Guaranteed revitalization and permanent waves of grace

Good morning, St. Andrew's, Emporia.

We’ve come to the great curtain call – the glorious encore of the drama we began together this week.  Sin and violence and death do not have the final word in the end.... neither over Jesus, nor over us.  This morning we proclaim that Christ is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!

[open with humorous story of the “hare spray”]

Amusing? Sure.  And also instructive.  We’ll come back to this tale shortly.

Welcome to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.  How wonderful to have you with us this morning.  Who is here this morning?

[welcome newcomers with my own story of coming back to ‘church’ on an Easter morning thirteen years ago]

In the humorous tale of the “hare spray”, we hear about someone going off track, hurting, and in pain and fear.  We hear about others discerning his situation and offering hope… in faith and love offering him benefit of a gift of living words that they were given… and watching in joy as life returns where once only death was seen.

Not long after his resurrection, the disciples have come to see Jesus and he gives them ‘the great commission’ to go make disciples of every one, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit  (Matthew 28:16-19).

And, they did!  The disciples made it their life work to share the good news of the resurrection and all that it meant to people’s lives individually and collectively as well as to baptize believers into the body of Christ – cleansing them from sin and celebrating the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  …and here we are this morning, proof of Christ’s legacy through the faithful labor of those who have gone before us, with God’s help.

What we will be part of today – if we see with our hearts – celebrating the gift of new life through baptism of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit in the word we read is guaranteed to revitalize and ensure a permanent promise of salvation to those who believe.

We are about to continue the great story – opening another page in the family album - sharing the good news and inviting someone new into the family of God in Christ’s name, as we baptize young Hudson LeGrande Kline in the name of the blessed Trinity.

As some of you know, originally this sacramental ritual act was done after a period of very intentional preparation in which the candidates for baptism had spent much time in conversation and education with other believers so that they understood what they were receiving, becoming part of, and had responsibility to share.

Because Hudson is too young to fully understand the implications of this initiation and willfully take upon himself the promises and commitments of membership in Christ’s church, his parents are entering this covenant on his behalf, and they will invite godparents to also share in the responsibilities of educating him in the Christian faith and life.

We, too, are participating in this sacramental initiation.  We who witness the vows being taken are promising to support the Kline’s in their life in Christ.

And we will, with them, renew our own baptismal promises – reminding ourselves and each other of the covenant we’ve entered and our commitments therein.

We’re each invited to evaluate ourselves in the resurrected light of Christ this morning as we say again what we have committed to do in Christ’s name.  Beyond agreeing that we believe certain creedal statements, we’re renewing our promises to:

Continue teaching and educating, through words and actions, about the good news of God in Christ.

Continue in prayerful and celebratory fellowship with each other

Resist evil and strive for justice and peace.

Respect the dignity of every human being and seek to serve Christ in all people, loving our neighbors at least as much as we love ourselves.

And, when we fall short of these things – when we sin – to turn ourselves around (repent) and return to centering our motives and aspirations in Jesus Christ.

Then, in my prayer after the baptism, to help us fulfill these promises, you will hear me ask God, through the Holy Spirit, to give us four things:

1.  courage and will to persevere 

2. inquiring and discerning hearts

3. spirit to know and to love God

4. joy and wonder in all God’s works

Courage and will to persevere… Isn’t this a constant call in through the stories in the scriptures?  Certainly, we’ve heard it again in this morning’s lesson from Isaiah 65:17-25.  Likely written after the Israelites have returned from exile, but while many are still discouraged because of slow progress in the promised land, the prophet’s words are meant to be encouraging.  God promises new life and prosperity in which past trouble will be forgotten, labor will not be in vain, and heaven and earth will again be in accord according to God’s great desire for us.  We can probably each think of someone right now who needs words of encouragement to bolster their will to persevere.  We are called to pull over when we notice someone in that condition and pull out our ‘hare spray’ and read the living words of promise to them.

Inquiring and discerning hearts… Paul and Peter are both exemplars of godly inquiry and heart-filled discernment.  They each carefully considered what they had seen and experienced and then discerned that they must change their ways and encourage others to also open their eyes to see a new reality – a new kingdom come through Jesus Christ through which we are all radically free to be ourselves while also enjoying loving and charitable fellowship with each other in his name.  In this morning’s lesson from Acts 10:34-43, we here Peter proclaiming good news across a cultural / tribal boundary to a non-Jew / Roman centurion and his family.  Peter has discerned that non-Jews didn’t need to convert and follow Jewish laws and customs in order to participate in the new kingdom come.  He is now convinced that since there is only one God, that God must be God of ALL people.  As Peter has carefully examined the evidence and has discerned to overcome his own prejudices in order to invite everyone to share the same meal, we too are called to search our hearts and discern what keeps us from connecting with others and feasting with them at a common table.

Spirit to know and to love God…  In this collection of love letters called the Bible, we hear stories of followers having their eyes opened to see and recognize the resurrected Jesus.  As we hear this morning, Mary sees him outside the tomb, first as a gardener and then as her Lord when he speaks her name (John 20:11-18).  Later in the day, two disciples on the road to Emmaus offer hospitality to a stranger who opens the scriptures to them – they see Jesus when he then breaks bread with them (Luke 24:13-35).  A week later, Thomas, who doubts because he hasn’t yet had a personal encounter with the resurrected Christ, is gently confronted with the evidence he needs to know this is Jesus resurrected, he then proclaims, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:24-29).  We know that eventually, hundreds, then thousands, then millions and more come to know and love God through the faithful actions of other believers who speak boldly about the gifts of grace afforded through resurrected Jesus Christ.  Having heard these stories, we are to keep our hearts, minds, and eyes open for Christ in our midst.  He’s told us how to know him – in acts of loving and serving those in need.

Joy and wonder in all God’s works…  Writer Nora Gallagher talks about spending less time talking about what we believe or don’t believe, and more time “practicing resurrection.”  I’ve read that she has said, “When I think about the resurrection now, I not only wonder about what happened to Jesus. I ponder what happened to his disciples. Something happened to them, too. They went into hiding after the crucifixion, but after the resurrection appearances, they walked back out into the world. They became braver and stronger; they visited strangers, and healed the sick. It was not just what they saw when they saw Jesus, or how they saw it, but what was set free in them….”  This morning, recall how God has brought wonder into your life. Imagine how God will bring wonder into the life of little Hudson in his years ahead.  Offer praises of joy for these God-given wonders in your prayers and in our singing.

During his earthly ministry, the disciples relied on Jesus as the teacher and prophet and healer.  After this resurrection, he equipped them to carry on the work of his cause – inspiring them with faith and hope and gifting to them the Holy Spirit to help them love each other as he has loved them.  They became the teachers, preachers, prophets, and healers in his name.  These roles have now been passed to us through our baptism.

If you’re wondering where to start this Easter season, consider telling your co-workers, friends, and family what a joy it was this morning to participate in initiating a new life into the body of Christ and to renew our promises the live as Christians with our church family and in our community here in Emporia.  Some people might ignore you or just politely smile and go back to what they were doing.  A few, however, might inquire more about what you’ve said.  Praise God in that moment (at least in your own heart)!  Then, lovingly and gently walk with them in their questions, sharing parts of your own story of faith that might relate to what they’re wondering, focusing them on hope in God making all things new and right through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and offering to pray with them in love for the Holy Spirit’s continued guidance.  Heck, maybe even invite them to ‘come and see’ – invite them to come with you to something here at St. Andrew’s – assure them that there’s always room for new folk at our family table.

May fear and guilt in our lives be replaced with new courage and conviction to share the good news of resurrection and reconciliation possible through Jesus Christ.

May we stop to help those on road sides who are in need – confidently pulling out our ‘hare spray’, reading the living Word with faith that it will revitalize and hope that in in following the instructions with love, and with God’s help, we ensure a lasting wave of peace and joy.

Let us pray.  Living Lord, whose love displaced the gravity of stone; you’ve entrusted your disciples, who love you beyond death, with news of the resurrection: we praise you for the open gospel which ends where Easter faith begins.  Accept our occasional fear and disbelief and take us into this new world led by the risen Son, helping us see your love in us and others anew, granting us the wisdom and confidence to speak through our own amazement so that others who need to hear the good news can be resurrected with us, through Jesus Christ, the firstborn of the [formerly] dead.  Amen.  Alleluia!

(adapted from a prayer by Steven Shakespeare in Prayers for an Inclusive Church. Church Publishing: New York)

Where is the light of truth in the darkness of Good Friday?

We are on a death watch together for these next two days.

Someone who showed us how to more fully love and accept our own belovedness has been convicted of a crime and executed.

What is the truth about what has just happened?  What has been the meaning of the life and actions of our beloved prophet and teacher, if it has resulted in this brutal, bitter end?

No one stepped in to challenge what ‘the system’ was doing to this man who was releasing captives, restoring sight to the blind, and restoring dignity to the ill and the marginalized young and the old alike – bringing everyone into new relationships of mutual care with one another.

Surely, we can all sit comfortably distant from what we’ve just heard.  Surely, none of us have ever participated in plotting/scheming… betrayal… trying to evade final responsibility for a major decision…. mob mentality… shutting down and withdrawing from relationships because of shock or grief...  denial… avoidance of standing up for someone because of our fears of being judged or rejected.   All these dark visitors are around us as we sit here facing the barrenness of this scene. 

Our Lord has been judged, mocked, beaten, and brutally murdered.  There are empty chairs and empty tables where they were just celebrating a meal togehther; friends of his are now huddled in fearful hiding; a powerful ruler is perhaps wondering too late if this was a mistake; and there’s an enraged mob that is slowly coming down off their endorphine-filled catharsis and returning to life under Roman rule.  In short, other than possible regret and certainly fear, it doesn’t seem that much has changed. There are a few people still gathered at the foot of the cross – tear-filled eyes looking up… grief stricken and wondering if this is how it ends… how all their hopes and dreams come to an end.

What in this story resonates with our own life experience right now?

Above the head of Jesus is a mocking sign “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”.  Were you up there on either side of him, what do you suppose the sign above your head would say?

If you’re at the foot of the cross looking up, what do you want to cry out or ask?

Soon, a cross will be processed up to the altar.  As it is carried among us, place yourself in this story.  Consider what you will bring forward to the cross tonight.  Listen to what is going on inside you.  See yourself coming to the foot of the cross, in company with the three Mary’s – his mother, his aunt, and his close companion in ministry, Mary Magdalene. Stand with them in devotion and deep grief that only comes from deep love.

You’re invite to come venerate the cross; offer a devotion or prayer in front of it; some people kiss it or actually spread their arms wide and embrace it (seeking to connect with Christ is a deeper way)… just don’t deny it… don’t pretend it’s not really there or that it’s not worth the effort to confront what is represents tonight.

Come to the foot of the cross, kneel, look up… imagine all that Jesus has said and done… see him hanging there.  See if you can still tell yourself, as powers in this world sometimes try to convince us, that this doesn’t matter… that his dying doesn’t mean anything.

If there’s nothing pressing you personally… consider venerating the cross on behalf of the family of St. Andrew’s.  Consider your act of devotion as prayer for others.

One commentator has said, “our Good Friday faith is that love that seeks to bear the pain of others is never wasted.” (Sandy Williams in Companion to the Revised Common Lectionary, Vol 8, Mining the Meaning – Year C. 2003: U.K., Epworth)

Jesus said to Pilate, “… I came into the world, to testify to the truth.”

Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”

What is truth?  What is true tonight?

All of us are to be pain bearers tonight as we struggle to accept that Jesus continues to be crucified in our world today… and consider how we are complicit.

All of us are invited to bring ourselves, our souls, and our bodies before the cross and discern what we need to leave there – what pain have we been carrying for too long… what needs to die in us in order for us to enjoy new life. 

All of us are called to see that we’re together in this.  Even if there are no effective words of comfort to offer; even if some are avoiding or in denial about what is happening; even if others need to rage in anger or despair… we’re gathered here, like some of Jesus’ family and friends at the foot of the cross.  We’re gathered in his name, even in these dark hours.

I encourage you to surrender something at the cross tonight.  Ask Jesus to take it to the grave for you… or for us.

I invite you to sit in prayer sometime tomorrow and talk to God where you are right now in your relationship with Jesus Christ. 

God Almighty, Father/creator, Son/redeemer, and Spirit/sustainer remain at holy work in relationship with us, even in our darkest hours.

“O Jesus, to you, now lifted up, with your arms of love stretched out on the hard wood of the cross, in your loving and giving until all is completed, to you in your finishing, we bring all our incompleteness, all our unfinishedness, all those things done and left undone: our fractional loving, our fragmentary living, our unrealized intentions, our unfulfilled potential, our unarticulated praise, our unprayed prayers, our underachieved service, our ungiven forgiveness, our conditional charity, our inadequate hope, our wanting faith, unfinished us, unfinished me. And you say, drawing each of us and our incompleteness all to you…”  (The Rev. Dr. Amy E. Richter, Rector of St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Annapolis, MD). 

Help us to know what it really means that through you all things have been made new.

Seek to open your mind and heart to the possibilities of what needs be overcome… what can be born again… what shall be resurrected.

AMEN.

This night is different from other nights

[discussion points]

“Why is this night different from all other nights?”

• Our Jewish friends began Passover earlier this week (sundown on Monday)
• At the Passover Seder meal, this question is asked, usually by a child, to solicit explanation about why this elaborate evening of eating and reading is now like other social gatherings and holidays
• For ancient Israel, and still for Jews today, this evening Seder brings God’s chosen people back into the remembrance of God leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt… and, particularly, remembering how God’s final plague against Egypt(the death of all first born) passed over the houses of the faithful Israelites because they had marked their entryways with the blood of a perfect sacrifice (a special lamb selected and slaughtered in a special way)
• [ref. unleavened bread, being ready to leave quickly, etc.]

Why is this night different from all other nights… for us?

• If you were to ask the Altar Guild, they’d probably say “because it’s more complex logistically and even kinda awkward in places” – indeed.
• There is more going on this night that is meant to unsettle us and, frankly, confront us with some rather uncomfortable moments meant to help us open our hearts and use our hands in new ways
• Although our service tonight is very similar to the sacramental meals we share each Sunday, tonight is different for at least three important reasons:

o   1)  we’re meant to comprehend more vividly that whereas our Jewish ancestors use a special meal this week to celebrate being spared of  violence caused by God and being led by out of bondage into a promised physical kingdom, we’re gathered for a meal that shows us how God has led us out of the burden of our sins and into a spiritual kingdom even amid the violence of this world

o   2) we’re invited into a very intimate experience of giving and receiving humble service in love through touching – cleaning! – each other’s feet

o   3) while we know there’s hope to the story ultimately, tonight we don’t end in hope – we end if loss, abandonment, and, if we really ‘go there’ – dark despair.

Put another way, it’s said that one of the longest spiritual journey’s we take in life is only a little over foot in length – it’s the distance from our head to our heart. Tonight is different in that we’re invited to experience the call of our Lord even more deeply emotionally - experiencing more from our hearts what it means to express love toward each other through humble service, and how it feels to allow someone to care for us as Jesus cares for us. 

Jesus took an expected act of hospitality normally done by a slave and lived into it as a powerful symbol of the humble love and charity expected of us as his disciples. We’re being asked to bring the power of this story to life again tonight through our own hands and feet... and to have this experience help us consider differently how we related to everyone outside the walls of this church.

o   Foot washing had very practical purposes for our ancestors; in the biblical context, having a slave wash a guests feet upon arrival in your home was an act of hospitality that said, ‘you’re welcome here; take a load off those feet that have traveled so far; we’ll care for you here.’ 

o   For us, this actions can be a transforming emotional journey. THIS IS BEYOND RELIGIOUS RITUAL – this is an invitation to touch each other and be touched by love in Christ’s name; I pray we lose track of the liturgy for a few moments during this service and actually encounter the brokenness, fears, and reservations in us… and also accept the healing and gentle love that Jesus offers and that we’re invited to offer to each other; we’re being asked to expose intimate parts of ourselves and touch each other in humble humility while lovingly respecting our mutual vulnerability

o   This was hard for Paul, as we’ve heard.  This is hard for some of us also.  Is this appropriate for our friend and neighbor to do this for us?  Are we embarrassed by it?  Do we have the courage, conviction, and love to humble ourselves to this type of action?  Do we feel worthy to accept such tender kindness from others?

NOTE: Jesus humbly and loving did this for all of those gathered… knowing, John says, that all of them would betray him in some way, E.g., Judas, Peter’s denials, all of them fleeing in fear, etc. – because Jesus wanted this powerful example of what God’s expects of us to endure as an instructive memory long after the shock of his death and the elation about his resurrection fades

   

A young-adult who is serving in Hong Kong with Episcopal Young Adult Service Corps wrote on her blog today: “Being a servant is more than just getting dirty, or taking on a job that no one else wants to do; it’s about loving someone else so much that you’re willing to sacrifice—really sacrifice time, talent, and treasure—for that other person’s well-being and betterment. Jesus calls us to love one another. He goes so far as to say that we will be known as his followers if we love each other.” [Grace Flint, Young Adult Service Corps in Hong Kong]

What’s different about tonight?  How we conclude the service.

Following the coming together in washing of each other’s feet and the sharing of this sacred meal in remembrance of Christ’s last Passover support with this closest friends, we will descend into darkness and are invited to encounter some of our own deepest fears and injuries around death, grief, separation, abandonment, and loss of hope. 

At the close of our time all together we will strip the altar bare – reminding us how our Lord was stripped of all dignity and how empty and bare our lives are without the light and love of his presence; we will wash the altar as we would prepare the dead for burial; we will lay the broken body of our Lord in the chapel as a tomb.
How will you feel when all signs of hope are removed from this place and we’re left only with an altar of repose for our Lord? 
Will you join with others to keep awake and keep watch? 
What sense can you make of tonight’s journey with each other – through the intimacy of washing each other’s feet through to the witnessing of the signs of death and loss of our Lord? 

As you journey from head to heart tonight, surrender the rules and conventions that tell you that those in power and with prestige are there to be served; that keep the poor and underclass under foot… consider that one of Jesus’ final demonstrations of God’s intentions was in lowering himself to serve us so that we could see how to do the same so that we all may be lifted up. 
Generous acts of humble service in love are to conquer fears, help the lost be found, and to restore the broken-hearted to their rightful place at the table – as equals and beloved in the eyes of God. 
And no matter what darkness seems to overtake us, remember that we’re in this together – walking each other home to God’s kingdom, where places have been already prepared for us as a heavenly family. 
It is Jesus himself who call us into this night that is different from other nights. 
It is our Lord who calls us to do as he has done… who give us the mandatum (Latin for ‘new mandate’) to love each other as he has shown us how to love each other.

“you also should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15)

It is our Christ who calls us to participate differently tonight.

“do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11: 24)

AMEN

We’re in this together, with faces like flint and hope for the future

[opening remarks as Campus Missioner to those gathered at St. James, Wichita - E.g., thanks for support, thank leadership, solicit interest for new campus peer ministers, etc.]

Now let us turn to this pivotal Wednesday in Holy Week.  Here we are gathered in an intimate scene with Jesus as he enjoys final Passover meal with his closest friends. 

Those gathered have been with him for years.  Their journeys have been difficult, and we know will become even more challenging in ways they have yet to imagine.  Tonight they’re hungry.  They’re hungry for the liberation and redemption that Jesus will bring.  Their hopes were amplified just days ago when they entered Jerusalem with him to cheers and the waving of palm branches.  Through him must come what their ancestors and prophets have longed for – kingdom restoration.  This is their new Lord, teacher, and messianic savior.  And, we can imagine that each of them is harboring a very personal hope and expectation about the benefits that are to come when their vision of kingdom is come.  At this last supper, consistent with what he’s been showing them all along, Jesus challenges them to see the kingdom anew, through God’s eyes, not their own.

At this Passover Seder, they are celebrating a great return from exile with God’s help...  and they are looking toward their future with equally hopeful expectations about a new kingdom to come.  Jesus has been trying for years, and will continue tonight, to provocatively shape their expectations about the kingdom of God and their roles in helping everyone reunite there.

What is each of us carrying in our hearts and minds tonight as we gather with Christ for this intimate meal?  The story we share during this supper is about God’s promises for our return, with God’s help, from exile. What are we privately hoping will be the benefits of following our Lord into the promised place?  When we look around and consider who is gathered with us, don’t we want to believe we’re all kinda aiming for the same sort of kingdom life together?  Isn’t it a little hard to believe that any of one of us would intentionally plot to betray the other?  Isn’t it a little hard to accept that following our Lord may well lead us through additional earthly hardship and suffering?

And, yet, here we are hearing about Satan entering one of the Jesus’ closest partners in ministry, Judas, the one so trusted that he kept the group’s collective financial resources.  We watch, confused, as this trusted disciple departs our common table to betray our leader and to betray us.  “It was night” says verse 30.  Even as they (we!) gather for this sacred meal with friends and our heavenly Lord, there is darkness all around them (all around us). 

If we’re honest tonight at this meal with Jesus, we each stand convicted of having chosen to betray Christ and each other, sometimes in smaller ways of neglect or denial and sometimes in more intentionally mean-spirited or selfish ways.

Jesus doesn’t draw attention to the darkness, though.  He doesn’t seem to admonish the one who he knows will betray him.  In fact, as we’ll consider in more depth tomorrow night, while gathered as the common table, their teacher and leader lowers himself to serve each of them, washing each of their feet, including the feet of the very person he knows will soon walk away to betray him and the entire ministry they have shared the past several years.  Despite any of our shortcomings, Jesus wants us all to be fed and to be reconciled in the heavenly family... and he’s willing to go to extraordinary lengths for this glorification.

How great is God’s mercy and compassion?  How extraordinarily gracious is Christ’s love for us, even when we’re possessed of evil desires and selfish intentions?

The days to come will be some of the most horrific and discouraging for those who love Jesus.  In the days, weeks, months, and years that follow, each person here gathered will be challenged to come to new terms with what Jesus has been teaching, demonstrating for us, and calling us to do in his Spirit.  Our expectations of God will likely be challenged just as our acceptance of God’s expectations of us will be challenging.  Jesus the messiah came to make things right, not to establish a kingdom in which any of us gain at anyone else’s expense. 

Following the examples and commandments of our Lord will not be easy. Though he tells us that his yoke is light for those who follow him, he also asks us to take up the cross as we follow him – calling us to realize that the world around us is not as ready to accept the good news that we’re all family and should care for each other as Jesus cares for us, with a particular preference for lifting up the lowly and the least among us.

The author of Hebrews says we are to run this race of life – this marathon that we’re in together – with faithful perseverance, looking ahead realizing that Jesus has already gone before us to courageously pave the way, enduring the worst hardships on our behalf to cut this path home to our reunion with God’s family.  “Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:3)

Through the prophet Isaiah, we are told that we are not to turn backward, even when moving forward in faithful perseverance and fidelity to God results in us being insulted, spit upon, and even struck.  Each day we are to let go of the guilt or fear that might weigh us down and to rise morning after morning remembering that we are teachers of God’s promises as we face the struggles ahead with faces like flint –strong and incisive.  Shame and disgrace from the powers that oppose us all sharing equally in the kingdom of God’s love shall not win the day.  God has the final say and will vindicate his servants who have suffered for the sake of justice, compassion, and mercy.  On Easter morning we will celebrate this good news – are we deeply convicted of that this really means in our globally interdependent lives today?

This journey, this race, if we’re following the examples of Jesus, will come with heartache and suffering – that’s guaranteed if we’re living and loving as Christ has shown us how to.  And, our Lord, who endured trials at least as great as any we face, has already won this race for us all.  We’re not having to compete to win – we’re being call to cooperate and support each other on this journey to a home already prepared for us.

As we enter the darkness tonight after departing from this meal, remember “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” (Hebrews 12:1)

Those faithful who have gone before us, include Jesus himself as well as all those who were gathered at the last supper, pack the home stadium and cheer us on.  When the going gets tough – and it will – and the dark clouds of adversity surround you, remember that you are loved and supported not only by a great heavenly family, but also by sisters and brothers here and now who gather at this common table with you in Christ’s name. 

Each time we gather for this meal, particularly in the next three days ahead when we’ll come face to face with some of the darkest realities of human nature, remember that we’re to stay the course, focused on God through Christ, and that we’re in this together.  Whether sprinting or walking, we are to be side by side on our journey home and God is with us, Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer. 

AMEN.

Psalms of suffering, faith, and hope

Greetings, St. Bartholomew’s.  Thank you for inviting me back again for Palm Sunday.

The last two times I’ve been here with you on Palm Sunday, we’ve reflection on the Gospel readings and Passion narrative.  Two years ago we considered ‘who abandoned whom’ and examined our own lives with Jesus.  Last year we got into the narratives, imagining ourselves part of the scene on during the procession into Jerusalem and then during the Passion to discover what we see and feel that is still influencing our faith and action today. 

This morning I want to focus in on two of the Psalms.

Jesus’s final words from the cross (according to the synoptic Gospels), at the ninth hour, and the Psalms from which they come…

Citing opening words from a sacred text (like using the first verse of Psalm 22 or the fifth verse of Psalm 31) was a way of referencing or invoking the whole reading.

In the Passion narratives, most of the quotes from, and allusions to, the writings from the Old Testament come from the Psalms, specifically from these Psalms of gut-wrenching lament, hope-filled petition, and faith-filled declaration.   This was a way of interpreting and understanding current experiences in context of tradition.  In this sense, we’re being invited to hear and see something about Jesus (as he suffers and faces death) and the meaning of this experience in light of the tradition of these Psalms.

The Deposition from the Cross
Carravaggio 1600-1604

These Psalms address our fears of loss – of physical vitality (and death itself), of fellowship (friends and family relationships), and of faith and trust in our creator – as well as powerlessness and apparent abandonment.

Often we resist entering into the darkness (of this week and of trouble in our lives) because we fear we’ll never find our way our or escape from it.

Let’s take a closer look at Psalm 22 and 31 and discover what the Spirit is inviting us to grapple with this Holy Week – both the reality of our suffering and the promise that there’s more to the story.

[distribute hand-out with Psalm 22 on one side and Psalm 31 on the other; refer to BCP if not enough hand-outs]

[Q’s: What stands out/ what do you notice?  What meaning to you hear?  What might be Spirit calling you to do?]

[use notes below as needed]

Psalm 22 – verse 1 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

• Matthew 27:46
• Mark 15:34 
• Excerpts from this Psalm are also used elsewhere in the Gospel stories: 
• v7 (they mock me) in Mark 15:29 and Matt 27:39
• v8 (commit your cause to Lord – let him rescue) in Matt 27:43
• v15 (mouth is dry – lay me in the dust) in John 19:28 
• v18 (dividing clothes and casting lots) in Mark 15:24, Matt 27:35, Luke 23:34, and John 19:24
• You will receipt the Psalm in its entirety on Good Friday
• a prayer for deliverance from threatening trouble (though attributed to King David, interpreted to apply not a specific time and event, but a condition of need in general)
• dangerous and vicious images of encircling throngs of evildoers and powerful animals that will prey on the weak 
• “My” inferring an intimate, personal experience that heightens the pain (of very personal loss/abandonment/betrayal) 
• “be not far” (vv. 11 and 19) – speaking to the distance being felt painfully as well as the faith that in these times of attack when death is imminent, “my God” can come closer to relief the situation
• Movement from being mocked and apparently cursed because of commitment to God, to celebration and reverence because of the author’s faithfulness 
• A prophetic and eschatological prayer for help as well as a prayer of praise for help delivered 
• v26 – “the poor shall eat and be satisfied” – sacred sustenance provided; manna; justice; our sacrament of bread/body and wine/blood 
• the language refers to a communal / fraternal group (adamah / humanity) who will share in this celebration of deliverance, culminating in all end of the earth and all families as well as future generations (verses 27 & 30) 

Psalm 31 – verse 5 “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

• Luke 23:46 
• Verses 9-13 profound sorry and grief (physical and psychological suffering) 
• Verse 14 begins a confident prayer for refuge under the protection of a protective parent 
• anticipation of deliverance from persecution, tribulation, long-suffering, and grief 
• concluding with praise and call to the faithful to love and trust in God 
• a declaration of trust in giving one’s life up to God (not just turning over one’s soul at the end) 
• “but” in verse 14 – the great ‘however’ / ‘despite all this’ 
• some say an ultimate expression of dependence, surrender, and trust in God’s will, E.g., verse 15 “my times are in your hand” 
• invoked by other believers at the hour of their death (E.g., Stephen in Acts 7:59; Luther also)
• verse 5 as a statement of faithful resignation at death.. verses 14-15 a statement of faithful living in the meantime. 

Summary suggestions [depending on what has come up in discussion]:

Jesus stood up for justice, compassion, and charitable love in a political and social context that was so threatened by what he was demonstrating that they wanted him dead rather than overturn the system of rules and entitlements.  Jesus suffered as a result of his stand and was snuffed out by those in earthly power.  And, God does not let that suffering and death stand as the final word.

Jesus is invoking wisdom from the Psalms to say that we can and will bare suffering and death…and that it’s not the end of the story.  We can trust that God ultimately delivers.

Jesus joins with us in suffering – crying out in the vivid imagery of Psalms as his ancestors had in times of trouble and as we still do in our current moment of anguish.

He encourages us to model his faithful examples of crying out in prayer in our times of trouble.

Our perspective on pain, suffering, and apparent separation should also include promise of ultimate protection and redemption.  Even in the face of a horrific death, God doesn’t actually abandon.  Death will not have the final word – God will deliver the dying and the afflicted.

 “Lord of the swaying palms, the stones of earth and the beasts of burden bear witness to your coming: lead us from the violence of empire and the collusion of crowds to a heart of flesh, a world re-made and new song for all creation; through Jesus Christ, the Crucified God.”  (Shakespeare, Steven. Prayers for an Inclusive Church. 2009: Church Publishing, NYC)

AMEN

St. Patrick, radically inclusive and extravagant fellowship, and campus ministry…

[greetings to the new Chair of our diocesan Campus Ministry Council and to our newest diocesan campus peer minister…]

In today’s lectionary readings, in the real story of Patrick (a bishop and missionary of Ireland), and when considering our campus ministries, the Holy Spirit is inviting us to reconsider how we honor God and each other in precious moments amid challenges and changes with an eye toward hope-filled future. 

While we (those of us here gathered) know that this is the fifth and final Sunday in Lent, probably a larger number of people in the mostly secular culture around us is ‘celebrating’ St. Patrick’s Day today.  Some of us are hearing in our lectionary readings ominous foreshadowing that is preparing us for the coming Holy Week.  Others, particularly a number of young-adults in our campus communities, are awash wishes for luck, all things green, and perhaps even considering this weekend as an opportunity for an extravagant kick-off to the revelry that will be their Spring Break. 

Some of them have chosen to do charitable/mission work this week (“alternative Spring Break” options); some feel pressure to work more hours this week to get a little ahead financially; some are soaking up precious time with people they care about (perhaps with ailing family members or with other significant relationships that are being challenged by time and distance away); and others are temporarily checking-out of worrying about the future and diving head-on into the making of timeless memories that it seems only collegiate Spring Break can provide.  In all scenarios, the young-adults around us are living in a hyper-drive sense of time and can benefit from the steady companionship of those who have traveled these various roads before and have lived to tell about it. 

It’s been true for many generations that the ten or so years after high-school are an amazing period development during which each year, if not each season, can bring dazzling and disorienting self-discovery as well as opportunities for new depths of pain, new heights of aspirations, and vast new stretches of growth and maturity.  These days, with the interconnected social media, commercial, political, and educational networks in which our young-adults are immersed, we witness both the compression of time in terms of how quickly they’re being exposed to adult situations and leaping through life lessons… as well as, in many cases, the ironic retarding of the time it takes to make it to ‘adulthood’ by traditional measures (self-confidence and higher functioning personal responsibility, establishment or careers and families, etc.).

On this fifth Sunday in Lent, as we hear in our lectionary about foreshadowing and the call to embrace the future, no matter how challenging the present circumstances might be… and this year we also remember Patrick as an example of having made saintly life choices.  As we prepare for the resurrection of new life with the coming of Easter and the spring, I wonder how we might embrace anew the opportunities for life-affirming fellowship with the young-adults in our community, encouraging them in their faithful discernment and life choices, and willing to be ‘extravagant’ with the offering of our gifts of time and wise counsel to them without expecting anything in particular in return (other than the satisfaction of knowing that we’re influencing their formation and our future with them).

What about this saint, Patrick?  This guy was captured as a teenager and enslaved in Ireland.  In his early twenties he escaped and traveled through the wilderness back to Britain where family and mentors formed him as a Christian.  In his ‘adulthood’ he felt called to return to Ireland to share the good news of Christ far and wide.  Some say Patrick opted out of the conventions of accepting gifts and protections from the powers that be in order that he might remain untethered by the strings that were usually attached to such offerings.  We’re also told that his missionary efforts, even without official sponsorship of those in power, were widely successful as he traveled throughout the land, evangelizing kings as well as commoners.  In his writing Confessions, Patrick says, “What was the source of the gift I was to receive later in my life, the wonderful and rewarding gift of knowing and loving God, even though it meant leaving my homeland and family?  It was the over-powering grace of God at work in me, and no virtue of my own, which enabled these things…. I am in debt to God who has given me an abundance of grace with the result that through me many people have been born again in God…”  Like Paul before him (who we’ve also heard from this morning), Patrick was overtaken by new life afforded to him by the grace of God experienced through Christ and he couldn’t help but share that good news with others, even while being persecuted for doing so against the grain of those who wanted him to conform to the dominant culture or ridiculed by others for his apparent lack ‘proper’ education. 

Aside from shamrocks, stories about snakes, and drinking beer tinted green, we glean wisdom from the stories of St. Patrick’s missionary efforts and his evangelical leadership that can be instructive to young-adults in our midst.  “You know, when St. Patrick was your age, he made his way home and entered seminary where he learned how to be a good Christian.”  Ok, perhaps that’s not the approach we’ll want to use.  How ‘bout, “St. Patrick broke loose of the things that held him captive, grew in knowledge and love of Christ, found miraculous empowerment in God’s grace, and courageously put his skills and charisma to use helping those who were in need of good news.”  Then we might ask our college students, “How do you relate to St. Patrick’s story?  How can we help you on your journey toward your own mission in life?”  Imagine each of our conversations with a young-adult an opportunity to offer them a thought-partner and constructively provocative imaginings about their own future as someone destined to make a difference in this world.

This morning’s reading from Isaiah (43:16-21) is telling a people who have been exile and wandering through the wilderness that God provides a path for them – a dry path through the depths of the waters as well as a thirst-quenching way through the barrenness of the desert.  These people are told not to get hung up on the past (former things of old), but to turn toward the “new thing” that God is about to do for them.  How might it be helpful and transforming if we were as diligent in helping young-adults in our midst avoid getting too caught up in regrets or grief for all that is changing in their lives so rapidly and to focus instead on faithful hope in amazing new ‘futures’ in store for them if, especially when they’re feeling lost in the wilderness, they lean into God’s love and seek to know Christ in themselves and others?

In this morning’s reading from Paul (Philippians 3:4-14), we hear him saying to believers in Philippi that his new relationship with God through Christ has so transformed his perspective on the meaning and purpose of his life that everything he thought he understood or knew can be thrown out like garbage.  Perhaps this message is a bit challenging to young-adults and/or their parents who are investing heavily in higher education.  Does a new life through Christ mean all your learning and that degree should be thrown away?  No, of course not.  Paul is challenging his listeners (and us) to realize that religious credentials, educational credentials, are tribal rituals/conventions are not the source of righteousness before God – growing in knowledge, love, and service of Christ’s kingdom is.  Paul says to them that he is “forgetting what lies behind” and is instead “straining forward to what lies ahead” – a promise of resurrected, kingdom living despite any present suffering and struggle.  As young women and men are becoming more informed and skilled through these years of higher education, how are we helping them hone their gifts and cultivate a sense of godly purpose for offering them benevolently in our shared world?  How are we helping them let go of practices and concerns that keep them tethered to dying conventions or under the Quixotic spell of ‘achieving’ independence or proving themselves worthy through material gain at the expense of social responsibility and commonwealth?

And, of course, we have this morning’s version of the anointing of Jesus at Bethany as told by the writer of the Gospel according to John (12:1-8) which is a wonderful scene in itself and also a lead up to the final Passover meal he will share with some of these same people later in the week.  Jesus has brought a dead friend back to life, an act of such provocative love that has so challenged the establishment leaders that they are now conspiring toward his arrest and execution. Amid the danger that is looming and the confrontations that are brewing, Jesus chooses fellowship with his friends for his final meals…. and we can imagine what a menagerie of friends are gathered with him – there are saints and sinners alike.    Among them is a doubter; a person focused on service; devotees who anoint his head (as told in Matthew and Mark) and/or (as told in John) wash/anoint his feet with their own hair and precious oil worth a year of wages; some who are uncomfortable with such lavish, extravagant, we might even say ‘prodigal’ offerings (note: in the divine economy of God’s grace, an extravagant gift toward one we love, particularly at a seminal moment in their life, is neither wasted not does it exhaust God’s resources); a couple of self-righteous and self-serving hypocrites who talk of charity but plot to betray Jesus and/or later deny having known him; one who Jesus loved so much that he brought him back from the dead even when others said that he was already rotting; and at least one who we will later call a doubter. 

There is room for everyone at the table with Jesus.  This is good news that should be shared again and again with adults, younger and older alike.  God’s love incarnate seeks to draw everyone together in a common feast... not expecting that they they’re on the same page yet; knowing that they won’t all react to abundance, generosity and radically inclusive love the same way initially; yet nonetheless serving each of them with divine humility and instructing them all to do the same for others… and sharing with all of them the extravagant gift of this enduring Spirit.

What if our fellowship gatherings were even more intentionally like these final meals Jesus shared with his friends?  What if in our missional service to young-adults in the campus community we were even more bold in reaching out to invite those who doubt, those who might criticize our ways, and those who might deny or betray us along with those who are faithful, humble, and willing to give and serve generously?  When gathering all of them for meals together – saints and sinners, devotees and doubters, critics and faithful servants alike -  how then will we pour out our lavish, loving support for them in ways that some might say is wasteful?  What if we approached each and every conversation with a young-adult at our common table as a precious and fleeting moment in which we have only this one chance to listen deeply to their concerns and offer them the best of what we have before they head off into the next critical transition in their life and we might never see them again?

It’s the fifth and final Sunday in Lent.  While we are with Mary at the feet of our Lord, anointing him with precious oil in anticipation of his death and burial while perhaps anticipating our own mortal struggles ahead… we are also with Isaiah, the Psalmist, and Paul, leaning toward a hope-filled future that is promised and experienced through the new life with the resurrected Christ. This particular year, this also happens to be a day we remember a saint named Patrick who broke free of slavery and choose a challenging life devoted to mission and evangelism.

For our college students, this is also their Spring Break.  While some are taking this week to grapple with important relationships or thoughts about their future, others are indulging in a little escape from impending responsibilities and big decisions. In all cases they are aware of how rapidly, but might not appreciate how wonderfully, their lives are changing.  We can help them realize that they’re evolving toward a new and hope-filled future despite the challenges of their current circumstances. 

May we leave here this morning considering how our own time-tested faith and hope can be poured out extravagantly on the young-adults in our communities through our campus ministries in ways that sanctify the precious moments we share with them, give them courage to grapple with the challenges imminently in front of them, and help them lean confidently toward what lies ahead, equipping them with practical and immediately-applicable trust in the truth of resurrection and promise of new life through Christ.

Let’s close with a prayer from the BCP (p. 829): God our Father, you see children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world: Show them that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals.  Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start.  Give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  AMEN. 

Ambassadors of God's prodigal love

(a.k.a., Looking for divine love?  Check our lost and found.)

Good morning, good people of St. Paul’s.  It’s been a long time, no?  Good to be back with you on this fourth Sunday in Lent. 

Note that it’s a Sunday “in” Lent… not “of” Lent – as you might know, Sundays are always feast days, even in the season of Lent, when we’re otherwise more somber and penitent.

This fourth Sunday is sometimes called rejoice Sunday or Mothering Sunday.  Like with the third Sunday of Advent, we have words of rejoicing in our readings for the day.  We’re called to lift countenance today with special joy for God’s goodness.  Tradition in the 1500’s had people (domestic help and others) returning ‘home’ today to fellowship with their families and in their home parishes.  Here at St. Paul’s, Fr. Seville has encouraged revival of the tradition of preparing special for today, using special ingredients. 

Indeed, our fast is meant to be lifted today. 

We are to celebrate with special sustenance – special bread. 

We are to rejoice that our heavenly parent is prodigious with divine love. 

We are to be sent out as ambassadors of divine love and reconciliation.

Special bread: The readings we’ve heard this morning call our attention to the role of food in our celebrations.  We’ve been reminded of how God provided manna to our spiritual ancestors as they wandered in the desert, until they made it to their promised land and were able to celebrate their first Passover there with produce of this promised land.  In the famous parable we heard about the father who had two sons, we’re told that hunger (among other things) and issues around food drove the recalcitrant younger son to return home… and that the father celebrated by throwing a feast with special food.  And, in our Collect for today, we ask God to evermore give us the true bread which gives life to the world – not manna, not produce from our land, not a fatted calf… but Christ’s mystical body, in and through which we are nourished eternally.

Rejoice that God is prodigious with divine love:  The parable we’ve heard this morning from Luke, the longest in the Christian scripture, is often called the parable of the prodigal son – focusing on the wasteful extravagance of a younger child who acts selfishly and shamefully, though is eventually welcomed back into the family.  However, I suggest that the parable is really about the parent, who Luke’s listeners would have considered prodigious with this mercy and love.  Note that the parable starts out “there was a man who had two sons” – the point of the story is primarily about the father’s extravagant behavior. 

This is even more apparent when you put the story in context – it’s the last of three parables that Luke has Jesus offering (in the beginning of chapter 15) to confront those who are questioning why he is hanging out with sinners and tax collectors.  Jesus tells three stories about unreasonable emphasis on finding and redeeming something that has been lost – a single lost sheep, a coin, and a son.  He’s making a point about the will of divine love that pierces through our own issues around blame and shame.

There’s so much shame in the story from the listener’s perspective at the time.  It’s shameful for the younger son to have requested what he did of his father.  It’s shameful also for the father to have granted such an unreasonable request.  It’s shameful that the father celebrates the return of that wasteful son and so quickly restores him to a place of honor and trust.  It’s shameful that the eldest son confronst his father in such a brash way and then refuses to attend the welcome-home celebration (although self-righteous listeners then and now might believe the eldest son is the only character acting honorably here).  It’s shameful that Jesus is seeking out and fraternizing with the untouchables, the outcasts, and the sinners. 

Jesus is also making the point (and Paul is emphasizing this point in what we heard from his second letter to the Corinthians) that gift of divine love is an invitation to reconciliation and restoration that we don’t need to “earn” – it is given to us by an unreasonably, irrationally, some might even say prodigious heavenly parent.

The younger son prepares an apology and an offering of humble service in advance of returning to his father’s house.  A root of the older son’s resentment and indignation is the feeling that his own obedience and good works have been in vain, given the extravagant treatment of the younger son who has not been so faithful in labor and loyalty.  (Ref. also Matthew 20: the parable about the laborers in the vineyard – even the last to work get the same wage as those working all day)

Yet, notice that the father doesn’t let the younger son persist in his rehearsed repentance, nor does he indulge in debate with the older son about fairness.  In both cases, the father focuses on the joy about the lost having been found – a cause for celebration.  As is said in verse 7 (which we didn’t hear), “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

Do you hear that?  God so loves this world that he’s willing to go to extravagant lengths, even the offering of his own son’s life, to redeem any one of us who is lost.  That’s the prodigious nature of divine love.  That is worth rejoicing.

So, are we being told that it’s ok to dishonor our parents, run off and be terribly irresponsible, and then returning home secure in our entitlement to divine forgiveness??  No. We’re also told not to put God to such a test and that our intentions will be judged.  Nevertheless, our creator-parent exhibits extravagant mercy toward those who turn to him with truly repentant hearts.

Ambassadors of divine love and reconciliation: And, Paul assures us that our past trespasses are not held against us once we’ve been reconciled in Christ.  He says that once we’re part of Christ’s body, our world view changes and everything is made new. He says that just as we’ve been given this gift of reconciliation, we are to take it out to the world as ambassadors of redemption, forgiveness and divine love.  In essence, we can hear him telling us to worry and struggle less around what we must do to earn or deserve forgiveness (and previous way of viewing things) and focus our attention on sharing the good news about what God has/is/and will be doing for us.

[insert anecdote about a brother thought to be lost coming back into a family... and about a father reconciling with his son after 20 years of no contact]

What are we to hear today?

God yearns for what is lost to be found.

It’s God’s party – God’s prerogative to give extravagantly in ways that might appear to us unreasonable, excessive and even unfair. 

Each of us is heirs equally in God’s kingdom, whether we labor faithfully in God’s vineyard our whole lives or come back to God later in life.

God has plenty to go around – none will go short.

Called sometimes to put aside our dignity and concern for what others think of us in order to radically welcome those who were thought to be lost – to welcome God’s children, our siblings, in a way that demonstrates that no sin is an insurmountable barrier for divine love, we are to be ambassadors of prodigious forgiveness and reconciliation.

AMEN.

Fig trees, fecal matter, and faithful farmers

Good morning, family of St. Andrew’s, Emporia.  Good to be back with you.

As tempting as it is to reflect on the story of Moses being called out of his domestic reprieve back into God’s service by the famous burning bush scene (and, oh how some of us sometimes wish that God would be so clear as to speak to us from a burning bush), I instead want to consider what the Spirit is saying to us about judgment, mercy, and urgency.

Today’s readings employ agricultural imagery as well as food to help us see, hear, and understand that while we’re in this season of waiting for the coming of the Son of Man who will bring justice mercifully, we’re called to exhibit prudence, patience, hope, and faith… while also getting our hands dirty in intentional care taking of what has been entrusted to us.

We’re well into the winter season – as the weather has shown us vividly shown us lately.

Here at St. Andrew’s, we’re well into a period between clerical leadership which has been calling people to use what it is the storehouse for sustenance.

And, some of us might be finding that the themes in this season of Lent are reinforcing awareness of scarcity and desire in our lives… perhaps bringing us into more solidarity with others who lack and want… but in any case heightening our comprehension of what it means to be without.

The Psalmist gives words to some of this, “eargerly I seek… my soul thirsts… flesh faints… barren… dry… no water.” (v1)

And, the Psalmist also call us to remember that God is faithful – God’s “right hand holds me fast” (v8) and therefore I can be “content” (v5) even “rejoice” offer “praises” (v3, 5, 7) amid the current barrenness and waiting.

With this honesty about the present situation which might have some of us suffering while also remaining hopeful and faithful about God’s promises for our future, we come to the warnings and assurances in the Epistle and Gospel lessons this third Sunday of Lent.

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he both admonishes and encourages.  He’s writing to the Christians in Corinth who, Paul fears, are falsely believing that, because they participate in some of the sacraments, they’re ‘safe’ from God’s wrath despite their persistent engagement in other pagan practices (E.g., eating meals as part of pagan celebrations before idols and surrounded by sexual revelry).

Paul warns that just as baptism (passing through the sea) and sharing the same spiritual food (manna and water from rocks) didn’t prevent our ancestors from failing in their covenant with God and God’s subsequent judgment on our ancestors; neither will our participation in the sacraments of this church prevent us from sinning or excuse us from God’s judgment.  We might say in modern language that participation in the sacraments of the church are necessary but not sufficient.  Pauls writes, “God was not pleased with most of them and they were struck down in the wilderness.” (v5)

Paul warns against becoming idolatrous, engaging in sexual immorality, complaining, and putting Christ to the test (by persisting in behaviors from your old life while also feeling smug in your new identity as a Christian).  As compassionate and merciful as God is, God still judges our intentions and actions and can/will strike down the proud and arrogant.

And, Paul also encourages that God remains faithful – just as to ancestors – and that the ‘church’ will endure. He calls the Corinthians (and us) to be humble and not so self-assured… ever mindful that “God is faithful and …will not let you be tested beyond your strength …will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” (v.13)

As further check on our own self-righteousness, the Gopsel lesson has Jesus re-directing the temptation to shame and blame… and pointing his followers toward appreciation for the mercy that has been shown to us and our responsibility as gardeners in God’s vineyard.

In the previous chapter (12), Jesus has been speaking about vigilance and remaining watchful and faithful because “the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour” (12:40)… yet people are still trying to interpret signs for clues about the timing of the coming judgment.  In what we heard today, some people were pointing our atrocities that have befallen Galileans at the hands of the Romans – perhaps with a hint of smugness.

Aware that some of his followers were still caught up in a traditional presumption that when bad things happened to people it must be a sign of divine judgment against them (ref. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents” from John 9:2) suggesting also that if you’re not presently suffering then you must be right with God, Jesus refutes the idea that the cited calamity of the Galileans as well as a tragedy of the Judeans, were not examples of divine punishment for sins (if that’s how it worked, who would left standing anywhere?).  He further calls them to beware that just because you’re not presently suffering doesn’t mean that you’re any more guilt-free/sinless than anyone else – you are being held to account just the same… and the time for right relationship with God and your neighbor is short.

To be clear, Jesus says, “unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” (v. 5)

Jesus then tells his listeners, using the metaphor of a vineyard owner ready to fall a fig tree that has failed to bear good fruit, that when a people are just taking up space/land and failing to produce righteousness for God, they deserve the same as the barren fig tree – to be cut down that room be made for those who will produce what God expects, echoing the warnings of John the Baptist who you might recall said earlier, “Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:8-9)

Along with his warning that we’re all to account before God and that God’s judgment will come, Jesus also reassures them/us that God has shown mercy and extraordinary patience with us – we have the time to change our hearts/minds/ways if we choose to make use of it.

Jesus offers hope by speaking about the advocate/gardener. Although there’s already been plenty of time for the tree to produce good fruit (E.g., there’s no real reason not to just cut it down now), the gardener asks the vineyard owner for reprieve (more time / extraordinary mercy) to spare the tree imminent judgment for another season while the gardener once more tills the ground around its roots and fertilizes it.

We’re being offered more time – a second chance, if you will.  God has agreed not to purge the vineyard just yet, but to give the laborers more time to work with the trees that aren’t yet doing what God expects.

And, our hands need to get dirty - making use of even that which others consider waste (manure, dung heap, rubbish pile) – as we offer intentional care, digging/tilling around the roots and applying nourishment to all the trees in God’s vineyard.  (ref: God putting us in the garden to till and keep it. Genesis 2:15).

Time is short… so we better get on with turning away from sin and turning our hearts and minds back toward God, loving each other as Jesus has shown us how to do… and helping others do the same, digging around roots and fearless fertilizing so that all our trees may bear good fruit.

This week of Lent, let’s re-examine our own self-assuredness and examine practices in our own lives that might reveal that we’re a bit too sure of where we stand with God.    

Ask ourselves, are we bearing good fruit, or just taking up space in the vineyard, trusting that just standing here is enough?

Let’s prayerfully consider who advocates for us – who is asking the vineyard owner for more time that we might finally produce what God wants?

And, let’s recommit ourselves to being good gardeners as well – more intentionally tending to the roots and nourishment of each and every trees around us… even getting our hands dirty with some waste now and then…  so that the entire vineyard has dignity and is ready with the owner returns.

AMEN.