For "Good Shepherd Sunday," April 25, 2010
What is a witness to do? is the question we are exploring together in this Easter Season. We are witnesses to the risen Lord: That is what we proclaim on Easter Sunday: "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today, Alleluia!" The life of Jesus changed everything for the first disciples. In the company of Jesus they experienced the presence and the power of the living God. And then he was killed. And then, they experienced his presence after death. They were witnesses of the presence and power of the Christ and as witnesses they were obliged to tell others how they have seen the Lord.
These miracle stories from the Acts of the Apostles proclaim that the power that was in Jesus is now in the church. It isn't Peter who raises Tabitha, but the power of Christ working through the church that raises Tabitha as Jesus raised Jairus's dauthter. "Talitha, get up," Jesus said. "Tabitha, get up," Peter said. And the miracles that Jesus accomplished echoed back to the stories of Elijah, the prophet. The raising of Dorcas/Tabitha is a testimony that the presence of God which has always been at work in the world continues through the church.
The Acts of the Apostles also testifies that being part of the church meant being subject to suffering. The church endured persecution from the start, and we know from multiple sources that the persecution of Christians and Jews intensified after the Roman-Jewish war. The gospel according to John and the Revelation both arose out of this period of intense persecution.
This is important. To read scripture without an inkling of the experience of the writer and the intended audience is like listening to half of a phone conversation, without knowing who is on the other end of the line. Context matters.
When we hear Jesus say, in the gospel of John (and only in the gospel of John, Jesus doesn't say anything like this in the other three gospels), "You do not believe, because you do not belong to the sheep," it is vital to know that John was not addressing a congregation full of prominent, privileged citizens of the Empire. John was addressing a people who were under siege, a people who were forced into hiding, a people who were as likely to wake up in jail as to wake up at all. John's gospel is about comforting believers, confirming their faith, and assuring them-- during a period of intense persecution of the church-- that though they suffer, their suffering is not evidence of God's abandonment, or of their failure to believe strongly enough or correctly. My sheep hear my voice (I know them) and (they) follow me. In other words, because you belong to the flock, you believe.
We need each other. When our faith founders, when we wonder if there is any point to this life at all, when we are moved to shout with the psalmist and with the crucified Jesus, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me," we need the church to believe for us, and to assure us again, that God is for us, God is with us, and God will be with us always.
What is a witness to do? Flock together, and follow the Christ. Even when the way leads through suffering, follow the Christ. Stick together, help one another. Come together regularly to drink from the streams of the water of life. Feed the lambs. Carry the old sheep. And follow.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
What is a witness to do? Get up and go!
Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias.... The Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.’ But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’ So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
What is the Holy Spirit saying to the church through the stories of Saul and Ananias? "Get up and go." Get up and go, and wait for instruction. Get up and go greet your enemy as a brother. Get up and go, and make the blind see. Get up and go and make your witness in the life that you live together.
Responding to God's call requires a certain amount of vulnerability. To witness to the living Christ, we are called to behave in this life as if the promises of God are true and can be trusted. That is daunting. To reach out our hands as Ananias did for Saul, is to risk having them cuffed. To head out on the open road is to risk losing everything we leave behind. But the witness of scripture, and the witness of the saints among us, testify that in the balance the reward outweighs the risk, and that reward is life in the presence of Christ, today and always.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
What's a Witness to Do?
On Easter Sunday we celebrated the resurrection, and in my Easter sermon I gave some examples of where I have seen the risen Christ. HowI have seen the risen Christ in the pictures from Haiti-- Christ in the faces of those who had suffered, Christ in the joy and laughter of the people who had been entombed in the rubble and yet still they rejoiced, and danced and sang. Weeping lingered for the night but joy came with the morning!
I explained last week that I have seen the risen Christ in the church basement, serving and being served through the Interfaith Hospitality Network. An infant Christ napping on a cot in the Sunday school room, a Christ serving hot dish. I have seen Christ in the kindness, Christ in the courage, Christ in the love of people giving and receiving hospitality.
I have seen the risen Christ in you. I have seen the risen Christ in church, slipping into a rear pew after the first hymn. I have seen the Lord in the breaking of the bread, here in the sanctuary and downstairs in the fellowship hall, and at the soup kitchen at Temple Baptist Church, and on the job site with Habitat for Humanity. I have seen the risen Christ at your neighbor's house, visiting the sick, comforting the afflicted.
I have seen the risen Lord, and I am confident that you have too. Maybe you didn't recognize Jesus at the time, maybe like those disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke's story, you didn't realize you were talking with Jesus until after he was gone from your sight.
We are witnesses. We have seen the Lord. Now, what's a witness to do?
That is what the second volume of Luke's gospel is all about. Unlike the other gospels, Luke doesn't end with the resurrection, or even with post-resurrection appearances. Luke wrote a sequel which we know as the Acts of the Apostles. It is the "what next" part of the story. Jesus has ascended into heaven and what next? The Holy Spirit comes upon the apostles on Pentecost and what next? Believers live together and share all things in common and there is not a needy person among them and what next? What is a witness to do?
According to the story, the first disciples felt an urgency to tell it like they saw it. That's what a witness does. If you are sitting on your front porch and you see a car speed by and then you hear that horrible sound of horns and tires and metal against metal and broken glass, you have an obligation to tell the officer what you have seen and heard. That's what the first disciples did. They went to the temple where they were sure to find people to tell and they told their story. And it got them into a lot of trouble.
Which is why some of us hesitate to bear witness. The first disciples were thrown in jail. When they were sprung from prison by a miraculous intervention, instead of going home, they went right back to the temple and picked up where they left off, telling everyone what they had seen and heard about Jesus. And when the arresting party asked them, "Why do you keep doing this?" They said, "We must obey God. Rather than human authority." That is dangerous territory. But dangerous territory became home to the first Christians. Regular law breakers, they were. The first Christians did a lot of jail time, as a consequence of bearing witness to their Christ encounters.
Like Nelson Mandela, who bore witness to the Christ who shows no partiality, but expects justice from and for black and white alike, the disciples went to jail. Like Mary Benson, who bore witness to the Christ who rejected violence and preached love of enemies, the disciples went to jail. Not everyone had to suffer such severe consequences for their testimony, but thank God for those who were bold enough to do so.
So, what is a witness to do? That is what we continue to discover together, as a church. Like the first disciples, we are called to bear witness, simply to tell what we have seen and heard. As we worship and meet together during this Easter season, let's try to help one another answer that question. How do we best bear witness to the presence of Christ in our midst, in this world today? How do we tell the story in ways that people can understand what we are talking about?
Let us tune our ears to hear what the spirit is saying to the church. Amen.
I explained last week that I have seen the risen Christ in the church basement, serving and being served through the Interfaith Hospitality Network. An infant Christ napping on a cot in the Sunday school room, a Christ serving hot dish. I have seen Christ in the kindness, Christ in the courage, Christ in the love of people giving and receiving hospitality.
I have seen the risen Christ in you. I have seen the risen Christ in church, slipping into a rear pew after the first hymn. I have seen the Lord in the breaking of the bread, here in the sanctuary and downstairs in the fellowship hall, and at the soup kitchen at Temple Baptist Church, and on the job site with Habitat for Humanity. I have seen the risen Christ at your neighbor's house, visiting the sick, comforting the afflicted.
I have seen the risen Lord, and I am confident that you have too. Maybe you didn't recognize Jesus at the time, maybe like those disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke's story, you didn't realize you were talking with Jesus until after he was gone from your sight.
We are witnesses. We have seen the Lord. Now, what's a witness to do?
What is a witness to do?
That is what the second volume of Luke's gospel is all about. Unlike the other gospels, Luke doesn't end with the resurrection, or even with post-resurrection appearances. Luke wrote a sequel which we know as the Acts of the Apostles. It is the "what next" part of the story. Jesus has ascended into heaven and what next? The Holy Spirit comes upon the apostles on Pentecost and what next? Believers live together and share all things in common and there is not a needy person among them and what next? What is a witness to do?
According to the story, the first disciples felt an urgency to tell it like they saw it. That's what a witness does. If you are sitting on your front porch and you see a car speed by and then you hear that horrible sound of horns and tires and metal against metal and broken glass, you have an obligation to tell the officer what you have seen and heard. That's what the first disciples did. They went to the temple where they were sure to find people to tell and they told their story. And it got them into a lot of trouble.
Which is why some of us hesitate to bear witness. The first disciples were thrown in jail. When they were sprung from prison by a miraculous intervention, instead of going home, they went right back to the temple and picked up where they left off, telling everyone what they had seen and heard about Jesus. And when the arresting party asked them, "Why do you keep doing this?" They said, "We must obey God. Rather than human authority." That is dangerous territory. But dangerous territory became home to the first Christians. Regular law breakers, they were. The first Christians did a lot of jail time, as a consequence of bearing witness to their Christ encounters.
Like Nelson Mandela, who bore witness to the Christ who shows no partiality, but expects justice from and for black and white alike, the disciples went to jail. Like Mary Benson, who bore witness to the Christ who rejected violence and preached love of enemies, the disciples went to jail. Not everyone had to suffer such severe consequences for their testimony, but thank God for those who were bold enough to do so.
So, what is a witness to do? That is what we continue to discover together, as a church. Like the first disciples, we are called to bear witness, simply to tell what we have seen and heard. As we worship and meet together during this Easter season, let's try to help one another answer that question. How do we best bear witness to the presence of Christ in our midst, in this world today? How do we tell the story in ways that people can understand what we are talking about?
Let us tune our ears to hear what the spirit is saying to the church. Amen.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Christ is Risen
We begin where the gospel lesson ends. We have come to church this morning because we have heard of an empty tomb, and we stand amazed, like Peter, not sure if we dare believe the unbelievable. Like the disciples that morning, we have only the women's word that they found the tomb empty, and they had only the word of strange angels, to explain the shocking absence of a body in the tomb of the crucified Jesus.
"But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel." A disciple said to a stranger on the road to Emmaus, later that same day. The disciples dared to hope in Jesus, they thought he might be the messiah, the king promised in scripture, the one who would end Israel's sufferings once and for all and reestablish the reign of King David. All the signs were there! He was a prophet, the spirit of God was with him. We saw miracles! The lame walked, and lepers were cleansed, and the blind discovered their sight. We saw him feed a multitude on a few loaves and fish. "We had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel."
But instead of victory, his disciples witnessed his death. Jesus was betrayed, and he was arrested, and he was tortured, and he was crucified. Jesus died, and his body was placed in a tomb.
At sunrise on the first day of the week, the women went the the tomb and found it vacant. "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, he has been raised. Remember, he told you this would happen."
So the women ran to tell the disciples, but they considered it an idle tale. The mad ravings of hysterical women. And they did not believe it.
Can you blame them? They had been through a lot in the previous week, the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the clearing of the temple, the Passover meal and celebration. And then the horror. The dark night in Gethsemane, the betrayal, the police and the angry mob. Jesus was beaten and crucified to death, and Peter and the other disciples could do nothing to stop it. They had been high and they were brought low. Could they dare to believe? Would you, would I, would we dare to believe?
Good news: their disbelief did not negate the truth of the resurrection. Their disbelief did not disqualify them from later witnessing their risen Lord. Their disbelief did not invalidate their discipleship. Believe it or not, death is defeated, Christ lives. Christ is risen, indeed.
Despite evidence to the contrary, Christ lives.
Despite wars and rumors of war, Christ lives.
Despite heartbreak and separation, Christ lives.
Despite poverty and sickness, Christ lives.
Despite even death, Christ lives.
Despite all the powers of hell at work in our world today, Christ lives and walks among us, and is seen in everything that is true and beautiful and good. I have seen the risen Christ in the photos that Joey Halvorson took in Haiti-- Christ in the doctors and nurses who cared for the sick and the wounded, Christ in the faces of those who had suffered, Christ in the joy and laughter of people who had been through hell, and still they rejoiced, and danced and sang, and lived and loved.
I have seen Christ in the church basement, serving and being served. Christ napping on a cot in the Sunday school room, Christ serving hot dish. I have seen Christ in the kindness, Christ in the courage, Christ in the love. Christ died, and Christ is risen, and Christ comes again, and again.
The resurrection means that death is defeated. Because death is defeated, nothing can stop us from living fearlessly, loving lavishly, even laying down our lives for our friends, confident that life is restored.
Do not be afraid to live, to love, to serve God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, because your life is yours, given to you as a gift, as an everlasting gift. Rejoice and be glad, for Christ is risen, indeed. Alleluia! Amen.
"But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel." A disciple said to a stranger on the road to Emmaus, later that same day. The disciples dared to hope in Jesus, they thought he might be the messiah, the king promised in scripture, the one who would end Israel's sufferings once and for all and reestablish the reign of King David. All the signs were there! He was a prophet, the spirit of God was with him. We saw miracles! The lame walked, and lepers were cleansed, and the blind discovered their sight. We saw him feed a multitude on a few loaves and fish. "We had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel."
But instead of victory, his disciples witnessed his death. Jesus was betrayed, and he was arrested, and he was tortured, and he was crucified. Jesus died, and his body was placed in a tomb.
At sunrise on the first day of the week, the women went the the tomb and found it vacant. "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, he has been raised. Remember, he told you this would happen."
So the women ran to tell the disciples, but they considered it an idle tale. The mad ravings of hysterical women. And they did not believe it.
Can you blame them? They had been through a lot in the previous week, the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the clearing of the temple, the Passover meal and celebration. And then the horror. The dark night in Gethsemane, the betrayal, the police and the angry mob. Jesus was beaten and crucified to death, and Peter and the other disciples could do nothing to stop it. They had been high and they were brought low. Could they dare to believe? Would you, would I, would we dare to believe?
Good news: their disbelief did not negate the truth of the resurrection. Their disbelief did not disqualify them from later witnessing their risen Lord. Their disbelief did not invalidate their discipleship. Believe it or not, death is defeated, Christ lives. Christ is risen, indeed.
Despite evidence to the contrary, Christ lives.
Despite wars and rumors of war, Christ lives.
Despite heartbreak and separation, Christ lives.
Despite poverty and sickness, Christ lives.
Despite even death, Christ lives.
Despite all the powers of hell at work in our world today, Christ lives and walks among us, and is seen in everything that is true and beautiful and good. I have seen the risen Christ in the photos that Joey Halvorson took in Haiti-- Christ in the doctors and nurses who cared for the sick and the wounded, Christ in the faces of those who had suffered, Christ in the joy and laughter of people who had been through hell, and still they rejoiced, and danced and sang, and lived and loved.
I have seen Christ in the church basement, serving and being served. Christ napping on a cot in the Sunday school room, Christ serving hot dish. I have seen Christ in the kindness, Christ in the courage, Christ in the love. Christ died, and Christ is risen, and Christ comes again, and again.
The resurrection means that death is defeated. Because death is defeated, nothing can stop us from living fearlessly, loving lavishly, even laying down our lives for our friends, confident that life is restored.
Do not be afraid to live, to love, to serve God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, because your life is yours, given to you as a gift, as an everlasting gift. Rejoice and be glad, for Christ is risen, indeed. Alleluia! Amen.
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