Year C, Easter 2, John 20.19-31, My Lord and my God

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.  Amen

Faith and Believing is not something we do with our minds, but the state of our hearts and souls.

In fact, it is when doubts assail us that faith and belief are often the strongest, for to have faith, to believe, is to trust in another when nothing whatsoever is certain.

Faith and belief are concepts that have multiple layers of meaning, and because of that, we are often left to struggle with what is meant in a particular situation. 

Back in 2002, on the occasion of Karla and my 25^th wedding anniversary, I became ill.  After a wonderful dinner out with friends and family, it was like a bomb went off in my gut, so severe that I asked Karla to take me into the hospital.

They treated me for a variety of symptoms, and after a few hours, had me settled down.

However, the Dr. said one thing that would have significant consequences.

“Has anyone ever told you that you have a heart murmur?” 

Subsequent tests in the coming weeks and months revealed that I had a mitral valve failure, and needed open heart surgery.

For me that experience became the best example of faith and belief.

There were three things going on.

First, the doctor explained that I had pulmonary hypertension, that is, an elevated blood pressure in my lungs, which is an indication that the mitral valve was not functioning, allowing blood to be pumped back into the lungs instead of just forward into the body.

When the doctor explained that to me, the first issue was did I understand what he was saying? 

This first level, understanding, is one of the dimensions of faith and belief. 

When we say “We believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth” do you understand what that means?  This is a question of intelligence and knowledge.

One of the things that I had to deal with during my treatment is that, aside from that one night, I was symptom free.  There had been no shortness of breath or uncomfortableness that would lead me to think that I had a problem.

So when the doctor told me about my mitral valve and what was wrong, I had to decide whether I would accept what he was saying as being the truth.

This dimension of faith, believing something is actually true, is a matter of conviction.  Not intelligence.

Some very intelligent people may not agree about what is true.  For example, two people may understand quite well what we mean when we say that God created the heavens and the earth, but disagree on whether that is a true statement.

Back to my surgery.

Following all the tests and the determination that I needed surgery, I was introduced to Dr. Sewick. 

Now the question was not about understanding, nor was it about truth, but rather it was about trust.  Specifically, would I trust this man to perform the surgery and fix my heart, knowing that he would stop and start the heart to do it?

Trust in this sense, is all about a relationship.

You can understand something all by yourself.

You can be convinced that something is true all by yourself.

But trust, in this sense, is always trust in another.

So when we talk about our Christian faith, we do so in three different ways.

We talk about our understanding of the Christian beliefs, namely that God created us all, that he has redeemed us, and that by the power of the Holy Spirit he leads us to believe and transforms our life.

We also talk about our Christian faith as a conviction that these things that have been revealed to us through the scriptures and proclamation are in fact true.

But the most important dimension of faith is whether we will trust in God with our whole life and soul.

There’s one other thing about these three dimensions of faith and belief that bears noting.

Only the third dimension that of trusting in the other really matters in the end.

Understanding what was wrong with my heart didn’t save me.

Believing I had a problem did not save me.

It was trusting in Dr. Sewick that saved me.

There’s a verse that I found very meaningful regarding the experience of Easter.

It comes from Luke 24: 41.

While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, .  .  .

What this says to me is that when the disciples experienced the Risen Christ, present in their midst, they didn’t understand what was happening, perhaps they couldn’t even believe that it was true, but nevertheless they were overcome with joy at being with Jesus once again.

Likewise in today’s Gospel reading.

When Jesus appeared among the disciples that Easter evening, they did not understand what was happening, and perhaps were wondering how it could possibly be true, but nevertheless they experienced Jesus, present and with them.

Thomas wasn’t there.

When the disciples shared with Thomas what had happened, Thomas responded “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

For Thomas, two things were extremely important.

First, he wanted to understand what happened.

And second, he needed to see proof that this was true.

When Jesus subsequently appeared also to Thomas Jesus offered to let him feel his wounds, but it was not necessary.

“My Lord and My God.”

My Lord.

My God.

What changed for Thomas was the relationship was reestablished. 

Thomas likely still did not understand.

He probably wondered how this could be true.

But there was his Lord and Savior, Jesus.

And that was all that mattered.

What matters to us?  Nearly two thousand years have passed.  What matters to us today?

We are at a different place than those first disciples of Jesus.

For thousands of years now we have confessed our faith.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

We understand these things that form the nucleus of the Christian teachings about Jesus.

They have become very familiar to us.

And in our country, even though many people are no longer active in the Church, most people will, when asked, say that they believe these things to be true.

But the real question is whether we will trust the Lord our God above all else.

Do we have a personal relationship with Jesus as our Lord and Savior?

Jesus’ disciples struggled to understand.

It was also difficult to believe that this could possibly be true.

But what they could not deny is the experience they had of the Risen Christ.

“My Lord and My God!” Thomas declared.

My Lord and My God!

That is about a relationship.  Not understanding or truth.  But a personal relationship with Jesus.

This can be a struggle.

And it’s easy to get distracted.

As a pastor a whole lot of my life has been devoted to the pursuit of Christian knowledge and understanding, and the convictions that arise out of that about what is true.

In this regard, we train our pastors well.

I have an undergraduate degree in Religion and Philosophy, and four years of seminary to get my Master of Divinity Degree. 

Pastors understand a lot.

And most of us have strong convictions about what is true and what is not.

The real issue though is whether we have encountered the risen Christ and experienced a saving relationship with Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

For us, as for many people, sometimes it is the challenges that we face in life, not our education or convictions that truly test our faith and lead us into a relationship with Jesus.

It is not what we know or believe to be true that saves us.

It is Jesus.

Jesus only.  Standing there in our midst, wounded for our sake, and saying “Peace be with you.”

Amen

If for this life only. . . Easter, 1 Corinthians 15.19-26, John 20.1-18

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.  Amen

The burdens of this life had weighed heavily upon her, and the veil of death hung heavily over her.

As she walked toward the garden tomb that morning, every step was a challenge, as though she carried on her shoulders and enormous load, which she did.

She could not get the image of Jesus, hanging from the cross out of her mind.  His agonizing pain.  The labored breathing.  Blood oozing from the welts on his skin, the horrific reminder of the lashes that ripped at him one by one.

Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit!

And then silence.  A deafening silence.  His body now hanging limp from the cross.  His head resting upon his breast.

Darkness covered the land.

And though the sun would set and rise again, the darkness remained.

Jesus.

Now lifeless flesh, laid in a tomb, and a bittersweet memory of a love cut short.

Mary had hoped.

Mary, together with all the disciples had hoped.

Jesus had talked about the kingdom.  He promised they would see it.  That it was very near.

Purple robes had been draped over him in cruel mockery.  A crown of thorns placed upon his brow.

“This is the King of the Jews”, the inscription that hung over him.

What went wrong?

How could love, that love that had so touched Mary, have been so fleeting?

“Jesus.  My Jesus.  I cannot let go.  My soul grieves.  My heart aches.”

Step by step, she inched closer to the tomb.  Fear and foreboding overwhelmed her.

And then.  And then.

Nothing.  Emptiness.  

They had taken him from the tomb.

Where had they laid him?  Where had he gone?

Mary had been robbed of the love of her life, this Jesus.  Now it seemed, that they had added salt to the wound, not even allowing her proper grief.

All that she had hoped for was now gone with Jesus.  Even his body, taken from her.

One word changed everything.

“Mary!”

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

We hope for many things.

A child is conceived.  Hope abounds.

One wonders if it will be a boy or a girl.

What will he or she do?  Who will they become?

But then there is silence.

Listening for the heart beat, there is silence.

“Come back next week, and we’ll try again."  Still silence.

On a rainy day, we gathered under a tree to bury that unborn child.

My Bible’s pages still are wrinkled by the drops of water that fell as I read from Psalm 139 that day.

13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

that I know very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.

In your book were written

all the days that were formed for me,

when none of them as yet existed.

And then Bill, the dad, gently laid the small box containing the lifeless body of their unborn child into the earth.

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

If there is one thing above all else that I regret about my years of ministry, it is that I buried far too many children.

William Clark Benton born too early to survive.  They took him early, before his lungs were adequately developed, to save the life of his mother.

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Spencer and Andrew Petrina.

Two brothers, both who were born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  SMA

Slowly from birth they began the process of dying.  About a year each one lived.  And then finally the muscles simply did not work anymore. 

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

There was Paul, a nine year old boy, killed while playing with his brothers in a cemetery.  They had been swinging on the rope that hung from the flag pole when the pole collapsed and crushed Paul’s skull.

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Alison and Jazz, young girls, about fifteen, sixteen years old. 

Alison in Thompson Falls.

Jazz in Plevna.

Automobile accidents cut short their lifes.

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

And on the list goes.

I remember Gary, the young father whom cancer claimed.

He left behind two wonderful kids, and a beautiful wife.

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

In short order, over the course of the first few years of my ministry, I had buried someone in every decade of life, from birth till a hundred years old.

One by one.

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

What does it mean to be a Christian?

What is the hope we claim?

We speak about things like new life, and living in the Kingdom now.

We hope that the love of Christ might transform this world.

We pray for ourselves, our families, for one another, and for the world.

Oh how we pray.

One of my vocations as a pastor has been to pray.

In worship, in your homes, in hospital rooms, and in the silence of my own soul, I pray.

That we pray is a confirmation of our hope.

And yet so often, the hopes we have for this life fade with the passing of each day.

The final prayer I offer is this:

“Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant.  Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming.  Receive him/her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light.  Amen”

Ministry has been for me, walking hand in hand with my parishioners through the trials and fears of this world, to the gates of heaven.  And then, letting go, and saying those words “Into your hands, O merciful Savior.”

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Easter.

Flowers.

Bunnies.

Hunting for eggs.  (I truly have never figured out what that is about.  I have no clue what it has to do with Easter.)

We have brunch.  (Can you smell it now?)

Easter is a celebration of the coming of Spring.

Or not.  .  .

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

“Mary!”

I’m increasingly aware that I’ve lived more years already, than I have left to live.

And on numerous occasions, I’ve faced heath issues that might have claimed my life.

Death looms.

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

“Mary!”

That one word, spoken by the Risen Christ, declared to the universe itself that death was not the final word on life.

Eventually, death will call our name, and we will go.

But that is not the final word.

“Mary!”

Or John.  Or Kathryn.  Karl or Rebecca.

Or Spencer, or Andrew, or Gary, or Alison, or Jazz.

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.  Amen

Good Friday, 2019, Today, Paradise

The Story Continues (Luke 23:26-43)

                As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.  A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.  Jesus turned and said to them “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.  For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’  Then “they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’”  For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

                Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.  When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.  Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

                The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him.  They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”

                The soldiers also came up and mocked him.  They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

                There was a written notice above him, which read:  This is the King of the Jews.

                One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him”  “Aren’t you the Christ?  Save yourself and us!”

                But the other criminal rebuked him.  “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.  But this man has done nothing wrong.”

                Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

                Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

A Reading from Genesis:

1 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you." 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you." 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, "Father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" 8 Abraham said, "God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.

9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 12 He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place "The Lord will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided."

Isaiah wrote:

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.

When you make his life an offering for sin,

he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;

through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.

11 Out of his anguish he shall see light;

he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.

The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;

because he poured out himself to death,

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors. 

From the call of Abraham on, it was the plan of salvation that by the sacrifice of a Son we would be redeemed.

"God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son."

God himself will provide his Son, the lamb, for a burnt offering.

The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

It’s hard to fathom, that God had to die.

It’s even harder to fathom, that Christ would willingly pour out his life for us.

What wondrous love is this?

Christ, the atoning sacrifice that paid the price of our sins.

Christ, the one who by his death destroyed the power of death, and opened for us the gates to eternal life.

Christ, who when he was lifted up from the earth drew all people unto himself.

How could God have demanded Abraham sacrifice his son?

How is it then that God himself, instead of Abraham or any of us, would offer HIS son as that sacrifice?

A dying Christ.

Hanging there for you, for me.

There are but two responses.

Ridicule.  Or Adoration.

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him.  They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”

                The soldiers also came up and mocked him.  They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him”  “Aren’t you the Christ?  Save yourself and us!”

“Let him save himself. . .”

“Save yourself.”

“Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him.  “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.  But this man has done nothing wrong.”

                Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

                Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

He would not save himself, for if he did, he could not save us.

And so he died.

Behold your King!

From this earth, we can only see the Cross, yet from the Cross, Christ saw the heavenly throne.

Paradise.

2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

"See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them;

4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away."

5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." (Revelation 21:2-5)

“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

He would be mocked and rejected, for us.

He would suffer the piercing pain of the nails, for us.

He would be ridiculed, for us.

He would bleed, for us.

His final breath, breathed for us.

And then his heart stopped beating, for us.

Such is the love of Jesus.  Such is the heart of Jesus.

He would not save himself, for then he could not save us.

Amen

Just as I have loved you Lent 2019, John 13.1-34,

John 13:1-34

1 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8 Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." 9 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 10 Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."

12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, 'The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. ' 19 I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he. 20 Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me."

21 After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, "Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me." 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. 23 One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; 24 Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. 25 So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?" 26 Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. 27 After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do." 28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the festival"; or, that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come. ' 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

The Gospel of Our Lord.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.  Amen

“God cares for the least of these—which is why he cares for you and me.

And God has provided for us all, which is why he expects us to share with all according to each one’s need.”

“I don’t care what you’ve done,

I don’t care where you’ve been.

I just want you to come home.”

“If we want to know who God is calling us to love and show mercy to, we ought to think about whom it is that we are most uncomfortable showing love and mercy to.

Why?

Because the reason that we are uncomfortable showing love and mercy to them, is the reason they so desperately need to experience the love and mercy of God.”

As a Church we simply cannot be too loving, too forgiving, too merciful, too compassionate, and too accepting.

No amount of grace is too much grace.

Because grace, in all its lavish abundance, is precisely what transforms the lives of sinners and sets us free and brings us back to God.

We are the descendents of the Gentiles, of pagans, of barbarians. That is unless you are of Jewish heritage.

But Jesus doesn’t see that.

Jesus sees each of us as a beloved child of God, of great value, so much so that he would give his life for us.

There is a radical sign that we are being Christ like in our ministries.

How many despicable people are in our midst?

Actually, that is a trick question because if we truly have the heart of Jesus, no one is despicable.

But if we have the heart of Jesus, we will welcome those whom the world despises.

And by loving the unlovable and welcoming the outcast we will all be transformed.

These are themes we’ve explored as we focused on the heart of Jesus, and his gracious love these last few weeks.

We began with the parable of the last judgment.

We heard the story of the prodigal son and his indignant brother.

We saw how the Samaritan, a foreigner, proved to be the true neighbor as he showed mercy.

We witnessed how Jesus refused to condemn the woman caught in adultery.

We explored how Jesus love caused him to reach over every barrier, to reach those on the other side like the Samaritan woman at the well.

And last week, as we heard the story of Zaccheus we were reminded that Jesus can love even those despised by the world.

It is easy to love your mom and your dad.  That’s the first love we experienced.

It is easy to love our brothers and sisters.

It is easy to love that special someone who comes into your life and captures your heart, that one with whom you choose to spend your life.

It is easy to love a son or a daughter, such a precious gift of life.

These familial relationships define us as people.

The love flows naturally and abundantly.

But there is nothing particularly Christian about such love.  Every human experiences this type of love.

As we look into the heart of Jesus, what we discover is a love that goes beyond the normal and natural.

Jesus loves even the unlovable.

It was evening.

Jesus had gathered together with his disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem to share what would prove to be his last meal with them.

It was the custom at that time that a servant would wash the feet of the guests at a festive meal.

There was no such servant there that evening, and so Jesus, removing his outer garments took on the role of a slave and moved about the table, one by one, and washed the disciples feet.

One by one.

Water washing over their feet.

The intimate touch of his hands on their toes.

And then he took the towel tied around his waist and dried their feet.

Perhaps the first to be washed was Matthew, the tax collector, who’d found forgiveness and a place of belonging in this band of disciples.

Judas the son of James.

Bartholomew.

Simon the Zealot,

Thomas

John and James, the sons of Zebedee.

Andrew and Philip.

Another James, son of Alphaeus.

He knelt before Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him and gently washed his feet.

And Peter.  Peter who objected.

One by one, around the room.  The water in the basin getting dirty as the dust of the road was washed from their feet.

One by one Jesus touched them as a servant.

One by one, Jesus knelt before them.

One by one, Jesus loved them.

"Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come. ' 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Just as I have loved you.

We are the least of these whom Jesus loved.

We are the prodigal son whom Jesus loved.

We are the obedient son whom Jesus loved.

We are the Samaritan and the victim lying beside the road whom Jesus loved.

We are the woman caught in adultery whom Jesus loved.

We are the Samaritan woman whom Jesus loved.

We are Zaccheus whom Jesus loved.

We are the beloved disciple, John.

We are Peter, so full of himself, but whom Jesus loved.

We are Judas, the one whom betrayed him, yet whom Jesus loved to the end.

One by one, Jesus knelt before his disciples.

One by one, Jesus washed their feet.

And one by one he loves us all.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

For God so loved the world, that one by one, Jesus washed each of us in the waters of baptism.

One by one we were cleansed.

One by one we who were lost have been found.

And one by one shall we be saved.

May this peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord.  Amen

Loving the unlovable Lent 2019, Luke 19.1-10,

Jesus and Zacchaeus

Luke Chapter 19

1 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." 9 Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.  Amen

OK, you know the song, let’s sing it.

Zacchaeus was a wee little man

And a wee little man was he

He climbed up in a sycamore tree

For the Lord he wanted to see

And when the Savior passed that way

He looked up in the tree

And said, 'Zacchaeus, you come down!

For I'm going to your house today!

For I'm going to your house today!'

Zacchaeus was a wee little man

But a happy man was he

For he had seen the Lord that day

And a happy man was he;

And a very happy man was he

Kind of brings you back to a simpler, easier time in life, doesn’t it.

Reminds me of Sunday School and Vacation Bible School and doing things like building little ‘biblical homes’ out of sugar cubes and popsicle sticks, not to mention the singing of songs like this.

This song, though appropriate for young children, doesn’t quite capture what is going on in this story.

Zacchaeus was a wee little man.

OK, so that is Biblically accurate.  He is described as being short of stature.

There are prejudices against short men.  There is a feeling among some that short men overcompensate for their slight stature with an oversized ego and aggressive personality.

There’s probably not much truth to that.  I don’t know,  as is obvious, I’ve never had to deal with being short.

But Zacchaeus’ problem wasn’t that he was short.

His problem was that he was a chief tax collector, and considered despicable and a traitor and a crook by just about everyone.

He was no Alice N.

Alice is a dear lady in Sandpoint who worked for years in the County Government receiving people’s property tax payments.

People like Alice.

Not Zacchaeus. 

Tax collectors were collecting those taxes for Rome.

Because of that, the tax collectors were considered collaborators with the foreign occupying government, and traitors to their own people.

The way that worked in Jesus’ day is that the Roman Government awarded contracts to people to collect taxes in a specific region, and those contracts would specify how much revenue was to be raised for Rome.  The tax collector was then authorized to raise more than that and by so doing, make a profit for himself.

That Zacchaeus was a rich man suggests that he was using his position as a tax collector to exploit the people.  Hence he was seen as being criminal.

Like I said, despicable.  Hated by all.  Neither loved or respected by any.

I was trying to think who might be like that in our current day and age.

It’s hard to come up with an exact parallel, in part because we are not occupied by a foreign power, so the whole traitorous thing is not part of our experience.

Although, perhaps people who were spies for the Soviet Union might qualify.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed during the Cold War for having sold nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. 

Despicable.

We don’t love tax collectors very much, especially if we’ve had struggles with them.

One of my professors in seminary had an uncle who was a high ranking official with the Internal Revenue Service, and had responsibility for collecting back taxes, I believe.

At any rate, Oscar had to have open heart surgery and was recuperating in the hospital when someone recognized him.

The disgruntled tax payer stuck his head in Oscar’s hospital room and shouted, “I hope you die!”

Despicable.

There are other people whose professions, and criminal inclinations are despicable.

Drug dealers who profit off of addictions.

Despicable.

Human traffickers who exploit women and children for profit.

Despicable.

Imagine then, Jesus encountering someone such as these.

"Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today."

All who saw it began to grumble.

"He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner."

To associate with a notorious sinner is to tolerate, even condone, their sin.  This is a long held belief.

“Jesus, what are you doing???!!!”

Grace changes people.

Grace reaches out to people, where they are, and changes people.

And grace, always comes first.

When we encounter notorious sinners, we have a tendency to insist that they repent before we will associate with them, lest we be seen as condoning their behavior.

But grace comes first.

'Zacchaeus, you come down!

For I'm going to your house today!

These grace filled words of Jesus had a remarkable result.

Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much."

That Zacchaeus would respond in such a manner might well be an indication that he knew all along what he was doing was wrong.

There is a rule of thumb going on here.

If you want to bring about change, you have to change.

If you continue to despise certain people, they will likely remain despicable.

If you learn to love people, they will become more lovable.

Hatred begets hatred.

Love begets love.

Zacchaeus’ life is transformed by this simple act of Jesus.

"Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

Therein lays the challenge for us in the Church.

Do we seek out and save the lost like Jesus did?

Some of the leaders in our Church have pointed out that one of the true signs of an effective evangelism program is how many adult baptisms a congregation celebrates.  The reason being that child baptisms just mean that you’re having kids, adult baptisms mean that you’re reaching out to the unchurched.

Perhaps there is an even more radical sign that we are being Christ like in our ministries.

How many despicable people are in our midst?

Actually, that is a trick question because if we truly have the heart of Jesus, no one is despicable. 

But if we have the heart of Jesus, we will welcome those whom the world despises.

And by loving the unlovable and welcoming the outcast we will all be transformed.

And that’s the thing.  Love transforms both the lover and the beloved.

Churches that reach out to the outcast are changed by that experience, transformed by the Holy Spirit.

And the outcast that are embraced by the love of Christ are themselves changed.

Today Salvation has come to this house for the Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost.

Amen

What must I do? Year C, Lent 5, Philippians 3:4b-14

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.  Amen

How is your relationship with God, today?

That’s the question.

In the end, that’s actually the only question that matters.

Though we never seem to tire of asking other questions.

One of the most common questions that religious people ask is “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

That was the question of the rich young man who had run up to Jesus.  (Mark 10:17)

Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.  You know the commandments:  'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother. '"  He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth."

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

The man left grieving, for he was very rich.

Jesus’ disciples asked  “Who can be saved?”

And Jesus response was "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible."

The Apostle Paul had his own answer to the question of what must I do to inherit eternal life.

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

His point?

He was good according to the rule of doing that which the law required. 

And yet it was all for naught.

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Christians have long been asking that question.

And many have felt confident, like Paul, in the life they’ve led.

In Romans Paul wrote:

Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.

Trust in the promise, that is all.

Trust in the promise.

You are justified by faith apart from works  prescribed in the law.

But then we ask ourselves “What kind of faith must I have in order to be saved?”

It all becomes a contest about believing the right things.

Only believers, specifically those who believe the truth, are saved.

Think about that.

There is so much we do not and cannot know about God and salvation, that how can we possibly be expected to ‘believe all the right things’.

 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’

These things are relatively easy to do, when you think about it.

At least when compared to believing all the right things about God and righteousness and the Gospel.

I refer to this as the “Lutheran Heresy”. 

We are saved based on our believing the right things.

You know what the irony is in all of this?

The answer to the question is contained in the question itself.

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

I just received my inheritance from my parents.

Two things had to happen in order for me to receive that inheritance.

First, I was born into the family.

And second, they died.

I didn’t do anything to be born into my family.  Nothing at all.

And I’m happy to report that I also did nothing to cause the death of my parents.

But because of those two things, I received the inheritance.

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Two things.

Be created as a child of God.

And then, God has to die. . .

Still the questions persist.

“Well, what then must I do to become a child of God, so that I might inherit eternal life?”

There is nothing we can do to become someone’s child.

That we became our parent’s children was the result of something they did, not us.

Likewise, that we have become God’s child is all about what God has done, not us.

And the second thing that must happen is God must die in order for us to inherit eternal life.

God must die, on a cross.

Which Christ did.

What does all this mean?

Well one of the things it means is that salvation is not the reward for a life well lived, but rather the birthright of every child of God.  And considering that God created each of us, that’s a pretty broad group of people.

In that lies the freedom of the Gospel.

Because there is nothing you need do to inherit eternal life you are free to live life without threat of punishment, but solely for the sake of the one who claimed you as your own.

It’s not about earning salvation.

It’s about having a relationship with our Lord.

Paul writes: Christ Jesus has made me his own.

He talks of ‘knowing Christ’ and ‘being found in him’.

This is all about the relationship.

The bottom line is this:  You have already been saved.  Already.  How you live your life is simply a response to that. 

And as we live out our lives, it is all about family and love.

 This is where how we live and what we do matters.

And it does matter.

We can love one another, or treat each other like dirt.

If we love one another we will enjoy a wonderful life.

If we treat one another like dirt, we will suffer day after day.

If we let anger and resentment rule the day, we will suffer as a result.

It’s not that God is going to send us to hell for our being consumed with anger or resentment toward another, but our own actions will create a living hell.

And God would spare us that suffering.

Love one another.

Even as I have first loved you, you also should love one another.

Life is just better that way.

One final thing I’ll say about this.

When I was serving in rural communities I became aware of one dimension of life there.

The farmers and ranchers were loath to be in conflict with one another.

Oh, it happened from time to time.

But they tried to avoid it.

What I came to believe is that they were aware of the enduring nature of their relationship with their neighbors and wanted it to be positive.  You see, they and their families had lived side by side since the homesteading days, and they would continue to live side by side for generations to come.

That being the case, they’d rather be friends than enemies.

One of the reasons we should try and get along with one another is that simple.

We are going to spend all eternity with each other.

It’s better to be friends, than enemies.

Amen to that.