April 7th

Now What?

Christ is Risen! (He is risen indeed!) Alleluia amen! …now what? Our sisters in the faith shared the word. Were the first to announce that our teacher, our friend, our leader had risen from the that tomb. Death has officially been defeated. We’re good now, right?

I’ll tell you, after service last Sunday, I got home, sat down and just went phew! Did it! Made it through Lent, made it through my first Holy Week. Easter went pretty well. I’m done now. I’m good. I sat there for a little it and then the anxiety started to settle in. …well, now what? After a major event, such as Easter and the Resurrection, what do we do from here? Sometimes after we hit such a peak in our lives, either our faith life or any area of our lives, the drop back down into the valley can hit us pretty hard. We see this in the various scriptures about the disciples following the death and resurrection of Jesus. The scriptures today tell us that even after they had heard from the women who first held the Gospel that Jesus had risen, they were locked away in their room terrified.

Jesus had risen! Victory over Death! What in the world are we supposed to do now?!? All the people who wanted Jesus dead are still out there. The world is still out there with all of its problems, inequities, divisions, and suffering. Yet now we don’t have our leader here with us, guiding us, being the face of our mission. The aftermath of Jesus’ resurrection, arguably the pinnacle of Jesus’ mission here on earth, caused so much terror and anxiety for the disciples that they were paralyzed in their rooms. Paralyzed to act. And to be honest, I don’t blame them. I can imagine how they were feeling at that moment. Because when we get right down to it, their world isn’t much different from our world today. More and more we find there are people who don’t want to hear the message that Jesus was proclaiming. The message of radical love and acceptance, the message that speaks truth to power, turns our preexisting systems on their head, the message of deep, authentic peace.

The issues that the early followers of Jesus came up against are still here and very much present in our world. The powers of our world do not want to hear of a message like we see in Acts. “Everything they owned was held in common…[all they had and the proceeds from it were] distributed to each as any had need.” We’ve worked against this goal in almost every aspect of this life. How do we engage with the secular world when it seems that at every turn they don’t want to hear or engage with the message Jesus proclaimed? How do we engage when the bridge between the secular and the religious only seems to be growing wider and wider? Arguably because people trying to spread the message of Jesus do so with shame and judgement instead of love and acceptance.

How do we attempt to embody the message and spread it to others when we don’t seem to know the path ourselves? How do we do this faith thing authentically without Jesus here to guide us? All of these questions and doubts that we have in today’s age, the disciples were also having following the loss of their leader. Paralyzed to act in a meaningful manner, fearful of what the future holds for their group, their faith, the mission Jesus bestowed upon them.

So again I ask, what now? How did the disciples move forward with their mission and lead the faith to were it is today? When we look to the scriptures in the Gospel according to John, we see one theme emanating from Jesus throughout. When he first joins with them, when he sees their joy, when he sees the doubt in some of their eyes, Jesus says to them and bestows upon them…Peace. “Peace be with you” he says. In your troubled times, behold the Peace of Christ. When you are afraid and without direction, behold the Peace of Christ. When you are full of joy and confidence, behold the Peace of Christ. When Jesus first met with the group of disciples, he breathes the upon them the Holy Spirit, bringing us back in the scriptures to 14:26-27 “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

There’s a Celtic poem I found by Kenneth McIntosh the eloquently pulls together what Jesus is trying to provide to the disciples and to all of us here who hope to move forward in this mission.

“Watch the sun arise today

In mighty strength.

Let its beams reveal to you

Heaven’s light.

Be upheld by soil and tree,

Beast and river.

Here God’s word in wind and water.

See God’s shield in mount and plain.

Find God’s path in Nature’s seasons.

Whenever you walk in forest and field,

Know that angels walk beside you,

For Heaven and Earth are one.”

Heaven and Earth are one. As Jesus spread his Peace upon the disciples, it has rippled through time to fall upon us as well. When we sit upon these pews, step out into the world, when we work and rest, struggle and play. The Spirit is with us.

As we will see in these coming weeks, as we journey through the scriptures towards Pentecost in a little over a month, the disciples pulled out of their paralyzed state and took upon the Peace of Christ for themselves. They slowly but surely began to take the mantle from Jesus and continued on with his mission. His mission to spread radical love and acceptance of those on the borders of society, those who are afraid and oppressed by the power dynamics of their world, those who’s voices have been cut off and who’s images have been shadowed.

“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” That was their sending off point and my desires for this community is to use that same passion and mission and peace as we move forward from the Resurrection. What came about from our journey of un-becoming? As we head into the Pentecost season, I want us to discern the spiritual gifts and callings that sprout during our becoming. Where are we heading as a faith community? How can we spread the mission of Jesus in the world around us? Not just the name and not what so many in the secular world have heard before. How can we bring about the Peace in action and form as Jesus did for the disciples and for us?

It may not feel like it for some, but this church is sitting in that room with those disciples. Wondering about our next move. In a transition point anxious to take the leap into what’s next. In these coming weeks, we are going to prepare for that journey, as a community united “of one heart and soul” as we saw in Acts today. What is our identity? Where is Jesus making himself known to us? Now, I’m not doing anything like an altar call, but I am placing this charge upon all of us. I can feel the faith within this community ready to blossom like a field of wildflowers. Multicolored, different shapes and sizes, vibrant. A wonderous mosaic of Heaven and Earth as one.

Christ is Risen! (He is Risen indeed)…now what?

March 24th

Fiery Pit or Bust

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” I can say with almost full certainty that this verse, this singular verse, is the most well-known and widely used scripture from the entire Bible. And to be quite honest, its for good reason. One could argue that the entirety of our faith is placed into this scripture. It shows us the epitome of what love is and how God showed us that love. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” God sent Jesus into this world knowing who and what Jesus would be encountering. God has been dealing with, managing, and basically struggling with humanity since the very beginning. We see just a brief snippet of this from the Book of Numbers in our scriptures today. All throughout the Hebrew Bible the chosen people, the Israelites, are given incredible gifts. Just before this passage in Numbers it speaks about God handing over the Canaanites and giving the Israelites even more land during their conquest of this region. And this is just a piece of all that God gave to these people. Yet, even with all of this, almost immediately after this victory and new land and towns, the Israelites begin complaining about God for having them travel further through the wilderness. God has given them everything and they have the audacity to complain directly about God. Not Moses or their other leaders like before but God directly.

And in the grand scheme of the Hebrew Bible, this is quite common! God had taken a much more hands on approach when engaging with humanity during these texts. Providing for them when they needed care, disciplining them when they fell out of line, which they did, over and over and over again. And yet, even with all of this knowledge. Knowing how people behaved and what their probable actions were going to be, God takes the chance, God puts their faith in Love, and sends Jesus into this dangerous, corrupt, suffering, struggling world.

God shows that they will continually come to the aid of humanity, going to the farthest depths when we are in need. However, there is something different this time around. God behaves differently in their actions with Jesus and throughout the Gospel compared to what we’ve seen through the Hebrew Bible. The essence is the same – people fall away from God, need aid, and even curse God – and in turn God still provides for them. The difference though is really seen when we continue on to verse 17. Just one line after the most quoted scripture.

“God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world. There are no bronze serpents, no ritualistic sacrifices, no punishments dealt out to the people because they have again strayed from the path God set them on. God sent Jesus into this world simply for the salvation of this prized creation called humanity.

If verse 16 is seen as the epitome of our faith and love of God, then I would argue verse 17 completes the circle and shows us the path forward. Yet we rarely hear this verse being paired with the first. Everywhere we look in Christian spaces we see John 3:16, we see the verse written out, placed on t-shirts, the whole 9 yards. But not John 3:17.

Now in order to get into why that may be and the cautionary tale around how we have engaged with God’s change in behavior, I think it is important to look into the theological theories that stem from God’s method of salvation from these texts. Because, as I alluded to earlier, these two lines represent a major shift in the way in which God interacts with humanity compared to most of the Hebrew Bible.

By sending Jesus to the world, God is made flesh. Fully human and Fully Divine. And as such, God establishes a much more intimate relationship with humanity. I believe during this time, God not only sees a whole new side to humanity but also experiences it. Those old days of coming into a terrible situation and saving the people with a powerful miracle are gone. Jesus comes into this space teaching, living, and growing with humanity. God is establishing, through Jesus, the foundation for everlasting salvation. “Everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life…the world might be saved through him.”

Now what does this “new” method of salvation mean for humanity? As we come closer to Holy Week, closer to Good Friday and the eventual resurrection, I think it is important for us to start to think about the what and why behind this salvation. Our entire journey this Lenten season has been about stripping away that which isn’t us and through that growing into our full, unashamed selves. A major part of that process is wrapped up in our faith. Why do we believe as we believe, why do we do as we do, behave as we behave. Many of us have grown up in this faith or at the very least has