No More Yeah, Buts!

John 11:1-45

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” 

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” 

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 

We began the season of Lent with the story of Nicodemus. In that story, Jesus told Nicodemus that the way we connect with God, is a lot like the way we come into this life.  We’re not in control of when we are born and neither are we in control of connecting with God. Our life in this world and our relationship with God are both simply and only, loving gifts from God!

But every Sunday after that, the Gospel lessons almost make it seem like Jesus has been telling story after story to some off-camera mystery person who keeps arguing with Jesus, saying, “Yeah, but.”  “Yeah, faith is a gift, BUT Nicodemus was a righteous, good, Jewish, man! So, you must need to be righteous, good, Jewish and a man to qualify for God’s gift! Right?” No! Wrong! Then Jesus offers his rebuttal to that terrible idea with the story of the Woman at the Well. She was not righteous, not good, not Jewish and not a man! And yet, she  received all of God’s love and grace and faith… purely and simply as a gift from God!

But that voice seems to continue to argue back with Jesus every week! “Yeah, I suppose that’s true” the voice says, “But, she’d been talking with Jesus for a long time. She had built a ‘personal relationship’ with Jesus. So, THAT must be what we need to do!  We have to build a personal relationship with Jesus to deserve the gifts of God’s love and grace and faith! Right?” No! Wrong again! Jesus answers that wrongness with the story of the Man Born Blind.  The Man Born Blind literally didn’t see Jesus coming!  He didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus. Jesus didn’t even ask him if he wanted to be healed!  Jesus just walked up to him, made some spit-mud and squished it in his eyes and told him to go wash!  God’s love, God’s grace, God’s gift of faith… ALL OF IT… it’s all REALLY and completely and totally a no-strings-attached gift!

“Yeah” says the voice, “BUT, he did do SOMETHING. He followed Jesus’ instructions and washed in the pool of Siloam!  AND once he got his sight back he changed his lifestyle and followed Jesus… so what we need to do is to follow Jesus in order to KEEP God’s infinite love and grace and faith or else it will be taken away!” NO! Wrong again! And so Jesus answers once again with the story we hear today about raising Lazarus.  This story is the ultimate answer to ALL of these “YEAH BUTS” given by this off-camera voice which seems determined that God’s love and grace and our faith just CAN’T be an unconditional gift. 

Each of those LONG stories from John’s Gospel tell us over and over that Jesus ain’t havin’ NONE of those Yeah, Buts! In each story Jesus makes it clear that God’s love, grace and even our ability to believe, is simply and ONLY a gift from God. The “Yeah, But” folks seem to desperately want there to be a part for us to play in deserving or qualifying for God’s gift. Maybe that’s because the idea of free, unconditional, love isn’t how the world out there goes round and they want God’s ways to match the broken ways of  the world? I don’t know people keep on with the “Yeah, Buts”, but with this story Jesus pulls out all the stops to confront those folks to try and help them really see that God’s love, grace, and even faith itself, REALLY and TRULY and COMPLETELY are, no-strings-attached gifts from God. To do that Jesus tells this story which stars a dead man... and it turns out, Lazarus was worse off than just dead!

You see, the common wisdom back then was that the soul hung around a body for three days, but by day four, the soul was gone for good and there was absolutely, positively NO HOPE of them getting better.  So Jesus waited for Lazarus’ soul to be GONE for good.  That waiting, of course, came with consequences… including an angry, distraught, family and, as the King James version says, Lazarus...  “He Stinketh.”  With Lazarus, Jesus shows us ONE MORE TIME that ALL that is required of US… is EXACTLY what you can expect from lifeless, soul-less, three days dead corpse... that stinketh.  Which is absolutely, positively NOTHING!  Lazarus wasn’t a good, righteous, Jewish, man... he was a corpse.  Lazarus didn’t have a conversation or develop a saving relationship with Jesus... he was a corpse! Lazarus wasn’t going to go wash anywhere, pray anything, or confess to anyone… because, you guessed it... he was a corpse!

Lazarus came out of that tomb, not because he lived a certain way, not because he was born into a certain faith, not because he was convinced or converted by Jesus and not because he did anything, believed anything, or figured anything out!  He came out of that tomb and lived a new life… simply and only because God in Jesus told him... THAT was how it was going to be!  “Lazarus Come Out!”  He didn’t have a choice.  His new life came to him simply and only as a gift from God and the same is true for you and for me.

No matter what you have been told in your life. No matter what conditions the “Yeah, But” people have tried to put on God’s love for you before. Let this be the day that the cold, hard, stone of all that mess is rolled away from your life.  Let this be the day you step out into the light of the brand new life that you have already been given as a gift!  Breath in the fresh, free air of God’s unconditional love for YOU... love for YOU... just as you are!  Let the people in this community unwrap you from the clinging bits of blame, shame, and harmful conditions that had wrapped you up in the past and then… take one step and then another and then another… one day at a time… one step after another… into the abundant life that God has already given you as a complete and free and total gift of love.  Amen.

Wackadoodle Nutburger Supreme

John 9:1-41

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.

Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

The disciples watched the news story about the Man Born Blind with fear, disgust, and a bit of panic simmering up into anger. They turned to Jesus and asked, “Who’s fault it this!? Did a Chinese virus make that man blind? Or is it the government’s fault that this man is blind? Maybe it was all the people who kept saying that science was a hoax that caused this man’s blindness? Or was it the deep state… a giant conspiracy... or billionaires that put profit over people that caused this man’s blindness?”

Jesus slowly turned his head to look at the disciples who were all sitting on the couch and said, “Wow guys!” Then, after a slight pause, Jesus asked, “How has trying to find someone or something to blame been working for ya? Has your finger pointing or your blame finding helped you feel better?  Has it healed that guy’s blindness?” The disciples shrugged. “Not so much… huh? Well, do you want to keep looking for someone to blame? You can keep doing that if you want to… lots of people do just that. Or… do you want to try something different?” The disciples shrugged again. They knew that looking for fault and trying to find someone to blame wasn’t working, but they were stuck. They had even tried buying more toilet paper than they would need for an entire lifetime, but NONE of it had helped!

So Jesus asked them, “When you watch the news, who does your heart go out to? Who is it that you love?” One of the disciples said. “Well, I love that poor man who was born blind. That guy whose been told his whole life that he’s a sinner and his parents are sinners. That he’s worthless. I really feel for that guy who’s been carrying around that heavy, horrible story he’s been told his whole life. He’s been carrying around that heavy-leaky-stagnant water bucket of a story his whole dang life just like that woman at the well! That’s the one my heart goes out to.”

“All right!” said Jesus. “Then, instead of endless reruns of who’s to blame, let’s move toward helping this guy live a REAL life!” So, they got up off the couch and off they went to find the man on the news who had been born blind. When they found him, Jesus didn’t ask him to unlearn or forget that heavy-leaky-stagnant water bucket of a story he’d been taught his whole life. Jesus was also wholly uninterested in the endless loop of blame that so many had tried before. Instead Jesus tried something new.

Now,“NEW” is great when it’s a phone or a TV, but when we’re asked to see the world in a “NEW” way… well, then “NEW” isn’t always seen as such a great thing and sometimes being asked to see the world in a new way is seen as nothing less than a Wackadoodle Nutburger of an Idea. And to be honest, what Jesus did that day looked like a Wackadoodle Nutburger Idea! Because what Jesus did was to use his own SPIT to make MUD and then SQUISH it into this man’s eyes! That’s not just a regular Wackadoodle Nutburger Idea. That’s a Wackadoodle Nutburger Idea Suprmeme! Which is a Wackadoodle Nutburger Idea with sour cream and guacamole on top!

BUT… but… what it was NOT, was yet another lap around the endless LOOP of pointing fingers and finding blame that had been the heavy-leaky-stagnant water bucket of a story this man had been told on a never ending loop for his entire life. A story, by the way, which had NEVER ever helped him to see! So, with a face full of spit-mud, Jesus sent the man off to the pool of Siloam, which means “Sent”… as in, the water for that pool had been “Sent” through two aqueducts into the pool so the water in that pool was always moving… some would even say that pool was filled with “LIVING” water.  But whatever you called it, it was definitely NOT the sort of water you’d find in an old heavy-leaky-stagnant water bucket.

This Man Born Blind had been told, just like that Samaritan woman at the well had been told… they had both been told a heavy-leaky-stagnant water bucket of a story about who they were their entire lives. His family had told him that story, his community had told him that story and even (God help us) the religious leaders had told him this story. They had told him that story in a never ending, circular search for someone or something to blame and they ground that life-sucking story deep into his soul.

What Jesus did, with his Wackadoodle Nutburger of an Idea, was to break open that never ending rerun of a story which allowed this man to leave that heavy-leaky-stagnant water bucket of a story he’d always been told behind him.  Just like that Samaritan woman did with her heavy leaky bucket of a story.  With bucket set down, he could move toward a new, living-waters, kind of life. With one step and then another and then another, he moved toward the pool of Siloam… toward a living-waters, shooting-out-of-an-aqueduct-like-a-geyser sort of life!

Now, his leaky old bucket story didn’t magically vanish.  It still rattled around in his head from time to time and his new life was far from trouble free, but for the Man Born Blind that old constantly repeating story had been broken open and he was now free to take one step and then another, and then another toward a new story and an abundant life.

Like those disciples, you and I sit down these days and watch the news and while our news doesn’t feature a man born blind, it sure shows us a lot of people running around searching for someone or something to blame for the pandemic we are living in. If Jesus were here… and I’m inclined to say he is. He would likely ask us, “Has your search for someone or something to blame made things better for you? Does living more angrily, more loudly, or more desperately, seem to help? Has stockpiling enough toilet paper for the next hundred years helped? No?…. Huh?”

Then, I suspect Jesus would say, “Well, if you’re ready to do something different then first, picture in your minds, the neighbors that you love? Got them in your mind? Good. Now, what Wackadoodle Nutburger Idea can you think of that will help them to live a better life, EVEN in the midst of all the world’s current crazy?” Jesus would remind us that we’ll have to be super creative! We’ll need to keep that physical distance. We’ll have to always Wash our hands, wash our hands, wash our hands. But with all of that in mind, there are still millions of creative ways we can we care for our neighbors today so they have a chance to live a life that’s better than a heavy stagnant water bucket sort of life?

Finally I think Jesus would tell us, "Why don’t you go now and give it a try! Even if the whole world thinks it’s a Wackadoodle Nutburger of an idea! Go! Give it a try! And go all out! Some people will think it’s crazy anyway, so why not pile the sour cream and guacamole and make it a Wackadoodle Nutburger Idea Supreme! Go! And leave that old stagnant water bucket of a story behind. Go on!” Jesus tells us, “I’ll be with you… always, through all of this, even to the end of the age.” Amen. 

Leave the Bucket

John 4:5-42

So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

Today we meet the woman at the well.  As a woman she had no legal status.  As a Samaritan she was unclean.  An unclean Samaritan woman carrying an unclean bucket. She’d had a series of husbands, probably because they left her when they discovered she couldn’t have children. And so here we meet this broken, barren, unclean, worthless non-person.  

That was who she had been taught that she was. The story that had been beaten and ground into the deepest parts of her soul but then... there was Jesus. Just sitting there.  Not repulsed, not offended, not on guard, not worked up, not holier than thou.  Just… thirsty.  He just sat there. Sat there and calmly and relentlessly insisted that the story she had been told… the story she had inherited... the story she told herself… that story… WAS… A... LIE.

The TRUE story, Jesus told her, was that she was worthy of LIFE and not just a heavy-leaky-stagnant-water bucket sort of life, but a LIVING WATERS sort of life… a shooting-out-of-the-ground like a geyser, ABUNDANT sort of life! A filled with meaning, self worth, and purpose sort of life.  Not “someday” when she “got right” with God, or in the sweet by and by, but RIGHT THERE… RIGHT NOW!

We all have stories about us that are lies. We’ve been taught them, inherited them, and had then ground into us by our broken world. We all have that voice that insists those lies are true and says “you can’t,” right as you’re poised to step toward something new. It’s the voice that tells us those heavy, leaky bucket-of-stagnant-water sorts of stories that slowly but relentlessly erode away at our souls.

In our house that voice’s name is Brenda.  That’s the name a Drag Queen named Katya gave to her inner saboteur. Katya was brilliant to name it, because NOW with a name she could argue back with it! Because here’s the thing Katya taught us about Brenda and every voice like her’s… BRENDA’s a @#$%&…and BRENDA LIES!  That heavy, leaky, stagnant water bucket story Brenda tells?  THAT... STORY... IS... A... LIE!

The TRUTH for you and the TRUTH for me, is the same as the TRUTH Jesus told the woman at the well… MY life, YOUR life, our families’ lives, this world’s life are WORTHY of God’s ABUNDANCE... are WORTHY of living water... are WORTHY of God’s overflowing fountain of love, compassion and grace!  And ALL of us are WORTHY, simply because GOD SAYS SO!  God sent Jesus to tell us that truth and to show us that truth!

Brenda however, is persistent, relentless and clever.  But Brenda’s still a LIAR!  Brenda lies!  Jesus, however, is MORE persistent, MORE relentless and MORE clever and Jesus tells the TRUTH and Jesus will keep telling you your TRUE story over and over and over again… Jesus will just sit there and calmly and persistently remind you of God’s TRUTH and go back and forth with you for as long as it takes for Brenda’s lies and all the lies you’ve been told, inherited or been taught to be buried under a Mount Everest sized pile of Jesus’ TRUTH telling about God’s infinite love for you and all of creation.

Jesus knew the painful stories of this woman’s past could not be erased. Jesus knows the painful stories of our pasts can’t be erased either. Jesus knew the lies she had been told and taught could not be unlearned. Jesus knows the lies we’ve been told and taught can not be unlearned either. But Jesus also knows something more. That although the experiences, stories, lessons and lies of our past can not be undone or erased… those painful experiences, stories, lessons and lies don’t have to be carried around by us like a heavy, leaky bucket-of-stagnant-water either! They will never go away, but we can, like the woman at the well, leave them sitting on the edge of the well as we take one… and then two… and then more steps toward a different and abundant life… toward the life God created us to live… toward the life Jesus spends all of his life and all of his death and all of his resurrection showing us how to live… a life that grows under God’s continually showering of love.

That woman left that heavy, leaky bucket-of-stagnant-water on the edge of the well. It was there when she left and it will be there when she gets back. When she gets back it will probably taunt her, like that @#$%& Brenda does, but what Jesus taught that woman is that she is under no obligation to listen to Brenda’s lies or pick up that bucket ever again! That heavy, leaky bucket-of-stagnant-water was still there where she left it, but it no longer had any power. The painful experiences, stories, lessons and lies were not gone, but they too had lost their power… ALL of it reframed underneath a Mount Everest sized pile of Jesus’ truth about God’s infinite love.

What does Brenda say to you? What are the painful experiences, stories, lessons and lies she whispers to you in the dark… that she wants you to carry around with you like a heavy, leaky bucket of stagnant water? All of us have a Brenda.  All of us have a bucket. AND all of us have Jesus who is, one more time right now, reminding you that Brenda lies and that you have been given the power to leave that heavy, leaky, bucket of stagnant water on the edge of the well and walk off toward abundant life right now.  Amen. 

A Different Depth of Field

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come.

Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God? 

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

This year I’d like to invite you to adjust the focus of the lens through which you see the season of Lent. We often come to this day zoomed in on ourselves.  What will be our confession? When will I get ashes? What will be my Lenten discipline? That’s not a bad focus and if that’s where you’re called, Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, would advise you to make sure the “WHY” you are doing those things is not to draw attention to yourself but as a means for you to connect more fully with God. 

On the other hand you may feel called to zoom all the way out this Lent.  To take time considering the world as a whole.  It doesn’t take a whole lot of effort to see things like Climate Change, the Corona Virus, and the growing hatred for the other as parallels for the plagues of locusts and the darkness of an army gathered on a mountain, talked about by the prophet Joel. That fully zoomed out view is also not a bad focus, but again, Jesus would advise, that if this is to be your Lenten focus, make sure to do it for the right reasons. Do it for the healing of the world, for the lifting up of the sick, for the protection of the oppressed and not to play the part of either the hero coming to the world’s rescue or the martyr dying for it.

Zoomed in on our own personal journey or zoomed out to address the larger needs of the world are both good and faithful options this Lent. But there’s another option… an option with a different depth of field… which to be honest I seem to have missed in all my previous years but it is the option to which I seem to be called this year. It’s depth of field focuses somewhere between the individual and the entirety of creation. It comes out of that last bit of the lesson from Joel. “Call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast.” This different depth of field seems to call for a focus neither on the individual nor on creation as a whole but on the gathered body. My focus this Lent is on our particular assembly of people, old and young, who worship together, cry together, laugh together, and care for one another together.  Our assembly which so very often seems to live into the call to create a corner of kindness and compassion for smallness of single individuals, but right the midst of the enormousness of all of creation. 

Joel saw pulling his congregation together, with the entire range of all of it’s diverse people as a key element needed to address both the brokenness of the individual AND the brokenness of the world around them. The gathered congregation, Joel seems to have believed, had the power to not just make a difference in individual lives, but to make a difference in the larger world as well.  The first step in doing that was simply for EVERYONE to come together. Something I think that I... maybe we... often dismiss as insignificant.  

Perhaps you feel called to the individual disciplines this Lent… prayer, fasting, giving alms, doing acts of service. If that is what you are called to this Lent, may those acts turn you toward God and strengthen your relationship with the Divine. Perhaps this Lent is calling you to address the large existential crises of our day… things like climate change, poverty, racism or fear. If that is what you are called to this Lent, may you do that work in a way that seeks to shift the focus away from yourself and onto those most deeply affected by the plagues of our day.

But, if this Lent you too feel called to something with a different depth of field.  I would invite you reject the notion that our gathering itself is insignificant and instead renew your commitment to being fully present in our purposeful gatherings HERE.  To recommit yourself to being here, not just for what you can receive, and not just because you may in fact BE what someone else needs that day, but because like Joel, you too feel called to connect more deeply with this gathering… in all of our amazing and often laugh-out-loud diversity.  I think Joel was telling his people what is also true for us... that our gathering itself is a thing that God is purposefully crafting and that our gathering itself somehow has the power to work for the healing of individuals, for the healing of our community and somehow even…  for the healing of the world.

Incredible things happen when this congregation gathers. Whether it’s on Sunday, or at beer and hymns, or on the Appalachian Trail, or in those rainbow chairs out front… If you haven’t yet noticed how God works through this congregation when it is gathered together, this Lent might just be the perfect time to re-dedicate yourself to gathering as an essential part of this solemn (and often not so solemn) assembly and really taking deep notice of what God is miraculously doing in and with this holy gathering. Amen.

Six Days Later

The Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew, the 17^th Chapter

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Six days later. That, is when today’s story begins. But six days later from what? Six days before this, Peter had declared to the world that Jesus was the Messiah! The Son of the Living God! Then, in nearly the next breath, he turned around and told Jesus that under no circumstances should Jesus go to Jerusalem and be killed. Six days before this story, Jesus had told Peter first that he had been blessed with a vision of truth from God and then, immediately, had to turn right around and tell Peter, “Get behind me Satan.”

Peter had tremendously brilliant moments of holy clarity… an amazing ability to see how God was intimately involved and at work in the world. AAAANNNNNDDDDD Peter ALSO had equally tremendous moments of not-quite-as-holy distractions from the world around him.  Distractions from a world which was violent, oppressive, corrupt and actively out to get Jesus… a person he loved and had committed his life to follow.

I’m personally inclined to go easy on Peter for getting distracted by the “crazy” of his world and losing his faithful focus on Jesus. I’m mostly inclined that way because I am also VERY easily distracted by the “crazy” of my world! I too, all too easily lose my focus on Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Thankfully, it also looks like Jesus was also inclined to go easy on Peter when he got distracted by the crazy, violent, corrupt, out-to-get-them world in which they lived. After telling Peter “Get behind me Satan” Jesus didn’t kick Peter to the curb. Instead, he took Peter, along with James and John, and led them up the mountain for some time apart from the crazy world for God to help them all get undistracted from the “crazy” and refocused on Jesus.

There on top of the mountain Jesus was transfigured. Which means he got super shiny… as shiny as the sun… shiny enough to turn the disciples attention back from the crazy of the world! Then, God pointed at the super shiny Jesus and said, “Look! THIS is my Son, HE is THE most important thing…LISTEN to him…DO what he does…LIVE like he lives… He is right HERE with you!”

The world Peter lived in WAS super distracting. It had a corrupt local ruler who was the puppet of a dictator in a foreign country. The local corrupt ruler was supported by one religious faction that had twisted their faith because twisting it lead to power and profit. The rich were getting richer with the help of the corruption and the poor were getting poorer with the help of that same corruption. Peter’s world was a constant distraction, constantly pulling Peter’s attention away from Jesus… and that was without Twitter or 24 hour cable news!

Like I said before, I’m inclined to go easy on Peter for getting distracted by the world he lived in, mostly because I know how much I get distracted and lose my focus on Jesus in the crazy world in which we live. I am incredibly thankful that it is Jesus’ way, NOT to kick distracted disciples to the curb, but instead, to take them by the hand and lead them to a place of calm where distracted disciples, like me and maybe you, can become refocused on the Way, the Truth and the Life that is Jesus the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

Now there are many mountains and other places out there where that MIGHT happen. A holy moment of divine clarity can and does happen in lots of different places all the time. For some of those unforeseeable moments we’re even lucky enough to be looking up at just the right moment and there it is! A transfiguration moment… a moment of divine refocusing. It CAN happen anywhere… it’s true!  However, there is ONE place where that kind of transfigurational, divine, refocusing happens in a time and a place that is much more predictable than all the others.

That place is here. That time is now. Each week the Holy Spirit basically takes each of us distracted disciples by the hand and leads us here. To this place. At this particular time. Each week we hear again the stories which commend to us the Jesus Way of living life. A Way that is distinctly different than the world’s ways. Each week I hold up the bread and the wine and together we see Jesus, lifted high, shining like the sun. THIS is the time and THIS is this place, where we can predictably count on seeing Jesus. The Messiah. The Son of the Living God!  And with that vision we can be refocused from the distractions of our crazy world and in that moment, in some mystical way God reminds us over and over again that THIS is my Son, HE is THE most important thing…LISTEN to him…DO what he does…LIVE like he lives… He is right HERE with you!

You and I are called to live the Jesus Way of living, which is an infinitely challenging thing to be asked to do as we live in this crazy, distracting, corrupt, violent and difficult world of ours. God knows we, like Peter, will inevitably be distracted and lose our focus on God’s Son. But in God’s infinite love, with Christ’s deepest compassion and with the Holy Spirit’s guiding hand we are led each week to come together... to hear again how we are called to live in our crazy world by this unique Jesus Way of living... to see again God’s Son lifted up in bread and wine, shining like the Sun and be invited again to take Jesus with us… to take Jesus IN US… back down from each mountain top encounter with God, into the crazy, distracting, corrupt, violent and difficult world in which we live.  The hope.  My hope.  Our hope, is that what we take with us... and in us... will somehow, in some way, seep out of us and infect the entire world.  Eventually turning the whole crazy lot of it, into the Kingdom of God.  Amen. 

A Fork in the Road

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Moses said:  See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Matthew 5:21-37

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then 6come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell. “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

The great Yogi Berra once gave directions to fellow baseball player Joe Garagiola saying, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” It turns out, that in that one unique circumstance, the choice didn’t matter because both roads led to Yogi’s house.

There are some choices in this life like that, where the choice we make doesn’t really matter... where one way is just as good as the other. But sometimes in life, the choices we are asked to make really do matter. Those kinds of choices are like the ones Moses asked the people of Israel to make as they were on the threshold of moving into the Promised Land. When they finally ended their journey across the wilderness and were about to settle into this new, non-wandering way of life, Moses told them they needed to choose. They needed to choose between living toward life and prosperity or living instead toward death and adversity.

If they lived in this new land by following the commandments of the Lord, which boiled down to loving God, walking through life in God’s ways, and going by God’s rules, they would be choosing to have a blessed life. If however they chose to turn away from God… to bow down to other gods and live their lives by the rules those other gods set down, they would perish.

This wasn’t God on a power trip setting up booby traps to trip up the people of Israel or giving them pointless hoops to jump through for God’s perverse entertainment. This was God telling the people, “HEY! I know how you all are put together! I know what makes you tick because I’m the one that made all your tickers!” God was letting them know that if they chose to live in a way that was in harmony with the way they had been put together, they would have life. If, however, they lived in a way that went against their manufacturer’s recommendations, they would inevitably tear themselves apart. God was sharing some Divine inside-information about how humans work.  God was sharing that out of God’s unconditional and unlimited love, so they might choose to live and live to the fullest!

Jesus was doing that same thing with the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus reminded the people on that hillside that the choices they made about how they lived together really DID matter. Following God’s commandments, ordinances and decrees, not just by the technical letter of the law but by the even deeper spirit of the law as well, would lead them and all of humanity toward abundant life. Walking down another road would lead to death. Jesus wasn’t sharing what we needed to do to make God love us.  God loves us.  Period.  It’s actually BECAUSE God loves us unconditionally that God wants to let us in on how to follow our Manufacturer’s recommended settings and experience abundant life! Jesus was reminding them that when those recommended settings are followed they allow us to get the most out of life!

And now here WE are. We are at a spot like the people of Israel who were camped outside the Promised Land listening to Moses.  We are at a place in history like the thousands sitting on a hillside in Galilee listening to Jesus. Here we are, sitting down once more and being reminded once again of the choices we are facing. Like the people of Israel… like the people on that hillside in Galilee… we too are facing our moment to make our choice. Today, you and I sit at a fork in the road but this one isn’t like the road to Yoggi Berra’s house where either choice will bring us home.  This choice absolutely matters and is a matter of life or death. 

One way will lead us toward life and blessing. The other will lead us toward death and curses. One way leads us to welcome the stranger, the other way asks us to place the stranger in cages. One way shares our food with the hungry. The other way cuts programs and demonizes the poor and tells them to get a job. One way seeks to heal the sick simply because they are sick. The other way leads to providing healing only for those who can afford it. One way leads us to confront the causes of climate change. The other way denies this thing called “climate change” even exists. One way deals with others with honesty and integrity.  The other way insists that the ends of power justify any kind of means.  One way seeks to be reconciled with brother and sister. The other way seeks revenge on entire families. One way walks toward the higher calling of loving our enemies. The other way just doesn’t know if they agree with that idea of loving enemies.  

You and I… we are at a fork in the road and we have a choice to make. One way, we are told in these lessons, leads toward life and the other way... well, it just doesn’t. Like Moses and Jesus, I want for you to choose the way that leads to life.  I know how difficult that is these days but it is the only way toward life!  So that you might have the abundant life you were created to have I call you to stand up, speak out, advocate, write, march and vote for the way that leads our community, state, country and world toward life and away from death. We are at a fork in the road my friends and unlike the road that led to Yoggi’s house, the way we now choose, at this fork in the road, will make the difference between death and life. Amen.

Stay Salty My Friends

The Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew, the 5th Chapter

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Today’s Gospel text was the last text Pastor Martin Niemöller preached on before being sent to a concentration camp. The Nazis had been insisting that genuinely patriotic churches and religious leaders would support them without question. Niemöller said the Church’s salt was in danger of “being thrown into the same pot as the world.” Niemöller had been a prominent and influential pastor until he began to resist the “pot” the Nazi’s were cooking up. The Nazis told him, “When you start to suit your message to the world around you, then you will again be influential and powerful.” But for Niemöller, the church’s call was NOT to “suit the world” around them but to stay SALTY regardless of the cost! “If the salt remains salt” he said, “we may trust God will use it in such a way that it becomes a blessing.” The world around him was cooking up a stew that openly rejected the teachings of Jesus and was pressuring the church to throw its salt into that horrible stew.

Niemöller reminded his congregation that the Church’s “saltiness” is meant to be used to ENHANCE the love of God, LIFT UP the Way Jesus taught us to live in the world, and BRING OUT the worth and dignity of all people. In food, that’s what salt does. It enhances, lifts up, and brings out flavors. The Church’s saltiness therefore, is there to LIFT UP justice, to ENHANCE the lives of the poor, and to BRING OUT the truth, particularly when the world is working hard to hide it. Pastor Niemöller told his church to save their salt. NOT to keep it safe for better times, but so that when they saw others, even in the midst of all the horror around them, cooking up a dish that lifts the lowly, welcomes the stranger and gives bread to the hungry, they could then add their salt to THAT pot and enhance THOSE flavors!

When Niemöller turned to preach about the light, he told his congregation they also needed to resist the temptation to hide their light away from the gale-force evils of the world blowing around them, EVEN if their intention in hiding it away was to protect it. Our calling, he told them, is to put the light of Christ on a candle stand, NOT hide it under a bushel! He told them to let God worry about the winds of the world, but for us he says, “Away with the bushel!” He was absolutely right! Because what is the bushel? THE BUSHEL IS FEAR. It is fear that temps us to cover the light which God has given us to shine into the world. It’s fear that causes us to shy away from standing up to the powerful. It is fear that leads us to horde what we have and not share with our neighbor. It’s fear that plows the soil for racism, anti-Semitism, increasingly violent oppression, and evil to grow. We must not let fear lead us to mistakenly believe the lie that sharing God’s light in times such as these could somehow make it grow dim or even blow it out. With fear, the Nazi’s convinced many religious leaders to throw their salt all-in to the horrible stew of denial and anger, hatred and genocide. Then they convinced nearly all of the rest to hide their light away and not speak out about the horrors happening all around them.

The world around us today is once again brewing a horrible cauldron of cowardice and hate, exclusion and scarcity, violence and horror... all fueled once more by the flame of fear. Many religious leaders and people of faith have once again thrown their salt into this latest boiling stew of fear and hatred or they have bowed to the pressure to hide God’s light under a bushel, not wanting to make waves in their congregations or denominations by talking about politics.

But like Isaiah, Jesus, and Pastor Niemöller told the people of God in the past, I’m going to tell you now... WE MUST STAY SALTY! We must care for one another and help each other stay out of the world’s simmering caldron of fear. But NOT to simply hide from the fray. We stay out of THAT cauldron to be ready to add our saltiness to the small, little pots that, if we look closely, are even now cooking up savory little dishes of justice and loving kindness all around us.

In that same way must also not hide our light under a bushel, fearful of it being blown out by the blow-hard winds of our times. Instead we must hold it high and light the paths which promote the dignity of all people, lift up the poor, the refugee and the stranger and in doing that, bring life into our world. YOU ARE SALT! In your Baptism you were given more salt than can be found in all the oceans of the world! You are light! In Baptism you were given the light of Christ! A light that shines in the darkness! A light NO darkness can overcome! So be ready with your salt and away with the bushel! May you resist the temptation to throw your salt into the horrible stew brewing in our world and instead throw it into those pots that are even now, cooking up the radical message of Jesus. May you be part of enhancing the flavors of unconditional LOVE and LIFE in our world and may you let your light so shine before others so that they may see your good works and glorify God in heaven! Amen.