An Admirer Or A Follower

Sermon-Year B-Proper 10-6thPentecost July 12, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
Did you know that Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate birthdays? How many of you DID NOT know that? Do you know why? Because of today’s gospel. Two times birthday parties are noted in the Bible, once in the Old Testament (with Pharaoh) and once in the New Testament (with Herod) and both times they are bad for people of faith. So Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate birthdays. In this case, it’s at Herod’s birthday party that John the Baptist is beheaded. It’s the only story in the New Testament that’s also confirmed by non Biblical sources. Josephus the historian also tells the story of Herod killing John the Baptist.
Remember a couple of weeks ago, when I told you that Mark the gospel writer likes to make “sandwich” stories, where he puts one story inside of another to reveal a deeper layer of it? He did that 2 weeks ago with the story of Jesus on the way to see Jairus’ daughter, and then he ran into the woman who had been bleeding. Well, today’s story is another sandwich. Here goes. Last week’s gospel ended with Jesus sending out the 12 disciples He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. Remember that? Well Jesus has just sent the disciples out to “proclaim[ed] that all should repent. [13They] cast out many demons, and anoint[ed] with oil many who were sick and cured them, when this story of the disciples is interrupted. That’s the bread, here’s the meat. People are hearing about Jesus and his disciples. He has come out of nowhere, and the people surrounding Herod are scared and uncertain of who he is-the great prophet Elijah, they wonder? A different or new prophet? No, Herod says, it’s John the Baptist! (Try to remember this because in mid September this will come up again-who Jesus is). Herod is afraid that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead, and then we hear the story of how Herod had him killed.. Mark wants everyone hearing this story to see the connection between John the Baptist and Jesus. They were so much alike that even Herod thought Jesus was John. It becomes an “identity sandwich”. John said terribly honest, painful things to Herod-and still Herod liked him. But he killed John anyway. And do you remember at the end of Mark’s gospel Herod keeps asking the crowd about Jesus, “are you sure you want me to do this?” and then he says, “oh go ahead- crucify him.” It’s the story of John all over again. Did you notice how the story of John ends, “29When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.” Sound familiar?
Mark the evangelist is giving us a foreshadowing, a warning of what Jesus’ death will be like in this story of John. And he squeezes all this in while the disciples are being sent out on a trial basis to carry the good news to the world, on their first missionary trip.
Meanwhile the disciples are going to come back and tell Jesus how well their mission went. But we’re supposed to understand that story with this story.
So, do we get it? Jesus sends his followers, his students out, to see if they can do it, can they be little Jesus’s. They’re filled with power. And emotion. And excitement. They are going to cast out evil, heal the sick, be utterly dependent on others for their livelihood. Do you think they’re energized? Have you ever felt like this? You’re so full of hope and power and excitement, you feel as though you can climb mountains, leap rivers, swim oceans. And then the story of John. Why would Mark the gospel writer do this? What is he trying to show us? What does he want us to see?
The disciples are out carrying the good news, and John, like Jesus, is killed almost on a whim, by the king. What do you learn from that? What would the early Christians, hearing the story of the disciples and John the Baptist, understand with this “sandwich”? What do you learn? I have set it up for you. Mark goes into real depth describing John the Baptist’s painful death in between telling us about the disciples being sent out as ministers and missionaries. So what is Mark trying to tell us about Jesus?
Lutheran pastor Brian Stoffregen of Faith Lutheran Church tells this story:
There were two brothers in Georgia during the 1950's. One decided that ….he was going to support and participate in the formation of a multi-ethnic multi-cultural community. The other worked as an attorney for a prominent law firm. Both were Christians and attended church regularly. As the integrated Christian community formed social pressure forced them into court proceedings, the one brother asked his attorney brother to help them with the legal work. The attorney refused, saying that he could lose his job. The pressure increased to help with a reminder from one brother to the other, that he was a Christian. The lawyer responded, "I will follow Jesus to his cross, but it is his cross. I have no need to be crucified." To this his brother replied, "Then you are an admirer of Jesus, but not his disciple."
Why does Mark the evangelist fill the sandwich with this story of the death of John?
Stoffregen says “Herod can throw a large party for important people. The twelve are sent out with no bread, no bag, and no money. [But]Herod has everything. The disciples have nothing.”
I think Mark wants us to understand that the story isn’t always clear, that the gospel is a sandwich. He loves to show both sides of discipleship, the glory-and the fear; the joy and the cost. I think Mark tempers every victory with a shadow, and every defeat with a sense of hope. I think we’re supposed to realize that the world is tough, and life is uncertain. Rulers and people of power can act whimsically and brutally. Disciples can be courageous and cowardly. The gospel isn’t a black and white story. Not in Mark’s gospel. It’s full of nuance and shadings. And Mark likes to show us how dangerous the gospel is. We’ll see every story with these two sides. The disciples are sent out with power to change the world-and back home prophets are being beheaded. And in the midst of all this we are called to make a decision-do we want to be an admirer of Jesus-or a follower. It’s not an easy sandwich to swallow. Over and over Mark will challenge his hearers with this-do you want to marvel at Jesus-or do you want to walk with him.


Mark 6:14-29
14King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” 15But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
17For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. 18For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. 21But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and of ficers and for the leaders of Galilee. 22When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” 23And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” 24She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” 25Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

Lighting A Pile Of Wet Sticks

Sermon-Year B-Proper 9-5thPentecost July 5, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
So we’re at my high school reunion, sitting at a table with three other people. We were at one of the few tables available and every once in a while someone would come over to sit with us. Just as they were about to sit down, one of the people at the table would teasingly say to them, “You better be careful what you say, HE (pointing at me) IS A PRIEST!” And the person would sit with us for about 30 uncomfortable seconds and then move on. I think they may have been a little um, “intimidated”. I was tempted to swear or say something rotten just so people would stay and talk.

Always, always, we should begin every gospel (in year B) with this question, “what did Mark want us to see?” Because he is always, always is trying to get us to see connections, associations, links between every set of stories. For instance, Jesus is ignored in his home town, and then he commissions his disciples to go out 2 by 2 into the world. Doesn’t appear to be a connection, right?
Jesus has calmed storms on the sea, healed people, cast out demons, and he goes to his home town, and, as one commentator writes, Someone surely left Capernaum that day saying, “I’m sorry, that new preacher just didn’t do a thing for me.” Jesus comes home and people are not happy. They knew him! Where does he get off pretending to be someone special? Preachers, me, are always talking about accepting the stranger, but here we see that the hardest person for us to tolerate isn’t the person we don’t know-it’s the person we have known all our lives. 5And he could do no deed of power there…
Listen to this quote: Barbara Brown Taylor employs a wonderful metaphor in her sermon on this text to illustrate why Jesus couldn't work the same "deeds of power" in his hometown, where the people refused to respond to him. Jesus was still Jesus, she says, and "still had power to share with them, only he could not do anything with it because they would not let him." She compares it to the experience of trying to light a match to a pile of wet sticks: "It does not matter how strong your flame is: what you need is something that will catch fire. So call this an 'un-miracle' story, in which Jesus held the match until it burned out in his hand, while his family and friends sat shaking their heads a safe distance away."
That’s a great image to describe Jesus at his home town synagogue: trying to light a match to a pile of wet sticks.
And then Mark follows this seeming defeat with the sending out of the 12. Jesus finds that he is almost powerless with people who won’t believe in him, and yet he decides at this time to send out his followers 2 by 2 to do wondrous things. Does that seem odd to you? The timing is all wrong. You don’t send these guys out AFTER your most recent defeat. You have just failed in front of your friends, your family! They’ve seen Jesus with limitations and powerless, and now, now he sends them out? -not after the calming of the storm, not after the healing of the woman, nortafter the raising of Jairus’ daughter-but NOW. It makes no sense why he would do this, now.
Except. They see what the good news cannot do. The gospel does not win over everyone. Jesus cannot change people who do not want to be changed. They have just seen the boundaries, the limitations. And yet Jesus sends them out. Did you ever wonder why Jesus chose 12 people to teach, to walk with him, to be his disciples and later apostles? Why didn’t Jesus do everything on his own? Why use these other people, Peter, James, John, all the rest? especially considering how often they failed? It is after they see how Jesus can’t or won’t do it all, that he sends them out. And he sends them out with so little: a staff. Period. No food, water, clothes, money. It’s as if he wants them to realize that the gospel, the good news is utterly dependent on others. These disciples aren’t so strong, so independent, so autonomous that they can live without people. And neither is the gospel. Everything in today’s teaching is about how much the good news needs open ears to exist, and other people to flourish. In the ancient near east there was a philosophical movement called Cynicism. The cynic believed in total self-sufficiency. They carried a staff-like the disciples, and then they carried everything else that they needed in a bag over their shoulders. They never wanted to be reliant on anyone. Their goal was to live completely self-reliant-without the help or assistance of others. Contrast that to what the disciples are told- they were told to be COMPLETELY dependent on others. And it’s after Jesus showed this side of himself in his home town that he sends them out. After Jesus sees that the gospel cannot work, cannot shine, cannot exist-unless people are willing to listen, does he send them out.
It’s as if he wanted them to know that the gospel, the good news, wasn’t just something that was dumped on people-take it or leave it. It is only as powerful as people allow it to be in their lives.
We are tempted to believe that the gospel is about the teller, only, the person who shares the good news, but it’s also about the listener, too. Matches don’t light wet sticks. First the disciples see Jesus fail at home, and then they are given their walking papers. They are sent out to do deeds of great power-cast out evil, heal the sick -and at the same time they are told to be totally dependent on others for food, and shelter.
The good news is a powerful message, a life saving message, an invitation to come into relationship with God through his Son. But it can’t light wet sticks. For those who refuse to hear it, those who don’t want to be touched by it, Jesus says, just move on.
What a strange turn the Gospel takes this week. Jesus seems powerless, and the disciples are told to be needy. It’s a good lesson for us who always see the Gospel as just the opposite-Jesus as all powerful, the disciples as completely self-sufficient. Good lessons for us to hear about two stories that do not seem at all related. And a good thing for us to learn about the good news-if people don’t listen, no good news is told. And if we appear so holy and independent, no one will ever want to sit at the table with us. Matches can’t light wet sticks. If people don’t sit down at the table, there is no reunion. If people are afraid, no good news is heard. The world needs the gospel. And the Good News needs the world. Amen.

Amen.

6He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” 5And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Faith Is What Happens On Our Way TO Somewhere Else

Sermon-Year B-Proper 8-4thPentecost June 28, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
When I was 15, I got sick with a mysterious illness. I spent a year not feeling well, and finally wound up having surgery. But it meant that I missed a good sized chunk of high school. Also, I was pretty shy. So when we went back for my 40th class reunion last week in Kansas City, I didn’t feel like I knew very many people from “the old days”. We went to t wo reunion events , and both times I felt pretty disconnected from my class. Some pictures were posted online after the reunion, I am not making this up, and Debby and I were shown seated at a table with this caption underneath the picture: “Debby Hagan”. Period. No mention of the guy with her. Thank God she was there.
But besides the reunion, we had a chance to spend time with cousins and friends that I hadn’t seen in many many years. We stopped along the way and I was reconnected with a lot of people that were from a long time ago. It was a very good vacation, but not because of the reunion. But I’ll get back to that. This is my point today, Faith is what happens on our way to somewhere else, to do something important.
If you remember from last week, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee in a terrible wind, into the land of the Gentiles. He and his disciples went through the storms and faced a crisis of faith before they could get to the people who were foreigners to them.
This week they have come back to the Jewish side of the lake. But the same problems persist. People are in trouble, people are sick, people are struggling- unable to find God. People keep getting in the way of the gospel.
Jesus gets out of the boat and is immediately beset by a father with a sick daughter. This father, Jairus, (whose name means, "he who will be awakened or he is enlightened") is desperate. He does not come to Jesus in faith-he comes in anguish. Have you ever had someone who is near you who is near death. YOU WILL TRY ANYTHING, ANYONE if they have a chance to help. This is Jairus. My daughter is dying, HELP HER. And so Jesus starts towards the ruler’s house. Then, the story takes a detour. Jesus gets distracted, The crowds around Jesus are growing, and yet suddenly he feels someone touch his robe. A woman has been hemorrhaging for years, suffering. And now a second person is in trouble. Jesus is on his way to help one person, and now someone else has reached out to him. How old is the little girl? The woman who touches Jesus, how long has she been bleeding? Both are women, both associated with the number 12, both “contagious” in Jewish law. The woman had been using physicians for many years, the little girl’s father was the leader of the synagogue. In other words, people of authority and power had tried and failed to help. Both the woman and the little girl, are anonymous-we never know their names. Jesus simply calls the woman, “daughter, and Jairus’ daughter he calls, 8 0little girl”. So many things tie these two females together in this story. Jesus heals the woman who had been bleeding, and then hurries to the child. When he arrives at the house, he is told that the young woman is dead-perhaps if he hadn’t been held up on the way, been “distracted” , things might have been different. But he goes in, takes her by the hand, and bids her to rise. And she is revived. “According to theologian Barbara Brown Taylor, Jesus then preaches the "shortest sermon of his career: 'Do not fear,' he says to the grief-besotted man, 'only believe.'" Do not fear; only believe. Taylor says this sermon was not just for Jairus' benefit, and not just for the early church Mark addressed, but for "all of us who suffer from the human condition, who are up against things we cannot control." "Healing Powers," Kate Huey, Weekly Seeds, i.UCC.org, 2009. Faith is what happens on our way to somewhere else, to do something important.
All the stories in this section of Mark are about the Kingdom of God, and they revolve around the things that separate us or drive us from that kingdom. Today’s stories are about fear. So were last week’s. And the week before that. This part of Mark’s gospel recounts stories about the things that get in the way of our faith, that undermine us, and divert us while we’re on the way to someplace else, preparing to do something important. John Lennon had a famous quote once, “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” That line jumped out at me more than once over the last couple of weeks.
On the way to our reunion, we stopped one night to see a cousin and his wife that we hadn’t seen in years. We had a great time, and in many ways it was like we had never been apart. The next night we drove 150 miles farther and again stopped to see a different cousin and his wife that we hadn’t connected with, we guessed, since the last family funeral many years earlier. Again, we had a lot of fun. After a few days we went and stayed with an old buddy of mine and his wife. At one time he and I had been very close, but then I had let the friendship lapse. We picked up where we had left off over 25 years ago. Again, it was wonderful. But none of these had to do with my school reunion. I was on my way somewhere else, and these things just happened.
Jesus is on his way to preach the good news to his own people. But a little girl is sick and he is detoured. And on his way to see her, a woman in distress reaches out to him. And his visit to the little girl is delayed. We hear this over and over, while Jesus is on his way to do something important, life gets in the way and it always feels like the gospel is diverted. Except it’s not. “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”
Today’s gospel is called sandwiching, a story within a story. We hear of a story, it’s interrupted, and we hear of a second story. And Mark does this to make a point. It can get a little frustrating. But it always turns out that the goal is achieved “in spite” of the deflections. In other words, the gospel happens. The good news is preached, the kingdom is moved closer. After awhile it20starts to dawn on us that the gospel doesn’t happen regardless of the distractions-maybe the gospel IS the distractions.
I have found this to be so true in my life that whenever I have something really big coming up, like say, a 40th high school reunion, I start looking for the diversions, the distractions-and watching for them. You know we’re always on our way to something important, and something else gets in the way? Maybe that thing that gets in the way was the lesson the whole time. I went for a reunion with classmates, and instead was reunited in a wonderful way with friends and family. And because I was pondering this gospel, I knew something like this would probably happen. Faith is what happens on our way to somewhere else, to do something important.
Listen for how often Jesus teaches that the opposite of faith isn’t doubt, but fear. Fear gets in our heads when we believe that what we want and what is happening, are two different things. Like our health or the health of someone we love. Or a reunion. Or being separated from those we love. Or losing someone. We become afraid that life is spinning out of control. And our faith and trust in God is undermined. We start out on a road of faith, and life gets in the way. And we become afraid. We might not reach our goal, we may lose the thing, the person, whose important.
Life is a sandwich. We have a purpose, and other things get in the way. If we listen, and watch closely enough, I think, we learn that it’s the things that get in the way that turn ou t to be our real purpose, our real goal. I went to a reunion and wound up being reconnected with old friends. Jesus was on his way to preach the gospel, and wound up preaching the gospel. A child dies, and two people get healed. We are working on something that is crucial, maybe even something holy, and life gets in the way. Faith is what happens on our way to somewhere else, to do something important.


Mark 5:21-43
21When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 22Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.”
24So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” 29Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32He looked all around to see who had done it. 33But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
35While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” 36But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” 42And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. 43He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Hello everyone! My name is Lizzie Anderson and I am one of 18 youth in the Episcopal Church who applied and was selected to be a part of the General Convention Official Youth Presence (GCOYP). While I am at GenCon, I will be posting daily about my experience.

Marking the Date

Sermon-Year B-Pentecost May 31, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
Last week I told you part of a sabbatical story. I had begun my sabbatical in Ireland walking with my son Kyle. He returned home and I spent a few days on the island of Iona, and then I began walking the 62 mile trip across southern Scotland called, St. Cuthbert’s Way. It was the first day walking from the little town of Melrose. I got lost even before I got out of town. It rained. And within minutes of leaving the village I had to immediately begin climbing a steep hill. I was wet, cold, alone, and very soon I was lost again. Then I ran into women, who I had met that morning at breakfast me, and they walked with me that whole first day. I felt rescued. I told you all this last week. As the first day ended, they were going on-but I was stopping at my B&B for the night. These two angels had saved me, and now I was alone again. And I felt sadder and lonelier than before I had even met them. That’s where the story ended last week. I still had 50 miles and 5 days of hard walking ahead of me. I had “no one to walk with, and I had this propensity for taking the wrong path. I was worried. And a little scared. I was 2 weeks into a 13 week sabbatical (right at the beginning), in a foreign country, I was alone and for the most part, lost.”
That’s how I started my sermon-and ended my story-last week. And here’s what happened next-after they left. I went to my B&B that evening, the first day, and the owner sent me to a nearby restaurant for dinner. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, had walked 18 miles, and I had terrible leg cramps. The only other people in the restaurant were a couple about my age. They were from Australia. It turned out that they, too, were staying in the same B&B as I was, and they, too, were walking St. Cuthbert’s Way, also for the next 50 miles. They asked if I wanted to walk with them. And I had company, and I had guides, and new friends, and for 5 days, again, angels rescued me.
This may not sound like a dramatic story to you. The hard moments in our lives seldom sound dramatic when we try to explain them to others. All we know is how it felt. A little coincidence here, a happy accident there. Most of the time, we never realize the power that something has in our lives. We look back and say, “boy, was that lucky,” or “what a fluke that that bus was late and I met my wife” or whatever. We look at something in our lives and think that the small things that happen to us, the tiny incidents that occur, mean little, or were fortunate chances. We don’t realize that there is a power constantly working in our lives to change us and help us and guide us. First we have to be aware that God is working, then we become inspired to act with courage and hope. And we mark our lives with dates, anniversaries, remembrances-because we believe that we were one person before-and a different person after.
I was with a bunch of clergy this week, talking about today’s lessons, and someone asked, “what is your definition of the Holy Spirit?” (hold on to this question for a while)
Pentecost or the Festival of Weeks was a Jewish harvest festival celebrating the barley crop. It was supposed to happen 7 weeks after Passover. Centuries later in Judaism Pentecost became associated with the giving of the Law to Moses. Again, the Passover that Jesus and his friends were in Jerusalem celebrating at his crucifixion was the great remembrance of God saving the Hebrew people, and Pentecost was the celebration of God communicating his will to the people through the 10 commandments.
The disciples, gathered in the upper room 50 days after the resurrection, to celebrate the Jewish Pentecost-the feast of weeks. They gathered with people from all over the Ancient Near East. They were in mourning. They were uncertain . They were unclear what to do, where to go, who to be. Jesus had left them for a final time 10 days earlier as he ascended into heaven. 2:2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
They weren’t expecting it, they didn’t ask for it, they didn’t even know what it was. All they knew was that they could understand each other, where before they couldn’t. All they knew was that something had happened and they were different. All they knew was that God was acting, and they were witnesses. These tired, scared, alone disciples left that upper room in Jerusalem and went on to change the world. And they marked this date. Pentecost. The great scholar N.T. Wright says that the greatest proof of the resurrection is the change that happened to these close followers of Jesus. 11 of them went on to die for their faith. Read the gospels. Nowhere do you see leadership or courage or great hearts in the disciples while they were following Jesus. But suddenly they are transformed, and they take the story of Jesus to the ends of the earth. They were different. They felt rescued. They understood that God was alive and active in their lives, and they were inspired. And they remembered when this happened-the 50th day after the Resurrection.
Last year I told you a couple of interesting dates. 7900 BC. Anyone remember what happened that year? (and no, I wasn’t there when it happened). Scientists believe it was the first time fire was actually used by human beings-harnessed by humanity for heat and cooking. First time. How about 3000BC? The first time that Egyptians used wind to sail boats. Fire. Wind. Both had been around a lot longer than 10,000 and 5000 years. But until they were channeled by humanity they were just forces of nature. Suddenly they become power that could be used to bear fruit, to improve the world, to change lives. Fire and wind. Just scary mother nature-until we realize how they connect with our lives, how they can be used, how our lives are different with their existence. We remember these years. We were one way before-we were different after.
Power means nothing until it connects with who we are and changes us. Until that happens, it’s just stuff we observe. But then, something happens, and we start becoming altered, new. Sometimes we don’t even realize it, most of the time we don’t expect it, we very seldom ask for it, we may not even know what it is. But all of a sudden we realize that we are different people than we were before. There is something new in our lives, and we are changed. And we try to remember the date-because we were one person before-and we had a different understanding of life-and ourselves-after. Who were we before July 4, 1776? How about the day we were born, the date of our marriage, How about 9-11?
6 days in Scotland, walking with 2 different groups of people who helped me, I started understanding that no matter what happened , I would not only make it-but that I would be ok. Everyone knows this, but there is a deeper realization, a more profound awareness, that God is working, that I can do what seems overwhelming to me at the time. We realize that the power is working in us.
Disciples who were in a room, grieving, alone, discouraged, felt a new wind and tongues of fire-and believed that their faith could bring light to a darkened world. They understood each other-and they understood that God was working, and that they could face and conquer the overwhelming challenges in their lives. And we celebrate their new understanding by remembering the day.
Fire and wind mean nothing until we realize that they can be harnessed and used, until we understand them and know that they can help us and change our lives.
What is my definition of the Holy Spirit? That power of God that I see and understand working in my life, that helps me to realize that God is moving-and that inspires me to face and conquer my fears and challenges. Just hearing about it, just watching others, just reading about it, is like seeing fire before 8000BC or feeling the breeze before 3000BC. Nice, but irrelevant. The Holy Spirit is power that changes me. Me. My life. That is when I write down dates, that is when I remember events-when I am changed.. That is when I begin measuring my life. I was baptized 46 years ago, married 27 years ago, came to Trinity 23 years ago. Why do I remember those dates? Because that is when I realized that the power was working in my life, and I felt strengthened and inspired, when my direction, my life, became different.
Today is Pentecost. It is the 50th day after Easter. Jesus was raised 7 weeks ago, but it was on this day that disciples changed, understood, realized, were inspired. On this date that disciples, the word meaning followers became apostles-meaning those who are sent out.
Today, Pentecost we realize not just that there are angels in our lives, but that there is fire and wind, that there is power moving to help us understand, to show us that God is active, to inspire us to act and to change. There is a Spirit alive in the land. Maybe we will remember this date, Pentecost 2009. Maybe we will say someday, at least to ourselves, this was the date that I understood that God was active in my life, this is the day that I felt God’s presence, on this date, in this year, I felt the power, I understood it, and I was changed. What is the date you will look back on and say, I was changed that day, I became new?
Acts 2:1-21
2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2:2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
2:3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
2:5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in=2 0Jerusalem.
2:6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
2:7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
2:8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
2:11 Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power."
2:12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"
2:13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."
2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
2:15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning.
2:16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
2:17 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
2:18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
2:19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
2:21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be sav ed.'

Feeling Lost and Alone

Sermon-Year B-7 Easter May 24, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
I haven’t told a sabbatical story in a while-you’re overdue. I was beginning my first day of walking St. Cuthbert’s Way in Scotland, Kyle, my son had left, and I was alone. I took off walking-got lost, it began to rain, and there was nothing but steep hills in front of me. It was interesting. Anyway, after a while the sun came out, I made it to the top of the first hill, and somehow I got back on the right path. And then I met two English women. They rescued me. I called them my angels. And for the next several hours, til late in the day, we walked together and had a lot of fun. And I began to think, “maybe I can do this after all.” Thanks to them. They set a fast pace, which, it turned out, was necessary considering the distance. They made sure I didn’t get lost. And they were wonderful company. And then, I had to stop at my B&B for the night-and they went on. And after walking 18 miles the first day, and being really tired, I said good bye to my new friends. And I felt worse than before. I had 5 days and 50 miles of long walks ahead of me, no one to walk with, and I had this propensity for taking the wrong path. I was worried. And a little scared. I was 2 weeks into a 3 month sabbatical, in a foreign country, I was alone and for the most part, lost.
Today is the last Sunday of Easter. It’s been 6 weeks, 43 days since Easter Sunday. According to the Book of Acts, on the 40th day, last Thursday Jesus ascended into heaven-and left his followers, his friends to go to heaven. It was a sad moment for Jesus’ closest companions. In the book of Acts, you hear how the disciples decided that one of the first things that they had to do was build their number back up to 12, now that Judas was gone. And so they rolled dice to see who would get the honor of being a disciple-and ultimately, a martyr.
Make no mistake about it, when Jesus left his friends-they were alone, uncertain, and helpless. They didn’t know what to do, where to go, or who to be. I’ve been there. Many times in my life. It doesn’t matter how many times I have been rescued-I always think, “oh no, I’m in it, now.” And they must have felt that way, too.
In today’s gospel, Jesus is giving his friends his last advice. Remember how last week I told you that chapters 13-17 in the gospel of John were known as “The long sermon” It takes place at the Last Supper, and Jesus gives this long rambling, teaching on his last night on earth. Basically, he’s asking God to take care of his friends. Just like you or I would, if we thought we were leaving those we love. But he asks God for more than that-he asks that they be one, unified, together, one body. He asks his father that they be full of joy. He pleads with God, that he protect them from all that is evil in the world, and finally, Jesus says God, I am putting them out there-just as you put me out. How hard that had to be for Jesus. Sure, praying for protection, joy, defending them from evil-all this sounds normal. All this is what you or I may write in a letter to friends before leaving them. But Jesus says to God I am sending them into the world-like you sent me. No wonder Jesus is closing with this fervent prayer for protection. His friends will be following him, going down the same path, expecting much the same consequences as he.
You understand, Jesus knows that his life is near an end. He knows that he will be confronting the powers the next day. He knows what may happen. And he asks that they, the people he loves, be sent to do the same thing he is being asked to do. Does this sound, um, odd, to you? Can you imagine turning to your family, the people you are closest to in the world, and as you are dying, and praying that they go your same life, do the same things you did? Jesus wants them to follow him-even if it means all the way to death. We know that 11 of the 12 disciples, including Matthias, all died martyr’s deaths.
This is Jesus closing prayer. Protect them, fill them with joy, give them power, and may they be sent into the world as I was. This last night of Jesus’ life, the disciples, these friends, had no idea what Jesus was talking about. They didn’t know that he would be dying the next day. They had to reconstruct this prayer years later after everything had happened. But that night of the Last Supper, they were at the end of 3 years of talking, teaching, walking together.
How often have you felt lost? How often have you felt alone? Really alone? How often have you felt like you’re in a foreign land, friendless, and you were unsure which way to go? That’s the Sunday after the Ascension. Jesus has left his friends for the final time. First he died. Then came Easter, and his risen presence with them for 40 days. And now they are alone. Again. And they have to face a future, without their companion, without their guide, without their friend. They must have felt even more abandoned than they had after the crucifixion.
To me, Ascension Sunday has always been one of the saddest days of the church year-like Palm Sunday and Good Friday-because it’s all about leaving, it’s all about good bye. We’ve all been there: uncertain, lost, alone. That’s what this day, for me, has always been. The people/person we depended on are/is gone. For me, today has always been a time in between-a time of waiting. Jesus leaves and his friends wonder, “what’s next?”
And often in our lives, we face the same question. And today we end with Jesus praying for those he loves, “protect them, guard them, fill them with joy-and send them into the unknown.” This is where we end today, and where we often are in our lives. It’s the end of the first day of a long trip. But it’s only the first day. Amen.
John 17:6-19
17:6 "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
17:7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you;
17:8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
17:9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours.
17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.
17:11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.
17:12 While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled.
17:13 But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.
17:14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
17:15 I am not asking you to take them=2 0out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.
17:16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
17:18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.
Acts 1:15-26
15In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, 16“Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus— 17for he was numbered20among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18(Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20“For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his homestead become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it’; and ‘Let another take his position of overseer.’ 21So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.” 23So they proposed two, Joseph calle d Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 25to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
1 John 5:9-13
9If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son.
10Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. 11And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Put the Big Rocks In First

Sermon-Year B-6 Easter May 17, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
The story is told about Steven Covey, (the management consultant and author-the 7 Habits guy) who was teaching a course on ‘Time Management’ to a group of company employees. In front of him on a table was a large bowl, and next to the bowl was a pile of several large rocks, and two buckets. He proceeded to take the large rocks one by one, and place them into the bowl. Having done that, he turned his attention to one of the buckets which contained a quantity of smaller pebbles. He placed the pebbles into the bowl, along with the large rocks, so that the pebbles fell down into the spaces between the rocks. He did all of this without saying a word, and then paused.
By this time, the students in the class were beginning to see what he was doing. He asked if anyone knew what he would do next. Someone suggested that the other bucket might contain some sand. Sure enough, it did, and he continued by pouring the sand from the second bucket into the large bowl until the sand reached the top. Some of the students were about ready to hear what profound lesson he would teach them from this simple demonstration, but he had not quite finished. He took one of the buckets, filled it with water from a tap at the front of the room, and poured water into the large bowl until it was just about to overflow.
He then stopped, and asked the question that the class were waiting for. “What lesson about time management can we learn from all of this,” he asked.
After a pause, one student raised her hand, and said. “I think it teaches us that it is amazing how much you can fit into the time that you have”
Steven Covey smiled and said “That’s pretty much the opposite of what I want you to learn from this. Actually, what it teaches me is the importance of putting the big rocks in first!”
Putting the big rocks in first. Seems simple, doesn’t it?
If you try to put the little rocks, or sand or water in first, there will be no room for the big rocks. To fill up the bucket, you have to put the big rocks in first.
Our lives are like the buckets. So often I try to fill my life up with the sand or the water or the little rocks-and have no room for the important stuff.
The gospel story continues today with Jesus still in the upper room, still giving his final teaching to his friends, the night before he dies. He’s trying to put in the big rocks. One of the rocks is this-calling them to be his disciples was easy. For them, living out their lives as his friends will be murder. I under stand this in a much lesser degree. I am currently trying to resurrect friendships from decades ago. It was easy to make friends-maintaining friends, sustaining friendships, that has been very hard. Making friends is easy-keeping friendships takes a lot of work.
Jesus, in a sense, is releasing his disciples. He’s telling them that now they can choose which way they go in life. They don’t have to be his followers any longer. Now they are grown ups-not children, and they can decide as friends which direction they take. BUT, and it is a big but, if they are going to be his friends, they will have to live out his commandment. His one and only commandment. They will have to choose to put this one rock in the bucket first. They will have to love one another.
“There is an ancient legend about the last days of John the Evangelist, the gospel writer. He lived to a great age and became so feeble that he had to be carried to meetings of the faithful. There, because of his weakness, he was unable to give a long sermon, so at each gathering he simply repeated the words, “Little children, love one another.” The disciples, weary of hearing the same words over and over, asked him why he never said anything else. And to them John gave this answer, “Do this alone and it is enough.”
How often do you measure your life? How successful you are, how much you have achieved? I tend to think we do it every day. I think in small ways we are constantly looking at our buckets to see how full they are. Sometimes we judge by how secure we feel, or how healthy or maybe by how much we have-perhaps how happy we are, or the amount of accomplishments . I think we spend a lot of our lives trying to fill our buckets, or assessing them. Jesus tells his friends, the only thing that will matter is how much you love. And I think there is one more thing that Jesus leaves UNSAID: -he doesn’t say that what we are willing to die for will show what we really care about. He doesn’t say it, but I think he implies. What we are willing to die for, he tells us, is what matters. Or better yet, what we are willing to live our lives for, will say what we really value. Jesus is getting ready to leave his friends, and he wants them to ask what they want in their buckets.
This reading today is pretty clear, 17”I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. “
I was the chaplain on call this week, and we had a particularly sad death. Back at the fire station I was meeting with the firefighters and police officers who had been at the scene. You have to understand that these people are rescuers, their whole lives are a testament to this verse, 13”No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” They train and prepare and work all the time on saving people’s lives. And one of the first responders, the man who had worked especially hard to save a child’s life said, “I always tell people that I can fix anything but a broken heart. But today I couldn’t.” It was a very poignant moment. And later as I thought about it, I thought, maybe this is the only thing we really can fix-a broken heart. Maybe loving each other is the only thing we really can fix.
We all have a bucket that is our lives. We select what we put into them. Choose the big rocks first. Decide on what is important, and all the small rocks and sand and water will follow inevitably. Jesus makes no bones about what is his large rock-12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
And as John the Evangelist said“Do this alone and it is enough.”
John 15:9-17
9As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. 12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will=2 0give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.