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.