Our second week of bread texts takes us further into John 6. We skip a few verses and get a section from verse 24-35, getting a section about the Israelite history: manna in the desert. The crowd, who had just been fed to being satisfied, continued looking for Jesus. Jesus again sees that their hunger is not just a physical hunger, but a hunger for something more existential. And he names it right out:
Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate
your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for
eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.
I find this an incredibly interesting statement - we are supposed to work for something which the Son of Man will give? Isn't this a little contradictory? Working for a gift?
In a church that so fiercely stands by grace alone (that is, God's forgiveness, mercy, and love given freely, without any works on our part) what do we do with a statement like Jesus'? But then Jesus saves us, once again. For his answer gives it away:
This is the work of God: that you believe in him whom he has sent.
Believing in Jesus, the one whom God sent, is the work that endures for eternal life. John' gospel emphasizes belief, trust, and salvation, all of which are synonymous in these chapters. After pondering this for many years, I have come to wonder if the real work is actually believing that we don't have to work at all.
Yesterday we heard about the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. I stated that the real miracle is in the sitting and being together - with each other and with Jesus. That was again a case in which we didn't have to do anything but clear the schedule for a little down time. Jesus does the work in us, if we believe and make room for him.
Work that isn't work? Well, if that's all it takes I will work hard at not working, a thing more difficult than you would think. But it is only this work that isn't work that lasts for eternal life - love, mercy, forgiveness, grace. These are things that cannot be earned, bargained for, or attained by any other means other than the goodness of the person giving them. So it is with Christ.
He is the giver. The Spirit works in each of us to help us actually believe that Christ works for us, so that the work we do isn't actually work at all, but is simply being. Believing that God loves us, knowing that Christ died for us, trusting that the Spirit helps us. Work that isn't work? Sign me up.
30 July 2012
24 July 2012
How often do we sit?
Wow. Woah. There aren't words to describe it, no metaphors that come close to conveying, no substitute for the experience of gathering with 33,309 people to worship, sing, dance, and listen. The reverberations of "and also with you" are still ringing in my chest. My feet are still jumping, and my hands are still raised, I can still see the waves (literally) of arms moving up and down in a sea of disciples, citizens with the saints.
The week in New Orleans was amazing, tiring, Spirit-filled, and transformative. To have that many people gathered together hearing about what it means to be citizens with the saints; to practice peace, justice, and discipleship; to stand up and declare together that they will make a change; to feel God's spirit rain down upon us is like nothing else in the entire world, and I feel as if I am on a high, excited and encouraged to keep on keeping on.
In short, the week fed my soul. Hearing from people who are citizens with us but who were (or still are) on the margins is powerful. Witnessing people from all over, from mixed socioeconomic places, from all around the United States and beyond, talking with a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, with a peacemaker from Malaysia, painting, playing, and eating, fed my soul. It was a week full of Christ's presence in more tangible ways, perhaps because we were looking for it, perhaps because when that many people gathered the power of Christ is more easily seen, perhaps just because we expected Christ to show up. And he did. In the people we met, in the people we passed, in the rain puddles and trash bag swag (ask the kids), in the Holy Spirit filling and inspiring us all.
But perhaps the most inspiring, powerful, and God filled moment was when we all gathered around God's table of communion. 33,309 people, all beloved children of God, gathered around the Holy Feast in what was a glimpse of God's kingdom where all people are fed, loved, accepted, and welcome at the eternal table in God's grace. It took over 1,000 communion assistants, 2,400 loaves of bread, and who knows how many bottles of wine. We sang for a full 20 minutes as the whole of the gathering put aside differences, made peace, prayed, and ate at God's table.
If this was an amazing feat in 2012, just imagine what a miracle it would have been in 30 CE. We are starting a 5-week series on the bread of life taken from John 6. This week we are focusing on John 6.1-21, a story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with 5 loaves of barley bread and two fish. In this miracle Christ multiplies and shares the bread and fish with the crowd and there is so much left over they fill twelve baskets full.
This is a story of abundance, and generosity, fellowship and service, and it is a story about community. It is a great miracle that Jesus fed so many. Indeed for such a small amount of food to go such a long way speaks of Christ's desire to feed people, to provide abundance in the seeming scarcity, to praise God for God's grace and love.
Now perhaps this is just because I have just come from spending a week with a great crowd, but I am amazed that the disciples manage to get that many people to sit down all at once. Yes, we all managed to sit in the Superdome, but there were big screens and people with microphones and state-of-the-art sound systems so that we could hear. This was Galilee. In the first century. No stadium seating, no microphones, just twelve disciples charged with making the people to sit.
And in the sitting together the miracle happened. All 5,000 were united with the common goal of sharing in a meal. This makes me wonder. Do we take the time to sit together? In our every day lives we become so terribly busy, focused on our own schedules, lives, and events that we forget the significance of taking time to simply sit down together. Worship is one of the places where we as a faith family sit down and experience the goodness of God - abundance, generosity, fellowship, and most of all grace.
You see, we do sit down together in many other places but it is only at the table of God that we are truly welcome just as we are - no uniforms, fees, expectations, rules, or responsibilities. Just an open invitation for all who are hungry to come and experience the goodness of God's love. When is the last time you took time to simply sit down together?
The week in New Orleans was amazing, tiring, Spirit-filled, and transformative. To have that many people gathered together hearing about what it means to be citizens with the saints; to practice peace, justice, and discipleship; to stand up and declare together that they will make a change; to feel God's spirit rain down upon us is like nothing else in the entire world, and I feel as if I am on a high, excited and encouraged to keep on keeping on.
In short, the week fed my soul. Hearing from people who are citizens with us but who were (or still are) on the margins is powerful. Witnessing people from all over, from mixed socioeconomic places, from all around the United States and beyond, talking with a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, with a peacemaker from Malaysia, painting, playing, and eating, fed my soul. It was a week full of Christ's presence in more tangible ways, perhaps because we were looking for it, perhaps because when that many people gathered the power of Christ is more easily seen, perhaps just because we expected Christ to show up. And he did. In the people we met, in the people we passed, in the rain puddles and trash bag swag (ask the kids), in the Holy Spirit filling and inspiring us all.
But perhaps the most inspiring, powerful, and God filled moment was when we all gathered around God's table of communion. 33,309 people, all beloved children of God, gathered around the Holy Feast in what was a glimpse of God's kingdom where all people are fed, loved, accepted, and welcome at the eternal table in God's grace. It took over 1,000 communion assistants, 2,400 loaves of bread, and who knows how many bottles of wine. We sang for a full 20 minutes as the whole of the gathering put aside differences, made peace, prayed, and ate at God's table.
If this was an amazing feat in 2012, just imagine what a miracle it would have been in 30 CE. We are starting a 5-week series on the bread of life taken from John 6. This week we are focusing on John 6.1-21, a story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with 5 loaves of barley bread and two fish. In this miracle Christ multiplies and shares the bread and fish with the crowd and there is so much left over they fill twelve baskets full.
This is a story of abundance, and generosity, fellowship and service, and it is a story about community. It is a great miracle that Jesus fed so many. Indeed for such a small amount of food to go such a long way speaks of Christ's desire to feed people, to provide abundance in the seeming scarcity, to praise God for God's grace and love.
Now perhaps this is just because I have just come from spending a week with a great crowd, but I am amazed that the disciples manage to get that many people to sit down all at once. Yes, we all managed to sit in the Superdome, but there were big screens and people with microphones and state-of-the-art sound systems so that we could hear. This was Galilee. In the first century. No stadium seating, no microphones, just twelve disciples charged with making the people to sit.
And in the sitting together the miracle happened. All 5,000 were united with the common goal of sharing in a meal. This makes me wonder. Do we take the time to sit together? In our every day lives we become so terribly busy, focused on our own schedules, lives, and events that we forget the significance of taking time to simply sit down together. Worship is one of the places where we as a faith family sit down and experience the goodness of God - abundance, generosity, fellowship, and most of all grace.
You see, we do sit down together in many other places but it is only at the table of God that we are truly welcome just as we are - no uniforms, fees, expectations, rules, or responsibilities. Just an open invitation for all who are hungry to come and experience the goodness of God's love. When is the last time you took time to simply sit down together?
16 July 2012
Welcome!
Well, it's been another year of my life. It has been a good year, full of many blessings and highlights, foremost of which is the birth of our daughter, Francesca. The first Christmas was doubly special because on Christmas Day we celebrated her baptism along with our families. It seems as though every other highlight in this last year has revolved around that beautiful little girl, and I am so thankful for the joy she has brought to our lives. Each night, whoever puts her to bed reminds her that we love her, and so does God.
While I can't speak for Russ, when I say those words I make the sign of the cross on her forehead as a reminder of her baptism and as a reminder that she is part of a bigger family of faith - indeed she is a 'citizen with the saints' as Paul says in the second chapter of his letter to the Ephesians in our text for Sunday.
This text happens to be one of the most radical (at least in my opinion) texts in the Bible because it deals with the nature of Christ's death on the cross and the implications of that death for us who benefit from it.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. ~ Ephesians 2.13-14
'Both groups' here refers to the Jews and the Gentiles of the time; the Jews believed that since they had been chosen by God from before they were somehow more privileged and better than the Gentiles. They believed that their sign of God's promise with them (circumcision) made those who were uncircumcised could not receive the same blessings and benefits as them.
It was a terribly bitter rivalry, those Gentiles believing that Christ was for them and not for the Jews, since God has already chosen them. It is a case of both sides thinking they are equally right, and both sides equally upset with the other.
While the players and names have changed, the game remains the same: two opposing sides who can't get along because each thinks they are more right than the other. This polarized game-playing is how most of our society functions anymore and serves to alienate and separate people more than it does to bring them together.
This text will bring us together this week - by us I mean the 36,000 youth and adults who will attend the ELCA National Youth Gathering, Citizens with the Saints in New Orleans. We will come from different places, different backgrounds, different political views. We will differ in many aspects, but we will be one. One body of faith held together in Christ Jesus, each of us citizens with all the saints.
The text from Ephesians makes it clear that no difference any of us perceives is too great for Christ's love to overcome. His love for us, poured out in the cross, is the agent that breaks down all barriers between people. The work of the cross is inclusion, so that more and more may know and experience God's grace.
In a world where many people have negative feelings about the church, I wonder what we can be doing to further this attitude of radical welcome rather than spreading feelings of judgment and hate? We are called to be citizens with our brothers and sisters, to welcome all people regardless of any differences, since it is the work of Christ that brings us together.
Since Christ has brought us all together, I wonder: who do we still need to welcome? Who do we need to invite? From whom do we still feel separated?
It is my prayer that as I get older, and as our little girl grows up, that we will be a world of ever more radical welcome, living in the peace that comes from Christ, who has broken down all the barriers for us on the cross.
While I can't speak for Russ, when I say those words I make the sign of the cross on her forehead as a reminder of her baptism and as a reminder that she is part of a bigger family of faith - indeed she is a 'citizen with the saints' as Paul says in the second chapter of his letter to the Ephesians in our text for Sunday.
This text happens to be one of the most radical (at least in my opinion) texts in the Bible because it deals with the nature of Christ's death on the cross and the implications of that death for us who benefit from it.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. ~ Ephesians 2.13-14
'Both groups' here refers to the Jews and the Gentiles of the time; the Jews believed that since they had been chosen by God from before they were somehow more privileged and better than the Gentiles. They believed that their sign of God's promise with them (circumcision) made those who were uncircumcised could not receive the same blessings and benefits as them.
It was a terribly bitter rivalry, those Gentiles believing that Christ was for them and not for the Jews, since God has already chosen them. It is a case of both sides thinking they are equally right, and both sides equally upset with the other.
While the players and names have changed, the game remains the same: two opposing sides who can't get along because each thinks they are more right than the other. This polarized game-playing is how most of our society functions anymore and serves to alienate and separate people more than it does to bring them together.
This text will bring us together this week - by us I mean the 36,000 youth and adults who will attend the ELCA National Youth Gathering, Citizens with the Saints in New Orleans. We will come from different places, different backgrounds, different political views. We will differ in many aspects, but we will be one. One body of faith held together in Christ Jesus, each of us citizens with all the saints.
The text from Ephesians makes it clear that no difference any of us perceives is too great for Christ's love to overcome. His love for us, poured out in the cross, is the agent that breaks down all barriers between people. The work of the cross is inclusion, so that more and more may know and experience God's grace.
In a world where many people have negative feelings about the church, I wonder what we can be doing to further this attitude of radical welcome rather than spreading feelings of judgment and hate? We are called to be citizens with our brothers and sisters, to welcome all people regardless of any differences, since it is the work of Christ that brings us together.
Since Christ has brought us all together, I wonder: who do we still need to welcome? Who do we need to invite? From whom do we still feel separated?
It is my prayer that as I get older, and as our little girl grows up, that we will be a world of ever more radical welcome, living in the peace that comes from Christ, who has broken down all the barriers for us on the cross.
09 July 2012
Say what?
Like last week, this week's readings aren't the most comforting pieces of scripture we have to choose from. Yet they are what is given to us in the lectionary. So, we go with what we get. And this week we get Amos and Mark. In Amos we have the image of God as the builder, holding up a plumb line to the people of Israel - and what God finds is that Israel is not quite plumb, but is crooked in ways they should be straight. While it isn't in the text for Sunday, reading into the book of Amos one quickly discovers that Israel is forsaking their duty to the orphans and widows, the kings are abusing their power and abusing their subjects, and people have generally forsaken their faithfulness to God. Since the people don't measure up, God has spoken through the prophet Amos God's judgment on the people. Needless to say the people aren't happy about Amos' words and so he is kicked out by the king.
Mark doesn't get any better, with the account of the beheading of John the Baptist. All, it says, because John spoke out against the unlawful marriage of a brother to his sister-in-law. This text has inspired many works of art from paintings to sculptures to operas, plays, and movies - all of which are various interpretations of this Mark text. John spoke the truth to a person in power, and so became a threat which needed to be eliminated.
So what do we learn from these two accounts? At first glance it would seem that the promise we receive is that people won't always like what they hear from the church. It is true that God's message can be offensive to some - particularly to those who who benefit from injustice or whose complicity in unjust systems helps maintain their status of living. As we saw last week in Jesus' hometown of Nazareth, people don't always like to hear the gospel - particularly when it calls for a changed life.
Yet we, as Christians, are called to proclaim the gospel to the world. We are called to be truth-tellers, our message wrapped in the mercy of God's love, revealing to a world that loves darkness where to find the light.
What will be our message? What truth needs to be spoken to people today? I am struck by how many political ads claim to be the truth of the situation, each opposing candidate smearing the other and creating an environment of fear over the election of one candidate or another. What truth have we to say about this?
Or what about the rising drug and gang violence in Central and South America? Or what about malaria, HIV/AIDS, and simple lack of medical care millions of people across the globe face? What about the fact that tonight over 925 million people will go to bed hungry? What truth have we, God's people, to say about these things?
The truth, ultimately, is that we have a God who loves all people. We have a God who comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable, who has a way of making level all things. And how are all things made level but by the lifting up on a cross God's only son, Jesus Christ. In him all things are made new. Light is shed on all truths and courage is given to stand for those who can't. What light is being shed for us now? Where is God calling us to speak the truth in love? What shall I say?
Mark doesn't get any better, with the account of the beheading of John the Baptist. All, it says, because John spoke out against the unlawful marriage of a brother to his sister-in-law. This text has inspired many works of art from paintings to sculptures to operas, plays, and movies - all of which are various interpretations of this Mark text. John spoke the truth to a person in power, and so became a threat which needed to be eliminated.
So what do we learn from these two accounts? At first glance it would seem that the promise we receive is that people won't always like what they hear from the church. It is true that God's message can be offensive to some - particularly to those who who benefit from injustice or whose complicity in unjust systems helps maintain their status of living. As we saw last week in Jesus' hometown of Nazareth, people don't always like to hear the gospel - particularly when it calls for a changed life.
Yet we, as Christians, are called to proclaim the gospel to the world. We are called to be truth-tellers, our message wrapped in the mercy of God's love, revealing to a world that loves darkness where to find the light.
What will be our message? What truth needs to be spoken to people today? I am struck by how many political ads claim to be the truth of the situation, each opposing candidate smearing the other and creating an environment of fear over the election of one candidate or another. What truth have we to say about this?
Or what about the rising drug and gang violence in Central and South America? Or what about malaria, HIV/AIDS, and simple lack of medical care millions of people across the globe face? What about the fact that tonight over 925 million people will go to bed hungry? What truth have we, God's people, to say about these things?
The truth, ultimately, is that we have a God who loves all people. We have a God who comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable, who has a way of making level all things. And how are all things made level but by the lifting up on a cross God's only son, Jesus Christ. In him all things are made new. Light is shed on all truths and courage is given to stand for those who can't. What light is being shed for us now? Where is God calling us to speak the truth in love? What shall I say?
02 July 2012
How much do we believe?
This week we are moving back to Mark's gospel. While we haven't been focusing on the gospel lesson in past weeks, we have been slowly making our way through Mark. Last week we heard of Jesus healing two women - one who had been suffering for 12 years with hemorrhaging, and the other a little girl who had died from an illness and whom Jesus raised again.
After these two miraculous healings our story continues with Jesus arriving in his hometown in Mark 6. Now, this part of the gospel is probably best known for Jesus sending his disciples out to minister in the surrounding country, the second half of the story, but I am fascinated by the first part. When Jesus arrives home, he does not receive the warm welcome of a local celebrity that one might expect. The word has been spreading and Jesus can no longer go anywhere without being recognized. One might think that his homecoming would be a happy and joy-filled event, one where a young person of the town comes for a brief visit in the midst of his fairly significant success and fame. Except what Jesus finds is more of a hostile and incredulous community. Who, Jesus? Isn't that just the carpenter's son? And what's more, it says that they took offense at him and he could do no deed of power there.
From this text it would seem that Jesus' power is affected by the amount of faith. Just think about yesterday's text. The woman believed that if she even touched the hem of his cloak his power could heal her - and it did. Here Jesus couldn't do anything but lay his hands on a few sick people to cure them. No raising people from the dead, no people clamoring for his touch or healing. And Jesus could do no deed of power.
Is God's power really affected by the belief of the people? It is certainly true of other things - you can sometimes feel when you go into a place the energy. Positive energy is life-giving and creates an atmosphere of hope and joy. It often seems this way to me in worship (hopefully to those who come it feels that way, too). On the other hand negative energy is life-draining and creates an atmosphere of tension and fear. We've all been in those places too - perhaps it was your own living room during a heated argument or maybe it was the home of a relative where you could 'cut the tension with a knife'. Either way, from our own experiences it would seem that the mood of the place does have something to do with what happens there.
We have experienced this in our own faith community. Excitement builds excitement and the mood of the place seems to rub off on us. People often comment to me how it 'feels' like something amazing is happening. And that is true. Something amazing is happening: God's power is working in and through us to change lives. God's power is working to nurture people in faith, to provide a place for everyone to belong, to show compassion to those in need, and to shine Christ's light in our community.
Christ's power is at work in and through his church, here in Ely, and we are experiencing the wonderful gifts of God's love. It is my prayer that we will continue to believe, through our life and ministry together, that Jesus can heal. That Jesus does heal. That Jesus does make a difference. The real mystery for us is how does our belief affect Jesus' power? How much do we believe?
After these two miraculous healings our story continues with Jesus arriving in his hometown in Mark 6. Now, this part of the gospel is probably best known for Jesus sending his disciples out to minister in the surrounding country, the second half of the story, but I am fascinated by the first part. When Jesus arrives home, he does not receive the warm welcome of a local celebrity that one might expect. The word has been spreading and Jesus can no longer go anywhere without being recognized. One might think that his homecoming would be a happy and joy-filled event, one where a young person of the town comes for a brief visit in the midst of his fairly significant success and fame. Except what Jesus finds is more of a hostile and incredulous community. Who, Jesus? Isn't that just the carpenter's son? And what's more, it says that they took offense at him and he could do no deed of power there.
From this text it would seem that Jesus' power is affected by the amount of faith. Just think about yesterday's text. The woman believed that if she even touched the hem of his cloak his power could heal her - and it did. Here Jesus couldn't do anything but lay his hands on a few sick people to cure them. No raising people from the dead, no people clamoring for his touch or healing. And Jesus could do no deed of power.
Is God's power really affected by the belief of the people? It is certainly true of other things - you can sometimes feel when you go into a place the energy. Positive energy is life-giving and creates an atmosphere of hope and joy. It often seems this way to me in worship (hopefully to those who come it feels that way, too). On the other hand negative energy is life-draining and creates an atmosphere of tension and fear. We've all been in those places too - perhaps it was your own living room during a heated argument or maybe it was the home of a relative where you could 'cut the tension with a knife'. Either way, from our own experiences it would seem that the mood of the place does have something to do with what happens there.
We have experienced this in our own faith community. Excitement builds excitement and the mood of the place seems to rub off on us. People often comment to me how it 'feels' like something amazing is happening. And that is true. Something amazing is happening: God's power is working in and through us to change lives. God's power is working to nurture people in faith, to provide a place for everyone to belong, to show compassion to those in need, and to shine Christ's light in our community.
Christ's power is at work in and through his church, here in Ely, and we are experiencing the wonderful gifts of God's love. It is my prayer that we will continue to believe, through our life and ministry together, that Jesus can heal. That Jesus does heal. That Jesus does make a difference. The real mystery for us is how does our belief affect Jesus' power? How much do we believe?
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