the Lessons of Ocean for Pentecost Sunday

 

Today is a very exciting Sunday because… it is World Ocean Day.

The 2025 theme is Catalyzing Action for Our Ocean and Climate. Thousands of organizations and millions of people around the globe are actively participating in the movement. Ocean health is a daunting task, consider just one ailment, pollution by trillions of pieces of plastic. The United Nations, World Ocean Network has a theme for the entire year, Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us.

 

Today is a very exciting Sunday because… it is confirmation Sunday. We are celebrating Heidi Bells’ 50^th anniversary of confirmation and the affirmation of faith of 6 young people. It is a Sunday of wonder at God’s continued grace and a coming together around baptismal waters, reminding the whole community of the water of life that sustains us.

 

This mornings’ texts reveal that Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit changes everything for the followers of Jesus. With the coming of the Spirit, the people are given great power and great responsibility. Jesus tells the disciples:

If you love me you will keep my commandments;

The one who believes in me will do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these;

Jesus teaches them that the Spirit abides with you and will be in you.

2000 years later we have been adopted into God’s family through baptism and have heard Jesus’ words spoken to us. We have been given great power and great responsibility.

At confirmations we articulate Jesus’ words into promises. Confirmands promise, along with a few more,

To live among God’s faithful people; To proclaim the good news of God in Christ Jesus through word and deed;

And to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.

 

Ocean and Spirit have much in common. Both share great power. What we learn from Ocean can inform our understanding of the Holy Spirit and how it is that we can live as God’s faithful people, proclaiming good news, and striving for justice and peace.

 

Lesson 1 – OCEAN influences and regulates earth’s climate, acting like the planet’s heart. Ocean is responsible for circulating heat and moisture around the globe. It does this with the El Nino-Southeran Oscillation in the Pacific and Gulf Stream current in the Atlantic. With the Spirit we can act with heart influencing and regulating the climate around us. With the Spirit’s power we can be responsible: to bring calm into situations of stress, to be messengers of hope, to act as peacemakers, and to follow our heart and participate with actions whether that is doing climate advocacy, poverty reduction, or reconciliation work.

 

Lesson 2 – OCEAN is Earth’s greatest source of oxygen providing 70% of atmospheric oxygen. Ocean does this by providing a habitat for kelp, algae and tiny ocean phytoplankton that make oxygen. In addition, Ocean absorbs 1/3^rd of the carbon dioxide produced on Earth. Through the Season of Easter, the communion prayer included the words, You breathe and give us life. Our stories of faith tell us that God’s breath creates life: in the beginning breathing life into creation, the raising of the dead by Elijah and Jesus, and the spirit and peace of God breathed on the disciples in an upper room. With the Spirit we have the power and the responsibility to breathe life into the world. Jesus gave many examples of letting go rules and practices that did not bring life – he brought life by speaking to the marginalized, healing the forgotten, and accepting and welcoming people as they were. Jesus brought oxygen to those having a hard time breathing – those struggling to survive – by following the command to love your neighbour.

 

Lesson 3 – OCEAN is vast and deep. In the deepest waters, more than 500 metres (1640 ft) below the surface, 90% of creatures are bioluminescent, meaning they are light-emitting; they glow in the dark. When we baptize, we light a candle and say to the newly baptized: let your light so shine before others that they see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Through the Spirit we are given power and responsibility to shine in the dark; to illumine pathways to brighter places and kindle new ways of being. We walk by faith and in faith, emitting a glow of hope and promise.

 

Lesson 4 – OCEAN is moving!  Not only the constant circulation of water, but the actual floor of Ocean is in movement because of tectonic plates. The plates are separating creating underwater mountain ranges and islands above. In other places one plate slips under another creating deep crevices. In the transition zones there are continual new discoveries: deep sea mineral deposits, chemosynthetic life forms and whole ecosystems. The Spirit is moving! It came with the sound of the rush of a violent wind, filling the house. On Pentecost Sunday, on confirmation Sunday, we find ourselves in a transition zone. For the 7 weeks of Easter, we have heard stories of resurrection and life, and today are reminded that we are bearers of Jesus’ miraculous story. We are to get moving, carrying the good news into all the world. Confirmation is an important moment where prayers are specifically said and blessing given to each confirmand, that the Spirit will flow through you and move you to be an ongoing expression of God’s grace in the world.

 

Lesson 5 – OCEAN is one. We are one. Although Ocean is talked about with five names: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic – all are connected waters. Although Church is talked about as denominations: Lutheran, Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox, Pentecostal, and so on – all are connected by the Holy Spirit. We are one as Jesus is one with the Father and the Spirit abides with you and in you. We are one – one community – one big ocean. Christian community working together has power to change that which is not love and that which is not whole. It is our commission – our baptismal promise – our responsibility - to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.

 

And finally, Lesson 6 – OCEAN is mystery and unknown. Humans know little about Ocean having only mapped 10% of the world’s oceans. We know less about Ocean’s floor than we know about the surface of Mars. The number of species living in Ocean remains unknown – vast biodiversity and ecosystems is estimated to have 2.2 million species of living creatures. It is believed that 91% of ocean creatures are yet to be classified. Confirmands you have finished confirmation classes and are ready to affirm your faith. If you look around you, you see your faith family. Believe it or not most of us have few answers to questions about God. We spend our lifetime experiencing and learning more of God. There is so much of God and life that remains a mystery and unknown. What we do know is that regularly gathering in community strengthens our faith and fuels our hearts so that we can illumine pathways of grace, and peace, and love in a world that lives in the shadows, dust, and hurt.

 

On this your confirmation day, and every day -

By the power of the Holy Spirit, Live the lessons of Ocean:

With heart influence the climate around you, breath life into the world, illumine pathways to brighter places, keep moving as an expression of God’s grace, work together as one, and continue to discover and experience the Mystery of God ---

Do all this to fulfil the promises you make today before God

For the healing of Ocean and the healing of Mother Earth and all her people. To the glory of God. Amen.

Walls that Bear Witness to the Resurrection

 

Imagine that I have handed you a piece of paper and a box of crayons. I ask you to draw a picture of a house.

I expect that the drawing starts with a square or rectangle to be the body of the house and on top of that a triangle roof. Doors and window are placed in various combinations on the front of the house. Then what – do you add curtains, flowers boxes, a car… a hedge or a picket fence?

Children doing this exercise draw houses, trees, grass, family, clouds, sunshine… and NO fences. Geographypods.com explains the phenomena of ‘the house drawing:’ Children don’t draw fences because they do not care about fences or walls. Walls are an adult thing.

 

This morning’s scriptures talk about walls, boundaries, and barriers.

In Acts, Paul went outside the city wall through the gate by the river.

Revelation draws an image of a what we call heaven, describing it as a walled city with gates that will never be shut by day- and there will be no night there – the gate is always open.

“Sundays and Seasons” worship resource generated the following as a starter idea for scripture reflection: One both challenging and life-giving image in Revelation is the city wall. Within the wall people thrive and God’s divinity dwells. The wall, combined with open gates, allows for that. What might this say about us and our communities, made in the image of God? Boundaries are easily interpreted as exclusive rather than inclusive. However, boundaries are also necessary for healthy living and for growth both as individuals and as a community. Here we learn that even the New Jerusalem has boundaries. What might our welcoming and inclusive community’s boundaries be in order for us to continue loving as Jesus loved?

 

This morning’s scriptures are not just about physical walls with gates.

The stories in Acts are a continuation of the Gospel of Luke. In that gospel, Jesus crosses barriers to minister and love the marginalized, those on the boundaries, and those outside society – women, the poor, the sick, the unclean, the traitor, the foreigner. Luke’s resurrection accounts speak of barriers to sight and recognition of the risen Jesus. Here in Acts we witness stories where Paul encounters barriers in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Paul navigates barriers of vast distances into territories unknown – today’s trip venturing into present day Europe. Paul also faced hurtles of acquiring transportation. There are barriers of culture and religion – Greek cities with their shrines and gods, communities of Jewish diaspora, and a larger polyethnic society. Paul faces boundaries – divides of class, economics, and gender.

 

Paul meets a woman, Lydia, outside, the city wall by the river. For whatever reason, despite there being shrines, synagogues, and holy sites inside the walls – Paul anticipated that there were those, particularly women, who gathered outside the walls to pray.

Lydia worshiped God. Scripture says that God opened her heart to listen eagerly – as if a gate was opened inside her. Whatever walls or barriers Lydia might have had, they were opened or taken down, so that she clearly heard the good news. The good news made new walls – reconstructed Lydia’s very being and understanding – created in baptism through faith on the foundation of Jesus. The good news was embodied into her being – she lived in a new home. Lydia’s embodiment of the gospel, of Jesus, has her in return opening doors. She invites Paul and his companions to her physical home – offering hospitality and her resources to the early church.

 

Through history adults have built walls, barriers, and boundaries. Walls like the Berlin Wall were built to keep people in. Walls like the Great Wall of China were meant to keep people out. Both scripture texts speak about physical walls and each of us interprets who is on the inside and who is outside; deciding if the walls were built to keep people in or out. What is important to note is that both walls have open gates  - I interpret this to mean that there is freedom and possibility for people to come and go; there are options to be inside or outside and that where one is can change. There is room for people to be sheltered and protected, to feel safe; to explore, to be included and loved, no matter which side of the wall one is on. The open gate also symbolizes a pathway between division, a connection of different perspectives, a wholeness of diversity – and the necessity to remain linked together.

 

“Sundays and Seasons” asked, What might this say about us and our communities, made in the image of God?

There is an undeniable interconnectedness of the peoples and creatures of this world. We witness the effects of  climate change, pollution in the atmosphere, movement of viruses, and the relationship of tectonic plate activity, all working outside of geographical boundaries drawn on maps. We live in a time of globalization, where trade, economies, travel, and media cross boundaries many times the world over. And yet, despite interconnectedness and globalization, a practice of eliminating walls if you will, we live in an age of division:

with firewalls, physical walls, borders, warfronts, tariff barriers, immigration rules, trade regulations…

 

What might our welcoming and inclusive community’s boundaries be in order for us to continue loving as Jesus loved?

Church – Easter living people – are made in the image of God and our communities are called to reflect the risen Christ. In dying and rising, Jesus lived the interconnectedness of death and life, God’s love and connectedness to humans and creatures, the relationship between wholeness and brokenness; Pathways between fear and peace, marginalized and belonging, despair and hope, exclusion and inclusion. In a fractured world the Church is called to open the gate in humanmade walls – to breathe life by building and restoring connection.

 

Tim Marshall of BBC Free Thinking, said in 2019:

“65 countries wall or fence themselves and that’s 1/3 of all nations in the world. Of all walls built since WWII, the majority have been built in this century. We are now living in an era of wall building!”

Walls with few gates that are heavily monitored – we know of these walls: the Mexico-United States border wall, the West Bank Barrier, the Korean Demilitarized Zone to name just three. The walls disrupt the migration of land species, the flow of water, and the movement of people. The barriers are huge physically, heavy emotionally, and harmful spiritually.

It is an auspicious moment for us to consider walls and barriers, as we consider a literal building of walls, the boundaries of living units, a contained community space. We have the opportunity to open the gate to flexible spaces, the crossing of boundaries -the blurring of or the erasing of boundaries- between children and adult ministry, sacred and everyday space, coffee and worship, tenants and members. How does the building -the very walls of this place, this property- preach and share the Good News, telling of resurrection and the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what the church is about after all.

Just as in the Gospel of Luke and the sequel of Acts, the Church is about countercultural building, meaning building community   that is in stark contrast, to empire wall building. Whether the walls are physical, emotion, or spiritual.

 

Lydia creates home. --- Going outside the wall to pray. Having an open heart. Letting down barriers to hear the Gospel. Giving herself to God. Belonging through baptism. Walls, barriers, and boundaries become a home where she ministers, providing hospitality and resources, an interconnectedness for and with others to the glory of God. In the name of Jesus Christ.

May our walls have open gates and bear witness to the resurrection – may this property embody home for all, in all, and with all – to the glory of God. Amen.

Radical Love Is Living Easter

 

RADICAL LOVE Is Living Easter.

 

Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston Marathon with a bib number. That was in 1968, when women were not allowed to run the race.  Inadvertently her name was overlooked as she registered with the Syracuse University men’s team with whom she trained.

 

Katherine’s memoire explains that in the early days, everything was unknown territory.  Track and field events let women run up to 800 metres. The conventional wisdom was that women’s bodies simply could not endure more, and what woman would want to run more anyway.  Kathrine did.  She loved running. As Kathrine trained for unprescribed distances - always with another runner- she continually ran in fear, that, all of a sudden, her body would stop, not being able to take another step. Experts at the time said that running long distances would make women’s baby making parts fall out.  Imagine that.

Kathrine was running in unknown territory…she was outside the box, in a wilderness, where there was no scientific research, and no studies or books to consult.

 

The year she ran Boston, she ran with her coach and two male teammates. The other runners were skeptical until they saw that she had trained and that this wasn’t a publicity stunt. The runners encouraged, supported, and protected her from the crowd and the press. Her teammates pushed aside the race organizer who tried to remove her from the course. Fellow runners showed respect and invited her to run with them again. Among the runners in the race there was love one for another.

 

Following the race, running clubs and university track teams started to host longer races for women. Clubs held their events at schools and in small town America, by doing so, they grew small town spirit and curiosity. People began running just to try it---- running was a sport that didn’t cost a lot of money (there were no fancy shoes in those days). Businesses provided items free of charge, householders set up water stations, school children handed out cookies. There were plenty of volunteers, spectators, runners, and mentors. The running movement grew quickly.

 

By 1972 women could officially run the Boston marathon. This didn’t mean that in a twinkling of an eye everyone was on board or that attitudes changed instantly.  It took another 12 years for those passionate about running to convince society and the powers that be, that it was safe for the women’s marathon to be added to the Olympics. That was in 1984.

A seismic shift has happened since 1972 to today. That first official race had a handful of women runners. Today participants in half-marathons across the country are over 50% women and full marathon numbers have grown too.

 

I tell this story because it reflects the feelings and nature of Peter’s story from the book of Acts.

Peter is in unknown territory!!

When Peter goes to Cornelius’ house – a house of a non-Hebrew- he is setting aside conventional wisdom, turning over cultural beliefs, and disobeying religious laws that he has practiced his entire life. Following Jesus is changing everything and there is no how-to manual for guidance.

Peter is confronted by plenty of nay-sayers. There was lots of debate and arguing about how Jewish one needed to be before one could be a Jesus’ follower. There were people, like Saul the pharisee, who persecuted Jesus’ followers – taking them off the course so to speak. Stoning them and killing their passion to share the Good News.

In the early days of the Jesus’ movement those who were committed were very committed.  They were passionate in sharing the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and in loving one another. And in doing so, their numbers quickly grew. Every other day it seemed, there were a thousand more in the community.

 

It has been said that: The Bible is the story of human beings figuring out those whom God has already included.

Would you like me to repeat that? The Bible is the story of human beings figuring out those whom God has already included. The day that Peter went to Cornelius’ house he realized that God had already included the gentile Cornelius. God loved Cornelius and filled Cornelius and his household with the Holy Spirit, just like Peter and the disciples had received at Pentecost. Completely mindboggling to Peter a first century Jew.

 

Radical love is living Easter. We learn from the stories of the Apostles and people of the early church that being a follower of Jesus was costly. For Peter and his friends, it meant being pushed out of the Synagogue, away from friends and family who didn’t change, who continued to stick by the law that had served them so well. They lost their childhood faith, to accept a new interpretation of the faith they had held so dear. In the end, many lost their lives because they passionately shared the Easter story and dared to love one another.

Radical love.  It costs something. It means the letting go of attitudes and allowing for change in perception. Radical love is a seismic shift that goes into unknown territory --- a place where there is fear and apprehension. To love radically is to courageously move outside known boundaries with curiosity, discipline, and passion. Radical love is embracing those we have not yet figured out that God already has. When was the last time you did this, or we as a church did this, to share the Good News and to show love for another beyond what we presently know and practice?

 

Growth of the running industry and the increase in running clubs has been extraordinary over the past decade. As quick -- is the decline of the mainline church. I would hazard a guess that on a Sunday morning there are more runners than church goers.

Is that because runners and running groups possess more passion? Demonstrate a more obvious sense of community – love for one another? I wonder, has the church’s passion fizzled out? Have we put ourselves in comfortable pews rather than walking, or running, the race set before us?

Perhaps church no longer expects enough? Dedicated runners are committed despite the weather or the terrain. Runners are disciplined. There is an expectation that it is going to hurt. There is potential for injury, one loses their pride and ego- one gets over themselves and gains freedom. There is accomplishment and an exhilarating feeling for a race well run. There is benevolence in giving encouragement and advice when asked, a generosity of story telling, and an interest in hearing about other’s running and race experiences…

When was it that you heard the church talked about in this way?

As people of God, we are in unknown territory.  Those things for which society once looked to the church, are now being found in other places… like Sunday morning running groups.

 

This morning John’s Gospel pulls us back to reflect on Jesus’ last conversation with the disciples. We hear a segment that gets repeated many times throughout the Last Supper: love one another. It started by Jesus washing the disciples’ feet as an example. It was a radical action because it broke protocol, tradition was pushed aside, and the disciples were made uncomfortable. Their perceptions shifted.

 

We stand as a woman at the starting line of that 1968 Boston Marathon.

We step over the threshold into a house considered unclean and eat with the residents.

Facing uncharted territory, looking out at the unknown, God says to us three times: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you [have] love [for] one another."

It Is Spring ...

 

 

It was winter … and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.

It was winter, is akin to starting a story, “It was a dark and stormy night.” The words set the mood for what is to follow.

This is the 4^th episode in the Gospel of John that places such a conversation during a Jewish festival. Here it is Hanukkah (the Festival of Dedication). It is important to note that the four conversations all discuss Jesus’ identity. For the hearer the texts link Jewish festivals and Jesus’ identity. For starters Jesus is a practicing Jew who participates in the religious and cultural festivals of his time. This morning’s text is the only incident that not only mentions a festival, it also mentions the season of the year. A mood is being set for the hearer.

 

Put yourself in this scene from John’s Gospel. … It was winter … for us, that conjures up cold and wind and snow, or heavy rain, sleet, ice. It means layers of clothing and heavier footwear.

It was winter… In this created mood, we can imagine Jesus and the disciples under the shelter of the portico, walking tightly together, wisps of breath crystalizing around them. Their cloaks pulled firmly around their collars; hands stuffed under the fabric. They are quickly getting to where they need to go, when they are delayed.  Others in the Temple have come once again, like an unrelenting wind, to demand of Jesus an answer if he is the Messiah. Maybe they will get a quick answer. Jesus does not give the yes or no they want. Rather Jesus’ response sounds like ice pelleting the face, sharp, pointed, I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe… It sounds curt and harsh … you do not belong, bone chilling.

To the religious authorities Jesus’ words are blasphemous, for he had denoted himself in oneness with God.

From festival to festival, from miracle to miracle, from teaching to teaching, from one ‘I am’ statement to the next a storm is brewing. The stormfront expands throughout the Gospel of John escalating from a Nor’easter to a White Juan storm event. The storm’s climax is at Golgotha where Jesus is crucified for claiming to be the Son of God.

 

It would be different if it was summer … and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.

Different yet again if the text said, it was autumn … and Jesus was walking in the temple. The scene would be more relaxed and open. There would be a sense of repose and leisure. Questions would sound inquisitive and conversation warm and inviting.

 

At that time the festival of Easter was taking place. It is spring … and we hear that Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. We hear these words as the season of Easter continues, as the natural world is greening, flowers are blooming, birds are nesting, and pollinators are out and about. Jesus’ mention of sheep has us consider green pastures, dandelions and daisies, running water, warm sunshine, blackflies and butterflies. Glorious!

My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.

In the midst of Easter, it is spring and a time of opening windows and doors, shedding cloaks and heavy shoes, a lifting of spirits, venturing outside, all around us things are being made new. It is a fertile time in which to hear the Gospel and let it warm our hearts and beings; to believe or at least entertain the thought of belief.

 

Have you ever considered how the season of the year effects how we receive or experience the hearing of the Gospel? We journey through Lent in the depths of winter – considering themes of sin and repentance. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday can be accompanied by darkness and cloudy skies, harsh wind, and either snowbanks or mud. During the seven weeks of the Easter Season, spring arrives, and creation wakes from its winter slumber. Creation reflects the mood of the liturgical church year – Easter is greeted with actual earthly illustrations of resurrection. We hear resurrection appearances of Christ as we are experiencing the physical greening of creation accompanied by the singing of birds.

 

Now imagine living in the Southern hemisphere and celebrating Easter in autumn rather than spring, or in equatorial regions where Lent, Good Friday, Easter is accompanied by consistent warmth and sunshine – no change.

 

When pastoring in New Denmark, NB, the closest Lutheran church was in New Sweden, ME. The congregations did cross-border events. I recall being at an event in New Sweden the week after Canadian Thanksgiving. The women in New Sweden had the sanctuary decorated with coloured leaves, straw, pumpkins, squash, and corn – harvest bounty was everywhere. I asked the women if they had decorated like that because we were coming. I was told the congregation moved the in-church celebration of harvest (American thanksgiving) to the same date as Canada in Oct. because by the end of Nov. northern Maine is frozen and under snow. All harvest items have been put up for the winter. The people were most thankful for the abundance of harvest, at the time of harvest! Their experience of giving thanks to God went hand in hand with the natural environment.

 

At that time the weeks of Easter were taking place in Halifax. It is spring … and Jesus having been resurrected is now Christ living in their hearts through faith.

I wonder if now, is the opportune time to share the Good News? To mirror the natural world by sharing Easter’s story, Jesus’ resurrection. I wonder if people receive and experience the story of resurrection easier, are more open and relaxed to the thought, when the same is witnessed simultaneously in creation?

 

It is spring … on Friday morning newly elected Pope Leo XIV preached, We are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Christ. This is how the sermon began. We are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Christ. Although speaking to his colleagues the words are most certainly true for all who hear Jesus’ voice and have choose to follow.

Pope Leo’s words included a warning, but not winter words, in a harsh icy tone, but rather a reflection on the importance of spring and resurrection words. He said that: a lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society. Warm resurrection words bring life to faith, grow meaning, create mercy, plant dignity, and heal wounds.

 

At that time the weeks of Easter were taking place in Halifax. It is spring … and Jesus having been resurrected is now Christ living in their hearts through faith. A people  - we - are living out being Easter people, called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Christ. Springing to life through sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, we participate in the greening of hearts and souls throughout the earth.

 Glory be! Amen.

Living Resurrection, Expect Scarring

 

Let me be clear! Revelation is a letter written to the churches of Asia Minor. Just as Paul wrote to early Christian communities, so too did John. The letter is written in a time of Christian persecution at the hand of the Empire of Rome. The letter is subversive – meaning it challenges and goes against the Empire. It is encrypted – meaning it is written in code with plenty of symbols. It is a letter to encourage the church at a time of persecution to remain faithful and to share the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection through action.

Let me be clear, while it is apocalyptic and prophetic, it is not directly written about or to us. In times of trial and persecution apocalyptic literature resonates with the hearer because it reflects lived reality. The prophetic in Revelation is the bookend to creation as told in Genesis. Although the world is currently broken, there will be a time of completion of the covenant promises heard throughout the scriptures; God’s vision will come to be in its fullness.

 

A colleague who writes under the pseudonym ‘The Sour Theologian’ says:

Easter is completely political.

The crucifixion was a very clear political statement by Rome to anyone who might stand up to it, or call into question its power and authority.

Declaring resurrection of someone who was executed in this way is also a very clear political statement that Rome, or any other wannabe empire, does not have the final say.

Christians are not called to follow empire.

Christians are called to follow the crucified and risen one.

Into the political realm.

Because Easter is completely political.

 

On this second Sunday of Easter are you prepared to follow Jesus? On the eve of election day, are you prepared to take Easter with you when you vote?

The Empire crucified Jesus, hoping to bring an end to his work and message, and to thwart and dissipate his followers. The Empire was not about to welcome an alternative kind of rule, a collaboration of authority, or a sharing of power. The Empire was not about to lift the average out of poverty, the sick into wholeness, or the slave into freedom. The Empire was not about to be tolerant of religion, of the customs of the places they occupied, or of groups they deemed anti-establishment. The Empire did not care one iota about the common people or their welfare. The Empire decided who was a citizen and did not take responsibility for anyone else. The Empire daily increased it borders, occupying lands, exploiting and consuming resources. The Empire had an economic system that kept the Empire rich and its populace hungry, overworked, and precariously housed.

 

Jesus was about none of these things. In his teachings, parables, miracles, actions, conversations, and exchanges -repeatedly and continually- an anti-Empire message was presented.

In Revelation, John draws attention to the scars of Empire in his description of Jesus’ coming – the One to come is pierced. This is no accident. This is Good News, for the One who was killed has been resurrected by a power greater than the Empire. The scars remain as a constant reminder of the brutality of Empire juxtaposed to life-giving community in Christ.

 

John’s letter to the seven churches, is a letter addressed to the church plural. The use of a series of plural pronouns speaks to the understanding of the universal and communal nature of God’s church. From the beginning, John’s letter emphasizes community, and that resurrection is a communal affair. Jesus Christ, John writes, made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God.

Let me be clear! As one reads through Revelation, if not distracted by the encryption symbols lost to us, hearers hear the message that God does not act alone. Resurrection is a communal affair. The introductory words of the letter of Revelation are warning hearers that Christ’s resurrection, resurrection from death at the hand of Empire, is Good News but --- communities can expect scars, even loss of life. Why is it that Revelation scares a lot of readers and hearers? Because the letter pointedly tells the church what living resurrection means.

Revelation is filled with vivid images of blood and fire, the wielding of power, imprisonment and torture, and so on. The Empire is described with a lack of conscious and plenty of violence. The Empire is beyond itself, frantic in chaos, trying to control the springing up of resurrection. Despite the Empire’s fierce tactics to stop it the seven churches are practicing, to greater-and-lesser degrees, following the example of Jesus. John’s letter is to commend the faithful and encourage where faith is weak.

 

This making us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God is about living resurrection. In this letter living resurrection is standing in opposition to Empire. Resurrection is faith community standing up to Empire demanding justice – and yes, Revelation is scary because Easter is scary, in living Easter you will most assuredly acquire scars.

 

 One of my seminary professors, who was an activist to his core, often remarked that the ‘church is not being the church unless it is being persecuted.’ What he meant by this was the church community was failing to follow Jesus and Jesus’ call to address the Empire because the Empire took no notice. Jesus was killed by the Empire because the Empire noticed Jesus. Jesus was under their skin and the community around Jesus was growing in hope, in health, in community mindedness, and was empowered to work for and seek justice. The Empire noticed. Following the resurrection, and the proclamation that ‘Jesus is alive!,’ as thousands of believers were baptized, as many lived in community, as the hungry were fed, as the sick were healed, as widows/orphans/and others were cared for, and slaves were set free - the Empire noticed. The Empire took offense and responded by ferociously persecuting Jesus’ followers.

 

Christians are not called to follow empire. Christians are called to follow the crucified and risen one.

Into the political realm. Because Easter is completely political.

If this statement doesn’t sit well with you, Revelation will not sit well with you either. And that is okay –

There is still time – but as John reminds us, the time is near – to turn from Empire and follow the crucified and risen one. Into the political realm.

Revelation is a letter written by John in love for the church in Asia Minor. It is written with love and encouragement for a community in peril. It is written from the depth of belief in Jesus Christ and Christ’s resurrection and that resurrection is a community affair. It is written as words to stoke fire and passion that opposes Empire in all its forms and makes people uncomfortable, scared even, until accepting the call to be a kingdom, priests serving – living resurrection with the expectation of scarring.

 

 

New Testament Professor Anna Bowden at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary sums up the Revelation passage for this morning: “This short passage from Revelation, as it turns out, is packed with the hope of Easter. It reminds God’s faithful that God is in control and that God does not act alone. It beckons us to pay attention and to look for the evil ways of empire in our own imperial context. And it encourages us to serve those who experience violence at the hands of power, rather than the powerful themselves. This is good news indeed!”

The Three Days: Repose, Despair, Respair ( Part 3)

  

The Three Days are ancient in Christian observation. For centuries the rituals and liturgies have cradled believers, opening safe space to relive the emotion fraught passion of Jesus and embrace the counter-cultural audacious Gospel. Immersion in this powerful series of events situates the faithful to be fully present in the world, and amid fear break-open fulfilment of God’s promises. Through these Three Days each sermon reflects on one of three responsive approaches garnered from the Gospel to navigate and care for the world as we know it. The responsive approaches are: repose, despair, and respair. 

 

Respair: A state of fresh hope; a recovery from despair

 

That’s the conclusion of the sentence from Good Friday. Respair.

Most certainly respair. The women have solemnly walked to the tomb, wrapped in cloaks coated with despair. As they reach the grave, it is perplexingly open. Stunned, shoulder-to-shoulder they squish together to poke their heads into the cavern. The musty damp air pulls on them, seeps into their cloaks. And then in an instant -as their eyes adjusted to the dimness, a growing awareness solidified in them: Jesus was not among the dead – the stale air surrounding them was sucked into the void taking with it the despair that had clung to their cloaks.

Resurrection dawns. Patient hope blossoms again, only it is not so patient. This resurrection respair ushers them out into God’s garden, God’s world. If there was ever a time to yell OMG, Oh my God, this is it!

Unbounded, with hope germinating in each step, they rush to tell the disciples and other followers.

Jesus is alive.

 

A week ago, I came across a meme that read: “Both faith and fear demand you to believe in something you cannot see. You choose.”

Both faith and fear demand you to believe in something you cannot see.

 

The women chose faith, faith flourishing in respair. The disciples – still smelling of despair - chose fear. We hear Luke describe the scene as the apostles presuming the women were telling an idle tale, chose not to believe them.

Except for Peter – there was something about the patient hope of the women that wears on Peter, their enthusiasm disturbs his despair, sews something deeper in him. The women’s respair seems to be mending his hurt. He is drawn to go investigate. Jesus is alive!

 

And I wonder  -  the choice of faith or fear? The women were present at the cross side-by-side, patient hope bearing the suffering of Jesus to the very depths of despair, to death and from there to resurrection, to respair, to life.

And Peter, Peter too went with Jesus at a distance to the courtyard, denying Jesus he too sat in the depths of despair. Was it this experience of despair – nudged by the women’s story-  that was the turning point from fear to faith?  With fear and trepidation, and the respair of the women, Peter mends, heals enough to see the bigness of it all. Jesus is alive!

Perhaps the other disciples and followers fled, fled that night in the garden and avoided the plunge into the despairing events that ended in death, and thus, to choose faith was momentarily unavailable for they had avoided despair.

Both faith and fear demand us to believe in something we cannot see.

Jesus performed signs and wonders. Jesus turned water to wine, multiplied loaves and fish, cast our demons, cured the lame, raised the dead. All while preaching a counter-cultural audacious Gospel and the immediate coming of God’s kindom.

On that morning at the empty tomb, whelmed with respair, the women embark into resurrection. Everything in their being changed.

 

It is impossible to explain the internal shift, how the hearing of the words Why do you look for the living among the dead? blew despair from their shoulders and filled their spirits with conviction of resurrection. Jesus is alive!

Even more astonishing was faith that in Jesus’ resurrection God’s kindom came!

And yet, the world remained much the same: the Roman Empire still occupied Jerusalem and Judea, sedition still brought death, poverty was rampant, the sick were still sick, the hungry were hungry, justice was for some and not others.

 

The counter-cultural audacious Gospel preached by Jesus and the immediate coming of God’s kindom, blossomed in the respair of the women. Respair was a new hope, a faith of full resurrection, although living in a reality of continued shadow and suffering; being at peace in the complexity of that. A peace where the kindom was present and yet not fully here. Respair was living resurrection as a work in progress.

 

Consider resurrection moments, those times when respair of generations has ushered into the world change, a movement from fear to faith. Glorious, Alleluia moments … yet still resurrection in progress because the change is in the spirit of those who have been in repose, sat in the depths of despair, and been whelmed by respair --- resurrection blossoms --- and the world is released from bondage, healed in part by the respair of the faithful.

That resurrection, Alleluia moment is healing but not the end of the story-

The glorious alleluia of Emancipation was not an end to slavery.

Black Lives Matter was not an end to racism.

Legislating women’s right to vote was not an end to sexism.

Flying Pride and inclusion flags was not an end to homophobia or transphobia.

#MeToo was not the end to misogyny.

World Inter-faith Harmony Week was not the end to antisemitism, Islamophobia, or anti-Christian sentiment.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was not an end to the work of Treaty negotiation and reconciliation.

Brokered ceasefires are not the end to war.

Social assistance is not the end of poverty.

Vaccination and medical advances are not the end of illness or death.

Green energy and recycling are not the end of addressing climate crisis.  

 

Although not yet complete, all are glorious alleluia resurrection moments, sprouting from the ashes of despair, blossoming in respair—humans choosing faith over fear. Resurrection comes in the work towards lasting and abundant justice, the fulfilment of God’s kindom and God’s promises, life and life abundant.

 

Faith and fear demand us to believe in something we cannot see. Resurrection, respair, is choosing faith for the healing of the whole world. 

The Three Days: Repose, Despair, Respair (Part 2)

 

The Three Days are ancient in Christian observation. For centuries the rituals and liturgies have cradled believers, opening safe space to relive the emotion fraught passion of Jesus and embrace the counter-cultural audacious Gospel. Immersion in this powerful series of events situates the faithful to be fully present in the world, and amid fear break-open fulfilment of God’s promises. Through these Three Days each sermon reflects on one of three responsive approaches garnered from the Gospel to navigate and care for the world as we know it. The responsive approaches are: repose, despair, and respair. 

 

Despair: A state of utter loss of hope or confidence

 

“Blessing,” station nine of the Stations of the Cross that is currently in the church hall, shows a hand in the pose of blessing. In the upper background, lined side-by-side across the width of the poster are women. The poster says that a great number of people followed him and among them were women.

 

As the Gospel continues, the women are lined side-by-side observing the despairing event of Jesus’ death. Or rather, the women are in repose – patient hope bearing Jesus’ suffering; this shoulder-to-shoulder presence is their responsive action of having love for Jesus and for one another. Sorrow, grief, and patient hope are companion to Jesus’ call of despair, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me.”

The Doctrine of Despair is described as losing one’s belief in God’s capacity to forgive. Medieval tradition called this the ‘sin against the Holy Spirit.’ Despair has been named as the sin against hope. At that moment as the sky turned as night, Jesus’ last breath of air is heavy with despair.  

 

The women present – the world- ache with the weight of Jesus’ sorrow and despair.

 

And yet, there is electricity in the air, between the women shoulder-to-shoulder.

For a moment their patient hope is overwhelmed by sorrow and despair.

 

Psychologist Gretchen Schmelzer describes the moment: Despair is a turning point. In a state of despair you see the bigness of it all – and because of that you are freed from a world of simplistic duality – of there being an easy answer, of it being this-or-that. Despair helps you hold the complexity, which is the only real hope of healing. 

 

In the depths of despair, despair has a seed of redemptive nature. Embraced despair has the miraculous power to set one free – to set humanity, the world, free.

In a few minutes we participate in the Solemn Reproaches, an ancient liturgical pattern that articulates an intentional decent into despair, naming human rebellion along side God’s continued acts of faithfulness.

 

Author Kathleen Norris describes despair, despair is when our lives are on the line and unwelcome changes obliterate our sense of God’s presence. In this despair, the women at the cross, us sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, are once again graced with the redemptive nature of despair, in bearing witness to the bigness of it all we are freed from a world of simplistic duality and of easy answers. We are gifted with a power to embrace and hold complexity – in Jesus’ last breath of despair- the world, humanity was given the only real hope of healing.

 

As we sit shoulder-to-shoulder at the foot of the cross, we welcome despair … that turning point … from death…… to …..

THE THREE DAYS: REPOSE, DESPAIR, RESPAIR (Part 1)

 

The Three Days are ancient in Christian observation. For centuries the rituals and liturgies have cradled believers, opening safe space to relive the emotion fraught passion of Jesus and embrace the counter-cultural audacious Gospel. Immersion in this powerful series of events situates the faithful to be fully present in the world, and amid fear break-open fulfilment of God’s promises. Through these Three Days each sermon reflects on one of three responsive approaches garnered from the Gospel to navigate and care for the world as we know it. The responsive approaches are: repose, despair, and respair. 

 

MAUNDY THURSDAY - REPOSE

 

Repose: A state of resting after exertion or strain.

 

When I was a young adult, I vividly remember encountering a poster with a drawing of the Last Supper. The figures in the sketch were gathered around low tables, facing each other either sitting or partially reclining on cushions. They were laughing and talking. There were various emotions shown on the faces around the food-filled tables. It was obvious it was the Last Supper, prominent were a chalice shaped cup and a loaf of bread by Jesus. With Jesus there were 12 other men. The drawing included a couple of women too, and a child, and a dog. I remember the scene because I was captivated by the joy on the faces of those gathered and the liveliness of the conversations. At the same time the artist captured underlying heavier feelings and the grave importance of this supper. The gathered friends belonged around the table and were relaxed in each other’s presence….and …there was a dog. The depiction on the poster captures for me the idea of repose.

 

Regardless of which Gospel we read, the Last Supper – this celebration of Passover for Jesus and friends – happens in an intimate cocooned setting that is juxtaposed to heightened anxiety and turmoil on the streets of Jerusalem. Honouring tradition Jesus and followers gather for a sacred meal and settle into repose. Not only have disciples been busy acquiring a room and making preparation, but there has been travel to Jerusalem, a dramatic entrance into the city, and Jesus has been pointedly focused on provoking God’s justice aggravating authorities in the process. Needed on this night was a moment of repose. The Passover gathering relaxed into familiar words and designated foods, recalled a great series of miracles, celebrated the emancipation from Egyptian slavery and the making of a people, and reflected on the theme of divine redemption.

 

This moment of repose happened at a critical time. The gathered community were reminded who they were, what they were about, how they were to go about living, and why all of it mattered. Here repose is a gift of belonging, encouragement, trust, and faith-building. Knowing what lies ahead for this group, for Jesus, this moment of repose is important because it fills those gathered with stamina and courage to face soon-to-be inner circle betrayal, hostile authorities, anxious crowds, and despairing events.

 

Around the table, with friends, Jesus expands the Passover celebration adding a washing of their feet, not for the foot-washing itself, but as an act that demonstrates the command to ‘love one another.’ This responsive action grows from a place of repose.

 

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote: The longer I live, the more I feel that true repose consists in ‘renouncing’ one’s own self, by which I mean making up one’s mind to admit that there is no importance whatever in being ‘happy’ or ‘unhappy’ in the usual meaning of the words. Apt words for reflection on this night. I reflect on the image of the Last Supper from the poster I told you about. There were those who had their heads thrown back in laughter and those with more serious expressions. I have never thought that the disciples gathered with the forethought of being happy or unhappy by participating in the supper. When I come to church, I don’t consider first whether it will make me happy or unhappy. I will admit that in everyday life, there are times and situations, where I do pre-decide if an activity will make me happy, and sometimes I avoid that which I deem will make me unhappy. De Chardin points out that I miss the point. Jesus’ point. Provoking God’s justice. Belonging in a history of God’s redemption. Washing feet. All of this is what matters. The approach to life amid troubles and suffering, is not happiness or unhappiness, it is love one for another. It is repose – resting from strain and exertion – the exertion of my own will, the strain of ego, the striving to succeed, the effort of judging, the strain of perfection or production – and stepping away, turning around, falling into repose within community means inner change so the responsive action is none-other than labours of love.

 

Good Friday’s service begins with a reading from Isaiah, one of four Servant Poems. This one titled, The Suffering Servant. Renowned author Kathleen Norris writes that the prophet Isaiah through the Suffering Servant poem models how God works, writing that the Suffering Servant is describing anyone of God’s faithful who willingly and humbly takes on suffering as the cost of giving witness. She articulates that the Suffering Servant does their work not in arrogant assertion of power but through a patient hope.

Patient hope. We don’t get to such a responsive action without repose.

Norris talks about childbirth and chemotherapy, as examples of patient hope, a suffering or pain that bear evidence that the pain or suffering are worth the struggle; that the joy to come will be greater than the struggle.

This is the question that sits with diners at the Last Supper. Is God’s kindom, are God’s promises, are the words of the prophets, is the work of the Messiah, is bringing God’s justice, … is the struggle to have all this fulfilled worth it? Will the joy to come be greater than the struggle?

 

Tonight, at this opportune time, we have gathered in community seeking reprieve, purpose, belonging, and encouragement. We repose in familiar words and experience rituals that remind us: who we are, what we are about, how we are to go about living, and why all of it matters.

 

Tonight, we set aside our wills and egos, our judgements and expectations, our success and production—we partake in repose that we might be filled with patient hope to bear the suffering of the fulfilment of God’s promises, the struggle of bearing witness to a counter-cultural audacious Gospel, and the responsive action of having love one for another.