Finding God in Unexpected Places

 

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Acts 11:1-18   

28 April 2013

Elizabeth M. Deibert   

It starts around third grade.  Who’s in and who’s out?  People get labeled.  By middle school, there are cliques and mean girls, goths and geeks, bullies and nerds. Kids with all kinds of potential are called losers.  By high school, popularity is measured by how many friends you have on Facebook or lately by how many are following your tweets.  For us old folks, it was how many signed your yearbook or how many lingered in the hallway at break with you.  But one thing hasn’t changed: Never sit down at the wrong table in the lunchroom.  You know where you don’t belong.

Adults are only a little more mature.  We have suburban sophisticates and urban elite, trailer trash and project people, blue collar and white collar folks.  We love our dichotomies, calling people liberals and conservatives, evangelicals and agnostics, and all other sorts of names.  Our minds naturally group people into categories, which make it easier for us think.  But when those groups become fixed stereotypes, when we cannot think outside those boxes, when we disparage people who are so labeled, we have done an injustice to the people God created.  To be like Christ is to love people because they are people.  Can’t we all grow up?

The early church struggled with labels and prejudices too.  Their greatest hurdle was the Jewish-Gentile divide.  It was a huge chasm.   Hear now how Peter shares his experience in Joppa and tries lead his Jewish Christian friends into a new relationship with Gentile Christians.

NRS Acts 11:1 Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, 3 saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?" 4 Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, 5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. 6 As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat.' 8 But I replied, 'By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' 9 But a second time the voice answered from heaven, 'What God has made clean, you must not call profane.' 10 This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. 11 At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. 13 He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; 14 he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.' 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17 If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?" 18 When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life."

The sound-byte version of this sermon is this: The church is for everybody – not just people like us.  If I were going to tweet the message, it would be this: God shows no favoritism and neither should we. #Open church   That’s it.  That’s my sermon.  We can go home now.  Well, we could if accepting people who are different from us was not so hard for us.  Peter was speaking to people who were very uncomfortable being in the presence of Gentiles.  They could not touch Gentiles, eat with Gentiles, and yet they were being asked to worship the Lord with them and consider them brothers and sisters, equals in the faith.

With which of these brothers and sisters in the faith do you find it difficult to connect? (Church band picture) Can you worship with these people? (Cathedral choir picture)   I’ve worshiped with these people, and with these people.   Here’s an orthodox priest baptizing new converts in a barrel of water.  (Priest and men in boxers) Can you worship with the Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia and with these Pentecostal Christians in Cape Town?  (Pentecostals) Who are we that we could hinder God’s work amongst many different people in different cultures?  Can we appreciate what is good about each of these styles of worship?  We welcome them as our brothers and sisters in Christ if we care enough to really listen to their perspective on faith and life.  We welcome them as fellow Christians when we try to put ourselves in their shoes, rather than forcing them into ours.  We welcome them when we realize we may have something to learn from them.

Peter was challenged to see God’s Spirit at work in people he had previously seen as outsiders.  If the church had not been open to Gentiles in the early days, I wonder if there’d be a church today?  Think about it.  If the church had not spread rapidly among the Gentiles, it would have remained a small sect within Judaism.  How open are we to God doing a new thing among people we consider outsiders?  Can we welcome these teens (Goth teens) or do they make us uncomfortable with their dress?  When Richard and I were co-pastors in Montgomery in the 1990’s there were no churches in Montgomery, Alabama for Christians like this (inter-racial couple) and like this, (gay couples) except the one we served.  And many of us at Immanuel Presbyterian, who were not previously open to homosexual persons, learned that people can be gay, Christian, and in a committed relationship.  Our stereotypes were broken down by real people.  

I grew up in a small, rather impoverished rural town.  Unlike in the city, where there’s anonymity, I knew the names of people who had no inside plumbing and others who lived in their cars.  I was well aware that what I had growing up was so much more than many of my classmates. Can we welcome all people and make them feel at home?  It is not easy to be a welcoming church, a church where anyone can be a true companion seeking Christ – without reservation.  

 

Can we stop making assumptions about the people who are already here?  Some of our own members found the Lenten discipline of spending no more than $36/person/week just normal life.  They already live on a very careful, tight budget. We all look the same, but the choices we make each week are often quite different, based on our circumstances.  There are some who can give $100/week to the church without any sacrifice of lifestyle whatsoever.  They are others for whom $10/week is extremely generous.

Sometimes it seems like churches are no more welcoming than a sorority or fraternity during rush week – a very calculated welcome.  Will you help our reputation?  Will you help us to grow and thrive?  Do we like the way you look?  Can we be comfortable around you?  Sometimes it seems like little has changed since Peter was trying to convince his fellow circumcised buddies, the Jewish Christians, that the Gentiles were okay.  

You see, it was not just that the Gentiles were let in, but that by welcoming Gentiles, they were saying that circumcision was not the crucial marker of entry as it had been.  They were saying that eating certain foods was okay – when they never had been allowed to eat them.  They were sacrificing something that had been sacred to them. Hear Paul on this subject, speaking to the Galatians: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love.” (Galatians 5:6)  It’s a no brainer for us that circumcision and foods don’t matter.  Of course, faith working through love is more important.  It’s a no brainer because we cannot appreciate how important that distinction was for Peter and Paul and their friends.

 

Hear Peter on this matter, “Three times I said to the Lord.  No, I will not break my Jewish tradition and eat these unclean animals.  But every time I heard a voice from heaven saying, “What God has made clean/acceptable, you can not call profane/unacceptable.”   Three times to get the message across.  Then the Spirit says, “Go with these other people and do not make a distinction.  The Holy Spirit fell on them – just as on us.  If God gave them the same gift that God gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in the way of God?”

Peace Presbyterian, I trust you will never stand in the way of God but you will welcome with open arms everyone who seeks Jesus Christ – no matter what type of family. Because Christ loves them and wants an authentic relationships with all of them.  Peace, look for God in unexpected places – not just the places where you yourselves feel most comfortable.  Do not assume that God is a Democrat or a Republican.  (slide) Faithful Christians are both.  (slide) And sometimes faithful Christians blur the lines and refuse to play the party line, which has become so hardened in our time.  

Faithful Christians even look beyond their own national pride to care about people in far away places.  Christians care about the tragedies in Bangladesh and China, just like they care about the tragedies in Boston and Texas.  I do not feel connected to the people of Dhaka and Chengdu, but we have medical missionary friends who serve there.  They, with their stories of Christian compassion, help me to connect.  I wish I knew someone in Syria so I would care more about their suffering. Jenny Sheffield gave me a book, Kisses from Katie, which is helping me connect with the children of Uganda. 

 

Our daughter, Emily, has been dating an Ecuadorian for four years.  Nicolas gives me a fresh perspective on what it means to have Spanish as your first language and to be a South (not North) American.  Jesus loves the adults and children, all the children of the world.  Our children are growing up in a global society.  They are more accepting of differences than their parents and grandparents.  The church has some catching up to do.

Two thousand years ago Peter’s mind was opened, despite his resistance.  He had to be told three times that eating food like the Gentiles was okay.  God’s love is so much wider and broader than ours.  Moses never expected to see God in a burning bush and to be challenged to be a leader.  Peter never expected to see Christ in the Gentiles.  Watch out for burning bushes and dreams and visions.  You might be surprised to find God in them.  

 

     

Listen and Follow

 

4th Sunday of Easter

John 10:22-30                       

21 April 2013

Elizabeth M. Deibert                   

In twenty plus years of ministry, I have never preached this passage from John.  I’ve preached many times on the beautiful 23rd Psalm, the favorite scripture of the church for the last 100 years.   I’ve used early verses of John 10, the ones in which Jesus announces that he is the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life to take care of his flock.  He talks about having other sheep who do not belong to the flock, who must be brought into the fold. But I shied away from this middle of John 10, because of the harsh words to the Jews, presumably the Jewish authorities.   They demand clear evidence that he is the Messiah.   He says, “I’ve told you and you do not believe….You do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep.”   

I get uncomfortable with passages that seem exclusive – these people are in and these people are out.   It smacks of that old hard-line Calvinism – some predestined to belong, others not.    But that’s not the way most Presbyterians think today.   We know God did not give up on the covenant with the Jews, so how can Jesus say to them in this passage, “You do not belong to my sheep.”  It helps us to remember that by the time the Gospel of John was written, there was some considerable tension between the growing group of Christ followers and the Jewish faith.   When persons or groups are distinguishing themselves, unfortunately, it is often by a defining position which criticizes the other.   Such is the case with John and the Jews.   But the other thing to remember is that Jesus is not saying, “I do not want you in my flock.”  He said just a few verses earlier that he has other sheep, not in the flock whom he wants to bring in.   He is only stating a fact – they are not following him, listening to him daily, so they do not believe he is the Messiah because they have not spent enough time with him.

Even though we believe God is loving and just toward all, we should not avoid reading scriptures in which the uniqueness of Christ and the particularity of the Christian faith is expressed.  In trying to be kind and accommodating to persons of other faiths, we do not need to stop being who we really are.    

We just need to be respectful and understanding of who they really are – not our stereotypes of them.   So as we engage this passage today, we have the opportunity to embrace the uniqueness of Christianity – that Christ and his Father are One – that through Christ, we are made one with God.   It is a remarkable truth.   George MacDonald, a Scottish novelist and theologian, calls it the center truth of the universe.

Let us pray for God’s Spirit to illumine us.  “Make us one, Lord.  Make us one.   Holy Spirit make us one.   Let your love flow, so the world will know, we are one in you.”

Hear the Gospel: John 10:22-30

22 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.  24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly."

25 Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me;  26 but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.  27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.   28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.  29 What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand.  30 The Father and I are one."  (NRSV)

The Jewish leaders wanted some sort of proof.   Jesus says, “Look at what I have done in my Father’s name and you will see.  But you do not believe because you do not belong.”    Now that is a strange way to put it.    We think that we join a church because we believe.   We believe.   We belong.   Jesus says, “You do not believe because you are not belonging.”   He goes on to say that belonging means “listening and following him.”    Again, we think that belonging comes first, then believing, then listening, then following.     But Jesus says, “Listen to my voice and follow me.”  Then you will belong to my sheep.   Then when you belong, you will believe.    

It is kind of like the man who says, “I don’t love my wife anymore.”   And when asked what kindness and generosity he has expressed toward her lately, he says, “well none, because you see, I don’t love her any more.   Don’t feel anything.”    

But the trouble with that is that the very act of kindness and generosity on the part of the husband or wife or partner is what builds love.    If we are not regularly building up love in all our family relationships and friendships, then love is diminishing day by day in all the little stressors and wounds that tear love down.  Love must be rebuilt by loving, generous action.   1 John 3:18 says “let us love not in word or speech but in truth and action.”   Affection and attraction are about feelings, but with real love the feeling follows the action.

So it is with Christian faith.   The action of listening and following Jesus makes you more a part of the flock of the Good Shepherd and when you belong to the flock, then you believe.   And sometimes your believing needs the bolstering of others in the flock.   Sometimes belonging means you are just walking where the other sheep are going, because you don’t really have the faith to be more than a follower.   But just by being with others in the flock, your faith is sustained. Like the grieving man who cannot sing the hymns without choking up for months after his wife dies, but that’s okay because the congregation them sings for him.   It’s like the kid who goes to Cedarkirk camp, having never left the security of home for a week, and discovers the sustaining power of God’s shepherding love, or a youth who goes to Montreat with a friend not knowing anything about Christian community and finds there a new sense of belonging.

I love the fact that there are people here at Peace who, even when they are not sure of their faith, keep coming to worship, coming to the table to taste and see. They keep saying prayers and reciting the creed, because they belong to the flock.  Believing follows belonging.    Only in belonging, does believing begin to happen.   Believing cannot be sustained without belonging.  But with belonging, believing will nearly always come, perhaps not some rational sense of knowing, as one knows facts, but a believing of the soul which is what faith is, an assertion of what cannot be clearly seen but only dimly in a mirror held in trust.

That’s why our welcoming, open-minded nature at Peace is so valuable.   We don’t assume people come in the door sure of their faith.   A few do, but many people walk in with questions, with doubts, with profound needs that cannot even be clearly expressed.   And what they need, what we all need is to belong to the flock, where we listen each week for the voice of our Shepherd, where we lie down in green pastures and are led by still waters, where we have feast set before us, even when it feels enemies are close at hand, and we are reminded that though we walk through the shadow of death, we have nothing to fear, for God is with us with rod and staff to guide us.   We need a safe place where we can affirm our faith and express our doubts, where we can be real about pain and loss as well as reminding one another of the many blessings for which we can be grateful.   

Our ultimate destination is to be so united with Christ that we have full union in the sacred communion of the Trinity.  Jesus says, “The Father and I are one.”   This center truth of the universe is our unique claim in Christianity – that our God has lived as one of us, uniting God with us, and us with God.   No other faith claims that.    Now I am not saying that we should hold that truth arrogantly as if we have nothing to learn from other faith traditions – from Jews, from Muslims, from Buddhists, we Christians can learn many good things.   We should hold the faithful of these religions in high regard, but we do not need to water down our Christian faith to do so.    

We can hold with confidence, not cockiness, the essential core of Christian faith which has sustained the Shepherd’s flock for two thousand years, a faith tested and tried in the early church and articulated for generations in the Nicene Creed, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made,of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made.  For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven…”   We can have an evangelical faith that is enthusiastic about the good news of our Incarnational God.   And that faith loves actively and invites others to be part of the flock, to belong by listening to the Shepherds voice and following with us.

True Christian faith does not cast a pall of blame on all Muslims once again because a couple of young men became terrorists in Boston.   I don’t think the Jews are calling all Christians terrorists because many Christians in Germany terrorized them in ways that make Boston bombing look like a walk in the park.   What Christ came to accomplish is the oneness of all humanity with God and with one another.   When we are truly One with God, we cannot be anything but respectful and interested in the well-being of others.   

We want all people to experience a Shepherd’s care, so that their deepest longings for peace and love are met.   A soul that is satisfied by the profound goodness of God has no need to attack another.   It is the hungry, the wounded, the greedy soul that lashes out unexpectedly.  Innocent Jesus, fully God, fully human prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.”   When we are filled with all the fullness of love, all the security that comes from knowing our deepest needs will be met by our Shepherd, we too can pray, even for those who have harmed us, “Father forgive.”    

Richard and I toured many beautiful cathedrals in our time in England, but this one in Coventry had a particular power, with the bombed out shell with the new cathedral structure growing out of the old.  But the most poignant spot in the whole place is this:  this cross, made of burned beams from the bombs of WW2 with the words, “Father, forgive”   That’s what Christians do!

Do You Love Jesus?

                

3rd Sunday of Easter

John 21:1-19                        

14 April 2013

Elizabeth M. Deibert                    

Let’s talk about the life of Peter, the main character of this Resurrection narrative.   Peter and his brother Andrew first met Jesus while fishing along with the other brothers James and John.   Remember Jesus said, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”   And they left their nets and did just that.   Remember that Peter was first called Simon, but he is renamed Peter because “on this Rock,” Petra, Jesus plans to build his church.   Peter gets that recognition for being the one who affirmed the Messianic truth:  “You are the Christ.”   But right after that Peter gets rebuked for trying to talk Jesus out of his need to suffer and die.   Peter is the one who in the transfiguration of Christ, wanted to build shrines, instead of just being in awe.   It was Peter who when he saw Jesus walking on the water, tried to walk out to him, but then became frightened and began to sink.  Peter is the one who did not want Jesus to wash his feet, but when Jesus said, “If I don’t wash your feet, you have no part of me.”  Peter replied, “Well then, wash my hands and my head too!”  Peter is the one who with John prepared the Passover meal and when Jesus predicts the disciples will fall away and desert him, Peter insists that though all fall away, he will always be loyal.   This prompts Jesus to say, “I tell you, Peter, before the cock crows in the morning, you will have denied even knowing me three times.”   Many believe this story is the reconciliation for that one.  He denied three times.   He re-affirms his love three times.   Before we hear the Gospel, let us pray:  Open our eyes, our minds, our ears, our hearts.  Transform our souls by your gracious Words of life, O Savior.   Amen.

John 21:1-19

    After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way.  2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.  4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

     5 Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." 6 He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea.  8 But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

     9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn.

12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.  14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

    15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."

16 A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." 17 He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go."  19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."    (NRSV)

A net-full of 153 fish after a night of nothing.  The Beloved Disciple is quick to recognize Jesus and Peter is quick to put his clothes on before jumping in the water.   That seems a little strange to me, but perhaps it was a way of showing respect.   The breakfast of fish and bread not only nourished them but confirmed for all the disciples who He was.

But of course the heart of the message is this conversation between the Risen Christ and Peter.    Peter, do you love me more than these?   I sometimes wonder if that language is ambiguous on purpose.   Do you love me more than these disciples love me?   Do you love me more than you love these disciples?   Do you love me more than you love these delicious fish?   The Greek leans toward “Do you love me more than the other disciples love me?”   Peter was a zealous follower, always trying to have the right answer, to be the most devoted, to be quick to do the right thing, to be the best, number-one disciple?   And he blew it on the night Jesus was arrested, right after making the big promise – though all would desert you, not me, I’m ready to die with you.   But he was scared.   So Christ gives him a chance to re-affirm his devotion.    

Sometimes I’m scared too.  Not scared that someone will kill me for my faith, but scared that if Peace is as generous with resources, as welcoming of marginalized people, as challenging to authorities as Jesus was, that we ourselves will scare off scores of people and not thrive as I want.  Never mind what Jesus wants.  But then I hear Christ’s voice, echoing, “Do you really love me?”   And I say, “I want to love you.”   Just how far is loving you, Jesus, going to push me out of my comfort zone?  

Christ uses the word “agape” the first two questions.   Do you love me in that deep, sacrificial sort of way?   Peter responds  by using the word “phileo”  “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you in the brotherly love.”   In the end, Christ changes over to “phileo” himself.   So his word for love matches Peter’s.   Christ meets Peter where he is.  It seems that Peter cannot say he loves Christ in a sacrificial “agape” way and so finally Christ settles for “phileo.”  

But every time Peter responds affirmatively, “Yes, Lord you know that I love you.”   Christ gives an imperative. First it is “Feed my lambs.”  Then, “Tend my sheep.”   And finally, “Feed my sheep.”   I’m sorry we cannot opt out of the challenge to love others.   Loving like Jesus is not easy.   It is messy.   It requires sacrifice.  

And now’s the time for me to turn the question over to you:    Do you really love Jesus?   Maybe agape is out of your reach.   Maybe phileo is as far as you can go.   And how are we nurturing the young lambs around here – are we feeding them bread of life?   Are you really devoted to Christ in a way that speaks with authenticity to people around you?  Teens can spot hypocrisy from a mile away.    

If you say you love Jesus, how are you tending the flock of God?   Followers of Christ, are you concerned for the lost sheep or are you waiting for them to find their way back to church?   Are you helping to keep the wolves of the world from attacking the most vulnerable ones in the flock?   The poor, the sick, the immigrants, the children, the aging, those facing scorn from segments of society.  Are you caring for those who are weak or tired or wandering?

I know people in this congregation who on holidays when they are exhausted still invite people into their homes for table fellowship.  I know people in this congregation who might consider having a Presbyterian missionary and her daughter live for a month in their house while they are away or perhaps even while they are home.   I know people in this congregation who have stood up for those who have no voice, no rights, no justice.   There are people in this congregation who have packed food for hungry people not just once but every single week for seven years.   There are people who every week care for folks in this congregation and beyond who need a supportive friend.   There are people in this congregation trying to understand how Peace can be a refuge for wandering sheep who think the church has forsaken them.   I know people in this church who  prepare a lesson weekly to spiritually feed the children or youth in this congregation.   Some of you spend hours upon hours tending the practical needs of the flock.

But even the most diligent disciples have moments of failure, and need this story’s reassurance.   After we have promised to be loyal and then failed, Christ is still present, providing generously for us and giving us the chance to say again, “Yes, Lord, I love you.”   

He asks for our whole-hearted sacrificial devotion agape -- and accepts what is less than that – phileo, our affection and sometimes fickle friendship.   Faith development is boosted by pivot moments when we let the question of Christ penetrate and demand an answer us:   Do you love me?   I wonder if you are allowing that question to penetrate your psyche today?

In the last couple of months several people at Peace have expressed a desire to renew their baptism.   A renewal of baptism is not a re-Baptism as if the first one has expired or wasn't valid.   No, a renewal of baptism is a time to give thanks again for the love of God which is unfailing and to answer again the question of the depth of our devotion to Christ.   If the Spirit is nudging you to reaffirm your Christian faith in a demonstrative way today, then you may join those who gather at the font for our Call to Discipleship.   Jesus calls us at various stages of life and in many different ways, but at the heart of the call is this:   “Do you really love me?  Will you care for my flock?”   I trust that at some level the answer is yes for everyone of us here.  The challenge is to keep going deeper – as we do in any relationship that really matters.   

Seeing Jesus

 

2nd Sunday of Easter

Luke 24:13-43                           

7 April 2013                       

Seeing Jesus is all about the unity of Word and Sacrament, the center piece of worship.   He interprets the scriptures which makes their hearts burn.   He breaks the bread which opens their eyes.   

 

But all of that happens in the context of a journey.   They are going somewhere. And without knowing it, they are walking with Jesus.   

 

Jesus is teaching them, even though the conversation began with their thinking he needed to be updated on the news, the only stranger who did not know.

 

And the real moment of truth is the sharing of table fellowship.   He breaks the bread and they see him.   They know him, and then he’s gone again.

And the journey continues.   They return to Jerusalem to share good news, and in the mutual sharing of good news, Jesus shows up again.  He brings peace to them.  He invites those who are doubting to touch and see that he is real.

While the disciples are still swimming in amazement and wonder, it is time again for table fellowship.     

 

Luke 24:13-43

13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,  14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.  15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

17 And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad.  18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?"

19 He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,  20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.  21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.  22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning,  23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him."

25 Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!   26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?"

27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.  28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on.

29 But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them.

30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.  32 They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?"

33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!"

35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

36 While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."  37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?  39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.  41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?"  42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence. (NRSV)

 

Hearing and interpreting the scriptures makes Jesus real.   Not just reading in solitude, but hearing and interpreting together.    When are you hearing and interpreting scripture with others?   If you are on a Ministry Team, you should be having brief moments of lectio divina, when we take time with Word/Share/and Prayer to remember that we belong to God first, and later discuss the tasks that God might be calling us to tackle.   We hear the scripture and respond.   Maybe you have participated in a Lively learning class, a Sunday school class or Bible study or small group?   In worship reflection at Peace, we ask the question that Cleopas and the other disciple asked, “Were not our hearts burning while he was present with us?  And when he broke the bread, for a brief moment, wasn’t that when we knew Christ?   It is a kind of holy sharing – how was God speaking to you in worship today?  When you take time to reflect on that with others, you learn to listen for the Spirit’s nudges.   Interpreting scripture with others means being open to the fact that they may be hearing something different than you are hearing.  

Hospitality makes Jesus real.   Deep hospitality, the kind where people are seeking to know the stories of one another’s lives.  Think for me with a moment about a time when deep hospitality helped you to know the love of God.   Was it the warm welcome you felt when you first came to this church?   The welcome to this table, when you had a deep sense of undeserving, or of confusion about what this table means?   Was it the acceptance you felt when someone heard you – noticed your pain and responded in kindness?   The power of having a Stephen minister care for you in one of those difficult seasons in the journey of life and death.   

Table fellowship makes Jesus real.   Think with me for a moment about table fellowship with Christian friends and how Jesus has been real to you.   Was it the comfort food of a church dinner when you were little?   Was it the table conversation of a dinner group where bonds were forged?    Was it that Montreat meal in a cottage with friends, where you suddenly realized the church was your true family?   Was it sharing wine with church friends – a Peace sisters night out?  Or the coffee and conversation of the Men’s Group, where real men can bear their hearts?  Table fellowship can be seen as ordinary, but it doesn’t have to be ordinary.  It is a time for deepening relationships.

The Lord’s Supper is the meal extraordinaire, the Sacrament which makes Jesus real indeed.   The meal is what gives every other meal sacramental possibility.    Every time you come to the Lord’s table, having also heard his Word, Christ is making himself known to you.   He is healing your blindness.

Sharing good news with others makes Jesus real.    That’s what happens when the Emmaus pair went back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples.   Have you had one of those moments where you shared the good news of what God has done or is doing in your life with a friend at church, or perhaps even with a friend not part of the church.    Sharing holy stories of our journey makes Jesus real.  Swapping good stories of God’s work makes Christ appear in our midst.   It brings Christ and his message of peace.

The Emmaus story is the story of our lives.   We are on a journey together.   We get discouraged, thinking life has come to an end.   But because Jesus is with us, there is no end.    What we think is the end is really the beginning.   When we are in the pits of despair, we are really on our way to the peace of Christ’s presence.

He comes to us, in Word and Sacrament, along the journey when we open ourselves to him.  And when we begin to share stories of our mystical encounters with him,   He comes in a more profound way and fills us with his peace.  Christ comes and gives us the reassurance of touching him and feeling him near.   But it only lasts for a moment.   As we learned last week in the story of Mary at the tomb, Christ will not allow us to cling to those amazing moments of nearness.

 

He comes and he goes.   He appears and he disappears.   And we are left walking along, or sitting at table, wondering if the One talking to us now might in fact be Christ Jesus himself.   But when we invite him into our homes and our hearts, he always comes.   And when he breaks the bread, we know he is present in a way we can never explain but we know to be true.

So keep listening for Jesus’ voice amidst all the voices of those who walk with you in this journey of life.   Listen for the word of scripture burning in your hearts and come to the table to discover his nearness.  Keep walking with Jesus and inviting Jesus into your life.   Then you will see him.   Then you will feel his presence and power and peace.    That’s the mystery of this relationship.   Christ is always there, but we need to invite him to draw nearer, to sit with us.   He will not impose himself, but when welcomed, will open our eyes and embrace our souls.