The Emmaus Method

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.

If this story was meant to simply be a historical account, they wouldn’t have left the other disciple unnamed. We would have been told about how Cleopas and Chuck were walking down the road. But this story ISN’T meant to simply be a historical account. This story, with an unnamed disciple placeholder which is meant for you and me, is here to pull us into this story so that we might learn something alongside our friend Cleopas about the “Jesus Way” of living in and caring for one another in the world.

We are meant to imagine that it is each of US... and old Cleopas there... who have experienced a horrible trauma. It is you and I who are grieving the loss of what we had hoped the world would be.  In the original story, the trauma was the crucifixion, but with this story, Jesus is modeling how we can walk with ANYONE who has experienced ANY sort of trauma. You could just pick a trauma at random… say a worldwide pandemic, for instance... and this story is meant to model for us how to care for our neighbors in the midst of that crisis... the loss of friends and family... the loss of how we knew the world worked... the loss of what we had planned and what we had hoped for that has now been ruined.  

The first thing Jesus does is to just walk with them. He is with them right where they are.  He doesn’t stop them in the street. He doesn’t try to turn them around or try to fix what he thinks might be wrong. He just slides up beside them, lets them set the pace, and is present with them. Eventually, Jesus asks a question. “What are you talking about?”

For humans like you, me, and old Cleopas there, our brains are hard wired to wonder about any question we get asked. It may only be for a split second, but we WILL wonder.  We can’t help it.  The tricksy part is that the place in our brains where we MUST wonder about a question, is NOT in the part of our brains in charge or fight or flight. So in the split second that Jesus asked you and old Cleopas there that little question, the part of our brains that are capable of thinking beyond just one thought... running away from Jerusalem in a panic... has been opened up for our potential use.  

Next Jesus asks them another question.  “What things happened in Jerusalem?” And they tell Jesus their story. Even though Jesus knew the story they were telling better than they did, he still let them tell it. Jesus is showing us another part of how to care for one another in a crisis. We need to take the time to listen to each other’s story. Just listen. Listen to understand… not to reply. Ask questions and listen. Listen even if you’ve heard it before.  Listen even if you’ve heard it a hundred times before.

At this point Jesus calls them foolish and slow of heart which is frankly a quadruple black belt, ninja type counseling move right there! But what Jesus did was to throw them off balance as a way to continue to help them get unstuck from the fight or flight part of their brains. For those of us without a counseling quadruple blackbelt, we might want to be less direct, but the model still works.  The model teaches us to keep asking questions.  Get them talking through their experiences of the past.  Ask them to tell you the stories they know best. “What happened when this sort of thing happened to you before?  How did Moses and the prophets deal with their traumas? How did those stories turn out?” “Do you remember when something looked impossible in Jesus’ life? Do you remember storms on a sea, a man with a legion of demons, a guy born blind, lepers, 5000 hungry people, Lazarus who stanketh? How did each of those impossible stories turn out?” In times of trauma, locked in fight or flight mode, the wiring in our heads which connect us to those powerful lessons, experiences, and stories of the past are cut off. What Jesus did was to use questions to move them over and over and over again, out of the fight or flight parts of their brains and into the places in their minds where it would be POSSIBLE for them to see more options for their lives than just running away.

As they get to Emmaus, Jesus models something else about this Way of helping. Jesus doesn’t ASSUME they are ready to try something different than just running away. He asks those questions, helps them move into a place where more can happen, but then... just “walks ahead as if he were going on.” Jesus is modeling for us the reality that the people we care for in a trauma will be ready to do more than run, ONLY when they are ready. There’s no guarantee that will happen in a month, or in a year, or by the time we walk to Emmaus. Jesus is modeling for us the need to allow the other to set the pace.

Finally Jesus shows us how very powerful it is to be present with those who are in pain. How incredibly powerful it is to bless one another with deep compassion. How wonderfully powerful it is to be generous with each other, being fully present with them, and sharing what we have. 

In the end, Jesus didn’t tell those two disciples anything they didn’t already know before Jesus joined them on the road to Emmaus. Jesus simply walked with them for a while, asked them questions, listened deeply as they told the story they needed to tell, and helped them regain access to the powerful truths, stories, and promises that had been cut off from their memories by their trauma in Jerusalem.

May all of us, as we walk with and care for others in our time of pandemic trauma, follow the “Jesus Way” of caring for each another. May we be creative in being present with each other. May we share with each other the power of deep compassion. May we be generous with our neighbors with our presence, our questions, and our listening... so that we might help one another regain access to the stories, promises and truths which give us all hope.... stories, promises and truths that are even now, burning within us all. Amen.

Stand Up Messiah

The Holy Gospel According to St. John, the 20th Chapter

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.

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?”

He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What flavor?" He said, "Lutheran." I said, "Me, too! ELCA or Missouri Synod?" He said, "ELCA." 

I said, "Me, too! LCA or ALC?” He said, "LCA." I said, "Me, too! Augustana Lutheran Church in America or American Lutheran Church in America?" He said, “American Lutheran Church in America.” I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

The original of that joke was written by Emo Philips about Baptists, but whether you start with Lutherans or Baptists, starting today with a joke is the liturgically proper thing to do.  Today is Bright Sunday or Holy Hilarity Sunday or if you want it in Latin, Risus Paschalis.  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, otherwise known as the Party Pooper Pope.  

Jokes are, of course, stories with unexpected endings and Jesus being raised from the dead is probably the MOST unexpected ending to a story EVER told!  But unfortunately, like all jokes, not everybody gets a joke right away and not everyone got the resurrection right away either. The disciples, locked away in fear in that upper room, obviously didn’t get it at all.  

Let’s see if you do better than the disciples with this one?  What did the Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor? ... Make me one with everything.

Sadly, with the disciples, Jesus was forced to break one of the cardinal rules of comedy by appearing to them and showing them the wounds in his hands, feet and side.  In doing that he was breaking the rule that you should never explain a joke, but that’s what he had to do for his disciples to get it, and thankfully after that, they finally, REALLY got it.

I’m actually really glad Jesus broke that comedy rule, because it is so important that everyone gets THIS joke that it’s worth breaking the rules to explain it. So, following Jesus’ lead we’ll start explaining this joke with the punch line.  Are you ready? Here it is!  CHRIST IS RISEN!  That’s the punch line! Christ is really and truly raised from the dead!  He didn’t just wake up from a really deep sleep and he wasn’t just “mostly dead” either.  He had pulled the pin, he was pushing up daisies, he had bought the farm, he was swimming with the fish, he 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 had given up the ghost!  Jesus was dead... BUT... NOW… here’s the punchline… Christ is Risen!

It's an amazing punch line! But a punchline without a setup just isn’t a joke.  For the setup we need to go all the way back to when Jesus was tested in the desert. The devil offered to give Jesus power over everything…but there was a catch.  Jesus had to bow down and worship the devil.  Jesus didn’t take the bait and after that, the devil decides that he would “GET” Jesus the old fashioned way…the devil will have him die!  Plot, plot, plot…scheme, scheme, scheme and we arrive at Good Friday and Jesus dying on the cross.  People surround Jesus laughing at him.  The devil is right there too laughing and taunting Jesus, “You should have taken my offer" says the devil, “if you had, these Bell Hops from the Roman Arms Motel wouldn’t have had to ‘put you up for the night’!”

You see, the devil, the Empire, darkness, evil and death itself all thought they had won!  BUT WAIT!  Just when death, darkness and the devil thought that they had pulled the ultimate fast one on God… THOUGHT they had killed God’s Son forever, it turns out that the joke was actually on THEM!  CHRIST IS RISEN! And with that punch line God took the horns off the devil, turned the world up side down, defeated death, and shined the zillion watt light of Christ into even the deepest darknesses of all the world!

With that one punch line... CHRIST IS RISEN!... God not only gave Jesus new life, but gave new life to you and to me and to ALL OF CREATION as well!  This new life is one that is meant to begin here in this life and go on for all eternity!  It’s a life full of meaning, purpose, dignity and love.  That's what makes this the biggest and best joke of all time.  Death, darkness and the devil ended up snatching total defeat, right out of the jaws of victory!

Speaking of the resurrection, do you know why didn't Jesus replace the stone from the tomb when he rose from the dead? ... Because he was born in a barn!

Once you get THE joke it changes EVERYTHING!  There will still be people that say you have to work your way into heaven, but now that you know the joke, you can laugh at that ridiculous notion! There will still be people out there who think there’s an ongoing battle raging between good and evil and that evil still has a chance to win! But now that you know the joke, you can laugh at that ridiculous notion too and sing them the hymn...  the strife is over, the battle is won!  So, do you get it now? Do you get how funny it is to think that death, darkness and the devil have any power in this world anymore? Christ is Risen! And they got nothin’!

Now there’s one last thing. Because once you get a good joke, you can’t just keep it to yourself. You’ve got to pass it on! So go now and tell this joke to the world... LIVE this joke out in the world and don’t forget the punchline… Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!! Amen.

Wait. Just one more. So it’s after the resurrection and Jesus is in the mood to party! He gets his disciples together and they all head out to the club!

They hit the dance floor, but something’s terribly wrong - Jesus just can’t seem to get his groove on. He tries and tries, but finally yells out. . .

Help! I’ve risen and I can’t get down!

Easter Happens!

Matthew 28:1-10

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Look! It happened! It’s Easter! Easter happened! For those two Marys way back then, Easter happened! Even after the horrors of the suffering, the death, the grief, the crushing, world-as-they-knew-it-ending, how can anybody call it “Good” Friday… even after all of that… Easter happened!

Even after the darkness of Holy Saturday… that horrible, unnerving, unnatural, oppressive, quiet.  The quiet of an endless and total darkness. A darkness with absolutely no foreseeable end in sight… an endless darkness that fostered horrible anxiety… worries about tomorrow… worries about the months... and even the years to come. A disorienting, exhausting, trying-to-make-your-way-around and crashing into even the simplest of things, kind of darkness. Even after all of that… Easter happened!

Even after a sleepless night and an awful dawn. Even after exerting all the effort in the world just to swing their legs over the side of the bed and simply stand up. Even after a hopeless, duty-driven, auto pilot on, the-men-sure-as-heck-aren’t-going-to-go-so-we-better-go, walk to the tomb. Even after all of that… the angel said, “Do not be afraid” and Easter happened! 

Easter happened.  But not just that first Easter. Easter has been happening for over 2000 years! Kings and empires have come and gone and Easter happens. Countries rise and fall and Easter happens. Wars, famines, holocausts, hurricanes, earthquakes, genocides, and tsunamis happen around the world and Easter continues to happen. Even the calendars themselves got changed and still Easter happened. Through the greatest of human achievements, Easter happens. Through the greatest human failings and horrors, Easter happens. Even through the global spread of a pandemic, the likes of which no one has seen in over a hundred years… Easter happens!

THAT is today’s lesson. Easter ALWAYS happens! But not just that first Easter with two Marys going to the tomb and not just the annual Easter Sunday already set on the liturgical calendar for more years than any of us will even see. Easter ALWAYS happens whenever Good Friday times happen in our personal lives, in our family lives, in our work lives, in our national or global lives… whenever we experience life’s horrors… the suffering, the death, the grief, the crushing, world-as-we-know-it-ending times in our lives… whenever that happens… the truth is... that even after all of that... Easter, ALWAYS happens!

Whenever we languish in those dark Holy Saturday times in our lives… whenever it happens that we find ourselves in the horrible, unnerving, unnatural, oppressive, quiet of an endless and total darkness...  A darkness with absolutely no foreseeable end in sight… an endless darkness that fosters horrible anxiety… worries about tomorrow… worries about the months and even the years to come. A disorienting, exhausting, trying-to-make-your-way-around in utter darkness and crashing into even the simplest of things, kind of darkness. Even in those dark times… the truth is still... Easter ALWAYS happens!

The horror we face these days is not crucifixion. The darkness we endure in our time is not just three days long. The effort we make to swing our legs off the side of the bed and get up each morning is not to go to visit Jesus’ tomb, BUT into this and EVERY other kind of Good Friday experience… into this and every other seemingly endless length of Holy Saturday darkness that we endure… EASTER ALWAYS HAPPENS!

Easter isn’t just a single event that happened 2000 years ago. It’s also not just an annual event that comes on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the Vernal Equinox. No! Easter always happens because life, death, and resurrection is the pattern which God has baked into every molecule of creation.  Life, death, and resurrection is the way the world was made to work! God has done that because we humans have free will and we all act out of our brokenness, and God knows Good Friday times will happen.  There will always be horrors and unbearable grief. Holy Saturday times will happen too for the same reasons and they will be dark and seemingly endless… but…BUT... God has made it so that Easter always happens in the end!  The end of every story that begins in grief, always ends in JOY.  The end of every story that begins in darkness, always ends in LIGHT! The end of every story that begins in death, always, somehow, ends in NEW LIFE! Easter is the end to EVERY SINGLE STORY we live out in our broken world, including the story of this global pandemic.

You and I KNOW that regardless of the horror, grief, darkness, exhaustion and worry that we now endure... we know know that this story too will end, somehow, sometime... in LIFE.  And with the gift of that understanding, we have been given what we need to remind one another of that truth and to hold onto that truth in hope through ANY darkness.  With that gift of Easter understanding, you and I are called to be like that angel sitting on that rolled back stone.  You and I are called to be the ones to remind the people around us, that even in the midst of this pandemic horror... even through the unknown length of this pandemic darkness... we are the ones who are being called this Easter to tell the world, “Do not be afraid…  Easter always happens!” Amen.

Beyond a Flipped Script

Matthew 21:1-11

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” 

On that very first Palm Sunday, people gathered beside the road, not just with garments and branches, but also with all of the expectations they had been taught and learned over the years about who and what the Messiah would be.  They laid their garments, their branches and their expectations at Jesus’ feet.  They believed the Messiah should be a mighty general, raise an army, ride a giant white war horse into Jerusalem, throw out the unfaithful, turn the tables on the oppressors, become the new King, and make Israel great again!  Just like it was when David was king. 

Now, it wasn’t JESUS who gave them those expectations.  In fact Jesus regularly said that was exactly NOT what he was about!  But the people had trouble seeing how the Messiah could be anything else. They weren’t looking for a Messiah to change the way the whole world worked.  What they wanted is that instead of being on the bottom of the heap, taking the orders, doing the suffering, and paying the taxes, THEY wanted to be so on the top of the heap, GIVING the orders, INFLICTING the suffering and COLLECTING the taxes for a change!  

But that’s just NOT what Jesus was about then and it’s not what Jesus is about NOW either…  regardless of what today’s loud and angry religious leaders seem to think.  Jesus wasn’t then, and isn’t now, about just swapping THEIR oppressive regime for OUR oppressive regime.  Jesus is about putting in place a whole new way for EVERYONE in the world to live!  What Jesus was really about was creating a world which  embraced Radical Hospitality for all of creation.  An “us” vs. “them” system just doesn’t do that, no matter if we are the “us” or we are the “them.”  

Jesus also intended the world to be a place of extreme generosity.  The people lining those streets just wanted to swap the names and nationalities of those who were oppressed with those who did the oppressing. But Jesus wasn’t about just shuffling who played which role… He was about getting rid of oppression for everyone… period!  He was about creating a world where everyone was cared for equally and everyone shared a part in delivering that caring equally.     

The last thing, and maybe the biggest thing, that first Palm Sunday crowd wanted… was REVENGE!  The people of Israel had been hurt and oppressed for so long that they really wanted “THEM” to taste what oppression really felt like!  They wanted the Romans to feel what it was like to live on the bottom, be cheated by unfair taxes and to live on the receiving end of an abusive police force!  Fair and Even wasn’t what they wanted… they wanted payback!  But Jesus was never about revenge and payback.  Jesus was then and is now, always about Grace, Forgiveness and Justice.  That disconnect from what the people expected and what Jesus was REALLY all about, is what led the people from shouting “Hosannah to the Son of David” on Palm Sunday, to shouting “crucify him!” just a few days later.  

For us today as we wave our palms, we are called to work toward JESUS’ vision of the world… a world of radical hospitality and generosity rejecting the idea of making Jesus into a Messiah of revenge and “us” verses “them.”  Now, just like back then, there are people who line the streets in our day and say THAT sort of vision of hospitality and generosity is impossible!  But here’s the lesson of Palm Sunday…  Jesus’ vision for our world isn’t just possible… it’s as inevitable as Easter morning!  Amen.  

No More Yeah, Buts!

John 11:1-45

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wackadoodle Nutburger Supreme

John 9:1-41

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Leave the Bucket

John 4:5-42

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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