First Presbyterian Church
Ripley Tennessee
April 25, 2010
4nd Sunday of Easter
Psalm 23
Acts 9:36-43
Down in the valley
The title to this weeks sermon does not indicate that I will stand here and belt out my rendition of “Down in the Valley”, but it was one of the first songs I learned on the guitar. Neither does the title refer to the Movie of the same name staring Edward Norton released in 2006. I do not refer to “The Big Valley” starring Barbra Stanwick featuring the western matriarch Victoria Barkley and her sons.
No, the title this morning is inspired by the phrase from the 23rd psalm “4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me”.
Each time I hear the phrase, “…the valley of the shadow of death,” my mind immediately focuses on the famous poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade". The Charge of the Light Brigade is an 1854 narrative poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson about the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War.
Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. 'Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns' he said: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!' Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldiers knew Some one had blunder'd: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me”. David refers to the shadow of death to personify death. Death is near and the shadow is evidence of its proximity. Uncertainty, finality and eternity are close at hand. David indicates that the valley is an unsettling place. It is also a place we all must walk and spend time.
The soldiers in the poem are faced with certain death. Yet they performed bravely. The valley of death did not deter their call to duty. What was going through these men’s minds as they faced annihilation?
I have a deep interest in the Civil War. I have toured the Battle field at Gettysburg. I have stood at the place where brave men took part in Pickets Charge. How can a person face that? Even now, brave women and men face these same uncertainties, fears and the shadow of death every day on foreign soil in the name of democracy.
The valley of the shadow of death is a striking image. However, there is so much more than just that one image. The Psalm is mainly soothing and comforting images of God protecting and comforting David. Let’s look further.
Within our two readings this morning we see death confronted. What I want to visit with you about this morning are the contrasting perspectives and the rest of the image David portrays in the valley.
Notice in the 23rd Psalm, David’s portrayal is first person. The Lord is MY shepherd; I shall not want; He makes ME lie down; he leads ME beside still waters: Though I walk…Thy rod and thy staff comfort ME. You prepare a table before ME; MY enemies; MY head; MY cup;
A beautiful relationship is revealed between God and David in the Valley. This is a personal relationship. David and God are interacting and David is being comforted by God in profound ways.
In contrast, the reading from Acts gives us a different perspective on the Valley. In this passage we are given witness to the valley from the perspective of the mourners; for certainly those who mourn are also traveling in the valley of the shadow.
We are witnesses to the massive hole that the death of a loved one can leave. We see and have all felt the immense weight, the sadness and the grief that the valley of the shadow can bring into our lives.
In this passage we see the death of someone who is vibrant, active, and inspirational to others. She has touched so many lives in so many ways. She will be desperately missed and the community is in mourning.
I think of the funeral of a teenager. All too often this time of year, vehicle accidents claim lives of those whose lives had yet to unfold; of those with so much potential and with so much to experience.
Have you ever notice how well attended those funerals and memorials are? We Lost a senior in High School in Covington two weeks ago in a traffic accident. It is a devastating experience. Imagine the difference that could be made if the same young people, whose lives are cut short, could witness the dramatic out poring of love from entire communities, the compassion toward family members and friends and the raw honest emotion that is associated with their loss. Imagine if that degree of love and caring could be experienced by those we loose, before tragedy strikes and before the valley walls rise.
The good news is, it can be and it is! David portrays God as being right beside him. God is a companion, a friend and a mentor to David. In fact the tragic thing about the 23rd Psalm is that it is so commonly associated with funerals. What about every other day of your life. God is there then too! There is no indication in the 23rd Psalm that David dies at the end of it! Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Traditionally, we have gotten used to the idea of reciting the 23rd Psalm on the occasion of death. However, the 23rd Psalm is a powerful guide for daily living as well as inspiration for not fearing death. Here, it is comforting to those who mourn. But again, look at the personal nature of the Psalm. In the case of the death of Tabitha, how can we apply this personal nature of the 23rd Psalm?
I have declared to you on several occasions that my relationship with God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit define my relationship with you, you and you and everyone I meet. Now, through the Psalm, David places his relationship with God at the very center of his being, “ALL the days of my life”.
All of David’s thinking rises from that perspective. God is first for David and all other relationships are formed based upon that fact. This applies to relationships that are interrupted temporarily by death.
When we mourn, we undergo physiological changes. Our brains undergo a physical process. Life itself changes for us who remain behind. Sometimes we are as sorry for ourselves as we are for the departed. That is a natural part of the grieving process.
The 23rd Psalm speaks to that sense of mourning we feel as it did, I am sure, to those gathered in the room of Tabitha. Individually we can gain some relief in the Psalm seeing that God is tender and will be kind to us as we recover from loss. The 23 rd Psalm refreshes our perspective and reminds us that God is at the center and God is in control.
But the greater sense is that God will be kind, gracious and even heroic on behalf of our loved one. Those who mourn Tabitha’s loss can be comforted that she is in good hands in the Presence of Almighty God who will treat her just as the Psalm describes. For me, that is of great comfort.
But most comforting of all from this morning’s passage is what we read at the very last. In Acts verses 40 and 41 we read…”Turning toward the dead woman, he said, "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive.”
The 23rd Psalm is a way of looking at facing the valley and the comfort we receive from God when we face the valley of the shadow of death and as we mourn for others in the Valley of the shadow of death. In either position we receive comfort in the words and from God the Father.
But demonstrated here in Acts is the fact that through Jesus Christ and the resurrection of His body, we too will be resurrected just as Tabitha was. We see here in these words of Luke that Death IS NOT the end of the story.
We are comforted by God as we deal with the transition, but the transition is not the end. The transition is simply the means by which we are united with God. In Jesus Christ, we are guaranteed that union on the other side of the valley for eternity. As Tabitha rose again, so certainly will we through the power of the Son of God who is Jesus Christ.
I have been around far too much tragedy and death than a person of my age should. One moment in particular strikes me on this occasion. It happened that my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. Her health deteriorated as we expected. As her illness took its course, hospice was called in. As the months progressed, my family began to prepare for her inevitable death.
I had the occasion to sit with her on the side of her bed and ask her about what she was experiencing spiritually. What was it like in her valley? We had a nice little visit about her fear, about her joy and about life in general. It is a moment that will be with me for the rest of my life and is comparable with my wedding day, the birth of my son, and the birth of my daughter.
In the midst of all the chaos brought on by the news of her condition and all the trappings of hospice care and providing comfort, here we both sat calmly, on the side of her bed in her own room, talking about HER death. It was as if we were swapping recipes, it was that calm and pragmatic. But I saw an opportunity and I took it. I am oh so glad I took it. I asked her what we were all wondering.
“Mama, are you scared?”
That one question allowed me to see into her relationship with God. In classic MAMA form she reflected for a second and then said, buoyantly with a hint of sarcasm, “Well, I’m not scared or afraid...but maybe a little apprehensive”.
That was followed with howls of laughter a few tears and a big hug. The valley we shared had been conquered!
Thanks be to God for the grace that is ours in Christ Jesus!
AMEN
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Sunday April 18, 2010
First Presbyterian Church
Ripley Tennessee
April 18, 2010
3nd Sunday of Easter
Psalm 30
John 21:1-19
I like a FIRE in my camp
The title of this sermon is dedicated to my brother Tom. Tom and I have spent many evenings sitting around a campfire. His favorite saying is “I like a FIRE in my camp!” as he would throw another big log on the fire.
I have had the good fortune to have spent many such nights in the great outdoors. I grew up camping. As a child I remember camping in my back yard with my friends. I remember going out to one of our farms and picking a favorite spot. Always at the center of the campsite would be the safe place to build a fire.
As I grew, I have been blessed to have traveled to every state in our great nation. I have camped in, or pulled a camper through, 95 percent of our states. Always, always, whether summer and 95 degrees or in the fall in Vermont when the temperature dropped below freezing, there was a fire.
I have even raised my own children camping. Andrea and I love to talk and remember times sitting around a camp fire. Andrea and I got married, moved away from home and had children. My best friend and his wife did the same thing. We ended up two states apart.
Usually about twice a year, he would call me, or I would call him and say, “I think it’s time for some therapy”. We need to retreat and relax in front of a camp fire. Ti was a time apart that allowed the world to restore its balance.
Funny thing; you may not remember the details about a particular trip but what you recall are the conversations around that fire. My children join in and each has their own favorite campfire stories.
From the Pine forests in Vermont to the Smoky Mountains, from Edgar Evans State Park in Tennessee to Lake Muncho Provincial Park in the Yukon, From the desert southwest to the Boundary Water Canoe Area in Canada; the story is the same. I can remember a particular campsite and beyond that, a particular conversation with particular people.
At the church camp Na-Co-Me in the fall, the favorite activity of adults and children alike is the night of the bon fire. That’s when we get together, the first weekend of October and make smores and cook hot dogs.
In my experience, there seems to be something primal about sitting around a fire. The fire at the center of the group gives warmth, it gives light, the fire provides nourishment. Because of the heat, sound actually changes. Because of the light flickering, we become memorized. Because of the sound of the fire, we are distracted.
We are drawn together in some primordial way. This is what Jesus understood. Outdoors, the fire is to the soul, what the alter is inside the church. It is the focal point that draws everyone’s attention. It is a commonality.
I think it may be interesting to note here that all the Easter Readings we have shared thus far, Jesus has offered Peace, but this time, I believe that there is already peace.
The scene is the shore of the Sea of Tiberius, or if you like, the Sea of Galilee. It is morning and the apostles have been up all night fishing only to be unsuccessful. They are tired, hungry, probably still in shock and probably not in a very good mood.
Then there is a greeting from a friendly person on the shore. This person turns out to be the risen Lord. He has a cooking fire all ready and he says “come”. Have you ever smelled bacon cooking in a campsite at sunrise? To say that the scene was welcoming for the Apostles is an understatement.
It was to this comforting fire that Jesus called his followers. It was this fire that Peter was drawn. In verse 7 we read “…As soon as Simon Peter heard him say “It is the Lord” he wrapped his outer garment around him and jumped into the water”. Impetuous Peter strikes again.
I want to make sure we don’t miss the timeline of this heartwarming story that has unfolded over the last few weeks of our time together. Sometimes reading a progression or chapters chopped up from week to week can in deed cause us to miss out on subtleties in the story. So let’s recap.
It was just a few days earlier that Jesus was telling the Apostles of his impending death. The next day, Jesus was welcomed as a Hero coming to fulfill Hebrew prophesies. That night he was betrayed by one of his own. Things go dramatically worse from there. In a matter of hours, Jesus found himself no longer the hero, but the villain. Peter was no longer associated with an entourage who would change the world, now Peter found himself a hunted man, an insurrectionist who was wanted.
A few more hours fly by and Jesus is put on trial. It is all happening too fast to comprehend! In all of the history of Christianity, this brief defining moment is but a heart beat in comparison. And yet, it is the nail upon which we hang our faith. Peter suddenly finds himself fleeing the scene as the other disciples scatter.
Peters own words spoken only hours before must have begun haunting him by now. Mathew 26 recalls the words of Peter, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I will never fall away”. By now Peter has bound to have remembered that Jesus even predicted that Peter would deny Jesus (John 13:13). Rushing back to Peter, the memories of how disloyal he had been must have been overwhelming!
Have you ever boasted when you should have been silent? I have
The actual denial of Christ by Peter in John 18:15 and twice more in John 18:25 must have had a soul crushing weight upon Peter’s spirit.
Has it ever seemed that your spirit was crushed? I have.
A couple days more pass by in our recap of events, and we come upon the shame, mockery and torture of Jesus. All this while, don’t you just know that this was like salt in Peters wounded pride? Peter would have felt as about as lowly as any of us here have likely ever felt. And then his friend was dead and buried. It was over and Peter was left to live with the shame of his actions.
Have you ever felt so ashamed of your actions you could die? I have.
Moving on in our recap, Peter then witnesses the impossible; Jesus is raised from being dead. Jesus was back to life now. All this was as a bad dream. Everything is restored! Thank goodness! All is well! It is as if nothing ever happened only better! Oh, rats, yeah, I don’t think Peter can move past this whole DENIAL thing.
Have you ever faced something that just hung you up? I have!
Something DID happen and it changed the course of human history. Everyone was swept up in the joy of the miracle. The world was changed forever. This WAS the true Son of God and now EVERYBODY knew it. Peter knew it too. Peter truly realized the inescapable gravity of his horrifying mistake. He had actually denied, three times, the man everyone now knew to actually be the Son of the Living God.
Have you ever seen hope but were afraid or too timid to put your faith in it? I have.
Now here is Jesus, returned from the dead and the proverbial 800 pound gorilla is in the room when Jesus first appeared to his friends. Jesus appears in that closed room and changed the lives of those there. Can’t you just see Peter, impetuous Peter, swell up with joy only to remember how disappointed Jesus must be in him.
“Oh my gosh” Peter must have thought. “I wonder if he will even speak to me again. Will I become an outcast? Jesus has every right to throw me out of this little club!” Peter would have been to Jesus like my dog is to me after eating another TV remote control! This is the first time we are shown how the Lord reacts to Peter after the last few days of excitement.
But watch what happens! For each and every time Jesus was denied, Peter is pointedly and gracefully forgiven. No matter what he had done, because of his regret, Peter is forgiven sitting at the camp fire. The warmth, nourishment and the light of Christ and the fire renewed Peter and the rest.
David Lose, WorkingPreacher.org, 2010.
"Jesus' repetition isn't meant as rebuke but as absolution:
three invitations to confess
in order to wipe away three denials just days earlier.
In and through this tri-fold pattern of question and confession
Peter is restored – to himself, to his Lord, to the discipleship community.
And yet it is more than that, too,
for Peter is not merely forgiven and restored but also commissioned."
Regardless of our circumstances in life, regardless of where we find ourselves along our spiritual journey, at any given point in our lives…the same is true for you and for me. That is the gospel message...in the name and because of the work and love of Jesus Christ…you are forgiven, restored and commissioned.
AMEN
Ripley Tennessee
April 18, 2010
3nd Sunday of Easter
Psalm 30
John 21:1-19
I like a FIRE in my camp
The title of this sermon is dedicated to my brother Tom. Tom and I have spent many evenings sitting around a campfire. His favorite saying is “I like a FIRE in my camp!” as he would throw another big log on the fire.
I have had the good fortune to have spent many such nights in the great outdoors. I grew up camping. As a child I remember camping in my back yard with my friends. I remember going out to one of our farms and picking a favorite spot. Always at the center of the campsite would be the safe place to build a fire.
As I grew, I have been blessed to have traveled to every state in our great nation. I have camped in, or pulled a camper through, 95 percent of our states. Always, always, whether summer and 95 degrees or in the fall in Vermont when the temperature dropped below freezing, there was a fire.
I have even raised my own children camping. Andrea and I love to talk and remember times sitting around a camp fire. Andrea and I got married, moved away from home and had children. My best friend and his wife did the same thing. We ended up two states apart.
Usually about twice a year, he would call me, or I would call him and say, “I think it’s time for some therapy”. We need to retreat and relax in front of a camp fire. Ti was a time apart that allowed the world to restore its balance.
Funny thing; you may not remember the details about a particular trip but what you recall are the conversations around that fire. My children join in and each has their own favorite campfire stories.
From the Pine forests in Vermont to the Smoky Mountains, from Edgar Evans State Park in Tennessee to Lake Muncho Provincial Park in the Yukon, From the desert southwest to the Boundary Water Canoe Area in Canada; the story is the same. I can remember a particular campsite and beyond that, a particular conversation with particular people.
At the church camp Na-Co-Me in the fall, the favorite activity of adults and children alike is the night of the bon fire. That’s when we get together, the first weekend of October and make smores and cook hot dogs.
In my experience, there seems to be something primal about sitting around a fire. The fire at the center of the group gives warmth, it gives light, the fire provides nourishment. Because of the heat, sound actually changes. Because of the light flickering, we become memorized. Because of the sound of the fire, we are distracted.
We are drawn together in some primordial way. This is what Jesus understood. Outdoors, the fire is to the soul, what the alter is inside the church. It is the focal point that draws everyone’s attention. It is a commonality.
I think it may be interesting to note here that all the Easter Readings we have shared thus far, Jesus has offered Peace, but this time, I believe that there is already peace.
The scene is the shore of the Sea of Tiberius, or if you like, the Sea of Galilee. It is morning and the apostles have been up all night fishing only to be unsuccessful. They are tired, hungry, probably still in shock and probably not in a very good mood.
Then there is a greeting from a friendly person on the shore. This person turns out to be the risen Lord. He has a cooking fire all ready and he says “come”. Have you ever smelled bacon cooking in a campsite at sunrise? To say that the scene was welcoming for the Apostles is an understatement.
It was to this comforting fire that Jesus called his followers. It was this fire that Peter was drawn. In verse 7 we read “…As soon as Simon Peter heard him say “It is the Lord” he wrapped his outer garment around him and jumped into the water”. Impetuous Peter strikes again.
I want to make sure we don’t miss the timeline of this heartwarming story that has unfolded over the last few weeks of our time together. Sometimes reading a progression or chapters chopped up from week to week can in deed cause us to miss out on subtleties in the story. So let’s recap.
It was just a few days earlier that Jesus was telling the Apostles of his impending death. The next day, Jesus was welcomed as a Hero coming to fulfill Hebrew prophesies. That night he was betrayed by one of his own. Things go dramatically worse from there. In a matter of hours, Jesus found himself no longer the hero, but the villain. Peter was no longer associated with an entourage who would change the world, now Peter found himself a hunted man, an insurrectionist who was wanted.
A few more hours fly by and Jesus is put on trial. It is all happening too fast to comprehend! In all of the history of Christianity, this brief defining moment is but a heart beat in comparison. And yet, it is the nail upon which we hang our faith. Peter suddenly finds himself fleeing the scene as the other disciples scatter.
Peters own words spoken only hours before must have begun haunting him by now. Mathew 26 recalls the words of Peter, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I will never fall away”. By now Peter has bound to have remembered that Jesus even predicted that Peter would deny Jesus (John 13:13). Rushing back to Peter, the memories of how disloyal he had been must have been overwhelming!
Have you ever boasted when you should have been silent? I have
The actual denial of Christ by Peter in John 18:15 and twice more in John 18:25 must have had a soul crushing weight upon Peter’s spirit.
Has it ever seemed that your spirit was crushed? I have.
A couple days more pass by in our recap of events, and we come upon the shame, mockery and torture of Jesus. All this while, don’t you just know that this was like salt in Peters wounded pride? Peter would have felt as about as lowly as any of us here have likely ever felt. And then his friend was dead and buried. It was over and Peter was left to live with the shame of his actions.
Have you ever felt so ashamed of your actions you could die? I have.
Moving on in our recap, Peter then witnesses the impossible; Jesus is raised from being dead. Jesus was back to life now. All this was as a bad dream. Everything is restored! Thank goodness! All is well! It is as if nothing ever happened only better! Oh, rats, yeah, I don’t think Peter can move past this whole DENIAL thing.
Have you ever faced something that just hung you up? I have!
Something DID happen and it changed the course of human history. Everyone was swept up in the joy of the miracle. The world was changed forever. This WAS the true Son of God and now EVERYBODY knew it. Peter knew it too. Peter truly realized the inescapable gravity of his horrifying mistake. He had actually denied, three times, the man everyone now knew to actually be the Son of the Living God.
Have you ever seen hope but were afraid or too timid to put your faith in it? I have.
Now here is Jesus, returned from the dead and the proverbial 800 pound gorilla is in the room when Jesus first appeared to his friends. Jesus appears in that closed room and changed the lives of those there. Can’t you just see Peter, impetuous Peter, swell up with joy only to remember how disappointed Jesus must be in him.
“Oh my gosh” Peter must have thought. “I wonder if he will even speak to me again. Will I become an outcast? Jesus has every right to throw me out of this little club!” Peter would have been to Jesus like my dog is to me after eating another TV remote control! This is the first time we are shown how the Lord reacts to Peter after the last few days of excitement.
But watch what happens! For each and every time Jesus was denied, Peter is pointedly and gracefully forgiven. No matter what he had done, because of his regret, Peter is forgiven sitting at the camp fire. The warmth, nourishment and the light of Christ and the fire renewed Peter and the rest.
David Lose, WorkingPreacher.org, 2010.
"Jesus' repetition isn't meant as rebuke but as absolution:
three invitations to confess
in order to wipe away three denials just days earlier.
In and through this tri-fold pattern of question and confession
Peter is restored – to himself, to his Lord, to the discipleship community.
And yet it is more than that, too,
for Peter is not merely forgiven and restored but also commissioned."
Regardless of our circumstances in life, regardless of where we find ourselves along our spiritual journey, at any given point in our lives…the same is true for you and for me. That is the gospel message...in the name and because of the work and love of Jesus Christ…you are forgiven, restored and commissioned.
AMEN
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday April 11, 2010
First Presbyterian Church
Ripley Tennessee
April 11, 2010
2nd Sunday of Easter
Acts 5:27-32
John 20:19-31
My Lord and My God!
"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." - Lord Kelvin,
president, Royal Society, 1895.
"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who
would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" - David
Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the
radio in the 1920s.
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." - Thomas
Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." -
Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not
Gary Cooper." - Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading
role in"Gone With The Wind."
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." – Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be
obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will." -- Albert Einstein, 1932
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" - H.M. Warner, Warner
Brothers, 1927.
My mom used to be stubbornly insistent that I not be so certain of myself or of anything in particular. I look back on it now and realize she was raising me to have a healthy dose of skepticism. With a healthy dose of skepticism, we are not saying that a person is not open minded. No, in fact in order to have skepticism at all, one must be capable of thinking for one’s self. I was being raised to be somewhere between gullible and insistent.
I do not want you all to go along with the mass media just as so many cattle follow the hay wagon. But at the same time, skepticism keeps us from falling for anything at all. A healthy dose of skepticism can be a vital tool for survival.
Thomas had a healthy dose of skepticism. Now through the centuries, the term “Doubting Thomas” has developed. In our time it has taken on a less than favorable connotation. If someone is a “Doubting Thomas” today, we may see them in a way that makes them cagy or distant or untrusting. A doubting Thomas may be thought of as being closed minded or even judgmental.
But Thomas seemed to have a great and very healthy balance of realism and skepticism combined with a mind that remained open to all the possibilities the resurrection of Jesus could offer.
"Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." Thomas declared!
I really think this story of Thomas adds credibility to the entire gospel account of the resurrection. For instance, if the synoptic gospels all agreed that the resurrection took place and reported no one wondering or doubting, it would seem that we were being sold a packaged pickled herring. But here, right in the gospel, we have it documented that one of the original twelve, stopped and said, “I don’t believe it! You are going to have to show me! Prove it!”
So we find Thomas somewhere between being gullible and naive on one end of the spectrum and being completely closed minded on the other end of the spectrum. Notice that Thomas DID NOT declare, “This is impossible; that can not be!” Instead, Thomas leaves that little crack in the door, “Show me and I WILL believe!” He left room for his faith to evolve, to be influenced.
I find good news in this passage. In fact I am comforted a great deal by what John offers us here.
Growing up, I had some influence from two different churches. My parents went to different churches, my father to one church and my mother to a different church. I remember that this was a really tough patch in my life.
Theology and adolescence and hormones get all mixed up and they certainly did in me. I’ll not say I ever lost faith, but holding two different churches up, side by side in comparison, showed me some pretty stark inconsistencies. I was being told how to talk to God and I hadn’t even figured out how to talk to girls! I still have trouble with that in fact. My biggest fear was doing something stupid and having to sit by myself in the lunch room / cafeteria!
At this point in my life, I had room for doubt. Neither church I was being taken to did a very good job of addressing the doubts I had floating around in my head. In fact I remember being made to feel worse because I did have doubts. Thomas had all this going on too! “What do I believe? I know what Jesus said…but…”
Is it alright to doubt? Is what Thomas did reprehensible or heroic or somewhere in between? Let’s read on.
27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Here is where we see the faith that Jesus commands. Here is where we see the grace and compassion of the Son of God. “Here, let me gently show you and help you, in your own way, in your own time. Stop doubting and believe!” We don’t see the vengeful God smite Thomas for having doubt. This is the new covenant and it demonstrates the compassion, grace and understanding toward His followers.
“My Lord and My God!” Thomas exclaims. But don’t you think you can hear Thomas barely capable of uttering those words as he shrinks to his knees. My Lord and My God.
Have you ever had a flash of insight? Sometimes it strikes you so hard that you can hardly speak. Once that sliver of doubt is resolved and the daylight of stark reality is allowed to flood into Thomas’ soul, all he can say is an utterance that bespeaks of total submission; My Lord and My God!
So what of me? I have had doubts in my life. Following Thomas’ bold example, I have had conversations with God. I don’t understand! I am Angry! I am HURT! Where are you??!! Why should I not doubt! I am scared! I am an orphan! I am alone!
I am reading a great book by Eugene Peterson called Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work. In a segment of the book, Peterson takes a good look at the book of Lamentations. The book of Lamentations is an angry book. It is full of lashing out and discontent and pain. The anger in the book flows both ways. People are mad at God and God is mad at people.
Peterson makes the point that God is angry with his creation in the book of Lamentations, because of His love for His creation. If you care for your child, there is nothing that says you won’t get frustrated or even angry with your child when she disobeys. While if you have no fondness for your child, the results may differ.
If my faith falters or becomes weak, I am not abandoned. Come close, put your hand here. Let me help you. Christ is revealed to us in unlimited ways. Christ is revealed to us when we earnestly seek and have the courage to admit we are weak and in need. It is then that we realize just how helpless we truly are.
In order to doubt a fact, one must first consider the fact; to hold it in one’s mind and contemplate it. To consider fact is to allow room for the possibility for the fact to exist in the first place. I have always encouraged you to be inquisitive.
Don’t just accept what you are given, go out and learn it for yourselves. Research your beliefs, dig down and find out what you really believe and why. Don’t be afraid. Your faith, like Thomas’, will grow.
God does care for us. God Loves us! God knows that, during the seasons of our lives, doubt may creep in. There are spiritual peaks and valleys along our way. In spite of his doubts, Thomas is then given these words to share with all of us;
29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
AMEN
Ripley Tennessee
April 11, 2010
2nd Sunday of Easter
Acts 5:27-32
John 20:19-31
My Lord and My God!
"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." - Lord Kelvin,
president, Royal Society, 1895.
"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who
would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" - David
Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the
radio in the 1920s.
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." - Thomas
Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." -
Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not
Gary Cooper." - Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading
role in"Gone With The Wind."
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." – Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be
obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will." -- Albert Einstein, 1932
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" - H.M. Warner, Warner
Brothers, 1927.
My mom used to be stubbornly insistent that I not be so certain of myself or of anything in particular. I look back on it now and realize she was raising me to have a healthy dose of skepticism. With a healthy dose of skepticism, we are not saying that a person is not open minded. No, in fact in order to have skepticism at all, one must be capable of thinking for one’s self. I was being raised to be somewhere between gullible and insistent.
I do not want you all to go along with the mass media just as so many cattle follow the hay wagon. But at the same time, skepticism keeps us from falling for anything at all. A healthy dose of skepticism can be a vital tool for survival.
Thomas had a healthy dose of skepticism. Now through the centuries, the term “Doubting Thomas” has developed. In our time it has taken on a less than favorable connotation. If someone is a “Doubting Thomas” today, we may see them in a way that makes them cagy or distant or untrusting. A doubting Thomas may be thought of as being closed minded or even judgmental.
But Thomas seemed to have a great and very healthy balance of realism and skepticism combined with a mind that remained open to all the possibilities the resurrection of Jesus could offer.
"Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." Thomas declared!
I really think this story of Thomas adds credibility to the entire gospel account of the resurrection. For instance, if the synoptic gospels all agreed that the resurrection took place and reported no one wondering or doubting, it would seem that we were being sold a packaged pickled herring. But here, right in the gospel, we have it documented that one of the original twelve, stopped and said, “I don’t believe it! You are going to have to show me! Prove it!”
So we find Thomas somewhere between being gullible and naive on one end of the spectrum and being completely closed minded on the other end of the spectrum. Notice that Thomas DID NOT declare, “This is impossible; that can not be!” Instead, Thomas leaves that little crack in the door, “Show me and I WILL believe!” He left room for his faith to evolve, to be influenced.
I find good news in this passage. In fact I am comforted a great deal by what John offers us here.
Growing up, I had some influence from two different churches. My parents went to different churches, my father to one church and my mother to a different church. I remember that this was a really tough patch in my life.
Theology and adolescence and hormones get all mixed up and they certainly did in me. I’ll not say I ever lost faith, but holding two different churches up, side by side in comparison, showed me some pretty stark inconsistencies. I was being told how to talk to God and I hadn’t even figured out how to talk to girls! I still have trouble with that in fact. My biggest fear was doing something stupid and having to sit by myself in the lunch room / cafeteria!
At this point in my life, I had room for doubt. Neither church I was being taken to did a very good job of addressing the doubts I had floating around in my head. In fact I remember being made to feel worse because I did have doubts. Thomas had all this going on too! “What do I believe? I know what Jesus said…but…”
Is it alright to doubt? Is what Thomas did reprehensible or heroic or somewhere in between? Let’s read on.
27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Here is where we see the faith that Jesus commands. Here is where we see the grace and compassion of the Son of God. “Here, let me gently show you and help you, in your own way, in your own time. Stop doubting and believe!” We don’t see the vengeful God smite Thomas for having doubt. This is the new covenant and it demonstrates the compassion, grace and understanding toward His followers.
“My Lord and My God!” Thomas exclaims. But don’t you think you can hear Thomas barely capable of uttering those words as he shrinks to his knees. My Lord and My God.
Have you ever had a flash of insight? Sometimes it strikes you so hard that you can hardly speak. Once that sliver of doubt is resolved and the daylight of stark reality is allowed to flood into Thomas’ soul, all he can say is an utterance that bespeaks of total submission; My Lord and My God!
So what of me? I have had doubts in my life. Following Thomas’ bold example, I have had conversations with God. I don’t understand! I am Angry! I am HURT! Where are you??!! Why should I not doubt! I am scared! I am an orphan! I am alone!
I am reading a great book by Eugene Peterson called Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work. In a segment of the book, Peterson takes a good look at the book of Lamentations. The book of Lamentations is an angry book. It is full of lashing out and discontent and pain. The anger in the book flows both ways. People are mad at God and God is mad at people.
Peterson makes the point that God is angry with his creation in the book of Lamentations, because of His love for His creation. If you care for your child, there is nothing that says you won’t get frustrated or even angry with your child when she disobeys. While if you have no fondness for your child, the results may differ.
If my faith falters or becomes weak, I am not abandoned. Come close, put your hand here. Let me help you. Christ is revealed to us in unlimited ways. Christ is revealed to us when we earnestly seek and have the courage to admit we are weak and in need. It is then that we realize just how helpless we truly are.
In order to doubt a fact, one must first consider the fact; to hold it in one’s mind and contemplate it. To consider fact is to allow room for the possibility for the fact to exist in the first place. I have always encouraged you to be inquisitive.
Don’t just accept what you are given, go out and learn it for yourselves. Research your beliefs, dig down and find out what you really believe and why. Don’t be afraid. Your faith, like Thomas’, will grow.
God does care for us. God Loves us! God knows that, during the seasons of our lives, doubt may creep in. There are spiritual peaks and valleys along our way. In spite of his doubts, Thomas is then given these words to share with all of us;
29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
AMEN
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Easter Sunday
First Presbyterian Church
Ripley Tennessee
April 4, 2010
Easter Sunday
Isaiah 65:17-25
John 20:1-18
When you Least expect it!
Look around for Jesus. He has left the grave. He has ascended into heaven. Where is the body? He may appear to you anytime. There is no rule against it.
One of our favorite television shows is America’s Funniest Videos. This is the show that features home movies of people doing really stupid things. No matter what kind of mood I find myself in, if I find that show in re-run on a cable channel somewhere, I am just about guaranteed a laugh. If I don’t get a laugh, I am sure to at least feel better about myself by comparison with those who not only videoed themselves, but sent it in for the whole country to see how stupid they can act.
That show always cheers me up. I think one of my favorite types of videos feature total shock or a dramatic surprise. I have seen people jump out of birthday cakes; some have popped up out of garbage cans. I saw one episode where, and I am still not sure how they did this, a big stock pot was on a table. It was full of something like home made soup. As the woman approached the big old pot to stir it
Suddenly this hand reached up out of the pot of soup and grabbed the woman by the arm! The woman then proceeded to have a cow!
Surprises are also sweet sometimes. On the internet, there is a whole collection of home videos showing GI’s returning home and surprising family members. I looked at a few that were really special.
These showed fathers coming home from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each of these many videos featured many of the same things. The soldier would stand outside the door of a classroom in an elementary school. On the video you could hear the classroom in the background. The soldier would be announced to the children as a “special guest”. I would become abundantly clear as the soldier walked slowly into the classroom exactly which child was his. The look of complete surprise spread across the face of each child as each reunion unfolded.
I watched probably about a dozen of these two to three minute video clips before I realized that I had teared up… and I didn’t even know these people!
It was this special and emotional surprise, one that Mary never expected, that came crashing down on her, surrounded her and then lifted her high again.
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
What was Mary truly looking for in the garden that morning? What do we look for? What is it that Mary hoped to accomplish? What was her motivation?
In times of stress like this, we often behave out of sheer instinct. Mary was drawn to the final resting place of Jesus. A point that many scholars make is that the burial was already finalized. It was done. Jesus was gone and was not coming back. He was in the ground and it was final.
I think Mary probably couldn’t sleep after what she and the others had witnessed. I think that many of us have had experiences similar to Mary’s. I have buried both of my parents. I am fortunate that both are buried in Covington. I have felt that inexplicable pull…back to the grave side. I have yielded and returned at various times back to both.
My parents are buried in two different cemeteries. I have had long conversations over the head stones of each. In all instances, I found myself going back to God in prayer and ultimately asking for the pain to be removed, that my loved one be at peace, that I be given assistance in understanding life in all its variations. Thankfully, neither of them ever snuck up behind me while I was sitting there!
I returned each time looking for peace.
One scholar writes “At first, Mary does not know that Jesus stands before her. Scholars call this the "non-recognition" motif, i.e., the disciples' inability to recognize Jesus in his glorified state (cf. Luke 24:15-16). John 20:14 may be another example. Alternatively, more ordinary reasons could account for Mary's failure to recognize Jesus: emotional distress, tears, darkness, etc. Weighing in favor of a theological motive is the significance of Mary's being called by name.”
You see…Mary can be a metaphor for us.
Another pastor writes “Mary's moment of recognition comes with the mention of her name. She thus acts out the truth of John 10:3-4: "He calls his own sheep by name... and the sheep follow him because they know his voice." Using someone's name, especially a first name, assumes familiarity, intimacy, and closeness. Jesus' followers have a relationship with their Lord that goes well beyond a formal or institutional connection. Mary fails to recognize Jesus visually. Moments later she recognizes him aurally.
The Lord has many ways of reaching out to us. He reaches out in the form of events such as wonderful occasions or horrific tragedies. I believe the Lord reaches out to us, speaks to us, shows us and communicates with his children even through the earth and animals in the earth. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit reach out to us and through us in the days of our lives.
Christ has defeated death. That is what the celebration of Easter focuses on. The cornerstone of the Christian religion rests on that fact. Mary was even told at the grave side, by the messiah Himself; do not hold on to me.
Christ did depart from us and resides in Heaven. But the meal we have before us now is His special sacrament, prescribed by Jesus himself to his followers. This meal is to be taken in remembrance of not only the person of Jesus of Nazareth, but of what he has done for each one of us.
We take this meal remembering that vivid surprise that Mary had at the grave side of Jesus. With this meal let us also anticipate that surprise. Let us, in the manner prescribed in his last meal with his disciples, that this is NOT the end. We are to observe this meal until he returns.
The meal is about personal reflection on the nature of your relationship to Christ. The meal is about reflection of the great deeds done for you by God the father through the resurrection. This is about the grace we can experience shown by Christ and delivered by the Holy Spirit.
As you take the elements, given for you by Jesus who is the Christ, allow Christ to have a renewed place in your life; allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through you. By living of your life in a righteous way, that is an honorable way to remember, to refresh and to live.
AMEN
Ripley Tennessee
April 4, 2010
Easter Sunday
Isaiah 65:17-25
John 20:1-18
When you Least expect it!
Look around for Jesus. He has left the grave. He has ascended into heaven. Where is the body? He may appear to you anytime. There is no rule against it.
One of our favorite television shows is America’s Funniest Videos. This is the show that features home movies of people doing really stupid things. No matter what kind of mood I find myself in, if I find that show in re-run on a cable channel somewhere, I am just about guaranteed a laugh. If I don’t get a laugh, I am sure to at least feel better about myself by comparison with those who not only videoed themselves, but sent it in for the whole country to see how stupid they can act.
That show always cheers me up. I think one of my favorite types of videos feature total shock or a dramatic surprise. I have seen people jump out of birthday cakes; some have popped up out of garbage cans. I saw one episode where, and I am still not sure how they did this, a big stock pot was on a table. It was full of something like home made soup. As the woman approached the big old pot to stir it
Suddenly this hand reached up out of the pot of soup and grabbed the woman by the arm! The woman then proceeded to have a cow!
Surprises are also sweet sometimes. On the internet, there is a whole collection of home videos showing GI’s returning home and surprising family members. I looked at a few that were really special.
These showed fathers coming home from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each of these many videos featured many of the same things. The soldier would stand outside the door of a classroom in an elementary school. On the video you could hear the classroom in the background. The soldier would be announced to the children as a “special guest”. I would become abundantly clear as the soldier walked slowly into the classroom exactly which child was his. The look of complete surprise spread across the face of each child as each reunion unfolded.
I watched probably about a dozen of these two to three minute video clips before I realized that I had teared up… and I didn’t even know these people!
It was this special and emotional surprise, one that Mary never expected, that came crashing down on her, surrounded her and then lifted her high again.
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
What was Mary truly looking for in the garden that morning? What do we look for? What is it that Mary hoped to accomplish? What was her motivation?
In times of stress like this, we often behave out of sheer instinct. Mary was drawn to the final resting place of Jesus. A point that many scholars make is that the burial was already finalized. It was done. Jesus was gone and was not coming back. He was in the ground and it was final.
I think Mary probably couldn’t sleep after what she and the others had witnessed. I think that many of us have had experiences similar to Mary’s. I have buried both of my parents. I am fortunate that both are buried in Covington. I have felt that inexplicable pull…back to the grave side. I have yielded and returned at various times back to both.
My parents are buried in two different cemeteries. I have had long conversations over the head stones of each. In all instances, I found myself going back to God in prayer and ultimately asking for the pain to be removed, that my loved one be at peace, that I be given assistance in understanding life in all its variations. Thankfully, neither of them ever snuck up behind me while I was sitting there!
I returned each time looking for peace.
One scholar writes “At first, Mary does not know that Jesus stands before her. Scholars call this the "non-recognition" motif, i.e., the disciples' inability to recognize Jesus in his glorified state (cf. Luke 24:15-16). John 20:14 may be another example. Alternatively, more ordinary reasons could account for Mary's failure to recognize Jesus: emotional distress, tears, darkness, etc. Weighing in favor of a theological motive is the significance of Mary's being called by name.”
You see…Mary can be a metaphor for us.
Another pastor writes “Mary's moment of recognition comes with the mention of her name. She thus acts out the truth of John 10:3-4: "He calls his own sheep by name... and the sheep follow him because they know his voice." Using someone's name, especially a first name, assumes familiarity, intimacy, and closeness. Jesus' followers have a relationship with their Lord that goes well beyond a formal or institutional connection. Mary fails to recognize Jesus visually. Moments later she recognizes him aurally.
The Lord has many ways of reaching out to us. He reaches out in the form of events such as wonderful occasions or horrific tragedies. I believe the Lord reaches out to us, speaks to us, shows us and communicates with his children even through the earth and animals in the earth. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit reach out to us and through us in the days of our lives.
Christ has defeated death. That is what the celebration of Easter focuses on. The cornerstone of the Christian religion rests on that fact. Mary was even told at the grave side, by the messiah Himself; do not hold on to me.
Christ did depart from us and resides in Heaven. But the meal we have before us now is His special sacrament, prescribed by Jesus himself to his followers. This meal is to be taken in remembrance of not only the person of Jesus of Nazareth, but of what he has done for each one of us.
We take this meal remembering that vivid surprise that Mary had at the grave side of Jesus. With this meal let us also anticipate that surprise. Let us, in the manner prescribed in his last meal with his disciples, that this is NOT the end. We are to observe this meal until he returns.
The meal is about personal reflection on the nature of your relationship to Christ. The meal is about reflection of the great deeds done for you by God the father through the resurrection. This is about the grace we can experience shown by Christ and delivered by the Holy Spirit.
As you take the elements, given for you by Jesus who is the Christ, allow Christ to have a renewed place in your life; allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through you. By living of your life in a righteous way, that is an honorable way to remember, to refresh and to live.
AMEN
Sunday, April 4, 2010
First Presbyterian Church
Ripley Tennessee
April 4, 2010
Easter Sunday
Isaiah 65:17-25
John 20:1-18
When you Least expect it!
One of our favorite television shows is America’s Funniest Videos. This is the show that features home movies of people doing really stupid things. No matter what kind of mood I find myself in, if I find that show in re-run on a cable channel somewhere, I am just about guaranteed a laugh. If I don’t get a laugh, I am sure to at least feel better about myself by comparison with those who not only videoed themselves, but sent it in for the whole country to see how stupid they can act.
That show always cheers me up. I think one of my favorite types of videos feature total shock or a dramatic surprise. I have seen people jump out of birthday cakes; some have popped up out of garbage cans. I saw one episode where, and I am still not sure how they did this, a big stock pot was on a table. It was full of something like home made soup. As the woman approached the big old pot to stir it
Suddenly this hand reached up out of the pot of soup and grabbed the woman by the arm! The woman then proceeded to have a cow!
Surprises are also sweet sometimes. On the internet, there is a whole collection of home videos showing GI’s returning home and surprising family members. I looked at a few that were really special.
These showed fathers coming home from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each of these many videos featured many of the same things. The soldier would stand outside the door of a classroom in an elementary school. On the video you could hear the classroom in the background. The soldier would be announced to the children as a “special guest”. I would become abundantly clear as the soldier walked slowly into the classroom exactly which child was his. The look of complete surprise spread across the face of each child as each reunion unfolded.
I watched probably about a dozen of these two to three minute video clips before I realized that I had teared up… and I didn’t even know these people!
It was this special and emotional surprise, one that Mary never expected, that came crashing down on her, surrounded her and then lifted her high again.
Scripture page 2
151Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
What was Mary truly looking for in the garden that morning? What do we look for? What is it that Mary hoped to accomplish? What was her motivation?
In times of stress like this, we often behave out of sheer instinct. Mary was drawn to the final resting place of Jesus. A point that many scholars make is that the burial was already finalized. It was done. Jesus was gone and was not coming back. He was in the ground and it was final.
I think Mary probably couldn’t sleep after what she and the others had witnessed. I think that many of us have had experiences similar to Mary’s. I have buried both of my parents. I am fortunate that both are buried in Covington. I have felt that inexplicable pull…back to the grave side. I have yielded and returned at various times back to both.
My parents are buried in two different cemeteries. I have had long conversations over the head stones of each. In all instances, I found myself going back to God in prayer and ultimately asking for the pain to be removed, that my loved one be at peace, that I be given assistance in understanding life in all its variations. Thankfully, neither of them ever snuck up behind me while I was sitting there!
I returned each time looking for peace.
One scholar writes “At first, Mary does not know that Jesus stands before her. Scholars call this the "non-recognition" motif, i.e., the disciples' inability to recognize Jesus in his glorified state (cf. Luke 24:15-16). John 20:14 may be another example. Alternatively, more ordinary reasons could account for Mary's failure to recognize Jesus: emotional distress, tears, darkness, etc. Weighing in favor of a theological motive is the significance of Mary's being called by name.”
You see…Mary can be a metaphor for us.
Another pastor writes “Mary's moment of recognition comes with the mention of her name. She thus acts out the truth of John 10:3-4: "He calls his own sheep by name... and the sheep follow him because they know his voice." Using someone's name, especially a first name, assumes familiarity, intimacy, and closeness. Jesus' followers have a relationship with their Lord that goes well beyond a formal or institutional connection. Mary fails to recognize Jesus visually. Moments later she recognizes him aurally.
The Lord has many ways of reaching out to us. He reaches out in the form of events such as wonderful occasions or horrific tragedies. I believe the Lord reaches out to us, speaks to us, shows us and communicates with his children even through the earth and animals in the earth. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit reach out to us and through us in the days of our lives.
Christ has defeated death. That is what the celebration of Easter focuses on. The cornerstone of the Christian religion rests on that fact. Mary was even told at the grave side, by the messiah Himself; do not hold on to me.
Christ did depart from us and resides in Heaven. But the meal we have before us now is His special sacrament, prescribed by Jesus himself to his followers. This meal is to be taken in remembrance of not only the person of Jesus of Nazareth, but of what he has done for each one of us.
We take this meal remembering that vivid surprise that Mary had at the grave side of Jesus. With this meal let us also anticipate that surprise. Let us, in the manner prescribed in his last meal with his disciples, that this is NOT the end. We are to observe this meal until he returns.
The meal is about personal reflection on the nature of your relationship to Christ. The meal is about reflection of the great deeds done for you by God the father through the resurrection. This is about the grace we can experience shown by Christ and delivered by the Holy Spirit.
As you take the elements, given for you by Jesus who is the Christ, allow Christ to have a renewed place in your life; allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through you. By living of your life in a righteous way, that is an honorable way to remember, to refresh and to live.
AMEN
Ripley Tennessee
April 4, 2010
Easter Sunday
Isaiah 65:17-25
John 20:1-18
When you Least expect it!
One of our favorite television shows is America’s Funniest Videos. This is the show that features home movies of people doing really stupid things. No matter what kind of mood I find myself in, if I find that show in re-run on a cable channel somewhere, I am just about guaranteed a laugh. If I don’t get a laugh, I am sure to at least feel better about myself by comparison with those who not only videoed themselves, but sent it in for the whole country to see how stupid they can act.
That show always cheers me up. I think one of my favorite types of videos feature total shock or a dramatic surprise. I have seen people jump out of birthday cakes; some have popped up out of garbage cans. I saw one episode where, and I am still not sure how they did this, a big stock pot was on a table. It was full of something like home made soup. As the woman approached the big old pot to stir it
Suddenly this hand reached up out of the pot of soup and grabbed the woman by the arm! The woman then proceeded to have a cow!
Surprises are also sweet sometimes. On the internet, there is a whole collection of home videos showing GI’s returning home and surprising family members. I looked at a few that were really special.
These showed fathers coming home from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each of these many videos featured many of the same things. The soldier would stand outside the door of a classroom in an elementary school. On the video you could hear the classroom in the background. The soldier would be announced to the children as a “special guest”. I would become abundantly clear as the soldier walked slowly into the classroom exactly which child was his. The look of complete surprise spread across the face of each child as each reunion unfolded.
I watched probably about a dozen of these two to three minute video clips before I realized that I had teared up… and I didn’t even know these people!
It was this special and emotional surprise, one that Mary never expected, that came crashing down on her, surrounded her and then lifted her high again.
Scripture page 2
151Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
What was Mary truly looking for in the garden that morning? What do we look for? What is it that Mary hoped to accomplish? What was her motivation?
In times of stress like this, we often behave out of sheer instinct. Mary was drawn to the final resting place of Jesus. A point that many scholars make is that the burial was already finalized. It was done. Jesus was gone and was not coming back. He was in the ground and it was final.
I think Mary probably couldn’t sleep after what she and the others had witnessed. I think that many of us have had experiences similar to Mary’s. I have buried both of my parents. I am fortunate that both are buried in Covington. I have felt that inexplicable pull…back to the grave side. I have yielded and returned at various times back to both.
My parents are buried in two different cemeteries. I have had long conversations over the head stones of each. In all instances, I found myself going back to God in prayer and ultimately asking for the pain to be removed, that my loved one be at peace, that I be given assistance in understanding life in all its variations. Thankfully, neither of them ever snuck up behind me while I was sitting there!
I returned each time looking for peace.
One scholar writes “At first, Mary does not know that Jesus stands before her. Scholars call this the "non-recognition" motif, i.e., the disciples' inability to recognize Jesus in his glorified state (cf. Luke 24:15-16). John 20:14 may be another example. Alternatively, more ordinary reasons could account for Mary's failure to recognize Jesus: emotional distress, tears, darkness, etc. Weighing in favor of a theological motive is the significance of Mary's being called by name.”
You see…Mary can be a metaphor for us.
Another pastor writes “Mary's moment of recognition comes with the mention of her name. She thus acts out the truth of John 10:3-4: "He calls his own sheep by name... and the sheep follow him because they know his voice." Using someone's name, especially a first name, assumes familiarity, intimacy, and closeness. Jesus' followers have a relationship with their Lord that goes well beyond a formal or institutional connection. Mary fails to recognize Jesus visually. Moments later she recognizes him aurally.
The Lord has many ways of reaching out to us. He reaches out in the form of events such as wonderful occasions or horrific tragedies. I believe the Lord reaches out to us, speaks to us, shows us and communicates with his children even through the earth and animals in the earth. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit reach out to us and through us in the days of our lives.
Christ has defeated death. That is what the celebration of Easter focuses on. The cornerstone of the Christian religion rests on that fact. Mary was even told at the grave side, by the messiah Himself; do not hold on to me.
Christ did depart from us and resides in Heaven. But the meal we have before us now is His special sacrament, prescribed by Jesus himself to his followers. This meal is to be taken in remembrance of not only the person of Jesus of Nazareth, but of what he has done for each one of us.
We take this meal remembering that vivid surprise that Mary had at the grave side of Jesus. With this meal let us also anticipate that surprise. Let us, in the manner prescribed in his last meal with his disciples, that this is NOT the end. We are to observe this meal until he returns.
The meal is about personal reflection on the nature of your relationship to Christ. The meal is about reflection of the great deeds done for you by God the father through the resurrection. This is about the grace we can experience shown by Christ and delivered by the Holy Spirit.
As you take the elements, given for you by Jesus who is the Christ, allow Christ to have a renewed place in your life; allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through you. By living of your life in a righteous way, that is an honorable way to remember, to refresh and to live.
AMEN
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)