March 7, 2010: "Lord, Help Me"
Text: Matthew 15:21-31
21Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.”
23Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”
27“Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
29Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
* * *
We live in a world that is divided over and over by so many things we don’t have time to count them this morning
Republicans and democrats, Iraqi and Iranians, young and old, Anglos and hispanics, male and female, coffee clatches and Tea Parties, Politicians and voters, college educated and high school grads, tall people and short people, gay and straight, healthy people and sick, urbanites and country rubes, snow lovers and beach combers, people who live in disaster stricken areas and those who send aid to them…
I think you get the idea…I could go on and on
Our scripture this morning is about crossing the boundaries that separate and divide communities of people
Boundaries are created by ideas, geographical spaces, cultures, politics, gender, prejudice, purpose, knowledge, economics, ignorance or time
Boundaries are sometimes useful (Like Robert Frost’s good fences, making good neighbors) and sometimes destructive (like the hateful signs that once said “whites only”)
Boundaries are sometimes very visible
(anybody remember Check point charlie that was the only place that Americans could cross into E. Germany?
Barbed wire, machine guns and huge amounts of mistrust were in evidence…
Sometimes they are not so visible
The so called “glass ceiling” that keeps one segment or one community from rising to the top echelons of power and decision
It will be interesting tonight to see if the woman who directed “The Hurt Locker” will be the first to get an Oscar!
Our lesson today is about crossing boundaries
The scene is about a woman from “outside” who confronts Jesus
She is a Gentile woman, a Phoenician, a person whose religious and ethnic backgrounds are beyond the Jewish world,
…a world neatly divided into two communities: Jewish…and everyone else, a world that was kept separate by the Jewish laws of table fellowship and food, of ritual cleanliness and doctrinal belief
This woman however was joined in that great leveler of human communities: suffering and compassion
Her daughter was possessed…back then the diagnosis was demons
While we don’t so often hear such a diagnosis…we know that the the demonic is not unfamiliar in our own time…drugs, mental illness, hatreds, prejudices, chronic illnesses all can be demonic and destructive
Creating living hells for those who can not escape their evil influence
This woman screws up the courage to cross a well known boundary, she approaches the Jewish man and begs for her daughter’s well being
We’re not sure if the motivations included desparation, courage or vision,
but we must be asssured it was difficult and perhaps even dangerous
At first the disciples tried to reinforce the boundary, protecting their teacher from this intrusion
And Jesus reply still disturbs: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
…hard to understand now, but then it made perfect sense: Jesus was Jewish and his first purpose was to reclaim the Traditional folks, recalling them into a restored relationship with God
…such a puzzling reponse indicates that this is reported from a very early tradition, close to the source, with little redaction
…but it gives us a unique insight into Jesus, his thinking, his development as Messiah
At first, Jesus was focused within the boundaries of his own people
At first, Jesus intentions were more limited
But here we have an example of a woman’s great faith confronting Jesus:
This gentile woman utilized Jewish tradition and language in her appeal
Where did faith come from? From her own faith journey? From simply hearing of Jesus reputation? From reports of his previous healing ministry?
Keen insight for us comes as we ponder the personality and faith of this woman whose journey began beyond the borders of division
Faith in God, Faith in Jesus knows no boundary, no division, no limitiations of ethnicity
AND it was her unprecedented faith that resulted in the healing of her daughter!
We discover in this perplexing pericope, that Jesus was forced to accept the logic of his own teaching by expanding his mission beyond the people of Israel
The very logic of God’s love, experienced in the need for healing amongst the entire human community, brought forth changes even in the one who was the object and focus of God’s involvement with the creation
It may be hard for us now to think of Jesus as changing and learning…though that might be good for us to understand!!!…but it points us to the mystery of God’s power to evaporate boundaries and divisions
The messianic mission at first focused on the Jews was suddenly and effectively expanded to bring healing to the whole world through faith, faith that was granted by grace
Christianity because of this unfolds to encompass a universal scope,
It becomes a faith not for one limited group of folks, but for the entire world, the sum total of human beings
Here we see the power of God amplified in a particular encounter with one woman and her daughter, to stretch unlimited beyond all bounds finally compassing every human and every relationship
Jesus learned in this encounter that God had more for him to do that he at first realized.
With Jesus we learn that the great needs of world can not be confined to or by a particular “community”
Jesus mission and the resultant mission of his resurrected body the church, must be inclusive and boundary eliminating
For all humans experience and are challenged by demons, destructive and death dealing
And also we learn that Faith can be generated beyond any particular Tradition (even though Isaiah hints at it) but focuses on the “Jesus experience”
And what I mean here is …as anyone calls people to right relationship and justice, as anyone goes about healing and teaching faith in and humility before the Creator God, as anyone goes about jumping borders and eliminating divisions…God is present there
As anyone considers compassionately the marginalized and disenfranchised in a self sacrificing service…God is present and active there
God grants faith graciously, even to gentiles, and motivates them to approach the agency of Messiah
Well here we are in Lent, and asking ourselves…are we prepared for what is yet to come?
I think this passage helps us focus on several things
First, it must motivate us to think about those people beyond our church community
Those who hopefully have heard about our reputation for healing and helping
Those who are looking for a place or set of persons in which to put their faith and practice their hope
Those who have not yet passed through the boundary of our front door
The passage also pushes us to ponder our mission to bring healing to demon possessed
There are lots and lots and lots of folks out there who are challenged by the demonic in this world
There are folks who have mental illnesses, chronic illnesses, economic illnesses, social illnesses, who if they could find their way here…or if we could go out there…might discover God’s healing power to carry them to well being
How is our mission implemented?
Our faith can bring healing and comfort to others…(we saw it with the Cunha family last year!)…but we have boundaries and borders to cross or to eliminate before that can happen.
Lastly we learn that the best preparation for Easter is discovering this radical faith, so radical and powerful that it changes even Jesus, the object of our faith!
This radical faith was embodied in a gentile woman concerned for her loved one, who had self discovered the greatest power ever
…who was pushed by compassion to search out and persist in seeking the most positive outcome…Jesus attention by crying: Lord! Help Me!
Our lenten learning?
To cry out “Lord! Help us!”
Lord, help us!
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March 14, 2010: “Things of God”
The text: Mark 8:31-38
31He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
34Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
* * *
The weather today seems appropriate to the mood of the moment…
Lent: when we consider the seriousness of Jesus’ journey
Here, in today’s lesson, the dark and moody sense emerges, a sense of sacrifice and solemnity
Because today we revisit on of the three moments in which Jesus says quite plainly he will suffer and die
Of the three predictions that Jesus made of the consequences of his minstry and his journey to Jerusalem, today’s version comes with a challenge to those who would follow him: don’t’ think of this process, this journey as humans do…but regard this from God’s point of view.
Today we ponder three issues that were raised in response to Jesus questions:
First about the crowds that followed him: who they think he is?
And then, to Peter, but who do you say I am.
In the response we see the range of understanding that surrounded Jesus even as he walked the earth speaking and doing God work
Today, still after 2000 years we must ask: Can we understand why he had to suffer…?
From the brief survey the view of the people held that Jesus was a prophet.
Yes, prophets got themselves in trouble for the critique they would bring
But they usually escaped; if not, they were probably “false” prophets
Their suffering was personal and not consequential
Then the direct response of Peter’s rebuke
Peter was loyal, hyper-loyal even, to Jesus
Peter believed that Jesus was the messiah; the annointed of God, the one who would usher in the Messianic age, throw out the Romans, reestablish David’s Israel, usher in the Kingdom of God
These were no small set of expectations…when you are hooked up with God, there is no such thing as failure
And Jesus, Peter, declared…you can’t die, you can’t get your self captured…that can not be in the future you have promised us
Peter was looking at this whole adventure…from the point of view of human experience and human tradtion
When we come to Jesus’ self understanding we are challenged …in intellect and faith
Jesus was pretty clear about the consequences of his mission
He knew how people in power reacted to profound challenges: they worked to eliminate that challenge
Jesus challenged the religious leaders of the day…in word and deed…he authoritatively controvened their teaching, he broke the laws of Moses by eating with sinners and feeding his disciples on the Sabbath, he claimed that he was son of Man…maybe even Son of God…
One does not hurl such controversies at authorities without realizing…they are going to try to stop you in what ever manner they could
Yes…suffering and death were sure to come if Jesus continued doing what he was doing
Can we see how God uses Jesus death in his plan of redemption?
It may still be difficult
But it’s not hard if you think about things like
Changing governmets: regime change is what we call it now
We try to do it with policy and diplomacy and people suffer
We try to do it with armies and people get killed
We must believe God to have been fully present in the person and work of Jesus…for that conforms to the paradox of faith
Jesus as human became the example of obedience to God’s will that allowed others to see the God-self in midst of human situation
God was not a God that ruled from far away (Mt. Olympus, some etherial realm high above the earth) but in the midst of the daily walk, the concrete situation, God present…with us
In his obedience, Jesus portrayed to all other humans a redemptive suffering…suffering willingly taken on by a servant messiah, that involves himself in the lives of the marginalized and disenfranchised…the lame, the poor, the blind, the lepers, the very sinners that the Jews excluded from their worship and their lives
Jesus as human was so graced by God-presence that he accomplishes “Things of God”
The agenda of God was to reconcile those who sin (all of humanity) with the God-self, only by being involved with the sins of humanity, the pain and suffering could God create an ongoing process that through all time, provided redemption…
The thing that God did (and does) is more profound and less predictable than the things of humans…
This was Jesus rebuke to Peter
Then Mark conveys Jesus teaching on the necessity of a “Cross bearing life style”
My professors used to say that the scriptures often present the hearer with a choice: this is one of those occassions…
Here is our choice: we may heed the The call to the life that Jesus offers
…the choice, our decision is whether we should pick up a cross, our own cross and do what Jesus did, follow him to a place of suffering and maybe even death…
This was the choice then in the first century, and now in the 21st century
Most likely we think of missionaries (to Africa or Burma) , social activists that protest Gvt policies and practices, martyrs who go to jail or are executed for their religious positions (D. Bonhoeffer), maybe workers in the midst of human suffering (Mtr. Theresa, Albert Schweitzer…) as the ones who have made such a difficult choice
They because of their faith, their courage, their set of skills and their load of ambition, have chosen to go into dangerous territories and take on risky clients
But most of us are not so gifted…our faith keeps us closer to home…with less chance of dangerous outcomes
Perhaps we’ll stay home and pick out a slightly less heavy or burdensome cross…?
But still, the scripture presents us with a choice: It arises from the tension between world and God’s Kingdom;.
If the kingdom is what we pray for, it is both existential, and imminent
That is to say, it affects our lives and it presses in on our present moment…there is a sense of urgency and a growing awareness of imminent crisis
The choice is paradoxical: our physical Life may be saved by actions to protect oursevles…but that means we loose eternal life… the life in contact, in relationship to God
Or we can chose to give up the comfortable life, to loose the things of humans and so to gain the things of God…
Oh but this decision is not so keenly felt in these days of “general atonement” …for most of our society operationally believes that God will save all his people…
And so it is easier to back away from the more difficult decisions
But it doesn’t relieve us from having to make them none the less!
And we still have to ask ourselves what does it mean for us…FBC in swansea…to live a cross bearing life?
For me the clue is in Jesus warning: those who are ashamed of me…in this adulterous and sinful generation…those will be the ones whom at the end of all things, the Son of man will be ashamed…!
Here we can begin to describe a lifestyle of Witness both public and private
I think the first part of a cross bearing lifestyle is that we become “Internally grounded” in our faith…
This means for me that we have studied our faith sufficiently that we can tell the stories from the Bible in applicable ways
That the ethics we discover in the NT are those that guide our economic and social decisions
That our prayer life is sufficient to sustain us in trouble and turmoil
That our faith, is dynamic and open to every further revelation God chooses to bestow
Then if our internal work is sufficient we each should be capable of being an “apologist” for the Christian faith
In the second century and well into the third, it was necessary for the church to be able to explain what they believed and why they did the things that they did
Rumors that Xns were cannibals and drank blood abounded
So the Lord’s supper had to be explained over and over
An apologist is someone who is clear about the Tradition and the practice, so clear that s/he can be persuasive to whomsoever s/he addresses
Finally a cross bearing life will lead us to being an Advocate for our faith!
This moves the witness from private conversations to a public forum: an advocate calls for the practice of Xnty and touts its superiority over the alternatives
Advocacy has been primarily located in the Pastoral office…but needs to be installed in the rank and file…every Xn an advocate
When we advocate, call people to ponder and participate in our faith…the challenges will come, the crosses will appear, the consequences of a Jesus level faith will happen
And of course, an advocate must be coherent in speech and action: advocacy is banked upon a lifestyle of virtuous acts (as Hadjwich has shared with us)
Virtous acts are our personal engagements that promote the good of each person with whom we associate, it is the loving of neighbor
But it is also, within the network of each individual relationship an awareness that all those unique and particular acts must ultimately move toward the good of all
We have to take a larger perview, maybe from the divine point of view, that each act, each behavior that we manifest promotes the building up of the commwealth, the shared health of each and every human (in our nation and beyond)
Redemption, salvation is healthiness and well being at both macro and micro levels, of political, socio-economic emotional spiritual and personal being
But such a life style of virtuous actions is based upon the willingness to “suffer”
There is suffering…and there is suffering
Sometimes suffering is small, like putting up with the imperfections of a friend, of having to wait for someone, or for taking a little time and effort, maybe some money to contribute to a cause…
Sometimes suffering is big…like going into a theater of war…or lobbying for social justice…or working in a dangerous neighborhood
What forms the basis of a servant life style…?
Two things: the first is how we answer Jesus Question: Who do we say he is?
If he is just a prophet…we can take him or leave him (Pew research: most answered question about religion – “none”)
If he is a magical messiah, so divine that he can do all this without us…we can go on our merry way…God will take care of us later…
But if we say that he is the suffering servant messiah…and that we believe in his way…we follow with fear and trembling
Because the lifestyle is based upon the things of God, the second pillar of the foundation is the willingness to suffer at what ever level,
the willingness to enter the complexities of our neighbors needs and pains,
the willingness to engage policies of injustice
and to advocate for a better way, a Xn way that leads all humans toward the things of God
So on this Sunday in Lent we listen again to the question :Would anyone go after Jesus? Would anyone deny self and pick up a cross?
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March 21, 2010: “Understanding what he meant”
The Text: Mark 9:30-37
30They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
33They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
36He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
Lent continues…as we get ourselves ready for Easter…
The Vernal Equinox has occurred…the evening was balmy
Crucus and daffodils appear as we rake the winters mess from our yards
The rituals of spring, long familiar, comfortable and enjoyable speed across our calendars….
Easter looms but two short weeks away…have we bought the ham yet? …family coming? …going? Easter baskets down from the attic, jelly beans purchased,
Are we ready? (course there’s not so much to as at Xmas…)
What if, we didn’t emphasize Easter (with bunnies and flowers, Butterflies and ham dinners…what if we really focused more on …Good Friday…?
Do we always stop to think about what Easter means…can we do that without thinking about Good Friday?
You know its hard to understand all that stuff…
the history of the event is loosely told…
The meaning of the event is assumed…
But what does it mean for us to say yes to following Jesus now?
Do we understand what he wants us to do…now in the 21st century?
Even when men and women were followoing Jesus from place to place understanding him was a problem
Some thought he was a troublemaker
Others thought he was the messiah
Some saw him as prophetic teacher
Others as a threat to the established order
Let’s listen as the awful prediction is reiterated…
He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
Even those physically in Jesus presence, even those who followed him day by day…hour by hour…who could ask him questions face to face…
…had a problem understanding Jesus
Listen how human the disciples were as we observe Mark talking about their interpersonal interactions…
33They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
Jesus is telling them that he is about to be murdered
And they talk about the rewards and benefits of being in his government
These are fisherman and tradesmen and tax collectors, called from their low positions, talking about the perks of power…
I’d keep quiet too…they must have known that Jesus would not be happy with their distracted discussion
But Jesus understanding is great…and he intuits their concerns and addresses the issue…Look guys…
35Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
Yea, that clarified everything…to be first you have to be last?
Tell us again how that works…if we are to be the ones who are in charge in the new Kingdsom, the new government…we shouldn’t be doing the grunt work…servants indeed.
Jesus sees that they are still confused…he needs an example of what he means (teaching as he does utilizing his surroundings…Jesus takes a small child…)
37“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
That makes it all perfectly clear…
Jesus wants us to act like kids?
What kind of government would that be?
No wait…what did he say? Who ever welcomes children…they are the ones that Jesus wants us to be like?
But what does this have to do with God’s kingdom…?
Sometimes I’m really surprised that Christianity made it to world religion status…
Jesus was not always clear about what he wanted his followers to do
He often asked them to think paradoxically (smashing reason against itself)
Sometimes he used figures of speech and examples for his teaching that needed to be interpreted with some sense of the history of his faith…
Sometime he simply asked people to behave in ways that went agains their upbringing…against their sense of what was right and wrong
And sometimes he asked them to do things that they would never ever think about doing…like being crucified.
After the first 500 years or so of Christian thinking…orthodoxoy was laid down
Prescribed doctrines and practices were established (three years from catechumenate to baptismal candidate…)
And across the world, Xnty became a dominant social and political force
Would anyone here like to explicate orthodoxy this morning? Maybe just repeat the creeds (nicene or Chalcedonic?)
…maybe if Jesus had been clearer with his disciples, we wouldn’t have so many problems now…
But we live in another era, another time in which the old questions need to be given fresh answers…
Jesus, what are you telling us we need to do now?
Jesus, was your death sufficient for our salvation…or do we need to do something more, believe something else…
Jesus, were still a little confused.
We want to be great in your kingdom …but it doesn’t seem to be a political state anymore
And so we’ve reduced the kingdom to what we believe…but we aren’t too sure what to believe
Will you save all of us…some of us…
…that part about carrying a cross…does that mean…
servant…? Child?
Maybe the pastor knows…
Every year we repeat the cycle of the church year… does that help us understand Jesus better…or is just an old habit now?
This lesson this morning prompts to understand how difficult understanding Jesus is
Jesus seldom if ever simply said : do this, don’t do that
Jesus always taught by placing the responsibility for the outcome, the answer, the direction to go…on the one who hears his voice
Jesus knew that each of us must decide in our own minds and hearts what it was that God wanted us to be about
As Baptists we have no set doctrines, we hold to no set rituals, but we always stand before the Christ of Scripture, to listen, ponder and delve into the great possibilities of understanding.
Jesus had to die…because God knew that the real evil in this world was dangerous…that it could take human life
Jesus had to die, because each of us has to die
The question is not if…but when and how
Jesus choose, as fully human, to follow God’s Spirit even unto death, death on a cross.
That is all on the human side of things
We know…opposition to the cruel establishments of human society, that conflict can lead to killing
Jesus was teaching us that to do something of real significance in the world then…and the world now…means suffering is a real possibility
Jesus spoke in parable and paradoxes
…because the logic of his divine insight was more demanding that human logic
Servant king? Suffering Servant? Suffering to lead? No human thinks this stuff up…!
Greatness is measured by being the least..?
That’s topsy turvey…that’s unrealistic fanstasy…
no wonder Jesus made enemies…
No wonder you confused your disciples, Jesus!
To be like a child…vulnerable, innocent, weak…
Oh, wait, let me read that again…did you mean to be concerned with those who are vulnerable, innocent and weak…that is what Kingdom authorities do?
But Jesus, that sounds like “social justice”…maybe even like socialism…
That would add to the budget and people would start arguing and fighting and it will get those puffed up TV pundits all in a twitter…
Jesus, wouldn’t just be simpler if I claimed I believed in you and because you are divine…you do all the work…or maybe you have done “the die once for all” thing and I’m free to do what I want…get on with my life…
Lent…days are warming, grass is greening…soon its happy Easter…school vacation
let’s skip over Good Friday and the cross stuff, the suffering…
the paradoxes of Jesus confusing teaching…
the kids…yea they fill the easter eggs and find them hidden in the yard
we love the kids…they are the greatest…they are the future of the church
What a question…do we understand what Jesus meant…can we tell the kids so that they’ll be able to tell their kids?
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March 28, 2010 ~ Palm Sunday: “When, Teacher?”
The Text: Luke 21:1-19
1As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3“I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
5Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6“As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”
7“Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”
8He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. 9When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”
10Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
12“But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13This will result in your being witnesses to them. 14But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17All men will hate you because of me. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By standing firm you will gain life.
When? we all want to know when
When we are to begin school, the job, the vacation
(voices from the back seat) When are we going to be there?
When the day ends, when the relatives come, when we have completed the course, the grade, the degree
…when the recession will be over, when we can retire, when will global warming creates disaster, when the wars will be over, when the damaage from the earthquakes will be repaired
when God is going to do something with this crazy old world.
Folks from the most ancient of times to our post-modern moment, look to the future and ask when?
Astrologers scan the stars, prophets proclaim, pundits predict, social scientists see trends developing
All to answer the question…when
We all want to know when….
Because God designed humans to be full of anticipation, trying to figure out what comes next, will we be ready, will it work out for us
Humans because of their capacity to sense time passing and for self reflection are creatures that have learned to Expect…
They look forward to the pleasant things like children expecting gifts at Christmas
And they hope to avoid unpleasant change by holding fast to the comfort of the well known
In their expectations, they look for signs, for indicators, for those who might know when it is going to happen
Because a sign or signal would be nice (like the shot of a pistol at the start of a race)
Then they can do what is appropriate to usher in the future.
The Jewish people of Jesus day were typical humans…dealing with extraordinary human problems.
They had a long and profound history as a people, an identity as God’s own, chosen, beloved
But they were held captive by the Empire, by the Romans whose cruel government held sway from Briton in the west to the boundaries of India in the east.
While allowed some freedom of self government, they were held as a vassal state to the Emporer and forced to obey whatever rule was imposed.
It was in this condition of oppresive rule, that a longing, a fragile hope emerged.
Foundationed at the deepest levels of their faith in a God that had twice before liberated them, the Jews prayed daily for a Messiah, a leader to free them, a leader to restore their aspirations and rule a kingdom like the great David had done.
Many claimed to be such a person. Bar Cochba who lead the a rebellion agains the Romans (remembered now in Hanuhka, the festival of light)
Many thought this popular preacher from Galilee was to be the one
He spoke often of the impending nearness of the Kingdom of God
He touch people’s lives, changed their hearts with his words, spoke against those who were cruel or unfair.
People followed him full of expecation and anticipation and asked him: Where, When
For some in that day, the when took on an ominous feel…the end of things could happen, world changing, eon ending, abrupt and catastrophic
Knowing when would mean being able to avoid the apocalypse…
To be on the right side of the cosmic forces that threatened to undo the world
In remembering Palm Sunday today, we remember that it is a story told in which the “unfolding historical events”
were read and interpreted as divinely controlled
in which the people were actors in a divine drama
And so the scene is set in Jerusalem, the historic, spiritually significant city, for Jesus to trigger the end time
That’s what most people thought…expected
That’s why they crowded the roads to wave branches and spread their cloaks before him…expecting the one, the Messiah, the liberator from God
Even today, we so often hear about Palm Sunday as the “victorious entry” into Jerusalem…the assertion of triumph and mastery
But is this what Jesus was teaching… is this what he expected?
Is this what he was arrested and executed for?
Was Jesus expecting to literally reform the government and wrest the power from the Romans?
With twelve ordinary men, fishermen, tax collectors and such backed by an army of women supporters and numerous hangers on?
Why do we remember Palm Sunday…the day that begins “Holy Week” the week in which we Christians tell the story of Jesus final days, his capture, torture, death and
We replay Palm Sunday to remember to be expectant
We retell the story to remember to be surprised by what God did and will do
We rehearse the story to keep in living memory that which was accomplished at so a great cost
We replay the drama of Palm Sunday to remember that we still, in many ways, live in a world that would crucify Jesus.
And finally, we celebrate Palm Sunday to remind us to ask “When, teacher, when will the kingdom come?”
Woven into the story of Jesus Passion, are all the clues that we need to understand that ancient event
In our passage, the prediction of the temple’s destruction was referenced
Every building, every institution of human creation is vulnerable to destruction
Then and now, “great earthquakes, famines, wars that pit kingdom against kindom” (sound familiar?)
It always seems as if our wars and revolutions threaten to undo us
They seem to be the documentary evidence of human injustice and intolerance
Jesus message here is not a precise answer to the question when…but warning to be vigilant…to watch for signs, to be aware and keenly observant for the dynamics which can quickly overtake and destroy
But he goes on (in Luke’s report) “But before all of this…!”
There will be a time, when those who are associated with Jesus will be persecuted, betrayed, brought to court and tried
This will be a time of testing when the only weapons of resistance and defense will be an unworried faith and the words that come from God’s Holy Spirit
Jesus indicates there will be an end….but long into the future…
In the mean time: stand firm!
You will gain life…
But wait…that’s no real answer to the question “when?”
That just shoves the near future into the future dim
That just says we need to be ready to suffer, and survive
It’s no wonder that we have lost that great sense of expectation that the Jews of Jesus day manifested
We no longer expect God’s kingdom to come crashing in, ending the rule of democrats and republicans alike,
There is no expectation of a universal catastrophe of God’s origin…maybe because of global warming or nuculear war, but not of God’s doing
The divine drama we rehearse is no longer full of great hope and expectation…Palm Sunday is just another holiday, reduced to a certain level of familiarity that robs us of any anticipation that God will save us and our world
We certainly do not hope for the restoration of David’s Kingdom
If we anticipate God’s Kingdom…we have few if any images that connect us to the real world
We are not like those who stood with Jesus in the Temple and asked “When, teacher, when will God act…”
We are more concerned with when will the recession be over, when will summer vacation begin, when…will the weather warm
We do not any longer see humans as actors in a divine drama, we see humans as humans
The pastor as a good guy but human enough to make mistakes,
the denominational people as people given duties and responsibilities but limited in what they can do,
we see the popular religious leaders, Dobson, Warren and such as just people with another set of thoughts and maybe a different plan
But we seldom see us…as actors in a divine drama
This morning we need to ask again, with the same sense of anticipation and hope: When?
When is the kingdom coming?
When will the world be changed so radically that people will love and care for each other, when justice is the rule, when health, security and prosperity are the conditions for every family on the planet?
If we can not recover this sense of imminent expectation, we will tend to repeat the cycles of story telling, without any expectation of real change
If our hearts are not filled with that eagerness to see the accomplishment of God’s work, our complacency will give way to dissolution and disintegration of the church
Palm Sunday should be for us, a time when the adrenlin rushes through our bodies to turn our eyes keenly towards the signs of God’s present work in our lives and in our nations
29He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
Jesus can not be a long time ago person.
Jesus must triumphantly enter our lives anew
Jesus presence begins when we ask him when, Lord, when, teacher, do you want us to go forward in your name?
Jesus must be operative in our lives when ever there is need about us, not only when we think it convenient!
If retelling the story of Jesus arrival in Jerusalem and the activities he engaged in that short period does anything, it should be to motivate us to
Be attentive to the divine drama in which we live, our time in which people need faith and care, when justice must be sought and right relationship restored, when all the futures we describe are human inventions, not divine predicitions
It must be a time when we are fully capable of answering the question about the kingdom…when Teacher?
When it comes in our hearts and enters our world through the work God calls us to do now!
Hosanna!
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