March 25 2018 Palm Sunday Mark 14:1-11

I consider myself to be a logical person.  I like to think I make decisions that make sense.  I like to collect objectively verifiable data, analyze the data, reach a reasonable conclusion, and then act on it.  For the most part it serves me well.

As a pastor in this day and age I find I’m also having to defend Christian faith as logically as possible too.  I can’t count the number of times people have said something like, “So how can you not believe in evolution?”  It is their automatic conclusion based on what they think a Christian leader believes.  It is as if to be committed to Christian faith one must believe in myths and fairy tales.  Fortunately Christian theology and history are filled with excellent scholarship and sophisticated doctrines; even if people these days aren’t interested in learning them and would prefer to dismiss Christianity as a leftover of the ignorant past.

The problem is that logic and rational thinking can’t reveal everything about our faith.  Look at the woman who anoints Jesus that we read about in the gospel.  There were plenty of people around who, like me, applied good logic to the situation.  “Why was this ointment wasted in this way?  For this ointment could have been sold for more than 300 denarii, and the money given to the poor.”  Mark tells us that the people scolded her.  I’m all too ready to agree with them.

Let’s pause a moment to really focus on what Mark tells us, and what he does not.  I think we’re most familiar with a woman anointing Jesus from Luke’s gospel.  Luke tells this story with some different details.  Luke portrays this story as if it happened early on in Jesus ministry, not two days before he dies as in Mark and Matthew.  In Luke, Jesus is at something like a public banquet and a woman of the city who is called a “sinner” comes up and anoints Jesus’ feet and then wipes them with her hair.  The whole thing makes us blush with its sexual overtones.

But any number of biblical interpreters say we can’t combine the stories.  They say that when reading Mark just stick to just what Mark says and only what Mark says.  Commentator Pheme Perkins notes that as Mark portrays it this woman was probably a woman of the household.  Maybe it was Simon’s wife or his sister or maybe a daughter.  There’s no reason to suggest she has a sordid past.  And there’s also no reason so suggest she was poor.  Perkins suggests it is likely she actually had enough money available to her that she could afford some nice luxuries in her life – like a bottle of expensive perfume.

Let’s keep this picture of her in our minds as we consider what she did.  It’s impossible to know how much she actually knew about Jesus.  I imagine she was around hearing the conversation between Jesus, the disciples, Simon and other guests.  If she heard how the events of the last days went she had every reason to believe he was in trouble: overturning the tables of the money changers on Monday, then a whole day of argument and conflict with the religious leaders on Tuesday.  We aren’t told what happened earlier in the day on Wednesday, but I bet it wasn’t good.  Now it’s Wednesday evening and tensions are running high.  Something big is about to happen, and it will be scary.

Whether she sensed this and this was the case or not, she brings out a jar of expensive ointment.  The contents are said to be worth 300 denarii.  A denarii was a day’s wages for a laborer, so that’s about a year’s salary.  The economy was different and it’s impossible to give a real value in today’s dollars, so let’s just say it was excellent stuff that was worth a lot of money.  We do know the nature of this ointment.  Spikenard the plant grew in the Himalayas.  It could be processed into ointment and it was shipped in alabaster boxes.  Ointment of this kind would be used sparingly, and then only for special occasions.  Yet here this woman breaks the container and pours it all on Jesus.

Her gift is lavish beyond lavish.  A logical person like me is offended.  So were others at the table.  And yet she anointed the Savior of the world for his burial.  That smell was certainly with Jesus the next day during the Last Supper.  It was with him when he was praying on the Mount of Olives and then arrested.  It was with him throughout his trial, mocking, and beating.  That smell would have been with him through the torturous hours on the cross, and right up to the moment of his death.

This anointing is the only act of human kindness that lingered with Jesus through it all.  The disciples, male and female, didn’t stand up for him.  He was abandoned and forsaken by all – alone.  And yet the smell of the anointing was with him.  This was humanity’s only expression to God of appreciation for who Jesus was and his willingness to die for all our sins.

We should be deeply grateful for this woman’s act of service.  It was lavish, yes, but it still falls far short of the appreciation we humans should have shown to the one who saves us.

That she dumps it all out, all of it, unreservedly is deeply important.  She did not make a calculated decision of what would be an appropriate amount to dispense upon an honored guest.  She did not pour out a few drops of this valuable stuff and think to herself, “Well, I guess that ought to be enough for this occasion.”  This was completely and totally without logic or stategy.  It was the most complete way this woman could unreservedly give to Jesus.  This was self-emptying love in about as pure a form as it could be. 

I love these words from theologian Halford Luccock, “The verdict of these shocked onlookers reappears in the feeling of many that worship is waste… [Worship] builds no barns, yields no compound interest… To this type of mind the sacrifice of life for a faith is waste.  We hear that judgment daily passed on one who chooses a vocation of obscure service to God and man in preference to what is called… ‘making good.’  Francis of Assisi wasted his life.  He might have been a lord of the manor instead of a beggar… So was John Wesley’s.  What a major general or parliamentary whip he would have made with all that executive capacity!”  Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Volume 7, Pg. 869

This woman loved so much that she gave everything to show love, and respect, and thanks to him.

That still leaves people like me in a sticky situation.  What about all that money that could have helped poor people?  But that is the problem of my logical mind – a mind interested in value, calculation, and measurable effect. 

We need to have those qualities, but not exclusively.  Some things are beyond dollars and cents.

When we talk about giving everything to God that is not a calculated response.  I think many people unknowingly live as if they are executing a strategic plan for eternal life.  They think they have to be good now and behave themselves so that they can get to heaven, because, they think, God doesn’t like bad people.

I think, “Do you really want to spend eternity in heaven being forced into good behavior?!?”  They’ve got it all wrong.  The unnamed woman had it right.

Don’t be a good and kind and generous person as a strategy.  And don’t force yourself to be genuinely good and kind and generous because that’s the attitude you think God wants from you.  Those life plans lead to anger and misery.  Know that God loves you – God loves you so much that God takes the brokenness of the world upon himself so that you don’t have to.  In fact, God loves you so much that he took the brokenness of the world upon himself without you having to even ask him to do it.  God just did.  Pure gift to you – and totally lavish.

If you have to focus on anything to be a righteous person focus on that.  When you can realize you are loved so much then goodness and kindness and generosity flow out of you without you even having to try.  They become a part of who you are, right to the core.

I’ll never forget being at the one Penn State vs. Miami football game while I was in college.  Miami was beating us, and it was a pretty sure thing they would win.  But there was still some hope Penn State could win it.  A guy on the bench in front of me starts saying, “God, if we win this game I’ll go to church tomorrow.”

Um, while God can use anything as a conversion experience I doubt that God wanted to get this guy in church the next day so badly that he’d swing the outcome of the game!  Plus, if we did win I doubt he would have gone to church anyway!

The guy was being stupid, but it was still calculating.  The woman with the ointment may have been stupid too – but there was no calculation involved at all, and in so doing she gave God one of the greatest gifts a human ever has.

Know that you are loved by God.  Certainly keep a logical brain in your head, but let God’s love guide you through life.  Then you will know the joys and freedom Jesus gave you from the cross.

March 18, 2018 Lent 5 Mark 11:20-13:37

In the first part of our gospel reading Jesus is getting asked about a whole lot of hot button issues of the day: authority, the place of the temple, paying taxes, eternal life, and the commandments.  His answers to any one of them could get him into trouble.  I don’t want to suggest that the current state of our political climate is a parallel to Jesus’ day, but I do think the way he handles things gives us some principles to live by.

            I’m sure you’ve all sat around the table with a bunch of relatives at a holiday and somebody brings up a hot button topic.  It seems to happen a lot these days.  There might be a ringing silence, and your anxiety may shoot through the roof.  What’s going to happen?  Is it going to be ignored?  Is someone going to blow up?  Is there going to be a fight?  A great holiday with lots of anticipation may turn into a disaster.

            Some people bury their heads in the sand – probably a bad idea.  Some people instantly blow their top and start an argument – probably also a bad idea.  Some people try to be diplomatic and see things from all sides and then try to be the peacemakers.  That’s kind of sweet – but it could also be a bad idea.  In some things there is no room for diplomacy.  Some things are simply wrong.  They must be stopped or rejected.

            I say it is our faith responsibility to be able to engage in conversations about hot button issues or political issues.  We should not shy away from them when they come up.  Although we also have to remember that following the example of Jesus when you engage something may still get you in a lot of trouble.  Good Friday didn’t exactly turn out sweet for Jesus now did it?

            So what does Jesus do?  Every time Jesus is asked about something it’s presented in a limiting way.  For example, should they pay taxes to Caesar or not?  It’s an either/or situation.         Last Wednesday many high school students held a 17 minute walkout as a protest to gun violence and in memory of the school shooting in Florida.  I was pleased with the way the students decided to express themselves, and in Canandaigua at least, I was pleased with the way the administration honored the students’ desires.  They were allowed to walk out, or not; no punishment, no judgment.  And yet I couldn’t help feeling like it was all limiting.  It seemed like students were either for or against.  There was no room to express anything more complicated, and it that’s the end of the situation then the complications can never be expressed.  Only time will tell with this one, but a lot of hot button issues turn into either/or situations; people battling for their side to win.  They rejoice when they do, and they get mad and want revenge when they don’t.

            How many civil conversations are there on Facebook over hot button issues?

            The same limits were being placed on Jesus.  But he refused to let society’s ways of defining an issue be his way of defining an issue.  Look at all his answers.  He redefines things according to his own terms, which are God’s terms.  Jesus’ answers take thought.  They are seldom simple.  They honor the value of people and they honor how complex issues are. 

I think that people are by nature lazy.  We want simple solutions to complex problems.  How many times do politicians on the campaign trail say that an issue is complex, there are no easy solutions, and that everyone is going to have to work hard on it for a long time?   What do politicians usually say?  That the opposing party is the problem and just kick them out and everything will automatically get better.

Lea Schweitz is a systematic theology professor at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago.  She talks about what she calls the “wicked problems” of the world.  By wicked problems she doesn’t necessarily mean they are particularly evil.  She means that they are not easily addressed – things like poverty, racism, and addiction.  You can’t just hire experts to study the problem, then implement a solution, and have the problem go away.  That’s the way people want things to work, but it doesn’t.

No, for Lea “wicked problems” are problems where you do the best you can today to address it.  But you know that the problem isn’t going away.  Six months or a year from now you have to restudy it, see how your solutions worked or didn’t work, and then adjust them and move forward.  You can’t stick to party lines or ideological purity.  And no one ever gets to claim victory, and maybe the problem is never solved.  But constant thoughtful attention can minimize it.

I think this is how Jesus wants us to address the problems of the world.  We have to be careful to avoid being blinded by our own desires, our own concepts of how things work (or should work), and blind attachment to particular authorities or parties. 

Let’s wrap all this up by pointing out something easy to overlook.  This week’s reading began with the disciples noting the withered fig tree.  You’ll remember from what we read last week that this is the tree Jesus cursed because it didn’t have figs.  The whole thing raises more questions than it answers, but the point of it was a prophetic action.  The withering of the fig tree to its roots symbolizes the withering and rejection of the temple in Jerusalem.  And now Jesus uses it to talk about prayer.  He says that if you have faith in God you could say to a mountain, “’Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.”  (Mark 11:24)  If that were the case I’d never lift a shovel again!  I get all sorts of wild images in my mind of how I’d use such powers.  And in that imagination I miss how Jesus teaches to apply it, for that is the real thrust.

What is his practical application of prayer and it’s power?  He uses it for forgiveness.  “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive your trespasses.”  (11:25)

There’s nothing triumphal in asking God for forgiveness and in forgiving others.  If mountains are hard to move, so also forgiveness can be hard.  I don’t think Jesus means to just ignore the wrong people do.  No, there needs to be accountability.  A parent needs to establish discipline and consequences in his or her children.  Jesus isn’t talking about no consequences for wrongdoing.  Jesus is talking about rooting your understanding of yourself and others in your common brokenness before God and your need for God’s grace.

If you can see yourself in the proper light before God, then you will also see others in the proper light before God.  From there the real issues of the world can be addressed, and we can all grow in faith and hope.

February 28 Lent 3 Mark 10:13-31

At first glance it appears as if the scene where Jesus blesses the little children has nothing to do with the second scene of Jesus talking to the rich man about eternal life.  But the two are very deeply connected.

Commentator Pheme Perkins notes this:

“Modern readers find it difficult to avoid romanticizing the ideal of a child.  They typically look at some characteristic of children, like innocence or dependence or acceptance, as the meaning of ‘become like a child.’  However, ancient societies lacked such romantic notions of childhood….

“The child in antiquity was radically dependent upon the pater familias.  The father decided whether the child would even be accepted into the family.  Children belonged to their father and remained subject to his authority even as adults.  The saying ‘to receive the kingdom like a child,’ …refers to the radical dependence of the child on the father for any status, inheritance, or, in families where children might be abandoned, for life itself.  It warns the disciples that they are radically dependent upon God’s grace.”  (New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8, Pg. 647)

            Jesus means nothing about naiveté or innocence when Jesus talks about receiving the kingdom as a child.  He is talking about dependence upon the Father – God; depending on God for any status or inheritance or life itself.

            Return your thoughts to the story of Adam and Eve.  What is at the root of their sin, the eating of the forbidden fruit?  It is their desire to define themselves apart from God.  Their action was an act of rejecting God as Father.  A child has nothing to do with age.  It has everything to do with who defines you.

            Now let’s look at the story of the rich man.  He comes to Jesus and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  That’s contract language… What must I do to inherit eternal life.  That’s the kind of conversation you’d have at a business meeting.  He’s trying to figure out how to make a deal with God.  He treats salvation with legalism.

            You’ll remember from previous weeks that Mark wants us to know that God loves us, and God loves us abundantly and radically.  That we can depend upon.  However we can never think that love means that we can limit God, predict God or manipulate God.  You simply can’t.

            But behind this rich man’s words we discover that he wants to.  He’s followed all the rules.  Jesus says to him, “You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness’ You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’”

            You can almost feel the warmth rising in his heart and the smile spreading across his face as he jubilantly says, “Teacher, I have kept all these… from my youth!”  He’s ready to walk away with that good feeling you have when you’ve done a truly good deed, and while you don’t feel smug about yourself, you feel happy and content.  This guy’s got it.  He works hard.  He’s a good guy.  People like him for his virtues.  And now he knows God will reward him for his goodness.

            And then Jesus keeps talking, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

            The man is crushed.  His whole life of virtue has just been pulled out from under his feet.  We learn that he has many possessions.  He is probably a generous guy.  He knows the pleasure of helping out someone less fortunate.

            He can’t bear the shame of being needy himself and being on the receiving end of charity.

            His possessions and money give him status.  They give him safety.  If there’s suddenly a famine or economic catastrophe, that’s okay.  He can pull some from savings and weather the trouble.

            He loses that earthly safety if he sells it all and follows Jesus.

            He can walk down the street with his head held erect.  He’s a solid dependable person.  People know him.  He’s respected.  He’s responsible.  People turn to him for advice about how to be successful because he is a model of success.

            Giving it all up and following Jesus is going to mean that people are going to look down on him.  They’ll think he had a nervous breakdown or became a religious freak.  People will whisper behind his back.  He’ll go from the model of success that he is to falling to the bottom of society.

            He walks away grieving because he can’t do it.

            Subconsciously he wants eternal life on his terms, which are the terms of earthly honor and status.  He wants to be a good guy as he and others define a good guy, not how God really thinks.

            The disciples are just as shocked as this man is.  They say to one another, “Then who can be saved?”  In their opinion rich people were rich people because God liked them.  Poor people were poor people because God didn’t like them.

            Perhaps that’s too cut and dried.  They certainly had the idea that God loved the poor and the orphan and the widow.  They knew God would be with those who suffer innocently.  That was part of their Jewish faith.  But they had the same subtle belief that still exists today.  Good, hard working, clean cut people are to be emulated.  They’ve got it together.  People like them.  Therefore God must like them too.

            That doesn’t mean that God can’t love dirty, drug-addicted, lazy people, but they are more of a burden to society, so of what value are they?  If they want to be noticed and worthwhile then they’ve got to get their act together.

            From the disciples perspective, if even the good, clean cut hard working people can’t enter the kingdom of God, then who can?

            Jesus says the key thing, and it is impossible to overstate its importance.  “For mortals it is impossible.”

            Can you get to heaven?  Can you have eternal life?  I have bad news for you.  You can’t do it.  It’s impossible.  You’re helpless.  You’re powerless.  You’re trapped.  You’re lost.  If you hope in yourself or your possessions or your goodness or your reputation you’re hoping in vain.

            Jesus goes on, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”  When it comes to salvation or eternal life or going to heaven we’re all hoping for the impossible.  Because that’s the only hope we have.

            Notice Jesus said to the disciples, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!”  He calls them children.  And we go back to the previous scene where Jesus says, “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a child will never enter it.”

            To be a child is to be subject to the pater familias, be subject to the Father.  The Father alone gives us worth.  The Father alone gives us safety.  The Father alone gives us an inheritance.  It is the Father’s power alone that can save us.  Returning to Pheme Perkins thoughts again, she says we are radically dependent upon God’s grace.  We cannot set the conditions for entering the kingdom.

            The rich man wanted power and order in his salvation.  He wasn’t willing to become needy.  He wasn’t willing to become a child again.  He wanted to be the pater familias, not be radically dependent on God.

            It is a challenge for us who are often so successful at being successful.  We know how to look to ourselves to meet our needs.  We can provide for our own food and shelter and comfort and entertainment.  We feel that our reputations rest in our own hands, in our own efforts.  It is difficult to imagine giving all that up.  And it is just as difficult to imagine being a child that is needy and dependent.  It is difficult to imagine being a beggar before God just like every other person, but it is true.

            It is not all bad news.  In fact there is quite good news.  Jesus promises abundance for those who do come to trust in God: needs being met, friendships, acceptance and worth.  These are all part of God’s kingdom on earth.  So may we be able to trust God.  We have to.  It is our only hope for the impossible.  And blessings will come with it too. 

February 18, 2018 Lent 1 Mark 9:14-10:12

The passage from Mark has a lot to challenge us and maybe even frighten us.  These are not the kind of teachings we like to have from Jesus.  All too often I think people imagine Jesus as this all around nice guy who never really says anything mean.  But today we read him giving a blanket condemnation of divorce and remarriage.  He talks about cutting off limbs and plucking out eyes.  He has these strange teachings about salt losing its saltiness – that is chemically impossible.  And there is the scene where Jesus is mad because the disciples couldn’t cure the epileptic boy.  He tells them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you?  How much longer must I put up with you?”  (Mark 9:19) 

You may remember me mentioning when we started Mark’s gospel that this writing will pull the rug out from under your feet time and time again.  Every time you think you understand and you think you have Jesus figured out Mark will upend your understanding.  I think that is part of his point.  He wants us to know that God is deeply loving, and that God is very generous, and that God’s cares for all people.  But we cannot think that because this is God’s nature that we can figure God out or control God or even intellectually understand what God is up to.  Instead, we are called to trust, and trust God more deeply than our brains can comprehend.

Let’s look at some of these scenes in reverse order.  Some Pharisees attempt to trap Jesus by asking him about divorce.  It’s an entrapping question because there’s no way out.  If he says no then he has gone against Deuteronomy 24:1 which says that a man may divorce his wife for any reason.  The exact wording is, “…she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her…”  That’s it – grounds for divorce were simply failing to please a man.  You may remember me joking that a man could divorce his wife on the grounds that he doesn’t like her meatloaf! 

On the other hand, if Jesus says yes a man can divorce his wife then he’d get into trouble with the powerful Essene community, a large Jewish sect that forbade divorce under any circumstances.

Jesus’ answer rightfully turns the question on its head.  Marriage is based on God’s order of creation, not about rules and regulations.  Jesus’ private teachings to his disciples about remarriage being adultery are also rooted in God’s order of creation, not rules and regulations.  His teachings acknowledge the emotional feelings of betrayal, hurt, and shame that any emotionally healthy person feels at the break down of an intimate relationship and the beginning of another.

Notice Jesus does not say people who remarry will burn in hell forever.  He simply roots the situation in God’s order of creation and names the pains that go with it.

The scene prior to that talks about dismembering yourself if part of you causes you to sin.  Fortunately I see you have not followed that advice or I’d be talking to a bunch of blind people without arms and legs.  I’d be like that too.  Remember, Jesus often uses exaggerated language in his teachings.  And here he is picking up on an ancient Greek teaching, “Cast away every part of the body which leads you to intemperance; for it is better to live temperately without it, than to live whole.”  (Sextus Sentences 13)

It reminds us of the seriousness of sin.  A person who takes his or her sin lightly also takes God’s grace lightly.  A person who takes his or her sin seriously also appreciates the undeserved-favor-that-is-God’s-grace as a wonderful gift.  Again, can you see that this is rooted in creation and right relationship with God.

Going back another scene we have the disciple John wanting to stop who’s doing good work in Jesus’ name.  John is acting like Jesus’ name is proprietary and this other guy hasn’t paid the licensing fee.  Once again we see how human logic wants to put limits on God.  The same can be said for the scene previous to that where the disciples are arguing over who was the greatest.  This is a human tendency to always want to rank and measure ourselves against other people.  We want to feel like we are better than them, and we certainly don’t like being beneath others.  But this is all thinking from the human point of view.  It is not God’s way.  As I said before, Mark’s gospel will always witness to the abundance of God’s love, but never let us think we have control over it, or that we can limit it, or predict it.

And I think that leads us to the very first scene we read from the gospel.  The disciples are unable to cast a demon out of a boy.  Based on his symptoms we can conclude he has epilepsy.  The whole scene is filled with anger and chaos.  There’s a crowd, there are religious experts, there are the disciples, there’s this father, and his boy who he wants to have cured.  Jesus enters the scene as well and he seems angry at everyone, calling them a faithless generation.  Then the boy has a seizure right then and there and Jesus forcefully drives it out.

In the midst of all the chaos the boy’s father says something that has become famous.  “I believe; help my unbelief!”  What a strange thing to say!  But it is an authentic and deeply revealing truth.  I think we all have felt just like that man.  We want to believe.  We need to believe.  But it just seems so impossible and we want to have solid assurance right then and there.  The boy and his father are fortunate that they get it from Jesus.

The final word on this scene is an interesting one.  The disciples ask Jesus why they could do nothing.  He replies, “This kind can come out only through prayer.”

I think Jesus’ word on prayer and the father’s words that he believes but help his unbelief go hand in hand.

Prayer is definitely powerful, but many people treat it like a magical formula:  It is as if God was a divine magician who is available with miraculous powers if and only if you call upon God correctly.  You have to say the right words and say them in the right way and be thinking the right thoughts and if and only if you do, then God will act.

But what have we been talking about Mark’s gospel?  God is guaranteed to be loving, but is God able to be predicted, controlled or understood?  No.  Never.  Prayer is not a human being’s ability to dictate to God what God should do.  Prayer is a conversation of trust between God and people.

I suppose we could ask the question, do we trust in the power of prayer, or do we trust in the one to whom we pray?  If you say you trust in the power of prayer I’d suggest that is coming from a human point of view.  It is as if prayer in and of itself has power.  But if you trust in the one to whom you pray then you are trusting in God.

When Jesus says this kind only can come out by prayer he is not suggesting that with the correct prayer technique the demon, or the epilepsy could be cured.  He is saying that God should be trusted to have the power to cure.

The cure then, is God’s, not ours.

Now don’t get me wrong in what I say about prayer.  Many a hurting and angry Christian has swallowed their hurt and anger and prayed to God, “This is what I want, but thy will be done and I’ll be okay with whatever it is.”  That is a commendable thought, but is it a true prayer?

When you’re scared or hurting or angry then is not the time to pray prim and proper prayers.  A prim and proper prayer with fear and anger subdued within yourself is a very weak prayer indeed.  Martin Luther taught to let it out.  If you’re scared let God know it.  If you’re angry let God know it, even if you’re angry at God!  And if you’re hurting let God know it.

God knows what you’re trying to hide in your mind.  True prayer, powerful prayer, is when you are bluntly honest and truthful with God.  Then is when you trust not in the power of your prayer but the power of the one to whom you pray.  Then you are bold to trust that God’s love has a hold of you and won’t let go.

All of today’s gospel reading is about not legislating how God should act, but knowing with surety that God will act with love.  It’s easier said than done.  The disciples messed up plenty, and we do too.  But God’s love always gets the final word, and in that we rest our hope.

February 11 2018 Transfiguration Sunday

Like many things in Mark’s gospel, the transfiguration brings in many layers of meaning.  For many years biblical scholars thought Mark’s gospel was a history of Jesus’ ministry written by a well-intended, but simple-minded author.  Not so.  The same goes for the disciples as they’re portrayed in Mark’s gospel.  They seem like a bunch of loveable, but bumbling idiots at one level – as if instead of Jesus choosing twelve apostles, he chose twelve stooges.  But when you look at them more you see a lot of yourself – a well-meaning, but struggling person; wanting and meaning to be a faith-filled disciple, but feeling like you fall short all too often.  And even if you don’t want to admit it in your mind, I think most people have a sense of frustration.  If God only gave a sign, or some proof, or created some sort of supernatural source of belief inside them, then they could be good disciples.  Think about what we’ve learned so far from Mark’s gospel about both the disciples and the Pharisees.  They’re really asking Jesus for the same thing.

But faith is different.  People want faith to be a business transaction or a contract.  Each party in the contract has a clear list of privileges and responsibilities; rewards and consequences are clearly spelled out.

I’m reminded of the joke about the wealthy businessman who had a reputation for being mean and abusive to his employees, his children and his wife.  He was notorious for lying and being deceitful.  His wife was a kindhearted loving woman who always prayed for her husband.  The man suddenly became very sick and doctors told him he would die, so he better quickly get his affairs in order.  He asked for his wife’s pastor to come and visit him.

The pastor arrived and the man said, “I know you are an honest man, trustworthy and you will not lie to me.  I have been a bad person all my life.  I’ve lied.  I’ve hurt lots of people.  I’ve manipulated and exploited things.  So I have a question for you.  If I gave everything I own – everything: all my money, my cars, my house, my business – everything over to the church right now, will I go to heaven?  Tell me the truth.  I know you’re an honest man.”

The pastor paused for a few seconds contemplating his answer and said, “Well, it’s worth a try.”

Silly, but people want faith to be a give and take mechanism.  It’s a relationship, which is unique in each person’s experience, and it’s layered and complicated. 

We see some layers and complications in the transfiguration.  You may remember me preaching this before, but from one point of view, Peter’s offer to build three dwellings on top of the mountain – one each for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah is absolutely silly.  I imagine a delivery truck from Home Depot struggling its way up a steep mountain road delivering lumber and roofing materials!  But from a different point of view, Peter’s offer is commendable.  The three dwellings Peter offers to make are tents, or booths.  Peter is offering to do set up work for a Festival of the Booths.  This was a late-season harvest festival.  It commemorated the years the people of Israel spent wandering in the wilderness under Moses.  And in Peter’s day the festival had come to mean the end of time.  It was believed that at the end of time there would be a great Festival of the Booths.

So Peter sees Moses and Elijah and Jesus and thinks the end has come.  He has willingly offered his services to them.  Notice he does not offer to build four or six dwellings.  That would then include a place for himself and James and John.  If he had offered that we could reasonably conclude that Peter wants the event to go on and on and he will then live up there with these three great guys.  But no, Peter’s offer is genuine.  It is well thought out.  It is commendable.  And it is totally wrong.

If you were here last week you may remember talking about two levels of sight, as we saw it took Jesus two attempts to cure the blind man.  We talked about how there seems to be two levels of sight in the disciples too.  They seem to be able to see Jesus as the Messiah – which was the image of glory and triumph and power.  And then there is the second level of sight which was seeing Jesus as the Son of God.  In Mark’s gospel Son of God –or Son of Man- is always a reference to Jesus as the crucified one.  It has to do with suffering, loss and death.  The disciples do not have this level of sight.  At least they don’t have it yet.  They will get it after the crucifixion.

So Peter’s offer is commendable from the point of view of this first level of sight.  He is offering the glorious and triumphant Messiah he sees standing in front of him with Moses and Elijah his services.

But what does the voice from the cloud say?  Does is say, “This is my Messiah”?  No, it says, “This is my Son, the Beloved…”  So we have both – Jesus as the glorious Messiah shining and bright white; and Jesus as the Son of God, the suffering crucified one.  I think we are to understand both from the Transfiguration.

What are we to do with this contradiction?  What does it mean for our lives? 

Mark’s original readers knew what it meant to be persecuted for their faith.  They were suffering for what they believed.  When you’re suffering for something it is easy to question the validity of it.  Would you stick with a financial advisor if every time you followed that person’s advice your investments lost money?  And why would you invest your life in believing something that was only going to cost you?  Like St. Paul writes, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ we are of all people most to be pitied.”  (1 Corinthians 15:19)

Mark’s original hearers needed to know that persecution and suffering were going to be part and parcel of faith.  But, it was worth it.  Because, again as St. Paul continues, the promise of the resurrection was coming.  That would be joy and glory.

And yet, Christian faith is not intended to be a strategy for suffering now in order to be rewarded later.  That would be back to being a simple business transaction – you’re doing what you think God wants so that God rewards you in the end.

As we look at this for our own lives, let’s always keep in mind something greater.  This message appears to be infused in every word of Mark’s gospel.  Following Christ does have rewards now.  They are not the rewards of being blessed by God and having an easy luxurious life.  They are the rewards of working hard and doing something worthwhile, even if that worthwhile doesn’t bring you glory.

Maybe I’m an oddball in this, but I don’t think so.  At the end of the day I sleep better when I’ve done an honest day’s work; when I feel like I’ve made a meaningful contribution to the world around me; when I haven’t knowingly defrauded anyone or exploited anyone.  Of course hard work is not the same as suffering, and hard work does not equate to being a faithful Christian.  But it makes a good example of investing yourself in something worthwhile.

I think you will suffer today for your faith, although that suffering will be mild compared to what Christians experienced in Mark’s day.  Standing up for justice and fairness will cost you socially.  Christian faith is not always welcome in the workplace, especially when Christian faith does not go along with questionable practices.  And there is the whole cultural arrogance that suggests atheism is the only thing a truly rational person would accept as truth.  People of faith are ignorant weaklings who use their faith as a crutch.  We know this is not true, but it doesn’t really matter.

And perhaps this isn’t suffering at all, but it certainly isn’t glorious.  In the 1980’s theologian Fred Craddock wrote, “We think of give our all to the Lord is like taking $1000 bill and leaving it on the table – ‘Here’s my life, Lord, I’m giving it all.’  But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us exchange the $1000 for quarters.  We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there…   Usually giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious.  It’s done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time.”  (Leadership (Fall 1984) 47)

January 28, 2018 John 3 - Preached at St. Paul's, Penn Yan

             I’m sure an image comes to mind the moment you hear the phrase, “I’m a born again Christian.”  Of course it’s rooted in the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus where Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be “born again.”  Nicodemus doesn’t get it and the conversation unfolds in an almost ridiculous way as Nicodemus tries to figure out how to climb back inside ones mother’s womb.  But the way many people who call themselves “born again” understand it is almost as off the mark as Nicodemus’ understanding.

            The word in question is the Greek word  It has a double meaning.  It means both “born again” and “born from above”.  The way Jesus uses it requires us to keep both meanings at work simultaneously.

            Often when people talk about being “born again” they are talking about a personal conversion experience that has happened to them.  That’s not only not what Jesus had in mind at all, but it also misses the double meaning of the word. 

            The idea of being born again does indeed suggest being born into a new way of thinking and being as a human.  Including the idea of being “born from above” moves the focus to what has been done for us by Jesus.  Here are the words from biblical commentator Gail O’Day, “Contemporary usage of ‘born again’… emphasizes personal change more than the external source of that change: the cross.”  (New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 9, Pg. 555) 

I’ve met far too many people who are smug about being “born again.”  They use it like a slogan and look down long judgmental noses at people like Lutherans who don’t do much with the idea.  When someone does that he or she has completely missed the point of being born again.  Born again is not a religious conversion experience.  It is an entirely new way of recognizing reality as it has been created for us by Jesus.

We live in politically charged times.  It seems like whenever either major political party has a legislative win they hold a press conference to tout what they have done.  There may be speeches and those speeches include praise for backers and supporters.

Indeed it is good to thank people who have worked to make something possible, but there is also a lot of, “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine,” kind of thing going on.  It becomes an exchange of glory and a condemnation of opponents.  The focus is on what we did, and it tears down the losers.

The new way of recognizing reality as it has been created for us by Jesus is totally different.  There the focus is first and foremost what Jesus did for us.  When Jesus died on the cross he did not do so because he was a depressed man who felt he was worthless and had given up on life.  No, Jesus was full, strong and capable.  He could have changed things any time he wanted and in any way he wanted.  But he chose to let things happen as they did.  It is always ironic that just as the religious leaders are trying to thwart God’s plans by killing Jesus they actually are carrying them out.

A phrase I like to use is, Jesus did not give up his life.  He gave away his life.  Giving up is quitting and admitting defeat.  Giving away means that you know you have something of great value to offer and you are providing it to someone else because it will be a benefit to them.

There is a true selflessness involved when you give away and don’t have any expectations of a return.

Truly being born again/born from above – and I think it’s best that we use both, not just one, even though it’s awkward – means that you have moved your life’s orientation away from the: give and take,

I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine,

Let’s make a deal,

sort of life.  It’s when you can make every decision of your life, whether it be big or small, based on what Jesus has done for you, and you know you have been saved by his work.  Therefore everything that you are – all you skills and abilities, your money, your connections, your education, and everything becomes tools you can implement to bring about God’s kingdom.

But this is very very radical thinking.  It is a very radical way of life.

If you bought a house in your lifetime what was going through your mind as you selected it or shopped for it?  Maybe things like whether you liked the floor plan or not, or how new the roof and furnace was, maybe the condition of the electrical and plumbing systems.  Certainly things like price and location were factors in your decision.

I would love to see the look on a realtor’s face if someone went in and said, “I need to buy a house that will best equip me to share the love Jesus has for me.  What do you have that’ll fit that bill?”

How did you choose your car?  Size, age, price…  How about how well it would equip you to be an evangelist.

I’m waiting for a Christian clothing store to open up that will carry fashions designed to maximize our effectiveness at spreading the gospel.  If such a store ever opened do you think it would stay in business long?

And of course, ideally you’d choose your spouse based on which person in this world best compliments your life of discipleship in Christ – in other words, finding a partner who best helps you to work for God’s kingdom.

I can’t speak for everyone, certainly not the women, maybe you are truly better in this, but as a guy I can tell you that men don’t go checking women out and ranking their attractiveness based on the sophistication of their faith!

That, however, is the radical life reorientation that comes from truly being born again/born from above.  It is building life based on what Christ has done and then seeing everything –everything - that you are as a tool you can use to share Christ’s goodness with others.

Being born again doesn’t mean you’ve got a stamp of endorsement on your “Get into Heaven Free” card.  It is a way of being focused on what Christ has done.

            From that perspective I think we all fall short, way short.  At least I do.  Maybe you’re better than me.  Thanks be to God that God is loving and patient and kind with our sinful failings and that God will forgive us over and over and over again as we forever struggle to get it right, and seem to forever fall back into the dark ways of the world which so foolishly promise us happiness apart from God. 

The full character of God has been revealed in Jesus.  Our gospel reading included the ever famous John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that those who believe in him may not perish but have eternal life.”  God is love.  God wants there to be light, life and joy among his people.  God’s love knows no bounds.  God’s love is afraid of nothing.  God’s love can do anything. 

May you wake up every morning and remind yourself that you are loved by God, and know that you are born again/born from above.  Your life’s orientation is on what God has done in the past and what God is doing through you.

God does not want to condemn the world.  God wants to save the world.  In fact, through the cross of Christ God has already saved the world.  He invites you to live out that reality and share it, so that indeed all may know of God’s great gift and be willing to accept it.

January 21, 2018 Mark 5

             The passage we read from Mark is a wonderful collection of miracle stories.  They show the full extent of Jesus’ powers.  In the stilling of the storm we see that Jesus has power over the forces of nature.  In the casting out of the demons in the Gerasene man we see Jesus has power over chaos and evil spirits.  In the healing of the woman with hemorrhages he shows his power to cure medical problems doctors can’t fix.  And in the raising of dead little girl Jesus shows power over death.

            In each case he does it to provide people with health and safety.  At least a few of the disciples were fishermen.  They knew a bad storm when they saw one, and if even they were scared, they were in one.  Jesus provides them with safety.  The demon possessed man lived as a wild outcast away from civilization.  He was chained and restrained to keep him under control.  Jesus gives him a right mind and fullness of life.  Similarly, the hemorrhaging woman would have been considered perpetually ritually unclean and unable to participate in many religious and social activities.  And what parent isn’t devastated at the serious illness and death of one of their children?

            As the front of the worship bulletin suggests, this is all fine and good for them.  They get to have their lives miraculously fixed by Jesus.  But what about us?  Are our problems somehow less?  Are we second rate that we do not get such treatment?  Is our pain somehow less real?

Does the person suffering from chronic heart problems have less faith that her condition is not healed the way the bleeding woman was?

What about the parent who loses a son or daughter to cancer, or the boy or girl killed in an automobile accident?  Why not being raised from the dead for them?

Is the person struggling to overcome an addiction to drugs really all that different from the Gerasene Demoniac?  Maybe he or she isn’t tethered with chains, but the feeling of being out of control is the same.  Lives are ruined.  Families are destroyed. 

And what about the chaos of the person who suffers at the hands of an abusive spouse or parent?  Why when he or she prays for God to help does that help not come?  Are we not taught to pray for our enemies and do good things for them?  Why doesn’t God respond to such sincere and righteous prayers?  Is such a person’s suffering all that different from the disciples being tossed around in a boat in a storm-tossed sea?

These are all good questions.  They are fair questions to ask.  And it is okay to get mad at God for the unfairness of it all.  A look at the passage from Mark shows us that not everyone who had a miraculous healing was a faithful person.  While Jesus praises the faith of the bleeding woman, he criticizes the disciples for their lack of faith.  But both get a miracle.  The Gerasene Demoniac doesn’t even ask to be cured.  Jesus approached him without even having an invitation and sets his life to rights.

The passage we read from Mark does not give us answers, but Mark’s gospel does respond to our questions, even if it isn’t the answers we want to hear.

Here’s the thing.  We need Jesus to be powerful.  We need to know he has power over nature, and over evil, and over medical problems, and over death itself.  How could we ever trust God with our lives if we weren’t sure God was fully powerful? 

We need Jesus, and we need to know he is powerful; but we do not need his miraculous powers in our own lives. 

Any number of times we see in Mark’s gospel that Jesus tells people not to tell about the miracles he has performed.  Sometimes, like with the Gerasene Demoniac, he does tell him to spread the word.  Other times he does not.  You’ll remember me saying before that it’s impossible to say for certainty why this is so.  But a very reasonable conclusion is that Jesus is to be known first and foremost not as the miracle worker, but as the crucified one.

In a couple weeks we’ll explore the dimensions of Jesus identity more, but for now let’s just say that Jesus wants the center of our identity with him to be, not one which is based on getting supernatural solutions to problems, but instead based on Jesus’ self-emptying love.  Your salvation came through Jesus’ death, not his miraculous powers. 

We need to know Jesus is powerful so we can trust in his promises.  Then when we truly trust in his promises they become a force that shapes our lives. 

You are what you believe.  That’s what shapes your life and forms your identity.  In Christian faith you bring God’s promises to life.  That is how God wants his work to be done.  That is how he wants his kingdom to come into reality in this life.  It is as strong as we make it. 

Why doesn’t God fix problems beyond our control for us?  It is not because God doesn’t care.  It is because he holds us in his power no matter what.  From there, we are empowered to embody God’s love.  That’s how God wants it to be real in the world.  He wants his love to be alive because we make it alive.  It can be a tough challenge, but it honors us and gives us a meaningful place in God’s work.