Make Caesar a Salad Again

Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Imagine you have a leader who believes he is an unquestionable god. Where being in charge isn’t enough, but he insists on being worshiped as well! Imagine a country where loyalty oaths aren’t voluntary, but mandatory. Where not participating in the oath will ruin your career, or worse. Imagine a country where the leader fawns over anyone who lavishes him with praise, but is volcanic with rage at the slightest hint of disloyalty. Imagine a country where the nation’s poor fight wars simply to make others rich. Imagine a country where even TALKING about ideas like healing for all, the hungry having enough to eat, and clean water for all… where those ideas are demonized and called treasonous. Imagine you lived in a country that exports destruction around the world and throws people in cages for the heinous crime of simply not being born in the right place or time. 

If you can imagine that, then you can imagine the Roman Empire as it was when the Book of Revelation was written. We’ve had a number of lessons from Revelation in this season, but I’ve happily found other lessons to talk about these past few weeks because… well, let’s face it… Revelation is sorta, kinda creepy… at least on the surface. It was written that way on purpose.  Not on purpose to be creepy but written that way to grab people’s attention! These people lived in a daily attention-grabbing-train-wreck of a world, happening 24/7 right outside their front doors! This book was written to get the attention of a people who had been so beaten down that they couldn’t even imagine any sort of future, let alone a good one. This was the “feed the Christians to the lions” era. They lived with the daily horror of news of their friends and family meeting violent deaths, living in deep injustice and suffering in ongoing persecution. To grab the attention of people living THAT sort of life, this book had to OUT-ATTENTION-GRAB the REAL-LIFE crazy of their lives.  

The other reason this book was written this way, was so it could be passed off as a work of fiction and not propaganda calling out the Emperor. That’s why they wrote about a mythical beast, with a spooky, cryptic number for a name! The people reading it would know that Caesar Nero’s name, written first in Greek, and then transliterated into Hebrew… added up to Six Hundred and Sixty Six, but the emperor and his minions would have no idea! This coded message painted Nero as the ANTI-CHRIST... not because he was some sort of supernatural beast, but because he ran the world in a way that was literally ANTI-CHRIST’s way of doing things!  

The whole of Revelation goes back and forth between reminding people that Jesus is Lord and Caesar is NOT on the one hand… and on the other hand painting a picture of what God actually intends for the whole of creation.  In today’s lesson we get more of the “what God intends” and not the fantastical baddies and beasties! In today’s lesson we get the “revelation” that God intends a world with open gates and without walls… a place that welcomes ALL nations! We are shone a place where there is no darkness. NOT just a place where some guy tries to paint himself like a Roman sun god, but a place where the One True God is on the throne and all of the world’s darkness… the darkness of racism, sexism, violence, nationalism, disease, war and every form of supremacy fades to oblivion because of the brilliance of God’s light and love. 

This lesson paints a picture of the world where the water of life, flows like crystal, down the middle of the public streets… available for ALL to drink, regardless of the city in which you live or the color of your skin. The water isn’t OWNED or controlled by any sort of Caesar… The water flows freely from the throne of God! This vision reveals the Tree of Life, which bears abundant fruit every single month of the year! There is never a time of hunger, whether that is a hunger for food, or for justice, or equality, or dignity. When Jesus is LORD and Caesar is NOT… everyone has all that they need AND everyone has life in abundance! Because Jesus is LORD and Caesar is NOT… health, healing and wholeness is available to all of creation and found as freely and abundantly as leaves on a tree!  

The book of Revelation wasn’t written to be a creepy, supernatural, fortune telling book. It was written to be a message of HOPE to a people ruled by a horribly insecure human being, living out of his brokenness, paranoia, and greed. It was a word of HOPE to a people who were ruled by a person with un-checked power, enabled by others around them who had fooled themselves into believing that they could manipulate the Beast to do their bidding, until the Beast inevitably turned on them as well. It was written to provide a vision for the people to hope for and a vision for them to work toward.  

It was written for them... AND itwas ALSO written for us. It was also written, so that if any future generation should ever have the bad fortune of living in an empire, ruled by a paranoid king who fancies himself as a god to be worshiped… If we ever should find ourselves in that sort of terrible spot, we too would be reminded that God’s intention for OUR world is still that same sort of inclusive, compassionate, caring, world without gates or walls. A world where the thirst for justice is satisfied by a crystal clear, ever-flowing river and where a hunger for dignity, purpose and peace is fed to fullness. Revelation was also written, so that if we should, in some future terrible time, ever find ourselves living in an empire, ruled by a narcissistic king who fancies himself as the all-knowing savior of the world… If we ever found ourselves in that sort of terrible spot, we too would then be able to hold onto that same HOPE and that same PROMISE that this book gave the people back in Nero’s day.  The HOPE and the PROMISE that every emperor is eventually toppled by the weight of their own hubris, and every oppressive empire eventually falls. So if that day should ever come for us, may we read this again and remember, that no matter what horrible things happen in the world around us, one thing alone remains true… Jesus is LORD and that, my friends, means that Caesar, by whatever name or number he might go by in our time... IS… ABSOLUTELY AND EMPHATICALLY… NOT! Amen.

Welcome Mat NOT Door Mat

Acts 11:1-18

Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. 

At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

On the night in which Jesus was betrayed… the night of the Last Supper… Jesus gave his disciples a mandate to love one another. “As Jesus first loved us, we also should love one another.”  Then, after the resurrection, Peter had this vision of a giant sheet filled with pulled pork barbeque, lobster, and shrimp cocktail dropping out of the sky.  With that vision, and God’s message given to Peter… not once, not twice, but three times in order to get it through Peter’s thick skull, Peter finally understood the gift of God’s love… the love Jesus shared with the disciples at that last supper… that love was meant to be shared with ALL people and ALL means ALL.  

These are really good lessons to talk about the love we are called to share with everyone. It isn’t just any sort of love. It’s the love that JESUS FIRST HAD FOR US!  The danger we can run into with this love is to think it is limitless in every possible way.  That’s easy to do because it IS limitless in that it is for everyone and ALL of creation. And it IS limitless in that it is given freely without conditions. But the love Jesus shares with us is not without healthy boundaries. It is not a love that is to be toxically given or received. Think back to when Jesus was crucified between two others.  The one said to Jesus, “GET ME DOWN!”  The other said, “Jesus, remember me.”  I am certain Jesus loved them both, but one of them didn’t get what he wanted.  

The love that we are mandated to pass on to the world is Christ’s love, and Christ’s love is not about abuse or manipulation. God is calling us to roll out the red carpet and welcome ALL people. God is NOT calling us to BECOME the carpet.  God calls us to PUT OUT the welcome mat for ALL PEOPLE, but not BECOME a door mat for God’s sake.  Christ’s love certainly transforms us… but not into something to be walked on or demeaned. Christ’s love builds us up… it does not manipulate, blackmail or give ultimatums.  Christ’s love… the love we are mandated to pass on, calls us to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God.  It calls us to DO what is in the other’s best interest, even when what is in the other’s best interest is not what they might be looking for.  

Imagine a guy came by the church. Jean says hello and he tells her that he’s looking for a new place to cook meth and our kitchen would be perfect! It is REALLY what he wants! For him, it feels like a life or death thing. It’s not a want for him… it’s a NEED! He said if we loved him, we’d let him do what he wanted! He’s read our official Welcoming Statement! We’re supposed to be welcoming to EVERYONE! Right!?  He said we should be willing to sacrifice like Jesus did, and give him what he needed, no matter the cost to us… or to him….  and he REALLY needed more meth! 

Like I said, that’s an imaginary scenario. But just as Jesus himself said “no” to the thief on the cross who wanted to manipulate Jesus into magic-ing him down. We too are allowed to say “NO” when “NO” is what is in the other’s best interest… when “NO” means doing what is best for the individual and the community… whether the other likes it or not.  Like I said, God is calling us to roll out the red carpet, not to BECOME the carpet.  God is calling us to put out the welcome mat, not BE a door mat.  Christ’s love doesn’t just get by on healthy boundaries, it insists upon them!

Christ’s love also comes to us in a very particular way. It was not a mistake that Jesus gave that mandate with all the disciples gathered together, because God’s love comes to us in community and through relationships. The Church isn’t just a Faith-Filling-Station where some guy in a dress, fills up your tank as you drive through on Sunday morning. The Church is meant to be a full time community, created by the Spirit, filled with regular people just like you and me who live together in good times and in bad times, BOTH giving AND receiving from one another, as each of us has need. Sometimes we’re the one to help someone up and sometimes we’re the one who needs a lift.  It is received and given in community and you can’t just wave a wand and conjure up a loving, caring, community at the moment tragedy strikes. I’ve seen folks try to do that and it just doesn’t work as well as when folks take the time to build a loving community, giving and receiving from one another in the small things so that they will be ready when the big tragic things come as well. 

These lessons show us the power of God’s love.  They show us the power of coming together when things are good and when things are hard, because together we all take our turn at needing to receive the love of Christ from this community and we’ll all also have other times when it will inevitably be someone else that morning who needs a measure of Christ’s love that only you are in a position to give as part of our community.  That’s why we’re here. To constantly receive God’s love and build, nurture and grow a loving, inclusive, caring community, ready to both give and receive the love of Christ that we have first been given. So keep up the good work!  And since, at least by my reading of our “God’s love fuel tank”, we’ve got a generous supply here in our little community, I’m sure we’ll figure out a way to take some of what we’ve been given outside and share it with the world.  God knows, the world needs it!  Amen.  

Easter Living

Acts 9:36-43

Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she became ill and died. 

When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.” 

So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. 

Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. 

He turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up.” Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. 

Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.

We’re a few weeks out from Easter Sunday, but these “Living in the wake of Easter” lessons just keep happening here in Acts. That’s not really a huge surprise though, because the big, take-home of the Book of Acts… the sequel to St. Luke’s Gospel, is figuring out how to live in this post-Easter world. Easter, it turns out, wasn’t just a big one-and-done moment… an exception to the “look out for number one” rule that wants to govern the world. Easter was one big moment, sure, but it was one big moment that completely rewrites every terrible, hurtful, hateful, greedy rule the world has ever made… forever and ever, Amen!  

But Peter doesn’t share that with us by yammering on about it like I do.  Peter simply walks around and SHOWS us what it looks like to live this new way. This lesson starts when Peter is asked by a couple of disciples from the next town over to “come without delay” and Peter just goes! In this new “Easter Way of Living,” when someone needs help… followers of Jesus simply pull together to give help... no questions asked. Peter didn’t know what he’d find when he got there. He just knew that a fellow disciple was in need. They called, Peter went, and with that, we are shown a piece of this new “Easter Way of Living.”  

When he arrived, Peter finds that the one woman who is actually called a “disciple” in the Bible… Tabitha, has died. She’s laid out, prepared for burial. The community of widows, that had included Tabitha, showed Peter the clothing and things Tabitha had made and with that, another part of this “Easter Way of Living” is shown to us. Widows… people at the margins, people who are hurting, people who are vulnerable… they have gathered together for mutual support and are creatively using their gifts (sewing in this case) to support one another as a community. Coming together in the difficult times of life to creatively share gifts and support one another in community... THAT, we are shown is also part of this new “Easter Way of Living.” 

Peter had no idea what he’d find until he saw Tabitha lying dead on that bed. I have a strong suspicion he also had NO idea what to do next either!  But whether he knew what to do or not, Peter shows another dimension of living in the world on this side of Easter.  Peter shows us that prayer has a way of shining a light onto a path forward through whatever darkness we might be facing... a path which we hadn’t been able to see or imagine before. Prayer, Peter shows us, is also part of this “Easter Way of Living.”

Peter, then giving Tabitha his hand, helps her up. Even with this unimaginable gift of life she’s been given, Peter shows us that each and every one of us STILL will have times... even on this side of Easter... when we still need a hand from a fellow disciple. We are shown that each of us will inevitably take our turn lifting and being lifted which is also a part of this “Easter Way of Living.”  Finally, Peter calls everyone together to SHOW them once again how God transforms each of us and ALL of creation through the darkness of death and into the light of an Easter Way of Living! And with that, Peter calls us to do the same.  

Showing up when others are in need. Gathering one another into a supportive community. Caring for those on the margins. Inviting God to shine a light through prayer onto the darkest pathways of our lives. Pulling our sibling up when they are down. Accepting help when we’re the one who needs a hand. Sharing the love, compassion, joy and abundant life we’ve been given with everyone we meet… ALL of that is what Peter shows us is the Easter Way of Living... and you might think that’s the whole thing.  BUT... in what at first seems like a strange little postscript to this lesson Peter shows us one last thing. He goes to stay with someone others would have certainly looked past.  Someone who did un-glamorous, ritually unclean work… and was therefore excluded from the faith community… someone who others had declared as unclean, unwelcome and unworthy… a certain Simon, a tanner.  In this little postscript, turned exclamation point Peter drives home the truth that this Abundant Life we’ve been given, is a gift for ALL of us... even us “Certain Simons” of the world.  All means All in this Easter Way of Living.  Amen. 

You're Feeling Sleeeeepy

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

A new pastor wanted to find out how much the congregation knew, so she asked them to tell her about Easter. One guy asked, "Isn't that the holiday with the big turkey?" "Uh, no," the pastor says, "That's Thanksgiving." A second guy chimes in, "Isn't that the one with the tree and presents?”   "Uh, no. That would be Christmas.” Finally a young woman comes up and says, "Isn't that the holiday when they put Jesus on a cross?" "Yes," says the pastor, noticeably relieved. "Anything else?" "He died, right?" "Yes."  "They took him down."  "Yes. Then what?" "Then they put him in a cave, right?"  “Right, keep going,” “And they rolled a stone in front of it?" "Yes. Do you know anything else?" “Oh Yeah! When he came out, he saw his shadow, and winter went on for 6 more weeks."

Today is Bright Sunday or Holy Hilarity Sunday or Risus Paschalis if you want it in Latin.  It started in the 15th century when priests would insert humorous stories into their sermons on this second Sunday of Easter.  Of course, since it was fun, the practice was eventually banned by Pope Clement X... but I won’t tell if you won’t! I like this tradition, because unexpected endings are what make jokes funny and Jesus’s resurrection is probably the MOST unexpected ending of a story EVER!  But like all jokes, not everyone got the resurrection right away.

Speaking of jokes, there was this young priest who was really unhappy with how little money his congregation put in the plate each week. So, one week he went into the case that held the beloved former Rector’s priceless pocket watch and during the sermon, used it to hypnotize the congregation. Fully hypnotized, he told the congregation to put $5 in the plate that week and to his surprise it worked! Inspired by his success, he upped the amount to $10 the next week. The following week he decided he was going to ask them all for $20 but just as he finished hypnotizing them but before he told them this week’s amount, he accidentally dropped the watch and shouted, “CRAP!” It took the janitor two weeks to clean up the church. You laughed, so I’m assuming you got that one.  But like I said not everyone gets every joke right away and since the disciples at first locked themselves in a room in fear, they obviously had trouble getting it.  

See if you get this one?  A man was leaving church one day, and went to shake the preacher’s hand. The preacher pulled him aside and said, “You need to join the Army of the Lord!" The man replied, "I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor.” “Well then, how come I don't see you except at Christmas and Easter?" asked the Pastor. The man whispered back, "I'm in the secret service.”

Like I said, not everyone gets every joke right away but it’s so important that you get the great Easter joke... that I’m going to break a cardinal rule of comedy and explain this joke to you.  We’ll start with the punch line first.  Are you ready? CHRIST IS RISEN!  Really and truly risen from the dead!  He is totally and fully alive after being totally and fully dead.  He had pulled the pin, he was pushing up daisies, he had bought the farm, he was swimming with the fish, had kicked the bucket, he was six feet under, he had bit the dust, shuffled off the mortal coil, croaked, cashed in his chips, and gave up the ghost.  Jesus was dead... BUT... NOW HE IS ALIVE!

It IS the best punch line EVER, but even the best punch line needs a great set up and the set up for this joke goes all the way back to that time when Jesus was tested by the Devil.  The devil wants to give Jesus power over everything on earth…but there’s a catch.  Jesus would have to bow down and worship the devil.  Jesus says no and after that, the devil decides that he’ll get Jesus the same way the devil gets everybody…the devil will have him die!  Plot, plot, plot…scheme, scheme, scheme and then you arrive at Good Friday and Jesus is dying on the cross.  People around him are laughing at him, just like the devil.  “Should have taken my offer" says the devil, "then you wouldn’t just be HANGING AROUND on a Friday night!”

You see, the devil, empire, sin, darkness, evil and death ALL thought that they had won. One more person dead, one more victory for death.  BUT WAIT!  Just when the devil, empire, sin, darkness, evil and death thought that they had pulled a fast one on God… Just when they THOUGHT they had killed God’s Son, it turns out, the joke’s on THEM!  With that one punch line... CHRIST IS RISEN!...  God has taken the horns off the devil, turned the world up side down, forgiven sin, banished death and shined the zillion watt light of Christ into every dark spot in every place and in every time.  With that one punch line... CHRIST IS RISEN... God not only gave Jesus life… BUT also gave life to YOU and ME and ALL OF CREATION… and not just ANY old life either but an abundant life that is meant to start now and go on for all eternity!  And that's what makes this the biggest and best joke of all time.  Death and the devil snatched defeat right out of the jaws of victory!

So, do you get it?  Because there’s one more thing about this joke I’ve got to tell you… and really, it’s true of every good joke… and that is, when you hear a really good joke and you get it, you’ve really GOT to pass it on.  That’s what the disciples went and did... they passed it on. It took Thomas and the guys a little bit to fully get the joke… they were a bit slow on the uptake you know… but eventually they got out there and told the story! So, on this Holy Hilarity Sunday, watch out for whoopee cushions in the pews, keep an eye out for church jokes that make you groan and especially watch out for rectors with shiny pocket watches… BUT then get out there and share the joy of this abundant life we’ve been given with the whole, wide, world simply because of that wonderful punch line… Christ is Risen! Alleluia!  Amen.