Road Work Ahead (I hope so!)

John 10:1-10

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

In Jesus’ day, sheep were put into a stone walled pen at night with a single opening. The shepherd would sleep in that opening, literally becoming the gate.  In Jesus day they also made lists with the most important bit at the very bottom.  With those two things in mind we can see that Jesus' goal for us is to have an abundant life (it's at the bottom so it's the most important thing) and the way to that life was through the Jesus gate.  Living, day in and day out by way of Jesus… in other words, with kindness, compassion, love, and giving of ourselves. 

But Jesus wasn’t the only one peddling a way of living back then.  Some preached religious fundamentalism.  Others said the way to win at life was to die with the most stuff.  Still others said it was might that was right to have abundant life .  Jesus, however, thought those ways were being sold by thieves and bandits.  

 

Thieves and Bandits continue their cons and Ponzi schemes even to this day.  The might makes right guys sell their con these days in the form of a little “G” god called “The Gun.”  “The Gun” they say, “will give you safety, security, and stability in your life.  Not feeling it yet?  Then clearly you need more guns!”  But this path to abundant life doesn’t come free.  “The Gun” like other false gods, demands the lives of the innocent as payment.  “Just a small price to pay," it says. 

Sounds insane, right?  But we need to understand they are holding onto their god as tightly as we hold onto what Jesus was preaching.  Gun violence is theological… not logical.  To fight that false god we need to follow Jesus’ lead and ask people to notice what is happening around them and then ask them the question, “Is your god really bringing life into the world?  Or does it only steal, kill and destroy?”

Religious fundamentalism also remains in our day demanding a slavish following of the rules without regard for the cost to the living, breathing humans it commands.  The rise in anti-semitism, trans phobia and violence challenges us to ask the Jesus question again.  Does this way really lead to abundant life?  Or does this way too only steal, kill and destroy?  Then there’s the idea that the one who dies with the most toys wins.  Pastors with private jets still pound the pulpit preaching this way to abundant life, but Jesus would ask again, “How is that way working for the least, last and lost?  Is it working at all or are you just one more thief out to steal and destroy?

Of all the ways to walk toward abundant life, I’m going to have to continue to recommend going in and going out by way of Jesus.   Building people up, feeding the hungry in whatever way they hunger, being generous with our kindness, and advocating for justice... THAT is the way to go in and out of this life… with an abundance of peace, dignity, kindness, love and compassion.  

Now, don’t think you have to do it perfectly all at once.  God knows it’s a process... like roadwork in New England.  Let me give you an example:  There are a number of people in my life... folks whom I love... that have preferred pronouns that do not follow the old, hardwired, pronoun pathways that were laid down in my brain box half a century ago.  But living my life going in and out of life through the Jesus Gate means doing the work, including digging though decades of old brain matter... it's like concrete in there sometimes... and slowing replacing the old wiring with new.  It’s hard.  It takes time.  It is at times even maddening because inevitably just when I think I’m done with the re-wiring, something else short circuits and I’m back to breaking brain concrete and laying in another a whole new circuit!  

I do it though, because doing that kindness, giving that dignity, honoring who God has created that person to be to be IS walking in and out of this life by the Jesus Gate... and THAT is the way we will move ourselves and those around us toward the experience of abundant life God created all of creation to live.  To refuse to do it, I would become just another thief... stealing from them their dignity and robbing them of the kindness, and love God has given to me to share with the world.

Going in and out of this life by the Jesus Way, regardless of what people might call it, is a life long exercise.  None of us do it all perfectly... ever.  The Good News however is that Jesus, who lies there as the gate, welcomes us in regardless of the progress or setbacks of the day.  Jesus welcomes us in and then sends us out again in the morning to do our best for that day.  I believe it is that practice of going in and out through the Jesus Gate that will not only lead ME to abundant life, but will transform the world into a place where everyone can share in that life. 

 

We make the road to an abundant life by walking through life as Jesus did; day in through the gate and day out through the gate.  So may the LORD will bless your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore. Amen.

Leaving Church

 Luke 24:13-35

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. 

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Church is SUPPOSED to be a place where, together, we can live into the hope of an abundant life, a place where we take out our hearts and souls, open them up, and have them fed and nourished so that we grow toward the lives of fullness, meaning, purpose and joy that God created us to live.  SUPPOSED to be that way.  Supposed to.  

Many of us have found out, in the most heart rending ways, me included, that church doesn’t always do like it’s supposed to do.  Sometimes, and frankly, all too often, the church that is meant to build us up and remind us always of God’s infinite love, ends up instead doing the exact opposite…  Tearing us down, demanding that we become something God did not create us to be, or treats us the way the world does, rather than the way God would have us love one another.  

When you walk away from church because the hope you were promised there has been ripped away, it creates an indescribable and unrelenting pain… a pain you just want to walk away from forever.  That’s what Cleopas and that other disciple were doing.  They were walking toward Emmaus, sure, but I suspect going TO Emmaus was WAY less important to them than walking AWAY from that pain.  The hope they had placed in Jesus, in the disciples, and in God for an abundant life had been crushed in the most horrific and dramatic way.  The disciples they had held up as leaders sat broken and cowering in an upper room.  It was finished and they just wanted to leave... forever.   

It was on that road… the road AWAY from the church that Jesus began to walk with them.  Jesus, you see, doesn’t just walk with us on We’ve Got It All Figured Out Boulevard.  Jesus doesn’t just walk with us on Perfect Life Lane.  Jesus doesn’t just walk with us on We’ve Got our Poop Together Street.  Jesus walks with us on whatever road, alley, or back woods trail to the outhouse we walk.  Think about it.  If ANYONE knows the life crushing… life ending pain that can be inflicted by a religious institution that's gone off the rails with hate and fear… it’s Jesus.  

So Jesus catches up with them and asks them to tell him their story and Jesus…just… listens.  He doesn’t make excuses for it or try to fix it... he just listens.  Jesus knows that if healing is to have a chance, you have to tell that story as many times as that story needs to be told.  

When they were done, Jesus told THEM a story.  He told them THE story.  Beginning at the beginning, Jesus told them how God has always cared for God’s people and all of creation.  He reminded them that God loved us all into being, breathing life into us.  A flood couldn’t get in the way of God’s love and neither could enemies, slavery or exile.  Not even death could stop God from loving God’s people!

  

Jesus told them THE story and then... well, then he just let that story sit with them.  God’s story works.  Jesus knew that.  How long does it take to soak in and work?  Well, it looks like even Jesus couldn’t predict that.  He didn’t push it.  He just kept walking down the road content to let God’s love work in it’s own time.  In this particular story, it happened to soak in just in time for dinner.  I suspect that’s more the exception than the rule.  But when they were ready... so was Jesus.  

This story of soul crushing hurt isn’t just an old story… it’s our story.  That other disciple in this story without a name… that’s us!  Each of us who have had our hopes and faith crushed by one thing or another… we are that disciple!  Each of us who have been blackballed, hurt, betrayed, and abandoned by the church.  AND… and… while that is absolutely and painfully true, it is also true that Jesus is walking with each of us RIGHT NOW, on whatever road you are walking right now even if, like them, the trauma of that life-crushing hurt is currently making Jesus impossible to recognize. 

You and I are meant to see ourselves as that unnamed disciple AND together you and I are also called to walk with those who are even now walking that road away from the church.  We are called to walk beside them.  To listen without trying to fix it or make excuses for it.  To tell THE story with words, sure… but even more than that, to tell the story with the way we live, day in and day out.  To live the story of God’s infinite and unchanging love for them and all of creation.  And then, we are called to simply let that love story work in it’s own time.  It will work.  It will.  And it will work before dinner too!  Dinner on what day?  I don’t know.  But just so we're ready, we make sure to set the dinner table every single week.  Amen. 

Showing Up Thomas

John 20

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.

Here’s the scene.  Eleven guys in their late 20’s… early 30’s have been stuck in a room for a week… together… in the Middle East… with no running water.  Their best friend Jesus was horrifically killed and they’ve been reeling ever since.  The smell of empty takeout boxes, stale Bud Lite, and despair fills the room.  One of them, Thomas, goes out to get pizzas and when he comes back, the other 10 guys tell him in a super excited, overly dramatic way, that while he was gone Jesus came and visited them in the flesh. 

Now, put yourself in Thomas’ sandals.  Your 20-30 year old guy-friends… friends who’ve been cooped up drinking bad beer and living on take out for a week, tell you that your dead friend came for a visit while you were gone.  Do you believe them?  Yeah, me neither!  I don’t blame Thomas AT ALL for doubting his bros!  But here’s the incredible thing about Thomas that we always ignore in the rush to give him a hard time for doubting.  HE KEEPS SHOWING UP.  In spite of the horrors.  In spite of the soul crushing depression.  In spite of his bros and their crapola.  In spite of Peter continuing to buy bad beer for the group.  Thomas keeps showing up!  And in his dedication to showing up, regardless of how he felt, he eventually had the opportunity to see Jesus.  Showing up matters. 

The same thing happens here in this sanctuary you know.  When we show up here, in spite of all that the world is throwing at us at the moment… when we show up here… we too have the opportunity to encounter Christ.  In the bread and the wine, yes… but also in this gathered community, because together we are, in some mystical way, the living and life giving Body of Christ for one another.  

That’s why showing up is so incredibly important.  But when we go one step beyond showing up and find a way to be TRULY PRESENT for one another… that’s when we’re not just seeing Jesus but BELIEVING Jesus.  Remember, “believing” in the Bible isn’t an intellectual, brain case, reasoning thing.  That idea didn’t start until the Enlightenment.  In Biblical times believing was a whole body… whole being thing… following the one you loved.  Walking in a particular set of footsteps… doing your best to live as they lived.  That’s why for us, being present walks us even deeper into faith than simply showing up.  Being present means taking some time beyond this hour in the pews.  Opening our eyes and our ears and actively checking in with one another, at coffee hour, with a text, over the phone, with a card.  Because like Thomas, when we show up and THEN when we take the little extra time and effort to be TRULY PRESENT with one another, it is in THOSE times that we are really walking the Jesus Way of living.    

Showing up.  Being present.  They may not sound that impressive, but the truth is, those two things are where full on Jesus level ministry begins!  Jesus spent his time showing up, being present, and reaching out to the lost, last and least of this world.  He leaned into relationships with those folks that it took WORK to be around… the outcasts, the diseased, the unclean.  Jesus moved boldly and fearlessly TOWARD those folks and listened to them, HEARD them, and lifted them up.  For the disciples, doing that with Jesus in the lead was hard.  Doing that after Jesus’ death… well it got so hard all they could do was to sit in a room eating take out and drinking bad beer!

In the end it took Christ’s risen presence… more than once… to move them, IN SPITE OF their fear, back to the WAY he had always led them to live in the world.  It took Jesus showing up and being present with them to realize that even though it was different than it was before Good Friday, Jesus was STILL with them… and us… always.

 

Thomas was able to be moved out of fear and back into the world because Jesus kept showing up and Thomas kept showing up too.  They both kept showing up to the community they had formed together.  They remained committed to being present with each other… even with all the horrors they had seen.  And here’s the REAL miracle… they kept showing up even though Peter kept buying cheep beer!  This is the story, not of Doubting Thomas but of Showing Up Thomas and I pray that in our showing up… in our being present with one another… we too will continue to encounter the risen Christ time and time again.  Amen. 

Previously on The Galilean

I need to start by catching you up on where we are in this
story, so…Previously on The Galilean… Jesus, the Galilean, has spent the majority of the last few years out and about mostly in rural Israel.  He’s been telling people… but more importantly SHOWING people, his WAY of living in the world… a way through which they might experience the abundant life God created them to live… a life filled with love, meaning, purpose, and peace for all people.  

NEVER did Jesus teach or show that The Jesus Way of living had ANYTHING to do with demonizing other people for the way they looked or dressed or who they loved.  NEVER did Jesus use force, or insist, or threaten people to live his way.  Some chose to follow and Jesus welcomed them.  Others didn’t and Jesus let them go in peace.  The Jesus Way of living was offered, never insisted upon or imposed.  

That was VERY different than the way the authoritarians of Jesus’ day got people to live their way.  They used force, weapons of war, intimidation, and violence to MAKE the people adopt their values and fall in line with their way of living.  That, they believed, was the way to peace.  The Pax Romana… the Roman peace… a peace that came by way of intimidation, force, fear and violence up to and including death for anyone who didn’t do life their way.

In last Sunday’s Episode… Palm Sunday… these two very different propositions for living in the world entered into Jerusalem for Passover at exactly the same time.  The town wasn’t big enough for the both of them.  LITERALLY!  It’s a small town.  Gillette Stadium and it’s parking lots cover more acreage than Jerusalem back then!  So on Palm Sunday Jesus entered the city on one side at the VERY SAME TIME the Roman governor entered the city on the other side.  This was not an accident.  Jesus set up this VERY political confrontation so the people could clearly see the choice they had.  They could simply look and see the difference… then decide how they wanted to live and choose the WAY they wanted to walk into their future.  

Both parades reflected the propositions for life they represented.  Pilate rode in on a giant white war horse, both rider and horse decked out in armor, a legion of that era’s most elite and well trained soldiers with the most advanced weapons of war the world had ever seen at his side.  This parade was a proposition for a way of life lived through violence, force, uniformity, exclusion, and fear.  On the other side of the city Jesus rode in… on a momma donkey with it’s foal tagging along behind.  No armor.  No weapons.  This parade was a proposition for a Way of living centered around compassion, kindness, generosity, inclusion, and self giving love.  That was Palm Sunday.  By Good Friday, Jesus, and with him, his proposition for a WAY of living centered around compassion, kindness, generosity, inclusion, grace and love were hanging dead on a cross.  The way of violence, force, uniformity, exclusion, fear and death had gotten it’s way.  Or did it? 

In today’s episode, the apparent victory of violence, force, uniformity, exclusion, fear and death has unexpectedly been called into question.  The Jesus Way, you see, along with Jesus himself, didn’t stay dead and buried where they had put them on Friday.  He has risen from the dead and with him, his proposition for a WAY of life through love has been raised to new life as well.  His WAY of living… the Way that embraces compassion, kindness, generosity, inclusion, grace and love that so many thought was dead… is once again alive!  

In Jesus’ life, he modeled and offered this very different WAY of living to ALL people.  Jesus rose to continue to offer that Way to ALL people… to offer this alternative WAY to the authoritarian's way… to you.  Not force you into it.  Not threaten you with it.  Not, God forbid, to hate, ostracize, or kill you for it, but simply to offer it as an alternative to the ways of intimidation, force, and violence.   

So here we are.  You’re caught up with the story and it’s Easter Sunday 2023.  You and I look out the window and remarkably enough still see those same two propositions for the way we're going to live this life still paraded before us every day.  One parade still uses the same old script of intimidation, demonization, exclusion, and violence.  The mode of transportation, the weapons of war, and the faces may have changed but the proposition and the tactics are very much the same.  So as we, on Easter Sunday 2023 look out the window and see THAT parading by we are asked THE question for Easter Sunday… How's that working?  How’s that working for you?  How’s that working for us?

If the ways of hate, violence, demonization, and intolerance of anything different aren’t working for you… (It ain’t working for me, I can tell you that!) then there is Good News for you today.  Christ is Risen!  He is risen indeed!  And with him, his proposition for The Jesus Way of living is risen as well.  Even though our news continues, thousands of years later, to be jam packed with people wanting the way of love, kindness, radical inclusion, compassion, generosity, peace and life to once and for all stay dead and buried in the tomb… The Jesus Way, it seems, just won't be kept down in the grave.  So here it is again… the Jesus Way of living... alive and well!  Ready to be picked up and lived by anyone who wants to give it a go and to that fact all I can say is Thanks be to God!  Amen.