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Taste and See God’s Purpose

Posted on June 28, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Matthew 5:1-13

In his translation of the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, Eugene Peterson concludes the Beatitudes with these words:

“Let me tell you why you are here…”

You see, this sermon from Jesus is full of instructions for the people of God.

It reminds us of the attitudes we are supposed to carry with us into the world.

Jesus tells us what to do and how to live and how we can serve his Kingdom and what our purpose is for being.

“Let me tell you why you are here…” he begins. “You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth.”

I must admit, when I dove into studying salt into the scripture, I thought that I would just find these passages from the New Testament about being salt and light in the world.

But salt is woven throughout the Bible as God forms a relationship with the Hebrew people!

In the Ancient Near East, salt was often a part of covenants between two parties – as they broke bread, and signed deals, they also ate salt, as part of their promises to fulfill their responsibilities.

So when God makes a covenant with the people, they were also salt covenants.

In Leviticus 2, Numbers 18, and 2 Chronicles 13:5, we find this language of the salt covenant.

As Margaret Feinberg writes, “In each instance, God is asking the people, priests, and kings to enter into a permanent commitment to his purposes.” (Taste and See Bible Study, page 83)

This covenant was remembered through the regular grain offerings, but even in the post-temple Jewish faith, during the Sabbath meal, bread is dipped into salt and then eaten. It remains a symbol of God’s covenant.

What is that covenant?

Well, there are quite a few covenants in the scriptures, but all of them have to do with our purpose.

In Genesis 9, God makes a covenant with Noah after the flood, renewing the blessings of creation and reaffirming that all people are made in God’s image. God promises to preserve humanity – an expression of love and mercy. Our purpose is to bear God’s image and be God’s caretakers for this world.

Just a few chapters, but many years later, we read about the covenant God made with Abraham. It is the promise of land, descendants, and blessing, and through this family, God’s blessings would extend to all the earth. Our purpose is to be a blessing for all the world.

In the book of Exodus, the story of God’s people continues with liberation from oppression in the land of Egypt. God rescues his people and establishes a covenant through Moses, saying “I’ll take you as my people, and I’ll be your God” (Exodus 6). Part of what it means to be God’s people, holy and set-apart, is to live a certain way. God promises blessings if we obey his commands, and consequences if we don’t. Our purpose is to commit ourselves to God’s ways because they are the ways of life!

There is also a covenant with David, a promise that God would lift up a descendent that would make the promises of Abraham and Moses a reality – a never-ending kingdom dedicated to God. Our purpose is walk in the way of the Lord.

And then, we have the new covenant. Spoken of in scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, God sees all of the ways that we have failed to hold up our end of the deal. But rather than give up, God promises to write these commands on our hearts, forgive our sins, give us the Spirit that will finally allow us to be God’s people, and renew the heavens and the earth. Our purpose is to accept the gift of God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit that will allow us to do all of the other things that we had promised to do and to be a witness to all the earth.

These covenants, whether officially “salt covenants” or not, all remind us of our salty purpose.

Our job is to point to the hidden work of God in this world and bring it out.

We are supposed to help the world taste and see and feel and experience the blessings of God.

We are God’s people.

We are the salt of the earth.

I must confess that I have watched more than my fair share of cooking shows.

And one of the things that I notice is that salt is vital for good food.

Whenever a dish is being judged, whether or not it has enough salt seems to be essential for its success.

When you sprinkle salt on watermelon or tomatoes, the flavor of those fruits become sweeter and more crisp.

When you add salt to soup, it becomes rich and deep.

When added to roasted vegetables or French fries… let me tell you – you almost can’t have enough salt on French fries.

Salt takes what is there and brings out the flavors.

And that is our job.

We are called to be out in the world and point to all of the ways that God is moving among us.

Our purpose is to bring out the “god-flavors” of the earth and to help others get a taste of heaven.

But what God is doing in this world is about more than just some spicy good deeds and blessings.

It is about salvation, healing, and abundant life, too.

Which seems a bit ironic, since too much salt can destroy land and turn it into a barren waste.

We talk about rubbing salt into a wound as if it is a bad thing.

But salt is an agent of healing, preservation, an anti-septic, and is essential for life.

In fact, many fertilizers incorporate sodium or potassium chloride as ingredients and salt is needed even in manure placed on crops because it breaks it down so that plants can absorb the nutrients.

If you head to the hospital, one of the first things they will often do is hook you up to a saline drip, because salt is critical to the functioning of our cells, enables our nerves to transmit impulses and stimulates our muscle fibers (Taste and See 103).

My husband and I will often watch the History channel show, Alone, in which ten contestants are dropped off in the wilderness to survive on their own for as long as they can. They can choose to bring with them only ten survival items and for the first time in nine seasons, a contestant has chosen to bring a block of salt. So often, that salt deficiency has played havoc with the health of contestants who are pulled before there are ready to quit.

Feinberg recounts in her book about how the Romans saw salt as vital to the expansion of their empire. As the armies were sent great distances to conquer new lands, salt deprivation was impacting their efficiency – causing “confusion, seizures, even brain damage.” So the Romans, “began including salt, sal in Latin, in their soldier’s pay. This is where we derive the word ‘salary’.” (Taste and See, p. 103-104).

We find this in our scriptures as well.

Elisha tosses salt into a cursed spring in order to purify the waters.

Ezekiel describes how newborn babies are rubbed with salt after they are born – a cleansing practice as salt serves as both an exfoliant and disinfectant.

In the incense for worship at the tabernacle and temple, salt was an essential component and the scent played a role in reminding people of their relationship with God.

But, therapies related to salt inhalation have also been used since the 1800s, and is seen as beneficial for breathing, stress, and your immune system… so I do wonder what positive impacts such practice might have had for the people.

And the very root of salvation, is that same Latin base word, sal.

Salvare means to save.

To preserve.

To rescue.

When Jesus calls us to be the salt of the earth, he reminds us of our purpose.

“Let me tell you why you are here…”

Jesus is asking us to be his hands and feet in this world.

To be his people.

To serve his Kingdom.

And what God is doing through us is bringing life, healing, blessings, renewal, and salvation to this world.

Feinberg shares in her book some wisdom from the Talmud that says:

“if someone is suffering and in need, and you can take away 1/60 of their pain, then that is goodness, and the call to help us from God…. Your one little grain of salt can help with something someone else’s grain can’t. And when all [our] grains get mixed and sprinkled together, preserving and flavoring and helping others flourish occurs everywhere.” (Taste and See p. 114).

Friends, I know that this country is starkly divided about a lot of things.

There are major conversations happening as we speak about rights related to abortion, guns, and human sexuality.

In some of cases we are expanding those rights and in so many places, laws and work is being done to curtail them.

And I keep thinking about the role of salt.

Too much can be deadly and it can destroy a land.

But a healthy dose is necessary for life.

I keep thinking about my sisters who have had to have procedures that in some places would be illegal in order to preserve their lives or to care for their bodies in the wake of a miscarriage or even delivery.

You have to pay attention to what someone or something needs and be able to respond with the right kind of care to provide for healing, blessing, renewal, and salvation.

My colleague, Elizabeth Brick, shared some words yesterday that I wanted to borrow and adapt to share with you.

As your pastor, but also as a fellow Christian on the road with you, “I will drive you to your medical procedure, no matter what it is, and I will care for you afterward if you need, because that is what love looks like.”

I will support you as you seek the opportunities that bring you life… whether it is playing sports or getting married or simply holding down a job… no matter your gender or gender identity, because you are a child of God.

And in all of our decision-making, I promise to hold you accountable and set before us all the vision of responsibility and care that God has invited us to practice towards one another.

“I will be there for you, as you have been here for me, as together we will be there for others, because this is what a healthy community looks like.

This is how we continue to create, grow, and nurture a world of mutuality, compassion, and joy, not just for ourselves, but for those who follow behind us.”

God is working through us to bring life, healing, blessings, renewal, and salvation to this world.

We are called to preserve the teachings of Christ and carry them forward.

We are called to reach out and point to the sweetness, hope, and joy of a life with God.

We are called to influence others, bring out new life, and offer mercy and compassion and love.

But we don’t do it alone.

It is God working through us.

It is us pointing to God already busy and active in the world.

And just like with salt added to a meal, even a little bit makes a difference.

Taste and See God’s Provision

Posted on June 19, 2022Leave a comment

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Text: Luke 13:6-9

Brandon and I planted raspberries in our backyard when we moved to Des Moines.

This is officially the eighth summer… and we have yet to see an abundant crop.

A handful of crumbling berries that won’t hold together is all we have ever had the chance to harvest.

There were a few years there when I thought I had done something wrong.

I pruned too much.

Or maybe I didn’t prune enough.

There wasn’t enough water.

Or too little sun.

There have been years when I’ve been like the vineyard owner in our parable this morning and wondered if we shouldn’t just cut it all down and start from scratch.

But we have tried to be patient.

One more year, we keep saying.

Over the last few months, we’ve watched them with care.

We added additional growing medium around them.

We have watered them frequently.

There have been abundant blossoms and the bees are certainly doing their work of pollenating.

But will we have fruit?

I must admit, I’m not entirely sure.

Will we have fruit?

Oh, friends, that is the question, isn’t it?

And it comes at us from so many different directions.

Will we have fruit… in the sense of will we have enough to eat?

Will we have the money, in the midst of rising inflation, to cover the costs of supper?

Can we find enough to sustain us and satisfy our needs?

But then again, we can turn the question around and think about our own productive lives…

Will we have fruit… in the sense of are we bearing fruit?

Are we making a difference in the world or are we just depleting and taking from the world around us?

And as we dive into the scriptures, we find stories of fruit and fruitfulness everywhere.

It starts with the third day of creation when God makes trees bearing fruit according to their seed.

But it continues through to the harvests of the Promised Land of figs, dates, pomegranates, grapes and olives… all fruits!

Prophets are called from the vineyards, and the instructions for the altar of God include images of pomegranates.

In the New Testament, we discover parable after parable filled with fruit.

The branches waved in Jesus’ Triumphant Entry would have been boughs of date palms.

Paul begs us to bear the fruit of the Spirit.

Even in the final chapters of Revelation, the trees bear twelve kinds of fruit, each for a different month.

And all of these scriptures are a mix of both God’s provision and God’s presence and power in our lives.

God provides abundantly so that we might be an abundant blessing to the world.

God is present with us, so that we might be God’s presence in the world.

We are fed… physically and spiritually… so that we might feed others.

As we think of all of those “fruitful” metaphors, Margaret Feinberg focuses in on one fruit in particular… the fig.

It is a constant companion in biblical times.

Adam and Eve used fig leaves to cover themselves once they discovered they were naked. (Genesis 3:7)

The mark of abundance, security, and prosperity in the time of King Solomon was that the people lived securely under their vines and fig trees (1 Kings 4:25) … a sentiment repeated by the prophet Micah (4:4) and Zechariah (3:10).

Even the tree that Zacchaeus climbs in order to catch a glimpse of Jesus…

you know, that wee little man Zacchaeus…was a sycamore fig tree.

Fig trees were, after all, big enough to climb.

Big enough to provide shade… and apparently clothing… with their leaves.

They are full of essential vitamins and minerals like potassium and calcium – providing energy, and are easily dried for storage and transport.

In the parable that we heard today, we hear about a fig tree that is not fruitful.

In three years, it has not born fruit.

One fact about figs that Margaret Feinberg discovered in her process of writing “Taste and See” is that a single fig tree can produce tens of thousands of figs every year.

TENS OF THOUSANDS.

So, when this fig tree isn’t producing, the owner is furious.

I might be upset, too!

“What a waste of perfectly good soil!” they exclaim.

But the gardener is patient and merciful.

“Let’s give it one more year,” he says.

“Let me dig around it and add some more fertilizer.”

Feinberg goes on to share about the lifecycle of the fig itself.

“The first year a fig won’t produce any fruit, and depending on the variety, you may see a handful the second year. The third year will produce more, but the fourth year is the one that will yield a substantial crop.” (Taste and See Bible Study Guide, p. 45)

So… the owner might just be impatient.

It isn’t time yet for the fig tree to be filled with abundant fruit.

It needs time.

But fig trees also need to be pruned… extensively… in order to produce.

In the first year, it is cut back by around half so that it can focus on growing deep roots.

In future pruning, you have to care for the suckers on both lower branches and that come up from the ground near the tree.

When the gardener says, “let me dig around it,” they are likely cutting away and removing those suckers and shoots that are detracting from the fruitful growth of the tree.

Pruning creates future abundance.

In the book of Leviticus, amidst all sorts of provisions like “respect your mother and father” (19:3), “do not turn to idols” (19:4), “you must not steal or deceive nor lie to each other” (19:11), and even “any immigrant who lives with you must be treated as if they were one of your citizens” (19:34), is a provision about fruit trees:

“When you enter the land and plant any fruit tree, you must consider its fruit off-limits. For three years it will be off-limits to you; it must not be eaten. In the fourth year, all of the tree’s fruit will be holy, a celebration for the Lord. In the fifth year you can eat the fruit. This is so as to increase its produce for you; I am the Lord your God.” (19:23-25)

Did you hear that? This is to increase its produce for you.

An abundantly fruitful tree requires pruning.

It requires time and nurture.

But it also requires a season of sabbath and rest and dedication to God.

We impatiently ask that question, “will we have fruit?” in the midst of a culture of convenience.

Anything you want can be delivered the next day to your doorstep.

To wait for not just days, but weeks and months and years for fruit is almost too much to bear.

But I actually think this is a story about grace.

You see, in our fast-paced culture, we also find ourselves expecting instantaneous results in our own spiritual lives.

We join a church, we attend a retreat, we go to a bible study and we think that we should now have it all figured out.

We should be ready to go out and bear fruit for God.

And then we have a set-back.

We slip up in our faith.

We get discouraged.

Friends, the good news is, you don’t have to have it all figured out.

Discipleship, faith, and fruitfulness all take time.

And you might spend a couple of years attending a church before you find the ability to take the next step and sign up to join a bible study.

You might be in a book group for a couple of years before you are ready to ask the deeper questions.

You might go out and serve each week filling the food pantry for a good long while before you are ready to confront justice issues around hunger.

And, as the story of Zacchaeus reminds us, you might even be living a life that is not only fruitless, but is actually sucking up life and nutrients and taking advantage of others.

But these parables and stories remind us, it is never too late.

Fruitfulness will require pruning… as we let God cut away those things that suck the life right out of us.

Fruitfulness will require nurture… sun and rain and even a good dose of fertilizer… and in our spiritual lives that comes from things like prayer and studying scriptures and worshipping with others.

But fruitfulness also requires the time and space to simply be.

Earlier this week, I had ice cream with someone who is entering her third year of seminary.

This person has been involved with the church her whole life and a relationship with God was always in the background.

After college, she pursued work in her chosen field and it took her to a number of places and companies across the country.

But one day, her position was eliminated and she found herself without a job.

She went home and sat and listened.

It was only in the space in which she stopped focusing on what she could produce that she noticed God speaking.

Only in the space where she dedicated some time to discernment that she noticed God moving.

Only in the space where she let go that she was aware of how God was already providing.

We often look for fruitfulness in places that aren’t quite ready.

We try to make our own fruitfulness with endless busyness.

We refuse to let go of dying branches so that we can bear fruit in other places.

And we miss out on the provision that God has already planned for us.

“This is to increase its produce for you,” God promises.

You see, fruitfulness doesn’t come from me or you or our actions.

It comes from God working in and through us.

Only when we make space for the Holy Spirit to fertilize our souls will we find love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

God has given us commandments like being honest, and loving our neighbors, and honoring the sabbath, not to see how many mistakes we will make, but because these are the things that will increase our fruitfulness.

These are the things that will increase abundance and blessing – not just for ourselves, but for everyone around us.

And God is a patient gardener, full of mercy and love, pruning us, tending our lives, pouring out grace at every turn.

So, that’s the spirit I’m taking with my raspberries.

I’m going to keep working on them.

Will there be fruit?

Only God knows…

But I’m going to try to pass on the love and grace and mercy that God has shown me.

May we do the same.

Not just with our patches of berries or fig trees, but with our family and friends and even with perfect strangers.

And by the grace of God, may there be fruit.

All Things Renewed

Posted on May 22, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Revelation 21:1-6, 21:22-22:5

Many of you know that I love to garden.

Digging in the dirt is a spiritual practice for me.

Pulling weeds is cathartic.

There is nothing better than an afternoon spent tending and nurturing life in my yard.

And enjoying the fruits of that labor – whether the beauty of a flower or the taste of a fresh tomato – is nothing short of holy.

This year, my garden is being renovated.

Well, the entire back yard is being renovated.

Our retaining wall had started to buckle outwards and our deck was beginning to rot. Both needed to be replaced.

And so we found some experts to help us out and they have brought in big machines to tear everything out and recontour the land and prepare for what is to come.

Only, this has been a very weird and wet spring.

It was too muddy to work for weeks.

The new deck was completed in between storms and we are almost, finally, just about ready for the new retaining wall to go in.

Perennials were moved around in order to prepare for all of this work and most of them have found a temporary home in what had been my vegetable garden.

So right now, that space holds irises, black eyed susans, salvia, strawberries, herbs, and one gigantic pile of dirt.

I have spent much of this spring itching to get busy and get dirty and get to growing.

And I must admit, there are times that I feel a bit impatient waiting for it all to get done.

I can imagine… sort of… what it will look like when it is all finished… but we aren’t there yet.

Throughout our study of the Book of Revelation, we have kept before us a couple of truths:

Jesus is coming and will sit on the throne… and the powers of this world will not.
Only Jesus is worthy to transform the world as we know it into the world as God intends for it to be. And he does so not through violence, but through love.
Our job is to allow God to make us into a kingdom. The role of the church is to be a community of diversity, equality, and praise. We serve the Lord and witness to his glory.

John of Patmos looked around him and saw all sorts of problems.

Christians were being persecuted by Rome.

Churches were giving in to the lure of empire and siding with economic and national powers.

Or, they lost the energy and fire of their faith and grew lazy and comfortable in the world around them.

They didn’t see or respond to the needs of their neighbors.

They forgot to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those who were grieving, oppressed, or lonely.

In some ways, they were like my retaining wall and deck… starting to fall apart, sagging, rotting.

And the vision that John of Patmos received is that the world as he knew it…

The world as we know it…

Needs to be renewed.

Renovated.

Made new.

I must admit that in the past I thought of this process in the Book of Revelation as wiping the slate of everything that was and starting from scratch… just like God created everything in the beginning from nothing.

I had a picture of everything being totally destroyed.

But the Greek word kainos is also used to talk about transformation, renewal, and renovation.

Eugene Boring writes in his commentary: “This world, God’s good creation, is not replaced but redeemed.”

The substance is the same, but it has been freshened up and it is better than it was when it started.

In other words, I’m still going to have a deck.

I’m still going to have a retaining wall.

I’m still going to have a garden.

But it is going to be way more amazing than it was before.

Today in our scripture reading, John of Patmos is given the blueprints, the architect’s rendering, a picture of what it will look like when all of the renovations are complete.

We aren’t there yet, and we have to use our imaginations, but we are at least given an idea of the process and are reminded what the key features have always been and always will be.

First: God dwells with us.

He is our God and we are his people.

And we have to remember that this isn’t anything new.

It is how God has intended it from the beginning when the Lord walked in the garden with Adam and Eve…

and led the people through the wilderness.

God became flesh and lived among us, the gospel of John tells us.

The Holy Spirit is poured out upon us and lives within us.

And in this newly renovated creation, God moves into the neighborhood and is intimately connected to our lives.

There are times we might forget this or turn our backs on God to embrace the powers of this world… but God has never left our side.

In this new creation, this truth will be so apparent that the glory of God will shine over every part of our lives.

We will not be able to hide from God’s light, but it will always be seen, always accessible.

In the world as we know it, there are places where things might stand between us and God, casting shadows.

There are times of night that feel like separation, but all of that will come to an end, and the radiance of God will known by all.

Not just morning by morning, but every day and night in every time and place.

God reminds us that these words are “trustworthy and true,” because God has always been faithfully present in our lives.

Second: There will be an end to sorrow, pain, and death.

We are shown a crystal clear river and a Tree of Life planted on each side, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and whose leaves will heal the world.

This image takes us back to the garden.

In the beginning, God gave humanity everything we needed to have abundant life.

But our sin, our turning away from God, our striving after what we thought we wanted, had consequences.

The pain of childbirth.

The violence of brother against brother.

The sweat and labor needed to produce basic necessities.

Death itself.

Magrey DeVega describes the promise we find in these chapters in this way: “God will not stop transforming the pain, heartache, and dark places of our lives until the moment with the transformation reaches ultimate completion in glory… All that humanity has lost in its downward spiral of sin is reclaimed and transformed by the power of God’s grace and power.”[1]

The curse, the consequence, is brought to completion.

God intends, as God has always intended, for there to be abundant life and health and joy.

Third: it is all happening right here and right now.

There is another theme that has been pretty consistent throughout the Book of Revelation that is important to remember.

On one hand, all the nations gather within this holy city, a multitude that cannot be numbered.

The gates of the city are always open.

But there is also a sense of exclusion.

There are some things that just don’t belong in the new heavens and new earth.

The message here is not one of eternal condemnation by a fierce and angry God.

After all, the Lamb of God has died for his enemies, defeated the spiritual forces of wickedness, broke the chains that held us captive to sin and death.

We now have a choice.

Just as John of Patmos wrote to the seven churches, we can choose the powers of this world or we can choose to live as servants of God.

If we choose to worship this world – its power, its practices, its glory – then we have separated ourselves.

Or as Christopher Rowland writes: “Rejecting the lure of the beast and Babylon is the criterion for inclusion in the new age. Sharing the diving reign is a key feature of the eschatological future. This is something already glimpsed by those who share the life of Jesus and are a kingdom of priests.”[2]

We choose to follow the Lamb.

We can reject the powers of this world.

We not only pray the words Jesus taught us: “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” but we act upon our prayers.

Theologian C. Wess Daniels reminds us that “revolution and redemption do not happen someplace else, they take place right here with the material of the world we live in.”[3]

In other words… the world as we know it is not going to go away.

It will not all be destroyed.

And we don’t get a golden parachute to escape out of here… beamed up to some heaven light years away.

God is in the business of redemption and restoration and revolution!

The first will be last and the last will be first.

Nations and kings will be toppled.

The lowly will be lifted up.

And these promises are about the real people and situations that we are experiencing in our lives today.

This passage of scripture doesn’t say that God has made everything new, as if it is done and over with.

It doesn’t say that God will make everything new, at some point in the future.

God is making all things new.

It is happening all around us.

And as servants of God and followers of the Lamb, our work is to embody God’s presence among our neighbors.

It is to share God’s love and mercy with all we encounter.

Our job is not to hunker down, turning inward, but to reach out as disciples of Christ and work for the transformation of this world.

You know, my back yard right now is a mess.

It is a work in progress and not yet complete, but it is being transformed and even in the midst of the chaos there is work of tending and weeding and watering to be done.

This world is a mess.

There are nearly ten million people who have been displaced by the war in Ukraine.

We have lost one million neighbors to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Families in Buffalo and Milwaukee and Laguna Hills are grieving and entire communities are filled with fear because of the hatred and violence that stems from white supremacy.

The world as we know it is broken and bleeding.

But God is with us.

And God is at work transforming the pain and sorrow.

And God is calling us to be servants of that new creation right here and right now.

It is the work that we share through UMCOR – together we have allocated millions of dollars through grants to United Methodists in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania to welcome and care for refugees.

United Methodist camps in Estonia and the Czech Republic are being transformed to care for those who have fled the war.

Our Love Beyond Borders initiative has helped to supply 4.1 billion COVID-19 vaccines across the globe in 2022 through UNICEF and other Covid-19 responses have helped 300 partners in 57 countries provide equipment, education, and basic needs assistance to vulnerable communities.

Work within our denomination and conference, and even small group discussions in our church around anti-racism is equipping us to respond to hate, to take responsibility for our complicity, and to work towards a future in which all of our siblings can live without fear.

God knows we aren’t there yet.

But we know where we are going.

And with our eyes fixed upon the Lamb, each day we are taking one step towards that reality.

We are living more and more each day in the light and love of God.

And we do it with God at our side.

[1] A Preacher’s Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series Vol. 2, p. 202-203.

[2] Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 2, p. 489.

[3] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-of-easter-3/commentary-on-revelation-211-6-5

The Army of the Lamb

Posted on May 15, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Revelation 7:9-17

Today in worship, we confirm and welcome twelve new professing members of our congregation and of God’s church. They will stand before us, confess their faith in Jesus, and promise to serve him in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races.

These twelve young people are taking their place as servants of God, followers of the Lamb, members of God’s kingdom.

They are joining in the multitude of those who are standing before the Throne.

In this Easter season, we are exploring together the powerful message of hope and new life that we find in the Book of Revelation.

It isn’t a book that we read a lot, probably because it is full of cryptic language and messages.

In fact, in the creed that our confirmands wrote, they describe the Bible as “confusing at times…” and this is a sacred text that even I, your pastor, have a hard time figuring out.

But as our students also proclaim, when we study God’s word, we are challenged and we grow in our faith and understanding.

What we have discovered so far in our study of this text are a couple of simple truths.

First – This is a book of hope with one consistent message: “Jesus is coming and he will sit on the throne… and the world and all its powers will not. Our work is to allow God to make us into a kingdom, to serve as priests, and give God praise.”

No matter where we look, no matter what chapter, this message helps us understand what we might read.

Second – as we talked about last week – the Book of Revelation also tells us about how God will transform the world as we know it into the world that God intends:

Not through violence and destruction, but through the sacrificial love of the Lamb.

Only the Lamb is worthy.

Only the Lamb is able.

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/revelation-1-11/

As part of the message last week, I talked about these three cycles of seven that we find in the scriptures: the seven seals of the scroll, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls.

In this rendering from the Bible Project, we get a glimpse of how these three cycles repeat and overlap.

Each cycle starts with destruction and devastation – but the message that follows is a reminder that destruction and devastation will not transform the hearts of the people of this world.

People continue to be persecuted and suffer, hearts are hardened, the nations will not repent, everyone and everything is caught up in the chains of evil and by spiritual forces of wickedness.

What we need is someone to break the chains of sin and death and set us free.

Only the Lamb is worthy.

Only the Lamb is able.

Only the Lamb can lead us to the Day of the Lord and usher in the new heavens and the new earth.

But here is the thing… when the Lamb confronts the beastly forces of the world, he does so not with violence, but with love. With faithfulness. With sacrifice.

His robes are stained with blood… not from his enemies, but his own blood given for others.

His only weapon is a sword that comes from his mouth… a word of judgment and redemption.

There is no fight, only victory, and the army of the Lamb simply sings in praise.

In each of these three cycles, we find not just the Lamb, but we also find those who are faithful.

Chapter Seven describes the diverse community of the ones who are sealed, or baptized – and who follow the Lamb.

This group shows up again in repeating images of a battle between the beastly forces of evil, power, and oppression and the Lamb (12-14, 16-20).

Chapter Eleven describes two faithful witnesses, called “lampstands” – an image John has already told us is a symbol of the church. These witnesses show us the mission of the church – to imitate the loving sacrifice of the Lamb – even to death – and share God’s love and mercy with the world.

Today, as our confirmands profess their faith, we are going to look at what our job is as those followers of the Lamb and servants of God. So what, in all of this, is the role of the church?

With forces of evil and natural disasters and disease and death all around us – what is our role?

First – we have to make a choice.

God wants to make us into a kingdom, but that means that as individuals and communities, we need to reject the kingdoms of this world.

Rather than compromise and give in to the national, economic, and spiritual forces of the world, we are called to declare our allegiance to the Lamb.

And one of the ways we do that is through our baptism and our confession of faith.

Our baptism is described as a seal upon our foreheads, a mark of God’s love in our life.

It stands in contrast to the mark of the beast – or the ways we declare our allegiance and support of the powers of this world.

When we join the church, we stand in public and we renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of our sin.

But we don’t have to do that alone.

You see, we also accept the freedom and power God gives us to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.

War, famine, and disease?

Natural disasters?

Beastly forces?

Hate crimes and white supremacy?

Peer pressure?

Temptation?

Persecution?

“Who is able to stand?” the people of the world cry out when they are surrounded by the forces of destruction (Revelation 6:17).

The people of God can.

And that is because the Holy Spirit lives within us.

Because we have fixed our eyes upon the Lamb.

Because we chosen the way of love and mercy.

Second – once we’ve made that choice, we can be witnesses to all of the world of how God intends for us to live.

We are called to embody diversity, equality, and praise.

Last week, I talked about how John of Patmos heard one thing and then saw another.

He heard that the Lion of Judah would be the one to save us, but when he looked, he saw a lamb that was slain.

In the same way, chapter seven starts with one of these reversals.

John HEARS that the people who are sealed, who have chosen to serve God number one hundred forty-four thousand, and come from the twelve tribes of Israel.

He HEARS a sort of military census describing one ethnic group.

But then he LOOKS.

And as our scripture for this morning tells us, he SEES more people than anyone could count.

And they aren’t all the same.

They come from every nation, every tribe, every people.

It is a vision of Pentecost and Palm Sunday all rolled into one with the multitude before the throne waving palm branches and crying out their praises.

John SEES the church that Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races.

He has a vision of a community, as Magrey DeVega writes, “where all people, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, age, socioeconomic status, and background are included in this grand cosmic party.”

When we follow the Lamb, we work to become a community that welcomes all people and who intentionally reaches out and keeps expanding our circle of welcome.

But there is something unique about this diversity.

There is also a sense of equality.

Rather than clothed in their own garments, they are all robed in white.

There is no distinction between them.

No one is more important.

No one is above anyone else.

John has a vision of a community that acts, again in the words of DeVega, as “servants to one another, considering each other as equals, treating others as we would want to be treated ourselves.”

When our young people join the church today, they might not yet be able to drive, but they are just as much a part of the professing membership of this church as those of you who have been members for 65 years.

We are all called to do our part, to use our gifts.

And we are all called to celebrate and encourage and lift up the value and dignity of one another.

When we follow the Lamb, we work to become a community that reaches out to a world of hierarchy and division to proclaim that all are equal and all are children of God.

This community also has one more witness to offer to the world.

It is a community of praise.

They wave palm branches.

They fall before the throne.

They cry out in worship.

When they show up again in later chapters, they do so with music and song.

All of them are focused on the throne and the Lamb of God.

It is a vision of a church that DeVega describes as “clear about its priorities. Not becoming more club-like, but more Christlike… a church that directs the world toward the glory of the risen Jesus.”

In our vows of membership, we don’t just confess our faith in Jesus, but we promise to serve as Christ’s representatives in the world.

We commit to being living witnesses to the gospel, the good news of Jesus.

Now, you might do that through song or through words, but it might also be through your actions.

It might be through the attitude you bring to your work or the way you encourage others in your school.

It might be through the offerings we lift up for UMCOR that are used to make a difference in the lives of people around the world.

But in all that we do… inside and outside of the walls of this church… we do so in the name of Christ.

And part of what we proclaim is the truth of God’s will for us.

We read about it this morning at the end of chapter 7.

We believe God’s will for all people is that there would be no more hunger or thirst…

No more hardships or difficulty…

No more grief or tears…

And whenever we respond to natural disasters, or support refugees fleeing from war, or to visit with a family that is grieving, we are turning those praise and prayers into action.

When we follow the Lamb, we work to become a community that helps others to experience the love and mercy of God.

What we don’t find in these chapters is a promise that once you are baptized or sealed or become a member of the body of Christ that everything is going to be easy.

We are not immune to the challenges of this life.

Instead, we find we have the strength to go through whatever might come at us.

We can stand in the midst of it all, like a lighthouse, a beacon, a lampstand, giving others hope and strength.

And we do so together.

With one another and with God by our side.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

The Center of the Universe

Posted on May 8, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Revelation 5: 11-14

Last week as we gathered for worship, we focused on the basic message at the core of the Book of Revelation:

“Jesus is coming and he will sit on the throne… and the world and all its powers will not. Our work is to allow God to make us into a kingdom, to serve as priests, and give God praise.”

As John of Patmos receives this vision, this revelation, he also receives a word for seven churches.

The number “seven” we talked about last week can also mean completion, or totality, or all that is heaven and earth.

So in many ways, this is a message for all the churches.

There are some who started faithfully, but as they faced trials, they got tired and worn out.

Some who are going to be facing intense persecution.

Some who are torn apart by false teaching or who have a wishy-washy lukewarm faith.

Some who are on the brink of death and need to be resuscitated and others who are holding on even though they have nothing left.

And we are invited to see ourselves somewhere among this lot.

In the midst of the powers of the world that are competing for our attention are we serving God… or have we given in?

Are we as faithful and energized as we were at the start… or have we given up?

Are we sharing the love and message of God with the world… or have we embraced some other kind of message?

This opportunity to reflect and to hear a word of truth about our ministry is followed by a vision of what God ultimately desires for us.

https://www.fullofeyes.com/project/revelation-4

And so chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation give us glimpse of heaven itself in all of its weird and wonderful splendor.

We are shown the throne of God and the scroll that will show us how everything will come to pass.

It is a vision of what Craig Koester calls “a rightly ordered universe in which God is at the center.” [1]

Four creatures, full of eyes and wings represent all of creation and the elders represent the community of the faithful.

But not just these representative figures… the text goes on to talk about all living creatures.

Magrey DeVega describes, “dogs, elephants, hyenas, praying mantises, muskrats, and turtles… all of them… also human beings… regular, ordinary, common Joes and Janes. Not just one or two, but a legion of them… what John is painting here is a picture of concentric circles… and it all centers on a focal point.”[2]

And all of them join their voices in worship…

They understand that God is at the center of the universe… and they are not.

They relinquish power and turn it into praise… or as the familiar hymn reminds us:

Holy, Holy, Holy, All the saints adore thee, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea.

In our scripture for this morning, all of creation fixes its attention the throne and the one who sits on it.

All of creation erupts in praise.

God is the center, the source, the creative force of all life in this universe.

And that means that you are not.

That might be an obvious kind of statement, but how often do we act as if the world does revolve around us?

How often do we trample on the needs of others for our own comfort?

How often have we used and abused this creation, plundering its resources, rather than seeing it as a gift we are called to steward?

How often have we rallied around our own positions and policies – lifting them up as gospel truth?

How often has our nation declared itself a savior, the light of the world, the beacon of liberty?

How often have we claimed that our economic system is the only one that can truly bring happiness and wealth?

How often have I turned inward and focused on my own selfish desires rather than think about what I could do to bless my neighbor?

In the message to the seven churches, we are called to take account of our place in this world.

Are we serving ourselves? Or are we faithful to the kingdom of God?

Have we turned our gaze towards the powers of this world? Or are we focused on the one on the throne at the center of all creation?

This isn’t just about the ultimate end of the world as we know it… it is about the attitude and attention that we embody right here and right now.

There is only one who sits on the throne… and it isn’t you or me.

All throughout the season of Lent, we focused on the words of the Lord’s Prayer… the prayer that Jesus taught us.

We prayed for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

We prayed for God’s will to be done.

And within these chapters of Revelation, not only do we see the throne, but we also catch a glimpse of God’s will.

There is a scroll, closed up with seven seals, that represents the message, the story, of how we are going to get from the world as we know it… full of disease, disaster, and death… to this reality.

An angel cries out – “who is worthy to open the scroll?”

I don’t know about you, but I have this image of the sword in the stone, or Thor’s hammer… everyone is waiting and anxious and worried that no one will come, that none will be worthy.

But the faithful elders remember the promises of God.

One of them leans over to John and whispers – “Don’t weep. Look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has emerged victorious so that he can open the scroll…” (5:5)

So… John looks!

And what John sees is not a powerful lion, not a victorious king… but a lamb.

A lamb that has been slaughtered.

A lamb with seven eyes and seven horns.

A lamb who takes his place with God on the throne.

Worthy is the lamb.

Eugene Boring calls this “one of the most mind-wrenching reversals of imagery in all of literature… the one who has conquered did so not through violence, but by sacrificing his own life. This is the power that enables him to take the scroll from God’s hand and execute its contents, the divine plan for bringing history to a worthy conclusion and establishing God’s justice.”[3]

The one who comes to save us, to unite us with heaven…

He does not come with violence or power, but with mercy and sacrifice and love, poured out for others.

Only the Lamb that was Slain can answer the prayer “Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”

Now, I mentioned to you that we aren’t going to really dive into all of the difficult, weird, messy, complicated details of the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls.

But in many ways, the echo the chorus of the new song that all of creation is singing in Revelation chapter 5:

Only Jesus is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals.

Jesus is worthy because he was slain and by his blood he bought us all.

By his love and sacrifice he ransomed us all, redeemed us all.

And he made us into a kingdom so that we might serve and worship God on earth.

What we find repeated in the message of the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls is actually the story of how sacrificial love and mercy is what will transform the world.

It is not the four horsemen who unleash disaster and death…

It is not the plagues and locusts…

As the story of God’s people in the Old and New Testment show us – judgment and destruction do not lead people to repentance. They harden their hearts and continue to follow the powers of the world.

They are caught and tempted by the spiritual forces of evil and simply cannot escape.

God wins, empires fall, evil is defeated, not by the sword but by love.

Sacrificial love.

Jesus dies for his enemies.

And God’s army, the faithful ones, the witnesses, they are the ones who imitate the sacrificial love of the lamb and show God’s mercy to others.

They will know we are Christians by our love.

It is the power of God’s love that helps us withstand disaster and famine and overcome violence and war.

It is the power of God’s love that helps us hold on to hope in the face of threats and destruction and terrible news in the doctors office.

It is the power of God’s love that helps us focus on the Lamb, rather than the beastly forces of this world.

And it is the power of God’s love that will ultimately usher in the new creation – the new heaven and the new earth.

And the good news is, we don’t have to wait until the end of the world in order to live in the power of God’s love.

It is here, right now, all around us.

As Easter people, Jesus believe Jesus is coming and he will sit on the throne… and the world and all its powers will not.

Our work… right now… today as the church… is to allow God to make us into a kingdom, answer the call to serve, and to pour out love into this world.

May it be so. Amen.

[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/preaching-series-on-revelation-2/commentary-on-revelation-41-11

[2] A Precher’s Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series Vol 2, p. 199

[3] The New Interpreters Study Bible, p. 2221

The End of the World as we Know it.

Posted on May 1, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Revelation 1:4-8

“It’s the end of the world as we know it… .

It’s the end of the world as we know it…

And I feel fine.”

More than fine, actually.

I feel hope.

I feel promise.

I am clinging to the love of God that is bursting forth alive in this world!

Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed!

As we journey together through this season of Easter, we are going to wade into the elusive and strange revelation shared by John of Patmos.

United Methodist pastor and theologian, Magrey DeVega writes that this book can be used “as a guide to experiencing the resurrected life. John’s vision allows us to see the world, the church, and the Christian life in the way God envisions it: not for how it is, but for how it can be.” (A Preacher’s Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series, Vol. 2, p. 197).

The world as we know it, well, it is kind of a mess.

As we lifted up in prayer already this morning, it is a world filled with hunger, violence, oppression, death, disease, and inequality.

I can’t help but think of the opening of the seven seals in Revelation chapter 6, where four horsemen are unleashed with authority “to kill by sword, famine, disease, and the wild animals of the earth.” (6:8)

Persecution and natural disaster are close at hand (6:9-17).

We may not know where to start interpreting or unpacking the verses of these texts, but we don’t have to look far to see the realities they present in moments of crises all around us.

And you see… that is the thing about apocalyptic literature.

It is an unveiling of what is already there.

The Greek word apokaluptein literally means to uncover.

It means to pull back the curtains and let the light in.

It is not necessarily a prediction of the future.

The prophets of our Old and New Testaments spoke God’s truth and power into their time and place as they point to God’s intentions and will for our lives.

It is also a word from the one who is… and who was… and who is coming…

In that sense, they do point towards the future and the kind of actions and behaviors God is calling us to embody as we are formed into God’s people, made into a kingdom, set apart to serve.

The prophets tell us the truth about the world as it is and beckon us to leave it behind…

No, not just that… they promise us that God is in the business of transforming the world as we know it into a new reality, a new creation, a new life centered on God.

Sounds like an Easter kind of story to me.

So why all the strange images and numbers and blood and violence?

What are we supposed to do with all of the weird stuff that we find within the Book of Revelation?

I must confess that our series on Sunday mornings is not going to dive into all of the nitty gritty of every verse and metaphor and vision.

We will skip large sections of this book.

And part of the reason for that is that it would probably take us a couple of years to really take the time in worship to do this right.

But the other reason is that we don’t need all of the details about what this beast looks like or what is in the fourth bowl or what happens when the fourth trumpet sounds to understand the main point of the text.

As the authors of “Crazy Talk” describe it: “No matter how bad it gets, Christ has already emerged victorious and because you are joined in the body of Christ, you will emerge victorious as well.” (Crazy Talk: A Not-So-Stuffy Dictionary of Biblical Terms)

What I can do are give you some tools to help think about and interpret the things that we will encounter as we read this text.

The first tool that I want to give us is a key to decipher the meaning of the weird stuff that we find.

I want you to think of it like a political cartoon.

In newspapers today, you’ll find images of donkeys and elephants and those of us living in the United States today can understand that it is not about animals, but about people and positions.

Take for example this political cartoon from World War II.

It isn’t a literal depiction of a baby fighting a three headed giant… but depicts the U.S. as newly entering the war against the Axis powers, using the tools of our allies. We are familiar enough with the images and dates that we can interpret the meaning.

But if we were looking at a political cartoon from 100 years ago… or from Nigeria or New Zealand… we might have a harder time deciphering the meaning.

Philip Long writes that when we look at texts like Revelation, “we need to cross two different boundaries. We need to study the imagery in the proper time and in the proper culture… put it in the right era…. [and] know the cultural cues implied by the art.” (https://readingacts.com/2012/04/05/revelation-and-apocalyptic-imagery/)

Knowing that the book of Revelation is from the late first century, written on a Greek island in a time where Christians were persecuted by the Roman Empire, we can start to unpack and interpret some of the vivid and dramatic imagery that we find.

Numbers, for example, have meaning.

The number seven represents completion or totality… the sum of all of the heavens (3) and earth (4)… like the seven days of creation

Twelve represents God’s people… three times four… like the twelve tribes of Israel or the twelve apostles.

We can start to see the beasts as the empire of Rome and its allies and the throne is about where power ultimately resides.

The second tool I want to give you is an orientation in time.

I brought with me this morning a commentary on the book of Revelation that lays out at least four different ways that you can approach this text and then provides at least four different interpretations of a verse based on which approach you are taking.

How many of us here have read “The Late Great Planet Earth” or the “Left Behind” series?

Those authors and some preachers that you might have heard on the t.v. or radio, have a future orientation to the Book of Revelation. They believe that it predicts things that will happen, but haven’t yet.

Or maybe that are happening as we speak.

But just as I wouldn’t take that political cartoon from WWII and use the metaphorical imagery to speak of future events, I don’t think this is the orientation we should take towards Revelation.

It might sell, but I’m not sure that it is truly faithful to the text.

And neither do the leading people who study the Book of Revelation.

In his book “Making Sense of the Bible”, Adam Hamilton writes:

“I’ve got ten commentaries on Revelation in my library, written by some of the foremost scholars to study this book, and every one of them holds some combination of the preterist and idealist perspectives. This is in stark contrast to the views of most television evangelists and many conservative preachers, who favor the futurist view. Most mainline scholars see the book as describing events of the author’s day.” (p.285).

Now, he just threw some big words at us, but the “spiritual” or “idealist” view thinks that the book is timeless… that it uses metaphor to talk about how good and evil constantly battle in this world with the promise that God will ultimately win.

The “preterist” view is oriented towards our past and John of Patmos’s present.

John isn’t reading tea leaves or telling the future, he is describing events that are happening as he is writing and speaking about how God is present in the midst of it.

Many scholars hold those two in tension.

They look back to what was happening in the time of John of Patmos… apocalyptic literature after all is about revealing what is there… but believe we can apply the themes of the text to the struggle between God and the powers of the world we experience and remembering that God will ultimately prevail.

This orientation is probably the most helpful to us today as we try to figure out what to do with this strange writing.

Finally, I want to remind you to keep the main thing the main thing.

The text we began with this morning from Revelation is a sort of overview or introduction to the themes that we will discover within the book.

John of Patmos has received a word, a revelation, from Jesus Christ the slaughtered and risen Lamb and is sharing it with the world.

The message is simple: Jesus is coming and he will sit on the throne and the world and all its powers will not.

Our work is to allow God to make us into a kingdom, to serve as priests, and give God praise.

That’s it.

Those are the basics of this entire book and it is the lens we can use to make sense of every verse we read.

The locusts and plagues and persecution… the worst things will never be the last thing.

And we have a choice about whether we will serve God and worship God or if we will choose to throw our lot in with the powers of this world that bring nothing but disaster and death.

And friends, we know the end of the story!

We know how it turns out!

God wins!

Friends, this is a book of hope and love and life!

These aren’t meant to be texts of terror or designed to confuse or scare us.

As Nadia Bolz-Weber writes,

“originally… apocalyptic literature —the kind that was popular around the time of Jesus—existed not to scare the bejeezus out of children so they would be good boys and girls, but to proclaim a big, hope-filled idea: that dominant powers are not ultimate powers. Empires fall. Tyrants fade. Systems die. God is still around.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/03/14/were-in-the-midst-of-an-apocalypse-and-thats-a-good-thing/

The world as we know it… with all its trials and tribulations… is coming to an end, and we are fine.

More than that… we have hope because it is all in God’s hands.

Graves into Gardens

Posted on April 17, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Luke 24:1-12

Earlier this week, I was preparing for worship and listening to some of the music selected for our time of worship today.

And, friends, I’m going to be honest, I’m struggling a bit right now.

I’ve got some family stuff that is heavy on my heart.

We’ve got some things to navigate as a church trying to increase our staffing and find our footing in the new normal of the world.

There is a big denominational conversation in limbo.

I have been participating in a church leadership cohort on the topic of how to navigate being overwhelmed and one of the things I realized is that if I were trying to work and care for just one of those situations, it would be a lot.

But when it feels like there are just so many pots on the stove, all needing attention lest they boil over… well, it is exhausting.

And you know what, I know I’m not alone.

I’ve overheard those fragments of conversation happening in the halls of the church, or grocery store, or work or school…

We can all read between the lines of those social media posts that try to be cheery.

We are navigating transition and grief in our families… divorce, loss, moving mom to the care center…

We are experiencing struggles with health and finances.

We watch the evening news and our hearts break.

We keep waiting for things to get back to “normal” because we haven’t wrapped our heads around the way things have changed for good.

After a while, it all starts to add up.

And we start to wonder where on earth God is in it all.

And so there I was, trying to figure out what good news to proclaim this Easter Sunday, when a lyric from one of the songs that we are singing at the Conspire Service just hit me like a ton of bricks and I started to weep.

“The God of the mountain

Is the God of the valley

There’s not a place

Your mercy and grace

Won’t find me again.”

In that valley, in that muck, in the struggle… that is where God is.

God isn’t just a God of the good times and the successes.

God is with us in the valley.

The valley of the shadow of death.

The valley of despair.

The rock bottom where it all feels like it has fallen apart.

That is exactly where grace and mercy find us.

It is where it found the disciples on Easter morning.

You see, this day began in hopelessness and grief.

It began with fear of the unknown.

It began with the gloom of death.

As we heard in the Gospel of Luke, Mary and Joanna, and Mary, and the other unnamed but faithful women who were with them went to the tomb.

They were bringing the spices and oils they had prepared to complete his burial ritual now that the Sabbath day was complete.

They showed up to repeat a familiar ritual practiced by Jewish women for centuries.

Everything they had known and believed had been pulled out from underneath them and there was nothing left to do but pray, mourn, and honor their teacher.

But through that valley of the shadow of death, grace found them.

When they arrived, the stone was rolled back from the tomb and the body of their Lord was gone.

I can imagine the shock and confusion that paralyzed them.

What does it mean?

What has happened?

What do we do now?

But then angels suddenly appeared among them: Why are you looking for the living among the dead?

They spoke once again the words Jesus had shared with them.

Promises of love that conquers death.

Words of hope for a life than cannot be defeated.

The truth that mourning would turn to dancing…

Shame into glory…

Graves would turn into gardens…

And in a moment of startling fear and overwhelming joy – a moment of holy awe – they remembered.

Think about how many times the disciples… men and women alike… heard Jesus share words about his death and resurrection.

But they couldn’t understand the promise because they never believed it would happen.

They simply could not wrap their minds around the idea of his death, much less the impossible miracle of resurrection.

When Jesus shared his final meal with them on Thursday night they let him down and failed to remain faithful.

And when Christ was crucified on Friday afternoon, many were paralyzed by their unbelief and others simply stood at the cross in stunned grief.

They couldn’t see past their own pain and fear and they forgot his promise!

But in one moment, all that Jesus said about life and death is suddenly made real to those women as they encountered that empty grave in the middle of a garden.

They rushed back to the disciples to share all they had experienced.

And they didn’t believe the women.

Couldn’t believe them.

It was nonsense, wishful thinking, confused thought.

You know what, the world around us, just like those disciples in the upper room who first heard from Mary and Joanna and Mary Magdelene, believes that the resurrection is nonsense.

It is wishful thinking. Scientifically unproven. Pie in the sky.

And I have to be honest, there are days that I have my own doubts.

I have an awful lot of questions, and maybe you do, too.

I can’t construct an argument for the resurrection of Jesus that makes sense to a rational mind.

I can’t point to evidence of its reality.

And when I’m down in the valley, stuck in the weeds, wallowing in grief, and holding the pain of the world in my heart, I often wonder where on earth it is.

But I can tell you, as I borrow the words of Debie Thomas, that it is “the foundation of my hope.”

“Without the empty tomb,” she goes on to write, “without Jesus’ historic, bodily return to life two thousand years ago, I simply can’t reconcile God’s love and justice with the horrors I see in the world around me. Death is too appalling a violation. Evil is too ferocious an enemy. Injustice is too cruel and endemic a reality. Humanity, though beautiful, is broken beyond description. I need the empty tomb. I need the promise of resurrection.”

There is so much in this world to feel hopeless and frustrated about, and honestly, I can’t get through it without God by my side.

I can’t prove the resurrection.

But I need it to be true.

I need to know that mourning will turn into dancing.

I need to hope that shame will turn into glory.

I need to trust that graves can become gardens.

Standing here, surrounded by lilies, I have come to discover that the God of the mountain is the God of the valley and that the shadows of fear and despair have been scattered by light and love.

The tomb is empty, the garden is in bloom, the Son has risen.

Grace and mercy are pouring out into the world and I find the freedom and the power to believe.

I have faith that the resurrection is really and truly our reality.

Faith is not just a pie in the sky wish.

It isn’t something pretty we sing to bring comfort.

Faith is a verb: Go. See. Do. Lift Up. Put Down. Heal. Cast out. Bring in. Give. Receive. Remember.

Faith is active.

Faith is out there in the world, sharing the healing love of God with others.

Faith is drying the tears of the grieving.

Faith is holding the hands of the sick.

Faith is that card of encouragement for the person whose life is falling apart.

Faith is planting bulbs as everything is dying, trusting they will bloom in the spring.

Faith is welcoming the stranger and throwing our arms open to embrace others.

Faith is sacrificing our time and our talents and our abundance so that our neighbors might be fed.

You see, the force of resurrection didn’t just bring Christ to life.

It transformed disciples into apostles.

It brought the church into being.

It formed us together into the body of Christ, alive in the world, hands and feet and hearts to carry on the mission and the ministry.

To keep planting the seeds of the kingdom.

To keep pouring out hope for a world in despair.

To keep fighting the weeds of injustice that threaten to take over.

We are here because those women went to the grave full of grief and sorrow and discovered a garden where hope and love and life was in full bloom.

And then they went from that place with faith and shared the good news with the world.

May the hope of the resurrection be the foundation of our faith and may it spill over into everything we say and do in this world. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer: Thine is the Kingdom

Posted on April 10, 2022Leave a comment

Text: 1 Chronicles 29:1, 5b-6, 9-13; Luke 19:28-40

In our confirmation lessons this month, we are exploring the vows that these young folks will make on May 15.

They will stand before this church and pledge to renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world and repent of their sin.

They will accept the freedom and power God gives them to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.

They will confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and promise to serve him in the church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races.

And I can’t help but realize that they will be standing here, proclaiming:

For Thine is the Kingdom…

For Thine is the Power…

For Thine is the Glory… forever and ever.

Today, we wrap up our exploration of the prayer that Jesus taught us.

It is so familiar to us, and yet there is still so much to learn and discover about these few simple words.

And one of the surprising things about the phrase of the prayer we are focusing on for today is that it is not included in the gospels of either Matthew or Luke.

If you were to pull out your Bible, and looked at Matthew, it would, however, likely include the phrase in brackets or italics or even a footnote.

And that is because other ancient sources did include this ending… most notably The Didache… and it was then included in some copies and translations of Matthew as time went on.

Didache literally means teaching and this document is the oldest existing catechism of the Christian faith.

Basically, it is like a confirmation lesson guide for the first Christians!

It teaches Christian ethics, and about the rituals of the church and how the church is organized.

And it includes the version of the Lord’s Prayer… with the ending… that we are all so familiar with today.

In fact, it instructs those in the faith to pray this prayer three times every day… just as we have invited you to practice during this Lenten season.

In the chapter for this week from our study book, Adam Hamilton notes that the language of this ending, this doxology, this praise for God, is inspired by our scripture from 1 Chronicles for today which recounts the words of King David.

“Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name.”

Yours is the power.

Yours is the glory.

Yours is the kingdom.

Forever and ever.

Our scripture lesson for this morning is actually a sort of altar call or a request for the people of the land to give freely of their own resources to help build the temple of God.

David himself wanted to build this home for God’s presence, but because of his own sin, God replied that it would have to be carried out by David’s son, Solomon.

I think often of the fact that David, this man after God’s own heart, made such terrible mistakes in his life.

He harmed people who were in his care.

And there was probably a bit of pride that tempted him to make up for it by dedicating this temple to the glory of God… a temple that might come with his own name attached to it.

But he let go of his own power and wealth and pride and glory.

He remembers that this is not about him, but about God and David puts his full energy into setting his son up for success in this task.

David begins to gather the materials that will be needed and makes an offering from his own resources and treasures. Then, he invites the leaders among the people to give from their own hearts and treasures as well.

Wealth and riches and raw materials and precious gems are all laid before the Lord.

For as David rightly proclaims, it all comes from you God… we have only given you what already belongs to you.

Which is the same message Paul shares with the Romans, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.” (11:36)

Paul goes on to write to the church:

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what [God] wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12: 1-2, MSG)

Take your everyday, ordinary life and place it before God as an offering.

All of which is another way of saying:

Thine, not mine, is Kingdom.

Thine, not mine, is the power.

Thine, not mine, is the glory.

I’m going to offer what I have up to you, O God, because it all already belongs to you anyways.

I surrender to your will.

I will love and care for those people you put in my path.

I will confess the places I’ve strayed and turn my attention back to you so that you can forgive me.

I will let you lead me and guide me, rather than the forces of the world around me.

You will be my focus today and tomorrow and as long as I breathe.

Today is not just the end of our series on the Lord’s Prayer, but the start of Holy Week.

On this Palm Sunday, we recall the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

And I can’t help but think about the disciples and the crowds who gathered to line the streets.

They recognized in Jesus the power and the glory of God.

They were ready and willing to offer up their lives and their resources to follow Jesus and to work for God’s kingdom.

They set aside their own safety and privilege and power in order to praise and worship God.

And all of this because they caught a glimpse of what it truly meant to allow God to take hold of their lives.

John Vest reflects upon the power of this moment and I want to close today by sharing some of his words:

“Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem was more than a show, more than a simple provocation, more than the beginning of a cute celebration.

It was a signal that things are changing, an unmistakably potent message to the powers that be that the world as we know it is becoming the world as it should be.

It was a radical act of defiance directed against those in his day who wielded power through violence, oppression, and tyranny…

This simple ride reminds us – and tells the whole world – that you are indeed coming to make all things new.

You are coming to release those who find themselves in all manners of bondage: chains of injustice… addiction… conformity and apathy.

You are coming to provide for the poor: food for the hungry and shelter for the homeless.

You are coming to assure the dignity and equality of all who are marginalized or oppressed.

You are coming to end violence and divisions, to provide safe communities and opportunities for education.

You are coming to offer healing and wholeness, comfort, consolation, and hope.

You are coming to transform all that we know.

You are coming to save us.” (https://re-worship.blogspot.com/search?q=palm+sunday+meditation)

God’s kingdom…

God’s power…

God’s glory…

It is all breaking into this world.

May we, like those first disciples… and like those faithful leaders… set aside our crowns and pledge allegiance to the only one who can truly save us.

May it be so. Amen.