Swarming Locusts and Vats Full of New Wine

 

Every week I send the lector the scripture passages, so they know what they are reading on Sunday. This week I loved Bob’s response: “Got it. Swarming locusts and vats full of new wine!” Doesn’t this describe life? Since the beginning, there have been the ups and downs of devastation and abundance that are out of human control. These things happen and indiscriminately affect those in their path.

To this, the prophet Joel speaks to the people, to us, repeating the words:

Do not be afraid. Be glad and rejoice. -Joel 2: 21

 

Do not be afraid – easier said than done –

In the wake of double hurricanes hitting the Floridian coast.

In the continued ravaging of war in Ukraine.

In the ever-escalating war in the Middle East.

In the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia.

In the stress of systems, institutions, and government.

In the increase of marginalized and displaced persons. …

Do not be afraid.

 

Be glad and rejoice – it is Thanksgiving Sunday-

For the beauty in the colours of autumn leaves.

For the nourishment of food and water.

For the blessing of fellowship and community.

For the comforts of home and shelter.

For the relative safety and peace across the country.

For the allowance to gather to pray and worship God.

Be glad and rejoice.

 

I have to admit there were a number of times this past week, when I realized I had tears in my eyes. I was overwhelmed by things from the realm of swarming locusts, that is things that brought worry, fear, sadness, hopelessness, no control; hurricanes, war, dirty politics, and the like. And then there were other moments where I was overwhelmed by things from the vats full of wine, that is something that brought life, wonder, joy, hope, love: rainbows, the Northern Lights, hearing miracle stories, the giving of gifts, the sharing of a meal.

 

The tears in my eyes, started last Sunday, from being overwhelmed by both the swarming locusts and the vats full of new wine, at the same time!

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land celebrated their Thanksgiving festival last Sunday and posted pictures on their Facebook page from their six congregations.

 

The churches each had a display of food items brought to be shared and distributed to those in need: rice, olive oil, and fresh produce. Children are seen at the front for a kid’s corner. There are readers and preachers.

The picture that touches me the most is a pastor, behind an altar which is decorated with bananas, grapes, tomatoes, eggplant, and cabbage. The pastor is presiding at communion and is holding a large loaf of bread. There is a seriousness about him, carrying the weight of a people who are scared, hungry, and in an uncontrollable situation, and, yet, the pastor’s face has a do not be afraid, be glad and rejoice depth to it.

The ELCJHL page says:

Despite the suffering of the last year and the current situation in the Holy Land, congregations came together this weekend to give thanks to God for all he provides. As the season of many important harvests begin we pray that the coming year will be one of abundance and peace.  -FB page ELCJHL Oct. 6, 2024

 

Coming together to give thanks to God and to pray for a year of abundance and peace. The ELCJHL shares this recipe for living the prophet Joel’s words do not be afraid, be glad and rejoice. Although not in the same extreme of circumstances, we understand the benefits of coming together to give thanks to God and to pray. We fear less, have more gladness, and feel like rejoicing (have gratitude) because we are engaged in faith community.

 

I often find that when I am overwhelmed phrases from hymns come to my mind; I might even catch myself singing them in a whisper. This week I had two phrases that I continually prayed, and eventually they melded together into a mantra like practice that satisfied my spirit’s need for prayers for the swarming locusts and praise for vats full of new wine; holding both kinds of prayers in tension, and embracing all together.

Today, I share this prayer with you as a living practice of the words of the prophet Joel, do not be afraid. Be glad and rejoice.

The two hymn lines are:

For the troubles and the suffering world and For the beauty of the earth.

Both tunes are very different and between them it takes a moment for the brain to remember the other tune. There is a rhythm that is created that overwhelms me more than the locusts and the wine. I enter into a place where abundance and peace seem quite possible no matter what is going on in the world. I pray you find the practice as overwhelming.

I will start. Please join in when you are ready. Note there is a pause to breathe and birth the next tune. We will close out the sermon praying.

 

For the troubles and the suffering world. Breathe. For the beauty of the earth. Breathe.

  …….repeat until…

...

Divorced from the Foundation of Creation

 

God. 

God is relationship.                                                                                                                

God in the act of breathing life created relationships.

God is in relationship with the void.

God is in relationship with water.

God is in relationship with earth.

God is in relationship with Tree and Plant.

God is in relationship with every wild animal, with every creeping thing.

God is in relationship with every animal of the field, with every bird of the air, with every living creature.

God is in relationship with man.

God is in relationship with woman.

 

Scriptures on this 20^th week after Pentecost have us considering relationship. The first and second chapters of Genesis present us with two different versions of the creation story. One is oriented from God’s perspective and God’s work through seven days, highlighting each day of creation in relationship to the day before. The story tells of water before grasses, grasses before animals, because one needs the other for its survival. The second story in chapter 2 is focused from the perspective of man where everything was created for man’s use: the garden, every fruit tree (save one), gold, precious stones, water of great rivers named by man, used by man, and ends with the creation of woman, man’s partner.

By the way I opened the sermon, you can tell which story I have a better relationship with. I understand relationship as crafted in the first story, where relationship starts with God, and God’s relationship with each creation. You have heard me preach many times on the theme of relationship. Relationship with God, with each other, and with creation --- for me this is the Law and the Gospel, as scripture speaks repeatedly, love God and love your neighbour. When humans get this relationship with God and each other in order, all of creation breathes easy. When humans fail in relationships creation groans. When humans get relation with God and each other in order, relationships will be whole. Creation will be whole, as in the beginning when God saw that it was good.

 

Now the Pharisees who approach Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, know the creation stories from Genesis, and the Law from Exodus and Deuteronomy with the commandments about relationship with God and commandments related to their relationships with people and animals. They come to Jesus to ask specifically about one kind of relationship, that of husband and wife, and push Jesus for his teaching on divorce.

The Pharisees who approach Jesus are cunning. They are not as interested in the answer, as they are in tripping Jesus up. This is evident when some of the Pharisees later approach Jesus asking to whom they should pay taxes, to Caesar or God? Here divorce was on their minds, for John the Baptist had recently been beheaded because he had angered Roman authorities by speaking out against the divorce of Philip and Herodias, so that Herodias could marry Herod. Tripping Jesus up would make for a bad relationship between Jesus and the Roman officials, the hope being that ‘the Jesus problem’ would disappear at the hands of angry Roman authorities.

Rev. Philip Ruge-Jones, Grace Lutheran, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, wrote commentary that suggests a deeper meaning, where the author of the Gospel compared the harm done by a husband divorcing his wife, as echoing the regular violence of Rome towards the people of the occupied area. Oh course, in this moment that went above the heads of those asking the question. Stuck in the mechanics of human transaction, their distaste for Jesus, they wait to hear Jesus’ words regarding the Law, a Law where divorce was initiated only by men. Wives, at this time, were at their husband’s mercy. Divorce meant being cast away. Everything was lost: the women was divorced of security, housing, children, family, future marriage, community, safety – for women a divorce was a living death sentence.

But Jesus, in the continuation of the story, is surrounded by people bringing their children to have Jesus lay hands on them. In Mark’s Gospel, being touched, the laying on of hands, is an act that brings healing and wholeness. Jesus welcomes the children – the lowest of the low--- and blesses them, affirming that to receive the kindom of God one must be as a child --- to them belongs the kindom. And in the action of welcoming and blessing the lowest human according to human standard, Jesus also welcomes the women who are cast out and all who are marginalized, those divorced by society.

Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees does not upset Roman authorities. The answer upsets the Pharisees. Jesus takes issue with the relationship the supposed righteous have with Law, as opposed to, the relationship they have with the actual people around them. Jesus takes issue with the relationship religious leaders have with the Law, as compared to their relationship with God.

 

The Gospel is not relegated to the past. Questions about divorce, in fact in some Church denominations, rules about divorce have affected many. But the conversation is bigger that spouses. Jesus’ in answering the question returns attention to creation, mentioning one part of the story brings to life the whole story. Jesus points back to God creating relationship.

When was the last time you did a relationship audit? When has the church, this congregation, done a relationship audit?

We are all divorced. We are all in relationships that are broken, separated, estranged, or tenuous.

We are divorced by never having started relationships.

We are divorced.

Divorced from the vulnerable and marginalized.

Divorced from community.

Divorced from neighbours.

Divorced from friends.

Divorced from family members.

Divorced from children.

Divorced from creatures (mammal, bird, fish, insect).

Divorced from Mother Earth.

Divorced from God.

Long ago, reads the letter of Hebrews, God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days God has spoken to us by a Son, whom God appointed heir of all things, through whom God also created the worlds. The Son is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.

God continually and repeatedly from the time of creation pursued and persisted in tending and furthering relationship. God became incarnate in Jesus, suffering and dying, not because God needed a sacrifice, but to show human beings to what extravagant lengths God will go to unconditionally love creation ---

And so, in relationship with God, as children of God, loved unconditionally--- to what extravagant lengths will you, will we, as a community of faith go to tend our relationships and move from divorce to partnership? Relationship is the foundation of God’s creation, woven into the very breath we breathe; shared breath, shared life. Today experiencing relationship in this place, hearing the Gospel, fed by God’s grace, we are new creations, in better relationship with God and each other than when we arrived. Let us go into the world whole, living relationally and in each footstep plant a furthering of God’s relational kindom. 

For the healing of the world. Amen.