The End is Yet to Come

 

The End is Yet to Come

 

Mark 13:1-8

The end and the coming of the Son 

13:1 As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!"

 

13:2 Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."

 

13:3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,

 

13:4 "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?"

 

13:5 Then Jesus began to say to them, "Beware that no one leads you astray.

 

13:6 Many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and they will lead many astray.

 

13:7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.

 

13:8 For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

 

 

The Advent season is almost upon us! Traditionally, Advent—which is the “New Year” of the liturgical year—focuses on the RETURN of Jesus, or what we have come to know as the “Second Coming.” Most of us who “grew up” in the church knew Advent as the “ramp up” to the glorious Christmas season. We weren’t very liturgical, especially when we were just kids with “visions of sugarplums, dancing”—well, you know the rest. Even if our childhood pastors WERE following the liturgical calendar in their preaching, we kids STILL just saw Advent as the countdown to Christmas Eve. We even had those little paper Advent calendars with the tear-open windows that had snippets of scripture and literally counted down to Christmas Day! Nowadays, those calendars are available with daily bits of chocolate for kids OR adults. A few Advents ago, my daughter got her Kentucky husband a bourbon Advent calendar, with each day accompanied by little bottles of well-known Kentucky bourbons. That might get you to the “Second Coming” a little earlier than expected!

 

But yes, Advent in the church year is not only the beginning, but it DOES focus on the “second advent” of Christ’s coming, as evidenced by the Revised Common Lectionary texts chosen. As you will see in the coming weeks, many of the readings are apocalyptic passages. This weekend’s text I chose for this message is of that type, only from the corpus of Jesus’ own teachings. The Gospels have three main chapters that mirror some of the “end times” utterances of Jesus: Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. In today’s passage, Jesus “plays off” of his disciples’ marveling at the massive stones that must have been part of the temple in Jerusalem. In another text, Jesus talks about the temple being “destroyed” and that he will “raise it up on three days.” That same text says that the disciples understood he was talking about his own body. I doubt that, in that these guys weren’t all that perceptive, but the writer wants us to understand that they DID eventually get what he was saying. This weekend’s text from Mark 13 is just a pre-Advent “teaser,” though. The end is yet to come.

 

I experienced my “young adult” years as a kind of rejuvenated Christian, having experienced a faith renewal experience in college. It was an opportune time to be seeking the Lord, as the “Jesus People Revolution” was coming East from Costa Mesa, California, where the Rev. Chuck Smith was leading thousands of young people to Christ at Calvary Chapel there. He became known as the “Jesus People” pastor, and while he was a “fluffy,” balding Four Square Gospel pastor, he had a marvelous way of teaching the Christian faith that connected with young “seekers” on the West Coast. Life Magazine featured a photo of Rev. Smith baptizing hundreds of youth in the Pacific Ocean in its edition chronicling the “hippy Jesus” movement. A bunch of his church’s youthful converts had considerable musical gifts, and formed various contemporary Christian bands that became quite famous, as the movement spread across the country. My friends and I became quite partial to these offerings from Maranatha Music and Calvary Chapel. Names like “Love Song,” the “Second Chapter of Acts,” “Children of the Day,” and songs like “For Those Tears I Died” by Calvary Chapel member, Marsha Stevens, were being played on “Christian radio” all around the country in the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

 

Part of this “Jesus People Revolution” came to be an elevated (and mostly distorted) interest in the “Second Coming” of Jesus Christ. Several of the more widely known evangelical denominations like the Southern Baptists and the Assembly of God went considerably overboard on “teachings” of the Second Coming, and an author by the name of Hal Lindsey penned a runaway best-seller named “The Late, Great Planet Earth” about it. These early, dispensational, teachings from the “Jesus People” evangelical days pretty much sucked up the rest of Christianity and became the “standards” of how people: 1. Viewed and understood the Second Coming of Christ; 2. Came to believe that this would be a literal “second trip” to earth by Jesus, who would call “up” believers into the clouds in what was called “the rapture”; and 3. Came to believe this was all going to transpire almost immediately. Authors like Lindsey even “predicted” that, based on their “modernization” of apocalyptic biblical texts, Jesus was expected to arrive around 1984. He didn’t make it, and much of that era’s “Second Coming” fervor fell out of favor.

 

Wanting to believe that God will revisit Earth and “fix” everything never HAS fell out of favor. It’s been going on for centuries, as have predictions of when it would happen. The Jesus Revolution stuff just put some good tunes to it and made a few Hal Lindseys very rich, not to mention gave rise to Jerry Falwell and his later “Moral Majority.” Our text reminds us that even Jesus’ own, personal disciples wanted to know when the “going down” was going to “get down,” and what “signs” to look for. The signs Jesus mentions in these apocalyptic gospel texts are actually ones that had been passed around Judaism for centuries before Jesus. They were known as “portents” or “birth pangs” of a more sudden and direct “intervention” on God’s part into life on earth. Things like “wars and rumors of wars,” “blood moons,” earthquakes, and the like, were pretty popular religious signs. Why do we have such a “thing” about Jesus coming back? Possibly because Jesus did amazing things during his first visit among us, and if you add in some ginned up interpretation of the mysterious book of Revelation in the Bible—and believe me, Hal Lindsey sure did—then it all becomes a pretty weird movie. The idea, though, that evil gets vanquished, the “bad guys” lose, and God “wins” is enough to get believers excited…very excited, as history shows. Some have even bought into the “Second Coming” concept so thoroughly that they have sold everything they own and moved into encampments on mountaintops or countries closer to Jerusalem, which they believe will be “ground zero” of the whole show. These kinds of manifestations are exactly what Jesus’ teachings about “the end game” are designed to avoid!

 

In this weekend’s text, Jesus warns his “end-of-the-world hungry” disciples to beware. Charlatans will come proclaiming to either “have” the truth or “be” the truth, and would “lead many astray.” Obviously, his words were wise words, and throughout Christian history this has happened numerous times. We’re seeing it today. Not to get political, but one of the negative things about the “Trump” episode is that many Christians have become convinced that he is “God’s man,” sent to rescue and lead us. Since it has worked to get Trump elected at first, and now has at least been partly responsible for HIS second coming, he has not offered a counter narrative to this distortion. No matter what you think about Donald Trump, please don’t be “led astray” as Jesus warned, by these quasi-religious narratives about him. We can debate whether he has been and will be a good President, but there is no doubt that turning him into some sort of “prophet” or “savior” is exactly what Jesus is saying NOT to do, nor to believe others when they advance that story. As we approach Advent, may we propagate a truthful telling of what the Bible does and doesn’t tell us about any Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and not get excited that it is coming soon. Most of us who have spent our life and careers studying the Bible and teaching the faith do NOT believe we are postured at all close to such a cataclysm as the movie version of this event wants to tell, and we point instead to the actual teachings of Jesus, who wants us to work with him to build the peaceable kingdom. And Jesus tells us in the Bible that “no one knows the day nor the hour” of his return, even HIM, so where do we get off trying to predict it, just because we’re seeing more extreme storms or more earthquakes? Interestingly, you rarely hear the “pro Second Coming” prophets talking about “famines,” and it’s probably because we know WE are responsible for people starving to death, certainly not GOD. Global scientists have told us that we have had the means and the technology to feed every human on planet Earth since the mid 1970s. The hold up is human selfishness and hoarding, which leads to a very unequal distribution of food, famine in many lands, and death. Jesus is trying to tell us to get off our “Second Coming” curious duffs and FEED people!

 

There are many Bible scholars and religious leaders who don’t believe in a literal “second coming.” Some believe the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost WAS the second coming of Christ, in that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, gifting and empowering the church with the “tools” it needs to spread the gospel, feed, clothe, and shelter the world, and partner with God to bring about the Beloved Community—the Kingdom of God. This does make some sense, in that it was Jesus who said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” and “l will never leave you nor forsake you.” Personally, I DO believe there will be a second coming of Jesus to the earth, but I believe it will come at the “end of the age,” as he said, and it will not be to “fix” things, but to close it down and end the “human era” on the earth. But frankly, I’m OK with however it goes down, because I have my “marching orders” to do ministry, live for Jesus, and love others into the kingdom. Way too many seem bent on doing nothing but waiting for Jesus to come down and fix it all, but this just doesn’t jibe with what the Bible says, in my opinion. It’s more Hollywood than holiness. As Jesus said, the end is yet to come.

 

If you like signs, there are far more signs of things that Christians can do to make this a better world and to be innovative about how to apply Jesus’ teachings to “love God and your neighbor.” If we want to get excited about something, it seems that this is more what Jesus had in mind than standing around waiting for the “trump of God” to blow, signaling some “rapture.” God will be “enraptured” if we take being the caring, loving hands and feet of Jesus in our communities much more seriously and sacrificially. Don’t believe those who say they have all the answers, as they are who Jesus warned us about. We HAVE the answer we need—Jesus and his teachings—and we have the power to put them to work—the Holy Spirit. And we have the team we need to spread the love—the church of Jesus Christ. And a quick word for Interfaith work here: when God DOES bring things to an end on earth, it will obviously affect all people. Why not meet those of other faiths on the common ground of ending human suffering, hunger, and poverty? Our message will make far more impact when our “congregation” isn’t starving to death, or dying of diseases that could have been prevented by decent public policy and a warm, dry place to sleep. 

 

Yes, Dear Ones, the end is yet to come, meaning we have time to partner with the living Jesus to get this stuff done! Several of Jesus’ parables invite the question, “What will the master find when he returns home?” Will we have “invested” the gifts God has given us and multiplied their affects? Or will we have buried them in the ground, waiting fearfully for the Master to return? We have the tools, we have the time, and we have the Great Commission. Let’s get to it before our time is up! Amen.

Life Finds a Way!

Life Finds a Way

 

Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17

Ruth wins the favor of Boaz 

3:1 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you.

3:2 Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.

3:3 Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

3:4 When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do."

3:5 She said to her, "All that you say I will do."

4:13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. When they came together, the LORD made her conceive, and she bore a son.

4:14 Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin, and may his name be renowned in Israel!

4:15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him."

4:16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom and became his nurse.

4:17 The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi." They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

In the blockbuster film, “Jurassic Park,” the Jeff Goldblum character, Ian Malcolm, is a “chaos” expert. He is one of the scientists brought in to evaluate the living dinosaur exhibit made possible by “dino-DNA” and cloning. As you will remember, the “control” on the reconstituted dinosaur population to keep them from breeding was that they were all cloned as females. Malcolm is not convinced that this tactic will be effective in preventing the resurrected reptiles from procreating, and utters one of the film’s memorable lines, “Life finds a way.” I’m a big Goldblum fan, and adore the Ian Malcolm character, as he is exactly the kind of brilliant, yet quirky role Goldblum excels at playing. Better yet, I was impacted, as many were, by this assertion, “Life finds a way.” 

I’ve seen many a hospital patient, suffering from seemingly catastrophic illnesses, not only rise from the hospital bed, but make stunning, full recoveries. Life finds a way! I’ve witnessed premature or otherwise sickly infants struggling to survive the trauma of birth, emerge from the throes of death and thrive. Life finds a way. We’ve all seen saplings that burst forth from rock formations, splitting heavy stones in half in order to germinate. Life finds a way. And who hasn’t watched fragile little birds pecking their way out of eggshells, several days later to take their first flight from the nest. Life finds a way. How many times have we read about a species that scientists thought had long since become extinct suddenly being “discovered” alive and well in some remote corner of the world. One of the most famous cases of this occurred when what was thought to be a prehistoric fish extinct for over 60 million years—the Coelacanth—was caught up in a fisherman’s net in 1938. Since then, schools of them have been observed. Life finds a way!

After a heinously contested election cycle, many have been left bloodied by the results, while others are exuberant. I confess to being one of the former, and as a Christian pastor, I’m deeply concerned about the motives of the returning occupant of the White House and what it will mean for “the least of these.” Those of us who worry that personal welfare, individual liberties, and self-centered pursuits will triumph over the needs and concerns of the broader American community are left with the hope that “Life finds a way.” 

Today’s lectionary text from Ruth provides the “happy highlights” of this amazing story from the Hebrew Bible. Ruth is a young woman who is married to one of Naomi’s two sons, both of whom die and leave Ruth and her sister-in-law, Orpah, widowed. Naomi, who is still steeped in grief, tells the two young widows that they are free to go off and find new husbands, as they are still young, and should have a good future. In this, Naomi, whose husband, Elimelech, also dies, is being extremely unselfish, as in ancient Hebrew society, her care in widowhood would normally fall to her children and their families. Obviously, Naomi was a person of great faith who truly believed that in God’s realm, “Life finds a way.” But Ruth pledges her loyalty to her mother-in-law, saying in a beautiful speech:

Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.

And yes, this is often read in modern wedding ceremonies like it is from spouse to spouse, but it IS Ruth’s speech to her mother-in-law! Still, it is such a wonderful sentiment and commitment that no one should argue with it being applied to marriages, too. Believe me, most marriages survive the trials of two people being “jammed together” who are usually so different as to create instant conflict, that successful ones are a testament to “Life finds a way”!

Ruth vows to stay with Naomi and care for her. As the story goes, Naomi still wants Ruth to “have a life,” and since both of them are surviving by gleaning the fields of a handsome, young landowner named Boaz, Naomi conjures up a plan. She tells Ruth to pretty herself up and go down to the threshing floor, waiting for the old boy to tire from his labors and lies down. What Ruth is to do next is described in a wonderful Hebrew idiom, and since this is a “family friendly” sermon, I’ll not go into the details, but suffice it to say, Ruth makes a very favorable impression on Boaz, and they become a “thing,” resulting in marriage. This thrills Naomi, who is happy for Ruth, but even happier when the marriage results in a grandchild that she gets to love and coddle. Indeed, for all parties involved, “Life finds a way.”

It gets better. The text tells us that the child is Obed, and Obed later becomes the father of Jesse, who in turn becomes the father of a young shepherd named David. Yes, THAT David. And we know that his “house and lineage” will eventually yield another birth of one named in Luke 2, “Christ the Lord.” Indeed, for all of Israel, who got a great king out of the whole Ruth/Naomi/Boaz deal, and for all of humanity that eventually got a Savior, “Life finds a way.”

This Sunday I have the privilege of baptizing a young mother and her little girl, Stella. I LOVE the name “Stella,” don’t you? This young couple reached out to me, a retired pastor serving the church where Stella’s father was baptized 28 years ago, and inquired about having both mother and daughter baptized. Honestly, I figured that my baptizing days were over, so this sounded like such a special opportunity. I met with the young couple, and they are a joy, and I’m so looking forward to the baptisms this week. All I could think of about the whole experience, including this wonderful “return” to the place where Stella’s dad was baptized into the Christian faith was, “Life finds a way.” And I’m sure glad to be a part of it!

While “life” can deal us many challenges and disappointments, the Creator of all life made us to “find our way” as we live it. One of my favorite promises of Jesus is his pledge, “I will never leave you nor forsake you…Lo, I am with you to the end of the age.” Sounds a lot like the commitment that Ruth makes to Naomi, doesn’t it? And that one brought us David and Jesus. How today will “life find a way” in YOUR life? Are you committed to living for Jesus Christ like Ruth was to Naomi? Like Stella’s parents are to each other, and to being good parents to this little one? And how about living for Jesus as an act of gratitude for the eternal commitment Jesus made to redeem all of us? This is as good a time as any to recommit yourself to faith in Christ Jesus, and “sell out” your heart to him and his mission to reconcile the whole world to himself! And if you find yourself growing discouraged, or overwhelmed by some of the “curves” life may throw at you, remember the timeless story of Ruth and Naomi, and the eternal love of Jesus, whose teachings could well be summed up in the phrase, “Life finds a way!” Amen. 

Good to Great

 

Good to Great

 

Mark 12:28-34

Two commandments: love God and neighbor 

12:28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well he asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?"

12:29 Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;

12:30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'

12:31 The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

12:32 Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'he is one, and besides him there is no other';

12:33 and 'to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength' and 'to love one's neighbor as oneself' --this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

12:34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that no one dared to ask him any question.

 

Early in the 2000s, author James Collins hit it big with a book about why some companies “make the leap” to the next level of size and success, while others don’t. His book covered principles and observations that might help not just organizations, but even individuals how to get from “good to great,” which was also the title of the book. Collins was heralded by many, as his book became a tremendous best-seller, but over the years, he was also criticized as pointing out principles that were “too simple” or “mere common sense.” Isn’t it interesting that such elementary principles were being deemed as “not significant” causes by these critics as to result in corporate “greatness”? It reminds me of the “miracle drug,” Acetylsalicylic Acid—aspirin. It is so simple, yet it has saved many a life. Surely we can make a better drug than this “natural” anti-inflammatory? We have, of course, but aspirin is still amazing, and even with its potential negative side effects, it IS a miracle drug. So it is with some of the less-than-rocket science ideas Collins observed as being integral to successful companies. And, as we shall explore, a “good Christian” is much more like aspirin than Ozempic or some exotic painkiller.

 

This sermon ins not about Collins’ work, but more about that of Jesus Christ! Since it’s the Sunday when my congregation is celebrating All Saints, we will also shine a spotlight on the extraordinary lives that sought to make US “great,” or at least better than we were.  Who would argue with progressing from “good” to “great”?

 

Therein lies our first key: how do we interpret these two terms? In the corporate world of Mr. Collins, a “good” company is one that is “okay,” while a “great” company is one that excels and tends to dominate in its field of endeavor. However, this idea doesn’t translate well to individuals without some reinterpretation. After all, to call someone a “good person” is quite a compliment, in almost all cases. A “great” person, however, depending on how we understand that adjective, may be bad OR good. If by “great” we mean that the individual is “large,” we may be suggesting that they are TOO large, or “outsized.” “Great” may also be used satirically, suggesting that their ego is what is outsized, as in “They THINK they are great.” From a Christian perspective, a person may be both “good” AND “great,” if they are a serious disciple of Jesus Christ AND a solid leader, or at least a person who is living out their potential and using their spiritual gifts to the benefit of the larger community. In an earlier sermon, we looked at Jesus’ teaching about how the one who wants to be “great” must be the “servant of all.” This principle generally runs counter to what Collins identifies in “successful” companies. And while Collins decries “greed” as a positive factor in such growth, it is clear that it is often a motivator in the business world. “Good” people, in Jesus’ view, are those who DO serve others, and live for the good of all. THIS is what makes them great, not necessarily any extraordinary or laudable accomplishments. Humility, in the Christian realm, is a valued quality, even over success. So, what DOES it mean to be “great” in the kingdom of God?

 

Here's where All Saints comes in. Who are the saints in YOUR life? I would define them as the people who have (past tense) or do (present) influence you to become the person God intends for you to be. These are the people who nurture you, support you, encourage you, pray for you, model faith for you, and do so with little regard for what they “get” out of the relationship, other than a decent level of mutual respect. “Saints” is what the Apostle Paul used as a label for any and all persons who had committed their lives to Jesus Christ; it was a term of endearment, not an accolade. So, in the spirit of Paul, who are YOUR saints? On this important weekend of Christian heritage, take time to ponder and make a list of the people who have been YOUR saints. Obviously, many of them may have gone on to glory, and this is why we historically remember them during our All Saints celebrations, often by reading their names and ringing a bell to signify their significance. It matters that they lived. At least it matters to us and to God! Not wanting to discount that you may have some LIVING saints, this is especially a time to think about those who have gone on. 

 

Personally, my list is very long. It includes my two grandmothers, one who had a very simple faith, but used to share it with me, and the other who loved God through her music, having played piano and organ in several churches. My maternal grandmother was thrilled that my brother and I became pastors, and it was the Eastern Star lodge of hers that gave both of us ESTARL grants to help us afford our seminary education. I know both of them prayed for us, too, which meant a lot. I was the first of the grandchildren to go away to college, and my maternal grandmother used to send me letters of encouragement, usually with a few bucks for the college vending machines tucked inside. My in-laws were certainly powerful spiritual influences on my life, not to mention that they brought Dara into the world (she tops the list of my living saints!). My in-laws modeled a practical, yet wondrous Christian faith for many, many of my peers by opening their home for a young adult fellowship that met on Monday nights. There we studied the Bible, shared weekly faith experiences, and spent serious “seasons” of prayer to end each evening. My father-in-law would “moderate” our discussion, making sure to keep us focused on Christ and providing “clues” as to where we might find help in the scriptures, but he wisely left us young adults have our own synergy, and supported the “natural” leaders who rose up from within the group. (As I write this, behind me on the wall is an oil painting of Jesus that was given to my in-laws by a young man who stayed with them for a time while attending a local college and working a job in town. One of his friends painted it and gave it to him, and he gave it to the Apel family. It adorned the mantle of their wonderful fireplace that warmed the souls of us gathered on cold Mondays, and countless times during our evening-ending prayers, I found myself gazing at it like it was an icon. I “inherited” it when my in-laws sold their house and became “full-timers” in their motorhome in retirement. If I can find my photo of it, I’ll attach it below…)

 

 

You have your saints. Remember them this weekend, and be thankful. Say a prayer of thanksgiving for each of them. And remember why they are saints. For the most part, it is because they were a faith and life influence on us for the good. However, today’s lectionary passage holds the key as to what MADE them saints, and it truly holds the key for ANY of us who want to follow James Collins’ example of “Good to Great” in the kingdom of God. And it takes us back to that little acronym many of us discovered early in life: KISS, which = “Keep it simple, stupid!” Or, to be a bit more philosophical, as someone said years ago, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing!” In this text, Jesus does BOTH!

 

Jesus boils the law and the prophets and our roadmap for worship, mission, and Christian discipleship down to two commandments…TWO COMMANDMENTS: 

 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

 

Love your neighbor as yourself.

 

Loving God with your heart IS worship. Loving God with your soul is salvation. Loving God with your mind is the fuel of discipleship, wisdom and growth. Loving God with all of your strength is the “heavy lifting” of mission and ministry, as after all, these things require us to do work to accomplish them.

 

AND loving your neighbor as yourself gives us our mission field. We know how, when asked, “Who is my neighbor?” by a religious leader, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, wherein a “hated Samaritan” helps a Jew who has been beaten and robbed. He does so with much risk, generosity, and no motive other than to be a neighbor to the man. He doesn’t do a “needs test” on him, checks his religious, national, or ethnic pedigree, nor does he even survey the man’s sexuality. He just comes to his aid, at great expense of time and money, to himself. 

 

Think of your saints, again. While they may not have totally embraced all of the values in the “Love God; love neighbor” paradigm, they at least mastered a few of them and were “going on to perfection” (as Mr. Wesley would say) regarding the rest of them, I’m sure. THIS is why we sought to learn from them and emulate them while they were alive, and now, often with warmth and tears, remember them that they’re gone. And if you are fortunate enough to still have a few of them around, take time to thank them personally for their “sainthood,” and their rich contribution to your life!

 

I suppose Mr. Wesley got something right with his “going on to perfection” syntax. After all, when the scribe “answers wisely” in today’s text, Jesus tells him he is “not far from the kingdom of God,” which sounds like he’s on a journey to “perfection,” himself. Aren’t we all? And if you were able to quiz any of the saints of your life, I’m sure that in their humility, they would clearly state that their striving toward God’s standard of “perfection” was never ending, as well, despite how “perfectly” we saw them. And, when God welcomed them home, they finished the trip from “good to great,” landing lovingly in the arms of the Almighty.

 

For those of us who remain, and who continue to be inspired by the heritage of our saints, in the words of our former Bishop, Thomas Bickerton: “The journey continues…” Shalom, Beloved!

 

 

Take Heart; Get Up, He's Calling You

 

Take Heart; Get Up, He’s Calling You

 

Mark 10:46-52

Christ heals blind Bartimaeus 

10:46 They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside.

10:47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

10:48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

10:49 Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you."

10:50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.

10:51 Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see again."

10:52 Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

 

Jesus said a lot of things that, if listened to and practiced, could change us…change the world. Problem is, much of what he taught us when he was “tenting among us” has been forgotten, misinterpreted, or even distorted by humans who seek to mold him after OUR image, rather than the reverse. As we are winding down toward an election “D-Day,” we are all aware of how dangerous exaggeration and distortion can be, and how they can be used to bend an electorate in the direction WE want it to go. When it comes to human affairs, we are left to pick up the pieces and rebuild, if a mistake in choices has been made. On the other hand, rarely do our good choices result in the kind of results we hope for, again, due to human resistance to change. If there is a human “sin condition,” it is that we move AWAY from order and justice much easier than we move toward it. Left to our own devices, without benevolent collaboration, we will degrade, not evolve. Some have used this phenomenon as “evidence” against what science has discovered as the process of evolution of life, but that would be an unscientific hypothesis. Organisms DO evolve, we know, and those of us who believe in a divine element to the creation and to this process, also believe that God is the positive “energy” behind this progress. Suggesting that because humans can make bad choices (“sin”) demonstrates that evolution is a false theory, is precisely the kind of deduction that is often behind distorting the teachings of Jesus, or at least applying them to meet our own desires. Human experience, including our own self-serving goals, so often runs counter to what God has in mind for us, which is what Martin Luther King, Jr. called the “beloved community,” a realm of peace and justice that embraces all people. Jesus came of love, heal, and forgive, but much of his mission was about a “course correction” for the human race, a kind of divine “GPS” helping us “recalculate” to get back on the road to becoming a beloved community. A central core of his teaching focuses on the human responsibility in this plan, and today’s healing story of “blind Bartimaeus” contains its “marching orders.”

 

The story itself is loaded with good “preaching points.” Bartimaeus has obviously heard the scuttlebutt about Jesus of Nazareth and the miraculous events—including physical healings—that follow him. When he hears that Jesus and his little band are coming his way, he begins to cry out, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” Bartimaeus is pretty smart. He utters two things that he knows will get Jesus’ attention, but that also demonstrate his firm faith: “son of David,” which testified to his being a Jew and understanding Judaism’s “messiah” concept; and “have mercy on me,” indicating that he understood Jesus teaching from Hosea that “God desires mercy, not a sacrifice.” Bartimaeus’s friends were either embarrassed by his crying out, or had a false sense of how Jesus might react to it, but they urged him to stop shouting. Here’s a good talking point: how often do WE stay quiet about injustices and/or encourage others to ignore them, as well? Or have we ever bypassed a chance to share our faith witness, either because we were afraid we’d not do it justice, or just didn’t want to take the time? Bartimaeus would not be dissuaded. He succeeded in getting Jesus’ attention.

 

When Jesus tells his disciples to “call him here,” they summon the blind man with one very profound sentence, and one that may well summarize the entirety of the Gospel and our human responsibility to bring it to fruition:

 

“Take heart; get up, he is calling you.”

 

Now, THERE is a preachable line! And, as I stated earlier, it may well summarize an appropriate response to the Gospel. Let’s examine it for a bit…

 

TAKE HEART: This is a call to attention. For most of us, something isn’t a “thing” until it is. I was having a Zoom meeting with an anti-racism colleague as I was working on this sermon, and I suggested that the “take heart” of anti-racism work is when a member of the majority race “wakes up” to realize that racism IS a thing, and is, unfortunately, quite “alive and well” in American society. White privilege IS a thing. [Examples: white people are not scrutinized by their skin color when applying for a mortgage or a car loan; white people don’t have to have “the talk” with their young male drivers about how to handle a police stop, because young white drivers don’t have to worry about ending up dead; white drivers are very, VERY rarely stopped by the police for a “safety check” in their cars when driving in certain areas, while one of my Black friends has been stopped literally dozens of times when driving in the North Hills; white people are not steered away from certain neighborhoods by realtors because the realtors know residents there don’t want black neighbors; and white people are never “counseled” by sales persons that they “probably can’t afford” a certain product. These are just a few examples, there are many more. Just ask a person of color for their experience.] “Take heart” may also be an encouragement, as it is in this text, once Bartimaeus’s friends realize that Jesus DOES want to see him. Of course, his friends’ trying to “shush” him, initially, is what discouraged him in the first place. For any who are discouraged about something, “take heart” is a wakeup call that God DOES care about any and all challenges we may be facing. Jesus Christ and the Christ Event are God’s “take heart” to the whole world!

 

GET UP: We may have all of the good intentions in the world, but if we don’t “get up,” we won’t act on them, and nothing will change. This also applies to things like working for social justice, i.e. dismantling racism. While “take heart” is a wakeup call, “get up” is marching orders. One of my problems (and it is only ONE of them!) with the modern evangelical movement is that it too often reduces the Gospel to forgiving people of their sins. That’s only the “take heart” part. As people redeemed by God through the grace of Jesus Christ, we are next called to “get up” and get in the game of working in partnership with God and the Holy Spirit to transform society into the aforementioned “Beloved Community.” As Christian people, our call to action is about so much more than just “sharing our faith witness,” it’s about LIVING IT by “Jesusing” and taking up the causes of those less fortunate or marginalized by our politics, our society, or our economic markets. I see way too many churches that are hand-wringing over the prospect that they may die out, and one suggestion I would make to them is to “get up!” DO something! What are the needs in your community that you could possibly meet? What do your neighbors need that your church might help provide? 

 

HE IS CALLING YOU: In this case, the “he” is Jesus, and in our case, we can simply say GOD is calling us. What IS the call of God on your life? On your church’s life? This is the unction to “find your niche,” to ferret out what your ministry may be in this time and this place, and this applies to both the individual Christian AND the assembly of Christians we call the “local church.” One of my favorite stories I heard from a pastor who was sent to a serve a series of very small, rural churches. In the of the churches that only had a handful of active members, she asked them, “What is it you do well?” After a long period of silence, one of the remnant members said, “Well, we do really good funeral dinners, or so we have been told by our bereaved families.” “Well then, DO THAT as your ministry,” the pastor said. SO, they started offering to prepare and serve funeral dinners for some of the surrounding churches when they had a death, and they WERE good at it. So good, in fact, that not long after, a larger United Methodist Church in the area that was doing a building campaign asked the “funeral dinner team” from the small church to do a commitment banquet for them for their building program. Needing more help, the team members invited a few of their neighbors, and in some cases, their children, to help them serve the dinner. They all had such a fun and fulfilling time doing it, that some of the “helpers” began attending the church, and a new spirit of joy and excitement was born. God WAS calling them, and clearly, it was an unorthodox calling, at least initially! What about you? What do YOU like to do? What do you do well? Chances are there might be a ministry in it for you! God IS calling you. Of course, God also still calls us to do things and work with ministries that are NOT necessarily in our comfort zones, but why not start with the ones we KNOW we can do and LIKE to do? 

 

As we read the rest of Bartimaeus’s story, we must NOT miss the last two important lessons. First of all, Jesus asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?” This is the question of the doctor, or the therapist. It is the question of a truly caring person who wants to do what is most needed or best for the one they are asking. It is the question of someone who RESPECTS the potential care receiver, and who wants to affirm their personhood, even if they will be “doing” something for them or assisting them. This question is NOT the question of a domineering or controlling individual who already knows what they will or WON’T do for someone, or who wants to maintain superiority and oversight over the individual being served. Jesus models this caring, respecting, affirming spirit. “What do you want me to do for you?” I like to watch the History Channel’s “Pawn Stars” program, and the pawn shop guys always ask the customer presenting an item to them, “What do you want to do with this?” The question is a starting point for a further conversation, and a “negotiation” as to how the transaction will proceed. This is also true when the “transaction” is helping somebody out or serving a “client.” Maybe we should all imagine God asking this question of US before we go to prayer? “What do you want me to do for you?” is an invitation to build a prayer list! And after “Take heart; get up, he’s calling you,” it could also lead to a plan of action. After all, even our prayers often need us to put “feet” to them! If Bartimaeus had not “gotten up” and gone to Jesus, he may have never regained his sight.

 

And that is the final part of the story, isn’t it? When he IS touched by Christ, he becomes a “follower on the way.” Gospel-inspired plans of action usually lead to new followers. In some cases, Jesus sends the objects of his healing stories “back home” to their communities to “tell the others what has happened to you.” The Good News always needs witnesses. However, in other cases such as this one, Jesus seems to welcome these new disciples to join his traveling band. “Take heart; get up, God is calling you” is an invitation to “come and see,” as Andrew is fond of saying in the gospels. It is a rallying cry for the struggling church today, too! If we put these three sentences together, we begin to see a plan for how God can transform a LIFE and even a WORLD:

 

“Take heart; get up, he’s calling you.”

 

“What do you want me to do for you?”

 

“Come and see!”

 

 

 

 

The Greatest Story Ever Told

 

The Greatest Story Ever Told

 

Job 38:1-7, (34-41)

God challenges Job 

38:1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:

38:2 "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

38:3 Gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

38:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

38:5 Who determined its measurements--surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?

38:6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone

38:7 when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

38:34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you?

38:35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, 'Here we are'?

38:36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind?

38:37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens

38:38 when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cling together?

38:39 "Can you hunt the prey for the lion or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

38:40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in their covert?

38:41 Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God and wander about for lack of food?

 

Some of us are old enough to remember a major motion picture from 1965 called “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The epic film had an absolutely amazing cast, including the following thespians: Max von Sydow, Charlton Heston, Dorothy McGuire, Pat Boone, Jose Ferrer, Van Heflin, Martin Landau, Angela Lansbury, David McCallum, Janet Margolin, Roddy McDowall, Sal Mineo, Donald Pleasance, Sidney Poitier, Claud Rains, Telly Savalas, John Wayne, Shelley Winters, Robert Blake, Jamie Farr, David Hedison, and Robert Loggia. If you’re keeping score, that is just about any actor people in 1965 had heard of! It’s still an impressive list, although many of them have joined this movie’s “sequel” in heaven, by now. Oh, and one of the writing team for the screenplay was poet Carl Sandburg. I guess if you wanted to make a movie about the Son of God, you had better round up just about every top person in Hollywood, to do it justice. Sandburg was a nice touch, given the main text for the screenplay authors was the Bible. Was it a good film? Yes, according to most critics, earning five Oscar nominations, but none for “Best Picture,” which was won by “The Sound of Music.” Even Jesus can’t beat a good musical, I guess? At least the movie featured an A-list actor—Max von Sydow—as Jesus, instead of Ernest Borgnine or Robert Blake…

 

I admit that I’m stealing the movie’s popular title, though, for this sermon, which touches on a parable we find in the Bible about a man named Job. Some may argue that Job was a real man, and that the Bible is giving us history here, but I severely doubt it. This reads exactly like a Jewish parable story, and the various lessons it imparts are certainly parabolic, in nature. Why distort it with a bizarre insistence that it is “real?” I DO think, though, that the parable should be counted at least among the “greatest stories ever told,” given the study I have given it in my ministry, and the great number of articles and books that have been written about it by scholars and commentators down through the centuries. (One of my favorites was written by Rabbi Harold Kushner, who also wrote the popular book, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” which certainly follows the Job narrative to a “T.” 

 

The story of Job is bizarre, but relatively simple: God and “the devil” are having a debate about what a “good man,” Job, will do if he loses all of the things he treasures, including family and loved ones, and his health. Will he keep his faith? Or will he curse God and die? You can guess which one “the devil” believes will happen. In the parable, God gives “the devil” permission to do his worst to Job, but not to take his life. The loses of loved ones and health throw Job into a tailspin, and a small cache of “friends” come to his aid. The advice they give him is like some of the counsel we get from our peers—randomly helpful, but often with little understanding of the personal pain and complexity of our situation. Some of it even borders on trite platitudes or cliched, pop-psychology. In Job’s case, this “counsel” includes the suggestion that HE is responsible for his plight, possibly due to some “sin” he has committed against God. The remedy? “Curse God and die.” Now, that’s helpful, isn’t it? Maybe you’ve had similar “helpful” advice from people like Job’s friends, all of whom mean well, but who just don’t have the class of wisdom needed to help us understand why “bad” things happen to “good” people. Of course, our judgment on what is “bad” versus what may be natural occurrences, and what it means to be a “good” person may be quite lacking, at least in the views of the Divine. Since this is a parable, these factors are “given” by the story, itself: “bad” includes the loss of family, wealth, and good health; and Job is a “good man” simply because he fears God. We can probably agree that “bad” things like such personal losses, especially the painful health crises described in the story, are indeed “bad” for Job, but might retreat a bit on “good” meaning merely fearing God. We certainly see people in our time who “fear God,” but who manifest few traits we consider “good.” This judgment appears quite limited. Nonetheless, this is what we have to go on.

 

The most helpful parts of the Job story are revealed during Job’s “arguments” with God. They take the form of personal “court scenes” wherein Job puts his case before the Divine. Job is sure he hasn’t committed any “sin” that would put him in such personal jeopardy, but pleads his case logically and rationally. Ultimately, he calls upon God to “come clean” as to why these things have happened to him. 

 

The question as to why bad things happen to supposedly “good” people is universal, especially when most of us would characterize ourselves as “good,” while “bad things” is somewhat more subjective. For one person, whose life has been little challenged by negative circumstances, a dead car battery is “bad,” while to another, a sudden death in the family or a life-threatening health diagnosis is. Either way, we tend to ask this question as part of working out our situation. Even Jesus faces this during his ministry, as recorded in the Gospels in Luke 13. “Some present” ask Jesus about why Pontius Pilate was allowed to kill some “Galileans” who had been worshiping God. Jesus answers:

 

 Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” 

 

Jesus is addressing forgiveness in this case, but puts the “worse offenders” argument to rest by bringing up another random, tragic event—the fall of the tower of Siloam that killed 18 people. Is Jesus telling us that the “bad” things that may happen to us have nothing to do with God’s “causality”? It appears so. Of course, Jesus also gave counsel that “What we so, we will also reap,” which can mean that we are quite capable of bringing calamity upon ourselves, and when we do, we have no promise that God will keep our self-induced peril from occurring. I think it is human nature, though, to HOPE that the Divine can somehow keep bad things from happening to GOOD people and met out the appropriate punishment to those we consider BAD. Thankfully, this simplistic formula is apparently not how things “work.” Don’t we get just as upset when “bad” people seem to have “good” things come their way? In the former case, I confess to struggling when visiting parishioners in the hospital who were suffering from the obvious consequences of long-term abuse of alcohol, drugs, or tobacco, only to question their pastor, “Why is God doing this to me?” It took me a while to wake up to the fact that this is a coping mechanism at work, and part of how we process life-changing/life-threatening occurrences. Job’s arguments with God demonstrate this human trait.

 

After Job lays his case before the Lord, as this famous text says, God “answers Job from out of the whirlwind.” Another whole sermon, or even several, could be written on this verse, alone. Whose whirlwind? Isn’t what we face in life often like a whirlwind? For many in Florida, the Carolinas, and Georgia, the “whirlwind” was a literal storm, or two, and their lives now need a different kind of “straightening up.” However, for most of us, this whirlwind is a metaphorical description of the chaos that may result in our psyche or our soul, as we people of faith would say. Things just get blown around, and disorientation is the word of the day, too often. When that happens, I can almost hear my brain mocking my car’s GPS voice: “Recalculating…” When things come at us from “out of the whirlwind,” we need time and space to “recalculate,” don’t we? I think there are “Psalm 22-like” lessons we can extrapolate from the Job story, lessons which we examined in last week’s sermon: 1.Scream your frustrations in God’s direction, rather than at your spouse or by kicking the dog; 2.Confess your own “sins” and take serious stock of your culpability in what you are experiencing; 3.Remind yourself of our belief that God DOES love us and desires to redeem and transform us; and 4.Move from anger to an attitude of gratitude and confidence in God’s willingness to restore us. The Job story quite well demonstrates this progression, adding, of course, the chorus of well-meaning friends who give advice meant to shorten his anguish, but that instead offers truncated, trite “answers” that get Job nowhere. Job does the Psalm 22 thing by taking his grief and gripes directly to God, but not in anger as much as like a competent lawyer before a “Supreme Court” level judge. In this “answer from the whirlwind,” God sort of acknowledges the validity of Job’s case by pulling rank on him. (When you’re losing, lash out! Isn’t that what modern politics teaches us?) IS God just “lashing out,” though?

 

I don’t think so. “God” gives this wonderful speech (at least in the mind of the parable’s author) designed to remind Job that God IS in charge, but lovingly so. Job’s reactions to his own plight and the case he puts before God comes up short in that they fail to acknowledge God’s benevolence over all of the created order, and God’s willingness to save us. We Christians should understand the magnitude of this last fact, given the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ on our behalf. How amazing it is that the “God of the whirlwind” who “laid the foundation of the earth” gives a hoot about little old me and you. Of course, God gives far more than a “hoot”—God gave the world Jesus. The intimacy of the Almighty is a marvelous fact to hear and behold. God DOES care for each of us, and not merely as an item on God’s agenda; we ARE God’s agenda. Period. This is the place where I fear many believers ere in forming a theology that makes humans just one small element in God’s “in” basket, instead of accepting the Bible’s message that we ARE God’s whole agenda. “For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only Son that we should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Isn’t this “whirlwind” enough of a statement for us to see it? If we acquiesce to a theology that posits that we “exist only to please God,” and that our doctrines and behaviors should be designed to appease the Almighty, we are missing the whole meaning of both the Job parable AND the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, God has “chosen to exist” precisely to reconcile and love humanity into ITS full existence! (This is a central point of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology, namely that God chooses to exist “for others,” and that we are made in THIS divine image—we exist “for others,” too, not just for ourselves.)

 

The second significant point of the Job story is how important it is that we regularly take stock of our own life, and of what is motivating us to do what we do. If we have moved too far afield from the “for others-ness” of the image of God in us, we are in danger of self-destruction brought about by selfishness. Then it’s time to “recalculate” and get back on course. This “taking stock” also involves reminding ourselves of who GOD is, and of how passionately God desires to meet us in the midst of life’s challenges in order to support and heal us, not judge us. There’s an old bumper sticker chestnut that says, “Feeling separated from God? Guess who’s moved…” Trite, but helpful in this instance. In the love and grace of Jesus Christ, God is forever moving in OUR direction; are we accepting of this affection, or are we backing away, either out of fear, or FOR fear that we somehow aren’t “worthy” of it? Job’s story reminds us that if we feel cut off from God, we’re probably the ones holding the scissors. 

 

One final lesson from Job is about how we take the advice of well-meaning friends. We all have friends or family who want to solve all of our problems, or at least explain why we have them. Again they mean well, but their advice is mostly overblown and under-informed. If you need good counsel, see someone trained as a counselor, be it a pastor or therapist, with the latter being the “go to” in cases of psychological distress. Still, the lesson is that our trusted friends MEAN well. The best friends are the ones who simply walk with us through what we’re facing, often without uttering a word. One of my favorite stories is about a man who keeps inviting a good friend to go to church with him to hear his “wonderful pastor” who gives such great sermons. The friend finally agrees to accompany his friend to church, and upon hearing the pastor, judges that he’s really a poor speaker, and that his sermon wandered all over the place. At lunch after the service, he asks the man, “Tell me what you see in your pastor and his messages?” The man answers, “You know, he sat with me in the hospital and held my hand for hours and hours, as my wife lay dying. I’d walk across hot coals to hear him preach.” Job could have used a friend like that. And so could we all. Amen.

 

The Searing Psalm

 The Searing Psalm 

Psalm 22:1-15

Why have you forsaken me? 

22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?

22:2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night but find no rest.

22:3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

22:4 In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.

22:5 To you they cried and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

22:6 But I am a worm and not human, scorned by others and despised by the people.

22:7 All who see me mock me; they sneer at me; they shake their heads;

22:8 "Commit your cause to the LORD; let God deliver-- let God rescue the one in whom God delights!"

22:9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother's breast.

22:10 On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God.

22:11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to help.

22:12 Many bulls encircle me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me;

22:13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.

22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;

22:15 my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.

 

If I were Jesus, and I had just been heinously beaten and nailed to a cross, what might I scream out publicly, so that all could hear? If it were a Charlton Heston Jesus, it might be, “You damn, dirty apes, you’ve done it now!” Or a Harrison Ford Jesus, “I feel terrible…” A politician Jesus might have given a speech to the gathered gawkers, “SURE, you think things are bad now, but wait until you see what I’m going to DO about it! I’ll be back in three days and will make sure these criminals get justice, and you all have lower taxes and redemption from your sins!” Of course, Jesus as Jesus spoke several things from the cross, depending on which Gospel you are reading. The “Seven Last Words from the Cross” has become a favorite preaching theme for Good Friday, and one of those proclamations/exclamations was “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,” which translates as, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The real Jesus quoted Psalm 22.

 

There is much significance in this, and a message for all of us “gathered” at the cross. First of all, Jesus certainly is feeling abandoned, even by God. We can join the theological debate that has been raging for eons as to what did Jesus know, and when did he know it? Because of what he tells the disciples several times in the gospels, we know he knew about his fate, but since these messages included his knowledge that he would be “raised from the dead,” they do not make clear whether he “knew” he would experience the kind of suffering he did. Was his quoting this indicting Psalm from the cross a sign that he truly felt abandoned by God? Was he crying out in anguish, and didn’t care who knew it? Until we get to that great press conference in the sky, we will not know. Or, was he trying to send a message to all of us who “witness” his last moments on this side of the great divide? And if so, what might that message be?

 

Great Bible scholars have spent many eons, too, on a study of the writings we call the “Psalms.” Walter Brueggemann, one of my favs, categorizes the Psalms into three classes: Psalms of orientation, or “current reality”; Psalms of DIS-orientation, or statements about times when the foundations are shaking, if not crumbling; and Psalms of NEW orientation, when God shows up and helps us regroup and rebuild. In this light, we might categorize Psalm 22 as a Psalm of disorientation. It is also labeled by others as a “Psalm of lament,” due to its opening wail, and the following sentences describing the calamity the psalmist is facing. Interestingly, in most of the Psalms of lament, the writer, as he or she scribes on about the pain and dejection they feel, they begin to “sense” or feel the presence of God, beginning the rescue. By the end of the Psalm, the author is raised to hope, if not downright gratitude and praise. We see this progression in Psalm 22. Jesus never gets there while on the cross, though. He leaves us with the wail, “My God, my God, WHY have you forsaken me?”

 

So what might the message be he was sending, if that is what we believe he was doing, with his quoting this Psalm? Was he possibly modeling a behavior for US when we get so discouraged, if not feeling “beaten?” Let’s go with this line of thought. Let’s assume, first of all, that Jesus WAS feeling abandoned by God. Obviously he had knowledge of what was to befall him, so the actual events on that dark day in Jerusalem were not a surprise. The pain and suffering—or at least to the degree he experienced—may well have been. I have another theory, though. Put yourself in the place of God (now THERE’S a homework assignment for you!), who arrives in the person of the Son of God, and who shows nothing but love and compassion to the world and the people he meets in what they will label the “first century.” And in return, he is rejected, beaten, and murdered by the very people he loves, including the “religious” leaders. His omniscience uncovers the fact that his most intimate band will all run and hide, hoping to save their own hides, other than the one who actually betrayed him to the authorities. Then, in your greatest hour of need, you look to “your Father in heaven,” and experience what actor Al Pacino recently “saw” when he supposedly died during a procedure at the hospital: “There’s nothing there.” This emptiness when you most need God’s fullness would be the ultimate discouragement, I would think. “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani” acknowledges his supreme aloneness, in that moment. 

 

(There’s a story about Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins, who is the astronaut who stays in orbit while Aldrin and Armstrong made their historic moon landing. After they had made that “giant leap for mankind” and gathered their lunar soil samples, they blasted off to rejoin him. As the ascent stage of the lunar module approaches Columbia, his command ship, he took a photo of it, with the distant earth in the background. Collins—who was described as the “loneliest man in the world” while Neil and Buzz were galivanting around the moon—realized in that moment that he was on one side of the camera, and every human who ever existed was on the other. Jesus found himself on the Collins side of the camera.) 

 

Jesus, though, lives out exactly what happens in Psalm 22, as an example to us. While his screaming the first verse from the cross may have absolutely been out of his legitimate pain and loneliness, we know from the other “six words,” he commits the gospel women—especially his mother—to his disciples, and to each other. He “welcomes” the penitent thief into “paradise,” and asks his absent “Father” to forgive those who have done this to him. That’s US, by the way. Don’t lose sight of that. I find it SO sad that “religious” leaders today are still badly misrepresenting most of what Jesus stood for, and that in doing so, they continue to pummel him with fists AND words. But Jesus asks God to forgive us all. The Psalmist, after journaling his suffering at the hand of his enemies, and his sinking to horrendous self-deprecation (“I am a worm”), begins to re-experience the presence and reconciliation of God. Even as Jesus “gave up his spirit,” so the psalmist gives up his spirit of self-condemnation and paranoia over his fate at the hand of his adversaries. In this “giving up,” the seeds of redemption and victory are sown. For the psalmist, these seeds are personal. For Jesus, his seeds sprouted universal and cosmic salvation for all who say “yes” to it, whether overtly or by looking godward in their moment of suffering and trials.

 

So, here we have a process that manifests both divine and self-healing characteristics. We’re not talking about that trite little chestnut, “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” here. More like, if life throws hydrochloric acid in your face, SCREAM! When things go bad, scream at God. This is precisely what the psalmist does, as does Jesus. Why? Because you KNOW that’s what your feeling; be honest about it. We DO feel abandoned by God when live deals us a horrible hand. This is the great question of theodicy: Why do BAD things happen to GOOD people? Why would a “good God” let this happen to me? SO, begin by owning your feelings, as does the psalmist: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani!” It’s a healthy thing, psychologically, owning your feelings and getting them to the surface early. Besides, yelling at God is physically healthier than screaming at your partner or kicking the dog, especially for the partner and the dog! The next line of thought is that getting mad at God also will turn us in the right direction toward the one who probably can author a plan for our redemption, in the moment. And Jesus demonstrated on that “Good Friday” that God can “take” human anger and resentment, without taking it personally. God is actually happy to see us looking in God’s direction, in the moment.

 

The Psalmist gets more toxic feelings out, but this time, they are self-directed. While this may not be seen as healthy by some, if the individual is “thinking” these things, getting them out an “owning” them actually is. If you’re feeling like a worm, say so, then leave it go. Believe that those who love you—including God—don’t see it this way. Don’t “fish for compliments” with such dramatic words, but do get in touch with how you are feeling, when things go South. 

 

Next, the psalmist reminds his audience of one that his people had trusted God and committed their situations to God, even in the worst of times, and that it was God who delivered them. This is our wakeup call to begin turning our anger and pain into prayers, which is what “committing them to God” means. Friends, I can guarantee if we follow this redemptive formula, it will put both our psyche and our spirit on a path toward healing. And the healing will be a partnership between ourselves, our supportive community, and God. The good news is that it doesn’t really matter at what stage the healing occurs. Not all healing processes require divine intervention, other than possibly what we learn from places like Psalm 22. Let’s look at the process again:

 

*We experience something that takes the wind out of our sails.

 

*We open our “viscera” and let out our frustration in a direction that doesn’t scare, harm, or indict others, but turns it toward the divine.

 

*We begin journaling (whether with a pen our in our thoughts) how we are feeling, to get out the “poisons” that so often make matters worse.

 

*If we are directly responsible for our plight—or feel like we “deserve” it—get these feelings out, too. Don’t justify them or repress them, again. 

 

*Now, begin to rewrite our pain and frustrations into prayers directed at God. If you still feel angry at God, don’t be afraid to say so, even in the prayers. Jesus wasn’t, and didn’t hold back. Neither should we.

 

*Provide time for the catharsis to set in. Expect to feel not only a soothing, personal presence, but the presence of God, as well.

 

*”Rinse and repeat,” as it says on the shampoo bottle. Keep up this process until you begin to feel an “attitude of gratitude” descend upon your soul.

 

*Anywhere along the way, if God gives you insight as to steps you could take to “make peace” with the situation, DO THEM, or at least start to put them in play. Sometimes when we pray for wisdom, God gives it to us rather directly, but I have seen so many folk ignore what they “hear” either because they don’t like it, or they don’t see how it may help. God’s pretty good with this stuff. Again, if you don’t believe it, review Jesus’ “Seven Last Words.” 

 

We’re all the thief on the cross, in a way. Two thieves were there, but only one turned to Jesus in his greatest hour of need. And while I happen to believe Jesus welcomed them both into “paradise,” because this is what God does, given the magnitude of the Christ Event, it is the penitent thief who models “the turn” for us. Psalm 22 is all about this process that leads to a cleansing and inner peace. 

 

I titled this sermon, “The Searing Psalm” because Psalm 22—and the fact that Jesus Christ himself modeled it for us—is such an important key to expelling the toxicity that will undo us. In this time of division and name-calling, our country AND the church need to rediscover the Psalm that will boil off the destructive poison and sear the grace of God into our conscience, in its place. God will NEVER forsake us, but as long as we feel God has, we’re no better off than if God actually did. “The turn” will point us in the right direction, Dear Ones. Shalom!