Wait, Do I know you?

Matthew 7:22-29
On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many powerful deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’

“Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because its foundation had been laid on rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed—it was utterly destroyed!”

When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed by his teaching, because he taught them like one who had authority, not like their experts in the law.

     You don't want Jesus to have a Dory moment with you! In case you don't know her, Dory is this comical blue fish is from the "Finding Nemo" Movie who has a short term memory problem. I giggle just thinking about how she could forget someone within a moment, right after a conversation. Yet, I can also relate to all the typical losses of memory that seem foolish. I am also mindful of all those that we know and love that struggle with memory loss due to aging of the brain.

     "Wait, do I know you?" can be a funny jab to give to a friend or family member, but terribly painful if they truly are separating from you permanently. I can't imagine the pain of hearing Jesus or anyone I know and love say those words to me. Is there someone that you have pushed out of your life? Reach out to them today. Is there a branch of the family that is torn--help them to mend and forgive. Remember in your prayers those whose home life and relationships have been fraught with distrust and conflict.

Dear Jesus, give us to live lives that keep a legacy of faith and carry out your hope, peace, and love. Challenge us to practice your forgiveness. Enliven us with your grace. In your name, we pray. Amen.

     

Problems, Big Problems, Suffering

     We have all had those moments of intense focus on the absolute shambles of our own life situation, only to realize that the person we are trying to describe it all to doesn't seem to be impressed with the same level of severity. Many of us have gotten to the point where we figure it is better to not complain. Everyone has problems. Everyone is broken. Besides, aren't most of what we fuss about "First World Problems"? Even the poorest of us is wealthier than many parts of the world.

     Our text for today is:

Romans 5: 1-5 Common English Bible translation

Therefore, since we have been made righteous through his faithfulness, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory. But not only that! We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

     Taking pride in our problems might not be the conventional angle, but it can be a significant part of the Way of following Jesus. We can learn patience and the power of perseverance. We know that Jesus has overcome. It is his faith that goes before us. We don't have to be perfect. The power in weakness is through trusting in the presence of the great Holy Advocate with us and guide us through any and all problems.

     Even more, this stance means that we are more open to God's work through and with others. We get through problems, big problems, and downright suffering together. None of us have to go at it alone. We don't measure and compare our problems, but are honest with each other and share them so that we can fit them together and help one another in this great journey of sharing God's love.

Almighty God, we thank you that you love us through our problems. Without you we would be stuck or sunk. You are our living hope, our life, and our true joy. No matter what comes our way, you will always be with us. All praise to you, Everlasting One of All. Amen.

Upside-Down Double Set

 Holy Cross Day - September 14, 2021

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

¹⁸For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” ²⁰Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. ²²For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, ²³but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. ²⁶Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, ²⁹so that no one might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

On this Holy Cross Day, what is the message of the Cross? To further our understanding of what we proclaim, I offer for you two upside-down top ten lists. They are presented in reverse order because the Cross turns the order of perceived power and meaning on its head. Two sets because the Cross holds both beauty and ugliness.

{Many facts and details below are from Crucifixion by Martin Hengel (1977). Fortress Press}

UGLINESS:

10. Fairly minor in the list of injuries was undoubtedly a line of splinters and abrasions from the rough hewn wood up and down Jesus' backside.

9. Jesus was crucified in the nude. This was a standard practice of utter embarrassment. (I am not saying that the naked human body is ugly, but that the forced practice of naked torture is.)

8. The Romans devised the Cross as a fairly quick and inexpensive way to doll out punishment to anyone resisting the empire. The technique was recorded to be used on at least a thousand dissidents at a time.

7. The crosses and their victims would typically be mounted at a very public place like along the main roadway in an out of a town, a high place, and also near the trash heap. Warning, deterrent, and easy disposal could all be rolled into one site. Evil can be quite efficient by design.

6. Typically the bodies would remain on the cross for days and be scavenged by birds and animals. 

5. There are multiple ways to die in a crucifixion. The description of Jesus' death in the Gospels points to shock or cardiac arrest (rather than the targeted and slower asphyxiation).

4. While crucifixions were somewhat standardized, they were also thrown together by whatever wood was handy and varied widely in actual implementation. So, the shape of the actual cross of Jesus could easily have been anywhere in-between a "T" or a "W" shaped tree. It was not a neat and clean design.

3. The cross was a slave's punishment. There are multiple historical references and Philippians 2:6-11 which point to this reality. For a much broader read on this connection, check out The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone. This also highlights that the ugliness of racism is truly a Gospel issue, which Jesus is clearly aligned into (as a poor non-white).

2. Flogging, and/or various forms of torture typically preceded the cross to be sure that it didn't drag on too long.

1. The nails of crucifixion target the nerve pathways to the hands and feet, for the purpose of intensifying the overwhelming pain.

BEAUTY:

10. Jesus was spared the birds and animals as his body was moved to a tomb. The empty cross is thus also a symbol of the love of community and the care of friends.

9.  Eventually, the Romans started using other words for crucifixions because of the growing meaning and notoriety of the word "Cross" as connecting to Jesus of Nazareth. Evil does not like to pay attention to its own failures.

8. The general shape of the cross can be seen as the love of God coming down to be among us and spreading us with that love out into the community.

7. The earliest message of Christianity is that the cross means the solidarity of God with the  unspeakable suffering of those who are tortured and executed by human cruelty. The newness of these words of love has not even begun to fade.

6. That God accepted death in the form of a crucified laborer from the country in order to break the very power of death and thereby bring salvation to all humanity is folly and madness to the typical constructs of empire, but is actually the last laugh. It is the truest and deepest wisdom and knowledge of God and God's jealous love for God's people.

5. The scandal of Jesus dying the death of a criminal, a slave, or a revolutionary pushes us to see the ethic of God's work beyond what we expect or place in neat boxes. God's love and work is wild and cannot be contained!

4. In a world of pushing and shoving, God does not push back but absorbs the harshest blow and shows another Way.

3. That at least one form of harsh torture and death has been removed from the worlds repertoire, lest it give any honor to the One who beat it, is encouraging. That Christians and others advocate for more humane structures or no death penalties is even more hopeful.

2. Jesus showed the scars from the Cross to the confused disciples as proof that the Resurrection had triumphed, so all the ugly items listed above and all the ugly things of this mortal life are transformed by the power of God into a beauty we can barely imagine. 

1. There is no such thing as a dead God, but there is a God that deadened death into a stingless pain, where hope lives eternally and love always conquers in favor of the beloved.

Crucified God, we honor you and your unfathomable love for us. You took the blows and torture that you did not deserve. You are pure love, and yet you were shown hate. In response, you show forgiveness, love, and peace. Teach us to turn away from vengeance and to work your way of justice for all those that might be punished sorely. Build up the work of those who protect and advocate for the innocent. Enliven your people to see your infinite beauty and goodness. To you, be all the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Was That an Insult or a Compliment?

Matthew 17:14-21 (NET)

When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly, for he often falls into the fire and into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they were not able to heal him.” Jesus answered, “You unbelieving and perverse generation! How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I endure you? Bring him here to me.” Then Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed from that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” He told them, “It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you.”

     Today's reading might make you feel like you have been hanging around with that friend, coworker, or family member. You know, the one that seems to give mostly backhanded compliments. Their snarky attitude and cynicism leaves you feeling like you come up short. ("You should probably also read the story of Zacchaeus, it is inspiring for people like you.") 

     Jesus seems a bit grumpy in this reading. In the course of him saying that he will help, he highlights that the disciples have faith that could be labeled "too small." Yet, Jesus seems to smile and give one of them a pat on the shoulder saying that you all shouldn't worry. You only have to have faith that is as big as a mustard seed to move molehills. Oh wait, that is all you can move now, but if you had more faith, you could move more. It isn't just them. They can take comfort in the fact that the entire generation has a teeny tiny little bit of faith (and is tiresome, and perverse...).

     This might not be the kind of passage we want to read today. We could easily find ourselves searching for another passage from Jesus when he is in a better mood. We need encouragement and edification, not criticism.

     I do wonder, though, if we miss the point in our perception that Jesus was speaking in a certain way, with a certain tone and inflection. If we imagine him rolling his eyes, I think we miss the content of what he is saying. Jesus means for us to grasp the significance of faith, but our self-doubt means that we hear the whole exchange as though we are not enough, and that we don't have enough faith yet. What if he is reacting because an understanding of faith is so critical to God's purpose and our life (and his tone is more like a teacher wanting to get a core point across)? A less defensive reading would guide us to understand that faith is actually not measured in volume. We do have to have a belief that goes beyond a small mental yes into the tiny mustard seed territory of trusting God to be able to handle the large things. Large problems and issues do not require that our faith be larger, but that our trust in God is hard and reliable like a prolific plant that spreads and grows. Our faith needs to depend upon God's work and presence.

Almighty One, guide us to a deeper trust in you and all your ways. Empower us to see your goodness and move us out of questioning and away from fear into your embrace. We lift our worries and struggles and concerns with those that we love into your care... In deep gratitude for the lightness of your Way, we lift our prayers to you. Amen.