Dead End. Emphasis on Dead

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

There was not ONE person in the room that night who was unaware of what was happening around them in their world.  As clearly as YOU can see what is happening in the world around YOU tonight, THEY could see clearly what was happening around THEM in THEIR world.  It’s not that they were clairvoyant, any more than any of us are, but they could do the math.  You add one ruthless empire with the world’s largest military to a group of sellout religious leaders focused primarily on their own wealth and power and then you try to divide that by a rural preacher who proclaims a God of non-violence, love, compassion, mercy, and justice… and well, that math just isn’t gonna math, is it?  The answer to that equation isn’t going to be something we find on the other side of the equal sign.  The answer to that equation will be violently removing the rural preacher from the equation entirely! 

Everyone in that room could see that far ahead, but no further.  Beyond that it didn’t look like there WAS any future.  It was like a blind ally… a complete and total dead end… with the emphasis very much on DEAD.  So what do you do when you face what looks like a solid brick wall, dead end future?  How do you go on working and acting and being in the world when the Way you've been following is now completely blocked?  

Peter went with denial… its not just a river in Egypt you know.  Cutting off an ear is an idea.  Judas went with “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” which continues to be a popular strategy even today.  Still others handled this dead end by locking the doors, turning off the lights, and pulling the blankets up over their heads.  I’ve been very tempted to just throw up my  hands and hit the road… I hear Emmaus is lovely this time of year.

Jesus knew his disciples would be stuck as they faced a future that looked like a total solid, no way out, dead end.  That’s why on this night Jesus told his disciples… his disciples then and us disciples now… HOW to get through those times that look for all the world like a totally solid, no way out, dead end. Jesus told his disciples there was no need to give up.  Lashing out, violence, and revenge were not the answer.  He didn’t suggest finding someone to blame or point fingers at and he didn’t recommend lying in bed with the covers permanently pulled up over our heads… no matter how good that might sound!  Instead… Jesus says, when you look at the world and all you can see in front of you is a bricked off blind ally dead end of a future… THAT… THAT… IS WHEN YOU MOVE THROUGH that bricked off, blind ally, dead end of a future BY LOVING ONE ANOTHER.  

It wasn't a suggestion.  This was Jesus’s final command.  LOVE ONE ANOTHER.  When the road ahead is impossibly, completely, and totally blocked, love one another.  When the witness of the Messiah and the prophets… the witness for justice, mercy, and empathy is labeled as SIN… LOVE ONE ANOTHER.  When the sacrificial love of neighbor is demonized… LOVE ONE ANOTHER.  When the world is going completely, profoundly, unbelievably, maddeningly off the rails…  LOVE ONE ANOTHER.  When every logical calculation, reasonable thought, notion of justice, professionally researched conclusion and time tested truth is being replaced by hatred, conspiracy theories, violence, lies, ignorance, and just plain ugliness… when all that is happening… THAT is when we must come together and LOVE ONE ANOTHER.  When we look into the future and all that we had expected and hoped for and planned for has been replaced by a bricked up blind ally with no room to turn around… Jesus tells us THE way to deal with that… is to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.  

Tomorrow we will hear the story of our God’s PASSION.  It is the story of the Way of Jesus… (the Way of love, diversity, compassion, justice, radical inclusion, equity and mercy)… dramatically colliding with the dead end, brick wall, blind ally Way of Empire… (the way of hatred, power, might makes right, marginalization, and violence.)  Tomorrow we will hear the story of just how much the Way of Empire DESPISES the Way of Love… LOATHES the Way of Love… HATES the Way of Love… the Jesus Way… We’ll see that the Way of Empire HATES the Jesus Way…THIS much!  (stretch out arms)  

But in tonight's story… even though they all see it coming… Jesus doesn’t stop the Way of Jesus and the Way of Empire from colliding.  Instead, Jesus tells his disciples then and his disciples now HOW we are to live through those horrible times.  For genuine disciples of Jesus there is just ONE way.  Love one another.  With maximum humility we are to start with our neighbors that the world sees as the least, the last, and the lost, and we are to sacrificially love one another.  We are to sacrifice our own egos and put what is in the OTHER’S best interest before our own.  THAT is what it means to love one another.

Love is the Way through.  Not just the way through Jesus’ Passion two thousand years ago, but love is the way through every seemingly hopeless solid brick wall dead end that people of Faith encounter throughout history.  SO, when you open your window and look outside… when you open WINDOWS and look outside, and when all you can see is what looks like a completely, impossibly, wrecked future, a total blind ally, and an absolute dead end… with an emphasis on dead… remember for yourself and do the kindness of reminding one another what Jesus told us about how we are to live through times like these… We are to love one another.  Love one another.  LOVE ONE ANOTHER.  Amen.  

The Review Table

John 12:1-8

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

This is the last Sunday in Lent before Palm/Passion Sunday.  So for today, I thought we would sit with Jesus, Mary, Martha, Lazarus and Judas around the table and have them help us review what we’ve worked on this Lent.  We actually began this Lenten series before Lent even began, on Transfiguration.  Do you remember?  We began by noticing where in our bodies we carried the weight of the world these days.  We took that weight and worked it like clay in our minds until it became a personified form.  Then we named it, wrote that name on a stone, and by doing that injected that stone with all that weight and darkness.  Then we left those stones right there for God to watch through Lent so we wouldn’t have to carry it all.  Were you able to do that?  Leave it?  Not pick it up again?  

For the first Sunday in Lent, do you remember what we worked on?  Judas, in today’s Gospel gives us a reminder. “Mary” he says, “You SHOULD not waste that expensive perfume.  You SHOULD sell it and give the money to the poor.”  Judas SHOULDED on Mary!  Didn’t he?  SHOULDING sets us up unrealistic expectations which leads to disappointment and depression, so that was the first Cognitive Distortion we gave up for Lent.  

The second Sunday we worked on Control Fallacies.  The lie that everything is our fault OR the more common version which is that we have NO influence and we are all just helpless victims.  The people at the dinner party in today’s Gospel lesson faced a horrific week to come. It would have been easy to give into the idea they were nothing but helpless victims, but what did Martha do?  She brought to mind the people she loved and moved toward them with a kindness, making them a meal.  Mary did the same, bringing to mind someone she loved, Jesus, and then moved toward him with the kindness of anointing his feet.  In moving toward the ones they loved with kindness, they proved to themselves and to those around them that they were NOT helpless.  Even with a horrific week ahead, they proved to themselves and the world that they still had the power to do kindness in the world.  

The third Sunday we met Mr. Don Music and the Cognitive Distortion of Catastrophizing… focusing exclusively on the negative and filtering out and dismissing anything positive.  Jesus taught us how to push back on that distortion with the Parable of the Fig Tree.  It was with gratitude and generosity that the gardener fought back against the ALL or NOTHING thinking of the vineyard owner.  In today’s Gospel Mary reminds us again how that works.  Facing Jesus’ coming death it would have been easy and frankly incredibly understandable to Catastrophize the days to come, but Mary pushed back on that temptation with generosity… that was a $45,000 block of perfume with which she showed her gratitude for all that Jesus had done.  

Last Sunday, Bishop Pipho helped us work on giving up Stinkin’ Individualistic Thinkin.  The parable showed us the dramatic difference between going it alone and living in community.  The dinner party in today’s Gospel puts an exclamation point on the power of community.  Lazarus shows us how simple, quiet presence speaks VOLUMES in community!  Martha was able to use her gifts to do the kindness of cooking only because they had gathered in community.  Mary was only able to demonstrate the power of generosity and gratitude because they had come together in community.  Even Judas, with all of his cluelessness, brokenness, and flaws, was given one more opportunity to see the world the Jesus Way simply because he showed up in this gathering of community.  

The powers of darkness at work in our world today are Legion.  They even seek to turn the values we have been taught by Jesus and the prophets… things like empathy and compassion, generosity and gratitude into sins.  But this little group pushed back on the darkest of darkness.  They showed up for one another around the table.  Lazarus never said anything, and in his silence reminded us that having the right thing to say is often overrated.  Simple, quiet presence is often what is needed most.  Martha reminded us that no matter what might lie ahead, we can always move with a kindness toward those we love.  Mary reminded us that community gives us a chance to push back on the darkness with gratitude and generosity and even Judas reminds us that in community we are always given one more opportunity to see the world the Jesus Way. 

It was empowered by community that they all walked into the week ahead, still able to love God and love neighbor… still able to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly through life and even through death… and on into resurrection.  

The evil at work in our world will continue to bring the darkness, but here in community we remind one another that we are neither helpless nor without help.  May we, like this small group gathered around their table, dedicate ourselves to gathering around THAT table, where we, like them will receive the light of Christ… a light so bright that it shines in the darkness… a light so powerful no darkness can overcome it and take that light with us and shine it into whatever the future holds for us.  Amen.  

Mr. Don Music - Catastrophizing Crooner

Luke 13:1-9

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

For the season of Lent we’ve been working on giving up Cognitive Distortions.  Those ways of thinking that are neither true nor helpful, but are AWFULLY tempting!  We worked on giving up “Shoulding” on ourselves or others.  We’ve talked about giving up Control Fallacies… both the fallacy that everything is somehow our fault, but particularly the more tempting lie that the Foxes of the world try to sell, that we are powerless, helpless victims and nothing we do can make any difference.  We pushed back against that fallacy by bringing to mind someone we loved and then deciding how we would bring that person a little kindness or bit of compassion.  When you did that this week, could you feel that fallacy crumble?  Were you able to see how making a physical move toward someone you love with a small act of compassion or kindness, proved to you (and the Foxes of the world) that in reality… we are FAR from powerless? 

This week we confront the Cognitive Distortion best illustrated by Mr. Don Music.  (Move to sit at piano)  I first heard about Mr. Music back in 1974, when TV reporter, Kermit the Frog, interviewed him for Sesame Street News.  Mr. Music was in the middle of writing his next hit song… and he was stuck.  “Mary had a little lamb.  It’s fleece was white as snow.  And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to… was sure to… was sure to… I’ll never get it!  Never!” (Bang head on piano)  By the way… it turns out I think that bit is JUST as hilarious at 57 as it was at 7.    

But for us today, what Don Music is demonstrating is the Cognitive Distortion known as Catastrophizing!  Believing all the worst while filtering out and dismissing anything positive.  Seeing the slightest setback as a guaranteed predictor of an inevitable, impending, complete, catastrophe from which we will never escape.  Never.  NEVER!  (Bang head on piano)

That’s where the people were in today’s Gospel lesson.  Pilate had killed people while they were at worship.  A tower had fallen in Siloam and killed 18 people.  Both factual and both horrible.  But from those events the people who came to see Jesus had begun to convince themselves that THIS was the way the whole world was inevitably headed.  That there was no way out!  No alternative!  No good left!  It was the way God was now working in the world and they were now condemned to live in a catastrophe from which they would never escape.  NEVER!  (Bang head on piano)  Have you ever done that?  Filter out any positive and obsess about the negative?  Think in All or Nothing ways?  Look at the world as Black or White… never with any grey… and certainly without any color!  This, by the way, is my favorite, personal, go-to Cognitive Distortion.  The Stinkin’ Thinkin’ I do the most and I do this one almost as well as Don Music!  (Bang head on piano)  So how do we give it up for Lent… or maybe even longer?  Jesus shows us how we can work on that with the parable of the fig tree.  

A man came to his vineyard for the third year in a row and once again found no figs!  At this discovery he went full “Don Music” on that tree.  “It will never have figs.  NEVER!” (Bang head on piano)  It is a catastrophic waste of space and will never be anything else.  NEVER!!  (Bang head on piano) Cut it down!  

But the gardener in this story knows something VERY important.  Feelings are not Facts.  While the vineyard owner FEELS there is no hope… FEELS this is a catastrophe.  The FACTS, on the other hand, are that with some gratitude for a tree that has grown to a fruit bearing age, and with some generosity in the form of some cultivation, manure and time, the tree will bear fruit.  One of the things we can learn from this parable is that you and I can counter our temptation to catastrophize in exactly the same way… by using gratitude and generosity.  

Horrible things are genuinely happening all around us every single day.  It all too often FEELS like these events portend never ending catastrophe, from which the world will never recover, NEVER!  (Bang head on piano) That way of Stinkin’ Thinkin’ leaves us depressed and paralyzed… tempts us to give up and believe we just can’t make a difference any more.  But this parable calls us to help one another remember… FEELINGS are not FACTS.  While events around us ARE horrible and there are times where we FEEL like there is no hope, the FACT is, that when the people of this church come together in gratitude for the abundant life we have been given, and when we are generous with our empathy, kindness, compassion and caring, the FACT is that THIS CHURCH MAKES A REAL DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO JUST THAT!  We will continue to do genuine good.  Continue to make a real difference in the lives of the people we gather with here every week and in the lives of our neighbors and THAT is something we should never forget.  NEVER!  

So, now we practice.  Write down three things that you’re thankful for on that paper you got with your bulletin.  When you come up for communion bring it up and put that written prayer of thanksgiving in the bowl there.  Then… for homework, write down three things you’re thankful for each day this coming week.  I think you’ll find it’s hard to believe there is nothing good left in the world while constantly writing down things for which you are thankful.  Try it out.  Amen.   

Mr. Fox and His Fallacy of Cards

 Luke 13:31-35

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him,
“Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

A week or so ago the President gave a speech to a joint session of Congress where he declared that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion had been eliminated from the Federal Government and the country.  Recently Target announced that it would no longer support DEI initiatives.  In the late 1930’s a photographer took a picture of a large crowd giving the Nazi arm salute in Germany.  Two thousand years ago, a group of Pharisees came out to see Jesus to tell him that the king wanted to kill him.  

In each of these situations, one group of people tried to get another group of people to buy into the notion that THEY had complete and total control while the other group of people had absolutely no control… that they had been reduced to helpless victims.  Believing that you have absolute control or believing you have absolutely no control are what what the brain pros call “Control Fallacies” and along with other Cognitive Distortions, like the “Shoulding” we talked about last week, the Control Fallacy is another kind of Stinkin’ Thinkin’ that we are giving up for the season of Lent.  

They are called “Fallacies” because they aren’t true!  The fact that they aren’t true becomes immediately apparent when anyone pushes back on them even slightly.  As the president insisted in his speech that DEI had been stamped out of the Federal Government a camera cut to a close up of Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, an African American, Muslim congresswoman.  With that one camera shot the president’s attempt to sell us his Control Fallacy was shown to be exactly that… a laughable fallacy.  As Target abandons their DEI initiatives we are being sold the idea that retailers are helpless against this push.  That is until Comedian Kristin Key first laments losing Target with the shout, “haven’t we lesbians suffered enough!” and then sings a parody song about breaking up with Target, her abusive ex, for whom she still has feelings.  She goes on to remind us, however, that we still have Costco with auto parts right next to produce!  And the fallacy falls apart.  In the photo of an entire crowd of Germans giving the Nazi salute, a second look reveals that there is one man standing there with his arms folded.  That one man proves that even in the
extreme of Nazi Germany, total control is still just a fallacy.  When the Pharisees came out to tell Jesus that the king wanted to kill him, trying to convince him that when it came to standing against Herod, he was just a helpless victim, Jesus simply responded with his unchanging plans for the next three days.  

In each of these examples we are shown how people in different circumstances and in different times, all push back against the Control Fallacy being sold to them.  From those examples we too can learn how to give up that destructive way of thinking for the season of Lent (and maybe even longer!).  Ilhan Omar shows us that sometimes just showing up is all that is needed to send this fallacy tumbling to the ground.  When we show up here, we come to a place with rainbow chairs where the words of the apostle Paul continue to be proclaimed, that “There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of us are one in Christ Jesus.”  That one German with folded arms reminds us that sometimes opting out is all that is needed to destroy this fallacy.  Kristin Key reminds us how powerful humor is when it comes to fighting control fallacies, and Jesus shows us that one of the very best ways to push back on the idea that we are nothing but helpless victims, is to simply to keep on doing the things we value day after day… like bringing compassion and kindness to our neighbors regardless of what they look like, who they love, or how they identify.

All of these examples show us ways to push back on the house of cards that is the Control Fallacy that we are being sold… the Fallacy that we have been reduced to helpless victims… and all of these examples show us in a wide variety of ways, just how exceptionally frail this fallacy really is and how easily it falls to pieces with just the slightest nudge.  

To practice giving that fallacy a nudge, I want you to turn to someone around you and first tell them whose face comes to mind when you think about someone you love.  Share a little backstory with them.  Not a comprehensive lifelong biography!  Just a little something to help them remember who that person is to you.  (Give some time)  Now, think about a little act of compassion or kindness that you plan to bring to that person this week.  Then share your plans with your neighbor.  (Give some time)  This week, your assignment is to DO that little thing for the person you love and as you do it, remember… that what you are doing, in addition to the kindness, is telling THAT FOX that you are far from being a helpless victim and that they are king of nothing more than a frail falling house of cards.  Amen. 

The Devil Tries to Should on Jesus

Luke 4:1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Last week I had you imagine all the darkness, evil, worry, and fear that you feel closing in on you, weighing on you, and pressing on you these days.  I told you to take all of it and knead it like clay in your minds into a personified form.  Then I told you to give that personified form a name, write that name on a rock, and then leave it… all of it… in that pile right there.  (If you weren’t here last week you are welcome to do that today after worship if you’d like)  We wrote a wide variety of things on our rocks but in ancient times I suspect the vast majority of people would have simply written “The Devil” on that rock, because that was a much more universal go-to name for the darkness, evil, worry and fear back in those days than it is now.  

But regardless of the name on the rock, that’s who Jesus met in the wilderness.  He met the personified form of all the darkness, evil, worry, and fear the world has to offer.  It’s the very same darkness, evil, worry, and fear you locked into those rocks last week.  THIS week we see one of the tricks the Devil uses to try and get us to let him out of his rock.  It’s called “SHOULDING.”  “Jesus, you SHOULD make bread.  Jesus you SHOULD be in charge of the world.  Jesus you SHOULD get the world’s attention.”  “SHOULD” statements are what we say to ourselves or others about what we “should,” “ought,” or “must” do.  SHOULDING sets up unrealistic expectations that will most likely not be met.  Those unmet expectations then lead to guilt, shame, and resentment.  Resentment when others don’t meet our expectations and guilt and shame when we don’t meet the expectations we put on ourselves.  Israel and Palestine SHOULD stop fighting.  The Administration SHOULD treat our allies better.  We SHOULD care more about the environment.  I SHOULD go to the gym more regularly.  Americans SHOULD take care of those on the margins.

The tricksy part of “SHOULD” statements is that the things we “SHOULD” do aren’t necessarily BAD things at all!  Jesus making bread?  Not bad.  In fact Jesus eventually makes bread for 5000.  Jesus ruling the world?  Also not bad.  In fact Jesus becomes King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Jesus getting the attention of the world by being lifted up?  Also not bad.  In fact, that’s this thing we call Easter!  The same is true of our “SHOULDS”… Middle East peace, treating friends well, caring for the environment, going to the gym, caring for those on the margins?  None of those THINGS are bad!  What IS bad… what IS tempting… what IS self destructive… is not the THINGS we are thinking about, but the WAY we think about them.  Thinking with “SHOULD” statements sets us up for dramatic disappointment, radical resentments, all consuming anger, and debilitating depression.  

The way to fight against the Devil and his temptation of “SHOULDING” is to use alternative language that BOTH keeps the people we love and the things we value in our focus, AND at the same time realistically manages our expectations.  Jesus used the language of Scripture to do that.  In addition to that, we can also use words like "could," "would like to," "might consider," "aim to," "prefer to," "want to," "it would be beneficial to," or "I choose to,” instead of SHOULD.  I would like to see peace between Israel and Palestine.  The Administration might consider treating our allies better.  It would be beneficial to care more about the environment.  I aim to go to the gym more regularly.  I would prefer if Americans took better care of those on the margins.  Do you see the difference?  We're still focusing on moving toward the people and values that are important to us, but the new language changes our outlook from an unrealistic expectation of instant arrival, to a more realistic expectation that getting to where we are going will take a journey.  

Now comes the experiential portion of this sermon.  In your bulletin you have a 3x5 card.  Think now... What is the loudest thing the Devil is telling you that you SHOULD do right now?  Jesus got three.  You just get one.  (You aren't Jesus!) Write that on one side of the card.  Now, JUST THINK about the language you might you use instead, so you're not letting the Devil SHOULD on you.  DON'T write that new language on the card.  You'll want to keep that.  Okay, now think of what is the Devil tempting you to tell someone else they SHOULD do? When you've got that, write it on the other side of that card.  What language might you use instead for that one?  

NOW, you know what you've got?  You've got a card with SHOULD all over it!  When you come up for communion, bring it here and throw it down the hole in the center of the pile of rocks.  That's where “SHOULD” belongs, so when the Devil tempts you with SHOULD again… do what Jesus did… talk back to him… find other language... and leave both the “SHOULD” and the Devil right there in the SHOULD-ER where they belong.  Amen. 

To protect you as you push back on the temptations of the Devil whether in personified form or not, with whatever temptations he might throw at you in these unusual times, I am going to anoint the walls of our church with Holy Oil.  This is part of an ancient ritual most often associated with the consecration of a church used to create a powerful impenetrable Spiritual boundary between the powers and rulers of darkness in the world, the spirit of wickedness, and the Devil himself and you… God’s people gathering here in this Sanctuary.  In this space, within these wall, you are unconditionally loved, you are accepted just as you are as a beloved… a BELOVED child of God.  With this rite and within these walls you have sanctuary and you will be safe.  Always. 

Like the Hypocrites Do

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

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

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

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

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

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

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

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

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

First, we put ashes on our heads which disfigures our faces.  Then we read this Gospel where Jesus tells us NOT to disfigure our faces… you know… like the hypocrites do!  The first time I made that ironic connection in 25 years of preaching, was last Ash Wednesday… while I was preaching.  After worship Bishop Jack and I laughed about the irony. 

So, keep the ashes or wipe them off?  Maybe change the name from Ash Wednesday to Irony Wednesday?  I don’t think we’ll be able to sell that one.  Honestly, I think what we should do with these ashes on our heads depends.  Does keeping the ashes on your head, in some way or another, move you closer to God and neighbor?  If so… then by all means keep ‘em!  But, if keeping them doesn’t do either, then you’d be better off wiping them off before you go back into the world looking “like the hypocrites do.”  

That’s the same for most of the practices of Lent… fasting, giving things up, prayers, giving alms, doing extra acts of service.  When you do those things, do they move you, in one way or another, into a closer relationship with God and  neighbor?  If so… then by all means do ‘em!  But, if doing them isn’t moving you closer to God or your neighbor, then you’re probably doing them for yourself and if that’s the case, you’d be better off NOT doing them at all, rather than doing them “like the hypocrites do.” 

There does seem to be one Lenten practice that doesn’t “depend” so much.  It comes out of that lesson from Joel where he says, “Call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast.”  It is the Lenten practice of showing up… the practice of being here, together, consistently… some might even say “religiously” in community. 

The gathered congregation, Joel believed, has the power to not just make a difference in individual lives, but to make a difference in the world.  I’d have to agree with Joel on that one.  Remember our first Sunday back together after two icy Sundays?  Being together again made a difference for us individually.  We all felt it.  But you also have to admit that when this particular assembly assembles, good things happen in the world as well.  Sheffield Pride, Berkstock, the AT project, tens of thousands of dollars shared with our non-profit partners.  All THAT happens out of our gathered solemn (and not so solemn) assemblies!

So, if there is an individual Lenten discipline that moves you closer to God and your neighbor by all means, take it on.  But whether or not you choose an individual practice… whether or not you keep your ashes or wipe them off…  let’s all take on the ancient Lenten practice of being with each other here this season.  Let us commit to being present and allowing the Divine to work compassion, healing, and hope through this solemn (and not so solemn) assembly to change the world for good.  God knows, the world could use some good.  Amen