Knowing Christ

 2^nd Sunday of Easter

Luke 24:13-43                                                                                

27 April 2014

Elizabeth M. Deibert                                                                    

Open our eyes, Lord.  We want to see Jesus.   To reach out and touch him, and say that we love him.   Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen.  Open our eyes, Lord.   We want to see Jesus.                  

This is one of my favorite stories in the whole of scripture.   I love the way it is set as a journey in which Jesus is the surprising journey partner, who when invited in, makes himself known in the breaking of bread.   It is the story of how we come to know Christ in the whole journey of life.   Before we read it, let me point out that there are three scenes in this story, and we will stop after each one to ponder it.

First scene, Cleopas and most likely his wife, whom I think might be that other Mary, not Magdalene, not Mother Mary, but Mary, the mother of James and Joses.   She was one of the named witnesses of the crucifixion and one of the women who went to the tomb.  Remember that many of the followers of Jesus have by Easter night heard that the tomb was empty, but do not yet know what happened.

So they are walking to Emmaus and talking sadly about Jesus’ death and the fact that the women who went to anoint his body found the tomb empty.   And Jesus approaches and walks with them but they don’t know it is he.   Much as he did with Mary in the garden by the tomb, he asks them questions, to which he presumably knows the answers.   He said to Mary at the tomb, “Why are crying and who are you looking for?”  He says to the other Mary and Cleopas, “What are you talking about?”   When they answer it is clear they cannot believe he hasn’t heard the news.

Hear the first part of the story.

Luke 24:13-43

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.

So Jesus is explaining the scriptures to them, but they still don’t know who he is.  But they know enough about this strange journey partner that they want him to stay longer.   Sometimes we are like that.   We might not know exactly what keeps bringing us back to church.   We think it is the people, the strangers we meet and are drawn to grow closer to here.  But really, it is the presence of Christ that makes these friendships warm and inviting, whether the people recognize Christ there or not.   In this sense, one begins to understand that all conversation, at its best, is like a sermon, where the words are words of people but are intended to help us appreciate the meaning of the scriptures and the real presence of Christ. 

So the holy stranger is welcomed and the story gets even better.

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?"

So because of this interesting relationship developing on the journey, they invite Jesus into their home.  They provide kind hospitality.   Hebrews 13:2 tells us,

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.  

Jesus always comes in to stay when invited.   He gladly stays in the homes of all who wish him there, and he takes the bread, breaks it, and blesses it, and gives it to them (the guest becoming host here) and then their eyes are opened, and then they realize the meaning of his words.  

And so it is for us that when we break bread together at the table, we come to a deeper awareness that Christ is already here, and that he was teaching us through the words of the scriptures, which we heard prior to eating the bread.   The table takes us to a new level of knowing, the kind of knowing that is intuitive, not explanatory.   That’s why we never try to explain what happens with the bread and the wine, except to say that Christ is really present in a way that we do not understand but know to be very real.   And that we cannot cling to him, because he vanishes here, just like he vanished from the Emmaus couple, and also from Mary Magdalene, who was instructed not to cling.

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)

To announce the Gospel is to make it even more palpable and real.   So as Mary and Cleopas rush from Emmaus back to Jerusalem to share their testimony that Christ is risen and has appeared to them, Christ appears again.  As if out of thin air, he is there.   They are scared, but he is announcing peace.   He is reassuring them that he’s not a ghost.   He has a real resurrected body.  He is not a figment of their imaginations.   As he invited doubting Thomas to touch and know in the Gospel of John, so here, the apostles and other disciples, including women, were invited to touch and see.   And while they are still disbelieving, he sits down to eat again – another sign of reality of his risen body.  He wants to eat.  This is his second meal – one in Emmaus and another in Jerusalem.   He wants to eat, and be in communion with them over food.  Does he need food, or do they need his presence over food with them.   Often times, when we eat, we are trying to satisfy other needs for comfort and reassurance. 

This story helps us to see the real need for weekly communion – how we come to know Christ in breaking bread, as well as in interpretation of the scriptures.   How his presence is more completely felt and his teachings better understood when bread, his body, is broken and shared.  We see here also the value of every meal, remembering that we are eating with Christ.  

When our kids were little, we would often leave an empty chair and would tell them that Jesus was sitting in that chair, whether they could see him or not.  

This story also teaches us the value of watching for and listening for Jesus as we journey together.   (slide)  Christ is with us in the journey, whether we are in a happy stretch of life, or whether the path is difficult, whether we are walking alone, having lost a best companion in life, or whether we are walking alongside a wonderful companion, Christ is there, making meaning out of all relationships, making them real, making them authentic, filling them with hope and promise.

Christ is walking with this church, every day, but especially as we spend one extra hour each week for the next seven weeks, seeking to hear his voice and his direction.   Walk with us, will you?   That together we might better discern Christ’s voice – together.  

Think about all the resurrection stories, how the mutual sharing of good news is what made the good news great.   Had it only been Peter and John, or Mary Magdalene, or the three women, finding an empty tomb, had it only been Cleopas and Mary, who knows whether this truth would have really been trusted, but the more it is shared, the more others encountered the real presence of Christ, many more believed.   Even Paul, a Pharisee who was persecuting Christians had a face-to-face with the risen Christ, long after he had ascended.   That’s how powerful is the reality of our God.  Truth shared becomes truth present becomes truth known becomes truth shared again, and two thousand years later, we are still here, celebrating the presence of the risen Christ and his blessing in our lives.

 

 

 

 

Surprised by Hope

Easter Sunday

John 20:1-18                                                                       

Elizabeth M. Deibert
20 April 2014
                                                           
Remember back in February, the man in Mississippi, who had been declared dead and then he started kicking inside the body bag at the morgue.   Strange story.  We all wanted to know how this could happen.  Apparently his pacemaker had stopped working.   Then, after getting pulled out of the body bag, he really died, two weeks later.   He and the family got a second chance at saying good-bye.

You know some of the people who lost friends and family on the Korean ferry accident wish they had a second chance.   Many of these victims were high school students – very sad.   Lots of text messages sent just before they died.   As the days pass, hope of finding people alive is much like that of the Malaysian airliner.

But grieving people still want to know what happened and why it happened.   Part of accepting a death is knowing the details.   The events surrounding a significant death are remembered and rehearsed.   In the Gospel stories, Jesus’ death and burial are told with detail, even if the details are a little different in each Gospel.   Matthew and Mark record Jesus crying out “ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”   Matthew and John say that Jesus yielded or gave up his spirit while Mark and Luke say, “He breathed his last.”    All three synoptic Gospels have the centurion watching him, and saying, “Truly, this was the Son of God.”   All four Gospels record that the women were there as witnesses of Jesus’ death and that it was Joseph of Arimathea who took his body down from the cross, wrapped it, and laid it in a tomb.  Three Gospels say it was a new tomb, and two say that a large rock was rolled in front of the tomb.

All this is to say, that the Gospel writers were very clear that Jesus was not like the man from Mississippi, who was not really dead.   It was not like the victims of the Malaysian airlines or the South Korean ferry boat, where families held some hope for a while.   The disciples, the women followers, all who loved Jesus, were crushed by his death.   It was real.   The women watched the crucifixion and come to the tomb expecting nothing but to hold their noses while anointing his body.   We are reading John’s Gospel, and he does not mention any other women like Mary mother of James or Salome’ but Mary uses the pronoun “we” which seems to reference the other women.

John 20:1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.   ² So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."

 ³ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.  ⁴ The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.   ⁵ He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.  ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 

⁸ Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;  ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.  ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes.

 ¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹² and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³ They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."  ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.  ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."

 ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (NRSV)

Mary is surprised by hope.   She expects a tomb of deadness, and that’s all she can see or hear or imagine.   So naturally she assumes someone has moved his dead body.   “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him,”she said to two disciples.    She says it again to the angels.   “They’ve taken away my Lord  and I don’t know where they’ve laid him.”   She says it again to Jesus, thinking he is the gardener, “If you have carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him away.”  

Mary is so certain Jesus’ body is dead that she cannot imagine anything other than the need to figure out where his dead body has been taken.   She’s not even able to recognize Jesus at first, so convinced is she that he is gone.   Only when he speaks her name does she recognize him.   He has already asked her why she was weeping?   He even asks her “Who are you looking for?”   Okay, Jesus, You knew who she was looking for?  And you know why she’s crying.  But I guess she needed to confront those questions.   She was looking for a dead man.   She’s upset because she doesn’t recognize you as alive.   It takes a while for hope to creep back in, when we are so convinced that death gets the final word.  

But it doesn’t.   Death is our enemy, but it is now defeated, and hope wins.   Love wins.   Life wins.   We still must face death, and yes, death is still agonizing, but we face it with hope, because we know Christ is bringing new life, and bringing more new life, and working with us to bring more new life.      

As NT Wright says in his book “Surprised by Hope:  Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church”  

“The resurrection completes the inauguration of God's kingdom. . . . It is the decisive event demonstrating that God's kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven."

“Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. That, after all, is what the Lord's Prayer is about.”

"The message of Easter is that God's new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you're now invited to belong to it.”    That’s what we are baptized into – belonging to hope.

We are not just hoping for a better time when we die, we are surprised to learn that resurrection hope is for now – to inspire us to live now, not die now of despair because the world, as we see it, is so horrible, so full of pain.  No, we are called to be surprised by hope again and again, as we seek, not a dead body but a risen Christ, working in the gardens of our lives, tilling the soil around our feet, making new things grow, trying to ask good questions so that we will notice who he really is.

“Our task as image-bearing, God-loving, Christ-shaped, Spirit-filled Christians, following Christ and shaping our world, is to announce redemption to a world that [is captivated by] its own fallenness, to announce healing to a world that is [consumed by] its own brokenness, to proclaim love and trust to a world that seems to know only cynicism, exploitation, fear and suspicion...”  (NT Wright)

What God started in Christ on Easter – this surprise of hope – is still happening, and that’s why we must be Easter people.   Still Christ finds us searching around desperately looking for dead bodies, trying to figure out rationally what happened and why.   And Christ says, “Why are you upset? Whom are you seeking?”   And he calls us by name and we realize that he is alive, so death has been transformed, and will never get the last word.

There is always hope (not just for a good afterlife) but for a good life now.   There was a guy here on Wednesday, who was searching in the tomb of death, expecting nothing more.   Twenty-two and full of despair about life.   He was lost, in both senses of the word.   He was without job, without car, without family or friends (at least in the moment), and a dead cell phone.   He was without hope.   I was surprised that in such a busy week I wanted to listen to him.   But I did. 

He was surprised that someone would care to listen to him and give him those powdery doughnuts that Grant had dropped off earlier in the week.   He nearly cried at the unsolicited gift of three dollars for a burger.   I was surprised by the hope I felt in talking to this young man – unrealistic hope, but hope nonetheless.   What is hope but unrealistic?   Trying to read my book about the Resurrection hope, I was given a real life opportunity to open my eyes to be surprised by hope, the hope I felt for J because of what Christ’s resurrection can accomplish in someone’s life here and now.   Easter hope gives me hope, not just for myself, but for all who are struggling to discover hope.   Hope is always there; it is just disguised as a gardener or something we think is not hope.

Easter gives me hope not just for your friend or niece who died, that there is a joyful afterlife where our whole persons (body & soul) are resurrected and reunited.  But it also gives me hope that the grieving, lost in sorrow ones will live here and now.  That death will not have the victory over them, but life will.

“Easter was when Hope in person surprised the whole world by coming forward from the future into the present.”    (NT Wright)  That very present Hope is still tilling in the garden of our lives life, where the tomb of death is staring us in the face, stirring up questions in us, and waiting for us to discover again the surprise – He is alive, not dead!   You are alive, not dead!   This is such surprising, wonderful news, we need to celebrate a while for the truth of it to sink it.  Easter cannot be over in just one day – how about fifty days!   Yes, let’s have fifty days of being surprised by hope!

 

 

 

Courage and Fear

Palm Sunday

13 April 2014
Matthew 21:1-17
Elizabeth M. Deibert                                                                   

Remember a few weeks ago, we read the passage from Joshua: Be of good courage.   Do not fear, for the Lord your God is with you.   Pastor Neil shared with all of us children of God the story of Esther’s courage in speaking up against the evil being done to her people.

Speaking of courage, Catherine and I were remembering the other night the scary experience she had two years ago while visiting her sister Emily in Korea, when Emily had a seizure-like experience in the middle of the night.   Catherine was afraid but she managed to gather her courage to do the things she needed to do to secure medical help for Emily.

At several meetings this week, it seemed we were facing issues in our policy-making, in our vision work, in our identity as leaders with courage and fear, and which side would claim us. 

Think of Jesus as he considered his entry into Jerusalem.   He must surely have had some fear, knowing in his heart of hearts that his life was increasingly in danger.   But with courage, he sent his disciples to secure a donkey and colt.   He entered the city, and gathered even chutzpah to challenge those who would abuse the poor in God’s house.   The crowds had the courage to shout his praises.  “Hosanna to the Son of David.”   But when the chief priests and scribes heard these praises, “they were angry.”  I expect that anger arose from fear, as anger is usually a secondary emotion. 

Listen for the Spirit’s voice speaking to you through the Gospel of Matthew:

Matthew 21:1-17

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, just say this, 'The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately. " 4 This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 5 "Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7 they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" 10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, "Who is this?" 11 The crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."

12 Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you are making it a den of robbers." 14 The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them.

15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became angry 16 and said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself'?" 17 He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.                                                                                             (NRSV)

Think of a time when you have been afraid.   Afraid of a big test or a work task that overwhelmed you.   Afraid of a diagnosis, a surgery, a treatment plan.   Afraid of a marriage, a break-up, a pregnancy, a looming death or anniversary of a death.   Afraid of things you might not like to admit you are afraid of – like being alone at night, or singing in front of others, or sharing who you are openly, or coming to a new church when it’s been a while, afraid that you will somehow be unfit, unacceptable, or unwelcomed.   We hope you are getting the message of Peace that we are all misfits, yet entirely acceptable, beloved by God’s grace.

With fear, we must step forward in faith with courage.   Like Jesus did.   He did not go alone.   His disciples were with him, helping him with the borrow animals – a donkey and a colt.   It’s good to have several Gospel readings.  Otherwise, we might understand from Matthew that Jesus had one foot on a donkey and one on a colt.   Other kings would come in on a gallant horse, a fine sports car or Beemer, but Jesus asks for the animal that symbolizes the common people, the poor, beast of burden, a humble donkey, a high mileage, old model sedan.   And he fulfills the prophecy of the prophets, Isaiah and Zechariah.

The crowds recognize and celebrate him but don’t understand him.   They have courage on Palm Sunday and fear on Good Friday.   They appreciate having a king who is one of them, until it gets more risky for them.   They honor him with branches and cloaks and “Hosannas and Blessings”   As he rides into the city of King David, he is a very different kind of king.   The city is in turmoil over his identity, so difficult it is for any of us to behold and believe in such fully divinity and full humanity in one person.   The cry “Hosanna” means “save us” and the irony is that he will save them by not saving himself.   He will be saved in the end, but not saved from the fully depths of a tragic death.

Jesus courageously enters Jerusalem being the king they could not and would not understand.   And he then further alienates himself by challenging those who would take advantage of others in worship, right there in the temple, making money off the poor.   This image of Jesus overturning tables is often remembered by people as the time Jesus lost his temper, but the text does not say that.  

In none of the Gospels, does it say Jesus was angry or enraged.   This is the picture of calm, assertive, righteous indignation.   Jesus is upset by what is happening, and he takes physical action to stop it, much like a teacher of elementary school kids might take some forceful action to separate children who are fighting or to remove an object which is causing a problem.   John’s Gospel mentions whips, but he is using the whips to drive away the animals who need to be liberated from these abusive practices.   I firmly believe Jesus was tempted in this moment to completely lose himself in rage over the mistreatment of people, but he held it together because he could not mistreat, as Christ is God and God is love.

But look at the scripture page in your bulletin and see who is angry in this story.  Yes, the religious authorities – the scribes and Pharisees.   They are threatened by Jesus’ presence, by his healing power, by his popularity with the people, by his words and by his actions in the temple.   Their anxieties lead them to anger.

A good practice when you feel yourself getting angry is to breathe and reflect on what threat, what fear, what guilt or shame experience is leading you into anger.   Is your anger righteous indignation such that you are calmly responding to something that is wrong, like Jesus did in the temple, or more likely, are you losing your cool because someone or something threatened you, and you could not deal constructively, assertively with your fear, your frustration, or your guilt?

Jesus has much to fear as the religious authorities are getting increasingly angry at him, but he acts out of courage, out of assertive love, not fear.   His frustration is expressed carefully with control.  And thus he marches forward toward Thursday night and Friday, when the temptation to react in fear-based anger will be even greater.   When Jesus is arrested after the Passover meal, one of the disciples reacts and cuts off the ear of the slave of the high priest, but Jesus says, Put your swords away, and Luke tells us he heals the ear.”  When Jesus was accused and had opportunity to defend himself with Caiaphas, the high priest, and Pilate, the governor, he was simply quiet.

Christ is a model of courage for us in his self-controlled expression of love – by entering Jerusalem in a public way, accepting the accolades of those who later will not have courage to remain strong with him, by challenging evil systems that threaten to dehumanize others, by healing those in need, despite the rising anger in religious authorities.   To be so humble and yet so assertive, to be so courageous and strong, while under threat of another’s anger – this is the beautiful witness of Jesus our Messiah.   The Apostle Paul recorded in the letter to the Philippians a short hymn that was likely known and recited by all in the early church.

“Christ Jesus, who though in the form of God did not regard equality with God something to be exploited but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.   And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.” (Phil 2)

Paul later tells the Philippians that all that matters is knowing Christ.  He regards everything else as rubbish because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ.   He says, “In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content…I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  (Phil 4)

You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you to be courageous when you have every reason to fear.   You can exercise self-control because the Holy Spirit is working in you and through you.   God will satisfy your every need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)   So forgetting what lies behind and facing what lies ahead as you enter a difficult time, press on to the heavenly calling of Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:13)   Know Christ and the power of his resurrection by walking with him, by sharing his sufferings – this Holy Week and every week.  (Phil. 3:10)

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting, Weeping, and Wiping

5th Sunday of Lent
John 11:1-45
6 April 2014

Elizabeth M. Deibert                                                                   

Richard and I had the wonderful privilege of being exchange students to Cambridge at the same time that three of our seminary professors were there.   One of them, Shirley Guthrie (a man, yes kids, men used to be named Shirley) wrote a classic book called Christian Doctrine.   I don’t remember the book as well as I remember those days in the coffee shop in the city centre of Cambridge.   Richard had already taken Shirley’s class, and I was due to take it when we all returned from England.   I got pregnant, and Shirley kept telling me to stay in seminary.   He would get a rocking chair for the classroom.   In fact, our Emily born on the first day of fall semester, attended Reformed theology class for a whole semester, first going when she was about ten days old.   I am grateful for Shirley’s encouragement to stay in seminary, but even more grateful for the way Shirley taught me about the importance of the dialectical tensions in a healthy Christian faith.

So we talk about God’s judgment and God’s love, God’s transcendence and God’s immanence, Jesus’ humanity and his divinity, Christ’s majesty and his lowliness.  We value social justice and personal transformation.  We hold in tension our need to feel guilty and confess our sin, and to hear the good news of our forgiveness and God’s steadfast love.   We hold Tillich’s “You are accepted despite being unacceptable” in tension with Bonhoeffer’s call to “costly discipleship” Whenever we let go of one side of the dialectical tension, our theology and practice errs.

Today’s text from John is a great story of the dual nature of Christ – how he transcends our finite ability to see how things that appear bad are really opportunities for the glory of God and how despite his ability to bring life out of death, Jesus still weeps and is greatly disturbed by our suffering and grief, even though he knows he will make us triumph over it.

Watch in this story how Jesus waits to come to heal, how he weeps with the people, and how he finally wipes away all tears by bringing life from death.

John 11:1-45

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10 But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” 11 After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” 13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”  45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

So Lazarus, Mary, and Martha were close friends of Jesus.   Luke tells us the story of Jesus visiting them – how Mary was listening to every word and Martha was busy being hostess.   According to John, Mary was the one who gave Jesus the extravagant gift of perfume all over his feet.   Jesus hears the news of Lazarus’ illness and he is not troubled by it, but sees the illness as a means by which God will be glorified.   He waits two days to go.   He waits until he has some transcendent awareness that Lazarus has already died.   Jesus reassures everyone who is fretting over this.   He is both strong and weak.   He is not worried about the ultimate outcome, but disturbed and weeping with the people.   It seems like Jesus would be either powerful and untouched by Lazarus’ death or emotional and upset, if he does not have the power to affect change over Lazarus’ death.   So Jesus is equally powerful and triumphant, and he identifies with their sadness and is himself disturbed and weeping.   He rises above their grief, able to see and to make sure that death does not get the final word, but he still grieves with them or at least grieves that they cannot see what he sees – that Lazarus will live.   Paul says in the first letter to the Thessalonians, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.  (NRSV)

We grieve as those who do have hope.   Like Christ in this story.   We are not anxious about death as it is approaching.   We wait for it, knowing death will come.   When it happens, we are deeply disturbed and we weep over our loss, but we do not weep as ones with no hope.   We know that Christ is the resurrection and the life.   We know that our spirits never die, though our bodies do.   We believe our resurrected bodies will somehow be united with our never dying spirits one day.   This belief keeps us from despairing.   Jesus demonstrates for us how to face death with hope.   Wait for it, weep over it, and know that it will be wiped away in the end.   When Jesus walked this earth, he was able to show the people that he had the power to wipe away death – in Lazarus’ case, even physical death was wiped away.    That’s why this story gives us hope.   We see what God in Christ can do.  

We see it in this story, which anticipates the resurrection of Christ himself after three days in the tomb.  

Presbyterians have a high view of the sovereignty of God.   Heidelberg Catechism asks, “What is your only comfort in life and in death?”   That I belong – body and soul, in life and in death – not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who… protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head.

In the Study Catechism of 1999, we ask, “If God’s love is powerful beyond measure, why is there so much evil in the world?”   Evil is a terrible abyss beyond all rational explanation.   Its ultimate origin is obscure.   Its enormity perplexes us.   Nevertheless, we boldly affirm that God’s triumph over evil is certain.  In Jesus Christ God suffers with us, knowing all our sorrows.   In raising him from the death, God gives new hope to the world.  Our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, is himself God’s promise that suffering will come to an end, that death shall be no more, and that all things will be made new.”

 

 

I See

Fourth Sunday of Lent
John 9:1-41
March 30, 2014
William R. Clough

The Gospel of John is the most brilliant, the most insightful, the most elegant work of theology or philosophy, ancient or modern, in or out of the Bible.  In this little story Jesus sheds light on the greatest problem for believers in God, the Achilles heel, of monotheism.  Then John illumines the pitfalls along the path. 

JOHN 9:1-41

9 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. ⁴ We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶ When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, ⁷ saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. ⁸ The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” ¹⁰ But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” ¹² They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
¹³ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴ Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵ Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” ¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. ¹⁷ So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”
¹⁸ The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹ and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰ His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹ but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. ²³ Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
²⁴ So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵ He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶ They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷ He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” ²⁸ Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” ³⁰ The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. ³² Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴ They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.
³⁵ Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” ³⁶ He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” ³⁸ He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. ³⁹ Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” ⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

(NRSV)

If you believe in one God, you have a big problem: If God is all good and all powerful, how can evil happen?  God must be either baffling or cruel.  Pagans, polytheists don’t have that problem.  Read The Odyssey.  All sorts of painful, horrible things happen and there’s no problem of evil.  You get shipwrecked – Neptune is mad at you.  You can’t make it to shore – two gods are having a tiff and you’re collateral damage.  Suffering to be sure, but no theological issue.  Atheists don’t have the problem either.  Suffering is just part of life.  It’s not justified or unjustified.  It’s just the way things are.  Viewed philosophically, the problem of evil is an insoluble conundrum; viewed emotionally it’s an unacceptably harsh fact of life.  But here, in that intro – so brief as almost to be missed, mistaken for a throw-away line – Jesus redefines the problem, hence the solution.  Who sinned?  Nobody.  This isn’t a philosophical issue “How can we reconcile the idea of a good God with bad things happening?” and it’s not an emotional problem “How could a good God allow this suffering?”  Neither he nor his parents sinned, he was born blind so that he could be healed, “the works of God might be displayed in him”.  Jesus defines evil as the problem. 

Suffering is the problem, healing is the solution.  Pain is the problem, comfort is the solution.  Inability is the problem, empowerment is the solution. 

Now for some reason in the human psyche fixing problems is too unsatisfying.  It’s more fun to discuss evil, agonize over it or, most satisfying of all, find somebody (other than us, of course) to blame for it. 

And John does an outstanding job of describing precisely how these arguments go.  Note first, few of us have access to the real facts.  The vast majority of us fight about hearsay, opinions and worldviews rather than reality.  “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”  “No, it only looks like him!”  Right off the bat something true is “controversial”.  Perhaps it’s best for us to treat passionate opinions respectfully, as deeply held convictions, but not take them seriously as assessments of reality.    

When I drive around, I listen to talk radio – Left and Right.  I switch between EIB and Pacifica, between Rush Limbaugh and Amy Goodman.  At first I found it intriguing – I was interested in the arguments people offered, the facts they emphasized, what the different audiences found persuasive.  As time passed I saw that the facts are selectively emphasized, like when one Right Wing show host says the cold winter in the US disproves global warming but a warm winter in Russia (Sochi, for example) and a devastatingly hot summer right now in Australia never quite made his evidence list.  Or when a reporter was arrested, along with a whole crowd, for trespassing at the Republican convention and then claimed that because they arrested her they were “systematically targeting journalists”.  Once you’ve listened to the shows for any length of time, you know exactly what you’re going to hear.  It’s like listening to a Shakespearian play – you know every word you’re going to hear, the only question is how the lines are delivered.  You know, from the Right, that the problems in this world are created by the Liberals, the lazy, and the takers.  On the Left they’re created by the big corporations, the military, and the exploiters.  The only thing they both agree on is that the real problem is the US government.  The whole point of the operation is pin-the-blame-on-the-donkey, or the elephant, or the selfish, or the lazy.  I went from intrigued, to annoyed, to bored, to disgusted. 

Next, there’s the litmus-test mentality: “He’s a sinner because he did something we think is wrong.”  “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”  This is why politicians and pundits learn to use – or not use – particular buzz words.  We’ve certainly seen this sort of reaction every time our General Assembly makes any decision on homosexuality.  When we decided not to ordain homosexuals the Left called us sinners (bigots) despite our work for justice for farmworkers, self-development of people, and world-wide medical missions.  When we decided gays and lesbians should not be singled out for special rejection as sinners the Right decided we were the sinners (standardless, politically correct appeasers). 

In a politically polarized climate any search for the truth becomes intimidating.  Witness how the question “Is this your son?” frightens his parents.  And surely the line “Give glory to God by telling the truth, we know this man is a sinner” was read as an early version of the joke where the judge tells the bailiff to bring in the guilty so-and-so and let’s get this trial started. 

At this point, the man formerly known as blind gives just about the best answer anyone can give.  He doesn’t try to get into arguments or defer to the experts; he simply says, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know.  One thing I do know.  I was blind but now I see!”  And notice, at this point he knows that he sees but doesn’t know Jesus because when Jesus asks him later, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answers, “Who is he?  Tell me so that I may believe in him.” 

It would be tempting right now to say that if we just follow Jesus, we’ll be all right.   But as you know that won’t do.  All of us know people who sincerely, dedicatedly, scrupulously follow Jesus and do things that are harmful to themselves, their families, and their communities.  It is no answer to change one religion or authority for another and John will not let us rest with anything quite so litmus-test simple.  So there is that intriguing and challenging tag line: The Pharisees say, “We aren’t blind, are we?” and Jesus answers, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty but you say you can see.”  So, we’re back to a larger definition of “seeing”. 

In his book, An Anthropologist on Mars, neurologist Oliver Sacks tells about Virgil, a man who had been blind from early childhood. When he was 50, Virgil underwent surgery and was given his sight. But having working eyes is not the same as seeing.

Virgil's first experiences with sight were confusing.  Just like the blind man healed in Mark, he was able to make out shapes, colors, and movements, but not form them into a coherent picture. Over time he learned to identify various objects and not bump into things but his habits, his worldview, his behaviors were still those of a blind man.  Seeing is a delicate operation.  It’s more than seeing, it’s learning to see. 

Dr. Sacks says sight is not enough; one must die as a blind person to be born again as a seeing person.

1 John 1:8 says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  Everyone has blind spots and, by definition we can’t see them.  It’s emotionally and intellectually satisfying to tell ourselves that we are not blind.  But we know that’s not true so we need some guidance.  One thing we must keep, belief in the goodness of God, which is a true matter of faith (unprovable and unfalsifiable – the evidence is ambiguous so it rises to the level of a true belief).  We also have the facts as we know them, which are the most reliable guides we have, but you learn something new every day.  Systems in between, like politics (or religion, for that matter) should be shaped by, not filters for, our facts and our faith.

You have to do what you think is right and say what you think is true, but since we know, for a fact, we will get to heaven and find out we’ve been very wrong about some things, it behooves us to keep a provisionally open mind and to be as gentle and humble along the way as we can be.