Reconciled in Christ, Called to Be Disciples

Third Sunday After the Epiphany

Isaiah 9:1-4, Psalm 27:1, 4-9; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23

(look these up on bible.oremus.org or biblegateway.com)

credit: www.providencecpc.org

These past three weeks we've been following the Gospel story of the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, and the interactions he's had with his long-lost cousin, John the Baptist--who has had quite the public ministry himself, heralding the arrival of the Messiah he did not immediately recognize, and sent his followers to see if he was really 'the One,' then Jesus came out to John to be baptized in the Jordan, and the heavens parted to anoint Jesus for this public ministry.  Next, John began proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah, and sent his own followers to become some of Jesus' first disciples.  And now, John has been arrested, his own public ministry coming to an end, and Jesus begins to proclaim: 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.'  

The Gospel goes on to say that Jesus went about Galilee teaching the good news of the kingdom of God, and calling more people to become his disciples.

Now, to be honest, even as a pastor, the words, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near," do not immediately strike me as good news.  Actually, it sounds like maybe slightly scary news.  Maybe you even grew up feeling the same way.  Part of this, I think, is in the word 'repent.'  Repent means to turn away from one thing, and turn towards something else.  

Since the kingdom of heaven is good news, to repent means to turn away from the bad news!  But what bad news could that be?  Given the time and place in which Jesus was speaking, I could imagine several things: believing it's a dog-eat-dog world, that there's not enough to go around, that the future is hopeless, that your past mistakes condemn you to a life of shame; and even just the basic human divisions among religious and ethnic groups and nationalities in the Mediterranean crescent.  Also, there was the military occupation of the Roman empire, the reality of slavery, having your country overthrown and ending up in exile, ongoing wars, and so forth.

The good news, by contrast, is love: God is a loving, involved, forgiving God, and we can live in a world where we treat one another with love!

Now, the very idea that you might love someone outside your own ethnic or religious group, let alone a total stranger, not from your own tribe or town--or even an enemy with some threat of violence towards you, such as a Roman soldier--the very idea is enormously revolutionary!

And it makes all the sense in the world, these past few weeks as we've studied the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus, and John's followers who are now becoming Jesus' disciples--it makes sense that the followers of John would be suspicious of another traveling teacher coming to town.  After all, in the Greco-Roman world, it wasn't only John the Baptist and Jesus, but hundreds of wandering philosophers spouting advice and making proclamations, usually in exchange for money.  This economic enterprise was so pervasive in the society that even after the death and resurrection of Jesus, even within the Christian community, Paul is still trying to address the problem.  In Corinth, there are divisions among those who have been baptized by different early church leaders.  However, the baptism is in Christ, and the community is in Christ--and this ties back into the story of the original reconciliation of followers between John and Jesus.

That was a long time ago, and yet I think this can be tough for us even today.  This past week has been the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which is not always the best-publicized Christian festival, but no less necessary.  How often do we say, "I belong to the Presbyterian church, the Lutheran church, the UCC, the Baptists, the Catholics, etc?"  Yet, we belong to the Christian church.  We are one body in Christ.  

That's not to say that there aren't multiple valid ways of teaching and preaching and ministering to one another within the Christian community; not that there aren't multiple versions even of the Gospel stories--each varies from one another at least a little, and really, that's alright. Unity is not uniformity.  Unity is not the absence of difference.  Difference does not have to mean division, retreating into one's own little camps and eyeing anyone else with suspicion.

Yet, it's so easy to fall into this trap, that we have to keep reminding ourselves of the bigger picture, the gift of love, a love large enough to cast out fear.  Love is not naivete; love holds one another accountable, but does not exact revenge or even pettiness.  Love listens, even in times of disagreement.  Love realizes that the other people involved are also children of God.

One last thing.  I've been thinking today about these passages which talk about light:  The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?  Or, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, a light greater than the depths of darkness they have seen in their lifetimes--even such despair that it seemed like the shadow of death, as the Gospel says.

This light is love.  Love transforms the darkness and dispels fear.  Love encourages building bridges, seeking understanding, healing hurts, and reconciling old divisions.  It is not always easy to see the light, and look at each other through the lens of love, but when we do, we are able to forgive.  We let go of our fear, and we might even find joy in love--just as God has first loved us.

Thanks be to God!

Youth Moment: What's Inside the Pulpit?

Today, we're going to answer what a lot of people in the room might have wondered at some point:  What's stored inside the pulpit?  So, our young helpers, who are eye-level to the pulpit shelves, are going to tell us what's here, and I'll tell you why:

-cough drops, a glass of water, tissues:  all in case I have a cough or cold, or someone else might need to borrow them.
-a hymnal, a Bible, and an extra copy of the Communion liturgy:  things to help lead the worship service.
-extra pens and pencils:  to jot down prayer requests or announcement reminders.
-my keys: because I don't have pockets.

These are all things that are needed to be prepared for anything that comes up during the worship service.  And today's Scriptures talk about the importance of being prepared.  By being prepared for possible trouble, it's less likely that we'll panic when something happens.  And part of being prepared is simply staying calm and not getting too anxious that something bad might happen.  After all, we can always trust in God to help us in times of trouble.  In the meantime, that trust allows us to both meet our responsibilities and enjoy our lives, as God wants us to do!

Keep Calm and Carry On

Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 12; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19

Friends, do you ever worry?  Do you ever let your worries get the best of you?

Have you ever stayed up all night before a conversation you were dreading?  Were you up all night preparing your brilliant defense, so to speak, your witty, sure-fire presentation?  Did you find that when you finally got to that moment, after being up all night, that you were so tired and overwhelmed when you opened your mouth you could only say, “uhhhhhhhhhhh?”  Yep, I’ve been there too.  It would’ve been better to have gotten my sleep and not stressed so much over it.

Let’s take this up a notch:  Have you ever heard of “preppers?”  They were in the Cap Times a few weeks ago, I think, folks that are prepared for nuclear apocalypse, or zombies, or whatever, complete with their own bunkers full of weapons and non-perishable foods, and they draw great security from this, that they feel prepared for any eventuality.

Ah, bless them.  I do keep a little canned food and a flashlight on hand, but I’m not ready to build a bunker just yet.  I don’t even do extreme couponing, even though it’s quite popular with my friends!

Perhaps while I’m a little prepared, like maybe for a big snowstorm or a power outage, I’m not as prepared as I could be, and maybe that’s because I haven’t been that worried about it so far.

++

Each of the Scriptures today addresses people who are worried.  Whether in the time of Isaiah, or the time of Jesus, or the time of Paul, these folks were worried their whole world was about to cave in on them.  And they had good reason to be worried--whether it was war, or famine, or persecution, losing the people they loved, their homes, everything they knew.  And sure, we know situations like that can happen today--how often have they happened, just even this week in the Philippines, or last year in Superstorm Sandy?  We know life is precious, and fragile.

But you know what I love?  I love that these passages today are some of the best passages of comfort and strength out of the whole Bible.  The Bible knows how to talk to worried people!

We can find so much comfort in these verses.  My favorite is in Isaiah 65, “They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord”--that gives me great comfort.  And Chris in the choir has talked about how much she loves the verse in Isaiah 12: Surely God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; and will be my savior.  --And indeed, what a beautiful mantra we could hold onto throughout any difficulty in our lives!  And it’ll definitely stick with you today, with the choir anthem and the hymn we’re going to learn later.  It’s been in my head for weeks.

Jesus tells his audience, and us, when you hear of these things,  to not be terrified!  Granted, Jesus doesn’t want us to be naive either, because bad things may indeed happen, then and now, but we shouldn’t become petrified, unable to function or enjoy our lives in the meantime.  When these times come, we can also trust in the Lord and find we are given words and wisdom sufficient to the task, no matter what might happen.

All of the Scriptures tell us today, don’t sit around and do nothing, but also, don’t get obsessed over what may happen.  That’s a great paraphrase of the popular saying, “Keep calm and carry on.”  We can make reasonable preparations, but you can only be and do and respond as best you can in any given moment with what you’ve got.  Since we simply cannot predict the future, neither can we fully prepare for it.  Sometimes we just have to pray, and trust, that we will have what we need when we can’t possibly predict the outcomes.  And in the meantime, don’t get too riled up by all the doomsday prophets and the like, otherwise, we will miss out on the real joy in our lives!  God gave us a good world and we are to care for it and enjoy it with one another!

So I got wondering the other day, do you ever picture Jesus stressing out over something like the feeding of the five thousand the night before?  Do you think he was up all night thinking, “oh, gee, we’ll be so far from town, and which disciple should I put in charge of dinner, and do you think people will know to bring potluck…?”  I don’t know if he did that.  But I will tell you we do have a Bible story of Jesus staying up all night, in the Garden of Gethsemane, when his life was truly at stake, and he was worried.  He was fully human, after all!  At the end, he released control to God and went forth from the garden to the crucifixion.  And God responded by raising Jesus from the dead three days later.  Now really, who else saw that one coming?

Truly, there will be difficult times in our lives, enormously difficult times, when we wish we didn’t have to go through things the way they might play out, when we wish we didn’t even have to get up and face the day.  Sometimes no matter what we do, those trials are inescapable.  But even in such times, remember, that God wants good for us.  God wants healing for us, and wants us to know and be comforted by God’s own presence surrounding us and in us.  Our world isn’t perfect, isn’t always easy, and isn’t always loving, but our God loves us.  Let’s give thanks always for this, that God loves us even when we aren’t always perfect, easy to live with, or all that loving.  We are God’s beloved children; let’s rejoice and be glad!  Thanks be to God!

Prayers This Week:

For all affected by the typhoon, especially in the Philippines

For all who are seeking affordable healthcare

For all who are coping with the aftermath of disasters or violence

No Need To Be Ashamed

Jeremiah 29:1,4-7; Psalm 66:1-12; 2 Timothy 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19

(Look these up at bible.oremus.org or biblegateway.com)

Today we hear in the prophetic book of Jeremiah words of counsel to the people who have found themselves in exile, far from home, not to give up but to find a way to ‘bloom where they have been planted.’  Perhaps that’s an odd bit of advice, or perhaps it’s very timely, to people who are feeling so very uprooted.

We also hear in the continuing conversation in Paul’s letter to young Timothy some sage advice not to get entangled in wars of words with people who might try to prove him less experienced or too young for this kind of work, but to not be ashamed and to speak the truth.  And in the Gospel, we hear of how Jesus heals ten lepers and sends them to the Jewish priests to be admitted back into the community, but the Samaritan who realizes his healing returns to Jesus alone.

And today in the life of the church we observe Domestic Violence Awareness Sunday.  This is something relatively new in the life of the church and in the self-understanding of Presbyterian Missions.  However, it’s an integral part of what our mission agency and several of our ministries do.

The Church (meaning the church universal) has really failed on this point for as long as anyone can remember, and only recently started teaching that no one should have to experience violence in their homes, even if they are married to the person that abuses them.  So the first thing that I want to say today, and on every other occasion where I have the opportunity to do so, is that abuse is not, and never has been, part of God’s plan for our lives.  Abuse is sin, and the shame for it rests solely on the abuser, and not the abused.

I was also reminded this week that as the Church, (meaning the church universal), we’re not terribly good at defining what abuse is or who might experience abuse.  Perhaps that doesn’t surprise anyone here after a decade or more of abuse scandals.  But let me tell you how I was reminded, because I was really impressed.  I met several students at the high school who are involved in a group called Imagine, which teaches awareness, prevention and intervention for domestic abuse.  They were active in discussion about allowing men into the group.  This is because we often think of abuse being caused by men against women.  However, in recent years we’ve been increasingly aware that men can also suffer from domestic violence, whether their partner is male or female.  And women can suffer whether their partner is male or female.  Truly no one is immune from a situation such as this.  I thought to myself that even though I was in a similar group in high school and college, I was not nearly so wise.

From PADV Packet: (www.presbyterianmission.org/padvn)

Violence in any form is a destructive force that damages and destroys life and well being.  When violence is woven into the fabric of family relationships it distorts and destroys not only the violence between the victim and the perpetrator but the well-being and sense of self of each and every family member.  So often, families enmeshed in violence have lost a sense of hope and the prospect of healing and restoration seems to be a remote possibility.

I think that you can be at home, and still feel like you are in exile, that you have no home.  I think you can also have a church home that doesn’t really feel like home, a place where you find yourself all alone in a room full of people, because of whatever it is you are wrestling with or don’t want other people to know.

So then, you have a choice, albeit a difficult one:  do you stay where you feel you have no true home, and try to make the best of it, or do you pack up and go?  Sometimes, just such questions really are the biggest ones of our lives.  

Well then, when is it okay to bloom where you are planted?  When is it okay to go?  Actually, the same Bible and the same God tells the same group of people different things at different times in their journey.  And so it is with us.

A lot of people facing abuse don’t leave because they fear what may happen to themselves, or their children, or their pets.  And that is a legitimate fear demonstrated far too often--the deadliest time in an abusive relationship is often when the abused person tries to leave.  However, others get out because they realize what’s going to happen to them or the children or the pets if they don’t go.

At this particular point in the Israelite’s lives, so recently exiled, so weakened from the journey, and so traumatized, God tells the people to bloom in exile.  Find a happy home.  Raise a healthy family.  Thrive, don’t just survive, and don’t give up.  A day will come when there will be healing and joy.  Even if you’ve had to leave everything behind just to save your own life, there is hope.

Now God is not being Pollyanna about this, God’s just being realistic.  God knows they’ll never physically make it back home, or anywhere good, in the physical state that they’re in.  They have to get their strength back.  They have to build up a few resources, build up their numbers, and multiply--surround themselves with a supportive community that will be a force to reckon with when it is time to get up and go.  They’re going to have to be wise about this, and prepare for the journey.  They’ll get home someday, we’ll cover that story in a few weeks, but for now, it’s time to figure out a plan for the meantime, even though they are faced with difficult truths.

Alright.

Now for something a bit different...let’s talk a bit about leprosy.  We’ve talked about it before: that nasty flesh-eating disease that makes you look like a zombie; no easy cure back then like there is today; nobody wants to be around you because you stink and look awful and they don’t want to catch it from you, so you’re in exile, (see a theme here?) living in a leper colony until you die.  You can’t even go to worship, because the priests don’t want you bringing your mess in there.  But then Jesus comes along and heals these ten lepers he meets.  Why does the Samaritan come back?  The lepers whose spiritual home is in Jerusalem are begging to be freed from their stigma.  When they go to the priests, the priests will admit them back into the community, and that’s what they desire most.  The Samaritan isn’t going to be accepted into that community anyway; that’s not his people.  Because there is no fear of stigma in him, because he is not ashamed, he can recognize the truth and come back praising Jesus.

There is no need to be ashamed when speaking the truth, especially when the truth heals you and sets you free.  This is the philosophy behind the new shelter being built here in Dane County, that the women who live there have no need to be ashamed, and that by being in the light, they are safer, than trying to hide in stigma and fear.

I want to share with you something else from our Presbyterian Mission website on this issue, because it’s so well put: When domestic violence occurs, hope and restoration are never easily attained.  Sometimes they are decades in the making, especially if the victim or survivor of domestic violence and her family have no community of support to assist them on their long journey.  This is precisely where the Church should be.  As Christ’s agents of hope, we are charged to be “a light, shining in the darkness,” to those whose hope has been thwarted and do not know where to turn.

The Psalm today says, “we went through fire and water; yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.”  Ours is a God who turns the sea into dry land, who has kept his people among the living, and has not let our feet slip.  Ours is a God who will not let us be lost, no matter in what situation or where we find ourselves.  And our God is a God of justice, a God of compassion, a God of healing.  We are not alone.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Prayers this Week

For all who are caregivers for loved ones struggling with extended illness, that they may find respite, courage, and strength for the journey.

For those struggling with illnesses that have not yet been fully diagnosed, that they may find the answers and the treatments they need.

For all who are suffering from domestic violence, that they may find safety, hope, and healing.

For ministries of healing and hope in the PCUSA and around the world.

For families of children with special needs, that they may find the support, welcome, and access they need for full inclusion.

For families who are homeless, whether living with a relative or friend, living in their car, or living in a shelter or on the street, that they may find a true home.

Of Mosquito Bites and Bridging Boundaries

The following is an expanded/narrative version of the children's message about healing, both from physical ailments, and from our own prejudices.

There's been lots more mosquitoes recently after all the rain, and I am covered in bites.  The trouble is, I'm kind of extra allergic to these bites, and the itch doesn't go away for a long time, no matter what I do.  (This seems like it gets worse every year, and I have a whole shelf full of remedies to try and make them less itchy, but nothing works really all that well. Seriously, they itch for days, sometimes weeks. I'd give just about anything for a really good mosquito bite treatment).

Still, there's so many worse things you could have than mosquito bites.  Leprosy, for example, is a horrible disease where your skin basically falls off and you have all these open sores on your body.  It's also really contagious.  We have antibiotics that treat it now, but back in Biblical times, they didn't have any good medicines for it, so people really suffered.  Learn more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprosy

This is the background of the story of Naaman.  Naaman was a wealthy and powerful man, but he suffered from leprosy.  No amount of money could cure him from his suffering.  His wife's servant girl, an Israelite, told her to send Naaman to the prophet Elisha in Israel in order to be healed.  So the king sent Naaman to be healed, along with lots of expensive gifts to buy his way to being healed. (In fact, the king of Israel was terrified that Naaman was coming, because he thought the king was playing a trick on him and setting a trap to attack him).  However, the prophet Elisha calmed his king's fears, and when Naaman came to the prophet's house, Elisha told him to simply wash in the Jordan and he would be healed.

Now, Naaman was angry, because he expected a more impressive treatment, something that would be worthy of his might and status.  However, his own servants finally convinced him to follow the simple instructions, and trust that they would work.  He washed in the Jordan and was indeed healed!

There were a couple kinds of healings that took place that day.  First, Naaman was healed of his leprosy.  Second, he learned that a simple man with a simple answer could be more powerful than all of Naaman's might and wealth.  Third, the king learned that a foreign ruler and his general could need his help, rather than only be ready to destroy him and his kingdom.  Not only physical ailments, but also prejudices, were healed that day.

Sometimes we are asked to help people we'd rather not, and we have all sorts of reasons for not wanting to. It's important to be safe, but also, it's important to examine our own prejudices and ask ourselves whether God is calling us to something greater than what we knew possible before.  It is just as much a miracle to heal human divisions as it is to heal any other kind of human suffering.  Thanks be to God!

Of Snapping Turtles and Good Samaritans

*The following is an expanded version of the children's message for this morning.

In our family, we kind of have a thing with turtles and tortoises--this is mostly through my brother and my mom.  My mom would send my brothers out into the road to rescue snapping turtles that were in danger of being hit by cars.  She herself raised turtles in aquariums as a kid.  Some of this compassion rubbed off on my brother, who rescued two African tortoises while in college, and who will likely outlive him (they have quite the setup in his basement and are growing steadily).

I like most turtles and tortoises, but I don’t like snapping turtles.  In fact, I’m afraid of them.  After all, their jaws are big enough to take off your finger.  In my adult life, I’ve not had to contend with them at all--until a few weeks ago, when, coming home from the church office, I realized one was in the other lane on Netherwood Road (which is kind of busy that time of day).  I could see that the turtle was in danger.  However, I was still quite afraid of what might happen if I stopped to get him off the road.  In fact, God and I had to have a little conversation about whether I was going to help the turtle or just keep going, and I finally decided that I’d turn the car around and go back and help, but God better not let that turtle bite me in the process.

All this transpired over only a few minutes, but when I got back to the place where the turtle was, I discovered he was already gone.  He couldn’t have made it on his own.  What happened is that somebody else coming along had already stopped their car and rescued the turtle, putting him safely back in the ditch.  I was grateful, both for the turtle’s safety, and sort of secretly, because I didn’t have to be the one to rescue him.

In the story of the Good Samaritan, a priest and a Levite both see the man who was beaten, robbed, and left for dead at the side of the road--and they just keep on going.  I wonder if some of these thoughts were going through the minds of the folks who didn’t stop to help the man.  Were they afraid of being injured?  Or perhaps of getting dirty?  Or perhaps they just didn’t want to get involved and hoped someone else would take care of the problem?  I do kind of understand those feelings after all...

Sometimes, though, we are called upon to help someone when we’d rather not.  Perhaps they are dirty or upset or angry.  Perhaps we feel afraid.  Perhaps we’re unsure what to do.  These are all good times to ask for God’s help in deciding what to do, and if we possibly can help someone else, then we should try to do so.  We should practice good sense and safety when we’re helping others, and we can also ask for help from others when the job is too big for ourselves alone.  Once the Good Samaritan offered the ‘first aid’ which he could, he brought the man to a place where he could be given proper care until he had fully healed from his injuries.

God is always with us, in any situation, even when we’re afraid.  With God’s help, we can share God’s love with others and help them in their times of need.  Thanks be to God!

Boston’s Sheep and Shepherds

Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 22-30

I was really looking forward to preaching about nice, innocent, fuzzy sheep this week--sheep, who maybe aren’t the brightest animals, and maybe are kind of stinky, and shepherding is hard work--but, sheep never hurt anybody.  They just eat grass and follow shepherds.

Well, we’ll still talk about sheep, but I want to talk a little bit about the events of this past week as well. I found these Scripture passages took on a new meaning for me while I was watching the news about the Boston Marathon massacre.  Maybe if I recount them, you’ll see it with me:

An Unbearable Ordeal:

Like the passage in Revelation, that conversation between John and the elder in his dream, in the midst of this great multitude all gathered together from every nation, tribes and peoples and languages:  “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?”  “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”  We now know about people who have come through or are still coming through a great ordeal, and we have seen the pictures of their bloodied clothing--perhaps we saw more in these pictures than we’ve ever seen of the injured before in a catastrophe such as this.

Or even, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”  As I was looking at the aerial photos and video of the scene, those tall buildings on either side, it struck me how much it looked like a valley of the shadow of death--how utterly inescapable it seemed.

The scene also reminded me of another valley of the shadow of death, that is, Jerusalem, in the time of Jesus, as the Gospel reading tells us about today.  It was the Festival of the Dedication--swarms of people were coming into the city, and there was a big security crackdown, the people in the crowd most certainly felt the police-state presence, and not in great ways.  And then there were the people questioning Jesus about his role in the midst of all of this:  Why keep us in suspense?  Tell us plainly--but they weren’t asking because they wanted to believe; they were baiting a trap.  And yet Jesus, who was in danger of being trapped by the powers that be, responds:  My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.  No one will snatch them out of my hand.

We Can’t Live In A Bubble:

John Calvin [a founder of the Reformed tradition of Christianity] wrote of weeks that happened just like this, and about the paralysis of fear:  that really at any moment you and your family could be swept off by war or famine or weather or plagues; you could be riding your horse to market and a tree could fall on you; you could stay home, the one place where you think it’s safe in this dangerous world, and the house might burn down!  

In reality, there is no way to avoid absolutely every peril.

And just this week, we realize: you could take your family to a happy sports event and be wiped out by a bombing; you could be sitting in a nursing home and the fertilizer plant next door could wipe you out (Texas); you could stay home and be swept away in a flood (Wisconsin).  As much as I want to bubble-wrap the children when I hear the news these days--I also can’t succumb to the fear.  We must still live our lives, wisely, of course,  but living them nonetheless.

There are some other passages that really resonated with me as I studied the Scriptures this week--for example, that the people were being scattered like sheep, afraid--we saw some folks running still towards the finish because that’s what they were supposed to do, the singular goal they’d had for so many miles; others were searching desperately for their loved ones.  Others yet were injured and bewildered.  

And then, there was this passage, which gave me some comfort:  The one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.  They will hunger no more, and thirst no more.  The Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life....God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Did you see the helpers?

Fred Rogers, who is perhaps my favorite Presbyterian pastor, had a saying which is now repeated in ubiquitous facebook postings every time we have a tragedy like this....Look for the helpers, in every tragedy you will find people trying to help --and in Boston, they were there--including the first responders, those folks dressed in yellow, running to the place of death and destruction, removing the barrier fences, and providing aid; and directing others away from the danger.  Others were picking up injured people and running away from the danger.    Yet other folks were running to donate blood to those who would need it.  They were all...shepherding.  They were themselves, good shepherds.

In a time of spring, we find these events hard to fathom, and yet these verses bring us comfort.  For some, the green pastures and still waters are found in our heavenly home.  For others, they’re as immediate as outside our church windows [we have beautiful views of the fields around us in a semi-rural setting].  It’s a gift to us to have land around us where deer come to graze and ducks come to swim and owls live in the trees and sandhill cranes stop by every now and then.  It reminds us that there is more here, that our Heavenly Father has done much more, and much more good, than any evil we humans can cook up.  When humanity seems very inhumane, this little plot of land, I think, can help us remember who truly is in control.

And there is, throughout our world, a community of healers every time there is a tragedy--God calls us to respond in love and compassion--and not to be afraid; not to hide our families from a good world because of the evil that someone may perpetrate, but to prepare ourselves to respond in ways that show we know that what our God has done is greater than all of this.  No one can snatch that out of the Father’s hand.

We are not promised that there will be no evil or enemies; we are not promised that there will be no death.  We are not promised that there will be no ordeals.  However, we are promised this:  God will wipe every tear from our eyes; God has promised us eternal life; and God has also promised us here on this earth his holy presence, no matter what we may face.  Much more than we can see, goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life, bringing healing, and allowing us to be a blessing to others.

An Empty Tomb (Easter 2013)

John 20:1-18; Acts 10:34-43; 1 Corinthians 15:19-26; Psalm 118

Christ has risen.  Christ has risen indeed, Alleluia!

Christ has risen.  Christ has risen indeed, Alleluia!

Christ has risen.  Christ has risen indeed, Alleluia!

The story goes, early, on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary came and saw the stone had been removed from the tomb, so she ran and told Peter and John, that they have taken the Lord and we do not know where they have laid him.

So they begin to run, and they get there, and they see what they see, yep, he’s gone, and they go home.  End of story, right?  He went somewhere, or someone took him at least; nice of them to fold the linens before going.  The end. Or so it seems to the disciples.

But Mary stays behind.  She’s weeping.  It’s not enough.  She looks inside the tomb, still weeping, and sees the angels.  And they ask her, ‘why are you weeping?’  And she says again, “they’ve taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”  

And then suddenly, Jesus himself is standing there, and asks, “woman, why are you weeping?”  And she says, as if to a total stranger, “if you have taken him away, tell me where, and I’ll take him away.”

And Jesus looks at her and says, “Maaary!”

And the lightbulb goes on:  that’s the aha moment!

And then Jesus tells her to go.  He has a job for her to do--to tell the disciples that he is risen, and will ascend to their father and their God.

Do you know why church services are ordered the way they are?  We gather in this place, on the first day of the week, praising God, yet maybe the weight of the week before us is still bothering us. Maybe it seems that everything is still dark.  And we confess our  sins--maybe that God seems far away after everything that’s gone on, and we just don’t know how to be reunited.  And then we hear a proclamation that our sins are forgiven--and we rejoice, right?  There’s that “gloria” thing we do....But maybe we don’t get it, or don’t quite understand, or it just doesn’t seem to be enough. We still feel in the dark. So we hear the scripture lessons and the message.  We lift up our hearts with hymns and recite our creeds--even if they might feel more strange to us than familiar.  We offer our lives and our resources in hopes that they’ll do some good.  We pray, and maybe then we can hear that familiar, personal, comforting voice of God.  But even if we have that ‘AHA!’ moment--there’s a surprise.  We can’t stay here.  We have work to do.  Just when we’ve settled in, it’s time to go back out there into that world, the one that so often weighs us down, and proclaim the good news--that Christ is risen, and my God is your God, and our Father is the loving Father of those other folks as well.  

Every Sunday is a little Easter, a little Resurrection.  Good news!  Right?

It’s alright though, if we don’t get that, whether every Sunday, or any Sunday, or even on Easter Sunday.  After all--even Jesus’ closest friends and best students did not get it.

They didn’t expect the Resurrection.  If anything, they expected grave robbers or Roman soldiers to have taken the body.  

And afterwards--well, things weren’t perfect, even among the disciples; we heard right here in the story about the famous competition between Peter and John--or, as you might have heard: the guy that would become the head of the church--and the disciple whom Jesus loved.  That conflict kept on, even to their own students, who finally wrote down these gospels of Mark and John.

And then Mary, who by tradition we say washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair--she doesn’t even recognize Jesus, and thinks he’s just the gardener.  And yet the one who weeps, becomes the first one to spread the proclamation of joy.

The thing is though, questions and not- understanding, doubts and skepticism, even cynicism are essential to faith; faith is not unquestioning belief.  Grant the disciples their due for being human.  After all, God became human to reach humans.

Paul writes, “If for this life only we have hoped for Christ, we are most of all to be pitied.”  Instead, Christ is raised, and not just him, but us also, that death is not the end, but eternal life.  Reunification.  A healing of wounds and grief.  

Miracles will happen, and we won’t necessarily get it.  We’ll be weeping even in the midst of joy.  We will be transformed in some ways and still entirely too human in other ways.  And God is forgiving.  After all, God knows us, and our limitations.  

So even though the disciples were not perfect, and even though we are not perfect--even if we don’t understand any of this stuff that happened that we celebrate today, or celebrate every Sunday--remember:  Jesus Christ is still risen from the dead.  Jesus Christ still calls us by name--knows us even when we don’t recognize Him, even if we mistake Jesus for a total stranger.  And Resurrection happens, even when we least expect it.  And that is reason for real joy, in spite of ourselves even, on this day, and always.

Christ is risen!  Christ is risen indeed!  Alleluia!  

Alleluia!

The peace of Christ be with you!  Amen.