This past Saturday, I was invited to lead a bible study at the regional WELCA conference. WELCA, or Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is the national women's organization for the denomination. There are WELCA groups at many local churches which then gather once a year in regional conferences (for us is it two counties in Connecticut) then biannually at a synod level and triannually in a national conference.
I'm not all that familiar with WELCA, Bethlehem does not currently have a WELCA group, and I have never gotten too involved with a WELCA group mainly because of the age gap. They are an aging group, I was the youngest at both this last conference and the one in the fall of 08 by at least a decade, and the average age at both conferences is probably in the late 60's if not older. The WELCA group at my internship congregation met at 1pm on a Tuesday, they were mainly "the greatest generation" and they couldn't figure out why baby boomers and gen x'ers weren't able to attend. And they got frustrated with a group of baby boomer women who met separately who did not want to be an official WELCA group. And this coming fall is the first time that the New England Synod Biannual WELCA conference will not start on a Thursday but instead Friday so that working women and stay at home moms will not have to greatly rearrange their schedule in order to attend.
So not only is the group aging, they also do not relate well with young women mainly due to scheduling. But lets also face it, it is odd to hang out with a bunch of people who are your parents age or older. Now I have quiet a few female friends who are in their 50's & 60's, however if they all start talking about menopause I have nothing to contribute or if they start referencing TV shows from their childhood or political figures or events that occurred before I was born, it can become awkward.
So I really don't know how to have WELCA reach out to younger women other than for the groups at the congregational level encouraging younger women (boomers, gen x'ers and even millennials) to start their own groups which allow them to do ministry as a group of women, whether they join the national organization or not.
However I also love WELCA because I owe credit to WELCA for my call at Bethlehem. Briefly, in fall of '08 I was asked by my seminary to attend the biannual New England Synod WELCA conference to represent the seminary. Most of the weekend I sat in a back room and needle-pointed but on the last day of the conference I weaseled my way into making a brief remarks to the gathering at the beginning of the business meeting. During these remarks I mentioned that I was living in New Haven and awaiting a call. Aftwerward two women approached me to get my contact information to be a supply preacher. Well I never heard from one of the women, but the other is a member of Bethlehem. She then brought my info to the congregational council of Bethlehem, who then contacted me to supply preach, and then they contacted the synod office to explore a call option.
So I love WELCA for that, and I also think that WELCA, especially at local churches, do a lot of good. They often raise money and goods for local charities, they hold dinners or breakfasts for social events for the congregation along with many other events that I can't begin to list since again I really am not all that familiar with WELCA.
However I wanted to talk about the conference this last weekend. It really was a nice day. The theme for the day was "Come to the Waters." Another female pastor lead a wonderful worship service and preached about love being one of the things that we need to survive. I lead a bible study on Isaiah 55 which ended up being more about food than water. And a woman did a great presentation as Katie Luther, Martin Luther's wife. She dressed as Katie and told her life story from childhood to the death of Martin. Katie Luther was nun who broke away from the Catholic church to follow Luther's teachings and she became a wonderful support to Martin during the reformation. While she was never an actual pastor, she was in a lot of ways the first female Lutheran pastor. It really was a nice day and I hope to continue to be involved in WELCA events in the future and maybe can help get some other younger women involved.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Singing with Babies
One of the ideas I have for Bethlehem is to start a monthly worship service that is focused on very young children. This idea also stemmed out of one of the presentations I attended at Baby Pastor School, which was about Godly play, a get on the floor and use props to tell Bible Stories to young children. So I have been toying with how to incorporate that idea into something that good for the members of Bethlehem and would reach out to the community as well. My mind then thought of Linda.
Linda was the music director/Associate in Ministry at my internship congregation. She would do mommy and me music classes and at a previous congregation she started a birth to 3 year old Sunday school class for parents and children. So I contacted Linda to see if I could come and observe some of her music classes. Well because of the economy the demand for these classes has waned. However the woman who got her involved in teaching young children is still teaching two Sally's Music Circle classes on Monday mornings.
So within my 48 hour trip to Philly, I was able to observe two classes, receive some old material from Linda along with half a carload of musical instruments and other objects that she was no longer using, and pick her brain a little about what worked for her both in the Sunday School class and in the music classes. And of course as long as I was in Philly, was saw a few friends and got my soft pretzel fix.
And as an added bonus, this week is also convocation week at LTSP, my seminary alma mater. I did attended any of their special presentations since that wasn't way I came to Philly, but I was able to attend Easter Vesper, which is a special evening worship service featuring the seminary choir. It is always a great time to be able to worship and not lead worship. Plus the seminary chapel has wonderful acoustics so the singing is phenomenal!
Ohh so were does this new worship stand for now? Well I need to inventory all the instruments that are still in my car and get a few more materials, but my hope is that starting in the fall I will be to start a "Worship Together" service on Saturday mornings. I was originally thinking once a month, but Linda and others have said the repetition is good for children so I maybe it will be most Saturdays...still toying with the idea, but I'll keep you updated.
Linda was the music director/Associate in Ministry at my internship congregation. She would do mommy and me music classes and at a previous congregation she started a birth to 3 year old Sunday school class for parents and children. So I contacted Linda to see if I could come and observe some of her music classes. Well because of the economy the demand for these classes has waned. However the woman who got her involved in teaching young children is still teaching two Sally's Music Circle classes on Monday mornings.
So within my 48 hour trip to Philly, I was able to observe two classes, receive some old material from Linda along with half a carload of musical instruments and other objects that she was no longer using, and pick her brain a little about what worked for her both in the Sunday School class and in the music classes. And of course as long as I was in Philly, was saw a few friends and got my soft pretzel fix.
And as an added bonus, this week is also convocation week at LTSP, my seminary alma mater. I did attended any of their special presentations since that wasn't way I came to Philly, but I was able to attend Easter Vesper, which is a special evening worship service featuring the seminary choir. It is always a great time to be able to worship and not lead worship. Plus the seminary chapel has wonderful acoustics so the singing is phenomenal!
Ohh so were does this new worship stand for now? Well I need to inventory all the instruments that are still in my car and get a few more materials, but my hope is that starting in the fall I will be to start a "Worship Together" service on Saturday mornings. I was originally thinking once a month, but Linda and others have said the repetition is good for children so I maybe it will be most Saturdays...still toying with the idea, but I'll keep you updated.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Making an Exchange/An Example in Tabitha
I'm a few days late in posting my sermon from Sunday. Early Sunday afternoon I left to go to Philly to visit friends and explore a ministry idea, but that is a later post. First I should tell you a little about Sunday morning.
I, well Bethlehem, participated in a pulpit exchange with the Wilton Clergy Association. For the exchange a member of the Wilton Friends Meetinghouse came to Bethlehem to talk about Quakerism and his faith journey and I went to United Covenant Church. I was excited to go to UCC because I have become friends with their pastor, Faith, and another member of the congregation. But also there is bit of history between the two congregations.
In a nutshell, UCC was created from two Covenant churches in the 70's, one of which was a church in Georgetown. That church was the Swedish Covenant Church which was founded by Swedes from mainland Sweden. Bethlehem was founded by Swedes from Olund Island which the mainlanders did not considered true Swedes because the island has switched between a Swedish and Finish territory. But realistically members have switched between the two congregations for years.
Worship at UCC was wonderful. Faith's husband, Dan, leads music on his guitar along with their 90 plus year old organist. Overall the liturgy felt familiar to me but different. The sermon was one of the last parts of the service and there was no communion, but theology-wise, there was nothing said that made me cringe. Honestly if I was not a pastor and looking for a church home I would probably go back and check the church out another time.
My sermon there was based on Acts 9:36-43, a beautiful story about Tabitha, who Peter raised from the dead through prayer. Here is my sermon from Sunday.
Tabitha died! The woman who was devoted to good works and acts of charity died. And probably quiet quickly too. “At that time she became ill and died.” One sentence, that’s it! Was she fine one day and the next morning she had just a sore throat or an ache in her side and two days later was she dead?
Regardless of how she died we know enough about Tabitha that she was loved and cared for by the members of her worshipping community. And Luke, the author of Acts, had heard enough about her and how wonderful she was that he too wrote things that suggests just how special Tabitha was.
She was a disciple, the only woman to be specifically named a disciple not just in all of Acts but in all of the New Testament. Luke cared enough to translate her name into Greek so that his readers would know what her name means. In English, Tabitha, or Dorcas, means gazelle, was she as strong and graceful as a gazelle? Scripture hardly gives that level of care that the author will translate a name so that even the original reader knew what their name meant. And we hear that Tabitha was devoted to good works and acts of charity. While we don’t know what exactly that means, what good works or charity she did, we know that she must have been a good woman, someone that we would probably want to know, someone that we would want helping us out, as a member of our congregation.
And after she died, the community mourned and washed her and laid her out as they grieved her death. And like any good funeral they clung to her life through the material things that she left behind. They showed off the tunics and other clothing that she made.
We still do this at funerals today. Not only do we have pictures of the dearly departed around the funeral home or church, we also often had other tokens of their life. When my husband’s grandmother died, at visitation, funeral and post-funeral lunch there were coolers full of cans of Coca-Cola, and people had a Coke on Dixie, since she was such a Coke fan and everyone knew this about her. At a family friend’s funeral they auctioned off her famed purple sparkly hat in order to raise money for her favorite charity. While no one could bare to actually take the hat (the winners of the auction gave the hat to her son) they raise a lot of money for an AIDS related charity that she spent much of the last 15 years of her life supporting.
At funerals I have seen purses, hats, art work, kitchen utensils. At funerals, I have eaten famed recipes and favorite foods. At funerals, I have drunk favorite drinks. And among the tears, the heartbreak and the grief, these items bring back loved memories of the deceased; they bring back memories filled with laughter, joy, happiness and hope. We cling to these items when we grieve. That is why some people will never be able to toss out that ugly, outdated and broken vase/artwork/shirt/hat/purse/piece of furniture because it came from a dead loved one and the memories of joy that item envokes help ease our grief that we still feel for them, even years after their death.
But what is most striking to me about Tabitha’s death and how much her community loved her and grieved her death is that they sent Peter for her. Now all we are told is that people told him: “Please come without delay.” We don’t know if they expected Peter to raise her from the dead, or if Peter knew her well and they wanted to make sure that he was there for her funeral. Maybe they went and told Peter because this was the first death they had in their community since becoming believers and followers of Jesus and they weren’t sure how her death should be handled. Therefore they called the leader of the church, the equivalent of the Pope (well really Peter was the first Pope) to come and help them mourn and lead them in their grief. Regardless of why they sent for Peter, Peter came. He got up and went with them to her wake, her visitation, her funeral.
And through prayer, Peter made Tabitha alive again.
Now wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could do that? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if at the funerals of our loved ones, at the funerals of the people who have touched our lives, we could pray and tell them to get up and they would open their eyes and be alive again?
I haven’t been to too many funerals, probably less than 50 in all. But at none of those funerals, nor at any funeral that any of my friends, family, or church members have been to, has the dead come back to life. Now am I missing something in the Lutheran church? Have the dead come back to life at Covenant funerals?
Now maybe if you had a different preacher here today on this pulpit exchange they would tell you something like “If you truly believe and pray hard enough Jesus will raise your loved one from the dead.” But I’m not like that, and I think if I came here and said something like that, Faith would be getting an ear full come tomorrow, if some of you didn’t even call her up this afternoon, as soon as you left here, to tell her about how crazy I am.
So where is the gospel for us? Where is the good news for us in this text? Well maybe the gospel, the good news, the Christian message here is that Tabitha touched so many people’s lives and in such a loving way that they wanted her to come back to life. Through her good works and acts of charity, she touched people’s lives and hearts. Many members of that Christian community probably came to their faith through her love towards them. Many people learned about Jesus through her words and deeds, through her good works, acts of charity and ministry to others.
Who brought you to faith? Your parents? A pastor? A friends? How did you or would you feel when they die? Not only would you mourn them as a person but part of the mourning process also includes giving thanks for how your faith life was effect by them.
Through Tabitha’s love for Christ she was able to share Christ’ love with others. Through Tabitha’s belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior she was able to show others God’s grace in this world. And that love and grace did not go un-noticed.
Through the grace that God has poured out on us, we are able to share Christian love and grace to others. Through Christ’s love for us, we are able to love others, and we all know that sometimes we are only able to love others because Christ first loves us. And through the power of the Holy Spirit that is flowing through us constantly we are able to use the gifts of the Spirit in order to lead others in faith and life. Gifts like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity and self control, help us show our faith to others and lead others to faith. Gifts like teaching, preaching, caring for the sick and the dying, parenting, and feeding the homeless allow us to show Christ in this world.
Yes Tabitha made a difference in her community. Yes Tabitha was loved by her community. But she was only able to make a difference and their love for her only occurred because God first loved her, the gifts of the Spirit were given to her and Christ first died for her. And God has first loved us, we have been given the gifts of the Spirit and Christ had died for us so that we might love and care for others and be Christ in this world.
I, well Bethlehem, participated in a pulpit exchange with the Wilton Clergy Association. For the exchange a member of the Wilton Friends Meetinghouse came to Bethlehem to talk about Quakerism and his faith journey and I went to United Covenant Church. I was excited to go to UCC because I have become friends with their pastor, Faith, and another member of the congregation. But also there is bit of history between the two congregations.
In a nutshell, UCC was created from two Covenant churches in the 70's, one of which was a church in Georgetown. That church was the Swedish Covenant Church which was founded by Swedes from mainland Sweden. Bethlehem was founded by Swedes from Olund Island which the mainlanders did not considered true Swedes because the island has switched between a Swedish and Finish territory. But realistically members have switched between the two congregations for years.
Worship at UCC was wonderful. Faith's husband, Dan, leads music on his guitar along with their 90 plus year old organist. Overall the liturgy felt familiar to me but different. The sermon was one of the last parts of the service and there was no communion, but theology-wise, there was nothing said that made me cringe. Honestly if I was not a pastor and looking for a church home I would probably go back and check the church out another time.
My sermon there was based on Acts 9:36-43, a beautiful story about Tabitha, who Peter raised from the dead through prayer. Here is my sermon from Sunday.
Tabitha died! The woman who was devoted to good works and acts of charity died. And probably quiet quickly too. “At that time she became ill and died.” One sentence, that’s it! Was she fine one day and the next morning she had just a sore throat or an ache in her side and two days later was she dead?
Regardless of how she died we know enough about Tabitha that she was loved and cared for by the members of her worshipping community. And Luke, the author of Acts, had heard enough about her and how wonderful she was that he too wrote things that suggests just how special Tabitha was.
She was a disciple, the only woman to be specifically named a disciple not just in all of Acts but in all of the New Testament. Luke cared enough to translate her name into Greek so that his readers would know what her name means. In English, Tabitha, or Dorcas, means gazelle, was she as strong and graceful as a gazelle? Scripture hardly gives that level of care that the author will translate a name so that even the original reader knew what their name meant. And we hear that Tabitha was devoted to good works and acts of charity. While we don’t know what exactly that means, what good works or charity she did, we know that she must have been a good woman, someone that we would probably want to know, someone that we would want helping us out, as a member of our congregation.
And after she died, the community mourned and washed her and laid her out as they grieved her death. And like any good funeral they clung to her life through the material things that she left behind. They showed off the tunics and other clothing that she made.
We still do this at funerals today. Not only do we have pictures of the dearly departed around the funeral home or church, we also often had other tokens of their life. When my husband’s grandmother died, at visitation, funeral and post-funeral lunch there were coolers full of cans of Coca-Cola, and people had a Coke on Dixie, since she was such a Coke fan and everyone knew this about her. At a family friend’s funeral they auctioned off her famed purple sparkly hat in order to raise money for her favorite charity. While no one could bare to actually take the hat (the winners of the auction gave the hat to her son) they raise a lot of money for an AIDS related charity that she spent much of the last 15 years of her life supporting.
At funerals I have seen purses, hats, art work, kitchen utensils. At funerals, I have eaten famed recipes and favorite foods. At funerals, I have drunk favorite drinks. And among the tears, the heartbreak and the grief, these items bring back loved memories of the deceased; they bring back memories filled with laughter, joy, happiness and hope. We cling to these items when we grieve. That is why some people will never be able to toss out that ugly, outdated and broken vase/artwork/shirt/hat/purse/piece of furniture because it came from a dead loved one and the memories of joy that item envokes help ease our grief that we still feel for them, even years after their death.
But what is most striking to me about Tabitha’s death and how much her community loved her and grieved her death is that they sent Peter for her. Now all we are told is that people told him: “Please come without delay.” We don’t know if they expected Peter to raise her from the dead, or if Peter knew her well and they wanted to make sure that he was there for her funeral. Maybe they went and told Peter because this was the first death they had in their community since becoming believers and followers of Jesus and they weren’t sure how her death should be handled. Therefore they called the leader of the church, the equivalent of the Pope (well really Peter was the first Pope) to come and help them mourn and lead them in their grief. Regardless of why they sent for Peter, Peter came. He got up and went with them to her wake, her visitation, her funeral.
And through prayer, Peter made Tabitha alive again.
Now wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could do that? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if at the funerals of our loved ones, at the funerals of the people who have touched our lives, we could pray and tell them to get up and they would open their eyes and be alive again?
I haven’t been to too many funerals, probably less than 50 in all. But at none of those funerals, nor at any funeral that any of my friends, family, or church members have been to, has the dead come back to life. Now am I missing something in the Lutheran church? Have the dead come back to life at Covenant funerals?
Now maybe if you had a different preacher here today on this pulpit exchange they would tell you something like “If you truly believe and pray hard enough Jesus will raise your loved one from the dead.” But I’m not like that, and I think if I came here and said something like that, Faith would be getting an ear full come tomorrow, if some of you didn’t even call her up this afternoon, as soon as you left here, to tell her about how crazy I am.
So where is the gospel for us? Where is the good news for us in this text? Well maybe the gospel, the good news, the Christian message here is that Tabitha touched so many people’s lives and in such a loving way that they wanted her to come back to life. Through her good works and acts of charity, she touched people’s lives and hearts. Many members of that Christian community probably came to their faith through her love towards them. Many people learned about Jesus through her words and deeds, through her good works, acts of charity and ministry to others.
Who brought you to faith? Your parents? A pastor? A friends? How did you or would you feel when they die? Not only would you mourn them as a person but part of the mourning process also includes giving thanks for how your faith life was effect by them.
Through Tabitha’s love for Christ she was able to share Christ’ love with others. Through Tabitha’s belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior she was able to show others God’s grace in this world. And that love and grace did not go un-noticed.
Through the grace that God has poured out on us, we are able to share Christian love and grace to others. Through Christ’s love for us, we are able to love others, and we all know that sometimes we are only able to love others because Christ first loves us. And through the power of the Holy Spirit that is flowing through us constantly we are able to use the gifts of the Spirit in order to lead others in faith and life. Gifts like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity and self control, help us show our faith to others and lead others to faith. Gifts like teaching, preaching, caring for the sick and the dying, parenting, and feeding the homeless allow us to show Christ in this world.
Yes Tabitha made a difference in her community. Yes Tabitha was loved by her community. But she was only able to make a difference and their love for her only occurred because God first loved her, the gifts of the Spirit were given to her and Christ first died for her. And God has first loved us, we have been given the gifts of the Spirit and Christ had died for us so that we might love and care for others and be Christ in this world.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Some Doggy to Love
We have a new addition in our family: a new puppy.
Her name is Koko. She is an 11 week old USA Special (AKA a mutt). The shelter we got her from thinks she is some kind of hound mix and judging by her howl/whine we are pretty sure she must have a little beagle in her. But others have suggested she might be Jack Russel Terrier, Rat Terrier, and Springer Spaniel. So in other words we have no clue.
Daisy, our 5 year old chocolate lab, is a little unsure about Koko but for the most part they are getting along. They even actually took a nap together the other day:
Daisy, our 5 year old chocolate lab, is a little unsure about Koko but for the most part they are getting along. They even actually took a nap together the other day:
Monday, April 19, 2010
What's in a name
Yesterday's gospel, John 21:1-19, is the story of Jesus last appearance to the disciples in John after his resurrection. It is almost two stories in one, the first half about Jesus again appearing to the disciples and their excitement over seeing him again. The second half is a very poignant conversation between Jesus and Peter when Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him. This second half of the text is a prime example of what comes out during biblical storytelling. During a normal reading of the gospel, the emotion can be lost and it just sounds like a repetitive conversation. But by pausing, after each question, putting a sigh before Peter's response and asking the question of stating the reply slowing while looking people in the eye, you convey emotions that are so often missed. Juliana Rowe, a biblical storyteller, does a good job conveying the emotions of the text here just in how she uses her voice. And this is whyI LOVE biblical storytelling!!! Can I say that again? I LOVE biblical storytelling!!!
It has been such an eye opening experience for me to step down into the aisle and tell the gospel story as I look into people's eyes and say phrases like "Do you love me?" or "Yes Lord you know that I love you." To see the emotions in their eyes as they realize just how much emotion occurred during the original conversation between Peter and Jesus. Or by using hand gestures or voice tone or even moving forward or backward I can convey distance, size, anxiety, fear, love, joy, hope, a secret, which make the scripture not just be something that we read but something that we experience.
Over the course of the last two months I have seen people put down their Celebrates (the bulletin insert with the texts written on them) and listen to the Bible. And not just for the gospel but also for the 1st and 2nd lessons as well. A variety of people have complimented me on my memorization skills but the comments that I really appreciate, that really make the difference for me is when people talk about how meaningful the scripture was to them or that they were almost in tears hearing the gospel. Those comments are the reason why I continue to memorize the gospel in order to tell the story. And they are the reason why I don't think I could ever go back to just reading the gospel, even if I have a busy week and don't find time to memorize the text, I would still read it very dramatically.
Below is my sermon from yesterday which also played with the idea of what emotions were going through Simon Peter's mind as Jesus asked him three times if he loved him.
Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. Three times! Peter must have been heartbroken. Not only did Jesus ask him three time if he loved him, Jesus was also no longer calling him by the nickname that Jesus gave to him. Jesus doesn’t call Peter, Peter, the nickname Jesus gave him meaning Rock. He calls him Simon his given name. He even addresses the question with more formality calling him Simon son of John.
It has been such an eye opening experience for me to step down into the aisle and tell the gospel story as I look into people's eyes and say phrases like "Do you love me?" or "Yes Lord you know that I love you." To see the emotions in their eyes as they realize just how much emotion occurred during the original conversation between Peter and Jesus. Or by using hand gestures or voice tone or even moving forward or backward I can convey distance, size, anxiety, fear, love, joy, hope, a secret, which make the scripture not just be something that we read but something that we experience.
Over the course of the last two months I have seen people put down their Celebrates (the bulletin insert with the texts written on them) and listen to the Bible. And not just for the gospel but also for the 1st and 2nd lessons as well. A variety of people have complimented me on my memorization skills but the comments that I really appreciate, that really make the difference for me is when people talk about how meaningful the scripture was to them or that they were almost in tears hearing the gospel. Those comments are the reason why I continue to memorize the gospel in order to tell the story. And they are the reason why I don't think I could ever go back to just reading the gospel, even if I have a busy week and don't find time to memorize the text, I would still read it very dramatically.
Below is my sermon from yesterday which also played with the idea of what emotions were going through Simon Peter's mind as Jesus asked him three times if he loved him.
Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. Three times! Peter must have been heartbroken. Not only did Jesus ask him three time if he loved him, Jesus was also no longer calling him by the nickname that Jesus gave to him. Jesus doesn’t call Peter, Peter, the nickname Jesus gave him meaning Rock. He calls him Simon his given name. He even addresses the question with more formality calling him Simon son of John.
Imagine the heartbreak in Peter’s eyes as with each question “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” as he is once again called by his formal name and not his nickname. Imagine the heartbreak in Peter’s voice with each answer “Yes Lord; you know that I love you” as Peter remembers the three times he denied Jesus during Jesus’ trial. Peter must have thought that Jesus no longer cared for him. That he was putting Peter to a test, keeping him at a distance. For here is Jesus, the person who gave Peter his nickname, who gave him a new identity, calling him by his old name. In the Gospel of John, Jesus gives Simon his new name the moment they meet. In John 1:42, Jesus’ first words to Simon Peter are “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).”
And from that moment on Peter is called Peter or Simon Peter in every reference in John until this conversation. 15 times in John he is called only Peter. 17 times he is called Simon Peter, but he is only called Simon 6 times, three times before Jesus gives him his new name and then these three times here.
Did Jesus forget his name? In all the trauma of dying and rising again did Jesus get a bump on his head and now forgot what Peter was called? But maybe Jesus calls Peter, Simon as a term of endearment, as a sign that Jesus knows who Peter really is. That Peter can become the leader of the church, the rock on which it is built but he is still at the core Simon son of John.
Now I’m not big on formality, or even my given name. Very few people in this world call me Rebecca. Normally the only people who call me Rebecca are people who do not know me but have only seen my name on official forms. In fact when I go to the doctor’s office or the mechanic and somebody calls for Rebecca it always takes me a moment to realize that they are referring to me. And one of the first things I say is “call me Becca.”
But think about when our formal names are used. Yes I was called Rebecca Elizabeth a few times by my parents when I was really in trouble growing up. But more importantly that name is the name that is on our marriage license, it is the name that was said at my high school, college and seminary graduations, it is the name that was used at my ordination and it was the name that was called when I was baptized. Our formal names are used during the important moments of our lives. Our formal names are used during the milestones moments, during moments when we want to take everything in and remember every detail for the rest of our lives.
So Jesus does not call Peter, Simon son of John as a way of insulting him, as a way of reminding him that “hey a few weeks ago you denied even knowing me three times”. No he uses that name that formal name so Simon Peter realizes that this is an important moment. That this is a moment that Peter will want to take everything in and remember every detail for the rest of his life. And Jesus is recalling his words when they first met: “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).”
And with each question “Simon son of John do you love me?” and each answer “Yes Lord you know that I love you” Jesus gives Peter a task. Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. With each question, with each formality, Jesus is giving Peter a task. He is calling on Peter to lead the church, to care for the church, to tend to the church. Jesus trusts Peter.
Even after denying Jesus, even after all the idiotic things that Peter said to Jesus, even after confession his faith in Jesus then question if Jesus is the messiah, Jesus is still trusting Peter. Jesus is still putting Peter in charge of the church, in charge of the people whom Jesus cares about, in charge of Jesus’ ministry.
And just like when they first met, Jesus ends the conversation with two simple words: Follow me! Even with the trust, authority and power Jesus gave Peter, even after predicting the kind of death Peter was to die, he still lets Peter know that he is to follow Jesus.
Jesus too has trusted us, he has given us the authority to feed the lambs, tend the sheep and feed the sheep, but we are also still sheep. We are also to still to follow Jesus to go where Jesus goes, to allow Jesus to be the one who ultimately lead us, to be the one who we follow. For Jesus loves us and trusts us, and calls us by name. And we are like Peter saying, confessing, “yes lord you know that I love you.” And that love comes from the Easter message Alleluia Christ is Risen!
Friday, April 16, 2010
It is finished
No that is not in reference to the bible. Last night I put the final stitches in the Christmas stocking that I made for my youngest niece, Sophia. And here is is:
Here are some more detailed shots:
I've been making some progress with my chaos cross, I have one page (of 22) done and most of the second. I don't have a current picture, but here is one after I finished the first page.
I'll continue to work on the chaos cross at home but because it is so large I will only work on it there. For Stitch and Bitch and other travel, I started the next stocking, this one for my godson.
Here are some more detailed shots:
I've been making some progress with my chaos cross, I have one page (of 22) done and most of the second. I don't have a current picture, but here is one after I finished the first page.
I'll continue to work on the chaos cross at home but because it is so large I will only work on it there. For Stitch and Bitch and other travel, I started the next stocking, this one for my godson.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Where was Thomas?
Fortunately I didn't have to ask where was everyone else. Normally the Sunday after Easter is a low attendance Sunday but at Bethlehem we had above average worship attendances - WOOHOO!! Though I was a little worried when at 10 minutes to 10 there was the choir and maybe 6 other people in the building.
So my sermon was based on the gospel lesson: John 20:19-31. In a side note on my adventures in Biblical story telling, I did memorize the gospel but was having some difficulty reciting it that morning (probably could have used one more day), including forgetting the very important line "Do not doubt but believe" so I stood at the pulpit just in case I needed to refer to the text, which of course I didn't. Though it was not an accurate telling but at least 80%.
I do apologize, I found multiple typos in my written text which I use on Sunday mornings but that copy got tossed and I need to run out the door in a few minutes so I don't have time to edit the sermon currently. So fair warning, there are probably more typos than normal, but let's be honest, there are always typos in my sermons. Hope you can get past them and enjoy:
Where was Thomas on that first Easter evening? Why wasn’t he with the rest of the disciples in that locked room? Apparently the disciples were afraid to walk about the streets of Jerusalem hence why they were in a locked room. They were afraid for their lives, afraid that they would be the next to be crucified. They were confused about what to do next, their leader of three years was just killed. The stories, the promises he had made them about heaven, eternal life, the Son of God, have now seemed to them to be just that – stories. The man they thought was the messiah had been killed as a political prisoner, as a enemy of the state. And one of their own, one of the people that they considers a friend, a brother was the one who betrayed Jesus, the one who turned him into the authorities.
The disciples had probably been in the house with locked doors since Friday evening. And now it was Sunday evening. That morning Mary Magdalene and some of the other women came to them telling them some wild tale about the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid is now empty and that Mary had seen and talked to the risen Jesus. That Jesus is alive again. And yet they were still in a locked room, frighten, confused, maybe even a little heart-broken. And then Jesus appeared to them. But where was Thomas?
Had he abandoned the disciples? Did he try to catch the first caravan out of Jerusalem? Was he so afraid for his life that instead of hiding he ran? Well that doesn’t make a lot of sense because he came back later to hear the disciples’ story of seeing Jesus. And then he was still around a week later when Jesus reappeared to them.
So where was Thomas? Maybe he had gone on a food run. They had been holed up in the house for three days. Their food supply was running low, so maybe he went to go get some sandwiches, or to the market to buy some bread and a lamb, they would have been half price since it was now after Passover. But it was evening, most of the shops would have been closed, unless he purposely went late in the day so to avoid the majority of people since he was afraid for his life.
Or maybe Thomas wasn’t there because he went to go see the empty tomb for himself? He had heard the story of Mary Magdalene and the other women, he had heard Peter’s tale of seeing the empty tomb. Maybe Thomas too wanted to check for himself. Maybe he understood what the empty tomb meant. Maybe he didn’t see the need to be hidden away because Christ is risen! Maybe he wasn’t there because he was being more faithful than the other disciples. Imagine Doubting Thomas being the faithful one!
Regardless why Thomas wasn’t there that first Sunday, that first Easter evening, later he hears the other disciples stories. He hears that they had seen Jesus alive again. They hear about the wounds in his hands, feet and side. And he doesn’t believe them. But he doesn’t give up on them either. A week later he is still with the disciple, still in that stupid locked room.
But maybe that is why Thomas didn’t believe the disciples. Maybe it wasn’t that Jesus was alive again that caused his unbelief, maybe Thomas’ unbelief was because these disciples had seen the risen Lord and yet there they were in that locked in that stupid room. They had seen Jesus alive again, walking and talking, they had received the Holy Spirit and been given the power to forgive sins and yet a week later they were still locked in the room acting like it was still Good Friday. Their messiah was back, the words he had told them about the Son of God dying and coming to life again has come true. They had seen the living Lord, and yet they were still locked in the room. They had experienced the resurrection and yet they were still locked in the room.
Maybe it wasn’t the disciples’ words that caused Thomas to not believe but their actions. If they truly had seen the risen Lord, if they truly had seen the messiah, if they truly had received the Holy Spirit, if they truly were given the power to forgive sins, if they truly experienced the resurrection shouldn’t they be out there, out on the streets of Jerusalem telling others about what they had seen, telling others how great God is, forgiving the sins of the crowd who called for Jesus’ crucifixion, forgiving the sins of Pilate, the Pharisees and the Sadducees would captured Jesus and sentence him to death? If the disciples truly believed what they had seen, shouldn’t they have been out there telling others and not in the locked room waiting for people to come to them?
Maybe that is some people’s problem with Christianity, why they find it hard to believe in the Risen Lord. They hear the stories that Christians have to say about the Risen Lord, about Jesus in their lives, about what Christ calls us to do. They hear the stories from scriptures and the stories that people claim occurred in their own life that they attribute to the Holy Spirit and to God intervening in their lives – miraculous medical cures, a friend or neighbor keeping them from the brink of emotional, mental or financial disaster.
But yet they see Christians who allow the poor to remain poor, who refuse to not just give money to the panhandler on the street but to even look at them. Christians who allow food to rot in their kitchens each day but never give a spare can of food to a food pantry or help out at a soup kitchen. Christians who want the best medical care for themselves but publicly speak out against having universal health coverage because it will affect the amount of taxes they will have to pay or because it would mean a longer wait at the doctor’s office for them. Christians who talk about how we should support the widows and orphans, and yet they never visit their elderly mother in the nursing home. Christians who talk about the risen Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit but their actions do not follow their words.
And we are no better than those hypocrites, those disciples. I am no better than those hypocrites, those disciples who talk about how great it was to see Jesus but then do not listen to his words. In many ways we are locked in that stupid room. We are locked in this church. We expect people to come to us. Yeah we send out food to Redding Social Services or household goods to Lutheran Social Services. But it has been multiple years since I last served a meal to a homeless person. How about you? I don’t think I have ever been to a nursing home to just volunteer and hang out with the residents. Sure I have been to them to visit someone I knew, I even worked at a nursing home for a summer, but if I ever did anything like that it was when I was still in Girl Scouts. When was the last time you volunteered to care for the elderly or for orphans, especially people that you did not know? When was the last time our faith, the words that we speak, the creed that we recite each week match our actions? Maybe you have done something like this with in the last week but for the majority of Christians who are at church today, this low Sunday, the Sunday after Easter, when the true Christians, the hard core members come out, for the majority of us, our words often do not match our actions.
We are still the disciples lock in a room waiting, wondering and worrying about what to do next. We have seen the risen Lord yet we wait for more. And yet there are Thomases out there, people who are clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, supporting the elderly and orphans who have not seen Jesus, do not believe he is risen, but yet continue to do what they do because they know it is right.
But we have seen the risen Lord, we have received the Holy Spirit, we have been given the power to forgive sins. And that is what we as Christians have been called to do. That is what we as Christians are hoping to do. And we don’t need to continue to wait for Jesus to reappear, for Christ has already appeared to us. The Holy Spirit has already been given to us. We have already be commissioned to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, care for the sick, support the elderly and orphans. So isn’t it time that we leave the locked room and go out to not just tell other, not just shout to others, but to proclaim to others Alleluia Christ is Risen!
So my sermon was based on the gospel lesson: John 20:19-31. In a side note on my adventures in Biblical story telling, I did memorize the gospel but was having some difficulty reciting it that morning (probably could have used one more day), including forgetting the very important line "Do not doubt but believe" so I stood at the pulpit just in case I needed to refer to the text, which of course I didn't. Though it was not an accurate telling but at least 80%.
I do apologize, I found multiple typos in my written text which I use on Sunday mornings but that copy got tossed and I need to run out the door in a few minutes so I don't have time to edit the sermon currently. So fair warning, there are probably more typos than normal, but let's be honest, there are always typos in my sermons. Hope you can get past them and enjoy:
Where was Thomas on that first Easter evening? Why wasn’t he with the rest of the disciples in that locked room? Apparently the disciples were afraid to walk about the streets of Jerusalem hence why they were in a locked room. They were afraid for their lives, afraid that they would be the next to be crucified. They were confused about what to do next, their leader of three years was just killed. The stories, the promises he had made them about heaven, eternal life, the Son of God, have now seemed to them to be just that – stories. The man they thought was the messiah had been killed as a political prisoner, as a enemy of the state. And one of their own, one of the people that they considers a friend, a brother was the one who betrayed Jesus, the one who turned him into the authorities.
The disciples had probably been in the house with locked doors since Friday evening. And now it was Sunday evening. That morning Mary Magdalene and some of the other women came to them telling them some wild tale about the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid is now empty and that Mary had seen and talked to the risen Jesus. That Jesus is alive again. And yet they were still in a locked room, frighten, confused, maybe even a little heart-broken. And then Jesus appeared to them. But where was Thomas?
Had he abandoned the disciples? Did he try to catch the first caravan out of Jerusalem? Was he so afraid for his life that instead of hiding he ran? Well that doesn’t make a lot of sense because he came back later to hear the disciples’ story of seeing Jesus. And then he was still around a week later when Jesus reappeared to them.
So where was Thomas? Maybe he had gone on a food run. They had been holed up in the house for three days. Their food supply was running low, so maybe he went to go get some sandwiches, or to the market to buy some bread and a lamb, they would have been half price since it was now after Passover. But it was evening, most of the shops would have been closed, unless he purposely went late in the day so to avoid the majority of people since he was afraid for his life.
Or maybe Thomas wasn’t there because he went to go see the empty tomb for himself? He had heard the story of Mary Magdalene and the other women, he had heard Peter’s tale of seeing the empty tomb. Maybe Thomas too wanted to check for himself. Maybe he understood what the empty tomb meant. Maybe he didn’t see the need to be hidden away because Christ is risen! Maybe he wasn’t there because he was being more faithful than the other disciples. Imagine Doubting Thomas being the faithful one!
Regardless why Thomas wasn’t there that first Sunday, that first Easter evening, later he hears the other disciples stories. He hears that they had seen Jesus alive again. They hear about the wounds in his hands, feet and side. And he doesn’t believe them. But he doesn’t give up on them either. A week later he is still with the disciple, still in that stupid locked room.
But maybe that is why Thomas didn’t believe the disciples. Maybe it wasn’t that Jesus was alive again that caused his unbelief, maybe Thomas’ unbelief was because these disciples had seen the risen Lord and yet there they were in that locked in that stupid room. They had seen Jesus alive again, walking and talking, they had received the Holy Spirit and been given the power to forgive sins and yet a week later they were still locked in the room acting like it was still Good Friday. Their messiah was back, the words he had told them about the Son of God dying and coming to life again has come true. They had seen the living Lord, and yet they were still locked in the room. They had experienced the resurrection and yet they were still locked in the room.
Maybe it wasn’t the disciples’ words that caused Thomas to not believe but their actions. If they truly had seen the risen Lord, if they truly had seen the messiah, if they truly had received the Holy Spirit, if they truly were given the power to forgive sins, if they truly experienced the resurrection shouldn’t they be out there, out on the streets of Jerusalem telling others about what they had seen, telling others how great God is, forgiving the sins of the crowd who called for Jesus’ crucifixion, forgiving the sins of Pilate, the Pharisees and the Sadducees would captured Jesus and sentence him to death? If the disciples truly believed what they had seen, shouldn’t they have been out there telling others and not in the locked room waiting for people to come to them?
Maybe that is some people’s problem with Christianity, why they find it hard to believe in the Risen Lord. They hear the stories that Christians have to say about the Risen Lord, about Jesus in their lives, about what Christ calls us to do. They hear the stories from scriptures and the stories that people claim occurred in their own life that they attribute to the Holy Spirit and to God intervening in their lives – miraculous medical cures, a friend or neighbor keeping them from the brink of emotional, mental or financial disaster.
But yet they see Christians who allow the poor to remain poor, who refuse to not just give money to the panhandler on the street but to even look at them. Christians who allow food to rot in their kitchens each day but never give a spare can of food to a food pantry or help out at a soup kitchen. Christians who want the best medical care for themselves but publicly speak out against having universal health coverage because it will affect the amount of taxes they will have to pay or because it would mean a longer wait at the doctor’s office for them. Christians who talk about how we should support the widows and orphans, and yet they never visit their elderly mother in the nursing home. Christians who talk about the risen Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit but their actions do not follow their words.
And we are no better than those hypocrites, those disciples. I am no better than those hypocrites, those disciples who talk about how great it was to see Jesus but then do not listen to his words. In many ways we are locked in that stupid room. We are locked in this church. We expect people to come to us. Yeah we send out food to Redding Social Services or household goods to Lutheran Social Services. But it has been multiple years since I last served a meal to a homeless person. How about you? I don’t think I have ever been to a nursing home to just volunteer and hang out with the residents. Sure I have been to them to visit someone I knew, I even worked at a nursing home for a summer, but if I ever did anything like that it was when I was still in Girl Scouts. When was the last time you volunteered to care for the elderly or for orphans, especially people that you did not know? When was the last time our faith, the words that we speak, the creed that we recite each week match our actions? Maybe you have done something like this with in the last week but for the majority of Christians who are at church today, this low Sunday, the Sunday after Easter, when the true Christians, the hard core members come out, for the majority of us, our words often do not match our actions.
We are still the disciples lock in a room waiting, wondering and worrying about what to do next. We have seen the risen Lord yet we wait for more. And yet there are Thomases out there, people who are clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, supporting the elderly and orphans who have not seen Jesus, do not believe he is risen, but yet continue to do what they do because they know it is right.
But we have seen the risen Lord, we have received the Holy Spirit, we have been given the power to forgive sins. And that is what we as Christians have been called to do. That is what we as Christians are hoping to do. And we don’t need to continue to wait for Jesus to reappear, for Christ has already appeared to us. The Holy Spirit has already been given to us. We have already be commissioned to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, care for the sick, support the elderly and orphans. So isn’t it time that we leave the locked room and go out to not just tell other, not just shout to others, but to proclaim to others Alleluia Christ is Risen!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Easter finally arrived. After 40 days of Lent, after a long Holy Week, Easter had arrived. And what a gorgeous day for it. Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week was filled with torrential rains, Wednesday was overcast and cloudy, but Thursday through today have been absolutely wonderful! Bright sun shine, light clouds, an occasional cool breeze, and the flowers are blooming.
And while everyday is Easter, I'm so glad that our Easter celebration is only one day. I was wiped out! After not getting much sleep (I may have had too much caffeine in order to be alert for the vigil the night before) I was at the church by 7am so I could have some quiet time to prepare. Others started to arrive by 8am to set up for our breakfast (Ellen's vegetable bread pudding was the bomb!) and the choir shortly started to practice and the pews began to fill.
Worship was wonderful! The choir and bells performed a wonderful call to worship, we shouted Alleluia Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen indeed! Alleluia! The music was joy-filled, the flowers overflowed from the altar area and their fragrance filled the air and so many people were dressed in bright colors.
A highlight for many people was my children's sermon. I made confetti filled Easter eggs and talked to the kids about what their reaction would be if they found a plastic Easter egg without candy. I then asked about the real Easter eggs (and I even had one hard boiled one that I cracked and ate), how would they feel if one of those eggs were empty. And they responded appropriately - confused etc. I then took one of the confetti ones and smashed it on one of the boy's head who I knew would get a kick out of it and allowed the confetti to fall all over him and the ground. (Apparently his face was priceless) This then led to the confusing being a good surprise and Mary Magdalene and the other women's confusion at the empty tomb being a good surprise.
Worship was wonderful! Easter is my favorite holiday and it was wonderful to be the person who got to say "Alleluia Christ is risen!"
Below is my Easter sermon based on Luke 24:1-12
He is not here, but has risen! That verse is at the heart of our faith. But there is something interesting about that verse and our entire gospel reading today. Did anyone catch it? I’ll give you a hint – it has to do with a name.
The name Jesus is not mentioned in the gospel. Nor is the title Christ, or Lord or Savior. Jesus is in many ways not mentioned specifically but alluded to – “the body” “the living” “the dead” “he.” The closest we get to a name that we normally call Jesus by is “Son of Man” which in Jesus’ time was similar to someone saying that he was human.
But yet we all know who the “he” is. Jesus! The women were looking for Jesus’ body in the tomb, in order to prepare his body for a proper burial. The men in dazzling cloths tell them that Jesus is not here but has risen. They remind the women what Jesus said. The women went and told the apostles about Jesus. Peter went to see Jesus’ body but did not find Jesus and was amazed. Jesus Christ is not here, but has risen! Alleluia Christ has risen!
And as the Sunday School kids sang Jesus is alive! Yes the tomb is empty, he is alive!
Then why do we look for the living among the dead? We have heard the women’s account, we have heard of Peter double checking the tomb. And yet in many ways we still think of Jesus as dead. We treat Jesus as someone who died 2000 years ago, as someone who is far off and doesn’t have any impact on our lives today. We treat Jesus as dead. That he had some great moral things to say about what is good and bad, right and wrong. We know that Jesus wants us to be happy but yet we have a hard time connecting Jesus with our own lives here today.
When we pray to Christ, many of us envision our words being sent to the far reaches of space or through some space/time continuum. When we sing hymns of praise, many of us think of our songs being just one part of a long tradition. When we read scriptures many of us think that we are opening an ancient book that needs to be put on a pedestal and revered.
But yet Jesus is alive! Not just Jesus lived again, past tense, that Jesus rose from the grave once, two thousand years ago. But Christ has risen! And Jesus is alive!
Jesus is alive in our lives today! Jesus is active in our lives today! Yes Jesus had wonderful things to say about what it means to live a moral life, but Jesus is also active in our lives today helping us make those moral decisions. Yes Jesus would like us to be blessed and happy in our lives and just because we currently do not feel blessed or happy does not mean that Jesus does not exist or Jesus is not alive today. Jesus is constantly blessing us even if we do not see it. Also Jesus did not die to take away all the bad things in life; Jesus died for our sins. Jesus is active in our lives even during bad times, Jesus is who gives us people who support and care for us during those times, Jesus is who causes those minor miracles to occur that keep us from financial disaster or from seriously injuring ourselves.
When we pray, we are not praying to someone far off in space or traveling through time, we are having a conversation with a dear friend who is sitting right next to us. And the risen Lord, Jesus who is alive in our lives, is listening and responding to our prayer, to our conversation. And when we sing our hymns, yes we are adding to a long tradition, but we are adding to that tradition. Making things new in our lives. Many hymns have been written to the tune of popular drinking ditties. So maybe in 50 years we will be singing hymns about Jesus’ resurrection to the tune of Lady Gaga songs.
And when we read the scripture, we are hearing, reading a living word. A word that is alive in our lives. Couldn’t you picture Mary Magdelene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other women going to the tomb to tend to Jesus’ body and seeing the perplexed looks on their faces when the body was not there? Couldn’t you feel the emotions in this text as they hear men in dazzling cloths ask them why they were looking for the living among the dead?
Scripture is alive because our faith is a living faith. Worship is alive because our faith is a living faith. Prayer is alive because our faith is a living faith. And our faith is a living faith, our faith is alive because Jesus is alive! That is the heart of our faith – Jesus is alive! We worship a living Lord. We pray to a living God. We read and hear words from a living scripture.
The heart of our faith is Easter, this holy day. The heart of our faith is not something that happened once long ago but something that happens every day, every moment of our lives. He has risen! Jesus is alive! Continuous, on-going action. We are not commemorating the anniversary of Jesus rising from the dead today. We are celebrating that Jesus is alive today, right now, right this instance. Just look at our hymns today – Christ the Lord has risen TODAY! Jesus Christ has risen TODAY! Christ rose from the dead today. Christ rises from the dead everyday.
Every morning is Easter morning. Every day is resurrection day! Every day is a day to celebrate Christ rising from the dead. For Christ died for us, we have been forgiven and Christ is alive. Alleluia Christ has risen! Alleluia Christ is alive!
And while everyday is Easter, I'm so glad that our Easter celebration is only one day. I was wiped out! After not getting much sleep (I may have had too much caffeine in order to be alert for the vigil the night before) I was at the church by 7am so I could have some quiet time to prepare. Others started to arrive by 8am to set up for our breakfast (Ellen's vegetable bread pudding was the bomb!) and the choir shortly started to practice and the pews began to fill.
Worship was wonderful! The choir and bells performed a wonderful call to worship, we shouted Alleluia Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen indeed! Alleluia! The music was joy-filled, the flowers overflowed from the altar area and their fragrance filled the air and so many people were dressed in bright colors.
A highlight for many people was my children's sermon. I made confetti filled Easter eggs and talked to the kids about what their reaction would be if they found a plastic Easter egg without candy. I then asked about the real Easter eggs (and I even had one hard boiled one that I cracked and ate), how would they feel if one of those eggs were empty. And they responded appropriately - confused etc. I then took one of the confetti ones and smashed it on one of the boy's head who I knew would get a kick out of it and allowed the confetti to fall all over him and the ground. (Apparently his face was priceless) This then led to the confusing being a good surprise and Mary Magdalene and the other women's confusion at the empty tomb being a good surprise.
Worship was wonderful! Easter is my favorite holiday and it was wonderful to be the person who got to say "Alleluia Christ is risen!"
Below is my Easter sermon based on Luke 24:1-12
He is not here, but has risen! That verse is at the heart of our faith. But there is something interesting about that verse and our entire gospel reading today. Did anyone catch it? I’ll give you a hint – it has to do with a name.
The name Jesus is not mentioned in the gospel. Nor is the title Christ, or Lord or Savior. Jesus is in many ways not mentioned specifically but alluded to – “the body” “the living” “the dead” “he.” The closest we get to a name that we normally call Jesus by is “Son of Man” which in Jesus’ time was similar to someone saying that he was human.
But yet we all know who the “he” is. Jesus! The women were looking for Jesus’ body in the tomb, in order to prepare his body for a proper burial. The men in dazzling cloths tell them that Jesus is not here but has risen. They remind the women what Jesus said. The women went and told the apostles about Jesus. Peter went to see Jesus’ body but did not find Jesus and was amazed. Jesus Christ is not here, but has risen! Alleluia Christ has risen!
And as the Sunday School kids sang Jesus is alive! Yes the tomb is empty, he is alive!
Then why do we look for the living among the dead? We have heard the women’s account, we have heard of Peter double checking the tomb. And yet in many ways we still think of Jesus as dead. We treat Jesus as someone who died 2000 years ago, as someone who is far off and doesn’t have any impact on our lives today. We treat Jesus as dead. That he had some great moral things to say about what is good and bad, right and wrong. We know that Jesus wants us to be happy but yet we have a hard time connecting Jesus with our own lives here today.
When we pray to Christ, many of us envision our words being sent to the far reaches of space or through some space/time continuum. When we sing hymns of praise, many of us think of our songs being just one part of a long tradition. When we read scriptures many of us think that we are opening an ancient book that needs to be put on a pedestal and revered.
But yet Jesus is alive! Not just Jesus lived again, past tense, that Jesus rose from the grave once, two thousand years ago. But Christ has risen! And Jesus is alive!
Jesus is alive in our lives today! Jesus is active in our lives today! Yes Jesus had wonderful things to say about what it means to live a moral life, but Jesus is also active in our lives today helping us make those moral decisions. Yes Jesus would like us to be blessed and happy in our lives and just because we currently do not feel blessed or happy does not mean that Jesus does not exist or Jesus is not alive today. Jesus is constantly blessing us even if we do not see it. Also Jesus did not die to take away all the bad things in life; Jesus died for our sins. Jesus is active in our lives even during bad times, Jesus is who gives us people who support and care for us during those times, Jesus is who causes those minor miracles to occur that keep us from financial disaster or from seriously injuring ourselves.
When we pray, we are not praying to someone far off in space or traveling through time, we are having a conversation with a dear friend who is sitting right next to us. And the risen Lord, Jesus who is alive in our lives, is listening and responding to our prayer, to our conversation. And when we sing our hymns, yes we are adding to a long tradition, but we are adding to that tradition. Making things new in our lives. Many hymns have been written to the tune of popular drinking ditties. So maybe in 50 years we will be singing hymns about Jesus’ resurrection to the tune of Lady Gaga songs.
And when we read the scripture, we are hearing, reading a living word. A word that is alive in our lives. Couldn’t you picture Mary Magdelene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other women going to the tomb to tend to Jesus’ body and seeing the perplexed looks on their faces when the body was not there? Couldn’t you feel the emotions in this text as they hear men in dazzling cloths ask them why they were looking for the living among the dead?
Scripture is alive because our faith is a living faith. Worship is alive because our faith is a living faith. Prayer is alive because our faith is a living faith. And our faith is a living faith, our faith is alive because Jesus is alive! That is the heart of our faith – Jesus is alive! We worship a living Lord. We pray to a living God. We read and hear words from a living scripture.
The heart of our faith is Easter, this holy day. The heart of our faith is not something that happened once long ago but something that happens every day, every moment of our lives. He has risen! Jesus is alive! Continuous, on-going action. We are not commemorating the anniversary of Jesus rising from the dead today. We are celebrating that Jesus is alive today, right now, right this instance. Just look at our hymns today – Christ the Lord has risen TODAY! Jesus Christ has risen TODAY! Christ rose from the dead today. Christ rises from the dead everyday.
Every morning is Easter morning. Every day is resurrection day! Every day is a day to celebrate Christ rising from the dead. For Christ died for us, we have been forgiven and Christ is alive. Alleluia Christ has risen! Alleluia Christ is alive!
But....
I'm a little behind in my Easter postings. Saturday and Sunday were wonderful but full days and I have been spending the last few days slowing recovering and I just realized I forgot to post my sermons from Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday plus my recap on the days. Well here I begin!
Easter Vigil is a old new service. Easter vigil is one of the oldest services in the Christian church but it was lost over time and is now finding a renewal. Bethlehem and Christ Church Parish, the Episcopal church in Redding, used to do a joint Easter Vigil together but during the years of pastoral vacancies at Bethlehem, our church stopped the tradition, but Christ Church continued on their own. This past year we were planning our Easter services, both churches thought it was time to renew this tradition. And since Christ has done Easter Vigils in recent years, Bethlehem went to there to worship.
The Easter Vigil begins outside at a fire and the Christ candle (the big candle) is lit with the first fire of Easter. We then processed inside and a prayer (in the form of a chant) is give and our individual candles are lit. We then hear multiple readings from the Old Testament (we read 4 but you can read up to 12). Then we renewed our baptismal vows using similar words and promises that we or our parents made for us at our baptism. And then we were each marked with the cross of baptismal waters to individually remember that we are God's, and to God we shall return. All of this is done is just enough light so people can see. Then the fun come!
After everyone was marked with the waters of baptism and the altar candles lit, myself and Marilyn (the rector at Christ Church) turned around and yelled "Alleluia! Christ is risen!" And boy did we yell it! One teenager I noticed jumped a good few inches out of her pew! We then sang Jesus Christ is Risen Today and the congregation was given/brought bells which rang throughout the song. Afterward was our Easter Readings: Romans 6:3-11 and Luke 24:1-12, my sermon and communion. All of which was joyously done as we were now celebrating.
If you haven't been to an Easter Vigil service before, I highly recommend it. This was only my fifth Easter Vigil but they have become one of my favorite services as we start in darkness and despair of Jesus' death and move into a full celebration of the joy that comes with Easter. And I know my brief description here is not a full enough description of all the joy that happens.
Below is my sermon from Easter Vigil:
For many of us, this journey towards Easter, towards this empty tomb began 40 days ago on Ash Wednesday. 40 days ago at the start of Lent, people around the world received ashes in the sign of a cross on their forehead and were reminded that we are dust and to dust we shall return. We were reminded that we are human, that we are going to die. That someday we will be ashes, dust, part of the earth. That someday we will no longer be living and our remains will be lowered into the ground or our ashes will be scattered and we will again return to the earth. Death will win. We are all going to die.
And death did win, yesterday we mourned Jesus’ death. We were witnesses to his death through hearing the scriptures. We envision watching Jesus being nailed to the tree, we could picture looking at the disciples around us mourning while Jesus was dying. We could see the tears in the eyes of those around us, we could see Jesus breathing his last breath and then hanging lifelessly from the cross.
And today we gathered to mourn, to wait in vigil around Jesus’ body. To share stories about what he has meant to us, to comfort each other, to partake in a meal he commanded us to eat. We gathered here not to celebrate but to mourn.
Now isn’t that a lovely Easter sermon?
But there is more to the story. Luke’s gospel telling of the empty tomb starts with a very small word that changes everything…”but.” Six times in today’s gospel we hear the word but. But on the first day of the week, but when they went in, but the men said to them, but he has risen, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, but Peter got up and ran to the tomb. But…the story is not over. But…the most important part is still to come. But…death has not yet won. But…he has risen!
Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!
Jesus is alive again, he is not still in the tomb but has risen. The tomb is now empty! Jesus overcame death. Jesus died for our sins. Jesus is alive again! That is the reason for all the buts, that is the reason why we are here tonight no longer mourning but now celebrating. That is the reason why we sing and shout Alleluia!
But yet we have to first talk about Jesus’ death. If Jesus didn’t die, why would we celebrate? If Jesus did rise from the dead, why would we sing and shout Alleluia? If Jesus didn’t die for our sins and over come death, why would we worship?
We start Lent, our journey towards Easter being reminded that we are human that we are going to die someday because Lent ends with Jesus’ death. However the story is not over, there is still more to come, there is that little word that changes everything…but! But our lives do not end at Ash Wednesday, our journey towards Easter, towards the empty tomb does not end when we receive the cross of ashes on our forehead. There is still more to the story. Our journey towards Easter and the empty tomb just took us to the baptismal font, to the place were we were claimed as daughters and sons of God. And there tonight we were reminded that we are God’s and to God’s we shall return. We are children of God and nothing we can do will ever change that.
No matter how many blemishes to our record we have committed, no matter what we do, those blemishes are made clean through the waters of baptism. No matter how many marks we receive against us, there is only one mark that matters, the mark of the cross. Tonight we were reminded that ours sins, our ashes, our dust, our human self have been made clean through Christ’s death and resurrection.
Death did win, but only temporarily. There is more to the story. For Christ has risen. Jesus is alive and we have been made alive through Christ. We have been marked as children of God. And even our future death is only temporary. And that is reason why we shout Alleluia. That is the reason why we worship. That is the reason why we celebrate. Death will not win. Death will not destroy us. For we are alive with Christ.
Why do you look for the living among the dead? We are the living and we worship a Living Lord. A Living Lord who lives in each and every one of us. A Living Lord who has conquered death. A Living Lord who has washed us clean. A Living Lord who has changed everything with one little word…but. And that is the reason why we can shout Alleluia Christ has risen!
Easter Vigil is a old new service. Easter vigil is one of the oldest services in the Christian church but it was lost over time and is now finding a renewal. Bethlehem and Christ Church Parish, the Episcopal church in Redding, used to do a joint Easter Vigil together but during the years of pastoral vacancies at Bethlehem, our church stopped the tradition, but Christ Church continued on their own. This past year we were planning our Easter services, both churches thought it was time to renew this tradition. And since Christ has done Easter Vigils in recent years, Bethlehem went to there to worship.
The Easter Vigil begins outside at a fire and the Christ candle (the big candle) is lit with the first fire of Easter. We then processed inside and a prayer (in the form of a chant) is give and our individual candles are lit. We then hear multiple readings from the Old Testament (we read 4 but you can read up to 12). Then we renewed our baptismal vows using similar words and promises that we or our parents made for us at our baptism. And then we were each marked with the cross of baptismal waters to individually remember that we are God's, and to God we shall return. All of this is done is just enough light so people can see. Then the fun come!
After everyone was marked with the waters of baptism and the altar candles lit, myself and Marilyn (the rector at Christ Church) turned around and yelled "Alleluia! Christ is risen!" And boy did we yell it! One teenager I noticed jumped a good few inches out of her pew! We then sang Jesus Christ is Risen Today and the congregation was given/brought bells which rang throughout the song. Afterward was our Easter Readings: Romans 6:3-11 and Luke 24:1-12, my sermon and communion. All of which was joyously done as we were now celebrating.
If you haven't been to an Easter Vigil service before, I highly recommend it. This was only my fifth Easter Vigil but they have become one of my favorite services as we start in darkness and despair of Jesus' death and move into a full celebration of the joy that comes with Easter. And I know my brief description here is not a full enough description of all the joy that happens.
Below is my sermon from Easter Vigil:
For many of us, this journey towards Easter, towards this empty tomb began 40 days ago on Ash Wednesday. 40 days ago at the start of Lent, people around the world received ashes in the sign of a cross on their forehead and were reminded that we are dust and to dust we shall return. We were reminded that we are human, that we are going to die. That someday we will be ashes, dust, part of the earth. That someday we will no longer be living and our remains will be lowered into the ground or our ashes will be scattered and we will again return to the earth. Death will win. We are all going to die.
And death did win, yesterday we mourned Jesus’ death. We were witnesses to his death through hearing the scriptures. We envision watching Jesus being nailed to the tree, we could picture looking at the disciples around us mourning while Jesus was dying. We could see the tears in the eyes of those around us, we could see Jesus breathing his last breath and then hanging lifelessly from the cross.
And today we gathered to mourn, to wait in vigil around Jesus’ body. To share stories about what he has meant to us, to comfort each other, to partake in a meal he commanded us to eat. We gathered here not to celebrate but to mourn.
Now isn’t that a lovely Easter sermon?
But there is more to the story. Luke’s gospel telling of the empty tomb starts with a very small word that changes everything…”but.” Six times in today’s gospel we hear the word but. But on the first day of the week, but when they went in, but the men said to them, but he has risen, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, but Peter got up and ran to the tomb. But…the story is not over. But…the most important part is still to come. But…death has not yet won. But…he has risen!
Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!
Jesus is alive again, he is not still in the tomb but has risen. The tomb is now empty! Jesus overcame death. Jesus died for our sins. Jesus is alive again! That is the reason for all the buts, that is the reason why we are here tonight no longer mourning but now celebrating. That is the reason why we sing and shout Alleluia!
But yet we have to first talk about Jesus’ death. If Jesus didn’t die, why would we celebrate? If Jesus did rise from the dead, why would we sing and shout Alleluia? If Jesus didn’t die for our sins and over come death, why would we worship?
We start Lent, our journey towards Easter being reminded that we are human that we are going to die someday because Lent ends with Jesus’ death. However the story is not over, there is still more to come, there is that little word that changes everything…but! But our lives do not end at Ash Wednesday, our journey towards Easter, towards the empty tomb does not end when we receive the cross of ashes on our forehead. There is still more to the story. Our journey towards Easter and the empty tomb just took us to the baptismal font, to the place were we were claimed as daughters and sons of God. And there tonight we were reminded that we are God’s and to God’s we shall return. We are children of God and nothing we can do will ever change that.
No matter how many blemishes to our record we have committed, no matter what we do, those blemishes are made clean through the waters of baptism. No matter how many marks we receive against us, there is only one mark that matters, the mark of the cross. Tonight we were reminded that ours sins, our ashes, our dust, our human self have been made clean through Christ’s death and resurrection.
Death did win, but only temporarily. There is more to the story. For Christ has risen. Jesus is alive and we have been made alive through Christ. We have been marked as children of God. And even our future death is only temporary. And that is reason why we shout Alleluia. That is the reason why we worship. That is the reason why we celebrate. Death will not win. Death will not destroy us. For we are alive with Christ.
Why do you look for the living among the dead? We are the living and we worship a Living Lord. A Living Lord who lives in each and every one of us. A Living Lord who has conquered death. A Living Lord who has washed us clean. A Living Lord who has changed everything with one little word…but. And that is the reason why we can shout Alleluia Christ has risen!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Hard Working Hands
Today is Good Friday. It may seem weird to call the day that we remember Jesus Christ's death good, but it is a good day, for if it wasn't for Jesus' death, Easter would not happen.
A pastor I knew growing up would often say: "It may be Friday now, but Sunday is coming." He meant that good follows bad, and often when we look back on the bad we realize how much we grew as a result of that experiences, and really those bad things were good for us in terms of growth.
And it was a Good Friday here is Connecticut. The weather was gorgeous - high 60s/low 70's. The sun was shining, bird singing and flowers that have been peaking out of the ground for weeks have come into full bloom.
But yet among all the sunshine, today is also a day of mourning. Now I personally have never felt that mid-day Good Friday services are all that meaningful, especially on days like today. So luckily we only have an evening service. Now I can't tell you if everything went smoothly since I'm writing this before worship, but to mean there is something about hearing of Jesus' trial, crucifixion, death and burial in a sanctuary that is slowly getting darker and darker that is extremely meaningful and powerful to the senses. Today I will read John 18:1-19:42 in five parts with verses from Ah Holy Jesus in between each section.
Then I will preach, we will have a long time for prayer and then the cross will be brought forward so that people can light a votive candle and have a moment of silent personal prayer at the foot of the cross. We will also be able to have our hands blessed, much like yesterday we had our feet blessed.
Here is my sermon for tonight. I hope it captures even half of the emotions that will be part of tonight's worship.
Hands are important. They are very important features of our body. We do a lot with our hands. Type, write, brush our teeth and hair, sew, eat, button, open doors, drive.
Hands are important. One small cut can make any of the thousand of things that we do with our hands every day difficult to do.
Hands are important. We shake hands. We communicate through hand gestures. We know people like the back of our hands. We hold hands, we wear rings to symbolize our love.
Hands are important, even God’s hands. Many of us grew up learning the words to the song: He’s got the whole world in his hands. The ELCA’s tagline is “God’s work, our hands.” We are God’s hands in this world, we do God’s work.
But our hands do not always do good. With our hands we can hit, slap, beat, give inappropriate hand gestures, cut, stab, let go and hand over. Five times in today’s gospel it talks about Jesus being handed over to various authorities. Five times Jesus is delivered from one group who wants to kill him but feels powerless to do so to another group who has the power to kill him but does not want to do so. We so often want to say that it was the Romans or the Jews who killed Jesus and not us, followers of Christ. But our hands were involved in Jesus’ death.
We unfairly villain-ize Jews and Romans saying that we would not have been in that crowd crying for Jesus to be crucified. But yet Jesus died for our sins. Jesus died for us. It doesn’t matter if we were in that crowd or not, if we would have yelled “crucify him, crucify him,” or have silently stood on the sidelines watching the entire spectacle take place. Our hands were involved. We were part of the crowd that killed Jesus even if we were not physically there, even if we think that we would never have joined in with the crowd.
We are part of the crowd that killed Jesus because Jesus died for us. We were part of the crowd that killed Jesus because God gave his only son for us. Our hands are bloody, our hands are covered in Jesus’ blood because we killed Jesus.
But our hands are washed clean. They are washed clean because of God. They are washed clean because Jesus died for us, for our sins. They are washed clean because God gave his only son for us.
God’s work was done through our hands and God’s work continues to be done through our hands. Through the joy that comes in this congregation, through the work that we do in this community, through the support that we give to missionaries and relief agencies throughout the world.
Our hands our important. They do both good and bad. On this Good Friday, we can sit here and think only about the bad things, the sins that we have committed, the despair and sorrow that we have caused, the reasons why Jesus had to die for us. Or we can realize that this is Good Friday, and through Jesus’ death, through this overwhelming act of love, through this ultimate display of passion and grace, God has allowed us to do God’s work with our hands. And our hands are important and do important things.
A pastor I knew growing up would often say: "It may be Friday now, but Sunday is coming." He meant that good follows bad, and often when we look back on the bad we realize how much we grew as a result of that experiences, and really those bad things were good for us in terms of growth.
And it was a Good Friday here is Connecticut. The weather was gorgeous - high 60s/low 70's. The sun was shining, bird singing and flowers that have been peaking out of the ground for weeks have come into full bloom.
But yet among all the sunshine, today is also a day of mourning. Now I personally have never felt that mid-day Good Friday services are all that meaningful, especially on days like today. So luckily we only have an evening service. Now I can't tell you if everything went smoothly since I'm writing this before worship, but to mean there is something about hearing of Jesus' trial, crucifixion, death and burial in a sanctuary that is slowly getting darker and darker that is extremely meaningful and powerful to the senses. Today I will read John 18:1-19:42 in five parts with verses from Ah Holy Jesus in between each section.
Then I will preach, we will have a long time for prayer and then the cross will be brought forward so that people can light a votive candle and have a moment of silent personal prayer at the foot of the cross. We will also be able to have our hands blessed, much like yesterday we had our feet blessed.
Here is my sermon for tonight. I hope it captures even half of the emotions that will be part of tonight's worship.
Hands are important. They are very important features of our body. We do a lot with our hands. Type, write, brush our teeth and hair, sew, eat, button, open doors, drive.
Hands are important. One small cut can make any of the thousand of things that we do with our hands every day difficult to do.
Hands are important. We shake hands. We communicate through hand gestures. We know people like the back of our hands. We hold hands, we wear rings to symbolize our love.
Hands are important, even God’s hands. Many of us grew up learning the words to the song: He’s got the whole world in his hands. The ELCA’s tagline is “God’s work, our hands.” We are God’s hands in this world, we do God’s work.
But our hands do not always do good. With our hands we can hit, slap, beat, give inappropriate hand gestures, cut, stab, let go and hand over. Five times in today’s gospel it talks about Jesus being handed over to various authorities. Five times Jesus is delivered from one group who wants to kill him but feels powerless to do so to another group who has the power to kill him but does not want to do so. We so often want to say that it was the Romans or the Jews who killed Jesus and not us, followers of Christ. But our hands were involved in Jesus’ death.
We unfairly villain-ize Jews and Romans saying that we would not have been in that crowd crying for Jesus to be crucified. But yet Jesus died for our sins. Jesus died for us. It doesn’t matter if we were in that crowd or not, if we would have yelled “crucify him, crucify him,” or have silently stood on the sidelines watching the entire spectacle take place. Our hands were involved. We were part of the crowd that killed Jesus even if we were not physically there, even if we think that we would never have joined in with the crowd.
We are part of the crowd that killed Jesus because Jesus died for us. We were part of the crowd that killed Jesus because God gave his only son for us. Our hands are bloody, our hands are covered in Jesus’ blood because we killed Jesus.
But our hands are washed clean. They are washed clean because of God. They are washed clean because Jesus died for us, for our sins. They are washed clean because God gave his only son for us.
God’s work was done through our hands and God’s work continues to be done through our hands. Through the joy that comes in this congregation, through the work that we do in this community, through the support that we give to missionaries and relief agencies throughout the world.
Our hands our important. They do both good and bad. On this Good Friday, we can sit here and think only about the bad things, the sins that we have committed, the despair and sorrow that we have caused, the reasons why Jesus had to die for us. Or we can realize that this is Good Friday, and through Jesus’ death, through this overwhelming act of love, through this ultimate display of passion and grace, God has allowed us to do God’s work with our hands. And our hands are important and do important things.
Stinky Feet
Yesterday was the first worship service that consist of the three days of Easter, Maundy Thursday. Maundy comes from the Latin word for commandment. On Maundy Thursday, we hear John 13:1-17, 31b-35, this is the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet and then giving them a new commandment to love others, hence the word Maundy.
This is also the day that we celebrate the Last Supper, which is where communion come from. And it is the day that we remember that Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas, before he was captured, sentenced to death, was crucified and died.
The service begins much like a typical Sunday worship, but after the sermon we had a moment for a blessing of our feet (I was explicitly told that Bethlehem does not do foot washing and I'll respect that choice). And after communion the altar area is stripped to symbolize the betrayal and to prepare us for the second part of the worship service, which is tonight, Good Friday, when we hear of Jesus' trial, crucifixion and death.
Here is my sermon from last night:
Feet. We walk on them, when they hurt it is hard for us to do much of anything. A broken foot can keep us out of commission for weeks if not months. Some of us make them pretty with nail polish and regular pedicures and we can’t wait till the warmer weather because that means we can wear sandals and show them off. Some of us hide our feet, they never come out in public, always hidden behind shoes and socks.
Bunions, hammer toes, planter warts, athlete’s foot, foot odor, toe jam. Is it any wonder why most of us do not touch other people’s feet.
The most of the people who touch our feet are people who are paid to do so: podiatrists, nail technicians or a masseur. Many of us don’t even like to touch our spouse’s feet.
So when we hear today’s gospel text, the story of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples, the story that we hear every Maundy Thursday, a variety of emotions run through our minds.
Knowing that some churches celebrate Maundy Thursday by doing a foot washing, some of us react in fear thinking that we might have to expose our feet or touch somebody else’s. Well fear not today, there is no foot washing today.
Some of us might even be grateful that in the Gospel of John this story of the foot-washing is not followed by the Last Supper. How unsanitary must it be to wash 12 pairs of stinky, dirty feet and then handle bread that is past around the table.
We also try to explain away Jesus’ actions that maybe it was a cultural thing and it is just our culture that doesn’t like feet. No it was not normal to touch other people’s feet in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. It was considered a sign of hospitality to provide water and a basin so that people could wash their own feet after a long journey, but as the host you would never touch their feet. Maybe if you were rich enough and the guest was special enough you might order a slave to wash their feet but most self respecting free people would never touch someone else’s feet.
That is why Peter reacts in the way that he does. Why we have that exchange between Peter and Jesus: Listen to the conversation again.
When Jesus came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean,”
Peter knew that Jesus was doing something extraordinary by washing his disciples’ feet. Peter, the students, the disciples should have been washing Jesus, the teacher, the messiah’s feet, not the other way around. They did not deserve this sign of respect, this sign of submission on Jesus’ part.
But yet Jesus humbles himself, lowers himself to the position of a slave in order to make the disciples realize that they had a place with God, that they were loved and were made clean.
In a few minutes you will be invited to come forward, not to have your feet wash, but to have them blessed. For that is what Jesus did in when he washed the disciples’ feet, he blessed them, he loved them. We will have our feet blessed, receiving the sign of the cross of them so that we might walk in the way of Christ.
But like the disciples we are commanded to go forward and wash, bless, others. We receive this sign of Jesus’ love, a sign that Jesus gave even with a heavy heart for he knew he was about to be betrayed and sentenced to death. He washed his disciples’ feet knowing that soon his feet would be pierced with nails. And as we receive this sign of Jesus’ love, we are commanded to go out and share Jesus’ love with others. We are commanded to go out to tell others that God loves them, even if they are about to betray God, even if they deny God, even if they don’t see the signs of love around them.
God love us, God is willing to touch our feet, our stinky, dirty feet with bunions, hammer toes, planter warts, athlete’s foot, foot odor, toe jam and all. God loves the purest parts of us, but God also loves the most disgusting parts of us. And God loves us so much that he sent his only son to die for us so that we might have eternal life.
This is also the day that we celebrate the Last Supper, which is where communion come from. And it is the day that we remember that Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas, before he was captured, sentenced to death, was crucified and died.
The service begins much like a typical Sunday worship, but after the sermon we had a moment for a blessing of our feet (I was explicitly told that Bethlehem does not do foot washing and I'll respect that choice). And after communion the altar area is stripped to symbolize the betrayal and to prepare us for the second part of the worship service, which is tonight, Good Friday, when we hear of Jesus' trial, crucifixion and death.
Here is my sermon from last night:
Feet. We walk on them, when they hurt it is hard for us to do much of anything. A broken foot can keep us out of commission for weeks if not months. Some of us make them pretty with nail polish and regular pedicures and we can’t wait till the warmer weather because that means we can wear sandals and show them off. Some of us hide our feet, they never come out in public, always hidden behind shoes and socks.
Bunions, hammer toes, planter warts, athlete’s foot, foot odor, toe jam. Is it any wonder why most of us do not touch other people’s feet.
The most of the people who touch our feet are people who are paid to do so: podiatrists, nail technicians or a masseur. Many of us don’t even like to touch our spouse’s feet.
So when we hear today’s gospel text, the story of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples, the story that we hear every Maundy Thursday, a variety of emotions run through our minds.
Knowing that some churches celebrate Maundy Thursday by doing a foot washing, some of us react in fear thinking that we might have to expose our feet or touch somebody else’s. Well fear not today, there is no foot washing today.
Some of us might even be grateful that in the Gospel of John this story of the foot-washing is not followed by the Last Supper. How unsanitary must it be to wash 12 pairs of stinky, dirty feet and then handle bread that is past around the table.
We also try to explain away Jesus’ actions that maybe it was a cultural thing and it is just our culture that doesn’t like feet. No it was not normal to touch other people’s feet in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. It was considered a sign of hospitality to provide water and a basin so that people could wash their own feet after a long journey, but as the host you would never touch their feet. Maybe if you were rich enough and the guest was special enough you might order a slave to wash their feet but most self respecting free people would never touch someone else’s feet.
That is why Peter reacts in the way that he does. Why we have that exchange between Peter and Jesus: Listen to the conversation again.
When Jesus came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean,”
Peter knew that Jesus was doing something extraordinary by washing his disciples’ feet. Peter, the students, the disciples should have been washing Jesus, the teacher, the messiah’s feet, not the other way around. They did not deserve this sign of respect, this sign of submission on Jesus’ part.
But yet Jesus humbles himself, lowers himself to the position of a slave in order to make the disciples realize that they had a place with God, that they were loved and were made clean.
In a few minutes you will be invited to come forward, not to have your feet wash, but to have them blessed. For that is what Jesus did in when he washed the disciples’ feet, he blessed them, he loved them. We will have our feet blessed, receiving the sign of the cross of them so that we might walk in the way of Christ.
But like the disciples we are commanded to go forward and wash, bless, others. We receive this sign of Jesus’ love, a sign that Jesus gave even with a heavy heart for he knew he was about to be betrayed and sentenced to death. He washed his disciples’ feet knowing that soon his feet would be pierced with nails. And as we receive this sign of Jesus’ love, we are commanded to go out and share Jesus’ love with others. We are commanded to go out to tell others that God loves them, even if they are about to betray God, even if they deny God, even if they don’t see the signs of love around them.
God love us, God is willing to touch our feet, our stinky, dirty feet with bunions, hammer toes, planter warts, athlete’s foot, foot odor, toe jam and all. God loves the purest parts of us, but God also loves the most disgusting parts of us. And God loves us so much that he sent his only son to die for us so that we might have eternal life.
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