Easter is Coming

Psalm 70:1 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Be pleased, O God, to deliver me.
    O Lord, make haste to help me!

What is it that makes these words from the Psalm so poignant this week?

Is it imagining the words coming out of Jesus' lips as he prays in the garden of Gethsemene that the cup might pass him? (well, at least in Matthew, Mark, and Luke!)

Or is it imagining these words coming out of our lips as we realize that the events of this week will end up showing God's powerful and inordinate love for a rebellious and stiff-necked people like us?

Is it the fact that the crucifixion has been for many of us so hard to wrap our minds around that we've spent endless words and thoughts trying to understand it rather than just falling into the prayer of living out of it?

This video captures I think the tangle and the wonder of Easter, of how death does not have the last word.

Of how deliverance comes in the most unlikely of places.

(link here: Easter is Coming)

God of mystery, death does not have the last word. Deliverance is coming.  Make ready our hearts for it! Amen.

The Foolishness of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18 NRSV

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 


"How foolish is the cross?

I read this quote recently by a Christian writer/podcaster I admire, Mike McHargue. (AKA Science Mike).  He said this:

"The cross was not God's invention. It was ours. In all our need for an eye for an eye, I have to wonder sometimes if God listened to our cry for blood, and offered his own son - if Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was not to sate God's wrath, but to show God's response to ours."

How much is revenge a part of our system?

How much is blood and war and death a part of how we seek retribution?

It wasn't different in the first century, when human beings made the cross an instrument of horrific death.

And the foolishness is that God turned that very item of horrific death into a means of salvation and hope and even new life.

It does sound foolish when you try to explain it rationally to someone who doesn't believe.

And yet it is the thing I - we - cling to for hope and a promise that is bigger than ourselves and even our world.

We said "Here is our instrument of death."

God said, "OK. Fine. But wait til you see what happens next!"

Lord, we wait for what happens next. But in the meantime, help us to walk alongside Jesus this week in hope and humility. Amen.

Fear and Trembling

Philippians 2:12-13  - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

A final thought as we enter Holy Week about Philippians Chapter 2. 

These two verses may seem perplexing.  I mean, I'm guessing you probably get the fear and trembling part!

But the working out your own salvation part?

Perhaps a clue about what this means is that following it is the line "for it is God who is at work in you."

So working out your own salvation means, I believe, living out with honesty, humility, and integrity the salvation that has already been given to you through Christ.  God saves.  We don't save ourselves.

And who doesn't get a bit quivery at the thought of such a momentous gift?

I remember the first time I was given a large amount of cash as a gift from someone in my family.  I didn't earn it. Didn't deserve it. 

And I felt nervous and unsure about what to do with it!  There was fear and trembling a plenty as I tried to work out the best way to put such a gift to use. Did I buy myself something I always wanted? Did I save it? Did I give some of it to charity?

That often is how I feel with the gift of life I've been given. Am I using this gift with humility? With honesty? With integrity?

Am I taking this completely unearned gift - a life I never asked for, but was given freely - and make the most out of it that I can?

This segment of chapter 2 of Philippians comes after the passages we have already read: where we see how Christ as servant king willingly emptied himself and with humility became obedient even unto death.  

As Holy Week begins, we move from Jesus on the humble donkey riding into Jerusalem to Christ resurrected, redeeming the cosmos.  

And that is worthy of some fear and trembling!

Lord of the cosmos, help me to live into this gift of life you have given me with fear and trembling and integrity!  Amen

Servant King

Philippians 2:5-11New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
    he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death—
    even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him
    and gave him the name
    that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
    every knee should bend,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
    that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

So maybe I might actually go more than two days with chapter 2 from Philippians.  As I read through this chapter again, it strikes me how rich it is in terms of how we see and talk about God.

These verses are some of the most famous of Paul's writings. Except, as I learned it, this part of the passage isn't really Paul's writings.  Instead, Paul is quoting a hymn from his day: a hymn that has much to say theologically speaking.

What does it mean for us that Jesus emptied himself?

That he took the form of a slave?

That he humbled himself?

And that it is in THAT humility and obedience that he is exalted.  It is in that servanthood that he is worthy of our bended knees?

Is that how we tend to think of him?

Is it his servanthood we lift up?

Is it his emptying himself of all the glory he is due to be put to death in way that is both horrifying and humiliating?

As we approach Holy Week, it strikes me that we miss out on a lot when we skip ahead to Easter without using both Lent and the passion of Holy Week to prepare us.  We tend to revel in the glory of resurrection before we see the humbling of the death that led us there.  

Because it is that humility; that obedience; that servanthood; that suffering that gives full meaning to the glory of Easter Day.

It isn't until we go through Friday that we get the full impact of what it means that Sunday's coming.

Sunday's comin' - but we've got to live through Friday first. Click this link - Sunday's comin' 

I encourage you, as Holy Week comes, to make the most of this season.  Live through the Passion this week with Jesus as Servant King without skipping ahead to Sunday.

Lord you came not to be served, but to serve. May the same mind be in me.  Amen.

Humility

Philippians 2:1-4New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

I want to take two days to go through this famous "Christ Hymn" from Philippians because it just is so awesome it deserves it! :-)

As I read through this passage again and again, each time I am bowled over by how much we just don't seem to get it most of the time. 

Humility.

In humility regard others as better than yourselves.

When you think they aren't worshipping the correct way.

When they think that the music being played should be one way or another.

When they believe that the church is going in a different direction than you do.

When they are Republican Christians.

When they are Democratic Christians.

When they are Pro-Life Christians.

When they are Pro-Choice Christians.

When they aren't Christian.

When they believe in same sex marriage in the church.

When they don't believe in same sex marriage in the church.

When they don't want communion every week.

When they do.

When they believe in baptism of infants.

When they don't.

When they worship only at Christmas and Easter or only a few Sundays a year.

When they don't worship at all.

When they disagree with you in Bible Study.

When they don't come to Bible Study at all.

When they decide to go to a different church.

When they decide not to go to church.

Regard them in humility.

In joy.

In mutuality.

In compassion.

In love.

Because the one who died on the cross with you in mind, also went to the cross with them in mind.

Merciful God, remind me always that my ways are not your ways. Remind me also that your ways are sometimes inscrutable to me, so I should make sure not to get so attached to my ways that I can't let them go when you desire it. Amen.

Love or Fear

Isaiah 44:6-8New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
    and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
I am the first and I am the last;
    besides me there is no god.
Who is like me? Let them proclaim it,
    let them declare and set it forth before me.
Who has announced from of old the things to come?
    Let them tell us what is yet to be.
Do not fear, or be afraid;
    have I not told you from of old and declared it?
    You are my witnesses!
Is there any god besides me?
    There is no other rock; I know not one.

I've said before here that perhaps the most common phrase in the Bible is "Do not fear" or "do not be afraid.

More than anything else.

More than "sin no more"

More than anything.

Jesus says it in the New Testament.

God says it to the Israelites.

What would it look like if we took God seriously here?

Would not being afraid make it simpler to take God seriously in other places? 

Would it be easier to love our neighbor?

Would it be easier to love our enemy or turn the other cheek?

Would it be easier to share our resources and strive toward justice and mercy?

Would it be easier to understand what Jesus means by the Kingdom - the KIN-dom of God?

Would we stop thinking so much about heaven and hell that we see the life in front of us right here and right now?

Would grace make sense to us then?

Do not fear.  Some have said that the opposite of love is not hate, but instead is fear. Think of all that happens in this world in the name of fear.

And if that went away, what kind of love would blossom and bloom?

Lord of love and mercy, help me not to be afraid, but to walk with eyes wide open into this expansive world of yours with love guiding me in all things.  Amen.

Dying to live

John 12:24-25New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

For a long time, the word I focused on in this passage was "hate."  

As if: "Really, Jesus? You want me to hate my life?"

No. Not really.  Or at least, that's not it.

The previous verse really helps here.  What good is a grain of wheat on it's own? Say you pick one and put it on your shelf. What then?

So, maybe it'll be a good memento of the trip to the farm you took, or perhaps make you think of bread.

But will it be doing what a grain of wheat is made to be doing?

And likewise, when we are so content with how our live IS, are we doing what we are meant to be doing? Learning, growing, changing...

Becoming?

That's what we are.  Becoming.

Loving our life is fine as long as we are remembering that we are not finished yet.

When we want to stay put, not grow, or change, or learn, or become, we forget that.

There's a lot of grief going on in churches today that has to do with missing how things used to be. And I get that. I even feel it sometimes myself.

But then I remember that we are always becoming. We are not finished. And when we hold on too tightly to what IS or what WAS, we lose sight of who we are to be.

In what ways is your life challenging you to grow? To become? 

To fall into the earth and die to what is so that you can grow into what will be.

Lord, help me to die to myself so that I can live for you.  Amen.

Patience...

Isaiah 30:18New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;
    therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him.

How patient are you?

I'm not very.  OK.  I'm not at all.

So...

Blessed are those who wait for God.

OK.

Why wait?

Because the Lord is a God of justice.  And justice is worth waiting for.  Mercy is worth waiting for.  Graciousness is worth waiting for.

Even when you are impatient like I am.

Even when it feels like justice or mercy or grace will never come.

Because they will come. 

And the blessing is born out of the waiting.

And the grace will make it worth the wait.

God of grace and justice, shine your mercy down, and when I am impatient, remind me that you are worth waiting for!  Amen

More than we can handle?

1 Corinthians 10:13New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

Have you heard this one? 

"God never gives us more than we can handle."  

Well, this might be where that cliche comes from.

Truth is that I think we get more than we can handle all the time. Plenty of times, and I'll bet if you think carefully, you can come up with a good amount of Biblical characters who'd agree with you.

Now, whether God GIVES us those things we can't handle - those tests - is the first problem I've always had with the cliche.  Even in my darkest times, I've never been able to conjure up an image of God gleefully dumping as much misery on me as possible.

And that's not what the passage says. Instead it says that God will not let us be tested beyond our strength. God is the savior here, not the tester.

The second problem I have with the cliche, is that the great promise isn't that we won't get more than we can handle.  

Instead, the promise is that we have strength to handle and a way out to endure those tests.  We have more strength and endurance in fact than we can possibly imagine.

Hasn't that really been how it's worked out for you? Even when things are their worst, somehow, someway strength to get through that dark place comes, even if it seems to take forever to get there. (yes, I realize I talked yesterday about how darkness isn't always bad...but sometimes, the metaphor just works!) :-)

The promise from God is strength even when we don't feel strong. 

And a light at the end of the tunnel - endurance - even when we wonder how we will endure. No matter how dim that light might seem to be.

That is far from a false promise of never getting more than we can handle.  Frankly, sometimes it does seem like more than we can handle.  

At least on our own.

And to that, God says: "You aren't on your own. You can endure because I am with you."

Lord of mercy, grant me strength to see beyond the weakness that I feel when everything seems to be too much.  Amen.

Light and Dark

John 3:14-21New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“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.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

This was the gospel reading I preached on this Sunday.  While I was preparing, I was kind of bowled over by all the many things there are to say about this passage.

And many things, frankly, unsaid.

I have to admit I was semi-ambivalent as I thought about this passage - as well as other related passages in John.  The reason has to do with the comparison of light and dark.

I get how for John light illuminates and darkness hides.

How light reveals truth.  How light IS truth.

All of those were images that were meaningful to me for most of my life. 

Then I just finished reading Barbara Brown Taylor's book "Learning to Walk in the Dark" and the meaning became a little muddled for me.

I won't summarize the whole book (you can find a link here with info on it: Learning to Walk in the Dark) But suffice it to say, that the book deals with the very ways we have overlooked the darkness.  It deals with the truth that I've learned for myself: that there is spiritual learning to come from the times of darkness in our lives, whether those times are periods of suffering or even the dark night of the soul itself.

We grow up being afraid of the dark, and maybe that's something that needs to be unlearned.

Yet I'm not ready to throw John's beautiful metaphor of Jesus as light and light as truth away either.  I sometimes need the light to be shone in those dark places of my life where I am hiding, either from myself or from others. Light is truth. It is life.

Yet so can darkness be.

God after all made both the light and the dark.

God of day and night, be the light for my path when I can't find my way, and envelope me in darkness when I need rest. Amen.