From Tears to Triumph

Acts 9: 36-43
We are continuing our reflection in the Book of Acts, the 9^th chapter.  What begins with the conversion of Saul, later known as Paul, concludes with a story about Peter and a woman most commonly known as Dorcas.  Here now the word of the Lord as recorded to us by Luke in the book of Acts…

Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs.

Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, ‘Please come to us without delay.’ So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them.

Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.

It started out like a typical bereavement call.  Peter, one of the leaders of the Way near Joppa was called to the home of Dorcas, a poor widow who had just died.  When he arrived her friends, her “church” community, was already there preparing her body, weeping and mourning the loss of their friend.  They did what any close knit community does when they suffer the loss of someone; they come together in their sorrow, to share stories about their friend and to lift up all of the good things that Dorcas did in her lifetime. 

Then Peter, utilizing all of his pastoral skills asks the mourners to leave him alone with Dorcas and in that moment of prayer and invocation of the Spirit he took her hand and raised her back to life.  This is another remarkable story of resurrection and hope.  Of life overcoming death, of light outshining the darkness.  It is appropriate that we speak to this today, of all days, after the week we have all been through.

But Dorcas being raised from the dead is not exactly what I want to talk with you about today.  We know that Dorcas, nor Peter lived forever, that in their humanity they eventually succumbed to death as will all of us someday.  We know that they left a community of friends behind who grieved and mourned their loss and that life did go on and that Christianity spread.

What I want to talk with you about today is spiritual health during times of crisis and the role in which the community can play because we know that crisis and stress can play games with our minds and our souls and it can leave you bewildered, beleaguered, fraught with fear and maybe even a little less believing in a God of love.

The events of this week have weighed heavily in my heart and caused me great concern, and fear, and sadness.

o   I am beleaguered by the fact the Boston Marathon, an American institution, a dream for many was so violently interrupted by the intentionally heartless acts of violence of two men – runners and men who had only the future before them. 

o   I am baffled and angry that our elected officials did not pass some sort of gun legislation merely two days after the bombings in Boston. Granted a bomb is not a gun.  But killing is killing, the loss of life and limb is the loss of life and limb. 

o   I am saddened by the plant explosion in West, Texas where fourteen people have died and the devastation to the plant and homes is great.

o   And then yet, in the same week I was riveted to the television and radio with sadness and relief at the death and then apprehension of the two suspects of the Boston Marathon and the officers who lost their life.

o   All of this in just one week’s time and in the shadows of the Sandy Hook tragedy, the blizzard, Hurricanes Sandy and Irene.  It has been a rollar coaster ride mostly downhill.  I am tired and feeling beat up.  It is too much.

Finding and offering community to other people in times of crisis is what we can do to heal the wounds of affliction.  The friends of Dorcas came together to share in their sorrow, their fears, the apprehensions and then they moved from that place to one of healing and hope.  They had witnessed with their own eyes the miraculous love and grace of God in the middle of death.  They joined their spirits together and acknowledged that there was a larger force at work and in doing so began their own healing.

It is challenging at the least to live in resurrection light when the darkness of the tomb is all around us.  When the friends of Dorcas were in the deepest, darkest, most dank valley they didn’t recede into the depth of isolation.  They chose to honor life and walk through that valley together.  And we can too.

We can grab another person’s hand and say ‘let’s get out of here’, there is another way out.  Spiritual healing is not an impossible task.  It takes time with every step we take and it takes being in community, it takes each other like the Beatles say, ‘I get by with a little help with my friends’. 

We were created to be relational; that is, we live in relationship to one another and we use those relationships to know ourselves, and our greatest capacity.  Acknowledging this then it is possible to say that we can heal in relation to and with one another.  We can come together as a community bound by the vision of hope, perseverance and strength.  We can talk.  We can acknowledge fear and disappointment.  We can cry tears of sadness until there are no tears left.  It is in this relationship with one another that we can carry each other’s burdens and work toward resolution and healing.

We can rejoice in the good that humanity is doing when that gets overshadowed by the pervasive violence.  The youth and adults who arrived safely back last night from the Virginia mission trip worked together to combat the violence of homelessness by building hope and security for another family.  Let’s do more.  We can search for and work diligently toward the roots of systemic violence and apathy by coming together in conversation like the Interfaith Clergy group is doing on Tuesday night, come and be a part of this important conversation.  Creative endeavors like this is where our greatest potential lies for resolution and hope.

There is so much that we, as a faithful community can do.  We know the ways of Christ, now let’s embody them together and in doing so our spiritual healing will regenerate itself and begin anew. 

“Therefore, (brothers and sisters,) since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

Amen.

Converted for Good

Acts 9: 1-20

Damascus, back in the day, was a hotbed of spiritual activity it seems according to our scripture because the road to Damascus is where Saul, later to become known as Paul had his conversion experience.  All you need do is a Google Search to find out the iconic status the Damascus Road experience has become.  Today we will consider Luke’s account of the conversion of Saul, the 9^th chapter.

He Qui, The Calling of Saint Paul

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ The men who were travelling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one.

Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ He answered, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ The Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.’

But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’

So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’

Conversion can, at times, take on a very bad connotation.  In the Christian context particularly we have placed heavy emphasis on the act of conversion, I believe, without thought, without consideration, without regard to God’s part in all this.  When did you become a Christian?  How did you become a Christian?  What were you doing when you knew that you were saved?  For some, statistics are of value when counting how many lives have been saved, it’s sort of like McDonalds who touts on their billboards ‘over one billion served’.

I remember many years ago when the father of my son’s friend asked me if I ‘was saved’.  Sean, being a ‘born again’ Christian, wanted to know a specific time and date when I received Jesus into my life.  When had I truly converted or transformed my life.  I was at somewhat of a loss for words since I had never known myself to be anything other than Christian[i], and a practicing one at that! 

I suppose I could have pulled out the church bulletin from the day I was baptized, December 28, 1952, which I still have but I don’t think that would have assuaged Sean’s deepest desire to know if I was REALLY saved.  We both went away that day uneasy with the conversation and unsatisfied.  He, because he couldn’t add another ‘saved life’ to his tally and me feeling rather incompetent since I have never had a flashy, light-blinding ordeal like Saul of Tarsus.  Conversion is a very personal experience and not something that we can use a formula on or even try to invoke ourselves.

When you hear the story of Saul’s Damascus Road experience it really leaves you feeling a bit inadequate if you have not had that sort of experience.  His is rather blatant.  Flashes of light, a voice from heaven.  Blindness, hunger and thirst, he had to be led into Damascus rather than find his way himself.  His conversion was a life changing experience that took three days to complete.  And when Ananias finally laid hands on Saul, then and only then did the scales fall from his eyes and he could see.

What did he see?  He saw the disciples in a new light; he saw the world around him in a different way.  His old habits had been altered to make ready for the new.  He saw that rather than being a persecutor of the followers of Jesus he could become a believer and proclaimer of the Word and the Way.  And we know that he did!  That is some major turnaround.  His life was changed for the good.

And Ananias?  He also needed a change of heart in order to lay hands on Saul.  He balked at the thought of touching Saul but it was God who said to him, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings…’.   So Ananias then laid his hands on Saul, he trusted that what God was doing was the right thing to do.  He compassionately called Saul brother.  Saul was no longer the enemy.  Ananias’ heart was transformed for the good.

Yes, conversions, changes of heart, transformations, altered states, however you name it, can happen in any way shape or form because it is God who chooses to enlighten us and do a new thing with us and for us.  When we are converted whether in the blink of an eye or with razz a matazz, or over a lifetime we are converted for God’s good that is for the betterment of our lives and those around us. 

I believe that we are converted because God wants and needs us for SOME reason, which may or may not be made known to us.  “Live the questions”, says poet Ranier Maria Rilke[ii].  We are God’s instruments, chosen and beloved to bring God’s presence before each person or each circumstance that we encounter.  And what that means is that we are to speak justice, love kindly and to live each and every day lifting up God’s presence and trusting that tomorrow will be a better day.  Otherwise, what is the point of conversion if we do not live into the hope of Jesus the Christ?

I have no doubt that one, some, or all of the youth and adults who have gone on the mission that left just yesterday will come back changed, converted in a way.  It might be through the hard work that they will be doing or the encounter with the homeowner, or even a moment between friends, a proverbial ‘light bulb’ will go on and they will experience the profound love and awesome nature of God.   They will understand that to help another person is the Gospel at work.  Herein lies the conversion; it is a conversion of the heart to a new way of seeing and living, doing and being.

What happened on the Damascus Road so long ago to Saul happens today.  He was blinded and then was made to see again, but with fresh vision.  He witnessed of God’s redemptive love for you and me and then told others who also might just need a lift. 

Every person’s got a story to tell of how God has lifted them up from despair to hope, from ruin to growth, from really abhorrent behavior to decent, ethical living and then moved them on to help out this sorry world. How it happened, that’s not the most important point.  The point is that it did happen.

Conversion is not just a 10-letter word, or a tally sheet, or flashing lights on a dusty distant road.  It is an ongoing witness of love for others to see and hear.  God calls.  God converts.  Now go!  We are God’s instruments to bring peace. 

Amen.

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[i] This concept is derived from the book ‘Christian Nurture’ by Horace Bushnell, c. 1847.

[ii] From the book, “Letters to a Young Poet” by Ranier Maria Rilke.

An Easter Lens

John 20: 1-18

We are faithful witnesses to the resurrection because we have come here today seeking to hear and experience the joy and excitement of a story that is over 2,000 years old.  And, each year, the story does not disappoint us.  Our alleluia’s ring out, lilies dot the communion table, the children are dressed in their pastel finery, a bonnet or two still emerges and the scent of chocolate bunnies and Peeps are in the air!  Christ has risen, and we witness that miracle once again today. 

Our denomination, the United Church of Christ has a slogan that reads,  “Our Faith is over 2,000 years old, our thinking is not.”  Excellent point because what good is an irrelevant faith?  What purpose would it serve if this resurrection story was just ‘an idle tale’ as the apostles in Luke’s Gospel first believed it to be? (Luke 24:11)

 It’s not that there is nothing new to say about the resurrection story that makes it irrelevant for our lives, this 2,000 year plus story, it’s that’s there’s everything to say about the resurrection of Jesus.  So much so that first Paul records it and then all of the Gospels record it.  Matthew, Mark and Luke were cohorts in their recounting of the resurrection but John, he goes maverick and writes a very human and endearing story for us to tell and retell each year.

Let us now place ourselves in the Gospel of John, the 20^th chapter and witness what happened on that first Easter morning…

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, (ra-BO-nai) “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.

Just like the beloved birth narratives of Jesus that we so adore with the wise men and shepherds, the stars, angels, manger, we love to proclaim Jesus’ resurrection story over and over and over again because this story, even more than Jesus’ birth is the heart, the nucleus, and the genesis with a small g of our Christian faith.  We read into Jesus’ birth excitement and wonder because we know the end of the story.  And the end of the story is today, Easter Sunday.  Although, we know it’s really not THE end, it’s only the beginning. 

Mary from Magdala awakens early; it was still dark.  She takes oils to anoint Jesus’ body, she wanted to complete what she wasn’t able to accomplish on Friday because it was the Sabbath.  When she arrives at the tomb she sees that it’s empty.  You can imagine the fear, the unknowing, the sadness, the panic all funneled into that one little second when she sees that Jesus was not there.  She wastes no time and runs back to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the beloved one to tell them the news, or rather exclaim to them that someone has taken Jesus away.

Neither do Simon Peter and the other disciple waste any time.  They run also to the tomb, passing each other but the beloved one reaches the tomb first.  He looked in and saw the linen’s.  Then Peter arrives only seconds later and goes directly into the tomb and also sees the linen’s and the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head.  It was rolled up neatly and laying aside.  The beloved also now enters the tomb.  And it is recorded that he believed, right then and there.

But Mary.  Faithful Mary.  Loving Mary.  Grieved Mary begins to weep.  She peers once again into the empty tomb only this time she sees angels gently sitting in the place where Jesus should have been. 

Her tears flowed, but then she hears a voice, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”  She didn’t turn around to see who had just spoken to her.  She was fixated on the cavernous void of the tomb.  In between the tears she said, “They’ve taken my Lord away and I don’t know where.”   She thought he was the gardener and pleaded with him to tell her where he had taken Jesus’ body.

“Mary”, Jesus says.  She turns. “Teacher,” she says.  At that moment, that very tender moment, she knew.  She probably didn’t understand but she knew that Jesus was no longer dead but alive.  She knew at that point that she was not left alone in this garden but had Jesus beside her.

In this moment the tectonic plates of the world shifted and it has never been the same since.  You cannot deny that the resurrection did not cast a different light in this world.  Out of the tomb came life.  He who was tortured and maimed was now made whole. He who was once dead was now alive.  Indeed, if you believe, then it has the power to transform your life in ways that you can’t even image.

You’re probably thinking, ‘come on preacher, the world really hasn’t changed’.  The Romans probably got up the next morning without remorse and prepared the crosses for a new set of criminals and troublemakers.  Wars have commenced, hatred and injustice remain, people starve as the eyes of the indifferent gaze at them.  What in the world has changed since the first Easter morning? 

The question is not what has changed.  The question is who has changed?  My question is, have I changed?  Your question is, have you changed? Theologian Peter Gomes once said, “Easter is not just about Jesus; it is about you.  He has already claimed his new life; now it’s your chance to claim yours.”[i]  How will you proclaim your new life?  How can Easter possibly change you? 

It gives you new vision with which to see.

An Easter lens is like a kaleidoscope.  You look through the view finder and witness the most beautiful arrangement of jeweled fragments.  And then at the twist of the other end you have another exquisite configuration enfolding before your eyes.  Each twist is different, unique and beautiful. 

All the while what you are really gazing at might be, in reality, without the lens of the kaleidoscope, a trash heap.   But there can be beauty that arises out of despicable places.  Who among us at one time or another in our lives have not been able to see hope?  Who among us has not been able to envision the next minute yet alone the next few years?  Who among us has not been in the cold dark tomb, just like Jesus?  I suspect I am not the only one in this sanctuary.

The apostles moved out of their place of fear and sorrow and carried on witnessing to God’s great love and living accordingly.  You can too. You can be changed by the twist of your lens because the resurrection has given you new life too.  The apostle Paul says, ‘anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person.  The past is forgotten and everything is new.’ (2 Cor 5:17) 

Today the tomb could not hold Jesus in death’s dark grips and neither can it do that to you.  Beauty from ugliness.  Hope from despair.  Life from death.  Easter proclaims the mighty and redemptive love of God when we can no longer see it for ourselves.

This is our proclamation today.

“Hold firmly”, Paul says, “to the message that I have proclaimed to you….If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain.” (1 Cor 15:2,13). 

There is no tomb dark enough or deep enough that we cannot climb out of and overcome because Christ has claimed that victory for us.  Hold firmly to it.

The lens of Easter through which we look at today is how we shall view all that happens to us in our lifetime.  This is no idle tale.  Hold firmly to it. 

We are reinvented, reborn, renewed, we have got a second chance at life because our vision now has been recast through the miracle of resurrection.   Wendell Berry ends his poem, “Manifesto: The Mad-Farmer Liberation Front” with a two word, prophetic sentence.  ‘Practice resurrection’.

Let us witness resurrection today and then practice it each day of our life.   

And you thought the resurrection was just a story! 

Amen!

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[i] Gomes, Peter, ‘Strength for the Journey’ from his sermon, ‘Starting Over’, p. 264

A Meditation for Good Friday

A Private Conversation

“Today you shall be with me in Paradise”

It is somewhat hard to believe that Jesus and the two criminals hanging next to him were able to carry on a conversation.  I mean to think that their crosses were that close that they could hear one another in a pained whisper, or that they had enough strength to call out if the crosses were farther apart is fairly remarkable.  It must have been chaos below as seen from their angle above and yet they were able to converse in the last moments of their lives about some serious issues and we are privy to hear this conversation between three dying men.

Hear now the account of this conversation from the Luke the 23^rd chapter…

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’

There is no time left.  Each one of these men’s lives are imminently ending.  For two of them death could be the final word, for Jesus, of course, we know it isn’t.  One of the criminals jumps on the bandwagon with the accusers and scoffs at Jesus.  ‘If you think you are so good, then save us all!’ he said mockingly. 

His choice for eternal damnation was already made whether he knew it or not.  He could not open his ears nor his heart to hear that his life didn’t have to end the way in which it did.  He blindly followed the others down that road to perdition.  He didn’t look back.

The other criminal saw differently.  And he tried.  He tried to bring some understanding to the first criminal of who Jesus was, of what Jesus is capable of.  He asks that Jesus remembers him, that is, Jesus forgive him for whatever he has done in his life, great or small and then accept him into the kingdom of heaven, eternal life, the ultimate presence of God that knows absolutely no end.  “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.”          

This intimate scene shows us that we have a choice, even until the very end, the final hour of our lives.  We have a choice, we can choose life or we can choose death.  We can opt for redemption and come into the kingdom with Jesus, or we can foolishly deny and mock Jesus and the salvation that he offers rendering ourselves to eternal damnation.  The choice is ours. 

We have many choices today.  Too many choices!  From simple and mundane things like what kind of cover do I want for my Smartphone, and what I want on the top of my pizza to behavioral choices that effect your life and those around you.  What will you do with your life, how will you treat others, how will you live out your days however many days you have in this life?  

This scene on the cross shows us that it is never to late to repent and to turn your life around.  Even though the criminal was dying he would live eternally in the kingdom of God; it was in his very last moments that he understands and that Jesus prepares a place for him in paradise.  That’s comforting.

But why wait?  Why wait until we have no more days upon this earth?  Today, right now, in this moment we can make a choice for life and all of the goodness that God can give you.  Right here.  Right now.  Every action we take or word that comes from our mouth can be life giving if we so choose.  This is what Jesus’ words are all about.

‘Today, you shall be with me in paradise.’  

The choice seems fairly clear cut to me.   Jesus remembers those who merely ask to be with him in sincere repentance, acceptance and surrender.  Will you be one of them?

Amen.
Photo one taken at the start of the Via Dolorosa on Good Friday, 2008 in Jerusalem.
Photo two is of a mosaic in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.  It is of Jesus being carried form the cross to his tomb.

A Meditation for Maundy Thursday

An Ominous Silence

John 13: 107, 31b-38

This night is a night of great transition.  For the disciples the milieu in Jerusalem shifts from a Passover celebration to the seriousness of an impending doom where Jesus hands himself over to the authorities who put him on trial, mock him and carry out his crucifixion. 

  

This is a night of darkness.  Shadows elongate and reveal a dirt pathway over ancient stones that lead to the upper room where Jesus gathered at table for what was to be his last meal with his disciples.  They carefully climb the stairs one or two stumble for the oil lamps had not yet been lit.  Across in the valley the donkey’s have stopped their grazing and are still, their eyes getting closer to sleep with each lengthening blink.  In the garden at Gethsemane only the full Paschal moon filters through the branches of the olive trees.  Otherwise it was dark.

This is a night of great confusion. Jesus seems to know what lies ahead but no one else does.  The betrayal, the denial, the final supper in which he shares are yet to come, but none of the disciples seem to know or understand the magnitude of the hour.  They are confused; how could any of them be disloyal to their Lord or renounce their relationship to him?  Only God and Jesus know that his hour has come.  This moment, this time, this place was the zenith of the meaning of his life. 

This is a night of selfless love.  As they were eating their meal Jesus quietly gets up from the table and wraps a soft towel around his waist.  An anxious hush falls over the room and the disciples begin to eat a little slower.  You can hear the wrestling of their robes as they turn towards Jesus when he comes to them and kneels at their feet.  The water splashes against the sides of the basin and he dips in the wash rag and wrings it out.  All of them, Simon Peter, even Judas Iscariot are cleansed.  Jesus leaves no one out.  And when he was finished he gave them a cup of wine and some bread and asks that they remember him.

This is a night about Christ, what he has done for us, and what he has yet to accomplish.  He comes to us in a lowly manger and then ministers to us through the leper, the blind man, and the prostitute.  He mounts a humble donkey and rides closer to his death.  He hands us a towel so that we might be cleansed.  He hands us some bread and wine in order for us to be refreshed.  He gives to us his life, freely and willingly for he could have gotten away.  How will you receive him?

This night is a night of ominous silence.  For in this hush is every person’s story.  Your story, my story and the story of Jesus’ miraculous love.  It is in the silence and between the lines that resides the acts of human misery and the reality of our lives, the questioning, the doubt, the fear.  In this silence we wrestle between good intentions and indifference, our yesterdays and today’s.  Yet, this quiet begets the fullest potential of who we can be and reveals to us the power of God’s love and forgiveness.

On this night, the night in which Jesus was betrayed he gives yet again, a new commandment, to love. Simply love. Deeply love.  Honestly love just as he loves us.  Unselfishly, with generous intent, and forever.  It is the very least that we can do for our Lord.

Amen.   Let it be so.

Photograph taken from St. Peter Galicantu in Jerusalem.  The crowd is descending the Kidron Valley from the Mount of Olives.

A New Thing

Isaiah 43: 16-21

How often, when you have been in unfamiliar situations, has someone asked you to consider alternatives?  To see something just a bit differently than you normally would.  To maybe drink from a different water source or to walk a path that is counter to the path you have always walked? 

It’s not easy to do so; in fact maybe it is impossible to see an alternative when we are swamped in the minutia of daily living or so bogged down with trying to keep things running the way they always have.

Our scripture, that the lectionary holds up for consideration does precisely that, from the book of the prophet Isaiah. It asks us to see anew.  And it is fitting to have a look at it during this Lenten season because the passage makes us think, it lifts our spirits in this long season of repentance, it can expand our imagination as to what could be, and has the potential to solidify our hope for a grand future[i].  It prepares us to see Christ’s death and his resurrection as a gateway into a hope filled future.

God enlists the prophet Isaiah to speak to the people of Israel in words of comfort about going home to yet another new reality, from the 43^rd chapter.

“Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
 a path in the mighty waters, 
who brings out chariot and horse,
army and warrior; 
 they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of the old.  I am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.”  

You see a prophet’s words, especially Isaiah’s, weren’t always gloom and doom that you might expect. Isaiah was quite the imaginative poet and his poetry are words of soothing comfort while he readies the people for something new.  They may not like it, they may not want it, but God does, so God is doing something new and Isaiah is the chosen one to relay that message.  

For so long the Israelites were in captivity in Babylon. And then, after a good long time, God says to them, “OK folks, it’s time.  Pack up your camels, get some jugs of water, you’re on your way home.  Back to Judah you go!  Get a move on!  Don’t you get it?  Do you not perceive it?”  You’re getting a fresh start.  As you know, some did return, and some didn’t, but it was decidedly the start of something new thanks to the ever creating God that we believe in.  Water in the wilderness can only means really good things; renewal, rehydration, rejuvenation, rebirth. God spoke then to accomplish God’s purposes and God speaks today. 

Camels in the Sinai by Suzanne Wagner

There is a lot of newness in the air as one friend of mine pointed out to me.  The Israel of today, back in the promised land has just formed a new coalition government within its parliamentary democratic system, just in time for President Obama to visit Israel for the very first time.  They hope to increase security and to improve the quality of life for its citizens through this new government.  Let us hope and pray for peace in the Holy Land and in Jerusalem. 

Yet more newness, habemus papam!  We have a pope. The white smoke came billowing out of the Sistine Chapel chimney against a midnight blue sky ushering in a new pontiff, a younger (somewhat) pontiff, a humbler pontiff who appears to be in touch with the people.  While it’s clear that he is a conservative like his predecessor he is also a champion for equality and is for the rights of marginalized people.  Perhaps he will bring around a renewal for the Roman Catholic Church which has been weighed down with it share of scandals, corruption, and abuse.   Pope Francis is a servant and a pilgrim like all of us, so he is someone we can all identity with even if we are not Catholic. 

So, there is a lot of newness in the air.  I guess God really is still speaking like the UCC moniker notes. In spite of human misunderstanding and over our beloved history, God continues to pull for us and create anew.  “Ever ancient, ever new” as Augustine of Hippo says.  God just keeps building upon what was in order to fashion something new, something in keeping with God’s vision for humanity, not necessarily ours.     

“I am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”  Rivers in the desert, ways in the wilderness, jackals and ostriches will honor God who will tame them.  A new life for the people of Israel is springing forth; a new life for you is springing forth if you open yourselves up to perceive it. 

Christianity, that is the truth of the Gospel, not necessarily doctrine, since its inception, ask us to see differently.  Jesus want us to notice the woman caught in prostitution and embrace her.  He asks us to envision the blind beggars, who are on the same path as we, as fully sighted individuals, he encourages us to include and to embrace every body. The entire premise of Christian doctrine begs us to find life amidst the ashes of destruction and exclusion. A new thing, can you see it?

God asks us to be a safe haven for all and to accomplish much in order to perceive the new things that God might be trying to do with us.  New ways of being a gathered community of believers.  God asks us to speak honestly and openly about how we can be God’s vision of hope in Orange and beyond with each other not around each other.  God asks each one of us to be the harbinger of good news in a world that sometimes doesn’t seem to be so safe.  God asks us to relinquish self-interest and control for the good of the Gospel in the larger setting.  “I am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

Doing a new thing doesn’t mean that we give up our old ways necessarily or entirely but it does mean to amend them.  It means to examine that which does harm and let it go and that which builds up the body of Christ and develop it into something more.  When the people of Israel were finally released to go home they could take their belongings with them but I’m sure that they examined what they would take and what they would leave behind; what wasn’t worth packing up and taking along with them or what might even break the camel’s back!

This is a time of transition for OCC and we will have directed conversations that I will be hosting in the early fall.  You will receive a letter just after Easter outlining the process and a plan to head into the future.  We will examine all aspects of your congregational life and begin to formulate a vision for where you want to go as it relates to who God is calling you to be.  We will look at what type of pastor could help you realize your goals.  This is all part of the search process which actually has begun by tackling the deficit, getting your financial house in order.

Orange Congregational Church

Fall might seem like a ways out but nothing really solid and good is realized quickly.  In the meantime, talk to me about your hopes and dreams.  

God continues to call us forward to accomplish new things, to perceive loving kindness and justice and to enjoy this life.  Indeed God called you as a faith community into being and works with you to prepare the way for those who will follow.  Immerse yourself and watch, perceive all that God tosses your way.

May the One who causes peace to reign in the high heavens, have peace descend upon us this morning.  May the One who has sustained Orange Congregational Church for all of these Gospel filled years continue to strengthen, preserve, and bless you.

Amen. 

Reverend Suzanne E. Wagner

Orange Congregational Church

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[i] Idea from Weekly Seeds, Kate Huey, UCC.org.

Hungry? Thirsty? Then Come!

Isaiah 55: 1-9

The Israelites had adapted quite nicely to their exile in Babylon, in fact they laid down roots.  After so many generations they had forgotten about that good old promised land, that land of milk and honey that God had promised to Moses and their ancestors. 

Apparently the words of Psalm 137 “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and there we wept when we remember Zion.”  We hung our harps on the willows, “How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?”  (v. 1, 2a, 4), apparently those words weren’t so much in their hearts and minds anymore like they were when they first were exiled to Babylon and the longing to go home was great.

They had become accustomed to their life in Babylon.  They liked it.  It was good.  It was comfortable.  They prospered.  As one of the scholars say, “Eat royal bread, think royal thoughts.”   Even if they weren’t in their own land, life was good like a fine glass of port, why think about home now?

At least they thought they were mighty-fine until Isaiah asks them a question.  Why do you spend your money for bread that doesn’t satisfy you?  They might be comfortable in Babylon but were they really satisfied? 

Let us now hear the words of the Prophet Isaiah…

Ho, everyone who thirsts, 
come to the waters;
 and you that have no money,
   come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
 without money and without price. 
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
 Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
   and delight yourselves in rich food.

Incline your ear, and come to me;  listen, so that you may live. 
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
 my steadfast, sure love for David. 
See, I made him a witness to the peoples,  a leader and commander for the peoples. 
See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
 and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
 because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
 for he has glorified you.

Seek the Lord while he may be found,
 call upon him while he is near; 
let the wicked forsake their way,
   and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
 and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
 nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. 
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your way and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The ancient marketplace in Babylon must have been a site.  The busy daily commerce of the merchants calling out to the consumers, “Fresh frankincense for sale”, “Spelt, we’ve got spelt on special today, only 5 scheckels for a homer.”, “Don’t run out of oil for your lamps”; the old weights and measures scales barely emptied one bunch of grapes and a container of pomegranates was right up there on the scale.  The aroma of the freshly baked pita loaves permeated the alley ways.  All of this activity, made for a very lavish economy for some.  

Can you see the women rushing from one keffiah headed vendor to the next in their long flowing gowns?  Or how about the old women sitting on the pavement sorting her fresh herbs and spices for sale?  Surely you might need some of her just picked hyssop.

People were buying.  People were selling.  And the poor people, the poor people where scavenging for peels and rinds in the piles of discarded, day old fruit. 

No wonder the Israelites had assimilated so beautifully into Babylonian culture after their exile from Judah.  What was there not to like?  Good food, great frankincense.  You can get pretty comfortable after a few generations.  

There was so much to buy, so much on which to spend your money.  As you’re leaving you see a large tray of brightly colored glass beads for sale, all different sizes.  Should you?  Can you splurge?  What’s the harm, a few new beads to go with that gorgeous Mecca-imported silk you’ve just finished sewing into a robe.  Or maybe that shiny anvil caught your eye, your husband could use a new anvil for his metal forging business. 

But those beads, did you really need to purchase new beads? Will those beads make any sort of difference in your life?  Will they satisfy your deepest desire for relationship, for self worth, for expression of what you really value in life?  Will those beads give you a deep and abiding sense of stability and ultimately grace?

 

Isaiah thinks not!  Folks the lure of materialism is an age-old problem.

Isaiah names and nails it. “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” (55:2)

Isaiah’s formidable task was to tell them to abandon their ways, to stop buying this pagan, nutrient-absent, life-zapping bread.  They were too comfortable.  They were eating bread that won’t satisfy them in the long run.  Isaiah, spokesperson for God, names it and nails it. 

You know, being a prophet is not an easy profession, you don’t generally win the title of Ms. or Mr. Congeniality!  I had one professor in seminary that opened a lecture with “Be glad your daddy wasn’t a prophet!” Their news, though essential, was not easy to hear or heed.

Let’s cut to the chase.  We are not exempt from this consumer driven culture that we live in just like those Israelites in Babylonia.  Don’t think for a minute that the children of Israel are the only ones who are in need of ‘correction’.  We ALL are in need of finding our way back to God and renouncing all that which distracts us from healthy, God-focused living. Now this is not a rub on capitalism but it is a rub again consuming with the idea that it will satisfy and make your life complete.

It’s all too easy today to lose our way and to forget about what truly matters, what truly can fill us with satisfaction and love.  It’s much too easy to partake in the bread of secularism and the loaves of materialism because it’s lathered in a rich and creamy dressing which is an aphrodisiac to those who are empty; it is the opiate of our day.  Follow it and you’ll be fed for a time being.  Buy into to it and you’ll have lots of interesting and beautiful stuff but will you be satisfied?

What satisfies you?  How do you know when you are filled to capacity and needing no more? This a call to examine what it means to live a life giving, an energizing existence.  

The voice of Isaiah cries out, the ever present, all inclusive prophet speaks to all.  There is room for everyone here, it’s win win: those with means, don’t be lured by distractions and those with lesser or no means, please just come; YOU will be given what you need to endure life and to prosper when you follow the Lord.  This is ultimately a passage of invitation to a richer, grander and fuller life for each an every person.

For Christians Christ can satiate our emptiness.  Eat this bread…..and be filled with peace.  Drink this cup….your yearnings will cease.  Eat this bread…your hunger and emptiness will be assuaged.  Drink this cup….relax, be still, release your grip and just rest in the incredible presence of God. 

Come and never be hungry, trust and you will not thirst.

May this be our Lenten hope and prayer.

Amen.

Photographs taken by Suzanne.  Man and Women in Bethlehem marketplace.  Tray of beads found in the Old City of Jerusalem. 2007.