St. James Marion
As a whole, we Americans struggle with our faith. We wrestle with it, trying to make sense of how our faith impacts our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. George Barna, the founder of a research group dedicated to studying the role of faith and culture along with actual beliefs and behavior, recently said
“Most Americans, even those who say they are Christian, have doubts about the intrusion of the supernatural into the natural world. Hollywood has made evil accessible and tame, making Satan and demons less worrisome than the Bible suggests they really are. It’s hard for achievement-driven, self-reliant, independent people to believe that their lives can be impacted by unseen forces. At the same time, through sheer force of repetition, many Americans intellectually accept some ideas – such as the fact that you either side with God or Satan, there’s no in-between – that do not get translated into practice.”
Barna also noted that Christians tend to be open to co-existence with other faiths. “Most people understand that America’s religious life is diverse,” . . . . “A majority of Christians are generally open to maintaining relationships with people of other faiths, and most are not predisposed to judging people of different faiths, such as Mormons or Wiccans. But that open-mindedness is sometimes due to their limited knowledge about the principles of their own faith and ignorance about other faiths as it is to a purposeful acceptance of other faiths.”
(http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/260-most-american-christians-do-not-believe-that-satan-or-the-holy-spirit-exis_
In surveying self-described Christians last year, The Barna Group found that 78% of these Christians believed in a God who is the “all-powerful, all-knowing Creator of the universe who rules the world today.” The remainder of these Christians, nearly a quarter of those surveyed, had other understandings of God, ideas inconsistent with the Bible (ibid).
When asked about the divinity and perfection of Jesus Christ, nearly 40% didn’t agree with this, believing that Jesus sinned during his life on earth. This is also inconsistent with historical and biblical teaching (ibid).
And this brings me to what is called the “Scandal of Particularity.” The scandal of particularity is basically the scandal of Jesus, the “difficulty of regarding one single individual man as being the savior of all men” (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scandal_of_particularity). It’s the problem of the uniqueness, divinity, and perfection of Jesus. The scandal is over the cornerstone that Peter talks about in our Acts lesson, the cornerstone that is a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks according to Paul (1 Cor 1:23)—and to much of our world. Jesus who is the cornerstone, foundation, and centerpiece of our faith, Jesus who declares that he himself is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus who says he is the only way to the Father.
In a world that is increasingly secular, increasingly pluralistic and syncretistic, we Christians are accused of being narrow minded and politically incorrect when we insist that Jesus is the Savior, the only savior, for us and for the whole world.
In one of the commentaries, I read this week, published a dozen years ago, there was “remarkable true story about Harvard Divinity School.” Now I would think that a divinity school, a seminary, is supposed to teach Christian religion and theology. For example, the degree I received a year ago is a Masters of Divinity. Anyway, the story is a about a woman student at Harvard Divinity School who found that one of her professors was an agnostic, and subsequently
She inquired about the range of theological diversity on the seminary campus. “Anything goes,” came the reply. [The woman] pursued the point. “You mean no belief or absence of belief would keep one from being hired to teach theology?” “Only one,” came the clarification,” the refusal to endorse women’s ordination.” (Burge, Gary. The NIV Application Commentary: Letters of John, Zondervan. P. 60.)
Harvard Divinity School may have a different answer today. Another Christian group may have another answer: perhaps it’s the inerrancy of Scripture, or even certain beliefs about the 2nd coming.
But I think Peter and Luke and John the evangelist would disagree, that what is central to Christian faith is, well, Christ.
And that’s what I see when I considered today’s lessons.
In Acts, any time that Peter speaks, he speaks of Jesus. Today he is defending his actions before the spiritual leaders of the day regarding the physical healing of a man who had been lame since birth. Peter firmly declares that this was not of his own doing, but that the man was in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Jesus whom they had crucified, Jesus who is the stone that was rejected and has become the cornerstone. And Peter declares that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” The scandal of particularity. There is salvation in no one else but Jesus.
Luke tells us of one of the resurrection appearances of Jesus, and emphasizes his physicality. While the disciples were afraid, and thought that they were seeing a ghost, Jesus brings peace, and invites them to look at his hands and feet. He invites them to touch him and see, “for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” Jesus in a physical but transformed body who ate fish. Ghosts and spiritual beings don’t eat fish. They don’t eat, period. Jesus explained to them from the Scriptures that the Messiah had to suffer, and rise from the dead on the third day. In the name of Jesus, repentance and forgiveness of sins are to be proclaimed to all nations. And the disciples were witnesses—eyewitnesses—of Jesus’ life and death and resurrection. The scandal of particularity. Jesus was and is the Messiah, the Christ, the Promised One.
In his opening comments to a troubled church, John lays the foundation of his theology, and the foundation of the church. The Greek grammar is fairly complex, and a more literal reading might be:
“What was from the beginning: what we have heard; what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands touched—concerning the word of life—and the life appeared and we have seen and testify, and announce to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us; what we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you.”
John’s thought and discourse finds its center in the reality of Jesus’ personhood. Jesus, the Word, who was from the beginning, entered time and space and took up residence on earth. Jesus was a man they had heard and seen and beheld and touched. As John graphically announced in his gospel that “we have seen his glory” (John 1:14). This is the scandal of particularity; the scandal of the incarnation, God became a man. Jesus Christ entered time and space, and is a definitive revelation. This is, perhaps, the lowest common denominator for Christians. Jesus who actually lived and died and was resurrected.
And we can still see, touch, and hear Jesus today. Not in the flesh, of course, but in our Christian experience. It’s not just agreeing to a set of doctrines, but there’s a sense where discipleship is personal. Through our baptisms, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus lives in us and makes himself known, and we have fellowship with the Father and the Son as well as with other Christians. The foundation of healthy Christian community and fellowship are true experiences of Jesus. “The authenticity of our faith is . . . linked to the vitality of Jesus’ life within us. If Jesus is a doctrine, our testimony will be hollow. If Jesus is a person, our testimony will be potent” (Ibid, 62).
The scandal of particularity is the scandal of Jesus Christ, Jesus who is not just words, but is the Word, living in us, so that we might proclaim that there salvation in no one else, and there is no other name by which we must be saved. Amen.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
2 Easter (B)
Good morning! Happy 2nd Sunday after Easter—also known as “Doubting Thomas Sunday.” However When I considered all of today’s lessons, I saw much more than the story of “Doubting” Thomas, or more accurately “skeptical” Thomas. I see a theme of seeing, of eyesight, eyewitnesses, vision, and I think this is important for us to consider today.
In our lesson from Acts, clearly Peter proclaims himself and the other disciples to have been witnesses—eyewitnesses—of Jesus’ death and his resurrection. They had seen the Lord, raised from the dead, and this is the One who Peter proclaims.
Our psalm today spoke of the stone which the builders had rejected which became the chief cornerstone, and that stone is Jesus. He was chosen by the Lord’s doing, and the psalmist says “it is marvelous in our eyes!”
In our gospel, Jesus appeared first to the disciples who were inside a locked house. He spoke with them, and showed them his scars. Thomas was not there, but the ones who had been there told him, “we have seen the Lord.” Thomas the skeptic didn’t believe it, insisting that he had to see the marks of the nails in Jesus’ hands, and put his hand in the wound in his side before he would believe. And a week later, he had that opportunity. Jesus appeared in the house and Thomas was there this time. Jesus invites him to see and touch his hands and side, and challenges him to believe. As we read, Thomas does believe and in worship he says, “My Lord and My God.” Jesus doesn’t seem to be overly pleased with his confession, though. He says, “have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Now, since we are not eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we are those who have not seen him and yet have come to believe. We see him through faith. And in seeing Jesus, we also see God the Father. In John 14, Jesus told Philip “He who has seen me has seen the Father . . . Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?” In considering Jesus, we come to know what the Father is like. Because even though we weren’t there, we can visualize a man walking, teaching, suffering and dying. We can even get our minds around the resurrection, that the God-man was physically raised from the dead. After all, there were hundreds of eyewitnesses. And the gospels were written early enough that if it had been a hoax, it would have been found out. There is no doubt that something miraculous happened that day. In seeing Jesus with the eyes of our faith, we also see the attributes of the Father. We have been endowed with the Holy Spirit who aids us in this sight, who is our spectacles as it were. We see through faith. In John’s gospel and in the rest of the New Testament, we are shown “events in history that demand an interpretation and a response. . . . Jesus challenges all who come after to venture a judgment upon this history, that is upon his person, his presence through the Spirit in this particular community and through the life he offers" (Whitacre, Rod. John. Intervarsity press, 486). Faith gives us a vision of Jesus, and when we read the gospels, we “discover a vision, a knowledge, that invests everything in the historic person of Jesus Christ” (Burge, Gary. The NIV Application Commentary: John. Zondervan, 577). About people such as us, people who believe even though we have not seen Jesus with our own eyes, Peter wrote in his epistle, “Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Sometimes it helps to think about seeing Jesus with fresh eyes, from a new perspective. The stories are so familiar to us that they don’t really have much emotional impact. So today I’d like to share a story written by Mrs. G. Tucker in Amarillo, Texas., a story of seeing Jesus, that says it better than I can. She wrote:
God recently allowed me to see Jesus through the eyes of someone seeing Him for the first time. Since most of us have the advantage of knowing how the story ends, we can easily forget the cost of our redemption and the love of our Savior.
Every year we attend a local church pageant that tells the story of Jesus from His birth through His resurrection. It is a spectacular event, with live animals and hundreds of cast members in realistic costumes. The magi enter from the rear of the huge auditorium, on Ilamas, descending the steps in pomp and majesty. Roman soldiers look huge and menacing in their costumes and makeup.
Of all the years we have attended, one holds very special memories for me. It was the year we took our then three-year-old granddaughter, Bailey, for the first time. She was mesmerized throughout the entire play. She was not just watching, but she was involved as if she were a participant.
She watched as Joseph and Mary traveled to the Inn, and she was thrilled when she saw the baby Jesus in His mother's arms. When Jesus, on a young donkey, descended the steps from the back of the auditorium (depicting His triumphal entry into Jerusalem) Bailey was ecstatic. As he neared our aisle, Bailey began to jump up and down. She screamed, "Jesus, Jesus! There's Jesus!"...not just saying the words, but exclaiming them with every fiber of her being. She alternated between screaming his name and hugging us. "It's Jesus. Look!" Tears filled my eyes as I looked at Jesus through the eyes of a child who was so in love with Him and seeing Him for the first time. How like the blind beggar who screamed out in reckless abandon, "Jesus, Jesus!"...afraid he might miss Him...not caring what others thought. (Mark 10:46-52)
Then came the arrest scene. On stage, the soldiers shoved and slapped Jesus as they moved Him from the Garden of Gethsemane to appear before Pilate. Bailey responded, with terror and anger, as if she were in the crowd of women. "Stop it!" she screamed. "Bad soldiers. Stop it!" As I watched her reaction, I suddenly wished we had talked to her before the play. I kept telling her, "Bailey, it's okay. They are just pretending." However, her response was, "They are hurting Jesus! Stop it!" She stood in her seat, reacting to each and every move. People around us, at first, smiled at her reaction. Then they quit smiling and began to watch her, as she watched Him. In a most powerful scene the soldiers lead Jesus, carrying the cross, down the steps of the auditorium from the back. They were yelling, whipping, and cursing at Jesus who appeared to be bloodied and beaten. Bailey was now hysterical. "Stop it! Soldiers, stop it!" she screamed. In her young mind she must have been wondering why so many people all around her did nothing to help. She then began to cry instead of scream. "Jesus, oh, Jesus," she said. People all around us began to weep as we all watched this devoted little disciple see her Jesus beaten and killed, as those first century disciples had seen. Going back and forth between her mother's lap and mine, for comfort, she was distraught. I kept saying, "Bailey, it's okay. Jesus is going to be okay. These are just people pretending to be soldiers. She looked at me like I was crazy. As she sat in my lap, we talked through the cross and burial. "Watch, Bailey, watch for Jesus!" The tomb began to tremble, and lightning flashed, as the stone rolled away. A Super Bowl touchdown cheer could not come close to matching this little one's reaction to the resurrection. "Jesus! He's okay. Mommy, it's Jesus!"
I prayed that she was not going to be traumatized by this event, but that she would remember it. I shall never forget it. I shall never forget seeing Jesus' suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection through the eyes of such a young child.
Following the pageant, all of the actors assembled in the foyer to be greeted by the audience. As we passed by some of the soldiers, Bailey screamed out, "Bad soldier. Don't you hurt Jesus." The actor who portrayed Jesus was some distance away, surrounded by well-wishers and friends. Bailey broke away from us and ran toward him, wrapping herself around his legs and holding on for dear life. He hugged her and said, "Jesus loves you." She would not let go. She kept clinging to Him, laughing and calling His name. She was not about to let go of her Jesus.
I like to think that God in heaven stopped whatever was going on that day, and asked all of the angels to watch Bailey. Perhaps He even said, "Now, look there! You see what I meant when I said, 'Of such is the kingdom of heaven?'"
Bailey's reaction should be our reaction every single day of our lives. When we think of Him...who He is...what He did for us...what He offers to us...how can we do anything less than worship Him?
“We have seen the Lord.” Let us rejoice and be glad!!
St James Marion 2008
Modified for St Andrews Carbondale 2009
In our lesson from Acts, clearly Peter proclaims himself and the other disciples to have been witnesses—eyewitnesses—of Jesus’ death and his resurrection. They had seen the Lord, raised from the dead, and this is the One who Peter proclaims.
Our psalm today spoke of the stone which the builders had rejected which became the chief cornerstone, and that stone is Jesus. He was chosen by the Lord’s doing, and the psalmist says “it is marvelous in our eyes!”
In our gospel, Jesus appeared first to the disciples who were inside a locked house. He spoke with them, and showed them his scars. Thomas was not there, but the ones who had been there told him, “we have seen the Lord.” Thomas the skeptic didn’t believe it, insisting that he had to see the marks of the nails in Jesus’ hands, and put his hand in the wound in his side before he would believe. And a week later, he had that opportunity. Jesus appeared in the house and Thomas was there this time. Jesus invites him to see and touch his hands and side, and challenges him to believe. As we read, Thomas does believe and in worship he says, “My Lord and My God.” Jesus doesn’t seem to be overly pleased with his confession, though. He says, “have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Now, since we are not eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we are those who have not seen him and yet have come to believe. We see him through faith. And in seeing Jesus, we also see God the Father. In John 14, Jesus told Philip “He who has seen me has seen the Father . . . Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?” In considering Jesus, we come to know what the Father is like. Because even though we weren’t there, we can visualize a man walking, teaching, suffering and dying. We can even get our minds around the resurrection, that the God-man was physically raised from the dead. After all, there were hundreds of eyewitnesses. And the gospels were written early enough that if it had been a hoax, it would have been found out. There is no doubt that something miraculous happened that day. In seeing Jesus with the eyes of our faith, we also see the attributes of the Father. We have been endowed with the Holy Spirit who aids us in this sight, who is our spectacles as it were. We see through faith. In John’s gospel and in the rest of the New Testament, we are shown “events in history that demand an interpretation and a response. . . . Jesus challenges all who come after to venture a judgment upon this history, that is upon his person, his presence through the Spirit in this particular community and through the life he offers" (Whitacre, Rod. John. Intervarsity press, 486). Faith gives us a vision of Jesus, and when we read the gospels, we “discover a vision, a knowledge, that invests everything in the historic person of Jesus Christ” (Burge, Gary. The NIV Application Commentary: John. Zondervan, 577). About people such as us, people who believe even though we have not seen Jesus with our own eyes, Peter wrote in his epistle, “Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Sometimes it helps to think about seeing Jesus with fresh eyes, from a new perspective. The stories are so familiar to us that they don’t really have much emotional impact. So today I’d like to share a story written by Mrs. G. Tucker in Amarillo, Texas., a story of seeing Jesus, that says it better than I can. She wrote:
God recently allowed me to see Jesus through the eyes of someone seeing Him for the first time. Since most of us have the advantage of knowing how the story ends, we can easily forget the cost of our redemption and the love of our Savior.
Every year we attend a local church pageant that tells the story of Jesus from His birth through His resurrection. It is a spectacular event, with live animals and hundreds of cast members in realistic costumes. The magi enter from the rear of the huge auditorium, on Ilamas, descending the steps in pomp and majesty. Roman soldiers look huge and menacing in their costumes and makeup.
Of all the years we have attended, one holds very special memories for me. It was the year we took our then three-year-old granddaughter, Bailey, for the first time. She was mesmerized throughout the entire play. She was not just watching, but she was involved as if she were a participant.
She watched as Joseph and Mary traveled to the Inn, and she was thrilled when she saw the baby Jesus in His mother's arms. When Jesus, on a young donkey, descended the steps from the back of the auditorium (depicting His triumphal entry into Jerusalem) Bailey was ecstatic. As he neared our aisle, Bailey began to jump up and down. She screamed, "Jesus, Jesus! There's Jesus!"...not just saying the words, but exclaiming them with every fiber of her being. She alternated between screaming his name and hugging us. "It's Jesus. Look!" Tears filled my eyes as I looked at Jesus through the eyes of a child who was so in love with Him and seeing Him for the first time. How like the blind beggar who screamed out in reckless abandon, "Jesus, Jesus!"...afraid he might miss Him...not caring what others thought. (Mark 10:46-52)
Then came the arrest scene. On stage, the soldiers shoved and slapped Jesus as they moved Him from the Garden of Gethsemane to appear before Pilate. Bailey responded, with terror and anger, as if she were in the crowd of women. "Stop it!" she screamed. "Bad soldiers. Stop it!" As I watched her reaction, I suddenly wished we had talked to her before the play. I kept telling her, "Bailey, it's okay. They are just pretending." However, her response was, "They are hurting Jesus! Stop it!" She stood in her seat, reacting to each and every move. People around us, at first, smiled at her reaction. Then they quit smiling and began to watch her, as she watched Him. In a most powerful scene the soldiers lead Jesus, carrying the cross, down the steps of the auditorium from the back. They were yelling, whipping, and cursing at Jesus who appeared to be bloodied and beaten. Bailey was now hysterical. "Stop it! Soldiers, stop it!" she screamed. In her young mind she must have been wondering why so many people all around her did nothing to help. She then began to cry instead of scream. "Jesus, oh, Jesus," she said. People all around us began to weep as we all watched this devoted little disciple see her Jesus beaten and killed, as those first century disciples had seen. Going back and forth between her mother's lap and mine, for comfort, she was distraught. I kept saying, "Bailey, it's okay. Jesus is going to be okay. These are just people pretending to be soldiers. She looked at me like I was crazy. As she sat in my lap, we talked through the cross and burial. "Watch, Bailey, watch for Jesus!" The tomb began to tremble, and lightning flashed, as the stone rolled away. A Super Bowl touchdown cheer could not come close to matching this little one's reaction to the resurrection. "Jesus! He's okay. Mommy, it's Jesus!"
I prayed that she was not going to be traumatized by this event, but that she would remember it. I shall never forget it. I shall never forget seeing Jesus' suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection through the eyes of such a young child.
Following the pageant, all of the actors assembled in the foyer to be greeted by the audience. As we passed by some of the soldiers, Bailey screamed out, "Bad soldier. Don't you hurt Jesus." The actor who portrayed Jesus was some distance away, surrounded by well-wishers and friends. Bailey broke away from us and ran toward him, wrapping herself around his legs and holding on for dear life. He hugged her and said, "Jesus loves you." She would not let go. She kept clinging to Him, laughing and calling His name. She was not about to let go of her Jesus.
I like to think that God in heaven stopped whatever was going on that day, and asked all of the angels to watch Bailey. Perhaps He even said, "Now, look there! You see what I meant when I said, 'Of such is the kingdom of heaven?'"
Bailey's reaction should be our reaction every single day of our lives. When we think of Him...who He is...what He did for us...what He offers to us...how can we do anything less than worship Him?
“We have seen the Lord.” Let us rejoice and be glad!!
St James Marion 2008
Modified for St Andrews Carbondale 2009
Easter 2009 (B)
I’m sure you have all seen movies where you don’t like or aren’t comfortable with the ending. Things are unresolved, uncertain, and you are left wondering what happened, or what happens next. We want things all wrapped up with a bow, all neat and tidy. All happily ever after. We want closure and justice and resolution. And so, we probably are much more comfortable with Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts of Easter morning.
But today we have the Gospel according to St. Mark, and the last 8 verses of the gospel. This is where it ends, with women coming out and fleeing from Jesus’ tomb, filled with terror and amazement. Women who said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. An even more accurate translation of the Greek is even worse: “The women went out from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; they said nothing to anyone, they were afraid for . . .”
Afraid for what? Even in Greek, you can’t just end a sentence with a preposition, as we learned in basic grammar, and our English translations resolve this by saying, “they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”
According to scholars, this is most likely the true original ending of Mark’s gospel, though in most of our bible translations one of two alternate longer endings is included. But this is indeed where the earliest manuscripts end. Like a song ending with an unresolved chord. “They were afraid for . . .”
There’s a story of a student
who had memorized the whole of Mark in order to do a dramatic, Broadway-style reading before a live audience. After careful study, the student had decided to go with the scholarly consensus regarding the ending. At his first performance, however, after he spoke that ambiguous last verse, he stood there awkwardly, shifting from one foot to the other, the audience waiting for more, waiting for closure, waiting for a proper ending. Finally, after several anxious seconds, he said, "Amen!" and made his exit. The relieved audience applauded loudly and appreciatively. Upon reflection, though, the student realized that by providing the audience a satisfying conclusion, his "Amen!" had actually betrayed the dramatic intention of the text. So at the next performance, when he reached the final verse he simply paused for a half beat and left the stage in silence. "The discomfort and uncertainty within the audience were obvious," said [his teacher] "and as people exited the buzz of conversation was dominated by the experience of the nonending."
(http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3392)
So what are we to make of this, this non-ending? Perhaps the key is the first verse in Mark’s Gospel. “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” With Jesus, the good news began, the kingdom of God is at hand, and it hasn’t ended. It continues today with us, with Easter People, living this side of the resurrection. Like Paul Harvey might say, we are “the rest of the story.” And the promise that the resurrection brings won’t be resolved, won’t be complete, until Jesus returns to reign and to judge, and heaven and earth are reunited and recreated, and we too are resurrected. That’s the promise of Easter. That’s the hope of the resurrection.
But the promise of Easter is for today, too. Especially for today—Alleluia, He is Risen!! Through his death, Jesus conquered sin and death so that through our baptisms we too have the power to overcome sin, and ultimately death. Jesus cleared the way for intimacy with God so that we can also call God our Abba, our Father. The resurrection of Jesus is the down payment for our future bodily resurrections.
In fact, the Resurrection of Jesus is the highest point of our whole year as Christians. Our culture has it wrong. It’s not about Christmas, it’s about Easter. Jesus conquered death and the grave. New creation has begun. Something totally new, totally unexpected happened. While we have read that Jesus raised Lazarus and others from the dead, we know that eventually they died. But when Jesus was resurrected from the dead by God the Father, he spent time on earth with his disciples in a new and different kind of body before ascending into heaven, where he is seated at the right hand of God the Father, and he will come again to reign and rule the New Earth, the re-created earth, populated with our resurrected bodies.
We have come through 40 days of Lent, preparing our hearts and minds for Easter. Preparing for this day. Like the women coming to the tomb early that morning to anoint and prepare Jesus’ body. What normally would be done for a dead body was put on hold for the Sabbath, but as soon as the Sabbath was ended, the women set about with the proper kinds of preparations for Jesus’ dead body. With great sadness and yet firm resolve they headed for the tomb where they had seen Joseph of Arimathea put Jesus’ body after he was killed on that horrible day. As they approach the tomb, they wondered about ordinary and reasonable things, like would they be able to move the stone away from the entrance. But when they got there, it was already moved back—a nice surprise. So they entered the tomb, expecting to find Jesus’ body so they could perform their labor of love.
But when they went in, they saw a young man, and they were understandably alarmed. Someone, a stranger, was there, when the Lord should have been there. The stranger told them not to be afraid, and he knew they were looking for Jesus—how could he have known that? He explains: He is not here, he has risen. Look, this is where he was, and he’s not here. Go and tell his disciples, tell Peter, that he will meet you in Galilee as he had promised. And the women fled from the tomb in fear and they said nothing because were afraid for . . .
But of course, they must have told someone. And they went to Galilee and met Jesus who had gone on before. Jesus who has gone on before us, too, leading the way.
We have come through the long season of Lent, but let us make sure and remember that Easter too is a season. This is the Feast of the Resurrection, Easter Day, but Easter lasts until Pentecost. There are 12 days of Christmas, but 50 days of Easter. Fifty days!! NT Wright says that Easter is so marvelous, so special, so unexpectedly wonderful, that we need to spend at least as much energy celebrating Christ’s resurrection as we did preparing for it through Lent. We need to spend as much on Easter as we do on Christmas. We truly should celebrate with wild delight and amazing joy! Be extravagant and exuberant in our worship. Be Fools for Christ. Wright suggests champagne for breakfast, planting spectacular blooming, fragrant flowers in our yards and in our hearts. Looking for opportunities to go and grow and bear the most wonderful delicious fruit—through the whole Easter season.
Easter is what it’s all about. Jesus is not in the tomb. He is risen. And we are the rest of the story. What are we doing as Easter people? How are we sharing the joy and the hope of the resurrection?
We are Easter people when we give of our money to help those less fortunate: through food basket projects, or through Superbowl of Caring, or through helping various shelters and food pantries in our communities. We are Easter people when we work for justice in our towns and counties. We are Easter people when we do our work in a way that glorifies God, that is noticeably different to those who work with us. We are Easter people when we help those around us, especially those less fortunate: the poor and the oppressed, the hungry and the widows and the orphans, those in prison either emotionally or in reality. We are Easter people when we work at marriage and other relationships even though it would be easier not to. We are Easter people when we put aside our own rights, our own needs, and we serve and follow Jesus to Galilee, to West Frankfort (Marion) Illinois, to the ends of the earth.
In our lives, though, things are still unresolved, uncertain, and we are left wondering what happens next. The ending is not yet clear, the music ends on a discord, our lives are messy and relationships unresolved. Things aren’t all neat and tidy. They aren’t all happily ever after. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. We don’t know all of the details of the rest of the story. But we do know that today is the Feast of the Resurrection, that Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. We know that “We are God's children now; [and] what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). The Lenten fast is over—Let the Feast begin!! Alleluia!!
(St. Mark’s and St. James’)
But today we have the Gospel according to St. Mark, and the last 8 verses of the gospel. This is where it ends, with women coming out and fleeing from Jesus’ tomb, filled with terror and amazement. Women who said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. An even more accurate translation of the Greek is even worse: “The women went out from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; they said nothing to anyone, they were afraid for . . .”
Afraid for what? Even in Greek, you can’t just end a sentence with a preposition, as we learned in basic grammar, and our English translations resolve this by saying, “they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”
According to scholars, this is most likely the true original ending of Mark’s gospel, though in most of our bible translations one of two alternate longer endings is included. But this is indeed where the earliest manuscripts end. Like a song ending with an unresolved chord. “They were afraid for . . .”
There’s a story of a student
who had memorized the whole of Mark in order to do a dramatic, Broadway-style reading before a live audience. After careful study, the student had decided to go with the scholarly consensus regarding the ending. At his first performance, however, after he spoke that ambiguous last verse, he stood there awkwardly, shifting from one foot to the other, the audience waiting for more, waiting for closure, waiting for a proper ending. Finally, after several anxious seconds, he said, "Amen!" and made his exit. The relieved audience applauded loudly and appreciatively. Upon reflection, though, the student realized that by providing the audience a satisfying conclusion, his "Amen!" had actually betrayed the dramatic intention of the text. So at the next performance, when he reached the final verse he simply paused for a half beat and left the stage in silence. "The discomfort and uncertainty within the audience were obvious," said [his teacher] "and as people exited the buzz of conversation was dominated by the experience of the nonending."
(http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3392)
So what are we to make of this, this non-ending? Perhaps the key is the first verse in Mark’s Gospel. “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” With Jesus, the good news began, the kingdom of God is at hand, and it hasn’t ended. It continues today with us, with Easter People, living this side of the resurrection. Like Paul Harvey might say, we are “the rest of the story.” And the promise that the resurrection brings won’t be resolved, won’t be complete, until Jesus returns to reign and to judge, and heaven and earth are reunited and recreated, and we too are resurrected. That’s the promise of Easter. That’s the hope of the resurrection.
But the promise of Easter is for today, too. Especially for today—Alleluia, He is Risen!! Through his death, Jesus conquered sin and death so that through our baptisms we too have the power to overcome sin, and ultimately death. Jesus cleared the way for intimacy with God so that we can also call God our Abba, our Father. The resurrection of Jesus is the down payment for our future bodily resurrections.
In fact, the Resurrection of Jesus is the highest point of our whole year as Christians. Our culture has it wrong. It’s not about Christmas, it’s about Easter. Jesus conquered death and the grave. New creation has begun. Something totally new, totally unexpected happened. While we have read that Jesus raised Lazarus and others from the dead, we know that eventually they died. But when Jesus was resurrected from the dead by God the Father, he spent time on earth with his disciples in a new and different kind of body before ascending into heaven, where he is seated at the right hand of God the Father, and he will come again to reign and rule the New Earth, the re-created earth, populated with our resurrected bodies.
We have come through 40 days of Lent, preparing our hearts and minds for Easter. Preparing for this day. Like the women coming to the tomb early that morning to anoint and prepare Jesus’ body. What normally would be done for a dead body was put on hold for the Sabbath, but as soon as the Sabbath was ended, the women set about with the proper kinds of preparations for Jesus’ dead body. With great sadness and yet firm resolve they headed for the tomb where they had seen Joseph of Arimathea put Jesus’ body after he was killed on that horrible day. As they approach the tomb, they wondered about ordinary and reasonable things, like would they be able to move the stone away from the entrance. But when they got there, it was already moved back—a nice surprise. So they entered the tomb, expecting to find Jesus’ body so they could perform their labor of love.
But when they went in, they saw a young man, and they were understandably alarmed. Someone, a stranger, was there, when the Lord should have been there. The stranger told them not to be afraid, and he knew they were looking for Jesus—how could he have known that? He explains: He is not here, he has risen. Look, this is where he was, and he’s not here. Go and tell his disciples, tell Peter, that he will meet you in Galilee as he had promised. And the women fled from the tomb in fear and they said nothing because were afraid for . . .
But of course, they must have told someone. And they went to Galilee and met Jesus who had gone on before. Jesus who has gone on before us, too, leading the way.
We have come through the long season of Lent, but let us make sure and remember that Easter too is a season. This is the Feast of the Resurrection, Easter Day, but Easter lasts until Pentecost. There are 12 days of Christmas, but 50 days of Easter. Fifty days!! NT Wright says that Easter is so marvelous, so special, so unexpectedly wonderful, that we need to spend at least as much energy celebrating Christ’s resurrection as we did preparing for it through Lent. We need to spend as much on Easter as we do on Christmas. We truly should celebrate with wild delight and amazing joy! Be extravagant and exuberant in our worship. Be Fools for Christ. Wright suggests champagne for breakfast, planting spectacular blooming, fragrant flowers in our yards and in our hearts. Looking for opportunities to go and grow and bear the most wonderful delicious fruit—through the whole Easter season.
Easter is what it’s all about. Jesus is not in the tomb. He is risen. And we are the rest of the story. What are we doing as Easter people? How are we sharing the joy and the hope of the resurrection?
We are Easter people when we give of our money to help those less fortunate: through food basket projects, or through Superbowl of Caring, or through helping various shelters and food pantries in our communities. We are Easter people when we work for justice in our towns and counties. We are Easter people when we do our work in a way that glorifies God, that is noticeably different to those who work with us. We are Easter people when we help those around us, especially those less fortunate: the poor and the oppressed, the hungry and the widows and the orphans, those in prison either emotionally or in reality. We are Easter people when we work at marriage and other relationships even though it would be easier not to. We are Easter people when we put aside our own rights, our own needs, and we serve and follow Jesus to Galilee, to West Frankfort (Marion) Illinois, to the ends of the earth.
In our lives, though, things are still unresolved, uncertain, and we are left wondering what happens next. The ending is not yet clear, the music ends on a discord, our lives are messy and relationships unresolved. Things aren’t all neat and tidy. They aren’t all happily ever after. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. We don’t know all of the details of the rest of the story. But we do know that today is the Feast of the Resurrection, that Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. We know that “We are God's children now; [and] what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). The Lenten fast is over—Let the Feast begin!! Alleluia!!
(St. Mark’s and St. James’)
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
B: Palm Sunday
St. Stephens Harrisburg
What does it mean to imitate Christ?
Undoubtedly it means different things to different people. It’s meant different things in different ages. In the 13th century, to St. Francis and his followers, it meant renouncing family and wealth, and any kind of material possessions. It meant simplicity and poverty, in keeping with Christ’s life. It meant begging for bread, working with the sick, and great obedience. Before he died, St. Frances purportedly received the Stigmata, the wounds of Christ in his own body, as part of his identification with Christ. It was the goal of the early Franciscans to imitate both Christ’s poverty and his wandering homelessness.
Are you ready to take this on? Ready to try it?
Fortunately, in our epistle today, Paul puts it a bit differently when he tells us to have the same mind, the same attitude, as Christ Jesus. We are to let the same mind be in us as was in Christ, to make our minds like Christ, to align our minds with Christ. But this is not just about our individual inner minds and attitudes, but more with how we relate to others. The “you” in the passage is plural. Perhaps a better translation is to “think this among or between yourselves.” Our relationship with each other should be characterized by the attitude of Christ, and in the next few verses Paul explains this.
Even though Christ, in his very nature, in his form, was God, equal to God, Paul says that Jesus did not consider his equality with God as something to be exploited, something to cling to. It was not an advantage or privilege but in fact led Jesus to empty himself and take the role of a slave. Christ made himself nothing, nullified his god-ness and took the nature of a slave in human likeness. A slave had no rights, so Christ did not hold on to any rights that would have been his as God. He gave up the privileges of deity and became a slave, in human form. He became identified with his humanity. Christ became human in the same sense, in the same way that makes each of us truly human. He manifested his deity by humbling himself to be a human slave. Mark 10:45 says that the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life for the ransom of many.
Paul next expresses the Deity of Christ as one who humbled himself to appear as a man, and to suffer death—even death on a cross. Jesus took the form of a slave, but went even lower when he obediently suffered death like on of us, but this death was by crucifixion. This was the lowest and most humiliating, the cruelest form of death. It was a death reserved for the lowest classes of people—it would have been extremely rare for any Roman citizen to be crucified. Citizenship had its privileges. But to be crucified usually involved various forms of torture and abuse even before being fastened to the cross by impaling, nailing, binding with ropes, or some combination. If the preliminary torture was not too severe, death would come slowly, perhaps over a period of days, as the victim suffered from thirst, hunger, suffocation, and blood loss—and the attacks of wild animals. A horrible way to die.
In submitting to death by crucifixion, Christ denied all of his rights, going from the Glory and exaltation of his triumphant entry into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday . . . to the lowest of lows in his death by crucifixion on Good Friday—because of his love for humanity as an expression of his deity.
So Christ in his deity denied his rights by making himself nothing by becoming a human and a slave, and by humbling himself in his obedience to suffering and death on a cross.
And now God the Father takes center stage. After Christ’s humility and obedience, God took the initiative and exalted Jesus to the highest place and he gave Jesus the name that is above every name. Jesus was exalted to a place of superiority over all of creation; when he ascended to heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father his superiority is clearly revealed. And God gave him the name that is above every name. A name fitting for one equal to God, a name that would be acknowledged by all. And so, at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Jesus Christ is Lord!
So Christ is held up as an example to the church at Philippi and to us. If we are faithful, humble, and obedient, we too will receive the prize. We will attain the goal. “Just as Christ’s faithfulness will lead to the universal acknowledgment of his position, so their [and our] faithfulness will lead to identity with Christ and resurrection from the dead on the last day.”( Thielman, Frank. The NIV Application Commentary: Philippians p. 122. )
Christ is presented as an example to the Philippians and to us. We are to pursue humility and put the needs and interests of others before our own, not counting our rights, but imitating Christ Jesus who didn’t hold on to the rights or power or privilege that being equal to God would give him. Instead Christ became a slave, the lowest of the low, and was obedient even to death. We are to pursue the same kind of obedience, and if we are faithful and obedient as Christ was faithful and obedient, the last day, the judgment day, will bring our exaltation.
When we believe and say that Jesus is Lord, we seek to imitate Christ, and our lives will be lives of humility, of self-giving service and obedience. Our relationships with others, which each other, will be characterized by humility, service and obedience. And God works in us to accomplish this. He works in us to help us to be humble. He helps us to serve. He helps us to be obedient. And on the last day we will have to give an account of our relationships with those around us. And we pray that we will hear these words: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Master” (Matt 25:21).
What does it mean to imitate Christ?
Undoubtedly it means different things to different people. It’s meant different things in different ages. In the 13th century, to St. Francis and his followers, it meant renouncing family and wealth, and any kind of material possessions. It meant simplicity and poverty, in keeping with Christ’s life. It meant begging for bread, working with the sick, and great obedience. Before he died, St. Frances purportedly received the Stigmata, the wounds of Christ in his own body, as part of his identification with Christ. It was the goal of the early Franciscans to imitate both Christ’s poverty and his wandering homelessness.
Are you ready to take this on? Ready to try it?
Fortunately, in our epistle today, Paul puts it a bit differently when he tells us to have the same mind, the same attitude, as Christ Jesus. We are to let the same mind be in us as was in Christ, to make our minds like Christ, to align our minds with Christ. But this is not just about our individual inner minds and attitudes, but more with how we relate to others. The “you” in the passage is plural. Perhaps a better translation is to “think this among or between yourselves.” Our relationship with each other should be characterized by the attitude of Christ, and in the next few verses Paul explains this.
Even though Christ, in his very nature, in his form, was God, equal to God, Paul says that Jesus did not consider his equality with God as something to be exploited, something to cling to. It was not an advantage or privilege but in fact led Jesus to empty himself and take the role of a slave. Christ made himself nothing, nullified his god-ness and took the nature of a slave in human likeness. A slave had no rights, so Christ did not hold on to any rights that would have been his as God. He gave up the privileges of deity and became a slave, in human form. He became identified with his humanity. Christ became human in the same sense, in the same way that makes each of us truly human. He manifested his deity by humbling himself to be a human slave. Mark 10:45 says that the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life for the ransom of many.
Paul next expresses the Deity of Christ as one who humbled himself to appear as a man, and to suffer death—even death on a cross. Jesus took the form of a slave, but went even lower when he obediently suffered death like on of us, but this death was by crucifixion. This was the lowest and most humiliating, the cruelest form of death. It was a death reserved for the lowest classes of people—it would have been extremely rare for any Roman citizen to be crucified. Citizenship had its privileges. But to be crucified usually involved various forms of torture and abuse even before being fastened to the cross by impaling, nailing, binding with ropes, or some combination. If the preliminary torture was not too severe, death would come slowly, perhaps over a period of days, as the victim suffered from thirst, hunger, suffocation, and blood loss—and the attacks of wild animals. A horrible way to die.
In submitting to death by crucifixion, Christ denied all of his rights, going from the Glory and exaltation of his triumphant entry into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday . . . to the lowest of lows in his death by crucifixion on Good Friday—because of his love for humanity as an expression of his deity.
So Christ in his deity denied his rights by making himself nothing by becoming a human and a slave, and by humbling himself in his obedience to suffering and death on a cross.
And now God the Father takes center stage. After Christ’s humility and obedience, God took the initiative and exalted Jesus to the highest place and he gave Jesus the name that is above every name. Jesus was exalted to a place of superiority over all of creation; when he ascended to heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father his superiority is clearly revealed. And God gave him the name that is above every name. A name fitting for one equal to God, a name that would be acknowledged by all. And so, at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Jesus Christ is Lord!
So Christ is held up as an example to the church at Philippi and to us. If we are faithful, humble, and obedient, we too will receive the prize. We will attain the goal. “Just as Christ’s faithfulness will lead to the universal acknowledgment of his position, so their [and our] faithfulness will lead to identity with Christ and resurrection from the dead on the last day.”( Thielman, Frank. The NIV Application Commentary: Philippians p. 122. )
Christ is presented as an example to the Philippians and to us. We are to pursue humility and put the needs and interests of others before our own, not counting our rights, but imitating Christ Jesus who didn’t hold on to the rights or power or privilege that being equal to God would give him. Instead Christ became a slave, the lowest of the low, and was obedient even to death. We are to pursue the same kind of obedience, and if we are faithful and obedient as Christ was faithful and obedient, the last day, the judgment day, will bring our exaltation.
When we believe and say that Jesus is Lord, we seek to imitate Christ, and our lives will be lives of humility, of self-giving service and obedience. Our relationships with others, which each other, will be characterized by humility, service and obedience. And God works in us to accomplish this. He works in us to help us to be humble. He helps us to serve. He helps us to be obedient. And on the last day we will have to give an account of our relationships with those around us. And we pray that we will hear these words: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Master” (Matt 25:21).
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