Theology on Tap Round V
Resurrection
Premise: Resurrection shapes the life of the community God is creating through the ministry of Jesus in the Gospels and the book of Acts.
There are two Greek words that we understand as the action of resurrection - literally, "to be raised":
ἐγείρω,v \{eg-i’-ro}
1) to arouse, cause to rise 1a) to arouse from sleep, to awake 1b) to arouse from the sleep of death, to recall the dead to life 1c) to cause to rise from a seat or bed etc. 1d) to raise up, produce, cause to appear
ἀνίστημι,v \{an-is’-tay-mee}
1a) to cause to rise up, raise up 1a) raise up from laying down 1b) to raise up from the dead 1c) to raise up, cause to be born, to cause to appear, bring forward
The word ἐγείρω is used in Mark’s Gospel to describe Jesus’ own resurrection.
Mark 16:6-7 - “But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised (ἐγείρω); he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. (7) But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’”
If we follow the call of Mark to go back to Galilee, we find ourselves right back in chapter one of the Gospel. The Gospel can be seen as cyclical in this way. The call from the messenger at the tomb points us to where Jesus began his ministry. In the time when this story was told orally, this was an important hook for the audience. It gave the audience a choice of how they responded to the story. They could walk away and leave it as just a story. Or they could return to Galilee, experience the ministry of Jesus unfolding, and pattern their owns lives after what they had experienced. Going back to Galilee helps us to understand the wider scope of resurrection in the Gospel.
Resurrection takes place in the ultimate moment of being raised to new life by God at the moment of physical death. Resurrection also takes place in more subtle ways. Here we think of death in a metaphorical sense. We can have a pulse and move air and still be very much dead to the world. Here death is a metaphor for all that holds us back from living the full life that God has blessed us with in this world. In this metaphorical death we are held back from working, serving, playing, and living fully into to our identity as God’s people. We do not get to enjoy the benefits of life in community.
Throughout the Gospel we encounter Jesus raising people to new life - granting them the benefits and returning them to participation in life in the community. Literally resurrecting them in this world. So we go back to Galilee to witness this social aspect of resurrection.
In Galilee, Jesus begins his ministry after his testing in the wilderness with a sermon in the local synagogue. After the gathering is off to Peter’s mother-in-laws house for a bite to eat. But she is sick with a fever. What follow is the first moment of “resurrection” in the Gospel.
Mark 1:31 - “He came and took her by the hand and lifted (ἐγείρω) her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.”
In this instant, Jesus resurrects Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. In here state of fever, she could not fulfill her identity as a child of God. She could not serve others and live out her call to hospitality. She is metaphorically dead to the community. Until Jesus raises her to new life. Once resurrected, she immediately lives into her identity as person of hospitality. Right there, as the beginning of his ministry, Jesus is enacting resurrection.
We encounter this over and over again in Mark’s Gospel.
Mark 2:11-12
“I say to you, stand up (ἐγείρω), take your mat and go to your home.” 12 And he stood up (ἐγείρω), and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Mark 3:1-5
“Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward (ἐγείρω).”
Mark 5:41-42
“He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up (ἐγείρω)!” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.”
In each of these moments we need to remember that the original audience probably heard this story told before they ever encountered it in textual form. When hearing the story, repetition of words is important. Mark’s use of ἐγείρω is a choice and the audience would not translate it in such a wide variety of meanings as we do today. They would, potentially, hear the word ἐγείρω over and over and build an image of what this concept means. When Mark uses it in connection with Jesus in 16:16, the image and action of resurrection would be complete. Jesus has been practicing all along what God will do for him on the first Easter.
Resurrection happens in real time! Social resurrection is happening now.
A key moment for Mark’s Gospel arrives in chapter ten when Jesus invites the crowd to participate in his ministry of social resurrection.
In the story of Bartimaeus, my favorite Gospel story (and the namesake of this blog), we have the tale of a man who gets invited to participate in life as a disciple of Jesus. This story is rich with metaphor.
Mark 10:46-52
They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside( ὁδός, the way). 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up (ἐγείρω), he is calling you.” 50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” 52 Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way (ὁδός).
The word in verse 46 that is translated “roadside” is the Greek word ὁδός. It is often translated as road, but for Mark it may have deeper meaning. The name for the early Jesus movement was “The Way” - literally ὁδός. We can understand this moment to be Bartimaeus sitting beside “the way,” in a state of being where he is not engaged in the life of a disciple. Metaphorically he cannot “see (encounter)” the world as a disciple.
In verse 49 Jesus empowers the crowd to call Bartimaeus to him, and they are the ones who raise him to engage new life as a disciple. It is crowd who now participates in Jesus’ ministry of social resurrection. They are the instrument Jesus uses to raise this man to new life. A powerful moment for Mark’s Gospel.
Jesus pronounces that Bartimaeus’ faith has healed him. His faith has literally changed the way he engages the world. Bartimaeus then joins Jesus on “the way,” becoming a disciple.
The lesson from Mark - this is the life we are called into as disciples of Jesus Christ. Jesus is about the business of enacting resurrection, bringing people to new life, in this time and place. And we are invited to follow.
The books of Luke and Acts model this same pattern. For Luke, the person considered to be the author of both works, the rhythm of Jesus enacting resurrection in this world is the same. For Luke, the word of choice for resurrection is ἀνίστημι.
Luke 24:5-75
The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but they said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen (ἐγείρω). 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again (ἀνίστημι).”
This is repeated by Jesus himself when he appears to the disciples in verse 46 of the same chapter.
The movement of resurrection carries over into the book of Acts. A key verse early on comes in Peter’s Pentecost speech in chapter two.
Acts 2:32 - “This Jesus God raised (ἀνίστημι) up, and of that all of us are witnesses”
Resurrection is what Goes does in and through Jesus. The disciples are witnesses to this action.
In the book Acts, Luke narrates what God does in the world through the Holy Spirit, the main character of the story. What God does in the world is to continue to raise new life out of death; both physically and metaphorically. The witnesses of this action are called to interpret how God is at work in the world and pattern their lives accordingly. They are called to join into God's action of social resurrection.
Our call today is to do the same. We have received these witnesses stories not as fun tales for entertain, but to pattern our own lives accordingly.
An important question for us to ask is “Where have you seen Jesus?” I learned to ask this question while I was in Aggie Lutherans during my time in College Station. My mentor Deb Grant taught us to ask this question with our lives. Every gathering, every devotion, sometimes multiple times a week, we would ask each other - “where have you seen Jesus?” We would listen to each other’s encounters with the risen Jesus. We learned to see the rhythm of God in our midst. I still like to ask this question, so I offer it up to us this morning - “Where have you seen Jesus?” It’s a moment of confession for modern day disciples.
By asking and answering “Where have you seen Jesus?” we confess the power of God’s ministry of social resurrection in our midst.
Two more statements about resurrection.
1) Resurrection does not wait until it’s safe. God does it. We are invited to witness, follow, participate.
2) We do not get to vote on resurrection. Resurrection is God’s action. God will resurrection who and what God wants to - regardless of what we acknowledge or think.
So the next step for us to start asking - "Where Have You Seen Jesus?!”
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Monday, April 28, 2014
Theology on Tap: God's Continuing Revelation - The Holy Spirit
Theology on Tap Round IV - God’s Continuing Revelation
The Holy Spirit
The theological term for this topic is pneumatology.
The premise for this conversation is that God is still at work in our world. Through the movement of the Holy Spirit God moves and works in and through us.
Martin Luther writes; “But God’s Spirit alone is called a Holy Spirit, that is, the one who has made us holy and still makes us holy. As the Father is called a creator, and the Son is called a Redeemer, so on account of his (SIC) work the Holy Spirit must be called a Sanctifier, or one who makes us holy.” Large Catechism, The Creed, The Third Article
Key concept: Sanctification, “to be made holy.”
Sanctification:
From the Greek word ἁγιασμός, {hag-ee-as-mos'}; “dedication to the interests of deity.” Holiness, Consecration. Romans 6:19,22. Basically, to become “God-like.”
From Frederick Buechner’s Wishful Thinking; “But little by little – less by taking pains than by taking it easy – the forgiven person starts to become a forgiving person, the healed person to become a healing person, the loved person to become a loving person. God does most of it. The end of the process, Paul says, is eternal life, Romans 6:23.” (Wishful Thinking, pg. 104)
Martin Luther;
“This life is not righteousness, but growth to righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be but we are growing toward it. The process is not yet finished but it is going on. This is not the end, but it is the road.” From the Defense of All Articles, Luther’s Works, American Edition, Vol. 32, pg. 24.
According to Luther (in the Large Catechism, The Creed, Third Article), “the Holy Spirit effects our being made holy through the following:
Development of the word spirit.
Hebrew: Ruach (feminine)
Greek: Pneuma ( neuter)
Latin: Spiritus (masculine)
Symbolism of the Spirit.
Genesis 1. The Spirit (Ruach) of God moves over the waters. Ruach has several meanings - “wind, breath, disturbance.” God’s spirit, the ruach, has a creative quality. Creates life out of chaos.
Ruach used 378 in the Old Testament.
136 - God/God’s Spirit
113 - wind, atmosphere (no theological meaning)
116 - human breathing (our breathing has spiritual connotation)
10 - animals
3 - idols
The Spirit is that which fills the void between heaven and earth. This is why breathing has a spiritual quality. The Spirit is that which produces life. From the third article of the Nicene Creed; “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life…”
In the second creation story, Genesis 2:4b-25, God breaths life into the adam, the earth creature. Genesis 2:7 - "then the Lord God formed man (adam, earth creature) from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being."
In the New Testament, the healings/exorcisms of Jesus often have to do with speaking. The physical act of moving air over the vocal chords. When we cannot speak for ourselves, when we are possessed if you will, we cannot articulate who we are. In the healing stories, Jesus restores the ability to speak, for the person to claim who they are.
Idolatry has a nuance of possession. When we are possessed by something, when we place other things before God, we no longer articulate our identity as God’s own creation. Jesus moves us into a place where we can speak for ourselves and claim our identity as God’s sons and daughters. God’s spirit moves in us as an act of healing, reminding us of our identity so that we can tell the story of God’s work in the world.
Images of the Spirit in Scripture.
The Dove. Matthew 3:16 - “And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.”
Why the dove? Perhaps its because it is a creature of the air, something that lives in between heaven and earth. Doves also live close to humanity, something we recognize. A bird that can be used for communication. We have evidence from as early as 1000 BCE of doves being used in a mail system; doves used to communicate.
The Advocate. John 14:25-26 - “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. (26) But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”
Fire. Acts 2:1-4 - “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. (2) And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. (3) Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. (4) All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”
In baptism we have both the symbols of water and fire. Both are signs of cleansing and creation. Baptism by immersion has the rich image of a metaphorical drowning - losing the ability to breath, dying to sin - and the first breath when raised out of the waters is the breath of new life.
The Power of the Spirit.
The power of the Holy Spirit helps us to discern God’s continuing work in our world. The story of Acts chapters 10-15, the acceptance of Paul’s mission to the Gentiles by Peter and the other apostles demonstrates the power of the Spirit. While they could not always agree on what was happening, they continued to meet and pray and affirmed that God was indeed doing something in their midst.
Key for us - Even if we don’t always agree, we believe God is doing something, even something new. Communal discernment, prayer, and conversation are integral.
Power of Spirit expressed in two ways.
1- Spirit disturbs any status quo, system of power. The Spirit stirs up that which is “frozen/static.” It is by the power of the Spirit that people are made free. Example - Exodus, God’s Spirit parts the waters, making a way for God’s redeemed to cross over.
2- Spirit is that which comforts, brings tranquility in the midst of chaos.
The Spirit scatters and gathers. If we are too busy being gathered, the Spirit may enter and say, “Peace by with you” - “Now Go!”
What does a Spirit driven community look like?
Acts 2:37-42
After Peter’s Pentecost Sermon - “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers and sisters, what should we do?” (38) Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (39) For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” (40) And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” (41) So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. (42) They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
Four marks:
The Holy Spirit
The theological term for this topic is pneumatology.
The premise for this conversation is that God is still at work in our world. Through the movement of the Holy Spirit God moves and works in and through us.
Martin Luther writes; “But God’s Spirit alone is called a Holy Spirit, that is, the one who has made us holy and still makes us holy. As the Father is called a creator, and the Son is called a Redeemer, so on account of his (SIC) work the Holy Spirit must be called a Sanctifier, or one who makes us holy.” Large Catechism, The Creed, The Third Article
Key concept: Sanctification, “to be made holy.”
Sanctification:
From the Greek word ἁγιασμός, {hag-ee-as-mos'}; “dedication to the interests of deity.” Holiness, Consecration. Romans 6:19,22. Basically, to become “God-like.”
From Frederick Buechner’s Wishful Thinking; “But little by little – less by taking pains than by taking it easy – the forgiven person starts to become a forgiving person, the healed person to become a healing person, the loved person to become a loving person. God does most of it. The end of the process, Paul says, is eternal life, Romans 6:23.” (Wishful Thinking, pg. 104)
Martin Luther;
“This life is not righteousness, but growth to righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be but we are growing toward it. The process is not yet finished but it is going on. This is not the end, but it is the road.” From the Defense of All Articles, Luther’s Works, American Edition, Vol. 32, pg. 24.
According to Luther (in the Large Catechism, The Creed, Third Article), “the Holy Spirit effects our being made holy through the following:
- The community of Saints (the Christian Church)
- Forgiveness of Sins
- Resurrection of the Body
- Life Everlasting
Development of the word spirit.
Hebrew: Ruach (feminine)
Greek: Pneuma ( neuter)
Latin: Spiritus (masculine)
Symbolism of the Spirit.
Genesis 1. The Spirit (Ruach) of God moves over the waters. Ruach has several meanings - “wind, breath, disturbance.” God’s spirit, the ruach, has a creative quality. Creates life out of chaos.
Ruach used 378 in the Old Testament.
136 - God/God’s Spirit
113 - wind, atmosphere (no theological meaning)
116 - human breathing (our breathing has spiritual connotation)
10 - animals
3 - idols
The Spirit is that which fills the void between heaven and earth. This is why breathing has a spiritual quality. The Spirit is that which produces life. From the third article of the Nicene Creed; “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life…”
In the second creation story, Genesis 2:4b-25, God breaths life into the adam, the earth creature. Genesis 2:7 - "then the Lord God formed man (adam, earth creature) from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being."
In the New Testament, the healings/exorcisms of Jesus often have to do with speaking. The physical act of moving air over the vocal chords. When we cannot speak for ourselves, when we are possessed if you will, we cannot articulate who we are. In the healing stories, Jesus restores the ability to speak, for the person to claim who they are.
Idolatry has a nuance of possession. When we are possessed by something, when we place other things before God, we no longer articulate our identity as God’s own creation. Jesus moves us into a place where we can speak for ourselves and claim our identity as God’s sons and daughters. God’s spirit moves in us as an act of healing, reminding us of our identity so that we can tell the story of God’s work in the world.
Images of the Spirit in Scripture.
The Dove. Matthew 3:16 - “And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.”
Why the dove? Perhaps its because it is a creature of the air, something that lives in between heaven and earth. Doves also live close to humanity, something we recognize. A bird that can be used for communication. We have evidence from as early as 1000 BCE of doves being used in a mail system; doves used to communicate.
The Advocate. John 14:25-26 - “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. (26) But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”
Fire. Acts 2:1-4 - “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. (2) And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. (3) Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. (4) All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”
In baptism we have both the symbols of water and fire. Both are signs of cleansing and creation. Baptism by immersion has the rich image of a metaphorical drowning - losing the ability to breath, dying to sin - and the first breath when raised out of the waters is the breath of new life.
The Power of the Spirit.
The power of the Holy Spirit helps us to discern God’s continuing work in our world. The story of Acts chapters 10-15, the acceptance of Paul’s mission to the Gentiles by Peter and the other apostles demonstrates the power of the Spirit. While they could not always agree on what was happening, they continued to meet and pray and affirmed that God was indeed doing something in their midst.
Key for us - Even if we don’t always agree, we believe God is doing something, even something new. Communal discernment, prayer, and conversation are integral.
Power of Spirit expressed in two ways.
1- Spirit disturbs any status quo, system of power. The Spirit stirs up that which is “frozen/static.” It is by the power of the Spirit that people are made free. Example - Exodus, God’s Spirit parts the waters, making a way for God’s redeemed to cross over.
2- Spirit is that which comforts, brings tranquility in the midst of chaos.
The Spirit scatters and gathers. If we are too busy being gathered, the Spirit may enter and say, “Peace by with you” - “Now Go!”
What does a Spirit driven community look like?
Acts 2:37-42
After Peter’s Pentecost Sermon - “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers and sisters, what should we do?” (38) Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (39) For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” (40) And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” (41) So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. (42) They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
Four marks:
- Devoted themselves to teachings of the apostles
- Fellowship
- Breaking of Bread
- Prayers
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Where Have You Seen Jesus?
Easter Blessings!
This is manuscript from the sermon I preached on April 27, 2014 - the second Sunday after Easter. The sermon is based on John 20:19-31.
We also celebrated our Confirmation. We celebrated with ten of our youth as the made public proclamation of their faith.
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." 26A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." 28Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." 30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
“Where Have You Seen Jesus?”
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
So goes our victory chant for the season of Easter. But if we look carefully at the first Easter story, the victory chant starts out rather quiet. Our story from John this morning picks up on that evening of the first Easter. And it’s an evening not marked by shouts of joy and celebration. That first easter evening is marked by locked doors and fear. The disciples huddle together behind a locked door, perhaps whispering over candle light, scared that they will be over heard by the authorities who led the shouts of “crucify” on Friday. There is fear and trembling. And who should show up, but Jesus.
Right through the locked door Jesus appears. The first words out of his mouth are “Peace be with you.” A greeting of peace for weary disciples. Jesus then shows him his hands and sides, gets his chance to tell the story of his scars (don’t we love that!). The darkness of the room begins to lighten. The faith crisis that had set on Friday begins to subside. God does have the power to work life out of death.
But Thomas is not with them. And if you have been around the church long enough, you are probably familiar with the phrase “doubting Thomas.” Actually it’s a phrase we use in all parts of our lives when someone doesn't believe what we have to say. A catch phrase if you will. One that Thomas is probably not proud of - and certainly one that is not deserved. Poor Thomas has gotten a raw deal for centuries. Perhaps it’s time we set the story straight.
Thomas was absent from the locked upper room the first time Jesus entered without a key. Thomas, who probably drew the short straw and had to venture out to the grocery store to get the makings of dinner, left a room full of fear and returned to a party. He missed the key moment in-between. And by the time he managed to get everyone to stop talking at the same time, trying to tell him the miraculous story of Jesus’ peculiar locksmith abilities, Thomas is more than skeptical. But let’s not go so far as to call him a doubter. Thomas is a realist. He just wants to experience what everyone else is trying to explain to him. Jesus is risen. And Thomas wants to see him.
And can we blame him? He asks for what any other person, any one of the other disciples, any one of us, would have asked for. He wanted to see Jesus. Thomas’ faith had gone through the same roller coaster as the other disciples, only he did not get to experience the resurrection as they had. Thomas is still in the throws of the crisis. He is having troubling believing the story. He is having trouble trusting what the disciples are trying to tell him. And have all been there - we know what it’s like to have our faith tested. And the good news is that God is still with us through the darkness.
Jesus does not get angry with Thomas. He meets him right in the moment of his crisis and does the work of love in building up his faith. What happens next is the moment John has been working towards since chapter one. Thomas’ confession.
Thomas’ confession of faith - “My Lord and my God” - is a climactic moment for John’s story of Jesus. Thomas confesses Jesus to be God. It connects the arch of the story that John started with his first words; “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…..And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” Thomas, when pushed on his unbelief, on his lack of trust in the resurrection event, confesses Jesus to be who John says he is, God incarnate in the world. God who came to give life.
The story that John wrote was written for us. Though he did not have Fredericksburg, Texas in mind when he put pen to paper almost two thousand years ago, John wrote this story for us. For ones who would not see, but believe. “But these are written so that you may come to believe Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, and that through believing, you may have life in his name.” We are the ones who gather around this story over and over again, to catch a glimpse of Jesus, the son of God. We read and hear the signs that John recorded so that we may come to believe. Or to put it a little differently, so that we may come to trust. We around these stories from John, and others, so that we can come to trust that God is at work in our world. We have been given the sacraments of baptism and communion to give us strength on the journey of faith. So that we can confess the work of God to the world. So that we can trust that God is still at work in our midst.
The power of today’s story is the confession on the lips of Thomas. It’s not about doubt. It’s about Jesus moving us from a place of unbelief (lack of trust), to a place where we confess that God is indeed present in our lives.
In this season leading up to and celebrating Easter, we have been talking about resurrection at Theology on Tap. One of the key moments from this month’s gathering has been asking the question - “Where have you seen Jesus?” I learned to ask this question while I was in Aggie Lutherans during my time in College Station. My mentor Deb Grant taught us to ask this question with our lives. Every gathering, every devotion, sometimes multiple times a week, we would ask each other - “where have you seen Jesus?” We would listen to each other’s encounters with the risen Jesus. We learned to see the rhythm of God in our midst. I still like to ask this question, so I offer it up to us this morning - “Where have you seen Jesus?” It’s a moment of confession for modern day disciples.
I saw Jesus this week on Wednesday evening. On Wednesday evening we gathered in the sanctuary to celebrate the past two years of study. We lovingly questioned these young men and women about the tools that we have to develop our faith. The Bible. The Ten Commandments. The Creed. The Lord’s Prayer. The Sacraments. And they performed beautifully. We then got to sit back a listen to faith statements, my favorite part of the evening.
With nerves running high, each one took their turn in front of the crowd and confessed their faith. Little “Thomas’” everyone one of them. Confessing their faith, their trust in the work of God in their lives. Faith shaped and inspired by parents and grandparents and friends and teachers and cabin leaders and pastors. Faith that will continue to grow. For this is not the end of the journey.
We celebrate a step in the journey of faith today. We gather around ten of our youth to celebrate their affirmation of faith. We call it confirmation. It’s a journey that started around the font a few years ago. A journey that started with water, God’s word, and a few promises from those who would journey with these young men and women. I see Jesus at work in these young people. I see God at work in this faith community. God is alive and well and continuing to do the work of life in this place.
So where have you seen Jesus? This question becomes a way for us to witness what God is doing in our midst. It becomes a way for us to proclaim God alive and well in this world. It becomes a way for us to talk about what we are often shy to address. I commend this question to you this week and in the weeks to come. Ask it around the dinner table. Call up your parents or kids and ask them where they have seen Jesus. If the question feels a bit strange, practice it for a while. Bring it up on Facebook. You know Bethany has a Facebook page now. Social media is great medium for sharing our faith and witnessing to what God is doing in our lives. So let’s continue to ask each other - “Where have you seen Jesus?”
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
God is still at work in our world. Let’s go out and witness it with our lives.
This is manuscript from the sermon I preached on April 27, 2014 - the second Sunday after Easter. The sermon is based on John 20:19-31.
We also celebrated our Confirmation. We celebrated with ten of our youth as the made public proclamation of their faith.
John 20:19-31
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." 26A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." 28Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." 30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
“Where Have You Seen Jesus?”
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
So goes our victory chant for the season of Easter. But if we look carefully at the first Easter story, the victory chant starts out rather quiet. Our story from John this morning picks up on that evening of the first Easter. And it’s an evening not marked by shouts of joy and celebration. That first easter evening is marked by locked doors and fear. The disciples huddle together behind a locked door, perhaps whispering over candle light, scared that they will be over heard by the authorities who led the shouts of “crucify” on Friday. There is fear and trembling. And who should show up, but Jesus.
Right through the locked door Jesus appears. The first words out of his mouth are “Peace be with you.” A greeting of peace for weary disciples. Jesus then shows him his hands and sides, gets his chance to tell the story of his scars (don’t we love that!). The darkness of the room begins to lighten. The faith crisis that had set on Friday begins to subside. God does have the power to work life out of death.
But Thomas is not with them. And if you have been around the church long enough, you are probably familiar with the phrase “doubting Thomas.” Actually it’s a phrase we use in all parts of our lives when someone doesn't believe what we have to say. A catch phrase if you will. One that Thomas is probably not proud of - and certainly one that is not deserved. Poor Thomas has gotten a raw deal for centuries. Perhaps it’s time we set the story straight.
Thomas was absent from the locked upper room the first time Jesus entered without a key. Thomas, who probably drew the short straw and had to venture out to the grocery store to get the makings of dinner, left a room full of fear and returned to a party. He missed the key moment in-between. And by the time he managed to get everyone to stop talking at the same time, trying to tell him the miraculous story of Jesus’ peculiar locksmith abilities, Thomas is more than skeptical. But let’s not go so far as to call him a doubter. Thomas is a realist. He just wants to experience what everyone else is trying to explain to him. Jesus is risen. And Thomas wants to see him.
And can we blame him? He asks for what any other person, any one of the other disciples, any one of us, would have asked for. He wanted to see Jesus. Thomas’ faith had gone through the same roller coaster as the other disciples, only he did not get to experience the resurrection as they had. Thomas is still in the throws of the crisis. He is having troubling believing the story. He is having trouble trusting what the disciples are trying to tell him. And have all been there - we know what it’s like to have our faith tested. And the good news is that God is still with us through the darkness.
Jesus does not get angry with Thomas. He meets him right in the moment of his crisis and does the work of love in building up his faith. What happens next is the moment John has been working towards since chapter one. Thomas’ confession.
Thomas’ confession of faith - “My Lord and my God” - is a climactic moment for John’s story of Jesus. Thomas confesses Jesus to be God. It connects the arch of the story that John started with his first words; “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…..And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” Thomas, when pushed on his unbelief, on his lack of trust in the resurrection event, confesses Jesus to be who John says he is, God incarnate in the world. God who came to give life.
The story that John wrote was written for us. Though he did not have Fredericksburg, Texas in mind when he put pen to paper almost two thousand years ago, John wrote this story for us. For ones who would not see, but believe. “But these are written so that you may come to believe Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, and that through believing, you may have life in his name.” We are the ones who gather around this story over and over again, to catch a glimpse of Jesus, the son of God. We read and hear the signs that John recorded so that we may come to believe. Or to put it a little differently, so that we may come to trust. We around these stories from John, and others, so that we can come to trust that God is at work in our world. We have been given the sacraments of baptism and communion to give us strength on the journey of faith. So that we can confess the work of God to the world. So that we can trust that God is still at work in our midst.
The power of today’s story is the confession on the lips of Thomas. It’s not about doubt. It’s about Jesus moving us from a place of unbelief (lack of trust), to a place where we confess that God is indeed present in our lives.
In this season leading up to and celebrating Easter, we have been talking about resurrection at Theology on Tap. One of the key moments from this month’s gathering has been asking the question - “Where have you seen Jesus?” I learned to ask this question while I was in Aggie Lutherans during my time in College Station. My mentor Deb Grant taught us to ask this question with our lives. Every gathering, every devotion, sometimes multiple times a week, we would ask each other - “where have you seen Jesus?” We would listen to each other’s encounters with the risen Jesus. We learned to see the rhythm of God in our midst. I still like to ask this question, so I offer it up to us this morning - “Where have you seen Jesus?” It’s a moment of confession for modern day disciples.
I saw Jesus this week on Wednesday evening. On Wednesday evening we gathered in the sanctuary to celebrate the past two years of study. We lovingly questioned these young men and women about the tools that we have to develop our faith. The Bible. The Ten Commandments. The Creed. The Lord’s Prayer. The Sacraments. And they performed beautifully. We then got to sit back a listen to faith statements, my favorite part of the evening.
With nerves running high, each one took their turn in front of the crowd and confessed their faith. Little “Thomas’” everyone one of them. Confessing their faith, their trust in the work of God in their lives. Faith shaped and inspired by parents and grandparents and friends and teachers and cabin leaders and pastors. Faith that will continue to grow. For this is not the end of the journey.
We celebrate a step in the journey of faith today. We gather around ten of our youth to celebrate their affirmation of faith. We call it confirmation. It’s a journey that started around the font a few years ago. A journey that started with water, God’s word, and a few promises from those who would journey with these young men and women. I see Jesus at work in these young people. I see God at work in this faith community. God is alive and well and continuing to do the work of life in this place.
So where have you seen Jesus? This question becomes a way for us to witness what God is doing in our midst. It becomes a way for us to proclaim God alive and well in this world. It becomes a way for us to talk about what we are often shy to address. I commend this question to you this week and in the weeks to come. Ask it around the dinner table. Call up your parents or kids and ask them where they have seen Jesus. If the question feels a bit strange, practice it for a while. Bring it up on Facebook. You know Bethany has a Facebook page now. Social media is great medium for sharing our faith and witnessing to what God is doing in our lives. So let’s continue to ask each other - “Where have you seen Jesus?”
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
God is still at work in our world. Let’s go out and witness it with our lives.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Born into Christ
The congregation I serve has a tradition of rotating breakfast and devotions among three Lutheran congregations on the first three days of Holy Week. This has been going on for years. The folks all know each other. It's like being invited to a large family reunion.
As the new guy I was invited to deliver the message this morning.
I began with the Gospel of John.
The appointed Gospel for the Tuesday of Holy Week is John 12:20-36 (according to the Revised Common Lectionary).
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 22Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
27Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say — 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." 30Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34The crowd answered him, "We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" 35Jesus said to them, "The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light."
After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.
I continued by reading a poem by Red Steagall, a cowboy poem and the voice of my childhood. I read the poem Born to This Land, a poem close to my heart and one that I can barely get through without choking up with tears.
It's a poem about roots and identity - the story of a family history and a legacy tied to land passed down from generation to generation. As the poet recounts, "five generations have called this ranch home, and I promise, it won't end with me..." This poem hits close to home because it could have been written about my family - German immigrants from the 1840s, farming the same land since the late 1870s. This poem is written in my bones.
I've kicked up the hidden mesquite roots and rocks
From the place where I spread out my bed.
I'm layin' here under a sky full of stars
With my hands folded up 'neath my head.
Tonight there's a terrible pain in my heart
Like a knife, it cuts jagged and deep.
This evening the windmiller brought me the word
That my granddaddy died in his sleep.
I saddled my gray horse and rode to a hill
Where when I was a youngster of nine,
My granddaddy said to me, "Son this is ours,
All of it, yours, your daddy's and mine.
Son, my daddy settled here after the war
That new tank's where his house used to be.
He wanted to cowboy and live in the west
Came to Texas from east Tennessee.
The longhorns were wild as the deer in them breaks.
With a long rope he caught him a few.
With the money he made from trailin' em north,
Son, he proved up this homestead for you.
The railroad got closer, they built the first fence
Where the river runs through the east side.
When I was a button we built these corrals
Then that winter my granddaddy died.
My father took over and bought up more range
With good purebreds he improved our stock.
It seemed that the windmills grew out of the ground
Then the land got as hard as a rock.
Then during the dust bowl we barely hung on,
The north wind tried to blow us away.
It seemed that the Lord took a likin' to us
He kept turnin' up ways we could stay.
My daddy grew older and gave me more rein,
We'd paid for most all of the land.
By the time he went on I was running more cows
And your daddy was my right hand man."
His eyes got real cloudy, took off in a trot,
And I watched as he rode out of sight.
Tho I was a child, I knew I was special
And I'm feelin' that same way tonight
Not many years later my daddy was killed
On a ship in the South China Sea.
For twenty odd years now we've made this ranch work
Just two cowboys, my granddad and me.
And now that he's gone, things are certain to change
And I reckon that's how it should be.
But five generations have called this ranch home
And I promise it won't end with me.
'Cause I've got a little one home in a crib
When he's old enough he'll understand,
From the top of that hill I'll show him his ranch
Cause like me, he was Born To This Land.
In Christ we have a story with a similar trajectory. We who have been baptized into Christ have been born into God's kingdom. Christ, the self-proclaimed grain of wheat, was planted on our behalf, and he bore the fruit of new life for the world. When he was lifted up, all people were drawn to him. In that moment all people were born anew in Christ.
This is our story. For generation upon generation we have been telling this story of God's love poured out for the world. We are born into this story.
Holy Week provides time for reflection upon where we have come from as God's children and a chance to celebrate what God has done for us. It is also a chance to tell the story anew for those who have never heard.
Wherever you find yourself this week, I hope you take time to remember the story. Join Jesus at the table on Maundy Thursday. Sit at the foot of the cross on Good Friday. Ponder the mystery of the empty tomb at the Easter Vigil Saturday evening or early Sunday morning.
Share the story of God's love. Through Jesus, we are born into God's kingdom.
Peace,
Travis
As the new guy I was invited to deliver the message this morning.
I began with the Gospel of John.
The appointed Gospel for the Tuesday of Holy Week is John 12:20-36 (according to the Revised Common Lectionary).
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 22Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
27Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say — 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." 30Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34The crowd answered him, "We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" 35Jesus said to them, "The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light."
After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.
I continued by reading a poem by Red Steagall, a cowboy poem and the voice of my childhood. I read the poem Born to This Land, a poem close to my heart and one that I can barely get through without choking up with tears.
It's a poem about roots and identity - the story of a family history and a legacy tied to land passed down from generation to generation. As the poet recounts, "five generations have called this ranch home, and I promise, it won't end with me..." This poem hits close to home because it could have been written about my family - German immigrants from the 1840s, farming the same land since the late 1870s. This poem is written in my bones.
Born to the Land
I've kicked up the hidden mesquite roots and rocks
From the place where I spread out my bed.
I'm layin' here under a sky full of stars
With my hands folded up 'neath my head.
Tonight there's a terrible pain in my heart
Like a knife, it cuts jagged and deep.
This evening the windmiller brought me the word
That my granddaddy died in his sleep.
I saddled my gray horse and rode to a hill
Where when I was a youngster of nine,
My granddaddy said to me, "Son this is ours,
All of it, yours, your daddy's and mine.
Son, my daddy settled here after the war
That new tank's where his house used to be.
He wanted to cowboy and live in the west
Came to Texas from east Tennessee.
The longhorns were wild as the deer in them breaks.
With a long rope he caught him a few.
With the money he made from trailin' em north,
Son, he proved up this homestead for you.
The railroad got closer, they built the first fence
Where the river runs through the east side.
When I was a button we built these corrals
Then that winter my granddaddy died.
My father took over and bought up more range
With good purebreds he improved our stock.
It seemed that the windmills grew out of the ground
Then the land got as hard as a rock.
Then during the dust bowl we barely hung on,
The north wind tried to blow us away.
It seemed that the Lord took a likin' to us
He kept turnin' up ways we could stay.
My daddy grew older and gave me more rein,
We'd paid for most all of the land.
By the time he went on I was running more cows
And your daddy was my right hand man."
His eyes got real cloudy, took off in a trot,
And I watched as he rode out of sight.
Tho I was a child, I knew I was special
And I'm feelin' that same way tonight
Not many years later my daddy was killed
On a ship in the South China Sea.
For twenty odd years now we've made this ranch work
Just two cowboys, my granddad and me.
And now that he's gone, things are certain to change
And I reckon that's how it should be.
But five generations have called this ranch home
And I promise it won't end with me.
'Cause I've got a little one home in a crib
When he's old enough he'll understand,
From the top of that hill I'll show him his ranch
Cause like me, he was Born To This Land.
In Christ we have a story with a similar trajectory. We who have been baptized into Christ have been born into God's kingdom. Christ, the self-proclaimed grain of wheat, was planted on our behalf, and he bore the fruit of new life for the world. When he was lifted up, all people were drawn to him. In that moment all people were born anew in Christ.
This is our story. For generation upon generation we have been telling this story of God's love poured out for the world. We are born into this story.
Holy Week provides time for reflection upon where we have come from as God's children and a chance to celebrate what God has done for us. It is also a chance to tell the story anew for those who have never heard.
Wherever you find yourself this week, I hope you take time to remember the story. Join Jesus at the table on Maundy Thursday. Sit at the foot of the cross on Good Friday. Ponder the mystery of the empty tomb at the Easter Vigil Saturday evening or early Sunday morning.
Share the story of God's love. Through Jesus, we are born into God's kingdom.
Peace,
Travis
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Between Shouts of “Hosanna”and “Crucify Him”
This is manuscript from the sermon preached on Palm/Passion Sunday, April 13, 2014.
The Passion of Jesus Christ according to Matthew can be found here.
Welcome to Holy Week. The week that has been proclaimed by our theological ancestors as “the Great Week.” The week that takes us from the table of the last supper, to the garden of prayer, to the courts of fallen justice, to the cross. And finally to the empty. The Sunday that we move towards is the Sunday of Sundays, the day of victory of our God. Welcome to Holy Week.
We mark today, the start of Holy Week with palms and passion. We celebrate the parade of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem where he is hailed as a savior. He hear the shouts of “Hosanna” and we join our own voices to that chorus. And then we turn quickly to his passion. To his arrest, trial, and execution. We hear the crowd boil into cries of “crucify him.” The hour grows dark indeed.
We live between these shouts of “Hosanna” and “crucify him.” The story from Matthew that flows through our worship today contains moments of both joy and anger, Shouts of praise and shouts of hate. A rally of support and an absolute abandonment. Jesus celebrated as a triumphant king. Jesus killed as a criminal.
We live between these moments. Our lives are lived out between the joy and anger. Between the moments of celebration and desertion. We live in between the shouts of “Hosanna” and “crucify him.” We know the moments of great joy when we praise God and give glory to the one who blesses us beyond measure. We know the moments of doubt when we wonder if there really is a God our there. We know the moments of suffering when it seems that could not possibly be a God, in our time or ever. These are all real emotions. And God can handle them. Through the joy and pain, the happiness and anger, God is with us.
This week, Holy Week, is not about raining down guilt, charging our emotions, or blaming ourselves for the cross. This week is about how God acted in human history. On our behalf. For us. Out of love, not anger.
Holy Week is about being drawn into the story of how God took on the fallen powers, the brokenness of sin, and the power of death that runs rampant in our world - and destroyed their power on the cross. We encounter the story of Jesus passion’ - where God chooses to enter into our suffering and our sinfulness in order to create life out of death. God chooses to act on our behalf. We celebrate a love story this week - the story of God’s love poured out for the world.
Our lives are lived between the shouts of “Hosanna” and “crucify him.” And right in the middle of those moments is the garden of Gethsemane. Where Jesus prays and the disciples sleep. Where Jesus acts on our behalf, and we struggle to stay awake. But that’s exactly what we are called to do - to stay awake. To witness the power of God to take the sin of the world and destroy its power on the cross. That’s what Holy Week is about.
So stay awake. Jesus knew the temptation of averting our eyes all to well. It’s easier to sleep through the hard times, to sleep through the truth about ourselves. We don’t like to watch what’s about to unfold. We encounter enough violence and death to last us a lifetime. But Jesus calls us to stay awake, to witness how God acts on our behalf. How God binds our brokenness and sin to the mystery of the cross and through the cross God destroys their power.
So stay awake friends of Jesus. Come back on Thursday and join together around God’s table. Receive the break broken and the wine poured for us. Come and celebrate with our youth who will take the bread and wine for the first time as they celebrate their first communion.
Come back on Friday and sit at the foot of the cross. Come and hear John’s passion of Jesus - where Jesus is lifted up for the sake of the whole world - where God’s love is poured out for us and for all people.
Join in the moments of Holy Week that carry us to the words of victory at the empty tomb on Easter morning.
Stay awake friends of Jesus. Witness the story of God's love.
The Passion of Jesus Christ according to Matthew can be found here.
Between Shouts of "Hosanna" and "Crucify Him"
We mark today, the start of Holy Week with palms and passion. We celebrate the parade of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem where he is hailed as a savior. He hear the shouts of “Hosanna” and we join our own voices to that chorus. And then we turn quickly to his passion. To his arrest, trial, and execution. We hear the crowd boil into cries of “crucify him.” The hour grows dark indeed.
We live between these shouts of “Hosanna” and “crucify him.” The story from Matthew that flows through our worship today contains moments of both joy and anger, Shouts of praise and shouts of hate. A rally of support and an absolute abandonment. Jesus celebrated as a triumphant king. Jesus killed as a criminal.
We live between these moments. Our lives are lived out between the joy and anger. Between the moments of celebration and desertion. We live in between the shouts of “Hosanna” and “crucify him.” We know the moments of great joy when we praise God and give glory to the one who blesses us beyond measure. We know the moments of doubt when we wonder if there really is a God our there. We know the moments of suffering when it seems that could not possibly be a God, in our time or ever. These are all real emotions. And God can handle them. Through the joy and pain, the happiness and anger, God is with us.
This week, Holy Week, is not about raining down guilt, charging our emotions, or blaming ourselves for the cross. This week is about how God acted in human history. On our behalf. For us. Out of love, not anger.
Holy Week is about being drawn into the story of how God took on the fallen powers, the brokenness of sin, and the power of death that runs rampant in our world - and destroyed their power on the cross. We encounter the story of Jesus passion’ - where God chooses to enter into our suffering and our sinfulness in order to create life out of death. God chooses to act on our behalf. We celebrate a love story this week - the story of God’s love poured out for the world.
Our lives are lived between the shouts of “Hosanna” and “crucify him.” And right in the middle of those moments is the garden of Gethsemane. Where Jesus prays and the disciples sleep. Where Jesus acts on our behalf, and we struggle to stay awake. But that’s exactly what we are called to do - to stay awake. To witness the power of God to take the sin of the world and destroy its power on the cross. That’s what Holy Week is about.
So stay awake. Jesus knew the temptation of averting our eyes all to well. It’s easier to sleep through the hard times, to sleep through the truth about ourselves. We don’t like to watch what’s about to unfold. We encounter enough violence and death to last us a lifetime. But Jesus calls us to stay awake, to witness how God acts on our behalf. How God binds our brokenness and sin to the mystery of the cross and through the cross God destroys their power.
So stay awake friends of Jesus. Come back on Thursday and join together around God’s table. Receive the break broken and the wine poured for us. Come and celebrate with our youth who will take the bread and wine for the first time as they celebrate their first communion.
Come back on Friday and sit at the foot of the cross. Come and hear John’s passion of Jesus - where Jesus is lifted up for the sake of the whole world - where God’s love is poured out for us and for all people.
Join in the moments of Holy Week that carry us to the words of victory at the empty tomb on Easter morning.
Stay awake friends of Jesus. Witness the story of God's love.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Isaiah 35 - Living Waters in the Parched Places
This is the manuscript from the fifth and final movement of my congregations 2014 Lenten theme - God's A-gonna Trouble the Waters. We are exploring images of where God is at work in the waters of the Old Testament.
The first week we read the creation story of Genesis 1 - Creating Waters.
The second week we read the Noah story of Genesis 7 and 8 - Flood Waters.
The third week we read the Exodus story - Redeeming waters.
My sermon manuscript can be read here.
The fourth week we read Psalm 23 - Still Waters.
This week we explored Isaiah 35 Living Waters.
Isaiah 35:1-10
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus 2 it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.
3 Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
“Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.”
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
7 the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
8 A highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
but it shall be for God’s people;
no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
9 No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Today we return to Isaiah, where we began the season of Lent five weeks ago. We marked the beginning of Lent that day with an ashen reminder of our own mortality. We told the truth about ourselves - we are creatures with numbered days. We are dust, or should I say, we are dirt, and to dirt we shall return.
Wrapped up in all the talk of dirt and death, we heard a word that evening from Isaiah about the power of water. We returned to the waters or perhaps God led us to the waters that day, as God always leads us to the renewing waters where we are made new creations by God. We heard a word about becoming watered gardens, and having springs break forth in the parched places of our lives. That is the power of God, to make waters break forth in parched places. As we have put it throughout this season of Lent - God’s A-Gonna trouble the waters.
God has indeed troubled the waters. Over the past several weeks we have heard stories about how God troubles the waters. We began with creation, with God’s spirit moving over the primordial waters of chaos, creating life that God called good. We moved on to the story of Noah and the flood waters, how God saw the world called good unravel into brokenness. The flood waters came crashing, cleansing the earth, the ark delivering Noah and family, God’s hope for the future, to safety.
Two weeks ago we encountered the waters of the Exodus, God’s redeeming waters for the people of Israel, held for so long in the clutches of slavery. God made a way through the waters, creating a people out of the chaos of slavery, out of the stronghold of death, to new life. Last week Pastor Casey led us to the still waters of the 23rd Psalm. “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul.” Sometimes God leads us to waters of refreshment and renewal.
Tonight we begin to bring our time of lent to a close. We have come to the edge of Holy Week, with the “Hosanna’s” of Palm Sunday just on the horizon. But before we get there we hear a promise of what’s to come. We get a glimpse of what God has in store for us. We hear the promise of how God will once again trouble the waters on our behalf. This promise is found in Isaiah - a fitting bookend to the story we heard five weeks ago.
Isaiah 35 sounds like rain on parched land, refreshing and full of hope - “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom…” As the lines unfold the images bring to mind a vision of new life breaking forth in a desolate place.
God is active and moving and the people are called to respond - “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.” The prophet calls the people to a state of readiness, their waiting is over. The phrase “those who are fearful of heart” has an interesting nuance in the Hebrew understanding. This phrase can also be translated to mean “ones whose hearts are racing.” The prophet calls out to those who hearts are racing - “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.”
This story from Isaiah was written in the darkness of exile. The racing hearts belonged to those who had known for too long what is was to live in the shadow of death. Held captive in Babylon, the people were torn from land, from family, from the temple, far from everything that gave them a sense of who they were. It was Egypt all over again. And the people longed for God to intervene.
Out of the darkness of exile, the clouds break and light begins to shine through. There is hope on the horizon. “Tell the ones whose hearts are racing - “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.” God is going to act once again in the midst of the people. A way will be made for their rescue. In the parched place of the exile, God will stir up the waters and make a way for the people to cross over into new life.
This story mirrors the Exodus. God will once again redeem the people. Life will break forth in the wilderness, the likes of which the world had never scene. Waters will break forth, streams will run in the desert. The haunts of jackals shall become swamps. The burning sands shall become life giving pools.
And in the midst of this budding oasis there shall be a highway for God’s people. This highway will be a Holy Way - God’s way - and it will be for the redeeming of God’s people. Just as God created a way through the waters of the Exodus, God will create a way in the wilderness. God will once again trouble the waters on the people’s behalf.
God will redeem the people. For the audience of this story, for the meta-narrative of scripture, this redeeming has economic and political implications. To redeem a person literally means to buy them out of slavery. The person redeemed is set free. Their standing in the community has changed. Out of the death of slavery God claims the people as God’s own - creating new life. This is what God has done for us through Christ.
Our baptism is a political event. God’s redeeming us marks us as a member of God’s kingdom. We are a redeemed people, bought out of the slavery of sin and death.
We are redeemed from the fallen powers of this world, not removed from them, but set free from them to do work among them on behalf of God. We are citizens of God’s kingdom first. This is a far greater mark on our identity than a driver’s license or passport or voter’s registration card. This citizenship defines who we are and how we engage the world. We are God’s redeemed people.
We are also a people who are familiar with parched places. We just have to walk outside to encounter parchedness. We are in the midst of a drought. For mouths and years we have pleaded for rain - for refreshment and hope. This is real for us, and also a metaphor for our lives. We know the parched places of sin. Of broken relationships. Of Sickness. Of Death. We know the places where our hearts race for hope and healing.
The reminder today, through these water stories, is that God is at work in the parched places. God moves on our behalf - has already claimed us as God’s own through the cross. God does God’s work in the parched places of our lives.
When our own hearts are racing in the parched places of our lives, the reminder of our redeeming by God comes like rain in the drought. This is our promise. Today and always. When our lives become worn out and dry through sin and brokenness, God promises to be there with the waters of healing. In the wilderness of sin and death, God promises to bring new life and make a way upon which we can cross. God claims us as members of God’s kingdom. God troubles the waters on our behalf, over and over meeting us when we are parched and in need.
So wade in the waters friends. That hymn that we have marked our time with here in Lent. Wade in the waters of God’s creating. Wade in the waters stirred up by God’s promise. Wade in the waters where God claims you. Now and forever.
The first week we read the creation story of Genesis 1 - Creating Waters.
The second week we read the Noah story of Genesis 7 and 8 - Flood Waters.
The third week we read the Exodus story - Redeeming waters.
My sermon manuscript can be read here.
The fourth week we read Psalm 23 - Still Waters.
This week we explored Isaiah 35 Living Waters.
Isaiah 35:1-10
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus 2 it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.
3 Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
“Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.”
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
7 the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
8 A highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
but it shall be for God’s people;
no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
9 No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Today we return to Isaiah, where we began the season of Lent five weeks ago. We marked the beginning of Lent that day with an ashen reminder of our own mortality. We told the truth about ourselves - we are creatures with numbered days. We are dust, or should I say, we are dirt, and to dirt we shall return.
Wrapped up in all the talk of dirt and death, we heard a word that evening from Isaiah about the power of water. We returned to the waters or perhaps God led us to the waters that day, as God always leads us to the renewing waters where we are made new creations by God. We heard a word about becoming watered gardens, and having springs break forth in the parched places of our lives. That is the power of God, to make waters break forth in parched places. As we have put it throughout this season of Lent - God’s A-Gonna trouble the waters.
God has indeed troubled the waters. Over the past several weeks we have heard stories about how God troubles the waters. We began with creation, with God’s spirit moving over the primordial waters of chaos, creating life that God called good. We moved on to the story of Noah and the flood waters, how God saw the world called good unravel into brokenness. The flood waters came crashing, cleansing the earth, the ark delivering Noah and family, God’s hope for the future, to safety.
Two weeks ago we encountered the waters of the Exodus, God’s redeeming waters for the people of Israel, held for so long in the clutches of slavery. God made a way through the waters, creating a people out of the chaos of slavery, out of the stronghold of death, to new life. Last week Pastor Casey led us to the still waters of the 23rd Psalm. “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul.” Sometimes God leads us to waters of refreshment and renewal.
Tonight we begin to bring our time of lent to a close. We have come to the edge of Holy Week, with the “Hosanna’s” of Palm Sunday just on the horizon. But before we get there we hear a promise of what’s to come. We get a glimpse of what God has in store for us. We hear the promise of how God will once again trouble the waters on our behalf. This promise is found in Isaiah - a fitting bookend to the story we heard five weeks ago.
Isaiah 35 sounds like rain on parched land, refreshing and full of hope - “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom…” As the lines unfold the images bring to mind a vision of new life breaking forth in a desolate place.
God is active and moving and the people are called to respond - “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.” The prophet calls the people to a state of readiness, their waiting is over. The phrase “those who are fearful of heart” has an interesting nuance in the Hebrew understanding. This phrase can also be translated to mean “ones whose hearts are racing.” The prophet calls out to those who hearts are racing - “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.”
This story from Isaiah was written in the darkness of exile. The racing hearts belonged to those who had known for too long what is was to live in the shadow of death. Held captive in Babylon, the people were torn from land, from family, from the temple, far from everything that gave them a sense of who they were. It was Egypt all over again. And the people longed for God to intervene.
Out of the darkness of exile, the clouds break and light begins to shine through. There is hope on the horizon. “Tell the ones whose hearts are racing - “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.” God is going to act once again in the midst of the people. A way will be made for their rescue. In the parched place of the exile, God will stir up the waters and make a way for the people to cross over into new life.
This story mirrors the Exodus. God will once again redeem the people. Life will break forth in the wilderness, the likes of which the world had never scene. Waters will break forth, streams will run in the desert. The haunts of jackals shall become swamps. The burning sands shall become life giving pools.
And in the midst of this budding oasis there shall be a highway for God’s people. This highway will be a Holy Way - God’s way - and it will be for the redeeming of God’s people. Just as God created a way through the waters of the Exodus, God will create a way in the wilderness. God will once again trouble the waters on the people’s behalf.
God will redeem the people. For the audience of this story, for the meta-narrative of scripture, this redeeming has economic and political implications. To redeem a person literally means to buy them out of slavery. The person redeemed is set free. Their standing in the community has changed. Out of the death of slavery God claims the people as God’s own - creating new life. This is what God has done for us through Christ.
Our baptism is a political event. God’s redeeming us marks us as a member of God’s kingdom. We are a redeemed people, bought out of the slavery of sin and death.
We are redeemed from the fallen powers of this world, not removed from them, but set free from them to do work among them on behalf of God. We are citizens of God’s kingdom first. This is a far greater mark on our identity than a driver’s license or passport or voter’s registration card. This citizenship defines who we are and how we engage the world. We are God’s redeemed people.
We are also a people who are familiar with parched places. We just have to walk outside to encounter parchedness. We are in the midst of a drought. For mouths and years we have pleaded for rain - for refreshment and hope. This is real for us, and also a metaphor for our lives. We know the parched places of sin. Of broken relationships. Of Sickness. Of Death. We know the places where our hearts race for hope and healing.
The reminder today, through these water stories, is that God is at work in the parched places. God moves on our behalf - has already claimed us as God’s own through the cross. God does God’s work in the parched places of our lives.
When our own hearts are racing in the parched places of our lives, the reminder of our redeeming by God comes like rain in the drought. This is our promise. Today and always. When our lives become worn out and dry through sin and brokenness, God promises to be there with the waters of healing. In the wilderness of sin and death, God promises to bring new life and make a way upon which we can cross. God claims us as members of God’s kingdom. God troubles the waters on our behalf, over and over meeting us when we are parched and in need.
So wade in the waters friends. That hymn that we have marked our time with here in Lent. Wade in the waters of God’s creating. Wade in the waters stirred up by God’s promise. Wade in the waters where God claims you. Now and forever.
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