barrel, and before long, they’ll rot.  Inherent vice.  Put oranges in a basket, and within weeks, they’re not fit to eat.  Inherent vice.  Throw some elephant dung on a canvas, and within months it will start to degrade.  Inherent vice.

   Inherent vice is one way for us to understand the subject of today’s gospel.  When the external behavior stinks, it’s because the inner life is rotten.  When the hand is doing wrong, the heart cannot be right.  “Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him.  Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'”[5]  Jesus here — as he does elsewhere in the gospels, is refining what it means to be righteous.  Righteousness is an attribute that a person's actions are justified and that a person has been "judged" or "reckoned" as leading a life that is pleasing to God.

   The prevailing notion at the time of Jesus was that righteousness was about what we did.  It was about actions.  It was about behavior.  Do this --- to the point of how to wash hands and live.

   Jesus said “No.”  Righteousness is about who we are.  Righteousness is not what you do on the outside, but who you are on the inside.  Righteousness is not about the hand, washed or unwashed, it is about the heart.  The good news is that if we can get the heart right, everything else will fall into place.

   That being so, we’ve got a big problem — the problem of inherent vice, the same problem faced by people then as now, because the heart has this built-in tendency to grow foul and rotten resulting in foul and rotten behaviors.  Jesus gives us his top 12 later in this lesson: “For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'”[6]

   Of course, there’s hope.  Before I explain why, just a reminder that inherent vice is excluded by most marine property insurance policies for good reason — rot, decay and deterioration are natural, normal and innate --- in other words --- expected.  For example: say we are shipping apples from Washington state in the US to Nagoya, Japan and the ship is slowed by weather and some of the fruit rots, the insurance company is not liable. 

 On the other hand, if the destruction of the unspoiled apples is caused by an on-board fire, we would be covered.  Yet, it would be trite to talk about salvation as an insurance policy against the inherent vice of the heart.

   Rather we have to think more deeply.  The religious leaders at the time of Jesus were not unintelligent.  They understood “inherent vice.”  So what drove all these people to the point of distraction, clean hands but not clean hearts?  It is the power of fear.

  Though the tradition of washing hands had begun for the Pharisees in all sincerity, by Jesus' time a certain fear had set in.  The system of ritual and legal performance had grown so rigid that it had taken control of them.  Everything these individuals did hinged on the concern that maybe they would be breaking a law, and if one part of the tradition were to be broken, than maybe the whole tradition would die out, and if the tradition died, then maybe the whole faith, hope and love would die out.

   Fear does that to people.  It turns minor concerns into obsessions. That same fear deludes us.  We are afraid of our inherent vice.  We are afraid that if something in our system fails, spoils, then we will fail --- “I am a failure.”  If something in our system of belief is proven shaky, if something in our system of society changes, if something in our system of relationships or life suddenly is broken, then fear causes us to think that we are failures, we are broken.  In short, fear distorts the truth.

   Fear also tricked the people at the time of Jesus into thinking that if they did the proper external acts, then they would be made inwardly clean.  For example, if they washed their hands before every meal, then nothing unclean would ever enter them.  The inherent vice in their lives would not accelerate and dominate their lives.  The same fear often drives us into an obsession with what goes into our lives.  Thus, we try not to get dirty.

   Or possibly, our deepest fear is that there really is uncleanness in us and we are afraid to face it.  Our deepest fear may be that we really are guilty and despite whatever we do to be made clean --- wash our hands before eating or pray before going to bed at night --- despite anything we do, our fear is that there is no way to be made clean, no way to be made whole.  That also is the fear that drove the religious leaders to practice and teach to such a degree, in all manner of life, that Jesus finally called them "whitewashed tombs," clean on the outside but dead on the inside.

   It is to those deepest fears that Jesus speaks.  There is a way out.  It is the way of freedom because it is freedom that is the opposite of fear.  It was the freedom of Jesus that troubled the Pharisees so.  They found him to be blatantly disregarding the tradition of the elders.  But it was also the freedom of Jesus that drew people to him.  He was free not to be scared of society or of his enemies but to speak truth to them in love.  It was the freedom of Jesus that enabled him to accept those who were different: the outcasts, the unclean.

   It is that freedom that Jesus says allows us to look at ourselves honestly and to see that, yes, indeed, there is uncleanness, inherent vice, in all of us.  There is all manner of sin.  There is plenty to be ashamed of.  But it is freedom, too, free will, which enables us to accept God’s grace, the mercy and forgiveness of God.  It is freedom, finally, which enables all of us to love.

   God does not exclude our inherent vice from the scope of his love for us.  God’s love is a comprehensive package that covers the full range of human failings.  With all-encompassing mercy, God says to us, “You are forgiven, no matter how rotten you are.”  God can do so because Jesus Christ has got us covered.

---

[1]Thanks to www.Homilietics.com for the illustration and getting me thinking!

[2]Kimmelman, Michael. “Of dung and its many meanings in the art world.” October 5, 1999. Thenewyorktimes.com.

[3]Adams, Lorraine. “How degrading! Contemporary art & the ravages of age.” The Washington Post, January 12, 2003, G1, G7.

[4]Rupp Insurance & Risk Management Glossary.

[5]Mark 7: 15

[6]Mark 7:21-23

Romans 12-16 / August 23, 2009

We concluded our Romans Bible Study/Sermon Series at our English worship service with these final chapters.  Thank you to all who participated and attended worship and shared their insights, thoughts and questions.

 

Chapter 12 – 16

 

These final chapters of Roman’s focus on how the story of God’s relationship to his rebellious creation impacts on the way Christians are to conduct their daily lives.  These chapters follow Paul’s discussion on grace.  It is important to remember that Paul is reminding the Romans that grace is the opposite of permissiveness, which may have been a problem in the early church (and today?).  Grace brings with itself specific structures.  It brings with itself the power to reshape and restructure our lives in a way appropriate for life under the lordship of God through Jesus Christ.

 

Chapter 12

 

Vs. 1   Present your bodies as living sacrifices

Vs. 2   Be transformed, not conformed

Vs. 3-8 Members of one body

Vs. 9-21     Exhortations

 

   Read: Vs. 1-2 What does “be a living sacrifice” mean?

 

Chapter 13

 

Vs. 1-7 Responsibilities to the government

Vs. 8-14     Exhortations

 

   Read: Vs. 1 & 8

 

Chapter 14

 

Vs. 1-13     Words to the strong and weak Christians

Vs. 14-23   More words to the strong Christians

 

   Read Vs. 1 & 19

 

Chapter 15

 

Vs. 1-13     Concluding words to strong Christians

Vs. 14-33   Paul’s plans

 

   Read Vs. 1 & 23-28

 

Chapter 16

 

Vs. 1-24     Concluding instructions & farewells

Vs. 25-27   Doxology

 

   Read Vs. 1 & 25

 

Romans 9 - 11 / August 16, 2009

This the second to last of our Bible study/Sermon series on Romans for our English worship service at Meito Christ International Church.  We will conclude next week, August 23rd.

Chapter 9 - 11

Paul has completed his description of how God’s righteousness was manifested in Jesus Christ; nothing in all creation can separate us from that loving grace.  However, some of his readers may have the impression --- suggesting there were many Jewish Christians in the church in Rome --- God has rejected his people of Israel and the promises made to them.  The problem of the persistent unbelief of God’s chosen people, the Jews.  Now in Chapters 9-11, Paul explains that God has not rejected his people.

Chapter 9
 Vs. 1-3  Paul’s great concern
 Vs. 4-5  Jew’s are the recipients of many blessings
 Vs. 6-13 Being children of God is not based on inheritance but on promise

Read vs. 6 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed”

Read vs. 8 Not biological inheritance, on birth, but rather on God’s promise.

 Vs.14-29 To be Children of God is only possible through God’s mercy, both Jews and non-Jews.
 Vs.30-33 Basis for God’s children: faith vs. non-faith

Read vs. 30

“What then shall we say?” Used the question 6:1, 15, 7:7
God’s goal of an expanded “chosen”
Simply put, God chose to create a new people for himself, based on trust in Christ as the one through whom human beings can find their relationship to God rectified.

Chapter 10
 Vs. 1-4  Paul’s expression of concern for Israel
 Vs. 5-15 Righteousness of the Law vs. Righteousness by faith in Christ
 Vs.16-18 Not all obeyed the gospel
 Vs.19-21 Neglect and the reception by non-Jews

General theme: It is precisely rebellion against God because of human creature "hood" that has gotten the world into it’s present mess.  We are in fact not gods.

Chapter 11
 Vs.1-6  God has not rejected the Jews: Evidence
 Vs.7-10 But many are hardened
 Vs.11-16 Non-Jew connection
 Vs.17-24 Warning against conceit
 Vs.25-32 Hardening and Blessing of the Jews

General theme: Paul’s view and understanding of the reason for, and the outcome of, Israel’s rejection of Christ as God’s gift of grace, and hence the basis of their choseness.  That reason is on the one hand to create space in God’s plan for the inclusion of gentiles (non-Jews) and on the other hand to recreate space in that plan for Jews themselves.  All of this has happened for the purpose of the redemption of creation from its rebellion and the ensuing corruption.

Romans 8 - August 9, 2009

These are my notes from our Sermon/Bible Study time during our August 9th English worship at Meito Christ International Church.

 

Chapter 8

 

In Chapter 7, Paul described the predicament of a person who becomes a prisoner of the law of sin.  In the last few verses, Paul made reference to the hope of liberation possible by God through Jesus Christ.  In chapter 8 Paul magnifies on what that freedom/liberation from sin found in Jesus Christ means in the present. 

 

Important to remember that for Paul in the “body” there is “flesh” and “spirit.”  However “flesh” and “spirit” are not two parts of human nature but rather two ways of living.  The life of “flesh” is one of rebellion and idolatry.  The life of “spirit” is one of following God.

 

Flesh and Spirit: Law and Life vs. 1-11   Read vs. 5-6

 

One of the joys of summer is the celebration of the 4^th of July.  If those who celebrate at times forgot that the occasion for such celebration is US national freedom, it is nevertheless that very freedom that allows them to enjoy themselves. 

 

God’s Spirit and God’s Family vs.12-17   Read vs. 16-17

 

“They treated us just like family” is a way of expressing how warmly one has been received by others as a guest.  God through the Holy Spirit not only treats us “just like family,” but actually unites into his family … by adoption.

 

The glory to be revealed vs. 18-25 Read vs. 24-25

 

Could there be conditions, however, which make suffering not only tolerable but even welcome. 

 

The help of the Holy Spirit vs. 26-27 (Read all)

 

Spirit “intercedes” or is our “translator or ghost writer.”

 

All things working together for good vs. 28-30

 

God’s love toward his chosen (“elect”) vs. 31-39 Read vs. 35

 

Romans 6 -7 August 2,2009

We are doing a sermon series/Bible study in our English speaking worship service at Meito Christ International Church.  These are my notes for this past Sunday.

 

Chapter 6

 

In 5:20 Paul made a statement “The law was added so that the trespass might increase.”  This could easily be misconstrued.  Paul (quickly?) points out that grace is no excuse to sin.  To explain Paul tackles these questions: What takes place in baptism?  And what does “freedom from sin” mean which we now may enjoy in Christ?

 

Through Baptism we died to sin 1-7

We are dead to sin, alive to God 8-14

We become a slave to whom we obey 15-18

The motivation for serving God 19-23

 

Chapter 7

 

Possibly for the benefit of his Jewish readers (“those who know the law”), Paul carries the concept of death and freedom one step further.  We become dead to the Law so that we might be joined to Christ.  He illustrates his point by painting an image of a marital relationship.

 

Parallel to being released from marriage 1-3

We have died to the law 4-6

The law is holy, just and good 7-12

However, the law cannot save one from sin 13-25

 

Romans Study 2 Chapter 4 & 5 - July 26, 2009

Theme: “The question wrestled with in this text is simply, ‘how big is Abraham's family?’” Sarah Henrich, Professor of New Testament: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=2/17/2008&tab=3

Paul states his answer at the end 4: 16 -17

"Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring, not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed?the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were."

Paul based his idea on Genesis 15:6 - “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

This was before Abraham’s own circumcision and before the law was given.

Chapter 4

Paul has declared that God’s righteousness is to be found in a system involving justification by faith and not be keeping the works of any law; thus he proceeds to provide evidence by referring to Abraham’s example.

     How Abraham was justified 1-5  See: vs. 3
     The Testimony of David 6-8
     Abraham was justified before Circumcision 9-12
     The promise to Abraham was granted through faith 13-25

Chapter 5

Paul goes into more depth regarding his perception of Abraham’s faith and the blessings of justification.
 
     Peace with God 1
     Access to Grace 2a
     Rejoicing in Hope, even in tribulations 2b-4
     God’s love in hearts 5-8
     Salvation from God’s wrath 9-11
     Adam and the consequence of his actions 12-14
     Adam and Christ compared 15-19
     The relationship of law, sin and grace 20-21

Romans 1:1 - 3:31 July 19, 2009

For the next seven or so Sundays, we are doing a Sermon Series/Bible Study during English worship at Meito Christ International Church.  Our attendance is lower during the summer as many of our worship attendees travel.  During the time when typically there would be a sermon, we look at particular verses and ask questions of each other.  These are my notes.  The quotes from the Bible are from the New International Version (NIV).

 

Introduction:

“Paul was on fire to preach the good news of the gracious lordship of God expressed in Jesus Christ, and nowhere more so than in Romans.”  Paul Achtemeier, Interpretation: Romans, John Knox Press, Atlanta, 1985. p.1

 

This was a a letter to the political, military and economic capital of Paul’s world.

The letter to the Roman church is for practicing Christians and not intended as an introduction into the Christian faith.

          

Theme: 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

Romans is a letter from Paul…. Period.  No other author is mentioned.

Some initial personal questions:

1.                     Is there more than one church in Rome?  A strong possibility.

16:5 “Greet also the church that meets at their house.”

2.                     When was the letter written?  Consensus possibly 55-58 AD

3.                     Where?          Probably in Greece; possibly Corinth

15: 25-26 “Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.”

4.                     What did Paul know about the church in Rome?  He possibly knew some people:

16: 5 “My dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.”

5.                     Who began the church/how did it begin?  It was not Paul.  I think it may have been people like us at Meito Christ International Church - expats (come to Rome to work) and travelers.  What about Romans who had lived in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus - Cornelius or other roman soldiers?

1: 10 “I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you.”

Chapter 1:

           Custom of the day begins by extending greetings and offering thanks.

           Concerning Paul vss.1-5                                Vs. 1

           Concerning Romans vss.6-15                        Vs. 8

           Concerning the Gospel vss.16-17                    Vs. 16

           The Need for Salvation vss.18-32                    Vs. 23

Chapter 2

           Having depicted the world in Chapter 1 18:32, Paul addresses comments to those who pass judgment on others --- ironic considering what he had just written in vs. 18-32.  Or maybe that is the point!

           Gentiles need for Salvation vss.1-16     Vs. 1

           Jews need for Salvation vss.17-29        Vs. 17

Chapter 3

           As Paul continues to demonstrate the Jewish need for salvation, he proceeds to answer questions that Paul envisions protesting Jews might ask.

           Jewish Advantage vs.1-2

           Answers to possible objections vss.3-8          

           However all under sin vss.9-20                       

           God’s righteousness revealed vss.21-23                      Vs. 22

           God’s righteousness explained vss.24-26                    All the verses

           Implications of God’s righteousness vss.27-31

 

Next week we continue...

John Calvin - July 12, 2009

We are back in Nagoya, Japan after a vacation in China.  We went on a "Heritage Tour" through our adoption agency, Holt International (http://www.holtinternational.org/tours/)  The experience was wonderful not only for our daughters who reconnected with the land and some of the people of their birth, but for Beth and I.  The tour was well organized and a joy to be part of.  Hopefully in the coming weeks I can share on this blog some of what we experienced.  However, it is good to be home.

Mark 4:26-34

     “It’s not about you.”1 That’s the first line of Pastor Rick Warren’s best selling book The Purpose Driven Life.  “If you want to know why you were placed on this planet,” Warren goes on to say, “you must begin with God.”
     This very God-centered agenda that we cannot discover our life’s purpose by starting with a focus on ourselves and instead, we have to turn to our Creator, and discover the reason God has put us in this world is not new to Pastor Rick Warren.
     That of course is not to somehow demean Pastor Warren, rather if you pick up this particular thread of Christian thinking --- “It’s not about you” --- and tug on it you’re going to find yourself face to face with a prominent Christian, a man who we remembered on the 10th of July, his 500th birthday --- John Calvin.  “There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world,” said John Calvin, “that is not intended to make us rejoice.”
      Born in France in 1509, Calvin was a brilliant young man who intended to be a Catholic priest but entered law instead.2  Then, after encountering the writings of reformers such as Martin Luther, Calvin had a conversion experience. “God subdued and brought my heart to docility,” he said.
     Breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church, he left France and settled in Switzerland.  In 1536, Calvin published one of the greatest theological works ever written, The Institutes of the Christian Religion.  This major book, which begins with God the Creator and ends with reflections on government, stands as one of the most important expressions of Christian thought.  Not bad work for a 27-year-old.
     Calvin’s writings so impressed the people of Geneva, Switzerland, that he was invited to move there and help the church.  Calvin’s workload in Geneva was staggering: He pastored a church and preached daily, wrote commentaries on almost every book in the Bible, authored dozens of Christian pamphlets, trained and sent out missionaries, and influenced the schools and the civil government.  No wonder Calvin suffered from chronic migraine headaches!
     During those years in the mid to late 1500’s the city of Geneva became a magnet for Christians from all over Europe.  One of them, John Knox of Scotland, described the city of Calvin as “the most perfect school of Christ since the days of the apostles.” 
      So what made Calvin and Geneva for that matter so magnetic?  As I said, an important strand of Christian belief that Calvin emphasized is the Sovereignty of God.  Meaning, Calvin taught that no human being -- whether king or bishop or emperor -- could demand our ultimate loyalty.  Calvin famously wrote: “God is Lord over all!”3 This was good news then; it’s good news now.  Just look at the words of Jesus in the gospel “This is what the kingdom of God is like.  A man scatters seed on the ground.  Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.”4  God is in control.
     It’s not about us; it’s all about God.  Meaning that each person has the ability to make choices, whether good or evil, yet those choices do not supersede or control God.  Rather, instead it is an important paradox that cannot be explained by human logic: God is always in charge and control, yet we as human beings are gifted by God as responsible creatures, choices are ours.  We are not puppets on a string, yet God is in control.
      Another prominent theme which John Calvin explored is what is called Prevenient Grace.  We know that salvation, deliverance from the power of sin and evil, is possible only through the grace of God.  John Calvin explored this central tenet insisting that because God is Lord over all --- that means that human beings, human choices and human institutions cannot manipulate or control God in any way.  We cannot be saved by anything but God’s grace, which is a completely free gift to people who trust in Jesus Christ.  “My grace is sufficient for you,” said Jesus to the apostle Paul, “for power is made perfect in weakness.”  Paul goes on to say, “So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”5
     For example, in his opening to his Christian Institutes, Calvin says, “Before God nothing remains for us to boast of, save his mercy, whereby we have been received into hope of eternal salvation through no merit of our own.”6  John Calvin laid emphasis on that fact that we are not saved, God’s love and grace does not come to us by our merit --- meaning our value, or by our works --- meaning the good we do, or by our attempts at human perfection --- meaning what we do to become better people.  It is grace alone, according to Calvin, a completely free gift from the God who is Lord over all.  That is still good news, 500 years after the birth of John Calvin.  All of life is not about us; it is all about God.
     Of course, John Calvin also has some controversial thoughts.  Particularly around his theme of what is commonly called predestination.  For those of you who are not familiar with this theme let me give you an example.
     In the American civil war, there was a famous Confederate General by the name of Stonewall Jackson.  He was a devout Christian and an ardent follower of Calvin.  Jackson was also noted for his strong, unflappable nature.  His nickname, “Stonewall,” came from a fellow military officer who, observing him in the confusion of battle, said, “There is Jackson, standing like a stone wall.” 
     Jackson once responded to a fellow officer who asks him how he can remain so calm in the midst of the fray, Jackson replies, “My religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed.  God has fixed the time for my death; I do not concern myself with that.  But to be always ready, whenever it may overtake me ? that is the way all men should live.  Then all men would be equally brave.”
     God fixing the time of our death is predestination.  That notion seems contrary to what we know and experience.  For example, eat poorly, smoke heavily, drink to excess and you have a higher chance of dying young --- your choice --- nothing to do with Calvin or even God.
     That is not what Calvin argued; instead predestination is based on the foreknowledge of God.  In Calvin’s thought there is no sense whatsoever that our actions, decisions and choices are foreordained and pre-determined.  In short, we can’t blame our bad decisions on God.  God did not make us do it.  Rather, God offers us grace and invites us to receive what God in his mercy has taken the initiative to proffer.  In other words, in life and in death, we belong to God.
      For Calvin, this idea that God has fixed the time of death --- predestination --- not only was based on the sovereignty of God, but also for Calvin provides comfort.  We do not have to be ruled by doubt or fear, or constantly worry that we are not doing enough good stuff to earn a spot in heaven.  Rather, our sovereign God is in control and is offering us the gift of grace.
     Our faith does not have to be ruled by doubt and fear; stonewalls.  Unfortunately Calvin’s attempt to provide comfort based on the fact that God is sovereign became to be seen as fatalistic.  It is unfortunate because I liked the way C.S. Lewis in The Great Divorce hinted at the themes of predestination --- Lewis says there are two kinds of people: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, “All right, then, have it your way.”
     In the end, John Calvin believed it was all about God --- not about him.  He chose to be buried in an unmarked grave, no gravestone or marker of any kind, so family and people would not be tempted to make pilgrimages to pay him homage rather than God.  He wanted our focus to be on the Lord who is God over all and on the grace that is truly sufficient for us. 
     I want to finish with this illustration that I found: “It’s not about you.  It’s not about us.  It’s not about him.  It’s not about her.  It’s not about your boss.  And it’s not about loss.  It’s not about work.  It’s not about play.  It’s not about money.  It’s not about the economy.  It’s not about your parents.  It’s not about your kids.  It’s not about your wife.  It’s not about your husband.  It’s not about your friends.  It’s not about your enemies.  It’s all about God.  That’s right. It’s all about God.”7  Amen.

1 Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Life. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.

2 Oxford Concise Dictionary of the Christian Church, E.A. Livingstone, Ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. 2006
3 Institutes, 1.14.3
4 Mark 4: 26-27
5 2 Corinthians 12:9
6 Institutes, PA 2
7 Idea and thoughts for semon and illustration from: www.homiletics.com

"Lord of the Sabbath" - June 21, 2009

Mark 2: 23-28

    Professor Stanley Fish, of Florida International University posed this hypothetical situation to his students: “Suppose you were … an executive in a corporation and you skipped meetings or came late, blew off assignments or altered them according to your whims, abused your colleagues and were habitually rude to clients.  What would happen to you?”  Professor Fish said that students immediately commented: “I’d be fired.”
     He then continued, “Now, imagine the same scenario and the same set of behaviors, but this time you’re a tenured professor in a North American university.  What then?”  Before the students could answer, Professor Fish answered his own question: “You’d be celebrated as a brave nonconformist, a tilter against orthodoxies, a pedagogical visionary and an exemplar of academic freedom.”1 
     For those who have not kept up on the issue to which Professor Fish is referring, this hypothetical question revolves around a real issue; the very public dismissal of Dr. Denis Rancourt from his faculty position at the University of Ottawa, Canada.  From what I understand, Professor Rancourt, was a tenured professor of physics for 23 years and also a proponent of what is called “critical pedagogy,” a method of teaching resulting from the hypothesis --- these are Rancourt’s words--- “that our societal structures . . . represent the most formidable instrument of oppression and exploitation ever to occupy the planet.”2.
     What does this mean?  For example, Professor Rancourt informed his students on the first day of class that “he had already decided their marks: Everybody was getting an A+.”  Of course that is only a small part of it, because Rancourt was an academic anarchist based on his theory of education.
     Before finally being dismissed in March of this year, Professor Rancourt argued that a tenured professor should be entitled to and could not be dismissed because of … academic freedom.  Meaning that in an academic environment he should be free to teach and his students learn without any external censorship or restrictive interference.3
     That event is an introduction in how we can misconstrue today’s Gospel on the same battle lines; perhaps not of anarchy versus rules, but personal freedom versus law.  We may hear the verse "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” and think Jesus is supporting individual freedom.  Certainly, there are many places where Jesus speaks against religious legalism but we need to be careful that we do not assume that Jesus is sanctioning personal freedom over the obedience of faith; human liberty against ritual and tradition.
     To fully understand our gospel we need to see it in context.  First, we are in the midst of five stories in these early chapters of Mark that share a common theme: conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders.4
     Knowing that, let us look more closely at the lesson itself.  It begins peacefully with Jesus either wandering through or beside a grain field on a Sabbath day.  As they are walking the disciples possibly from boredom, but more than likely from hunger, start to pluck off heads of grain and chew or eat them.  Pharisees appear literally out of nowhere to accuse the disciples of breaking the law in the Old Testament of harvesting grain on the Sabbath.5  Harvesting, quantity being beside the point, is work.
     As you may have noticed, Jesus is not doing the “harvesting,” if we can call it that, but the disciples are.  So, it is the disciples' behaviour and not Jesus' conduct or even a teaching that is under examination here.  Yet, Jesus, as their leader, is implicated by the accusation, since it was understood in that culture that the teacher is responsible for the behaviour of the disciples.
     Jesus offers a defence in behalf of his followers.  Jesus cites scriptural precedent pointing to an event in the Old Testament.  David and his companions were hungry.  David and his companions entered the temple in Jerusalem and ate the bread of presence --- twelve loaves of bread symbolically representing the 12 tribes of Israel baked and set aside daily.  It is a case in the Bible, where the urgency of human need, in this case hunger, took precedence over symbolic religious tradition.6
     Now many Christians often assume that Jesus was the first and only Jewish teacher to argue that religious law is secondary to humanitarian concerns.  That is not true!  Human need and law was an issue in which even the religious leaders of Jesus day discussed.  In this case, Jesus is clearly on the side that human need takes priority over observance of religious ritual.
     But that is not the only or the major point of the lesson.  We can at times ignore the second half: “So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”7  What can be overlooked is that Jesus himself is more than the receiver of the Sabbath, meaning he lives under the same rules as you and I.  Jesus is also its Lord, and therefore he has the authority to allow his disciples to break the Sabbath.  This episode in the field of grain is not simply a formula of human freedom; it is about the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
     Former US President Bill Clinton was interviewed shortly after his biography, My Life, had been recently published.  He was asked why he engaged in actions that violated his marriage vows and ultimately led to an effort to impeach him as president.  Mr. Clinton answered, “Because I could.” 
     The breaking of the Sabbath was an acknowledgement of Jesus' Lordship over the Sabbath.  It was not because Jesus was saying, “because I can and so too can my disciples.” 
     Jesus is Lord over the Sabbath and Lord over his disciples.  That is more significant than a snack when hungry.  The life, death and resurrection of Jesus have ushered in a new age in which the promised salvation of God is realized.  The gospel of Jesus Christ therefore, offers a rest which is more than physical and earthly but, in, with and through Jesus Christ, is also spiritual and eternal.
     After this episode the disciples are not free to do what they want … when they want.  Our appropriate response to this lesson is not to insist on the right and freedom to do something because somehow “I am free in Jesus.”  Christians are not anarchists, insisting that obedience or even ritual and tradition for that matter should be dispensed of, but rather we are all about living wholly under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  That means in this case, we are not called to be Lord of the Sabbath or any day, that role is reserved exclusively for God.
     Instead, as disciples of Jesus we perhaps best honour Jesus' Lordship over the Sabbath, neither by celebrating our freedom against ritual or tradition, nor for example, by ignoring why and what it means to rest on the Sabbath.  Rather, as disciples of Jesus Christ we are challenged to see all of our life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  To see all that we do under God because it is only under that lordship that we are free.  Amen.

1 The Two Languages of Academic Freedom, Stanley Fish Blog, www.nytimes.com. February 8, 2009.

2 Activist Teacher.blogspot.com, April 13, 2007
3 http://rancourt.academicfreedom.ca/component/content/article/25.html
4 I am in debt to: Mark 2:23-28, Mikeal C. Parsons, Interpretation, January, 2005.
5 For example, Exodus 34:21
6 1 Samuel 21:1-6
7 Mark 2: 28

Letter of Recommendation - June 14, 2009

      The British novelist G. K. Chesterton once wrote that “A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.”1  The Bible is not a novel, yet it is great literature.  The Bible has many books, yet it tells us the truth of the great author of life --- God.  Moreover, the Bible is not shy about the complexities of its heroes of faith.
     Just do a periphery examination of the Bible and we see multifaceted, faithful individuals who although in many ways are “heroic,” are less than perfect.  For example, think of the Old Testament individual: King David.  Among many things, David established Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish nation and built the First Temple to house the Holy of Holies, the Ark of the Covenant.  Yet, he has the husband of a woman killed for his pleasure.
     The Bible is full of examples of very interesting people, some are with us for only brief moments, some we could see as heroic, nevertheless all teach us.  That is also one of the Bible’s truths, people of faith are complex, but out of that complexity we receive gifts for faithful living.  Just look at one’s of the Bible’s hero’s, particularly for us Protestants, that comes to us in the person and ministry of Paul.
     According to his own description, Paul was born Saul of the tribe of Benjamin, meaning he was a reputable Jew.  He was born in Tarsus a Roman colony --- in present day Turkey --- and was a citizen in the Roman Empire.  He studied to be Pharisee, a Jewish religious lawyer and came to be an early and energetic persecutor of the emerging Christian community.  Then on the way to Damascus to carry on the persecution of the budding Christian fellowship, Paul has a conversion experience which elevates him --- in his words --- to the order of the apostles, equal to the disciples who had been with Jesus through his ministry, death, resurrection and ascension.
     This conversion propels Paul into the ministry specifically as a missionary to Gentiles --- non-Jews.  Then as a missionary, Paul faces jail, beatings and shipwrecks just to name a few events.
     However, to simply place Paul on the plateau of hero and thus for example, to view his life or read all his letters to various Christian groups without a critical eye is to ignore the complex issues that can rise from following Jesus Christ.  Just look at our lesson from Paul’s second letter to the Christian fellowship in Corinth; an interesting snippet of scripture but a good one for us to hear.
     You see, as Paul traveled from Corinth to Galatia all in present day Greece and back again, complaints about him piled up from other Christian missionaries --- typically other Jewish-Christians insisting that Gentiles converting to Christianity should also follow Jewish ritual practices; in other words follow the covenant, in professing Jesus as Lord.  These missionaries seemed to monitor Paul with great enthusiasm.
     At issue was not Paul's conversion, nor his call to share the good news to gentiles, nor were the issues personal like Paul rudeness -- even though he always could stand a refresher course in humility.  The over arching problem was Paul's basic posture.  The word on the street from his opponents was that Paul just did not conduct himself like a true-enough Jewish Christian apostle.  To begin with, Paul was too lenient with the Gentile converts -- he insisted that professing Jesus as Lord alone was sufficient to be welcomed into the body of Christ.
     Now for many of us particularly those of us who are Protestant, this does not seem like a big issue, rather it is wonderful!  But, the difficulty that Jewish-Christians had then and the issue that troubles Christians to this day, is obedience --- good works.
     In other words, his critics where saying to and about Paul, “You may be ok in getting people the door of the church, but once in the door, you let anything go.”  Even more irksome was how Paul's talk about the new covenant was making obsolete traditional checklists for faithfulness and righteousness.  For Paul seemed to be using different standards.  
     Let me give you an example.  Say you invite me over to lead a small group Bible study.  I arrive, give a brief lesson, we spend time thinking about God’s good news, we pray, and then we all leave.  The next week, however, your group receives a letter from me that says the following: "Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I really enjoyed the time we had experiencing the Holy Spirit. I was especially amazed at the signs, wonder, and miracles God did through me, demonstrating Christ's awesome resurrection power in your very midst. I look forward to doing this again real soon."  If your group received that letter, I would lose all credibility because there were no signs, wonders, and miracles!
     Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "The things that mark an apostle --- signs, wonders and miracles --- were done among you with great perseverance.”2  As he tried to assert his God-given authority as an apostle to his critics, Paul reminded his readers what he did when he was with them.  Meaning that if Paul had done no signs, wonders, and miracles while he was in Corinth, he would have lost all credibility the moment the church read that claim.  Why … because they would have known better.  
     All that sounds well and good, however miraculous deeds and signs are not the issue, rather to his critics the nub of the issue was Paul was saying we have our own standards. 
     You see that clearly in today’s lesson.  Paul asked the Corinthians, "Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we?"  Here Paul was at his robust best, making his point with the supreme confidence of posing a question that already contained the answer -- and strongly in his favor!
     In those days, you could not “Google” a person on the internet or call a church office, travelers in general and missionaries in particular carried letters of recommendation with them.  These were documents from friends and upstanding citizens and in the case of Christians during this time of persecution, letters from other Christians, vouching for the bearer’s good name and character.  Paul was saying “I do not need a letter from others.  Either you trust me or not.”
     We could discuss other criticism of Paul but yet get the point.  Paul was a complex hero of faith.
     What does that have to do with us?  Although criticized and for possibly good reasons that we cannot ignore, Paul nevertheless was fueled by the certain belief that he was commended by God through the power of the life-giving Spirit of Christ.  How was Paul living as far as he was concerned?  Just fine, thank you very much -- yet just fine precisely because of his confidence not in himself, but in the new covenant and the Spirit of the living God working in, with and through him.  Thus Paul was not overly anxious about what his opponents thought of him.  Although Paul wrote defending himself, and as we see in other places Paul certainly understood their arguments and points, but only God's recommendation concerned Paul.
     Paul reiterated to his good friends the Corinthians that the only recommendation that mattered came from God.  Paul's message to the Corinthians essentially was this: "Don't you realize that you also are the letters of recommendation?  The way you live according to the new covenant in the Spirit of the risen Christ is more telling than any ink, papyrus or paper, more telling that any checklist from critics." 
     Paul was criticized by other Christians who disliked his manner and his theology, but he plugged along to spread the gospel throughout the Roman Empire anyway, caring only what God thought about him.
     What about us?  What do we care about?  Certainly we have foibles.  Bu do we spend great effort collecting “letters of recommendation” not just positive reviews but the affection of those who can give us something in return?
     In other words, “How's our living?”  Look at Paul a complex hero of our Christian faith, a man through criticism, jail and ultimately martyrdom followed the path God had laid before him.
     As we seek balance in our lives and vie to perfect our resumes, as we perhaps generate sparkling references, as we try our best, as we set up lives that appear to be "just fine, thank you very much," Paul would be the first to remind us that there are some complaints which actually do warrant our attention.  For while the world at large may see what we want to be seen, God knows us completely, and knows the sinfulness that simmers in our souls, so Paul reminds us that God monitors us ... and his is the only monitoring that matters.
     God knows exactly how we are living.  And while this may seem burdensome --- to be monitored constantly by the living God who never sleeps --- Paul also reminds us that this same God rules with grace and reconciliation; this same God who through his son, his being, gave us forgiveness and new life.  This truth saved Paul, and it saved him through the ups and downs of life, criticism and accolades.  This truth saves us, heroes of the faith, living, walking “letters of recommendation.”  Amen.

1 http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/178.html
2 2 Corinthians 12: 12

Second Life - June 7, 2009

John 3: 1-12

     What do you think of in-laws?  What do you think about your in-laws?  Do you think in-laws in general are better or worse than in-laws from other countries and cultures?    
     I wonder about that question because of a recently published article.  According to a study published in December 2008, Japanese women are generally not at high risk for heart attacks --- unless they live with in-laws.
     The study conducted by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health showed that Japanese women who live with their husbands and a set of parents --- and as the researchers pointed out, in Japan, that almost always means the husband’s parents --- were three times more likely to suffer a heart attack than those living just with their husbands.  “In the West, people tend to view family relations and social support as being protective of health,” said Dr. Ichiro Kawachi, an epidemiologist at the school and one of the study’s authors. “This is the first epidemiological study to show that these traditional living arrangements in Japan are rather harmful for women.”
     Interestingly enough, however, the living arrangements with in-laws do not affect men’s health.  “One of the overwhelming things that stands out is that it does not matter for Japanese men what the living arrangements are,” Dr. Kawachi said.  “They’re immune from the stresses in the home.”1 
     What do you think?  Do these results concur with your experience?  From my observation and anecdotal evidence, I do not think that in general, in-laws in Japan are any better or any worse than in-laws in other countries or cultures; rather the study points out to me an aspect of our lives that no matter what culture or country you are from there is an important issue underlying all of our lives --- roles and expectations.  I suspect that the reason husbands and wives have different stress levels based on the presence of in-laws in the home has everything to do with their respective roles and expectations.  But, as I am a novice observer of Japanese culture, you all can put into words much better than I what those roles and expectations are.
     What interests me, however, are not in-laws, or men or women, or husband or wives, instead I believe this study highlights how roles and expectations are deeply intrinsic parts of our lives.  These roles and expectations impact who we are and how we live.  That means that these roles and expectations impact how we live our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ.  For that reason, it is roles and expectations that Jesus is discussing in our gospel.  Because new life in Jesus Christ is not about a new role and new expectation made upon us, rather new life in Jesus Christ is all about what God does for us and the change that means on our lives.
     Let us look more closely at our gospel.  Nicodemus is an intriguing character who leads two lives.  On one hand, he’s a Pharisee and a leader of the Jews, meaning he has a critical eye on Jesus.2  Any Pharisee with Israel’s and the people’s best in mind would have been cautious toward Jesus at best, and would publicly oppose him at worst.  But as we see hear from the gospel, although Nicodemus is a Pharisee, he is privately curious about Jesus, recognizing that somehow his teachings and works stem from God.3
     In other words, Nicodemus is a person leading a kind of double life.  As a religious leader he is fulfilling his outward role and people’s expectations of what he is to be, so Nicodemus is cautious.  Yet on the other hand he pursues his more questionable ventures at night --- out of sight of the public audience. 
     What is also fascinating is that we know that over time, Nicodemus was changed by his relationship with Jesus Christ.  In John 7, Nicodemus is still leading his two lives.  He doesn’t publicly challenge the notion that a Pharisee could never believe in Jesus, but he does defend Jesus’ right to be heard.4  Then by the end of Jesus’ life, this same Nicodemus seems to have ended this double life.  Nicodemus takes responsibility for the body of Jesus when his family and disciples have abandoned him.  No longer coming to Jesus at night, he anoints and buries Jesus in the full light of day.5  Nicodemus left caution and uncertainty, and his secret identity behind as he came to believe in Jesus.  In the end, this second private life was no longer hidden and instead dictated his outward life. 
     That means that there is something Jesus did that caused a skeptic on the sidelines to become a devoted mourner of his death.  What could Jesus have said that would so radically change a person?  We see the seed of that change in our gospel.  Anothen.
 Anothen appears three times in this chapter to refer to spiritual life change.  If you were to study this Greek word that Jesus used you will find that there are three basic meanings for anothen: 1) change from above; 2) change from the beginning, from the first; 3) change again, anew.
     Many Biblical scholars think these three meanings are being word-played in Nicodemus’ confusion over what Jesus’ is saying.  Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is anothen.”6  Nicodemus wonders initially how you can be born again or a second time from his mother’s womb; a change from the beginning.  Jesus understands Nicodemus’ interpretation on anothen as part of his disbelief, so he answers him by emphasizing the keys to God’s kingdom ? anothen change as life transformation.7  Jesus is talking about an invisible anothen from above that creates a visibly changed life in the present.
     Nicodemus had some basis to understand what Jesus was talking about.8  For Jesus was referencing to any number of Old Testament references to water and spirit together, such as Ezekiel 36.  So, a Pharisee would have been familiar with them, but it took time for the meaning to work through Nicodemus.    
     Perhaps the difficulty lay in that Nicodemus is already leading a double life so needing a new life did not make sense.  Perhaps Nicodemus was thinking, “I do no need another life; nor do I need to get a life.”  Instead, Nicodemus needed to be born again by being born from above, Anothen.   
     For Jesus, being anothen would be as evident as the wind.9  You can not control it or see it, but you know it is at work.  It’s as obvious as bent branches and blowing leaves.  What does that mean?  A pastor in Denver, Colorado tells the story of a relationship with a friend named Anatole.  After discussing the gospel for hours with Anatole over tea, they had reached a philosophical impasse.  Anatole, a 50-year-old science teacher, was a naturalist and quite set in his ways.  He could believe only what he could see with his eyes and touch with his hands.  That is what kept him agnostic ? he couldn’t see God.
     Not knowing how to respond, the pastor looked out the window and prayed.  In the next moment, a huge wind kicked up, bending tree branches and rattling the glass windows of the coffee house.  Remembering Jesus’ metaphor from John, the pastor asked Anatole what he saw out the window.  “The wind,” he responded confidently.  “Do you,” the pastor asked, “or do you see the effects of the wind?”  Two minutes of silence passed.  Then Anatole spoke his second-life words: “That very much makes God a possibility.” 
     That is what anothen means.  A life born from above is a life changed.  It’s as invisible as the wind and as obvious as its impact.  Jesus wants to transform our lives.  Our “second” anothen life is not a way to escape real life, but the Second-Life-Christ offers us a deeper reality which governs one’s first life.  This second life is a changed life, an inward and invisible reality with dramatic and obvious “out workings” like the wind.
     That means that the roles and expectations that others may have of us, and that we have of ourselves, from taking care of others to our lives at work and at school have less of an impact than our deeper, anothen life in Jesus Christ.  Instead our deeper, anothen life affects our roles and expectations in life.
     Our God through Jesus Christ alive as the Holy Spirit in, with and through us has engineered a way for us to change and even overcome roles and expectations, … even sin and death, receive new birth, and live forever in a heavenly kingdom.  All God asks is that we have faith, this anothen; this deeper changed reality is changing us now.  Amen.
1 Living With In-Laws Linked to Heart Risks in Japanese Women, By Roni Caryn, The New York Times,  December 16, 2008

2 John 3: 1
3 v. 2
4 John 7: 49-51
5 John 19:39-42
6 John 3: 3
7 Vs 5-7
8 Vs.7-10
9 Vs. 8

Firefly Grave - May 31,2009

Acts: 2:1-21

        In the 1988 Japanese animated movie Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓) based on a book by the same title by Akiyuki Nosaka, the main characters, Seita and Setsuko --- orphan brother and sister --- catch fireflies and use them to illuminate the bomb shelter in which they live.  The next day, Setsuko gathers them all and digs a grave for the dead insects, and asks "Why do fireflies die so soon?”  Setsuko’s action and words not only inspire the title of the book and move, but we come to find out, that incident is the symbolic and thematic event.1
         Fireflies!  For many of us fireflies are a memory of warm summer evenings.  Their glow in the darkness of nightfall drew our attention, and some of us even captured a few of these tiny creatures as children.  Whether we called them hotaru, lightning bugs or glowworms, we saw their tiny lights as one of the marks of summertime.
         Sadly, this summer Graves of the Fireflies may be truer than idyllic images of summer evenings of the past, because experts think that fireflies are dwindling, perhaps by as much as 70 percent in recent years.  Lots of anecdotal evidence supports that claim --- so much so that more than 100 scientists gathered in Thailand last summer for an international symposium on the “Diversity and Conservation of Fireflies.”2
         Researchers in places as diverse as Thailand, Switzerland and the United States have noted that something is happening to fireflies.  Researchers are suggesting that there is probably no single factor to blame.  Some have pointed to urban sprawl and industrial pollution and others, perhaps surprisingly, to the spread of artificial light.  The first two we may understand but the third may need to some explaining.  The glowing fireflies we do see are the males of the species, who use their lights to attract the observing females --- who are hidden from our view --- so some researchers suspect that artificial light is interfering with the mating ritual, and thus fireflies are not reproducing.3
         Whatever the reasons for the change in the number of fireflies --- if there is a change --- that image may be one for us to ponder in our lives as Christians.  Today is Pentecost; the anniversary of that first-century day when the Holy Spirit came in a mighty way upon the disciples of Jesus hunkered down in an upper room in Jerusalem.  Not only is Pentecost an anniversary, the birthday of the church, but a reminder of God’s presence with us in the Holy Spirit.  Famously, the Bible’s description of the sudden infilling of those disciples with the Spirit includes this: “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.”4
         Ever since that event, fire, which, of course, is a source of light, has been a symbol of the Holy Spirit.  At the same time, that symbol of fire also connects to Jesus, who said, “I am the light of the world.”5  Therefore when the Holy Spirit fills us, we, too, radiate the light of God.  Spirit filled Christians are light-bearers.  Christians have “glowed” with the light as we have spread the gospel, shared the good news, gone about doing good, committed sacrificial acts of love for neighbor and even for enemies, and have sought to understand and do the will of God. 
         For example, after the English writer Malcolm Muggeridge spent some time observing Mother Teresa working in Calcutta, India, taking care of dying people she assisted off the streets, he wrote a book about her titled: Something Beautiful for God.  In it, he said, “God’s love has rubbed off on Mother Teresa, giving her features a noticeable luminosity, a shining quality.”6
         Although I am not going to use the metaphor that we are somehow little fireflies for Jesus, there is a way that the image of fireflies may help us understand our Christian life in the Holy Spirit.  It goes back to the possible change that is going on in the number of fireflies and one of the possible causes.  Just like artificial light may be a cause of the gradual disappearance of fireflies, I wonder how is the light of Christ through the Holy Spirit possibly threatened or diminished by other light.
         If you think about it in this world, there are lots of other lights, not just what lights our home.  Some lights are artificial, some that seem more glitzy or powerful or, in some fields, even more illuminating than --- the light of the Holy Spirit.  And just as fireflies are possibly finding their inner lights overpowered by bright but artificial lighting, so, too, we Spirit filled Christians sometimes may find the light of God within us --- especially if we don’t tend it --- growing dim.
         We have the light of education.  Some of us who first met Jesus as children or teenagers had a little spiritual light glowing inside us.  However, as we become older, we have encountered not only new information, but also new ways of thinking, all emanating from the lamp of scholastic inquiry and knowledge.  On balance education is a good lamp, a good light, one that has been helpful if not necessary to our world, but its nature is such that our spiritual light can look pale by comparison.  How many of us have been challenged by the light of knowledge, all the way from life experience to new insights into our natural world and struggled with what that means to our faith.
         How about the light of psychology?  For example, perhaps you and I have struggled with some personal issues that interfere or have interfered with our ongoing life.  We may have prayed about it without finding the kind of help we needed or desired.  Perhaps we sought some professional counseling, and through it, found some relief and new perspectives that set us free from that old bondage.  Given those results, counseling certainly qualifies as light for our darkness, and therefore a good light.
         But it does not necessarily follow that counseling or education is a better light than the light of the Holy Spirit.  They are a singular light, and we may use their many gifts, a specific light for a specific need, but they are not a light for the root dilemma of every one of us: our need to get right with God and to open ourselves to the Savior who on the cross opens the way for forgiveness and reconciliation with God.
         And then of course, we have the light of culture.  For example, the culture of secular life itself has a glitter that sometimes seems to outshine the light of the Holy Spirit within us.  Not only the culture of secular life, but cultures that we have grown to appreciate and perhaps love remind us that many people are happy without Christian faith.  We may have wondered if we were mistaken to cling to the way of the Lord or made the mistake that Christianity is simply a subset of a culture, interchangeable to and adaptable with other cultures or even other religions.  And then of course as seen in the case of some western nations, culture and the Christian faith, has for some, become one and the same.
         The light of culture whether or own or others can appear powerfully bright at times.  The light of culture can illuminate certain pleasures, can even shed a benign glow or even teach us new ways of thinking.  Yet we need to be careful because culture has neither the heat of inspiration nor the inner-path-lighting ability of the Holy Spirit’s light through Jesus Christ.  
         To return to fireflies for a moment, the fact is, it may not be possible for fireflies to survive forever in a world whose nights are increasingly ablaze with artificial light.  We hope they can adapt.  
         We Christians also need to be careful.  Christians need to adapt and learn as well.  Whether they are the lights of medicine, technology or anything else, it’s important to understand that these lights do not require us to make an either-or choice; “either we will follow the light of Jesus or we will follow __________.”  You can fill in the blank.
         On the contrary, in many cases, it is quite possible --- quite important, even --- to allow more than one light to illuminate our lives.  But the main light, the most important light, the essential light always needs to be emanating from the fire of the Holy Spirit.  That’s because while some of what science, technology and other lights show us is important for our daily existence, our lives are always more than daily existence.  The light of the Holy Spirit is a light not only for day-to-day living, but also for eternity, and we make a mistake to let its light get washed out by the seemingly better or more powerful lights.  Theologian Richard J. Hauser asks, "Do [we] adequately acknowledge the Spirit's role in the good actions [we] perform every day, or do [we] attribute them only to [our] own initiative and hard work?"  It's a good question!  The Holy Spirit that fell upon Christ's disciples on that Pentecost is at work in and among us all the time regardless of education, psychology, or culture.
         The coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost lit the fire of the church and its people for all ages.  God’s Spirit is still and must always be the main source of light for Christians, not other illumination.  Individually and as the church, we trust and hold on to God’s grace as places for the Holy Spirit’s flames to burn hotly and the Holy Spirit’s light to shine brightly.
         Let’s be clear.  It’s not our job to put out or somehow extinguish lesser or artificial lights that shine for the benefit of humankind so that we are the only light in town; indeed, sometimes we should help their light, like education, be seen.  At the same time, however, we should never be so dazzled by other lights that we no longer shine for Jesus Christ.  Otherwise, the question asked by Setsuko will be asked of us, “Why do fireflies die so soon?”  Amen.

1 Grave of the Fireflies DVD, Central Park Media, 2001.
2 Thank you to www.Homiletics.com for illustration.
3 Casey, Michael. “Experts fear fireflies are dwindling.” ABCNews, August 30, 2008. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=5691154.
4 Acts 2:3
5 John 8:12
6 Muggeridge, Malcolm. Something Beautiful for God. Harper & Row, 1971.

If you died tonight... May 17, 2009

John 15: 11-17

        “If you died tonight, where would you go?  Heaven or Hell?”  Have you ever been asked that question?  It may be a question only used among some North American Christian circles, I do not know.  I remember the first time I heard that question, I was in sixth grade and attending a private English speaking school, called the Caribbean School on the island of Puerto Rico.
         It was the beginning of the school year and a well meaning high school student came up to me, asked me that question --- did not wait for a response --- then handed me a small comic book, about the size of my hand.  In the tract it detailed in graphic images, what would happen to those who did not believe in Jesus Christ, with a classic illustration of Satan as a dark shadowy figure and hell with fire occupied with crying, pleading figures.
         I took the little booklet home and had a good conversation with my parents.  Although I still remember that episode and some images from that book, I began to realize that I did not like that question or book then, I do not like it now.  Don’t get me wrong: the question asked of me by that High School student --- of whether or not we are ready to come face to face with God --- is a vital one.  That question is intended to make us stop and think about our relationship with Jesus Christ, and if we do not have a bond with God to think about its implications.
         That question “If you died tonight…” is also intended to give us pause to ponder what we are doing, how we are living, and what difference we are making in the lives of the people and places around us, how we are contributing --- or otherwise --- to the future of the planet, whether our lives and interactions point towards Jesus and the abundant life God intends for us all, as Jesus said, quoted in Matthew: “Broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there are who travel on it!”1  However, the reason I do not like that question is that is not how the question is framed.  Rather, what I was and am being asked is, “Where will you spend eternity?”  The implications of the question are clear: life here is so short and relatively unimportant compared to eternity.  Thus, we ought to be focusing our attention on what is really vital --- eternity ---- rather than getting caught up with this world.  If our ultimate destiny is to be somewhere other than earth, the most important thing we can do while alive is to prepare ourselves for the hereafter.
         Furthermore, the underlying emphasis in that question makes this world --- and life --- at best a waiting room for death and eternal life.  That question assumes that life at its worst is a place of extraordinary risk: a place of temptation and ignorance, where getting our theology wrong, or seriously screwing up, condemns us to an eternity without God.2  Well I could go on, but I think you get the point of my trouble with that question.  Again, let me be clear: vigilance and self-examination has its own important place in Christian discipleship.
         More importantly than my feelings however, is that the underlying view in the question “if you died …,” completely ignores the words of Jesus that do not fit that question like today’s gospel.  If Easter tells us one thing, it positively roars this one fundamental point --- God loves us and is absolutely passionate about saving the world, not condemning it!
         God did not spare his son, but gave him up for us.  God does not condemn us, as part of humanity, for crucifying Jesus Christ, nor does God condemn us for our sin; our broken relationship with God, and each other, but raises Jesus Christ for our salvation.
         Nevertheless, if there is anything from the words of Jesus that put a stake into that question, “If you died tonight where would you go?” are these words: “Greater love has no one than this,” said Jesus to his team of disciples, “that he lay down his life for his friends.”3
          Today’s words are a continuation of last weeks gospel, and like last week with the emphasize on a “vine,” today’s images and words should not come as a surprise because Jesus has used the phrase “lay down my life” several times to describe what he has been called to do.  For example, in John 10, Jesus says, “I lay down my life” for his sheep: “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life --- only to take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.  I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.  This command I received from my Father.4
         The protection and nurture of his flock was his mission, and worth the price of his own life.  Jesus reiterates that statement here in John 15 as he walks with his disciples from the upper room after washing their feet and sharing the last supper, to the Garden where Jesus prays before these words become fulfilled.  The difference is that here in John 15, Jesus explains laying down his life, not in terms of protection, but of love.
         The reason that Jesus gives for his willingness to have his own life cut off is “love” for his “friends.”  As I have mentioned in the past, the Greek language has a variety of words to describe love.  Jesus uses nearly all of them.  The word used here for “love” --- phileo --- is a form of the word translated “friend” --- philos.  In the Greek language, a “friend” is literally “one who is loved.”  It’s more than just a connection of shared common interests and goals, like people on a sports team.  It is more than just a positive regard for a partner or pal.  Friendship, in the way that Jesus uses it, is grounded in a deeper love that survives the end of a sports season or a graduation ceremony or annual Christmas letters.
         Remember last week’s closing words: “As the Father has loved me,” said Jesus, “so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love.”5  Jesus’ own idea of friendship was defined and shaped by God’s love for him. Jesus was “one who was loved” by God: chosen, equipped, guided, embraced and held all the way from the manger to the tomb and after the tomb.  As that love shaped and defined Jesus’ life and ministry --- as that love shaped and defined Jesus’ death and resurrection --- so would Jesus’ love shape and define his team of disciples, both then and now and for eternity. 
        Jesus reminds us.  “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit?fruit that will last.”6  Thus love is a kind of love that causes someone to be willing to sacrifice his or her own life and springs from the deep well of having been loved that way him or herself.
         To be a “friend” of Jesus, then, means to be one who is loved in a sacrificial way.  It also means following Jesus’ example.  “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”7  Meaning we are to love others sacrificially, too.  That is a hard teaching, in many ways, but maybe we see it that way because we ourselves have not fully embraced the love that Jesus has given us.  We cannot truly learn to love until we have been loved ourselves.
         Jesus did it for us because he was loved into it by God.  We can do it for others because we have been loved into it by Christ.  For Jesus, “laying down” his life meant a painful physical sacrifice.  We may never be called to do that for another, but there are lots of ways of laying down our lives that do not involve death.  We may need to amputate our personal ambitions in order to do what is best for our families.  We might be called to give sacrificially of our hard-earned money in order to care for someone who is experiencing a crushing need.  We may experience a call to give up a lucrative career in order to pursue a ministry that serves people the rest of the world has forgotten.
         There are as many ways as there are people as we lay down our lives on behalf of Jesus, but we’ll only be able to do it if we are willing to receive his love for us.  We can not earn it, only receive it and allow it to transform us.  It is only then that we, as friends of Jesus, will be able to “bear fruit” that will last. 
          Jesus gave his friends his own life.  That was definitely a good thing for those first disciples.  It meant their lives were changed abundantly, not necessarily for money or power or even a longer life and not necessarily for eternal life.  Rather, those disciples’ lives were changed so abundantly that they changed the lives of their friends, which still reverberate to this day.  So, here is the really important question to ask of ourselves and other: “Are you and I missing out on the abundant life that God has for us in Jesus … now?”  A life measured not by money or power, or a future eternal life, but by these words, “Greater love has no one than this,” said Jesus to his team of disciples, “that he lay down his life for his friends.”  Amen.

1 Matthew 7: 13-14
2 www.lectionary.wolsblog.com, May 13, 2009, Lawrence Moore, Director, The Windermere Centre.
3 John 15:13
4 John 10: 17-18
5 John 15:9
6 Vs. 16
7 Vs. 12

Cleaning and Pruning - May 10, 2009

John 15: 1-10

     Is Japanese culture obsessed with cleanliness?  In many ways it seems to be the case, seen in the custom of taking off shoes before entering a house, to washing before immersing in an onsen (温泉) all the way to eating habits.  Some believe that this emphasis on cleanliness can be traced to the rich availability of water.  Others have suggested that its basis can be found in the Shinto religion where priests for example, must bathe before participating in many religious events.  Wherever it’s roots, this focus on “cleanliness” is even exported.  There is a group of expat Japanese volunteers called “Greenbird Paris” who gather weekly with uniform green vests and metal pincers, trying to teach the French how to keep Paris clean from a Japanese perspective.1
     This focus on cleanliness however, may just be a false impression.  Some of have pointed out just walk down streets in Japan or follow any large crowd or visit any park after the Cherry blossom parties, and one has to wonder.  The reason we may see so many people out cleaning time after time, is because if they were not out so often many places would be filthy.  As critics have argued is cleanliness cultural or cleanliness an obsession because the culture is so dirty? 
     My perception, that Japanese culture emphasizes cleanliness, is true in some respects and false in others --- I think people in Japan are no better and no worse than other cultures and people.
     Rather I would suggest that being a Christian brings a whole new concept to “cleanliness” to all people.  Part of the reason revolves around our gospel passage, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”2
     Before we delve more deeply into our gospel, we should have a vocabulary lesson, because in vs. 2 the root Greek word (katharizo-verb) normally translated as “prunes” is the same root Greek word translated in vs. 3 as “clean.”  That means we could translate vs. 2 and vs. 3 this way: “He (cleans) every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he (cleans) so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already (pruned) because of the word I have spoken to you.”  Why the same root word for prune and clean?  In the vineyards of Jesus’ day, grapevines grew naturally along the ground instead of being propped up on poles or lattices as they are today.  The vinedresser would come along to lift and “clean” the vine, which included pruning away the excess and dead growth.
     If we have that in mind, clean or prune, as one and the same, that gives us some insight as we move forward to these words of Jesus.
     What does cleanliness have to do with “fruit?”  The word ‘fruit’ or ‘fruitful’ is mentioned some multiple times in our gospel.  This is not an alien idea because at some level in many people there is a need or a desire to be productive.  We want our lives to count for something, and as the saying goes to not be ‘good for nothing’.  If we were to keep reading in our lesson today Jesus added about being industrious, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit?fruit that will last.”3
     What does fruitfulness mean?  In the Bible we see the struggle between our desire of doing and being fruitful.  Doing fruitful?  While this idea is not the best English, it does capture that common aspiration to be fruitful through activity.  In the Old Testament, ‘grapes’ were a symbol for God’s followers doing God’s work here on earth.  In the temple in Jerusalem there was a massive sculpture of a vine and grapes on the walls.  The vine represented the people, and the grapes represented the works of the people.  This meant that “fruitfulness” had become another way of saying “faithfulness,” thus a lack of good fruit meant that God’s people had failed to be the true, nourishing vine that would bolster God’s reputation in the world as the ultimate fine winemaker.
     Therefore, to be faithful was to be clean or pruned and to do God’s work or to do “good works” - work that actually means something based on the fact that one was “clean.”  But, as we come to find out we fail miserably if we base our faithfulness on doing.  So God replanted the vineyard with a new stock and that new vine, the “true vine,” who would be Jesus Christ himself who embodied the new Israel, God’s Chosen One, and the One through whom the whole world would be saved and blessed. 
     Thus rather than “doing fruitful” it is “being fruitful.”  When Jesus speaks of “you shall know them by their fruits” Jesus is partly talking about our character and the “fruit” that we are to bear.  The fruit however is not uniform rather like the grapes of a fine winery is full of many textures and flavors.  Being fruitful is to have fruitful characteristics, as described by Paul from Galatians, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”4
     But how does all of this happen?  Do we put on our “Kappogi” (Japanese style apron) to get to work?  No.  That only leads back to a culture of doing as the measure of fruitfulness that can lure disciples of Jesus Christ into thinking that we can be productive as a result of our own efforts.  When a branch gets the idea that it can make fruit, make wine, on its own, it dries up, withers, and is no longer useful.5  
     This brings us to the other word mentioned multiple times in our short passage --- the word ‘remain’ or “abide.”  We are to abide and remain in Jesus Christ.  “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”6  The word used for ‘remain’ here is a word that literally means something like, “personal, enduring fellowship.”  
     Look closely at a grapevine and one of the first things you notice about its branches is that it’s very difficult to tell them apart individually.  All the branches twist and curl around one another to the point that you can not tell where one starts and another stops.  All of us need to be part of a community.  We bear fruit when we are connected, abide or remain, to the vine in community with fellow believers because it is in community that we are nourished but also where the pruning or cleaning occurs.  There are no solo Christians, not only because we cannot clean or prune ourselves, but because we are with others as we remain on the vine, in Jesus Christ.   
     We remain in Christ by staying in community, as well as staying in Christ individually.  Dietrich Bonheoffer, the author, pastor, and martyr in his book, “Life Together” said, “Let him who cannot be alone beware of community, and let him who is not in community beware of being alone.”7  Individually, we are each responsible for daily remaining in Jesus Christ.  This has a cost of time, discipline and sometimes a far greater cost. Bonheoffer who gave his life for Jesus Christ against the Nazis also wrote a book entitled, “The Cost of Discipleship”.  But the cost of non-discipleship is also painful.  Jesus points this out; “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers’ such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”8  In order to engage in being fruitful, live in Jesus Christ.  
     Why is this lesson on abiding in Jesus Christ, cleansed in order to be fruitful for us during the Easter season?  To answer that question we only need to place these words of Jesus in their context; they happen after the washing the feet of the disciples and the Lord’s Supper.  These words are said on the way to the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus will be arrested.  Some of have even speculated that Jesus said these words as they passed by the temple and the sculpture of the vine and grapes.
     The point is that in only a few hours after these words to his followers, they would all desert him.  The pressures came and they left.  Then Jesus was resurrected and returned to the disciples.  We could easily have assumed that they were no longer on the true vine, like we can make the same assumption about ourselves during difficult times.  Instead, the disciples experienced forgiveness, cleaning and pruning.
     Cultures and people can be obsessive about aspects of cleanliness; “Look how clean we are by how much we clean.”  Sound familiar for us in Japan?  The danger is the same for Christians; we can be obsessive on doing --- even giving a false impression of our lives.  Because of the resurrection, we are lifted up, cleaned and pruned for God’s purpose, being fruitful, in various flavors and textures in joy.  Let’s us abide in Jesus Christ and be fruitful to the glory of God.  Amen.

1 http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/japanese-teach-parisiens-about-street-tidiness
2 John 15: 1-3
3 Vs. 16
4 Galatians 5:22-23
5 John 15: 6
6 Vs. 4
7 Bonheoffer, Dietrich, Life Together, Harper One, New York, 1978. pg. 20.
8 John 15: 6

Around a small campfire... May 3, 2009

John 21: 15-19

        Did you ever notice that the Gospel according to John begins dramatically by tracing the ministry of the Son of God all the way back to the time before creation?  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”1
        But the Gospel of John ends quietly at a small campfire.  “When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.”2  We discussed last week how this concluding episode in John began with these fishermen, returning to their nets, fishing through the dead of night, until dawn breaks.  We are then told of a call of a stranger from the early morning mist asking how the fishing has been.  The disciples answer “empty” at which point the stranger commands the disciples to place their nets a meter or two over on the other side of the boat and we have a miracle --- a memorable 153 fish.
         Today, we continue this event with these seven disciples moving from the boat to around this small campfire eating bread and fish.  The meal concludes with an interview with the risen Christ looking at Peter and asking, “Do you love me?”
         Possibly too quickly Peter says, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”  Jesus simply says, “Feed my lambs.”  Maybe they just stared into the fire a bit before Jesus asked a second time, “Do you love me?” Again Peter says, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”  Jesus says, “Take care of my sheep.”  A third time Jesus asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  The lesson tells us that now Peter was hurt at being asked a third time and responds “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”  Jesus answers with “Feed my sheep.” 
         Interesting interview isn’t it?  So what are we to make of this interview for us?  I think for us to begin to understand what this may mean is to consider, why was Peter hurt?  Because as you and I know, pain is a symptom just like a fever is an indication of something else going on in the body.  So what is going on here?
         One possibility is perhaps Peter was irritated because Jesus continued to ask and somehow did not seem to believe his first two responses.  That may be accurate, but that would ignore the fact there may be some deeper issues in these questions because Peter’s irritation may be the overt evidence of deeper issues.
         For example, perhaps Peter was hurt because in this third time it may be a reference back to the last time Peter sat by a campfire and answered three questions in the dawn of a new day.  Only then he did not claim that he loved Jesus.  Instead, he denied that he even knew his Jesus, certainly a painful and embarrassing memory.
         And there may be something more.  Possibly Peter was hurt because he began to realize what he had been asked by Jesus.  This is where having an English translation of the interview is not helpful.  Because in Greek there are a variety of words for the English word “love;” Agape, Eros, Philia, and Storge.  For English speakers Jesus seems to be asking the same question over and over, which seems to justify Peter’s irritation.  However in the Greek, that is not the case.  The first time, Jesus used the Greek for noble, unconditional love --- agape --- with Peter answering with the word for brotherly love --- philia.  The second time Jesus used the same word for love he used the first time to which Peter answers the same way.  The third time however, Jesus used the friendly, brotherly kind of love the same word used by Peter in all his responses.  So was some of Peters irritation from the fact that he realized that Jesus' questions worked their way from high expectation --- agape --- to low expectation --- philia; this high unconditional love to this friendlier, brotherly love?
         Perhaps Peter’s exasperation goes back to the comparison in that first question --- the addition in the first question of “more than these.”  What or who are ‘these’?
         Unfortunately the Greek grammar does not necessarily clear up the issue and we do not have a video of the event to see the body language.  Is Jesus asking “Do you love me more than these --- other disciples love me?”  Or is Jesus asking “Do you love me more than --- you love --- these --- other disciples?”  Or is Jesus asking “Do you love me more than --- you love --- these things --- your fishing nets and equipment?’
         Let’s consider these three possibilities.  Incidentally, there is no consensus among Biblical scholars.
         In the first interpretation, “Do you love me more than these ---other disciples love me?”  I do not know about you, but that would mean Peter was making an impossible comparison, and Jesus would have been asking something that Peter could not have known.
         The second possibility is that Jesus is asking, “Do you love me more than --- you love --- these --- other disciples?”  Of course, Jesus had taught that his followers must love him more than they loved anyone else.  Also, it is not likely that Peter’s friendship with his fellow disciples was so strong that it might have drawn him away from his devotion to Jesus, but who knows?  But is that comparison why Peter is hurt?
         Is Jesus asking “Do you love me more than --- you love --- these things --- your fishing nets and equipment?”  Is Peter hurt that he is being asked to compare his love between fishing nets and equipment to his love of Jesus?  Is Jesus asking if Peter prefers his old occupation to his new one, in other words, a re-examination of Peter’s commitment?3  
         As you can see, the cause for Peter’s pain is not as clear as we may think.  However, if we do spend time thinking about Peter’s irritated and hurt response, I believe we may begin to realize that the ones who may be irritated is not Peter --- but you and I.  Because whether we like it or not, we are being asked the same question, “Do you love me more than these?”  And if we are not hurt by having to respond more than once, consider all the implications of the question “Do you love me?”  If we have not thought about what Jesus is asking, than perhaps we have not really struggled with loving Jesus.  Instead of being hurt, we may be using the innumerable ways of avoidance techniques available to us.
         It is not enough to say "I love you" once.  We must say it over and over and over again.  All of us who have ever loved or been loved know that the words "I love you" can never be spoken too often.  For some of us who have weathered the hurts of broken relationships, saying, "I love you," for the first time again is one of the most frightening things we will ever do. 
         Saying "I love you" out loud is an important milestone in any relationship.  Saying "I love you" once is never enough.  It is just the beginning.  We must say "I love you" over and over again --- we must hear "I love you" over and over again --- before we begin to trust the reality of those words and before we can feel the weight of the love that lies behind them.
         Pain, irritation, and hurt are symptoms just like a fever is an indication of something else going on in the body.  Where is our hurt, our irritation and pain this day at the questions of Jesus; have we responded in love to Jesus?  If we are not hurting or irritated as we listen in to this interview maybe we should be.  Possibly, we need to examine like Peter how we have denied Jesus.  Or are we responding to Jesus using a variety of replies to get Jesus to fit our mold of love.  “No Jesus this is the way I want to love.”  Or are we avoiding the comparisons Jesus is asking us to consider?  Do we love Jesus more than our professions, our occupations?  Do we love Jesus more than those around us, the other disciples?
         Where is their pain?  Where is their irritation?  As we contemplate our emotions, we hear the good news, as sheep we are fed and as disciples we are to feed and care for others.  For in our fever, we begin to rely upon God, find new birth in confession, forgiveness and reconciliation.  In our fever we begin to be fed at the table our Lord.  In our irritation and pain, we begin to find gratitude for the gifts of life in Jesus Christ.  In healing do we begin to feed the sheep.  Amen.

1 John 1:1
2 John 21: 9
3 “More than These” John 21: 15, J Harold Greenlee, Journal of Translation, Volume 1 Number 2, 2005, p, 19-20

Perfect Moments - April 26, 2009

John 21: 1-14

    How about a good meal and a meaningful conversation or a lovely afternoon in the park, for some people those could be “perfect moments.”
    That’s what a man named Eugene O’Kelly began to seek after he was diagnosed with brain cancer --- “perfect moments.”  At age 53, Mr. O’Kelley seemed to be in excellent health, traveling and working long hours as chairman and chief executive of a large American company.  But then after a routine visit to his doctor, and subsequent follow up visits, it was revealed and confirmed that he had an aggressive brain cancer that would kill him in 100 days.
     So, what do you do when you receive such devastating news?  “I had focused on building and planning for the future,” said Mr. O’Kelly. “Now I would have to learn the true value of the present.”  The only reason I can tell you about Mr. O’Kelly, is that he decided to write a book about his experience: Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life.
     You see as part of his dying, Mr. O’Kelly decides to “unwind” relationships with important people in his life, taking the time to have intentionally final conversations with those who have meant a great deal to him.  He also goes searching for other “perfect moments” ? times of lingering over a meal, enjoying long and deep conversations, taking the time to soak up the beauty of nature over the course of an afternoon.  “I marveled at how many “Perfect Moments” I was having now,” he writes in his memoir.
     Paradoxically, Eugene O’Kelly found in his experience that he did not have much time, yet on the other hand, found that in many ways he had time for turning ordinary experiences into his “Perfect Moments.”  Then he died, just as his doctors predicted.1    Our Christian faith is full of reminders that life has a start and a finish, and our faith is grounded in the conviction that there is meaning in the movement of our existence from beginning to end.  For example, the Bible is not a random collection of ancient stories, but it moves in a meaningful way from the creation of the world in Genesis to the completion of God’s plan in Revelation.  Even the story of our relationship with God has a purposeful progression to it, with God first speaking to us through Old Testament prophets, then coming to us in Jesus Christ, and finally living in us as the Holy Spirit.  That means we are not a random collection of events tied together by our life, by accident or place of birth.  Life is never marked by endless cycles of random events ? it always moves from start to finish, within God’s love and grace.
     Yet, how do we break out of day-to-day living and dying and catch sight of those instances of God’s love and grace?  In our gospel today is a glimpse of a moment that “unwinds” and comes by hearing and seeing the revelation of Jesus Christ.
     To begin our lesson mentions three times where Jesus “appeared” to the disciples.  The word used to “manifest” or “appear” is common in John's gospel and conveys the idea of “making visible,” or “making known.”  If you remember, John records Jesus Christ's appearance on resurrection day, then to Thomas with the disciples a week later.  Now he records a "third time," that is, a third day, a 3rd making manifest, in which Jesus Christ appears during the period between His resurrection and ascension.  In between his resurrection and ascension is not a random event, rather it is to make visible, to have an intentional final conversation, over a meal between Jesus and his disciples. 
     Today’s appearance begins to slow down while the disciples are fishing.  Seven of the disciples decided to go fishing, all following Peter's lead.  These disciples were for the most part and from what we haven been told before, accomplished fishermen.  We can assume that they understood the right places and the right time in the Sea of Galilee (Sea of Tiberias - Latin) to catch fish.  John comments, “So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.”
     Talk about depressing!  Here the disciples are recovering from all these proceedings in Jerusalem and the last couple of weeks, trying to put their lives back together.  Now the disciples can not even catch fish.  Then, as dawn breaks a question comes across the waters from a stranger from shore, “Friends, haven't you any fish?" "No," they answered.”2  Our translation does not do justice to the sentence because the word translated as “Friends” could also mean “Children.”  It was a non-threatening question, as if from a kindly old man asking a simple question of children, yet phrased in such a way as to expect a "no" answer.  The disciples gave an honest reply, which seems to be an unusual thing for fishermen.  These seven disciples had to admit that with all of their skills and experience, they had caught nothing.  Next the disciples are surprised yet respond to the suggestion for the stranger tells them: “‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’  When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.”3  
     ut it does not end there.  The moment continues to unfold when they all go to the beach.  Peter initiates the move when he jumps into the water and takes off to the beach after having just been told by the disciple whom Jesus loved, which has typically been to mean John, who had sensed that the man on the beach is none other than Jesus.4
     The other disciples quickly follow with the net and boat.  And what did they find when they got there?  When the disciples came to shore they found that Jesus had already prepared breakfast for them.  “When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.  Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’”  And then “Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’”5
     They had fished all night and it was now daylight, time for breakfast.  They had nothing with them on the boat.  They had nothing prepared on the shore.  They had the need; Christ had the supply.
     Why did the disciples remember the details?  Because everything was perfect; not perfect in the sense of everything going the right way rather they never wanted to forget the call from the beach: the smell of the charcoal fire, sitting and eating with their Lord, enjoying his presence --- they had to remember every detail --- the whispered exclamation of John to Peter, the details of how Peter prepared to jump in the water, the exact number 153 fish --- all these details so they could replay the memory again and again.6  I do not know about you, but sometimes there are those moments in life when you remember the details of an event, you don’t want to forget anything, a grace filled ? faith filled moment.
     Next week we will hear how this moment unwinds with Jesus in conversation.  But that is next week.
     Today we are left watching how an event in daily life, transformed into this perfect moment.
     In the end, it’s all about relationships; a relationship with God and relationship with one another.  Eugene O’Kelly, the man who died of cancer sensed this, which is why he spent so much time with friends and family in the last hundred days of his life.  “Must the end of life be the worst part?” he wondered.  “Can it be made the best?”
     This is a good question for each of us.  Can the challenging times be the best of times?  Can we learn the true value of the present, and find grace-filled, faith-filled perfection in the seemingly mundane?  Can we turn ordinary experiences into Perfect Moments ? moments in which we see the hand of God revealed?
     As I said, near the end of his life, Eugene O’Kelly arranged times to “unwind” with people who had been important to him over the course of his life.  These “unwindings” were intentionally final conversations, held at home and in restaurants, but also in ordinary gardens, by rivers, and in the middle of a park.  They were his and his friend’s time to experience God’s revelation of grace and love in friendship, frankness and fun.
     We can do the same, for whether we have brain cancer or not, whether we are having good days or not, we can do our best to have quality conversations with family members, friends, colleagues and neighbors.  We can work on our relationship with God, and by serving others in the name of Christ.  We can look to the future, knowing that we can approach every day with confidence and anticipation, trusting that our Lord is involved in our lives in an active and ongoing way, always working for healing and restoration and peace.  Jesus Christ is open to revealing himself to us all the time.  So the only question that remains is how many faithful “Perfect Moments” can we have right now?

1 Dean, Cordelia. When cancer strikes, a high achiever plans. The New York Times, March 14, 2006.
2 John 21: 5
3 Vs. 6
4 Vs. 7
5 Vs. 9-12
6 Vs. 5,10

April 19, 2009

Acts 3: 11-26 & Mark 16: 9-18

    By my rough calculation, I have preached over a thousand times.  Thus, I can tell you from experience that the task and challenge of preaching is not easy.  When I first read this line from a poem titled Christmas Eve, by English poet Robert Browning, it had a lot of meaning about preaching for me, and it still does:
        

        For the preacher's merit or demerit,
        It were to be wished that the flaws were fewer
        In the earthen vessel, holding treasure,
        But the main thing is, does it hold good measure
        Heaven soon sets right all other matters!1 
     

      Although at times a difficult task and I struggle with myself as Browning described “It were to be wished that the flaws were fewer,” preaching for me is exciting, particularly when I see people responding to the good news: the words of grace and forgiveness that come in Jesus Christ.
     Of course, I have had varied responses to sermons besides those who needed rest.  Some reactions have touched my heart and have come from listeners who were moved through God’s Holy Spirit by something I said and felt the need to share it with me.  There have been other reactions as well.  Once after a sermon that a person felt was lengthy, this person pointed out to me that in the Guinness Book of World Records it documents the shortest sermon ever preached.  It was given by Rev. John Albrecht, an Episcopal priest.  Rev. Albrecht stood in his pulpit, paused, and said “Love!”  He then sat down.  This person, (I think) tongue in cheek, wondered if I could ever beat that!  Obviously not to this point! 
     What about you?  When you hear the word “preaching” what comes to mind?  Hopefully there is a word or image or passage or experience that encouraged you and still touches your heart, mind and life long after it was created and shared by a fellow believer.  It could be your own preaching.  Or when you hear the word “preaching,” it could be the thought, “that’s what Pastor C is doing right now.”  Some think of “preaching” in this post-modern multimedia age as an effort that needs transformation; others, hopefully none of you here, think of a Christian preaching as a symptom of a hypocrite that espouses things that are irrelevant, immaterial or wrong.
     Well, we may not all be called to preach as a vocation, but we are all called and all challenged to be able to share our convictions and belief in Jesus Christ.  We are all called and all challenged to be able to speak in words and actions about the amazing works of God through Jesus Christ.
     We are just a week after Easter and we are no longer at the empty tomb rather we are in and about all nations to share the good news: “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.’”2  These final verses of Mark, thought by some biblical scholars to be a later addition, in one quick final swoop have us outside the street corners sharing the good news.
     We also see that in the early history of the Church.  Preaching or proclaiming begins shortly after Jesus ascends into heaven.  Certainly preaching existed before Easter, think of Jesus and John the Baptist for example.3  Now, post-Easter, preaching took on new meaning.  In Acts, for example, there are actually six recorded sermons with Peter preaching in several.  The first sermon is Peter during Pentecost where we hear that 3000 people respond.4  The second sermon is our lesson today, after the healing of a lame man at Solomon’s Colonnade in Jerusalem where 5000 repent and Peter and John go to jail for the night.5  In the other preaching moments, either Peter or the apostles or Stephen or Philip are the speakers.  The responses range from martyrdom to the baptism of one person, an Ethiopian official.6
     Which ever sermon you review in the New Testament you will see that some are long and some are short, some we only have the fact that the preaching happened with none of the words recorded, but in others we have lengthy snippets.  Yet in all we see an important point for all of us; first we are to know what Scripture says.  Notice in Peter’s preaching today that he relates Jesus to the scripture of the Hebrews.  That means that Peter had to know what it said.  Knowledge and belief worked together.
     Besides some knowledge of scripture what else do we see?  Ben Campbell Johnson, Christian author, former professor at Columbia Theological Seminary and Institute of Christian Renewal, wrote a book called Speaking of God.7 In that book he writes about the difference between “God talk” and “God speech.”
     “God talk” is what a person does when they make reference to God in conversation.  Some are drawn to “God talk,” Campbell Johnson suggests, because it can give the listener the impression that the person engaged in “God talk” fully knows of which they speak and thus to be copied.  However, Johnson argues that “God talk” may seem meaningless, or repetitive or mechanical or inauthentic.  
      But “God speech” is different.  Campbell Johnson suggests that if you review preaching in the Bible it is candid and natural as people converse with one another.  This type of sharing of faith is different because it comes from the heart.  It may be less than eloquent but it is not phony.
     As disciples, we are called, we are challenged not to “talk” but to “speech” in what we believe and in which we find great joy. 
     In Peter’s sermon today, he used his knowledge and he was authentic.  We get a glimpse of that authenticity of Peter, for the healed lame man had his arms wrapped around Peter and “held on to” him while he spoke --- talk about wearing your faith on your sleeve!
     The challenge --- the call this evening is not for everyone to go home and write a sermon; but as that the word of God intersects with our lives so that when we share our faith it is not God talk but God speech.
     Our stories and our sharing Jesus’ story may not provoke the response as did Peter’s at Solomon’s Colonnade; nor will our sharing necessarily bring into being more believers.  Remember, we do not have a monthly believer’s quota; there are no numerical targets.  Rather as post Easter people, we are simply to share the story of Jesus with authenticity to who we are.  Authenticity in today’s gospel startles many of us.  “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”8  Some Christians get bogged down in these signs of authenticity.  My response to that passage is that these are hardly the only signs and authenticity is not limited to simply these.
     The first disciples of Jesus certainly preached about a lot more than is recorded in Acts and not every word of every sermon that are in Acts are included.  That body of proclamation although it turned the world upside down in its own day, is not necessary for us today since the Holy Spirit did not choose to preserve it for us as Scripture.  Just think we have no preserved sermons of John, or Andrew, or James and many others including the women, even though Scripture tells us that they preached.
     The point is we have all we need.  Meaning that we have enough with which to draw from and learn, because we were not meant to copy Peter or Philip or anyone else.
     Glen Tex Evans, a Methodist pastor, tells a story of a conference that he attended in Maryland in the United States.  For whatever reason, things were not going well until after this episode.  During an outside break a group of people wanted to show Pastor Evans the place at the local river close to their conference center where Francis Asbury once crossed.
     Who was Francis Asbury?  Francis Asbury was a famous English Methodist who started preaching at 18 and became a pastor at 22.  Asbury volunteered to serve as a missionary to the early colonial United States and later became one of the first American Methodist bishops.
     Well, it seems that Asbury had crossed a river at flood tide in the late 1700’s in order to preach to the people in a chapel in this part of Maryland.  This group asked Tex, “Do you want us to tell you how Francis Asbury crossed that swollen, rushing river?”  Tex responded: “No, but I do want you to tell me why he crossed that river.”
     As I said at the beginning, I have preached over a thousand times, how does not matter, nor does it matter how it has been received or heard.  Rather, because of Christ’s Easter resurrection, God is offering you and me and all people forgiveness and restoration in Jesus’ name.  Why you and I preach is all that matters, not how.  Go and preach to all creation.  Amen.  

1 Robert Browning, Christmas Eve Canto XII

2 Mark 16: 15
3 Matthew 3 - 4
4 Acts 2:14-41
5 Acts 3:11-26
6 Acts 4:23-31; Acts 7:1-53; Acts 8:29-35
7 Ben Campbell Johnson, Speaking of God: Evangelism as Initial Spiritual Guidance, Westminster John Knox Press, 1991

8 Mark 16: 17-18

April 12, 2009

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 & Mark 16: 1-8

        Empty!  What does empty mean to you?  When we lived in a small town in North Dakota for a couple of years, a large rural state in the United States, known for it’s wide expanses with not many people, my family had a running joke at the expense of my father.  Unfortunately he had run out of gas several times when traveling because he would look at his gas gauge on the car and think, “Oh I have enough!”  He would make that decision on the wrong assumption that he would find another gas station or make it home.
         After running out of gas several times during our first year, our refrain became, when it was time for him to walk out the door for work or errands, “Are you running on empty today?”
         What does empty mean?  In 2007, astronomers announced that they had found a big empty place in the universe --- a massive void.  This empty space, not to be confused with a black hole which is a completely different phenomenon, is a gigantic location, nearly a billion light-years across with no planets, no stars, no galaxies, and no gases.1  It’s just a huge cold void, in other words, a whole, large, nothing.
         Just think about it with me.  The expanse of this void boggles the mind.  A light year is a unit of distance ? it is the distance that light can travel in one year, meaning one light-year equals just less than 10 trillion kilometers or about six trillion miles.  This discovered void is estimated to be a billion light years across. 
         Our tiny heads cannot even begin to comprehend an empty space that gigantic.  Instead we use jokes or use metaphors, for example, when the news was announced, the void was described in various ways by various commentators from “It is as if it were a big bubble in the cosmic pancake batter” to “I bet it is God’s Ranch.  I wonder if He calls it the Ponderosa.”2 
          An empty place, an empty space. ---- the empty tomb.  That the tomb is empty, void, is a world-changing, mind-numbing reality.  Now the apostle Paul was no astronomer, but he knew the story of an empty place that had cosmic consequences.  Paul had heard that on Easter morning, a group of women encountered an immense emptiness when they showed up at the tomb, one that was as terrifying as anything in the universe.  Just look at their response.  It was early when they arrived, and after meeting a young man and hearing about the resurrection Mark says: “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb.  They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”3
         Can you imagine how empty one may feel at this point?  Just imagine Mary Magdalene, one of the women, she has already suffered the crucifixion of her friend and teacher Jesus, and she’s mourning his death deeply.  Now she goes to his tomb to pay her respects, and what does she find?  Nothing.  A huge cold spot.  She did not know that you have to pass through some empty tombs on the way to resurrection life.
         Let me take that back, you may know how empty Mary Magdalene may have felt, because all of us come face to face with colossal voids in our lives.  It happens … when you give your heart to someone who does not accept the gift; when you learn a sport, practice hard and still do not make the team; when you study and pursue a profession, only to find you hate your work; when you create something beautiful, and discover that no one is interested; when you try to resist a temptation, but then give in to it again and again; when you put money into a home and or into savings, only to see it all disappear; when you lose a spouse, and find yourself all alone in the world.  These and many more are huge cold spots --- substantial emptiness.
         How have you responded to that empty feeling?  Mary and her companions are seized by terror and amazement, and they retreat at first into silence, saying nothing to anyone.  Their world feels like a billion light-years of empty space.  But it is to their everlasting credit that they take some time to ponder this strange set of events, and let the disappearance of Jesus sink in.
         Yes, it’s true that the mysterious young man in the tomb has said to them, “’Don't be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.  He has risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid him.  But go; tell his disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”4  The new Easter morning and good news of resurrection life, but something the women cannot grasp it, at least not yet.
         Too often we try to pretend that there are no enormous voids in our lives; no empty places and that we can deal.  Sociologist Jean Twenge observes that young adults in particular have been told things such as “believe in yourself and you can do anything” ? which is ok advice.  The truth according to Twenge is that adults do not necessarily teach children well; bad things can happen to good people and not every goal in life is realistic.  Life does not always give us what we want.  Twenge thinks that overblown expectations are largely to blame for the rise in anxiety and depression particularly young adults pointing out, “It’s depressing to realize that your unrealistic dreams are never going to come true.”5
         What ever you may think of that analysis, we all know that loss and rejection are a part of just about every life story we can imagine.  We have to pass through some empty tombs on the way to resurrection life. 
         Mary and her companions make this journey as they flee from the empty tomb --- but not falling into the trap of that empty space.  Certainly, Mary and her companions feel the blast of alarm, terror, amazement and fear --- yet I believe it is their faith that set them up for the surprising reality of the resurrection.
         The reality is that Easter is not about them ? instead, it is about God.  By the same token, Easter is not about you or me, it is about God.  In particular, it is about God filling the empty places --- filling the empty places in our lives, in the world, in the universe --- with new and unexpected life ---- resurrected life.
         In our lesson from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he reminds the Christians in Corinth of the good news.  “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”6
         The emptiness being filled with the resurrected Jesus is of central importance to Paul, and he sees the new life of Christ as being at the heart of one’s vitality.  In fact, just a few verses later, he says that if Christ has not been raised, “our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”7
         Through the resurrection, not in spite of it, God fills the empty places in our lives.  God does it for the first followers of Jesus, for the women, for Paul, for the Christians of Corinth … and God does it for us.  We do not have to earn or deserve this gift of new life.  What we have to do is believe and be willing to follow Jesus, to go meet him.
         Mary and her companions felt a disorienting mixture of amazement and fear on Easter morning, but they responded to the young man who gave the command: “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
         Yes, we have to pass through some empty tombs on the way to resurrection life.  The good news of Easter is that Christ is risen!  He has been raised from the dead, and is waiting, beyond the empty.  So you tell me --- empty --- what does that mean to you?  Amen. 

A big thank you to www.homiletics.com!

1 Kaufman, Mark. “Astronomers find massive void.” The Washington Post, August 27, 2007, A6.
2 http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/forums/viewthread/5080/
3 Mark 16:8
4 Vs. 6-7
5 Vencat, Emily Flynn. “Narcissists in neverland.” Newsweek Web Exclusive, October 16, 2007. www.Newsweek.com.
6 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
7 vs. 14

April 10, 2009

Good Friday Meditation

    Why repeat something?  We Christians retell how Jesus died by crucifixion over and over.  This retelling helps us grow not only in our knowledge of the event but by deepening our faith.
     In addition, in repeating we may learn something we did not hear before.  Possibly our hearts and minds were elsewhere, but then we may hear the story again and suddenly something touches our hearts and minds that we had not thought of before.  I remember a discussion I had with a member of our former church who could not believe that Jesus had more than 12 disciples.  However, during a sermon I happened to read from Luke 10, where Jesus appoints 70 to go out to the neighborhoods and communities.  This person was stunned.  “What do you mean 70?  There were only 12!”
     In a retelling of the passion event of Jesus years ago, I experienced something similar in my faith life.  Let me share it with you.  First, let us state what we know most certainly to be true: Jesus died by crucifixion.  Although some may suggest otherwise, the crucifixion is an event confirmed not only by the earliest Christian sources, the gospels and Paul.  This event is also attested to by the earliest non-Christian sources, for example in the words of the Roman historian Tacitus.  According to all these Christian and non-Christian sources, the crucifixion occurred sometime while Pontius Pilatus was procurator in Judaea between the years 26 and 36.  We also know that crucifixion was a Roman and not a Jewish practice, so those who carried out the execution were certainly Roman soldiers.  
     This is not what startled me years ago rather it is what follows that I had heard but did not think about.  Another thing we know for certain, according to these various Christian and non-Christian sources, is the charge against Jesus.  It was posted on top of his cross The King of the Jews meaning that Jesus' crime was considered political.1  In addition, Jesus died as part of a group: two others were crucified with him.  These two were terrorists, guerrilla fighters, or from one perspective, Jewish freedom fighters.  The common translation is "robbers" but really it would be far more accurate to the biblical Greek if we used the current word, terrorists or freedom fighters.
     For me years ago, the passion event took on new meaning when I heard it in those terms.  Jesus was arrested as a Zealot!2  His crime was seen as political!  He was crucified with terrorists!  I had heard and read the story of Jesus’ death countless times, but for some reason the political piece had escaped me.
     Hearing and seeing the crucifixion story as a political event gave me a different insight into some of the other events, for example, when Pilate asks the crowd to choose between Barabbas and Jesus; for Pilate, these two are both political prisoners.  The only difference was that Pilate did not see evidence of murder.  On the contrary, Jesus was non-violent.  So when Jesus is between the two others on Golgotha the place originally selected for Barabbas, they were seen as the same, terrorists or Jewish freedom fighters!3
     Seeing the crucifixion in that context may not be new for you, but for me it was startling.  The reason it was startling was because that new knowledge highlighted what I could never quite figure and what seemed to be so strange, if you look at the sayings of Jesus, all the parables and prophetic words and if you look at the miracles and the life of Jesus and his disciples, it would never occur to anyone that Jesus would eventually die on a Roman cross.  On the other hand if all you had was the story of the crucifixion, we would have seen Jesus only as a non-violent zealot.  Those two parts of the drama left me perplexed … unless there is something else.
     The meaning of Jesus’ death on the cross is not found in just the passion event --- the last week of his life.  The meaning of Jesus’ death on the cross is not found in just his miracles, words and life.  Rather the two are intertwined.
     How do we see that?  At the last, Jesus said “it is finished.”  “It is finished” can mean over and done with, for example the cherry blossom leaves fall to the ground.  When Jesus died another terrorist was gone.  Jesus was over and done.
     But, “it is finished” can also mean, it is accomplished, it is fulfilled.  A person graduates from college they can say, “I finished.  I got a degree.” When Jesus said “it is finished,” it meant that Jesus was perfectly obedient to God throughout his whole life and even unto his death.  Jesus personified God’s love throughout his whole life; he personified God’s love in his teachings; he personified God’s love in his miracles and at the end of his life, Jesus personified God’s love by dying on the cross so that others might live.
     Why repeat the story --- because some have not heard about Jesus.  Some may think Jesus was a non-violent political revolutionary.  Some may think Jesus was a thoughtful philosopher and healer. We repeat the story because in that event --- “It is finished” --- “It is accomplished” --- out of God’s great love Jesus Christ died for us.  Jesus Christ died against us, against all the evil that is inescapably part of ourselves.  Jesus Christ died within us so that we can repent, find forgiveness and healing can enter in.  Jesus Christ died before us, the first of God’s glory to come.
     Why repeat the story?  Amen.

1 Also see 1 Cor. 2:8
2 Mk 15:7; Mk 14:48)
3 For more discussion on this topic please see http://jcrelations.net/en/?item=749

April 5, 2009

Mark 15: 1-39

        This is a Sunday of changing moods.  We begin with triumph, move into despair, and end with hope.  Yet, this is how God reveals Jesus Christ to us.  Jesus did not just simply go to Jerusalem for a victorious entrance on a donkey, a reminder of the way the tribal chief King David came into Jerusalem centuries before.  Rather, that entrance was just the beginning.  Jesus being arrested, tortured, crucified and buried in Jerusalem was for the purpose of revealing God’s plan for redemption and salvation for all people.
         Although the week began with a joyful entrance, the whole focus shifts to a week of emptying to reveal as Paul said, “emptied himself… and became obedient to the point of death --- even death on a cross.”1  This emptying was all done for the express purpose of revelation.  How do we know all this?
         Well, let us take just one example, of one nameless person we hear of in our gospel today and we will hear of again on Good Friday; how did the centurion at the cross come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ was the “Son of God?  The centurion who commanded the detachment which had the oversight of the execution was somehow convinced and confessed that this Jesus was the Son of God.2 
         Before we review the possible reasons, first we should review what is a centurion?  A centurion was a commander of a Roman infantry unit made up of 80 fighting troops and 20 support troops.  This unit breakdown was a basic block of the Roman Army and thus of the Roman Empire of which the centurions were key figures.  As you can see, the word for centurion is based on a “hundred” just like the word “century” meaning a hundred years.  Centurions were normally free-born Roman citizens.3  Centurions also had various ranks based on a variety of reasons without getting into too much detail, meaning that our centurion may have been a high rank senior or lower rank junior centurion something we will never know.
         This centurion is not our first for in the New Testament we have several, some who are people of faith.  For example, we have the centurion of Capernaum who asked Jesus to come and heal his servant.4  We have the centurion in Caesarea who is even named for us, Cornelius.  This Cornelius has a vision and has a lengthy meeting with the disciple Peter which leads this Jewish Peter to learn: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”5  Was the centurion in today’s gospel one of these or connected to another that is mentioned in the New Testament?  It is possible.
         What else do we know about today’s centurion?  We don’t know his name, only that he was assigned to the crucifixion detail that Friday.  As an officer we know that he did not have to do the actual dirty work ? just see that it got done.
         So think about it.  It is highly unlikely that there was more than one centurion at this event for it was relatively small crucifixion as we are told only about three are executed.  It is safe to assume, that it was this centurion at the foot of the cross that came with Jesus out of the palace, the Praetorium, and also ordered Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross part of the way to Golgotha, the place of the skull.  This centurion more than likely ordered soldiers to bind the arms of all three men to the cross beams.  It was he that oversaw soldiers nailing the hands and feet of the criminals to the wood.  It was he who looked the other way or allowed the soldiers to gamble to see who would get the dead man’s clothing.  It is this centurion that permitted Jesus, to taste from a sponge of wine mixed with myrrh --- which used in this way is like a mild narcotic sometimes given to ease pain --- which Jesus refused.  And it was very likely that this centurion ordered a soldier to nail the controversial sign over Jesus’ head on the cross: “King of the Jews.” 
         But all that educated guesses do not tell how the centurion came to believe.  Mark says that something that the officer experienced caused him to believe, “And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’”6 
         What made this officer --- a free citizen of Rome; a seasoned soldier --- come to believe that Jesus was the Son of God?  Here are some possible reasons.
         First, another detail of Roman culture that may help us understand was that a Roman believed in many gods.  As we know from our lives here in Japan and what I understand from the Japanese Christians with whom I work, that does not mean it makes it easier to believe in only one true God, but it does allow a person to be open to the possibility of God in the form of this man nailed to the cross that might just change one’s mind.
         Second, hints of stronger reasons can be found in our lesson, --- “heard his cry and saw how he died” --- meaning the centurion may have witnessed something in the crucifixion that impressed him.  What may he have witnessed?  Was it in the abuse?  Mark makes a point of telling us that “those who passed by hurled insults at him.”7  Even the religious leadership mocked Jesus.  “’Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.’”8 
         In addition Mark suggests that there was something about the way Jesus cried out that struck the centurion as powerful.  Yet we do not know what exactly Jesus cried out.  Matthew indicates that it was also the earthquake, coming at the exact moment of Jesus’ final outcry that finally convinced the centurion that Jesus was the Son of God, but Mark does not include this detail.9
         What about the possibility that the centurion was just caught up in the moment?  Well the words of the centurion were evidently a true expression of faith.  Luke says, “The centurion, seeing what had happened praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”10  That means that for Luke, the centurion was the very first convert to Jesus Christ after His crucifixion, coming to faith at precisely the moment Jesus died.
         But those are just possibilities and threads pieced together.  One thing I know for sure is that in examining this one person, the testimony of this one centurion, is the fact that God continually reveals Jesus Christ to us not only in those final moments in the emptying of himself on the cross.  But he is revealed to us during the entire week in the washing of the feet of the disciples and giving of the bread and wine.  This revelation does not stop or end here because of what we have to look forward to in Easter.
         The closing portion of Mark's gospel, in the Roman centurion's climactic declaration of belief that Jesus was the Son of God, moreover returns to the theme of this gospel’s beginning.  This centurion indicates the fulfillment of the good news announced in the beginning of Mark 1: 1 “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God” and is the first fruit of the passion and death of Jesus.
         What does this mean for us?  This week is not just what God did for one centurion at the foot of the cross or a group of varied disciples.  The centurion who testified here certainly knew very little of Jesus’ purpose, or of the good news that Jesus brought.  However, he did understand the first fundamental truth, that Jesus is, "Surely" the Son of God. 
         How will that revelation unfold for us during this Holy Week?  Will we hear a loud voice and see how he died?  How will that revelation be seen and experienced for us here at the table of the Lord?  How will that revelation continue to come to us in our lives as disciples?  In much the same way, God uses events and experiences in our lives to move us to say, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”  Amen.

1 Philippians 2: 7-8
2 Mark 15: 39
3 Palestine in the time of Jesus. Hanson, K.C. & Oakman, Douglas E.. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 1998, p. 169
4 Mathew 8: 5-10
5 Acts 10
6 Mark 15: 39
7 Vs. 29
8 Vs. 32
9 Matthew 27:54
10 Luke 23:47

March 29, 2009

John 12: 20-33

        As many of you may know Nagoya is closely related to the family history of the last feudal dictators in Japan, the Tokugawa Shogunate.  But Nagoya is not the only city with Tokugawa family connections.  The city of Mito, northeast of Tokyo in present day Ibaraki Prefecture, was the headquarters of one of the three main branches of the Tokugawa family, the Mito branch.
         During the Edo period (1603-1868) the head of the Mito Tokugawa clan occupied the hereditary position of vice shogun.  Although no one in the family could ever become a shogun, the vice shogun had great prestige and considerable power in Japan during those 265 years.  The most famous of the long line of vice-shoguns was Mito or Tokugawa Mitsukuni.  Not only is he famous for his time as vice-shogun but, after Mitsukuni retired, he become known by the name, Komon, and legend has it that he traveled Japan doing good deeds.  The story of this man, by the way is the basis for a long running weekly samurai TV drama called Mito Komon, a fictionalized account of that retired vice-shogun’s legendary travels.
         What interests us today is not only the history of the word komon but also its present day meaning --- “advisor” or “counselor.”1  There is no longer a Tokugawa Shogunate yet komon still exist not only in Japan but in many places around the world.  Advisors or counselors, either because of family relationships or experience or both, play key roles in virtually every area of modern business, politics and professional affairs around the world.  The most powerful and effective advisors and counselors may be like Mito Mitsukuni recently retired from a top position in government or business.  Wherever they gained their experience, these advisors and counselors are retained and especially valued for their connections.  Because of their connections, komon are “go betweens” to help break the barriers that exist between groups of people.  Good and efficient connection brokers are not new or only found in Japan.  Just as revealed every week at the climax of the Japanese TV drama, at the all important moment, Mito Mitsukuni is revealed by his Tokugawa family crest on his inro (印籠); in other words, like a good “go between,” he pulls out his all important connection to the Shogun and everything works out! 
       Just look at our gospel, we are told that a group of “Greeks” approach Philip, one of the disciples of Jesus, with a request, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus” because Philip “was from Bethsaida in Galilee.”2  Connections and the breaking down of barriers are a crucial theme in this lesson.
         Before we continue further perhaps we need to explore who these “Greeks” are.  These “Greeks” were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, the most important religious holiday for Jews.3  So, were these tourists from Athens with digital cameras and camcorders ready to take some pictures and thought they might catch the latest hot news --- Jesus?
         There are basically two complementary schools of thought among Biblical scholars about these “Greeks.”  One school of thought is that this group is a general term to describe anyone that is a gentile; religiously inquiring gentiles in Jerusalem at this important religious event. (The Passover) The Greek culture was the predominant culture in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.4
         The other school of thought is more specific in that these “Greeks” were part of a large group of 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation and older ethnic and/or cultural Jews who had left Israel and had adopted habits in the cultures where they lived.  This Diaspora would come back to Jerusalem on occasion to visit family and friends for the holidays.5  History suggests that at the time of Jesus, these “Greeks” were allowed into a small section of the Holy Temple even though they may have not been observant Jews.  In fact, Paul was accused of crossing this boundary in the temple in Acts 24: 5-6 because Paul, once a Pharisee, had become a “Greek” when he had become a Christian.
         Well whoever they were, why would they go to Philip?  It could have been because Philip is approachable as some speculate he may be a re-converted Greek.  This means a cultural or ethnic Jew who became observant through Jesus or earlier.  Or perhaps Philip spoke Greek well.  After all the Scripture points out that he’s from Bethsaida, a well-known city of “Greek” Jewish emigres.  Either way, what we do see is Philip has great connections because straightaway he takes the request to his fellow disciple Andrew, also from Bethsaida.
 Andrew may have been the most important “go between” because if you read the Gospel of John carefully, it is Andrew among the twelve, who is repeatedly described as a broker between Jesus and outsiders.  For example, it is Andrew who negotiates the meeting between Jesus and his brother Simon Peter.  It is Andrew who finds the young boy with food and brings him to Jesus in the miracle of the feeding of the 5000.6
         Together Philip and Andrew go to Jesus to pass on the request from these “Greeks.”  Now this is what’s peculiar ? we do not hear that Jesus pays Andrew and Philip any attention at all and furthermore we never hear about these “Greeks” again, yet understanding barriers and connections is helpful as we understand what Jesus says next. 
         In response we are told Jesus speaks a group of paradoxical statements: "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.  The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.  My Father will honor the one who serves me.”7
         Whoever these “Greeks” were, and whatever the roles of Philip and Andrew, the timing of the event provokes an important point.  Jesus notifies everyone that this hour, the time of the cross, was soon coming.  When we continue reading this chapter of John, we see that Jesus continues to talk about his death and glorification.
         Although Jesus does not respond to the literal specific request of the “Greeks,” as if to set up an appointment, the request was of secondary importance.  Rather, this event and the question of the “Greeks” is an important opportunity.  It was necessary for Jesus to remind (emphasize) the fact that Jesus death and resurrection will break down the walls between people.  Between Jews and Gentiles, bond and free, between those who could come to God and those who could not, and to open again the way to God to all humanity.
         In other words in Jesus, “go betweens” are no longer necessary between God and humanity.  No temple in Jerusalem.  No more spilling of sacrificial blood for the atonement of sins.  No more following laws of religious purity for purity’s sake to be able to worship God.  No more religious leadership as a go between God and humanity.  Instead there is but pure grace in faith in Jesus Christ.
         In a sense, the “Greeks” want to see … not simply a miracle worker, but God, and Jesus knew this: yet before they could see unto salvation, which is what all gentiles wanted and needed, Jesus had to destroy the wall that partitioned people from God.  That middle wall could only be destroyed, as Paul said later, by Jesus own flesh.8  The gentiles, or non-observant Jews represented by these Greeks who came to Philip and Andrew, could not see God until the way was prepared.  Cryptically to the disciples, easier for us who follow to see, Jesus was saying Calvary is upon you, get ready, the connection of the cross and the empty tomb is coming.  
         We know the rest of the story we see in Jesus.  No longer are go betweens necessary whether we are cradle Christians or recently claimed disciples.  We believe.  We trust.  We have faith.  We know we are called to follow Jesus wherever that may lead.  By whatever route Jesus leads us, we are to put the attractions and distractions of this life aside and maintain single-minded focus on the one who holds eternity in the palm of his hand.
         This leads to the final point for there are still those among us today who wish to see God --- neighbors near and far.  Unless we are willing to follow in our Savior’s footsteps, unless we are willing to be “little Christ,” how will they see him?  For you see, we are the present-day Greeks.  We as well are Philip and Andrew whose connection is to point the way to the One who will draw all people to himself.
         We are go betweens between Jesus and the people we meet, but not to form another layer between people and God.  Rather, we are to be like Jesus, so that we may “die” in a sense, to produce many seeds.
         My prayer for all of us in this Lenten season is that we will shake free from whatever shackles us and prevents us from keeping our focus on the Son of God, so that we are ready to show the way for all who “wish to see Jesus.”  Amen.

1 Japan’s Cultural Code Words, De Mente, Boye Lafayette, Tuttle Publishing, Tokyo, 2004. p. 163
2 John 12: 21
3 Vs. 20
4 The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Brown, Raymond E., Fitzmyer, Joseph A & Murphy, Roland E., Eds.. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 1990. p. 971.
5 Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John, Malina, Bruce & Rohrbaugh, Richard L. Fortress Press: Minneapolis. 1998. p. 211-213
6 John 1: 40-41; John 6: 8-9; Palestine in the time of Jesus, Hanson, K.C. & Oakman, Douglas E.. Fortress Press: Minneapolis. 1998. p. 80
7 John 12: 23-26
8 Ephesians 2:11-18

March 22, 2009

Text: John 3:13-21

        On Tuesday, March 17th after 146 years, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer a daily newspaper in the U.S. stopped printing.  Although it is no longer available in print in the city of Seattle, a much smaller group of employees remain in the newsroom to take part in what is termed a “journalistic experiment: whether a major newspaper can make money, and consistently produce good stories, as an Internet only?operation.”1  In other words, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, once a newspaper, is now news without the paper.
         The New York Times, another US daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City has long been nicknamed “the gray lady” because of the concentration of its print.  A year ago The New York Times decided to devote the second and third pages of every issue to summaries of articles that appear elsewhere in the paper.  This change was to address two complaints the newspaper was hearing.  One was from readers who said they did not have enough time to read the articles.  The other was from readers who said that because there was so much in each issue, they often overlooked the articles they really cared about.2  
         What do those events have to do with each other and with us?  The closures and changes in newspapers are simply a sign of an even larger and deeper trend; how we read.  Writing in the US magazine, The Atlantic, Nicholas Carr, said that the Internet is rewiring not only our reading habits, but also the circuits in our brain that have to do with cognition.3
         As Carr sees it, the wonderful access to news and other information that was not possible within most of our lifetimes on-line comes at a price: the Internet not only supplies stuff to think about but also shapes the very process of thought.  To support his argument, Carr notes, that a recent study by scholars from University College - London showed that as people view material on-line, they usually skim rather than read deeply.  They hop from one source to another and rarely return to any one they have already visited.  Generally, people reading on the Internet read no more than one or two pages before they leap to another site.  The authors of the study concluded that “there are signs that new forms of ‘reading’ are emerging as users ‘power browse.’” 
         For Christians this should not be new because from my experience too many of us hop-skip through the Bible as if it were the Internet.  Just think about that in our lesson today.  Most verses of the Bible are not on many Christians lips, but many of us can usually rattle off the substance of John 3:16, which is often called “the gospel in a nutshell.”  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
         Although as true as that gospel verse is, the memory of one verse may leave us with the assumption that if we can recite John 3:16, or have a non-believer read it, that is the whole Christian message, as if the rest of the Bible was just commentary.  That supposition is quite common in the United States where well meaning Christians try to place John 3:16 on everything from license plates to t-shirts, from signs at sports games to placing the chapter and verse after one’s name on business cards.
         Reading, hearing or studying, John 3:16 and thinking we have got the whole story is like reading in a hop-skip fashion on the Internet.  We may get the basic nugget of the story, but we will miss the in-depth kind of understanding that comes only from deeper reading, from living with the Scriptures.  For example, the fact is a mere reading of John 3:16 is not going to give the foggiest idea of what Jesus was talking about in verses 14 and 15 or why the story of a wilderness serpent serves as an introduction to verse 16.
         One way to start seeing John 3:16 in its larger context is to imagine there’s a hyperlink: a word, phrase, or image that you can click on to jump to a new document or a new section within the current document; as many of you know an excellent tool on the Internet.  In verse 14 there would be a hyperlink that jumps you back to Numbers chapter 21 and it particular verses 4-9.
         At that time, the Numbers story finds the people of Israel in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan.  The people had left Egypt and slavery, had made a stop at Mt. Sinai and developed a covenant with God, and are once again on their journey to their new land.  Their route requires them to skirt the land of Edom.  This detour makes the Israelites cranky and it brings up complaints the people have raised on numerous occasions before: “Our slavery in Egypt was better than this.  We’re going to die out here in the wilderness.”  And then, in a rant that does not even make sense, they add, “We’ve got no food and water, and this food we have is miserable!”  They complained not only against Moses, but also against God.4
         Now this is not the first time they have complained nor is it their second or even their third.  It is at least the fourth occasion, and in each preceding time, God addressed their complaints in some way.  Here they are at it again but the response is different.
         To say this group is complaining is actually putting a positive spin to their words.  Really it is a form of sin.  In response to their complaints we have a lesson whose language is brutal.  God does not merely ‘send’ snakes among the people.  The Hebrew uses a piel verb to stress the severity of divine judgment; God ‘thrusts’ poisonous snakes upon them.  Likewise, the snakes don’t simply ‘bite’ the people.  Again using the piel form of the Hebrew verb, they ‘chomp down’ on the people.  There is no hiding the ferocity of divine anger which is unleashed on the people.
         Coming to face with divine judgment brought repentance.  The people quickly went back to Moses with the admission that they had sinned against him and against God, and they pleaded with Moses to intervene with God on their behalf.  The intervention though is no saint with a flute.  Instead Moses is commanded to provide healing to the people with what appears to be a huge amulet in the midst of the people --- a snake on a stake --- so that, if bitten, a person might simply look at it and be healed.  However, most artistic depictions of that image that I have seen do not do it justice.
         What is it that God tells Moses to make for himself and to place upon a pole?  The Hebrew text is clear: God instructs Moses, ‘aseh leka seraph, “Make for yourself a seraph.”  Moses is told to make not just some generic snake but rather a seraph.  You may recognize that word because in the plural form it is seraphim.  It becomes clear that these seraphim were thought of as snake-figures, who ‘burn’ because of their venomous poison.  We learn from Isaiah 14:29 that, not only do these snakes ‘burn with fire’, but they also dart or fly.  And it is, of course, these very creatures which Isaiah early encounters in his temple vision in Isaiah 6, decked out with their 3 pairs of wings.  In other words, this was no ordinary snake but rather an image of a flying snake of fire of a pole.
         Now if we return to John, with that it mind, we see that Jesus’ mention of the seraph in the wilderness was in a conversation with a Pharisee named Nicodemus.  This man had come to Jesus seeking to understand his message and mission, and as they were both Jewish and steeped in the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus was able to hyperlink to this serpent story with the certainty that Nicodemus would know it and be able to use it as a comparison to Jesus’ mission.  Thus, when Jesus says to Nicodemus, “And just as Moses lifted up the seraph in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
         In Numbers, it is clear that some of the bitten people refused to look at the bronze serpent and died.  It is not hard to imagine why, considering what was on the pole.  The medicine is a challenge for us sin-bitten people --- who may prefer too quick to skip around and not look deeply --- for we too can refuse to look at the Savior God provided and thus miss healing. 
         Thus, it’s not enough to read John 3:16 as if it were an emoticon on a cell phone novel or in an email.  Rather, we are people who are struggling with a variety of deep and sometimes painful sins; God’s own antidote to the deadly sin in which we are entangled in the wilderness of our lives we see the form of one hanging there, bleeding for our sake, and we recognize this figure as God’s own son, God’s own self.  John 3:16 are not just words for a banner headline for a web page but a deep and painful reminder that God has dragged us out of our bondage to sin and death and has drawn us to the cross.  We are to look, believe and live!

1 International Herald Tribune, March 18,2009, "Last P-I printed, Seattle becomes a journalism lab",
2 The New York Times, April 6, 2008, Hoyt, Clark. “Change can be painful, but this one shouldn’t hurt.” www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/opinion/06pubed.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=Tom%20Bodkin&st=cse&scp=4.
3 Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google making us stupid?” The Atlantic, July/August 2008, theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google.
4 Numbers 20

March 15, 2009

John 2: 13-22 

       Today’s gospel lesson is not really about bingo.  Maybe that never occurred to you, but when I was growing up, this Gospel reading often brought church bingo, bazaars or rummage sales to mind.  Oh, it wasn't the game of bingo or selling tickets itself --- it was the notion of taking money in the church.  Yet this lesson in a way is about those activities … but far more!
         What do I mean by all that!  When I was growing up as a Christian, I was taught that today’s gospel lesson of Jesus overturning the tables in the confines of the temple in Jerusalem meant that we should avoid certain types of money raising in the church.  Yet, I never heard a sermon or even had a Bible study that went into detail on why that is.  Somehow it was part of my upbringing and associated with this lesson.
         It wasn’t until the first year at one of my prior congregations, that I started to explore this lesson more thoroughly.  That congregation’s annual picnic was an end of summer event to kick off the fall events and included a silent auction as well as a raffle for some donated items and services.
         Prior to this, I had never been part of a congregation that had a raffle or silent auction.  I was uneasy, but kept my feelings to just the church council because I was the new pastor and it wasn’t that bad I reasoned.  Tickets were sold at the picnic outside, on the day of the event, once a year.
         Well, I was visiting a home bound member of the church.  During our visit, she said “Pastor, I heard you have some feelings about the raffle at the church picnic.”  I thought to myself, “I am going to get a lecture about how a new pastor should not be changing the customs of the congregation.”  Instead, she asked, “To tell you the truth, doesn’t this raffle make a ‘house of prayer’ into a ‘den of robbers.’?”1  Well, there I had it!  That spurred me to examine today’s lesson more.
         First, there is the anger, or maybe better expressed as “righteous” anger.  Throughout the Old Testament, God acts sometimes out of anger.  But God’s anger is not one where God loses self-control, for example.  We have this event as well as words from Paul who adds in Ephesians: “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”2  So is this lesson about “righteous” anger; anger with no sin?  Is this what we are to emulate?
         Although we can spend more time on the topic of Christian anger, I think the main point of the event lies elsewhere.  Jesus was not just acting out a moment of moral indignation.  Instead, let us examine the purpose of the anger; Jesus was cleansing the temple.  Temple purity is the central issue of this gospel event.
         There is something else.  We need to remember that not everything is recorded the same in all four of the gospels.  Some events appear in all four, like the crucifixion and the resurrection.  But many of the things that are important parts of Jesus’ ministry may be noted in just one, or two or three of the four gospels.  This event of Jesus cleansing the temple is one of the acts of Jesus that shows up in all four gospels… well sort of…
         Because, there are some important and significant differences with John’s record versus those in Matthew, Mark and Luke, for while Matthew, Mark and Luke place this event much later in their gospels --- near Jesus’ final week, we can see that John chooses to put the cleansing of the temple very early --- in Chapter 2.  I believe that John saw this event with a particular meaning, and thus its sequence in the life of Jesus was not as important.  For John, Jesus' actions in the temple pointed to the heart of who Jesus was and what he had come to do.  It had to come at the beginning, not near the end.
         As I mentioned, this event in John is in chapter 2, and a little verse connects it with another event in Capernaum; Jesus' miracle at the wedding in Cana.  You may remember that they ran out of wine at the wedding, and Mary exclaims, “They have no more wine.”3  Jesus told the steward to fill six stone jars with water.  Then he told the steward to taste the water, and --- the water had been turned to wine with such a taste that the steward wondered why the host had saved the best for last.
         However, John tells us a particular detail that we sometimes miss in our fascination with the miracle and all that wine: The stone jars that were used are for the rites of purification.  It was customary to have water available to be used for ritual cleaning for members of the family and guests.  It is the purification water that Jesus used to turn into the wine.
         By the time of Jesus, an elaborate system of religious purification had been developed, not only with water but by a host of different means.  Some things were considered pure and others impure based on scriptural references, religious interpretation and custom.  All of this ritual was established to be able to worship God, but the ritual had become the purpose rather than a means to an end.
         So here are two successive events that had to do with purification.  Although worship at the temple is ringed with purity, there was a profound difference.  In the heart of Jerusalem was the temple.  In the heart of the temple, within its innermost sanctuary, was the "Holy of Holies," where only the high priest was allowed to visit.
         In the heart of the "Holy of Holies," sat the ark itself and in the center of the ark was a particular spot, a “mercy seat.”  The kapporeth or "mercy seat" was a flat slab of gold resting on top of the ark.  Guarding either end of this slab, and of one piece with it, were winged angels, their faces inward, turned toward each other and their wings arching over the mercy seat.  Here between the cherubim and over the mercy seat was the throne, a dwelling of the God of Israel.  Once a year, on the Day of Atonement it was on this "mercy seat" that the high priest sprinkled the sacrificial blood.4 
         It is important to remember that nothing resided on the mercy seat, and the gold slab was just that a seat.  The seat was not worshipped nor was God's presence anywhere portrayed within this "Holy of Holies"--- or anywhere else within the temple; no idols of God; no representation of God at all.  All that greeted the high priest on this slab was open space, a void.
         In other words, the most sacred space where God was in the midst of the Hebrew people was empty, but yet not empty.  To go to Jerusalem to the temple, to make a pilgrimage to be near to and worship, to find mercy and comfort, was to visit empty space --- the holy.  That is an important point to remember for we too have no gilded statue or talking idol or shrine, rather we have the living presence of God's holiness.
         When Jesus went on his rampage in the temple it was partly a reaction against the intrusions of unholy noise and images into this sanctuary of holy silence.  Jesus saw that the temple site was gradually being transformed from a center of spirituality that leads one to greater space for holiness in people’s lives -- into a place simply of greater hustle and bustle.
         By cleansing the temple of all this pollution, Jesus sought to regain the sanctity of silence.  For only in the silence of the sanctuary could one hope to hear the silence in their midst, the living presence of God.  However, that point does not end there because this cleansing was also part of God’s redemptive plan for the world.
         The religious leaders do not question his point that all this noise, hustle and bustle, is taking away from the worship of God but rather they question his authority.  “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”5  To cleanse the temple?   
         To which Jesus answers: “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”  Jesus was predicting what was to happen, that no longer was this divine presence to be found in this one place.  In his life, crucifixion, death and resurrection, Jesus himself became the new temple.  It was no longer simply in or at a building.  Rather, the new mercy seat for God's presence was in, with and through Jesus Christ, meaning God in Jesus made it possible for each one of us to become living temples.  Jesus became the new mercy seat that we might each become a mercy seat, a people of comfort, forgiveness and love.  Jesus made the encounter with the Divine Presence possible for all people.  
         In the words of Anglican Bishop Rowan Williams, "Jesus is our holy place, which also means that he is the promise of a new kind of holiness. …. If we are so drawn into the words and acts and passion of Jesus that (as Paul said) his life and death are at work in us, we become sanctuaries to each other, holy places, mercy seats."6
         So is this lesson, about bingo?  We are temples of God’s living presence.  Because of Jesus Christ, God’s divine presence --- comfort, mercy and forgiveness --- we are God’s people sent out to the whole world.  Amen. 

1 Mark 11: 15-19
2 Ephesians 4: 26-27
3 John 2: 3
4 Exodus 25:22; 30:6; Numbers 7:89)
5 John 2: 18
6 A Ray of Darkness, Rowan Williams, Cambridge, Mass.: Cowley Publications, 1995, p. 87. 

March 8, 2009

Mark 10: 32-45

        What do you and I pay attention to?  Do we notice the overstated or the ordinary?  There used to be a magazine on the Internet called The Journal of Mundane Behavior.  The Journal’s stated purpose was to explore nothing but the “unmarked,” or those aspects of our everyday lives that typically go unnoticed.1  The founder, Dr. Scott Schaffer, a professor of Sociology at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, got the idea for the journal in the late 1990’s after reading an essay by a fellow sociologist complaining that all the academic journals seemed to focus on deviant behavior.
         In response, Professor Schaffer got together a high powered editorial board with academic leaders in North America, Asia and Europe, leading to their first issue in 2000.  Well, the journal lasted for four years and is now on hiatus, not dead, but the last issue was published in 2004.  The mundane can not even keep a journal alive.
         Do you think Jesus would have understood this aspect of humanity?  We pay more attention to the great over the average?
          According to our gospel reading from Mark, a couple of the disciples are squabbling about who will be the greatest in the coming kingdom.  One wants to sit at Jesus' right hand and the other at his left hand, but Jesus silences both James and John along with their fellow disciples by comparing their behavior to the graceless actions of the Gentiles, in other words, people like you and me --- non-Jews.
          The gentiles are the people Jesus called and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.”2  "You are acting like Gentiles," jabs Jesus.  Ouch.  “Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.”3 
         That message from Jesus seems pretty clear.  
         Yet, let’s look a little deeper into our gospel.  First, let us not be too quick to judge James and John for being seemingly insensitive and selfishly ambitious, somehow deviant in appropriate Christian behavior.  In fact, there are many moments in my life, when I have wished for a few James and Johns on my team.  Most pastors I know feel the same way.  These guys had some good things going for them.  Think about it.
         James and John were people of vision.  Jesus had just told all the disciples for the third time that he was going to Jerusalem to die.  He also told them that he would be raised again on the third day.  Possibly the part about Jesus dying did not grab the attention of James and John the same way as the part about him being raised from the dead captured their imagination.   James and John had come to understand that Jesus was God's chosen Messiah, so it was not too out of place for them to realize that meant that they were in on the ground floor.
         Think of it this way.  What if you could go back in time to say the mid-1970s, and you were able to locate these two young men, friends but college dropouts, one from Harvard and the other Washington State University, and you could say to them: "Bill Gates and Paul Allen, I believe you're going places.  I want to be on your team."  This is similar to what James and John possibly saw in Jesus, except, obviously, on a much grander scale.  They did not completely understand who Jesus was but they wanted to be a part of it.  They were men of vision. 
         What also struck me was that James and John were willing to pay the price.  Jesus asked them plainly, "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"  James and John answered, “We can.”4  And if we can completely trust Christian tradition, they did, in fact, suffer for the kingdom of God.  John was boiled in oil and exiled to the island of Patmos; James was beheaded.  These men paid a price for their allegiance to Jesus, so when they told Jesus that they were willing to suffer, they meant it.
         So, who of us would not be willing to work with these two who said “We will put in the extra hours.  We will give till it hurts.  We will be there when you need us.  We will pay the price.”  In many ways, James and John were what some people would consider ideal.  
         But instead, Jesus tells James and John and by association us, that the greatest among us are the servants and the most extraordinary of leaders are the most ordinary of disciples.  
         Well, how does that apply to our lives?  First of all, for me it means being willing to work without a guarantee.  James and John tried to negotiate a good deal for themselves over and above the other disciples.  They said, "We'll share your vision, we'll pay the price, we'll do the work, but in return, we want the recognition."  Jesus said, in effect, “It doesn't work that way.”  He told them, “You will pay a price, but I can not promise you recognition.  That is not how the kingdom of God works."
         That means, as disciples, we are to let go of the desire for recognition, because most of the time, from my experience, most people who serve God never get the recognition they deserve --- not in this life.  I do not mean to say that about myself.  Rather, just look at our Christian history and the church around the world.  As we speak there is and has been a multitude of committed believers giving of themselves to the work of God around the world.  There are countless people who have been or are faithfully serving and we will never know about them.
         As we noted earlier, Jesus asked if James and John were ready to suffer and they responded with “We can.”  Yet, how many times do we not truly understand the depth of that question from Jesus.  Professional athletes are a good example, for many receive recognition, but rarely do we see the price they pay: the rigorous training, the fierce competition, the brutality of the sport and in some cases the shortened life.  Serving as disciples includes a serious commitment to a life of service in the kingdom of God and may include suffering in the process.  It's part of the package.  
         Some people want to lead because they want to be a person in charge.  And some people want to lead because they want to help others.  Those are not necessarily incompatible.  Yet, Jesus talked about how the "Gentile" rulers used their position of authority to push people around.  It is a leadership in which people serve in whatever way the leader desires.  Leadership in that context is power and control.  Jesus said that is not that way in the coming kingdom of God for we are to work on behalf of people.
         Most thoughtful people, like James and John develop some dream or plan for their lives.  Or some spend a lifetime following a dream someone else had for their lives.  Yet, in spite of well-laid plans and treasured dreams we have for ourselves or which others had for us, life seldom follows the path or reaches the destination we thought it would.  In his book Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life, Greg Levoy writes, "I have heard it said that the best way to make God laugh is to proclaim your five-year plan."5 
         Jesus did not criticize James and John for setting a lofty goal; for their ambition of being next to Jesus on his right and left.  Instead, Jesus is telling us that setting goals in concrete is foolish for as servants we do not know how or when or what type of service we will do.
         Stop and think for a moment about where you are now --- where you live and what you are doing, what you are thinking and what life is like for you.  Did you every dream five, ten, or twenty years ago that you would be where you are now?  Could you have ever predicted what would happen to you along the way?  Could you have guessed why or how you would be at this place in your life?
     In his book Confessions, Saint Augustine pictures his mother, Monica, praying all night at a seaside chapel that her son will not sail for Italy.  She wanted Augustine to be a Christian and she could not bear losing him from her influence.  She thought if I have not led him to Christ here, how much farther he would be from the Lord in Italy.  But even as she prayed, Augustine set sail for Italy where he met a servant of the Lord by the name of Ambrose who opened his eyes to Jesus Christ.  Augustine became a Christian in the very place from which his mother's prayers would have kept him.6  
         God works in mysterious ways in our lives and in the life of the world.  God is not bound by our vision of possibilities in leadership, in service, in greatness, including how to be disciples.  Rather, by being servants, we let God be the Lord of our journey, the Lord of our discipleship, being a servant as Jesus was a servant, prepared and open to be surprised by God, even in the ordinary.  Amen.

1 http://www.mundanebehavior.org/
2 Mark 10:42
3 Vs. 43-44
4 10:38-39
5 Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life, Gregg Michael Levoy, Three Rivers Press, 1998.
6 The illustration is from www.day1.org; October 22, 2000, The Rev. Dr. Thomas Lane Butts.

February 22, 2009

Mark 9: 2-9

         Most of you are probably familiar with the expression: “a sinking feeling?”  This expression speaks of a sensation caused by uneasiness or apprehension for example “I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.”  
         That idiom is both literal and figurative for 97,000 Pacific islanders because the ocean is rising and their islands are sinking.  The Republic of Kiribati, also known as the Gilbert Islands, is an island nation near New Zealand.  The nation is comprised of 32 coral atolls, many of which are inhabited by the nation’s citizens.  So, why that sinking feeling… because Kiribati is slowly being swallowed by the ocean.
         The highest point of elevation in Kiribati is less than 2 meters above sea level.  Over the last 10 years, oceanographers have measured an almost 50-cm rise in ocean level and two uninhabited islands have already gone under the ocean.  That means that 25 percent of K the nation’s elevation is under the sea, and the outlook is grim for the land mass that remains. 
         The island nation’s President recently pleaded for help from the international community during a United Nations’ press conference.  “We may already be at the point of no return,” he claimed.  He believes that his nation’s population will need to find someplace else to live by 2100.1
         I bring this up because in our lesson from 2 Corinthians a small part of an extended discourse, the apostle Paul is responding to the sinking feeling of the Christians in Corinth.  It is not an island that’s disappearing from view, rather it is the gospel.  Paul responds to the fears the gospel is being hidden, veiled, from those who would otherwise believe.  Christ’s glory is unseen.  Looking at the situation in Corinth Paul says one may feel like the gospel is sinking out of sight.
         What about in our lives, do we sometimes feel that the gospel is sinking?  Is it disappearing from view?  Or do we wonder why the Christ is veiled for others.  Why can’t they see?
         Let us talk about veils and their symbolism.  Many of us have an image of an Islamic woman in a strict Muslim nation hidden behind a blowing tent like black canopy with eyes peering out.  That is one contemporary understanding.  Or our other image is one we may occasionally still see in a wedding.  The groom stands next to his veiled bride throughout the ceremony.  At some point, after the exchanging of vows, the new couple will kiss.  Now, for the first time, her veil is lifted, and their kiss seals the life that lies ahead of them ? the lifting of the veil is a physical ratification of the covenant just created.
         I do not know about Japan or other places in the world, but in the US for all but the most formal of weddings, the bridal veil has fallen out of style.  It’s considered old-school fashion and an expense that is not necessary.  Thus because of the contemporary mental picture of a veiled Muslim women and the disappearance of veiled brides, most of us do not realize the symbolic meaning and role of the veil in Scripture.
         In Scripture a veil separates those on either side of it.  On one side is that which is understood to be pure, glorious and divinely appointed.  On the other side is that which has not yet beheld it.  For example, in Genesis 24, Rebekah is fresh off of her camel as Isaac’s fianc?.  Before she meets him, she slips on a veil to cover her face.  In that movement, she’s telling Isaac that she’s a virgin.  As a follower of the God of Abraham, she has remained pure.
         Veils are not just for women.  In Exodus 34, Moses has met with God and now his face beams with “Shekinah” or translated into English, “radiance.”  Aaron and the Israelites are literally afraid to approach him, so when Moses is in their presence, he covers his face with a veil to hide its radiance.  
         We also see veils used symbolically, even dramatically, as in Matthew 27.  At the moment of Jesus’ death, the 1/3 of a meter thick curtain, veiling the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem is torn apart.  The tearing of this curtain symbolizes that because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, all may come to know God’s presence; it is no longer veiled.  Matthew continues by saying that the tombs break open and dead saints spill out among the living.  A new spiritual reality has just been unveiled.
         With all that in mind, let us return to our lesson.  If Jesus represents God’s unleashing of another dimension to human existence, why don’t more people see and respond to it?  Why does the Light of Jesus Christ sometimes seem so low in wattage, in those around us or even in our own lives?  Why is the Christian faith viewed as only one entr?e among other dishes at a food line?  These questions are ones the followers of Jesus Christ in Corinth, Greece were asking.  Paul responds using the biblical image of a veil.
         Paul answers that “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”2  Evil does not want us to see or know clearly because it is to evil’s benefit that we do not.  It is better for evil if we are confused and in the dark.
        We also sense from Paul, although it is not clearly stated here that the gospel might be veiled in the ruts and routine of daily life which make it hard for faith to stay alive.  For example, for many Christians in the time of Paul a real question was whether to eat food that had been blessed at local temples.  Paul writes that our faith will not be veiled by what we eat and the manner that is was handled. 
         What about us?  How is the Gospel sometimes veiled?  Perhaps the gospel might be sinking in our lives because it is simply not cool to be a believer.  Or it may be sinking because we are afraid of the misunderstanding and cultural ostracism we might face if we really embraced the claims of the gospel.  Or because we have intellectual difficulties with some Christian claims.
         Paul does not answer all those points but we get a glimpse of his response today; “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.”3  In other words, the tension that we may feel regarding the gospel, seeing and living it out … is the tension of “already-not yet.”  When a person knows God through Jesus, the light of the gospel is obvious; it’s already been seen.  Those of us with unveiled faces see the glory of God as plainly as our reflection in a mirror.4 
         But, for those whose eyes are still veiled, the gospel is an issue of “not yet.”  For those who are not Christian it is not that may never believe in Jesus Christ, Paul is saying rather “it is not yet….”5  Furthermore, that tension of “already-not yet” we may see played out in our lives as we go back and forth, rocking between the those points, as new issues, concerns and questions arise in our lives.  
         Paul is reminding those believers in Corinth to rise and shine, trust in what is known from the inside and not to sink into the darkness.  The truth of God has been unveiled in Jesus Christ. 
         In many churches, today is called Transfiguration Sunday, because Jesus Christ is fully unveiled before the disciples.  Before they climbed the mountain, Peter, James and John had come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but now during this event they saw his divinity fully.  Their eyes were unveiled to a new reality.  Peter however was afraid to let go of that moment, when Jesus Christ was revealed, and instead tried to figure out a way to keep it.
         The gospel of Jesus is, in essence, for Paul, an unveiling as well.  A barrier between God and humanity is removed because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We too may feel like Peter, a fear that what was unveiled to us may somehow sink out of view, afraid that the little we have may go away.  But God says and Paul reminds us that we do not have to be afraid.  Though we may have a sinking feeling, as new questions and concerns flood over us, we can trust and hope in what has been unveiled, and share that light with others.  Amen.

1 nature.com/news/2008/080606/fullnews.2008.880.html. Also “On Kiribati: Too late to save Pacific island nation from submersion.” Nature. June 6, 2008.  Also see: Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiribati.
2 Vs. 4
3 Vs. 5
4 2 Corinthians 3:18
5 2 Corinthians 3:16

February 15, 2009

Mark 2: 13-17 (Reminder that I am following the Japanese Ev. Lutheran Church lectionary; It sometimes differs from the lectionary calendar used by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)

        At first, Tuesday, February 17th in the USA was to have been the deadline for a conversion, but because of the public outcry, it is now a “rolling” event with the final date to be June 12th.1  In Japan the conversion will be during the month of July 2011.  In the UK and parts of Western Europe, conversion will come region by region until 2012.  It has already occurred in the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden.  
       What conversion am I speaking about?  It is the end of analog television broadcast and the end of analog TV sets.  From Feb. 17th until June 12th 2009, TV programs across the US will eventually all be broadcast digitally.
       Now, for those of us who are young and have grown up in a digital age we may not have known that TV was not already digital and wondering why the fuss, (because we watch TV on the internet anyway).  But those of us who are older may grasp that there is a sea change taking place.  That conversion does not mean simply having to buy a new TV or a converter, rather, since the very beginning of radio and TV and the first magnetic recordings, audio and video transmission has been analog, broadcast at different spectrums across the skies.
      The switch from analog to digital television broadcasting is referred to as the digital TV (DTV) transition.  Why is this conversion happening?  Among many reasons, it allows broadcasters to transmit more channels with higher-quality image and sound.  Moving to digital also frees up the existing analog spectrum for other uses such as cell phones.  And the transition has to do with money.  The older, analog spectrum that was used for TV was auctioned off in the US in 2006 for nearly $20 billion or 1 trillion, 800 billion yen.2  Whatever you may think of this transition it does not alter the fact that the digital format is progress.
      What does this technological transition have to do with our lives as followers of Jesus Christ?  Today’s reading from Mark, the calling of Levi, the toll collector, to follow Jesus, gives us an opportunity to think about --- transition, conversion, the call --- in our lives.  Jesus called out to Levi, one of the “sick,” and everything in that man’s life changed.
 Yet we know so little.  We hear nothing about where Levi sat, how much money Levi made or more importantly why he followed Jesus.  And one can argue that we know nothing of his identity or subsequent importance.  But the point is, this Levi, whatever his personal details, was separated from his community and temple, unable to follow Jewish law, and thus considered not part of God’s kingdom because of his occupation and life-style.  How did it happen that this Levi responded to the call, “Follow me” and followed Jesus; Levi converted, was made whole and went from outcast to cast in, from unclean to clean, from brokenness to wholeness; a changed life and a follower of Jesus Christ.
       Let’s review some of what we know.  Levi, son of Alphaeus is a toll collector, meaning that he was at a location where people had to pay a toll.  As a toll collector and thus an employee of Herod Antipas the king, and from what we know from other historical records, he was suspected of financial dishonesty, perhaps supplementing his salary by taking a cut of the toll and/or accepting bribes.  Furthermore, as an employee of the king, a collaborator with the Romans, this occupation was considered as disloyal to the Jewish cause.3
       Next we hear there is a banquet where the guests are people who are considered “sinners” including other toll collectors.  We need to be clear that we do not know if that means those gathered around Jesus were notoriously immoral.  This designation as sinner rather was a social characterization meaning society considered them as outcasts.
      Jesus responds to the question of why he associates with these people “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”4
      What is Jesus saying?  In the Bible, the Hebrew word for conversion is shub, which means “to turn” or “to return,” and the Greek word is metanoia, which means “to turn around.”  In the case of this Levi whom Jesus called, there was clearly a transition.  Levi stepped away from the toll booth, and followed Jesus.
      Now, the conversions, the ones we usually hear about, are often accompanied, at least initially, by excitement, zest, intensity, an eagerness to tell others about it and efforts to make significant changes in one’s life.  And often, the converted person looks back at the time of the conversion as a significant turning point.
      For example, consider how the US folk singer Judy Collins describes her turn from classical music performance to folk music performance.  She was 14 years old when this happened, had been playing piano for 11 years and loved classical music.  Her piano teacher was a famed pianist and she told Collins that she had a bright future in classical music performance.
      But then one day, while Collins was preparing to perform with a local orchestra, she happened to hear the 17th-century English ballad “Barbara Allen” on the radio, sung by Jo Stafford.  It was the first folk song Collins had ever heard, but it captured her.  Here’s how she describes the moment: “... the poignancy of Stafford’s music about a woman’s remorse over her lover’s death changed everything.  Its message was so potent; it tapped into my adolescent yearnings of love and loss.  Hearing its poetic, antique lyrics made me sit up and say, ‘That’s what I want to do: tell stories with my music.’  It was like hitting a vein of gold.”
         She goes on to say that the full switch took about a year.  She continued studying piano while immersing herself in folk music.  She taught herself to play a guitar.  Her parents and her piano teacher opposed the change, but Collins had become convinced that her future was in folk music.  And once she made the change, she says, she “felt ecstasy, as if a burden had been lifted.”  That sounds like conversion to me, for it was a life-changing turning point.  It was marked by deep feelings, a sense of calling and other characteristics that often accompany conversion.5
        Yet, these two conversions --- Levi’s and Collins’ --- are to some degree models of what any conversion can look like.  We say “can” because God deals uniquely with each person.  For example, anyone one of us may have cancer, but how that cancer is treated will be different with each of us.  Certainly there are some standard procedures and medications, yet treatment is unique.  Jesus came for the sick, the unhealthy and called for a transition, a conversion, repentance in preparation for God’s kingdom; however, this “turning around” is unique to each one of us.
       Some of us may have had something similar to Judy Collins occur, perhaps a dramatic opening of ourselves at church camp or a youth rally or a revival service where we committed ourselves to follow Jesus.  And that may have been a real milestone experience that we can look back on and say, “Right there. That’s when I became a Christian.  And my life has been different because of the turn I made at that point.”
       But others of us cannot point to a moment of conversion.  We may have a “rolling” transition, attended church since childhood and grew in the faith as it was presented to us.  We may have accepted Jesus along the way without ever wandering deeply into sin or recognizing a moment of turning from it.  Or we may have entered the church as a teen or an adult and rationally opened our mind to the faith and recognized that we agreed with it.  Or we may have had a combination of all those examples.  There may have been no precise moment when that happened, but we know today that we are disciples of Jesus Christ.  
       Yet, we sometimes forget, that a lack of a detailed conversion story, like Levi, is no shortcoming in terms of our acceptance by God in Jesus Christ.
       Instead, whether we’ve had a turning-point experience or not, as this lesson reminds us, Jesus Christ came to the sick, which is what we acknowledge about ourselves.  We recognize that we are sick and we need the treatment of God through Jesus Christ.  That is the crucial point about conversion in today’s lesson.  Our transition, our turning around, is both unique and important for each one of us.  It is an event but it is also a process of becoming well.  We have been invited, “follow me.”  Also like this lesson, we also have been invited to the table of the Lord.  We have been invited to health.  Amen.        

1 http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/d/digital_television_transition/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=digital%20TV%20transition&st=cse
2 Ibid.
3 The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall: New Jersey, Pg. 602.
4 Mark 2: 17.
5 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1006077,00.html

February 8, 2009

Mark 2: 1-12

    The basic definition of a “question” according to the dictionary I used first said this: “a sentence in an interrogative form, addressed to someone in order to get information in reply.”1  For example, an interrogative question could be: “What time is it?”  That however is not the only definition of the word “question.”  It includes: “the act of asking or inquiring; interrogation; query” like we see in this statement: “Pastor C questioned the students.”2
     Another definition of the word “question” is: “a problem for discussion or under discussion, a matter for investigation.”3  For example, three friends die in a car crash, and they find themselves at the gates of heaven.  Before entering, they are each asked a question by St. Peter, “When you are in your casket and friends and family are mourning your death, what would you like to hear them say about you?”  The first person says, “I would like to hear them say that I was a great doctor and a great family man.”  The second person says, “I would like to hear that I was a wonderful husband and schoolteacher who made a huge difference in our children.”  The last person replies, “I would like to hear them say ... LOOK!!! HE’S MOVING!!!”4
     With the variety of descriptions for “question” available, we have to wonder what Jesus is asking, what answer is he seeking, in his question today, and what is the answer Jesus gives.
     In today's passage from Mark the center of the lesson revolves around a very difficult question, “Why are you thinking these things?  Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk?’”5  That's not easy to answer; moreover one has to wonder what definition of “question” Jesus has in mind.  Was it an interrogative question seeking information, or is Jesus suggesting this as a topic of investigation or is simply a question with an unknown answer?
     This query by Jesus comes after we heard Jesus described in the first chapter of Mark; which have been our lessons for the past few weeks.  We began with Jesus gathering his early disciples at the lake shore, and then we are at the synagogue in Capernaum for a dramatic exorcism.  Later that same day we are at the home of several of the disciples which begins with a healing of a relative and then others who come to the door.  After that busy day, and a short night, Jesus suggests that he and the disciples move on to other nearby communities.  We come to our lesson today, a couple of days after those earlier events.  Mark begins by saying that Jesus had “come home" to Capernaum.? At whose home, we are not told.? But we are informed that the crowds packed into the house so tightly that no one else could squeeze through the door.
     Then we hear the dramatic account of four people who could not get a paralytic friend through the front door.  Instead, they rip a hole through the flat roof of this house, no mean feat considering it was probably several layers of dried stucco, wood and thatch.  Then when the dust is clear the paralytic, who Jesus calls “son,” makes it inside and is placed on the floor.  Jesus surprises everyone not with an interrogative question like “Who is going to pay for that?”  Instead, Jesus offers a word of forgiveness.  After seeing their faith, Jesus says, "Your sins are forgiven," even though the paralytic and his friends never ask for that.
     Now Jesus reads the minds of the religious types present.  Rather than saying out loud what is on their minds, these religious leaders are all thinking the same thing: only God can forgive sins!
     Jesus asks a question: “Why are you thinking these things?  Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk?’”  When Jesus asked that question, all believed that only God could forgive sins and as God was in heaven how can this plain, simple man forgive sins?  Jesus goes on to do another amazing act, a miracle … a healing.  If that was not enough, the crux of that question revolves around the fact that all the people in the room, except for Jesus, believed that one’s health was related to sin, either one’s own or from previous generations.
     Well, that question is not just for them for we struggle with; the relationship between sin and sickness.  Although science has blessed us with many answers, reminding us that our lifestyles, the environment, the evolving of germs, genes, and a host of other causes may eventually cause illness and death, the fact remains that good people, for seemingly no reason, get ill.
     Today’s events retold to us by Mark suggest that healing is part of salvation; forgiveness of sins is a prerequisite to healing.  The two certainly appear to be linked in our text; faith brings forgiveness of sins which leads to physical healing.  But this lesson also suggests that if were not for the anger of the people, particularly the religious leaders around him, Jesus would have been done after he forgave the paralytic’s sins.  Surprisingly Jesus brings healing to this “son” not because physical healing is harder to do, rather because of the scandal about “forgiveness of sins.”
     So the questions remains, what was that healing?  Was it the forgiveness of sins, the physical healing, or both?  And are they linked?
     It is like Jesus knows we are sitting on the cold floor of a small house, staring up at a God who knows us more deeply than we can imagined --- so deeply in fact that he sees right past what we thought to be our deepest desires. It doesn’t matter whether we approached Jesus ourselves, or because our legs failed us or so that someone else had to drop us down next to him.  
     A number of years ago, a woman went to a church conference. During the week she found herself chatting with a pastor from another denomination than the one to which she belonged.  In the course of the conversation, the pastor mentioned that on an average Sunday morning, he rarely preached for less than an hour.  “I don't mean to be disrespectful,” this woman said, “but why do you go on for so long?”  He smiled and said, “What do you mean?”  “In my church,” she said, “people squirm if worship goes on any longer than 59 minutes.”  He said, “I preach to people who have been told all week that they don't amount to anything.  The world tells them they have no value, that they're worthless.  It takes me a good long while to get it through to them that the world is telling them a lie.  The world says to them, ‘You're a nobody,’ but I stand up in my pulpit and say, ‘That's not true. In Jesus Christ, you're somebody. You are loved with an infinite love.’”  The pastor continued “All week the world tries to take something away from people but when Sunday comes, I'm going to take as much time as I need to speak the gospel and to let God give something back to them.”6
     When Jesus asked his question, what kind of question was he asking?  Was he asking for a definition of the relationship between sin and healing?  Was he suggesting that one followed the other?  Was it simply a rhetorical question?  Is answer that needs an hour versus 20 minutes?  We don’t hear much about the religious leaders’ response but in Mark, the plotting of the death of Jesus comes very quickly.
     As Christians who have not yet reached perfection, we find ourselves having received some measure of forgiveness --- possibly healing for a sickness we did not know we had at first --- yet still wanting more and sometimes doubting if Jesus can do what he did in the first place.
     The point in the question of Jesus is we are forgiven; we are healed.  Whether Jesus will grant us or anyone else physical healing, I cannot say.  And forgiveness of sins and physically healing are linked.  But if we or the people we love are physical healed or not, the fact remains that we cannot say “yes” without saying “no.”  We cannot have it both ways.  When we say “Yes” to God we have to say “No” to whatever it is that keeps us from trusting, from faith.  We say yes, so that God might say yes to us in Jesus Christ.  Jesus was spreading the good news of the kingdom of heaven, and he healed all that was keeping the paralytic from wholeness.  “This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’”  What is “this” for you and for me?  Amen.
 

Prayer: Gracious God, receive us and restore us this day.  Set us free from our sin and replenish our hope.  Amen. 

1 http://dictionary.reference.com/search?db=dictionary&q=question
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Illustration from www.homiletics.com
5 Vs.9-10
6 Sermon: So What Did You Get Out of Worship This Morning? , By Rev. William Carter, February 20, 2000. www.Day1.org

February 1, 2009

Mark 1:29-39

    The American architect Frank Lloyd Wright was fond of repeating a story that he said had a profound influence on the rest of his life.  When he was about nine years old, he went walking across a snow-covered field with his reserved and no nonsense uncle.  As the two of them reached the far end of the field, his uncle stopped him.  The uncle pointed out his own tracks in the snow that were straight and true, and then the uncle pointed to young Frank's tracks meandering all over the field.  "Notice how your tracks wander aimlessly from the fence to the cattle to the woods and back again," his uncle said.  "And see how my tracks aim directly to my goal.  There is an important lesson in that."
     Years later the world-famous architect liked to tell how the experience had contributed to his philosophy in life. "I determined right then not to miss the things in life that my uncle had missed."1  Frank Lloyd Wright saw those tracks in a completely different way than that of his uncle.  His uncle believed the meandering was aimless whereas Frank Lloyd Wright saw it as the purpose of the walk.  Said another way, it is easy to let the demands of life keep us from seeing the joys of living.
     Although we all may appreciate Wright’s point of view, it is easier said than done, as balancing the meander with the demands of life are not always simple and can be bewildering.
     Yet, Wright’s observation is one with which we all live, basically that life itself is but a journey and at times we are intent on a purpose and other times life can be less intent and more a meander.  Furthermore, that mantra, life is but a journey, expressed and discussed in many cultures, is lived out for many of us as Christians.  Today’s gospel has some insights for us on what Jesus Christ means for us as he teaches us about our lives.
     Today, we find Jesus in his work of healing.  Today’s lesson continues where last week’s left off.  It is the Sabbath, the Jewish holy day and a day of rest.  Nevertheless Jesus has had little rest, for early in the day Jesus had taught in the synagogue in Capernaum, and if you remember, while he was teaching, “with authority” Jesus was interrupted by a demon.  Jesus proceeded to cast out that demon.  After this dramatic exorcism, witnessed by an astonished assembly, Mark says that Jesus retreats to the home of Simon and Andrew with James and John, all who just recently had become disciples.2  In that culture, when Jesus arrived, normally they would have been met and served by Simon’s mother-in-law, considered the senior woman of the house.  It was considered a privilege for the senior woman to initiate and be the primary source of hospitality to a visitor.
     But Mark tells us that the woman was lying in bed with a fever.3  Having heard his teaching and witnessed the exorcism of the demon, the disciples had suddenly found that Jesus has amazing powers, so they tell him of her illness.  Mark continues “So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up.  The fever left her and she began to wait on them.”4
     The events in the synagogue and later that day of course spread throughout the community to the point that Mark notes that many had gathered around the door, pressing in to see Jesus.  It was as you can imagine a full day.  Early the next morning, Jesus woke up early and left for a “solitary” place.  In Greek the word that is translated as solitary or deserted is the same used for “wilderness” meaning a place without homes or farms.
      Clearly, the demands on Jesus were already piling up.  We see already that he cured many, cast out demons, and taught constantly.  And we get the sense that his disciples didn’t help matters, not only because they were new to following Jesus and probably did not realize that he needed time for prayer, but also because we can summarize, Jesus was an event.  For these disciples went searching for Jesus after they had woke up and realized that he was not there.  When they found him they said, “Everyone is looking for you!”  Not, “How are you?  Or even “Would you like some breakfast?”  Rather it seems their focus is “What are you doing?”  Don’t you know you that people need you?”
 How did Jesus respond? “Oh, sorry, Simon, time just slipped away from me.  We’ve got to get back. I can’t let those people down. Capernaum needs me.  I’m the only one who can save them.” 
     Jesus did not say that.  He said instead, “Let us go somewhere else ---to the nearby villages --- so I can preach there also.  That is why I have come.”  That doesn’t sound very Jesus-like, does it?  How could Jesus say that?  How could he seemingly turn his back on requests for help?
     I think we need to consider the life and ministry of Jesus not as if everything is to be somehow a success story or the consummate teaching; rather Jesus is on a journey to the cross and his resurrection, bringing the disciples --- and us --- along.  Jesus modeled that journey of being a child of God over simply “doing” like miracles for the disciples and us.  He knew the scope of his mission: that he was not sent to only one person or community, but to the world.  Also, as a human being, Jesus knew his limits: he could begin God’s work of healing, even lift up the sick to new life.  But he was human.  He got tired.  He could be in only one place at a given time.  Eventually, others like the disciples and his followers through to our generation would need to pick up the ball and carry it.  In essence, we see Jesus on his journey taking time to answer the demands of life; in this case this meant compassion toward those who are sick.  But we also see Jesus taking time to meander, to be nourished in prayer, and to find the place to do so.
     Certainly, we could not live if we did not set goals and work to fulfill them.  No sane person would argue otherwise.  But here is what Jesus followed; the objective of the cross and resurrection although a “goal,” is also the journey on the way to the goal.
     How do we keep our focus on “being” rather than “doing” when everyone and everything is searching for us, wanting a piece of us, and demanding our time?  How do we benefit from the journey when the demands seem so much more pressing?  As I said, from what we see Jesus doing, hard work is required.  Yet, Jesus did not let others define his goals.  And as a starting point he took time to pray.
     In the United States there was a cartoonist by the name of Thomas Nast, famous for his editorial cartoons.  A less well known skill was one that he would usually perform on stage.  He would take a canvas about 1.8 meters wide by 1/2 a meter long, which he would place horizontal upon an easel and began to rapidly paint a landscape. In quick succession there would appear a green meadow with cattle, fields of grain, a farmhouse and surrounding buildings with an orchard nearby, while over all was a bright sky with clouds.
     After it was done, Nast would step back to the canvas as if he had not quite completed the picture.  Then he would take darker colors, which he would apply recklessly to the canvas.  He covered up the meadows, fields, orchards and buildings.  Out went the bright sky.  Up, down and across, he passed his brush until the landscape was totally obliterated, and nothing but a smear remained of the landscape. 
     After this performance on the stage he would take a satisfied look as he stepped aside, whereby he would lay down his brush.  Usually his audience would be stunned at this point, whereby Nast would then order the stage attendants to place a frame around the ruined work of art and to turn it to a vertical position.  The mystery was revealed, for before the audience stood a panel picture of a beautiful waterfall, the water plunging over a cliff of dark rock, around which stood trees.5
     May we open our hearts and lives, so we can be open to and trust God’s revelation all around us as we work hard, as we pray and as we live out God’s plan as disciples in Jesus Christ.  Amen.

1 Illustration from www.sermons.com. Sermon for Mark 1:29-39 “Everyone is searching for you.
2 Vs: 29
3 Vs: 30
4 Vs: 31
5 Illustration from www.homiletics.com

January 25, 2009

Mark 1: 21-28

        Why me?  It was my senior year in college and early during my six month internship with the National Council of Churches: Farm Worker Ministry.  During my first week, I accompanied a group of farm workers at a picket and boycott line at a grocery store.  
         After we arrived on the morning on the first day, the police come to see what was going on and to my surprise, I was the first person they came to interview.  Here I was, not knowing really what was going with a camera around my neck ready to take pictures and small notebook in my hand to take notes.  The reason the police came to me first to ask questions, I came to believe, was they thought that I was in charge.  Why me?  It was probably the fact that I was the only white person among twenty or so Mexican-Americans.  They thought I was in charge!  
         That experience is a subtle example of many things, racism being one, but there was something more that can be termed and called “authority.”  Among a group of farm workers, I was assumed to have some authority, granted it was probably because I was white, yet authority nonetheless.
         What is authority?  Yesterday, after a meeting at the Japanese church a group of us looked at this passage in our Japanese Bibles.  In the Japanese, authority is translated from the biblical Greek into “ken’I” --- 権威.  In Japanese “ken’i” has the strong connotation of political authority.  That led to an interesting discussion.  So, what is our image of authority? 
         Let us take that question back to Capernaum, to today's reading from the gospel of Mark: “They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.  The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law." 
         Why did people sense authority in Jesus' teaching?  How did they recognize his authority?  Did he wear that era’s clothing, comparable to our rumpled suit and tie with a pipe in one hand?  What was so convincing about Jesus?  Well, Mark says that it was “his teaching.”  What is this teaching that so astonished Jesus' hearers? 
         We don't know.  Not a word of Jesus' specific teaching is remembered here from Capernaum.  Whatever it was that so astonished people was not written down for us to hear.  You may rightly object that Jesus' teaching is remembered in other places. 
         Yet, it is rather odd that in Mark's gospel, where Jesus is called "Rabbi” or “Teacher” over and over again --- by disciples, by the crowd, by Pharisees --- very few of Jesus' teachings are remembered.  For example, in Mark, there is no Sermon on the Mount as in Matthew.  Nor for example, can we find many parables compared to Luke.  Instead, the focus of Mark is that Jesus taught “them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”  
         That, too, is rather odd.  For authority seems to be precisely what the teachers of the law had!  The teachers of the law could claim the authority of words, --- Gods! --- passed down through many generations.  That authority was not in how they carried themselves, or that they were wealthy.  Rather the teachers of the law had the authority of God’s words, centuries old, from the time of Moses.  Furthermore, these teachers had the prestige of education --- PhD’s --- and a power because their words had an impact on the culture and society.
         But the way Jesus taught surpassed all these teachers’ claims.  Somehow Jesus was more compelling, more authentic to those who heard him.  What sort of authority was this?
 The clue may come in the interruption for suddenly our story is broken up.  Perhaps in the middle of the lecture, we hear what is described as wild voice, disruptive, and disjointed.  “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are?the Holy One of God!”  Our modern sensibility would suggest that he had schizophrenia, or possibly --- if we note the plural form --- had a multiple-personality disorder.  Jesus confronts the man, or rather the voice: “Be quiet!  Come out of him!”  And the evil spirit, crying with a loud shriek, came out.1
         Interestingly enough, over and over in Mark's gospel it is the demons who know who Jesus is.  Those who were evil are the ones who called him the “Holy One” whereas those who should have known, those who were “sane,” put him to death.  And when Jesus died, it was a centurion solider, an outsider, who proclaimed, “Truly this was the Son of God!”2
         Where does that leave us, we who are struggling to understand his authority?  Obviously it is not the authority vested in a political leader, not an authority that comes by holding a gun at someone unarmed.  It is not an authority that comes with size, or sex, or color, or wealth or education or anything else.  Rather, in Mark's gospel Jesus himself is the content of the teaching.  The authority is not in particular speeches, or words, but in his particular life.
         Jesus lived as one who had authority, an authority radically different from that of teachers.  As Pastor Barbara Lundblad puts it, “To understand this authority we must not only listen, we must also look.”3  Jesus’ authority is a derived authority for it comes directly from God.  That is why evil trembled because it is not a power from anything on earth, but an authority derived from God.  And it’s this divine weight that we see unfold in the gospel of Mark.  In a way, it is similar to what some students who may say “Don’t take the course --- take the teacher.”  The students are reasoning that if they have a good teacher teaching a bad subject that is more worthwhile than a lousy teacher ruining a good subject.
         Where does that leave us?  As Christians, followers of this teacher Jesus, we are part of and are given that divine authority as well.  
         What does that mean?  In the 1970’s, a University of Chicago professor, Dr. Don Browning, wrote a book called, The Moral Context of Pastoral Care.4  It was intended for ministers and counselors on how to help people with problems.
         Browning argued that when we talk about human problems, too many of us reduce their causes to be psychological; all human pain become problems of psychological maladjustment, or chemical imbalance in the brain, or experiences as infants.
         Yet, Browning says, there are many human problems, which are more cognitive than physical or emotional, meaning it’s more a matter of not knowing rather than not feeling well.  For example, some people are in pain because they are confused.  Modern life is so chaotic and confusing, that a person may be miserable, although emotionally and physically they may “feel” fine.
         Browning suggested that too many pastors and Christians in general have made the mistake of seeing problems in a medical model, and seeking a physician.  Browning says instead we should take as our model the rabbi, Jesus.  Jesus the teacher healed that man in our gospel not as a doctor would heal a sick person; rather Jesus silenced the raging spirits and taught the doubting assembly.    
         Within the grace of the Holy Spirit, we work as disciples in living out God’s grace in Jesus who had undisputed authority to speak for God.  The authority of Jesus moves us toward healing not as doctors necessarily but as moral agents.  What are some examples of that kind of authority?  We have the gospels, examples of Jesus, as the authority over sin, death and the power of the devil, to help us.
         One is that we are people of inclusion rather than exclusion.  Those invited into Jesus' life included tax collectors and sinners, poor widows, prostitutes, little children.  All of these Jesus called models of the Kingdom of God and models of faith.  We must, therefore, be suspicious of any kind of other authority which moves toward dividing, excluding and separating.
         Jesus' authority also valued persons over rules or traditions.  Jesus pointed out that the religious leaders too often valued Sabbath laws and other written traditions more than people.  Rather, Jesus said these laws were meant to serve the people.  The implication is that as moral agents of Jesus Christ, we are at times to value the needs of people over always keeping rules or traditions.
         Those were two examples.  Of course, our human understanding is not the same as God's.  That is why Jesus' authority cannot be contained on a button.  This authority cannot be reduced to a slogan, a tract or a well written book.  Nor is this authority a simple word to hurl at our opponents.  Jesus showed God’s derived authority in the substance of his teaching, his life.  May we grow in the authority of Jesus as we confront evil and share the good news.  Amen.

1 Vs. 24 - 26
2 Mark 15: 39
3 Day1 :: A New Kind of Authority by The Rev. Dr. Barbara K. Lundblad February 2, 1997
4 Browning, Don. The Moral Context of Pastoral Care. Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1976

January 18, 2009

Mark 1: 14-20

“I get by with a little help from my friends,
I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends
I get high with a little help from my friends
Yes, I get by with a little help from my friends”

     When the Beatles sang “With a Little Help from My Friends” back in the 1960s, they were expressing an important concept.  Some suggest that the song is actually about the drug culture of that time, as in “I get high with a little help from my friends;” “High” was the word to express what it meant to be on a drug and “friends” being the drug itself.  In my opinion, that 1960’s view and reference, simply detracts from the meaning of the song and speaks more about that time period than the universal point made in the lyrics.
     Let me put the lyrics of the Beatles song in a more current framework, Rich Mintzer of Entrepreneur magazine offers a description of the “four people every business owner needs.”1  Research shows that if a business owner is fortunate enough to find all four, Mintzer says, “You may have your own little village to help you raise a business.”
     The four types, according to the author, are the Cheerleader.  Cheerleaders are those who will rally behind an idea and provide encouragement.  He follows with every business owner needs a Role Model; this is the person or persons who mentor.
     Research shows that businesses need an Expert, in that, businesses should surround themselves with people who are smarter about certain areas, filling in gaps that every business has.  Finally, Mr. Mintzer proposes every business needs a Techie; wizards with things, not just computers but also communication systems, manufacturing, infrastructure and the like.
     Whatever you may think of Mr. Mintzer’s suggestions or the meaning of Beatles lyrics, I believe those two varied points of view, are drawing the same conclusion --- “team”
     Jesus --- Son of the living God, God of God --- believed this to be true, it takes a team, and thus we had better believe it, too.  I know before I delve more deeply in this thought, that we need to acknowledge the controversial point of whether Jesus needed “help” or not.  For some Christians, Jesus needing help is controversial, for others it is quite acceptable.  Either way, we see in this week’s gospel, Jesus at an early point in his ministry, begins by surrounding himself with a team, but not the kind we may think. 
     The symbolic meaning of twelve to begin with is important.  Part of the idea of choosing --- at first --- 12 disciples was to provide a metaphor for a reconstituted and renewed 12 tribes of Israel.  But for us the practical affects of choosing disciples is that Jesus’ mission consists of the participation of others.
     Early on, Jesus does not wait for disciples to come to him --- that happens later --- instead we see that on the outset, Jesus spends time going after candidates, most of who are nothing like himself.
     Jesus did not follow the model proposed by Mr. Mintzer to set up a business or look to develop and have friends as disciples.  Jesus was not looking for friends in which to depend on nor experts or cheerleaders who would be part of an entourage.  Jesus did not look for role models of high moral character or techies versed in communication theory and practice.  Jesus does not go headhunting at the local synagogue, or have an interview process beginning with “Show me your discipleship portfolio.”
     Instead, Jesus goes to the lakeshore and begins by inviting some fishermen to be on his team.  The Bible does not give us any indication of why the lake at first, rather than say … farms.  The Bible also does not give us an indication of the specific roles Jesus was looking for in Simon, Andrew, James and John.  Instead, we have something far more powerful.
     At the lake, Jesus was looking for a response to the invitation, "Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”2  Jesus was doing his own “fishing” for people when he came upon Simon and Andrew, and invited them to join him in his work.  James and John were next, leaving their undoubtedly astounded father by the boats with the hired help as they, too, set out after Jesus.
     Some assume that somehow Jesus was looking for fishermen aka the poor; in other words destitute individuals with nothing to lose, who easily fit the transition to fish for people and furthermore, Jesus simply was trying to break the monotony of their everyday lives.  I think that is a wealthy person’s point of view, because from my experience, it does not matter if rich or poor, it is not easy to respond, to leave everything and change.
     Point of fact, if you read the Bible more closely, these first four fishermen were likely quite prosperous.3  We learn that Simon and Andrew had a house and an extended family and that James and John, along with their father Zebedee, were wealthy enough to be able to hire additional help for their fishing business.
     These were not desperate drifters with nothing to lose, but well-established businessmen in a culture where prosperity and family were everything.  To respond and follow Jesus was no small disruption of their lives but a complete change of course.  Throwing in with Jesus meant throwing out their security, their reputations and their livelihoods.
     So, was Jesus looking for friends, or cheerleaders or a role model or experts or techies?  Rather than looking for specific role definitions, Jesus wanted people with just one primary qualification for discipleship: a response, a willingness to follow, regardless of cost.
     Later, in the gospels, we see how the disciples would take on different roles within the group as it formed around Jesus  For example, Simon Peter would become a leader, spokesman and conscience of the group; John would be the “beloved” disciple and closest friend of Jesus; Andrew may have been the hospitality coordinator, and so forth.  Regardless of role, however, each disciple shared a common trait: They said “Yes” daily, to Jesus’ invitation, gambling their own futures on his vision for a new world.  At any time they could have left.
     Of course the disciples did not exactly understand the ramifications of their daily response to follow.  They questioned and wrestled with their choices.  I do not anyone who knows exactly what will happen with every decision they make.  For example, the courage that these disciples displayed that day on the lakeshore would dissolve into panic in the Garden of Gethsemane, yet they would have recovered by the resurrection and would move the kingdom message out into the world, a move that would cost most of them their lives.
     Being a disciple means not being advisers or supporters or friends or investors of Jesus.  Instead, Jesus is looking for a response, to live and follow all the time, everyday.  The announcement of the kingdom was a proclamation that everything was changing.  
     We are a part of a team, not to fill a role, but to follow Jesus.  You and I have been called not because Jesus needs a little help from his friends,  Rather being a disciple means being willing to drop our own agendas for life and get on board with the kingdom agenda of Jesus, people who stake our lives and livelihoods on his vision for the world.4  Jesus challenges us to see our primary vocation as being kingdom people; fully invested --- body, mind, spirit --- in that venture!  Amen.  

1 Mintzer, Rich. “The 4 People Every Business Owner Needs.” Entrepreneur Web Site, June 17, 2008. www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/selfassessment/article195016.html.

2 Vs. 17
3 Mark 1:29-31
4 John 15:14

January 11, 2009

Mark 1: 9-11

(Note to reader: This sermon in particular evolved considerably from the printed text, found here, to my sermon on Jan. 11.  If you attended worship on the 11th and are looking for an exact copy of my sermon, it is not available.)

        Have you ever heard this acronym --- T.G.I.F.?  That acronym stands for the phrase: “Thank God it’s Friday.”  North Americans have been offering that secular prayer of thanksgiving for years, and the phrase has become so popular that it’s attached to a restaurant chain in the United States called - T.G.I. Friday’s.
        This phrase, “Thank God it’s Friday” and its corresponding acronym TGIF, is based on the view of many, that people are happier on Friday because Friday is at the end of the work week and the beginning of the weekend.  
         The opposite of TGIF is the “Monday morning blues,” based on the opposite notion that Mondays are supposed to bring you down because it is the end of the weekend and many people have to return to work. 
         Well, guess what; those two corresponding views, Monday blues and TGIF are simply not true.  Recent research has uncovered that people are not much happier on Fridays than they are on Mondays or Sundays versus a Wednesday.  Fact is that on average our emotions do not change very dramatically based on the day of the week.
         Instead, that same research reinforces a different fact.  Fridays are remembered as happy days and Mondays are thought of as sad days simply because of the change that happens when we attach meaning to memory.1
         What the research shows is that because of the emotions about Friday being when we are liberated from the chores of the work week and the door to the weekend is thrown wide open, the day has emotional significance and it affects and shapes our understanding of the day.  In other words, because we believe that Fridays are happy days, we remember them as happy days, aside from how we actually felt on that day.  It does not matter that we may not be happier or sadder on Monday or Friday, instead we think we are.
         Meaning shapes our memory.  For example, a bride and a groom may say that their wedding day was the happiest day of their life.  However, in point of fact it may have been incredibly stressful, but the meaning of marriage turns the day into a happy memory for the couple.  They may retain information, some memory of the stress, but because it was their wedding day they believe it to be happy and thus associate happiness for that day even if that was not the case.  I like the way American Comedian George Carlin, spoke about this fact.  Carlin is speaking about his athletic aptitude earlier in life and described it this way, “The older I get … the better I was.”
         What does that insight have to do with us Christians, on this day?   We do not have stories of Jesus as a child growing up instead we jump into the beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ with his Baptism.  Today, the Sunday after Epiphany, the day in the church year called “Baptism of the Lord,” gives us an opportunity to remember this event and reflect on its impact because baptism is a perfect example of how meaning shapes memory.
         Let’s examine our gospel more closely.  Leading up to our lesson, John the baptizer if you remember, immediately appears in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  People from the city of Jerusalem and all over the area flock to him, and are baptized in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.2 
         But then John the baptizer switches gears and goes into overdrive, and reveals that he’s not simply in the purification process.  He proclaims, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me … I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”3  Jesus then appears and is baptized by John, at which point the sky is torn open, and we overhear the words told to Jesus, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
         Just think about all that with me.  Here we have a man, John the Baptist, not so neat, not so clean, with a wild appearance, demonstrating how to be clean, repent and be purified before God.  Furthermore, this wild-looking unkempt person is the one that God chooses to baptize his Son, Jesus Christ.  
         Then look at little more closely, particularly the emotions.  There are the confessions of those who come to John, gratitude for the gift of forgiveness and renewal in water.  There are the surprises and shocks at the sight of the baptizer’s camel’s hair clothing and diet of locusts and wild honey.  There are feelings of confusion about the identity of John, the powerful one who’s coming after John and the lingering question of why the one who is to follow John needs to be baptized.  And of course there is the emotion expressed by God, love and pleasure.
         But as I said before, meaning has a powerful effect on memory.  We know this to be the meaning of baptism: Jesus is God’s Son, the Beloved.  God accepts Jesus as his Son, and that shapes our entire memory of baptism.  So what about the feelings?  Gone are all these feeling and emotions around this event --- the repentance and the gratitude for cleansing, the surprise at the identity of the baptizer and his manner, the confusion about the identity of the powerful one and his baptism, even God’s words ? are in a sense pushed aside.
         The very same is true for us.  In this sacrament, the sacrament of baptism, we are connected to the body of Christ -- the universal community of Christians --- the past, the present and future --- that’s nothing less than the flesh-and-blood physical presence of Jesus in the world today.  “Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” wrote the apostle Paul.  “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”4 In this sacrament of Baptism, we become children of God, no less loved and accepted than Jesus Christ himself.
         Baptism connects us through the Holy Spirit to the body of Christ.  It enables us to die and rise with Jesus.  It makes us dead to sin and alive to God.5  Baptism gives us new and everlasting life and a freshly minted identity as children of a loving Lord.  That meaning gives us a brand new memory.  
         I am sure that we all know and can see among ourselves and other Christians that this baptism does not mean a lifetime of perfect bliss or perfect decision making.  
          Instead of a life filled with peaceful bliss and right choices after baptism instead we have something else.  Immediately after the baptism of Jesus in the lesson that follows, Mark tells us that the Spirit immediately drives Jesus “out into the wilderness,” where he is tempted by Satan for 40 days.6  Baptism means life no matter how we may feel or what is going on in our lives Monday, Wednesday or Friday.  Baptism only needs to happen once and whenever that may be, it is for all of our life, and our feelings to do not change it’s meaning.
         What does that mean?  As many of you know, the United States had a presidential contest in 2008 and one of candidates was Senator John McCain.  Senator McCain if you remember, was a veteran of the US war in Vietnam and was captured and in prison for years.  During that time in prison he experienced many things including torture.
         Senator McCain revisited Vietnam in 2000, in which he had the opportunity to reflect back on his years as a Prisoner of War.  During that visit McCain said, “I put the Vietnam War behind me a long time ago.  But I harbor no anger, nor rancor.  I’m a better man for my experience, and I’m grateful for having the opportunity of serving.”7
         We may not all have the strength to put to manage our memories and our feelings as John McCain has done.  Instead we have something more powerful, “The truth, even though I may not feel it right now,” wrote the Dutch priest Henri Nouwen, “is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God’s eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity and held safe in an everlasting embrace.”8
         This is not true just for Jesus … it is true for each one of us.  When we feel like we’re drowning in all that Satan throws our way, we are raised up ? and the breath of God fills us.  That’s not just a memory of baptism, it is a memory shaped by meaning.   Thus, our meaning shapes our lives.  We are precious.  We are beloved.  We are safe in an everlasting embrace.  Our true identity.  T.G.C.G!  Thank God, Child of God.  Amen. 

1 Vedantam, Shankar. “When we cook up a memory, experience is just one ingredient,” The Washington Post, May 26, 2008, A2.
2 Mark 1:4-5
3 vv. 7-8
4 Romans 6:3, 5
5 Romans 6
6 Mark1:11-13
7 http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/26/mccain.pow/index.html.
8 Nouwen, Henri. Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World. New York: Crossroad, 1992.

January 4, 2009

Matthew 2: 1-12

        Have you ever wondered what it is like to follow a star?  Is it easy or is it hard?  Of course, I am not talking about following with baited breath for the next episode in some soap opera life story of a celebrity… some film, music or TV star.  I am talking about this story from Matthew, where centuries ago Magi traveled and arrived in Bethlehem.
         “Magi” is a Persian word for followers of Zoroaster but by the time of Jesus had come to generally mean a person with an ability to read the stars.  Thus the Magi were not kings with names --- for that image was layered on to the story much later.  These three --- and the fact we say three is based on the number of gifts and the fact that Matthew uses the plural form --- who came from out “east” and started asking questions around this occupied ancient city of Jerusalem.  These Magi claimed to have the knowledge to identify a star that portended the birth of king and moreover, a king for the Jews.  That ability was not odd for in that time heavenly occurrences and their routes were assumed to have something to say in much of life including important decisions like who was destined to be royal.  “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”1
         Even from those words, if we read them carefully, we do not know that they even “followed” the star from their homes, for that star that taught them of the impending birth of a king, reappears and is only followed after their time in Jerusalem.2  Yet how the Magi actually follow the star to Bethlehem, ironically only after King Herod had told them where to look after being reminded by the religious leaders that the birth was to be in Bethlehem is not mentioned.  What further complicates the story is Bethlehem is not that far from Jerusalem … only about 9.6 kilometers or six miles, hardly a journey far enough for a star.
         If that is not enough, how then do they follow the star to a particular house (rather than a stable described in Luke) in the town?  Was this star like the illumination with five corners that one can buy at a department store and put on the top of your house?  Or was the star one that had a long tail of light that descended from heaven to the front door of the place where Jesus lay?
         Obviously we cannot ever answer those questions.  We do not have time machines to go back and watch the story unfold, first to check its veracity, and then to review the mechanics, and not that those details makes much difference in the large scheme of things anyway.
         Yet, there is something deeper to that thought --- “following a star” --- that persists even to this day, it can be found in this question, “Where does one look for God” or possibly better asked, “Where are we looking for God?”  How are we following the star --- metaphorically speaking --- so that we find God or help others to find God?
         Let me put that thought into different terminology that may help us.  Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad in their book Competing for the Future suggest that to move forward toward our goals, we must have a specific "strategic intent."3  Without "strategic intent" we are just another generation wandering in the wilderness or oblivious.  But this "intent" doesn't mean trying everything or sipping from every cup offered our way which is the common misconception in our world.  Rather "intent" depends, Hamel and Prahalad argue, upon the presence of three attributes in order for it to gain any headway.
         First, a sense of direction!  The Magi had a sense of direction.    Instead of traveling off to some isolated mountaintop or deserted island the Magi traveled to a specific place, at a specific time.  The Magi knew where to go not just from the heavenly star, but where else would you go if all of sudden you had found out that a new king was to be born for the Jews.  Of course, you would go to Jerusalem, the Jewish capital.
         We see that later in Jesus as an adult for he spent the bulk of his journey, his earthly mission, in the ordinary towns and villages of his native Palestine.  He taught and preached and performed miracles -- in neighborhoods, at the docks, in homes filled with kids, chores and sick people and then finally in Jerusalem.  Jesus did not wander aimlessly.  Instead, with purpose and wherever he found himself, Jesus knew he could find God's word, God's presence, if he but looked around and within.
         We get off on the wrong foot when we make the mistake of looking for God's presence and purpose somewhere "out there.  We imagine the Divine must be somewhere far away and out of reach.  As a result, we tend to lose our sense of direction altogether.    
         Hamel and Pahalad secondly suggest that strategic intent also has a sense of discovery.  The journey itself is as intentional as the destination.  The Magi could not and did not expect that the birth of a King would lead to a small town and a newborn that would be a threat to King Herod.  That discovery was not told by their heavenly star rather that became clear as their journey unfolded.
 Even Jesus spent three or so years of public ministry on a journey -- three years in which he discovered more about God's presence and purpose than he had back in Nazareth when he first started.  For example, the Syro-Phoenician woman surprised him with her tenacity.  The Roman centurion surprised him with his faithfulness.  Simon Peter, one of the disciples, surprised him with both his insight and his ignorance.  Satan tried to surprise him in the wilderness.  At every turn of his journey, Jesus discovered a greater sense of God-around-him and God-within-him.
         The magi did not know how this journey was to turn out.  Jesus himself was surprised.  Accordingly why do we assume that our lives are to be without surprises or that the journey does not matter?
         Third and finally, strategic intent has a sense of destiny.  The Magi did not follow with out some fore knowledge of what they planned to find, the king of the Jews.  Granted that knowledge came from the star, none-the-less their sense of destiny came from God.  When they stood before King Herod, they did not hide what they had learned or what they believed to be true or their intention.  Rather, it was King Herod and possibly all of Jerusalem, who should have known more about the details, rather than these foreigners.  That destiny was not hidden.
         Jesus, himself, moved with a clear sense of destiny -- a focused passion of purpose. Jesus sought to expose and explain God's unparalleled love to others.  And as we see in the end as Jesus moved toward his own personal destiny -- toward the cross -- his message was not about himself, but was about the plan for salvation.
         Here we are at the beginning of a new year 2009.  That question, “Have you ever wondered what it is like to follow a star?” is not for the Magi alone.  Rather, that thought in a sense is exactly what it means to be a disciple and follower of Jesus.  So how is your sense of direction?  How is your sense of discovery and how is your sense of destiny?  How we will follow God’s star to worship this king, Jesus the Christ in 2009?

1 Matthew 2:2
2 Vs. 9
3 From www.Homiletics.com; Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad, Competing for the Future Boston: Harvard University Press, 1994. p.130ff

December 28, 2008

Luke 2: 22-40

        I find it very interesting that at this point, early in the life of Jesus, there is a famous duo.  These two, Anna and Simeon, were not married and we do not get a sense that they even knew each other; nevertheless they are a double act that we dare not separate. 
         We tend to dissect their voices into separate categories, Simeon and then Anna, as if their songs were distinct classes, the voice of a devout follower and then the voice of a prophetess.  Rather, Anna and Simeon are like Simon and Garfunkel, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Sherlock and Watson, fish and chips.  Luke, I believe, emphasizes that we should see them, the two together, working and complementing and thus, are be seen in tandem, because it is their combination, and the words they speak, that are central for us to understand.  
         The Holy Spirit directed that this duo would come together at a moment when this family with their newborn had fulfilled the purification customs of that culture and then moved on to having this first born male blessed.  Just as we cannot separate the voices of a duo singing, without also destroying the integrity of the duet, God through the Holy Spirit is placing an exclamation point in both Simeon and Anna on this child.  And, God is doing so in the most important place for observant Jews, the Temple.  The words of these two elders also point to what was to happen in thirty or so years, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” 
         Why?  Why is this duo speaking with one voice together?  This pair is coming together to not only express incredible joy of this long expected newborn child, the promised anointed one, but something else, grief and … the cross.
         If you have Bibles in front of you, you will notice that all that separates today’s lesson in Luke from the wonderful story of the shepherds running from the manger to tell all that they had seen and heard is one line on the fact that the newborn was circumcised and given the name Jesus.  Then all of a sudden, it is Mary, Joseph and the baby who are traveling to Jerusalem and the Temple, no less where they encounter Simeon and Anna.
         Frederick Buechner, Presbyterian minister and author, described the first part of the encounter this way: “Years before, [Simeon had] been told he wouldn't die till he'd seen the Messiah with his own two eyes, and time was running out.  When the moment finally came, one look through his cataract lenses was all it took.  He asked if it would be all right to hold the baby in his arms, and they told him to go ahead but be careful not to drop him.  ‘Lord, now let thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation,’ he said, the baby playing with the fringes of his beard.  The parents were pleased as punch, so he blessed them too for good measure.  Then something about the mother stopped him, and his expression changed. What he saw in her face was a long way off, but it was there so plainly he couldn't pretend. ‘[This child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel... and a] sword will pierce through your soul," he said.  He would have rather bitten off his tongue than said it, but in that holy place he felt he had no choice.  Then he handed her back the baby and departed in something less than the perfect peace he'd dreamed of all the long years of his waiting.1
         This quick departure from Bethlehem to Jerusalem is a reminder that this child of Christmas, this babe of Bethlehem, a joy to the world, was also born into a world of tragedy and pain and evil.  Within the first two chapters of his gospel, Luke places us squarely in that little town of Bethlehem and then within walking distance of a hill called Golgotha.
         It is like Luke somehow knew how the world would become about the birth of Jesus.  As we know, there is an unmistakable romanticism that has grown up around Christmas, where even places like in Japan are moved to use the symbols and songs and candles.  Much of that romanticism for Christians however, centers on the child asleep in the hay, on the hope, the wonder, and the love connected with the birth of this child.
         In that sense, these words of Simeon may startle us into an unwanted realism, joy but also pain.  But what Simeon’s words do more than anything else is demonstrate with inescapable precision the intimate connection between the manger and the cross.  
         But it does not end on that note, for just as the words of Simeon trailed off leaving Mary and Joseph pondering their meaning, we hear Anna.  “Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”2
         The sword is not the last word.  Anna somehow knew, possibly as a prophetess, the only prophetess in the New Testament, that neither the manger nor the cross contained the last word about Jesus.  The word about Jesus was not his remarkable and joyful birth in Bethlehem; nor was that finishing words spoken at the cross of Golgotha.  The ultimate word was one spoken by the angel at the empty tomb on Easter morning, the “fear not!”  A word that is powerful enough to dispel all the grief and all the darkness.  Indeed, we can work out from Luke that it was not a star that the magi followed, but the first, faint hints of the sunrise of Easter that shone down on that Bethlehem stable.
         With resurrection eyes Simeon and Anna sing and see through the darkness to not only the manger and but also the cross.
         It is Christmas, a time for us to gather in joy for the fulfillment once again of God’s promises of love.  If we can see with resurrection eyes this event, first like Simeon and then like Anna, perhaps from such a vision we can pull together a measure of genuine joy ? a joy that has little to do with the romanticism surrounding Christmas and New Year’s, a joy that does not ask us to "pack up all our cares and woes," and push them aside or into the past.  Rather, a joy that begs us to come just as we are, to the manger … and the cross, weighed down with every kind of pain and sorrow and emptiness we may feel... to come and celebrate the only kind of joy that can sustain us in a time such as this... the same joy of Simeon and Anna, whose eyes beheld the promise of God despite the darkness.
         Simeon was sustained by such a vision to trust that one day he would see the messiah; Anna was sustained by such a vision to proclaim to all and confidence, “thanks to God” and to speak “about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”3
         May we be sustained as this year draws to a close and new day begins.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us... Immanuel, God with us.  God with us at the manger…God with us at the cross.  Even here, even now, God with us.  Amen.

1 Frederick Buechner, Peculiar Treasures, New York; Harper and Row, 1979, pp. 156-157.
2 Vs. 38
3 Vs. 38

December 24, 2008 (Christmas Eve)

Luke 2: 1-16

        Where do you consider home?  In a recent Pew survey in the United States, it was found that among all foreign-born adults, including recent arrivals to the United States “38 percent describe home as their country of birth.”1
         Personally, I think that survey result is far too one-dimensional.  I wish that survey elaborated further, because I have found the question of where one considers “home” to be not necessarily a very easy answer.  If a single person has a contract to live in a certain place, for a certain time say a year or two, the meaning of home may not be the same, compared to a person, married, with children living in the same community for years.  One’s answer about home would be quite different.
         An old adage goes, “home is the where heart is.”  From my experience that also i