Midweek Musings written for May 10

As the dean of the conference I am tasked with writing Midweek Musings for one month of the year.  This year I have the month of May.  Midweek Musings are thoughts about the Bible readings that are coming up for the next Sunday.  They are distributed throughout the synod and read by many pastors and laypeople.

We ended Sunday's worship during the sermon.  Next week we'll pick up where we left off and add on some more material.  Therefore it makes no sense for me to post here a sermon that was never preached, and then largely repeated next Sunday.  However, I am going to share what I wrote for Midweek Musings.  While we will be reading from Matthew's gospel, most churches will be reading John 14:1-14.  I invite you to read those verses before continuing here.

In verse 2 of this passage Jesus says, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.”  A closer look at the Greek text makes me want to translate it, “In my Father’s house are many abiding places.”  While abiding and dwelling are certainly synonyms I believe abiding carries the meaning of the entire passage more effectively.

The scene is the Last Supper.  Jesus has been telling the disciples of his immanent betrayal and that he would be leaving them.  In the verses immediately preceding our verses Peter has asked Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?”  Jesus answers, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward.”  The disciples are deeply troubled by it all.  They have devoted their lives to following Jesus.  Now, however, they are told they cannot follow.  What is going on?  What is happening?  Where can they turn?  Where can they put their trust?  It is into this anxiety that Jesus speaks 14:1-14.  They will always safely abide in God.  The text goes on in what may appear to be a dizzying strand of logic, but we get the point.  Jesus is being emphatic about abiding fully and securely in God.

John 14:1-14 can easily be misinterpreted into a theology of glory -  where we humans can use faith as a path towards personal empowerment.  But when kept in light of the disciples’ anxiety at the Last Supper, we stay safely in the theology of the cross.

Our current times are anxious times.  People are anxious about infectious disease.  People are anxious about the economic downturn.  People are anxious about how life will be different; and perhaps for churches, how worship will be different.  The news is full of reports of death, hardship, and frustration.  Into this doom and gloom it is good when we can bring a message of hope.  The church is not the only messenger of hope, however.

At the risk of being seriously misunderstood, I want to bring up the current advertisement by Pfizer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl0tEfLve1U  #sciencewillwin  It is worth watching if you haven’t seen it.  This advertisement is filled with religious ideology.  The opening line is, “At a time when things are most uncertain, we turn to the most certain thing there is.  Science.”  Now, don’t misunderstand me please.  As someone with a degree in civil engineering, and as someone who employs scientific principles throughout my life (including biblical study), I do not intend to attack the scientific community.  God has given us brilliant minds and amazing capabilities.  With many people denying scientific claims about the environment we certainly need solid scientific authority in our culture.  Personally I feel no tension between faith and science.  To me science is one aspect of the much bigger faith God has given me.  However, is science really the most certain thing there is?  Is science our abiding place?  Absolutely not!  Inspiring as this advertisement is, it is built on the misguided theology of glory.

God our Father is our abiding place.  In uncertain times we turn to the most certain thing there is: the love of God.  Nothing, absolutely positively nothing, is bigger or stronger than God’s love.  Nothing can separate you from it!  What can separate you from the love of God?  Will COVID-19, or economic collapse, or anxiety, or cancelled worship, or…  (Well, why don’t I just let St. Paul finish the sentence!) “…hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:35,37)

Not even death will separate us from God’s love.  So yes: scientists, researchers, and engineers please work hard with the skills God’s given you to develop solutions.  But as for our abiding place, the most certain thing there is, that is God’s love!