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Sermons may be printed using the Adobe Acrobat version of the sermon. Click on the "printer-friendly format" link. If you do not have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, click on the icon above and follow the simple directions to download it free from the Adobe web site. 1 Christmas
A07 Isaiah 63.7-9 Click here for printer-friendly .pdf file What WERE we waiting
for? The birth we have
been awaiting will bring….not peace and goodwill….. Even as we sat here
on Christmas Eve And in Matthew’s
gospel it doesn’t take very long These stories in
our Bible were originally oral traditions As they told the
stories of Jesus, The formative event
for the people of Israel, As we listen to
this morning’s text we hear, The flight of the
Holy Family INTO Egypt is a new formative event for God’s people, ************** ************** Even now, Palestinian
babies born in Bethlehem threaten the status quo in Israel. And so, at this
moment, as we sit here in church, At this very moment,
they are lined up in the late afternoon sun, As in Jesus’
time, it is still no quick, or easy trip. On the Israeli side,
too, they wait… It is estimated
that 12,000 Palestinians are stranded on the Egyptian side, waiting
to enter. The Holy Family’s
journey Most of the villages
of these Arab refugees were bulldozed, The on-going construction
of a barrier between Israel and the occupied West Bank The god who flees
in terror from the tyrants of the world. As Joseph protected
and cared for Jesus and Mary How IS God speaking
to us today? Just as Matthew’s
narrative looks back to the Exodus ************** The story of the
flight into Egypt tells us Marrying his betrothed,
even though it will mean humiliation and embarrassment, This is certainly
not what we expected, but What kind of a God
looks at US— …….It
is God, simply showing us WHO WE ARE—faithful Josephs who LISTEN
and ACT, God is doing something
new here, continuing the process of creation, 27th Sunday
in Ordinary Time Click here for printer-friendly .PDF file When I first read
this, I thought there must be some mistake…… 20th Sunday in
Ordinary Time Click here for a printer-friendly .PDF file Jeremiah 23.23-29 "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled...Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!" Yowza!! Whatever happened to sweet, benign Jesus? Where's the cooing, little baby of Bethlehem? The gentle, smiling Jesus surrounded by all the little kids? Well, that Jesus hasn't up and left—but all that nice stuff—it's only a part of Jesus. Besides, you can bet the notion of a Jesus born homeless and in a barn and the Jesus who tells us that noisy, squirming, and running-around children are first in the dominion of God—you can bet even that Jesus would upset our own apple carts if we ever got around to thinking about it too much. Justification by grace through faith; a phrase that falls easily from our lips - especially from the lips of those of us who are cradle Lutherans. It means that we are already completely righteous before God, completely just before God—all of it a gift from God, ours simply for trusting that it is so. And, we hope, that's the beginning and end of it. We get this promise in Holy Baptism, a promise reaffirmed in the Holy Eucharist: nothing more we need to be right with God. And that's true—and I will affirm that day in and day out with my every breath. No good work on earth would be complete enough or enough untainted by our egos to earn us God's favor. And likewise, nothing we do can mess it up either. But this righteousness that is given to us . . . it is not merely a legal declaration of innocence—it is much, much, much more. I was sorely tempted this morning to find a half-dozen or so signs and post them in our worship space—several surrounding the baptismal font—several more up here where we come to receive the true Body and Blood of Christ. The signs would scream out in big, bold letters set against a high-contrast background: "DANGER!" and "EXTREME HAZARD!" In Holy Baptism, God proclaims that we are in fact united with Christ. And in the Eucharist we receive Christ into our bodies—and those are both a very, very dangerous turn of events. To be justified—that is to be very, truly, really, whether-we-like-it-or-not united with Christ, made alive with Christ in us—to be justified is extremely hazardous. In Holy Baptism, in the Words of Absolution, and in the Holy Eucharist we are never taken out of this world, we are not ever transported to some peaceful Eden in the 'burbs, some happy place of the mind. We are rather thrown right into the fire, the fire God in Christ kindled when from the cross Christ spoke words of forgiveness over threats of revenge, the fire God kindled when Christ chose self-sacrifice over power-filled acts retribution, the fire kindled when God in Christ chose to wage peace against the engines of death, the fire kindled when God in Christ chose to dine with tax-collectors, prostitutes, children, women, foreigners, and, yes, even the self-righteous rather than limit the table to a select few. And in Easter, Christ's victory over death—the resurrection showing forth that the way to the life of the ages is always through the fire, is always by way of the cross—the Jesus way and for us. Walking through the fire, however, does mess things up—messes up our lives and our relationships. Sacrificial giving of our resources can mess up the interior decorating scheme and the vacation plans, not to mention the shoe collection. But sacrificial giving's just the easy part. Dom Helder Camara, the noted Latin American liberation theologian, once said, "When I give bread to the poor, they call me a saint. But when I ask why the poor have no bread they call me a communist." Here in this country it can be the exact opposite. Talk about poverty and you're merely a concerned citizen, or at worst, a liberal; actually feed the poor and hungry and you become a bad neighbor, attracting to the corner of 16th and Grant the unsavory and the unpretty and the downright unpleasant like crap attracts flies. (No kidding—I've actually heard that complaint.) But then again, it's OK to say that you welcome diversity—you're being nice Christians; but even begin do the work of dismantling institutionalized racism and you're deemed downright crazy—(What white privilege? Me?? My dad was the banker, not me. My grandfather's family owned the mine, not me. We're all equal here . . . . right?? Right???) And it's OK to decorate the place with a few lesbians, gay men, and a tranny or two—you're merely a bit odd; afford sexual minorities the rights and responsibilities enshrined in law and church policy for the mainstream majority—or challenge heterosexual privilege, and you don't belong in the church anymore. Talk about peace in terms vague and general, and you're a follower of the Prince of Peace; speak out publicly against the war in Iraq and the hell we've made that country into—or refrain from reading the names of the dead United States soldiers until you can also read the names of the innocent Iraqi dead—and you fall somewhere on a spectrum ranging from "a bit much," through "unpatriotic and radical" all the way to "cooperating with the terrorists." Pray for the healing of the sick and you're doing what you're supposed to do, but plead and work for high-quality, universal health care to be the most basic of human rights and you've strayed from the work of the church and become—horror of horrors, an activist. Talk lots about the priesthood of all believers, and you're squarely in Martin Luther's camp; question why some have so very much more power—be they bureaucrats, bishops, or white male, straight, tenured teachers of theology—and suddenly your priestly persona is strictly non grata, and you're even less popular than Jeremiah, thank heaven he's dead. Sing sweetly Mary's song in the course of the liturgy, her song about the mighty being toppled from their thrones and the rich being sent away empty and you're probably OK—but trust that it is the work and will of God to lift up the lowly and fill the hungry with good things—and you're in deepest trouble—witness the martyrdom of Blessed Martin Luther King, Jr. and Blessed Oscar Romero. Or be like Blessed Rosa Parks, who refused to move to the back of the bus, be like other saints of blistered feet who would not ride the busses because justice had been too long deferred and therefore denied—and dogs and fire hoses will be at the ready. Go one step further: surrender power, white privilege, and middle-class entitlements, start to live in solidarity with the poor and powerless, really empty ourselves of ourselves—and ouch—it hurts, it hurts bad, it hurts real bad........maybe this Jesus thing is something to reconsider, something to tame, something best confined to Sunday mornings, innocuous rituals, and sweet, jaunty hymns that make us happy to have come to church. This discipleship thing . . . it could be a real downer. Justification by
grace through faith—you are, here and now, highly favored of God,
and you did nothing to earn it and you can give nothing to keep it and
you can do nothing to get it taken away. But it does most surely mean
that you have very really been united with Christ—in a life and
death like Christ's. The disturbing wind is blowing, and there is scorching
heat. The fire has been kindled and it burns with hottest flame. And
with Christ you are in the midst of it all. And with Christ you shall
get burned . . . if you haven't already—and if you have, well,
there's more to come. But too, in God's time, you have already come
through the fire and the burns already healed over (though the scars
forever remaining)—and you are already raised with the Christ (the
one who still bears the marks of crown, nails, and spear) and truly
the life of the ages is already yours. The Feast of
St. Mary Magdalene Click here for printer-friendly .PDF file Exodus 1.1-10 She is the only
one of the Marys to be identified by her hometown. Although only a
handful of verses in our Bible even mention this Mary,….. Although women are
rarely mentioned in scripture, Through this misunderstanding
Mary came to be revered as the penitent. Today we find her
at the very beginning of the story. And Mary was indeed
the very first of a long line of the storytellers. The scriptures tell
us that God always seems to be doing the BUT…… Abraham…..
was quietly tending his flocks Pharoah……
had ordered all the Israelite babies killed…..BUT God……had
other plans And so now, we join
another Maryam, this disciple from the town of Magdala. It is over. They
had heard him…..Breathe his last words "It is finished."
Mary comes to the
tomb alone. THAT was when Mary's
new life began. The few verses about
St. Mary Magdalene in the Bible tell us very little. In the second and
third centuries she is mentioned in writings of the church fathers. Over the centuries,
the deserts have yielded up a dozen and more writings which tell us
more about Mary. In the Gospel of
Mary, like the appearance stories in John, In the face of the
disciples' fear and anxiety, Mary is the one who comforts and encourages. THIS portrayal of
Mary coincides with today's gospel, It's a bit daunting
to stand here and talk about Mary, with her looking over my shoulder. Mary's word, carried
to the disciples, has traveled to the ends of the earth, And what of us?
What does Mary have to tell us? Where are we, men
AND women, being commanded to GO BUT God………Where
are we being sent to proclaim the good news THIS is Mary's legacy. As God used Mary
to be the messenger of new life, God, who called Mary by name, has called YOU by name and marked you with the sign of the cross. In a few minutes
Tatiana will be baptized into our community of disciples. As a sign, Pastor
Maly will mark her with the cross of this Jesus whom God raised from
the dead. The Feast
of the Body & Blood of Christ Click here for printer-friendly .PDF file What do we celebrate today? 1. Liturgically:
"Corpus Christi"—an "out of Lent" celebration
of the gift of Holy Thursday That is a lot to celebrate in one event! Underlying all three, and the core of all that we are doing, is a celebration of God's exquisite love for God's creation! It is that love, the core of our existence and our being, (God is LOVE) in which we always find hope and strength and which is really always the heart of what we celebrate. FIRST, The FEAST: It is worth noting that on BOTH Holy Thursday and in the readings chosen for today, Corpus Christi, the gospel does NOT focus on the "institutional narrative", the story of the words of Jesus at the last supper. Instead, the gospels for both days focus on the service, the caring, the sharing which the members of the community are to give to one another and to all in need. In some subtle way, I think, this is meant to remind us that the REAL PRESENCE is effected in the world when we are kind and thoughtful and giving and serving…In the documents of the II Vatican Council we are reminded that Chris is present in the world in 4 ways, really and truly present… 1. in the gathering
of the community Therefore, whatever we understand about the message of the Gospel and the intention of Jesus and his view of the dignity of people and how people should live and work together, it is up to us as the Real Presence, the Body of Christ) to carry that out and make it the REAL PRESENCE so that the gospel and our faith is not simply words and pious rhetoric but effective action changing lives by changing the social order. It is thus we truly celebrate liturgically what this feast means and what the Eucharist is meant to bring about. SECOND, personally:
100 years of service….The four of us who celebrate our anniversaries
today are united in a number of remarkable ways… THIRD, Communally:
(AUGSBURG ACCORD) The document says: THIS MAREVLOUS COMMUNITY OF FAITH HAS TAKEN THOSE WORDS TO HEART AND MADE THEM CONCRETE IN OUR LIFE TOGETHER. This is possible because of the committed leadership of Pastor Bob West and his successor, Pastor Kevin Maly. It is possible because of the commitment of the Lutheran congregation to make this a place of hope and help in which ALL ARE WELCOME. It is possible because of the commitment of both communities to make this a SAFE PLACE…where the vision of the gospel that all human beings are children of ONE God who share the same dignity and possess the same rights is lived out day by day in its actions. So today, we celebrate.
The Holy
Trinity Proverbs 8.1-4;
22-31 Click here for rinter-friendly .PDF file They were sitting around the table with their rabbi, these descendants of slaves. Their ancestors were a ragtag band of beaten and bruised runaways, escaping the whips of their slaveowners in the dead of night, led by a murderer-turned-prophet who gave them hope by terrifying their owners with magic tricks of destruction and death, until they were finally let go. But the overseers and the dogs hunted them down as they raced for the wilderness, with no food or drink, packing only what they gathered up in haste—their frightened children and whatever else they could carry on their backs. What a very…odd
…God, desiring these tired, battered, broken and hungry bodies,
wooing them with promises of nationhood, land and plenty. A God of slaves?
The invisible ones? How strange! As they sit at dinner they listen to their rabbi, promising them new life; talking to them about being one with his Father, and……washing their feet????? A very odd sort of God, with this queer, footwashing Son. Tonight he is talking to them about going away…… telling them that, instead of a grand and glorious crowning, their Messiah will be persecuted and suffer…and they, too, will suffer persecution. What does he mean? they say to one another. What a very queer sort of God…….. who sends a Son to wash their feet. The Son of God should be on athrone, showing off his mightiness, Saints adoring, casting down golden crowns, cherubim and seraphim bowing down. But instead his last words are about being one with his Father in an intimate union of love, and the promise of a Spirit of truth…., Wisdom……, WITH God from the beginning of creation—from the creation of the heavens, the establishment of the mountains and skies and the seas, this Wisdom…. who from the beginning, was God's delight, who took delight in the human race. What a peculiar
sort of God…..delighting in truth and wisdom rather than gold and
jewels and mighty armies…delighting in the broken bodies of slaves…..
desiring them—the pawns of the Roman Empire, …..valued only
for the taxes they pay to keep the armies moving. These descendants
of slaves at the table this night with their rabbi had wakened that
morning, with the And they cannot reconcile this rabbi/Son of God …..and the Spirit/Wisdom he promises with the one God they profess, morning and night, the very heart of their covenant. It is all so confusing—a God who gives all to the Son, and a Son who gives all to the Spirit who is to come?? ??And the Spirit who will bring truth of the coming reign of God? But, confusing as
it is, there is something compelling about this rabbi and his queer
slave-liberating Father, something that draws these disciples in and
gives them hope, their bodies in bondage to Roman taxes and laws. Their
God has desired them from ancient times, God has chosen and blessed
them, called them beloved, God's desire for them has drawn them into
a relationship. In his words on
this last night, Jesus spends a lot of time talking about his relationship
with his Father—"I and the Father are one…I am in the
Father and the Father is in me…I am in my Father, and you in me,
and I in you…those who love me will be loved by my Father…the
word that you hear is not mine, but is from the It all makes my head spin, this ecstatic, passionate declaration of love goes on… and on….. for four chapters in John's gospel. It is an erotic love poem …of a Father for a Son…of a Son for his followers, and for those who WILL believe (that's us)…and we are to love one another with the same passion. It is a yearning for oneness, for intimacy, an expression of the joy that comes from being with the object of one's desire. It is a sensuous relationship that delights in the other—God delighting in God's son, God's son delighting in us; and the Spirit, the object of God's delight, taking delight in us, and forming us ALL into one. And so the notion
of Trinity is born—not out of a need to control and explain God,
but a surrender to the mystery, an admission that God's love cannot
be explained, that it is….. shear….. gift. The glory Jesus talks about here is not the glory WE might envision for ourselves—enthronement and adoring crowds, cameras focused on us as we parade around in elegant clothing and visit the most fashionable restaurants and clubs, to be seen with the beautiful people and on the covers of slick magazines. The glory Jesus talks about here comes from sharing. Jesus tells us that glorifying is simply, "taking what is mine and declaring it to you." Glorifying is LOVING. A cosmic charity, a mutual indwelling of God, the Son, the Spirit……and us. Our God loves generously without boundaries. "ALL that the Father has is mine"……and Jesus promises that the Spirit will share it ALL with us. This Trinity has no borders, no rules about who is in and who is out. ALL is shared in mutual generosity. This Trinity is not a hierarchy, but an all-encompassing embrace of three equal partners—a LOVER……..risking rejection in proclaiming desire for us, the beloved. An extravagantly generous lover, giving all away in love that makes us one. Our Trinity is a threesome, at once male and female and neither—a Father birthing a creation, a Woman Wisdom, the delight of the creator and master worker in creation, and a beloved Son given as a gift. A swirling unity of love, desiring without boundaries……not bound to love only someone of the opposite gender, but all of us, male, female and all in between. A truly queer God. If WE are made in the image of God, then, as I look around this room, I see a God who is multi-gendered, omnigendered, transgender and multiracial, Old….. and young, Held in parents' arms, crawling, walking with a cane or traveling by wheelchair. Expressing love and intimacy in a broad spectrum of sexual orientations—gay, straight and all of us in between. This Trinity is an AFFRONT to hierarchical ideas about God—a God of absolute power, the Lord God almighty, dominating and controlling. And THIS is what we cannot yet bear—we cannot bear to let go of the God of power and might who controls the world, and enforces the rules. We cannot yet bear the God whose perfect power is inclusion, the God whose might is unconditional love and acceptance, whose power is God's desire for us. We cannot bear the God who does NOT rule by controlling us, but by loving us beyond anything we can imagine. This is why we need
the Spirit's wisdom—for the Spirit will accompany us on this journey
of love, helping us ALSO to risk all, and respond to the love of this
crazy, impetuous, very queer God, who has chosen US for all eternity.
We learn to bear God's unspeakably strange love by listening to the
words the Spirit brings, by listening for those places where the Spirit
is at work and joining in. We learn to bear God's queer love by bringing our bodies to this very place this morning, to be God's body in the world and remember who we are, the beloved bodies of God. We cannot love ourselves or others without first being loved; we cannot experience joy without first being the cause for joy. In Wisdom, our Trinity God DELIGHTS in us—from before we were even created. Our very being depends on this: that we were first held in loving embrace by our creator. All our loves flow from this loving embrace of Trinity, who has chosen US for the dance. Here in this community of the dance, we learn to BEAR God's love, By feasting at the wedding banquet, on our Trinity God's OWN body generously given for us And on God's own blood poured out in love for us. We learn to bear God's love… by SHARING this feast as we feed hungry stomachs, clothe naked bodies, house the weary almost-homeless bodies who knock on our door, and invite ALL kinds of bodies into our dance of Trinity. In the name of the Trinity—of our passionate Father and of the queer footwashing Son and of the Holy Spirit, delighting in us. AMEN!!!!! Pentecost Acts 2:1-21 Click here for printer-friendly .PDF file My partner Michaele
and I have a blended family. By blended I mean that we each brought
a cat into the relationship. By all scientific standards they are the
same species, But as far as I can tell, that is where the similarities
end. Indigo, the 16-year-old Siamese Tabby mix, is a dignified, mostly
crabby old cat who insists that everything happen on her terms. Then
we have Tala, whose only strong opinions revolve around eating and going
outside. They reside in the same, small house, It has occurred to me that the church can sometimes act like our cats. We are the same religious species in that we all claim Christ as our teacher, savior and/or brother, but a lot of the times, that is where the similarities end. Like the cats, we argue about things large and small. From whether to use paper or ceramic dishes to who is called to serve God and who isn't. On that first day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, the Jews who gathered were in a similar situation. Not only were there Galilean disciples, But with them were Jews from Pontius, Cappadocia, Mesopotamia, Judea, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Elam, Media, Parthia and Arabia. This catalogue of nations constitute an international assembly, with people from every corner of the land surrounding Judea - from the Caspian Sea, to the Persian Gulf, to the Mediterranean Sea. They have come to visit or live in Jerusalem bringing with them their own languages, customs, traditions, beliefs and practices yet holding their Jewish faith in common. It must have been quite something to be there that day, all those people gathered together in Jerusalem for the harvest festival. Different languages being spoken all around. And then suddenly a loud noise surrounds the disciples, drawing the crowd of people towards them. The disciples feel themselves filled with God's spirit, and are suddenly speaking words that they themselves may not even understand. Equally surprised are those from surrounding lands, suddenly able to understand the words of these rough and tumble fisherman from Galilee. If you have ever traveled in a foreign land you understand the grace of comprehension. The disciples spoke the truth Of God's good deeds with eloquent simplicity. And were understood. I love that Holy
Spirit!! It's movement and constant change. It's working inside each
one of us and within the community of the church. I love that the Spirit
moves around, utterly oblivious to rules, Last week I attended
the Rocky Mountain Synod Assembly in Ft. Collins, along with others
from this congregation. Rostered and lay leaders from throughout our
synod gathered together for prayer, Bible study, discussion, decision
making and worship. Like the Jews gathered in Jerusalem on the day of
Pentecost, those attending the assembly came from every corner of the
region, from Wyoming to New Mexico to West Texas, Utah to Colorado.
Each brought their own experiences and beliefs, while holding in common
their Lutheran tradition and Christian faith. As with so many assemblies
in recent years we discussed whether or not openly non-celibate
That day of Pentecost
the spirit descended on the diverse community gathered. From Galilean
fisherman to visitors from Rome, the Spirit moved among the people there,
giving them both the ability to speak with simple eloquence, and the
open ears, hearts and minds to hear - really hear - Amen. May it be so. The Second
Sunday of Easter Click here for printer-friendly .PDF file Acts 5.27-32 And we are witnesses
to these things……You may have come here this morning expecting
the lilies to be gone, the garden dirt swept up, the alleluias filed
away in the music library….. I have always wondered what it was that these witnesses experienced….?What was so powerful that it completely transformed their lives?.....and mine, 2000 yrs later.The conflict between the apostles and the temple authorities that we heard in the first lesson….Peter's refusal to stop teaching, his challenge to the Council, it all sounds menacingly like the beginning of Jesus' own last hours. What was it that compelled the disciples to risk that same horrible death?...simply for the sake of the telling? What compelled them to be witnesses? To give up everything, even their lives, for the sake of the message…. of Jesus' death and resurrection? Here this morning in our first reading from Acts, we meet Peter. Didn't we last see him cowering in the courtyard of perhaps this very same high priest, claiming that he never knew Jesus?…..And here he is today defying all the pronouncements of the council and even accusing them of murder. Peter--now risking imprisonment and an excruciatingly painful death, all for the sake of the story. What was it that changed everything? And what does this story have to do with us….For the writer of John's gospel includes US in the tale. He (or she?) puts US on the lips of Jesus….We are those "blessed," the happy ones who have NOT seen and yet have come to believe. How did this all happen? And where does the story take us…today? Jesus was not the
first person to be raised from death. We've heard about Lazarus, and
the story of the son of the widow of Nain, Of Jairus' daughter……No
one seems to have considered worshiping them. But the power of the resurrection
does not begin there. It begins in the life of Jesus, in the washing
of feet, in the prayers in the Garden. It begins at the cross. The new
life of Easter is birthed out of the torture / suffering of Jesus …..out
of the emptiness, despair of the disciples. The new life of Easter arises
out of their lost hopes….out of the void, out of nothingness. God on the cross
meets us in the suffering of our world, Through the cross
we meet the suffering God, I don't know about you, But I heaved a sigh of relief that it was Thomas and not I who looked foolish. If I had been there, I would CERTAINLY have proven myself a stellar disciple. I would not have doubted, or, if I had, I certainly would not have let on …..I would NOT have looked as foolish as Thomas. So, from the get-go, this story is really about me, and about a competition--……..about who can climb up to the throne of God faster ………about who gets to sit at the RIGHT hand ……..does this sound familiar? It should; it is the fundamental story of the human condition. It is the story of my life and yours-a story of striving for upward mobility------Super-size my McMeals, …………………Find me the latest fashions, the newest electronic gadgets---The I-pod with the 20,000 song capacity, AND 6 ½ hours of video playback. Make sure I am safe by supplying my army with the BEST, the most destructive technology. …..And make my country the BOSS….. of the whole world. I want to be in charge.S o, I run as far away from this LOSER THOMAS as I can………In fact, if we're quick, we can ALL heap our unwelcome uncertainty on him and send him off into the desert, loaded up with all our fears and guilt, hoping never to see him or those pesky doubts again. But Jesus greets this loser Thomas with love and mercy and patience. Ironically, Thomas,
the one who questions, Turns out to be the first preacher of Jesus Christ-the
first one to proclaim Christ as God.After all, Thomas really is no different
from the other disciples. And Jesus HEARS what Thomas needs, and appears to Thomas, to graciously GIVE him what he needs…. Jesus does not roll his eyes, or sigh, or shake his head……But simply, without condemnation, Jesus appears…and shows Thomas his wounds. And Jesus, in his mercy and patience TRANSFORMS Thomas from the "doubter" the "unbeliever" to the exemplar of faith and trust in God. Thomas' confession is not an intellectual assent, an acknowledgement that Jesus is alive. But Thomas' words are simply the only words he is able to utter as he stands in the presence of the risen Christ. Thomas doesn't say, "Oh Jesus, NOW I see that it really IS you!" Thomas does not proclaim what he has seen, but he proclaims what cannot be seen--except by the gift of God's mercy…….That the risen Jesus Christ IS Lord AND God. This profound and complete confession of faith Is not something that Thomas musters up by strength of his will. Thomas simply looks upon the wounds that Jesus offers, and receives in Jesus' wounds the end of his own bondage-the end of his need to know, the end of his captivity to seeing, touching, feeling. Thomas' confession comes as he trusts the proclamation of Christ's body--Christ is risen; he is risen indeed! Alleluia! Thomas, who was bound by his need to touch the wounds of Christ Is suddenly set free in that "touching." Not because the wounds of Christ have proved the resurrection, but because Thomas now sees himself made new. Through Jesus' words
Jesus' spirit breathes new life into him, setting him free……from
bondage to his own will. And in grateful joy, he confesses his trust
in the giver of new life: "My Lord and my God." The risen
Jesus/God saw what Thomas needed and gave it to him. ………as
Jesus has always supplied what is needed…… The story is told by these witnesses so that we will have life, so that we, too, will know that Jesus gives US what we need. Because the risen Jesus is not simply a part of history, an artifact of the past. Easter is not a fairy tale ending. Easter is about Jesus…….. living and breathing his spirit among the disciples. Easter is Jesus living in the stories of the witnesses. Easter is the Jesus who still lives and breathes in our community today…. every time we gather. Our story this morning
began "On that day, the first day of the week." It is Sunday
then, and now…and we are here. And we realize we have been hearing
a LITURGY….This living Jesus comes to us bringing what WE need,
freeing US with his wounds, breathing new life into US, And through the
witnesses to these things, in THEIR words and proclamation, Jesus lives
and invites us to touch his wounds…..Then he breathes on us and
sends us out to touch the wounds of the world. Jesus lives as we
say, "Peace to you." In the bread and
in the wine and in the disciples who surround us. Because sometimes
it is too heavy for us to bear on our own and that is why we come back
to be among those who have seen and heard, and Christ breathes on us
and sends us out to proclaim 3 Lent C 07 Click here for a printer-friendly .PDF file Isaiah 55.1-9 Last Sunday in Adult Forum, one of the participants said that he never likes to identify himself to other people as a Christian; ?he explained that in his experience the term Christian is way too often synonymous in people's minds with ignorance, narrow-mindedness and downright lunacy. And believe me, I know all too well what he means. We've heard more than enough from the likes of Jerry Falwell and others who proclaim that hurricanes and other natural disasters that have stricken certain parts of the United States are God's punishment for some sort of sin running rampant in those particular regions. Central Florida got repeatedly whacked because Disney World offered domestic partner benefits to its employees and was host to an annual Gay Pride Day. New Orleans got whooped by Katrina because—well because it's New Orleans, need-I-say-more. In the minds and mouths of certain Christians, God is nothing if not eternally cranky and forever out for blood. But then that sort of god is nothing new but has always been around. Take, for instance, the book of Job, which most scholars agree is one of the most ancient in the canon. It features a whole group of Falwell types informing Job that his life is filled with tragedy because of some secret sin. "If only you will repent," they tell Job, "everything will be all right." And of course Job's buddies in our day and age can find a whole host of Bible verses that seem to back that notion up. All you have to do to find some of them is look up Fred Phelp's web site and you'll learn that our service men and women have been maimed and murdered in Iraq because this nation tolerates homosexuals rather than stoning them to death. What an awful, hideous, hateful god. But then along comes Jesus in this morning's Gospel. "People, people, people," says the One from Galilee (an area noted for its particular sinfulness), "God doesn't work like that. Everyone is sinful—that is to say—everyone is at odds with God, so don't single out anyone as any more or less divorced from God than anyone else." "However," he goes on to say, "unless you are repenting, you will die as these others who suffered great tragedy—Pilate will crucify you as he did those Galileans." Jesus Christ, I'm
confused. You say God doesn't single people out for punishment but if
we don't repent, we will be singled out for punishment?? Does this mean
Phelps and Falwell are right after all??? I'm confused Jesus, didn't
you get crucified by Pilate? What did you do? Did you not repent? A Lutheran theology of the cross, however, will have none of that child-sacrificing sort of God. Let's go to the beginning of The Story. Luther points out that what is at the heart of "original sin" is not our getting down and getting dirty. Rather, the essence of sin is each of us wanting to be god - and not a loving god either - but a vengeful, power-wielding god, eternally looking for some poor, sinful schmuck to knock upside the head. We hear throughout scripture the clamoring of people, sometimes even St. Paul, wanting that sort of god, of our wanting to be that sort of god ourselves. Bred in our bones is the desire for a god who will smack our enemies around while leaving us alone. We cannot, we will not stomach a god who forgives all people unconditionally, who loves all people unconditionally. We must have hierarchy, we must have winners and losers, we must have someone to blame. Then along comes Jesus, the One who is God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, who upsets all our religious schemes and dreams. And we will have none of it!! We will not have the God who loves those who are not us; we will not have the God that runs around with the dirty, the poor, the crazed, and the addicted. We will not have the God who finds thieves and prostitutes lovely and lovable beyond words. And we certainly will not abide the God who equates name-callers with murderers, putting them both on the same plane, and who then turns around and forgives the whole damned lot and without conditions. That's no way to run a cosmos!!!! And so Jesus must die—because of our sin—on account of our sin: because we cannot stand a Jesus sort of God, what a Jesus sort of God is all about. And to add insult to injury, even from the cross the Jesus God will not strike back; even as God suffers, God will not call down fire and brimstone, even as human-caused darkness descends upon God, the Jesus God will not pronounce eternal damnation—not even upon those who execute this One from and of God. Repent, Jesus tells his listeners. Always have repentance—metanoia, Greek for a change of mind—always have a changed mind. Change your mind about who or what you think God is. Turn from your desire for a god of wrath; turn to the God whose truest power is made perfect in unconditional acceptance, love, forgiveness, and in serving the unlovely. And because that sort of a God is so incredibly, incredibly . . . well, difficult for humanity, for me and for you, and for all of us who would rather, in the long run have a god we can smack Falwell and Phelps around with . . . because the God of love is so very difficult to turn toward—a gardener, a Holy Breath, is given. A Gardener for whom an eon is but a second, a Holy Gardener comes—to send our roots rain and to nourish us, that we bear fruit—that is, changed minds. Changed minds—ours, seeing in suffering, death, and destruction, not retribution wrought by a wrathful god—seeing instead the God who dwells in the midst of suffering and who wills to bring forth redemption from that which was meant for evil. Lent—a season of repentance—a season of changing the direction of our thinking—a season to chart our way of life for every season. Changing direction: turning from the god of the cudgel and turning toward the God of the cross, the cross with the tortured body upon it—the cross bearing the God who suffers like we do. Beneath the cross there are no answers to why suffering and death—but at the cross, upon the cross, God, the God who is in agony with us, who suffers and bleeds and dies with us; at the cross the God who wills to bring redemption from what is meant for evil, at the cross the God who says, now and in the hour of our death, "Today you will be with me in paradise." And that we not die in our sin—that is in fear of a god of wrath—a Holy Gardener right here with Her Means of Grace so that you will turn toward the God of love and mercy. Her tools—some water to remind you of the forgiveness of your every sin in the Holy Waters of Baptism through which God pronounced you to be one with the Christ who loves us like a mother. And another of the Gardener's tools—food, for you, for your continuing sustenance. In, with, and under bread and wine—veiled in mystery, the very essence of the God who redeemed Christ's suffering and will redeem yours as well. And still yet one more tool: the words of Holy Absolution, for you, words which the God of love by Holy Orders commands me and demands me to proclaim to you and to all people, even to Falwell and to Phelps, and without condition, without any condition whatsoever. Hear them and receive them: your sins are all forgiven, now, and in the past, and forever. It is finished: the divorce is healed, and this very day you are with the Crucified and Risen One in the life that is of the ages. This proclamation sealed with the sign of the Holy Cross, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN. Copyright, 2007, Kevin R. Maly The Second
Sunday in Lent Click here for a printer-friendly .PDF file Genesis 15:1-12,
17-18 It's certainly been
an interesting week in the world of religion. The Discovery Channel,
along with Harper San Francisco, announced the release of their television
documentary and book, "The Jesus Family Tomb." If you watched
any of the morning TV shows you heard and saw tabloid TV director Simcha
Jacobovici and "Titanic" director James Cameron holding slickly
forth about their work detailing the finding of the bones of Jesus,
his mother Mary, supposed wife Mary Magdalen, a son and assorted other
relatives. When first I heard the story on the Today Show, I groaned
right out loud. I just knew that the week would bring all sorts of questions
as to what I thought about this so-called discovery. Before even hearing
the show-biz types "pimping off the Bible," as Joe Zias, retired
curator at the Rockefeller Musueum in Jerusalem, characterized the work
of Jacobovici and Cameron, I had already come up with my reply. I decided
I would simply borrow Rhett Butler's remark to Scarlet O'Hara in Gone
with the Wind, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." Copyright, 2007, Kevin R. Maly
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