"Let Things Pass" April 24, 2016

John 13:31-35 Acts 11:1-18 I Corinthians 13 Life is not fair, life is not equal. The point is not to live the Golden Rule related to others, but to love because Christ loves us and to let everything else pass. The same Paul whom we have been reading the last several weeks in Acts, whose mission was to bring Christ to those like us who had not previously been Jewish, wrote to the Church he pastored at Corinth, words which we most often read at Weddings. Paul's instruction to the Church has nothing to do with Weddings, or Romantic Love. Paul recognized we each come to God from our passions; To the Educated and Charismatic Christian, if I speak poetry/ angelic tongues, but have not love, I am as brass; To the Mystic Christian, if I have faith to move mountains, but have not love, nothing is changed; To the Social Gospel Activist, if I give away all I have, even my body, but have not love, I am nothing. Because Prophecy will pass. Tongues will pass. Knowledge will pass. For our knowledge is imperfect, prophecy is imperfect, and when the Perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. The problem being that we are unwilling to let controversies pass, to live differently, to live Under the Love rather than continuing to live Under the Law. In Judaism there were 613 Laws, governing what you could and could not eat, what you could and could not do, when and how. All the world throughout time, found it impossible to adhere to every iota of every law. The last words of Jesus to his disciples at the Last Supper were that he gave them a New Commandment, not a 614th Law but one instead of all the rest: that we love one another as Christ has loved us. What a great offer, instead of all the 613 different laws, some as intimate and life changing as circumcision, with prohibition against tattoos and piercings; others as communal as whether you can enter the house of a non-Jew, or eat with a non-Jew, or eat without ceremonially washing your hands; if instead we simply need to love one another as Christ loves us. In the first four hundred years of Christianity, there began divisions in the church over how to explain the Trinity and the Nature of Christ. Over Icons and whether we could make images of God, and whether those who renounced their faith could be forgiven, over Free Will and God's Plan. Today, over abortion, euthanasia, sexual orientation, race, denominations, etc. This polarization seems the very antithesis of Jesus command to love one another. The point is not that these controversies are irrelevant. We are called to love as Jesus loves us. St. Augustine described Jesus love in two ways. First that Jesus radically individualized his affection of others. Instead of Not seeing the trees for the forest, Jesus never failed to focus on the particular, the individual affected by leprosy, by blindness, the child, the woman bent over. He demonstrated love for each and every one. But also, according to Augustine, Jesus loved all as he loved each one. It was not that this one was an isolated case, or that one was more forgivable than another, but a universal love for every person in every circumstance. Karl Barth was a Swiss Theologian wrote 14 Volumes on Church Dogmatics following WWI, and Karl Barth happened to be our own Karlene Miller's Grandfather. We were born as humans, but called to ultimately become more. Barth articulated that “Jesus is our species.” Jesus never would have given us this command if it were not possible for us to love one another as He loves us, yet how very few have tried. CS Lewis explained that there are two kinds of love. There is the love most of us experience, “a need love.” When we as humans say “I love you” what we really mean is I need you, I want you. You have a value that I desire to possess, no matter the consequence to you. Need love is born out of emptiness and a coveting to be filled. Need love is circular, reaching out to the beloved in order to draw back some value to our self. Need love sucks the marrow out of the other, because of how the person feels when in relationship to the other. In contrast, is grace, or a gift love. Gift love overflows like a bountiful artesian well, that shares because there is plenty and the other has need. Gift love, instead of drawing back value to itself, is an arc, moving out to bless and to increase rather than to acquire. According to Lewis, “what we are created in the image of, is not two feet or two hands, or a long white beard, we are created in the image of everlasting unconditional grace and love.” Paul Tillich, one of the great 1950s-60s Theologians explained this passage focusing on the reality that from Jesus this was a Command, yet how can you be commanded to love? A Command feels hierarchical, coming top-down, I give my dog a command to sit and she does; whereas Love bubbles up between people. Tillich identified this as “theonomy” that what Jesus commands resonates with our innermost longing, our internal experience of what we know is right, and having been unconditionally loved, we respond to others with love. One of the difficulties we have with is Faith in the immediacy of the here and now, rather than perspective. When the disciples saw a man born blind, their question was “So who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” To which Jesus responds “Neither, but to grant an opportunity for God to be glorified.” It is impossible for us in the here and now, to see God's presence in horrific tragedy, but routinely there are occasions where God uses the horrific to bring about a greater good, a love impossible, unless we let things pass. In the 21st Century in the comforts of North America, it is difficult for us to comprehend the circumstance and significance of Peter with Cornelius. In the last 60 years, the American Medical Association has repeatedly reversed itself on the need for and abuse of practicing circumcision. The issue in Acts is more than biology. Simon Peter has become the leader among the apostles, he is before the creation of the institution, the first Pope, and here Peter is being called on the carpet for what he has done, much as the behind the scenes authority struggles of Pope Frances today. The importance of the circumstance are hard for us to grasp, Peter left Joppa, and went into the house of Cornelius, which simply entering would have been a cultural violation that he might come out as a Barbarian. Peter ate a meal with the occupants. Peter extended to these non-Jews the blessings and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Imagine offering Communion and the rites and responsibilities of Church Membership today to one who was never Baptized, who never confessed the name of Jesus Christ. Peter explained, this did not simply happen, this was a Calling. He had been abiding in the house of Simon the Tanner. As we named last week, Simon, though Jewish, would have been socially, religiously, unclean. On the roof of the home of Simon the Tanner, Peter has the dream of a Great Sheet being lowered from heaven. Recognize, this is not Saul, who had been a zealot converted from one extreme to be a missionary for Christ. This is Simon whom Jesus renamed Peter. This Peter had been circumcised as a child, had grown up in a Jewish household and been Bar-mitzvah-ed, this Peter who had kept a Kosher home all his life, who in one of the first miracles had invited Jesus to his home and Jesus had healed Peter's Mother-in-law who had then fed Jesus at their table. This Peter had been one of Jesus' disciples, Peter who had been in Jesus' inner circle with James and John, who had witnessed Jesus Transfiguration, Peter, James and John who had been invited to pray with Jesus in the Garden at Gethsemane, Peter who denied Jesus three times that night, and after the resurrection was asked by Jesus three times to love and feed Christ's sheep. To keep Kosher, is to distinguish between Clean and Unclean. Shellfish, lobsters, snails, snakes, turtles and carnivorous birds were not Clean, not Kosher. Animals with a toe, like we possess, monkeys and pigs and horses, you would not eat. But even more, according to the Law, to keep yourself pure and Holy For God, you would never cook meat and dairy together, because of a Law in Leviticus that you would not cook a lamb in its mother's milk. To insure this, you would have different pots and pans, and plates and utensils for dairy than for meat, that the two would never touch. All of this, Circumcision, and Kosher Laws, Levitical Laws adhered to, in order to keep you separate for God, because being set aside for God is the very definition of being “Holy.” Yet, I imagine what Peter was pondering on the roof, is how often what we do to keep ourselves HOLY FOR GOD, may Keep us FROM God! And three times a great sheet is lowered from heaven, inside of which is every kind of creature, clean and unclean, and a voice proclaiming “Kill and eat.” What a terrifying nightmare for Simon Peter, yet when he refuses, the voice responds “What God has declared as Good, you shall not call unclean.” When suddenly there is a knock at the door, and request to come. Where he is presented to Cornelius and his household who all pray devoutly to God and are praising Jesus Christ. Making this applicable for us today... Tensions between Christians and Jews has been problematic throughout our history. During WWII, the Holocaust, in Hebrew The Shoah, was the planned systematic extermination of all European Jews undertaken by the Nazi Government, with knowledge of the Catholic Church. On the first Sunday of lent in the year 2000, Pope John Paul II made an unprecedented trip to Jerusalem, where he visited the Wailing Wall, the Western ruins of the wall of Solomon's Temple, a sacred site to Judaism. Pope John Paul II publicly prayed at the Wall for forgiveness for all the sins Christians had committed against Jews, naming Shoah, Holocaust as “Calvary (the place of Crucifixion) for the 20th Century.” Faith, Hope, Love all are eternal. But the greatest of these is Love. Jesus at Table commanded us to love one another as we have been loved.

"Let Down, Raised Up, Salvation" April 17, 2016

Acts 9:20-43 Psalm 23 John 10: 22-30 Revelation to John 7:9-17 I struggle with this morning's Biblical texts, for three reasons. First that, when we have a passage from Acts with Saul being let down in a basket between Heaven and Earth; and Peter raising up Tabitha from death to life; The Gospel has Jesus describing “God the Father and I are One;” Psalm 23's symbiotic relationship between the Good Shepherd and the Sheep; and the Revelation to John revealing Eternal Life in the Resurrection; instead of paying attention to the Word of God in each, we begin searching for what the Lectionary Committee intended by selecting these passages to go together, which tells us more about the Committee than about the Word of God or what that Word means for Faith. Second, because in 21st Century North America, we have been so influenced by the Enlightenment, by Thought, and the passing of 2000 years since Jesus' resurrection that we have difficulty with the Book of Revelation. Do we simply believe in our own deaths and resurrections, or in Salvation, with a Judgment Day and “those who have been washed white in the blood of the Lamb.” In order to hear this text faithfully, we first have to de-mystify it, and separate the Bible from all the Sale of Indulgences and Dispensationalism of the Left Behind series, as well as personal atonement theories that are not Biblical. Related to this, when I went to Seminary, the Mainline churches (The Presbyterian, lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist) had such fear of change and such institutional commitment as to believe anything necessary we could create a program to address, that the faculty struggled with using the words “Salvation” or “Evangelism” and often referred to “The S of E Words.” Which has all become far more intensified by ISIS and that corruption which believe that by their suicidal killing of others, they automatically attain Salvation, which is somehow both holy, pure and sexual, being awarded 144 virgins. Ironically, when this our third Sanctuary was designed in 1890, every element of the Sanctuary was intended to represent SALVATION, to represent something from the Book of the Revelation. The gems and jewels and light, flowers and pearls, the Alpha and Omega, and outdoors on the Tower: the four living creatures. But third, our expectations of the World, of the Church, the role of the Preacher are different today than in the 1980s, 1890s or in the 1st Century of the Roman Empire. We have a retired minister and Presbytery Executive, who has been part of this Church having grown up in Skaneateles. He shared with me, that 1900s congregations used to send their Newsletter articles to the Board of Global Missions, who then typeset these with nationally syndicated articles by theologians and Church historians, creating a weekly Church Newspaper. Whereas earlier generations were accustomed to listening for hours at a time, and over weekly radio broadcasts ministers preached to millions, where those who in War had converted from careers like Engineering or Science to preaching Salvation, and churches ran programmatically; today most of us do not come to worship to be Saved, to be Evangelized, or even to be Taught. We come to Worship to be comforted, to be challenged to forgive and be forgiven. We live stressful lives in a broken world and we seek to be inspired. Programs, Institutions no longer work in our world, meaning, faith, salvation all I believe are inspired and taught by relationship. As the mouthpiece of the church, as ordained representatives of God, Preachers bears responsibility for healing, and for asking you for forgiveness when life and circumstance disappoints not always because we did something wrong but because we cannot go on without forgiveness. I believe what our Scriptures this morning offer, is that a part of Salvation is: We are not alone. We are part of that 12 x 12 x 1,000 brought through the Great Tribulation who are gathered round the throne and Slaughtered Lamb. We are claimed by one another before God. The Gospel reading from John probably would have been more dramatic, either of the last 2 weeks, than today, when it is 70 degrees. The Gospel begins “It was Winter and Jesus was on the portico of Solomon's Temple.” Historically, this was where the King of Israel announced Divine Judgment, this was a place of pronouncement. While it is possible for it to snow in Jerusalem, I think this identified: It was dark and overcast, people were cold damp and did not want to wrestle with obscure teachings/parables. “Tell us plainly, are you the Christ or not?” The Messiah they anticipated was a human emissary, like John the Baptist, Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel, a political leader to restore the Nation and Religion of Israel. Instead, Jesus replied to “Tell us plainly” saying: “God and I are one!” which is true but not the answer they anticipated. So, while this may be historic, why did the evangelist of John include this, it is not a parable, not a miraculous teaching, not a healing story? While cultures are different, and thousands of years have transpired, I think people in John's community were not so different from us. Some believed in God and participated in the body; Some had children and adult children who chose to not believe in God, nor to live a faith-filled or ethical life, which is personally hard for us to accept. As much as we want to believe that our convictions determine our actions; human behavior demonstrates just the reverse, that our behaviors actually shape our commitments and beliefs. Unconsciously, we tend to justify our actions by shaping our convictions and identities to support what we do. So, those who believe in Jesus are part of his flock and follow him, and those who follow him are those who believe in him... If we were allowed to put political sins in our yards, we would become more adamant, because we need to justify putting out the signs. The other day someone asked me how we teach spiritual development? Back to that Programmatic, Institutional mindset. Truthfully, we have done a better job of developing people's faith by encouraging people to volunteer at the Food Pantry, or Presbyterian Manor or support the work at the Clinic in South Sudan, than has ever happened in any Christian Education program. We have done more with those experiencing Cancer wrestling with God, than those in any Confirmation class. Christianity is not a philosophy. If anything, faith in God is a Contact-sport. The Book of Acts is actually “The Acts of the Apostles” and is the only book in the Bible written by a Gentile! Acts of the Apostles begins in The Upper Room at Jerusalem, and along with the faith spreads through all the known world, ending with a challenge to the Capital of the Roman Empire. Acts describes a host of little scenes of belief and believers' relationships, images of Salvation; as faith grew from the teachings of 12 disciples to development of churches throughout the world and thousands of believers. Like scenes out of Political Cartoons you have Saul who was an over-the-top Zealot of Judaism, arresting and killing Christians, who when he converts to be a Christian, must then be an over-the-top Zealot for Christianity. He is the 1st person in the whole Bible, other than the Centurion witness to the Crucifixion in only John's gospel, to profess Jesus to be “The Son of God!” Saul, who would become Paul, is so loud and flamboyant in his faith, he regularly gets into fights, crowds riot against him, and his disciples rescue him by lowering him in a basket. Imagine for a moment, to be that wild and that helpless, to be the contents inside a basket suspended between heaven and earth completely trusting others not to drop you. For Paul of Tarsus, the remainder of his earthly existence is about being in that Basket, like the infant Moses being rescued, like the Animals of Noah in the Ark, no longer inside the gates, and not yet safely on the ground, but living life in the in-between. Next, you have two Pillars of the Church, who could always be found and relied upon, the one because he had been bed-ridden for 8 years. The other cared for the widows and orphans, who lived out what they believed and everyone depended upon. In that ancient world, with its caste system and power structure, where a woman had no rights, these Pillars of the Church were a Bed-ridden Man named Aeneas, and a Woman named Tabitha who died. And Peter visiting each, proclaimed “rise up” and they did. I said previously that Christianity is a Contact-Sport, imagine the struggle of Aeneas with muscles and joints that have atrophied over 8 years, rising up to stand. As if that is not amazing enough, that Tabitha would no more be mourned as dead, but celebrated! Finally in Acts of the Apostles, you have the reality that in Joppa, Peter stayed with Simon the Tanner. What greater outcast could there be, than this Simon? A Tanner made leather out of animal skins. His home would have been filled with dead and decaying carcasses of animals, assorted acids and a smoky fire for curing the skins. Imagine that stone house in the City, on a hot day in the Middle-east. Simon was filthy dirty, smelly, unclean, a social exile, whom Peter chose to stay with when he raised Tabitha from death to Salvation. The Revelation to John, is different. In the Bible there are three Palm Sundays and this is the REAL Palm Sunday. In the time after the Old Testament and before the New, the Greeks tried to eliminate Judaism and outlawed Jewish worship. In the Book of Maccabees there is description of the revolt, which concluded with the people carrying Palm Branches for a ReDedication of Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem, after it had been desecrated. This was a Military Victory. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the children are recorded as having stripped Palm Branches because in one part of the City, Pontius Pilate and his Army were parading in a show of Military force, and in contrast the Messiah of God was greeted with an army of children singing. In Revelation, those in robes with Palm Branches know what happened on Good Friday, and know what happened on Easter, and here in the Kingdom of Heaven they gather for a celebration. This is not a Military Victory or Military Challenge, this is not a show of force, here the Palm Branch becomes a culmination of everything from Genesis to Revelation, as every tribe, every nation, every language stand before God's Throne, before the Sacrificial Lamb: Jesus. Years ago, there was a woman in the church, who described Worship should be our Language Club! Language Class is where you learned the grammar and vocabulary. But Language Club we practice the customs and language and foods of a future time and place, that being Judgment Day, in Heaven, with God. Our ancestors gifted us with a marvelous experience! Where some envision the Judgment Day as the Unknown, or a day of fear and torment; we have been surrounded with the images of the Revelation, all of our lives. Images of bounty and grace, a new heaven and new earth, with all peoples, all tribes, all Nations gathered together in love and thanksgiving to God with Christ.

"Examples to Follow" April 10, 2016

John 21:1-19 Acts 9: 1-20 There are two Primary Issues in this morning's Scriptures, the first is that there are always Witnesses. Peter's concern for the Beloved Disciple, the other disciples on the beach, Saul's companions on the Road to Damascus who heard God but could not see, Ananias. Who have been the witnesses in your life? The ones who observe and provide you faithful counsel, who challenge you to see a circumstance differently? Who are the people and circumstances, you have been witnesses to? And what kind of witness are you? Do you see things without context, or as they fit a preconceived pattern, do you offer advice, or only listen? Is it a High School or College Friend? Your Spouse? Your Parent, your child? Among my greatest frustrations, is my witnesses are retiring. For years I developed trusted colleagues, one of whom regularly checks in to compare circumstances, the other who described having “Porch-time” discussing all the problems of the world, and both are leaving the ministry, moving away. Never offering advice, each was a sounding board, who gave me permission to say what was on my heart, for me to figure out what was going on by speaking to a witness, in that way holding self accountable. The Second Thing I hope you will remember this morning, is that we cannot control life. As much as we try to be in control, as much as we live in a consumer driven society where we can have our way, what we want, when we desire, there are events and circumstances outside our control. That “God loves us,” we cannot prevent. We can fight against it, we can deny it, but God is still here, and God still loves us – unconditionally. Peter attempted to save himself, to hide from association. There are times when being associated with Jesus is inconvenient. Being a Christian means different things to differing people. The piece hard for us as 21st Century North Americans to believe, was that on the night of Jesus' arrest, being associated with Jesus was dangerous, you could be arrested and put to death for being a Christian. Instead of being the loving Good Shepherd, instead of being the Teacher and compassionate Healer, Jesus was a Criminal, guilty of claiming to be God. I was lucky when I went to Kenya and South Sudan, because as much as these were at the time Warzones, wearing a BlackShirt and Clerical Collar was more protective than a Bullet-proof Vest. Given ISIS killings, I do not know if it would be wise to wear my clericals today, but I think I would have to. Three times in one night Peter was cornered regarding being a Christian, and each of those three times, the last of which while warming himself before a fire, Peter claimed “I do not know the man.” That Peter was a Christian, that he was identified by others as such – he had no control over. Whether he chose to respond and how – were his choice. Paul did not choose to be a Christian. Far from it, he hated Jesus and what the Church represented. The Way of Christ as it was first called, was a cult within Judaism. In the culture of Plato and Aristotle, when the world was enamored of all the latest ideas, theories and philosophies from the Empire of Rome, Judaism was tradition, simple and straight forward all you needed to do was follow the Law and custom. You did not need reason. You did not need to deductive or inductive thinking, simply follow the Levitical Law of Moses. Christianity is messy, it does not follow Laws. Christians associated with sinners, ate with unwashed hands. Christianity did not make sense, at least Philosophy was logical. Helping those who could not help themselves, taking the lowest place in public affairs, not trying to win and get ahead, is subversive. Here in Acts, months after the Resurrection, Jesus chose Saul of Tarsus. To paraphrase Flannery O'Conner, “I reckon God knew the only way to make a Christian out of Saul was to knock him down to the ground and prevent him from being able to see as he had done.” There are those who identify as having always been part of the church, who have difficulty with conversion; I recall someone in the community coming to me in the days after 9/11 questioning why others had suddenly found religion, and where they had been before the crisis... I wonder if we might understand Paul's conversion, if we changed his context, from religious persecution to: The Professional working so hard at business, they lost their family; the Teen who could not forgive their parent's mistakes; the Parent who dared never give their child a break; the Sports fan who cannot be a good sport; the Political leader incapable of compromise; the vengeful Lover who would rather do harm than be vulnerable to love again; the Enabler who so accommodates their spouse's addiction as to destroy their own life and their children. We each have our blind-spots, where as hard as it is to admit there might be another side, it seems impossible to believe that the Other could be right. And to consider that change might be an act of faith seems hard to believe, seems life-changing, it did for Saul of Tarsus. Were our young Attorney turned Associate Pastor here this morning, I think he might tell us that the most convincing Testimony in a Court of Law is not of a Witness for the Defense, or of a Witness for the Prosecution, but when a Witness for the Prosecution or Defense is changed to become a Witness for the Other. Although they came from opposing perspectives, both Peter and Paul had to be changed in order to be of use; both are told by Jesus that they had to submit to being vulnerable, both were led by another, rather than lead; both Peter and Paul must question whether their desire is to be in relationship or to be isolated. What happens for each, but differently, is making connections in remembering. That is the role of a Witness, not only to see, but “to be able to accurately re-member and witness to others what we have seen.” In 8th Grade Chemistry and Geometry, we learned the Scientific Method, that from known fact you postulated theory, which you operationalized as an Hypothesis, you tested the hypothesis, you observed results, and drew conclusions. All through High School, College, Seminary that methodology was accepted; when suddenly in 1984, a new theory was accepted. Where earlier, we always made a disclaimer about there being spurious data, now Education claimed you could never actually “prove” anything, you could only describe your experience, serving as a witness to the truth as you know it, and the reader of your article would have to determine for themselves if your conclusions fit their circumstance. In this way, Truth in our world became relative. Saul being knocked down and blinded by the light, spent days reflecting on his faith, what he knew to be true, now represented differently: where he had been the oppressor persecuting Jesus. That there is a God, that this life is God's Creation, all these continue to be true, but what if Israel being “Elect,” does not mean chosen to be better, but chosen as a vehicle for God's love and justice? What if Jesus was not a Criminal but was and is the Christ? What if saying He and God were of one was not blasphemy, but because he was God's Son? Other than Mark's Prologue & the Centurion in John, the 1st to name Jesus as “The Son of God” was Paul here in Acts 9. Simon Peter had denied Jesus three times. One evening, despondent, Peter says he is going fishing, so several others go along. Have you ever been in a bad mood, where you cannot cook? Where fishing, it seems the fish know to stay away? All night long they caught nothing, when a figure on the shore says “Try the Other side.” They do and now the abundance of fish is so large they cannot bring in the net. This passage for Peter, connects memories of everything before. In Luke, Peter and James and John had been Called by Jesus, telling these fishermen to cast their net of the other side. There had been another meal of fish and bread and super-abundance where Jesus had fed thousands. It is unclear why, when Peter was stripped for fishing, and learned Jesus was on the shore, Peter put on robes to jump into the water? As heavy as this would be, perhaps so he was robed as a Disciple, not stripped as a Fisherman? Sometimes memories come to us by touch and smell, more than by thought, and when Peter had denied Jesus there was a charcoal fire Peter had been warming himself before, as now on the beach. Where according to Luke, at the empty tomb Peter had wondered, now every memory confirmed he could serve as a Witness to loving Jesus, he could be responsible for serving others. For years, I have tried to come up with words to describe this community. Somehow the common: “A People that works hard and plays hard” seemed too common. The Chamber of Commerce mottos: “A Stress Free Zone.” and “Relax You're in the Village” never measured up. The T-Shirt, that recognized the four central letters of Skaneateles, are N-E-A-T, is new and clever. The water bottle that proclaims: Skinny-At Last water. But this week, witnesses remembered a story from 50 years ago, a story I knew only by the sign in front of our church that reads “In memory of Chipper.” This week in April in 1966 three lifelong friends in the 8th grade had spent the day together. Because they were on the Eastside of the lake, and the girl lived on the Westside, the boys took her home by canoe across the lake. They had one paddle and an old board they used as a paddle. The lake at this time of year is between 35 and 37 degrees. At dusk, the father of the girl became worried and stopped the State Police Trooper John Angyal, asking he search. Their canoe washed ashore at Charlie Major's. This was on Monday, April 11; for the next seven days, Scuba divers and Firefighters from this and every neighboring town, went back and forth from Jones Beach to the Country Club. The water was so cold, in a wetsuit, with double gloves, the divers could only stay in for 30 minutes at a time. Every evening, Chipper's father went down to the dock searching the horizon for his son to come home. The Newspapers re-membered: over the week Betsy was found, then Chipper and finally Russell. Of worshiping God on that Sunday morning, Chipper's sister wrote, “I feared everyone would stare. I feared everyone would ask questions. I feared I would cry. But instead nobody stared. Nobody asked questions. Everybody cried.” There were 3 separate Memorial services, that the families of each all went to, where everyone present caught themselves not only praying for the one the Memorial was for, but also for their own loved ones as well. I think I finally found the witness to describe this Village, who re-member, who stand together in grief, who do not stare, do not need to ask questions because these are our own. And as we gather in worship, in memorial, in baptisms, in weddings, and confirmation, we make connections with all those of our lives, connected through Jesus Christ.

"Scandal, Insecurity, Hope" April 3, 2016

Revelation 1:1-8 John 20:19-31 Acts 5: 27-32 On Tuesday, our Business Administrator came in saying “ I cannot believe Easter is over! Easter came so early this year, happened so fast, don't you almost want to go back and do it all over? Except now we have to get back to normal, get to work and routine, because life goes on.” Confrontations with Normalcy; New Experiences of the Truth rubbing against What we knew to be Certain, these are uncomfortable places where we build our faith. We live in a world of scandal and disturbance. We are fascinated by who got caught doing what with whom, police chases, celebrities stumbling off their pedestals to be brought lower than the rest of us. If global reality were not scandalous enough, we have created entertainment with scripted situations to shock and involve us in fictional scandals. This being a fourth year, we are being entertained with the scandals surrounding the coming Olympics, and the scandals of those competing for President. Yet, we have been taught to pretend we are perfect, where no one has ever had to deal with damage control from situations threatening life, reputation, success. One of the things I never anticipated when being ordained was how much of the ministry would be involved in helping people cope with scandal. Bible Study, Preaching on Sunday mornings, Moderating Meetings, Mission Trips, Fellowship, Weddings, Baptisms, Confirmations, and Funerals was what we were trained for in years of Seminary. But our little Village and Township have been rocked over and over by gossip and rumor, Secrets, Abuses, Business loss, Addictions, Divorces, Affairs, Depression, Drunk driving, Deaths. On a bright sunny September morning in 2001, we in North America went from believing we were perpetually safe and secure, our nest eggs growing, our homes appreciating, our marriages lasting happily ever after, our children going to college finding fulfilling career paths, with everything protected by the family dog that licks the hand of strangers; when everything changed. For several days, the world was in shock, denial, disbelief. As the new reality began to sink in, that we were vulnerable, that we had been attacked, that our economy was built on the greed of those who steal a buck to win. Then, we did what humanity has routinely done, we looked for those with fresh vulnerabilities, new scandals, that we could attack, because preying upon others' misfortune and scandal allowed us to make ourselves feel better, or hide our feelings. The Bible consistently offers a different alternative. The Gospels tell of the Greatest Scandal of human history. God looked and saw Creation was no longer “Good,” as Sinful and marching toward Death. God loved humanity unconditionally, and attempted as God always has to Forgive, to Save us; except this time, by becoming one with us, in this way becoming vulnerable. But rather than the world turning to follow and accept, to love and to serve, Jesus was killed, lynched upon a tree, executed by the State, by Religion, by the abandonment of those he most trusted and loved. In the most painful, dehumanizing, public way, humanity killed God, killed our Savior on the Cross. After watching him suffer and die, they took his lifeless corpse down from the cross and laid the dead body in a borrowed tomb. Not even the honor of a permanent grave, but a place where one day his bones would have to be put aside for someone else. Making certain the scandal was sealed, the tomb was blocked with a stone. Everything the disciples thought they knew, now became scandal: He was Savior, but he could not save himself. His parables seemed like nonsense. Loving others/serving others, foolish when the ones you unconditionally love all abandon and betray you. When his last mortal words were screamed at God: Why Have You Abandoned Me? Part of the purpose of weekly Sabbath, is to reflect on everything that has taken place for six days. To add to the scandal, several of the mothers of disciples had gone to the tomb to pray, to offer comfort to one another and instead they found a greater scandal the tomb desecrated, the body gone, the last vestige of humanity stolen. I am so thankful the Gospel did not end with the Empty Tomb! On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were afraid, filled with fear, hiding in the last place they had all been together, in the Upper Room, but now behind a locked door, locked for fear. Here, Jesus appeared to them, he stands with them. He offers to them what we all need most at times of scandal: PEACE, Assurance that all will be right with God again. In our anxiety, in our fear, when overcome with doubts, what we need more than anything else is Peace. Jesus then offers the only true way of coping with scandal. Jesus does not deny what happened happened. He does not blame. He does not avoid the issue. He does not dismiss their fears. Instead, he shows them his wounds, he permits and encourages them to touch and to feel what he felt, to touch his death and to handle his atonement of our sins. What I love about this is that Jesus describes as fact what happened, what God did in raising from the dead, and that Jesus is waiting for Ascension to be with God forever. When scandal happens it feels as though time stopped this is The End, there can be no future, Getting Fired, Presented with Divorce Papers, Your Name in the Paper, feels like everyone knows your secrets and life is over. That is what the Crucifixion was supposed to do. Not only kill the body, but so scandalize as to kill the following. But the Crucified and Risen Jesus is proof that this is not over, there is more after death, after life. What I ask of you this morning is perhaps the hardest of things. When scandal happens, we retreat, we hide. By doing so, we make ourselves more isolated. Throughout the last two weeks it has happened again and again that people have apologized for crying in worship! I think there could be nothing better! Not that I am a sadist, trying to make you weep in pain and suffering. But what could be more real, more faithful than for us to be in touch with our pain and our love in Church before God? Recently I heard an author, who describes that the hardest thing about writing a story is when you get stuck. Realizing that is one of the hardest life as well, he was asked what he does? He said “I start a new chapter. Sometimes I begin again by recapping by retelling the story.” This Easter-tide is the time for transforming from the story that led to death and resurrection by God; to a new chapter of the meaning of resurrection for us. In Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, the character of Jean Valjean struggles with his circumstance, in so needing to feed his family he would steal a loaf of bread. For which he is caught, found guilty and put into prison. Years later, when released he came to the home of an old bishop. Having been rejected by everyone in life, Valjean cannot understand the generosity of the Bishop, so when his back his turned, Valjean steals the Silver plates from the Bishop's cupboard. The next day, when he has been caught and brought with the stolen goods to the Bishop, the Bishop instead retells the story, that he had given the plates to Valjean as well as Candlesticks which Valjean had left. Released by the Police, the Bishop holds Valjean for a moment to say, “You no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and give it to God.” That is what the Disciples struggled with as well. After this they were preaching in Jerusalem about Jesus, when they were arrested by the same Sanhedrin who had arrested Jesus! They put the disciples into prison for the night until they could decide what should be done with them. Can you imagine the fear of the disciples? The Scandal? I had a friend whose Grandmother used to say: “The Gossip Committee is always more willing to kill again by spreading a story, than to create by getting the story right.” Caught, in Jail, Tried by the same Court who tried Jesus and killed him. When they were transported to freedom. The disciples continue preaching the revised story of Jesus, and of course are arrested again. This time, when brought before the Sanhedrin, they speak truth to power, they tell their story to the ones with authority, but among these is a leader named Gamaliel. Not the Evil Wizard of the Smurfs, not the deformed self-absorbed Hobbit of Lord of the Rings consumed by “My Precious,” Gamaliel describes to the High Court that the most faithful thing would be to allow the disciples to go free. Because killing them, you make them martyrs, setting them free their movement may die out, unless they are actually on the side of God in which case the courts may actually be against God. So they whip them and beat them, but let the disciples go. Scandals feel like you have had a beating, and been allowed to escape free. After a scandal resolves, you are still unemployed. After a scandal you are just as divorced. After the Scandal, you still have had Cancer. But the point is not being left isolated, alone and hopeless, neither to go back to reality as it was, hiding and knowing you will be caught, but instead living life different because of what you have experienced and believe. The Revelation of John has confounded the Church for centuries. As early as 210 AD, Gaius the Presbyter of Rome outlawed public reading of this text, because of the Revelation's ability to create turmoil among people, interpreting their own ideas. William Barclay described Revelation as the “Playground of Religious Eccentrics!” Much is mysterious, much is symbolic. What is known is that this came from a time of Roman persecution, for Christians caught in the scandal between a Culture out of control, filled with fear and blame for the world's problems, pagan values, unenlightened ideas; versus their own personal faith in the power of God. It was a time with false promises of National security and safety of the Empire, the only cost of which is your soul, your convictions and beliefs. Even if Hurt and Evil seem to be winning, the Battle for God has already been won. Years ago, I heard a story from a minister who described they had been at a conference on Revelation, and on their way home, a truck rounded the curve in front of them taking his half out of the middle. When they came round the bend they found two motorcyclists without helmets who had had an accident. Their bike was wrapped around a telephone pole. The one pastor used his cell phone to call for help. As he waited for the ambulance, he saw his companion, another minister, kneeling on the ground beside the two, stroking their hair and talking to them softly. After the police arrived, the two ministers drove on, the woman had blood on her hands and face and clothes, and the other asked “I saw you talking to them. They clearly were unconscious and the police say they were dead. What were you saying to them?” She responded: “I just kept repeating over and over, “PEACE: The worst is over, the healing has already begun.”