Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Nerf darts and a Resurrected People . . .

     Can one not believe in the Resurrection and still be a Christian? -- I noticed a couple links to the headline questions on my Facebook feed during the week before and Holy Week.  It is only natural, I suppose, for newspapers and magazines to try and increase sales or clicks whenever they can.  And Easter certainly provides an opportunity for such a question to be posed.  There were interesting threads and discussions about the question.  One prominent one was the real need to understood what was meant by Resurrection.  Was Jesus physically raised from the dead?  If so, why does Mary not recognize Him immediately?  Was Jesus raised metaphorically?  If so, why did the Apostles and disciples, many of whom faced martyrdom, ever decide to live and die for a metaphor?  And how did Paul, a chief persecutor of the Church and rising star in the Jewish religious and political authorities, even get seduced by a metaphor?
     Naturally, I was excited about the question and the fact that it caused a lot of discussion.  Probably somewhere around 15 - 20 of those in orbit, but not a member of, this parish, decided to use the memes to ask me some serious questions.  As an Episcopal priest, I do love it when those whom we serve in Christ’s name ask reflective, serious questions.  As some of you well know, some of those serious discussions or threads have been happening now for years.  The question is important, though.  I was somewhat amazed at the shallow answers proffered by all three sides in the answer to the first question.  It was if we had divorced ourselves, as Christians, from the deep theological reflections of Easter.  Luckily, we get a chance to do some serious theological reflection over the next six weeks.  The editors of the lectionary, you will soon come to see, keep us grounded in Acts 2 for the Easter season.  You will also notice some skipped parts, just like today, but those readings will be covered when we get to the Feast of Pentecost.
     So, how important is the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth to an understanding of our faith and of Christianity?  Simply put, it is the central act and verification of salvation history.  What do I mean by that?  Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, points out to all the Jews within range of his voice in Jerusalem that knew that Jesus would be handed over and killed by those outside the torah.  In other words, God knew from the beginning of time that Jesus would be betrayed by those who knew they could not kill Him into the hands of those who could.  They might have thought their plotting was good.  Maybe, those who had a role in this betrayal were patting themselves on the back for upholding the letter of the torah while accomplishing their goals.  God, according to Peter, is so omniscient that He knew their hearts and their actions long before their birth, let alone when these events took place.
     “But God raised Him up, having freed Him from death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in by its power!”  To their plotting and scheming, God had an easy answer.  He would overcome that death; He would overpower that death.  Better still, He would use, once again, that which was meant for evil, and use it for good.
     Peter reminds his audience of the prophecy of King David.  “I saw the Lord always before me, for He is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken . . . for you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption.”  This is the same Peter who denied knowing Christ or what the guards and servants were discussing during the evening of Maundy Thursday and the early morning hours of Good Friday.  That same fisherman, who could not even bring himself to testify that He knew Jesus of Nazareth, for fear of punishment, is instructing all within the sound of his voice about the importance of the Resurrection!
     And he points out the obvious.  David, a king and prophet whom the Lord loved, dies and was buried.  We can even go to his tomb.
     But it is not so with Jesus.  David, speaking prophetically, knew that God would one day God would conquer death for His Holy One, the Messiah.  That prophecy, in the Resurrection of Jesus, has been fulfilled in their eyes.  Better yet!  They are all witnesses.  God has acted once and for all and demonstrated to those who would follow Him that He has power even over death.  It is an amazing verification of God’s power.  If Peter’s testimony is true, nothing can prevent God from fulfilling His promises to all His people.  If death cannot stop Him, what can?
     Friday night, the youth and I were having a bit of back and forth about this event at the Nerf War.  As you know, I try to give them something upon which to think.  We were here to have fun and fellowship, but that does little good if we do not remind them of their Father’s love.  I stopped the battle in its tracks and pointed out the floor.  There were tons of Nerf darts on the floor.  Tons.  I am amazed that there are none here today.  But I reminded them of one promise of Psalm 91.
     You will not fear the arrow that flies by day.  I pointed out to them that we are in the Easer season and that Jesus’ Resurrection gives us, His disciples, a unique perspective.  Arrows are still flung at us by day.  Some of those present were dealing with un or underemployment for the parents and, as a consequence, struggle with questions about provision.  Most admitted that had been both on the giving and receiving end of bullying.  As I began to name some of their possible arrows, they filled in the details far better than I ever could.  I wish my parents were together.  I wish my dad spent time with me playing catch or fishing.  I wish mom came to my soccer games.  I wish my teacher did not hate me.  My friends tease me when they find out I went to church.  I wish I did not feel like a failure.  I wish mom was proud of me.  I wish dad cared about me.  And these were spoken in a group.  I can imagine there were unspoken arrows in their midst, as youth are not particularly quick to share in a group their fears and hurts.
     The visual image, though, was stunning.  Our floor was covered in arrows; and they were standing unharmed above them.  God has promised that one day, one glorious day in the future, they and we will stand looking at life’s sorrows and hurts and fears much like they looked at those nerf darts.  One day, they will lie at our feet, redeemed, and no longer able to harm us.
     That is the perspective given us by the Resurrection of Jesus.  Just as God knew that Jesus would be betrayed and handed over to the Romans to be crucified, He also knew He had the power to conquer death.  What Jesus faced on our behalf would have been tragic, like so many of life’s arrows, were God powerless to redeem our sufferings and to forgive us our sins.  To demonstrate His power to redeem us, He raised Jesus, and Peter and the others were witnesses to His Resurrection.
     All of that, of course, leads us back to the question: Can we reject the Resurrection and still be Christian.  The answer, brothers and sisters, is an emphatic no.  The Resurrection of Jesus was the focus of salvation history and the demonstration of God’s power in our lives.  It is, as Peter notes, the source of all our hope.  How can we know that God can keep all His promises to us?  How can we know that we will one day have a seat at the Marriage Feast?  How can we know that we will one day inherit the first-born share of our Father in heaven?  Because our Father cannot be thwarted by our death!  Just as He raised His Son our Lord, one day, unless He returns before our own deaths, He will resurrect us!
      Christians are, by definition, a soon-to-be Resurrected people.  We do not yet have the perspective of having been resurrected, but He who keeps all promises has promised that we will share in His eternal kingdom!  It is as good as happened in His mind.  It is even more dependable than death and taxes for us.  To reject the Resurrection of Jesus is not only to reject one of the tenets of our faith and the testimony of those who have come before, but it also to abandon the hope to which He calls us and offers us.  If we cannot be raised like our Lord Jesus, those arrows of life regain their power to hurt us.  We must waste time avoiding them and fearing their impact.  They, and not the love and promise of our Father, not the grace that He offers, become the focus of our lives.  
     We prayed this morning in the Collect that we might show forth in our lives what we profess in our faith.  Ultimately, we should be showing in our lives is a joyful hopefulness.  Yes, we sometimes feel sad.  Yes, we feel hurts.  Yes, we sometimes mourn.  But even in the midst of those volleys of arrows, you and I are a redeemed people, a soon-to-be Resurrected people!  Like our youth who were hollering and hooting and laughing and squealing as they were plotting and scheming, you and I should be facing life with joy.  We can face the arrows, face the onslaughts of life certain that He can redeem all things in our life, confident that life’s arrows will, in the end, hurt little more than those nerf darts.  But even at the grave of a brother or sister what do we say?  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Why?  Because our Lord has acted finally and overwhelmingly to free us from sin and death.  Because our Lord has called us each to new life.  Because our Lord has promised us a share in His inheritance as a Resurrected people.  Of that, we are witnesses!

Peace,

Brian†

Thursday, April 24, 2014

A word of hope to those enslaved in Iowa . . .

Let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made…BCP Ordination to the Diaconate, P 540
     Timing, they say, is everything.  I am old enough to know that statement is not true, but I am experienced enough to realize just how important timing can be.  This week, as we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and two years of our ecumenical effort to call attention to human trafficking, to rescue and care for survivors, and to empower them to assist law enforcement in the arrest and successful prosecution of those who enslaved them, I had the honor and privilege of standing behind the Governor of Iowa as he signed into law the newest attempt by our legislators to help prosecutors arrest and put away the criminals and social workers to help care for survivors.
      To put it in perspective, most people scoffed at the idea that Americans and foreign nationals were being enslaved right in our midst when I stumbled on to this shadowy world some six years ago.  Many of my discussions and presentations in those early years were aimed at convincing people of the problem.  Yesterday, the mood was somber and the office quiet as the Governor signed the bill, SF 2311, into law and instructed the Secretary of State that he had done so.  And, as a sign that a minor miracle was in play, the governor noted that the bill had passed both houses of our state legislature unanimously.  Think on that statement for just a second.  Republicans and Democrats unanimously agreed on a piece of legislation in this political environment!  The United States’ Congress was nowhere near unanimous in its passing of the TVPRA last year, and an Iowa senator, Grassley, and a couple representatives actually voted against the federal effort to eliminate slavery in our midst.  Even worse, no members of the Iowa delegation were willing to co-sponsor the federal legislation.  Yesterday was, for me, one of those moments when we are able to take stock and realize the meaning of our work.  It may sound weird to some of my colleagues, but I found it not dissimilar to the funeral of a believer or the baptism of an adult.  There was a beginning sense of completion.
     The day also held some profound sadness for me.  As the Governor was signing the bill with about three dozens pens, faces began to appear in my mind’s eye.  “Karen,” who had no idea where she was when I met her; about a half dozen “Tiffany’s;” “Bennie the pimp,” who has lost his grace period if he chooses to continue in this work in Iowa, and some of his girls; Shawna, who was arrested and convicted 167 times before a judge wondered whether she might have been trapped; “Stephanie” and a couple others who have insisted that they are now involved in the life by choice.  I could only see the side of Brittany, but her mother Ruth was beaming as she watched the Governor sign the bill.  I thought about some of the mongers who had tried to explain to me that they could tell when a girl was working for herself because she liked it and when she was working for someone else.  I thought about Connie and her girls.  I lamented that there were faces absent that should have been there to enjoy the moment.  And I wondered how many of those whom I had met over the years would never hear this news of hope, this news that a state was moving to try and help them.
      I was moved to a few tears.
     One of the dignitaries present noticed them and asked if I was alright.  I told him what was going on in my head, and he knew right away who I was.  I am guessing this is a powerful, proud moment for you.  I shared that it was bittersweet.  On the one hand, I had seen fulfilled in a tangible way one of the charges Bishop Scarfe gave me eight winters earlier when he ordained me to the diaconate.  But I also wished the bill were stronger and wondered how many would be helped immediately.  We both agreed that few would notice changes in the short term, but Iowa was now moving inexorably to the elimination of slavery.  I hope and pray he is correct.
     I was also moved to a few internal shouts for joy.  I can only imagine what this moment meant to Ruth.  When Ruth began caring for Brittany, no one knew or understand much about human trafficking.  Talk about a trailblazer!  I know what it meant to Rita.  She could not be present, but she made sure her husband was!  For my own part, I had driven Nora over despite my incredible back pain.  I was not disappointed!  When she shook hands with the Governor and received her pen, she asked him to sign her printed copy!  He happily did so.  There were others present whose faces I knew, but names I cannot recall.  Each of them had played a significant role in the passing of this bill.  Such was the lobbying of the public, the Governor noted, that all were encouraged to pass something that worked and addressed the issue.  And this was a day we could take a break and celebrate what has been accomplished!  This day, we could pose for pictures and selfies and answer questions put to us by the press.
     Tomorrow, tomorrow, we can get to work strengthening the new law and sharing a word of hope with those enslaved in our midst!  This day we simply give thanks to God for His work in and through us!
Peace,

Brian†

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Redeeming gardens and people . . .

     Attention to detail.  We talk a lot about it with respect to work, don’t we?  Bosses are always looking for employees who pay close attention to detail.  I was thinking yesterday after the Holy Saturday service that I have had lots of time this year to pay attention to the small details of the Holy Week narrative.  I don’t know whether it was because this was Robin’s second time through Holy Week and she had it all under control in the office, if it was our concentration on the spiritual disciplines which just increased my personal focus a bit, or what.  Thursday night, we paid closer attention to the Towel.  Good Friday, we focused a bit on the silence or reset.  Yesterday, we remembered Nicodemus.  Those who were here during Lent hopefully recall Nicodemus as an example of those whose come to their faith slowly, as opposed to the Samaritan woman at the well, who, along with those in her town, come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah in a very short time indeed.
     Details are important in our lives.  Details are what separate us from one another, at least in our own minds.  Nearly everyone with whom I have had discussions this Lenten Season have been residents of the QCA.  In broad terms, I think we understand we share much.  Most are concerned about questions of provision.  Many are very concerned about their own health and, in lots of cases, the health of loved ones and acquaintances.  A large number are worried about their relationships: parents are struggling with children, children are struggling with parents, spouses are struggling with each other, workers are having a hard time with bosses, bosses fell disrespected by workers, and you get the idea.  Sometimes we put the dys and sometimes we put the fun in dysfunction.  A few are worried about whether the lunar eclipses and earthquakes and mudslides portend our Lord’s return.  And nearly everyone with whom I have spoken worries that their own detail keeps them out of the embrace of our Lord.  For all our similarities, so many of us like to focus on our particularities.  Father, I have done some stuff that God could never forgive.  If you knew me, or if the people around here really knew me, you and they would puke.  Those of you sitting here today have your own particular sins that you think may you irredeemable, unlovable.  Each of us gathered here today has hidden sins that we pray never get found out by those in our lives or in our parish.  The truth, of course, is that Jesus went through the events of this week knowing those “secret” sins of ours.  Jesus went willingly and lovingly to the Cross knowing those deepest, darkest sins that we think separate us from His redemptive love.  How do we know?
     Look again at the details of the story.  Where does our story take place today?  A garden.  How do we know?  When Mary has finished talking with the angels, whom does she suppose she is speaking with next?  The gardener.  Scripture tells us that Mary did not recognize the Lord and supposed Him to be the gardener.
     Gardens, if you think about it, have played a prominent roles in salvation history.  The role, of course, may have been prominent, but not in a good way.  What happens in the first garden in Scripture?  There, human beings are walking and talking with God.  God gives them one commandment, and what happens?  They break it.  They only detail for which they are responsible, the humans fail.  The Garden of Eden becomes a place of failure, a place where sin is birthed.
     After the Last Supper, to where does Jesus lead His disciples to pray and to watch with Him?  A garden.  Gethsemene is the name of the garden where Jesus asks the Father to let this cup pass.  While He is praying to the Father, He asks His disciples to watch with Him.  What happens to them?  They fall asleep.  Jesus can’t even depend upon His closest disciples to support Him in something as simple as prayer and watching.  Such a failure on their part at this, however, pales in comparison to the behavior of Judas.  In a few short sentences, Judas has gone from dipping bread with his Master to betraying his Master into the hands of sinners.  Judas leads a detachment of guards and soldiers to arrest Jesus under the cover of night.  What happens to the “faithful” disciples?  Once Peter is admonished by Jesus for drawing his sword, they all flee.  Every one of them flees from Jesus as He is arrested.
     I don’t know about you, but if I were God I might give serious thought to banning gardens.  I know we were supposed to be tenders of the Garden, but we have not demonstrated much aptitude.  Quite the contrary.  Gardens have become horrible places in salvation history.  A garden is the site of our first sin.  God literally drives Adam and Eve from the Garden as just one of the consequences of that sin.  Later, as we just reminded ourselves, a garden becomes not just a place for failure (the disciples could not remain awake with their Lord) but of betrayal and abandonment.  The Son of God is handed over to His enemies, and those who called Him Lord and Master and Christ flee.  Gardens in Scripture are places of big failure on the part of human beings.  And, as I said, I would totally understand God’s decision to ban them.
     Curiously, though, what does God choose to do with gardens.  Such is His attention to detail, and such is His power, that He can redeem all things!  Not most things, and not mostly redeem them.  He redeems all things.
     Mary hears the good news from the Resurrected Christ in the garden.  She hears His instructions to go and tell His that He is ascending to His Father and their Father, and she goes!  She hears and she obeys.  She does as her Teacher instructs, and the world is never again the same.
     Easter is that day when we remind ourselves that God has the power to overcome death.  Easter is that glorious day when we remind ourselves that nothing, not even death itself, can prevent God from keeping all His promises to us!  But Easter is also that day when we note that God has begun the effort to raise up those things cast down and to renew those things old.  Easter is that day when you and I are reminded that He has begun something new, something amazing in us.  And Easter should remind us that nothing can separate us from Him.  Such is God’s amazing and redemptive power that He can redeem all things.  He can redeem something as simple and, perhaps, unnoticeable as a garden, just as easily as He can redeem each one of us.    How do we know?
     Look at what flows from this garden this morning.  Mary goes back to the disciples and tells them she has seen the Risen Lord and what He has said to her.  What happens?  God begins to work in each one of them.  God begins to redeem that quality which made each disciples feel most unworthy, most unloveable.  To the three-time denier, He gives restoration and meaning!  To the one who doubts, He gives reason to believe and to follow.  To all those who fled and felt unworthy, He gives forgiveness and purposes.  And to all who come to faith in Him, He promises the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Each is assured that he or she will be equipped for the work He has given them to do.  They will share in His redemptive purpose; they will begin to share in the inheritance promised them by God!  Brothers and sisters, He makes that same offer to you and to me this and every day.
     Perhaps sitting here, you have reminded yourself why you stand out.  Perhaps, while sitting here, you have found yourself wrestling with the Holy Spirit that your sins are too unique, to particular, for God ever to redeem.  The story, in all its amazing detail, testify that you are wrong.  You could not be further from the Truth!  All of us sitting here (and me standing), have those particular sins of which we are ashamed.  All of us.  At a visceral level, we each understand those feelings of unworth and of failure.  But the Gospel news given in this garden this morning is that He has born those sins for each of us and promised us all a share in His eternal kingdom.  Such is His power and such is His attention to detail that nothing in you cannot be redeemed!  Nothing.  Whatever you think most separates you from God, He is willing, even anxious, to get to work redeeming in you.  Let’s face it, nothing causes awe and wonder in others than a redeemed individual in their midst.  Perhaps you have followed idols passionately in your life.  Perhaps you have been incredible self-oriented in your life.  Maybe you feel that your “breaks between worship attendance” somehow disqualify you from His redemptive purpose.  There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can separate you from Him, if you simply choose to repent and follow Him!
     Easter is that day in the Church when we remind ourselves that all things are being remade.  We might want to believe the whispers of the Enemy, that the response to our sins is agonizing isolation.  Easter, and the comforting words of our Lord, reminds us that all our suffering, all our loss, all our pains and all our fears are passing.  Today, we stand in that amazing garden with Mary, hearing the voice of He who would be our Lord and Savior, reminded that there is a hope for our lives.  We stand in that garden, a former place of betrayal and sin in the world, cognizant that just as He redeemed the garden, just as He redeemed Peter and Thomas and Mark and all those who deserted Him, He can redeem each one of us and use us to His glory, assured that He is with us in all those sufferings!  Alleluia!  The Lord is Risen!  One day, one glorious day, all who accept His offer of forgiveness and new life will be Risen as well.  Won’t you claim your share in Him this day and all days going forward!

Peace,

Brian†

Friday, April 18, 2014

Good Friday . . .

     I suppose it is only natural, since we have been looking at the spiritual disciplines, that I have viewed this season of Lent in light of those which we have been studying.  I know last night’s reminder that the towel is the symbol of the second Great Commandment touched, but it really came out of our discussions of Service and Submission.  My thoughts on this day, this Good Friday, probably arise from our discussions of Meditation, Prayer, and Solitude.  I say that as I have been considering how important the liturgy is in the life of the Church.  More often than not, we pay attention to the pretty colors.  Is today a red today?  Is today a green day?  Wait, why is everything white today?  We certainly pay attention to Lent because we lose our alleluias for a time.  Today, however, is unique in the life of the Church.  Today is a day in which the Church is called to remember the shocked silence of almost two thousand years ago.
     Seemingly near instantaneously, and certainly overnight, our Lord’s disciples went from a happy time, the celebration of the Feast of Passover, to utter dismay and sorrow.  In one moment they were eating with Jesus and reminding themselves of God’s promises; in the next, He was mocked, crucified, dead, and buried.  Perhaps even more sobering, their Lord had been betrayed by their own.  Judas, one of them, had arranged to hand Jesus over to the authorities.  The Sanhedrin and priests, the very representatives of Yahweh on earth, manipulated the system and rules to have Jesus killed--whose miracles testified to all that He was beloved by God!  Lastly, Pilate had sentenced Jesus to death, even though he understood that Jesus had done nothing wrong.  The disciples had been betrayed by a friend, by the religious authorities, and by the political authority.  No doubt they each felt betrayed by God.  After all, could not the God who empowered Jesus to bring Lazarus back to life or the blind man to see have put an end to all this?  But He had chosen not to act, and Jesus paid for all this duplicity, all this failure, with His life.
     It is a challenging effort to contemplate the deeds of this day.  How could God have loved me that much?  How could God sit and watch His beloved Son go through all this?  Was their really no other way?  Like many of those who came before us, you and I have far too many idols in our lives.  Whether we serve them or not, there are simply too many that they could ever be avoided.  The message of the culture has always been, “We got this.”  I think in the Midwest, it is even more prevalent.  Stop and listen to the narratives around you.
     How many of us know people panicking over the economy?  The old message used to be, “work hard, earn a secure retirement, and enjoy the golden years.”  Know anybody fretting about their inability to retire?  Know anybody who has given up on their ability to enjoy their golden years?  Know anybody who can’t get a job in order to start worrying about retirement?
     How many of us are worried about medical care?  Disease rightly frightened us, as it often reminded us of our frailty and even death.  Nowadays, though, most are concerned with cost.  There are people in this neighborhood, heck, even in this congregation, who sometimes have to choose between medicine and food or medicine.  Years ago, people worried whether they could survive an exotic illness.  Nowadays, people worry if they can afford the cure.
     Discussions of disease and death naturally lead to a consideration of pain.  There is so much in the world that can cause pain.  Illnesses can certainly hurt us, but many of us know other pains.  Many of us have relationships which hurt us.  Some of us have esteem issues which cause us to see ourselves as insufficient to the task, whatever the task may be.  Naturally, we seek something for the pain.  How many of us know people who turn to alcohol or drugs to dampen the pain?  How many of us turn to them for our own?  Perhaps we know people who seek their value in the arms of temporary lovers?  
     At least we don’t have to worry about wars, right?  Seriously, though, think how war weighs on those in our lives.  We have several of our parish “kids,” now all grown up, who have had to experience war first hand.  They have been asked to serve in conflict.  And, although we have been fortunate that none of our own have been wounded our killed, what damage has been done?  A quick peek at the world’s stage ought to cause us some concern.  Whether one is worried about the Middle East or the designs of Russia or China or bemused by North Korea, we cannot but help feel anxious about the outlook for peace.
     This list could go on and on and on.  Each of us has a number of fears and worries.  Unfortunately, many of us have short memories.  Like the psalmist today, we need to be reminded that God wins.  He always wins.  Though we remember our Lord’s crucifixion and death this day, we do so cognizant that the Easter dawn is not that far off.  Unlike those who lived this day, and the darkness that accompanied it, you and know the ray of hope that will be bursting forth.
     But today, this day we call Good Friday, you and I are called to ponder the significance of the silence.  Like our brothers and sisters a couple thousand years ago, we may be convinced that God has failed.  When we are faced with financial insecurity, disease, broken relationships, and any number of hardships combined together, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, easy to feel insignificant.  We can understand all to well the feelings and deep pain of those disciples who fled from our Lord at the time of His trial, who denied Him when the world’s examination hit too close to home, and who could only stand and watch as He was mocked, scourged, and killed.  That is why Good Friday is so important in our liturgical life together.  This day, you and I are called to ponder the amazing love of God.  We are called to deafen our ears to the noise and subterfuge and  temptations of the world.  We are called to consider anew the wondrous love of God which would cause Him to suffer this indignity, this injustice on our behalf.  We are called, each and every time we remember this day, to pause, to remind ourselves that this day is unlike any day that ever came before.  Even at the darkest time in history, God was not powerless.  Even at the time it appeared His enemies had finally won, God was still able to work His redemptive plan.  The same old, same old no longer holds true.  Even in the face of such a tragic death, our Lord is in the process of bringing all things to their perfect end, just as He is about bringing us to His perfection as well!
Peace,

Brian†

Thursday, April 17, 2014

The sign of the Towel . . .

     We had a wonderful discussion about this scene a couple weeks ago during Wednesday evening study.  We were chatting about the discipline of submission and how the practice of the discipline frees us from any numbers of fears or idols.  Chiefly, submission teaches us that we do not need to get our own way.  We can rest in the arms of God confident that when things seem not to be going our way, He still is in control.  But submission also helps us deal with the fear that motivates us to try and take charge of everything, to do things our way.  Who’s afraid, you might be asking.  All of us.  But what we fear is perhaps not what we think we fear.
     As the disciples have been on this journey with Jesus, one of their consuming discussions has been questions of power.  Lord, when you come into your glory, permit us to sit at Your hand, one on your right and one on Your left.  At times, they even argued over their own hierarchy.  Jesus repeatedly taught them that the kingdom which He was ushering in was turning all understandings of power and authority on their ears.  To be greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is to be the servant of all.  One of the problems with pride, brothers and sisters, is that it enslaves us to a terrible fear.  Nobody wants to be least.  Think of your time in gym class.  Were you as concerned about being picked first, or were you more concerned about not being picked last?  We you more concerned about getting a date to prom or Homecoming with Mr. or Miss Popular, or were you more afraid of being stuck alone?  Or worse, going with the nerdy, comely next door neighbor?  Even as adults, we still understand that visceral fear.  Ever been through a company merger or takeover and had to worry whether you were expendable or redundant?  You are not alone.  Better still, our Lord understands that fear.
     Ever noticed one of the small, weird details in this story?  It was the custom in the ANE that if you hosted a party, you provided foot cleaning.  Part of it was, no doubt, for your own house cleanliness.  After all, who wants a ton of dirt or other stuff being tracked into one’s home?  More importantly, though, it was for the purposes of hospitality.  In the ANE, people mostly walked to and from their destinations.  And, even if one was wealthy enough to own a horse or traveling over roads smooth enough for carts, one still arrived at the destination dusty, particularly one’s feet.  Now, on these roads were animals, mostly beasts of burden.  We live in the Midwest, so we might understand how well trained the animals were when it came to bathroom breaks.  Yes, what caked travelers’ feet was not just mud!  So, one lucky slave or servant was assigned the task of washing peoples’ feet upon their arrival.  If it was a big party, more than one might be assigned.  Hopefully, you get the idea.
     Flash forward to our scene for Maundy Thursday.  The disciples are celebrating the Passover Meal with their Rabbi, the one they believe to be the Christ.  By the time we get to the foot washing part of story, how far are they into the meal?  Imagine, if you will, not washing up for Christmas or Easter dinner before coming to the table.  That is what has happened here.  During the biggest meal of the year, nobody washed the feet of those in attendance.  Consider that for a moment in light of Jesus’ instruction to His disciples regarding favoritism and power and authority.  Of that motley group of fishermen and tax collectors and whatever other jobs they held, who was willing to serve as a slave to his or her brothers and sisters and wash the road dust off their feet?  
     I know we like to think of those early Apostles and disciples as Saints, and they rightly are.  But they are not yet in His story.  Like us, they struggle with what they see, what they hear, and what they have been taught.  What the world claims, sometimes, seems to be in conflict with Yahweh revealed.  And it does not help that those who represent Yahweh get so far off His message.  These same disciples who argued over where they were to sit or who was to lord over each other still do not understand Jesus’ teaching and still do not recognize the path to greatness in the Kingdom.  The author of this account of the narrative points out that Peter had to ask him to find out who the traitor was!  Nobody wants to be the slave that washes feet, so nobody gets their feet cleaned for the Passover Meal.  Nobody wants to be the least!  Nobody wants to be the last!
     Then, we are told, He rose, took off His out garment, and wrapped a towel around Himself and began to wash their feet!  Think of that act for just a second.  We so often spend time fixated on the Cross.  Rightly so, we equate the cross as a sign of our salvation.  Most of us are humbled by the thought that someone would love us enough that they would die for us, let alone God.  Yet, that is the message of the Cross.
     But what of the message of the Towel?  Jesus was so immersed into the lives of His disciples that he was willing to humble Himself and wash the mud and dirt and other wonderful items off their stinky feet!  He who was and is and will be God condescended to wash the feet of those whom He created!  Have you ever heard anything so scandalous?  Have you ever heard anything so absurd?  For those of you who have a hard time coming to me in this service to have your foot washed, I can only imagine how hard it would be for you to come to Jesus.
     Wait!  I don’t have to imagine.  There is one like you!  Peter says to Jesus that He will never wash his feet.  Jesus tells Peter that unless He washes him, Peter will have no part in Him.  He understands and tells Peter and the others that they will not understand the events of the night right away.  And Peter gives in and asks His Lord to wash ever part of Him.  It is an amazing gift of Jesus.  He has freed all those who follow Him from worrying about being least.  He has freed all who follow Him from the dog eat dog worries of corporate life.  He has free all those who follow Him from caring whether they are picked last for kickball or some other contest.  He has freed all who follow Him from the need for pride, from the need for power, from the need for authority.  All those who follow Him learn from this example that such concerns are immaterial to Him.  He loved each one of us enough to die for us; He loved each one of us enough to wash the grime from our feet!
     As I said a moment ago, we talk long and hard about the Cross being a sign of God’s love of us.  We would do well, I think, to ponder the Towel as a sign of God’s love of all those around us.  Better still, we would do well to ponder this amazing event and its results.  By virtue of our baptism into His death, you and I have died to ourselves.  By virtue of His rising again, we have been baptized into the Resurrection.  By virtue of His gift of the Spirit, we have been called forth as ambassadors!  When we see or hear a need, we are called to remember the Towel.  We are called to remember that the One whom we are called to represent got down on His knees and washed the feet of those who dined with Him.  Can we do less than emulate His behavior, if we truly intend to glorify Him in our lives?
     Brothers and sisters, like those who came before us, you have heard the same teachings of Jesus.  You shall have no other God but the Lord.  And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the torah and the prophets.  Just as we are called to contemplate the Cross as a sign of His willingness and love to save each one of us, each of us is called to remember the Towel as the sign of that love for those in the world around us.  He has called you into a glorious inheritance!  He has promised you a double portion of the firstborn!  How can you truly honor such a gift of grace without picking up that cross and towel and following Him?
     Like those in our narrative tonight, we do not truly understand what He has done for us.  Oh, unlike them, we know that He will die and be raised again as the first fruits of the Resurrection, but we really cannot understand what comes next.  All we can do is look and marvel at what happened to those men and women in tonight’s story.  Those who were arguing over position and power were amazingly transformed by their experience of the Risen Christ.  Some of those who fled later became martyrs; those who denied later became amazing witnesses; even those who doubted became certain!  And none, none worried about power and authority and ranking after that experience because they then understood however haltingly, however incompletely, the joy to which He called them.  May those in our lives, by our wielding of the Towel, recognize that same transformation in us and feel called to share in this wonderful inheritance!
Peace,

Brian†

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

A vision of recreation and healing!

     Visualization.  Bishop Scarfe mentioned it near the beginning of his sermon at 8am this past Sunday.  He was commenting how visualization is often a sports technique utilized by Olympic athletes.  Curlers visualize their stones bending into the house before they throw them.  Skiers often go through all the turns of a slalom or downhill before they ever leave the gate.  He even noted how basketball players will see the ball going through the basket before the game ever starts.  I started laughing (internally I hope) some of my coaches’ attempts to teach visualization.
     The best coach I ever had at teaching visualization was responsible for linebackers.  Most of my time on the football field was spent in line play.  Except for one year in high school and a couple in college, I dealt more in the realities of leverage than in seeing and reacting.  One year, a coach was tasked with the responsibility of turning me into a weak side linebacker.  All here know there is no “former NFL linebacker” on my resume or profile pic, so you can all imagine the outcome.  It sounds really strange to say it, but some who play football are comfortable in space while others are comfortable in the scrum.  To each his own, I guess we might say.
     Anyway, this coach believed mightily in the power of visualization.  Looking back it makes sense.  We used to love it because it was twenty to thirty minutes of not sweating.  We were kids and did not appreciate the value.  Of all my coaches, I would say this coach was most overt in his faith.  Sometimes, especially when we were in the car with him on the back roads of West Virginia and he was looking at us in the backseat instead of ahead in the road, we thought he was a little too overt, a little too anxious to see our Lord face to face.  But this coach had us visualize the line play over and over and over again.  We did it so much, we practiced it so many times, that I can still hear his excited voice.  Your guard is blocking down.  What do you do?  Look to my tackle.  He’s blocking out on the DE.  What do you do?  Fill the hole.  What do you do?  Fill the hole.  Are you sure?  Fill the hole and meet the FB and plug or tackle the HB.  What if the QB keeps it and scampers around the end?  Somebody else has him.  When the guard blocks down and the tackle blocks out, I fill the hole.  That’s my job.  If we got all the scenarios right, we usually got a water break.  I often got my keys right, but, as I said earlier, there is no “former NFL linebacker” attached to my name.
     Why the focus on visualization?  As Bishop Scarfe mentioned the word, not only was I reminded of our efforts to visualize in high school and college, but I knew immediately where his sermon was going to go, in light of many conversations I have had with parishioners these 7+ years about the Healing Service.  I was so wishing that this person and that person were at early church to hear what he was going to say in answer to their questions about Healing.  There is a certain amount of frustration with God in some people’s minds and hearts.  Some have prayed, seemingly futilely, for a particular healing that seems never to occur.  If I mention that faith the size of a mustard seed will enable us to move mountains, I get a couple well, if that’s true, what doesn’t God . . .   If I remark that we are inheritors of incredible power to accomplish miracles in His name, I get a few except for this.  In darker moments, the seeming lack of healing causes some among us to begin to doubt of standing with God.  The Enemy uses our seeming inability to get healing for the cause that we bring to God month after month, year after year, to begin to convince us that we do not share in the inheritance, the promises, the hope of God.  There is something wrong with me.  God does not really love me.
     Our Gospel and Old Testament lessons this week, as the bishop noted, are of incredible importance for those traveling through the valleys and shadows of life.  Think where the story occurs in our timeline.  A message is sent to Jesus that Lazarus is sick.  Jesus tells His disciples that Lazarus will die but that God will be glorified in Lazarus’ death.  There He goes again, Jesus is breathing too much incenseHow can God be glorified in the death of a disciple?  Imagine, too, the emotions of Mary and Martha.  Both tell Jesus that, had He been there, they know that their brother would still be alive.  After all, if You can give sight to the blind, You can sure cure a little sickness.  Besides, we have seen You heal all kinds of illnesses.  What’s one more?  Even Thomas, you know, the one we call the Doubter, expects that Jesus is risking death by returning to Judea.  The little pack of disciples is working through a number of emotions.  Much as are we when we gather.
     Notice Jesus’ response to all those emotions.  He teaches Mary and Martha and us.  Martha believes that God answers whatever Jesus asks of Him.  When Jesus tells her that Lazarus will rise again, she mistakenly looks toward the Day of the Lord.  I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.  Jesus announces to her and all within earshot that He is Resurrection and He is Life.  It seems a crazy statement.  Lazarus is dead, and He claims to be life and resurrection?  You can well imagine the fingers circling the temple of surrounding heads noting that Jesus is crazy.  Amazingly, Martha accepts His words as true.  In a confession not unlike Peter’s, Martha tells Jesus she believes He is the Messiah, the one coming into the world.  The lesson He teaches Mary is one of compassion and intent.  I often tell people at times of mourning that our Lord is mourning with them.  How do I know?  This passage.  Jesus weeps at the death of Lazarus.  Jesus knows, knows that this is not what God intended when He created the world.  We were not supposed to know death.  We were not supposed to know hurt.  We were not supposed to know sadness.  And that knowledge, and the hurt of those around Him, causes our Lord to weep and His soul to be greatly disturbed.
     What follows is, perhaps, the second greatest miracle in the Bible.  Jesus tells Lazarus to come out of the tomb.  Amazingly, Lazarus, who has been dead for four days, comes out of the tomb.  Jesus tells those who witness the event to unbind him and let him go.  Such is the power of this miracle that even some of the Jews, who wanted to stone Him a few verses earlier and who were watching events transpire, are moved to believe in Him!
     It is, as Bishop Scarfe noted, an important miracle.  In a few short days, Jesus will seemingly be overcome by the powers of the world.  In less than two weeks, they and we will see Him betrayed, scourged, mocked, tortured, crucified, dead, and buried.  Their world will be so upturned that the disciples will be scattered.  Day will become as night.  God will seem powerless to prevent death, even the death of one of His prophets.  Thomas will go from willing martyr to doubter.  Peter will go from one who Confesses Him the Christ to becoming one who denies even knowing Him.  Talk about unhinged.  Talk about losing their anchor in the storm!  This amazing story should have served as a reminder to them that God can conquer even death!  His power is in no way limited.  He can restore sight to the blind.  He can feed a multitude from a few loaves and fishes.  Just a touch of His hem can heal.  And, oh yeah, even death cannot thwart His will!
     The Healing Service that we celebrate each month, as well as the Eucharists that we celebrate multiple times each week, ought to be for us an attempt at visualization, a reminder of who it is that we serve and what He intends for each of us.  Just like the raising of Lazarus ought to have given some confidence to His disciples in the face of His own death, our participation in this rite ought to reassure us that we are loved deeply by Him and that He will be glorified in us.  The valleys that we face, brothers and sisters, are every bit as dark, every bit as deep as we believe them to be.  Some of us are dealing with dangerous diseases; others of us are dealing with broken relationships; still others are worried about job security or physical strength; my list could go on and on and on.  The troubles which we face are every bit as dark and oppressing as we think they are.  The consequences of sin, both those of our own and those of others, threaten to overwhelm us just as death did the family of Lazarus and our Lord’s did to the disciples.  That is why the lesson from John this week is so important, so instructive.
     Prior to that dark path to Calvary, our Lord gave His disciples a number of signs which demonstrated who He was.  To the blind, He gave sight.  To the deaf, He gave hearing.  To the teacher of the Law He imparted wisdom.  To the outcasts, He gave the opportunity to share in His glorious inheritance.  And to all those, both those who followed Him and those Jews who were ready to stone Him, He demonstrated God’s unconquerable power! Though Lazarus had been dead four days, nothing could keep him from answering the Master’s call.  A body that should have begun to smell from decay could not thwart God’s will, nor could a plot by those who hoped to retain power, nor could even a misunderstood faith.
     But His voice does not end there!  He also instructed us that we should gather for the Eucharist, gather for prayer, and to gather for Healing.  You see, brothers and sisters, this, all this around us is fleeting, no matter how painful or how exciting.  For reasons known only to our Lord, He has chosen to bind Himself to us and us to Him.  That means our honor is His honor; our dishonor His dishonor; our ridicule His ridicule; our sufferings His sufferings.  Don’t believe it?  How did He respond to Lazarus’ death?  How did He respond to the grief of those present?  He wept.  He wept, and then He redeemed.  That same tender voice that sought to encourage Martha and Mary in their grief, that same instructive voice that sought to teach His disciples that the journey back to Judea would lead to God’s glory, that voice is the One that calls you and me and everyone to faith.  It is that voice which claims to be the Resurrection and the Life.  It is that voice which will one day command each one of us to stand before Him, a voice whose command and authority cannot ignored.  It is that voice from which we all long to hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant.  Come.  See what the Father has prepared for you.”  He is calling you; He is comforting you; He will one day redeem all that you have suffered.
     Brothers and sister, that same voice which command Lazarus to come out also instructed our spiritual ancestors to share in the Eucharist and to gather in prayer for one another, anointing with oil and the laying on of hands.  When we come together in worship, to give thanks and to ask for help, we are visualizing, no matter how imperfectly nor how shadowy, the hope that we have in Him.  Confident that He will one day redeem all this and restore us to the glory with which He created us, we come to the Table and to the rail, beseeching Him to come and redeem now.  Sometimes He comes, and gives us what we want now.  Always He comes and gives us what we need.  Some days it is strength; other days it is patience; still other days it may be healing; still other days it may be understanding that our suffering serves His redemptive purposes.  One day, though, one day, you and I and all who call Him Lord will experience that wonderful response of our brother Lazarus.  Can you see it?  Can you hear it?  Can you anticipate it?  One day, He will call us out and say to those around us, “Take off the grave clothes, set him/her free.”  That is the promise we share in.  That, brothers and sisters, is the hope of this and every pledge He makes!  That is the vision in which we all share!

Peace,

Brian†