A Thought For The Week Of March 28, 2016

"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb." (John 20:1) Light always wins. Whenever I read this passage from John's Gospel that's always the first thing that comes to my mind as I think of Mary Magdalene approaching the tomb of Jesus. The words "while it was still dark" sound simple  - related almost in passing. It's a reference to time. It's early morning, and the sun probably hasn't risen yet. But it's more than that. At this point in the story it's spiritually dark as well. The last time Mary Magdalene or any of the disciples had seen Jesus, he was dead - a beaten, bruised and bloodied corpse on a cross. How much darker could it possibly have been for them? Everything was lost. But the sun always rises. Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb while it was still dark - but the sun was about to rise and drive the darkness away. And, of course, for Mary Magdalene and Jesus' other disciples, it was still spiritually dark. As far as they knew, Jesus was still dead. Why wouldn't he be? But the Son was about to rise - and had, in fact, already risen. This isn't a new thought for me, but somehow I found myself understanding the imagery of darkness and light more fully this year. Mary Magdalene went to the tomb in darkness, and suddenly light appeared. Mary Magdalene went to the tomb in grief, and suddenly Jesus appeared. Jesus always appears - eventually. Death cannot hold him. No tomb can keep him captive. The power of darkness has no power over him. Light always wins! Life always wins! That, boiled down, is the message of Easter. Hallelujah!

March 27, 2016 sermon: The Unexpected

VIDEO LINK
(Sermon starts at about 33:30 with the Scripture)

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:1-18)

    It wasn’t until the year 1697 that Europeans saw a black swan. Although they had been talked about for centuries, until that time they had been the stuff of legend - presumed to be mythical creatures. About 150 years after the resurrection of Jesus, the Roman poet Juvenal started using black swans as a way of saying that something was impossible - a loose translation of his Latin words would be that something was “as likely as the appearance of a black swan” - which meant that it was impossible; it couldn’t happen. “As likely as a black swan” entered the English language as a way of saying that something couldn’t happen. Sometimes, it’s used to say that because we haven’t seen something happen, it can’t happen - so it’s the problem of inductive reasoning - “all the swans we have seen are white; therefore all swans must be white; therefore there are no black swans.” But in 1697 black swans were actually discovered in Australia. After that, Juvenal’s words had to be altered, so that the “old” saying actually became a “new” way of saying that things that seemed impossible weren’t necessarily impossible - they were just unexpected.

    The “Black Swan Theory” - as it’s come to be known - reminds us to always expect the unexpected. Let’s face it: not everything always turns out the way we expect it will. How many of us have awakened in the morning with certain expectations of how the day is going to go, but by the end of the day it seems as if nothing has gone the way we expected it to go? Things have a way of happening; the unexpected has a way of inserting itself into our lives and shaking up what we thought would be our routine existence. Always expect the unexpected. It’s a good philosophy to live by!

    Yesterday was Holy Saturday - the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday; the day between the crucifixion and the resurrection. The day, in other words, that Jesus was absent. For me, Holy Saturday has always been a very meaningful day. I take a lot of time pondering on Holy Saturday what it must have been like for the first disciples of Jesus. Three years ago, in my blog, I wrote a bit about Holy Saturday:

The sombreness of Good Friday is over, but you can't move to the celebration of Easter. Holy Saturday is about waiting. And trusting. And believing. It's about knowing that the way from darkness to light, or defeat to victory, or sorrow to joy, or tears to laughter, is a journey. It doesn't happen all at once. But it does happen. Easter comes. It always does. We just have to wait.

    That’s for us. “Easter comes. It always does.” We leave the Good Friday service perhaps feeling sombre, but knowing that joy is on the horizon. But what about those first disciples? It wasn’t as easy for them. They were faced with the stark reality that Jesus was dead. And the dead don’t come back. Those very first disciples were suddenly lost, frightened, uncertain and leaderless. They were grief-stricken. They had closeted themselves away. And while we often give credit to the women for being bold enough to go to the tomb while the men hid themselves - and we should give the women credit for that courage - let’s not misunderstand why they went to the tomb. It wasn’t to find a resurrected Jesus; it was to anoint a dead body. They had no more belief in the possibility of resurrection than anyone else. If anyone had said to them that Jesus was alive after what they had witnessed the day before they would have been in sympathy with what Juvenal would write decades later: “that’s as likely as the appearance of a black swan.” And at first, as we read, even when Mary Magdalene was confronted by the risen Jesus - she couldn’t believe her eyes. Jesus was dead, after all. It had to be someone else standing before her. To the risen Jesus, she could only say, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” No. Resurrection was a black swan. Even on Easter morning, there was no hope. There were only tears.

    But black swans are real. And so is resurrection. I don’t fully understand it. I stand with Paul, who wrote, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.” I want to. But we don’t really know much about the resurrection. Even the first disciples didn’t understand it. Mary Magdalene didn’t recognize Jesus at first. Peter and John ran to the empty tomb. The passage tells us that they saw it and they believed - but they didn’t understand. The Gospels don’t tell us anything about the actual resurrection - only that the resurrected Jesus was seen and that he interacted with his disciples and that he turned fear and doubt into faith. “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection” but can I believe without knowing? Yes, I can, because, like Mary Magdalene and like the disciples and like Paul, in my own way I have encountered Christ; I have been touched by Christ; I have heard his voice and I have been changed by him. Not changed enough, I confess. I still have a long way to go before I can claim to be what Christ would want me to be. But I do know he’s with me. I do know he’s here.

    There are a lot of doubts about the resurrection in the world. Sometimes the Black Swan Theory raises its head even in the church: “We didn’t see the resurrection of Jesus; therefore Jesus cannot have been resurrected; therefore resurrection is impossible.” And so, some want to give up on the resurrection altogether and redefine Christian faith so that it’s simply about doing good things, because the resurrection is too hard to believe. But I believe Christian faith is founded on the resurrection. I believe that Christian faith wouldn’t exist without the resurrection.

    I admit - the resurrection of Jesus might, in fact, be about as likely as the appearance of a black swan. But black swans are real. They remind us that just because something is unexpected and seems impossible doesn’t mean that it can’t happen. There may be nothing more unexpected than the resurrection. There may be nothing that seems more impossible than the resurrection. Except that - every now and then, when we look with eyes of faith - Jesus is there. And we can’t ignore him. Like Mary Magdalene, all we can do then is say “I have seen the Lord!”

    “I have seen the Lord.”

    

    

March 25, 2016 (Good Friday) Sermon: Different Crowns For The Same Purpose

     Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him. But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit. Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.” Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.”

(John 18:28-19:12)

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     It’s a somewhat strange conjunction of dates whenever Good Friday falls on March 25. It doesn’t happen very often. The last time Good Friday occurred on March 25 was 2005. Before that you have to go back to 1932. The next time Good Friday occurs on March 25 is the year 2157. It doesn’t happen very often. If you’re wondering why I find it significant that March 25 is Good Friday this year, it’s because March 25 also represents another day on the Christian calendar. March 25 is always Annunciation Day. That’s not a day that Protestants generally think about very much, but I noticed the combination a few months ago, and it occurred to me again last Sunday when, on Palm Sunday, I mentioned that Holy Week is something like a roller coaster of emotions - from the heights of joy to the depths of despair. That roller coaster is on display today. Good Friday commemorates the death of Jesus, and for those who didn’t realize it, Annunciation Day is exactly 9 months before Christmas, and it’s the day that some Christians set aside to mark the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary to tell her that she would be pregnant and would give birth to a son, whom she was to name “Jesus.”

     You can’t understand Easter without Christmas, and you can’t understand the death of Jesus without some understanding of the birth of Jesus. Making connections between the two is something of a theme for me this weekend, and those connections started for me when I realized that the death of Jesus would be commemorated on the same day that the upcoming birth of Jesus was announced.

     I was thinking about the various stories involved with the beginning and the end of Jesus’ life, and one thing stood out for me: from the beginning to the end, Jesus was recognized as a king. To Mary, the angel said about Jesus that “he will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David, … and of his kingdom there will be no end.” The magi searched the newborn baby out by going to King Herod and asking, “where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?” Thirty years later, Roman soldiers would place a crown of thorns upon his head, and over his dead body would be posted a sign that read “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” It was always known. Here was a king.

     The crown of Jesus’ birth were different than the crown of Jesus’ death - but they served the same purpose. They set Jesus aside. He was different; unique - even unsettling. At the beginning of his life we’re told that the birth of Jesus caused Herod and all Jerusalem to be disturbed. It goes without saying that as his life approached its end, Pilate and all Jerusalem were disturbed. Jesus always disturbs the world - and so he should. Jesus calls for change - a new way of understanding the world and those around us. And he paid a price for it. And we gaze soberly upon the symbol of that price, and ponder his command that we take up our own crosses, wondering just what price we might be called upon to pay.

     This is Good Friday. It’s the one time of the year that we gather as Christians with little to celebrate. Our gatherings are sombre; our spirits are downcast. Today we look upon the cross not as the sign of victory, pointing us upward to God’s heavenly realm, but rather as an instrument of torture and death, and we reflect on and are saddened by the state of humanity that made it so. And yet, we’re also touched by the love of a God who - in the flesh of Jesus - would make the supreme sacrifice of love to bring grace to all and to reconcile the world to himself.

     This is Good Friday - a sombre, downcast day that still reminds us that in everything - birth and death, beginning and end, joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, health and sickness - God is present, and there is always hope.  And so we will leave this place quietly but still with hope. Because we know that the story hasn’t ended, and there’s another chapter still to be written.

A Thought For The Week Of March 21, 2016

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13) There are all sorts of passages in the New Testament that describe the qualities that a Christian should possess. The best known is probably Paul's description of the "fruit of the Spirit" in Galatians 5, but there are several others - one of which is Romans 15:13, which speaks about joy, peace, trust and hope as characteristics of a life of faith. So my first thought upon reading this was that it was just another list of those qualities Christians should show in increasing abundance. But there's something different here; something I found meaningful. Many of these lists come across as commands or at least pleas from God - as in "you must show these qualities," or "you should show these qualities." They give us a goal to shoot for, but they can also leave us feeling guilty when we miss the mark - which is actually the literal definition of "sin." This is a prayer. "May God fill you," and "may you overflow with hope." There's no room for guilt here. There's just an encouragement to be the best that we can be, and a belief that ultimately it's God who will make these qualities come to the forefront of our lives. And, of course, if this is a prayer directed to us in the hope that we might grow in qualities like joy, peace, trust and hope then perhaps it's also a reminder that we need to be praying for others that they find the source of these qualities as well.

March 20, 2016 sermon: The Right Word For The Right Time

The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens - wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?

(Isaiah 50:4-9a)

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     I’ve read that the most important (or at least the most powerful) sense that human beings possess is the sense of smell. Different scents have the ability to touch us to the very depths of our beings in ways that our other senses usually can’t. Different scents bring back memories and affect our emotional state. They can change how we’re feeling in an instant. And I’ve read as well that studies have shown that the most powerful scent there is - the one scent that can change us and our mood and our emotional state most dramatically and most quickly - is the smell of baking bread. For some people (especially those over a certain age, who grew up in an era when baking bread rather than buying bread was the norm) the smell of bread baking transports them back into the carefree and happy days of childhood, when things were simple and responsibilities were few and there was always someone to take care of you. Baking bread is becoming a common activity for people with mild forms of dementia. It stimulates their memory and calms them. Monica Heltemes is a former occupational therapist who worked with patients suffering from various forms of dementia and who founded a company called Mind Start that adapts products to make them easier for people with dementia to use. She’s a huge believer in the power of baking bread, and she writes that

the sensory wonderfulness (probably not a word!), comes after the bread comes out of the oven. Smelling the wonderful aroma. Feeling the warm bread. Tasting fresh bread. This again, can be enjoyed by people at all levels of cognitive loss.

If certain scents could be so powerful, I started to wonder if certain words might not have just as much power - especially words that we use that are connected to faith and to certain occasions.

     There are a lot of words associated with faith. I think of words like “grace,” or “amen,” or “hallelujah,” as being words that have a particular meaning to faith.  As a preacher I stand firm on the importance of words in faith! But are there single words (as opposed to the generic words I just mentioned) that relate not just to faith but immediately bring to mind for us a particular and powerful image about the faith? Something we say that can “... sustain the weary with a word,” as the prophet Isaiah put it? I think there’s at least one: “Hosanna.” “Hosanna to the Son of David, Hosanna to the King of kings!”

     The words we read earlier from Isaiah’s prophecy have long been linked by Christians to the events of Palm Sunday. When you read that “I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting,” you can’t help but hear Jesus. I’m not suggesting necessarily that when Isaiah wrote them they were a portent of things to come. Many people think that biblical prophecy is about predicting the future, but really biblical prophecy is about the present - and how to respond to present circumstances in ways that are faithful and that give glory to God. Isaiah 50 was written during the Jewish exile in Babylon, so in that context the passage is telling the Jewish people that in spite of the hardships they were facing they would have to continue to move forward - ever forward - because God was leading them forward even as they faced their Babylonian oppressors. And once the exile was over, and the Jews were given permission to return to Jerusalem, this passage went with them. It was recited in the worship of the people, along with a number of Psalms written during that period of upheaval and uncertainty - and as the people prepared to offer the readings in their worship, they were usually preceded with a cry of “Hosanna!”

     “Hosanna” is an important word. We know it’s important because it’s been preserved rather than translated in three of the four Gospels. It had a very special meaning to the people of Jesus’ day, so much so that followers of Jesus still use it today even though we no longer speak the language of Jesus. “Hosanna” was either a cry of celebration over God’s deliverance of the people, or a plea for God to deliver the people. It means “save us, we pray!” or “please, Lord, save us!” In the Bible, it’s only used in the Gospels, and only in connection with the events that we call Palm Sunday - Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem for the last time. By addressing the word (which is a prayer) to Jesus, the people were saying something very important about their understanding of who this man was who had just appeared in their midst. “Hosanna” is a prayer asking for a deliverance that the people believe is coming; “hosanna” is a prayer celebrating a deliverance that the people believe has now come; “hosanna,” addressed to Jesus, is a recognition that Jesus is the one through whom God is present and through whom God is working to bring about this deliverance.

     According to Matthew’s Gospel, the crowds cried out “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” The people knew that something dramatic was happening. That one word is an expression of faith and hope and trust in the promise of God that God’s people would be delivered - whether from the Babylonians as in Isaiah’s day or from the Romans as in Jesus’ day or from whatever powers that hold us captive in the present day.

     Two thousand years ago, those from whose lips "Hosanna" rose looked on Jesus as God's anointed one from the house of David of whom the prophets had spoken - the one through whom all their expectations of Messiah would be fulfilled. Those expectations may have been misguided. Jesus came not to lay a beating on the Romans, but to save all (Romans and Jews and everyone else) who understood that they were being held captive by a world that lived in active hostility to God and to God’s ways. And what all the Gospels finally reveal to us is that Jesus is indeed the promised son of David through whom the redemption announced by God's prophets has come. The word “hosanna” becomes to our faith what the smell of baked bread does to our senses: it frees us from the bondage we suffer under in the present, but rather than bread (which tends to direct us to the past for comfort) the word “hosanna” points us forward - always forward - into the future with confidence. For those of faith, “hosanna” is no longer a plea meaning, "Lord, save us." Instead, it’s become a statement of trust in what we believe God has accomplished through Jesus for us all. For us, “hosanna” is a way of saying, "Praise God and his Christ, we are saved." For us, “hosanna” is the right word at the right time.

VIDEO (sermon begins at about 35:15)

A Thought For The Week Of March 7, 2016

"Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak." (Genesis 32:24) Wrestling with God. That's what Jacob was doing. This is such a familiar story and yet the imagery within it remains rich and powerful every time it's encountered. First is simply the idea of wrestling with God. Don't we all do that from time to time? Probably, in fact, more often than we care to admit. Our will vs. God's will. Surely that's a constant battle. Temptation vs. faithfulness. Do we not engage in that wrestling match on a regular basis? We wrestle with God over and over again. But if we take as a given that God's will is going to be done then we see the importance of this story. Jacob thought he was winning the match. He would get his way, but in the end he could not defeat God's will. God prevailed. There's great hope there, and - as Jacob discovered - even great blessing. I found it interesting that this wresting match took place at night. Jacob says he came face to face with God, but in such a way and at such a time of day that he couldn't actually see God. Perhaps most of us encounter God most meaningfully at night - the busy-ness of the day is over, things are quiet and God can speak. And because it's dark, the "holy mystery" remains, no matter how powerful our encounter might be. I wonder if that might be the reason that we generally close our eyes when we pray? We blot out as many of the world's distractions as possible and only then can we have a truly powerful encounter with God. And I wonder why, as the much ended, Jacob's hip was touched and wounded? Perhaps that's actually the perfect image for a wrestling match with God. Not because God seeks to hurt us, but because we tend to want to walk away from God, choosing the worldly path that Jesus said many would choose - the path that leads ultimately to nowhere good! But God works to keep us close to him instead. God keeps us on course, even as we try to set our own course. Perhaps the most important thing we learn from this story is that we will never really prevail against God's will. God's will is going to be done, no matter how hard we might fight against it. Actually - isn't that our greatest hope?

March 6, 2016 sermon: As Those With Authority

No text; only a video. This is the entire service. The sermon starts at about 23:45.

As Those With Authority

A Thought For The Week Of February 29, 2016

"Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now." (Genesis 29:32) Desperate yearning. That's what I thought of as I read the story of Leah. Leah was in a very sad situation. Jacob had been tricked into marrying her - and, really, nothing in the wider story suggests that Leah wanted to marry Jacob. So she was in an arranged marriage to a man who loved her sister (and his second wife) far more than he loved her - if he loved her at all. And all she yearned for was a husband to love her. And she kept taking that yearning to God. How many of us do that? We get desperately unhappy about something and we go to God with it and ask for relief. I think it's a universal experience - at least among people who believe in God. And we often get frustrated or angry because we think that God doesn't answer our prayers - but what we really mean is that God doesn't answer our prayers in the way we want them answered. Leah's yearning and her repeated (3 times) plea to God was that her husband would love her. I'm reminded here of Paul's thorn in the flesh - three times, he says, he asked God to remove it. Neither Leah nor Paul got what they asked for - but they both in a sense got the same thing. Suffering through their desperate yearning, both finally realized that in the midst of what they were suffering, God was present. Paul discovered God's strength; Leah came to the point of praising God. Both understood that whatever hardships they had and whatever they were facing, God had not abandoned them; God was there. That's a powerful lesson for all of us. It's easy to face hardship and decide that God has given up on us - so that we, then, give up on God. But eyes of faith are able to see beyond our immediate troubles and circumstances and understand that God is with us through it all - strengthening us to keep going, and loving us all the way through.