"See you Ee-tah!"

Many years ago, when my nieces were very young, Ted and I traveled home to Mississippi from Texas for every holiday. The little girls were always so glad to see us and we treasured our time watching them grow up, albeit in spurts from our Texas vantage point. The youngest, Catherine, was about two and barely talking one year when we left on Sunday afternoon to return to Texas after a Valentine's Day visit. She stood at the door of my mother's home, and waved and waved, and shouted, "See you Ee-tah!" Translation: "See you Easter!" I don't quite know how she knew that Easter was the next holiday on the calendar, but she did. And she was, even at that young age, excited about it. She knew we'd be back to love her, give our undivided attention to her and, generally, have a blessed time together. She sensed it and wasn't afraid, in her tiny little voice, to express the joy it would bring, even though there would be a long and painful separation in between. Easter 2011 is just around the corner -- a week from Sunday. We begin our journey through Holy Week this Palm Sunday with a remembrance of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, a time of great joy and hope. Then, we continue our worship with a remembrance of his passion, suffering and death, a time of extreme sadness and despair -- recalling the time of long and painful separation in between the great joy of the palms and the great tragedy of the crucifixion. There is no going from joy to joy -- that is not realistic, and it is not life. There is always sadness in between. During this Holy Week, we will claim the sadness, and we will claim the sin. We will claim the tragedy of his innocent suffering, all the while claiming the gift of forgiveness, compassion, joy and hope that IS Easter with great anticipation. I invite you to come and be present this week for worship. Palm Sunday at regular worship times, 8:30; 9:45 and 11; Holy Thursday at 7 pm, as we remember Christ's gift of the Eucharist before his death; Good Friday at 7 pm, for a beautiful Service of Tennebrae. Then, in those blessed words of hope and anticipation from a beautiful small child so long ago, I hope and pray we "See you Ee-tah!" a.

The Lazarus Effect . . .

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought there was an old science fiction movie entitled "The Lazarus Effect." Maybe there is. But when I googled that title, what came up is a book of that same title about some kind of science fiction resurrection on another planet or something. What also came up is an upcoming HBO special set to air at the end of May about the restorative, healing power of free drugs to help combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. It is all about new life, and healing. And, life after death. Such was the story of Lazarus in the 11th chapter of St. John's Gospel. I hope you know the fundamentals of that story because it was this miracle, this sign that Jesus performed that ultimately caused his crucifixion. Jesus had three good friends, siblings Mary, Martha and Lazarus. They were close to him and he to them. Jesus was away from their home in Bethany on one of his ministerial excursions, and for some reason Lazarus died. We don't know why. Word reached Jesus of the death of his friend, and for some reason, Jesus did not immediately cancel his plans and return to the side of Mary and Martha. He delayed. So, Lazarus was buried in a tomb and was there -- three whole days. Good and dead, to be sure. Finally, Jesus did go to the sisters and both chided him about not coming sooner. They had suffered a terrible loss and they needed their friend. They NEEDED his support in their grief. They NEEDED his power, his ministry, his care. He finds his way through their grief and the public grieving of all their friends and neighbors and goes to the tomb. First, he prays, asking God's help and promising to give glory to God. Then, he calls Lazarus forth from the tomb into new, resurrected life. The religious authorities were completely flumoxed -- and vowed then and there not only to kill Jesus, but also Lazarus, the living evidence of life in Christ. This passage is loaded with God-talk. It is filled with any number of theological issues on which we can hang our Christian hat. Most remarkably, and obviously, it is surely a foretelling of Jesus' own resurrection which is just down the road. But it also makes us thing about who we are in relation to Jesus and new life. Perhaps, it is his invitation to die to what is killing us -- sin, selfishness, anger, unforgiveness, lack of compassion for others, avarice, greed . . . well, the list goes on. Perhaps, in this invitation to die, we can fully claim the charge to rise again in him, and live life abundantly with and it him. Death is never easy. It always causes grief for those affected by such loss. It is the same for death to sin, selfishness, all of the above . . . we may grieve for those ways, for that way of being. What is lost may seem a lot easier that living freely into new life. In this story, we are given not only the promise of new life, but the way TO that life, the man who is Christ himself. So, it begs the question: Are we living evidence of life in Christ? If so, how? If not, why not? Talk amongst yourselves . . . .see you in worship this Sunday as we discuss "The Lazarus Effect." a.

"Open Your Eyes!"

This is what Jesus tells the blind man in the lovely story of healing in the 9th chapter of St. John's Gospel. This is AFTER, of course, onlookers ask Jesus what "sin" the man, or his parents have committed that he would be so stricken. Isn't this always the case? We, in our humanity, always seek to find some logic in tragedy. And our feeble human logic usually starts with cause and effect: in other words, who/what is to BLAME? The reality is, this is fruitless, useless and down right illogical. Things happen. Life is life. We are not God, and although it is permissible to ask why, we have to be content with Jesus' answer: Nothing. Neither the young man, nor his parents, did anything, any 'sin' to cause his malady. Rather, Jesus says, "it is so that God's works might be revealed in him." What if we applied this to every "why" question we ask when we encounter suffering, loss and tragedy in our own lives, the lives of those around us, and in this world? Perhaps, we would learn to ask the right question, not "why" did God do this, but rather "what" is God doing in the midst of it? In the blind young man's case, God was healing through presence, power and the love of another -- God's own son, Jesus of Nazareth. Perhaps, this week is an opportunity for us to finally SEE how God operates in Christ: compassionately, kindly, lovingly, and CONSTANTLY. As His disciples, we are called to no less on his behalf. Pastor Brady Waters brings a good word on this Sunday in his examination of this passage. Come -- and SEE! a.

When Jesus meets his match . . . Talk Amongst Yourselves

The Woman at the Well -- Samaritan, foreigner, WOMAN, of questionable reputation, alone, vulnerable and tired -- all of the above. When she met Jesus, she had just about had enough of life as usual for it was hard, and complicated. The scripture (St. John's Gospel, Chapter 4) tells us he was in HER territory. Their communities historically didn't like each other, based on hundreds of years of tribal animosities. It was mid-day, and she was about doing her work, women's work of carrying water to and from her home in large, heavy jars. The water well, known by both communities as a place of historical note, was still used to supply water for people and livestock. She was tired, and maybe mad -- at least not in a great mood -- and certainly didn't need some Galilean Jew harassing her. I can just imagine her, hand on hip, curt of tongue, used to the verbal insults of other men, first trying to ignore him, and then, ready for him. She wasn't about to take any grief from this outsider, and stranger -- this MAN.
And Jesus, it seems, was ready for her, seeing, sensing in her something others didn't -- her weariness, her strength, and most of all, her worth as a child of God.
And so, the Kingdom of God expanded a bit that day -- actually, a lot. Not only was their rather heated exchange a revelation for her, but through her an entire community of Samaritans, foreigners . . . . all of the above and more, came to know God a little better that day. God, that day, and in the three days to follow, walked in their midst, breathed in their air, and shared with them "living water."
This week, Rev. Mary Martin, pastor at FUMC Poetry and Intern Pastor at FUMC Sachse preaches all three services on this text. I can't wait to hear what this lovely woman preacher has to say about this lovely Samaritan woman, who became much more than a disciple of the Jew from Nazareth. She became an example for us all of how to meet Jesus when he meets us . . . in our own territory.
Come, hear, listen, and learn about "living water". a.

Heavenly Things: ". . . on earth as it is . . . ".

Nicodemus comes by night to Jesus asking questions. He's a leader in his faith community, one of the Pharisees. He seems confused for such a religious man. Uncertain. Tentative. Anxious. Curious, even. You can tell by what he blurts out when he sees Jesus: "'Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." (Take a breath, man). (John 3:2, NRSV) Jesus cuts right to the chase. Forget the small talk. What you want to know is this: What's in it for me, Nicodemus? Where is God? What does God want? How can I make sense of this very confusing thing called faith? And so, Jesus replies: "'Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.'"
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? "Born . . . again"???? Nicodemus, like you and I would do, to be sure, immediately literalizes what Jesus has to say about understanding how the Kingdom of God operates, exists -- IS. Then Jesus goes on to explain: flesh is flesh; Spirit is Spirit. One understands "heavenly things," he says, when one is open to the work, the blowing wind, of the Spirit of God. Heavenly things are not "out there" in some vast expansive universe of our imagination. Heavenly things are what the Spirit of God is doing here and now, in, as one theologian put it, the very depths of our lives. Heavenly things are less about angels and clouds and eternal bliss and more about justice, and mercy, and the calling to compassion for others. Being "born again" is a process that has perplexed people since the time of poor Nicodemus. For us, it is not a one time, mountain-top experience of salvation. Zap -- you are born again and you're done. Heavenly things are in the daily slug through life, often life in the depths, each alongside the other -- living together in God's abundant grace, and making every effort each day to be better, and make the world better for others in the name of the One who died on a cross to make it better for us.
What do you think about that?
Talk amongst yourselves . . . and let me know.
a.

What is most tempting? Talk Amongst Yourselves

It is officially, today, Lent, the season in which we prepare for 40 days and nights to follow Jesus to the cross and then, His Resurrection . This week's preaching text, St. Matthew's Gospel 4:1-11, is about the temptation of Jesus in the desert by the Devil. It is a familiar text to most of us. There's a version of it in all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). One way or another we've heard it in church more than once. It is an interesting text in that the Devil, or the "Tempter" tries to provoke Jesus with really one thing: the human need to exercise ultimate power. It is the same thing the Tempter in the form of a snake dangled in front of Adam and Eve in Genesis: Go ahead, eat the fruit and ". . . you will be like God. . . "! In Matthew's text, the Tempter keeps saying, "IF (my emphasis) you are the Son of God, THEN __________. . ." . Every time, there is an issue of power: IF . . . then --turn stones into bread and eat for you are famished. IF . . . .then jump from the Temple and prove your own omnipotence. IF . . . you worship me, then you can have -- all the money and control in the world. And, every time, Jesus meets the temptation with Scripture. Every time, he stares into this human frailty, and fills it with the Word of God. Finally, Satan goes away, to return later . . . much later. At the foot of the cross, the Tempter's faceless voice rises once again, "IF . . . you are the Son of God, come down from that cross . . . ".
What is it about power and control that is so tempting to us? WHY do we need to "be like God"? It was a foregone conclusion that Jesus, as the Son of God, could resist this kind of evil. Yet in his humanity, he clearly knew and understood our weaknesses, particularly this kind of weakness -- to power and control. Ultimately, it was this sin that crucified him. Talk amongst yourselves, and let me know your thoughts.
And, have a blessed Lenten season.
a.

"OMG!!! Its GOD!!!"...Talk Amongst Yourselves

This Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday. In the Christian calendar, this feast day falls on the Sunday right before the beginning of Lent. Lent, this year, begins with Ash Wednesday on March 9th. Transfiguration Sunday recalls the Scriptural accounting of when Jesus took his friends (Peter, James and John) up on a mountainside and was 'transformed' -- or transfigured -- before their very eyes into a vision of the Divine. He is also accompanied in this transfiguration by the Lawgiver, Moses, and the Prophet, Elijah -- both long-dead. It is a strange accounting, as Jesus also says to his friends, the only spectators, never to tell anyone. And, we really aren't sure why he chose those friends, and that time, and that particular place. But all three of the synoptic have this accounting. Transfiguration means to change, literally change the outside to match what is on the inside. Jesus 'changed' himself, and revealed such a startling and magnificent view of God, it was almost too much for the three apostles to comprehend. They didn't know what to do with it. My question is, do we?
I refer this week to my friend and former teacher Rev. Dr. John Holbert, whose written a wonderful column on the whole idea of witnessing the Divine. This is on the very cool, very informative site -- NOTE -- Patheos.com, a site devoted to the study and understanding of spirituality and multiple faith traditions. John examines a predecessor text to the Gospel accountings, Exodus 24:12-18. This tells the story of Moses, Joshua, and assorted Israelite priests also getting to view God (aka "YHWH"), on a mountaintop (Sinai) long before Jesus ever was born. John ponders whether you and I, today, in our age of instantaneous internet connections and ever-changing, space-age technology, are still able and even wanting or willing to try and grasp the wonder and mystery of the Triune God.
Good question, John. I wonder it, too.
Talk amongst yourselves and let us know.
a.
John's post is under the Religion Portal on Patheos.com under "Mainline Protestant." Check it out!