For Sunday, July 12: The Death of the Mentor

Mark 6:14-29

King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, ‘John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ But others said, ‘It is Elijah.’ And others said, ‘It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.’ But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.’

It is a classic theme in biblical literature, and it is a universal theme: The death of the mentor, the master, the teacher, becomes the crucible in which the hero is refined by fire. Moses ascends to the mountaintop and does not return, Joshua leads the Hebrew people to the promised land. Elijah is carried to heaven in the firey chariot, Elisha takes up his mantle. Master Po is killed by the emperor's nephew, Kwai Chang Caine wanders the American West, defending the defenceless. Obi Wan Kenobi is killed by Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker saves the princess.

The relationship between John the baptizer and Jesus may have been that of teacher and student, master and apprentice, leader and follower. The gospel accounts concur that John emerged first on the public scene, that people went to John to hear what he had to say, that John's disciples participated in a ritual cleansing in the Jordan river, and that Jesus also participated in this ritual. If Jesus was baptized by John, was Jesus a disciple of John? Probably so, but if we trace how the gospel accounts differ, we can see how the interpretation of this relationship changed as time went on.

Mark, the earliest gospel, begins with a description of John the baptizer, who proclaims "the one who is more powerful than I is coming," but John does not directly identify Jesus as "the one." Mark simply states that Jesus "was baptized by John in the Jordan." The gospel of Luke suggests that John and Jesus recognized each other while they were still babies in their mother's wombs, that the elder (John) leaped for joy at the prenatal presence of the younger. The gospel of Matthew asserts that John realized immediately that he should be subservient to Jesus, and further asserts that Jesus humbly allowed himself to be baptized by John, "to fulfill all righteousness." And yet, in both Matthew and Luke, John's early confidence in Jesus seems to have waned when John sends his disciples to ask Jesus, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" (Matt 11:3, Luke 7:19).

By the time the gospel according to John was assembled, the tradition clearly had elevated Jesus above John (and everyone else), Jesus being pre-existent and omniscient. John is granted a dose of paranormal perception, it seems, when he shouts, "behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!" And look carefully at this gospel, is there any mention of Jesus being baptized at all, by anyone? No, there is not. John testifies that he saw the spirit descend upon Jesus, and that is how John knows that Jesus is the Son of God. But any claim to John baptizing Jesus is conspicuously absent. What the author leaves out of the story is as important as what the author adds to the story.

So, though later tradition clearly disagrees, I believe the earliest Jesus traditions indicate that John the baptizer was a mentor to Jesus, that Jesus was a disciple of John. If this is so, then the arrest and later the death of John the baptizer may have been the event that led Jesus to begin his own public ministry. He picked up Elijah's mantle.

For Sunday, July 5, 2009

Scripture:
Ezekiel 2:1-5

He said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you. And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD." Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

Psalm 123
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13

"Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house."
He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them."
So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Sermon Title: It's the Journey

"Whether they hear or refuse to hear, they shall know that there has been a prophet among them." It was General Synod, meeting in Columbus, Ohio, in 1997. I was a delegate assigned to a committee to consider a resolution calling for the closure of the US military base on Okinawa. We heard testimony from representatives from the civilian community on Okinawa, about the abuses of power and criminal activity of men stationed on the base. They were asking for our support.
One of the arguments against the resolution was that it would not make any difference what the General Synod of the United Church of Christ resolved, there was little or no chance of the US giving up that military base.
The morning before the resolution was presented to the plenary session, I read this scripture from Ezekiel: "Whether they hear, or refuse to hear, they shall know that there has been a prophet among them."
The prophetic church is called to proclaim God's reign of peace. We are called to speak up for the least and last of God's children, and demand justice. Whether the powers that be hear, or refuse to hear, we are called to prophesy.
Outcomes, or likely outcomes, don't matter. God is asking us to be faithful. It's not the destination that counts so much as the journey. If we walk, step by step, in love, showing mercy, loving kindness, then we will know that we have been faithful, and eventually, the world will know that there has been a prophetic church in our nation, in our time.
The resolution passed.

Serendipity: The Upside of the Downturn

Necessity, they say (and why would they lie?) is the mother of invention, and she is the kind of mother who doesn’t put up with grousing. When her child whines “I’m so bored,” she responds, “Maybe that’s because you’re boring. Go find something to do!”

Perhaps the upside of the economic downturn is that it requires us all to use our imagination, and figure out how to amuse ourselves without expensive toys or fee-based leisure. If green fees are beyond our reach this summer, we may have to remember how to take a walk in the park without a ball and a club, and we may find out that it is even more relaxing that we imagined. Taking the children to the free beach instead of the water park, we might rediscover the wonder of sandcastles and snail shells. Serendipity is what that is called: an unexpected gift.

And here’s a thought: Sunday mornings, at church, an hour of live music and stand-up storytelling, absolutely free (donations accepted). Eat enough cookies at fellowship afterward, and you could call it lunch!

Shocking it may be to hear worship described as free entertainment (and by a pastor too!), but I offer this as pastoral care. The Sabbath is God’s free gift to us, not as a chore, but as a joy. Come for the free coffee, or come for the sage wisdom. Come for the company of friends, or come for the glory of God. Just come!

You may find here, much more than you expected. That’s serendipity.

For Sunday, June 21, 2009

Paradise Now
"See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!"
--II Corinthians 6:2
Come, take a walk in the gardens around the church, and you will see paradise, now. Close your eyes, inhale deeply, and you will draw in the lilac-scent of God's breath. Consider the bumbling path of the bee, drunk on nectar, deliriously content with life, and you will witness deep peace.
There was one stream of early Christian thought which rejected the material world, which viewed the earth as a deeply flawed creation of some lesser god. Marcionism, as it was called, was rejected as heresy in the third century, but unfortunately its ghost still haunts some philosophies of religion. The view that "life is hell"-- that would be Marcionism.
But Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, was not naive. "Now is the day of salvation," even if we continue to suffer illness, persecution, arrest, and trial. "Now is the day of salvation" even if we are dying.
As the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is grown in it to spring up, so God's salvation comes. We can see it, now. Look!

On Vacation

...until June 18.

For Sunday, May 24, 2009

Scriptures:
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Psalm 1
1 John 5:9-13
John 17:6-19

In Acts, Peter draws straws to appoint a new apostle; Psalm 1, happy are those who meditate on God's word; 1 John, got life?; John the gospel, Jesus prays that we may all be one.

The Sunday Bulletin Service theme is Guided in Prayer; but I'm going to focus on the psalm with the beautiful image of trees beside the water.
But first, about the gospel of John: Sometimes I have to wonder if the author of the gospel of John was a bit "da-da." He put the strangest words in Jesus' mouth, words that none of the other gospel writers seem to remember. These particular words, quoted above, are addressed to God, as half of an overheard conversation. John is the modernist poet of the gospel writers. In poetry, literal accuracy is not the point, the primary task is to evoke an image or emotion. The creator of the Gospel according to John seems to have been more involved in conveying the feeling of what the Jesus experience was like; and according to John it must have been disorienting. Yet from this disorienting gospel the church has excised some singular verses, gospel soundbites. "That they may all be one," which is part of the emblem of the United Church of Christ, is just one example.
It is the psalm appointed for Sunday that I find most inspiring, with the contrasting imagery of a tree planted by water and chaff that the wind drives away.

Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight in in the law of God,
and on God's law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all they do they prosper.

Happy, like trees. The trees of spring are looking particularly happy this morning. Not as wind-blown as yesterday, and watered by an early morning shower, they do look fresh and strong and healthy. We should all be that happy.
According to a 2002 study conducted by researchers from the University of California at Berkeley, people who attend worship services once a week have significantly lower risks of death than those who attend less frequently or not at all. Even when adjusting for other risk factors, such as smoking or exercise, those who attend worship regularly were 21% less likely to die of circulatory diseases. The lead author of the study, Doug Oman surmises: "Maybe frequent addendees experience a greater sense of inner peace, perhaps they can draw upon religious coping practices to help them deal with stressful events."
Happy are those... who delight in the law of God, and on God's law meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water... and their leaves do not wither.
Good news.