By Julie Carew, Lay Preacher Immanuel, God with us, thank you for this glimpse into your last days physically here on earth. Help us to seek you and see you here with us, today and everyday. Amen. As a musician and a huge fan of music in general, I’m always intrigued when a “secular” artist puts out a song about God or about faith. One of these songs came out just as I was beginning college and introduced me to a singer of whom I would be a longtime fan, and who I saw live again just last year. The song is called “One of Us” and the singer is Joan Osborne. The song was written by one of her bandmates and was the first single released from her debut album, Relish. This song hit at a time when I was really seeking God, trying to figure out what that meant, piecing together what I had learned as a kid at church and what I was experiencing myself, away at school. In “One of Us”, we are invited to imagine what it would be like to have God living among us as a human. One of the verses in the song is: “If God had a face what would it look like? And would you want to see If seeing meant that you would have to believe In things like heaven and in Jesus and the Saints And all the prophets??” I really think that’s an interesting question for what we read this morning in John. Imagine with me for a moment, the scene here. Jesus has fed the 5,000, healed the blind man, raised Lazarus, Mary has anointed him, and yes, even though it is not yet Palm Sunday for us, ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey. He is causing a scene, drawing all kinds of attention and the Pharisees are really getting concerned. Just before we pick up the story in verse 20, the Pharisees are saying to one another, “You see that you can do nothing; look, the world has gone after him.” And then some Greeks come up to Philip asking to see Jesus. The first time we met Philip was in John 1 and as a new disciple, he was invited by Jesus to “Follow” him and he then invited others to “Come and See”. It seems like this is bringing things around, full circle, for Philip as he now has the chance to lead these Greeks to Jesus. Philip is a Greek name- Bethsaida, his hometown was governed by Philip, son of Herod, and was also the hometown of Andrew and Peter and they are the only 3 disciples who do not have Semitic names. Perhaps this is why these Greeks approached Philip as the person who might help them on their quest to see Jesus. The Greek word used here is ὁράω, (hor-ah'-o) which means to see not just with the eyes, but with the mind, to behold. These Greeks are looking to fully experience Jesus. We don’t know who these Greeks are, but we can make some guesses as to why they come into John’s narrative at this point and what that means. It seems as though their request is significant to Jesus, that it is perhaps a message to him that his teachings have gone out beyond his known followers, and may be (at least a part of) why at this point he says, “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”. We have seen him say the opposite- that the time had not yet come- several times before this point in his ministry. As Jesus shifts to talking about the time that has come and what that means, we know there are those (we hear of a few- Judas and Peter, for instance) who don’t want to see this part- either it doesn’t align with what they expected or hoped, or the timing is not right and they’re not ready. When we seek Jesus, whether that’s through Scripture or prayer or in guidance from others who know him, are we open to hearing what he might actually say? Do we approach Jesus with our own expectations of what the answer should be, or are we looking for and waiting on his answer? - Jesus does not address these Greeks directly, and we’re actually not clear from the narrative if they are there when he is speaking, but he continues in verse 24, ”Very 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.” I haven’t ever grown wheat, but growing things (or at least trying to) is something I have enjoyed since I was a child, and I have fond memories of working in our little garden plot with my mom. Gardening is an adventure that is full of life and death, of making decisions based on what might be best and hoping that it really is. I have always worked towards wasting as little as possible and making sure that I use or give away as much as I can. Over the years, I think I have gotten pretty good at managing that between eating, sharing, preserving, dehydrating and freezing, but the one crop that always catches me by surprise is the green beans. I LOVE fresh green beans, (and so does our dog, Hazel), but it seems like I NEVER get them all, and there are days I simply don’t have time to go pick, so inevitably, there are plenty that I miss or that I can’t get to before they get too big and tough. A couple of years ago, I decided to stop worrying about getting them all at the perfect time and just dry the ones that had gotten too big and use them for planting the next year. These beans are such a beautiful color and so smooth and perfect-looking, and yet, they’re not intended to be made into jewelry or hung on a wall, they’re meant to be buried, to be put in the dirt and be transformed, not to be seen again in their current form. And when we do that with a bean, we are rewarded with SO MANY more beans. BUT, if I hadn’t let some of them go, or if I picked them and tried to serve them to my family to eat (or try to eat…) I wouldn’t have anywhere near as many to plant the next year. Jesus is about to complete his human circle of life, and yet, he knows there’s more to it than the disciples can immediately see. I see this as a reminder that sometimes we have to let go of what we desire or hope for immediately in order to experience abundance in the future. And that sometimes, many times, we have no idea what the future holds, or what we risk in letting go of what we have in the right now for just the hope of something better. And even harder than that, we often don’t have the choice, we lose things we thought we’d always have and we have to let them go, knowing we may never understand why or for what purpose. Jesus knows firsthand that death and destruction cannot be avoided, it’s part of being a human, but he also knows that new life will come from it. He is preparing his followers to lose him, twice- in death and in his ascension, but with the promise of a new life with him. Jesus continues on, “'Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” In imagining this scene, I really empathize with those around Jesus who aren’t getting any of this. One sentence after another that they/we could sit with for quite awhile and really consider, and now this one, and several others to follow. Why would they lose a life they love and keep forever a life they hate? They are trying to figure out what it means to serve and follow, and it must be overwhelming and confusing. In her commentary about this passage, Mary Hinkle Shore says Jesus is, “encouraging others to follow his lead in hating/rejecting this world’s definition of life as a small and isolated existence”. He knows they have left everything they know to follow him and all along, he’s flipping everything familiar upside down, trying to help them see that serving him and thus being honored by God is often very different than what the world would say is what they should be doing. Where do you feel this tension in your life? Where do you feel like the pull and priorities of the world are different from those we see and hear about from Jesus? - John made a point that this gospel is for ALL those who want to see Jesus. He tells the story of Jesus, as an eyewitness, in a way that gets right to the heart of Jesus’ ministry. At the conclusion of Jesus’ human life, in John 19:20 we read that the inscription on the cross was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek- the only Gospel to point this out. Here, in John 12, we see that the conclusion of Jesus’ time here in a human body is perhaps ushered in by the appearance of an “outside” people. And near the end of today’s reading, in verse 32, we read, “'And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” The Jesus portrayed by John here doesn’t question God, he is troubled, but he is seeking God’s Glory. As humans, he and we are well-acquainted with loss, sickness, sadness and death. He’s looking ahead to the ways he will be lifted up- on the cross, from death and back to God completing the circle of his human life and hoping that with these events it will become clearer to those who seek him, what difference it makes. He emphasizes that this is happening for ALL people, not just those who have seen him up close, those who knew him then, or even those who know him right now. What does this mean for us? We are likely very familiar with and can easily access the whole story. And maybe sometimes, it’s easy to take it as a given and not really see what Jesus is showing us here. As we look to next week, Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry that quickly goes so far away from what everyone was expecting and hoping for, and into Holy Week, I wonder what it would mean for us to “see” Jesus. Are we looking for him with anticipation, do we really want to see him and believe him? Are we letting these events seep into our busy lives, and taking the time to seek him? Do we really want to hear what he has to say to us? How might Jesus lead us to serve him, to follow him in ways that help others to see him too? Amen Sources: The history and archeology of Bethsaida Kristen Sibold University of Northern Iowa Strong’s Concordance at Biblehub.com Working preacher commentary, Karoline Lewis Working Preacher Commentary, Mary Hinkle Shore By Ben Cluff, Lay Preacher Numbers 21:4-9 Ephesians 2:1-10 John 3:14-21 Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts, be acceptable in thy site, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Good morning - Here we are at this 4 th Sunday of Lent, known as Laetare Sunday. According to the Episcopal Church glossary, the naming of this Sunday as Laetare Sunday, “is derived from the opening words of the Latin Mass, “Rejoice Jerusalem, Laetare Jerusalem, from Isaiah 66:10. The glossary goes on to state, “ The church is called to joyful anticipation of the victory to be won. This joyful theme provides lightning from the penitential emphasis of Lent. Since the 13 th Century, the celebrant of the Eucharist has been permitted to wear rose-colored vestments which express the change of the tone in the Lenten observance, Rejoice, Celebration! - on that note; Let’s take stock, for a moment of our journey so far this Lent; We began with Jesus, upon being baptized, being driven into the wilderness to face temptation for 40 days and 40 nights. This is followed by Jesus informing his closest that he must undergo great suffering and he will be rejected by elders, chief priests, and scribes. And when Peter takes issue with this, Jesus rebukes him, telling Peter, “You're setting your mind not on divine things, but on human things.” And then, last week, we find Jesus expressing great anger and frustration at the marketplace and money changers in the temple. And now, here at this 4th Sunday of Lent, we encounter God’s expression of Divine Love, shown through Jesus' presence here on earth. In our gospel reading today, Jesus makes reference to our Old Testament reading, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” This link between today’s gospel and Moses' experience in the wilderness has prompted me to reflect on this age-old relationship between God and us humans, here on earth. It certainly has been a back and forth, at times contentious relationship. God’s presence has been constant, and we, I mean the collective we, us humans, have participated in this relationship so diversely. Sometimes we have behaved like petulant children, other times we have behaved as if we are consciously aware that we are recipients of God’s Grace, and at other times we seem so aware that we are recipients of God’s Divine Love, only to return our behavior back to that of petulant children. For example, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” and the turning to Moses - “pray Moses, to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” And God provides a solution, through the bronze serpent. This is just one of so many of our experiences of trying to get our relationship right with God - this ongoing experience of always striving, falling back, striving again - And God’s provision of a variety of means to us, of experiencing God as accessible - for example the rainbow following the flood, the leadership and care of Moses, the covenant with Abraham, and today on Laetare Sunday, we rejoice and celebrate Jesus life, his death, and resurrection and how all of that makes it possible for us to experience God and God's Love as accessible to us. I want to pause here for a moment and invite us to consider the concept of incarnation. There is a book I have found to be a wonderful resource, it is titled “Making Sense of the Christian Faith” by David J. Lose. The format of the book can seem a little hokey; it is a back and forth, question and answer conversation between two people. I would like to offer some selections from that conversation: Author David Lose writes, “Christians confess that, in Jesus, God became human and took on our life and our situation in the world - showing our hopes and dreams, vulnerability and limitations. This is what Christians call the Doctrine of Incarnation.” Incarnation comes from two Latin words, in meaning into and carne meaning flesh, incarnation literally meaning into flesh. David Lose provides two stories that attempt to portray this notion of incarnation, the first comes from Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard; “He describes the incarnation as being like a royal king who fell in love with a lowly serving girl. How could the king earn her love? He couldn’t do it by a show of power, or she would be intimidated. And he couldn’t just pour riches on her or decree that she was his equal. Then she might just love him for what he could give her, not for who he really is. So He Became a humble servant like her in order to win her genuine love. For Kierkegaard, that helped explain some of incarnation. It tells us why God became human, even if we can’t understand how. “So Kierkegaard thought that God became human in order to win our love.” “Right” “But God wanted our love for the right reasons. God became human so we wouldn’t love God because we were afraid or just for what God can do for us, but we’d love God for who and what God really is.” “And the other story?” “We are not sure who wrote this story. It is about a man, a farmer who never went to church, even though his wife did regularly. Well, one cold and blustery Christmas Eve, after his wife had again pleaded with him but couldn’t convince him to come with her to church, he was reading comfortably by the fire when he heard a thudding against the windows of their house. He looked out and saw that sparrows trying to get out of the cold, harsh wind and attracted by the light and heat inside, were crashing into the windows of the house. He covered the windows, but that didn’t work. So he decided to put on his coat, gloves, and hat and go out and open his barn doors wide, so the birds could find sanctuary there. But they wouldn’t come in. He put the lights on, but they didn’t come. He spread a trail of cracker crumbs, but they wouldn’t follow. He tried to shoo them in, but that only frightened them more. If only, he thought, I could become a sparrow, for a little while, I could lead them into the barn to safety. And at that moment, he realized that’s what Christmas Eve - the story of God being born as a human - was all about.” “So in this story God comes to us in a form we can recognize and understand, in order to communicate to us and lead us to safety.” “Right. It’s about the gap between humans and God that God decides to close in order to help us.” end quote and thanks to David Lose for these stories. I continue to be amazed, struck by the humanity of Jesus, the earthiness of Jesus. Look at our readings this Lent - temptation, being misunderstood, anger and frustration. Jesus is constantly faced with the inherent tension between the secular and the spiritual. The profound secular context of balance and imbalance of power and control in the society in which he lived. Being understood and misunderstood. Being faced with incredible temptation and experiencing grief. Requiring times of solitude and quiet in order to rest, replenish, reflect, and commune. These human aspects of Jesus time on earth, these are our struggles, our temptations, our human experience. Jesus shares them, participates in them and all the while provides guidance, counsel, and comfort for us. Jesus is the human embodiment of the power of unconditional love, without exception and so very importantly, the means by which we are able to experience God in our lives. As a result of being with us, among us, and yet so very different from us, we are able to realize that God knows our struggles. I am sure we are all able to identify times in our lives when God has seemed so very large and so very distant, and so very separated from our daily lives, our daily struggles. And our journey back, or the change in our perception, or our change in being, has so often been through our re-connection with the notion that Jesus' life on earth guides us back to God. God knows our human struggles and we know this because of Jesus' time on earth; and this, when we are open to it, proves to us, once again, that God is not so large or too distant or so very separate from our daily lives. And if we are open to it, we know through this experience that we are loved and God is there for us and it is by grace-and unmerited love and favor of God. When our conscious contact with God seems good, we become aware of the notion that we are of value simply because we exist - the Grace of God. We are all of value because we exist - no exception. As we live in our secular world; as we encounter the inherent tension between the secular and the spiritual - the balance and imbalance of power and control in our lives - of being understood and misunderstood- of being faced with temptation and grief, of feeling the need for rest, replenishment, time for reflection and communion - We can know that we will always be loved and there will always be a safety net, so to speak, because of God’s Grace. The evidence of that is so poignantly provided us in the life of Jesus on earth. On those days when we are able to be secure in this knowledge, we are able to participate in this world, with those around us, those we know and those we we don’t, in a manner wherein love wins, fear is at bay, all is well. Our preservation, our rescue, our salvation is provided to us through the small details of Jesus life and the large events of his life, death, and resurrection. Laetare Sunday! Rejoice! Celebration! For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have eternal life. Amen. Making Sense of the Christian Faith by David J. Lose by David Sund, Lay Preacher Almighty and Loving God, by the power of Your Spirit, may the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, in Jesus’ name, Amen! I need your help doing a little Word Association exercise: First, I’ll turn up my hearing aids, now I’ll ask you to shout out your favorite word to describe Jesus: No sentences or phrases, just single words, please. O.K. Begin! What about Angry? Today’s Gospel reading is all about an Angry Jesus! (Time for a big Gulp!) And that brings me to a question. How do you and I ‘come’ to church? I’m not asking whether you drove, walked or peddled here. I’m not asking you show me your literal route with a Smart Phone app. When I ask, “How do you and I come to church?” I want us to examine our states of mind, the condition of our hearts… In everyone’s favorite books of the Hebrew Scriptures: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy; every detail of the sacred space (The Tent of Meeting, or Tabernacle) was mandated and there were also lists outlining required minimum attendance. Jacob’s descendants were expected to make pilgrimage to the worship center at least three times a year: Passover, Pentecost (which in the Hebrew Scriptures is a harvest festival), and the Feast of Tabernacles. There were also confusing and exhaustive lists of observances and rites. Over 3,000 years later, modern, western folks like us perceive those practices as uncomfortably strange: (Especially if, like me, you can be a bit squeamish!) But careful study of all these details reveals an elaborate, exquisitely crafted symbolic system that provided object lessons about the nature and character of YHWH, and how God chose to relate to beloved children. Boil down the system to its essence, and you will discover a Deity who sought and instigated relationship with humanity. Here was a truly perfect, supernatural person, offering imperfect humanity a clear, accessible path of discovery and even intimacy. Here was a God who, even with all the dishes, flatware, furniture and drapery; modelled and inspired reconciliation, restoration, justice, integrity and community. Here was a Creator who promised to love, bless, sustain, heal, teach and listen. Each role and rite was an object lesson pointing to a present God who sought out fellowship. This fellowship expressed itself as a lifestyle of love, forgiveness, hope, peace, generosity, honesty, mercy and compassion. Not that the symbolism was always understood or taken to heart. More often than not the job of the prophets was to call for reformation, for renewed commitment, for course correction in the midst of crisis. While so much of Tabernacle and Temple life was prescribed, what wasn’t prescribed was HOW one CAME to worship. Then, in all those familiar Psalms, we finally discover that the state of one’s heart and mind doesn’t seem to matter at all! Fearful? Come to worship. Joyful and Celebratory? Come to worship. Confused and Doubting? Hurt and Offended? Bitter and Vindictive? Angry? Come to worship. Just Come, honestly, as we are, and an encounter with God will (sooner or later) sort it all out. God is enough and more than enough. Showing up at the Temple with honest, if raw emotion brings us back to the Angry Jesus in today’s Gospel narrative. Jesus and his friends arrive at the Temple. Elsewhere in the Gospels we’re told that Jesus’ friends loved this immense, campus: the beautiful, monumental architecture was a source of civic pride. But Jesus, being Jesus, sees beyond the façades and the civic pride and is eager to confront a textbook example of institutional religion run amok. Let me use our sacred space to illustrate what I mean by that. Imagine how you would feel, if you entered this beautiful space next week to find some serious changes that were both concrete and symbolic. How many of you, like me appreciate the reredos and the stained glass? Nope! They are obscured by a heavy tapestry and only the presiding bishop sees them once a year. A wall has been constructed, partitioning off the apse, so that the altar is accessible through a door that can only be entered by the priest in charge. All the pews have been taken out and another wall, with a gate in it, has appeared at about the spot where we are used to the Gospel being read. You can’t get through the gate unless you’re an Episcopalian, born and bred, baptized and confirmed, and male by DNA testing. Women and non-Episcopalians can enter the church but they can’t come through that gate. That’s strange enough, but on top of that some greedy forces are at work which make a God-Encounter all but impossible for women, gentiles and other designated ‘outsiders.’ Furthermore, the space in which they are confined has been co-opted. It’s best described as a commercial and financial circus. The powers that be, intent on institutional maintenance, and eager to line their pockets, insist that you pay for everything: your wafer, your sip from the cup; candles, leaflets, etc. Everything has a price tag. Pledges are due upon entering the narthex. Weirdly there is also a sort of wet-market with special livestock and poultry for sale if you want to celebrate any special occasion on-site. The kicker is that you can’t use regular currency or credit cards for all your purchases: you have to use special “Episco-dollars.” The exchange rate is exorbitant and exploitive. So only people of means can participate. Furthermore, the system isn’t up for debate. The amazing edifice was in danger of becoming a farce. Ritual and regulation have eclipsed relationship. Exclusivity has trumped invitation and community. Justice has been pre-empted by spectacle. Exploitation has commoditized souls. If this worship scenario is distasteful to us, then how could it be anything but infuriating to Jesus? It’s no wonder that Jesus goes all prophetic: turning over tables, liberating livestock, and going full-on Mosaic with the loan sharks. The narrative seems compelled to explain Jesus’ uncharacteristic lashing out with a quote from Psalm 69, “Zeal for Your House has eaten me up.” In which, the psalmist so identifies with God, that when God’s character is besmirched and God’s reputation is tarnished, especially in Temple Worship, the psalmist takes it personally and reacts from the deepest emotional level. What comes to mind when you hear that phrase, “zeal for your house has eaten me up?” Put another way, do you have an “all-consuming passion?” Is there something for which you would tap all cherished resources, exhaust your talents, and invest you time? Is there a dream or goal, with which, you are so identified that IF it’s questioned or challenged you take it personally? For Jesus, that personal investment was all about unimpeded access to, and relationship with, GOD. I suggest that in our text, the “House” of God is about more than just property and geography. The letters of Paul remind us that for Jesus-Followers, God’s precious house, about which Jesus is so passionate, has nothing to do with monumental architecture or institutional maintenance, and everything to do with being vibrant faith communities. Isn’t it awe-inspiring to realize that you, that I, that we are that Spiritual Temple that stirs up the protective passions of Jesus? But also, the text is a warning to honor Jesus’ passion by never trampling the sacred spaces that are the hearts of our spiritual siblings! We must never exploit the vulnerable, exclude marginalized seekers, extinguish the joy of the expectant, manipulate the religious system, commoditize souls, design hurdles to worship, or allow a lust for power or control to motivate “doing church,” or “being church.” Jesus, thank you for all your passions and grant us your passion for all your people! Amen. |
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