Keep on Believing
Scripture: Mark 5:21-43
Jesus is the master multitasker. There is a lot going on in our scripture text today! We have a healing within a healing story—it is busy—and chaotic. There is a sense of urgency and even desperation. It is dramatic. It is all these things but it also shows us more about who Jesus is and in turn-who God is. Last week, as Jesus calmed the storm we learned that Jesus had authority over the sea and the wind—and by saying “Peace, be still”—and in the sea becoming still-he did what only God could do. Jesus is God---and Jesus is Emmanuel—God with us! God is with us before, during and after the storm.
Today we continue in the gospel of Mark to learn more about who Jesus is.
In the first part of the story we meet a frantic, desperate father who meets Jesus right off the boat—begging Jesus to come save his dying daughter. And we hear that Jesus went. No questions asked. Scripture tells us that he went. But he wasn’t the only one who went with Jairus. There was a large crowd following him that “pressed in on him”. And there was someone in that crowd was also in the same boat as Jairus. This someone was desperate—and in need of healing. She was an unnamed woman who had been suffering for 12 years. She is known as the hemorrhaging woman and she had been bleeding for 12 years. She knew she just had to touch Jesus’s cloak and in doing so she would be healed. So, she did. And it was an audacious move. It was risky. She was breaking all kinds of rules in being in the crowd and by touching Jesus. See, she was known to be ritually unclean due to her bleeding.
She could not enter the Temple, the heart and soul of her religious community.
She could not touch or be touched by anyone without rendering them unclean, too. By the time she approached Jesus, she had spent every penny she owned, and “endured much under many physicians” to find relief, but her bleeding had only worsened. The woman’s very body had become a source of isolation and disgrace.
She was an outcast.
So, in faith, she reached out and touched Jesus and was immediately healed. She felt it at once and knew that she had her life back…in an instant. And Jesus feels the power leave him and it stops him mid- Operation Help Jairus’ Daughter. He stops and asks who touched him and then the woman fell down at his feet and told him the whole truth. The whole truth. All of it.
“He pauses to restore a broken woman to fellowship, dignity, and humanity. He insists that her embodied experience is no less important than a synagogue leader's. He doesn’t allow her to slink away into obscurity; he invites her to bear witness, to find her voice, to speak publicly and confidently about her story and God’s. “Daughter,” he says when she at last falls silent. “Daughter, go in peace.””(Debi Thomas, Journey with Jesus)
As he was speaking Jesus overhears that there is a report that Jairus’ daughter had died and Jesus challenged Jairus to hold on to his faith (i.e., “only believe”), a faith that led him to the healer in the first place.
“Jairus and Jesus continue on to the house, and Jairus has to learn another kind of faith. The faith to keep walking in the valley of death, simply because Jesus tells him to. The faith that endures past the worst news a parent can hear. The faith that holds steady in the face of mocking, disbelieving laughter. The faith that holds steady when despair wails. The faith that leans hard into resurrection. The faith that trusts an absurd and impossible word from God: “She is not dead but sleeping.””(Debi Thomas, Journey with Jesus)
2 incredible healings. Miraculous healings. Two daughters. One 12, one who had been suffering for 12 years. Both given life. In each story, a previously hopeless daughter “goes in peace” because Jesus finds value where no one else will.
The miraculous healings Jesus performs are undeniable. But if we are honest – with modern medicine and science, the idea of miraculous healings can be challenging. Sometimes we like to explain it all away! Or we are at least tempted to do so---in order to make sense of it. So, where does faith come into play? The miracles showcase the transformative power of faith.
The woman with the hemorrhage isn't healed simply by just touching Jesus' cloak. It's her unwavering belief – "If I just touch his clothes, I will get well" – that sets the wheels in motion. Her faith acts as a conduit.
Jairus' faith is seriously tested when his daughter is declared dead. Jesus, however, says: "Do not fear, only believe." Jairus hangs on to that belief, and his daughter is raised back to life. These miracles are a testament to the transformative power of faith, a power that works differently for each of us.
Do miraculous healings happen today? Yes. Miracles are all around us. They might not be the dramatic, life-or-death scenarios we see in the Bible. They could be a sudden surge of strength to face a challenge, a chance encounter that leads to healing, or a newfound peace amidst chaos. One thing we can learn is that just like the woman who reached out to Jesus, we too can reach out in faith, no matter how small or uncertain it feels. Keep on believing. Believe in the unseen, the potential for healing, and the transformative power within. Believe that even in the darkest moments, you are not alone. So, may we hold onto faith, nurture it, and let it be the anchor that keeps us afloat. May we teach and reflect this kind of faith as we surround Calvin on his faith journey.
Remember, faith is about trusting in a power greater than ourselves, a power that works in mysterious and beautiful ways. We see that in Jairus and in the unnamed women today. Audacious faith in Jesus--giver of new life. Let us go forth, with faith as our compass, and open ourselves to the miracles, big or small, that await us on our journey.
Who is this?
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture: Mark 4:35-41
Who is this? Who is Jesus? This is the question that the author of Mark is trying to help answer for us today and throughout the gospel. Through his unique way of sharing the story of Jesus he is painting a picture of who Jesus is. And isn’t that the question of each of our hearts as well? Who is this? Who is Jesus?
Today’s reading is a familiar one for many regular church goers. It’s the story of Jesus calming the sea. It is late evening on the Sea of Galilee —680 feet below sea level, surrounded by hills, and prone to sudden, violent storms. After a long day of ministry, Jesus is sleeping at the stern of a boat, sleeping soundly as his disciples steer the vessel. According to Mark, their boat is not alone. There are other boats. That was something new I noticed in our text today. It is a subtle detail but it shows that others are starting to follow Jesus too. All at once, the winds pick up, huge waves hit the boat, and the disciples (remember they are seasoned fishermen), fear for their lives.
They wake up the still-sleeping Jesus: "Teacher, don't you care that we are drowning?" It’s a good question; but it’s also an accusation. “Jesus, this is not the way things were supposed to go! You told us to get into this boat, and now we’re in serious trouble. We followed you. We trusted you. Aren’t you supposed to do something? Why are you asleep? The only possible explanation is that you don’t care.”
And haven’t each of us has been there too. We’ve asked that very question. We’ve been in the same boat--full of fear because there is much to fear: natural disasters, tragedies, war, inexplicable acts of violence and the pain of various kinds of personal suffering…those things can leave us crying out to God, “Do you not care that we are perishing?”
Then disciples heard a word from God and experience the word of God and it uncovers more of the “Who is this” question about Jesus. We hear Jesus say, Peace, be still!
The first thing Jesus does upon waking is calm the wind and sea. He will speak to the disciples after that. What is especially significant with this miracle is that he speaks directly to the wind and sea. And the wind dies down and the waters become perfectly calm. But what is even more significant is that he does something only God can do.
Interesting fact is that the fishermen/disciples would have been familiar with Psalm 107, written of those who do business on the waters. The fisherman would have known it well:
Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep.
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress;
29 he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.
God, who created the wind and the waves, has authority over them. Jesus is God in the flesh. This is the same Jesus you and I trust and follow: Emmanuel, God with us. God is with us through all the storms in our lives. God is with us in all situations life finds us. God is right there with us. In the boat.
Graduates, you soon will find yourselves spreading your wings and starting a new chapter in your life. You are going to make amazing memories, learn a lot-academically and in life. There are going to be challenges and you might even question God “Do you even care”. Are you here? I hope you remember the message you’ve learned here at your church that God loves you and God is with you. Always. May you remember that this is who Jesus is and trust that.
I remember showing up at Cicero UMC in June of 1997—for my graduation Sunday where I had to wear my cap and gown and share my future plans in front of my church that had loved me and taught me most of what I knew of God and faith. I went with their blessing but I had no idea at the time how that blessing (of having a loving church family) would change my life. I took a 3 year hiatus from church and faith while I was living my best life at St. Lawrence University. And then in the midst of my own storm—when I thought I was all alone in the world…the voice of God spoke peace into my life. That assurance allowed me to quiet my fears and hear a call to pastoral ministry. It gave me courage to show up at a new church --the Canton UMC that would help me understand and nurture that call to ministry that God had spoken into me. I’m not sure I would have known how to pray, or have courage enough to go to church if I had not had the foundation at my home church. I needed time and space to be my own person and to explore life and I thank God that in doing that I found that God had never left my side.
If we go back to Mark’s story of the storm, the obvious fact is that Jesus is just as present in the raging water as he is in the soothing calm that follows. Despite the disciples’ inability to perceive it, there is no point in the night when God is absent or even distant. In that vulnerable boat, surrounded by that swelling, terrifying water, the disciples are in the intimate company of Jesus. He rests in their midst, tossed as they are tossed, soaked as they are soaked.
In his great tenderness, Jesus waits until the nightmare is over before he invites his disciples to take spiritual inventory. “Why are you afraid?” he asks them. I don’t read his question as an accusation. I read it as an invitation to take stock, to reflect, to learn, to grow. After Jesus calms the storm, the stunned disciples ask the most important question of all: "Who is this man?" Indeed. Who is this man, this Christ, this God, who sleeps through storms, accepts our accusations, and offers us his quiet, mysterious presence in wild and wind-swept places? Who is this God who loves us in the chaos? It’s after the vicious storm that the disciples recognize the holy in their midst. It’s after the boat fills with water that they are “filled with a great awe.” It’s after Jesus accompanies them in the chaos that they realize who he is. May the same be true of us. (Debie Thomas, Journey with Jesus)
I think I will spend the rest of my life seeking this one grace — the grace to experience God’s presence in the storm. (Debie Thomas)
Get Used to Different
Scripture: Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; Mark 2:23-3:6
Psalm 139. Isn’t it just beautiful. It is one of my favorites and perhaps one of your favorites. What the psalm tells us then is that God is with us at the core of our very being, deeper than anything we can ever try to measure or understand. The psalm reassures us that no matter what, God knows us, each and every one of us and that we are precious in God’s sight. And I see Jesus living out that reality in our gospel text for today. Jesus-Lord of the Sabbath—cares more about people—on restoring and healing them—than following the right rules.
Our Gospel reading from Mark today describes a confrontational scene between Jesus and the Pharisees. Side note: Our Bible study group is finishing up season 2 of The Chosen (a TV series about Jesus and the disciples). Just a few weeks ago we explored this very scene! I love when what we are doing in Bible study coincided with what we explore in worship.
Back to the scene: In the first part -Jesus and his disciples are walking through a grain field on the Sabbath. When they get hungry, the disciples pluck a few heads of grain to munch on; Jesus doesn’t stop them, and the Pharisees ask Jesus why he’s allowing his followers to break the Sabbath. Jesus answers, “The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so, the son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
In the second part, Jesus enters the synagogue, and meets a man with a withered hand. Knowing that he’s being watched, Jesus asks the Pharisees whether it’s lawful to “do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill.” But the Pharisees refuse to answer. Angered and grieved by their hardness of heart, Jesus heals the man with the withered hand. The story ends, with the Pharisees leaving the synagogue to plot against Jesus’s life.
One quote we hear throughout The Chosen series come from a simple conversation between Jesus and Simon (not yet called Peter). In reflecting on Jesus’ teaching Simon says:
“This is different”
“Get used to different,” Jesus replied.
And this is what our text highlights for us today. Jesus shows a different way of understanding the Sabbath.
Traditional ---and anti-Semitic interpretations of this text put a rigid, legalistic Judaism up against Jesus. And that is wrong. We do an injustice to the Pharisees if we write them off as bad people. They were good people trying to uphold and protect laws, rituals and traditions that that were instrumental to their faith.
Don’t we do exactly the same thing? Let’s be honest. How about when we hold fast to our favorite worship practices, spiritual disciplines, and daily rituals? Don’t we just as easily decide what is holy in our own lives and then hold onto them when even when those things are no longer life giving? The Pharisees were not wrong to uphold the Sabbath. They were absolutely right. But rightness is not love. Rightness is not compassion. Sometimes the way we interpret rules needs an overhaul.
Who or what have we stopped seeing because our eyes have been blinded by our own best intentions? What are we clinging to that is not God? (Debi Thomas-Lord of the Sabbath Lectionary Essay)
These are some serious questions for our hearts this morning. How do our eyes need to be opened? What do we need to understand more clearly about whom God is and what the love of God means?
Jesus was always revealing a deeper truth about who God is, and what the love of God means. That’s what we see unfold in our reading today and it is just as important for us as it was for the Pharisees to hear. Jesus was revealing that God cares about people’s empty bellies more than rules that were not life giving. To understand the love of God in that way might mean that the Pharisees would have to let go of certain ideas about the Sabbath.
As Jesus healed in the synagogue, he was revealing a deeper truth about what the love of God means. By healing on the Sabbath day, maybe Jesu was showing us that, in God’s mind, every day is a day to heal; every day is a day for us to do what is life-giving and good.
The disciples thought they knew what Love was all about. We think we knew what love means. And just when we think we have it figured out, Jesus takes us deeper, shows us more, asks us to let go of what we thought we knew, to love more deeply.
As we follow Jesus, he always wants to show us more and expand our vision of love of what loving our neighbor looks like. Often times we grow the most when the God asks us to let go of what we thought we knew.
Friends, it is time to get used to different. Different can be ok. Different can be life-giving.
Why would a man risk his own life to heal a stranger's withered hand?
Why?
Compassion. Love.
Sabbath is about God and God is about love. Love that feeds the hungry. Love that heals the sick. Love that sees and attends to the invisible. If we truly want to honor the Lord of the Sabbath, then we have to be willing to let go of the things that we hold so tightly—if they aren’t about love.
It might be different….but Lord, help us to get used to different!
Amen
Indeed!
Trinity Sunday
Scripture: John 3: 1-17
Today is Trinity Sunday (where contemplate our God—three in one—Father, Son, Holy Spirit/ Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer!) Next week we begin almost six months of “Ordinary Time” during which we will walk through the Gospel of Mark. Now, “Ordinary” doesn’t mean boring, it comes from the word “ordinal,” meaning “related to a thing’s position in a series.” So, we can think of Ordinary Time as an ordered, deliberate, six-month step-by-step pilgrimage through the story of Jesus’ life, with Mark as our primary guide this year (and John helping out here and there). (SALT project)
So now that we know where we are going, let’s turn our attention to where we ARE. Trinity Sunday. Fun fact, the work ‘Trinity’ is not found in scripture. And yet, it is a major doctrine (teaching) of the Church. This teaching emerges from the church’s looking back- reflection on scriptural passages like the ones we have today, as our ancestors sought to make sense of their experience and through ancient texts. The church’s understanding of who God was/is often grows deeper and wider over the centuries. Thanks be to God! When we look at scripture today we can ponder our Trinitarian God through the lens of any Scripture –even if the author of John didn’t have the doctrine of Trinity in mind when writing!
The Gospel of John was written sometime during the last decade of the first century, nearly 70 years after the life of Jesus. We don’t know who wrote this gospel. The oldest manuscripts don’t include the author’s name. Over the centuries the text acquired the name of “The Gospel of John”. And by the time we get to the third chapter of John, we see that Jesus had already upset the water and was becoming quite the talk among the people. He had been performing miracles and was developing many followers. He had started to challenge the status quo, intriguing some and making others mad. And some were even saying he was the Son of God, the King of Israel, or the Lamb of God who was going to take away the sins of the world. This Jesus was beginning to pose quite a threat to the religious system.
And so as word about Jesus spreads –the religious authorities begin to talk, as well. And that talk was probably not too good. But for some reason, Nicodemus decides to go to Jesus, to see him with his own eyes and to hear this rabbi’s words with his own ears. Nicodemus is curious. Maybe even hopeful. And so he sneaks off to see Jesus through the darkness of the night.
And when he reaches Jesus, Nicodemus says to him: “We know you are a teacher who comes from God because those great miracles and signs you have performed could not occur without the presence of God.” And Jesus’ response to Nicodemus is unclear: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above, without being born anew.”
And this concept is foreign to Nicodemus, and he doesn’t understand. So Jesus further explains: “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh. But what is born of the Spirit is Spirit.”
Now Nicodemus is really confused. Not only is Jesus saying that one cannot see the kingdom of God without being born from above, but one cannot enter the kingdom of God without being born of the Spirit.
It makes sense that Nicodemus doesn’t get it. He was born a Jew, was a Pharisee, a Jewish leader who had devoted his life to studying the Torah, if anyone were to see and enter the kingdom of God, it would be Nicodemus. He had the resume, all the credentials and was more religiously qualified than anyone around. How could Jesus tell him all of that counted for nothing?
And not only that, but was Jesus saying that this kingdom of God might be accessible to ANYONE who was born anew, to anyone who was born of the Spirit? To those who were not Jewish? Or those who did not even observe the law? This was absurd. And then Jesus uses the Jewish Scripture to help explain eternal life.
“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
God’s saving acts in the wilderness is God’s mercy and grace for God’s people. Now, the Son of Man is offering this kind of mercy, salvation, and grace. Now Nicodemus is finally starting to see…
Jesus continues. And this is when he goes on to say the most well-known verse of the New Testament, the verse that Martin Luther describes as the “Gospel in a nutshell.”
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
And for the author of John, eternal life is not just about some kind of life after death. Eternal life is a new life we are born into from above, when we are born anew. A life that we experience in the future, but one that begins in the here and now, as we believe in, put our trust in, and follow Jesus Christ. And we can experience this eternal life because of God’s great love for us, not because of anything that we have done.
The kingdom of God Jesus is telling Nicodemus about involves grace, justice, and abundant love, that is offered to ALL. God loves the whole world. Indeed! And God loves the whole world in this way: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
All of this is accomplished by the creative love of God, the redemptive offering of Christ and the empowering presence of the life giving Sprit. And these Three are ONE! (Feasting on the Word)
Indeed! This is good news. And it must have been good news to Nicodemus , who later in the story defends Jesus regarding his case and who, with Joseph of Arimathea – after Jesus’ death – takes his body from the cross, wraps it with spices in linen cloths, and lays it in the tomb.
For God so loved the whole world. For God so loved Nicodemus. For God so loves us… in this way: that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in, trusts, and follows him, should not perish, but may have eternal life.
Indeed, Good news – for all.
Amen
Powered to BE the Church!
Pentecost Sunday
Scripture: Acts 2:1-21
Watch the sermon on YouTube / Bulletin not yet available
Today is Pentecost! And then, next week is Trinity Sunday. After that nearly six months of “Ordinary Time” begins. Our Christian year appears divided almost in half: about six months of holy seasons (Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter), and about six months of Ordinary Time. I love how one commentary describes it: “Like a pendulum swinging back and forth, or a pair of lungs breathing in and out, the church alternates between these two movements each year: high holidays and everyday life, the joys of celebration and the grunt work of growth.” (SALT project)
And here we are today where the pendulum swings to one of the joys and celebrations! Pentecost Sunday! The birthday of the church! Happy Birthday! But before we get into party mode…lets unpack Pentecost (historically, first).
The text tells us that the disciples are celebrating Pentecost. While Pentecost for the church is about this passage in Acts, Pentecost for the Jewish community was a different celebration. It marked the day Moses received the 10 Commandments on Mt Sinai, 50 days after the Passover flight from Egypt-as well as a celebration of harvest. The word “Pentecost” translates as “fifty”. They’d been celebrating the harvest/Moses receiving the law for nearly 1500 years.
It was one of the three great pilgrim festivals when everyone who was able traveled from wherever they were in the world to bring their gifts to God in Jerusalem. It was like Thanksgiving with in-laws and outlaws crowded into family homes and inns and elbowing each other at the table. The traffic was terrible, especially around the temple. You could hardly get two donkeys side-by-side down the street. The festival was so important that even when Paul was traveling around the world spreading the gospel the next year in Acts 20:16, he stopped and came back to Jerusalem to observe the feast. It was an old, old feast, but in our lesson it was about to be given new meaning. (Will Gafney, https://www.wilgafney.com/2015/05/24/pentecost-something-old-something-new/)
And it certainly was!
If you recall, last week we left our disciples standing there, jaws dropped, staring into Heaven as Jesus ascended up to God. But before Jesus ascended, he told them to go and wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon them.
It is hard to wait for things ---especially when we are excited about something, and easier to wait for things we aren’t too excited about. I wonder what that the waiting was like for the disciples.
I’m guessing that for some of them, they were wondering if they really wanted God’s Holy Spirit to come upon them. It sounds great to have God’s Spirit with us, but the Spirit can’t really be contained or controlled. So perhaps there was some trepidation about the unknown and the uncontrollable. Maybe the Spirit will be a great thing. But maybe it will take us where we’ve not wanted to go.
The disciples are all together in one place in Jerusalem. Perhaps they’re afraid, probably feeling a little abandoned, and most of all, I think, they’re just confused. Jesus was here, he died, but Jesus is alive, but now he’s gone? Now what? What’s next? Last week we explored that the what’s next is about being witnesses to all they have experienced. But perhaps there aren’t quite ready for all of that. YET.
Earlier, back before he was arrested, Jesus had promised them he wouldn’t leave them alone. He promised to send them an advocate, the Holy Spirit, to help them, to teach them, to keep reminding them of all he’d said to them. But I don’t think they had any idea what that meant.
And then the Holy Spirit shows up. Something extraordinary happens. Ordinary people, transform into apostles, messengers carrying the good news to everyone. They encounter the Holy Spirit- the same Spirit that was blowing over the waters at creation, the same Spirit breathing into humanity at creation, the same Spirit Jesus promised to send to his disciples as their helper and advocate. The Holy Spirit shows up and something happens, something so dramatic a crowd gathers to watch. The disciples start speaking in other languages (that they didn’t know) so that those gathered from all places understood.
We’re familiar with this story, so we lose how odd all of this is. We read that the people in the crowd were trying to figure it out. All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ Some even thought they were drunk. Peter sets everyone right and assures the crowd that they were not drunk.
The Holy Spirit comes and fills the disciples with courage and the words to say. Then they start preaching and proclaiming, and by the end of the chapter, this brand-new church has grown by over 3,000 people.
The birth of the church. Powered by the Holy Spirit to BECOME the church!
And that same Holy Spirit empowers us today and gives each of us gifts to BE THE CHURCH.
It seems rather appropriate that Pentecost falls this year shortly after the convening of our United Methodist General Conference where we voted overwhelming to usher in a new day in The United Methodist Church. The day of Pentecost is the day that God’s Spirit came to dwell among the diverse people that make up the world.
Pentecost is considered the birthday of the church, but in reality it is bigger than that. It is a new day for all of creation when God comes to dwell in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
May today be the day we celebrate the birth of the Church as well as this new beginning in our denomination as we look to see what new thing God might be doing in and through us!
We were intentional in having the Ministry fair on this day of Pentecost because we are the church---together! We are the body of Christ in this time and place. How will we use our hands/feet/voice—all of ourselves-serving and loving in the name of Jesus? Not sure? Explore all the ways that Fairport UMC ---Christ’s body in this place, empowered by the Holy Spirit is changing the world.
Amen.
You are Witnesses
Ascension Sunday
Scripture: Acts 1:1-11
Watch the sermon on YouTube / View the Bulletin
Does anyone wonder who Theophilus is? The book of Acts opens with the author addressing someone named Theophilus, saying, “In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven.” We do know that the first book the author is referring to is the gospel of Luke – and we know that the author of Luke and Acts is one and the same. We don’t know anything really--about Theophilus. The name means literally Lover of God, and so Theophilus might be a person who was interested in becoming a follower of Jesus, or really just a name addressing all who claim to love God. Pretty cool? I thought so.
The author recounts that forty days pass after the resurrection, during which time Jesus continued to appear to disciples, teaching about the kingdom of God, and directing them to stay in Jerusalem until they received God’s promise of the Holy Spirit. On the fortieth day, they’ve gathered together with Jesus, and they ask him: “Is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?” How very exhausted Jesus must be to have to tell them yet again that that is not what he’s really been about. Jesus moves on quickly, and what he does remind them of is that the power they will be getting is the power of the Holy Spirit. What the disciples will be- are witnesses of Jesus to the ends of the earth. Then, Scripture tells us that he was lifted up into heaven and “a cloud took him out of sight”. Now this is a bit of a strange scripture so if you are new to church today and you’ve never heard this story before—don’t feel bad—it is weird and even those of us who hear it year after year still wonder about it!
In the church we call this the Ascension. Can you imagine what the disciples were thinking that day? My guess is that they were all standing there looking up and saying, “Where did he go?” Or, “did that really just happen?” Or, “what do we do now?” And that’s when they hear this voice. And there are two men dressed all in white, saying “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you sow him go into heaven.”
I love these messengers. I need some in my life. I think that sometimes we need people like them who call us to redirect our attention from gazing up at the clouds to the world we live in now. And we need them to remind us that we have a task here as Jesus’s disciples. The Ascension, is almost like Jesus passing the baton to the disciples (and us) as we are left as witnesses to his life and work, and we are called to BE the church. And we won’t get very far in that work if all we do is keep looking up with our heads in the clouds-as tempting as that might be!
Let’s rewind a little because what I find fascinating are the parallels here between this account of the Ascension and Luke’s account of the Resurrection. Remember, on Easter Sunday, we read that the women came to the tomb and found it empty. But as they were wondering over the empty tomb, two men in white appeared, even as the women were gazing at the emptiness, to ask: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here; he is risen.”
At Easter, the messengers of God help to direct the attention of the Jesus-followers away from wherever they gotten stuck at, and instead to redirect it to getting moving, getting the message out, getting the news announced - Jesus is on the move, not stuck in a tomb of death! Jesus is on the move, and the women have to get going to help tell the story.
I think the same thing is happening a bit here at the Ascension. The disciples are gazing up at heaven, because the only thing they can focus on is that Jesus is gone-gone. Yes, he’s resurrected. Yes, he’s conquered death. But in that moment, when he’s leaving earth, not going to be with them physically any longer, I can only imagine that they are overwhelmed with anxiety and fear and loneliness. And so they gaze up at the sky, hoping perhaps to catch one last glimpse. The messengers of God appear to pull them back into their present reality. Why are they gazing up at heaven? Jesus’ work on earth - at least in that way - is done. Now the work of the disciples is about to begin, and it’s time for them to get moving!! So, what’s next?
The whole Book of Acts is about what happens next. Today’s reading is the very start of that book. And it’s what happens when the disciples become the first church. It’s about how they go from this small group of people who followed Jesus to a community that grows and spreads and endures to this day. Yet, it starts with this: the disciples looking up in the clouds and getting their attention called back to the world they have been asked to serve.
The disciples’ worlds had been completely changed by a man who preached a different truth and proclaimed a new way of living into God’s word. In three short years, Jesus’ ministry had changed so many lives and then he was crucified, but then the tomb was empty and resurrection had prevailed and now he has ascended and what happens next?
Well, they/we keep on keeping on! We are witnesses! Jesus said, “You are witnesses of these things” and I believe, with all my heart, that those words were as much meant for us as they were for the disciples he was speaking to that day. Because we are! We are witness of the works Jesus did in his life. We are witnesses of his miracles, of his teachings and of his love. We are witnesses of the ways our own church is making an impact, not only in our community, but throughout the world, as well.
We are the ones who are left to carry out the work of Jesus. He’s made us his body, his hands, feet and voice in the world. To us, to you, to me, Jesus has entrusted the carrying out of all of his hopes for the world. Rev. David Lose writes, “Jesus leaves, but we stay. As it turns out, this is the ultimate "left behind" story, but according to Jesus, being left behind is neither a sign of imperfect [our] faith nor a chance to prove [ourselves] worthy. Rather, being left behind is an honor, an invitation to participate in the glory of [God], a commissioning, in fact, into the work of [God.]” (Working Preacher)
People of Fairport UMC, if our heads are in the clouds…it’s time to redirect our gaze. We, the body of Christ, is right here, in this very room --ready to love and serve and be God’s witnesses, even to the ends of the earth.
Holy Spirit Fruit (Open to the Holy Spirit)
Following the Historic General Conference
Scripture: John 15:8-17 & Acts 10:44-48
Watch the sermon on YouTube / View the Bulletin
The lectionary readings this morning—are incredible when we think about the important 2 weeks we just had for our denomination!
We could have just focused on our gospel reading today and that would have been great on its own but when we look at both Jesus’ teachings on loving our neighbor—and Peter in Acts (back to Peter!) needing a lesson on who our neighbor is—and that loving our neighbor has no boundary it is even better!
Let’s start with our Gospel reading this morning. We have more vines—and abiding just as we did last week. Last Sunday we read about how Jesus was preparing the disciples for a time when he would no longer be with them and instruct them in a very pastoral and compassionate way (using a vine metaphor) that he is the vine and they are the branches and that they must stay close to the vine. They are to abide in him—as he abides in them. And in our reading today Jesus continues encouraging the disciples saying that just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, they can neither love one another nor bring other to faith apart from “abiding in the love of Christ.” The vine is the source of life and everything that flows from it!
Love one another as I have loved you. These are some of Jesus’ last words and teachings before he dies. Again, preparing them for a time when he would no longer be with them. Love one another as I have loved you. Love, Love, Love. Sounds simple enough. But oh how we have gotten is so wrong so many times. As individuals and a church. Right?
All that has happened in the last two weeks (General Conference) leaves many people—me included—with many complicated feelings. Maybe you too?
I am utterly thrilled, of course. We have so much to be thankful for this week after an historic General Conference!
The Ban Gay Clergy and Gay marriage—lifted.
Harmful language removed from the discipline.
I also find that I am still furious at the harm we have caused to so many. As a straight, white, female, I have not been targeted the way the LGBTQIA+ members of our UM family have been. Of course. But the scars and hurt of our exclusiveness—discrimination—are still there and it will take time to heal.
I read this statement on FB this week from Dorothee Benz entitled: Bring on the Services of Repentance
Yesterday, after a half century of spiritual violence, systemic discrimination, and institutional gaslighting, the United Methodist Church finally voted to lift the anti-queer language in its Book of Discipline. It’s a day I despaired of ever seeing. I was driving home when the news hit me and I started to cry uncontrollably. My tears confused me. Wasn’t I happy? Wasn’t this the thing I sacrificed so many years of my life to bring about? Yes, it was. But it turns out it’s not that simple. I don’t know why this had never occurred to me before, in the many years that I dreamed this day would come – the end of this particular era of codified discrimination does not undo the immense harm the church has done to countless thousands of people. My tears were tears of joy, sort of, but mainly tears of grief and anger at the pointless brutalization of *generations* of young Methodists who tortured themselves because they were taught by their church their God-given nature was sinful; clergy who sacrificed wholeness to follow their call or risked their careers or were drummed out of the church; untold thousands of queer people that fled the church. And those who did not live to see this day.
Look around you. Who is not there? For many of us, it is too late...
And then she urged us to continue the work. For it’s one thing for our denomination to have changed its stance but there will still be many local congregations that will not embrace this change. This church was and will continue to be an important part of the fight as we move forward—to bring about healing and love to our world. There is still more work to be done…more living and loving. And we do this with the Holy Spirit guiding us—leading us forward each day. And our Acts text this morning has a thing or two to say about the Holy Spirit!
When we drop in on the story this morning—it is clear that obviously something has happened before started—and it is like we’re just walking in on the end of the movie and only those who have seen it before will know what is going on. So, I’ll get you up to speed:
First Peter meets Cornelius (a Gentile) in Caesarea by the Sea, then moving on to Joppa, Peter goes up on the roof to pray— Peter is famished and God gives him a vision of animals of every kind—unclean animals. And then he hears … “Get up Peter, kill and eat” Peter answers God, “Never!” This happens 3 times. Then in a puzzled state he goes to the door where there were three men—sent by Cornelius to fetch him. Peter goes with them still trying to figure out all of this. When they reach Cornelius’s house, Peter is trying to understand what God is up to—the unclean animals in the vision—a gentile house hold. On one hand Peter thinks that he should not be associating or visiting a Gentile…but as he’s putting the pieces together—he realized that God is trying to tell him something. God has shown him that he should not call anyone profane or unclean….
Peter then preaches a short sermon about Jesus. That’s when our text began today. While Peter is still speaking—before any baptism, confession of faith, new member class—the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. Peter says “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
Peter echoes the question of the Ethiopian Eunuch that we heard about last week when he asks Philip: “What is to prevent me from being baptized?”
The Holy Spirit surprised Philip on a desert road (last week) and they Holy Spirit surprised Peter in Cornelius’s house in our reading today. The Holy Spirit can be unpredictable and disruptive.
Church Historian-Rosemary Radford Ruether says that the church must be organized to do 2 things:
TO pass on the tradition from one generation to another
TO be open to the winds of the Holy Spirit by which the tradition comes alive in each generation.
Jesus modeled this in his ministry—over and over again.
He opened their minds to scripture and told them the Holy Spirit would come.
I truly believe that what we saw happen at General Conference this past week was the work of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes tradition becomes so rigid that the Holy Spirit can hardly find a crack to bring any new word. Sometimes the Holy Spirit has a hard time getting through our stubborn desire to stay the way we are. Sometimes the Holy Spirit gets in and can change a church—a denomination—and shows us that once again, LOVE WINS. Every single time.
Dear ones, may be continue to be open to the winds of the Holy Spirit- Lets be like Phillip—Peter—Like…well, Jesus. And love one another as Jesus loves us. Amen.
Branching Out
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Scripture: Acts 8:26-40 & John 15: 1-8
Watch the sermon on YouTube / View the Bulletin
Vines, Vines, Vines! Are you ready to learn more about vines than you ever thought you wanted? Just kidding. We have an image that Jesus uses with his disciples that requires a little information that maybe the regular non-gardener might need to know. And important to note: this week’s image of “the vine” would have been familiar to many early followers of Jesus: Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the Psalms each make use of it. We shouldn’t forget that Jesus’ teachings are grounded in the Jewish scriptures.
In a vineyard, the best grapes are produces closest to the central vine. And that really does make sense as the nutrients are closest to the vine! Left alone, vines will grow uncontrollably and result in one big tangles mess! A vine grower or a vinedresser is needed to keep the vines in orders. The lateral branches need to be pruned and kept short.
Jesus uses this image/example as a description of the life of discipleship. Jesus is the true vine, God is the grower and we are the branches.
It’s a hard one to hear in some ways, isn’t it? It starts off like a word of judgement as we hear about branches being cut off—and some pretty hard pruning. And there could be a pretty harsh sermon on this but I think you know me better to know that is not my way. When I look at this text—I think it’s important to think of the big picture here and try to understand why Jesus was sharing this with his disciples in the first place. Let’s leave the cutting of branches and pruning—to God—trusting that God knows what will help us to bear fruit!
So what does this have to do with our faith life?
In the gospel of John –where we find ourselves this morning- Jesus is in the midst of what’s sometimes called his “farewell discourse” to the disciples, who are understandably distraught. Here was the Messiah, and now he's leaving? Now he's going to suffer, to be humiliated, and die? The disciples are a mess. Jesus is preparing them and offering excellent pastoral care, assuring his friends that his leaving them is not abandonment, but rather will make way for an even deeper relationship with him. It’s as if he is saying: Yes, I’m about to leave; but on a deeper level, I’ll still be with you, even closer than before. Don’t worry — trust me! And abide in me.
The Message by Eugene Peterson puts it this way: “Live in me. Make our home in me just as I do in you.”
The vine metaphor can sometimes be used like this: “If you want to live, you’d better stay connected to me, or else”. That’s not where I go. It’s, “Don't worry, we'll be together; your life itself and all its fruit will testify to our ongoing intimacy. Take heart: I will be with you, and our companionship will be even closer than it is now. Today we walk side by side — but in the days to come I will live in you, and you in me. Today, you walk in my footsteps — but in the days to come you will walk, so to speak, ‘in my feet,’ and I will walk in yours. Indeed, you will be my hands and feet for a world that needs healing and good news. Friends, I’m not abandoning you! On the contrary, I will abide in you, and you will abide in me. I will not leave you alone...” (SALT Project)
Now, let’s fast forward to Acts---and the disciple Philip. What is interesting with Philip is that this is the disciple we learned more about this past week in The Chosen Bible Study! And one observation from someone in class was that Philip seemed to have such an easy going attitude---as he met people where they were. At least that is what was depicted in the movie---and actually what we see in scripture this morning here in the book of Acts. We see yet another disciple living out the teachings of Jesus.
So, what’s going on in Acts? This week’s passage shows us the Jesus movement opening up also to include Gentiles (that is, non-Jews as well as Jews). The Ethiopian eunuch, is an outsider. For Luke, an “Ethiopian” meant anyone from territories south of Egypt, a region some ancient writers depicted as the outer edge of the known world. As a Gentile whose status as a eunuch meant he traditionally could not become a Jew (a eunuch was a castrated male), his conversion foreshadows Cornelius’ conversion (Acts 10-11), which in turn inaugurates the official Christian mission to the Gentiles. Thus this text is setting up and expanding circle of inclusion within God’s good news of salvation. All such good news! (SALT Project)
Philip—as one who is clearly abiding in Jesus—is able to branch out and expand the circle of inclusion. And he does it in a beautiful, non-threatening/non-scary way. He meets the Ethiopian eunuch exactly where he is. He comes alongside him and shares the good news of Jesus. He takes this moment empowered by the Holy Spirit as the ultimate “teachable moment”.
The question for us today is what does it look like to abide in Jesus?
Perhaps it looks like Philip---abiding in Jesus---listening to the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps it looks like us being the people God made us to be.
Perhaps it would look like love: incarnate, tangible, down-to-earth, growing, fruitful, love.
“When the Ethiopian eunuch appears in the story, he already has a copy of Scripture. What he is missing is someone who will guide him in his reading of it, joining him where he is, to answer his questions with inspired conviction.” (Barbara Brown Taylor-Feasting on the Word).
And then he was baptized. What is preventing me from being baptized? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. So Philip baptized him right then and there.
“Walls of prejudice that had stood for generation came tumbling, blown down by the breath of God’s Holy Spirit, and another man who felt lost and humiliated was found and restored in the wideness of God’s grace in Jesus Christ.” (Thomas Long, Feasting on the Word).
We have incredible stories today of the early church. May they inspire us and call us to abide in Christ-- to take our faith on the road, with the Holy Spirit guiding—and meet people where they and love them.
May it be so. Amen.
Practicing what HE preached!
Third Sunday of Easter
Scripture: Acts 3:12-20 & Luke 24:36b-48
Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen indeed!
I thought we’d practice it again this morning as we are still in the season of Easter! Perhaps the first disciples also need to practice it because, according to our reading this morning, they still are having a really hard time wrapping their heads and hearts around Jesus’ resurrection and all that has happened since his death! And we can’t blame them, can we?
Luke shares a great post resurrection story of Jesus and the disciples this Sunday. The disciples are still unsure of the state of ---everything! What we do know is that they are huddled together behind locked doors—afraid. The world has been turned upside down and it nothing seems to make any sense. What happened? Who can be believed? What testimony is credible? What is next?
A little context for our reading today from the Gospel of Luke-- Two disciples had just returned from an encounter with the Risen Christ on the Road to Emmaus—where Jesus was revealed to them as they broke bread together…and this comes after the women told the disciples about the empty tomb. And now, here they are locked in a room sharing these stores---and Jesus shows up and they still don’t recognize him---they think they are seeing a ghost! Which, by the way, is not the first time they thought Jesus was a ghost---remember back (early in Lent) when Peter walked on water?
Such a range of emotions they all must be experiencing! They are really struggling to take in all these reports and they are definitely not quite ready when Jesus shows up in mid-conversation. And yet…he meets them exactly where they are, in the midst of their doubt, guilt, frustration, being frightened, grief, overwhelmed, and confusion. What do you think you might be feeling if you were one of the disciples?
Jesus appears those providing words of comfort, assurance and encouragement. He offers them peace, asks them why they are freaking out and then invites them to touch and see. Finally he encourages them to move beyond where they are. To move beyond the fear, doubt, guilt (etc.)
Jesus opens their minds to being to see that death is not the final word. He helps them to see that they are set free and commissioned to become witnesses. He could have launched into explanation about the how to-s of resurrection---or he could have given them an itinerary of his whereabouts since Friday but he didn’t. (Although, I admit, that would have been pretty cool.) Instead, Jesus taught: That his whole life death and rising were about what God was doing in the world—reconciling the world to God. From the law of Moses to the prophets to the Psalms---it has always been about God and God’s purposes for all of creation to be reconciled and made whole. The risen Christ appeared to groups and couples to give them assurance that HE LIVES and teaches them to put their fears and doubts aside as they contemplate the bigger picture! Scripture has been fulfilled. Jesus is saying to them, that they have seen in him the fulfillment of God’s plan for the world’s salvation and they are called to share that witness.
Fast forward just a little. And we now find ourselves in the book of Acts and we are back with Peter! Again! Our old friend! Peter who denied Jesus 3 times at the crucifixion and then proclaimed to love Jesus 3 times—as if that was Jesus’ way of redeeming Peter and forgiving him without so many words.
Between the encounters with the Risen Christ and with the gift of the Holy Spirit that has been poured out by the time we get to this part in Acts—the disciples (and Peter) were now ready to be witness in Jerusalem and to all nations!
Perhaps they just needed a little more Jesus-a little more patience-a little more teaching-a little more time- to wrap their heads and hearts around what God was doing! And what we finally see in when we get to Acts is all of this coming to fruition! Of course they have the power of the Holy Spirit which is no small thing! It is everything.
See, Pentecost (the outpouring of the Holy Spirit) had already come by the time we get to Act 3 and what has just happened and what Peter is talking about is that a lame beggar in Jerusalem has healed outside the temple. And people misunderstood the source of the healing---that it was by Peter and John when, in fact, it was God doing the healing—through Peter and John. Peter needed to set them right. Bold Peter—getting things right! Note: we must remember, Peter, is speaking to fellow Jews about Jesus, who was also a Jew. Peter is not a Christian missionary, telling Jews things that they do not already know. He is one of them arguing with them from their own Scripture and tradition about one of their own, whom he accuses them of abandoning to the Romans. His sermon is an insider’s sermon. And we need to remember not to let this text turn in anything anti-Jewish. That is not the point. The point is the resistance.
He was finally practicing what HE (Jesus) preached and taught so many times! Peter is pointing out to the community all the ways they rejected and resisted Jesus-the Messiah.
Friends, what are the ways in which we resist? What are the ways that we resist resurrection? What are the things we hang onto—guilt, unrealistic expectations, and the familiar? What do we need to let go or surrender to in order to embrace the hope of new life—new beginnings—of God doing a new thing in our midst?
Peter’s sermon here was calling his community-challenging them with exactly what Jesus taught and preached-pre and post resurrection—to turn around and to repent—to change their minds. How do we as a church and as individuals need to repent? How do our minds need to be changed?
Two thousand years ago Peter—practicing what Jesus preached—in his own preaching changed the world. His preaching was legendary. As Barbara Brown Taylor states: “Christ’s church may have born in a graveyard, that that baby grew quickly, beyond anyone’s imagination.”(Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 2)
Here again, Jesus’ words: “This it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise form the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
Peter took Jesus’ words and ran. Practiced what He (Jesus) preached. May we be bold to do the same. Amen
Wandering Heart: Here’s My Heart
Second Sunday of Easter
Watch the Sermon on YouTube / View the Bulletin
I must say that the piece of the Gospel Lesson that stands out for me is this verse:
“Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.”
The last time I preached here was in February 2022. I was in the midst of an involved diagnostic process. I’d woken up on New Year’s Day of 2022 with a lump on the side of my face. One thing led to another and a few weeks later I was scheduled for a surgical biopsy at Rochester General.
A few days before the surgery, I was summoned to the hospital – I felt like out of the blue – for a regimen of pre-surgical tests. No one had told me ahead of time that was a part of the deal. So I found myself feeling a bit resentful and put upon that I needed to drive up there early on a Monday morning. I felt like my life was no longer my own.
when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, someone else will take you where you do not wish to go.
But an interesting thing happened as I drove up there that morning. It dawned on me that maybe this was all part of a larger process that really wasn’t in my control, and I just needed to hand myself over to it. Where I wished to go really didn’t matter. This was out of my hands. My wandering heart needed to answer a call to a larger and more pressing story. I needed to trust others to be in charge. My life wasn’t my own. I had entered a different world I didn’t really understand.
At the first Easter Peter and the other disciples had entered a different world they didn’t really understand.
It’s worth noting that the tone of the days following the first Easter is not joy. There were a whole range of emotional and attitudinal responses. There was bewilderment. There was wonder. There was curiosity. There was fear. And then there was some guilt and shame as well.
As Peter tries to come to terms with that first Easter, he’s coming off some hard days.
Let’s remember, of course, that Peter had sworn up and down when he talked to Jesus before the crucifixion that he would never turn away from him. He would never abandon his teacher.
Jesus, of course, knew better and told Peter that, in fact, before the morning would arrive, Peter would deny Jesus three times. And that’s what happened. Peter denied three times to folks around him that he even knew who Jesus was.
As this series on Peter’s wandering heart has highlighted, Peter comes across in the Bible as a person who wants to do the right thing. He is typically motivated to step forward and take charge. He is portrayed as decisive, if not impulsive. So, his grandiose self-confidence in the face of Jesus’ warning is not a surprise. Nor is his failure to live up to his own ambition.
And then Jesus was executed. Peter felt like he let Jesus down at the end. His last opportunity to be faithful and he blew it. After making a big deal that he would be loyal, he caves.
And this situation is, of course, complicated by the problem of what to do after the crucifixion. Peter and the other disciples have to figure out: What’s next for us?
They had left their prior lives behind to follow Jesus, and there is no obvious way forward. To them the Jesus story is over. Dead and gone. So, in our reading this morning, we find them back fishing – the old agenda. The Jesus business is done.
But Jesus appears, and just as he did at an earlier fishing episode, directs Peter to a huge catch of fish after a night of fruitless effort.
Jesus’ appearance is mysterious, intimidating, and dramatically unsettling. This is a decidedly “rock my world” situation. But Jesus has prepared breakfast and offers them to join him in the meal.
As I read the passage, it feels to me like that meal begins to bring Peter and the disciples into this new world Jesus has opened up. Breakfast really can be the most important meal of the day.
But the invitation back into Jesus’ story puts Peter at a crossroads: Jesus asks him three times whether he loves his old fishing agenda more than the agenda of shepherding the flock Jesus has gathered. Are you willing to trust yourself into my agenda, my way, my love, my life?
Easter puts Peter at a crossroads, and we may find ourselves at the same crossroads:
Will we follow our wandering heart? OR
Will we follow Christ’s heart with a courageous and confident wonder?
Before this Peter had thought that his bluster and grandiosity was his strength. He had relied on his impulsiveness to dominate his situation and those around him. But in this Easter transformation, Peter has to wonder again whether he had it right.
Peter and Jesus had had some arguments about what it might mean to be strong. Jesus had said time after time, in a variety of ways, that to be strong is not to be in a position to dominate others, but to find ways to love others.
The strong person is not the one who succeeds in a rivalry with others. The strong person is the one who has the capacity to engage rivals into reconciliation. The strong person is the one with the patience and the presence to love the world into peace.
Strength is the ability to hold onto the truth, even when that truth is uncomfortable to bear and even when that truth is about our own limitations.
Strength is not about building up strong defenses, but rather about being open, vulnerable to the good, the beautiful, and the just.
Not high walls, but wide bridges.
And the question naturally emerges – but is that safe? Will we be secure?
Good Friday reminded us that even Jesus was not safe in this world.
And, in its turn, Easter reminds us that not even the worst is the end. It is the prelude for God’s response. The setting for God’s wondrous action.
The crucifixion of Jesus, his descent to the dead, and his resurrection drive home to us that God does not abandon us in the midst of trouble, pain, sin, or death, but instead continues to embrace us into the future with love.
The Easter Story is the sign that new life can be on the other side of evil, suffering, and death. Ultimately our stories become part of God’s story; all our stories are being gathered up into love.
That was my experience as I was led where I did not wish to go. I was gathered up into love. Part of that was the love of this congregation in notes, cards, calls, and prayers. Another part were the compassionate health-care workers of all kinds who took care of me.
So, can we hear that? Can we live that?
All our stories are being gathered up into love.
All our stories are being gathered up into love.
Of course, some will be drawn in kicking and screaming. Some will feel it is a plot against them. Some will be drawn in only in fear. Some will be bewildered the whole way.
But some of us – especially those of us who take the Easter message to heart – will go with the assurance that, yes, it’s out of our hands. When we were young we went where we wanted, but now we are being invited to trust ourselves into love.
To give up following our wandering hearts and follow Christ’s heart in wonder, open to whatever comes next.
We are invited to say: Here’s my heart!
Thanks be to God!