Don't Fill Up on Just the Bread!

John 6:1-21

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

Jesus takes five loaves and two fish, gives thanks, and has the disciples start serving out a bread course and appetizers!  At which point the people back then do exactly what you and I do today… they completely filled up on the bread and apps and had 12 doggie baskets of leftovers to boot!  Jesus’ answer to people who are hungry is simple… you feed ‘em!  An absolutely beautiful answer and if you went home today with your belly filled with the idea like the 5000 were with bread... that Jesus feeds people for no other reason than that they were hungry, you’d be good!  

But Jesus did have more planned than just bread and apps.  Its true, most people, then and now, fill up on the bread and apps and end up missing out on the little amuse-bouche… Jesus’ complimentary little bite he was offering.  But if you have a little room today, I’d be happy to give it to you now.  Do you have some room?  It’s small.  It’s free!  Yes?  Good!  This free little bite is Jesus’ reminder to us that when we take the time to notice and are thankful for WHAT WE HAVE rather than obsessing, lamenting, and whinging over what WE DON’T HAVE… incredible things ALWAYS happen out of that spirit of thankfulness!  Was I right?  A small delicious bite, right?      

Now then, you’ve had the bread and apps.  You were good enough to make room for that little amuse-bouche as well, but to be honest, I’m really hoping that today, YOU might still have room for what I believe is the actual main course Jesus wanted to serve back then to those thousands and right now to you and me.  Again, don’t get me wrong, the apps are excellent.  Feeding people simply because they are hungry (chef’s kiss!) perfect.  The complimentary taste reminding us of the power of thankfulness and generosity over the weakness of selfishness and scarcity… delectable.  Just those two courses alone have been filling people up with great take-home messages for literally millennia so I don’t want to imply that there is anything at all wrong with them.  They are fantastic… its just that because they are so good, people almost always fill up before they have the chance to get to the main course.  But if you’ve saved some room… see what you think about this course!

When confronted with the problem of let’s say 15,000-ish hungry people, what did the disciples suggest?  Here in John’s Gospel Jesus tests the disciples by asking them where they could buy bread for all these people.  In the other Gospels, the disciples suggest that Jesus send them away to find food for themselves.  In both versions Jesus was setting them up to learn this main course lesson.  The disciples did as Jesus knew they would, and so the disciples suggested their era’s equivalent of telling the crowd they should get a job and buy their own food.  That they should pull themselves up by their bootstraps and feed themselves.  That they should mount their horse, grab their gun, tip their hat to the little lady and the young-uns and ride off to rustle up some grub like the real, rugged, independent, beholden to no one, MEN, that God made them to be!  The disciples suggested that because THAT was all they knew.  THAT was the worldview they grew up in… THAT was the world view they were taught… THAT was the worldview they learned from childhood.  That was the worldview in which they lived their entire lives, without a second thought that there could EVER be another way to look at or live in the world.  

But here, in addition to Jesus showing the disciples that folks who follow Jesus feed people with no other consideration than that they are hungry and that a spirit of thanksgiving does miraculous things… Jesus was ALSO trying to teach the disciples that a worldview that sends people off to fend for themselves is NOT the worldview in which God had created humanity to live!  Instead, Jesus directly confronted, and clearly puts down THAT individualistic, go it alone, bootstrap pulling worldview as something NOT from God!  That’s what Jesus was doing when he said, “They need not go away.  YOU give them something to eat.” 

The solutions to the needs of this world, Jesus was trying to teach them, will NOT be found in sending people away to fend for themselves as individuals!  THAT is simply NOT how God created humans to live in this world!  NO!  The solution to ALL the needs of this world (not just hunger) are to be found in doing what Jesus had the people do on that hillside… gather people together, sit them down together, give thanks together for ALL of the abundant gifts we have together as a community, and then sharing all those gifts out in the same way that those loaves and fish were shared… generously, abundantly… some might even say recklessly!  Sharing them out as if you were CERTAIN from the beginning that no matter how much you give away, there will STILL be twelve baskets left over when you’re done!  I know.  I know.  Some will call that communism.  I know.  I know.  Some will call that socialism.  But what Jesus calls it is the WAY God created humanity to live abundantly as part of God’s creation!  What Jesus calls it is the TRUTH of what it is to live this life as a full fledged human being!  What Jesus calls it, is the worldview in which God created us to live, and to have life, and to have that gift of life which God has so generously given us… abundantly.  Amen. 

The Day Has Already Come, Says the Lord!

Jeremiah 23:1-6

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord. The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

Most of our country, and indeed most of the world, is beyond stressed out when it comes to U.S. politics right now.  We are bombarded each day by promised horrors like rounding up millions of immigrants and putting them into camps, taking away health care, stripping hard-won rights from women, from minorities, and from the LGBTQ community.  We hear the plans to get rid of things like the Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts, Farm Crop Insurance, and the National Weather Service.  We see the Supreme Court giving itself the sole, unelected, unaccountable power to decide what is, and what is not, an official presidential act, and what can and can’t be delegated to the executive branch for administration.  We hear threats against people in the media, people in institutions of higher learning, and political rivals, and so when we hear Jeremiah passing on God’s anger about “shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture” it feels a whole lot more like a now-ish thing, than just some disconnected-from-reality, 2600 year old, bible thing.

  

The stakes are so high right now.  The threat of the end of our democracy is so very real right now.  So many of the proposed policies are literally anti-Christ, against the teachings of Christ, right now, that many of us… me at the top of that list… look at that lesson from Jeremiah and the first thing we do is to long for exactly what Jeremiah was longing for.  We want more than anything for it to be true that “The days are surely coming, says the Lord.”  That the solution is on the way!

And we don’t just WANT it… we genuinely NEED it.  We NEED it for our fellow humans who will be affected in very real, life or death ways.  We NEED it so that you and I, our friends, loved ones, and fellow human beings can simply be safe to live their lives fully and freely as the persons God made them to be… to be included among those who are able to genuinely and hopefully and continually reach toward the ideal of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness… to live in a place where we are allowed to differ on a million different things, but not on the ideal that liberty and justice should be for all, where all genuinely means ALL.    

The political angst is so high right now that we read Jeremiah’s words and long for exactly what God promised Jeremiah would be coming.  But in our angst we seem to forget… me at the top of the forgetful list… that what God promised, first through Jeremiah, and then by extension to all of us, HAS ALREADY BEEN GIVEN TO US!  The Day has ALREADY come, says the Lord!  Jesus has already HAD compassion, and continues to HAVE compassion on us because today we are, as people have always been, like sheep without a shepherd.  The truth today is that the Lord IS my Shepherd… not “will be” or “was”, but IS my Shepherd.  Every day we are tricked into believing that our only options for finding a Good Shepherd is among the political candidates we’ve been given.  It is a relentless campaign of bamboozlement and it works all too often on me, and even on the most level headed and intelligent people I know.

THAT is why we need to remind each other and the whole world, about the GOOD SHEPHERD we have already!  We need to tell each other that Good Shepherd’s desire is that WE SHALL NOT BE IN WANT and that God will get what God wants!  It’s GOD after all!  We need to remind each other that God desires all to have ENOUGH.  Enough like sheep get with green pastures and still water.  Enough like the people of the Exodus got with manna from the heavens.  Enough like the 5000 got with loaves and fishes.  God’s desire is that everyone have enough, not because anyone deserves it but simply because that's what God wants, and God will get what God wants because God is God!

 

Telling each other the story of the Good Shepherd who is already on the job will not magically change our country.  But it can change US.  It can change us from fearful beings with a narrow vision of our future possibilities, back into the Children of God that we are… a people who embrace the truth that with the Good Shepherd, there are actually infinite possibilities beyond our current political options and no matter what happens, the God who has never left God’s people before is not about to leave God’s people now!

The political stakes in our country right now could not be higher and our calling to love of neighbor demands we pay attention.  Faithfulness still includes being informed and giving our support and our votes to the candidates who we believe will best move our country toward the ways of living which Jesus modeled for us… the ways of love, compassion, radical inclusion, care for the least, lost, and last in society, care for the immigrant, healing for the sick, feeding of the hungry, care for creation and all the rest.  Faithfulness calls us to all of that… AND… AND… and… it also calls us also to never forget, that even in the midst of this almighty mess, God is at work!  That God has promised that no matter how the world might look or even be… that somehow, God will make sure that it is goodness and mercy that will persue us all the days of our lives.  Amen.

What is REAL Believing, Following, and Christianity

Mark 5:21-43

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.”

So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

There is so much in this Gospel lesson.  We could go with Jesus flipping “The Cootie Rule” upside down.  The Cootie Rule states that Cooties ONLY pass FROM the infected TO the uninfected.  In both the case of the woman with the hemorrhage and the dead little girl, both of those SHOULD have, by the Cootie Rule, ONLY made Jesus unclean.  But in this story Jesus flips the Cootie Rule TWICE and INFECTS both the woman and the little girl each cleanliness, wholeness, and life.  We could go with that.  But we aren’t.  

We could go with this Gospel as an “Inclusio” or a “Story within a Story” or, “a Gospel Sandwich.”  Stories told like this have a multiplying effect on the main point.  We could even look beyond just today’s Gospel sandwich and see that chapters 4 and 5 of Mark’s Gospel are actually more like a Gospel Smörgåstårta which, of course you know, is a multi level Swedish sandwich cake.  A bread layer, then a shrimp salad layer, then a bread layer, then a hard boiled egg layer, then a bread layer, then maybe a smoked salmon layer, then more bread… and so on.  Chapter 4 starts with a layer of Parables, then Jesus stills the storm, then he sends a legion of demons into a herd of pigs, then there’s another layer of crossing the sea, then the layer meeting Jairus on the beach, then a layer with the woman, then a final layer with Jairus’ daughter.  We could have gone that way and driven home the two chapter point that there is absolutely NOTHING… not religious leaders, not slow witted disciples, not the chaos of creation, not demons, not any illness, and finally... not even DEATH… there is absolutely NOTHING that it OUT of Jesus’ control.  But we’re not going to go there either.  

We could go with Jarius’ daughter.  We could see that what really matters with her is not whether or not she is dead or sick, but that either way, SHE did absolutely NOTHING to get Jesus to give her wholeness and life.  She didn’t say a prayer.  She didn’t make a decision for Jesus.  She was given wholeness, healing, and life as Jesus always does for everyone… with no strings attached... a complete gift.  But we’re not going to go with that one either. 

What we’re going to go with today is Jairus and what we can learn from him about what genuine believing really looks like and what it doesn’t look like…  What following Jesus really looks like and what it doesn’t look like… and what being a Christian really looks like and what being a Christian doesn’t look like.  

The first thing Jairus teaches us about real believing, following Jesus, and being a Christian is that Jairus shows up where Jesus is and by extension Jairus is with the people Jesus is with.  He’s not in the synagogue.  He’s not kneeling on the floor of the House of Representatives in a circle praying.  He’s not sharing posts on social media to prove his faith.  He’s not angling to get the ten commandments posted in every classroom.  Where is he?  He’s with Jesus and the people Jesus cares most about.  He’s with a woman who the health care system has let down.  He’s with a woman who has been thrown out of her own community.  Jesus is with the sick and broke and outcast and because that is where Jesus is, THAT is where Jairus is.  THAT’S what real believing looks like.  THAT’s what genuine Christianity looks like.  

From Jairus’ time to our time, that has not changed!  When WE are with the sick, outcast, beaten down, cut off… then WE are with the people Jesus is with and we are with Jesus. THAT is what genuine Christianity looks like.  Public prayers, kneeling, posting tests of faith and commandments… none of that puts anyone in the presence of Jesus.  Jesus is always with people in need.  If you’re looking to be in Jesus’ presence as Jairus was, then put yourself in the presence of the broken, the outcast, the oppressed!  

The next we see of Jairus he’s been stopped in the street by people telling him his daughter is dead.  Jesus says, “Do not fear, only believe.”  Now, I want you to really see here… I really want you to completely understand exactly what Jesus was telling Jairus, when he told him to believe.  Jesus wasn’t telling Jairus to believe in his head.  Jairus’ head was swimming in a pitch dark pit of horror having just heard his daughter is dead.  Jairus’ head couldn’t believe.  Jesus wasn’t telling Jairus to believe in his heart.  His heart was profoundly broken.  It was completely shattered.  Jairus’ heart couldn’t believe.  Jesus was telling Jairus to believe in the place where all true and genuine believing actually happens… in his legs and in his feet.  Jesus was telling Jairus to follow in his footsteps… one foot and then the other… to walk where Jesus walked… no matter where that led. THAT is what believing looks like.  THAT is what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus… THAT is what it looks like to be a Christian.

These days fewer than half of the people in our country have any connection with a faith community.  Over half the country has no idea what real Christianity is and what's a fraud.  It is time for the church... which is regular folks like you and me to point out real Christianity when we see it so those folks will know.  Its also time for the church... for regular folks like you and me to point out fraudulent christianity when we see it, so people will know that too.  

Before Reinhold Niebhur was sent to the concentration camp, when much of what passed for christianity had become intertwined with the Nazi government Pastor Niebhur told his congregation, "away with the bushel!"  He told them it that while it tempting to keep their heads down, to shelter genuine Christianity like a candle under a bushel basket until the storm blew over, THAT would not be REAL believing, following, or Christianity.  They needed to believe and follow and live as genuine Christians, living and speaking the Truth as Jesus did.  It is our time to do the same.  It is time for us to say "away with the bushel", to walk step by step in Jesus' footsteps and to call out at the top of our voices both the real Christianity we see around us and the fake.  Amen.  

Jesus Christ! Wake UP!

Mark 4:35-41

On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

In the ancient world, the sea was the embodiment of chaos.  Today, it seems like the whole world is the embodiment of chaos!  In the Gospel story the disciples’ reaction gives us a good idea of just how bad that particular chaos really was.  These were fishermen, who made a living on that very body of water, and this particular chaos ruffled those pros’ feathers so it must have been big.  Our chaos is equally big.  New Mexico on fire, a Tropical storm coming ashore in Texas, an August-like heatwave in June.  All the result of the self inflicted chaos called Climate Change.  Then there’s the storm in Israel and Gaza and, in case you’ve forgotten, there’s a presidential race that is chaos on a Biblical level, in and of itself.  

Then, in addition to our shared chaos, we each have our own personal storms and chaos rocking our own personal boats.  Mine is currently rocked by being tired and by people who invoke the word Christian to promote actions and policies that are blatantly anti-Christ!  You can’t be against feeding the hungry, against healing the sick, and against welcoming the stranger and claim the title “Christian” at the same time.  These are all things that Jesus himself modeled for us to do as his disciples… as Christians.  So, if you are against feeding the hungry, you are not Christian.  In fact you’re anti-Christ.  If you are promoting policy that will take away health care from those in need, you are anti-Christ.  If you are unwelcoming to the foreigner you are anti-Christ.  The time for us to allow people to freely use the title “Christian” while at the same time acting in ways that are anti-Christ is long since past.

  

So how are we together or as individuals supposed to deal with all this chaos?  Well I think it’s time for us to wake Jesus up!  We’ve got real, Biblical sized chaos raging all around us and up to this point, we like those disciples in the story from today, have not as yet roused Jesus from his cushion!  It’s time!  It’s past time!  So Jesus!  Rise and shine!  Wakey-wakey, eggs and bakie!  Like the original disciples, we disciples have let the mess go on way too long without calling the One who has the power to actually manage the mess, calm the wind, and still the raging storms.  But like the original disciples, in spite of waiting too long, we too can do it now!  The question is how?  How do we wake Jesus who is asleep within us all?

When it comes to waking up the sleeping, the internet (the repository of all knowledge), suggests that one of the best ways is to slowly let in the light!  What’s that look like?  As a church letting in the light looks a lot like our corners of kindness shining light into the world.  But what about for us as individuals?  How can WE rouse Jesus from his cushion where he’s sleeping within us?  Generosity always brings light into darkness.  Compassion does as well.  What is just one simple generous thing that you can do today?  What might be one simple act of compassion you can make happen today that will let some light in and begin to wake the Christ within you?

The internet also suggests that music is helpful to move folks out of their sleep inertia or grogginess and into wakefulness.  Is there a way you can rouse the Christ within you from his pillow with music?  Maybe try singing with others?  A good idea I think.  I know a place you can do that once every week!  Sing for a Sunday in the summer choir?  Buy a ticket for a friend to the next Lichgate concert.  Create a playlist of rise and shine music?  Maybe just whistling while you work will help to wake up Jesus within you?

Gentle touch is also said to rouse those who are sleeping.  But for touch to work you need to be within range.  So as either Woody Allen or Stephen Hawking said, showing up is half the battle.  Others on the internet insist it is much more than just half!  To rouse Jesus from his sleep within us we need to put ourselves within physical range of others who can help to rouse him within us with a handshake or a hug.  We need to be there for one another to remind each other that the One who can calm the chaos du jour, isn’t at all that far away.  He’s right there and yes please!  Go and jostle him awake!

The disciples in the midst of their fear and in the face of raging storms and chaos forgot Jesus was right there.   In the midst of our raging storms and the world’s chaos around us we tend to forget that Jesus is just as close for us as he was for them.  So wait no longer!  Let’s wake him up!  Let’s let in the light!  Sing out loud!  Let's reach out to one another with a touch and get him off that dang cushion!  We need him!  We need him awake and giving the storms of this world what for!  It’s time we wake Jesus up within us all so that we and all of creation might have the peace we need.  Hey Jesus!  Wake up!  Amen.  

The Kingdom of God is Like...

Mark 4:26-34

Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”

He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

The kingdom of God is as if someone would order a porta-potty to be delivered the Wednesday before Memorial Day weekend (it’s Jean…Jean orders the potty).  After that she sleeps and rises night and day and the porta-potty gets used, she does not know how… and really she’s okay not knowing how to be honest.  The cyclists stop by and use it themselves, first the NYC Cycling Club, then weekenders, then the 80+ year old cycling folks led by Nancy and Catherine.  But when the porta-potty is ripe, at once the man who services the potty goes in with his pump truck, because the harvest has come. 

With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it?  It is like the Appalachian Trail Ministry, which when it was started upon the trail had the smallest of all the tents; yet now that it has grown, it has become the greatest of all tents along the trail.  It puts forth an enormous spread of tarpaulin, so that every hiker upon the trail can sit under it in its shade.

Both the original parables and the modified ones all remind us of five truths about the Kingdom of God.  Yes, that makes this a five point sermon but I’ll go quick.  First, God’s Kingdom is universal.  It’s everywhere.  In those original parables God scatters the seed “in the earth” the Greek says, with double entendre fully intended.  There is nowhere in all of creation where God has not planted seed.  Hikers from every corner of the globe will use the tent.  Bikers from near and far are welcomed at the hospitality station.  God has planted God’s Kingdom in ALL people and in all of creation.  

Second, God’s Kingdom is a mystery.  It starts small.  Sometimes so small, as in the case of seeds sown in the earth, its pretty much invisible!  Yet it grows into this enormous thing.  How?  Don't really know!  Its a mystery!  But it becomes like a shrub in the desert providing shade for the birds, a tent on the trail, a burger in the hand, a water fountain and a potty along the way.  Out of the empty corner of a field or a parking lot, God’s Kingdom grows into something enormous, welcoming all and large enough to embrace all of creation.  

Third, God’s Kingdom is real.  It isn’t just an idea in the noggin.  It isn’t just some spiritual dream of the sweet by and by.  It’s not a doctrine or a statement of belief or a religious word salad that lives only in someone’s head.  Its REAL physical shelter from sun, sickness, disease, thirst, hunger, and hate.  It is a place, here and now, of universal belonging.  It is our REAL world, transformed into the REAL world Jesus pointed us toward with his REAL, flesh and blood life.  

Forth, the Kingdom of God always gets some pushback from folks who are scared that sharing the Kingdom will leave them without enough.  Some call that pushback "the work of the devil".  While I’m not a “big red guy with a pitchfork” sort of guy, I will admit that makes for an easy “catch-all sort of way” to talk about all the unintentionally placed and intentional planted pit falls that get in the way of the world changing fully into what God intends for it to be.

Lastly, the Kingdom of God is something that never stops.  It always goes.  It always grows, and it does that mostly while we’re sleeping, or if not actually sleeping, while we’re miles and miles away.  That’s because growing the Kingdom is God’s work, not ours!  These parables show us that in how it grows.  It grows at the rate of 30, 60, or 100 times with grain.  3, 6, or 50 a day with hikers.  One, a half dozen or a score with bikers.  Why is it different?  Don't know!  That's just how God chooses to do it!  

The Kingdom of God is quite a thing then, isn’t it?  (Looking around furtively)  Wanna see it?  God's Kingdom growing... wanna see it?  I know a guy.  There's this spot over on West Road where you can see it in person!  Now if you go there here's what I want you to look for... Notice first how big that tent is and how it covers hikers from all over the world!  Have someone tell you the story of how small it was in the beginning and how it has grown!  Notice how its an actual place.  Not just an idea or a dream, but a real place in our real life world.  Ask someone to tell you about challenges... from storms to fire to government officials!  But most of all what I want you to do most as you sit in the shade on the trail is to do what Eugene Peterson says we all need to do much more of in this world which is to stop sometimes and just watch what God is doing when we're not doing anything.  It turns out that while we’re not doing anything God is doing nothing less than turning our world into the Kingdom of God!  Amen.

Transitioning Jesus

Mark 3:20-35

Jesus went home and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

In this Gospel story Jesus is transitioning from being just Mary and Joseph’s son… from being just his siblings’ brother… from being just the smart kid in Bible class (all of which is what he had presented on the outside to his family and community for the last 20 years)… and he’s transitioning into being the Son of God… into being the sibling of all of humanity… into being the Messiah.  I realize that the word “Transitioning” is obsessively and exclusively applied to gender transitioning these days but I picked that word on purpose.  I picked it on purpose because the reality is that we all “transition” constantly throughout our lives and ALL of those transitions, including gender transition, are simply part of the ongoing human work we all do throughout our lives to align our inside and outside selves to become the person God is calling us to be.  

The common denominator with every sort of transition is that it is work to get our outsides to better align with our insides.  Just think about all the transitions you’ve made in your life.  Kid to adult.  Single to married.  School to work.  Work to retirement.  Living with family to living alone to living with a roommate to living with a partner to living without a partner.   In every one of these transitions, either our outsides or our insides inevitably make the change first and then we’re left with the very hard work of getting the rest of us caught up.  Here's an example most of you will get.  When you retired, your outside self was suddenly at home!  How long did it take to transition your inside self to be comfortable at home as well?

Our transitions are hard for us, and they are also hard for our family and our community around us.  Those around us knew us one way on the outside, sometimes for decades.  Now, from their perspective, this thing has happened in the blink of an eye and it’s all different!  You might have been thinking about retirement for years, but the day you transitioned from being at the office to being at home, it still felt like a whiplash for you AND particularly for your family!  In those whiplash-y moments people often say things that are unthinking, reactive, unhelpful and unsupportive, things maybe along the lines of, “he’s got a demon” or “she’s just plain nuts!” or “who is my mother and my brothers?” 

Jesus offers good advise here, both for those who are transitioning and for those around them.  He says, “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter.”  Jesus is suggesting the way to handle these transitions is with forgiveness and GRACE.  Forgiveness and grace for those doing the deep and difficult work of transition AND forgiveness and grace for those who are trying to move beyond their moment of whiplash and into a place of being supportive.  Forgiveness and Grace is what Jesus’ family needed from Jesus as they came to see him.  They were genuinely worried to death about what was happening with him and out of their fear, started off with less than the best words.  Forgiveness and Grace is also what Jesus needed from his family, as he himself responded to their whiplash reaction with less than the best words, “Who are my mother and brothers?” 

Forgiveness and Grace is what is needed all around and it turns out that they are powerful enough to cover a much greater multitude of sins that we might have previously imagined.  Forgiveness and grace cover almost EVERYTHING.  

Only when you get to blaspheming the Holy Spirit does forgiveness and grace come to an end and blaspheming the Holy Spirit is actually a whole lot harder to do than you might have been led to believe.  You can’t blaspheme the Holy Spirit by accident, or casually, or with the slip of the tongue.  The Greek makes it clear.  To blaspheme the Holy Spirit you have to oppose God RELENTLESSLY.  To blaspheme the Holy Spirit, you need to insist that God has never, and will never, do anything new and you have to set your heart in stone and insist that God (God mind you… the One who created all things) will never, can never, must never be part of this person’s work aligning their outside self with their inside self.  

This lesson, then, is a call for us to allow God to be God.  To allow God to call and guide each one of us and all of creation through the changes and transitions needed to allow them to fully embrace and outwardly express the person God made them to be from the beginning.  It is a call for us to be open to God doing new things and trust that God might actually know better than us, both the outsides and the insides, of the people around us.  It’s also a call for each of us to set out on our own journey to discern who God is calling us to be as our authentic selves in this moment of our lives and this lesson is a call for us to be gentle, and filled with forgiveness and grace for those on that journey and for those who do their very best to be supportive of you on your journey and still haven't gotten it exactly right.  Lastly, with that call in this lesson there is also a promise.  A promise that as we sit in the darkness and chaos of our insides and outsides being out of sync, God will find a way to turn on the lights and the Holy Spirit WILL COME and provide the next step.  Amen.