Greetings! My name is Egeria. I see you are celebrating Palm Sunday. All those palms in your hands remind me of the time when I traveled to the Holy Land a few years ago – it was 381 or 382, I can't quite remember. It was a long journey from Western Europe. I left my friends behind and made the pilgrimage – and oh the wonders I saw there! I visited the Mount of Olives, Mount Zion, Calvary, Bethlehem and Gethsemane – so many places where our Lord Jesus walked and taught, and prayed. Where he was crucified and where he was buried. I was there during Holy Week and was able to join with our Christian brothers and sisters there as they observed the special days by visiting all these special cites, saying prayers, singing psalms and hearing the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ passion. It was wonderful!
Have you been there? No? Not many can afford such a long journey. I was away for such a long time. I have several sisters who prayed for me while I was away and I kept a diary of my time there, so they would know all that I saw and heard. I will read parts of it to you if you like.
I understand that many western Christians have been inspired by pilgrimages like mine. And since they couldn’t go to Jerusalem themselves, they have created a set of sites in their church yards or around their sanctuaries where they can see pictures of these places, and meditate on Christ’s love for us they way I did in Jerusalem. I think some call them the Stations of the Cross? Your pastor has said that you aren’t used to getting up and walking from station to station in your congregation. So we have some pictures of the sites for you to look at.
But you can still do what I did in the Holy Land so long ago. Listen to the gospel, sing hymns and reflect on the wondrous love of Jesus Christ for the world. From time to time I’ll interrupt and share my memories of Holy Week when I was on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. May the Lord Bless us all.
I Jesus Enters Jerusalem Luke 19:28-40
After saying these things, Jesus headed straight up to Jerusalem. When he got near Bethphage and Bethany at the mountain called Olives, he sent off two of the disciples with instructions: “Go to the village across from you. As soon as you enter, you’ll find a colt tethered, one that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says anything, or asks, ‘What are you doing?’ say, ‘His Master needs him.’”
The two left and found it just as he said. As they were untying the colt, its owners said, “what are you doing untying the colt?”
They said, “His Master needs him.”
They brought the colt to Jesus. Then, throwing their coats on its back, they helped Jesus get on. As he rode, the people gave him a grand welcome, throwing their coats on the street.
Right at the crest, where Mount Olives begins its descent, the whole crowd of disciples burst into enthusiastic praise over all the mighty works they had witnessed:
Blessed is he who comes, the king comes in God’s name!
All’s well in heaven! Glory in the high places!
Some Pharasees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, get your disciples under control!”
But he said, “If they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise.”
Egeria: The passage from the Gospel is read, where the children, carrying branches and palms, met the Lord, saying; Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord, and the bishop immediately rises, and all the people with him, and they all go on foot from the top of the Mount of Olives, all the people going before him with hymns and antiphons, answering one to another: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.
And all the children in the neighborhood, even those who are too young to walk, are carried by their parents on their shoulders, all of them bearing branches, some of palms and some of olives, and thus the bishop is escorted in the same manner as the Lord was of old.
For all, even those of rank, both matrons and men, accompany the bishop all the way on foot in this manner, making these responses, from the top of the mount to the city, and thence through the whole city to and thus they arrive at a late hour. And on arriving, although it is late, night prayer takes place, with prayer at the Cross; after which the people are dismissed.
Hymn Hosanna Loud Hosanna #278
II Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane Luke 22:39-46
Jesus came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed. “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. When he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial.”
Egeria: And then all, even to the smallest child, go down with the Bishop, on foot, with hymns to Gethsemane; where, on account of the great number of people in the crowd, who are wearied, owing to the vigils, and weak through the daily fasts, and because they have so great a hill to descend, they come very slowly with hymns to Gethsemane. And over two hundred church candles are made ready to give light to all the people.
Reflection
III Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested Luke 22:47-48,52-54
While Jesus was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus said to him, “Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?” Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!” Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house.
Reflection
IV Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin Mark 14:55-64
Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” But even on this point their testimony did not agree. Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?” But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I am; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power.’ And ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’” Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?” All of them condemned him as deserving death.
Hymn Ah, Holy Jesus #289
V Jesus is denied by Peter Luke 22:55-62
When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
Reflection
VI Jesus is judged by Pilate Luke 23:1-5
Then the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus before Pilate. They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.” Then Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered, “You say so.” Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.” But they were insistent and said, “He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place.”
Hymn What Wondrous Love is This? #292
VII Jesus is flogged and crowned with thorns John 19:1-3
Then Pialte took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face.
Egeria: Before the sun rises, they all go at once with fervor to Zion, to pray at the column at which the Lord was scourged. And returning thence they sit for awhile in their houses, and presently all are ready.
Reflection
VIII Jesus takes up His cross John 19:16-17
Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.
Hymn Beneath the Cross of Jesus #297
IX Jesus is helped by Simon to carry His cross Luke 23:26-28
As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
Reflection
X Jesus is crucified Mark 15:22-27
Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left.
Egeria: Then a chair is placed for the bishop in Golgotha behind the Cross, which is now standing; the bishop duly takes his seat in the chair, and a table covered with a linen cloth is placed before him; the deacons stand round the table, and a silver-gilt casket is brought in which is the holy wood of the Cross. The casket is opened and (the wood) is taken out, and both the wood of the Cross, and the title are placed upon the table.
And as all the people pass by one by one, all bowing themselves, they touch the Cross and the title, first with their foreheads and then with their eyes; then they kiss the Cross and pass through, but none lays his hand upon it to touch it.
Reflection
XI Jesus promises His kingdom to the repentant thief Luke 23:39-43
One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done mothering wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Hymn Someone’s Hanging Beside Me
XII Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other John 19:26-27
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
Reflection
XIII Jesus dies on the cross Luke 23:44-49
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Hymn Why Has God Forsaken Me? #2110
Presentation of Tithes and Offerings
*Doxology #95
*Prayer of Dedication
XIV Jesus is laid in the tomb Luke 23:50-56
Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.
*Hymn Were You There #288
Sarah Laughs
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
God’s Grace II - Isaiah 43:16-21
The Good Old Days
From the start of the industrial revolution the economy of the city of Sheffield, England was based on steel production. But by the 1970s the work became more mechanized and loosing their jobs, the people began to move away. Those who remained sank into poverty, becoming one of the poorest communities in England. By the early 1990s the Methodist church in Sheffiled was down to four people, Ann, Frank, Jack and Mary, whose combined age was just under 300. As you can imagine it became nearly impossible to keep up their church building. Even a pub in the neighborhood went up for auction because it couldn’t sell enough beer. Things were very bad for the church and the surrounding community.
Sheffiled is not very different from most American urban areas. We have seen great change over the past 5 decades. The boom times after WWII led to mass migrations away from the cities, into the suburbs. Urban communities declined into poverty, and the population there changed as the long-term residents aged, and immigrants increasingly moved into the neighborhoods. During this time most mainline urban churches have greatly declined as the children moved away, and cultural barriers made it nearly impossible for the new residents of the city to be at home in the old established congregations.
The community of Israelites at the time of Isaiah also knew bad times. Their country, once united and strong under kings David and Solomon had first divided in a civil war, and then been conquered by the Assyrians and Babylonians. By the time of Isaiah few Israelites lived in their own land, but had been dispersed through the vast Babylonian empire.
What can we, the people of God, do in times like these?
Remember the Past
One thing that can help is to remember past times when God’s grace was evident. It is often easier to see God’s grace in our lives when we look back. And telling the stories of how God saved us in the past can give us courage and strength to face present problems. Our passage from Isaiah today exhibits this pattern. The Lord “makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters…brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise.” Here the Israelite captives in Babylon are reminded of the time when their great, great grandparents were held captive in Egypt and how God parted the Red Sea so they could pass over. Then when the Egyptian army with its horse drawn chariots followed into the seabed, they were destroyed as the water came crashing around them. The people Isaiah spoke to knew very well the rest of the story; how God led them through the wilderness as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; how God gave them manna from heaven when they were hungry, and water from a rock when they had thirst; and how God eventually led them across the Jordan river to the Promised Land. Remembering such a good story of God’s mighty acts served to cheer up the Babylonian captives, to help them take heart in their current situation.
When I was serving my first congregation in Lynn, I discovered that many of the stories the members told me were of the glory days of that church. They had some beloved pastors. One, Wilbur Ziegler was a great preacher – so good that our Conference preaching award is named after him. Another amazingly managed to serve the congregation for over 20 years. In those days the fairs were glorious; the Sunday School teamed, children were lured on Sundays in order to participate in the wildly popular musical productions led by a talented and dedicated choir director. Most people walked to church from the surrounding neighborhood. At the end of the 1990s when the congregation had aged, and most of those Sunday School children grew up and moved away, and the list of official members on the books was many times more than those who came to worship, those who remained found comfort in remembering the good years of the church.
I suspect that the members of the Methodist church in Sheffield were no different. And things went along at a slow but steady rate of decline until there were only four members left. When it came down to Ann, Frank, Jack and Mary rattling around in a big building which they couldn’t afford to maintain, those old memories of glory days were no longer helpful.
Do Not Remember?
It might seem a little shocking when Isaiah shifts so quickly from reminding the Israelites of God’s gift of salvation from Egypt in the past, to this, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.” Yet we can see how remembering the glory days can change from a source of comfort to a trap of inertia if we aren’t careful. The pop singer of my youth, Bruce Springsteen, captures this trap in his song Glory Days. He sings of one young mother, lonely and divorced, who says, when she feels like crying she starts laughing thinking about the glory days. But he also lifts up the friend whose only topic of conversation is the days when he was a high school baseball hero. Springsteen ends his song by admitting that time slips away and leaves you with nothing but boring stories of glory days.
There are three ways we can get stuck living in the past. First we can just be mesmerized into inertia, trying to live in the past. Churches who persist in putting on a fair even though fewer and older people are doing all the work, few if any people from outside the congregation come to it and it no longer generates much income, are living in the past.
Another way we can be stuck in the past is by remembering the disasters of life and holding on to the anger, or allowing fear of similar disasters to keep us from trying something new. Before I went to seminary the UMC offered a program called Vision 2000. My church in Amherst participated and I was on the visioning team. The assumption was that things would be very different at the turn of the century and we should prepare for it. We worked earnestly at the process given to us, and so did many other congregations. The problem was, it didn’t work. We didn’t get any new or exciting visions, some of the steps fell flat, and by New Year’s Eve 1999 the program was largely forgotten. If we remember the past and get stuck in it, we are likely to balk at any new program our denomination offers us. Natural Church Development? Equipped for Every Good Work? Rethink Church? These things never work, so we don’t even try.
Finally we can get stuck thinking that God’s grace will come to us in the future exactly as it did in the past. If the Israelites in Babylonian captivity waited for a new Moses to be lifted up, they would have never returned home to Israel. God blessed the mainline churches of America with a baby boom, and some other compelling social conditions in the post war era that made them grow bigger than at any other time in history. But that doesn’t mean this is how God will grow our churches now.
Something New
Through Isaiah God’s voice chimes in, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people.”
For the Israelites the new thing God did involved leading some of them back to Israel to rebuild the temple. But ever since Babylon, many more Jews have continued to live in the Diaspora through the Mideast, spreading to Europe and eventually to America and other lands. And after the temple was destroyed again in 70 AD the new thing God did involved the rise of the synagogues in Jewish communities, with Rabbi’s taking the place of leadership once held by the Temple priests. From a Christian perspective this new development paved the way for Jewish followers of Christ to spread his gospel – the first missionaries like Paul frequently stopped at the synagogues when they traveled with the Good News.
Remember Ann, Frank, Jack and Mary from Sheffield? The new thing God led them to do was to finally sell their big old church building and purchase that neighborhood pub, called the Furnival, when it was sold at auction. They agreed to buy it for almost 50,000 pounds – an amount they didn’t have at the time. But the four found the funds with help of a charitable trust, attracted a Baptist pastor to come work with them for only 6,000 pounds a year and they opened the new Furnival in September of 1996. Then they started by praying, reading scripture and listening to the people in the neighborhood. Asking what they wanted, what they needed, and what new thing God had equipped them to do. The people asked for a quiet spiritual place to pray. And a place that would help them deal with issues of social justice and oppression in the community. The faith community started to grow, slowly – but the work of reaching out to the community really took off. The church members see themselves like yeast in the dough – not trying to make the whole community be yeast – but helping the depressed neighborhood rise. At first they opened a café where people could find an accepting place of welcome, similar to the old pub (“everybody knows your name”). Now it has two main efforts – the Cellar Space which works in educating youth who have trouble with school, and health and well-being projects. They also manage some storefronts and offer some rooms for community meeting space.
Wesley Church has a similar story of something new that God has led us toward in the merger of the original church with the Korean congregation. But that merger is 10 years old – not so new any more. We’ve had time to get used to one another and to settle into some regular patterns. And so God’s word for us today presents us with a challenge. “I am about to do a new thing; now it spring forth, do you not perceive it?” What new thing does God want to do with us? Does God want to fill up this sanctuary at 10 on Sundays? Perhaps. Does God want us to develop something new between the English and Korean members? I believe so. Does God want us to be yeast in the Hillside neighborhood of Medford? What do our current neighbors need and want?
How can we share God’s grace beyond our loving little community?
This is what I have been thinking and praying about. I hope you will join me in this effort during the season of Lent. Lent is not only a time of letting go of some things, it is a time to be open to new things, to stretch our limbs so that they can bend in new directions, to loosen up so that God can mold us and make us according to his gracious will.
Will you join me in prayer? God of creation, the flow of infinite life in your Spirit dislodges and moves all that stands between God’s never-failing grace and us. Form us as your people. Form us to learn from the past, but not to live in it, as we move into your future. Form us to listen for your voice – springing forth in creation, breaking out in Spirit, and calling all to something new.
From the start of the industrial revolution the economy of the city of Sheffield, England was based on steel production. But by the 1970s the work became more mechanized and loosing their jobs, the people began to move away. Those who remained sank into poverty, becoming one of the poorest communities in England. By the early 1990s the Methodist church in Sheffiled was down to four people, Ann, Frank, Jack and Mary, whose combined age was just under 300. As you can imagine it became nearly impossible to keep up their church building. Even a pub in the neighborhood went up for auction because it couldn’t sell enough beer. Things were very bad for the church and the surrounding community.
Sheffiled is not very different from most American urban areas. We have seen great change over the past 5 decades. The boom times after WWII led to mass migrations away from the cities, into the suburbs. Urban communities declined into poverty, and the population there changed as the long-term residents aged, and immigrants increasingly moved into the neighborhoods. During this time most mainline urban churches have greatly declined as the children moved away, and cultural barriers made it nearly impossible for the new residents of the city to be at home in the old established congregations.
The community of Israelites at the time of Isaiah also knew bad times. Their country, once united and strong under kings David and Solomon had first divided in a civil war, and then been conquered by the Assyrians and Babylonians. By the time of Isaiah few Israelites lived in their own land, but had been dispersed through the vast Babylonian empire.
What can we, the people of God, do in times like these?
Remember the Past
One thing that can help is to remember past times when God’s grace was evident. It is often easier to see God’s grace in our lives when we look back. And telling the stories of how God saved us in the past can give us courage and strength to face present problems. Our passage from Isaiah today exhibits this pattern. The Lord “makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters…brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise.” Here the Israelite captives in Babylon are reminded of the time when their great, great grandparents were held captive in Egypt and how God parted the Red Sea so they could pass over. Then when the Egyptian army with its horse drawn chariots followed into the seabed, they were destroyed as the water came crashing around them. The people Isaiah spoke to knew very well the rest of the story; how God led them through the wilderness as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; how God gave them manna from heaven when they were hungry, and water from a rock when they had thirst; and how God eventually led them across the Jordan river to the Promised Land. Remembering such a good story of God’s mighty acts served to cheer up the Babylonian captives, to help them take heart in their current situation.
When I was serving my first congregation in Lynn, I discovered that many of the stories the members told me were of the glory days of that church. They had some beloved pastors. One, Wilbur Ziegler was a great preacher – so good that our Conference preaching award is named after him. Another amazingly managed to serve the congregation for over 20 years. In those days the fairs were glorious; the Sunday School teamed, children were lured on Sundays in order to participate in the wildly popular musical productions led by a talented and dedicated choir director. Most people walked to church from the surrounding neighborhood. At the end of the 1990s when the congregation had aged, and most of those Sunday School children grew up and moved away, and the list of official members on the books was many times more than those who came to worship, those who remained found comfort in remembering the good years of the church.
I suspect that the members of the Methodist church in Sheffield were no different. And things went along at a slow but steady rate of decline until there were only four members left. When it came down to Ann, Frank, Jack and Mary rattling around in a big building which they couldn’t afford to maintain, those old memories of glory days were no longer helpful.
Do Not Remember?
It might seem a little shocking when Isaiah shifts so quickly from reminding the Israelites of God’s gift of salvation from Egypt in the past, to this, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.” Yet we can see how remembering the glory days can change from a source of comfort to a trap of inertia if we aren’t careful. The pop singer of my youth, Bruce Springsteen, captures this trap in his song Glory Days. He sings of one young mother, lonely and divorced, who says, when she feels like crying she starts laughing thinking about the glory days. But he also lifts up the friend whose only topic of conversation is the days when he was a high school baseball hero. Springsteen ends his song by admitting that time slips away and leaves you with nothing but boring stories of glory days.
There are three ways we can get stuck living in the past. First we can just be mesmerized into inertia, trying to live in the past. Churches who persist in putting on a fair even though fewer and older people are doing all the work, few if any people from outside the congregation come to it and it no longer generates much income, are living in the past.
Another way we can be stuck in the past is by remembering the disasters of life and holding on to the anger, or allowing fear of similar disasters to keep us from trying something new. Before I went to seminary the UMC offered a program called Vision 2000. My church in Amherst participated and I was on the visioning team. The assumption was that things would be very different at the turn of the century and we should prepare for it. We worked earnestly at the process given to us, and so did many other congregations. The problem was, it didn’t work. We didn’t get any new or exciting visions, some of the steps fell flat, and by New Year’s Eve 1999 the program was largely forgotten. If we remember the past and get stuck in it, we are likely to balk at any new program our denomination offers us. Natural Church Development? Equipped for Every Good Work? Rethink Church? These things never work, so we don’t even try.
Finally we can get stuck thinking that God’s grace will come to us in the future exactly as it did in the past. If the Israelites in Babylonian captivity waited for a new Moses to be lifted up, they would have never returned home to Israel. God blessed the mainline churches of America with a baby boom, and some other compelling social conditions in the post war era that made them grow bigger than at any other time in history. But that doesn’t mean this is how God will grow our churches now.
Something New
Through Isaiah God’s voice chimes in, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people.”
For the Israelites the new thing God did involved leading some of them back to Israel to rebuild the temple. But ever since Babylon, many more Jews have continued to live in the Diaspora through the Mideast, spreading to Europe and eventually to America and other lands. And after the temple was destroyed again in 70 AD the new thing God did involved the rise of the synagogues in Jewish communities, with Rabbi’s taking the place of leadership once held by the Temple priests. From a Christian perspective this new development paved the way for Jewish followers of Christ to spread his gospel – the first missionaries like Paul frequently stopped at the synagogues when they traveled with the Good News.
Remember Ann, Frank, Jack and Mary from Sheffield? The new thing God led them to do was to finally sell their big old church building and purchase that neighborhood pub, called the Furnival, when it was sold at auction. They agreed to buy it for almost 50,000 pounds – an amount they didn’t have at the time. But the four found the funds with help of a charitable trust, attracted a Baptist pastor to come work with them for only 6,000 pounds a year and they opened the new Furnival in September of 1996. Then they started by praying, reading scripture and listening to the people in the neighborhood. Asking what they wanted, what they needed, and what new thing God had equipped them to do. The people asked for a quiet spiritual place to pray. And a place that would help them deal with issues of social justice and oppression in the community. The faith community started to grow, slowly – but the work of reaching out to the community really took off. The church members see themselves like yeast in the dough – not trying to make the whole community be yeast – but helping the depressed neighborhood rise. At first they opened a café where people could find an accepting place of welcome, similar to the old pub (“everybody knows your name”). Now it has two main efforts – the Cellar Space which works in educating youth who have trouble with school, and health and well-being projects. They also manage some storefronts and offer some rooms for community meeting space.
Wesley Church has a similar story of something new that God has led us toward in the merger of the original church with the Korean congregation. But that merger is 10 years old – not so new any more. We’ve had time to get used to one another and to settle into some regular patterns. And so God’s word for us today presents us with a challenge. “I am about to do a new thing; now it spring forth, do you not perceive it?” What new thing does God want to do with us? Does God want to fill up this sanctuary at 10 on Sundays? Perhaps. Does God want us to develop something new between the English and Korean members? I believe so. Does God want us to be yeast in the Hillside neighborhood of Medford? What do our current neighbors need and want?
How can we share God’s grace beyond our loving little community?
This is what I have been thinking and praying about. I hope you will join me in this effort during the season of Lent. Lent is not only a time of letting go of some things, it is a time to be open to new things, to stretch our limbs so that they can bend in new directions, to loosen up so that God can mold us and make us according to his gracious will.
Will you join me in prayer? God of creation, the flow of infinite life in your Spirit dislodges and moves all that stands between God’s never-failing grace and us. Form us as your people. Form us to learn from the past, but not to live in it, as we move into your future. Form us to listen for your voice – springing forth in creation, breaking out in Spirit, and calling all to something new.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
God’s Grace I
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
March 14, 2010
There are many stories in the Bible. So many that to distinguish one story from another we usually give them titles. The Good Samaritan, Noah’s Ark, Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat… People often call the story I just read The Prodigal Son. That’s an odd name – in fact I have never heard the word “prodigal” used except in reference to this story. I wasn’t even sure what “prodigal” meant – I had to look it up in the dictionary. This made me wonder if we might consider giving the story a different name – something more people would understand.
Prodigal Son
When people think of this as the story of the Prodigal Son they are focusing mostly on the younger son. Prodigal means wastefully or recklessly extravagant, and that’s what this younger son became. He asked his father to give him all of his inheritance right away. Then he turned his back on his family, sold the property, moved far away and was recklessly extravagant with what he had until all his money was gone. When he was finally desperate enough to look for a job the only work he could find was feeding the pigs. And then he was still so poor and hungry he wished he could eat their corncobs. We might think of this young person as a student who goes off to a very expensive college and then skips her classes, spending all of her time going to the movies, shopping, out to dinner, to parties and eventually flunking out. Or this person might be like a senior who takes all his money out of his investments, hops a bus to Foxwoods and gambles it all away until there is nothing left and he becomes homeless.
Perhaps a better title for this story would be the Wasteful Son or the Sinful Son – for besides being wasteful of what he had, the son’s sins include breaking his relationships with his family, treating his father disrespectfully and even associating with disreputable people. Since we are in the season of Lent, a time when Christians are called to examine our lives and acknowledge our sins it might be fitting for us to hear Jesus’ teaching about sinfulness.
Some say that humans have to hit bottom before we repent of our sins and this is apparently what the younger son did. Finally, poor, humiliated and hungry he came to himself and began to make his way home. He realized that he had treated his father very poorly and didn’t deserve to be treated like a son. But he knew that his father was kind even to the servants, so he hoped that his life would be better if he returned home.
As he walks along the son makes up a speech in his head, rehearsing what he will say to his dad – trying to get the words just right, hoping that he might convince his father to accept him back. The son’s speech is a good pattern for acknowledging our sins before God. Listen again to his words. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” The young man starts by addressing God as Father. That very address shows the type of relationship between him and God. Not as a slave to a master, not as a student to a teacher, not as a serf to a Lord, but as a child to a loving parent. Father. Then comes the confession. “I have sinned against heaven and before you.” He doesn’t sugar coat anything, he doesn’t try to make excuses for his behavior. He just states it plainly and clearly. I have sinned; confession. Then comes contrition - which means being humble, deflating one’s ego, stating the truth “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” He realizes that after his bad behavior he doesn’t deserve any more special favors. He will be content with much less than he had before. And finally the son makes his request, his petition. “Treat me like one of your hired hands.”
This pattern can be useful for us as we examine our lives in this season of Lent. When we find a sin for which we are ready to repent we can follow these steps. Turn to God as our loving parent, trusting in God’s goodness and love for us. Then state our sin plainly and simply, with a contrite, humble spirit and finally make our request of God.
Angry Brother
But there is a problem with calling this story the Prodigal Son or the Sinful Son. He’s not the only son in the story. Jesus starts the parable, “There was a man who had two sons.” The other son is the older one, the good son who stayed home, obeyed his father, and worked hard. What about him? One hint that this Son is also an important part of the story comes from the very beginning of Chapter 15. Here we read that Jesus told this story in response to a complaint of the Pharisees and scribes. Pharisees and scribes were good people. They tried very hard to live by God’s laws, to rid their lives of all sin. And they were upset with Jesus because he was associating with sinful people. He was teaching them, and even sitting down to eat with them. The older brother in the story is just like the Pharisees and scribes. When his younger brother returns home, ragged and poor, a family disgrace, he is not pleased. He clearly keeps his distance from his brother. (see him on the right of the painting). When he speaks about him to his father he calls him “this son of yours.” The idea that the father not only welcomes the wasteful younger son back as a son, but even lavishes gifts and throws a party with the most expensive food makes the older brother furious. He says what many children say when they think their parents favor a brother or sister, “It’s not fair! It’s not fair. I’m the good son. I’ve stayed home and worked hard and you’ve never even given a pizza party for me and my friends.” You love him better. He took all that money from the family and wasted it. And now he’s come home and you’re giving him presents and throwing him a banquet and hired a D. J. It’s not fair!” And he sulks outside, refusing to join in the fun.
So perhaps we should call this story the parable of the older brother; or the sinful sons. Though he doesn’t see it, this older brother is also sinful. Even though he thinks he’s been working so hard to be good, even though he has remained home, dutifully doing his chores his attitude at his brother’s return reveals his offenses. There is a fine line between trying to be righteous and becoming self-righteous. It’s one reason many people outside the church find fault with those of us in the church – we can seem like goody two shoes, hypocritical, harsh. When I look for myself in this parable I know that I am much more like this older brother than the younger one. In trying so hard to be a good person, to keep the laws of God, I struggle with the bad habit of judging others. And like this brother my judgments are harsh and I am slow to forgive those whom I believe have wronged me. All of this ends up hurting my relationships. I end up seeing my brothers and sisters as enemies. I become blinded to the blessings God has graciously given to me, or I start thinking I have earned the good things in my life rather than acknowledging that they are free gifts from God.
When we look at the older brother we see that he is far from confessing his sins. First he doesn’t address his father at all. He just starts out in his tirade, “Listen!” Second, he doesn’t confess that he has sinned. Instead he tries to justify his anger. “For all these years I have been working like a slave for you.” Third, his pride keeps him from being contrite or humble about what he deserves. “I have never disobeyed your command.” He clearly fails to see that not welcoming his brother home is disobeying the command to love his brother as himself. Finally, though the older son might have wanted his father to throw him a party with his friends he doesn’t ask for it, but only accuses the father of not giving it to him. I suspect many of us here might have more in common with the older son than with the younger one.
The only problem with naming the story after either brother is that it might leave us feeling bad because it focuses our attention on our sins. And I believe that this Bible is a book full of Good News, and that even in the season of Lent God wants us to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. So I propose changing the name of this story to the Gracious Father.
Gracious Father
After all Jesus starts the story with the father. “There was a man who had two sons.” When we look at the father as the main character of the story we find someone who is kind, generous and forgiving. When his younger son asks to take his inheritance early, the father doesn’t become offended, as many fathers might. This father divides his property – the Greek word is bios – he divided his life between his children. While the father didn’t try to stop his younger son from being wasteful, or keep him from suffering the consequences, he did maintain a spirit of hope that the son would return one day. Jesus says that the father saw his repentant son while he was still far off, and then filled with deep love and compassion, the father ran to meet his beloved child. When this younger son made his speech the father interrupted him. And rather than being angry, or punishing his child any further, he joyfully offered him new cloths, a ring and sandals and then threw a party. He showed everyone his delight – the son who had been lost was found!
It is true that the father’s relationship to the elder son was different. He was pleased that his elder son was always with him. From the father’s point of view all that he had belonged to this son. If he wanted a party with his friends, all that the son needed to do was ask. And just as the father went out to meet his younger son, so he went out to meet his sulking older son with love and compassion and an invitation to celebrate. In both cases the father works to restore relationships – his relationship with his children as their father, and their relationship with each other as brothers. The good news is that God is very much like the Gracious Father – whether we are more like the wasteful son, or more like the angry son.
I receive
In some ways the story of the gracious father is not finished. We are left to wonder if the older son will let his heart melt towards his family, and humbly and joyfully accept the invitation.
This reminds me of my daughter Grace. Sometimes when Grace gets hungry and I’m a little slow to start feeding her she can start crying, and by the time I get the nipple in her mouth she is crying so hard that she can’t pause long enough to suck for the few moments it takes to get the milk flowing. Everything she needs is right there, ready for her. But she needs to calm down enough to be able to receive it.
God is like the gracious father, forgiving, loving, kind and ready to celebrate when we turn and seek to find our home with him. God invites us to partake of the banquet of life, full of many blessings. If we are like the wasteful son, when we repent through confession and contrition God will change our unworthiness with his loveliness. When we turn to our tender God he will melt our bitterness. All we need to do is receive his love.
March 14, 2010
There are many stories in the Bible. So many that to distinguish one story from another we usually give them titles. The Good Samaritan, Noah’s Ark, Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat… People often call the story I just read The Prodigal Son. That’s an odd name – in fact I have never heard the word “prodigal” used except in reference to this story. I wasn’t even sure what “prodigal” meant – I had to look it up in the dictionary. This made me wonder if we might consider giving the story a different name – something more people would understand.
Prodigal Son
When people think of this as the story of the Prodigal Son they are focusing mostly on the younger son. Prodigal means wastefully or recklessly extravagant, and that’s what this younger son became. He asked his father to give him all of his inheritance right away. Then he turned his back on his family, sold the property, moved far away and was recklessly extravagant with what he had until all his money was gone. When he was finally desperate enough to look for a job the only work he could find was feeding the pigs. And then he was still so poor and hungry he wished he could eat their corncobs. We might think of this young person as a student who goes off to a very expensive college and then skips her classes, spending all of her time going to the movies, shopping, out to dinner, to parties and eventually flunking out. Or this person might be like a senior who takes all his money out of his investments, hops a bus to Foxwoods and gambles it all away until there is nothing left and he becomes homeless.
Perhaps a better title for this story would be the Wasteful Son or the Sinful Son – for besides being wasteful of what he had, the son’s sins include breaking his relationships with his family, treating his father disrespectfully and even associating with disreputable people. Since we are in the season of Lent, a time when Christians are called to examine our lives and acknowledge our sins it might be fitting for us to hear Jesus’ teaching about sinfulness.
Some say that humans have to hit bottom before we repent of our sins and this is apparently what the younger son did. Finally, poor, humiliated and hungry he came to himself and began to make his way home. He realized that he had treated his father very poorly and didn’t deserve to be treated like a son. But he knew that his father was kind even to the servants, so he hoped that his life would be better if he returned home.
As he walks along the son makes up a speech in his head, rehearsing what he will say to his dad – trying to get the words just right, hoping that he might convince his father to accept him back. The son’s speech is a good pattern for acknowledging our sins before God. Listen again to his words. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” The young man starts by addressing God as Father. That very address shows the type of relationship between him and God. Not as a slave to a master, not as a student to a teacher, not as a serf to a Lord, but as a child to a loving parent. Father. Then comes the confession. “I have sinned against heaven and before you.” He doesn’t sugar coat anything, he doesn’t try to make excuses for his behavior. He just states it plainly and clearly. I have sinned; confession. Then comes contrition - which means being humble, deflating one’s ego, stating the truth “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” He realizes that after his bad behavior he doesn’t deserve any more special favors. He will be content with much less than he had before. And finally the son makes his request, his petition. “Treat me like one of your hired hands.”
This pattern can be useful for us as we examine our lives in this season of Lent. When we find a sin for which we are ready to repent we can follow these steps. Turn to God as our loving parent, trusting in God’s goodness and love for us. Then state our sin plainly and simply, with a contrite, humble spirit and finally make our request of God.
Angry Brother
But there is a problem with calling this story the Prodigal Son or the Sinful Son. He’s not the only son in the story. Jesus starts the parable, “There was a man who had two sons.” The other son is the older one, the good son who stayed home, obeyed his father, and worked hard. What about him? One hint that this Son is also an important part of the story comes from the very beginning of Chapter 15. Here we read that Jesus told this story in response to a complaint of the Pharisees and scribes. Pharisees and scribes were good people. They tried very hard to live by God’s laws, to rid their lives of all sin. And they were upset with Jesus because he was associating with sinful people. He was teaching them, and even sitting down to eat with them. The older brother in the story is just like the Pharisees and scribes. When his younger brother returns home, ragged and poor, a family disgrace, he is not pleased. He clearly keeps his distance from his brother. (see him on the right of the painting). When he speaks about him to his father he calls him “this son of yours.” The idea that the father not only welcomes the wasteful younger son back as a son, but even lavishes gifts and throws a party with the most expensive food makes the older brother furious. He says what many children say when they think their parents favor a brother or sister, “It’s not fair! It’s not fair. I’m the good son. I’ve stayed home and worked hard and you’ve never even given a pizza party for me and my friends.” You love him better. He took all that money from the family and wasted it. And now he’s come home and you’re giving him presents and throwing him a banquet and hired a D. J. It’s not fair!” And he sulks outside, refusing to join in the fun.
So perhaps we should call this story the parable of the older brother; or the sinful sons. Though he doesn’t see it, this older brother is also sinful. Even though he thinks he’s been working so hard to be good, even though he has remained home, dutifully doing his chores his attitude at his brother’s return reveals his offenses. There is a fine line between trying to be righteous and becoming self-righteous. It’s one reason many people outside the church find fault with those of us in the church – we can seem like goody two shoes, hypocritical, harsh. When I look for myself in this parable I know that I am much more like this older brother than the younger one. In trying so hard to be a good person, to keep the laws of God, I struggle with the bad habit of judging others. And like this brother my judgments are harsh and I am slow to forgive those whom I believe have wronged me. All of this ends up hurting my relationships. I end up seeing my brothers and sisters as enemies. I become blinded to the blessings God has graciously given to me, or I start thinking I have earned the good things in my life rather than acknowledging that they are free gifts from God.
When we look at the older brother we see that he is far from confessing his sins. First he doesn’t address his father at all. He just starts out in his tirade, “Listen!” Second, he doesn’t confess that he has sinned. Instead he tries to justify his anger. “For all these years I have been working like a slave for you.” Third, his pride keeps him from being contrite or humble about what he deserves. “I have never disobeyed your command.” He clearly fails to see that not welcoming his brother home is disobeying the command to love his brother as himself. Finally, though the older son might have wanted his father to throw him a party with his friends he doesn’t ask for it, but only accuses the father of not giving it to him. I suspect many of us here might have more in common with the older son than with the younger one.
The only problem with naming the story after either brother is that it might leave us feeling bad because it focuses our attention on our sins. And I believe that this Bible is a book full of Good News, and that even in the season of Lent God wants us to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. So I propose changing the name of this story to the Gracious Father.
Gracious Father
After all Jesus starts the story with the father. “There was a man who had two sons.” When we look at the father as the main character of the story we find someone who is kind, generous and forgiving. When his younger son asks to take his inheritance early, the father doesn’t become offended, as many fathers might. This father divides his property – the Greek word is bios – he divided his life between his children. While the father didn’t try to stop his younger son from being wasteful, or keep him from suffering the consequences, he did maintain a spirit of hope that the son would return one day. Jesus says that the father saw his repentant son while he was still far off, and then filled with deep love and compassion, the father ran to meet his beloved child. When this younger son made his speech the father interrupted him. And rather than being angry, or punishing his child any further, he joyfully offered him new cloths, a ring and sandals and then threw a party. He showed everyone his delight – the son who had been lost was found!
It is true that the father’s relationship to the elder son was different. He was pleased that his elder son was always with him. From the father’s point of view all that he had belonged to this son. If he wanted a party with his friends, all that the son needed to do was ask. And just as the father went out to meet his younger son, so he went out to meet his sulking older son with love and compassion and an invitation to celebrate. In both cases the father works to restore relationships – his relationship with his children as their father, and their relationship with each other as brothers. The good news is that God is very much like the Gracious Father – whether we are more like the wasteful son, or more like the angry son.
I receive
In some ways the story of the gracious father is not finished. We are left to wonder if the older son will let his heart melt towards his family, and humbly and joyfully accept the invitation.
This reminds me of my daughter Grace. Sometimes when Grace gets hungry and I’m a little slow to start feeding her she can start crying, and by the time I get the nipple in her mouth she is crying so hard that she can’t pause long enough to suck for the few moments it takes to get the milk flowing. Everything she needs is right there, ready for her. But she needs to calm down enough to be able to receive it.
God is like the gracious father, forgiving, loving, kind and ready to celebrate when we turn and seek to find our home with him. God invites us to partake of the banquet of life, full of many blessings. If we are like the wasteful son, when we repent through confession and contrition God will change our unworthiness with his loveliness. When we turn to our tender God he will melt our bitterness. All we need to do is receive his love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)