April 28, 2024 - 5EasterB - Simple AND Hard

5EasterB
1 John 4:7-21
John 15:1-8

ABIDING

Is the theme of the day

 

We heard it in the First letter of John 

As well as in the Gospel 

ABIDE…ABIDING

What does this mean?

 

Chapter 15

We are nearing the end of John’s Gospel

This is the farewell discourse

Jesus is saying goodbye

He is preparing the disciples

offering comfort

AND we hear abide
The vine and the branches abide 

 

And in the 1^st Letter of John

We are hearing

A distillation

A kind of mission statement for Christian living

Abide

 

YOU, ME, ABIDE, ABIDING, LOVE, NEIGHBOR

 

About 10-15 years ago 

hype about Mission Statements

Everyone was writing or rewriting mission statements

My old parish spent a whole month crafting a Mission Statement!

Somehow I was on that committee!

 

What I remember 

a study of mission statements.

Turned out that the most successful corporate mission statements 

were all under 8 words

And one of the most successful 

Was from Disney:

Can you guess?

3 words

MAKE. PEOPLE. HAPPY.

 

Sounds simple

But in fact 

Its tons of work

Takes years

Takes the whole darn organization to live into those words:

Make People Happy

 

Its simple…but HARD

 

That’s what is behind this language in the first letter of John

It a kind of mission statement

 

In verse 1 

We love because God loved us first

God loved us into being

So any time we actually do love our brother/sister

Its God’s doing!

The whole abiding thing is working

 

Its not an automatic

If A then B follows 

Not a cause and effect… kind of thing 

Its dynamic…organic…not a straight line

More circular

It’s a happening

 

God’s love

Finds its PERFECTION

Or its COMPELTION

In how we love one another

 

And this has something to do with ABIDING

 

I don’t know much about Vineyards

And vinedressers

And pruning for fruitfulness

 

But I do know that what Jesus is talking about 

In the Gospel

Is a promise 

He is promising his LIFE to his disciples 

And from them to us

 

I think if there had been such a thing as heart surgery

In the first century

Jesus might have used that image 

instead of the whole vine and branches business

 

How many of you…
Stents, heart valves, Cath Lab, Heart attack???

I thought so;)

 

… over the past couple of weeks 3 people in my sphere of relationships

Have experienced cardiac events

 

I bet we are all more familiar with Stents and heart surgery 
than we are with vines, vineyards and pruning;). 

 

Being attached to the vine speaks to sharing nutrients…sharing life

But think about those clogged up arteries 

Blood is being constricted, cut off 

Blood = Life…life blood… 

And the surgeon borrows another artery
from a place in the body where it can be spared

And hooks it up to bypass the clog

Like a perimeter highway around a big city

 

And the heart and the rest of the body

Re-establish their abiding rhythm

 

What is the beating heart all by itself?

It is perfected

When it reaches our eyes…so we can see

And feet…so we can walk

And hands so we can touch

And muscles so we can embrace

 

God’s love (the heart of the matter…the vine)

is perfected when it gives life to the body (the branches)

when that body…

when our bodies…

see, walk, touch, embrace
the world lovingly
lovingly…because it is God’s life blood we are talking about

 

We have a lot of memories stuffed up here

And I have been noticing

That there has been a kind or natural cataloguing going on

The weightier ones seem to get more accessible

And the lighter ones recede until I just can’t recall them at all.

So that when I say

“I just can’t remember anything anymore”

That’s not quite true

Some things…maybe only a few… are becoming very vivid

 

Mid 70’s Dad story

 

Looking back now

I can say with some certainty

that this was my parents’ Mission Statement
8 words:

“HERE, home, is a safe/loving/forgiving place”

 

IT’s simple…but hard.

 

Maybe part of why this memory is so vivid

Is because I later connected it to my parents faith 

and then to mine

 

After hearing all this Love/God/Abiding business

Over and over again

I began to trust that at the heart of it all

These were mission statements

I wanted to attach myself to

 

 

Coming here

Praying these particular prayers

Proclaiming these particular lessons

Singing these particular hymns

Standing together 

Forming a body

as we do these things

 

IT quite literally FEELS

like a mission statement

One that is both simple and hard

 

God is Love

Abide in that love

Perfecting it…in loving others

 

Simple and hard

 

The YOU

in our Gospel reading is plural

We don’t fly solo

We are supported be each other

…and that mysterious body we call the People of God

 

5 days ago

I got home from Dad’s 

That the tables have turned

Its my mission now

…to be a safe, loving, undemanding presence to him as he slips away

Little by little.

 

It actually felt like he was ABIDING in me.

 

 

One way to bring this

Beyond lofty abstraction

Is to ask a few simple questions

Ask ourselves individually and also ask ourselves as a community:

Who will I/We invite into that abiding place…

Who will I/We invite into that best part of myself…that best part of us

That part

That flows with the life of God

The part that rests in the communion of the Holy Spirit

The part nourished by love of neighbor (…by you)

 

Who will I/we offer safety, and forgiveness, and compassion to

in actions that are the fruit of all that love?

 

February 25, 2024 - 2LentB - Why the Cross?

2LentB
February 25, 2024

Suffering. Rejection. Deny. Take up your cross. Lose life

This Gospel reading is heavy. 

It is Lent, So I’m thinking we are ready;)

 

A while ago I was at a workshop

For three days we reflected on three different questions

Why…Why did it take the Incarnation to save us?

Why did it take the cross/crucifixion?

Why did it take the resurrection?

 

These are really fundamental questions

But it seems to me that we often

kinda just glide over them 

with vague churchy language

 

I’m not the sort

Who is immediately impressed by the guy selling pillows on TV, or the beautiful newscasters who wear crosses front and center…

It seems too cheap…too easy

I need more…

I need more from myself.

As fundamental as these questions are 

I found that I hadn’t given them much attention

I really hadn’t made them real

 

Today…Our Gospel reading is about as direct as it gets in asking us to:

Deal! Deal with the Cross…

what does it mean to me…to us

and how does it, somehow, give shape to the way we live out our faith

And because after 2000 years we are still wrestling with this question

It isn’t about THE ONE AND ONLY CORRECT answer

…it’s an over and over again invitation to ponder 

 

[TEXT]

Today’s Gospel reading from Mark 

is asking us to DEAL

WHY the Cross?

 

The lectionary has jumped forward a bit

And here we are in Chapter 8 
Chapters 1-7 Jesus is healing right and left

He is alleviating any and all suffering

Placed before him

 

But here…in Chapter 8…we have a pivot point.

 

“THEN. Then he began to teach them”

That first word THEN

indicates that what follows has something to do with what came before

 

Just before today’s text, Peter has answered the question 
“Who do you say that I am?”

And he (at least on the surface) gets it right…but even as he gets it right TECHNICALLY

He gets it very wrong.

You are the Christ!

Well…yes…but not the kind you have in your head.

And so THEN…

 

“THEN he began to teach them.”

 

It’s kinda like show and tell

7 chapters of showing

And now some TELLING

 

“THEN he began to teach them.”

 

One thing we can say for certain

For 7 chapters…with all that healing and alleviating suffering right and left.

we can be sure that

Deny

Taking up your cross

Lose your life

Isn’t about looking for suffering…or somehow glorifying suffering.

JESUS does not want more victims!

 

SO…How do we think about Denying oneself?

 

The word translated LIFE

Is something like how we use the word SELF

For us moderns, selfhood is the sum of everything I am

MY past experiences, my accomplishments, my traumas…it’s very individualized

So when I hear “deny myself” 

I hear something like “that means that I can’t do what I want to do?”

 

Selfhood…or identity in the ancient world

Wasn’t something “I” construct
It’s given to me by my birth, my tribe, my trade…just the whole web of my world.

 

Denying in the ancient world would have a sense of losing one’s identity

Like breaking apart that web

 

Using words that might work for us today

Jesus might be saying to us:
“separate yourself from the things that PURPORT/PRETEND to make you who you are” 

 

We know what that means…my career, my health and vitality, the fact that I can run 5 miles a day, --- just fill in the blank
Separate…not get rid of…Just remember believe that these are  NOT your identity.

SEPARATE, why?

…to make room for a new belonging and a new identity

 

We are here 

In our prayers and creeds and petitions

We confess our belonging to Christ

Christ crucified

 

But what does that mean?

 

I think there are as many ways of expressing the answer to that question as there are Christians who ponder it.

 

Obviously I’ve had a head start;)

But here is mine.

However incomplete 

 

The cross is where God was willing to go

The place where God could say NO

Not with words but by way of Jesus’ actions…

Or better yet…actions done to Jesus. 

Actions so vivid and in your face that we humans couldn’t miss it

In the crucifixion

God says:  NO…absolutely NOT

I’m not playing your game

NO…the word is NO…to the never-ending cycle of revenge and violence 

that you humans seem to think is the answer

 

On the cross God says NO to the over and over again cycle of winners and losers.

 

I won’t participate in victory parades arising out of that!

 

DO NOT EVER do THIS in my name!

[and later at the Last Supper I gave you another THIS…wash feet, share a meal…now that you can do in my name]

 

But NO not this…Not EVER!

 

But there is a promise in the text as well:

8:35 those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.

 

So we lose our lives/our selves by separating ourselves from those things that purport/pretend to make us who we are SO THAT we can become grounded in Christ.

And this LIFE we are talking about isn’t individualistic.
And that means that just as my SELF/my LIFE is constituted corporately…communally

SO TOO…is the SAVING

I don’t go it alone.

We don’t go it alone.

 

Okay…so we can relax a bit knowing that we don’t have to take on the world by ourselves.

 

But still…The business of Jesus

The business of Messiah-ship

Is the business of turning (the tense is important) 

…turning the world “right-side-up”

that is the role of a messiah…

 

Still…We have to live with the fact that it is VERY. SLOW. GOING!

 

Its true, right?
THUGS/Dictators/ Liars and Cheats seem to win more than their fair share of the fights! 

 

Into this complaint, Jesus, THE GOSPEL

Is reminding us that there is no other way

The other way…the way of force

Just makes us into new Romans, new Thugs, new oppressors.

 

Losing my life

Means disentagling my life from all that I think makes me me

My job, my education, my family, accomplishments…

And subjecting it all to my life, my identity, in Christ

 

And…my life in Christ means that I continue to be drawn into a parade

I am being drawn into an ongoing, 2,000 year old parade

Not a victory parade

But a peace parade

A justice parade

A cross-bearing parade that many will call 

naïve, immature, snowflakey, gun-hating, kumbaya

 

And that’s okay

Because it’s not a victory parade yet

We are living in the mean-time

In the middle of a story about our God 

who raises people from the dead!

 

And, my friends, we have all glimpsed just enough of a right-side-up world 

To keep parading

 

We parade to the food pantry

We parade to the ballot boxes

We parade to visit a grieving neighbor

We parade to this church for the company we so desperately need
on Sundays and sometimes carrying a large pot of soup

 

We sing in the parade too

If its not always a HAPPY parade

It is a joy-filled one

Joy-filled 

Because we are propped up by an immense fellowship

Of the living and the dead

 

And parade

Inch by inch

Decision by decision

Loving choice by loving choice

As we contribute to the 

slow bending [To paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr]

of the arc of the moral universe towards justice.

 

Kinda? Sorta?

4OTB

Mark 1:21-28

Palm 95

KINDA?  SORTA?

I am so happy to be here

I was with my Dad for 3 weeks

And then I was helping with a retreat 

45 priests and Deacons, an Abbott and a Bishop

Sounds like the beginning of bad joke

It was nice to miss all that super frigid weather

But there is nothing like laying down 
on your own bed 

and resting your head on your own favorite pillow

 

At the retreat, my colleague Deb and I led a session having to do with 

“Theological Reflection”

And while there are shelves of books written about theological reflection

And methods of Theological Reflection

Essentially it is simply how we practice being Christian in the world

It’s what we just did as we called to mind what we did and what we failed to do 

It’s what we do at night when our heads hit the pillow 

and we wonder

“Where was God, today?”

 

That’s the question of Theological Reflection
“Where is/was God in this…in this tragedy…in this joy”
and how might attending to this question
help me grow in Christian living

 

So… over these past few years, two stories have perculated to the top

of my beautiful Dad’s repertoire of stories 

The first is about meeting my mother 

(describe-Officer’s Dance, her holding that cigarette)

The second is about the time he lost his job 

(describe-after only 2 weeks, after leaving the security of the AirForce and moving to another planet called OHIO, far away from family and deep relationships, 3 kids under 5)

My guess is that these two stories have always been the weightiest

The ones he returns to…the ones that remind him of God’s presence in the unfolding of his life.

One when he was overwhelmed by joy

The other when he was overwhelmed by fear 

 

If we ponder Psalm 95 alongside today’s Gospel about the Exorcism at Capernaum

I think we will hear a good word…for TODAY.

 

 

We are only in chapter 1 of Mark’s Gospel

In quick succession and surprisingly few words

We have had the Baptism, the temptations in the desert, 

and the calling of a first handful of disciples

And today…we have Jesus’ first public act

 

What sticks out to me is this question of authority

What is real authority?

It is clear that Jesus’ teaching 

What Jesus said

Though we aren’t given any details

Somehow caught the attention of the hearers

It was different…not like the scribes

 

the scribes were not original thinkers

Their ministry was to gather from the tradition of prophets and maybe wise teachers to come up with a re-warmed way to say…pretty much the same thing.

 

On THIS day the menu changes
The hearers notice something

Jesus’ teaching possesses this quality called “authority” 
The hearers recognize it.

[But we don’t get anymore than that] 

 

We’ve all heard of show and tell

Well the movement in this reading is tell and show

First the words…then the thing itself

This language of Exorcisms and unclean spirits

This isn’t language we are particularly comfortable with

But it was in 1^st Century Judaism

Much of Scribal teaching had to do with purity codes

How do we deal with “unclean”

Unclean actions, unclean foods, unclean people

The ‘cleanest’ way
the easiest way

Is to STEER CLEAR!

Unclean was a way of expressing a kind of disorder

Menstration=unclean because it was a disordered time of the month 

Pigs/Pork…they don’t chew their cud = disordered
Bottom dwelling fish…they don’t swim = disordered

The Leper, The dead, THIS man suffering from possession = disordered

 

And the teaching says, clear and direct – STEER CLEAR

 

One of the major themes of Mark’s gospel is boundary-crossing

And today’s boundary-crossing is between Clean & Unclean

 

Remember how Jesus says “you’ve heard it said…but I say”???

That’s how I see what’s going on here.

Instead of STEER CLEER

Jesus has another theology…another answer

He doesn’t appear to respect purity boundaries

…he even trespasses them

 

If we think about it

Just steering clear isn’t particularly helpful---

In the immediate, it might help the person remain undefiled
But everything else remains the same

Steering Clear gives …Whatever it is (in this case demon possession) 

…Whatever is dominating by fear…

Its power

Its like pleading NO CONTEST

YOU WIN

I just want to STEER CLEAR

 

The literal answer Jesus gives

What the Greek means

Is SHUT UP…GET OUT

 

And the unclean spirit leaves the man

The man is set free

But the “unclean spirit” 

Whatever it was that was controlling this man is not destroyed 
…that’s another sermon;)

 

The good news is that now there is a different course of action

A different teaching…a teaching with Authority
Whereby Healing and freedom are possible

 

 

Here’s where your internal voice might be saying:
Well…all well and good…but I’m not Jesus!

I might be having a good day---I came to church and all…But

I’m NOT Jesus

 

You are right

We aren’t’ Jesus

I’m not Jesus

 

(Wink) But we Kinda-Sorta are

 

In the Synagogue at Capernum

Jesus crosses the boundary

Between clean and unclean

Not all boundaries need dismantling

Some boundaries are essential to healthy living

“good fences make good neighbors”

Isn’t that the saying?

 

But boundaries, that feed fear, 

boundaries that result in division and exclusion

These are the boundaries that call out to be crossed 

to make room for the path of love

 

We aren’t Jesus

But we Kinda-Sorta  are

 

Our baptism is a continuance of that first Pentecost

The Spirit of the Lord came upon that gathered community

That same Spirit is still active

upon us---in us---between us

 

Kinda-Sorta 

We say that when we mean

Sometimes, yes --- sometimes, not-so-much

 

So my friends

Here is where Psalm 95 comes in for the rescue!

Psalm 95 is a kind of antidote for 

Kinda-Sorta  

 

IN her wisdom

The Spirit-guided Church

Or the Spirit-guided committees who put together our prayer patterns

Chose Psalm 95 to guide us as we begin each new day

 

Today…we only recited the first 7 verses

But we need to reflect on the whole Psalm to grasp its gift and wisdom

 

The first line says sing…so that sounds like an imperative to me

It always strikes me funny when it says SING and we only SPEAK

The tradition of chanting the psalms goes way back

And chant is a means to help the words and poetry sink deep into our bones

 

Rob is going to help me
You can follow along the first 7 verses from page --- of the bulletin

And then listen carefully to the movement of verses 8-11

which are left out of our Morning Prayer 

but which are offered in full in the Liturgy of the Hours

 

[chant]

 

The first part is a call to worship
a joyful and lively one 
Then we remember the greatness of God 

by calling to mind the mighty works of creation

Then another call to worship

This time bowing down

AND THEN THE WARNING

Stop praising and Listen!

Then God helps us remember back when…

For the Israelites…the memory is back in the desert

All that grumbling
I gave you water when you were thirsty
and Manna when you were hungry
and still you rebelled

Remember the golden calf?

Same goes for us

Can we remember when our hearts were hardened?

When fear took hold of us and drowned out God’spresence?

 

For my Dad is was that fear…terror even…
of relentless questions like

“Why did I ever leave the safety of the Air Force and move to this land of OHIO where I have no family, no history?”
“How will I feed the growing family of 5?”

There is a “rest of the story”

Remembering is the only way to see what we couldn’t see at the time

It’s the way to see in a way that will carry us forward.

 

So…in the Psalm

There is remembering, 

and then…let’s move forward…let’s get on with it.

 

The inspired compilers of the LOH
chose this Psalm as a way to start every day
TODAY

…If TODAY

Every new day is TODAY
Today is what is before us
we can act on Today

 

Let me make this day an act of worship

Let me meet this day aware of how easily I can go astray
This day…Let me set my feet on the floor by my bed pointed in the right direction

 

And little by little

Day by day

…as we repeat the words:

If today I hear God’s Voice
Harden not my heart

 

I will/We will…walk and talk and act and breathe

More than Kinda-Sorta 

like boundary-crossing Jesus

 

And just

more simply

straight-up

More like Jesus